Weekly Summary – 159 miles in 14 runs. A great and heavy week with three solid efforts – a fartlek averaging 5’00/M for 12 miles, a long marathon-type workout averaging 2h19 pace for 20 miles, and back-to-back 3h00 long run right after. Feeling the power of all this volume and ready to take some recovery next week!

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Lunes, 19 de Septiembre, 2016 – 10am: Slept very well last night and woke up late around 8:30 after getting in later last night after traveling home from Philly. Rainy and thunderstorms predicted so ran loops around CC relatively close to home in case a big t-storm developed. Started off slower around 5’00 and then felt much better by the end running 4’00-20 for the last 8km or so. Got through the whole run without any thunder so I guess I could have gone out on the river, but I’m a huge baby about storms so oh well. Total run 12M+ in 1h30.

XT: Back/hips.

5pm: Ran out/back on MVN and then over to the costco fields and did a few big laps on grass. Finished with 6x strides on grass. Not raining anymore but everything was still super wet and like a billion acorns on the grass, so a bit awkward. Right calf still a bit irksome but not too bad. Finished at Costco and walked home with a lot of groceries.

Total run 10km, 6M++ in 46’.

XT: Hips.

Martes, 20 de Septiembre, 2016 – Sparknotes: Fartlek 19km in 58’56 (3’06.1/km, 4’59/M avg) w/ 4x [2km @ 5’57.2 avg (4’47/M), 1km rec @ 3’24 avg (5’28/M), 1km @ 2’49.1 (4’32/M), 1km rec @ 3’24.3 (5’28/M)]

9am: Left later this morning since it was significantly cooler than the last few weeks and I needed the sleep. Easy 6km warm up to the track, drills, strides. Did the workout in brand new claytons which felt fantastic.

Workout was another long fartlek in the series I’ve been doing. This one was of similar total duration (19km) but higher percentage of faster running (12km total). The pattern was to be 4 sets of 2km quick, 1km moderate, 1km faster, 1km moderate where the quick 2Ks would probably be right around 5’55-6’00, the recovery Ks somewhere in the 3’20s, and the fast 1Ks at whatever they could be – I figured around 2’50 would be very good.

I started off clockwise and would switch directions each set (every 5km). I took nuun on almost every recovery interval, but no gels/CHO intake.

First two sets both felt good and comfortable. Everything felt manageable and the paces were right where I wanted them to be.

The third set felt significantly more challenging and for the first time I was unsure whether I’d be able to finish. The last 2km was very tough and I really ate it in the last 2-3 laps, running 2’59/3’04. I think this was just HR drift/heat buildup/legs exhausted. The HR on that 3’04 was 182 avg which is super high for that pace (I ran 5k faster than that and never got out of the low 170s on Saturday). I took a much slower recovery km after that (3’33) and then did manage to close well in the last 1km but that was quite hard. HR got up to about 190 at the end of that.

The overall average was surprisingly quick – 58’56 for 19km (just under 12M) which is 3’06/km (4’59/M). That’s the fastest fartlek of the season (the previous two were about 3’08) and I think the fastest of this magnitude that I’ve ever done. Very pleased to be able to run 65’30 HM pace for almost 12 miles in a fartlek workout in the middle of a 150+ mile week on very tired legs. I think I’m close to PR shape right now for HM, Marathon, and certainly 50km.

Jogged short 2km to metro to head home and then did legs at the gym. Very long session and super spent by the time I finally finished, ethio, etc.

Total run 17M- (27km).

Outdoor track, 69-72F, no wind.

Splits
1 km 2’59.2 (2’59.2) 163
2 km 5’56.0 (2’56.8) (5’56.0) 173
3 km 9’16.7 (3’20.7) 167
4 km 12’08.0 (2’51.3) 177
5 km 15’31.6 (3’23.6) 168
6 km 18’29.5 (2’57.9) 175
7 km 21’26.2 (2’56.7) (5’54.6) 177
8 km 24’48.2 (3’22.0) 170
9 km 27’36.6 (2’48.4) 179
10 km 31’01.5 (3’24.9) 172
11 km 33’59.2 (2’57.7) 177
12 km 36’57.0 (2’57.8) (5’55.5) 179
13 km 40’19.5 (3’22.5) 172
14 km 43’07.1 (2’47.6) 183
15 km 46’31.5 (3’24.4) 174
16 km 49’30.2 (2’58.7) 179
17 km 52’34.3 (3’04.1) (6’02.8) 182
18 km 56’07.2 (3’32.9) 172
19 km 58’56.1 (2’48.9) 183

XT: Legs at the gym. 3 sets of [15x each leg step up, 20x overhead lunge, 24x dynamic lunge, 12x squat (10 lb plate)]. 10 pounds on everything.

5pm: Easy shakeout out/back on MVN. Felt surprisingly good and running way quicker than I expected ~4’40 out the door and under 4’20s on the way back. Total run 10km, 6M+ in 44’.

XT: OFF.

Miercoles, 21 de Septiembre, 2016 – 9:30am: Slept well and long again last night. Ran longer single on Matt’s loop with out/back on towpath. Felt pretty good. Sweat a lot in trackies, long sleeve, jacket. Temp in the upper 70s. Total run 15M in 1h40.

XT: Back/hips

5:30pm: Easy out/back on MVN. Felt good again out the door. Finished with loop to Costco fields for 7x strides and then back to the house. Very good. Total run 8.5M in 60’.

XT: P90x.

Jueves, 22 de Septiembre, 2016 – 9:30am: Easy run on Matt’s loop with ext on towpath. Felt pretty good. Only in the low 70s which felt cool! Sun is back out though. First day of fall but still feels like summer weather. Great blue heron flying very low over the canal was pretty amazing. Total run 13M- in 1h30.

XT: Back/hips

4:30pm: Easy run out/back on MVN and then to CC fields for strides. Felt good, kept it very easy with long workout tomorrow. Legs felt good. Warm in the mid 80s and sunny. Strides felt very good (5x). Total run 6M++, 10km+ in 46’.

XT: Hips.

Viernes, 23 de Septiembre, 2016 – Sparknotes: 32km in 1’45’54 (3’18.6/km avg) with 8x 3km @ 9’43.1 avg (3’14.4/km) w/ 1km rec at 3’31.1.

9am: Woke up naturally this morning. Had black coffee and nature valley bar.

Workout was one I’d done before, generally as a later seaon marathon workout. The goal was 8x 3km starting at ~50K RP or MP and moving down to a bit quicker by the end. Recovery was supposed to be a quick moderate pace (similar to the 6x5K workout where recovery km was 3’46 avg). Weather cooperated again as it was only 68F when I started and the humidity has been MUCH lower which makes a huge difference.

Warmup was 2km easy, drills, and two comfortable strides. Ran the workout in Claytons.

First half of the workout was relatively uneventful. Took a gel after #3.

Interesting datum: went a good bit quicker on #6 which felt good but then the next two felt very tough. When looking at the HR data, there was a BIG jump in HR on the recovery interval after that faster rep (like 156-165 up to 173, which was higher than most of my previous “on” reps). I didn’t fully recover at all after that and the last two recovery reps and 3K reps were significantly higher HR (and felt much harder in terms of perception of effort) and would have been slowing a bit if not for a faster last 1km.

I think there is definitely a line which I crossed here. Not sure if it has to do with pace (i.e. just running too fast) or if it has to do with accumulated fatigue (i.e. I would have gotten to this point even if I’d maintained the same pace; just a matter of getting tired after 80 minutes of decent running). I wonder if I had slowed a lot more on those last recovery kms (like 4’00 instead of 3’30 or something) if that would have brought the HR back to the more comfortable range of the first 5-6 intervals.

All in all, though, it felt very good and the pace was about as good as I could have expected. Workouts are really clicking right now. I’m putting together quite a string here. One more long one before Mohawk Hudson.

Cooled down very short 1km slow back home, ethio, stretching.

Total run 22M+.

Splits
1 km 3’31.3 (3’31.3) 135
2 km 6’48.7 (3’17.4) 155
3 km 10’07.1 (3’18.4) 160
4 km 13’23.2 (3’16.1) (9’51.9) 161
5 km 16’53.9 (3’30.7) 156
6 km 20’09.8 (3’15.9) 159
7 km 23’24.3 (3’14.5) 163
8 km 26’39.3 (3’15.0) (9’45.4) 166
9 km 30’09.0 (3’29.7) 161
10 km 33’25.9 (3’16.9) 163
11 km 36’43.4 (3’17.5) 167
12 km 39’55.2 (3’11.8) (9’46.2) 169 (Gel #1)
13 km 43’26.8 (3’31.6) 165
14 km 46’43.2 (3’16.4) 166
15 km 49’57.4 (3’14.2) 168
16 km 53’10.2 (3’12.8) (9’43.4) 169
17 km 56’40.8 (3’30.6) 164
18 km 59’56.4 (3’15.6) 167
19 km 3’09.6 (3’13.2) 169
20 km 1’06’20.0 (3’10.4) (9’39.2) 172
21 km 1’09’50.2 (3’30.2) 165
22 km 1’13’03.2 (3’13.0) 169
23 km 1’16’14.8 (3’11.6) 173
24 km 1’19’26.8 (3’12.0) (9’36.6) 177 (Gel #2)
25 km 1’22’59.3 (3’32.5) 173
26 km 1’26’15.1 (3’15.8) 175
27 km 1’29’31.6 (3’16.5) 176
28 km 1’32’48.1 (3’16.5) (9’48.8) 176
29 km 1’36’20.2 (3’32.1) 173
30 km 1’39’34.4 (3’14.2) 176
31 km 1’42’48.8 (3’14.4) 177
32 km 1’45’53.7 (3’04.9) (9’33.5) 179

4pm: Easy shakeout around CC to fields. Very warm this afternoon at 87F and sunny! So much for Fall’s arrival! Felt surprisingly good after being pretty wrecked all afternoon. Total run 5km, 3M+ in 23’.

Sabado, 24 de Septiembre, 2016 – Sparknotes: Back-to-back long run after yesterday’s hard sessions. 41.2km in 3h00 on descently hilly course. No carbohydrate intake, only nuun.

9am: Long single with Mariana for company and hydration support. Note: breakfast of black coffee and 1 NV bar, no CHO during the run – only nuun (2x 20z bottles over 3h).

Ran first half of Matt’s loop to the towpath and then towpath to Cap Crescent all the way up to Bethesda to Georgetown Branch and then way back down rock creek to finish around Watergate. Felt surprisingly quite good on this. Running 4’30/km out the door very controlled and conversational. Net up for the first 90 minutes or so, so quicker the second half without really trying (4’00-15/km for the most part). Rock creek has some nasty short/steep hills which were a bit brutal after like the like 2h40 minute mark, but not so bad. Actually not so hot, about 70F and cloudy so actually felt cool once I stopped. Ran in tights, long sleeve, light jacket. Total run 41.2km (25.6M) in 3h00 (4’22/km avg). 26M total to get to the metro.

5pm: Very easy shakeout around CC to longfield and back. Real Kenyan style about 6’00/km pace out the door and last km 4’30. Nice long nap this afternoon so didn’t feel too bad. Total run 4km, 2.5M.

XT: Back/hips

XT: p90x

Domingo, 25 de Septiembre, 2016 – 9am: Very achy last night after a big 1-2 punch with Friday/Saturday. Took it very easy this morning running with Mariana for her long run. Started out very slow and creaky at like 9’00/M but ran the majority right around 8’00/M. Last 4-5km a bit quicker because Mariana wanted to run faster maybe 4’30-40/km with last 800m at like 4’15/km. Dropped her off and jogged another 2M or so. Cool this morning, like 58F but very sunny and beautiful. Wore tights, long sleeve, jacket, hat/gloves and felt very comfortable. Total run 13M++ in 1h44.

XT: Back/hips.

4:30pm: Easy run out/back on MVN. Felt surprisingly decent. Planes landing from the north for the first time in a while which was cool. Also started Murakami’s “Wild Sheep Chase” which is odd but intriguing so far. Finished with fields and 6x strides on the grass. Jogged home. Total run 10M++ in 1h14.

XT: Hips.