Weekly Summary – 121 miles in 13 runs. Great end to the first 3-week up-cycle w/ 3 solid sessions this week: shorter speed, longer intervals, and a great 45km long run on Saturday. Very excited to get to the next block and test out the wheels!

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Lunes, 29 de Enero, 2018 – 8am: Slept later and ran solo to the park. Beautiful day, totally clear without a cloud in the sky. Felt very good and ran quicker than usual again (16’16, 15’18, 15’47). Ran back to the track after and did 6x strides which felt very good and then 200m on the track in 31.7. Jogged home easy. Total run 16km+ in 68’.

5pm: Easy clockwork shakeout down to the park, 1 big lap in 16’20 and then to the park (33’40), still quite a bit quicker than last week and very easy with track tomorrow AM. 4x strides felt good and then easy home. Lovely evening. Total run 10km in 43’.

XT: Toe yoga.

Martes, 30 de Enero, 2018 – Sparknotes:8x300m+ (grass) @ 2’40-50/km (1′ jog) + 6×600 @ 66 -> 63 (2′ jog)

7am: Jogged to the estadio for speed session with the gang. Warmup very slow 1 lap, drills, 15min jogging, 6x strides. Workout was 8x300m+ on grass (garmin read it as 330m each time) in 53-55s (2’40-50/km). Supposed to be fairly relaxed and felt pretty good on these. Rest was short, supposed to be 80s but more like 50-60s. Stayed at the front of the group and felt comfy.

Took full rest after these to change shoes and catch my breath. Wore HOKA spikes as we were supposed to go harder on the 400s. 64-66s. First two were 66.x but spikes didn’t feel very good. I think the plate under the forefoot is too high for me. Ran 4x with Israel and ??, they were a good bit faster but only doing 4x and they’re mid-d guys. Changed back into flats (119s) after #4 and the last 2 felt better. Went hard on the last one and was solo but had the gang run in the last 100m with me which was great for 63.x.

Overall very good session. Very pleased with the positive trajectory and how the pace and recovery are both feeling way better. Cooled down very easy with the gang and then home.

Total run 15km+.

Splits:

8x~330m on grass (55-60s jog): 56.4, 54.2, 53.4, 54.5, 54.1, 53.9, 54.8, 55.6
6x600m (2’ jog): 66.9, 66.8, 65.8, 64.7, 66.7, 63.5

5pm: Very easy run around la carolina, clockwork shakeout. 16’53 and 34’30 to the track. Still not as slow as my first week or two here and legs were quite tired from the morning. Lovely afternoon. Finished with 4x strides which felt pretty decent. Total run 10km in 44’.

Miercoles, 31 de Enero, 2018 – 9am: Slept very late and long. Really needed that after a few very long days with work etc. Ran solo short and very easy around Carolina, 2 big laps 16’33, 15’42. Great that legs are feeling decent and pace is still much quicker than first couple weeks here. Very good sign. Beautiful day and sunny. Views of Coto from the track. 6x strides and 200m in 31.3 relaxed. Easy home after. Total run 12km+ in 51’.

XT: Toe yoga

5pm: Clockwork shakeout. Down to the park, 1 big lap in 16’20, to the track in 33’55. Felt a bit tired, some stomach discomfort. Ate a bit too late maybe. 4x very light strides on the track with serious session tomorrow on tap. Jogged home. Total run 10km in 44’.

Jueves, 1 de Febrero, 2018 – Sparknotes: 5x1200m (3’ jog) @ 3’34.7 avg (3’33-37).

7am: Jogged to the stadium and then easy lap, drills, 15’ jogging, strides with the gang. Felt okay, a bit tired.

Workout for today was supposed to be 4x1200m @ 3’24. On paper, this seemed unrealistic to me given that last week I ran 7×800 @ 2’25 and that felt pretty hard. Still I’ve been feeling way better this week and had two good workouts between now and those 800s, so tried to stay positive. The plan was to run the first one with the group in around 3’30 (70s/lap) and then the next around 69s and then 68s for the last 2.

In reality, this was too fast and even going out in 70, we ran 3’34 for the first one. This felt quite tough but not all out and so I thought I’d still be able to bring it down. I think we ran 69 for the first lap of the second rep but only ran 3’33. The next rep was more of the same – going out in 68-69 but still running 3’33 as I just couldn’t maintain the pace. The last two were more of a struggle as I was trying to go out faster and then just eating shit harder on the last lap. The last rep was particularly bad as I really ate it in the last 250m and was getting passed by like half the team.

All in all, I’m not totally sure how to feel about this session. In one way, it was great because I ran faster than last weeks 800s for more total volume in longer intervals. Also, if you look at the altitude equivalent of 14’00, it’s about 15’09 and all of this work was sub-15 pace at 9,300 ft. If I’d done this workout at sea level, I’d feel pretty good about my ability to break 15, so perhaps that means I’m in 14’xx shape at 9,300 ft which, in theory, would be “worth” a sub 14 at sea level. It’s just a matter of whether things actually work out like that. I’m also constantly moving up in the group and getting closer to Miguel. I have no doubt he could run 13’5x or faster, so if I’m getting to the point where I can run with him, that’s a great sign.

Cooled down short with the gang on the outfield grass and then headed home.

Total run 15km-.

Splits:
5x1200m (3’ jog): 3’34.3, 3’33.0, 3’33.5, 3’35.7, 3’37.0 (avg 3’34.7)

5pm: Easy run starting out with Mariana and Brittany down to the park. Pretty tired from the morning. Ran into Prof Franklin like 2’ into the lap around the park and ended up running with him a bit quicker than planned ~4’10-20s. Laps were off as we ran mostly around the edge of the park but same basic plan of 2 laps to the track, 4x strides, jog home. Some nasty stomach cramping which set in as I was stopping to do strides. No fun. Very uncomfortable jog up the hill. Total run 10km in 44’.

Viernes, 2 de Febrero, 2018 – 9am: Slept late and very long again. Very tired last night but much better this morning. Ran solo around the park, 2.5 big laps (16’10, 15’44) quite comfy and then 6x strides and 200m in 32. Beautiful day with views of coto. Ran home. Total run 14km in 59’.

5:30pm: Ran a bit later as it started pouring right at 5p. Very easy shakeout with a harder long run tomorrow morning. Down to the park and clockwork. 1 lap in 16’16 and to the track in 34’10. 4x strides relaxed and home. Total run 10km in 44’.

XT: Toe yoga.

Sabado, 3 de Febrero, 2018 – Sparknotes: 45km in 2’58’15 (3’57/km) on HILLY Chaquiñan (7,700 ft).

7:30am: Drove down to Chaqui to meet the group but no one showed up so ended up single on the long one today. Goal was to do 2h45-3h00 continuous, with maybe some acceleration at the end if I felt good. This was long run #3 with 35km and 40km already done in the last month. Both had been just over 4’00/km avg, so I hoped this would be similar but longer.

It’s a long time to run but I started off with This American life and luckily the Chaquinan is lovely and 20km each way. Made it all the way to the end and didn’t take any water for the first 20km which was a mistake as I had some nasty cramping coming back out of the canyon but drank a lot at a few stops on the way back which was good. Tried to keep the effort very steady for the first 25km or so but pace fluctuated a fair amount due to serious changes in hill grade.

Took 3 Gels at 15K, 25k, 35k. Passed the marathon around 2h46.

Last 8km was extremely hard as the last 2.5km of the trail are up a monster hill, continuous for 2.5km, about 78m or 255 ft of gain. So, I was running up this from ~37-40km, then had to turn around, back down, and then all the way back up for the last 2.5km from 42-45. A very tough way to end the workout!

Still very pleased with the effort today. Really good, especially on my own and on such a tough course. It was also quite hot today and with no bike support, I was just getting water from fountains a few times.

Drank an enormous amount and then headed back up to Quito. End of a big block for 3 weeks – a few easy days and more to come!

Total run 45km in 2h58.

Splits:
1 km 4’09.0 (4’09.0)
2 km 7’55.0 (3’46.0)
3 km 12’04.0 (4’09.0)
4 km 16’22.0 (4’18.0)
5 km 20’22.0 (4’00.0) 150 (20’22.0)
6 km 24’28.0 (4’06.0)
7 km 28’16.0 (3’48.0)
8 km 32’18.0 (4’02.0)
9 km 36’09.0 (3’51.0)
10 km 40’02.0 (3’53.0) 159 (19’40.0)
11 km 43’53.0 (3’51.0)
12 km 47’31.0 (3’38.0)
13 km 51’11.0 (3’40.0)
14 km 55’00.0 (3’49.0)
15 km 59’14.0 (4’14.0) 161 (19’12.0) – Gel #1
16 km 3’26.0 (4’12.0)
17 km 7’32.0 (4’06.0)
18 km 11’39.0 (4’07.0)
19 km 1’15’36.0 (3’57.0)
20 km 1’19’18.0 (3’42.0) 162 (20’04.0)
21 km 1’22’54.0 (3’36.0)
22 km 1’26’45.0 (3’51.0)
23 km 1’30’25.0 (3’40.0)
24 km 1’34’09.0 (3’44.0)
25 km 1’37’51.0 (3’42.0) 148 (18’33.0) – Gel #2
26 km 1’41’31.0 (3’40.0)
27 km 1’45’43.0 (4’12.0)
28 km 1’49’57.0 (4’14.0)
29 km 1’54’17.0 (4’20.0)
30 km 1’58’18.0 (4’01.0) 160 (20’27.0)
31 km 2’02’16.0 (3’58.0)
32 km 2’06’03.0 (3’47.0)
33 km 2’09’44.0 (3’41.0)
34 km 2’13’42.0 (3’58.0)
35 km 2’17’35.0 (3’53.0) 159 (19’17.0) – Gel #3
36 km 2’21’40.0 (4’05.0)
37 km 2’25’23.0 (3’43.0)
38 km 2’29’30.0 (4’07.0)
39 km 2’34’00.0 (4’30.0)
40 km 2’37’57.0 (3’57.0) 167 (20’22.0)
41 km 2’41’27.0 (3’30.0)
42 km 2’45’04.0 (3’37.0)
43 km 2’49’03.0 (3’59.0)
44 km 2’53’30.0 (4’27.0)
45 km 2’57’54.0 (4’24.0) 169 (19’57.0)

4pm: Ran a bit earlier as I was pretty tired. Normal easy 10km w/ 4x strides, very easy. Much slower today obviously after the long run, but good to shakeout. Total run 10km in 48’.

XT: Toe yoga.

Domingo, 4 de Febrero, 2018 – AM: Left at 5:30am for a day hike up Iliniza Norte (5126m, 16,700ft), as it’s recovery block day 1 and just easy jogging. Beautiful day and perfect weather, super clear views of the Ilinizas and Cotopaxi on the way into the park and the approach to the mountain. Got a ride to La Virgen parking lot at about 4000m and left from there around 7:45am, about 1h45 to 4750m at the refugio. Easy walking to that point. Stopped and waited there to rest a bit and then headed up the ridge which was a lot more fun. Nice scrambling and route finding from there to about 5000m where we cut around to the north face of the mountain. We encountered a few guided groups coming down who tried to scare us by saying we needed rope/harness/crampons to get to the summit (or even to traverse across the N face to the scree descent). So, Mariana and Brittany were freaked out a bit and even I took them at face value and was worried about the snow on the N face. But, as we got there, it was hairy but not at all impossible to get across the passes without rope/crampons if you go carefully.

So, made it to the final summit pyramid after 3 exposed snowy traverses. Left the backpacks and I led the way up a rocky ridge avoiding a steep snowy gully maybe 20-30m and then one last sketchy exposed traverse at about 5070. From there it was an easy walk/scramble to the summit with no more snow. Hung out on the summit for a few minutes as the clouds were passing over and clearing intermittently. Really great to be up there and proud of the girls for pushing getting over those sketchier passes.

Descent was careful coming off the summit but only had to cross that one traverse and then came down the other side of the ridge to the scree field which quickly brought us way down into the clouds and then below the cloud line with really beautiful light. Ended up back on the main trail below the moraine and easy walking back to La Virgen parking lot, getting there around 14:45pm.

Hoped to get a ride down but the one American family that was there said they had no room – come on! There’s always room! – and so we walked almost all the way back down to the control point (about 7km) and got picked up by the guard about 2km from the end. Rode from there back to our buddy Jaime who drove us back to Quito. Home a bit after 17:00 with a lot of traffic. Fantastic day overall. One of my favorite day hikes I’ve done.