Weekly Summary – 110 miles in 14 runs. A perfectly normal and unremarkable week, which is exactly what I needed and hoped for after a bit of a roller-coaster last month. Some good top end speed, good fartlek, and a good moderate long run. No fireworks and no total disasters. Just good consistent work. On the upswing just in time with less than 4 weeks to go!

One more thing – for all my local Greater-Boston readers – if you’re an athlete looking for an exceptional sports-massage therapist who specializes in runners and injury prevention and recovery, go visit Sam Peck at SoarBody Theraputics in Davis Square (Somerville). He was crucial to helping me recover from my injury during the fall and I’m looking forward to working w/ him again to keep me healthy now that I’m back in town!

Don’t forget, you can follow me day to day on Instagram and Twitter (@TylerCAndrews) and my daily training log on Strava. Oh and hey if you’re reading this and don’t know about STRIVE, you should probably check ’em out. I lead groups through the mountains of Peru on a  journey of running, service learning, and adventure. If you’re interested, join us this summer, when we’ll once again have programs for High School and College students, and even 10-day trips for adults and families.

 

Lunes, 1 de Abril, 2019 – 09:15am: Slept well for like 10 hours. Ran solo out on the river. Super windy and cool like 35F. Welcome to April! Legs felt good though and ran frist km in like 4’20 which is about the best I’ve felt out the door in the last 3 weeks. Crossed over at Harvard pedestrian bridge and came back on the other side w/ the wind. Stopped at the track at 10km and then did drills, 4x strides in 1’22 (fastest in a while!) and then 200m in 32. Finished easy home. Total run 11km in 46’.

XT: Shoulder pulls, HF bands, side band walks, heel drops, toes, glutes (10x weights), bird dogs, internal/external bands

15:15: Ran easy on the fields. 4 big laps and then over to the track and did 800m in 3’08 easy. Did drills and then 4x strides in 1’20 (finally!). Super windy and still cold, but glad legs are feeling good. Total run 6km in 24’30.

XT: Shoulder pulls, Heel drops, toes.

Martes, 2 de Abril, 2019 – Sparknotes: 2x7K @ 3’27 w/ [5km @ 17’22 + 500m @ 1’52, 500m @ 1’31]

09:15: Ran down to fields and did 5km on grass and then over to the track. Legs felt good again today. Warmed up quicker, under 4’20/km. Stopped and did drills and 2x strides only. Ran workout in carbon rockets.

Did 5km very relaxed at RP ~3’30. Started off way too quick like 38 first 200m and then settled and ran super consistent for 17’23. Continued on and did 500m moderate (1’55) and then 500m quicker ~goal MP (1’32) and did this twice 1’32, 1’30. This was 7km in 24’16 (3’28 avg).

Jogged to the gym about 400m and then did the exact same workout on the treadmill. Wanted to use today as a “calibration” workout to make sure I’ve got the machine calibrate more or less accurately. So did the same thing, starting a bit quick and then settling at 3’30 (all at 2% incline). Took HR and cadence data from watch to examine afterward. Basically exactly the same thing (24’11 for 7km). Effort felt a bit higher but probably just because the legs were a bit more tired and maybe from ambient heat.

Data are extremely similar – cadence around 182 at 3’30 pace and 190-195 at quicker paces. HR similar as well, tiny bit higher at the end of the indoor 5K. Good to know this is a good simulation for outside.

Very easy cooldown 1K only in 4’30. Total run 21km.

XT: Shoulder pulls, toes, heel drops

15:30: Easy solo run out/back on river, just for a change of scenery. Quite windy again but not too cold. Legs felt decent. Finished at track and did drills and then 4x strides in 1’24. Easy jog back. Total run 8km+ in 35’.

XT: Shoulder pulls, toes, heel drops, fairly easy lift at gym as follows:
Pull ups 7, 7
Split squats 10x, 20lb, 30lb
Step ups 10x 20lb, 30lb
Single leg dead 10x, 0lb, 5lb
Overhead lunge 10x, 15lb,
Hamstring curl 10x, 15x

Miercoles, 3 de Abril, 2019 – 09:00: Legs pretty sore this morning but felt good once I got moving. Ran on river, short chuck loop. 4’20 to the track and then drills and 8x strides in 2’47 – good. Finished w/ 200m in 32 and then barefoot on turf for about 1.5km. Total run 14.5km in 61’.

XT: Shoulder pulls, HF bands, side band walks, heel drops, toes, glutes (10x weights), bird dogs, internal/external bands

15:15: Easy shakeout down to the fields and then on the turf barefoot for 2km. Legs felt decent. Very windy again, but warming and sunny. Did drills and 4x strides in 1’25 and then ran down to the T and rode up to Davis for apt w/ Sam Peck at SoarBody. Jogged back to the T/home after that. Total run 10.5km in 46’.

XT: Heel drops, toes, very deep massage w/ good work especially on entire right side from hip to knee which was really tight.

Jueves, 4 de Abril, 2019 – Sparknotes: 10x short hills + 6km fartlek 18’45 w/ 1’ @ 3’04->2’52, 1’ @ 3’30, last km cont @ 2’57

09:00: Ran down to the fields and did a few km on the grass and then ran down to Prospect Hill. Stopped at about 8km and did drills and then 2 short easy strides and 10x short hills. Felt decent but not 100% on these. A bit slower to start but last 5 or so were good. Jogged back and planned to do fartlek on the mill but legs were pretty worked so pushed to the afternoon and just cooled down. Total run 15.5km in 65’.

XT: Shoulder pulls, heel drops, toes, pedestal (10x weights)

16:00: Pushed the morning fartlek to this afternoon. Felt pretty decent. Warmed up 3km easy and then drills, 4x strides, 200m. Workout was one I’ve done before as a very yellow workout w/ the opportunity to get some good speed in. Did 1’ on, 1’ off, w/ starting at 3’04 and then after that each rep under 3’00 down to about 2’52. Off reps around 3’30. Quite hard right away but manageable. Got to 5km in 15’47 and then ran last 1K continuous accelerating in 2’57 for 18’45 for 6km. Very good! Cooled down short 2km.

Total run 12km in 44’.

XT: Heel drops, toes

Viernes, 5 de Abril, 2019 – 09:50am: Easy run on sci museum loop. Felt pretty decent. Finished at track and did 10’ barefoot on turf. After, did drills and then 4x strides in 1’20. Good! Finished easy home. Total run 11km+ in 48’.

XT: Heel drops, toes, band work, glutes

15:15: Ran down to the fields and 5km on the grass. Felt good and ran surprisingly quick despite trying to hold back, 5km in about 21’. Stopped and did drills and then changed into new prototypes and did drills, 4x strides in 1’19, and then 1600m continuous. Ran first 1km at race pace and was impossible to run slow enough (3’26) and then accelerated last 600m in 1’44 for 5’10 total. Easy jog after and then home. Legs feeling good! Total run 8km+ in 32’.

XT: Heel drops, toes

Sabado, 6 de Abril, 2019 – Sparknotes: 25km in 1’27’00 (3’29 avg).

09:00: Drove out to Lexington Center again to start the run today w/ some downhill to simulate the race course. Goal was to have today be a moderate effort as a precursor for one last harder long run before race day. Ideally wanted to do 20-30km at 3’30/km.

Warmed up about 1km and then did drills and maybe 2 light strides and then got started. Took a caff pill (100mg) before starting and 1 non-caff gel.

Felt pretty much “okay” the whole run. Never felt great but never felt too bad and pace was very consistent. A bit quicker in the first 10km (like 34’20-30 at 10K) but that has all the downhill. Got to the loop and pace was fairly consistent right around 3’30 there. Met up w/ Mar at that point (~13km) and was able to get fluids for the first time there (nuun).

A bit windier than last time out here, so was a bit quicker on the Boston side coming back. But overall quite consistent. Started to get really warm and was extremely sweaty (it was like 38F at the start and close to 50F or warmer and sunny at the finish). Stopped at 25km as that felt sufficiently moderate. Could have done another 5km for sure but would rather save it for the next effort.

Right hamstring pretty tight and sore after and had a nasty blister from the prototype shoes on my big toes. Last run in that model!

Jogged home. Total run 30km.

Fueling:
Gel at 0km, 10km, 20km (last 2x w/ caff)
Nuun ~ 13km and 19km
Caff pill ~15min before starting
17:30: Ran from Emerson field in Concord back to my parents’ house. Felt surprisingly decent. Lovely afternoon. Finished w/ 4x strides on road which felt quite good actually. Total run 8km in 35’.

Domingo, 7 de Abril, 2019 – 10:30am: Slept very late after a late night last night. Right hamstring was very tight so ran short, but planned easy day anyway. Nicer day temps in the upper 50s, a bit windy. Felt pretty bad. Ran easy on Sci museum loop. Finished inside w/ 10’ on elliptical as well. Total run 10.5km+ in 48.

XT: Heel drops, glutes, bird dogs, toes

5pm: Ran later w/ day skewed. A bit tired to start but better by the end. Stretched and rolled out a lot beforehand. Much better than the AM. Overdressed a lot, HR got nice and high. Total 10.5km in 43’.

XT: Heel drops, glutes