Weekly Summary – 110 miles in 14 runs. This was the week I really needed and everything came together. My last big long run was a huge success, running 52km in 3h01 (3’29 pace) and stopping before I felt like I had to. Legs and body have been feeling great and things are on the upswing just in time. Less than 3 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, 8 de Abril, 2019 – 09:30:  Worked out inside as it was too filthy outside, 30s and rain and wind. On the elliptical  too as rt hamstring is still a bit sore. Overdressed a lot and got HR very high (up over 170) even w/ moderate effort. Total 64’.

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

16:00: Ran inside again as weather has been awful. Legs felt great though and ran uptempo accelerating first 2 or 3km and then running last 6km fairly steady at 3’30. Good. Very smooth. Total run 8km in 29’.

XT: Heel drops, toes

Martes, 9 de Abril 2019 – Sparknotes: AM: 10x Short Hills + PM: 5km @ 15’26 (steady)

09:15: Another nasty morning, about 35F and windy and some drizzle. Ran on the grass for 5km and felt quite good. Ran over to prospect park, 8km in 34’ or so. Stopped and did drills and 2 accelerations and then 10x short hills. First one was 14.3 which is maybe the quickest I’ve done (at least this block) and felt very good. Basically all were under 15sec (I think one was 15.0) which is much better than the last few sessions here. Felt really good, hamstring 0% issue.

Ran back to the gym and thought about doing some uptempo on the mill but legs were pretty fried so only did 1.3km @ 3’05/km and then cooled down. Total run 15km in 61’.

XT: Heel drops, toes, pedestal (10x weights)

16:00: Raining and 35F – love spring in New England! Ran on treadmill, 2km easy 8’20 then light drills, 2x strides, 200m in 36 and then 5km steady @ 3’05. Felt very good and controlled. Good effort and no problem to go 5K. Ate a bit too much lunch but otherwise felt good. Went right into cooldown quick ~3’30 and no problem recovering at that pace. Smooth as butter. Total run 9km in 31’30.

XT: Heel drops, toes.

Miercoles, 10 de Abril, 2019 – 09:30: Easy run on short chuck loop. Actively tried to keep pace mellow. Back to track at 8km in 34’30 and then did drills and 6x strides in 1’59 (!) and then 200m in 31.1 – very good! Easy km barefoot on turf to finish. Total run 10km in 41’.

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

13:30: Ran much earlier w/ an appointment w/ Sam Peck to get to. Barefoot on turf to start for about 10’ and then did drills and 4x strides (1’20) before jogging over to the T. Lovely day. Total run 5km in 21’.

XT: Heel drops, toes.

XT: Very good massage from Sam Peck at Soarbody – not too deep w/ big session coming in ~36 hours.

Jueves, 11 de Abril, 2019 – 09:15: Ran easy down to the fields and 5km on grass. Legs felt good. Stopped and changed into SW and did drills, 4x strides in 1’20 and then 1600m @ race pace. Out too quick, like 39, and then settled, 3’25 at 1K and then 2’05 for 5’30. Too quick! Finished w/ 5’ or so easy barefoot on turf. Total run 9km in 36’.

XT: Heel drops, toes.

15:30: Ran easy down to fields and 4km on grass and then to track. Did drills and 4x strides in 1’20 – legs are finally quick and consistent. Ready to go tomorrow! Total run 5km in 21’.

XT: Heel drops, toes

Viernes, 12 de Abril, 2019 – Sparknotes: 52km in 3’01’27 (3’29/km), negative split! 2h26 marathon, 2h54 50km! Yes!

09:00: Woke up early around 05:30, hung around the house for a while and relaxed. Had NV bar, coffee, and some pretzels before leaving. Drove out to Lexington Center, arriving around 08:45am. On my own, so had to run w/ everything I brought, so was a bit cold at the start (in the 40s and a bit breezy). Jogged maybe like 1’ and then did drills and 2 light strides. Ran in the almost brand new pair of SW.

Experimenting w/ fuel, so took 2 oreos before starting along w/ 100mg caffeine pill.

Interestingly, I didn’t feel great to start off. Despite having 3’30 pace feel impossibly slow yesterday, it felt a bit quick in the first 10-12km today. Part of that is that I wasn’t warmed up, part of it was a bit of a headwind on the trail, but as Jon would later point out, I think it would end up being a bit of a saving grace overall.

Listened to This American Life and tried to just stay super relaxed and think of the entire route to the loop as the warmup (~13km). Took another 2 oreos at 10km (maybe more like 11km) and then got to the loop where I met up w/ Jon on the bike. Took water for the first time here (he didn’t have nuun and we didn’t have time to meet up before the workout). Felt good and got a little boost doing that plus was great to have company.

Really started to feel much better right away. Was running in the 3’20s no problem and had to actively hold back. Took a non caff gel and more water at 20km and was still feeling great and on perfect pace (3’30 overall).

Originally, we had planned to do 30-35km on the roads and the rest on the treadmill, but after coming through the second lap and feeling very good (took water and 2 oreos at 29km), I asked Jon if he’d be able to stick around for the rest of the workout outside. The weather was good if a bit windy, but I could tell I was having a good day.

I’d taken another 100mg of caffeine at the 90’ point and – in retrospect – that seemed to really kick in from 30-40km where I ran 33’53 for that 10km. This was the one part of the workout where, in hindsight, I let myself get a bit too carried away and didn’t have enough patience and restraint, which I’ll need in spades on May 4.

I was feeling fantastic and running constistently in the low 3’20s and was still feeling great past the marathon (2h26 mid). It would be about 50km to hit the parking lot where Jon’s car was sitting, so he said let’s just shoot for that (the original goal had been 45-55km for the run). At 45km, I started to feel more tired and could feel I was slowing a bit, running my slowest 5K of the day at that point (17’57), which was mostly on the far side and into the wind, though. I still felt very under control and hit 50km in 2h54 low and asked Jon if we could go to 3h00, or another 2km. He said yes and so I did 1 final out/back km from the parking lot.

Finished 52km in 3’01’27 (3’29/km avg). This was a fantastic run and is the 2nd fastest I’ve ever run for 50km and felt WAY better and more under control than the 64km run I did a few weeks earlier. I definitely could have maintained pace for another 3km and hit 55km. Even better, I was still running well under WR pace even in my slowest 5km of the day.

Fueling felt good, body felt good, everything really clicked today. Definitely needed this one.

Now, it’s time to rest and get ready to roll in 22 days.

Splits
5 km 0’17’26.0 (17’26.0)
10 km 0’35’07.0 (17’41.0)
15 km 0’52’43.0 (17’36.0)
20 km 1’09’59.0 (17’16.0)
25 km 1’27’22.0 (17’23.0)
30 km 1’44’41.0 (17’19.0)
35 km 2’01’41.0 (17’00.0)
40 km 2’18’34.0 (16’53.0) (Marathon ~ 2’26’20)
45 km 2’35’59.0 (17’25.0)
50 km 2’53’56.0 (17’57.0)
52 km 3’01’01.0 (7’05.0)

Fueling:
T-10 minutes: 2 oreos, 100mg caffeine
10km: 2 oreos
14km: first water
20km: water and gel (non caff)
25km: water and 100mg caffeine (at 1h30 mark ~ 26km)
29km: water and 2 oreos
38km: water and 1 gel (non caff)
45km: water and 1 gel (20mg caff)

17:30: Ran very easy down to fields and around one soccer field as there was lots of stuff going on. First km about 5’00 and then in the 4’20-30s. Really nice to run on grass and body felt much better after. No strides. Total run 6km in 27’.

Sabado, 13 de Abril, 2019 – 09:15: Slept very poorly last night, but legs didn’t feel too bad. Still very conservative w/ recovery so did only elliptical machine this morning. Wore lots of layers and actually felt quite good and kept HR very high, up to about 170. Brought effort down after 50’ as that felt very good for 1 day post long run. Total 60’.

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

16:30: Easy run on science museum loop. Felt a bit tired still but not too bad. Ran slow, 4’40s mostly. Got a nasty poop cramp w/ like 1km to go and had to walk for like 200m to the track to use the bathroom it was so bad. Felt much better after and did drills and 4x very slow strides (1’30). Total run 8km+ in 37’30.

XT: Toes, heel drops.

Domingo, 14 de Abril, 2019 – 10:10am: Easy run on short chuck loop. Mostly 4’30s after slow first km. Felt okay. Stopped at track and did drills, 4x strides in 1’27, and then finished on fields to get to an hour. Total run 13.5km in 61’.

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

16:45: Clockwork shakeout on the fields w/ about 5km on the grass and then 2km on the turf, barefoot. Down to 4’02 last km. Did drills and 4x strides in 1’25. Easy home. Total run 8km+ in 35’.

XT: Heel drops, toes.