52 miles and a couple of solid workouts (with minor hiccups) this week! And holy WUT, we are getting close to the single-digit countdown to Boston. The weather has been cooperating a bit more lately, but the wind won’t quit and that’s added a big challenge to some workouts. I’ll be happy once we have one of those perfect spring days when you feel like you could run forever. You know, when the sun is out in full force, you get the chance to show off those pasty legs, and not run against a WALL of wind. Crossing my fingers that this scenario happens soon (and if just so happens to be on race day, then I’ll be a happy girl).

This week, I ran 52 miles: 5 runs, 1 hour yoga, core routine x 3. 

[Whoops! Zero strength training? I blame Corey because she didn’t force me to go the gym with her 😉 I’ll be back at it this week, for sure.]

Monday: 6 miles, 7:42 average recovery miles + core 

Easy around the neighorhood. Glad I scheduled a recovery run today instead of a workout, legs felt heavier than I thought they would be (makes sense after 20 on Saturday and 5 on Sunday).

Tuesday: 11 miles, 7:02 average [8 mile progressive]

I debated between a progressive or a steady state run today. A steady state probably would have been more fun because the wind heading north was pretty brutal. I stopped to collect myself after mile 2 just to give myself a pep talk to run 2 more miles against it before turning south. (When you have to stop and give yourself a pep talk, you know it’s bad.) Wind gusts were over 20mph apparently, so at least it wasn’t all in my own head. My legs felt pretty peppy today but had trouble locking into the specific pace per mile – they either wanted to go slower or faster (typical for a progressive tempo).

Splits: (headwind) 7:13, 7:05, 7;02, 6:53 (tailwind) 6:45, 6:44, 6:41, 6:28. (2 up and 1 down)

Wednesday: 1 hour yoga cross-training

I found the sunny part of the studio. It felt so good to FLOW and start my day with yoga again.

Thursday: 9.23 miles, 7:24 average [4 x 1 mile repeats on the track]

Today was a tough day.

First speed workout on a track in ….. 7-8 years? Yeah, it’s been that long. Really don’t have a track nearby that’s convenient for weekly use so I jumped at the chance to go to North Park track with with Corey this morning. I woke up early to meet her before the wind picked up and the thunderstorms rolled in that afternoon. We didn’t quite escape the wind, though, which made each lap mentally difficult with a massive headwind down the straightaway. I just had a tough day mentally and I was stupid & silly about pacing. (Corey, on the other hand, rocked her 800 repeats and looked incredibly strong even in the wind! That girl is READY to race.)

You’d think it would be easier for me to gauge my pace on a track than it is on the lakefront path. Nope, not today. Without fail, I’d run the first 1-2 400s wayyyy too fast (like 400 m-800 m pace…) and suck wind for the last 2-3. The splits look impressive on paper, but when you factor in a 15 sec ‘mental stop’ after the first 400 of each repeat, it’s a little less impressive.

Splits: 6:08, 6:02 (what), 6:10, and 6:07. If you think about it, I basically split these up into 400 cruise intervals and 1200 m repeats. Blergh. I know I still put in the work but I’m disappointed that I just couldn’t get into the right pace zone today. Normally my mile repeats would be 6:20-25 — if I had just settled down a bit, that would have felt like a breeze, I think. I think I was just nervous, anxious, and excited to run on a track again. The next speed workout on the track should go smoothly. On to the next! (I’m practicing my short-term memory a bit on this one.)

Giant. Dwarf.

Friday: 5.5 miles, 7:37 average recovery miles + core 

Afternoon recovery around the neighborhood. For such a gloomy grey day, it felt so nice out there. (Probably because I wasn’t fighting against a wall of wind)

Saturday: FINAL HILLY 20-MILER! 7:37/mi average 

I drove out to Morton Arboretum with Corey and Chanthana for our FINAL 20-miler before Boston! (Say what?! 3 weeks?!) I kept thinking about how much easier the hills felt compared to our first run out there in January (and this time we didn’t have to worry about slipping and falling on the ice!) I thought I might try to hit 2:45 total for the run today if I felt good. I’ve never run beyond 20 mi in training, but my left calf started to tighten around mile 15-16 and I knew it would be silly to run the extra time “just because” so I called it at 20. (Mantra: don’t be a hero slash stupid-head.) I felt really strong the entire time– conquered the hills and the pace was more even than it has been in the past. Side-5 with Connie and Pedro F. (around mile 16) — lots of Boston jackets out there today! Especially on the longer loop, it’s cool to pick your head up and see all of the runners training for Boston heading both directions. Lots of bright colors weaving between the trees.

Gu and water at mile 9
Gu and water at mile 14

I spent that afternoon monitoring my left calf/achilles. I wore compression socks the rest of the day, used the Roll Recovery on it, and iced it twice. (It loosened up by the time I went to bed and was only slightly sore on Sunday while spectating. I think taking a full (planned) rest day and walking around that day really helped.)

As much as I like hot chocolate, I’m going to be so happy when it’s more of a treat and less of a necessity after a cold run.

Sunday: REST

Spectating at the Shamrock Shuffle, followed by breakfast pizza, french toast, bloody mary, BEER, fried chicken, and cupcake madness. I mean, I think this is recovery done right!

Chanthana. The vuvuzela master.

Guys, we were out there for over an hour. And judging by the amount of saliva we left on the sidewalk, we worked really hard.

If you ran the Shamrock Shuffle and heard a weird noise around Mile 2, that was probably us (orrrrrr the dude wearing a cereal box and grass skirt on his head trying to compete with us from across the street).

The  Man ran his first 8k with very little training. It’s the year of the DEBUT MARATHON and we’re easing into the training a bit. I’m excited for his big year!

Thoughts on This Week:

I’m happy with the work I put in this week. This cycle has been all about making those small gains a bit at a time. And I think the pieces are finally falling into place. When I started this week, I wasn’t sure if it would be peak week. It might turn out to be peak week in terms of mileage, but I still have two benchmark workouts on the calendar this coming week that will really give me an idea if I can commit to specific goal at Boston. I’ll be running ~50 miles this week, with two big workouts and 15-16 mile easy long run. And then? And then, I truly begin the taper. Last year I did a 2-week taper before Boston and it worked out well.

I leave you with Barklee’s presentation of this year’s Boston Welcome Packet. Because, you know, her face just needs to be included in this announcement somehow.

She’s all business.

-J