Some people asked me lately if I'd been so demoralized by my recent 10K that I just gave up running all together, what with the lack of blog posts and Strava data & general radio silence.
No way, dude! But I have had an unfortunate coincidence of circumstances that kind of makes it look that way, namely
- 1) I've got some really big work projects lately that involve a lot of time and particularly a lot of writing, so I've been trying to be a responsible grown up & devote my spare writing spoons to the stuff that actually pays the bills, and
2) My (1.5 year old) Garmin may or may not have just bit the dust last week. When it's charged it works fine, but it's been getting harder and harder to wiggle it just right so that it will make contact with the charger pins enough to actually connect, and I guess a couple of weeks ago was the week it finally went NOPE! So I've been slowly watching the juice drain out of it, and a couple of days ago it went dead at long last. I've been in touch with Garmin support & tried all their suggestions but nothing works, to which their response was, "Sorry, only 1 year warranty, but we'll totally send you a refurbished one for like $150." Which I guess is better than dropping another $300+ on a new one, but I'm going to try one last Hail Mary & see if REI (where I bought it) will see it as a manufacturer's defect (since it's only 1.5 years old it hardly seems fair to call this normal wear & tear) & replace it. We shall see. In any case, that's why there's been no Strava data. Lately it's been all treadmills & running in lane 1 or on a known route with an old school stopwatch.
As far as the shitty 10K goes, I've appreciated all the advice I've gotten from people more experienced at racing than me who've been like a) seriously, you had a lot of crap going on that weekend, of course you had a shit race, and b) sometimes we just have shit races no matter how fit we are, who knows why, it doesn't really matter, move along, nothing to see here. So that's the attitude I've been trying to take.
Who even cares, though, because last week this happened.
Going into CIM last year at age 35, I was happy to have those extra five qualifying minutes because I thought maybe I could run 3:32ish fingers crossed but felt I could *definitely* run 3:37ish. Honestly I was just happy to PR & qualify and didn't really think much of beating my qualifying time by over five minutes. During the Boston registration process, though, it turns out there is QUITE a big difference in beating your time by more than five minutes or less than five minutes. I filled out my application the morning of Friday 9/15 and got my confirmation of acceptance letter two days later on Sunday 9/17, whereas people who qualified by less than five minutes started applying on Saturday 9/16 and, based on the BAA's posts I've seen as of today, Sunday 9/24 (and their posts have been quite frequent, detailed, and informative) many are still waiting to hear what the cut off will be and whether they squeaked in.
I like an 18 week build up to an "A" race marathon so my tentative plan is to run RNR San Jose on 10/8, base build + run whatever else I want for fun through October & November, then for-reals start following a training plan the week of 12/11. Training over Christmas could be interesting but I think the first few months of the year should be a good time to settle in & just train. The renovations will be over (THANK JESUS) and I don't think I should be traveling TOO too much for work.
Speaking of RNR San Jose, here's a quick recap of the last few weeks. Honestly I feel subjectively like this training cycle has kind of been poop between all the renovations stuff, moving crap all the time, & a bunch of work travel, but when I look back over it, I actually have been consistently over 40 miles per week including two workouts except for the 10K taper/recovery weeks, which is honestly more than I've managed for my best half marathons in the past. It's not the 60+ mpw I'd hoped for but perhaps there will be a little something there on 10/8.
Grand Total: 26.2 miles
- * 15 easy
* 5 speed
* 6.2 race
Monday 8/29: Karate
Tuesday 8/30: 2 warm up, 10 x (600m @ 10K pace / 200m jog) 2 cool down = 9 total
Wednesday 8/31: Karate
Thursday 9/1: 8 easy.
Friday 9/2: 8 easy REST. This is the first time I've intentionally skipped a run in forever, but guys, it was 106F and I couldn't fathom the thought of leaving the house. Just, no. (Plus, I was racing Sunday & had been feeling a bit run-down, so it didn't seem like a particularly bad idea anyway.)
Saturday 9/3: 2 easy Moving (also 106F again).
Sunday 9/4: 3 warm up / 6.2 RACE!!= 9.2 total
Grand Total: 32 miles, all easy + 2 hours strength work
Monday 9/4: Karate
Tuesday 9/5: 6 easy
Wednesday 9/6: a.m. strength work
Thursday 9/7: 8 easy.
Friday 9/8: a.m. strength work / 8 easy
Saturday 9/9: Rest
Sunday 9/10: 10 easy
Grand Total: 40.5 miles + 2 hours strength work.
- * 18 easy
* 3 speed
* 3.5 tempo/threshold
* 16 long
Monday 9/11: Karate
Tuesday 9/12: 2 warm up, 3 x (1600m @ HMP / 1:00 jog), 2 cool down = 7 total
Wednesday 9/13: a.m. strength work / p.m. karate
Thursday 9/14: 10 easy.
Friday 9/15: a.m. strength work / p.m. 2 warm up, 12 x 200m / 200m jog, 2 cool down = 7 total
Saturday 9/16: Rest
Sunday 9/17: 16 long
Grand Total: 37 miles + 2 hours strength work.
- * 19.7 easy
* 3.3 speed
* 14 long
Ugh, this week kind of sucked. At every turn I was foiled by work, illness, & generally bad timing. I would have been happier with ~45ish miles but it is what it is.
Monday 9/18: a.m. strength work
Tuesday 9/19: 2.5 warm up, 3 x 1600m @ 10K pace / 1:30 jog, 2.2 cool down = 8 total
Wednesday 9/20: a.m. strength work
Thursday 9/21: 8 easy.
Friday 9/22: a.m. strength work / p.m. 8 easy Sick day. I'd been fighting it all week & Friday it finally hit.
Saturday 9/23: 7 easy. Feeling a lot better & wanted to get in a couple of extra easy miles, but didn't have time.
Sunday 9/25: 14 long
It's probably not a good idea to start tapering three weeks out when you're not even running 50 miles a week, but that's kind of what's happened. Probably ~35ish miles next week, and then the week after that is race week, so another ~35ish, probably, including the race.
Congrats on getting that registration through!!
ReplyDeleteBravo! Congrats again and enjoy the road to Boston, I THINK (going out on a limb here) you're going to appreciate it. Except the inevitable speed bump when Adidas releases their garish jacket colors – blue and yellow guys, blue and yellow! And do keep an eye out, you may just be seeing that shot of you ringing the BQ bell at CIM again very soon...
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on getting accepted to Boston! That's an exciting goal race on the calendar.
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