The scene that greeted me as I finished Friday's threshold run just after sunset. Gorgeous, yes, but unfortunately the lovely colors are mostly the result of a bunch of crap in the air from the Thomas fire down south.
Ahhhh, the CIM stories just keep pouring in. So many wonderful races for so many friends and internet acquaintances, and I feel pretty certain this is the most PR and BQ stories I've heard from one race for as long as I've been running. I'd been planning to take some time off from marathons after next April but I already love that damn race so much that every time someone else is like, "Oh, yeah, I forgot to post about CIM, [AMAZING THING ACCOMPLISHED]," I feel like I'm right there in those last miles again getting all weepy and giddy and then my race registration finger starts getting twitchy. The CIM $99 holiday sale is not helping matters.
But I'm not giving in! Not just yet, anyway. I mean, I'm not saying I won't run CIM next year, but spots will certainly still be there in May. No, they won't be $99 anymore, but the last thing I want to do is buy a cheap registration, realize come summer that I am just plain marathon'd out for a while, & then feel like I have to jump back into training so I don't waste that $99. I'd rather pay more and be sure because there's no such thing as a good deal on a DNS or a race you're not excited about.
Meanwhile, back here in 2017...
The ramp-up to this training cycle hasn't been what I hoped for. For a while I was doing fine, gradually creeping my way up through the mid-40s & upper-40s & then finally hitting 50 miles/week somewhere in mid-November. Unfortunately, that's where my calf muscles for some reason decided to go on strike. I didn't change anything (terrain, shoes, etc.) & was doing all easy miles & increasing weekly mileage very reasonably and responsibly, but suddenly out of nowhere they were like NOPE! Strains and cramping and Achilles pulls allllll the time! Oh, you wanted to run MORE than 5-6 miles? You wanted to sleep through the night without waking up with charlie horses in both legs? Well lololol, sucks to be you!
So, instead of holding nice & easy at that 50 mpw mark, my mileage for the last month has been more like 25 or 15 or 8 mpw, with my longest run at 8 miles. This did not bode well for week one of Boston training.
They sent me a thing so I'm pretty sure I have to actually do it now.
Thankfully, in week "negative one," things seemed to take a turn for the better, which I credit to sucking it up & rolling with the lacrosse ball for 30-40 minutes a night while binge watching Netflix. (Turns out you have lots of free time when you can only run 4-6 miles at a time.) I was able to get in 34 easy miles, including an 8-miler on Thursday and a 10-miler on Sunday with no issues. My calves did feel a bit sore and every now and then I can feel the Achilles tendon in my left calf starting to talk to me (not pain, just, "Heyyyy I am still here and don't forget to roll!"), but finishing the runs was no problem. (My assigned long run that Sunday was 13-15 miles, and I think I actually probably could have made it to 13, but honestly I was just feeling thankful to get to double digits and did not want to push my luck.)
So, I am trying to be super diligent about doing all the calf & Achilles rolling that I know I never do enough of or just ignore altogether & hopefully that will keep me on the road to recovery as I start adding in these longer workouts.
Grand Total: 41 total miles
- * 16 easy
* 4 speed
* 5 MP
* 16 long
Originally the plan was to be at more like 47 miles for Week 1, but as my mileage for the last month has been poop, that seemed ill-advised. So two workouts, four runs total, and three rest days it was. I also completely bailed on strength work this week in favor of extra sleep, what with my legs feeling a bit beaten up by starting back with workouts.
- Monday 12/11: karate
Tuesday 12/12: 2 warm up, 16 x 200m / 200m jog, 2 cool down = 8 total. I've done 200m repeat workouts tons of times (especially during half marathon training) but I don't think he's ever had me do this many repeats. I think the usual number has been 12. So, on paper, this workout was maybe a bit intimidating, plus there was the issue of my calf/Achilles drama. Sometimes in the past I've had a bad habit of hammering these like I'm training for the mile or something (ie running them in 0:40-41 each), so knowing I had 16 to get through, I tried to make a very conscious choice NOT to hammer them & instead just focus on gliding through them fast & smooth at something like 1600m race pace. 45 / 45 / 44 / 43 / 46 / 43 / 44 / 45 / 45 / 46 / 43 / 45 / 43 / 43 / 44 / 44, & no calf pain. I will take it.
Wednesday 12/13: a.m. strength work/p.m. karate Rest, and I'm not even mad about it. Man, that first track workout after weeks & weeks of easy miles always totally wrecks me! I definitely needed the extra sleep and NOT to be trashing my muscles further in the gym quite yet. Karate cancelled due to horrendous traffic.
Thursday 12/14: 8 easy. I had to switch things around because of some scheduling things, and I am so not not NOT a morning runner. My inner monologue: "Ug, this run sucks. It's got to be almost over. 2.5 miles??? F*** this shit. Whose idea was this run, anyway? Running is stupid. How am I not at the turnaround yet??? I feel like I've been on this run since my late 20's. Christ, how do I have like three whole miles left?? This run is bullshit. I don't even remember what my life was like before this run. Apparently this run is just my life now. F***."
Friday 12/15: a.m. strength work/p.m. 2 warm up, 40:00 @ MP, 1.9 cool down = 9 total. Tempo/threshold workouts are always so absurdly hard when I first go back to doing them after a chunk of base building. So, so much wind sucking! On the plus side, yes, it was hard, but not OMG-I-think-I-might-actually-die hard & I never felt like I was going to fall off the pace or like I might not be able to finish the workout.
Saturday 12/16: Rest
Sunday 12/17: 16 long, including 733' vertical. (Given those Newton Hills AND the fact that I'll be running Big Sur 13 days later, I'm trying to make it a point of getting in a solid amount of hill work every long run.) I haven't run 16 miles since my peak week (such as it was) for RNR SJ at the end of September (though I did have a couple of 14-15 milers since then), and while it was completely within reason my legs definitely did kind of go OH HEY LONG RUNS! It was a good reminder that I need to keep rolling and stretching not only my calf muscles but also my hamstrings, adductors, and hip flexors as I ramp up the mileage. Basically if I am not working, running, eating, or sleeping I should be rolling or stretching something. Fun times.
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Boston Marathon Week 2 of 18: speed, snow, & vertical
Boston Marathon Week 3 of 18: Foiled By Weather & Travel
Boston Marathon Week 4 of 18: There's "hills" and then there's HILLLZZ
Ayyy, marathon training. It's sensible to ease back into it, you have plenty of time! I swear, the Newton hills are just that...rolling, kinda long, placed at an unfortunate point on the course. We have no mountains out here in New England :) See you in April!
ReplyDeleteGet those hills in! Although to be honest, I didn't think Boston was that bad. Now, it was a hot year when I ran it, so I was opting for an easy pace, but still - the way people talk about them, I thought I'd be toast, and it didn't seem bad at all. I didn't even realize I was on heartbreak hill until I was at the top.
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