Countdown to Ultra Training (7 weeks to go)

Monday
Did: nothing
Basically, EVERYTHING went wrong today. Ugh.

Tuesday
Did: 6.2 mi @ 7:44/mi avg
I'm not saying having a bad day was a good thing, but bad days sure do bring out some REALLY good runs! Headed into work for some treadmill speedwork this morning because I just didn't feel like dealing with the outdoors. I call this one "falling down a ladder" 😂
1 WU
2 mi @ sub-7:15
1 mi @ sub-7
.5 mi @ 6:30/mi
.25 @ sub-6:15
(with proportionally appropriate breaks between each)
Definitely was working hard by that last one, but felt good and felt like I could have gone faster overall. I was also 10 seconds shy of a 10k PR... which I totally could have managed because the last ~half mile was cooldown. But I refuse to PR on a treadmill, so I was satisfied just knowing I could have done it.

Wednesday
Did: 5.46 mi @ 12:20/mi trail run
Headed to Paris Mountain this afternoon for some trail action. Did the climb up Sulphur Springs to the intersection with Firetower before heading back down. It was a sssllloowwww climb (like 14:30/mi pace) but I did it without walking (how can you tell at that pace??). It was tough... trail running is very humbling! Climbed a bit over 700 feet through the entire run.

  

Thursday
Did: rest
Thought of lifting, but I've had some lingering shoulder pain (feels like some kind of bursitis/impingement) so I decided against it.

Friday
Did: rest
This one was planned... worked from home then drove up to Tsali for the weekend of camping & mountain bike "race".

Saturday
Did: 10.4 mi mountain bike
Well... my first loop in the 12 Hours of Tsali race went about like my second loop did last year. Biking in thunderstorms! Lots of mud! Like riding in a creek the entire time! Anyway, it dampened (literally) my motivation for a second loop, which was just as well since they ended up canceling the rest of the race around 3pm (6 hours into the 12 hour race). The loop was harder than I remembered, but I guess I haven't been biking as much as I was last year around this time. Did my loop in an hour and 23 mins. Was not upset that the rest of the race was cancelled.

Sunday
Did: 6.4 mi @ 12:19/mi trail run
Went to Pleasant Ridge and ran the JFA loop + new loop this morning. Nice morning on the trail, pretty quiet... had some calf tightness that caused me to walk a few times during the uphill portions, but overall felt pretty good.

Into the woods

Busy week (Countdown to Ultra Training - 8 Weeks)

Monday
Did: strength
I almost bailed on this due to crazy work schedule but decided everyone would be better off if I got a workout done... it worked out just fine! I ended up having time to go lift for almost an hour and of course felt great about it. Yee haw! I can tell I'm getting much stronger in some of my lifts... gonna have to up those weights soon.

Tuesday
Did: 6.27 mi @ 8:54/mi avg
I got up and did this run earrrrlllyyyy in the neighborhood because of a morning flight. I'm so so so glad I decided to do it this way rather than meet the downtown group and be sweaty & nasty for my flight (I'm sure the person sitting next to me on the plane was glad, too). I started running right at 4:30 am and really enjoyed the quiet dark streets of my neighborhood. There was a glorious breeze and it was just so peaceful. I don't enjoy all the hills and repetitions of the roads since my neighborhood is about 1 square mile (or so) but hey, it got done.

  

Glowing... and done. :)

Wednesday - Friday
Did: nada
Work travel for a conference, and the late night dinners and drinks always end up getting the better of me, so I didn't even bring so much as a pair of running shoes.

Saturday
Did: 12.07 mi @ 9:02/mi
Yessssss this is what I needed to feel like I'm back on track. LONG RUN YAY! Got up without an alarm at the lake house, headed out around 7am into the beautiful 60-degree temps for a run down Lake Road. Winding, rollingly hilly, just an out-and-back which meant I didn't have to pay attention to any turns... just what I needed. I only planned to do 10 but still didn't feel like turning around once I'd hit the 5-mile mark, so I kept on going to 6 before heading back. Considered just finishing out a half marathon but decided I was happy with 12 by the time I passed back by the house at the end. I haven't run more than a 10k in over 3 weeks, so this was good with me.

Sunday
Did: 5.9 (actually ~6.2) mi @ 8:50/mi
Got up and did another run at the lake in the morning before breakfast. Felt good to run again but I could tell my legs (quads mostly) were tired from yesterday's long miles. Ran through a neighborhood called Rolling Hills (accurate) and realized I'd forgotten to start my watch until about a quarter mile into the run. Not sure how I managed that, but glad I realized it when I did.

Week-ending thoughts:
Despite a busy week with zero exercise, I feel REALLY good about finishing out strong and still getting in close to 25 miles this week. My tentative plan is over the next 8 weeks try to get a consistent ~30 mpw (or at least high-20s) as a base (which is slightly above what I would call my "maintenance" mileage). We'll see how that shapes up in the coming weeks.

Countdown to Ultra Training (9 weeks to go)

Decided I'm going to "officially" do an 18-week training plan for the 50k, so my countdown of training weeks will begin August 5th. Until then, I'm "in between" trying to figure out a good rhythm and routine of which days to run and which days to lift/bike... so that by the time the actual plan kicks in, I'll be set to go by adjusting time & distance.

General outline:
- 4x/wk running (2 on trails)
- 1x bike
- 1x strength
- 1x "active rest" (yoga, walking, or actual rest)

But for now, here's hoping for a good normal week...

Monday
Did: strength
Solid hour of lifting, felt good. I don't think my HR monitor was working or connecting correctly because I felt like I was working harder than burning 118 calories for a full hour... oh well.

Tuesday
Did: 6.20 mi @ 8:16/mi 
What a glorious morning! Low humidity, breeze, upper-60s... ahhh so nice. I could have kept running for six more miles if I'd had the time. This run felt like a steady push but nothing too hard, and hit some 8s on the back half... yeah negative splits for the first and second 5ks!

Wednesday
Did: 4.54 mi @ 8:55/mi 
I don't usually run back-to-back days, but knowing the prediction for rain for the rest of the week (including weekend, ugh) so I headed out to the trails for a lunchtime run. I was supposed to meet a work friend to run the 5k course, but my meeting immediately preceding our planned run time ran late, so she'd had to start without me. Not knowing how far ahead she was, I started running the course backwards and ended up catching her about a mile into the reverse course, so then we finished out the run together and I continued on for another loop on my own after she was done. Was a nice but humid run! Faster than expected. And I earned my Global Running Day badge :D

  

Thursday
Did: upper body + core
Proud of myself for not bailing on this workout (which I almost did). I have back to back to back meetings all day and was totally going to say forget it, but decided to go and do some heavier upper body work and core. Glad I did it.

Friday
Did: rest

Saturday
Did: Sunrise 8k = 36:03 mins
I wasn't sure what to expect for this, but figured it wouldn't be a PR. I know my pace has to be around a 7:00/mi for a PR attempt, and with the first mile around a 7:15 knowing the hills that were coming, I knew early on that it wouldn't be a PR race. I was fine with that, because it allowed me to relax a little for the rest of the race and just run. I still pushed a decent effort even though I got slower with every mile, ending up right around the 36-minute mark. The threat of rain with lots of clouds around made it not too hot but oh-so-humid which was almost as bad. Anyway, happy with the race and a great team turnout.

#team

Also there's something wrong with my HR monitor... 

Sunday
Did: nothing
Rain. Blergh.

Week-ending thoughts: The rainy weekend really was a bummer. I haven't gotten in a long run in over 2 weeks now, and I'm definitely feeling like I neeeeeeeed to run LONG. Hoping for something next weekend since (so far) the weather should be good. 

Trails and trails

Tuesday
Did: 6.63 mi @ 8:16/mi
Ran with the early group this morning. It was warm and humid, and I ended up running with the faster of the group. We also ran for longer than the others, which included some challenging hills toward the back half of the run. Nothing crazy but I definitely felt it and it was a push to keep up. Woof. Had a couple of sub-8 miles in the middle of the run, which I also ended up feeling at the end. But hey, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? Right.

Wednesday
Did: 30 min strength
Short lift today but got a good amount done in the short time. Started with the core routine then did a good bit of upper body plus some glute/strength moves to keep the running muscles in good form. Going to be adding significant mileage over the summer & fall so have to keep things strong!

Thursday
Did: rest
Kept meaning to run, putting it off, eventually realized it just wasn't happening. Decided to run early Friday instead.

Friday
Did: 5.02 mi @ 8:17/mi
Always a good way to kick off the (almost) weekend with the Friday Five with the early downtown group. We had a pretty large group but I ended up out front with a couple of folks. Hit a couple of 8-min miles in the middle again which is always nice to do. Feeling good!

Saturday
Did: 6.1 mi trail run + 7.2 mi mountain bike ride
Spent the afternoon on the trails at Pleasant Ridge for National Trails Day. Upstate SORBA ladies ride was planned for the afternoon, so I got up there early to run a loop on the JFA trail before the ride meet-up. Felt so nice! Actually managed negative splits (?!) for the run... still no miles below 10:00/mi but hey, that's how trails go. So hard to mentally adjust, though!

Finished up the run and headed down to the other parking lot to meet the group.

Pre-ride photo

Also had time to eat my sandwich before we started riding. Woot! We rode a casual pace and included the two newest sections of trail - super fun! A couple ladies went out for a second loop but I headed home since we had dinner plans with friends.

Post-ride

Sunday
Did: 2.65 mi run/walk
I know better. I KNOW BETTER. But darn if I didn't over-indulge at dinner Saturday night and totally ruin my Sunday. Ugh. I went out for a run but made it 1 mile before I felt too dizzy to attempt to keep going, and even walking felt terrible. So I went home and slept for 2 hours. Still felt crummy through the afternoon. I'm mostly mad at myself because it would have been a lovely morning for a long run (which was my plan). But nope, I had to have too much fun and totally make my Sunday blah.


Let's see if next week will be better...