Countdown to Ultra Training (2 weeks to go)

Monday
Did: strength
Good lift today. Apparently my gym time has been paying off since I've received a couple of comments/compliments in the past week about my arms. 😁 Woohoo!

Tuesday
Did: #Track10kTuesday, 6.5 mi @ 8:10/mi avg
Met AT the track this morning instead of running to it due to my track buddy having to bring his 5-month-old in the stroller and the threat of rain. I'd decided on mile repeats which I was not thrilled about this morning, but stuck to my plan and ended up feeling pretty good.
3x mile repeats... 7:17, 7:22, 7:22 (consistency!)
3x 400 repeats... 1:40, 1:37, 1:35

Also, new shoes day!

Wednesday
Did: 4.98 mi @ 8:42/mi 
Lunchtime trail run at work, felt so nice outside in the low(er) humidity and slight breeze and cooler temps! I thought I was taking this easy but... still pretty quick for a trail run.

Thursday
Did: 25 mins core/strength + run/walk around Gateway Park trails
Did an end-of-day core/strength workout in the gym, then went to the park with D and followed him around the dirt trails for a little run/walk.

Friday
Did: 4.1 mi @ 8:25/mi avg
I couldn't help but run today to enjoy the cool temps... it was so nice! Dressed to run first thing and ran when I got to work, felt so good to get that done before work and the inevitable Friday insanity.

Saturday
Did: 7.2 mi trail run
Wasn't feeling great but plodded around the JFA loop at Pleasant Ridge. Felt much better after some time in the woods.

Sunday
Did: 24.5 mi road bike ride
Family bike ride on the Swamp Rabbit trail to visit the zoo and stop at Swamp Rabbit Grocery on the way home for lunch. Fun time!

D wouldn't smile. 

The Wee-Hoo!

Countdown to Ultra Training (3 weeks to go)

Monday
Did: rest
Well that didn't start off the week very well. Monday work craziness got the best of me and I didn't make it down to the gym, though I did walk on the treadmill desk and got my 10k steps for the day so... that's something.

Also noticing some soreness in my heel in the evenings... googling and consulting my athlete injury book all point to plantar fasciitis. I rolled my arches with a golf ball throughout the evening in an attempt to loosen things up. I think my slackness on stretching (calves & hammies) and the hike with added weight on Sunday (more stress on calves) may have been the cause. It doesn't crop up in the morning like most cases, just when I'm walking around the house in the evening. Doesn't bother me while running. Hoping that paying attention to it with golf ball and stretching better will make it go away.

Tuesday
Did: 3x4x400 progression, 6.81 mi @ 7:58/mi avg
Track Tuesday again this morning - felt better than last week, more energy, and I think it was (a little) less humid. Decided on a progression of 3 sets of 3 400s, and was impressed with how accurate I was on most of my 400s...
3x400 @ 10k pace (target 1:50): 1:59*, 1:49, 1:51
3x400 @ 5k pace (target 1:45): 1:45, 1:48, 1:45
3x400 @ 1M pace (target under 1:40): 1:37, 1:42, 1:34

*I stopped to take a photo of the moon, which was beautiful... but the photo didn't turn out great.

#TrackTuesday done!

Wednesday
Did: strength
Got down to the gym late afternoon (ugh) for a lift, only about 30 mins but felt pretty good about what I got done. 

Thursday
Did: 4.21 mi treadmill 4x half-mile hill repeats
Couldn't stomach the idea of the heat outside at lunch today so I opted instead for the treadmill and did something new: hill repeats! I'm not sure what % grade I was on but it was a 7.0 setting. whatever that means. Felt hard but not too hard to manage for a half mile. The last repeat I cranked it up a bit and ended up around a 9, which did feel much harder. Not a bad little workout!

Friday
Did: rest
Well okay, I did walk on the treadmill desk for ~1hr so I got my steps in but... other than that, nope.

Saturday
Did: 7.25 mi trail run
Really this was ~ 6.75 mi trail run with a ~1-2 mile hike in the middle, and then another half mile walking around with D on his bike.
I headed up to Dupont early, beautiful fog still hanging around in the air.

 

  

Started out on Sky Valley Rd gravel climb to get to the top of Rocky Ridge trail.

Frank Street ?

Quiet morning trail

Decided to explore Stone Mtn Trail at the top (it's an out-and-back one-mile trail) because it's not bikeable (for me). Turned out it wasn't very runnable either, but boy it was worth the trek!

 

It's hard to capture the steepness of the trail in photos... but trust me, it was steep. Descriptions of the trail that I read said it maxed out around 30% grade!

At one point, I came to a "clearing" in the trees, but the trail was so overgrown with weeds that I ended up basically burrowing through them. 

  

Yep, that was the trail.

More scrambling up rocks & roots...

 

... but finally came out on a rock face to see this!!

 

Apparently this is the highest point in Dupont. 😍

I spent a while up here just taking in the view. SO worth the climb.

 

Just a little hill.

I made my way back down and finished out the run on Rocky Ridge, then made my way back to the parking area to meet Scott & D for kid hand-off. I followed D for another ~half mile while he rode his bike, then he decided he was done and we headed home. 

Sunday

Did: 9.06 mi Paris Mountain climb

Decided on an early run up Altamont Road since apparently I didn't get enough hills yesterday? Sure, why not. I took this run overall slower than I usually would have due to 1) leg tiredness from the day before and 2) just wanted a steady run, wasn't trying to push the pace. I ended up with a slow ascent (24:14) but I didn't stop to walk at all, which was my goal. 

Still love seeing the "You Made It" sign at the top.

Bonus: Sunday Funday Yoga!
Got to attend our favorite yoga class with Kimmie at Mountain Goat... always a good stretchy time.

Week-ending thoughts: Although my mileage for the week (~27 mi) wasn't as high as I would have liked and I didn't get a double-digit run, I still got a lot of good hill work in which is good. Building that climbing strength will be beneficial in the coming months. I do miss biking.

Countdown to Ultra Training (4 weeks to go)

Monday
Did: strength
Got a full hour of strength in today and felt great! My arms felt like noodles afterwards which is always a good sign. 😁

Tuesday
Did: 6.51 mi @ 8:00/mi track ladder
Finally made it back to the track with Matt this morning! I was excited about it last night, but woke up this morning after not sleeping well and was sooooo dreading the hard speed work ahead. As usual, I pushed through and did okay. I opted for a ladder workout (my default speed workout when I can't think of anything better). 400, 800, 1200, 800, 400 with 400 rest in between.
My paces weren't anything stellar... close to 7:00/mi for the longer segments, and got my final 400 under 6:30 pace, but still not where I'd like to be. Of course, wishing I could run faster without actually doing speedwork is certainly not going to get me there. 😅
Also...36 weeks streak for the #10kTuesday... woooot.

Sunrise over the track, and Paris Mtn towers in the distance.

Wednesday
Did: rest
Brain & body needed it. I still walked on the treadmill desk and got my 10k steps in. I've got a streak going since June 29th so now it's "a thing" that I must continue.

Thursday
Did: 5.16 mi @ 9:34/mi
Ran the trails at work - it was HOT. I took a couple of walk breaks and really should have taken water out with me. Gotta remember to pack the water bottle for lunch runs for the next few months.

Friday
Did: short core session
Ran short on time but still wanted to get in something. Did a variety of core exercises - not bad for a quick session.

Saturday
Did: 10.06 mi @ 8:14/mi
Whoa, this was a fast one for me! Ran with the early group and did not anticipate running quite this pace for this distance, but I guess it's a good test of my abilities. We ran the "Best 10" route backwards which apparently includes a lot of hills. I think the worst one was the long, slow, gradual climb on Earle Street at mile ~8ish where I was definitely fading. Basically mile 6.5-8.5 climbs from the lowest point to the highest point in the entire route, and after clocking sub-8s for miles 2-5, I was pooped! Still really happy with this run, though, and glad to get it done all before 8am!

Sunday
Did: ~4 miles hiking at Paris Mountain
Met Robin at Paris Mountain with Luna and Super D. Started out with D on his bike but only made it ~half mile up Sulphur Springs before he decided he wanted to go downhill and go back to the car. So we did that, and made a gear transition.

  

Oh yeah, 30 lbs of preschooler on my back. Hello legs!
He rode for the first ~half mile, hiked about a mile and a half, then rode the rest of the way. This was challenging, but man, definitely a good workout!!

Elevation? What elevation?

Snack break.

Hiking party!

I was really proud of how well D did with hiking (really, we all did well!) and it was fun to do something a little different.


Week-ending thoughts: A good, solid, active week. Got my long run. Missed biking. Always a trade-off.

Countdown to Ultra Training (5 weeks to go)

Monday
Did: short lift
Got down to the gym late in the afternoon so didn't have much time. Still got in a decent enough lift that I'm sore today (Tuesday) as I'm writing this.

Tuesday
Did: 6.25 mi @ 8:37/mi
"Slow" run for me but felt hard... heat and humidity probably had something to do with it. Ran with the early group downtown, "Wave at the Hills" route. Fastest mile was "only" an 8:16/mi. Glad to get this one done before the heat of the day, though!

Wednesday
Did: rest

Thursday
Did: 40.8 mi road bike ride
At the Lake for the long holiday weekend, Scott and I brought our road bikes and headed out for what we planned to be a ~35 mi ride on Thursday morning.

Our route ended up at a lovely "Pavement Ends" sign and gravel ahead of us... so we were forced to re-route and go a different direction.

  

Luckily we found our way back to the original route and only added about 5 miles to the total ride. This is my longest ride in quite a while (looking at Garmin records last ride this long was in Montreal a year ago) and I was happy it didn't feel too hard. Definitely tired but manageable.

Friday
Did: 5.07 mi @ 8:43/mi
Did an early morning run with Scott, just an out-and-back on Lake Road. It was disgustingly humid! I could tell on the uphills that my legs were tired from the day before but not as bad as I thought they'd be.

Saturday
Did: 9.02 mi @ 9:35/mi
My long run wasn't quite as long as I'd wanted it to be, but considering the terrain and the hard efforts of the previous couple of days, I decided 9 was good enough. Ran the entire loop of the Rolling Hills neighborhood, pretty quiet and a few nice views of the lake.

Winding country roads

Sunday
Did: 3.2 mi @ 9:49/mi w/ 8x hill repeats
Opted for a short run but did hill repeats on the hill right outside the lakehouse driveway. It rises about 50' in 0.05 miles, which doesn't sound like much, but sure feels like it when you're trying to sprint up it. I kept all my splits around 27-28 seconds, then pushed on the eighth and final one and got it under 25 seconds (24.1s to be exact).


Week-ending thoughts: Pretty happy with the consistent effort over the holiday weekend. Still missing that double-digit run and didn't get anything on trail, but overall a solid week.

Countdown to Ultra Training (6 weeks to go)

Week beginning thoughts: Man this countdown is going quicker than I thought...

Monday
Did: strength 
Eugh, this was a challenge. The grunter/yeller was in the gym when I went this morning, which just threw everything off because he basically exists on the squat rack for his entire workout. I retreated to the aerobics room and did free weights & core stuff for the most part. Thankfully my shoulder actually felt better after lifting and stretching, so that's a plus.

Tuesday
Did: 6.22 mi @ 8:12/mi
Great but humid run this morning with the early downtown group. Did the West End Six route and ended up pretty far out in front of the group with one other person. A couple of miles just sub-8 pace but pretty consistently and comfortably around ~8:15 for most of the run. Woohoo!

Wednesday
Did: 4.79 mi @ 9:04/mi
Trail run at lunch at work today. Hot. Forgot snack so was hungry. Thirsty, too. Not thrilled about the run itself but glad to have gotten it done.

Thursday
Did: 5.2 mi mountain bike - Short Track #4
Rode in the final short track race for the season and felt pretty good about my performance - finally a small enough women's field for me to take the 3rd Place podium! 😁 I didn't push particularly hard, even spent a couple of laps riding another guy's back wheel because I didn't quite feel like working to get past him... eventually I got him on a climb and caught sight of another girl in front of me who I thought I could probably catch on the last lap. I was just closing in on her at the start of the final lap... and she pulls off the track and declares she's done! Not quite how I wanted to "catch" her but I guess it counts... Anyway, it was a good way to close out the season.

 

Podium!

Friday
Did: rest

Saturday
Did: 8.1 mi @ 10:16/mi
Whew, it has been a hot minute since I ran with the stroller and especially since the weather has turned HOT. I had to stop and walk several times (especially on hills) but finally felt good towards the end. D enjoyed a homemade peanut butter oat bar followed by a nap.

  

Sunday

Did: 4.05 mi trail run @ 12:11/mi + 9.05 mi mountain bike ride

Sunday Ladies' Ride at Dupont, but wasn't scheduled to start until 10 so I got up there early to get a few miles of running done before the bike ride. I did a lot of hiking on parts of the trail - my calves have not adapted to climbing on trails yet, so hopefully they get used to it soon!

 

The ladies' ride was a good, casual ride - covered a bit over 9 miles, went up to the air strip and to Bridal Veil Falls, and enjoyed the company of some awesome women. 

  

  

  

Week-ending thoughts: Despite running 8 on Saturday I still feel like I didn't really get in a good "long run". Planning on some runs at the lake over the long holiday weekend, so that'll make up for it hopefully.