6 weeks til Utah

Monday

5k pup run

15 min ruck strength

20 min pup ruck 

Nice Monday routine - little bit of everything, trying to beat the heat!

Tuesday

6.3 mi @ 8:56/mi XC #10kTuesday

Went out for a double XC loop for 10k Tuesday, and ended up realizing I was doing a progression around mile 4... so I decided to keep at it and push the last 2 miles even faster. Great workout considering it was a bit cloudier/cooler than I'd expected!

Just look how pretty that is 🤩

Wednesday

2 mi pup run

Post-run hydration

1.1 mi pup ruck w/ 20#

Got too hot for the little gal for much more than a mile at lunch so we kept it short and sweet.

Thursday

20 min ruck strength

Did a little strength routine in the morning before heading to the office. 20# ruck, did chest press, squats, shoulder taps, rows, and crunches with ruck overhead. Started with 20 reps then reduced by 2 until I got to 10 reps. 

5.23 mi @ 8:59/mi 

Midday run was quiiiite warm, goal was to keep a good but not too fast pace and after a 4 mile progression (oops) was able to drop it back for the last mile. 

Got an email tonight from Tushars Mountain Runs that the course has been changed based on permits by the park service... so now we won't be going up to the 12,000ft peak, but instead climbing two 11,000 ft peaks. Overall ends up with about the same elevation just split into two climbs instead of one. 

Friday

3.24 mi @ 9:10/mi 

Just a short and sweet 5k in the midday heat, made myself go up the River Bend hill climb (just once though) for good measure.

Saturday

4x loops at Paris Mtn (9.1 mi total) @ 12:21/mi avg

Did a little combo training for Utah trail runs + Carolina Reaper challenge. The Sassafras Trail loop at Paris Mountain State Park is 2.3 miles long and climbs about 400 feet per loop. This seemed like a good one to try to do at 45 minute intervals, with the balance of non-running time as static rest (mimicking the format of Reaper). I also wanted to test out some hydration pills (salts & electrolytes) as well as making sure I fueled with every loop. 

Overall, I'd say this was a successful training session! I felt like I kept it steady, not too conservative, but definitely sustainable pace per loop. It helped that the shade of the trees made the temps feel not so bad, although it was definitely humid. I let myself push a little faster on the final lap which made it my fastest.

I started feeling less great later in the afternoon, but not sure if it was due to the morning heat, the salt pills, the glass of prosecco + heavy stout I had around 2pm, or the time laying in the hot sun at the pool from 4-5pm... or maybe some combination of those factors. 

Sunday

short walk + 1.5 mi run with kiddo and pup

Took the pup and kid to Unity Park in the morning figuring I would run with pup while D played on the playground. Seemed that he wanted to hang out with me instead, and even suggested a run around the park! He said he wanted to do 3 laps, but we made it about 1 and some change before all 3 of us decided it was a little too warm for that and headed home. Still was a nice little lap!

7.4 mi @ 10:52/mi 

Got home and felt oddly ambitious... so decided to do 7 laps of the neighborhood with some heartrate control goals. Again, aimed to keep it under 160 bpm, and if I hit that limit, I would walk until it recovered to 150 or lower. It got more and more difficult as the laps went on, with basically zero shade or cloud cover and minimal breeze. Still, really happy to get this run done in the heat of midday!

Another week close to 40 miles (38 miles, to be precise) - feeling good and strong!