The Little Chemist That Could

Monday, August 24, 2026

S2S Training: Week 5 of 14

Week 5 plan/goals: Pre-Race Taper

Long run of 10 miles OR split 8 mi / 3 mi with 1,500 ft vert
10k Hill workout: 10km Hill Strength. 1.5-mile easy warm-up. 3.2 miles of continuous hilly terrain (or 5 x 3-minute hard uphill bounds with a slow jog recovery down). 1.5-mile easy cool-down.
Wednesday 50-60 min Zone 2 trail
Friday 4-5 miles easy

Monday

rest

Yes indeed. Needed!

Tuesday

6.35 mi @ 9:49/mi Altamont run

It's been since the Paris Mtn 20k in December that I've run up Altamont road, and with the need for vert I decided it was time to tackle it again! Met with a couple of friends who agreed to do crazy things with me and we made our way up and down the mountain.

Gorgeous sunrise treat!

2.3 mi @ 13:14/mi

Super short and easy run at Rockers run club including a slip'n'slide and beer stop. Fun times!

Wednesday

50 min (3.7 mi) singletrack

Took a late afternoon spin on the trails at Your Momma's House (SCRA) and was slower than normal but trying to keep the heart rate in check for Zone 2. It was quite hot and legs were still pretty cooked.

Mama & baby deer!

Wheel of trail fortune!

Alt Rock

Thursday

43 min strength

Found some workouts online that I decided to follow, one is about downhill running strength and the other is a simple 3-workout rotation that I should be able to do, although requires gym access so I can't do at home which is the difficult part.

Friday

4.2 mi easy run @ 9:51/mi

Out and back on flat roads at work, still stupid hot but some clouds rolling through helped.

Saturday

8 mi trail

Ran during kiddo's bike race at Poinsett State Park which has lovely trails but being in the lowcountry means it's even muggier than usual. I'm hoping that's what drained me so badly because this run should not have been that difficult, but after 8 miles I was toast!

The spanish moss is so pretty!

Skinner's Shed 😱

Palmetto Trail was not maintained... turned around.

Sunday

lawn mow

No workout but mowed the lawn. Decided to get in the last 3 miles of the weekend mileage with some planned easy miles on Monday morning.

Week 5 Summary

🟨Long run of 10 miles OR split 8 mi / 3 mi with 1,500 ft vert - short on miles and vert
✅10k Hill workout: 10km Hill Strength. - yep
✅Wednesday 50-60 min Zone 2 trail - done
✅Friday 4-5 miles easy - done

A little shy of 25 miles for the week seems like such a huge drop from over 40 last week! But I guess that is the point of a drop-back week and I'm hoping it means I'll be in good shape to tackle more this week and perform well at the 6-hr next Saturday!

Monday, August 17, 2026

S2S Training: Week 4 of 14

Week 4 plan/goals:

Long run of 22 miles OR split runs 16 & 10 miles, with 5,000ft elevation
10k Hill workout: 10km Hill Strength. 1.5-mile easy warm-up. 3.2 miles of continuous hilly terrain (or 5 x 3-minute hard uphill bounds with a slow jog recovery down). 1.5-mile easy cool-down.
Wednesday 50-60 min Zone 2 trail
Friday 4-5 miles easy

Monday

rest

Too much to catch up on after being gone all weekend and part of last week.

Tuesday

6.24mi @ 9:52/mi XC

Didn't quite do the hilly workout, just ran XC trails at lunch... felt good for the first 5k but man I died after that. Heat, hydration, fueling... something wasn't right. Heart rate was through the roof.

Those splits 😣

Wednesday

4.86 mi trail run

OK well what I lacked in hills on Tuesday's run I made up for tonight! Ran at SCRA (aka Yo Mama's House) while D had practice, but we had to start from a different entrance due to some construction at the main parking lot. Technically the trails are closed but we were allowed to practice so I didn't ask questions and went ahead and ran. 😅 This side has more moderate (blue) trails so had quite a bit more hills than the green ones from the main lot! Got 725 ft of climbing in under 5 miles 😳

Thursday

40 min strength + 1.5 mi walk

Finally back in the gym at work for a little upper body and core work. I say it every time, but I have to make this more of a priority/consistent behavior. I saw a meme or post on Instagram that said "make it routine, make it boring, take out the guesswork". Basically do the same routine every time in the gym. Same exercises, so you don't have that decision fatigue going into it. Might make sense... will have to find a routine I like first though 😂

Friday

4.63 mi @ 9:46/mi

Fr8 Friday run club - easy miles on the rail trial for 45 minutes.

Saturday

17.9 mi trail run w/ 4,700 ft vert

Oh boy this was an adventure! Asked a trail running friend for a route recommendation and this did not disappoint (though was quite tough!). The loop started at the Black Mountain Trail in Pisgah, up in a counter-clockwise loop over several peaks and back down.

It was already warm starting off, but I had my bag packed with as much water as I could carry plus my emergency filtration bottle, as well as snackssss for days. The initial climb (~2,000 ft over ~4 miles) was brutal and slow-going, mostly hiked it, but the views of Looking Glass Rock from the higher peaks was amazing!

There were rumbles of thunder in the distance for about the last half of the run, and I could see the dark clouds but they stayed away thankfully.

Saw a little baby snek friend!

Got low on water and filled the reservoir from Avery Creek after the insane descent into the valley. This worked great and was much needed before the climb up Pressley Cove.

Finished with a couple miles of downhill back to the parking lot... legs were toast after that, and got to the car just in time for the rain to start! Perfect timing to head to the Hub for refreshment.

Sunday

7 mi trail run w/ 1,200 ft vert

Since yesterday's run was more distance and vert than the first of the "split run" plan, I shortened the mileage from 10 to planned 8 miles, but ended up with 7 because the vert here was more than needed. Also my legs (and soul) were dead. Definitely didn't eat enough food after the Saturday adventure to make up for what I burned and I could feel it today! Hikers-only Sulphur Springs was roughhhhh.

Unhealthy-looking deer who did not care I was so close

Blue-tailed skink!

Week summary thoughts

✅ Long run with 5,000ft elevation - 18 + 7 miles, 6,000ft = done with bonus elevation

✅ 10k Hill workout - not so much hilly, but made up for it Wednesday so calling it done

✅ Wednesday 50-60 min Zone 2 trail - see above, 60 min trail done

✅ Friday 4-5 miles easy - yep.

Just over 40 miles for the week, 35 of them off-road miles. I feel strong and positive about my training this week! It was exhausting and I'm looking forward to a bit of a "down" week ahead.

Tuesday, August 11, 2026

S2S Training: Week 3 of 14

Week 3 goals:

Long run of 20 miles OR split runs 15 & 8 miles, with 4,500ft elevation
10k Hill workout: 10km Hill Strength. 1.5-mile easy warm-up. 3.2 miles of continuous hilly terrain (or 5 x 3-minute hard uphill bounds with a slow jog recovery down). 1.5-mile easy cool-down.
Wednesday 50-60 min Zone 2 trail
Friday 4-5 miles easy

I already know I won't get my long run mileage or vert because I'm going on a girls' trip this weekend... will have to front-load some miles as much as possible, but leaving on Thursday morning super early will make that difficult. Gonna be a great trip though!

Monday

60 min Power Vinyasa - hot yoga @ Soul Yoga

Holy crap this class was so incredibly difficult! I was nervous because I had not signed up for a "power" class in so long, but the class time worked the best for my schedule so I went for it. Boy was it a level up from the regular Vinyasa classes I'd been doing! The class was centered around working on this pose which I'd never even heard of :

😵

Still I felt good that I got through it! (and no I did not successfully do that pose lol)

Tuesday

6.5 mi @ 9:19/mi

Mentally did NOT want to do this run. I should have run early morning but haven't been sleeping well and opted for a later alarm. Then meetings ran over and I couldn't get out at lunch so I had to run at the end of the day... and it was raining. Thankfully storms moved through fairly quickly and got out at the last minute to do this hill workout. Followed the recommended structure: 1.5 mi warmup, 5x 3min hill climb effort, 1.5 mi cooldown. I picked out a hill near work campus that I remembered being a decent steady climb from the days I used to ride my bike there. It wasn't super steep but it lasted just long enough to get the 3 minutes done (especially after the first rep when I slowed down).

Maybe 70 feet or so per climb?

Finished the run and scooted back to campus just in time before they close the gates at 6pm and made it home to pick up the pup from doggy daycare. WHEW.

Wednesday

40 min singletrack EZ

Had a small window of time during the morning and headed out to the SCRA trails only to find them closed (likely due to the rain we've had lately) so after some quick thinking pivoted to Riverbend Equestrian Park nearby. I hadn't been to these trails since before Helene so wasn't sure what shape the trails would be in, but was pleasantly surprised to find them pretty clear! Not as many criss-cross options as there used to be, but the main perimeter and mid-line trail were clear enough to do a few loops. Cut the time a bit short since it was lost in the SCRA detour to start, but happy with what we were able to accomplish with little notice - hooray adaptability and not giving up when things don't go right!