“Progress: You might not be where you want to be, but you’re not where you used to be.”

6/11: Easy run
This run was planned an easy run after my long run on Sunday. One thing I have noticed is that my recovery window after a long run needs to be longer than other days. I would say I felt recovered about 36hr from the long run (granted, I did have a 12hr work shift in there too). I deliberately ate and drank everything yesterday to repair my tissues for a new week, since I couldn’t regenerate with a nap at work. This allowed me to wake up ready to go and nothing really bothered me. That’s the beautiful work of serious recovery – something I emphasize more this time around because I do think I fell short of this historically.

The run was good and felt better to turn the legs over to get them rolling into the new week. I started off at the top of the hill and rolled south around to the boat launch and then back out. I ended up a few miles short from where I parked so that meant a nice cooldown walk after the run, which was welcomed. Since I felt fresh and fully recovered from Sunday Funday, I took the miles into a push-n-float repeating cycle, to keep my mind focused instead of drifting into tangents. For every mile that I pushed, I forced myself to drop it back as much as I could. I still stayed within my easy target window for all of it and this allowed me to really feel a difference between RPE 3 vs RPE 4. This run took 1 Maurten bar (40g) + 2 gels (25g each) + 100mg caffeine + 250ml water. It seemed like the right blend today, of course with prefueling breakfast at home and refueling picnic lunch after. I also swapped out to new shoes and socks for this run and loved them both: New Balance FuelCell Rebelv4 shoes and Swiftwick Maxus socks. It felt like the right move to keep the skeleton happy, fresh, and ready to go. I was tired of a blister on my L toe from my Saucony shoes, yet still wanted something to interchange with my Brooks Ghost 15. I’ll have a fun bonus shoe review blog article soon.

This run checked the box and tomorrow will be slower than today on purpose, which is important to the lineup of all the ecosystems. Did I enjoy the run today? It was good and I’m just starting to enjoy the process. As Brad Stulberg says, “Be patient with yourself and with the process.”

• What went well: weather, shoes, socks, sleep, fuel
• What could have gone better: could have started earlier for cooler weather (it was 45 F this early morning and that sounded great!)
• Shoes for the run: NB FC Rebel v4

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6/12: Recovery short run
With a quick turnaround from yesterday’s “two-a-day” workouts (run + strength), I intentionally kept the short run super-easy-lemon-squeezy. I had a small window of time to get it done and knew it was going to be a scorcher of a day, anyways. I got rolling around 8am: 62% RH and 62F already! It was full-on sun with no shade since I stuck to my neighborhood to save some commute time.

I enjoy the tranquility of my neighborhood for living, but for running it is not my fav during the weekdays. There are always cars to dodge, company trucks to dodge, and today there were also construction crews. I held back on effort all the way and anymore would have been a walk. Sometimes it’s nice to kick back on a run and not care about a single thing. In fact, I didn’t even have a mantra or really took any fuel other than one 40g bar. I needed to get it done, so boring but relaxing fit the box.

• What went well: got it done early before anything else of the day (prioritizing myself)
• What could have gone better: route, fuel, mantra
• Shoes for the run: Brooks Ghost 15 (white)

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6/14: Speed play
I was more than ready for speed play. Yesterday was a “rest” day and the body was ready to go. Since I try to optimize my morning time, I got everything ready last night and also slept in my running clothes. It really saves time to get moving. Breakfast was consumed and I was out the door before 8am to get my warmup done with a Maurten bar in my mouth. The fun workout began: 2 miles at RPE 3-4, then 0.5mi repeats at RPE 5 with walking recovery, with 2 miles at RPE 3-4 to finish. The humidity was high at 85% and temps were only heating up – not much I can do about 67F so I didn’t let it bother me. I dug deep and got to work!

The first two miles cruised by like nothing and then I chucked my hydration vest to get into the speed segments. In the process of chucking my vest, I lost my AirPods which were in the pocket. (I found them 24hr later on the side of the road, intact!) The speed segments were hot-n-humid but the legs cruised along nicely. Nothing could stop me today! When it got spicy, I envisioned myself closing out race day and not giving up. My mantra today was “proud and loud” and that kept me digging in the speedwork without slacking off. I welcomed each of my walk breaks willingly to let my HR drop down and then it was time to go again. The speed segments felt solid: smooth skeleton at last and GCT + cadence reflected that. Once I finished up the speed segments, I collected my hydration vest to take a big gulp, and then I went on my way to finish up 2 more miles. By the time I finished completely, it was even hotter and I was ready to collect my cooldown tagalong fur pup for a walk.

Today, the speedwork flowed rather well. It finally it feels like I’m making progress in the right direction. Little by little can take an incredibly long time, but I would rather not rush to failure. The wins are stacking up and I’m here for it all.

• What went well: fully recovered, ready to dive in to this workout, fuel was good
• What could have gone better: Last mile was a tad faster than the first mile, but still good enough
• Shoes for the run: NB FC Rebel v4

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6/16: Long run
One of the things that’s important to me is to have a quality long run session each week. To me, that is the “bread and butter” of marathon training: got to love the long grueling grind. To have a quality session, it really starts the day before: hydrating, eating, sleeping, keeping activities lower key, and prepping for the long run. Prep includes laying out everything I will need, such as a fresh change of clothes and freezing my hydration pack 1/2 way. I did all of that yesterday and it worked out well for the long run.

As I left for the park, my husband’s advice was “Don’t hurt yourself out there.” How funny but also how true. I kept this in mind when I felt like pushing it and it helped me to reset: Win the single workout or win the season? The choice matters and is always up to me.

This long run was spicy and felt like a bag of bricks at times, since yesterday was a hefty heavy lifting day. I kept that in mind too and it really helped to resemble the second half of the marathon: nothing is fresh, stick to the fuel plan, stick to the effort plan, finish strong. The marathon is about not giving up when it gets hard, surviving and smiling through it all. That’s how today went: survive by smiling at all the dogs out and about. The park was hopping on this 65F morning.

The mantra that I used was: “What you believe, you will achieve.” As I wrap up this week, I am doing better than one year ago and relishing in stacking up all the small wins. Today’s win was a good enough effort on sluggish legs and I had fun. I kept it a bit on the relaxing side (until the last mile) and nailed my fueling. This was another solid long run into the bank of confidence and the belief that race day will be worth it.

In reflecting on the week, I actually didn’t have a “bad” workout this week. The skeleton feels okay, though sassy with niggles at times. The improved blend of stress + rest has helped me to tolerate the increasing load, while dominating the fuel game. It’s time to dig a little deeper while continuing to minimize fears, as the temps heat up and the training gets spicy. How much do I like to grind? A lot. How hungry am I for success? A lot more. It’s been one strong Spring, so keeping the momentum going for a summer filled with grit and good vibes only.

• What went well: sleep, fuel, prep, pace
• What could have gone better: fresh legs
• Shoes for the run: Brooks Ghost 15 (white)