“Small wins build momentum. Keep stacking them up.”
7/9: Speedwork
Coming off a fun running weekend, I was actually surprised at how my skeleton felt: ready to dive in head first to this workout! I was actually a little excited to do this workout when I programmed it into my watch the night before. I decided early that it would be a dreamill day, so that allowed me to sleep in a little extra and I needed that! I rolled downstairs about 9:30am and go to work: 5min WU, 2.5mi @ RPE 3/4, 0.5mi @ RPE 6 w/ recovery, 2.5mi @ RPE 3/4, 5min CD. I thought my capping speed for the thresholds would be around 7.4, but as I did the workout the body was ready for more! I ended up doing 2 intervals @ 7.4, 2 intervals @ 7.6, and 2 intervals @ 7.8. They were spicy, but it was a lot of fun and the skeleton responded well. In fact, I was surprised at how good everything was.
Today’s mantra was: “Time to stand out, not blend in.” This came from my perpetual motivating desk calendar and it was so perfect for today. When I started questioning myself @ 7.8, I told myself that it was time to level up more than my expectations. The last 2.5mi didn’t feel quite as sluggish after the speedwork either. And climate control was on-point: 63F with 3 fans blowing too. I don’t want to say that I like the treadmill, but it sure has grown on me lately. I’ll take it over the really hot and humid weather. When I need to make my workouts count right, I know the dreamill will help me achieve the results I want or better!
Little by little can add up and I’m starting to see some fitness gains, after what seems like an eternity of nothing. The time is now to tweak the dials: kick up the speed, drop back some strength volume, keep slogging through easy runs, emphasis on recovery, while fueling the pursuit. I do need to polish up my mindset game and do some more structured drills, so that will be my goal this month. All in all, I’m here for all the momentum that this week is bringing.
- What went well: Hit faster speeds than I expected
- What could have gone better: Nothing! I even nailed my fuel today!
- Shoes for the run: NB FC Rv4
7/10: Easy run
After yesterday’s speed sesh, I was again surprised at how fast I bounced back and recovered. Other than my squirrly left plantar fascia, the skeleton was good and ready for more miles. I got home from the long work day, quickly changed, and scooted outdoor in between raindrops. The humidity was stuck at 80-85% even at 6:30pm, but I knew that so I had already planned to take this run super easy. I had 5mi on the agenda today and played my favorite playlist while I unwinded from the work day. I took my fuel and my hydration – I wasn’t leaving anything up to chance tonight. It was a sticky one, but I tried to relax and keep it simple to keep my heart rate within the appropriate zones. I had pushed enough lately so it was time to reward the body for its hard work. In looking at my metrics after, I really have been reaping the benefits of easy running and today was no different! Again, another workout with a happy skeleton and expectations that were exceeded.
- What went well: I kept the purpose of the run at the forefront of my mind.
- What could have gone better: It was really humid, but I wanted to get outside.
- Shoes for the run: Brooks Ghost 15 (White)
7/13: Progression run
I looked at the forecast for Saturday when I got home from work on Friday night. I already knew it was going to be a scorcher outside, so I plugged in my estimated speedwork to my Garmin and turned off my Saturday alarm. It was a long busy week anyways, so extra sleep sounded great.
I took my sweet time getting moving for breakfast, before slow flowing my way through an in-depth mobility sesh. All of it felt so good and so needed. I could have kept going because it was that refreshing!
I did my pre-warmup drills while I dropped the AC temp and cranked on my 3 fans. I put my race replay on the iPad and got to work on my workout: 4 @ RPE 3/4, 1 @ RPE 4/5, 1 @ RPE 5, 1 @ RPE 5-6. It went much better than I was expecting and I was able to push the speedwork a tad more. The skeleton felt good and fresh, other than this pesky little PF on my L foot that still is chirping away. I swapped out my shoes today for Brooks Hyperion 2 and these did not irritate the PF. I am still convinced that I like Brooks better than New Balance.
During my last mile at RPE 6, I had written today’s mantra on my hand and it came in handy: “Feel fear and do it anyways.” It was the boost I needed to get through the last mile strongly. I kept telling myself that I was capable of it and it worked to nail it!
When I finished, I felt like I still had more in the tank. My interpretation of this workout was that I shouldn’t feel empty at the end, but a nice push to finish. I think I delivered it well and I absolutely loved the climate controlled environment to keep this one cool. Maybe, just maybe, I’m starting to see some fitness gains in the right direction.
- What went well: Execution, Fuel, Climate, Expectations
- What could have gone better: Maybe just a touch too conservative on effort
- Shoes for the run: Brooks Hyperion 2
7/14: Long slow summer scorcher
I’d think of today as a slow cooker set on full steam mode. It was a scorcher! I think two things went wrong that I hopefully can fix: (1) I need to get moving super early. (2) Hydration was completely underestimated.
In regard to (1), there were showers forecasted at 6am, so I hit snooze on my alarm. The extra hour of sleep felt great! I thought there would be a window of time to complete my run 9am-12pm before more rain. Turns out, the forecast was completely wrong – it was even more sunny and toasty than expected: 75-80F w/ 80% humidity made it feel like a sauna.
In regard to (2), I definitely drank enough yesterday to be well-hydrated. I think my morning hydration was subpar though, so I need to start chugging earlier for morning runs to flow much better!
Today’s long run of 14mi was split into 3 segments: 2 x 5mi, 1 x 4mi. I fell apart after 10mi and wanted to call it quits, but my car was so far away! I didn’t have enough guts to call anyone to come get me either. This is when I decided I would take as many shade stops as it required to finish – there were a lot within 4 mi! I ran out of hydration (1L) around 11mi, but had 1 more gel to take. It then became a game of how long I could last to the next drinking fountain. I used the restroom at 10mi and splashed cold water down my chest. I guzzled iron-tinged water at 11.2mi, 12.5mi, and 14mi. There was one vending machine to buy water, but I had zero cash on me. I just kept thinking about how I needed to keep moving to get to my beverages in the car which were on ice!
In addition to the hydration suboptimization, the bugs today were atrocious. I was a sweat-filled drenched mess and took off my shirt around Mile 7.5. The bugs were just in my face, on my neck, and swarming my ears. Usually they aren’t so bad at the park on the path, but I think the bugs were out in full force today! I was even swearing at them at one point because it was miserable.
Some good things did happen during this dumpster fire long run and it’s super easy to overlook them when the run fell pretty short of my expectations. One thing was that I was able to crank up my intra-run fuel to 180g from gels + more from Tailwind hydration. I couldn’t even imagine what the run would have been like without all that fuel! The other thing is that when I zoom out to see the larger picture, this tough run won’t make or break my training cycle. I actually am still gaining fitness and working on endurance, even if it was a crawling effort today. I am doing so much better than last year and I need to keep that perspective front and center.
I just know I have fitness for these long runs, but I’m not able to show up the way I want. I have been struggling all summer with the heat and humidity, then toss on the rolling hills to that mix. I need a confidence builder long run, but haven’t come close to one yet. I’ll pivot and adapt to work on the few things I can. I’ll keep working on these tough long runs to find something of substance that works. I’m just not there yet and sometimes I wonder if I will make it, because my timeline to race day is dwindling. Summer marathon training is grueling and it’s not for the faint of heart.
- What went well: Fueling!
- What could have gone better: Every hill just hurt; Hydration ran out; My mindset went into negative mode.
- Shoes for the run: Brooks Ghost 15 (Orange)
Re-Energized Running 
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