Weekly Recap July 13-19

39.43 miles
146 BPM average
6 hours
Longest run: 12.80 miles
Shortest run: 8.13 miles
Average run: 9.86 miles



The pic above is a trail I spotted while I was out today. I ran down it hoping to discover something exciting but sadly it was only a shortcut to the back of a townhouse complex. Good pic, though. Ran after work rather than in the morning and it was an amazing sunny day in Vancouver.
Training's a funny thing. I felt like this week was a total failure. I missed another workout due to my own weakness for sugar, then a couple more because of a cranked neck. I only managed 4 of 6 of my scheduled workouts. But as I was typing this recap, I glanced back at my training log and noticed that the miles, times and paces for the previous two weeks was very nearly the same as this week but it took me two more workouts to do it. So, average miles and longest run mileage this week was actually HIGHER than the previous two.
I had set myself the goal of breaking 50 miles a week (something I have never done in any training year) and I really felt like this was the week I would do it. Not getting there really had me feeling like I had dropped the ball with my training but looking back on the log tonight changed that around for me a little. It's been a good reminder that 50 is an arbitrary number and that it's easy to get focused on the wrong things if you aren't careful.

Weekly Recap June 22-28

39.16 miles
143 BPM average
5 hours 50 minutes
Longest run: 9.90 miles
Shortest run: 5.53 miles
Average run: 7.83 miles

Looking back through this week's written log it's easy to notice the trend of eating more sugar and staying up later now that summer is here. Staying up late and eating all manner of BBQ offerings is not compatible with 4:40AM alarm calls to go running. The next two months represent the last section of MAF training before a switch to more race-pace focused efforts. They will be the first big weeks of training volume and I can't be working against myself by pounding ice cream sandwiches at 10 at night. As delicious as they may be.

Weekly Recap June 15-21

43.26 miles
Average HR 145
6 1/4 hours
Longest run 9.61 miles
Shortest run 4.95
Average run 7.21 miles

Felt great overall this week and really good about getting the mileage up and not missing any of my scheduled workouts. As well, a slow steady progression has kept me from getting injured which is massive!
The protocol that I am using from Hadd's paper has three progressively longer weeks to get his subject ( named Giuseppe, awesome name!) up to 80 miles a week assuming that he was already at about 50 miles. I had been closer to 35 or so when I ran Vancouver. I told myself that I would not advance to the next 'step' until I had two weeks back to back without missing a workout. This is week number 2 without dropping a set so I'm ramping it up a little starting next week. The frequency and intensity will stay roughly the same but the 45 minute runs get dropped off and replaced with some 60 minute sessions and the long run gets a little longer. I'll post the exact set after tomorrow's long run.
Two things have been on my mind this week with regards to training. First, I have been starting to think about when (if?) I need to switch over from solely doing MAF based training and start adding some speed/tempo work to prepare to race. I might email Lucho to see if he has any advice on this matter. Part of me thinks that if my fitness level isn't to a place where I am capable of hitting 3:10 that I shouldn't race until it is. And I'm scared to hear that from someone else having focused so much energy around training for Seattle in November.
And that brings me to the other thing that I've been spending a lot of time thinking about this week. For the first time in my streaky history as a runner, I feel like I 'own' my goals. I'm not running to look good for a girl, or to impress my run club buddies, or to brag about it at work, All I care about is getting faster and not quitting on myself. It finally matters more what I think about my training than what anyone else does. And when the alarm goes off at 4:45AM, that's what's been getting me out of bed. I don't know when it happened but I do know that from here on out that's what will make all the difference.