Post #6 | Monday, Week of April 20th – 26th

This week has been characterized by that feeling in the legs where they’re just kind of ‘numb’ to running. Not numb in a bad way, they’re neither good or bad (or feeling injured)… they just are. And running just… is.  Also, I’m starting that period of higher mileage where I’m starting to feel like I’m running ALL the time. Runs start to feel like blurs… “what day is it; what time of day is it; what is my purpose for this run;” You get the idea.  And I know this is just the beginning, and an illusion. The plan is for a 6-8 week stretch of 100+ mile weeks in the meat of marathon training, so 77miles/week is really nothing.

Here’s my week, afterwards I ‘ll talk about the heck happened:

M – Easy 7.3 miles

T – Easy 11 miles

W – Hills – 4m w/u into 3x CW Harlem Hill loops (Hard uphill / Easy downhill) 4m c/d Total – 12 miles

T – AM Easy 12 miles PM Easy 2.5 miles Total 14.5 miles

F – Easy 4 miles

S – Intervals – 4m w/u plus strides | 3x 1 BP loops on 400m jog: 9:11, 9:15, 9:18 | 2.5m c/d plus drills & lunges

S – Easy Long Run 16.3 miles in 2:08 7:50/mile

TOTAL: 77.7/week

I needed a week of effort-based speed sessions.  With my ‘numb’ legs and feeling the fatigue of the adjustment to “higher mileage” I needed some workouts where I could just run on feel and be free from trying to hit a certain time or pace. 

Wednesday’s HH workout, to me, is one of the toughest workouts I do. I feel no other tests my lungs, legs, and determination, they way running hard up those damn hills do. I love that workout. 

Saturday’s workout went better than I thought it would. Conditions were pretty good:  a crisp 38-40degs w/ some wind.  I used some mental imagery of Alex Arslan running a PR at Princeton a week ago to help hone my pace and effort.  While I positive split the intervals, I was pleased with the times based on perceived effort. A good sign for future workouts, but no doubt the good conditions helped.

The biggest take-away from this week was the reinforced idea of knowing where you are in your training cycle and accepting your limitations or perceived limitations. What I mean by that is, for me, I’m in a build-up phase right now. My legs haven’t felt snappy or sharp in a long time. Like I said, they kind of feel numb. I don’t feel like I bring out my ‘good legs’ for ANY of my workouts or runs. This can be kind of humbling or discouraging IF you forget where you are in your training cycle and you lose sight of WHY they feel that way. I remembered that on both speed days on the warm up. I took confidence from knowing that when I do sharpen, I'll cash out all the hard work I’ve put in and have the legs I want when it matters most.