reality checks and snowstorms.
After such a fantastic week two of training, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't slightly disappointed in my performance this week. I ran some slow miles, had a few too many positive splits for my taste (meaning I ran a mile slower than the previous), and was always hungry - a sign to me that I was not nailing my nutrition. That aside, this week was important for the mental training necessary for a marathon. Adversity taught me to be flexible and view all parts of the training experience as an opportunity to learn and get better, rather than dwell on setbacks.
After running my best three-miler to date (28 minutes, 32 seconds) and completing a five-mile run with my biggest elevation change to date (408 feet!), I was feeling pretty good and embraced my sore butt cheeks - that is, until I realized that it was supposed to be 15 degrees and snowy on the day of my scheduled endurance run.
Since it's no secret that I absolutely hate the cold, I knew I had to take action. I did a very atypical thing for an INTJ / Type A personality and changed my training schedule midweek. This was after a lot of debate and internal dialogue (because I'm stubborn) and convincing myself that the weather folks were wrong. My rational and logical side prevailed and I rescheduled my long run from Saturday to Thursday.
The one downside of this shift, however, is that I did not have adequate time to carb load before hitting the trail on Thursday. I tried to do a quick and dirty version, but my body was not fooled and it would soon take sweet revenge upon me for my deceitful attempts.
At mile 10 I hit the dreaded wall. For those who don't speak runner, "hitting the wall" is when your body is out of energy, your feet feel like bricks, and you damn near start hallucinating that you're on a magic carpet ride all because you didn't adequately fuel your body during your run and its fresh out of glycogen. It's not a great feeling, and its especially not great when you still have FOUR miles to go.
But just as last week, my goal was to just keep going - no walk breaks, no matter how slow. I pushed through the last four miles and even had some negative splits after I bonked (a synonym for hitting the wall) and finished up in 2 hours, 24 minutes, and 59 seconds with a pace of 11:04 / per mile.
Admittedly, I was disappointed since I ran 12 miles the week before at a 10:47 pace, but I was also thankful for this reality check regarding the necessity for proper nutrition when placing such demands on your body. You can't cheat your body when you're logging these many miles. Next week, I'll be keeping a detailed food and hydration diary to be sure that I'm eating enough calories and drinking enough water to prevent my body from running out of gas. I only needed to hit the wall once to realize that I don't want to ever hit it again.
My recovery run albeit slow (which again, is too be expected after pushing so hard the day before) was my best thus far. I ran 5.02 miles at an average pace of 10:30 per mile, compared to running 3 miles at a 10:59 pace per mile the week before. I'll take that as a victory and a sign that my body is willing to respond to the program. On my active recovery days, I focused on building my hamstrings, glutes, and hip flexors on the stair climber and spin bike. I also did some bosu ball and pilates work in my snow pajamas in my living room, you know - since I didn't have to do my long run in the tundra!
The three-mile pace run originally scheduled for Thursday got done on Sunday. Since the trails were snowed over, I did these miles on an indoor track - mama ain't raise no fool. The lack of wind, hills, and goose poop allowed me to focus on running them for pure speed. Unfortunately, my Nike Run Club app was not working well with the indoor track and was clocking me at 11 and 12-minute miles for a three-mile run, when I actually ran 4.3 miles in 34 minutes, 51 seconds - that means I was running 8:06 miles on average. If I could only transfer that speed to the trail...
THIS WEEK'S STATS:
Total Run Days: 5
Total Miles Logged: 31.32(ish)
Average Pace per Mile: 10:13 (20 seconds faster than last week)
Best Mile Time: 8:06 (13 seconds faster than last week)
Best split: +1:23 (ya'll I was suffering and clearly was ready for it to be over)
THREE PRODUCTS THAT GOT ME THROUGH THIS WEEK:
Dave's Killer Bread
Dr. Teal's Eucalyptus and Spearmint Epsom Salt
Foam Roller
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