Last week was the fourth week after I ran the Chicago Marathon, and I’ve marked that as the official “end” of my recovery period. This week, then, marks the beginning of the fall racing season.
Truthfully, I’m still in the tale end of the recovery period, and I wouldn’t expect to bust out any PRs just yet. But after last week’s workouts, I’m definitely ready to start incorporating some faster running and gearing up for a couple key races later this fall.
First up is the Giralda Farms 10k. It’s a team race for USATF-NJ, and it’s a good opportunity to test out how I feel post-Chicago.
The Plan for the Week
The weeks starts with the race. My mileage goal for the week is 60, and other than hitting some easy mileage I’ll take it easy the rest of the week.
I will be going to the team track workout on Wednesday, since it’s one of the last for the year. But I’ll see how I feel before I determine just how hard I’ll run that workout.
Here’s the breakdown for the week:
- Sunday: 9 miles (10k race, warm up, cool down)
- Monday: 5 trail miles AM, 5 miles treadmill PM
- Tuesday: 8 trail miles
- Wednesday: 6 trail miles AM, 7 miles PM track workout
- Thursday: 6 trail miles
- Friday: 8 trail miles
- Saturday: 6 trail miles
And here’s how things went.
Sunday: Race Day!
The week started out with the Giralda Farms 10k race. My plan was to take it by feel, and not try to force a specific pace. But I generally expected to run somewhere around 40 minutes – give or take a minute.
I woke up, and the cool weather was back. I drank my coffee, had a little snack, and hit the road. It was downright chilly when I got there, but the forecast said the sun would be out and the temperatures would climb into the 50’s. And by the time the race started at 9AM, it was beautiful running weather.
I checked in, jogged around for a mile, and met up with the team. Chit chatted for a bit, got the layout of the course, and then did some strides and finished up my warm up with a minute or two at race pace.
The course starts out going up hill for a half mile, and then it turns around and comes back to the start. From there, it makes a giant loop of the Giralda Farms campus – steeply uphill on one side and steeply downhill on the other. It ends by going back up the giant hill a second time, turning, and then coming back downhill about a half mile to the finish.
The race started right at 9AM. I got out a little slow, and I settled in as we went up the first hill. I focused on keeping my breathing easy on that first hill, and I slowly caught up with a little group up ahead. We circled the turnaround point and stormed down the hill back towards the start.
I pulled up next to one of my teammates, and we ran together for the next bit. We passed the first mile marker at 6:20. Feeling good, so far.
We got to the bottom of the hill, and things leveled out. This part of the course was flat, and we were chugging along at 6:20-6:30/mi. Then, we made the right turn up the big hill. My teammate started to pull away from me, but otherwise I kept pace with the other runners around me. Lapped the second mile at right around 6:25.
So far, so good. But that hill was steep!
There was a young kid – 10 year old, guessing by the results list – in the mix. He kept sprinting ahead, getting tired, and falling back a bit. I passed him about halfway up. I caught up with another guy, and as we got to the top of the hill, he made some comment about how steep it was. My response: “What goes up, must come down!”
The course leveled out, and I tried to regain the pace. I was a little slow (~6:40/mi) coming off the hill, but over the next mile I caught my breath. The guy I passed at the top of the hill caught up with me and pulled ahead for a little bit. We lapped that third mile in 6:55.
I kept waiting for the downhill segment, and it took longer than I thought. The next mile was fairly flat. I heard the 10 year old come stomping up behind me, but he tired himself out again and fell off a little. I caught another guy and passed him towards the end of the fourth mile.
I lapped the fourth mile in 6:40, and then the course took a nosedive. I sped down the hill as fast as I could, gaining on the guy ahead of me. When things flattened out, I heard a guy coming up behind me. Thought it was the guy I had passed earlier, but it was someone new. He pulled ahead slowly.
We turned back up the hill, and I braced myself for one last push. We only had about a mile and a half to go. Passed the 5 mile marker – lap time 6:35 – and kept going. The hill was shorter than I thought. A second guy passed me on the way up – the second position I gave up after we settled in to the race.
At the top of the hill, I was huffing and puffing. So was everyone else. I bore down as hard as I could, knowing we had a quarter mile to the final turn – and then it was all downhill. I passed somebody on the way there, but he passed me again on the downhill.
I picked up the pace on the decline, and I tried to catch the two guys ahead of me. They were so close – and I was gaining on them a little bit at first. But they picked up the pace after the 6 mile mark, and I knew I couldn’t quite catch them. I took my foot off the gas for the last 100m and coasted in.
Just under 41:00 – 40:58 officially. Finished 4/17 for men 40-44 and 26/174 for all men.
Not exactly a commanding victory. But it’s a good start to the season.
I felt good, and on a flatter course I could have gone faster. The hills were tough – we climbed more than 100 feet over about 2/3 of a mile. But it’s a similar amount of elevation gain to Fred Lebow, so it’s good practice for that.
Most importantly, I didn’t fade. I attacked the hill the second time around, and my pace was almost as strong going up that time. When I got the top, I managed to get back on pace (under 6:25/mi) right away, and when we got to the final hill I was able to muster a surge through the finish.
All in all, I think it’s a good sign for the more important races coming up later this season.
Monday: A Recovery Jog Through the Trails
I woke up Monday, and I was feeling a little beat up. There was some slight discomfort in my right hip – not an injury or anything, just a little something “off.” I had originally planned an eight mile trail run, but I decided to split things up into doubles.
I set out for five easy miles. I was pretty stiff and slow the entire time. The first mile was a shuffle, but I loosened up and broke into a slow jog for the remainder. I never got much faster than 10:00/mi, but I felt fine when I was done.
After work, I hopped on the treadmill downstairs for an easy five mile double. Two more episodes of Star Wars Rebels, and closer to the end of the series.
I felt a lot better than I did in the morning. I loosened up much more quickly, and the lingering stiffness wasn’t there. I had no trouble getting up to my usual speed on the treadmill for an easy run.
Tuesday: A Long, Slow Trail Run
Tuesday, I hit the trails for an eight mile easy run.
The first mile was still pretty slow, but I felt better than Monday morning. I transitioned from a shuffle to a jog more quickly.
The discomfort in my hip seemed to be gone. That’s a good sign. It was probably just fatigue from the race – but anytime something feels “off” I pay attention. Don’t want to push too hard and injure myself.
I finished up in 1:20. Pretty slow overall, but a decent recovery run. The last couple miles were in the high 9:00’s. Not bad for two days after a 10k.
Wednesday: Back on Track
In the morning, I hit the trails for six easy miles.
I was up early, because I had to drive down to the office. I felt a little better than the day before, but I was still moving pretty slow. Overall, my finish time was 1:00 – but I transitioned down to the high 9:00’s more quickly than the day before. If I’d done a longer run, my average pace would have been a little better.
In the evening, I drove over to the track to meet up with the team. This is the last workout I’ll be able to make for the year. They have one more next week – but I’ll be working late and I won’t be able to make it.
It was pitch black at 6:30, and the track isn’t well lit. So running in the dark was interesting. When I first got there, the place looked deserted, but after I started warming up a bunch of people showed up. Jogged 5 laps for a warm-up, and then we did some drills.
The first lap on the warm-up, I was pretty slow. But I loosened up. The strides were still a little slow, but I got quicker as I progressed through them.
The workout was I-paced – 3x1200m followed by 2x800m, all with 400m jogging recovery. Coach said to start at 8k pace and work down to 5k pace. But it was all kind of the same – hard.
There were three of us in the front group. On a good day, I’d be able to do these at ~5:50-5:50ish pace, but I wasn’t sure how I’d feel tonight. I’m still pretty close to the marathon, and I’d just raced a 10k a few days earlier.
We started the first rep, and I fell in behind my two teammates. I was pleasantly surprised with how good my legs felt. I kept up with them at first, but they started to pull away after the first lap. I kept chugging along at my own pace, and I came through in 4:37 – so just over 6:00/mi pace. Not bad.
Second rep, I started behind them again. They picked up the pace a little bit, and I fell off a little sooner. I think I pushed a little hard in the first lap trying to keep up, and I lapped that in ~1:28-1:29. But I finished the full rep in 4:36 – so I slowed down a bit.
The final 1200m was also 4:38. At least I’m consistent.
I tried to push hard on the two 800m’s, but the speed wasn’t there. In the second rep especially, I tried to push the pace and finish in 2:50-2:55. But I ended up finishing both in 3:02-3:03.
The good news, though, is that aerobically I felt really good. I was breathing and working hard for sure, but I wasn’t dying at the end.
So the pace – ~6:05-6:10 – was pretty sustainable. If I can keep that up for Ashenfelter, that’ll put me around 30:30, which I’d be plenty happy with. And I think (and hope) I’ll feel even better in a couple of weeks.
Thursday’s Slow Slog
Last night’s workout must have taken it out of me. I was tired when I got home, but I didn’t realize just how tired and beat up I was.
I woke up early, because I had to drive over an hour to an offsite staff meeting. So I was up at 6AM to get out and back in time to leave.
When I started shuffling, I was slow. My legs were stiff. I felt worse today than I did on Monday. Probably the compounded effect of racing Sunday and doing a workout on Wednesday.
I eased into the run, and I loosened up a little bit. But I never got much faster. Even after the turnaround, I was still doing just under 10:00/mi. I finished up and saw 1:02 on my watch, and I was shocked at just how slow it had been.
But … that’s recovery. Right?
At least I hope. Two more easy days, and hopefully I’ll be fresh and right on Sunday.
Friday – Strides At the Reservoir
Friday morning, I had 8 miles on the schedule. I decided to hit the paved path at the Reservoir instead of the trails.
With a race coming up on Sunday, I didn’t want to put in a real workout. But I thought mixing in some strides to stretch my legs out after Wednesday’s workout was a good idea.
So I hit the road and set out to do a few laps. I got down to the Reservoir, and it’s still shocking how empty it is. We haven’t had hardly any rain in New Jersey for a couple months now, and you can see the dirt at the bottom of the shallow end of the reservoir.
The first lap was pretty slow, as I warmed up. I got a little faster as I loosened up, though. I didn’t look at my watch until I was five miles in, and by that point I was down to ~8:30/mi pace. Not fast, but not slow, either.
I did 10x strides throughout the final lap. The first one was pretty slow, and my legs were tight. But they loosened up, and I felt better later on. According to my watch, I wasn’t going very fast, though.
Overall, the run felt pretty good. Not fully recovered, but much better than yesterday.
Saturday – Back On the Trails Again
I haven’t brewed any beer in a while, and today was brew day. Thankfully, I had nothing else on my agenda, so I could take the day at a leisurely pace.
I didn’t set an alarm, and I finally woke up around 8AM. But the time the strike water was warmed up and the grain was mashed in, it was 9:30. I hit the trails for six easy miles.
I felt much better today than I have the past two days. No lingering stiffness, and I got on pace pretty quickly. Still, I resisted the urge to speed up. I need to take things easy with a race coming up.
About two miles in, I noticed some arrows and markings spray painted on the trail. Must be a race or something going on.
Shortly after that, a guy came up behind me – clearly running at a harder effort. He passed me, and I kept going. Just before the turn around point, a young woman came up and passed me as well.
I turned around, and over the next mile or so I must have passed a few dozen runners. They didn’t have race bibs on, so it wasn’t one of the local trail races. But maybe they were having a group workout or something.
I wrapped up in 58 minutes – a much more respectable time than Thursday’s. I felt pretty good, and I’ll this as a sign that I’m ready for tomorrow’s 8k cross country race.
Reflections and Looking Ahead
This week was my first real week back at training.
I started off with the Giralda Farms 10k, and I’m pleased with the result – even if it wasn’t a resounding success. My workout on Wednesday was decent, too. A little slower than I’m otherwise capable of, but I’ll chalk it up to being under recovered from the race.
If this was later in the season, I’d be worried. But the first week or two back is always tough. You need to knock off the rust and get used to running fast again.
I’ll be running an 8k cross country race tomorrow, along with a bunch of other runners in my club. This’ll be another opportunity to see how I’m feeling.
I still don’t think I’m fully ready to attack a PR, so I’m going to start conservatively. I’m also not exactly sure how easy or hard the course is.
But I do know that it’s three loops. So I’ll start off the first loop a little conservatively, and then I’ll pick up the pace in the each of the next two loops.
After that, I’ve got a week and a half until the Ashenfelter 8k – one of my two goal races for the season. So I’m hoping tomorrow goes pretty well and gives me an idea of what I can strive for at Ashenfelter.