This is the last full week of training before I start to ease up for the Fred Lebow Half Marathon.
Things have been looking up. I’ve gotten in some solid long run workouts, and my mileage has consistently been 70 mpw.
In this final week, I’m hoping to have one more solid long run over the hills. And if I can get in a good speed workout, I’ll take that too.
As the week starts, it’s still early. But the weather looks like it’ll be ok – not too frigid and no significant precipitation. I’ll keep an eye on things as the week progresses.
The Plan for the Week
I’ll start the week with a long run over the hills, and I’ll plan my speed workout for the end of the week. Tuesday, I’ll add in some weights, as well.
Here’s how things broke down:
- Sunday: 16 miles over hills
- Monday: 6 miles trails, 3 miles treadmill
- Tuesday: 5 miles tread AM, 5 miles tread PM
- Wednesday: 6 miles treadmill
- Thursday: 5 miles treadmill AM, 5 miles treadmill PM
- Friday: 7 mile R workout AM, 5 miles treadmill PM
- Saturday: 7 miles trail
And here’s how things went.
Sunday: Another 16 Mile Hilly Long Run
This week, I did the same workout as last week – a 16 mile long run, with 6×5 minute reps up and down the big hill in the middle. However, last week, I did these in quick succession, with ~3 minutes rest.
That was tough, so I changed it up a bit this week. The hill is in the middle of a two mile stretch, and I ran to the end of that segment and back during each recovery. The recoveries ended up being about a mile – around 9 minutes each time.
The first rep was strong. Down the hill, a little fast. When it flattened out, the pace was a little hot, and overall I ran ~6:07/mi for that segment. Long recovery, and back up the hill. I struggled up the hill, and after I caught my breath, I got back to 6:30/mi at the end of the segment.
The next set went well. The rep down was ~6:25/mi – closer to on pace. On the way back up, I struggled more and I only managed to get back down to ~6:45/mi at the end. Not quite on pace.
The final rep was tough. I had caught my breath by the downhill segment, and that went fine. I was worried I wouldn’t be on pace at the bottom, but I still managed to finish at a perfect 6:25/mi. But up the hill, I really struggled. I got to the top, huffing and puffing, and I pushed hard till the end. I managed to get to 6:30/mi at the end, but it was really tough.
I ran a few miles for an easy cool down and went home for a shower and a nap. Another tough workout, but I’ll mark it as successful.
Monday: The Next Day Sucks
I had two short doubles on the schedule for Monday. And it’s a good thing.
I left for my trail run in the morning, and my legs were groaning. They loosened up a little half way through, but it was a slow slog. Total time was almost 62:00 – very slow.
I worked through the day, and went down to the treadmill for my double in the evening. I originally planned on doing five miles – my usual evening double. But my legs were protesting. I jogged an easy three miles and called it a day after a half hour.
Tuesday: Feeling a Little Better
Tuesday, I had to drive a long way for work. So I planned a short double in the morning and a short double in the evening.
I started with an easy five miles in the morning. Things went fine. The pace was a little slow, but my legs were much better than yesterday. I skipped the weight lifting for the morning due to time.
In the evening, I did another 5 miles. Feeling a little better. I did a medicine ball workout and some squats with the bar afterwards. This is my second week doing some real weights – and it’s feeling better. I’m still not doing a ton of weight, but it feels good to really move some weight.
Sunday may have been tougher than I realized. But give it a couple days, and I should feel fine.
Wednesday: A Much Needed Single
Sunday was tough, and I’ve also done two days of doubles – albeit relatively low mileage. So Wednesday, it was a relief to just do a single run.
I ended up staying indoors on the treadmill. Did six miles. My legs felt a little better, and my heart rate stayed lower. Good sign I’m recovering.
Thursday: Back to the Doubles
I originally planned on doing my R workout today. But my sister in law was flying in in the morning, so I needed to call an audible and shorten things up.
I did an easy five miles in the morning. Felt pretty good. The best I’ve felt all week. We picked her up from the airport, and I went about my workday.
In the evening, I did another five miles. My heart rate was a little higher. Maybe it was the heat in the basement, or maybe it was a big lunch. Still felt pretty good, overall.
Friday: Outside for Some Speed
When I woke up Friday, there was a light dusting of snow on the ground. But it was late enough in the day that I was pretty sure they’d cleared off the path at the Reservoir. Sure enough, when I got there, it was clean. The Reservoir was completely frozen over, and the whole thing was dusted with snow.
I warmed up with a lap, and was a little slow at first. After a set of strides, my legs opened up a bit. I did some leg swings to finish my warm up, and everything felt fine.
I did four sets of 80s, 40s, 40s with double time recovery jogs. I felt pretty good. My legs weren’t stiff or slow. And I was kind of hopeful that I was on pace. But I looked down in the last rep, and I saw 6:00/mi on my watch. Eugh.
I cooled down and took a shower. Looked at the data in Garmin Connect, and the workout was closer to 6:00/mi than 5:30/mi throughout. I felt good, and I got my legs moving … but the pace was definitely off.
After work, I hopped back on the treadmill to finish up with five easy miles. Felt fine. My legs weren’t beat up at all from the workout.
Saturday: On the Trails Again
I wrapped up the week with an easy seven miles on the trails. I forgot that I’d shifted things around, and I thought I needed to do 8. It wasn’t until I was about two miles in that I realized I only needed 7. Bonus time!
Legs felt fine. I decided to take a different route this time, and I looped down the mountain and back up. It couldn’t be that hard … right?
Famous last words. The incline was serious. But I finally made it to the top. Once things leveled out, I was comfortably running ~9:15/mi. So pace was good.
Reflections and Looking Ahead
Sunday’s long run went great. But I think I pushed too hard. I was worn out the rest of the day – and into the week. Although my legs improved as the week went on, my pace was off on Friday.
But, thankfully, Saturday seemed to be on track. I was already planning on taking it much easier in tomorrow’s last long run. This is confirmation that I don’t want to do that hard hill workout a week out from my race.
Instead, I’m going to do the same route. But I’m only going to do the race pace effort on the downhills – 5 minutes each time. I’ll stick to an easy to moderate pace on the incline.
I’m also cutting back on the miles a bit next week – down from 70 to 60. Not a full on taper, but enough that I’ll hopefully be fresh on Sunday.
Now that the week is over, the forecast is becoming more clear. It looks like it’ll be ~30 at the start, partly cloudy, and warming up as the sun comes up. Considering the fact that it’s going to be super frigid all week, this is great news. And it’s great weather for a January race in New York.
I’ll see how the week goes before I dial in a race strategy. But I’m still tentatively planning on targeting 1:25. I’ll probably take the first lap at that pace and see how I feel. If it’s not there, I’ll back off a bit and finish in 1:27 or 1:28 rather than kill myself.
One week to go!