Last week was easily the hardest so far. On top of the schedule requiring the most weekly mileage so far, the weekend required 7 miles at pace on Saturday, plus 14 miles on Sunday. The midweek mileage was also increased from 3-6-3 on Tues-Wed-Thurs to 4-7-4. Increased midweek mileage, a faster Saturday run, and my longest run yet at 14 miles all coupled to make for some difficult training.
This was made worst due to making a critical and stupid mistake during the midweek runs that ended up causing me to miss a training day for the first time. I do not handle heat well. Anybody that knows me knows my love of cold weather! The effect that heat has on me is amplified when I run. I stupidly decided to run my Wednesday 7 miler too late in the morning on a hot day. I figured that since I was going to pass a drinking fountain half way through, I’d manage. Of course that’s the day that the city is working on plumbing in the area, and the drinking fountain didn’t work. This resulted in me becoming badly dehydrated in the last couple of miles. The effects did not wear off completely for a couple of days!
Marathon training does not allow you to get into a comfort zone. There is a steady increase in mileage and intensity, and soreness comes with the territory. Soreness can be managed and fought through. The kind of soreness and physical and mental sluggishness that resulted from being dehydrated was way worse than the normal aches and pains. I knew pretty quickly the morning of the four miler that the run was not going to happen. Just the thought of running at all sounded too daunting, as even walking around was more difficult than usual. I decided it was safer to take an extra day of rest and recover.
I’m glad I did. My weekend runs were the hardest so far, and I went into them feeling rested and ready. I felt strong and comfortable throughout the Saturday run. My Sunday 14 miler went well, although I’m really, really sore, and was unsteady on my feet for a little while after finishing. The 14 miler felt like my first true long run, because it was the first run that I brought food to eat mid-run. Typically, any run over two hours in length requires some kind of sustanance, and I’m now getting my body re-acclimated with accepting food mid-run. I’m experiementing with shot blocks and gels, trying to figure out which upsets my stomach less. I used shot blocks yesterday, and they were very helpful, upset my stomach minimally, and allowed me to finish the run at a decent pace.
Next week follows an almost identical schedule with two changes. Saturday will be a normal seven miler instead of a pace run. Sunday will ramp up to 15 miles. Learning from my mistake last week, and prepared with gels for my 15 miler, I should have a very successful week!
Tues 6/23/09: 4.16 miles in 38:26 at 9:14 / mi
Wed 6/24/09: 7.45 miles in 1:10:59 at 9:31 / mi
Thurs 6/25/09: skipped!
Sat 6/27/09: 7.53 miles in 1:10:37 at 9:22 / mi
Sun 6/28/09: 14.01 miles in 2:18:01 at 9:51 / mi
33.15 miles for the week
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