2017 New York City Marathon – Week 6

A cut-back week but I ran my workouts hard.  In fact, for the mileage, I ran faster than I have in weeks!  Looking ahead, I’m actually excited about doing a threshold run in two days.

Training Schedule
August 6th – August 12th

Sunday: Recovery Run. 7 miles.
Monday: General Aerobic Run + Speed. 10 miles w/10x100m strides.
Tuesday: Medium-long Run. 13 miles.
Wednesday: Recovery Run. 6 miles.
Thursday: General Aerobic Run. 10 miles.
Friday: Recovery Run. 6 miles.
Saturday: Long Run. 16 miles.

Mileage Total: ~68 Miles

Notes.  I followed the schedule without adaptation.

Goal.  Go for sub-8:30 pace for Tuesday’s medium run and Sunday’s long run. Outcome: Failure? Today’s long run was 8:30 pace (but with a lot of rests) and my goal was “sub-8:30”.

Workout Details

General Aerobic Run + Speed. 10 miles w/10x100m strides [Log Details].

Neither rain nor broken iPod could stop me today.

There was a steady rain at the start of this run but after a mile or so, it was pouring!  I decided rain isn’t that different than sweat and just kept running.  I was listened to “24K Magic,” by Bruno Mars to get me motivated.  After a few plays, I tried to change the song but my iPod Shuffle was unresponsive!  So much for lamenting the demise of the iPod!  On the Custis Trail, at the Nelson Street water fountain, I finally took my earbuds out.  Without music, I listened to my foot falls.  I didn’t realize how much my feet scrap the ground when I run.  I also enjoyed the sounds of the rushing water from Four Mile Run during the strides.

Overall pace=8:44.

Medium-long Run. 13 miles [Log Details].

I beat my pace goal by one second!

I wanted to attack this workout so I ran harder than usual from the start.  I worried that I might have gone out too hard on my way to the hilly Custis Trail.  I stopped for water 4 miles in and felt fantastic after the break.  I tore up the trail and when I reached a puddle that resulted from yesterday’s rain, I ran through it rather than tip-toeing around it.  I stopped for water again on the Mount Vernon Trail next to Roosevelt Island.  I did some math and told myself.  “Just 4 more miles of hard running”.   It was a bit too much and I stopped for a breather in Gravelly Point.

I stopped at the water fountain in Crystal City, but it still wasn’t functioning.  I pressed on and monitored my pace as I hit the long uphill home.  When I finished, I bent over and fought the urge to throw up.

Overall pace=8:29.

General Aerobic Run. 10 miles [Log Details].

I didn’t have a bad run, but it wasn’t as good as I’d hoped.

I had a few beers with dinner the night before.  I woke up feeling slightly hung-over but I managed to get out the door.  I struggled during the first few miles.  I didn’t feel particularly bad but my body just felt “off”.  I reached the Custis Trail and stopped for water at the fountain near Nelson Street.  I drank as much as my stomach would tolerate and then continued on.  And, a few miles later, I felt much better.  At the junction for the W&OD Trail, I also drank until it felt my stomach would burst.  By that point, I actually felt well and I ran pretty hard until the finish.

Overall pace=8:48.

Long Run. 16 miles [Log Details].

I’m not sure I could have ran any harder.  I finished feeling completely exhausted and treated myself to the splash fountain in my neighborhood.

The weather had been tolerable earlier in the week but the humidity returned this morning.  I did some math before the run was thought I’d need to run 8:45 pace on the way out and 8:15 on the way back to reach my ace goal.

I was running harder than I would have liked to come close to that pace.  I fueled with Heka Energy Drink and felt the caffeine rush about 6 miles into the run.  Soon thereafter, my armband almost fell off, so I had to hold it for the rest of the run which was annoying.  Running through Falls Church, I saw a woman ahead spread her arms open and realized it was one of my Ragnar teammates!  We hugged and exchanged a few words.  Less than a mile down the road, I headed back towards home and tried to find a faster gear.  I was speeding along until the 10 mile mark when I started feeling queasy.  At the 14.5 mile mark, I stopped.  Sweat was just streaming off my body.  But, I finished the last mile and cool-down fairly strong.

Overall pace=8:30.

Health

Injuries.  My feet were killing me after my long run last Saturday.  I used The Stick on my feet and calves almost non-stop for the next 24 hours.  They were still tender on Sunday and Monday but not as painful.  Most importantly, though, my piriformis pain seems to have gone away!  Although my chiropractor suggested a maintenance level of treatment, I’m proclaiming myself healed!

Sleep.  I slept well early in the week.  I forced myself to go to bed by 10/10:30pm, which should have resulted in 7-8 hours of sleep.  But even with this practice, by the end of the week, I wanted an hour or two of extra sleep each morning.  I was a little concerned that I wasn’t recovering enough.

Weight.  My weight was pretty stable this week.

Weather

Conditions were mild early in the week.  It rained on Tuesday and I got completely drenched during my run!  On Wednesday, the air was still wet which made it feel pretty steamy.  Summer crept back into the region and the humidity returned today for my long run.

Racing Schedule

Future races.  I entered the lottery for the Tokyo Marathon.  I also have my eye on a few ultra-marathons and two stage races for 2018.

Next race: 2017 Dulles Day on the Runway 10K on Saturday, September 23rd. (My Complete Racing Schedule.)