Good week 9/29-10/5

Theme of the week is efforts. I can't bring myself to call it work while in my head comparing it to the work that needs to be done to meet my goals for the next 12-24 months. Monday I went to afternoon practice at the ol' high school, a move I thought I'd regret on Sunday. The HS workout was "The Beast"; a workout perhaps pushing most high schoolers past the point of quality race-pace sessions into junk training territory. 23 minutes of continuous race-pace 800m repeats around a loop rich in 90-degree corners. Rest between intervals is alternating push-ups/sit-ups, so under 30 seconds for most. It may have been worse when I was there 8 years ago when we did 30 minutes of 800's inducing more than a handfull of school lunch 'returns'. I was surprised the kids were doing this workout on a Monday after a hard, hilly fartlek session the previous Saturday and a race coming up Wednesday! I hung with the teams' 2-3 runner because frankly I don't have any speed or leg strength to stay with the top guy right now(16 flat-ish 5ker).

The middle of the week was spent just putting in miles and nursing a deep soreness in my left calf that developed about a week prior. Ice, stretching, mild massage, and NSAIDs were in order anytime I wasn't on my feet. So far the pain hasn't spread or gotten worse and I've completed my highest mileage week since starting this blog.

The week was capped off with TC10 yesterday in a good effort in good weather with a good result. While I could have trained smarter this week, I don't think I could have approached my race plan much smarter. I started with a conservative goal that I felt was realistic but marked decent progress at this point. I was pleased with what my body did for me, and I felt strong mentally throughout the race as well.

Race conditions were nearly ideal with temps hovering around 50F with overcast skies and damp roads. For the first 2 miles I was trying to stay conservative as the course is mostly downhill at this point. I went through 2 miles in 11:45 and followed that with a 6:06 mile up and over the Franklin Ave. bridge on the way to the next two miles. A 5:28 felt good on the flat part of East River Rd. but I made myself back off to conserve for the climbing ahead. Mile 5 was a 5:51 (29:11 halfway split) before turning up onto Summit Ave. and its miles of gradual uphill (& into the wind). The second half of the race actually felt better than the first. Summit proved as difficult as remembered and anticipated but passing people one-by-one is what kept my tempo up and I don't think I got passed after mile 1. Mile 6 was 5:57 as I neared Macalaster college, then I really felt the wind and struggled through a 6:05 before finding more rhythm. Miles 8 & 9 were pretty constant at 5:41 and 5:51. I was laboring pretty heavily by this point but just pushed harder and smoother through the downhill finishing mile which eneded up being 5:09(where did that come from). I passed two more people in the final mile including one of the elite women (they started 8 minutes in front of us)to finish in 57:55, just under my goal of 58 minutes.

Here's the week summary:

9/29 10 (1:09:31) 23 min of 800's with 6 mile cooldown
9/30 10 (1:05:03 with RnF team
10/1 7.5 (53:18) HR 130 @ finish of Pleasant Lake loop
10/2 9ish (1:06) Tamarack nature center from home
10/3 4 (27:27) 1 tempo mile @6 min pace before backing off due to sore L achilles
10/4 5.5 (38:45) on the grass at Tamarack with Richie
10/5 12 TC 10 with short warmup and cooldown

Total 58 miles

More of the same volume over the next two weeks before jumping up again in mileage...