Mile Markers: Base Building Progress

I have been working on maintaining and building my aerobic base all summer long, with sights set on a marathon PR at California International Marathon in early December. As this base period concludes – I start training in two weeks for CIM – I am happy with how well I maintained a good level of fitness from my spring season. I feel as if I’ve definitely come out of this base season stronger and ready for some hard training! 

Even with two rest days (one planned, one unplanned) and not feeling 100% this week, I still felt good throughout all my runs this week. I have not done much structured speed work during this period, but my body responds well to consistent mileage at easy to moderate paces and it keeps me in good shape without feeling overtrained before training begins. The mileage felt good and I’m getting excited to build it up more soon.

Monday: Active rest day

After no rest days last week, I was excited to rest on Monday. I took the dogs on a couple longer walks and enjoyed the beautiful weather.  

Tuesday: 7 mile run 

With my legs feeling rested and fresh, I took Ollie out for a 7 mile run. We ran two miles, met up with Ryan for 4 miles, and then finished with one faster mile. This run felt fantastic – I felt as if I could have just kept running. 

Wednesday: 7 mile run and 15 minutes strength training

Ryan and I woke up and got dressed for a run, only to bail right as we were about to step out the door because it was 100% humidity. 100% humidity was not worth running in, especially since we could both do our runs later in the day. I ran about 90 minutes later and the humidity was still 95%, but the difference was already noticeable. 

I split the miles with Charlie and Ollie. Charlie and I did 3 miles at an 8:40/mile pace, and then I quickly switched dogs and took Ollie out for 4 miles at an 8:09/mile. 

Ryan and I hit the gym in the evening for a quick strength workout. I did weighted pendulum lunges, push ups, weighted single leg bridges, planks, and pull-ups. I have a love-hate feeling towards lunges: I love how any variation works several muscles, but I do not like how they leave my glutes and quads a bit sore the next day. 

Thursday: 5 mile run 

I felt a bit off on Thursday and an easy 5 mile run made a world of difference. I felt like curling up in a ball all day until the run – I swear a good easy run works better for certain things than a heavy dose of NSAIDs (although the NSAIDs do help as well). 

Friday: 4 mile run & 20 minutes Pilates

The humidity was at 96% when Ryan and I went out on our run, and it showed in our first mile as we took the warm up slow. Once the first mile was done, we both felt a bit better with the humidity, so we tackled a giant hill perpendicular to our normal route. We made it about a 1/4 mile up the hill before we turned around for the back portion of our run, but even a short climb on a steep hill leaves me feeling accomplished.  

I really enjoy trying the athlete-focused Pilates videos on Pilatesology. I did a short, advanced workout with a lot of focus on the core and glutes and really enjoyed this one – definitely a repeat workout! Ollie wanted to do Pilates with me.

Saturday: 12 mile long run

Ryan and I did a 12 mile long run with the last 3 miles at approximately tempo effort for him. It’s a hard workout but pays off well on race day. Again, the weather was warm and sunny on this run, but we ran on one of the scenic routes and the miles went by quickly. 

In the evening, we brewed our second batch of beer. Our first batch turned out well and reminded me of Sierra Nevada’s pale ale, which is one of my favorites. It takes almost a month from brew day to be able to drink the beer, so this batch of Dry Hopped IPA should be ready by my birthday! The process of making the wort was much easier and less stressful now that we know we made it right the first time. 

Sunday: Rest day

I felt a bit under the weather on Saturday with a sore throat, and I woke up with a whole host of common cold symptoms on Sunday: swollen lymph nodes, sore throat, chest discomfort, lack of normal appetite, and fatigue. We had plans to go hiking and I was all ready to go until Ryan convinced me to rest so I didn’t get sicker. I can be a bit stubborn when I’m under the weather and thankfully Ryan is the voice of reason to convince me to rest and take medicine, not go about business as usual.

I didn’t feel sick enough to justify wasting a beautiful summer day, so we drove out to the North Cascades National Park and took short walks along some of the viewpoints, including Diablo Lake.

I then somehow napped the entire car ride home, except for our stop at Cascadian Organics ice cream stand for some treats and organic blueberries. The little ice cream stand was nestled in the mountains and had stunning views to look at while eating. Everyone got ice cream – including Ollie and Charlie, who shared a pup cup. I rarely eat ice cream, but there’s something about ice cream that tastes so good when sick. 

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How was your week in running?