Weekly Workouts: Keep Building

Last week’s workouts continued to build up fitness. I ran 45 miles and hit my longest run in three years! 

In exciting news, I have a half marathon on the calendar! Our local race company has been hosting socially-distanced races since May and announced a fall marathon/half marathon in November. The race is open for local runners and features special protocols, including staggered starts, registration limits, no-contact bib pick-up, and other social distance rules. Absolutely no gathering at the start or finish area is permitted and you wear a mask when not running.

 A few weeks ago, I ran by one of their other races and was impressed with how safe it looked; it appeared more distanced than running on a popular route on a Saturday morning. Since there is no travel involved, no crowded expo or start corrals, and a very small number of participants spread over a long start time (at most, only 50 people may start within a 15-minute block and you cross the start line either alone or with household members), I feel comfortable doing this race. 

My theory is also to register for these races, even if they are canceled or I back out. The pandemic directly impacts local racing companies. I want to support them because people make their living off of this and because I want to see races happen in the future! 

My plan is to take a week off after my 31K in early September and then ramp up with half marathon specific training for about eight weeks. I have no goals; I just want to enjoy the grit and grind of training and racing again. I’m going to use the training as an opportunity to experiment more with different types of workouts than I’ve traditionally used for a half in the past. 

 

Monday: Rest day

Tuesday: 10K park run

Ollie and I enjoyed an early morning easy run through the park. It was the refreshing run I needed to transition from a cutback week into a build week. 

Wednesday: 1 hour fartkek

A cool spell descended upon the Midwest and it was 51 degrees when I started this run! The humidity was still high but the cooler temperatures make a difference. 

My workout was 5-4-3-2-1 minutes hard with half-time recovery. I ran the hard intervals at starting around 10K effort (~7:15/mile) and working down to close to 5K effort for the final mile. I paced the recovery interval at an easy pace (float intervals) instead of a slower recovery intervals. This workout felt really good! 

Thursday: 6.1 mile stroller run 

The weather was so mild this week, which made this easy run extra enjoyable. 

Friday: 6 mile stroller run & strength training

I added the Hoka One One Clifton 7 into my shoe rotation. The consecutive combination of a metatarsal fracture and pregnancy made me need more cushion. These shoes felt good out of the box!

I squeezed in a short strength session later in the day, with kettlebell squats, swings, and single leg deadlifts. 

Saturday: 4 mile stroller run

Ryan had to go into the office, so I shifted my long run to Sunday. I took Isla out for a short, easy stroller run. We ran up to one of our favorite parks. I enjoy this route with a stroller, but it has more crosswalks than I prefer so we don’t run it often.

Sunday: 16 mile long run

It was evident within the first few miles that I would be contending with heavy legs. I felt the fatigue from lifting on Friday. The heat and humidity sapped little pep that I did have. But you learn to grind through gross weather when you live in the Midwest.

I focused on keeping my effort under control for the run. Since I don’t run with a training partner, I use nasal breathing for the start of long runs to keep my ventilatory rate under control. It doesn’t work for everyone (I don’t have a deviated septum, asthma, or anything), but it helps me control effort on easy pace runs.

I covered the first half in 71 minutes. I started the second half feeling good, but then the heat got to me. I finished the second half in 70 minutes and was very happy to be done! 

Linking up with Weekly Rundown! 

How was your week of running?
How often do you try new shoes?