The Training Week That Was… 9/3-9/9

Three weeks down and eleven weeks to go as I prepare to run my first ULTRA-marathon. Granted it is not an “ultra” in the truest sense of the word (somewhere between 50 and 100 miles) but it us more than a marathon. The ultra that I’ve had my eye on is only 32.7 miles, but it is on a very challenging trail (red flag one) loop (red flag two) course. As the back-to-back distance runs continue to build, I am growing concerned about the pounding my legs are taking, especially since returning to work this week, I have been primarily limited to training on roads, and at night.

In the recap below, the miles I had scheduled to run each day appear in parentheses. The total mileage I planned on running run this week was 34 miles… and here’s how things turned out:

Legend: R = Running, R(T) = Running on Treadmill, Bicycling (B), w/A (with my wife, Anne). I've also noted increases (+x) or decreases (-x) from the previous week)

Monday: (Recovery Day)
Tuesday: (2) R 2.5 miles
Wednesday: (4) R 4.8 miles
Thursday: (6) R 6.5 miles
Friday: (Recovery Day)
Saturday: (14) R 14.5 miles
Sunday: (8) R 8.8 miles (2 runs = 3.4 miles solo + 5.4 miles w/A)
TOTALS--R 37.1 miles (-1.4 miles from the previous week)
Weigh-In*: 180 lbs. (+1.0 lb.) [* took place at 5:00 a.m. on 9/10]

For the second consecutive week I PR’d in a second distance, this time taking four seconds off of my 5k time. This was the culmination of a week during which I stayed almost exactly on plan, adding only a few negligible miles here and there. The reduction in mileage was due to both the odd running times which I had to resort to and the fact that I had not been running with my wife as frequently because of our individual and combined commitments to doing things with the kids now that school is back in session.

If everything goes as planned, I’ll be running a leg of a relay during this upcoming weekend’s Rochester Marathon…

Breathe in, breathe out... YOU AND I ARE ALIVE!