Week Four (December 20th to December 26th)

Sunday (12/20): 9.3 miles in 65:00 (6:59/mi)

8:50am - Last run at Rachs house. Took it nice and easy and ran on a portion of the bike path which was pretty snowy but fun. Was a bit sore, so I was thinking about taking it easy and only doing 5-6 before the ride home, but as I got going I felt better so I continued on.

Monday (12/21): 18.6 miles in 2:00.00 (6:27/mi)

10:00am - I ran 40 minutes on my own before meeting up with Brian, Roland and Justin. We all did 57 minutes together, and then I continued on my own some more. Between 1:40-1:50hr I did a push which averaged out to ~5:13/mi. I then did a cooldown with 5 strides within it. It was nice to break up almost half the run by running with people. The only thing I didn't like about the run was that I had to stop a little bit when we were waiting for everyone to get to the high school to meet up (I don't like breaking up runs - especially long runs).

Tuesday (12/22): 13.1 miles in 1:23.00 (6:20/mi)

11:00am - Ran a new route near my house. It as pretty awesome as the roads were undulating and curvy – no long straights which is nice. Ill have to run around this area more often. I didn't plan on going as far as this, but I figured I might as well since I may not be able to double later (I was also enjoying the run anyways). After the run I did 8×12s hill sprints. I was planning on doing 10 but my quads and form were shot at 8 (probably from the hilly run too).

Wednesday (12/23): 16.7 miles in 1:36.30 (5:47/mi)

9:00am - Some AI stretching before the run. Drove to guilderland center because there was a great 3 mile loop (Hurst Rd - with some easy hilly runs) for my workout. I did a 16 min warm up with a few strides. The workout was 4x3mi ~marathon effort w/ 90s active recovery between each. The first rep started off a little rough as my left shin was tightening up pretty bad 10 minutes in. Then I took a dive going around a turn during my recovery jog. I started the next rep and figured if my shin kept up that I would have to pull the workout - but it went away right after my recovery jog which was nice. I had no splits for the 3 mile loops so it was all based off effort. It seemed as if I was progressively getting faster, but the times didn't indicate that (until the last one). I felt pretty strong the entire time, the first rep actually felt the toughest - once I got going it was pretty monotonous which was helpful. The last rep was pretty progressive, I was moving pretty well over the last 5 min. After the workout I did a 14 min cooldown with 3 ins and outs, and then a couple strides after the cooldown. I also noticed after the run that my left knee took a beating when I fell as there was a decent cut, some skin missing and apparently I had been bleeding a bit during the entire workout. Overall I'm pretty pleased, I got what I wanted out of it (and didn't have to stop early) - and it was very manageable. My calves were really sore, which was helped by some AI stretching once I got home.

Summary:

4x3 mi (15:45.7, 15:52.6, 15:56.3, 15:42.7) - 90 sec active rec

12 miles total in 1:03.15 (5:16.2/mi)

Thursday (12/24):  OFF

Got in 1 minute of running in the morning and the whole time my right achilles had a shooting pain. Ironically my left calf/achilles was bothering me last night so I focused on taking care of that one. Decided to take the day off as I was going to take one off soon anyways. Iced and stretched throughout the day. The problem with my left foot got pretty aggravated after yesterday too, but that generally happens after a workout and then it diminishes over time.

Friday (12/25): AM - 10.9 miles in 1:11.30 (6:34/mi) PM - 6.2 miles in 42:30 (6:51/mi)

Merry Christmas!

10:30am - Was at my dads. I feel like it's much nicer running here as there are more roads to choose from, more rolling hills and less traffic. The day off yesterday helped the achilles significantly (didn't feel it at all). It's amazing what a little patience does. Progressively picked up the pace throughout the run.

4:00am - An out and back after eating, so I took it easy. Probably couldn't have run faster than this anyways as my stomach was quite full.

Saturday (12/26): AM - 9.8 miles in 1:08.00 (6:56/mi) PM - 5.8 miles in 37:00 (6:23/mi)

10:00am - Ran out to King Rd to find a good hill for my workout (10x45s hill reps). I found a good spot which turned out to be 7-10% for a little less than a 1/4 mile, which worked well. The recovery was just a jog back down to the start which ended up being around 80-85s each time. Each hill was run around 3k effort. My quads were already feeling it a good amount 4 reps in...so it made for a rough next 6. I'm glad this I got this in as I obviously need this type of work. Aerobically I'm pretty strong, but neuromuscularly Im still lagging. Gotta love anaerobic work - had a headache for the first 5-10min of the cooldown. Good workout overall, and it was pretty darn nice out.

3:30pm - Back in Altamont, started out slow but progressed as usual. Running in the rain because it was 30-40* out (better than freezing rain). Nice to get a run in after being in the car - even if it was only an hour. 

Week Summary:

Even though the day off wasn't planned and I may not have wanted it, it probably worked out well for me. I didn't get in as many doubles as usual, but that's just due to the fact that this was a down week in term of volume. Granted, I still had two high volume days with my LR (obviously) and the primary which doubled as a Pseudo LR. I'm happy about the primary workout as it's the longest workout I've ever done and a good precursor to some key workouts I'd like to do. The secondary wasn't anything special, but definitely touched on a system that needs some attention. The only bad thing about this week was not getting in any drills or core stuff. In the beginning of the week I simply didn't have time during the day as there were much more important obligations, next week I'll be back on track.

90.4 miles

9:43 hrs

Primary: 4x3 miles around marathon effort

Secondary: 10x45s hills around 3k effort

8 runs