2018 Boston Marathon – Week 8
After powering through last week’s peak mileage week, I only ran one hard workout during this cut-back week – a general aerobic run on Thursday. Monday’s interval workout was a bust. I took Tuesday off and ran easy for the rest of the week.
Training Schedule
March 11 – March 17
Sunday: Recovery Run. 6 miles (AM) + Recovery Run. 4 miles (PM).
Monday: VO2Max Run. 9 miles w/5×600m @ 5K race pace; jog 50 to 90% interval time between.
Tuesday: Medium-long Run + Recovery Run. 15 miles (AM) + Recovery Run. 4 miles (PM).
Wednesday: Recovery Run. 6 miles.
Thursday: General Aerobic Run. 9 miles.
Friday: Recovery Run + Speed. 7 miles w/6x100m.
Saturday: Recovery Run. 6 miles.
Mileage Total: ~66 Miles
Notes. Monday’s interval workout was a bust. And when I woke up on Tuesday, I just couldn’t run. On Wednesday, I was still tired but managed to double.
Workout Details
Recovery Run. 10 miles. [Log Details].
I woke up late after getting home well after midnight, so I decided to do my double as a single. I headed out the door without a particular destination in mind. My legs were tired from running a 22 miler the day before. I ran down to the W&OD Trail and hooked up with the Four Mile Trail. I stopped after four miles and rested on a bench for a while. Since I was running so late in the day, it was almost warm – close to 50 degrees! I watched the fishermen casting their lines in the stream for a few minutes before restarting. I ran north on the Mount Vernon Trail and did a loop through Long Bridge Park before heading home. It was lovely seeing the cherry blossom trees starting to bloom. In the end, this was probably “junk mileage”. It was a lot of time on my feet to assist with recovery.
Overall pace=9:36.
Recovery Run. 7 miles w/5×600m pick-ups [Log Details].
This was supposed to be 9 miles w/5x600m @ 5K race pace but I woke up feeling terrible. I forced myself out the door anyway. My warm-up was terrible. I thought, “You can’t do speed work today,” as I made my way to the Four Mile Run Trail. I told myself, “Let’s just see how the first one goes.” It went terribly. The best I could manage is pick up the pace a little from a shuffle to striding out a little. I walked during the recovery but it didn’t help with the next repetition. I turned around and did another two before heading home. I felt pretty defeated.
600m paces=8:03, 8:09, 8:14, 8:09. Average=8:09.
Recovery Run. 6 miles (AM) [Log Details] + Recovery Run. 4 miles (PM) [Log Details].
I don’t usually write about recovery runs but I worked strides into both of these runs on Wednesday in an effort to get my legs back. In the morning, I ran my usual recovery run through my neighborhood and finished with 6×15 seconds with 35 seconds rest on the W&OD trail. During my lunch hour, I did them on the National Mall after running down to the Washington Monument.
Overall pace=9:33 (AM) and 9:13 (PM).
General Aerobic Run. 9 miles [Log Details].
I woke up feeling absolutely exhausted. I explored my options: a) calling in sick, b) running at lunch, and c) running after work. I decided to take a little leave during lunch break to get in 9 miles. From Capitol Hill, I ran west towards the Jefferson Memorial. As a University of Virginia alumni, I was excited for the NCAA tournament. I noticed my pace was pretty quick. Since I hadn’t run hard all week, I went with it. There were quite a few tourists around and I ran to slow at points to get around them. I crossed the 14th Street Bridge into Arlington. I ran south towards the airport and turned around at the pedestrian bridge. I felt great even though I was running pretty hard.
As I headed back to work, I noticed some of the roads were closed. “Uh oh,” I thought, “Am I going to be able to get back to the building?” Luckily, they were allowing pedestrians through and I was able to get back to work.
Overall pace=8:04.
Health
Injuries. Opening up my stride led to some discomfort in my hips but not a full-on flare up of my piriformis. I also felt some sharp pains in right foot and left knee on Thursday, which I attributed to running hard on the downtown concrete streets.
Sleep. I slept alright this week with the exception of Tuesday night when I worked late and didn’t get home until after 8pm.
Weather
Morning temperatures were in the mid-30s. The wind picked up on Tuesday leading to wind chills in the 20s. I’m so tired of the cold that I ran during lunch on Thursday. There were snow flurries during Friday’s run.
Racing Schedule
Future races. On Wednesday morning, I realized I hadn’t done any preparation for the Shamrock Half Marathon. I knew it was in Virginia Beach and it was a flat out-and-back, but that was it.
Next race: 2018 Shamrock Marathon on Sunday, March 18th. (My Complete Racing Schedule.)
