2021 London Marathon – Week 3
Despite being over-dressed, I finished my first 20 miler of this training cycle on Sunday! The run ended with me shuffling so two days later, I ran short intervals to get my legs turning over again. Closed the weekly workouts out with a good threshold run on Thursday.
Training Schedule
May 30th - June 5th
Sunday: Long Run. 8 miles
Monday: Easy Run. 5 miles
Tuesday: Interval Run. 14 x 200m @ 5K-10K pace w/equal recovery jog time
Wednesday: Easy Run. 5 miles
Thursday: Threshold Run. 11 miles w/4 miles @ lactate threshold pace
Friday: Easy Run. 5 miles
Saturday: Easy Run. 5 miles
Total: ~57 Miles
Notes. On Wednesday, I went on a rambling fun run with my boyfriend as he celebrated his 10 year “run-i-versary”. It was shorter than I planned so I made up the distance on Friday and Saturday by running 6 miles.
Training paces
| Recovery | Easy | Marathon | Threshold | Repetition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
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Workouts
Long Run
It was a cold morning – just over 50 degrees – and there was rain in the forecast. I chose to wear a long-sleeve shirt and capri pant but at the last minute, put on a jacket, gloves, a hat, and a buff on my way out the door.
I immediately regretted my clothing choice as I ran up the W&OD Trail and began sweating. I thought about going back home but tried the jacket around my waste instead. I cut over to the Custis Trail and noticed the uphill climb didn’t feel quite a grueling as it usually does. By the time I reached Lee Highway, I was averaging about 10:20 pace.
A mile later, on the Mount Vernon Trail at the Roosevelt Island water fountain, I started a Gu Energy Gel (Tri-Berry). I noticed it had caffeine, which I try to avoid in gels, but by then it was too late.
I stopped again for a bathroom break at Gravelly Point, carefully making sure nothing would fall out of my pockets in the nasty porta-potties. It was nice to see so many planes taking off and landing again, though. It felt like life was getting back to normal.
I put on music and continued down to National Airport where I stopped again for water and ate my second Gu (Campfire S’mores – Yummy!). My pace for the past 5 miles dropped to around 10:00, which I knew was probably too fast.
I switched from music to a podcast (Rich Roll) to slow things down. By the time I reached Potomac Yard, I felt tired and my pace slowed to 10:20 again. My Gel Nimbus Lite just weren’t helping my legs absorb the pounding and my gait was a shuffle. I kept going, though, and made my way over to the Four Mile Run Trail. By mid-afternoon, I had sweated so much that I put my jacket back on to avoid feeling chilled.
I was satisfied that I was able to finish 20 miles but felt pretty beat up at the end of it.
Interval Run
Taking advantage of the cool weather, I didn’t leave the house until after 8am. But, it was still in the low-60s! Having completed 20 slow miles on Sunday, the goal for this workout was to get my legs turning over with 200m repetitions.
With school back in session, I’ve stopped going to my neighborhood high school track and instead, have been jogging up the W&OD Trail to Bluemont Park and starting my intervals there.
I headed east towards Falls Church, which is slightly uphill so the first few repetitions were a bit slow – just over 8:00 pace. The trail flattened out at the Custis Trail and my pace dipped to around 7:30. I only intended to go 3 miles total, but I felt so good that I kept going! I did 20 sets total! For the most part, they got progressively faster. Overall, they averaged 7:39 pace.
Threshold Run
It wasn’t a bad day temperature-wise – just under 70 degrees when I left the house and a little over-cast.
For a warm-up, I ran to Crystal City, which is almost 4 miles from my house. I did a little stretching after but mostly, I tried to mentally prepare for another attempt at a threshold run after last week’s disappointing effort.
I started threshold segment on the sidewalk near Long Bridge Park and with the tall buildings, my Garmin was showing an incorrect fast pace. Soon, I was running south on the Mount Vernon Trail, though, and was able to get a better sense for how fast I was actually going – about 8:40 pace at that point. I cut east on Four Mile Run Trail and with two miles in, felt comfortable with the effort – it was hard but exactly how I thought it should feel. I pushed through the final two miles maintaining a consistent 8:50 pace and finished knowing I couldn’t have held that pace much longer.
From Shirlington, I ran a cool down home on the W&OD Trail feeling very proud of this workout!
| Distance | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 mile |
8:23 |
8:53 |
8:42 |
8:49 |
Cross-training
Strides. This week, my only cross-training was strides.
Gear
Stridebox. The theme for this month’s box was “Wander Often, Wonder Always”. For nutritionals, the box contained a Bob’s Nutrition Bar, ProBar Bolt Chews, Honey Stinger Prepare, and Vital4U Screamin Energy. For gear items, there was some Zealios Sun Barrier, and the essential was a cute portable zippered mesh storage bag.
Media & Motivation
Podcasts. “Episode 251: Sika Henry“, Running for Real. I enjoyed learning more about this determined woman – the first African-American woman professional triathlete. For me right now, it was refreshing hearing her talk frankly about the mental impact her bicycle accident had on her because I’m still dealing with residual fears of falling after my relatively minor fall this winter.
Racing Schedule
Runner rankings. RunWashington’s DMV Distance Derby. My best times are:
- Teddy Roosevelt Island (1.4 miles): 10:08 (7:38 pace) on May 12, 2020.
- Custis Climb – Key Bridge to Glebe (3.1 miles): 25:47 (8:47 pace) on October 6, 2020.
- Hains Point (2.5 miles): 20:37 (8:13 pace) on November 26, 2020.
Next race: 2021 South Lakes 10K on Sunday, August 29th. Goal is sub-52:00 (8:20 pace).
