A Balance, Redefined

Single: Recovery run. Memory Grove-Capital loop with Temple Square extension. My legs were really trashed this morning. I did manage the full 8-hrs sleep before the normal Sunday routine. Ran from Popperton at ~1:15pm. Started off easy and got easier during the run. I’m glad I got in some miles as toward the end my legs were feeling better. Both quads and gluts are shot from the hills yesterday… Mi 10-R1 Avg. 8:29 HR 150

Asics DS-Trainer #1: 78 / / Asics DS-Trainer #2: 75 / / Saucony Rides #1: 76 / / Saucony Rides #2: 69

AM: Recovery run. This week is about rest with maintenance. I’m planning on about equal mileage but done in all two-a-days with a great focus on sleep (after last night). I was in work a little before 5:15am. Only had about 5-hrs of sleep. A lot going on again. My legs definitely let me know that I had raced on Sat. My left hams and right glut were very tight to start but felt “better” by the end. Just headed toward lower campus and back. Mi 4-R2 Avg. 8:30 HR 147

PM: Ready, steady, go. Still feeling sore but the nap helped as did keeping it easy. Ran to SH most of the way around and back. Nothing note worthy... Mi 6-R2 Avg. 8:32 HR 135

Asics DS-Trainer #1: 78 / / Asics DS-Trainer #2: 75 / / Saucony Rides #1: 76 / / Saucony Rides #2: 79

AM: Recovery run, continuing the theme of this week as-easy does it. I did manage ~7hrs of sleep last night. Into work at 6am, felt much better than yesterday. Legs still surprisingly sore but not as bad as yesterday. Didn’t get out for my run until about 11am, it was pretty nice by then. The breeze was chilly but good enough for shorts. Past the mouth of Dry Creek spring was in the air. There were so many birds and small mammals running around. Past Popperton Park my FRB shirt paid off as a car pulled up and said “Adam” it was Bonnie from the blog. Nice to see you out there! The rest of the run was relaxed. By the end my hams were feeling about normal though my right glut is still a bit tight. Mi 8-T2 Avg. 8:39 HR 141

PM: Beautiful weather, wish I could have gone farther. Sticking to recovery mode though. Mi 4-T2 Avg. 8:00 HR 163

PM: Asics DS-Trainer #1: 78 / / Asics DS-Trainer #2: 87 / / Saucony Rides #1: 76 / / Saucony Rides #2: 79

AM: Déjà vu, or more of the same. I have to keep reminding myself that this week is sleep and recovery. Two points of good news, 1) I got 8-hrs of sleep, 2) My legs felt like “normal” today. Got into work at 7:30am but today is the lightest day of the week so no big deal. I did the same MG O&B run as yesterday. Though my legs felt fine I was still not 100% I would say I felt more like 75%. I think the cumulative mileage/lack of 8-hr nights is paying its toll. I have to remind myself that when I was only getting 5-6hrs of sleep per night in grad school I wasn’t running 80-90 mi weeks. The good news is looking at my schedule I should be able to manage 8-hrs tonight and tomorrow night as well. The weather was beautiful today and it was hard to convince myself to turnaround at the 4 mi mark… Mi 8-T1 Avg. 8:15 HR 165

PM: Treadmill run. I know the weather is perfect today but I'm on daddy duty. I also had a quick comment about the discussion started on Walter's blog (sorry Walter). How valuable do people find their HR monitors? I notice most people do not train with them. For me this is a relatively new thing but I find it interesting. Previously I used the excuse of looking for signs of overtraining. However, I don't normally take my AM HR. But this week I noticed a strange trend in my HR during my runs. Considering the long recovery from the 10-miler and the extra stress outside of running the last few weeks I looked around for info on overtraining. Good news is it does not appear that this is what is going on for me (check out the following for an interesting discussion on this http://physiotherapy.curtin.edu.au/resources/educational-resources/exphys/00/overtraining.cfm). My question is if anyone else has noticed high starting HRs (180-200) that then taper to "normal" for me at the recent effort ~130-40. Sasha suggested skin contact and that is a good possibility except I hadn't noticed this before and all my previous runs this week it has happened... Except for this treadmill run. Ok enough rambling. Two more days of "recovery" and if everything is feeling normal again long run on Sat... Mi 4-T1 Avg. 8:00 HR 127.

Asics DS-Trainer #1: 90 / / Asics DS-Trainer #2: 87 / / Saucony Rides #1: 76 / / Saucony Rides #2: 79

AM: Moving in the right direction, but still some soreness. This is the longest recovery ever, from a 10-miler. I think as Chad pointed out, I’m probably still recovering some from Del Sol as well… I did manage 8 hrs of sleep again. Just added about 45min on each end and still crept into lab by 6:30am. My HR behaved itself again today. I’m not sure if this is because I made sure to wet the monitor before putting it on as per Sasha’s comment or because I’ve had a very easy week with extra sleep… Same run as the rest of the week MG and back at 10:00am. Mi 8-T2 Avg. 7:55 HR 135

PM: This is the first run since the race that I felt good. The weather was nearly perfect. Just did the SH out and back from home at 7:15pm. I just kept moving, twice I caught myself at 6:30 pace. I had to keep telling myself one more day of recovery. The deal I made with myself after all the aches and pains on Sun was nothing faster than 7:30 until Sat… Mi 6-T2 Avg. 7:36 HR 149

Asics DS-Trainer #1: 90 / / Asics DS-Trainer #2: 101 / / Saucony Rides #1: 76 / / Saucony Rides #2: 79

Rest day. No run.

Single: This has been a tough week for me mentally. It has actually been the easiest week work wise this year but running has been front and center in my mind… I think the race last Sat jarred me more than I first admitted. For two reasons. 1) Physically, is just took me forever to recover and 2) Mentally, it really drove home my marathon goal for April 19^th.

First, the physical has been strange. So far this whole year I’ve just had better week after better week of running. This last week however was the first BAD week. My legs were sore the whole week, I was tired the whole week, etc. Then Thur I finally felt “good” again and when I got back from my run my left foot/ankle screamed at me in pain when I got up off the couch. That was the real reason for taking Fri off. Then as mysteriously as that pain started it went away and by the end of Fri I was “ok”. My original plan for today was 22-miles with 10 at/near pace. However, not wanting to push my luck I only did 15 with 5 “harder”. I ran the mile to the 1MM then ran to the 10MM and back to the 7MM then home. MM 2-6 I took hard, with 3 the easiest on the course and 2 and 6 two of the four toughest. These miles weren’t at pace but felt like they were effort wise again not fun mentally. But overall I was just glad to get in a decent run after a week of doubt and nagging pains. Mi 15-R1 Avg. 7:20 HR 151

Second, the mental. As I look on the horizon and see the marathon only four weeks away, doubts fly through my head. I notice that Dave is having a similar struggle with this one, though for different reasons. My problem is since Sept I’ve only thought about SLC and I set my aim VERY high. A 2:35 is a 5 minute PR on a much tougher course. The thing that I think gives me pause is the amount of effort it took me to “not run MP” at the 10-miler last weekend and the “hard” stretch today. Granted the race was a tough course but I had good competition and it was “only” 10 miles. The other thing is that unlike all my other marathons I really haven’t done track or repeat workouts and in the past these have given me that mental confidence. So all this being said I’m feeling better about things right now I just wanted to vent. I’m still planning a 10xmile next weekend that is my old bread n butter marathon prep and I’ll reevalute then. I’m sure either way I’m going to run this marathon, I just want to go in there with my head on straight and something more than these flat tires I’ve been running on the last week…

Asics DS-Trainer #1: 90 / / Asics DS-Trainer #2: 101 / / Saucony Rides #1: 91 / / Saucony Rides #2: 79