Of Mice and Marathons

Late: 9 miles in 62:20 on the treadmill. 1 mile warm up, then 52 minutes @ 9 MPH

Drove 8-9 hours from Toledo, unpacked, and it was still warm and muggy outside and I didn't feel like a slog so I did an solid aerobic effort on the treadmill. I didn't start my watch until mile 4 because I was half asleep but it was AT+ effort. Felt strong though. I was going to do the Roblek but I forgot the exact steps, so I kept it simple.

Noon: 10.25 miles. HR 146.

Didn't get back out as planned but 10 on the morning is fine. Core and stretching to do after dinner. A fella from Indiana I follow on Strava post this pic. I thought my 300+ feet per mile trail running was hard core. He basically climbed the equivalent of the new World Trade Center in one mile of the first 3.

Late: Core and stretching.

Lunch: 5 miles. HR 142. Cool and rainy. Great day for an evening track workout.

PM: Track Tuesday - 10 miles total. 4 up, some strides, then 3 x 1600 hard with 2 min rest, then 3 mile cool down.

My pacing wasn't great and I fell asleep in the last rep but I ran pretty hard. It helped to have cool air and light rain. Rest might have been too long, but close enough.

5:22, 5:26, 5:28

I felt like a million bucks on the first one, and felt that the rest was far too long for standing but it got harder. Legs were pretty loaded 300 meters into the third rep and slowed a bit somewhere in there, but picked it up the last 200 (or so I think).

Noon: 13 miles. HR 141.

Late: Core and stretching.

AM: Cresheim Trails + Wiss Trails - 7 miles. HR 143. Stretching and core.

Charged a few hills, otherwise kept it very easy.

PM: 5 miles with Megan. HR 132.

PM: 9 miles. HR 151. Did some strides. Stretching and core.

I find it not super comfortable to run much over 145 HR for a good portion of runs, so I think I will stick with slogging because it is enjoyable. I'll let my workouts take care of the rest.

Crappy run today. Just not there mentally. Too much stress. Thanksfully running is going very well the last two weeks.

AM: Wissahickon Trail Classic - 13.5 miles total

This race is in Wissahickon Valley Park where I run pretty much every day. There's a 5+ mile stretch of dirt road called Forbidden Drive at the base of a steep ravine. The trails traverse back and forth through the hills and connect back to Forbidden Drive in various places. The trails are rocky and very steep in places.

4.25 miles warmup mostly on the trails. Did some strides. I knew I had to go out hard to not get behind a bunch of people, so I got out hard but settled down a bit before the steep hill. I spent the race getting passed going up the hills and blowing by people on the downhills. The last two miles were tough mentally because I just didn't think I had anything left (in trail running you generally have a lot more left assuming the distance is short. Muscle fatigue doesn't correspond to breathing in the same way as on the roads, and so on). Should have pushed harder to get under 45 minutes. Still learning trail effort.

I got passed by a guy in Vibrams with about 1.25 to go. Okay, finger feet, let's see if your stones are as big as the ones on this last downhill! I passed him again and worked the downhills pretty hard and tried to finish hard but it looks like I took too long to rev up after the last sharp turn.

800+ feet of gain

Cooled down 3 miles for another 300+ feet

PM: ?