Wheeler Farm Loops

AM - 18 miles. Ran up to HHS to meet the guys (Rob, Kevin, Fritz, Nate, Rossy)... we did the Holladay loop, then Kevin joined me for the run back home where I planned to stop at 16.5... but I saw that Andrea had put out a water bottle for me, so I figured I might as well practice taking in some fluids and did that while I ran an extra loop around the block.

Another snowy, slushy, messy morning. I'm looking forward to some sunshine! Not sure when that is going to happen, though.

Highlight of the run was Rob's story of when he smashed up a car with a concrete block. He's a tough dude - don't mess with him!! 

PM - 3 miles w/ Andrea. 

AM - 8 miles up to work, slow and easy.

PM - 8 miles home, at a pace quicker than simply jogging for once! Followed by eccentric exercises and ice bucket. 

AM - 14 miles. 3 up, 8 Mile AT Tempo in 43:43 (5:28/mile avg), 3 down. Splits: 5:32, 5:32, 5:27, 5:27, 5:30, 5:27, 5:27, 5:21. 

I could make all the excuses in the world, but for a variety of reasons its obvious that I'm a bit "off" right now. I'm trying to not force any workouts, though... just maintain my aerobic fitness while continuing to improve my structural health... and hopefully I'll be able to catch fire again. I've got 2.5 weeks for that to happen. Plenty of time?

PM - 4 miles. A few w/ Andrea then an extra loop around the block. 

AM - 10 miles up to work. 

I think I'm making some progress with my achilles. I had to temporarily ditch the brace/strap I wore last weekend because it was bruising my lateral mallelous. Wearing more shoe during the work day (ie. more heel lift) and less shoe while I'm running seems to help. Lots of massage, ice, and eccentric exercises. Keeping the calf muscles very loose is key - but I've also found that stretching them actually makes the injury worse... better to use massage and a heating pack to achieve the same goal.

PM - 5.5 miles, met Andrea and finished at SHP.

Now I gotta start my Achilles PT for the night. Andrea made me an extensive spreadsheet of all this stuff I need to do... so she can keep track when she's in Brazil for the next couple weeks... its exhausting!

AM - 13.5 miles. 4.5 up, 6 mile progression in 31:43 (5:17/mile avg), 3 down. Splits: 5:25, 5:21, 5:20, 5:16, 5:15, 5:05.

Andrea suggested this workout (6 miles starting at 5:30 and cutting down to 5:10) to me last night and I thought it was a better idea than what I originally had planned, so I went with it and I'm glad I did. Felt better than I have recently, and stopping at only 6 miles leaves a lot in the tank for the weekend. Cooled down w/ Coach Andrea herself afterwards.

PM - 4 miles easy. 

AM - 10 miles up to work. 

PM - 5.5 miles to SHP, met Andrea along the way. 

AM - 13.5 miles. 4 miles warmup w/ Andrea. LT Reps: 6 x 1 mile @ HM pace - 5:04, 5:04, 5:03, 5:00, 5:01, 5:01. Did this on my tempo loop (so ~0.3 mi b/w reps). Average = 5:02. Cooled down ~2 mi back home. 

OK session. Anything under 5:00 would be too big of a risk on my achilles right now. I can pretty much tell exactly where that threshold is... so I just kept it right there, around half-marathon effort. Tomorrow will be a longer workout.

Afterwards we had a goodbye brunch for Andrea as she is off to Brazil in a little while... as usual it just turned into everyone laying on the floor doing physical therapy! 

PM - 6 miles easy. Finished up just in time to watch the meat of the action from the Millrose Games!