week in training | 8.9 – 8.15

Another training block concluded and a 63 mile week in the bag, including my toughest marathon pace workout yet! I rain 60 minutes at pace on Wednesday and happily was able to nail the session despite the nasty conditions. I feel that 8:45-8:50 is a realistic pace goal for the race, though I’m willing to adjust to the faster end if the Chicago weather proves that much more favorable for speeding up.

Next week, I’ll drop my mileage about 20% in anticipation of the “race prep” block. I’ll run my hardest session, I think, four weeks out from the race: this will probably be 90 minutes at pace. Very nervewracking, but I think I’m ready. It’s unbelievable that taper looms and the past 16 weeks of grind is amalgamating so quickly into my grittiest segment yet. Blessedly, I’ve remained healthy and largely engaged with my training, which is a huge deal after the failure that was Big Sur two years ago.

Monday, 8.9: 12.01 miles, 10:56 pace + 40 min strength

I worried this run would feel really crappy like last Monday’s, but aside from ridiculous humidity (around 95% which is actually higher than I’ve dealt with most of the summer) I felt pretty good! Seems I recovered pretty well from Saturday’s effort which is encouraging as far as my adaptation goes.

Strength:

• 4 x 6 hang clean
• 4 x 8 press up SS alt reverse lunge
• 4 x 10 swings
• 4 x 10 front raise SS OH triceps extension
• 4 x 4 ea. single leg deadlift
• 4 x 15 ea. band side leg raise SS leg extension
• 4 x 10 stability ball hamstring curls
• 4 x 12 alt. single leg squats

Tuesday, 8.10: 6.21 miles, 10:51 pace + 1,800 yard swim (36:00)

Easy morning miles at 156 bpm, a bit sore but not debilitatingly so.

Schools started again this week so the pool was far quieter than normal both in the kids’ lane and in general. I felt really good as I stroked along so I did a straight 1,800 yards. My watch read 35:59.9 at the end which REALLY IRKED ME, but the Garmin app rounded up to 36 so it was a satisfying neat number. 43 SWOLF overall and I cranked into the low 1:50s for my final 200 yards or so!

Wednesday, 8.11: 12.49 miles, 9:37 pace + 40 min strength + 1,400 yard swim (30:43)

Big workout this morning: 60 minutes at marathon effort. I nailed it! The heat and humidity are ridiculous right now, it was around 78 with 95% humidity. I set out for a 3 mile warmup with a few strides, then stopped to fill my water and dump a good amount on my head. Main session averaged 8:49 pace, with splits at 8:51, 8:52, 8:48, 8:47, 8:49, and 8:50, with the last .8 miles at 8:46. I felt very strong until the last push when my legs just decided they wanted to get gunky, but I’d call this workout a big success.

Loosened up with a midmorning swim, averaging 1:58 and a 41 SWOLF. I did a ladder of 200-150-100-50 with equal amounts pulling, then 8 x 25 strong, and a 200 cooldown.

Strength:

• 4 x 12 biceps curls SS 10 lateral raise
• 4 x 6 ea. split squat
• 4 x 10 bench press
• 4 x 5 ea. tick tock lunge
• 4 x 10 ea. windmill
• 4 x 10 ea. standing clams
• 3 x 10 leg drops

Thursday, 8.12: 20.02 miles, 21.6 mph cycling (55:33) + 1,700 yard swim (35:29)

Ride took a good 30 minutes to get into a groove, but then it felt really nice to just spin out. 123W average for the ordeal.

The pool was once again blessedly quiet in the midday! I swam a 500 warmup, then 8 x 100 fast – 1:50, 1:49, 1:50, 1:49, 1:48, 1:48, 1:48, 1:45, 4 x 25 swim strides – 22, 23, 23, 23, 300 cooldown. 40 SWOLF and a 1:54 average pace.

Friday, 8.13: 6.2 miles, 10:42 pace + 4.32 miles, 10:25 pace

Super humid morning miles and stupid hot afternoon miles. The sky was overcast all morning until I left work, when the clouds decided to part and a blistering sun overtook the bay. I felt okay for the most part, really, but was happy to hop in the pool once I returned home.

Saturday, 8.14: 17 miles, 10:20 pace

I stopped at a water fountain at the same time as a guy I often say hello to while I’m running and learned that he’s rebuilding his fitness after a hip replacement last year. He said he ran his first full mile in almost a year just a few days prior! This gave me a good kick of motivation after a long 7.6 mile warmup to fly through my planned intervals. I took off thereafter for 8 x 400 at half marathon to 10k effort with 400 jog recoveries. I hit my desired paces, getting faster at the end, which was exactly what I wanted. Finished up with a 6ish mile cooldown run.

Sunday, 8.15: 5.2 miles, 11:32 pace

Good Slow Run Sunday, though extremely sticky out. Fred basically had no impact on us except the breeze, which felt really nice in contrast with the damp air. My heart rate averaged 145 which is a touch higher than normal, but I’m not going to fuss about it. I walked around for about 45 minutes to enjoy my morning off and get some extra steps in before prepping for a full day at mom’s – today was her birthday!

Total running mileage: 63.4

Total cycling mileage: 20.02

Total swimming yardage: 4,900