week of 5k workouts + pre-marathon training recovery protocol

Aside from a Colorado run that filled my soul with happiness, this week was not a strong one. My paces, while pretty good, felt harder than warranted and my energy levels as a general dipped pretty far, pretty suddenly. My left knee and both quads nip at me whenever I start to run, which happened last year in an awful period during which I couldn’t run without sobbing. I theorize that my body is ready for more rest than I’ve granted up until now, which will be the goal of December before I ramp back up for Big Sur.

With that in mind, onward with the log! You can find all of my previous journals here.

Monday, 11/18: 35 min elliptical (AM) + 4.22 miles, 9:25 pace (PM)

When I woke up running just seemed like a blah idea, so I hopped on the hotel hamster wheel for a spin. By midday, though, my energy levels improved and the thermometer read a pleasant 65 degrees, so I laced up and took a running Tour de DU from our hotel, looped around University of Denver and the surrounding neighborhoods, and ended at LostCoffee on Evans. I purposely chose a downhill-dominant route to lessen the fatigue on my legs and lungs, since I was still overcoming a bit of a cold.

Tuesday, 11/19: 20 min elliptical + 35 min full-body strength

I welcomed a stint in the gym after three hours on a plane! I bumped into one of my neighbors en route to my apartment afterwards – she was once a regular customer at my old job and stopped me to say hello and invite us to a friendsgiving over the weekend. A sweet little way to inadvertently welcome us home.

The workout:

• 20 min elliptical: 4 min easy, 2 min each lvl 5-6-7-6-5, 6 min easy
• Upper body circuit: 3 rounds, 10 reps each: curl-to-press, single-legged bent row, chest press (15 reps), skullcrushers
• Lower body circuit: 3 rounds, 10 reps each: narrow-to-wide squat, Warrior hinges, yogi squats, lunge pulses
• Core circuit: 3 rounds: 12 leg lifts from forearm plank, 15 leg drops w. Swiss ball, 15 clamshells per leg, :75 boat hold

I really need better names for some of these exercises.

Wednesday, 11/20: 7.5 miles, 8:54 pace – speedwork + 35 min flow

My alarmed screeched at 5:30 and every part of my body refused to move. I’m usually good at overcoming the grumbles, but the signals released by my brain indicated alarms rather than moans, so I traded my Zantes for extra time under the covers. I reevaluated during the workday and decided to try my planned workout, which wound up going way better than expected. I warmed up for 1.7 miles, then performed 2 x 1K (7:36 & 7:38), 4 x 400m (7:36, 7:37, 7:33, 7:41) and 4 x 200m (7:28, 7:24, 7:16, 7:15) before a 1.3 mile cooldown. I honestly didn’t feel great until the middle of the workout, when my body finally decided to cruise. I think the remnants of my cold inhibited the quality of this run somewhat, though I won’t complain at all since a) I got out there and b) my paces were still just fine.

Thursday, 11/21: 3.2 miles, 9:55 pace (AM) + 2.4 miles, 9:16 pace (PM)

I wanted to total five miles for the day but didn’t have a comfortable span of time to do it all at once, hence the split. Gorgeous conditions in both cases, so I’m not complaining about a double day.

Friday, 11/22: 25 min elliptical + 35 min strength + 20 min morning yoga

The workout:

• 25 min elliptical: 10 min easy, 4 x 2 min lvl 6/1 min lvl 2, 3 min easy
• Circuit: 3 rounds of: 500m row, 20 kettlebell swings, 15 stability ball bridges, 10 donkey kicks with 8# dumbbell
• Misc.: 3 x 12 curtsy lunge 20#, 3 x 10 single-armed OH press in lunge, 3 x 20 calf raise with 50#

Saturday, 11/23: 4.31 miles, 9:53 pace

Sunday, 11/24: 6.62 miles, 9:20 pace – speedwork

Final workout with the aim of freshening the legs, but I felt completely dead the whole time. I warmed up with 1.7 miles, then performed 2 x 1 mile at 15K-10K effort (8:24/8:17), recovered for 3 minutes, then 4 x 200m at 5K effort (7:02/7:35/7:52/7:28) with 1:30 rest in between. I switched to my Saucony Guides for the workout to see if my knees would cooperate more, but it helped only minutely. My intervals rendered me totally pooped and I walked most of the recoveries.

Total mileage: 28.22

---

I anticipate a brief rest period after the Turkey Trot to restore my body for Big Sur training. Around this time last year, burnout and overtraining crept up and partially sabotaged my marathon cycle – I have no interest in letting that happen again. December is so rich with celebration anyway that intense training runs + higher mileage aren’t quite necessary as it is.

I wrote myself a rough plan for deeper recovery that I intend to stick to until I begin training formally again, and this is what it largely constitutes:

• More recovery/gentle yoga (~30 minutes per day) like my Hectic Day sequence
• Supplementation: iron, magnesium, calcium, probiotic, B12, perhaps a multi if I find a good one.
• Rebuild to a comfortable base of 20 miles per week
• NEW SHOES! My Zantes have over 300 miles on them and are probably ready for a replacement
• Focus on strength training – 3x per week if my body is ok with it
• Higher protein intake
• Foam roll 3x per week (at least)

Other recovery tips to keep in mind? Drop a comment below! I’m sure several days will involve my Cocoa Peanut Recovery Shake to boost my protein!