Training Update: How I Survived my Biggest Mileage Week Ever
Last week was a pretty big week for me. I logged 75 miles which is by far the biggest mileage week I have ever had. To be honest, when my coach, David, mentioned getting into 70 mile weeks when I first started working with him, I broke out in cold sweats. I was scared about how 75 miles would feel on my body, and I was scared about the sheer amount of food I would have to consume to get through the week. I am happy to report that the week went way better than I could have hoped and I felt great throughout the whole thing. As a reminder, my A race for the spring is the Boston Marathon which is why so many of these miles are on road. I am running Way Too Cool 50k in March so I still get to sneak in a few trail runs here and there. Besides being injured, the best way to appreciate trail running is to be forced to run on road! I think that getting all of the runs done in the morning was essential to the success of the week. Also, attaching the easy / recovery runs to November Project workouts meant I got to see a bunch of my friends while also logging miles. Rolling and stretching after every run also made a huge difference. Here is the summary:
Monday
9 Miles @ 7:35 average: NP carrot laps and a commute along Embarcadero
20 minutes of rolling and stretching
Tuesday
Track! 2.5 mile warm up / 10 x 400 w/ bonus 400 (85-86s) / 4.5 mile cool down
Strength! 30 minute TRX session
15 minutes of rolling and stretching
Wednesday
9.5 miles @ 8:00 average: NP miles with Lucci, post NP run down to Crissy Field, commute along Embarcadero
15 minutes of rolling and stretching
PM 75 minute hot power yoga and 10 minute steam
Thursday
8.5 miles of pre-dawn bliss. Fuck yes. Not-quite-a-Ninja loop with some of the best ladies around.
10 minutes of rolling and stretching
20 minute strength training: TRX & kettlebells
Friday
5 mile "shuffle" at NP Hills
15 minutes of rolling and stretching
Saturday
20.6 miles @ 7:05 average. Started at SFRC only to pull off after the first mile when they hit the trails. 3 GUs @ 35, 30, 30
Recovery Brunch at MHBB
30 minute session on the Normatec compression pants at Recharge
Mont Blanc by Billy Yang Premier - so fucking pumped for OCC!
Sunday
12.7 mile tour of Oakland @ 7:45 average. Super chill, beautiful sunny run, but I was very tired by the end.
10 minutes of rolling and stretching
So overall, it was a pretty amazing week. Things felt really balanced between training, work and social life. This balance is almost entirely due to getting the runs done in the morning, so after this down week, I will be sure to continue getting shit done before work. This week is a really relaxed recovery week, which is great because after how good last week felt, I am so excited for the next few weeks of hard training!