Reaching New Highs

Aside from the pesky cold that won't seem to go away, I have been having a great stretch of running.  Each day brings a new purpose, whether it is simply an easy run to recover from the previous day, or a long run to dial in my endurance.  Both give me reason to be excited to get out and run each and every day.  At the most simple level, running gives me freedom.  Freedom to see the world on foot and explore places one might miss if driving.  Freedom to clear the mind from anything else going on in life, except for the focus on the next step, mile, or breath.  Freedom to find out what I can mentally overcome when my body starts saying "no" in the midst of the difficult run.  All of these elements give me reason to look forward to running.

And I say this immediately following my highest volume week ever - 70+ miles.  Only a few years ago, I never would have even fathomed I'd have the time or the durability to make it 70 miles in a week.  Its amazing how quickly the body adapts and how one can find time even when it seems like none exists.  I'm busier more than ever now, yet able to sustain higher mileage easier than ever before.  Why?  I've found a way to create more time in my day by waking up early and getting it done.  Running is a priority in my life and early mornings are the only way if I want it to happen, so it does.  Typically, 3-4 days a week I follow the early riser routine, with the other days slightly later starts to my runs.  Below is how my week played out, which is pretty representative of my standard routine (its just the workouts that vary):

Pre long run photo with running buddies

- Monday: AM - 3.75 mi easy with Tucker to loosen the legs; PM - 10.55 mi with a 6 mi tempo (6:39/mi avg)
- Tuesday: AM - 7 mi easy with Tucker followed by 5 x 30s strides at the end
- Wed: AM - 11 mi of steady running on a very hilly course
- Thursday: AM - 5 mi easy with Tucker followed 4 x 30s strides at the end; PM - 7.8 mi with 10 x 600m intervals on the track (2:22 down to 2:15)
- Friday: PM - 5 mi easy with Tucker
- Saturday: AM - 16.1 mi long run of 10 mi easy, last 6 at marathon pace (7:10/mi avg)
- Sunday: PM - 4 mi easy with Tucker

Everything just clicked this week and I managed to get in some good quality workouts.  The highlight of my week was the 6 mi tempo on Monday on a rolling course, because it felt so fluid and easy relative to the pace.  A big confidence boost to nail the pacing so strong to kick off the week.  I definitely think it set the tone for everything else to fall into place.

But just like that, the week was over and now its time to start with a clean slate again.  Though this won't be a recovery week, I don't foresee getting quite up to 70 mi this week, but expect to be in the high 60s again with another 20 miler scheduled from Saturday.  While everything feels great, I'm trying to give myself some relative rest by removing the doubles this week to maximize recovery between runs.  This will also give me a few more hrs of sleep this week, which should hopefully help with my cold.

Rolling with the Punches

Sometimes the week flies by like you're just standing there, and other times it just creeps along like every second feels the equivalent of an hour.  When people are sick, and more specifically, when the whole house is sick, the week become the latter and is one endless episode of Groundhog Day - of sneezing, wiping, crying, and hoping for just a little bit of rest.  When you are the only non-sick person, you have to take care of everyone else.  Do all the things two people used to do and STILL get stuff done. The poor little man was so irritable that he couldn't be put down by himself for almost 3 days.  So that meant carrying around a 17 lb sack of potatoes pretty much everywhere I was for those days, while doing everything.  Talk about cross training!  Its not easy and I can't begin to imagine how this situation might play out with a larger family.  As always, I'm sure you adjust and that would become the new normal, but IT. IS. TOUGH. 

So when you are staring down at a week of running in which you plan to embark on your first of hopefully several 20 milers for the training cycle, it is rather ominous to have to run the gauntlet of sneezing, coughing, and sniffling people.  Even more so when you are forced to have your baby sleep in your bed because he can barely breath, let alone sleep.  So yea, it was not the ideal circumstances. 

Originally, I had planned on peaking my mileage around 70 miles on the week, with a few key workouts:

- A tempo run where the tempo portion was 6 mi at about half marathon pace
- A track workout as part of our DTP program
- The 20 mi long run

I got in 2 of those 3 and my 20 miler went really well, despite some pretty windy headwinds for the middle 10 miles.  And you know what?  I did what I could and that's about all I can ask for myself.  You just have to roll with it.  At the end of the day, I missed 2 runs, only 1 of which was a key workout (the tempo).  And while aside from the long run, it was the 2nd most important run of the week, so I felt bad for missing it, but you can't sit there and dwell on the past.  You move on to the next week. 

Things are looking on the up though, as everyone is starting to get healthier in the house, though the sickness does still linger and has me slightly worried of catching it on the tail end.  While I did get a slight cold, it is minor relative to what they had.  I still have a 6 mi tempo run planned (same workout as last week), so I will get that in, along with everything else (I hope).  That will hopefully put me back on the proper path and closer to another planned 70 mi week, but if not, I'm just going to make what I can with what I have. 

Every day/week/month can't be perfect.  It never is.  Plans are meant to be a guideline of the ideal and sometimes you just have to let go of the attachment to nail every workout and realize that the best you can do is the best you can do.  I know that a few unexpected workout misses isn't going to derail my training.  My commitment remains as strong as ever.  So I'm just going to get back on the horse.  Monday begins a new week and a new chance to start it off on the right foot.