Two weeks for the price of one! The first week features some crazy schedule re-arranging, brought on by the combination of the Boilermaker race and an upcoming family vacation. Week two is running on vacation. We traveled to the stunning Bruce Peninsula in northern Ontario, one of my most favorite spots in the world. The second week culminates in this training cycle’s first 20 mile run, seven weeks out from the Erie marathon. So without further adieu, here’s how it went.
Monday, 7/9, Morning Crew – Swim 2150
I was actually STILL SORE from my mile race last Thursday, but Monday morning swim helped clear a lot of the junk out of my legs. Crazy what one little mile can do to your body.
Tuesday, 7/10, Early Morning Crew – Surprise 16 miles (9:07 pace)
16 miles on a Tuesday? What? With the Boilermaker last weekend and the upcoming camping trip, I was losing my long run two weeks in a row. Coach Mick adjusted the schedule and assured me this was ok, but my brain just wanted something longer so off I went. I ran in my Mizunos and they banged up my toes a little bit. I need to figure out a marathon shoe!
Wednesday, 7/11, Early Morning Crew – 4 miles (10:14 pace) then weights
Everything was on a different day this week so Squirrel and I did our Friday trail run on Wednesday. I felt good even after yesterday’s 16 miler. Nice weights workout later also.
Whenever anyone says they have bad race pictures, I show them one of mine. This is what a new mile PR looks like!
Thursday, 7/12, Early Morning Crew – 6 mile progression run; Mile race at the evening track meet (total 4 miles)
The humidity finally let up and the morning run was wonderful. In the evening I raced the mile again and broke 7 minutes! 6:55 and a new PR, baby! These track meets are really fun. I got passed in the homestretch, which completely pissed me off, but I still got in under 7:00 so I hit my goal.
Friday, 7/13, Early Morning Crew – Tempo run, 8 miles, 5 at tempo (8-8:15 pace)
Ran the warm-up miles with Rooster and then the rest on my own. Felt amazing, especially considering this was 17 miles in 24 hours.
Saturday, 7/14, Rest day – Drive to Toronto
First day of drive to vacation – 10 hours of travel time. Woof. At least we found a fabulous Armenian restaurant once we arrived. Hooray for the internet.
Sunday, 7/15, Early Morning Crew – 5 miles (10:11 pace)
I didn’t want to miss two consecutive days of running so on the shorter drive day, I got up and ran in Toronto. Thank you, tolerant family. I found a really cool trail through a park with tunnels and railway trestles. I love exploring cities by finding interesting places to run and this was a real jackpot.
Total: 43 miles
Monday, 7/16, Early Morning Crew – 7 miles (9:02 pace)
Mostly I love running, but today’s run was crappy. I felt like a crumpled up piece of paper after all those hours in the car. Thank goodness, Coach Mick had counseled against a long run today. Happy to get this over with and move on to swimming and hiking.
Tuesday, 7/17, Early Morning Crew – 2 miles WU plus 1 mile at tempo (7:45-8) plus 5×800 (at 3:35 each) plus 2 more miles at tempo plus 1 mile CD
Wait, what?? This workout looked both super complicated and super hard. Plus, obviously there was no track at the campground so I had to do it on the road. It was very grindy, but I did it! This is one to remember when the race gets hard.
Wednesday, 7/18, Early Morning Crew – 3.7 miles (14:04 pace)
I was supposed to run 4 easy miles and the trail around the lake is about 3 miles so I figured, close enough. That trail is also marked “easy” but I am not sure where that idea came from. I had one 18 minute mile during this “run” and that was moving as quickly as I could! I had to finish on time, though, because we had booked a ride to Flowerpot Island for today.
Thursday, 7/19, Early Morning Crew – 8 miles (9:10 pace)
I thought this was going to be terrible. I got kicked off the main road so I had to run loops around the campground. But then I saw the sun rising over the lake. I heard loons calling. And a fox was blocking the trail! So my last run in camp turned into a great one after all. A good reminder to be open to things going better than expected.
Friday, 7/20, Rest Day – Break camp and drive to Toronto
Mr. Angelica is incredibly tolerant, but I was not going to try to sneak a run in before taking down our camp. We drove to Toronto and had a lovely stroll and a great dinner.
Saturday, 7/21, Early Morning Crew – 5 miles plus strides (9:30 pace)
I ran mostly along Yonge St., but away from the harbor instead of towards it, by mistake. A very urban run, not pretty but interesting. I love cities in the early morning, but I was already missing our camp.
Sunday, 7/22, Early Morning Crew – 20 miles (9:16 pace)
Reunited with Rooster and Teacher Runner for part of the long run! We got drenched on this rainy morning, but I was happy to see them again. A lengthy foam rolling session last night got most of the too-long-in-the-car feeling out of my legs and this run went well. I wore the Nike Zoom Flys, a shoe I love, and my toes were squished again. Clearly I am still on the hunt for a marathon shoe! If anyone has some Vaporflys lying around, size 8, let me know…
Total: 53