Weekly Summary – 212 km (131 miles) in 14 runs. Was I really still in Peru on Monday morning? A great first week back at sea level in the USA. A solid fartlek, a good hills session, and a very strong first “special block” on Saturday. Easing into it! Pasito a pasito.
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Lunes, 21 de Agosto, 2017 – 6am: Early shakeout before travel home! Ran from Pay Purix in Callao. Still decently dark and trafficky at 6am. Lovely Callao! Some last Tomas Valle miles of the year (or at least the trip). Got a free ride to the airport thanks to some British girls who had already booked a cab which was great given that I had literally 0 soles left and uber was going to be a while. Smooth sailing at the airport. 18’30 out, 14’30 back. Total run 8km in 35’.
8pm: Easy shakeout home in DC after smooth travels back from LIM! Ran one lap of the HAR loop quick (~4’00/km). Finished with 5x strides. Nice night, not too hot. Total run 6km in 24’.
Martes, 22 de Agosto, 2017 – Sparknotes: 19k @ 61’42 (3’14.7 avg) w 5k @ 15’59, 4k @12’40, 3k @ 9’23, 2k @ 6’02, 1k @ 2’55 w/ 1k rec @ 3’40. 15K of work at 3’07.9 avg.
7am: Welcome back to lovely sea level! First workout today was a bit aggressive time-wise, but given how easy the travel day was yesterday and since the legs were feeling decent, I decided to give it a go.
The goal was a transition fartlek with reps of 5k, 4k, 3k, 2k, and 1k, ideally starting at marathon pace and accelerating as the reps get shorter. The rest is a steady 1km moderate. This is a workout I’ve done a few times before and sometimes I’m able to run more like half marathon pace for most of the workout (i.e. after the first rep) and sometimes I’m barely getting down to HM pace at the end.
Today felt pretty much as expected. Warmed up 3km, strides, 200m in 38. Ran on the 1K loop which I knew the total distance and where the 500m mark was, which I figured was enough for today. Weather was only about 70F which didn’t feel too bad.
First rep felt pretty comfortable but definitely harder/faster that I’ve been used to. Tried to just stay relaxed but felt pretty fast to run sub-16. Rec km was 3’39 which didn’t feel that slow but was able to catch my breath quite well.
Tried to accelerate through each rep and did that but just didn’t have the upper gear that I’m used to having in these kind of workouts. By the 3K, I thought I was closing very well in the last km but only ran 3’04. The HR was quite high though (185 and 180+ that whole rep), which explains why it felt so hard. Not sure if this was from heat buildup that I’m not used to or just foreign faster running, but that is much higher HR than I usually maintain during workouts like this.
Last two reps were definitely manageable but very tough and again felt faster than they should have (6’02/2’55). Still, very pleased to be running fastest at the end and overall average (3’07) for the work is very good.
A very good first workout at sea level! A great starting-off point. Only upward from here!
Short cooldown home.
Total run 27km.
Splits:
Time Split HR
1 km 3’14.6 (3’14.6) 159
2 km 6’28.3 (3’13.7) 175
3 km 9’39.0 (3’10.7) 178
4 km 12’50.6 (3’11.6) 179
5 km 15’58.6 (3’08.0) 178 (15’58.6)
6 km 19’37.7 (3’39.1) 169
7 km 22’48.3 (3’10.6) 169
8 km 25’59.8 (3’11.5) 177
9 km 29’08.5 (3’08.7) 177
10 km 32’17.8 (3’09.3) 181 (12’40.1)
11 km 35’59.4 (3’41.6) 173
12 km 39’08.9 (3’09.5) 181
13 km 42’18.4 (3’09.5) 184
14 km 45’22.6 (3’04.2) 185 (9’23.2)
15 km 49’04.0 (3’41.4) 176
16 km 52’09.6 (3’05.6) 184
17 km 55’06.4 (2’56.8) 187 (6’02.4)
18 km 58’46.8 (3’40.4) 172
19 km 61’41.7 (2’54.9) 184 (2’54.9)
4pm: Easy shakeout with Mariana out/back on MVS. Very hot, around 90F and very sunny/humid! A bit brutal for my 3rd run home. Saw a great blue heron about 1m off the boardwalk that was as tall as my shoulders. Very cool. Made the run worthwhile! Total run 10km in 50’.
Miercoles, 24 de Agosto, 2017 – 8:15am: Easy run with Mariana to start for 13km out/back on MVN. Felt good, not too warm. After, tacked on solo on HAR loop and then 8x strides on the grass field. Total run 20km in 1h30.
3pm: Easy run solo on HAR loop (2 laps). Felt quite good, running 4’0x-1x for the most part. Finished with 6x strides on the grass. Total run 11km in 47’.
Jueves, 25 de Agosto, 2017 – Sparknotes: 10km + 10x short hills + 2km pickup (6’00).
8am: Left early to warm up extra for short hills. Mostly on the hilly field loop near the big hill, all grass. Mariana joined after about 15’ and did the rest. Drills, a few accelerations, then on to the big guy.
Hills felt very good. New watch was struggling today to give accurate HR data in terms of recovery (sometimes it said HR was like 80 and not rising when I was going up), so went mostly by feel. Much less rest than at 9700 ft! Ran last one all the way to the hydrant in 37.7.
After jogged over to 1K and did 2 laps only at 3’05/2’55. Planned to do 3K, but was doot doot after 2K and already running quick, so cut it.
Cooled down a few km to gym for legs.
Total run 20km
XT: Legs at the gym. 3 sets of [15x step up (each), 20x overhead lunge, 24x dynamic lunge, 8x squat (bar)].
3:30pm: Easy solo shakeout on HAR loop. 2 laps and then 5x strides on the grass. Felt good. Jogged back for jumps/plyos. Total run 10km in 47’.
XT: Plyos, light session since it was the first one in a while. 15x squat jumps, 15x lunge jumps (each), 30x one-leg-side-hops, 10x squat jumps.
Viernes, 26 de Agosto, 2017 – 8:45am: Easy shakeout, started with Mariana very slow for about 8km out/back on MVN and then ran the other way on MVS solo a bit quicker 4’30-40. Finished with 8x longer strides on bike path at black squirrel (the grass is overgrown). Total run 20km in 1h35.
3pm: Easy run solo down to 1K loop to chalk out all the 100s for tomorrow’s workout. Felt much better than the AM and was running 4’10s with no problem. Finished with 4x200m relaxed from 42->35 w/ 100m quick jog. Total run 7km in 31’.
Sabado, 27 de Agosto, 2017 – Sparknotes: SPECIAL BLOCK #1 – AM: 16km in 53’11 w/ 8km at 90% MP (27’43) 8km at MP (25’29). 2.5 hrs rest. PM: 8km @ 90% MP (27’36), 8x1km @ 2’58.2 avg (2’59.9-2’53.8), 90s jog. Great!
7:30am: Woke up a bit before 6a, had black coffee, 1 nature valley bar. Some nuun.
First special block was a bit lower volume than usual to try to continuing the theme of “easing into it” this block. This may have been the exact same very first special block that I did my junior year of college: 8km mod, 8km MP, 8km mod, 8x1K. I remember that very clearly, especially the second workout in the rain at danehy park and eating it hard on those 1Ks. This one went much better.
The first session actually felt surprisingly not great. That first moderate 8k felt interminable and then once I got into the MP section (no break, just accelerated into it), it also felt like a struggle. It was not too hot – only in the mid 60s which felt cool – but still humid enough that I was soaked by the end. Did the first 8km out/back and then the second 8km on the 1K loop.
Felt much better by the end of that run, though. Negative split ~16’00/9/30ish. Cooled down very short 1km home.
Took 2.5 hours rest between the two runs. Had only 1 nature valley bar and maybe 10-12 pretzels and a bunch of nuun. Also a cup of black coffee about 45 minutes before the start of workout #2.
11:15am: Same exact start (8km out/back) at very similar pace (27’36). Felt MUCH better this time. Not sure if I was just warmed up and ready to go from being awake longer, but it was such a big difference. Whole run seemed to fly by and then it was time to do some 1000s.
Ended up at 1K loop and took a few minutes to have some nuun (caffeinated) and catch my breath. Really expected these to be ball busters, but hit 2’59.9 on the first one without too much trouble. From there, Tried to stay consistent and conservative as I kept expecting the wheels to fall off any minute. Eventually, got to #6 and ran a bit harder that one and #7 (2’56/2’54) which still felt very good. Finished relaxed and still ran 2’59.
Overall, super solid run and first real red workout of the block. I’m really glad we’re taking the time to do things slowly, build into these harder workouts, etc. this year. Last fall I remember trying to jump into some really hard longer runs right away and just eating it hard at the end of a few of those. I feel like I’m now in a very good starting place and I can see the little steps from week to week. Pasito a pasito.
Not too wrecked after this one! Cooled down home and then relaxing afternoon. Nice to have all the running done for the day by 1pm!
Whole workout in Hupanas.
Total run 42km.
AM Splits: 16km w/ 8km mod/8km MP
4 km 14’04.0 (14’04.0) 150
8 km 27’43.0 (13’39.0) 163 (27’43.0)
12 km 40’32.0 (12’49.0) 174
14 km 46’53.0 (6’21.0) 177
15 km 50’03.5 (3’10.5) 177
16 km 53’11.6 (3’08.1) 177 (25’28.6)
PM Splits
Time Split HR
4 km 13’55.6 (13’55.6) 156
8 km 27’36.4 (13’40.8) 165 (27’36.4)
8x1K (road) w/ 90 sec jog (~250-300m): Avg 2’58.2
1 km 2’59.9 (2’59.9)
2 km 5’59.7 (2’59.8)
3 km 8’57.9 (2’58.2)
4 km 11’56.9 (2’59.0)
5 km 14’56.0 (2’59.1)
6 km 17’52.4 (2’56.4)
7 km 20’46.2 (2’53.8)
8 km 23’45.3 (2’59.1)
Domingo, 27 de Agosto, 2017 – 9:30am: Easy run solo on Matt’s loop (first one of the season). A bit sluggish to start after being very tired and not sleeping great last night. Good to keep it easy today after yesterday’s big session, though. Lovely morning. Finished with 6x strides on pavement near home. Total run 18km in 1h26.
4pm: Easy shakeout from Earthtreks around CC and then to HAR loop for 2 laps (18’22/17’57) and then strides on the field (6x). Felt very good once warmed up for a few minutes! Beautiful day around 80F and sunny. Total run 13km+ in 58’.
XT: Earthtreks for about 2 hours of climbing/belaying (top rope). 5 pitches at 5.10a (3x), 5.9, 5.8. Forearms certainly the limiting factor.
