Training Update: Week of Jan. 4
1/4/21 - M – Off
1/5/21 - T – 5.5 miles @ Easy B & McMillan Legs
1/6/21 - W – "Minutes": 1 mile WU, 10 sets of (1 min. @ half marathon and 1 min. @ Easy B), 1 mile CD
1/7/21 - R – Upper Body workout (YouTube video)
1/8/21 - F - 4 miles @ Easy A
1/9/21 - Sa – 7 miles @ Easy B & McMillan Legs
1/10/21 - Su – 11 miles @ LR
Total Run Miles – 32.2 miles
Total Run Time – 4:31 hours
This was the third week of my training plan and it coincided with a return to work and "normal" life after the holidays. Luckily, the weather has been precipitation free and not that windy. January and February are months I usually want to just get behind me and I'm glad to be one-sixth of the way through those.
Like many of you, I've been thinking back to my two previous Dopey Challenges (2018, 2020) and looking ahead to (hopefully!) my next one in 2022 this week. I've been bothering my wife with "Do you know what I was doing last year at this time?" or "Next year at this time I'll be finishing my third marathon!". It's amazing how much of a positive impact the races make on your life and how meaningful this time period becomes. Congrats to all who are doing virtual races this year.
Monday
This is my normal day off from running. I use the time I usually use to run to prepare for my return to work after two weeks off over the holidays.
Tuesday: 5.54 miles in 47:03 (8:30 pace)
I've already detailed how I tend to run too fast, but today I did pretty good. I was aiming for an 8:33 pace and all five of my miles were within six minutes of that pace.
I'm still getting into a routine with doing McMillan Legs and did them in the evening. It took about 20 minutes, and I bumped up to doing an isometric lunge for 3 sets for 35 seconds each. Tough! I just tell myself it will help me.
Wednesday: 4.60 miles in 39:23 (8:33 pace)
Today featured a brand new workout for me that will slowly expand each Wednesday. DopeyBadger suggested this, in hopes that it will both help me and encourage me to learn my paces. I did 10 sets of 1 minute at half marathon pace and 1 minute at Easy B pace. This workout wasn't bad, but I will soon get to 30 sets of that. My half marathon paces ranged from 6:59 (too fast!) to 7:10, with 7:19 the goal. My easy B paces ranged from 8:23 to 8:29, with 8:33 the goal.
My biggest challenge with this workout is with each segment only one minute, it is easy to overcorrect. For example, my Garmin might ding me that I'm going to slow, so I speed up for the rest of the minute and end up with too fast of a pace. I'll learn. I'm looking forward to this workout with 15 sets this week!
Thursday
Again, I did a 45-minute upper body workout from YouTube. I used to do a boot camp class at a local gym and doing it made me feel like I was in better shape. I'm hoping this weekly workout is the first step back to that. I know having more than my legs strong will help my running.
Friday: 4.04 miles in 36:42 (9:05 pace)
There is another local runner I see often who has done Dopey a few times and is an avid marathoner. I think he's done about 20 marathons each of the last couple of years. He even signed up for one this fall that I told him about on Friday and it took place on Sunday. Anyway, I saw him during this run for the first time in about a month and a half and he said he had just finished his virtual 10K for Dopey. Impressive! And it was just getting light.
I also needed to wear shorts this day. I only have two pairs of running pants (I used to do most of my running on the treadmill) and both were still dirty. It was 25 degrees with 10 MPH wins (feels like 19). Luckily the run was a short one!
Saturday: 7.01 miles in 59:01 (8:25 pace)
It was 18 degrees when I got up this morning. I took my time stretching, hoping it would warm up a bit. Unfortunately, the temperature actually dropped to 16 by the time I left home. Luckily I had a clean pair of running pants!
I averaged an 8:17 pace for my first three miles, but then got into a groove and averaged 8:30/8:31 the last four miles. I think my looming 11 mile run the next day was in the back of my mind.
I took a shower when I got home to warm up a bit and then did McMillan Legs.
Sunday: 11.02 miles in 1:29.25 (8:07 pace)
I don't know if I've done a run this long in cold/winter weather since Dopey 2018. It made me a little nervous. Luckily, it was warmer (27 degrees) than the day before. I got into a groove and settled into a nice pace and the temperature was no problem. It was faster than I wanted to go, but it felt comfortable. Once I had done the first 8 or 9 miles at that pace, I decided to not worry about it for the last 2-3 miles. I got home and my wife was still in bed. It certainly made me feel good that I'd done 11 miles and she wasn't even up yet!
My goal for the upcoming week is to wish for continued dry weather and reduced wind as well as slowing down. I'll get there. No runs of more than an hour this coming week, which is a nice mental (and physical break) after 90 minutes on Sunday.