MCM Training Week 13

Saturday, July 26: 14 miles (road)

Angela and I started at 5am and probably will continue to do so going forward for the runs of 2+ hours. I have to say that I liked running by ourselves (at least until we got passed by the fast club later in the run), and running for the first hour or so in the dark meant that I didn't have to see the hills in front of us. I really enjoyed this route, which included a 2-mile warm up out to Exposition then 2-mile loops in different directions before returning to the central water stop. The 2-mile loops really helped me from a mental perspective, and it was nice to see so many Rogues at different points in the run. The fact that this route wasn't an out-and-back route meant that I was able to run with Angela for about 10 miles before I headed back in, while she continued on for more mileage. I'm still trying to catch up from missing the past few long runs, so I needed to start back at less distance than most of the group. But, the good news is that I felt pretty good throughout the run and should be back on track with the group in the upcoming weeks. No fatigue or soreness afterwards.

Sunday, July 27: 3 miles (treadmill)

Easy 3-mile recovery run.

Monday, July 28: 7 miles (treadmill)

I had a massage scheduled for early afternoon, so I wanted to go ahead and get today's run done beforehand. I got a clean bill of health from my massage therapist, which is atypical. Something is usually tight, but nothing out of the ordinary today - hooray!

Tuesday, July 29: OFF

My cross-training has really fallen off in the past couple of months. Tuesday has become more of a mental rest day and time to get other stuff done than a training day. And, for the most part, I'm okay with that, especially if it is helping me stay on track with the other days.

Wednesday, July 30: 7 miles (road)

This was a toughie. Another hot, hilly workout with the Sole Survivors. And, I faltered in the near 100 degree heat. The workout consisted of a 1-mile warm-up to West Austin then it was supposed to be followed by 3 2-mile loops at a particular goal pace (I suggested a range to Angela of 17:50-18:40 for the 2 miles depending on how we felt in the heat and how hilly the route was) then 1-mile cool down back to Rogue for 8 miles total. What actually happened was this: Warm up mile = 9:57; First mile loop = 9:04  because we all didn't realize we were supposed to do 2 loops before stopping at that point; Two-mile loop = 18:14; Then, I died on the second two-mile loop - my solo mile of that was 9:35 which included some walking; Last mile loop = 9:06; Cool-down = 10ish. I was already feeling nauseous from the heat and effort in the first mile loop and it just got progressively worse. I couldn't string 2 miles together for the second effort, so I stopped 1 mile in. Bobby gave me and a few others permission to end the workout then, but I decided to wait for Angela since I abandoned her on that last mile and run the final mile with her before heading back in. Mentally I needed to feel better about stopping early in that second 2-mile loop, but I also needed to respect what my body was telling me. It was just too damn hot.

Thursday, July 31: 6 miles (treadmill)

Easy 6 miles on the treadmill. First time in awhile that I had been to the gym to run. I had only intended to run 5, but I felt good so I went ahead and ran 6. 

Friday, August 1: OFF

Week 13 Total = 37 miles

Halfway through the training program!