It feels like this week came and left in the blink of an eye. Training wise, this was another strange week for me. Weird training weeks seem to a common theme for my running lately but it’s better than injured weeks. I raced, I traveled and I did a long run.
Week 5 has been my most successful though.
| Monday: | 6.2 miles easy |
| Tuesday: | OFF |
| Wednesday: | AM: 8 miles easy |
| PM: Beat the Ball 5k (19:50) Total miles: 6.25 | |
| Thursday: | Hair of the Dog 5k (19:59) Total miles: 11.12 |
| Friday: | 1 hour AMT |
| Saturday: | 10 miles easy |
| Sunday: | 20 miles long run |
| Total: | 62 miles |
To say this was my best training week post injury is an understatement. My foot has not bothered me and I raced better than expected. Two positives and with my long run, I could not have asked for a better week.
On Monday I ran 6.2 miles. I felt good and it was nothing out of the ordinary.
I took Tuesday off because I knew I was preparing for a hard couple of days.
Wednesday morning I ran 8 miles to shake out my legs. I felt awful at the beginning of the run but as the it progressed, my legs felt better. I’ll have race recaps for both races next week. To summarize I met both my goals of beating my previous 5k time of 20:35. Neither race was in optimal conditions (an 11:15pm race followed by racing 11 hours later). The races showed me that my hard work is slowly paying off. My guess is if I raced in perfect conditions I could run a 19:40 5k right now. I’ll have to wait a while for that.
A screenshot from the finish line video of the second race. 100% of my race photos had the pain train face…it’s wonderful.
After both races, I drove home (back to NJ). I wasn’t as tired as I anticipated so the drive wasn’t too bad. I still hate driving but the drive wasn’t too miserable.
On Thursday, I did an hour of cross training on the AMT. I wanted to stretch out my legs but didn’t want to run. I felt a lot better getting my legs actively moving again. The rest of the day I spent napping and cleaning up my house.
On Saturday I ran easy followed by work. Around mile 8 of my run it began to hail. I didn’t know it was supposed to hail until it started too.
Finally on Sunday I ran my first 20 miler of the training cycle. It didn’t feel great but didn’t feel awful either. It poured rain the entire time. It felt like the first 20 miler of any training cycle. The most important aspect was how my foot felt. I’m happy to report that my foot felt fine and I had no issue.
Overall thoughts:
I had a really solid and positive week and I could not be more pleased. I could tell that lack of sleep caught up to me during the weekend. Next week I plan to keep my mileage about the same. Instead of running 5 days a week, I will run 6. I don’t have plans to do a 20 mile run next weekend though.
Questions for you:
Have you ever done back to back races?
Have you ever driven after a race?
In Upstate NY I used to drive directly after half marathons (5+ hours…who knew NY was so big). Sometime my legs ended up locking up during the drive. I would be more sore the next few days. Luckily dad drove after my full marathon in 2013.
You had an awesome week!! Be smart during your injury really paid off!
Im not a fan of driving. Period. So driving before or after a race is not something i enjoy. For my half marathon last september, i had a 2 hour drive to get there, had to leave the house at 5am, then ran the race, and got lost on the drive home. Lol. I wore my compression sleeves amd went for a walk once i got home to loosen up and stretch which helped a lot. My butt always hurts when i drive long distances lol
I get nervous to drive too far to races in the morning. I think about 2 hours is my limit pre race! I remember that half you did and it was seriously incredible. I cannot wait to see you repeat and better that this year!
Amazing! You are fully up and running and so speedy!
You had a great week of running! 2 races that were very consistent and a 20 mile long run, that’s pretty amazing. You’re having a really good comeback post-injury too, to already be running 20 and of course, listening to your body and being mindful if any foot issues happen.
The longest I’ve driven after a race was 2 hours. I always have to drive 30 minutes to an hour home or whatever, but never driven for more than 2 hours. Yesterday at the course preview run there was a lady who was literally freaking out, not over running a half marathon but about having to drive 20 minutes home after the race (her first half was in the town where she lives). We kept telling her it would be okay as long as she walked around a little after the race and got a snack, etc, but I don’t think she believed us and got really defensive =/.
Good job on reaching your goals in the 5ks!
When I was 15 I ran a 5k pr at 7:00 pm. The next morning I ran my one and only 10k at 6 am. Not a good experience for me! But both races were part of the same weekend event, so I ended up with a medal from each race, a go far challenger medal, and two t-shirts.
Those are some killer back-to-back times. I wish I could run that for just ONE 5K! I’ve done a marathon one afternoon and then a 10K the morning after. Both were on trails though (in 2013), so I think that helped lessen the impact of the combined distance, plus I didn’t go all-out at either of them. I tried a back-to-back double marathon in 2012 but failed spectacularly and only made it 7.2 miles into the second race. I don’t know how I even finished the first one given that I had such bad tendinitis in my foot and ankle that I could barely walk at the time.
Looks like another solid week of training for you ~ I’m really pleased your 20 mile run went well and fingers crossed that your foot keeps on behaving!
Thank you so much Jess.
I know some people have done back to back half marathons and probably even full but I seriously cannot even imagine doing that. I don’t know if I could do more than 5ks!
I ran the VA beach 1/2 marathon once and then drove back to NJ in a mild state of dehydration. All of my races with GSTC are an hour+ away. I’m not a fan of driving, waking up early to drive or race, or doing 2 races back to back. I think it’s awesome that you were able to break 20 2x in less than 12 hours, drive to & from VA and then run a really great 20 mile run! I am excited to read the race recaps.
You are the best Angela.
GSTC sounds like collegiate racing…everything bring so far away!
Awesome training week and races!! Yes, I drove 8 hours home post marathon. I dont recommend that lol
Way to go! You killed in in racing and running this week! I would love a week like that. I think I only had oneeeeeeee just barely sub-20 5K. You rock!
An awesome week! Congrats! The closestI have come to back to back races is a marathon on Sunday and a 50M the following Saturday!
I cannot imagine doing back to back races, haha. One little race is enough of a challenge for me 😉
Excellent training week and some great racing! You are dialed in!
Awesome week of training and two great race times! Back to back races are tough but you totally rocked both!
Yes I live in Upstate NY so I have to drive everywhere! Sometimes it can be relaxing if the race isn’t too long or if I’m riding while someone else drives 🙂 I’ve only done back to back races at track meets in high school. Those 1 mile followed by a 2 mile really killed me 😉
Awesome training week! A 20 miler in your 5th week! That’s awesome.
Pain train face = love it! Watch out, 2015–Hollie is coming for ya! I’ve had a few weird training weeks recently too, but I’d take weird over injured (*knock on wood*) any time.