January Training: Turning a Corner

After getting injured in October, my training has not been great. I haven’t felt good, and it feels like I took 100 steps back, even though I wasn’t injured for too long. During that time, I also found out I likely had COVID. I’m working through that, but it’s made training for a marathon incredibly difficult. I’m out there. I’m doing it. But most of the time, it doesn’t feel great, and I struggle to hit paces that felt easy just a few months ago.

January feels like I turned a corner. Running is starting to feel better, and I feel some confidence.

Stats:

Miles run: 324.49
Shortest run: 3 miles
Longest run: 20 miles
Range of paces: 6:50-13:13-untimed
Rest days: 5
Races:
Rose Bowl Half Marathon 1:36.58
Castle to Coast 8.2 Mile Race (7:23 pace)
Swimming: 21 miles

Thoughts:

As mentioned, this was a good month for me. My confidence is slowly coming back, and I’m beginning to hit paces I haven’t since before my hip injury. My two races went as well as they probably could. Castle to Coast was my “rust buster,” and while I didn’t feel great, it was nice to run faster than I have in a several months.

As far as daily training, I’ve always felt better when I run higher mileage. I wish I was a runner that could get away with lower mileage and run faster, but that has never been me. By increasing mileage a little bit, I think it’s helped me feel a bit more fit. Most of my workouts have been on the trails. While that hasn’t been as far as the road, it has made me “stronger” but also helped with injury impact.

I’ve also been really focused on fueling during long runs. While I always thought I was ‘fueling enough,’ with about 5 gels per marathon, I’m working to increase and double the calorie intake. I’ve had some flavor fatigue with Maurten, so I’ve been trying new things. On my last long run, I consumed over 800 calories from gels, which I’m happy about.

As far as swimming, I’ve found I really feel a lot better after a hard workout if I swim. It hasn’t been rigorous but I’ve recovered well after some easy movement.

What’s next for February?

As we move into February, and what is the “meat and potatoes” of training, I’m hoping to get 2 more quality 20-mile runs. My first 20-mile run in early January, I wondered: will I be able to run this marathon? Honestly, I did not know. I finished but it was not pretty. The second 20 miler felt good, but I still have a lot of work, endurance-wise, to do. I do have more races on the schedule, because a. I enjoy them, and b. I would rather do speed work with a crowd than alone in the desert.