Weekly Rundown- All About the Long Run
As the title says, this week was all about getting that long run done. It was my last long run before my race, and I absolutely HAD to do it on Wednesday. I couldn’t put it off because as it is, I only have a ten day taper. But our temperatures spiked up crazily, and Wednesday was forecast to be 98 degrees, ARRRRG! Read on for all the gory details… But first- I’m linking up as always with Kim and Deborah for this Weekly Rundown- thanks for hosting, ladies! Monday 4 mile run, followed by a Caroline Girvan standing core workout. Meh… the deadbugs are definitely more intense. But at least it wasn’t crunches! Tuesday To rest my legs for the next day, I did an upper body strength workout on my Sally McRae app, and then back to the Caroline Girvan deadbug workout. It’s officially the best core workout ever. Wednesday 20 mile long run!!! This was the hardest long run I’ve ever done. Or, let’s put it this way- if I ever had a run this hard in the past, I didn’t end up completing it. This was the hardest run I’ve ever had where I didn’t just bail in the middle. Knowing it was going to be extremely hot, I considered starting in the dark and getting at least an hour done before taking my daughter to school- but since this was the ONLY 20 mile run of this training cycle, I decided it would be more beneficial to do the entire thing at one time. So, I couldn’t start the run until 7:30. I had a cooler in my car with ice, water, and fuel, and circled back to it several times. I thought of it as like an aid station in a race. The first eight miles were okay… … and after that it got hard. By mile 14 it was so hard, I pulled out my secret weapon for desperate times, which is to run for 30 seconds, walk for 30 seconds, over and over and over again until I (hopefully) start to feel better. This works really well- I mean, I won’t be setting any PRs this way, but I’ve found that I can always convince myself to run for 30 seconds, and as long as I keep up a brisk pace on the walking intervals, I don’t really slow down THAT much. At least, not as much as if I just walked or- obviously- stopped altogether. By mile 16 I had a second wind, and was able to run continuously again. That took me to mile 18 and then I just gutted out the last two miles. I was literally counting down the tenths of a mile, until I got to mile 20. When I finished, I looked at the weather on my phone- it was 96 degrees. And the “feels like” temp was 106. Oh yeah- THAT’S why it was so hard! Have I mentioned that there’s NO SHADE on my trail??? I actually think my race will be a little easier than this run, or at least a little cooler. It’s in Central Florida and I believe some of the trails are shady. Shade would be nice. Thursday You know how, when you finish a workout, your Garmin tells you how many hours of recovery you need? After yesterday’s run, it told me I needed THREE DAYS to recover, ha. I did feel pretty wiped out, so today I just walked for 30 minutes, and that felt great. Friday Okay, enough rest. I went to the gym, did 20 minutes on the Stairmaster, and then did some heavier squats. My quads were still a little sore from the run, but squatting actually felt good- it somehow stretched them out? Followed that up with some work on the abs machine. Saturday 4 mile run! My legs felt really heavy- probably still some lingering fatigue from the run on Wednesday, plus the added fatigue from the squats. Not to sound like a broken record, but it was also… hot. Sunday Alright, I’m ready for a taper! This week will consist of some short runs, very little lower body strength, lots of sleep, and then my race is next Sunday! I’m excited. I’m excited for the race, and I’m excited to NOT do any more long runs in the heat. How was your week? Is it hot where you are? Would you rather be extremely hot or extremely cold? – During this long run I was trying to remember how miserable I was during my race in February, where I was so cold, I was shaking. I guess I would rather be too hot.