Aaaaaaaaaaand now, the last entry of the Oakland Running Festival/Oakland Marathon training cycle. It’s a little weird to write this nearly a week post-marathon, but hey… I like closure.
Hazy memory, so this will be brief. The theme of the week was RECOVERY and just waiting until the big day.
Monday, March 17
p: rest/XT
a: rest
Always the rest-day Monday.
Tuesday, March 18
p: recovery double: 5 mi a.m.; 4 mi p.m.
a: yup, a recovery double — 5.1 mi a.m.; 4.06 mi p.m.
Felt pretty solid on both of these recovery runs. On the first one, pre-dawn, the temperature allegedly dropped 11 degrees, which I’m not entirely sure I buy… but the gigundo full moon was to.die.for. I bet there’d be more pre-dawn runners out there if they knew how beautiful the moon was (or if they’d get to go back to sleep for a little bit after their run. Minor detail).
Part two felt great, especially after driving for three hours (another aquarium trip). My legs were all AMEN, SISTA for giving them the opportunity to streeeeeeeeeeetch.
still has nothing to do with running, but jellyfish are still cool
Wednesday, March 19
p: GA 7 with 2 @ GMP
a: GA 7.07 with 2 @ GMP (well, not exactly– 7:39, 42)
Missed the mark a bit on this and couldn’t quite lock down the GMP very quickly. The goal was to do this descending, in accordance with my corresponding pace at Oakland, with a range of 7:37 down to :26. It was a bit of a ‘eghhh’ moment because it was hard not to overthink or overanalyze why I couldn’t quickly lock down my pace, but rationally, I knew that at this point in training, it was kinda inconsequential and that it was probably more indicative of some sort of ‘blergh’ that morning and less so of something egregiously wrong with my training. It did, however, spur me to consider reigning in my pacing a bit for race day from a 1:39/36 split to a 1:40/38 split, which was definitely wise, given the course profile.
Thursday, March 20
p: recovery 5
a: yup, recovery 5.09
Decided to get outta my hood and run around the Catholic cemetery for a while. It’s actually kinda cathartic to run in a big, .8-sized circle, that also throws me some little ascents and descents; it’s just a bit weird to do so pre-dawn and see random shit strewn along the sidewalk leading up to it, like children’s toys. What I also find interesting is that many headstones in the cemetery have these little LED votive things, presumably so the graves are always illuminated (I guess as a way to honor the deceased?). It makes the headstones kinda pretty… but also kinda eerie when you’re circlin’ the cemetery pre-dawn and only see little votive lights, in addition to that which your headlamp is illuminating. Kinda rave-y. Kinda weird.
Friday, March 21
p: recovery 5 + speed w 5x100m strides
a: yup, recovery 5.01 with 5x100m strides
Very relaxing and cathartic laps around the ‘hood. Totally kumbahya, totally wanted to run forever. Thank you, taper; thank you.
Also, on many of my runs this week, I had noticed the absence of my feral felines, my usual company that typically terrifies me graces my presence mid-run. Later in the day, during a walk with A, not only did I see some graffiti–NBD for SJ–but it was feline-themed. I had to preserve the moment.
seriously
Saturday, March 22
p: recovery 4
a: recovery 4.03 with Lynton (!!) in the west side of PCP
Race weekend! Race weekend! Just a little jiffy with Lynton, who so awesomely flew over to the Bay from Chicago so he could race 13.1 at Oakland and run with Rozanne for her first 5k. Even after a late flight, he still drove a long haul down to SJ for a little shake-out. Beginning of an awesome weekend!
Sunday, March 23
p: 26.2 miles – RACE DAY!
a: 26.2 miles – RACE DAY! 3:23:47, third woman OA, second AG
Closer and closer to race week! And so begins the taper.
Earlier in the week, I wrote a rare mid-week post about how I was finally all kum-bah-yah about pretty much all the big stuff in my life right now–moving to California, how my training has progressed, and where my fitness is, relative to my goals/where I want it to be, as I prepare to toe the line in a couple weeks–and I think finally putting everything down on paper (screen) really made some type of indescribable-yet-indelible impression on me. It is a bit strange to describe, but I think that the taper cutback is also giving me a chance to metaphorically step back and look at my training this cycle, concurrent with our cross-country move, and see everything from a greater vantage point than before. I’ll write a separate post reflecting exclusively on my training, but suffice it to say for now that I’m happy how things have gone.
Of course, life can and does happen sometimes. I wasn’t planning to fall ill this week–really, who plans to, ever?–but when the week began with the scratchy/burning feeling in my throat, I knew it was just a matter of a few days before I’d get hit with a sinus infection or a cold. I made the executive decision to forego my last LR, 17 miles, on Sunday morning after feeling kinda bleh on Saturday. It’s a hard decision to make when I thought about it like a runner, but once I stepped outside that mould, it was a no-brainer.
At any rate, I guess if there’s ever a good time to get ill during training, it’s during taper, when you’re already at a reduced volume or intensity and slowly awaiting your body to rebuild and repair itself after weeks and weeks of working hard and haulin’ ass. I really do not want to be the fittest spectator on the sidelines at Oakland, so I’ll do whatever I need to do between now and then to ensure that I’m on the other side of the barricades. 🙂
This week’s training!
Monday, March 3
p: rest/XT
a: rest
Gotta love the Monday rest days.
Tuesday, March 4
p: VO2 max 9 mi w 5x600m @ 5kRP, jog 90 sec between
a: recovery + speed: 6 w 6x100m strides: 6.02 miles
In the interests of observing the purpose of the taper, I wasn’t super keen to start the week with a VO2 max workout that came shortly after an 8k, that came right after a 20 miler. Instead, I thought it’d make more sense to have a nice recovery with some strides thrown in for variation. The recovery felt really good, the strides were comfortable, so I was happy that I seemed to be holding everything together post-final peak week. For little runs like this, I’ve finally figured out that it makes the most sense to just run tedious laps around my ‘hood. I don’t lose any time to stoplights or much vehicular traffic that way.
Wednesday, March 5
p: MLR 11
a: altered VO2 max workout: 9 miles with 8x800m repeats, 3 min RI — 9.64 miles, avg. for 800: 3:16
Pfitz had the 5x600m repeat workout on the books a couple weeks ago, and I didn’t do it then because I wanted to do 800s instead. With that in mind, I thought it’d make the most sense to do the 800s again for comparative purposes, so off I went to the PCP track in the pre-dawn darkness for my repeats. I was convinced that this run would go poorly due to life interruptions, but it did just the opposite; in fact, I’m positive I’ve not run such consistent 800s before, and especially when doing them by myself:
3:16, 3:15, 3:14, 3:15, 3:15, 3:16, 3:17, 3:16
For the first five repeats, my first 400m was on pace for a 3:05/3:08, but I intentionally slowed down on the second loop because I knew that I am not yet quite able to hold that pace for the entirety of this workout… and especially doing it sola. (Note to self: I desperately need to find fast pre-dawn runners here). On the last two sets, however, my splits for each 400 were perfectly even. I was really thrilled about how these 800s felt and, when I finished, felt like I still had some more left in the tank. It was a really encouraging workout for sure.
in case you wanted to know what it looks like to run 800s at the PCP track pre-dawn. It makes me think of those old “Cops” episodes..
Thursday, March 6
p: recovery + speed: 6 w 6x100m strides
a: recovery 5.02
Another switch this morning. Everything was in working order when I awoke, but given how the week had progressed, a recovery seemed to be reasonable. Super chill, super humid, pretty cathartic run, and immediately after I finished running, I walked straight into a parked pick-up truck. Yup, I was that relaxed, folks.
Friday, March 7
p: recovery 5
a: MLR 11 mi, 8:23 average
Final midweek (kinda) MLR in the books for this cycle, “just” 11 miles.
I mostly just stuck to running laps around the cemetery that’s about a mile away from home. Like running around my ‘hood, it’s tedious, but I don’t lose a ton of time to vehicles, stoplights, and the like as I do running pretty much anywhere else in my immediate vicinity. Plus, the cemetery has a nice descent and ascent. Anyway, the run was really nice and comfortable, and I felt super spring-y. I’m simultaneously chill/kum-ba-ya and HYPER as all hell, and I told myself a couple times to calm down on this run. 842, 29, 18, 19, 23 826, 31, 21, 14, 15, 18
Saturday, March 8
p: 8-10k tune-up race
a: LR 17 GA 6.02 miles, 8:09 average
Well, I knew I wasn’t going to race on Saturday since I just did on Sunday, so originally, I planned for my 17 mile LR. After doing the typical pre-LR dance with my tea and breakfast, I was literally on my front porch warming up when I decided I’d be better off doing the GA run I was going to do on Sunday. I wasn’t feeling 100%–by now, that cold/sinus thing I had been nursing all week was really making itself known–and while I knew I could, was able, to run 17 miles, I didn’t think it’d be wise. Oh, and shortly before I left to run, I had a lovely nosebleed. It’s pretty hard to snotrocket on your runs when you’re worried that your nose is going to flow red again at any second… just sayin’. Also, during the short little GA run, I experienced some of the seasonal vertigo stuff I get–also not fun. I typically don’t feel it when I’m running, but Saturday must have been my lucky day! At any rate, the actual run itself, through the west side of PCP and over my highway hill, was quite nice. I just felt like I had a bunch of sinus/allergy/cold nonsense in my head and promptly went back to bed once I returned home.
the west side of PCP, near Mabury/Jackson
Sunday, March 9
p: LR 17
a: LR 17 “being smart 0 miles day”
I spent most of Saturday in bed and super-medicated to clear this shit outta my head, and come Saturday night, I actually felt pretty great; I was pretty confident I’d be ready to do my 17 miler in the morning. When I awoke at 4 to start my usual pre-LR dance, basically, I just had a moment with myself (I do this often) and asked myself what was more important: running a 17 mile training run on sub-par health, just to say that I did it, or taking a true rest day so that I’d be ready to run well, strong, and healthy two weeks from today (race day!!!)? The answer was a no-brainer.
As much as I didn’t want to miss my LR, I knew it was the right decision to make, and in the big picture, really, really important. I can’t remember the last time I skipped a LR, so while I felt a bit guilty about it, once I stopped thinking about this like a runner, I knew I was 100% making the right call. I really don’t want to be the fittest spectator in Oakland.
Missing the long run, combined with this being a taper week anyway, made my weekly mileage tank, but big picture, it’s inconsequential. Rationally, I know that a LR today isn’t going to affect my race performance in two weeks, but having a lingering cold that I was too stubborn dumb to mind early on surely will. It’s funny; a couple years ago, I would have surely (and stubbornly) run through this in an effort to hit all my prescribed mileage for the week. The things that experience can teach you…
Next week will be amazing, and we’ll be ONE WEEK CLOSER to race day!!
Weekly Mileage
p: 59
a: 37.69
Let’s hear it. What do you do when you fall ill during a training cycle?
Hazy memory, so this will be brief. The theme of the week was RECOVERY and just waiting until the big day.
