Of Mice and Marathons

PM: 12.5 miles, averaged 8:01. HR 147.

40' Steady, Averaged 6:43. HR 166.

Got up with the boys so Megan could sleep. Took the boys to Home Depot to buy flowers for Megan and we went to the grocery store. Took a nap. Worked in the yard for a while. Got the run in late, but still wanted to do my long run workout even after the bike race yesterday. It was warm but dry and really just beautiful for Mothers' Day. I figured I would be somewhat slow with the warmer weather and very tired legs, but things went quite well. I started around 6:50 maybe for the first mile and then mostly worked in the 6:40 range with the last two miles around 6:36-6:39. 

30' up/30' down.

This was pretty solid at the end of a 21-hour training week. I am unsure of when the last time I went over 20 hours. Maybe in 2018 or 2019 in the summer? It was an odd week of stress workouts and recovery runs mostly. Monday I did a 100 miler. Tuesday 2 x recovery runs. Wednesday was a midweek workout and a recovery run. Thursday was a recovery run and a 3+ hour ride with a steady 100' portion. Single easy run on Friday. Bike race Saturday and long run/workout on Sunday. I will definitely need very easy recovery on Monday and lighter than usual efforts other than my regularly scheduled workouts. 

Lunch: 6.1 miles, averaged 10:40. HR 123. 

PM: 6.2 miles, averaged 10:32. HR 120.

Legs were sluggish, but I felt pretty good overall. I realized about 30 minutes before I needed to be at the doctor's that I had an appointment, but I got there okay. Delayed my run a little bit. It was very warm and dry when I went out. Amazing weather. Evening run was good too. Had to keep the pace quite slow, but it doesn't matter.

AM: 60' on the trainer. 196W. HR 112.

Early trainer ride. Felt pretty decent, but still kept it pretty light. The boys stirred fairly early but I was able to finish my planned time.

PM: 8 miles, averaged 8:14. HR 139.

Good run, though I was surprised I wasn't moving a bit faster for the first few miles. HR stayed quite low. It's been a LONG time since I have been able to run low 8' pace for an hour and keep it under 140 average. 

We continue to have absolutely perfect spring weather.

AM: 10.7 miles, averaged 7:56. HR 151.

20' + 15'

Based on last week's midweek and last weekend's weekender, I figure 6:28-6:33 would be about right with 6:28 being a bit more than the prescribed steady effort. For the 20' I did 6:31 @ 169 BPM and the 15' which I wanted to be around 6:18-6:22 was 6:23 @ 172 BPM. I started the 20' interval a bit steadier than last week and basically kept on it rather than progressing, which worked fine. A bit higher HR on both interval this week (though it would be higher for the 15' because it was an additional 5'), but not bad. 

Weather was pretty ideal, though getting slightly warm on the 15' interval. Not looking forward to when it gets really hot and humid, but I am taking the weather and ticking off workouts for now. I think with a 2 x 20' effort next week I will have a good sense of what I can run in a half. Hoping to have both intervals right at or under 6:30 pace. I'm not sure where this leaves me exactly because last fall I had almost no workouts from mid-September  until by November half marathon. 

PM: 78' ride (21.1 miles). 177W. HR 123. 16.3 MPH. 

Easy mixed roads loop on the Polly Ann and Oxford and Independance Township. This was more appealing than a 4-mile shakeout. Last week my legs just felt dead after the workout. Just not used to running in the afternoon after a hard session these days. The bike or trainer seems to work better on the same day as the workout. 

AM: 6.7 miles, averaged 9:43. HR 124.

PM: Thursday Night Dirt - ~3 hours 20' total.

Decided to do B group and chat with a few folks, one I haven't seen since probably September. It was definitely a very manageable pace and basically recovery effort except for a few efforts up Dequindre and racing down Sheldon. About 2.5 hours there plus doing the loop before going out the RJ's after. I didn't have anything to drink and just stuck with my chicken caesar wrap and fries. Road just under an hour home. My new light works quite well. It should for the price. Really enjoyed the ride and the relaxed effort. 

Loop data = 17 MPH, 176W, HR 126.

AM: 7.7 miles, averaged 8:31. HR 137.

Solid easy progression 9:28-7:39. 

PM: 6 miles, averaged 8:37. HR 135. 

I thought I might get hit by some storms but they kept their distance. Solid day of running. Felt good.

AM/Lunch: 7 hours (123.5). 201W. HR 132. 17.6 MPH

Planned on about 100 miles or so, maybe close to 118, rerouted a turn for a few miles and this is what I ended up at! Yehaw. A good ride. I started at 6:25 in the morning and new I had to keep a good pace to finish around my projected time. Course didn't have a ton of elevation gain, which was fine. I wanted to try to keep in close to 18 MPH if I could and without killing myself.

I picked up 70 new miles, which was great. Lots of country dirt roads and fields. Almost no potholes and minimal traffic. Just how I like my gravel riding. I tried to eat quite frequently, taking in a package of Cliff Bloks just before the turn of every hour (between the 45'-one hour mark). I had a Cliff bar for breakfast and a Cliff bar around 4 hours or so. I had most of the two bottles of Maurten 320 I had and around 20 oz of LMNT mixed one pack per 32 oz. I had around 70 oz in my hydration pack and drank 50-60 I would say. It got tiring toward the end but overall felt great and fueling was about right, though I think I would have eaten the Cliff bar earlier and had another one with me just because. 

Definitely my longest ride by time and miles. Weather was foggy and humid to start and a little bit of sun and warming up toward the end but not bad at all. I imagine these hundreds will be more difficult later in the summer, but I will try my best to cherrypick the weather and will keep in closer to 100-105 miles, so that it takes me 6 hours or less (I went through the 100-mile mark in about 5.5 hours I think).