Walked my daughter out to the bus stop, then realized that we had forgotten her backpack. Put in an unplanned 2 x 200 with unlocking the door recovery. Hip was not thrilled but stride felt a little smoother than my recent attempts at a let's-see-how-thing-are-going jog. That’s my run for the week (unless I forget the backpack again…)
Comments:
RRR: Good to see you on the comeback trail, and looking pretty fit – nice work on those ks.
jotquill: Great week. Hill workouts are definitely a blast, but they will put a hurt on you the first few times, as much from the downhill recovery as anything else, I suspect (eccentric stress and all that). Valuable prep for Boston.
Stone: I know that run-down feeling you’re talking about – seems like it’s something that frequently crops up this time of year. Good job pulling yourself out of it, and have fun with the race coming up – as others have said, that TT suggests you’re ready to roll.
jewbacca: Big number. The levee sprints seem like a smart way of sneaking in a little speed in a mostly mileage week.
pewow: 600s have always struck me as being a little awkward in the same way that 1200s can be awkward, as discussed a little while back. Just an in-between distance that’s a little hard to pace. Hope the conditions get more spring-like out there soon.
Puddles: Looking very strong on those mile repeats.
HHH: As noted above with Stone, I’ve sometimes found this to be a tricky time of year in terms of energy. Just get some very blah and lethargic days at times. It will come around.
OR: Looking very, very strong. What has the recovery from the special block been like?
Sub 6: Getting the race in is big if you haven’t raced in a while. (Speaking as someone who hasn’t raced in a while…)
GT: Going to be flying in that 5k.
TDR: Sounds like it was a good trip. A down week is healthy every now and then.
SI: Very solid week considering post-race recovery (“10 mile race at 10 mile race effort” made me laugh…)
cocoon: That’s a very strong long run for you. That combined with the workout you had planned for Wednesday would strike me as being a pretty aggressive week, so you were probably wise to step back one or the other.
WHS: Congrats on the 800, and welcome to the thread.
Viking: Solid mileage. Are the more uptempo runs smoothing out for you a bit?
Coach Jeff: Not surprising you needed a little time to recover after the half. (I seem to remember needing at least a week to feel back to normal, but I haven’t run many half marathons.)
I’ve never run Boston and so have no particular insight into how the course plays out, but it sounds like you have a pretty good mental approach. One thing we do know is that Boston can throw a lot of crazy stuff at you – heat, cold, wind, hills, you name it – so knowing that you train in the heat, you train in the hills, you can kind of embrace that and say, this is the way I want it to be, and as you said, this is in my wheelhouse. That should give you a lot of confidence. (On that note, cold rain is your friend.)
Urban Diesel: Just wanted to add my congrats on Nats. Impressive performance!
LR: A lot of perseverance in that week.
old dog: Congrats on the comeback – sounds like you had a really good run for a rust buster.
AJ: 30 minutes is good and you will be happy you kept up the continuity when it’s time to get rolling again.
RGM: Solid week, nice work on the mile repeats.
Guy: Good work getting the mileage in. In my experience, the crazy hungry thing comes (sometimes) with an initial mileage bump, then settles down as you adjust to a new normal.
Coyote: Another good solid week. 4 x 2k is a great workout. When you mention pickups, what does that look like for you, generally speaking?
NYC Half: The Brooklyn Half is a fun race, and it looks like you’re pretty fit. In answer to your questions… There is no law that says you need to run with a pace group, but if you’re inclined to do so, I would plan on running with the 6:29 group for the first few miles over the hills in Prospect Park and then see if you can move up from there. Personally, I would not do the 4 x 10 workout you have planned. In general, I don’t think it makes sense to do a race week workout that represents a step up from the training you have been doing (in your case, 4 x 10:00 vs. 7 x 5:00). Even if you do recover, and you may not, you won’t have time to harvest the fitness, so to speak. Instead, I would look to do something where you dial into your racing gear while dialing back on the effort, if that makes sense. Specific, but not hard. Or alternatively, just something to put a little pep in your step (such as strides).
