Week 10 of Run Less, Run Faster

This was not a good training week.

Monday – Key Run #1 Track Repeats (4 x 1200 @5:19 with RI 2 mins)

I did this on the treadmill as 4 x .75 miles. I did the intervals in 5:11, 5:13, 5:17, 5:11. It was very warm and humid, so The first two rest breaks were around 4 mins, but the last one was 7 mins long.

Thursday – Cross-training

We did a last minute getaway to the Poconos for a few days. We hiked 6 miles on the McDade Recreational Trail at the Delaware Water Gap.

Friday – Key Run #2 Tempo (10 miles @8:38 pace)

I did some trail running on a different section of the McDade Recreational Trail. Portions of the trail is rail trail with nicely packed gravel, but other sections are true technical trail running with gnarly roots, uneven rocks, and steep hills. I had to go by effort, rather than by pace. Overall pace was 10:09 for a total time of 1:41:23. I think I did okay in terms of running by effort because on the sections that were easier to run I picked up the pace and Garmin said I was running between 8:30 and 8:55.

Later in the afternoon, we hiked for 5 miles on the Milford Knob Trail.

Sunday – Key Run #3 Long Run (15 miles @8:58)

There’s no reason why I’m not able to do this run. It’s well within my comfort zone. But I went out Sunday with Ben, who wanted to join me for a couple laps around Prospect Park in Brooklyn. My legs weren’t into it. I was hoping I could shake it off after a couple miles, but legs were not cooperating. After four miles, I called it quits (9:39 pace, total time 38:33). The overall pace at this point was okay, but my legs slowed down to 11:00+ pace and I knew if I could only run that this early on, it would be a disaster a few miles later.

I told Ben that I was tired and had to stop. He asked, “Is it that your legs are heavy or that your motivation is low?” It’s a good question. I thought about it and answered truthfully, “Both.” I’m in the doldrums of marathon training. I’m tired of training. The race still seems too far away for me to get excited about. I have chronic low level fatigue. My body asked for more rest and I decided to skip the run rather than try to finish it later. I know that running between 25-30 miles per week is nothing for many runners, but this is a LOT of miles for me. Previously I ran 10-15 miles per week, maxing out at 20. All these weeks of 25+ miles when it’s not something you’ve done before catches up to you. Skipping one long run won’t derail training, but I need to make sure that I get back on track this week.

On a personal note, the next few weeks will be interesting as all three of us will need to adjust to a new schedule. Ben’s going to be extremely busy with work and not available. Work will pick up for me starting next week. Bandit will occasionally need to go to a dog sitter. Bandit suffers from separation anxiety and while it’s MUCH better than when we first got her, it’s still pretty bad. I affectionately call her my little neurotic New Yorker puppy. We minimize the number of hours she’s alone. She’s okay about being alone for a few hours at home now. Before Ben and I were able to work around each other’s schedule so one of us worked from home or I took her to work with me. While my colleagues and work place are VERY tolerant about my dog, I can’t take Bandit to work with me every day. So I’m looking at dog sitters. Doggy Day Camp doesn’t work for us because 1) Bandit prefers to be with people, preferably a blonde woman (don’t ask me where she developed this predilection as neither Ben nor I are a blonde woman) and 2) those day camps need me to pick up Bandit by 5 or 6 pm or I need to pay an extra surcharge. I often need to work in the evenings (this is something that’s not negotiable or changeable), so I won’t be able to pick Bandit up in time and with the surcharge, doggy day camp becomes rather expensive.

I’m sure once we settle in to a new routine, it’ll be fine, but at the moment, we’re little stressed about making this work.