First 2 weeks back

The last two weeks have been down weeks for me.  I’m getting back into the swing of things after Grandma’s.  Jerry wrote just a few miles the week after the marathon (35 or so?) It was the first time I’ve ever done anything the week after – and it felt great!  I did 4 miles on Monday after the race which really helped work out the lactate.  I wasn’t sore at all after that run (although, I wasn’t really too sore right after the marathon, surprisingly).  I was just “slower” – not sure if that’s typical.  My easy runs were around 8:20 or so, getting a little quicker as the week progressed.

This week is planned at 70 which I’ll hit without a problem. 70 now seems like a walk in the park, which is nice.  Mileage will be a focus during the next cycle.  I honestly feel like that will be a huge break-though for me.  I hit 105/week for the first time this cycle and felt as good as I’ve ever felt.  I felt like I could run forever, I was more efficient/stronger than ever before (and ended that week with a 1:19 1/2 marathon done at marathon pace that felt great!)… there was just this feeling of “this is good”.  It could mean that mileage is a good thing for me, or it could mean that 100-105 is my “sweet spot” — only one way to find out.  We’ll see what Jerry has to say, though 🙂

I’ve sent Jerry a few thoughts on the next cycle.  Funny story.  I went for a noon run one day this week, thinking about the training plan Jerry had written for NYC.  It included the move to the elite plan (Daniel’s), challenges with pace, and increasing mileage.  He had sent it to me the evening before, and for some reason I wasn’t fully on board.  I thought about it during the run… it came to me.  This was suspiciously like my Trials training, where we had attempted to increase 3 things: mileage, pace, and training plan.  I had felt so slow and run down that cycle (and end up injuring my achilles) – it wasn’t good.  Ah-ha!  So, I thought to myself:  Are there 2 things you can change with this cycle?  If so, what are they?  My thoughts landed on mileage and pace (keeping training plan the same – Daniels A).  I gave my thoughts to Jerry… again, we’ll see what he says.  Perhaps he’ll argue that mileage needs to be capped and we’ll focus on pace and the move to the Elite plan.  We’ll see!

What’s funny about this, you’re asking?   After over an hour of running where I contemplated my situation and my training, I arrived back at my desk to find a blog comment by Steve – reiterating my exact same thoughts.  Weird timing.  Perhaps God was just making sure I got the message? 🙂

Also, post-marathon, I’ve had some trouble with my hips and right hamstring (old injury where I tore the hamstring and it didn’t heal 100%).  It’s weird, I’ll go through a training cycle without much thought (adjustments every 10 days or so) – but then when I start to taper, the right leg seems to act more like a “club”.  Perhaps during the taper I’m running differently?  Or perhaps I’m not doing enough strength to keep it in place?  Or the “strength” of a lot of mileage helps it?  Who knows.  Good thing I have Jim Patterson to turn to!  He is absolutely amazing – if you’re in the Red Wing area, please look him up.  I’ve been in his office frequently lately, and each time the hip/hamstring has felt better.  Hopefully within the next week we can get it to where I don’t notice it much at all.

Nate and I are waking up early to run in Dundas’ Doggie Days 5k tomorrow.  Should be entertaining – Mesa is tapered and ready to go (she did a “shake out run” of 10 miles mid-day in the heat/humidity) :).  Ha.  We’ll run with our Stunt Puppy gear, should be a really fun time!  We’ll post pictures :).