Hansons Week 10
Not only is Week 10 over, but so is July! Scary to think that the Chicago Marathon is only two months away...
Here was my training schedule for week 10:
Monday: 7 miles easy
Tuesday:Speedwork - 4 X 1200 with 400 recovery 8 miles Tempo
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday:8 miles Tempo Strength training
Friday: 5 miles easy
Saturday: 8 miles easy
Sunday: 10 miles long (on the trail)
The biggest change this week was that I skipped the speedwork. Because I missed my tempo run last week, I wanted to make sure that I completed this workout which meant skipping the speedwork. Week 11 of training is essentially a built-in "extra" week for me and I plan to repeat the missed tempo and speedwork runs. I always build in extra training weeks to accommodate injury, sickness, and vacation. Thankfully I am using this week as a vacation week, so I can do whatever I want with week 11, and I plan to get in a few high quality workouts with some much needed rest. But that will all be reported next week...
Tempo Run:
Having missed the 8 mile tempo run in week 9, I knew this was an important workout to complete. Unfortunately the weather did not understand this importance, and I had to complete the run in 90 degree weather with high humidity. This turned the run into 8 miles of torture. I finished the first 5 miles on pace, but I hit the wall somewhere in mile 6. My body ran out of energy and my lungs were screaming in the humid air. I tried a run walk combo for mile 6 and 7, but I could barely run without gasping for breath. I resigned myself to finishing the run completely off my tempo time and out of breath, and I was both mentally and physically exhausting by the time I returned home almost in tears.
Easy Runs:
Thankfully my easy runs at the end of the week went much better. The weather was finally tolerable on Friday, and Saturday's 8 miles flew by. Hence the purpose of the easy runs - to run easy. These runs did not feel like work and I felt that I put in some quality miles towards my training. It took a lot for me to learn during half training what "easy" really feels like. In the past I would head out on what I considered easy runs, but would really be running too fast. This would make it difficult to dial in on my pace for the long run. While the point is to feel the cumulative fatigue, one still needs to be able to complete the run and running the easy days too hard is a good way to set yourself up for a difficult long run. Thankfully I ran my 8 easy miles at a pace that was "easy" and I headed into my long run feeling ready.
Fatigue Level:
My fatigue level was extremely high at the beginning of the week, coming off of the really hot long run (that did not go as planned) and the tempo run. Using a strength training day instead of the speedwork, combined with the easy runs helped get me back to a level that was manageable. I definitely feel the effects of the cumulative fatigue after my 10 mile run coming off of an 8 mile run the previous day, but that is exactly how I should feel and the point of Hansons. The 10 miles felt difficult, but not impossible which is what the later miles in the marathon should feel like.
Nutrition:
This week I focused on post-run nutrition. I often find after my mid-week runs that I come home, shower, and make dinner which means I am fueling anywhere from an hour to two hours later. Similarly, I come home from weekend runs and eat something after I have taken the time to shower and foam roll and then suddenly I am ravenous. Instead, this week I focused on eating the recommended ratio of carbs to protein (4:1) within 30 minutes after my runs. It is too soon to tell if this is why I recovered so quickly after my 8 mile run going into my 10 mile run, but it certainly did not hurt. I also focused more on electrolytes this week given I was still running in some hot and humid temps. Refueling with just water is not enough in these conditions, and I think this hurt me last week. I use Nuun tablets because they taste great and are not full of chemicals and sugar like Gatorade. Again, it is too soon to tell if this helped but I was more aware of proper hydration than I have been in previous weeks.
Mental & Emotional Strength:
This was a big one this week. After Tuesday's run, I felt extremely emotionally drained (as well as physically drained). I rarely find myself "hating" running, but I did on Tuesday. But after a few days off, I was thinking a lot of about what I have read in several of Matt Fitzgerald's books, which if you are not familiar, need to be immediately. Matt's books on nutrition and diet are among my favorites, but I believe it is his book Run that talks about suffering. I was reminded that he recommends that runners learn to handle suffering to build mental resilience. Not every run should be miserable or painful because no one would want to run and ultimately we run because we enjoy it. However, if we only run in the best conditions or optimal situations, we never really develop the mental strength to handle the unfortunate situations that can occur on race day or during hard workouts. I completely believe that mental strength is just as important as physical training, and why I do run in all types of conditions - rain, snow, heat, when I am hungover, tired, stressed out, etc. While I am lucky that most of my race days have been pretty optimal, there will be a day where I have to run in the rain and for some, this would be a deal breaker. If you never make yourself uncomfortable, you will not build the mental strength to endure situations and experiences that put you outside of your comfort zone. In the later miles of the marathon when your body is screaming to stop, your mind is too. By having the mental resilience that comes from training in situations that make you suffer, you will be that much stronger during the later miles of a marathon, an ultra, etc. Having thought on this a bit, it makes me appreciate my experiences in the heat this past week a lot more. They were hard miles, and on Tuesday, I felt as if I was suffering. But I survived. I moved on. And now I will be that much stronger for it on race day.
It is hard to believe that July is over, but I ran 120 miles in July! This has been my highest mileage month since March which was right before my half marathon. Those are a lot of miles and time spent training. At times it felt like I was having to modify the training schedule to accommodate a race, the weather, etc., but it helps to look back and realize that I have put in a lot of hard work regardless. I think of Matt Fitzgerald again when I recall something else he writes about - listening to your body. In one of his books he writes about how it is important to follow a plan about 50% of the time for experienced runners, and your body the other 50%. As much as no one likes to feel like they are deviating from a plan, there is no plan that works better than listening to what your body needs. Clearly you have to put in the time and miles to achieve a goal, such as a marathon, but there may be some days where running in the hot temps is going to do more damage than good and staying indoors for strength training is a better option. Perhaps switching around a tempo run for speedwork makes more sense on a specific day because it sounds more "fun" than simply putting in the miles. I am glad that I have had enough years running to really know what my body (and mind) need and can modify my training plan as needed, yet still have many miles to show for it. July was a hot and rainy month, but I gladly built some great mental resilience!
Here was my training schedule for week 10:
Monday: 7 miles easy
Tuesday:
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday:
Friday: 5 miles easy
Saturday: 8 miles easy
Sunday: 10 miles long (on the trail)
The biggest change this week was that I skipped the speedwork. Because I missed my tempo run last week, I wanted to make sure that I completed this workout which meant skipping the speedwork. Week 11 of training is essentially a built-in "extra" week for me and I plan to repeat the missed tempo and speedwork runs. I always build in extra training weeks to accommodate injury, sickness, and vacation. Thankfully I am using this week as a vacation week, so I can do whatever I want with week 11, and I plan to get in a few high quality workouts with some much needed rest. But that will all be reported next week...
Tempo Run:
Having missed the 8 mile tempo run in week 9, I knew this was an important workout to complete. Unfortunately the weather did not understand this importance, and I had to complete the run in 90 degree weather with high humidity. This turned the run into 8 miles of torture. I finished the first 5 miles on pace, but I hit the wall somewhere in mile 6. My body ran out of energy and my lungs were screaming in the humid air. I tried a run walk combo for mile 6 and 7, but I could barely run without gasping for breath. I resigned myself to finishing the run completely off my tempo time and out of breath, and I was both mentally and physically exhausting by the time I returned home almost in tears.
Easy Runs:
Thankfully my easy runs at the end of the week went much better. The weather was finally tolerable on Friday, and Saturday's 8 miles flew by. Hence the purpose of the easy runs - to run easy. These runs did not feel like work and I felt that I put in some quality miles towards my training. It took a lot for me to learn during half training what "easy" really feels like. In the past I would head out on what I considered easy runs, but would really be running too fast. This would make it difficult to dial in on my pace for the long run. While the point is to feel the cumulative fatigue, one still needs to be able to complete the run and running the easy days too hard is a good way to set yourself up for a difficult long run. Thankfully I ran my 8 easy miles at a pace that was "easy" and I headed into my long run feeling ready.
Fatigue Level:
My fatigue level was extremely high at the beginning of the week, coming off of the really hot long run (that did not go as planned) and the tempo run. Using a strength training day instead of the speedwork, combined with the easy runs helped get me back to a level that was manageable. I definitely feel the effects of the cumulative fatigue after my 10 mile run coming off of an 8 mile run the previous day, but that is exactly how I should feel and the point of Hansons. The 10 miles felt difficult, but not impossible which is what the later miles in the marathon should feel like.
Nutrition:
This week I focused on post-run nutrition. I often find after my mid-week runs that I come home, shower, and make dinner which means I am fueling anywhere from an hour to two hours later. Similarly, I come home from weekend runs and eat something after I have taken the time to shower and foam roll and then suddenly I am ravenous. Instead, this week I focused on eating the recommended ratio of carbs to protein (4:1) within 30 minutes after my runs. It is too soon to tell if this is why I recovered so quickly after my 8 mile run going into my 10 mile run, but it certainly did not hurt. I also focused more on electrolytes this week given I was still running in some hot and humid temps. Refueling with just water is not enough in these conditions, and I think this hurt me last week. I use Nuun tablets because they taste great and are not full of chemicals and sugar like Gatorade. Again, it is too soon to tell if this helped but I was more aware of proper hydration than I have been in previous weeks.
Mental & Emotional Strength:
This was a big one this week. After Tuesday's run, I felt extremely emotionally drained (as well as physically drained). I rarely find myself "hating" running, but I did on Tuesday. But after a few days off, I was thinking a lot of about what I have read in several of Matt Fitzgerald's books, which if you are not familiar, need to be immediately. Matt's books on nutrition and diet are among my favorites, but I believe it is his book Run that talks about suffering. I was reminded that he recommends that runners learn to handle suffering to build mental resilience. Not every run should be miserable or painful because no one would want to run and ultimately we run because we enjoy it. However, if we only run in the best conditions or optimal situations, we never really develop the mental strength to handle the unfortunate situations that can occur on race day or during hard workouts. I completely believe that mental strength is just as important as physical training, and why I do run in all types of conditions - rain, snow, heat, when I am hungover, tired, stressed out, etc. While I am lucky that most of my race days have been pretty optimal, there will be a day where I have to run in the rain and for some, this would be a deal breaker. If you never make yourself uncomfortable, you will not build the mental strength to endure situations and experiences that put you outside of your comfort zone. In the later miles of the marathon when your body is screaming to stop, your mind is too. By having the mental resilience that comes from training in situations that make you suffer, you will be that much stronger during the later miles of a marathon, an ultra, etc. Having thought on this a bit, it makes me appreciate my experiences in the heat this past week a lot more. They were hard miles, and on Tuesday, I felt as if I was suffering. But I survived. I moved on. And now I will be that much stronger for it on race day.
 |
| Some days your path is flooded, but you don't turn around and go home. You deal with it and find a way around it. |
July Recap:
It is hard to believe that July is over, but I ran 120 miles in July! This has been my highest mileage month since March which was right before my half marathon. Those are a lot of miles and time spent training. At times it felt like I was having to modify the training schedule to accommodate a race, the weather, etc., but it helps to look back and realize that I have put in a lot of hard work regardless. I think of Matt Fitzgerald again when I recall something else he writes about - listening to your body. In one of his books he writes about how it is important to follow a plan about 50% of the time for experienced runners, and your body the other 50%. As much as no one likes to feel like they are deviating from a plan, there is no plan that works better than listening to what your body needs. Clearly you have to put in the time and miles to achieve a goal, such as a marathon, but there may be some days where running in the hot temps is going to do more damage than good and staying indoors for strength training is a better option. Perhaps switching around a tempo run for speedwork makes more sense on a specific day because it sounds more "fun" than simply putting in the miles. I am glad that I have had enough years running to really know what my body (and mind) need and can modify my training plan as needed, yet still have many miles to show for it. July was a hot and rainy month, but I gladly built some great mental resilience!
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