Daniels Blue Plan Week 3
This was a great week of training. There were some hard runs on hot weather days, but the third week felt good. The past three weeks have flown by and I am now entering the fourth and final week.
This was probably the most sore my body has felt in a while. I knew two days of speed work would take it's toll on my hamstrings, and using one of my easy run days for strength has really worn me out. Thankfully this also happened to be my sports massage week, and it was much needed. Here was what my week looked like:
Sunday: 60 min easy run
Monday: 4 X 4 min on, 3 min off with warm up and cool down, Jasyoga - Optimal Hip Reset
Tuesday: Strength training (instead of 30 min easy run)
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: 6 X 400m R + 400m recover + 200m R + 200m recover with a warmup and cool down, 10 min of core work, Sports Massage!!!
Friday: Jasyoga - High Mileage Reset
Saturday: 10 miles long
Thursdays speedwork felt really exhausting, but I was surprised to find that I was completing the hard efforts on the 400 and 200 meters faster than previous weeks. I try to not look at my watch during an interval and focus on my posture, cadence, and being present in the moment, but sometimes I find that I am concerned about finishing it "in time", and I need to stop doing that.
Saturday was National Trail Day, so naturally I did my long run on the trail. I hadn't been back to this particular trail since before I ran my ultra. Not only was I amazed by how much the trail has changed since late March/early April, but how different it felt to run there again because I am different. I put in so many miles on that trail, wondering what it would be like to run the ultra, worried about my performance, and having feelings of confidence and strength mixed with fear and doubt. It felt good to come back and run that 10 mile loop without any thoughts in my head other than how beautiful the trail looked, and to know that those months of hard work paid off.
Observations:
This was probably the most sore my body has felt in a while. I knew two days of speed work would take it's toll on my hamstrings, and using one of my easy run days for strength has really worn me out. Thankfully this also happened to be my sports massage week, and it was much needed. Here was what my week looked like:
Sunday: 60 min easy run
Monday: 4 X 4 min on, 3 min off with warm up and cool down, Jasyoga - Optimal Hip Reset
Tuesday: Strength training (instead of 30 min easy run)
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: 6 X 400m R + 400m recover + 200m R + 200m recover with a warmup and cool down, 10 min of core work, Sports Massage!!!
Friday: Jasyoga - High Mileage Reset
Saturday: 10 miles long
Thursdays speedwork felt really exhausting, but I was surprised to find that I was completing the hard efforts on the 400 and 200 meters faster than previous weeks. I try to not look at my watch during an interval and focus on my posture, cadence, and being present in the moment, but sometimes I find that I am concerned about finishing it "in time", and I need to stop doing that.
Saturday was National Trail Day, so naturally I did my long run on the trail. I hadn't been back to this particular trail since before I ran my ultra. Not only was I amazed by how much the trail has changed since late March/early April, but how different it felt to run there again because I am different. I put in so many miles on that trail, wondering what it would be like to run the ultra, worried about my performance, and having feelings of confidence and strength mixed with fear and doubt. It felt good to come back and run that 10 mile loop without any thoughts in my head other than how beautiful the trail looked, and to know that those months of hard work paid off.
 |
| Same spot, changed runner |
Observations:
- My speed has definitely improved. Comparing time on each week's distance intervals reflects this. It also shows during my long run as my effort is still slow and easy, but I find it takes less effort to sustain a slightly faster pace for a longer duration
- Hot weather season is here, and I need to hydrate better. I tried the new Nuun Performance hydration mix and found it to work great, but in general I am horrible at drinking enough during and after long runs in the sun
This is the last week of the Daniels Blue Plan, and I am still 2 weeks from starting marathon training for the Chicago Marathon. This is an exiting time of the year. I was afraid that I would feel a bit burned out and not as excited to marathon train, but that does not seem to be the case at all. Next week I'll write more about my overall experience with the Blue Plan and my plans for marathon training, so stay tuned.
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