Daniels Blue Plan Week 4

I made it - the fourth and final week of the Daniels Blue plan. It was by far the most difficult week, but the past few weeks have prepared my body well and it feels good to have completed a challenging speed work training block.
Here was the final week of the plan:

Sunday: 60 min easy, Jasyoga - Booty Lock Mitigation
Monday: 3 X 1k T, 3 X 3 min on, 2 min off with a warm up and cool down
Tuesday: strength training, Jasyoga - Low Back love
Wednesday: 43 minute easy run, strength training
Thursday: 2 X 200m on, 200m off, 3 X 1k T, 2 X 200m on, 200 off with a warm up and cool down
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 10 miles long, Jasyoga - Quick - Post LR Reset

The most difficult part of the speed sessions were the 1K at T pace. Monday's run was the most challenging as once I had finished the three 1k reps, I had to really push myself to complete the hard running that took place during the 3 minutes on. This was somewhat better on Thursday as the 200m were more doable after the 1K's. T pace is your threshold pace which is supposed to be comfortably hard. I think I made this harder on myself as I was running about a minute faster than I needed to.

Wednesday I enjoyed a break from usual training and met with the suburban Oiselle IL team for Global Running Day. The past 3 weeks of the plan I have used the easy day for cross training, but this was a great way to get some easy miles in. I enjoyed meeting some new people and putting real faces to names I see on social media every day. The best part was enjoying some cold brew coffee afterwards!

Three early mornings this week, and I still don't feel like a morning runner. While the sunrises have been pretty beautiful, I am missing my sleep. I know I need to continue to get used to this as marathon training is kicking off next week, but I think I will always tend to be an afternoon runner.

Overall, I really enjoyed the Daniels Blue Plan. In between ultramarathon recovery and marathon training, I wanted something that would help me focus on speed and this plan definitely accomplished that.

What I enjoyed:

• 4-5 days of running with a gradual mileage buildup
• Most of the runs could be completed within an hour (except the long run)
• The feeling of accomplishment after some very hard runs
• Time-based runs
• Weeks can be repeated if needed so you can do this plan for longer if needed

What was difficult:

• Two days of speed work was really hard on my hamstrings
• Long runs were not "long" enough
• Speedwork was "almost throwing up" difficult at times

I did get faster in these four weeks. I didn't suddenly turn into Kate Grace, but I definitely made some improvements to my overall speed and running form. After so many months of slow and steady running, it felt great to run fast and focus on something other than how many miles my long run was. I did something that seemed challenging and accomplished it. When I review my data, I can see that I was running faster and further with less effort. I really think that this is a perfect transition into marathon training.

Which brings me to the next phase...training for the Chicago Marathon. The time is here! After reviewing several plans and reading a few books, I finally selected a 16 week plan that I will be starting next week. Those who have been following my training for a while know I always build in an extra week and this will be no different. While I was lucky enough to not need it last year, I always feel better and have less pressure knowing that I have an extra week there in case of injury or sickness.

Stay tuned to hear about my first week of marathon training!