Training Update: Tempo Phase Complete. Long Run = 34 miles, Long Week = 78 miles.

 

I'm writing this the day after my first week of  "steady state" phase ended with a disappointing long run. I overheated, didn't feel too well, and stopped at 26 miles instead of the intended 37 miles. Up until this run, everything had worked out mostly as planned. But this is hard stuff. It is a good reminder to me to stay humble and grounded. I'm blogging about this in real time...a fairly tale ending is not guaranteed. If I'm reaching the limits of what I can sustain...well...it is what it is. (Sorry...I know that is a wildly overused idiom...maybe my brain is still sore from yesterdays steamy long run.)

Despite the "bobble" yesterday, training has gone generally quite well. The tempo phase came and went and I generally executed the key workouts well. On slightly cooler days, I was able to average below 7:10/mile at tempo effort. I'm happy my knee has held up to these sustained faster paces. Now during the steady state phase I'm going to ask even more of my knee. I'm looking to push the pace for 30 or more minutes at a time. Will my knee hold up to that? I don't know. There is only one way to find out for sure.

During my best long run during the tempo phase, I covered 34 miles and did so at 10:15/mile with a low and stable heart rate. Very encouraging. At an earlier first attempt at going 30+ miles, I did not fare as well...felt fatigued from the start and overheated. It looks like if temperatures stay below the mid-80s (Fahrenheit), I do okay. Hotter temps have been problematic.

The heat is my biggest concern right now. I'm running the 24-hour race I'm training for on Aug 3. It could be very, very hot on that day. I've leaned into trying some different ways to mitigate the heat and the sun (purchasing an ice bandana, wearing shirts that have been soaked in ice water, sun hats, etc.), but none of them seem to do much more than provide some temporary relief. I think I'm about as well adapted to the heat at this point as I'm going to be. If race day is super hot, I'll adjust my goals and move even slower during the hottest part of the day. I'll spend more time cooling down between loops. My goal "big number" for this race may just not be physically possible for me on that day...hey, I pointed out above that this quest might not have a fairy tale ending.

My training plan has me reaching peak mileage (and longest long run) in the week that starts tomorrow. There are only a final handful of key workouts to complete before I start tapering in the final 3 weeks before the event. I feel fortunate to have gone so far on this journey. Soon I'll have my day in the sun. (Well...I'm actually hoping for clouds and maybe some rain on the day of the event, but you know what I meant.)