Week 3 July 24th- July 30th
Now with three weeks of training completed, I'm feeling fit and ready for some serious workouts. This week's training focused on relatively high mileage, and the maintenance of my economy work, to prep my energy systems and to continue the groundwork, on which we'll build the rest of my fitness. I began the week working with 30 second economy pieces, and finished with 45 second economy pieces. I also moved my minutes up incrementally during the long runs, to make this week slightly more strenuous. The splits are steadily creeping faster, which is an incredibly positive sign for my fitness, as well as for my body's response to the summer development training. My teammates are also experiencing the same effects, and I cannot express how exciting it is to see the majority of them making it out to practice every day. We're creating a strong team culture, and I'm confident that by the time our races start, we will be a cohesive and dominant unit on the line.
Friday: Solid day of economy work on my own. I began from home, and ran about 5 miles at 7:05/mile pace on an out-and-back loop, making sure to finish at the base of the Ben Franklin Bridge. There, I completed roughly 3 miles of fartlek work, comprised of 30 second "on" pieces and 60 second "off" pieces. It's been incredibly hot, so I started this run at about 6:30 a.m., to avoid the heat wave as best as possible. The pieces felt really strong, and my uphill work was better than it's ever been. My stride was powerful today, and there was no leftover soreness from yesterday's long run.
Saturday: Ran about 34:47 at 7:12/mile pace for a very relaxed morning run. I took the Pipeline Loop through the Wissahickon, which is one of my favorite recovery loops from campus. The run takes you through the woods and under bridges, until you pop out on Forbidden Drive for an open 2 miles back to the roads. The effort was really simple, and my legs appreciated a lighter day in the middle of this week.
River flowing below the Wissahickon Pipeline Trail
Sunday: Long run day today. My family and I are up in Northern Pennsylvania for the weekend, so I did this one around Hickory Lake, right in the center of the state park. Went out for about 75 minutes on my own, starting in the 7:18/mile range to warm up for the day and descending consistently until I was cruising at about 5:53/mile pace at the end. Every mile was faster than the previous one, which is exactly what I was looking for from today's effort. Total distance was about 11.4 miles. Ended up looping around the lake about three times, and only saw four other people for the entirety of the run.
Waterfall at Hickory Lake
Monday: Team run from Fields. A good number of the varsity guys showed up for the run, so we went out together for about 32 minutes easy, and roughly 4.5 miles of volume. We took a meandering route today, while talking and joking, since everybody was still feeling yesterday's effort in their legs. After the run, everybody did a full circuit of medicine ball core, and a lengthy stretch at the track.
Tuesday: Moderate run today from home. Went out past Harbor Park and ran along the Delaware River, with some additional hills for good measure. Today's intent was to get a smooth, progressive run, and I managed that pretty well. My legs were really fresh, so I made sure to stay patient and avoid cranking too early. After an easy start (roughly 7:20/mile pace), I allowed my legs to start to churn, and I got moving through the middle and end. In my high moderate zone, I got down to a 5:21 mile, which marks the fastest of the summer for me so far. This came on a mostly level portion of the run, with a slight downhill to aid me. Overall, it averaged 6:43/mile pace for about 8.8 miles. Got some hurdle mobility exercises in after the run.
Wednesday: My first "long" economy workout of the season today. After a full dynamic stretch and 30 minutes of jogging, I got myself over to Secret Training Base (STB), which is a grass loop we use in the cross-country season for workouts. When we can't make it to Belmont Plateau, our home course, STB is where we get the speedy efforts in. I completed 3 sets of 3 x 45 seconds "on", 90 seconds "off" over rolling hills. It wasn't easy with the humidity zapping our energy, but the team still managed to have a really good effort today. I felt strong on the uphill pieces and controlled on the downhill pieces, which is ideal. After a quick jog back to campus from STB, we did two full sets of lifting in the weightroom to finish the day.
Thursday: A light run today in the morning. Went out along Forbidden Drive and back, for about 5 miles at 7:04/mile pace. It was still hot, even though I got out there early, so I made sure to keep the day's intent preserved and to allow my body some down time before the weekend's big efforts. My teammates and I did a long set of core exercises with medicine balls when we finished, as well as some hurdle mobility.
Weekly Total: 50.6 miles
