Pushing Limits (and making smart decisions)
This weekend, I finished up another three week training block with three long runs. Friday night I ran 24 miles around Mt. Wilson, Saturday was 15 in the Hollywood Hills and Sunday was 19 around Mt. Lowe (starting with the 1 mile, 1,500 feet of elevation gain climb up Steep and Cheap seen above).
In that three week training block, I ran 24 times in 21 days for a total of 284 miles (my weeks were: 87, 92 and 105 miles). I climbed nearly 50,000 feet. And for most of those three weeks, I ran really well and hit my goals. In the middle of the second week, I ran a Mt. Wilson Trail PR (1:30:39). But it all really caught up with me during the third week and I limped through my scheduled long runs on Friday night, Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. I finished Sunday’s run, but just barely, and was completely and utterly exhausted.
I learned a good lesson about my limits, one that I will definitely keep in mind during the next seven weeks until Badwater.
I took yesterday off from running (my first day off in 26 days) and drank and ate a ton all day. This morning, during an easy run, I thought through the rest of my training. I decided that – especially this close to the race – doing another three week build/big block isn’t smart. So instead, after this recovery week, I’m going to do two big weeks, then a recovery week (which coincides with some work travel), then one more big week before I taper. I think that will keep my mind busy, keep me satisfied that I’ve done all the training I need to do and give me time to recover and heal before raceday.
Here’s to flexibility and making smart choices.