Weekly recap: 1/5 - 1/11

Total Runs: 4
Days Off: 3
Treadmill Miles: 6.0
Total Mileage: 49.4
Total Time: 6:44:37

This was a challenging week on a number of fronts. Not only did I have a challenging run schedule, I also was out of town for work in King of Prussia, PA. Ultimately this resulted in juggling some workouts and led to an injury scare.

The week started off well with some recovery and a 6 mile treadmill run at the hotel gym. From there, my workouts were switched around to accommodate work and I ended up doing a 12 mile and 11 mile threshold run back-to-back once I got home (skipping the scheduled day off). During the threshold run I tweaked my left calve. I was able to run home but there was a noticeable knot in my calve. To avoid any risk of making things worse, I bagged my 5 mile recovery run on Saturday and rest for Sunday. Instead, I did some active stretching and maintained some compression on my lower leg.

My long run on Sunday was scheduled for 20 miles. I decided to go out easy and assess how my leg felt at 2, 4, and 6 miles. If there was any pain or discomfort, I'd quit. If not, I'd press on to get in 20. I started running with Karolina on the W&OD trail and felt surprisingly good. The time off and stretching must have helped because I felt no pain. I started easy with Karolina and then settled into low 8 min mile pace. The weather was cold and windy but overall I felt comfortable until about 9 miles when I had to make a potty stop at Smith's Switch Station. Once done I made my way back to Reston and maintained a steady pace with my HR comfortably in low Zone 3. I picked things up a bit and ran the last four miles in the high 7s. Overall it was an excellent long run. I didn't run as fast as last week (7:40s vs 8:09s) but I felt more relaxed and fresh afterwards. Most importantly, my leg felt OK giving me some confidence that I avoided a potential injury.

This week is going to be challenging with more high mileage running and some long marathon-pace efforts. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and allow for some good conditions for fast training.

Thanks for reading.