The best laid plans of mice and men…
I’m struggling to get my training in.

Now, I didn’t mean to start out with a little poem; that’s just a happy accident, but it does sum up the past couple of weeks of training.

My family took a road trip to Colorado for a wedding, and that amount of being on the road, lack of sleep, and business really hit my training hard, I think I managed a total of 6 miles for my fourth week of training. Not great.

We got back home the start of the fifth week of training, and boy was I feeling all the days on the road and the sleepless nights. Considering how tired I was, I managed some decent mileage and even hit the 10 mile long run which is the benchmark for the half: if you can run ten, you can run a half. Now, I normally like to be more prepared than that with at least a couple 10s, and maybe a 12 or even 14 if I have time. But I don’t think I’m going to have the time or the energy to push it. Right now, I’m just hoping to get a couple more quality long runs in.

Week Five

Monday – Travel day, got home, no run
Tuesday – 3 mile treadmill run, easy
Wednesday – 5 mile run, 3 miles at goal half pace (9:45/9:50)
Thursday – 30 minute bike, 20 minute upper body weight training
Friday –  3 miles, steady
Saturday – 10 mile long run, easy, pace 10:39/mile
Sunday – off

Week Six

Monday – 4 mile steady run, 30 minutes pilates
Tuesday – Speedwork on treadmill, weight training, lower body
Wednesday – 2 mile easy (so SORE from the day before)
Thursday – off
Friday – 5 miles easy run
Saturday – 7 miles easy

If you notice the last two days both have “higher” mileage. I decided to experiment with an idea I had. Ultra runners use back-to-back high mileage days to prepare for their races. You would often find a long run of 20 miles or so followed the next day by a run of 12 or 16. The overall miles run are still high, but because you have the rest and recovery period of about 24 hours, you’re able to continue to run. However, since the recovery period is so small, you still are building that accumulating fatigue and learning to run on tired legs.

I got it in my head to try a similar thing. Granted, my mileage is nowhere near the same quantity, but I decided to try and push myself to do back-to-back days shooting for a total of at least 12 miles between the two days. Next week, I’m planning on doing the same thing with higher miles. I’ll let you know how the experiment goes.

One of the biggest struggles I’m facing right now is the baby is getting up again at night. Thankfully it’s not for long periods of time, but the interrupted sleep does factor into my training, so I’m still focusing on being flexible and doing what I can.

The good news is fall has arrived! I love running in the cooler temps and it definitely makes those harder paces feel easier.

Drop a comment below and let me know how your training is going!

Love you guys!

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