A week in the life of 105 miles

My second 100+ mile week is just about in the bank (105, actually)!  Mileage like this makes my week a little crazy, but my body is responding well.  I’m amazed, actually.  So what does a 105 mile week look like?  Nate said that would be interesting to write about.  I said I didn’t know, since although it’s a challenge, I’ve gotten used to the schedule and trying to fit full time work around it.  Plus, I know that I’ll hit 115 miles/week three times during this cycle, so I guess my mindset has changed to think that 105 doesn’t seem like such an epic feat anymore (which is a good thing, but also a little scary!).  But I’ll detail the week, since if you would have told me last year this would be a week of my life, I would have called you crazy :).

Monday: Double run of 15.  10.5 in the morning before work (6:00 start time).  4.5 miles in the evening with Nate.  Long day of work in between.

Tuesday: 18 total, 14 in afternoon with 3×2 miles of tempo, 4 in PM.  Times: 11:57, 11:45, 11:40 (great!)
I was down in the Mankato area for a family thing early in the day, so decided to do my first tempo workout with Brenden.  Long story, but we ended up starting the workout around 3pm.  Looking at the forecast, there wasn’t going to be much of a difference between 3pm and 7:30/8 (temp would be down, but the dew point was predicted to rise the same number of degrees).  Knowing it’d be miserable whenever I attempted it, it was better to take advantage of a stride-for-stride training partner.  Except he hasn’t been running since his PR at Grandma’s 1/2 marathon, so it was more of a “I’ll keep up for 1/2 mile inside each of the 2 mile segments” type of training partner :).  That won’t last for long, so I have to relish the fact that I crushed him :).  It was actually good to have someone coming in and out of the tempo segments sporadically and at unplanned intervals.  I always ended them alone, which was great.  I focused on being mentally tough while running alone and found that I was actually doing a pretty good job.  That’s great, sometimes I give in to the pain too easily…
I checked the weather after we were done.  90 degrees, dew point of 73 for a heat index of 98.  Very glad I didn’t know that before starting.  I did have to stop after the 2nd one for a water break since I could tell my core temp was rising to an unsustainable level and my skin was very, very hot to the touch.  Gross.  Can this heat and humidity go away sometime soon?
Last comment about the day: I am so motivated by the thought of starting with the professional women at NYC.  Every time I started a tempo segment, I envisioned myself at the start of the race.  How much do you want this?  C’mon, Nichole! It is so powerful to have a goal that you’re waking up to with a sparkle in your eye, hungry to become your best.  I am so happy chasing this dream, and thank God for giving me the opportunity.

Go Gusties.

Friday: 21 miles with 2×2 miles tempo at beginning, 1 hour easy, 3 miles at tempo near the end.  This was a really fun workout, partly because I nailed it, but even more so because I had so much fun company along with me.  Honestly, how often can you find people willing to do the earlier mentioned workout??? I am beyond blessed!  Craig did the entire workout with me (WOW), Leighton did the first 13 and then hopped on a bike to help pace me for the last tempo segment (another wow!), and Tom from Fit to Be Tri’d joined us for the hour easy in between.  It was awesome, and the miles seemed to just click along.  First two tempo segments were in 11:41 and 11:38, and the 3 mile segment was in 17:54.  Other than the 2 weeks before the Trials when I was hitting 5:45 consistently for tempos (mileage was down around 60/week then), I haven’t hit these times – ever.  Even more encouraging is the fact that I can still hold 5:58’s (=17:54) at the end of a 20 miler.  My legs weren’t fresh, either, so that’s even more encouraging!! (Note: temp was 63 at the start of the run – it was so WONDERFUL!).

I’ll do a total of 26 miles this weekend (easy, not sure how I’ll split it between the two days) to end the 105 miles.

I’m not sure what it is, but mileage around the 100/week mark is so good for me.  I feel strong and efficient.  Go NYC!!