The Boston Diaries: Chapter 31
In search of miles
I hit 60 miles this week, my first time doing so since all the way back in mid-April, when I ran 20 on the Sunday to push the total to 68.
It felt awesome.
I’ve had many conversations with runners on Chasing Three Hours the last two months about mileage. Upping mileage, pining for heavy mileage. Doubles, triples.
Meanwhile, I have either (a) been in recovery mode or (b) doing speed work. Before the taper ahead of the Lincoln Marathon, I was averaging 63 miles a week to start 2023. When I started marathon training again last week, I was coming off a stretch averaging 43 a week since the race. I’ve missed those 20 miles — around three additional hours on the trail, give or take — over the last three months.
Which is what’s made the last two weeks so fun. I’ve hopped right back into things and I feel ready for the rest of the summer. Even with temperatures and humidity still high, I’ve embraced the challenge. A couple workouts didn’t go exactly how I would have liked them to this week; oh well! I’ve celebrated the wins, moved on from the losses, and started dreaming big for the Des Moines Marathon. 69 days from this morning, I’ll line up on that start line, ready to go. It’ll be weeks like the one I just had that’ll prepare me for that day and other days to come.
This week in podcasting:
When I started planning out Chasing Three Hours a few months back, I had multiple guests in mind I was going to swing for. Guests I wanted (needed?) to come onto the podcast. This week’s guest was one of those people.
Peter Bromka joined me to talk about his incredible story. He’s grown up with running in his life from the very beginning. We discussed that, his big dream of making the Olympic Trials, so publicly chasing after big goals, and a whole lot more. This episode was so much fun.
Thanks for listening!
The log:
Monday: 20 minutes of weightlifting
Tuesday: 12 miles
Wednesday: 11.01 miles
Thursday: 9 miles with 4 at faster-than-marathon pace
Friday: 5 miles
Saturday: 17 miles with 6 at faster-than-marathon pace + 3 at marathon pace
Sunday: 6 miles
Total: 60.01 miles
Year to date: 1683.92 miles
Day 212: As always, it’s nice moving into week two of weight training, rather than easing back after a few weeks off. I continue to be disappointed it took so long to start working out like this, but also happy I finally did. I’ve noticed in some runs how I’ll feel stronger. How my run feels easier. It’s been fun. Added a morning + evening walk with Banks as well. A great start to the week, especially since I was getting back to full health after being sick the week prior.
Day 213: I was incredibly pleased with Tuesday’s run, given the conditions outside. 70+, 90%+ humidity, and I still wasn’t 100%. Yet, finished the 12 miles at a 7:53 pace with the heart rate averaging 151 throughout. It was my longest weekday run since mid-April. I’ll try not to say it too much in this week’s newsletter, but this entire week was one long “I can’t wait for a 50° morning” mindset. Not because I was miserable or had bad runs, but because the runs were so good in such conditions. That first fall morning is going to be something else.
Day 214: 11 more the next day and I had to keep things inside. I woke up around 6:00 am and there was nonstop lightning to go along with the rain. I hoped and hoped it would push out of town by 8:00 or so, but it didn’t, and by that point in time, I had to get going. 7:36-per mile with the HR averaging 132. I thought about running faster to up my HR a bit, and get it in the zone I want this type of run1, but I would have had to up the speed a good amount and I didn’t feel like putting that type of workout on my legs. A good one, but a boring one.
Day 215: I planned on flipping the weekend Long Run to Saturday, which meant I would be flipping Friday’s run — nine miles with four at a ~6:00 pace — to Thursday, to give myself a bit more breathing room to finish up the week.
I set off at an easy pace for the first three miles, planned on hitting 6:00-per on the next four, before finishing with a two-mile cool down. Another incredibly warm and humid morning, I went out expecting I wouldn’t be able to hit that goal for all four miles, so I’d go off “feel” or effort instead, which is often the play throughout the summer. The miles at the start of the run felt great, as I went 7:52, 7:40, and 7:31, with my HR well in check.
The first two miles at a faster pace were good too, finishing at 6:00 and 5:58. The first of those was particularly challenging, as it had an immediate uphill, but I hit my goal. By the time I started the third of these miles though, I was losing a bit of steam. I knew I needed to hang at a 5:45/5:50 pace for the majority of it, given I’d go back up the hill I had hit earlier in the run. Too often though, my pace was showing 6:02 or 6:05, so by the time I reached the finish of fast mile three up the hill and the sixth overall, I wasn’t surprised to see a 6:16 on my watch. Finished strong, running a 6:03 next, with a couple easy miles to finish up.
7:07-per mile overall, with my HR averaging 159. I didn’t hit my goal, and in particular one mile was much slower than I would have liked, but on a day with conditions like this, I left the run with my head held high.
Day 216: Friday’s run — five miles at recovery pace — was a welcome part of the week. Barring a rare downhill at the lake, I didn’t plan on running a sub-9:00 pace for a single second, and I succeeded most of the way. 9:14-per mile with the HR averaging 122. Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but on a day with temps and humidity like they were, I again wondered what this run would look like later this year. It’ll be fun to find out.
Day 217: “So my workout Saturday looks like a beast,” Derek from Strava texted last Sunday. He wasn’t kidding. 17 miles overall, the workout called for him to run four easy before going three at half marathon pace (5:59-per), one easy, three more at half marathon pace, one easy, three at marathon pace (6:17-per), and another couple easy to finish it off. “You game to try?” he asked a few minutes later.
My weekend run called for 17, so at the very least, I’d be hitting the mileage I needed. I had never had a LR like this. Even last week’s, challenging in its own right, didn’t have the yo-yo of faster-than-MP. It sounded fun though. And certainly difficult. “I’m down,” I texted that afternoon.
Given I had just run a tough workout on Thursday, was this the best decision? Maybe not. And even though it didn’t go my way — I hit (or almost hit) his goal paces on five of the nine miles — his MP is a bit faster than mine is right now. By the time we started the second set of three miles, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to keep up with him for the rest of the day, but I didn’t let it get to me. I kept on going as fast as I could for those three miles, and the other three at my (or close to my) MP.
Two weeks into training for the Des Moines Marathon, I’m certainly not where I’ll be in a couple months. Which is why it was easy to shrug off a workout planned for a marathoner aiming sub-2:45, vs. where I’m currently at/what I’m currently aiming for.
Day 218: The week called for one more five-miler, but given that would have left me at 59 for the week, I decided to add one more to get to 60. Six more miles around the lake, finishing at 9:18-per with the HR at 122. Another nice and easy recovery run that couldn’t have felt better. My legs on Sunday were surprisingly springy, given what I had done the day before.
Tommy Rivs has talked in the past about making small deposits. This week for me was about making those deposits. I can’t wait to see the return on investment as this year rolls on.
Wednesday’s (and Tuesday’s) run was a “medium/long run,” which for me means keeping my HR between about 145-163. I try to go on the lower side of that whenever I can.