Grindstone Training, Week #6, July 21-27

First, check this out:

I am always interested in reading about other mothers who are drawn to ultra endurance events, how they got there, how they train, and what challenges they face. I think it would be very COOL to run an ultra with one of my kids or be on an adventure race team with them, and my husband. Talk about family fun (or not!).

This week was a cut back week, since I had been training hard with three weeks at 70+ mpw out of the last four. I am getting a feel for what my body can handle, when I need a day off (usually Thursday after Wednesday's sufferfest tempo runs), and when I need to replace running with swimming (today, after a tough runs on Friday and Saturday and a long day at my daughter's swim meet). Being successful at Grindstone is going to mean getting to the start line in good shape---NOT overtrained or nursing an injury, so I remind myself of that when I am feeling flat or sore. This week was a great week to take it easy.

Monday, July 21: OFF. No swimming, no running, no lifting. Recover from the long weekend of training.

Tuesday, July 22: 7 miles easy on trail, HR below 120.

Wednesday, July 23: 3 miles warm up, then 5 miles at 7:20 pace on rolling dirt roads, then easy jog over to power lines. I then ran three repeats of the power lines (1:10 up, 3 minutes recovery to the bottom). Then 1 mile cool down. Total miles: 10

Thursday, July 24: 5 miles easy on trail, HR below 120.

Friday, July 25: Carter's Mountain! This is a very tough and historic run, a perfect "Tour Of Charlottesville" for someone new to the area who might want a killer hill workout. First, I ran easy on the Saunders trail for about a mile up to the Carter's Mountain Orchard Rd. Then I ran steady (HR 135-140) to the top for 13 minutes (it's about a mile to the top). Then easy running down, focusing on leaning forward from my ankles---Chi running-- to the boardwalk up to Monticello. Turn around at the Monticello bridge, then cut across a fire road down to the parking area. Then climb up the mountain again, this time on sweet single track to the top (another 13 minutes of climb), then descend to Secluded Farm, a gorgeous piece of land donated to Monticello, with miles of mowed grassy trails. Total miles: 8.6, with about 3500 feet of climb.

Saturday, July 26: 16 miles with the marathon training group. This group meets weekly at different spots around town for their long runs. Most runners are training for Richmond and Marine Corps, though some are also training for Baltimore and Mt Desert Island in Maine (Bill). I like to jump in with the group every now and then. On this day they were running a gravel road 7.5 miles out and back, and I added an extra mile to make it 16. I decided to just run as I felt...easy, not breathe too hard, and see what happened. To my delight, I was clicking off 8-minute miles with no problems, and my second half all my splits were in the 7:30 range. I ended up running this course about 4 minutes faster than I have ever run it, and I felt like I was doing an easy run the entire time. Very encouraging!

Sunday, July 27: Swim and lift. Total for the week, about 48 miles. Next week calls for 77 miles and my first track workout!!