Grindstone Training, Week #7, July 28-August 3

OK, another must-read from Rachel Toor (a good friend and great writer). If you are an ultrarunner, a woman, or both, I think you will dig it.

The mantra for my Gstone training is "Make Every Moment Count." This means while in training, know why I am doing a particular workout, be rested for the key workouts, and enjoy the recovery days. This also means while racing the Gstone 100, I want to truly take in the experience of being out in the mountains with friends and running on beautiful trails, and enjoy every bit of the experience, even if I am feeling discouraged, crappy, or sleepy. Make Every Moment Count.

I find when I have a mantra for a race, it helps me relax and stay focused. In the past, I've used "Easy and Light" and "Steady and Smooth" for the past two Hellgate 100Ks. I haven't had a mantra for training AND racing, so I thought since I am blogging about the Gstone training, I might as well try one for the training experience. It has proved helpful when I have not felt like running (despite having the extra time this summer...reminding myself that I need to Make Every Moment Count gets my butt out the door). Conversely, when I have felt crappy or tired, I remind myself of the mantra and the importance of rest, and I give myself a day or workout off.

In the most recent issue of Running Times there is a helpful article on the importance of being rested and ready for key workouts, and to run recovery runs as recovery runs, with my HR in Zone 1 (120 bpm and below for me), not just as junk miles. To me, that is another example of Make Every Moment Count: Make every workout count, including rest days and recovery runs, and the rest will (hopefully) take care of itself. BTW, I absolutely LOVE running 100-miler pace during my recovery runs. I feel like I could run forever at that pace, which is a good sign!!!

The schedule this week called for about 77 miles (didn't happen---it was too freaking hot for doubles, but I managed about 65 miles), added a quality track workout (check), and I continued hydrating, eating well, and getting enough sleep (check). Next weekend I have a back-to-back planned which will take care of the miles (and hills!) I need.

Monday, July 28: 8 miles on rolling dirt road at easy pace (8:45 per mile pace, HR in low 110s and 120s) with 15 x 20 seconds hard, 40 seconda easy towards the end of the run. I LOVE this run. It is a great way to get some speed going without trashing my legs too much after a big weekend, and the scenery is beautiful on the road where I run.

Tuesday, July 29: Easy 5 miles on road and trail. Lift for 30 minutes...core and upper body.

Wednesday, July 30: TRACK! The first of the program. I am running with a large group training for fall marathons, but doing my own workout. They were doing 3 x 2 miles but I did that two weeks ago on the roads. My workout called for 3 miles easy WU, then a few striders followed by 3x 1200 at my 5K pace (6:45 pace), with an 800 meter tempo run off the track down a 100 meter hill, turn around and surge up the hill between each 1200. I love this workout and have used it while preparing for all my hilly ultras. When I can hit my 1200 splits at 4:55 and my overall split at 8:20 or less, I know I am in good shape. Today it was very humid, so I wasn't that concerned about my splits---I just wanted to see where I was at this point in the program, 12 weeks from race day. So I was pleasantly surprised when my splits came back at 4:55/8:15; 4:53/8:17, and 4:55/8:20. Given the humid weather, I was very happy! Afterwards, I changed into my trail shoes and ran another 6 miles easy, at 100-miler pace on trail, including 3 power lines at 1:15 per climb/ 4:20 per repeat. Total miles, about 12. Later in the day, I lifted lower body, focusing on squats on the balance board and lunges.

Thursday, July 31: 5 miles easy with Andrea, who is training for the USTAF Masters X-C Championships in NC in October. Andrea is the fastest female runner in C'Ville over 40 (she's 47) and runs 5Ks in 18-something and 10Ks in 38-something. She loves trails and needs to train on them, so we will be running easy recovery runs at Secluded Farm as she ramps up for her big event. Afterwards, I lifted upper body and core for 30 minutes. I was scheduled for 5 miles in the p.m. but I took a nap instead . :-)

Friday, August 1: 7 miles on rocky, hilly, technical trail at 10:00 am (heat run). I took this very easy and kept the HR in the 120-138 range.

Saturday, August 2: 16 miles on rolling dirt roads with Leisa, who is trying to qualify for Boston by training for the Baltimore marathon in October. Leisa needs to run a 3:50 to BQ, so we ran most of the run at near her marathon pace, 8:20, which felt good to me. My goal was to stay in the 8:15-8:35 range and finish strong.

Sunday, August 3: Easy recovery on flat trails, about 10 miles.