Post #4 | Monday, Week of April 6th – 12th

This was a “pullback” week, “absorption” week, “recovery” week – whatever you want to call it. The point being, after 4 weeks of a steady increase in my weekly mileage (46, 57, 65, 71) I 
followed the tried and true practice of bringing it back down to let me body recover and allow for the physiological adaptations from the mileage manifest into real, healthy running fitness.

This doesn’t mean you get to slack off on quality or intensity. Oh no-no; in fact, it’s a great opportunity to add in a 2nd quality speed workout to the week if you’ve just been managing 1 per week.  My original plan for the week was: 1 speed workout, 1 race – 4 miler in Central Park, and I would tack on some extra mileage during my cool down for a respectable long run to finish up the week. 

As in life, things didn’t go as planned, and I had to bale on the race due to my left hamstring feeling tweaky, most likely due to not recovering from my deadlifts, Wed's post-running strength workout.

Instead, I did a long progression run as my 2nd quality effort for the week on Sunday, the day of the race.  This allowed me to ease into the run and not stress the hamstring, and as my muscles relaxed, I could push the pace as I deemed fit. Having company for the long run made it that much easier, too. Here’s how the week shaped up:

M – AM Easy 8.75 mile PM Easy 5 mile = 13.75 miles 

T – Easy 4.25 miles (Legs feeling tired coming off 70/week)

W – Tmill 3 mile w/u incl. strides | 4x mile on 2:15-2:45 jog (10min/mile) @ 1%: 5:00, 4:57, 4:55, 5:07 (.5 @4:52/.25 @5:24/.25  down to 4:52) | 14min c/d | 3x ascending hill sprints: 20sec @ 8.0, 25sec @ 9.0, 30sec @ 10.0 | Strength: 3x 10 deadlifts 65lbs + 3x 20 hamstring curls on ball  Total = 10 miles

T – Easy 8.1 miles

F – OFF REST DAY

S – Easy 4.25 mile plus 4x 100m strides on 60sec

S – Long Run: 18.75 miles as progression | Splits: 9:05, 8:31, 7:49, 7:12, 7:31, 7:31, 6:55, 6:59, 7:13, 7:21, 7:43, 7:28, 7:28, 6:54, 6:26, 6:45, 6:31, 6:40 (18m in 2hr 12m), 8:03 last .75 = 18.75 miles  in 2:18 = 7:21/mile avg.

TOTAL: 58.5 /week

My legs were shot after the long run. Went straight home to hydrate, take in fuel – easily digestible carbs & protein: cereal with milk, and then foam rolled & stretched.