I’ve reached the point in training when the ‘step-back’ weeks aren’t all that step-back. And it’s not gonna get any easier from here.
Oregon Coast 50k Training Recap
My Training Goals
- Run one new route every week
- Run one route with significant elevation gain each week
- Strength train 2x week
- Foam roll 1x week
- 2 trail runs per week
The Plan v. Reality: Week 9
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plan | Rest | 4 miles | 6 miles | 4 miles | Rest | 13 miles | 10 miles |
| Actual | Rest & a bit of strength | 4 miles | 6 miles | 5 miles | Rest | 14 miles | 10 miles |
Area of Focus This Week
Hydration
The Week That Was
Monday
Rest day!
I feel really spent today.
Not in a bad way. Not burnt out or injured, just like I did a lot of hard work over the weekend (likely, because I did a lot of hard work over the weekend). Rest days are best when then feel well-earned, and today for sure is well-earned.
I did do a bit of strength work in the afternoon. I’m gonna use the Sworkit app for a bit for at home workouts.
Today I did the ‘Yoga For Strength’ workout. It wasn’t anything remarkable, but it was a good, straightforward workout. Basically a modified warrior series, so lots of lunges, squats, and planks.
Tuesday
I wore my race shirt from Salt Point today. While I like to wear colored gear and clothes with some personality on the run, I don’t usually wear much super-bright or neon.
While I like this shirt and the color (i’ve predicted ‘electric cantaloupe’ is the color of the season). It is so bright.
I felt super conspicuous.
Wednesday
I considered hitting the trails today, but because of some odd timing of later appointments, I thought I’d better stick closer to home. So I did my go-to 6-mile route, from home to the Jack London Aquatic Center.
While this is my traditional go-to 6-mile route, it says a lot about my efforts to do new routes that I actually haven’t done this route in a long time.
Later in the afternoon, I went to Truve for the stretch class. It was a smaller group than usual (only 2 of us), so we used more gadgets and gear.
I especially enjoyed adding in the TRX. I’m used to thinking about the TRX for strength moves (which we did as well- another upside to it being a smaller class), I forget it can be good for stretching too.
Thursday
This morning, I headed over to do a trail run at Redwoods Regional Park. My plan was to do a 4(ish) mile loop that was new to me, but I missed the little single-track turn-off that I had planned on taking, so I instead made it an out and back.
I’d considered improvising a new route on the fly. I know the main trails of Redwood pretty well, and I had a trail map with me, but I ultimately decided I wasn’t in the mood.
My map doesn’t always list distances, and the elevation markings are faint and can be hard to read, so it was too hard to gauge what I was (maybe) getting myself into.
Maybe if I was doing a longer run when I knew I’d be able to loop back to my starting point eventually, but my 4-5 mile run just isn’t long enough for that kind of experimentation.
Friday
Rest Day. Walking, stretching, a little foam rolling.
Saturday
I headed back out to the Briones Reservoir (nope, still can’t spell it) for my trail long run.
The last two times I’ve run this loop it ran it clockwise. First, because that was the way the loop route had been described to me, the second time I ran it the same way because it was going to be a hot day and I wanted the more shady bit to be at the end.
But today, I ran the loop counterclockwise.
I know, I am such a rebel. It seemed easier counterclockwise, but it wasn’t a fair comparison since there was one other change: every other time I’ve run this course, the trail had a detour (they were doing construction work on the dam by the reservoir), but in the few weeks since I’ve done this route last, they’ve removed the detour!
The detour was pretty, but tough. It sent us down to the Old San Pablo Dam Trail and back which added a mile and about 300 feet of climbing to an already tough course. So regardless of direction, this was an easier route.
Sunday
I usually don’t have much of an issue picking routes. I’ll get an idea in my head that I want to do something hilly(ish) or flat(ish), or new or familiar and take it from there. An idea will pop into my head and I’ll go.
Today was the rare situation where I had no idea where to run.
I wasn’t in the mood for a dusty trail. I was bored of all my usual go-to routes, but wasn’t really in the mood to hunt down a new option. I could have created a route from home, but a 10 miler in Oakland running from home would mean a TON of stoplights, which just gets annoying.
Even as I headed down the car, I wasn’t sure where I was going to go.
I ended up heading out to a go-to long run option – the Iron Horse Trail – but instead of heading north (as I almost do) I went south. That route is nearly all sunny and exposed, so I don’t do it all that often, but it was a cooler morning, so it turned out to be a great option.
I tend to do the same sections of these familiar trails, but there is so much more to them. Iron Horse is nearly 30 miles long (one-way!). This is a good reminder that I don’t have to keep doing the same 10 miles.
Week Overall
- This was a solid week of runs! I felt strong on all my runs, the weather was perfect for running.
- I NAILED my hydration goal! As I’ve mentioned in other posts, I’ve been playing around with a new toy – the Hidrate Spark Smart Water Bottle which tracks water consumption. Just knowing my water intake was being tracked made me drink way more water than I normally would have – I easily hit 100% of my hydration goal every day this week. Read my full review of the Hidrate Spark.
- Is it a coincidence that I have a great week of runs just as I’m fully hydrated (likely for the first time – I now know just how short of my hydration goals I’ve been since I’ve seen how much water 88 ounces is)? Yes, it likely is coincidence, but I’ll take it all the same.
Next Week
Schedule
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plan | Rest | 4 miles | 6 miles | 4 miles | Rest | 20 miles | 10 miles |
| Actual | Rest | 4 miles | 6 miles | 4 miles | Rest | 18 mile trail race | 10 miles |
Area of Focus
Mindset. Next Saturday, I’m running another trail race – this time a 30k in Pacifica. Like Salt Point, I have no intention of ‘racing’ it. I’m treating it as a training run with a bib number (thank you free volunteer credits!).
Even so, I know this will be a super tough course- it climbs over 4000 feet. Urgh.
So this week will be about keeping cool and not psyching myself out.
