Olympic Trials Training: Week 10

Monday, 2/10 
Caught up on a lot of reading & articles this morning. I want to choose a positive & mentally encouraging book to read over trials weekend - thinking Brene Brown or Sharon Begley. I felt a little heavy, but connected in an easy 7 against a scape that, dare I say, felt like spring. Went through a little bit of visualization. Rad Bones was able to sneak me in for an appt. after work; worked on my usuals.

Miles for the day - 7 + light core + Rad Bones

Tuesday, 2/11 
Finally slept in the bed like a normal person last night. Out running by 5:30 am with 2Trainz & Kelso, 6 miles with them, then neighborhood loops to finish out 12 miles. Something about their slight up for half, slight down for half really puts me in the rhythm and I think better engages the monotony and never-flatness of how I presume the Trials course to be. 4 miles with Ber at lunch.

Miles for the day - 16

Wednesday, 2/12
Wednesdays have become hard to fit everything in. At lunch I did an easy 3, gorged on pad thai, and after work took off for:

1E + 4x 2T (5:40, 5:37) (5:43, 5:39) (5:36, 5:31) (5:32, 5:39) w/2 minutes E + CD

A few days this week we've had a quiet whisper of Spring. It's a total mood lifter. I did the broken tempo workout up & down Squalicum Pkwy, then did some loops through the park for hill variance. My right hip flexor and everything it touches is tight. Had to stop a few times to stretch out upper butt/ham. Felt strong; had to council myself to let go of the paces on the climbs, and to relax into a groove that took longer than I wanted after cresting.

Few minutes late to strength at JD Elite; a photographer was there to shoot our workout. I always love this hour with the team, on top of sweat & whining, it's full of laughter.

Miles for the day - 16 + strength

Thursday, 2/13
Back to the 6@6. M obtained his grandfather's clock, which has a red laser that projects the time on the ceiling - it's pragmatic and incredible. No longer do I have to lift my head up and look over at the pitiful stupid bedside clock or blind myself via phone screen, I can just look up! Ran up Alabama to meet D and had a great black morning conversation catching up with him. Thursday mornings are always a good test to see how beat up I am, in the immediate sense (not including DOMS), and I was surprised to be chipper, enough. M made me a pot of coffee and a toasted crumpet with nutella. Busted out a lot of networking today: connecting with Chapel Hill HS in Atlanta for the Trials, soliciting sponsors for swag to give to them, connecting Kennedy with the NY Times. I generally dislike doing stuff like this, but if I can make it about other people and not myself, it is quite fun. By 9:30 am I've already eaten a meaty banh mi & a handful of circus animals.

I thought this morning run might have been too good to be true. It shows when I set out for a lunch run of 4E - soreness has set in.

Miles for the day - 11

Friday, 2/14
Delicious sweaty sleep. I ate awfully yesterday - suffering lethargy. Lunch run: the sun came out, some nice D. After work I tried to run in the shape of a heart...failed tremendously. M made a pre-dinner splay of sushi, crackers, lavender goat cheese and wine, followed by steak, potatoes, and broccolini, followed by a chocolate bar sampling. We watched Say Anything, which was clutch & lovely.

Miles for the day - 12

Saturday, 2/15
Felt so good to sleep in. Sipped cold brew over toast. Went V-day specific grocery shopping with M in prep for a party we'd throw later: red candies, cheeses, frozen strawberries, sub sandwiches, veggies, Kulshan. We decorated the house with loose hearts and garlands, and he'd procured the most lovely rosé - GD Vajra. Tracked my teammates at Black Canyon (unfortunately both had to drop).

When we got to a good spot I headed out the door for my last true LR/WO combo -

WU (4.5 mi) + 3x 2MPE (5:42, 6:10) (5:40, 5:48) (5:52, 5:45) w/ 2 min jog + Long CD (8 mi) 

I used this mostly quiet loop out by the lake (Euclid > Decatur > Flynn > Electric > Lakeway and again) because it was rolling with various steep climbs and one major descent. I feel like I've consciously chosen some hillier scapes in training for Atlanta this marathon cycle, but they never feel easier. It's really hard mentally to bookshelf the notion of pace, to go off effort. As one might be able to tell, I was trying to find it, but when something feels hard, I push. I didn't need to be in the 5:40s. Thus, the hills felt like sprints, and the downs were a mix of a frenzy to get back to even, and a reprieve. I'm happy to get all of this out now in a workout - it was like a counseling session.

Our friends came over and we drank the pink and strawberry margaritas and played games for relationship-oriented gifts: vintage lingerie, a 6-pack, rope, zip ties. Ended the evening talking workouts with Ber on the carpet.

Miles for the day - 19 + mas margaritas

Sunday, 2/16
Another long sleep in. Met Ber in the early afternoon for a rolling 9.6 miles. We passed by an older man walking his dog in the woods, and he yelled, "Girl Power!" with a fist raised high in the air. Felt better than I expected to. Running hills over speed workouts seem easier to come back from. My cousin let me know that she's been working out at the gym so that she can be strong enough to carry me after the race, and I think that's one of the sweetest things anyone has ever said to me. Stayed up late watching, Don't F*** with Cats. It's taper time!

Miles for the day - 9.65

Miles for the week - 91 + strength + core + margaritas