Dopey Training is Getting Real


Wow!  It’s October 1, 2023.  We leave for Orlando in just 13 weeks.  Can this old body hold out for another 13 weeks?  I feel like I am walking on very thin ice some days, just one wrong step from a debilitating injury.  Other days I feel invincible.  I remind myself to stick to the plan, just cover the distance without doing any more damage, and not get any delusions that I am suddenly going to be able run a 4-hour marathon.

 

Week 4 of 18 ended with a 6-miler on Friday and a 16-miler on Saturday.  I took it easy on for the 6-miler, but still felt a little fatigued and sore afterwards.  That was concerning.  Saturday was going to get warm late morning, so I awoke early to get out early, just after sunrise.  I felt okay as I set out for what would be a 3-hour adventure.  The plan was to run/walk at a 4/1-minute cadence. I had everything I needed either in my water bottle or in my FlipBelt, I just needed to find water along the way, which turned out to be relatively easy. I modified my route slightly to run through a county park with restrooms and water fountains.  The logistics of the run worked out without a hitch.

 

But this was the first long run that I had done alone since late July.  I had run with the Badgerland Striders almost every weekend since the beginning of August.  The miles went by slowly with no one to distract me with conversation.  On the other hand, I could stick to my walk/run strategy without interrupting someone else’s pace.  Regardless, the last 3 miles were tough, my heart rate became elevated, my right hip flexors were screaming.  After I stopped, I felt out of breath and exhausted, much more than I did after running 16 miles with the Badgerland Striders.  My average pace was 11:45 per mile.  Just 3 weeks ago I ran 16 miles with the Badgerland Striders at a 10:34 per mile average and felt much better afterwards.  Did the 6 miles the day before really make that much difference?  Or was it the comradery that made the run 3 weeks earlier that much easier?  

 

Regardless, now I need to rest and recover and get ready for the 8 and 18 miles at the end of Week 6. 

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