Week 6 Complete! One-Third of the Way There!

Week 6 was challenging.  It was the first real test with back-to-back runs of 8 and 18 miles.  At the start of the week, I was looking forward to the challenge, to see how well I could manage pacing and soldier through the long slow adventure. I also needed to manage the logistics of being out alone for more than 3 hours with no aid stations or companionship like I had with the Badgerland Striders Buildup runs.

The week started out good.  On Monday, I ran 10K and through caution to the wind with my heart rate.  I let my heart rate go into zone 3 (greater than 130 BPM) but kept it in the low end of zone 3.  I ended up averaging 9:40 miles with a couple of miles around 9:30.  That was one of my faster runs as of late.  Then on Wednesday I ran 4 miles at a similar pace.  No issues with irregular heart rate, I was feeling good.

 

Then the rains arrived from the West.  The forecast was that rain, heavy at times, would start Thursday afternoon and continue through mid-morning Saturday.  And it did.  I don’t mind doing a short run (5 miles or less) in the rain, but 8 miles at a slow pace seemed like it would be miserable.  I considered running on a treadmill, I considered going to an indoor track.  Then I decided to just postpone the 8/18 milers from Friday/Saturday to Saturday/Sunday.  With Sundays always being rest days, my training plan gives me some leeway to shift things a day.

 

On Thursday, however, I started having cold symptoms.  By Friday morning, I felt ill, not terribly ill, but bad enough that the thought of 8 and 18 miles made me feel worse. On Saturday, I woke feeling a little better and knew I had to get through 8 miles.  The rains tapered off at 10:00am and I headed out to meet up with a running friend.  It helped running with someone, I forgot that I was not feeling 100% and focused on the conversation.  I perhaps ran a little faster than I should have, though.  I kept to my 4/1 run/walk ratio, but the running segments were faster than I would have run if I was alone. I was a bit sore and achy the rest of Saturday, not a good sign for the 18-miler to come on Sunday.

 

Sunday, I woke with a positive attitude and thought to myself, let’s just get this done!  I  got up and jumped right into my morning routine and started pulling things together for my forthcoming adventure.  I packed my FlipBelt with a couple of gels, a nutrition bar, electrolyte tablets, and some extra electrolyte drink mix.  The plan was to run a similar route as my previous 16-miler, passing through a county park with water and restrooms.

 

Cat ran the first mile and a half with me, which was great because her pace is what I need to run for my long runs.  I set the timer on my watch to trigger every 5 minutes to manage a 4/1 cadence (when the timer goes off, I walk for a minute).   First mile and a half with Cat was great. My Apple Watch was not reporting heart rate yet, but that was okay because I knew that, at Cat’s pace, I would be fine.  After Cat turned around, however, my watch was still not reporting HR consistently.  It would show a value that was clearly out of range, drop to within a valid range, then go blank again.   

About a mile after Cat left me, I was on autopilot and deep in thought when BAM!.  I was running on a gravel strip next to the paved bike trail and I failed to see the hole. My foot went into the hole, and I was on the ground before I knew it. My right knee and hands took the brunt of the impact.  I got up quickly, started walking and took inventory of myself.  Other than the road rash on my right knee, it seemed I had escaped serious injury.  I started jogging and everything seemed fine except for the tingling my right knee and the disruption to my rhythm.  The whole process from falling to running again probably took about a minute, though it felt much longer.  

 

After the fall, my Apple Watch never found an accurate heart rate. It would come and go, sometimes reporting values that were clearly out of range, sometimes reporting values that were unlikely.  Normally I would stop and walk when my watch reported a high value.  But I could feel that my heart rate was in my normal running zone.  About 6 miles into the run, I decided to just run by feel, by intuition, the old fashion way, with no technology to throttle me.  I focused on my breathing, knowing that if I could keep my respiration rate low then my heart rate was probably in a good zone.

 

I continued through 10 miles with a 4/1 run/walk ratio.  After 10 miles I started lengthening my walk intervals to almost 2 minutes.  This was per plan, after 10 miles I had planned to switch to a 3/2 run/walk ratio.  It was necessary.  By 10 miles my legs were already fatigued, and I could feel my heart rate elevating.  I continued the 3/2 ratio through 18 miles.  Done!  I did it.   That was more difficult than I expected, especially at that slow pace (12:00 per mile).

 

Fighting a cold, changing plans to avoid the rains, a traumatic fall on the trail, not having a reliable heart rate monitor.  Perhaps all these nuisances combined to make my 18-mile run harder than it should have been.  Or perhaps I need to hold back more on the first of the consecutive runs to conserve for the long run. I need to figure out something in the next two weeks before I attempt consecutive days of 10 and 20 miles. This week, though, I’m going to enjoy a recovery week.

 

It is amazing, nevertheless, to look back to last January and consider how far I have come. I am less than 12 weeks from Dopey, I have logged some long miles, and I am on track per my training plan. I have my head down in the details of running, strength training, stretching, massaging and diet.  There is still a lot of work to do before Dopey.  So, I do not spend a lot of time reflecting on the progress I have made.  That will have to wait until after Dopey. For now, I continue focusing on the progress I still need to make.