Dopey Training Week 12 of 18

Week 12 was a recovery week after my first Dopey Simulation Week.  I was beat after 41 miles in 4 days during week 11, so I stuck to the plan and took it easy.

Here is how my actual mileage compared to the plan for the week starting November 20:

Week 12

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thurs

Fri

Sat

Sun

Total

Plan

Rest

5

Rest

5

Rest

10

Rest

20

Actual

Strength

5.2

5.6

Rest

10.2

Rest

Strength

21

I covered 21 miles at an average pace of 10:04 min/mile, about 30 seconds faster per mile than my last two recovery weeks.  I feel good about that.  Even though my Dopey Simulation week was very slow, I’m still recovering enough to keep a respectable pace (for me) on shorter runs. With Thanksgiving Day on Thursday this week, I juggled some running days to accommodate family events.  Tuesday and Friday were too cold for me, so I resorted to a treadmill at Planet Fitness.  I think 10 miles is my limit on a treadmill without going insane.  Hopefully I won’t have to test that out for my upcoming 18-mile or 20-mile runs.

 

I’m holding my hip and knee soreness at bay, neither is keeping me from running.  But now my right calf is acting up.  It’s a recurring injury that has been plaguing me for 13 years now.  It seems to flare up when I get deep into marathon training.  It also seems to be exasperated by colder weather.  It never seems to bother me in the Summer.  So now I must manage that, because if I strain my calf, I’ll definitely be inhibited.  When I ran the Goofy Challenge in 2011, I hobbled in for the last 6 miles of the marathon because of my right calf.

 

Week 13 is my second Dopey Simulation.  In week 11, I over-aggressively turned a three consecutive day week into a Dopey Simulation and paid a price.   In week 13 I plan to stick to the plan and not stretch it.  Hopefully the weather will allow me to run outside for all four days.

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