We're less than two months away from the Olympic Marathon Trials, and I am starting to feel my fitness return. I still have a long way to go, and I don't know if I have enough time to get to where I need to be by February 13th, but this past week of training has left me optimistic. In my first timed workout back on the ground, I put together a 10-mile tempo at 5:16 pace with 25-30 mph winds on a soft surface. That is not an impressive workout, but I am surprised considering I have been back to running for less than 4 weeks. It is not unreasonable to think that in another 4 weeks I will be doing longer tempos at marathon pace.
It's easy to get excited and ambitious now that running is starting to click again, but I know it is very important to remain vigilant in my strength exercises, cross training, and awareness of my body in order to avoid another injury. I have put my body in a vulnerable situation by coming back so fast after back to back bone injuries, and I need to remain aware of the risks I'm facing. I will move forward with aggressive patience.
I picked the perfect time to train in Stillwater as I was running shirtless most days in December and skipping the flooding going on in the Pacific Northwest. I am now back in Portland, and the rain persists, but to a manageable degree. I'm looking forward to getting a solid 6 weeks of training at home before I head to Chula Vista in late January to acclimate to the potentially warm weather at the Olympic Trials in Los Angeles. It may end up in the upper 60s to low 70s by the end of the race, and if I'm coming from a wet 40 degrees, that will add a degree of stress to my body. It may well be cooler than that, but at this point I need everything to go perfectly, and heat acclimatization is an easy way to manage risk. Plus, who doesn't want to spend a couple weeks running in southern California mid-winter?
Thanks again for reading, and feel free to check out last week's training below.
It's easy to get excited and ambitious now that running is starting to click again, but I know it is very important to remain vigilant in my strength exercises, cross training, and awareness of my body in order to avoid another injury. I have put my body in a vulnerable situation by coming back so fast after back to back bone injuries, and I need to remain aware of the risks I'm facing. I will move forward with aggressive patience.
I picked the perfect time to train in Stillwater as I was running shirtless most days in December and skipping the flooding going on in the Pacific Northwest. I am now back in Portland, and the rain persists, but to a manageable degree. I'm looking forward to getting a solid 6 weeks of training at home before I head to Chula Vista in late January to acclimate to the potentially warm weather at the Olympic Trials in Los Angeles. It may end up in the upper 60s to low 70s by the end of the race, and if I'm coming from a wet 40 degrees, that will add a degree of stress to my body. It may well be cooler than that, but at this point I need everything to go perfectly, and heat acclimatization is an easy way to manage risk. Plus, who doesn't want to spend a couple weeks running in southern California mid-winter?
Thanks again for reading, and feel free to check out last week's training below.
| Week 3 | AM | PM | Strength/Drills | Mileage |
| Monday | 75 minutes aqua jogging | 7 miles | 7 | |
| Tuesday | 80 minutes aqua jogging | 9.5 miles + strides | 1 hour | 10 |
| Wednesday | Fartlek: 6 x 2 min on, 2 min off | 1 hour elliptical | 11 | |
| Thursday | 11 miles | off | 1 hour | 11 |
| Friday | 10 mile tempo @ 5:16 pace | 1 hour aqua jogging | 15 | |
| Saturday | 90 minutes aqua jogging | 1 hour elliptical | 40 minutes | 0 |
| Sunday | 16 | off | 16 | |
| TOTAL | 70 |
I could never run a marathon. I can hardly walk a mile. May be I should start working on my fitness too. But I have a really weak will :(
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