Weekly Training Wrap - 09/26 – 10/02

Another tough week of training. I am surprised at how much I feel like I'm being pushed on this plan. It seems to me there are a couple of potential reasons for this. First, I am finally pushing my pace closer to my limits (compared with all the LSD ultra running I did over the summer). Since I never really ran for pace over the summer, most of my runs felt comfortable (as long as I was properly hydrated).  It never really occurred to me that I could run this fast/hard. Perhaps if I wore my HR monitor more often I would know these things! The other potential reason is that I didn't give the Pfitz plan enough credit. Because the plan is "only" 55 miles per week and with only one long run, I don't think I gave it enough respect. Nonetheless, I feel like I am finding gears that I never thought I had. It is unbelievable to me that I ran 16 miles (on Saturday) in just over 2 hours. I have only run 8 miles in under one hour about a half dozen times in my life. And that same 16 mile workout took me about 2:20 in preparation for last year's Denver RnR marathon. What's more, my average HR was 152, so I wasn't exactly killing myself on the run. Wow, an eye opening week. I might need to revise my goal to a lower pace (gulp!).

Day	Miles	Notes
Monday	Rest
Tuesday	6	Recovery miles to start my running week
Wednesday	14	A very early morning MLR at low end of GA range.
Thursday	5	Recovery miles
Thursday	4	Parent Running Day: 3.65 miles in 25 mins, including a 20:20 5K
Friday	Rest
Saturday	16	Long Run with 13 miles @ or below MP, several miles were close to HMP
Sunday	6	Family recovery run (extremely easy)
Total	51	About 2500 vertical feet gained*