Week 3...

As in any training routine when you have a goal in mind you learn things quickly about what works for you and what does not. The difference between people that succeed and those that do not typically is the inability to be flexible and adapt quickly. I have learned a valuable lesson over the past few weeks and this week I plan on making some adjustments that will hopefully help me.

First is when I "start" my week. In the plans I have posted and mentally my week starts on Sunday. It is how I see calendars so it only logically makes sense to me. This is not something major except when I go to track my stats using Apple, Garmin, or Strava. All of these apps start the week on Monday. This means that Marty needs to do math. If it was only running it wouldn't be that hard, but some of my apps show the running totals and not weight lifting or yoga, others combine them all, and it leaves me to pick through data and configure my totals and it is just too much work when I have so much already tracking my workouts. That being said, my first change is changing my training week to go from Monday to Sunday like (what appears to be) everyone else in the free world. This is not a major tweak, but allows me to make things smoother.

Secondly, I SUCK at training by a script! Having to run "X" amount of minutes or distance, needing to train or do yoga for a set period of time has been making my training more of a choir than an enjoyment. It has also taken away a bit of my competitive spirit. I have always loved the mantra "your only competition is yourself" and I do believe that... most of the time anyway, but the way I have been training has not allowed me to compete against myself.

Now I have to say that this is usually a trainers worst nightmare, when a client basically bashes everything and says things aren't working even though they were designed for a specific reason. Fortunately for me I am training myself with the assistance and input of some well know ultra runners, so this fight really only comes down to me. I also know that I CANNOT disregard what I have been told about training for an event like this, so I just have to tweak things to merge the two ideas into something that will prepare me properly while also not driving me insane!

So rather than scripting my workout it is going to be simple this week. My plan is to run whenever and wherever I can as much as I can with at least 3 days of lifting and 2 yoga workouts thrown in. No, my running goal is not "as much as I can", but I need to bring a little more fun to my routine. So I will create some impromptu challenges for myself throughout the week and push my limits a bit here and there. I want to beat my previous weeks record each week. I will still monitor my heart rate a bit as I have been and see if I continue to trend faster. If I do this I will allow myself to call it in for a day or take a rest day 5k and then on days like today run 2 or 3 times for 6 miles per clip. This will maintain my time on my feet and allow me to push for more each week.

On the plus side I am moving much quicker at the lower heart rate which is making me a little happier and allowing me to see that the training is working. My numbers from the month are as follows:

Week 1
36.14 miles in 7 hours and 21 minutes

Week 2
36.71 miles in 6 hours and 25 minutes

Week 3
39.81 (really over 40) in 6 hours and 51 minutes

My time dropped sharply from week 1 to week 2 and I believe that was due to more of those scheduled walks and still getting use to the idea of running indoors. Week 3 I increased both time, distance, and pace over week 2. I know I had over 40 miles because when I finished my run yesterday and saw the 39.81 miles I got back on the treadmill for a .2 mile run, but it did not register for whatever reason (not happy). Plus this also technically included my 5 mile ruck from last Sunday since I am just changing around my start date of each week, so really it is about 45 miles for the 8 day range.

Either way I am moving faster and farther each week. My end all goal is to be hitting 100 miles per week once the weather breaks and I can spend 4 or 5 hours running outdoors again. I am almost halfway there with about 2 (maybe 3) months to go. If I increase each week by about 5 miles per week I will be ready for Spring and some serious running!

I also need to start working on getting up earlier. Right now it is not TOO much of an issue, but considering I will still have the same schedule in the Spring as I do now, but with twice the amount of running, I am going to need to start my days earlier. This means I need to be able to go to sleep and stay asleep, something that has not been too much of a problem this week, but has caused me a few minor inconveniences.

Either way, week 3 is in the books and I have already knocked out a 6 mile run in an hour today with at least one more in my plans. What are you doing to train this week? How have you tweaked your plans? Leave a message or comment on my socials @ocrlibrarian315