Week 7 Recap - We're Breaking Three!
- Hailey
- Mar 17, 2024
- 10 min read
Updated: Feb 10
Let's be really honest. Last week was rough. I signed off of the last post with a promise to update you on what my plan was moving forward and, well, here we are. When I was experiencing issues with my knee, I had to take a good, long, hard look at many different factors that could be contributing to the problem. I wouldn't classify this as a particularly fun experience, but it was necessary and a good exercise for me.
Now, I could ramble on and on and on about all of the things I considered, the things that I reflected upon, the less appealing parts of my personality that I faced, and the specific alterations that I made to each and every day of training. I could do that, but honestly, I think it would result in a rambling monologue full of information that is helpful for me, but likely not for you. Essentially, you would be reading something akin to a diary entry with an angsty title like, Knee Pain & My Existential Crisis, or perhaps, Self-Reflection: A Journey Through My Stubborn Psyche. See what I mean? Angsty and just not the time nor place for such a deluge of largely irrelevant information. Instead, I am going to share with you a different diary entry, if you will. And this one I shall call, Short & Sweet Without Missing A Beat. Please enjoy.
Short & Sweet Without Missing A Beat
A restructuring of a marathon training plan is no simple task. Restructuring a training plan during the middle of that plan is even more challenging. The reality was, I had to do it. Here is a list of all of the alterations I made and a brief (hopefully) explanation of my reasoning. It is possible that not all of these changes were necessary and it is also possible that, despite these changes, future issues may arise in the coming weeks. All I can say to that is, "At least I am now well practiced in the art of redoing things." Here goes nothing!
Decreased total mileage for every week: In the past, I have been able to train at relatively high mileage for marathons. I'm talking 80+ miles a week, sometimes building up to running over 100 miles. My personal record is 124 miles and I felt pretty good after that. However, that was a past version of me. A version before my running took a backseat to other things for the majority of last year. It should have. Running is a large part of my life, but it isn't my whole life, so I don't regret the decision to decrease my running and focus on other things. However, that means that my body likely wasn't fully ready for the mileage of this training plan, even though it was less mileage than I've done in the past. Yes, my ego did take a bit of a hit when I sat there, excel spreadsheet open, and deleted miles from each week of training. Each pressing of DELETE felt like a tiny whisper of, "See, you aren't the runner you used to be." Admittedly, I wallowed in that thought, but just for a moment. No, I am not the runner I used to be because that runner, for better or worse, is in the past. I need to focus on the runner I am today and on setting myself up for being the runner I want to be in the future. Getting tied to the number of miles I run a week, a number that nobody but me really cares about, was an issue with my own self-perception and with letting my ego get in the way. After I had that little conversation with myself, I felt considerably better and continued to lower my mileage. I did keep all of my speed workouts and long run workouts as planned because I wasn't having any issue with the speed or distance of these workouts. That means that I just removed some easy paced miles from the remaining days of the week. (Yes, I know this first one was long, but I felt like you deserved insight into this particular one. Believe it or not, this is the short and sweet version.)
Increased cross training: In place of some of the miles that I removed from my plan, I added some cross training throughout the week. Basically, I want to maintain the amount of time I was doing cardiovascular training, but decrease the amount of time I was doing the repetitive motion of running. Therefore, using the elliptical or biking will have more of a presence in the weeks to come. I would say swimming but 1) it's way too cold for me outside right now and I despise the cold and 2) the only pool I have access to is Maple's plastic kiddie pool in the backyard that is oftentimes more similar to a glorified mud puddle. So swimming is great, just not for me right now.
Committed to warming up: I can be a bit impatient with myself, especially when I have so many other things that I would rather be doing. When I'm ready to go for a run, I want to go for a run. I really don't want to take the time to warm up, even though I know I should and would advise everybody else to do so. This is a prime example of the old saying, "Do as I say, not as I do." Well, that's ridiculous and I'm not setting a good example. Warming up is now a non-negotiable before every run.
Stretching is a must: I know that we have talked about this one before but we're going to talk about it again, briefly. I am getting older and it turns out I am not invincible, much to my disappointment. This means that sitting in a chair to do work all day can and will make my body hurt. It also means that if I don't stretch and take care of my body, it will slowly start to rebel and get stiff...just like everyone always told me. Another (not-so-)fun fact about me is that I can be a wee bit stubborn. *Sigh. Now I see the error of my ways and stretching is also a non-negotiable.
Well, there you have it! This is the basic outline of the analysis and restructuring process that I went through last week. I hope you enjoyed it and even if you didn't, I hope you learned something that will help you not make the same mistakes that I did. Learn from me and my ✨personality traits✨.
Enjoy this week's training recap below! And be sure to head on over to @imhaileymorgan on Instagram to see this week's Reel. There may even be a couple seconds of dog footage in it, which makes it worth the watch.
Best wishes!
Hailey
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Sunday - March 10th, 2024
Prescribed Workout: active recovery
Activity: elliptical
Summary: Today I used the elliptical as a means of active recovery. While this is a typical choice for me for my active recovery days on Sundays, I was a bit nervous about this. Given the knee pain I was experiencing last week, I was worried that the elliptical may aggravate my knee. Although the motion of using an elliptical is not identical to that of running, it is similar in many ways. Luckily, I had no pain today and I am encouraged that the days of rest I took helped.
Monday - March 11th, 2024
Prescribed Workout: 2 miles @ easy pace (7:22-8:21/mi)
Distance: 2 miles
Time: 18:07
Avg. Pace: 9:01/mi
Route: outside
Rating: 3 out of 5
Summary: This was my first day back to running since last week and honestly, I was nervous. I felt like a spent the entire run focused on my knee, waiting for even the slightest twinge that might indicate a continuing issue. Much to my delight, that twinge never showed up. I kept the pace easy and tried to concentrate on being aware of everything my body was telling me.
Tuesday - March 12th, 2024
Prescribed Workout: 5 miles @ easy pace (7:22-8:21/mi)
Distance: 5 miles
Time: 41:49
Avg. Pace: 8:21/mi
Route: outside
Rating: 3 out of 5
Summary: Similar to yesterday, I was very focused on paying attention to my knee. I was especially cautious because I was 1) increasing the distance of the run and 2) increasing the average pace of the run. Due to the added stress from an increase in mileage and speed, I was nervous that my knee would protest. Again, I am happy to report that it didn't. This left me ever more optimistic about tomorrow's speed workout. Fingers crossed that I'm actually on the mend and can handle a workout again!
Wednesday - March 13th, 2024
Prescribed Workout: 10 mile speed workout
Workout Description: 2mi wu + 4 x 100m strides + 1 x 1600m @ 6:06/mi w/ 1:30 rest + 4 x 1km @ 6:17/mi w/ 1:00 rest + 5 x 800m @ 6:06/mi w/ 1:00 rest + 2mi cd
Distance: 10 miles
Time: 1:13:06
Avg. Pace: 7:19/mi
Location: treadmill + outside with Maple
Rating: 4 out of 5
Summary: Wahoo! The speed workout was a success. Due to the supplemental cross training I've been doing on the elliptical, my legs were feeling a bit more tired than they have for prior speed workouts. However, I was able to hit all of my splits and came away from this run feeling very encouraged. I did increase a couple of the rest periods between repeats, but not by long and not for many. I just felt like I needed a bit longer to recover, and that happens sometimes. I feel as though my training plan adjustments have made a significant impact, and luckily, that impact has been entirely positive thus far. After doing the first 8 miles of speed work on the treadmill, I went outside for my 2 mile cool down with Maple. It was great.
Here are my splits:
Warmup: 9:05/mi
1600m: 6:07/mi
1st km: 6:15/mi
2nd km: 6:15/mi
3rd km: 6:15/mi
4th km: 6:15/mi
1st 800m: 6:07/mi
2nd 800m: 6:07/mi
3rd 800m: 6:07/mi
4th 800m: 6:07/mi
5th 800m: 6:00/mi
Cooldown: 8:51/mi avg
Thursday - March 14th, 2024
Prescribed Workout: 6 miles @ easy pace (7:22-8:21/mi)
Distance: 6 miles
Time: 49:45
Avg. Pace: 8:16/mi
Route: outside
Rating: 5 out of 5
Summary: This run was lovely. One of my favorite things to do when running is to explore new routes. I find the practice of exploring on foot to be immensely exciting and fulfilling. Today, I opted to run a completely different route than I ever have before. I didn't travel far from my familiar territory, but I did manage to find new things along the way. I would say that the most interesting thing I found was a park in a ravine. Sounds weird, I know, and honestly it kinda gave me the creeps. I'm not sure why, but I think that is one park that I'm going to skip in the future. Even writing about it gives me the shivers and pulls my face down in an unpleasant expression of "ewww." I'm going to choose to trust my gut on this one and not revisit this park. On a much brighter note, the most amazing thing I found was a lakeside park with a view of the mountains. It was serene and absolutely beautiful. I kept the pace easy and enjoyed the thrill of the adventure.
Friday - March 15th, 2024
Prescribed Workout: 6 miles @ easy pace (7:22-8:21/mi)
Distance: 6 miles
Time: 48:05
Avg. Pace: 8:00/mi
Route: outside
Rating: 4 out of 5
Summary: This run was nice, albeit really cold. I started in the dark and had the opportunity to try out my new reflective vest for the first time. I liked it, but I think I need to find a way to shorten the straps further because they kept sliding down. That, or I seriously need to bulk up my shoulders. Anyways, it was a beautiful easy paced run. I saw the sunrise and brought Maple along for the final couple of miles.
Saturday - March 16th, 2024
Prescribed Workout: 16 miles @ easy pace (7:25-8:41/mi)
Distance: 16 miles
Time: 2:08:10
Avg. Pace: 8:01/mi
Route: treadmill + 3mi outside
Rating: 4 out of 5
Summary: What a glorious day! I started with 13 miles on the treadmill and then stopped. I felt great and was keeping the pace nice and controlled. The plan was to finish the last 3 miles at a local 5K. However, plans changed and I rolled with it. Honestly, not doing the 5K was the right call. It was going to be run entirely on the beach, which obviously means running in sand. This can stress your body in ways that running on a treadmill or pavement doesn't. I know myself well enough to know that I could line up at the start line with the intention of taking it easy, but as soon as someone said, "Go!" I'd be off to the races, literally. My seeming inability to (or more likely, my lack of desire to) reign myself in during these moments added to the sandy course added to last week's knee issues seemed likely to equal unnecessary soreness or even an injury. So, I passed on the 5K and opted for an actually easy 3 miles on the beach a bit later. The sun was shining and it was an uncharacteristically warm day for March. Sure, all 16 miles weren't run continuously, but I know that I could have finished them all together. The pause wasn't due to a lack of fitness or other complication. The break in this run was due to a change of plans and I have to say, it was totally worth it.
Overview
Training Phase: Preparation Phase
Training Block: Base Fitness
Total Distance: 45 miles
Summary: I am thrilled to report that I experienced zero knee pain this week. No, I don't know exactly which of the changes I made to my training are responsible for my feeling better again. All I know is that I feel confident in these alterations and many of them have been needed for a long time. I am a runner and I want to run. However, in order to be able to run, I have to take care of my body as a whole. Cheers to healthier, more well-rounded training!
Highs: 1) no knee pain, 2) a gorgeous sunny run on the beach, 3) a running exploration of a new route
Lows: 1) confronting my own short-comings head-on, while necessary it wasn't entirely enjoyable
Things that went well: 1) incorporating new strategies into my training program to take care of my whole body
Things that I will be altering in the future: 1) incorporating some strength training back into my routine - I took a break from strength training this week out of fear of aggravating my knee somehow
Rating:
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