Big week of training, 92 mile with a 22 mile long run. Also the hardest workouts of the block this week. Key one to get through.
Monday: 8 Miles- Camarillo, CA
This was my third week back in California (feels like much longer than that), but the first time in 2024 I ran my typical bike path route in Camarillo. This was due to running in RI the first monday and then having last monday off. It's a good flat route (in direct comparison to very hilly Thousand Oaks) and works out to almost 8 miles.
There was a lot of rain over the weekend and through Wednesday or so which I'm not used to at all as the fall was bone dry. In addition to things being greener and certain spots muddy, I noticed the creek the bike paths here are built along was flowing rapidly. The entire fall the creek was completely dried up so this was a new sight. 7:24 pace which is a nice easy effort.
Tuesday: 11 Miles- Thousand Oaks, CA
I have pretty much staple routes for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday- as in I do the exact same route those days. I enjoy this Tuesday loop but had to modify the second half as I knew for sure the trails would be muddy. There's a lot of ridge trails through Newbury Park but I typically avoid as the climbs are really steep and tough. Today I'd take an extra 300' of elevation gain to avoid the mud and run on the ridge trails. Turns out they're an absolute blast and while it's a bit tiring, these trails have no mud on them whatsoever and are actually quite a bit more fun than the second half I normally do- plus cuts out about 1.5 mile of roads. Might make this the new Tuesday loop. By far my favorite thing about Ventura County vs Washington County, RI is the constant hills everywhere. I think it's the way to train, it's a welcome challenge and makes both the routes more enjoyable while making you stronger.
Wednesday: 16 Miles- Thousand Oaks, CA
AM- 12 Miles. Usual Peppertree workout. A lot of times these are maintenance workouts- there's some fatigue from running mileage and the focus is the long run workout on the weekend. This means short reps on the roads at tempo pace with short recovery. But probably my favorite staple workout is the 6 mile tempo, which can be quite a bit harder without any rest. It's certainly hard on my typical hilly loop with 450' uphill and 300' downhill approximately.
This one went great- was able to hit strong splits pretty much right away. I tied my shoes too tight and got heavy really early but felt strong and was comfortably ahead of the splits on the same workout back in November. Ended up averaging 5:41 with a 5:28 GAP, which is really good for me and on par with my best ever tempos. The first 4 miles are always tough with changing inclines and the mile 4 climb being really hard (often slow to 6:40s). It's nice to get to the last few miles here which are downhill.
PM- 4 Miles. Run from apartment. This double is a bit tougher this semester as I have class right after. Meaning a short recovery from the morning workout then I have to go to class immediately. Doubling works great when you don't have quite as much free time and your runs are spaced out quite a bit (a 9-5 job). It's a lot less fun when you have plenty of time in the morning/early afternoon to run and then have to get the second run done while it's still afternoon. Fortunately I only have to do these one day and every once in a while. Like usual, I didn't enjoy this but it wasn't as bad as I was expecting either.
Thursday: 11 Miles- Camarillo, CA
Normally I go for trails on Thursday or a trail/road mix, but after recent rains I didn't want to risk a muddy slop again. So explored some new to me roads in Camarillo with the last 3 miles on the typical bike paths I run on. Route was okay overall- lots of traffic stops and busy roads, but got on some cool quiet and hilly backroads in the middle. Thousand Oaks is much better for running and I'll probably just stick to my Monday routes here.
Friday: 12 Miles- Agoura Hills, CA
Typical long Cheeseboro loop. I used to do an OAB on the road at the end to get to 12, but now am finding running to the NPS parking lot and back (dirt road) gets the same distance. I think there were a few muddy spots but not much overall. Interesting change today was there were 8 or so small stream crossings when usually this is really dry spot. The nice thing about the past few weeks with the rain is Cheeseboro being almost empty when it can get quite busy.
Saturday: 22 Miles- Ventura, CA
Back to back 90+ mile weeks with two 22 mile long runs. This was the bigger session of the two as it's a hard workout- 12 mile tempo/MP effort. I ran this around 5:49 average in the fall 6 weeks out, and was really just looking to get back to that fitness I was in for Honolulu rather than exceed (with a shorter training period as mentioned in previous posts). So shooting for about the same. The weather has finally gotten cooler and it was mid-50s in this one although some wind.
Did my typical OAB 6 mile warmup which is boring but necessary to get in the full 22. Normally I'm tired and already heavy on this, so surprised to feel pretty good. I definitely run my warm-ups/cool-downs a bit faster for this but it is flat with fast shoes on. Went into it and got right into the 5:45 range dead-on. Felt pretty good and controlled all the way through the half which was a great sign. I got the fall 12 miles hard done without too much issue but it felt uncomfortable throughout. About low 5:40s through halfway. The last mile before the turnaround is a bit slower with more elevation gain than the others and some dirt on the path. There were some really slick muddy spots that I had to be careful on. Getting much better at turn arounds and taking gels while running dry. Got through 9 still feeling decent and knew I'd finish it out. I was running much faster splits at this point (downhill return) but didn't really notice as I turn off the mile splits so I can a full 12 mile split. Last couple miles got pretty hard but I was running sub-5:30 pace at the end. 5:38 average for the 12 miles- 1:07:45. Was really happy about that. I think best case scenario for the marathon would be 2:31 or so which is 5:45 pace- a little bit slower than today. So in the fall, I'd have to pick it up a bit in the actual marathon whereas now I get to slow down a bit.
4 mile cooldown, again a bit too fast although didn't feel totally exhausted. Overall 22 miles at 6:06, easily my best ever long run. This a good test ahead of the half and full, and an important to keep it together and finish- went about as well as it could have.
Sunday: 12 Miles- Los Angeles, CA
Had done a short night hike with my parents to explore Griffith Observatory back in December, but had never really explored more of the park. Met with Matt Adams this time and he gave me a bit of a tour. Past the observatory again, to a higher vantage point and over to a view of the hollywood sign. Truly an awesome park especially considering how close it is to downtown L.A. Just super smooth hilly and scenic dirt trails all around. There's definitely a lot of that in Ventura county as well but the trails aren't quite as smooth or as many options (in a single park). Went a bit earlier and the lows here in winter are perfect running weather. Rare long sleeve + glove day.
Weekly Mileage: 92 Miles
Weekly Highlight: This was a fantastic week- no real complaints. Had a great Wednesday workout, then a fantastic Saturday long run workout. Things feel like they're really clicking right now and I'm feeling confident about the upcoming races.
Weekly Lowlight: Just minor normal pains and niggles. Had some top of the foot inflammation early in the week and some weird side foot discomfort later. Both ended being a non-issue as most things to do, and are just a byproduct of the harder work.
Movies Watched: Triple Frontier, Pacific Rim, Apostle
TV Watched: Echo S1
