End of june which makes me happy as I only have one more month of training.
Monday: 0 Miles
Originally plan was to hit this week hard and do 90. Knew that wasn't happening after getting back to TO at 2am and being exhausted from Sunday's activities. Made the right call to take the day off and alter things later in the week.
Tuesday: 11 Miles- Thousand Oaks, CA
Was a little nervous on this was it was over 80 degrees for my first time this year. Yes, I know New England is hotter but the big difference here is running nearly exposed the entire time and the sun beating down on you. Shade is rare. Run wasn't as bad as I expected- very trashed quads to start but felt decent through 7-8 miles. Then the heat started to get to me and I took a decent break at the NPS site before finishing up.
Wednesday: 12 Miles- Thousand Oaks, CA
First Santa Rosa valley run in a while- went through Wildwood Park. Similar temp to yesterday (79 today) and decided to wear a pack as this route was harder. Completely struggled with the heat and elevation today, got hot and tired and just dead by the end. Overgrowth and some technical sections doesn't make it any easier. Went to the gas station after and got a frozen slushie-like drink and a body armor.
Thursday: 11 Miles- Malibu, CA
After not loving the heat the last few days but not being willing to get up early (class gets out at 10, so hard to get to bed early) I took the alternate route of running from the ocean and did the Point Mugu loop I've done. My concern here is that the descent trail is getting really overgrown but it wasn't any worse than last time and doesn't ruin the route overall. Felt good today and the 10 degrees cooler felt much more comfortable. Good climbing again, and threw in 4x1 minute pickups on the ridge to spin the legs.
Friday: 11 Miles- Agoura Hills, CA
This was two days ago but I don't remember this one much. What I do remember is that the bikers were slow and annoying, and the horseback riders were slow and annoying.
Saturday: 18 Miles- Ventura, CA
With limited long run options, I once again tried a new spot- Ralph Fertig bike path in Ventura/Carpinteria (starting on the Ventura/Santa Barbara county line). Bike path was about 3.5 miles long and I had an 8 mile tempo today, so would run the last OAB bit on the road. I was a little nervous about this one as I haven't had any strong long run effort since May, and with low motivation lately another bad workout would really not make me feel great going into July.
The advantage to running on the ocean is good weather and here it was mid-60s and no sun which was great. No wind either. While the bike path was nice and great views next to the ocean, the big downside was it's right next to 101, so there's cars blowing past you at 80mph which wasn't pleasant. Legs felt great on the warm-up which was a good sign as usually I'm quite flat but I was already bonking which was maybe more concerning. Took my gel and got going hoping for the best. Quickly settled into a fast pace- 10:57 through 2 miles. I tried to zone out and relax. Found myself tying up/tightening a decent going into 3 miles and was telling myself to get to the turnaround.
I really enjoyed running hard on the road as I haven't worked out on flat roads here at all. The pacific coast highway was surprisingly empty and great to run on. Made the turnaround and I was definitely feeling heavy. I was expecting a positive split here and told myself to get through 6 miles. 10K just over 34 and then things got hard. Being right on the water, I could see the end point ahead even though it was 2 miles away. Played a game of not looking at my watch until I reached a certain sign, so then I could see visible signs of progress (6.25, 6.6, 6.9, etc.). Last mile was a real grind but I got through and averaged 5:32 for the full 8 which is a great workout. Not as good as some spring workouts, but one of my strongest this block and definitely a big confidence booster after bombing the last 22 mile attempt. Very happy with this one and definitely feeling better about my marathon fitness. I've had some motivation issues and negative thoughts lately, but this expelled some of that.
Cooldown was a different story- found some trails, got to the beach then bonked hard and struggled back to the car.
Sunday: 11 Miles- Los Angeles, CA
Griffith Park with Matt, half on the hilly trails and coming back on the flat main trail that goes next to the highway. Felt bad for two reasons- general fatigue/low sleep after a big day, and stupidly putting on mismatching shoes and having some discomfort from the different cushions. Not too notable, got to 75 as I went. Once of those runs that would have miserable solo but having company made it a lot easier.
Weekly Total: 75 Miles, 5,902' elevation
Weekly Highlight: Great long run/workout on Saturday, clearly in good fitness.
Weekly Lowlight: Generally feeling like crap on a lot of the easy, heat struggles early in the week and tired at Griffith at the end. It comes with the training, but doesn't make it any more enjoyable.
10K race next week in Los Angeles, then onto the marathon.
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