Boston Training Week #13

March 24-30

M - AM 5 PM 9, with Luke and Charlie

T - AM 7 PM 6, gym

W - PM, track, 14: 4 by 3,200 with 400 rest (~2 min) at GRC workout with Patrick. Cold and very windy. 11:00, 10:54, 10:49, 10:44.

Th - AM 10 PM 5, gym

F - 12, with Capitol Hill Distance Project

S - 11, on towpath in the rain with Patrick, Breezy, and Justin.

S - 27: AM 3 WU, 17-mile tempo, 2 CD. PM 5 with Luke in the rain and the snow.

Total - 106

There was a part of the workout Sunday where I was thinking of pulling the plug on it: not because I was feeling bad or having a hard time, but because the weather - as Charlie's story about the Reston Marathon attests - was really frustrating and limiting. 

Emily planned to join me on a bike so I would have some company and could practice fueling and drinking. We chose a start time of 10 a.m., allowing time for good rest, breakfast, and so she could get her own run in. For the route, the plan was out-and-backing it along the Anacostia River bike trail.

During the warm-up it seemed like maybe we were sneaking it in at a good time. As we got rolling with the workout, though, it started raining really hard. The path was water-soaked and the wind chilled us to the bone; I thought of my buddy Patrick Reaves winning the City of Oaks Marathon back in 2009 in conditions described on the GRC blog as a "cold, wet hell."

In the opening mile I stopped to tiptoe over a fallen tree limb. When I saw the grass around the big puddles was no better, I just splashed through them instead. As we crossed over the bridge into Anacostia River Park, the wind stonewalled us and I made an on-the-fly detour to get around some ankle-deep water. Emily, I could tell, was frozen; I had to get her back home, and I slowed for a little while so we could discuss our options. We turned around, and I got her back to the RFK parking lot, a spot she knew how to get back to our place from. (No gels or water were consumed at any time during this run.)

While my venue was a bust, it was my only option. Turning into Northeast and its stoplights and all that would have been much worse. So, I ran literally as hard as I could across the RFK parking lot, sprinting against the wind, bound for more cold, wet hell. I was like 9 miles into the tempo, thought of pulling the plug, but decided just to accept the conditions and continue running hard.

It was strange. I never got tired, exactly - but it was kind of frustrating to be gunning it and keep seeing high 5s or, when the wind was really bad, low 6s. Not wanting to end with a 6-plus-minute mile, I ran an extra in 5:56 to close out 17 with a 5:58 average. I don't like the mystery. I do like, on the other hand, that I ran hard for 1:41.