T-minus 2 weeks: Feel the B̶u̶r̶n̶ Learn
Plus, the magic of XC 🎽
There were several times this week that I found myself thinking, “Well this isn’t what I expected.” I’ve had these moments while reflecting on my sleep, my easy pace, and even how effortless up-tempo work felt. I’ve actively had to remind myself that the whole point of documenting this period is because I don’t really know how my body responds post-marathon — I’ve never looked too closely. Below are some things I’ve noticed, a breakdown of one of my favorite sporting events of the year, as well as some odds n’ ends.
📋 Total miles: 31.6
Monday: Off
Tuesday: 4.1 (recovery)
Wednesday: 4.1 (treadmill with Lever, 3 x 7 min hard, 2 min jog rest)
Thursday: 6.1 (easy)
Friday: Off
Saturday: 5.0 miles (treadmill with Lever, easy)
Sunday: 12.3 (easy to steady)
👩🏻🏫 Embrace the learnings
Let’s start with some observations on sleep this week. One explanation for how I’m feeling is that I might be the most sensitive person to Daylight Savings and jet lag — that is to say I’m asleep early and I’m up pre-dawn. That schedule shift wouldn’t be so bad, but it’s been coupled with a heart rate that is 10-20% higher than my baseline. These metrics are all relative and individual, but I find that if my heart rate doesn’t drop below 50 overnight I feel a touch sluggish throughout the day. Needless to say, I don’t feel my best when I’m wide awake at 4:45a on sleep that was less than refreshing.
As you might recall from an earlier post, I am interested in 80/20 running, where the vast majority of your miles are at an easy pace. To determine that a run is easy, I use heart rate. Earlier this week, a heart rate that usually means ~9:30/mile pace was having me run over 11:00/mile. In many ways it’s harder for me to run at that pace, especially when I have to fight the mental battle against feeling like I’ve backslid in fitness. I suppose this is what recovery feels like.
And after some super lowkey miles, I was shocked on Wednesday to do 3 x 7 minute repeats so effortlessly. I’ve done this workout before where it felt like a slog, so the ease and strength was notable. The unpredictable nature of how I feel one day to the next in this post-marathon period is a real plot twist. Normally, I don’t experience as much variability.
🌳 I ❤️ XC
Yesterday was the NCAA Division I Cross Country (XC) Championships, one of my favorite sporting events of the year. If you know my sports-watching habits, you know that I am a huge fan of all kinds of sports, particularly Olympic ones like track, gymnastics, tennis, and soccer, and — of course, because Pittsburgh — football. But watching XC on TV is a top-notch experience, especially now that the broadcast provides team scores at each 1K, and yesterday’s women’s race was one for the ages.
The women’s race is 6K, and the defending national champions were NC State, led by defending national individual champion, Katelyn Tuohy. Tuohy is a high school phenom who has actually met the ridiculously lofty expectations placed upon her as a collegian. The storyline for the individual championship was a Tuohy versus Florida’s Parker Valby duel. Valby is a fascinating runner who is incredibly injury prone and does the vast majority of her “running” on an Arc Trainer. For what it’s worth, Valby ran away from the field in absolutely dominant fashion — and it’s unclear that if Tuohy would have been at 100% that she would have been able to keep up. But Tuohy was sick, and even worse, NC State’s #2 runner — who’s a Top-5 NCAA talent in her own right — was out with an injury, making NC State’s repeat run unlikely. Tuohy held on for 5th, but the rest of the team stepped up and NC State pulled off an improbable win by 1 point over this season’s dominant squad, Northern Arizona University. Because the broadcast had the scores at 5k on the screen, it was clear that some heroics were needed by NC State’s 3rd to 5th runners (XC scores 5 people) in order to win.
The NC State celebration upon hearing of their victory is why I think sports are magical (and so was Tuohy’s reaction to a tough run). It was clear that the victory felt both unexpected and deserved — and it made for A+ television. I highly recommend that you tune in next year.
🧳 Odds n’ ends
Skipping out on: A Turkey Trot. For the last few years, I’ve done a Thanksgiving morning 10k in Marin. I went to sign up for this year’s version, but found myself unwilling to pull the trigger. I’ll still run that morning, but will focus on gratitude and not pace.
Enjoying: My new Coros Pace 3. I appreciated the Garmin enthusiasts who shared input, but the weight (or lack thereof) and simplicity of the Coros won me over. For my first run the strap was too loose and I questioned the metrics, but once I corrected that error it has seemed spot-on ever since.
Cutting close: Relay registration. I’m appreciating NYRR’s proactive and clear communications about the NYC Marathon. I wouldn’t have missed key instructions for that race. That said, I almost missed getting Lennie signed up as my relay partner and securing my place on the shuttle bus. Crisis averted.
I am getting super excited for the upcoming race. I’ll share more about how it will work next week. Until then, I hope you and yours have a gratitude- and deliciousness-filled Thanksgiving.
Dear Pen Pal,
Re: Assessing effort. I'd love to learn more on this front. Is heart rate generally considered to be the gold standard among effort metrics? Are there additional measures one could use in an effort to triangulate "true" effort? I found it interesting (and encouraging, for you, I hope!) that these high heart-rate readings were followed by "effortless" mile (+/-) repeats. Feel the learn :)
Re: I <3 XC. Amen! What most impresses me in events like this is shared sincere emotion, among teammates and across teams. Here are a country's top young student-athletes at the end of a semester, a season, in some cases a collegiate career; all the ups and downs of academics, athletics, team dynamics, and relationships inside them; the event asks (demands?) that they give all they have; and the spectators and cameras watch what they do, when the stakes feel highest, and most if not all defenses have been stripped away. My respect to all the athletes who presented the best version of themselves on race day.
Carry on!