Week 4: Active recovery

Good for the legs, and heart

Sewickley scenes 🌳💚

Week 4 was a step back from the intensity of the first three weeks of my marathon training plan, but a step up in beauty, greenery, and nostalgia. I did my first four runs in Sewickley, PA, hitting up my old stomping grounds: country roads, wooded trails, and my high school track. I ended the week back in San Francisco, where I did a long run today that included a 4.5 mile race with one of my favorite, volunteer-led, and very chill Bay Area run clubs: Dolphin South End Runners (their motto is “Start slowly and taper off!”). Races are a fun way for me to do up-tempo work because you can typically find a pace group to settle in with and turn off your brain, which, during an easy week, is a boon.

In this marathon training rundown, I’ll share about my down week, my love for trail running, a bit more about super shoes, and finish things off with some odds n’ ends.

📋 Total miles: 38.9 miles

• Monday: 12.4 miles (steady)

• Tuesday: 5.5 miles (15 min warm up, 8 x 300 w/ 90 sec rest, cool down)

• Wednesday: 3.1 miles (recovery)

• Thursday: 3.4 miles (progressive tempo)

• Friday: Rest

• Saturday: 3.4 miles (easy + 4 x 80m strides)

• Sunday: 10.9 miles (included a 4.5 mile race at marathon pace)

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⬇️ Down week

As you may recall, I chose a 16-week marathon training plan in preparation for the NYC Marathon. That plan is split into 4, 4-week blocks. Today I completed the base period, which had 3 progressively-more-challenging weeks followed by a week of [relative] rest.

The rest gets masked by this week’s total mileage because I completed last week’s long run on Monday. I wavered on what was more important: 7 truly lighter days or not missing a long run. I ultimately chose the latter because in marathon training, the long run is the key workout of the week. That said, I tried to keep the rest of my week light — and I even scheduled a massage for this afternoon so I can feel my best going into the next 4-week build.

This method is called periodization training, and it’s designed to keep you from being overtrained, which is a real concern for me. Despite having felt fresh and strong on the vast majority of my runs, I also have had to contend with nagging soreness, trouble sleeping, and waking up ravenous over the last month. This week of de-loading has allowed me to reset my bearings — it’s all systems go (except sleep — grrr).

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🌳 Back to my roots

While my heart belongs to the track, my home is the woods. On Wednesday I returned to the trails with a high school teammate for a few easy, joyful miles. We ran a loop I’ve done 1000+ times. Despite logs, rocks, and roots, I felt sturdy on each step, as if some part of me still knows how my foot needs to land at every point along the path. (NOTE: This is far from the case for every trail. In fact, I think I would choose to go off-roads more often in the Bay if I wasn’t concerned that one bad step might be the end of my ankle.)

Most people don’t know that my background is on the trails, and I took trail running for granted in high school. It wasn’t until I learned of my college teammates’ training that I found out it was somewhat rare. I don’t know if I still receive this benefit, but in my 20s I attributed my relative hardiness to the woods. Trails provide soft and dynamic surfaces that build up strength — particularly in your foot and ankle — in a way that roads can’t. They also made me much less conscious of pace. You simply aren’t running that fast while navigating downed trees and creek beds.

I didn't take my phone on the run, but I grabbed these photos of Sewickley Heights Park from AllTrails. It's a beauty.

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🦹🏻‍♀️ A note on super shoes

I dropped a term last week without defining it — and I’m here to rectify! Super shoes are a class of carbon-plated, high stacked, [generally] low heel drop footwear associated with racing and fast times. A necessary disclaimer is that I am not an expert in shoe science, but I do know that the sum of these parts give you a more explosive shoe with better energy return such that each step is more powerful and simultaneously less taxing on your legs. As a user, I can assert that super shoes feel like magic.

The first time I put on my Nike Alphaflys and lightly jogged in my living room, I squealed. I wish I could relive that moment — it was absolutely delightful. I was so eager to use them on the roads that I decided to wear them at a local turkey trot a month later. I almost took them off before heading to the start line because I was self-conscious of bringing such high-tech shoes to a low-key event. Until then, I’d only seen pros and semi-pros wearing them. But to my surprise, it seemed like everyone in the race had either Alphaflys or Vaporflys — even those running at a very modest pace.

Since 2020, nearly every shoe brand has put out a super shoe. I’d suggest trying one from your favorite brand the next time you’re at a sporting goods store. They’re fun! But they’re not that durable, and they tend to be $250+/pair, so most of us leave them for when they give the biggest bang for the buck: hard workouts and races.

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🧳 Odds n’ ends

Wearing: Goodr’s Mach G in Chard To Love. My eyes are like magnets for small bugs on the trail, so I was particularly grateful for these sunglasses that more-or-less cover my whole face as I frolicked in the woods.

Supplementing: Iron. I returned a ferritin level under 10 ng/mL during a blood test in June. Ideally runners want to be at 40 ng/mL or higher. Fortunately, my hemoglobin levels are normal, so I am iron deficient, but not anemic. To supplement, I’ve been taking Iron Bisglycinate which is a chelated form of iron, unlike the standard ferrous sulfate. I was introduced to this alternative because ferrous sulfate makes my stomach feel like metallic trash. With these pills, I feel nothing — and since I haven’t entirely unraveled my “no pain, no gain” mindset in therapy, I am skeptical that they’re working. I plan to get a follow up test next week to see if my levels are up.

Ignoring: Strength and mobility. This week I went to Pilates with my mom, and it was humbling. My hips, hamstrings, and right shoulder are tight, unbalanced, or not firing. I know I’m on notice.

Inspired by: The Barbie movie. There’s no obvious connection to running — I just loved it.

Long runs are a bit more fun when they come with participation ribbons.

Ok, I’m off to refuel and refresh (aka shower) before the next cycle of hard[er] running starts tomorrow. As always, your likes, comments, and shares keep me going. I really do feel like I am running for a team.

If you want to back my run — and, more importantly, bring equitable, high-quality computer science to more students — please consider donating to my CSforAll fundraiser. No contribution is too small, and the more on the team, the merrier.

See you next Sunday!