The Ups And Downs Of High Mileage Training

This week was another week of high mileage in preparation for my 6 solo marathons on 6 continents in 4.5 days. Last week was 100+ miles and this week was supposed to be the same amount. However, some problems arose this week that kept that goal from being reached.

Runs Around the World: Ups and Downs of High Mileage Training

For those that may not know, in September, I will be setting out to run 6 marathon distances (26.2 miles) on 6 continents in 4.5 days. Of course, the whole trip around the world is being taken care of with miles – and in business/first the whole way! To read more about it, check out this post.

90+ Mile Training Week

The weather this week was hot – very hot! Temperatures were in the mid-90s all week with the high temps starting in the morning and staying hot all week. The sun is always intense here which makes the weather seem even hotter. Couple that with a very busy schedule for me this week and I was unable to get my 100+ miles in. Here is a breakdown of my workouts from the week:

• Monday – ran 7 miles (8:34 minute pace)
• Tuesday – ran 16 miles (9:22 minute pace)
• Wednesday – ran 2 miles (9:30 minute pace)
• Thursday – ran 27 miles (10:17 minute pace)
• Friday – ran 3 miles (8:39 minute pace)
• Friday – walked 5 miles (brisk walk)
• Saturday – ran 26.2 miles (9:00minute pace)
• Saturday – walked 4 miles (brisk walk)
• Total – 90.2 miles (Sunday’s run will be 4 miles bringing this week to a total of 94 miles)

The Ups and Downs

If you have run in the heat, you know the problems it can cause to your pace. During training, it is not always a good idea to push that pace in the heat because it can cause more muscle exhaustion than is typical and your body has a better chance of overheating. Since I am going for longer training runs, I opted for slower paces to compensate for the heat so that it would not disrupt my other runs of the week.

Tuesday was a very tough day. It was supposed to be a marathon-length run but I encountered some very difficult heat issues along the way. Heat headaches started plaguing me as well as some periods of shivering. Going back to what I said above, I knew it was more prudent to pull up short than jeopordize my other runs during the week.

It was a good decision as Wednesday was even tougher than it was supposed to be. My muscles were exhausted and I had to drink all day long to rehydrate. As a result, I just barely got a run in to keep my streak going and get a couple of miles.

Thursday came and I knew I had to get another long run in. I was able to complete this one but it was done with 93 degree heat. That was okay because some of my runs are going to be in high heat and I need the conditioning. I just kept my pace slower and made sure I drank – a lot! I did make a bad mistake in the last few miles. At my last place to buy water, I also grabbed what I thought was Gatorade. Turned out it was something like lazorade and fully carbonated. I took a long drink before realizing that and the carbonation really started making my gut tighten up. It made the last few miles kind of miserable. 🙂

Yesterday, I was going to do a 8 mile run, but settled instead for a 3 mile run and brisk walk because of the heat and wanting to save myself for today’s long run. It was a good idea! Today, I was able to get out early enough in the morning to enjoy some cooler temperatures and have a great run. My half marathon splits were actually negative (where you run the second half faster than the first) by about 2 minutes. When I finished, the temperature was 88 so I was happy with that run. All in all, to get a 3:58 marathon done as my 4th marathon distance or longer in the last 9 days made me feel good to cap the training week.

Doing high mileage training means that I need to deal with bad days and just get it done. If I had cut down like I wanted to after Tuesday’s run, I may have only had 50 miles in. To train for this even, I need to have as close to 100 mile weeks as possible. My week just demonstrated again to me that a really bad training day on Tuesday does not mean that a later training day that week needs to be bad. Sometimes, bad days just help us listen to our body and adjust to recover properly. Every day is a new day and we just need to approach each run like that.