Training week 6/2-6/8 - 2 weeks to Mohican

I read in this month's Runner's World that Michael Wardian, who is a dominate marathoner and ultrarunner with super-human recovery abilities, drinks 2-4 quarts of water each day. I will add that to my repertoire, along with the stretching and push-ups I already do.

The goal this week couldn't have been more straightforward--to get in as many miles as possible. This was my last week of training before going into taper mode for the Mohican 100. Originally, my thinking was that if all I could get in was 80 miles (due to the many responsibilities of being the parent of a newborn and the husband of a sleep-deprived wife), that would be fine. But, of course, as the week progressed I got bull-headed, and by Thursday decided to make a run at--what else?--100 miles.

Mission accomplished. I ran 100 miles. And it wasn't easy. I was very tired and run-down, especially tired and sore in my hips, early to mid-week and basically threw the towel in on my speedwork and tempo run. I think a few times this week I was most certainly "burning the candle on both ends," as my mom says. Fortunately, by Friday, I got a second wind and started to feel fresh again. By the end of Friday, I had logged 60 miles for the week, which meant I'd need 40 over the weekend to get to the century mark. It used to be 40-50 in a weekend was child's play. Now it's a struggle in terms of finding the time. But I found the time and did it--another 100-mile week under my belt as Mohican fast-approaches.

The hard work with training is now done! Yes, it is hard to believe. I couldn't have done it without my wife Anne's support. She is the only one who really knows how hard I've worked. I wouldn't be here--ready for Mohican--without her.

I taper the next two weeks and then on Saturday the 21st it's show time. I will write more about the actual race later. For now, I'll provide a training week recap:

Monday
AM: 5 miles
PM: 2 miles on the treadmill with Noah. I had to cut the workout short because he was throwing a hissy fit. This may have been my shortest-ever run.
Total miles for day: 7

Tuesday
AM: 9 miles
Felt incredibly run-down due to a lack of sleep the night before and really struggled on the hills--usually my strong-suit.
PM: 5.2 miles
Total miles for day: 14.2

Wednesday
AM: 9 miles easy
I was planning to go to the track for 1600s but was simply too tired and run-down, especially in my hips, to even approach doing a hard workout. So I elected to just get in some "junk" miles and call it a day, even if it meant possibly not getting to 100 miles for the week.
PM: Off/rest
Total miles for day: 9

Thursday
AM: 9.3 miles on the treadmill
A severe thunderstorm and massive downpour kept me from running outside. I felt much stronger than yesterday and ran the last 5 miles at sub-7:00 pace.
PM: 5 miles on the treadmill with Noah. He was very good and let me get in some excellent miles!
Total miles for day: 14.3

Friday
AM: 10.5 miles in and around South Chagrin Reservation
Very, very humid, but I felt strong and held a decent pace. When I got back to the house around 6:45 a.m., I looked like I'd jumped in a swimming pool and had to aggressively rehydrate before going to work.
PM: 5 miles on the treadmill with Noah. Once again, he was very good and let me get in my miles.
Total miles for the day: 15.5

Saturday
AM: 16 miles in and around South Chagrin Reservation
My morning goal was 16, with a day's goal of 20, to set up a 100-mile week. The humidity was once again pretty severe, but I averaged 7:30 pace and felt very strong. I brought a water bottle with me and took full advantage of it, even stopping for a refill at the Polo Field and in downtown Chagrin Falls. I really miss running with the Lock 29 crew and look forward to rejoining them when things settle down with Noah. For now, I'm on my own on Saturdays.
PM: 5.25 miles on the treadmill with Noah. He slept the whole time.
Total miles for day: 21.25

Sunday
AM: 15.25 miles in Solon with the Southeast Running Club
The temperatures reached 90 today with pretty intense humidity. This was a great opportunity to get in some heat acclimatization. Still, the morning run was difficult in areas, especially those where we were directly exposed to the sun. I made the stupid mistake of wearing a black tech-tee.... I ran basically the entire first 12 miles with Jeff U. and Paul R., averaging about 7:30 miles in the sweltering heat, and then ran the last 3 miles with Paul and Tim C.
PM: 4 miles easy
Total miles for day: 19.25

Total miles for the week: 100.5

I'm very pleased with my Mohican training. It began the week of March 3-9 and, since then, I was able to keep my miles at a pretty high level. It didn't hurt that I had a very solid base to work from, as I'd logged 80-100-mile weeks back in December to get ready for the Winter Buckeye Trail 50K, which I won outright. Here's what my 16 weeks of Mohican training have looked like mileage-wise:

Week 1: 78.8
Week 2: 90.25
Week 3: 61.7
Week 4: 101.05
Week 5: 82.5
Week 6: 106.4
Week 7: 101.3
Week 8: 105
Week 9: 105
Week 10: 63.5 (taper)
Week 11: 52.85 (Cleveland Marathon)
Week 12: 71.3
Week 13: 103.3
Week 14: 100.5
Week 15: Taper (50-65)
Week 16: Taper/race

You won't see many ridiculously high-mileage weeks in there, but you will see consistency. I believe my training will have me in contention for a strong finish. But, for me, it's been about more than miles. For 10 months--since the Burning River 100--I've been thinking about Mohican, focusing on it, crafting a training plan that would work for me, working through the details, etc. And now, after all this hard work, the race is only two weeks away. I will be sure to have my mojo there and go out hard, setting the tone for an aggressive race.

Next week I'll cut back my mileage and get in 50-65. I want to get on the track Tuesday or Wednesday for my 1600 repeats (at a comfortably hard 5:45-5:50 pace) and then get in a short marathon-pace (6:45) tempo run. For the weekend, I'll go 6-8 on Saturday and then 12 on Sunday. Basically, I just want to keep burning calories and keep my sanity, but I'll avoid strenuous running altogether except for the 1600s.