Week 6, Training for 50K Trail Race

Last week, week 5 was a tough week with the air quality getting as bad as it did. With is not allowing any outdoor activity over the weekend things had to be shuffled around and we went to a play it by ear schedule for the first half of this week.  

This week we planned for the two 10.5 mile trail runs on either Monday and Tuesday, or Tuesday and Wednesday.  

Week 6 Training Plan: (14th-20th September 2020)

Monday: Trail run 10.5 miles with 900+ feet of elevation

Tuesday: Trail run 10.5 miles with 900+ feet of elevation

Wednesday: Bike trainer 40 minutes. Core strength 30 minutes.

Thursday: Bike trainer 40 minutes. Strength 1 hour.

Friday: Undecided, Mobility 15 minutes.

Saturday: Outdoor team ride 3 hours 

Sunday: Easy, flat run 9 miles.

Unfortunately Monday was still in the high 160's on the AQI scale so once again outdoor activities were a bust. However things were looking better Tuesday morning as it had dropped back down to 120, and by the afternoon when I had time to run, it was about AQI 88, so off to the trails I went. 

Midday on a weekday turned out to be a great time to run. I think I passed only 3 people my entire time on the trails. The sun was shining, and the air was clear, maybe still not as clean as it could be but it wasn't orange-brown anymore.  Since I was excited to be out and about, I brought along my GoPro again to take some footage of the beauty I get to enjoy. You can enjoy my Clean Air Rancho San Antonio Preserve Run (click on the name to go to the video) too.

Wednesday was the second day in my back to back trail runs, and the weather was perfect yet again. This being my first back to back day of longer trail runs meant I needed to get plenty of sleep and proper nutrition between Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning when I could do my next run. My sleep was okay though I did get suckered into watching an extra episode of Grey's Anatomy (I'm in season 11) and got to be 45 minutes later than I planned. Considering I usually get 8 to 9 hours of sleep I was plenty rested for Wednesday morning. 

 Thursday it's time for the first of my short bike rides, and my leg are feeling heavy. I know that active recovery is always better than doing nothing at all, so I hop on and get started. At first my legs felt sluggish and powerless, but by the time I got through with the 10 minute warm up my legs were feeling loose and happy again. I had the same workout both on Thursday and Friday, and both days my legs felt the same. Heavy at first, then by the 10 minute mark all better. 

Saturday is long ride day, and I was looking forward to seeing my teammates on our social distanced ride. After I got up late, and was feeling rushed to get everything together (I usually have everything packed and prepped the night before, and I did not this time) I decided I just needed one day where I wasn't up and rushing out the door right away. Instead I enjoyed my cup of coffee, had a slow breakfast and even ready a little in my book. At some point I realized I just did not feel up for a ride, so called it a day about 11 am and used the day to clean up my bike space in the garage. The goal was to get all my tools back into my toolbox, and get rid of stuff I just don't use, and of course to clean and re-lube all the bikes. Not only did I accomplish that, but also set aside 3 items in my give away pile because I was so good that I took pictures and posted them online. 

After a full day of rest and a bit of a mental clearing of the cobwebs I was ready to get back to it on Sunday for my 9 mile run. This run did not have to be on the trails so I decided to head over to Shoreline and enjoy the peacefulness of the Bayshore area early in the morning. Of course since I'm blogging about this I had to take my camera and take some quick video snippets of the sights. You can see my video from this week, along with all my other videos on my YouTube channel. 

This run route is flat, mostly, and is fully exposed to the sun the entire time. Even though I ran at 8am when it was cool, I still brought my handheld water bottle to keep my mouth from drying out and to prevent post workout dehydration. I'm starting to get used to having something in my hands while I run, especially when I bring the camera too so I stay better balanced. I do however switch hands every mile with the water bottle and the camera as they are not the same weight and I can feel it in my shoulders as I get further into my runs. 

In all this week was a success, and I continue to look forward to each following week.