Running Down the Dream: March Madness

March 2024 in review!

Total mileage for the month: 235.4

Feb. 26-March 3: 40.5 (thanks to Influenza)
March 4-10: 18.5 (more thanks to Influenza)
March 11-17: 51.3
March 18-24: 74.8
March 25-31: 80.2

#marchmadness

Races:

March 30: The Easter Sun Run 10k(ish) and 2 mile(ish), because I signed up for the races during a big sale several months ago - I would not have registered after going through the flu! But they were okay; I was 2nd OAF in the 10k and 3rd OAF in the 2 mile, netting some cash and a decent long run workout.

We really got into the "look like you're
going to punch someone" pose

Workouts:

March 19: 4 x (1200 m at 10k, 0:45 rec., 400 m faster, 1:30 rec.). This was my first workout back after not running a single mile under 8:00 for 3 weeks, so I wasn't sure how it would go. I started in the back of the slower pace workout group and worked down as the workout progressed and I became more confident I was strong enough to do it. My splits were: 5:15, 1:30, 5:00, 1:27, 4:55, 1:25, 4:45, 1:25. I was proud of the dramatic negative splits and thrilled that I felt up for this! I don't think I lost that much fitness, but I was just too weak to show it for weeks.
March 22: 6 x 0.5 at 5k w/ 0.25 rec., push reps 3 & 6 faster. In hindsight I wasn't strong enough to do a push rep mid-workout, but I managed to hang on after it, though pushing rep 6 ended up being staying about the same pace while it felt much harder. My splits were 3:03, 3:03, 2:56, 3:05, 3:03, 3:01. It was nothing impressive but it was a good second workout back!
March 26: 4 x 1:00 hills + 3 miles threshold (12 miles total). I felt pretty good on the hills and ran the hill fast (for me) at 6:06-6:16 pace. On the threshold I felt like I didn't have much in reserves and just couldn't "dig". I ran it by effort and felt like I was blowing up, but I was reasonably consistent with 6:30, 6:32, 6:34. I didn't look at my splits until afterwards, but once I did I wished I'd have looked at them during to see that I wasn't fading extremely like I felt like I was. I called it at 3 miles because I thought I was slowing down so much, instead of going to 4 miles like originally planned. Lesson learned! But maybe still a good thing since I was feeling depleted. I did not get a confidence boost from this workout, but I know I need to be patient.
Favorite workout: March 19 because it exceeded expectations.

Long Runs:

March 16: 12 miles (8:36) - after missing 2 long runs due to influenza, I was really happy to run 12 miles again, but it was harder on me than it should have been.
March 23: 16 miles (8:08) - I was hoping I'd feel strong enough to run a little farther than this and possibly resume marathon training, but 16 was enough. I couldn't be too disappointed with 4 miles farther, 28 seconds/mile faster than the previous week - plus I felt fine for the rest of the day afterward.
March 30: 16 miles (7:35) including the Easter Sun Run races.
March 31: 15.1 miles (8:51). I went out for 10 miles but ended up doing a second long run for the weekend on Easter morning. I hadn't gotten quite the mileage in that I wanted on March 30, plus I had a lot of paused time during those 16 miles for race starts, refueling, awards, etc. - so I thought a long continuous leisurely run would do me good since I felt great by some miracle! My dad followed me the whole way in his car on bumpy dirt roads. I told him he didn't need to (he was worried about my safety being alone), but it ended up being really nice because he carried drinks for me!
Favorite long run: March 30, but none of them were stellar.

Colin likes to look happy during our
mad poses

A very wet run + Sarah's birthday

Running Highlights:

I felt like I spent this whole month having then attempting to come back from the flu - so, it was not my finest training month, but it made me more thankful for how good I usually feel! I felt far better at the end of the month than at the beginning.