Anatomy of a 100 Mile Week

I ran my first ever 100 mile week!  Ironically, it wasn't exactly planned.  My coach schedules my mileage Monday through Sunday, which is how I prefer it (Strava also tracks weekly mileage that way), so it was only by luck, or maybe fatigue, that it happened on a Sunday through Saturday week.  You'll have to read the rest for the full explanation!  You'll also notice that the little extra 0.1-0.3 I have on almost every run was an important part of accidentally hitting this milestone.

Sunday 10/6/19:
AM run:  10.14 miles easy effort
PM run:  3.30 miles easy effort
Extras:  glute yoga
Notes: I was scheduled to run 8 and 5 milers, but it's a long story. I almost didn't do the second run because it was optional since I'd run a longer morning session, and the weather was cool and down-pouring most of the day, but when it stopped raining around 6 p.m. I went out to finish the mileage, and I'm sure glad I did!

Monday 10/7/19:
AM run:  9.21 miles easy effort
Extras:  core workout

Tuesday 10/8/19:
AM run:  3.19 miles warm up, 10 x 1K with 1:00 recoveries on the road (7.26 miles total), 2.16 miles cool down.  My 1K times were 3:33-3:39, or 5:43-5:54 pace. My goal pace range was 5:50-5:55/no faster, so I was in it or a tad under, but 5:50 pace sure feels different at 45 degrees than at 70!
PM run:  4.21 miles easy HR < 132
Extras:  post-run yoga

Wednesday 10/9/19:
AM run:  10.30 miles easy effort
PM run:  4.20 miles easy HR < 132
Extras:  full body strength workout

Thursday 10/10/19:
AM run:  12.25 miles easy effort
Extras:  yoga for tight hamstrings

Friday 10/11/19:
AM run:  8.14 miles easy HR < 132
Extras:  Core workout, hip opening yoga
Notes:  My stomach was really unhappy on this run, plus we got rained on in 40 degrees, and I came very close to stopping early, at 7 miles when my friend Abby finished her run.  If I learned anything from this week it's that every bit counts!

Saturday 10/12/19:
AM run:  24.50 miles easy effort except for 10 x 1:00 pick-ups to marathon pace at the beginnings of miles 12-21
PM run: 1.12 miles easy
Extras:  post-run yoga
Notes:  On my 24 miler (turned 24.5 due to route miscalculations!), I felt strong but not fast, and a few hours after I decided to look at my rolling 7-day mileage to see how many miles I had on my legs.  When I saw it was at 98.9, I texted my coach a screenshot and asked if I could do a 1.1 mile shake out, and she said to go for it!  My only regret is that I want to say I did 100 miles in a week with only 3 doubles, but technically the 1.1 miler made 4 (although I could have easily tacked 1.1 miles onto any other run this week, except for Friday's, hah).  Surprisingly I felt fine on the 1.1, and then started thinking I should go 1.7 to make Saturday into a full marathon, but the appeal of the perfect round 100 won out.

It would only be possible to leave this mileage alone if you'd
done lots of 100 mile weeks before!

I was scheduled to possibly have 100 October 14-20 (a Monday though Saturday week), but my coach wanted to see how I handled my October 15 workout before deciding for sure, so now we can truly go by how I feel instead of striving to hit a number - arriving at the starting line in Indy on November 9 healthy is faaaaaarrr more important.  Update:  My October 15 workout was probably the best workout of my life, so I now need to write a post about it!

24

I was very excited to hit this milestone, although it didn't feel any different than the 90-some mile weeks I've done (basically just like this 96 mile week).  I used to think that I could only run a max of 40-50 miles a week without getting injured, but let this be proof that if you gradually increase mileage and have coaching guidance, you can do a lot more than you think!  I've been going up by about 5 miles per week per training cycle, so about 10 miles per year.  It took me 5 years to go from 50 to 100, but I did it with fewer injuries during those 5 years (two) than I sustained during any other 5 year period of my adult life.

Kipchoge says that no human is limited, and although I think I have some limits, I like pushing them.  I was pumped that I finished my first 100 mile week on the same day he ran a 1:59 marathon!  Mind-blowing.