Peak Heat

Peak week is never easy. I closed out the week with 101 miles. I actually hit a 7-day PR in there, at 116 miles. That surpassed my previous 110 PR set back in 2013.

The mileage hasn't been a big deal. It really wasn't that bad. The 116 was achieved with two over distance runs and more doubles than usual. The difficultly though has been the fucking heat!! After spending time at the cabin and having the joy of running in no more than 75-80 degree temps, I spent this whole week choking on 90 degrees and humidity. It's been brutal!! Many of the runs felt like death marches. All I could do though is try to adjust my training, use doubles instead of longer runs, drink a ton of water, and man up.

As for my all important track workout? I sucked it up. However, that too required multiple adjustments. Instead of risking complete failure and mental breakdown, I delayed Wednesday's 90+ degree workout to Thursday. Then when it was 90 degrees again on Thursday, I went indoors. An indoor track workout in early September due to weather sounds ridiculous, but it was the lesser of two evils.

SO, I hit the East Bank Club track for my 10x800s. Was it fun? Hell no. The turns are very sharp, and it's not even a clean oval. The narrow two-lanes required running slower on the corners and then picking it up on the straights... it felt more like a series of pick-ups versus steady 800s. Then there was the surface... It was soft. Very soft! Almost too soft for a big workout. I can understand it for recreational running and easy mileage. But striding on that thing is like pushing on a sponge. In hind sight, track spikes minus the pins would've made a big improvement and gave me more control.

In the end, the workout was a little slower than I would've liked (2:36.6 average), but I did run steady and it certainly was more comfortable than running outdoors. I figure the surface and turns taxed me around 1-2 seconds. Running alone and/or dead tired (on 100 miles) might've hurt a little as well. I'll call it good enough and move on.

I'm running Buffalo Grove 10K tomorrow, and then I'll be able to pull my mileage back down to the 60's and start the recovery process. Two weeks to Moscow.

EBC Indoor Split Recap, 10x800 w/ 85 rest:

1- 239.6

2- 236.8

3- 236.8

4- 237.0

5- 236.8

6- 236.8

7- 236.2

8- 235.8

9- 235.3

10- 235.3

Avg: 236.6