Wow, did Week 1 leave me fatigued. I thought a day off on Monday would allow me to recover, but it definitely wasn’t enough. I did learn the power of VERY SLOW recovery runs to get you feeling back to normal.
Week in a Nutshell
- 56 miles / 90 km
- 9,500 feet / 2,900 meters elevation gain
- 9 hours, 30 minutes
Relatively, this was still a big week for me. I am starting to learn lots of tips and tricks for me to increase my mileage without crushing my body, which I did in Week 1.
How to Run High Mileage without Crushing Yourself
Run really easy.
That’s it. Make sure, when you feel fatigued and need a recovery run, you make it a true recovery run. That means keeping your heart rate low (making sure you can pretty much breath out of your nose if you wanted to) and going very slow. Zone 1 for sure.
Here’s my example. By Thursday, I could tell I needed a really easy run. I had done a workout the day before and I could tell that I was working harder than I should have been to maintain a speed that I should have for the workout. Now, we know it’s important to make sure you feel good before a key session, including workouts and long runs. So I probably didn’t make as many gains in that workout as I should have. Anyway, I knew I needed recovery runs so I could go into my long run that weekend feeling good. So here is my Thursday run in Strava.
You can see that my average pace was about 10:30 per mile (GAP was more like 9:30 per mile, as I had elevation on my dirt road run). For me, this is super slow. The next week I ran that same section at a 9:52 min/mile average pace, which was also an easy run for me even though I did get up into Zone 2 for parts of the run. But that really easy, Zone 1 run actually left me feeling physically BETTER after the run than I had before. If you look at my heart rate, that was also very low (123 avg, 143 max before strides, vs. 130 avg, 148 max before strides the next week). I did an easy run like this on Thursday and Friday and that allowed me to go into the weekend and my long run feeling recovered.
Every Run Doesn’t Have to be on Trails
I love running on trails. We all do. But cultivating speed is a key component to becoming a better trail runner. Doing every run (including workouts) on technical, rocky trails is not optimal for developing speed. You just can’t get the leg turnover and run as fast as you would if you ran on flat, solid ground. After my 7th straight run on trails, my coach mentioned this to me. He said “…it’s also good to keep a few runs a week pretty flat”. And he is totally right. Going forward, I will make sure I do some runs on flatter, steadier terrain.
Running with Others SIGNIFICANTLY Decreased My RPE
I typically do most of my running alone. It’s just easier to schedule for me. This week, my Coach Will mentioned that he would be near Shenandoah National Park on Sunday, so we planned to do our long run together. He knew the area super well, so it was nice to not worry about navigation and just go.
We did a 17 mile run with about 4,200 feet of vert. That’s a much bigger run then I’ve typically be doing. But honestly, after the run, I felt great. I wasn’t super wrecked and we hit the last 2,500 foot descent (Skyland fire road) pretty hard (I got the 3rd best time on the 3 mile Strava segment while also badly rolling my ankle at the start of the descent (which took me 2 days to recover from)).
Maybe the pain of the ankle roll redirected the fatigue from the run to making sure my ankle was ok. But still, just being able to run with someone else, have good conversations, and take your mind off the run for a bit made me feel much better.
If you can, get some runs in with others.
Don’t Jump Over Chain-Link Road Blocks
I like to be athletic in my running. I’ve always been an athlete and liked a variety of sports, including tennis, touch football, spikeball, etc. But sometimes, slow, flat running feels unathletic and mechanical. So trail running appeals more to me because you get to be athletic, jumping over rocks, hopping around the trail, and bombing descents.
But don’t jump over chain-link road blocks. I tried to do this early into my long run and ended up with a nasty bruise. Unnecessary risk.
Generalist vs. Pickiness in Shoes
I want to be a generalist in everything I do. When it comes to shoes, that means I want to be able to put on a random shoe (given that it fits fine) and be able to run effectively in it. I don’t want to be tied to a certain shoe type or brand, where I make excuses in my running if I don’t have that shoe type for a run.
Given that, I also believe certain shoes are better for an individual than other shoes. Finding the best shoe for you is important.
I bought a pair of Nike Zegama’s a month ago. My feet are wide, and I have never been able to fit into Nike’s in my life. But I tried on the Zegama’s and magically, they fit. I immediately loved the shoes and the foam that Nike uses. I felt that I could run faster than I had been running in my Hoka Speedgoat 5’s. I also noticed I was rolling my ankles while trail running more than normal. This happened a few times in the Middlesex Fells and numerous times on the Massanutten Trails out in VA.
This week, I had a nasty ankle roll on the Skyland Fire Road descent while wearing the Zegamas. Luckily, there was not too much damage in the ankle, but I did have a minor limp for a day and had to take an extra rest day to manage my ankle. Moving forward, I will shift back to wearing my Hoka’s on technical trail. While I want to be able to run in any shoe, I also need to choose a shoe that is right for me. Time to bench the Zegamas.
Views from the Trail
