MCM Week 4: Slower Than The DMV

Nothing seemed to be going right at the end of the first month of training, and most of it was out of my control. We had a great weekend filled with outdoor performances and time at the beach, but the weekdays were filled with one frustration after another that affected my training. Freak weather events and appointments that were a waste of time disrupted my routine.

Here's the plan breakout for Week 4:

·       Sunday – 10 miles Long

·       Monday – 4 miles Easy

·       Tuesday – 8 miles Speed: 1.5 mile WU, 8 x 600m @ 10k pace w/ 400m jog, 1.5 mile CD

·       Wednesday – Cross-train

·       Thursday – 6 miles Easy

·       Friday – 8 miles Tempo: 1.5 mile WU, 4 x 1 mile @ MP w/ 400m jog, 1.5 mile CD

·       Saturday – 6 miles Easy

What actually happened:

·       Sunday – 10 miles Long

·       Monday – 6 miles Tempo

·       Tuesday – 4.25 miles Easy

·       Wednesday – Heavy Lifting

·       Thursday – 2 miles Easy

·       Friday – 8 miles Tempo: 1.75 mile WU, 4 x 1 mile @ 10k pace w/ 400m jog, 1.5 mile CD

·       Saturday – 6 miles Easy

Sunday was overcast and muggy. My clothes were soaked with sweat early on in my 10-miler. I’m usually bad at hydrating properly, but I managed to drink all 3 water bottles that I carried with me in my hydration vest. I froze the bottles overnight so that they would melt at the same rate that I would need a sip of water while running. I stuck with a mostly flat route to Monmouth Beach and back since I didn’t have anything interesting to look at with the fog. I felt good after the run and only slightly stiff whenever I sat for awhile throughout the day. I got to enjoy watching a local cover band in an Adirondack chair in the sand in the evening as a reward.

I moved my Tuesday client to Monday because I needed to WFH to go to the DMV. We agreed to meet at the soccer field at 8am, which would give me enough time to fit in 8 miles of speedwork (the workout Rx meant for Tuesday) before we would have to be back in the office. He sent me a message saying he’s changing and will meet me out there, so I jogged to the usual spot. I wasn’t feeling up for a 10k pace, but I ran laps around the field so my client wouldn’t have trouble finding me.

After 5 miles of circles, I figured he got caught up with work so I was about to head back. I noticed a small SUV that was idling by the dog park, but nobody got out of the car. They didn’t seem to have a dog, and it didn’t look like they were waiting for the rest of their crew if they were grounds crew. As I ran past, I made a mental note of what the men inside looked like and the license plate and ran another lap around. The car started to move, but they timed it to be alongside me so I ran up the pedestrian bridge to cross the highway so that if they were going to pursue me, it would have to be on foot. I saw them drive to the end of the park before I turned back, and I only came out from behind the bushes when I saw a high school cross country guy return to his car. I warned him of the sketchy car. I said that I was going to run back to my office the mile through the woods and that if the men start following me through the woods, there’s a problem because they clearly weren’t there to exercise. Even though I’m strong, I didn’t want to chance it.

I felt extra tired when I returned from that run. I was also extremely annoyed. Had I known it would be a no-show, I would have run at home at sunrise when it was cooler out and been able to use a real track, and I wouldn’t have the surge of adrenaline from trying to avoid a potentially dangerous situation for me. My fight-or-flight response appropriately kicked in to be on high alert, but it exhausted me for the rest of the day and wreaked havoc on my nervous system, uncomfortably bloating me. I asked my end-of-day client to meet earlier because I had a bad feeling about the evening commute and felt a big migraine come on. Although I hydroplaned a bit on the highway on the way home, I got back before the torrential downpours that flooded some of the roads.

Tuesday also didn’t go as planned. I didn’t sleep well because the rain was giving me PTSD from my experience with hurricanes, so I didn’t run in the morning before my DMV appointment. I had this appointment for months and because the official government mail I received didn’t have a date on it (even though the passport card inside did), they couldn’t accept what I had to get my RealID. I can understand why this office is the worst place ever, and I can also understand that they can’t put two and two together. When I got home, I ate an early lunch while working so I could run on my lunch break. The heat and recent heavy meal made my stomach hurt and I had to cut the mileage short. I was frustrated by this inconvenience.

By the time Wednesday came along, I knew that if I didn’t lift weights now that it wasn’t going to happen at all this week, so instead of trying to catch up on mileage volume I angrily deadlifted and bench pressed. Looking ahead, I had no idea how I was going to make up the runs with the upcoming busy days ahead.

I purposely slept in on Thursday because the Verizon 5k was going to be that evening and I knew I would be home way past my bedtime. The clouds were covering the sunrise, so I wasn’t missing anything there, and I didn’t want to use up my energy before the race. The forecast all week showed that it would be a heat wave (>100 degrees), so when I got the email that the USATF timed 5k race turned into a 2 mile fitness walk/run (after I just went for a long walk), I was both relieved and annoyed of the change. I was mad I didn’t at least do a short run in the morning and annoyed that even though it wasn’t an official race, I still had to go drive to the event as a team captain. I considered walking but decided to jog the 2 miles to complete the course quicker and get home earlier since I helped set up our tables hours before. I hoped that I could make up the mileage or effort over the weekend (even though we planned on being away again).

Part of Team AT&T at the Verizon Corporate Classic 5k 2025. I’m proudly sporting my Sprints doughnut hat and Blenders shades.

I allowed myself to sleep in again on Friday morning because of the late night and rough sleep from the heat. Most speed days on this training plan take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so I was surprised that I had a tough workout ahead of me for a Friday. I drove to Rumson and ran my warmup 1.75 miles nice and easy around the neighborhood so I could have a little bit of shade and a few less laps around the track. The cloudy 77-degree day felt amazing compared to less than 12 hours ago when it was still in the 90s past sunset. There was also a bit of a breeze, so depending on where I was on the track, I had great weather conditions for a speed day. My left foot, right knee, and back were a bit cranky and out of alignment, so that wasn’t ideal but it didn’t deter me from working hard.

The training plan called for 4 x 1 mile at marathon pace with a 400-meter jog between sets. My goal marathon pace this time around is 8:35/mile, but when I’m on a track I lose concept of slowing down. My mile splits during the work portion averaged between 7:15-8:20/mile pace and I sometimes walked part of my jog lap. Between the warmup, workout sets, and cooldown my overall pace (including all walking) I can still manage my OG marathon pace of about 9:00/mile. As an endurance athlete with an affinity toward slow-twitch metabolic processes, I prefer pacing myself with even splits over submaximal efforts followed by walking. I was appropriately tired after my efforts, and I took a nice nap during lunch to recharge. Americans need to normalize napping; I was able to get so much work done after and enjoy a clam bake party hours later without fatigue!

I woke up later than normal again on Saturday because we got to the lake house late after a party. We were the youngest guests there and were surprised that those who were 20+ years older than us stayed out later. I was a bit groggy from the week and wanted to waterski before the lake filled up with boats, so my run would have to wait. I skied for about 30 minutes until my hands started tingling weird then gave my dad the sign to come get me out of the water after I let go of the tow rope. I haven’t felt that kind of nerve pain in awhile and knew that I would need to do nerve glides on my shoulders again. No matter what I train for, I make sure I continue to do some of the exercises from PT to prevent old injuries from reappearing.

We drove back to the shore (in prime shore traffic) so Mark could take his motorcycle out for a spin and I could run. I was fueled by a bagel with sundried tomato cream cheese and made a mental note to get a tub of this cream cheese for the marathon because it was decadent. I didn’t bother carrying a water bottle since it was cool and overcast and I was only going 6 miles. I still had to put sunscreen on, and I hated it when I could taste it on my lips while sweating. It drizzled a little bit on the way back and even with the headwind, I was able to maintain a relaxed pace on the hills. I felt good for an afternoon slump run.

I was so glad this week was over; I don’t like sketchy people on trails or no-show clients, I hate when adult obligations like going to the DMV ruin your day, and I dislike extreme heat and running in it in the evening.  I was about 5 miles short of the overall planned mileage volume, but I got out there during the worst points in the day. No excuses. With the first month of training down, the speed and volume only increase from here.