The journey continues from last week.
Once again, my training consisted of 5 runs, 6 cycling sessions, and 2 running-specific strength sessions. Running volume increased slightly from the previous week, and my training paces became a little faster as well. As both volume and intensity increase, so does the burden on my body—and the importance of recovery.
I also increased my daily cycling sessions by another five minutes. My left shin discomfort is now more than 90% resolved, which is encouraging. However, this week I began noticing some mild discomfort underneath my kneecap. Depending on how it feels over the next week, I may need to reduce my cycling volume temporarily to give the area a chance to recover before it begins affecting my running.
At this point in the training block, avoiding an injury is far more important than squeezing in a little extra aerobic volume.
A Disrupted Week
Compared with the previous few weeks, this one was unusually hectic.
On Monday, I went to Richmond Hospital for my brain MRI. I’ve ordered countless MRIs for patients over the years, but this was the first time I had ever experienced one myself.
Overall, it was actually quite fascinating. I had no issues with claustrophobia, and lying inside the scanner felt a little like being placed inside some futuristic sci-fi medical chamber, complete with an impressive collection of strange noises.
I’m still waiting for the results. Fingers crossed.
Wednesday Speed Session
Wednesday brought another disruption.
Air pollution became significant enough that I decided to move my speed workout indoors onto the treadmill. I generally avoid treadmill running whenever possible. The mechanics feel slightly different from running outdoors, and I don’t like being locked into a specific speed rather than naturally adjusting my pace according to effort. For whatever reason, I also consistently run slower on a treadmill than outdoors at the same perceived effort.
To complicate things further, I had a sleep-deprived EEG that morning.
That meant intentionally sleeping for only about two hours the night before. I obviously wasn’t going to attempt a hard workout in that state, so I postponed the session until the evening and tried to catch up on some sleep during the day.
The entire experience threw off my sleep schedule, and I felt somewhat jet-lagged for the remainder of the week. Needless to say, recovery probably wasn’t as good as I would have liked.
Wednesday’s workout consisted of 4 × 3 km intervals in Zone 3, with 90 seconds of walking recovery between sets.
Given everything else happening that day, I was simply happy to get the workout done.
Sunday: 32 km of Marathon-Specific Work
Sunday’s long run returned once again to my familiar training ground at Burnaby Confederation Park.
The session totalled 32 km.
I started at 6:00 a.m. for two reasons. First, I wanted to avoid the sun and heat for as long as possible. Second, we needed to leave home by 9:30 a.m. for my daughter’s dance performance, so there was a very firm deadline: I needed to finish running before 9:00.
And yes—I put a note on my nutrition box this time.
After last week’s nutrition-box heist, I wasn’t taking any chances.
The workout consisted of:
- 3 × 6 km at mid-Zone 3, approximately marathon effort
- 2 × 3 km at high-Zone 3, approximately half-marathon effort
- 2-minute jogging recoveries between intervals
- Additional easy running to bring the total distance to 32 km
Fortunately, nobody stole my nutrition this week.
Unfortunately, I encountered an entirely different problem.
The “Big Washroom” Problem
The night before the run, my lovely wife prepared some spicy dishes. They tasted fantastic.
My gastrointestinal system apparently had a different opinion.
Throughout much of the long run, I dealt with bloating, abdominal discomfort, and repeated urges to take what my children like to call a “big washroom” break.
Multiple times.
Lesson learned: No spicy food before a big long run.
I also suspect that because I had to start running so early, the carbohydrates I ate that morning hadn’t fully digested before I began the workout. Combined with the GI issues and several days of disrupted sleep, I certainly wasn’t setting myself up for peak performance.
Despite all of that, the run went reasonably well.
My marathon-effort pace has now improved to approximately 4:20–4:25/km.
During the final half-marathon-effort interval, however, I finally hit the wall. I was exhausted and wanted to stop, but managed to drag myself through the remainder of the session.
It wasn’t pretty, but I finished.
Considering the stomach problems, disrupted sleep, early start, and accumulated training fatigue, I’ll take it.
Where My Fitness Stands
Despite the disruptions this week, the overall trend continues to move in the right direction.
My Garmin-predicted VO₂ max continues to rise, HRV remains stable, and my resting heart rate is gradually trending downward. My weight is also continuing its steady decline.
Here are my current numbers:
| Metric | Current |
|---|---|
| Garmin Predicted VO₂ Max | Trending upward |
| Zone 2 Pace | ~4:45/km |
| Mid-Zone 3 / Marathon Effort | 4:20–4:25/km |
| High-Zone 3 / Half-Marathon Effort | 4:15–4:20/km |
| Zone 4 Pace | Not assessed this week |
| Weight | 64.3 kg |
I’m getting fitter.
But I’m also running out of time.
Five Weeks to Go
The next three weeks will represent the peak of this training block, and the Georgina Marathon is now only five weeks away.
For my Boston qualifying goal, I would like to see my mid-Zone 3 marathon-effort pace move toward approximately 4:08–4:10/km.
Right now, I’m sitting closer to 4:20–4:25/km.
That’s still a meaningful gap.
With only five weeks remaining, I genuinely don’t know whether I’ll be able to close it in time.
But that’s also what makes this journey interesting.
There are no guarantees. I can control my training, nutrition, recovery, and execution—but I can’t control exactly how quickly my body will adapt.
All I can do is give myself the best possible chance.
And you can bet that I’m going to try.
Five weeks until Georgina.
Leave a Reply