Brandon Fuller

Weekly Training Summary (100.85 miles / 14:14:22)

Go big or go home…

The week started with the LT test on Monday. I was oddly exhausted after it. Maybe it was mental but it showed on Tuesday when my run wasn’t so good. I slogged through it and wondered what was wrong with me. It was one of of those dark running days. Instead of taking a rest day, which might have helped, I re-grouped. Sometimes the rest day is helpful but in this situation, I felt a calling to push myself harder. So at the end of Tuesday’s run, I made the call. Its going to be a 100 mile week. From there on out, the week was about execution. Run, rest, schedule next run. Figure out how I could fit the rest of the mileage needed into the days available. I had started in a hole given Monday was lower on the scales. You have to average 14.5 over 7 days to hit 100. Had some make-up to do. Kept at it with a few 2-fers. Saw the weather on Sunday wasn’t going to be as nice so I up’d Saturday in order to fit more in. Here is the breakdown.

Mon - 8M on treadmill during Lactate Profile
Tues - Easy 14M
Wed - Slow 9M / Steady 6M
Thurs - Green Mountain / Slow 8M
Fri - Slow 11M / Steady 9M
Sat - Easy 19M
Sun - Slow 9M

I went dark on the blog this week for the most part during this progression. Mostly because these were boring runs. Just grinding them out. Also because I felt like I was getting less comments lately. So I either bored you or you don’t care about me. Fuck you too very much, anyway. That felt better. On the 2-fer days, I was able to put down a steady effort in the PM even though I felt like I was falling apart in the AM. I knew at some point over the week the mileage would add up and break me down. This is the point I was looking for. It seemed to happen at mile 13 during Saturday’s run. I just got tired and my HR fell and my legs had no spring in them. I still had to grind back home 6 more miles but I did it on a run and not a walk. Notably, the night before this I put down the fastest mile of the week at the end of my run. I was on fire then, but the flame extinguished the next day. On the final run of the week, my HR was in the slow zone, my cadence was normal, and I was 30 seconds off normal pace. Mission accomplished. Here was the build-up so far this cycle:

With the A Goal of the year being Leadville, this is a sign of what is to come for a training week. But pre-Boston, this was just the last of a full aerobic build week. I don’t plan on putting down this many miles again until after Boston. I did this experiment pre-Denver last year and it paid off. Break it down until you can’t run hard anymore. A few days to recover and I should be seeing new power in my stride.

With Neal, we revised the HR ranges as mentioned. This changed my load ranges and factors. So I am posting on that new scale this week. I went back and recalculated last week based on it too. So here is the result from this big week:

Last: CTL = 98 / ATL = 136 / TSB = -38 (Old Scale)
Last: CTL = 91 / ATL = 132 / TSB = -41 (New Scale)
This: CTL = 102 / ATL = 144 / TSB = -42 (New Scale)

I had sort of expected a big drop in TSB but it didn’t happen. I guess it makes sense when you think about it. The good news is that I continue to build acute load over cumulative at a steady pace. Neal pointed out that my TSB isn’t trending well. They expect to see you “come up for air” once in a while. Meaning get back to 0 and then head back down. I haven’t bought into that but I am sure it works. I am going to hang in this range for a couple more weeks and then starting working towards the surface. Going into Boston with a positive TSB score. Doing it with reduced volume, but not intensity.

I also wanted to see how my workload broke down into zones for the week. So here is the total:

Zone 1 - 13.2%
Zone 2 - 74.9%
Zone 3 - 5.3%
Zone 4 - 2.3%
Zone 5 - 4.4%

That zone 4-5 work is totally suspect. I had a HR monitor failure this week. It had me running at 235 bpm at one point. I changed out batteries and it is working much better. But I routinely spike up to my max HR during the first mile of my runs even though I am totally running in slow/easy pace zones. Once I get a mile down, HR suddenly crashes back to normal. I think its something in the averaging algorithm combined with not being sweaty enough to make the sensors do their job. Anyway, the good news is that zone 2 took the prize but a lot and we saw some zone 1 and a bit of zone 3. I like it.

Colorado showed signs of spring this week. I probably ran 1/2 of these miles shirtless soaking up the sun. It wasn’t warm and I often would pass people with The North Face parkas on and more. But I felt connected with the environment and the sun’s rays did their job in firing me up. We are now entering that windy season. I am not hating it yet but it doesn’t add anything good to your run — other than some resistance. The wind seems to swirl where I live and its a headwind no matter what direction you go. The challenge right now is balancing out my body temperature so I have just the right amount of minimal gear on. I am officially taking water on any runs now that are over 2 hours and its a non-frigid day. Getting used to holding the bottle again and hydrating up.

Friends are all starting to come around with their season plans. The big Pikes Peak entry is this week so we will see how that falls out. Pikes is the same weekend as Leadville this year (as it is most years) so that severely has cut into my eligible pacer group. Most of the guys in my running buddy rotation are doing one or the other. So I need to figure out a strategy for the big race. I am willing to do it alone but I know that help might make the difference between big buckle and small buckle. So let me know if you are interested in getting involved. I am taking names!

The other pain point this week is that many I follow are racing! I have two distinct responses and it depends on the time of day. #1 - Thank god, I don’t have to race today. #2 - Let’s get it on! I purposely set out in this training cycle to have one and only one race - Boston. Now, most coaches and plans will have you doing a few tune-up races beforehand. I opted not too this time. I didn’t want to put myself through the taper/race/recovery pattern mid-cycle. I feel like the super-consistent aerobic base is going to pay off more than burning up some 5k or 10k which usually leaves my hips feeling tweaked for a week after. So I am holding my ground. I will be mixing in more speedwork stuff over the final weeks but not a lot. I hope it pays off because I wish I was out there racing with everybody. Well, no I don’t.

Weighed myself post-run today. 139.9. Lightest I have been in post high school years. Best shape of my life? Probably. Ran 100 with only normal fatigue. Nothing hurt. I just got tired and a little bored. I don’t feel like I have that speed in my step yet but it might be there or it will come soon.

5 weeks until Boston. Feels like forever. Stay tuned.