David Taylor Gonzales

7/17

Barefoot run yesterday (0.6 miles) and 3.7 miles in shoes. Tempo run 0.66 mile warm up, 2.33 miles at 7:50/mi, 0.74 mile cool down. I’ve been really enjoying the barefoot runs. This one was short and sweet but we were able to pick up the pace a bit because there were more running on grass opportunities. I waited to do the rest of my run until after my small group time. Sam was the only one who could make it this time around so we ended up just catching up about work and talking shop. The tempo workout wasn’t my favorite. It always takes a good effort for me to sustain a pace below 8 min/mi and I don’t think I was adequately recovered to give it my best effort.

Today is a light workout day. We focused on triceps, back and shoulders. Average heart rate of 88 BPM so it wasn’t the hardest workout of all time. I really just wanted to get the body sweating without going all out. I have a 5K race at the end of this week and I want to be able to keep a sub 7 minute pace for the race. Some part of me is afraid of training legs this week because I don’t want to wake up with any soreness on Saturday. I tend to struggle with Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) so if I lift on a Thursday, there’s a good chance those muscles are still cooked two or even three days later.

7/18

I texted Travis last night asking him if he wanted to run Friday together and do my sprint workout with me. He wanted to take the day off to taper for the 5K on Saturday. I decided to sleep in before work and then do a short shakeout workout this evening. Three miles at an easy pace just to keep the legs warm for tomorrow morning. I plan on adding some easy miles after the race when I get back home to round out my week. I need to hit 28 miles this week to stay on track with my marathon training. I’m going to start ramping up the mileage by increasing 2 miles each week between now and early October (every 4th week will be step down week to recover from the increased mileage).

7/19

I ran the 5K today. Adrenaline was pumping through my veins and I looked down at my watch after the first 400 meters and saw that my average pace was 4:20/mi. Way too fast. I throttled back to what I thought was closer to 6:50/mi. I looked down again. 5:30/mi pace. I couldn’t believe how amped up I was. It took a conscious effort to throttle back to a pace that felt right. I settled in and completed the first half of the race in 10:05 (6:31 average pace). I had a great shot at breaking 20 minutes but I needed to run a negative split and I didn’t have it in the tank. I don’t know precisely what my lactate threshold is, but I was in it during the race. I ended up getting 4th place and 1st in my age group! Final time: 20:29. Average pace: 6:37. First time I’ve ever gotten 1st in my age group. I paced myself really well considering I’ve never trained for a 5K race. I wasn’t sure if I was running too fast or too slow but I had just enough gas in the tank to sprint out the last 30 seconds or so. I am very proud of how I ran this one.

When I got home, I went out for my five easy miles to round out the week. I ran them very slow (10:09 pace). No need to try to be a hero after the morning I had. This summer has been so hot. It’s great training for this marathon but in the moment, it’s hard to be thankful for. I know I’ll reap the rewards later.

7/21

Today was a rest day. I did a light core workout in the basement before my shower. I have a sprint workout tomorrow: 15 minute warm up, 9 x 10 seconds @ 4:20/mi pace (3 minutes rest in between) and a 10 minute cool down. I think the legs will feel pretty well rested and ready for it, but I haven’t been getting a ton of anaerobic exercise recently so it will probably be an adjustment.

7/22

The run felt pretty good but I’ll admit, I’m tired and I don’t feel that confident at pacing correctly when I run that fast for those sprint intervals. My slowest interval was 5:14/mi pace and my fastest was 3:43/mi pace. One thing I was proud of was that I continued to light jog through each of the three minute rest intervals, something I’ve never done before. Ended up putting 5.6 miles on the legs. The week is off to a strong start! We have nineteen more miles to go. We’re taking the family up to St. Louis to visit Lane’s parents and siblings. Joy and John are really excited about it. I’ll get to do some hill sprints in their neighborhood which I’m going to pretend to be excited about. I know it’s good for me but they’re so tough. I have five miles today, eleven miles on Friday, three to four miles on Saturday to get to thirty for the week.

It was a great training week overall. I was glad to race again, my first since early April. There’s a good chance that’s my last race between now and the marathon so to end on a high note like that will be great to look back on as we inch closer to November 2nd. I’m thankful for my health and my family’s health. Life is not always easy but knowing that my kids are healthy, my wife is healthy, it really provides a clear lens through which I can process all of the normal nonsense and daily struggles of life. I spent the cool down of my run yesterday thanking God for our health and a peaceful home (though not a quiet home). God is good and kind and gracious always. Psalm 23:1-6.

Keep Going!