David Taylor Gonzales

9/18

Joy woke up in the middle of the night three times. Lane and I didn’t get any sleep between 1 and 3:30 AM. I’m glad today is a rest day. I do not plan on doing anything except going to work, coming home, playing with the kids, and going to sleep. This is my last recovery week before my taper for race day so I’m trying to take it seriously. If overnight sleep isn’t going well because of the kids, then I’m going to be very mindful of that throughout this week and weekend.

9/19

We had the same sleep problems as the night before but not quite as bad. Lane took the shifts for me since I had to be up early to get one of the cars registered at the DMV. I pressed snooze on my alarm at 6 AM, decided I’m going to run tonight after dinner. I feel like I can afford to do so since I only have to run 11 miles tomorrow morning. It should be manageable.

I ran 4 miles, I was going to make this a tempo run around 7:45/mi pace but my good buddy Tim decided to join me. He’s a former high school soccer player with some running experience but now he mostly mountain bikes and fly fishes. His girlfriend runs and he has started to join her on occasion. I could tell pretty quickly that whatever natural talent he had as a runner hasn’t left him since high school. I thought we’d keep it very slow since he hadn’t run four miles in years but we ended up running a touch faster than my marathon pace. Total stats: 4 miles, 8:56/mi average pace. I forget how much I enjoy running with friends.

We’re having some friends over for desert and drinks when the kids go down. I’ll refrain from the alcohol so I sleep well and start my run tomorrow morning around 5:45/6.

9/20

Okay so 5:45 AM didn’t happen. I had a splash of wine and didn’t get to bed until 11 PM. Even though I only drank less than a glass, I always notice my sleep quality diminishes when I consume alcohol the night before. I told Lane the next day, “This might be an overreaction, but I really feel like unless we’re on a date or I have the next day off from training, I don’t think I’m going to drink anymore.” She chuckled and smiled at me, not because she didn’t believe me, but because she knows I’m halfway serious.

I ran in the afternoon when Joy took her nap. I structured a workout into the 11 miles today: 5.5 miles a touch slower than marathon pace (9:30/mi) and last 5.5 at 8:00/mi pace. I wore my race day “kit” (a term I was unaware of until recently). It’s not flashy, just a gray singlet, black shorts with sewn in lining, my Brooks Ghost Max’s and my Darn Tough socks.

It was a humbling run. Because of the long distances I’ve done recently, I overestimated my ability to execute without prep. I ate a solid breakfast but my lunch fueling was severely lacking. It was 75 degrees at the start which didn’t sound too hot, but comparing that to the 55 and 60 degree long runs I have been doing up until today, it was hot enough to make a big difference. I wasn’t adequately fueled or hydrated. The first half of the run came and went without much to report other than a slightly elevated heart rate due to the hotter temp. Once I started the faster second half of the run, I knew within the first 2 miles I was in some trouble. I was able to keep 8:00/mi pace for the first two miles of the run but the wheels quickly fell apart from there. I felt severely dehydrated on mile 8 so I decided to call it a bit early. Total stats: 10.83 miles, 8:57/mi average pace, 146 BPM heart rate (y’all know from my other blogs how high this is for me). I was a bit frustrated with my performance but it’s not about being perfect in training, it’s about being good. I’ve been very good, even if today didn’t feel very good.

9/21

Today I did my strength training workout. I focused on my posterior chain and quads as usual but also did some work on my side delts, shoulders, biceps and and chest. Full workout and number of sets: barbell back squat x 4, weighted calf-raise x 4, trap-bar RDL x 4, barbell shoulder press x 3, pull-up x 3, dumbbell row x 3, shrug x 3, barbell skullcrusher x 4, dumbbell lateral raise x 4, dumbbell flat bench curl x 2, hammer curl x 2.

I’m writing this Wednesday before this blog is published. One thing I noticed the day after this workout is that my upper back, just to the right of my spine at the lowest point of my trapezius muscle, is very sore. It actually hurt to laugh on Monday morning. It has improved throughout the week through some stretching and foam rolling, but the pain has persisted so I am going to the chiropractor tomorrow (Thursday after this blog goes live) to get an adjustment.

9/22

Today was a tempo run. It was difficult to show up for this one but I’m learning more about how long it takes for my body to warm up. When I started around 8:00/mi pace, it felt impossible to hold. Once I got to the 1.5 mile mark, I was able to settle in and accelerate down to 7:25/mi for most of the run. This was another success, one where I could see year over year improvement. I never look forward to these runs when I step outside in the mornings but I feel great once I get my legs underneath me. Total stats: 5.64 miles, 7:39/mi average pace.

9/23

Joy woke up in the middle of the night again. It was a rough night of sleep for all of us and when we woke up, it was raining, dark and gray outside. It felt like 5:30 AM even as I was packing my lunch for the day. I’ve decided today is gonna be rest and recovery. It’s been pouring rain all morning. My body probably needs the rest anyway, I’ve had some back pain since my weightlifting session. I think I might have tweaked it a bit during my last deadlift set. I need to get back to filming those workouts so I can be confident that I’m keeping good form. Tomorrow I’m going to keep my Threshold running plan and move my sprint workout to Thursday. When I got home from work, we had a small break in the rain so we went on a 1 mile family walk. My legs should feel really fresh assuming I get to bed by 10 PM. It’s 9:34 as I type this.

9/24

Happy Threshold Day! I woke up at 6 like usual. I found it easier to get up than most days, I finally got to bed at a decent time and the kids slept through the night. I noticed on my morning report that my heart rate variability dropped to 104 ms which is a bit alarming. I’m worried I might be getting sick. Despite the data, I actually felt mostly fine, a slight sore throat but nothing a little hydration couldn’t fix. I foam rolled my back in the basement before heading out because it’s still sore from weight training. I’m considering a chiropractor appointment later this week.

Here’s the workout structure: 1.25 mile warm up, 2 x 10:00 intervals @ 6:50/mi pace, 1 mile cool down. I kept my heart rate in Zone 2 for my warm up and it started pouring down rain on me about 10 minutes into the run. I realized I was in some trouble since the pace was about to speed up significantly. I decided against running all out to hit the pace goal and to keep things in control but speedy. The goal shifted from speed and performance to control and injury prevention. It was still really dark out with some muddy spots so the last thing I needed was to slip and sprain an ankle.

Final stats: 5.08 miles, average pace 8:05/mi. Interval 1: 7:13/mi pace. Interval 2: 7:02/mi pace. I’m still proud of my performance considering the less than ideal weather conditions. Garmin counted this as a tempo workout even though I built it to be a threshold run. I didn’t quite hit the pace targets I was shooting for so that probably explains it. Not a big deal.

The last 7 days of training have been good but not perfect. I have some work to do on my humility, that much is clear after last week’s shorter long run. I can’t be taking this training block for granted, that’s when the training load will sneak up and bite me. Right now, I’m healthy and I should do whatever I can to stay that way. As Peter Attia has said before, the most important thing we can do as we age is stay in the game. Failing a workout, missing a training day due to weather, sleeping in occasionally because of poor sleep, none of those things take us out. Injuries take us out of the game. And that’s what I’m working hard to avoid as race week approaches.

Keep Going!