Last 2024 Call Week: Running, Reading, Etc

Busy!

It has been a busy week, so I made the executive decision not to worry about writing here over the past few days. Just too many other things to focus on (mostly patient stuff, since it’s a call week – my final call week of 2024!).

Anyway, the week has been okay! It has been busy, but I give myself an A (maybe not A+, but a solid A) for attitude. There are still ~23 hours left (out of 168) so I guess I shouldn’t be doling out generous self-evaluations yet, but I feel like it’s going to be okay. So far, I had 3 nights of interrupted sleep and 3 nights of non-interrupted sleep, mostly alternating. I’ll take it!! I can function with that pattern. It has been busy but doable (and honestly the patients/parents have been especially nice to work with this week, just a lot of really sweet families).

Marathon Training Continues – but with an unplanned cutback

So as noted above it has been busy. I ended up throwing in an extra rest day and I 100% needed it. I had a fantastic run yesterday which makes me feel even better about that choice.

I am definitely not going to have the block of 70 mile weeks I had before my last race (I think those did really help me). But it’s fine, this is the training I was able to do this round and it’s still decent, I know that! I think the next two weeks will be ~60ish, and then a modest taper, mostly the last week (my coach isn’t big into long / dramatic tapers and I’m fine with that!).

4 weeks out from JAX MARATHON

M: Run with friends to kick off the week, with J & T. 8 mi @ 9:26/mi. I had done 14 on Sunday so I’m glad my legs felt decent on this run.

T: Super gentle square run, 8 mi @ 10:10/mi. (Needed a very chill recovery day!)

W: Failed speed workout! Well, I did get in some speed. This was supposed to be 6 x 1.5 mi @ MP – 20 seconds. Weather was gross-ish (76F, 81% humidity). I had been up overnight with call stuff and did not feel good from the start.

I did an abbreviated warmup (short on time) and then banged out the first interval in ~7:43/mi ave. It felt super hard. I took a minute to drink water and regroup, and did the second at 7:40/mi. It also felt super pretty terrible. The THIRD interval I still felt like I was trying my absolute hardest, like close to dry heaving (sorry) and my pace was like 8:10/mi and I recognized the workout was just . . . not worth it. I ended it 90% of the way through the third interval, completing just under half the workout.

LESSONS: I went out too fast and was too aggressive with the pace from the start, and feeling so bad at the beginning might have been a good sign to delay the whole thing a day. (Plus maybe I would have gotten better weather). Ahh well! I felt annoyed for a bit but quickly moved on.

R: Rest! I really needed the sleep!!

F: Very first run of the season with a less than 70F temp!!! It was 68F and YES, this was absolutely worthy of celebration. 8 mi @ 9:22/mi.

S: We went straight from “first run under 70” to a legit LOW-MID 60s run!!! 64F and “feels like” 62, no huge headwind – absolutely amazing timing for my 20 miler. Total was 20 @ 8:34/mi ave, with 6 easy, 8 MP, 6 easy. This felt soooo good. I wasn’t suffering on the MP miles, and I felt great after as well, which never ever happens during the summer. To me the most promising thing about these splits is the last 6 miles, which truly felt easy. Honestly this was the first run of the cycle that makes me think maybe JAX will be somewhat okay.

Some shoe discussion! I placed not one but TWO shoe orders this weekend, because my trainers have 500 miles on them (499) and I want to race in new ASICS Metaspeeds (Edge). I found a pair of Novablast 4s for $110 on Amazon and snagged them (this is because the 5s just came out). Based on the reviews of the 5s, the 4s are probably just as good if not better.

My trainers that lasted 500 miles were the Superblast 2. They actually still feel mostly okay which is amazing (I usually start to feel achy and like the shoe just lacks something at around 300ish in the Novablasts). This way I can rotate in the Superblasts with the new Novablasts for a nice trainer lineup. (I tend to run 4x/week in regular nonplated trainers and 2x/week in supershoes, often ones past their racing prime – this combo seems to really work for me!).

AAAAND now my allowance fund is close to 0 so I will have to wait to get the new sticker printer I want, haha (my Kodak Step stopped working with my phone).

Other stuff:

STILL reading Tell My Everything. You guys it’s possible I don’t love this book. Otherwise I’d be done by now. I’m close, though.

I finished Meditation for Mortals and really enjoyed it!

I finished WATCHING The Perfect Couple. Total treat.

Screen time mysteries:

What am I EVEN DOING on there for 3 hrs/day when I feel like I’m not really scrolling lately?

(YouTube = I watched some fun 2025 Planner videos and really enjoyed it! A few:

• Amanda’s Favorites: Her fave 2025 planners
• Rachelle in Theory: Her 2025 planner lineup
• Lindsey Scribbles: Her 2025 planner “situationship”