
Plan for the week: Third week in the three week build, catered to contain a VO2 Max test on Thursday morning.
Saturday 4/23: I decided to switch things up and went out to the trails near where I grew up. It was absolutely beautiful, and so much fun to run somewhere different. However, about seven and a half miles into the wilderness by myself I got a bit uncomfortable (having not seen anyone else in miles), so I turned around and looped some of the beginning again to hit my mileage. I need to bribe some friends into joining me on these adventures. And then there was the fantastic bonus of stopping by my parents house for lunch on the way home! Run – 17 miles (trail – 2,992 ft elevation gain)
Sunday 4/24: Back to my usual trails – added some varying paces in the middle six miles. Run – 12.2 miles (trail – 1,313 ft elevation gain with varying paces)
Monday 4/25: Run – 6 miles easy + core/strength
Tuesday 4/26: I had only a mini workout this week because of a VO2 max test on Thursday. Run – 6 x 400m @ 90sec’s, total: 8 miles

Wednesday 4/27: My dad’s birthday! Had a lovely evening with family and my mom’s strawberry rhubarb pie. Mmmmmmm. Cross-Train = Core/Strength, 20 min. swim, 20 min. pool run
Thursday 4/28: VO2 Max test in the morning. This was quite an experience. In short,before having breakfast or coffee, while breathing through a tube and with electrodes stuck all over my chest and a blood pressure cuff on my arm, I walked/ran on a treadmill at 10% incline at increasing speed until it got really hard. For the record, it got really hard when I was barely jogging. My legs were totally cooked. Other than the treadmill portion of the test, there was also lots of breathing into tubes. If you’re interested, according to this test my VO2 max is 63.1. I went to work in my running clothes and then ran with my friends a bit later in the day. Run – 5.5 miles
Friday 4/29: Much-needed introvert night. Run – 7 miles + core/strength
Total Mileage: 55.7 miles
Summary: A decent week. My legs are pretty tired though, and I don’t think my 32-mile weekend is going to be very easy. We shall see.