Saucony Flo 50 Summer Blog: Soren Knudsen's Summer Top Off

AM- 8 miles at 6:15 pace this morning, route had a huge hill our team calls the 'Clay Giant'. It's straight up for about 400 meters and a very technical hill as well. It always spices things up and throws a wrench into any plans for a rhythmic run. 6x150 accelerations, 400m barefoot, core afterward. 8 miles.

PM-Tonight planned out an introduction to faster running. Workout was- 2x tempo mile, 6x400 at a tad down from race pace. 1 minute rest on the miles, 200m rest on the 400s. Hit 5:30/5:18/ 69 avg. Everytime I hit the 400m loop I get excited, so I pushed a bit more than I needed to. Hurdles afterward. All together a good day. 9 miles, 17 on the day.

Tuesday, July 26- 

AM- Raw endurance/recovery type day, did 65 minutes around 6:40 pace. 10 miles.

AM- At team practice we had a traditional summer workout. 6 mile progression run, going easy/brisk/up every 2 miles. Together with the guys the first 2. 7:00-7:00-5:52-5:28-5:18-5:11. Rock solid workout for me, closing up the last 3 miles in 15:57, and feeling good about it. This was the first workout I ever kept up with Minooka Alum Gabe Ceballos who was a part of St. Francis' 4th place finish at NAIA Cross Country Nationals this past fall. It was my sophomore year and I went completely balls to the wall to stay with him, I'll never forget it. I ran 38:20 and 10:40 for the last segment that day and laid on the ground, throwing up, and in tears. Today I ran 35:59 and finished in 10:29 laughing and talking to teammates. 7.5 miles

PM- Farm roads tonight. 6 miles around 6:30 pace. 13.5 on the day. 

AM- Back on the soft surfaces at the I&M Canal today. 10.5 miles in 65 minutes, starting at 6:30 and ending at 5:59. Averaged out to 6:12 pace. 10.5 miles

PM- 7 miles at 6:15 pace on the farm roads. 17.5 on the day.

AM- 6 miles around 6:50 pace with two of my fellow seniors. Recovery day. Pull-ups and core afterward. 6 miles.

Saturday, July 30- 14.5 miles at 6:25 pace. Great run for me. Slowly progressing the distance on my long runs has made getting to this point pretty smooth. 14.5 miles.

Sunday, July 31- Steady recovery here, 8.6 miles at 7:00 pace. Pull-ups + Core afterward. 8.5 miles

86 miles. This is the highest my mileage has ever been, and probably will be for another 50 or so weeks. Great week overall, one where I made myself a substantially better runner.

Monday, August 1- 

AM- Another South Campus and back today. This time around I felt a little sore. 7 miles in 6:30 pace, core and pull-ups afterward. 7 miles.

AM- Yet another moderate long run today. But this one with a bit of a twist. Got up at 4 AM with one of my friends from school to watch the sunrise, then he biked by my side while I did my 65 minutes. Fantastic morning overall, it feels good to have your run done by 7 AM. 10 miles.

AM- Back to the hill today for a workout with the team. I ended up doing 17 reps of this very steep 325m hill, with a jog back down as recovery. It was a pretty hard workout. By number 12 I was starting to struggle and needed to keep my mental game in check. Special shout out to my boys Jordan Freese, Mark Dames, Seth Joder, Sicong Pei, Matthew Mason, and Oleg Swindells on having killer workouts today. These guys and myself made a difference today. 8.5 miles

PM- After 10 hours in the car, arrived in Asheville, NC today around 1 AM. I'm dedicated to the schedule, got my 3 mile shakeout in near downtown Asheville around 1:15 AM. It ended up around 3 miles at 6:20 pace. 11.5 on the day!

Thursday, August 4- 

AM- Went over to Bent Creek today in Asheville for my moderate long run. The place was beautiful beyond words. I ended up going on some ridiculous trail that went straight up for 20 minutes. After submitting the mountain, I turned around and then got lost. It was a pretty cool place to get lost in, I have to say. After asking a park ranger where exactly I was, I got the classic reply "listen, hun, it's just a 5 mile jog down the road". Overall did 12.5 miles at 6:35 pace, with some SERIOUS hills. 

AM- Arrived in Raleigh last night, this morning went to Umstead State Park, which I heard was renowned for its running trails. I started on a very technical trail but got off onto some dirt/limestone roads that were extremely hilly. I only planned on doing 50 minutes but I was so caught up in the surroundings, that when I looked at the watch, I was at 62 minutes. Ended up doing 77 minutes. 12 miles in 6:30 pace.

PM- Got in a short run before watching Sir Walter Miler. 3 miles at 6:40 pace. Got to witness some pretty incredible things at Sir Walter, including a World Paralympic Record in the mile by Mikey Brannigan. Dopeness. 3 miles, 15 on the day.

In Knoxville today. Did 8.5 miles, with a little under 5 at about 5:25 pace in the middle. 8.5 miles.

Back home. I didn't know exactly what to do today. I have the constant war in my head between 'Be smart' and 'You've been training all summer, dude. Just shut up and run" and today I sided with the latter. At around 10 PM I got out down the farm roads, onto the canal trail, and back through the busy part of town to my house. I hit my measured 10 mile loop in 56:05, which is 5:36 pace. On the canal trail there are mile markers, and when I was on there I hit 5:22,5:27,5:25,5:31, and 5:36. I was pretty gassed at 8 miles but reminisced to all the times where I wished I would've put in that extra amount of work. That did the job. The last mile included a pretty big hill stretching 650m long, so that was a struggle. For being in the car 11 hours directly before this, it was a monster run.1.5 miles at old man pace afterward. I hope nobody saw me, cause that would be pretty embarrassing. It was probably 9:00 pace....or slower. Definitely slower.

75 miles. Another great week for me, consistent, strong runs and a whole lot of hard efforts. Had quite a few harder days in a row there at the end, so will cut back a bit the next few days. Planning on staying around this mileage for a few more weeks.