Indy Monumental Marathon Training – Week 2 Recap

Week 2 is done. Twenty-five and a half miles, four runs, one very unplanned detour, and a Sunday that reminded me why fall cannot get here fast enough. The calf and Achilles pain is still hanging around, the heat is still making everything harder than it needs to be, and I am still stopping to bring my heart rate down more than I would like. But the miles are getting done and that is what matters right now.

One thing I have noticed over the last few weeks: everything hurts less when it is not hot out. The calf and Achilles cramping is noticeably worse in the heat. It makes sense when you think about it, heat increases your heart rate, forces your body to work harder to cool itself, and generally puts more stress on everything. But it is good to know that the problem is not just going to follow me into fall. At least I hope not.

Indy Monumental Marathon Training Week 2: The Runs

Day	Type	Notes
Wednesday, July 22	Hill Sprints — 6.4 Miles	Should have been 4–4.5 miles. Ended up hunting for a bathroom for half the run 🚻
Thursday, July 23	5 Miles Easy	Ran with Scout — a little fast for easy pace but worth it 🐾
Saturday, July 25	4 Miles Easy	Short and relatively cool — got it done before a busy day ✅
Sunday, July 26	10 Miles with HM Pace Pickups	Started too late, 8 AM, humid and miserable — but hit the paces 💪

Wednesday: Hill Sprints (And an Unplanned Tour of Every Park in the Area)

I was actually looking forward to Wednesday. Hill sprints are genuinely one of those workouts that feel terrible while you are doing them and excellent once they are done — the kind of effort that makes you feel like you actually trained for something. The plan was simple: find a hill, sprint to the top, walk down the other side, repeat four times.

What I did not account for was starting on a trail with absolutely no bathroom access. About two miles in, I realized I had a problem. What should have been a focused 4 to 4.5 mile workout turned into a 6.4 mile detour through nearby parks looking for a restroom. By the time I finally got to the hill to actually do the sprints, my legs were already tired and my patience was gone.

The sprints still happened. Four rounds, full effort to the top, walk back down. But they were not the crisp, fresh-legs workout I had pictured. Lesson learned: know your route and know where the bathrooms are before you start. This is not the first time this has gotten me and it will not be the last, but it is a reminder that trail planning matters.

Thursday: 5 Miles Easy with Scout

Thursday was the highlight of the week without question. Scout came along for the full five miles and having her on the trail with me changes everything about how a run feels. The miles go faster, the effort feels easier, and it is just more enjoyable out there when she is along.

The honest caveat is that running with Scout means running at her pace, which is a little quicker than what my easy effort should have been. Easy runs are supposed to be genuinely easy — conversational pace, heart rate in check — and she has a way of pulling that pace up whether I mean for it to happen or not. I noticed it but did not fight it too hard. The run felt good and she had a great time.

Out on the trail. Week 2 miles. 🌿

Saturday: 4 Miles Easy

Saturday was straightforward. Four miles before a busy day, temperatures that were actually manageable for a change, and nothing eventful to report. Sometimes a run is just a run and that is perfectly fine. It was short, it got done, and I moved on with the rest of the day. After Wednesday and knowing what Sunday had in store, I was genuinely glad the Saturday run was an easy one.

Sunday: 10 Miles with Half Marathon Pace Pickups

Sunday was the hardest run of the week and honestly one of the harder ones of this training block so far. The structure was 4 miles easy, 2 miles at half marathon pace, 1 mile easy, 1 mile at half marathon pace, followed by 2 miles easy to close it out. Ten miles total with pace work buried in the middle.

We did not get out early enough. Starting at 8 AM in late July in the Midwest means you are already behind — the humidity had settled in and it only got worse as the miles went on. By the time the pace miles arrived, the conditions were genuinely rough.

Pace pickups within a long run exist for a reason. They teach your body to run fast while already fatigued, which is exactly what you need to be able to do in the later miles of a race. They build the kind of physical stamina that does not come from easy miles alone. That does not make them any less uncomfortable when you are eight miles in and overheated and your legs are asking what exactly you think you are doing.

I did hit my paces. But I am not going to pretend it was clean — I stopped multiple times throughout this run to bring my heart rate down, same as I have been doing for the last few weeks. That is just the reality of summer training. When it is this hot and humid, stopping to recover is not weakness, it is how you avoid overheating. I would rather stop for thirty seconds than end up in trouble three miles from home. Fall cannot get here fast enough.

Honest Check-In

Week 2 was messier than Week 1 in some ways and better in others. The calf and Achilles pain is still present and I know I need to be more consistent with strength training to address it properly. The heat is still making everything harder than it should be. And stopping during runs is something I used to think meant I was failing, but I don’t believe that anymore. In conditions like these, managing your effort is smart training. The miles are still getting done and the fitness is still building even if it does not always feel that way.

The fair after Sunday’s run helped. Donuts are a reasonable recovery strategy.

Ten miles done. Donuts earned. 🍩

You can follow along with the full journey on my Training & Progress page.