Sunday, March 17, 2024

Training log - Week ending 3/17/2024

This week was 72 miles of running and 9 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here.

This was my peak week of training for Boston, including my only 20+ mile run (I find I don't need very many of these, and one "secret" to training and racing well as you get older is not doing any more workouts than you need).

As seems consistent for me, the interval workout was rough, while the tempo and long runs went better.  Daylight savings means that the official team track workouts are starting in the dark again, and I struggle to move my legs until it gets light.  I think the splits on the 800s show when the sun rose.

I shortened the recovery intervals for Tuesday by tucking behind a faster group.  As background - the team trains in groups, meaning that you start each interval when others start (keeping life easy for the coach timing the workouts).  However, a lot of the recoveries end up being pretty long - about the same as the interval duration or longer.  Since I struggle to move my legs fast enough to get my heart rate up, I need to keep the recoveries short, or else my heart rate drops too low during recovery and I never get my heart rate up to where it should be during the workout.  

So...on Tuesday I deliberately tucked behind a group that was running faster than me.  By finishing about 20-30 seconds behind them and starting with them, I kept the recoveries shorter and finally managed to get my heart rate up during one of these workouts.

Friday's tempo felt smooth (I ran it solo and started after the sun rose).  I was really happy with Sunday's long run.   The things that really challenge me are a) trying to run faster than a shuffle downhill; b) running downhill in supershoes; c) uneven footing/rough pavement and d) dodging people and other things while running.  So...I forced myself to deal with this by wearing Vaporflies for the long run and doing the marathon effort work on the Capital Crescent (rough sections and bridges and tunnels and kids on scooters and dogs on leashes and people walking 5 across and cyclists zooming in all directions) with 5 of the 7 miles being downhill.

And...I handled it decently.  Not perfectly.  But well enough that I have a lot more confidence that I will be able to run the downhills at Boston at more than a shuffle.  (Yes, I have run Boston before, and I know that you don't want to run the downhills too fast. But that's not a big risk for me right now.)

Monday: 8 miles very easy (9:34) and streaming yoga.  Foam rolling in evening.

Tuesday: 11.5 miles, including a track workout of 7x800 in 3:36, 3:36, 3:30, 3:25, 3:21, 3:17, 3:14 (recoveries mostly at 2:1x-2:3x; one outlier at 3 minutes).  Followed with leg strengthwork.  Sports massage in afternoon.
 
Wednesday: 9 "miles" pool-running, 500 yards swimming, and upper body weights/core. Foam rolling in evening.

Thursday: 9 miles very easy on trails (9:52); streaming pilates and foam rolling in evening.

Friday: 10 miles, including a tempo on the track in 28:06 (7:12/7:04/6:59/6:51), followed by 2x200 in 51 and 50 seconds.  Then leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling in evening.

Saturday: 12 miles very easy (9:12) followed by upper body weights/core. Foam rolling in afternoon.

Sunday:  21 miles progressive, split as the first 7 miles averaging 9:17 pace, the next 7 miles averaging 8:21 pace, and the next 7 miles averaging 7:35 pace, plus a 1/2 mile cooldown. Followed with injury prevention work and foam rolling in afternoon.

Sunday, March 10, 2024

Training log - Week ending 3/10/2024

This week was 56 miles of running, 1000 yards of swimming, and 18 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here.

The first part of this week was recovery from my half-marathon.  By Thursday I was ready to ease back into something light; since I had just raced a half-marathon (the ultimate in tempo workouts) I didn't see the point in doing something at tempo pace on the track.  So instead I headed over to Iwo Jima to do hill repeats at marathon effort (a lot easier than the normal hill effort).  

Doing hills at marathon effort (especially the downhill part) gave me an opportunity to practice managing my gait on the downhills, which is likely going to be my biggest challenge there.  I wore supershoes for the workouts (the Puma Deviate Elite) both because I find wearing supershoes makes downhills HARDER and because they protected my legs some from the workout so I could continue to recover from the half-marathon.

Verdict: I am better at downhills but still have work to do there.

Saturday's marathon pace workout (on flat Hains Point) went more smoothly.  Marathon pace seems to be locking into around 7:30 pace on flat ground in good weather.  I guess we'll see what that translates to at Boston 2024.

Separately, I've started adding some swimming back into my week.  I had dropped it because I've been really pressed for time, and swimming made the most sense to drop, given that it's not my focus sport and requires a fair amount of preparation time.  But...since cutting it out it seems like my lungs aren't as strong, so I think I need to find the time somehow to fit it in.

Dailies:

Monday:  6 "miles" pool-running and 500 yards swimming.   Foam rolling at night.  

Tuesday: 7 miles very easy (9:18) in the morning; streaming pilates and foam rolling in evening.
 
Wednesday: 7 miles very easy (9:27), upper body weights/core, and then 2 miles very easy (9:39) plus drills and strides. Foam rolling in evening.

Thursday: 11 miles, including 8 "Iwo Jima" hills at marathon effort, followed by leg strengthwork.  Foam rolling in evening.

Friday: 12 miles very easy (9:27) plus drills and strides in the morning; streaming yoga in the afternoon and foam rolling at night.

Saturday: 17 miles, including a marathon effort workout of 2x5 miles at marathon effort with one mile float between. Splits were 37:39 (7:32 pace) and 37:15 (7:27 pace) with a mile in 8:16 between the two.  Followed with leg strengthwork.  Foam rolling in evening.

Sunday: 6 "miles" pool-running and 500 yards swimming.  Foam rolling at night.




Tuesday, March 5, 2024

Training log - Week ending 3/3/2024

This week was 53 miles of running -- training log is here.

Just a place holder for a race week.

Monday:  8 miles very easy (9:20) and strides, followed by upperbody weights/core.  Foam rolling in evening.

Tuesday: 9.5 miles, including a track workout of 1600, 4x800, 400 in 7:05, 3:26, 3:23, 3:18, 3:16, and 96.  5:14 recovery after the 1600 and recoveries of 2:4x-3:2x after the 800s.  Sports massage in evening.
 
Wednesday: Upperbody weights/core and 7.5 miles very easy (9:24) plus strides.  Foam rolling in evening.

Thursday: 5 miles very easy on trails (10:27); streaming pilates and foam rolling in evening.

Friday: 7 miles, including an uptempo 1600 (7:10) plus 2x200m in 51 and 51.  Foam rolling in evening.

Saturday: Off except for DIY yoga and some foam rolling in the afternoon.

Sunday:  3 mile warm-up and then a half-marathon in 1:34:11.   Foam rolling in afternoon.

Monday, March 4, 2024

Race Report: One City Half-Marathon, March 3, 2024

 I ran the One City Half-Marathon yesterday, finishing in an official time of 1:34:11 1:34:05 (the race results were corrected, which is cool, since the corrected result matches what I had on my watch).

This is my second time running this half-marathon.  I mostly repeated last year's pre-race logistics, since they had worked so well.  I left my house at 7:45 am on Saturday to drive down and avoid traffic, and stayed at a hotel in the Hampton Convention Center area (10 minutes from the parking at the finish line).  Grabbed my bib, grabbed Chipotle, and then did some yoga, stretching, foam rolling, and reading before hitting bed.

Like last year, I also woke up at 3:45 am to give myself enough time to eat, digest, and stretch.  However, I waited an extra 15 minutes before leaving my hotel (5:00 am instead of 4:45 am) because last year I had arrived at the start line a bit too early and had frozen for 20 minutes before it was time to start jogging.

Leaving my hotel at 5 am meant that I had parked and made my way to the start line buses by 5:16. I got on a 5:25 bus, which got me to the start line at 5:55 am (I note all of these timestamps because it's really helpful to look back at these notes in future years, or to point others towards these notes when they ask me about a race).

There was one notable change from last year - the high school gym was open!  Had I known this, I would have left my hotel much earlier, so I could have gotten to the race start and then done my stretching and mobilizations.  Noted for next year.

I did hit one snag, which was waiting for approximately 5 minutes outside a porta-john before realizing that it was unoccupied but locked from the inside.  Fortunately, I was able to find another one with no line and do the needful.  The quest for porta-john entry did cut into my warm-up time, but I actually found that I didn't need that much today (just a bit less than 3 miles).

Then I lined up at 6:50 for the 7 am start (one nice thing about smaller races) and we started right at 7.

***

One of the challenges I have when trying to race with neuro issues is that my legs don't behave themselves well when I start running.  My ankles get really stiff and locked and it usually takes about 10 minutes for things to start working correctly.  Unrelated to the above (or at least it was until now) I have an ankle strengthening exercise I do a few times a week where I do two sets of 45 seconds of each of the following - walking on my toes, walking on my heels, walking on the outside of my feet, and walking on the inside of my feet.

I've noticed at the gym that after I do this exercise my ankles and feet feel really good. So, I decided to try it on race morning.  When I arrived at the race, I walked back and forth in the parking lot on toes/heels/outside/inside for about 6 minutes before putting on my Vaporflies and starting to warm up.  I looked very odd, but I am very odd, so it mapped and I didn't worry too much about it.

And...(returning to the race start)....it seemed to help.  The first mile of the race was still challenging, but nowhere near as bad as it was last year.  I felt much more stable, which meant that it was easier to handle the chaos of the first few minutes of the race, as well as the gentle inclines and declines.

***

As always, I paced my race by feel, rather than looking at pace, heart rate, running power, etc.  (I actually wear a heart rate strap and a pair of foot pods because I think it's fun to look at that stuff later, but I ignore it for the race).  My plan was to ease into the race over the first mile or two, then hold at just below my lactate threshold (which I can feel like a bright red line) before pushing over that line in the final miles. I've run my half-marathons that way for years and it's always worked well; the only thing that has changed is the paces.

It took about two miles for things to really smooth out, and then I hit a rhythm and held it.  I have to admit that I didn't feel awesome - my breathing was tight during those middle miles.  Post-race, several other people told me they felt the same, and Accuweather indicated that mold levels were high, so I suspect that may have been at play.  Whatever - it was what it was.

The middle miles passed without too much of note - there were a few literal speed bumps on the road that I had to navigate (two of them I was able to avoid by running to the side) and a recurrence of my favorite sign ("you are very far from the finish" - accompanied by a recliner and a six pack).  

I was running with a water bottle and hadn't yet drained it, so there was no need to grab my water bottle at the elite water stand, but I did so anyway for the heck of it.  At this point in my running "career" (said jokingly since I lose money every year on the endeavor), opportunities to run in an elite field are dwindling.  So I wanted to take advantage of all the perks, even if I didn't need them.  I was less than graceful in accomplishing this task, and it probably cost me 2 seconds, but it was worth it for reasons independent of hydration.

Then we hit mile 10 and it was time to slip above the red line for my final approach to the finish line. 

I had mapped out the course and knew particular landmarks that correlated to distances from the finish line. The gentle turn from Warwick onto Huntington was about 2 and 2/3rds of a mile from the finish line, and a mark to open up a bit more.  

About this time, my right shoe started to feel loose.  Annoyingly loose.  I briefly considered and retie it, and then I decided that would be a silly decision, and that I needed to keep going unless the laces actually came undone.  I was close enough to the finish that the 15 seconds spent fixing my shoe would exceed any loss in speed from the loose shoe.  I did my best to ignore the shoe and push forward.

Another right and then a left marked 1 mile from the finish line - my cue to empty the tank.  I passed one woman and focused on another just ahead, while also counting down streets (every 5 streets was a quarter mile) and trying to ignore my right shoe.

I made up ground steadily on the woman ahead but wasn't able to quite reach her before we hit the final turn to the finish line about 100m ahead.  She found another gear after that turn, while I was already at my top end speed, so that was a battle lost (but still worth the fight).    Then I crossed the finish, noting 1:34 and change on the clock.  I was a bit disappointed but also satisfied.  I had hoped to run faster than my recent workouts predicted (and faster than I ran here last year), and instead I ran pretty much what I would project from my workouts.  But...I had run a well-executed race and gotten a solid tune-up for Boston, so there was a lot to be satisfied with independent of time.

Manual splits ended up being:

Mile 1: 7:36
Mile 2: 7:10
Mile 3: 7:13
Mile 4: 7:06
Mile 5: 7:20
Mile 6: 7:17
Mile 7: 7:12
Mile 8: 7:13
Mile 9: 7:12
Mile 10: 7:08
Mile 11: 7:03
Mile 12: 7:01
Mile 13: 6:48
last .11: 48 seconds.




So pretty much according to plan, with 1-2 miles to ease in, 8 miles at a hard effort, and then the last 3 miles building to a hammer (my heart rate chart also indicates this pacing plan pretty clearly, I think).  I just wish those middle miles were closer to 7 flat.  (I actually wish they were closer to the 6:30s of a few years ago, but such is life).

Overall, a fun day, and I'm glad I did this.  Additionally, I get a really big fitness boost from racing half-marathons (I respond really well to tempo work, and a half-marathon race is the ultimate tempo workout) so hopefully I'll be reaping the benefits from this race in the final weeks of my Boston training.

Other notes:

  • The weather was perfect for a half-marathon - high 40s to low 50s with a slight breeze. Unfortunately, it warmed up slightly for the full, which was a shame.
  • Once again, I ran the last 5K of this race faster than I ran a standalone 5K three weeks ago (21:40 versus 21:59).  My last mile of this race was also faster than any 1600 I've been able to run on the track this year.  Just how my body works these days - that's why I'm prioritizing the longer races.
  • Once again I ran this half-marathon at the exact same pace I ran for a 4 mile (6400m) tempo during training.  Like I said, I pretty much ran exactly what I would expect based on my training.
  • This race performance age-graded to 77.4 %.  One of my goals is to get back above 80% for age-grading (I was 82-87% a few years ago, depending on the distance).  Not there yet, but it seems in reach with work and luck.
  • I took 17 back home instead of I-64 to I-95.  Yes, it might add 30 minutes onto the trip if there aren't traffic back-ups on I-95 (which is unlikely to be the case).  But this route is just so much mentally easier and smoother and more enjoyable than the near certainty of sitting on I-95 in stop and go traffic on a Sunday afternoon.

Monday, February 26, 2024

Training log - week ending 2/25/2024

This week was 68 miles of running and 6 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here.

Things continue to improve, which is good.  Tuesday's workout was still a bit rough - I suspect some of that was asthma from the cold air.  Friday and Saturday were a lot better - we had great running weather on Friday so I took advantage and did an 8K tempo (that went pretty well) followed by my long run 24 hours later.

The workout day 1/easy long run (with a small bit of fast runnning) on day 2 is something I borrowed from a friend a few years ago.  It definitely develops strength and the ability to run fast on tired legs without incurring too much fatigue.  I would never use it exclusively in place of progression long runs or marathon effort workouts, but I like using it in the summer when it is too hot to do a progression long run.  It also works when, like this week, I want to do a tempo AND a long run and be done by Saturday mid-day.

Monday:  10 miles very easy (9:12) and strides, followed by upperbody weights/core.  Foam rolling in evening.

Tuesday: 11 miles, including a track workout of 4x1200, 2x400 in 5:23, 5:15, 5:14, 5:11, 1:40, and 1:40.  Recoveries after the 1200s were mostly 2:5x (one outlier at 3:32).  77 seconds between the 400s.  Followed with leg strengthwork.  Foam rolling in evening.
 
Wednesday: Streaming yoga and 11 miles very easy (9:25) plus strides.  Foam rolling in evening.

Thursday: 8 miles very easy on trails (10:02); streaming pilates and foam rolling in evening.

Friday: 10 miles, including an 8K track tempo in 35:48 (7:20/7:16/7:10/7:05/6:57), plus 2x200m in 51 and 50.  Foam rolling in evening.

Saturday: 18 miles, mostly easy (9:06) but with a fartlek of 10x2 minutes at marathon effort/5 minutes easy in the second hour.  Followed with leg strengthwork.  Foam rolling in the afternoon.

Sunday:  6 "miles" pool-running and streaming yoga.  Foam rolling in afternoon.

Sunday, February 18, 2024

Training log - Week ending 2/18/24

This week was 53 miles of running and 18 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here.

This week was a bit jumbled by weather.  Tuesday's interval workout was pushed back to Wednesday because of a forecast of freezing rain on Tuesday morning.  I can't do an interval workout on Wednesday and a tempo on Friday - they are just too close together - so I opted to skip the interval workout and move my tempo workout up to Wednesday so that I could do a big long run on Saturday and then have two days to recover before the next interval workout.

And then Saturday's long run almost didn't happen - 3-5 inches or more were forecast for Friday night into Saturday morning.  But...that forecast fell apart and I woke up to clear streets, so I did the workout after all, and it went very well.

My gait has really improved over the last week or so, and that's showing in much faster times.  It's not a jump in fitness, just a change in how I apply that fitness that results in running a lot faster.  Part of it is just reviving neural connections, and part is that I figured out a "hack."  Namely - my legs and feet do whatever my arms and hands do.  Which means that when my legs and feet go rigid and lock up on me, instead of focusing on those, I think about keeping my elbows bent and my hands relaxed.  When I do that, then my legs start mimicking my arms and start working much better.  Pretty cool.

Monday:  9 "miles" pool-running.  Foam rolling in evening.

Tuesday: 8.5 miles very easy (9:27) on treadmill in the morning; streaming yoga and foam rolling in evening.
 
Wednesday: 11 miles on the track, including a 4 mile (6400m) tempo in 28:35 (7:19/7:13/7:02/7:00) followed by 2x400m in 1:41 and 1:39.  Followed with leg strengthwork.  Foam rolling in evening.

Thursday: 7 miles very easy on trails (10:20); streaming yoga and foam rolling in evening.

Friday: 8 miles very easy (9:23) to the gym, upper body weights/core, and then 2 miles very easy (9:42) home plus two strides.  Foam rolling in evening.

Saturday: 16.5 miles, including a marathon pace workout of 4/3/2/1 miles at marathon effort with 1 mile float.  Split it as 4 miles in 29:59 (7:30 pace), 3 miles in 22:24 (7:28 pace), 2 miles in 14:53 (7:27 pace), and 1 mile in 7:24.  Floats in 8:09, 8:22, and 8:35.  Followed with leg strengthwork.

Sunday:  9 "miles" pool-running and streaming yoga.  Foam rolling in afternoon.

Sunday, February 11, 2024

Training Log - Week ending 2/11/2024

This week was 57 miles of running and 9 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here.

An ugly workout on Tuesday (cold, dark, legs stiff) left me with very low expectations for Saturday's rustbuster 5K, which meant I was able to exceed those low expectations.  I also raced well (in that I paced my race well and competed well) which made me happy, independent of the time.

This week had some really good positives after a rough start:
  • I started running on the trails of Roosevelt Island again (I took a break due to the hip issue and then due to ice and snow).  It was challenging, really challenging.  But I could also tell it was exactly what I needed.  My static balance is good; it's my dynamic balance (balance while moving) that is hard.  Running on a rocky uneven trail with occasional steps up or down or roots or narrow bridges really trains that dynamic balance.
  • After giving up on the Vaporfly 3 nearly a year ago, I decided to give it another try and see if things had changed.  And wow - they felt very different.  All that balance and PT work has really helped.
  • Sunday's run felt really good - the 5K (which forced me to challenge my gait with uncomfotably fast running for 20+ minutes) really seems to have helped my gait.  Not a total surprise - that's happened before.  That's one of many reasons why I like to race even if the performance is not going to be fast one.  Pushing myself that way really helps stuff.

Monday:  9 "miles" pool-running.  Foam rolling in evening.

Tuesday: 11 miles, including a track workout of 1600, 4x800, 2x400 in 7:22, 3:33, 3:31, 3:29, 3:29, 1:40, and 1:41 (recoveries of 5:08 after the 1600, 2:5x-3:1x after the 1800s, and 86 between the 400s), followed by leg strengthwork.   Foam rolling in evening.
 
Wednesday: 5 miles very easy (9:35), upper body weights/core, and then 3 miles very easy home (9:23) plus 2 strides.  Foam rolling in evening.

Thursday: 4 miles very easy on trails (10:04); streaming pilates and foam rolling in evening.

Friday: 5 miles very easy (9:48) plus numerous strides totalling to about a mile (swapping between the Adios Pro 3, the Deviate Nitro Elite 1, and the Vaporfly 3).  Foam rolling in evening.

Saturday: 3.5 mile warm-up, and then a 5K in 21:59, followed by 2.5 mile cooldown.  Later did 3 miles very easy on trails (10:12) and upper body weights/core.

Sunday:  16 miles easy to moderate, split as the first 7 miles averaging 9:11 pace, the next 9 miles averaging 8:12 pace.  Followed with leg strengthwork.  Foam rolling at night.

Race Report: By George 5K, February 10, 2024

I ran the By George 5K yesterday, finishing in 21:59 by my watch (22:01 was the official time, which was based on hand timing after the electronic timing system failed).

(Note: this was a $15 race, so the fact that they even tried electronic timing was a plus - I was expecting hand-timing anyway.)

I did this as a rustbuster, knowing that it was going to be ugly and awkward and awful as most rustbusters are, but that it would also be good for me.  

This race offers a 5K (once out and back) and a 10K (twice out and back) and I momentarily debated swapping to the 10K on grounds that I wasn't going to be able to run any faster for 5K then for 10K.  Then I remembered that I probably didn't have the fitness to hold any sort of fast pace for 10K and decided to stick with the 5K.

Parking and bib pick-up were quick and easy (as always for this race), so I headed out to jog the course for my warm-up, including my normal warm-up fartlek of about 15 minutes easy, 3 minutes at half-marathon effort, 4x30 seconds at 5K effort, and 4x10 second strides.  Running fast felt awkward, just as it did during this Tuesday's track workout (which was rough).  But that was what I expected, so *shrug*.

I finished warming up about 10 minutes before the race, which was enough time to run to the bathroom (very small race, so no line) and then back to the start to do strides.  I had hoped to jog to the start line right before the race start, but I wasn't so lucky as the race was delayed three minutes - just enough time for my legs to stiffen up a bit.  Oh well.

Then we started.  My gait was rough for the first mile, and got worse when I started thinking about catching up to people in front of me.  The best response to this is a mental shell game where I try to stay relaxed without slowing down and also without trying to run fast.  It's pretty tricky.  But about 3/4 of a mile into the race, I managed to find a compromise and began to reel people in.  

This race is an out-and-back, and so as I approached the turnaround I was able to count the runners ahead of me.  The first three were teammates of mine and I was fairly sure that they would continue to pull away from me.  But I was only about 20 seconds behind the fourth place (I counted 10 seconds from when she and I ran past each other to the turnaround) and the fifth place was right ahead of me. 

Knowing that I would only get faster in the second half as things loosened up, I was pretty sure I could pass both before the finish.  So I went to work.  First I passed fifth place - by now I had enough control of my gait to pull slightly ahead in a controlled manner, then pause to let her surge ahead (and use up some energy).  Then I accelerated again and pulled ahead, my focus now on fourth place.

Over the next mile I was able to chase fourth place down - an odd combination of trying to stay relaxed while still working hard.  I could tell she was slowing in the third mile, and sure enough I passed her with a half mile or so to go.  

From there I just had to focus on enduring race suck and wondering where the finish was.  Experiencing race suck (and the corresponding tiny voice asking me to take a break for a moment) was exactly why I was here, so I reminded myself over and over that this was a good thing.

Then my watch buzzed for the third mile (I used autolap because there were no mile markers) and I could see the finish line ahead, so I tried to kick.  Kicking involved trying to run hard, which meant leg stiffening and so I had to navigate that, but somehow I did manage to accelerate.  It didn't feel pretty, but that was OK.

I finished and stopped my watch and checked it - 21:59.  NOT a personal worst (which was what I was expecting) and far better than I had expected, based on recent workouts.  And I also felt pretty good about having managed to truly compete in the race while managing the leg stiffness and balance issues, instead of being distracted by them to the exclusion of all else.

Splits (Garmin autolap) were:

Mile 1: 7:12
Mile 2: 7:02
Mile 3: 6:51
last .13:  52 seconds (6:40 pace)

So...not a badly executed race, albeit with the traditional slow first mile.  And I felt much better and more confident about my running (and specifically my ability to race) as a result of this 5K, so I got what I came for.

Other notes:

  • It was a ridiculously good day for racing - high 40s temps with no wind and overcast skies, on flat and fast Hains Point.  We got really lucky.

  • I wore the Nike Vaporfly 3 for this race, rather than my Takumi Sens or Deviate Nitros.  I was really excited about this, actually.  Last year I picked up a pair of Vaporfly 3s and did a workout in them, but I was really uncomfortable in them (specifically ankle pain), so I decided that they didn't work for me.  I meant to sell them on eBay, but never did. 
    Then on a whim on Friday, I decided to do some strides in them and see if I liked them any better (comparing to the Adios Pro and the Deviate Nitro).  Surprisingly, they felt fine for the strides - much better than I remembered.  So I decided to give them a spin for the 5K.  And they were fine.  Sure, I was awkward and stiff, but it didn't feel any worse from any other pair of shoes.  It was me, not the shoes.
    So that's exciting - I'm now thinking that a year's worth of ankle strengthening and balance rehab has paid off, and I can wear these shoes again (I used to like racing in the Vaporfly before my neuro issues hit and I couldn't handle them any more).  Perhaps these will end up being my spring marathon shoe.

  • I arrived at 7 am for the 7:50 start.  This was just barely enough time - had there been an issue with traffic or bib pick-up or bathroom lines I wouldn't have had enough time to warm-up.  Next year I need to arrive about 15 minutes earlier.

  • The really good news was that my running stride felt much better the next morning after this race - which is par for the course for me.  But also pretty cool.  This race may have rebooted my gait issues some (as really uncomfortable fast running seems to).  So yay.

Wednesday, February 7, 2024

Training log - Week ending 2/4/2024

This week was 56 miles of running and 18 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here.

Late once again, I'll post my weekly. 

I'm out of shape, which has an obvious solution. I'm also having to re-learn the mechanics of how to run faster than easy pace (it's a neurological thing), which has the same obvious solution.  

I bumped up my towpath run to 10 miles this week, so next week I'll try to get some miles in on Roosevelt Island.  I also have a rust buster 5K coming up on Saturday.  It will almost certainly not be pretty, but it's been over two months since I've raced and I need to start practicing that skill again.

Monday:  9 "miles" pool-running and streaming yoga.  Foam rolling in evening.

Tuesday: 10 miles, including a track workout of 2000, 1200, 2x800, 2x400 in 9:20, 5:20, 3:28, 3:27, 1:40, and 1:42 (recoveries of 5:38 after the 2000, 3:0x-3:2x after the 1200 and 800s, and 91 between the 400s), followed by leg strengthwork.   Sports massage in evening.
 
Wednesday: Upperbody weights/core followed by 10 miles very easy home (9:26) plus drills and 2 strides.  Foam rolling in evening.

Thursday: 9 "miles" pool-running in the morning; streaming pilates and foam rolling in evening.

Friday: 10 miles, including a track workout of 3200, 1600 in 14:37 (7:20/7:17) and 7:10, with 5:17 between the two.  Followed with leg strengthwork.  Foam rolling in evening.

Saturday: 10 miles very easy on the towpath (9:23).  Streaming yoga and foam rolling in afternoon.

Sunday:  15.5 miles progressive, split as the first 5 miles averaging 9:27 pace, the next 6 miles averaging 8:48 pace, and then the next 4 miles averaging 7:49 pace, plus a half-mile cooldown.  Followed with leg strengthwork.  Foam rolling at night.

Monday, January 29, 2024

Training log - Week ending 1/28/2024

This week was 50 miles of running and 18 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here.

I returned to focused training this week, trying to reestablish my routines from the last training cycle.  Tuesday was on the treadmill (again) mostly because I slept in and didn't have time to drive somewhere ice free.  

By Friday, it was a ridiculous 60 degrees, so I returned to the track for a tempo intervals workout that felt a bit tough (first continuous hard running in a while).  Saturday I did 8 miles on the towpath as a quick re-introduction to trail running (the towpath is essentially a very easy/flat version of trail-running).  

Since it's been about 5 weeks since I've done any sort of long run, I decided to skip the traditional progressive long run in favor of getting 14 miles in.  Since I had originally been thinking about doing Iwo Jima hills instead of a long run, I opted to do the last 6 miles of the run as loops of Iwo Jima at moderate effort (I did do a "stride" downhill at marathon effort each loop).  It felt like a good way to ease back into marathon training.


Monday:  9 "miles" pool-running.  Foam rolling in evening.

Tuesday: 9 miles on treadmill, including a fartlek of 12x90 seconds on/60 seconds off (on was 8.5-8.7 mph, off was 6.0), followed by leg strengthwork.   Foam rolling in evening.
 
Wednesday: 7 miles very easy outside (9:39), followed by drills, upperbody weights/core, and then 2 miles very easy home (9:51).  Foam rolling in evening.

Thursday: 9 "miles" pool-running in the morning; streaming pilates and foam rolling in evening.

Friday: 10 miles, including a track workout of 3200, 1600 in 14:37 (7:20/7:17) and 7:10, with 5:17 between the two.  Followed with leg strengthwork.  Foam rolling in evening.

Saturday: 8 miles very easy on the towpath (9:42) and streaming pilates.  Foam rolling in afternoon.

Sunday:  14 miles - first 6 easy (9:37), next 8 moderate (8:19); most of last 8 on rolling hills with 9 reps of ~200m downhill at marathon effort.