Training log - Week ending 10/2/11

This week was 53 miles of “real running” and 14 “miles” pool running plus 2500m of swimming -- training log is here.

Still working on mental toughness and positive attitude. It’s been working well for the most part, but backfired on me when I went out too fast in my 10K on Sunday (hit the first mile in 6:20, which is the pace I’m supposed to be doing mile repeats on the track in…oops). Race report. I continue to be a work in progress, and underperform in my races as compared to my workouts. Much of this has been due to a lack of positivity on my part, which I'm working to change.  However, confidence and positivity doesn’t equate to lack of conservatism in the early miles.

Felt like utter crap on Saturday and Sunday, but I’m guessing/hoping that’s due to mold allergies – the mold has been sky-high. Like all my allergies, they don’t seem to actually affect me once I’m running, which is a good thing. It is a bit disappointing that I’m affected at all – the quercetin I’ve been taking has made my pollen allergies an absolute non-issue, but it doesn’t seem to do the same for mold.

Since the Philadelphia half I’ve been running all of my runs, including workouts, effectively watchless, and I’m really liking it. I do wear the Garmin, and hit “lap” where appropriate, but I keep the face set to “time of day” when I run. It’s been helping me focus on staying relaxed and focused in the moment, and not overthinking. I run best when I just think about enjoying it and feeling the sensation of my feet hitting the ground – and I’m working to get myself to the place where that’s the norm.

Dailies

Monday: In the morning, 50 minutes of very easy pool-running for “5 miles” plus 1000m of swimming breathing drills and some upperbody strengthwork. Stretching and foam-rolling at night.

Tuesday: In the morning, 11 miles on the track, including a workout of 7x800m, with splits of 3:04, 2:57, 3:00, 2:58, 3:01, 2:55, 2:59 (planned to do 8, but got shut down after 7). Dewpoint was a hellacious 71. Followed up with 20 minutes of easy pool-running for “2 miles”.

Wednesday: In the morning, 8 easy miles (8:27) and 1500m of swimming breathing drills. Upper body weights, stretching, foam rolling and injury prevention work at night.

Thursday: In the morning, 13 miles outside, including an abbreviated tempo of 2 miles at 6:39 pace. Average pace for the easy miles was 8:11. Followed with 20 minutes of easy pool-running for “2 miles.” Foam-rolling/stretching at night.

Friday: In the morning, 7 easy miles (8:23 pace) plus drills and strides. Followed up with 30 minutes of easy pool-running for “3 miles”. Pilates session plus foam rolling at night.

Saturday: Off, except for foam-rolling and stretching.

Sunday: 2 mile warm-up, 10K race in 41:27, and 6 mile shake out later (8:44 pace). Followed with 20 minutes of easy pool-running for “2 miles”. Feeling like I’ve been run over by a truck, so skipping yoga, though I did some foam rolling.