Training log - Week ending 3/25/12

This week was 66 miles of “real running” and 15 “miles” pool running, plus 1500 yards of swimming breathing drills -- training log is here.

This week I focused both on recovery from the half-marathon and making sure not to overdo things in my eagerness for Cherry Blossom. I’m racing a lot over the next month, so I’m making a real effort to keep my workouts toned down. Save the hard efforts for race day; the workouts are just maintenance. Good practice for me – I tend to get too eager and greedy in my workouts, instead of saving the deep efforts for race day.

Pretty much everything from the knee down on both legs hurt after my half on Saturday, which was comforting. I worry about injury when one specific thing hurts; when it’s consistent all over, I’m more confident that it’s just basic soreness that will work out. My feet were the worst, and pretty painful and crampy through Monday morning. But, easy jogging has a way of clearing stuff up for me, so I did a baby run on Monday instead of just pool-running. Within about half a mile, everything felt great, so I continued on for 5 miles. Nothing’s hurt since, though I did get a sports massage on Tuesday – 50 minutes focused exclusively on lower legs and feet – to be sure.

It’s hard to know how much my really-truly-taper worked for my half-marathon. Though I didn’t run the time I wanted for a half, I do think I ran the best race I could have that day, and I’m pretty happy with the time I ran, given the weather and the course. I did feel a lot more sluggish during the first few miles of my half than I normally do, but that might just be due to only jogging less than a mile for my warm-up. So, I’m going to try the really-truly-taper thing again for Cherry Blossom this weekend, but just tweak things slightly by doing easy swimming on Friday, and jogging 2-3 miles on Saturday.

Dailies

Monday: In the morning, 5 miles of easy running (7:58 pace) followed by 40 minutes of easy poolrunning for “4 miles” and then light upper body and core strengthwork plus injury prevention exercises. Foam-rolling and stretching at night.

Tuesday: In the morning, 11 miles very easy (8:17 pace). Followed with injury prevention work and 10 minutes of shakeout pool-running. Floor barre and a sports massage at night.

Wednesday: 9 miles easy (7:52 pace) followed by a yoga class. Later 5 miles easy (7:45 pace). Also did foam-rolling/stretching at night.

Thursday: Upper body and core strengthwork, followed by 1500 yards of swimming breathing drills and 40 minutes of easy pool-running (“4 miles”). Foam-rolling and stretching at night.

Friday: In the morning, 9.5 miles on the track, including a 5K tempo in 19:53 (split 6:29, 6:21, 6:18, 0:45), followed by injury prevention work and 30 minutes of shakeout pool-running.

Saturday: In the morning, 10.5 miles outside easy (7:50 pace). Later upper body and core strengthwork plus injury prevention exercises, as well as foam-rolling and stretching at night.

Sunday: 16 miles progression run outside averaging 7:45 pace, split as first 2.5 miles at 8:59 pace, next 4.5 at 8:08 pace, next 5.5 at 7:28 pace, and last 3.5 at 6:50 pace. Followed up with injury prevention work, and then 30 minutes of shakeout pool-running. Yoga and foam-rolling are the plan for tonight.