Training log - Week ending 7/08/2012

This week was 50 miles of “real running” and 14 “miles” pool running, plus 2500 yards of swimming breathing drills -- training log is here.

Weird week.  In bullet points:

• Two races
• Jury duty
• Massive unprecedented heat wave
• Broken AC in house
• Broken AC in car
• Confounding sewer pipe underneath my building (experts disagree on whether there is a problem, with the worst case scenario being the complete gutting of my basement condo so the pipe can be excavated and replaced).

All of which combined to a chaotic schedule.   And no workouts.  No hills (since I was racing), no tempo (since I was racing), no long run (because it was ridiculously hot and humid ) and missing nearly all my pilates/yoga classes (racing+jury duty).

So yeah, a weird week.  But the racing went well.  Wednesday’s 5K was a big confidence boost – I ended up running 5 seconds off of my PR on a hilly course in hot weather.  I’m one of those runners that reacts to 35-40 degrees like it’s rocket fuel.  So to hit 19:20 on a hilly course in July makes me think that sub-19:00 (possibly by a lot) is in reach come late fall/winter, when the conditions are solidly in my favor.  Of course, my marathon will get in the way of a late fall 5K, but there’s always December and January.

Did another track mile this weekend, in 5:39.  So essentially the same time I ran 2 weeks ago, and still way slower than I can run these things.  But though I wasn’t crazy about the time, I was happy about how I ran the race – relaxed and focused, with a strong last lap.  I think I just need to get in a faster race in order to run faster.  When I ran my PR, I was basically dragged the entire way by a group of fast women, while the two track races have both had me leading for the last 600-800m.  There’s a few more track races this summer – I’ll get there.

I'm not crazy about my current lack of long runs, but it really wasn't practical to do one this week, given the weather.  14 was fine, but any longer would have risked digging me into a hole -- not a good idea.  I do have a half-marathon coming up in 8 weeks that I'd like to run very well at, but 8 weeks is still plenty of time to train up for that distance, since I'm in pretty good basic shape.

Dailies

Monday:   5.5 miles easy (7:49) plus drills and strides, and some light injury prevention work.  Foam rolling at night.

Tuesday:  In the morning, 1000 yards of swimming breathing drills plus injury prevention work.  Foam rolling at night.

Wednesday:   In the morning, 11 miles including a 5K race in 19:20, followed by 30 minutes recovery pool-running.  Foam rolling and stretching at night.

Thursday:   In the morning, 11 miles very easy (8:04 pace), followed by 10 minutes of easy poolrunning for “1 miles.”   Foam rolling and stretching at night.

Friday:  In the morning, 1500 yards of swimming breathing drills, followed by 20 minutes easy pool-running for “2 miles” and then some injury prevention work.  Foam-rolling in the afternoon.

Saturday:   In the morning, 8 miles, including a track mile in 5:39, followed by 50 minutes recovery pool-running (too long, but conversation was good, and cold water felt awesome).  Upper body strengthwork plus stretching and foam rolling in the afternoon.

Sunday:   14 miles aerobic progression (7:54, split as 8:41 for first 4 miles, next 5.5 at 7:48, last 4.5 at 7:21), followed by injury prevention work and 30 minutes of recovery pool-running.    Yoga and foamrolling in the afternoon.