Training log - Week ending 4/20/14

This week was 41 miles of running and 14,000 yards of swimming -- training log is here.  

Things are on the upswing, though not perfect, and so I’ve been carefully upping the mileage again.  No fast running, just easy stuff with plenty of short doubles (to keep the mileage up while still keeping the runs short enough that I can keep good posture) plus swimming (including 2-3 hard workouts to raise my heart rate).  And lots of yoga to keep my core strong.  

Basically, I’m trying to maintain the overall volume of work while transitioning from cross training back to running.  But the end result looks like a hodge-podge of workouts – what used to be one run of about 10 miles is now two shorter runs plus a swim.

As I noted last week, I’ve been experimenting with different shoes (the Hitogami and the Adios Boost are keepers; I don’t like the Nike Lunar Racer quite as much).  My right foot is unquestionably happier with the reduced cushioning and slightly higher heel (both shoes are racing flats with a ~9mm drop) –  however, I do find that it’s harder to keep correct posture with the higher heel.  I start arching my lower back, and then my left leg goes weak and funky again.  *sigh*.  All I can do is keep working on practicing good posture to make it stick.

And no, I didn’t go up to Boston this weekend.  I was maybe slightly tempted, but I wanted to save the money, and also staying down here meant that I was able to celebrate my parents’ birthdays this weekend (Dad’s birthday was on Saturday; Mom’s is this coming Thursday).  So I stayed around, and took the previously scheduled vacation days as mental health days.  Which was great.  Being able to hit a mid-day yoga class and spend the afternoon reading comic books was not as special as running Boston, but fun in its own way.

Dailies

Monday:   In the morning, 2 easy miles to test foot (7:58 pace), then a yoga class and 1200 yards easy swimming.  Dry needling in the afternoon.

Tuesday:  In the morning, two easy runs of 2.5 miles each testing shoes (paces were 8:27 and 7:59) bookending a yoga class.  Also swam for 2000 yards.  Foam rolling at night.

Wednesday:   2.5 miles easy (8:25 pace), and then 2500 yards of swimming, including 8x100 on 2:00 (splits were 1:39.30, 1:39.46, 1:39.66, 1:37.86, 1:38.37, 1:38.33, 1:37.87, 1:37.34) followed by 600 yards split as 6x75 easy/25 hard.  Then took a yoga class.  Foam rolling at night.

Thursday:   In the morning, 3.5 miles easy (8:17), followed by a yoga class and then another 4 miles (7:53 pace) plus 1300 yards easy swimming.   Foam rolling at night.

Friday:  In the morning, 5 miles easy (7:57 pace), followed by 3000 yards swimming (workout was descending 250/200/150/100/50 (splits were 4:17.15, 3:24.50, 2:32.61, 1:40.90, 48.43), followed by 800 split as 75 easy/25 hard, and then 4x50 on 1:00 (48.77, 49.89, 49.30, 49.82).  Did yoga mid-day plus another easy 1.5 miles to test another pair of shoes (8:17 pace).  Foam rolling in the afternoon.

Saturday:   In the morning, 5 miles easy (8:03), yoga, another 2.5 miles (8:09 pace) and then 1000 yards of swimming.   Foam-rolling in the afternoon.

Sunday:   In the morning, 10 miles easy (8:02 pace) and then ~3000 yards of swimming (it was 2700 long course meters, which is _almost the same).  Foam rolling at night.