Training log - Week ending 3/8/15

This week was 70 miles of running and 3 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here.

I was sick for the first part of this week.   And so I was able to confirm that running a 10K in an ice storm when you're not feeling well will probably make you feel worse.  I know some people were wondering about that, so I'm glad I had the opportunity to test it out. 

That being said, I was glad I raced the 10K.  I think I was going to be sick one way or the other, so at least I got a good hard run in before having to take a few easy days. 

Runner logic is strange.

The balance of Sunday and all of Monday were spent with blankets and fluids and furry kitty and Whole Foods chili and a computer.  Really, what else do you need for happiness?

I still felt horrible on Tuesday when I woke up, with a sore throat and sinus pain that made my teeth hurt.  After debating (and Facebooking) I went out for an easy test run to see how I felt.  As sometimes happens, I felt better as I ran, and so ended up doing an easy 8 miler, followed by another easy 3.

And that was how the next few days went.  I quarantined myself from yoga/gym/pool etc until I had kicked the worst of it/was hopefully no longer contagious, and then added those back in.  One of my biggest pet peeves is people that go to the gym or yoga when they're sick, so I really try not to be that person.  (I don't worry that much about running outside - I just try to give other people a bit of space).

By Friday, though I wasn't completely recovered, I was ready for a workout.  Which was cancelled due to a snowstorm.  Sigh.  We were told to try to do what we could, where we could.  For me, since I had to be in the city Friday morning anyways, storm or not, "what I could" ended up being the Whitehurst freeway.  Again.

Just give me the extra .02, OK?

This time, I mixed it up by running back and forth between Jack's boathouse and 31st St (we normally turn at Wisconsin).  Going the extra block to 31st St meant that my "track" was a half mile each way - like any runner, I'm all about the exact distance.  And the extra block between Wisconsin and 31st also had heavier car traffic, which added spice to the workout.

To mix stuff up, I did 4 miles at "relaxed tempo effort" as four out and backs, followed by a ~1200m jog and then 2x a half mile with 400m recovery (guesstimated the recovery by time).

Solid workout, right?  I thought so.  And I was psyched to hit the showers in town and head to my conference.  And then I realized I was running late.  Which was no problem - my head really hadn't sweated at all, so I really didn't need to wash my hair.  A bit of headband hair, to be sure, but I could fix that.

And then I realized that I hadn't even broken a sweat during this workout (that's happened a few other times when doing workouts with temps in the teens).  And also that due to the snow emergency, it was going to be really hard to find parking at the gym at which I had planned to shower.

And that's how I ended up sneaking into the Marriott Marquis in downtown DC in my workout gear, and changing directly into my business wear in the handicapped stall of a bathroom.  I washed the Vaseline off my face with some handsoap, and used a moist towelette for everything else.  Then fixed my hair up with a french braid (wasn't anything else I could do with it), crammed my running clothes into the bag that held my conference materials, and stepped (only slightly late) into the 8:15 panel on the privacy implications of employee background checks.

No shame here.

Dailies

Monday:   Relocated between bed and couch a few times.  Did some foam rolling at night.

Tuesday:  Slept in, then 8 very easy miles (felt better as I went).  Did another very easy 3 (9:06) a bit later plus some injury prevention work at home gym.  Foam rolling at night.

 

Wednesday: 9 miles very easy (8:59 pace) followed by a yoga class. Later, another 4 miles easy (9:03), followed by drills and strides.  Foam rolling at night.

 

Thursday:   7 very miles to yoga in nice weather (8:54), yoga, and then a bit over a mile back home in a snowstorm (9:34).  Foam rolling at night.

Friday:  11 miles under the Whitehurst, including a restrained 4 mile tempo in 27:23, followed by 2x800m in 3:01 and 3:06 (had to dodge a car on the second).    Foam rolling at night.

Saturday:   12  miles easy (8:10) plus drills and strides, and then injury prevention/upper body strength work.  Foam rolling in afternoon.

Sunday:  14.5 miles, done progressive style - first 5 miles at 8:25 pace, next 5 at 7:36 pace, and last 4.5 at 6:49 pace.  Followed with yoga, some injury prevention exercises, and 30 minutes recovery pool-running (sinuses still not up to swimming).  Foam rolling at night.