Training log - Week ending 7/12/2015

This week was 64.5 miles of running, 9 "miles" of pool-running and 4000 yards of swimming  -- training log is here.

(and yes, it drives me nuts that the week ended on a half mile. We all have our neuroses.)

This week was a careful return to training. I added in drills and strides after my easy runs during the middle of the week.  Friday was almost 3 weeks post marathon - close enough that I was OK'd to start back to hard running with a conservative hill loop workout - six repeats of running hard for about 2 minutes up a hill, then about 90 seconds jog, a stride focused on turning over the feet, and then jog down easy to the start of the hill.

It's a fun workout, and one of my favorites, even though I'm a really poor uphill runner.  I think I love it so much because it doesn't involve little circles on the track, and my whole team is consistently cheering each other on as we run.

This is pretty much how I imagine
I look when I run.

I feel that the uphill segment of the workout really targets my weakness, so I'm happy to have a chance to work on it. The downhill segment focusing on leg turnover/high running cadence, on the other hand, targets a debatable strength of mine.

As the owner of a short body with disproportionately short legs for my height, the only way I get anywhere is by moving my legs quickly.  I'm intrigued by those who struggle to meet that magic 180 cadence - I overshoot that on my very easy runs (usually mid-180s), and my marathon pace cadence is in the low 190s.  Fast speedwork on the track is about 200 steps a minute.

So when we come to the fast turnover part of the workout, I usually try to up my cadence a little, but focus more on the "good running form/don't overstride" guidance, which is really the underlying goal of increasing turnover for most people.

But, on Friday, empowered by the cadence sensor on my Garmin, I decided to try to truly max out my cadence once, and see just how fast I could turnover my legs.

The answer is to the left.  About 250 steps per minute.  Yee-haw!

It's a dubious achievement, but I'll keep it anyway.

For the next few weeks, I'm in maintenance mode - marathon training for the Philadelphia Marathon (my fall goal race) will start in late August.  Until then, I'll hold where I am now - about 60-65 miles per week, with my speedwork consisting of long intervals on Tuesday (1-3 miles per interval) and hill repeats on Friday.

Dailies

Monday:   Yoga, some upperbody strengthwork and injury prevention work, and 5 "miles" easy pool-running in the morning; 2 "miles" of easy pool-running and foam rolling at night.

Tuesday:  10 miles aerobic (9:31 pace, but can't call this one "easy" due to the combination of high humidity and hilly terrain), followed by some injury prevention work and 1500 yards easy swimming.  Foam rolling in evening.

Wednesday: 3 miles easy (9:54), followed by a yoga class and then another 7 miles easy (9:26), followed by drills, 2 strides, and 2 hill sprints.   Foam rolling in afternoon.

Thursday:   5.5 miles very easy (9:41), followed by a yoga class.  Later, another 3 miles very easy (9:10) with drills and 2 strides, and some upperbody strengthwork and injury prevention work,.  Foam rolling at night.

Friday:  10 miles, including six hill repeats.   Followed with some injury prevention work and 1500 yards easy swimming.    Sports massage in the afternoon.

Saturday:  12 miles very easy (9:12) plus drills and two strides, followed by upper body strengthwork/injury prevention work.  2 "miles" easy pool-running in the afternoon. Foam rolling at night.

Sunday:  14 miles progressive, split as first 2 at 9:44, next 6.5 at 8:36, next 2.5 at 7:45, and last 3 at 7:09. Followed with some injury prevention work and a yoga class.  1000 yards easy swimming in the afternoon.  Foam rolling at night.