Training log - Week ending 1/24/2016

Rafe and myself, post-easy run.

This week was 47 miles of running, 1500 yards of swimming, and 7 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here.


Big week.  Work trip to Tampa, then a trip to Austin to race.  The weather I ran in was all over the place - 12 degrees on Tues/Weds; 50s-60s on Thurs/Fri, and upper 30s on Sunday.  It's fun to look at my paces for this week, and realize just how much weather affects pace.

The race went very well, though that's another blog post.  The trip also gave me chances to catch up with my old club friends Rafe (in Tampa) and Sunil and Althea (in Austin).

Althea, myself, and Sunil.

 It's really cool how running has made it easier in some ways to meet up with old friends, be it running meet-ups or traveling to a city to race.

This weekend also gave me a chance to play with the "ground contact time balance" on my Garmin some more.  My half this weekend was the first race I've run since I got the GCT balance function, so I was curious to see the data.

Half-marathon.

As it turns out, I'm balanced when I run fast.  Look at all that pretty green for 13+ miles.

And then compare that to Friday's easy run with a mile pick-up, and all its red.   And even within Friday's run, you can clearly see the distinction between my slow running and the faster mile.  Neat.

Easy run+ mile pick-up.

I'm still not sure what to do with this data, other than pat myself on the back for apparently being a better runner when I'm trying to run fast (which is preferable to the inverse).  At least it gives me blog content.



This week is going to be dedicated to getting rid of my damn headcold (I relapsed some on Monday morning, post race.  No surprise there). And shoveling a ton of snow.  I suspect these two goals conflict.

Dailies

Monday:   Yoga plus 7 "miles" easy pool-running and upper body weights.  Foam rolling at night.

Tuesday:  10 miles, including a frigid workout of 1600, and 4x800, split as 6:18, 3:11, 3:09, 3:07, 3:05.  Somehow, my 800s ended up being slower than my 1600 - it's not supposed to work that way, but I guess it's just a reflection of how cold I was (temp 12, windchill of -2).  Defrosted and then hit the pool for 1500 yards of recovery swimming.  Sports massage at night.

Wednesday: 3.5 miles very easy (9:21 pace) to yoga, and then a yoga class.  Followed with 3.5 miles very easy (8:53) back home plus drills+strides, followed by foam rolling.  Then flew to Tampa.

Thursday:   7 miles easy (8:56); skipped drills+strides in favor of a random meeting with my boss (he finished his walk just as I finished my run).  Foam rolling in hotel gym. 

Friday:  7 miles, mostly very easy (9:43) but with a mile pick-up at 6:40. Foam rolling in hotel gym.  Flew to Austin at night.

Saturday:  Full rest.  Headcold.  Zicam, Tylenol, OJ.

Sunday:  3 mile warm-up, and then half-marathon in 1:26:53.  Followed with contrast bathing by alternating hotel outdoor pool and hotel hot tub.