Training log - Week ending 1/31/2016

This week was 55 miles of running and 3000 yards of swimming -- training log is here.

Recovery week - both from last week's race and from the blizzard.  I managed to arrive back in DC on Monday afternoon, when they re-opened the local airports (video of landing at DCA below - note the very rarely frozen Potomac River). 

Since my direct flight from Austin had been cancelled, I had to route through Chicago, so the trip took most of my Monday.  I foam-rolled, did laundry, and called it a day.

Home Sweet Whitehurst

Tuesday ended up being a rest day as well.  DC/Northern Virginia was still enough of a mess that there was nowhere to run - sidewalks were covered, trails were a mess, roads resembled a snowy version of Mad Max.  Plus, the pool was still closed, so pool-running wasn't an option.

If I had truly needed to get miles in, I could have excavated my four wheel drive and journeyed to Georgetown and the pastoral charm of the Whitehurst Freeway underbelly.  But...I'm not marathon training, and so there's no pressing need for miles.  Plus I was still sore from the half, and the remnants of my headcold still lingered.  So I skipped running on Tuesday as well.

Inadvertently phallic Thursday run.

The temperature oscillated all week - cycling between 60 degrees (so the snow melts) and 20 degrees (so all the water run-off turns to black ice).  The local trails were plowed by Wednesday, making them a running option.  But an overnight freeze rendered them treacherous on Thursday morning, mandating loops in a local neighborhood instead.

Since the track was covered in ice and snow, Friday's tempo workout was done under the Whitehurst.  Which was fine with me - I had some lingering fatigue, and so it was nice to do an effort-based tempo (splits are meaningless under the Whitehurst, since it's uncertain just how far we're running).  By the weekend, there were a few more options for running routes, through our multiple personality weather meant that my wardrobe kept shifting - multiple layers on Saturday, shorts on Sunday.

It's going to take a few more days for things to get back to normal in the DC area.  I have a 5K next Sunday, and things should be more or less clear by then. 

Dailies

Monday:   Off.  Travel from Austin to DC via Chicago (about 8.5 hours travel time door-to-door).  Foam rolled in the evening.

Tuesday:  Nowhere to run (to, baby).  Yoga+weights plus hiking through the snow to the grocery store.

Wednesday: 4.5 miles very easy (9:48 pace) to yoga, and then a yoga class.  Followed with 7.5 miles very easy (8:48) back home plus drills+strides.  Foam rolling at night.

Thursday:   4.5 miles very easy (9:31 pace) to yoga, and then a yoga class plus upper body weights and core.  Followed with 5.5 miles very easy (8:58) back home plus drills+strides.  Foam rolling at night.  

Friday:  9 miles, including a Whitehurst Freeway tempo of approximately 4 miles in 27:00 (split the three loops as 9:18/9:02/8:40).  Followed with injury prevention work and 1500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling at night.

Saturday:  10 miles very easy (8:57).  Upper body weights and core+foam rolling in the afternoon.

Sunday:  14 miles progressive, split as first 5 at 9:07, next 2 at 8:15, next 3 at 7:34, last 4 at 6:44. Followed with injury prevention work and yoga.   1500 yards recovery swimming+foam rolling in the afternoon.