Training log - Week ending 8/7/16

This week was 59 miles of running, 21 "miles" of pool-running and 3000 yards of swimming -- training log is here.

The first half of this week was a bit tough.  Though the splits from Tuesday's workout aren't bad on paper, it wasn't a great workout.  The first reps felt great, but then I started hurting halfway through the workout, and had to work to finish it.  Workouts are for training, not straining, but I did the latter on Tuesday.    I think this was partially due to residual fatigue from Sunday's race, and partially due to slacking off on my water consumption during the workout.

I was tired on Wednesday as well, and I struggled to fall asleep on Wednesday night.  And just felt all around lousy and heavy.   Being tired is part of marathon training.  But...problems falling asleep, combined with a bloated feeling, are often a warning sign that I've overreached in my training.  So I reduced my workload substantially on Thursday - skipping the gym and my evening pool-running double.  I also donned a flotation belt for the morning pool-run, to reduce the intensity and make it a true recovery activity.

This seems to have done the trick, as I felt better on Friday (with a much easier workout) and even better yet on the weekend.   So yay.  But it was a good reminder that I need to be mindful of not pushing stuff too hard.  It's a fine line - push hard enough to improve, but not so hard that you can't absorb the training.  Harder is not better.

***

In other news, I signed up for "23andMe" some time ago.  (unofficial motto: when you can't justify buying any more running stuff, spend your disposable income here instead!)   It's a service where you pay some money, spit into a tube (it requires a LOT of spit), and then ship tube+spit off for analysis. They do some analytic stuff, and send you a report a month listing all sorts of genetic information about you.

Having now purchased (and spat), I'm a bit meh about the whole thing.  The report wasn't that interesting, though I guess that's a good thing, since much of the results were confirmation that I didn't carry genes for horrible rare diseases.

Some of the results were pretty funny, though.

 Some results were just....incorrect.

 And some were both incorrect AND hilarious.

Next week, I get to run my first 20+ mile long run since November of last year.   Oddly, given my latent sprinting capabilities, I'm looking forward to it.


Dailies 

Monday: yoga and 7 "miles" pool-running; 2 "miles" pool-running and foam rolling at night.

Tuesday: 10 miles, including a track workout of 2x800, 1600, 2x800 (3:03, 2:59, 6:03, 2:57, 2:53), followed by injury prevention work and 1250 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling at night.

Wednesday: 7.5 miles very easy (8:53) to yoga, then yoga.  Later did 3.5 miles very easy (8:41). 2 "miles" pool-running and a sports massage in the afternoon.

Thursday: 8 "miles" pool-running with the belt.  Foam rolling at night

Friday: 11 miles, including a track workout of 3200, 1600 in 12:45 (6:29/6:16) and 6:03.  followed by injury prevention work and 1250 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling at night.

Saturday: 10 miles very easy (8:57), plus drills and strides.  Upper body weights, 2 "miles" pool-running and foam rolling in the afternoon.

Sunday: 17 miles, including a workout of 4, 3, 2, and 1 miles at marathon pace, with 1 mile easy in between.  Splits were:
4 mile in 28:27 (7:08/7:09/7:07/7:03 - average pace 7:07)
3 mile in 21:34 (7:11/7:12/7:11 - average pace 7:11)
2 mile in 14:18 (7:11/7:07 - average pace 7:09)
1 mile in 6:52
 Followed with injury prevention work and 750 yards of recovery swimming.  Foam rolling in afternoon.