Training log - Week ending 6/25/17

This week was 4 miles of running,  34 "miles" of pool-running, and 6000 yards of swimming -- training log is here.

Rest week, and quite necessary.  During the past few months, I squeezed pretty much everything out of the metaphorical toothpaste tube of my fitness - quite an achievement.  Especially since I usually toss the literal tube early so I can start a new one.

So, it was break time.  There's differing definitions of "break" of course.  I know that many world class elite runners take several weeks of absolutely nothing.  That's a nice option if you're a world class elite runner and have the free time post season to go somewhere and hike and hang out for a week or more.

For the rest of us, a period of doing absolutely nothing physical equates to a period of dealing with the frustrations and stresses of our day jobs while abstaining from our coping mechanisms.  Not terribly restorative.

 Since the ultimate point of a break is to come back refreshed and rejuvenated, I follow two rules: 1) nothing intense and 2) only activities that I really really want to do.  This time around, that ended up being a lot of yoga, social pool-running, and swimming,   And junk food - gluten-free/nut-free/organic/free-range/humanely-raised/handcrafted chocolate cake for breakfast, anyone?

In case you thought I was kidding.

By Thursday morning I was starting to miss running, which told me I was about halfway ready to run again.  I held off until Sunday, and then I scratched the itch.  4 miles felt way too short, an indication that it was just right.

Over the next week, I'll continue with the easy running.  Depending on how I feel, I may show up for my team's hill workout on Friday - the hill workouts are my preferred way of reintroducing hard running, since they're untimed, and each interval is relatively short in duration with a long recovery.

Dailies 

Monday: In the morning, yoga and 6 "miles" pool-running with the belt.  Foam rolling at night.

Tuesday: In the morning, 5 "miles" pool-running with the belt and 2000 yards swimming.  Sports massage in afternoon.

Wednesday:  In the morning, 5 "miles" of pool-running and yoga.  Foam rolling at night.

Thursday: In the morning, injury prevention work and core followed by 9 "miles" pool-running.  Foam rolling at night.

Friday: In the morning, yoga and 2000 yards swimming.  Foam rolling at night.

Saturday:  In the morning, 9 "miles" of pool-running followed by upper body/core work.  Foam rolling at night.

Sunday: In the morning, 4 miles very easy (9:20), followed by 2000 yards of swimming and a yoga class.  Foam rolling at night.