Training log - Week ending 8/26/2018

This week was 61 miles of running, 8 "miles" of pool-running, and 3000 yards of swimming -- training log is here.

Travel and juggling schedules.  Though not as much of either as I had expected.

My plan for the week was to travel to Kansas on Monday afternoon through Tuesday or Wednesday for my grandfather's funeral, and then to travel to Flint, Michigan on Friday for the USATF Masters Road Mile Championships.  So, my coach and I moved the normal Tuesday workout to Monday morning to fit it in.

Monday's workout sucked.  The weather was lousy - very humid, with spluttering rain and a fairly strong headwind on the track.  And I was in a bad mood.  But I got it done at the proper effort.

And then the travel started - a ~2 hour flight from DC to Kansas city, and then a lot of driving.  It's 320 miles each way between the Kansas City airport and Collyer, Kansas, where my grandfather's funeral was held.  I landed at Kansas City and drove to Topeka the first night.  

I specifically chose my hotel in Topeka based on its proximity to both the interstate 

Loop-de-loop in Topeka

and a shopping mall.  I've learned that when I'm traveling through strange areas, my best bets for safe running are large shopping malls or universities.  Either usually features a paved perimeter drive of at least a mile in length that is well lit, patrolled by security, and very low in car traffic in the early morning.  Doing multiple loops is boring.  But it's by far the safest option for a woman running by herself in the dark in a strange location.

Then it was off for my day trip to Collyer, Kansas.  Which is every bit as isolated as you think it is. 

Collyer, Kansas - as seen from my rental car.

It was a long day of driving - I have no idea how anyone drove long distance before the advent of satellite radio.  Though I will note that multi-hour pool-runs are excellent training for a multi-hour drive through Kansas.

The Kansas driving segment - click on picture to expand.

The trip as a whole - click on picture to expand.

In terms of boredom, the drive was not quite as bad as I expected.  Though not a sightseeing tour by any means, there were enough points of interest - military bases, gas stations-combined-with-laundromats, closed-and-decaying gas stations, lingerie-and-porn-shops-marketing-to-lonely-truckers, and wind farms  - to keep me engaged.

[not my wind farm video - just one I found on YouTube by GregHillTopeka]

And seriously, the wind farms were really really cool - the video above doesn't quite capture how HUGE these things are.  The contrast between the very rural landscape and the futuristic giant windmills was eerie.

I made it to Collyer and back safely, and in good time, and got to see my extended family (albeit under sad circumstances) so the (very long) day was a success to the extent attendance at a funeral can be classified as such.

***

I arrived back in DC Wednesday afternoon, and started prepping for my second trip of the week, to Flint, Michigan for the USATF Masters Road Mile Championships.  Only to realize that I really didn't feel like going.  

I was looking forward to the race itself, but the trip there required a 70 minute flight and then an 80 minute drive each way, and repeating the drill so soon had no appeal, even if this trip would be significantly shorter than the Kansas one.  I just didn't want to get on another airplane to fly another place to rent another car to drive on another highway.

Plus, I was tired, making the prospect of getting home well after midnight on Friday distasteful.  Ultimately, I do this sport for fun.  And the truth was, traveling to this race was feeling like a chore, not an adventure.

I chatted with my coach to see whether he cared if I did the race.  As it turned out, he much preferred that I stay home, avoid the travel stress on my body, and get a good quality tempo in.  So that's what I did. I had to eat the plane fare, but it was a cheap flight, so not a big deal.

***

We all have workouts that we find especially beneficial - for me, my sweet spot workout is running for 25-35 minutes at between 10 mile and half-marathon pace - which is another way of saying "a tempo of 4-5 miles in distance."  Out of all the workouts we do, I respond to those the best, but I rarely get to do them in the summer due to the heat and humidity.  We either shorten the workout to 5K or split it into intervals, which I don't benefit from in quite the same way. 

On Friday, we were gifted with unusually cool and dry weather for August, and I took advantage of it with an 8K tempo.  I was definitely still a bit tired, but the tempo went well, and there's no doubt in my mind that I gained more fitness-wise from the tempo than I would have from a mile race. 

Then on Sunday, I unofficially kicked off CIM training with a 14 mile progression down to marathon pace effort (this cycle, I'm planning to ignore my watch on long runs and do all my marathon pace work by feel).  It went pretty well - marathon pace effort is not yet yielding my desired marathon pace (between 6:45-6:50) but I have a bit over 3 months for that to change. 

***

Last winter, when I was mapping out my training and racing for this year, my plan had been to race Boston, then spend the rest of the spring and summer getting into good short distance shape so I could run really well at the mile and 5K distances in the late summer/early fall before switching back to marathons.  Inserting Grandma's Marathon into the mix obviously changed things, and the fact is that I'm not currently in the shape I had hoped I would be at this time of year.  

But, you can't have everything, and the PR I ran at Grandma's was worth the trade-off.  I do feel that I'm in a good place for starting a new cycle.  I'm fresh and eager and well-rested, I'm sufficiently out of shape that I'm not too worried about peaking too early, and I'm also fit enough that it's not going to be too hard of a climb back.  Bring on the training (after the 5K and mile races I have in the next two weeks, of course).

Dailies

Monday: 11.5 miles, including a track workout of 4x(800, 400) in 3:00, 87, 3:02, 88, 2:58, 88, 3:01, 85.  Followed with injury prevention and leg strength work, and then 1000 yards of recovery swimming, and some foam rolling.  Flew DC to Kansas City in the afternoon, and then drove to Topeka, Kansas that evening.

Tuesday: 8 miles very easy (8:50) around a shopping mall, plus drills and strides, and DIY yoga in hotel.  Drove from Topeka to Collyer, Kansas, (242 miles) and then from Collyer back to Kansas City, Missouri (320 miles).  Total of 570 miles covered - 8 running; 562 driving.

Wednesday:  5.5 miles very easy (10:00), plus drills and strides. (running on broken overgrown sidewalks outside Kansas City International Airport before sunrise = 10 minute pace).  Followed with a failed attempt at strengthwork in an impressively lousy hotel gym.  Flew Kansas City to DC.

Thursday:  Upper body weights/core at the much better gym at home, and then 8 "miles" of pool-running.  Chatted with coach and decided to skip Friday race.  Foam rolling at night. 

Friday: 12 miles, including an 8K tempo in 32:17 (6:34/6:30/6:30/6:25/6:18).   Followed with injury prevention and leg strength work, and then 1250 yards of recovery swimming.  Foam rolling at night.

Saturday: 10 miles very easy (9:02), followed by upper body strengthwork and core.  Foam rolling at night.

Sunday:  14 miles progressive, split as first 4 miles averaging 9:09, next 5 averaging 7:50, last 5 averaging 7:04.  Followed with leg strength work and 750 yards of recovery swimming.  Foam rolling at night.

Training log - Week ending 8/19/2018

This week was 46 miles of running, 24 "miles" of pool-running, and 2000 yards of swimming -- training log is here.

Stuff got juggled around a bit this week for multiple reasons.  

A relatively cooler Tuesday meant that we extended Tuesday's workout, while also shortening the recovery slightly (400m after the 1200s instead of the normal half-distance recovery; we kept the recovery after the 800s and 400 to half-distance).  By contrast, Friday's workout, normally a tempo or cruise intervals) was modified to 3200 (800 recovery), 2x800, and 2x200m.  We made the switch because I'm racing two road miles in the next three weeks, and so this workout made more sense for those goals.

As it turned out, Friday was fairly warm and humid, so the team all swapped to 3200 repeats anyway.  And since some of the fast guys run 3200m at the same pace I run 800m, I ended up with company for pretty much all of the workout.

Interestingly, despite the fact that Tuesday's weather was far nicer than Friday's, the Friday workout went much better.  My breathing wasn't great on Tuesday - I really should have just used my rescue inhaler, but I didn't due to a combination of being stubborn, blaming it on tired legs, and being in denial about the onset of hay fever season.  Instead, I just ran the workout by effort and grinded through.

On Friday, I accepted that which could no longer be denied, upped the meds, and whadyaknow - better workout.  Including running Friday's 3200m at a faster pace than my first 1200 on Tuesday.  Funny how that works.

[same PSA as always when I discuss this stuff - I'm really careful to make sure everything I take for my asthma/allergies is legal.  Wondering whether what you take is legal?  Check here.]

***

My grandfather passed away this Tuesday, at the age of 100.  Sad in a wistful way, but not unexpected.  My sense was that after his 100th birthday he was ready to go, which gives peace to his passing.

The big get-together for his 100th last November.

His memorial service is on Tuesday in Kansas (Collyer, Kansas), which is going to require a lot of travel.  The ghost town of Collyer is about 300 miles from either Kansas City or Denver - the two closest cities with direct flights from DC.  So I leave DC Monday afternoon and return sometime on Wednesday, with a lot of driving in between.  

Then, on Friday night, I have the USATF Masters Road Mile Championships in Flint Michigan.  In keeping with my normal MO (which means reduce travel time as much as possible), I'm flying into Michigan that morning and then out that evening post race.   I should be done with my race before 7 pm and my flight is at 10:15 pm, so hopefully this won't be too tight.

Because of all this travel, my coach and I moved my normal Tuesday morning track workout to Monday morning.  This way I don't have to worry about fitting in a workout while driving hundreds of miles, and I also get an extra day of rest between the track workout and Friday's race (though that rest will be compromised by all the travel).  

A Monday track workout means no Sunday long run, so I spent this Sunday in the pool.  Not really an issue - marathon training doesn't start until next month, and I've certainly done enough long runs this year anyway.

Dailies

Monday: Yoga and 8.5 "miles" of pool-running.  Foam rolling at night.

Tuesday: 12.5 miles, including a track workout of 3x(1200, 800, 400) in 4:46, 3:05, 88;  4:39, 3:01, 88;  4:32, 2:58, 85.  Followed with injury prevention and leg strength work, and then 1000 yards of recovery swimming.  Foam rolling at night.

Wednesday:  8 miles very easy to yoga (9:14), yoga, and then 4 miles very easy (9:02).  Foam rolling at night.

Thursday:  7.5 "miles" of pool-running and upper body weights/core.  Foam rolling at night.

Friday: 11 miles, including a track workout of 3200, 2x800, 2x200 in 12:34 (6:21/6:13), 2:55, 2:52, 40, and 39.   Followed with injury prevention and leg strength work, and then 1000 yards of recovery swimming.  Foam rolling at night.

Saturday: 10.5 miles very easy (9:13), followed by DIY yoga and foam rolling.

Sunday:  8 "miles" of pool-running and upper body weights/core.  Foam rolling at night.

Training log - Week ending 8/12/2018

This week was 58 miles of running, 17 "miles" of pool-running, and 3000 yards of swimming -- training log is here.

A bit better than last week.  My speed (intervals) is coming back before my stamina (tempo), which is normal for me, and probably amplified by the fact that my few weeks of playing around included hills (so speed) and mile races but nothing tempo-ish.  

Not a complaint, just an observation.  While it's not fun being out of shape, it is fun getting back into shape.  And I've found that for myself it's important to take that one step back in order to take multiple steps forward.

Dailies

Monday: Yoga and 8.5 "miles" of pool-running.  Foam rolling at night.

Tuesday: 11.5 miles, including a track workout of 1600, 1200, 3x800, 2x200 in 6:10, 4:31, 2:59, 2:58, 2:52, 40, and 39.  Followed with injury prevention and leg strength work, and then 1000 yards of recovery swimming.  Foam rolling at night.

Wednesday:  8 miles very easy to yoga (9:20), yoga, and then 4 miles very easy (9:13), plus drills and strides.  Foam rolling at night.

Thursday:  Upper body weights/core and 8.5 "miles" of pool-running.  Foam rolling at night.

Friday: 11h miles, including a 4 mile tempo in 26:26 (6:47/6:34/6:35/6:30).  Followed with injury prevention and leg strength work, and then 1000 yards of recovery swimming.  Foam rolling at night.

Saturday: 10 miles very easy (9:24), followed by upper body weights/core, DIY yoga, and foam rolling.

Sunday:  13.5 miles progressive, split as the first 4 miles averaging 8:59, next 4 miles averaging 7:49, and the last 5 miles averaging 7:04 (plus a half-mile cooldown). [meant to do 12 progressive, but did the math wrong - running math is hard.]  Followed with injury prevention and leg strength work, and then 1000 yards of recovery swimming.  Foam rolling at night.

Training log - Week ending 8/5/2018

This week was 54 miles of running, 17 "miles" of pool-running, and 3000 yards of swimming -- training log is here.

This was my first week of seriously training (and by serious, I mean hitting the track).  Tuesday's workout went surprisingly well, aided by a conservative start.  

Friday's workout did not, despite a conservative start to that as well.  When given my choice of distances, I opted for "four miles, but dropping at 5K if I'm straining" - at 5K I was starting to strain, but decided to try for 4 anyway, only to re-decide a few moments later that I really should have dropped at 5K.   Thus, a tempo of approximately 5250 meters in distance.

I think it was partially the thick humidity, but also that I'm out of shape in multiple ways.   Physically, I was working too hard for a tempo (so it was good I shut it down).  Mentally I just wasn't in shape for 16 laps on a warm day (though from that standpoint it probably would have been better if I had finished it).  

Tempos are always the hardest workout for me since I struggle to focus for that long. Intervals and hills are easier since I get breaks, and long runs are assisted by the changing scenery.   Having done nothing but hills, mile races, and moderate distance aerobic runs has left me short on concentration skills.  Which I'm not too worried about - that comes back pretty easily.

Sunday, I decided to go with a standard progressive long run, just a shorter distance.  Since it was hot and humid again, I didn't rely on my watch during the final four miles at marathon pace.  Though I usually train watchless, in the past marathon pace running has been the one time I've relied on my Garmin - mostly because I didn't trust myself not to run too fast without the watch to reel me in.   However, I've now run 9 marathons (wow), and paced them all off of perceived effort.  I think I'm probably ready to run my marathon pace workouts off of perceived effort as well.

Dailies

Monday: Yoga and 8.5 "miles" of pool-running.  Foam rolling at night.

Tuesday: 11 miles, including a track workout of 2x800, 1600, 2x800 in 3:06, 3:01, 6:08, 2:58, 2:51.  Followed with injury prevention and leg strength work, and then 1000 yards of recovery swimming.  Foam rolling at night.

Wednesday:  8 miles very easy to yoga (9:14), yoga, and then 4 miles very easy (9:18), plus drills and strides.  Sports massage in afternoon.

Thursday:  Upper body weights/core and 8.5 "miles" of pool-running.  Foam rolling at night.

Friday: 9 miles, including an intended 4 mile tempo - I bailed at just after 13 laps, so my splits were 6:38/6:33/6:37, and then a bit more before bailing.  Followed with injury prevention and leg strength work, and then 1000 yards of recovery swimming.  Foam rolling at night.

Saturday: 10 miles very easy (9:05), followed by upper body weights/core and foam rolling.

Sunday:  12 miles progressive, split as the first 5 miles averaging 8:51, next 3 miles averaging 8:03, and the last 4 miles averaging 7:10.  Followed with injury prevention and leg strength work, and then 1000 yards of recovery swimming.  Foam rolling at night.