Training log - Week ending 12/29/2019

This week was 46 miles of running, 21 "miles" of pool-running, and 2000 yards swimming -- training log is here.

I'm racing a 4 miler on New Years Eve, so everything this week was working back from that.  I skipped a long run this weekend in favor of a few 200s to sharpen up on Sunday.  And Friday's tempo workout was converted to 2x3200m since it fell 5 days before the race.

I balanced things out by slowing down Tuesday's workout and extending the volume.  I find I get good results from this sort of modification to a traditional track workout - I'm still working hard, but not going anaerobic at all, and the extra volume helps with strength.

Even after accounting for the fact that I was holding back, Tuesday's workout was a bit slower than I expected (I'd assumed I'd be hitting low 3:0x for the given effort and weather). At the time, I assumed it was because I was still tired from last week's marathon pace workout, but a check of my peak flow meter (handheld device that measures my breathing volume) confirmed that my asthma was starting to flare.  

[in restrospect, this wasn't surprising - we had a bout of cold and very dry air last week, followed by a few days of Code Orange air quality earlier this week.  This made for a nice one-two punch to my lungs.]

Normal for me on the peak flow meter is around 500 - when I drop under 475 I start to get worried.  Tuesday's reading was just over 450.  By Wednesday, I was down to 400, so back on the prednisone for me.  Fortunately, it doesn't take a particularly large dose or too long to turn stuff around - two days of pred this time reversed the trend.  

Which is good, because though running on prednisone is amazing - you just don't get tired - everything else about being on it is miserable.  Insomnia, concentration difficulties, non-stop sugar cravings, bloating.   Plus the more permanent concern of reduced bone density if I'm on it too long.

But, I was able to go on it for Thursday and Friday, and by Friday things were improved enough that I could stop taking it.  So yay.  Hopefully I don't have to deal with it again for a while.

[obligatory note as always - oral pred is banned in competition, but allowed out of competition.  Want to know if your medication is allowed?  Check Global DRO.  It's easy.  And the ethical thing to do.]

In other news, I hopefully had my final session of shoulder PT this week.  Everything seems to be working.  So yay.  I need another week or two to confirm no relapse of shoulder issues, and then I'm done with that chapter.  Yay.

Dailies

Monday:  Upper body weights, core, and 10 "miles" pool-running. Shoulder PT in the afternoon; foam rolling at night.

Tuesday: 12 miles, including a track workout of 8x800, 4x200 in 3:09, 3:08, 3:08, 3:10, 3:09, 3:08, 3:06, 3:06, 44, 44, 44, 43 (recoveries between 2:28 and 2:35 for the 800s; full recovery between the 200s).  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling at night.

Wednesday:  5 miles very easy (9:02).  Shoulder work and foam rolling at night.

Thursday: Yoga and 11 "miles" of pool-running.  Foam rolling at night.

Friday:  12 miles, including a track workout of 2x3200 in 12:52 (6:28/6:24) and 12:46 (6:25/6:21) with 6 minutes recovery in between.  Followed with leg strengthwork and shoulderwork, plus 750 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling at night.

Saturday: 10 miles very easy (8:42), drills and four strides, upper body work, core and shoulder work.  Foam rolling in afternoon.

Sunday: 7 miles, including a quick sharpening workout of 4x200m in 43, 43, 39, 38, followed by four short hill sprints with full recovery.  Followed with 750 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling at night.

Training log - Week ending 12/22/2019

This week was 61 miles of running, 18 "miles" of pool-running, and 1000 yards swimming -- training log is here.

This was the week that I really felt my fitness coming back.  I run my marathon pace workouts based on effort, and high 6:40s felt like marathon effort on Saturday.  So that's nice.  I knew it would come back - the only question was whether it would come back quickly enough for me to run a good half-marathon in Houston.  Based on Saturday's run, I'm optimistic.

I did just two hard workouts this week, on Wednesday and Saturday.  Wednesday's workout ended up being a bit slow for the perceived effort, but I credit that to not dressing well for the weather.  It was 28 degrees and before sunrise, and I wore just a thin longsleeve shirt plus tights to avoid overheating during the workout.  Turns out I didn't need to worry about that - instead I froze.  

We had the same weather on Saturday, and I went with a running jacket instead.  Ah....much better - I was comfortable the entire run.  A good reminder to me that it is possible to underdress, and being too cold can slow one down too.

I'm racing on Tuesday the 31st, so I won't do a long run next weekend.  Just a interval workout and a controlled tempo, and then pull back.

Dailies

Monday:  Yoga and 9 "miles" pool-running. Shoulder work and foam rolling at night.

Tuesday: 9 miles very easy (8:56) to the gym, upper body weights, core, and shoulder work, 3 miles very easy (8:31) home followed by drills and four uphill strides.  Foam rolling at night.

Wednesday:  14 miles, including a track tempo workout of 4800, 3200, 1600, 2x200 in 19:53 (6:43/6:40/6:30), 13:08 (6:38/6:30), 6:24, 43, and 43.  5-6 minute recovery between the longer segments; full recovery for the 200s.  Followed with leg strengthwork and shoulder work, plus 750 yards recovery swimming. Sports massage in the afternoon.

Thursday: Upper body work and core, and shoulder work, followed by 9 "miles" of pool-running.  Foam rolling at night.

Friday:  5 miles very easy (9:11), yoga, and then 6 miles very easy (8:48) plus drills and four strides.  Foam rolling at night.

Saturday: 17 miles, including a marathon effort workout of 4, 3, 2, 1 miles at marathon effort with 1 mile float in between.  Split as .

4 miles: 27:29 (6:54/7:02/6:45/6:48 - average 6:52 pace)
3 miles: 20:16 (6:45/6:49/6:42 - average 6:45 pace)
2 miles: 13:23 (6:41/6:42 - average 6:42 pace)
1 mile: 6:40.
Recoveries between 7:41-7:52 after each.  Followed with leg injury prevention work, shoulder work, and 500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling in afternoon.

Sunday: 7 miles very easy (8:55) plus drills and strides, and then a yoga class.  Followed with shoulder work and foam rolling.

Training log - Week ending 12/15/2019

This week was 64 miles of running, 18 "miles" of pool-running, 2000 yards swimming, and a whole lotta shoulder rehab work -- training log is here.

Not much to write about here - just a normal week of training.  But...it is very nice to have a "normal" week again.  It seems like it's been forever since that's been the case.  My fitness is obviously not where it was this past fall, but it is improving nicely and quickly, and I'm pretty happy about that.

One thought that has popped into my mind - I wonder how much of my "loss in fitness" is not really a fitness issue, but more of a staleness.  I've known that I have to do something intense at least once or twice a week, or I get very flat and sluggish.  And of course, after a marathon, I take a period of a few weeks where I drop the intensity.  Perhaps when I come back, the slowness is not so much that I'm out of shape but that I've gotten very flat from a few weeks of nothing but easy jogging.

It's an interesting thought - I'm not sure it really matters one way or the other, since I wouldn't change anything about my post-marathon recovery habits either way.  You can't go hard year round.  At least I can't.

Dailies

Monday:  Yoga and 8 "miles" pool-running. Shoulder work and foam rolling at night.

Tuesday: 12.5 miles, including a track workout of 2x1200, 2x800, 2x400, 2x200 in 4:42, 4:38, 3:02, 2:58, 86, 83, 42, 41 (recoveries mostly between 2:38 and 2:50; 1:55 recovery between the 400s and 1:17 recovery between the 200s.  Followed with leg strengthwork and 800 yards recovery swimming.  PT session for the shoulder in the afternoon; foam rolling at night.

Wednesday:  7.5 miles very easy (9:13), yoga, 4.5 miles very easy (8:52), and drills and four strides.  Shoulder work and foam rolling at night.

Thursday: Upper body work and core, and shoulder work, followed by 10 "miles" of pool-running.  Foam rolling at night.

Friday:  12 miles, including a track tempo of ~4 miles (6400m) in 26:41 (6:47/6:39/6:39/6:36).  Followed with leg strengthwork and shoulderwork, plus 750 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling at night.

Saturday: 10.5 miles very easy (8:47), drills and four strides, upper body work, core and shoulder work.  Foam rolling in afternoon.

Sunday: 16.5 miles mostly progressive, split as first 5 miles averaging 8:53, next 5 averaging 7:45, next 6 averaging 6:53 (plus a half mile cooldown) and then leg strengthwork and shoulderwork, plus 450 yards recovery swimming.