Training log - Week ending 12/27/2020

 This week was 60 miles of running, 1000 yards of swimming and 15 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here. 

Not too much interesting - just putting in the work this week.  I usually do my long runs as progressions, but this week stuck to easy pace, since I had done a tempo the day before.  Conclusion: long runs are much more tedious when you have to keep them to easy pace.

Dailies 

Monday: 5 "miles" pool-running and streaming yoga in the morning; foam rolling at night.

Tuesday: 5 miles very easy (9:42), drills and 2 hill strides, upper body weights/core, then 5 miles very easy (8:40).   Foam rolling at night.

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Wednesday: 12 miles on the track, including a workout of 2x1200, 3x800, 400, 2x200 in 4:43, 4:40, 3:10, 3:05, 3:04, 88, 43, 41.  400m recovery between each in 2:2x-2:5x.  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling at night.

Thursday:  5 "miles" of pool-running and streaming yoga in the morning.  Foam rolling at night.

Friday: 8 miles very easy (9:08), upper body weights/core, streaming yoga (just half a class), and 4 miles very easy on treadmill (9:00).   Foam rolling at night.

Saturday: 12 miles on the treadmill, including a tempo workout of ~4 miles in 27:03 (footpod said 4 miles at 6:46 pace; treadmill claimed 6:40-6:36 pace).  Followed with leg strengthwork, streaming yoga, and then 500 yards of recovery swimming.  Foam rolling in afternoon.

Sunday:  14 miles very easy (8:51) and streaming yoga in the morning; 5 "miles" pool-running and foam rolling in afternoon.

Training log - Week ending 12/20/2020

 This week was 48 miles of running, 1000 yards of swimming and xx "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here. 

Raced a 10K, had a bad race.  It happens occasionally, though (like everyone else) I really wish it wouldn't.  

In reflection, I think there were a few things that contributed to my asthma flaring.  One was obviously the cold dry air.  However, it wasn't THAT cold and dry, and I've run well in such in the past.  

I get a monthly injection of a drug called Xolair (legal under USADA) to control my asthma, and I'm due for my next shot on Monday.  That sometimes wears off in the last few days of the month, and that may be the case here.

Also, I've found that I run better in any sort of weather when I'm acclimated.  And guess who did her shakeout run on the treadmill in 68 degrees on Friday to avoid black ice?  Maybe that contributed slightly (or maybe not).

All notes for next time.

Dailies 

Monday: In the morning, upper body weights/core and 5 "miles" pool-running; foam rolling at night.

Tuesday: 12 miles on the treadmill, including a workout of 6x0.5 miles in 3:05, 3:08, 3:03, 3:02, 3:02, 3:01 with 2:30 recovery.   Followed with leg injury prevention work, streaming yoga, and 500 yards recovery swimming.   Foam rolling at night.

Wednesday: 8 miles very easy (9:19), plus another mile on the track to confirm accurate calibration of my footpod.  Followed with streaming yoga.  Foam rolling at night.

Thursday:  Upper body weights/core and 5 "miles" pool-running.  Foam rolling at night.

Friday: DIY yoga and 4 miles very easy on the treadmill (9:20).   Foam rolling at night.

Saturday: 4 mile warm-up, 10K race in 41:01, 2 mile cooldown.  Followed with 500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling in afternoon.

Sunday:  12 miles very easy (9:04), followed by streaming yoga and 5 "miles" pool-running.  Foam rolling in afternoon.

Race Report: Christmas Caper 10K, December 19, 2020.

I ran the Christmas Caper 10K today in an official time of 41:01.

As you can probably tell, it wasn't a great race.

This race, like several others in the PVTC Ed Barron series, was held on Hains Point - a ridiculously flat and fast route if it's not windy.  And it was not windy today, so score!

It was fairly cold, though - in the mid-20s.  I debated what to wear, and eventually went with tights and a longsleeve shirt.  Did my standard warm-up, and then trotted over to the socially distanced start.

We started off, and immediately 3 other women pulled ahead of me.  I let them go because I wanted to start conservatively.  And then after an easy start I started reeling them in.  I passed one, two, and then kept the third in my sights.  The course was essentially a double out and back - my plan was to run the first lap conservatively and then open up for the second.

I had felt OK but not great during the warm-up - just stiff and tight.  Many times, I'll feel one way when warming up and then completely different during the race.  That wasn't the case today - I just felt cold and stiff throughout.  And then my chest started tightening.  

I tried to relax and work through it, but somewhere after the third mile, I pulled over quickly to use my inhaler, then jumped back in - getting passed by a woman and slotting in to third.  Once I started up again I was able to make up ground, but things worsened as I did so.  So I pulled over again about a mile later to take two more puffs.  That was enough to finish the race but it sucked.

My splits ended up being: 

Mile 1: 6:30

Mile 2: 6:24

Mile 3: 6:18

Mile 4: 6:38 (with stop)

Mile 5: 6:45 (with another stop)

Mile 6: 6:26

Last .31 (my watch read a bit longer than the course) in 1:58.

So not the race I wanted or the race I thought I was capable of.  It happens, I guess.  Cold dry air is one of my asthma triggers, so in retrospect this wasn't a complete surprise.  I'm also due for my next Xolair injection on Monday (once a month medication that controls my asthma) and that may have played a role here also.  The Xolair seems to wear off towards the end of the month.  (I have been offered the option of getting it every 2 weeks, but I'm really reluctant to do so since that would double the time I spend each month in a doctor's waiting room.)

I do believe that the good races balance out the bad ones; so this one may just mean better races are on the way in 2020.  I had a similar bad race at the Monument Avenue 10K a few years ago - same exact experience except that the cause was high pollen not cold dry air.  And I ran some great races after that one.  Bad races are the prelude to good ones.

[two obligatory Covid 19 notes:

1) I'm as sure as can be that this is asthma and not Covid 19.  I know shortness of breath can be one of the symptoms of Covid 19, but that's unexplained and consistent shortness of breath, not momentary shortness of breath due to a known trigger. And Covid 19, to my understanding, does not cause brief attacks that are remedied with an albuterol inhaler.  Plus I have no fever, chills, cough, sore throat, loss of taste/smell etc and pulse oximeter reads great.

2) yes, I know that one of the recommendations for those with asthma triggered by cold dry air is to wear a buff or similar.  Believe me I've tried.  I tried several times pre-pandemic.  Doesn't work.  Breathing the super humid air that results while running is another asthma trigger.  Can't win.]

Training log - Week ending 12/13/2020

This week was 52 miles of running, 1000 yards of swimming and 15 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here. 

The first part of this week was focused on recovery.  And also test driving my new treadmill (this time a purchase, not a rental), which I named "Fluffy."  (Because Fluffy is an absolutely ridiculous name for a treadmill).  It was delivered on Thursday, and thus Friday morning's runs were dedicated to getting to know Fluffy.

I waited until Saturday to do my next workout after the half.  Even so, my legs were still tired.  It usually takes me about 10 days to fully recover from a half, so this was not surprising.  I was pretty happy with the workout given how my legs felt - I'm continuing to progress (though you always wish it was faster).

I usually do my tempos on the roads, both because I find it mentally easier and because it's less stress on my ankles.  But I decided to do this one on the track so that I could see how my splits on a measured track compared to my footpod splits on the road.

As it turned out, they were pretty much a match.  Of course, they were never going to be exact, due to the fatigue on my legs, the few seconds difference between a 3200 and a 2 mile interval, and just day to day variations.  But close enough to confirm that I was getting an accurate read on my fitness from those road workouts.  So yay.

Dailies 

Monday: 5 "miles" pool-running in the morning; streaming yoga and foam rolling at night.

Tuesday: 8 miles very easy (9:10) plus drills, upper body weights/core.   Foam rolling at night.

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Wednesday: 10 miles very easy (9:19) plus drills, followed by streaming yoga.  Foam rolling at night.

Thursday:  5 "miles" of pool-running and upper body weights/core in the morning.  Foam rolling at night.

Friday: 5 miles easy on treadmill (9:14); streaming yoga, and 6 miles on treadmill (8:59).   Foam rolling at night.

Saturday: 11 miles, including a track workout of 2x3200m, 2x200m.  Splits were 13:05 (6:34/6:31); 12:58 (6:32/6:26); 43, and 42.  6 minutes recovery after the 3200ms (a bit long, but I needed to retie my shoes after each); full recovery for the 200s.  

Followed with streaming yoga and leg strengthwork, and then 1000 yards of recovery swimming.  Foam rolling in afternoon.

Sunday:  12 miles very easy (9:01) and streaming yoga in the morning; 5 "miles" pool-running and foam rolling in afternoon.

Training log - Week ending 12/6/2020

This week was 55 miles of running, 1000 yards of swimming and 12 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here. 

Once I decided to race the Blue and Gray half-marathon this weekend, I pulled back on the intensity and the volume.  Tuesday's workout was intentionally short - just 3-4 800m repeats, plus some 200s, and I stuck to 3 reps after realizing how tired my legs were from the 5K on Saturday (doing 11 miles on land plus some more in the pool on Monday to front load mileage almost certainly didn't help).

The half went well.  It was one of the slower half-marathons I've ever run, but that's due mostly to the fact that I'm still rebuilding and some to the fact it was a tough course.  I was happy with the performance for where I am.

At the same point, it became obvious to me that I am not in the shape I wanted to be in, with just 3 weeks of training remaining before tapering for my goal marathon.  And while I am a big believer in not waiting until you are in shape to race, that's for half-marathons and shorter.  A marathon is a big investment in taper and post-race recovery; I'd rather not make that investment unless I have a good shot at running a PR.

So I've decided to pause marathon training for now, and do some more work on shorter distances, racing the 5Ks and 10Ks that are now popping up regularly in my area.  There are several small marathons that could happen in March and April, so I'll look to one of those.

Dailies 

Monday: In the morning, upper body weights/core and 11 miles easy (9:18) plus drills and four hill strides.  3.5 "miles" pool-running midday; foam rolling at night.

Tuesday: 10 miles, including an abbreviated track workout of 3x800, 4x200 in 3:09, 3:08, 3:06, 43, 43, 42, 41.  2:3x recovery for the 800s; full recovery for the 200s.  Followed with leg injury prevention work, streaming yoga, and 500 yards recovery swimming.   Foam rolling at night.

Wednesday: 7 miles very easy (9:09), plus another mile on the track to confirm accurate calibration of my footpod.  Followed with streaming yoga.  3.5 "miles" pool-running in afternoon.  Foam rolling at night.

Thursday:  Upper body weights/core and 5 "miles" pool-running.  Foam rolling at night.

Friday: DIY yoga and 7 miles, including just over a mile at half-marathon effort in 6:38 (~6:31 pace) Foam rolling at night.

Saturday: DIY yoga and 2 mile shakeout (9:36).  Foam rolling in afternoon.

Sunday:  3 mile warm-up and half-marathon in 1:31:08.  Followed with a half-mile cooldown jog and 500 yards recovery swimming.