Training log - Week ending 1/31/2021

This week was 28 miles of running, 500 yards of swimming and 21 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here. 

Myrtle Beach Marathon was postponed this week.  To May 1, which effectively means it's cancelled, since I'm not racing a marathon in South Carolina in May.  There are other options still available for the same weekend, but I've decided to pause my training and take a break instead. 

Over the last 2 weeks, my training has not gone the way I would like.  I have been tired (which is fine) and I haven't been progressing.  Plus I was starting to feel a bit mentally sour this week.  I wasn't over-trained yet, but my sense was that I was on the edge.  Wednesday's workout, in particular, felt like a slog.

If you're in a hole, it's time to stop digging.  Especially when the whole point for digging the hole is gone.  So, it made the most sense to shut stuff down for a few days, reverting to pool-running and junk food.  When I looked at my schedule, I haven't had a pool-running/junk food break in over a year (since I haven't had a goal race in over a year).  So I was very much overdue.

Over the next two or so weeks I'll lower my mileage some and revert back to hills and tempos.  I'm entered in the Athens (Ohio) Marathon in mid-April.  If that is still on in a few weeks, I'll try another short marathon cycle. 

Dailies 

Monday: 5 "miles" of pool-running and streaming yoga. Foam rolling at night.

Tuesday: 10 miles easy on the treadmill (9:00), followed by upper body weights/core.   Foam rolling at night.

;

Wednesday: 12 miles outside, including a track workout of 3x2 miles in 13:17 (6:35/6:42), 13:16 (6:42/6:34), and 13:12 (6:40/6:32) with 5 minutes jog between each.  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: 5 "miles" of pool-running and streaming yoga in the morning; foam rolling at night.

Saturday: 6 "miles" of pool-running and upper body weights/core in the morning; foam rolling at night.

Sunday:  6 miles very easy on the treadmill (9:09) and streaming yoga in the morning.  Foam rolling in afternoon.

Training log - Week ending 1/24/2021

This week was 69 miles of running, 1500 yards of swimming and 10 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here. 

My mileage was a bit artificially inflated this week.  Since my team is not holding workouts right now, I have a lot of flexibility to schedule workouts, so I've settled on a 15 day "training week" with a workout every 3 days.  It gives me a little more recovery than the standard 2-3 workouts in 7 days.

This week was kinda meh.  I'm doing good workouts for where I am fitness-wise.  I just don't like where I am fitness-wise.  And I feel a bit stuck in a plateau right now.  

Of course, that raises the question of how to respond to being stuck- back off or stay the course?

Since I don't have any of my traditional warning signs of overtraining (insomnia, bloating), I'm going to stay the course for another week or two, and then re-evaluate.

Dailies 

Monday: 12 miles on the track, including a workout of 2x1200, 2x800, 2x400, 4x200 in 4:41, 4:40, 3:07, 3:06, 90, 89, 43, 44, 43, 44.  400m recovery after the 1200s and 800s in 2:38-3:04; 200m recovery after the 400s and 200s in 90 seconds.  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling at night.

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

Wednesday: 8 miles very easy (9:07), drills and 2 hill strides, upper body weights/core, then 4 treadmill miles very easy (8:49).   Foam rolling at night.

Thursday: 12 miles on the treadmill, including a tempo workout of 4 miles in 26:10 (6:38/6:31/6:31/6:30).  Followed with leg strengthwork, streaming yoga, and then 500 yards of recovery swimming.  Foam rolling at night.

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

Saturday: 9 miles very easy (9:04), drills and four hill strides; upper body weights/core, and 3 miles very easy on treadmill (9:08).  Foam rolling at night.

Sunday:  21 miles progressive, split as first 7 averaging 9:13, next 7 averaging 7:53, and the final 7 averaging 7:08.  Followed with light injury prevention work and 500 yards recovery swimming. Foam rolling in afternoon.

Training log - Week ending 1/17/2021

This week was 65 miles of running, 1000 yards of swimming and 10 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here. 

Just two workouts this week - a treadmill workout on Tuesday (after I noted the track was a bit slicker than I would like), and a marathon pace workout on Friday.  I wasn't sure what would be happening in the DC area over the weekend, so I did my long run on Friday just to get it done.  I did it on the W&OD trail, which meant a steady climb one direction and a steady drop the other way.  A bit different from my preferred Hains Point route (Hains Point was closed to all as of Friday).

A lot of my preferred running routes are either blocked or challenging to access, due to current events.  I'm not complaining per se - I totally appreciate the reasons why.  But it will be nice when things calm down.

Doing my long run on Friday this week does set me up to do 3 workouts next week, with 2 easy days between each, so that's a plus.

Dailies 

Monday: 8 miles easy on the treadmill (9:07), followed by upper body weights/core and then 4 miles very easy outside (8:47) plus drills and two hill strides.   Foam rolling at night.

Tuesday: 12.5 miles including a treadmill workout of 7x1K with 75 second recoveries, followed by 6x45 seconds hard with 75 seconds jog.  Splits for the 1K repeats were 3:51, 3:52, 3:53, 3:52, 3:53, 4:00 (sensor dropout?), 3:53.  I suspect my actual pace was a bit slower than what was reported by the sensor.  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling at night.

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

Thursday: 8 miles easy outside (9:14), plus drills and two strides, followed by upper body weights/core and 4 miles very easy on the treadmill (8:47). Forgot to foam roll.

Friday: 16.5 miles, including a marathon pace workout of 2x5 miles at marathon effort with 1 mile float in between.  Splits were:

5 miles in 35:26 (7:17/7:08/7:07/7:02/6:52 - 7:05 pace);

7:56 float;

5 miles in 34:59 (7:11/7:08/6:58/6:55/6:47).

(Each set was net uphill and then net downhill)  

 

Followed with 500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling in evening.

Saturday: 5 "miles" pool-running and streaming yoga in the morning; foam rolling in the afternoon.

Sunday:  10.5 miles very easy outside (9:19), upper body weights/core, and then another 1.5 miles very easy on the treadmill (8:57).  Foam rolling in afternoon.

Training log - Week ending 1/10/2021

This week was 53 miles of running, 1000 yards of swimming and 15 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here. 

This was a rough week - my old retired horse was put to sleep on Wednesday.  At 31 years of age it was not at all a surprise when he started failing, and I am completely at peace with my decision, but it was still a sad day.  

Of course, Wednesday was also when it all went to hell in the DC area.  Basil was put to sleep about 90 minutes before things blew up.  I kept him about 4 hours away, and had always intended to be with him when he passed, but decided Wednesday morning that I just couldn't leave the DC area - my hunch was that things were going to get bad and I didn't want to risk not being able to get home.  Guess I was right, unfortunately.

This week's events were obviously stressful for most in the US, but especially hard on those us in the immediate area - DC/Arlington/Alexandria.  Though we're several miles from the Capitol, those who came in for the protests were staying at hotels all around, including one very close to my house.  And while I believe that the vast majority of those who came into DC were just there to express their views (as is their right and welcome), there was that small subset that came to destroy and harm.  And I'm sure some of that subset stayed near me.

I had some fears of property damage during the protests this summer.  But the events of this week were far more scary from both a property damage perspective and a personal safety perspective (though my worries in no way compare to those of Capitol Hill residents).

The next few weeks and even months are going to be fun.  We were put under a curfew on Wednesday, and I'm anticipating more in the next few weeks if things erupt again.  I must be getting old, because I welcomed the curfew.

At least my running went well this week.  I started a new long acting asthma medication this week called Breo.  My asthma doctor has wanted me on Breo, but it's always been prohibited by WADA/USADA.  So we've gone with the next best thing - Advair.  However, as of January 1, 2021 Breo is off of the prohibited list - no TUE required as long as I use it in the normal dosage (1 puff a day).  So I swapped as of January 3.  Perhaps my good run on Saturday was due to the switch?  Or perhaps it was just a good day.  

Either way, it's nice to have a medication that I take once a day, not twice.  Having to puff Advair every 12 hours was usually fine, but sometimes it could be inconvenient to take the evening dose if I was on a plane or doing an evening race.  With Breo, I just take it when I wake up and I'm set for 24 hours.  Woo!

Dailies 

Monday: 5 "miles" of pool-running and streaming yoga. Foam rolling at night.

Tuesday: 7 miles easy outside (9:13), plus drills and 2 hill strides, followed by upper body weights/core and then 3 miles and 2 miles at 9:02 pace on the treadmill (playing with a speed sensor).   Foam rolling at night.

;

Wednesday: 12 miles on the treadmill, including a workout of 7x1K with 80-90 second jogged recoveries.  Splits were supposedly 3:55, 3:53, 3:49, 3:44, 3:44, 3:42, and 3:41 but I suspect my sensor was reading too fast for the last couple.  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 easy outside (9:07), plus drills and two strides, followed by upper body weights/core and 4 miles very easy on the treadmill (8:51). Foam rolling at night.

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

4 miles in 27:44 (7:00/7:03/6:51/6:50 - 6:56 pace); 7:29 float;

3 miles in 20:34 (6:59/6:50/6:45 - 6:51 pace); 7:40 float;

2 miles in 13:23 (6:42/6:41 - 6:42 pace); 7:31 float;

1 mile in 6:31.

(the 4 and 3 mile sets were each a headwind for the first half, and a tailwind for the second; the 2 and 1 mile sets had a tailwind the whole way.)  

 

Followed with leg strengthwork and then 500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling in afternoon.

Sunday:  Streaming yoga in the morning.  5 "miles" pool-running and foam rolling in afternoon.