Sunday, February 21, 2021

Training log - Week ending 2/21/2021

This week was 64 miles of running, 1500 yards of swimming and 6 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here.  

We got hit by more winter weather the second half of this week. Not a lot of snow, just a "wintry mix" that iced everything up and then kept melting, seeping, and refreezing. If I hadn't had a treadmill, I would have searched for a cleared low traffic road and done loops there. But since I had a treadmill, I used it and conserved winter laundry. 

Before the weather hit, I fit in another set of Iwo Jima hill repeats. These felt really solid, so I think I'm done with them. 

The Iwo Jima hills are fantastic for improving one's running gait and developing some muscle, but they come at a cost - since the recovery duration matches or slightly exceeds the fast running duration, they're not an aerobic workout and you sacrifice a bit of fitness there. 

(of course, one could counter that by running the recoveries faster, but then you miss the entire point of the workout, and might as well just do a tempo on rolling terrain somewhere). 

As I've mentioned before, the incline motor on my treadmill has failed, and it's going to be another week at least before I can get it repaired due to various delays (some but not all Covid-related). Since I prefer to run at a slight angle, I inserted a piece of plywood under the front of my treadmill to elevate it slightly. 

Doing some very basic math (the width of the plywood was the rise and the length of the treadmill was the run) I guesstimated a 1% incline. However, as I thought about it more, I realized that the proper "run" to be measured was not the overall length of the treadmill, but rather the distance between the front feet (where the plywood was) and the back feet. That distance is shorter than the overall length of the treadmill, with the result that my calculated "plywood incline" is just under 2%. 

Of course, all of this is assuming that the treadmill is perfectly level without the plywood, which may or may not be true. So who knows. But in any event, the incline is a little steeper than I thought it was.

Monday: 5 "miles" of pool-running and upper body weights/core. Foam rolling at night. 

Tuesday: 12 miles, including 8 Iwo Jima hill repeats (~2:00 uphill, 90 second jog, ~25-30 second downhill stride, 70 seconds jog to bottom). Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming. Foam rolling in evening. 

Wednesday: 10.5 miles very easy outside (9:11), followed by drills, 2 flat strides and streaming yoga in the morning; foam rolling at night.
 

Thursday: Upper body weights/core and 5 miles very easy on treadmill (9:15) (subbing for a 50 minute pool-run, since pool was closed due to snow/ice). Foam rolling at night. 

Friday: 12 miles on the treadmill, including a workout of 6x1K in 4 minutes each with 75 seconds jogging recovery, full recovery, and then 6x45 seconds at 6:00 pace with 75 seconds jog. Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming. Foam rolling at night. 

Saturday: 10 miles very easy on the treadmill (9:10), followed by streaming yoga. Foam rolling in the afternoon. 

Sunday: 14 miles progressive on treadmill, split as first 4 miles averaging 9:12 pace, next 5 averaging 7:48, next 5 averaging 7:08, and then a half-mile cooldown. Followed with streaming yoga, some injury prevention work, and 500 yards recovery swimming. Foam rolling in afternoon.

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