Training log - week ending 3/28/2021

This week was 60 miles of running, 1500 yards of swimming and 12 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here.

This was my last week before tapering down for next Saturday's half-marathon.  After the half, I'll take a down week (which will coincide with receiving my second dose of the Moderna vaccine on Sunday) and then jump into training for Grandma's Marathon.

I was pretty happy with this week - my fitness is continuing to progress.  I have noted that my paces on the treadmill are consistently slower for the same effort than outside - by between 15 and 30 seconds per mile.  It's not because my treadmill speed is inaccurate (I've calibrated it, and it's dead on) but rather because I'm running at between a 1-2% incline and my treadmill room also gets quite warm.   I'm not terribly worried about it - effort is what matters, not pace.  

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

Tuesday: 12 miles including a track workout of 2x1200, 3x800, 400, 2x200 in 4:39, 4:39, 3:07, 3:01, 3:01, 43, and 42;  2:2x-2:4x recovery after each.  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming. Foam rolling in evening.

Wednesday: 11 miles very easy (9:33) on treadmill, followed by streaming yoga.  Foam rolling at night.

Thursday: 3 miles very easy on treadmill (9:33), 5 "miles" of pool-running and upper body weights/core. Foam rolling at night. 

Friday: 12 miles on treadmill including a tempo workout of 4 miles in 27:22 (6:56/6:49/6:49/6:48) and six 30 second hill repeats on a 5% slope with 90 seconds jog in between. Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming. Foam rolling at night. 

Saturday: 10 miles very easy (8:51), plus drills, 6 steep hill sprints, and streaming yoga. Foam rolling in the afternoon. 

Sunday: 12 miles easy to moderate, split as the first 4 miles averaging 9:04 and the next 8 miles averaging 7:27. Later did leg strength work, 500 yards recovery swimming and 2 "miles" pool-running. Foam rolling in afternoon.

Training log - Week ending 3/21/2021

This week was 64 miles of running, 1500 yards of swimming and 12 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here.

I was pretty happy with this week, and pleasantly surprised by the pace I hit for the marathon effort segment at the end of the run.  It was particularly amusing because marathon effort last week yielded 7:18 pace.  But I guess that's the difference between the perfect weather we had today and the 15-20 MPH headwind I was running straight into last Sunday.

The only hiccup to the week was Friday's tempo on the treadmill, where I misguessed the proper speed to set for the workout.

By way of background - I prefer to run with an incline on my treadmill - I find that when I'm running on a flat treadmill my gait gets quad dominant; an incline forces me to use my posterior chain and push-up.   

But the incline does mean that the same effort results in a slightly slower pace.  And the fact that our home "studio" is about 70 degrees also slows down my pace for the same effort.  

I usually run by effort outside, and on the treadmill it's fairly easy to run by effort when doing easy runs or progressive long runs.  I just start very slow and then inch up the speed as I feel like it.  But....when I'm doing treadmill tempos, I have to guess at what the right pace would be.  

On Friday, I thought setting the treadmill at 9.1 MPH (6:36 pace) would be pretty conservative for a tempo workout of 5x1 mile tempo with 60 second jog.  I'd start at that speed and then up it as seemed right.   But it turned out to be too aggressive a speed.  So I cut off the workout at 3x1 mile, which ended up being roughly equivalent to a 5K tempo in effort (I usually don't do 5K tempos because I find they're a bit short and fast to elicit the best response).  I jogged for a bit, and then eased into what felt like marathon effort and did 2 more miles at that speed (which was 7:08 pace) just to get a little more high level aerobic work in.

Ultimately, not the workout I wanted to do, but I still got some good work in at near the targeted effort level, and I didn't dig a hole by forcing things.  And interestingly enough - the effort and HR that got me 7:08 pace on Friday was the same that yielded 6:48 pace on Sunday.   

It's always interesting to me how pace can be affected by so many things outside of the effort one is currently expending.

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

Tuesday: 12 miles including a track workout of 1600, 4x800, 2x200 in 6:22, 3:05, 3:03, 3:01, 3:01, 42, and 42;  4:50 recovery after the 1600 and 2:2x-2:3x recovery between the 800s.  Full recovery for 200s  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming. Foam rolling in evening.

Wednesday: 11 miles very easy (9:17), plus drills, 6 hill sprints and 2 strides, followed by streaming yoga.  Foam rolling at night.

Thursday: 3 miles very easy on treadmill (9:33), 5 "miles" of pool-running and upper body weights/core. Foam rolling at night. 

Friday: 12 miles on the treadmill including a tempo workout of 3x1 mile in 6:36 with 1 minute jog in between, followed by 2 miles at 7:08 pace. Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming. Foam rolling at night. 

Saturday: 10 miles very easy (8:58), plus drills, 6 steep hill sprints, and streaming yoga. Foam rolling in the afternoon. 

Sunday: 14 miles progressive, split as first 5 miles averaging 9:06, next 5 miles averaging 7:46, next 5 averaging 6:48, and then a 1.5 mile cooldown. Later did leg strength work, 500 yards recovery swimming and 2 "miles" pool-running. Foam rolling in afternoon.

Training log - Week ending 3/14/2021

This week was 63 miles of running, 1500 yards of swimming and 12 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here.

Just a routine week (and it's nice to be in a routine).  I was pretty happy with my workouts, as they seem to indicate an improvement in fitness.

One change I did make was adding in a very short jog before my Thursday pool-run.  In pre-Covid 19 times, I would do a shorter pool-run on Mondays and a longer one on Thursday.  But now I'm limited to 45 minutes each day (which I stretch to 50 minutes).  I think my fitness has suffered from the decrease in volume, and I'm hoping that adding a short very slow jog on Thursdays will add a slight bit of volume while still maintaining the balance of training that works best for me.

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

Tuesday: 12 miles including a track workout of 2x1600, 2x800m in 6:24, 6:14, 3:02, 3:00; 5 minute recoveries after the 1600s and 2:30 recovery between the 800s.   Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming. Foam rolling in evening.

Wednesday: 10.5 miles very easy on treadmill (9:11), plus drills, followed by streaming yoga.  Foam rolling at night.

Thursday: 3 miles very easy on treadmill (9:33), 5 "miles" of pool-running and upper body weights/core. Foam rolling at night. 

Friday: 12 miles including a 4 mile tempo in 25:42 (6:25/6:32/6:22/6:23). Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming. Foam rolling at night. 

Saturday: 11 miles very easy (8:46), plus drills, 6 steep hill sprints, and streaming yoga. Foam rolling in the afternoon. 

Sunday: 14 miles progressive, split as first 5 averaging 8:44, next 5 averaging 7:44, next 4 averaging 7:18, and then half mile cooldown. Later did leg injury prevention work, 500 yards recovery swimming and 2 "miles" pool-running. Foam rolling in afternoon.

Training log - Week ending 3/07/2021

This week was 60 miles of running, 1500 yards of swimming and 12 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here.

Tuesday was my first team track workout in several months (we were shut down due to Covid 19 but are now ramping things back up).  It felt really good to be back out there.  I was curious to see how my paces outside would map against my treadmill workouts - even with less than ideal weather on Tuesday (sub-freezing and a 15 MPH headwind) my splits were a bit faster than they are inside (and the workout felt easier).  I'll be curious to see how things are in better weather.

Wednesday was my first dose of the Moderna vaccine.  No serious side effects - I was a little headachy the afternoon after (could have been work and not the shot) and had a sore arm for a few days.  I did have to back off of Friday's tempo workout (not quite 48 hours post-shot), swapping it from 4 miles straight to 2 miles and then 1 mile.  I felt totally fine when not running, but definitely a bit off when running, especially when trying to run faster.  Very similar to how you think you're recovered from a race and then you start a workout and realize you weren't.  By Sunday I was feeling back to normal.;

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

Tuesday: 12 miles including a track workout of 6x800m in 3:07, 3:08, 3:07, 3:08, 3:02, 3:03 (several of these might have been a second or two faster - I kept fumbling the lap button due to my mittens and or my sleeve getting in the way); recoveries between 2:21 and 2:34.   Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming. Foam rolling in evening.

Wednesday: 10.5 miles very easy outside (9:02), plus drills and 4 steep hill sprints, followed by streaming yoga.  Got my first shot of Moderna midday; foam rolling at night.

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

Friday: 11 miles on the treadmill, including a tempo workout of 2 miles, 1 mile in 13:20 (6:40/6:40) and 6:32 with 4:40 jog in between. Followed leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming. Foam rolling at night. 

Saturday: 11 miles very easy (8:55), plus drills, 6 steep hill sprints, and upper body weights/core. Foam rolling in the afternoon. 

Sunday: 14 miles progressive, split as first 5 averaging 9:07, next 5 averaging 7:51, next 4 averaging 6:56, and then 1.5 miles cooldown. Later did leg strengthwork, 500 yards recovery swimming and 2 "miles" pool-running. Foam rolling in afternoon.