Training log - Week ending 7/25/2021

This week was 53 miles of running, 1000 yards of swimming, and 21 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here.

I moved closer to my "normal" routine this week, with both track intervals and a tempo.  Both were quite unimpressive - I'm just struggling aerobically - out of breath with a high heart rate.  It's not asthma (lungs feel great and peak flow meter reads normal), and my legs also feel quite good.

I had some blood drawn on Tuesday - checking my CBC (complete blood count), iron levels, folate, and B12.  I haven't yet discussed the bloodwork with a doctor, but to my reading, it looks like my iron is still low - that's certainly consistent with how I feel.  

We'll see what the doctor says when I have my appointment in early August.  In the meantime, I'm already on iron supplements - I've been on them since this spring.

Dailies

Monday: 10 "miles" of pool-running and upper body weights/core.  Foam rolling at night.

Tuesday: 11 miles, including a short track workout of 2x(1600m, 800m) and 2x200m in 6:41, 3:10, 6:33, 3:04, 44, and 43.  Very long recoveries after each.  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling at night.

Wednesday:  9 miles easy (9:41) with drills and two hill strides, followed by streaming yoga and then 3 miles very easy on the treadmill (9:46).    Foam rolling at night.

Thursday:  11 "miles" of pool-running and upper body weights/core.  Foam rolling at night.

Friday: 12 miles, including a 4 mile tempo in 28:12 (7:06/7:10/7:07/6:49) followed by two approximate 200s at mile effort, and then leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling in evening.

Saturday: 10 miles easy on treadmill (9:50) and streaming yoga.  Foam rolling in evening.

Sunday: 8 miles easy (9:44) with drills, two hill sprints, and then upper body weights/core.  Foam rolling in afternoon.

Training log - Week ending 7/18/2021

This week was 51 miles of running, 500 yards of swimming, and 11 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here.

I added in a conservative track workout on Monday (really just wanted to get my feet wet again).  The weather was warm and humid and I'm out of shape, so I was pleasantly surprised that the splits were as fast as they were.  

A personal trainer that I've exchanged friendly greetings with for many years on the track approached me after Monday's workout to ask if I was all right.  He explained that he didn't want to overstep, but that I didn't look right - "you used to float, and now you're not."  

I wasn't upset at all, honestly.  It was really validating to have someone else notice what I felt - that I'm just lacking oomph and have been on and off for months.   The question, of course, is why.

Which leads to Wednesday's upper endoscopy and colonoscopy - essentially they put me under and then sent a camera down my mouth to check out my esophagus, stomach, and first part of my small intestine.  Followed up by sending a different camera up the back end to check out my large intestine and the last part of my small intestine.  Unfortunately, you can't reach all of the small intestine from either direction - for that you have to either get a CT scan or swallow a pill with a camera in it.

They found some inflammation in my large intestine - not surprising since I have ulcerative colitis.  They also saw some inflammation in the antrum (bottom part) of my stomach.  So they took biopsies of the inflamed areas, plus everywhere else, to determine the nature of the inflammation.  I should hear back on the biopsy results and next steps in about 10-14 days.

As odd as it sounds, I'm actually glad they saw some inflammation in the stomach.  My on-again-off-again nausea has become much more on than off over the past year, and my issues with iron and folate malabsorption also point to an issue (plus the fatigue and lack of oomph/floating).  So it's good to have a possible explanation.  

Colonoscopies with biopsies are hard on the body, so I spent Thursday in the pool and waited until Saturday to do my next workout - a repeat of Iwo Jima hills.  I've been really happy with how the uphill portion of these workouts feel.  Usually, when I start these workouts, my legs burn and struggle until I adapt.  This time, my legs have felt great from the start; it's just my aerobic capacity that lags.  I suspect that my focus on squatting in the gym has really helped with the hills.

Dailies

Monday: 10 miles, including a short track workout of 2x1600m at tempo (6:38 and 6:33) with 3:00 jog in between, and then 2x200m in 42 and 42 with full recovery in between.  Followed with leg strengthwork.  Foam rolling at night.

Tuesday: 7 miles very easy on treadmill (9:38) and streaming yoga.  Also a lot of lemon jello and margarita shot bloks.   Foam rolling at night.

Wednesday:  Colonoscopy and upper endoscopy in the morning; a bit of foam rolling later.

Thursday:  8 "miles" of pool-running and upper body weights/core.  Foam rolling at night.

Friday: 7 miles easy (9:48) plus drills and 4 hill strides, and then streaming yoga followed by 3 miles very easy on the treadmill (9:40).  Foam rolling in evening.

Saturday: 12 miles, including 8 Iwo Jima Memorial hills (~2 minutes hard up, jog, 25 second downhill stride, jog) plus leg strengthwork, 500 yards recovery swimming, and 3 "miles" pool-running.  Foam rolling in evening.

Sunday: 12 miles easy (9:38) followed by drills and streaming yoga.  Foam rolling in afternoon.

Training log - Week ending 7/11/2021

This week was 42 miles of running and 18 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here.

I added hills into the mix this week, starting with short hills and then moving on to longer hills at the Iwo Jima memorial.  Hills, weights, and a bit of tempo work is the plan for the next few weeks.

Dailies

Monday: 6 "miles" of pool-running and upper body weights/core.  Foam rolling at night.

Tuesday: 9 miles with 8 short hills (70-80 seconds up a 5% slope with 2:30-2:40 recovery) plus leg strengthwork.  Foam rolling at night.

Wednesday:  9 miles easy (9:37) plus drills and two strides  Foam rolling in evening.

Thursday:  6 "miles" of pool-running and streaming yoga.  Foam rolling at night.

Friday: 10 miles, including 6 Iwo Jima Memorial hills (~2 minutes hard up, jog, 25 second downhill stride, jog) plus leg strengthwork.  Foam rolling in evening.

Saturday: 7.5 miles easy (9:46), upper body weights/core, 3 miles very easy (9:24) plus drills and four strides.  Foam rolling in evening.

Sunday: 3 miles easy (9:51), 6 "miles" pool-running, and streaming yoga.  Foam rolling in afternoon.

Training log - Week ending 7/4/2021

This week was 34 miles of running and 14 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here.

Not too much of interest here, just squats, split squats, and barbell lunges on Tuesday and Saturday.  Saturday's workout was supposed to be on Friday, but getting very little sleep on Thursday night due to a tornado touching down a few blocks away led me to push back Friday's squats by a day.

The tornado was an EF1, so I imagine people in Oklahoma don't even bother getting up for those, but it was impressive to me.  No damage to our house/yard whatsoever, though those north of us weren't so lucky.

I also got some good news when I went in for a DEXA scan to check my bone density (since I'm on the border of osteopenia/osteoporosis, I get it checked every 2 years).    I've been fearful of what this scan would reveal, since Covid prevented me from using the gym (and heavy dumbbells/barbells) for much of the past year.  Concerning, since weight lifting is key to maintaining bone strength.  But...looks like my combination of bands and kettlebells at home plus running did the trick - the rheumatologist was "thrilled" with my latest scan.  So yay!

Dailies

Monday: 6 "miles" of pool-running.  Foam rolling at night.

Tuesday: 6 miles (9:42) and leg strengthwork.   Foam rolling at night.

Wednesday:  Streaming yoga and 6 miles very easy on treadmill (9:42).  Foam rolling in evening.

Thursday:  6 "miles" of pool-running and upper body weights/core..  Foam rolling at night.

Friday: 8 miles easy (9:28) including some short gentle hills, followed by some DIY yoga (we had no power, so streaming yoga was out).  Foam rolling in evening.

Saturday: 6 miles very easy (9:21), drills and two strides, and leg strengthwork.  Foam rolling in evening.

Sunday:  8 miles very easy on treadmill (9:38) and 2 "miles" pool-running.  Foam rolling in afternoon.