Training log - Week ending 9/29/2021

This week was 63 miles of running, 1500 yards of swimming, and 18 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here.

I was pretty happy with this week, which was the first week of my training for Indy Monumental Marathon.   I feel like I'm absorbing and responding to my training, rather than just pushing through.  And running just feels better each week. 

I did get my iron checked again this week, and unsurprisingly it was much improved - I've gone from an iron saturation of 17% to 40%.  Which matches how I feel. 

I did feel a bit tired for Tuesday's workout - which I suspect is because I was recovering from Sunday's long run.  As my long runs get more intense, it takes longer to recover from them; for that reason I think I'm going to start taking two easy days after each long run from now through the end of this training cycle.

Friday's workout does require a bit of an explanation.  It was warm and humid by the time I started the workout, and so I decided to break it into mile repeats with a short 1 minute jog between each to keep my heart rate from rising too much.  However, after 3 repeats I decided I had been a bit too ambitious (I should have done 5 minute segments instead) so I took a longer jog to get my heart rate under control and then did two more shorter segments.  I still got 30 minutes of work in at tempo, so I called it a success.   It wasn't ideal, but that's tempo workouts in August for you.

Dailies

Monday: 9 "miles" of pool-running and streaming yoga.  Foam rolling at night.

Tuesday: 12miles, including a track workout of 2x1200, 2x800, 2x400 in 4:47, 4:44, 3:06, 3:01, 87, and 87  (~3 minute recoveries after each 1200 or 800, 1:40 recovery between the two 400s.   Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling at night.

Wednesday:  8.5 miles very easy (9:36), followed by upper body weights/core and then 3.5 miles very easy (9:09) plus drills, two hill strides, and two flat strides.    Foam rolling at night.

Thursday:  9 "miles" of pool-running and streaming yoga.  Foam rolling at night.

Friday: 12 miles, including a cruise interval workout of 3x1 mile and 2x5 minutes at tempo effort with 60 seconds recovery between each (except for 3 minutes between the last mile and the first 5 minute segment.  Splits/paces were 6:45, 6:44, 6:40, 6:40 and 6:36.  After full recovery, also did four 30 second pick-ups with 60 second jog in between.  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling in evening.

Saturday: 10.5 miles very easy (9:20) plus drills and four hill sprints, followed by upper body weights/core.  Foam rolling in evening.

Sunday: 16 miles progressive, split as first 5 miles averaging 9:29 pace, next 5 averaging 7:59 pace, next 6 averaging 7:14 pace, and then a .5 mile jog.  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.   Foam rolling in afternoon.

Training log - Week ending 8/22/2021

This week was 61 miles of running, 1500 yards of swimming, and 18 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here.

This was the week that things really started to feel like they were turning around.  It's not so much that my paces have jumped up dramatically, but rather that my heart rate is much lower and easy to control for those paces, and that my running stride is starting to get some bounce back.    Tuesday's workout was the best track workout I've had in a long time (the paces were slow, but that was due to really thick humidity slowing everybody down.  I did Friday's tempo work on the treadmill again due to a flash flood warning - the inside temperature and humidity was identical to last week, and yet I didn't have to modify the workout and it even felt too easy.  Sunday's long run felt like a step forward also

So I'm feeling really positive.  It appears that the fatigue I've been struggling with has been the consequence of mild but persistent intestinal inflammation (that also resulted in low iron).  Now that I'm treating the inflammation with Lialda, my intestines are healing, and everything just feels so much better.

It's nice to feel so positive.

Dailies

Monday: 9 "miles" of pool-running and streaming yoga.  Foam rolling at night.

Tuesday: 11.5 miles, including a track workout of 6x800 in 3:10, 3:09, 3:08, 3:06, 3:05, 3:00.  (Recoveries mostly between 2:2x-2:4x; the one between reps 5 and 6 was a bit long at 3:11.)  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling at night.

Wednesday:  8 miles easy (9:39) with drills and four strides, followed by upper body weights/core and then 4 miles very easy on the treadmill (9:29).    Foam rolling at night.

Thursday:  9 "miles" of pool-running and streaming yoga.  Foam rolling at night.

Friday: 12 miles, including a tempo workout on the treadmill of 7x5 minutes at tempo effort (pace was 7:09) all with 1 minute jogging recovery. After full recovery, also did six 30 second pick-ups with 60 second jog in between.  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling in evening.

Saturday: 10.5 miles very easy (9:19) plus drills and four hill sprints, followed by upper body weights/core.  Foam rolling in evening.

Sunday: 14.5 miles progressive, split as first 5 miles averaging 9:41 pace, next 4 averaging 8:13 pace, next 5.5 averaging 7:15 pace, and then a .5 mile jog.  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.   Foam rolling in afternoon.

Training log - Week ending 8/15/2021

This week was 58 miles of running, 1500 yards of swimming, and 18 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here.

The weather was pretty tough for much of this week - I ended up cutting Tuesday's workout way short (it was supposed to be 2000, 3x800, 2x400) when I overheated early on.  Friday's weather was miserable also, so I decided to do a tempo workout on the treadmill.  It wasn't much better inside (temp of 78/dew point of 71) but that way I had shade, a fan, and easy access to water.  I broke the tempo into intervals with very short jogged recoveries (to drink water) and it worked well.

We were promised a nice day on Sunday, but it didn't quite materialize.  The dew point dropped from the mid-70s to 70, which was better, but still sticky.  I was happy though, as I had a good long run on Sunday - rhythmic and controlled.

I did have an MRI-Enterography (an "MRE") of my small intestine on Tuesday - for prep I fasted a few hours, and then drank three bottles of liquid stuff over 90 minutes that bloated me nicely (so that they could see the intestine structure clearly.  Apparently people complain about the liquid stuff, but I didn't mind - I thought it tasted like flat Mountain Dew (I could be wrong, since I haven't had Mountain Dew in a very very very long time).  Anyways, having done several colonoscopies, and having thus drunk several colonoscopy prep solutions, I thought this was much much better tasting, and I was able to chug it easily.

The MRE didn't show any indications of Crohns, which was really good news.  It did show a significant amount of partially digested food in my stomach and small intestine, despite a 4.5 hour fast.  So now I have a follow-up appointment on that.  In sadly humorous fashion, the GI doctor's office called to tell me that the doctor wanted to see me at his next available opening.  That opening?  Late September.  So I'm guessing it's not that urgent.

But the good news is - no Crohns, just Ulcerative Colitis (though one isn't necessarily better or worse than the other).  The better news is that the Lialda that I'm now taking seems to really be helping.  If that's the fix, then I'm a very happy woman.

Dailies

Monday: 9 "miles" of pool-running and upper body weights/core.  Foam rolling at night.

Tuesday: 11 miles, including a track workout of 2000, 800, and 2x400m in 8:07, 3:05, 91, 89.  5 minute recovery between the 2000 and the 800, full recovery otherwise.  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling at night.

Wednesday:  9 miles easy (9:37) with drills and four strides, followed by streaming yoga and then 3 miles very easy on the treadmill (9:35).    Foam rolling at night.

Thursday:  9 "miles" of pool-running and upper body weights/core.  Foam rolling at night.

Friday: 10 miles, including a tempo workout on the treadmill of 4x5 minutes, 2x3 minutes, 4 minutes at tempo effort (pace was 7:09) all with 1 minute jogging recovery.  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling in evening.

Saturday: 10.5 miles very easy  (9:34) plus drills and four hill sprints.  Foam rolling in evening.

Sunday: 14 miles progressive, split as first 5 miles averaging 9:05 pace, next 4 averaging 8:07, next 5 averaging 7:15, and then a .5 mile jog.  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.   Foam rolling in afternoon.

Training log - Week ending 8/8/2021

This week was 60 miles of running, 1000 yards of swimming, and 18 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here.

A lot of treadmill running this week so that I could watch the Olympics.  I'll confess that I prioritized watching the equestrian events live and caught up on the running events later.  Your first sport is always your favorite.  

I got my colonoscopy results back and they didn't give any new information - still the same old ulcerative colitis diagnosis.  I'm trying a new medication (Lialda) we'll see what difference that makes.  In the past I've been on another version of this medication (Rowasa) and had some fatigue and weakness issues.  However, that effect seemed to fade within a bit less than 24 hours after each dose (I could tell because at one point I took it every other day).    I had to take the Rowasa at night, but can take the Lialda at any time.   So I'm trying taking it right after my run each day, so that any side effects can fade away before my next run.  So far so good.

In other news I mixed workouts up a bit this week - a friend wanted company for at least part of her marathon pace workout of 4, 3, 2, 1 miles at marathon pace.  So I ran the 4 and 3 mile segments with her at a pace that ended up being between marathon and tempo effort for me.  Not really effective for me as a marathon workout (the effort was too hard), but it was a good big aerobic session for me, and I got to help her out.  

Because I ran a fairly big workout on Friday, I kept the weekend low key; instead of doing a Sunday long run, I just ran easy before doing some running mechanics work - basically a few hills with full recovery, and then drills and two strides on the track.

Dailies

Monday:  5 miles easy on the treadmill (9:51), 6 "miles" of pool-running, and upper body weights/core.  Foam rolling at night.

Tuesday: 12 miles, including a track workout of 2x1600, 2x800 and 2x400 in 6:38, 6:29, 3:04, 3:03, 88, and 86.  5 minutes recovery between and after the 1600s; 3 minutes recovery between the 800s, full recovery for the 400s.   Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling at night.

Wednesday:  10 miles easy on treadmill (9:53), followed by streaming yoga.    Foam rolling at night.

Thursday:  12 "miles" of pool-running and upper body weights/core.  Foam rolling at night.

Friday: 12.5 miles, including an extended tempo workout of 4 miles, 3 miles at somewhere between marathon and tempo effort.  Splits were 29:08 (7:22/7:21/7:11/7:14) and 21:58 (7:26/7:20/7:12) with about 10 minutes jogging/water drinking in between.  (Ran with a friend for part of her marathon pace workout).  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling in evening.

Saturday: 10 miles easy on treadmill (9:47) and streaming yoga.  Foam rolling in evening.

Sunday: 10.5 miles, mostly very easy (9:23) but with four 60-70 second hill repeats near the end, followed by drills and two strides.  Injury prevention work and foam rolling in afternoon.

Training log - Week ending 8/1/2021

This week was 60 miles of running, 1500 yards of swimming, and 18 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here.

My coach was on vacation this week, so I subbed in for him, supervising the Tuesday and Friday morning workouts.   Which meant that I did my own workouts on Monday and Thursday mornings.  

Apparently odd things happen when you mix up the days.  On Monday I encountered a woman walking clockwise in lane 1 who insisted that she was correct in doing so.  (She left after I emphasized to her that she was going to get hurt if she continued.) 

Thursday I headed to Hains Point only to realize that Thursday mornings are apparently "Hains Point Hammerfest" time for cyclists, meaning that both lanes of Hains Point (usually shared somewhat peaceably by runners, cyclists, and drivers) were dominated by pelotons of cyclists hitting upwards of 30 mph.  I was debating heading home to do my tempo on the treadmill when their Hammerfest ended and I was able to safely focus on my tempo.  (by then it was late enough in the morning that the weather just sucked).

Saturday's long run, in unseasonably nice weather, was mostly OK - the only hiccup was the woman who was laudably picking up her dog's poop on one side of the path, but less laudably allowing her leashed dog to explore the other side of the path, meaning the leash extended over the entire width of the path...  

I'm still way out of breath at any sort of of aerobic exercise, be it swimming or running.  Last week I swapped my iron supplement from Vitron-C (taken every other day) to SlowFE (every day), and I thought I felt slightly better as the week went on, after adjusting for the weather.  But of course, hard to know for sure.  

My next doctor's appointment is on Tuesday, so we can discuss what next steps are then.  In the meantime, I've just been trying to train by effort and heart rate, figuring that as long as I respect those and ignore paces I won't do any damage.  If I stopped training altogether, I'd have no way to be sure whether the out of breath feeling was from being out of shape or from iron deficiency/IBD (or from something else).

Dailies

Monday: 12 miles, including a track workout of 2x1200m, 2x800m, 2x400m, and 2x200m in 4:57, 4:51, 3:10, 3:08, 92, 90, 43, and 43.  3:00 recoveries after the 1200s and 800s; 90 second recoveries after the 400s and 200s.  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming. Foam rolling at night.

Tuesday: 3 miles easy outside (9:30), supervise team track workout, then 9 miles very easy on treadmill (9:36), followed by streaming yoga.  Foam rolling at night.

Wednesday:  12 "miles" pool-running and upper body weights/core.   Foam rolling at night.

Thursday:  11 miles, including a tempo workout of 2 miles, 1 mile in 14:05 (7:12/6:53) and 6:51, with 5 minutes jog in between, and then four sets of 30 seconds at mile effort with 60 seconds jog.  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling at night.

Friday: 2 miles easy outside (10:00), drills and supervision of team track workout, and then 8 miles very easy on treadmill (9:38), followed by streaming yoga.  Foam rolling in evening.

Saturday: 15 miles total, split with the first 5 miles averaging 9:49 pace, the next 4.5 miles averaging 8:20 pace, and the next 5 miles averaging 7:20 pace, before jogging to make it 15 miles.  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.   Foam rolling in evening.

Sunday: In the morning, streaming yoga and 6 "miles" pool-running.  Foam rolling in afternoon.