Training log - Week ending 1/9/2022

This week was 65 miles of running, 500 yards of swimming and 9 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here.

Snow and ice meant that all of my weekday runs plus the first Saturday run were on the treadmill (default incline of 0.5).  I've been having some balance/stability issues on the treadmill that ease when I am running on a steeper incline.  For that reason, a version of the Iwo Jima hill workout that alternated 2 minutes running hard uphill and a 30 second flat stride worked really well on Tuesday - the 2 minutes hard uphill let me get my heart rate up, and then the 30 second stride let me experiment with running faster on the flat.

Thursday, I had my first session with an ART (Active Release Technique) therapist.  I've had people do ART on me before as part of a chiro session, but this was the first time I've had a long session (45 minutes+) that was entirely ART.  

The ART guy's theory was that my psoas muscles on both sides have gotten inflamed and tight - when they do that, they can pull on various vertebrae and irritate the nerves that are there.  An inflamed psoas can also compress the femoral nerve in the front of the thigh.  

I have to admit, this theory is making a lot of sense to me.  It certainly explains why I feel so off balance and clumsy at first, but improve with exercise (because the exercise eventually stretches out the psoas, relieving any compression or pulling on nerves).

Dailies:

Monday: 4 miles very easy on treadmill (10:05) and streaming yoga   Foam rolling at night. 

Tuesday: 10 miles on treadmill, including a workout of eight repeats of 2 minutes strong at a 3.0 incline, 90 second jog, 30 second stride, and 60 second jog.  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling in evening.

Wednesday:  8 miles very easy on treadmill (9:58), streaming yoga and then 4 miles very easy on treadmill (9:43), plus drills, flat strides, and downhill strides.  Foam rolling in evening.

Thursday: 9 "miles" pool-running and upper body weights/core.  ART session in afternoon.

Friday: 11 miles on the treadmill, including a tempo workout of four cruise intervals of 7:30 duration, with 90 second jog after each.  Paces for the cruise intervals were 7:26, 7:23, 7:23, and 7:19.  Followed with leg strengthwork.  Foam rolling in evening.

Saturday: 7 miles easy on treadmill (9:55), followed by streaming yoga and 5 miles very easy outside (9:45) plus drills and four strides.  Foam rolling at night.

Sunday: 15 miles progressive, split as first 5 miles averaging 9:31 pace, next 5 miles averaging 8:21 pace, next 5 miles averaging 7:30 pace, and then a mile cooldown.  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.