Training log - Week ending 4/24/2022

This week was 62 miles of running, ~1500 yards of swimming and 18 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here.

This was another week of steady mileage before pulling back during the upcoming week to taper for the Broad Street 10 Miler on Sunday.

I did my Sunday long run on the Mount Vernon trail this week, between Roosevelt Island and Alexandria, with the last five miles going north towards Roosevelt Island.  This route, though paved, is full of things that I struggle with - uneven pavement due to root heaves, wooden bridges, and some short rolling hills near the airport.  The good news is that my balance was much improved - there was only one point on the run where I felt like I might fall (a fairly steep downhill that lasted all of 20m).  Other than that, I was able to focus on the effort of my running, rather than worry about staying on my feet.

Similarly, Tuesday's workout was notable in that I felt like I was really working aerobically.  That hasn't been the case in the past - I've been in this weird limbo where my legs simply wouldn't move fast enough to challenge my heart and lungs.  Now my coordination has improved (and I've also lost fitness) and so I'm able to work hard during a workout again.

One change that I've made in the past several weeks that I think is helping a lot:  I've started doing Ethiopian-style running drills on a daily basis (on pool-running days, I do them after pool-running).  I've always done running drills, but generally only a few, and only for about 10 seconds at a time. Now I do a wider range of movements, and I time them with my watch, doing 30 second slots.

[an example of the types of drills I'm doing is here.]

The 30 second duration seems to be key - I'll get about 10 seconds in, and then the signals will start getting garbled to my legs and I'll start to lose coordination - similar to what happens when I run.  30 seconds is long enough that it forces me to work through that point, and re-establish coordination.  

Separately, I used my Friday workout to test out different shoes.  I did the first 2 miles in the Asics Metaspeed Edge, and the second 2 miles in the New Balance RC Elite 2.  Then I swapped back to the Edge for a "300" and a "200" - both using marks on the road of questionable accuracy.

My verdict was that the Edge is best for short fast stuff where you are moving your legs quickly.  At tempo effort I tend to land further back on my midfoot and roll through my foot, and the Edge did not work for that at all. The RC Elite 2 was much better than the Edge at tempo effort (as seen by the notable pace difference between the two shoes) but I still think that shoe is best at the marathon distance.  For Broad Street, I'll likely go with my Takumi Sen 8s, which feel like a middle ground between the Edge and the RC Elite.

Dailies:

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

Tuesday: 12 miles, including a track workout of 1600, 1200, 2x800, 400, 2x200 in 6:53, 4:56, 3:14, 3:11, 91, 44, and 45.  4:50 recovery after the 1600; 2:4x-3:0x recovery after the 1200 and 800s; full recovery for the rest.  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling in evening.

Wednesday:  8 miles very easy (9:57); upper body weights/core, and then 4 miles easy (9:30) plus drills and strides.   Foam rolling in evening.

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

Friday: 12 miles, including 2x2 miles in 14:07 (7:08/6:59) and 13:43 (6:54/6:49) with long recovery in between (to swap shoes - I was testing different shoes).  Also did a "300m" in 73 seconds and a "200m" in 46 seconds (distances approximate). Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 meters recovery swimming. 

Saturday: 8 miles easy (9:59), followed by streaming yoga and 4.5 miles easy (9:41) plus drills and strides.  Foam rolling at night.

Sunday: 14 miles progressive, split as first 5 miles averaging 9:44, next 4 miles averaging 8:22, and the next 5 miles averaging 7:44 before a cooldown.   Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 meters recovery swimming.