Training log - Week ending 1/28/2024

This week was 50 miles of running and 18 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here.

I returned to focused training this week, trying to reestablish my routines from the last training cycle.  Tuesday was on the treadmill (again) mostly because I slept in and didn't have time to drive somewhere ice free.  

By Friday, it was a ridiculous 60 degrees, so I returned to the track for a tempo intervals workout that felt a bit tough (first continuous hard running in a while).  Saturday I did 8 miles on the towpath as a quick re-introduction to trail running (the towpath is essentially a very easy/flat version of trail-running).  

Since it's been about 5 weeks since I've done any sort of long run, I decided to skip the traditional progressive long run in favor of getting 14 miles in.  Since I had originally been thinking about doing Iwo Jima hills instead of a long run, I opted to do the last 6 miles of the run as loops of Iwo Jima at moderate effort (I did do a "stride" downhill at marathon effort each loop).  It felt like a good way to ease back into marathon training.

Monday:  9 "miles" pool-running.  Foam rolling in evening.

Tuesday: 9 miles on treadmill, including a fartlek of 12x90 seconds on/60 seconds off (on was 8.5-8.7 mph, off was 6.0), followed by leg strengthwork.   Foam rolling in evening.
 

Wednesday: 7 miles very easy outside (9:39), followed by drills, upperbody weights/core, and then 2 miles very easy home (9:51).  Foam rolling in evening.

Thursday: 9 "miles" pool-running in the morning; streaming pilates and foam rolling in evening.

Friday: 10 miles, including a track workout of 3200, 1600 in 14:37 (7:20/7:17) and 7:10, with 5:17 between the two.  Followed with leg strengthwork.  Foam rolling in evening.

Saturday: 8 miles very easy on the towpath (9:42) and streaming pilates.  Foam rolling in afternoon.

Sunday:  14 miles - first 6 easy (9:37), next 8 moderate (8:19); most of last 8 on rolling hills with 9 reps of ~200m downhill at marathon effort.

Training log - Week ending 1/21/2024

This week was 36 miles of running, 40 minutes on the arc-trainer, and 18 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here.

I spent the whole week on the treadmill and was grateful I had it.  We had significant snow/ice on Tuesday and Friday, and super cold/dry air all week (very hard on my asthma). 

I played with some moderate speed work on Tuesday - running as fast as I could while keeping my hip stable (part of that rehab of my quadratus femoris).  On Friday I swapped to the arc-trainer for my "speed-work.". This was partially because I wanted to have a hard workout but didn't want to push to the point where I was getting sloppy with my hip.  Additionally, one of calves was slightly tight and I didn't want to risk anything.  I do find arc-trainer workouts to be more grueling than anything on the track, treadmill, or road.   I suspect it's because the motion is less natural and requires more force.

I kept the weekend pretty easy, especially Sunday.  I was out late on Saturday night, and I worried that trying to do a long or hard run while sleep deprived would just dig me into a hole at the very time when  I want to feel fresh and ready for a new cycle.  So I just did some gentle hills (incline but not fast) and called it good.

Monday:  9 "miles" pool-running and upperbody weights/core.  Foam rolling in evening.

Tuesday: 9 miles on treadmill, including a fartlek of 12x90 seconds on/60 seconds off (on was 8.2-8.4 mph, off was 6.0).   Foam rolling in evening.
 

Wednesday: 8 miles very easy on treadmill (9:27) and upperbody weights/core.  Foam rolling in evening.

Thursday: 9 "miles" pool-running in the morning; streaming pilates and foam rolling in evening.

Friday: 5 miles easy (9:32) on the treadmill, an arc-trainer workout of 6x4 minutes hard with 72 second recovery, and leg strengthwork.  Foam rolling in evening.

Saturday: 9 miles very easy on treadmill (9:27).  Streaming yoga and foam rolling in afternoon.

Sunday:  5 miles (9:25) on treadmill including some gentle hills (increased the incline but didn't speed up much), followed by upper body weights/core.  Foam rolling in evening.

Training log - Week ending 1/14/24

This week was 34 miles of running, an hour of arc-trainer/step mill, and 24 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here.

I started running again on Tuesday after taking a short break. My gait was a bit clumsy for the first day or two and then improved. The sciatica was a slight issue for the first five minutes of the first few runs, and then resolved. 

My hip also feels MUCH more stable, and I'm generating a lot more power from that leg. My balance is also much improved on that leg (which is generally my really bad leg for balance). If skipping Houston means that I end up with a lot more power in my stride, then it will have been well worth it.

I did an arc-trainer workout on Thursday just to get my heart-rate up some, and then started playing with gentle hills on the weekend.  The next few weekends will likely be more of the same.

Monday:  9 "miles" pool-running and streaming yoga.  Foam rolling in evening.

Tuesday: 5 miles very easy (10:27) and weights/core.   Foam rolling in evening.
 

Wednesday: 7 miles very easy (10:14) and streaming yoga.  Foam rolling in evening.

Thursday: 5 miles very easy (9:31), an arc-trainer workout of 6x4 minutes hard with 72 second recovery (with 10 minute cooldown on step-mill), and injury prevention work.  Foam rolling in evening.

Friday: 9 "miles" pool-running and upper body weights/core.  Foam rolling in evening.

Saturday: 7 miles, including 4 gentle Stafford Street hills (5% incline, slightly less than 400m, moderate effort).  Followed with 2 "miles" pool-running and streaming pilates. Foam rolling in evening.

Sunday:  10 miles mostly aerobic (8:53) followed by 4 "miles" pool-running and lower body strengthwork.  Foam rolling in evening.

Training log - Week ending 1/7/2024

This week was 19 miles of running and 30 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here.

On Thursday of this week I decided not to run the Houston Marathon, and to instead take my running break this weekend.  I'm bummed, but it's the right decision.

The sciatica that I've been managing was massively improved by a sports massage on Tuesday night, where a big knot in either my quadratus femoris or my obturator externus (the QF lies right on top of the OE) got released. Those muscles had been pressing on my sciatic nerve, and so the relief was substantial and near immediate.

Unfortunately, the muscle grabbed back up during a careful tempo on Thursday morning, and that convinced me to pull the plug on Houston.  This isn't a big issue, but it's hitting at a bad time - I just don't think I can run the race I wanted to at Houston as long as I'm managing this issue.  And I'm concerned that running a marathon right now could result in a more significant injury.  Even if I made it through the race without an injury, I'd have an extended post-marathon recovery.  That in turn would interfere with my spring goal races, which include a very fast half-marathon in March and Boston in April.  So the smart decision is to cancel the trip.

Those muscles in my right butt are inflamed right now because they are extremely (comically) weak and I've been doing PT to strengthen them.  I've been careful about not pushing rehab exercises to the point of really inflaming things, but I think that the bout of frigid weather that we had two weeks ago made my muscles really tight and was just too much for muscles already stressed by PT and marathon training - that started the downward spiral that resulted in the sciatica/bum butt.

So I shut stuff down and took my pool-running/junk food/sleep in break this weekend.  I'm going to spend the time that I would have spent tapering and recovering from Houston to rehab and strengthen instead, so that I can run some solid spring races.

I think that ultimately this is all for the best.  Those muscles are deep hip stabilizers, and I believe the fact that they are so weak has been making my gait and balance issues even worse.  So getting those muscles strong and working correctly will be worth the disappointment I'm feeling right now.

Monday:  3 miles (9:51), 6 "miles" pool-running, and upperbody weights/core. Foam rolling in evening.

Tuesday: 5.5 miles, including some gentle fartleking, followed by leg strengthwork.  Sports massage in evening.
 

Wednesday: Streaming yoga and then 4 miles very easy (9:50) followed by 3 "miles" pool-running/  Foam rolling in evening.

Thursday: 6 miles, including 3323m on the track (8 laps in lane 3) in 15:28 (7:30 pace).  Streaming pilates in afternoon and foam rolling in evening.

Friday: 6 "miles" pool-running and upper body weights/core.  Foam rolling in evening.

Saturday: 7 "miles" pool-running and streaming pilates. Foam rolling in evening.

Sunday:  8 "miles" pool-running and upper/lower body weights.  Foam rolling in evening.

Training log - Week ending 12/31/2023

This week was 41 miles of running, 15 "miles" of pool-running, an hour on the arc-trainer, and 500 yards of swimming -- training log is here.

Not the week I wanted to have, two weeks from Houston.  I had some gait issues earlier in the week (I suspect that I needed to adjust my neuro meds) and then some sciatica flared over the weekend.  The sciatica is one of those things that mimics a muscle strain but isn't actually one. (How can I tell?  Well... the "strained" muscle keeps changing and I can't replicate the discomfort in the gym.).

I suspect that the sciatica is the result of a tight hip muscle, so hopefully getting that released will fix this (since I posted this late, I'll comment that a deep tissue massage did help substantially).

Monday:  5 miles very easy on trails (10:28) plus upperbody weights/core. Foam rolling in evening.

Tuesday:  10 miles with strides on uphill, downhill, and flat.  Followed with leg strengthwork. Foam rolling in evening.
 

Wednesday: Upperbody weights/core and 8 miles very easy (9:37) plus drills/strides.  Foam rolling in evening.

Thursday:  9 miles with an 8K tempo in 37:53 (7:39/7:37/7:32/7:32/7:32).  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling in evening.

Friday: 90 minutes pool-running.  Streaming yoga and foam rolling in the evening.

Saturday:  9 miles very easy (9:50). Foam rolling in afternoon.

Sunday: 1 hour on the arc-trainer, building in intensity to finish with 20 minutes at marathon effort and 5 minutes at tempo effort; followed by 1 hour of pool-running. Foam rolling in afternoon.