Training log - Week ending 8/24/2025

This week was 55 miles of running and 7 "miles" of pool-running.

I split my workouts between the track and the treadmill this week.  I'm becoming a big fan of doing my Tuesday interval workouts on the treadmill rather than on the local track.  Much of this is because the track can be extraordinarily congested on Tuesday mornings, with sometimes 100+ runners on the track. (Friday tends to be much better.)

With that many runners on the track, things are just chaotic in general. It also makes it very hard to manage the recovery times between intervals, since starting a new interval requires merging onto a congested and fast-moving highway. My personal belief is that the duration of the recoveries is an important variable in the workout - as important as the pace of the intervals. And it's much easier to time my recoveries exactly on the treadmill.

As for the recoveries - I use the following (mostly taken from Jack Daniels):

• Tempo intervals- 1/5 ratio of jog to interval (so 1 minute jog for every 5 minutes of work)
• CV intervals- ~1/3 ratio of jog to interval (72-80 seconds jog for every 4 minutes of work)
• VO2 max intervals - 2/3-3/4 ratio of jog to interval (so 2:00-2:15 jog for every 3 minutes of work)
• Fast intervals to work on top end speed - 2/1 or greater ratio of jog to interval (so 30 seconds of work should have at least 60 seconds recovery after, with more being better).

I find that if I emphasize the ratio of interval duration to recovery duration in my workouts and let the pace and effort of the intervals be whatever feels doable given the limited recovery, I get really solid results from my training. Much better than if I start chasing paces/speeds during a workout and end up stretching out the recoveries in order to finish the workout without slowing down. Focusing on interval paces/speeds looks nicer on Strava, but limiting the recovery gets me faster quicker.

On Tuesday, the main workout was two sets of 4:30 on with 3:00 recovery after each, then two sets of 3:00 on with 2:00 recovery after each, then two sets of 90 seconds on with 60 seconds recovery. So...the duration of the intervals and the recovery jogs varied, but I always had a 2/3 ratio of rest to work. And then, after doing 30 minutes of VO2 Max work, I shifted to doing a few fast intervals with full recovery (at least twice the duration of the interval) to work on top end speed.

Separately, if anyone is wondering why my VO2Max workouts seem to be in 90 second increments (e.g., intervals of 1:30, 3:00, or 4:30 in duration), it's simply because I subconsciously assume that a lap of the track at interval effort takes 90 seconds  Thus, a 1200m rep is 4:30, an 800m is 3:00, and a 400 is 1:30.  Of course, this assumption is an artifact from where I was 5-10 years ago. I'm significantly slower now, and structuring these as 5:15, 3:30, and 1:45 would be closer to reality.  But I seem to be getting good results with the workouts I'm currently doing, so I see no reason to revise (and changing would also make for harder math).

Dailies:

Monday: 7 miles very easy (10:15) plus two hill strides and two flat strides and upperbody weights/core. Foam rolling in evening.

Tuesday: 8 miles on the treadmill, including a workout of 2x4:30 with 3:00 jog, 2x3:00 with 2:00 jog, 2x90 seconds with 60 second jog, and then 4x30 second strides with 90 second jog. Speed of 4:30 intervals was 8.1-8.3 mph; 3 minute intervals ranged between 8.3 and 8.5 mph; and 90 second intervals were at 8.6 and 8.7 mph. 30 second strides were 8.7- 9.0 mph, all jogs were 6.0 mph.  Treadmill probably not accurate. Followed with leg strengthwork.  Sports massage in evening.

Wednesday: 11 miles very easy (10:08) outside plus 4x100m strides in 28, 28, 27, and 26.  PT session in afternoon and foam rolling in evening.

Thursday:  4 miles very easy (11:07) on trails in morning followed by PT exercises. Pilates and foam rolling in evening.  

Friday: 11 miles, including a 6400m tempo on the track in 30:55 (8:05/7:48/7:36/7:26), two hill strides, and two flat strides. Foam rolling in the evening.

Saturday: 14 miles (9:43) - mostly easy but with a 30-90 second surge every 10 minutes in the last 6 miles. Followed with leg strengthwork. Foam rolling in evening.

Sunday: Core, PT exercises, and 7 "miles" of pool-running. Foam rolling at night.