Training log - Week ending 12/5/2021

This week was 67 miles of running, ~1500 yards of swimming (some was in meters) and 9 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here.

Yes - this week's mileage looks inflated, but that's because I ran on Monday instead of pool-running.  On a normal week this would have been 59 miles plus a bit more pool-running.

Things are continuing to trend upwards, so that's good.  Focusing on keeping my quads relaxed and pulling my heels to my butt really seems to be the trick here.    I tried my first tempo workout in quite a few weeks on Friday, and it wasn't bad.  I note that my first mile of the tempo workout was faster than my first 800 of the interval workout - that's just standard for this weird thing that I'm dealing with.

For the last few weeks, I've been doing my long run on a route that is uphill going out, and downhill coming back.  Part of my reason for choosing this route was that it was always easiest for me to start running uphill, and save the downhill running for when I was more limber.  The slight assist from the downhill on the way back was also helpful.

Since I'm now doing a bit better, I swapped to a pancake flat location for today's run - loops of Hains Point.  I felt a bit unsteady on the first mile, but then fine, and I was really happy with how the run progressed.  Fitness wise, I've got a long way to go, but at least the coordination issues are improving substantially.

On Saturday I also got my long awaited brain and spine MRI.  It took 2 hours, but wasn't as bad as it sounds, since they did it in four parts.  Part 1 was the brain, and then they pulled me out and rearranged me for the spine and sent me back in.  After 40 minutes of that, I rolled back out to get some contrast injected, and then back in for a second round of spine.  Then out one more time to rearrange back to the brain position for another 15 minutes to finish that up.

Plus - I like the MRI sounds, so I find the whole thing entertaining.  I did find the brain MRI a bit claustro at first - the MRI tunnel itself doesn't bug me too much, but for brain MRIs they encase your head in a cage with padding to immobilize your head.  The head cage PLUS the mask PLUS the whole tube thing was a bit much at first, but I just did some yoga breathing and then settled down to enjoy the ride.

And no, I haven't looked at the CD yet - that requires a CD reader, which we've been unable to dig up so far.

Dailies:

Monday: 8 miles very easy (9:32) with drills and four strides, followed with upper body weights/core.   Foam rolling at night. 

Tuesday: 12 miles, including a track workout of 2x800, 1600, 2x800, 2x200 in 3:33, 3:27, 6:44, 3:17, 3:13, 45, and 46.  Recoveries of 2:35 to 3:10 after the 800s; 5:30 recovery after the 1600, full recovery for the 200s.  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling in evening.

Wednesday:  Streaming yoga and 10 miles very easy (9:31), plus drills and four hill strides.   Foam rolling in evening.

Thursday: 90 minutes pool-running and upper body weights/core.  Foam rolling at night.

Friday: 11 miles, including a tempo workout of 3200, 1600 in 13:58 (7:02/6:56) and 6:41 with 5 minutes jog in between.  Followed with 4x200 in 45, 44, 44, 45.  Then leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling in evening.

Saturday: 10 miles (9:37) plus drills and then streaming yoga.  Foam rolling at night.

Sunday: 15 miles progressive, split as first 5 averaging 9:36 pace, next 5 miles averaging 8:23 pace, next 5 miles averaging 7:23 pace.  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 meters recovery swimming.

Training log - Week ending 11/28/2021

This week was 43 miles of running, 1000 yards of swimming, and 21 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here.

After a few days off, I started running again on Wednesday.  I didn't feel any better for the time off - in fact I felt a bit less stable.  This is not surprising, since I seem to do better when I'm practicing the skill of running and worse when I don't.  However, I did steadily improve, and by Saturday I was about where I had left off. 

I've been playing around with different drills, form cues, etc - trying to figure out what is wrong with my running gait and how to fix it.  In general, I'm not a big fan of focusing too much on form - everyone's gait is unique.  I have witnessed many many runners end up much worse off after trying to force themselves to land on their forefoot, fire their glutes, etc.

[you can actually identify the people who have gotten messed up - there's a characteristic stiff-backed, floppy-handed way of going, accompanied by the ability to simultaneously overstride while landing on one's forefoot.] 

At the same time, my form is already screwed up, and so anything I can do to unwind that is worth trying.  Simply running up and down hills has been a big help, along with the arsenal of running drills.  After doing some reading, I started playing with some running drills from cross-fit, of all things.  And one drill that seems to really help me is to think about lifting my heels to my butt while running.  Obviously they don't get all the way there, but holding that thought in my mind seems to really help with my current gait issues.  It helps the most when I am running downhill - as soon as I feel wobbly, I try to lift my heels up with each stride, and I'm immediately more stable.  Very interesting.

Dailies:

Monday: 6 "miles" of pool-running.   Foam rolling at night. 

Tuesday: 6 "miles" of pool-running.  Foam rolling in evening.

Wednesday:  Streaming yoga and 8 miles very easy (9:37), plus drills, two flat strides, two downhill strides.   Foam rolling in evening.

Thursday: 10 miles including 8 hill repeats of about 2:15-2:20 each.  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling at night. 

Friday: 10 miles very easy (9:40), drills, two strides, and upper body weights/core.  Foam rolling at night. 

Saturday: 14.5 miles progressive, split as first 5 miles averaging 9:32 pace, next 5 miles averaging 8:25 pace, next 4.5 miles averaging 7:17 pace, and then a half-mile jog.  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling in afternoon.

Sunday:  Streaming yoga and 90 minutes of pool-running.  Foam rolling in afternoon.

Training log - week ending 11/21/2021

This week was 30 miles of running, 1000 yards of swimming, and 24 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here.

I started the week off with an attempt at a track workout.  It went OK - no feeling like I was going to fall, not much wobbliness.  My legs were incredibly tight and stiff even after a 3 mile warm-up, and didn't feel even half-way normal until the end.  Just the oddest feeling - like I was wearing pants that were way too tight.  No pain, no soreness, no fatigue.  The legs just couldn't move.  

But again, I was running in a straight line, so that was an improvement.

Wednesday's run felt surprisingly good - as if Tuesday had loosened me up.  Which is just par for the experience here - the more I do, the better I feel.

That being said, after a pretty good hill workout on Friday, I decided to take a break for a few days.  My reasoning being that I was way overdue for a break.   I honestly don't want to take a break (especially now that things are finally on the upswing).  But I know that they are necessary, and the only reason I hadn't taken one yet was that I was worried about a setback in dealing with whatever I'm dealing with if I backed off of stuff.  But a clean neuro exam and EMG/NCS eased that worry some.

So I scheduled myself for 4 days of doing anything from nothing at all to 60 minutes of pool-running, lasting from Saturday to Tuesday.  Definitely not as big a break as I would take after a season-ending marathon, but it should do the job of a reset.

Dailies:

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

Tuesday: 10 miles, including a track workout of 5x800, 400, 2x200 in 3:48, 3:38, 3:20, 3:19, 95, 48, 49.  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling in evening.

Wednesday:  Streaming yoga and 10 miles very easy (9:26), plus drills and two strides.   Foam rolling in evening.

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

Friday: 10 miles including 8 hill repeats of about 2:15-2:20 each.  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling at night. 

Saturday: 6 "miles" of pool-running and foam rolling.

Sunday: Cheering at Philadelphia Marathon and foam rolling.

Training log - Week ending 11/14/2021

 This week was 55 miles of running, 1500 yards of swimming, some stuff on the arc-trainer, and 18 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here.

It was a good news/meh news week.  

I had a nerve conduction study/EMG on Tuesday.  For the NCS, they place two sensors on each muscle a measured distance apart and then apply a mild electric shock to the muscle and record how fast the electric impulse travels.  For the EMG, they stick a very small needle in each muscle and then have you use the muscle while a machine (attached to the needed) assesses how the muscle activates.    It's a bit uncomfortable, but also kinda geekily cool.

I've have several of these over the years, since I have a significant family history of ALS and also benign fasciculation syndrome (meaning my calf muscles twitch all the time for no good reason).  They've always come back clear; this one was also mostly clear, with just some slight issues with the left ankle, which the neurologist wasn't worried about.

On Friday, he did a full neurologic exam, which meant that I did some exercises with my eyes and mouth, touched my nose with my finger, got my knees and ankles tapped, and did some funny walks while he watched.  That was all good too.

So the good news is that he hasn't found anything (he did order a set of MRIs to be complete - those will take a few weeks).  The meh news is that I was hoping for a (benign and easily fixed) diagnosis, and I don't have anything yet.  

The neurologist suggested that the issue might actually be orthopedic - something is off in my muscles/bones/tendons and the body is protecting itself.  So that's one avenue I have to pursue.  Additionally my primary care had suggested checking in with a vascular specialist, so I have that appointment in December.  In the meantime, I'm a bit frustrated that I've missed my entire fall racing schedule, but that I still have no idea what is wrong or how to fix it or prevent a reoccurrence.  But all I can do is keep looking for answers.

At least whatever it is seems to be improving.  I'm feeling steadier and stronger, especially the last few days.  But I've got a long way to go before I get back to where I was even 8 weeks ago.

Dailies:

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

Tuesday: 5 miles (10:12), an arc-trainer workout of three sets of 4x(90 seconds hard, 30 seconds easy) with 60 seconds easy between each set, and then 3 miles (9:27).  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling in evening.

Wednesday:  Streaming yoga and 8 miles very easy (9:45), plus drills and hill strides.   Foam rolling in evening.

Thursday: 12 miles including 8 hill repeats of about 2:15-2:20 each.  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling at night. 

Friday: 9 "miles" of pool-running and upper body weights/core.

Saturday: 8 miles (9:24), streaming yoga, and 4 miles (9:21) plus drills and strides

Sunday: 14.5 miles progressive, split as first 5 averaging 9:24 pace, next 5 miles averaging 8:12 pace, next 4.5 miles averaging 7:18 pace, plus a half-mile cooldown.  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.

Training log - Week ending 11/7/2021

This week was 60 miles of running, 1500 yards of swimming, some stuff on the arc-trainer, and 18 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here.

More of the same holding pattern.  I'm trying to run a small bit each day just to keep practicing the act of running, because it feels like that is helpful.   Doing hills once a week and a progressive long run once a week gives me a chance to practice some faster running, while doing the arc-trainer workout once a week lets me get my HR up and preserve some of my aerobic fitness.

I do feel like the wobbliness is improving - it now goes away in about 2 miles instead of 4 or so.  On Saturday I managed to run on my treadmill for the first time in a long time - I had to keep the pace very slow and use the handle bars for intermittent support during the first two miles, but then things got better.

Right now, I'm actually feeling similar to how I did about 18 months ago, right after dropping out of the One City Marathon (my notes back then in my training log show that I had some wobbliness/balance issues then as well).  I've re-developed the sciatic/burning pain down both legs that I had then (though not quite as bad this time around).  All stuff to mention to the Neurologist when I see him this week, I guess.

Dailies:

Monday: 8 "miles" of pool-running, upper body weights/core, and 3.5 miles (10:18).   Foam rolling at night. 

Tuesday: 4.5 miles (9:53), an arc-trainer workout of three sets of 4x(90 seconds hard, 30 seconds easy) with 60 seconds easy between each set, and then 3 miles (9:45).  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling in evening.

Wednesday:  10 miles very easy (10:02), drills, strides, and streaming yoga.   Foam rolling in evening.

Thursday: 10 "miles" pool-running followed by 2 miles very easy (10:05), drills, strides, and upper body weights/core.  Foam rolling at night. 

Friday: 11 miles including 8 hill repeats of about 2:20 each.  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling at night. . 

Saturday: 8 miles (9:59), streaming yoga, and 3.5 miles (10:05) plus drills and strides

Sunday: 14.5 miles progressive, split as first 5 averaging 9:55 pace, next 5 miles averaging 8:48 pace, next 4.5 miles averaging 7:42 pace.  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.

Training log - Week ending 10/31/2021

 This week was 45 miles of running, 1000 yards of swimming, some stuff on the arc-trainer, and 24 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here.

(Belated entry)

This was another week as a holding pattern.  I was going to try a hill workout on Tuesday, but felt very wobbly, so swapped to arc-trainer intervals.  Friday was a bit better.

Throughout the week, I experimented with different pre-run regimens.  Pool-running before running outside seems quite helpful.  However, it's also inconvenient to try to pool-run BEFORE land running (for some strange reason, the reverse order works much better).

I also experimented with some stretches.  It seems that deep sustained stretches of my calves, hamstrings, quads, and lower back (and by sustained I mean holding the stretch for at least 60 seconds), helps a lot.  As much or more than the pool-running.  

I've always done dynamic stretching and mobilization before running, but it seems that static stretching actually works better for me now.  Very interesting.

Dailies:

Monday: 8 "miles" of pool-running and streaming yoga.   Foam rolling at night. 

Tuesday: 3 miles (11:28), an arc-trainer workout of two sets of 5x(90 seconds hard, 30 seconds easy), and then 2 miles (9:41).  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling in evening.

Wednesday:  3 "miles" pool-running, 7 miles very easy (9:27), and upper body weights/core.  Foam rolling in evening.

Thursday: 3 "miles" pool-running, and then 9 miles including 8 hill repeats of about 2:20 each.  Followed with leg strengthwork.  Foam rolling at night. 

Friday: 8 "miles" pool-running and upper body weights/core.   Foam rolling at night. 

Saturday: 2 "miles" pool-running and then 14.5 miles progressive, split as first 5 averaging 9:36 pace, next 5 miles averaging 8:48 pace, next 4.5 miles averaging 7:32 pace.  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.

Sunday:  9.5 miles very easy (9:42), plus drills and four strides, and then streaming yoga.  Foam rolling at night.

Training log - Week ending 10/24/2021

This week was 52 miles of running, 1000 yards of swimming and 16 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here.

Things continued to decline this week.  Aerobically I'm great, but I just can't trust my legs.  They aren't sore, they aren't tired. They just aren't working well - weak and wobbly.

A friend asked me if it felt like the bridge over River Road on the Capital Crescent trail.  Yes - that nails the feeling exactly.  For those of you not in the DC area, the River Road bridge on the CC trail is a concrete bridge for pedestrians and bikes only.  It tends to shift a bit (disconcerting) and will even start bouncing if there are too many people running on it at once.  That bouncing feeling is exactly what running on flat ground feels like for me right now.

On Tuesday I tried a pre-dawn track workout, but bailed two laps into the first 1600 when I felt like I was going to fall in the dark, and realized I was getting in the way of my teammates.  I came back an hour later to try, but it wasn't much better.  So I did what I could (some 200s and 400s at 6:40-6:45 pace) and made peace with that.

Friday I considered a tempo, but decided to go with hill repeats instead.  I feel much more stable going uphill then on the flat right now, so that felt a bit better (though still very unstable and slow).

On Sunday I tried a progressive long run that was frustrating.  My breathing was very easy, and my legs felt like they could go forever.  They just couldn't go very fast without feeling like they would give on me.

So all very frustrating.  

My initial round of bloodwork (CBC/CMP, folate/B12, and iron panel) all came back fine.  I saw my primary care doctor on Tuesday and he agreed that this was almost certainly a neurologic issue, and that I should keep following up in that direction (I checked in with my rheumatologist, and she agreed).  My primary care doctor did a second round of bloodwork to check vitamins B1, B6, and B7 - a deficiency or surplus in any of those would be very unusual but could explain these symptoms.  I'm also going to check in with my neurologist again, since things seem to be going in the wrong direction.

As for the obvious question of why I insist on continuing to run and "train" while this is going on?    Everyone seems to agree that this is a neurologic issue, and not an injury.  I have a big family history of neurologic issues on my mother's side, and one thing I know very well: it is essential to stay active and to do as much of your normal routine as possible when working through neurologic issues.  It's important that I keep running if I can, to practice that skill.  It's important that I do drills, and practice "hopscotch" like a kid, and walk on my heels and walk on my toes and try to run fast and run uphill and run downhill, etc.   All of that works to preserve neural connections that are trying to shut down.  

Essentially, the connection between my mind and my legs is like a phone call with a lot of static.  The conversation is challenging and signals are sometimes delayed.  But if I hang up on the phone conversation, it will be much harder to get through again.

Dailies:

Monday: 8 "miles" of pool-running and upper body weights/core.   Foam rolling at night. 

Tuesday: 11 miles, including an attempted track workout that ended up being a bunch of 200s and 400s at 6:40-6:45 pace.   Followed with leg strengthwork.  Foam rolling in evening.

Wednesday:  Stuck in a training session most of the day.  2 miles very easy (10:03) and foam rolling in evening.

Thursday: In the morning, streaming yoga and 8 "miles" pool-running.  4 miles very easy (10:11) in afternoon.  Foam rolling at night. 

Friday: 10.5 miles, including 8 hill repeats of about 2:20 each.   Foam rolling at night. 

Saturday: 10 miles very easy (9:46), plus drills and four hill sprints, and then streaming yoga.  Foam rolling at night.

Sunday:  14.5 miles progressive, split as first 5.5 averaging 10:04 pace, next 4.5 miles averaging 8:44 pace, next 4.5 miles averaging 7:45 pace.  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.   Foam rolling at night.

Training log - Week ending October 17, 2021

This week was 54 miles of running, 1000 yards of swimming and 16 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here.

The week ended better than it started.  Tuesday's workout was ridiculous and even comic.  It was before dawn, and I felt really wobbly.  Part of me wondered if this might be mental, so I decided to see how stuff would go if I just stayed relaxed and ran the whole workout, regardless of how slow it went.  So I did, and got the splits you see below.  Yes - I did my first 1200m at 7:30 pace, which is normally my "faster than easy/slower than marathon pace" and it felt HARD.  It was ridiculous.  Things got a bit better as I went, but it felt like my body just wouldn't go fast because I felt unstable on the track.  Essentially the track felt like a bosu ball - the oddest feeling.  I just couldn't tell where I was putting my feet.

After that, I decided I wasn't doing Columbus Half this weekend.  I contacted my primary care doctor, and scheduled an appointment for this coming Tuesday.  I also went and got blood drawn on Friday.  

I'm on several different dietary supplements - all prescribed by doctors (I'm a bit of a contradiction because I really don't like taking supplements, but I can't seem to get adequate vitamin D, folate, or iron from just food alone.)    I did not take any of my supplements on Friday, because I was getting blood drawn.  And...that afternoon the muscle twitches were gone, and the balance issues/vision was improved.

So on Saturday I decided to experiment, and took only a B-vitamin supplement (which doesn't have crazy levels of anything).  And...all the symptoms came back.  Only to be gone by Sunday morning.

I'm thinking this may be a step in figuring out what's going on, though obviously I don't have answers yet.  It will interesting to see what my primary care doc says on Tuesday.

Dailies:

Monday: 8 "miles" of pool-running and streaming yoga.   Foam rolling at night. 

Tuesday: 11 miles, including a track workout of 2x1200, 3x800, 400 in 5:38, 5:26, 3:24, 3:17, 3:15, and 93. Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling in evening.

Wednesday:  8.5 miles (9:25) with 4x200m in 45, 46, 45, 44.  Foam rolling at night.

Thursday: 8 "miles" pool-running and upper body weights/core. Foam rolling at night. 

Friday: 10 miles, including a track workout of 3200 and 1600 in 13:29 (6:55/6:34) and 6:27.   Foam rolling at night. 

Saturday: 10 miles very easy (9:18), followed by drills and four strides, and then streaming yoga.  Foam rolling at night.

Sunday:  14 miles progressive, split as first 4.5 averaging 9:15 pace, next 5 miles averaging 8:15 pace, next 4.5 miles averaging 7:01 pace, followed by a half mile jog.  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.   Foam rolling at night.

Training log - Week ending 10/10/2021

This week was 61 miles of running, 1000 yards of swimming and 8 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here.

Not a great week.  In the past, I've had some balance issues, and they came back this week.  

On Tuesday, they got really bad, and I was also just struggling to see (granted - it was before sunrise on a foggy morning).  I ran the first 800 of the workout and felt like I was going to faceplant so I just went home.  I realized that the vision issue might be a migraine (my migraines are essentially painless, just vision loss), so I called my neurologist and got a refill on my migraine meds.  Those took care of the shimmering blurry vision issue. 

For the rest of the week, I was struggling - I'd feel very unstable at first, and then great by the end of the run.  Since I hadn't really done a Tuesday workouts, on Wednesday I tried some 1K repeats, which went OK, if unstable.  Hilariously, I then tried some 200s, and couldn't run any faster for them than I could for the 1000s (ran them in 48 seconds....).  

I tried a tempo workout on Friday, which turned into a wobbly 1.5 miles and 1 mile at 6:40 pace.  I gave up and jogged back to my car, but by the time I got there, I felt better.  So I went back out for another mile at threshold, which turned into 3 mile repeats, each feeling smoother than the previous.  Bizarre.

After thinking about it way too much, I suspect it's that my ankles are locking up - instead of flexing through the ankle and rolling through the foot, my ankles are stuck in one position at first, and then generally releasing and working more fluidly.  (This is not a flexiblity/mobility issue - I'm great on that score).   

So this weekend I decided to try a) doing some funny walks pre-run where I walk heel to toe and exaggerate that rolling motion; and b) really thinking about that rolling motion in my feet any time I felt unstable.  This seemed to help a lot, so I think that's part of the key

I saw my neurologist on Friday and he had me do some tests - I was fine on most of them, but had a bit of trouble with one of the standing balance tests - when I clamped both feet together while standing and closed my eyes, I wobbled (though it seems to me that other people might wobble with that one also).  He started me on B2 supplements and scheduled me for another EMG.  In the meantime I've got a PT appointment on Tuesday to see what else I can do to manage this. 

I honestly don't think this is anything serious (if it was, it wouldn't improve as I ran).  My hunch is that it's just some minor nerve issues in my ankles/feet, and it's just a matter of figuring out the exact nature of the issue, and then doing the right exercises to rewire stuff so that they're working fine from the start).

In the meantime, I was planning on running the Columbus Half-Marathon on Sunday.  Weather looks great, and I think my fitness is good.  I just need to decide if I'm going to be stable enough on my feet to run it.  It's a traditional mass start race, and I really don't want to get in other people's ways if my balance is lousy.

Dailies:

Monday: 5.5 miles very easy (9:40), upper body weights/core, and 3.5 miles very easy (9:13) plus drills and 2 strides.   Foam rolling at night. 

Tuesday: 4 miles including an 800m repeat in 3:11.  Foam rolling in evening.

Wednesday:  In the morning, 8 miles including a short workout of 3x1K in 4:03, 4:03, 4:01.   4 miles very easy (9:19) in the afternoon.  Foam rolling at night.

Thursday: 8 "miles" pool-running and upper body weights/core. Foam rolling at night. 

Friday: 8 miles very easy on the treadmill (9:29), upper body weights/core, and then 4 miles very easy (9:10) plus drills and four strides.   Foam rolling at night. 

Saturday: 8 miles very easy (9:16), followed by drills and two strides, and then streaming yoga.  Foam rolling at night.

Sunday:  13 miles progressive, split as first 4.5 averaging 9:12 pace, next 4.5 miles averaging 8:01 pace, next 4.5 miles averaging 6:54 pace.  And then jogged a bit to get to 14 miles total.  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.   Foam rolling at night.

Training log - Week ending 10/3/2021

This week was 52 miles of running, 1000 yards of swimming and 27 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here.

This week I decided to revise my fall plans, and drop down from the full marathon at Indy Monumental to the half marathon (assuming I'm able to - I sent a request in asking if I could switch).   I'll still do the Columbus Half Marathon, which was originally scheduled as my tune-up for Indy - now my planned schedule is Columbus half on October 17, Indy half three weeks later, and then a turkey trot before taking my season break.

It was a tough decision, but ultimately the right one, I think.  It's obvious to me that I'm not where I should be fitness wise 5-6 weeks out from a marathon.  At this point in a cycle, runs of 20+ miles should not feel challenging (though including marathon effort work at the end might be).  But that's not the case for me right now - I'm just not as strong as I would like to be.    It's the unfortunate but understandable consequence of starting this training cycle at a deficit due to iron deficiency.

At the same time, my fitness is definitely improving each week, and I think I'm in a good place to run some fast half-marathons, especially if I add a bit of speed to the strength I've built so far from the marathon work.  

Additionally, I haven't been able to race a turkey trot in several years since I've always run a late fall marathon - it will be great to finally be able to do that.  Another plus is that I won't have to take quite as long a break after the end of my season (which will now be after the turkey trot), since I won't have to factor in post-marathon recovery.  I can take a few days pool-running/junk food and a week or two of hills, and then start building for the spring.

Saturday's workout was originally planned to be 2x5 at marathon effort, but I swapped it down to 3x3 miles at marathon effort, plus 1 mile a bit faster.  Both are technically marathon workouts, but the second works much better for a half-marathon, especially with the faster mile at the end.  It went mostly well.  I ran the last 3 mile segment a bit too hard/fast, but that's not a big deal if I'm not using it as training for a marathon.

Dailies:

Monday: 8 "miles" pool-running and streaming yoga.   Foam rolling at night. 

Tuesday: 7.5 miles very easy (9:36 pace), followed by upper body weights/core and 3.5 miles very easy (9:07) plus drills, two hill strides, two flat strides.  Foam rolling in evening.

Wednesday:  12 miles, including a workout of 3x2 miles at half-marathon effort in 13:23 (6:39/6:44); 13:13 (6:36/6:37), and 13:20 (6:39/6:41).  4:5x jogged recovery between each.   Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling at night.

Thursday: 10 "miles" pool-running and streaming yoga. Foam rolling at night. 

Friday: 8 miles very easy on the treadmill (9:29), upper body weights/core, and then 4 miles very easy (9:10) plus drills and four strides.   Foam rolling at night. 

Saturday: 17 miles, including a workout of 3x3 miles at ~marathon effort with 1 mile float, followed by 1 mile split as 21:35 (7:13/7:13/7:09), 21:21 (7:11/7:10/7:00), 20:51 (6:56/6:57/6:58) and then 6:31.  1 mile floats in between ranged from 8:01 to 8:10.   Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.  

Sunday: 9 "miles" pool-running in the morning.  Streaming yoga in afternoon, followed by foam rolling.