Training log - Week ending 1/22/12

This week was 42 miles of “real running”, 21 “miles” pool running, and 19 “miles” on the arc-trainer plus 3000 yards of swimming breathing drills -- training log is here.

My focus this week was on coming back CAREFULLY from my impromptu cutback month. The shin’s cleared up, and I’m not concerned about it. I also feel like I haven’t lost too much in terms of aerobic fitness, and should be back to where I was pretty quick. The legs are a bit weak, but that should come back soon as well. My main concern is the ability of my ankles and feet to hold up to my normal mileage and workouts right now.

To expand: I’ve learned a few things about myself over the course of my brief running career, including that while I’m pretty durable when I’m running consistent mileage, even quite high mileage (which I am nowhere near now), I lose that durability if I cut back my mileage for more than a few days. Thus, I need to come back very carefully if I cut back mileage for a week or two, and the silly shin thing has resulted in a month of reduced mileage. All the soft tissue around my lower legs and feet seems to lose resiliency pretty quickly, and while I do a LOT of rehab/strengthening exercises focused on those areas, they are no substitute for the strengthening I get from actually running.

I have a clear history of coming back too quickly from a low mileage period and tweaking something new and completely different (see 2010, where I spent the whole year alternating soft tissue injuries back and forth between each leg). So, the plan for next bit of time is gradually ramping back up to full mileage and complete workouts, while phasing out the cross training.


Dailies

Monday: In the morning, 60 minutes of beltless poolrunning for “6 miles”, followed by 2000m of swimming breathing drills, and then upper body and core strength work, plus injury prevention exercises. Foam-rolling at night.

Tuesday: In the morning, 8.5 miles very easy (8:17 pace) – did first 4.5 miles on the track, then drills and strides, and then 4 more miles on a hilly route, followed by a pool running workout of 10x3:00 hard, 1:00 easy. Then a PT appointment. Floor barre at night.

Wednesday: In the morning, 5.5 miles easy (7:51 pace), and then an arc-trainer tempo of 2x13 minutes with 2:30 recovery, followed by 3 miles easy (7:50 pace). Foam rolling and hot yoga at night.

Thursday: In the morning, upper body and core strength work, plus injury prevention exercises followed by 30 minutes of beltless pool-running for “3 miles”, and then 1000m of swimming breathing drills. Foam-rolling at night.

Friday: In the morning, 10 miles on the track, including a tempo workout. Did 3 miles in 6:39/6:32/6:26 (6:35 pace), then 6:00 jog, then 2 miles in 6:35/6:25 (6:32 pace). [the scheduled workout was 3 miles, 2 mile, 1 mile; I showed up planning to probably do 3+1, ended up doing 3+2, but managed to resist the temptation of the last mile.]

Followed by injury prevention work and then recovery pool-running for 20 minutes (“2 miles”). Pilates and foam rolling at night.

Saturday: 110 minutes on the arc-trainer – we’ll call it equivalent to 13 miles of easy running. Weights, core strengthwork, injury prevention exercises, and foam rolling in the afternoon.

Sunday: A sorta_but_not_really_long progression run of 14.5 miles in conditions that were dangerously slick at times. The first mile at 9:36 (very icy), then next 9.5 at 7:40 pace (icy patches), next 2 at 7:08 pace, and final 2 at 6:37 pace (some ice). Overall average pace - 7:35 (7:26 if you ignore the first ridiculously icy mile). I had originally planned to do 14, and then add on 2 more if everything felt 100%. Everything felt really good at the end of the 14, but I decided that I didn’t feel like risking further running on the iciness on tired legs. Just not worth the risk. And I think that a mile run on ice counts for 1.25 miles...

Followed with injury prevention work at gym, and then 30 minutes of easy pool-running for “3 miles”. Hot yoga and foam rolling tonight.