Training log - Week ending 7/15/2018

This week was 34 miles of running, 16 "miles" of pool-running, and 3000 yards of swimming -- training log is here.

The highlight of the week was my matched pair of mile races on Saturday night.  Those, plus an Iwo Jima hill workout on Wednesday, were my only quality of the week.

I actually wasn't too beaten up on Sunday, which I think is a result of being out of shape.  For a mile, you have to be in good mile fitness in order to run it hard enough to hurt, both during and after the race.  If you're out of shape, it just doesn't take that much out of you.  It's the exact opposite of a marathon in that sense, since marathons hurt more if you're not trained well.

No track for me this week, and that will continue for another 2 weeks.  Instead, I'll stick with hills, moderate runs, and road mile races.  And a whatever mentality to training.

I'm not under any illusions that this is an optimal way to train in the short term - if I really cared about my race performances in the next few weeks, I'd be hitting the track, doing progression runs, and keeping all of my other runs at a crawl.  But I think a few weeks of "what-the-heck" are a really good investment in the long term.  I'm keeping a moderate level of fitness up and having some fun while avoiding structured/timed workouts - a mental break.  

I'm already missing those workouts, which is a good thing.  By the time I return to the track, I'll be really eager and emotionally fresh, which will set me up well for training that will last from August-September (shorter stuff) through my training cycle for CIM in December.


Dailies

Monday: Yoga and 8 "miles" of pool-running in the morning, plus foam rolling.  

Tuesday: 9 miles very easy (9:16) plus drills and strides.  Then upper body strengthwork and core.  Foam rolling in afternoon..

Wednesday: 10 miles, including 6 hill repeats (~550m up, then ~200m jog, ~200m stride, and ~150m jog down to base of hill). Followed with injury prevention work and 1000 yards easy swimming. Foam rolling at night.

Thursday:  Strengthwork and core plus 8 "miles" of pool-running in the morning.  Foam rolling at night.

Friday: 8 miles very easy (9:28) plus drills and strides.  Followed with DIY yoga. Later did another mile to test a different pair of shoes.  Foam rolling at night.

Saturday: In the morning, DIY yoga.    In the evening, 3 mile warm-up, and then a mile race in 5:52.  Another mile shakeout, and then another mile race in 5:53.

Sunday:  Yoga and 2000 yards of swimming  Foam rolling at night.