This week was 66 miles of running, 18 "miles" of pool-running, and 1000 yards swimming -- training log is here.
Most of this week was about combining recovery from the Houston Half with getting some volume in, since I'm now less than 6 weeks out from my marathon.
This, BTW, is why I've decided I'm not a fan of running a half-marathon in the middle of a marathon training cycle. I prefer to either:
a) treat the half-marathon as a separate goal race with its own cycle, and then fully recover before jumping into a shorter, 10 week or so marathon cycle; or
b) run the half marathon at the very end of the marathon cycle, combining the half-marathon recovery with marathon taper.
Sticking a half marathon in the middle of a marathon cycle isn't optimal for running a fast half. AND I then have to strike a careful balance between recovery from the half (so I don't dig a hole) with the marathon training.
But....it is what it is. I had registered for the Houston Half long before I planned to run One City, and I didn't want to miss out on Houston. And....if I run really really well at One City, perhaps I'll give the mid-cycle half-marathon some of the credit. But right now, I'm thinking that from now on, I'll stick with running half-marathons either out of their own dedicated cycle, or on the end of a full marathon cycle.
Recovery went pretty well. I had a small hiccup with a scratchy throat on Wednesday evening. I woke up Thursday morning feeling really run down, and with the scratchy throat still there. So, I stayed in bed an extra hour, skipping my planned 2 hour pool-run plus weights.
My long run this Sunday was critical for my marathon - I only have two 20+ milers for this training cycle, and no extra time to push one of them back a week. So...it was pretty important to be healthy by Sunday. Which meant pulling way back on Thursday and also drinking tons of water, as well as hitting bed early.
In my experience, some gentle aerobic activity usually clears out a cold quicker than full rest, so I did hit the pool later that morning for a short pool-run (at a time when it was normally empty, so as not to spread germs). Later in the day, I had a gap in my workday, allowing me to hit the pool again for a second short pool-run. So I managed to get in some volume anyways, but with a minimum of stress to my body (and not exposing anyone else).
Either the above did the trick, or it was just a 24 hour bug, or maybe I wasn't sick to begin with. In any event, I woke up Friday morning feeling much better, and could just jump back onto the schedule. Whew!
Friday and Sunday's workouts both went far better than I expected. I'm definitely still tired from last Sunday's half (not surprising - it usually takes about 10+ days to feel fresh after a half-marathon raced all out). So it was nice to hit paces both days that were significantly faster than I expected for the effort. I fully expected to run between 6:50-7:00 pace for the marathon effort section on Sunday. Perhaps slower, since we were running into a headwind. So averaging 6:47 was a pleasant surprise.
We'll see what the next few weeks bring. I'm not that far out from One City, with only two more weeks of training before taper.
Friday and Sunday's workouts both went far better than I expected. I'm definitely still tired from last Sunday's half (not surprising - it usually takes about 10+ days to feel fresh after a half-marathon raced all out). So it was nice to hit paces both days that were significantly faster than I expected for the effort. I fully expected to run between 6:50-7:00 pace for the marathon effort section on Sunday. Perhaps slower, since we were running into a headwind. So averaging 6:47 was a pleasant surprise.
We'll see what the next few weeks bring. I'm not that far out from One City, with only two more weeks of training before taper.
Dailies
Monday: 9 "miles" pool-running. Sports massage in afternoon.
Tuesday: 8 miles very easy (9:10), upper body weights/core, and then 2 miles very easy (8:51), plus drills (no strides). Foam rolling at night.
Wednesday: 5.5 miles very easy (9:32), yoga, and then 6.5 miles very easy (8:49), followed by drills and two uphill strides. Foam rolling at night.
Thursday: 5 "miles" pool-running and core. Later another 4 "miles" pool-running. Foam rolling at night.
Friday: 12 miles, including a short workout of 3200, 1600 in 12:44 (6:25/6:19) and 6:06; 5:10 recovery between the two. Followed with four hill sprints, leg strengthwork, and 700 yards recovery swimming. Foam rolling at night.
Saturday: 10 miles very easy (8:51), drills, four strides, and then upper body weights and core. Foam rolling at night.
Sunday: 22 miles, split as the first 7 averaging 8:44 pace, the next 7.5 averaging 7:30 pace, the next 7 averaging 6:47, and then a half-mile cool-down jog. Followed with leg injury prevention work and 300 yards recovery swimming. Foam rolling in afternoon.
That's a really solid week! Looks like you balanced the recovery/training pretty well. A lot can happen in four weeks so I think you'll be in prime condition come One City!
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