Sunday, November 29, 2020

Training log - Week ending 11/29/2020

 This week was 61 miles of running, 500 yards of swimming and 15 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here

I mixed stuff up a bit this week - doing my long run on Tuesday so that I could race on Saturday.  This worked since I hadn't done a long run last weekend.    


As for the 5K race - I was happy with it.  I don't have an exact read on my fitness, but it seems to be in the ballpark of what I thought it was.  And I got my rust buster out of the way, so yay.


I was planning on racing a half-marathon in Florida in December, but am likely going to switch to a local half marathon this coming weekend.  The course will not be as fast, but I'm not in PR shape anyway, so what do I care?  And given the current state of affairs, it just seems like a better idea to stay local if I can.




Dailies 


Monday: Upper body weights/core and 12.5 miles easy (8:58) plus drills and two hill strides Foam rolling at night.


Tuesday: 17 miles, including a marathon pace workout of 2x5 miles at marathon effort with 1 mile float.  Splits were:

34:25 (6:54/6:55/6:58/6:48/6:50 - average pace 6:53) and 34:28 (6:52/6:54/7:00/6:54/6:48 - average pace 6:54) with 1 mile float in between in 7:42.   Followed with 500 yards recovery swimming.   Foam rolling at night.


Wednesday: Core, 50 minutes pool-running, and streaming yoga foam rolling at night.


Thursday:  8.5 miles very easy (9:05), streaming yoga, 2 miles very easy (8:59) plus drills and two hill strides.  Forgot to foam roll.


Friday: 5 miles, including a quick sharpening fartlek of 3:00 at half-marathon effort, 4x30 seconds at 5K effort, and 4x10 seconds at mile effort, followed by 5 "miles" pool-running. Foam rolling at night.


Saturday: In the morning - 3 mile shake out (9:39); in the afternoon, 4 mile warm-up and then 5K-ish race in 19:46 (6:17/6:16/6:10 and 1:03 for last .17).  Followed with 5.5 miles easy (8:50).   Foam rolling at night.


Sunday:  Streaming yoga in the morning.  5 "miles" pool-running and foam rolling in afternoon.


Race Report: Wobble After Gobble 5K, November 28, 2020

 I ran the Wobble After Gobble 5K (ish) yesterday afternoon, finishing in an official time of 19:48 on this uncertified course.

It felt really good to race again.  Really really good.  

The fact that I haven't been racing hasn't been for lack of races or lack of trying.    Races have been happening, even in the time of Covid, and I've been entered in them.  But I keep having to sit them out due to my hamstring, or my folate deficiency, or my bad ankle, or recovery from PRP for the bad ankle.

The irony of my personal 2020 is that I've missed many more races due to injury/health than due to cancellations.  So when I saw the "Vienna Caboose" 5K/10K was being held on the W&OD trail on a Sunday morning I signed up with great excitement.

Only to have the race swapped to virtual.   As happens. 

The race management offered registered runners the opportunity to switch into several other races, including the Wobble After Gobble races to be held at Lake Accotink park on a Saturday afternoon.  I read the race description, and signed up as soon as I saw the word "paved" in the course description.  At this point, I'm not picky.

***

I got to the race venue around 2:30 pm and began my warm-up by jogging the course.  The trail was paved with either asphalt or concrete, and had a fair amount of users on it - I noted that since the trail would not be closed for the race, I'd likely have to dodge bikers, dogs, and pedestrians at some point.  It was mostly in good shape, albeit with some broken up sections, some leaves, and a very short muddy section.  No mile markers, so I made sure my watch was set to autolap for the race.  The turn-around was marked by a collection of cones.

After warming up with my standard 3 minutes at half-marathon effort; 4x30 seconds at 5K effort, 4x10 seconds at mile effort, I went over to the start area to await my wave.  The race was run in waves, 3 minutes apart, of 25 runners each.  With 3 minutes until our start time, my group was called to near the start line, where we stood spaced apart with masks on.  In a departure from "normal" racing, we wouldn't actually start grouped up on the line (presumably since there wasn't enough room to keep adequate space between us there).  Instead we would stand, spaced apart, until "go" at which point we'd run to the start line and start the race.

The timer gave us notice of 30 seconds to go, then 15 and then 10.  At 10 seconds to go everyone removed their masks (I tucked mine in my sportsbra) and then we were off.

***

I had noted a few high school girls in my wave, and so I wasn't surprised when one of them jumped into the lead and pulled ahead of me.  It didn't take long for her to come back, and then I had the female lead.  A few men passed me, and then I was alone, though I could focus on them pulling ahead of me to tow me.

And so I ran down to the orange cones (monitored by a nice masked woman), turned around, and ran back.  I was pleasantly surprised that the dodging of dogs, walkers, and others was nowhere near as bad as I had anticipated.

I had set my watch to autolap each mile, and so it was a bit deflating when my watch beeped for the 3rd mile and the finish was nowhere in sight.  But this was also good, in a way.

To explain, I believe that part of racing well is being presented with a question, and answering it correctly.  That question usually arises around 2/3rds into the race - it's the moment of truth/gut check moment.  It's important to race regularly so that you get practice answering the question correctly.   

I was already working on my answer to that question when I realized that the course would be long, and that I had no idea where the finish was (except ahead of me).  And that made the question a bit tougher.

But I had come here to race and to practice answering important questions correctly, and so I did that, successfully.  And then the finish line finally, blissfully, came into view.  And I was done.

***

As I finished, the timer handed me a medal and a nice plaque for the first place woman.  I was surprised to get the award - weren't there several more waves behind me still to run?  He explained that they had seeded the waves so that all possible winners were in the first wave.

I was also surprised by my reaction to getting a medal for finishing a 5K.  Normally, like many of us, I'm a bit dismissive of stuff like that.  But in the time of Covid, running a race felt magical, and the medal compounded that.  

The medal makes me happy when I look at it.  I wasn't expecting that.

So...with medal and plaque in hand, I quickly removed myself from the start/finish area so I could catch my breath in a socially distanced manner before putting my mask back on.    It felt weird to not be engaging in the standard post-race banter with competitors that become friends on the other side of the finish line.  But such is life right now.

***

My autolap splits were:

Mile 1: 6:17

Mile 2: 6:16

Mile 3: 6:10

last .17 miles (1:03) (6:11) pace.

As noted, my Garmin + footpod showed the course to be longer than 5K.  I'm not surprised at all that the course was not exactly 5K - they were clear on the website that the distance was approximate.   As for whether my Garmin+footpod was accurate?  I know that since I've fixed the calibration it's been accurate to slightly short on the track or measured road distances, so I have no reason to doubt it here. 

But of course, no technology is perfect.  Only certified courses, accurately set, are.

What I can conclude is that I ran somewhere between 19:18 (my Garmin's reported split for 5K) and 19:48 for the 5K distance.  And, since I was pretty sure my current fitness was in the mid-19s for 5K, either number makes sense.

But what's more important to me is that I got out there and raced again, and successfully managed the questioning and discomfort that is part of any race.  I got what I came for.

Other notes:

  • The weather was pretty nice - temperature of 58, dew point of 35.  There was wind of 13 miles per hour that should have been a headwind for the second half of the course.  However, I barely noticed it, most likely because the trail was surrounded by trees that blocked most of it.
  • I wore my Vaporfly Nexts for this race.  It felt good to put those on also.
  • The morning of this race, I did a 3 mile shakeout, trying to jog very slowly.  And proved to myself once again that the slower I do my morning shakeout, the faster I run in the aftenoon/evening.


Sunday, November 22, 2020

Training log - Week ending 11/22/2020

This week was 45 miles of running, 1000 yards of swimming and 21 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here

The first part of the week was annoying.  The announced workout was 2x(1600, 800) and then some fast 400s and 200s.  I was struggling from nearly the start - I first modified the workout to 1600, 4x800 (another 1600 was not happening) and then dropped out when even the 800s were awful.  I just felt drained and anemic, with no blood to my legs.  I was pretty sure this was due to last week's blood draw for the PRP (they took a LOT of blood) so I just bailed to avoid digging a hole and then pulled back on the running for the next few days while eating a lot of iron-rich foods.


I had planned to race a 10K on Saturday, but decided it was a really bad idea given Tuesday.  Golden rule of training - if you are in a hole, stop digging.


So instead I did a tempo workout on Saturday - I planned it as 2-3 repeat of 2 miles at something between 10 mile and half-marathon pace with half mile recoveries.  But I was open to cutting it to just one repeat, or splitting the 2 mile repeats into single miles, if needed.


As it turned out, that wasn't needed, and I ended up with a pretty good workout.  Which was nice.  Also nice is that the right ankle feels really good - strong and steady.  When PRP works, it's amazing.



Dailies 


Monday: Upper body weights/core and 5 "miles" pool-running. Foam rolling at night.


Tuesday: 10 miles, including an attempted track workout of 1600, 2x800 and then drop.  Splits were 6:24, 3:08, and 3:10; recoveries of 5:09 after the 1600 and 2:30 after the first 800.  Followed with leg strengthwork, streaming yoga, and 500 yards recovery swimming.   Foam rolling at night.

;

Wednesday: 9 miles easy (9:00) plus drills and 2 hill strides, followed with yoga; 30 minutes pool-running in afternoon; foam rolling at night.


Thursday:  5 "miles" of pool-running and upper body weights/core in the morning; foam rolling at night.


Friday: 11 miles very easy (8:51), plus drills and two hill strides, followed by streaming yoga.  3 "miles" pool-running in afternoon. Foam rolling at night.


Saturday: 14.5 miles, including a workout of 3x2 miles at 10 mile/half-marathon effort with half mile recovery.  Splits were 13:06 (6:33/6:33); 13:03 (6:31/6:32); and 13:09 (6:36/6:33).  Recoveries in 4:30 and 4:50.


Followed with streaming yoga and leg strengthwork, and then 500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling in afternoon.


Sunday:  Streaming yoga in the morning.  5 "miles" pool-running and foam rolling in afternoon.


Monday, November 16, 2020

Training log - Week ending 11/16/2020

 This week was 45 miles of running and 15 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here

.I did my second round of PRP on Tuesday, so that meant another 2 days on the couch, and then a careful ramp back up.


I felt a bit sluggish and drained for much of the week, just like last time.  I had previously attributed this to the PRP, couch potatoing, and general life stress... but this time a lightbulb went off.  They draw a decent amount of blood for PRP - 20 vials is the goal - so about 180 ml.  450-500ml is what one generally gives when donating blood, and that amount can knock a runner down for several weeks (the blood volume gets replaced pretty quickly; the red blood cells take a lot longer).   So in retrospect it's not surprising that I'd feel a bit dull for a week or so post-blood draw.


So I kept things on the easy side.  Sunday's run was intentionally not too hard.  At the same time, I had inadvertently ended up entered in two virtual half-marathons, both of which sent me nice swag and cool medals.  I hated to toss the medals, so I just went ahead and formally ran 13.12 miles (giving a slight cushion to the 13.11) so that I could submit that time to both races and then add the medals to my medal basket.


On a separate note, I went back to the track on Monday to do another calibration of my footpod.  Tuesday morning I got good accurate measurements on the track during the workout, and on Sunday's run it was lapping miles just AFTER my friend's GPS - indicating that it's at least not measuring too optimistically.



Dailies 


Monday: 9 miles very easy (8:55) plus an easy mile on the track to calibrate my footpod, followed by upper body weights/core. Foam rolling at night.


Tuesday: 12 miles, including a track workout of 2x800, 1600, 2x800, 2x200 in 3:07, 3:08, 6:23, 3:05, 3:01, 43, and 42.  ~2:30 recoveries after the 800s, 4:50 recovery after the 1600, full recovery for the 200s.  Followed with leg strengthwork, streaming yoga, PRP injections into my ankle, and crutches.

;

Wednesday: Couch potato.


Thursday:  Couch potato.


Friday: Upper body weights/core and 4.5 "miles" of pool-running. Foam rolling at night.


Saturday: 9 miles easy (8:54) and drills and two hill strides plus streaming yoga and 5 "miles" pool-running.  Foam rolling in afternoon.


Sunday:  12 miles easy to moderate, progressing down from 9:30 ish to 7:15 ish.  Jogged 1.12 miles after, stopped and restarted watch, and then jogged another .80 of a mile.  Followed with streaming yoga.  Doubled back with 5.5 "miles" pool-running and foam rolling in afternoon.


Sunday, November 8, 2020

Training log - Week ending 11/8/2020

 This week was 56 miles of running, 1000 yards of swimming and 18 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here

This was my last hard week before my second round of PRP in my right ankle.  I was pretty happy with it overall, though I wonder if my footpod's distance/pace measurement might be off on Saturday's run - I don't honestly think I'm in that type of shape.  But....regardless of whether the pace was accurate, it felt like a solid workout, and I was happy with it.



Dailies 


Monday: 5 "miles" of pool-running and upper body weights/core. Foam rolling at night.


Tuesday: 12.5 miles easy (8:53), plus drills, 2 hill strides, 2 flat strides, and streaming yoga.   Foam rolling at night.

;

Wednesday: 14 miles, including a 4 mile tempo in 26:25 (6:42/6:38/6:35/6:30).  Full recovery, and then 10 sets of 30 seconds hard; 60 seconds easy.  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling at night.


Thursday:  5 "miles" of pool-running and upper body weights/core in the morning; foam rolling at night.


Friday: 12.5 miles very easy (8:57), plus drills and four strides, followed by streaming yoga.  3 "miles" pool-running in afternoon. Foam rolling at night.


Saturday: 17 miles, including a marathon pace workout of 4, 3, 2, 1 miles at marathon effort with 1 mile float in between.  Splits were:


4 miles in 27:34 (7:01/6:53/6:53/6:47 - 6:54 pace); 7:42 float;

3 miles in 20:15 (6:47/6:47/6:41 - 6:45 pace); 7:45 float;

2 miles in 13:27 (6:44/6:43 - 6:44 pace); 7:51 float;

1 mile in 6:36.

 
Followed with leg strengthwork and streaming yoga, and then 500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling in afternoon.


Sunday:  Streaming yoga in the morning.  5 "miles" pool-running and foam rolling in afternoon.