Training log - Week ending 5/2/2021

This week was 58 miles of running, 1000 yards of swimming and 18 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here.

Just two workouts this week.  Wednesday's workout was 2-3 by 2 miles.  I almost always do three sets when I do this workout in the middle of the week.  However, I didn't sleep well the night before, and unseasonably warm conditions plus high pollen didn't make me feel better.  I was straining at the end of the second set, so I shut things down then and called it good enough.  Workouts are not all or nothing in terms of benefits.

Saturday morning ended up pretty windy (sustained winds of 20 MPH with gusts higher) as the final bits of a big Friday windstorm left the area.  It was tempting to push this workout to Sunday, but there's something to be said for the opportunity to train in less than ideal conditions.  How are you going to handle challenging weather on marathon day if you avoid it in training?  So I just sucked it up and ran the workout on effort, knowing that some splits would be faster, and some slower.

It ended up being surprisingly mentally easy.  I was running this workout on a ~3 mile loop, so it was a bit more than 10 minutes of more or less suck as I ran into the headwind, and then 10 minutes of just chilling as I rode the tailwind.  Wash, rinse, repeat, eat a gel, I was done.  And marathon paces were consistent with what I had been running before, not slower (as one would expect from the wind).  So perhaps a bit of increased fitness.

I was particularly happy with how much in the way of reserves I had at the conclusion of the workout - better than I've felt recently.  As I noted last week, recent bloodwork had indicated that my folate was dropping again, so I restarted those supplements.  After talking with my doctor this week, I also started iron supplements (he recommended Vitron-C, taken every other day).  

My bloodwork didn't show really low iron, but most of my values were on the low side of normal, while my "transferrin saturation" (a measure of how much iron my blood is delivering to my body) was ever so slightly low (15% where the reference range is 16-45%).   My ferritin was 79 ng/ml, which sounds good until you realize that people with ulcerative colitis have inflated ferritin readings due to inflammation - according to many sources, anything below 100 is low for those with Crohn's Disease or UC.  

Net conclusion - there was a possible need to start iron supplements, and it definitely wouldn't hurt.  So I started them this week.  It will be interesting to see how things progress over the next few weeks.

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

Tuesday: 9 miles very easy outside (9:05) plus drills and four hill strides, followed by upper body weights/core and then 3 miles very easy on the treadmill (9:33). Foam rolling at night. 

Wednesday: 12.5 miles, including 2x2 miles in 13:06 (6:36/6:30) and 13:07 (6:37/6:30) with ~4:30 jog in between. Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling in evening.

Thursday: 3.5 miles very easy on treadmill (9:47), 5 "miles" of pool-running and streaming yoga. Foam rolling at night. 

Friday: 9 miles very easy outside (9:01) plus drills, two hill strides, two flat strides, followed by upper body weights/core and then 3 miles very easy outside (8:49). Foam rolling at night. 

Saturday: 17 miles, including a marathon pace workout of 2x5 miles at marathon effort with 1 mile float in between in fairly strong winds. Split as:

5 miles in 35:24 (7:04/7:06/7:10/6:57/7:07); 

1 mile float into headwind in 8:08;

5 miles in 34:47 (6:54/7:03/7:11/6:48/6:51).

Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling in the afternoon. 

Sunday: 6 "miles" of pool-running and streaming yoga. Foam rolling in afternoon.