Training log - Week ending 9/19/2021

This week was 62 miles of running, 1000 yards of swimming and 15 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here.

I had two workouts this week - one bad and one good.  I attempted a 2x5 miles at marathon pace workout on Wednesday morning.

[Why Wednesday?  Because as of early this week it was looking like we might have a major event in downtown DC on Saturday that could possibly  interfere with access to Hains Point.  And Hains Point would be blocked off on Sunday for a race.  Since I didn't do a long run last weekend, there was no concern about two long runs too close to each other.]

The first 5 miles of the 2x5 went well, except that I got a bit dehydrated in the last mile (it was a warm, humid, and sunny morning).  That should have been my cue to stop during the recovery jog and drink a lot of water to salvage the workout.  But I didn't, and the rest of the workout sucked, even with breaking up the 5 miles into a 3 and a 2.  Lesson learned.  Again.

Saturday's workout went much better.  I ran it off of effort (like I always do) and was happy to see how fast the paces were for an honest tempo effort in high humidity.  Now, of course, two years ago that was my marathon pace.....  But, you have to train where you are currently, and this workout indicated a lot of improvement.  I don't think I could have run this workout 4 weeks ago.

In other news, I had a bit of a breakthrough with my recurring balance challenges.  Even after a lot of PT work, I still struggle running on uneven terrain - especially terrain with lots of curbs or chunks of broken sidewalk.

I gave it some thought, and realized that what my body seemed to be protecting me from was catching my toe on something raised.  And as part of that, it felt like I was almost dragging my toes when I ran.

So I did some research on exercises for "foot drop" and began working on strengthening and activating my anterior tibialis muscle (the one in your shin that dorsiflexes your foot).  And after just a few days of doing that, I'm handling curbs and such considerably better.  Neat!

Dailies:

Monday: 7.5 "miles" pool-running and streaming yoga.   Foam rolling at night. 

Tuesday: 10 miles easy (9:14 pace) plus drills and four hill sprints, followed by upper body weights/core.  Foam rolling in evening.

Wednesday:  16 miles, including a workout of 5 miles, 3 miles, 2 miles at marathon effort - splits were 36:16 (7:15 pace); 21:37 (7:12 pace) and 14:27 (7:13 pace).  Easy mile between each in 8:30, plus lots of water breaks.   Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling at night.

Thursday: 7.5 "miles" pool-running and streaming yoga. Foam rolling at night. 

Friday: 6.5 miles very easy (9:29), upper body weights/core, and then 3.5 miles very easy (8:57) plus drills and four strides.   Foam rolling at night. 

Saturday: 14 miles, including a track tempo workout of 4800, 3200, 1600 in 20:14 (6:47 pace); 13:22 (6:43 pace) and 6:27.  Recoveries of two laps in 5:41 after the 4800, and one lap in 2:49 plus a bathroom/shoe-tying break after the 3200.  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.  

Sunday: 12 miles easy to moderate (8:27).  Streaming yoga in afternoon, followed by foam rolling.