Training log - week ending 3/6/2022

This week was 54 miles of running, 1500 yards of swimming and 18 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here.

I'm definitely noticing some improvement from the back injections already - I'm much more stable and less wobbly when running.  I still have some issues with running downhill or on uneven sidewalks, but it's less than it was before.   My speed hasn't jumped up the way I had hoped it might, but I probably need to give it time.

My wobbliness now seems to have been replaced by a general lack of power, which I think stems from lack of stability when pushing off.  So my focus for the next few weeks is on fixing that.

To that point, since I don't have any plans to run any races longer than 5K in the next 2 months, I decided I'd get more out of skipping my long run this weekend in favor of focusing on running mechanics.  So I subbed in a Sunday morning track workout, starting with 4-6 laps at tempo effort to get me truly warmed up (I needed 6 laps, as it turned out), and then shifting to 200m repeats with equal distance recovery, focusing on running smoothly and playing with different aspects of my form.

This workout ended up very beneficial - I feel like I learned a lot.  A very strong gusty crosswind and having to navigate around others on the track (there were several joggers in lanes 1 and 2) gave me an opportunity to figure out exactly what I do that makes me feel unstable in certain circumstances (like crowds, high winds, and low visibility).

I identified two key things that I do when I get distracted or concerned about my stability:  1) I invert and lock my left ankle, so that I'm no longer pronating on it and 2) I lock up my shoulders. Focusing on fixing both of those things helped me keep a smooth stride while passing others or being buffeted by the wind - I'll experiment with those some more in my track workouts this week.

Dailies:

Monday:  9 "miles" of pool-running and upper body weights/core.   Foam rolling at night. 

Tuesday: 11 miles, including a track workout of 4x1200, 2x400 in 5:08, 5:02, 4:53, 4:54, 92, and 93.   1 lap jogged recoveries after each in between 2:28 and 3:21.  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling in evening.

Wednesday: Streaming yoga and then 10 miles easy (9:34), plus drills and four hill sprints.   Sports massage in evening.

Thursday: 9 "miles" pool-running and upper body weights/core.  Foam rolling in evening.

Friday: 11 miles including a track tempo of 6400m in 28:15 (7:17/7:06/7:00/6:50).  Jogged for 4 minutes after, and then did 2x200m in 46 seconds each.  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming. 

Saturday: 10 miles easy (9:37), followed by streaming yoga.  Foam rolling at night.

Sunday: 12 miles, starting with 2400m in 10:12, and then doing 16x200m, starting at 49, 50 for the first two, and then the rest all between 46-47.  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.