Training log - Week ending 11/20/2022

This week was 49 miles of running, 500 meters of swimming and 30 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here.

I'm entered in the Houston Marathon, and so am playing with a short training cycle (plus a shorter than normal taper) for that race.  Tuesday was my first track workout post-Covid, and it went better than I expected (I had extremely low expectations).  

My plan for the rest of the week had been a short cruise intervals workout on Friday (either 3200, 1600 or 2x3200) and then a marathon pace workout on Sunday.  But the forecast was for a single digit dew point on Sunday morning.  Cold and very dry air is very hard on my asthma, and I really wanted to do this workout outside rather than on the treadmill, so I opted to skip the Friday workout and do the marathon pace workout on Saturday.

As for that marathon pace workout - I had no idea how it would go.  My plan going into it was to do 3x3 miles at marathon effort and then 1 mile a bit faster.  I normally don't like this workout because the fact that no set is more than 3 miles really encourages one to run the workout too fast.  But I was feeling a bit unsure of myself, and so this seemed like the best option.

However, about 2.5 miles into the first rep, I confirmed that I felt good and in control, so I swapped it to 4-3-2-1 (with the last mile a bit harder than marathon effort).  Perfect weather (low 30s and little wind) didn't hurt, of course.  But it was still reassuring that this workout felt so controlled and doable.  I've been thinking that I didn't have enough time to get in marathon shape before Houston.  But based on this workout, I think I'll be OK.

Monday: 9 "miles" pool-running.   Foam rolling at night. 

Tuesday: 11 miles, including 6x800m in 3:31, 3:30, 3:25, 3:21, 3:20, and 3:18, with recoveries between 2:3x and 2:5x after each.  Followed with leg strengthwork.   Foam rolling in evening.

Wednesday: Streaming yoga and 10 miles very easy (9:49), drills and two strides.  Sports massage at night.

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

Friday: Streaming yoga and 10 miles easy (9:41), drills and two strides.  Foam rolling at night. 

Saturday: 17.5 miles, including a workout of 4-3-2 miles at marathon effort and then 1 mile a bit faster, all with 1 mile easy in between.  Averaged 7:34 pace for the 4 miles, 7:31 pace for the 3 miles, 7:36 for the 2 miles, and ran the last mile in 6:59.  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 meters recovery swimming.  Foam rolling in afternoon.

Sunday: 12 "miles" pool-running.  Foam rolling at night.