Training log - Week ending 9/3/2023

This week was 63 miles of running, 1000 yards of swimming, and 12 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here.

Once again I moved my marathon pace workout up to Friday from the weekend.  We had great weather on Friday morning, and it was nice to get the workout done and then be able to chill out the entire weekend.  I was decently happy with Friday - I would have liked to have run it faster, but instead my legs just locked into 7:30-7:35 pace and stayed there, with a rock bottom HR.  7:35 pace gets me a 3:18 marathon, which I'd be pretty happy with at this point, so I'm not complaining.

I'm continuing to work on my neuro issues, including a fair amount of trail and grass running.  I can tell the trail running is really helping my stability and making running everywhere else a lot easier.  At the same time, because I go so slowly, I don't get my heart rate up very high at all, and my stride stays very short and confined.  

So I've decided to revise my "default" training schedule (for lack of a better term) going forward to swap one of my pool-running days for a trail run.   Previously I've been subbing in a trail run for an easy run on asphalt.

This still gives me two days of very low level aerobic work, with low (trail) or no (pool) impact.  But it means that I still keep a decent volume of running with a normal length stride each week, rather than losing some of that to trail running.

I'm also focusing more on vestibular rehab work, since that still seems to be related to some of my troubles.  I continue to be subtly uncertain of where my body is in space relative to the ground, which forces me to be more tentative when I push off each stride, which in turn slows me down.   This issue is of course much worse when I try to run faster (because everything happens more quickly) or when my visibility is restricted (since I rely on my vision to keep myself oriented in space).

One exercise I added in this week was simply standing, two feet together, on a balance pad with my eyes closed for two minutes.  (Try it - it's harder than you think).  One thing I've noted is that I seem to run much better after doing this - it's like I get a bit of confidence in my own balance.  So I've added that to my long list of pre-run exercises.

Dailies:

Monday:  6 miles very easy on trails (11:04) and streaming yoga.  Foam rolling in evening.

Tuesday:  10 miles, including a track workout of 2x(1600, 800) + 2x400 in 7:07, 3:25, 6:53, 3:21, 1:39, and 1:38; recoveries of 5:43 and 6:01 after the 1600s, 3:0x after the 800s, and 74 seconds between the 400s.   Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling in evening.
 

Wednesday: 10 miles very easy (9:25) with some grass running and drills/strides, followed by upper body weights/core.  Foam rolling in evening.

Thursday: 12 "miles" pool-running and streaming yoga.  Foam rolling in evening.

Friday: 17 miles with 2x5 miles at marathon effort in 37:47 (7:43/7:29/7:35/7:32/7:30) and 37:44 (7:34/7:28/7:33/7:39/7:30) with one mile float in 8:27 between the two.  Followed with injury prevention work and 500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling at night.

Saturday: 8 miles very easy on trails (10:27) and streaming pilates.  Foam rolling at night.

Sunday:  12 miles mostly easy (average 8:58, with a slight progression down to about 7:50 pace at the end), followed by upper body weights/core. Foam rolling at night.