Training log - Week ending 12/22/2024

This week was 54 miles of running, 1000 yards of swimming, and 6 "miles" of pool-running.

I didn't really feel like I needed any recovery time after the 15K, but I kept Monday and Tuesday easy anyway.  One of my biggest priorities is avoiding injury, since it takes me so darn long to come back from one.  

Instead of the track this week, I returned to Iwo Jima for hills.  I need more power in my legs, and a session of hills always seems to help with that.  

Saturday was the key workout of the week - another 2x5 miles at marathon effort with 1 mile float.  This went much better than the last session - probably in part because I'm back on the medication that seems to work best for me.  While I wish the paces of the marathon effort segments were faster, the paces I hit this weekend would get me well under 3:30 at Houston, which is really my biggest goal (3:30 being the high-performance standard for my para-athlete division at the Boston Marathon).  

I registered for Houston hoping to go sub-3:20 there, but I'm probably not going to be in shape to pull that off in 4 weeks. However, the paces I hit on Saturday are consistent with sub-3:25, which I would be happy with (especially given where I was in September and October).  And...the marathon effort miles truly felt like marathon effort - I could have kept going and extended the workout another few miles.  That's a good feeling (and what I strive for during marathon effort workouts).

Saturday's workout was also notable for two things.  First: it was extremely windy - sustained winds of 15-20 mph with gusts higher (the wind was mostly a cross wind for the workout, but occasionally a head or tail wind).  So...in better weather the same effort might have yielded a pace that was a few seconds faster.  

Second: I intentionally tried to err on the side of overdressing, as opposed to last weekend's race.  And...I felt great and comfortable the whole run, never overheating.  Definitely helpful information for deciding what to wear in the future.

I think that my increased cold sensitivity is due to a few things - one is simply age, and another is Parkinsons (PD really messes with one's ability to regulate body temperature, and it's pretty normal for people with PD to handle cold poorly).  The third is simply that I'm slower than I used to be, which means that for each race I'm working at a lower intensity for a longer period of time.  That in turn means that I'm not generating as much body heat as I used to.

The net conclusion: in the winter, I need to ignore both my ego and what worked best for me a few years ago and wear more clothing when racing.

Dailies:

Monday:  3 "miles" pool-running in the morning.  Foam rolling in the evening.

Tuesday: 8.5 miles very easy (9:31) plus upperbody weights/core.  Foam rolling in the evening.

Wednesday: In the morning, 7.5 miles including 7 Iwo Jima hill repeats (~2:20 up a 3% incline, 90-100 second jog; ~200m downhill stride, and 60 jog to the bottom of the hill.  Followed with leg strengthwork.  3.5 miles very easy (9:35) on treadmill and foam rolling in evening.

Thursday: 7 miles very easy (10:38) on trails in the morning.  Foam rolling in evening.

Friday: 10.5 miles very easy (9:40) plus two strides and upper body weights/core.  Foam rolling in evening.

Saturday: 17 miles, including a workout of 2x5 miles at marathon effort - splits of 38:30 (7:42 pace) for first 5 miles and 38:40 (7:44 pace) for the second 5 miles; 1 mile in 8:44 between.  Followed with leg strengthwork and foam rolling.

Sunday: 1000 yards of swimming and 3 "miles" of pool-running.  Foam rolling in evening.