Training log - week ending 2/16/2025

This week was 58 miles of running and 5 "miles" of pool-running.

Tuesday's workout was an improvement over last week's, with slightly faster splits.  The rest of the week was challenging due to winter weather.  I was on the treadmill on Wednesday and Thursday due to weather.  On Friday I went to the track for 2x3200 in very windy weather.  Due to dry air my breathing was rough - mental note to stay on the treadmill on these days.  The workout wasn't horrible, but it wasn't smooth and easy either.

Sunday I had my choice between possible rain in the morning or dangerously high winds in the afternoon.  Or the treadmill, but I wasn't considering it as an option at the time.

I chose the morning and the rain, and it was probably the wrong choice.  It poured and poured - reminiscent of Boston 2018, just slightly warmer and with a bit less wind.  I stubbornly completed my planned marathon pace workout, with the single concession being an adjustment of 4, 3, 2, and 1 miles at marathon effort to 4, 3, 3.  But by the end I was frozen and couldn't move, and much of the road was standing water.  I now have confirmed that I can complete a race in that weather (and also that my running raincoat isn't as great as I thought).  I hope I won't need to race in that weather.

Dailies:

Monday: 5 "miles" pool-running.  Foam rolling in the evening.

Tuesday: 10 miles, including a track workout of 1600, 4x800, 400 in 7:37, 3:38, 3:34, 3:33, 3:32, and 1:44 with 5:26 recovery after the 1600 and 2:5x-3:1x recovery after each 800.  Followed with leg strengthwork. Foam rolling in evening.

Wednesday: 10 miles very easy (9:28) on Lever-Runner (-5 pounds) plus upperbody weights/core.  Foam rolling in evening.

Thursday: 4 miles (9:28) on treadmill in morning; streaming pilates and foam rolling in evening.

Friday: 9 miles with 2x3200m on the track in 15:00 (7:32/7:28) and 14:58 (7:32/7:27) with 2:48 jog in between.   Foam rolling in evening.

Saturday: 9 miles very easy on trails (10:45) in the morning; upperbody weights/core and foam rolling in the afternoon.

Sunday: 16 miles with 4, 3, 3 miles at marathon effort - average paces of 8:06, 8:11, and 8:25 for the three segments.  Followed with leg strengthwork.  Foam rolling in evening.

Training log - Week ending 2/09/2025

This week was 61 miles of running and 3 "miles" of pool-running.

Tuesday was my first team workout on the track in about 8 weeks.  It went well, in that I had much less trouble with the dark and with being passed then in previous years (I suspect part of this is a medication change and part is better stability due to PT work).  The less good part was that I was a bit slower than I had hoped, running the intervals at the same pace as my 3200m repeat the week before.  However, I think some of this can be written off as due to lack of recent experience in running fast outside, and also lousy sleep the night before.

Friday was a longer tempo - I haven't done an 8K tempo in a while, and wasn't necessarily planning to on Friday, but I locked into the right effort level and just went with it.

As for Saturday - I've found that my gait really benefits from running on trails (all the uneven and unpredictable footing) but that I also benefit from running on my treadmill with the Lever Runner to cue good form (I can't comfortably bend at the waist or overstride while using the Lever Runner).  So I did both with a double.  Then Sunday was a 16 mile long run to start building towards Boston.  

My legs were definitely a bit tired on Sunday, which makes sense when I look back at my log - I usually try to hang out at around 55-60 miles per week, but I've been between 30-45 for the last month due to Covid recovery, schedule conflicts, etc.  Since 55-60 is my normal mileage, I'm not too worried about jumping right back to that level from an injury standpoint.  But some fatigue will be normal until I adjust.

On a different note - I was invited to be on the Run Farther & Faster podcast this week, hosted by two local runners whom I really admire - Lisa Levin and Julie Sapper.  Give it a listen if you are so inclined.

Dailies:

Monday: 5 miles very easy (9:33) and yoga.  Foam rolling in the evening.

Tuesday: 10 miles, including a track workout of 2x800, 2x1200, 2x800 in 3:40, 3:43, 5:29, 5:28, 3:37, 3:34, and 1:45, with 2:4x-3:1x recovery after each.  Followed with leg strengthwork. Foam rolling in evening.

Wednesday: 10.5 miles very easy (9:54) plus two hill sprints.  Yoga and foam rolling in evening.

Thursday: Upperbody weights/core + 3 "miles" pool-running in the morning; massage in the afternoon.

Friday: 10 miles with an 8K tempo in 37:55 (7:34/7:31/7:36/7:39/7:35) plus two 200s in 58 and 55 with full recovery. Followed with leg strengthwork.  Foam rolling in evening.

Saturday: 6 miles very easy on trails (10:42), streaming pilates, and 3 miles very easy on the arc-trainer at -35 pounds (8:00).  Foam rolling in the afternoon.

Sunday: 16.5 miles progressive - starting at 10:20 pace and ending at 8:02 pace, followed with injury prevention work.  Foam rolling in evening.

Training log - Week ending 2/2/2025

This week was 43 miles of running and 9 "miles" of pool-running.

This was my first week of running mostly outside after what seems like a very long time on the treadmill (it was only 3 weeks).  Unsurprisingly, running outside is a bit of an adjustment - wind, camber, uneven pavement, and declines are all stuff I can't replicate on the treadmill.

I started off with a tempo because the slower pace made it a bit easier to transition, followed by hills because I needed to do hills.  Both were OK.  I think I was hoping for some miraculous boost in fitness from my treadmill workouts, but all indications were that I either preserved my fitness or had a slight gain.  Which, of course, is not the worst possible outcome.

The One City half-marathon is now a month away, and Cherry Blossom and Boston aren't far either, so it's time to start getting a bit more focused.

Dailies:

Monday:  3 "miles" of pool-running and yoga.  Foam rolling in the evening.

Tuesday: 7 miles, including a track workout of 3200, 1600 in 14:41 (7:23/7:18) and 7:18 with 4:36 recovery between the two.  Followed with leg strengthwork. Foam rolling in evening.

Wednesday: 10 miles very easy (9:44) plus two hill sprints.  Foam rolling in evening.

Thursday: 4 miles very easy (8:12) on the Lever Runner (-35 pounds) in the morning; streaming pilates and foam rolling in evening.

Friday: 8 miles, including 8 Iwo Jima hill repeats (2:30 powerful up a 3% incline, 90 second jog, ~50 second downhill stride, and 50 seconds jog to bottom).  Followed with leg strengthwork.  Foam rolling in evening.

Saturday: In the afternoon, upperbody weights/core and 6 "miles" pool-running.  Foam rolling in the afternoon.

Sunday: 10 miles easy (9:27) plus upperbody weights/core.  Foam rolling in evening.

Training log - Week ending 1/26/2025

 This week was 32 miles of running and 9 "miles" of pool-running.

I thought I wrote up and published an entry for this week, but it's not showing now, so this is my second try.  Since I'm now a week behind, I'll just note that I took two days off this week to recover from some prolotherapy injections in my right hamstring and left hip.  These weren't to address a major injury - rather, several people have suggested to me that the repeated problems I've had with my right hip rotators are due to some lingering damage to the right hamstring that I tore about 10 years ago.  So, before I started a new training cycle, I did a round of prolotherapy to hopefully strengthen that area up a bit.

The doctor that I use for prolo usually lets me run right away, but this time he suggested 48 hours off, so that's what I did.

Dailies:

Monday:  9 "miles" of pool-running and yoga.  Foam rolling in the evening.

Tuesday: 8 miles on the treadmill, including a tempo intervals workout of 6x4 minutes at 8.2-8.3 mph with 72 second jog at 6 mph.  Followed with leg strengthwork. Sports massage in evening.

Wednesday: Off except for foam rolling in evening. (prolotherapy injection in morning)

Thursday: Upperbody weights/core in morning and foam rolling in evening.

Friday: 6 miles very easy on the treadmill (9:41) in the morning.  Foam rolling in evening.

Saturday: 8 miles on the treadmill, with a tempo intervals workout of 4x5 minutes at 8.2-8.3 mph with 1 minute jog at 6 mph, followed by 6x30 seconds at 8.8-9.0 mph with 90 second jog at 6 mph.  Followed with leg strengthwork and foam rolling in the afternoon.

Sunday: 10 miles easy (9:27) plus upperbody weights/core.  Foam rolling in evening.