Training log - Week ending 4/12/2026

This week was 37 miles of running, 18 "miles" of pool-running and 1000 yards of swimming.

I didn't do a great job of planning this week out.  By which I mean that I forgot a) that I had a massage scheduled on Thursday night, and b) that I planned to cheer at Cherry Blossom on Sunday (meaning no long run). Had I remembered those, I would have gone with a more significant track workout on Wednesday and a long run on Saturday.

But I didn't remember and thus my plan for the week was some very short fast stuff on Wednesday, a tempo on Friday, and then a long run on Sunday.  It wasn't ideal to do a tempo on Friday after a massage Thursday night, but we kept the massage light and focused on the upper body.  The tempo was still a bit slower than I would have liked - I'm not sure how much was the massage and how much was the fact that I overdressed, wearing black tights and longsleeve shirt on a morning that started cool and overcast but warmed up quickly.

As for Sunday, I ended up doing my "not so" long run in the pool.  I woke too late to run before cheering at Cherry Blossom.  While I could have done a mid-day run, I preferred not to - Parkinsons means that I have an increased risk of skin cancer, and so I try to avoid running more than a few miles outside when the sun is at its peak.  And yes, I know I have a marathon next week in the sun, but that's the exception to the rule, and also a good reason not to add more midday sun this week.

Given a choice between the pool and the treadmill, the pool made more sense given where I am in the training cycle, so I went with that.

The good news is that everything feels good and all systems are go for the marathon on 4/20. And I'm feeling far better about my fitness than I was at this time last year.

Dailies:

Monday: 8 "miles" pool-running in the morning; foam rolling in the evening.

Tuesday: 7.5 miles very easy outside (9:49) with 4x100m strides (26 down to 25) and two hill sprints, upperbody strength/core in the afternoon. Foam rolling in evening.

Wednesday: 9.5 miles, including 10x100m in 27 down to 25. Followed with 400 yards swimming. Foam rolling in evening.

Thursday:  4 miles very easy on the towpath (10:19), followed by PT exercises.  Pilates and sports massage at night.

Friday: 8 miles, including a 6400m tempo in 29:47 (7:38/7:29/7:25/7:17), followed by leg strengthwork. Foam rolling at night.

Saturday: 8 miles very easy on the towpath (9:29) including a Parkrun, followed by upperbody weights/core. Foam rolling at night.

Sunday: Cheering at Cherry Blossom and PT exercises. 10 "miles" pool-running and 600 meters of swimming.  Foam rolling at night.

Training log - Week ending 4/5/2026

This week was 43 miles of running, 16 "miles" of pool-running and 1500 yards of swimming.

After last week's long run, I decided I was still a bit worried about my right leg/hamstring.  It felt mostly fine, and I was able to run on it fine, but it felt like there was something still lurking there. Not painful or sore, just...lurking.

I reviewed my running log, and the last time I had this feeling was in early 2020.  Then, everything blew up (technical term) right before my marathon, and I ended up dropping out of the marathon early. I struggled with it for a few weeks after, and then got prolotherapy to tighten up loose ligaments in the SI joint and back.  Once I did that, everything cleared up within a week.

So...I called the doctor who did the 2020 prolotherapy, and he had an opening on Wednesday afternoon.  I played things carefully until that appointment, where he confirmed that I was again loose and unstable in my right SI joint. 

He offered to schedule me in a few weeks, but then generously fit me in immediately when I explained that I had an important marathon in 2 weeks (all marathons are important, but Boston is really important to me).  And once again, everything cleared up within a few days.  No more sense of lurking right leg doom.  (Some would argue that this was a placebo effect.  Perhaps so. I don't care. I got the result I wanted.)

Since I had missed the tempo workout planned for the middle of the week, I substituted it in for Sunday's planned 16 mile long run (I had also previously considered racing on Sunday but decided not to).  Of the various options, I felt like the tempo would benefit me the most and was also the least stress on my body.  

Sunday morning was more like summer than March - I ran the tempo in 73 degrees with a 21 mph wind blasting at me. This was not quite as bad as it sounds - the wind basically meant that half of each lap of the track was effortless, while the other half was hard work, but into a strong cooling fan.

I once again ran this one completely ignorant of my watch - since the weather was not great I wanted to ensure I stuck to the proper effort and didn't tense up in response to slow splits. And I was once again pleasantly surprised by my splits when I reviewed the watch later.  A 37:32 8K tempo indicates ~3:30 marathon fitness on a good weather day, and Sunday was unquestionably not great weather for fast running (though my muscles do seem to work better and be less rigid when it is warm).

Two weeks to go.  Time for bubble wrap!

Dailies:

Monday: 7 miles very easy (10:12), upperbody weights/core in afternoon; foam rolling in the evening.

Tuesday: 7.5 miles very easy outside (10:01) with 4 short hill sprints, followed by leg strengthwork. 2.5 miles very easy (10:00) in the afternoon.  Sports massage in evening.

Wednesday: 9 "miles" pool-running in the morning, including a workout of 20x70 seconds hard/20 seconds rest. Followed with 500 yards swimming. Prolotherapy injections in the afternoon.

Thursday:  Upper body weights/core + PT exercises in the morning (no running or aquatic exercise the day after the prolo). Foam rolling at night.

Friday: 7 miles very easy (9:59) in the morning; 500 yards of swimming and PT exercises in afternoon. Foam rolling at night.

Saturday: 9 miles (9:30) mostly very easy but with a brief fartlek (3:00 at tempo, 4x0:30 faster, 4x0:10 strides). Followed with 500 yards of swimming. Foam rolling at night.

Sunday: 10 miles, including an 8K track tempo in 37:32 (7:48/7:32/7:27/7:24/7:21). Followed with leg strengthwork and 7 "miles" pool-running.  Foam rolling at night.

Training log - week ending 3/28/2026

This week was 55 miles of running, 15 "miles" of pool-running and 1000 yards of swimming.

This was another uneven week.  On Wednesday, I warmed up in a jacket over my longsleeve shirt and tights, and felt good.  I took off the jacket for the workout and felt awful for the first two 3200s.My body was very stiff and I just couldn't move.  I decided to experiment and put the jacket back on for the third rep and felt much better.

It was only 39 degrees, so not that cold. But apparently 39 degrees is no longer longsleeve weather for me during a workout.  Noted.

I did my last 20 on Sunday, and was satisfied with it.  Like my previous 20, this one included climbing and descent on the last 7 miles, with the difference that rather than a rolling course, I just ran up and then down. The down involved dodging a number of walkers, but that was fine - good practice for a big race. I did have a few twinges of nerve/hamstring during the final miles, but nothing super concerning.

So that's my Boston training cycle done.  Now I just need to taper.

Dailies:

Monday: 9 "miles" pool-running in the morning; upperbody weights/core midday; foam rolling in the evening.

Tuesday: 6 miles very easy trail-running (11:11) plus PT exercises.  Yoga and foam rolling in evening.

Wednesday: 12 miles including a workout of 3x3200m in 15:47, 15:46, and 15:12, followed with leg strengthwork. Foam rolling in evening.

Thursday: 8 miles very easy (9:58) with four 100m strides in 28 down to 26. Yoga and foam rolling at night.

Friday: 8.5 miles very easy (10:13) with eight 100m strides in 30 down to 27.  500 yards swimming in afternoon. Foam rolling at night.

Saturday: 20 miles progressive, split as the first 7 miles averaging 10:00, the next 6 averaging 8:58, and the last 7 miles averaging 8:00.  Followed with a .5 mile cooldown.   Foam rolling at night.

Sunday: 6 "miles' pool-running and 500 yards swimming; foam rolling in evening.