This week was 54 miles of running, 15 "miles" of pool-running, and 1000 yards of swimming.
This was a second "volume week" before I cut back for a series of races over the next few weeks, starting with the Run Unbridled track meet next Friday, followed by the BAA 10K the week after.
Tuesday was near perfect running weather, but I opted for the treadmill anyway. I just seem to respond really well to treadmill intervals and get a much better fitness boost when I do intervals on the treadmill, as compared to the track.
I suspect that this is because I often have difficulty managing my running gait when I'm in a crowded, complex situation (this is pretty common for Parkinsons, though it's more typical to struggle navigating a busy grocery store, or through a doorway).
When I'm on the treadmill, I don't have to dedicate any mental energy to working around other runners, and my always present worries about balance are comforted by having a frame all around me and a steady flat surface under me. The result is an exclusive focus on working the high end of my aerobic system, and a better fitness response. It's kinda similar to doing your heavy squats on a stable surface instead of a bosu.
Of course, not having to deal with other runners and turns and uneven pavement is a double-edged sword - there's also a training benefit from being exposed to those things, and when I'm sheltered from them too much, it becomes very hard to run in crowds or on uneven surfaces. But I have six other days in the week to work on those, so spending one morning a week focusing exclusively on high-end aerobic fitness makes sense.
As for those other days - Friday was a 6400m (~4 miles) tempo on the track with the team (by which I mean my friends lapping me :) ). It was about 15 degrees warmer than it was last week, and I ran about 45 seconds faster than last week - all because I wasn't cold and stiff. Most people would consider low 50s far better distance running weather than mid-60s, but this seems to be how my body works now.
After the tempo, I swapped into a new pair of spikes - the Hoka Cielo Flyx Lite for two strides. The Flyx Lite is the closest I've been able to come to a spike that a) is World Athletics approved and b) works with my decidedly non-forefoot strike. I definitely wasn't as comfortable in it as I am in road shoes, but I think I can make these work on the track without tripping over my own feet.
On Saturday, I got brave and decided to do my weekly easy run/Park Run sandwich at Teddy Roosevelt Island instead of Fletchers Boathouse. I try to do a Park Run at easy run pace most weekends because it forces me to run in chaotic crowds - immersion therapy that really does help.
[Side note: I'm increasingly convinced that this is why I have no problem navigating grocery stores or busy Metro stations with escalators. In Parkinsons, when you make yourself do the hard version of something, the easier version becomes more doable. Since I run and race in crowds regularly (which admittedly is sometimes very hard, mentally), walking through a crowd is a non-issue. I have no doubt that if I was doing all of my aerobic workouts on an exercise bike, I'd have a lot more trouble in the grocery store.]
The Park Run at Fletchers is on a flat stonedust towpath, with a short segment on concrete; in contract, the Teddy Roosevelt Park Run is on trails, with some short sections on a) an uneven boardwalk and b) deep mulch, plus some inclines/declines. The trails aren't terribly technical, but Teddy Roosevelt Island is definitely a more challenging surface than Fletchers, so this was an uptick in difficulty.
It went pretty well. I had some sketchy "mind and legs freaking out" moments at the beginning, but that's what I came for. My one goof was that I intended to run the whole thing at easy pace - after all, I had done a four mile tempo the day before. And then a woman passed me with about a quarter mile to go, and I momentarily lost my sanity and chased her down before kicking to the finish. My "kick" was about 7:45 pace, but that was uphill on a trail in trail shoes, so still a decent effort.
In retrospect, I'm pretty happy that I was able to shed my apprehension about running fast on a trail - that's huge for me. On the other hand, it wasn't a great decision training wise, given yesterday's tempo. In penance, I kept Sunday's run very easy. Which, given that it was nearly 90 degrees by the time I finished the run, was not a bad thing.
Dailies:
Monday: 9 "miles" pool-running in the morning, yoga and PT exercises in afternoon, foam rolling in evening.
