Training log - Week ending 8/16/2026

This week was 62 miles of running, 15"miles" of pool-running, and 1000 yards of swimming.

Somewhat random musing:

I've been running marathons for 19 years now - from age 33 to age 52.  And in that nearly two decades my training has evolved as I've aged.  

When I was in my 30s, I'd do two track workouts a week, plus a long run, and seemed to handle that OK. In my early 40s, I shifted to five workouts over two weeks.  Then, as I approached and passed 50, I transitioned to two hard days a week - either two track workouts and no long run (if not marathon training) or a big mid-week track workout and a weekend long run if marathon training.

Now, as I'm getting into my mid-50s, my schedule is shifting again. Even with the benefit of supershoes, I don't seem to be able to recover fully if I do both a big mid-week workout (something like 14 miles with 3x2 miles at 10 mile effort) and a quality long run in the same week.  So, I'm now doing a "normal" workout during the week (either intervals or tempo), then taking two easy days before the quality long run, and then several easy days after the long run.

(the one exception, of course, is when I intentionally do a track workout and then an easy long run the day after, followed by at least three easy days).

This evolution hasn't been planned (no "at 52 I will train like this"), instead it's just an ongoing reflection of how my body recovers as I age (and I'm sure Parkinsons plays a role also). Good training is all about optimizing the balance of stress and recovery, and if my body isn't recovering as well as it used to, then my training needs to change to match that.  At least that's been my experience.

So far, I seem to be responding well to this change in structure, as I feel like I'm seeing more progress this training cycle than in previous ones.  My interval workouts continue to get faster and this Saturday's 2x5 miles at marathon effort felt solid. Unlike two weeks ago, where I ran the final marathon effort miles way too hard, I kept them under control this week. Of course, it's much less tempting to overcook things when the marathon effort intervals are 5 miles long, not 1-2 miles.

***

Monday: 8 miles very easy (9:52) in the morning, upperbody weights/core plus foam rolling in evening.

Tuesday: 10.5 miles very easy (9:58) including some untimed strides in the morning and 500 yards swimming; PT in the afternoon; foam rolling at night.

Wednesday: 10.5 miles on the treadmill, including a workout of 2x4:30/3:00, 2x3:00/2:00, 2x1:30/1:00, and 4x0:30/1:30.  4:30 intervals at 8.4-8.5 mph (7:04-7:09 pace), 3:00 intervals at 8.5-8.6 mph (6:58-7:04 pace), 1:30 intervals at 8.6-8.7 mph (6:52-6:58 pace), and 30 second intervals at 9.1-9.2 mph (6:26-6:31 mph).  Jogging recoveries at 6.2 mph (9:41 pace).   Followed with leg strengthwork. Foam rolling at night.

Thursday: 6 miles very easy on trails (12:46) plus upperbody weights/core and PT exercises in the morning; foam rolling at night.

Friday: 9.5 miles very easy (10:08) plus two strides. Foam rolling at night.

Saturday: 17.5 miles, including a marathon effort workout of 2x5 miles at marathon effort with a mile float between the two.  Splits were 40:07 (8:05/8:11/7:59/7:54/7:58), mile float in 8:53, and 39:31 (7:54/7:59/7:54/7:52/7:52). Followed with 3 "miles" pool-running and 500 yards recovery swimming.

Sunday: PT exercises and foam rolling, followed by 12 "miles" pool-running.

Training log - Week ending 8/9/2026

This week was 55 miles of running, 22 "miles" of pool-running, and 1000 yards of swimming.

I pushed last weekend's marathon effort workout a bit harder than I should have, so I skipped a "real" workout in the first half of the week, instead doing some strides and 30 second hill repeats (for the latter, cycling between easy, moderate, and hard effort).

The purpose of the hill repeats is to build/retain power - due to both age and Parkinsons, I tend to lose power quickly and have to work to retain it. The obvious question is "why not do each repeat hard?"  

In response, I'll first note that I can't take credit for the "cycling-through-different-efforts" structure - it's something I saw in a friend's training and borrowed. I've kept it because I've found that cycling through the three efforts facilitates a truly all out effort on the hard efforts.  

Essentially, the (first) easy and (second) moderate repeats prime me (mentally and physically) for a really hard effort on the third rep.  And knowing that the next rep (the fourth) after the hard rep will be just a jog reduces the tendency to "save a little for the next one."  The result is that the third and sixth hill sprints are all out, which is what I want.  Two truly hard efforts with full recovery are better than six fairly hard reps when one is trying to develop/retain power.  

DC was at its swampiest over the weekend (dew points in the mid-70s), and so I abandoned any ambitions of marathon effort work.  Instead, I ran a careful tempo on Friday, followed by 18 miles at easy effort on Saturday.  Doing the two workouts on consecutive days meant that I already had some fatigue on my legs going onto Saturday's run, so that the 18 miles felt more like 20-22 miles at easy pace - a solid endurance stimulus.  

I'm not generally a fan of back to back hard days, but in marathon training I have found that following a tempo on day 1 with a long easy run on day 2 is a solid alternative when a progressive long run with quality (marathon effort work) is not a good choice due to weather. It's just important to make sure I recover well after.

***

Monday: 7 miles very easy (10:07) with two strides in the morning, yoga and foam rolling in evening.

Tuesday: 10 miles very easy on trails (10:47) and upperbody weights/core in the morning. Foam rolling at night.

Wednesday: 9 miles including 6x30 second hill repeats (cycling twice through easy, moderate, hard) and 11x100m in spikes 26 down to 23, followed by 500 yards of swimming and then a PT appointment. Sports massage at night.

Thursday: 10 "miles" pool-running and upperbody weights/core in morning; foam rolling at night.

Friday: 11 miles, including a 6400m tempo in 30:38 (7:47/7:46/7:37/7:29) plus 2x200m in 50 and 49, and 6x30 second hill repeats (cycling twice through easy, moderate, hard). Foam rolling at night.

Saturday: 18 miles easy (10:04) and 3 "miles" pool-running. Foam rolling at night.

Sunday: 9 "miles pool-running and 500 yards swimming, plus PT exercises and foam rolling.

Training log - Week ending 8/2/2026

This week was 50 miles of running, 24 "miles" of pool-running, and 1500 yards of swimming.

I had initially planned to start "serious" marathon training next week but decided to bump it up a week after looking at the long term weather forecast - though the weather wasn't great this week, it is expected to be more humid next week.

Marathon training meant two big workouts.  Wednesday was supposed to be 2x(2000, 1200, 1600) at 10 mile effort, with 1 lap jog between reps and 2 laps jog between sets.  I made it to the second 2000 and then pulled the plug because I was starting to strain (never ideal when marathon training).  I finished up with a few short reps to preserve some speed and called it good.  I still got over 4 miles of work, so it was a productive morning.

Saturday was my first marathon effort workout of the cycle.  I haven't run at marathon effort in a while, and it showed in this workout. Instead of locking into the right effort, I sped up considerably for the shorter reps.  This is always a risk for me and is one reason I prefer doing 2x5 miles - having to hold a pace for 5 miles removes the temptation to run faster than marathon effort.

Of course, running faster than marathon effort doesn't give the same stimulus as running at marathon effort - it's the aerobic equivalent of cheating and using muscles other than those you intended to strengthen.  And it also meant that this workout will need a bit more recovery than it otherwise would have.

Mental note to not make that mistake again.  Fortunately, I have at least two months of training ahead of me to get it right.

***

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

Tuesday: 7 miles including 4x100m strides in spikes in 27 down to 25 seconds followed by 500 yards swimming. Foam rolling at night.

Wednesday: 10 miles including a track workout of 2000, 1200, 1600, 2000, 400, 2x200, 2x100 in 9:16, 5:31, 7:21, 9:07, 1:41, 48, 49, 24, and 23 (2:4x-2:5x recovery after the 2000s and 1200; ~5 minute recovery after the 1600, full recovery for the short stuff. Followed with leg strengthwork. Foam rolling at night.

Thursday: 6 miles very easy on trails (12:26) plus 1000 yards swimming in the morning; foam rolling at night.

Friday: 10 miles very easy (10:00) plus upperbody weights/core. Foam rolling at night.

Saturday: 17 miles, including a marathon effort workout of 4, 3, 2, 1 mile(s) at marathon effort with 1 mile easy after each.  Splits were 32:54 (8:27/8:15/8:07/8:05), 24:06 (8:03/8:04/7:59), 15:47 (7:57/7:54) and 7:43.  One mile easy between each in 9:1x-9:3x.  Followed with PT exercises and 3 "miles" pool-running. Foam rolling at night.

Sunday: PT exercises and foam rolling, followed by 12 "miles" pool-running.