Training log - Week ending 8/30/2026

This week was 66 miles of running, 12 "miles" of pool-running, and 1000 yards of swimming.

This was another week with a mix of great running weather days and not-so-great days, and I scheduled my long run for the latter.  It's just how it works out sometimes.  

Tuesday was beautiful, but it was also two days after my 20 miler, so a workout was not a good idea. The truth is that I didn't care about the midweek weather too much anyway, since I had planned to do intervals on the treadmill anyway. 

The treadmill workout went very well, other than a hiccup when my headphones conked out partway through the 3:00 intervals, and I had to raw-dog a few reps until I managed to get things re-established. Annoying, but I couldn't justify pausing a treadmill workout due to lack of music - especially when I don't run with music at any other time.

Saturday would have been a great day to do my marathon effort workout - 70 degrees but with a low dew point.  But...a) it was too close to Thursday and b) I wanted to attend a running event our team sponsor - Road Runner Sports - was hosting that morning, so Sunday it was.

Sunday wasn't super hot, but it was very humid. Stupid humid. 

Running by feel, my marathon effort workout on Sunday ended up about 15-30 seconds slower per mile than I hope to hold on race day. I'm thinking something between 7:45 and 8:00 pace is likely if Chicago has good weather, and I averaged about 8:15 pace on Sunday. 

About that choice to run by feel: when training, I prefer running marathon "pace" workouts by effort over targeting a specific pace - here's my reasoning:

a) when training, one's body responds to effort and stress, not the pace shown on a watch - running a workout at the wrong effort can mean that you don't get your desired adaptation;

b) I think it's really important to learn how to lock into a certain effort/feel and adjust pace for the conditions, since you may not get perfect weather on race day;

c) when doing lots of mileage, forcing a pace that's too hard can result in injury or overtraining (and I have very little room for error at this point); and

d) there's negligible difference in gait mechanics between paces that are separated by 20-30 seconds. If your marathon pace is 7:00 in perfect weather, it's entirely possible to train at a marathon pace of 7:30 and then run 7:00 pace on race day - I've seen it done many times before.  So, training at a somewhat slower pace than you hope to hold on race day isn't going to hold you back.  (The converse is not true - I don't think I've ever seen someone consistently run faster than their current fitness during marathon workouts and have a good marathon.)

Given the above whole way-too-long justification, I felt like Sunday was a solid workout. I finished the workout at the appropriate pace and didn't feel like I strained or fried myself, so I can check that box off.

My one hiccup during the run related to the timing of my Parkinsons medication.  Essentially, when I run a long run or a marathon, I need to time my Rytary (4 hour window) so that I can finish the run/race within that window.  That generally means taking the Rytary about 20-30 minutes before the start (and hoping for minimal delays). 

But I also need to function before the run/race starts, so I can get dressed, transport myself, etc.  So that means I need to take medication earlier in the morning to tide me over until I can take the pre-race/run dose.  

I often just take another Rytary 4 hours ahead, which means that I wake up, take it, then try to go back to sleep for another 1-2 hours.  But this disrupts my sleep.

So this time I tried to take a small dose of fast-acting levodopa (Sinemet) about 3 hours before the run started - my hope was that this dose would fade out just as the Rytary was kicking in.  Unfortunately, the Sinemet lasted longer than I planned, meaning that I was overmedicated for the first hour or so of my long run.  Which meant that my quads locked up and it was hard to run smoothly until things settled down. Not the worse thing in the world - it just meant that my earlier miles during this run were a bit slower (though the effort was still correct). But mental note - that medication timing strategy will NOT work for race day.

***

Monday: 7 "miles" pool-running in the morning, upperbody weights/core in afternoon, foam rolling in evening.

Tuesday: 9 miles, mostly very easy (9:58) but with a break for drills/PT exercises and 4x100m in spikes (27, 26, 25, 25).  Yoga and foam rolling at night.

Wednesday: 10.5 miles very easy (9:54) in the morning; 500 yards swimming in the afternoon. Foam rolling at night.

Thursday: 10.5 miles on the treadmill, including a workout of 8x3:00 with 2:00 recovery and 6x0:30 with 2:00 recovery. The 3:00 intervals were at 8.5-8.6 mph (6:58-7:04 pace); the 30 second intervals were at 9.1-9.3 mph (6:26-6:36 pace). All recoveries at 6.2 mph (9:41 pace).  Leg strengthwork in the afternoon. Foam rolling at night.

Friday: 7 miles very easy on trails (11:13) plus upperbody weights/core and PT exercises. Foam rolling at night.

Saturday: 11.5 miles very easy (10:08) and 500 yards of swimming. Foam rolling at night.

Sunday: 17.5 miles, including a workout of 2x5 miles at marathon effort (averaged 8:18 pace for the first 5 miles and 8:09 pace for the second 5 miles, with a 1 mile float in 9:22 between). Followed with 5 "miles" pool-running (with a belt - active recovery). Foam rolling at night.

Training log: Week ending 8/23/2026

This week was 64 miles of running, 12 "miles" of pool-running, and 1500 yards of swimming.

We had a big break in the humidity and heat on Wednesday morning. With remarkably good timing, I had a tempo workout on tap for that morning.

And then I woke up on Wednesday feeling a bit beaten up and sore from the combination of a 90 minute run in high humidity and a PT appointment. One of my big rules now for training is that if I think I might need to push a workout back a day or skip it in favor of recovery, I do so.

And so, very reluctantly, I went to the pool instead of the track Wednesday morning.  I hoped that the good weather might linger into Thursday morning, but no such luck - the air was best described as soupy (75 degrees Fahrenheit with a dew point of 74).  The good news was that tempos are really about holding the correct level of aerobic effort, so I could still get a good workout in, I just wouldn't get a solid read on my fitness.

So, I did the tempo, once again ignoring my watch completely until I finished so that I kept it at proper tempo effort instead of trying to beat a recent time.  When I checked my time after, I had run a bit faster than two weeks ago, which was unexpected but nice.

Doing the tempo on Thursday meant that I had to push my progressive long run to Sunday (I need at least 2 days between a workout and a long run if the long run is going to have any marathon effort work in it).  As it turned out, it rained on Saturday morning, so perhaps Sunday was the right call anyway.

Sunday was my first 20 miler of the cycle. Since Chicago is flat, I did the entire long run on Hains Point (flat), oscillating four times between the two gates (it's 2.5 miles between gates). Mentally, this wasn't too bad, though I'm sure it would be harder if I did all of my long runs there.

The long run went fairly well - I felt in control until the last mile and half, when I started to overheat (it was in the high 70s by then, with no cloud cover).  I finished the run without having to dig too deep, so I'll still call it good.

***

Monday: 6.5 miles very easy (9:59) in the morning, upperbody weights/core in afternoon, foam rolling in evening.

Tuesday: 9.5 miles very easy (9:52) and 300 yards swimming in the morning, followed by a PT appointment. Foam rolling at night.

Wednesday: 9 "miles" pool-running and 700 yards swimming. Yoga and foam rolling at night.

Thursday: 10 miles, including a 6400m tempo in 30:15 (7:42/7:36/7:34/7:23) plus 2x100m in 24 and 23, followed by leg strengthwork. Foam rolling at night.

Friday: 5 miles very easy on trails (11:47) and 2.5 miles very easy (10:18 - testing a new pair of shoes) plus upperbody weights/core. Foam rolling at night.

Saturday: 10 miles very easy (9:55) with 2 strides and 500 yards of swimming. Foam rolling at night.

Sunday: 20 miles progressive, split as the first 7 miles averaging 9:49 pace, the next 6 miles averaging 8:43 pace, and the next 7 miles averaging 7:58 pace.  Followed with a half-mile jog back to car and 3 "miles" pool-running. Foam rolling at night

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.