This week was 41 miles of running, 15 "miles" of pool-running, and 1000 yards of swimming.
Penultimate week of taper, and I'm really happy with where I am. I believe I'm substantially fitter than I was at this time a year ago, or even a few months ago. And I also feel fresh and ready to run.
A few things that I think worked really well for me this cycle.
- Instead of building my volume by increasing my running and pool-running mileage simultaneously, I first increased the pool-running while holding the running mileage constant and then held my total volume steady while increasing the running as a share of that volume. This felt like a much safer way of increasing my weekly mileage because I first increased the total time I was training and then increased the pounding on my body, instead of doing both simultaneously.
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The end result was that I was able to get to and sustain a much higher volume of training than in previous recent training cycles and do it without feeling overtrained or beaten up. - During my peak weeks, I shifted to doing one big marathon workout on the weekend, and then one "normal sized" workout during the week (either a tempo or intervals).
This differs from previous cycles where (in addition to the big weekend I would do either one big weekday workout (something like 12-14 miles with 3x2 miles) or both intervals and a tempo during the week. You only benefit from training if you balance the stress correctly with recovery, and I think I've found the right balance for me for now. - This training cycle was 6 weeks of focused marathon training, and then a very gradual 5 week taper. So yes, the taper was nearly as long as the hard training. But I think this will work well for me. Essentially exercise is like medication for me, and thus cutting back on exercise results in withdrawal - an exacerbation of Parkinsons symptoms. Doing a very long and flat taper seems to be minimizing (though not eliminating) that exacerbation.
- My rule for this cycle was: if there was any question in my mind as to whether I should do a workout, I skipped the workout or pushed it back a day. That was even harder than it sounded, but I think it paid off.
- My other rule was that I started masking at nearly all indoor events within 6-8 weeks of my goal race. No - this isn't fun at all. It's honestly pretty awkward. But in the last three years I've missed two marathons due to getting sick within the last few weeks before the race, and also experienced a major set back when I got bronchitis last fall. I'll gladly deal with some awkward situations in order to avoid that happening again.
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Monday: 8 miles very easy (9:39) in the morning. Yoga and foam rolling in evening.
Tuesday: 8 miles on the treadmill, including an interval workout of 2x4:30/3:00, 2x3:00/2:00, 2x1:30/1:00, and 4x0:30/1:30. 4:30 intervals at 8.5-8.6 mph (6:59-7:04 pace); 3:00 intervals at 8.6-8.8 mph (6:49-6:59 pace); 1:30 intervals at 8.8-8.9 mph (6:44-6:49 pace); 0:30 intervals at 9.5 mph (6:19 pace). All jogs at 6.2 mph (9:41 pace). Followed with light leg strengthwork. Sports massage at night.
Wednesday: 6 "miles" pool-running and 1000 yards swimming. Yoga and foam rolling at night.
Thursday: 7 miles very easy on the towpath (10:05) followed by PT exercises. Upperbody weights/core and foam rolling at night.
Friday: 9 miles on the track, including a 6400m tempo in 29:20 (7:35/7:24/7:16/7:05) followed by 2x100m in 23 seconds each. Foam rolling at night.
Saturday: 12 miles, mostly easy but with 8x(1:00 on/8:00 off) starting after 50 minutes. Followed with light leg strengthwork.
Sunday: Upperbody weights/core, PT exercises, and 9 "miles" pool-running. Foam rolling at night
