week in quarantine training

Greetings from my desk. I am glued here far more than I’m used to, and as a result feel quite antsy to move around every 30 minutes or so. I work on my feet typically but since I voluntarily self-isolated last month, the constant twirling and stepping required of my job is absent.

Training has continued as usual. I downgraded my leg to “annoying” from “uncomfortable,” and my easy run paces are steadying out and even dropping! I plan to maintain only easy runs for another week or two at least – I’ll let my body dictate speedier sessions once that period elapses. I hope eventually to work out my proper heart rate zones, since clearly the pre-programmed ones in Garmin do not fit snugly with the reality of my effort-to-heart rate correlation.

That said, here’s my wild week of workouts! I am continuing with endurance sessions on the bike, since I LOVE the longer workouts and think it’ll be quite helpful once running volume picks up again. Now, off to bake my Soft Double Dark Chocolate Espresso Cookies. Have you tried them yet? Well, why the heck not?!

Monday, 3/30: 105 min cycling + 52 min lower body strength

I finally got off my butt and drove to the storage unit for my dumbbells. I own a pair of 5# and 8# weights and figured I could accomplish much more with them than just a resistance band. And good lord, did I. Sat for a solid half hour once I finished before mustering up the energy to make lunch.

Cycling:

• 10 min easy warmup
• 30 min build to zone 3
• 30 min zone 4 threshold
• 25 min zone 3
• 10 min easy cooldown

On the trainer my speed didn’t increase all that much in the threshold segment, but I switched to a harder gear and averaged around 16 mph. I don’t think gears and speed match up too well on our indoor mechanism, so without more than guesswork I probably hovered around 18-20 mph for the duration. Either way…oof.

Lower body:

• 100 jumping jacks to warm up
• 3 x 10 curtsy lunge-squat-curtsy lunge-squat (one cycle = one rep) 16#
• 4 x 30 sumo squat pulses with band
• :60 wall sit
• 4 x 10 double pulse jump squat
• 3 x 15 yogi squats 16#
• :60 wall sit
• 3 x 15 SL deadlift 16#
• 4 x 20 elevated glute bridge 16#
• :60 wall sit
• Superset: 3 x 30 seated band abduction/3 x 15 band standing clamshells per leg
• 3 x 15 squat to calf raise 16#
• :60 wall sit
• 3 x 20 donkey kicks
• 3 x 10 prone lat pullback things (a dryland workout that was really fricken hard)

Tuesday, 3/31: 3.31 miles, 12:11 pace + 22.02 miles, 15.5 mph cycling (85 min)

72 dew point this morning and my legs wobbled from yesterday’s strength session, so needless to say a low heart rate was virtually impossible sans walking the whole way. 165 BPM average. Summer is here, folks! Pittor ride zoomed by, over before I knew it, just 70 minutes zone 3 with a warmup and cooldown, and afterwards I performed six straight traditional pushups and 5 x 12 knee pushups to complete my self challenge for the day.

Wednesday, 4/1: 29.93 miles, 14.9 mph (120 minutes) cycling + 60 min pull strength workout

Torque work on the bike in the early AM and a long dumbbell/TRX workout after breakfast, plus some homemade hummus science. Continually so happy to possess my free weights!

Cycling:

• 10 min easy warmup
• 30 min steady zone 3
• 3 x 10 min 50-60 RPM/10 min recoveries
• 10 min 90+ RPM with :15 bursts @ 100+ RPM
• 10 min easy cooldown

Pull workout:

• 100 jumping jack warmup
• 4 x 15 reverse flies
• 4 x 15 hammer curls
• 3 x 18 balanced single-arm row
• 10-9-8 front to lateral raise
• 4 x 15 pullovers
• 4 x 15 shrugs
• Superset: 3 x 15 bottom biceps curls/3 x 15 dumbbell retractions
• Superset: 3 x 15 top biceps curls/3 x 18 chops per side
• 3 x 15 TRX low rows
• 4 x 20 plank butt-ups
• 3 x 30 dumbbell side bends
• :90 plank
• :60 Russian twists
• :60 scissor kicks

Thursday, 4/2: 4.21 miles, 11:14 pace + 20.72 miles, 15.5 mph cycling (80 minutes)

55 degrees out during the run, utterly perfect conditions for a prance. I was shocked when I stopped my watch at the pace – I even hit a sub-11 mile! Effort-wise I felt at ease but my Garmin ticked me off again by locking onto my cadence. I’m going to try wearing J’s chest strap during my run tomorrow and see how it goes. I donned the device on the bike and it picked up a realistic, steady effort increase as I went. Very curious how different my run tomorrow will prove!

Friday, 4/3: 3.5 miles, 11:27 pace + 60 min push strength workout

The sunrise this morning was unbelievable. At my turnaround I suddenly beheld a dazzling sheet of flame which tinted the water a sort of red-gold hue. I missed running because I almost never got to see this, and the sight made the morning’s workout that much more pleasing. I wore J’s chest strap and averaged 163 BPM. I suspect I was somewhat stressed from the volume of people around me, causing my heart rate to jump a bit earlier than it would’ve otherwise. Happy with my leg’s acceptance of running two days in a row!

Blend of dumbbell, core, and TRX work in my midmorning session.

• 100 jumping jacks warmup
• Superset: 4 x 15 chest press to chest fly
• Superset: 4 x 12 shoulder press to tricep kickback
• 4 x 15 skullcrushers
• 4 x 5 proper pushups
• 4 x 15 Arnold press
• 4 x 15 TRX pushups
• 4 x 15 TRX lunge kickbacks (per leg)
• 4 x 30 hip swivels
• 2 minute plank
• 3 x 15 weighted bent-knee jackknife
• 4 x 30 cross mountain climbers
• 4 x 15 plank hip dips (per side)
• 3 x 30 TRX squats

Saturday, 4/4: 38.42 miles, 15.1 mph cycling (153 minutes)

Mostly casual long ride with two sets of 5 x 2 min zone 4 mixed into a pair of 30 minute zone 3 blocks. Nice way to break up the monotony, and I was appropriately fatigued afterwards! Figured this week to do a kickback in my long ride to help my body adapt and ensure a bit more recovery since my running mileage slowly builds again.

Sunday, 4/5: 5.35 miles, 11:32 pace + 40 min core work

Such a steady, pleasant, lovely run! I wore the chest strap and got some very consistent readings on my heart rate. I averaged 160 BPM for the duration! I consider that pretty good for me. Pacing proved consistent except one rogue mile that I’m not sure to be accurate anyway. Drizzly and cloudy for the hour and even felt some sky spittle towards the end.

Immediately following, I jumped on the mat for a core/Pilates-esque circuit workout:

Round one: 4x through

• 25 fire hydrants/side
• 25 bird dogs/side
• 6 pushups
• :60 forearm plank

Round two: 4x through

• 30 banded clamshells/side
• 20 single-leg drives/side
• 30 flutter kicks
• :60 forearm plank

Total mileage: 16.37 miles

Total training hours: 15.7