week in training | 11.23 – 11.29

After a brief deliberation, I decided to start up another 10k training cycle for my newest goal: a 45 minute 10k. I don’t anticipate this being a short process whatsoever, as that is quite a steep drop from my current 48:37 PR placed just a week ago. I intend for this to be a longer, more gradual process, but I figured to start now by getting my body used to the pace required (about a 7:15) and building once a foundation is established.

I definitely slacked on my swimming this week, but this was not helped by longer workdays and closures for Thanksgiving. I did, however, get a pair of solid strength sessions in and logged plenty of miles in the saddle! Of course, alongside a good running week overall.

Monday, 11/23: 30.02 miles, 18.1 mph cycling (1:39:50) + 6 miles, 10:03 pace

Very long day at work but I managed to keep myself more sane with a solid pre-shift ride and a lovely resetting run. The day suddenly grew beautiful, humidity dropped and a slight breeze picked up, so my miles flew by and I barely even sweated in the process. For the ride, I performed 20-10-5 minutes at threshold within the session, averaging at or above 18.8 mph for the intervals.

Tuesday, 11/24: 19 miles, 19mph cycling (1:00:23) + 1,600 yard swim (30:37)

Killer early ride before another eight hour day. I didn’t know what to call this workout so I dubbed it “interval mishmash.” 10 minute warmup, 3 x 3 minutes (19.1 mph averages for each)/2 min recovery, 5 x 1 minute (20.5-20.9 mph averages)/1 min recovery, 2 x 4 minutes (19.4 and 20.1 mph) with 2 and 1 minute recoveries, 3 x 1 minute (23.2-23.6 mph averages)/1 min recovery, and 5 x :30 full throttle (27.3-28.6 mph averages, max 33.8 mph)/:30 recovery. Psyched about how well this session went after the first couple intervals.

The swim wasn’t my greatest but it was so lovely outside and I was happy to just get some fresh air. I swam 200, 3 x 100, 200, 2 x 100, 200, 100, 200, 2 x 100, averaging 1:55/100 yards.

Wednesday, 11/25: 8.01 miles, 9:22 pace + 45 minute strength

Kicked off my next 10k training cycle with an abundance of short but very fast intervals. Working on neuromuscular firing and pure speed: 20 x 200m with 75 seconds rest. I surprised myself by ranging between a 6:31 and 6:54 pace! The final 5 were brutal and took a lot of concentration to keep my form in check – I even felt my core muscles begin to ache.

Strength:

Prep set: 3 rounds

• 15 pushups
• 20 alternating curtsy lunges
• 20 alternating shoulder press

Main set: 5 rounds

• 1 deadlift, 2 hang cleans, 3 front squat, 4 back squat, 5 good mornings, 4 back squat, 3 front squat, 2 hang cleans, 1 deadlift. 2 minutes rest
• 4 x 10 barbell push press

Core set:

• 3 x 15 windmill
• 3 x 20 bird dog/knee to elbow
• 3 x 20 deadbug

Thursday, 11/26 (HAPPY THANKSGIVING!): 20.04 miles, 18.9 mph cycling (1:03:42) + 5.87 miles, 10:13 pace “Turkey Trot”

A wonderful Thanksgiving to all. I awoke at my normal time after a solid FEAST with J the previous evening (a lot of bourbon pumpkin pie ended up in my belly) and knocked out a fast 40 minute threshold ride on Pittor with 5 mile splits at 15:32 and 15:29 (19.3 and 19.4 mph) before heading to mom’s for the day. We did our respective “Turkey Trots” down a nearby pedestrian trail, which involved walking an hour for her and a recovery run for me. My legs were not very cooperative and wildly heavy the whole time, but that’s not important. The morning was beautiful and I shared the day with mom, and that’s more than enough.

Friday, 11/27: 20.04 miles, 19.4 mph cycling (1:01:52) + 4.08 miles, 9:48 pace

Rather interesting that my 20 milers are becoming rather close to just an hour of work! Very hard workout this morning: 10 minute warmup, 10 minutes threshold (19.4 mph)/3 min recovery, then a trio of 5 x (:30 hard, :20 harder, :10 hardest) with 5 minute recoveries in between, 5 minute threshold, then cooldown. My heart rate leapt up to 185 and my tongue was lulling out of my mouth at the end of each set. I hit 32.2 mph at my maximum.

I was rather bummed the pools closed for Black Friday so I braved the rather hot afternoon and performed a run/walk to reset after work. It was refreshing to get outside despite the temperature.

Saturday, 11/28: 14.06 miles, 9:36 pace + 45 minute strength

I’m glad I squeezed in my strength workout before lunch – I tend to fall into the routine of neglecting the gym (or home gym) if I let myself slack even in one week’s span. Two sessions is more than adequate for me and this completed my goal! Early in the morning I embarked on a long run with no expectations, but by mile 4 my legs felt alive so I threw down 25 minutes of tempo work. Splits clocked in at 8:13, 8:13, and 7:59.

Strength:

Set one: 6 rounds

• 8 curl to press per side
• 16 weighted reverse lunge

Set two: 22-16-10 reps

• Lateral jumps
• Pushups
• Knee to elbow
• Hover toe taps

Set three:

• 8 single-leg deadlifts
• 20 alternating single leg hops
• 50 flutter kicks
• 20 alternating single leg hops
• 8 single-leg deadlifts

3 x superset: 10 OH triceps extension/16 (8 per side) single-leg underhand row

Sunday, 11/29: 40.05 miles, 18.1 mph cycling (2:12:52)

Long ride completely wiped me for the rest of the day. I just wanted to sleep and eat cake (kinda did both, to be honest). I rode aerobic much of the time excepting some two-minute bursts at threshold and a full 5 miles averaging 18.8 mph, and 10 miles of light climbs. I speculate that dehydration and overheating play a huge role in my overall wellbeing during a longer session. Nonetheless, glad I got some more extensive miles in my legs to round out training for the week.

Total running mileage: 38.9

Total cycling mileage: 129.2

Total swimming yardage: 1,600