week in training

Another solid week of training penned and sealed. My body is really responding to this higher training load and I’m relieved that running has felt so good lately. A 40 mile week was sort of a unicorn in a past life, but since I’ve earnestly kept my easy runs easy and work more on aerobic conditioning rather than super fast efforts, my legs drink up this mileage. Easy for me is around a 10:10-10:40 pace, and usually my long runs are around 10:20-10:35 average since I’m more concerned with acclimating to distance rather than fully consistent pacing. If I’m slower, that’s also fine! The point is increasing endurance and tolerance to big numbers rather than forcing speed I don’t have!

Monday, 6/1: 20.46, 15.4 mph cycling (79 minutes) + 6.26 miles, 9:32 pace brick run

Couldn’t sleep beyond 4 a.m. so I grumbled out of bed shortly after to see how productive I felt in the wee hours. Tampa was issued a curfew until 6 a.m. due to some high-tension unrest in some parts of the city, so running outside immediately wasn’t possible. I decided to chug down some Nuun Prime, grab a GU stroopwafel, and hop on Pittor for the first stage of a bike-run brick. Both sessions turned out quite solid! I broke up the ride with a few 2-7 minute spurts at a tougher gear but otherwise kept a steady effort in zone 2 and low zone 3. Finished off the waffle and stepped into a tremendously hot morning for a 10k progression run. My splits faded nicely from easy to more difficult: 10:19, 10:09, 9:43, 9:19, 9:02, 8:50, with the final .26 at 8:35. So fun!

Tuesday, 6/2: 40 minute legs and core strength + 3.13 miles, 10:14 pace + 1,800 yards swimming (38:16)

My work shift was pushed back due to another night of curfew, but I still got up quite early to knock out two of my sessions. I started out in our office-gym with a solid lower body routine and jogged over to our apartment gym once it opened for a curfew-friendly easy run. Hit the pool after work to finish off the day’s training – not sure how happy the girl working the phone was when I called at EXACTLY 7 a.m.to reserve my lane.

Strength workout: 3 sets of each exercise

• 12 goblet squat with lateral leg lift/12 single arm swings
• 10 single-leg deadlift to pistol squat per leg
• 12 lunges per leg
• 16 sumo squat jerks
• 15 side plank leg swings per side
• 15 side plank lateral lifts

Wednesday, 6/3: 8.06 miles, 9:36 pace + 2,000 yard swim (39:22)

A pair of interval sessions on my day off work, and on Global Running Day. My legs felt very sassy and I snagged some paces beyond what I expected without having forced them in any fashion. I warmed up for 2 miles, then followed with two sets of 3 minutes, 2 minutes, 1 minute, and 30 seconds with 1-2 minute recoveries between intervals and 5 minute recovery between sets. The splits:

• 3 minutes: 7:43, 7:39
• 2 minutes: 7:36, 7:21
• 1 minute: 6:51, 6:56
• 30 seconds: 6:31, 6:27

I experimented with a couple pairs of goggles we have lying around, and these, like all the others, don’t fit me properly. I swam, then, sans googles AND sans contacts, which ruined my eyes about 1,500 yards through. I was on a roll, though, and didn’t want to stop prematurely, though the final couple sets were far harder than they should’ve been given the actual effort.

• 400 yards warmup (8:41)
• 2 x 200 yards (3:53, 3:52)
• 4 x 100 yards (1:54, 1:51, 1:51, 1:51)
• 4 x 50 yards (:52, :52, :52, :51)
• 4 x 25 yards (:22, :23, :22, :23)
• 400 yards mixed freestyle/breaststroke (8:18)
• 100 yard breaststroke cooldown (2:06)

Thursday, 6/4: 31.12 miles, 15.6 mph cycling (120 minutes)

Called my attempt to sleep a wash at 3:30 – I think subconscious stress widens my eyes far before my alarm is set to ring. Despite giving cycling a seat on the backburner, I still want to incorporate 2-3 rides per week, with one exceeding 2 hours in length and one linked to a brick run. Cycling always offers a great workout while saving my legs from impact, and I still believe it is in part helping me build my mileage so effectively. I simulated hillier stretches on this ride, much like Monday’s above.

Friday, 6/5: 5.17 miles, 10:14 pace + 60 minute strength + 2.01 miles, 9:56 pace

Run hedging a lift after an irksome workday. We had to decide between a couple of options at my employer regarding our work status and what I witnessed in the shop this afternoon cemented my choice to take a leave of absence (pending approval). While my fellow cohorts and I are managing the best we possibly can with the resources we’re given, customers are not reciprocating and thus not respecting our safety. A tiring, somewhat disheartening day.

Once I got home, though, I smashed this workout and took the couple hours involved to really think through my choice. The runs were wonderfully meditative despite me getting flustered by my glitching chest heart rate monitor, which doesn’t seem to want to detect my HR properly. I used my apartment gym for the first time since it reopened and it felt so good to lift heavier again! I didn’t go crazy with the weights but did incorporate some more complex movements that I couldn’t do with our home setup.

Strength: each exercise 3x through except the clean and presses – 4 rounds of those

• 8 clean and press
• 15 barbell good mornings/10 front squats
• 10 barbell rows
• 15 upright rows/8 lateral raises
• 12 single-arm kneeling shoulder press
• 10 bench press
• 15 swings
• 8 single-leg explosive hops per leg
• 16 Russian twists with 15#/15 jackknife situps
• 20 plank jacks/16 plank knee to elbow
• 20 X toe tap
• 2:00 forearm plank

Saturday, 6/6: 15.45 miles, 10:20 pace

I knew going into this run that I would get dumped on at some point, so I approached my preparation with care. I checked radar quite meticulously and confirmed to my best ability that no storms would creep out of the woodwork and trap me mid-workout. At least around here, Cristobal wasn’t inspiring lightning shows or hail, so I felt comfortable with my decision to green light the run. I wore a visor to keep rain out of my face and wrapped my phone in a ziploc for protection. Thank GOD I did that else my poor iPhone 6 would’ve drowned. For about three miles rain pelted me and I splashed through countless puddles, shook off waterlogged socks, and wondered if a permanent pond developed in my sports bra. My body really drank up the rainy, breezy conditions, for my pace was steady and my heart rate and effort level stayed very low. This was one of my favorite runs of late, its beauty heightened by my discovery of a $1 in my neighborhood at the very beginning. No amount of rain could wash out how magnificent I felt – I even dropped to a 9:51 split during the final mile!

Sunday, 6/8: 1,800 yard swim (37.23) + 3.14 miles, 10:12 pace

My legs surprised me in that no stiffness or fatigue crept up during these easy miles. I credit my pre-run swim and an appropriate effort level during Saturday’s long run for not causing any lasting issues. I ran negative splits by accident, dropping from 10:27 to 10:09 and 10:01, cruising at a 9:51 pace for the final .14.

For the swim, I jumped into 2 x 800 yard intervals at 16:30 and 16:43. 800 is quite a hefty chunk and I think more than anything my brain started getting weary with the 32 turns in the lap pool. Polished off the workout with 100 yards at a moderate effort (2:01) and a 100 yard pull cooldown (2:06).

Total running mileage: 43.2 miles

Total cycling mileage: 51.6 miles

Total swimming yardage: 5,600 yards