week in training | 3.29 – 4.4

My final week of less-structured training before I commence my marathon buildup! My first plan of action for 26.2 is building endurance, raw running power and economy, and continuing strength training while reducing cycling and forming better recovery habits than I have of late. By the time I really kick off my plan in June, I would like to have a good base of 50-55 miles before anything specific to Chicago arises in my weekly log. Here’s hoping for health and longevity!

Monday, 3.29: 8.15 miles, 10:26 pace + 45 minute strength + 20 minute elliptical

Solid morning session despite the gross heat and 72 dew point. Very sweaty, and I think dehydration may have irked my stomach the rest of the day. Didn’t stop me from a big slice of cake later in the afternoon!

Strength:

• 3 x 8 deadlift
• 3 x 10 weighted jump lunges
• 3 x 8 decline pushups
• 3 x 12 each renegade row
• 3 x 8 split squat
• 3 x 10 OH triceps extension
• 3 x 10 dumbbell drags
• 3 x 10 stability ball pikes
• 3 x 20 plank leg lifts SS 20 mountain climbers
• 3 x 10 standing single leg dumbbell pass
• :40 side plank each
• :60 plank

Tuesday, 3.30: 33.45 miles, 23.6 mph cycling (1:25:00) + 2,500 yard swim (56:18)

10 second springs on the saddle menu today. I hit 349 as my max wattage, which I was pretty disappointed with overall, but the whole time I kept catching myself shutting my eyes as if about to fall asleep again! I mus’ve had some mad allergies this day because I was sneezing and itchy all throughout work and after.

Quite sore from strength training Monday, so this swim was super rough and sloppy. Average 44 SWOLF and 2:03/100 yards. I swam 2 x 200/175/150/125/100/75/50/25 pyramids behind a 500 yard warmup and some other random stuff to close off. Not a very efficient workout, but happy to get a longer session in and always satisfied to spend some time in the water after work.

Wednesday, 3.31: 15.12 miles, 10:35 pace + 2,000 yard swim (43:16)

Hot morning at 73 degrees and a 71 dew point, so I really tried to keep my effort in check, swallow my ego, and not look at my watch. I got into a rhythm really quickly with this mindset and extended my run to 15 miles, which is beyond my usual length! Pretty happy with it from a feel perspective, and gives me some optimism that I might be able to cope with summer running if I plan my workouts wisely and with humbleness. I intended a strength workout after, but because I ended so late I settled for a 15 minute core session of 3 x 15 banded leg drops, 3 x 10 side plank pass throughs, 3 x 20 sprinter crunches, 3 x 16 around the worlds, and 3 x 8 thrusters.

Swim was slow but very stable and felt loads better than yesterday. 2:06/100 yard with 650, 600, 350, and 300 yard sets, longer than usual so the slow pace wasn’t shocking.

Thursday, 4.1: 31.72 miles, 23.8 mph cycling (1:20:00) + 2,000 yard swim (43:26)

Felt great on the bike today so I ramped up the effort with 20 minutes at 150W towards the end. 137W average for the ride and a reasonable heart rate most of the time so I’m happy, particularly because I aimed for just an hour not knowing how I’d feel after the long run Wednesday.

The sky threatened to open up for the latter part of my swim, so I ended with several 100s waiting for the lifeguard to blow his whistle and kick everyone out of the pool due to lightning. That didn’t happen, and the clouds mostly vanished, so I got in a good 2,000 yard workout averaging 1:57/100 yards. My legs were definitely tired and my pull sets much stronger than my free ones, with an interval clocking at 1:50! When I got home I performed a core set: 3 x 16 plank knee swivels, 3 x 16 alternating plank knee taps, 3 x 30 bicycles, 3 x 12 reverse table walkouts, and a :30 side plank on each side.

Friday, 4.2: 28.2 miles, 24.2 mph cycling (1:10:00) + 25 min strength + 6.76 miles, 10:21 pace

Bike ride legit was the first in which I thought I might throw up during the intervals. 10 x :30 with 2:30 recovery, basically full throttle efforts. I hit 385W as my top power and my heart rate actually touched zone 5, which it NEVER has before. A tough but very solid session. I had some time after so I squeezed in a short upper body strength workout.

Strength:

• 3 x 12 OH press
• 3 x 10 lunge hover biceps curl (5/side)
• 3 x 12 bent arm lat row
• 3 x 12 single leg deadlift to row
• 3 x 10 pushup SS 20 shoulder tap
• :90 plank

After work run felt stumpy and hard from a muscular standpoint until about mile 4, then I really let loose and enjoyed the incredible 60 degree afternoon! A bit of wind that I mostly dodged characterized the sole inconvenience of the route, otherwise I loved being outside and embracing this random cold front.

Saturday, 4.3: 9 miles, 9:33 pace + 50 min strength

Wind makes intervals very unpleasant, and today we had some strong 15 mph sustained flows to work around. I decided to run my workout with more of a crosswind influence rather than directly against, though two of my intervals wound up being straight into the tempest and those completely flopped. 10 x 400 all between 6:53 and 6:59 paces except two, with 2 minute recoveries. Quite glad when this one ended!

Strength:

• 3 x 12 squat to single arm press (6 reps per arm)
• 3 x 10 triceps extension SS 20 lateral hops
• 3 x 10 ea. weighted step ups
• 3 x 10 windmill
• 3 x 10 ea. lunge to knee up
• 3 x 10 ea. single arm swings
• 3 x 10 oblique crunch
• 3 x 20 stability ball deadbug
• 3 x 20 toe taps
• 3 x 12 hover bird dog

Sunday, 4.4: 22.39 miles, 22.4 mph cycling (1:00:00) + 2,000ish yard swim (40ish minutes)

I messed up my watch during the swim and ended up terminating the session prematurely – the lifeguard somewhat distracted me, for good reason, by needing me to shift lanes so he could move the barrier. The swim wasn’t exactly stellar anyway, but it was a nice reset after work, as usual.

Total running mileage: 39

Total cycling mileage: 115.7

Total swimming yardage: 8,500 ish