week in training | 8.10-8.16

Howdy! Another 50 mile week with a few no-AC gallivants in the apartment gym. Quite frankly, I’m irked that they haven’t fixed it over a two week span. Has no one else reported it? I know I’m not the sole user of the facilities and it has morphed into an ungodly inferno, even worse than running outside since there’s no air circulation whatsoever. I reported the issue, but am not sure when and if it’ll be resolved. The frustration!

Monday, 8/10: 65 minute strength + 7.18 miles, 10:27 pace

Delayed hunger from my long run ravaged me all day. I woke up with a rumbling tummy but took in my Nuun Prime as normal and headed downstairs for a strength session. I felt fine as far as energy levels go but after breakfast I knew it’d be one of those days where near nothing filled me. Fatigue also beset my whole body once I got to work and I had to ask my supervisor if I could run in the back for a few minutes to eat. Easy miles after work with a 0.5-3% grade variation, went nicely, and I settled down for a looooong series of naps to shake some of the tiredness out.

Strength: Each exercise 3x through

• 15 lateral lunges per side
• 10 OH kneel-to-stand (5 per arm)/12 single arm balanced Arnold press
• 16 banded squat step-outs with press/16 banded hip flexions
• 8 rebound lunges per side (these are SO hard!)
• 18 glute sit-ups/15 weighted donkey kicks
• 12 standing weighted hip circles/8 explosive weighted jump squats
• 15 banded bridge chest press/10 single leg bridge
• 15 deadbug with press, per side
• 20 half moon leg pulses (2 sets)
• 20 hover shoulder taps/20 hover toe taps
• 2:00 forearm plank

Tuesday, 8/11: 20.05 miles, 16.3 mph cycling (1:13:55) + 6.33 miles, 9:30 pace brick run + 1,700 yard swim (33:49)

I’m currently working on getting my legs used to a gear ABOVE my normal outdoor gear. By now I’m well adapted to maintaining a steady effort in my outdoor gear on the trainer, which probably means I’m pretty strong if I were to hit a trail at some point – so now I’m subtly hoping to gain speed and power by upping the ante a bit. I kept a fairly relaxed effort and alternated 5 minutes at normal outdoor gear/2 minutes at a gear above. Didn’t really dip below 16 mph at any point. Score!

The run was SO HOT but I figured I should try some marathon pace work outside instead of the treadmill. Fatigue from the ride plus very sore legs from strength yesterday made the paces feel very challenging, not to mention a 78 or so degree climate and 75-76 dew point. I ran 2 miles at 10:15 and 10:00 before descending into 5k of marathon pace: 8:56, 8:53, 8:46. Recovered from 1.22 miles to reach 10k-ish. The third mile of MP ironically felt the best, maybe because I shook some of the heaviness from the ride away and found a bit of a rhythm in my running stride, but overall the effort hurt and my legs were certainly done with my shit by the end.

After work I knocked down some OJ and hit the pool just as they reopened after a lightning break. I swam 2 x 200 (3:57, 3:54), then 3 x 50 pull with equal swim, 2 x 100 pull with equal swim, 3 x 50 pull with equal swim, working on upper body endurance and form. I kept steadily between :57-1:00 splits. 200 yards free (4:05) and 100 yards breast (2:02) closed out the session. I averaged 1:59/100 yards which makes for two interval workouts averaging under 2:00!

Wednesday, 8/12: 9.34 miles, 10:52 pace + 2,000 yard swim (42:53)

Peaceful early miles, sub-11 this time with a similar heartrate as my past two efforts so I know I was still getting ample recovery! 2:09/100 yard average on the swim which overall felt quite smooth. I think my form is improving on my freestyle stroke, though I definitely notice that my left side is pretty lazy during the pull phase.

Thursday, 8/14: 32.67 miles, 16.2 mph cycling (2 hours) + 4.02 mile, 9:06 pace brick run + 1,500 yard swim (30:19)

Tiring but amazing workout trio. I performed 2 x 15 and 4 x 5 min tension efforts on the bike to accustom myself to harder gears for longer durations: this will help me improve on my normal riding gears. Straight off the bike into a run with 1 mile steady (9:46), 1 mile at 5k (7:55), 1 mile steady (9:23), .12 mile hard (7:15 pace), .9 miles steady to reach 4 (9:35 pace). So invigorating! After work I squeezed in a short swim: 300 freestyle, (5:59), 500 alternating 100 breast/100 free/50 pull, 400 free (8:11), 300 as 100 breast/100 free/100 pull. 2:01/100 yard average. I finished right as we heard a clap of thunder and had to leave the pool anyway. Great timing on my part!

Friday, 8/14: 45 minute strength + 8.2 miles, 10:23 pace

Yet another monstrously hungry day. Fun strength workout focused on stability, and an eaaaaasy treadmill run after work with very minimal incline. I was super tired all day and couldn’t stomach doing higher hills so I kept the range from 0.5-3% and hovered between 10:31 and 10:14 paces. Towards the end I had to pee so badly that my whole abdomen cramped up, but felt better once I gave myself a quick hop-off to take care of business. I enjoyed a 90 minute nap after lunch that really brought some life back into me. Don’t fear taking naps, friends! They can be lifesavers.

Strength: 3x through each exercise

• 15 deadlift to shoulder press
• 16 single leg knee-up with bicep curl (8 per leg)/15 squat pressup superset
• 15 kneeling chop per side/20 fire hydrants
• 15 single-arm, single-leg dumbbell swing/15 OH triceps extensions
• 20 plank swivels with knee tap/20 plank knee-to-elbow
• 15 weighted OH crunch/20 stability ball deadbug

Saturday, 8/15: 15.06 miles, 10:48 pace

Woke up to completely fogged windows so I knew the run wouldn’t be stellar. I never got into a rhythm, my breathing was way off and my legs felt like stumps. I started grooving a bit better towards the end but knew I shouldn’t overextend my welcome so I halted at my planned mileage and called it a day.

Sunday, 8/16: 1 hour strength + 16.2 miles cycling (1 hour)

Full-body strength before work to get a third session in before week’s end and a quick hilly ride after. Didn’t pressure myself with pace and randomly threw in some harder gear efforts at a relaxed RPE to break up the time. Felt pretty good overall and I spent most of the remaining day resting since I haven’t quite felt right this whole week.

Strength:

Set 1: 4 rounds, 8 reps

• Wall sit marches/wall sit dumbbell pressout
• Side plank press/side plank rainbows
• Sumo squat/sumo deadlift
• Hover lunge single-arm press/TRX pistol squat

Set 2: 4 rounds, 10 reps

• Side plank hip dip to side plank leg lift
• Plank jack to cross mountain climber
• Side lunge
• Shoulder shrug to standing oblique crunch
• Overhead leg drops

Total running mileage: 50.1

Total cycling mileage: 68.9

Total swimming yardage: 5,200