week in training | 8.17 – 8.23

You will see that although I mentally planned for a down week in my running, that clearly didn’t happen. 51 more miles in the bank and I’m pretty wiped from the high mileage and the heat. My chest and breathing have felt unstable lately, and I’m not enjoying my outdoor miles since we’ve consistently seen low 80s and 77/78 dew points early in the morning. I’m aware summer running isn’t supposed to be overly joyful, but this has been downright miserable.

How have you been handling summer workouts?

Monday, 8/17: 18.01 miles, 16.6 mph cycling (1:05:00) + 6.28 miles, 10:21 pace

Two 65 minute sessions to kickstart the training week! I intend to cut down my running mileage about 10 or so miles and hopefully focus a bit more on cycling, and thus embarked on a tough trainer workout this morning. I warmed up for 15 minutes with 2 x :90 builds, then performed the following sets twice: 3 x :30 sprint/:60 hard uphill (1 gear above my usual)/:30 uphill sprint/3 minutes recovery. I pedaled steadily for 10 minutes in between sets and cooled down for 10 minutes. The :30 intervals averaged anywhere from 19.2-19.7 and the 1 minute intervals from 17.8-18.3.

Tuesday, 8/18: 45 minute strength + 7.32 miles, 9:34 pace

The office folk REALLY need to get on the gym AC. It was 78 and the fans don’t reach the equipment (which makes NO sense to me) so my planned workout flopped and my heartrate would not come down. I warmed up for 1 mile, ran 2 miles at marathon pace (8:50, 8:42), slowed down for 800m, and then the wheels just rolled right off. I tried 800m at half marathon pace (8:20), 1200m slow, and 400m at 10k goal pace (7:52) before giving up and running the rest from 10:00-10:30 paces. I was sweating angrily, my face the color of blood, and my legs so heavy and useless. It was demoralizing and angering.

Strength: 3x through each exercise

• 10 thrusters/8 single-leg kickback with jump
• 10 OH reverse lunge/15 TRX low rows
• 10 kneeling bicep curls/12 kneeling chops per side
• 15 stability ball OH bridge/15 stability ball leg drops
• 12 tricep kickback with stepback/16 skaters
• 15 side plank oblique crunch/15 bent knee jackknives
• 12 alternating plank toe tap + snatch
• 50 band clamshells per side

Wednesday, 8/19: 8.52 miles, 11:09 pace + 16.6 miles, 16.5 mph cycling (1:00:10) + 1,900 yard swim (38:12)

Disorienting morning that sort of flung my whole day into a doozy. Flashes of lightning burst in the distance during the run but I didn’t hear any thunder, so I took the chance and drove to the pool to try and swim. The lifeguards didn’t open the pool, however (for good reason, to be sure – can’t be too careful) so I turned around hastily and in my irritation at interrupted routine threw down a 35 minute tempo ride on Pittor that averaged around 16.7 mph, including some spicy 5 minute portions at a gear higher than normal. Pretty satisfying, if I’m being honest! I did wind up getting to the pool after a hasty breakfast and turned out a pretty nice swim, averaging 2:02/100 yards: 400 yard freestyle (7:56), 400 yard pull (8:03), 100 yard breast (2:07), 200 yard free (3:59), 100 yard pull (2:01), 200 yard free (4:04), 100 yard breast (2:05), 100 yard pull (2:00), and 300 yard free (6:10).

Thursday, 8/20: 18.12 miles, 16.7 mph cycling (1:05:10) + 6.6 miles, 9:09 pace

Pedaled my little heart out before work with some killer Pittor Power Hour intervals that left me pretty floppy for a few minutes after the final hoorah. 20 minute warmup with 3 x :90 builds, followed by: 3 x 3 minutes at 8/10 RPE/2 minute recover, 4 x 2 minutes at 8/10 RPE/1 minute recover, and 5 x 1 minute 8/10 RPE/:30 recover. I kept the effort consistent and hit 17.6-17.9 mph for all of the splits. The short rest periods made this particularly challenging so my pace control was crucial.

The AC in our gym still isn’t fixed, but I snagged out portable fan from the garage and set it up beside my machine to see if it would help. That little guy made an enormous difference! I called for something of a do-over from Tuesday’s workout attempt while still keeping the intervals manageably-paced. 1 mile warmup, then 4 x 800 threshold (8:06-7:54 paces)/400 easy jog, 800 recovery, then 4 x 400 5k goal (7:48-7:34)/400 easy. Cooled down to the end of the treadmill cycle at a 10:20 pace. The room was still hot, but having some air circulation and a cool manufactured breeze kept my effort level appropriate and prevented me from overheating.

Friday, 8/21: 45 minute strength + 2,000 yard swim (40:00) + 4.38 miles, 10:18 pace

Early strength yielded a roach sighting ON OUR KITCHEN COUNTER. The horror was real. I tried to slap it with an oven mitt but managed only to injure or disorient it – then, I attempted to spray the thing with Windex, and missed. To be sure, I entered my strength workout with an extra dose of adrenaline.

I hit the pool after the end of my early shift for a relaxing workout that got disrupted by a newcomer to my lane. I ALWAYS run into the divider when I’m sharing since I don’t want to get anywhere near the other person, so while my splits were fine I got all screwed up and had to stop a couple times to regroup. Managed 2:00/100 yard average, which I’m very happy with! 1000 yards at 20:10, 4 x 200 at 3:58, 3:54, 3:54, 3:56, 200 pull at 4:04. I ran on the treadmill once home and kept a 144 BPM average. Our AC is finally fixed and this session felt calming after a rough morning.

Strength: 3 rounds of each exercise

• 12 hover kneeling single arm retractions/12 lunge twists
• 10 single arm thrusters with one-leg balance
• 15 single leg rows
• 12 lateral hops/15 single leg around-the-world passes
• 12 hikes to sumo deadlift
• 15 balanced banded face pulls per side
• 20 leg pull-ins/20 x toe tap
• :45 R side plank
• :45 L side plank

Saturday, 8/22: 15.07 miles, 10:38 pace

This run was fine for maybe 3 or 4 miles but otherwise felt clunky, hot, and constrained. Occasionally I had to draw in much deeper breathes than was warranted and didn’t get as much air as I would’ve liked. I’m not totally alarmed by this trend but I am very curious about what’s going on. I figure I’ll get a COVID antibody test the following week and see if that provides an answer. Either way, I got the miles in and think I’ll drop the duration of my long runs until either I or the weather improves, or both, ideally.

The rest of the day proved wonderful, however. I cut J’s hair (and didn’t botch it!) and we ventured to St. Pete Pier to safely explore the new space. We ate giant cookies and watched a dolphin play around in the water. Though sweltering out, the sun was largely sheltered and we passed a good part of the afternoon enjoying being out of the house. We don’t go out much at all nowadays due to the virus, so this was well needed and the cookies I daresay deserved.

Sunday, 8/23: 20.35 miles, 16.3 mph cycling + 3.11 miles, 10:31 pace brick run + 1,600 yard swim (30:40)

I owe all credit to the cookie I ate the day prior to the quality of these workouts. Everything went so well! The temp outside was slightly cooler, about 74, and that coupled with a short workout led to a much better run than I’ve experienced of late. After work I moseyed to the pool for a rapid workout before they closed for the day. I averaged 1:55/100 yards: 500 warmup (9:40), 5 x 100 (1:49-1:51), 2 x 200 (3:53, 3:52), 100 pull (2:04), 100 free (1:58).

Total running mileage: 51.2

Total cycling mileage: 73.08

Total swimming yardage: 5,500