week in training | 8.24 – 8.30

Exchange a bit of my running mileage for a big whopping bike week, though I still hit 44 total on the roads! I think, from a mental perspective, that rolling with whichever discipline serves you best overall benefits your training more than forcing a session you don’t want. Lately, for me, cycling, swimming, and strength training have filled my athletic crevices, while a bit of running burnout exists. I’d imagine a lot of my blahness about running has to do with the weather, but regardless, if I’m less inclined to lace up and more to saddle up, so be it!

Monday, 8/24: 41.01 miles, 16.4 mph cycling (2:30:16) + 45 min strength

Morning ride and evening strength. Cycling has felt so good lately and today was no exception. I kept things interesting with 60 minutes of 5 minute tempo (16.7-17.2 mph)/5 minute endurance pace (16-16.4) and a 1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2-1 ladder of steady climbing with equal rest. I fueled with water and an Apple Cinnamon Fig Bar a la Nature’s Bakery: I used those for the 2019 Big Sur Marathon and haven’t touched them until today. Worked pretty well! After a tough day at work I squeezed in a good office-gym circuit to round off my Monday.

Strength: 5 rounds, 8 reps of each superset

• Dumbbell swings/press-ups
• Single leg deadlift/standing hip extension
• Suitcase squat/front raise
• Bridge single-arm press/OH single leg bridge
• Single leg reverse fly (4 reps per leg)/Band face pulls
• Pistol squats

Tuesday, 8/25: 8.03 miles, 9:20 pace + 1,500 yard swim (30:55) + 16.3 miles, 16.2 mph cycling (1:00:16)

I tried ignoring the blistering heat this morning by focusing on the breeze, which did help to an extent. Without it, I most certainly would’ve overextended myself and VERY quickly. 1-2-3-4-3-2-1 minute fartlek efforts between 5k and 10k goal paces: 7:38, 7:49, 7:48, 7:49, 7:46, 7:31, 7:35 were the resulting paces. I ran steady for 6 minutes, then finished off with a mile at marathon goal pace (8:37) which felt much better than my 5k marathon pace workout the other weeks.

Swimming after the run really boosted my spirits and cooled me off. I kept it short for time’s sake but stroked the whole thing straight without stopping, and landed on a 2:04/100 yard pace.

Wednesday, 8/26: 25.01 miles, 16.4 mph cycling (1:31:23) + 2,050 yard swim (40:00) + 4.36 miles, 10:28 pace

Did not want to run my midweek endurance miles when I woke up, so I hunched over Pittor’s handlebars for a stellar and killer interval set. 20 minute warmup, 10-8-6-4-2 ladder increasing intensity: averaged 17, 17, 17.1, 17.3, and 17.8 mph for the minutes. Relaxed spinning for 5 minutes, then 5 x :20 full gas hill sprints (19.3-20.8 mph) with :40 very light spinning in between. Cooled it down until I hit 25 miles. Really impressed when I finished and definitely wiped out.

Strong swim set came straight after with 12 x 25 yard sprints/25 yard easy swim back to start. The sprints averaged :22-:25, with some very swell negative splits! Total average pace for the workout was 1:57/100 yards.

Midmorning treadmill run was uneventful. I wanted to get some miles in and the machine helped me achieve just that without facing the weather. Some days you just don’t want to greet summer directly, and I allowed myself the grace to escape from the humidity despite having the extra time to go outside if I wanted to.

Thursday, 8/27: 8.55 miles, 10:31 pace + 1,700 yard swim (33:24) + 3.32 miles, 10:33 pace

I surrendered any negativity for this run and just focused on maintaining some kind of rhythm and getting into my body. This was a run I definitely needed after a string of less than celebratory outdoor sessions. 81 degrees with a slight breeze, but I shifted my attention to my cadence and breath pattern and wound up with a respectably low heart rate (157 average) and some serious consistency in my splits. Perhaps this was the breakthrough I needed to rekindle my laserbeam dedication to the sport. I turned it into a double run with an extra bit on the treadmill after work. I’m considering incorporating doubles once a week to provide space for an extra bike ride in my schedule, if my work agenda allows for such. I found it interesting and a point of optimism that, despite my pace being almost identical to the morning, my heartrate was 16 bpm lower than the morning. I averaged 141 during my short treadmill adventure, which is a new record for me! If you can call it that.

Third swim in a row felt effortless and soothing. I swam 400 yards (7:58), then 2 x 200 (3:58, 3:56), 2 x 150 (2:54, 2:53), 2 x 100 (1:55, 1:56), 2 x 50 (:55, :55), and a 300 cooldown (6:01). 1:58/100 yard average. So happy about my swimming lately.

Friday, 8/28: 45 minute strength + 7.23 miles, 10:23 pace

I notice I’ve been boring quickly on the treadmill after about 5k, so today I switched things up with a set of hill repeats to work on my form and power and engage my mind with the session at hand. I ran easy for 35 minutes before a set of 8 x :30 at 7:30-7:09 pace and 5% grade, :90 walk/jog recoveries at 2% grade. Polished off the run with some easy pacing until I hit 75 minutes. My heart rate hit 183 during the intervals but otherwise averaged out at 156 bpm for the whole affair.

Strength: 3 rounds of each exercise

• 10 split squats
• 12 single-knee pushups/plank knee to elbow
• 20 alternating side lunge/16 single leg rows (8 per side)
• 20 boat dumbbell pass/8 stability ball panda bears
• 12 SL deadlift to clean and press, per side/8 balanced bicep curls
• 20 rolling forearm plank reach/12 hover bird dog to shoulder tap

Saturday, 8/29: 13.13 miles, 10:52 pace + 2,000ish yard open water swim (38:18)

Crappy run redeemed by a peaceful open water swim debut for 2020! I’ve only ventured into the gulf twice in my young swimming career and we almost turned around once we reached our first spot due to some high (for me) surf. I am not experienced outside of the pool so choppy waters intimidate me immensely and I lost my mind a little when we tried to start our session. Thankfully, J knew of an intercoastal beach nearby and the waters there were much softer, albeit still wavy enough to give me a new stimulus! I only ran aground once and our estimations put my distance somewhere between 1,900-2,100 yards, which is around a 1:55-1:58/100 yard pace. I felt very in control and comforted by the occupation of the beach as well as the shallow waters, gentler surface, and knowing J was nearby stroking along with me.

Sunday, 8/30: 20.05 miles, 16.7 mph cycling (1:12:00) + 1 hour strength

Strung two sub-18 minute 5 mile splits in a row, and negative splits no less! I performed something of an informal workout with 8 x 3 minutes at tempo effort/2 min endurance effort for 40 minutes. I averaged 16.9 and 17 mph for the 10 miles (17:47 and 17:39), respectively, and usually hovered between 17.3-17.8 mph during the efforts. It’s exceedingly wonderful to see my trainer speed starting to creep closer to my outdoor speed!

I thought to swim after work but decided I didn’t much want to, and the weather didn’t cooperate enough for it anyway. Thunder rang out shortly after I returned home, and since I already configured a strength session for the day I was A-OK staying on dryland in our office gym. I was accompanied by a friendly lizard that ran around by the door. I thought it was a roach at first but eventually spotted the tail, so I left him alone.

Strength: 3 sets of each exercise

• 12 weighted pop squats/16 deadlift
• 12 figure-4 balanced one-arm press
• 12 jump lunge/20 band hip flexions
• 20 marching triceps dips/18 TRX pushups
• 10 squat to narrow squat
• :30 hover bird dog hold (just leg lifted), R/:30 hover bird dog hold, L/:60 forearm plank
• 20 plank lateral taps
• 20 weighted donkey kicks/20 rolling planks
• 20 plank knee taps/15 seated oblique bends

Total running mileage: 44.6

Total cycling mileage: 102.4

Total swimming yardage: 7,250