week in training | 8.3 – 8.9

Over 120 miles between running, cycling, and swimming this week. I experienced some more issues than normal with fueling: a couple of workouts felt less stellar than usual with my normal pre-session snacks in the lineup before embarking. I track my intake on MyFitnessPal to ensure I’m not consistently in a deficit, but I’m also not that meticulous about what I write down, so it’s possible that I miss a few hundred calories here and there because I never was good at estimating. I’m also not sure Garmin detects my calorie burn super accurately, particularly during my indoor sessions. It doesn’t seem to know what I’m doing.

Regardless, an overall good training week, and a tiring one. I’ve hit 50 miles a few weeks in a row now and I think after the coming week I’ll chop down my running a bit to give my body a breather. I threw around the idea of seeking an interesting 50k race sometime in 2021, but my faith in the return of organized treks isn’t strong enough to justify me forking out a registration fee. Doesn’t mean I can’t look, however!

Monday, 8/3: 20.05 miles, 16.3 mph cycling (1:13:55) + 4.22 miles, 9:26 pace brick run

I started a bit later than I wanted so had to shave some mileage off, but I still got a solid near-2 hour training done before my work shift. I wasn’t seeking fast paces but due to the time crunch I picked up the speed so I had enough space for breakfast and coffee. Very stuffy and unpleasant out and my legs felt a bit heavy from strength training the prior day – I felt happy to get it done regardless!

Tuesday, 8/4: 45 minute strength + 8 miles, 8:53 pace

I’m always skeptical of my hard workout days since work can be exhausting and I often go into them dehydrated and hot from racing about the shop like a madwoman. Today’s shift went smoothly and I left with plenty of water and Nuun in my system so off I went! During the warmup I realized the AC in the gym must’ve been off because I started sweating like a criminal about two minutes in to my easy preparation mile and the air felt extra gunky. Thankfully the machine seemed to kick on when I started my main set: 5k at threshold (8:15, 8:08, 8:06) with just short of a mile recovery before 5 x 400m at 5k goal pace (7:41) and 400m recovery between intervals. Cooldown lasted .75 miles to hit 8 total! My legs really responded to the paces and I didn’t feel too wiped after like I sometimes can. Perhaps the extra snack beforehand helped?

Strength: 3x through each exercise

• 18 single arm front squats (8 per arm)/20 upright tick-tocks (standing, engage core and hold a weight while rocking side to side with an exaggerated lateral leg raise)
• 14 hover reverse lunge
• 12 hang cleans
• 16 supine OH bridge with single leg extension/15 single leg bridge
• 20 single arm dumbbell swing passes/16 dumbbell plank drags
• 15 windmill deadlifts
• (2 sets) 20 incline plank knee to elbow/30 plank hip swivels
• (2 sets) 15 OH reverse crunch/20 Russian twists

Wednesday, 8/5: 9.43 miles, 11:00 pace + 1,800 yard swim (38:15)

How slow can you go? This week’s longish recovery run actually clocked in 5 seconds per mile faster than the last two weeks, with an appropriately low heart rate (154 average) even in the morning’s heat. Had a nice time jogging out some tightness and even saw a meteor flick through the lightening sky and fizzle out over the city. So neat! Followed up with a straight aerobic swim averaging 2:07/100 yards.

Thursday, 8/6: 25.04 miles, 16.3 mph cycling (1:32:05) + 5.14 miles, 10:01 pace brick run

Bike ride felt great, but during the run I overheated fast and experienced some weakness, maybe from underfueling or fatigue. I shaved a mile off my planned distance and later eliminated a swim I had in mind due to post-work lethargy that I wasn’t sure a dip in the water would mend or worsen. I even took a nap just before supper around 6p! I knocked out hard around 8p.

Friday, 8/7: 45 minute strength + 7.32 miles, 10:15 pace

Much more rested early Friday morning and hit the office gym for a killer strength circuit. I had to cut some of the reps short due to time but otherwise the workout energized me aptly for an early shift. Post-work I jumped on the gym treadmill and managed to give myself a bloody nose by scratching my nostril just a touch too hard. Not to worry, I sanitized the crap out of the machine once I finished. I set the treadmill to rolling hills between 0.5-5% and kept the speeds modest. I wore my New Balance Beacons for the second time and my legs responded well to them – I’m very encouraged!

Strength:

Set one: 4 rounds, 10 reps each, minimal rest

• Thrusters/single leg hops
• Deadlift press-up
• Single leg deadlift to upright row/reverse flies
• Straight-arm unilateral cleans/around-the-body passes

Set two: 3 rounds, 10 reps each, minimal rest

• Side plank oblique crunch/side plank leg circles
• Reverse crunch/stability ball leg drops
• Hover bird dogs/hover toe taps

Saturday, 8/8: 25.76 miles, 16.3 mph cycling (1:35:04) + 1,800 yard swimming (35:12)

I’ve been turning the AC down a touch more (72 degrees versus my usual 74) and my last two rides have gone really well, so perhaps I’ll maintain that setting for awhile! Impromptu 5 mile tempo wedged in the middle of the ride, clocking in at 17:56 and 16.7 mph. I’ve never managed a sub-18 on the trainer – I have outside multiple times, but managing it in the trickier surrounds of the trainer is new. Big milestone!

Interval swim after work: 200 warmup (3:52, where that speed came from I have no idea!), 12 x 100 alternating breaststroke and freestyle (1:53-1:59 splits), 2 x 200 (4:02, 4:01). So hot outside so the water was just what I needed after work.

Sunday, 8/9: 16.12 miles, 10:28 pace

For a few minutes I ran alongside another lady – I on the sidewalk, she in the bike lane so we were well apart – and we complained heartily about the day’s heat. We experienced some loud storms the night before but they were the type to leave deep pockets of humidity and absolutely no wind in their stead. I felt heavy and sweaty but overall stable through this run, and kept a 159 bpm heart rate average. It’s so nice to see my heartrate dip for these longer, easier efforts. Must be doing something for my aerobic capacity. I wore my New Balance Tempos and think they’ll be my long run mainstay from now forth.

Total running mileage: 50.2

Total cycling mileage: 70.8

Total swimming yardage: 3,600