Not the best of weeks overall. I crammed a lot of work in early in the week because a big storm was forecasted for the end of the week and actually did turn out to be the biggest storm of the season, 23 inches of snow over Thursday and Friday. By time Sunday came around, I felt like toast after my 24 mile progressive run on Sunday, but it was a heavy work week for me as well so some of that was feeling drained from work as well. Best training session of the week was Sunday. Paid off to have that snow storm,]m, because the two days prior were easy days. MONDAY- Feeling great today. Did some yoga between morning clients and got to have a shake fairly early in the AM. Went for my 10 mile run feeling energized. Have a lot of to do today and am looking forward to the run, but then getting home and getting work done. Temps are perfect for February. It's in the mid 30's, most of the snow has melted, it's partly cloudy and there's no wind. Going to Prospect Park and since I'm feeling so good going to take this harder than the recommended 9:20 pace. Last week I did this also on one of my mid distance runs. After a 1 mile warm up I picked up the pace and focused on keeping my HR around 160bpm. As long as the run does not start to feel hard I will maintain whatever pace meets that 160bpm HR. Took the park counter-clockwise, had a bathroom stop, and turned around at 5 miles. Not using my gels, don't feel I need one, just the want more energy in my water. Took the hills moderately hard and felt great leaving the park. Cooled down very easy and walked a little for the last mile. Average pace for the 8 miles (out of 10) was 8:47 and HR ave 158. Last week I did 10 of my 13 miles at 8:54 and ave HR 161.
TUESDAY- between clients I had time for breakfast and a 40 minute weight training session. It's been about 4 days, way overdue. Worked legs and back today. Straight sets working with moderate to heavy weights 3-4 sets 8-10 reps. Squats, lunges, legs extensions, machina cg row, lat pd, and cable rev fly. Also did some shoulder rotation work with light dumbbells and bands. Feeling some discomfort, not pain in left shoulder and want to have a good swim tonight so being very aware of need for a little TLC.
Once finished with clients I went for an easy 6 mile run. Well the plan was 6 miles at 9:00 HR about 155. Its raining, and cold, about 35 degrees and I forgot gloves. Once I got out there I was feeling light and really good, so took it harder than planned. Just wanted to get the run over with. The weather was miserable with wind, but my body felt good so I went with it. This was mostly flat, just the hill down and up Chambers street. Average speed was 8:40 and HR 162. I bit fast and High for an easy run, but it did actually feel easy. Ran against the wind on the way up the west side and flew home. My hands were freezing.
By time evening came around I wasn't feeling much like swimming. Was very happy to hear that today's team workout is a recovery swim. We did about 30 minutes of warm up and drills followed by all easy sets of the following 5x100 (20s rest), 4x150 (30s), 1x300. Cooled down for 300 and practiced flip turns. Total was about 2400 yards over an hour 20 minutes. Shoulder felt fine but a little week. Claudia pointed out to me that I'm entering too low in the water, probably partially from having tight lats from working out today. Didn't have time for yoga or upper body stretches today either. Must do that on swim days!
WEDNESDAY- I had an hour between clients in the morning so did 10 minutes of abs with the bosu, yoga, and shoulder work. My legs and back are sore from yesterday's weights, particularly my quads. Should make for an interesting hard run later this morning. I only did 20 minutes of shoulders but it was a lot of volume. Focused form, moderate intensity 8-12 reps. Did DB OHP, cable shoulder flexion and extension, cable lateral raises, cable horizontal shoulder extension. My left shoulder feels strong today!
After clients and a little work at my desk I went for my 12 mile hard run. I had a isalean shake about an hour before the run. Heading over the Brooklyn bridge for a 3 mile warm up then went north on Hudson River Park. It's drizzling, about 40 degrees and windy (about 15 mph) heading up the river. Not happy about that. My goal is to run a minimum of 6 of my 12 miles at or below Marathon Pace (7:56). I had a lot of trouble for the first half, the wind was killing me and my legs are not fresh. Feeling the leg weights from yesterday. I was hoping to not stop but needed a bathroom so took a gel there while I had a chance. The return felt easier but I was kinda spent from working so hard against the wind. For the 6 miles I ran 7:55 at an AB HR of 172bpm. When I did a similar run two weeks ago the footing was bad, my HR was the same and my speed was 8:17. So I'm not thrilled with today's results, but was better. Think I have only one more of these scheduled so will make that one a longer interval.
THURSDAY- Today is my off day, but I am doing a short set of weights. After clients I worked on back, chest, and shoulders at John street. Wanted to put in more leg work this week but they are still a little sore today, so skipping that. Focused on Back, working in this manner; back, chest, back, shoulder, and again. So, four exercises for back, two for chest, two for shoulder. Did most everything moderate to heavy, sometimes shortened rest instead of increasing weight. Dont like how shoulder feels today, so using less rest instead of more weight for shoulders and chest. Nice quick, effective 35 minute workout.
FRIDAY- today is another light day because tomorrow is 24 mile progressive run. It's horrible out. Yesterday and today were perfect days to have off running. There was at least a foot of snow on the ground this morning and it's going to continue snowing much of the day. After morning clients in my basement I got in a quick weight session. Don't feel recovered entirely from yesterday so keeping it pretty short and easy. Did some light power work with the kettle bells, lat pull downs, DB rows, posterior and anterior delt work and finished with TRX abs. A bit later today will get on the indoor trainer. Most sets were either an increase in weight each set, or an increase in reps, even so none were to exhaustion.
My indoor trainer workout is intervals at high cadence. Not going to take my HR to Anaerobic as I usually would with this workout because I want to save my legs for tomorrow's long run. Just want to get a light workout but want to be focused and work with a high cadence. I warmed up 15 minutes the did 15 minutes of short intervals 15s work (30s rest) 30s work (60s rest) for the entire 15 minutes. Everything felt pretty easy and HR reached the top of my aerobic zone. Then did 20 minutes of 60 s work (2 min rest). These I did at a slightly slower cadence and again HR was at top of aerobic zone. Everything felt good, was bored by the last two intervals. Was nice to be in the protection of my apartment, window open and watching the snow outside. Worried tomorrows long run is going to be wet and slushy 3 1/2 hours.
SATURDAY- after two days of snow we accumulated 23 inches and surprisingly the sidewalks and roads are clear this morning. I'm expecting a fantastic 24 mile progressive run after having two days off from running and great conditions. Gave myself about 2 hours to wake up, have a shake, stretch a little and then head out. It's about 35 degrees, cloudy and 10mph winds. Ran real easy the first 3 miles, much of which was snow covered or slushy such as the brooklyn bridge. Got th the west side and the henry hudson parkway was completely clear! No snow, no ice, it was perfect. I kept the first 10 miles at an average pace of 9:44 and HR 150. This felt really easy, but I didn't speed up. From 10-13 miles I ran at 9:16 pace av HR 155, turning around at the 12 mile mark near riverbank park, and am now running into the wind. From 13-16 I increased the pace to 9:00 AV HR 162, this felt harder than I thought it would. Usually 9mm is a really comfortable pace for me to hold and my HR is usually 2-4 bpm slower than today. I would consider 9mm my easy pace for a typical flat jog. From 16-19 I increased the pace again to av 8:30 and HR 168 AV, this felt pretty good and is my sub threshold HR. The last increase was from 19-21 and the pace went up to 7:54 (my planned MP) and HR was 178bpm . I really had to push here. There's no way I can run a marathon at 178bpm, so hoping the wind was playing a big part here. Last Marathon my HR ave was 171. I made only a couple of short stops along this run, wanted to keep moving as much as possible. Alternated between using power gels and Honey stinger which worked pretty well. I either walked for 30 sec or less or simply slowed my pace a bit. First one at mile 4, then 8, 12, 15, 18 and drank want more energy in my water throughout. I had to make two rest stops, one at 5 mile for a toiled, and one around 17 for more water. After the 7:54 pace I slowed way down and started my cool down. In the way back over the bridge, my legs felt less tired than I expected, footing was terrible through. This was my last 24 mile run. I have 3 more good long runs, then i'm done. I felt really good today. Progressive runs are really tough, and this was a high volume week with some hard training, so am real happy with today's run.
SUNDAY- Today is an easy recovery run. Felt OK in the morning but more tired as the day progressed. Team in training is running a race in prospect park so I'm going there as their coach to get them started and cheer a bit then will head back home. Everything was a jog. Lots of stopping and standing in between. Ran 6.5 miles total at about 10mm.
Weekly totals: 13hrs 23 min training: Run 58 miles, bike 1 hour, Swim 1:20, weights 2:10. Feel the timing on some of the weight training was off. Want to get in effective training sessions, but they compromised both my swim this week and my speed work. Definately could have used more yoga, stretching and abdominal work this week. Added a pound to my weight, and its not muscle.