Once upon a time, on my old blog, I wrote weekly training recaps. I used these as things to record training and look back upon when I started a new training cycle to see what went well and what went wrong. Well, I said that I used the weekly recaps for that purpose. Eventually, these recaps became something I just did to get another post written. I rarely consulted them and even if I had, I would not have gleaned much information from what I wrote.
As I mentioned in my latest recap, I have reached an extended plateau and need to figure out what has gone well, what hasn’t gone well, and what I need to change to break out of that plateau. I realized last weekend, that not only did that sound a lot like a training recap, but I also have achieved breakthrough in other areas, like teaching, by reflecting through writing.
My goal will be to use these weekly recaps as a way of reflecting through writing so that hopefully, I can break free of the plateau and really dive deep.
The plan going forward will be to write a weekly recap with each individual day being written either on that day or shortly thereafter to preserve the freshness of the memory. These posts will publish on Mondays of each week since I consider my Sunday rest day to be the end of the training week. Having mentioned the Sunday rest day, Sundays will not make an appearance in the weekly recap unless I happen to run a Sunday race or have to move my long run to Sunday due to travel.
I will still continue to publish my once weekly essays on Tuesdays. I will also continue to write and publish race recaps on the day of each race.
Let the training recap begin!
The week after Hilton Head, I took it easy. I had begun to dread each work out and the early mornings those workouts brought. I also felt incredibly tired. The effort I put in at Hilton Head, although way off my 2015 PR, left me with incredibly sore calves and quads. I knew I should not run Monday. When the soreness lingered, I took Tuesday off too. I pushed myself in strength training Wednesday wanting to make that the restart to my training cycle. A late night Wednesday left me dreading Thursdays workout so the restart came Friday. This coincided with a restart for Mom who had been laid low by a lousy respiratory infection and was also picking training back up to get back into decent half marathon shape before our Columbia half on March 3.
Starting this week, I have six weeks before I start training for San Francisco. In that time, I want to build a strong base, a base capable of withstanding the work needed to be put in for a true BQ attempt. In that time I need to figure out whether or not I want to go back to coaching. I had success when Matt was my coach, stopping only due to injury and needed to back off. Things have changed significantly since then in both work and life so now the real evaluation needs to happen.
Each week the format will be as follows. I will list the day in bold along with the prescribed workout. If I changed the workout in some way, I will strike through the prescribed workout and list the workout actually performed. Below the day and workout, I will write a brief narrative of the workout listing how I felt physically and mentally as well as logging any odd aches and twinges so that I can keep ahead of any potential injury that could set me back.
After one of the longest introductions ever, here commences the recap of week 1 of base building.
Monday 55 50 minutes regular, 4 x 30 seconds hard effort with 60 seconds recovery effort in between
I wrote the workouts in my calendar prior to my brief burnout and reevaluation so I knew going into this workout that I would likely change something. Mom and I ended up running inside due to the rain. (Yes, we are both wimps when it comes to that.) Prior to starting the workout I had created a new plan for the week 50 minutes regular Monday, 55 minutes regular Tuesday, 55 minutes plus the hard effort intervals on Thursday. When I started the workout, I felt strong and knew that I would easily be able to complete the 50 minutes, I started to debate the merits of changing up the already changed up plan. I frequently make mental bargains with myself while I run but hate when I give myself cop outs. My left heel bothered me a tiny bit when I started that quickly went away and I felt strong. The effort felt fairly easy and I knew that was likely due to the slightly lower incline of my treadmill which decided to become incapable of using its incline feature. Towards the middle of the run the debate started in earnest. I had almost talked myself into and again out of the hard finishing effort intervals when I heard a trainer behind me shouting encouragement to her clients. The effect rubbed off on me. I finished the workout drenched in sweat thanks to the heating insufficient air conditioning of the gym but happy that I pushed myself beyond what I planned.
Tuesday 50 minutes regular
As is usually the case, the morning after the weekend, especially the morning after a long weekend, I had difficulty getting up at 5 and getting started. The tiredness that sets in first thing in the morning on school days makes getting started and fostering enough motivation to complete the workouts difficult. I could feel my left heel a little at the start. According to Brad, the guy I see every 5 or 6 weeks for ART, this is likely due to a tight gastrocnemius, one of the muscles in my calf. This does not surprise me. After the run I made sure to stretch my calves. Throughout the run after I got started, I focused on form and felt really strong. My left knee felt a little wonky but that seems because of tight hamstrings. Thus, I am also focusing on stretching those hamstrings once I complete the run. I felt really good once I got through things.
Wednesday strength training off
We usually do strength training on Wednesdays but a late night the night before left me exhausted in the morning and wanting to sleep. I had to stay up later than normal to get everything prepared for school since Tuesday evening I spent a few hours celebrating Grandpa’s 90th birthday. He’s totally awesome. Going forward, I need to figure out how to make sure that I can get enough sleep and get all of my work done so that my workouts don’t suffer.
Thursday 50 minutes w/hard effort intervals 40 minutes
I ended up staying up even later Wednesday to get everything done after my grad class and life group. I needed to make a few comments on the rough drafts that my GT students had turned in. Everything seemed to take forever and I ended up getting to bed just after midnight. I did not want to skip yet another workout; it’s a lot easier to skip strength training or stationary bike than a run. I felt so tired though that I knew the full run would do more harm than good so I cut it down to forty minutes. I realized then that I really need to get this balance sorted, figure out a way to manage the stress and workload from school so that it does not continue to affect my running. Through this run my legs felt heavy, likely because I felt so exhausted. Mentally I wanted more but physically I did not have it that morning. That left knee thing I mentioned from Tuesday I could feel a little bit so I continue to focus on stretching and maintaining a good stride.
Friday stationary bike strength training
One thing I know that has helped my running significantly recently even though I have not been able to cash in on it fully, is the strength training that we have been doing with Ellis. I feel a noticeable difference on the weeks after a skipped weekly workout. Since I had no afterschool obligations Thursday I was able to get a full night’s sleep and woke rested. If I needed another sign … . I also am beginning to enjoy these workouts much more than I did when we first started.
Saturday Swamp Rabbit Race to Greenville Half Marathon
After the race I could feel my left heel but not nearly as much as after Hilton Head. Turns out, I grabbed my old shoes to take down to Hilton Head, the one fully used and with nearly a hundred extra miles on them. I wore the right shoes for this race, however. I never feel the heel thing during the race and if I do, it never changes my stride or anything significant. I plan to continue to monitor this, ice when necessary, stretch, and make sure that I wear proper footwear whenever I can.