avondale training journal, starting Dec. 2018 (comments welcome)

[avondale]

Week of May 25 - 31, 2020

This is the first week of the 8-week hill repeat plan that I listed on page 9. I'm very happy with how it went this week, so hopefully this will give me sort of a goal.

This week, since my work has become less busy, I tried to add in 2 or so very short walk breaks during the day, preferably outside. This is a good mental and physical break. But I'm not going to list these in my activity log because they are so easy and short.

Monday morning: 2-hour walk around the neighborhood

Tuesday

• Morning: prehab routine (like previous) and foam rolling and stretching
• After work:
  • 1WU + 12 x (30s fast uphill + 60s slow downhill) + 1CD
    • T+D 139
    • comments: As I expected, the precision of my GPS isn't really good enough to track repeats this short in both time and distance. Supposedly my average paces on the uphills ranged from 8 min/mi to over 11 min/mi. I made sure to start at the same crack in the pavement at the bottom of the hill and I ended within a few strides of the same crack pattern farther up each time, so I'm pretty sure that I stayed reasonably consistent with the speed.
    • comments: This was hard, but also kind of fun. I can see how I can improve on this over the course of the plan, so I'm looking forward to it.
    • Route: Forest Glen Annex trail

Wednesday

• Morning: foam rolling and stretching
• After work:
  • 4EA
    • T+D 141, 3.5% correction
    • Target pace 11:56; with correction 12:20
    • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been: 12:21, 12:35, 12:10, 12:29
    • Ave HR: 136 BPM - within my target range
    • Splits: 12:17, 12:36, 12:09, 12:28
    • comments: I hit my splits for all miles.
    • Route: Sligo Creek Trail, going north

Thursday

• Morning: prehab routine (like previous) and foam rolling and stretching
• After work:
  • 0.5WU + 5M-tempo + 0.5CD
    • T+D 151, 4.5% correction
    • Target M-tempo pace 9:56; with correction 10:23
    • With GAP adjustments, M-tempo splits should have been: 10:24, 10:38, 10:35, 10:13, 10:32
    • Splits: 10:16, 10:40, 10:32, 11:07, 10:28
    • comments: I was too fast on the first mile.
    • comments: about 0.1 mi into my 4th tempo mile, my left knee started to hurt really badly in about three strides. I didn't feel anything bad happen, but it really hurt. I stopped to give it a brief rest and try to shake it off, but I couldn't get started again at tempo pace. I started out going slowly, which didn't hurt, and accelerated gradually so that I finished the mile at LR pace. For the last tempo mile, I tried speeding up to see if my knee would handle the tempo pace again, and it did.
    • Route: Sligo Creek Trail, going north

Friday

• Morning: foam rolling and stretching
• After work: 1-hour walk around the neighborhood

Saturday

• Before lunch: 45-min walk on treadmill
• Before dinner:
  • 6EB
    • T+D 130, 2% correction
    • Target pace 11:08; with correction 11:21
    • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been 11:22, 11:36, n/a, n/a, 11:11, 11:30
    • Ave HR: 142 BPM - above my target zone.
    • Splits: 11:18, 11:42, 12:32, 12:45, 11:10, 11:31
    • comments: For miles 3 and 4, I took a new-to-me side trail that was not paved and turned out to be quite hilly.
    • comments: For miles 1, 2, 5, 6, I hit my targets.
    • comments: my left knee twinged a few times, but no big problems.
    • Route: Sligo Creek Trail to Northwood Chesapeake Bay Trail

Sunday before dinner:

• 12LR
  • T+D 118, 1% correction
  • Target pace 10:50; with correction 10:56
  • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been 11:02, 11:01, 11:02, 11:04, 11:09, 10:57, 10:58, 10:56, 10:57, 11:02, 11:02, 11:09
  • Ave HR: 147 BPM - within my target zone
  • Splits: 10:57, 11:04, 10:54, 10:57, 11:13, 10:53, 10:50, 10:54, 10:53, 10:59, 10:57, 11:05
  • comments: I hit all my splits.
  • comments: My left knee twinged a few times, but no big problems.
  • Route: Rock Creek Trail, going north

Health

Fortunately my left knee does not seem to be a long-term problem, but we'll see.

My headache has continued to be worse this week.

 

[avondale]

Week of June 1 - 7, 2020

This is the second week of the 8-week hill repeat plan that I listed on page 9. I am still happy with the idea of progressing on this. I'm also still adding in 1 - 2 short walk breaks during the day, as described previously.

Monday

• Morning: foam rolling and stretching
• After work: 1-hr walk around the neighborhood

Tuesday

• Morning: P90X Legs & Back. I haven't done P90X in years because the workouts are pretty long, so I knew this one would kick my butt after not doing it for so long. I was conservative on the weights, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. As I remembered, this is an awesome workout.
• After work:
  • 4EA
    • T+D 123, 1.5% correction
    • Target pace 11:56; with correction 12:06
    • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been: 12:07, 12:21, 11:56, 12:15
    • Ave HR: 137 BPM - within my target range
    • Splits: 12:06, 12:22, 11:56, 12:11, 9:00
    • comments: I hit my splits for all miles.
    • Route: Sligo Creek Trail, going north

Wednesday

• Morning: ab routine, and foam rolling and stretching. Ab routine:
  • 3 x 60s plank (on hands, not elbows)
  • 3 x 30s each side planks (on hand, not elbow)
  • 3 x 8 each side bird dogs
• After work:
  • 1WU + 4 x (60s fast uphill + 120s slow downhill) + 5 x (30s fast uphill + 60s slow downhill) + 1CD
    • T+D 152!!!
    • comments: My GPS tracked the 60s intervals pretty well, since they were longer in both time and distance. The paces I got for these were 10:23, 9:33, 9:30, 9:00. I also ran could tell from the marks on the concrete that I was doing the same distance approximately for each interval. The GPS couldn't measure the 30s intervals very well, like last time.
    • comments:This was extra hard given the T+D. I took a few extra breaks during the RI.
    • Route: Forest Glen Annex trail

Thursday

• Morning: P90X Shoulders & Arms . I remembered that I liked this workout, and I still do. It is not THAT hard, though, because it really isolates specific muscles so everything else is resting.
• After work:
  • 1WU + 5K (was supposed to have been 4EA)
    • T+D 152!!!
    • Splits for 5K: 9:50, 8:45, 8:49, smidgen 8:57
    • comments: One of my Garmin connections had signed up for a 5 x 5K relay race that was canceled and changed to virtual. He asked me to run one of the legs, so I put it on this day. Given the temperature and the hill repeats the day before, I thought I was going to be working hard to keep my pace around 10:00 (M-tempo for me). However, the first mile was uphill (with a GAP of 15s) and I still got under 10:00, so I thought I could see what I could do after turning around and going downhill. It went very well! I did take a few breaks, which is an advantage of virtual races. The second mile was awesome. The third mile was where the T+D was really killing me. Still happy with it overall.
    • Route: Sligo Creek Trail, going north

Friday

• Morning: prehab routine (like previous) and foam rolling and stretching
• After dinner: 1-hr walk on treadmill because of bad storms - we got over 4 inches of rain on Friday!

Saturday

• After breakfast: 2-hr tennis practice! So happy to play some doubles again.
• Before dinner:
  • 5EB
    • T+D 151, 4.5% correction
    • Target pace 11:08; with correction 11:37
    • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been: 11:38, 11:52, 11:49, 11:27, 11:46
    • Ave HR: 145 BPM - above my target range
    • Splits: 11:37, 11:47, 11:48, 11:21, 11:46
    • comments: I hit my splits for all miles.
    • Route: Sligo Creek Trail, going north

Sunday

• After breakfast: 35-min walk around the neighborhood
• Before dinner:
  • 7LR
    • T+D 132, 2.5% correction
    • Target pace: 10:50; with correction 11:06
    • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been: 11:12, 11:11, 11:12, 11:11, 11:06, 11:07, 11:12
    • Ave HR: 142 BPM - below my target range and below the average for the previous day's run
    • Splits: 11:14, 11:11, 11:11, 11:11, 11:04, 11:09, 11:14
    • comments: I hit my splits for all miles.
    • Route: Rock Creek Trail, going north

Health

My headache continues. I met with my neurologist this week. We are going to try a new medicine soon that is once per month injections. Sigh.

My left knee is still iffy. It has mostly felt OK while running - it bothers me more soon after I've stopped running. I realized that at some point I got away from stability running shoes to help with pronation, so I ordered a pair that do that. We'll see if they do anything when I start using them. I am also working on stretching my quads more.

 

[avondale]

Week of June 8 - 15, 2020

This is the third week of the 8-week hill repeat plan that I listed on page 9. I am still happy with the idea of progressing on this. I'm also still adding in 1 - 2 short walk breaks during the day, as described previously.

Monday

• Morning: foam rolling and stretching
• After work: 65-min walk around the neighborhood

Tuesday

• Morning: plyo & agility routine and foam rolling and stretching.
  • Plyo: squat jumps, skaters, plyo push-ups, toe jumps, square jumps
  • Agility, 30 sec on, 30 sec rest: side shuffle back and forth, fast feet through ladder, forward sprint/backpedal, fast feet sideways through ladder, figure-8 facing forward, different fast feet sideways through ladder, fast feet forward back in ladder, out-out-in-in with ladder
• After work:
  • 1WU + 2 x (90s fast uphill + 180s slow downhill) + 3 x (60s fast uphill + 120s slow downhill) + 6 x (30s fast uphill + 60s slow downhill) + 1CD
    • T+D 154!!!
    • comments: The 90-s intervals were really hard and long, but then the 30-s ones felt so quick!
    • comments:This was extra hard given the T+D. I took a few extra breaks during the RI.
    • Route: Forest Glen Annex trail

Wednesday

• Morning: P90X Ab Ripper X and foam rolling and stretching
• After work:
  • 3EA
    • T+D 155, 5.5% correction
    • Target pace 11:56; with correction 12:35
    • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been: 12:36, 12:50, 12:25
    • Ave HR: 136 BPM - within my target range
    • Splits: 12:32, 12:50, 12:17
    • comments: I hit my splits for all miles.
    • comments: I walked an extra mile at the end of this, since the run was so short.
    • Route: Sligo Creek Trail, going north

Thursday

• Morning: P90X Chest & Back (112 push-ups!)
• After work:
  • 0.5WU + 5M-tempo + 0.5CD
    • T+D 142, 3.5% correction
    • Target M-tempo pace 9:56; with correction 10:17
    • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been: 10:18, 10:32, 10:29, 10:07, 10:26
    • Splits: 10:15, 10:26, 10:30, 10:11, 10:26
    • comments: My second mile was a little too fast.
    • Route: Sligo Creek Trail, going north

Friday

• Morning: prehab routine (like previous) and foam rolling and stretching
• After work: 70-min walk around the neighborhood

Saturday

• Morning: 2-hr tennis doubles practice
• Before dinner:
  • 70-min EB (was 6EB)
    • T+D 129
    • comments: I did a new-to-me section of natural-surface trail, so I tried to just take it easy. I got 5.09 mi.
    • Route: Rachel Carson Greenway, going south

Sunday

• Morning: 2-hr tennis mixed doubles for fun
• Before dinner:
  • 9LR
    • T+D 123, 1.5% correction
    • Target pace 10:50; with correction 11:00
    • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been: 11:06, 11:05, 11:06, 11:08, 11:07, 11:02, 11:00, 11:01, 11:06
    • Ave HR: 147 BPM - within my target range
    • Splits: 11:01, 11:04, 11:03, 11:05, 10:51, 10:58, 10:56, 11:00, 11:06, 11:16
    • comments: My 5th mile was way too fast.
    • Route: Rock Creek Trail, going north

Health

Sting

Well, the exciting event happened during my Friday after-work walk with my husband. An insect flew into the top of my left shoe, down into where the tongue of the shoe hits the top of my foot. It stung or bit me! I suddenly felt it start hurting and tried to get the shoe off as fast as possible. We saw something fly away out of my shoe - my husband thought it was some kind of wasp or hornet. It stung through my sock - no stinger left behind, but I could see where it stung me. It hurt distinctly for several hours.

The next day it didn't hurt any more, but I had a red area on my foot from the instep down around my ankle - an area about the size of the palm of my hind. That area got SO ITCHY. It was also a little puffy, like how mosquito bites puff up a bit. As I write this on Tuesday, the itchiness isn't quite so bad. Hopefully it will go away soon!

Everything else

My headache continues, although it was a bit weaker this past week. I met with the neurology PA yesterday (Monday), who did my first injection of a new medicine for migraines, Ajovy. Hopefully it will help, but it is supposed to work gradually.

My left knee is still twingy and a little painful sometimes, but not horrible.

Apparently I am turning into a wreck!

 

[avondale]

Week of June 15 - 21, 2020

This is the fourth week of the 8-week hill repeat plan that I listed on page 9. I'm also still adding in 1 - 2 short walk breaks during the day, as described previously.

Monday

• Morning: foam rolling and stretching
• After work: 2-hr tennis doubles practice

Tuesday

• Morning: P90X Legs & Back
• After work:
  • 4EA
    • T+D 123, 1.5% correction
    • Target pace 11:56; with correction 12:06
    • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been: 12:07, 12:21, 11:56, 12:15
    • Ave HR: 134 BPM - within my target range
    • Splits: 12:05, 12:21, 11:56, 12:10
    • comments: I hit my splits for all miles.
    • Route: Sligo Creek Trail, going north

Wednesday

• Morning: ab routine (like previous) and foam rolling and stretching
• After work: 65-min walk on treadmill - we were having thunderstorms, so it wasn't safe to run outside

Thursday

• Morning: P90X Shoulders & Arms
• After work:
  • Hill repeats: 1WU + 6 x (90 sec fast uphill + 180 sec slow downhill) + 1CD
    • T+D 139
    • comments: The 90-sec intervals are killer! I felt like I was in slow motion at the end of each interval. According to Strava, I gained about 57 feet of elevation in each interval.
    • Route: Forest Glen Annex trail

Friday

• Morning:
  • 4EA
    • T+D 131, 2.5% correction
    • Target pace 11:56; with correction 12:14
    • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been: 12:15, 12:29, 12:04, 12:25
    • Ave HR: 134 BPM - within my target range
    • Splits: 12:13, 12:27, 12:01, 12:26
    • comments: I hit my splits for all miles.
    • comments: Because of the thunderstorms earlier in the week, I had pushed two runs back.
    • Route: Sligo Creek Trail, going north
• After dinner: foam rolling and stretching

Saturday

• Morning: 70-min walk around the neighborhood
• Before dinner:
  • 8EB
    • T+D 139, 3% correction, light rain in first part of run
    • Target pace 11:08; with correct, 11:28
    • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been: 11:34, 11:33, 11:34, 11:36, 11:30, 11:28, 11:29, 11:34
    • Ave HR: 151 BPM - well above my target range - got above my target range in the first few minutes
    • Splits: 11:27, 11:29, 11:28, 11:27, 11:27, 11:24, 11:26, 11:33
    • comments: I hit my splits for all miles.
    • comments: I took 50 oz of water and drank about 2/3 of it.
    • comments: I was so soaked at the end of this that I could wring out my socks.
    • ETA: comments: My left ear got plugged up toward the end.
    • Route: Rock Creek Trail, going north

Sunday

• 10LR
  • T+D 154, 5% correction
    
  • Target pace: 10:50; with correction 11:23
  • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been: 11:29, 11:28, 11:29, 11:31, 11:36, 11:28, 11:25, 11:23, 11:24, 11:29
  • Ave HR: 151 BPM - within my target range, but see comments
  • Splits: 11:26, 11:26, 11:23, 11:28, 11:38, 11:26, 11:23, 11:25, 12:22, 12:37
  • comments: I couldn't hit my splits for miles 9 and 10.
  • comments: after mile 6, my HR really started to climb, presumably due to the heat. By the time I got to mile 7, my HR was in the high 160s BPM. I took a break, but my HR barely recovered. It stayed at about 160 BPM for mile 8. My breathing was hard with the iron band around my chest, my abs felt uncomfortable, like my waistband was too tight. I slowed miles 9 and 10 way down, but even so, my HR started climbing in mile 10 to the 170s BPM.
  • comments: I carried 50 oz of water and drank about 44 oz. I drank at spaced intervals through the run and the run took almost 2 hours of running. With time in breaks, it was probably about 2:15. That means I drank about 19.5 oz of water per hour. I hadn't put in Tailwind or ate anything during the run because the last few times I ran 10 miles, I did it easily without these. I'm not sure if that would have made a difference or not.
  • comments: This run went very badly. But it seems to be the same result I have whenever I run more than an hour in such a high T+D.
  • ETA: comments: Both of my ears got plugged up around mile 8 - 9 and took a couple of hours after the run to return to normal.
  • Route: Rock Creek Trail, going north

Health

On Monday, I got an injection of a new medicine, brand name Ajovy, that might help with my headache. My headache did seem like it was getting a little better with the higher dosage of Zoloft. This week since the injection it has also been a little better, at least until yesterday after that horrible run. Nothing felt good after that!

The down side may be the side effects. It is new enough that there aren't many known side effects. However, prior to this, I had had two Saturday runs where I really had an emergency need to go #2. This NEVER happens to me - I almost never have #2 on runs, and definitely not so urgently. I am wondering if this is a side effect of the Zoloft, because diarrhea is a possible side effect. Since I got the Ajovy injection, I've had this issue almost daily, and a very urgent need in both my Saturday and Sunday runs. Not fun. Well, we'll see. I'm thinking of seeing if PeptoBismol will help.

 

[avondale]

Week of June 22 - 28, 2020

This is the fifth week of the 8-week hill repeat plan that I listed on page 9. I'm also still adding in 1 - 2 short walk breaks during the day, as described previously.

This week was HOT and HUMID. This was not good for me. I am very frustrated by how much it just kills me, especially for runs over an hour. I feel like I should have had time this season to get acclimated.

Monday

• Morning: foam rolling and stretching
• After work: 45-min walk on the treadmill

Tuesday

• Morning: Plyo & agility routine (as previous) and foam rolling and stretching
• After work:
  • Hill repeats: 1WU + 8 x (60 sec fast uphill + 120 sec slow downhill) + 1CD
    • T+D 154, heat index 93 F
      
    • comments: This was hard but manageable.
    • Route: Forest Glen Annex trail

Wednesday

• Morning: P90X Ab Ripper X and foam rolling and stretching
• After work:
  • 4EA
    • T+D 134, 2.5% correction
    • Target pace 11:56; with correction 12:14
    • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been: 12:15, 12:29, 12:04, 12:23
    • Ave HR: 134 BPM - within my target range
    • Splits: 12:18, 12:27, 12:06, 12:23
    • comments: I hit my splits for all miles.
    • Route: Sligo Creek Trail, going north

Thursday

• Morning: P90X Chest & Back - 134 push-ups!
• After work:
  • 0.5WU + 5M-tempo + 0.5CD
    • T+D 138, 3% correction
    • M-tempo target pace 9:56; with correction 10:14
    • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been: 10:15, 10:29, 10:26, 10:04, 10:23
    • comments: A severe thunderstorm came in when I had about 2 miles left. Heavy winds and it started raining in an absolute deluge. I arranged to have my husband pick me up, but I still had to run a bit farther in the very heavy rain. I ended the run there: I got 4.75 mi of the M-tempo part done and did not do the 0.5CD.
    • Splits: 10:07, 10:20, 10:32, 10:28, 10:02, 8:52
    • comments: My last split was so fast because I was trying to get out of the rain!
    • Route: Sligo Creek Trail, going north

Friday

• Morning: prehab routine (like previous) and foam rolling and stretching
• After work: 1-hr walk around the neighborhood

Saturday

• After breakfast: 2-hr tennis doubles practice; hot and humid - both of my ears got plugged up.
• Before dinner:
  • 6EB
    • I only got about 0.5 mile down the trail before a pop-up thunderstorm started pouring with very little warning - nothing had been on the radar or in the forecast. I was able to shelter under the highway underpass. It was such very hard rain - texting with my husband and he said our street was like a river; we got 1 inch of rain in 15 minutes. After about 40 minutes, there was a break in the rain but it looked like more was coming. Again, my husband picked me up. Possibly just in time because the rainwater catch basins higher up were starting to overflow and flood the trail.
    • In total, I got about 0.68 mi on the trail. At home, I did the rest of the mileage on the treadmill. This is so miserable to me. I was sweating so much that I was soaked, and my left ear plugged up.

Sunday - given how badly my 10LR went last week when it was hot and humid, I decided to split up my 12LR into halves.

• Before breakfast:
  • 6LR - did 4LR + 1EA
    • T+D 138, 3% correction
    • Target pace 10:50; with correction 11:10
    • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been: 11:11, 11:25, 11:22, 11:00, 11:19
    • Ave HR: 147 BPM - within my target range
    • Splits: 11:13, 11:20, 11:24, 11:08, 12:27
    • comments: This was very, very hard. By the 5th mile, I was dizzy and my HR and breathing were very bad. I slowed down to EA pace and decided to only do 5 miles. My left ear got plugged up.
    • Route: Sligo Creek Trail, going north
• Before dinner:
  • 5EA - did 5.5EA
    • T+D 152!!!, 5% correction
      
    • Target pace 11:56; with correction: 12:31
    • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been: 12:37, 12:36, 12:34, 12:32, 12:37, 12:37
    • Ave HR: 143 BPM - above my target range
    • Splits: 12:29, 12:33, 12:31, 12:33, 12:34, 12:40
    • comments: This run went much better than the morning run, but I did plan from the start to run at EA pace. I had planned to do 5 miles, but felt OK to do an extra half-mile. That last half-mile told me I was done. My left ear got plugged up.
    • Route: Rock Creek Trail, going north

Health

The headache continues. This week was worse because of all the heat and humidity on my last few runs - tends to leave my head pounding.

I am getting tested for the coronavirus tomorrow (Monday). Assuming that I am negative, I am going to drive out of state to visit family. I'm also getting an antibody test.

I've been doing better on the emergency #2 issue. Maybe it was adjusting to the new medicine or just something I ate.

 

[avondale]

Week of June 29 - July 5, 2020

This is the sixth week of the 8-week hill repeat plan that I listed on page 9. I'm also still adding in 1 - 2 short walk breaks during the day, as described previously.

I drove to my mother's house on Thursday, July 2, to visit her and my sister and my sister's 4.5-yo son (they are neighbors). It was the first time I visited since Christmas because of the pandemic. I got a PCR test on Monday, June 30, and it came back negative - I wanted to do my best not to bring the virus to them.

I did my runs there, and we all did a lot of walking. The multi-use paths in the area were previously train tracks, and include the train tunnels We walked partway through one tunnel before my nephew got too nervous and we turned back. This selfie is just outside the tunnel entrance.



Monday

• Morning: foam rolling and stretching
• After work: 65-min walk around the neighborhood

Tuesday

• Morning: P90X Legs & Back
• After work:
  • 4EA
    • T+D 145, 4% correction
    • Target pace 11:56; with correction 12:24
    • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been: 12:25, 12:39, 12:14, 12:33
    • Ave HR: 138 BPM - within my target range
    • Splits: 12:17, 12:39, 12:09, 12:32
    • comments: I hit my splits for all miles.
    • Route: Sligo Creek Trail, going north

Wednesday

• Morning: prehab routine (like previous) and foam rolling and stretching
• After work
  • 1WU + 4 x (30s fast uphill + 60s slow downhill + 60s fast uphill + 120s slow downhill + 90s fast uphill + 180s slow downhill) + 1CD
    • T+D 147
    • comments: This was very hard.
    • Route: Forest Glen Annex trail

Thursday

• Before breakfast:
  • 4EA
    • T+D 127, 2% correction
    • Target pace 11:56; with correction 12:09
    • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been: 12:10, 12:24, 11:59, 12:18
    • Ave HR: 131 BPM - within my target range
    • Splits: 12:12, 12:23, 11:56, 12:23
    • comments: I hit my splits for all miles.
    • Route: Sligo Creek Trail, going north
• After dinner: 1.2-mi walk with family on the Allegheny River Trail

Friday before breakfast:

• Extra 4EA
  • T+D 125, 1.5% correction
  • Target pace 11:56; with correction 12:06
  • Ave HR: 130 BPM - within my target range
  • Splits: 12:05, 12:05, 12:03, 12:04
  • comments: I hit my splits for all miles.
  • Route: Justus Trail

Saturday

• Before breakfast:
  • 5EB
    • T+D 132, 2.5% correction, 99% humidity at the start!
    • Target pace: 11:08; with correction 11:24
    • Ave HR: 133 BPM - within my target range
    • Splits: 11:23, 11:24, 11:12, 11:18, 11:20
    • comments: Too fast on mile 3.
    • Route: Allegheny River Trail
• Afternoon: 60-min walk with family on Sandy Creek Trail
• After dinner: 90-min walk with my mother in Franklin

Sunday before breakfast:

• 7LR
  • T+D 129, 2% correction, 99% humidity to start!
  • Target pace: 10:50; with correction 11:03
  • Ave HR: 139 BPM - below my target range
  • Splits: 11:04, 11:01, 11:00, 11:03, 10:57, 11:03, 11:02
  • comments: I hit my splits for all miles
  • Route: Allegheny River Trail

Health

My headache continues. Everything else status quo.

 

[avondale]

@DopeyBadger , my hill training plan ends July 19. Would you still be willing to write a marathon training plan for me, please? The Richmond Marathon is still "on" for November 14. Whether or not it actually happens is a good question, but I like a training goal, so I will proceed with it for the moment.

I'd like to beat my previous marathon time of 4:49:29 in March 2019. You may recall that my effort at the Space Coast Marathon last December ended up at about 5:12 because it got unseasonably hot and humid. For Richmond on Nov. 14, the historic average high/low are 62 F/ 40 F, which isn't bad.

The running I've been doing recently is the hill repeat plan that is in a post on page 9. I've followed that quite closely.

Currently, my only travel is possibly Aug. 1 - 9 - during that time, I would need to do only easy runs of about an hour or less.

From now until Sep. 20, I can run 5 days per week. Most weekday runs should be about an hour or less, but I can do one weekday run that is up to 90 min. Weekends are unlimited.

After Sep. 20, we should probably plan on running 4 days per week and weekdays 1 hour or less. Fall tennis leagues start around Sep. 20, but I don't know if we'll have as many leagues as usual this fall or if I will want to participate in as many. Possibly we can re-assess and keep 5 days per week if not much tennis happens.

It will be OK for me to do track workouts again. On a related note, I have enjoyed the hill repeat workout plan, even in the awful heat and humidity we've been having lately. They are hard, but the repeats themselves are mercifully short. It's also kind of nice that there isn't really a pace goal - just push hard for the whole interval - so I can't fail at it, lol. They are like the R-pace intervals you had me doing before.

I think I answered your usual questions. I hope that you will have time to help me out again!

 

[DopeyBadger]

The running I've been doing recently is the hill repeat plan that is in a post on page 9. I've followed that quite closely.

So what's the duration total for each of the last 4 weeks?

From now until Sep. 20, I can run 5 days per week. Most weekday runs should be about an hour or less, but I can do one weekday run that is up to 90 min. Weekends are unlimited.

After Sep. 20, we should probably plan on running 4 days per week and weekdays 1 hour or less. Fall tennis leagues start around Sep. 20, but I don't know if we'll have as many leagues as usual this fall or if I will want to participate in as many. Possibly we can re-assess and keep 5 days per week if not much tennis happens.

Sounds good. So at the absolute max:

M- OFF
T- 60 min max
W- 60 min max
R- 60 min max
F- OFF
Sa- 120 min max
Su- 150 min max

Total - 7.5 hrs

but more likely

M- OFF
T- 60 min max
W- OFF
R- 60 min max
F- OFF
Sa- 90 min max
Su- 150 min max

Total - 6 hrs

 

[avondale]

So what's the duration total for each of the last 4 weeks?

I'm not sure if you mean distance or time. Reverse chronological order:

• July 13 - 19: planned 29.3 mi, approx. 5:30
• July 6 - 12: incomplete - executed + planned: 28.3 mi, approx. 5:27
• June 29 - July 5: 28.5 mi, approx 5:44
• June 22 - 28: 29.5 mi, approx. 5:41
• June 15 - 21: 30.0 mi, approx. 6:00
• June 8 - 14: 27.0 mi, approx. 5:24

That is kind of a sad amount of time per week, because I feel like I'm out there more! But a lot of the runs in this plan have been around 4-ish miles, which is kind of short.

Sounds good. So at the absolute max:

M- OFF
T- 60 min max
W- 60 min max
R- 60 min max
F- OFF
Sa- 120 min max
Su- 150 min max

Total - 7.5 hrs

but more likely

M- OFF
T- 60 min max
W- OFF
R- 60 min max
F- OFF
Sa- 90 min max
Su- 150 min max

Total - 6 hrs

Yes, the above is for after Sep. 20. Prior to Sep. 20, I should be able to do 5 d/wk and up to 90 min on one weekday. I should know what's going to happen after Sep. 20 with some warning time.

 

[DopeyBadger]

I'm not sure if you mean distance or time. Reverse chronological order:

• July 13 - 19: planned 29.3 mi, approx. 5:30
• July 6 - 12: incomplete - executed + planned: 28.3 mi, approx. 5:27
• June 29 - July 5: 28.5 mi, approx 5:44
• June 22 - 28: 29.5 mi, approx. 5:41
• June 15 - 21: 30.0 mi, approx. 6:00
• June 8 - 14: 27.0 mi, approx. 5:24

That is kind of a sad amount of time per week, because I feel like I'm out there more! But a lot of the runs in this plan have been around 4-ish miles, which is kind of short.

Yes, the above is for after Sep. 20. Prior to Sep. 20, I should be able to do 5 d/wk and up to 90 min on one weekday. I should know what's going to happen after Sep. 20 with some warning time.

It's tough because the availability is far less for the last 8 weeks during which would be the peak of training for a marathon PR level race. So the question is, how do we maintain the peak while also simultaneously dropping the training volume by as much as 25%? Or do we conversely never increase the volume up to 7.5-8 hrs so we don't have to drop it, but then you're doing about as much training as you are now? And you might have more availability come Sept 20th, but that's an unknown. I've seen training plans with maintained volume but increasing in intensity. I mean the tennis isn't nothing, but it's not the same. How much tennis would you be doing on a weekly basis?

 

[avondale]

It's tough because the availability is far less for the last 8 weeks during which would be the peak of training for a marathon PR level race. So the question is, how do we maintain the peak while also simultaneously dropping the training volume by as much as 25%? Or do we conversely never increase the volume up to 7.5-8 hrs so we don't have to drop it, but then you're doing about as much training as you are now? And you might have more availability come Sept 20th, but that's an unknown. I've seen training plans with maintained volume but increasing in intensity. I mean the tennis isn't nothing, but it's not the same. How much tennis would you be doing on a weekly basis?

Yeah, I know that decreasing the time in the second half of the training plan is not optimal or typical.

Unfortunately it is hard to know yet about the tennis. Usually ~2 evening matches per week (this is relevant because I run in late afternoon/evening) and a Saturday morning practice (I do the 90-min run in the late afternoon). BUT...the tennis is indoor, and it's hard to say how that is going to be handled with the pandemic. There may be fewer leagues, teams, and/or matches because people don't want to risk playing indoor, which would affect my playing frequency.

We could plan for the 5 days/wk throughout and then adapt that either en masse or on a week-by-week basis if it turns out not to be workable. Who knows? By mid-September, my target marathon may be canceled. So many unknowns.

Thanks for being patient with this.

 

[DopeyBadger]

Alright, first draft. Thoughts?

 

[avondale]

Week of July 5 - 12, 2020

This is the seventh week of the 8-week hill repeat plan that I listed on page 9. I'm also still adding in 1 - 2 short walk breaks during the day, as described previously.

Monday

• Morning: foam rolling and stretching
• After work: 45-min walk around the neighborhood

Tuesday

• Morning: plyo & agility routine (as previous) and foam rolling and stretching
• After work:
  • 1WU + 8 x (90s fast uphill + 180s slow downhill) + 1CD
    • T+D 157
    • comments: I only got 4 of the repeats done before a thunderstorm started pouring raining and bringing lightning. When I went home, I did 2 miles at 5.0 mph on the treadmill to get more time on my feet.
    • Route: Forest Glen Annex trail

Wednesday

• Morning: P90X Ab Ripper X and foam rolling and stretching
• After work:
  • 60-min walk around the neighborhood
  • 3EA
    • T+D 152, 5% correction
      
    • Target pace: 11:56; with correction 12:31
    • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been: 12:32, 12:34, 12:40
    • Ave HR: 137 BPM - within my target range
    • Splits: 12:30, 12:29, 12:41
    • comments: I hit my target pace for all miles.
    • Route: Sligo Creek Trail, going north

Thursday

• Morning: P90X Chest & Back
• After work:
  • 0.5WU + 5M-tempo + 0.5CD
    • T+D 154, 5% correction
      
    • Target M-tempo pace: 9:56; with correction 10:26
    • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been: 10:27, 10:41, 10:38, 10:16, 10:35
    • Splits: 10:33, 10:43, 10:37, 10:19, 10:33
    • comments: I missed my target for the first miles.
    • Route: Sligo Creek Trail, going north

Friday

• Morning: prehab routine (like previous) and foam rolling and stretching
• After work:
  • 6EB
    • T+D 153, 5% correction
      
    • Target pace: 11:08; with correction 11:41
    • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been: 11:47, 11:46, 11:47, 11:41, 11:42, 11:47
    • Ave HR: 145 BPM - above my target range
    • Splits: 11:45, 11:46, 11:50, 11:39, 11:40, 11:42
    • comments: I hit my splits for all miles!
    • Route: Rock Creek Trail, going north

Saturday

• After breakfast: 2-hr outdoor tennis practice
• Before dinner: 2-hr outdoor tennis match

Sunday

• After breakfast: 1.5-hr outdoor tennis practice
• Before dinner:
  • 9LR
    • T+D 150, 4.5% correction
      
    • Target pace: 10:50; with correction: 11:19
    • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been: 11:25, 11:24, 11:25, 11:27, 11:26, 11:19, 11:20, 11:25.
    • Ave HR: 149 BPM - within my target range
    • Splits: 11:23, 11:27, 11:26, 11:17, 11:18, 11:25, 12:23, 12:20
    • comments: It started to look like a thunderstorm was coming in, so I turned around at 3 miles with the intent of repeating some sections closer to my car. But I got back to my car at 6 miles and was feeling totally wiped and getting nauseated. I slowed way down and got to a total of 7.25 miles. The outdoor tennis that morning and the day before really did a number on me, even though I drank lots and lots.
    • Route: Rock Creek Trail, going north.

Health

My headache has been a lot worse this week with the high heat and humidity and all the outside activities. That just makes my head pound.

 

[avondale]

Alright, first draft. Thoughts?

The first week you have as a blank - this is the last week of my hill repeat plan that I'll be doing this week. The second week is marked as "off" until Saturday. Are you intending for me to not run during this time?

So far, I don't see any issues - the question will just be about the scheduling after approx. Sep. 20 with the tennis. I'm sorry that I don't have a better idea about this yet.

I really love the PDF schedules that you make for the plans. I print them out and annotate them as I go through.

Thank you!

 

[DopeyBadger]

The first week you have as a blank - this is the last week of my hill repeat plan that I'll be doing this week. The second week is marked as "off" until Saturday. Are you intending for me to not run during this time?

Yes, the intention was that you would skip the last week of the hill training since the marathon would take precedence. My worry is what you're doing now (5.5-6 hrs) at 19-23 weeks out is too similar in volume to what you'll be peaking at in November. Thus, leading to a lot of time in monotonous training with a training load that is stagnant. I don't think you'll see the gains you want. So I'm trying to drop the training so that you spend more time in optimal training and hopefully see more gains during the tail end of this training cycle.

 

[avondale]

Yes, the intention was that you would skip the last week of the hill training since the marathon would take precedence. My worry is what you're doing now (5.5-6 hrs) at 19-23 weeks out is too similar in volume to what you'll be peaking at in November. Thus, leading to a lot of time in monotonous training with a training load that is stagnant. I don't think you'll see the gains you want. So I'm trying to drop the training so that you spend more time in optimal training and hopefully see more gains during the tail end of this training cycle.

Ack! Not run for almost two weeks?!? I can see taking a break for most of the second week, which is what I thought you meant, but I really might go nuts with two weeks off. I'm only halfway to my 100 miles for July, and I wanted to redeem myself on the 10-miler this week. It's been a year since I've run fewer than 100 miles in a month, and that was last summer when I was in Italy for two weeks. I will admit that I am not sure I will do this.

Now, I don't necessarily mind skipping the hill repeat workout this week...we are nearing 20 days of 90+F for a high.

Have to go for the moment.

 

[DopeyBadger]

Ack! Not run for almost two weeks?!? I can see taking a break for most of the second week, which is what I thought you meant, but I really might go nuts with two weeks off. I'm only halfway to my 100 miles for July, and I wanted to redeem myself on the 10-miler this week. It's been a year since I've run fewer than 100 miles in a month, and that was last summer when I was in Italy for two weeks. I will admit that I am not sure I will do this.

Now, I don't necessarily mind skipping the hill repeat workout this week...we are nearing 20 days of 90+F for a high.

Have to go for the moment.

In the end, it's up to you. You're more likely to be better off on Nov 14th with the extra time off, then not. But I certainly can't make any guarantees.

 

[avondale]

In the end, it's up to you. You're more likely to be better off on Nov 14th with the extra time off, then not. But I certainly can't make any guarantees.

Yes, I will have to think about it. I get frustrated by being so slow and not putting on as many miles as I would like, but I am sure you would say that recovery is also important and I would get faster if I could spend more time training. I like the accomplishment of doing longer and longer runs, but I do understand the idea of periodization. Too many conflicting desires. I guess I haven't sorted things yet. Blah. And then I feel like I'm the only one of your trainees who hasn't made a breakthrough, and I know it's because I am not doing things right in one way or another.

 

[DopeyBadger]

I get frustrated by being so slow and not putting on as many miles as I would like, but I am sure you would say that recovery is also important and I would get faster if I could spend more time training.

It's definitely a balancing act, but let's see how this one goes. It's definitely a step up in terms of the weekend activity. I don't think I have ever scheduled a 120/160 back to back weekend. And that 120/145 with 80 at M Tempo is not an easy weekend (that's very very tough). So let's see how you tolerate those weekends (if the tennis allows it late in training). But in general, yes. If you could do 8-10 hrs per week without injury, then you're probably going to see marathon times closer and closer to the 4:20 that's listed on the plan (if 5k is anywhere close to 26 min).

I like the accomplishment of doing longer and longer runs, but I do understand the idea of periodization.

I really tried to push it on the weekends. But I also don't like to get too far out that what you do on the weekdays can no longer support want we try and do on the weekend. An alternative consideration is going even slower on the longer runs as to ease up on the damage they cause. Because 150 min at LR is more damaging than say 150 min at WU pace. If you did WU pace for the longer runs, you could theoretically push the duration out further than 160 min. More like ultra training (again within reason on the balancing with weekday activity).

And then I feel like I'm the only one of your trainees who hasn't made a breakthrough, and I know it's because I am not doing things right in one way or another.

Don't worry, you're not the only one. I definitely do not always succeed in laying out the correct pathway for my runners. I can think of two people who immediately come to mind that I probably held back too much in terms of time per week. In both of their cases when they got a plan from someone else that pushed their weekly duration higher than what we had been doing they were even more successful. There are others too that weren't necessarily just a duration thing. And on the flip side, some of the people I worked with that look like they are flourishing may have also gone through periods where there were little gains. It's all about trying to find the right path for each individual person.

 

[avondale]

It's definitely a balancing act, but let's see how this one goes. It's definitely a step up in terms of the weekend activity. I don't think I have ever scheduled a 120/160 back to back weekend. And that 120/145 with 80 at M Tempo is not an easy weekend (that's very very tough). So let's see how you tolerate those weekends (if the tennis allows it late in training). But in general, yes. If you could do 8-10 hrs per week without injury, then you're probably going to see marathon times closer and closer to the 4:20 that's listed on the plan (if 5k is anywhere close to 26 min).

In principle I am not opposed to doing longer runs on weekdays, I just know that with other obligations, it gets hard to fit in. Certain times of the semester require me to work more than the typical 9 - 5, and so I know longer runs would mean cutting into sleep, which is not good.

I really tried to push it on the weekends. But I also don't like to get too far out that what you do on the weekdays can no longer support want we try and do on the weekend. An alternative consideration is going even slower on the longer runs as to ease up on the damage they cause. Because 150 min at LR is more damaging than say 150 min at WU pace. If you did WU pace for the longer runs, you could theoretically push the duration out further than 160 min. More like ultra training (again within reason on the balancing with weekday activity).

If you think slower for the weekend runs would be better, I am fine with that. (I may do that as a compromise for this week, actually.) Usually time is less of an issue on the weekends. I am tentatively hoping to try to complete a 50k in a few years...I turn 50 in 2023, which seemed like a nice time frame. That's one reason I'm trying to aim for marathons now - to help keep the base and fitness.