week in training | 7.20 – 7.26
I’m happy this week I had room in my schedule to fit more outdoor runs. I have a good relationship with the treadmill, but nothing beats the organic appeal of suiting up for a road session and returning with the scent of leaves and nature clinging to your skin. I’m still keeping my harder sessions indoors for now, though I hope to transition tempo runs back eventually since I know the prep will help me for the virtual Big Sur Marathon in September. This summer has been exceptionally bad, however, and I’m more comfortable pushing myself on the machine rather than dealing with extreme heat and cardiac drift along with the intensity of a threshold session.
On that note, another satisfying week!
Monday, 7/20: 25.05 miles, 16.1 mph cycling (1:33:31) + 6.3 miles, 9:52 pace brick run + 1,600 yard swim (33:44)
Brick workouts continually surprise me! I started with a good slow tension effort on the bike, 3 x 10 minutes at 55-65 RPM. I know “proper” STEs usually fall closer to 50 RPM, but I’ll chalk this up as a good hill simulation at any rate. A quick transition later and I was off to the races with a satisfying and accidental progression 10K: 10:14, 10:03, 9:51, 9:45, 9:39, 9:35.
I left work probably dehydrated and definitely tired, but wanted to finish my mini Olympic triathlon I had going, so I drove over to the pool to try and get it done. This swim did not go well. My goggles fogged up, my breathing felt way off, and I developed a vivid headache that made the whole affair downright miserable. I split the swim into 400, 800, and 400, and wound up swimming most of the final interval as breaststroke to keep myself above water as much as possible. Still pretty proud I finished all three distances, though!
Tuesday, 7/21: 45 minute strength + 7.09 miles, 9:11 pace
8 pound and 25 pound dumbbells are not to be minimized. I have crafted most of my workouts during this period so they’re friendly for my office gym but still challenging. I was sore for several days after this session. Lighter weights help me focus more on stabilization and concentrated work rather than letting me get carried away with lifting as heavy as possible.
After work I got my speedwork done on the ‘mill. My stomach was cranky for some reason, but the miles felt okay. I warmed up for 2 descending to a 9:15 pace, then ran a continuous 5K tempo/threshold run picking up speed every half mile: 8:32, 8:17, and 8:02 were the splits. Finished with just short of a 2 mile cooldown until the treadmill governor stopped the machine (this happens at 65 minutes) and I decided to get off for the day.
Strength: Each exercise 3x through
- 16 alternating goblet lunges
- 16 chops per side
- 15 single leg bridge
- 12 deadlift to suitcase squat
- 20 banded crab walks/20 leg drops
- 20 standing clamshells/10 jump squats
- 20 plank knee to elbow/20 alternating plank toe taps
- 20 plank hover toe taps/15 side plank oblique crunches
Wednesday, 7/22: 9.4 miles, 11:05 pace + 1,700 yard swim (35:14)
Quite humid out in the morning with some rain flicking down on me the whole time, but not an overall unpleasant workout. I kept the effort SUPER easy (157 bpm average) to facilitate recovery even though I wanted to get some extended time on my feet. I was quite surprised to see an 11 minute average, but if that’s what it takes to let my body chill and to crush upcoming workouts, so be it.
This swim wiped away all memory of Monday’s. I warmed up for 400 yards (8:30) before 6 x 200 alternating breaststroke and freestyle. The breaststroke splits came in at 4:09, 4:02, and 4:02, while the freestyle gave me satisfying negative splits at 4:14, 4:09, and 4:02. I find it odd that I’m stronger in the breaststroke. Perhaps because it’s such an explosive movement that when I try it I go full out every time. I tallied up 100 more yards at a 2:04 before yielding my lane to an awaiting swimmer.
By the way, the photos below showcase two lovely little stretches to try after a swim! Great to open the upper back, neck, and heartspace.
Thursday, 7/23: 20.03 miles, 16.4 mph cycling (1:13:30) + 4.51 miles, 10:01 pace brick run
Tough, sweaty ride and a relaxed brick run in the predawn before heading to work. I threw 4 or 5 surges in the final mile of the run to work on my turnover but otherwise maintained an easy effort. I kept the ride steady but noticed some 17+ mph readings occasionally when I didn’t even intend for them!
Friday, 7/24: 1 hour strength + 6.33 miles, 10:31 pace
I played around with my new stability ball this morning so most of the workout was spent trying to figure out how the heck to do anything on it. I molded a decent routine but wasn’t overly satisfied, and felt a bit more sluggish than usual considering my lack of Nuun Prime preworkout. The run, however, felt fantastic as the temperature dropped to 73 degrees and the dew point only 72, so still sweaty enough but not nearly as stifling as normal! I cruised through a little over 10k before sunrise.
Strength: 3 sets of each exercise
- 10 stability ball split squats
- 15 stability ball triceps extensions/20 chest press
- 10 overhead pistol squat to kickback
- 10 front raise hold to squat
- 15 stability ball hip thrusts
- 8 weighted explosive jumps
- 15 stability ball hamstring curls
- 15 stability ball reverse flies
- 2 x 12 stability ball passes (these are SO hard)
- 15 stability ball rollouts
- 15 standing oblique crunches
Saturday, 7/25: 16.22 miles, 10:21 pace
Lately my long runs end up as long as the route I choose, and today was no exception aside from a slight wrong turn that gave me maybe a half mile more than I would’ve figured. This run went so smoothly and I barely had any muscle fatigue and didn’t struggle with a side cramp! I took in plain water the first third and water with Nuun the second and third refills. I probably totaled around 60 oz of water for the whole run and one Maurten GelCaf at 15k. This fueling strategy seems to work at least for these slower, aerobic efforts. I hit a wind at mile 15 and busted out the final split at 9:35 after steadily holding anywhere from a 10:1x to 10:2x for several miles. A successful day!
Sunday, 7/26: 32.06 miles, 16 mph cycling (2 hours)
Oof, this didn’t feel splendid. I might have forgotten to turn the AC down now that I think about it, and my legs were probably quite fatigued from my long run the previous day, so this certainly wasn’t smooth sailing. But I got the mileage in before I had to work and am pleased about managing a longer ride in a packed week of training!
Total running mileage: 49.85
Total cycling mileage: 77.14
Total swimming yardage: 3,300 yards
