49 Days to Go! (Runnin' down a Dream) + Olympic Distance Triathlon - Mid-Vol - Week 2 + 80 Day Obsession - Week 5 (Beg of Phase 2)
4/22/19 - M - Cheaha+1 (90 min; 73 TSS)
4/23/19 - T - 80DO-D27-Booty + 9 x 2 min @ I w/ 2 min RI (Run) + Volunteer (30 min; 23 TSS)
4/24/19 - W - 80DO-D28-Cardio Core + Tower-3 (90 min; 97 TSS)
4/25/19 - R - 80DO-D29-Total Body Core + 60 min Run @ Easy
4/26/19 - F - 80DO-D30-Legs + Washington+3 (75 min; 98 TSS)
4/27/19 - Sa - 60 min Run @ Easy + Mount Hayes (90 min; 102 TSS) + 80DO-D31-AAA
4/28/19 - Su - 6 x 1 mile @ T w/ 2 min RI (Run) + 80DO-D32-Cardio Flow
Total Run Miles - 34.4 miles
Total Run Time - 4:47 hours
Total Run TSS - 310 TSS
Total Biking Time - 6:15 hours
Total Biking TSS - 393 TSS
Total 80DO Time - 5:12 hours
Total 80DO TSS - 73 TSS
Total Training Time - 16:15 hours (PR)
Total TSS - 791 TSS (PR)
Monday
I woke up to a very bad feeling. My right ankle was a touch sore. Like a 0.5/10. So nothing bad, but noticeable in the same spot as last year. I couldn't figure it out since I had no issues on Saturday or Sunday's run. And seemingly woke up with it on Monday morning. And nothing for 8 weeks, and suddenly today? The only siginificant change between last week and prior weeks was an increase in mileage, an increase in pace (although I've certainly done fast pacing over the last 8 weeks in short bursts), and a slight change to the route on Sunday. There's a certain right turn I take on my speed route that's a little tight. And I wondered whether I was leaning into the turn just a touch too much. So moving forward I'm going to edit my running route and take that specific turn out. Hope that'll resolve the issue.
I had my health assessment at 10am, which meant I needed to be in a fasted state. So no breakfast means I decided it wouldn't be smart to do a cycling workout in the morning. Since I didn't have to pick up Steph from work late, then I could do the workout in the evening instead. Originally, I had scheduled this to be a 60 min workout of substance. But I didn't think that would be a good idea coming off the weekend. So I went with a 90 min easy ride instead.
Cycling: Cheaha +1 is 90 minutes of aerobic Endurance riding mostly spent at 70% FTP and includes 3x20-second sprints.
Tuesday
The beginning of Phase 2 of 80DO! The ankle was still a bit sore, but nothing too bad.
Booty! 2x15 going through the whole set and then restarting from the start
Series 1 (Standing) - Squat to Hinge, Curtsy Lunge Lift, Rotating Back Side Lunge
Series 2 (Quad Ped) - Heel Press Up on Angle, Single-Leg Hamstring Curl, Bear Fire Hydrant
Series 3 (Weighted) - KB Swings, Sumo Hinge, Reverse Lunge
Series 4 (Floor Weighted) - Single-Leg Bridge, Press Up and Over, Camels
After last week's R run, I was fairly happy with where I'm at from a raw speed standpoint. Not the fastest I've ever been, but close enough. So I pivoted the future Tuesday runs away from R and to I pace instead. So this would move the intent from neurological to VO2max. Those VO2max workouts will mean more come 5k and HM race day. I decided to go with a 9 x 2 min at I pace workout.
4 mile WU + 9 x 2 min @ I w/ 2 min RI + 1 mile CD
Conditions -
Clear, Wind 9mph to 15mph
Start: Temp+Dew = 65°F + 36°F; FL - 65°F
End: Temp+Dew = 64°F + 38°F; FL - 65°F
Didn't memorize the workout correctly. It was originally written with only a 1 mile WU, but I did 4 miles instead. Oh well. Had a workout setup on my watch, but didn't set any pace goals. It was mostly run by feel and assessment of the last interval and an adjustment mentally.
I pace (GP-6:17) - 6:36, 6:21, 6:26, 6:14, 6:22, 6:34, 6:17, 6:28, 6:12
I mentally broke this up into 3 sets of 3x2 min intervals. After each set I took a water break. So it would seem the intervals coming off the water break tended to be my best. My goal was consistency, and for the most part it was consistent. That small fluctuation in pace is due to very small differences in distance (0.01 miles). Well within GPS margin of error. But definitely an area for improvement based on these splits, so clearly this is a good area for me to be working the next few weeks. Best news was this was the first run since the ankle pain on Monday, and I had zero issues during the run itself. So maybe just a warning shot. Time will tell.
After the run was done, I ran inside, quick changed clothes, and went downstairs for a short bike ride. I was trying to keep that TSS trend in my graph to continue to go up and to do so I needed to add a little bit of work on the backend of this run.
Cycling: Volunteer is 30 minutes of aerobic Endurance riding spent somewhere between 65-75% FTP.
Wednesday
Time for some Cardio Core! It was different than Phase 1. The focus was less jumping jacks and a whole lot of other cardio movements.
Cycling: Tower -3 is marginally less punishing than its -2 version since the short recovery valleys grow to a full minute in duration and allow you to shed a little more fatigue prior to start each new step. Your first 16-minute step starts at 60% FTP until you progress the workload up to 100% FTP during your final step.
Thursday
TBC at 2x15 going through the whole set and then restarting from the start
Series 1 (Shoulder) - Squat/Row/Twist/Row, Kneeling Lunge Clean & Press, Quad Ped Opposite Arm Knee Crunch
Series 2 (Chest) - Chest Press to Half Turkish Get-up, Spider Man Push-ups, Frog Sliders
Series 3 (Back) - "T" to Single-Leg Hip Hinge, Lat Pull Over w/ Leg Raise, Weighted Plank Hip Drop
Series 4 (Biceps) - Low Twisting Lunge Hammer Curl, Press Out to Curl, Weighted Standing Torso Rotation
Series 5 (Triceps) - Crab Position Tricep Dip to Sit Through, Alternating Skull Crusher with Bicycle Legs, French Twist
An easy run:
Conditions - Light Rain, Wind 10mph to 10mph
Start: Temp+Dew = 53°F + 49°F; FL - 53°F
End: Temp+Dew = 52°F + 48°F; FL - 53°F
I went to Gigi's Kindergarten orientation right after work, so the run started a little later than normal. Just learned about the expectations of what she should know coming into K and what we could do to help over the next few months for the transition. Not terribly worried given what she's capable of now versus the expectations. I did find it funny that on the sign-in sheet we were the only parents to have their child not in a 4K program. Hope they don't underestimate her because of that. Given they were learning placement and counting to 11-19 in the current K class and G is counting up to the mid-60s right now.
7.1 miles, 60 min, 8:26 min/mile, avg HR 142. The HR is a little high, but not unexpected since I was wearing a jacket in the rain. And I wore my heavier Launch 6s. Was a little worried I might have taken the workout a touch too hard, but honestly it didn't feel like LR effort.
Friday
Legs at 2x15 going through the whole set and then restarting from the start
Series 1 - Reverse Lunges, Reverse Slider Lunges
Series 2 - Weighted Goblet Squat, Modified Pistol on Sliders
Series 3 - Single-arm Weighted Curtsy, Curtsy Sliders
Series 4 - Sumo Squat, Sumo Heel on Sliders
Series 5 - Weighted Warrior 3, Hamstring Curls on Sliders
Cycling: Washington +2 is 5x7-minute intervals at 105% FTP with 6-minute recoveries between intervals. A good solid workout.
Saturday
The weather forecast was calling for 5-9 inches of snow throughout the day. Spoiler alert, we barely got an inch. But Cottage Grove had this weird bubble around it where most other areas did get a siginificant snow. But because Steph had to leave for work at 7am, I had to get an early start and change up the order of the exercises. So I started with the run:
Conditions - Clear, Wind 4mph to 4mph
Start: Temp+Dew = 40°F + 28°F; FL - 37°F
End: Temp+Dew = 40°F + 28°F; FL - 37°F
Nice and cold. 6.8 miles, 57 min, 8:28 min/mile pace, and avg HR of 134. Felt really nice and smooth throughout the run. Almost the same pace as Thursday, but with a dramatically different HR.
Then I ran into the house, through on cycling clothes and was down on the bike as soon as possible.
Cycling: Mount Hayes is 4x12-minute intervals at 95-99% FTP with 6-minute recoveries between them. I was wary of this workout because it was awfully similar to yesterday's bike workout. And since there wasn't much more than 12 hours between them, I figured this might be a tough one. And it was. I had to ratchet the 2nd half of the 3rd interval down in intensity to make it more manageable. By the time I was through the halfway of the 4th (and last) interval, I decided to try and make a push to the end by ratcheting the intensity back up to a full 100%. I made it, but man was it tough.
But I wasn't done yet as I quickly transitioned into 80DO.
AAA at 2x15 going through the whole set and then restarting from the start
Series 1 - Bilateral Press, Alt Unilateral Press, Lateral Raise, Y, Lat Side Bend, Standing Weight Knee Drive, Loop Standing Donkey, Forearm Plank Jumping Jacks
Series 2 - Chest Press, Fly, Kickback in Plank, Tricep Pushup, Corkscrew, Teaser, 1st Pos. Bridge, Single Leg Bridge w/ Loop
Series 3 - Pullovers, Renegade Row, Curls, Turned Out Curls, Loop Scissor Twist, V Leg Raise, Narrow Bridge Clam, Straight Leg Curls
All in all about 3.5 hours of continuous exercise, albeit different disciplines.
Sunday
Wasn't sure what the road conditions would be early in the morning, and because we were going to see Endgame, I decided to run in the afternoon instead.
4 mile WU + 6 x 1 mile @ T w/ 2 min RI + 1 mile CD
Conditions -
Partly Cloudy, Wind 7mph to 14mph
Start: Temp+Dew = 54°F + 27°F; FL - 54°F
End: Temp+Dew = 54°F + 27°F; FL - 54°F
My normal timing system was all thrown through a loop because of Endgame. So I was a tad worried being dehydrated, going potty, etc. The 4 mile WU felt good. Pacing wise the WU was around an 8 min/mile, but felt very comfortable.
T paces - 6:57, 6:53, 6:56, 6:53, 6:49, 6:52
The first three I tried to hone in on 6:57 pace and effort. On the second three, I kept the watch on HR and tried my best to hit my LT HR pace (157). Easier said than done, for sure. The HR avg were 151, 151, 148, 149, 150, 148. Again, physically I was pushing, but cardiovascularly I was clearly getting stronger.
Then, came inside, changed the clothes, grabbed my wife, and we started Cardio Flow. Not much has changed in Phase 2. Except instead of 4 reps per move in the progression, it was 6 reps.
A good week overall. Happy that the ankle issue was a one off. And based on my resting HR, my body continues to make adaptations physically to the running training load and is clearly accepting the training.
Next week will be slightly easier than this week, and the duration will drop back down into the low 15s. But the training load will remain up in the "optimal" zone. Only a few short weeks until the 5k.