I can't get duBois' quote about injury out of my head:
"The main danger of injury is a broken soul, and every man has his limit."
If this is indeed so, then, my soul is very broken, and my limit is close to here. It's not so much about exactly what's wrong with my foot and how many days it will take to heal, its about the creeping doubt that its just a matter of time before it happens again.
8 weeks. That's all the time I may ever have. Under ideal conditions, I have 8 weeks before my arch collapses again. If I don't let it heal completely, I have anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks... but its all the same in the end. For the past year or so, every injury I have is something that percolates from this chronic and persistent mystery pain that spans the inside of my arch up to the top of my foot where the ankle bends. Whether it happens because that pain itself become sharp and acute, or whether a compensation injury (R knee, or R hip) accumulates, the end comes either way, all the same. 8 weeks is not even a base training cycle. 8 weeks is not enough to make improvement.
I'm not one of those people who runs cuz they just love to run. To clarify, I do love to run, but *primarily* I run to be faster. I run because I'm a competitive, neurotic, deeply flawed, stubborn as hell, "anything you can do, I can do better" -sort of a person, and running is a mirror of who I am. This whole, on again, off again, half-way, in-between, always living on the verge of being broken, just barely hanging on to "not embarassing" much less to dream of doing better... is just twisting the knife in my heart. Every time I think I've determined the cause and found the solution to the arch problem, every time I think I've banished it for good this time, it rears its ugly head again.
To add to that, every year I become more and more deathly allergic to the world. If the 8th week of my training cycle happens to coincide with a day where my eyes haven't swollen shut, my throat hasn't constricted and my lungs filled with fluid, then maybe, just maybe I'll run a small PR. This isn't the existence that I want. While no one is obliged to believe in my potential without proof, all I want is a chance to show the world what I'm capable of.
Sunday 04/22: 95 minutes of ellipticizng at 130-160 bpm. Inauspicious beginnings to a week that will determine whether my season is over. This activity is really not very similar to running at all, don't feel like the right muscles are utilized. Disgruntled, but still hopeful to get back on the original plan tomorrow.
Monday 04/23: 3.1 miles, 10 laps and 30 minutes around the North Fields at 145 bpm. I cannot tell a lie... my foot just isn't really okay. Its not so bad anymore that I can't keep my form, but I feel the sore, bruised feeling with every step I take, along with some intermittent acute pain from the arch up to the top of the foot. It might hold up for some more days of jogging, but definitely not for a workout or a tempo, which means there is no hope of continuing the training plan for Oxy in May... as of today, Track 2007 is over. Core strengthening at the gym. Just going through the motions, I feel dead inside.
Tuesday 04/24: 90 minutes of ellipticizing at 130-160 bpm. Managed to procure the elliptical that has a incline adjustment feature--making the incline really low makes it more like running. Irritated that it only lets you program in 60 minutes at a time.
Definitely in full blown self-destruct mode today. Ate all sorts of junk food and leftover burritos basically continuously throughout the day until I felt sick to my stomach. Later regretted the counterproductive and irrational expression of angst, and dedicated myself to undoing the damage at the gym. In trying to analyze the source of the hopelessness, I think its because both the allergies and the mystery foot problem are things that I perceive as arbitrary (it becoming a prohibitive problem was kind of sudden onset and of unknown cause), out of my control (doctor says I'm allergic to basically everything that grows), completely debilitating to my ability to race well (can't train and can't breathe) and incurable with limited treatment options. I may never perform at a higher level ever again, and coming to grips with that is really crushing...
Wednesday 04/25: 60 minutes of ellipticizing at 155-165 bpm. HR kind of high, maybe 90 minutes of ellipticizing every day is too much. Team watching some sort of nutritional video in the gym. Tried to crank call Rosen and Kiesz, unsuccessful. Core strengthening, then Dodgers game with Peter, so fun :). Got to stand 20 feet away from Nomar Garciaparra!
Thursday 04/26: 65 minutes of ellipticizing at 140-160 bpm in the late PM. Time went by surprisingly fast, with phone calls, visitors and text messaging. Ankle didn't hurt as much as usual, but knees kind of funny feeling. I wish the foot receptacles on the elliptical could be placed slightly closer together. Feeling a strange mixture of cautiously optimistic, and fearful of allergy testing round 2 tomorrow... eeeeeeee....
Friday 04/27: 20.27 miles, 1:13 minutes riding around the Rose Bowl with Peter for a nice change of pace. Decided halfway through to stop checking the HR monitor--so fun to go fast on the slight downhills. Both knees felt very tweaked and weak in the first 10 miles or so, but then that cleared up. Felt cathartic to go fast.
Allergy prognosis sounds bleak--5 year of expensive shots with little improvement over the first year, and gradual regression after the course of treatment is my only option, apparently. The meds that are available for long term use aren't strong enough to quell my symptoms, so there's at least a year of suffering left...judging from how greatly a bad allergy day can reduce my cardiovascular capacity, that's a big ugh.
Saturday 04/28: off. Couldn't sleep because of weird drugs from yesterday, failed to wake up at 6 am to go riding... SCIAC Prelims at Whittier. Kiesz had a solid day. Ate too much watermelon.
30 minutes running, 310 minutes ellipticizing, 73 minutes biking. Barely hanging on to my sanity.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Week of 04/15/2007 - 04/21/2007 (Revised Base Phase Week 5)
Uuuuuuuunnnnnngggghhhhh.....
Timing and space has never been my strong suit. It always happens that the injuries and illnesses and all-nighters and all sorts of random misfortunes always happen right before target races, and despite possibly also being a drug cheat (Prednisone is a steroid of some sort) I can't even seem to run a halfway decent time trial. All I want is a freaking legitimate chance at a race.
Why is my 5K PR a race I ran with an injury that made me hobble even to walk? Why is my 10K PR a tempo run I did at midnight in trainers by myself on the Caltech track? Why is my 3K PR my only good race despite it being my first meet of the season and coming off of a mile PR double? Why is this so? It's just NOT fair, and I don't want to be judged on the basis of these results... because I don't feel like its a fair measure of my potential. What does it feel like to train for a season and peak and taper and run a race thats like a culmination of something? If I can answer that question sometime before hell freezes over, I think I could be ... a little bit more peaceful, if not exactly, happy.
Sunday 04/15: 9 miles, Arroyo to Rose Bowl bathrooms and back in 1:23:49 at ~155 bpm. First 5 miles felt like crap, HR still weird, lungs felt like they were stuffed with cotton. Then, magically something in my throat cleared up, the HR settled down and running felt strong and fluid again, I freaking hate allergies. I just don't know how to make this stop, or if there's even a way... it all seems so nebulous. Mildly encouraged by the first instance of a few miles of running that actually felt good in about a week, but R knee felt kind of ... funny. Really made an effort to keep good form, and it subsided a bit, but still concerning.
Monday 04/16: 3.1 miles, 10 laps around North fields at 145 bpm, HR baseline has magically returned to normal! Woohoo! Felt pleasant for the first time in a lot of days... happy for the first day that 145 bpm = sub-10 minute miles. Something about eventually being able to run at a reasonable pace AND a low HR some day... Core strengthening at the gym. R knee still feels a bit off, but better than yesterday.
Tuesday 04/17: 7 miles, 7 laps warm up around North fields, then 7 on 1 off x 3 on grass in Nike Frees. 185-190 bpm for the ons, jog rest for the off. Felt really easy and really good... if Mark's measurements of the North field are correct, likely to be just about 1 mile per interval. Slightly slower than on the track with short rest felt really good. Drills on the South field, not as exhausting as usual, felt like form has improved. Everything feels good. 8 laps cool down around South fields.
Wednesday 04/18: ~5 miles in the Arroyo, jogged ~150 bpm with one ~10 minute segment at 165 bpm, then jogged home--48:23 total. Felt relaxed and good, except pretty significant pain on outer edge of L foot, consterning. Feels fine on trails, but pretty painful on the concrete. Core strengthening at home. Definitely some odd aches, probably from the first instance of higher intensity running with the Frees yesterday. Ungh... why is my body falling apart...???
Thursday 04/19: ~5 miles in the Arroyo, drove to end of California to avoid pavement. Outer edge of L foot felt bruised and painful, made it through ~25 miutes before admitting defeat. Pain affecting stride, couldn't get HR over 150 due to shuffle-jog favoring the left side. Turned L ankle twice before heading back, second time caused significant damage... hurts to walk. Somehow made it back to car, extremely consterned. Iced but not much help.
Friday 04/20: completely off. Hurts to walk. Rain. 4 hours at the doctor. Miserable day. Had an unusual and extreme reaction to skin patch testing for allergies. Direct quote from doctor: "Hmmmm... you seem to be extremely, extremely allergic to everything that is green and moves in the wind. We haven't even started on the indoor allergens--that's next week!"
Saturday 04/21: 63 miles, 4 hours 15 minutes, fantastic solo ride out on the River trails and back. SO FUN!!! Easy gears, high cadence, tried to practice shifting to maintain cadence instead of shifting to maintain speed. Relaxing and cathartic, exactly what I needed to stay sane during this time of injury and consternation. When there's a slight downhill and you're going 25 mph at a HR of 145, I pretend that its actually flat and I'm actually fast and I could maybe even be a good athlete some day. Forgot to stop and eat until hour 3, felt pretty crappy in the last 10 miles (lost a lot ground on the avg speed metric...), then the food kicked in and felt good again but by then was almost home.
Target Mileage: 40 Miles
Week Actual: 29.1 Miles
Last Week: 30.35 Miles
Timing and space has never been my strong suit. It always happens that the injuries and illnesses and all-nighters and all sorts of random misfortunes always happen right before target races, and despite possibly also being a drug cheat (Prednisone is a steroid of some sort) I can't even seem to run a halfway decent time trial. All I want is a freaking legitimate chance at a race.
Why is my 5K PR a race I ran with an injury that made me hobble even to walk? Why is my 10K PR a tempo run I did at midnight in trainers by myself on the Caltech track? Why is my 3K PR my only good race despite it being my first meet of the season and coming off of a mile PR double? Why is this so? It's just NOT fair, and I don't want to be judged on the basis of these results... because I don't feel like its a fair measure of my potential. What does it feel like to train for a season and peak and taper and run a race thats like a culmination of something? If I can answer that question sometime before hell freezes over, I think I could be ... a little bit more peaceful, if not exactly, happy.
Sunday 04/15: 9 miles, Arroyo to Rose Bowl bathrooms and back in 1:23:49 at ~155 bpm. First 5 miles felt like crap, HR still weird, lungs felt like they were stuffed with cotton. Then, magically something in my throat cleared up, the HR settled down and running felt strong and fluid again, I freaking hate allergies. I just don't know how to make this stop, or if there's even a way... it all seems so nebulous. Mildly encouraged by the first instance of a few miles of running that actually felt good in about a week, but R knee felt kind of ... funny. Really made an effort to keep good form, and it subsided a bit, but still concerning.
Monday 04/16: 3.1 miles, 10 laps around North fields at 145 bpm, HR baseline has magically returned to normal! Woohoo! Felt pleasant for the first time in a lot of days... happy for the first day that 145 bpm = sub-10 minute miles. Something about eventually being able to run at a reasonable pace AND a low HR some day... Core strengthening at the gym. R knee still feels a bit off, but better than yesterday.
Tuesday 04/17: 7 miles, 7 laps warm up around North fields, then 7 on 1 off x 3 on grass in Nike Frees. 185-190 bpm for the ons, jog rest for the off. Felt really easy and really good... if Mark's measurements of the North field are correct, likely to be just about 1 mile per interval. Slightly slower than on the track with short rest felt really good. Drills on the South field, not as exhausting as usual, felt like form has improved. Everything feels good. 8 laps cool down around South fields.
Wednesday 04/18: ~5 miles in the Arroyo, jogged ~150 bpm with one ~10 minute segment at 165 bpm, then jogged home--48:23 total. Felt relaxed and good, except pretty significant pain on outer edge of L foot, consterning. Feels fine on trails, but pretty painful on the concrete. Core strengthening at home. Definitely some odd aches, probably from the first instance of higher intensity running with the Frees yesterday. Ungh... why is my body falling apart...???
Thursday 04/19: ~5 miles in the Arroyo, drove to end of California to avoid pavement. Outer edge of L foot felt bruised and painful, made it through ~25 miutes before admitting defeat. Pain affecting stride, couldn't get HR over 150 due to shuffle-jog favoring the left side. Turned L ankle twice before heading back, second time caused significant damage... hurts to walk. Somehow made it back to car, extremely consterned. Iced but not much help.
Friday 04/20: completely off. Hurts to walk. Rain. 4 hours at the doctor. Miserable day. Had an unusual and extreme reaction to skin patch testing for allergies. Direct quote from doctor: "Hmmmm... you seem to be extremely, extremely allergic to everything that is green and moves in the wind. We haven't even started on the indoor allergens--that's next week!"
Saturday 04/21: 63 miles, 4 hours 15 minutes, fantastic solo ride out on the River trails and back. SO FUN!!! Easy gears, high cadence, tried to practice shifting to maintain cadence instead of shifting to maintain speed. Relaxing and cathartic, exactly what I needed to stay sane during this time of injury and consternation. When there's a slight downhill and you're going 25 mph at a HR of 145, I pretend that its actually flat and I'm actually fast and I could maybe even be a good athlete some day. Forgot to stop and eat until hour 3, felt pretty crappy in the last 10 miles (lost a lot ground on the avg speed metric...), then the food kicked in and felt good again but by then was almost home.
Target Mileage: 40 Miles
Week Actual: 29.1 Miles
Last Week: 30.35 Miles
Monday, April 9, 2007
Week of 04/08/2007 - 04/14/2007 (Revised Rest Week Cycle 2)
At last, it has arrived--the week of the race/time trial.
There's an off chance I'll take off early from work on friday to go to the APU meet, but judging from the recent workload and lack of efficiency... its not looking good. Feeling really disoriented about how all of these HR controlled workouts translate to a race. A bit uneasy about lack of really hard workouts, I don't even remember what that heart exploding, legs burning, half drowning, I'm-definitely-not-going-to-make-it race feeling feels like anymore.
Sunday 04/08: First day completely off in almost a month. Mt. Wilson to Clear Creek with Peter--35 miles, many hours, adventures galore. Overcast and drizzly, insisted on going up the 2 anyways. Found out that I'm completely and utterly out of biking shape, that one shouldn't try to bend 5 year old glasses, and that its really really hard to descend when you can't see anything. One emergency optical assistance device surgery (involving packaging tape and a sharp edge), one declined offer for a nice warm ride back down, and some mild to moderate hypothermia later, safely arrived back home in one piece!
Monday 04/09: 3.1 miles, 10 laps around North fields at 145 bpm, felt light and speedy after the off day. (Aside: despite all of the objections to the term "off day" I still contend that "off" is subject to frame of reference. I'm referring to a day "off" from running, vs. a day "off" from exercise!) Core strengthening at the gym.
Tuesday 04/10: 6 miles, 7 laps around North fields at 145 bpm warm up, 2 x mile at 190 bpm with 1 lap jog rest (6:37, 6:35), drills, 8 laps cool down around South fields. Legs felt good, throat felt bad, slightly disappointed by lack of improvement despite some easy days prior. Still hard to regulate HR. Drill are moderately more coordinated, but just as exhausting. Wish I were coordinated... then maybe I could run the Steeple. 7.5 laps seems so much more manageable than 12.5....
Wednesday 04/11: 5 miles, 44:33, Huntington up Virgnia at 165 bpm. Sub-optimally warm, felt crappy after first few miles. Tired for no reason, can't seem to keep the HR under control. 4 x 100m striders, just couldn't get the turnover up, felt heavy and sluggish. Peeved, stressed about taxes. Core strengthening at the gym.
Thursday 04/12: 6.25 miles, 56:25, Huntington up Oak Knoll at 155 bpm, in the late PM. HRM being a punk... readings seemed low for last 4 miles, but seems like I managed to stick to the 9 minute miles on my own. Windy, dark, lots of debris on the streets, two fallen trees, cars all use their brights late at night, apparently. Stressed out and generally pissed at everything. No time for drills.
Friday 04/13: 2.5 miles, 7 laps around North Fields including 2 x 1 min surges, 4 x 100m striders. Friday the 13th!!!!! HR freakishly high for some reason... AHHHHH!!!! Felt kind of crappy, not sure if caused by Prednisone, on doctor's orders. Allergies really bad lately. Generally disgruntling. Core strengthening at the gym. Excited about SCIACS/time trial tomorrow!
Saturday 04/14: 7.5 miles, CALAMITY OF THE WORLD. 1.5 miles cool down with KB after duals, 6 laps around North fields warm up upon returning to Pas, HR insanely high again despite extremely low effort. Felt kind of queasy. Jog lap, striders, then 2 mile time trial with horrifying results. Felt kind of off from the start, couldn't get HR above 195, despite extreme amounts of effort, really strange, given than I struggle to keep HR UNDER 195 most of the time. Intended was 5K, but truncated after 2 miles, didn't care to run tempo pace for another mile longer feeling like complete basura. 20 minute lying in lane 8 blankly staring at the clouds go by, then 9 laps cool down around South fields. Extremely consterned.
Target Mileage: 30-35 Miles
Week Actual: 30.35 Miles
Last Week: 45.3 Miles
AAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH............
There's an off chance I'll take off early from work on friday to go to the APU meet, but judging from the recent workload and lack of efficiency... its not looking good. Feeling really disoriented about how all of these HR controlled workouts translate to a race. A bit uneasy about lack of really hard workouts, I don't even remember what that heart exploding, legs burning, half drowning, I'm-definitely-not-going-to-make-it race feeling feels like anymore.
Sunday 04/08: First day completely off in almost a month. Mt. Wilson to Clear Creek with Peter--35 miles, many hours, adventures galore. Overcast and drizzly, insisted on going up the 2 anyways. Found out that I'm completely and utterly out of biking shape, that one shouldn't try to bend 5 year old glasses, and that its really really hard to descend when you can't see anything. One emergency optical assistance device surgery (involving packaging tape and a sharp edge), one declined offer for a nice warm ride back down, and some mild to moderate hypothermia later, safely arrived back home in one piece!
Monday 04/09: 3.1 miles, 10 laps around North fields at 145 bpm, felt light and speedy after the off day. (Aside: despite all of the objections to the term "off day" I still contend that "off" is subject to frame of reference. I'm referring to a day "off" from running, vs. a day "off" from exercise!) Core strengthening at the gym.
Tuesday 04/10: 6 miles, 7 laps around North fields at 145 bpm warm up, 2 x mile at 190 bpm with 1 lap jog rest (6:37, 6:35), drills, 8 laps cool down around South fields. Legs felt good, throat felt bad, slightly disappointed by lack of improvement despite some easy days prior. Still hard to regulate HR. Drill are moderately more coordinated, but just as exhausting. Wish I were coordinated... then maybe I could run the Steeple. 7.5 laps seems so much more manageable than 12.5....
Wednesday 04/11: 5 miles, 44:33, Huntington up Virgnia at 165 bpm. Sub-optimally warm, felt crappy after first few miles. Tired for no reason, can't seem to keep the HR under control. 4 x 100m striders, just couldn't get the turnover up, felt heavy and sluggish. Peeved, stressed about taxes. Core strengthening at the gym.
Thursday 04/12: 6.25 miles, 56:25, Huntington up Oak Knoll at 155 bpm, in the late PM. HRM being a punk... readings seemed low for last 4 miles, but seems like I managed to stick to the 9 minute miles on my own. Windy, dark, lots of debris on the streets, two fallen trees, cars all use their brights late at night, apparently. Stressed out and generally pissed at everything. No time for drills.
Friday 04/13: 2.5 miles, 7 laps around North Fields including 2 x 1 min surges, 4 x 100m striders. Friday the 13th!!!!! HR freakishly high for some reason... AHHHHH!!!! Felt kind of crappy, not sure if caused by Prednisone, on doctor's orders. Allergies really bad lately. Generally disgruntling. Core strengthening at the gym. Excited about SCIACS/time trial tomorrow!
Saturday 04/14: 7.5 miles, CALAMITY OF THE WORLD. 1.5 miles cool down with KB after duals, 6 laps around North fields warm up upon returning to Pas, HR insanely high again despite extremely low effort. Felt kind of queasy. Jog lap, striders, then 2 mile time trial with horrifying results. Felt kind of off from the start, couldn't get HR above 195, despite extreme amounts of effort, really strange, given than I struggle to keep HR UNDER 195 most of the time. Intended was 5K, but truncated after 2 miles, didn't care to run tempo pace for another mile longer feeling like complete basura. 20 minute lying in lane 8 blankly staring at the clouds go by, then 9 laps cool down around South fields. Extremely consterned.
Target Mileage: 30-35 Miles
Week Actual: 30.35 Miles
Last Week: 45.3 Miles
AAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH............
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Week of 04/01/2007 - 04/07/2007 (Revised Base Phase Week 4)
April fools. An ambiguously auspicious beginning to a key training week.
When I was a kid, it snowed 2 feet of snow on April fools day one year. Unfortunately I attended the only school within 50 miles that insisted on opening anyways, and each kid had to shovel snow for 5 minutes prior to being let in. The next day it warmed up to 50 degrees and the april fools snow melted cleanly away as if it had never happened.
Sunday 04/01: 9.7 Miles, 1:32:26 easy in the Arroyo to the Rose Bowl. 47:47 out in 145-150 bpm, 44:39 back at 150-155 bpm. Felt a bit barfy in the beginning due to consumption of late lunch... much better on way back, a bit cooler, downhill, stomach a bit more settled. HRM being a punk in the beginning, but I think avg. HR lower than last week.
Monday 04/02: 3.1 Miles, 10 laps easy around North Fields at 145 bpm. Uneventful, slightly peeved that it always takes me a while to rediscover an efficient stride--feeling a bit OCD about monitoring HR and lap times. Core strengthening at the gym. Looking forward to miles tomorrow for some strange reason.
Tuesday 04/03: 9 miles, 7 laps warm up around North Fields, 4 x mile (190-195 bpm) with 1 lap jog recovery, drills, 6 laps cool down around North Fields. Miles felt not quite right, having a lot of trouble controlling pacing, 6:39, 6:46, 6:49, 6:32. Pacing and breathing and stride all clicked into place on the 4th one, felt perfect through 2 laps (3:18), then kinda went nuts and spiked the HR. Pleasantly tired, then after drills, unpleasantly tired.
Wednesday 04/04: 5.9 miles, Arroyo recovery loop, 53:20, 15 minutes of jogging, 23 minutes of 165 bpm, 15 minutes of jogging. Hard to control HR, shins complained on pavement sections, didn't feel great. Overall could have gone better, but not a complete disaster.
Thursday 04/05: 7.5 miles, Huntington up Los Robles, 1:10:53 easy 150-60 bpm depending on terrain. Definitely more tired than last week. Developed a blister, needed to pee... all sorts of uncomfortable. Drills on the infield, saw the Shapiro unit.
Friday 04/06: 3.1 miles, 10 laps around North fields, core strengthening at the gym. Stressed out, moderately tired. No sleep.
Saturday 04/07: 7 miles, Drinking + Second hand smoke + All-nighter = Ill-advised pre-tempo day preparation. 7 laps around North fields to warm up, extra slow, feeling groggy, head still hurts. 3 mile tempo in 21:27(7:09,7:12,7:06) at 185 bpm. Intended 3.5 miles, but felt really barfy, just couldn't make it those last 2 laps. Detour to bathroom, then shortened drills, really nauseous... 8 laps around South fields to cool down at 140 bpm, felt a little better after that.
Target Mileage: 45 Miles
Week Actual: 45.3 Miles
Last Week: 42 Miles
When I was a kid, it snowed 2 feet of snow on April fools day one year. Unfortunately I attended the only school within 50 miles that insisted on opening anyways, and each kid had to shovel snow for 5 minutes prior to being let in. The next day it warmed up to 50 degrees and the april fools snow melted cleanly away as if it had never happened.
Sunday 04/01: 9.7 Miles, 1:32:26 easy in the Arroyo to the Rose Bowl. 47:47 out in 145-150 bpm, 44:39 back at 150-155 bpm. Felt a bit barfy in the beginning due to consumption of late lunch... much better on way back, a bit cooler, downhill, stomach a bit more settled. HRM being a punk in the beginning, but I think avg. HR lower than last week.
Monday 04/02: 3.1 Miles, 10 laps easy around North Fields at 145 bpm. Uneventful, slightly peeved that it always takes me a while to rediscover an efficient stride--feeling a bit OCD about monitoring HR and lap times. Core strengthening at the gym. Looking forward to miles tomorrow for some strange reason.
Tuesday 04/03: 9 miles, 7 laps warm up around North Fields, 4 x mile (190-195 bpm) with 1 lap jog recovery, drills, 6 laps cool down around North Fields. Miles felt not quite right, having a lot of trouble controlling pacing, 6:39, 6:46, 6:49, 6:32. Pacing and breathing and stride all clicked into place on the 4th one, felt perfect through 2 laps (3:18), then kinda went nuts and spiked the HR. Pleasantly tired, then after drills, unpleasantly tired.
Wednesday 04/04: 5.9 miles, Arroyo recovery loop, 53:20, 15 minutes of jogging, 23 minutes of 165 bpm, 15 minutes of jogging. Hard to control HR, shins complained on pavement sections, didn't feel great. Overall could have gone better, but not a complete disaster.
Thursday 04/05: 7.5 miles, Huntington up Los Robles, 1:10:53 easy 150-60 bpm depending on terrain. Definitely more tired than last week. Developed a blister, needed to pee... all sorts of uncomfortable. Drills on the infield, saw the Shapiro unit.
Friday 04/06: 3.1 miles, 10 laps around North fields, core strengthening at the gym. Stressed out, moderately tired. No sleep.
Saturday 04/07: 7 miles, Drinking + Second hand smoke + All-nighter = Ill-advised pre-tempo day preparation. 7 laps around North fields to warm up, extra slow, feeling groggy, head still hurts. 3 mile tempo in 21:27(7:09,7:12,7:06) at 185 bpm. Intended 3.5 miles, but felt really barfy, just couldn't make it those last 2 laps. Detour to bathroom, then shortened drills, really nauseous... 8 laps around South fields to cool down at 140 bpm, felt a little better after that.
Target Mileage: 45 Miles
Week Actual: 45.3 Miles
Last Week: 42 Miles
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)