Picking Up Where I Left Off

As of today, I can say that I’m back to my full training load after that two week hiccup in my training. I don’t feel that I really lost any fitness from the little set back, I just wasn’t able to gain any. Really, I just would have started my actual long runs (12+ mi), started getting in some threshold running, kept progressing my strides and added in some hill sprints. Going two weeks without adding those in though isn’t that big of a deal. The key is to try and not have another little setback like that. Luckily, it wasn’t anything too serious, and I can pick up where I left off.

Here’s the log:

Sunday – 6pm: 6 miles, 46:28 (7:04/mi). Kept it slow today, and stayed on the treadmill so that I wouldn't have the varying terrain to aggravate the leg. Stretching/Rolling out, ice bath.

Monday – 5pm: 8mi, 55:28 (6:56/mi) On the treadmill again today, legs felt tired by the end today, but didn't feel bad overall. Stretching/rolling out, ice bath. 8:30pm: 35min of Aqua-jogging/300m of swimming. (Tot. 90min of aerobic activity)

Tuesday – 4:30pm: 8mi, 54:59 (6:52/mi) on the treadmill. Leg is handling it fine, I do notice it some though. Stretching/Rolling out, 3x2min on inversion table.

Wednesday – 4:30pm: 10 mi, 1:08:39 (6:51/mi). Bumped up the mileage a little bit more again today, and the pace some. 10 miles on the treadmill is definitely not fun, but I'd rather not make it worse by slipping on the snow and ice outside.

Thursday – 4:30pm: 8 mi, 55:46 (6:58/mi) on the treadmill. Backed off a bit to not stress the leg too much. Stretching/rolling out, ice bath, 3x2min on inversion table for back. 8:15pm: 38:55 of Aqua-jogging, the time passed quick fairly quick as I was able to visit with a local doctor who was also Aqua-jogging. I'm going to test the leg outside tomorrow. The ice and snow have cleared some, and the boredom of the treadmill is KILLING me. (Tot. 94min of aerobic activity) Injury prevention/General strength stuff as well: Shin drills, pushups, side planks, supermans, leg lifts, burpees, and a glute exercise I don't know the name of.

Friday – 4:30pm: 10 miles, 1:08:56 (6:54/mi). Around town, trying to avoid the roads that were covered in ice/snow. The temperature is about as warm as it's going to be for awhile, it was 26, so that felt nice. Stretching/Rolling out, Injury Prevention and General strength work (same as yesterday).

Saturday - 4:00pm: 10 miles, 1:06:46 (6:41/mi). Same loop as yesterday around town. It was about 20 degrees with an alright wind. I ran at about the same effort but was surprised at the pace increase. My quad does feel like it's getting tight again, and my left one too. But I don't think it's anything too serious. Plenty of Stretching/Rolling Out, and an ice bath. 

Weekly Total: 60 miles. 70 minutes of additional Aqua-jogging. I'm getting back up there in mileage, and can't be be too upset with the week. I did say last week that I was going to focus more on the injury prevention and general strength work, but didn't do nearly as much as I would have liked. So I really need to get on that this week, and detail those workouts better in the log.

Next week I would like to continue raising the mileage back up, and put some quality aerobic work back into the schedule. I'd like to have two high-end aerobic workouts, and get one down to around tempo run pace for a bit. If the leg can cooperate, I'd like to put some strides back in as well. I'm hoping for some good things in the next couple of weeks.

I'm most likely going to do a mid-week post later on this week. So stay tuned!

-John