Week in Review (2/19 - 2/25)

This week was my recovery week in my three week cycle. I actually completed all workouts according to plan for a change!!!!! I did have to make some adjustments due to bad weather over the weekend. I ended up shifting time from my run to my bike to minimize treadmill time for my "long" run. Had hockey a hockey tournament all week but was able to pull things off despite that.



The Good
Finally - a successful week! Am beginning to see some improvements in my run based on my coaches feedback. Still doesn't seem quite natural as I'm going more from a "swinging leg" stride to a "lifted knee" stride. When I focus on lifting the knee it causes my foot to swing into a much better position for landing flat footed. Still needs lots of work but it's getting there. Foot speed is up as well - though not quite the 90 turnover my coach wants. In time.... One good thing about running on icy roads - it forces you to run more flat-footed.

The Bad
Crashed while running on Tuesday. How does one accomplish this you ask? Two words - black ice. I was running along having a good time and suddenly the world slanted by 90 degrees. Knee and elbow were banged up a bit (of course it had to be the elbow I'm already having trouble with), but was able to dust off and complete the run - though I paid a lot more attention to the pavement after that.

The weather Sunday sucked. Roads were reasonably clear but it started raining (sleet and freezing rain combo) about three miles into the run. Running with the wind was ok but running into the wind was painful because I was only wearing tights. By the end of my run I had to ring the doorbell with my forehead because my fingers wouldn't work right anymore.

The Ugly
Groin pull flared up big on Monday and Tuesday afternoon, to the point where I was considering pitching my Wednesday run. Looking back on my logs I noticed that on days where I didn't stretch as well after the run I got a flare up. Spent some time Tuesday night warming and then stretching so Wednesday was still a go. Seems reasonably under control now - just have to make sure to stretch thoroughly before letting it cool. Elbow flared on Thursday's swim as well. Once I warmed up things seemed to get better, though again I was considering pitching the swim. Seems ok today - will see how it feels this week.

Luck

A little while back I was commenting to one of the regulars at the club that I was having some issues keeping weight on. The guy in the locker next to me looked up and said "Man, I wish I had that problem. Guys like you have no idea how lucky you are to be so skinny."

Luck? Luck has nothing to do with it. Workout 15 hours a week at mostly aerobic levels and see how much weight you drop if you keep your diet the same (barring any medical conditions of course!). The fact that I weigh 150 soaking wet and have about 10% body fat has little to do with luck and everything to do with a whole lot of hard work.

And yet, there is some luck involved here. I'm lucky to be gifted with a body that can handle the punishment of training year in and year out (though it's been protesting a bit lately). I'm lucky to have an extremely understanding family who can put up with my training time needs and my occasional trips for events and "camps". I'm lucky to possess the self discipline and determination to continue to do this week after week, year after year. I'm lucky to have found a sport that has given me several vehicles for self development on multiple levels.

The results part is not where luck lies. Being astute enough to recognize opportunities to use your gifts effectively is where the luck really lies. The results are what happens as a consequence of luck. That and a lot of hard work.

Week in Review (2/12 - 2/18)

This week was supposed to be a "big" week but a costly mistake during Tuesday's morning workouts derailed me. Was supposed to hit 19 hours of workouts this week but only managed to churn out 8:45.



The Good
I did complete my swim workout on Friday (only workout I fully completed this week!). The swim started out pretty rough but after I warmed up and got dialed in it was all good.

This past Friday I had my VO2 max tested (still waiting for official results to be emailed) and my running form analyzed. Turns out that I'm a bit of a "heel striker", which means that I tend to land more on my heel than the flat of my foot. This causes me to "brake" briefly each time I touch down as well as send a nice impact shock throughout my body. The coach gave me a few exercises to help teach me how the correct strike should feel as well as instructions on how to gradually bring the new technique into my running.

The Bad
See my previous post on the "Little Things". My midweek workouts were a wash, and I had to scrimp a little on my long bike and run over the weekend due to time constraints. Overall this week has been my worst yet in terms of making the numbers.

The Ugly
Had a nasty shin splint on Tuesday but that has fortunately healed though I had to take most of the week off to do it. My groin pull is still present but my elbow issue is nearly gone. At this point I'm beginning to think that my groin pull issue may actually be a hernia. I'll be scheduling a visit with a doctor this week to see what's going on as ignoring it doesn't seem to be getting me very far.

Little Things

It's funny (or not so much in this case) how the little things can affect the big things.

It started about a week ago. A slight pain in my right big toe while running. A blister. I haven't had toe blisters since I stopped running on treadmills. Yet another thing to add to my "Why I Hate Treadmills" list. Ok, just a blister so no biggie. I lanced and drained it and then forgot about it. At the time I didn't associate it with my strange ankle pull later in the week.

It bugged me a bit during my long run on Sunday. More of an annoyance than anything else. I had a look after the run and sure enough the blister had reformed. A little bigger this time. Ok, just a blister. Lance, drain, forget.

Yesterday I felt the pain again while spinning and then on the treadmill. That's when I messed up. I was determined to get my hour run in. The pain from the blister was enough this time to cause me to shift my stride slightly - to roll a bit more on the outside edge of my right foot. I broke one of my cardinal rules of training - if an injury causes you to break form then stop.

By the end of the run I could feel a nasty shin splint developing. Work through it I thought. My gait changed a bit to accommodate the pain. Another violation of the rule. My ankle was stiff and sore by the time the run ended. By mid morning I had a full blown shin splints. It was so bad that I couldn't drive because I couldn't pull my foot back to operate the brake.

This of course torpedoed my planned workouts for yesterday afternoon (Tuesdays are my 2-a-day days) as well as my mid-range run for today. This was supposed to be a 19 hour week and instead will probably be more like 2. All because I didn't pay enough attention to a wee little blister.

Lesson learned. A single missed workout or two is better than trashing the whole week. Sometimes I hate being type A.

Week in Review (2/5 - 2/11)

First week of "base" training. Overall the basic pattern remains the same but my volumes are creeping up from 13 hours during prep to 15:40 for this week. Workouts are also shifting from mostly zone 1 to some zone 2/3 work. No interval work yet though. You can see all my workout details on my Training Peaks public site.



The Good
Long swim on Friday was the best I've had in weeks. My rotation and pull-through felt terrific. Despite the swim being a 4K straight set I felt smooth, strong, and fast through entire set. Ended up finishing earlier than planned and through in another 500 yards of form sets (18 yards with 15 seconds rest - focus on perfect form, balance, and rotation).

The weather warmed up (all the way to 5 degrees!) on Sunday so I ran outside. Was a bit cold at the start especially into the wind. I'll have to invest in some wind proof glove shells I think. Kept it slow and steady - between a 10 and 11 mpm pace. Messed up my timing a bit so I was short by about 10 minutes or so.

The Bad
NIHL hockey playoff game was on Tuesday evening so my double on Tuesday got axed. Wasn't able to squeeze in another 1:30 worth of workouts as it was a pretty busy week so as a result I was under for plan vs. actual. The other bad bit is that the weather has ABSOLUTELY SUCKED this week - no higher than -5 degrees in the morning every day this week so I had to bite the bullet and hit the treadmill for my mid week runs.

The Ugly
Backing off pull based weight training has helped my elbow issue a bit but it's still an issue. Will continue dropping pull based strength training this week as well. My groin injury flared up again as well - thought I had that one licked. After Thursday's treadmill run I developed a nasty pull on the back of my right ankle. Walking around Friday hurt a lot until it loosened up. I tested it out again during Saturday's bike and it only hurt when I stood on the pedals. I was worried that I'd have to pull up short on my Sunday run but aside from it being a bit tight at the start it didn't affect my form so I toughed it out.

Week in Review (1/29 - 2/4)

Yet again - sorry for the lack of posting. It's funny how life comes at you in waves sometimes. Last week and this week a number individual "life waves" have converged into a single giant crest that consumed all of my time. I'm getting on the backside of the crest now so I can get back to some of the other lower priority stuff.

This was my last week of prep before I start entering into the official base phase of training. Starting today I'm going to start stealing Bolder's Good/Bad/Ugly format here as I like the way it allows me to summarize.



The Good
Physically I'm still holding up well. I'm not thoroughly wiped out and I have yet to catch any of the colds that are going around. I'm also getting better at focusing on the prescribed workouts (though I have to tailor the swim workouts a bit to fit my time availability) and keeping my heart rate where it needs to be. I successfully hit all workouts except my long run.

I was having some issues with too much weight loss but with a little more attention to my diet that has stabilized.

The Bad
Yeah, back to that long run thing. This weekend the jet streams freaked and sent polar air down our way. Air temp for Sunday morning was -4. Plus it was windy so -25 with wind chills. I'm nuts but not that nuts. In addition our last hockey game of the regular season was on Sunday and I've also started going to church. Excuses, excuses. Bottom line is that I didn't do the run because I just couldn't stomach being on the treadmill for two hours.

Rest assured that I will beat myself up mercilessly over the coming week for missing this workout....

The Ugly
Still having some elbow pain. For next week I'll completely eliminate any exercise that pulls at the elbow (bicep curls, lat pull downs, etc.). Pushing doesn't seem to be the issue - I only feel it when I pull. The good news though is that it doesn't affect my swim stroke at all.