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.