To Infinity and Beyond - Becoming a Better DopeyBadger (Comments Welcome)

[dis_or_dat]

Drats! I guess I can't blame the shoes.

@garneska - I purchased the celebration jacket months before April, so I had to run the virtual! You deserve to wear one too! I was monitoring the air levels all week and I wasn't sure if my treadmill could withstand 4 hours of running or if I could take that amount of time on a treadmill either. So last minute I made an audible to run on a different trail that morning since the air was slightly better, but still 160s. Usually the trail is packed, but because of the air quality it was pretty empty thankfully. I did see 2 runners with respirators on! Did you print your bib? I want to print it on a "real" bib but don't know how, so I'll probably just go to kinkos since my printer is black & white.

 

[garneska]

@dis_or_dat i did not print my bib. I will be honest was not so jazzed about the virtual. I will say i ran the last 6 miles in the park near me and i think 2 others running Boston virtual. I was worried about your air quality so I am glad you were able to get it done and yeah 4 hours on a TM . I am concerned about size. I am tall and lots of legs with long arms. Worried about sleeve length. We can take this to PM if you can tell me size and sleeve length. I see the models but the women’s jacket looks short. I am considering a men’s medium but afraid that will also be big but the right sleeve length.

 

[DopeyBadger]

10? Weeks to go + HIM Base Mid Volume Cycling + (LIIFT 4 + McMillan Core/Legs)

9/7/20 - M - OFF
9/8/20 - T - Baird-1 (60 min; 68 TSS) + McMillan Legs
9/9/20 - W - 5 x Hill Loops @ Hard
9/10/20 - R - Looking Glass-1 (60 min; 60 TSS) + 40 min Brick Run @ Easy
9/11/20 - F - Pettit (60 min; 39 TSS) + McMillan Legs
9/12/20 - Sa - Cumberland (75 min; 78 TSS) + 20 min Brick Run @ Easy
9/13/20 - Su - 70 min @ LR w/ FF

Total Run Miles - 22.2 miles
Total Run Time - 3:09 hours
Total Run TSS - x TSS

Total Biking Time - 4:15 hours
Total Biking TSS - 245 TSS

Total Strength Time - 0:54 hours
Total Strength TSS - x TSS

Total Training Time - 8:18 hours
Total TSS - x TSS

Tuesday

Yea for recovery week! Also the last week of hard cycling before moving to hard running. Time to sharpen the sword in advance of the time trial!

Baird -1 is 3 sets of 5x1-minute intervals at 120% FTP where recoveries between intervals are 2 minutes long and recoveries between sets of intervals are 3 minutes long. Able to keep a 99 rpm cadence.

I'm really liking Week 5/6 of McMillan Legs. I feel like it's starting to pay off.

Wednesday

Well, so about that starting hard running next week... Yea... Well... I just started this week with a hard running workout. I decided to try doing hill loops. The one loop is the one I use for a fast finish. The other loop is the direction towards the other road. Then both of them in reverse, and then finished it off with a combo of both together. I was aiming for a hard effort. But I was hoping it would be around 5:55-6:00 pace. Given the hills, I've got no clue what the GAP is on that. But suffice to say it's less than whatever the final pace ends up being.

Conditions - Partly Cloudy, Wind 10mph to 15mph
Start: Temp+Dew = 70°F + 59°F; FL - 70°F
End: Temp+Dew = 68°F + 57°F; FL - 70°F

Did a nice 20 min WU, and then did this:



I know for a fact the elevation gain is more than 6-8 feet simply because I can stand at the bottom of the hill and it's taller than the houses at the end of it. So it's probably 30-40 feet easily (if not more). But the loops were 2:31, 2:36, 2:35, 2:36, and 3:53. Pace wise in the 5:56-5:59 region and then the last two fell off a bit. I'm happy with the effort overall. The Garmin VO2max was still 56. So I went and checked what a VDOT 50 would be pace wise (given my fitness is usually Garmin VO2max - 6 points = VDOT). Per VDOT, that's pretty much my mile pace. So that would be 600-1000m at mile pace on hills. I find that hard to believe. So I'm guessing my fitness is beyond that. I'd guess it's more like 3k pace. But even then, this was on hills. If that's my 3k pace, then my estimated HM is 1:25 and M at 2:57 (if fully trained). So a good place to be with 10-11 weeks of training remaining (maybe?).


Thursday

The alarm went off at 3:40am, and I was like, ehh, nope. So I went back to sleep.

After work, I decided to combo the cycling and running together into a Brick workout. I dropped the cycling workout down one notch from a 3x20 min Tempo to 2x20 min Tempo. Then added a 40 min nice and Easy run.

Looking Glass -1 is 2x20-minute intervals between 75-90% FTP with a 3-minute recovery between them. Cadence was 97 rpm. Felt nice and good.

Conditions - Partly Cloudy, Wind 6mph to 10mph
Start: Temp+Dew = 61°F + 47°F; FL - 61°F
End: Temp+Dew = 59°F + 47°F; FL - 61°F

40 min of nice easy running. Finished 4.5 miles at a 9:02 pace with HR of 129. Felt easy.

Friday

An easy 60 min bike ride. First time without a back to back hard cycle day on Thurs/Fri. I'm not complaining about recovery week! Followed that up with the McMillan Legs which felt great.

Saturday

Second brick workout of the week. This was the traditional HIM ride followed by easy run.

Cumberland is a 60-minute sustained segment between 80-85% FTP nestled inside of a 75-minute long workout. Cadence was 94 rpm. Felt good, but maybe not as smooth as desired.

Conditions - Clear, Wind 6mph to 9mph
Start: Temp+Dew = 54°F + 46°F; FL - 54°F
End: Temp+Dew = 56°F + 47°F; FL - 54°F

Loving this fall weather. Finished 2.4 miles at 8:32 min/mile pace with HR of 129. Didn't even break a sweat.

Sunday

Long run day! Only 70 min and legs were feeling good.

Conditions - Clear, Wind 8mph to 14mph
Start: Temp+Dew = 49°F + 42°F; FL - 48°F
End: Temp+Dew = 56°F + 47°F; FL - 48°F

Stayed nice and cool throughout. First mile clicked off in 7:44, and then from there it was all about staying locked in.



Really consistent splits despite the hills. Actually felt super easy during the 2nd 4 mile loop. The breathing settled in and I was in the groove. Finished off the 8.25 miles and then decided to finish off with two fast finish loops. After earlier this week doing the hard hill loops I actually knew that I could go as fast as a 2:31 when fresh. My fastest during a long run was a 2:50. So I threw down a 3:01 and then a 2:53. The 2:53 is my 2nd fastest post LR loop. I felt really strong during the finish and didn't feel like I was pushing it.

All in all it was 70 min in 9.2 miles in 7:37 pace with 142 HR. The HR is a bit high for LR pace, but things were feeling easy enough today. The Garmin VO2max moved up again.



In a big surprise, my Garmin VO2max has now surpassed the same point in time for Disney 2020. I'm thinking unless I'm in for big new gains in November, that my peak isn't going to make it to December. Hopefully it can hold off for a little, because I need some more running endurance before I aim for a time trial. My Garmin VO2max has now increased by 8 points in 8 weeks. Looks like the progressive training is paying off.

So that wraps up recovery week and the hard cycling phase. Now it's time to get down to business and push that running fitness.

 

[DopeyBadger]

I don't think I will ever complain about runDisney registrations ever again. Those were a breeze compared to what I just went through to get an Xbox Series X. I had computer, phone, and iPad all setup with multiple websites and apps ready. All info pre-entered into profiles. Twitter pulled up for instant website feedback and backdoor links. Refreshing everywhere like a mad man.

-Walmart sold out in less than 30 sec
-Amazon sold out in less than a minute
-Microsoft I made it to the confirm screen only to get booted because sold out
-Target I made it through twice and both times got kicked. Every time after it thought I still had one in the cart.
-BestBuy hasn't even come up yet almost an hour after it was suppose to start.
-But somehow someway I made it through on Gamestop's site!!!

I want to go throw up. That was so stressful and hard. I can't even believe it's real. I keep checking my email and order confirmation and see it there. But I just don't believe it.

 

[DopeyBadger]

9? Weeks to go + HIM Base Mid Volume Cycling + (LIIFT 4 + McMillan Core/Legs)

9/21/20 - M - OFF
9/22/20 - T - LIIFT Chest/Tri + McMillan Core + 65 min @ Easy
9/23/20 - W - Cumberland-2 (75 min, 69 TSS) + 15 min Brick Run @ HM Tempo + McMillan Legs
9/24/20 - R - Townsend-1 (90 min; 55 TSS)
9/25/20 - F - 50 min @ Easy
9/26/20 - Sa - Warren (135 min; 92 TSS) + Golf + 50 min Afternoon Run @ Easy + Saving a Kite (aka Quadathalon)
9/27/20 - Su - 104 min @ LR w/ FF

Total Run Miles - 34.4 miles
Total Run Time - 4:44 hours
Total Run TSS - x TSS

Total Biking Time - 5:00 hours
Total Biking TSS - 216 TSS

Total Strength Time - 1:03 hours
Total Strength TSS - x TSS

Total Training Time - 10:47 hours
Total TSS - x TSS

Tuesday

Back to those early morning lifting sessions. Not everyday of the week, but trying to remind myself what waking up at 4am feels like. Good to get in a LIIFT4 session in the morning and I always like the Chest lifting. I finally moved on to McMillan Core B series of videos. It's been since May 2018 since I've done these videos. As a reminder, I could never accomplish the side plank with leg lifts.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/t...badger-comments-welcome.3475601/post-59248872
Well the McMillan Legs/Core must be paying off because I was actually able to lift my leg off the ground in the side plank. I accomplished 5 lifts in the time it took them to do 10, but I count it as a solid victory. So something I've been doing recently has been paying off, and I'm guessing it's the McMillan Legs workouts.

Moving to 5 days a week running and switching up the focus now.

Conditions - ☀ Clear, Wind 7mph to 10mph
Start: Temp+Dew = 76°F + 60°F; FL - 76°F
End: Temp+Dew = 72°F + 59°F; FL - 76°F

Just a nice and easy 65 min at easy pace. I've only had 1 running day over T+D of 120 since 9/6 (so 16 days), so a return to 136 was a little bit of an adjustment. But I just took it nice and easy. Ended up with 7.3 miles at 8:58 pace with HR of 135. All in all a good run.

Wednesday

Now was the start of Brick runs with pace. So I took the intensity of the cycling down a hair. Still is HIM pace/effort on the cycling, but now on the lower end rather than the higher end. The ride ended up feeling maybe a little too easy, but that's alright. Things do pick up gradually in the coming weeks. The cadence was maintained at 96.

Conditions - Partly Cloudy, Wind 7mph to 11mph
Start: Temp+Dew = 71°F + 59°F; FL - 71°F
End: Temp+Dew = 69°F + 58°F; FL - 71°F

Just a very brief 15 min of HM Tempo off the bike. My HM PR is 6:43 pace on a course with 35 ft/mile gain. This run was going to be roughly equal at 35 ft/mile gain as well. A downhill mile and then an uphill mile. My Garmin VO2max was sitting at 56 (down a point cause of the rise in T+D). So it suggested a 6:59 pace. I went with something closer to my previous HM PR pace of around a 6:43. Since the first mile was downhill, I knew I needed to be about 5-6 seconds faster than average, and the uphill was going to cost me about 15-17 seconds. I decided to break out my new Next% shoes.



Well, I overshot the first mile for sure. No way my adjusted HM pace is around a 6:29-6:30. For a while there I was in the right place, but I must have sped up further into the mile because I was a good 10-15 seconds off pace. Despite that, the mile felt really good and smooth. The fresh Next% made a noticeable difference. But I knew I was likely going to pay for being slightly too fast on the second uphill mile. No mincing words, it was brutal. But I maintained focus and pushed. Came through in 7:02 (so more like 6:45 on flat). So near dead on where I wanted to be. Then wrapped up the last 90 seconds with 6:31 pace on a slight downhill. Stopped the watch at 15 min even though I wasn't home yet because going over by a few minutes is definitely costly on this type of run. I'll save that for another day. After stopping, I felt pretty good. Overall I'm happy with the effort/run. Maybe a tad bit fast, but doable and good practice for the real thing. Overall it was 2.24 miles in 15 min (6:42 pace) with HR of 151. Although the duration of the exercise was so short I'm not sure I trust the average HR. Historically HM HR is 151 (148-154). But at a minimum I know I wasn't above lactate threshold HR which is 157. So I was probably somewhere in between HM pace and LT pace.

After I got home, I wrapped up the day with McMillan Legs. Felt really good to get this workout in after the cycling and running. Things were definitely clicking.

Thursday

Nice and easy 90 min cycle. Cadence was 97 rpm. This day will get harder as the weeks progress. I almost felt like I could have done a cycling workout, but I'm trying not to push it too much.

Friday

Conditions - ☀ Clear, Wind 14mph to 23mph
Start: Temp+Dew = 74°F + 60°F; FL - 74°F
End: Temp+Dew = 72°F + 60°F; FL - 74°F

50 min at easy pace. Ended up with 5.4 miles at 9:14 pace with 130 bpm HR. Much better job on my part to sticking to an easy pace. Contemplated adding in some strides, but I held off. Big day on Saturday. Also saw the neighbor next to Heidi's little girl just scooting along on her car down the bike path with no adult or other person supervision. I was like, hey where you going and who is watching you. She's like 1-2, so I didn't get much of a response. I led her back to her house and then rang the doorbell. Talked to the 5 boys who live there and they argued as to which of them was responsible for watching her in that moment. Ugh. I was suppose to do a McMillan Legs workout after this one, but Steph said we were going to Heidi's for pizza and smore's. So I had to cut some time off the workout.

Saturday

It was lining up to be a very long day. I was up at 4am and on the bike at 4:30. Not an overly challenging 135 min on the trainer. Stuck to IM pace/effort. Ended up with a cadence of 97 rpm.

Afterwards, I shoved as much food into my face as I could handle. Then we were out the door by 8:30am to head to the golf party for the neighbor. We were paired with his wife and her friend. I'm happy we practiced over the summer because I was overall happy with the 9 holes on the real course. On hole 8, Steph told me I should shoot from the Women's tee because the Men's tee was too far and accurate for me. The tee box sits about 150 yards from the hole and has grasslands in between the tee and green. So you either make it on the green or you lose your ball. I told her challenge accepted and wacked it good. Landed on the green! Take that one Steph. They laughed. Overall, a good round of golf.

We got home around 12:30 and I quickly threw on my running clothes. Out the door at 12:55.

Conditions - Mostly Cloudy, Wind 15mph to 25mph
Start: Temp+Dew = 74°F + 66°F; FL - 74°F
End: Temp+Dew = 75°F + 67°F; FL - 74°F

My body really felt like it needed a break and some nutrients. So I had a bit of mind fogginess as I was going. I saw some kids playing with a kite and it was quite windy. When I came back around the second time the kids stopped me and asked me if I had seen their kite because it had gotten away from them. In the moment of saying, I hadn't seen it, I saw a string coming down from the roof of a house. I was like, well I'll be, there it is. So they proceeded to try and get it down and I kept running. As I came back around a third time, they stopped me again and said it was stuck and needed more help. So I was able to dislodge it from the 2nd house and then the first house. Finally setting it free. The stops did me good, because afterwards the finish of the run felt much better. Ended up with 5.5 miles at 9:09 pace with HR of 127. I finished my "Quad"athalon. I biked, golfed, ran, and saved a kite.

Then got in the house, ate lunch, and then celebrated the neighbor's birthday in the driveway until 8pm. So I was on the move from essentially 4am to 8pm. A long day.

Sunday

Long run day!

Conditions - Mostly Cloudy, Wind 9mph to 21mph
Start: Temp+Dew = 63°F + 58°F; FL - 63°F
End: Temp+Dew = 66°F + 58°F; FL - 63°F

It was cloudy and the T+D was slightly less, but still higher than the previous weekends. So I wasn't expecting to hit the same paces. I had my SIS Beta right prior to starting and then I was off.



First mile came in at 7:38 and I was like, alright, looks like we're good to go. And from there just proceeded to try and maintain long run effort/pace. The first 4.1 mile lap was unremarkable and came in at 31:30. At 45 min, I had a swig of concentrated Tailwind. At 55 min, I had a Maurten gel with Caffiene. I finished lap #2 in 31:20. I was just starting down lap #3 and something crazy happened. The road design is sidewalk, parking lane, bike lane, traffic against me, and traffic with me. I was running on the line between the parking lane and bike lane. All the sudden, a car from behind me comes flying by at like 40-50mph (on a 25) missing me by maybe 1-2 feet. So they crossed the double yellow and the bike lane to nearly hit me from behind. I honestly believe they legit tried to hit me. They were going way too fast and were way too far over from their normal driving lane for it to be an accident at 9am. As soon as they almost hit me they flew back to their lane, barely stopped and the stop sign, and then zoomed off at the light. It all happened so fast I didn't even get a chance to look at their license plate. Ugh, it makes me so sick to my stomach. I mean sometimes I'm definitely infringing on the lane a tiny bit when I go down certain roads. And it's never really a problem. But in this case I was so far over and going in the right direction. I'm pretty sure if he/she had hit me, I would have been severely injured. Ate an Egel at 75 min. I continued on and finished off the third lap in 31:20. So overall the three laps were 31:30, 31:20, and 31:20. So nice consistency. I finished off the run with my fast finish loops. I did them in 2:59, 3:05, and 2:58 which I'm quite pleased with. Looks like I hit the HM mark in 1:40:30. Ended up being 13.6 miles in 104 min at 7:39 pace with HR of 143. The Garmin VO2max stayed at the fallen value of 56, which I expected with the slight increase in T+D. But when adjusting for the T+D, my long run pace was 7:35 last time vs 7:32. So a hair faster this time around with HR 1 bpm higher. So all in all probably even despite the fall in Garmin VO2max.

Ankles have been a little angry at me. But I think I managed the camber a little better on this long run. But something to keep an eye on as we wrap up the training.

Coming up is an easier week volume wise but harder intensity wise. I'm doing the hill loops again at hopefully sub-6 pace. The temps are dropping quite a bit into the 30-50s. Then doing a brick on Saturday with 20 min of HM Tempo.

 

[avondale]

You had quite an eventful week: saving a toddler, saving a kite, and saving yourself, maybe. Oh, and some exercise!

 

[DopeyBadger]

You had quite an eventful week: saving a toddler, saving a kite, and saving yourself, maybe. Oh, and some exercise!

Been a while since I've had anything strange happen and then this week was quite the story.

 

[DopeyBadger]

Steph just told me that someone is suspected of intentionally driving their vehicle into a crane (the animal) in the local grocery store parking lot on Saturday morning. I haven't heard a description of the car, but yikes! given my experience on Sunday morning.

 

[avondale]

Steph just told me that someone is suspected of intentionally driving their vehicle into a crane (the animal) in the local grocery store parking lot on Saturday morning. I haven't heard a description of the car, but yikes! given my experience on Sunday morning.

So they are out to hit tall, skinny animals? (couldn't resist)


More seriously, what are some people thinking?

 

[DopeyBadger]

8? Weeks to go + HIM Base Mid Volume Cycling + (LIIFT 4 + McMillan Core/Legs)

9/28/20 - M - OFF
9/29/20 - T - LIIFT Back/Bi + McMillan Core + 45 min @ Easy
9/30/20 - W - Washington-1 (60 min, 79 TSS) + [5 x Hill Loops @ Hard] + McMillan Legs
10/1/20 - R - Townsend-1 (90 min; 55 TSS)
10/2/20 - F - 45 min @ Easy
10/3/20 - Sa - Phoenix-1 (90 min, 93 TSS) + 20 min Brick Run @ HM Tempo
10/4/20 - Su - 70 min @ LR w/ FF + LIIFT4-Shoulders + McMillan Legs + McMillan Core

Total Run Miles - 28.6 miles
Total Run Time - 3:53 hours
Total Run TSS - x TSS

Total Biking Time - 4:00 hours
Total Biking TSS - 227 TSS

Total Strength Time - 2:20 hours
Total Strength TSS - x TSS

Total Training Time - 10:13 hours
Total TSS - x TSS

Tuesday

Early morning lifting session. Nothin notable. Just back, biceps and some core work.

Conditions - Mostly Cloudy, Wind 9mph to 16mph
Start: Temp+Dew = 55°F + 47°F; FL - 55°F
End: Temp+Dew = 55°F + 47°F; FL - 55°F

45 min at easy. Ended up at 5.1 miles in 45 min at 8:53 min/mile pace with HR of 130. Exactly where I want everything to be.

Wednesday

Only 5.5 hrs of sleep and an early wake-up call at 4am. Time for some suprathreshold work! Washington -1 is 4x7-minute intervals at 105% FTP with 5-minute recoveries between intervals. Cadence was good at 97 rpm.

In the evening it was a re-do of the 5 x Hill Loop at hard workout. The big difference is two weeks ago there wasn't a cycling workout in the morning. So I was interested to see how it compared.

Conditions - ☀ Clear, Wind 16mph to 29mph
Start: Temp+Dew = 57°F + 45°F; FL - 57°F
End: Temp+Dew = 55°F + 44°F; FL - 57°F

Fifteen minutes of warming up. Then I did some strides to get everything primed. Felt like this was beneficial and will keep doing the strides as a primer. They were 5:45, 5:52, and 5:24. Then it was time to move into the hilly loops. I did them in 2:29, 2:33, 2:41, 2:20, and 3:51 on the extra long loop. So the 1st, 2nd, and 5th laps were faster by about 2 seconds each. But the 3rd and 4th were about 5 seconds slower. So a little gained and lost. But given the morning cycling workout, I'm quite pleased. So that puts the reps in the 5:50-6:15 min/mile range on hills.

Thursday

Just an easy cycling ride of 90 min. Last week I thought I could handle an easy day on Thursday, but this week I was happy with an easier 90 min ride. A cadence of 96 rpm.

Friday

Just a simple easy run.

Conditions - Clear, Wind 16mph to 29mph
Start: Temp+Dew = 57°F + 45°F; FL - 57°F
End: Temp+Dew = 55°F + 44°F; FL - 57°F

A total of 45 min and 5.2 miles at 8:50 pace with HR of 130.

Saturday

Brick day! I was upping the cycling length from 75 min to 90 min and increasing the HM Tempo run from 15 min to 20 min. The 90 min cycling at HIM was unremarkable. A cadence of 95 rpm.

Conditions - 🌧 Drizzle, Wind 7mph to 13mph
Start: Temp+Dew = 45°F + 37°F; FL - 41°F
End: Temp+Dew = 46°F + 38°F; FL - 41°F

Out the door and ready to rock again. Maybe a tad bit too much ready to rock. Ran the first two minutes at 5:30-6:00 pace. Yea, that's not HM Tempo. I had to pull back before the run ended in a disaster. The first mile was downhill and completed in 6:26. The second mile was mostly flat and completed in 6:45. That's pretty much right on target. Then the last mile was uphill until I decided to turn around with 2 min remaining. So the last mile was 6:55. I saw I was close to 3 miles despite the 20 min cutoff, so I went an extra 10 seconds. In total it was 3 miles in 20 minutes at 6:43 pace with HR of 149. Happy with the run overall. It was tough, but doable.

Sunday

I had 70 min on the schedule. The only decision was to aim for easy pace or long run pace. I was still feeling good despite yesterday's 110 min brick activity. So I decided to go for long run pace and see what happened.

Conditions - Partly Cloudy, Wind 10mph to 18mph
Start: Temp+Dew = 37°F + 33°F; FL - 30°F
End: Temp+Dew = 40°F + 34°F; FL - 30°F

The temps were absolutely BEAUTIFUL!



From the moment the run started, I could tell it was going to be a good day. Everything felt smooth throughout. First mile came in at 7:33 and I thought it was a bit too fast, but the effort felt on target. So today was just going to be one of those days. Kept clicking off the miles with no change in effort. The first lap clocked in at 31:15 and the second lap in 31:06. Good consistency. Finished off with two fast finish hill laps in 2:55 and 2:51. Good pace and effort through the finish. I think the McMillan Legs and daily hamstring stretching has been paying off. Things just feel stronger and a little more poppy. The Garmin VO2max moved back to 57.



I'm feeling good, but probably not ready yet for a HM/M time trial attempt. I'll take the distance out to 120 min and see how I feel. The temps are going to creep back up again for a week so it might stunt what the HRvPace data is telling me.

In the evening I decided to hit the weights. Did a LIIFT4-Shoulders, then a McMillan Legs, then a McMillan Core. Everything felt good throughout.

 

[DopeyBadger]

7? Weeks to go + HIM Base Mid Volume Cycling + (LIIFT 4 + McMillan Core/Legs)

10/5/20 - M - OFF
10/6/20 - T - LIIFT Chest/Tri + McMillan Core + 75 min @ Easy w/ Strides
10/7/20 - W - Cumberland-2 (75 min, 69 TSS) + 25 min Brick Run @ HM Tempo
10/8/20 - R - Townsend (90 min; 60 TSS)
10/9/20 - F - 45 min @ Easy + McMillan Legs
10/10/20 - Sa - Koip (150 min, 105 TSS) + 55 min Evening Run @ Easy
10/11/20 - Su - 120 min @ LR w/ FF + Golf

Total Run Miles - 39.3 miles
Total Run Time - 5:21 hours
Total Run TSS - x TSS

Total Biking Time - 5:15 hours
Total Biking TSS - 234 TSS

Total Strength Time - 1:07 hours
Total Strength TSS - x TSS

Total Training Time - 11:44 hours
Total TSS - x TSS

Tuesday

Started off the week on a good foot. Up at 4:15am and lifting some weights. Always enjoy the Chest/Tri workouts of LIIFT4.

Decided to go for 75 min of easy running that evening. If I felt up to it, then I'd add in some strides as well. Funny enough this 75 min easy run would be longer than my 70 min long run from last week Sunday.

Conditions - Clear, Wind 11mph to 17mph
Start: Temp+Dew = 68°F + 45°F; FL - 68°F
End: Temp+Dew = 63°F + 46°F; FL - 68°F

Nothing remarkable during the run. I did 5 strides at the end in 5 min/mile area. In all it was 75 min, 8.7 miles, 8:43 pace and HR of 133.


Wednesday

Brick day. The cycling portion drops from 90 min to 75 min and the HM Tempo portion increases from 20 min to 25 min.

Cycling was unremarkable. Went as expected for a 75 min ride at HIM Tempo. The cadence was 96 rpm.

Conditions - Clear, Wind 6mph to 10mph
Start: Temp+Dew = 60°F + 45°F; FL - 60°F
End: Temp+Dew = 58°F + 45°F; FL - 60°F

Strapped on the shoes and out the door. I did a concerted effort in trying not to run the first mile too quickly. I think I succeeded at that. The problem was I never felt like I could speed up enough. It was a difficult run.



I finally broke down and purchased a Strava subscription. It was bothering me not having GAP data. So the 3.73 miles were reasonably consistent. A hard run, but not outside of expected effort or HR data. Overall it was 3.7 miles in 25 min at 6:48 pace (6:46 GAP) with HR of 150. Happy with the results of the run.

Steph was hungry, so I skipped the leg workout.


Thursday

Same duration, but a slight bump up in difficulty on the Thursday cycle. I again felt like I could have done a cycling workout. So it seems like I could handle a cycling workout the day after the mid-week brick, but not after the mid-week hill run workout. I'll stick with the easier path though and not add in something until possibly next cycle. 90 total minutes at 97 rpm.


Friday

Easy day! The sun, "heat" and wind decided to make a bit of a comeback today. So easy was still easy, but it was definitely slower.

Conditions - Partly Cloudy, Wind 16mph to 31mph
Start: Temp+Dew = 75°F + 62°F; FL - 75°F
End: Temp+Dew = 73°F + 62°F; FL - 75°F

In all it was 45 min, 4.9 miles at 9:12 pace with HR of 129. So the pace was about 20 sec/mile slower but the effort and HR were on target.

Followed it up with a new McMillan Legs workout. This was my 4th different workout (Week 7/8). I liked this one. Those first two workouts were brutal, but these last two have been easier (in my opinion). But it also may be that the first two workouts set the baseline by which it allowed the third/fourth to be more manageable. Overall, I've been happy with the McMillan leg workouts despite the price. Although it really is hard to justify it on a yearly basis.


Saturday

Big weekend on tap. Up early and ready to go. The bike ride was 150 min at IM Tempo pace. I felt good throughout and averaged a 96 rpm cadence. Per Strava, it was 42.7 miles.

That evening was a 55 min easy run. I didn't get started until later, so it was going to infringe on the timing with next Sunday morning's run. Just slightly less recovery time.

Conditions - Clear, Wind 10mph to 15mph
Start: Temp+Dew = 64°F + 47°F; FL - 64°F
End: Temp+Dew = 60°F + 48°F; FL - 64°F

The temp dropped back down and the pace picked back up. Nothing to note. It was 6.3 miles in 55 min at 8:46 pace with HR of 130. A good run from a HRvPace perspective.


Sunday

Only the second run of 2020 over 120 minutes. The last time was March 8th (129 min at 7:41 pace with 140 HR). I've gotta believe this might be my longest streak between two 120 minute runs since I increased to more than 3 days of running per week (2015).

I work up early so I could get the good morning temps.

Conditions - Partly Cloudy, Wind 7mph to 16mph
Start: Temp+Dew = 45°F + 45°F; FL - 41°F
End: Temp+Dew = 50°F + 49°F; FL - 41°F



The pace was a bit slow on the first one. I noticed about halfway through that I was above an 8 min/mile. So then I increased the effort slightly. Probably a bit of an overcorrection because mile 3 came in at 7:33 (GAP of 7:19). The first loop came in at 31:20. The GAP definitely settled in for the second lap. The second lap was 31:05. I was starting to feel it on the third lap and felt like I was fading a bit. Finished it off at 31:12. So all three laps were within 15 seconds of each other. Only had two miles left before doing a fast finish. So I just did a simple down and back. I was not feeling very strong for the fast finish, but I gave it a good effort. Finished the laps in 3:07, 3:05, and 3:03. That marks my 2nd slowest fast finish of this training cycle.

In all it was 120 min, 15.8 miles, 7:37 pace (GAP of 7:33) with HR of 140. Using T+D adjusted pacing, everything has roughly been equal for the long runs over the course of the training cycle. So most of the changes seen in the HRvPace relationship (and in turn Garmin VO2max) can mostly be attributed to the changes in T+D. Despite the increase in running training load, I'm not seeing the Garmin VO2max budge much.



But when I compare my LRs to last year, I feel like I'm in a good place:



These are unadjusted for T+D.

Next week is a moderate week. It's getting close to time to decide when to do the HM/M time trial. Despite not being in peak condition, I'm still leaning towards the marathon. The training runs are suggesting a best possible case of 3:05. So with the Strava subscription I spent some time digging through old runs to see what the GAP of each mile was.



So when the time comes for a time trial, I'll have specific splits to aim for based on each mile. I found mile 4/8/12/16/20 the most interesting as it seems there was some sort of adjustment between 2019 and 2020 to the elevation map in my area. As those miles all seem different than before.

As far as timing goes, the time trial will likely occur on one of the following weekends: 10/25, 11/8, 11/22, or 12/6. I'm planning on a two week taper this time around, so it'll give me some flexibility in choosing when to do it.

 

[DopeyBadger]

5 Weeks to go + HIM Base Mid Volume Cycling + (LIIFT 4 + McMillan Core/Legs)

10/12/20 - M - OFF
10/13/20 - T - LIIFT Back/Biceps + McMillan Core + 45 min @ Easy
10/14/20 - W - Jacks+1 (75 min, 91 TSS) + 3x30+3x60+100s @ Hard (Run)
10/15/20 - R - Pettit (60 min; 39 TSS)
10/16/20 - F - 45 min @ Easy + McMillan Legs
10/17/20 - Sa - Phoenix (90 min, 96 TSS) + 20 min Brick Run @ HM Tempo
10/18/20 - Su - 45 min @ LR + LIIFT Shoulders + McMillan Core

Total Run Miles - 24.0 miles
Total Run Time - 3:16 hours
Total Run TSS - x TSS

Total Biking Time - 3:45 hours
Total Biking TSS - 226 TSS

Total Strength Time - 1:55 hours
Total Strength TSS - x TSS

Total Training Time - 8:57 hours
Total TSS - x TSS

Tuesday

Early morning strength session. Nothing special.

Conditions - Clear, Wind 14mph to 22mph
Start: Temp+Dew = 60°F + 41°F; FL - 60°F
End: Temp+Dew = 56°F + 40°F; FL - 60°F

45 min easy run. Was feeling pretty stiff throughout the run. Didn't really think too much of it. I remembered during this run that after last Sunday's run I did my legs on the wall stretch and felt a slight pop in my left hamstring. But didn't really take too much notice of it. The hamstring didn't hurt during the run, but something just felt off. All in all it was 45 min, 5.1 miles, 8:54 pace, and 130 bpm HR. So maybe a tad on the slow side.

After the run I did my normal stretches. In the process of the wall hamstring stretch I didn't feel any pop, but feeling the back of my left hamstring I could feel a sizeable bump. Maybe the size of a quarter or slightly more. Can't say I remember feeling something similar before. Doctor google tells me it is a hamstring bundle which appears when an injury to the hamstring occurs. So I iced it and massaged it to try encourage it to heal.

Wednesday

Early morning. Too early in my opinion. Up at 3:45 and on the bike at 4:20am. A challenging 75 min cycling ride ahead of me. Jacks +1 is 4x8-minute intervals at 105% FTP with 4-minute recoveries between intervals. Simply put, the workout was poor quality. I just didn't have it in me to complete it. The first interval was good, but super challenging. The second I had to stop once. The third interval I stopped three times. The fourth interval I stopped four times. So I finished it, but it was a poor workout.

So I decided to take a step back and re-evaluate. I wasn't happy with the fast finish on Sunday. Tuesday's easy day just didn't feel great. The hamstring had a bundle on the back signifying a possible injury. Wednesday morning's early cycling ride was of poor quality. So my body was telling me I needed a break. I looked at the training plan and decided to pull back on Wednesday night's run, dropped Thursday's cycling from 105 min to 60 min, considered making Saturday's brick at easy pacing, and dropped Sunday's run from 90 min to 45 min. The goal was to allow some needed recovery and potentially allow whatever injury there might be with the hamstring to heal. Based on the timing of this recovery week, I have now penciled in 11/22 as my time trial day. That'll give me this week as recovery, then a high-mod-high cycle, then a recovery and race week. Just need to be healthy to see what I can do.

So the evening run I just decided to do what felt right in the moment.

Conditions - 🌧 Drizzle, Wind 14mph to 30mph
Start: Temp+Dew = 66°F + 48°F; FL - 66°F
End: Temp+Dew = 64°F + 49°F; FL - 66°F

The warmup felt good and strong. No issues with the hamstring. I decided to do some 30 second runs. 6:38, 6:08 and 5:45 pace. No issues, but felt stiff. Then I decided to move to 60 seconds. On the first one, the hamstring was a bit clicky. Like it felt like it was pulling, but not terribly so. I did the 60s splits in 6:05, 5:53, and 5:38 pace. The hamstring felt off on all three splits, but not enough to stop. I decided to do a 100 second split. The wind was going to be an issue when I turned West, so I knew it wasn't going to be a full loop. Did it in 6:00 flat and decided I was done for the day. Felt fine, but no need to do more. So I headed home. As I made my way up my hill, my hamstring flared a bit like it did in the summer where it would prevent uphill running. But it never progressed to needing a stop and didn't cause any issues on the remainder of the uphill climb. So definitely ended the run being less optimistic about the hamstring. I decided if I had any issues on Friday's run, then I would shut things down for a period of time.

Thursday

So I dropped this cycling ride down from 105 to 60 min to induce some recovery. Nothing notable happened. My cadence was a high 98 rpm throughout.

Friday

An easy run day, and was really hopeful I wouldn't have any hamstring issues.

Conditions - Partly Cloudy, Wind 15mph to 26mph
Start: Temp+Dew = 46°F + 32°F; FL - 40°F
End: Temp+Dew = 45°F + 34°F; FL - 40°F

The good news is the hamstring was of zero issue. The bad news is that I got hailed on. Certainly an interesting experience. Felt like hundreds of pin pricks all over my arms and face. All in all it was 45 min, 5.1 miles, 8:52 pace, and 130 bpm HR.

Followed up with some McMillan Legs and felt good throughout.

Saturday

Brick day! Because Friday felt fine without issue, I decided to do HM Tempo pace on Saturday. But only 20 min which is a step back from the previous workout. If there were any issues, then I'd throttle down.

The cycling was good. 90 min of HIM cycling pace. The cadence was 96 rpm and I didn't need to stop. So hoping that means I've reset the need for recovery and can move on towards the last of the training cycle.

Conditions - Mostly Cloudy, Wind 15mph to 29mph
Start: Temp+Dew = 39°F + 27°F; FL - 31°F
End: Temp+Dew = 40°F + 27°F; FL - 31°F

Because of Strava premium, I was able to get a pretty good idea of what the GAP should be for each mile split. So I took that in mind during this run.



The GAP splits were right on target. A 6:41, 6:42, and 6:44. No issues with the hamstring and I felt strong through the run. Happy with everything about it. It was 3.0 miles in 20 min at 6:43 pace (6:42 GAP) with HR of 150 bpm. I checked on the Garmin VO2max and it was holding steady at 57.

Sunday

Despite the brick going well on Saturday, I decided to still do only 45 min at LR pace instead of 90 min.

Conditions - 🌧 Drizzle, Wind 9mph to 15mph
Start: Temp+Dew = 38°F + 33°F; FL - 32°F
End: Temp+Dew = 38°F + 32°F; FL - 32°F

Nice cool morning. My type of weather. Just shorts, a tank top, and a pair of gloves.



Took a little to settle into the pace, but after the first mile all was good. That fifth mile was SUPER smooth. Just felt so easy. Happy with everything about it. Finished 45 min, 5.9 miles, 7:42 pace at 137 bpm.

Moved the Garmin VO2max to 58!



That means I'm moving into the peaking phase. I've only had a 59 five times in the last three years and a 60 once. The 58 now puts me in the 3:05-3:10 marathon window. If I can manage to inch up into the 59-60 range then we're talking sub-3 as a slight possibility.

Right after the run Steph and I did LIIFT4 with some McMillan Core work.

So next week, I'm ramping the training load back up again. A 75 min easy run, a 35 min HM Tempo Brick, and a 135 min long run. Time for the home stretch of training.

 

[dis_or_dat]

Quick question, if you're not training, is it "worth it" to do "just" 2 miles?

 

[DopeyBadger]

Quick question, if you're not training, is it "worth it" to do "just" 2 miles?

Anything is better than nothing.

 

[DopeyBadger]

4 Weeks to go + HIM Base Mid Volume Cycling + (LIIFT 4 + McMillan Core/Legs)

10/19/20 - M - OFF
10/20/20 - T - LIIFT Chest/Tri + McMillan Core + 75 min @ Easy
10/21/20 - W - Cumberland-2 (75 min, 69 TSS) + 33.5 min Brick Run @ HM Tempo + McMillan Legs
10/22/20 - R - Townsend (90 min; 60 TSS)
10/23/20 - F - 45 min @ Easy
10/24/20 - Sa - Ochoco (150 min, 119 TSS) + 60 min Evening Run @ Easy
10/25/20 - Su - 135 min @ LR w/ FF + LIIFT Back/Biceps + McMillan Core

Total Run Miles - 43.2 miles
Total Run Time - 5:49 hours
Total Run TSS - x TSS

Total Biking Time - 5:15 hours
Total Biking TSS - 248 TSS

Total Strength Time - 1:48 hours
Total Strength TSS - x TSS

Total Training Time - 12:53 hours
Total TSS - x TSS

Monday

Woke up and had THAT feeling. Soreness on the inside of my right shin. Body is telling me I have a stress fracture. Yea... nope. I'm not buying it. Haven't been doing enough mileage for that to be the case. I think what was much more likely is that I let the training load drop far enough that my body thought it was race week. So tiny things become amplified even if they aren't truly causes for concern. So I was cautiously optimistic.

Tuesday

Love me some chest work at 4:45am. Nothing of significance except a good morning lift.

An easy 75 min run to push the training load back up. Funny that my long run over the weekend was 45 min and then a weekday run is 75 min. But all part of the plan of balancing the upcoming 135 min weekend run, as well as pushing my body out of the "recovery" zone and back into "training".

Conditions - 🌧 Drizzle, Wind 12mph to 22mph
Start: Temp+Dew = 45°F + 40°F; FL - 39°F
End: Temp+Dew = 44°F + 40°F; FL - 39°F

Zero issues with the shin. So a nice confirmation that it was likely just a little sore muscles rather than a true shin bone issue. I definitely felt a little lethargic during the run and chalked it up to trying to get out of what felt like "race" week. Run wise it was 75 min, 8.3 miles at 9:02 pace with HR of 128.

Wednesday

Brick day!

Started off with 75 min of HIM paced cycling. Cadence of 94 rpm and felt good throughout.

Conditions - 🌧 Light Rain, Wind 5mph to 7mph
Start: Temp+Dew = 48°F + 42°F; FL - 46°F
End: Temp+Dew = 47°F + 42°F; FL - 46°F

Longest HM Tempo brick run thus far at 35 min.



The first mile was a bit too fast based on actual pace and GAP. I was feeling pretty good through the first 4 miles. But as I turned downhill for mile #5 I lost my breath. I couldn't get in what felt like a full breath despite trying. And that turned into a side stitch at around 29.5 minutes. I tried to tough it out, but when I hit 5 miles (33.5 min) I decided to pull the plug. Happy with the run overall though. 5 miles of HM Tempo on hills coming off 75 min of HIM cycling ain't no joke. Final pace was 6:44 with HR of 149. Puts me almost exactly where I was for my November 2019 HM PR of 1:28.

Came back inside and didn't even hesitate. Headed downstairs and completed a McMillan Legs workout. Sometimes it's fun to feel that burn after a good hard cycling+run.

Thursday

90 min of endurance cycling. Nothing to note. Cadence was 95 rpm.

Friday

A nice and easy 45 min run.

Conditions - Overcast, Wind 16mph to 27mph
Start: Temp+Dew = 40°F + 36°F; FL - 32°F
End: Temp+Dew = 40°F + 36°F; FL - 32°F

A bit windy, but not too bad. Loving the cooler weather. Completed 5.2 miles in 45 min, 8:43 pace with HR of 129. All good stuff.

Came home and Steph had already started dinner. So no time to complete the strength workout.

Saturday

Long cycling ride! Another 150 min ride, but the intensity is kicked up a bit. It was a high end IM cycling paced effort. Everything was good. Cadence was 95 rpm and Strava thinks I did 42 miles.

Evening run.

Conditions - Mostly Cloudy, Wind 6mph to 7mph
Start: Temp+Dew = 41°F + 27°F; FL - 37°F
End: Temp+Dew = 40°F + 27°F; FL - 37°F

Not pushing it at all and on complete cruise control. 60 min, 7 miles, 8:37 pace and HR of 131.

Shoved myself with as much food as I could tolerate. I ate sooo much pizza.


Sunday

Big long run! Goal was 135 min.

Conditions - Overcast, Wind 8mph to 13mph
Start: Temp+Dew = 32°F + 30°F; FL - 24°F
End: Temp+Dew = 36°F + 33°F; FL - 24°F

Loving the cold weather. I was in shorts, tank top, ear band, light gloves, and some arm sleeves. I think it was a perfect outfit for the day. I told G I was headed out for 2.25 miles and she said, “That’s all? You should do 30 hours. I challenge you.” Ahhhh... nope. But nice try. I was hoping for a better performance than my 120 min run two weeks ago. Wasn't pleased with the fast finish. So I pulled back a touch for the first lap on today's run.



First lap in 31:50 which is a good 30-40 seconds slower than normal. So a success on the slower start. Then I settled in. Never felt like I was really pushing it through most of the run until the fast finish. Pretty happy with the effort and how I was feeling. Lap wise, it was 31:50, 31:15, 31:25, and 30:55. Was blazin on that last lap. Then I came into the fast finish feeling good. Did the first lap in 2:55. Had a rabbit neighbor to chase for a bit there. Then settled into 3:01 and 2:59 for the other two laps. Happy with it all. Finished 135 min, 17.77 miles, 7:37 pace with HR of 137. I had SIS 15 min prior to start, concentrated Tailwind at 45 min, Maurten caff gel at 55 min, Egel at 75 min, concentrated Tailwind at 105 min, and Maurten gel at 120 min.

Garmin VO2max is sticking at 58.



The T+D adjusted pace for a 137 HR has been working it's way faster since June. It went from 9:27 to 8:52 to 8:35 to 8:22 to 7:56 to 7:42 to 7:37. So some great progress in the last few months at a HR of 137. Feeling like I'm teetering on the edge of peak fitness.

Finished up the day with some LIIFT4 Back/Biceps and McMillan Core.

Next up is a moderate week in preparation for the peak of the training plan. The 43 miles and nearly 6 hours of running this week is probably close to a peak in the last several years.

 

[DopeyBadger]

3 Weeks to go + HIM Base Mid Volume Cycling + (LIIFT 4 + McMillan Core/Legs)

10/26/20 - M - OFF
10/27/20 - T - LIIFT Shoulders + 45 min @ Easy + McMillan Core
10/28/20 - W - Sisters-2 (60 min, 67 TSS) + 60 min @ Easy w/ Mini Progression + McMillan Legs
10/29/20 - R - Collins (75 min; 58 TSS)
10/30/20 - F - 45 min @ Easy
10/31/20 - Sa - Gibralter-2 (105 min, 99 TSS) + 25 min Brick Run @ HM Tempo
11/1/20 - Su - + LIIFT Chest/Tri + McMillan Legs + 70 min @ LR w/ FF

Total Run Miles - 30.3 miles
Total Run Time - 4:05 hours
Total Run TSS - x TSS

Total Biking Time - 4:00 hours
Total Biking TSS - 224 TSS

Total Strength Time - 2:02 hours
Total Strength TSS - x TSS

Total Training Time - 10:08 hours
Total TSS - x TSS

Monday

The other tell tale sign that race day is coming is that my calfs are swollen and feel like their bursting at the seams. This typically happens after the last few long runs. So when I woke up on Monday morning with swollen calfs, it was just another confirmatory to me that I'm nearing race day. Other than being swollen, they don't really have any other negative effects.

Tuesday

Woke up at 4:15am to the internet being out which put Steph and I behind schedule. So we were only able to do the LIIFT4 Shoulders routine in the morning.

That evening was a 45 min easy run.

Conditions - Clear, Wind 8mph to 12mph
Start: Temp+Dew = 36°F + 24°F; FL - 30°F
End: Temp+Dew = 33°F + 24°F; FL - 30°F

Nothing comes to mind from this run. It was 5 miles in 45 min at 8:57 pace with HR of 126. Nice and easy with a very low average HR.

Afterwards, I came into the house and did the McMillan Core routine that I had missed in the morning.

Wednesday

Woke up at 4:00am and my left side of my groin was a bit sore and stiff. Not sure particularly why. Maybe an odd move during the core routine. Time for some cycling.

Sisters -2 consists of 3x6-minute intervals at 105% FTP with longer, 6-minute recoveries between intervals. This was an easier superthreshold ride than the last two time (one success and one failure). While challengening, it was definitely doable without edits. Cadence was 96 rpm. The groin caused no issues.

That evening was to be some variant of a hard run. But I wasn't sure how that would effect the groin. So being this close to race day, I decided to play it safe and conservative. If things felt good, then I'd do more. If not, then I wouldn't.

Conditions - Mostly Cloudy, Wind 9mph to 18mph
Start: Temp+Dew = 48°F + 33°F; FL - 43°F
End: Temp+Dew = 44°F + 34°F; FL - 43°F

I did the first 4.6 miles as a standard easy run. Things felt fine and the groin wasn't causing any issues. So I decided to do a blind mini progression. Six minutes of steady, 2 minutes of faster and 1 min of even faster. The splits ended up being 7:13, 6:46, and 6:34 per GAP. Not quite as fast as I would have expected, but certainly not going to complain. Finished up the remainder of the run as easy and my HR came down quite quickly afterwards. In all, it was 7.2 miles in 60 min at 8:22 pace with HR of 131. The pace/HR relationship on this run was quite good.

Groin was still sore afterwards, but less of a concern since it didn't seem to impact either the cycling or running. I came inside and did a McMillan Legs routine without issue.

Thursday

Steph had to work late, so my cycling ride had to be cut short. It was suppose to be 90 min at endurance pace, but I did 75 min at high end endurance pace instead. So slightly harder for less time. Cadence was 97 rpm and there were zero issues.

Friday

Just 45 min at an easy pace.

Conditions - Clear, Wind 4mph to 5mph
Start: Temp+Dew = 39°F + 23°F; FL - 36°F
End: Temp+Dew = 36°F + 23°F; FL - 36°F

With the longest brick of the training plan tomorrow, I just made sure I took this day nice and easy. Ended up at 5.1 miles in 45 min at 8:48 pace with HR of 128. Enjoyed my last weekday run with some light before the time change on Sunday. Now the weekdays will be all dark runs for a while.

Saturday

Steph wanted to get to Costco and the grocery store when they opened. So I had to get started early in order to be home in time. In addition, we were in for a doozy of a windy day. The winds were going to be 10-20 mph early and work their way up to 30-50mph winds. I wanted none of that for a hard HM Tempo effort run. So I was up at 4:15am.

Gibraltar -2 is 105 minutes of continuous riding where you'll spend 90 minutes between 75-80% FTP. The longest HIM paced ride I was going to do this training cycle. It went well. I maintained a 95 rpm cadence and felt good throughout. Got off the bike, slipped on my running shoes and then I was out the door for 25 min at HM Tempo.

Conditions - Clear, Wind 14mph to 28mph
Start: Temp+Dew = 30°F + 27°F; FL - 19°F
End: Temp+Dew = 30°F + 27°F; FL - 19°F

The winds came early, but for the most part everything was fine.



Very happy with my pacing on this one. I felt like the first two miles were on point. The third mile I was around 6:38 pace coming into the start of the hill and knew I wanted to end up around 6:50 pace. So I tried to pull back enough to get me there. Missed the mark by a smidge, but I'm not complaining. The the last mile was a nice up and down cruise to the finish. Looks like I hit 5:50 pace to finish off the run at the tail end. In all it was 3.7 miles in 25 min at 6:43 pace with HR of 147. So everything was as planned. Felt reasonably good for doing HM pace coming off 105 min of HIM cycling.

Sunday

The winds were still heavy in the morning. So I switched up the order of the day and did the LIIFT4 workout + McMillan Legs in the morning. All was good.

I waited as long as possible to still have some daylight but to allow the winds to die down.

Conditions - Clear, Wind 19mph to 31mph
Start: Temp+Dew = 35°F + 17°F; FL - 25°F
End: Temp+Dew = 33°F + 18°F; FL - 25°F

It was still quite windy despite waiting till the best possible time.



The run was good overall. I settled into a good pace from the start. My first lap was 31:15 and my second lap was 31:10. My HR came down nicely during the second lap which is what I normally see after I settle in. Then, I had enough time to do a two lap fast finish. Wrapped them up in 2:55 and 2:57. I'm fairly positive that'll be the last fast finish I do since I've got the long run this coming Sunday and then the taper starts. Since we're close to race day now, I don't think I'm going to do a fast finish on the last long run. My right achilles got a bit tight during miles 3-5, but it did eventually calm down and wasn't an issue for the remainder of the run. In all it was 9.2 miles in 70 min at 7:35 pace with HR of 140. A nice strong long run.

All in all a good week. Still healthy with little things here and there. Paces are good. HR is good. Garmin VO2max remains at 58 which keeps me at top 15% overall fitness. Haven't been able to crack that last barrier, but I can live with that. This coming week is peak week. I've got a 90 min easy run, then a 75min cycle + 40 min HM brick, a 2.5 hr hard cycle, and a 2.5 hr long run. The temps are creeping up this week back into the T+D 100s. So that might present an additional challenge and I'll be focusing on the effort this week to make sure I don't over do it. Just 3 weeks to go.

 

[DopeyBadger]

Forgot to add some Halloween pictures. G wanted to go as Kim Possible this year. So Steph and I threw together Shego and Dr Drakken outfits. I let G shave my head into a Mohawk and paint my face blue.

 

[DopeyBadger]

? Weeks to go + HIM Base Mid Volume Cycling + (LIIFT 4 + McMillan Core/Legs)

11/2/20 - M - OFF
11/3/20 - T - LIIFT Back/Biceps + McMillan Core + 92 min @ Easy
11/4/20 - W - Cumberland-2 (75 min, 69 TSS) + 40 min Brick Run @ HM Tempo to M Tempo
11/5/20 - R - OFF
11/6/20 - F - Townsend (90 min, 60 TSS)
11/7/20 - Sa - Perkins-1 (120 min, 75 TSS)
11/8/20 - Su - OFF

Total Run Miles - 16.3 miles
Total Run Time - 2:11 hours
Total Run TSS - x TSS

Total Biking Time - 4:45 hours
Total Biking TSS - 204 TSS

Total Strength Time - 0:41 hours
Total Strength TSS - x TSS

Total Training Time - 7:38 hours
Total TSS - x TSS

Monday

Monday was another weird, "Hey all the sudden you have a major injury" thing. I had just gotten to work and all the sudden without warning my hip suddenly felt displaced. It was such an odd feeling. I was just fine and then not. It did resolve after a few hours though. I've just gotta get to race day.

Tuesday

Morning lift with back and biceps followed by some McMillan core.

Nice and easy 90 min easy run.

Conditions - Clear, Wind 11mph to 24mph
Start: Temp+Dew = 57°F + 42°F; FL - 57°F
End: Temp+Dew = 54°F + 42°F; FL - 57°F

Almost instantly this run felt amazing. I was definitely in the zone and peaking. While the temps have creeped up, the effort felt so crazy easy. One of those days you just want to bottle up. It was until I was around 75-80 min that I even got a hint of effort. But all in all it was a great run. It was 10.6 miles in 92 min at 8:38 pace with HR of 130 bpm. All exactly where I'd hope to be. The Garmin VO2max dropped to 57 which was a tad surprising, but easy runs have a tendency to do that.

Stayed up late and didn't get much good sleep.

Wednesday

Brick day! Was feeling the lack of sleep, but ready to give it a good effort. It started off with 75 min of cycling at low end HIM pace. Nothing remarkable. The cadence was 95 rpm. Strapped on the shoes and I was out the door.

Conditions - Partly Cloudy, Wind 9mph to 20mph
Start: Temp+Dew = 57°F + 47°F; FL - 57°F
End: Temp+Dew = 56°F + 46°F; FL - 57°F

Pretty early into the run (like within the first 0.5 mile) I felt like I was giving HM effort, but the pace just wasn't there. I think the lack of sleep was catching up to me. I decided to see what the first split was and then aim for that GAP for the remainder of the run. A kind of reassessment of goal pace in the moment based on how I was feeling. The first mile came in at 6:39 which was about 9 seconds slower than goal. So I just mentally added 9 seconds to the other splits. The second mile was in line with that shift, but the third mile fell off a bit more. So then I decided today wasn't going to be a HM Tempo day, so I mentally downswitched to M Tempo effort. The fourth mile fell further, and I considered just calling it a day. I was feeling "fine" but the effort just wasn't there. But I decided that if race day felt like this I might have to dig deep too. So I continued on. I gave that downhill 5th mile a good effort and came in at 6:46 which put me a few seconds behind goal, but not too bad. And then the last of the 6th mile was uphill and was hard but good. As soon as I hit 40 min, I stopped the watch and was relieved to be done. I started walking the cool down and was excited to see the stats. It was 5.7 miles in 40 min at 6:59 pace at HR of 146. So all in all it was good. Checked on the Garmin VO2max and it was 59! Multiple first pumps. That puts me at top 4% personal fitness. I've only hit 59 on 6 of the last 168 weeks. So pumped. Race day around the corner and despite this run not going great, the data was still good. Just continued the 0.25 miles home (misjudged the distance for 40 min). About halfway home, my left ankle was starting to feel a little sore. By the time I was about 2 houses away, it suddenly became a **** this a big problem. I had a noticeable limp and I had the feeling I really needed to get these shoes off. Got home and immediately sat down to take the shoes off. Got the shoes off and my feet looked a little swollen. My ankle sleeve was making a pretty serious indentation into my foot. Things felt better when I got it off, but still pretty sore. Figured maybe I just tweaked it during the run, or maybe a little too much cambered without correction. I finished the stretching and then got some ice on the ankle. No worries, I can get past this. The highs of the Garmin VO2max fitness compared to a sore ankle.

I was walking around fairly normal after the icing and headed to bed. Couldn't get comfortable in bed because my ankle wasn't feeling great. It didn't feel like Chicago 2018 when it was tendonitis on the sides of the ankle. This felt different. But I couldn't put my finger on exactly what felt different. But it kept waking me up throughout the night.

Thursday

Ankle felt worse in the morning. I couldn't walk around without a noticeable limp. Iced it and had to decide whether I was going to go to work or not. I had a dentist appointment in the morning, and if I didn't, I probably wouldn't have gone to work. But logistically things were going to be difficult if I did the dentist and then wanted to go home. So I put on my ankle brace from 2018 and headed out into the world. The ankle didn't feel great throughout the day. But I could tell the issue wasn't on the sides it was more on the top of my left ankle close to the knuckle on the outside. I couldn't flex my toes towards my knee without pain. I wasn't happy with how it was feeling, so despite it being peak week, I decided to cancel the cycling ride.

Friday

Was hopeful for some improvement, but I didn't get any. The ankle was still sore. Hard to walk around. Wore the brace. Continued to ice it when possible. Friday was a busy day at work, so unfortunately I was on my feet and walking around for 7 of the 8 hours (which is unusual for me). When I got home, despite the limp I decided to see how cycling felt. Just taking everything day by day. If I can still do the marathon on 11/22, then great. If not, I'll figure it out. I got on the cycling gear and headed to the basement. The triple socks didn't feel great, but it was small on the scale in terms of pain. Once I started cycling, things didn't feel that bad. Like a minimal issue. Once the watts started to get higher things were a little more uncomfortable, but not enough that I felt like I was causing any more of an issue. Ended up doing 90 min at endurance pace. As soon as I got off, the ankle didn't feel great, but not worse. Tough to get back upstairs, but I managed. More ice and see what happens next.

Saturday

Woke up and the ankle didn't feel any better. I could narrow the pain even further to right on the top next to the knuckle. Decided to do 120 min and see how it goes. Kept the effort low, the cadence felt good. The ankle felt no better or worse after it was over. But I definitely didn't feel like I could run on it since I was still limping around the house. So another day off from running. This would only really put me two days off plan which isn't the worst thing in the world.

Sunday

Some improvement, but not a ton. I decided just to take the day completely off and see if lots of ice and not walking around helped. Only 700 steps before bed. But by the end of the day, things started feeling better. Not out of the woods for sure, but staying hopeful. We'll see how things feel after a day of work and having to walk around. Still taking it day by day.

As to why, lots of theories but nothing definitive. Given it seems to be an issue of flexing my foot upwards, it seems like it was either from tying my shoes too tight (which prior to my ankle sleeves I've had issues with, even got bruises), or maybe specific to the Next% on this one off run. Because it does try to force your toes up for a toe off. So maybe it just jammed up my foot a bit. Who knows. I guess once it heals I'll see if it comes up again. Not sure if I'd change anything in the plan. It was going really well. Only had 2-3 exercise efforts that were below what I had hoped. Otherwise, I was doing really well. And the approach was working despite the lower volume.

 

[dobball23]

Sorry to hear about the ankle. Good luck with the healing! Injuries are the worst.

 

[FFigawi]

Hope the ankle heals quickly