Tuesday: I was supposed to do 6@base with 10x8s hill sprints and drills. HOWEVER, at the end of last week I started having problems with the left heel/Achillies Tendon. In general with all the fast running I've been having more problems with stiffness in the calves in the morning. Foam rolling has helped but after last weeks world record of hard runs we noticed this area was tweaked.
I suspect last week when my right leg had really gotten sore (a good sign..it's carrying it's own weight now!) it forced my left foot to get more of a beating.
It wasn't too bad, in fact I did the 18 milers and didn't make it worse, but I did soak my foot in a basin of ice water after the run to keep it from getting more inflamed.
Given that issue I did only 3 miles at base and scrubbed the sprints and drills. This is a step back week after all and Sunday was a pretty hard long run. At no time during this run did the soreness progress to feeling worse...a good sign.
Wednesday: called for 7 miles..first 2 at base then a progressive speedup to 1/2 MP. (8:30 or so). With foam rolling and self massage things were feeling better so I decided to do 7 miles of straight progression from 10:00 to 8:30 and then cool down:
| Split | Distance | Avg Pace | Avg HR | % WHR | Cad | YPB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1.00 | 9:56 | 112 | 54.1 | 88 | 1.582 |
| 2 | 1.00 | 9:52 | 118 | 59.0 | 87 | 1.512 |
| 3 | 1.00 | 9:33 | 120 | 60.7 | 87 | 1.536 |
| 4 | 1.00 | 9:15 | 124 | 63.9 | 87 | 1.534 |
| 5 | 1.00 | 9:00 | 125 | 64.8 | 88 | 1.564 |
| 6 | 1.00 | 8:49 | 127 | 66.4 | 88 | 1.572 |
| 7 | 1.00 | 8:35 | 131 | 69.7 | 89 | 1.565 |
| 8 | 0.74 | 10:40 | 114 | 55.7 | 85 | 1.455 |
| Summary | 7.74 | 9:25 | 121 | 61.5 | 87 | 1.545 |
The morning dawned clear blue sky and temps of 45F! I'm wishing for the 'fall back' time change as things are pretty dark out there until 7:30am or so.
This run was pretty fantastic...after two days of rest the fast running felt very easy and my form was great. At no point was I working hard..breathing was 2:4 or 3:3 the entire time. The left rearfoot / heel was ok as long as I was midfoot striking.
The economy numbers are really good, e.g.: 125 bpm for a 9:00 pace mile, 1.564 yards-per-beat....a new record for this training build-up. It's was really cold out..therefore no cardiac drift which helps keep the numbers low, but still...I'm very happy.
I wanted to soak my left foot in ice water right after the run, so I decided to do the weights and floor exercises later in the day.
I'll know more how the foot is progressing tomorrow morning. I need to be at 100% for next week, the week where I really hit the miles and get my first 20 mile long run in! (Can't wait...just love those long runs!)
Thursday: Another really cold morning...40.5F! I wore my long pants for the first time in a very long time. The schedule called for 5 miles at base with 10x8s hill sprints...I did 6.3 miles with the sprints..my foot was feeling pretty good especially since yesterday was some fast running.
I was not feeling like going fast and took it easy with an average pace of around 10:30m/m.
Your heart rate is really low for those paces -- well done. I've been tracking recently but now need to analyze. And burrrrr.... I was warm down here compared to you -- 48* but still very cold for me.
ReplyDelete@tricia: yup it's low for that pace for me. But nobody should compare their HRs to anothers....everybody is quite different. i.e. my 125 may be the same as 150 to you, etc.
ReplyDeleteYea, it is more useful to compare % of maximum - if Paul put his max on there then you could probalby compare more easily...
ReplyDeleteI like how you broke down your run. Seems like your HR was pretty good. Hope the left foot gets to feeling better!
ReplyDelete