[S]he Conquers Who Endures

93 mins waterjogging. 20 min wu, then 8x5 min hard with 1 min recovery, then 5x45 sec hard with 15 sec recovery, then 20 min cd. 

This was nice and hard! I was getting my HR up to 132 - 156 bpm (73 - 87% max HR) roughly for the 5 min intervals, and the 45 sec were 156 - 180 bpm (87 - 100% max HR), roughly. This is crazy considering they say your HR in water is 10 bpm lower than on land. Maybe I'm an exception?

On a heavier note, my Chicago training partner ran her marathon today. Her goal was to finally get her BQ. She ran Chicago last fall injured and unexpectedly missed qualifying by 24 sec!! She has gotten even faster and has been injury free, so there was no doubt in my mind she was def going to BQ today. I was expecting a 325/330 from her. Well, with such a cold winter/spring, she unfortunately had a really hot and humid race. She was on pace (7:55 min/mi) up through mile 18 then stopped sweating and started getting chills. She was puking by 20, and walked it in just to collapse at 26.0 then again after crossing the finish in 3:59. Thankfully she is physically okay, but my heart breaks for her. It just goes to show you that you can do everything right, but a good race is definitely luck of the day and the weather. We wanted to run Boston together so bad!! Ugh, this makes my heart so heavy and there's nothing I can do. :(

AM: 1.25 h speed bike criss-cross workout. 20 mins wu @ 60-65% max HR, then 6x4 mins 80-93% max HR (slowly raise HR first 2 mins to 93%, then slowing lower HR last 2 mins to 80%), with 4 min recovery, then 15 min cd.

I loved this. Well, hated it during the intervals. I got that burning sensation in my legs that you get when you are running really, really hard. My muscles were definitely fatigued by the last repeat. My quads and glutes are getting stronger! Love!!

It's funny, the more I cross-train, the more I don't feel like I have a stress fracture!! :) 

PM: 1.25 h water jogging. 20 min wu, then 2x[8x1:30 min hard with 30 sec recovery], 2 min easy between sets, 20 min cd. It hurts so good. Funny, I am the only waterjogger at MIT it seems who does intervals, and I don't feel like a weirdo about it. 

AM: 1.25 h weights/core/PT. 3 sets of each exercise, 3 exercises per round, 5 rounds. Finished with 3x1:30 planks.

PM: 90 mins waterjogging. 20 min wu, 5x5:00 hard with 5:00 recovery, 20 min cd. This felt easier in some sense to have a longer recovery but definitely had to push hard for a longer amount of time.  

Scrapped all workouts today and worked from home in bed. My sinus infection that I've had for 1.5 weeks is getting worse and I think it's bc I'm training a tad too hard and not getting enough rest. I took a 2 h nap today and had a lot more calories and a few emergen-C's. I felt pretty energized by the end of the day so I think this was just what I needed!

HAPPY START WORKING OUT OF BOOT DAY TO ME!!! RA-RA, ZCHISH-BOOM-BA!

AM: 2h steady bike. 15 min wu @ 60-65% max hr, then 3x20 mins @ 80-85% max hr with 15 min recoveries @ 60-65% max hr. I definitely lolly gagged before this because I was worried about my body's strength. The impromptu rest day yesterday evidently was spot on what I needed because I crushed this workout!! I need a mop to cleanup my floor after this! I wonder how much this type of workout will help me to run a half marathon in July when I'm just getting back to running?

PM: 82 mins waterjogging downhill ladder. 20 mins wu, then downhill ladder starting at 7 mins hard/half interval time recovery down to 1 min hard, 20 mins cd.

I just noticed today that my right calf is noticeably smaller than my left!! It looks silly, gotta work on that! 

98 mins waterjogging. 20 min wu, then 8x5min hard with 1 min recovery, then 10x45 sec hard with 15 sec recoveries. Once again I was getting to ~170 bpm on the 45 sec intervals, that's 94% max hr!!! 15 sec was definitely not enough time to recover, but I think that's the point of the workout. :) I'm really loving water jogging, that in combination with the bike has got me feeling so strong. I'm hitting 12 h training per week, which is higher than I hit running (typically 8-10 h/week). It's gotta be lower intensity so I will call this excellent base building. :)

I had decided to scratch the half marathon in mid-July that I was targeting a 1:30, but now I'm wondering if I should use it as a baseline race to start marathon training (targeting a Nov marathon now). Who knows maybe I can even PR? That would be faster than 1:41 since I haven't run a half in a year. Ha! 

4h long bike. Maintained 72% max heart rate. This seemed easier than my 3.5 h long bike last weekend!! I think I'll stick to 4h max. Not sure what a longer bike ride would do for me?