Of Mice and Marathons

AM: 90' on the trainer. 229W. HR 133.

3 x 12' Under/Overs Sweet Spot/Threshold 

Legs were sluggish, but I got through. 284 watts (HR 147), 283 watts (HR 149), 286 watts (HR 150)

AM/Lunch: 14 miles total. 

6-Mile Steady State Tempo in 39:29 (6:35 average @ 167 BPM): 6:38, 6:35, 6:32, 6:34, 6:35, 6:31

I had the day off from Lawrence Tech because of their spring break or whatever they call it there, so I had blood drawn and then got my Monday workout in a bit early. I planned on 12 x 1k to extend the workout from last week a bit, but was also thinking of something a little faster than the 8-mile tempos I have been doing to get something in between moderate to marathon effort and half marathon to lactate threshold effort (about 15k pace for me currently). I wanted to try to do this as a cutdown, starting at 6:40 and hopefully getting the last two miles under 6:30. As I got rolling I thought maybe I would just turn it into a 95% 10k time trial and maybe shoot for 40-41' but I wasn't able to cut down as far as I thought, but I went out strong and progressed a bit and hung on at the end, which I was fine with. HR never got too high, but I don't think I can sustain miles too far into the 170s these days. 

Effort was high marathon effort to half marathon effort, so right in the steady state zone target. I think last year around this time I was able to do 40' at just under 6:30 pace, so I am a little off that, but I have fewer miles and running workouts, so I really takes this as a positive I am heading in the right direction. Two weeks ago I did 4 miles at the same pace with an average HR of 170, so definite progress. 

4.5 up/3.5 down

AM: 90' on the trainer. 232W. HR 131.

3 x 15' Sweet Spot

269 watts (139 BPM), 274 watts (145 BPM, 275 watts (147 BPM)

Solid earlier session. HR was very low. I think my zones are definitely a bit low at this point. 

PM: 6 miles, averaged 9:39. HR 121. 

Recovery. Got pretty dark, but happy for the room for extra light.

AM: 120' on the trainer. 209W. HR 120. 

Basic zone 2 ride. Listened to some podcast and news, watching the world crumble. 

PM: 8 miles, averaged 8:17. HR 137. 

Felt very good. HR stayed quite low and 8' pace feels very easy at this point. I think after a few weeks of solid workouts, my fitness has turned around. Feeling really really good. The Polly Ann is in decent shape. A bit rutted, but mostly frozen a bit. I imagine it will be full ready before too long.

AM: 8 miles, averaged 8:13. HR 138.

Switched my workouts around to make sure I got enough sleep. I will hopefully get my trainer workout in after Megan gets home. Need to figure out what to do about my workout for tomorrow as Megan has to go to Toledo to help her parents. I doubt I will get up super early to get a long run tempo in, but I might just have to or reorder things for the weekend. 

My weight seems to be dropping quite significantly. I feel like this never happens, but I have been trying to focus on my nutrition a bit more and watch my snacking/what I am snacking on, and increasing my protein intake and making sure I get recovery fuel bac in almost immediately after all workouts. 

PM: 90' on the trainer. 226W. HR 136. 

4 x 10' Threshold

298 watts (151 BPM), 296 watts (155 BPM), 300 watts (157 BPM), 301(158 BPM)

Evening: 78' ride outside. 18.6 miles @ 14.2 MPH. 134. HR 102.

Recovery. First outdoor ride of the year. A bit later than normal, but things weren't great for a while and then just really turned around quickly. Roads were graded and actually very dry and chunky in places. A few wet and/or muddy spots, but nothing you don't see after a little rain in the summer. I was hoping the warmer weather would be dry so I could get a longer ride outside this weekend, but not going to happen.

I skipped my Friday long run as Megan had to go to Toledo and I took the boys for the day. The boys were extremely challenging and my parenting was about a D+ at best.

PM: 3 hours 33' (56 miles @ 15.8 MPH). 185W. HR 125. 

I thought it was supposed to be raining all day, but it cleared off and the sun came out a bit, though it was extremely windy (40 MPH gusts), but given that I figured the roads would be decently dry and it was in the 60s I was going to just deal with it. The wind was quite obnoxious at times and pulled my front wheel a few times, which was a bit scary.

Roads were generally good. Slow and chunky in places. Some real rutted out sections of low-lying areas where there is water on both sides of the road, but overall quite good for mid-March. Power was okay, though speed was lower than I would have liked, but wind and a somewhat hilly route will do that. Glad to bank a little time on a planned 3 hour ride.