Of Mice and Marathons

Off.

Decided I was due for a day off. 63 days on. Legs have been heavy. Body and mind tired. That time in the semester. 

Lunch: 10 miles, averaged 7:44. HR 148.

5k Tempo Steady State to Threshold

Pretty tired, but I wanted to get a workout in, but I couldn't devote too much time to it. I had planned on a 10k wave tempo, but that was a bit overly ambitious. The first k I couldn't get the pace down, so I just rolled with the effort thinking I would do 10k steady state, but I quickly realized my legs just weren't working very well and my quad was a bit achy. I decided to just press as far as I felt was in line with a solid tempo effort. 

I managed a solid progression through 5k and decided my legs were just going to go further in a whole if I tried to push 2-3k more. 4:03, 3:59, 3:55, 3:55, 3:50. 6:21 pace average @ 167 BPM. 

I think most of my bike workouts will be zone 2 for the middle part of the week. Body is definitely feeling the volume and end of semester. It took a while.

PM: 90' on the trainer. 201W. HR 122. 

Started a workout, but knew I shouldn't and failed pretty early. I have been tired for several days and running yesterday should have told me to take a break, but I thought I could fight through it. Dumb. I should have known from Saturday as well, because during that long ride/hard efforts I was feeling pretty wiped out. End of semester decompression I imagine.

Submitted my grades at about 1:30 AM. Feels good to have that portion of the semester mostly behind me. It was a pretty good semester. Still have some comments to write up and my LTU work, but things are looking up. 

Lunch/PM: 3 hours 5'. 207W. HR 127. 

Decided not to do my planned workout, but given the overall time and I am not sure stress-wise this was easier, but it was relaxed and endurance. 

PM: 6.2 miles, averaged 8:28. HR 128. 

Legs were confused to start. I guess it has been a while since I have run after riding. Even with a few hour between it took a while to wake up, but I wasn't in a hurry anyway. Nice to see low 8' pace feeling so easy. 

AM: 8 miles, averaged 8:16. HR 134.

Did some strides, which felt great. As I move back into racing, I need to do these more regularly. I've generally been pretty inconsistent with them throughout my running career. These felt very good and I am looking forward to running fast again. Kind of cold and rainy here and there, but I got some breaks in it and the really heavy stuff hit as I got back (about 45 degrees, so I was happy for the delay).

PM: 1:45 on the trainer. 227W. HR 136. 

45' Sweet Spot Interval: 267 Watts @ 153 BPM

Felt pretty decent even though it was getting late. Had a solid 1 hour+ nap today and that cleared out a lot of fatigue. 

The boys have screening for kindergarten tomorrow. 

AM: 14 miles, averaged 7:18. HR 152. 

8-Mile Aerobic Builder in 51:30 (6:26 Avg. @ 166 BPM)

6:35, 6:24, 6:23, 6:23, 6:24, 6:30, 6:27, 6:24

Boys were off for screening and they were having some trouble, so I was a bit worried. They only wanted one parent, so Megan took them. Sawyer had a bit of trouble, but I think they were overtired. Need to get them to bed sooner, but with twins they never want to go to bed. 

The weather was pretty decent. Cool, but not cold, but warming up. I took a slightly longer route to the tempo loop for a change in pace. I was planning on a 6-mile tempo and 3 x 1 mile around goal half marathon pace. First mile was slower than I wanted but told myself it would do no good to force it. Contractors were doing work at one of the houses blocking most of the road, so it made one of the corners a little tricky becauce Michiganers think unobstructed driving is a god-given right. 

Felt generally pretty solid. HR was a little elevated, but the effort felt pretty much in line with what I have been doing, but much closer to my 8-mile tempos of my late 20s and early 30s. I decided to go to 8 miles and see if I could knock of a mile repeat or two, but I was ready to be done and my stomach was telling me lentil tacos with corn dip at 10:30 last night was not my wisest timing. Did a shorter than planned cool down of two miles. 

I'm pretty happy with this one. It's the first time in 5-6 years (at least) that I've gone sub-6:30 miles in a workout. I was also sub-40' for 10k. On Monday, a sub-20' 5k almost killed me, and I was just above that pace for almost 52' today. 

4 up/2 down 

PM: 4 hours. 68.1 miles @ 17MPH. 210W. HR 129. 

Zone 2 with VO2 Intervals

Pretty chilly, but not terrible. Just on the cusp of trying to decide whether or not to wear a hat under my helmet. Felt generally pretty good, but a little tired toward the end. I think I needed to fuel a bit better throughout the middle. I just wasn't thirsty as it was colder. The intervals were not structured, just sprinkled throughout the first three hours, essentially. 2-5', ranging from 310-340, mostly around the mid-320s. I couldn't seem to get into a rhythm, but with changing terrain, it was somewhat difficult. I had a hard time finding the right gear a few times. 

I think I need to turn off my speed and average speed as it is too distracting and I don't need it. I just need heart rate metrics, power metrics, overall time, and training stress score when I have those workouts.