SOCIALLY PROFILED
IRONMAN TRAINING 2021
Week beginning Sunday, November 15, 2020
45 weeks until IRONMAN Canada.
WEEKLY GOAL
Last week, I saw a number of trigger-points and hotspots flare up. My goal this week is to be more mindful regarding the maintenance work, do my best to stick to the plan and be healthy for the track workout next Sunday this Saturday.
I have quality run work scheduled this Sunday and again on Wednesday and 2 pool sessions (COVID allowing).
SUMMARY
I feel like was SOMEWHAT PRODUCTIVE.
The GOOD: Lots of high quality running stimulus and the extra work on the niggles has been paying off. I was mentally more productive at work too.
The BAD: I missed a base run on Thursday (felt run-down) and mentally whiffed on the time of my scheduled (paid for) swim on Saturday.
SUNDAY NOV 15 ☁️
Sleep 2 | Fatigue 3 | Stress 3 | Soreness 5
Rate on an scale 1-7 1=best 7=worst +5 is a warning
PLANNED WORKOUTS
Run 10 minutes easy to warm up. 10x 100 meter strides (about 5k effort) 100 meter EASY jog after each. 5x 800 meters @ 3:29-3:33 (basically 5k pace or so. Try to find that rhythm) Leaving on 5:00. (about 90 seconds walking recovery) 10 minute cool down jog.
Ride 75+ minutes on any bike you like. Trainer, rollers, MTB, road bike, TT bike. Keep it easy. Spin out the legs. Bring snacks.
NOTES
Total Time: 173 minutes
The wind and rain pelting the house woke me up at 0618. After doing my business and recording my weight (79.3 Kg), I crawled back into bed and slept soundly through 0730. I made banana pancakes then did the "15 Minute Runner's Flexibility Routine" while breakfast settled.
Time to head to PISE.
With a left hamstring/glute getting a whole lot of attention yesterday and today, I was pretty sensitive to how this workout was going to unfold. The warm up was a breeze on a breezy day. No soreness to report anywhere. I started to feel some tenderness, specifically high up on my left adductor, during the 10x100m efforts. It was not so sore as to alter my gait; I continued on.
Coming off a 10th stride, the first of the 5x800m efforts felt laboured. The second and third felt more comfortable (comparatively) but the fourth 800m saw the workout catching up with me. I messed up the recording of the workout by hitting the stop/start button as I crossed the line on the 4th 800 but the fifth effort was my most focused.
RECORDED 800M TIMES
| 800m | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Time | 3:28.7 | 3:24.4 | 3:27.2 | 3:26.7 | *3:22.5 |
| * on 110 seconds rest | |||||
More importantly, that tender left adductor went unnoticed during the 800s but I did have a dull ache in that left side's piriformis.
NORMALIZED PACE CHART
I felt really good about how this run went.
POST RUN
The Seahawks took another beating this week. They play again this Thursday night, which makes next Sunday free for an important workout.
POST GAME EASY SPIN
Average Heart Rate: 105 BPM
After the game, I headed out to the garage and sat on my TT Bike for 75 minutes. I watched a video called "Iron Dad", the story of Alex Smith and his son Harrison's battle with muscular dystrophy. They completed Challenge Denmark together; very cool story.
MONDAY NOV 16 🌦
Sleep 5 | Fatigue 4 | Stress 4 | Soreness 4
Rate on an scale 1-7 1=best 7=worst +5 is a warning
PLANNED WORKOUT
21 Minutes of mobility
NOTES
Total Time: 0 minutes
Garbage sleep last night and I woke with a headache to boot.
Mobility and a good amount of time spent with the foam roller working out that stubborn piriformis.
WIND WARNING for Coastal British Columbia
A rapidly deepening area of low pressure will pass north of Vancouver Island on Tuesday morning while a fast moving cold front crosses the south coast.
As the front races across the area, widespread and powerful gusty southerly winds will occur. Gusts in excess of 90 km/h are possible. Winds will ease considerably following the passage of the cold front but will remain gusty into Tuesday afternoon.
TUESDAY NOV 17 🌦
Sleep 3 | Fatigue 3 | Stress 3 | Soreness 4
Rate on an scale 1-7 1=best 7=worst +5 is a warning
PLANNED WORKOUTS
Swim @ 1pm 1900: 4 rounds (2x 50 easy swim, 50 w/ buoy, 50 kick w/ board, rest as needed) 6x (25 Stronger swim r :15, 75 relaxed/easier effort r :20) 4x 100 swim w/ buoy/steady r :20-:30. 4x 25 easy to cool down.
Run 30 minutes. Flat route. EASY effort.
NOTES
Total Time: 85 minutes
I stepped on the scale this morning and morning rhymes with warning. 79.5Kg (175lbs) and I have no interest in heading up Yellow Lake Pass at anything more than 160lbs. I don't get it. I have been monitoring my dinner portions lately and when I thought this bereavement weight-gain was going to plateau around 78Kg, the weight continues to piling on. I understand that I have replaced some running duration with intensity lately, but I believe there is a problem.
THE SWIM(S)
I shared the "Moderate Lane" with 3 older ladies. It didn't take too long before one lady sternly suggested that I book myself into the "Fast Lane". Maybe next time eh?
This swim felt comfortable and fun with one mental mistake: I did 4x100 "kickboard" instead of 4x100 swimming with a pull-buoy. When I pressed stop on the watch, it had counted 1500m even though I was in the water for +50 minutes. I was sure that I needed 1900m for the workout.
With an entire section of the pool all to myself, I did an easy but steady 400m effort. Even if I thought I was short on the original work, there was every reason to take advantage of the moment and to have a bit more fun in the water.
THE JOG
This felt like an "off the bike" brick workout. Heavy calves (probably from the 400m of kickboard work). Even after 20 minutes, my legs never came around. The brief weather window I had collapsed so I headed back to my truck.
WEDNESDAY NOV 18 🌧
Sleep 2 | Fatigue 3 | Stress 2 | Soreness 3
Rate on an scale 1-7 1=best 7=worst +5 is a warning
PLANNED WORKOUTS
Ride 60 minutes easy on the rollers. Easy spinning.
Run 50 minutes: (flattish route) 15 minute jog to warm up. 5x :40 strides, 1:20 jog after each. 20 minutes @ 1/2 Marathon effort/feel (5:03-5:22 per km, like we talked about) 5 minutes EASY running to cool down.
NOTES
Total Time: 50 minutes
I had a decent sleep last night but I am a bit stiff this morning (hips/lumbar and soleus).
This afternoon's run was a shortened version of the workout from last Wednesday but with a similar effort put in. What was different was today, I ran in my Altra Escalante shoes and I got caught out in the rain. The strides were done by feel (no pace alarm set in the watch) and apart from the first stride, they felt pretty normal.
I love doing my best "Rocky Balboa" impression running strides in front of the new boxing gym on Harbour Road.
The tempo effort was on schedule too; maybe a touch fast along the Selkirk area but once on the false-flat uphill, the average pace dropped slightly. This week, I went up and over the Switch Bridge with close to 5 minutes remaining in the 20 minute effort; I may have burnt a match in doing so. The last 4 minutes was into the wind and rain. Overall I am pretty stoked with the effort.
NORMALIZED PACE CHART
The bike was an easy effort tonight but I really noticed this afternoon's workout. The quads are feeling cooked. Time for bed.
THURSDAY NOV 19 🌦
Sleep 5 | Fatigue 4 | Stress 4 | Soreness 4
Rate on an scale 1-7 1=best 7=worst +5 is a warning
PLANNED WORKOUT
15 Minutes mobility.
Run 30 minutes. Flat route. EASY effort.
NOTES
Total Time: 0 minutes
Terrible sleep with night sweats; I woke up feeling more tired than when I when to bed last night. It looks like a beautiful morning to go for an easy run but I am going to put it off until after work; even if it means running in the rain.
This was an end to a couple of streaks. The Seahawks ended their 2 game losing skid with a solid game against the Cardinals last night. The other streak was my not missing a workout in a long while. Work hit me with a project due by tomorrow morning and I didn't finish it until 15 minutes into the Hawks Post-Game Show. As much of bummer it is seeing my workout streak end, it may have happened on the right day as my throat started to feel sore earlier this afternoon.
FRIDAY NOV 20 ⛅️
Sleep 3 | Fatigue 3 | Stress 4 | Soreness 2
Rate on an scale 1-7 1=best 7=worst +5 is a warning
PLANNED WORKOUT
25 Minutes, Full Body Mobility Routine D2.
Rollers 60 minutes: 20 minutes easy to warm up. 8x :45 high cadence, :15 easy after each. 2 minutes easy. 8x :30 slightly higher cadence, :30 easy. 2 minutes easy. 8x :15 HighEST cadence, :45 easy. Easy riding to cool down.
NOTES
A workout on the rollers was welcomed after a long day at work and my legs felt really good tonight. When it was time to spin, I was head down and spinning.
FRIDAY NIGHT CADENCES
SATURDAY NOV 21 ☁️
Sleep 2 | Fatigue 3 | Stress 2 | Soreness 3
Rate on an scale 1-7 1=best 7=worst +5 is a warning
PLANNED WORKOUTS
Swim @ 10am 1900: 4 Rounds (25, 50, 75 easy swimming. Rest as needed) 3 rounds (50 steady kick r :20, 2x 25 Stronger kick r :15) 8x 75 steady swim w/ steady kick r :20. 300 continuous/steady swim. 4x 25 easy swim to cool down.
Run 30 minutes easy
NOTES
Total Time: 40 minutes 5000m Time: 22:30
Last night was an "ok" sleep for the bulk of the night; I was up at 0550, did some business and fell back to sleep until 0755. That second sleep was "money" and just what I was needing.
A good night's rest aside, I puttered around this morning thinking I had booked another afternoon swim. At noon, I have my swim kit by the front door but if I was on the ball, I would have finished the swim already. What to do?
TOMORROW'S RUN TODAY
Back to the Oak Bay Track for another 5 km.
The first 200m came in at 49 seconds; that's too fast so I relaxed and reset my mental clock. The next 200m was 53s; right on schedule and I did my best to lock onto that pace. I saw the third 200 a little too relaxed at 54s; I followed that up with a 52 s 200m effort. With that last lap levelled up, I then had series of 53 and 54 second half laps.
Things started to really breakdown just before the 4km mark. I even yelled at myself outloud "keep digging!" With fatigue setting in, my mind wandered with questions of "why?" Was it the spinning on the bike last night? Was it the extra weight I have been packing around lately? Do I really have to accept I am just slow?
The idea of starting a kick at 600m out was out the window; I was just thankful to hold whatever I could. I did clock 49 seconds on the final 200m.
For all of today's perceived suffering, I did beat my time from Halloween by 2 seconds.
THE 200m SPLITS
WHAT NOW?
My task is to find something from this workout that I can hang on to and gain some mental confidence for another attempt at this distance in 2 weeks. This may be harder more work than running the 5k itself.
REVIEW AND REFRAME
I did mistakenly run the warm up faster than what Elliot asked for. 2 things happened in the warmup:
The first being that I genuinely felt a magnitude better than normal when I did my first 100m stride. That quite likely had put my confidence in the day, higher than it should have been.
The second thing that potentially tripped up my warm up was doing the strides in lane 3. There was a guy doing his run on the inside lane; having a person to stride past made it way too easy to go faster than prescribed. He'd catch me on my jogs in between only for me to whiz past him again. Once a racer, always a racer.
Even the warmup's 200m was fast at 49 seconds (4:05/km) but honestly, this 200m felt effortless and visually, it looked like what I have been running on the track for weeks.
The next realization I need to focus on is that the time before 16 minutes may have been an increasingly hard effort, but it was still controlled and manageable. This reduces the "suffer-time" from +22 minutes to just 7 minutes. Sitting back and thinking about it after the workout, is 7 minutes such a big ask? Probably not.
2 seconds is a negligible gain in two weeks, especially when my hopes are pinned on being a whole minute faster, but if I "readjust the lens" this to include where I was on September 19th, then a much happier picture comes into focus.
AFTER REREADING THIS 4 DAYS LATER...
(the following added on Tuesday, November 24th.)
"my hopes are pinned on being a whole minute faster..."
That is an OUTCOME goal and that outcome, like everything in the future, needs to be reframed as out of my control. I absolutely can control the PROCESS of getting faster and I have been putting in the work toward the process of running faster as of late.
"Do I really have to accept I am just slow?"
When the workout became difficult last Saturday, I fell into a trap of a FIXED MINDSET. Nothing about what I have done in past year has had a cieling or a fixed point. My physical fitness does move day to day, week to week, month to month.
Furthermore...
Figuring those reactions out now, should allow my rational mind to recognize these sympathetic nervous thoughts eariler and allow me to remain focused on the task at hand.