SOCIALLY PROFILED
IRONMAN TRAINING 2021
Week beginning Sunday, October 25, 2020
48 weeks until IRONMAN Canada.
WEEKLY GOAL
For the past number of weeks, I have been increasingly preoccupied with my goal of running a 5K this autumn. This week, I will get a chance to put together a mini-race week given the workout on the schedule for this Saturday.
SUMMARY
I feel like was STAYING CONSISTENT.
I started to feel this month's volume by Tuesday where in the past two weeks, things crept on me on Thursdays. Fortunately this week, my coach had reduced volume programmed in with a crescendo effort on Saturday.
Looking back on October as a whole, my routine is back to "putting in the work". I was active on 25 days for roughly 38 hours of running and biking; this included 192 km of running with a nice amount of quality (hills and track).
SUNDAY OCT 25 ☀️
Sleep 2 | Fatigue 3 | Stress 2 | Soreness 3
Rate on an scale 1-7 1=best 7=worst +5 is a warning
PLANNED WORKOUT
Mobility 15 minutes.
Run 80 minutes: 20 minutes easy running to warm up. 5x :40 strides, 1:20 EASY jog after each. Then... 4x 9 minutes @ 1/2 marathon effort/focus (flatter road, Lochside/Goose would be ideal) 1:00 WALK between each. 10 minutes easy running to cool down. BRING CALORIES
NOTES
Total Time: 90 minutes Distance: 15 km
I had a much better sleep last night compared to what I was getting last week.
My legs felt a bit dead today during the mobility routine (lunges in particular).
I walked for a bit before hitting start on this run. I felt just ok at the pedestrian pace of the warm up. I headed toward the gravel part of Lochside Trail just north of the Monkey Tree Pub.
Once there, it was time for 5 strides and all 5 of them felt terrible; heavy legs, no juice.
I was prepared to go through the motions for the 9 minute efforts but unexpectedly, things just started to click. Running felt light and effortless and I found myself having a lot of fun. I had a "coffee flavoured" ReKarb between the 3rd and 4th efforts.
It was a comfortable jog home from there.
PACE CHART
I was developing an ingrown toenail on my left big toe. I addressed it before the run and I wore my Altras this afternoon. This may have been my most fun activity in those shoes so far.
MONDAY OCT 26 ☁️
Sleep 4 | Fatigue 4 | Stress 2 | Soreness 3
Rate on an scale 1-7 1=best 7=worst +5 is a warning
PLANNED WORKOUT
Mobility 22 minutes.
NOTES
Total Time: 0 minutes
I woke up at 0330. I was hungry and had a bad bout of night sweats. I found a granola bar in the cupboard and was able to go back to sleep but not a good sleep overall.
Mental focus was difficult today. Maybe it is the cloudy, dreary weather today.
TUESDAY OCT 27 ⛅️
Sleep 4 | Fatigue 3 | Stress 3 | Soreness 2
Rate on an scale 1-7 1=best 7=worst +5 is a warning
PLANNED WORKOUT
Ride 60 minutes on rollers. 20 minutes easy to warm up. 6x :40 high cadence, :50 easy. 1:00 easy. 15 minutes @ an effort you could hold for 90 minutes or even a bit longer. 15 minutes easy spinning to cool down.
Run 40 minutes. Flat route. EASY effort.
NOTES
Total Time: 95 minutes
Length of sleep last night was good and I didn't get up in the middle of the night but I did feel pretty groggy before getting my feet on the floor.
It was really hard to tell if it was fog rolling in from the west or if it was genuine rain. Not taking the chance with the weather, I did the run first. Tuesday runs officially suck. The last time I felt this terrible on a run was also on a Tuesday. Lungs were not taxed but the anterior ligaments above my ankles protested.
I stopped for a traffic light at 9 minutes and then for a walk break at 22; anything to dump the tension built up above my ankles. I felt a bit better after 30 minutes but this was in no way a fun jog.
After dinner, I headed out to the garage for a late spin on the rollers. I rode the TT bike and if I could do a couple things over, I would:
Turn the fan on. It was cool to start but without a fan, this workout became a sweat-fest and I haven't wrapped this bike for indoor workouts yet.
Wear a different chamois. I ended the workout not long into the "cooldown" because of some uncomfortable rubbing that did not seem worth the extra 10 minutes of spinning.
SLOW JOG ALONG THE GORGE
WEDNESDAY OCT 28 ⛅️
Sleep 2 | Fatigue 4 | Stress 4 | Soreness 4
Rate on an scale 1-7 1=best 7=worst +5 is a warning
PLANNED WORKOUT
Run 15 minutes easy to warm up. 6x 100 meter strides (to warm up) 100 meter EASY jog. Then.. 4x 400 meters @ goal 5k effort/pace. 1:42-1:45 is a good range for now. Leaving on 3:00. 10 minutes easy to cool down.
NOTES
Total Time: 43 minutes
Decent sleep last night and I had a busy morning at work.
If yesterday's run just plain sucked, today's workout didn't suck as bad. Today I ran some 100s and 400s but it was heavy running; not popping off the track, not feeling light. The distances were not long enough to use the word "laboured" but for the 4x400m efforts, I expected 1:44.2, 1:41.1, 1:40.9 and 1:43.6 to "feel" easier.
Left adductor/piriformis and both quads need massage work.
THURSDAY OCT 29 ☁️
Sleep 3 | Fatigue 3 | Stress 3 | Soreness 4
Rate on an scale 1-7 1=best 7=worst +5 is a warning
PLANNED WORKOUT
Mobility 25 minutes.
Ride 60 minutes easy. Any bike. Flat route or inside. Only goal is to keep it easy and pedal for the whole 60 minutes.
NOTES
Total Time: 60 minutes
Just 7 hours of sleep; I went to bed early, had the night sweats (again) woke up early (0515) but oddly, woke up somewhat refreshed. I was able to sneak in a short nap afterwork and before dinner.
The ride on the rollers was steady state, no stopping, easy effort for an hour; of which, 45 minutes in the aerobars. I watched the 2020 UCI MTB Marathon Worlds held in Turkey; cool event.
While this effort was very easy on the heart and quads, I am sure this hour worked some smaller, but important postural muscles.
FRIDAY OCT 30 ☀️
Sleep 4 | Fatigue 3 | Stress 2 | Soreness 3
Rate on an scale 1-7 1=best 7=worst +5 is a warning
PLANNED WORKOUT
Mobility 20 minutes.
Run 20-30 minutes flat and EASY.
NOTES
Total Time: 30 minutes
Less than 7 hours of sleep last night but I woke up feeling somewhat rested.
Concentration at work was ok in the morning but got harder as the day went on; maybe I'll blame it on being a Friday.
I did my light jog on the Lochside and Swan Lake Trail tonight. A touch of fatigue in my quads which I hope is gone by tomorrow.
SATURDAY OCT 31 🎃
Sleep 2 | Fatigue 2 | Stress 2 | Soreness 2
Rate on an scale 1-7 1=best 7=worst +5 is a warning
PLANNED WORKOUT
Morning: 5-15 minutes of basic mobility (of your choice) to loosen up for the day.
Drive to the track (whatever track you like)
10 minutes easy jogging. 6x 100 strides, Ideally @ a touch SLOWER than 5k speed. Yes, these are pretty slow. Goal is to warm up. 100 meter EASY jog between each. Then... 200 meters @ what you think you might hold for a 5k. Walk 200-400 meters. Bathroom, tighten shoes, water, etc.
5k "Time Trial" We'll set goal lap splits and K splits on the 29th or 30th. Ideally this will be a bit SLOWER than a true Time trial.
5 minutes walking. Then 10 minutes EASY jogging to cool down.
NOTES
Total Time: 40 minutes
5000m Time: 22:32 Pace: 4:30/km
Although I woke breifly at 0515, last night's sleep was the best I've had in a long time.
Information about the availability of UVic's Centennial Stadium is next to nonexistant so I decided to drive there and check it out. After arriving, I found the gate open and a sign stating "If you have COVID symptoms, DO NOT ENTER". I paid for parking, set my kit near the grandstand and set off to do my warm-up.
The UVic track surface, being a legacy of the 1996 Commonwealth Games, was awesome underfoot. The warmup felt good; the weather was near perfect and I had this entire facility to myself!
Then the varsity soccer practice on Field #4 ended and the players started to make their way across the track. As I was getting a sip of water before the "Time Trial", the soccer coach gave me the reason that I was the only person on the track today. The stadium has been closed since March. The reason the gate was open was to allow the soccer team use of the closest parking lot for their practice. Short story: I had to leave.
It was a 10 minute drive to Oak Bay and the track there.
This run was a much different experience to my 4600m effort, 6 weeks ago, on September 19th.
Right from the start, I was focused on pacing. Mentally, my task was to stay with posture, breathing and cadence and for the most part, that is where I was. These details were discussed with my coach on our weekly call; I feel it paid off. I had a fancy workout out programmed into my watch but I ditched that idea and took manual splits at the 200m marks. I missed capturing just one 200m split.
OAK BAY
PACING PER 200M
A FEW POSITIVES FROM THE EFFORT
- I felt more in control of the effort through 10 laps
- I left the track feeling worked but not as shattered as I did in September.
WHAT STILL BUGS ME
Today was as good of a day as I could have hoped for. I felt well rested, the weather was absolutely perfect (cool, sunny and next to no wind) and when I my plans were thrown off, I adjusted by finding a new venue in short order. What bugs me is that the goal was to hold an average pace of 4:25/km for this workout and I was off schedule with a 4:30/km; or 2 secs per 200m slow.