Sunday, May 26, 2013

Weekly Training Wrap - 5/20 - 5/26

A solid week of training! I am gaining confidence with every run and think I can string together 4-5 weeks of good training ahead of Leadville. This week I leaned on the bike a lot to keep my aerobic fitness improving. I managed 9 total hours and a trimp score of 850, my fourth highest of the year. While it isn't quite the same as 9 hours of running, it is the best I can do as I rebuild. Friday's tempo trail effort was my best performance on that route ever.

Day Miles Notes
Monday Off Rest
Tuesday 6 Easy Miles
Wednesday7 Easy Miles (and Biking)
ThursdayOffBiking
Friday13 Tempo Trail Run
Saturday OffPT and Strength Training
Sunday 7 Easy Trail Run
Total 33About 4800 Feet Vertical

Monday, May 20, 2013

Weekly Training Wrap - 5/13 - 5/19

Lot to say this week, so let's get to it. First of all, the obligatory injury update. I finally broke down and got a cortisone shot in my left knee. I probably did this two weeks too late. There is good reason to believe this will relieve at least some of my symptoms. And, in fact, I had a decent week of training. However, this injury has been up and down for two and a half months now, so I will not claim victory quite yet.

Training update: I am way behind. I have a 50 miler in 8 weeks and I am way undertrained. Below is a graph of Joel Friel's Advanced Trimp from my training this year:


Trimp is a mesure of how much aerobic work you are doing. You get higher numbers by either spending more time aerobic training or by spending more time in higher zones. Weeks 1 - 7 of this year were training for my Old Pueblo 50. As you can see, a solid week for me around 600. A peak week is more like 800 - 900. Before my Cheyenne Mtn DNF, I managed to start putting together some good weeks again, including three runs of 2.5 hours or more. But my choice to shutdown after Cheyenne sent me close to zero. What's this all mean? Not a total loss. But, I am behind.

This week I managed a Trimp number of 730, my fourth highest of the year. However, I achieved that number with the use of some biking. I rode 45 miles this week, mostly in Zones 1 and 2. I realize this is not specific training, but it may be a tool I have to lean on for the remaining 8 weeks. If I can do some riding, a few midweek runs, and one long trail run each week, then I should be able to race at a reasonably high level. I have also been pushing the strength training hard, way harder than most recreational endurance athletes. I will continue to aim for 3-4 hours a week of that kind of work. (Note that strength training is more than weights).

Anyway, one day at a time, but I am satisfied with training for at least one week.

Day Miles Notes
Monday Off PT and Core Training
Tuesday Off PT and Core Training
WednesdayOff PT and Core Training
Thursday5Easy Miles
FridayOff PT and Strength Training
Saturday 5Easy Miles
Sunday 17 Trail Long
Total 27About 4200 Feet Vertical

Monday, May 13, 2013

Weekly Training Wrap - 5/6 - 5/12

Busy week in training. I hit the gym HARD twice (Monday and Thursday) and filled in with a bunch of easier Core/Stabilization/PT-type workouts. After 12 days off, I ran easy on Friday to test out my body and prepare for a run Saturday. Saturday was another disappointing run with ITB pain. I rode my bike on Sunday and continue to re-evaluate my options for health.

I think I made a bit of a discovery this week: balance may be a component missing in my cross training. Anatomy for Runners has several pillars to evaluate yourself and work on: strength, flexibility, balance, etc... There is lots and lots of sources asserting a theory/belief/ideology around runners as being "athletes" first. And, of course, one of the basics of almost any athletic endeavor is balance. Balance requires not only proper muscle strength, but proper muscle activation. And it requires many groups of muscle working together -- hips, core, etc.... For example, when I try that single leg stance, after a few repetitions, I can feel my Glute Med burning! That is one of the most common muscle to try and target with all these PT exercises. Anatomy for Runners really pushes balance as an area to practice and I have probably ignored it in my blitz of cross training.

Day Miles Notes
Monday Off PT and Strength Training
Tuesday Off PT and Core Training
WednesdayOff PT and Core Training
ThursdayOffPT and Strength Training
Friday5 Easy Miles
Saturday 9GA Miles
Sunday Off PT and Core Training
Total 14About 1100 Feet Vertical

Monday, May 6, 2013

Weekly Training Wrap - 4/29 - 5/5

Lots of things to cover this week. First, an April recap. It was a dud. OK, not a total loss, I ran 143 miles in 22 hours with about 13K of elevation. As a comparison, last year I ran 230 miles in April with nearly 20K of vertical. Clearly I am behind at this point.

If you caught up on my ITB update earlier this week, then you know that I don't plan to run for at least one week. At this point, I am leaning toward two weeks off and then starting back slowly. I bought a bike and will attempt to ride to work (about 10 miles each way) a few days a week to get some aerobic exercise and get things going in the right direction. Then I will attempt to start running every other day the week of the 13th. There is no cure for ITB; no anti-inflammatory, no PT exercise that singularly fixes it. There are lots of things I can do to improve as a runner and hopefully prevent it, but once its got its claws in you, rest is your best friend.

I have started a really focused PT and strength training program from my favorite book, Anatomy for Runners. There is plenty here keep me busy for a while. I am pretty certain that most of my overuse injuries stem from the hips -- lack of flexibility, strength, and rotation. It is somewhat embarrassing how weak I am in the legs. But I am working hard to correct that. I have a goal to squat 300 pounds in by the end of the year.

Day Miles Notes
Monday Off Rest
Tuesday Off PT and Strength Training
WednesdayOff PT and Core Training
ThursdayOffPT and Core Training
FridayOff PT and Strength Training
Saturday OffPT and Core Training
Sunday Off PT and Core Training
Total 0