ithlete HRV Training Diary 29 Oct – 4 Nov

Marathon Day Monday Oct 29th. HRV=62 Amber

Not unusual and I’m putting this down to pre race nerves. I’m not racing today but instead I have the responsibility of running as the sub 3hr30 pace maker with the brief being to finish within 30 seconds of 3:29.30.

As you can see from my Garmin data  here the Marathon went as planned and I finished in 3:29.17.

Provisional plan for tomorrow is an easy run of 10-20K.

Tuesday Oct 30th. HRV=87 Amber

Even though the HRV score is high it came with an Amber warning so I decided to err on the side of caution and change my original plan to an early recovery run of 4K followed by a second easy run of 10K.

Provisional plan for tomorrow is an interval session of 6*400 M in 72-74 seconds to work on my speed ahead of a 5K on Nov 14th. This will of course depend on my morning test result.

Wednesday Oct 31st. HRV=73 White

Seems like all is back to normal.  Weather not ideal for my interval session and didn’t hit my planned times for any of the 6 reps. Felt like quitting after 4 but I’ve had that feeling before and the trick is to not quit but recover. Finished the session and my times in seconds were 82, 78, 78, 76, 81 and 77.
Provisional plan for tomorrow is an easy to steady 10K depending on how I feel.

Thursday Nov 01st. HRV=65 Amber

Totally unexpected and I’m guessing it could be the wine I had last night? Took the morning off and a second test in the afternoon gave a HRV score of 80. Took this as a ticket to run and did an easy to steady 8K in the rain.
Provisional plan for tomorrow is a short recovery run / mid morning strength session and an easy 10K with 6*1 minute fast.

Friday Nov 02nd. HRV=63 Red

Plan changed! Cancelled both runs and did an easier than usual strength session consisting of 400M Row, 21 Kettle Bell swings (12Kg) and 12* TRX upright rowing repeated 3 times after warm up.
Provisional plan for tomorrow is a 1hr recovery run before breakfast and if HRV shows recovery then I’ll add a 1hr Tempo run in the afternoon / evening.

Saturday Nov 03rd. HRV=64 White

Although it showed a slight increase I thought it best to rest today.  There’s no point having the technology if all you do is look at it rather than use it.

Provisional plan for tomorrow is a long run from road to trail to include some hill repeats.  Intensity will depend on HRV result but I’ll run regardless as part of the session is coaching.

Sunday Nov 04th HRV=69

Showing signs of recovery so today went as planned.  After a long warm up I ran Hill Reps of 6*1 minute fast with 1 minute recovery and after a short break I repeated the session at a lower intensity.

Plan for tomorrow is a lunchtime strength session followed by an evening running commute to a meeting with Athletics Ireland and then a run home.

Weekly Summary

Blue line is still dipping slightly and maybe I haven’t fully recovered from how I was feeling last week. The week started off well with the Dublin Marathon but apart from that it wasn’t great.  I had the week off work as the kids were on midterm break but rather than being a week of rest I was out of my usual routine and my diet and sleep suffered which I think has shown up in my HRV scores.  I’m not looking forward to going back to work but I am looking forward to getting back into a regular routine.