Training Diary 10th - 16th December

Monday Dec 10th. HRV=63 White.

Lower than expected after a rest day and I suspect it’s down to a cumulative fatigue from a heavy week.  I’ll ease back or do similar to last week rather than trying to train harder and I’ll make sure to have a few early nights as sleep is a very important part of the recovery process.  Did almost the same session as last Monday but started slower and ended up running faster.  The session felt comfortably hard and I finished knowing I could have done more but at this stage there’s no point in testing my breaking point.  Finished off with an early night.

Plan for tomorrow is an early strength session of Squats and Deadlift followed by a lunchtime run of 40 mins.

Tuesday Dec 11th. HRV=75 White.

Woke before the alarm and HRV shows signs of a good recovery.   Early morning strength session consisting of 5 sets of 3 (1 ¼)Squats with 55Kg and 3 sets of 3 Deadlift with 100Kg.  Squat weight remained the same as last week but had a slight increase with the Deadlift and it felt great hitting that milestone of 100Kg.  Found this session mentally tough and knowing I was going for 100Kg almost gave me a mental block and I think that’s why the squat weight remained the same.  Lunchtime run of 9K in 37 mins.  Pace was a bit slower than last week with heart rate less than 85 percent of max so I cut it short.

Plan for tomorrow is a lunchtime run similar to today or if time allows I’ll do something shorter and follow up with an evening Steady state run of up to 1hr.

Wednesday Dec 12th. HRV=76 White.

A good result and I’ll make the most of it.  Didn’t have time for a lunchtime run so I ran my evening run a little bit harder by keeping my heart rate above 85 percent of max for just over 1hr.  Ran on the Track yet again as the footpaths were icy and this was quite an effort as my legs were fatigued from yesterday’s strength session and it was mentally tough being on my own.  The mind also needs training and it’s during these sessions that this training happens.

Plan for tomorrow is an early strength session of mostly Power Clean and a lunchtime recovery run of 40 mins max.  I’m expecting a red line.

Thursday Dec 13th. HRV=72 White.

Wasn’t expecting such a high result and maybe my fatigued legs stopped me from over cooking last night.  If all goes to plan today I’ll jump in with the club session this evening. Early morning strength session of 5*3 Power Clean with 48Kg (+1) and 3*3 Strict Press with 37Kg (+2).  A repeat of last week with the Power Clean so I’m happy with that and I’m getting back on track with the Strict Press. Lunchtime recovery run of 40 minutes and I’m feeling the DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness).  Took it nice and easy with the emphasis being on recovery rather than a training effect.  Club session was 4* 600M with 3 min recovery and took a chance on it but didn’t have it in my legs and felt the pressure during the second rep.  Made a judgement call and stopped before I needed to.  It seems like last night’s session has caught up on me.

Plan for tomorrow is an evening run if time allows with the intensity depending on my HRV result.

Friday Dec 14th. HRV=70 White.

Much higher than expected as my recovery was far from ideal last night.  Found it hard getting the time to train today and barely managed 40 minutes as part of a shopping trip so I ran it fast.

Plan for tomorrow is an early session of Tyre Hauling with the Black Ice Race Team starting at 08.00am.  It’ll be long duration but low intensity and if I wake early enough I might go for a run beforehand.

Saturday Dec 15th. HRV=65 White.

An expected low score but today is a low intensity day so it makes no difference.  Training didn’t go to plan as the session was cut short after 1hr by the Park Rangers after listing off all the bye laws we had just broken with our Tyre hauling.  Finished off with a 2hr run and the rest of the day was a write off.

Plan for tomorrow is a 1-3hr run at 140-155 bpm or I also have an offer of a race entry for a local 5K so I’ll see how I feel in the morning.

Sunday Dec 16th. HRV=70 White.

Better than expected but I’ve had a lie in so my plan changes slightly.   Ran at just above 85 percent (150bpm) of heart rate max until I reached TE of 4.5 which was comfortably hard and it made the most of my available time.  Sweated almost 3Kg for the session and finished feeling spent.  Took it very easy for rest of day as I want to train hard tomorrow and that will all depend on my recovery.  On days of continuous hard training I take a concentrated cherry juice and the one I use is called Cherrygood.

Weekly Summary

A slight dip in my blue line but that’s to be expected after what was possibly my hardest training week in a long time.

Plan for next week is to make the most of whatever time I have available as there’s a few forced rest days the following week.  I’ve been nominated for an Outsider Magazine  ’People of the Year Award’ with the awards night next Wednesday so that could be a day off leading to a day off.http://www.cherrygood.com/