Lough Tay from the Wicklow Way.
Monday Feb 25th . HRV= 79 White
Expected an Amber but obviously didn’t work as hard as I thought I had yesterday. Will try increase the intensity this week as I don’t want to get too comfortable at the risk of hitting a training plateau. Easy lunchtime recovery run of 5K and my legs are feeling a little heavy, same problem as before with the HR spiking as it’s still cold out. Evening session of 10* Hill reps similar to last Tuesday but faster for what seemed like the same effort.
Plan for tomorrow is an early gym session and a lunchtime MAF session if I feel up to it.
Tuesday Feb 26th . HRV=82 White
A great result and may change today’s plan. Early gym session of Back Squat working on depth and technique plus 1 legged squats with weight and using a bench to support and isolate 1 leg. Struggled with the motivation to run during lunchtime and just don’t know what the problem was but I didn’t come up with any excuses not to run so off I went for my usual 10K. Didn’t feel any better when I finished but the results show it was just laziness. Finished the day with a recovery paced run over a hilly course which sometimes meant running up a hill just to come down it again with my focus being on leg strength.
Plan for tomorrow is an easy Lunchtime Run and an evening Interval Session similar to last week.
Wednesday Feb 27th . HRV=65 Amber
Woke with the DOMS and happy with this result as it shows I’m training. Plan for today has slightly changed and I’m going to skip the lunchtime run and save myself for the later Interval Session . Spent lunchtime doing nothing and regretted not going for a very short recovery run. Same scenario as last week and didn’t have use of the car but I was slightly better prepared and ate before leaving work and brought a mix of cherry juice to the track. Yet again I didn’t feel on form but not because I was low in energy but think I’m still recovering from the recent sessions and still have the DOMS. Session went better than last week with all the reps close to 3:30 per K off 1 minute recovery as planned. Came out of the last interval without stopping but reduced the pace instead to keep the HR high and gradually eased into a long recovery. Hoping I’ve ran hard enough to get a Red line tomorrow.
Plan for tomorrow will depend on HRV but I might run to work as my Gym session is switched to lunchtime.
Thursday Feb 28th . HRV= 71 White
Expected lower which means I could have worked harder last night but on the plus side it means I can continue training. Easy run to work keeping the HR low and steady followed by a lunchtime Gym session working on my core strength. Finished the day with a recovery run after coaching and included a few short hills.
Plan for tomorrow is Hill Reps or MAF session.
Friday Mar 01st . HRV= 70 White
A better than expected result and my legs are feeling recovered. Short session of Hill Reps to work on leg strength
Plan for tomorrow is an early local run and a short but fast afternoon trail run.
Saturday Mar 02nd . HRV= 72 White
My son’s soccer match was cancelled so I used the opportunity to do an early Track session and went for 7*1K at 3:30 per K off 55 sec recovery as I’m thinking that might help make my later session a bit more difficult and I’ll get a better training effect for less time. Found the track session tough until I knew I’d passed halfway and then it finished without much effort. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/279310309
Had a 3hr break between sessions and then it was an 11K Trail Run with a friend as this meant no let up on the 6K uphill to start. Dug deep and again it felt quite manageable. Think I needed this session to be longer in duration and with more climbing as I felt stronger towards the finish rather than tired. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/279310339
Plan for tomorrow is a 25K Trail run along the Wicklow Way with an early start.
Sunday Mar 03rd. HRV= 83 Green
Expected a low score abut then again with the way I was feeling yesterday it’s not a surprise. Early start and met with some friends to check out the return leg of a Trail Ultra. We left a car at the finish and drove to the start and got stuck into it without any delay and used the first climb on a fire road to warm up. Couldn’t feel any evidence of yesterday or the previous week in my legs and felt great throughout. Total distance of 25K with 824M of ascent and some fast deep descents. Almost went out for a second run and was very tempted to hit the track but this is where control is needed and you need to know how much is enough and how much is too much. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/279726516
Plan for tomorrow is a set of hill reps but this could change.
Weekly Summary
A great week and I’m very happy with my recovery between sessions and it feels like I’m returning to form. Next week I’ll probably do something similar but as usual that will change as the week progresses. I’d like to do at least one session that would bring on a Red Line as I think the big improvements happen with a stress / rest / adapt but the stress must be realistic and effort based rather than the result of fatigue from under recovery.
Next race will be the Wicklow Way Ultra on Saturday March 23rd and then the training will start a new phase.
The training should fit around your life rather than trying to fit your life around the training.
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