Training Diary 15-21st July 2013

Monday July 15^th. HRV= 62 White.

Late night and early morning, far from ideal.  Lunchtime sports massage which went fairly ok and apart from some expected tightness in my IT band and calves I seem to be ok.

Plan for tomorrow is an early gym session of mostly mobility work.

Tuesday July 16^th. HRV= 64 White.

Feel like I could have done with an extra hour in bed so it’s an early night tonight.  Gym session consisted of stretching / assisted stretching and foam rolling.  No running today but instead I made some bars for use during the race and finished the day with an Epsom Salt bath.

Plan for tomorrow is a race pace test run on the Track.

Wednesday July 17^th. HRV= 62 White.

Expected higher after rest but think the pre-race nerves might be kicking in plus I might be slightly dehydrated as my waking weight was 1kg lighter than my bedtime weight.  I’m guessing it’s a combination of the bath and warm weather.  Took it easy for most of the day and did a very easy 30 minutes on the Track working on my race pace before coaching and stretching.

Tomorrow is a rest day but I might do a few easy laps of the Track or just go to the Track and stretch.  Being in the environment helps staying in the zone.

Thursday July 18^th. HRV= 59 White.

Way lower than expected and I’m putting this down to pre-race nerves as I slept well and took it easy yesterday.  My packing is more or less done so today will be relatively stress free.

Tomorrow is Race Day.

Friday July 19^th. HRV= 49 Amber.

Woke early with activity in the house but stayed in bed to try wake naturally.  Stayed in bed until 9 and then slowly started to get ready.  Breakfast at 9:30 followed by lunch at 1pm and then it was a 2hr drive to Belfast.  Arrived with 2hrs to spare and took my time getting ready for the race.  The race started at 6:45 in very high temperatures and most of the first half was spent trying to control my body temperature by staying at a pace that was fast enough to stay close to my planned finish distance but slow enough to prevent overheating.  Easier said than done as the mentality to race is always there.

Saturday July 20^th. HRV=48 Amber. (Still Running).

Taken after travelling home from race. I was finding it hard to run slower than was comfortable and found myself sweating a lot so I went with the walk a lap option whenever it got out of control and changed my T-shirt as often as possible.  After the halfway mark it was obvious that I was too far behind the lead runner to get into a race for 1st place but I stuck with my plan to ensure I was in a good position to kick if the opportunity presented itself.  By hour 22 I was sitting comfortably in 2nd place and knew that even if the lead runner (Eoin Keith) was to stop running it was unlikely that I’d match his distance but I didn’t mind  (too much) as my target was still comfortably possible.  For the remaining time of the race I did just enough to hit my target of 220K which is the International B standard and it ensures my position on the National Team with the added bonus of a Silver medal in the National Championships

Plan for tomorrow is a lie in and total rest

Sunday July 21^st. HRV= 37 Red.

Woke at 8am and couldn’t get back to sleep but stayed in bed.  Legs feeling sore but the pain is bearable and manageable but my HRV tells a different story.  Today will be a do nothing day and all effort will be made to rest the Heart.  I plan to avoid any activity that will elevate my HR and this goes as far as limiting the amount of walking I do and I won’t even lift anything heavy.

Plan for tomorrow is rest but I might drive to the track and assist with the coaching.

Weekly Summary:

Result!