Training Log Entry 23: November 6 - 12, 2023

Monday November 6

Off

Tuesday November 7

I went into the first run of the week feeling quite exhausted overall. Both mentally and physically, I wasn’t feeling at my best, which resulted in this run not going very smoothly. I did start to feel better by the end, but for the majority of the run, I never felt like I could get into a relaxed rhythm.

As for the route, I followed Mines 2 Road, like I did two weeks ago, but took a different path to try to avoid the flooded sections. Unfortunately, this path also had many flooded sections, so I had to maneuver around the water for a few kilometers.

I forgot to restart my watch after a break, so I’m missing some data, but I estimate the run covered 11.5km all together.

Wednesday November 8

Building on my recent threshold workouts, this day’s plan was to do 3x(10 minutes on, 3 minutes float). When I first planned this workout, I didn’t think much of it, however, this was actually a very large increase in volume, with 36 minutes of continuous hard running. My main goal was simply to get through the whole workout without any breaks, so I wasn’t as concerned with the pace of the floats as I would usually be during fartleks.

I started the workout not feeling particularly strong, but settled into a good rhythm by the end of the first rep. I felt really comfortable at this pace and managed to maintain it for the remainder of the workout. The paces for the 10-minute intervals were 4:10/km, 4:04/km and 4:01/km, averaging 4:05/km over 7.3km. While the floats were a bit slower than usual, as a expected, the average pace was still honest at 4:51/km and I had no issues recovering during the floats.

In total, the fartlek covered 8.6km. I am extremely satisfied with the results and attribute the success to how I gradually buildup the pace during the fast reps and maintained an honest effort floats.

Including the warm-up and cool-down, the total volume for the session was 15km.

Thursday November 9

Despite the previous day’s hard workout, I felt surprisingly good heading into this run. My legs were initially a bit sore, but after a few kilometers, they started to move a lot better. I finished the run feeling good, covering 9.7km on the day.

Friday November 10

Given the long Tuesday workout and my plans for a big long run this week, I chose to make this day’s workout moderate in both volume and intensity. What I decided on was a speed workout consisting of 10x300m hills.

I didn’t feel especially strong during these hills. Both my hips and calves were struggling, so I didn’t feel like I was driving up the hills that well. During the final few reps, I focused on shortening my stride, which helped significantly, so I may have been overstriding up to that point. Despite not feeling strong, my splits were still respectable, averaging 71 seconds per 300m hill.

Including the warm-up and cool-down, the total volume for the day was 13.8km and 200m of elevation gain.

Of note, I’ve noticed that my cool-downs have become significantly faster recently, likely due to improved aerobic strength. I don’t struggle to complete longer cool-downs anymore and can maintain a more reasonable pace without pushing at all.

Saturday November 11

This Saturday run was a typical easy recovery session. I felt pretty good coming off the previous day’s workout, but my legs were fairly exhausted from this week’s increased volume. After the run, I finished off with 5x100m strides, bringing the total volume for the day to 5.5km.

Sunday November 12

The primary goal for this week’s long run was to hit the important milestone of 20km. I chose a route which I ran about a year ago, so I will be able to compare where my fitness is at.

My body was in good condition going into the run, and stayed that way for most of the time. Aerobically, I was very strong and my legs were moving well.

Since I felt so good, I found myself settling into a faster than usual pace. While I managed to maintain this pace for almost the entire run, the final 6-7km was difficult to get through. This final stretch mentally felt very long, with my legs beginning to fatigue at this point, especially in my right hip.

I ended up taking brief breaks at the 15km and 17km marks.
Following these breaks, I picked up the pace for the closing kilometers and finished the run at 20km.

Considering the fast average pace I maintained, I’m fairly satisfied with this run. My aerobic strength was able to handle the volume, so my leg endurance just needs to catch-up, which should come quickly.

This finishes off the week’s total mileage at 75.5km with 540m of elevation gain.