Training Log Entry 26: November 27 - December 3, 2023
Monday November 27
Off
Tuesday November 28
After the previous recovery week, I jumped back into my regular training schedule with a sizeable easy long.
My legs felt great at the start, but I still made sure to keep the pace relaxed. Unfortunately, I experienced some breathing issues during the first half of the run, which forced me to stop twice and catch my breath.
Despite these hiccups, the second half was much smoother. I found a comfortable rhythm and managed to pick up the pace without much effort.
The run concluded with a total distance of 12km.
Wednesday November 29
This first workout of the new training cycle was intended to serve as a warm-up for the planned upcoming long threshold sessions. The workout consisted of 5x(5’ on, 1 float). My goal was to complete these 5-minute reps at a pace that would be manageable even without the floats.
I began the workout feeling pretty good and quickly settled into a strong rhythm. The first set went by smoothly, however, about a minute into the 2nd rep, I had a minor breathing issue and needed to briefly pause. Fortunately, I was able to quickly rebound from the stoppage and resume the workout without any issues.
The paces for the workout were as follows:
- 4:07/km (4:57/km)
- 4:06/km (4:27/km)
- 4:10/km (4:57/km)
- 4:03/km (4:29/km)
- 3:56/km (4:30/km)
This yielded average paces of 4:04/km and 4:39/km for the ons and floats, respectively, aligning closely with my goal paces.
I’m pleased with how the ons’ paces cut-down over the course of the fartlek. Although I’m surprised by the couple of slower floats, I felt really good during them and recovered effectively within the brief 60 seconds. Overall, I felt strong and comfortable during this threshold, despite the small setback.
Including the warm-up and cool-down, the total volume of the session amounted to 14.3km.
Thursday November 30
This run was a really struggle. I felt drained both physically and mentally heading into the run, and things didn’t improve once I got going. My energy level was low and I just couldn’t seem to get into a rhythm. I ended up taking a few breaks, just to get through the run.
Despite the issues, I managed to cover 9.5km on the day.
Friday December 1
This Friday workout was a strength workout consisting of 800m, 8x300m hills, 800m.
Like the previous day, I was fairly tired going in this session. Even after warming-up, I still didn’t feel completely loose, and my stride felt flat.
The fatigue made the first 800m brutal. Despite running faster than planned (2:54), the interval felt much harder due to my choppy arms and legs.
During the hills, I finished each rep completely exhausted. While none of the reps felt easy, they never worsen as the workout went on, which was good to see.
Given how I felt, I focused on form during the hills. Particularly on maintaining a compact stride, which I felt I achieved reasonably well.
By the time I reached the second 800m, my legs were very heavy, so I chose a mostly downhill route to help complete the rep and finished with a time of 2:55.
Including the warm-up and cool-down, the total volume of the session was 12.1km with 215m of elevation gain.
Saturday December 2
I felt relatively good during this recovery run. Although I never fully relaxed, I definitely felt better than I had during the previous few days. The 5x100m stride, I did afterwards, felt great too and had a nice pop to them.
Including the 5.6km run and the strides, the total volume came to 6.2km.
Sunday December 3
I went into this day uncertain with how my body was feeling, thanks to the several small setbacks I experienced earlier in the week. Because of this concern, I decided to do a flat long run on the Bull Run Trail out to Queens.
To my surprise, I felt great once I started running. My legs were moving well, my upper body was relaxed and my breathing had no issues. Despite how good I felt, I still kept the beginning conservative to avoid burning out down the line.
By 4km, I had settled into a steady pace and maintained it for most of the run. Around 13km in, I briefly experienced some glute fatigue, but it vanished shortly afterwards. Apart from that, I felt fantastic throughout the run and never felt that I was pushing too hard, even towards the end of the 19.2km.
The average pace of 4:41/km was really solid, and is very similar to the long run from two weeks ago. However, different from the previous run, the splits this time around were more even, whereas the previous session had sharper negative splits towards the finish.
With the competition of this session, my total weekly mileage ends at 73.3km with 440m of elevation gain.