Training Log Entry 40

March 11 - 24, 2024

Monday March 11

Off

Tuesday March 12

Off

Wednesday March 13

On this day, I repeated the same workout as the previous week, which was two reps of Nicole’s Ascent.

Similar to the previous week, my legs weren’t completely fresh going into the workout, but I felt more awake than usual for an early morning run. The beginning of the first ascent wasn’t too bad, and I was moving decently well. My goal for this workout was to complete at least the first rep without any breaks, so as soon as I reached the really steep sections, I started to mix-in some hiking to maintain a steady effort level throughout the climb. Although it was still challenging, I managed to complete the first rep without any issues and felt relatively good.

After taking the descent relaxed, I began the second climb. Having recovered reasonably well, the start of the ascent felt comparable to the first rep. For approximately 2/3 of the way up I maintained a steady pace, but towards the end, my legs began to tire and I needed to hike a bit more than the first rep. Despite this, I managed to also complete the second ascent without any breaks, making this a very successful workout.

Including the warm-up and cool-down, the session totaled 12.6km with 477m of elevation gain.

Thursday March 14

After the previous day’s hard workout, I was surprised to find that my legs felt remarkably good going into this run. I was able to maintain a relaxed pace throughout the entire run, however, I did experience some discomfort in my left achilles, which I’ll need to monitor over the next few days.

In total, the run covered 9.8km.

Friday March 15

Given the recent discomfort in my achilles and the planned hard long run on Sunday, I opted to skip this week’s Friday workout for a longer easy run.

Despite my intention to maintain an easy pace, I found myself settling into a more moderate tempo. Surprisingly, I felt quite comfortable and maintained the pace throughout the session without any difficulties. By the end of the run 14.1km run, I noticed a some slight tightness in my achilles, but it generally felt better than the previous day.

Saturday March 16

This Saturday recovery run ended up being fairly standard. Over the course of the run, my legs gradually loosened up and started to move really well.

While the route had more elevation gain than normal, with 142m of climbing, I finished the 6.3km run feeling good.

Sunday March 17

This week’s long run was a route up Mt. Seymour, consisting of a single ascent and descent to focus on sustained uphill running.

The ascent began right off the start and felt surprisingly comfortable for the first few kilometers, thanks to the smooth trail which made it easy to settle into a consistent rhythm on.

As I continued, however, the trail conditions rapidly deteriorated upon reaching the snowline, making it even difficult to hike through. Although I considered turning back, I was already close to the summit, so I press onward, albeit at a sluggish pace. Near the top, I had to make multiple detours, but eventually reached the top successfully still in one piece.

Because of some trail closures, I began my descent on the road. Midway through my descent I attempted to get back onto the trails, but the poor conditions made it difficult to follow the trail, so I returned back to the roads once again. Eventually, I was able to join back onto the trail I originally ascended. While I did develop some discomfort in my left achilles by this point, I still managed to finish off the remainder of the descent quite fast.

Totaling 18km with 981m of elevation gain, this run fell short of my expectations due to the unfavorable weather conditions. Nonetheless, it marked a significant personal best in weekly vertical gain, with a total mileage of 60.7km and 1701m of elevation gain.

Monday March 18

Off

Tuesday March 19

On this first run of the new week, my legs felt considerably sore, especially in my achilles. The first few flat kilometers were quite slow, and it took some time before I became somewhat comfortable. Surprisingly, the uphill section of the run felt controlled, enabling me to complete the climb while maintaining a low intensity level.

During the downhill, I was cautious due to my achilles, making sure to avoid being too aggressive on the steeper sections. However, on the gentler grades, I was able to stretch out my stride and started to feel really comfortable.

In total, the run covered 10.5km with 194m of elevation gain.

Wednesday March 20

Upon waking up this day, I noticed that my left calf and ankle had become significantly swollen, while my achilles was quite tender. As a result, I decided to take some time off until the swelling subsides.

Thursday March 21

Off

Friday March 22

After two days off, the swelling in my left calf and ankle had decreased significantly. Although it hadn’t yet fully cleared up, I decided to go for an easy run to test it out.

To my surprise, the run went better than expected. While I remained cautious to avoid aggravating anything, I was still able to relax and settle into a decent rhythm. My achilles did feel a little sore towards the end, but it was bearable, and I managed to complete 10.4km without any significant problems.

Saturday March 23

This run felt very similar to the previous day. I moved relatively well throughout, although I continued to be cautious about both my calf and achilles. Overall, my problem areas did feel slightly worst than the day before, but I still managed to get in 6.6km.

Sunday March 24

Despite the rocky week, the goal for this session was to log a decent amount of volume, so I chose to do a flat and relax long run.

Most of the swelling in my calf and ankle had receded, and going into this run they both felt significantly better. I started off slow, intending to take most of the run easy, but soon found myself settling into a fairly aggressive pace. Surprisingly, I felt really good and managed to hold the pace without any issues.

Things were going smoothly until around 13km in when I experienced a brief breathing problem. This caught me off guard, but as I didn’t have high expectations for this run, I simply took my time to fully catch my breath. Once recovered, I started back up and felt great, settling right back into my earlier pace.

Over the final 3km, I picked up the pace a bit, which caused some discomfort in my achilles. Nonetheless, I finished the long run strong, completing 18.4km at an average pace of 4:32/km.

For the 4-day training week, the week’s mileage totaled 45.8km with 342m of elevation gain.