Training Log Entry 41

March 25 - April 7, 2024

Monday March 25

Off

Tuesday March 26

I started this morning’s run feeling quite stiff, but I eventually loosened up over time. Although I never was completely relaxed, I settled into a good pace and was able to maintain it with minimal effort. Fortunately, I didn’t notice any discomfort in my calf or achilles during this run, although I was very cautious the entire time, particularly on any inclines and declines.

In total, the run covered 10.7km.

Wednesday March 27

After taking it easy and allowing my achilles to heal over the past couple weeks, this day marked my first workout in a while. The workout consisted of 8x(3’ on, 2’ float), which would be one of the longest fartleks I’ve done in recent years.

Similar to my previous fartlek workout, I found it easy to settle into a quick pace, and had no issues holding it throughout the entire workout. To conserve energy, I concentrated on maintaining a short and quick stride, making the reps feel almost effortless. The floats were also fast, while still being enough time to recovery completely between reps.

By the final two intervals, the fatigue set in slightly, but I still managed to hold the pace and finish the workout strong. Ultimately, I completed the 40-minute fartlek covering 9.56km, with splits of:

• 4:01/km (4:29/km)
• 4:09/km (4:26/km)
• 4:02/km (4:26/km)
• 4:04/km (4:34/km)
• 4:08/km (4:26/km)
• 4:00/km (4:31/km)
• 4:04/km (4:12/km)
• 3:51/km (4:28/km)

The average pace for the ons was 4:02/km, while the floats were 4:26/km. Overall, I’m very pleased with this day’s results, especially returning from injury. Though there was some discomfort in my achilles, and occasionally in my left ankle, it never became a significant problem.

Including the warm-up and cool-down, the whole session amounted to 15.6km.

Thursday March 28

Off

Friday March 29

Due to falling behind on writing my updates, I will only be giving the stats for the remainder of the week.

Saturday March 30

Sunday March 31

Monday April 1

Off

Tuesday April 2

Upon starting this day’s run, I had quite a bit of soreness, especially around both ankles. It took some time to loosen up, but once I did, I got more comfortable and I began moving reasonably well. Overall, while I never felt entirely relaxed, leading to a slightly higher effort level than I would’ve liked, I’m happy that I felt minimal discomfort in my left calf.

The total distance covered was 10.4 km.

Wednesday April 3

This day’s workout was one I’ve been planning for some time: an ascent/descent tempo of Burnaby Mountain. For this first attempt, I opted to split-up the ascent and descent, and take a 2-minute recovery between each rep.

Entering into this workout, my legs felt decent, however, I had an unusual pain in my left lat. Despite the fact that my arm swing irritated it, I chose to proceed with the workout, as the pain did not feel serious.

As anticipated, the ascent proved challenging right from the start. My goal was to maintain ~20km race effort, so I focused on staying relaxed and holding a consistent pace. Although I hiked specific steep areas, as I had planned to, I successfully completed the entire ascent without any breaks.

Following a 2-minute rest, I started the descent. Compared to the ascent, the descent involved more technical terrain. Due to the lingering concerns regarding my achilles, I refrained from pushing too hard, but nonetheless maintained a solid pace and completed the descent without experiencing any issues.

In total, the tempo covered 5.91km and 230m of elevation gain, with average paces of 5:38/km and 5:21/km for the uphill and downhill sections, respectively. Including the warm-up and cool-down, the total volume for the day amounted to 13.7km with 342m of elevation gain.

Thursday April 4

Shortly after beginning this day’s run, I experienced a sharp pain around the back of my left foot. Since there were no signs of tightness in my achilles beforehand, I’m unsure if the discomfort is from my achilles or rather from my ankle. Regardless, due to the intensity of the pain, I made the decision to abandon the run and rest for the day.

Friday April 5

With no real soreness in my achilles or ankle, and everything feeling fine after doing some exercises, I decided to try out an easy run this day. Fortunately, I did not encounter the same pain as the previous day and made it through the entire run without any problems. There was some general soreness in my legs, however, overall I felt pretty good and managed to get in a solid 14.2km.

Saturday April 6

Feeling decent heading into this run, I opted to go for a slightly longer Saturday run compared to recent weeks. While my legs were quite sore, I experienced no major pain flare-ups during the run. While maintaining a low effort level, I managed to cover 8km, albeit feeling much less comfortable than the previous day.

Sunday April 7

In order to get a substantial amount of time on feet without aggravating any of my injuries, I chose to do a flat and extra long long run this week. I anticipated the pace to naturally get quick because of the route, however, I went in focused on maintaining a consistent effort, and refraining from pushing hard until the final 10km.

My legs initially felt heavy, and took some time to find a good rhythm. Once I settled in though, I felt strong and was moving quick, albeit working a tad harder than I would’ve liked.

Unfortunately, shortly after the halfway mark, I experienced a minor breaking problem, prompting me to pause briefly and catch my breath. Once I resumed, I quickly settled back into the same pace without any issues.

Near the end of the run, some mild discomfort popped-up in my achilles, but by maintaining good form, it remained manageable and never get any worse. During the last 5km, I push the pace hard, which was challenging, but managed to finish the 25km long run with a solid average pace of 4:27/km.

This long run concluded my week with a total mileage of 71.2km and 571m of elevation gain.