Training Log Entry 8: July 17 - 23, 2023

Monday July 17

Off

Tuesday July 18

The run this day was really rough. I wanted to get some more hills this week, so I ended up doing a fairly hilly route for this easy day. The way out was pretty good, but on the way back my legs were completely trashed. Uphills became extremely difficult, and I wasn’t able to go very far before needing to stop. However, I managed to finish the out-and-back and added on a flat 2km at the end to reach 8.7km for the day.

Wednesday July 19

For this workout day, I did a fartlek of 5x(3’ on, 2’ float). This was a decent jump in intensity compared to my last fartlek session of 6x(2’ on, 2’ float), so I was a bit cautious going in.

Overall, this workout went very well. The paces for the on’s were 4:11/km, 4:20/km. 4:11/km, 3:59/km, 4:03/km, averaging 4:08/km. These splits were faster than I was expecting and I ended up taking an extra minute rest after the third rep, which I was fine with, given the paces. The floats felt much more comfortable in this workout, compared to my last fartlek, and they were at a good pace, averaging 4:38/km.

This workout was definitely one of more difficult I’ve done recently, so I’m very pleased with how it went. Including the warm-up and cool-down, the total mileage was 11.5km for the day.

Thursday July 20

This was one of the best easy days I’ve had in a while. Although my legs felt pretty heavy, and my left hamstring was a bit tight at the start, I was able to get into a comfortable rhythm and felt better as the run went on. At about 7km, I did take a short break, but that was mainly to prevent myself from picking up the pace any further and maintain a low effort level. I finished the run with 9km, and I was glad to see that my splits were overall very consistent.

Friday July 21

For this session, I did 10x400m with 1'30-2’ rest and a 5’ rest after the 6th rep. This was the same speed workout that I did a few weeks back, so this was a test to if my speed is improving.

For the 400s, my splits were 81, 80, 80, 79, 80, 79, 78, 77, 78, and 74, which averages to 78. Over the course of the workout, my stride started to feel really comfortable, which helped in bring the splits down. The recovery between reps also felt good, and the 5-minute set break even seemed longer than necessary. The last time I did this workout, I averaged 82, so my speed is definitely coming along.

With the warm-up and cool-down, the total mileage for the day was 12.8km.

Saturday July 22

For this run, I did an easy 6km. My calf didn’t feel great at the beginning, and I felt pretty stiff overall, but I started to loosen up as I got into it. Towards the end of the run, I did have a small breathing spasm, which caught me off guard, but I recovered quickly from it and felt fine afterwards.

Sunday July 23

For this week’s long run, I chose an out-and-back route starting from Mahone Bay and heading out to Martins Point along the Dynamite Trail. This was the first time I’ve ever been on this section of the trail, so my goal was to do a longer run and see as much of the trail as possible.

I started off well, but I was a bit too aggressive with picking up the pace, which made my already tired legs feel less than great. At about 5km in, I checked my watch and realizes that I hadn’t started it, which was unfortunate.

After finally starting my watch, I slowed down and finished the first half comfortably. However, on the way back, the heat and leg fatigue started to catch up to me. The last 2-3km were particularly difficult, and I needed to take a few breaks.

In the end, including the missing start, the run was 16.8km. There was also 150m of elevation gain, which was unexpected, but a lot of the trail is on a 2-3% incline, which adds up over time.

With this run, my weekly mileage totaled 64.9km with 400m of elevation gain.