Week in review Sept. 23-29: Big work week, big training week

Not a bad variety of stuff.

Last week was rough with a Big Work Event so I had to be super strict about managing my workout schedule. It was mostly good news: I did pretty much everything I wanted to do, I only took off the day I had preemptively written off as a wash, and I never had to wake up earlier than my usual weekday alarm to fit in a workout. Yay!

Otherwise, it was a good week: Nothing spectacular, but a good foundational layer that will hopefully be something I can keep building on. Three trainer rides, three runs, two weights sessions, some PT, and a bit of yoga. Swimming has long been off the back burner and in the deep freeze, but I am optimistic I can work at least one session per week back into my schedule soon.

Running was probably the greatest victory this week, with an easy run with my husband; a “speed” run that included a mile split of 8:04, although that has an asterisk because I had to stop for traffic twice; and a long-ish run of 6.5 straight miles. I am really feeling like the proverbial tortoise here, slowly chugging away for incremental progress. Don’t get me wrong; I am happy with this progress. Hitting 6.5 miles was a victory because now I feel like I could run a last-minute 10K with no issues, should one come up.

My knee also behaved pretty well all week. I had the odd twinge and pang of discomfort here and there, but nothing that progressed to the level of pain. I also haven’t ridden my bike outside or longer than an hour and a half in two weeks. As long as I don’t overdo it, it seems to cooperate. I hope that slowly, slowly, I can push the limit of what “overdoing it” is.

Anyway, by the numbers, last week as:

Bike: Three times, all on the trainer as two shorter rides and one longer ride, for 55 fake trainer miles in about 3:36. The rides that used to feel super hard are feeling slightly less super hard, and I know that I am due for another FTP test soon. Even if I still can’t ride very long, I feel like I am making slow but steady progress here just with my consistency.

Run: Three times, all on the road, for 15 miles in about 2:33. Not my best week, and my easy run was very slow at my husband’s pace (although I did do an extra lap of our route and caught up to him later), but the speed is starting to feel more like speed and the long runs are starting to feel more like long runs. I am hoping to do a 5K if not a 10K before the weather turns.

Weights: Twice, one video and one barre class, for about 2:25 total, which includes an extra few minutes after both of these for some chin-up and pull-up practice. I’m not sure why, but I got it into my head that I was going to be good at pull-ups and chin-ups, so I am going to figure it out or die trying. I can do 3-5 at a time from standing, but the hanging ones are a LOT harder and I can only do 1 or 2 at a time. I am getting there.

PT: Two sessions of my latest running form homework, plus a few extra minutes to roll out my quads and calves, for about 1:10 total.

Yoga: One session of about 15 minutes. Even that short session of mostly hip openers and hamstring stretches felt amazing.

Total: 11 sessions in – get this – about 9:59. Argh! I couldn’t have done one more minute??? Oh, well.

I had to go back in my logs to FEBRUARY to find the last time I broke 10 hours. If I can keep going with this routine with another week, I’m sure can hit 10 this coming week. Also, I didn’t realize this, but I did a LOT of doubles last week. I doubled up with ride + weights video after work Monday, run + PT after work Tuesday, and a two-a-day of run in the morning and barre in the evening on Thursday. Sunday I did a whole bunch of stuff (run + PT + yoga), but that’s how I like to spend my Sundays anyway.

Overall, it was a good week and I hope I can have another good week this week. And I hope you have a good week, too. Good weeks for everybody!