Week in review Oct. 7-13: Head down and work

A nice variety and not a bad week.

After the family- and football-filled week two weeks ago, I was glad for a nice, boring week during which I could get done a whole bunch of training. I had 2 out of 3 good trainer rides and got in some solid runs, and logged more than 10 hours of training for the first time in a long time.

The week started out not great with an FTP test I couldn’t keep up with, but I got some good running miles in that included legit speedwork on the treadmill, and did weights twice. I did my longest trainer ride in a long time, maybe years, while watching the Ironman World Championship on Saturday, and had a 7.5-mile run with a fast finish on Sunday that actually felt good.

My SI joint has been a bit cranky so I have been trying to realign it with various stretches and yoga poses as I sit and get up throughout the day, but I did manage a mini yoga session Sunday evening after all my cooking and prep for the week was done. My left side has given me problems for years, probably because of dance as a kid and muscle tension, lack of regular stretching, and working a desk job as an adult. One more reason why getting older sucks, I guess.

Despite the hiccups, I had a good week of:

Bike: Three times, all on the trainer, for 53.5 fake trainer “miles” in about 3:34. This included an FTP test that I bombed, a regular workout of intervals with power spikes, and two hours on the trainer on Saturday while I had Kona on the computer, the Michigan game on the TV, and Slowtwitch on the iPad. The time flew by, haha.

Run: Three times, twice on the road and once on the treadmill, for 18.75 miles in about 3:07. This included an easy run on a perfect fall evening, a speed run of increasingly speedy half-mile repeats on the treadmill on a dreary and cold fall evening, and a “long” run on a sunny and cool fall afternoon. Logically I should not have done a “fast” finish having just done speedwork and with nothing coming up to train for, but I was feeling good and I couldn’t help doing the last 1.5 running miles at a sub-9 pace, which is excellent for me right now. My left calf felt a little tight afterward but it is feeling fine today.

Some decent mile splits and a fast-for-me finish.

Weights: One video and pullup/chinup practice and one barre class for about 2:15 total. I feel SO much better when I am doing weights twice a week and I want to keep up this consistency as long as I can. Even if I am not doing my heavy routine right now, at least I am doing something.

PT: Two of my homework sessions plus rolling of quads and calves afterward for about 1:10 total. Nothing out of the ordinary, and I should have done double this, but I’m getting there.

Yoga: One quick session of about 15 minutes Sunday night, doing mostly bends, pigeons, twists, downward dogs, etc.

Total: 11 sessions in about 10:21. A really good week for me right now.

This coming week is full of unknowns. My husband has the sniffles – will I get sick? There is a local 5K happening Saturday – do we want to sign up? Will I make it to the pool? Will I ever get to bed at a decent hour? I am hoping to ride into this week on a bit of good momentum from last week and do just as much good training, if not a little bit more.