Week in review Jan. 28-Feb. 3: A polar vortex day

So much running and biking!

Last week was great, volume-wise. I started off steady, and then my office was closed Wednesday due to the polar vortex and dangerously cold temperatures. This is a rare treat that has only occurred a couple of times in my adult life, so I made sure to take advantage of the day by sleeping in, baking, rubbing my dogs’ bellies, and doing a bunch of training, of course.

I did an awesome speed run Thursday and took Friday off training for a hair appointment, but hit it hard again Saturday. I was asleep on the couch shortly after 10 p.m. Saturday – another rock star day here – and had a long day Sunday of food prep, a kiddo’s birthday party, and a Super Bowl party, but managed to squeeze in 10 RUNNING MILES outside in the beautiful weather – my first double-digit run since before I hurt my knee in the fall of 2017.

I’m thrilled I hit my ideal three runs, three rides, and two weights workouts! Hooray! I only did PT twice and did no yoga or swimming. Boo. Still, it was a great week overall:

Run: Three times, twice on the treadmill and once on the road, for 23 miles in about 4:09. This is the longest and farthest I’ve run in a week in a long, long time.

Tuesday’s run was an easy go in the morning before work (I worked at an evening event and went in late) and I had to randomly stop for side stiches. I’m going to blame this on running in the morning when I’m not used to it. Thursday I used a good treadmill at the gym to do increasing quarter miles with the fourth as recovery: 6.4, 6.6, 6.8, 6.0, start the next at 6.6 etc. I did this four times with an extra increase on the last to end at 7.4 mph, a 7:54 pace. It was challenging by the end but doable. The next time this speed run comes around I hope to start at a faster baseline and finish faster overall.

Yesterday was a gorgeous day after the polar vortex moved out and I was going to run outside come hell or high water. Speaking of high water, there were a few puddles (haha) but I chose a route that I knew would be plowed and salted, and therefore free of any melting ice. I walked for half a mile, ran 10 with a couple of drink/fiddle with my podcasts/take a quick pic for Instagram/etc. breaks, and walked for another half mile. My knee and my fitness felt fine, but my upper left hamstring is still being a bit wonky. It was the only thing that hurt afterward and I think this is encouragement to keep working on the weights and PT, focusing on those glutes.

Bike: Three times, all on the trainer, for 53.75 fake trainer miles in about 3:53. I took advantage of the polar vortex day Wednesday and rode for 1:15 instead of my usual hour-long weekday workout. I can tell that my fake trainer mileage is up a bit since my last FTP test. My new power targets are challenging but I am meeting them consistently.

Weights: Twice, one video and one heavy/body session, for about 2:05 total. I am happy to say that my knee felt fine after my heavy/body session, since swapping out one-legged lunges and wall sits for the weighted walking lunges and squats that aggravated it a few weeks ago. I am still sore all over from pull-ups and chin-ups, though.

PT: Two sessions for about 1:30. I only managed these on my polar vortex day and on Saturday. I am just crunched for time during the week and this tends to fall through the cracks.

Total: 10 sessions for about 11:36. I’ve only done a couple of 11.5-hour weeks over the past few months, so I’m happy with the volume. A couple of long trainer rides and an actual long run will do that to a training week.

This coming week won’t have as much activity because I am going out of town for a wedding and need to do errands and bill paying and kitchen cleaning and all that stuff I like to have taken care of before I skip town. I'm going to try to take it easy on myself and be happy with one thing per night – I don't want to stress and I don't want to leave hours behind schedule, either. We'll consider it a step back week.

Until then, I hope you had the chance to get outside and enjoy the warmer weather. Only 44 days until spring!