April in review: Quaran-training means lots of running and supplemental workouts

A good amount of training volume this month.

April was darn good as far as training goes. I had the best running mileage month I've had in years. I did a decent amount of trainer riding and PT, and a respectable amount of weights and yoga. I even kept up with a little bit of dryland swim training.

I'm still working from home, and am still making the most of the time I'm not commuting or getting ready by daily morning dog walks. The mutts are loving it and the weather is getting more and more cooperative. I think I'm doing as well as I can, mentally. I don't like that I can't see my parents or plan a vacation, but I am trying to enjoy the downtime.

I didn't go nuts in April for training, but I did have a slight increase in training time from March although, funnily enough, I hit 48 sessions again. April shook out to be:

I am very pleased with how my run's come back along.

Run: 16 times, all on the road, for 122.5 miles in 20 hours, 11 minutes. A few notes about April's running:

• It's no coincidence that I have managed to increase my mileage at the same time I am increasing my pre-hab.
• I added one more easy day per week for most of April, which accounts for some of the increased mileage.
• I increased my long runs to 2 hours then rounded up to the next quarter mile, which resulted in my longest runs in years.
• I got word mid-month that I was going to be furloughed on Wednesdays, so I did one long run on Wednesday instead of Sunday. It rained the last Wednesday of the month so I did a medium-distance run on Thursday instead, but I'd like to keep up with the long runs on Wednesdays as long as I am off.
• The last time I hit 100 miles in a month was October of 2017; the last time I hit 120 was February of 2017.
• I don't see any need right now to try to increase my volume any more than this 100-125 range. This gives me two easy runs per week to stay in shape, one long run per week for my sanity, and one speed run to challenge myself. It's a good mix and I don't think I'll change it up any time soon.

Slightly off (one ride didn't sync), but bike is going OK too.

Bike: 12 times, all on the trainer, for 217.5 fake trainer miles in about 14 hours, 18 minutes. This was a pretty low-for-me bike month. I am still doing one easier and one harder hour-long ride per week most weeks, but I cut back my long rides to 1.5 hours instead of 2, since there aren't going to be any races any time soon. I just ... don't care that much? I still enjoy riding the trainer a few times per week to keep my legs in shape, but I don't see the point of doing much more than this right now.

Pre-hab: 9 times for about 5 hours, 15 minutes. I'm happy I'm averaging more than twice per week, hooray! I'd like to work on getting that average up to three times per week, but I feel like I have a pretty good foundation here.

Weights: Five times — three online barre classes and two of my heavy/body weight routines — for about 5 hours, 5 minutes. Again, I'm averaging more than once per week, which I feel is a good foundation for getting that closer to an average of twice per week.

Yoga: Four times for about 1:10. I'm pretty consistent with doing a few minutes of either self-guided or Down Dog app practice on Sunday nights, but I'd really like to fit in another night during the week. Maybe I will focus on making time on my long run days.

Dryland: I also did dryland stretch cord twice to warm up for weights workouts, for 30 minutes total. I have no idea if this is keeping me in swimming shape, but it's nice to do something different once in a while and work some different muscles.

Total: 48 sessions in about 46 hours, 28 minutes. Not bad at all!

I don't have any big goals for May except for a bit of fine-tuning from this base I've built in April. Maybe hit 125 running miles, maybe hit 250 bike trainer miles and/or get outside on my road bike once or twice, bump up pre-hab to three times and weights and yoga to twice every week, and do a bit more dryland. Since there aren't going to be any races any time soon, I'm going to focus on consistency more than speed or power.

I hope you had a great April and that your May is already off to a great and healthy start.