Things are starting to get serious…less than 8 weeks to go! This was officially my last recovery week prior to my final 4 week training volume increase, after which is taper. Shit is about to get real.
MON 24 MAR
PM | 15min – strength circuit
Short strength session, making use of the TRX for a few exercises. Part of a new approach to my strength training – I can’t seem to fit in full-on sessions, so I’m going to try and incorporate more mini-workouts.
TUE 25 MAR
PM | 40min – stationary bike trainer
Easy spin on the bike, giving the feet a rest from running. Bored out of my brain...
WED 26 MAR
AM | 20.4km, 680m VG, 1hr 50min – mid-week long trail run
Easy paced mid-week long run in Nerang NP. Nerang 17km loop followed by the Casuarina singletrack circuit. Kept the effort aerobic for the most part, but I did struggle controlling the HR on some of the climbs today - mostly because I didn't want to hike anything. I shortened my stride right up (keeping the cadence up) and ran everything, but it meant the HR got away from me in a few sections. Not ideal, but I reigned it in pretty quickly.
THU 27 MAR
AM | 12.0km, NIL VG, 55min – MAF test road run
PM | 15min – strength circuit
I think this would be considered a MAF test fail! 3km W/U + 6km test + 3km C/D. This was my first crack at running a MAF test and, try as hard as I did, I struggled to maintain my HR in the correct zone for the first kms of the test (I think a new HR strap may be in order). The last 2km of the test are good, with my HR sitting just below 150 (my max. aerobic rate), but the 4km prior to that I was generally sitting too low or overcompensating and HR spiked. So, not a great test, but something to learn from.
Snuck in another mini-workout strength circuit in the afternoon.
FRI 28 MAR
PM | 20min – strength circuit
Another running rest day for the week, but I included another mini-workout for cross-training. That makes 4 cross-training workouts this week!
SAT 29 MAR
AM | 9.9km, NIL VG, 1hr 5min – easy stroller run
Easy 2km W/U followed by easy Kirra parkrun 5km with stroller (effort was aerobic throughout) followed by easy 2km C/D. In case I didn’t say it enough – it was easy.
SUN 30 MAR
PM | 18.2km, 576m VG, 2hr 12min – recovery week long trail run
Nerang NP, pretty much all singletrack. It was washed out and rocky from the week of rain prior, and it was slow going - not that I cared as it was recovery week and I actually enjoyed just really taking my time (HR was low for the entire run). Quiet trails and cruising! And you're welcome - I cleared all the spiders webs for everyone else!
TOTAL
Running | 60.5km, 1275m VG, 6hr 2min
Cross-training | 1hr 30min
Total time | 7hr 32min
Kind of a funny week. It was a scheduled recovery week and for once I made the most of it. I only ran 4 days (I had 6 scheduled) and opted to include a little more cross-training in place of the running. My feet had been sore leading into the week and came out the other side much better (still not perfect, but definite improvement).
I spent some time on the stationary trainer (I find cycling boring at the best of times – this is torture), I included some mini-workout strength sessions (which I hope to keep including weekly going forward), and I generally tried to give the body a chance to catch up.
The next 3 weeks (weeks 18, 19, 20) are the biggest of my training cycle, before a slow taper to race day (I like a 4 week taper, with gradual reductions in training time each week). Should make for interesting reading over the next month or so!
See you out there – Juddy