(To my Coach)
Weekly Update, week of Aug 12-18…
First, I start with some anxiety. I’m following all these folks on Strava, on EN Live, watching people do the epic Leadville rides and runs, seeing the final preps for LP and MT, etc, and wondering, “Am I not working hard/long enough?” And no, I don’t go out and do extra credit work, I’m just feeling a little…insufficient. In the end, though, I do trust my training, especially as I see how well my biking and my running are progressing with the work I *am doing. Not asking for support or encouragement here, just sharing.
Past week: started with an easier Monday after return from Cleveland: Recovery ride on zwift, 42′ run, and weight room. Highlights included: 14.25 miles on Wed split into two runs of 75′ & 60′; 4 hr 15′ mountain ride on Thursday, and another Olympic race on Saturday – 50/192 OA, won AG by 15′, affirming the only meaningful competition will come when I go to the “big” races on nat’l/international level.
Stats for the week: CTL dropped from 130 week before USAT NC to 124 the day after that race, back to 125 after the Wed/Thurs Big Days. Ramp is now @ 1.5, with TSB back into negative territory, and TSS for the week back up to 950. My running was up to 31 miles which is pretty awesome I think.
Health report: I’m a touch fatigued this week, dropped anticipated 2.5 mile run this evening, and shortened my swims. I have also dropped the formal PT sessions, but have kept up the 30′ 4-5 x/week of those exercises, and adding Blood Flow Restriction work to my weaker leg. The Key Thing here is that my knee is certainly no worse, either during running, or at rest. If anything, it seems a bit less swollen and less painful when just moving around. I hate to sound hopeful, because it’s been over a year during which it has seemed like, maybe I really shouldn’t be running anymore…
Planned for the upcoming week:
Monday – Bike Max Effort 1 (as Zwift wko) with 30-40′ OTB run
Tuesday – Swim, OWS vs pool (tempo 200s) 65′ in AM, run FTP. The plan says 1 mile (4′) repeats, but I think I will try to keep with the 1 km cruise intervals, upping them to 5 (2-3′).
Wednesday – Bike – “Full SST” on Zwift as race, workout, or group ride, depending on whats available.
Thursday – No Mountain Goats this week; Split Long Run here of 75’/75′ going for 16+ miles.
Friday – Big Gear Work as Friday Freight Train
Saturday – Long Ride here in the lowlands, working for six hours on the TT bike
Sunday – OWS in the AM, hopefully 80′, with 30-45′ run in the evening.
Questions for this week:
- Do you endorse my upping the cruise intervals instead of start the 1 mile run repeats?
- Should I try a short OTB run after my long ride?
- When does the next phone call come in the grand scheme of things?
- Will we be getting snails and frog legs in France? Not sure I’m ready for that…