Dopey 2023 Training: Weeks 4 & 5
Catch-up time! Last we checked in, I was headed out for a week-long photography and camping trip. This usually means long hours in the car and out shooting that start pre-dawn and end around dusk. Since this trip was longer than we usually go, we planned in some midday breaks assuming we weren't actively following specific animals. I was hoping to get at least some of my training in during those breaks, and I sorta succeeded. I did heed Billy's advice not to switch things around, but just to do what I could. Here's how that went.
Tuesday (Sept 20)
Planned & done: Cross-training (strength work out with my trainer) and 3 miles easy
It was good to have the normal routine back this week. Everything felt good as far as I remember, though there was a technical glitch with iFit so I wasn't able to tick off another workout toward my goal of 100 while on the treadmill.
Wednesday (Sept 21)
Planned and done: 1 mile WU, 9x100m at 9:00 w/ 90 sec rest, 1 mile CD
Did this on the treadmill, and I always get bored with the warmup. I think I did about three minutes before jumping into the intervals, but I felt strong!
Friday (Sept 23)
Planned: 2.5 miles easy
I did not end up doing this as the day just got away from me, picking up the trailer, doing the grocery shopping for the trip, prepping everything to load up, etc. Bad idea because I knew the coming week would be even trickier.
Saturday (Sept 24)
Planned: 4.5 miles easy
Once again, I did not run. After feeding the animals and getting things set for the pet sitter, loading the valuable items into the truck, we hit the road and made the six-hour drive. After setting up in our spot and doing an initial scouting run for photography, it was getting dark and we were starving. We came back and built a fire and cooked, then went to bed early for the pre-dawn wakeup.
Sunday (Sept 25)
Planned: 9 miles easy + nutrition practice
Done: 5 miles easy, which you know if you saw my post above. We did take a midday break, and thankfully the weather was in the low 70s with low humidity. I was able to run loops around the campground, which was actually quite fun. I had the mindset to just go out and do what I could do in the time I had, and probably could have spent a little more time, but DH was anxious to get about out and make sure we weren't missing anything (we weren't). My HR surprised me a bit on this one, but it was my first outdoor run in a couple of months, so I chalk it up to that.
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Tuesday (Sept 27)
Planned: Cross-train and 2 miles easy
Done: No cross-training, but I did get my 2 miles in. A little earlier this day, so the temp was in the 60s and it was perfection! This one felt a little easier, too.
Wednesday (Sept 28)
Planned & Done (sorta): 1 mile WU, 2x100m at 9:00 w/ 90 sec rest, 3x200m at 9:00 w/ 2 min rest, 2x100m at 9:00 w/ 90 sec rest, 1 mile CD
This was kind of a sh*t show, tbh. We had to move our trailer over to another spot to hook up the generator and charge back up, so I took advantage and ran these intervals across the parking area. It was peak of the day, in the sun, temp in the upper 70s with the dew point rising thanks to an incoming storm. These felt HARD. But also, my speed was all over the place. Because I use a treadmill so often, I have a pretty bad sense for how some paces feel when I don't do them that often. I know what my easy and tempo runs feel like, but not these fast intervals! According to my watch, these were my speeds:
Warmup (4:38 minutes): 15:43
100m (9:00 target): 7:43 (where did THAT come from?!)
Recover (17:00 target): 17:59
100m: 8:26
Recover: 17:33
200m: 9:01 (HEY! Bingo!)
Recover: 19:36 (ugh)
200m: 9:38 (oops)
Recover: 20:08 (yikes)
200m: 8:29
Recover: 20:31 (***?)
100m: 8:25
Recover: 21:15 (what is happening??)
100m: 8:10 (wow, I really am clueless)
Recover: 17:44 (there ya go - finally)
Cooldown (6:15 minutes): 16:59 (huzzah!)
I mean... what the actual F is going on there? I swear I was trying to figure out what that 9:00 was supposed to feel like. On the treadmill, it literally feels like I almost can't keep up with the belt, so I went out as fast as I could go. I tend to believe the speeds here as the GPS had a clear view and I have all the modes turned on in my FR255s. But wow I really had a hard time staying consistent. Does this mean anything at all
@DopeyBadger ?? How worried should I be that I'm THIS all over the place? My HR was pretty consistent, spiking into the high 160s/low 170s with each fast interval and then down into the 140 range during the recovery periods, so maybe that means something? I definitely felt drained after this one.
Friday (Sept 30)
Planned: 2 miles easy
I did not do this run as we decided to come back a day early. I have a work trip this week and wanted a full weekend to do all the laundry and handle all the reverse tasks of unloading the camper and prepping it for winter storage.
Saturday (Oct 1)
Planned: 4 miles easy
I also did not run on this day, because I was doing laundry and handling all the clean-up tasks for the camper. Also I was just drained from the whole week. UGH.
Sunday (Oct 2)
Planned and done: 4 miles Tempo
Happy to be back to the predictability of the treadmill. And somehow, after those few outdoor runs, the treadmill paces felt more natural and a little easier. This was definitely my most consistent Tempo run, where I was able to keep the intervals and speed without adjusting mid-workout thanks to HR spikes or feeling tired. Not sure if that means anything, but I don't feel I lost a lot of fitness with the inconsistent training the last few weeks. I did this along with Tommy Rivs and the first leg of his Boston Marathon from last. year, so iFit #96!
I would include some photographs from the trip here, but it was sadly a bit of a dud on that level. We did see elk pretty regularly, a few moose, one black bear, and some interesting birds of prey, but the climate season is a few weeks behind so the level of activity was not what we normally see. I promise to share some images when I get the chance to cull through my 1100+ frames of trying to get something!