After running about 400 miles in the last month and finishing up another hard running workout yesterday I am contemplating taking a day off. Off as in no running whatsoever. It is a hard thing to do as a running obsessed individual. Even knowing that taking a day off to allow my body to rest and repair itself will undoubtedly help me run faster and/or harder in the long term I struggle with the thought of not having a run today. Perhaps I'll just go out for an easy 45 minutes tonight after work.
Diet:
After reading the Paleo Diet for Athletes I have made a few changes but nothing too drastic. Just a few compromises in the primal diet to ensure that I restore my glycogen levels and aid recovery between sessions.
Today's diet:
Breakfast: scrambled eggs, bacon, mushrooms + black coffee
Snack: carrots, sunflower seeds
Lunch: garden salad w/ chicken
Snack: apple + green tea
Dinner: fish and veggies
Stats:
Weight: 167 lb - weighed myself for the first time in months
Legs: 4/10 - Achilles tight and sore
Sleep: 6hr - poor
Training update:
Last four weeks have averaged 90-110 miles per week with 2-3 quality sessions per week. Struggled for a few weeks with the higher mileage but have started feeling better during the last two weeks. The diet has helped with the recovery but I still need to focus on some other areas of recovery including hydration, ice baths, compression clothing, stretching etc.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
A down week?
Last week was another hot week of training. Every day saw temperatures exceeding 35C. It made training much tougher...
DIET
I've gone back to eating a more primal diet with the inclusion of protein and fat at every meal and it has made an immediate improvement to my ability to recover between sessions. During the transition period while adjusting to the changes in my diet I'm finding my endurance and energy are lagging behind. Previous experience ensures me that it will only last a week or two before I see an improvement in my running.
Recent additions to diet: eggs, nuts (almonds and walnuts), lean and not-so-lean meat.
I've finally read the Paleo Diet for Athletes which I purchased over Christmas and will modify my primal diet to ensure that my glycogen levels are replenished between workouts to ensure a fast recovery. I do believe that working out in a semi-depleted glycogen state over a period of time can have significant performance gains in the short and long term but I will have to go over my old training and diet notes to work things out.
TRAINING
Another good mileage week but after a few bigger weeks it feels like a recovery week.
Monday:
AM) 6 mi Easy run - to work
Felt a bit during the morning's run to work.
PM) 7 mi Moderate run - work to home
Any run that starts out when the temp is hovering around 40C is always going to be hard. Throw in a 2 mile climb towards the end and you can see where things can go wrong. Actually legs felt stronger on climb.
Tuesday:
Three runs today -
AM) 8.8 miles - Easy run
Ran to work but took a longer route.
Noon) 5 miles w/ strides
PM) 7 miles
Another tough run home as it was hot again.
Wednesday:
N) 5 miles - Easy run
Planned an easy run during my lunch break with the ambitions of running a longer 13 mile run after work with some friends but ended up bailing out because of the heat.
Thursday:
AM) 6.2 mile Easy run
PM) 12 miles w/ intervals (7 x 4min w/ 2-3min easy)
Hit the trails with a friend. Ran the first four intervals running uphill before turning around and running the last three downhill back to the start. Felt stronger and averaged a good pace.
Friday:
AM) 4.4 mile Recovery run
Just an easy run around the shortest home loop.
Saturday:
AM) 22 mile Long run (2:50)
Started out running easy for the first hour before adding in some sections at marathon pace. After two hours of running the heat and humidity finally kicked in which hurt making the climb back home.
Sunday:
AM) 7 mile Fartlek run
Felt good on this run and decided to try and run with a little more intensity and see if I could add some life back into my legs. Felt good to be running fast again.
Total running: 90.4 miles
DIET
I've gone back to eating a more primal diet with the inclusion of protein and fat at every meal and it has made an immediate improvement to my ability to recover between sessions. During the transition period while adjusting to the changes in my diet I'm finding my endurance and energy are lagging behind. Previous experience ensures me that it will only last a week or two before I see an improvement in my running.
Recent additions to diet: eggs, nuts (almonds and walnuts), lean and not-so-lean meat.
I've finally read the Paleo Diet for Athletes which I purchased over Christmas and will modify my primal diet to ensure that my glycogen levels are replenished between workouts to ensure a fast recovery. I do believe that working out in a semi-depleted glycogen state over a period of time can have significant performance gains in the short and long term but I will have to go over my old training and diet notes to work things out.
TRAINING
Another good mileage week but after a few bigger weeks it feels like a recovery week.
Monday:
AM) 6 mi Easy run - to work
Felt a bit during the morning's run to work.
PM) 7 mi Moderate run - work to home
Any run that starts out when the temp is hovering around 40C is always going to be hard. Throw in a 2 mile climb towards the end and you can see where things can go wrong. Actually legs felt stronger on climb.
Tuesday:
Three runs today -
AM) 8.8 miles - Easy run
Ran to work but took a longer route.
Noon) 5 miles w/ strides
PM) 7 miles
Another tough run home as it was hot again.
Wednesday:
N) 5 miles - Easy run
Planned an easy run during my lunch break with the ambitions of running a longer 13 mile run after work with some friends but ended up bailing out because of the heat.
Thursday:
AM) 6.2 mile Easy run
PM) 12 miles w/ intervals (7 x 4min w/ 2-3min easy)
Hit the trails with a friend. Ran the first four intervals running uphill before turning around and running the last three downhill back to the start. Felt stronger and averaged a good pace.
Friday:
AM) 4.4 mile Recovery run
Just an easy run around the shortest home loop.
Saturday:
AM) 22 mile Long run (2:50)
Started out running easy for the first hour before adding in some sections at marathon pace. After two hours of running the heat and humidity finally kicked in which hurt making the climb back home.
Sunday:
AM) 7 mile Fartlek run
Felt good on this run and decided to try and run with a little more intensity and see if I could add some life back into my legs. Felt good to be running fast again.
Total running: 90.4 miles
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