I am always telling my coached athletes that listening to their body, is important when it comes to training. If your body is hurting, it is often wise to not workout, and to instead, focus on getting healthy. Being smart about niggling injuries prevents them from becoming major issues, and major issues can really impact your season. I am proud to say that I did what I expect my athletes to do this week and that listening to my body, yielded a great week.
I did an hour long aerobic run on Tuesday evening and my left foot felt a little sore afterwards. The next morning, when I got out of bed, the soreness had gotten worse. I had scheduled myself another run that day. My niggle was something that I probably could have ignored, and in the past would have done. Instead however, I decided not to run and to do an easy bike session instead.
Later that afternoon, I was getting ready to ride my bike and I felt really tired. I wanted to take a nap instead of cycling, so that is what I did. I slept for an hour in place of biking for an hour. I woke up feeling much better.
The next morning, I woke up feeling really good, and my foot was no longer sore. I knew I had a bike session scheduled and that this workout would be less demanding on my foot. With luck I thought, I could set myself up for a big weekend of running.
Pushing Big Watts On Thursdays Is Becoming A Habit (White Line = FTP)
That turned out to be the case, as you can see from the workouts I completed this week. Here they are:
- Monday – 60 Minute Endurance Ride on my bike trainer
- Tuesday – 60 Minute Aerobic Run
- Wednesday – Day Off
- Thursday – 60 Minute Interval Bike Session (44 Minutes at Sweet Spot Power) – See Photo Below
- Friday – 45 Minute Aerobic Treadmill
- Saturday – 90 Minute Aerobic Run
- Sunday – 90 Minute Aerobic Run with Tempo Finish
Even with the day off, my run time and run mileage totals were close to my original plan. My total of 32 run miles for the week, meant that I have run over 100 miles in the past three weeks. A very solid run block for me.
As it seems to be every week, my Sunday run turned out to be my favorite. I ran on the Butler Freeport Community Trail, which is pictured above and below. While this trail looks flat, it is in reality, a long gentle slope. I joked with my wife that it was one giant ‘false flat’.
The way I chose to run it was, 2.5 miles ‘downhill’ before turning around and running 5 miles ‘uphill’. This meant my final 2.5 miles were ‘downhill’ back to my car. I hadn’t run above aerobic pace at all during this run block, so now was the time to open up my legs a bit. I increased my effort and ran those last miles at a Tempo effort. It felt really good to run faster.
As I was cruising down the pathway, with snow on the ground, I was reminded that listening to my body on Wednesday, had turned out to be a very good thing. I got back to my car sweating quite hard and with a huge smile on my face. Another great week in the books.
The Giant False Flat That Is The Butler Freeport Community Trail
