Hot runner summer

After running 55 miles for two weeks in a row, my highest volume for some time, I started the first of these two weeks with a longer fartlek than I've been doing lately. It felt hard, and of course it's hot and humid now. So I decided the next day to take a down week by moving my long run to Monday of the following week and taking Friday off. I then ended up taking off the following Friday as well because my hamstring was a bit tight (possibly from some supplementary exercises I did on Wednesday afternoon). So both of these weeks ended up smaller than the previous two. But the quality was good, especially given the challenging weather conditions. The long run on July 18 went particularly well considering that the TDP (temperature + dew point) was over 150, and I managed to do both a workout and the College Park Parkrun 5k each week as well. I'm evidently pretty locked in to 19:3x for a threshold effort 5k in summery weather right now, which is also pretty much where I was in 2019 (my last good running year). I was hoping to put in a harder effort and try to sneak under 19 minutes before heading to Greece, but frankly I'm just trying to survive the summer weather at this point. So I'll defer that hope until September and continue also to wonder whether I can get under 18:30 when the weather begins to improve in the Fall (if that sort of effort is even compatible with the longer distance training I'll be focusing on then). That would be my fastest 5k in nearly a decade. After PRing in both the half marathon and 10 mile in 2019, I set out in the Spring of 2020 to see how close my old body could get to my 5k and 10k PRs, both of which date back to 2013, before the pandemic shut everything down. That's still in the back of my mind, but right now I need to shift toward strength work in advance of the Annapolis 10 miler on August 28 and the DC Half on September 18. I'd love to do the Army 10 miler as well but neglected to register before it filled up. Maybe I'll somehow manage to get a bib, but actually I'd be better positioned to take some swings at the 5k then if I don't. We'll see.

July 11 - 17:
Mo: off
Tu: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 minutes with half recoveries
We: 8.3 miles
Th: 8.5 miles
Fr: off
Sa: College Park Parkrun 5k in 19:31
Su: 8.4 miles
Week total: 45 miles

July 18 - 24:
Mo: 16 miles @ 7:48/mi.
Tu: off
We: 3 x (3, 2, 1 min.) with half recoveries
Th: 8.5 miles
Fr: off
Sa: College Park Parkrun 5k in 19:34
Su: 8.5 miles
Week total: 50 miles

Another 55 mile week

I skipped the Parkrun again this week, this time because of heavy rain. But my back is doing well, and I managed to run 55 miles again this week in spite of some scheduling challenges. I'm now feeling the slightly higher volume since this is the highest consistent mileage I've run in two years. My weight is even beginning to drop back in the direct of pre-pandemic levels, which had been stable for around 8 years until late 2020 - not that I'm losing weight on purpose. I just unavoidably slim down when I run more miles, especially in the summer. It would make sense to take a down week around now, but I have two more weeks in the US before heading to Greece. So I'm hoping to keep it going for another two weeks if the body plays along, and then take things easier that first week in Athens. We'll see how things go, but I've penciled in 60 miles for next week including a fartlek on Tuesday and the Parkrun on Saturday.

July 4 - 10:
Mo: 8 miles
Tu: off
We: 10 x .25 miles with 1:00 rests
Th: 8 miles
Fr: 8 miles
Sa: 16 miles @ 7:43
Su: 7 miles
Week total: 55 miles

Working through some lower back issues

The injury cycle I mentioned in my previous post included, among other things, some lower back issues that impacted much more than just my running. Unfortunately a bit of that returned last week, but fortunately it was not nearly as bad as before and at this point I have it under control. My torso is very long compared with the length of my legs. I'm 5'10", my dad is 6'1", my mom is 5'0", and I joke that I inherited my dad's torso with my mom's legs. I'm not built like a runner at all. I've had lower back problems since my early teens, when I first hurt myself lifting weights with bad form (it happened other times later as well). But I think the lower back issues I've had as an adult are mostly or entirely related to poor posture, aided perhaps by my odd proportions. My chiropractor tells me I have a curve in my spine that is not supposed to be there (front-to-back, not left-to-right as in scoliosis). When my back locks up it does seem to be in the area where that unwelcome curve is located. I have a gadget called a posture pump disk hydrator that I use to straighten up that curve and coax those muscles to loosen up, or to discourage them from locking up in the first place, and you can do basically the same thing with a foam roller. Anyway, my back tightened up on me last week on Friday (June 24), the day after a long run. I don't think it's caused by running, but rather my posture tends to be especially bad when I'm tired after some long or hard runs. When my back locks up, running can initially help to loosen things up. So I did an easy run after waking up with it tight on Friday. Then on Saturday I planned to run easy again at the Parkrun but ended up running at tempo effort for 5k. That was probably dumb, but it's difficult to restrain myself when running with others who are putting in effort. I took the following day, Sunday, off as penance. Over the next couple days, on each of which I ran easy, my back loosened up enough that I was able to hazard a workout on Wednesday. It felt almost normal before the workout but did tighten up again somewhat afterwards. So I did a recovery run the following day and then took another day off. By Saturday, July 2, it felt pretty much fine again, but I didn't want to risk it tightening up from running faster. So I skipped the Parkrun that weekend but did a long run on Sunday. I'm writing this the day after that long run, and my back is still fine. In spite of these back issues I was able to run 55 miles this past week, which is my highest weekly volume yet this year. Assuming my back cooperates, I'm planing to keep it there or inch upward very slightly next week and to return to the Parkrun next Saturday.

 June 20-26:
Mo: off
Tu: 3 x (3, 2, 1 min.) with half recoveries
We: 7.5 miles
Th: 16 miles @ 7:34/mi.
Fr: 7.5 miles
Sa: College Park Parkrun 5k in 20:07 (6:35/mi. pace)
Su: off
Week total: 47.7 miles

June 27 - July 3:
Mo: 7.5 miles
Tu: 8 miles
We: 3 x (1, 2, 3 min.) with half recoveries
Th: 7.5 miles
Fr: off
Sa: 8 miles
Su: 15 miles @ 7:39/mi.
Week total: 55 miles