Weekly Summary – 58 miles (92km) in 9 runs (+ 2h30 cross train). Some soreness this week (along with bad weather) had me cross training a few times in place of running. Still focusing on PT, balance, stability, etc. and gradually building up running volume, intensity. Long way to go!

 

Don’t forget, you can follow me day to day on Instagram and Twitter (@TylerCAndrews) and my daily training log on Trackster.

Oh and hey if you’re reading this and don’t know about STRIVE, you should probably check ’em out. I lead groups through the mountains of Peru on a  journey of running, service learning, and adventure. If you’re interested, join us this summer, when we’ll once again have programs for High School and Internships for College students, and even 10-day trips for adults and families.

Lastly, I’m very grateful to support from Outback Physcial Therapy here in Somerville, MA. Dr. Ithamar Jokowitz has been a great help in analyzing my gate and physiology and helping me put together a specific strength-training regimen to really dial things in. If you’re interested in improving your running mechanics, enhancing your recovery, learning about what injuries you might be at risk for, or even get your VO2 max tested, he’s definitely the guy to see in the area!

 

Lunes, 18 de Noviembre, 2019 – 10:00: Productive morning so didn’t work out until later. Filthy out and ankles were sore so playing it safe and only on elliptical. Did 60’ w/ res from 3-6, RPM over 90 for 50’ and then 7x 30” on, 1’ off (res 7), 5’ c/d. Felt good. Total work 65’. 

XT: Heel drops, beach ball, hips (6x weights), 1 leg band, upper band, toes

17:00: Ankles feel almost 100% and definitely could have run but being conservative because it’s freaking november. Did half hour on the elliptical with first 23’ res 4-6 rpm over 90, last 7’ hard (rpm over 100-115, res 6 and then 7. 5’ c/d. Total 36’. 

XT: Heel drops

Legs circuit (static lunge on balance ball, split lunge, step up, squat, 10x each)

Beach ball, 1 leg bands, upper bands, toes

 

Martes, 19 de Noviembre, 2019 – 10:45am: Ran much later w/ 11:15 PT appointment at Outback PT in Somerville. Slept very poorly last night w/ first night in the altitude tent in a while, so good to have a more relaxed morning anyway. Walked Mar to school and back and then ran over to Outback. Legs and ankles both felt really good. After appt, ran back with 1.5 laps around the HPP (Hilly Prospect Park) loop. Stopped at the track and did drills and 6x strides in 2’00 (last 4x under 1’20). Finally feeling decent on these! Finished a few easy laps around the track and home to get to an hour. Total run 14km+ in 61’.

XT: Heel drops, beach ball, 1 leg band, monster walks, upper band, toes

XT: Good session w/ Ithamar at Outback PT. Still focusing mostly on manual work on ankles/achilles/calves and then some stability exercises. Looking forward to the gains!

16:30: Quite tired with short time between sessions and a good deep nap, but felt good once I got out the door. Pretty much 100% night time when leaving at this hour now. Not too cold though. Ran out/back to Sci museum bridge. No GPS but moving very well. Stopped at track and did drills, 4x strides in 1’22. Finished easy home. Total run 7km+ in 29’30.

XT: Heel drops, toes, 1 leg band, shoulder bands, beach ball, monster walk, pedestal (6x weights), jwal core (no weight, but all the way through in order, first time).

 

Miercoles, 20 de Noviembre, 2019 – Sparknotes: 200m @ 33, 12x300m @ 51.0 avg (200m jog @ 59 avg), 200m @ 32. 4000m of work @ 2’48.9

07:00am: Felt pretty bad this morning. Slept better but body just felt a bit swollen and sluggish. Jogged over to BU in pretty filthy weather (39F and drizzle) and got in no problem. Jogged another 10’ or so indoors for 5km+ w/u in 23’. Changed into Carb Rocket and did drills and then 4x strides, 200m relaxed in 33.3.

Goal for the workout was to continue running at goal 5K pace ~2’45-50/km w/ slightly longer reps (300s vs 200s last week), same rest. I knew I was a bit tired going into this so again gave myself a wide range of 8-16 reps (2400-4800m of total volume).

Started out consistently around 50.x for each rep (51.0 is 2’50/km pace). These felt tough but manageable. Told myself to get through 4x and then felt good enough to get to 8x before taking a full 400m jog (1’57). Thought I might make it through another 8x, but was struggling to maintain the pace, so shot for 4x more. Ran those last 4x in 51.7, 51.0, 52.3 (slowest of the day), 50.8. Finished with 200m hard which I unfortunately missed the starting split for, but actually felt really good. I’d guess it was 31-32.

So, overall it was 4000m of work at 2’48.9 pace. Definitely not bad for feeling pretty lousy this morning and legs being quite tired. But objectively still pretty far off where I’d like to be. Just chekced and on July 17, I did 8000m worth of work in CUSCO at 11,000 ft at exactly the same avg pace (2’48.9) w/ longer reps (400/200/200) and not much rest. I need to get some speed back!

Cooled down 10’ inside and then home. Total run 17km+ in 1h11.

XT: Heel drops.

Legs circuit (static lunge on balance ball, split lunge, step up, squat, 3 sets of 10x each, 5lb weight on last set)

Beach ball, 1 leg bands, upper bands, toes

16:00: Ran on treadmill as it was 38F and raining outside. Felt a bit stiff to start but ended up feeling quite good. Actually kind of nice to be able to really focus on form/balance for the whole time. Just ran 30’ continuously, no strides, but did do drills after. Started at 8’00/M and finished around 5’50/M (last km was 3’44). Total run 7km+ in 30’.

XT: Heel drops, 1 leg bands, beach ball, upper bands, toes, monster walks

 

Jueves, 21 de Noviembre, 2019 – 10:30am: Ran to Outback PT. Legs and overall energy quite low today. Slow! Ran back after apt (and nice 20’ in the normatech pants) and then grabbed carbon Xs and went to the track. Did 4x strides and drills (in carbon x) in 1’22, still feeling slow and low energy. Planned to do 1600m at 5’10-15 but stopped after just about 500m as my rt achilles was bugging me and just felt awful. Not sure if I’ll still try to work out tomorrow or wait until Sat.

XT: 1 leg bands, beach ball, upper bands, toes

PM: OFF. Felt really bad. Ankles were sore, energy was very low, legs felt very tired. Long nap and then not much else. Definitely won’t try to work out tomorrow.

 

Viernes, 22 de Noviembre, 2019 – 09:30: Slept a long time, woke up feeling really bad and went back to bed for another hour. Felt better and RHR was lowest it’s been in the altitude tent yet (49), which I figured was a decent sign. Worked out short on the elliptical in sweats. Body has just felt really swollen and gross. Not sure if I’m just out of shape and softening up or if some kind of water retention/immflation is going on. But it felt good to sweat. Did 40’ and got HR up into 170s for the last 10’ or so. Total work 40’.

XT: Heel drops (5x only as left was still a bit sore), beach ball, upper bands, 1 leg bands, monster walks.

4pm: Ran on treadmill as it was filthy and raining outside again. Felt MUCH better this afternoon with another nap and some coffee post-nap. Really need to take care of myself in these building blocks. Felt good running from 5’00->4’20/km very easy at 2%. Stopped and did drills and then 4x 20” at ~2’45/km. Finished with 1M at 5’11 (2’36.x/2’34.x), felt good! Will try for the big test workout tomorrow. Total run 8km++ in 35’.

XT: Heel drops (10x), upper bands, pedestal (8’, 6x weights), jwal core (no weights), toes, beach ball, monster walks, 1 leg bands

 

Sabado, 23 de Noviembre, 2019 – 08:30: Woke up earlier and planned to start a longer workout around 09:00. Actually felt quite good getting up and out the door, still a bit stiff on the warmup, though. Did about 2km and then drills and strides in Carbon X. Cool around 36F and a bit windy on the track.

Planned to do 15-19km on the track at around 3’15/km or a bit quicker. This would be a real predictor of whether I was ready for Desert Solstice but it was very clear that, at least right now, the answer is no. Basically slowed down from 200m onward. Ran like 37/77 and then like 80, 81, 82 or something for 5’23 at 1600m and just stopped. Effort felt way off, form didn’t feel good. Body felt bad and tired. Just wasn’t going to happen. 

Frustrating when you put your eggs in the basket of these sessions and they don’t go well but you can’t fight the body.

Tried to still get some quality in and was just feeling cold and miserable so went to the gym and ran on the treadmill. Planned to do same 6-7 mile progression cut-down as a couple weeks ago but only made it 5km (1M at 6’15/6’00/5’45). Really poor showing and just felt awful. This should basically be a warmup for me but for some reason HR was way too high, upper 160s to 170s within the first 2M. Something is wrong and there’s no reason to push when the body is reacting this poorly to attempts at training. It’s very frustrating but sometimes the body doesn’t need more work, but needs more recovery.

Finished with very short cooldown and then home. Total run ~10km in 35’ of total running.

XT: Heel drops, hips (6x weights), upper bands, 1 leg bands, monster walks, beach ball, toes

PM: OFF. Went out to Concord and then to “In the Heights” at Somerville HS w/ Mar and David in the evening. Great time.

 

Domingo, 24 de Noviembre, 2019 – 10:30: Slept very late after staying up until almost 01:30 w/ Mar and Dave looking through our old HS yearbook and playing music and having a generally good time.

Ran on treadmill so we could run together (at different paces) and because it was miserable outside. Did 1 hour pretty easy, starting slower than 8’00/M and working down to about 6’40/M. Did 4x 30” surges at 5’30-5’00/M w/ 1’ moderate at the end and then easy to the finish. Felt decent. HR still quite high given the pace (up to upper 160s by the end at just under 7’00/M). Perhaps the 2% incline is too high on these machines to simulate outdoor pace. Total run 13.5km in 60’30.

XT: Heel drops, upper bands, beach ball, monster walk, 1 leg bands, toes

17:48: Ran at 91 Syd Gym again w/ David. Fun day but late by the time we got here and it was still dark and rainy and Dave wanted to come, so all treadmill today. Ran easy again from 8’00/M down to 6’40/M at 2%. No strides. HR again got into the low 160s even at moderate pace. Focused on trying to keep cadence up as it’s naturally much lower on the treadmill. Total 6.5km in 29’. 

XT: Heel drops, upper bands, beach ball, monster walk, 1 leg bands, toes, pedestal (6x weights), jwal core (no weights)