Runs:

Sunday, May 2 – Hill repeats

Run: 7.4 miles.  14:07 per mile.  Strides: 152 per min.  Heart rate: 140 bpm.  Temps: 70s deg F, sunny.

5-10 minute warm-up, 16 x ~90-100 seconds up hill, easy down, then easy, hilly running (1,314 ft. gain)

I woke up feeling groggy and fatigued.  I had 1.5 glasses of wine the night before, but normally if I’m affected the next day it is a headache, not grogginess, so I’m not sure what was up.  (Tired is the new hangover?  Tired is apparently my body’s response to everything these days.)

I decided to do hill repeats anyway, and I was groggy before, during, and after this entire run (In hindsight, I’m not entirely sure I should have driven over to the hill repeats hill while this groggy, but I was probably ok to drive, just tired).  This was my first hill repeat session since March 13^th.  I normally try to do them once every two weeks, so what the heck happened?  I got my first Covid shot on March 16^th, and I was feeling really fatigued for two weeks, and I similarly did not feel great after the second shot on April 6th (not enough to stop running, but enough to skip hill repeats for multiple weeks).

These hill repeats were very hot and sweaty, and my uphill speed is somewhat slower than usual, but that’s ok.  I had planned to do mobility drills at the end of this run, but by that point I was fried and ready to quit running.  I did no swimming, no strength training after this, just rest and relaxation (and shoulder stretches  and regular stretches).

Monday, May – Tempo Run + “Recovery” Swim      

Run: 8.7 miles.  10:33 per mile.  Strides: 163 per min.  Heart rate: 140 bpm.  Temps: 50s deg F, windy.

9 minute warm-up, 6.5 miles at tempo pace (10:06/mile), 1.4 miles cool down.

I woke up with my “side hips” being sore from yesterday’s hill repeats (I’m sure there are muscles there, I don’t know what they are called).  I had talked myself out of a tempo run before starting the run this morning because I was clearly in pain, but once I got going, I decided to go for the tempo run anyway.  (I probably should have pushed it back one day, but sometimes it’s fun to see what it is like to do a tempo on tired/sore legs.)

It was hard to run fast today, this is probably mostly from DOMS/soreness, but I’m pretty sure the increased level of activity in my life now that I’m swimming, doing weights at the gym, and still maintaining a robust weekly running mileage, and also seasonal allergies… all those things worked together to slow me down a bit today.  It was not hard to run today, just hard to run a sub 10 minute mile pace.  Regardless of the pace, I pushed myself and I don’t feel bad about this run.

Swim: 1.1 miles, 45:51, 1.45 mph, 21 strokes/minute.

This was a 5pm swim, I did lots of laps of freestyle, backstroke, and breaststroke.  I also did 4 kickboard laps, 4 leg buoy laps, 2 lengths butterfly (not consecutively), 1 length holding my breath (26 strokes total), and 2 laps “fast free”.  I’m not sure what I was expecting when I decided a “recovery swim” might help after my tempo run, mostly I just did what I usually do in the pool.  Good swim.

Note: I completely forgot to do my shoulder/normal stretches today.  This is the first time I’ve skipped stretching since March, and I would have done them if I had remember to.  Stretching is about progress not perfection, so I’m not mad this happened.  (I’ve never “forgotten” to run, it just happens, hopefully stretching will be that way too but now it is a constant reminding myself to do it.)

Tuesday, May 4 – Run (and a treadmill run thanks to a thunderstorm)

Run: 5.3 miles.  12:35 per mile.  Strides: 155 per min.  Heart rate: 119 bpm.  Temps: 60s-70s deg F, humid, rainy, and a t-storm at the end.

This was an easy paced, somewhat hilly (was going to be hillier! 237 ft. gain) run, that started out as very humid, I had no idea a thunderstorm was rolling in, and then it turned more threatening, and the run ended early with rumbles of thunder, a call to be picked up, and a mad dash to stand under the overhang of a local coffee shop before all hell broke loose.  I only got a little wet from light rain, but by the time I was picked up it was a downpour.  (I always check the weather before I run, but must have missed the “scattered thunderstorms”.)

Even with all that and such a slow pace, this was a really good run.  I had started listening to the audiobook Midnight in Chernobyl on this run and was already thoroughly engrossed.

Treadmill Run: 2 miles.  13:12 per mile.  Strides: 137 per min.  Heart rate: 121 bpm.  Temps: indoors.

I got on the treadmill as soon as I got home to finish out my 7 miles, and continued to listen to the audiobook.

I did repeats of ~3 minutes walk at an incline (6-12%), ~3 minutes run (mostly 5.5 mph-6 mph, the last round I ramped that up to 7 mph).  I kept having to rewind the audiobook (well, push the 15 second back button several times) because it was covering the very scientific portion of how different nuclear reactors in power plants work (water-water, water-graphene, something-something else), which really was hard to focus on while running faster.  I’m still not entirely sure about this part of the book, but that’s ok.  This was not what I planned for today, but sometimes when it rains it pours.  (Not figuratively, just literally today.)

I spent the rest of the day making a rainbow birthday cake for my 6 year old nephew, which I normally make a day ahead of time and it meant the icing was much more slidey than normal (that’s why blue and green are way out of alignment – this wasn’t my best rainbow cake).  Here’s hoping I won’t need to make another one of these because they are a lot of work mixing the right colors (purple was not great this year, it’s kind of a purple-brown thin smudge at the bottom), and yeah, icing it is a nightmare.  I’m not a professional baker.  He really loves rainbows though, and all kids deserve fun birthday cakes on their birthday, so I’m happy I could make him happy. (I’m just hoping for more carrot cake requests in the future – I’m really good with my carrot cake.)

Wednesday, May 5 – Run/Strength Training/Swim

Here’s where I learn maybe I should only lift weights after I’m done swimming.

Run: 7.3 miles.  11:58 per mile.  Strides: 158 per min.  Heart rate: 121 bpm.  Temps: 50s deg F, windy.

This was an easy paced, hilly (400 ft. gain) run.  I had planned to do ~8 miles with mobility drills at the end, but I’m also planning to lift at the gym and then swim, so my preservation mode kicked in and I decided 7 miles is good today.

I’m still listening to Midnight in Chernobyl and even more engrossed as the book is now covering the reactor destruction.  I was a little kid when the Chernobyl disaster happened, and it is interesting to learn both what happened and learn more about the USSR in general as an adult.  I have a lot of empathy for the workers at Chernobyl, it was a difficult situation and many people put their own lives at risk to contain the disaster (it seems ultimately a lot of that was futile, but I’m only partway through the book).

I loved running before I started listening to audiobooks on the run, but now combining running with learning science/history, I’m loving running even more.

Strength training:  I did some strength training at the gym before my swim.  I don’t think I did anything harder than normal, although I did do 80 pounds with the lat pull down machine… this will come into play in a moment…

Swim: ~0.66 mile, 46:49, 20 strokes per minute.

I swam 2 laps breast stroke before doing 1 lap each of freestyle and backstroke. Both free and back caused my left shoulder to ache, which makes me think I did too much with my strength training right before the pool.  (It also seemed a couple degrees cooler in the water, and my hormones were doing their monthly up and down thing, both things also could affect my left shoulder that probably has some scar tissue.  But it was probably the weight lifting.)

So… I just did a bunch of breast stroke laps because it didn’t cause it to ache as much, 8 laps of kickboard (my watch does not detect kickboard laps, so might be more than 0.66 miles today), some aqua jogging with the jog belt in the deep end, and 1 lap of elementary backstroke, which also made my shoulder ache.

I don’t think the shoulder is injured because all my shoulder stretches after this swim were fine, and it’s not in pain resting, the act of pulling water with just my left arm working on its own (like freestyle or back stroke) made it achy.

My right triceps was twitching a few hours later (and continued twitching for days), so it’s entirely possible my shoulder joint itself wasn’t sore, just my triceps (which attaches to that joint). 

The next morning, I had some soreness in my left triceps, but also soreness in both glutes, so all that is probably DOMS from weight lifting.  I had been planning on taking a few days off swimming anyway, so now is a good time for DOMS in my arms.

Thursday, May 6 – Long Run

Run: 16 miles.  12:28 per mile.  Strides: 156 per min.  Heart rate: 119 bpm.  Temps: 40s – 50s deg F.

I had mild DOMS in glutes and triceps from yesterday’s strength training.  This was an easy paced, hilly (668 ft. gain) long run.  I listened to Midnight in Chernobyl the whole run, maybe it helped keep my mind off of how much I wanted to quit starting at 11 miles in.  I definitely felt tired by 9 miles, but still managed to make it to 16.  I’m feeling body tired but mentally alert after this run.

It is strange to see my heart rate so low on a long run… usually later on in the run that running heart rate starts to tick up (usually as I’m getting more and more dehydrated. I know lower running heart rate is supposed to show increased “fitness”, but I’m guessing here it is indicating that my body is still in recovery mode/caused by my increasing tiredness, and not a “fitness gain”.

Note:  In hindsight I was probably experiencing my PMS symptom of “being tired” on  this run, I always forget that that happens every monthy.  (It has lately been the only symptom, so I should be happy about that, but I’m tired of being tired.

Friday, May 7 – Recovery Run

Run: 7.2 miles.  11:58 per mile.  Strides: 160 per min.  Heart rate: 120 bpm.  Temps: 40s-50s deg F.

This was an easy paced, flat run from a local park to my sister’s house (5.6 miles, new running route, woo hoo!).  My legs felt pretty good after yesterday’s 16 miles.  After I made it to my sis’s house, I took my almost 2 year old nephew to the playground and back (0.8 miles each way).  This was some good slow running on a recovery day.

I’m feeling really tired later in the day.  “Tired” has replaced moody, crampy, and hungry my main and currently only PMS symptom, so I guess that’s improvement.  (I complain more in my notes about being tired of being tired and fatigued all the time, but that’s already mentioned here in multiple places)

My triceps are still sore from Wednesday, shoulder seems fine though.

Saturday, May 8 – Run

Run: 8 miles.  12:18 per mile.  Strides: 158 per min. Heart rate: 121 bpm.  Temps: 40s-50s deg F, sunny.

This was an easy paced, hilly (441 ft. gain) run.  I finished Midnight in Chernobyl audiobook (and got emotional when people I was attached to passed away in the book – audiobooks make me very emotional sometimes when I’m running). This run felt pretty good.

I went for a 3 mile hike today after the run (for Mother’s Day, a day early). I felt very tired after the hike, but it is definitely “time of the month” related, and a sign I need to ease off my exercise volume next week.

Running wrap-up

1.)  My heart rate was really low (for me) on most of these runs.  Maybe my VO2 Max is improving, but I’m suspecting all the swimming, running, and strength training means my heart rate is in “recovery mode” for most of these runs.  Most of the runs were at a very slow pace for me as well, so maybe this was just a slow heart rate, slow running week for me.  My average running heart rate this week was 126 bpm.  The four previous weeks it was 131, 132, 132, and 132, so I’m clearly not imagining this.  (When I remove hill repeats, this week’s running heart rate drops down even lower to 123 bpm.  This is not normal.)

My resting heart rate also likes to get real slow right before a new monthly cycle starts, so maybe once again hormones are partially to blame.  54 bpm on Saturday coincides with me being real tired.  (Does it drop because of my hormones and heart rate dropping is part of what is making me more tired, or is it just low because I’m more tired and moving around less?  No idea, but probably one of those two reasons.)

2.) I ran 62 miles this week, which is great, especially when I was so tired for the later part of the week.  Am I running too many miles?  I really love those 16 mile long runs and weeks that I go that far on a long run are going to be higher mileage than other weeks, but days I’m not running 16 miles are normal mileage day.  Does it really matter that much if I do 6 miles or 8 miles on an easy day?  I don’t think I’m at too many miles right now. (My body does not like it when I get up around 67 miles a week a couple weeks in a row, but one week at 62, my body loves that!)

My speed on other hand, was a little slower this week than the last couple weeks.

3.)  I only did 1 strength training session this week (and missed a day of stretching/shoulder work).  It’s probably good to “detrain”, and my body seems to want to detrain right before a new cycle, so that’s probably good.  

Skipping stretching on Monday was an accident and I just forgot.  Hopefully I will get to the point where it is something that happens without me thinking about it.  I’ve never “forgotten” to go for a run.

4.)  My weight is up slightly (0.5 pound average for the week) compared to last week.  By now, I have a feeling my weight is a lot like the line from Whose Line is it Anyway? “Everything is made up and the points don’t matter.”  Hormones, muscle inflammation, general inflammation from allergies, carbohydrates (not fat gain, my body really likes to hold onto a lot of water as I digest things like pasta), all those things make the weight number somewhat meaningless from week to week.

None of these are “excuses” about my weight.  My weight is very strongly tied to my metabolism, which as someone who has mild hypothyroidism symptoms and is completely at the mercy of my endocrinologist as to whether I’m getting enough thyroid hormone or not, and trying to figure out if I’m tired because of hypothyroidism or if I’m tired because I’m not eating enough to keep up with my “activities”, it’s difficult and maybe I’m not cutting calories nearly enough.  I’m also scared to cut calories more because I don’t want to get injured which then would make me not be able to run entirely. So if my weight stays the same and I keep up with my running and swimming and strength training, I’m fine with that for right now.

Whatever the numbers are on the scale, my body is changing, my muscles are more toned.  Do I need to get back down to 152 pounds?  I think I probably should try to get back down to 155-158ish, but I’m certainly not carrying that much extra fat at this point.  (It’s all relative, most distance runners might look at me and think I look heavy, I look at myself in all the mirrors at the gym and realize that I’m at a healthy size now, and I like the muscle I’ve added this year.)  I didn’t start strength training to lose weight/completely change my physique, I started it to help with my running, hopefully to improve speed, but also to help prevent overuse injuries.  Even so, my body has changed a lot this year, despite numbers on the scale not really changing at all.

I’m also beginning to realize that a.) I don’t run to lose weight, I run to regulate my mood and help improve my energy levels, b.) I don’t swim to lose weight, I swim because it makes me feel more like myself, puts me in a zen-like state, and helps me relax and controls my mood, and c.) I don’t strength train to have bulging muscles/lose weight, although out of everything I do, strength training is helping the most with fat loss/muscle tone.  I lift weights to help improve my running.  Strength training for a long time has been something I’ve forced myself to do.  Now, I have to convince myself not to go to the gym part of the gym after swimming some days because I don’t want to screw up my legs before my next long run or tempo run, and I see that as an improvement.

Total walking + running miles this week (May 2 – May 8): 76.13 miles (up 5.31 from last week)

Total walking + running miles this year (2021): 1,286.39 miles

Total steps this week (May 2 – May 8): 148,240 steps (up 6,150 from last week)

Total steps this year (2021): 2,452,824 steps

Average steps per day (May 2 – May 8): 21,177 steps (up 878 from last week)

Average steps per day (2021): 19,162 steps

Total running miles this week (May 2 – May 8): 62.01 miles (up 4.79 from last week.)

Average running mileage per week (2021): 56.91 miles

Total running miles this year (2021): 1,040.56 miles

Average running speed this week (not including hill repeats) (May 2 – May 8): 12:02/mile.  (11 seconds per mile slower than last week)

Average running speed this year (2021): 11:42 per mile

Average resting heart rate this week (May 2 – May 8): 59 bpm (down 3 bpm from last week)

Average resting heart rate this year (2021): 59 bpm

Elevation gain this week (May 2 – May 8): 3,534 ft. (up 1,357 ft. from last week).

Elevation gain this year (2021):  45,250 ft.

Average elevation gain per week (2021): 2,475 ft.

Current thyroid medication: 137.5 mcg/day levothyroxine + 5 mcg x 2 times a day liothyronine. Started on Aug. 11, 2020.

Weight, weight fluctuate

Weight: 162.7 lb (up 0.5 lb from last week).

Weight January 1, 2021: 163.3 lb

Weight change since Jan 1, 2021: -0.6 lb

Previous week:  April 25 – May 1, 2021

Next week:  May 9 – May 15, 2021