As the title says, this week didn't exactly go according to the master plan. In trying to maintain the volume of last week a momentary lapse of concentration almost bought the week, and the near term goals to a crashing end.
Monday was my rest day, and was rather enjoyable really. The day at work seemed like nothing compared to Sunday's efforts. In an attempt to stay fit I did 20 minutes of stretches to loosen up in the evening. Using Christopher Norris' "Stretching for Runners" I worked through the stretches in part 1 and through some extra in at the end. All was going well until I tried Conehead's special hamstring stretch. Having stopped doing this for a while it reduced me to the point of tears. My hammys are pretty tight again. D'Oh.
Since I wasn't earlies I decided to fit a run in on Tuesday morning before work. Alarm goes off at 5am, out the door for 5:15 and off around the streets of Southampton. F*** me it hurt, my heart rate was stupidly high for such an abysmal pace. I eventually settled into 5:30ish km's, should be aiming for more 5:10ish really. After about 2.5k I had a lapse of concentration. Rounding a corner I didn't notice a kerb stone wasn't dropped as I landed on it, cue my left foot giving way slightly. Didn't really hurt so carried on. Turns out it should have hurt, only the pain came later. Yes I'd sprained my left ankle again. Thankfully it is only a very light sprain, barely a grade 1, probably just stretched the anterior talofibular ligament. Having happened a few times before it was on with the deep freeze spray and compression bandage. Standing up at work all day didn't help it, but it never really complained so Tuesday evening brought Masters. Another opportunity to assess the severity of it, after 50m I know it will be better for MK half on the 13th, but the rest of the swim would be just pull. The set wasn't too bad for pull in the end. The only stumbling block was the last 300m. 12 25's done as a swim to the deep end, out, and dive back in on a 1:00 for the next 25. Pull without a pull buoy isn't quite as fun.
Wednesday, well given the state of my flat the turbo was out, and there was no way I was running on my ankle, so an enforced rest day.
Thursday and back to Masters, did pull form the outset, no point risking my ankle. The only time I didn't was on the few breaststroke lengths, it is only really flutter kick that hurts it. Again another set that was suitable for pull. I was lucky. The end of the set bought some relay takeover practice. 25m efforts starting from the blocks that were set up, tumbling mid pool. My inability to dive hampered things here with some pathetic belly flop starts. So I got a bit of extra dive practice at the end. Taking James' push off advice I set about improving, completely soaking him in the process as my feeble belly flop turned into a far more powerful chest/belly flop. Oops.
Friday, well like Wednesday I decided this would be a rest day again. I probably could have run on my ankle, but it would have been screwed by Friday evening.
Saturday's planned 16K run was never going to be a good idea, so I opted to do Sunday's 60K ride, taking it a bit easier so I didn't have to climb out of the saddle on any hills. It was quite a pleasant ride. Followed the same route as last weekend, but came back into Southampton a more traffic friendly way. The weather was much nicer and the roads dry. Felt a bit of a cross wind at the top of the loop, but the sun was shining so everything was good. Managed to go slightly faster, for less perceived effort, with a higher average heart rate. I'm sure some of those are mutually exclusive, but it doesn't look like the Garmin is lying.
Today was an odd one, I had decided to go for a 70K ride after yesterday, but I kept rolling over in my sleep and causing pain in my ankle so decided against it. Instead I did housework. That horrible thing I have been neglecting. So I spent the morning, and a large part of the afternoon polishing, hoovering, cleaning glass, wiping floors. All done barefoot without my ankle support. This has convinced me my ankle will be good, no pain you see. The bonus of all this housework is there is space to set the turbo up once again. So having read all the post about sufferfest I thought I'd give it a go. Having looked through them Revolver looked like it my suit me, 15x1 minute intervals. Feck me it was hard. I've done spinervals, but they just make me sweat and give me tired legs. Trying to do these intervals was brutal. By the tenth interval I had a lump in my throat, by the twelfth I was praying I would make it through without making a bee line for the bathroom. Then I got to interval 15, I was so pleased when it was over. Except it wasn't. The helpful on screen prompt informed me the women still had a minute to go, and that if I wasn't "weak and pathetic" then I was doing one more. Cue the start and "You're not going to let these women spank you are you?" Well if your going to wave a red rag in my face... I was soooo glad when it was over. Have to say I really like sufferfest. It's nice watching the structured cycling clips, and the soundtrack is alright too. I've got "Local Hero" to try next. At around £7 each they are pretty good value too, far better than Spinervals.
You can see my pain and suffering here:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/71602664
Weekly roundup, Swim 2 hours (4750m), Bike 60K + 47min Turbo, Run 8.4K for a total of 6hours 23 minutes.
Mon pm - 20 min Stretching+Flexibility
Tues pm - 1 hour swim (2250m)
Wed - Rest
Thur pm - 1 hour swim (2500m)
Fri - Rest
Sat am - 60km bike
Sun pm - 47 minute turbo
Next week is going to involve turbo sessions and swimming, might try an exploratory run on Wednesday before my half marathon on Sunday. The sub 1:40 goal has disappeared, finishing in one piece is now the goal.
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