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| Pulaski County Park Trail |
Today’s recap of my week of training, if all was as initially planned, would have been about my ride at Dirty Kanza 200 but as with most everything else it was postponed and I will have to try and see if I can do it next year. Then there was official news this week that the 2020 Boston Marathon that was initially postponed for September 14th was officially canceled and will instead be run as a virtual race. They are offering a refund and then those entered can run the virtual race if they like for some undisclosed cost at the time. I will just get a refund and pass on the virtual race as have no real desire to do a virtual marathon just to say I did. I think I also ready that my qualifying time would apply for the 2021 race but I think I will pass this go around and then just look to give Boston another go in 2025. My goal had been to run Boston when I was 60, 65, 70 and so on till I could no longer qualify but figure for 60 I will just have to be happy with qualifying and then hope to get back when I am 65.
As far as training - with only the Kentucky Gravel Championship (KGC) still possible on my calendar for August 8th I am thinking that I may just stay focused on base mileage and work for the rest of the year. However, in this base mileage I will add in some time trials and hills for both running and riding just to mix things up a little and also work in a taper the week before the KGC. Other than this will do what I can to get the best base possible and then re-evaluate racing once things clear up so to see what is up for next year. I do want to do a marathon next year in the spring and fall but will have to see how that goes as far as what ones I will do.
I have mentioned it before, the one thing that makes training easier for me to do in the midst of no racing is that for me is I just plain like to train. Due to this my training is probably more one sided on endurance – which is not necessarily a bad thing. In riding I do get some hard rides in on Zwift so do have some speed in there but running has mainly been focused on strength and endurance. Maybe a frustrating part has been that after doing the Lydiard Coaching class I would like to implement it for my training but for now have no specific place or time to work towards peaking for. I could peak for the KGC but think as it is for me more of an endurance race I will simply add in a taper rather than specific training for it. Running wise I will just have to see how it goes for later in the year as maybe there will be a fall race to do but maybe not.
To answer the question in the title of this post - I do not think there is such a thing as too big a base. Since base mileage builds on itself and the amount of base you do in any cycle is largely reliant on the goal you have or time you have to work towards that goal. With the lack of racing this year I am going to take full advantage of it and get the biggest base I can. Since one’s base mileage is not all done at one speed/pace there is room for variation that will help to not make training stagnant. I know I have said tis a few times but I hope y’all are taking advantage of the current situation and building a base you would not initially have the opportunity to do because of racing. While there may be some racing this year I think for many who cannot be sure working on a great base for the rest of the year is not only a viable plan but may be a very prudent one. If you then find you can get a race in work to get in a taper and just race relying on the base mileage and any peed you may have done. For sure you will then be ready for any races early in 2021 with some preparatory weeks to get ready. Truth is with such a large base you may be able to squeeze in a 3 or 4 peaks during 2021 instead of a usual 2 to 3. Take advantage of a bad situation and build a base that you may never have been done before and a base that will allow the best race season you have ever had in 2021.
Overview of Weeks Runs and Rides:
This week’s plan was to have reduced mileage for both running and riding after a big 4 weeks. As is my usual plan I like to take an easy week every 3-5 weeks just to make sure I get some rest and thus that fell on this week but still ended up with a big month of riding and running.
As far as running I initially thought about running 20 miles on 3 runs this week with a 10 miler and two 5 milers but that did not work out. I ran 10 miles on the Pulaski Country Park trails on Monday and ran pretty easy with only turning my ankle once, more on that in a minute, but felt fine when done with only a little soreness in my right foot which was good. I then ran again on Wednesday afternoon, after riding in the AM and did feel a little soreness in my left shin but figured I may have hit it at some time. However, when I was done with the ride my shin was very sore and since I hit over a 100 miles for the month I took off running for the rest of the week. After Thursday’s ride I noticed not only was my shin still sore but my left ankle was swollen. The best I can tell is I hurt my ankle and muscle that runs up the outside of my shin when I turned it Monday but it took some time to settle in. I had head of DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) but not DOMAS (Delayed Onset Ankle Sprain). The best I can figure is when I turned my ankle Monday it got hurt but only enough to make it sore and irritated but as I did not think much of it my run Wednesday aggravated it enough to cause the swelling. I did not run the rest of the week, but did a little walk/hike Saturday, and it was feeling better by Sunday but will take the next week of – at least till Saturday – to get it healed up.
As far as riding my goal was to get all my riding in by Thursday and take the weekend off due to having family in town. Tuesday I did an easy 50 miles and then on Wednesday did a warmup and then the usual BMTR Mid-Week ride for 50+ miles. The Wednesday ride was good as it was not hilly so just a good constant tempo ride. Thursday I rode a pre-meetup ride then did what I could, due to time constraints, of a meet up to get in 58+ for the day.
This ended my best month of riding in many, many years with 1100 miles an when adding to that 107 miles running it made for 1207 total mites which is good for me. I initially, when I felt my shin hurting I thought my mileage may have been the cause but was confusing as had no warning and was trying to be careful. In some ways I was glad to realize my leg issue was to do with turning my ankle as then at least it was not as much about mileage. Next month will be less even if only because I will be taking it easy for one more week to heal up my ankle and shin area.
Monday’s 10 Mile Trail Run
- Monday: Run – 10.27 Miles
- Tuesday: Ride – 50.23 Miles
- Wednesday AM: Ride – 20.19 Miles Warmup & 30.2 Miles BMTR Ride - 50.39 Total
- Wednesday PM: Run – 6.13 Miles
- Thursday Ride – 23.02 Miles Pre-ride & 35.47 Meetup - 58.49 Total
-Friday: Rest Day
- Saturday: Rest Day
- Sunday: Easy Hike – 2.50 Miles
Weekly Totals:
- Running Miles – 18.9 Miles
- Running Time – 3:45 Hours
- Riding Miles – 161.1 Miles
- Riding Time – 7:13 Hours
- Total Miles – 180.0 Miles
- Total Time – 10:59 Hours
Monthly Totals
- Running Miles – 107.5 Miles
- Running Time – 16:15:01 Hours
- Riding Miles – 1100.7 Miles
- Riding Time –52:37:36 Hours
- Total Miles – 1208.2 Miles
- Total Time – 68:52:37 Hours
Diet Notes:
Nothing much to report here but that with family in town my eating was off some so need to get back on track. Not simply because my carb intake was up, as it was, but was not feeling as good as I had been due to how I had been eating. Also, as I did not do a long ride this week I do not have any extra ride fueling info other than below on fueling for my midweek rides/runs
Weekly Fueling: Monday through Friday all were done with a pre-ride coffee with cream and 1 Scoop SFuels Life
- Monday: 1ea 24oz water
- Tuesday: 1ea 24oz water
- Wednesday AM & PM: 1ea 24oz water
- Thursday: 1ea 24oz water
The Week Ahead:
For this coming week I do not plan on running till Saturday and if I do run Saturday it will be no more than 5 or 6 miles and maybe less.
With regards to riding the plan is for 150+ for the week but will have to see how it goes as not sure what time I will have for riding on the weekend and also even though riding does not pound my ankle it could aggravate it with the movement, we shall just have to see how it goes. I will be doing the 8 mile Barnsburg Time Trial on Tuesday but mainly to see how it goes since have done little to no speed work and mostly just long endurance stuff thus this will be a good gauge of here I am. I will likely do the BMTR Mid-Week ride on Wednesday as well and then easy rides on Monday and Thursday. From there will just see how things are for Saturday.
I do need to step back and think about my training in the coming weeks with only one race that should take place – The Kentucky Gravel Championships the beginning of August. Part of how I will get ready for KGC depends on if I have to go out to California for work. Highly likely I will spend the rest of the year, as mentioned above, just doing base work but will plan in a taper week or two for KGC to make sure I am rested and ready for it. Much to think about.
Last Week's Overview #49
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