Couch2Boston

I'm tired and I don't think it is just the 3 hour run today talking.  Last week was a little over 18 hours.  This week was just over 19 hours.  Work was intense with some long hours and lack of sleep.  Fatigue started to kick in by the end of the week but I had become determined to hit that 19+ hour mark.  I don't know why that was important but it was.  The hours are in the books and now my butt is glued to the couch. I made the decision a few weeks ago to schedule some downtime before I break and next week is that week.  I'm relieved it is here.  Very relieved.  There are some niggles starting to creep up, but I think I need the mental break as much as some physical downtime.  With that in mind, the only activities on deck are a morning swim with afternoon heavy lift session on Monday.  Body Pump on Wednesday with my wife and several days of sleeping in.  At least, that will be all until the fun starts on Saturday February ...

Well, since this is supposed to be a blog about getting ready for a 444 mile bike race, I guess it is about time that I start a weekly progress post talking about something that is more directly related to the 2020 goal race.  Training volume was significant this week at more than 18 hours and while it was really hard to find the time I think I stumbled onto a training methodology that is going to help get me ready for a race that takes 24+ hours. I went into this week shooting for 18+ hours and there were plenty of reasons not to get there.  Work was busy.  I actually went back into the office on Tuesday at 7pm expecting to pull an all nighter.  A friend was moving on Saturday which was going to interfere with the normal 3 1/2 hour session at the Y.  I've been having some stiffness in my right knee that caused me to bail out halfway through the Wednesday night Body Pump class for fear that I was going to take a warning sign past the point of no return. O...

This was a cutback week so volume was about 2/3rds normal which gave me a chance to recover and also mix things up a bit.  The big change for the week was to the weight lifting routine but first I need to do some more shameless bragging about a Thursday tempo run even if the treadmill and I are having a squabble.  The treadmill revolted on this run.  The hard/fast run was only 5 miles and it was inspired by all of the articles the last few weeks about the IAAF banning the Nike Alphafly and/or Vaporfly.  I broke out the original Vaporflys and decided to swing for the fences.  With about 0.6 miles to go in the 5 mile run the screen on the treadmill changed as if I touched it.  It showed the distance for a few seconds and then went back to normal.  This happens all of the time from the sweat I'm throwing around.  A minute later when I would have had less than a half mile to go I tried to change the screen so I could watch the distance on the way into...

This week has gone pretty well.  I'm back enjoying lifting heavy things, or at least heavy for me things.  After finishing last week with some missed PT sessions I learned that PT is like swimming.  If you don't do it for a few days the first day back feels like you have lost 90% of the skill.  I got to break 16 hours of training for the first time so far this cycle, which is pretty cool, but I did start to toy with the idea of taking a dramatic cut back in training.  I was on the bike Wednesday morning soft pedaling for 30 minutes after a spin class and I started wondering at what point is it better to take a week off and do nothing rather than get hurt and be forced to take the time off anyway?  I don't have any particular aches and pains that worry me, I'm just starting to contemplate the magnitude of a 43 week training plan and whether or not it would make sense to take a very low volume week every once in a while to make sure that I stay fresh over t...