This week's training was focused a lot on making progress with my hamstring tendinopathy. I had been feeling stalled in how it was healing (apparently it is an injury that just takes a long time and doesn't have a great treatment), so I was happy to check in with my PT this week and get some direction moving forward. So far, the changes we've made seem to be helping as it bothered me a lot less in the later part of the week!
Monday: Rest Day. I like to try and work in some easy yoga, mobility work, and/or foam rolling on my rest days - but didn't have much of a chance to fit anything in today, as my work schedule ate up more time than anticipated.
Tuesday: Quality Day - this week I had a fartlek workout at 5K pace (1 min on, 1 min off) for roughly 3 miles. My pacing needs a little work, as about half of my reps were on pace and the rest were either too fast or too slow! My hamstring did not bother me during this workout, but afterwards it was pretty sore. I also completed about 30 minutes of my PT exercises in the evening. (6.2 miles total)
Wednesday: EZ Miles in the morning, PT session in the afternoon. My leg still felt a little stiff and painful on this morning's run, so I was happy to have a session with my PT in the afternoon. We made some adjustments to my routine to work the hamstring a little more frequently during the week - now I just do an exercise or two to fatigue for 2-3 sets every other day (or more) to keep giving the tendon little shots of overload. (5 miles total)
Thursday: My usual 8 miles. Thankfully my leg was feeling good after PT the day before. I have a tendency to push paces a little too much when I run with others who like to push paces, and this morning was no exception. Fortunately, one of my focuses for this season is on "not winning the workout", and I've become surprisingly okay with letting others run away from me while I focus on my own pace and how I'm feeling rather than always trying to be up at the front. Today that worked out well for me as my heart rate stayed low and I was feeling good at the end.
Friday: EZ miles with a few strides at the end. Today was a run where I did not look at my watch - I ran solely on feel. This helps me to take it truly easy. I know that no runner likes to see slow paces on their watch, and I'm no exception - but I do get excited when I see a super low HR and I feel weirdly proud of my nice easy paces. I did some PT work in the evening to prep my leg for Saturday's long run (4.3 miles total)
Saturday: Long run day! My plan was to run a couple early before meeting friends, but because the weather app was misleading I thought I might get drenched if I ran early. It did not rain. Instead, it sprinkled intermittently for a couple of hours to add to the humidity and wind. We also ran on a pretty hilly route (for Dallas!). Finished 12 with a couple of running buddies and then went out to finish my other two solo. In the end, my pacing was fairly steady and my HR was exactly where I want it to be - in a nice aerobic zone. It wasn't a magical run, but it was a solid one. (14.1 miles total)
Sunday: I had to be at work early in the morning and I accidentally went to bed late on Saturday night, so I tabled my recovery miles until the afternoon. It was warmer in the afternoon, but windy. I finished off the week with some PT and core work. (5 miles today)
Weekly Mileage: 42.6
Positives: My highest month of mileage in quite a while (possibly ever?) with 185 miles in January; getting in some solid miles without pushing paces too much; continuing to prioritize sleep
Areas for improvement: Pacing :)
In February I'll be working on maintaining my weekly mileage base, continuing to work on my mental toughness and mindset, and hopefully making more progress with my hamstring. It's hard to put any firm goals on a race at this point, but I hope to run a half marathon in the late spring before jumping into marathon training around June. So, I'll be working on some speed (hamstring permitting) and strength before getting into any race-specific training. What are you hoping to work on this month in your training?