Disney Training - Week 3

Another busy week with moving in and getting situated. It seems I am more prone to injuries now with non-sports related activities. I hurt my other foot to add to the mix. Fortunately, it's nothing major and my other foot is starting to recover now. I finally got my trainer setup, so I got in a couple rides, which were tough but felt really good. I wanted to toss in some strength, but psyched myself out and I just didn't get any done. I will be working hard to get over this mental hurdle this week.

Swimming
I didn't get in any swims, which was really disappointing. Honestly, I was too lazy to drive to the gym to swim. I won't make excuses this week, that's my plan.

Cycling
As I noted, I finally got my trainer setup. I signed up with Trainer Road to have some structured trainer workouts this time around. In prior years, I primarily just rode on my trainer, with no real strategy, other than volume and some slight variability in resistance. Since my primary focus is still running, I'll be starting a cycling plan, but will be focused on building up my legs and building back my endurance. It will be very interesting to do training with power, even if it's estimated power. I have always just done cadence training and never really seen too many gains.

Running
As you know, my foot is still healing, so I am doing no running at all, even though I have just completed week 3 of training and am onto week 4. With how my foot is feeling right now, I expect to be back to some light running by the end Week 4, and back into a modified plan in Week 5. I definitely need to be careful, since I have lost a good amount of conditioning already. My thought right now is I will start Week 5 with a modified version of Week 2, and assuming I am fine from that, Week 6 I will do a faster ramp-up.

Strength
Not only did I not start my NTC strength plan this week, I didn't do any strength training either. I had one session of rehab work, which was just stretching and core. I am pretty disappointed in myself on this one, as I know the key to faster recovery, improvement, and injury prevention is to have my strength up.

Nutrition
Nutrition was a mixed bag this week. In most regards, I did pretty well with making sure I had less snacks and higher quality meals. However, my portion control was still very poor, I didn't log my food even though I set reminders with MFP, and I still snacked more than I should have. However, I am starting to cook more again, which aided in some of my better decisions this week, so I am going to keep focusing on progress.

Final Thoughts
This was definitely not one of my better weeks and I had a lot of excuses. I really don't take injury well and I need to get over that somehow. As usual I have a good plan, but let's hope I can actually stick with it. Good luck to everyone with the endeavors!

Disney Training - Week 2

The week started off really well. My runs felt much better and recovery was very fast. However, the weekend did not fair so well. Even though it was move-in weekend to my new house, I still have planned out time for my two runs. However, Friday when I was working from home, I fell down the stairs and my foot and ankle were bothering me all weekend. So I decided I couldn't afford to risk re-fracturing my right foot, which is where I had landed from my fall. As I am writing this post today, my foot feels a little worse so I may be shifting the next couple weeks around to help recover. After feeling my toe and injury area, it feels very similar to when I had fractured it last. However, it does not hurt like it did, so I am hoping a couple weeks should have me good to go.

Swimming
I got in my usual Monday swim. Even though it was under 20 minutes of swimming, I was completely exhausted. I will need to get myself up to two or more swims a week if I want to stop feeling so drained each time. With my current foot injury, I'll be planning to up my swimming to 3 times a week minimum.

Cycling
I didn't have any cycling sessions, but with my foot, I will be setting up my trainer and starting to cycle a good bit to help keep up my endurance. I don't really have any plans for any major cycling workouts during my training; just the occasional cross training session.

Running
With my latest foot injury, although I am sure I could run, I am not risking it. The last time I was stupid I was out of commission for over 2 years. So I'll be focusing on swimming and cycling to keep up endurance.

Strength
I have been meaning to get my strength routines going, and with the injury, it's just a bigger excuse to roll out my strength plans. Therefore, I'll be doing about 2-4 strength sessions per week. My main focus will be legs, hips and core.

Nutrition
I have not done well at all with portion control or staying away from snacks. With my new move however, I am not stocking anything bad, so I really expect to start turning things around.

Final Thoughts
Overall a great week because I am now living in my new house and I have quick and easy access to lots of fitness facilities and areas. However, a bad week since I hurt myself; although I am happy it wasn't from working out. Now to mend myself so I don't miss too much training.

Building Plan: Week 14 Complete

Week 14 was an interesting week. Although I started out trying to get back into my routine, I found myself not as motivated as usual. I dropped back 2 training plan weeks, and my first run of the week went well. However, my second run was horrible. I had been extra tired and sore from my prior strength day, and knew I should have just done a warm-up run only, followed by a more relaxed strength session. However, I did not do this and could not complete my run. Plus I was so exhausted I did no additional workouts. The following day I had an awesome strength session, but took off Sunday because I just wasn't feeling it. Overall, a decent workout week in regards to consistency, but not too well in regards to success of all sessions. In addition, my nutrition, which I did not log a lot of my meal details, was horrible.

Swimming

I did not have time to get to the pool this week. I really intended to get 2-3 sessions, but my schedule ended up being much different than expected. I am not sure next week is going to be much better, but I am going to make sure I get at least 1 session in.

Cycling

I only completed 1 of my trainer sessions. I had planned on 2, but I did not have time for a double on Saturday, and strength training is more important right now.

Running

I got 2 of my 3 sessions in this week. My first session went extremely well. Despite that though, my heart rate and recovery time was much higher than usual. My second run went horribly. I knew going in that I should skip that day with how I felt; extra tired and severe leg muscle tightness. I tried doing some stretching beforehand, but my run was rough from the get-go. I was not able to complete my planned run, as my foot started acting up. I did not even attempt my third run for the week because my foot was only just starting to feel well again and I decided I wanted a few more days for it to get back to 100%.

Strength

I got in ALL of my strength sessions this week! I was extremely excited about this. I have been slacking the past month or so, only getting a max of 2 strength sessions per week. This was unacceptable, especially since my focus is rebuilding strength. I will continue meeting all of my strength sessions each week.

Nutrition

Not much to say on this. I did horrible with eating, and even worse with keeping track of it in my log. I am focused to change this though, which has been an issue for me for a long time now. I am expecting a really good week of tracking and hopefully sticking close to or right on my caloric goals.

Final Thoughts

I had a rough week mentally and with things going on in my life. This upcoming week is going to be even rougher, but I am determined to not let this get me down and I am going to make sure I press on and get everything done. On a positive note, I am now registered, with my wife as well, for the 2018 Disney Dopey Challenge. I am very excited and can't wait for this. I am going to shoot for at least a half marathon later this summer or early fall. If time, budget, and conditioning permit, I might even shoot for a marathon.

Building Plan: Week 13 Complete

This week ended up being a recovery week, as my foot was really aggravated and I will do anything to prevent getting injured again, especially my foot. I did not do as much stretching as I should have though, which really bothers me. I need to get back into my stretches. Overall, by the end of the week, my foot was finally feeling better and I am hoping to run during Week 14.

Swimming

I got in three swims, all of which felt amazing! With only swimming once per week typically, I forgot how refreshed and loose my body feels after a swim. I definitely need to increase my weekly swim volume.

Cycling

I got in two rides this week. I had really wanted to get 3-4 rides, but laziness and excuses kept me from achieving that. Overall my rides were really well and I found the cadence a bit easy, so I'll be increasing resistance. It's always exciting to see gains even when that is not the focus.

Running

As I already noted, I did not run at all. My foot would flare up during the week, so I made sure I didn't attempt any running. With my foot finally feeling better Sunday, I am hoping to get some runs in. However, I will be a bit careful and I'll probably set my first run to my Week 5/6 Cadence training plan.

Strength

I did no planned strength workouts this week, which is a major mistake on my part. I had planned on doing my original physical therapy routine 2-3 times, plus stretching everyday. I failed miserably on this and will have to be extra cautious for Week 14 to make sure I don't aggravate my food again.

Nutrition

For the most part, I did alright with nutrition. Super Bowl Sunday was not so good, but I have no regrets because I had a ton of fun cooking.

Final Thoughts

If it wasn't for skipping basically all of my strength routines, I would have said it was a successful week. But, sadly, I still show signs of having trouble to get over injury from a mental standpoint. Going forward, I am going to try and approach injuries like DOMS or general muscle soreness. Hopefully I will then not feel defeated and just do a workout to make it better.

Building Plan: Week 12 Complete

What a week! I started off pretty well, and ended with a minor injury. I started off the week perfectly. I was a bit more exhausted than usual from my Wednesday run, so I had taken Thursday off. For my Friday run, I forgot my usual running shoes so I used a pair I have used in the past, but they did not have my orthotics. This was not an issue since I was running more forefoot and midfoot. However, this caused more muscle impact than I had realized. So when I did my Saturday, lower and thigh intense strength session, I hurt myself. I was feeling too lazy to drive 30 minutes to the gym to swim, so I had done a trainer ride and stretched. However, this only made everything worse and Monday I couldn't do anything. I am still hobbling. So Week 13 is going to be focused on flexibility, blood flow, and being loose.

Swim

I should have swam Thursday to help recovery from my tough Wednesday run. I should have swam Sunday after my legs, back and right foot were doing bad from my Saturday strength session. I did no swimming, and am suffering for it.

Bike

I got 2/3 sessions in. Despite how my legs felt, my 2nd session felt really good and I was able to maintain my cadence with no problem at my current resistance level.

Run

My Wednesday run was rough. The gym was way too hot and I couldn't hydrate quick enough. Overall, it was a decent run though. My Friday run went extremely well, considering I was in different running shoes than I usually wear. Plus I didn't have my orthotics. Overall though, this wasn't a problem since I was fore and midfoot striking. The shoes I was wearing were considerably lighter than my main pair, and I had no issues with turnover, allowing me to easily hit my 180 cadence and have my pace considerably faster than usual. However, I was not able to do my Sunday run due to my injury on Saturday.

Strength

I was able to get 2/3 sessions completed. My second session was focused on lower strength, with targeting of inner thighs and quads. The workout seemed to go well, although extremely tough. However, this workout injured me because I was not aware of how weak my muscles were from my run the prior day.

Nutrition

I did terrible with my nutrition this week. I had a little more stress than usual and therefore at horribly. To make it worse, I did not log most of the junk I ate. I will be working to dramatically improve this issue.

Final Thoughts

Despite the injury and nutrition, it was a very insightful week where I learned a lot about my body, my training, and impacts from workouts and variations in form. Week 13 is going to be treated as a recovery week, and then Week 14 I will get back to running. If I am feeling better later in Week 13, I might try to do a run, but I will be overly conservative on any decision.

Building Plan: Week 11 Complete

So this was a rough week. Monday was an incredibly challenging strength routine. I thought I was doing well on Tuesday, so instead of cycling I ran. Well, I hurt myself a little. Nothing major, but I couldn't do anything for the following two days. I adjusted my schedule though, recovered, and finished out the week on a good note.

Swimming
My shake-out swim was rough. I was spent after my run, but I still managed to get in 800 yards. Had to pound 2 nuun tabs after though to keep me from passing out. Although my swims are designed to just help with my recovery and push myself a little extra, I am happy with how my swims are going. My form has been much better, especially my arm rotation along with my pull and push. It will be exciting later in the year when I start my actual swim training to see what I can do on a fresh swim.

Cycling
I got in a cadence ride this week and it was awesome! I was shocked I could hold my cadence for 45 minutes, which is 15 minutes longer than my previous rides. In addition, I had been having trouble keeping that cadence. I am going to hopefully have another successful cycling week and then I am going to bump up the resistance.

Running
As I noted, my first run was really bad. I started my new cadence training week, 7/8. So aside from it being a lot tougher from that, my legs and body were not remotely recovered from my Monday strength session. Therefore, I was having terrible heart rate spikes and pains all over. My foot is still bugging me slightly. So, I took off 2 days and I waited until Sunday to do another run. My Sunday run was awesome though! I completed it and overall my cadence wasn't too bad. However, it wasn't as good as it could have been because my foot still was slightly bothering me from Tuesday. The gym was also so hot and humid that I was having trouble cooling myself and staying hydrated enough. Looking forward to smarter running and more of Week 7/8.

Strength
Even though I hurt myself, I still got in two of my three strength sessions. They were great as always and I keep seeing more improvement every week!

Nutrition
I am getting better with logging my food. Still not 100% there yet. I have not been too good at quality of food in some cases, but I'll get there.

Final Thoughts
Overall a tough week for me, especially since I don't handle being injured very well. However, I fought through my mental hurdle, recovered, and finished out the week strong. I am so proud of myself for accomplishing that. I look to keep the momentum going into next week!

My Running Recovery Plan - Cadence

As a little background, I had a stress fracture in my right foot and have been struggling with various knee injuries over the years. My stress fracture was a couple years ago, and I pretty much hadn't run since. I had been on crutches for over 6 months and the slightest activity would still cause my foot to swell up. However, I was able to start slowly building some strength back, but then my knees started to have lots of issues. Therefore, I had no choice but to head to a physical therapist. From my road to recovery in PT, spawned a running training plan.

Photo from runnersconnect.net

Going back in time, I used to be a sprinter and short distance runner. I was mostly a forefoot runner, with me being a little more mid foot during the "longer" distances. After college, I was in a severe car accident, followed by another bad car accident a couple years later. When I finally was able to run again, my pace was more than twice as slow as the past and I had lost all of my muscle and gained a substantial amount of weight. Ever since this, I have been a heel striker. To make matters worse, even though I did not over-stride, my foot never rolled all the way through, causing all of the impact to go to my knees. Therefore, all of the core strength I had worked on was worthless.

Why Cadence Training?

Cadence is how many steps per minutes, SPM, you take. The gold standard is 180 SPM. If you want more detail, I had a blog post about Running Cadence. When I was given the green light to start running again in mid 2016, the first thing I did was get my running form analyzed. Although my stride length was good and my upper body form was great, my foot strike was terrible. There are many ways to correct how you land or your foot strike, but the one I went with was cadence, as I only became a heel striker after being injured. For me, mid foot striking is more ideal. Keep in mind this is different for everyone. Meb, for example, is a heel striker and is a world-class runner. However, I have terrible joints from all of my prior injuries. Therefore, I need the impact from running to go onto my muscles, not my joints. Therefore, forefoot or mid foot is what I needed.

Cadence training is a great method to use for this, as typically the faster a person runs while keeping the same stride, the more your body will naturally go from a heel strike to a more mid or forefoot strike. This isn't the case 100% of the time, but is usually the case. As a note, cadence training is much easier to start out training on a treadmill, because the moving belt helps with kickback. But it's best to move outside when you can be more consistent.

My Cadence

My cadence was measured around 150. Therefore, going by the golden 180 SPM rule was the plan. As I have progressed in my initial training, I was able to get up to almost 10 minutes straight at just under 180 SPM while on a treadmill. Therefore, it was time for my plan!

My Plan

The plan is technically an 8-week plan. However, it's designed to with the idea that typically it will take 1-2 weeks of each progression. Therefore, the plan is designed to range from 8 weeks to 16 weeks.

Legend: WU = Warm-up | CD = Cooldown

Week 1/2

• WU walk 2 min
• (Run 5 min, walk 1 min) - 3 Sets
• CD walk 2 min

Week 2/3

• WU walk 2 min
• Run 10 min, walk 1 min
• Run 5 min
• CD walk 2 min

Week 3/4

• WU walk 2 min
• Run 10 min, walk 1 min
• Run 5 min, walk 1-2 min
• Run 5 min
• CD walk 2 min

Week 4/5

• WU walk 2 min
• Run 15 min, walk 1-2 min
• Run 5 min
• CD walk 2 min

Week 5/6

• WU walk 2 min
• Run 15 min, walk 1 min
• Run 5 min, walk 2 min
• Run 5 min
• CD walk 2 min

Week 6/7

• WU walk 2 min
• Run 20 min, walk 1 min
• Run 5 min
• CD walk 2 min

Week 7/8

• WU walk 2 min
• Run 20 min, walk 1 min
• Run 5 min, walk 1-2 min
• Run 5 min
• CD walk 2 min

If you feel this will be too easy or not challenging enough, then you can do:

• WU walk 2 min
• Run 25 min, walk 1 min
• Run 5 min
• CD walk 2 min

Week 8/9

• WU walk 2 min
• Run 25 min, walk 1 min
• Run 5 min
• CD walk 2 min

If you feel this will be too easy or not challenging enough, then you can do:

• WU walk 2 min
• Run 30 min, walk 1 min
• Run 5 min
• CD walk 2 min

Again, this plan was to just fix my foot strike. However, the concept of this plan can be used to help run faster, longer. Good luck with your training!