Disney Training - Week 4

With my foot doing much better, I decided before I got running that I would work on some endurance and continued with my TrainerRoad program. I completed all three TrainerRoad workouts, although one did not go very well. I was pleased to end my week with getting in a run, which I will go into more detail below. I also got in a strength session, as well as a stretch and light cardio session, which really helped me out as well. Overall, an awesome recovery week for my foot that ended with me ready to get back into my Disney training.

Swimming
I didn't get any swimming in, which, as usual, bothers me and I need to improve on this.

Cycling
I got in three TrainerRoad workouts in. I can honestly say I have never been so taxed on riding my trainer before. This has really opened my eyes to structured indoor training and I love it! My Friday session did not go well though. It had nothing to do with the ride, but rather me. I had not slept well the night before and I consumed an insane amount of caffeine that day, which bit me hard for my ride. I was having severe shakes and my heart was going nuts. Therefore, I had to cut my ride short. Sunday went much better. I am not sure I'll be able to get all three sessions in each week, but I hope to get at least two.

Running
My foot was feeling good at the beginning of the week, but I didn't want to risk anything. However, by the weekend I felt 100% so I went out for a run. It was mostly hills and it felt amazing! For the first time in a long time I not only felt good during and after my run, but nothing bothered me; knees, feet, back, or shoulder. I am definitely ready to get back to my Disney training. Although, I will make sure to alter the distance to ease back into it.

Strength
I was able to get in one actual strength session. It was full body strength with a focus on core. It was challenging and I was definitely a bit sore the following two days. This is just further evidence I need to be getting in more strength sessions because I should not have been sore like I was.

Nutrition
I seem to continue to fight the nutrition monster; myself. Things are starting to get a little more normal with the move-in, and we have some Blue Apron meals planned for next week, so I am hoping to get my nutrition a little more on track.

Final Thoughts
A very good week as I mentioned. I know I have said this before, but I really need to get swimming again and must incorporate more strength training. In addition, I think I need to do actual strength workouts, not just HiiT-style full body workouts. I will probably continue with mostly body-weight strength, but it will be a lot more focused on specific muscle groups.

The Road to Recovery and Changing The Plan

I was recently hospitalized with viral meningitis and "almost" pneumonia (doctors couldn't agree if I did or did not have it). But to make sure I had viral meningitis and not a worse form, like bacterial, I had to get a spinal tap. Sadly, even though the procedure went well, I was a rare case of severe spinal leakage. In short, this put me in the hospital for over a week with debilitating pain and headaches. Finally, I got a blood patch and took almost another week to recover.

During this time I was able to reflect on my 2017 and 2018 fitness plans and goals. Historically, I have not handled injury or sickness well, and it has caused me to fall of the wagon and perform terrible health habits, such as excessive gorging of unhealthy foods I wouldn't usually eat. However, I have been pretty focused this year on not repeating past injuries and other bad habits. Granted I have struggled with lack of time for exercise from the things out of my control, but I at least have made sure I have been eating healthier and have made sure not to gain anymore weight.

So, I didn't let this hurdle trip me up. This did cause me to have to re-evaluate my goals and plans though for this year and next. For example, I want to do my first Ironman next year. I am removing this from my list for now, since selling my house and this recent illness have caused months of setbacks in my training plans. Disney Dopey is set in stone for 2018, as is a century ride for MS later this year. Aside from that though, I have pretty much removed all other races and plans from my schedule.

What is the new focus on? Quite simply, strength and flexibility. Although I had put a good amount of effort into rebuilding my strength, when I got back into running again, I noticed that I was not as fast as I had hoped I would be. From reviewing my runs, I was able to determine that I still was too weak to handle the speed and cadence I wanted. This same issue also bleeds into my cycling, and especially my swimming. Therefore, I need still need to build even more strength and flexibility.

This translates into about 12-14 weeks of building my strength. The general idea is to have 4 strength sessions a week; 2 x Full Body, 1 x Lower, 1 x Upper. In addition to this, I will not be stopping my running endurance progression, which means running 3 times per week as well. The real change here is that initially, swimming is off the list and cycling is going to be mostly optional.

My plan is to do this for hopefully no more than 4 weeks as my body gets re-acclimated to the stress and recovery from strength training. Once that happens, I will be moving towards building my schedule back to doubles in order to get swimming and cycling back into the mix.

For the most part, this puts me at doubles everyday except running intervals for Tuesdays. I won't jump immediately to this schedule, but each week I'll add another activity or two until I get to this schedule. The plan will be to do this until it's time for my Dopey training plan, which starts in September.

As I mentioned already, I won't be doing or planning any other races, except for the MS century ride, a half marathon so I can have a qualifier time for Dopey to prevent from being in the last corral, and then Dopey to start off 2018. Aside from this, I won't be planning on any other races or goals. I am confident this schedule will allow me to get back into racing and ensure I won't be getting injured and will be remain as healthy as possible. Good luck to everyone and their training and racing goals!

Interim Plan: Week 2 - Complete

What a crazy week. I had removed any planned workouts from my schedule. I wouldn't have completed any even if I tried. However, with moving, I pretty much got a 6-9 hour strength session almost every day. It's proof that all of the strength training I have been doing, as well as my stretches and cardio conditioning have really paid off. Despite the extreme levels of effort I have put in, my recovery has been very quick and for the most part I am feeling well.

Swimming
As I noted, no swimming this week, but I am sure going to try to get a session or two in next week to help my body recover more.

Cycling
Nothing here either. With the weather getting so nice now, I hope to be riding into work soon.

Running
I didn't run, but my new running shoes arrived and I can't wait to start breaking them in.

Strength
No formal sessions as I mentioned, but I lifted a ton!

Nutrition
Despite moving stuff, I ate fairly healthy this week, with last night being the exception. I didn't have time to log everything, but I'll be good this week about it.

Final Thoughts
Moving is almost over, so mid-week I hope to get back into my workouts. I just hope I don't get sick from all of this.

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!