Training Log Archive: jfredrickson

Event: BATONA 500
 

Brisk warm-up jog with plenty of jumping and stretching to make sure things were alright with the hamstring. It kept popping like two strings pulled taught against each other, but didn't seem to be causing any pain or discomfort.

A fast, long middle course through tons of blueberries. Started out fast and feeling great. Started slowing down towards the end as the blueberries were really wearing me out. Made about 4 minutes of mistakes so it was definitely not a clean run, but most of the time lost was to isolated mistakes and otherwise I felt like my technique was really there today. Of course it wasn't a good race but it still felt good to be moving through the woods fast. And the hamstring didn't bother me a bit.

My main goal for the race was to focus on my compass bearing since that is something I need to work on and the terrain was very subtle so accurate bearings was quite important. I had one mistake that I could have avoided if I had been more disciplined with relying on my compass, but it was really due to the fact that I was reading the terrain wrong and was so confident in doing so that I didn't try to back it up with my compass as I was attacking the control. I had used my compass perfectly to get me to the control area, but got carried off the end of a hill past the control because I didn't quite read the terrain right. If I had stayed disciplined with my compass right into the control I could have avoided that mistake. Other than that though I was pretty happy with how well I mainted focus on my bearings today.

Fast warm-up for the sprint. Had developed nasty blisters on my toes during the middle so I wasn't sure I should do the sprint but I decided to try at least one of them. It was really tough to get moving again after resting after the middle but once I got moving it felt good. Feeling quite tired from the middle though.

A fast wooded sprint near the finish. Basically no contours on the map, but lots of detailed vegetation that was actually quite useful for navigation. Started out fast but blew right by the second control losing about 10 seconds. Got real sloppy on 9 and attacked it with no real attackpoint. Knew as I was going in that I didn't know where I was attacking so I went about the appropriate distance and started looking around me in the thick woods. Spotted it off to the left after about 5 seconds of looking so probably lost about 20 seconds total.

Otherwise not a bad sprint but not exactly speedy. Legs too tired from the morning's race.

Blisters were bad enough that I decided not to do the second sprint because I didn't want to risk not being able to run tomorrow. Besides my legs were tired enough.

Day 1 Blue - Splits

Sprint B - Splits

Class all day and then driving down to NY to get ready for the Batona meet.

Went for a longer run on the treadmill today. Put it on the hill interval setting on level 10 to keep it interesting. It started out with an easy warmup then did 5 sessions of alternating minutes between 4.5 incline, 1.5, 5.5, 1.5, 6.5, 1.5, 7.5, 1.5, repeat, and finally finished with a cooldown. The alternating inclines kept it interesting enough to make lasting through an hour not all that tough. Legs felt great and it was especially nice to dig in on the steeper inclines. Kept it at 8 min pace though to make sure I didn't push too hard. Overall a very nice workout and no signs of any pain or tightness from the hamstring. I am really starting to think this thing is cured. I'll wait until after the weekend before making it official though...

Nice easy run on the treadmill. Feeling great.

Started out fairly easy but then decided to push it up a bit and get the adrenaline running for real. Had it on level 10 and started rotating at about 115-120 rpm. Managed to get my HR up to 170 towards the end which is higher than I have ever seen it on a bike. I guess biking can actually be a good workout. Doesn't put any stress on my legs so it's good stuff.

C • bike 1

Eased off for the last twenty minutes to let my legs cool-down. Don't want to overdo it just yet.

Nice easy jog on the treadmill just to stretch the legs out after biking and make sure I don't get sore. Really happy that everything feels so good.

Hadn't been planning on doing any biking today but all the treadmills were full when I got there so I hopped on the bike for a little bit. Put it on level 10 and pushed the intensity since it didn't seem to put any pressure on my hamstring. It felt great to be pushing a little bit harder again.

Nice easy jog on the treadmill at 7.5 mpg (8 min pace) on 2 incline. Legs felt great and really wanted to go faster. It's hard to do all this slow running without doing enough distance to tire out the legs. They are really dying to go hard. Didn't notice my hamstring once, so things are looking good. Maybe I can try a longer run tomorrow.

C • Good! 4

Started off with an easy bike ride on the stationary bike in the gym. Hamstring felt a little tight last night, but didn't bother me on the bike.

Went for an easy half-hour run on the treadmill after the bike ride. Put it on 2 incline and 7.5 mph (8 min/mile pace). It's amazing how dead the legs can feel after biking, but they felt great after a few minutes. Hamstring didn't bother me a bit.

Went to the gym for an easy evening run to see how the legs are doing. As soon as I started running I felt like some kind of drug was releasing into my blood. It was really strange because it actually felt like something was physically releasing into my blood. Let's just say the rest of the run was blissful. Had to stop at 30 minutes to do some meditating on the throne.

Legs were feeling a little tight in funny places so I decided to do some stretching before getting back on the treadmill. Hamstring felt a tiny bit tight when stretching it, but otherwise it felt fine.

Got back on the mill to finish out an hour of running, but I started to feel a little sore in my hamstring. I don't know if it was just from the stretching since I didn't even notice it in the first session but I didn't want to risk anything so I decided to cut it short. I can't imagine that it is still injured after a solid week of rest, but I'll take it easy the next couple days anyway just to make sure. I'll try to ease back into running and stretch and ice a lot to make sure it doesn't act up again. Still not sure if I will race this weekend.

C • Go slower 2