My 18-hour workout week
So this week was the most I have exercised in a week….ever (I think). This post will just briefly go over some details and what I did! Overall, I am still feeling great!
I wanted to put more stress into this training week. I am not training for anything in particular, but I just want to build up a strong aerobic base. Most of my runs were easy-medium effort, so it was very solid and feasible. 66.7 miles was the highest mileage week since July, but it was pretty easy since I have done a lot of buildup, especially with bike efforts to keep my aerobic base up and strength activities to keep my whole body engaged and prepared.
A disclaimer is that I do other stretch/cooldown/strength workouts that can be considered exercise given the intensity, but I don’t record those activities. Though those activities help my body become strong and recover well, so I have to give credit to those activities to give me the ability to exercise well this week.
Monday — Triple Workout
On Monday, it was a sort of usual day. I did the usual early wake up routine (search one of my earlier posts), and I was out the door at 6:36am, pretty nice!
It was almost 8 miles, solid, and pretty easy effort. Not really since it was like around 10cm of snow on the ground! But it was still a solid run. Then there was a evening 45 minute spin session (FYI all my bike sessions are done on an indoor exercise bike). That was just standard Zone 1 easy. Then later the night it was another standard 35 minute ride. Easy, and moderate load on my body.
Tuesday
It was more intense on Tuesday a bit. I had a bit more free time I think, and the snow was melting a little bit from the previous day.
I was out the door around 6:52, and it was another easy run near 8 miles. Then a solid >1 hour spin session. Then a 45 minute spin session later at night. It was near 3 hours of exercising, a bit above average. It was solid however, and good aerobic building.
Wednesday
A bit easier compared to the earlier two days I assume. It is only one bike and one ride, which is solid.
The run was a bit faster given less snow since almost all melted, but still felt pretty easy. Around 8 miles of that. Then there was a 70 minute solid aerobic easy Zone 1 bike session. Overall body still felt great, and I could function really well still in my day-to-day tasks.
Thursday
A easy day as well. Kind of. Only one bike and one run.
I was able to get in a solid over 9 miles of running in the morning. The pace was pretty solid as well, and the effort was still pretty easy. Good for base building. Then it was a 45 minute spin session in the afternoon. Overall I felt a bit lazy at the end of the day since I did not exercise too much, but overall it was a lot of fun. A longer effort. Legs still felt a bit tired overall, but super good still.
Friday
So somehow Friday was a bit more intense than I thought it would be. Usually Friday would be a bit more intense (not really), in terms of how much biking I could get in. But this time, I decided to double up. Wow. Somehow I decided to double instead of bike.
It was another solid easy session in the morning with 9 miles on tap. Then in the early afternoon after a delicious plant-based pasta lunch, I decided to go for a easy recovery ‘yog’. It was still really fun, doubling up for the first time since July. The Peg 36’s that I used felt a bit flat though (though I am not sure if it was my legs super fatigued doing the double). But overall at the end it still felt solid. I was pretty happy that I could get the double in.
I also got a 1 hour spin session in as well. Overall, I was only a bit tired. I have run much longer and done much more intense doubles. The biking is only Zone 1. It was fun, and my legs were still only slightly tired, not a big deal.
Saturday
Well, I did not really expect to double up on Friday since Saturdays were usually reserved for long runs (during this build up Sundays were mostly days off or super easy in terms of running). But I still felt like given the aerobic foundation and strength exercises I have done over the last few months in terms of exercise, I felt like a long run was fine on Saturday. And that’s what I did, though this was a shorter long run, only 15 miles.
It was a really fun run, though I should have hydrated a bit more before. I had a Maurten Gel (wasting these since these are past the best before date, thanks to no races due to pandemic) so I was fine in energy. The effort was still easy-ish, and a good pace overall. I enjoyed the run, did not really take too much out of the legs. The afternoon was then a 80 minute spin session. It was really fun and solid! Overall my legs were a bit tired, but given Friday’s more intense session with around 10 hours of sleep, I was well-prepared for today’s session. Fun!
Sunday
For the last few months since the July incident (mentioned this 1000s of times, hate that I keep mentioning it), I slowly built up and was mostly running 6 times a week, with Sundays being a day off (basically taking all the impact out of my legs and recovering). Over the last few months though, I ran sometimes on Sunday, just a very very easy run, with no expectations or anything. I enjoy running a lot.
Today was a very solid morning easy easy effort run. It was fun. I am happy I was able to get another 45 minute run in. I then did a 90 minute spin session, another easy Zone 1. Then evening was just a quick spin shakeout. Overall a solid day of exercising. I consider this a recovery day, despite pretty much 2.5 hours of exercising! Still a pretty nice and easy day. I feel that I will be well-prepared for the coming week!
Overall, this week was solid. Not too much effort in terms of lactate mode, but still a lot of aerobic activities! I had a lot of fun! A great last week to cap off a high-exercise November 2020, where I accomplished a lot in terms of the Apple Activity app! I had a lot of fun, and I think this week might be around the same running mileage but lower spinning.
I started biking a lot since it will help me build up fitness and help me easily adapt back to the higher mileage weeks from the summer. It is also so fun to bike (I made a post about this earlier too). Overall this week was great, and I hope next week will be great. Hopefully I did not overwork myself, as I will be keeping a close eye on my body’s feelings.
So that’s it. My biggest exercise week yet. Hopefully more intense sessions next month before the ‘offseason’ (no idea how that is like since I am not even an ‘athlete’)! Hopefully exercising will get even more more fun!!!! :)