Chasing Dreams, Project 2:20 - Week 4 of 12

M Easy 60 mins, moderate 40 mins, 5 mins easy (6:58mm), Recovery 30 mins inc 4X30s accelerations (8:03mm)
T Easy 90 mins (7:24mm)
W 125 mins inc 10X1M MP(0.5M easy) (6:14mm), Recovery 30 mins (8:36mm)
T Easy 100 mins (7:40mm), Recovery 30 mins inc 4X30s accelerations (7:52mm)
F Easy 90mins (7:31mm), Recovery 30 mins (7:54mm)
S 155 mins including Progressive 22 (6:24mm)
S Easy 90 mins (7:33mm)

Total 124 miles (7:07mm)
Aerobic efficiency 1005 beats per mile Vs 1021 last week
Weight 142.4 lbs Vs 143.63lbs lbs last week
Body Fat 11.22% (15.98lbs) Vs 11.66% (16.74lbs)
Lean Body Mass 84.33% (120.08lbs) Vs 83.89% (120.49lbs)
Water 63.46% (90.37lbs) Vs 62.93% (90.39lbs)


Fitness - 78.4 Vs 73.8
Fatigue - 100.2 Vs 96.1
Form - -27.2 (Optimal) Vs -25.8(Optimal)





They say patience is a virtue. Is it though? Does one become 'good' by being patient? Does one get 'lucky' by waiting around? Does one gain desirable qualities by doing nothing? No they don't, people have to commit if they want to get where they want. It doesn't happen over night so for that part I get the patience bit but without commitment and creating the opportunity in the first place you'll get nowhere. Fast. At the start of the year, I was super-fired up about this year's running. I didn't feel injured and I was excited about what was to come, but with it that means time and hard, repeated work. I knew I wouldn't see breakthrough's every day or week but if I could be patient and most importantly committed, then those breakthroughs would come. In time. It comes back to what I wrote about last week in that consistency is a runner's best friend. Not a single session, not a mileage target, not a race time in the middle of a build up. The're all parts of the jigsaw but the completed picture is one of how consistent the build-up happened to be. I believe I am creating that consistency in my own training by being disciplined with getting it done, not pushing too hard and just letting the training take effect.


Last week I mentioned that my aerobic efficiency didn't improve for the week but this week it has quite nicely. My easy and recovery runs are much quicker for the same HR & effort and this is not because of what I did last week but because of what I have done over the previous nine weeks, and to an extent the past 10 years! It's currently sitting at 1005 beats per mile which means I'm fit but not quite at my best, but I knew that. When it gets down to averaging around 950-960 per mile I know I will be in really good shape. Thankfully I still have 8 weeks to go! I will write a separate post soon about Running Economy and how I believe aerobic efficiency is the most easily measurable metric to observe this trend over time.


The first key session of this week was a 20 miler with 10X1mile at MP with half a mile easy recovery. It was perfect conditions; no wind to speak of, cool and as ever I did my session on the flattest loop near where I live. I took the first effort easy and it came in at 5:39, but then gradually picked up with the following nine averaging 5:27mm and the last one the quickest of them all at 5:22. Recoveries were not done at a complete jog either, averaging 6:55s. 5:27 is still a touch slower than marathon PB pace but that doesn't concern me in the slightest. They were all comfortable perhaps with the exception of the last one where I was starting to accumulate lactate.


I then repeated last week's progressive hilly 22 miler and it was pleasing to see that I was around two minutes forty quicker this week for an almost identical effort. My aerobic efficiency for this week's run was 986 beats per mile versus 998 last week.


Continuing to see improvements in body composition this week with a bit more fat lost. I seemed to have lost a bit of lean body mass too which is inevitable but I need to try and ensure I don't lose too much as this is generally helpful weight to have! I wrote a somewhat controversial post the other day about trying to achieve optimal body composition. I want to stress that the body weight itself is irrelevant, it's the composition that is important. I have noticed the day after a long run for example that my weight shoots up by a good few pounds. I was 139.6lbs after my long run on Saturday, but then 146 after Sunday's run. This just goes to show that the body is a brilliant adaptable machine. My body fat percentage was the same after each run but I was storing 5lbs more water. This is due to the body's response to the long run. Fluid will be retained to help with the recovery process and also because it was a long run, the muscles also drink up the carbohydrate to store for another time, this naturally creates weight gain, even if it isn't fat. I fully expect that the body will get back to homeostasis some point during the week.