training

Training Log for April 2017

Michael Kalus

May 1, 2017 • 11 min read

Summary

Body Measurements:

Start Weight: 85.8kg
End Weight: 86.8kg

Start Body Fat: 13.3%
End Body Fat: 13.8%

My weight / body fat has been fluctuating heavily, from anywhere from 84kg and 12% to almost 15% and 88kg, a lot of this was daily jumps, which makes me think it’s probably been mostly flat. We’ll see.

Distances

Note, as I switched from AppleWatch to the Fenix the numbers represent around half the month

Running: 94.5 km
Cycling: 45.4km
Walking: 93.5km

Activity Time

VO2 Max

Progress Pics

Start of the month

End of the month

Summary / Forward Looking

April was an okay month training wise. I did learn a few “hard lessons” with regards to the weather and a weird cold / GI infection put me a bit on my ass the last two weeks of the month.

Overall though I am happy with where things are going, I will start putting weights back in in May and am re-thinking my approach to tempo / speed workouts.

Internet Intermission

Daily Log

Saturday, April 1st

Body Measurements

Weight: 85.8kg
Body Fat: 13.3%
HRV: 66

Training

Long Run: 19.90km
Time: 1:57:44
Pace: 5:55/km

Run report

First long run, my goal was 20K even but I slightly misjudged distances so I had to tack on a few more blocks in the end and was around 100m short. Oh well. The pace though was pretty close, I had aimed for a 6:00/km pace and came in at a 5:55/km.

Overall this run was easy, I did not really feel strained, there was a bit of a tightness roughly 3/4 through the run in my hip flexors, but this passed quickly after some minor stride adjustment.

I did not carry any water or gels and didn’t really feel like I needed any, my legs did feel a bit tired at the end of the run but that was to be expected, far from “I am about to fall over” though.

Overall the run felt easier than I expected, despite 332m of elevation gain in the run and the fact that I really felt more like sleeping most of the day than actually doing anything, I blame the weather for that one. I kept my HR relatively “low” (for me anyway) at 156bpm average, with a spike at the end to 177 during the final sprint to the finish.

Rest / Fast day tomorrow, though depending on how I feel I may squeeze in 5K or so depending on how I feel.

Other activity

None.

Sunday, April 2nd

Body Measurements

Weight: 85.7kg
Body Fat: 13.2%
HRV: 66

Training

None, fast / recovery day.

Other activity

Walking: 21.79km

Monday, April 3rd

Body Measurements

Weight: 84.9kg
Body Fat: 12.8%
HRV: 62

Training

Run: 10.7km
Time: 59:07
Pace: 5:29

Run report

Beautiful, if a bit windy, afternoon. Annoyingly enough I did forget my chest strap HRM, so no data on the heart rate from Strava, but AppleWatch registered an average heart rate of 160bpm. With the drop in HRM I am actually quite happy, I saw a “trending slower” in Strava, but that also included my tempo run last Wednesday, so we’ll see how that goes this week.

Overall felt strong, could have gone longer and I think I will start stretching these runs beginning next week.

Other activity

None. Besides the pushups / squats / core.

Tuesday, April 4th

Body Measurements

Weight: 86.5kg
Body Fat: 13.7%
HRV: 60

Training

None, HRV dropped for a second day so taking the day off. Had a bit of a crapppy night too.

Interestingly enough I think my scale agrees. It’s highly unlikely that I gained 1.6kg in fat / muscle in 24 hours. More likely something else is a bit out of whack.

We’ll see what happens tomorrow. Today is a relaxation day and we’ll aim for an early bed time and hopefully a more restful night.

Other activity

None. Besides the pushups / squats / core and walking around for errands (13.26km)

Wednesday, April 5th

Body Measurements

Weight: 87.1kg
Body Fat: 14.0%
HRV: 67

Training

Run: 10.6km
Time: 56:23
Pace: 5:18

Run report

Rain was back but by the time I managed to get onto the run it was actually dry and nice.

This should have been a tempo run but did not fully feel like it, so I just took as a “normal run” and found myself surprised to record a 5:18.

On a side note. I am also a bit puzzled over the weight gain, though I have a suspicion that it is the higher carb amount I ate the last two days. We’ll see.

Other activity

None. Besides the pushups / squats / core.

Thursday, April 6th

Body Measurements

Weight: 87.2kg
Body Fat: 14.0%
HRV: 67

Training

Body Weight training and walk (14.85km total)

Other activity

None. Besides the pushups / squats / core.

Friday, April 7th

Body Measurements

Weight: 85.7kg
Body Fat: 13.2%
HRV: 69

Training

Run: 10.60km
Time: 56:13
Pace: 5:15

Run report

I keep surprising myself. I didn’t really think I was going fast, in fact in some section I could have sworn I was slow, yet, I still knocked another second off of my pace.

Time to extend the distance on these runs a bit, starting next week.

Other activity

None. Besides the pushups / squats / core.

Saturday, April 8th

Body Measurements

Weight: 84.3kg
Body Fat: 12.5%
HRV: 69

Training

Run: 19.90km
Time: 2:43:46
Pace: 8:13

Run report

That didn’t quite go as expected. I knew it would be raining, but I didn’t count on snow. Above 700m it was basically all snow, including the trails. It got so bad I fell through the snow twice, then lost the trail and turned around.

Further down the trail was puddles, mud and rocks, so let’s just say I didn’t quite go as fast as I would have liked.

On top of that, due to being a smidge underdressed I am sure I gave myself a minor bout of hypothermia.

Ah well, first time and all that. Lesson(s) learned. Up up and away from here.

Other activity

None. Besides the pushups / squats / core.

Sunday, April 9th

Body Measurements

Weight: 84.7kg
Body Fat: 12.7%
HRV: 67

Training

Walk: 14.92 km
Pace: 10:47/km

Other activity

None. Besides the pushups / squats / core.

Monday, April 10th

Body Measurements

Weight: 85.1kg
Body Fat: 12.9%
HRV: 68

Training

Run: 12.47km
Time: 1:04:21
Pace: 5:10

Run report

First run with the Fenix and there was a weird mismatch between what the Fenix recorded and what Strava pulled from it. Using the Fenix data now as it’s lower / seems to be more accurate.

The run didn’t feel hard or easy, I did think I was slower though than the watch registered. We’ll see what happens.

Other activity

None. Besides the pushups / squats / core.

Tuesday, April 11th

Body Measurements

Weight: 85.3kg
Body Fat: 13.2%
HRV: 63

Training

“None”, just some walking and biking:

Had a bad sleep which showed in the drop of the HRV. Also doesn’t help that I stepped into something and pierced my big toe, think a piece of glass. ouch. Got it out though I think, so running tomorrow should be fine.

Other activity

None. Besides the pushups / squats / core.

Wednesday, April 12th

Body Measurements

Weight: 85.0kg
Body Fat: 13.0%
HRV: 69

Sleep

Woke up around 2am, biobreak and the neighbours doing something in their place. No idea, involved some banging though (no, not that kind). Couldn’t really fall asleep again afterwards, brain started to go off on all kinds of tangents for around 45 minutes. Might explain the high stress reading of 4 this morning.

Training

Morning Run

Run: 3.63km
Time: 21:01
Pace: 5:47

Run Report

Meant as a wakeup run, slow, enjoyable. Right big toe still hurting thanks to whatever I stepped on, made the first kilometre a bit awkward as I tried not to put pressure on it. It does seem though that it’s healing and pain is less than it was yesterday, so looks like I got out whatever was in there. No infection either.

Afternoon Run

Run: 10.50km
Time: 57.47
Pace: 5:30

Run Report

Afternoon run, had to pick up my bike but didn’t want to lose the chance to actually get a bit of a workout in. So run with race pack, detoured a bit instead of taking the direct route, also trying new shoes (Hoka OneOne Instinct’s). Was a decent enough run considering I had to had some start / stops because of traffic lights / idiotic car drivers. Hence why I prefer to run on trails and in the mountains.

Other activity

None. Besides the pushups / squats / core.

Thursday, April 13th

Body Measurements

Weight: 86.1kg
Body Fat: 13.5%
HRV: 65

Sleep

Wasn’t really tired and it took me quite a while to fall asleep, woke up around 5:30, then “rolled around” a bit until the lights came on and the alarm went off. I think it shows in the lower HRV, will see how I feel today, bit weak right now also showing in the lesser / reduced pushups this morning.

Training

Walking walking walking, for a total of almost 20K.

Friday, April 14th

Body Measurements

Weight: 85.0kg
Body Fat: 12.8%
HRV: 76

Sleep

Still feeling a bit tired this morning, though much more rested than yesterday. Interestingly enough, I have not seen my HRV that high before. I am almost tempted to think it’s an error.

Training

Morning Run

Run: 5.33km
Time: 25:37
Pace: 4:48/km

Run Report

Meant to “shake the legs lose” in the morning and, well, maybe do some tempo work. Seems to have gone well. Though I have to say this is a pretty flat course I have chosen. Rained hardish too, but that was a bonus. Meant it was all quiet and peaceful.

Training

The usual, pushups, squats and lugging some stuff around as well as a bike ride to Costco and back.

Also ended up meeting some friends, rode the bike there and got a flat on the way back, so another half hour walk. Way more workout today than I had planned.

Saturday, April 15th

Body Measurements

Weight: 84.8kg
Body Fat: 12.8%
HRV: 70

Sleep

Almost 7:30, not too bad. Got woken up by the neighbours when they started banging around at 4:30 or so. Not sure what they did there.

Training

Morning Run

Run: 15.50km
Time: 1:34:31
Pace: 10:39/km

Run Report

Did not feel it today. The constant rain and slippery trails probably didn’t help matters.

Having said that, the new shoes worked fine, though it still feels weird to be so “high up”, the jacket kept the rain out and even the Inreach worked, after I calibrated it correctly. So, it wasn’t so much of a run as it was a power hike.

Training

Normal pushups, squats and core. Also a little stroll with a friend, nothing too exciting.

Sunday, April 16th

Body Measurements

Weight: 85.1kg
Body Fat: 12.9%
HRV: 62

Sleep

Almost 8:30, not too bad.

I had a glass of wine last night and it’s interesting to see that it affected my sleep. Barely any deep sleep, mostly light sleep.

Training

Rest / Fast Day

Monday, April 17th

Body Measurements

Weight: 86.8kg
Body Fat: 13.9%
HRV: 63

Sleep

8 hours, but mostly light sleep. Feeling really weird today in general, almost parched but not thirsty.

My scale also seems to be under the weather.

Training

Run

Distance: 10:02
Time: 1:03:48
Pace: 6:22

Note: For some reason the tracking started late, hence the discrepancy between what shows in Strava and what my actual run was.

Run Report

Treated this as a “recovery run”, with similarly slow results. The good news was though that I stayed close to the 140bpm, so that was good and overall I felt happy being out in the rain.

Tuesday, April 18th

Body Measurements

Weight: 86.6 kg
Body Fat: 13.7 %
HRV: 66

Sleep

8 hours, but mostly light sleep. Feeling really weird today in general, almost parched but not thirsty.

My scale also seems to be under the weather.

Training

Run

Distance: 10:02
Time: 1:03:48
Pace: 6:22

Note: For some reason the tracking started late, hence the discrepancy between what shows in Strava and what my actual run was.

Wednesday, April 19th

Body Measurements

Weight: 86.3 kg
Body Fat: 13.6 %
HRV: 67

Sleep

Training

Run

Thursday, April 20th

Body Measurements

Weight: 87.3 kg
Body Fat: 14.1%
HRV: 67

Sleep

8 hours, but mostly light sleep. Feeling really weird today in general, almost parched but not thirsty.

My scale also seems to be under the weather.

Training

Run

Friday, April 21st

Body Measurements

Weight: 86.4 kg
Body Fat: 13.6 %
HRV: 67

Training

Run

Saturday, April 22nd

Body Measurements

Weight: 85.6 kg
Body Fat: 13.2 %
HRV: 71

Sunday, April 23rd

Body Measurements

Weight: 87.3 kg
Body Fat: 14.1 %
HRV: 77

Monday, April 24th

Body Measurements

Weight: 87.9 kg
Body Fat: 14.4 %
HRV: 72

Training

Run

Tuesday, April 25th

Body Measurements

Weight: n/a kg
Body Fat: n/a %
HRV: 68

Sleep

8 hours, but mostly light sleep. Feeling really weird today in general, almost parched but not thirsty.

My scale also seems to be under the weather.

Training

Wednesday, April 26th

Body Measurements

Weight: 86.8kg
Body Fat: 13.9%
HRV: 69

Sleep

Ugh. Insomnia last night, didn’t fall asleep until 12:30 or so and had a hard time getting going today.

Training

n/a

Thursday, April 27th

Body Measurements

Weight: 86.6kg
Body Fat: 13.8%
HRV: 73

Sleep

Surprisingly good sleep, felt refreshed, cracked the window a bit and it seems to make a difference. Really not sleeping well when it gets too warm in the bedroom.

Training

Run

Walk

Friday, April 28th

Body Measurements

Weight: 86.0kg
Body Fat: 13.4%
HRV: 73

Training

Walk

Went for a 13K walk to “clear the head”. Still feeling a bit funny in the stomach.