week two - running and diet thoughts...

the title suggests that i am currently training towards some goal. not sure what that is yet....

thought i would also post a few random days of food consumption here and there for those that have asked about it. i've started eating more cooked food than usual but as the days get warmer i'll probably move closer to eating at least 60% of my daily food consumption in fresh fruit. i've noticed more and more vegan ultra-endurance athletes popping up or perhaps i am just becoming more aware...

my eating is largely based on eastern nutritional philosophy and healing my body through plant-based nutrition and is influenced by books such as healing with whole foods, the china study, nutrition and athletic performance, and i'm waiting for brendan brazier's thrive book to arrive.

TRAINING


monday: 14.53 km (1:04) - 4:25 pace // yoga session - core & back
a steady run out to the lakes. the last 5k was challenging with the wind blowing in my face but finished strongly running the last kilometres in 3:36. finished up the day with a yoga session with my wife before bed. a great way to unwind...


tuesday: hills - 12 loops (560m) - total time 1:18 (14.5 km)
a tough session with short recovery. averaged the same as last time i did this workout but this week i added two repeats and shortened the recovery by 30 seconds.


splits - 2:08, 2:05, 2:02, 2:03, 2:00, 2:04, 2:05, 2:07, 2:08, 2:08, 2:03 - average 2:04.9 (3:43 / km)

food highlights:-
immediately post-run: beet, apple, orange, romaine smoothie
breakfast: oats w/ almond milk, raisins
snack: fresh dates
lunch: lentil & tomato dhal w/ brown rice
dinner: quinoa pudding (actually ended up more like a yummy dessert than a dinner - cooked with fried banana, coconut oil, milk & meat, raisins and carrot)

wednesday: 10 km (0:45) - 4:30/km
easy run to work. legs felt a little tired from yesterday but happy to get there and enjoy last nights leftovers.

pm run: 18 km (1:26) - hilly run
ran home and made sure i included all the hills i could including the sanctuary drive in leonay, mitchells pass and hare street glenbrook. felt spent when i crawled through the gate. loving it!!

thursday: 16.1 km (1:10) - 4:26/km easy run
went out with no plans for the run and ended up running around the river and up mitchells pass before looping back to work running the last 15 minutes around threshold. pushed the climb from emu plains up mitchells and felt good.

food:-
breakfast: large bowl of rockmelon, blueberries, raisins, almonds
snack: dates, almonds (pre-run)
post-run: 2l of water, fresh dates, pumpkin seeds (high in iron), almonds
lunch (late): lentil & tomato dhal w/ brown rice, green tea
dinner: black bean chilli w/ grilled veggies & avocado


friday: 12 km (0:56) - run workout
at home with the kids today so booked them into the gym and jumped on the treadmill. got bored within five minutes so upped the pace every 500m starting at 4:40 pace and ending at 3:40 pace for the last kilometre. added to the fun setting the incline to 12.5% were i held the pace with my heartrate settling on 83% of max till it was time to grab the kids (18 minutes total climbing ~400m over 3.7km). rounded out the session with some 200m repeats at maximum warp speed. still had some energy left in the tank which was disappointing. need to think of a harder strategy to crush myself next time.


saturday & sunday: family time...
wife out of town...


summary:
mileage was not as high as i would like but overall not bad considering my wife has been away for four days. managed to put in two solid workouts and a couple of strong runs which made me feel like my fitness is improving.


the workouts need to be made harder and with more volume if i'm going to continue to build fitness but built over time and not rushed to avoid burnout, overtraining or worse, injury. of course that means i need to give consideration to my easy days both before and after my sessions to allow my body to recuperate and take on the full benefits of the workout. easy days are my weakness. i know that i should include them in my weekly schedule but i always feel weak and stale the day following... perhaps a change of scenery and more time spent on the trails will help relax the effort.


can't wait for next week...