Took the Weekend Off...

....from a long run - but I did get out for a couple of hilly 5-6k'ers. The reason? My legs weren't feeling it after some hard training Tuesday to Friday. Tuesday's 55-minute Zwift Academy treadmill session number five was killer. I had the treadmill on 3% and that made it bloody tough. I didn't go all in on in Wednesday's Duathlon and Thursday was a 30-minute recovery Zwift ride. Friday was another hard treadmill session, the sixth ZA workout and by yesterday my legs were feeling less than fresh. Being the weekend, I couldn't not do some running, but I did the sensible thing and dialled things back and went out for a couple of short runs yesterday and today. It was the right call as my legs were heavy, but I feel better for having got out there to keep myself in the habit. I did also do an easy 30-minute Zwift yesterday. I say easy - and it was - but I took in the volcano climb and didn't push but was still within a few seconds of my all-out effort during last October's Zwift Academy final ride. I've made a note to go back and smash a PB up there at some point in the next month or two...

Starting to Build the Long Run

So, catching up on the week. Sunday, I headed out for a cheeky 5k. Completing back-to-back runs away from the treadmill for the first time and my legs held up well. Not only that, it was on the back of a 40-minute bike session of twenty 30s repeats on Zwift. Up Monday was operation feet up followed by the third Zwift Academy Run session Tuesday. Nine hill repeats 8-12% incline with a final 10-15% incline to finish. Twas a good session.

An even better session came Wednesday in the form of the third Zwift duathlon of the season. I wasn't sure how it would go. In the end I decided to go all in, ride hard and hang on and it turned out to be a corker. My best 35-minute power average ever and by more than +5W, and +11W on my best duathlon on Zwift. The run wasn't bad either, exactly equalling my previous duathlon best but I actually took it easy as I knew I'd given it some on the ride. Slightly disappointed with myself that I didn't hammer the run as well. Next time....

Thursday was a half hour interval session on the treadmill and Friday was a 30-minute zone 4 Zwift ride. Today was, of course, long run Saturday and my longest to date. 12km with 350m of ascent. Extending the run means extending the ascent round here as there's nowhere that's flat except for loops of the village - but that's definitely not something for a long run. Anyway, I guess it makes you stronger, and with every week that passes, I am feeling stronger and fitter. It's not long now till the return...

Nice Day for a Run

After last week's heavy workload those two rest days became a thing. Sunday, I went for a walk through the woods. Monday was a full on lazy one.

Up Tuesday I completed the first of the Zwift Academy run sessions at lunch time. A variable incline treadmill session, 3-8%. Rounded out the day with a twenty-five-minute zone 3 Zwift. Wednesday was round two of the Zwift Duathlon series. They spiced it up this week, dropping the ride from 35 to 30 minutes and upping the run from 15 to 20 minutes. Interestingly my ratio of points, time normalised, shifted towards the run.... 

I felt a bit fatigued Thursday so I decided on another rest day - three in five days, can't be letting that become a habit. Friday, things were back to normal, and I completed the second ZA run session. Four 30s faster repeats followed by four 5-minute intervals of ramped pace. As normal I set the treadmill to 2% to make the effort more like being outside. It was solid but I may repeat the session with the effort increased a few percent.

Today, of course, was my now familiar long run - well, long for me. A solid run through Flaxley woods but taking the Velthouse Lane return to mix things up. It's a similar amount of ascent to the long loop, at 235m, but has three kilometres back on the road. My leg felt heavy in the first kilometre, and I was regretting yesterday's session, but I soon got into it and in the end my pace was a fraction higher than my last trip around Flaxley woods, so I'm happy with that. I rounded out the day with 30-minutes zone 3 on the Zwift.

Weary but at Least it Wasn't a Massacre

I knew from the off it was going to be a struggle today. Across the first couple of fields my legs were dead and heavy. It felt like I was wearing a pair of lead shoes. I stuck to the planned route, though, but dialled back any expectation of a quick run. I guess that's not a bad thing as I was adding about 2km from last week's run and my training load of the last few weeks has been high.

As to today's route, I decided it was time to return to May Hill. Maybe not the greatest idea considering how my legs felt and I subsequently struggled on the way up via the road route. If I'm honest it was a bit demoralising as things have been going so well. I'm getting to expect every run to be great. I got over that disappointment quickly and before long I was back enjoying it on my way to the top of May Hill. Suddenly there was a ton of runners coming at me. If I hadn't kept to the side, it could have been a massacre... One day I will race the Massacre again, maybe next year.

At the finished I'd clocked up 10.5km. My longest run so far and I suppose the pace wasn't terrible considering the climb. I completed the day with half an hour zone 2-3 Zwifting.

Recapping the week. I started with a rest day followed by an easier ride Tuesday, that I didn't get carried away on. Up Wednesday - and I was really looking forward to it - was the first of five races in season 7 of the Zwift Duathlon series. I went through a proper warm up but still felt a bit lack lustre for the first five or ten minutes but after that I started to pick up and by the end I was powering. Overall, I was a little down on my Duathlon ride best from the last season, but only by a couple of watts average. Onto the run and I set a good pace but not all out as I was mindful of my planned session the following day. After the first race I'm 10 points ahead of the first race last season, so I'm happy with that as I definitely had more to give on the run - saving that for the next one...

Thursday, I completed a set of eleven 1-minute efforts off 45s recovery at 2% incline during the penultimate Tour de Zwift stage (7). Friday, I doubled up to complete the final stages (8) of the tour. A 5.6km, 2% inclined run, at a decent pace followed by a solid twenty-minute effort on the bike. And that's it, we're all caught up. Tomorrow feels like it should be a rest day and maybe Monday too...