Week Ending April 22 in Review (Build 1D)

It was a challenging week as far as scheduling, injury mitigation and keeping to the schedule.  The beginning of the week was strong.  Good swim on Monday and functional training.  

Tuesday, Jorge cancelled on me, but Matt came out to the hatch shell with his camera and we took some video of the run.  We reviewed some of the detail and also spent time on some of the functional training elements and where the areas of opportunity exist.  As far as run technique, on-the-spot analysis shows a 'pusher' technique and a pelvis that tends to drop forward.  That being said, these two considerations create a significant angle from the ground to the lower leg putting enormous stresses on the lower leg and ankle.  Tada…The 3 major takeaways, until Matt does some additional formal analysis, I'm working on:

1.  tall posture (pelvis core engagement)

2.  'pawing' back using the hammies and glutes vs. pushing

3.  Keeping the arms quiet and pivoting from the shoulder only.  

When the ankle is back under control, these are the key focuses.  We will begin to build the run from the ground up, all over again.  This means several months of drills, drills, drills and focused concentration on some key foundational changes.  This also means significant focus on the functional strength training to optimize the core strength and better balance on single-leg exercises.

PT began on Wednesday.  Peroneus tendon group is the culprit.  Ratt and I will work on getting the inflammation down through ice, e-stim, heat and anti-inflammatories.  He's confident we can resolve.

Towards the end of the week, things got a bit derailed.  Good, but difficult evening 90% (~240W) sessions on the trainer.  Limited by HR, but power was right there.  The environment was less than optimal.  Hot, dusty basement with very little inspiration other than The Gladiator in the back ground.  The good news is, these sessions are lengthening out to 3x10' efforts which is taking us up to the Varsity level.  Last 1.5 intervals was rough, right at LTHR, but I made it through.  Next week is FTP test…yuck!

Decent ride on Saturday.  Great 66 mile, ~4 hour loop with Adam down the south shore out to the Myles Standish monument in Duxbury and then out to Powder Point bridge and back.  Good effort overall, NP at 235W.  I played golf that afternoon.  It was a long day and as a result, I was tapped out for Sunday.  Didn't do hardly anything.  Plan to start fresh tomorrow with 11 weeks until Providence 70.3 to go.

Difficult week in the discipline department, which usually isn't the case.  Will check that at the door this week and buckle down for the coming build cycles.  This coming week is about testing that ankle, testing the bike FTP and getting back on track with the complete program.  Diet continues to be a challenge.