New Goal - December Marathon

Sticky - The focus of this blog is going to shift into a maintenance mode over the next few months (a few short runs during the week and a somewhat-long run on weekends) in preparation for marathon training beginning in August. (Originally posted on 4/8/09)

8@914

4.19m at CH (Repeats)

4.19m at 9.44 pace w/ Avg HR of 155 (Zone 2, 79.6% of max)

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Mile Splits:
10.27/149
8.95/152
9.20/159
9.52/160
1.63/163 (8.58 pace)

Splits in Intervals:

Split/Time/Dist/Pace/AvgHR/Max/HR
1/0:10:12/1/10:12/132/177
2/0:01:00/0.15/6:46/156/166
3/0:03:00/0.28/10:43/147/167
4/0:01:00/0.15/6:48/157/169
5/0:03:00/0.29/10:28/151/169
6/0:01:00/0.15/6:31/161/173
7/0:03:00/0.29/10:27/153/174
8/0:01:00/0.16/6:24/165/176
9/0:03:00/0.29/10:24/156/176
10/0:01:00/0.16/6:16/169/181
11/0:03:00/0.3/10:04/160/181
12/0:01:00/0.17/5:48/175/185
13/0:03:00/0.29/10:11/164/186
14/0:05:24/0.52/10:27/158/165

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This was a 1mile/1min/3min/1mile speedwork session where I just ran the 1 minute "really fast" and backed way off on the 3 minute recoveries (10min/mile+). I also cut the cooldown about a quarter to a third of a mile short because I didn't want to skyrocket the HR going up the hill to the house.

I was a little surprised when I saw those interval paces above...I didn't realize I was running that fast, especially the sub-6min/mile one. I also liked that my later intervals were faster than the earlier ones.

Cross Training - Cycling

Did the first XT of my FIRST training plan.

Did 45 minutes on the stationary bike at work. 15 minutes of easy spinning at level 1, then 15 minutes of level 2 and 3 and 4, then finished off with 15 minutes at level 2.

Was monitoring my HR manually and was only getting around 21 beats per 10 seconds, equating to about 126 HR, which is below 66% MHR.

My legs felt pretty worn out at the end of it and they were still tired late into the evening as I climbed stairs and so forth.

4.30m at work (Hills)

4.30 miles @ 8.64 pace w/ avg HR of 167 (Zone 3, 85.9% of MHR)

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8.65/152 - Kept pace under control on this long downhill.
8.40/159 - 2/3s of this was downhill but that remaining third was tough!
8.67/175 - Rolling hills spiked the HR
8.85/179 - More of the same.
2.58/182 (8.60 pace)
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I skipped the treadmill and decided to brave the elements (85 degrees with 70% humidity, and really sunny). Probably not a good idea but at least it got me off the treadmill.

LOE was pretty high on this especially on those hills. I tried to recover on the downhills, but the heat/humidity/bright-sun punished my efforts.

New Annual Mileage PR...and counting.

I just noticed in the running log that I've eclipsed my personal annual mileage PR *already* for 2009.

The log shows 539 miles so far in 2009, with 2008 only totaling 472 from Jan to Dec. Not interested in looking up the previous 7+ years mostly because I know that the total won't even come close to the 2008 one, since my running schedule pretty much ended for the most part after CRBR each year due to burnout.

Weekly mileage for the year so far is right at 20mpw on average too, compared to about 11.25 in 2008. I know that number is going to go up even more once Marathon training starts in a couple of weeks.

6.14m Trail Run (EZ)

6.14 miles @ 10.05 pace w/ Avg HR of 152 (Zone 2, 78.2% of MHR)

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9.32/141
9.75/150 - Entered the trail halfway thru this split
9.90/150 - Downhill trail portion
11.23/155 - Serious uphills on Trail
10.48/155 - More uphills
9.70/161
1.33/166 (9.29 pace)
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This was a run from my house, to the trailhead at H Forest, then the 3 mile loop, and then back to the base of my neighborhood.

I was determined to make this an "easy" pace and consequently keep my HR in the 150's or below. I significantly slowed down on the trails just for that reason.

Only saw 2 people on the trail this day: A jogger that joined in at the parking lot about half way through, she didn't pass me despite my sloooow pace in that section...and a mtn biker who I kept hearing behind me for a good quarter mile before he finally "on yo left" and passed me. He was really creeping me out just hanging around back there, but I suppose I could've heard him way in advance of his catching me. Still I kept an eye on him as he went by.

Running log shows this as my second best jaunt on this particular course yet according to my HR Efficiency score . I ran it 2 weeks ago "fast" and recorded my best showing, but running it slow this time wasn't far behind. I guess the ol' ticker is really shaping up.

8.50m at Lost Creek (LSD)

8.5 miles @ 9.34 pace w/ avg HR of 156 (Zone 2, 80.1% of MHRR)

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No splits here again, but suffice to say we slowed down on some of the hills in the middle and screamed down LC on the way home with the last full mile at 8.83 pace, with the last half mile at sub 8mm pace.
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When we awoke early Saturday morning, I checked the weather channel and saw that the the current temp was 75 (decent) with humidity at 94% (very bad). We were out of milk so I subbed my normal cheerios breakfast with a PB&J/H instead. Had a cup of coffee and off we went around 7am.

It was a decent enough run, I managed to keep the pace in check but the gravel roads in H Forest were more rough than normal and we had a lot of difficulty "finding a line" through it. I was glad to be out of it and up on Broad River before coming down LC. We took watered-down Gatorade at about 4 miles (half) and finished it at around 5.5 miles. We experimented with adding about 1/3 can of Red Bull to it this time and though I could still taste it, it wasn't too bad.

Eventually I'm going to get us to where we don't take fluids until every 45 minutes, but right now it's so hot, that I'm doing it at the roughly halfway point.

Jen did very well in this run and even kept up with me in that tempo-ish final mile and a half that we did.

Wildlife count: 5 thumpers and 1 bambi

6 miles at the Dam (Tempo)

6m at 8.54 pace w/ Avg HR 166 (Zone 3, 85.3% of max)

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8.70/151
8.48/163 - Thus concludes the warmup, which of course, was faster than it should be.
8.05/168
7.82/176 - Hitting 10k pace here, with the subsequent spike in HR.
8.68/172 - Trying to cooldown.
9.48/169 - Ditto

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Felt like this run had a high LOE. Wasn't jazzed about it to start with and that followed through the run, despite the fact that I turned in some decent numbers in the middle tempo portion. I think I'm overdoing the speedwork again and I need to either change this Thursday run to a true Easy workout, or do that with the Sunday run. Despite the fact that the pace I'm running Saturdays is "easy," it's still a long run so that's stressing my system in itself. I think I'll start doing the Sunday runs as easy and stick to the FIRST plan for Tues/Thurs/Saturday.

4.50m on Treadmill (Repeats)

4.50m at 8.52 pace w/ Avg HR of 157

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9.52/141
7.27/168
8.40/159
8.40/164
4.73/154 (9.50 pace)
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This was a 1/1/.50/1/1 repeat run where I did the fast repeats at 7:19 pace (Why the odd number? That's what the treadmill had between 7:26 and 7:13.)

I basically did this exact same run last Tuesday except the repeats were a hair slower (repeat 1 was at 7:30 pace instead of 7:19). This was a better speed this time because it worked my HR a little more, as would be expected out of interval/repeats.

6.21m on Lost Creek (LT)

6.21 miles at 8.10 pace w/ Avg HR of 162 (Zone 3, 83.1% of max)

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8.12/149
8.45/159
8.37/162
8.13/164
7.96/166
7.63/170
1.66/175 (7.90 pace)
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I had planned to do only 6 here, but was feeling so good that I made it an actual 10k. It was around 845am when I left, having let Jen do her run first in the morning. It was still pleasantly cool/dry at this time and I'm sure that's why I was running so well. I wore my new Brooks running shorts (no shirt) and they performed very well. They really seem to do a better job at wicking the sweat away and were drier than my normal shorts are. I'm going to hold off on final judgement until I run longer and in hotter conditions, but I'm encouraged.

8.26m at Sandhills (LSD)

8.26m at 9.17 pace w/ Avg HR of 157 (Zone 2, 80.6% of max)

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Not gonna do splits on this long run but needless to say the last few miles were fast, with the last clocking in at 8.68 (HR - 164)
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This is the run where we leave the wife's mom's house, meander around the neighborhood a bit, and then hit up Sandhills and head back to the house. This is usually a hot and difficult course, in which we usually do poorly, but I'm not exactly sure why. The elevation profile is not that bad, maybe it's all the concrete running and the consequent heat.

Anyway, it wasn't as hot and wasn't as difficult this time, as this was the fastest and longest run of the pre-plan season. Jen did extremely well, even "pulling" me along for a bit around Sandhills. She's really made a lot of progress from the first time we ran this particular course (4/19/09) when we only did 5.23 miles. Each week has been a little longer, but this time we made big strides in pace.

It was sunny, so I wore my halo headband, white running hat, and shorts (no shirt). I was soaked afterwards and was really tired while trying to mow the lawn.

5m at the Dam (Tempo)

5 miles @ 8.38 pace w/ avg HR of 167 (Zone 3 or 85.5% of max HR)

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8.77/152 - A little too fast for a proper warmup.
8.18/161
8.00/170
7.70/179 - The heat & humidity finally got to me and spiked my HR. Nice pace though.
9.23/173 - Even this slow cooldown couldn't bring my HR down to Zone 2.
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This was a bit of a rough morning. Things didn't go as planned, had to back to the house TWICE for things I forgot, etc. So, I didn't arrive at the running spot until late and decided to bag the 6 miler and do 5 instead. Wasn't entirely motivated to run either which helped that decision.

It was hot and humid out, much more humid than my run here last Thursday. I wore shorts and a short sleeved tech t and both were completely soaked by the end of the run. Seemed like there was a headwind in both directions too...hate when that happens.

Took me forever to cool down too and I was still sweating while trying to work at my desk a full 30 minutes later.

Oh well, I got the miles in.

4.50m at the Treadmill (repeats)

4.50m @ 8.61 pace w/ Avg HR of 153 (Zone 2 or 78.2% of max)

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9.53/154
7.53/164 - Repeat interval of 1m @ 7.5 pace
8.50/158 - First half was recovery (9.5), second half was first half of next interval (7.5)
8.43/158 - First half was interval, with the last quarter mile increasing in speed up to 7.25, 2nd half was recovery
4.74/152 (9.48 pace) - Recovery

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This was the 2nd highest HR Efficiency number that I've ever recorded (3/30/09 was top).

Interesting that the HR numbers never really climbed, even though I pushed that 2nd interval some at the end. I've sort of wondered about these treadmill workouts being too easy, and even if the 'mills themselves are calibrated properly. My best runs from an "HR efficiency" perspective have all been treadmill runs. There's something to be said for being indoors in a climate controlled area and having the machine set the pace for you...and I've always found running on a treadmill "easier" than outside.

Still, I think I'll try to rotate around to different ones and see if I notice any difficulty changes.

5.90m around CH (free run)

5.9m @ 9.54 pace w/ avg HR of 161 (Zone 3 or 82.5% of max)

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9.25/145
9.58/152
10.22/159 - Spent time here dropping ollie off at the house, he was spent.
9.48/165
9.43/170
8.35/176 (9.28 pace)
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I probably could've run this faster but was very conscious of my pace and HR and didn't want either to spike.

This was just a free run where I did whatever and even took the pooch along with me. He was done at the end of the 2nd mile and I managed to get him dunked at the lake and then home by 2.5. Ran the rest just meandering around the hilly neighborhood and the heat and bright sunshine just took it all out of me. It was only around 10am when I started but it was already that bad.

For comparison sake, the 8mile run I did the day before was at about the same pace but a full 13bpm lower.

Was looking forward to joining the fam at the pool afterwards but the wife caught up to me and told me they didn't open for kids until noon. The kiddie pool in the backyard was not as good, but would have to do.

8.04m LSD Lost Creek & Harbison Forest

8.05 miles @ 9.42 pace w/ Avg HR of 148 (Zone 2 or 76% of Max)

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Not gonna do splits here, but the run started out solid at 9.30, slowed down on the hilly gravel section in the middle (9.88 & 9.83), then finished up fast down the long downhill of LC with the last mile clocking at 8.62.
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This was the exact same course as last saturday (7/4), but a tiny bit slower (9.42 vs 9.37) but with a better HR average (148 vs 151). The temp was about the same both days, but the humidity on this run was higher.

I again carried a 22oz bottle at the small of my back, but chose the shorter version this time and had no trouble at all with it. We did the half-strength Orange gatorade again.

I was most proud of the wife though because she responded to my challenge at the end to push that last mile and she hung on with me all the way until we cooled down for the final stretch.

6m Tempo @ 8.39 Pace on LM Dam

6miles at 8.39 pace w/ avg HR of 167 (Zone 3)

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8.67/151
8.42/165
8.25/166
8.22/172
7.97/176
8.78/174
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I got up early and took the girl to daycare as soon as they opened and was at the dam by 650am, ran toward Lexington for 1 mile in order to add 2 miles to the normal dam 4 total. Unlike the dam, there were some rolling hills on this first section and it took a while for my legs to respond. They were a little stiff and flopping a little I thought. At this point I had worried about whether I had locked my truck and with reported break-ins in the area I thought I might stop and check on the way back. Decided against it when I got there though.

By the time I was on the dam I was in a groove and at that point where I was hurting just a little but knew it was just right for a Tempo run. The 5th mile was at/near my 10k pace so that was encouraging.

I really aimed for a 1/4/1 here with clear warmup and cool down miles. Could've done a little better I guess, but at least there's clear demarcation between the WU/CD and the tempo work.

Temp was about 70 and I was okay with my running tank and no hat/sunglasses. Shirt was soaked at the end and I didn't cool down fully until an hour later at my desk.

4.22 @ 8.44 @ TSFG (hill workout)

4.22 miles at 8.44 pace w/ avg HR of 167 (zone 3)

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8.23/154
8.40/160
8.45/177
8.63/176
1.92/177 (8.73 pace)
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When I went to get my gym bag from my truck, it was overcast out and the temp didn't feel too bad so I decided to avoid the dreadmill and do a hill workout outside instead. You really can't do anything BUT a hill workout near my work so that's my only option.

I hammered out the hills pretty well, but the course is an out and back with the out downhill and the back just the opposite. You can see that uphill hit on my 3rd split above with that crazy spike in HR. I was proud that I was able to at least hold onto my pace though.

As usual, I started out this run too fast but it's hard to do when flying down a series of long downhills. Temp was about 77 and I was okay with a running tee shirt and no hat/sunglasses.

6m at 8.89 pace @ Harbison Forest

6 miles at 8.89 pace w/ avg HR of 169 (Zone 3) on half road and half trail.

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8.03/153
8.40/167 (entered the trail at the 1.5 marker)
8.65/170 (all trail)
10.28/170 (took some walk breaks so my HR wouldn't get out of hand)
9.42/174 (a few more walk breaks)
8.58/178 (all road downhill back home)
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This was a mid-morning run (around 930am) so it was starting to heat/steam up outside so I opted for a trail run, sacrificing pace for hopefully some cooler conditions. I started out way too fast though and paid for it on the trails. I had to take a few walk breaks as the steep trail hills were killing my HR (was hoping to stay in zone 3). I sweat a lot and it took me a long time to cool down at home while I watched the Roddick/Federer wimbledon final.

I don't think I saw a single other person on the trail on this run, which is rare on the weekend.

Independance Day Long Run - 8.02 @ 9.37

8.02 miles at 9.37 pace w/ avg HR of 151 (Zone 2)

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Not going to do splits as they were all pretty even with the last mile being a little faster at 8.72/154
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Jen and I left around 715am in order to avoid the heat. Ran up Lost Creek, then veered off onto a gravel road into Harbison Forest in order to add some distance to the normal 7m out-and-back. This was my first run on this particular course. Wasn't bad. There was a lot of gravel so you had to pick your lines to avoid the really rough sections but I'd do it again. We didn't see a single person, but did spy 1 deer, and 3+ rabbits. No snakes though. There's another offshoot of the main gravel road that we chose that we can use to add on even more distance next time.

I carried watered down gatorade in a 22oz bike bottle which was a mistake. We didn't really need the water (unusally cool and dry for July 4th in SC) and the bottle was so tall that it rubbed my back. I solved the problem by moving my wrist band to cover it, but that fell off once.

Pace felt fine and we actually did a little more distance than planned (7.75). Stopped short of home and walked the remaining mile or so to cooldown.

4m of Repeats on the Gym Treadmill

4m @ 8.84 pace w/ avg HR of 153

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No splits on this one but it was 1 mile WU (9.5), then 4 quarter mile repeats at 7.5 pace w/ 9 pace in between. Finished up with a progressively slower 1m Cooldown at a final pace of 9.50

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I absolutely hate the treadmill on anything more than 3 miles, but it was 94 outside with 80% humidity, so I thought I'd run inside to avoid that. I had been doing hill work on my weekday "speed" runs, but since I was inside I opted for intervals instead.

It was pretty easy and I'll likely bump up the interval speed next time to something like 7.25 instead of 7.50.

Took a little break there...

...not from running, just from the blog. I guess I got a little busy, but I'm back now.

I'm likely not going to go back and update each of the running days, but here's a general update:

- Bought a Garmin 405 and handed the Timex S&D down to Jen

- Jen's been continuing the long runs each saturday and we've increased by .25m each saturday, with this coming weekend our first 7 miler together.

- Heat has been difficult with us having to do the runs earlier and earlier in the morning in order to have any sort of decent pace.

- Had a particularly good run this past Sunday, despite 80+ temps, the fact I was hungover from our anniversary concert weekend in Charlotte, and the fact I was pushing the boy in the jogging stroller. Just felt really good and strong and finished up the run in mid 8 pace considering it was in my hilly neighborhood.

5 miles on way back from YMCA

5 m at 8.57 pace w/ avg HR of 166

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1 - 9.10/155 - (8.18/167)
2 - 8.43/166 - (8.43/172)
3 - 8.50/169 - (9.03/176)
4 - 8.43/166 - (8.43/180)
5 - 8.38/177 - (9.22/185)

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The parentheticals are the times/HR from the past Saturday's run which was on the same course (just about - the last mile was a little different, I ran up the hill to my house in this run whereas I looped the flat clubhouse driveway this past saturday).

This is pretty interesting on a few points:

* The difference that about 10-15 degrees in heat can make.
* Miles 2 and 4 were at the exact same pace, but with wildly different HR.
* I was running much faster over the last 4 miles on average, but with much lower HR.

I think it was also helped by that slow first mile warmup. Lesson learned there.

6m LSD on LostCreek

6m at 8.61 w/ avg HR of 161

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8.70/136
8.80/166
8.92/164
8.38/166
8.38/168
8.50/168

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Okay, this run was more like it. Granted, it was in the morning (roughly 845am to 945am) so it was cooler, but I was also much more in control and running like I was while training for CBR. I kept my HR in range and slowed down when it was getting over 170. This resulted in a slowdown on the first half of the course (all uphill) and of course a speed-up on the back half. A little fast for a true LSD, but I'm not really "training" right now, so that's fine.

Ran for the first time with my new Ironman sunglasses I bought from Target the day before. They functioned very well (they have slats to prevent fogging - which worked) but I was constantly having to take them off to wipe my brow. I think the only way I'll be able to get by with these is when I'm wearing a headband, as it was just too annoying to constantly take them off. They'll definitely get use when I'm biking though.

5m LT from YMCA

5m at 8.66 w/ avg HR of 176

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8.18/167 - Think I started out too fast?
8.43/172
9.03/176 - Total bonk city.
8.43/180
9.22/185 - Blah

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This course was from the YMCA and through the RW neighborhood and then home. It was too hot (80ish with high humidity) for these types of hills. Compounding the problem, I came out of the gate way too fast and was done about mid way through. I slogged through the rest as best as I could but was really hurting by the end, as evidenced by that last mile's avg HR which was close to my estimated MAX.

It also didn't help that I ran with my new C9 hat, which, while vented, is black. Don't think that's going to work on sunny days which is the entire point of wearing a hat. Ah well, it looks cool at least.

2.95m @ TSFG

This was just a "gym" or "cardio" run. I didn't have my GPS/HR or even my normal running shoes. I ran in my gym shoes (New Balance 474's - which are supposed to be "trail" shoes but are just your basic $30-50 Kohl's/Dick's/Shoe-Dept specials) and I could tell the difference almost immediately. I'll reserve these just for those short runs like today where I can't do too much damage to my feet. Heck, it didn't even take 3 miles before my feet were eat-up with small surface blisters.

Anyway, I know my distance from using Gmap pedometer and I'm estimating my time at about 25 minutes judging by the gym wall-clock. That puts this run at about 8.47 pace, which sounds about right.

5.23m LSD @ Sandhills

5.23 miles @ 9.61 pace w/ avg HR of 155

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1 - 9.77 @ 152

2 - 9.52 @ 156

3 - 9.87 @ 155

4 - 9.87 @ 155 (it's weird when they exactly repeat like that)

5 - 9.10 @ 155

.23 - 2.15 (9.35 pace) @ 160

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This was an LSD run with Jen after I finished mowing/landscaping her mother's lawn. We took it from her mom's driveway up to the Sandhills area loop and then back again. It was Jen's longest run since the baby was born. Worked out great because it was an LSD for me but more of an LT for her as she gets her pace back up. We're going to continue these long partner runs every weekend until Marathon training stars in mid-August. We'll slowly increase the distance until we're doing 8.5 miles in early August, then take a "taper" weekend at 7 before doing the first 8m run of the schedule. By that time, I'm hoping we'll be able to get Jen's speed up to around mine as it usually is.

Back in the Saddle...

First run since the Cooper (4/4) and first since the "procedure."

4.52m @ 8.36 pace w/ avg HR of 169

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1 - 8.20 @ 158

2 - 8.38 @ 168

3 - 8.57 @ 170

4 - 8.50 @ 175

.52 - 4.13 (7.94 pace) @ 176

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Not a bad LT run for the first time back out. Probably could've gone a little farther, but I didn't want to push it considering A) it had been 2 full weeks since I last ran, and B) I was still having a few complications from the "procedure" only 8 days prior (i.e. some incisions were still bleeding and there was still some sensitivity). I figured 4.50 would be about right.

Post Race Euphoria (soreness)

Here I am 3 days after my big race and I have done very little but eat all the stuff that I've been depriving (snickers bar, peanut m&m's, hostess cupcakes - to my credit, I have yet to dig into the Girl Scout Cookies that Jen had hidden from me).

Strangely, I am *still* experiencing some leg soreness even to this day, and particularly in the mornings. Some of that is due to the great effort I put forth I'm sure...but I think it's also partly because I completely ignored my normal cool down routine after the race. It was basically a mad dash to grab some freebies, meet up with Dawn, meet up with the wife and kids and mother-in-law, head to the hotel, shower/change, and get to the mexican place for lunch(!).

No time in there for stretching as you can see.

2009 Bridge Run - The quest for the sub 50 minute race

Okay, so it's finally here. All the training, all the bad luck with injuries and illness, all the good luck (with weather and time/sheduling issues)...all that's behind and it's time for the race.

The sub 50 minute 10K goal is met: 6.2 miles in 47.88 (47:53) w/ an avg HR of 181.

Woo!

Here's how it went down:

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1st mile in 8.03 @ 169 - Okay, I'm feeling okay about this time. It's the first mile, I'm not perfectly warmed up because of all the waiting around, and there's lots of jockeying around for position this early in the race. This is only a little bit off of target pace.

2nd mile in 8.62 @ 180 - This time completely deflates me. I can't believe my eyes when I see it, because I feel like I'm running pretty good. HR is elevated, I'm not dealing with jackrabbits in the way, and my running form is stretched out and about where I want it. The only thing that's difficult is the last quarter of this mile is actually going up the bridge, so there's a good stretch uphill (with a headwind). Still, at this point, given my perceived level-of-effort, I'm sure my 50 min goal is just plain shot as I am clearly not feeling it today for whatever reason (cold, etc).

3rd mile in 7.18 @ 185 - What's this? A 7.18 min/mile? Most of that UP the bridge hill? What? I guess we're back on again! 50 min goal is once again achievable! Seriously, this mile did wonders for my confidence after that 2nd mile #. (In hindsight, I think that the mile markers must have been a little off - i.e. Mile 2 was probably carrying about 5-10% of mile 3's distance - there's just no way that there would be this much of a disparity between my splits). Note - On the bridge, I spotted an older (50's) guy wearing a tshirt saying "Oxygen is overrated - Run the blah-blah-blah Mountain race." Well, I guess O2 isn't quite *that* overrated, since I passed him at some point and didn't see him again.

4th mile in 7.22 @ 182 - A large part of this was the downhill of the bridge, but that's still a solid split that's giving more continued confidence. Suddenly, having made up all the deficit I incurred on the 1st & 2nd miles on the 3rd, and gaining 38 seconds on this 4th mile...the 50 min goal is readily in hand and I'm considering 49 minutes? 48 minutes?? Note - Coming down the long downhill stretch of the hill, I noticed the combover guy from my neighborhood running along the left hand side. Either he jumped out ahead at the beginning, or he was just way in front of me in line, but I only now caught up to him. As I steadily reeled him in, I had every intention of looking for his bib number as I passed, but before I knew it he was gone and I was down off the bridge and into Charleston proper.

5th mile in 7.70 @ 183 - After I hit the 4 mile marker, I made a conscious effort to back off a little and conserve a little energy. This mile was the result of that. I usually have trouble in the downtown sections, mostly because you're coming off that long downhill section where it's fast and breezy and nice...into the muggy and flat and enclosed streets of downtown. So, I backed off a little bit to save for that last mile and 2/10ths. My mantra at this point was "you can tolerate anything for 15 minutes," which was about the time I estimated I had left in the race. 50 minutes was a given, now I was definitely shooting for 49 and beyond.

6th mile in 7.43 @ 184 - This was a tough mile, but the break was over and it was time to buckle down and get to work. At one point, I tried my mind-trick of counting every right step, but I only did that for 30 seconds or so before I got bored and stopped. My mantra switched to "you can survive anything for 10 minutes." I don't remember any runners or spectators around me, they were all just a vague image in the fog of my pounding head. I do remember thinking "I could slow down to a 9 minute pace on this one and still hit 50 minutes." Good thing I didn't. At one point, I noticed a camera guy on a cat walk above Meeting St and I pointed at him to see if he'd take my picture.

.20 mile in 1.52 (7.60 pace) @ 186 - When I crossed the 6th mile marker and saw my split, I was convinced I could do 48 minutes. I couldn't even remember the specific reward Jen had promised for that time goal (and completely forgot a key part of it when I relayed it to Dawn later), but I am soooo glad I had that additional goal specified as otherwise I might have just been satisfied with 50 minutes and given into the pain a mile and a half ago. On the final left turn, a pack of runners that were cutting the corner collided and a man practically ran over a kid and cursed at him in the process. Nice move, jackass. After I rounded the corner and could read the time board way down at the finish line, I estimated I had about 30 seconds to get there and beat 48 minutes. I turned it on as best I could. I thought I was moving pretty fast until this 20 year old kid flew past me on the right in a dead out sprint. I don't know if I could run that fast at the beginning of a run...dude must've been saving some serious energy for the end. I crossed the line in 23 of the 30 seconds I had and immediately slowed to a walk. A guy on the right was bent over at the sidewalk and (I think) hurling. Wasn't the 20 year old kid though.

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Post Race - I walked down the finish chute and by the time I reached the stop light I was pretty much recovered. I even jogged a little towards the sweat shuttles since I wanted to hurry and start gathering freebies. I stopped on the way and grabbed a couple of Vitamin Waters that were being handed out and guzzled one immediately. Made it up to the sweat shuttles and noticed that the normal freebie fair area was empty so I figured they must have moved that into the regular expo area. Gathered my bag up and got things sort of situated, estimated I had about 20 minutes til Dawn showed up so I headed over to get some freebies.

There was a 30 yard line waiting for the Clif bar tent, so I got into that and got some of those and the oreos and graham crackers they were giving away. I saw a Red Bull tent in the distance and headed that way. Grabbed a banana and some water and choked both down.

Waited for Dawn for a while but we apparently missed each other because she said she was waiting for me for at least 15 minutes. Ate a free lara bar while I waited for her and drank a water a girl next to me offered because it was extra. Was worried a little about Dawn and called Jen to see if maybe she had heard from her, she hadn't but was about 20 minutes out of Chas so there was no need to hurry.

Finally spotted Dawn and she was excited because she met her goal of running the whole race. Didn't know what her time was though (she ended up doing great and running a sub 11-min-mile).

We hung around for a little while and then made the long walk down to Waterfront park to meet up with everyone. (Note - Rent one of those bike rickshaw things next year to carry us instead of walking.)

We had absolutely gorgeous weather (temp around 60 at the start of the race and a perfectly clear sky) and I wore a short sleeved running tee, shorts, my Brooks shoes, and the Halo headband. The headband worked pretty well as I don't remember wiping sweat out of my eyes but maybe one time.

Picking up the Packet in Charleston

What a mess that was. In the previous 6 years we've run this race, it's been a simple matter of breezing into Gaillard Auditorium, looking at the board for our bib number, then walking in and getting our bib/chip/packet and heading back out to browse the vendors and the freebies.

Not this time.

When we arrived, we saw all these people crowded around the street corner like they were waiting to cross. Weird, I thought, and I went on to cross the street. No, they were waiting in line to get in. We started passing them and then line extended the entire block and around the back of the building. I told Dawn to just go look around since she already had her packet mailed to her.

An hour + later, I had my packet in hand and we were headed to eat dinner at 830pm.

Lesson learned: Have the packet mailed from now on.

Murphy's Law part Deux

First it was the shin splints, now I'm getting a cold.

It started yesterday with some mild coughing and congestion/soreness in my throat. So, I tried to zap it overnight with some Zicam but woke up feeling pretty much the same.

There's a slim chance it might some kind of allergy thing (pollen is really bad right now) but I don't want to take any Claritin for fear it'll mess with me performance-wise tomorrow.

I had a cold once this year during training (around Mid-February) and I just pushed through it, so hopefully it won't progress much and I can do the same in the morning.

It just figures though, right?

Now, the wait begins...

As I mentioned in my last post, I ran my last training run for the 2009 BR season. Now, I sit and wait.

Well, not exactly "sit" and wait, as I am going to the gym today to do some light cardio (10min or so) then some weight training. I think the weight training has made a difference this year as I'm leaner with lower body fat (15% vs 16.1% at this time last year) and since I've added more leg strength training to my regimen, I think it's made me a faster runner, especially on downhills as I've read recently that leg strength allows a runner to push through a downhill section rather than just "bang" down from leg to leg.

A note on that fat % before I forget: I have a scale at home that I bought from Target on clearance 5+ years ago that gives weight and body fat percentages. I'm not sure the body fat percentages are accurate though, as every time I've had that measured elsewhere (like at the gym, or during a wellness exam) it's registered much lower numbers than my scale. Like 10-12% as opposed to the 15+19% range I get at home. Still, my scale provides a good baseline to show ups and downs and even though the number may not be right, I still know whether I'm getting leaner or fatter from time to time.

Anyway, back to the "wait." As I said above, today I do the gym and then tomorrow I do nothing, other than walk around in Chas a bit after picking up the packet and shop around.

My state of mind right now is that I'm ready for this race to be over, so a) I'll know how I did...and b) I'll be able to eat all the stuff that I've been depriving myself of the last couple of weeks.

4.86 miles in CH - EZ

4.86 miles at 8.82 pace w/ avg HR of 162

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GPS batteries died on me mid-run (I had to measure the distance via Gmaps Pedometer) so I don't have individual mile breakouts.

Basically I did a long warmup of about 2 miles, then did a 1mile+ at my planned 10k Pace (what felt like it anyway), then a 1mile+ cooldown.

The neighborhood is hilly and my HR was getting up there a few times, and I broke into a very good sweat, so I'm a little surprised (pleasantly) that that avg HR is so low.

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This was the last training run for my BridgeRun "season." I can't say it was exactly confidence-inspiring but it was supposed to be slow and easy and I just tacked on that tempo session in the middle on a whim.

The shin splints I recently wrote about didn't flare up again thankfully. I'd say the cure was a combination of 48hrs rest, the Naproxen Sodium (i.e. generic "Aleve") I've been taking, and the fact that my Brooks Adrenaline ASR's don't give me as much trouble in that area as my other rotation shoes, the Mizuno Inspire 4. I plan to run the race in the Brooks, partly for that very reason.

Oh, I also listened to a motiontraxx (http://www.motiontraxx.com/) podcast (the 180bpm one) for the first time and, while I liked it, I don't think I'm going to use that Playlist for my race this saturday. I think I'll stick to my tried-and-true songs instead. The motiontraxx seemed to mess with my pacing and actually slow me down. Makes sense, since the host said that the beat was set for "about a 9 to 10 min mile 10k" which is considerably slower than I plan to run the race. It'll be great for long training runs (maybe marathon training?) in the future though.

Oh yeah, about that Chest Pain...

I forgot to mention earlier, but that chest pain I posted about on 3/25 just went away on its own. It was gone by Monday of this week entirely. I guess it was just some sort of pulled muscle.

Feeling Antsy

I'm going through that thing right now where I'm reading up on Running Forums, looking for that one interesting tidbit of information that might help me with the race. Or, just the opposite, something that makes me second guess all my training. Yesterday, I was reading a thread (on Runner's World, I think) where someone posted the FIRST training program and a few posters got really hostile about the whole thing, saying it was for "newbies" and beginners only. The thread was in 2007, but had lots of interesting opinions.

I guess it's just a taper week thing. When I'm training and logging miles, I don't have time to think about this kind of stuff.

Dreaded Shin Splints

As sure as Murphy's Law allows, if something can go wrong, it will go wrong.

What's wrong in this case is an injury less than a week from my 10k. Shin splints.

I've never really had much trouble with these in the past, I might get a little soreness during a run, but it would "go away" after I'd warm up. I think I even commented on that very thing in my 2/21/09 entry. They were just one of those things that I never really experienced long term.

Well, either the intensity or the mileage in this training program has caught up with me as I've progressed from having them "go away" to having them late in a long run, to having them the entire run, to having them around the clock. Reading up on some websites explained that this is the exact textbook progression for this "overuse" injury. Right now, as I'm writing this, they are sore, but only if I probe the area (on the inside of shin, right in front of the calf) with my hand/finger.

Doing some more reading (notably at the site below) shows that the best cure is rest, but I don't have that as an option this week. I'm going to go with the 2nd best cure, tapering and anti-inflammatories, and hope for the best.

http://www.watfxc.com/TF/TF%20Education/shin_splints.htm

4.16m on Treadmill (Repeats)

4.16 miles at 8.13min pace w/ avg HR of 156

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1st mile in 9.00 w/ avg HR of 150 - Warmup mile

2nd mile in 7.45 w/ avg HR of 158 - included repeats

3rd mile in 7.73 w/ avg HR of 159 - included repeats

4th mile ni 8.20 w/ avg HR of 158 - included repeats and cooldown

remainder in 1.45 (9.06 pace) w/ avg HR of 151 - all cooldown

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I'm beginning to question my HR monitor numbers. The last few runs, the HR has read unusually low given the speeds I was doing. This run is a perfect example of that, as I ran repeats on the treadmill on 2/24, 3/3, 3/10, & 3/24 all with avg HR in the mid to upper 160's...and now I blow this one out at 156?

The only thing that makes me think that avg *might* be legitimate is that this was a "taper" repeat session, with super short intervals (.25) as opposed to the monster 1m & up intervals I've been doing in the past.

Oh well, I'll just choose to look at it that way and let it give me a good confidence boost here in raceweek.

7.55m on Lost Creek (LSD)

7.55 miles at 8.77 min pace w/ avg HR of 153

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I'm not going to break the mileage out on this one, but suffice to say it was nice and slow and steady for both pace and HR. I had to walk sections in order to keep my pace down as it was wanting to be in the 8.50 range as opposed to 8.92 or so.

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I had some shin splint issues (more on this in a later post) during this run that never went away even after I had warmed up.

Still, this was a good LSD run given that time and those HR numbers. I suppose I could have improved upon it by dropping the HR even further, but I was already walking long sections of it as it was. It also seemed like it hurt my shins more running that deliberate super-slow pace too.

Anyway, last LSD before the 10K.

6.75 m from Y to Home (LT)

6.75 miles at 8.25min pace w/ avg HR of 162

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1st mile in 8.37 @ 150

2nd mile in 8.73 @ 161 - Some pretty good uphill sections here, and I was trying to slow my HR/pace down.

3rd mile in 8.32 @ 168

4th mile in 8.15 @ 165 - Speeding up considerably as I head down Lost Creek

5th mile in 8.08 @ 165 - Ditto.

6th mile in 7.85 @ 162 - Wow, that's fast for an LT run. My HR was nice and low though and I felt fine.

remainder in 6.17 (8.23 pace) @ 164

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This was the first run of my last week "taper." I was up to 9.5 miles on this run last week, reducing that considerably this go round.

I ran from the Y after my boy's soccer game all the way home, basically the same route I did on 3/21 without the loop around the H trails. The temp was comfortable but it started to rain pretty steadily the last couple of miles or so. Still, I was comfy in my new long sleeve running shirt (C9 from Target) and shorts. Starting getting some shin-splint soreness late into the run though, must have been all those big up/down hill sections.

Still, the fast time and low HR is giving me all sorts of confidence for Saturday.

5 miles at the Dam - Tempo

5 miles on the LM Dam at about 8.04 pace w/ avg HR of 167

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1st mile in 8.40 @ 150 - A little fast for a warmup mile but whatever.

2nd mile in 8.08 @ 167 - A little slow for my first tempo mile, still dialing that pace in.

3rd mile in 7.90 @ 172 - This is more like it.

4th mile in 7.78 @ 174 - Finishing strong.

5th mile in 8.02 @ 172 - For a cooldown mile, this is ridiculously fast. That's okay, I took a 5 minute walk as part of my cooldown too.

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This was a 1/3/1 Tempo run where I run the middle 3 miles at ST (10K) pace.

I don't know if the GPS was off or what but this was a great run for me. It felt effortless and fluid, probably the best I've ever felt given those speeds. A couple of things were working in my favor of course: it was a mostly flat course and there was a little bit of a tailwind at times (conversely there was a headwind at times too since this was an out-and-back run).

The result was a run where my HR efficiency was the highest ever anywhere other than the treadmill.

This really gives me a lot of confidence for next weekend.

Weird Chest Pain

I woke up this morning with this weird chest pain. It's on my right side, on the inside of the pectoral muscle, and it only happens when I take in a deep breath. Did some googling and didn't really find anything that fits my symptoms so I'm hoping that it's just a deep muscle pull.

Working out at the gym today didn't seem to help, so who knows.

5m on the Treadmill - Repeats

5 miles at 7.97 min pace w/ avg HR of 165

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This was on the treadmill so my speed was precisely controlled. Basically I started out with a 1 mile warmup at around 8.82 pace, then ran 3 1 mile repeats at 7.40 pace, with a 1.50 min breaks in between at 8.82 pace. I finished up with about .65 mile at progressively slower pace, finishing up at around 9 min miles.

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This was a difficult run for me. The combination of the boredom of the treadmill, with the loooong repeat at a relatively fast pace caused me to really struggle and really want it end.

Dunno if it's just training fatigue or what but I'm pretty much ready for the race to get here.

10 miles at Riverfront - LSD

10 miles at 9.35 pace w/ avg HR of 154

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I'm not going to bother breaking out all 10 miles here. Basically, I started off really slow 10.22 min/miles and finished up fairly strong at right around 9 min/miles.

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That's pretty much what I wanted out of the run. I started out the first half by pushing D in the stroller with Ollie on the side. Then, after 5, I handed them off to Jen and ran the final 5 mile loop by myself.

Digression: It's funny the disparity with how people react to you when you're with dog or with child...you get all kinds of smiles and greetings when you're pushing a stroller...or especially if you have a dog...and even moreso with a "gadget" the way I have Ollie hooked up on the stroller. But when I'd pass the exact same people without kid or dog...they wouldn't even give so much as a sideways glance. Too funny.

Anyway, I purposely kept my HR in the 150's on this run and, incidentally, averaged the same HR as my 5 mile LSD back on 2/22, but with a little more speed.

This was a distance PR, btw. The longest run in my 10k training schedule and the farthest I expect to go until I potentially start marathon training in August.

Now begins the taper.

9.50 miles LT - Misc Route

9.5 miles at 8.43 min pace w/ avg HR of 166

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1st mile in 8.13 @ 166 - Whew, started out too fast

2nd mile in 8.43 @ 163 - This is more like it.

3rd mile in 8.43 @ 167 - Pretty good consistancy.

4th mile in 8.50 @ 166 - Ditto

5th mile in 8.98 @ 165 - Pretty good uphill section here.

6th mile in 8.80 @ 169

7th mile in 8.38 @ 167 - Starting back on the long downhill

8th mile in 8.08 @ 166

remaining 1.50 in 12.37 (8.25 pace) w/ 166 HR

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This was an LT run where my pace should be 10k pace (sub 8min-miles) + 30-35 seconds. For me, that should be about 8:30 or 8:35 second miles, but I obviously ran a little faster. Felt good though.

Temp was in the 50's and I wore a running shirt and some shorts and was pretty comfortable. The route was back from D's soccer match at the Y. I took a detour through the Harbison trail network to add on a little mileage.

I tried out for the first time actually carrying some Gatorade with me. I have a fanny pack with a built-in water bottle holder, so I cut some low-cal Gatorade with some water and used that. After fiddling with the fanny pack adjustment to keep it from bouncing, it really wasn't too bad. I drank about half the gatorade at the halfway point, then some more at about three-quarters, and saved the remainder to drink on my cooldown walk home.

I still got cramps later though. :(

7.56m @ Riverfront

7.56m at 8.32 pace w/ avg HR of 171

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1st mile in 8.73 @ 150 - Warmup mile.

2nd mile in 8.62 @ 169 - Having a hard time finding my pace obviously.

3rd mile in 8.20 @ 173 - This is more like it.

4th mile in 8.15 @ 174 - Steadily dialing that pace in...

5th mile in 8.20 @ 176 - More of the same.

6th mile in 8.08 @ 177 - Feeling stronger and it's showing.

7th mile in 8.02 @ 179 - Probably overdoing it now.

remaining in 4.87 (8.70 min/mile) @ 177 - Not that great of a cooldown.

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This was a 1/6/1 "tempo" run where I was supposed to do a warmup mile, then six miles at "MT" pace (i.e. 10k pace plus 15-20sec), then a cooldown mile. I pretty much skipped the true "cool down" and just did a half mile slow pace and then a half mile walk to the car (not counted in the total!) to cool down.

Weather was nice, sunny and in the 60's.

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Commentary:
Had some pretty bad stomach cramps for a good 12+ hours afterwards. Maybe it was because I delayed getting some food in my stomach for awhile (had to pick up the kid from the parents and drive home to eat). So despite what I said about my OJ/water concoction below, I'm gonna experiment with having gatorade on these long (60min+) runs going forward.

Also, the Mizuno is still giving me blisters, but only on my right foot, on the inside of the ball and on the tips of my #2 and #3 toes. The nylon dress sock trick didn't help this time, so I'm going to have to figure something else out soon. I did loosen the laces a little so maybe that will help next time around.

Recovery Routine

After my long and/or strenuous runs, I have a routine that seems to work pretty well for me.

Cooldown - I don't always include a true cooldown as part of my "recorded" run, but I do always include 5-15 minutes of walking at the end. This is usually as easy as just ending my run a half to full mile from home or the finish line. My HR usually gets down to between 100-120 at the end of this cooldown.

Nourishment - Sports drinks are great, but they're expensive, not always around, and loaded with sugar (i.e. empty calories). I've found that some watered-down OJ works well for me. I always have it in the fridge, it's nutritious, and loaded with the stuff my body needs after running (potassium, vitamins, good carbs, etc). I usually take a multi-vitamin along with it to help replace all those vitamins/minerals that my body flushed out in the run.

Anti-inflammatories - With the OJ and multi-vitamin above, I usually pop 2 Ibuprofen in too.

Stretching - I wish I could say I do this *every* time, but in truth, unlike the above, I only stretch when I have time and/or the inclination.

I experimented this past weekend with an "ice bath" after my long LT run and that was quite the experience. I figured as much heat as my body was producing after running that I'd be able to handle the cold water just fine but it was really really uncomfortable there for awhile. Basically, I just got in our big tub and laid down and started the cold water. Once it filled up, I had my wife dump in the whole ice-maker tray in over me. She said I scream like our baby. :-) It was chilly enough that I was wearing a sweatshirt and a big towel over my head. I stayed in for 10 minutes and got out, walked around a bit to let my legs acclimate, then took a hot shower (probably not a good idea).

6m repeats on the way back from Soccer practice

6m @ 7.82 pace w/ avg HR of 173

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1st mile in 8.27 @ 150 - Supposed to be a warmup mile, but that's a little too fast

2nd mile in 7.43 @ 179 - Wow, pretty fast considering only half the mile was repeat pace.

3rd mile in 7.37 @ 178 - Ditto.

4th mile in 8.68 @ 176 - Obviously fading, but the repeat pace was probably closer to target (7.33)

5th mile in 7.85 @ 178 - Getting a second wind.

6th mile in 7.32 @ 180 - Finished up at the entrance of CH.


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This was supposed to be 5 three-quarter mile repeats at 7.33min/mile pace with a quarter mile in between of EZ, but I just couldn't gauge my pace early on and ran waaaaaaay too fast on the first repeat. As a result of that and a particularly hilly course, I cut all the repeats short at half mile instead. So, I did more total repeats overall, but not for the prescribed length. I'm just not that good at gauging my pace yet, as some of those early repeats were clocking at less than 7 min pace. (Made for a great overall pace though!) I got better as I got warmed up though and felt pretty strong there at the end.

Weather was great, dry and cool at about 60. It was dark by the time I got home so I purchased a reflective vest to wear from Walmart for $6.67.

P.S. This was the fastest I've ever run 6 or more miles (or 4 for that matter) , and by a good margin too (7.82 vs 8.00).

Road Running Etiquette

I've been running on the shoulder of a fairly busy road a lot lately and I have a system down for acknowledging the many passers-by in their vehicles:

• For those that make an effort to fully swing into or near the opposite lane - Anything from a wave and a point (if I'm feeling masculine), to just a wave, or the sign-language gesture for "thank you", or a salute (if I'm feeling goofy and euphoric)
• Any effort at all to give me space - Wave
• No effort to give me space - Stern look
• Coming anywhere near my white line - Dramatic jumping into the grassy shoulder
• Actually swerving to hit me - See above, plus Wish for Bad Karma

9.50m LSD on LostCreek and other neighborhoods

9.5 m at 8.92 pace w/ avg HR of 158

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1st mile in 8.37 @ 153

2nd mile in 9.10 @ 162

3rd mile in 8.92 @ 158

4th mile in 9.03 @ 161 - Trying to keep the HR low and in the 150's

5th mile in 9.10 @ 157

6th mile in 9.10 @ 156

7th mile in 9.03 @ 159

8th mile in 8.68 @ 155 - Downhill portion on LC

9th mile and remaining in 13.38 (8.92 pace) @ 163 - Remainder of LC and a lap at the clubhouse

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This was the LSD run in the week, and like yesterday, I had to fit it in between raining spells. Didn't work out too well as the latter half of of the run was in a steady rain. Like last week though, it actually invigorated me despite the mid 50ish temps and the fact I was only wearing a tank-top and shorts.

The course was Lost Creek, then one of the neighborhood, then a gravel road "shortcut" that included a creek-crossing and a loooong and steeeeep uphill, then the normal route home.

This was another distance PR, btw.

9 Miles LT on Lost Creek

9 miles at 8.36 pace with avg HR of 166

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1st mile in 8.33 @ 158

2nd mile in 8.38 @ 164

3rd mile in 8.57 @ 166

4th mile in 8.23 @ 174

5th mile in 8.32 @ 170

6th mile in 8.50 @ 169

7th mile in 8.62 @ 166

8th mile in 8.15 @ 165 - Obviously started on the steep downhill section

9th mile in 8.15 @ 165 - Loving that consistancy

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This was the LT run (10k pace plus 30 to 35 sec) for the week. It had been raining and I jumped on the opportunity to get my run in when it broke. It was still very wet out and cool at about 43. I doubled up my shirt and wore a hat, but no gloves. My hands were cold at first but warmed up pretty quickly.

As for the route, I added on a quick section in CH at the beginning and then did the normal LostCreek run.

8m Tempo at Riverfront

8 miles at 8.43 pace w/ avg HR of 171

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1st mile in 8.62 @ 150 - Warmup mile. Probably a little too fast.

2nd mile in 7.97 @ 175 - First tempo run @ 10k pace. Looks like I did a pretty good job of guesstimating my pace just by feel. 7.97 would give me a 49.41 10k.

3rd mile in 8.92 @ 168 - Recovery mile.

4th mile in 7.85 @ 178 - Another good job at estimating my 10k pace.

5th mile in 8.08 @ 180 - Fell off a little here, but it was the second half of a 2 mile tempo and the overall average is still within 10k pace. Plus there were some pretty good headwinds.

6th mile in 8.98 @ 171 - Recovery mile.

7th mile in 7.90 @ 179 - Another pretty good 10k pace mile.

8th mile in 9.15 @ 173 - Cooldown.

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This was a good tempo run session. I pretty much achieved my goals and I wasn't completely exhausted at the end. Within an hour of getting home, eating dinner, etc, I felt completely fine.

Those tempo intervals were pretty tough though, much tougher than previous ones run on the treadmill. I'm glad I did this one outside, but it makes me wonder about maintaining that pace for 6.2 straight miles. Here's hoping that the adrenaline from the race event itself will offset that.

On the worn out front...

After a couple of nights of good rest (8+ hours each), I'm feeling a little better.

My body is still trying to recover though, as I get sort of out of breath and/or tired feeling after climbing a set of stairs or running in the backyard with my son. A fit person that can run 9 miles at the drop of a hat shouldn't be experiencing difficulty from such mild exercise.

I have an 8 mile tempo run tonight, so let's see how that goes...

Still feeling a little worn out...

Had a long night of sleep last night (almost 9 hours) but I'm still feeling a little worn out...like a wrung out sponge.

Can't seem to "catch" my breath and it feels like (and I know this is just perception) that my heart is "tired." I've also been having some dizzy spells when I stand up too suddenly...haven't passed out or anything but just get a serious "head rush" when I stand up and I have to catch myself until it passes. Blood pressure seems to be fine though.

I know I'm in uncharted territory as far as training goes (weekly mileage, distance PRs, running frequency) and I'm losing weight faster than I ever have previously (I'm 5lbs less than I was last year at this time of training and almost 10lbs lighter than the year before that) so maybe that has something to do with it. I am eating well though...lots of healthy food (greens, veggies, fruits, along with some lean proteins and nuts)...I'm just limiting my calories to around 1600-1800 per day other than splurges on the weekend.

I'm just going to try to push through it and hope it passes at some point in the next week or so. I do have a mild taper planned the week before the race so I'm sure that will help.

5.25 miles on the Treadmill (Repeats)

5.25 miles at 8.02 pace w/ avg HR of 164

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1st mile in 9.03 @ 150

2nd mile in 7.72 @ 163

3rd mile in 7.70 @ 167

4th mile in 7.72 @ 169

5th mile in 7.73 @ 173

extra in 2.23 (8.92 pace) @ 163

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This was a repeat/interval session where I ran a 1 mile warmup then did 4 three-quarter mile repeats at 7.33 pace with a quarter mile easy (9min/mile) interval in between. Finished up with a half mile cool down.

As my previous blog post showed, I wasn't really feeling it for this session, and consequently I was struggling on each of those repeats, especially the last one. I had to do all sorts of mind tricks/games to keep from just staring at the readout on the treadmill anticipating the end of the repeat.

Still, it turned out to be a great run, at least from the look of the numbers. I'm thinking, though, that my HRM batteries are getting ready to go, as I don't really trust those averages that are showing up. I'll change the battery tonight and see what happens.

Starting to feel a little run down...

I don't know if I over did it on the weekend (a 5k and a distance PR, plus washing/waxing the cars, and a looong walk around downtown on Sunday with the family) or if I'm just adjusting to Daylight Savings Time, but I'm feeling a little run down and fatigued lately. I'm counting on it not being the "wall" or whatever this early in my training schedule.

Here's hoping that some speedwork on the treadmill today at lunch will snap me out of it.

9 miles on LostCreek - LT

9 miles in 8.43 pace w/ avg HR of 170

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1st mile in 8.55 @ 150

2nd mile in 8.50 @ 168

3rd mile in 8.43 @ 172

4th mile in 8.57 @ 173

5th mile in 8.38 @ 173

6th mile in 8.38 @ 173

7th mile in 8.20 @ 173 - Loving that HR consistency

8th mile in 8.32 @ 171

9th mile in 8.57 @ 175

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This was a new distance PR for me, eclipsing the one I set a week ago (I expect to eclipse this one next Saturday 3/14).

I felt fine during this LT run and had good energy at the end of it. Weather was great, sunny and in the mid 50's at the start of the run. I was comfortable in shorts and a sleeveless running shirt. Pace was pretty much where I wanted it to be and I really felt like I could continue on at that pace for another 4 miles at least (i.e. a half-marathon).

5k @ Zoo - March4Meals - 3.1m

3.1 m at 7.68 pace w/ HR 181

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1st mile in 7.77 @ 173

2nd mile in 8.12 @ 184

3rd mile in 7.25 @ 185

extra in .68 (6.80 pace) @ 189
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I tried a new (for me) warmup technique prior to this race where I did some steady jogging for a good 10-15 minutes prior to get my HR up. The thinking is that doing so will not only looosen up the muscles but also allow me to avoid the "shock" of the sudden HR spike in the first mile or so of the race. I was monitoring my HR at the start line and it never dipped below 100, mostly because of my warmup plus the jogging-in-place that I was doing. I think it helped because I don't remember feeling that strange "choking" and "hard to breathe" sensation that I get in the first mile of races, when I'm trying to settle into my race pace.

As to the disparate splits, this course has a middle mile that is pretty hilly and narrow (i.e. nature trail pathways). So, the hills slowed me down some, but it was mostly the jackrabbits that slowed down and decided to walk this section, consequently getting in the way. I actually had to climb/jump over a huge rock to make a pass at one point. :)

I did vastly improve upon my race time from the previous year (by over a minute) even though my average HR really jumped (by over 12 bpm). I guess I can attribute that to the pre-race warmup as well as better HR conditioning this year (?). I know that I had more "kick" at the end of the race than last year, and I felt like I passed more people too.

P.S. This was within 6 seconds of a 5k PR for me.

5 miles on Treadmill (Tempo)

5 miles at 8.34 pace w/ avg HR of 165

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1st mile in 9.00 @ 150

2nd mile in 8.00 @ 165

3rd mile in 8.00 @ 169

4th mile in 7.97 @ 171

5th mile in 8.72 @ 169

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This was a repeat of the previous week's tempo run where I warmed up for a mile, then did 3 miles at "ST" pace (according to the Furman FIRST program, ST = equals about your expected 10k pace), then 1 mile cooldown.

Not much changed from the previous week, other than some mild HR fluctuation.

I plan to do this tempo type run (with varying distances) every Thursday all the way up to the Bridge Run.

5.25m on Treadmill (Repeats)

5.25m at 8.10 pace w/ avg HR of 167

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1st mile in 9.00 @ 150

2nd mile in 7.73 @ 168

3rd mile in 7.83 @ 170

4th mile in 7.83 @ 173

5th mile in 8.07 @ 176

extra in 2.08 (8.32 pace) @ 171

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This was an interval/repeat speedwork session where I started out with a warmup mile, then did 8 quarter mile repeats at 7min/mile pace w/ quarter mile intervals of easy running (about 8.50min pace) in between.

8.21 m on New Route (to parents' house) - LSD

8.21 m at 9.01 pace w/ avg HR of 161

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1st mile in 8.17 @ 152 - This was quite a bit faster than I had in mind, but in fairness, it was the first mile and it was mostly downhill.

2nd mile in 8.50 @ 167

3rd mile in 9.03 @ 161 - This is about where I wanted to be on this run.

4th mile in 9.03 @ 164 - More of the same.

5th mile in 9.03 @ 160 - Ditto

6th mile in 9.57 @ 162 - While not "bonking" per se, I'm starting to feel the effects of some unfamiliar hills and the long run from the day before. Pace is still fine, and I'm taking a few walk breaks when the HR spikes.

7th mile in 9.45 @ 163

8th mile in 9.40 @ 162

extra in 1.73 (8.24 pace) @ 160

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This was a new distance record for me. The route was pretty good and had some decent hills, I'd do this one again. Temp was in the low 40's and drizzling. It was actually raining on the first mile or so and I considered heading back as a long run in the cold rain was not exactly what I wanted. Good thing I stuck it out because the rain stopped altogether and that particular hour + block of time was the only non-raining period in the entire day.

8.07 m @ Lost Creek - LT

8.07 m @ 8.38 pace with avg HR of 172

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1st mile in 8.18 @ 155

2nd mile in 8.57 @ 174

3rd mile in 8.38 @ 174

4th mile in 8.32 @ 174 - Nice consistancy here on HR/LOE

5th mile in 8.50 @ 175 -

6th mile in 8.32 @ 175 - HR still pretty consistant

7th mile in 8.08 @ 172 - Significant downhill section here.

8th mile in 8.80 @ 179 - Big uphill here, running up to my house, hence the pace/HR spike.

extra .07 in .47 (6.71 pace) @ 179 - Guess I had some energy left over!

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This was an "LT" run where I add on about 30-35 seconds onto my expected 10k time. The most interesting thing about this run is that it was raining out (and in the 50's temperature wise) but I didn't let that deter me from running. In fact, towards the latter half of the run, the bottom really fell out and I was soaked to the bone, but felt great! I had a really euphoric experience where I felt invincible out there, especially with all the cars going by and seeing the "crazy guy out there running in the cold rain."

5m - Tempo 1/3/1 on Treadmill

5 miles at 8.35 pace w/ avg HR of 164

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1st mile in 9.02 @ 150

2nd mile in 8.00 @ 166

3rd mile in 8.00 @ 168 - Not bad, managing to keep my HR down here pretty well.

4th mile in 7.96 @ 171 - HR still not too bad.

5th mile in 8.78 @ 176

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This was a tempo run where I warmed up for a mile, then did 3 miles at "ST" pace (according to the Furman FIRST program, ST = equals about your expected 10k pace), then 1 mile cooldown.

I plan to do this tempo type run (with varying distances) every Thursday all the way up to the Bridge Run.

5.50 on the treadmill (speedwork)

5.50 miles at 8.21 pace w/ avg HR of 169.

This was a speedwork session where I ran 1.50 miles warmup, then 1 mile at 7.42 pace, .75 m at 7.33 pace, .50 m at 7.25 pace, then .25 m at 7.08 pace...with .25 mile intervals of EZ (9min pace) in between. I wrapped up with a 1m cooldown.

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1st mile in 9.00 @ 150 - That HR is probably not accurate, but my HRM was not reading correctly and actually showed 103 for the first mile. I know that's not right so I just subbed 150 instead.

2nd mile in 7.85 @ 170 - This included part of the beginning of the repeats/intervals.

3rd mile in 7.70 @ 173

4th mile in 7.63 @ 177

5th mile in 8.50 @ 175

remaining .50 at 8.94 pace w/ HR of 171

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Because I wasn't ready for Speedwork on Sunday, I did it here on Tuesday instead (when I normally just do a gym/crosstraining day). Plus, I stole this particular session from the Furman "First" program I wrote about in my previous entry.

Also, I don't normally do speedwork anywhere but outside, but thought I'd try it on the treadmill instead since I have so much trouble gauging my pace (and usually overdo it as a result). And, I usually avoid the treadmill partly because it's boring but I'm also skeptical of the "easiness" of it, but I have to admit I really liked the aspect of being able to precisely control my pace. I was surprised I could adequately hold a 7.42 (7:25min) pace for a whole mile without being overly tired afterwards. I also liked this particular speed session as it gets faster and faster but gets shorter and shorter at the same time. I don't see this anywhere else on my remaining schedule though unfortunately.

The only disappointing thing about this session is that my "HR Efficiency" score (a factor of speed and avg HR) was not as high as I had hoped/wanted it to be. It was good, no doubt...but I figured it would be higher with me running on the "easy" treadmill and all. Ah well.

5.09 @ Riverfront (EZ)

5.09 miles at Riverfront at 9.43 pace w/ avg HR of 154.

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1st mile in 9.75 @ 148

2nd mile in 9.63 @ 153

3rd mile in 9.40 @ 155

4th mile in 9.10 @ 157

5th mile in 9.33 @ 159

remaining .09 in 8.44 avg pace w/ 160 HR

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After my "LT" run on Saturday that left me a little drained, I wasn't really up for my normal speedwork session on Sunday. So, I just subbed in an LSD or recovery run instead. Atypically, I also ran on an almost completely flat course, but I was pushing my 50lb son in a jogging stroller the whole time to offset.

My goal was to run a very comfortable pace and just see how the pace/time worked out. Obviously, the stroller slowed me down some but I'm fine with that considering how low my HR stayed. I also felt great afterwards and did some strenuous yard work later in the day with no ill effects. This was a textbook (for me) recovery run.

7.83 miles on LostCreek (LT run)

7.83 miles at 8.47 pace w/ avg HR of 170

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1st mile in 8.27 @ 150

2nd mile in 8.50 @ 171

3rd mile in 8.68 @ 173

4th mile in 8.68 @ 174 - Nice consistency here!

5th mile in 8.38 @ 172

6th mile in 8.15 @ 173

7th and remaining distance in 8.57 avg pace @ 174

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I've been reading about the Furman "FIRST" training method which claims you can improve your race time with only 3 "key" running workouts per week. Here's the link:

http://www.furman.edu/first/fmtp.htm

One of those "Key" workouts is a long run at an "LT" pace. This LT pace translates into about your 10k pace + 30 to 35 seconds. For me, that's about 830 to 835 (or 8.50 to 8.58 since I used decimal) pace at what I plan to run my next 10k at. Since I run my "long" run of the week at about 8.50 anyway, I figured I'd call this my "LT" run of the week.

(The other 2 "Key" workouts include a hard speedwork day and a medium speedwork day and I'll talk about those later.)

Despite this being my normal pace for this run, it seemed to take more out of me this time. I was more tired and sore afterwards than I normally am. This is either psychological, or maybe I just wasn't "feeling it" and pushed myself beyond what I would normally run comfortably otherwise. This was also a longer distance so that may have had something to do with it.

Anyway, I'm going to continue to do "LT" runs on these saturdays the rest of the way in my training.

5.01 miles at CH Trail/Road Mix (LSD)

5.01 miles at 8.95 pace @ avg HR of 162.

With this run, I was specifically focused on keeping my HR below 170. When I saw it exceed 170, I was committed to slowing to a walk for 5-10 seconds each time. This was fine most of the time, but the hills on this course are extreme (but short thankfully), and part of it HR-taxing (to me) trailwork, so I probably slowed to a walk 4-5 times overall.

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1st mile in 8.62 @ 157 - This was all road and was my warmup mile.

2nd mile in 8.50 @ 161 - This was mostly road, with some trail at the end.

3rd mile in 8.73 @ 161 - All trail (I think).

4th mile in 10.17 @ 165 - Mostly trail, with some hard hill sections where I walked some.

5th mile in 8.80 @ 167 - Back on the road.

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I don't think I do enough "easy" or "recovery" runs in my schedule so I was determined to keep my HR down in this run, but the speed didn't suffer too much, so I'm proud of that at least.

5.26 @ CH (Repeats/Speedwork)

5.26 miles at CH in 8.37 pace w/ avg HR of 170.

This was speedwork, consisting of 1.5 mile warmup, then 6 quarter mile repeats at 5k pace, with EZ quarter miles in between, finishing with a 1 mile cooldown.

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1st mile in 8.57 @ 150 - Warmup mile before the repeats start.

2nd mile in 8.06 @ 169 - This mile included the first of the repeats.

3rd mile in 8.05 @ 177 - Fully into the repeats here. Nice to see that time is consistant.

4th mile in 8.36 @ 179 - The last of the repeats, time slowed down here a bit.

5th mile in 8.66 @ 177 - One repeat, with the rest part of the cooldown mile.

extra .25 in 2.32 (9.28 pace) @ 177 - Remainder of the cooldown.

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Looking back, I ran the repeats a little too fast and couldn't hold the pace as a result. The first 3 were all sub 7 minute pace (with the 3rd actually at a 6.48 pace), with the final 3 average more closely to about 7 minute pace. The pace was supposed to be "5k pace minus 10 sec" so for me that should have been no faster than 7.50 pace.

Oh well, I should be glad I pushed myself harder, right?

7.10 @ Lost Creek

7.10 miles in 8.48 pace w/ HR of 168.

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1st mile in 8.45 @ 150

2nd in 8.50 @ 171

3rd in 8.48 @ 169

4th in 8.32 @ 175

5th in 8.55 @ 172

6th in 8.55 @ 167

7th (and extra) in 9.38 (8.53 pace) @ 171

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This was a good solid LSD. Pace was consistent, the HR got up a little more than I'd like but this is a hilly course so that's expected. Temp was in the low 50's and I don't recall any wind factor.

3.46 @ TSFG

3.46m at 8.36 pace w/ HR of 162

1st mile in 8.48 @ 150 - After my last few runs on this course, I am reeeeeaally trying to keep my pace down on this first mile or so. 8.48 is still pretty fast. At least my HR is flat.

2nd mile in 8.20 @ 157 - Most of this mile was still downhill, so that would explain the pace increase.

3rd mile in 8.56 @ 174 - Okay, this was after the turnaround point so all of this was uphill, steep uphill, so that's why the HR suffered. I even tried to moderate my HR by taking brief walking spells. That, along with the fact there was a good headwind hitting me, I think this is a decent pace.

Remainder .46 at 3.70 @ 176 - HR continues to suffer through these uphill sections.

I do this thing where I calculate my pace together with my HR to come up with a "HR Efficiency Score." Basically, it's a measure of how fast I can go while keeping my HR in check. This run scored pretty high on that scale, so that makes me feel a little better after the past couple of sub-par runs I had.

Taking Today Off - Doing the "Easy" runs

I normally take Mondays off as a rest day but I had planned to do the gym instead as the rest of my week's schedule is screwed up (big event on Wednesday will preclude me from running that day so was moving my gym up from Tuesday to Monday and my run from Wednesday to Tuesday).

Anyway, I'm still a little sore and tired from the weekend so I think it's a good sign that I need some rest.

One of the big things I learned in training last year is that you have to take those "easy" runs as just that, "easy." I have this bad habit of getting out there and watching my GPS and thinking I can run harder, that I need to run harder every time out in order to meet my goals. Not only does that make it where you dread the run beforehand, but it doesn't give your cardio system the proper workout. You don't need to "redline" your cardio system every time out...it's actually better to give it a mild workout most of the time, saving the "redline" for speed sessions.

I had been ignoring this advice for years and would wind up completely burned out on running by the time the event had come. Then I wouldn't want ANYthing to do with running afterwards. Last year, I changed my strategy and in the last month of training started doing true "easy" runs when I was supposed to and I was much fresher for the 10k event, setting a PR as a result. Probably more importantly, I continued to run afterwards and even did another 10k 2 weeks later.

This year, I've found myself slipping into those old habits, especially on Saturday LSDs, and I need to nip this in the bud from here on out. I'm wearing a HR monitor for a reason, I need to listen to it.

5.00 @ CH

5.00 m @ 8.66 w/ HR of 171.

Basically this was another speedwork session where I started off with 1.50 miles of warmup, then did 3 half mile repeats at 10k pace, with half mile rest sessions in between. I finished up with a mile cooldown.

The repeats broke out like the following:

1st - 7.40 pace @ 180

2nd - 7.63 pace @ 180

3rd - 8.17 pace @ 179

I was doing well on the first 2 but that last one took a lot out of me. It's funny that my HR didn't go up though, as I felt like my LOE here was much higher.

The cooldown mile was slow (9min+) and I needed every bit of that slowness. This was a hard running session and I struggled.

It took a lot out of me the rest of the day too as I had a lot of lethargy and soreness. Maybe there's something else going on as I was also sneezing a lot (allergies?). Or, it could be that my LSD session the day before was too strenuous and I wasn't properly rested for this speed work.

6.79 @ Lost Creek

6.79m @ 8.42 pace w/ HR avg of 173.

1st mile in 8.38 @ 158 HR - Taking it easy here and haven't hit any hills yet so the HR is nice and low.

2nd mile in 8.50 @ 172 HR - This course has a steady uphill section in the second mile so the pace and HR suffered.

3rd mile in 8.43 @ 174 HR - Pace is steady and HR is steadily increasing, just like the elevation.

4th mile in 8.50 @ 177 HR - This was after the turnaround point. I'm pleased with the steady pace but wish the HR was lower.

5th mile in 8.38 @ 176 HR - Doing some downhills on this mile so the pace sped up but the HR remained steady (high).

6th mile in 8.27 @ 174 HR - Ditto for this mile.

Remainder in 6.80 @ 180 HR - Some steep uphills spiked my HR.

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This run was supposed to be an LSD but I pushed it a little too much I guess (a bad habit). I never felt that my breathing was any harder than "conversational" except for the very end so I don't know what happened with this. I ran basically the same course a week ago faster (8.25) w/ a lower HR (170). In the excuses department, I will blame it partly on the 3 cinnamon rolls I had about 45 minutes before starting. I'm usually a cheerios or PB&J guy for my pre-run meals but what can I say, my 9mo pregnant wife brought me cinnamon rolls in bed...how could I refuse?

Seriously, I need to take from this that I need to back off a bit on these LSD runs, more on this after my next entry.

4 miles at TSFG

4 miles EZ @ 8.48 pace w/ 161 HR.

1st mile in 8.45 @ 130 - I'm purposely trying to keep my pace down here. Most of this mile was downhill though so that's why the HR was so low.

2nd mile in 8.67 @ 170 - The reverse of the first mile, this is mostly uphill, which is why the HR spiked.

3rd mile in 8.55 @ 169 - Doing okay with the pace and HR here.

4th mile in 8.30 @ 174 - Finished up pretty strong as the course levelled out.

Decent middle of the week run for me. This is a hilly course so I got a better workout in than I would have on the treadmill. It would have been warmer though! It was 34 out and I was hitting some major headwinds that were just outright painful. I had on a longsleeve t and shorts, and my running gloves, which was comfortable when I could get some shelter from the wind at least.

4.50 of Repeats at CH

Sunday was speedwork so I did some repeats with an overall dist of 4.51 miles at 8.27 min pace with HR of 165.

I set the watch to do automatic half-mile splits.

1st half mile in 3.92 @ 116 - Way too fast, but this was mostly downhill and I was anxious about speedwork.

2nd half mile in 4.4 @ 164 - This is more like it.

3rd half mile in 4.15 @ 161 - Probably a little too fast but HR is doing great.

4th half mile in 3.68 @ 178 - First half-mile repeat at 5k pace. Solid 7.36 min pace. Would love to run a 5k at that pace. Haven't yet.

5th half mile in 4.52 @ 168 - Recovery half mile

Quarter mile in 2.25 @ 168 - Recovery quarter mile (.75 total) About a 9min pace.

Half mile in 3.73 @ 180 - 2nd half-mile repeat at 5k pace. Pace is still good at 7.46. Finishing this interval, I'd rate my effort level at a 9/10. I was hurting there at the end.

Recovery 1.25 miles at about 8.58 pace @ 172 HR - I didn't walk at all but maybe should have since I couldn't get that HR down below 170.

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It was 47 and sunny and I was perfectly comfortable in a sleeveless wicking shirt and shorts.

6.5 LSD on Lost Creek

6.50 at 8.25 min/pace @ 170 avg HR

1st mile in 8.30 @ 156 HR - My first mile I was making a conscious effort to hold my pace down. Felt fine, even though it was chilly out and all I was wearing was a long-sleeved T and shorts with Bike shorts underneath.

2nd mile in 8.50 @ 172 HR - HR jumps a little here as I go through a series of uphills. Still felt fine.

3rd mile in 8.43 @ 171 HR - Pace and HR held steady as I approached the turn around spot.

4th mile in 8.20 @ 173 HR - I turned around at about 3.4 miles so roughly half of this mile was before and after. Still, this is a little faster than I'd like on an LSD.

5th mile in 7.90 @ 172 HR - This is aLOT faster than I should be doing an LSD but in fairness, most of this mile was downhill. HR is holding steady. I really should try to keep the pace down to around 8.50 so my HR could take a break.

6th mile in 8.15 @ 170 HR - Still going too fast, but being mostly downhill, my HR is coming down a little bit.

.50 mile in 4.23 @ 177 HR - Going uphill now, so pace and HR suffers.

This was a good run overall. I specifically remember that my breathing was nice and slow and "conversational" so I knew I wasn't working my heart all that much. It's a good sign that I can run this somewhat hilly course this fast without working too hard. At the end I really felt like I could turn around and do it over again, which would be a half-marathon. May have to try that sometime. :-D

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Tips - My new Mizunos were giving me a blister on the inside of my right foot right where the "ball" is, so I tried an extra layer of sock on that foot to alleviate. I just grabbed a worn "dress" (i.e. nylon) sock out of the hamper and put that on my right foot, then my running sock on top of that. That did the trick: no blister and not even a sign of sensitivity on that particular spot. But, the long run popped up a blister on my left foot so maybe I'll do the sock thing on both next time.

5 miles @ TSFG

5 miles in 41.46 at 8.29 pace w/ HR of 174

1st mile in 6.82 @ 157 HR - Uh oh, I'm in trouble. That's way too fast to start out. By my record that's the fastest mile I've ever run. Not a great way to start out an easy 5 miler, even if it's aided by being mostly downhill.

2nd mile in 8.48 @ 176 HR - Not paying for it too much yet, at least not pace-wise, but that HR is spiking. Alot of this was still downhill though. All of this mile was in the new section/subdivision that I tried out for the first time.

3rd mile in 8.27 @ 173 HR - Okay, this is just plain screwy as my speed increased? I guess this was the remainder of the big downhill section as I turned around shortly after finishing the 3rd mile.

4th mile in 9.27 @ 179 HR - This is where I start to pay. Long stretches of uphill and I am really struggling. I even walked a few segments. HR was pushing 190 in spots.

5th mile in 8.62 @ 181 HR - I started to get my 2nd wind here and the last half mile honestly didn't feel that bad. I'd say I probably ran the first half of this mile in 9+ min pace, with the second half around 8 min pace. Not very consistant but I started to feel significantly better, despite that really high HR.

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This was supposed to be an easy run, but I obviously screwed that up by pushing it too much, a bad habit of mine. Just like last time I ran this course (1/7/09), I've got to start taking it easy on the first half.

4 miles at CH

4 miles at CH with Ollie with me. 8.55 pace @ 156 HR.

1st mile in 8.60 @ 137 HR - I think that HR is kinda low though.

2nd mile in 8.57 @ 159 HR - Pretty consistent running.

3rd mile in 8.50 @ 160 HR - More of the same.

4th mile in 8.57 @ 165 HR - More consistancy and a decent HR considering this was pretty hilly country.

Ollie did fine and seemed to have energy left. Pretty good for an eleven year old pup. It was chilly out (42) and I was cold in my performance shirt and shorts. Should've worn some gloves.

6 miles thru H Forest

6 miles, the first 1.50 was on the road from my house to the trailhead, then 3 on the trail, then 1.50 back home.

1st mile in 8.25 @ 143 HR - This was on the road and almost all downhill. Pretty easy going.

2nd mile in 8.85 @ 170 HR - The first half of this was on the road (uphill) and the 2nd half was on the trail. That's why the pace and HR spiked.

3rd mile in 9.40 @ 171 HR - Talk about pace spiking! All of this was on the trail. I didn't really expect it to slow me down this much, but wow.

4th mile in 10.47 @ 173 HR - More of the same, I was really slowing down and my HR was getting up there.

5th mile in 10.17 @ 174 HR - The second half of this mile was back on the road and downhill. That tells me that first half still on the trail was SLOW.

6th mile in 8.08 @ 175 HR - Fast road running. At least I had something left over, even though I'm pushing that HR pretty good there.

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Not sure what really happened here. I ran pretty much this same course last April with consistent 8.58 splits each mile. And that was all trail. Oh well, at least I got a good HR workout out of it. I'll skip the interval/repeat work tomorrow and count this as that instead.

4 miles on the Treadmill

Don't really like the treadmill particularly, but this day was cold and rainy and I didn't want to be outside.

8.80 min pace w/ avg HR of 154

Each mile was consistant (it was the treadmill) with the HR going from 130 in the first, to 158, to 162, then to 167 in the last mile.

4.00 (repeats) at CH

4 miles Sunday morning 1/18/09 in 8.16 average with HR of 156 (questionable).

This was my speedwork out of the week.

1st mile in 8.05 at HR of 110 - This was supposed to be a warmup mile, but I obviously took it too fast. I guess I was a little anxious about doing speedwork for the first time in a long time. That HR figure is probably wrong as my Timex device always starts to pick up the "real" HR at least a mile into my runs.

.45 mile at a 7.98 pace at HR of 160 - Remainder of the warmup. Again, too fast, but at least this was almost all solidly downhill. HR probably about right.

.693 mile at 7.86 pace at HR of 171 - The first half of this was my first interval: .33 mile at 5k pace. The second half was my recovery period. I figure the speed part was about 7.15 with the recovery at about 8.57.

.341 mile at 7.18 pace at HR of 177 - The second repeat of .33 mile. Pretty fast, but I'd like to get one of these repeats down below 7 min pace.

.347 mile at 8.73 pace at HR of 170 - Recovery period.

.331 mile at 7.49 pace at HR of 178 - Last repeat. Not as fast as I'd like but my HR was working even hard on this one.

.354 mile at 8.90 pace at HR of 171 - Recovery period.

.483 mile at 9.25 pace at HR of 174 - Cooldown half-mile. Mostly uphill and back to the house. I stopped right at 4miles and was pretty spent.

This was a decent speed session. It was very cold out (around 20 degrees), I wore a performance shirt under a longsleeve cotton tee, running gloves, and I put a backwards ballcap on my head since it was drizzling a bit. I was comfortable despite the conditions.

Note - On that first repeat by the clubhouse, a pack of deer came running around the front on the other side of the lake of me, bounded into the water, swam over, and crossed right in front of me. They freaked out as they saw me and scrambled across the road about 30 yards away and into the field on my right.

6 @ Lost Creek on 1/17/09

6 miles Saturday Morning on 1/17/09 at 8.50 pace w/ HR of 171

1st mile in 8.22 at HR of 162 - This was my easy warmup mile, mostly downhill, but it was cold out at right around freezing. I compensated by wearing a sleeveless performance shirt under a cotton long-sleeve Tee, spandex shorts under my running shorts, and running gloves. Didn't wear anything on my head though.

2nd mile in 8.85 at 173 - This mile is mostly uphill so slowing down is normal, that HR jump is a bit of a surprise though.

3rd mile in 8.73 at 173 - Another mostly uphill mile. At the end of this mile is the turnaround.

4th mile in 8.68 at 172 - Start of the turnaround. So far, I'm keeping my speed and HR pretty consistant.

5th mile in 8.08 at 170 - Sped way up on this mile as there was a good downhill section.

6th mile in 8.50 at 177 - Mostly uphill mile with lots of big jumps in elevation.

Overall a good solid LSD run. The cold didn't bother me one bit after the initial shock of it.

4 @ TSFG

Overall - 4.0 @ 9.03 pace w/ HR of 157

1st mile in 8.95 w/ HR of 115 - Basically don't know if I believe either of these numbers. The "avg pace" on my watch was showing 8.25-8.50 the entire first mile prompting me to consciously try to slow down. Not sure how there could be such a huge difference.

2nd mile in 8.68 w/ HR of 161 - These numbers seem more accurate. Half of this mile was a huge downhill and the other half was back up that same hill.

3rd mile in 9.57 w/ HR of 176 - This was a series of huge uphills coming back but I still think this was a little slow. My GPS died during the next (4th) mile so maybe it was being wonky because of that. Anyway, I handled this series of hills much better than I did when I ran this course on 1/7, even if the numbers don't show it.

4th mile in 8.92 w/ HR of 176 - This mile was much flatter and I felt a lot better. As I said above, the GPS died during this mile so the distance is estimated using Google Maps Pedometer.

Overall, a decent hills run for maintenance.

6.209 @ Lost Creek

Overall - 6.209 m at a 8.32 pace with avg HR of 159.

1st mile in 8.23 w/ HR of 105 (don't trust this figure). Felt fine. It was cold out (40ish) and I was still getting used to the temp at this point.

2nd mile in 8.62 w/ HR of 169. Still felt fine. The slight slow down was due to a steady climb for this entire mile.

3rd mile in 8.32 w/ HR of 168. Still felt fine here. The course levelled out some (even though it's still uphill) so I ran a little faster.

4th mile in 8.50 w/ HR of 170. I felt fine and most of this mile was after the turn around so it should have been mostly downhill so I don't really understand the slow down here. Maybe that 3 mile was not as level as I thought (read: it was actually mostly downhill)

5th mile in 7.97 w/ HR of 168. Obviously this was where the course really started downhill (equivalent to that 2nd mile above but back the other way). I didn't feel like I was running this fast at the time and obviously I wasn't working my heart much as this was the lowest HR since that questionable mark on the first mile.

6th mile in 8.27 w/ HR of 170. I'm pretty proud of this time because the last mile is pretty steeply uphill. I manaed to keep my speed up without drastically working my HR.

.209 in 1.75 w/ HR of 178. Obviously this was some steep hill work as judged by that super high HR.

Good solid LSD run.

High Ankle Sprain

On 11/1/08, I rolled my left ankle coming down the stairs at Williams Brice. There was a double step following a series of single steps and I misjudged the distance and landing on the left foot and rolled the ankle outward. I felt a "pop" at the time and remember thinking "oh no, this could be bad. I've been keeping up with my running so well for awhile now and this is going to really set me back."

I was a little surpised as I walked on it right away that there wasn't that much tenderness, even though I still had that sick feeling that I had done something really wrong. I sort of limped around the rest of the game and came home afterwards and went to bed.

The next morning, the ankle had swollen up to the point there was no "definition" to the outer ankle at all and it was pretty stiff and sore. I could still walk fine though.

Using the "ICE" method, I elevated it a lot that day and applied ice (actually a frozen bag of lima beans) whenever possible.

Strangely, my walking was fine with only a small amount of tenderness. Only when I tried to roll the ankle out (as it was injured) did I encounter a LOT of pain.

I ran for the first time 8 days later on 1/9/08, 5 miles really easy-going in about 44 minutes (8.79 pace). Didn't really feel much pain at all while running, just a little stiffness in the shin and front of the ankle because I was probably favoring it. Still, I was encouraged that I could still run.

I ran fairly regularly from that point on...going 2-3 times a week at 4-7 miles each time. Pace seemed to be largely unaffected (8-8.75 min miles)/

I was discouraged that the ankle was still giving me soreness and pain when I attempted to roll it out though, and this endured until right around 2 months post injury. At that point, I saw great improvement for some reason that I can only attribute to my physical therapy that I performed whenever possible. Below is what I did:

Physical Therapy:
Heel lifts - I was doing these already for an injury to this same ankle (on the inside though). These strengthen the tendons but only really work the back (achilles and calf). I d0 20-25 of these at a time. Serves as a good warm up prior to running too.
Stretching - Ankle rolls, achilles stretch, pushing the ankle out/down to the point of mild pain. I started seeing big improvement in my flexibility at the 2 month part.
Ankle "pulls" - Using an elasto-band, position it such that you pull the front part of the ankle towards you and/or to the left/right. These are hard to pull off because it's difficult to anchor the esto-band away from your body, so I didn't do as many of these as I'd like.
Plain old running/walking - I'm pretty convinced that my regular running schedule helped with the healing too, by strengthening the overall ankle area.

It's still not 100%, but I'm okay with where I am now as it's not impeding me from doing anything active-related.