Monday, August 29, 2011

Last Week's runs









Well... I can't get to NikeRunning. I don't know if the site is down or if I'm just having trouble connecting. This graphic is from dailymile which I have been using for a week or so and really like (but that's a whole other post). Pro of this graphic vs. Nike Running: It runs Saturday - Sunday rather than Sunday - Monday. Con: It shows only rounded miles. (3 instead of 3.57 or whatever).








Sunday (8/21) - 8 x 800m repeats. My goal time was 5:55 per 800 and I met it for every repeat (5:12, 5:23, 5:24, 5:31, 5:26, 5:35, 5:36, 5:37). Total mileage 5.99 including warm-up/down. I felt really good about this because when I did the 4x and when I did the 6x I had a hard time with the final 2 repeats for each. But this time, I had no trouble with the first 6 repeats. Only on the last 2 did they get hard.






Monday - Walk 2.7 miles in 48 minutes.






Tuesday - Run. 3.6 miles in 52 minutes (14:26/mile) including warm-up, warm-down. This was a really nice run. I started at 4:1 ratios but dropped to 3:1. It felt very comfortable and good.






Thursday - Run. 4.2 miles in 58 minutes (13:48/mile) including warm-up and warm-down. 3:1 ratio with 7 acceleration glider drills and 8 cadence drills (97, 96, 96, 95, 97, 97, 98, 98).






Friday - Walk. 2.7 miles 47 minutes.








Sunday - LSR of 13.3 miles in 3:18 (14:53/mile). My training plan called for 16:20 - 16:50 but I said the other day I wanted to do it in 14:30 - 15:00. I actually maintained about a 14:08 - 14:20/mile pace for nearly the entire distance but when I walked my warm-down the pace dropped. If I had cut off the mileage, it would have been faster but I want the miles more than the pace.








The run went very well. I left my house about 5:10 and did 1:1 throughout. I did longer walks to take in nutrition (2 gels and one very gross bar that I got as a sample somewhere). I also stopped at the grocery store to use the bathroom and buy a bottle of water. Other than those breaks, I had no trouble maintaining the 1:1s.

27 miles for the week.









Friday, August 26, 2011

Upcoming LSR

My Long Slow Run (LSR) this weekend will be 13 miles. Wow. 13 miles. That will either equal or exceed my longest run ever - 2011's Austin Livestrong Half-Marathon. If I calculate my route exactly it will be 13 miles. If I go over, it will be my longest run. I'm feeling somewhat nervous just at the sheer distance and time it will take (and don't ask about the 15 mile run scheduled 2 weeks later or 17 mile run 2 weeks after that).



My last two LSRs have been subpar and very challenging. When I did the 9 mile run, I had just taken the Chi Running class so I tried to run as far as I could without taking walk breaks for the first 6-7 miles which pretty much broke me for the final two miles. My pace averaged 14:27/mile. When I did the 11 mile run I was either coming down with a chest cold or suffering the effects of eating too much gluten. I struggled throughout the run, walked a significant amount, and ended up with an average pace of 15:16/mile.



To encourage myself I keep telling myself that I have learned from the last two LSRs. I will use run-walk-run throughout and I am not stuffed up or suffering medically. I also realize that using Galloway's long run pace calculations I should do this run at about:



10:17 MM time x 1.2 (HM multiplier) = 12:20 + 2:00 (for a training run) = 14:20 + 2:00 to 2:30 (:30 for every 5 degrees above 60) = 16:20 - 16:50 / mile. Truly I would like to do the run at 14:30 - 15:00/mile.



But I'm still nervous about the sheer time and distance. I'm also nervous about the weather. The high for Sunday is forecast to be 109. I'm thinking that I'll get up at my usual 5:00 am to run the first 1 - 1:30 in the dark. It will still probably be 78-80 when I head out the door. It also means that I'm stuck trying to figure out how to manage my gear. I wear a water pack on my long runs which has small pockets. I can put some gels in the pockets, my keys, my phone. But if I wear my headlamp, I will want to take it off and then will have difficulty shoving it into the small pockets. Ditto but reverse that for my sunglasses. Do I want to shove them (tight fit) into my pack for the first 2 hours and then put them on or just run without? Do I want to carry some sunscreen with me? I don't want to put it on at the start because I always get it in my eyes and mouth from sweating and I want to avoid that at long as possible but do I just ignore it? Or do I head out with my headlamp, run 2 hours, come back home to fill with water and trade the headlamp for sunglasses and sunscreen? I'm worried that if I come home I'll get derailed by the kids and whatever else is going on.



It's a lot to think about but whatever I decide, I'll be heading out for a 13 mile run in two days!

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Week 8 Half Marathon Training Plan


I had a pretty light running week this week. That cold that I was worried about plagued me all week or perhaps it was a reaction to eating Gluten the week before. Either way, I did no running all week.

Sunday - Planned 11 mile run. Actual shown here.
Monday - Recovery walk. 53 minutes. 3.11 miles.
Thursday - Walk. 1:08 3.89 miles.
Friday - Walk. 4.91 miles.

Total weekly miles - 23.03. Not bad for a week where I felt like I could hardly breathe. I had a good run this morning and am hoping that I can get right back to my usual schedule.

Friday, August 19, 2011

LSR not slow enough...

I realized a few days ago that I was calculating my target time for my LSR wrong. I forgot about adding 2:00/mile to the mm X 1.2 time. That means my target time for my run last week should have been 16:20 - 16:50/mile. That means that my 15:15/mile with plenty of walking actually beat that target pace. But ... I mean...

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

11 Mile Long Slow Run





I did my 11 mile long slow run Sunday. It was both long and slow. According to the Galloway plan my target time should have been between 14:50 and 14:20/mile. I started running around 6:00 am before it was fully light.



I had been feeling sort of crummy the last part of the week. Thursday and Friday I had blinding headaches (or one headache continuously) and I also felt like I was completely stuffed up in my throat and chest. I wondered if I were coming down with something but Saturday evening I realized that I indulged in eating Gluten pretty much every day all week. I had not had my vegie chili this year and we decided to make some, Gluten be damned! I suspect I am still paying the price for that decision.



For the first 7 miles or so I maintained a 1:1 ratio and was at about 13:30-13:45 per mile pace including the walk breaks. It was hard though. I felt like I was struggling to breathe and swallow. From then on I interspersed 1:1s or 30:30s or walked for long periods.



It took me nearly 2:50 (my HM time from last year) but I did it. 11.1 miles. That's my second longest run ever (the only longer one was the one from the HM last year). 15:16/mile which is even slower than my LSR target but I did it. In two weeks I have a 13 mile LSR planned and I plan to be feeling much better that day.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Week 7 Half Marathon Training Plan





Sunday - 6 x 800 repeats. Target time was 5:55 per 800. I found these much harder to do and maintain than the 4 x 800s two weeks earlier. 5:26, 5:31, 5:35, 5:31, 5:46, 5:45. With warm-up and down 5.24 miles total.

Monday - Walk to the grocery store. 3.73 miles.

Tuesday - Started with 4:1, then dropped to 2:1 ratio. 1:16 hours, 5.71 miles (13:26).

Tuesday - Met the family on the way home from my run and walked to the park and back with them. 1.83 miles.

Wednesday - 47 minutes. 2.96 mile walk.

Friday - 55 minutes 3.22 mile walk.



So not as much running as I usually hope for. The schedule just didn't work out that well. But I did 22+ miles during the week so that's a plus.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Week 6 Half-Marathon Training





Sunday - I wrote it up last week but here is the bar for it.

Monday & Tuesday - My foot was really sore. I don't know if it was a cramp or something I did before/during my Sunday run. Monday I tried heat, ice, stretching, arnica. Tuesday I tried Ibuprofin and that fixed it.

Wednesday - 46 minutes. 3.51 miles (13:07/mile). I took a few walk breaks and it was very hot and humid. I did my 10:17 magic mile during this run.

Thursday - Walked 3:13 in 55 minutes. Nice walk.

Saturday - Walked 5.5 miles in 1:38.



Weekly miles = 22.02.





Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Third Magic Mile

I ran my third magic mile this morning. I wasn't at the track but I have my RunKeeper app set to announce my time, distance, pace etc. every 1/2 mile so I don't have to keep looking at it. I walked a warm-up, then ran most of the first mile and then walked a minute. Then I started running and when the app said I was at 1 mile, I hit the timer on the watch. The first 1/2 mile goes up a slight incline. Then I reached a red light and had to wait 25+ seconds. I subtracted those seconds although I guess I did get the benefit of lowering my HR during that rest. I walked across the street for safety (in the dark) and then starting running. The first 1/5 of a mile or so is a slight downhill and the rest is pretty level. The time on my watch was 10:37 so if I subtract 20 seconds to offset the standing at the light/lowering my HR I get 10:17.

So my times have been:



Magic Mile # Date Time Predicted HM Finish
1 06/28/2011 11:22 2:58
2 07/07/2011 10:41 2:46
3 08/03/2011 10:17 2:40

Monday, August 1, 2011

Last Week's Runs - Week 5 Half-Marathon Training



My runs last week were the first I've done using what I learned in my Chi Running clinic. I thought they went well:


Tuesday - Scheduled 45 minute run. 3.59 miles in 48 minutes (13:26). I took a few short walking breaks but otherwise concentrated on the Chi Running form and did mostly running.

Thursday - Scheduled 45 minute run. 3.74 miles in 51 minutes (13:52). That included a 5 minute walking warm-up and down. But I managed to run 32 minutes before my first (and only) 2 minute walk break.

Friday - Scheduled easy walk. 3.22 miles in 56 minutes (17:28).

Sunday - Scheduled 9 mile LSR. 9.85 miles in 2:22 (14:27). I think this was probably my hardest run ever. I have only ever run this far maybe 3-4 times before. In my last HM training I think I had a 10 and 11 mile training run and then my HM was 13.1 (of course). It was 81 degrees when I set out and a few degrees hotter when I finished. I started out trying to Chi Run and not take walk breaks which meant that I only took them when I was totally exhausted for the first 6 miles or so. By the time I had 3 miles to go, I went by my HRM and each time my HR got too high (92%), I walked for a minute. Basically that meant I was in a 1:1 for the last 3 miles but of course I had already exhausted myself. My next LSR won't be for 2 weeks (11 miles) and by that time I either need to be much more comfortable with Chi Running or allow myself the walk-run regardless of the posture changes.


When I woke up Sunday morning my left foot was bothering me. I had the feeling like it needed to pop. Like the bones were sort of jammed up. I've had that before and it's always just gone away on its own. I ran on it and it felt a little weird but not painful or awkward. Last evening it began to feel more and more uncomfortable until I was limping. Before going to sleep I put some Tiger balm on my arch. I woke up in the night with it so tight and hurting that I had trouble getting back to sleep. Now I'm at work. I put arnica on it before putting on my socks and also rolled on a tennis ball. I need to make sure that I keep rolling it and stretch it out and I hope it feels much better quickly.