5K race -- year in review

Did a New Year's Eve 5K race today. Based on my half marathon, the mcmillan calculator said I should have run 21:28 (6:54 min/mi) for 5K, so my goal was 7 min miles. I figured that was ambitious enough since I've never run even 400 meters at that pace. The half marathon, however, was very hilly. This was definitely not a flat 5K, but not as bad as the half marathon, so under 21:28 was possible. Anyway, I ran 21:15 and am very pleased. 188 bpm average.

Splits:

• warmup: 14:37/138 -- high heart rate. Probably the old fight of flight race anticipation. I'm calling this 1.4 miles
  
• 6:43/180 -- lined up too far back and felt like I was dodging traffic, but in retrospect I went out a hair fast anyway
• 6:58/191 -- a little uphill, but I think I probably relaxed too much here
• 6:49/190 -- should have pushed a little harder. heart rate should be in the 192-193 range
  
• 0:43/195
• cooldown: ran at home on the treadmill for 20:00/146. Said I ran something like 1.7 miles (11:46 min/mi). This thing can't be right, can it? I calibrated it though and if anything its displayed pace is actually generous. I'll have to try and calibrate again.
  

wr9-1

week
57.8 miles (time 9:01, which is a speedy for me 9:22 min/mi pace)
shoes
wr9-1: 241 + 43: 284
wc7-3: 300 + 15: 315

The year in review

Jan 1st through June 30th: 1138 miles in 196 hours, 43 minutes (10:22 min/mi)
July 1st through December 31st: 1451 miles in 246 hours, 52 minutes (10:12 min/mi)
Overall: 2589 miles, 443hrs 35mins, 10:17 min/mi

I should go out and run 11 miles so I can get to 2600 and a 50 mpw average!

The fun thing about being a new runner is being on the steep part of the upward curve. I PR'd every race I ran except one this year.

Feb 10K: 47:21 (PR)
Mar Marathon: 4:16:56 (PR)
Apr 10M: 1:19:25 (PR)
May Marathon: 3:59:56 (PR)
July 8K: 39:05 (first 8K, slower the 5M PR)
Aug 10M: 1:18:33 (PR)
Oct Half Marathon: 1:40:02 (PR - first half marathon)
Oct Marathon: 3:56:14 (PR)
Nov Marathon: 3:43:16 (PR)
Dec Half Marathon: 1:39:12 (PR)
Dec 5K: 21:15 (PR - first 5K)

Next stop is Disney next weekend for the Goofy challenge. Then some rest. Between MCM and Disney I'll have done (should I survive) 3 marathons, two halfs, and a 5K in 10 weeks.

I'll have to think about some 2007 goals after that.

15 miles

lake b bathrooms out and back, 14.79 miles, 2:21:27/146 (9:34 min/mi)

This is a semi-new route. Excuse the anal measuring. 5.27 miles out to SR, 1.36 miles on path from SR to lake B. The new part is an out and back to the bathroom. I found a trail description that says the bathrooms are 60 yards short of .8 miles so the out and back is 2*(.8 - 60*3/5280) = 1.53 miles. Then 1.36 and 5.27 back. Total is 14.79. Well now I know. Sorry you had to see that.

I broke the string of good running days. My heart rate was kind of high from the beginning for the pace. I kept the pace rather than resort to a slog since I've been working on my cadence (I ran with djsteveboy's "cruise control" podcast playing at 175 bpm). Slower than that and my ridiculously short stride gets somewhere worse than ridiculous. I blame the bad day on 10.5 hours in the car yesterday and lack of sleep. Kids sleep in the car and don't go to sleep until midnight. I still woke up at 6:30 though.

I noticed at my parent that my heart rate before I went out the door was about 5 bpm lower than normal (52 versus 57). Maybe this is what sleep does for you?

New year's eve 5K tomorrow. Should be interesting. I've never run a 5K. Based on my half I should theoretically be able to run just under 7 min/mi. That seems inconceivable though since I've never run a 7 minute mile. The fastest mile I've ever run was a 7:07 down a *very* steep downhill during the half marathon (8:41 back up that sucker). The team oregon wizard says my average hr should be 196 for a 5K. Ouch!

wc7-3

9 miles

from parents to 1-mile loop, 4 around, and back. 8.7 miles, 1:21:36/140 (9:23 min/mi)

Same as yesterday basically except some longer waits to cross the road. Loops were 9:21/139, 9:01/143, 9:09/143, 9:03/144.

wr9-1

9 miles

From parents to one-mile loop, 4 loops, and back. 8.7 miles, 1:20:38/142 (9:16 min/mi)

Very good pace at the heart rate for me. I've let myself hover around 145 instead of staying strictly below it. The four one-mile loops were 9:09/140, 9:12/143, 9:12/143, 9:10/145.

I seem to have naturally fallen into the higher cadence now. It looks a bit ridiculous though. Counting right arm swings, I'd get 44 or 45 per 300 seconds which is 170-175 steps per minute.

wr9-1

11 miles

from parents to one-mile loop, 6 loops, and back. 10.7 miles, 1:39:52/144 (9:20 min/mi).

Felt good so I added a couple of loops. Good pace/heart rate for me.

wr9-1

9 miles

from father-in laws. Out two-lane road on bike path and back. 8.7 miles, 1:21:56/143 (9:25 min/mi)

Cold, some rain, and quite windy. Didn't notice the wind on the way out because it was at my back! 42:18/139 out. Turn into it and decided to keep up the pace and accept a higher heart rate -- 39:38./144 back.

wr9-1

9 miles

from parents to one-mile loops, 4 loops, and back. 8.7 miles, 1:24:22/140 (9:42 min/mi)

I accidentally left the foot pod on 1.053 so it should have read 1% high. Anyway, it turned off again. Very frustrating. Didn't matter though, because I knew the route distance. Glad it didn't happen during the long run.

week
60.3 miles
wc7-3: 283 + 17 = 300
wr9-1: 198 + 43 = 241

wr9-1

18 miles

At parents. Tooled around neighborhood streets until watch read 9.49 miles. Pit stopped at the house and headed out to the 1-mile loop. Did 4 around and then headed back. The watch read 1.01 miles for each lap. At the end it read 18.29 total. Adjusting for the 1% error and the miles to km conversion error in the watch s/w, gives 18.29*1600/(1.01*1609.3) = 18.00. Total time was 2:59:00, so again a little under 10 min/mi. I started out extremely slow for the first 30 minutes though before I put on the podrunner 175 bpm podcast. The laps around the one mile loop were between 9:15 and 9:25 and my heart rate got up in the 150's hitting 160 at the top of the steep hill. Very nice run.

wr9-1

9 miles

At parents for Christmas. out to 1 mile loop, four times around 1 mile loop, and back.

I ran with the footpod to calibrate it. I set the calibration to 1.000 (from 1.017) before heading out. It was way off on the way out (1.87 I think), then the four laps around were .89, .90, .94, .95, and then coming back was 2.24 I believe. The footpod always seem to read way high when I first put it on a pair of shoes and then it settles in over a couple of runs. Anyway, I set the cal factor to 1/.95 = 1.053 for the next run. Using the factor, I'd call this run 2*(2.24*1.053) + 4 = 8.7. It took a little under 1:27, so that's right on 10 min/mi pace which seems right. Each lap around the 1 mile track was about 9:50.

wr9-1

8 miles

out, around lake a, and back.

After my really lethargic run yesterday, I threw a few strides in today. 6 times I ran "fast" for about twenty strides (right footfalls). I seemed to naturally pick up the pace a little after those.

wc7-3

8 miles

out, around lake, and back, 8.3 miles, 1:28:40/132

A very strange run today. I started out slow and never warmed up. I planned to cut out the walk breaks but the occasional twinge convinced me otherwise. Anway my average heart rate was only 132 bpm! I was very slow (1:28:40) but 132 bpm is very low. I saw <120 down some hills. I shuffled up some steep hills and was less than 140. Very odd.

wc7-3

8 miles

out, around lake a, and back, 1:26:09/135

Slow but low heart rate. I was going to give up the walk breaks today but my left calf thingy bothered me at about 2 miles and I started the walk breaks. I did a good job of getting out the door this morning and started at 5:40 versus my usual ~5:53.

The weight still isn't off. I was 165 after today's run. I think the extra two or three pounds is food-induced. I need to watch it over Christmas. I don't want to haul any more weight than I have to for the 39 miles around Disney.

wr9-1

20 miles

out, around lake b, back plus 22 laps around the track to make 20 miles

Basically a repeat of two weeks ago except I was a tad slower today. The 22 laps at the end (in sight of the "finish line") was a terrible idea.

wc7-3
week
59 miles
shoes
wc7-2: 390 + 16 = 406 (retire?)
wc7-3: 254 + 29 = 283
wr9-1: 184 + 14 = 198

8 miles

out, around lake a, and back

Still did the run/walk thing. Ran a little faster today. That seems to happen when I run in the daylight. 1:22:18/139

wc7-3

8 miles

out, around lake a, and back.

Did more gallowalking today. Same method as before. I still have lots of sore places, especially my left foot. My heart rate was much lower today though. I looked down and was surprised to see it at 130 or so at the bottom of hills. My average heart rate was only 134. I was slow (10:24 min/mi) but not horrifically slow for such a low heart rate. I think I've recovered my endurance. Seems like Friday is the day that usually happens.

I didn't mention it, but yesterday I weighed 168, which is 5 pounds more than Sunday. This is the third time I've seen this. The last two marathons and this half marathon, I was 163 on race day and 168 four days later. Today I was 165 and I'll bet I'm back to 163 on Sunday as happened the previous times.

Got my results postcard from the half. Overall: 66 of 328, men: 55 of 212; M35-39: 5 of 27. Not too bad, especially for a club race. I used to hope for top half at a club race like this. Seems like I'm usually top 25% for half marathon and shorter, but still halfway for the marathon.

Calibrated the new treadmill today. Belt lenghth is 10 feet 4 and 3/16 inches or 10.35 feet. Set to 7 mph. First run: 50 revolutions in 47.9 seconds. Second run: 50 revolutions in 47.9 seconds. Third run: 50 revolution in 48.0 seconds. (5280*47.9) /10.35*3600= 6.79 mph. Hey, that's not I was looking for! I set it 8 mph (7:30 pace) yesterday for a minute. I could hardly keep up and couldn't understand since I ran a half marathon at that pace, so I thought for sure the treadmill was off. It is off(by 3%) but the wrong way! Not sure what's going on.

wc7-2

6 miles

2 nbhrd loops

I didn't have a lot of time today so limited to 6 miles. It was probably good for me anyway. Did the run/walk thing again today.

wr9-1

8 miles

out, around lake, and back.

Same as yesterday with some run/walk. Broke out wc7-2 to get some miles on them and retire them.

wc7-2

8 miles

out, around lake a, and back.

I did the Galloway run/walk thing to make sure I didn't hurt myself coming back from the half marathon. Ran about 3 minutes and took maybe 20 paces. After that took 60 seconds at roughly each mile.

wr9-1

half marathon

warmup 16:06/125, generously saying 1.4 miles; half-marathon 1:39:12/180.

I almost didn't run this today. I ran a marathon 6 weeks ago and then an unscheduled "redemption marathon" 2 weeks ago. I was sick last week and not totally over it. (On Thursday, I took my second sick day at work in 7.5 years there.) I was also a little worried about not getting in a long run today with the Disney Goofy challenge looming . I decided to drive down there and see what happened. Dismissing last second thoughts of doing it as a training run (something I've never done), I pinned on my number determined to give it the old college try.

The course was advertised as "rolling hills," which when you extrapolate from race director language is a little disconcerting. It more than lived up "rolling hills." I have a baro alimeter in my watch and it shows 469 ascent/489 descent (start and finish are same altitude, discrepancy is change in baro pressure). The A10, which is a local race known for being hilly, was 348/344. Here's a graph with my PR half (blue), A10 (red), and today's race (green).

Other than "hilly," the course is hard to describe. It was mostly on roads through neighborhoods. At the bottom of the first giant hills we went down about 20 stairs (that we later went back up!) and onto a path. We came off the path, onto roads, onto a gravel path that circled a baseball field, back onto roads. We took roughly 400 turns in the race I'd say.

Here are my splits with time/bpm

• 7:33/162 (down hill)
• 7:07/174 (down big ass hill)
• 7:16/179
• 7:19/180
• 7:24/180
• 7:45/181
• 14:50/180 (7:25 pace)
• 7:23/181
• 7:37/181
• 7:29/182
• 8:41/182 (up big ass hill!)
• 7:56/185 (up hill)
• 0:47/191

Total was 1:39:12/180 by my watch. A 50 second PR! My average heart rate was 2 bpm lower than my previous half marathon. I think this is from being sick although truth be told, I wasn't as uncomfortable in the second half of today's race as I was 2 months ago, so I might have had a little more to give, but this was definitely a good effort. Great finish area: Krispy Cremes, bananas, bagels, soup, bagels, beer wagon, and hot pizza!

My half marathon PR is now my fastest pace (7:35 min/mi) at any distance (raced from 8K to marathon), so I should be setting some PRs in the spring.

wr9-1
week
45 miles
wc7-2: 390 + 0 = 390 (need to get this over 400 and done with)
wc7-3: 240 + 14 = 254
wr9-1: 153 + 31 = 184

8 miles

out, around lake a, and back.

Nearly as bad as Tuesday with hr and pace. 10:24 min/mi and 140 bpm! I'm supposed to run a half tomorrow? Ugh. Maybe I'll just jog it and get my shirt.

wr9-1

8 miles

out, around lake a, and back; 8.3 miles; 1:25:01/139

No running yesterday as I was sick. I took just my second sick day from work in 7.5 years. Today was very slow, but not as bad as Tuesday. It was 23 degrees with 13 mph winds at 6am.
I wore my warm tights, a long sleeve tech shirt, with my thick long sleeve tech shirt over it, my vest, my winter hat, fleece gloves, and my neck gator! Normally this would be way overdressed for me, but I wanted to be cautious today. The neck gator worked well. I pulled it up over my mouth and was able to breath in relatively warm air. It hurts to breath cold air when I have a cold like this.

Time/heart rate was pretty dreadful. It was a minute worse than my first run back after the marathon (at the same heart rate). I was fine a few days after that, so hopefully that will hold true this time as I have a half marathon on Sunday. I'm looking forward to the end of my racing extravaganza so I can get my base mileage back up.

wc7-3

8 miles

out, around lake a, and back. Very slow (10:34 min/mi) *and* high heart rate (140 bpm). 26 degrees. Still sick. Have no idea how I did this.

wr9-1

rest

sick. no running.

6 miles

2 nbhrd loops very slow. Almost 60 minutes. 135 bpm hr. Sick. Temp of 100.8 last night.

wc7-3

18 miles

New route today: out to SR (new path cutting through school), path from SR to lake B, around lake B, and back via the same route. 17.86 miles, 2:54:26/142 (9:46 min/mi)

Didn't feel my calf thingy at all until 90 minutes in. Maybe I should have kept my runs less than 90 minutes for a couple of weeks and then it would have gone away? Oh well, it still seems headed in the right direction. I can feel it as I walk around tonight but just barely.

This was a very strange run today. I used the "cruise control" podrunner podcast which is at 175 bpm to try and increase my stride rate. I think I should have tried something a little slower first, but I eventually got the hang of it. I couldn't pick my feet off the ground very much and ran rather straight legged, which I don't think is good. Anyway, my heart rate got into the 140's and I decided to stay there, turning off my alarm and running in the low- to mid-140s rather than strictly below 145. I figured by running near 145 early on, I'd see a bigger rise in heart rate and get into the 150 and 160s to maintain pace. But I didn't. I stayed around 145 on the way home. I went well over going up the monster hills, but when I got on level ground, I was back to 145.

• 52:44/133; 5.27 miles (10:00 min/mi) - Out to SR. (google earth'd distance)
• 13:07/141; 1.36 miles (9:39) - path from SR to lake B
• 44:08/143; 4.6 miles (9:36) - once around lake B. This had to be one of my "fastest" laps in a long time.
• 13:03/145; 1.36 miles (9:36) - path from lake B to SR
• 51:22/147; 5.27 miles (9:45) - back from SR

Running out my door like this saves a good bit of time. I save about 30 minutes not driving to lake B and back. Plus I didn't stop to buy ice on the way back. I just used the cold water from the tap. Since it was 30 degs this morning, it was cold enough. I also don't spend as much time assembling stuff to go and making sure I have everything. I just put on my stuff and go out the door.

The route has some nice features. It feels psychologically easier to do an out and back to me than to do loops. I also go by my tenth-mile track at the end. This would be a very nice way to tack on some measure marathon pace runs (or whatever) to see what kind of shape I'm in after running. Like 20 laps around at 160 bpm. I could also do a neighborhoop loop to get over 20.

wr9-1

week
44 miles
wc7-2: 390 + 0 = 390
wc7-3: 214 + 26 = 240
wr9-1: 135 + 18 = 153

8 miles

out, around lake a, and back.

I tried to run the part around the lake just a hair faster than usual, running at 145 bpm instead of strictly below. The out and back would then be cooldown. The results was

21:27/134 out
35:37/145 around
22:44/142 back

I probably should have done the back a little slower, but overall this is what I was going for. My quads are still very tight. Hopefully they'll be better tomorrow. I didn't notice my calf/achilles thing at all today.

wc7-3

9 miles

New work route: nottingham, beauregard, w. braddock, crest-summit-monticello, russell, cedar, king, janney's lane, seminary for 9.36 miles, 1:37:12/138, 10:24 min/mi

I thought it was quite hilly but maybe I'm a wimp. It was also very warm and humid this morning for December 1st. 62 degrees and 61 dew point (97% humidity). Plus I was navigating a lot on the new route. Enough excuses for 10:24 min/mi? Oh, yeah. One more excuse. I had a fever of 101.1 last night.

The real point of this exercise was to test out the idea of driving to work (with no traffic) and running there. This doesn't save as much time as running in (driving still takes some time) but the logistics are easier. I'll need some more time to stretch my runs. So how it go?

1. 5:13am - alarm goes off. brush teeth and shave and get in the car
2. 5:36am - pulling away from the house. Not sure how step 1 took 33 minutes. Either time moves faster this early in the morning or I move slower.
3. ~6am - park at work
4. 6:06am - hit the start button on my watch and start running
5. ~7:45am - click the watch off, take a shower, drop my bag in the car (so I don't forget to take it home), buy a muffin, and head upstairs
6. 8:24am - walk in the door of my office. Not sure how the last step took so long, but I chatted with someone in the locker room.
   

I was disappointed that I only had 6 minutes to spare, since I was hoping to have extra time that I could use to run longer (when I stretch a couple of weekday runs) or sleep later. I did manage to get in 12 minutes more of running and in my office at least 6 minutes earlier. There's considerable room to improve here (like bringing in some Clif bars and avoid the muffin stop), but I'm not sure I could get to 12 miles without getting up even earlier.

Bottom line is that this doesn't save me a huge amount of time. It took me 25 minutes door-to-door and it generally takes 40-45 with traffic. Occasionally it will take an hour but that's relatively rare. Plus there is the hassle of packing a bag, which I don't think I want to do every night. I could just go to sleep and get up earlier with that time. The route isn't all that great either (I had to run on concrete sidewalks almost the whole time).

wc7-3

8 miles

out, around lake a, and back, 1:24:04/139

I just got back from a work trip. Ambitious as I was (bringing three changes of clothes for running), I didn't run at all, so today was the first day back.

I felt winded even though my heart rate wasn't that bad. I wasn't terribly sore. My calf achilles thing is still bothering me and my right quad is still sore from the marathon but all in all a nice run.

wc7-3

walk 3 miles

Earlier today I went for a walk of about 3 miles or so. A good idea I think.

Tonight I'm feeling the delayed onset muscle soreness. This time and last it has come ~36 hours afterwards compared to 48 in the spring. Is it the ice baths or just more mileage in the bank?

Anyway, my lower calf/achilles is a little puffy. It's definitely not my achilles, but seems to be some tendon or muscle beneath it and towards the inside (medial side).

week
54 miles
wc7-2: 383 + 7 = 390
wc7-3: 214 + 0 = 214
wr9-1: 88 + 47 = 135

marathon

Today I ran the NCR trail marathon. This was a bit of a redemption attempt from my disappointing (to me) MCM 4 weeks ago. I ran 3:56 there and thought I should have done better. I had a number of culprits that I thought might have contributed to my time. Anyway, I went back to how I prepared for the half marathon that I ran a 1:40 at. I didn't eat breakfast, I didn't carbo-load, and I didn't taper. Plus I found the lucky hat I wore but lost until earlier this week

I wimped out and cheated a little on the "no taper" taper and took it easy for the three days prior (13 miles in 3 days). Other than that I ran long runs of 18, 20, and 18 on the 3 weekends between marathon. I also slipped in a 63-mile week which matches my peak before the last marathon. I had a secondary reason for the "no taper" taper. I didn't want waste a lot of training weeks on this marathon. I just wanted another data point to see whether MCM was an anomaly. I also have the Disney Goofy challenge in 6 weeks (not racing, absolutely no time goal).

Anyway, the elaborate plan I formulated for the race was to go out at 8:30 and see how it feels and then start watching my HRM. I know many don't believe in following a HRM for race pacing, but I do, so there! Plus, this was a data collection effort and it would make a nice comparison to MCM.

The course is described as "The NCRTM course starts with 1.8 miles of gently rolling roads before accessing the basically flat NCR Trail. Once on the trail runners will travel 11.7 miles north on a dirt and crushed stone surface before turning around for the 11.2 mile slight downgrade back to the last 1.5 rolling miles on the road finish at Sparks Elementary School." That's pretty accurate except the first "gently rolling hills" represents a pretty steep descent that you pay for at the end on the way back from the trail to the school.

1 7:11/161

WTF? I know the mile marker is wrong and the conversation around me is "I think we're doing 8:30's don't you?" I calm down. I also remember that the certification map said something about the first mile being placed 600 feet short and they made up for it with a long mile on the way back.

2 8:21/170

OK. We're at the trail.

3 8:36/170, 4 8:38/169, 5 8:35/169, 6 8:28/170, 7 8:28/169, 8 8:25/169

Not much to say here except to say that running at a constant heart rate on a flat course leads to a pretty even pace.

9 8:14/171, 10 8:23/171, 11 8:31/171, 12 8:24/172, 13 8:23/172

I pushed it up a few bpm as I started to anticipate the turnaround.

The clock read 1:52:XX at the half, but the half seemed to come more than .1 past 13, but then again mile 1 was short, so maybe this was right? How long before I crossed the line? Who knows. Forget the clock.

14 8:19/173, 15 8:12/173, 16 8:10/173, 17 8:19/174, 18 8:22/174

The turnaround was at 13.5 and the gradual ascent turned into a gradual descent. I had visions of pushing it up after the turnaround and maybe breaking 3:40.

19 8:30/174, 20 8:32/175

I engage in some mental math at mile 20. I'm at 2:47:11 and 8:30 per mile is 2:50. 3:40 is 8:24 per mile, 6*26 is 156 or 2:36 below 2:50, so I'm right on pace except I've got to run 8:24, go up that big stinkin' hill, and make up the 600 feet I owe for the first two miles. Ummm. We'll push a little. (I'm not lying. I actually did this math at mile 20!)

21 8:31/176

Hey, that was hard. I thought for sure that would be under 8:30. We'll try again.

22 8:35/178

OK. Cut it out. That had to be under 8:30.

23 8:31/177, 24 8:42/176

Folks, we are fresh out of sub-8:30 miles. By the way, I should mention that I'm passing people right and left for the last 4 or 5 miles. It seems like only relay people and maybe one or two others have passed me. Off the trail and onto the big stinkin' hills.

25 10:00/177, 26 9:47/177

Somewhere in here is the extra 600 feet, plus I'm going up some big hills. I didn't dog it through here (check my heart rate) but I didn't go for the gold either. It's also hard to get motivated as people who looked pretty strong start walking these hills. I think one person passed me in this stretch. I completely lost all sense of pace at this point and didn't feel that motivated to push it.

There's also some rationalizating going on here like "Hey, I'm running another one of these in 6 weeks" and "it's not like there's any big milestone in the balance..." It should also be mentioned that I might be the worst hill runner in the world.

26.2 1:58/181

Trot on in and get my medal. Chip time was 3:43:16 -- 2 seconds from a 13 minute PR over four weeks ago. Average heart rate was 173. Exactly the same as MCM.

Afterwards was great. Music. Food. They had soup! It was good, too. I was a little suspicious of post-marathon soup, but after having a cup, declared the idea an act of genius. I highly recommend this marathon (but make sure I've signed up first, OK?).

wr9-1

3 miles

1 nbrhd loop, 28:14/139, 9:39 min/mi

A little slow for the heart rate compared to other first laps. Is my mini-taper making me weak? We'll see tomorrow.

wr9-1

5 miles

1.5 nbhrd loops plus out and back to Grly, 5 miles, 47:29/141, 9:31 min/mi

"Injured" myself putting on my socks! Putting on my right sock, it caught my pinky toe nail and pulled a piece down the side to my cuticle and bled a little. A band-aid and I was good to go. Didn't even notice (or remember) my left calf/Achilles thing for the first 5 minutes of running. I felt it after that, but it has kind of moved around and is milder. I'm taking that as a good sign.

I meant to run a little lower heart rate today, but I think when I do any faster running (like the strides yesterday), I I fall into running a little faster.

Heart rate/pace for the first lap was comparable to two days before MCM (27:52/139 versus 28:04/139), but not as good as 3 or 4 days before MCM (27:58/136 and 28:04/137). Bad sign again?

wr9-1

5 miles w/ 6 strides

1.5 neighborhood loops plus out and back to Grly, 5 miles, 48:28/137, 9:41 min/mi

Ran most nice and easy. I attempted to do 6 strides. I'm not quite sure I'm doing them right. I did each for about 15 seconds I'd say, which wouldn't put me close to 100 meters. I would get my legs going and then when my breathing caught up and I felt I'd have to work to maintain it, I slowed down.

I had some strange pain in the right arch of my foot. I felt it before I put my shoes on and then early while I was running, it felt like my shoes didn't fit right and the arch was impinging on my foot. It went away though.

When I got out of the car, my limp wasn't as bad as normal, so I think the short run was good recovery.

wr9-1

7 miles w/2 at marathon pace

~1.5 nbhrd loops + track, 6.99 miles, 1:08:23/140 (9:47 min/mi, 2 miles@8:24 min/mi)

I decided not to do the marathon effort interval thingy and just did a straight 2 miles at marathon pace. Goal was to get a feel for 8:30 pace. First lap looked like 50.8 or 50.9 seconds when I crossed the line (8:28-8:29) and the first half mile 4:14 (8:28 pace). Lap 11 was a little fast (50 secs, 8:20 pace) and I settled into that pace for the last mile.

• 1 nbhrd loop warm-up (2.93 miles): 30:16/131 (10:20 min/mi)
  
• continue warm-up with jog to track and jog one lap around (0.3): 3:29/131 (11:37 min/mi) -- stopped to "draw" start line
  
• 20 laps, hitting the lap button every 5 laps (0.5 mile per split, 2 miles total): 4:14/152 (8:28), 4:14/156 (8:28), 4:10/159 (8:20), 4:09/159 (8:18) -- overall 8:23.5 min/mi, a 3:40 marathon pace is coincidentally 8:23.5 min/mi.
  
• jog one lap around, jog back to nbrhd loop, continue and stop at school fire hydrant (1.76): 17:48/140 (10:07 min/mi)
  

We know how this went last time, but it looks like 8:30 (and even 8:20) *should* be sustainable and a reasonable starting point. My first mile of the marathon in the spring was 154 bpm average, but of course I was starting completely cold then and would expect a lower heart rate than after a 3 mile warmup. The second mile in that race was 164(?) if I recall correctly. Here I'm doing 8:20 min/mi @159 for the second mile (plus I've had a warmup).

This was on a track of course and today was a cold day (30 degrees), but my 3:56 marathon is a total mystery to me. I probably could have run 9:00 pace at something like 145 or less today. Saturday's going to be warmer, but still should be around 50 at the start.

bah-bump worked great again.

tomorrow I'll do five. If I do one neighborhood loop and continue on the second until I get to Grly and then turn around back to the start point, then that's exactly 5 according to Google earth.

wc7-2

8 miles

out, around lake a, and back; 8.3 miles; 1:21:40/140, 9:50 min/mi

My left leg achilles/calf thingy was doing better although I still feel it. My right leg was very stiff, especially my calf. It felt like I had a knot in it. I also had the same feeling in my right shin I get at the beginning of races. Finally, I was having a similar feeling in my right lower calf as I have in my left. Not sure what to make of it. Maybe my new shoes have a lower heel? Maybe the adjustments in form a putting more stress on my calves (which it probably should be to store and recover that energy instead of slamming my heel into the ground).

Got my buh-bump in the mail on Saturday. I tried it today, and it worked like a champ.

wr9-1

Rest

With my achilles thingy (or whatever it is, don't actually think it's the tendon) bothering me, I decided to take the day off. It was a tough decision though because I wanted to go over 60 miles for the week, but having done my long run yesterday and having a marathon in 6 days, it was probably the right thing to do.

This week I'll do 8, ~8 with some at MP, 6, 6, 0, race, rest! For the marathon pace run, I'm planning to try the "EF" run that's described at http://teamoregon.com/publications/marathon/tapering.html

The short EF run is an easy paced run (75-80% effort) with 6 -
8 marathon race pace strides of around 200 yards interspersed
throughout.

My tenth-mile track happens to be 160 meters which is kinda close to 200 yards. I can do a nbhrd loop and a half, then head to the track and alternate marathon pace and easy pace 6-8 time, then complete the second loop. What pace? I think I want to get a feel for 8:30 pace since that's what I'll start with. 8:30 is 51 secs/lap.

I'm going to play it by ear this week, resting as much as is need to have my leg feel better each day.

week
53 miles
shoes
wc7-2: 375 + 8 = 383
wc7-3: 214 + 0 = 214
wr9-1: 43 + 45 = 88

18 miles

4 lake b laps, 18.4 miles, 3:06:28/144, 10:07 min/mi

My HRM was screwy for the first 10 minutes or so. It was probably 10 bpm high (which made me think I was having a bad day) before it started to go way off. I used the salt trick this morning and that's the first time that hasn't worked. I hoped my ba-bump arrives this week.

I thought I was having a pretty bad run at the beginning (thinking I'd be screwed if the marathon were today), but I felt better after about an hour. I'm still not sure. It's hard to compare since I didn't run as hard then, but here's today compared to two weeks ago:

• 47:32/135, 46:07/140, 46:32/145, 46:16/156
• 47:09/142, 44:11/144, 44:55/149, 45:10/159

Can't compare the first lap because the HRM was *way* off 2 weeks ago. Overall 15 sec/mi slower, but about 4 bpm lower. I guess that's a wash at worst.

My achilles/calf/foot supinator watchamacallit thing is pretty worrisome. Hopefully it will get better this week along with various other aches and pains. My plantar fasciitis seems to be getting better though as judged by my "how much does it hurt to step out of the car when I buy ice at the gas station" test.

I did a long run test of my new shoes today and I'm not sure they passed. My pinky toe rubbed next to the one next to it and I thought I was starting to get a blister.

Well, with the marathon a week from today, I guess it's finally time to start my taper :-)

wr9-1

9 miles

3 nbhrd loops; 8.79 miles, 1:26:44/137 (9:52 min/mi)

Took it really easy, especially at the beginning. First loop was 30:04/133. Second was 28:31/138, and last was 28:18/138

My foot supinator doohickey isn't getting better quickly but I don't think it's getting worse. OK for an easy 9 miles. Not sure how it will hold up for a hard 26.2. A few times when I pushed off with my left foot it hurt. I'm not sure how long I'll be able to generate any "speed." (speed in quote for slow guy).

Comparing to my slow runs the week before the marathon (they were two lappers):

• lap 1: 28:04/137, 27:58/136, 28:04/139, 30:04/133
• lap 2: 28:03/142, 27:57/141, 28:01/142, 28:31/138

Today's lap 2 was comparable. Is 10 sec/mi slower and a slower 1st lap worth 3-4 bpm or was today a slight bit better? Doesn't matter. Definitely no worse.

wr9-1

8 miles

out, around lake a, and back; 8.3 miles; 1:26:27/138; 10:24 min/mi.

After avoiding it because it was probably soggy and I'd got accustomed to being able to run a little faster on the ashpalt, I went back to my lake route. I missed it. A pleasant slow amble around the lake and back. In the last half mile or so, the wind really kicked up. By the time I showered, dressed, and headed to work it had started raining and didn't let up all day. I felt like I stole a run today.

It was slow today (even for 138 bpm), but I was probably tired from yesterday, and it was warmer today.

wc7-2

9 miles -- 6 at MP HR

3 nbhrd loops, 8.79, 1:18:05/156, 8:53 pace

I was shooting for 6 miles at marathon effort. I did 3 nbhrd loops (2.93 miles each). 16 minute warm-up on the first loop and hit the watch at the fire hydrant in front of the school. Did two loops getting up to around 170 bpm (where I expect to run the marathon) on the second loop and then hit cooled down to complete the 3 loops.

• 16:33/131 (warmup)
• 24:21/161 (8:19 min/mi)
• 24:09/168 (8:15 min/mi)
• 13:01/152 ( cooldown)

Seems a little worse than last Saturday's run where I wasn't trying to run that fast. I had a strange sensation on the first loop. I concentrated on running lightly and driving my arms back (to keep my legs from going forward and heel striking). I felt like I couldn't run fast enough to get my heart rate up where I wanted although it seemed like I was going at a good clip. Anyway, it caught up with me and felt more like work after a few miles.

The weather today was 50 degrees/90% humidty. I was out of long sleeve tech shirts and wore a rather thick Nike mock turtleneck thing which was rather hot. Should have gone with short sleeves.

weight
I weighed 163 this evening and 162 the morning of my aborted run on monday, so somehow my 5 or so pounds gained post-marathon mysteriously disappeared. Odd.

taper
I haven't quite figured my schedule for the next week and a half. I'll probably run 8 or 9 thursday and friday. 18 (or 14?) on Saturday. Off sunday or maybe 6 or less? 6 monday, 7 with 2 @race pace on tues, 6 wed, 5 w/strides on th, 4 (or zero) on friday. Race Saturday.

wr9-1

9 miles

3 nbhrd loops for 8.79 miles, 1:29:19/135 (10:10 min/mi)

Took it easy because of my injuired calf/achilles thingy.

I think I know what the calf/achilles thingy is now. It's the muscle that is stretched whenever (which is rarely) I do the foot supinator stretch in the stretch book. That involves raising your foot up and out. When I thought about this while running (it's amazing how much more clearly you think while running) I realized that the up and out stretching is what I was getting on Saturday and Sunday when I was riding on the edge of my foot. I wondered if this was normal. Consciously "using" the arch of my foot today seemed to relieve the pressure. Still I got frisky and had some gotcha moments. Strangely after it grabbed me, the pain seemed to shift around closer to my ankle? Weird.

A few things I noticed. I really drop my right should and stomp the ground my right foot. I'm using knee extension to push off. If I stand up tall (hip extension?), my right foot hits the ground without extending my knee and I get what I think is the correct isometric loading for push off. I think anyway. Who knows. This form stuff is an interesting project, but potentially dangerous.

I had hoped to do 9 tomorrow with 6 at marathon pace. Not so sure now.

wr9-1

Rest -- aborted run

I didn't mention an ache I've had in the last couple of runs. In my lower calf, maybe 5 to 6 inches from my heel, to the inside (medial side?) of my achilles, I've had an annoying mild pain. I thought it might be from me riding the outside edge of my foot and the inside part of my calf was cramping? Anyway this morning it was worse, so I cut off my run after two minutes and walked home to put ice on it. Is it achilles tendonitis? I don't think so, but I'm not sure. It feels like it's the muscle. Anyway, better safe than sorry. I'll try again tomorrow. Maybe I should elliptical?

20 miles

4 lake B laps + the dam out and back for 20.3, 3:26:55/146 (10:12 min/mi pace)

Horrible weather (47 and steady rain), but great run. Think some things clicked with form. Some I'm not so sure about. How tall should I run? Running "tall" seems to make me conscious of driving back with my right foot before it makes contact, but also gives me an ache in my tailbone (maybe I just have weak posture?). How much should I swing my shoulders? I much should I dip when my foot makes contact (running "tall" minimizes the dip). Driving my arm back seems like a great way to make sure I generate power behind me. My PF is bothering me a little more lately (more pushoff?), but my legs have felt *great* after the last two long runs.

I had a moment of transient lightheadedness at mile 13. I took my emergency gel, but I don't think that was it. I was fiddling with my mp3 player and I think looking down and picking my head up might have caused it. Anyway, no more gels after that. Didn't eat breakfast this morning either. Not sure what to do marathon day. No more than a banana or a piece of toast, but I'm not even sure I should have that.

I felt very strong and in control at the end. Best I've ever felt on a 20-mile run. Good day.

I did a little 170 heart rate out and back across the dam. 8:26/170 out and 9:01/170 back. 17:27 over 1.9 miles is only 9:11 min/mi. This includes going over a pretty steep hill (4:30 to go up 30 and down 30 feet) and some insane wind. On the way back I was leaning (seriously) 5-10 degrees to the right and felt like I was running in place.

wc7-2
week
63 miles
wc7-2: 355 + 20 = 375
wc7-3: 214 + 0 = 214
wr9-1: 43 (I love my new shoes!)

9 miles

3 nbhrd loops, 8.79 miles,, 1:13:59/160, 8:25 min/mi

In the run-up to my redemption marathon, I'm trying to replicate (somewhat) my weeks leading to the half-marathon. Two weeks before that, I ran a harder than normal 8.3 with my friend C. My average hr was 159. The day after I did 20 (and it was pretty hard at the end).

Anyway, today I did 3 nbhrd loops (didn't run around the lake since I want to work on form too and that's easier on the roads than on a trail).

The HRM was messed up for the first 2-3 minutes. I didn't use salt today. I thought the residual would work but it didn't. The problem was that I didn't realize that it was the HRM was screwed up and thought it was real at first! Bad. I'm going to look into some electrode gel or cream. I got over 170 going at a decent (but not super fast) clip. I backed off some and it jumped down to the upper 130's. I settled in after that and here were the loops times (2.93 miles per loop)

• 24:55/153 (8:30 min/mi)
• 24:11/163 (8:15 min/mi)
• 24:53/162 (8:30 min/mi)

Overall that's 8:25 pace @ 160 bpm average. The last loop is 3:42 marathon pace @ 10 bpm below marathon heart rate. How the hell did I run 3:56?

I believe the problem was overtapering (in intensity especially), too much carbo-loading, and eating too much on race day (1.5 big bowls of Cheerios 4 hrs before the start). The start of the next one is at 9:30, so I'm not sure quite how to play eating that morning. I will eat at most a piece of toast or a clif bar, but I'm not sure I should even do that. With not eating, I'm worried about starting a marathon with my stomach growling. Doesn't seem like a good idea.

wr9-1

8 miles

out, around lake a, and back for 8.3. 1:20:02/144 (9:39 min/mi)

Lots of HRM beeping. I was working on form and went faster earlier (5:44 to the traffic light!). I think this is worth it and I'm not going too high. It's hard to work on form when going slow.

wr9-1

9 miles

3 nbhrd loop, 8.79 miles, 1:24:04/143, 9:35 pace

9:35 pace was exactly the same as the week before the marathon. I averaged 141 bpm over the first two laps (only ran 2 week before marathon), which is about what I did then. I was a little higher, but it was about 15 degrees warmer today (56).

Worked on form and ran through the beeper some. Average was 144 on the last lap (same pace as others). I noticed that if I try and point my right foot straight it feels bow-legged and I land on the outside edge. I can also feel it in my outside right shin. I think this is right actually.

Something I need to watch for. When I move my shoulder forward, I think I should be rotating in a plane perpendicular to my spine. If I'm leaning forward, this should be slighly towards the ground. If I naturally throw it forward, I'm pushing up (towards the sky) and wasting my kick by creating upward motion.

laps were 28:15, 27:51, and 27:57.

wr9-1

8 miles

out, around lake a, and back.

Kind of excited to try what I've been reading in "Programmed to Run" and went out a little fast? Got to the stoplight under 6:00 (never below 6:10) before and hung around about 15 secs to cross. Got to lake in a little over 21. Total 1:20:29/142. HRM solid again today. Used saliva and relied on residual salt. Foot hurt sharply on outside of my heel a couple of time.

wr9-1

8 miles

out, around lake a, and back. 1:22:58/142. Probably a little tired from yesterday. Couldn't believe how good my legs felt though. Tried my new shoes. Very nice. At first I felt like I was running too much on the outside of my left foot (and my PF hurt there), but that went away pretty quickly. Tried salt water for HRM conductivity. Worked like a champ.

I also worked on my form some more. I felt pretty good. I'm getting a little sore around my hips, but I think I should be. Anyway, good run today.

wr9-1 (wave rider 9, pair 1)

18 miles

4 laps around lake b.

HRM was totally screwy for 11:30 (read 170 instead of about 130). Very frustrating. Anyway, I ran this with more intensity than the last couple of long runs before the marathon. Avg hr was 148. Pace 9:52 min/mi.

47:09/142 (maybe really < 136???)
44:11/144
44:55/149
45:10/159

Rightly or wrongly, I've decided the taper was too much and was exacerbated by a very slow 23 miler that rating a "3" training effect for my last long run 3 weeks out.

Looking at the half marathon. Two weeks out I did 8.3/1:17:35/159 on Sat and 20.3/3:36:21/145 on Sunday. Not sure I'll do 20 next week, but I'll try and get more instensity on Sat or Sun. 10K race?

OK. Today one of the things I concentrated on was form and lots of things seemed to click. Engage front of hips and lower abdomen and feel butt sag (very relaxed). Today I started driving back using hip extension (? -- moving thigh and hips back during drive). I basically lengthened my stride out the back, still not reach forward. Seemed like a real improvement.

wc 7-3
week 74 miles
shoes
wc 7-2: 355 + 0 = 355
wc 7-3: 167 + 47 = 214

8 miles

out, around lake a, and back for 8.3. another "fast" day. 1:20:43. Supposedly 143 bpm average, but the HRM was very screwed up for the first 3:30. (read in the 160s). I'd guess it's really 141, maybe 142.

I haven't mentioned that I've been running without tape this week (and in the marathon). I think I need to go back to taping. I've had a little bit of a setback with my foot this week.

wc 7-3

8 miles

out, around lake a, and back for 8.3.

It was chilly (33 degrees) and windy this morning, but it was great to get back to the lake. Most of the leaves were on the ground and I was able to see a lot more of the lake as I went around. Plus with the time change, I was able to see a lot more of everything.

For whatever reason, I was pretty fast today. Got to the stop light at 6:11 and to the lake in under 22. Total was 1:21:28 @ 141 bpm. Was it the hard effort last week? Last time I ran this fast was the anomalous Sept 22 (1:18:44/141), which was also the Friday after a pretty hard weekend (fast 8 miles with friend and a 20-miler). I still haven't come anywhere close to 1:18:44. What the hell happened that day? That was also a little over a week before my good half marathon. Sometimes I have to wonder if a few more level 4-5 efforts in there would help me.

Anyway, despite sore legs I'm scheming about how to run all the time and avoid driving after some awful traffic this week.

I don't want to lose training time by a lot of taper and recovery from this next marathon. So the plan is basically no taper. I'm going to treat it like the half marathon. No way would I have run as slow as 3:56 that day even with no taper.

wc7-3

6 miles

same 2x nbhrd loop for 5.86 miles.

Colder today (48) and very breezy (stood me up a couple of times). My laps were 28:46 and 28:21. 9:45 min/mi @ 141 bpm. Still about 10 secs/mi slower than last week, but coming back down in line. I think I'll do 6 again tomorrow. Then 8 and 14 on Saturday and Sunday. That would give me 40 for the week. I could do 18 if I felt great on Sunday.

Thought about my form a little. I think I get the "chi thing" when I concentrate on moving my legs with the muscles in front my hips to the very top of my thighs. My glutes (pardon me) become very relaxed. I did a cadence count and got 42 right foots in 30 secs. That's 168 spm, which is what I usually am. Maybe I try the podrunner thing.

wc 7-3

6 miles -- some marathon graphs

First run after the marathon. Twice the nbhrd loop for 5.86 miles. Quads still quite so, but I did OK. Heart rate was high for the pace and temp (only 54 degrees), but I guess this is a marathon after effect. Laps were still close to eachother (30:06 and 30:15), but I was much slower than last week for the same heart rate. All three 6 mile runs were ~9:35 min/mi and 140 bpm. Today was 10:19 min/mi and 141 bpm. I haven't run the wed after a marathon before. My logs show the Th after runs were OK though. We'll see tomorrow?

I thought this graph of EPOC values was pretty interesting. It shows EPOC from 2 July through the marathon. You can see my races as the big spikes. The long runs are the smaller spikes. Look how tiny the 23 miler is that I took so easy. That left 4 weeks between biggish spiked long efforts. Is that part of the problem. I also had a decent intensity two weeks before the half marathon (friend did a quick 8 mile run around the lake with me).



wc 7-3

marathon

Chip time: 3:56:14

Slept pretty decently for the night before a marathon. Woke up at 4:30 to eat breakfast. Layed back down from 5-6. Left about 6:15 and got there ~7:20 for the 8:25 started (which was slipped to 8:35).

Lined up behind the 3:40 pacer (sorry for over-estimating myself MCM runners).

And we're off. Everybody seems to charge up the hill as usual. My heart rate is way too high for my pace and where I am in the race. People who should be passing me are passing me in droves. Early heart rate splits are higher than they should be. Rest was right on except I decided not to endure the >180 pain in the last 2.2. (Plan was 154, 165, 166, 168, 168, 169 through 12, 170, 171, 172, 173, 173, 174, 174, 175, 175, 176, 176, 180+ through finish.)

1) 9:16/158
2) 9:34/169
3) 8:54/169
4) 8:44/169
5) 9:14/169
6) 8:42/169
7-8) 17:28/169 (8:44)
9) 8:38/169
10) 8:39/169
11) 8:24/169
12) 8:31/170
13) 8:53/171
14) 8:29/171
15) 8:50/172
16) 8:43/173
17) 8:40/173
18) 8:48/174
19) 8:56/174
20) 9:27/175
21) 9:37/174
22) 9:36/176
23) 9:19/176
24) 9:25/178
25) 9:27/177
26) 9:46/178
26.2) 2:17/185

I don't know why I did so poorly, but I think my carbo-loading (constant munching of cereal, granola bars, bananas, and apples mainly) in the last 4 days probably hurt. I'm also not sure tapering works for me. Or maybe I need to taper more? (Is an 18 miler 2 weeks out too close?)

Random "how I felt things" I don't want to forget

• shins were yet again sore first 3 miles or so and then went away
• starting feeling plantar fasciitis at about mile 13
• back of right leg (hamstring and calf) started bothering me around mile 18
• calf really started cramping somewhere around 20
• when my legs hurt, shortening my stride and increasing my cadence helped a lot and I don't think I was much, if any, slower that way (should probably work on this)
• didn't have any bloated feeling. maybe I drank a little less?
• had the transient light-headed feel I used to have at the end of long runs in Summer 05 at around mile 24 but it was very short
  

week
44 miles
shoes
wc 7-2 = 355 + 0 = 355
wc 7-3 = 123 + 44 = 167

rest

Calm before the storm. Literally. Winds are suppose 24, gusting to 46 mph at 8am tomorrow when the marathon starts. Holy cow. Am I snake bit? I ran a marathon in March where the high (79) was 19 degress above average for the day.

What should I do? I'm just going to run by heart rate and hope for a good place. 3:40 last year was ~1450. The year before when it was hot, 1450 was ~3:50. The hard part is figuring where to start. I probably shouldn't line up with the 3:40 pace team, but if I line up too far back I'll be caught in the crowds. Plus I'll be passing people forever and won't have good drafting opportunities. How much does drafting help? If I can stick with the 3:40 pacer, will that help me? Can I stick with him?

Argh. Too much worrying. New plan. Run smart. Have fun.

Start with the 3:40 pacer since that's probably the right position if not the right time. Follow my heart rate. Look to draft (3:40 pacer if I can stay with him). Run for position, not time. Wind is an opportunity. It's one more variable and means more people won't run smart.

Weighed 163 this morning.

6 miles

2 nbhr loops, 5.86 miles, 56:05/141 bpm

The run of close splits continues 28:04.0, 28:01.1. In three days, the 6 laps differed by at most 7 seconds. No more running until Sunday.

wc 7-3

6 miles

2 nbhr loops, 55:55, 9:33 min/mi @139 bpm

weighed myself last night. 161 at night! Have I really lost this weight? Why did I lose it in the taper while cutting mileage? Weird.

Weighed myself after the run this morning and 162. Then tonight and 164. More like it. I'm still down about 5 pounds since the spring.

Forgot to mention my pacing yesterday.

Yesterday: lap 1 -- 28:04.3, lap 2 -- 28:03.6.
Today: lap 1 -- 27:58.0, lap 2 -- 27:57.0

Pacer. I don't need no stinkin' pacer.

wc 7-3

6 miles

2 times nbhrd loop.

lap 1 28:04.3, 28:03.6. How's that for pacing?

I think I raced it a little bit (but still below MAF). I was probably wanting to see how I did compared to the spring. It was also cold (long sleeves and tights for the first time).

I looked at the logs and last time I did 6 was April 14 when I did it in 59:04/140. Today was 56:07/140. That's a pretty big improvement. 9:35 min/mi vs 10:05 min/mi at the same heart rate.

Still it's only 30 secs/mi. My last marathon was 9:09 min/mi. 8:39 min/mi is 3:47. Ah, who knows? I'll just run by heart rate.

I'm going to write my heart rates from my last marathon (with a little smoothing) on my pace band. If I run those, I shouldn't get in trouble and I was pretty evenly paced last time.

I weighed myself last night and I was 163, which is low for a night time weight. I'd been used to seeing that in the morning after runs (and have occasionally seen 162 then). This morning I weighed myself after my run and I was 161! I don't think I could have been dehydrated. I had my water bottle on my desk and drank religiously. Anyway, I figure I was 168 at Cherry Blossom, maybe 166 at Annapolis. 164-165 at the half? Now maybe 163??? 5 pounds could account for a fair bit of that 30 secs/mi (more than half?). I was hoping to use those pounds to get faster after I improved my aerobic system. Oh well, plenty of room for improvement still.

wc 7-3

6.5 miles

Did one lap around lake B plus the "1.9" out and back across the dam.

HRM was screwed up for a solid 7 minutes -- frustrating. Average hr on watch was 138. STraM called it 136 although it still left in a large artificial spike in heart rate. I cleaned it this afternoon. We'll see if that helps the next run. Time was 1:06:20. 10:12 min/mi.

wc 7-3

week:
44 miles (tapering!)
shoes
wc 7-2: 338+17 = 355
wc 7-3: 96 + 27 = 123

9 miles easy + 3.5 @ marathon pace

out, around lake a, and back in 1:22:57/141.

ran to track (0.25 miles) and did 1 lap (0.1 miles) to get up to marathon heart rate -- 0.35 miles/3:30/146bpm

did 2 laps 1:31/169. Seemed way too fast hit lap button figuring I'd settle in.

Now a bunch of 0.5-mile splits running loops around the track and keeping at 170 (HR limits at 168-172).

3:54/169
3:52/168
3:52/170
3:56/169
3:56/170
3:57/170
3:58/170 (log will say 4:01, but I hit the button late)

That's 7:50 pace??? This seems unfathomable, but mcmillan prediction of 8:02 pace based on my half marathon. At first, I thought the pace seemed ridiculous, but in the last mile or so I settle in and thought that this seemed semi-reasonable for the middle of the marathon.

Of course I won't have weather this good. It was 40 degrees during this test.

Total for the day was 12.35 miles, 1:55:38/149


wc 7-3

rest and speculation

Graph of 23 mile runs (5 laps around lake B) on 4/16 (red) and 10/8 (blue).

Argh. I'm going taper crazy. How will I do at MCM?!

The data so far... (redo with 18 weeks)

April 2, ran 1:19:25 10-mile race (mcmillan predicted 3:42 marathon)

Nov 21 - Apr 16, 21 weeks, 833 miles, 40 mpw avg, 1 week over 60 mpw, long runs: 1x26.2, 1x23, 2x20, 1x18, 1x17, 1x16, 1x15

April 16, last long run 23 miles = 5 x 4.6 mile laps (avg temp 62)
lap 1: 47:27/141
lap 2: 47:41/142
lap 3: 48:44/147
lap 4: 50:46/156
lap 5: 52:23/160
total: 4:07:02/150 bpm average

May 7, ran 4:00:03 marathon on pretty hilly course with ideal weather

October 1, 1:04:02 half marathon (mcmillan predicts 3:31 marathon)

May 8 - Oct 8, 1173 miles in 22 weeks, 53 mpw, 4 weeks over 60 mpw, long runs: 1x23, 4x20, 6x18, 4x16, 2x14

October 8, last long run 23 miles = 5 x 4.6 mile laps (avg temp 59)
lap 1: 49:42/131
lap 2: 48:59/134
lap 3: 49:10/138
lap 4: 51:03/144
lap 5: 50:07/152
total: 4:09:03/140 bpm average

October 29, will run ??:??:?? marathon on flatter course with ????? weather

8 miles

out, around lake a, and back.

same as yesterday -- unbelievably foggy. also warm (for October) and humid. No falling today though. 10:24/139

wc 7-3

8 miles

out, around lake a, and back

very, very foggy. Warmer (like 60?) and very humid. Tripped over a tree root and took a nice dive. Scraped hands and (as it turns out) strained my back and shoulder a little bit but I'm OK.

warm temps and humidity slowed me to 10:29/138. Nothing to worry about.

wc 7-2

8 miles

out, around lake a, and back.

tripped on a tree root and skinned my hands. Where are you daylight savings time? Anyway, kept my lower legs relaxed again. Looking good. Thought I had a little chi going as well for a while. A few things I noticed when I though I was doing it right: arms make you go -- elbows out the back, arms farther from my side than normal, leaning fwd I feel like my heads out in front and I'm the driver of a city bus -- engine underneath and I'm looking straight down at the road. When I was chi'ing (or so I thought) and I'd lean fwd, it was difficult to gauge my speed, but my hrm knew and would go off. I don't think it really makes me more efficient, but if it helps my foot, then more power to it. Pace hr ok. not great. 10:07 min/mi, 138 bpm. Warmer today than last couple of runs. It was 53 when I went out.

wc 7-2

rest

didn't run today. weighed 163 this morning

18 miles

4 laps around lake B. Maybe it's just because I didn't have to do 20, but that seemed like the easiest 18 I've ever done. It was also one of my faster 4-lappers. And I kept under 145 the whole way! 48:50/131, 48:01/133, 47:41/138, 49:56/144. Obviously I was bumping against it the whole way on the last lap. I ended up with a lot of foot shuffling to keep it under. 10:34 pace and 136 bpm average. Cold weather probably helped a lot. It was 38 deg at the start and 55 at the end.

I just about went nuts the first lap thinking about all the ChiRunning stuff I read in that book. Too much to keep track of so I just made sure I kept my foot limp and kept my calves as relaxed as possible since I was worried about my plantar fasciitis primarily. Anway, I think that might have worked. By far the best my PF has felt after an long run in a long time. I think relaxing my foot also might have given the tape the chance to do its job. My legs felt different than normal at the end. I lot less lower leg soreness, but more "upper" leg.

wc 7-3
week: 56 (taper has begun!)
wc 7-2: 330 + 8 = 338
wc 7-3: 48 + 48 = 96

5 miles

1 lap around lake B. Shortest I've run in forever.

Well, I didn't hurt anything. Other than that it was a bad run. My HR was very high. So high in fact, that I thought my HRM wasn't moistened, but now I think it was just that high. average 144 bpm for the lap and not particulary fast 47:11. This seems to happen whenever I run just after eating lunch.

I also tried some of the chi running and I was just a mess. I don't see how my right foot will ever point forward.

wc 7-3

8 miles

out, around lake a, and back. Cold! (33 degrees). Wore shorts and short sleaves. Brrr. 1:23 and change and avg hr of 136 bpm.

Last downhill on C pkwy on the way out, I tweaked my knee. I think I let my guard down and felt that a little less exaggerated kick would keep the knee safe. Well, it didn't. Felt like a couple of day setback on healing it but I was able to finish the run OK.

I think there's something to this asymmetry thing. I haven't written about my slightly pulled left groin (?) that I've had since at least the HM. It comes and goes, every once in a while making me shudder. Anway, I noticed today that if I conciously force my right foot to be parallel, the same groin(?) muscle on the right side become engaged and the "outside" part of my right hamstring becomes disengaged. This is the same hamstring muscle that I seriously pulled 2 years ago that sidelined me for 2 months. I wonder if I've been running with the wrong (weaker) muscles on the right side, causing stress on my left side.

At the end of races, I'll notice myself slouched to the right, gutting it out. Just running today, I find it much easier to bend my torso right than left.

I should run something flat (like the track) tomorrow.

wc 7-3

plantar fasciitis -- I'd try voodoo if I thought it would work

Rest day today. Thinking about my wounds....

I was mildly thrilled at the effect of tape on my foot, but it's been short-lived. Perhaps the lack of hills at the same time is what helped? Maybe it was just healing from the less intense runs after the half-marathon.

Anyway, I've gone all new agey in a desperate search for a cure to this scurge. I've read pain free as I said before, but haven't really followed through after the foot circles caused pain in my legs. I'm now reading ChiRunning.

The reason I bought ChiRunning was that it helped in an indirect manner with my knee pain. I'd seen posts about it online and the posture it suggest, which involves picking up the feet more than I do. I think this is what I was thinking of when I altered my stride downhill to help my knee. After buying the book I see that it suggests this for heavy heel strike.

Tonight I did one of the mirror exercises where you close your eyes and try and to assume a good posture and then open your eyes. I found my right foot turned out (which I've known about) and my right shoulder lower than my left (which I didn't realize). This reminds me of pain free's discussion of asymmetric postures and muscular dysfunction. Maybe there's something to all this? Or maybe everybody's like this and it's just a way to sell books.

8 miles

out, around lake a, and back. Still with the hurting foot. A little better I think.

wc 7-3

8 miles

out, around lake a, and back

foot really hurt today. Is my tape on good? Outside of foot hurts in particular. Knee getting better.

wc 7-2

8 miles

out, around lake a, and back. ran in the middle of the day, so much warmer. 65 degrees and sunny. 10:21 min/mi @ 139 bpm. Legs felt fine. Slightly tweaked knee a couple of times, but not bad. Little sluggish from run yesterday, but it was a nice jog.

wc 7-3

23 miles

a 5-lapper around lake B. In my mind, I didn't commit to doing five laps with my knee, but I felt great and my heart rate was lower than normal after 4 laps. Anyway, this felt easier than the 20 I did 2 weeks ago, and my pace was faster and heart rate lower. Averaged 131 and 133 for first two laps, 137 for third. Bumped upper limit to 150 half way through fourth lap, and 155 on the fifth. Last mile or so, I turned it off as I was around 155. Average was 143 for the fourth and 151 for the fifth lap. Didn't get in the 160s like I did previous weeks and kept 50 min/lap pace (4:09 for 5 laps). Great day. Knee held up with my altered downhill "technique" and walking one steep downhill.

wc 7-2
week
62 miles
wc 7-2: 299+ 31 = 330
wc 7-3: 17 + 31 = 48

8 miles

out, around lake a, and back. knee hurt pretty badly and had to walk first downhill. I got the crazy idea to exaggerate my kick (like running in place) on the downhills and it seems to work? I have no idea why I decided to try this, but it seems to change the angle of my leg when my foot makes contact and take the pressure off my knee. Anyway, in this way, I was able to do the rest of the run. Legs are still quite sore. My knee was puffy when I got home. 10:03 min/mi @137bpm.

wc 7-2

8 miles

back at home. out, around lake a, and back.

53, raining, and dark. Took one for the team. Forded the spillway, which was nearly up to my knees. Couldn't outrun my headlights, plus my knee hurt on downhills. Averaged only 131 bpm. I tweaked my knee on Wednesday night just walking in my hotel room. I think it's really just running with weak quads (from the HM). Anyway, I had to shuffle my way down to the lake and was at 111 bpm when I got there. My legs felt like lead when I finished. Don't think I've recovered from the HM yet.

wc 7-3

6 miles

actually 5.66 miles. How's this for dedication? I got up at 2:15am pacific to run for an hour on the hotel treadmill before my 6am flight. Fortunately, I'd managed to stay on east coast time and fell asleep before 8pm. Wish I could have done more but I figure any miles on a travel day is a bonus. 1 hour even at 138 bpm average. 10:36 min/mi pace.

Again I had my foot taped and again I think it helped. I actually had my foot taped all day today and yesterday.

wc 7-3

7 miles

my secret park was closed! From the highway I saw a group of soccer fields south of P Blvd that had a path around it. It was concrete and dirt. For the concrete portions I ran on the grass next to it. I had my foot taped for this run. I think it helped.

In the afternoon in the desert, it's hot! I couldn't believe how I crawled around to keep under 145. It says it was 78 but it felt much hotter than that. I actually could see my hr drop when the sun went behind one of the few clouds. I did 12 laps in 1:26:10/143(!). I figure they could have only been about .6 miles/lap. I just checked on gmap and they were 0.61 miles/lap for 7.3 miles. 11:49 min/mi!!!

Run was especially unpleasant b/c I had in and out burger right before. The "out" part was nearly prophetic.

wc7-3

10 miles

9.9 miles actually. On travel and found a secret, hidden park between F and G by the airport. 0.99 mile asphalt loop (according to gmap-pedometer) around it. Ran at about 7am when it was cool and did 10 laps in 1:38:00/139 (9:54 pace). Temps were ~57/48 at the start and 66/49 at the end. Nice run.

wc 7-3

half marathon

rain stopped just in time and the trail was fine. weather was upper 50's and probably mid-60's at the end. Nearly perfect. I ran a great race and finished in 1:40:02 by my watch (1:40:08 officially).

there were trail mile marker but the race started (I later learned) at about mile 0.5. Anyway, I finally started to hit the lap on those. It was an out and back with the start at ~mile marker 0.5 and the turnaround just past mile marker 7. Didn't start splits for a while. Here are my splits

start at ~mile marker 0.5
mile marker 5, 34:02/176 (~4.5 miles, ~7:34 pace)
mile marker 6, 7:46/181 (marker 5 was beginning of very gradual uphill)
mile marker 7, 7:54/181
turnaround -- didn't hit lap but must have been ~50:08 interpolating
mile marker 7, 0:48/184 (gradual downhill after turnaround)
mile marker 6, 7:31/183
mile marker 5, 7:30/183
mile marker 4, 7:29/184 (flattens out)
mile marker 3, 7:38/184
mile marker 2, 7:43/183
mile marker 1, 7:48/183
finish, 3:48/185 (~0.5 miles, 7:36)

wc 7-2

week
52.5 miles
wc 7-1: 407 + 0 = 407
wc 7-2: 263 + 36 = 299
wc 7-3: 0 + 17 = 17

4 miles

I did the maffetone route and jogged on the track with 0.5 mile at half-marathon pace for practice. Total was 4 miles.

The weather this morning was perfect (51 deg). I'm planning to jump in a half marathon tomorrow and skip the Army 10-miler. Now it's supposed to be a chance of thunderstorm from tonight through tomorrow morning and a little warmer (60). I'm wondering how the trail is going to be after a night of rain.

I practice my pace this morning on the tenth mile track to see if I could hit 7:45 min/mi. First two laps at 7:43.5 min/mi, second two laps at 7:48 min/mi, and last lap at 7:49 min/mi. Max heart rate during that was 164. I was at 171 bpm 0.5 miles into the annapolis 10-miler doing 7:56 pace. 25 degrees make a hell of a difference.

I also did a few laps at the end to figure out where maff was today. Looks like 56 secs/lap or 9:20 min/mi. That's what it in miles 3-4 last time, so looks good.

wc 7-2

8 miles

out, around lake a, and back. 1:23:58 @ 138 bpm.

wc 7-3.

8 miles

out, around lake a, and back. still a little sore. PF was also worse. Maybe it's wearing my non-new shoes. Anyway, 1:24:47 or 10:12 min/mi @ 136 bpm.

wc 7-2

8 miles

out, around lake a, and back

took it easy today despite great weather again. 10:19 min/mi and 135 bpm average. made it around w/o the headlamp but hard to see the ground! How long until daylights savings?

Wore new pair of shoes, hereby christened WC7-3.

wc 7-3

10 miles ran into work

Beautiful weather. Beat my previous best running into work (1:45:16 @137 bpm). Today was 1:42:41 @140. Weather was 60/57 then and a fantastic 52/39 today. Today was comparable weather and heart rate to 4/7 when I did 1:49:05/141 and weather was 51/43. Almost 6.5 minutes faster today.

wc 7-2
---

What do I do with my last long run? I'm doing the Army 10-miler a week from Sunday (3 weeks out), and I don't plan on doing more than 18 the week after (two weeks out), so that leaves this coming Sunday (4 weeks out) as my last 20+ run. I have run a number of 18-20 mile runs at a very slow pace -- usually 10:30-11 min/mi depending on the weather. I'm wondering whether it would be better to do another slow, but longer run like 23 miles (5 laps around my course) , do another 20 with 5 miles at MP at the end, just do another slow 20, or something else.

My training mpw/long run for the last number of weeks is below.

60/20 (week ending last Sunday)
62/20
64/20
55/18
52/race 10 miles
61/20
59/18
59/18
57/18
58/18
50/12 (8k race on Sat)

20 miles

miserable long run as predicted. 3:48:30, 11:16 min/mi! Ouch. Average heart rate only 141 bpm though (145 and 143 previous weeks but 12 minutes faster then!). Thought about doing 23 (5 laps), but aching legs and cramping right quad told me to cut it short. I think the weather was tough and running too fast last Th and Sat before finally caught up to me. 74/60 at 7am and 75/61 at 11am. plantar fasciitis hurt worse than ever before during a run.

wc 7-2
week:
60 miles,
wc 7-1: 390 + 17 = 407
wc 7-2: 220 + 43 = 263

6 miles

I was pretty sore from yesterday's cool weather sprint and decided to just do two nbhrd loops (5.86 miles). I thought I'd run at a lower heart rate to keep it slow but the weather took care of that for me. It was 71/66 at the start and 75/68 at the end. And took 1:01:38 (10:31 min/mi) and 138 bpm average. Weather looks the same for tomorrow. It's going to be a miserable long run.

wc 7-2

8 miles

Out, around lake a, and back

51 degrees outside! Shattered my MAF land speed record. I cheated slightly though. I stopped my watch crossing the street when I saw it was going to take minutes (normally it's 10-20 secs). I also pushed it a little more than usual in the first couple of miles because of cold weather enthusiasm. This is reflected in the higher average heart rate of 141 bpm. 1:18:44 (9:29 min/mi)

afternoon of June 1st, 89F, 55F dew pt, 13:17 min/mi, 138 bpm avg
morning of Sept 12th, 60F, 40F dew pt, 10:12 min/mi, 136 bpm avg
morning of Sept 22nd, 51F, 49F dew pt, 9:29 min/mi, 141 bpm avg

wc 7-1

9 miles on a treadmill

different treadmill in a different hotel. I've always been slow on that other hotel's TM. Not sure if it's miscalibrated (I think I have data on this with the foot pod?) or it's hot or the elevation. Anyway today was 9.12 miles in 1:30:01 at the same 139 bpm average. I was at 9:22 min/mi for a fair bit in the first 30 minutes. Slowed to under 10 min/mi after maybe 70 or 80 and after 85 slowed a lot to stay under (maybe 10:30 or 10:40). I think I get overheated on treadmills (no fan).

wc 7-2

8 miles on a treadmill

8.26 on a treadmill in 1:30:00, 0% incline, 139 bpm average

Miserable on the TM as usual. It was very warm. I've had a number of unpleasant memories on this hotel treadmill. Alt is about 2500 ft which shouldn't affect me but maybe it did. Could it be miscalibrated?

wc 7-2

8 miles

out, around lake A, and back

1:23:05. Missed it by that much! 1:23:00 would be 10 min/mi. watch says hr was 138 avg. Prob 139 when I download it.

wc7-1

20 miles

4 laps around Lake B + out to opposite side of dam and back for 20.3 miles.

Felt bad the first lap, but fine after that. Amazingly my time was a whopping 10 seconds slower than last week. I did have some *very* high heart rates at the end. From the damn back at the end was an average of 174! And it wasn't fast, ~10 min/mi. A very bad sign for the marathon? I should be average 174 in mile 20 and <9 min/mi pace. I'll hope lower temps, taper, gu, and powerade will help me come marathon day. Weather wasn't that bad though. 67/64 at start and 73/56 at end. I could have been a little tired. Yesterday's 8.3 was faster than normal and called a training effect level 5.

wc7-1
week: 62 miles
wc7-1: 353 + 37 = 390
wc7-2: 195 + 25 = 220

8 miles

out, around lake a, and back. ran with C who's *much* faster than me and I hadn't seen in forever. A very slow jog for him was 1:17:35/159 (9:21 min/mi) for me and a level 5 training effect. Basically it was a little slower than marathon pace. Looking at the way back from the lack it was 9:12 min/mi @167 average. 167 is about where I ran the marathon in the early going (9:09 pace) or a few bpm lower. Of course the marathon won't have the big ass hill out of the lake and will hopefully be a little cooler than the 65/61 today. I'm guessing I'm going to end up 8:50-9 if the weather is good, which isn't quite where I wanted to be (3:49 is 8:45 min/mi).

wc7-2

8 miles

out, around lake a, and back.

Basically the same run as wednesday except I got to the lake about a minute faster. I think I made it around in under 38 but forgot to hit my lap button until I was about 10 seconds up the trail and it read 38:07. Ended up at 1:23:17. 17 seconds from a 10 min/mi average. Again, I pushed it close to MAF and ended up with a 140 bpm average.

wc 7-2

Rest

raining this morning. Good day for my rest day. Will do another 8.3 tomorrow.

8 miles

cout, around lake a, and back

weather was cool again -- 61/46. I pushed it a little bit early thinking I might get close to 10 min/mi. I ended up hitting the alarm more than yesterday but I got below 10 min/mi around the lake -- 3.8 in 37:56. Overall time was 1:23:38 (10:05 min/mi) so I came close but I ran at a higher heart rate than yesterday. Today's average was 140 versus 136 yesterday.


wc 7-1

8 miles

out, around lake a, and back

weather was cool, 60/44, this morning. pace was good. Anyway, 38:14/138 around the lake. It's 3.8 miles around, so this is the first time I've scared 10 min/min at maff heart rate. Total was 1:24:32/136, which is my fastest I think and at a pretty low heart rate. Cool weather is nice.

wc 7-1

8 miles

out, around lake A, and back. Pretty low HR (135 average) but very slow today (1:29:34) . Probably tired from the 20 miles yesterday. Also, I find it hard to run in the dark with a flashlight.

wc7-2

20 miles

4 laps around lake b + out and back to other side of dam -- same as on 8/20.

Good run, good weather 64/57 at the start, 73/55 at the end. It was 3 minutes faster than 8/20 at about the same heart rate, but it was *much* warmer on 8/20 -- 80 deg at end of the run.

I took endurolytes (1 per lap except skipped one lap). This really seemed to help. I probably need one less though as I still have a salty taste. I also did a legitimate ice bath. Two 10-lb bags in about 5 inches of water. I'm afraid this is demonstrably better than just cold water.

shoes today: wc7-1
mileage this week: 64 (a new personal record)
wc7-1: 306+47 = 353
wc7-2: 178+17 = 195

8 miles -- maffetone test

exact same maffetone test routine. Here's today with the other data

Weather
5/13 - 56F temp/53F dew pt.
6/03 - 66F temp/60F dew pt.
6/24 - 70F temp/67F dew pt.
7/10 - 67F temp/58F dew pt.
9/09 - 63F temp/58F dew pt

Warmup (a little over two miles)
5/13 - 21:04/131
6/03 - 22:49/131
6/24 - 22:13/133
7/10 - 22:28/130
9/09 - 22:01/130

______5/13_6/03__6/24_7/10__9/09
Mile 1 09:18 09:59 09:53 09:30 09:11
Mile 2 09:32 10:02 10:01 09:32 09:18
Mile 3 09:35 09:57 09:54 09:34 09:19
Mile 4 09:45 09:59 10:09 09:38 09:22
Mile 5 09:52 10:05 10:19 09:45 09:25

Overall things looks pretty good for me to knock some time off my 4:00 marathon. I'm kinda hoping for a 3:49, which would be an even hour better than last year's MCM.

wc7-2

8 miles

out, around lake a, and back

got out very early (alarm at 4:50 and running at 5:26) and used a flashlight -- not too enjoyable. Found myself running up hill and feeling like my HRM alarm should be going off only looking down to see 138 bpm or so. I ran in 1:25:?? with an average heart rate of 134 bpm(?!). I did 1:24:25 last friday but my heart rate was 141 bpm average. I'd say this was my best yet. Temp was 63/59 versus 67/61 last Friday.

wc 7-1

10 miles -- ran into work

It was pretty cool 60/57 degrees and I smashed my post-Maff run-to-work record. Today took 1:45:16 @137 bpm average.

Before today, the fastest I've done since Maff was 1:49:23 back on 5/18, but that was with a little better heart rate -- 135 bpm average. 4/7 I did 1:49:05/141 (it was 10 degrees colder then). No doubt today was the fastest. I started out a little faster than normal and got closer to Maff earlier.

wc 7-2

8 miles

a downpour yesterday convinced me to take a much-needed rest day. back at it again today feeling pretty strong

out, around lake a, and back. 1:26:57/138 wasn't as good as last th/fr but not bad. I felt strong up the hills also and went up some faster than normal without setting off the HRM. Strange run. HRM was screwed up for the first couple of minutes until enough spit convinced it to work.

By the way, I tried a web calculator that gives performance versus weight and plugged in my 10-mile time at 166 (1:18:33) and got

Weight (lbs)	Predicted time	Time difference
162 lbs	01:16:55	-01:38
163 lbs	01:17:20	-01:13
164 lbs	01:17:44	-00:49
165 lbs	01:18:09	-00:24
166 lbs	01:18:33
167 lbs	01:18:57	00:24
168 lbs	01:19:22	00:49
169 lbs	01:19:46	01:13
170 lbs	01:20:11	01:38

I ran the Cherry Blossom in 1:19:25 at 168 lbs. 3 seconds off? This thing sucks :0


wc 7-1

8 miles

out, around lake a, and back. Very slow compared to recent runs. I assume it's the residual fatigue from 8, 8, 11, and 18, which is what I was looking for

Th - 8.3/1:24:58/138 bpm
Fr - 8.3/1:24:25/141
Sa - 11.1/1:55:40/138
Su - 18.4/3:16:38/147
Mo - 8.3/1:28:37/140

This article on Hanson's marathon training talks about residual fatigue and in fact utilizes it in order to limit the longest run to 16 miles. The idea is the 16-miler is like running the last 16 of the marathon, not the first 16.

I'm writing this Monday night and my legs feel "itchy" so I think I'll run tomorrow. Probably 8 again. It will be interesting to see if I can recover by running 8 or see if I need to cut back to 6 or rest altogher to recover.

wc 7-1

18 miles

Didn't sleep much last night. Stayed up late watching Tech lose to Notre Dame. Got out the door late, and with my stomach already growling, knew I wouldn't stop running, and be able to eat, until at least 12:30. A little warmer than I anticipated but not too bad. 65/64 at 9:30 and 69/67 at 12:30.

Like yesterday, this was harder than it should have been I thought. My "things get harder" point came about 1:55 instead of 2:05 today. I attribute that mostly to running 11 miles yesterday.

I ended up averaging 165 bpm over the last lap and at ~175 near the end just to keep the same pace. Ugh. 49:49/131 , 49:02/140, 48:43/151, 49:03/165

This was a much worse performance for an 18-miler than previous runs (under much hotter conditions, but less humid conditions). 7/30 -- 3:17:37/142, 8/06 -- 3:11:47/143, today -- 3:16:38/147.

today's shoes: wc7-2
week: 55 miles (5 days -- damn you work!)
wc7-1 : 278 + 28 (not sure I got this right) = 306
wc7-2: 151 + 27 (not sure right) = 178

11 miles

2 laps around lake B plus an out and back to accross the dam (where the SR trail intersects). I'm calling it 11.1 = 9.2 + 1.9 (based on foot pood 2 weeks ago).

Very cool weather (61/60) and lightly raining. I started a little "fast" I think. Maybe the week after the race it's hard to get the shuffle back. Still I averaged only 138 bpm, but it felt a little like work. pace was 10:26 min/mi. For the first time I can think of I forgot to hit the lap button -- after the 2nd lap. First lap was 48 mins. Had been doing about 50. I'll make sure I go very slow tomorrow. I'm pretty resolved to not do more than 4 laps (18.4). I'm coming to believe 20 milers are overrated, but maybe it's wishful thinking.

lower left leg didn't hurt at all today (yea!) but PF still in full swing.

wc 7-1

8 miles

out, around Lake A, and back . Mild weather 66/61 and light rain. Time was best so far 1:24:25, but I started out fast and ended up with 141 bpm average. I started off fast partly I guess because the wind and the rain created some urgency -- some primordial impulse I suppose. yesterday was probably better at 1:24:58/138 despite warmer weather probably because I started out faster. you can't put it in the bank!

Leg didn't hurt nearly as much at the end of today's run as yesterday. Still limped around work in the morning. Progress I suppose.

wc 7-1

8 miles

out, around Lake A, and back. Lower left leg started out good, but hurt like hell the last mile or so. Good weather (71/62) equals good time (1:24:58) -- my fastest by 1 second.

wc 7-1

9 miles on a treadmill

9.1 miles on the hotel treadmill in 1:30. Average hr 137. My right calf thingy was very sore.

wc 7-2

annapolis 10-miler

Max was 199, averaged 183. I ran a great race and PR'd -- 1:18:33. Even better considering this was a much hillier race and it was 77/69 at the start (felt cooler though). I got out faster than cherry blossom thanks to my HRM and knowing what I should average (182 for CB). I also started to push it this time before mile 7 (~6.5?). At 6 miles I was at 48:27 (8:04 min/mi). Then ran 7:49, 7:35, and the last two miles in 14:40 (7:20 min/mi)! Here's a comparison of annapolis (blue) and cherry blossom (red).
today's shoes wc 7-1
week: 52 miles
wc 7-1 = 249 +29 = 278
wc 7-2 = 128 + 23 = 151

8 miles -- "pain free" is painful so far

"pain free" is painful so far

I don't know why I haven't written this down so far, but here goes. After hearing about it on a mailing list I bought "Pain Free" by Egoscue and I started doing the exercises for the feet. I can't remember whether I started Sunday or Monday. Anway, as I wrote earlier in the week, my lower left calf was really sore. I attributed it to the 20 miles on Sunday and 10 miles on Monday. Later in the week I figured out my muscles were sore from doing the foot circle E-cise (the soreness is like from lifting weights). I did them through Wednesday, but then it felt like I was going to hurt myself running on my sore muscles. I stopped doing them (temporarily). Today, however, I was more sore than ever and I felt like I pulled the muscle just a little bit.

The fact my muscles were so weak that 30 foot circles could make me that sore tells me my muscles were weak (my right leg is fine). Maybe this is the source of my problem. I had noticed before doing these that I was starting to walk a little pigeon toed and had (occasionally) a kind of tearing sensation on the outer part of my foot. Maybe my weak muscles were keeping my from a proper heel-ball-toe motion? Instead of distributing my weight over the structurally sound arch, I was putting it on the flat part of my feet and straining my fascia? Sound reasonable. Anyway, today I hardly noticed the fasciitis (it's still there though) while running, but it might be because of the pain in my calf!

8 miles

Std out, around Lake A, and back. I didn't

It was much warmer today (I started later too) and my good times went out the window. It was 71/59 when I started and 76/63 when I finished. I just snuck under 1:30 at 1:29:50. Average was 140 too. Ugh. Forecast is for considerably hotter at the 10 mile race tomorrow (dew pt 69 at the start). I'm a little worried about hurting myself with the injury.

What's the plan? Well I'm going to run by heart rate again. During the 5 mile race I kept it around 189 after warming up and ended up at the 186 average I expected. I figure I'll run 3 beats above again. My 10 mile average was 182, so that would be 185. I used bits of the program I've been working on to find my median heart rate from the 10 miler. It was 185, so this looks like a reasonable strategy. I ended up with a big negative split (40:50, 38:35) last time because I was too conservative. I've got to be the only person who always goes out too slow. It's hard to help sometimes though because there are so many people. I *think* I want to see 180 at mile one and creep up to 185 by mile 3. This strategy is based on not being hurt though, so we'll just play it by ear.

wc7-2

8 miles

out, around Lake A, and back.

WC 7-2

8 miles

I think I beat my record time for this route. (I believe this run was my previous record for this route. ) The weather was very nice today and I caught some breaks at the lights, but this looks like my best effort. I took 1:30 off (1:24:59 versus 1:26:30) and it was 68/58 today versus 57/51 then according to weather underground. I guess I should expect to improve in two months, but I'll take what I can get.

Also weighed myself afterwards. The 2-3 pounds from the beach has disappeared. I weighed 165 which is my usual post-run weight during the week (sunday long runs I'll often be 164).

My legs are still quite sore. I've been hobbling around. Not sure how Sunday 10-miler is going to go.

WC 7-1

6 miles

Did the neighborhood loop for the first time in long time. It seems like the 8 mile lake route is the shortest I've been running lately. My legs were a bit shattered after the 20 on Sunday and 10 yesterday though. The very bottom of my left calf is very tight. Despite that I seemed faster for my heart rate. I was able to shuffle up the big hill without walking or setting the HRM off. At the 4.90 mile point I nearly made the elusive 10 min/mi (49:21) and my average hr was low at 135 bpm. Weather was good today at 65/55 so that's probably most of it. Looking back this is close to mytimes from May before it got hot. May 15 was 49:36/136. It was 56/55 that day. Have I made no improvement? I wouldn't be surprised. I believe I might be weight-limited at this point. Speed work = eating a salad.

I did the neighborhood loop twice and then turned back and ran to the intersection in front of the school to save a little time (not such a long walk home).

I thought I had recalibrated the foot pod, but it was still at 1.055 and my mileage was high. 6.46 versus 6.23 actual (5.86 + .37 back). 1.017 = 1.055 * 6.23/6.46. New cal factor is 1.017. This thing is all over the place.

wc7-2

10 miles -- ran to work

My legs were quite weary from yesterday's 20-miles. My car was still at work though, so running in seemed attractive. It started to get a little hard at 40 minutes. It seems like there's some residual effect. Yesterday, like normally on my long runs lately, the "harder" point was at 2:05. Maybe with back to back runs like this you get to the harder point earlier. Maybe back-to-back longish runs are better than long/short. I kept under 145 until near the top of the big hill. I wanted to get there because I though someone was waiting on me, so I let my heart rate get in the 150's for the last 10 minutes or so. Time was 1:49:00. 137 bpm average.

shoes wc 7-1

20 miles

Back home from vacation, I did my usual long run around Lake B. I wore the foot pod to try and calibrate it and check against my runs at the beach. It's usually very consistent. If it's off, it's off by the same amount but today it varied from lap to lap: 4.63, 4.69, 4.72, 4.74. Actual lap distance is 4.60 miles. I tacked on some after (out and back to far side of the dam) to get over 20. The foot pod read 20.73. The four laps read 18.78 when it should have been 18.4, so 20.73*(18.4/18.78) = 20.31, which I'll use. I guess I'll adjust the calibration factor, but since it was all over the pace, it's not clear what to use. Go with the average I suppose. It was 1.055 today, so I'll change to 1.055*(18.4/18.78) = 1.034. It doesn' really matter though, since I'm at home now and probably won't even use it.

I'm not sure what to do with the beach runs. I've gmap-pedometer'd the airport loops and got 4.33 miles. All my two loop runs were close to the actual 8.66 (8.68-8.71), so it looks like the cal factor was fine then? I got 4.47 however for the loop at then end of my long run. Maybe because it was 9:25 pace?

Today wasn't a great run, but it was probably the easiest 20 I've ever done. I started off very slow and had to step it up a little bit to get to 4 laps under 3:20, which has somehow become my standard (50 mins/lap). The lap splits were 51:39, 1:42:23, 2:31:38, 3:19:12. We'll call it a progression run :-)

Shoes: WC7-2.

60.6 miles this week.
Shoes
wc7-1 249 miles
wc7-2 128 miles

8.7 miles

2 more aiport loops. again leaden. Kind of glad this is the last of these on concrete.

wc7-2

8.7 miles

airport loops. again leaden legs for first couple of miles. Felt back of knee a little too. Hadn't seen that in a while. I think all the running on concrete plus running at higher average heart rates (easier to stay near limit when flat) has put some strain on my legs.

wc7-2

8.7 miles

at beach. 2 airport loops. Legs felt kind of leaden for first couple of miles.

8.7 miles

2 airport loops (2x4.33 miles)

wc7-2

5.6 miles

out and back to get about an hour. gmap-pedometer called it 2.81 out. Foot pod called it 2.81 on the button.

wc7-2

18 or so miles

This was the easiest 18 I've ever done. It was unusually cool for the beach (73/70) and flat as a pancake. Out and back to the for entrance plus an airport loop. The foot pod claims 18.63 miles but the airport loop it claimed was 4.47 is actually 4.33. If I scale the whole thing 18.05. Still good time (10:24 min/mi). The airport loop was at 151 bpm average and 9:44 pace.

WC7-2

week's mileage: 59
shoe status
wc7-1 249 miles
wc7-2 68 miles

8 miles

at my parent. Out to 1 mile trail, around 4 times, and back. The watch cal was set to 1.000 after the battery replacement. It gave 7.75 total and 3.85 for the 4 laps (this track really is a mile). The new cal factor should have been 1.040 (4/3.85), but I screwed up when trying to calculcate it based on the watch and messed up compensating for the watches incorrect miles to km conversion. Anyway I changed the cal factor to 1.055.
We'll call this run 7.75*4/3.85 = 8.05.

WC7-2

6 miles

ran by the chattahoochee. Foot pod read 6.05 but didn't have the cal factor. Based on the next day's measured run, I'll call this 1.040 * 6.05 = 6.29.

wc7-2

8 miles

out, around Lake A, and back

shoes: WC7-1

10 miles -- ran to work

Great weather today! At 7am, 63 deg with a dewpoint of 55. It was good enough that I consider scrapping the notion of doing some tempo intervals and seeing if I could break my MAFF (<145) run to work record. I change my mind though and did some tempo pace anyway.

I kept the 145 alarm on for the first 56:42, but ran closer to 145 than normal. 22:42/130 to the lake (that's typical heart rate but ~45 seconds faster than in the heat), 25:37/139 to Ba Road. 8:24/144 to the 7-11 on Br Rd.

Then I started some faster pace. I wanted to a little at tempo pace, but wasn't sure how to fit in the route with street crossings, lights, etc. and I didn't have the distances. I thought ofBenji Durden plans that have something like 3 x (9t/3e) which is 3 x 9 min tempo + 3 minutes easy. I didn't want to do quite that much and knew the route didn't support it, but I started running. 9:38/168 got my from the 7-11 to the church/school street crosswalk on Br Rd. I checked gmap-pedometer and that was 1.26 miles. 1.26 in 9:38 is 7:39 min/mi. That's probably faster than I wanted and I wondered while I ran whether I could hold this for 10 miles. I ran a Feb 10K at 7:36 min/mi and an April 10-miler (similar weather) in 7:52 min/mi, but my heart rate just got to the 170s at the end (avg 10-miler heart rate for me is 181 bpm). Am I faster? Ah, who knows. Probably ran too fast.

Anyway, 3 minutes easy was 3:08/159 (gotta cool down), and then I did another 6:06/174 before stopping at a light. Not good to come to a dead stop. Damn roads. Not enough space for tempo intervals. Maybe I should just try and do some longer MP over this course for my mid-week "speed" work. Anyway 6:06 took me from the home depot (just past the corner of Br Rd. and LrT). A pretty good guess of my location at the start gives me 0.84 on gmap for a 7:16 pace. Didn't feel that fast, but this was mostly downhill. I might be misjudging where I started but not more than 0.05 miles which would be 7:40 pace.

The last 24:05/157 got me to work (includes stopping for lights). I went slow but didn't walk/run up the huge hill and my ~10-11 min/mi pace saw my heart rate hit just over 170 by the top.

I got to work in 1:39:40/147 which is 10 minutes faster than ever before. Of course I wasn't doing tempo runs then. In April when keeping my heart rate <150, I ran 1:49-1:50 with an average heart rate of 141-144. So what does all that mean? Well nothing. Nice day though.

shoes: WC7-2