Monday, March 26, 2007

week of 26 March

Mo - 4.1
Usual nbhrd route. Like Sat, this was faster than normal, although my heart rate was a couple of beats higher. I forgot to mention one pain from yesterday. I did these ankle extension stretch in "Explosive Running" that left my shins sore I think. I could still feel it today although I don't think it had any effect. I'm running into work tomorrow. I'm not sure how I'll get in those hills that I though helped me last week. I could use the hill at the lake, but it only comes 21 or 22 minutes into the run. I'd like a little more of a warmup and jogging these last hour and a half after that might not be too fun. Still, it's probably the best option if I want to do hills. The other possible is to do short 5K pace intervals. This tweaked my hamstring last week though. Still feeling the PF from yesterday. Weighed 158.

Tu - 10.5
1:39:20/142 (9:30 min/mi) Ran to work. Run to the trail head felt *very* easy. 21:59 there, which is fairly typical, but my heart rate only averaged 130. Tried to do some short hard effort, trying to take advantage of some hills and some short hard efforts, shooting for 2:15 of hard running because I figure Benji did those 800m in something like that (he was actually probably more like 2:05-2:10). I ended up doing 7 of these along the way with varied rest (because of traffic lights, etc.). I hit about 174 bpm at the end of most of these. I had planned to do 8 but my legs felt kind of heavy and I did the last one slowly (only hit 167), so I decided to quite while I was ahead. My PF is really bothering me as I sit here at the computer. I think it was aggravated on Sunday's 20-miler. I'm not sure if it was the increased workload last week (adding those 4 hills on Tuesday) or maybe it's doing my long runs in my wave riders or doing more runs in the precisions? Weighed 159 when I got home from work. I expected higher since I'm usually up a few pounds in the evening.

We - 4.1
Round the neighborhood. 63 degrees this morning? I thought I'd get at least a few weeks of running in the low- to mid-50s. I realized that my hamstring didn't bother me at all during the hard sections yesterday. Weighed 157 this morning after the run. First time I've seen that number in at least a dozen years.

Th - 10.5
I ran to work today. With the race on sunday, I couldn't decide quite what to do. Should I do the tempo portion? Should I run the 10.5 or 11.7 mile route? Anyway, I went with the shorter distance and thought I'd do 3 x (8t 4e).

I ended up running the tempo portions not nearly as hard as before. The tempo intervals were 7:45/163 (max 168) pace unknown, 5:26/158 (max 162) pace unknown, 8:05/165 (max 171) pace 7:06. I forgot to remember the street where I stopped the first tempo run. Using gmap the distance was either 1.036 or 1.236. The first would be 7:28 pace and I'm was quite sure I ran the first interval much faster than the last, but the second would give 6:16 pace which I've never come close to in my life. Must be the 7:28 I guess, but I don't see how. The second tempo stopped at a red light unfortunately and never really got going. No idea how long it was. Turns and hills and darkness along with a general lack of focus kept me from running it very hard. There was then a longer rest (6 minutes) between the 2nd and third for lights and getting to a good stretch of road. I'm quite sure of where I started and stopped the third interval and gmap put it at 1.138 miles which is 7:06 pace. When I was running it my breathing was 3-3 and it didn't feel bad. I was debating whether it was marathon pace or a little faster. No way I'm in that kind of shape. Maybe I should start the 10-miler at this pace. I believe the heart rate is similar to the first mile of annapolis last summer, but that was starting cold. Anyway, good run today. Probably should have run easy and tapered for Sunday, but this gave me confidence and a good feel for a starting pace.

The first tempo was 2-2 breathing and the last was 3-3 breathing (almost as fast as I could go with 3-3 breathing). I found an interesting article on what breathing should be like for tempo runs. He suggest 2-2 breathing is right for a 20-minute tempo runs but notes for cruise intervals (what I was doing) it might not take hold by the time you're finished.

Weighed and measured myself on the dr.'s scale at the work gym -- 69.5'' and 160-1/8 pounds.

Fr - 4.1
Around the neighborhood. Pace was 9:33. Heart rate was 136. Last fall in the week before MCM I did 2 full loops at 9:33 pace and 139 heart rate, which is probably equivalent considering it was a longer distance. I think my pace is definitely better at higher heart rates, but I don't think it's better at low ones. Not sure what that means for the marathon.

Sa - 4.1
Same as yesterday. 9:31 pace today and 136 heart rate. I also felt about like I did last Saturday. Still a little stiff and it felt a little harder than it should for the pace/heart rate. Last Sunday I had a great long run, so hopefully tomorrow's race will go the same way. I looked back at the logs from the week before MCM to make a better comparison. The first lap (which is the same route) on one of those was 27:58/136. Today was 28:03/133. Definitely a little better today.

Su - 10 race

1:09:48/180. Perfect day. Fantastic. See previous post. My heart rate average 4 bpm lower than Annapolis. This seems to be the effect tempo runs (and races have on me). I wonder if tapering will mean my heart rate will be back up to its usual 173 for marathons or whether it will be something lower.

week
47 miles
shoes
wp6-1: 76 + 33 = 109
wr10-1: 321 + 14 = 335
I might have run 4 in the wave riders instead of 14, but I'm not sure. Next week I'll probably do my long run in the precisions for the first time.

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

week of 19 March

Mo - 4.11
Jog around neighborhood. Not nearly as sore as last Monday. Ice baths are good?

Tu - 8.8 miles
Bad run today. One neighborhood lap then to the 0.1-mile/lap school track. Planned to do something like 6-7 x 800m (5 laps) as Benji calls for. I was thinking that 800m seemed long and maybe I should cut it down. I don't understand why the rest of the program is time-based but not the intervals? Anyway, on the 5th lap of the first rep I aggravated my hamstring and called it off. Continued jogging and then for some reason to try some hills. This doesn't bother my hamstring nearly as much. Did 4 hills in 67-70 second, which I believe is 7:30-7:45 pace for that hill. On the fourth one, my form was getting ragged and I could feel my hamstring, so I called it off and did another nbhrd lap.

We - 4.0
Hotel treadmill. Blah.

Th - 11.7
1:45:35/154 (9:01 min/mi). Ran to work with some short tempo runs. I noticed my legs felt a little different. A little stronger. I'm going to pretend it was the hills on Tuesday. warmup 29:01/~138, 10:14/169 (max 172) pace unknown (6:50?), recover 5:22/152, 10:02/175 (max 179) pace unknown, recover 7:10/155 (longer b/c of light/roads), 10:30/171 (max 177) pace 7:23, cooldown 33:17/147. Last tempo was definitely the slowest. First was definitely the quickest. 6:50 seems too fast but that seems to be what gmap is telling me. Worst case is 7:08 which includes the time for me to pick up my blinky light that fell and assumes I stopped one intersection earlier than I think I did. My heart rates were relatively low for 10-mile pace. I was at 180 bpm by 10 minutes into Annapolis. As I was doing the tempo runs though I was thinking I would have a hard time maintaining that for 10 miles. Maybe something magical happens during a race or maybe this is the effect I've noticed where my heart rates are lower for a given pace as I'm tired, but I'm not able to average a higher pace.

Fr - 4.1
40:57/??? (9:58 min/mi) Usual nbrhd route. No HRM today. Just plodded along and ran about my usual time ~41 minutes. Little nagging pains. Felt my *right* hamstring just a little and a little pain below the inside, left ankle. My PF grabbed me in the car on the way to work. I think those stupid shoes (black, lace-up oxfords) I wore to work yesterday set me back. Weighed 159 this morning.

Sa - 4.1
39:42/136 (9:39 min/mi). Same route as yesterday. Legs felt better (not perfect) but this felt harder than I thought it should despite a pretty low heart rate. My pace, however, was better than expected. Weighed 161. Not sure why the gain. Ate some salty pizza last night and had a couple of diet drinks after running and before weighing myself.

Su - 20.3
3:10:30/147 (9:23 min/mi). 4 laps around the lake + out and back. Great run. The first lap felt like yesterday. I seemed to be breathing heavier than expected but my heart rate was low and the first laps was 44 minutes which is faster than the first lap the previous two weeks doing this route. The rest was a (relative breeze). The last lap+ was easier than last week. Over the three weeks, my pace has improved from 9:41 to 9:35 to 9:23 while my heart rate has dropped from 152 to 151 to 147. I'd be worried that I was overtraining and being tired was lowering my heart rate except that this didn't feel that hard. Nevertheless, I suspect I'm not going to be able to get in the 180s easily at Cherry Blossom. We'll see. Didn't feel the hamstring *at all* today. Took a cold water bath. Weighed 158 after running and after drinking 30-40 oz of liquids.

Miles
57 miles
Shoes
wc10-1: 285 + 36 = 321
wp6-1: 55 + 21 = 76
I wore the wp6-1 on 3 easy days and the hill day. I'll probably wear all this week except maybe one medium long run.

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

week of 12 March

Mo - 4.1
41:07/137. Plain old recovery run. shoes: wp6-1

Tu - 10.5
1:47:01/136. Ran to work. Benji would call for 6x800 hard or something, but I don't think I'm up to this yet. 10+ miles will have to be a big enough day for Tuesday. I just ran slowly and concentrated on my form. I actually found myself doing ball-heel-toe running I believe. Not sure I'm doing it right. My knees were a little more bent than normal. This evening, my right hip is a little sore, but perhaps that's from using them as I should be. The shoe heel seemed to get in the way a little. shoes: wr9-1

We - 4.1
41:06/134. One second slower than Monday. Heart rate was lower though. I believe it was a little higher on Monday from the long run the day before.

Th - 10.5
Ran to work. Weather said 58 deg! I think it was actually about 5 degrees cooler, which is even better. I planned on working in 3 x (10 tempo/5 easy), but wasn't sure how it would work with the traffic lights. It ended up 29:57/133 wup, 10:55/162 (max 168), 8:30/146, 11:06/165 (max 173), 5:04/144, 7:04/169 (max 178 -- uphill), 24:50/145 cdn. I'm not sure of the distances, for the first two but I believe the last was .97 miles (7:17 pace) based on google earth. It's possible I started one driveway later than I remember and it was actually 7:45 pace, but I don't think so. I felt like the last tempo was the slowest of the three despite the higher heart rate (it takes me about 3 miles to get up to heart rate in a 10M race, so this is expected). I also think these were probably slower than 10M pace, but it's hard to tell. I have a very hard time pushing myself outside of races. The back of my left leg was getting pretty tight at the end of the last tempo, which is worrisome.

I worked on my form during the tempo's and I think something clicked. I was driving my knees forward more and picking up my feet more (coming closer to kicking myself in the rear). Sometimes I felt like I was picking them up before they landed. Anyway, it seemed faster and also seemed to take some pressure off my hamstrings. If my legs get out in front, I'm loading the back of my legs as I brake and than contracting them against that resistance to "paw" my way forward, which can't be good.

Fr - 4.05
Ran on the treadmill. Strangely, I wasn't sore at all from Thursday. Last week I was sore for two days after the tempo run. Maybe it's because I ran the tempo a little slower? Weighed 163 this morning. Argh. Where did that weight loss go? I did eat like a pig two days this week, but not that much!

Sa - 4.11
38:59/139. One and a half nbrhd loops. I was surprised to see 134 bpm shortly after I started. It was in the 20s and I tend to start faster when it's cold. I think I'm just trying to get warm. Anyway it ended up 9:29 pace. That seems about what it was on some short runs before I did the marathon in October for about the same heart rate. I think I'm in better shape though. I felt something on the right side of my left knee before I started, but didn't feel it during or after. Hopefully nothing. I could still feel my hamstring, but it didn't affect my running. I weighed 158 this morning, which was pretty surprising.

Su - 20.3
3:14:11/150. Ran this like last week, but a little harder (paricularly in the last lap+). Pace was 9:35 min/mi, about what I was shooting for. That's 30 sec/mi slower than Benji's schedule. I thought about making this 3h30m, but I was pretty spent and weenied out. I think Before I do more than 20 miles, I think I'll have to be faster, so I can do it with less time on my feet. Didn't feel the knee thing from yesterday at all until I started walking after I was done. Strange. Weighed 159 after my run (and after eating and drinking 40-50 oz of fluid).

week
57.6 miles
shoes
Did all the 40 min runs in wave precisions and the rest in wave riders.
wp6-1: 38 + 17 = 55
wr10-1: 244 + 41 = 285

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

week of 5 March

Mo - 5.9
Two neighborhood loops. Chest still isn't clear, but heart rate/pace back to normal.

Tu - 8.3
Finally got back to my lake a lollipop route! I was considering doing 5x800 or something today (want to start introducing some speed a day or two during the week), but I was still sore, so I took it easy. Weighed 159 after my run today! Holy cow. I haven't seen a weight under 160 in probably 10 years. I was ~155 when I graduated from college in 1993.

We - 4.05
Treadmill. Still a little soreness. I want to get completely well before running in to work tomorrow. I'd like to throw in a little tempo running on the way, but there is snow in the forecast, so slogging 10 miles in 3 inches might be all I can handle. Chest still isn't totally clear, but it's close. Weighed 161 after my run today, so yesterday wasn't a total fluke.

Th- 10.0
I did the Benji durden tempo day on the treadmill. I was going to do it on the way to work, but the snow and ice was too much to do a tempo run on. Anyway, I did 30 minutes at mostly 6.2 mph (9:40 pace). I was at 10 min pace but my heart rate didn't even hit 130. I got up to 135 before I started the tempo portion. 12 minutes at 8.4 mph (7:08 min/mi). 3 at 6.0 mph. 12 min at 8.4 mph then 33 minutes of cooldown at 6.0 mph to hit 90 minutes and 10.0 miles total. I felt the hamstring strain again, so it hasn't left, but I'm pretty sure I didn't do any damage. I've read treadmill times are 4% slower than outdoor, but there's no way this was equivalent to 7:26 pace. It was harder than that. I think the pace was right -- supposed to be a pace I could hold for an hour. My heart rate was at 184 at the end of the second interval, which is what I average in my last 10-miler. I messed up on the rest period. I thought it was supposed to be 12 t / 3 e, but it's 12 t / 6e. Weighed 160 this morning.

Fr - 4.0
40:00/135 on the treadmill. Higher heart rate than yesterday's 30 minute warmup warmup. Probably tired. I guess that's expected. Weighed 160 this morning.

Sat - 4.11
One and a half nbhrd loops. This time I was pressed for time, so I did one lap plus the short half of the bow tie (kept going straight up the hill). Weighed 160 again.

Sun - 20.3
I did four loops around lake B (4.6 miles each) plus an out and back to the far side of the dam (.9 5 miles each way). Loops were 45:01/140, 44:29/146, 43:40/155, 44:31/162. Out was 9:13/162, back was 9:25/163. The plan was to roughly follow the benji durden long run prescription. The runner's world article says 9:05 min/mi for a 43 minute 10K runner (which I believe I'd be if I'd run one). I believe 9:05 is based on some predicted marathon pace though and I really doubt my marathon will line up with my 10K (never has yet). I guessed that 9:05 was probably predicted marathon pace (based on 43 minute 10K) plus 90 seconds. The same schedule is in "How to Train" (but expanded to 84 weeks). It says to do long runs at MP + 90-120 secs, so I think my guess is right. Anyway, I was guessing I'm in 3:30 shape (~8 min/mi), so I shot for 9:30 min/mi. After the run today though I'm not so sure I'm in 3:30 shape. Maybe 3:35 to 3:40? We'll see. I'll know a lot more after Cherry Blossom.

Week
56.6 miles
Shoes
wp6-1: 28 + 10 = 38 (need to start wearing these more)
wr10-1: 197 + 47 = 244