Tuesday, June 30, 2009

week of 22 June

MPW 51
52 miles

Monday, June 22
Rest

Swapped with Tuesday. 7.0 w/ drills.

Tuesday, June 23
5-7 mile easy to moderate including 5 x 10 sec high knees up a hill and 4 x 15 sec speed bounds up a hill

Rest (swapped with Mon). Of course they cancelled the meeting I was working around. Oh, well.

Wednesday, June 24
9-11 mile easy run including 3 strides then sprint training:
Use the first few sprints as a warm up and always run in control with good form
8x 10 sec's w/75 sec rests
4 x 15 sec's w/75 sec rests. Full recovery then 3 sets of 3,2,1 min hills @ 5k effort w/1:1 recoveries or easy jog down rests

11.45 miles. Did everything, but forgot the strides before the sprints. My hill was 2:47 -- not quite 3 minutes. Some people walking their dogs might have thought I was a little crazy.

Thursday, June 25
5-6 mile jog
6.0 in 56:40 on the treadmill. Watched Episode 3 of The Wire. Stopped my Garmin mid-run and forgot to turn it back on.

PCC
yep

Friday, June 26
6-8 mile moderate run including 10 increasing effort strides. Run the first stride @ 10k effort and progress your effort every stride so that the last stride is mile effort. Full recovery between strides.

Nice moderate run around the lake. 8.42 miles @ 8:45. 1:13:XX. I think the 75' moderate run is probably the perfect Friday morning run. It's a good addition to the medium/long run workouts on Wed and Sun.

Saturday, June 27
6 mile easy run
6.0 @ 9:17 on treadmill

Sunday, June 28
11-13 mile total run including Antelope Circuit. Full recovery then 15 min out and 15 min turn around beat your time run. Run the initial 15 min @ HM effort (note where you started) then turn around and run the next 15 min @ LT effort. Your goal is to finish further compared to where you started the first 15 min.
Finish w/3 x 150m cutdowns

Did 13.0 + about 0.5 (stopped my garmin when giving a guy directions and forgot to turn it back on). I probably dogged it a little on the first 15' as I made it back to my starting point in 13:53 and I definitely wasn't above LT.

PCC
Did 1x thru. Was running late and had to drive to Norfolk Sunday night and planned to do the other time when I got there, but it was almost 10pm when I got to my room

Forgot to do the core 100 this week

Sunday, June 21, 2009

week of 15 June

Stamina/Power Phase
Foam Roller Exercises 1-2 x this week
Weights –Power Core Circuit (PCC) 2 x week
Core 100 1-2 x week – 100 total reps of ab/back exercises

MPW 48
50.2

Monday, June 15
rest

Tuesday, June 16
4-5 mile easy to moderate including 5 x 10 sec high knees up a hill and 4 x 15 sec speed bounds up a hill

5.0 including knees and bounds.
PM: Core 100 and foam roller

Wednesday, June 17
8-10 mile easy run including Antelope Circuit 1x thru. Full recovery then 3 strides and sprint training:
Use the first few sprints as a warm up and always run in control with good form
6x 10 sec’s w/75 sec rests
4 x 15 sec's w/75 sec rests. Full recovery then 10 x 45 sec hills @ 5k effort w/1 min jog rests. Finish run w/3 strides

12.6 in ~1:50. Oops. Totally mis-estimated the distance I'd cover and did 5.0 @ 8:43 before reaching the track and doing the antelope circuit. Tried the stadium bounds but the bleacher were pretty flat and only about 8 rows, so skipped that. Circuit, strides, and sprints covered 2.6 miles. It was ~1 mile to my hill and then the hills covered about 2 miles, getting me to 10.6 and leaving me 2 miles from home.

It was a much better day weather-wise. On the verge of raining the whole time but didn't do more than sprinkle. There was a breeze and it was 63 deg, dew pt 57.

Forgot to put on my HRM. Also forgot to pack my running socks, so I sacrificed my black dress socks. I was stylin'.

Very good workout.

Thursday, June 18
5-6 mile jog
PCC

AM: 5.6 @ 9:37. Last Wed. mentioned I was sore around my left hip. Still am! It got a little better but was exacerbated after the 10k.

PM: Did the PCC. I took a little more rest in between and we ate dinner between the first and 2nd time through. It was kind of nice because I didn't sweat and have to take a shower. I guess I lost some aerobic benefit though.

Friday, June 19
5-7 mile easy run including 10 increasing effort strides. Run the first stride @ 10k effort and progress your effort every stride so that the last stride is at 3k effort. Full recovery between strides.

7.0 @ 9:16 including 10x strides. I ran just a little faster. Still very easy. Avg HR 134. I think my easy days have been indistinguishable from jog days lately. Lazy in the heat, I suppose. Still have the hip thing.

Saturday, June 20
6 mile easy run

6.1 @ 9:27

Sunday, June 21
12-14 mile total moderate run including 1,4,3,2,1,4,3,2,1,4,3,2 min @ efforts below w/half jog rests (ie 30 sec rest after the 1 min). Finish run w/8 strides.
1 min @ 3k effort
4 and 3 min @ 10k effort
2 min @ 5k effort

14.0 miles @ 8:44. Did this on the treadmill. The thermometer in the room read 69 and 50% humidity which beat the 75 and 70% outside at 7am. The treadmill wasn't too bad. I got The Wire for my birthday and watched the first two episodes. It makes in so much easier to watch something like movie that goes somewhere. Endless loops on headline news or espn is the worst. Crime shows are perfect because they suck you in enough to want to see what happens. It was a little hard to follow the show during the intervals though!

The intervals were pretty tough. I did 6:44, 6:31, and 6:18 pace for 3k, 5k, and 10k effort. I messed up the first 3 min rep and did 5k pace. After the first 4/3/2/1, I didn't know if I was going to be able to do it, but I got used to it and it wasn't terrible. The 30 sec rest between 1 and 4 is tough! Unfortunately, I lost track and accidentally skipped the last 3, so I did 1,4,3,2,1,4,3,2,1,4,2. Did the 8 strides on the mills which was just "go faster for a little bit" x 8.

PCC
Yep.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

week of 8 June

Posting a week late. Been sitting in draft the whole time.

MPW 39
37.2

Monday, June 8
Rest

Had a physical. Something unusual on the EKG. I pegged the meter on one of the waves. Doc said probably "athlete's heart" but I have to get an echocardiogram. Never happened before (he gives me an EKG yearly). Maybe it's the increased intensity? Or more likely, he needs to calibrate his machine.

Tuesday, June 9
4-5 mile easy run
Thunder outside. I did a test run of sorts on the treadmill. 1 at 6mph (10:00), 1 at 6.3 mph (9:31), and 3 at 6.6 (9:05). We keep our house very cold. The thermostat read 67, but it's much colder downstairs. I bought a temp/humidity gauge for this purpose but couldn't find it. (It had been stuck to the treadmill, but my son broke the magnetic clip.)

PCC
Did right after the run, so I'd only have to take one shower today.

Wednesday, June 10
6-8 mile easy run including 3 strides then 4 x 10 sec high knees up a hill and 4 x 10 sec speed bounds up a hill. Full recovery then sprint training:
Use the first few sprints as a warm up and always run in control with good form:
4-6x 10 sec's w/75 sec rests. Full recovery then 7-10 x 60 sec hills @ 3k effort w/60 sec jog rests. Finish run w/3 strides

Very nice out this morning. I did 3+, 4x knees and bounds, 3 strides (out of order), 6x10'' sprints, and 7 x 60'' hill, jogging back down. Forgot the last three strides. Hard to memorize this thing!
Total was 7.8. Wicked t-storms rolled through and the skies cleared and the temps went down. 62 degrees. Felt pretty good except I was sore around my left hip from the beginning. Forecast hasn't changed for Sat 8am -- 70 degrees, 59 dew pt. I'm hoping the storm blowing through hasn't been factored in the forecast yet and things will improve. Doubtful though I guess. As nice as it was at 6am it warmed to 67/65(!) by 8am.
Got the echocardiogram. Video of your heart is kinda creepy. Preliminary results next mon or tuesday.

Thursday, June 11
4-5 mile jog

5.0. Unreal humidity. I was basically running in a cloud. I actually heard it raining (rain drops hitting leaves), but didn't feel them hitting my skin. Probably just the wind, but this was strange.
The forecast for Sat got considerably worse! 72 with a dew pt of 65. This is in the "why even bother showing up" territory for me.

Friday, June 12
3 mile easy run including 6 strides @ 5k effort

dew pt of 69. I needed gills. Considerably worse than yesterday even. I certainly didn't feel like running a 10k afterward! Tomorrow is going to be fun.

Got a call from the cardiology tech. Normal. Shocking.

Saturday, June 13
10-12 mile total run including 2 min @ LT effort, 6-8 strides @ 5k effort then 10k race

2 mile wup incl. 2' @ LT and 6 strides. 10k in 43:36. 1.9 @ 10:34 cdn. 10.1 miles total. Blech. 74 deg and 70% humidity. I wilt with anything over 60.

Sunday, June 14
4-6 mile jog

6.2 miles @ 9:35. Did core 100 and foam roller.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

10k results - 43:36???

Well, I have to fess up to a real klunker. 43:36! Can you believe that? I split 41:15 at Cherry Blossom. I did manage to just hold off the F55-59 winner though :-) (I looked at CB and she finished 9 minutes behind me there.) I think I actually ran a good race (21:55/21:41), but I'm just not in shape (at least for these conditions).

In terms of heart rate at least, I've never run a 10k harder (the motivation of holding off F55-59 I suppose). My average HRs were 176, 185, 187, 187, 187, 190, 195 (last .2). By comparison my avg's in the 31:55 8k I ran mid-march were 177, 185, 186, 187, and 187. I hit 197 on the sprint. And I misjudged the sprint, too! I got away from Betty (it's OK to laugh) and thought I'd really sprint it in. Then I realized the finish was ~200m farther than I thought. I slowed a little and Betty almost caught me before I surged again. Oh the drama!

Anyway, this happens to me every summer. I run a marathon, the mileage goes down some, it gets hot, and I run one too many races. Last year I went from a 19:49 5k mid-May to a 35:57 5 miler in mid-June. Time to rebuild!

I wonder whether there is there any way I'm running sub-40 this fall? I haven't run this little mileage in a long time and it has me a little nervous. My usual reaction to a klunker like this is to do a lot of long slow distance and build the miles.

Sunday, June 07, 2009

week of 1 June

Best week in a while. Finally up over 50 mpw again. This was 50 the hard way though.

Stamina/Power Phase
Foam Roller Exercises 1-2 x this week
Weights –Power Core Circuit (PCC) 2 x week
Core 100 1-2 x week – 100 total reps of ab/back exercises

MPW 51
51.2


Monday, June 1
Rest

No problem :-)

Tuesday, June 2
5-6 mile easy run including 4 x 15 sec high knees up a hill and 3 x 10 sec speed bounds up a hill

6.1 total. Found a very nice hill for high knees and bounds at the lake. Very steep and parallels some concrete steps that would be good for stadium bounds. Unfortunately it's only a 10 sec hill for speed bounds. 9:10-9:25 pace except bounds and first mile. 2nd and 3rd miles were 9:12 at 128 and 130 bpm? 3rd was downhill, but still pretty good.

Wednesday, June 3
8-10 mile total moderate run including 10 x90 sec's @ 5k effort w/2 min jog rests. Finish run w/6 strides and 3 x150m cutdowns

9.7 total. Out and around the lake. Swung by home after 8.3 to get my son who wanted to run with me. He (sorta) did the strides with me. (I forgot and did 5 instead of 6.) Then he jogged around the 10 laps per mile (161m/lap) elementary school crushed gravel track while I did the cutdowns. 36, 35, and 35 secs (6:00, 5:50, and 5:50 pace) with 1 laps jog in between.

PCC
Did it in my hotel room in St. Louis. (Yep, back again.)

Thursday, June 4
4-6 mile easy run

6.0 on the hotel treadmill @ 9:20. It was actually nice outside, but rather than run by the pawn shops and check cashers, I stayed indoors. My HR was quite good. I never saw above 130 and was at 9:13 pace after the first couple of miles. Am I breaking through? Or was the treadmill mis-calibrated?! HR avg was 129, but HRM was messed up for first 5', reading >160. Rest was in the 125-130 range with a max(!) of 132. Strange.

This made me think that maybe I should do one of my easy runs on the home treadmill at a fixed (low) heart rate to see how I'm progressing during the summer since it's so hard to tell outside in the heat.

Friday, June 5
6-8 mile easy moderate run including 4 x 15 sec high knees up a hill and 4 x 15 sec speed bounds up a hill. Full recovery then 3 strides then sprint training:
Use the first few sprints as a warm up and always run in control with good form
3 x 10 sec's w/75 sec rests
3 x 15 sec's w/75 sec rests
Full recovery then 10 min @ LT effort up a hill

7.9 total @ 8:57 (incl drills). Light rain and 60(!) degrees outside. Felt nice. 3+ miles to to the hill. My HR seemed pretty good on the warmup. Did dirlls on grass hills then strides and sprints on 1/4-mile crushed gravel loop at the middle school. My 10-minute hill was only ~6:30 and the rest was downhill (with a steep last 50m up). First LT mile 7:14, last 2:49 @ 6:29 pace. Jog home.

Saturday, June 6
5-7 mile easy run

7.0 @ 9:30. Out and back to the lake. Didn't get out until almost 11am, but it was overcast and only 69 (dew pt 59). I've worn the Frees every day except Wed. I really think they have an effect. My turnover is higher and I feel more over my feet.
Did the Core 100 in the afternoon.

Sunday, June 7
12-14 miles total including Antelope circuit 1 x thru. Full recovery then 10 min @ marathon effort and without rest run 10 min @ HM effort, 5 min recovery then 10 increasing effort strides. Run the first stride @ 10k effort and the last stride @3k effort . 5 min recovery then 5 x 2 min hills @ 3k effort w/2-3 min jog rests

I felt sick to my stomach overnight and didn't sleep well. (A whole bag of vinegar and salt potato chips will do that to you.) Then I slept in and got running at 10am when it was 72 and 77% humidity. By the time I finished a little after noon it was 77. I've got to reckon with the fact that it's summer and I need to get out early on the weekends and that an entire bag of potato chips isn't good for you.

I did this on my lake lollipop course. 2.25 to the lake, 2 x 3.8 per lap, 2.25 back, plus all the up and down of the hills on the quite-steep hill coming up from the lake made for a very hard 14.26 @ 9:33. That's one of the hardest runs I've ever done, especially for 9:33 pace! (That *did* include the antelope circuit where I'm not really running.)

Did ~2.5 mile warmup and then antelope circuit 1x thru. Ran 2.4 easy then 10 min @ 7:35/162 (about 168 at end). This was predominantly downhill, but it was hot. I think this was a good pace. Next 10 min was @ 7:23/176. Rolling uphill on the trail. Good HM effort I think based on the HR. I did some math and decided to do the 10 strides on 75'' intervals and that should leave me 5 min rest before the hill. Well, I was pretty gassed and the 10 not-so-great strides kept my HR in the mid-160s. I probably only had 3 min or so before the hill. I dutifully did the 5 x 2min up the steep hill w/ 2 min jog down each time. I was certainly giving it what I had, but this is definitely not how I envision hill repeats @ 3k effort. It was more like going up the last hill of my marathon last fall -- slow, but hard. Jogged home with a 9:49 @ 162 (mostly uphill) and 9:12 @ 159 bpm mile. Wow, was I gassed.

PCC
4 pm: Did the PCC.