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

8 miles

out, around lake A, and back. I woke up early and ran before daylight. My legs felt strong from my 4 miles at marathon pace on Sunday. I hadn't had that feeling since I finished with the Pfitz plan. I'm not sure it actually helps my marathon since I'm seriously endurance-limited, but it feels nice. Anyway, not being able to see my heart rate and feeling good had me running at a higher heart rate early (although still not above the alarm). I got to the lake at 24:00 instead of the usual 24:30-25:00. Total time was 1:29:34 and averaged 139 bpm. Compare to Saturday 1:31:20/134.

Shoes: WC7-2

rest

The pain in my foot and mother nature (with her thunder, lightning, and pouring rain) suggested an off day.

18 miles

4 laps around Lake B as usual. The weather today was great. Low 70's with a dew pt around 58.

I had half-way decided to run the last lap a marathon pace and went ahead with it. The plan was to wait until I was good and tired and see what pace I could run at a marathon heart rate. I ended up started my marathon pace about .4 miles into the 4th lap (had to stop for water and wanted to get over the hill first). My best estimate is 4.17 miles. It took 37:32 which is 9:00 min/mi. If I count the whole lap (the first .43 of which I wasn't going MP) it was 41:54 in 4.6 or 9:07 min/mi.

This looks to me like a pretty good way of predicting marathon time and not a bad way to train. 2 weeks all easy followed by a week with a lap of marathon pace at the end. The marathon is 12 weeks to go. With two 10-mile race and 2 taper weeks. I only have 6 long-run weekends left. Yikes. I'm also not sure what I can stand at the beach (it will be hot!), so maybe only 5 real weeks. I think I'll up to 21 and hope to get a 23 (5 lapper) 4 weeks out with an 18 (very easy) 2 weeks out.

This all sounds great, but then again my plantar fasciitis is killing me. Today was the worst it's been during and after the run. I did some stretches yesterday that I think made the pain a little sharper. I'm not sure if it's better or worse. (My guess is worse!)

shoes today: wc7-1

Week's mileage: 59
wc7-1: 241
wc7-2: 17

8 miles

out, around Lake A, and back. Very pleasant weather but I barely slept after wearing the sock for the 2nd (or 3rd?) night to help my PF. It was 70/59 when I started and 73/55(!) by the time I finished. I was so tired, I found myself closing my eyes. Running at 130bpm felt like running 135-140. My average hr was pretty low at 134 bpm and my time, 1:31:20, was slow but probably about right for the heart rate.

shoes: WC7-2

8 miles

out, around Lake A, and back for 8.3. Very steamy this morning. 78/68 at 5:45 am.

shoes: WC7-1

8 miles -- new shoes

Did the out, around Lake A, and back. Still hot. Still slow. New shoes today.

shoes: WC7-2

ran to work -- 10 miles

hotter than hell, slower than hell

shoes: WC7-1

5 miles

nbhrd loop. took it easy to recover from yesterday, 4.90, 52:28, 132 bpm avg. Pretty humid 76deg/64 dew pt.

18 miles

It was supposed to be a warm one today so I got out early for my long run. Same deal as last week. Start slow ~50 min/lap, low 130's HR and keep it slow and low. I also stopped to stretch for probably 4-5 minutes each lap again. I think this has really improved my flexibility and I really told believe it's hurting the value of my long runs. I got a little rambunctious on the last lap, got tired of the beeping and upped the max hr to 170 instead of 166. I'll blame it on the heat.

18.4 miles, 3:17:37 (10:44 min/mi), 142 bpm average

On the week, 57 miles, 9:59:52 (need to run 8 more seconds!)

WC7-1 shoes now at 199 miles.

8 miles

It's sad that I'm happy breaking 1:30 when running my 8.3 mile route (lake A out back and around). Just inside 1:30 today with 1:29:36. Felt like a lot of effort even at low heart rate (avg 135). Again don't know whether it was the heat (76/67 at 5:45am!) or just being tired.

9 miles

Second verse same as the first (except much slower). Another out and back to the mcdonalds except it was a steamy 75 deg/72 deg dew point at 5:30am-7:00am! 9.00 miles in 1:33:36 (10:22 min/mi). Heart rate averaged 137 bpm. This felt like a lot of effort today and I tried to back off the heart rate. Don't know if it was the heat or that I'm tired.

9 miles

I was travelling and got up at 5am to get my run in before the meeting. I found a good route. 2 miles to a path that runs parallel to some train tracks. Unfortunately it's concrete, but you can go for miles with worrying about crossing streets, etc. It's also pretty flat. The hill(s) is getting there. Weather was good but not great. Cool at 66 degrees but humid with a 63 deg dew point.

I finally broke 10 minute miles while under MAF! My garmin read 9.05 miles for 1:29:43, which is 9:55 min/mi. Google earth gives 9.00 for the route, so I'm still under at 9:58 min/mi. Heart rate was 139 bpm average. The fact it was flat let me run close to MAF for much of the run, which probably contributed to my better pace.

I screwed up and hit the garmin at the start, but forgot to hit the t6 until about 10 minutes in, so I need to compensate in STraM. (Watch recorded 1:20:19.) I'll prorate mileage in STraM and add a manual entry for the first 9:24.

8 miles again a little faster than expected

I wonder if the higher heart rate running (8K and sunday long run) gave me a little shot in the arm or if it's just the weather. 8.3 in 1:28:32 (10:41 min/mi) and 137 bpm. Sad that I'm calling that an improvement! It was 70/62 at 5:50 and 71/63 when at 7:20 when I finished so it wasn't super cool.

5 miles

standard nbhrd loop. legs felt good considering 18 yesterday. stopped and stretched at mile 1. Very good weather -- 66F/60F. Time 50:13. Alarm set for 145 and I hit it a few times in the last couple of miles. With the weather I was hoping to crack 50 :-) My average was 136 bpm though.

18 miles

I realized that as of today I'm only 14 weeks to go for the marathon, so I need to stop messing around on my long runs. I've been ground to a halt after about 14 miles when trying to stay under 145 bpm. I went back to my old method of starting slow for the first lapand then trying to maintain pace, adjusting heart rate as needed. It was basically like my Pfitzinger long runs and I had the alarm set to 166 bpm for the last couple of miles. My splits for each lap (4.6 miles) were 50:23/132, 48:57/137, 49:45/146, 49:55/168. I'm surprised how much my heart rate rose for the last lap. As is my tradition, I think I did the second lap too fast.

The weather was exceptionally good this morning and stayed that way throughout the run. Very cool, but still humid. 68/66 at the start and 71/67 at the finish.

I tried something new. Yesterday my knee was bothering me at about 1 mile, so I stopped to stretch. I felt so much better, I thought I'd do it again today. About 11 minutes in, I stopped to stretch at a bench and then repeated each lap except the last.

That makes 58 miles this week. All on my WC7-1. Need to keep better track. I think I have 142 miles on them now.

8 miles a little faster than expected

I did a std out, one lap around lake A, and back for 8.3 miles. It took 1:30:21/137, 10:54. Strange to consider that "faster than expected," but I'm desperate. I stayed closer to 145 bpm and ticked over some. I thought maybe it was a little cooler but 76F/69F dew point at 7-8:30am seems pretty soupy. There was a breeze though.

6 miles on a treadmill

Did 6 miles in 1:02:20/137. Pace 10:23 min/mi. OK? It was pretty cool and I had a fan.

9 miles

2 laps around Lake B in the mid-day heat. 1:50:59/135. Pace 12:03 min/mi!

7.8 miles at Key West

Watch read 7.64 miles. Ran 9.2 at Lake B which read 9.05 the next day, so I'll call it 7.77? Hardly worth the math :-) 11:58 min/mi, 133 bpm in the Key West morning heat and humidity (7:30am - 9am).

8.7 miles

8.67 miles (read 8.53 but wasn't calibrated. adjusted after calibration). Shuffled in the Key West morning heat and humidity for 1:45:02 (12:07 min/mi) and 140 bpm average (let it go to 150 for last 10-15 minutes or so).

12 miles

Out and back to Lake A with 2 laps around. I picked up a running companion and busted 145 for a bit, but not too bad. Still slow: 2:27:52 for 12.1 miles (12:13 min/mi!) and 141 bpm average.

8k race

Race was at night. Temp was 75 with a dew point of 74. My chip time was 39:05. Disappointing absolute time, but relatively good I think given the heat and hills. My february 10K was 47:21 which is 7:36 min/mi versus 7:52 here.

8 miles -- treadmill maff test

Ran on a hotel treadmill. Did a MAF test for fun.

2 mile warmup

Mile 1 08:46
Mile 2 09:13
Mile 3 09:26
Mile 4 09:40
Mile 5 09:44

1 mile cooldown.

It's interesting how I started off much faster but slowed to my outdoor speed at the end. I didn't warmup quite as well (128 bpm avg versus 130 bpm), but that doesn't explain it. I think it might be a heat dissipation problem with no wind on the treadmill.

Edit: Pretty sure these were on my old WC6's. Stuck in bag since the others were still wet.

12 miles

out and back and 2 loops around Lake A.

My watch was low on batteries and my HRM "unpaired" so I ran without the HRM. I took advantage and ran faster than I should. I took my pulse at the end and it was in the 170s despite my dreadful pace of 10:34 min/mi.

5 miles

nbhrd loop

8 miles -- maffetone test

I went out the door this morning with no real plan. I realized that with the 8K I'm running on Saturday and my schedule this week, this would be the last chance at a final MAF test before then, so I went ahead. I've added the previous 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.

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

_____5/13__6/3__6/24__7/10
Mile 1 09:18 09:59 09:53 09:30
Mile 2 09:32 10:02 10:01 09:32
Mile 3 09:35 09:57 09:54 09:34
Mile 4 09:45 09:59 10:09 09:38
Mile 5 09:52 10:05 10:19 09:45

As you can see, the weather on 6/3 and 7/10 was essentially identical and I was 20-30 seconds faster on each split. It will be interesting to see how Saturday goes. Pacing will be a bit of an experiment.

Greg

16 miles

Did a different route to try and get more time on the trail and less on the pavement. SR to Lake B, 3 laps around, and back for what I'm calling 16.5. My plantar fasciitis was feeling pretty good until I stepped back on the black top for the leg back to SR. Maybe I should just stretch out my long run to 4 Lake B loops -- 18.4 miles. To do that I'm going to have to ignore go up to <150 bpm at the end. I was bumping the 145 and the route went like this
- 15:00/127 out, 49:48/133 lap 1, 48:56/139 lap 2, 52:01/143 lap 3, 16:43/144.

The last lap and leg back I faded in time because I was fighting the 145 alarm. Sticking to 145 seems stubborn at this point. I could just reset the alarm to 150 and finish at the same (slow) pace? Anyway, I think I'm going to run an 8K to break up the monotony next week. It's Sat night which screws up the long run, but I'll do 8 in the am, the 8K (5 miles) in the pm and 8 the next day for 21 on the weekend. Real life will cause me to miss two days this week (Tues and Fri). I'll need 30 in three days to make 50 and keep the streak up. Yikes. I think I can get 10 in on Th morning. Tomorrow was going to be 8. That would leave 12 for Wednesday. I should have time for that.

Ran again with my WC7-1 shoes.

10 miles - ran to work, fantastic weather!

I went the alternate, don't go by the dam because it rained last night, route. 1:49:05. It was the first time I've been below 1:50 in forever. The reason was the unbelievable weather. 61 degrees with a dew point of 51!

I'm not sure I've actually improved since I started MAF, but I'm probably not too much worse and not too much better.
- 5/18, 1:49:23, avg 135/152 max/4:30 above 145, 55 deg/53 dew pt
- 7/7, 1:49:05, avg 138/149 max/7:50 above 145, 61 deg/51 dew pt

5 miles

It was cooler today, but still humid. Temp/dew point was 67/65 this morning. Time was 51:23. I'm asymptotically approaching my old times. I was actually at 10:29 min/mi. Pitiful that I'm happy with that :-)

Shoes: WC7-1

10 miles - ran to work

Ran to work using traditional route. It was very muggy, but I felt like I did pretty well considering. Still slow 1:57:29 (I used to always be 1:50). Ran in my new shoes: WC7-1.

8 miles

out, around lake A, and back. As hot as July 4th out there. 73/63 at 6:30am and 76/63 at 8am when I was done. 11:25 min/mi. Ugh.

5 miles

5 miles on the nbrhd loop.

16 miles

I tried to go as slow as I could and see if I could avoid the walk/shuffle at the end to stay under MAF, but I was unsuccessful. Weather was 70 deg/59 dew pt to start and 81/59 at the end. 3:19:04 overall for 15.9 miles. 12:32 min/mi! Ugh. I did manage to keep my times relatively consistent though. Out and around the first lap was 1:11:36. The third lap and back was 1:14:20. ~30 sec/mi slower.

5 miles

Relatively cool temperatures. temp 60.6/dew point 58.3. My time was 51:50 (134 bpm) which is the first time I've been under 52 in a while. Last time was 5/27 when the temp was 69 and dew point was 60. Weather was a little worse and time/heart rate was 51:53/137.

10 miles - ran to work

It was a good run today. I again started very, very slow. My average hr ticked up to 131 at ~50 minutes and my average for the whole run was 135 and I at least got back under two hours, 1:58:13 (ugh). The weather was much better than Tuesday with 66 degs and 61 deg dew point. Last time it was close to this good was 26 May when it was 69 degrees, dew point 63. I was much faster that day (1:55:38), but my avg heart rate was 140 and it was a different route (but same distance), so they're not really comparable.

8 miles

Trying to sort out the shoe situation. Wore the shoes I believe are grass-stained today (WC4). After some educated guesses and log review, I believe I have 380 miles on WC4 (grass stained) and 298 miles on WC5.

Out and back to Hun. Blvd on bike path. Took "shortcut" through half basketball court. I just google earthed it. It was 8.24 miles.

I finally learned. I have to go out at really low heart rates like I did before. I knew this. I've said to myself, but I guess reckoning with just how slow that would be wasn't something my ego would let me do, so I ended up going too "fast" and fighting the monitor. Anyway, I took it *very* easy today (probably too easy). The way out was 46:47/131(!) (11:21 min/mi) and back was 44:29/138 (10:48 min/mi). Average heart rate was 136 bpm. All in all, almost perfrect. I say I should have gone a little faster out and maybe a little slower on the way back, but I felt great at the end and the level of effort was like those first maffetone runs. No demoralizing shuffling and beeping!

Still humid. Temp was 69.8F, dew point was 68.6.

10 miles - ran to work

Swapped shoes b/c the others were wet from yesterday. I really need to figure out which is which and track the mileage.

Took a different route today to avoid the washed out paths. Google earth said it was 10.47. I was incredibly slow. 2:04:15 or 11:52 min/mi! I think I did I much better job with my heart rate. I stayed in the 130's (<135 on the flats) and didn't start to bump against 145 until my usual 1:50 transition point (this is like clockwork). My average was 137. All in all, this felt more like those first few maffetone runs to work when it was still cool. I think this is the way it's supposed to be. Too bad it takes over 2 hours to run 10 stinkin' miles!

I just checked the weather. It was 72.9 degs when I started and the dew point was 71.7(!) at 5:50 am and stayed pretty much constant for the 2+ hours.

5 miles

Pretty steamy. 72.1 degs and a dew point of 70.6! 54:19 on my regular 5-mile loop and I felt good about it.

18 miles

Raining and humid (dew point 69, temps in 70s). Did a run to and around lake B and back. Ugly slow after about two hours trying to keep under 145. The 5.22 miles out was 56:23 (10:48 min/mi). The same 5.22 miles returning was 1:12:03 (13:48 min/mi) with lots of walking. Ouch! Not only that, but I didn't feel well. I think I was dehydrated.

7 miles -- maffetone test #3

I ran another maffetone test today. The test was done identically to the last two (5/13 and 6/3).

Weather
5/13 - 56F temp/53F dew pt.
6/03 - 66F temp/60F dew pt.
6/24 - 70F temp/67F dew pt.

Warmup (a little over two miles)
5/13 - 21:04/131
6/03 - 22:49/131
6/24 - 22:13/133

5/13 6/3 6/24
Mile 1 09:18 09:59 09:53
Mile 2 09:32 10:02 10:01
Mile 3 09:35 09:57 09:54
Mile 4 09:45 09:59 10:09
Mile 5 09:52 10:05 10:19

- From 1/1 through 5/13 before maffetone, I ran 805 miles (42 mpw).
- From 5/14 through 6/3, I ran 122 miles (41 mpw). I really feel like I was less fit at the second test then the first. I guess that's to be expected since my mpw were the same and I dropped intensity. (I was recovering from a marathon on 5/7 or I'd have run more.)
- From 6/4 through 6/24, I ran 154 miles (51 mpw). I'd say I was in about the same or slightly better shape than the second test. It felt muggier today.

I guess I'll just keep applying the mileage and hope I hit a turning point.

5 miles -- aborted run to work

I ran to the damn area and the spillway was overflowing across the path. The only option I could figure was to run the other way around the lake and that would have added ~45 minutes and made me very late for work, so I just turn around and came home. 5.0 miles is a pretty close guess. Slow time of 56:18.

8 miles

To the lake A around and back. Cooler today. 67 deg/85% humidity. Did it in a reasonable 1:29:01 (10:44 min/mi).

10 miles - ran to work

Very warm and sticky. Sprinkled a little at the end. Footpod died in the middle and I turned it back on. I also lost contact with the HRM twice. That's never happened before. Did my soaking shirt block the signal or is the battery low?

5 miles

Standard neighborhood run. 51:20. Not terrible.

16 miles

It was already 72 degrees when I started at 8:30. At 11:30 when I was done it was 83. Same 15.9 mile route as last Sunday (out and back to Lake A plus three laps around), but it took me 3:12:19 (12:05 min/mi) versus 2:52:55 (10:52 min/mi) last week. Last Sunday I ran at the same time (8:30-11:30), but the temps were 58-66 degrees.

Did 55 miles this week.

5 miles

Had to run at noon in the 82 degree heat because of various kids activities. Man was I slow. On the usual neighborhood route, I ran 57:14.

10 miles - ran to work

I left my T6 hr belt at work, so I borrowed my wife's polar. It doesn't have an alarm, so I probably cheated more than usual, but not intentionally. Anyway average heart rate was 141 bpm and time was 1:52 and change. My knee really hurt after Wednesday and I took the day off yesterday. After some active isolation stretching the last couple of days, it felt a lot better (although still not great).

10 miles - ran to work

Made OK time. 1:52 something. A little warmer than the last few days, but pretty cool. I had trouble with my knee. Running on Lake A a few days ago, I tweaked my knee in the usual spot (between bone toward midline -- on the inside), but it hasn't bothered me. Today it felt like it needed to "crack" but just didn't.

8 miles

Did the out, around lake a, and back route for 8.3. I felt good today, like I was almost (but not quite) back to my old self. Took me 1:26:30. Last thursday was 1:29:22. Temperature was nice and cool today at 56 degrees, 80% humidity.

I switched back to a previous pair of WC6's because my current pair weren't quite dry from yesterday. The footpod wasn't calibrated so I got 8.04 versus 8.3.

5 miles

standard neighborhood 5 mile run. Ran in the rain (pretty heavy for a bit) and 56 degrees. Time was 50:08.

16 miles

Out and back to lake A (2x 2.25 miles) + 3 loops around (3x 3.8 miles) for 15.9 miles. Footpod read 15.98 miles. Not too shabby. In fact I'm not sure which is right. Google maps actually gives 2.26 mile there (.02 delta there and back), so .06/3 is just .02 miles per loop difference. I've seen one website call it 3.81 miles around, so... "footpod good" is what I think I'm saying.

Anyway, 2:25:55 was the time (10:52 min/mi). Weather was pretty cool. "Me slow" is what I guess I'm saying here. I'm pretty sure when I up the mileage with this lower intensity, that the times will come down. This week was 3x5, 10, 8, and 16 for 49 miles total. I've sure taken my time getting my miles back up after the marathon. I haven't really thought out where I'd like to get. It's already only 20 weeks until the marathon. The Pfitz 18 week at less than 70 mpw plan starts at 53 mpw. I think I'll very roughly follow that, but without the speedwork. His 53 mile week is 8, 11, 5, 9, 5, and 15. Two runs to work (2x10.5), one lake route (8 mile), 2x 5-miler, and a long run like today (16 miles) sounds like a plan for this week (56 miles).

5 miles

nbrhd loop. still slow (51:04). Weather was pretty cool, but humid. Hopefully increasing mileage will help.

8 miles

to and back from Lake A with a loop around. Nice run. works out to right at 1.5 hours at current pace. A nice alternative to running into work if that doesn't work out.

5 miles

Today's training: 4.90 miles, nbhrd loop, 50:30 (10:19 min/mi), 137 bpm avg/2:10 over 145

Weather was cool again today. 53 degrees. Faster than I've been recently, but still slower than I was a few weeks ago (at lower temps). Should be expected. I need to exploit the lower intensity by increasing mileage. I don't want to build up too quickly though and get injured.

10 miles to work -- I'm slow

On 5/18 I ran 1:49:23 with an avg 135 bpm. Today was 1:52:51 and 138 bpm. Weather on 5/18 was 46-51 deg. Today was 54-62 deg. Weather doesn't explain it I'm afraid. I'm slower. Gotta up them miles to make up for intensity.

5 miles -- slow and no weather excuse

It was 58 deg/dew pt 46 this morning. Usual route, but 3 minutes slower at 52:41 with the same 137 heart rate. I did the same route in 49:36 @136bpm with 55 degs/55 dew pt (100% humidity) on 15 May. I guess it stands to reason that lower intensity without increasing miles has made me slower.

14 miles

Today's training: 13.8 miles, 3x lake B laps, 2:35:59 (11:19 min/mi), avg 139/max 148/2:10 over 145

Better than last week when I did the same run with an 11:37 pace, 140 average, and 8:40 over 145. The weather was better today though. Today the temp was 65-70, dew point 45-41. Last week was 70-78, 49-48.

7 miles -- second maffetone test

I did my second maffetone test today at the tenth-mile track. The weather was kind of odd as a cold front moved through while I was doing the test. It was very sticky when I walked out the door but was much better later as a cold front moved in. I found a local weather station on wunderground.com that gives updates every 5 minutes. It was 68.9F/65.2F dew pt/88% humidity at the start and 63.9F/55.4F/74% at the end. Last time it was a pretty constant 57/54.


Here are the results, compared with the first test.

	May 13	June 3
temp	57F	~67F
warmup	21:04/131	22:49/131
Mile 1.	9:18/145	9:59/144
Mile 2.	9:32/146	10:02/144
Mile 3.	9:35/145	9:57/145
Mile 4.	9:45/145	9:59/145
Mile 5.	9:52/146	10:05/145

I'm electing to believe the drop off in pace was weather-related. I did do better at sustaining my pace this time, which I'll take as a positive sign.

I jogged another quarter mile and estimate my total at 7.4 miles. The foot pod worked throughout although I've used it uncalibrated for a number of weeks now. It called each mile 0.94 miles. It doesn't really matter when I'm running known routes.

8 miles

Today's training: 8.3 miles, home to 1x lake A loop, 1:50:27 (13:17 min/mi), avg 138 bpm/max 154/10:30 above 145

A quick check of the weather before going out said "87, feels like 91." Ugh. Lots of walking breaks to keep my heart rate down. After tripping 145, I'd let it get down to 135 before "running" again.

5 miles

Today's training: 4.90 miles, nbhrd loop, 56:13 (11:28 min/mi), avg 137/max 150/2:00 min over 145

Man am I slow. Weather excuse per wunderground: 86.0 degF, 58% humidity, dew point 69.8.

5 miles

Today's training: 4.90, nbhrd loop, 53:10(10:52 min/mi), avg 136 bpm/max 148/1:50 over 145

Did a much better job going out slow and not fighting the heart rate monitor. Heart rate splits: 127, 135, 136, 139, 139.

14 miles

Today's training: 13.8 miles, 3x Lake B laps, 2:40:03 (11:37 min/mi), avg 140 bpm/max 149/8:40 above 145

Summer is here. It was 74 deg at the start and 81 deg when I was done. Humidity wasn't bad though. The dew point was ~58 the whole time and humidty ~50%.

I was reduced to HRM-induced walk breaks today to keep my heart rate under 145. I did 3x 4.6 mile laps: 49:55/137, 52:34/140, 57:33(!)/141. Two weeks ago on the same course I did two laps: 48:04/134, 47:30/141.

5 miles

Today's training: 4.90 miles, nbhrd loop, 51:53 (10:36 min/mi), avg 137 bpm/max 148/1:50 over 145

Summer has definitely arrived. At 8am it was 69 degrees, 60 deg dew point, 66% humidity. 4 or 5% slower matches yesterday's experience.

ran to work -- 10 miles

Today's training: 10.45 miles, home to work, 1:55:38 (11:05 min/mi), avg 140 bpm/max 151/15:00 above 145

Early on I came across another jogger who said, "somebody turned on the summer switch." Boy, was she right. According to wunderground it was 69 degrees, dew point 63, and 93% humidity at 6am when I started.

I actually found myself hitting 145 while walking(!) up the biggest hill.

5 miles

Today's training: 4.90 miles, nbhrd loop, 50:13 (10:14 min/mi), avg 138 bpm/max 148/2:50 over 145

Good day yesterday. Bad day today. I barely got any sleep last night. Related? Who knows?

5 miles

Today's training: 4.90, nbhrd loop, 49:13 (10:03 min/mi), avg 137 bpm/max 149/1:20 over 145

Very good pace/heart rate today.

5 miles

Today's training: 4.90 miles, nbhrd loop, 49:04 (10:01 min/mi), avg 136 bpm/max 147/1:10 over 145

Wore my new superfeet insoles today for my plantar fasciitis and they felt pretty good. I didn't get a lot of sleep last night, having stayed up too late to watch 24 on Tivo and then slept in "the sock."

This was a good heart rate/pace for me. I believe it's the faster I've done the 5-mile run at 136 bpm by about 20 seconds. There's a lot of day-to-day variance, but looking back, I believe the more recent runs are on average better. I'm looking forward to my next maff test in two weeks.

Rest -- plantar fasciitis

Today's training: rest

As Forrest Gump said, "When I was tired, I rested." Anyway, I didn't feel like getting out bed, so I didn't. My legs were also still sore today. Off Saturday and Monday? What's going on here.

Anyway, I don't think I've mentioned it here, but I've been nursing plantar fasciitis for at least 5 weeks. It's my left foot and I'm pretty sure it's planar fasciitis since I have the classic symptoms. I went to the local running store where they were very helpful. I ended up buying something called "the sock" and a pair of super feet insoles. I think if I just stop walking around the house barefoot that will help. My loafers I wear to work are also terrible and don't offer any support. I might need to buy some more work shoes.

12.6 miles -- new route

Today's training: 12.6 miles, home to 2x lake A laps, 2:17:18 (10:54 min/mi), avg 139 bpm/max 148/9:10 above 145
This week: 38 miles


I ran a new route today. It's 2.26 mile to a nearby lake trail (lake A) per google earth. I've been told it's 3.8 miles around the lake. Today I did 2.26 + 2*3.8 + ~0.5 from missing a turn + 2.26 home is ~12.6 miles. The foot pod died again of course so I couldn't measure it well.

I was very slow today although I didn't feel 10:54 min/mi slow. Who knows. It is a pretty hilly route, but in terms of total ascent/descent it's the same or very slightly less than my run to work.

I was hoping the trail would help my heel, but it hurts quite a bit now, so all around not a great day. I like the other lake trail better, but this one is close, so I don't have to drive.

5 miles

Today's training: 4.90 miles, nbhrd loop, 51:19 (10:28 min/mi), avg 135 bpm/max 147/0:20 above 145

I wish I'd slept in today. I was really deeply asleep when the alarm woke me up and then my legs were a little sore during the run, so I took it very easy. I've already run 25 this week and if I ran 5 on Saturday and 10-15 on Sunday I'd end up at 40-45, which is more than the 37 I did (with two off days) the second week after the last marathon. I should consider an off day tomorrow.

ran into work -- 10 miles

Today's training: 10.45 miles, home to work, 1:49:23 (10:28 min/mi), avg 135 bpm/max 152/4:30 above 145

I called the my April 7 run into work something of a break through. Today was 18 seconds slower, but my average heart rate was 6 bpm lower! Does this mean anything? I guess it remains to be seen, but I was stuck pretty solidly in the low 140's before for the same time.

• 3/23 - 1:49:53, avg 144/160 max/10:40 above 150
• 3/28 - 1:50:24 avg 144/159 max/10:30 above 150
• 4/07 - 1:49:05, avg 141/156 max/4:10 above 150
• 4/13 - 1:50:46, avg 143/166 max/7:20 above 150
• 4/19 - 1:48:54, avg 142/164 max/4:20 above 150
• 4/23 - stop cheating on long runs, do 18-miler <>
• 5/07 - run marathon
• 5/11 - first run back; start strict < 145
  
• 5/18 - 1:49:23, avg 135/152 max/4:30 above 145

Two more weeks before my second maffetone test.

5 miles

Today's training: 4.90 miles, nbhrd loop, 48:58 (10:00 min/mi), avg 139 bpm/max ???/4:00 above 145

Spent over 10 hours yesterday in planes and got less than 6 hours sleep, so this felt a little tougher than normal. I also think I started out too fast on the first mile and after that my heart rate didn't recover well when I slowed down. Sometimes I hit 147 and I'd start walking. "One potato, two potato, hey why isn't it going down?!" I'm used to just slowing down a little and having it drop immediately.

Splits: 9:44/129, 9:40/137, 9:45/139, 9:38/141, 10:10/141

I don't have a max because the monitor shot up at the beginning and I had to remoisten the contacts.

Foot pod died yet again.

5 miles

Today's training: 4.90 miles, nbrhd loop, 49:36 (10:10 min/mi), avg 136 bpm/max 147/1:00 above 145

Foot pod was right on again today (4.89 miles). On Sunday it was pretty close also on the first lake loop (4.55 versus 4.60) before it died. This makes me wonder about the 1/10-mile track. Is it 3% short?

Comparing with previous splits: 48:26/142, 50:14/144, 49:11/142, 51:12/139, 51:19/141, 51:34/139, 49:17/140, 49:43/138, 49:26/141, 49:46/135, 48:37/137, 49:19/140, 49:50/140, 51:24/134, 50:26/136, 49:36/136 (today). Someday I'll plot these somehow. I need some sort of pace to bpm conversion to normalize these with for comparision. Ah, who cares?

9 miles

Today's training: 9.2 miles, 2 lake loops, 1:35:34 (10:23 min/mi), avg 138/max 147/2:10 above 145
Splits: 48:04/135, 47:30/141
Week's mileage: 26 miles

This felt a little harder than I think it should have on the second lap. Am I tired from last week? I'm not sure.

140 feels like about the heart rate where running starts to feel like work. Breathing picks up there and I can't quite use 5-5 breathing for an extended period of time. One trick I used to keep me from hitting 145 on the uphills was to use 5-5 breathing. This seemed to work pretty well.

Foot pod died yet again.

7 miles -- Maffetone test

Today's training: 7.07 miles, warmup + maffetone test, 1:11:14 (10:05 min/mi) , avg 141/153 max/33:00 above 145



I did my first Maffetone test today on a 1/10 mile crushed gravel track near my house. I believe it's an accurate distance. 58 degree, 75% humidity, dew point 50, and calm winds. I'm 34, but I'm using 145 as my MAF since I'll turn 35 in less than a month. I did a little over 2 mile warmup 21:05/131 (got to 145 at the end) and then set my alarm range for 143-147 and tried to stay within the beeps.

Mile 1. 9:18/145
Mile 2. 9:32/146
Mile 3. 9:35/145
Mile 4. 9:45/145
Mile 5. 9:52/146

STraM called these 5 miles on the track 4.83. The pace and surface were different, so I'll just leave the calibration alone. I still believe the track is accurate. The 7.07 miles at the top is what STraM reported.

5 miles

Today's training: 4.90 miles, nbrhd loop, 50:26 (10:19 min/mi), avg 136 bpm/max 149/1:00 above 145

T6 was right on again today. It gave 4.89 miles.

Today's run isn't quite comparable to yesterday. I forgot to walk down "knee break hill," which probably costs 20 secs difference.

10:25/128, 10:18/134, 9:58/136, 9:40/137, 10:03/140

The time above 145 is probably a little high. I usually back off before I see it tick over and it's not above 145 for 10 seconds when it beeps, but because the resolution is set for 10 secs, it gets counted as 10 seconds for each beep.

5 miles -- Low heart rate training

Today's training: 4.90 miles, nbhrd loop, 51:24 (10:42 min/mi), avg 134 bpm/max 146/0:40 above 145

splits: 10:46/123, 10:41/132, 10:32/135 (I hit the mark for this maybe 15 seconds late), 9:57/137, 10:26/139

After dying in the marathon a couple of miles in, the foot pod lasted today and gave a spot on 4.90 miles. I really need to get this thing fixed, but I'm not sure exactly how (do I call suunto or jomashop?).

I'm not sure there's anything to it, but I'm giving the Maffetone low heart rate training a chance. After two marathons and a 10-mile race in 8 weeks, I should probably give it a rest anyway. I've already been doing all easy running (<150 bpm) except for long runs and races anyway. I turned the upper monitor limit down to 145 today and plan to leave it there for as long as I can stand. I'm running below 140 most of the time and letting it get to 145 up hills and at the end of long runs.

I've developed what I'm pretty sure is plantar fasciitis in my left foot. I thought the three days off really helped until I stood in my loafers for 1:45 on a linoleum cafeteria floor during a cub scout meeting. I think doing long runs on the asphault bike path instead of my usual gravel/dirt lake trail hurt. I'm going back to the lake on long runs and am looking for an alternative to my neighborhood loop during the week.

4:00:03 officially, 3:59:56 in my heart (and on my watch)

I ran the marathon today. 4:00:03 officially and the "heartbreak" prize, which includes a nice gift basket. My net time was 3:59:56 by my watch. I suppose I'll count that as breaking 4 with the thought that next time I'm not going to let it be close!

The course was much hillier than the last race, but the weather was absolutely perfect. It was 49 at 8am (an hour after the start) and 57 (30% humidity!) at 11am when I finished.

I ran the race almost exactly as planned. Fortunately, I wasn't at 180 at the last turnaround. If I was, I wouldn't have been screwed. I've decide 178 is my lactate threshold. I could feel it on the last set of hills. 176 OK. 180 clearly unsustainable. 178 pretty uncomfortable.

The course is a double out and back with a high point at 4 km on the out and lot of rolling hills up to and down from this point. I decided I would run the first quarter as close to 1 hour as possible without going under, run the next quarter at a max of 170 heart rate average or a 1 hour pace, whichever was slower. Run the next at 1 hour pace and pray I didn't get to 180. If I weren't already at 180, I'd try and maintain my heart rate until I got back to the high point with 4 km to go (actually 4.1, since the second and fourth legs had .1 km added to get to 42.2). I'd see where I was and bust a got if I had to to make 4 hours. I figure it I had 23 minutesleft I could maintain pace and make it. If I had 22, I'd be in real trouble.

Here's how it went

• 1st turnaround 1:00:15
• 2nd ~1:59 (I actually forgot to look at my watch until 2:00:30)
• 3rd 2:58:5x
• 4.1 km to go was 3:38:xx. Less than 22 left. Better hurry!
• finish by my watch 3:59:56
• finish officially in 4:00:03 and take home the first over four hours heartbreak gift basket
  

Here are my splits/heart rates, but the mile markers are off as you'll see. Fortunately, I trained on the course last Sunday when the temporary paint was already down and knew they weren't right (6 to 7 was too short). I only trusted the permanent km markings 4, 9, and 10.5 turnaround.

I thought it was interesting that my average heart rate was the same for this marathon as the last one, which is pretty remarkable considering I walked over a mile of the last one. I guess I just allocated my beats better this time.

After two marathons and a 10 mile race in 8 weeks, I'm going back to base-building and shopping for fall marathons.

Marathon strategy

I'm not doing anything today but going to the kid's soccer games and picking up my number. I'm generally suspicious of heart rate as a pacing guide, but curiousity got me looking at my last marathon for where I went wrong and to see if I could use heart rate as a guide. Here are my splits/heart rate

• 8:57/158, 9:00/164, 9:14/166, 9:17/167, 9:06/169,
• 8:58/170, 8:54/170, 8:43/171, 8:49/171, 8:53/171,
• 8:54/172, 8:55/172, 8:47/173, 8:45/176, 8:52/176,
• 8:51/179, 9:12/182, 8:59/182, 9:14/182, 9:57/183,
• 9:38/184, 9:45/184, 9:48/185, 11:52/173, 12:54/167,
• 18:08/142, 4:35/152

I think I was doing pretty well until I started to go under 9 min/mi in miles 7-13 and let my heart rate get to 173. I always have a jump at 2 hours (around half-way), but the 8:45, 8:52, and 8:51 in miles 14, 15, and 16 that pushed me to 179 were clearly a mistake. After that, there was no way I could keep at 9 min/mi without my heart rate in the 180's which is probably at my lactate threshold.

Here's the semi-plan that I'll probably throw out two minutes into the race

• first mile -- absolutely do let my average get above 158 (less is preferable). I'll probably wear the foot pod just for the sake of keeping pace in this mile. Don't go out fast! Better to be slow that fast.
  
• first 10.5 km. keep an even pace and hit the turnaround at 1 hour. Last split heart rate should be ~170
• next 10.6 km. Even if I feel incredible, don't go faster than 9 min/mi and don't let my mile split average hr get above 170 until maybe the last mile (I always go up 1:50)
• next 10.5 km. Keep the same pace as the last 10.5km. Heart rate will rise. If I'm lucky I can keep 180 at bay until the last turnaround and be at 3 hours.
• last 10.6 km. I'll probably be at 180 by now and a minute behind. Can I make up a minute in the low 180's and maintain pace? That's the $64,000 question.

Wish me luck.

Recovery 5 miles

Today's training: 4.90 miles, nbhrd loop, 49:50 (10:10 min/mi), avg 140 bpm/max 153/1:00 over 150

Bad last runs before a marathon are becoming a tradition. This wasn't terrible but it's definitely a step back from earlier this week. It was considerably warmer though (66 degs at 6am compared to maybe the 40's). and I also haven't had a lot of sleep all week (less than 6 hours each of the last three nights). I'm really in bad shape on the sleep front since know I won't get much on Saturday. I thought about sleeping in today, but I woke up before my 5:30 alarm anyway, so I ran.

On a very bright note, the forecast is looking excellent for Sunday. The race starts at 7am and I (hopefully) will finish around 11am. The weather service predicts 50 deg/50% humidity at 8am and 60 deg/29% at 11am!

Recovery 5 miles

Today's training: 4.90 miles, 49:19 (10:04 min/mi), avg 140 bpm/153 max/2:00 over 150.

I accidentally hit the stop button instead of the split at 3 miles, so I added back in 10 seconds above. STraM called this 4.81 miles today.

Well it wasn't nearly as good a heart rate/pace day today. I got less than 6 hours of sleep last night which probably didn't help. I also felt that I was racing the clock a little too much and hit 140 too early in the run. It's a very fine thing. Once I average above 142 or so for a mile, I'm starting to fight my 150 limit on the uphills and find myself having to stop and walk parts I don't normally walk.

Comparing to the previous times, it's not so clear I've turned a corner after all: 48:26/142, 50:14/144, 49:11/142, 51:12/139, 51:19/141, 51:34/139, 49:17/140, 49:43/138, 49:26/141, 49:46/135, 48:37/137, 49:19/140.

Recovery 6 miles

Today's training: 5.86 miles, nbrhd loop, 58:15 (9:56 min/mi), avg 138 bpm/152 max/1:00 over 150

I broke 10:00 min/mi at less than 140 bpm! I consider this something of a milestone and it continues the recent good trend of good pace/heart rate. It was very cool this morning (48 degrees) and I was wearing shorts and a T-shirt, so that probably helped.

Through 5 miles (really 4.9) my average hr was 137 and time was 48:37. Here it is with my previous recovery runs: 48:26/142, 50:14/144, 49:11/142, 51:12/139, 51:19/141, 51:34/139, 49:17/140, 49:43/138, 49:26/141, 49:46/135, 48:37/137. We'll see what happens tomorrow but it seems like I've turned a corner.

Before the run, I readjusted the T6 calibration factor yet again. It was 1.098. Given my last run, I made it 1.098*13.05/13.82 = 1.037. This gave me a distance of 5.78 miles. I'm not sure which to believe for the distance of my course -- the calibrated footpod or google earth/gmap. I believe the latter, especially since the footpod has closely agreed with 5.86 in the past. I think it takes a few weeks with new shoes for things to settle down.