Summary for week ending Sunday, April 10, 2016:
Number of workouts: 6
Total miles run: 56.53
Average miles per run: 9.42
Miles in April: 75.62
Miles in 2016: 670.05
Spent most of the week on the treadmill. I doubled on Monday, with the evening run outside in relatively nice temperatures but a stiff wind ruining it. Had a business trip mid-week so did shy of 7 on Wednesday morning inside; could not force myself to get up early at the hotel to get in a few miles Thursday morning after a pretty late night of business socializing and then watching a terrible, late Flyers game. Two rest days last week, had to squeeze in miles on Friday and Saturday. Friday looked nice out, with a lot of lovely sun, but the temperature wasn't exactly nice and the damn wind was definitely not nice, so I voluntarily chose to run 10 miles on the treadmill instead. It felt pretty good after ~36 hr of rest. Saturday arrived with wind and snow-slash-rain and I was certainly not going to run in that if I had another option; fired the Landice back up for another ten that didn't feel quite as good as Friday but still pretty reasonable as I forced the pace to stay easy (average HR ~140).
Legs already had a little more than 35 miles in them when I started today's long workout: 2 mi E + 2(10 min T) + 10 mi E + 15 min T + 2 mi E. These workouts with a mix of relatively lengthy T and a long easy interval in the middle are tough but effective. It was not as windy as it has been recently but it was still windier than I'd like; I am heartily sick of fighting significant headwinds during my T workouts. The sun is strong and pretty warm, but the air was borderline chilly and the wind ruined it again. However, I surprised myself by feeling really good in the first two T intervals in spite of the stretches of wind in my face -- I didn't look at the pace, but ran only by effort. T effort was faster than it has been, which pleased me. 7:02 average for the first 10 min, 6:53 average for the second 10 min. The 10 miles in the middle were a bit of a drag and my legs felt on autopilot and not at all responsive. I did not expect the last 15 min T to feel very good at all, and I told myself I'd get to 10 minutes and see how it felt; I could quit at 10 if my legs were crumbling or struggling. The wind kind of felt like it had picked up a bit, but that might have been my frustrated imagination. It seemed to take a while to wind up from easy pace to T effort and my legs were heavy, but I was again surprised at how they responded to my orders to run hard -- 7:10 pace did not feel like I was overreaching on effort, and when I got to 10 minutes I just kept on through the whole 15. It was actually a bit hard to knock off down to easy again afterward, almost as though it would have felt better to keep running harder. I wanted to get my HR back down to near 140 for the last easy two miles, but at 145 bpm I did not feel that I could run any slower. My legs were on autopilot again and they would not listen when I tried to bump them down; it was 8:45 pace and, ok, fine. I was done at a little more than 19.5 miles. It's the longest workout so far this year, certainly the toughest, and I'm pretty happy with myself for getting it done with good pace and good effort. I think that race really did my system good and I think I am reaping benefits from making sure I run the easy runs easy.
Learning, learning. Next week a medium-long T workout and a 19 mile long run on Sunday with 15 mi at MP. I'm getting into the meatiest part of the training cycle. Now, if only the weather could warm up a little bit and the wind could knock it the heck off. I don't want to see snow again until November at least. Seriously! I drove up to a Flyers game Saturday afternoon in a veritable blizzard of huge, heavy, wet snow. It was very nearly a white-out. It was ridiculous. Let's be done with that, April.
Showing posts with label T workout. Show all posts
Showing posts with label T workout. Show all posts
Sunday, April 10, 2016
Monday, March 21, 2016
Week #12 -- feeling rough
Summary for week ending Sunday, March 20, 2016:
Number of workouts: 6
Total miles run: 56.45
Average miles per run: 9.41
Miles in March: 155.71
Miles in 2016: 527.58
Started the week with a 10-miler that bored me; refreshed myself with an easy trail run; then a T workout with a bubbly, squishy stomach and tired legs. On Friday I debated resting my legs or taking it easy on the trails again; I opted for the latter, and mostly enjoyed it, telling myself that it was going to be the last nice day of the week and I should take advantage of it. Saturday's hour was very slow, much slower than I thought, but I didn't really even try to work hard -- kind of like how I let my legs go on the trails, except this time not on the trails. I guess 9:00/mi is me not even trying to work. It was one of those have-to-get-it-done, just-get-it-done-whatever efforts in discouragingly overcast, low 40s; I almost overdressed because I guess I have quickly forgotten what one wears when it's 43 out, but even a light wind across the reservoir feels uncomfortable at that temperature so my layers weren't too much after all.
Sunday's scheduled workout was no walk in the park; I suppose there isn't much point to walk-in-the-park Sunday workouts if you want to try to run a PR or get as close to it as possible. T workouts are supposed to be tough. 2 mi E + 4(5 min T) + 60 min E + 15 min T + 2 mi E. I had actually looked forward to it, because the forecast Nor'easter bringing snow/rain for the day fell through and it was going to be dry, if cold -- I had expected to be running it on the treadmill, and instead I was given a reprieve and could run it outside. It was low 40s again and I wanted to do the run at Paper Mill Park, where I am never far from the car for fluids and fuel for the long effort. The sun was even coming out a little bit as I approached and saw, to my dismay, the park was overrun with kids playing soccer. I didn't know how long they were going to be there, so I wasn't even going to try to attempt to run fast on the path with all those little creatures sure to get in the way. I should have driven up to a high school and run on a track, but the idea of doing 60 min around and around was only slightly less zzz-ing than the idea of doing it on the treadmill; instead I turned around and went to the reservoir, where the flat 1.1-mile loop would seem to be a fine substitute location for this T workout.
One problem with the reservoir is that the parking lot is at its base, a 0.35 mile spur off the loop that is one, long hill. So, if I need a drink or gel, I have to figure in 0.7 miles into the workout, easy one way, not so easy the other. I decided I would run the 2 mi E and then just go right into the 4x5 min T, and get a drink and gel on my way out to do the middle 60 min E on other paths away from the reservoir. It wasn't hot out, I would probably be OK without having a sip in the middle of the T intervals.
I think I was wrong. My right side flared up and it was agonizing during the first two and a half T intervals; this happens typically when I have not had enough to drink, even though I did not feel thirsty. It was cold and I didn't relish the idea of that 0.7 mile spur just to get a sip, so I toughed it out, having to forcibly concentrate on maintaining form and breathing through the ache. Partway though the third interval, it seemed to dull somewhat -- still there, just not as on fire. It was enough of a relief to get through the fourth, and then head down to the car for fluids.
I was in a bad mood. The sideache was a complication I did not like to deal with, but mainly I was sour about the other problem with the reservoir: it is up and there is nothing around it that blocks the wind, which was blowing constantly at ~15 mph (according to the weather report). So for at least half of the loop, I was running right into a hand of chilly wind that has every malicious intention of making my T effort worse than it needed to be. I like doing T intervals where it's flat so that I can maintain a pace/effort correlation that makes sense. When the wind interferes, that pace/effort correlation is impossible to resolve. I decided that if I could get the intervals done in an average pace of less than 7:30/mi I'd call it satisfactory, but I'd have to look at the HR data later to see how it compared to other T workouts to get an idea if the effort was appropriate.
I wasn't feeling all that hot, let's face it. Sideache-plagued, defiant-wind T intervals, lowering sky and a temperature that was just on the edge of being too cold for shorts; and I was only about a third of the way done. I trotted down the spur to the car. In the parking lot, a pair of tiny dogs came racing toward my feet, yapping wildly and indignantly that I dared tread on their asphalt; their owner jokingly called out to me, "Just kick them!" (Only if they bite me.) The other owner asked me if it was very windy up there. I did not mean for my answer to sound smart-alecky, but I'm afraid it did. I wanted to say it was if you were going in one direction directly into it and indicate which direction that was, but it came out "Half of it is!" Oh well. At least she laughed.
I had some water and Gatorade and put on a pair of pants and a second long-sleeved shirt for the easy hour, which I did away from the reservoir on paved rail trails. My side did not bother me and I ran slowly, again not even bothering to try to run faster than 8:50 or so pace. It was during this portion of the run I noticed that the Garmin was apparently having difficulty with my heart rate. Normally it is quite sensible and pretty consistent between paces, but today I couldn't believe what it was telling me. That 8:50-9:00 pace I was running did not feel quite as slow as it sounded like it should, but my legs were getting tired after a long week and some hard running, and when that happens sometimes what seems like it should be easy isn't as easy as all that. But the discrepancy between pace and perceived effort was nowhere near what it should have been had my HR actually been what the Garmin said it was -- over 160 bpm and often over 170. When I do T intervals, my HR seldom goes over 160, so I was astonished to see it claim that. No way did I feel I was working as hard as a 160+ bpm heart rate should feel no matter what the pace. I stopped a couple times to feel it for myself and it didn't feel physically out of control like that, so I was puzzled. When I started back up, it would drop to a more expected value of 140-145, hang out there for a while, and then next thing I knew it was back up to 160-170 (!).
I don't know what was causing it to fluctuate so wildly high this time, but it seemed to start during the T intervals earlier, where it spiked over 170 during the 3rd and then soared up and hung out well over 180 (!!) during the 4th. Ok, I was working hard in those intervals, but come on. Even if I could maybe buy 180 during a too-fast T interval, I do not believe 170 during easy 9:00/mi running. Something was causing a misread there, and even though I figured I could ignore what it was saying, it still bothered me and staying in the corner of my mind; what if it was that fast and for some reason I just couldn't reconcile it with how it felt? Was it going to be dangerous for me to do the 15 min T after the easy hour?
I did the 15 min T, but at a pace much slower than I would like T to be, but, that wind and those tired legs meant the effort was 7:30/mi and that was just going to be good enough. 2 mi E after that and I was done. I guess to put into perspective how bad I felt for much of this workout, that tough last 15 min T and 2 mi E felt the best of it all, and that's not saying much (gives me evidence that those gels really do work, though -- I took one after the 60 min and before the final T effort). I got the whole workout in, I got the whole week's worth of workouts in, and I am very glad to call it a job done well enough and take Monday off to let my legs recover, to hope the sideache cools off and recharge myself for another 50+ week. Here's hoping for something warmer than 40 and can we please keep the wind to a minimum for once?
The Caesar Rodney half-marathon is in two weeks. I really can't guess yet how it might go. If I can feel good during this midweek's T workout and the extended marathon pace run on Sunday, I will be better equipped to make a judgment call.
Number of workouts: 6
Total miles run: 56.45
Average miles per run: 9.41
Miles in March: 155.71
Miles in 2016: 527.58
Started the week with a 10-miler that bored me; refreshed myself with an easy trail run; then a T workout with a bubbly, squishy stomach and tired legs. On Friday I debated resting my legs or taking it easy on the trails again; I opted for the latter, and mostly enjoyed it, telling myself that it was going to be the last nice day of the week and I should take advantage of it. Saturday's hour was very slow, much slower than I thought, but I didn't really even try to work hard -- kind of like how I let my legs go on the trails, except this time not on the trails. I guess 9:00/mi is me not even trying to work. It was one of those have-to-get-it-done, just-get-it-done-whatever efforts in discouragingly overcast, low 40s; I almost overdressed because I guess I have quickly forgotten what one wears when it's 43 out, but even a light wind across the reservoir feels uncomfortable at that temperature so my layers weren't too much after all.
Sunday's scheduled workout was no walk in the park; I suppose there isn't much point to walk-in-the-park Sunday workouts if you want to try to run a PR or get as close to it as possible. T workouts are supposed to be tough. 2 mi E + 4(5 min T) + 60 min E + 15 min T + 2 mi E. I had actually looked forward to it, because the forecast Nor'easter bringing snow/rain for the day fell through and it was going to be dry, if cold -- I had expected to be running it on the treadmill, and instead I was given a reprieve and could run it outside. It was low 40s again and I wanted to do the run at Paper Mill Park, where I am never far from the car for fluids and fuel for the long effort. The sun was even coming out a little bit as I approached and saw, to my dismay, the park was overrun with kids playing soccer. I didn't know how long they were going to be there, so I wasn't even going to try to attempt to run fast on the path with all those little creatures sure to get in the way. I should have driven up to a high school and run on a track, but the idea of doing 60 min around and around was only slightly less zzz-ing than the idea of doing it on the treadmill; instead I turned around and went to the reservoir, where the flat 1.1-mile loop would seem to be a fine substitute location for this T workout.
One problem with the reservoir is that the parking lot is at its base, a 0.35 mile spur off the loop that is one, long hill. So, if I need a drink or gel, I have to figure in 0.7 miles into the workout, easy one way, not so easy the other. I decided I would run the 2 mi E and then just go right into the 4x5 min T, and get a drink and gel on my way out to do the middle 60 min E on other paths away from the reservoir. It wasn't hot out, I would probably be OK without having a sip in the middle of the T intervals.
I think I was wrong. My right side flared up and it was agonizing during the first two and a half T intervals; this happens typically when I have not had enough to drink, even though I did not feel thirsty. It was cold and I didn't relish the idea of that 0.7 mile spur just to get a sip, so I toughed it out, having to forcibly concentrate on maintaining form and breathing through the ache. Partway though the third interval, it seemed to dull somewhat -- still there, just not as on fire. It was enough of a relief to get through the fourth, and then head down to the car for fluids.
I was in a bad mood. The sideache was a complication I did not like to deal with, but mainly I was sour about the other problem with the reservoir: it is up and there is nothing around it that blocks the wind, which was blowing constantly at ~15 mph (according to the weather report). So for at least half of the loop, I was running right into a hand of chilly wind that has every malicious intention of making my T effort worse than it needed to be. I like doing T intervals where it's flat so that I can maintain a pace/effort correlation that makes sense. When the wind interferes, that pace/effort correlation is impossible to resolve. I decided that if I could get the intervals done in an average pace of less than 7:30/mi I'd call it satisfactory, but I'd have to look at the HR data later to see how it compared to other T workouts to get an idea if the effort was appropriate.
I wasn't feeling all that hot, let's face it. Sideache-plagued, defiant-wind T intervals, lowering sky and a temperature that was just on the edge of being too cold for shorts; and I was only about a third of the way done. I trotted down the spur to the car. In the parking lot, a pair of tiny dogs came racing toward my feet, yapping wildly and indignantly that I dared tread on their asphalt; their owner jokingly called out to me, "Just kick them!" (Only if they bite me.) The other owner asked me if it was very windy up there. I did not mean for my answer to sound smart-alecky, but I'm afraid it did. I wanted to say it was if you were going in one direction directly into it and indicate which direction that was, but it came out "Half of it is!" Oh well. At least she laughed.
I had some water and Gatorade and put on a pair of pants and a second long-sleeved shirt for the easy hour, which I did away from the reservoir on paved rail trails. My side did not bother me and I ran slowly, again not even bothering to try to run faster than 8:50 or so pace. It was during this portion of the run I noticed that the Garmin was apparently having difficulty with my heart rate. Normally it is quite sensible and pretty consistent between paces, but today I couldn't believe what it was telling me. That 8:50-9:00 pace I was running did not feel quite as slow as it sounded like it should, but my legs were getting tired after a long week and some hard running, and when that happens sometimes what seems like it should be easy isn't as easy as all that. But the discrepancy between pace and perceived effort was nowhere near what it should have been had my HR actually been what the Garmin said it was -- over 160 bpm and often over 170. When I do T intervals, my HR seldom goes over 160, so I was astonished to see it claim that. No way did I feel I was working as hard as a 160+ bpm heart rate should feel no matter what the pace. I stopped a couple times to feel it for myself and it didn't feel physically out of control like that, so I was puzzled. When I started back up, it would drop to a more expected value of 140-145, hang out there for a while, and then next thing I knew it was back up to 160-170 (!).
I don't know what was causing it to fluctuate so wildly high this time, but it seemed to start during the T intervals earlier, where it spiked over 170 during the 3rd and then soared up and hung out well over 180 (!!) during the 4th. Ok, I was working hard in those intervals, but come on. Even if I could maybe buy 180 during a too-fast T interval, I do not believe 170 during easy 9:00/mi running. Something was causing a misread there, and even though I figured I could ignore what it was saying, it still bothered me and staying in the corner of my mind; what if it was that fast and for some reason I just couldn't reconcile it with how it felt? Was it going to be dangerous for me to do the 15 min T after the easy hour?
I did the 15 min T, but at a pace much slower than I would like T to be, but, that wind and those tired legs meant the effort was 7:30/mi and that was just going to be good enough. 2 mi E after that and I was done. I guess to put into perspective how bad I felt for much of this workout, that tough last 15 min T and 2 mi E felt the best of it all, and that's not saying much (gives me evidence that those gels really do work, though -- I took one after the 60 min and before the final T effort). I got the whole workout in, I got the whole week's worth of workouts in, and I am very glad to call it a job done well enough and take Monday off to let my legs recover, to hope the sideache cools off and recharge myself for another 50+ week. Here's hoping for something warmer than 40 and can we please keep the wind to a minimum for once?
The Caesar Rodney half-marathon is in two weeks. I really can't guess yet how it might go. If I can feel good during this midweek's T workout and the extended marathon pace run on Sunday, I will be better equipped to make a judgment call.
Sunday, February 14, 2016
Week #7 -- deep into winter
Summary for week ending Sunday, February 14, 2016:
Number of workouts: 7
Total miles run: 47.35
Average miles per run: 6.76
Miles in February: 91.95
Miles in 2016: 276.37
The weather was all kinds of wretched this week, so I only got outside twice. Did today's 13-mile mix of tempo and easy running on the treadmill, too, because I didn't want to subject myself to an hour-forty-five of 15F-feels-like-1F even though it was super sunny. I opened the curtains on the windows next to the Landice and pretended I was running outside somewhere warm, as the sunlight through the windows was actually quite toasty on my right side. I stared at my in-progress accolades wall while I worked through 2 mi E + 5x5 min T + 60 min E; that last half hour of easy running got to be a real drag, but getting a good look at that unicorn medal from a year ago can still bring the motivation.
Supposed to warm up a bit this week after a messy day tomorrow, but lots of rain forecast on the warmest day so it might as well not be warm for all the outside running I'll be likely to do that day. Winter is starting to wear on me; a stretch of dry 30s and 40s would be welcome.
Number of workouts: 7
Total miles run: 47.35
Average miles per run: 6.76
Miles in February: 91.95
Miles in 2016: 276.37
The weather was all kinds of wretched this week, so I only got outside twice. Did today's 13-mile mix of tempo and easy running on the treadmill, too, because I didn't want to subject myself to an hour-forty-five of 15F-feels-like-1F even though it was super sunny. I opened the curtains on the windows next to the Landice and pretended I was running outside somewhere warm, as the sunlight through the windows was actually quite toasty on my right side. I stared at my in-progress accolades wall while I worked through 2 mi E + 5x5 min T + 60 min E; that last half hour of easy running got to be a real drag, but getting a good look at that unicorn medal from a year ago can still bring the motivation.
Supposed to warm up a bit this week after a messy day tomorrow, but lots of rain forecast on the warmest day so it might as well not be warm for all the outside running I'll be likely to do that day. Winter is starting to wear on me; a stretch of dry 30s and 40s would be welcome.
Monday, February 8, 2016
Week #6 -- a new month
Summary for week ending Sunday, February 7, 2016:
Number of workouts: 8
Total miles run: 44.60
Average miles per run: 5.58
Miles in February: 44.60
Miles in 2016: 229.02
Amid the general mileage (about half on the treadmill, half outside), I had two quality workouts involving speed or specific effort. The second, on Sunday, had 20 min of T effort which I ran at ~7:25. It felt quite comfortable and I think I may be able to push that effort a little faster next time. I did notice, in the 20 min of easy running beforehand, that occasionally running easy starts to feel worse than running harder, and it's simple to spiral into a false sense that I'm having a tough time even though I'm supposed to be running easy. Best cure for that is the T interval, which came along at just the right time to break the spell.
In addition to the quality workouts, I got to run on the trails on Saturday which went better than I expected it would after a week of melting snow and significant rain, too; it had not been above freezing for very long when I went out, and what would have been very sloppy mud was still mostly frozen. I'm not going to bother going through all my records to check, but Saturday may have been the slowest I've ever run over there (certainly right up there if not), but that was exactly my goal: I needed an easy day to be very easy. My legs were still feeling the hard intervals from Thursday and the jog did its duty, as my legs felt refreshed for the T workout on Sunday.
Mileage was about the same as last week, but with an increase in intensity. That's a good way to do it.
Number of workouts: 8
Total miles run: 44.60
Average miles per run: 5.58
Miles in February: 44.60
Miles in 2016: 229.02
Amid the general mileage (about half on the treadmill, half outside), I had two quality workouts involving speed or specific effort. The second, on Sunday, had 20 min of T effort which I ran at ~7:25. It felt quite comfortable and I think I may be able to push that effort a little faster next time. I did notice, in the 20 min of easy running beforehand, that occasionally running easy starts to feel worse than running harder, and it's simple to spiral into a false sense that I'm having a tough time even though I'm supposed to be running easy. Best cure for that is the T interval, which came along at just the right time to break the spell.
In addition to the quality workouts, I got to run on the trails on Saturday which went better than I expected it would after a week of melting snow and significant rain, too; it had not been above freezing for very long when I went out, and what would have been very sloppy mud was still mostly frozen. I'm not going to bother going through all my records to check, but Saturday may have been the slowest I've ever run over there (certainly right up there if not), but that was exactly my goal: I needed an easy day to be very easy. My legs were still feeling the hard intervals from Thursday and the jog did its duty, as my legs felt refreshed for the T workout on Sunday.
Mileage was about the same as last week, but with an increase in intensity. That's a good way to do it.
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