Summary for week ending Sunday, May 22, 2016:
Number of workouts: 6
Total miles run: 38.87
Average miles per run: 6.48
Miles in May: 137.25
Miles in 2016: 940.13
During taper weeks, I always start to feel anxious -- like I'm not running enough and I'm undoing all the work I have done to date. It feels odd to be done after less than an hour of running, or not have to go back out after work for a double, and I have to remind myself that it's what my schedule says to do, it is what I'm supposed to be doing, and to just relax and enjoy not having to do 10-12 miles a day.
I did most of my running in the morning, doing a few laps around the reservoir each time. I discovered that my Garmin measures differently depending on which direction I run around: if I go clockwise for three laps, my total distance is 5.45 miles. If I go counter-clockwise for three laps, my total distance is 5.38 miles. I wonder what accounts for the nearly tenth of a mile difference?
More life getting in the way this week, so I moved around the week's T workout to Sunday rather than Wednesday or Thursday. It worked out fine. 2 mi E + 2(10 min T) + 30-45 min. The T intervals were OK, not as fluid as I'd have liked but still manageable at 7:10 pace.
With a week to race day, the hay is pretty much in the barn. Just need to spend the next week taking it easy and going out for shortish, easy runs to keep the legs in motion. As anxious as I feel that I'm not doing enough, I'm just going to have to cool it and remember that my legs don't need a lot of work this week.
Showing posts with label weekly roundup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weekly roundup. Show all posts
Sunday, May 22, 2016
Sunday, May 15, 2016
Week #20 -- life gets in the way again
Summary for week ending Sunday, May 15, 2016:
Number of workouts: 5
Total miles run: 40.91
Average miles per run: 8.18
Miles in May: 98.38
Miles in 2016: 901.26
Tapering unofficially began last week, I suppose, if you look at it from a mileage standpoint, and continued this week, as I was traveling again -- this time in Montreal, QC for a workshop at McGill University. I had never been to Montreal before and while my hotel was seemingly ideally located to a very large park with trails, I did not have time to do any exploring (and, let's be honest, I'm not all that brave about running on trails in a strange city all by myself). I arrived late Wednesday afternoon and took the time to walk around a little but not up to the park. Thursday was a lovely and warm day, but I did not want to go exploring park trails in the morning when I had a firm morning scheduling commitment -- even just going out and back cannot be assumed to go without hitch. Thursday evening I was late getting back to the hotel -- 7 p.m. -- far too late to try to explore the park, so I did a few miles on the treadmill in the hotel.
I had not considered that I was in Canada and that in Canada, things are not really done in miles. I started the belt with numbers that made sense for my treadmill at home and wondered "Why is this so slow??" Fortunately I quickly put two and two together (I am a scientist, after all) and got it going, but then had to do math the whole time to try to tick off the mile splits on my Garmin at the right times. Who wants to have to do math during a run?! It was a decent run, if a bit zzz because I didn't take any music in with me and there was nothing worth looking at on the TV that was right in my face on the console; and nothing of interest out the window, which faced a small parking lot and a Subway across the street.
I had hoped to have time to go up and for a run in the park at the close of the workshop Friday afternoon, but the weather was no longer pleasant -- it had begun raining and was gloomy, and with rain threatening I passed on the park exploration again. And then, being actually quite exhausted from having to be thinking scientifically and being social all day, passed on running on the treadmill again too. Instead, I got up early Saturday to do another ~5 miles (~8K) on the treadmill. There was an older gentleman walking on the machine next to me, but he kept to himself and I kept to myself and had another pretty zzz run that did its job. It's been a while since I did any mileage on the treadmill.
So I did not run as much during the week (for the second week in a row) that I had hoped to/thought I might. Legs were feeling pretty fresh for the last long and tough workout on Sunday, which was 2 mi E + 15 mi M + 2 mi E. The day was decent enough -- cool-ish and though it had rained a lot overnight, it held off during the day. I thought I would do the M miles at around 7:40-7:45 and my legs felt good enough that they kept turning them out at more like 7:35, even when I tried to back off a little bit to be more 7:40-ish. So I just let them do it.
I had kind of thought that, if my legs were feeling it, I would run a little more than 2 mi E at the end and maybe try to get to 22 as I did not get over 20 this training cycle and that had/has me a little worried. But after 15 miles of ~7:35-7:40, anything more than the 2 E I did was going to be junk. So I did the 2 easy and called it a successful workout.
7:35-7:40 might be a little rich for another 11 miles, so unless my legs are totally feeling it, I'm going to really force them to go 7:40-7:45 (if they feel good enough for that, even).
This week the official taper begins, but that will only be formality after the last couple lower-volume weeks.
Number of workouts: 5
Total miles run: 40.91
Average miles per run: 8.18
Miles in May: 98.38
Miles in 2016: 901.26
Tapering unofficially began last week, I suppose, if you look at it from a mileage standpoint, and continued this week, as I was traveling again -- this time in Montreal, QC for a workshop at McGill University. I had never been to Montreal before and while my hotel was seemingly ideally located to a very large park with trails, I did not have time to do any exploring (and, let's be honest, I'm not all that brave about running on trails in a strange city all by myself). I arrived late Wednesday afternoon and took the time to walk around a little but not up to the park. Thursday was a lovely and warm day, but I did not want to go exploring park trails in the morning when I had a firm morning scheduling commitment -- even just going out and back cannot be assumed to go without hitch. Thursday evening I was late getting back to the hotel -- 7 p.m. -- far too late to try to explore the park, so I did a few miles on the treadmill in the hotel.
I had not considered that I was in Canada and that in Canada, things are not really done in miles. I started the belt with numbers that made sense for my treadmill at home and wondered "Why is this so slow??" Fortunately I quickly put two and two together (I am a scientist, after all) and got it going, but then had to do math the whole time to try to tick off the mile splits on my Garmin at the right times. Who wants to have to do math during a run?! It was a decent run, if a bit zzz because I didn't take any music in with me and there was nothing worth looking at on the TV that was right in my face on the console; and nothing of interest out the window, which faced a small parking lot and a Subway across the street.
I had hoped to have time to go up and for a run in the park at the close of the workshop Friday afternoon, but the weather was no longer pleasant -- it had begun raining and was gloomy, and with rain threatening I passed on the park exploration again. And then, being actually quite exhausted from having to be thinking scientifically and being social all day, passed on running on the treadmill again too. Instead, I got up early Saturday to do another ~5 miles (~8K) on the treadmill. There was an older gentleman walking on the machine next to me, but he kept to himself and I kept to myself and had another pretty zzz run that did its job. It's been a while since I did any mileage on the treadmill.
So I did not run as much during the week (for the second week in a row) that I had hoped to/thought I might. Legs were feeling pretty fresh for the last long and tough workout on Sunday, which was 2 mi E + 15 mi M + 2 mi E. The day was decent enough -- cool-ish and though it had rained a lot overnight, it held off during the day. I thought I would do the M miles at around 7:40-7:45 and my legs felt good enough that they kept turning them out at more like 7:35, even when I tried to back off a little bit to be more 7:40-ish. So I just let them do it.
I had kind of thought that, if my legs were feeling it, I would run a little more than 2 mi E at the end and maybe try to get to 22 as I did not get over 20 this training cycle and that had/has me a little worried. But after 15 miles of ~7:35-7:40, anything more than the 2 E I did was going to be junk. So I did the 2 easy and called it a successful workout.
7:35-7:40 might be a little rich for another 11 miles, so unless my legs are totally feeling it, I'm going to really force them to go 7:40-7:45 (if they feel good enough for that, even).
This week the official taper begins, but that will only be formality after the last couple lower-volume weeks.
Sunday, May 8, 2016
Week # 19 -- life gets in the way
Summary for week ending Sunday, May 8, 2016:
Number of workouts: 4
Total miles run: 38.40
Average miles per run: 9.60
Miles in May: 57.47
Miles in 2016: 860.35
After a day of resting on Monday, Tuesday's run felt much better, and not just because the weather was outstanding. Legs recovered, abdomen not an issue. Did almost 10 miles, with the miles seeming to fly right on by because it wasn't same-old, same-old, but on familiar and beloved hometown sidewalks and a little bit through Hickory Hill Park.
Wednesday, I hoped to do the 22-miler. However, I was back to feeling like total crud and it did not happen. I only got halfway (11.21 mi), and I think I was lucky to even get that far. Just shy of mile 10, I was at the corner of Scott and First, and about to head down Scott which would have committed me to at least 4 more miles. Sometimes, I do the thing where I go past a point of no return to make myself do what I have to do, but I got only a few meters past the intersection when my legs just stopped. My brain said "Do not do it. You will regret it. You will end up walking a long way." For once, I heeded the warning -- it was not just laziness. I turned around and went home, struggling a bit even to do that last mile-ish. I was disgusted with how bad I felt, and anxious about how I was not going to get a 22-er in unless I did an extra 9 after the race on Sunday.
I did happen to run into an old friend from high school while heading through Hickory Hill Park around mile 8. She was out doing some hiking and hunting for mushrooms with her youngest son. This was after I had stopped at home to get water and a gel and had considered bailing then, but knew I had to try to get a little more in. I was feeling wretched, and seeing my friend was the only good thing about that whole morning.
I had intended to run some distance on Thursday, but this is where life intruded; other situations came up involving my family, so I did not get out, instead spending it in doctor's offices and the U of I hospital. Too bad on a number of levels: the weather was the perfect spring weather we've largely missed out on this year. (And back in Delaware, it was raining all week.)
Friday I flew back east, and because of the rain, PHL was all messed up and my afternoon flight from ATL was very delayed and I didn't get home until quite late. No running.
I got a few easy miles in on Saturday, and while I did not run nearly as much as I had hoped to while in Iowa, I could at least say that my legs ought to be pretty nicely rested for the half-marathon. The half went quite well -- better than I'd anticipated -- and I will summarize that in the next post.
Number of workouts: 4
Total miles run: 38.40
Average miles per run: 9.60
Miles in May: 57.47
Miles in 2016: 860.35
After a day of resting on Monday, Tuesday's run felt much better, and not just because the weather was outstanding. Legs recovered, abdomen not an issue. Did almost 10 miles, with the miles seeming to fly right on by because it wasn't same-old, same-old, but on familiar and beloved hometown sidewalks and a little bit through Hickory Hill Park.
Wednesday, I hoped to do the 22-miler. However, I was back to feeling like total crud and it did not happen. I only got halfway (11.21 mi), and I think I was lucky to even get that far. Just shy of mile 10, I was at the corner of Scott and First, and about to head down Scott which would have committed me to at least 4 more miles. Sometimes, I do the thing where I go past a point of no return to make myself do what I have to do, but I got only a few meters past the intersection when my legs just stopped. My brain said "Do not do it. You will regret it. You will end up walking a long way." For once, I heeded the warning -- it was not just laziness. I turned around and went home, struggling a bit even to do that last mile-ish. I was disgusted with how bad I felt, and anxious about how I was not going to get a 22-er in unless I did an extra 9 after the race on Sunday.
I did happen to run into an old friend from high school while heading through Hickory Hill Park around mile 8. She was out doing some hiking and hunting for mushrooms with her youngest son. This was after I had stopped at home to get water and a gel and had considered bailing then, but knew I had to try to get a little more in. I was feeling wretched, and seeing my friend was the only good thing about that whole morning.
I had intended to run some distance on Thursday, but this is where life intruded; other situations came up involving my family, so I did not get out, instead spending it in doctor's offices and the U of I hospital. Too bad on a number of levels: the weather was the perfect spring weather we've largely missed out on this year. (And back in Delaware, it was raining all week.)
Friday I flew back east, and because of the rain, PHL was all messed up and my afternoon flight from ATL was very delayed and I didn't get home until quite late. No running.
I got a few easy miles in on Saturday, and while I did not run nearly as much as I had hoped to while in Iowa, I could at least say that my legs ought to be pretty nicely rested for the half-marathon. The half went quite well -- better than I'd anticipated -- and I will summarize that in the next post.
Sunday, May 1, 2016
Week #18 -- finishing up out of town
Summary for week ending Sunday, May 1, 2016:
Number of workouts: 5
Total miles run: 46.15
Average miles per run: 9.23
Miles in April: 208.46
Miles in May: 19.07
Miles in 2016: 821.95
Arriving in the Midwest on the last day of May, the weather was vile, pouring rain pretty much non-stop from time of arrival until early evening. I was not going to run in that, as I was too tired from rising at 3 a.m. for a very early flight to even guilt myself into toughing it out. By the time it had eased up, I was full of Chicago-style deep dish from Wig and Pen, so ....
The weather was marginally better Sunday -- I got my workout done in between rainy moments. I did a tough tempo workout on Sunday. Typically my first days of running in Iowa don't feel that good -- not sure why, perhaps mostly a combo of poor eating and poor sleeping over the last couple days. No exception this day, and I made myself run hard even when it wasn't feeling good. 2 mi E + 4(5 min T) + 10 mi E + scheduled 4(5 min T) + 2 mi E. I did the first part OK, though legs were not very responsive -- tempo intervals on the track at my high school and 10 easy miles on the well-known roads of the east side. Very slow and not because I was forcing myself to do 9:00/per, it's just what my legs did. Was feeling the muscles in my lower abdomen start to act up a bit, and when I went back to the track for the 4(5 min T), I got started on the first interval and it was too painful. It didn't ease up and I couldn't make myself run through it, so I bailed on the T and started to jog home. As I jogged, the discomfort cooled it enough for me to keep out for a few more slow miles, and I finished up with 19 on the day. Not especially happy about the abdomen muscle situation, not too happy that I didn't get those last T sessions in, but it was solid mileage and as good as it was going to get, so I will have to be satisfied with that.
The weather is meant to improve over the rest of the week, so at least that part should be easier. Going to have to take a day to let these lower abdomen muscles cool it. Because I have a half-marathon next Sunday, I'm going to switch Q workouts for the week -- do the longy-long on Wednesday I think, and then use the race as the long T workout.
Number of workouts: 5
Total miles run: 46.15
Average miles per run: 9.23
Miles in April: 208.46
Miles in May: 19.07
Miles in 2016: 821.95
Arriving in the Midwest on the last day of May, the weather was vile, pouring rain pretty much non-stop from time of arrival until early evening. I was not going to run in that, as I was too tired from rising at 3 a.m. for a very early flight to even guilt myself into toughing it out. By the time it had eased up, I was full of Chicago-style deep dish from Wig and Pen, so ....
The weather was marginally better Sunday -- I got my workout done in between rainy moments. I did a tough tempo workout on Sunday. Typically my first days of running in Iowa don't feel that good -- not sure why, perhaps mostly a combo of poor eating and poor sleeping over the last couple days. No exception this day, and I made myself run hard even when it wasn't feeling good. 2 mi E + 4(5 min T) + 10 mi E + scheduled 4(5 min T) + 2 mi E. I did the first part OK, though legs were not very responsive -- tempo intervals on the track at my high school and 10 easy miles on the well-known roads of the east side. Very slow and not because I was forcing myself to do 9:00/per, it's just what my legs did. Was feeling the muscles in my lower abdomen start to act up a bit, and when I went back to the track for the 4(5 min T), I got started on the first interval and it was too painful. It didn't ease up and I couldn't make myself run through it, so I bailed on the T and started to jog home. As I jogged, the discomfort cooled it enough for me to keep out for a few more slow miles, and I finished up with 19 on the day. Not especially happy about the abdomen muscle situation, not too happy that I didn't get those last T sessions in, but it was solid mileage and as good as it was going to get, so I will have to be satisfied with that.
The weather is meant to improve over the rest of the week, so at least that part should be easier. Going to have to take a day to let these lower abdomen muscles cool it. Because I have a half-marathon next Sunday, I'm going to switch Q workouts for the week -- do the longy-long on Wednesday I think, and then use the race as the long T workout.
Sunday, April 24, 2016
Week #17: toughen up
Summary for week ending Sunday, April 24, 2016:
Number of workouts: 6
Total miles run: 54.27
Average miles per run: 9.05
Miles in April: 181.38
Miles in 2016: 775.80
With the race on Saturday, I moved my miles around so that the quality tempo would be the race and the easy, general mileage would be the rest of the week. Tuesday I doubled and went outside for the AM run rather than hitting the treadmill. It was around 6:30 and absolute perfection: in the mid-40s, no wind, sun on its way up. I felt outstanding, like I could have gone all day. I felt I loved, loved running. Alas, I did have to call it quits after an hour and go to work.
The rest of the weekday running was fine. I took Friday as a rest day for a couple reasons and ran the Tommy 10-miler on Saturday.
I still had a long run to get in on Sunday. Because the Flyers unexpectedly won Game 5, there was a Game 6, and they scheduled it for noon today. Noon!? When was I supposed to get 20+ in if the game was in the damn dead middle of the day??
I guess in the morning; don't like to have 20+ miles hanging over my head all day and couldn't risk a mega-overtime game eating up the hours.1 I had kind of hoped to sleep in a little bit after not getting the best sleep Friday night, but that went out the window. I got up at 7 and felt exactly like I was having to go to work, going down to eat breakfast and then back up to get dressed and head out the door by 8. At least it was a very nice early-ish Sunday -- why couldn't it have been this nice yesterday? Mid-40s and sun, a little wind but nothing bad. I thought I'd try to get a little hilly running done today as I have not done much really hilly mileage lately and Vermont City is getting closer. I did a couple loops around Paper Mill Park to get my legs going -- they were not especially interested, unfortunately -- and then headed up Paper Mill Road. After that couple laps, I felt ok. I wouldn't say good, but not bad. I meandered up and down the long hills of Paper Mill Road and then around down Possum Hollow Road, which generally feels cool and serene as it is an off-the-main-drag road, but on my way back up I started to feel yesterday's race. I headed back down Paper Mill Road and when I finally made it back to the park, I decided that was going to be all the hill running I would do today. I'd kind of thought I might do my second session up Polly Drummond but the very thought made me sore and tired. I was at about 10K when I paused at my car. I had a gel and set about getting in a few more miles. I decided to take the rest of the run in 3-4 mile segments, which would make the next 16 miles manageable, if perhaps a little dull looping around and around at the park. Wouldn't be the first time I killed high miles there (and won't be the last). The weather was fine, it was early enough that the park wasn't busy, and I ate up the distance.
Water and Gatorade at 10 miles; I thought then that the whole 22 on the schedule might be a reach. I was starting to hurt. Not a real hurt yet, but a creeping heaviness in my legs and some tightness in my abdominal muscles. By my next break around 13.5 miles, it was amplifying. Legs starting to hurt, lower back getting in on the action, but I was still running ok. Easy pace, just a little robotic and heavy. I stopped again just short of 17 miles, and I made my decision. 20 would be adequate. If I got to 20 and felt I could eke out another 2.5 laps for the whole 22, then that would be gravy, but if I got to 20 and was too hurty to get there, then that was fine.
It had warmed up some, but not awfully. I changed to short sleeves after keeping comfortable in long sleeves for a while, and it's too bad that my legs were so beat up, because it would have been just the best day for a 22er. I'm sort of surprised by how fast the second 10 miles seemed to go by because usually when I'm hurting the distance just totally drags. I got the Iowa City High fight song stuck in my head after 15 miles, which amused me but actually worked quite well with the cadence of my pace. I thank the weather for being so pleasant; I think that's what helped it pass by. I'm not sorry I jammed the tempo and the long run right up against each other. I knew what I was getting into. I didn't go to the well yesterday and I got good time out of my feet and legs today.
Taking my usual Monday rest day and I will see about recovery. Easy miles Tuesday, possibly Wednesday; if I'm feeling ok Wednesday I will do the week's first quality workout (tempos) then, otherwise Thursday. I will decide at that point if I'm going to feel good enough to do the half-marathon in Iowa City on Sunday as another quality tempo workout. No big deal if not, but I still have a tough workout to do even if I don't race.
Vermont City is five weeks away. I still have some work to get done.
Number of workouts: 6
Total miles run: 54.27
Average miles per run: 9.05
Miles in April: 181.38
Miles in 2016: 775.80
With the race on Saturday, I moved my miles around so that the quality tempo would be the race and the easy, general mileage would be the rest of the week. Tuesday I doubled and went outside for the AM run rather than hitting the treadmill. It was around 6:30 and absolute perfection: in the mid-40s, no wind, sun on its way up. I felt outstanding, like I could have gone all day. I felt I loved, loved running. Alas, I did have to call it quits after an hour and go to work.
The rest of the weekday running was fine. I took Friday as a rest day for a couple reasons and ran the Tommy 10-miler on Saturday.
I still had a long run to get in on Sunday. Because the Flyers unexpectedly won Game 5, there was a Game 6, and they scheduled it for noon today. Noon!? When was I supposed to get 20+ in if the game was in the damn dead middle of the day??
I guess in the morning; don't like to have 20+ miles hanging over my head all day and couldn't risk a mega-overtime game eating up the hours.1 I had kind of hoped to sleep in a little bit after not getting the best sleep Friday night, but that went out the window. I got up at 7 and felt exactly like I was having to go to work, going down to eat breakfast and then back up to get dressed and head out the door by 8. At least it was a very nice early-ish Sunday -- why couldn't it have been this nice yesterday? Mid-40s and sun, a little wind but nothing bad. I thought I'd try to get a little hilly running done today as I have not done much really hilly mileage lately and Vermont City is getting closer. I did a couple loops around Paper Mill Park to get my legs going -- they were not especially interested, unfortunately -- and then headed up Paper Mill Road. After that couple laps, I felt ok. I wouldn't say good, but not bad. I meandered up and down the long hills of Paper Mill Road and then around down Possum Hollow Road, which generally feels cool and serene as it is an off-the-main-drag road, but on my way back up I started to feel yesterday's race. I headed back down Paper Mill Road and when I finally made it back to the park, I decided that was going to be all the hill running I would do today. I'd kind of thought I might do my second session up Polly Drummond but the very thought made me sore and tired. I was at about 10K when I paused at my car. I had a gel and set about getting in a few more miles. I decided to take the rest of the run in 3-4 mile segments, which would make the next 16 miles manageable, if perhaps a little dull looping around and around at the park. Wouldn't be the first time I killed high miles there (and won't be the last). The weather was fine, it was early enough that the park wasn't busy, and I ate up the distance.
Water and Gatorade at 10 miles; I thought then that the whole 22 on the schedule might be a reach. I was starting to hurt. Not a real hurt yet, but a creeping heaviness in my legs and some tightness in my abdominal muscles. By my next break around 13.5 miles, it was amplifying. Legs starting to hurt, lower back getting in on the action, but I was still running ok. Easy pace, just a little robotic and heavy. I stopped again just short of 17 miles, and I made my decision. 20 would be adequate. If I got to 20 and felt I could eke out another 2.5 laps for the whole 22, then that would be gravy, but if I got to 20 and was too hurty to get there, then that was fine.
It had warmed up some, but not awfully. I changed to short sleeves after keeping comfortable in long sleeves for a while, and it's too bad that my legs were so beat up, because it would have been just the best day for a 22er. I'm sort of surprised by how fast the second 10 miles seemed to go by because usually when I'm hurting the distance just totally drags. I got the Iowa City High fight song stuck in my head after 15 miles, which amused me but actually worked quite well with the cadence of my pace. I thank the weather for being so pleasant; I think that's what helped it pass by. I'm not sorry I jammed the tempo and the long run right up against each other. I knew what I was getting into. I didn't go to the well yesterday and I got good time out of my feet and legs today.
Taking my usual Monday rest day and I will see about recovery. Easy miles Tuesday, possibly Wednesday; if I'm feeling ok Wednesday I will do the week's first quality workout (tempos) then, otherwise Thursday. I will decide at that point if I'm going to feel good enough to do the half-marathon in Iowa City on Sunday as another quality tempo workout. No big deal if not, but I still have a tough workout to do even if I don't race.
Vermont City is five weeks away. I still have some work to get done.
Wednesday, April 20, 2016
Week #16: keep going
Summary for week ending Sunday, April 17, 2016:
Number of workouts: 6
Total miles run: 51.48
Average miles per run: 8.58
Miles in April: 127.11
Miles in 2016: 721.53
Mixed running on trails and paved paths. Managed not to fall again on the trails (though had a close call on Friday), leg though scraped up did not bruise as badly as when I fell in February so is not as uncomfortable. Weather very much improved over the week, warming to the 60s and 70s. This did bring out a lot more people to have to run around but I'm feeling magnanimous so won't kvetch (too much) about them walking three across, forcing me to step off into grass. (How can even two people manage to take up the entire width of the path?!) Satisfying tempo workout on Thursday (2 mi E + 3(10 min T) + 2 mi E where my legs felt better with each T segment -- the new normal seems to be that it takes me a few miles to really feel good and in the groove. The T didn't feel quite as free as on Sunday but not a reach to keep appropriate effort. Very glad I decided not to do the trail race on Saturday as that Thursday workout left my legs tired and Saturday morning's easy run was a drag.
Long run on Sunday ended up being 17 instead of 19 with 12 at MP rather than 15. Discovered a new place for flat long running: the Michael Castle Trail along the C&D Canal. It was very sunny and warmish -- in the 60s. Starting at Biddle Point, I ran easy east toward Delaware City until the trail ends (for now -- it's clear they are working on extending it all the way to Delaware City), about 1.8 miles, then turned back and picked up pace while running west past my starting point toward the US13 / DE1 bridges. I thought I'd run that direction for 2 miles and then turn back, stop at the car for water and a gel. That would be around 7 miles, I thought, just about when I like to take my first gel of a long run. It turned out to be too long; I should have stopped for water when I was on my way past the car around 3.5 miles. I had considered it, but didn't want to take a break after having only done about a mile or so at pace, just getting started, preferring to get a little more at pace in before stopping. MP had started out feeling pretty comfortable but by the time I got to the DE1 bridge, it was starting to feel more work-y and I was thirsty. The trail is totally open to the sky, with no cover whatsoever -- at least on the 4-5 mile stretch of it I was on -- except for those brief moments passing under the bridges, which are negligible -- and that was great for the Garmin and being more accurate with apparent pace, but it was not great for physiology. The sun was very warm and took a tough toll, one that I have not experienced yet this year. Because I had never run here before, I was not familiar with the landmarks, so even though it was out-and-back, I did not really have a good sense of how much I still had to run until I made it to the car. It wasn't very enjoyable, but when I saw the beat-up looking dock next to the trailhead, I was elated.
It's so very hard not to guzzle water when you're at such a point. I sucked down a gel and washed it with a few more swallows of water, managing to restrain myself. It felt like enough, and then I started running east again. It was not long before I felt thirsty once more.
The damage had been done. If I had stopped for water at 3.5 mi, it might have mitigated the effects of the sun and heat early, and I might have gotten another couple solid miles at MP in. As it was, it was all I could do to get in 11, and I barely count the 12th because I was fading fast. More liquids, another gel, and I even carried a water bottle with me for the last 3-4 "easy" miles. (Very uncomfortable, very hard not to hammer the whole bottle at once.) Given how awful I felt, I was satisfied enough with what I ended up having done. I had started to feel a little like the way I did in Boston 2014, when I had to drop out: stomach feeling a little queasy, never getting better and even a little worse even after drinking. In the 2014 race, I quit at mile 18; Sunday, I quit at 17. More lessons learned (the hard way, unfortunately): water is more important than getting in time at pace. If I could drink on the fly in training the way I can in a race, it would be easier, but unfortunately, unless B rides a bike right along with me (which he has done a couple times in the past), I'm stuck having to take short breaks. (I won't wear one of those fuel belts with bottles.) Funny how every year, I run in sun and warmth, but the first times of the season often catch me off guard and I don't do it right. A day with weather like Sunday's is deceptive; just standing around, it was pleasant, a nice breeze, even maybe a slight bit cool, but running with no shade was down right hot. 60s and 70s are extremely lovely, but too warm to be "great" for running at elevated efforts over long distances.
07:44.8, 07:42.4, 07:45.6, 07:42.6, 07:42.1, 07:45.5, 07:48.5, 07:45.5, 07:40.4, 07:41.1, 07:49.2, 08:00.7
The trail along the canal is great though -- absolutely sea level with only a little rippling that you barely notice (except when you're exhausted -- somehow even the smallest ups and downs are hard then). There were a lot of people out on bikes enjoying the pretty day, but no one interfered with my running at all, and I only saw two other runners; a handful of walkers, but the majority of users were on bikes. Early in the run, a ship turned into the canal under the DE9 bridge and cruised along parallel to the path. It was the Demeter Leader, and, according to Google, is a vehicles carrier from Panama; myshiptracking.com indicates it docked at Baltimore at 21:37 on Sunday. It made almost no sound as it passed by, pretty much only the whush of the water in its wake. It was amazing that such a gigantic beast of a ship could make less noise going by than a car. It was also a little eerie because there was no sign of people on the ship, so it was just a silent, almost alien-seeming long and huge blue and white box moving by. Other than that, only speedboats and other personal watercraft whizzed by occasionally. Mostly it was quiet but for the sounds of birdlife. Except for feeling pretty cruddy as I went on, I enjoyed it there. It's another place for pace work to keep in my pocket. Closer than the Schuylkill trail and better, actually, because of the openness.
Upcoming week: days of easy mileage and then Saturday morning is the Tommy 10-miler in Lewes. Longest long run on Sunday.
Number of workouts: 6
Total miles run: 51.48
Average miles per run: 8.58
Miles in April: 127.11
Miles in 2016: 721.53
Mixed running on trails and paved paths. Managed not to fall again on the trails (though had a close call on Friday), leg though scraped up did not bruise as badly as when I fell in February so is not as uncomfortable. Weather very much improved over the week, warming to the 60s and 70s. This did bring out a lot more people to have to run around but I'm feeling magnanimous so won't kvetch (too much) about them walking three across, forcing me to step off into grass. (How can even two people manage to take up the entire width of the path?!) Satisfying tempo workout on Thursday (2 mi E + 3(10 min T) + 2 mi E where my legs felt better with each T segment -- the new normal seems to be that it takes me a few miles to really feel good and in the groove. The T didn't feel quite as free as on Sunday but not a reach to keep appropriate effort. Very glad I decided not to do the trail race on Saturday as that Thursday workout left my legs tired and Saturday morning's easy run was a drag.
Long run on Sunday ended up being 17 instead of 19 with 12 at MP rather than 15. Discovered a new place for flat long running: the Michael Castle Trail along the C&D Canal. It was very sunny and warmish -- in the 60s. Starting at Biddle Point, I ran easy east toward Delaware City until the trail ends (for now -- it's clear they are working on extending it all the way to Delaware City), about 1.8 miles, then turned back and picked up pace while running west past my starting point toward the US13 / DE1 bridges. I thought I'd run that direction for 2 miles and then turn back, stop at the car for water and a gel. That would be around 7 miles, I thought, just about when I like to take my first gel of a long run. It turned out to be too long; I should have stopped for water when I was on my way past the car around 3.5 miles. I had considered it, but didn't want to take a break after having only done about a mile or so at pace, just getting started, preferring to get a little more at pace in before stopping. MP had started out feeling pretty comfortable but by the time I got to the DE1 bridge, it was starting to feel more work-y and I was thirsty. The trail is totally open to the sky, with no cover whatsoever -- at least on the 4-5 mile stretch of it I was on -- except for those brief moments passing under the bridges, which are negligible -- and that was great for the Garmin and being more accurate with apparent pace, but it was not great for physiology. The sun was very warm and took a tough toll, one that I have not experienced yet this year. Because I had never run here before, I was not familiar with the landmarks, so even though it was out-and-back, I did not really have a good sense of how much I still had to run until I made it to the car. It wasn't very enjoyable, but when I saw the beat-up looking dock next to the trailhead, I was elated.
It's so very hard not to guzzle water when you're at such a point. I sucked down a gel and washed it with a few more swallows of water, managing to restrain myself. It felt like enough, and then I started running east again. It was not long before I felt thirsty once more.
The damage had been done. If I had stopped for water at 3.5 mi, it might have mitigated the effects of the sun and heat early, and I might have gotten another couple solid miles at MP in. As it was, it was all I could do to get in 11, and I barely count the 12th because I was fading fast. More liquids, another gel, and I even carried a water bottle with me for the last 3-4 "easy" miles. (Very uncomfortable, very hard not to hammer the whole bottle at once.) Given how awful I felt, I was satisfied enough with what I ended up having done. I had started to feel a little like the way I did in Boston 2014, when I had to drop out: stomach feeling a little queasy, never getting better and even a little worse even after drinking. In the 2014 race, I quit at mile 18; Sunday, I quit at 17. More lessons learned (the hard way, unfortunately): water is more important than getting in time at pace. If I could drink on the fly in training the way I can in a race, it would be easier, but unfortunately, unless B rides a bike right along with me (which he has done a couple times in the past), I'm stuck having to take short breaks. (I won't wear one of those fuel belts with bottles.) Funny how every year, I run in sun and warmth, but the first times of the season often catch me off guard and I don't do it right. A day with weather like Sunday's is deceptive; just standing around, it was pleasant, a nice breeze, even maybe a slight bit cool, but running with no shade was down right hot. 60s and 70s are extremely lovely, but too warm to be "great" for running at elevated efforts over long distances.
07:44.8, 07:42.4, 07:45.6, 07:42.6, 07:42.1, 07:45.5, 07:48.5, 07:45.5, 07:40.4, 07:41.1, 07:49.2, 08:00.7
The trail along the canal is great though -- absolutely sea level with only a little rippling that you barely notice (except when you're exhausted -- somehow even the smallest ups and downs are hard then). There were a lot of people out on bikes enjoying the pretty day, but no one interfered with my running at all, and I only saw two other runners; a handful of walkers, but the majority of users were on bikes. Early in the run, a ship turned into the canal under the DE9 bridge and cruised along parallel to the path. It was the Demeter Leader, and, according to Google, is a vehicles carrier from Panama; myshiptracking.com indicates it docked at Baltimore at 21:37 on Sunday. It made almost no sound as it passed by, pretty much only the whush of the water in its wake. It was amazing that such a gigantic beast of a ship could make less noise going by than a car. It was also a little eerie because there was no sign of people on the ship, so it was just a silent, almost alien-seeming long and huge blue and white box moving by. Other than that, only speedboats and other personal watercraft whizzed by occasionally. Mostly it was quiet but for the sounds of birdlife. Except for feeling pretty cruddy as I went on, I enjoyed it there. It's another place for pace work to keep in my pocket. Closer than the Schuylkill trail and better, actually, because of the openness.
Upcoming week: days of easy mileage and then Saturday morning is the Tommy 10-miler in Lewes. Longest long run on Sunday.
Sunday, April 10, 2016
Week #15 -- pile up the miles again
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.
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.
Monday, April 4, 2016
Week #14 -- step down, race
Summary for week ending Sunday, April 3, 2016:
Number of workouts: 5
Total miles run: 38.24
Average miles per run: 7.65
Miles in March: 222.56
Miles in April: 19.09
Miles in 2016: 613.52
Kept the running easy and shorter so as not to 100% train through the half-marathon, mostly running on the trails. Legs were pretty fresh for the race, too bad the weather didn't cooperate a little better. The Caesar Rodney might have been a poor race, but it turned out to be a pretty solid workout -- 13+ miles averaging approximately 7:30/mi. A bit faster than expected MP while being slower than T, probably did my legs a good turn. They were a little achy the next day, but that might have been from the downhill more than anything. Won't expect it to be a problem the rest of the week.
Number of workouts: 5
Total miles run: 38.24
Average miles per run: 7.65
Miles in March: 222.56
Miles in April: 19.09
Miles in 2016: 613.52
Kept the running easy and shorter so as not to 100% train through the half-marathon, mostly running on the trails. Legs were pretty fresh for the race, too bad the weather didn't cooperate a little better. The Caesar Rodney might have been a poor race, but it turned out to be a pretty solid workout -- 13+ miles averaging approximately 7:30/mi. A bit faster than expected MP while being slower than T, probably did my legs a good turn. They were a little achy the next day, but that might have been from the downhill more than anything. Won't expect it to be a problem the rest of the week.
Sunday, March 27, 2016
Week #13 -- learning lessons
Summary for week ending Sunday, March 27, 2016:
Number of workouts: 6
Total miles run: 47.70
Average miles per run: 7.95
Miles in March: 203.41
Miles in 2016: 575.28
Not as many miles this week, due to increase in intensity of quality runs (though, too late to change the daily miles, I decided to swap one of those intense quality runs to next weekend). I felt good to start the week, felt less good in the middle, and ended the week feeling OK because I think I've finally learned the importance of running actually easy. I will carry that lesson with me going forward.
15 miles today, overcast but temperature great for a middle-long run. Somewhere around 135 bpm effort, you just feel like you could run all day; then 10-11 miles comes around and you realize that you can't run all day, but you've still got enough left to finish what you have planned.
Next weekend is the Caesar Rodney, so I'm not going to aim for 60 miles which is what the schedule demands. If I do 50 I will be more than satisfied, but the goal is to run well at the race so I will play it by ear, as far as mileage is concerned.
Number of workouts: 6
Total miles run: 47.70
Average miles per run: 7.95
Miles in March: 203.41
Miles in 2016: 575.28
Not as many miles this week, due to increase in intensity of quality runs (though, too late to change the daily miles, I decided to swap one of those intense quality runs to next weekend). I felt good to start the week, felt less good in the middle, and ended the week feeling OK because I think I've finally learned the importance of running actually easy. I will carry that lesson with me going forward.
15 miles today, overcast but temperature great for a middle-long run. Somewhere around 135 bpm effort, you just feel like you could run all day; then 10-11 miles comes around and you realize that you can't run all day, but you've still got enough left to finish what you have planned.
Next weekend is the Caesar Rodney, so I'm not going to aim for 60 miles which is what the schedule demands. If I do 50 I will be more than satisfied, but the goal is to run well at the race so I will play it by ear, as far as mileage is concerned.
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.
Monday, March 14, 2016
Week #11 -- up again
Summary for week ending Sunday, March 13, 2016:
Number of workouts: 8
Total miles run: 56.62
Average miles per run: 7.08
Miles in March: 99.27
Miles in 2016: 471.13
After last week's step-down, this week felt like all I did was run. Logged 10+ Tuesday and Wednesday when the weather was quite warm, had a T workout on Thursday (including warm up and down, approximately 10 miles there too) that left my legs feeling a little heavy by the end, some easy relatively short running Friday and Saturday on the trails (which were in fine shape after a week of dry high 70s), and a 15-miler on Sunday, at the end of which I was feeling every single one of those miles run during the week.
The weather went from cool to hot to cool again over the week, and it was not exactly nice this weekend. Sunday's long run was mostly done during cool showers or sprinkles and was not comfortable or pleasant in general. Over the last year, whenever I have to run in the rain, I make myself feel better about it by viewing it side-by-side with 2015's Boston race: either it's the same cold rain and I can remind myself that I don't have to run anywhere near as far in it, or it's not as cold so I can tell myself I don't have to run nearly as far in it AND it's not going to turn me into a popsicle. Either way, it's an improvement and I can get through the unpleasantness OK. I noticed that along one side of the reservoir, a single long line of purple crocus were blooming, which was a nice sight every time I came around to them. I wouldn't say this was a good long run, just OK. During the last five miles, my legs were feeling wooden and in an odd way like I was on a treadmill -- they were just turning at the rate they had to turn as though the treadmill belt was moving under me at 8:15 pace and I just had to keep up, though I did not feel like I was forcing that pace or working hard at it, nor did I feel like I needed to or should slow down. They mechanically kept going and I didn't even have to think about it much.
But I was looking forward to being done, as it was getting a little boring looping the flat reservoir trail and taking my one detour down to run along Creek Road a ways. Need to start mapping out some variety in long run routes. Trouble is, it's just so hilly in my neck of the woods -- long, long, and not-so-shallow hills that really start to take their toll well before you are ready for them to. Hill running has its positives, and Vermont City has a brutal hill in the middle so I can't avoid working them entirely, but the rest of the course isn't all that horribly hilly so I don't need to be doing excessive hillage every single weekend!
Next week will be another in the upper 50s for mileage, with two quality T workouts in the mix, so I will make sure to enjoy my rest day today and hope for good conditions when I head out tomorrow afternoon for the scheduled 10 miles. I'm not going to split it up with a treadmill morning the way I have been this winter (I have an early meeting, plus with daylight saving time upon us, I shouldn't have to be running in the dark by the end of it) so we'll see how that feels.
Number of workouts: 8
Total miles run: 56.62
Average miles per run: 7.08
Miles in March: 99.27
Miles in 2016: 471.13
After last week's step-down, this week felt like all I did was run. Logged 10+ Tuesday and Wednesday when the weather was quite warm, had a T workout on Thursday (including warm up and down, approximately 10 miles there too) that left my legs feeling a little heavy by the end, some easy relatively short running Friday and Saturday on the trails (which were in fine shape after a week of dry high 70s), and a 15-miler on Sunday, at the end of which I was feeling every single one of those miles run during the week.
The weather went from cool to hot to cool again over the week, and it was not exactly nice this weekend. Sunday's long run was mostly done during cool showers or sprinkles and was not comfortable or pleasant in general. Over the last year, whenever I have to run in the rain, I make myself feel better about it by viewing it side-by-side with 2015's Boston race: either it's the same cold rain and I can remind myself that I don't have to run anywhere near as far in it, or it's not as cold so I can tell myself I don't have to run nearly as far in it AND it's not going to turn me into a popsicle. Either way, it's an improvement and I can get through the unpleasantness OK. I noticed that along one side of the reservoir, a single long line of purple crocus were blooming, which was a nice sight every time I came around to them. I wouldn't say this was a good long run, just OK. During the last five miles, my legs were feeling wooden and in an odd way like I was on a treadmill -- they were just turning at the rate they had to turn as though the treadmill belt was moving under me at 8:15 pace and I just had to keep up, though I did not feel like I was forcing that pace or working hard at it, nor did I feel like I needed to or should slow down. They mechanically kept going and I didn't even have to think about it much.
But I was looking forward to being done, as it was getting a little boring looping the flat reservoir trail and taking my one detour down to run along Creek Road a ways. Need to start mapping out some variety in long run routes. Trouble is, it's just so hilly in my neck of the woods -- long, long, and not-so-shallow hills that really start to take their toll well before you are ready for them to. Hill running has its positives, and Vermont City has a brutal hill in the middle so I can't avoid working them entirely, but the rest of the course isn't all that horribly hilly so I don't need to be doing excessive hillage every single weekend!
Next week will be another in the upper 50s for mileage, with two quality T workouts in the mix, so I will make sure to enjoy my rest day today and hope for good conditions when I head out tomorrow afternoon for the scheduled 10 miles. I'm not going to split it up with a treadmill morning the way I have been this winter (I have an early meeting, plus with daylight saving time upon us, I shouldn't have to be running in the dark by the end of it) so we'll see how that feels.
Monday, March 7, 2016
Week #10 -- take it easy
Summary for week ending Sunday, March 6, 2016:
Number of workouts: 7
Total miles run: 42.65
Average miles per run: 6.09
Miles in March: 42.65
Miles in 2016: 414.51
This was a scheduled step-down week. Weather was generally poor and chilly but not so bad so as not to get outside much, though when I did I typically had to contend with wind as well. The weekend quality workout on Sunday was very good -- not nearly so windy as last weekend (though it is March, so ...) but right at the temperature line where shorts is maybe slightly too cold but tights would definitely be too warm. 2 mi E + 6(5 min T) + 2 mi E with the T at 7:10-7:15 pace felt very good and my legs feel quite recovered from it today; I will still rest them as scheduled and look forward to ramping the mileage back up in the opposite temperatures forecast for later this week. While out around the reservoir a couple times this week I heard red-winged blackbirds, a sound that means warm sunny countryside to me; I took that as a welcome sign that perhaps the snow that we saw on Thursday might be the last for the season. The clock changes next weekend too, so this will be the last week I will have to worry that I might be out running when twilight drops, and I won't be confined to the park with the lights anymore. The first after-work trail session of the spring always makes me happy.
Number of workouts: 7
Total miles run: 42.65
Average miles per run: 6.09
Miles in March: 42.65
Miles in 2016: 414.51
This was a scheduled step-down week. Weather was generally poor and chilly but not so bad so as not to get outside much, though when I did I typically had to contend with wind as well. The weekend quality workout on Sunday was very good -- not nearly so windy as last weekend (though it is March, so ...) but right at the temperature line where shorts is maybe slightly too cold but tights would definitely be too warm. 2 mi E + 6(5 min T) + 2 mi E with the T at 7:10-7:15 pace felt very good and my legs feel quite recovered from it today; I will still rest them as scheduled and look forward to ramping the mileage back up in the opposite temperatures forecast for later this week. While out around the reservoir a couple times this week I heard red-winged blackbirds, a sound that means warm sunny countryside to me; I took that as a welcome sign that perhaps the snow that we saw on Thursday might be the last for the season. The clock changes next weekend too, so this will be the last week I will have to worry that I might be out running when twilight drops, and I won't be confined to the park with the lights anymore. The first after-work trail session of the spring always makes me happy.
Wednesday, March 2, 2016
Week #9 -- things get in the way
Summary for week ending Sunday, February 28 2016:
Number of workouts: 6
Total miles run: 45.06
Average miles per run: 7.51
Miles in February: 187.44
Miles in 2016: 371.86
I was a little short this week compared to plan. Did a tough workout Wednesday night which left my legs a little too cooked to hit the treadmill Thursday morning, which meant I didn't run Thursday due to evening plans. Sometimes you just have to go with how things feel and life can get in the way -- no big deal, but I did have to let myself off the hook about taking an unscheduled rest day. Weekend T workout was next to impossible to judge because of the gale that blustered all day; even just trying to go off effort was useless because going into the wind was difficult and when the wind was at my back (which somehow seemed to not be half the time as you'd think it should be, going in a loop), how do you know how fast you're really running? Oh well. As part of Sunday's 12 miles, I got 2x10 min at ~7:20 pace in, whatever that means with the awful wind. February letting the lion out before March gets started.
Number of workouts: 6
Total miles run: 45.06
Average miles per run: 7.51
Miles in February: 187.44
Miles in 2016: 371.86
I was a little short this week compared to plan. Did a tough workout Wednesday night which left my legs a little too cooked to hit the treadmill Thursday morning, which meant I didn't run Thursday due to evening plans. Sometimes you just have to go with how things feel and life can get in the way -- no big deal, but I did have to let myself off the hook about taking an unscheduled rest day. Weekend T workout was next to impossible to judge because of the gale that blustered all day; even just trying to go off effort was useless because going into the wind was difficult and when the wind was at my back (which somehow seemed to not be half the time as you'd think it should be, going in a loop), how do you know how fast you're really running? Oh well. As part of Sunday's 12 miles, I got 2x10 min at ~7:20 pace in, whatever that means with the awful wind. February letting the lion out before March gets started.
Sunday, February 21, 2016
Week #8 -- 50 miles
Summary for week ending Sunday, February 21 2016:
Number of workouts: 7
Total miles run: 50.42
Average miles per run: 7.20
Miles in February: 142.80
Miles in 2016: 326.80
Only on the treadmill one day last week -- weekdays of running in the cold, only to be rewarded at the weekend by comfortable spring-like temperatures. Last week -- 15F on Sunday drove me inside. This week, it was mid-50s when I went out for my 14-mile long run, overcast and a little sprinkly, but it warmed to about 60 with the sun coming out. Mid-run I felt a little full (like the peanut butter toast I had eaten mid-morning had expanded to fill up my whole stomach) but after a water and Gu break a little after 7 mi, I felt a lot better for no obvious reason. I crushed the last 10K, running much faster than I think I probably should have based on miles per minute and my training plan, but it felt easy and comfortable so I just went with it. Ended up feeling like one of the best-ever long runs. I got up to 50 miles this week -- building up at just the right rate.
Number of workouts: 7
Total miles run: 50.42
Average miles per run: 7.20
Miles in February: 142.80
Miles in 2016: 326.80
Only on the treadmill one day last week -- weekdays of running in the cold, only to be rewarded at the weekend by comfortable spring-like temperatures. Last week -- 15F on Sunday drove me inside. This week, it was mid-50s when I went out for my 14-mile long run, overcast and a little sprinkly, but it warmed to about 60 with the sun coming out. Mid-run I felt a little full (like the peanut butter toast I had eaten mid-morning had expanded to fill up my whole stomach) but after a water and Gu break a little after 7 mi, I felt a lot better for no obvious reason. I crushed the last 10K, running much faster than I think I probably should have based on miles per minute and my training plan, but it felt easy and comfortable so I just went with it. Ended up feeling like one of the best-ever long runs. I got up to 50 miles this week -- building up at just the right rate.
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.
Sunday, January 31, 2016
Week # 5
Summary for week ending Sunday, January 31, 2016:
Number of workouts: 7
Total miles run: 44.11
Average miles per run: 6.30
Miles in January: 184.42
Miles in 2016: 184.42
Toward the end of the week I was able to get off the treadmill and get outside, which was quite a relief. Saturday I did the first tough running of the year (first hard running since Des Moines), 4-minute hard intervals sandwiched between a couple warm-up and cool-down miles; Sunday was a perfect day for a medium-long run (12 miles) with sun and light breeze at 50F. Despite the tougher run the day before, I felt very good today; one of those runs that will go in the books as truly great. In the middle of the run, hundreds of Canada geese came soaring to the reservoir I was running around, swirled noisily over the water for a few minutes before settling onto the lake's surface. I was glad when they finally dropped out of the sky, as the risk of being hit by a goose bomb was considerable, there were so many flying above. They honked and squawked and splashed such a ruckus; seemed like every goose in the state of Delaware must have been there, but after about half an hour, another squadron sailed in and stirred up the hundreds already on the water. A group of sea gulls was banished to the railing on the bridge to the control house, and the ducks that had been there first vanished completely. I'd never seen such a thing.
A woman walking her dog asked me, "Will you run a mile for me?" so I dedicate mile #4 to the lady wearing the Wilmington University sweatshirt, walking her dog with her husband.
Number of workouts: 7
Total miles run: 44.11
Average miles per run: 6.30
Miles in January: 184.42
Miles in 2016: 184.42
Toward the end of the week I was able to get off the treadmill and get outside, which was quite a relief. Saturday I did the first tough running of the year (first hard running since Des Moines), 4-minute hard intervals sandwiched between a couple warm-up and cool-down miles; Sunday was a perfect day for a medium-long run (12 miles) with sun and light breeze at 50F. Despite the tougher run the day before, I felt very good today; one of those runs that will go in the books as truly great. In the middle of the run, hundreds of Canada geese came soaring to the reservoir I was running around, swirled noisily over the water for a few minutes before settling onto the lake's surface. I was glad when they finally dropped out of the sky, as the risk of being hit by a goose bomb was considerable, there were so many flying above. They honked and squawked and splashed such a ruckus; seemed like every goose in the state of Delaware must have been there, but after about half an hour, another squadron sailed in and stirred up the hundreds already on the water. A group of sea gulls was banished to the railing on the bridge to the control house, and the ducks that had been there first vanished completely. I'd never seen such a thing.
A woman walking her dog asked me, "Will you run a mile for me?" so I dedicate mile #4 to the lady wearing the Wilmington University sweatshirt, walking her dog with her husband.
Sunday, January 24, 2016
Week #4
Summary for week ending Sunday, January 24, 2016:
Number of workouts: 6
Total miles run: 40.80
Average miles per run: 6.80
Miles in January: 140.31
Miles in 2016: 140.31
Due to cold and other weather-related issues, I spent most of this week's miles indoors. At least this weekend's two runs were in front of the window full of daylight, which is probably the only thing that kept them from being total drags. It was a bummer to have to trade my only daytime runs of the week for indoor workouts, but there absolutely was no running outside on Saturday and it would have been slippery and risky to try it on insufficiently plowed roads on Sunday. I had difficulty getting into a groove where time seemed to pass itself quickly. I probably need to vary the grade more often while I'm running on the treadmill. It's not going to be very helpful in general if I keep it at 0% all the time. It's just easier that way (in more ways than one), but if I have to pay attention to changing the grade and/or pace, it might keep the run more interesting. Well, this was the last week of maintenance and quality workouts are now on the schedule; there will be plenty of paying attention to changing the pace for many of those.
Number of workouts: 6
Total miles run: 40.80
Average miles per run: 6.80
Miles in January: 140.31
Miles in 2016: 140.31
Due to cold and other weather-related issues, I spent most of this week's miles indoors. At least this weekend's two runs were in front of the window full of daylight, which is probably the only thing that kept them from being total drags. It was a bummer to have to trade my only daytime runs of the week for indoor workouts, but there absolutely was no running outside on Saturday and it would have been slippery and risky to try it on insufficiently plowed roads on Sunday. I had difficulty getting into a groove where time seemed to pass itself quickly. I probably need to vary the grade more often while I'm running on the treadmill. It's not going to be very helpful in general if I keep it at 0% all the time. It's just easier that way (in more ways than one), but if I have to pay attention to changing the grade and/or pace, it might keep the run more interesting. Well, this was the last week of maintenance and quality workouts are now on the schedule; there will be plenty of paying attention to changing the pace for many of those.
Sunday, January 17, 2016
Week #3
Summary for week ending Sunday, January 17, 2016:
Number of workouts: 5
Total miles run: 36.84
Average miles per run: 7.37
Miles in January: 99.51
Miles in 2016: 99.51
No run shorter than 10K this week. During every run, I felt better and better as I went along, particularly Sunday's long effort. For that run, I was feeling so fine I added about 3/4 of a mile more than the last two weeks to hit 11 on the day -- turned on the metronome and turned out the miles. Had I gone fifteen minutes later today, I would have ended the run in snowfall. I guess it is really winter now. I wore a new pair of tights (a Christmas gift) today that were maybe a little too much for the 37 degrees -- they seemed a little more reinforced against weather that we weren't quite having yet and there were times when I felt a little constrained and warm. I hate having to wear long pants to run, but when it dips below 40, I'm just not comfortable enough in shorts (unless it's a race -- then I might tough it out). It isn't going to be very warm this upcoming week, so I may get an opportunity to use them in more appropriate conditions (assuming I don't wuss out and hit the treadmill instead, which will probably happen at least once). How long is it until spring?
Number of workouts: 5
Total miles run: 36.84
Average miles per run: 7.37
Miles in January: 99.51
Miles in 2016: 99.51
No run shorter than 10K this week. During every run, I felt better and better as I went along, particularly Sunday's long effort. For that run, I was feeling so fine I added about 3/4 of a mile more than the last two weeks to hit 11 on the day -- turned on the metronome and turned out the miles. Had I gone fifteen minutes later today, I would have ended the run in snowfall. I guess it is really winter now. I wore a new pair of tights (a Christmas gift) today that were maybe a little too much for the 37 degrees -- they seemed a little more reinforced against weather that we weren't quite having yet and there were times when I felt a little constrained and warm. I hate having to wear long pants to run, but when it dips below 40, I'm just not comfortable enough in shorts (unless it's a race -- then I might tough it out). It isn't going to be very warm this upcoming week, so I may get an opportunity to use them in more appropriate conditions (assuming I don't wuss out and hit the treadmill instead, which will probably happen at least once). How long is it until spring?
Sunday, January 10, 2016
Week 2 roundup
Summary for week ending Sunday, January 10, 2016:
Number of workouts: 6
Total miles run: 38.78
Average miles per run: 6.46
Miles in January: 62.67
Miles in 2016: 62.67
Still on target with the Sunday 10-mile long run feeling much, much better than it did last week, and not just because it was 65 out.
Number of workouts: 6
Total miles run: 38.78
Average miles per run: 6.46
Miles in January: 62.67
Miles in 2016: 62.67
Still on target with the Sunday 10-mile long run feeling much, much better than it did last week, and not just because it was 65 out.
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