Bizzizzatch!
I was pretty psyched on my long run today to find that my pace at 65-75% has dropped dramatically. 131bpm put me at 8:10-8:20 pace, 140 put me at low 7:40's, and 151 put me under 7. This is compared to 9min pace, 8:10 pace, and 7:30 pace, respectively, 2 weeks ago. For reference, my max HR is probably about 203 (taking a measurement from 3 years ago and subtracting 3). It just happened...just like that...all of a sudden. It's interesting to note that I'm now the "magic" 6 weeks into training again. Daniels and others have said that 6 weeks is the time it takes the body to adapt to a given training load. 3 weeks of that have been under Will's instruction, and the 3 weeks before that were 60-70 miles a week of aerobic running. We'll see what happens after another 3 weeks. My resting HR has plunged as well. I'm back under 40bpm again, for the first time since last winter.
Thus ends the first 3 week training cycle.
I'm fairly used the pattern now:
Mon easy running with strides at 5k-10k race pace
Tue hard aerobic run (8-10 miles 85% or 80% respectively)
Wed recovery
Thu mini-workout - mile race pace intervals 200m-600m in length + easy running
Fri recovery
Sat focus workout - tempo/speed/10k drill
Sun long run - 15 miles starting at 65, slowly building to 75%, 12 if 10k drill on sat
The 10k drills are the major workouts. I had my first one yesterday, and it went fairly well. Yesterday was 400m at goal 10k pace, 400 float (6-7min pace). Every 3 week microcycle, the length of the on parts increases, so in 3 weeks I have 800 on 400 float. Eventually, this gets all the way to 1600 on, 400 float! This will be sometime after the Shamrock Shuffle in late March.
Food is the topic of the week it seems. Part of being an athlete seems to be an obsession with food. What do I eat to be healthier? What about to be faster? I've come to the conclusion that nutritional science is too young and complex of a field to take much of the recommendations seriously. I do my best to stay as far away from foods born from recommendations made by the diet industry
I'm kind of tired of hearing people say "Calories in = calories out! It's so simple!" While the first part is true, in principle, the "simple" part is complete bull. Metabolism and appetite are extremely complicated things. People understand some parts of it, but the complex interaction of different food products with the human body seems very poorly understood. For now, I'll stick to "real" foods, stuff that great-grandma would recognize as food, and try to get a good share of veggies. I think that's good enough.
Have a great week everyone!
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Saturday, January 26, 2008
The White Stuff
Just keeps coming. The temps were real low the second half of this week, and there was a good hard snow on Monday night. I ended up running on Tuesday for 10 miles at a pretty hard effort, running over a minute slower a mile than I would have on flat, non-snow-covered ground. Thursday's mini workout was 6x200m with 200m float inbetween. That was run at a temp of about 3 deg F. Yuck. Wed and Fri were recovery, and today was the Saturday bear workout.
I wanted to head to the indoor track again, but varsity softball girls were practicing...so back to the damn TM for a hard workout. 6 miles of 400 on (1:20) 400 float (1:40 avg). This was tougher than last week's workout, but not gut-busting until I took the float parts faster (1:37) in the last couple miles of intervals. Having a friend running next to me helped, but conversation was somewhat limited as I got to the later stages of the run.
I've managed to complete destroy my Leopard installation on my new mac (I'm used to linux as a primary OS, and there it's pretty damn hard to do something that will not allow your computer to boot). By attempting to downgrade Quicktime to an older version that could handle flash, the system was completely hosed, so far as I can tell. This is the best way to learn how to do things with a computer though...kill it and fix it...kill it again, fix it again. Very time consuming though.
How do you folks put your kids to sleep? Our boy is 5 months now, and we're trying to wean him from needing to fall asleep while feeding. There doesn't seem to be any other way that he'll go to sleep except crying himself out of consciousness, and this is exceedingly painful for all involved. Any ideas?
I wanted to head to the indoor track again, but varsity softball girls were practicing...so back to the damn TM for a hard workout. 6 miles of 400 on (1:20) 400 float (1:40 avg). This was tougher than last week's workout, but not gut-busting until I took the float parts faster (1:37) in the last couple miles of intervals. Having a friend running next to me helped, but conversation was somewhat limited as I got to the later stages of the run.
I've managed to complete destroy my Leopard installation on my new mac (I'm used to linux as a primary OS, and there it's pretty damn hard to do something that will not allow your computer to boot). By attempting to downgrade Quicktime to an older version that could handle flash, the system was completely hosed, so far as I can tell. This is the best way to learn how to do things with a computer though...kill it and fix it...kill it again, fix it again. Very time consuming though.
How do you folks put your kids to sleep? Our boy is 5 months now, and we're trying to wean him from needing to fall asleep while feeding. There doesn't seem to be any other way that he'll go to sleep except crying himself out of consciousness, and this is exceedingly painful for all involved. Any ideas?
Monday, January 21, 2008
Third Time's the Charm?
It was cold again on Sunday. 4 deg F when I eventually left the house, -12 or so with windchill. 2 hours out in the cold was on the agenda. I dressed up, and hit the road, where dressing up involved wearing wool socks. At about halfway through my 15 miles, my middle toe on my right foot started throbbing a little. Uh oh. This is the toenail that I've lost twice already, once after a 20 miler in racing flats that were a tad too small, and the second time on a very humid day when I raced a half marathon. Every time it comes back, it's just a little bit uglier.
Maybe this time it's just going to decide that enough is enough, and not bother growing back. Not like I would deserve any better, the hell I've put that little guy through.
The cold wasn't actually that bad. A few times the wind was on my face, and it was annoying, but otherwise I was dressed plenty warm enough. The toe is still pretty unhappy, and will probably be splitsville in a couple weeks. Hope I didn't ruin anyone's dinner.
Today:
6.5 miles or so, mostly on grass with 4x200m strides on the Jackson Park track (41-40-39-38). Pretty nice progression down in time as I loosened up.
Sun:
15 miles starting at 65%, working up to 75%. Kind of tired by the last 4 miles.
Maybe this time it's just going to decide that enough is enough, and not bother growing back. Not like I would deserve any better, the hell I've put that little guy through.
The cold wasn't actually that bad. A few times the wind was on my face, and it was annoying, but otherwise I was dressed plenty warm enough. The toe is still pretty unhappy, and will probably be splitsville in a couple weeks. Hope I didn't ruin anyone's dinner.
Today:
6.5 miles or so, mostly on grass with 4x200m strides on the Jackson Park track (41-40-39-38). Pretty nice progression down in time as I loosened up.
Sun:
15 miles starting at 65%, working up to 75%. Kind of tired by the last 4 miles.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Running Fast, Going Nowhere
Weather said "3 deg F, -15 with wind chill," and I replied, "&*^% you very much!"
I was going to do todays pre-10k drill workout on the indoor track, but an invitational was happening, so no go...headed to the treadmill to do an equivalent workout. Will said 6x(800m (2:48) 200m rest 300m (57) 300m rest), and I said, that's just fine. I felt pretty good today, and I didn't even get bored on the TM, what with the pace switching up so much. I started the .5 mile repeats at 5:36 pace (1.5% grade), and eventually took the pace down to 5:27, since I was feeling good. The "300"'s started at 5:07 (probably should have started a little faster...57s is 5:04 pace), and I did the last couple repeats with 5:00 pace. I just sandwiched the 300's on at the .6 mark of every mile, and kept it up for 1:00 at pace.
The other workouts this week were pretty chill.
Wed
~50 min easy (65-70%)
Thu
2m WU, (400m - 400 rest - 600m - 400 rest - 400m - 400 rest - 200m) (70.1s - 1:52.3 *ugh* - 71.2s - 35.1s) - 30min jog
Weather was terrible. Rain and snow during the day froze about 200m into the first 400m due to a sharp drop in temps. Track ended up pretty slippery. Wind was 19mph or so. Workout wasn't so bad considering.
Fri
~50 min easy (65-70%)
I finally received a computer on order for work, so my productivity will be increasing, which means I'm gonna be busy as hell the next couple weeks. Publication deadline, and a few major talks in the next month to prepare. My first colloquium...that should be fun.
I was going to do todays pre-10k drill workout on the indoor track, but an invitational was happening, so no go...headed to the treadmill to do an equivalent workout. Will said 6x(800m (2:48) 200m rest 300m (57) 300m rest), and I said, that's just fine. I felt pretty good today, and I didn't even get bored on the TM, what with the pace switching up so much. I started the .5 mile repeats at 5:36 pace (1.5% grade), and eventually took the pace down to 5:27, since I was feeling good. The "300"'s started at 5:07 (probably should have started a little faster...57s is 5:04 pace), and I did the last couple repeats with 5:00 pace. I just sandwiched the 300's on at the .6 mark of every mile, and kept it up for 1:00 at pace.
The other workouts this week were pretty chill.
Wed
~50 min easy (65-70%)
Thu
2m WU, (400m - 400 rest - 600m - 400 rest - 400m - 400 rest - 200m) (70.1s - 1:52.3 *ugh* - 71.2s - 35.1s) - 30min jog
Weather was terrible. Rain and snow during the day froze about 200m into the first 400m due to a sharp drop in temps. Track ended up pretty slippery. Wind was 19mph or so. Workout wasn't so bad considering.
Fri
~50 min easy (65-70%)
I finally received a computer on order for work, so my productivity will be increasing, which means I'm gonna be busy as hell the next couple weeks. Publication deadline, and a few major talks in the next month to prepare. My first colloquium...that should be fun.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Just in Time
Saturday's workout was pretty tough. The times Will lay out for me were 2 wu, 1600 in 5:36, 1600 jog and then a slower set of cutback 1600's with 400 rest, ending with a 6:00 final 1600. Then 20 minutes of jogging afterwards. I was feeling a lot too frisky at the starting line of the first 1600, and blew out a 37.5 sec. 200...nope...I'm not gonna make a 5:00 mile happen on this one, time to slow it down a bit. I ended up hitting 5:32, so the rest was more or less on pace.
Then 6:24, 6:10, 6:04, and 5:57. Not too bad. I was happy with the workout, but I was feeling pretty flat by the end. Another 2-3 miles later put me at home. Later that night I felt the soreness creeping on, and by the next morning, I was stiff as hell. The Sun long run went okay...I ran the first 4.5 miles at 9 minute pace, but I could really feel my hamstrings. There was a lot of microtearing in them, especially on the right side. I slowly picked things up from 65 to 75 percent MHR over the course of 15 miles, and was running 7:0X by the end, although there were definitely some twinges.
I relayed my slight worry about the tightness to Will, and he calmly asserted (if one can assert in any way but calmly in an email without using all caps) that with the Mon easy run + light strides, I'd be 95% by Mon night, and ready to rip out a good Tuesday workout the next morning, just in time. Sure enough, the pain was light by Mon. night, and completely unnoticable when I hit the indoor track this morning for 8 miles at 85%. The weather was cold, and there was a slick layer of snow on the ground. A scan of the treadmills at the gym showed that I had too many undergraduate girls to compete with for space. I headed over to the indoor track, despite the wear and tear that 128 turns in 8 miles can inflict.
Again, I was too big for myself in the beginning of the workout. The first 1600 went by in 5:42...yikes. I put on the brakes a bit, ran 5:57, 6:00, 6:06, and then took things back under 6:00 for the remainder. 47:36 for 7.95 miles = 8*(1600m). The lactic burn settled in at around 5-6 miles, but my body learned to love and accept it, and I loosened up again a bit later. A lactic acid stomacache over breakfast was my body reminding me that I shouldn't be so rough on it. Overall, it was a really nice workout. My legs feel fine 12 hours later, and tomorrow's a nice relaxing easy jog. Tremendous hills, deep deep valleys... Thanks Will.
Then 6:24, 6:10, 6:04, and 5:57. Not too bad. I was happy with the workout, but I was feeling pretty flat by the end. Another 2-3 miles later put me at home. Later that night I felt the soreness creeping on, and by the next morning, I was stiff as hell. The Sun long run went okay...I ran the first 4.5 miles at 9 minute pace, but I could really feel my hamstrings. There was a lot of microtearing in them, especially on the right side. I slowly picked things up from 65 to 75 percent MHR over the course of 15 miles, and was running 7:0X by the end, although there were definitely some twinges.
I relayed my slight worry about the tightness to Will, and he calmly asserted (if one can assert in any way but calmly in an email without using all caps) that with the Mon easy run + light strides, I'd be 95% by Mon night, and ready to rip out a good Tuesday workout the next morning, just in time. Sure enough, the pain was light by Mon. night, and completely unnoticable when I hit the indoor track this morning for 8 miles at 85%. The weather was cold, and there was a slick layer of snow on the ground. A scan of the treadmills at the gym showed that I had too many undergraduate girls to compete with for space. I headed over to the indoor track, despite the wear and tear that 128 turns in 8 miles can inflict.
Again, I was too big for myself in the beginning of the workout. The first 1600 went by in 5:42...yikes. I put on the brakes a bit, ran 5:57, 6:00, 6:06, and then took things back under 6:00 for the remainder. 47:36 for 7.95 miles = 8*(1600m). The lactic burn settled in at around 5-6 miles, but my body learned to love and accept it, and I loosened up again a bit later. A lactic acid stomacache over breakfast was my body reminding me that I shouldn't be so rough on it. Overall, it was a really nice workout. My legs feel fine 12 hours later, and tomorrow's a nice relaxing easy jog. Tremendous hills, deep deep valleys... Thanks Will.
Friday, January 11, 2008
How to Run Easy Days?
This has been the hardest part of the schedule so far. My body just doesn't feel right when I try to run at 65-70% HR. Too much clunking around, and I never get to hit a stride. It's fine, since I get lots of opportunities to run fast in this schedule, but I just thought it was interesting. It could be that I just need practice, though, and I'll become more economical at these efforts. My pace literally varies by a factor of 2 between the fast reps and the beginnings of easy runs.
Yesterday was pretty easy, with some 300m repeats thrown in, and today was a slow jog on the treadmill to get ready for tomorrow's somewhat tough workout.
Runs:
1/9/08
Very easy 49 min jog, a lot of it on grass. Kept HR around 135.
1/10/08
2m wu with a couple 100m strides to get loose, then 4x300m with 300m-400m rest (50.9 - 52.0 - 50.8 - 49.8) and then an easy 30 or so minutes, keeping HR below 150.
( Will's been reading the blog, and pointed out that only the Monday workouts are supposed to be scaled back a bit, hence the 1500m pace stuff again ).
1/11/08
Jog to gym, jog 4 on treadmill (since it was well after dark, and my neighborhood isn't so nice in the later hours) and then jog back home.
Yesterday was pretty easy, with some 300m repeats thrown in, and today was a slow jog on the treadmill to get ready for tomorrow's somewhat tough workout.
Runs:
1/9/08
Very easy 49 min jog, a lot of it on grass. Kept HR around 135.
1/10/08
2m wu with a couple 100m strides to get loose, then 4x300m with 300m-400m rest (50.9 - 52.0 - 50.8 - 49.8) and then an easy 30 or so minutes, keeping HR below 150.
( Will's been reading the blog, and pointed out that only the Monday workouts are supposed to be scaled back a bit, hence the 1500m pace stuff again ).
1/11/08
Jog to gym, jog 4 on treadmill (since it was well after dark, and my neighborhood isn't so nice in the later hours) and then jog back home.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Steady State
Not too much time to blow...just the basics for now. Will has already pulled back on the reins a bit, and told me to go easier on the 200m - 400m repeats on Mondays and Thursdays to make sure I'm not zapped for the more serious Tuesday and Saturday workouts.
So today was "serious." Unfortunately, I packed everything except the transmitter for my heart rate monitor when I prepared to run from work later in the day, so no technical feedback. I went by feel, and probably went a little too hard, based on the numbers I ripped off (intended 80%MHR). On the Waterfall Glen course (see side-bar on right), I ran 6:22 average for 9.5 miles on rolling terrain, some of the few hills we have in the Chicago area. I kept a 3-3 breathing pattern for everything except for the longer uphills, so I probably wasn't doing too bad. In the last mile or two, my stabilizers were feeling a little sore, probably since the path was pretty rutted due to the recent thaw.
I'm going to appreciate tomorrow's easy day.
So today was "serious." Unfortunately, I packed everything except the transmitter for my heart rate monitor when I prepared to run from work later in the day, so no technical feedback. I went by feel, and probably went a little too hard, based on the numbers I ripped off (intended 80%MHR). On the Waterfall Glen course (see side-bar on right), I ran 6:22 average for 9.5 miles on rolling terrain, some of the few hills we have in the Chicago area. I kept a 3-3 breathing pattern for everything except for the longer uphills, so I probably wasn't doing too bad. In the last mile or two, my stabilizers were feeling a little sore, probably since the path was pretty rutted due to the recent thaw.
I'm going to appreciate tomorrow's easy day.
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