An Exercise In Utility: February 2007

Ni!

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

1:32:18 :: 14 miles

Easy run with speed. Added in some faster repeats along with the miles every fifteen minutes during the first half of the run. Started with a .46 mile stride in 2:17, about 5:00 pace, then .25 mile in 1:09, about 4:40 pace, then 2x .14 with one minute jog between reps in :37 each, about 4:30 pace. The second ~200 repeat felt incredible, otherwise I was a jumble of legs and feet. Recovery seemed to happen in about the time of the repeat plus a minute. I tried to focus on relaxing, keeping my hips forward, chest high, and getting a good push off the toes. Overall, the speed was a nice addition to the run, and I'm looking forward to getting more of that second 200 feeling. Good run.

Run Two | Weather | Supplemental | Nutrition | Sleep | Injury

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

1:17:37 :: 12 miles

Moderate run. Feeling decent once I got warmed up, but the roads are still slick. Came indoors for the last five miles due to patches of black ice on the sidewalks, made invisible by a light snow. This resulted in slipping and nearly falling down every eighth of a mile while trying to run low 6:00 pace. Aside from the injury risk, it's really, really frustrating.

Anyway, after a 7:12 opening mile, 6:18(141), 6:29(144), 6:20(147), 6:15(148), 6:01(152), 5:56(157), then five on the mill in 6:58(132), 6:41(141), 13:04(146), 6:15(154). Did what I could today, and look forward to the roads being clear again in a few days.

Run Two | Weather | Supplemental | Nutrition | Sleep | Injury

Monday, February 26, 2007

1:13:00 :: 11 miles

Easy to moderate run. Conditions are still poor with the snow and ice. Giving up a good 10 seconds per mile, even with screws in my shoes. Had a few good miles in the mid 6:20s, around 150HR. Leg felt good today.
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Sunday, February 25, 2007

28:38 :: 4.25 miles

Saturday, February 24, 2007

7:45 :: 1 mile + 35:00 bike

Neglected to get the run done early this morning, and it was all downhill from there. Freezing rain came down the day before, then snow started and kept coming down all day until we had several inches on the ground and the roads were sufficiently awful. Then to make things worse, my quad and hip started acting up (yes, that quad and hip), and I couldn't stretch, heat, or otherwise make the twinge go away. I jumped on the treadmill, which didn't last long, then onto the bike, and pretty quickly decided to take a day off. I'm not handling these severe changes in conditions very well at all. It really messes me up.

Run Two | Weather | Supplemental | Nutrition | Sleep | Injury

Friday, February 23, 2007

1:16.17 :: 12 miles

Good run. Got it finished right before the freezing rain hit the ground. Lucky me. Mid to low 6:20s except for the first and last three miles. Finished with a 5:51 feeling pretty strong. Averaged 146HR for the run.

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Thursday, February 22, 2007

1:08:51 :: 10 miles

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

1:34:04 :: 15 miles

Workout. Alternating one mile easy (6:55 pace) with one mile at a modified tempo pace (5:55). I didn't like the on/off nature of this workout, but I think it was an interesting way to change the stimulus. A consistent eight mile tempo would have been mentally easier than alternating like this, so I suppose it is a good exercise for that reason as well. Here are the splits with average HR.

7:09(135) | 5:54(153) | 6:41(140) | 5:56(154) | 6:40(145) | 5:50(156) | 6:46(145) | 5:51(155) | 6:44(146) | 5:49(158) | 6:40(149) | 5:43(161) | 6:49(149) | 5:45(160) | 5:42(166)

Rather than finishing with a final easy mile, I kept up the tempo. I recovered to 120HR in 1:11. It felt fairly tough, but breathing seemed to be the limiter rather than the legs. A few more sessions of repeat miles closer to 10k pace should go a long way toward changing that. Good workout.

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Tuesday, February 20, 2007

1:08:51 :: 10 miles

Monday, February 19, 2007

1:10:05 :: 10 miles

Easy run. Felt surprisingly slow today. Usually I perk up the day after some quicker work, and I thought dropping 3-5 miles off the long run would leave me feeling a little more fresh than it did. Maybe just an off day.

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Sunday, February 18, 2007

1:52:38 :: 17 miles

Long run. Did 14 around 6:35-6:55 pace then added 3 at 5:50(158), 5:53(159), 5:51(160). Overall average pace was 6:37. Felt okay. Wind was blowing in my face pretty good on the faster portion, which made it feel harder than it should have.

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Saturday, February 17, 2007

1:07:38 :: 10 miles | 24:10 :: 3.1 miles

Easy run this morning. Legs felt really good, temp and wind were decent (+11F!), so I just relaxed and had a good run. Added 5k on the treadmill later in the afternoon.

Supplemental exercises: sled pulling, kid lifting, and index finger shutter releases in the afternoon.

That was a joke. Have a good weekend everyone!

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Friday, February 16, 2007

1:16:32 :: 11 miles

NINE ABOVE ZERO with a 20mph wind. Thank the Lord for small miracles. Easy run. Felt a bit lethargic toward the middle, then felt better near the end. Stuck right around the 6:50 range, with a couple of faster miles (6:4x) running with the wind. Decent run.

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Thursday, February 15, 2007

1:26:20 :: 13 miles

WORKOUT! Finally. Pretty cold (-14F) but just a light 5mph wind. Still needed two facemasks, and shoes felt like bricks. Today may have been the last day of the severe cold, though! Three miles easy with two 10 second pickups to warm up, then 4x5 minutes at 5:30 (estimated 12k race pace) pace with three minute recoveries. Here are some stats:

Time Pace HRAvg Dist
5:01 5:28 166 .92mi Felt good, too fast for first third
3:01 7:15 151 .42mi

5:07 5:28 165 .94mi Forgot these were not full miles. Another good effort.
3:00 7:25 151 .41mi

5:02 5:29 166 .92mi Toughest of the four. Started slow, felt clunky.
3:05 7:35 149 .41mi Slowwwing down.

5:05 5:29 165 .93mi Felt really strong, comfortable. Last third was tough.

Finished with five miles around 6:50 pace average. Really felt good overall. While it wasn't 'hard' it is very much an eye opener considering this is just ten seconds off my goal marathon pace. I won't make any judgements about how realistic my goals are until I'm much closer to the marathon, but there's no denying the big gap right now.

We'll see how far these kinds of workouts can close that gap over the next twelve weeks. Cheers.

Run Two | Weather | Supplemental | Nutrition | Sleep | Injury

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

1:17:26 :: 11 miles

Easy run, nasty cold (-20F, 10mph wind). This is getting old. Wore two facemasks, which hampers breathing a bit, but at least it keeps the breathing warm and comfortable.

North Dakota, will you be my Valentine?

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Tuesday, February 13, 2007

53:02 :: 7 miles

Super easy on the treadmill. Just not feeling it today, so it was a minor miracle to stay on for over 50 minutes. I have to get outside, regardless of the weather. This treadmill running is killing my spirit.

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Monday, February 12, 2007

1:25:09 :: 12 miles

Easy run on the treadmill. Minus thirteen this morning, and I wasn't in the mood. Picked up the pace gradually to finish with a couple of good miles (6:10, 6:00). Felt much better afterward, but overall not the greatest. Sick/cold seems to have passed.

Run Two | Weather | Supplemental | Nutrition | Sleep | Injury

Sunday, February 11, 2007

2:00:20 :: 18 miles

Long run. Didn't go so well. Wasn't feeling very good going out the door, so I held the pace around 6:45 hoping I would start feeling better and pick things up. Never really felt much better, though I did try to pick up the pace around eleven miles. Decided to go for two hours and stop. Felt fairly drained at that point anyway, so it was a good place to stop. By not overextending myself on Sunday, like I have the last couple of weeks, I should be feeling better during the week and be able to get some good work in. We'll see.

Run Two | Weather | Supplemental | Nutrition | Sleep | Injury

Saturday, February 10, 2007

1:16:59 :: 12 miles | 40:19 :: 6 miles

Turned off the Dawson's Creek soundtrack to my little weather and sickness induced pity party, and went outside for a jog. It was -21F, but I just decided to say screw it, put on two facemasks, and give it a go. Worked pretty well, and didn't seem to restrict my breathing any more than just one.

Pace was solid and not difficult to maintain. Very comfortable compared to the treadmill at the same pace.

Did another six outside later in the day in some warmer temps (8F), and felt pretty good. Kept the pace easy except for the last mile (5:23). Fast mile felt pretty good.

100 miles even for the week. Yes, the six was done just to get the number. No, that doesn't bother me a bit. I needed to get back there. Cheers.

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Friday, February 09, 2007

1:25:40 :: 12 miles

Thursday, February 08, 2007

56:40 :: 8 miles | 29:00 :: 4 miles

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

1:35:07 :: 14 miles

Easy run. Still not feeling quite right, and forced onto the treadmill to boot (-19F this morning). The cold symptoms seemed better, but I'm still tired and weak. Added a little bit of pace for the final couple of miles (6:20 pace). Otherwise 6:40-7:00 for the rest. At least I got a decent run in over 90 minutes.

The weather doesn't appear to be getting better any time soon. Mornings will be significantly below zero for the forseeable future. Bah.

Run Two | Weather | Supplemental | Nutrition | Sleep | Injury

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

1:07:29 :: 10 miles

Ran outside, finally. Minus six, which is now relatively comfortable, except for the breathing. Couldn't get going much better than 6:30s comfortably due to some icy conditions caused by snow. Finished with a 6:05 that felt a lot faster. This weather is going to kill me.

Recovery was back closer to normal, taking about 50 seconds to get to 120, and 1:08 to 110.

Run Two | Weather | Supplemental | Nutrition | Sleep | Injury

Monday, February 05, 2007

1:04:12 :: 9miles | 37:10 :: 5 miles

Two runs, both on the mill. Thirty-one below this morning. Air temp. I'm sure it's colder somewhere else, so who am I to complain?

Both runs were uneventful. Didn't feel particularly good for either, although I did force myself to do 4x.25 mile hills at 10% incline and 7:00 pace. Those really got the heart rate up (around 165) and forced me to focus on holding form. Finished with a quicker half mile.

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Sunday, February 04, 2007

2:09:41 :: 20 miles

Made eight miles outside, then came in for the last twelve. -15 at noon today with the sun out. Feeling much better today. The cold seems to be almost gone. Zicam is AMAZING. Felt really strong and comfortable through fourteen miles, then gradually started to feel the pace. Heart rate got into the mid-150s as it started getting tough in the last three miles, and went as high as 157 at the very end.

Cut the run at 20 instead of 22 due to the cold and how hard the effort felt at a relatively low heart rate. Just kind of weird. I think it was a good decision, as the recovery to 120HR took over 2:20 and 110HR never really happened--it was over five minutes and it was still fluttering back and forth between 110 to 112. That's one unhappy system. Note to self: don't watch Scrubs while running on the treadmill. I lost count of how many times I almost fell off laughing.

Feeling good following the run. Had a nice light massage and got my recovery eating taken care of. Lots of sleep tonight, and we'll see what tomorrow brings.

Run Two | Weather | Supplemental | Nutrition | Sleep | Injury

Saturday, February 03, 2007

15:50 :: 2 miles

Feeling pretty awful. Bad cold, weak and tired with painful swallowing and shallow breathing. Started Zicam (zinc supplement) yesterday, but can't tell if it's doing anything yet. Tried to run on the mill, but the dry air was irritating my nose and throat, and I just felt weak in general anyway. It's probably better to take the day off than put in a few slow miles.

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Friday, February 02, 2007

1:08:07 :: 11 miles | 46:00 :: 6 miles

Moderate progression run. Started out slow (7:00), then picked up to 6:15-6:30 pace until mile six, then dropped to 5:55-6:00 pace for four miles, then the last two in 5:49, 5:47. Traction was better in most places today, but still less than ideal. Just about fell down in front of a moving car--that was really not enjoyable. Average HR for the run was 155, recovered to 120 in 1:06 and 110 in 1:26. Felt really strong and comfortable throughout the run, much better than yesterday's eval. Ten miles in 1:01:07, which, given the conditions, was very good. More importantly, it felt very easy.

Conditions (traction and weather) are poor for running, and will probably stay this way for a while. I'd venture to guess that 50% of the time February is a tougher month weather-wise than January, at least in North Dakota. I'll make the best of it and concentrate on effort rather than times or HR information. Daily highs will average -5F over the next several days, with lows of -15F to -20F (air temps, not windchill), as well as some wind and snow. Overall, just brutal. Today was comparatively nice at -2F and a 10mph wind.

Added an easy six miler on the treadmill.

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Thursday, February 01, 2007

39:31 :: 6 miles

I did a three mile eval this morning, three miles easy to warm up, then 5:47(156), 5:49(161), 5:42(163) recovered to 120 in 1:02, and 110 in 1:24. It has snowed the last two days, so the roads are shit. I can't really even compare this with my other evals, so this was really more of a short tempo run.

Okay, I have to compare these runs. Shitty roads or not.

Date Mile 1 Mile 2 Mile 3 120 110
2/1 5:47(156) 5:49(161) 5:42(163) 1:02 1:24
1/18 5:47(156) 5:47(159) 5:44(161) :48 1:05
12/8 5:43(158) 5:43(163) 5:40(167) No data

I didn't record the HR recovery data the same way for the December 8 run, but the 30 second and one minute HR averages were comparable to the 1/18 numbers. I was averaging 109 for the 30-60 second period following the run. Pretty quick recovery. Anyway, I have someone hovering over my shoulder glaring at the back of my head right now, so I'm going to analyze this after my run tomorrow morning. Have a good night!

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