An Exercise In Utility: November 2007

Ni!

Thursday, November 29, 2007

1:00:00 :: 8.5 miles

Easy run. Would have gone longer, but I needed to be back in the house by 6:00, and I squandered the hours from 3:00 to 5:00 on tea and reading. Definitely a lack of mental energy today in contrast with the excess physical energy and good feeling legs. Cold temps again today (-5F) and willing myself through 2+ hours of slow, poor-traction running yesterday found me needing a mental recovery day. Disappointed in myself to have blown the opportunity to get another 30 minutes in this morning, though I have to remind myself it is a long road to travel yet...
Run Two | Weather | Supplemental | Nutrition | Sleep | Injury

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

2:20:00 :: 20.2 miles

Long run. Pucker up, Mother Nature...it's that time of year again. Warmer today--no wind and +11F, which made for a decent run. One big negative, and something I have to adjust my mindset to, is the change in pace. Due to the massive loss of traction,I'm dropping 10-15 seconds per mile at the same effort/HR. Nothing really to be done about it, as I am already wearing some traction aids. All those are able to do is prevent the really nasty 'leg flying out behind' slippage and provide some security on hidden icy patches. A 1/8 inch spike just can't compete with dry asphalt.

Legs felt really good after the run and throughout the day. No recovery routine today, either.

Ohana 1
231 miles

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

1:25:00 :: 12 miles

Easy run. Absolutely brutal. Conditions were very poor ater six inches of snow last night and a huge cold front that dropped temps from the low 30s to -10F overnight. The running was fantastic--legs felt great, HR was low--but I was so cold. My hands and forearms were nearly numb. This, even with an extra jacket on top. I must just need to build up the tolerance again.

Good run, looking forward to a long run tomorrow.

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

Monday, November 26, 2007

1:15:00 :: 12.2 miles

Moderate pace run. Felt good after cutting back a bit yesterday. First mile was 6:40, so I decided to go for a strong 10 miler and see how it went. This is day ten of mileage with almost nothing faster than 6:45 pace, so it was about time for a change of pace. Just under 60 minutes for 10 miles, then an easy ten minutes to finish the run. Good run. Took an ice bath and recovery drink after. Good run--fun, too. =)

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

Sunday, November 25, 2007

1:10:00 :: 10.1 miles

Easy run. Cut the planned morning one hour run, and just ran in the afternoon. Felt pretty terrible--tired, a bit sore, irritated with the wind. I think not running in the morning worked out poorly.

Ohana 2
20 miles

Saturday, November 24, 2007

2:10:00 :: 18.8 miles (10.2 / 8.6)

Two easy runs. Afternoon run felt better again. Both were good.

Ohana 2
10 miles

Friday, November 23, 2007

2:17:00 :: 20.1 miles (9.1 / 11)

Two easy runs. One hour with four miles at 6:15 pace, and a longer run in the afternoon. Both felt really good. A bit tired from lack of sleep last night.

Ohana 1
190 miles

Thursday, November 22, 2007

1:30:00 :: 13.3 miles

Easy run. Felt pretty energetic this morning, which is weird. I seem to be alternating feeling tired and snappy every other day. Still need to get some more sleep...maybe over the holiday. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Ohana 1
181 miles

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

2:00:00 :: 17.3 miles

Easy run. This one was pretty tough after 1:35. No problem with the legs, just overwhelmingly tired. Didn't sleep enough again last night. Need to get to bed before 8:30 if I'm going to be getting up at 3:30. Did recovery routine the last two days, and it seems to be working out well--no soreness, legs feel good the next day.

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

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

1:45:00 :: 15.5 miles

Easy run. Felt a little bit of that familiar base training fatigue today. The kind of tired that makes you feel like laying down in the road and going to sleep, but that you can easily run forever through with a bit of concentration. Legs felt great again, so it was probably from a lack of sleep over the past couple of days. Either way, it was good to feel again. Cheers!

Ohana 1
168 miles

Monday, November 19, 2007

1:33:00 :: 13.5 miles

Easy run. Misjudged the out and back and went a few minutes longer than planned. Felt great though. Followed the recovery routine (cold bath, 4:1 drink) the last two days, and it seems to be paying off.

Ohana 1
152 miles

Sunday, November 18, 2007

1:30: 00 :: 13.1 miles

Saturday, November 17, 2007

2:00:00 :: 17.1 miles

Easy run. Felt really good to get out for two hours and just roll. It's been a long time, sweetie...

Ohana 1
139 miles

Friday, November 16, 2007

39:50 :: 6.2 miles

Easy progression run. First mile in 7:00, so I must have been feeling fresh from the time off. Came through the next few in the 6:20s, then 6:15 and 6:05 to finish. No stress at all, just felt strong and easy. Good run.

Ohana 1
122 miles

Thursday, November 15, 2007

40:12 :: 5.7 miles

Easy run. Took the past three days off of running (biking or nothing), but I started feeling like I needed to run to keep the habit tuned. Waking up and drinking tea for two hours before going to work is only a nice break for a day or two tops.

Ohana 1
116 miles

Sunday, November 11, 2007

28:31 :: Veteran's Day 8K XC

NEW! Pictures from the race

8k XC race. First place, course record (or, a new World Record for this race! as the director put it). Good race, happy to be done racing this season and looking forward to training for a spring marathon. Race report and pics in the next day or two...

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

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Charts, Etc. STICKY

Running Log

Google Docs has come a long way. Now the time functions on the spreadsheet appear to be accurate, so I'm going to try to keep the log updated in a spreadsheet (for charts, analysis, etc.) as well as in words on the blog.

For now, I'm going to leave this sticky (the chart will update regularly) at the top of the page--just a warning for those of you who don't use bloglines or RSS feeds.

42:02 :: 6 miles

Friday, November 09, 2007

52:45 :: 8 miles

Easy run. Pace was a bit quicker today, but still felt very easy. Good run.

Ohana 1
110 miles

Thursday, November 08, 2007

30:00 :: 4.2 miles

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

1:15:32 :: 12.1 miles

Taper workout. Really windy today, which affected the whole workout. For some stupid reason I decided to skip the loop today, except for a couple of the 1000s. It made the 30 min run look better than it was, and the recovery and the first 1000 look terrible. On balance the whole workout went just fine, but if I had stayed on the loop, I would at least have something to compare it to.

The warmup was done into the wind, then turned neutral or with the wind for the first four of the 5.27 miles--the change in HR is obvious for the last mile heading into the wind. The entire 15 min steady recovery and the first 1000 were done 100% into the wind, which is obvious. And then the last two 1000s were done with ~700m with the wind and ~300m against. Running the loop evened the 1000s out to the 'normal' time/effort/HR ratio, so I was kicking myself for avoiding the loop for the first part of the workout. That, and I wasn't dressed for the wind/cold combo today, and I was fscking freezing.

15 min Warmup
7:02(129) | 6:39(137) (2.2 miles)

30 min@MP
5:45(148) | 5:43(151) | 5:41(151)
5:39(152) | 5:40(157) (5.27 miles)

15 min Steady Recovery
6:18(152) | 6:18(150) (2.38 miles)

3x1000m on 5:00
3:18.5(164-1:03) | 3:07.2(161-1:06) | 3:04.5(160-1:05)

Tough day, good workout. Can't wait to get to the start line.

Ohana 1
102 miles

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

1:15:10 :: 11.2 miles

Easy run. Felt really good, so I had to hold back a bit knowing tomorrow's taper workout will be my last stronger effort before the race on Sunday. HR is still a bit high, but I'm feeling fine, so I guess it is just what it is. ??

Ohana 1
90 miles

Monday, November 05, 2007

1:00:05 :: 8.3 miles

Recovery run. Ran slow enough to keep the HR under 130 (128 average), with a max of 134 for the run. Mystery Coach noted the HR on yesterday's run seemed to be high, so just in case another cold or something similar is on the way, I thought I'd pull back a bit today.

Good run, although there were some icy spots after the rain last night. The aggravation starts now! I don't mind winter, but I HATE the lack of traction. I will be brainstorming on that problem like crazy this winter.

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

Sunday, November 04, 2007

1:30:02 :: 14.2 miles

Moderate run. Ran a bit longer today at a faster pace. The effort felt right, and I felt good, so I went with it. I think my taper workout falls on Wednesday this week (Sunday race), so I will have a few easy days before that comes up. Average pace 6:20, average HR 149.

Ohana 1
79 miles

Saturday, November 03, 2007

1:01:36 :: 9 miles

Friday, November 02, 2007

39:55 :: 6 miles (2mi TT)

Time trial. Very tired and kind of lazy this morning, as I knew I didn't have to go to work today (staying home with the kids). I didn't get out the door until nearly 5:30, even though I was up before 4:00. With the lazy attitude and a 15mph wind seemingly coming from all directions, I didn't have high hopes for the TT, which is just as well so that it didn't turn into a race. The plan was to duplicate this workout, and with the exception of a couple of seconds, I think it went exactly to plan.

5:01.9(166) | 4:59.7(174)

The first mile felt about right, very similar to the rhythm of the 800s from a few days back. It was a second or two fast, so I tried to dial back a bit without losing the rhythm, but was not successful. I went through the third .5 mile at 2:28, again too fast, and dialed back the effort at that point. Just like the last workout, the last quarter mile or so was challenging, and, if I'm being honest, continuing for another half-mile at pace would have been in the cards, but no fun. Heart rates varied by a couple of bpm, which is accounted for in the increased speed.

It looks like I've held even since the end of August, which is another indicator, along with my mental state, that I am ready to hang up the racing flats for a few months and rebuild. I'm not looking past next week's race, but I am ready to be finished with it.

Ohana 1
65 miles

Thursday, November 01, 2007

1:10:00 :: 10.3 miles

Easy run. Feeling pretty good today. Weather is turning cold now--29 this morning--so it's getting to be time to put on the jacket, gloves, etc. Hopefully this year we will have a nice transition, rather than waking up one morning to 12F or something silly like that after 60F the day before. Mmmm...smell that? That's good winter.

Ohana 1
59 miles