Ni!

Friday, September 21, 2007

37:07 :: 5 miles

Recovery run. Definitely sick. I've got a solid sinus cold going on right now, with plenty of drainage to make things miserable. The run was tolerable. Just enough distance to get the blood flowing. I'm sleepy.

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

Thursday, September 20, 2007

1:01:40 :: 10 miles (4x1mile)

Workout. Much better today. Getting a cold, so I've started up the Zicam (zinc) again. Weather this morning was 52F and raining with a 10mph east wind, which is nice because it's fairly easy to avoid on the loop outside my house.

5:08.2(159)-6:42(142)
5:06.3(166)-6:50(142)
5:03.5(167)-6:58(144)
4:58.2(169)-1:04 to 120HR

I felt pretty flat for the first two, so even though it was better than yesterday, things still weren't going 'good'. After the second rep, I thought I would be done at three, but somehow the fog lifted, and I felt really good on the third one. Still, I looked at what I had done over the past week, factored in getting sick, bad day yesterday, etc., and thought I should still cut it at three. The end of the mile jog had me feeling strong though, so I figured I'd give it a go, and it felt even better than the previous rep. No idea what happened, but it went well.

Ice bath and recovery drink, then a few easier days of running ahead. Hopefully I can stay ahead of this cold and stay on track.
Run Two | Weather | Supplemental | Nutrition | Sleep | Injury

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

1:06:32 :: 10 miles

Busted workout. Set out to do 4x1 mile with one mile jog recovery at 5:08 moving down toward 5:02, but only did the first one [5:08(162)]. Two mile warmup did not feel good, but like I have mentioned before, sometimes that precedes an amazing workout. Not today. The 5:08 felt like a 4:48. The first .25 worked out to only 5:12 pace, and the vents were way too hard. I finished out the rep, ran an easy seven miles to close out the run, and decided to try again tomorrow and hope for a better day.

An interesting heart rate anomaly this morning during the warmup (actually during a few runs in the last ten days or so). My heart rate will go from 50-52 standing around, and then for the first mile or so, the HR goes as high as the high-180s, which is higher than my max (??). The monitor doesn't seem to be flaking out, because if I stop running, it will quickly go back down to the 70s. A quick check of the wrist pulse indicated that it was truly in the ballpark of 170-180. I've heard of this before, but usually it's accompanied by some really uncomfortable feelings and just feels wrong. I feel totally normal. This goes on for the first mile or a bit longer, then over the course of a minute or so, the HR comes back down to a pace appropriate number (i.e. 7:00 pace, in the mid-120s). Weird.

And, just to explain further what kind of day it has been, the starter went out on my '98 Accord today (finally! 161K miles). This is the first part I have had to pay for in the six years I have owned the car. Pretty amazing. $350 for a starter. Pretty amazing. The Honda place had it installed and back to me in less than three hours. Pretty amazing.

Alright, that is pretty annoying. Later.
Run Two | Weather | Supplemental | Nutrition | Sleep | Injury

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

55:03 :: 8 miles

Easy run. HR was 45 standing around this morning. 126HR average for the run at 6:56 pace. Feeling good, ready for a workout tomorrow.

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

Monday, September 17, 2007

30:19 :: 5 miles

Short progression run. Didn't have much time this morning, so went for a short, quicker run. One mile warmup and cooldown, then three in the middle:

6:00(142) | 5:37(153) | 5:23(162)

Felt really good, strong and relaxed the whole run. It's too soon to get a real effect from yesterday's run, but running the hills seem to have made the small niggles in my legs feel much better. Interesting...

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

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Catch Up :: Week of 9.9-9.16 2007

Updating the blog has been difficult! Here we go...

Sun 9.9 :: 6.25 miles 44:12 7:05 pace 126HR. Recovery run. Felt very good.
Mon 9.10 :: ~10 miles 1:10:00-ish 7:00 pace. Easy run, watch died. Felt good through six miles, then a bit tired. Very slight quad soreness.
Tue 9.11 :: 11 miles 1:14:27 6:46 pace 134HR. Easy run. Felt solid the whole run. Very slight quad soreness.
Wed 9.12 :: 14 miles 1:32:46 6:37 pace 134HR. Easy run. Felt really good, had to dial back a bit in the first few miles, sneaking under 6:30 pace. Felt well recovered, but a bit cautious still.
Thu 9.13 :: 10 miles 1:04:22 6:26 pace 138HR. Easy to moderate. Picked up a few miles in the 6:00-6:15 range. Feeling quite good.
Fri 9.14 :: 7 miles 44:20. Evaluation run. Writing a separate entry.
Sat 9.15 :: 18 miles 2:00:42 6:41 pace 137HR. Long easy run. Longest run in a while. Steady 6:40-6:50 miles through 16 then 6:25(148), 6:17(149) to finish. Could feel some heaviness set in about 14 miles, but otherwise felt very good.
Sun 9.16 :: 10 miles 1:11:09 7:07 pace 128HR. Easy run. Ran easy with Cindy (thanks g-ma and g-pa!) for four miles, then 6:40 pace for a couple of miles over hills on golf course, then several miles at plus 7:00 pace to finish.

Overall, a solid recovery week with a couple of moderate efforts to prevent that not-so-fresh feeling.
Run Two | Weather | Supplemental | Nutrition | Sleep | Injury

1:11:38 :: Beardsley Half Marathon (1st)

:: UPDATED with HR and split info ::

1:11:38 (5.25 pace) - HR Avg 166 - Max HR 173

Recorded distance was 13.23 miles, so the splits indicate the pace according to GPS (i.e. splits are faster than official time).

5:27.9(160) | Slightly uphill. 100 calorie drink @ start.
5:22.3(166) | Rolling hills
5:30.8(165) | Flat, heavy rain, into some wind
5:24.2(165) | More flat. 100 calorie drink.
5:27.0(166) | Slight rolling hills. Took/shared lead.
5:21.0(168) | Pressing/surging on hills.
5:21.2(169) | Long uphill at 10K. Rolling hills.
5:25.0(169) | 100 calorie drink. Dropped 3rd place.
5:23.1(167) | More surging. Flat. Patience.
5:28.0(167) | Patience. Slight rolling hills.
5:31.0(168) | Strong surge at 10.3 on uphill.
5:26.2(168) | Wet, muddy road for 1/2 mile. <10 sec lead.
5:21.5(170) | Hard into the last mile. Mostly flat.
1:09.0(171) | .23mi into the finish ~5:10 pace

Now that was fun! No time for a full race report...just out of the car from a long drive, kids to tickle, etc., but I will say that it was definitely a race versus a time trial, which is a nice change. I think there were three of us together through about seven miles, with fellow UND alum Richie not too far behind in fourth after a conservative start. The first half of the race was series of surges and pace checks, which made me edgy. Those guys seemed comfortable. Fortunately I was, too.

Between eight and ten, I threw in a couple of decent surges, but reminded myself to relax until at least ten. Then, just past ten miles, I threw in a solid surge for about 90 seconds and made the break last to the end. I wouldn't say I was comfortable with the win until about 200m to go. The last time I saw 2nd place, at 12 miles, he was only ten seconds back. One of the consequences of never looking back is that you don't know what the hell is going on back there! But, it caused me to run a bit scared, which is always good for time.

Anyway, it was a really good race, it rained the whole time (which worked out well, as usual), and I met some cool people today, including Frank Shorter. Great day! Sorry it took a while to get something posted...I know how the blogosphere likes its updates! More later.

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

Friday, September 14, 2007

44:20 :: 7 miles (w/4mi@5:43)

Evaluation run. Two mile warmup in 14:00, then four miles, trying to hit 5:42 for each to check HR and recovery.

5:43(148) | 5:42(153) | 5:43(153) | 5:44(153)

Recovered to 130 in :27, 120 in :33, and 110 in :45. The run felt really strong and easy overall. Nice recovery as well.

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

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

1:12:49 :: 10 miles

Recovery run. Put the new Interpol album on the iPod and ran very easy today. The kids have been sick and I've been tired and possibly sick as well. Standing HR of 45 this morning, yes 4-5, that is not a typo. That is so low, it makes me wonder if the last two days of low heart rates are from being sick or if it results from fitness. I guess I'll find out on Saturday. =) Averaged 126 HR and 7:17 pace. Felt really good, and had a nice run.

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

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

1:09:15 :: 11 miles

Duplicated taper workout from 5/15/07. Went really well, except for the few minutes right before the 1000s--I've had GI issues yesterday and today, so I had about a three minute break before starting those, and I was considering not doing any the way that I was feeling. The whole workout was like that--I felt terrible when I wasn't running, but when I was at speed, everything felt great. All I had to do was keep moving.

The past three days, I've felt like I was coming down with something, and I noticed the heart rate was up a bit during the easy runs. Now today the HR seemed back to normal, but the energy level felt a bit off. Legs and breathing were both excellent though. Strange day.

10 minute warmup (1.4 miles)

5:55(141) | 5:47(149) | 5:45(151) | 5:42(154) | 5:42(154) (5 miles)

6:13(145) | 3:20(142) (1.52 miles)

3:04.3(156-:49) | 3:01.6(160-:49) | 3:04.0(162-:55)

1 mile cooldown

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Saturday, September 01, 2007

1:01:13 :: 9 miles

Easy run. Standing HR of 54, average HR for run 132. Warm and humid (68F, 63F dewpoint) this morning, which elevated the HR a bit. Legs felt really good, could use some more sleep though.

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