Today I did another slow and easy run. I wanted to make sure I would be as ready as possible for the 23 miles coming up this weekend, especially with the left knee soreness.
Total Time: 42:12
Total Distance: 4.3 miles
Avg HR: 143
I started out purposely slower than I normally do - normally I'd start out at a comfortable feeling pace, which would put me at about 8:30 for the first mile. However, today I did the first mile in 9:30, as I actually had the discipline to keep from going to fast out of the gate. As much as I know starting slow is better, I often start out faster than I should.
I felt like it made a difference (well, duh!) - as I was able to very comfortably keep a 9:30-10 min/mile pace throughout the entire run, which kept the average HR low. By contrast, the last run a couple days ago saw an average HR of 153, and an average time of only 20 seconds/mile faster.
So, below is the breakdown of the mile times and average HR for that mile:
Mile 1: 9:22/129
Mile 2: 9:53/145
Mile 3: 10:12/146
Mile 4: 10:11/148
Mile 4-4.3: 2:32/149
Also, the soreness in my left knee didn't appear until around mile 3.5 - and it was definately less intense. If before it was a 6/10 on the annoyance scale (maybe a 3/10 on the pain scale), today it was maybe a 3/10 on the annoyance scale. The other difference was that once I was done, it was gone - whereas the other day, it took a couple hours after the run for the soreness to go away.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
45 Minute run (5 miles) - 7/28
As I mentioned in my last post, I'm trying to keep things easy this week. So instead of doing a tempo run today, or even a trail run - I just did my normal 5.25 mile loop at an easy pace.
I still am feeling some soreness in my left knee. I initially thought it was maybe where the hamstring connects to the lower leg, but it actually feels slightly off from that. The only thing I could tell for certain was that I felt it most when lifting my foot off the ground.
The good news is that the soreness in my right knee is gone.
Total Distance: 5.25 miles
Total Time: 49:51
Avg HR: 153
Once again, the hot and humid weather took their toll on performance. As tempted as I was to maintain a 9 min/mile pace, I forced myself to follow the lower HR and let the time be what it would be.
I still am feeling some soreness in my left knee. I initially thought it was maybe where the hamstring connects to the lower leg, but it actually feels slightly off from that. The only thing I could tell for certain was that I felt it most when lifting my foot off the ground.
The good news is that the soreness in my right knee is gone.
Total Distance: 5.25 miles
Total Time: 49:51
Avg HR: 153
Once again, the hot and humid weather took their toll on performance. As tempted as I was to maintain a 9 min/mile pace, I forced myself to follow the lower HR and let the time be what it would be.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
7 mile run - 7/26
Being an 'off' week in the training program, this weekends run was not a long one, nor a speed work session. It was simply a 7 mile run. The plan calls for doing a magic mile timing, but it was very hot and humid (even at 6:30pm after the sun was lower on the horizon), so I didn't bother with that. After the past couple weeks (20 miles, followed by a couple tempo runs, followed by 8 mile repeats, followed by a 5k race), I figure that making this coming week an easy one will be a good idea. There are a couple places that are still experiencing some very mild soreness in certain situations (outside of my left knee, and below my right kneecap), so I don't want to further stress them before the 23 miler next weekend.
So today's run was just a steady 7 miles. With the heat and humidity, I went slow to try and keep the HR as close to 150 as I could - but after about 4 miles, it started creeping up into the high 150's.
Total Distance: 7 miles
Total Time: 1:10:07
Avg HR: 152
Mile 1 - 9:21; Avg HR 136
Mile 2 - 9:49; Avg HR 151
Mile 3 - 9:38; Avg HR 152
Mile 4 - 10:40; Avg HR 155
Mile 5 - 10:42; Avg HR 159
Mile 6-7 - 19:51; Avg HR 155
So today's run was just a steady 7 miles. With the heat and humidity, I went slow to try and keep the HR as close to 150 as I could - but after about 4 miles, it started creeping up into the high 150's.
Total Distance: 7 miles
Total Time: 1:10:07
Avg HR: 152
Mile 1 - 9:21; Avg HR 136
Mile 2 - 9:49; Avg HR 151
Mile 3 - 9:38; Avg HR 152
Mile 4 - 10:40; Avg HR 155
Mile 5 - 10:42; Avg HR 159
Mile 6-7 - 19:51; Avg HR 155
Open water swimming (~0.8 miles) - 7/25
One of the things I wanted to do this year was go for a good length swim in the lake that my parents live on. It is about 2/3 of a mile from one end to the other (the long direction) so it is big enough to give a good swim workout, but small enough to keep a large number of power boats off the water. My initial thought was to swim directly from one end to the other, straight through the middle - but in the morning when I was planning things out, I decided that I'd swim closer to the shore. Going in a counter clockwise direction, the distance is about 1.5 miles to make an entire loop. I figured that might be a bit far, so I made a note of where the 1 mile mark was, and decided that would be where I'd swim to.
My big purpose for this swim was to see how my new stroke, using body roll to provide power for the pull, would translate to effort over an extended period of time. Having spent a few sessions in the endless pool over the past week, I decided that the new mechanics were sound enough that I could give a shot to an elongated swim session. That is not to say that all the mechanics are perfect - there is still a good deal more I could do to minimize the disturbance of water as I swim - but I need to start somewhere.
I started out with bilateral breathing - but once again found that I couldn't maintain it very well. I decided that in the grand scheme of things, the purpose of my swim today was less about the breathing and more about other mechanics, so breathing got punted. I really dont like putting it off as much as I have been - but I have to be careful that I dont try to bite off more than I can deal with when it comes to a new swim stroke.
The biggest thing to report is that in the first 10 minutes, I found I was rolling enough onto my right side (during left arm recovery) that my left eye was coming up out of the water. This was the first time I noticed that happening, and I think that is a good sign that I'm finally getting comfortable and balanced with the roll onto the 'unfavored' side. It may have partially been due to turning my head a bit farther than my torso - but either way it bodes well for future integration with bilateral breathing.
Overall, it was a good swim. It turned out to be a tad short of a mile, because I cut across to the other side of the lake a bit earlier than intended - due to some shallow rocky sections. I avoided those because I didn't want the boat that my dad was in (trailing behind me with a life preserver, just in case) to strike the rocks. When I got to the designated finishing spot, I decided to call it a day. It was already significantly farther than I have ever swum in a single uninterrupted session before, and truthfully it was getting a little boring - just seeing pale green for 30 minutes. The good news, though, is that my arms didn't necessarily feel all to tired.
Total Time: 26:44 (missed about 3 minutes in the beginning because I forgot to start the stopwatch)
Total Distance: ~0.8 miles
Avg HR: 166
I don't believe its necessarily any faster than my previous swim stroke (about 16 minutes for half mile in the Webster Tri) - but it has much more potential. Speed can be increased by increasing the roll frequency, which can be done once the mechanics become more sound and second nature.
Being the first time, I just wanted to establish a baseline. I am going to be looking to repeating this swim (perhaps the entire way around, which would be > 1 mile) at some point in the next few weeks in preparation for the Cranberry Country Olympic Tri on August 30.
My big purpose for this swim was to see how my new stroke, using body roll to provide power for the pull, would translate to effort over an extended period of time. Having spent a few sessions in the endless pool over the past week, I decided that the new mechanics were sound enough that I could give a shot to an elongated swim session. That is not to say that all the mechanics are perfect - there is still a good deal more I could do to minimize the disturbance of water as I swim - but I need to start somewhere.
I started out with bilateral breathing - but once again found that I couldn't maintain it very well. I decided that in the grand scheme of things, the purpose of my swim today was less about the breathing and more about other mechanics, so breathing got punted. I really dont like putting it off as much as I have been - but I have to be careful that I dont try to bite off more than I can deal with when it comes to a new swim stroke.
The biggest thing to report is that in the first 10 minutes, I found I was rolling enough onto my right side (during left arm recovery) that my left eye was coming up out of the water. This was the first time I noticed that happening, and I think that is a good sign that I'm finally getting comfortable and balanced with the roll onto the 'unfavored' side. It may have partially been due to turning my head a bit farther than my torso - but either way it bodes well for future integration with bilateral breathing.
Overall, it was a good swim. It turned out to be a tad short of a mile, because I cut across to the other side of the lake a bit earlier than intended - due to some shallow rocky sections. I avoided those because I didn't want the boat that my dad was in (trailing behind me with a life preserver, just in case) to strike the rocks. When I got to the designated finishing spot, I decided to call it a day. It was already significantly farther than I have ever swum in a single uninterrupted session before, and truthfully it was getting a little boring - just seeing pale green for 30 minutes. The good news, though, is that my arms didn't necessarily feel all to tired.
Total Time: 26:44 (missed about 3 minutes in the beginning because I forgot to start the stopwatch)
Total Distance: ~0.8 miles
Avg HR: 166
I don't believe its necessarily any faster than my previous swim stroke (about 16 minutes for half mile in the Webster Tri) - but it has much more potential. Speed can be increased by increasing the roll frequency, which can be done once the mechanics become more sound and second nature.
Being the first time, I just wanted to establish a baseline. I am going to be looking to repeating this swim (perhaps the entire way around, which would be > 1 mile) at some point in the next few weeks in preparation for the Cranberry Country Olympic Tri on August 30.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Camp Harborview Harborthon 5k - 7/23
A friend of mine (a fellow Rush fanatic - one of the only people I've ever met and known who equals my level of fan-dom) lives in Quincy, and his wife works at Camp Harborview. It is an island in Boston harbor, and the camp gives at-risk kids a chance to attend summer camp. As a fund raiser, they held their first 5k race on the island today.
After taking a ferry ride to the island and getting registered, the race was off. For the first time, I was able to start off in the first 1/4 of the race participants, based on expected performance. This says less about my blazing pace, and says more about the fact that the race was limited in participants, had no race-day registration, and wasn't hugely promoted.
Either way, I decided to go at a HR of around 180 during the race. I knew from the Sons of Italy race that I could sustain that level of exertion for the entire distance. I didn't want to get much above that, because I've never trained for any real length of time with a HR above 180 - so going full tilt like that for 3 miles might be pushing it.
The measuring of the mile markers seemed fairly accurate in this race, which was nice. I noticed in the course description that it was a certified distance. In looking back at the Sons of Italy race, there was no such claim, and I recall that the first mile seemed short, and that the total distance was longer than the advertised 5 miles. So it seems like a certified designation might actually be reliable. For the first mile, I clocked in at 6:50 with a HR of 178. The second mile was the toughest - as I was not running on such readily available energy as the first mile, and it was before my system felt like it was getting into a groove. Not having run for 4 days may have contributed a little bit to that. Either way, the second mile clocked in at 7:04 with a HR of 181 (avg HR of 179 for the mile). For the third mile, either I forgot to hit the lap button as I passed the 3 mile sign, or there was no sign. So the only time I have is that last 1.1 miles, which came in at 8:55 with a HR of 172 (avg 181).
Total Distance: 3.1 miles
Total Time: 22:22
Avg HR: 176
So - the chains keep moving. The last two races before this were seeing a 7:30-7:40 min/mile pace, and now the times are starting to get below 7:20 min/mile - at least for short distances like 5k.
Oh, and that whole thing about running a race with limited field and no race day registration? Usually I'm in the back half of the pack for my age group. Today I finished 42 out of 460 or so participants, and 10 out of 68 in my age group. I think I'm learning what running smarter really means :)
After taking a ferry ride to the island and getting registered, the race was off. For the first time, I was able to start off in the first 1/4 of the race participants, based on expected performance. This says less about my blazing pace, and says more about the fact that the race was limited in participants, had no race-day registration, and wasn't hugely promoted.
Either way, I decided to go at a HR of around 180 during the race. I knew from the Sons of Italy race that I could sustain that level of exertion for the entire distance. I didn't want to get much above that, because I've never trained for any real length of time with a HR above 180 - so going full tilt like that for 3 miles might be pushing it.
The measuring of the mile markers seemed fairly accurate in this race, which was nice. I noticed in the course description that it was a certified distance. In looking back at the Sons of Italy race, there was no such claim, and I recall that the first mile seemed short, and that the total distance was longer than the advertised 5 miles. So it seems like a certified designation might actually be reliable. For the first mile, I clocked in at 6:50 with a HR of 178. The second mile was the toughest - as I was not running on such readily available energy as the first mile, and it was before my system felt like it was getting into a groove. Not having run for 4 days may have contributed a little bit to that. Either way, the second mile clocked in at 7:04 with a HR of 181 (avg HR of 179 for the mile). For the third mile, either I forgot to hit the lap button as I passed the 3 mile sign, or there was no sign. So the only time I have is that last 1.1 miles, which came in at 8:55 with a HR of 172 (avg 181).
Total Distance: 3.1 miles
Total Time: 22:22
Avg HR: 176
So - the chains keep moving. The last two races before this were seeing a 7:30-7:40 min/mile pace, and now the times are starting to get below 7:20 min/mile - at least for short distances like 5k.
Oh, and that whole thing about running a race with limited field and no race day registration? Usually I'm in the back half of the pack for my age group. Today I finished 42 out of 460 or so participants, and 10 out of 68 in my age group. I think I'm learning what running smarter really means :)
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Swimming form work
Yesterday I skipped the 45 minute run, as I've had some lingering soreness in the tendon below my right knee cap. It's gotten noticably better each day, but knowing I have a 5k race on Thursday, and that I did two tempo runs last week plus the mile repeat workout on Sunday - I decided I'd take the day off, rest up and get recovered.
So the past couple days I've gone to the endless pool to work on my swimming form. Initially, I'm just interested in making the changes (keeping head down for balance, waiting a little bit longer before starting the pull, rolling to generate pull power) feel more natural.
After a couple days, I feel like I've made some good progress, although I still have a ways to go. I've found that my breathing from the left side is getting slightly easier, and that I almost don't have to think about my pull timing. I do still have to remember to keep my head down sometimes, though - and the timing of my roll with the pull is still a little off sometimes.
So the past couple days I've gone to the endless pool to work on my swimming form. Initially, I'm just interested in making the changes (keeping head down for balance, waiting a little bit longer before starting the pull, rolling to generate pull power) feel more natural.
After a couple days, I feel like I've made some good progress, although I still have a ways to go. I've found that my breathing from the left side is getting slightly easier, and that I almost don't have to think about my pull timing. I do still have to remember to keep my head down sometimes, though - and the timing of my roll with the pull is still a little off sometimes.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
8 x 1 mile repeats - 7/19
Today's workout was 8 x 1 mile repeats. This is the first set of repeats since the 4 x 1 mile repeats one month ago. There was supposed to be a workout of 6 x 1 mile repeats in there somewhere, but somehow when I put the training plan onto a calendar, that week got missed. Fortunately, the 5 mile run on July 4 somewhat made up for that.
Once again, I did the 1.05 mile loop around the house for these repeats. With the first 1/2 mile being gradual down hill, and the last 1/4 mile being decent uphill, it provides a nice combination of easing into the repeat and ending with a hard effort. This was followed by about 5 minutes of rest in between.
One of the things that confused me last time was this rest period, because Galloway mentions that you get the same benefits regardless of how much rest you take. Today it finally dawned on me why that is - these mile repeats get your body warmed up and fatigued (especially after the first few) during the first portion of the repeat (what that portion is - I'm not sure. Maybe 1/2, maybe 3/4). It is that last bit where all the benefits come from, because only then are you forcing your body to do something that it doesn't have all the necessary resources (oxygen, glycogen, etc) readily available. So a major part of the mile repeats is simply to become fatigued before the actual 'workout'. Although Galloway doesn't specifically mention it, I've read from another source (unverified) that this period of time should be limited in length for maximum benefit. Thus, taking the 5 minutes in between repeats is not hindering any gains to be had from the effort.
(time, avg hr, end hr)
Warm up mile - 8:38
Rest 1 - 5:00, XX, 94
Repeat 1 - 7:20, 160, 172
Rest 2 - 5:00, XX, 106
Repeat 2 - 7:46, 159, 172
Rest 3 - 5:00, XX, 108
Repeat 3 - 7:40, 161, 173
Rest 4 - 5:00, XX, 110
Repeat 4 - 7:50, 161, 173
Rest 5 - ??, XX, 110
Repeat 5 - 7:48, 163, 172
Rest 6 - 5:00, XX, 112
Repeat 6 - 7:50, 164, 174
Rest 7 - 5:00, XX, 110
Repeat 7 - 8:00, 163, 172
Rest 8 - 5:00, XX, 105
Repeat 8 - 8:03, 163, 172
The average results from today (each repeat in about 7:50) is not much different from a month ago, however today it was MUCH hotter. In fact, the plan indicates that if the temperature is above 85 (which it was), to abandon the speed session and wait for a cooler time. I knew I was going to lose a LOT of fluids during this workout, so I made sure to drink plenty of Gatorade during each rest session. The fact I was able to keep pace, I think, is a good indication. Also, during the 4 x 1 mile repeat workout, I was gassed after the 4th repeat. This time, I was not. However, upon a second look, my HR was lower today (low 170's) than it was the first time (high 170's). Given the extra heat today, I think that is fine.
Once again, I did the 1.05 mile loop around the house for these repeats. With the first 1/2 mile being gradual down hill, and the last 1/4 mile being decent uphill, it provides a nice combination of easing into the repeat and ending with a hard effort. This was followed by about 5 minutes of rest in between.
One of the things that confused me last time was this rest period, because Galloway mentions that you get the same benefits regardless of how much rest you take. Today it finally dawned on me why that is - these mile repeats get your body warmed up and fatigued (especially after the first few) during the first portion of the repeat (what that portion is - I'm not sure. Maybe 1/2, maybe 3/4). It is that last bit where all the benefits come from, because only then are you forcing your body to do something that it doesn't have all the necessary resources (oxygen, glycogen, etc) readily available. So a major part of the mile repeats is simply to become fatigued before the actual 'workout'. Although Galloway doesn't specifically mention it, I've read from another source (unverified) that this period of time should be limited in length for maximum benefit. Thus, taking the 5 minutes in between repeats is not hindering any gains to be had from the effort.
(time, avg hr, end hr)
Warm up mile - 8:38
Rest 1 - 5:00, XX, 94
Repeat 1 - 7:20, 160, 172
Rest 2 - 5:00, XX, 106
Repeat 2 - 7:46, 159, 172
Rest 3 - 5:00, XX, 108
Repeat 3 - 7:40, 161, 173
Rest 4 - 5:00, XX, 110
Repeat 4 - 7:50, 161, 173
Rest 5 - ??, XX, 110
Repeat 5 - 7:48, 163, 172
Rest 6 - 5:00, XX, 112
Repeat 6 - 7:50, 164, 174
Rest 7 - 5:00, XX, 110
Repeat 7 - 8:00, 163, 172
Rest 8 - 5:00, XX, 105
Repeat 8 - 8:03, 163, 172
The average results from today (each repeat in about 7:50) is not much different from a month ago, however today it was MUCH hotter. In fact, the plan indicates that if the temperature is above 85 (which it was), to abandon the speed session and wait for a cooler time. I knew I was going to lose a LOT of fluids during this workout, so I made sure to drink plenty of Gatorade during each rest session. The fact I was able to keep pace, I think, is a good indication. Also, during the 4 x 1 mile repeat workout, I was gassed after the 4th repeat. This time, I was not. However, upon a second look, my HR was lower today (low 170's) than it was the first time (high 170's). Given the extra heat today, I think that is fine.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Confirmation on swimming stroke - 7/18
Today I was able to get to the real pool and test out the ideas I had for mechanics earlier in the week that would hopefully result in a lower stroke per length count.
Last weekend, using my normal freestyle stroke, I was pretty consistently around 23-24 strokes per length. With some adjustments to my mechanics, I was able to get to 19-20 strokes per length today. In fact, when I was really trying, I believe I actually got down to 16 or so a couple times - but in those cases I was using my shoulders for extra propulsion. It was not an effort that I could sustain for any length of time. However, it is good to know where my boundaries are.
There was actually quite a bit that I had to keep in mind, which sometimes made it hard to keep track of strokes. I'd be swimming along and realize that I wasn't balanced properly, or that my roll was especially sloppy on one side, or that once in a while I'd start my pull a little early.
In other words, while I've had a peek into the type of form I need to work on, the motions and timing are not second nature yet. That is my focus for the near future - to become more accustomed to all that these new mechanics introduce.
As happy as I was with having confirmation that I'm now at least on the right track, it definately took some effort. The stamina I had with my old stroke has not transferred, so I often did 50 yds or 100 yds and then took a minute or so break. However, the idea with Total Immersion is that form is most important - endurance and speed will come in time.
So, here is a list of things that I need to work on in order to tighten up this new form:
1) More consistent roll. I found that I often rolled better onto my left side than onto my right (due to breathing).
2) Bilateral breathing. I didn't touch this at all today, but I need to get working on it sooner rather than later.
3) Head position to swim downhill and achieve better floating balance. I tend to look ahead a bit more than I should. This keeps the spine from being straight, and ends up dipping my hips and ultimately my legs into the water. That is not balanced, and that is bad because it creates a lot of drag. By submerging my head, I definately noticed that my legs were more prone to being more horizontal.
4) Kick. I should try and achieve a two beat kick, where my left foot kicks when my right arm goes into the water, and vice versa.
Last weekend, using my normal freestyle stroke, I was pretty consistently around 23-24 strokes per length. With some adjustments to my mechanics, I was able to get to 19-20 strokes per length today. In fact, when I was really trying, I believe I actually got down to 16 or so a couple times - but in those cases I was using my shoulders for extra propulsion. It was not an effort that I could sustain for any length of time. However, it is good to know where my boundaries are.
There was actually quite a bit that I had to keep in mind, which sometimes made it hard to keep track of strokes. I'd be swimming along and realize that I wasn't balanced properly, or that my roll was especially sloppy on one side, or that once in a while I'd start my pull a little early.
In other words, while I've had a peek into the type of form I need to work on, the motions and timing are not second nature yet. That is my focus for the near future - to become more accustomed to all that these new mechanics introduce.
As happy as I was with having confirmation that I'm now at least on the right track, it definately took some effort. The stamina I had with my old stroke has not transferred, so I often did 50 yds or 100 yds and then took a minute or so break. However, the idea with Total Immersion is that form is most important - endurance and speed will come in time.
So, here is a list of things that I need to work on in order to tighten up this new form:
1) More consistent roll. I found that I often rolled better onto my left side than onto my right (due to breathing).
2) Bilateral breathing. I didn't touch this at all today, but I need to get working on it sooner rather than later.
3) Head position to swim downhill and achieve better floating balance. I tend to look ahead a bit more than I should. This keeps the spine from being straight, and ends up dipping my hips and ultimately my legs into the water. That is not balanced, and that is bad because it creates a lot of drag. By submerging my head, I definately noticed that my legs were more prone to being more horizontal.
4) Kick. I should try and achieve a two beat kick, where my left foot kicks when my right arm goes into the water, and vice versa.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
6 mile tempo run - 7/16
Today I revisited the 6 mile loop around the house. The last time I did this loop was on June 11, shortly after recovering from my back sprain. That day, I did the 6 miles in about 49 minutes, which gave me an 8:10 min/mile pace.
I was looking to do a marathon pace today to see if it would be any easier for me to maintain an 8 min/mile pace for longer than 5 miles. On the other hand, I knew I had mile repeats coming up this weekend, so I didn't want my HR getting too much into the zone of 170 bpm.
The main difference between todays run and the one from 6/11 was that today I did't stop, whereas last time I had to take a couple walk breaks.
The first mile today was done in 8:00 with an avg HR of 140, which is expected as it is a warm up mile. The second mile was done in 7:49 with an average HR of 166. At the time, I was still feeling pretty strong and just tried to concentrate on maintaining cadence, as I was finding that to be a pretty good way of maintaining speed. The third mile was done in 7:47, with the avg HR creeping up to 168. The fourth mile wasn't actually a mile, because I screwed up on my landmarks. It turned out to be more like 1.27 miles, and the time was 10:25 (giving me a pace of 8:13 for that mile, which had some grade to it) with a HR of 171. The next portion was 0.76 miles in 6:26, for a pace of 8:25 and a HR of 172 - a little disappointing since it included some downhill. The last mile was 8:23 with a HR of 174 - however this included some uphill.
Total Time: 48:52
Total Distance: 6 miles
Avg HR: 165
So the maintaining 8 min/miles for 6 miles still eludes me, but this weekend will be the first time I'll be doing any real speed work beyond the 5 mile distance - so I'm hoping that will translate to some improvement.
Actually, today was a pretty humid day, and I know I lost a lot of water. I also didn't bring any with me, as it was going to be a run < 1 hour in length. While in the past the hour time was a threshold of whether to bring water or not (because anything in the 45 minute range was usually a slower run) - I may be at the point where, in order to maintain peak performance for that distance, I need to bring some fluids with me.
I was looking to do a marathon pace today to see if it would be any easier for me to maintain an 8 min/mile pace for longer than 5 miles. On the other hand, I knew I had mile repeats coming up this weekend, so I didn't want my HR getting too much into the zone of 170 bpm.
The main difference between todays run and the one from 6/11 was that today I did't stop, whereas last time I had to take a couple walk breaks.
The first mile today was done in 8:00 with an avg HR of 140, which is expected as it is a warm up mile. The second mile was done in 7:49 with an average HR of 166. At the time, I was still feeling pretty strong and just tried to concentrate on maintaining cadence, as I was finding that to be a pretty good way of maintaining speed. The third mile was done in 7:47, with the avg HR creeping up to 168. The fourth mile wasn't actually a mile, because I screwed up on my landmarks. It turned out to be more like 1.27 miles, and the time was 10:25 (giving me a pace of 8:13 for that mile, which had some grade to it) with a HR of 171. The next portion was 0.76 miles in 6:26, for a pace of 8:25 and a HR of 172 - a little disappointing since it included some downhill. The last mile was 8:23 with a HR of 174 - however this included some uphill.
Total Time: 48:52
Total Distance: 6 miles
Avg HR: 165
So the maintaining 8 min/miles for 6 miles still eludes me, but this weekend will be the first time I'll be doing any real speed work beyond the 5 mile distance - so I'm hoping that will translate to some improvement.
Actually, today was a pretty humid day, and I know I lost a lot of water. I also didn't bring any with me, as it was going to be a run < 1 hour in length. While in the past the hour time was a threshold of whether to bring water or not (because anything in the 45 minute range was usually a slower run) - I may be at the point where, in order to maintain peak performance for that distance, I need to bring some fluids with me.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
45 minute run - 7/14
Considering the soreness I was feeling on Sunday after the 20 miler, I'm actually pretty surprised I was able to put in anything more than a slow recovery run today. Most of the soreness in my knee and hips were gone by the following afternoon, and throughout today the only time I felt tightness was if I had been sitting for some time. But then I'd take 10 steps and things would loosen up and feel normal.
So in following the plan, I did about 45 minutes today, with a couple miles at an increased pace. I started off with two miles of warm up at about 8:30 min/miles. During this time, the soreness in my left knee that I felt on Sunday and early in the day on Monday returned. I briefly questioned whether I should just keep a slow pace throughout - but ended up deciding that it was just mild soreness and not in any way painful, so I wouldn't let it interfere.
The next two miles I ran at an average of a 7:35 min/mile pace. The main difference this time was how I ran it. I noticed during the 20 miles that I was able to start specifically using the glutes to help move the legs rearward after being planted down. Today, I tried to continue isolating those muscle movements, and trying to derive some propulsion from those muscles.
What I noticed in the end was that my average HR for those two miles was 167 and 171 respectively. This is a significant drop of 7-10 bpm as compared to the same pace I ran during the Sons of Italy 5 miler the other week. The improvement could have been due to conditioning - as I'm not a sports physiologist, it could be that the idea of garnering propulsion power from my ass is a crock.
Following those two miles, I slowed down a bit and ran the last 1.25 miles about an 8:20 min/mile pace.
Total Time: 43:08
Total Distance: 5.25
Avg HR: 160
One thing is definately true though - these 5.25 mile loops at ~8 min/mile pace average are definately getting easier. It was only a week ago that I did the same loop at 5 sec/mile faster, but with an average HR of 166, whereas today it was 160.
So in following the plan, I did about 45 minutes today, with a couple miles at an increased pace. I started off with two miles of warm up at about 8:30 min/miles. During this time, the soreness in my left knee that I felt on Sunday and early in the day on Monday returned. I briefly questioned whether I should just keep a slow pace throughout - but ended up deciding that it was just mild soreness and not in any way painful, so I wouldn't let it interfere.
The next two miles I ran at an average of a 7:35 min/mile pace. The main difference this time was how I ran it. I noticed during the 20 miles that I was able to start specifically using the glutes to help move the legs rearward after being planted down. Today, I tried to continue isolating those muscle movements, and trying to derive some propulsion from those muscles.
What I noticed in the end was that my average HR for those two miles was 167 and 171 respectively. This is a significant drop of 7-10 bpm as compared to the same pace I ran during the Sons of Italy 5 miler the other week. The improvement could have been due to conditioning - as I'm not a sports physiologist, it could be that the idea of garnering propulsion power from my ass is a crock.
Following those two miles, I slowed down a bit and ran the last 1.25 miles about an 8:20 min/mile pace.
Total Time: 43:08
Total Distance: 5.25
Avg HR: 160
One thing is definately true though - these 5.25 mile loops at ~8 min/mile pace average are definately getting easier. It was only a week ago that I did the same loop at 5 sec/mile faster, but with an average HR of 166, whereas today it was 160.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Swimming 'Eureka!'? 7/13
As I've mentioned in a couple posts over the past couple weeks, I've been trying to fix my swim technique - as I've determined that there is more to my being slow in the water than simply lack of muscle power.
In trying to analyze my technique, I've been on a bit of a roller coaster in terms of results. Initially, I started by doing the catch up drill, which really brought to light what it feels like to roll from side to side during the freestyle stroke. Prior to toying around with that drill, rolling more than I had always rolled seemed excessive. However, I was definately able to sense that there was less resistance - especially when the endless pool speed was cranked up pretty high. Then came a series of drills from the DVD that just concentrated on balance and honing the skills to roll from side to side.
So this past weekend, I went to the pool (the real one) to try some of this new stuff out. I was going to concentrate on really reaching far ahead with my hand as soon as it entered the water (to try and elongate the stroke), and I was also going to concentrate on making sure I rolled from one side to the other more.
Unfortunately, things did not go so well. I found that I became winded pretty quickly, and ended up reverting to my old style for the rest of the workout. It was partially due to frustration that I ended up leaving a bit earlier than I was hoping - I didn't even bother to tally up distance because it just didn't matter. One thing I did do before I left, though, was to count the number of strokes per length. In the 25 yd pool, my right hand entered the water between 11.5-12 times - equating to 23-24 strokes per length.
Later that day I went to the local book store and picked up a book on Total Immersion swimming. In reading various forums and such, it seemed like it was a pretty highly regarded method of swimming that primarily centered around the idea of lowering the strokes per length count. I spent a few hours Saturday afternoon reading it.
There were three main concepts that it presented that stuck out - one was the idea of 'pressing your bouy', another was what is referred to as Front Quadrant Swimming, and the last was the idea of using the body roll to generate the power to swim forward as opposed to the shoulders.
The bouy concept was brought up as a way to help convince complete non swimmers that they will not sink, but it also discussed how you can 'push' on it to make yourself feel like you are swimming downhill. This was an immediate attraction to me - as I've always felt my legs, due to my poor kick, were being more of a drag liability than a help. Basically, any kicking I've ever done was simply to try and keep them as horizontal as possible. However, if I could 'swim downhill' and raise my legs - then maybe I could reduce some drag in my form.
As for Front Quadrant Swimming - the basic concept here is that one of your arms should always be forward of your head. The reason for this is that a longer body induces less drag (think of throwing a football vs throwing a softball) - so if you are able to keep one of your arms outstretched in front of you at virtually all times, the 6' human body suddenly becomes more like 7'.
Finally, the use of the rolling action to generate power. Any time I've wanted to swim faster, I've had to really pull, which quickly wears out my shoulder muscles. Part of my old thinking was 'Well, if I want to get better, I'll just have to strengthen those muscles'. Yes, that can be partially true, but I had to face it - the shoulder muscles in a human body are just not nearly as adapt at inducing movement like the other muscles we humans have that actually are - like virtually all of them from the hips and below. The majority of mass in our bodies is tied up in muscles that are dedicated to movement - and now I'm trying to take these puny muscles near the top of the body and ask them to move me through a fluid that is nearly 800x more dense than air?
Today, I felt like it finally started to dawn on me. After some simulated swim strokes in the air, I found that I had been starting my catch immediately after getting my hand in the water - which was oftentimes just before my other arm finished its stroke. The way the timing of my arms worked, I was doing a poor job of making my body longer.
So I went to the endless pool for a brief trial of keeping my extended arm out just a little bit longer - consciously trying to keep from starting the pull until my recovering arm was at least past my head. This also had another effect - by doing so, the timing of the roll coincided with the beginning of the pull, which resulted in the roll providing propulsion. This critical timing was lacking when I was at the pool over the weekend and got frustrated - I was still generating much of my propulsion from my shoulders.
It is hard to say for sure whether this will do anything dramatic to lower my strokes per length - as I need a real pool to check that. However, it really felt like a couple pretty major things 'clicked' that can improve my swimming.
In trying to analyze my technique, I've been on a bit of a roller coaster in terms of results. Initially, I started by doing the catch up drill, which really brought to light what it feels like to roll from side to side during the freestyle stroke. Prior to toying around with that drill, rolling more than I had always rolled seemed excessive. However, I was definately able to sense that there was less resistance - especially when the endless pool speed was cranked up pretty high. Then came a series of drills from the DVD that just concentrated on balance and honing the skills to roll from side to side.
So this past weekend, I went to the pool (the real one) to try some of this new stuff out. I was going to concentrate on really reaching far ahead with my hand as soon as it entered the water (to try and elongate the stroke), and I was also going to concentrate on making sure I rolled from one side to the other more.
Unfortunately, things did not go so well. I found that I became winded pretty quickly, and ended up reverting to my old style for the rest of the workout. It was partially due to frustration that I ended up leaving a bit earlier than I was hoping - I didn't even bother to tally up distance because it just didn't matter. One thing I did do before I left, though, was to count the number of strokes per length. In the 25 yd pool, my right hand entered the water between 11.5-12 times - equating to 23-24 strokes per length.
Later that day I went to the local book store and picked up a book on Total Immersion swimming. In reading various forums and such, it seemed like it was a pretty highly regarded method of swimming that primarily centered around the idea of lowering the strokes per length count. I spent a few hours Saturday afternoon reading it.
There were three main concepts that it presented that stuck out - one was the idea of 'pressing your bouy', another was what is referred to as Front Quadrant Swimming, and the last was the idea of using the body roll to generate the power to swim forward as opposed to the shoulders.
The bouy concept was brought up as a way to help convince complete non swimmers that they will not sink, but it also discussed how you can 'push' on it to make yourself feel like you are swimming downhill. This was an immediate attraction to me - as I've always felt my legs, due to my poor kick, were being more of a drag liability than a help. Basically, any kicking I've ever done was simply to try and keep them as horizontal as possible. However, if I could 'swim downhill' and raise my legs - then maybe I could reduce some drag in my form.
As for Front Quadrant Swimming - the basic concept here is that one of your arms should always be forward of your head. The reason for this is that a longer body induces less drag (think of throwing a football vs throwing a softball) - so if you are able to keep one of your arms outstretched in front of you at virtually all times, the 6' human body suddenly becomes more like 7'.
Finally, the use of the rolling action to generate power. Any time I've wanted to swim faster, I've had to really pull, which quickly wears out my shoulder muscles. Part of my old thinking was 'Well, if I want to get better, I'll just have to strengthen those muscles'. Yes, that can be partially true, but I had to face it - the shoulder muscles in a human body are just not nearly as adapt at inducing movement like the other muscles we humans have that actually are - like virtually all of them from the hips and below. The majority of mass in our bodies is tied up in muscles that are dedicated to movement - and now I'm trying to take these puny muscles near the top of the body and ask them to move me through a fluid that is nearly 800x more dense than air?
Today, I felt like it finally started to dawn on me. After some simulated swim strokes in the air, I found that I had been starting my catch immediately after getting my hand in the water - which was oftentimes just before my other arm finished its stroke. The way the timing of my arms worked, I was doing a poor job of making my body longer.
So I went to the endless pool for a brief trial of keeping my extended arm out just a little bit longer - consciously trying to keep from starting the pull until my recovering arm was at least past my head. This also had another effect - by doing so, the timing of the roll coincided with the beginning of the pull, which resulted in the roll providing propulsion. This critical timing was lacking when I was at the pool over the weekend and got frustrated - I was still generating much of my propulsion from my shoulders.
It is hard to say for sure whether this will do anything dramatic to lower my strokes per length - as I need a real pool to check that. However, it really felt like a couple pretty major things 'clicked' that can improve my swimming.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
20 mile run - 7/12
It is kinda strange to think that the run in week 13 of a 29 week training program would already have one doing 20 miles. But, that is what the Galloway time goal schedule dictates. Just for the hell of it, I cross checked the 20 mile long run with the beginner schedule on coolrunning.com, and it occurs at week 11 of the 20 week program. Looking at the competitive schedule (the other end of the spectrum), it occurs at week 7 of the 20 week program.
So, it seems that there is some degree of precedence for getting the miles in rather early, so the latter portions of the training plan can focus a little more on speed work. It makes sense - get the conditioning in and the aerobic capacity before working on pushing back the lactate threshold.
Yesterday I went to Marathon Sports to pick up a Fuel Belt. Typically, I've brought a 24 oz water bottle (or two) with me on runs that require extra hydration. That suffices for 'shorter' long runs (15 miles or fewer), but I did find on my 17 mile run the other week that it just got kinda tiring having to hold the damn things for 3 hours. A few weeks ago I was talking to a friend of mine and he mentioned that he picked up a Fuel Belt and he really liked it. So I decided to join the bandwagon.
While I was at the register, the clerk asked me how my training was going. I told him it was going well, but the logistics around staying hydrated for a run that long can be a pain - and that I can only go around a loop around the house (where I can easily have additional fluids ready to go) so many times before it just becomes boring. He then gave me a couple packets of a new (to me) mix for a sports drink - Accelerade. I told him I use the Gatorade Endurance, and he said that many people like the Accelerade because it has more complex sugars (fructose), whereas the Gatorade still only has simple sugars (sucrose and dextrose). Ok, I'll give it a shot.
I started off todays run thinking pretty positively - the 17 mile run the other week was a tad smoother than I expected, so I was bouyed by the results of that run. Today would just be a matter of tacking on 3 additional miles - no major biggie. So I packed up the fuel belt with 24 oz of Gatorade and 24 oz of Accelerade - figuring I'd start with the Gatorade, go to the Accelerade, and then when I stop for water, I'd have to switch back to the Gatorade. But it would be enough to try out the new mix. I planned on two stops for water - one at ~8 miles, and one (same place) at about ~12 miles - on the return trip. It was a sunny day, so I'd be sweating more than I had in other long runs when it had been overcast. I debated stopping only at 12 miles, but decided that an extra water stop would not hurt.
No point in going through a mile by mile recap - but one of the first major things I noticed was that I was pretty easily able to keep a HR < 150. Many times on these longer runs, I find I can keep that HR for 30-40 minutes, but then it starts to creep up. In fact, sometimes today it got to the low 140's, and even into the high 130's (usually on downhill sections). That was good news.
The HR started to creep up a bit around mile 13-14 - as that portion has a long gradual uphill. I used cadence and slowing down to keep the HR in check, though - even though I could tell that by this point, I was definately doing > 10:30 min/mile pace. However, the plan says that these runs cannot be too slow - so thats ok with me.
Around mile 16 or so, I started to get a bit of an upset stomach. I wasn't sure of the exact cause, but thought of a few potential reasons:
- Accelerade has protein in it, which my system isn't necessarily used to. Perhaps that was causing an issue - even though I drank the accelerade between miles 8-12.
- Dehydration. The upset stomach came after a particularly long stretch on a road where there was little to no shade, and it was 12:30 by this time, so the sun was getting stronger. However, my mouth was definately not parched, and that is one way I can tell when I'm getting dehydrated.
- Mild (very mild) heat stroke. Same reasons as listed above for dehydration.
- My body just not reacting well to this degree of exertion - by this time, I had been out over 3 hrs - the longest period of time yet.
- Low electrolytes. Kind of a slim possibility - but I kinda messed up the portioning out of the Gatorade powder and everything was a bit weaker than I normally make it (which is already slightly weaker than the product calls for).
In any case, I figured I'd stop and walk for a bit to see what happened. I ended up walking for 10 minutes before I started to feel better and could jog again.
I kept plodding along until I got to around mile 17-18, when things really started to get brutal. Nothing was particularly painful or anything like that (and my upset stomach had largely passed) - but my hips and knees started to really tighten up. I ended up having to take a few walk breaks in that final 2.5 miles or so.
In the end, this was a pretty ass kicking run. I initially thought that it was mostly due to the increased mileage - but as time has passed and I've started to recover, I think I've come to the conclusion that I failed to drink enough liquids. I was out just around 3 hours and 45 minutes, and drank a total of 96 oz of liquid. When I determined my sweat rate last year, I found I lost about 30 oz/hr - and that was with a temperature of about 75 degrees, no direct sun, and 65% humidity. Today there was a lot of direct sun, and the temperature got up to about 80. So, even going with the 30 oz/hr estimate (realistically it was probably higher on a day like today), being out for nearly 4 hours means 120 oz of water minimum. So being at 96 oz total came up a bit short. Not dangerously short - but when you are talking about a distance like 20 miles, every little bit counts. Especially when you are talking about being short of fluids that aid in removal of metabolites from your muscles.
This run also resulted in a bit of knee soreness that I've never really experienced before. Fortunately it has gotten noticably better in the past 8-9 hours since the run, so I'm confident that no major lasting damage has been done. The soreness is mostly on the outside of my knee - seemingly in the area of the lateral ligament. My right knee has an ever so slight degree of soreness in it. It feels like it may be the type of soreness that can take a couple days to get back to 90%.
Total Distance: 19.77 miles
Total Time: 3:42:18 (includes walk breaks and about 6 minutes lost when refilling water bottles)
Avg HR: 149
On the plus side, I was looking through some old entries from last year, and I came across one where I noted that my hips were tightening up around mile 6.
Even as recently as my 15 mile run around a month ago, I noted that my hips started tightening up around mile 11, or after an hour and fifty minutes.
Considering that things didn't start to tighten up until around mile 16 today, which was around the 3 hr mark - thats pretty much all the proof I need that these long slow runs which build up endurance are definately worthwhile.
So, it seems that there is some degree of precedence for getting the miles in rather early, so the latter portions of the training plan can focus a little more on speed work. It makes sense - get the conditioning in and the aerobic capacity before working on pushing back the lactate threshold.
Yesterday I went to Marathon Sports to pick up a Fuel Belt. Typically, I've brought a 24 oz water bottle (or two) with me on runs that require extra hydration. That suffices for 'shorter' long runs (15 miles or fewer), but I did find on my 17 mile run the other week that it just got kinda tiring having to hold the damn things for 3 hours. A few weeks ago I was talking to a friend of mine and he mentioned that he picked up a Fuel Belt and he really liked it. So I decided to join the bandwagon.
While I was at the register, the clerk asked me how my training was going. I told him it was going well, but the logistics around staying hydrated for a run that long can be a pain - and that I can only go around a loop around the house (where I can easily have additional fluids ready to go) so many times before it just becomes boring. He then gave me a couple packets of a new (to me) mix for a sports drink - Accelerade. I told him I use the Gatorade Endurance, and he said that many people like the Accelerade because it has more complex sugars (fructose), whereas the Gatorade still only has simple sugars (sucrose and dextrose). Ok, I'll give it a shot.
I started off todays run thinking pretty positively - the 17 mile run the other week was a tad smoother than I expected, so I was bouyed by the results of that run. Today would just be a matter of tacking on 3 additional miles - no major biggie. So I packed up the fuel belt with 24 oz of Gatorade and 24 oz of Accelerade - figuring I'd start with the Gatorade, go to the Accelerade, and then when I stop for water, I'd have to switch back to the Gatorade. But it would be enough to try out the new mix. I planned on two stops for water - one at ~8 miles, and one (same place) at about ~12 miles - on the return trip. It was a sunny day, so I'd be sweating more than I had in other long runs when it had been overcast. I debated stopping only at 12 miles, but decided that an extra water stop would not hurt.
No point in going through a mile by mile recap - but one of the first major things I noticed was that I was pretty easily able to keep a HR < 150. Many times on these longer runs, I find I can keep that HR for 30-40 minutes, but then it starts to creep up. In fact, sometimes today it got to the low 140's, and even into the high 130's (usually on downhill sections). That was good news.
The HR started to creep up a bit around mile 13-14 - as that portion has a long gradual uphill. I used cadence and slowing down to keep the HR in check, though - even though I could tell that by this point, I was definately doing > 10:30 min/mile pace. However, the plan says that these runs cannot be too slow - so thats ok with me.
Around mile 16 or so, I started to get a bit of an upset stomach. I wasn't sure of the exact cause, but thought of a few potential reasons:
- Accelerade has protein in it, which my system isn't necessarily used to. Perhaps that was causing an issue - even though I drank the accelerade between miles 8-12.
- Dehydration. The upset stomach came after a particularly long stretch on a road where there was little to no shade, and it was 12:30 by this time, so the sun was getting stronger. However, my mouth was definately not parched, and that is one way I can tell when I'm getting dehydrated.
- Mild (very mild) heat stroke. Same reasons as listed above for dehydration.
- My body just not reacting well to this degree of exertion - by this time, I had been out over 3 hrs - the longest period of time yet.
- Low electrolytes. Kind of a slim possibility - but I kinda messed up the portioning out of the Gatorade powder and everything was a bit weaker than I normally make it (which is already slightly weaker than the product calls for).
In any case, I figured I'd stop and walk for a bit to see what happened. I ended up walking for 10 minutes before I started to feel better and could jog again.
I kept plodding along until I got to around mile 17-18, when things really started to get brutal. Nothing was particularly painful or anything like that (and my upset stomach had largely passed) - but my hips and knees started to really tighten up. I ended up having to take a few walk breaks in that final 2.5 miles or so.
In the end, this was a pretty ass kicking run. I initially thought that it was mostly due to the increased mileage - but as time has passed and I've started to recover, I think I've come to the conclusion that I failed to drink enough liquids. I was out just around 3 hours and 45 minutes, and drank a total of 96 oz of liquid. When I determined my sweat rate last year, I found I lost about 30 oz/hr - and that was with a temperature of about 75 degrees, no direct sun, and 65% humidity. Today there was a lot of direct sun, and the temperature got up to about 80. So, even going with the 30 oz/hr estimate (realistically it was probably higher on a day like today), being out for nearly 4 hours means 120 oz of water minimum. So being at 96 oz total came up a bit short. Not dangerously short - but when you are talking about a distance like 20 miles, every little bit counts. Especially when you are talking about being short of fluids that aid in removal of metabolites from your muscles.
This run also resulted in a bit of knee soreness that I've never really experienced before. Fortunately it has gotten noticably better in the past 8-9 hours since the run, so I'm confident that no major lasting damage has been done. The soreness is mostly on the outside of my knee - seemingly in the area of the lateral ligament. My right knee has an ever so slight degree of soreness in it. It feels like it may be the type of soreness that can take a couple days to get back to 90%.
Total Distance: 19.77 miles
Total Time: 3:42:18 (includes walk breaks and about 6 minutes lost when refilling water bottles)
Avg HR: 149
On the plus side, I was looking through some old entries from last year, and I came across one where I noted that my hips were tightening up around mile 6.
Even as recently as my 15 mile run around a month ago, I noted that my hips started tightening up around mile 11, or after an hour and fifty minutes.
Considering that things didn't start to tighten up until around mile 16 today, which was around the 3 hr mark - thats pretty much all the proof I need that these long slow runs which build up endurance are definately worthwhile.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
40 minute run - 7/9
After the 5 mile race last Saturday, and the pace run on Tuesday - I just wanted todays run to be an easy one. Both of those other runs had a sustained HR of around 170 bpm or higher, and this weekends 20 mile run will be quite a workout as well.
So I just did a 4.3 mile loop, trying to keep my HR below 150. I wanted to see what kind of pace would result at this point in my training.
Total Distance: 4.3 miles
Total Time: 40:52
Avg HR: 147
So I just did a 4.3 mile loop, trying to keep my HR below 150. I wanted to see what kind of pace would result at this point in my training.
Total Distance: 4.3 miles
Total Time: 40:52
Avg HR: 147
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
40 minute run (5 miles) - 7/7
Last week I found I've been misinterpreting some of the goals for the runs that occur during the week in the Galloway program. I've been thinking that Tuesday and Thursdays runs are mostly just to get running time in. However, when reading the fine print, I found that Tuesday is supposed to be a cadence/pace/acceleration glider drill day (if recovered from weekend run), and Thursday is to be a hill workout.
Fortunately, I happen to have been doing some hill workouts and speed workouts anyway. I thought I was going a little above and beyond, but it turns out that is not the case.
So, in trying to come back to following the plan a little more closely, today was a day for pacing. The idea is to do 1-3 miles at goal pace, with walk breaks as they'd be taken during the race. To be honest, I'm starting to gravitate away from walk breaks recently. I dont know whether I'll return to them - but part of the reason I'm getting away from them is that the description of the run-walk-run ratio, as described at jeffgalloway.com, is confusing.
Total Distance: 5.25 miles
Total Time: 42:44
Avg HR: 166
This was not the fastest I've done this loop, but when compared to other times I've done this loop at ~8 min/miles, it was definately the least uncomfortable. My goal HR was between 166-172, which would correspond to a threshold pace at 88-92% my max HR. However, I didn't realize until afterwards that when I came up with that range, I was using the wrong formula for HR - so I really should have been aiming for a HR of 172-176. To be honest, though - considering I did the 5 mile race on Saturday at an average of 178, and that was only a couple days ago, I'm just as happy to not have today be a day for mid-high 170's in the HR.
Fortunately, I happen to have been doing some hill workouts and speed workouts anyway. I thought I was going a little above and beyond, but it turns out that is not the case.
So, in trying to come back to following the plan a little more closely, today was a day for pacing. The idea is to do 1-3 miles at goal pace, with walk breaks as they'd be taken during the race. To be honest, I'm starting to gravitate away from walk breaks recently. I dont know whether I'll return to them - but part of the reason I'm getting away from them is that the description of the run-walk-run ratio, as described at jeffgalloway.com, is confusing.
Total Distance: 5.25 miles
Total Time: 42:44
Avg HR: 166
This was not the fastest I've done this loop, but when compared to other times I've done this loop at ~8 min/miles, it was definately the least uncomfortable. My goal HR was between 166-172, which would correspond to a threshold pace at 88-92% my max HR. However, I didn't realize until afterwards that when I came up with that range, I was using the wrong formula for HR - so I really should have been aiming for a HR of 172-176. To be honest, though - considering I did the 5 mile race on Saturday at an average of 178, and that was only a couple days ago, I'm just as happy to not have today be a day for mid-high 170's in the HR.
Swimming drills - 7/6
The other day, a friend lent me a DVD on how to swim faster freestyle, and it included some drills to help improve technique when swimming. Since I've determined my technique pretty much sucks, I've been trying to get as much information on how to improve it as possible.
After watching the video, I determined that just about everything with my swimming technique sucks, and needs to be revamped. Drills more basic than the catch up drill need to be worked on. So today I started with the very basic stuff in the DVD.
The first portion to cover is the core - forget the arms, hands and extremities for now. So at first, I just set the pool speed to about as low as it can go (because my kicking sucks), and just floated along on my belly, experimenting with hip position and so forth to see what would result in the least about of drag. Example.
Next, it was a drill to help get accustomed to being on your side in the water. This was simply staying on one side with one arm extended, and using only a kick for propulsion. Example.
Finally, I looked at doing a drill where you spend some time on one side, followed by switching to the other side. This more closely starts to resemble the rolling motion that you are looking for when swimming freestyle. Example.
Similarly to when I started working on bilateral breathing a couple weeks ago, I found that at first when doing these drills, they were tough - especially when it came time to get a breath. More than once I had to interrupt the drill(s) because I got water in my mouth and not air. However I did manage some improvement - at least enough to be noticable, but far from being proficient.
I suppose that is why drills are to be repeated a lot.
After watching the video, I determined that just about everything with my swimming technique sucks, and needs to be revamped. Drills more basic than the catch up drill need to be worked on. So today I started with the very basic stuff in the DVD.
The first portion to cover is the core - forget the arms, hands and extremities for now. So at first, I just set the pool speed to about as low as it can go (because my kicking sucks), and just floated along on my belly, experimenting with hip position and so forth to see what would result in the least about of drag. Example.
Next, it was a drill to help get accustomed to being on your side in the water. This was simply staying on one side with one arm extended, and using only a kick for propulsion. Example.
Finally, I looked at doing a drill where you spend some time on one side, followed by switching to the other side. This more closely starts to resemble the rolling motion that you are looking for when swimming freestyle. Example.
Similarly to when I started working on bilateral breathing a couple weeks ago, I found that at first when doing these drills, they were tough - especially when it came time to get a breath. More than once I had to interrupt the drill(s) because I got water in my mouth and not air. However I did manage some improvement - at least enough to be noticable, but far from being proficient.
I suppose that is why drills are to be repeated a lot.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Swimming - catch up drill
The past couple weeks, I've been doing a lot more to re-examine my swimming. Originally, my thought was that if I am slow at swimming, I can try to improve in the same way I do for running - some speed/interval work and some longer and slower swims. My thought was that it would increase muscle strength and endurance, which would make me a better swimmer.
However, upon further investigation into how certain people are fast swimmers, it started to become obvious there was another major factor to consider - resistance. With running (and biking), you only overcome air resistance, which is pretty minimal compared to water. When swimming, there needs to be a lot more focus on technique and cutting through the water than simply being able to power through it. By improving stroke technique, the number of strokes to swim a certain distance is lowered, making for a more efficient swimmer.
So, now I had an idea on why I suck at swimming so much - but I still needed to find out how I could get better. It is great to know I have to lower my stroke count, but unless I would be able to learn how to do that effectively, all it would likely do is slow me down.
Enter facebook. I had noticed a few weeks ago that a girl I went to high school with posted an update saying she was participating in a Masters Swimming program. So I figured 'what the hell' and emailed her out of the blue to see if she knew of any drills to help improve stroke technique. She responded back saying the catch up drill is a good one.
So I visited the endless pool to try this drill out, just to get a feel for what it would do. The results were very interesting. First of all, by really only having one arm able to pull at a time, your arms find ways to maximize stroke length - like by reaching farther ahead at the beginning of the stroke, and by continuing the pull after the hand passes the hips. In my typical freestyle stroke, my pull would go from about 6-8" ahead of my head to about my hips - maybe a 2.5-3 foot stroke length. When doing this drill, I'd guess that about another foot of length is added.
And the extra 30-40% stroke length is just one factor. By reaching far ahead at the beginning of the stroke, I found my body would roll much more onto its side than before. By rolling onto the side, the body slices through water much more easily, as opposed to swimming on the belly. Essentially, when I was swimming before, I was doing the equivalent of trying to push a sail through the water. By the time I'd lift my head up out of the water to breath, the fact that I was a 'belly swimmer' ended up resulting in a huge degree of drag being created by my upper torso when moving through the water.
I didn't do any time or HR monitoring for this swim session, since the point was just to get familiar with the drill and to experiment around with what it's results were.
However, upon further investigation into how certain people are fast swimmers, it started to become obvious there was another major factor to consider - resistance. With running (and biking), you only overcome air resistance, which is pretty minimal compared to water. When swimming, there needs to be a lot more focus on technique and cutting through the water than simply being able to power through it. By improving stroke technique, the number of strokes to swim a certain distance is lowered, making for a more efficient swimmer.
So, now I had an idea on why I suck at swimming so much - but I still needed to find out how I could get better. It is great to know I have to lower my stroke count, but unless I would be able to learn how to do that effectively, all it would likely do is slow me down.
Enter facebook. I had noticed a few weeks ago that a girl I went to high school with posted an update saying she was participating in a Masters Swimming program. So I figured 'what the hell' and emailed her out of the blue to see if she knew of any drills to help improve stroke technique. She responded back saying the catch up drill is a good one.
So I visited the endless pool to try this drill out, just to get a feel for what it would do. The results were very interesting. First of all, by really only having one arm able to pull at a time, your arms find ways to maximize stroke length - like by reaching farther ahead at the beginning of the stroke, and by continuing the pull after the hand passes the hips. In my typical freestyle stroke, my pull would go from about 6-8" ahead of my head to about my hips - maybe a 2.5-3 foot stroke length. When doing this drill, I'd guess that about another foot of length is added.
And the extra 30-40% stroke length is just one factor. By reaching far ahead at the beginning of the stroke, I found my body would roll much more onto its side than before. By rolling onto the side, the body slices through water much more easily, as opposed to swimming on the belly. Essentially, when I was swimming before, I was doing the equivalent of trying to push a sail through the water. By the time I'd lift my head up out of the water to breath, the fact that I was a 'belly swimmer' ended up resulting in a huge degree of drag being created by my upper torso when moving through the water.
I didn't do any time or HR monitoring for this swim session, since the point was just to get familiar with the drill and to experiment around with what it's results were.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Sons of Italy 5 M Race - Lawrence, MA - 7/4/09
Earlier this week my friend (who I did the Webster Lake Tri with) told me he was considering doing the Sons of Italy 5M run in Lawrence, MA this weekend. In looking at my training program, this weekend was to be a 6 mile run with a magic mile. I took some creative liberties with the idea of a magic mile and said 'yeah sure I'm supposed to do some speed work this weekend - so a 5 miler would be good'. The main reason I wanted to do it though was that I've managed to do a sub-40 minute 5 mile route twice - once last fall and once this spring. I was almost able to extend this to 6 miles a little over a month ago, but fell short by about 10 sec/mile and ended with an 8:10 pace. So I wanted to see what difference the increased cadence, the 4 x 1 mile repeat speed work session a few weeks ago, as well as the fact I was able to do 7:20 min/miles during the Webster Lake Tri a couple weeks ago.
A few days ago, we started looking at the course layout, and found that it was going to potentially be a challenge. The course route itself crossed several major looking streets, and without closing the roads off, we weren't sure how this was going to pan out. In addition, certain portions of the route went through neighborhoods where it looks like we could definately get mixed up. I actually wasn't too awful concerned - I am not normally in a position where I can't just follow the crowd, and I assumed there would be volunteer direction as well as police on traffic duty to manage the cars. How my friend is quite a bit faster than I am - and depending on the size of the race field, it was a very real possibility that he would be running a good portion of the race without someone in visual distance ahead of him. We ended up getting to the venue about an hour early, so we decided to drive the course to see where hills, intersections, etc were. It turned out to be a good thing - because the course was different than was published on the website.
So after a preview of the course, we did some warming up. I find that I am starting to get to the point where a warm up is potentially a good and beneficial thing. In longer races like a half marathon, there is plenty of time to warm up - but this is not necessarily the case in shorter runs. I find that as your ability increases, so does the need for warm ups for shorter runs. Not that I'm looking to place high in my age group (I still suck) - but when you pay to enter a race you can just as easily do at home for free - you mine as well see what you are capable of.
My time for the supposed first mile of the race was the first sub 7 minute mile I've done since high school - 6:48. However, upon mapping out the course when I got home, I believe the first mile was actually another maybe 1/10 of a mile farther along - so its likely that the first mile was more like 7:15 or 7:20 or so. So while that sounds great, that told me I had overdone it and gone out too fast. My body and legs also told me that as well. And my HR monitor - as it was registering the high 170's and low 180's. I wasn't sure I'd be able to sustain that level of intensity. However I was in race mode - and I have a hard time convincing myself to slow down - so whatever intensity I was doing was going to be the intensity I'd keep until I just couldn't do it anymore.
The second mile clocked in at 15:07 - averaging about 7:33 min/mile. At this point my HR was 182, and I didn't know how in hell I was going to finish unless I slowed way down. Maybe later, but not now. For now, I still had the willpower to keep going.
At mile 3, my time was 22:39 - still keeping the 7:30-7:35 min/mile pace. My HR was 181, but averaged 179 throughout the previous mile. Once again - maybe I'd slow down later, but not yet.
At mile 4, the time was 30:27 - I had slowed down about 15 seconds in that last mile, but was still well under 8 min/mile. HR was 180, with an average of 179.
At the time, I thought the course was exactly 5 miles, so when my last mile clocked in at 8:26, I thought I had slowed way down. However, it turned out to be 1.15 miles, and when you account for that extra .15 miles, the pace for the last mile was 7:20. I believe the main reason for that was the last little push I was able to give towards the end.
So, final results:
Total Distance: 5.15 miles
Total Time: 38:54
Avg HR: 178
Notable things from this race:
- Based on my best estimate of mile markers, it looks like I was able to maintain a pace between 7:20-7:40 throughout the race. This is good news - as I was looking to see if I could maintain 7:30 for an entire 5 miles.
- During the last stretch, my HR topped out in the high 180's - at least 187. It was also during this stretch that I felt like my lungs were trying to suck in more air than was possible through my mouth. I dont specifically recall feeling this any time recently - the only other time it may have happened was the Holyoke St Patricks day race. In either case, it occured to me that this may be my HRmax. I'll be looking to update my HR training zones internal link soon to reflect some additional information that I've gathered since last fall on HR training zones, etc. The short version is that I have a feeling that at around 190, I have reached my VO2max.
- I gave this race about as much as I could give for 5 miles - possibly even more than the St Patricks Day race - which I rated a 9/10 on the intensity scale. I'd put this one at a 9.5/10. The only reason I dont give it a 10/10 is because I may have been able to continue for a little bit longer, and I'm hesitant to say that I'm incapable of trying just a little bit harder.
A few days ago, we started looking at the course layout, and found that it was going to potentially be a challenge. The course route itself crossed several major looking streets, and without closing the roads off, we weren't sure how this was going to pan out. In addition, certain portions of the route went through neighborhoods where it looks like we could definately get mixed up. I actually wasn't too awful concerned - I am not normally in a position where I can't just follow the crowd, and I assumed there would be volunteer direction as well as police on traffic duty to manage the cars. How my friend is quite a bit faster than I am - and depending on the size of the race field, it was a very real possibility that he would be running a good portion of the race without someone in visual distance ahead of him. We ended up getting to the venue about an hour early, so we decided to drive the course to see where hills, intersections, etc were. It turned out to be a good thing - because the course was different than was published on the website.
So after a preview of the course, we did some warming up. I find that I am starting to get to the point where a warm up is potentially a good and beneficial thing. In longer races like a half marathon, there is plenty of time to warm up - but this is not necessarily the case in shorter runs. I find that as your ability increases, so does the need for warm ups for shorter runs. Not that I'm looking to place high in my age group (I still suck) - but when you pay to enter a race you can just as easily do at home for free - you mine as well see what you are capable of.
My time for the supposed first mile of the race was the first sub 7 minute mile I've done since high school - 6:48. However, upon mapping out the course when I got home, I believe the first mile was actually another maybe 1/10 of a mile farther along - so its likely that the first mile was more like 7:15 or 7:20 or so. So while that sounds great, that told me I had overdone it and gone out too fast. My body and legs also told me that as well. And my HR monitor - as it was registering the high 170's and low 180's. I wasn't sure I'd be able to sustain that level of intensity. However I was in race mode - and I have a hard time convincing myself to slow down - so whatever intensity I was doing was going to be the intensity I'd keep until I just couldn't do it anymore.
The second mile clocked in at 15:07 - averaging about 7:33 min/mile. At this point my HR was 182, and I didn't know how in hell I was going to finish unless I slowed way down. Maybe later, but not now. For now, I still had the willpower to keep going.
At mile 3, my time was 22:39 - still keeping the 7:30-7:35 min/mile pace. My HR was 181, but averaged 179 throughout the previous mile. Once again - maybe I'd slow down later, but not yet.
At mile 4, the time was 30:27 - I had slowed down about 15 seconds in that last mile, but was still well under 8 min/mile. HR was 180, with an average of 179.
At the time, I thought the course was exactly 5 miles, so when my last mile clocked in at 8:26, I thought I had slowed way down. However, it turned out to be 1.15 miles, and when you account for that extra .15 miles, the pace for the last mile was 7:20. I believe the main reason for that was the last little push I was able to give towards the end.
So, final results:
Total Distance: 5.15 miles
Total Time: 38:54
Avg HR: 178
Notable things from this race:
- Based on my best estimate of mile markers, it looks like I was able to maintain a pace between 7:20-7:40 throughout the race. This is good news - as I was looking to see if I could maintain 7:30 for an entire 5 miles.
- During the last stretch, my HR topped out in the high 180's - at least 187. It was also during this stretch that I felt like my lungs were trying to suck in more air than was possible through my mouth. I dont specifically recall feeling this any time recently - the only other time it may have happened was the Holyoke St Patricks day race. In either case, it occured to me that this may be my HRmax. I'll be looking to update my HR training zones internal link soon to reflect some additional information that I've gathered since last fall on HR training zones, etc. The short version is that I have a feeling that at around 190, I have reached my VO2max.
- I gave this race about as much as I could give for 5 miles - possibly even more than the St Patricks Day race - which I rated a 9/10 on the intensity scale. I'd put this one at a 9.5/10. The only reason I dont give it a 10/10 is because I may have been able to continue for a little bit longer, and I'm hesitant to say that I'm incapable of trying just a little bit harder.
Friday, July 3, 2009
50 minute run (MM) - 7/3
I was actually supposed to do a 40 minute run yesterday, but life schedules got in the way, and I had to put it off until today. Normally I'd prefer to do my runs in the evening, but I'm doing a 5 mile race with a friend tomorrow morning, so I opted to get this run in during the morning to maximize recovery time before the race tomorrow.
In looking at the running plan, this weekend was to be a 6 mile run with a Magic Mile. Since I'm going to be doing a lot of speedwork in tomorrow's 5 mile run, I didn't want to be doing a magic mile when recovering from a 5 mile race. So I opted to switch the two - I'd do a magic mile today (but only 5 miles total). It might impact my race tomorrow a bit because I'll have done several minutes at a high HR today - but I'm ok with that, because it has been a while since I've done a magic mile, and I wanted to see how my pace may have changed with the higher cadence.
Nearly right away, I could tell it was going to be a little tough. First, the sun was out - which has not been common this year at all. Sounds minor, but when you're body is used to cooler weather and then the sun is out, I start to sweat instantly. Second, this was only about 45 minutes after waking up - and it didn't dawn on my until after I started that I did a poor job of rehydrating after a good long sleep the night before - let alone have a whole days worth of meals to stock up on energy stores like I normally do before most of my training runs.
Total Distance: 5.25 miles
First 2 miles time: 16:52
First 2 miles avg HR: 151
Magic Mile time: 7:25
Magic Mile avg HR: 176
Last 2.25 miles time: 26:45
Last 2.25 miles avg HR: 152
Compared to the last magic mile on April 4:
- The first two miles were slightly faster for the same HR.
- The magic mile itself was essentially exactly the same, which is a little bit of a disappoint when just looking at the straight numbers comparison, because it indicates no improvement has been made. However, I think the fact that I started off dehydrated and low on energy is a major factor. The reason I am able to believe this is because for the Webster Lake Tri - I was able to maintain basically the same pace (7.5 min/miles) for just about 3 miles. The magic miles are supposed to be an all out effort - so either I didn't go all out (even though my HR got as high as 181 or so), or I did go all out and there just didn't happen to be much gas in the tank.
- The last portion was significantly slower than before - but this time I was pretty liberal with walk breaks and trying to keep my HR in the low 150's so that I wouldn't be fatigued for tomorrow's race. Even running slowly would get my HR into the mid 150's - as once I spend significant time in the anaerobic HR zones (160's and higher), it takes a long time for my body to switch back to aerobic.
In looking at the running plan, this weekend was to be a 6 mile run with a Magic Mile. Since I'm going to be doing a lot of speedwork in tomorrow's 5 mile run, I didn't want to be doing a magic mile when recovering from a 5 mile race. So I opted to switch the two - I'd do a magic mile today (but only 5 miles total). It might impact my race tomorrow a bit because I'll have done several minutes at a high HR today - but I'm ok with that, because it has been a while since I've done a magic mile, and I wanted to see how my pace may have changed with the higher cadence.
Nearly right away, I could tell it was going to be a little tough. First, the sun was out - which has not been common this year at all. Sounds minor, but when you're body is used to cooler weather and then the sun is out, I start to sweat instantly. Second, this was only about 45 minutes after waking up - and it didn't dawn on my until after I started that I did a poor job of rehydrating after a good long sleep the night before - let alone have a whole days worth of meals to stock up on energy stores like I normally do before most of my training runs.
Total Distance: 5.25 miles
First 2 miles time: 16:52
First 2 miles avg HR: 151
Magic Mile time: 7:25
Magic Mile avg HR: 176
Last 2.25 miles time: 26:45
Last 2.25 miles avg HR: 152
Compared to the last magic mile on April 4:
- The first two miles were slightly faster for the same HR.
- The magic mile itself was essentially exactly the same, which is a little bit of a disappoint when just looking at the straight numbers comparison, because it indicates no improvement has been made. However, I think the fact that I started off dehydrated and low on energy is a major factor. The reason I am able to believe this is because for the Webster Lake Tri - I was able to maintain basically the same pace (7.5 min/miles) for just about 3 miles. The magic miles are supposed to be an all out effort - so either I didn't go all out (even though my HR got as high as 181 or so), or I did go all out and there just didn't happen to be much gas in the tank.
- The last portion was significantly slower than before - but this time I was pretty liberal with walk breaks and trying to keep my HR in the low 150's so that I wouldn't be fatigued for tomorrow's race. Even running slowly would get my HR into the mid 150's - as once I spend significant time in the anaerobic HR zones (160's and higher), it takes a long time for my body to switch back to aerobic.
40 minute run - 6/30
The past couple days I've continued to be a little bit sore from Sunday's 17 mile run. Nothing major, but enough to know I had done something that was pushing the limits a bit.
So, since I was still obviously recovering from the other day, I decided that today's run should be on the easier side - no cadence, hills or race pace drills. The Galloway plan normally has these drills on Tuesdays, but indicates to do them only if recovered from the weekend run. I figure I've pretty much got the cadence down (just have to get more efficient at it), and on Thursdays I typically do either hills or some sort of speed work - so I believe I still have the bases covered.
Total Time: 40:15
Total Distance: ~4 miles (trail running, based on estimate of 10 min/mile)
Avg HR: 146
So, since I was still obviously recovering from the other day, I decided that today's run should be on the easier side - no cadence, hills or race pace drills. The Galloway plan normally has these drills on Tuesdays, but indicates to do them only if recovered from the weekend run. I figure I've pretty much got the cadence down (just have to get more efficient at it), and on Thursdays I typically do either hills or some sort of speed work - so I believe I still have the bases covered.
Total Time: 40:15
Total Distance: ~4 miles (trail running, based on estimate of 10 min/mile)
Avg HR: 146
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