Todays run was another 30 minutes worth of trail running, so I could combine my exercise with taking the dog for a walk.
I did a little bit of a different path today, because I wanted to start getting an idea for a large loop I could do these runs on. This is as opposed to last weeks trail run where I went in one direction, and then after about 15 minutes turned around and ran back along the same path.
Although it was 30 minutes (well, more like 32), the distance was not even 2.5 miles. I was intentionally running slower than normal just to keep from tripping and/or twisting my ankle. However, I think that is ok, because I believe these mid week runs are basically just to keep things in running condition.
Total Time: 32:31
Total Distance: 2.4 miles (estimated)
Avg HR: 156
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Saturday, March 21, 2009
10K (Holyoke St Patricks Day Race) - 3/21
Today was the first, and probably one of the relative few, races of the season. I saw relative few because I'm not the kind of person to enter in a race every week or even every couple weeks. For one thing, the entry fees would start adding up, and for another thing - I dont need a race to go out and run a certain distance.
However, I think races still have a place in a training regiment. They give you something in the relative short term to shoot and stay motivated for. Also, depending on the race, it may be a good opportunity to do some hill training, or to help establish a 'race-pace' baseline. No matter how much you try (or, at least for me) - the motivation to push myself at a high level of intensity just isn't there during a normal solo run. So I think throwing in a race every so often can be good for speed work as well.
And that was the exact attitude I took towards this 10K in Holyoke today. I wasn't gunning for a specific or goal time, but I was just looking to get some hill work in. I wasn't going to be too concerned with time or pace. This was also a race I was running in with my dad. While he kinda had a hopeful goal pace in mind, he had also indicated that he seemed less concerned with time and more concerned about just having a good workout.
Any ideas that I may have had about us running the course together (like we did for the half marathon) were pretty much shot right away. With a rather large group (almost 4000!) of people, and a starting line that just isn't quite set up to handle that many participants, we got separated pretty quickly. I kept him in visual range for the first half mile or so, but by that time I was having troubles with the HR monitor strap, and it was sliding down my torso. Normally when I go for a run, I wet the elastic portion and that allows it to stick to the skin long enough for perspiration to take care of it from there. However, in this case we have over an hour long wait before the starting gun - so by the time we got going, the band had lost all ability to stick. I considered the idea of just letting it fall down to my waist, and forego any monitoring this race. But then I decided to suck it up, pull it off, retighten the strap, and put it back on. Screw potential embarassment. Unfortunately, by this time I had lost sight of my dad.
This course was flat for the first mile or so, but then the next 3 miles was hilly - mostly the up kind. As I said previously - I wasn't looking for a particular finish time, so I initially thought I'd take it easy and take my time going uphill. However, a funny thing happens with my legs when I'm in a race. They dont want to slow down from a pace. However, my current pace was going to pose a potential problem because I was already well into the 160's and sometimes in the 170's for HR. Would I be able to keep this intensity up? Heh - I kinda doubted it.
But, the hills kept coming and the mile markers ticked by. My pride was too big to allow me to slow down much and witness more than a couple people passing me. If I slowed down, that would be like admitting defeat and poor planning for starting out too fast in the first place! Doubly true when I'd see someone stop and walk within the first 2 miles, and had thoughts of 'started out too fast, didja?'
I never said my pride is actually intelligent. On the contrary, I know full well that holding back and being reserved in the beginning oftentimes ends up translating to better times overall. At least, theoretically - from what I've read. Never actually tried it!
During the whole time, I kept looking for my dad after we got separated. He had recently said that he did a 10k distance in 54 minutes or so. At the mile markers the times were being shouted out by people with a stopwatch - and so I knew I was doing between an 8:30 and 9:00 pace. Since 54 minutes for 10k is about 9 min/mile - I figured I'd catch up to him within the first couple miles - figuring he didn't get too far ahead of me during my HR monitor strap fiasco. But I never saw him.
So, in the end I finished with an official time of around 52 minutes. It is hard to say, because I forgot to hit 'stop' on my watch when I crossed the finished line. By the time I realized it, the timer was at 54 minutes, so I'm guessing about 2 minutes had past. At some point, I'll check coolrunning.com to see what the official time is. However, the official time was about 30 seconds slower than my real time during the mile markers - because it took me about 30 seconds to reach the start line.
I eventually found my dad after the race, and found out he had finished in just over 50 minutes - a solid couple minutes ahead of me. I had previously thought maybe I passed him and didn't see him - but apparently not. It just turns out he can still run a good race! :)
More important than the time, though, was the good hill workout, and the fact that I felt like I found my hard-effort 10k HR intensity (probably about a 9 out of 10 on effort). I was pretty much at my limit for that distance - the bit of sprinting at the end was about all I had left in me, and a quick glance at the HR monitor showed my HR at 191, I think, during that sprint. That is definately getting towards HRmax for me.
Total Distance: 6.2 miles
Total Time: 52:49 minutes (chip time of 53:19)
Avg HR: 174
However, I think races still have a place in a training regiment. They give you something in the relative short term to shoot and stay motivated for. Also, depending on the race, it may be a good opportunity to do some hill training, or to help establish a 'race-pace' baseline. No matter how much you try (or, at least for me) - the motivation to push myself at a high level of intensity just isn't there during a normal solo run. So I think throwing in a race every so often can be good for speed work as well.
And that was the exact attitude I took towards this 10K in Holyoke today. I wasn't gunning for a specific or goal time, but I was just looking to get some hill work in. I wasn't going to be too concerned with time or pace. This was also a race I was running in with my dad. While he kinda had a hopeful goal pace in mind, he had also indicated that he seemed less concerned with time and more concerned about just having a good workout.
Any ideas that I may have had about us running the course together (like we did for the half marathon) were pretty much shot right away. With a rather large group (almost 4000!) of people, and a starting line that just isn't quite set up to handle that many participants, we got separated pretty quickly. I kept him in visual range for the first half mile or so, but by that time I was having troubles with the HR monitor strap, and it was sliding down my torso. Normally when I go for a run, I wet the elastic portion and that allows it to stick to the skin long enough for perspiration to take care of it from there. However, in this case we have over an hour long wait before the starting gun - so by the time we got going, the band had lost all ability to stick. I considered the idea of just letting it fall down to my waist, and forego any monitoring this race. But then I decided to suck it up, pull it off, retighten the strap, and put it back on. Screw potential embarassment. Unfortunately, by this time I had lost sight of my dad.
This course was flat for the first mile or so, but then the next 3 miles was hilly - mostly the up kind. As I said previously - I wasn't looking for a particular finish time, so I initially thought I'd take it easy and take my time going uphill. However, a funny thing happens with my legs when I'm in a race. They dont want to slow down from a pace. However, my current pace was going to pose a potential problem because I was already well into the 160's and sometimes in the 170's for HR. Would I be able to keep this intensity up? Heh - I kinda doubted it.
But, the hills kept coming and the mile markers ticked by. My pride was too big to allow me to slow down much and witness more than a couple people passing me. If I slowed down, that would be like admitting defeat and poor planning for starting out too fast in the first place! Doubly true when I'd see someone stop and walk within the first 2 miles, and had thoughts of 'started out too fast, didja?'
I never said my pride is actually intelligent. On the contrary, I know full well that holding back and being reserved in the beginning oftentimes ends up translating to better times overall. At least, theoretically - from what I've read. Never actually tried it!
During the whole time, I kept looking for my dad after we got separated. He had recently said that he did a 10k distance in 54 minutes or so. At the mile markers the times were being shouted out by people with a stopwatch - and so I knew I was doing between an 8:30 and 9:00 pace. Since 54 minutes for 10k is about 9 min/mile - I figured I'd catch up to him within the first couple miles - figuring he didn't get too far ahead of me during my HR monitor strap fiasco. But I never saw him.
So, in the end I finished with an official time of around 52 minutes. It is hard to say, because I forgot to hit 'stop' on my watch when I crossed the finished line. By the time I realized it, the timer was at 54 minutes, so I'm guessing about 2 minutes had past. At some point, I'll check coolrunning.com to see what the official time is. However, the official time was about 30 seconds slower than my real time during the mile markers - because it took me about 30 seconds to reach the start line.
I eventually found my dad after the race, and found out he had finished in just over 50 minutes - a solid couple minutes ahead of me. I had previously thought maybe I passed him and didn't see him - but apparently not. It just turns out he can still run a good race! :)
More important than the time, though, was the good hill workout, and the fact that I felt like I found my hard-effort 10k HR intensity (probably about a 9 out of 10 on effort). I was pretty much at my limit for that distance - the bit of sprinting at the end was about all I had left in me, and a quick glance at the HR monitor showed my HR at 191, I think, during that sprint. That is definately getting towards HRmax for me.
Total Distance: 6.2 miles
Total Time: 52:49 minutes (chip time of 53:19)
Avg HR: 174
Thursday, March 19, 2009
30 Minutes (3.4 Miles) - 3/19
Just like Tuesday, todays run was just a goal of 30 minutes. This time, however, I went on the 3.4 mile loop around the house that has some hills - about as much as this area can get. The reason for doing this is that the 10k I'm running in this weekend (3/21) is apparently somewhat hilly in the middle of the course. So I figured I mine as well give my legs one last bit of a hill type workout.
Ideally, if I were really going for a goal time and trying to get the best performance, I probably should have done hill work over the past couple weeks and not touched hills in the 4-5 days before the race (give those muscles plenty of rest) - but the race this weekend is not one that I have a specific time goal in mind. I'm basically looking for it to give me a launching off point, an initial baseline, for the rest of this year.
Total Distance: 3.4 Miles
Total Time: 31:27
Avg HR: 155
Ideally, if I were really going for a goal time and trying to get the best performance, I probably should have done hill work over the past couple weeks and not touched hills in the 4-5 days before the race (give those muscles plenty of rest) - but the race this weekend is not one that I have a specific time goal in mind. I'm basically looking for it to give me a launching off point, an initial baseline, for the rest of this year.
Total Distance: 3.4 Miles
Total Time: 31:27
Avg HR: 155
30 Minutes (~ 3 miles) - 3/17
Todays run was a simple 30 minute run - no pre-determined distance required. In the Galloway plan, the weekday runs on Tuesday and Thursday are more geared towards workout time and potentially drill exercises, as opposed to a specified distance.
So I did a bit of trail running today. Now that most of the ice and snow has melted
on the trails, and since the distance is not the primary goal, running on some trails would be a nice change of pace. The other reason I did this is because it allows me to combine my exercise with the dogs, since he is very good when off leash at the park up the street. Efficiency!
Unfortunately, its a little more difficult to get an idea of the distance. Even though its not the major factor in these runs, I still like to track what data I can.
One thing I realized/remembered is that trail running can be a lot tougher than on a road. With having to pay attention to roots and trip hazards, plus going up and down hills - it certainly gives the lower legs a workout, especially the stabilizing muscles around the ankles. Whether exercising those kinds of muscles can translate into improved overall running performance, I dont know - but I figure it can't hurt!
Total Distance: about 3 miles
Total Time: 30:04
Avg HR: 151
So I did a bit of trail running today. Now that most of the ice and snow has melted
on the trails, and since the distance is not the primary goal, running on some trails would be a nice change of pace. The other reason I did this is because it allows me to combine my exercise with the dogs, since he is very good when off leash at the park up the street. Efficiency!
Unfortunately, its a little more difficult to get an idea of the distance. Even though its not the major factor in these runs, I still like to track what data I can.
One thing I realized/remembered is that trail running can be a lot tougher than on a road. With having to pay attention to roots and trip hazards, plus going up and down hills - it certainly gives the lower legs a workout, especially the stabilizing muscles around the ankles. Whether exercising those kinds of muscles can translate into improved overall running performance, I dont know - but I figure it can't hurt!
Total Distance: about 3 miles
Total Time: 30:04
Avg HR: 151
Saturday, March 14, 2009
7 Miles - 3/14
Up to this point this year, my longest run has been 6 miles, which I had done a couple times. I had also done a couple 5.25 mile runs as well.
At the beginning of the Galloway program, it says that you should be able to run 7 miles in order to start on the schedule. It seemed to me that since I had done a couple 6's, and a couple 5's - that going to 7 should be reasonable. Not in terms of stamina or breathing or muscle fatigue or anything - but joint and knee endurance. Call me a bit conservative and paranoid - but I'll have plenty of chances during this training to go long distances - so I'd rather be cautious up front.
For todays run, since it is categorized under 'long runs' - the idea is to run at least 2 minutes/mile slower than the race pace. Part of the reason for this, I think, is that by going slower, your feet strike the ground more times than with a faster pace. This helps increase durability of joints. I think the other reason to go slower is to keep this workout in the aerobic zone.
Unfortunately, I'm not disciplined enough, at my current level of fitness, to do this. I felt like if I went any slower, I mine as well be walking! But I kept in mind that until my body gets back into the groove of running, my HR will be a little bit higher than I'd like during these long runs. It also didn't help that in the last 2 miles of this particular loop, there is a good sized hill to run up.
Total Distance: 7 miles
Total Time: 1:11:13
Avg HR: 161
So, I would haved like my HR to be in the mid 150's, maximum, for this run. I had previously done this run on September 25, 2008 - about 1 month before the half marathon - four minutes faster and with an avg HR of 149!. Clearly a step has been lost.
But I'm not discouraged - this was only the first week where I was able to run more than three times in a seven day period.
At the beginning of the Galloway program, it says that you should be able to run 7 miles in order to start on the schedule. It seemed to me that since I had done a couple 6's, and a couple 5's - that going to 7 should be reasonable. Not in terms of stamina or breathing or muscle fatigue or anything - but joint and knee endurance. Call me a bit conservative and paranoid - but I'll have plenty of chances during this training to go long distances - so I'd rather be cautious up front.
For todays run, since it is categorized under 'long runs' - the idea is to run at least 2 minutes/mile slower than the race pace. Part of the reason for this, I think, is that by going slower, your feet strike the ground more times than with a faster pace. This helps increase durability of joints. I think the other reason to go slower is to keep this workout in the aerobic zone.
Unfortunately, I'm not disciplined enough, at my current level of fitness, to do this. I felt like if I went any slower, I mine as well be walking! But I kept in mind that until my body gets back into the groove of running, my HR will be a little bit higher than I'd like during these long runs. It also didn't help that in the last 2 miles of this particular loop, there is a good sized hill to run up.
Total Distance: 7 miles
Total Time: 1:11:13
Avg HR: 161
So, I would haved like my HR to be in the mid 150's, maximum, for this run. I had previously done this run on September 25, 2008 - about 1 month before the half marathon - four minutes faster and with an avg HR of 149!. Clearly a step has been lost.
But I'm not discouraged - this was only the first week where I was able to run more than three times in a seven day period.
3 Miles - 3/13
Another weekday, another short fartlek run. Different course from the other day, though. This one is slightly more hilly, I'd say.
Total Distance: 3.1 miles
Total Time: 26:56
Avg HR: 159
Total Distance: 3.1 miles
Total Time: 26:56
Avg HR: 159
3 Miles - 3/10
I mentioned previously that this year I was going to give the Jeff Galloway training plan a shot. Although I was pleased with the results of the training plan from coolrunning.com that I followed last year for the half marathon, I like the Galloway one because it seems like it would fit my schedule a bit better.
Training for a long distance event is time consuming. That was one thing I learned from the half marathon last year. Every day had a priority on running - when was I going to get the scheduled run in, how was I going to manage it if I had to travel that week, balancing the run I had to do with other things that needed to be done around the house, etc. While I could do that again this year, I also want to spend more time cycling, as I've found that is a sport that I enjoy as well. Plus, I like the idea of another exercise to accomodate for the imbalance in muscle strength induced by running - which seems to be a major factor in knee injuries, from what I gather.
So, with the Galloway plan, it seems like the emphasis is more on the heavy lifting (the long runs and speed work), being on one of the weekend days. The other weekend day is a running rest day - which allows me the possibility of going for long bike rides if I want. During the week, the runs are on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and anywhere from 30-45 minutes. During these runs, drills such as cadence and hill workouts, are performed.
The nice thing about the runs during the week being on the shorter side is that it also allows me the flexibility to ride my bike to work more often (17 miles each way) - either on the 2 running rest days, or even on days where a run is scheduled. Since the runs aren't extremely intense, I should be able to manage the stamina to do both activities every so often.
So anyway - the point of todays run was to basically follow the idea of the Galloway plan, and just get out there and run - even if its a short distance. To make things a little more interesting, I did it in a fartlek fashion - which means that you simply speed up for a short period of time, followed by a period of rest. It is a type of speed work, but it is not structured.
Total Distance: 3.04 miles
Total Time: 27:16
Avg HR: 159
Training for a long distance event is time consuming. That was one thing I learned from the half marathon last year. Every day had a priority on running - when was I going to get the scheduled run in, how was I going to manage it if I had to travel that week, balancing the run I had to do with other things that needed to be done around the house, etc. While I could do that again this year, I also want to spend more time cycling, as I've found that is a sport that I enjoy as well. Plus, I like the idea of another exercise to accomodate for the imbalance in muscle strength induced by running - which seems to be a major factor in knee injuries, from what I gather.
So, with the Galloway plan, it seems like the emphasis is more on the heavy lifting (the long runs and speed work), being on one of the weekend days. The other weekend day is a running rest day - which allows me the possibility of going for long bike rides if I want. During the week, the runs are on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and anywhere from 30-45 minutes. During these runs, drills such as cadence and hill workouts, are performed.
The nice thing about the runs during the week being on the shorter side is that it also allows me the flexibility to ride my bike to work more often (17 miles each way) - either on the 2 running rest days, or even on days where a run is scheduled. Since the runs aren't extremely intense, I should be able to manage the stamina to do both activities every so often.
So anyway - the point of todays run was to basically follow the idea of the Galloway plan, and just get out there and run - even if its a short distance. To make things a little more interesting, I did it in a fartlek fashion - which means that you simply speed up for a short period of time, followed by a period of rest. It is a type of speed work, but it is not structured.
Total Distance: 3.04 miles
Total Time: 27:16
Avg HR: 159
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