Back from altitude training

I spent the last week in the mountains of New Mexico at 7500 feet.  I ran 40.63 miles at an average pace of 8:56 and gained over 3000 feet of elevation in the process.  The thin air was hard on the breathing and the climbing and descents were hard on the legs.  The first 2 days were miserable and I was huffing for breath like when I had just started running.  By the end the breathing was better but my pace was pretty steady.  I mostly just tried to enjoy myself.

We drove through the night on Friday and got home early Saturday.  After sleeping all day Saturday I was ready for a long run on Sunday.  10 miles at 7:42 pace.  It was hot and humid (84 degrees).  The heat seemed worse than the altitude.  My HR hit 180 at the end of the run which is the highest its been since I started running with a HR monitor again.  On the way home I stopped at Jubilee park and did a 1/2 mile down and up a 13% grade hill to keep with my elevation gain theme.

After Monday off, I ran my first track workout today.  3X800 plus 2 X 400 with 400 recovery jogs.

Splits
2:50
2:59
2:56
1:30
1:25

I was not really that pumped for the workout and it was a bit of a struggle.  My breathing was labored and my legs felt pretty dead.  Strava thought it was a good effort though and looking back my HR stayed pretty low never getting over 170 until the very end of the last 400.  I think I'm just a bit tired from my vacation still and maybe am just not accustomed to this type of effort?

Is sub 7 minute pace losing it's luster?

April 23rd was my first steady state training run under 7 minute pace (9.34 miles at 6:56 pace) .  It was a hard effort, a real struggle, but also elating.  My average HR was 158.  I called it the workout of the year.

Today I ran 8 miles at 6:57 pace.  The weather was warmer but my average heart rate was 152.  It was a solid effort but not a struggle at all.  My mind wandered off for the 4th mile and I ran a 7:18.  Most of the other miles were just around 7 minute pace +/- a few seconds...  I dropped a 6:19 final mile and a 3:00 final 1/2 mile to make sure I got under 7.  That was hard running but still not a struggle.

Final stats:

8.01
55:42
6:57 pace
Avg HR 152 (Max 171)

I did not consider this my workout of the year.  But in a year where consistency is the goal, I'll take it.  6:5X pace may not impress me any more but these workouts are making me stronger and faster.  Hope to see 6:4X pace come fall.

Run fast for the f of it

My training has been going very well for the last year.  I have been steadily progressing, building endurance, building mileage, building strength, and haven't gotten myself hurt yet while doing it.

The one element that has been lacking is any real speed work.  My hard efforts have been 8-9 mile runs at steady state/tempo pace.  Rarely have I approached anything close to my threshold besides a few fast finishes.

That changed on Tuesday, when I spontaneously decided to pick up the effort and test my fitness is a 4 mile time trial.

I started off with a basic 1 mile warm up with some surges.  Then stopped to change into my brand new Alphafly's… time to take those baby's for a test drive.

Then I was off...   The Alphafly's felt really weird.  Not at all like the Vaporfly's… The vaporfly's feel fast... the alphafly's stack height and cushioning is really noticeable.  Not a bad thing but just not like other running shoes.

First mile was fast but controlled.  I hit it in 6:15 and my HR was at 161 by the end (153 average).  Mile 2 had the 2 large steep hills.  Alphafly's were almost out of control fast down the hills.  They were not so good at going up the hills.  Mile 2 was my slowest mile at 6:24 and the hills were the factor.  My heart rate was about 170 at this point.  I consciously made a decision to reduce intensity slightly to keep the heart rate in the upper 160s as I continued on to the 3rd mile.  3rd mile was the fastest at 6:08 pace as I picked up after 2.5 and approached the 5K mark. 

Hit the 5K in 19:24... a new Masters PR for me.  First time under 20 for a 5K in over 10 years (July 4th, 2010 was the last time)…  and I wasn't done yet.

I ran my last mile at 6:12.8 with a slight surge at the end.  HR averaged 170 for the last 2 miles and peaked at 176 with the final surge.

Final stats:

4.01
25:03 (24:59.8 at the 4 mile mark)
6:14.8 pace

Very happy with the effort and first time under 6:30 pace for a run.  Monday was my rest day but I was coming off a 15 mile run on Sunday and a record mileage week so I was far from tapered.  My HR never really took off and I would say I was probably running at 95% effort?  In a race I probably could have maintained the pace for 10K.

On the hand, while aerobically it wasn't much of a push, my legs definitely felt the lactic acid building.  Just not something I'm used to since I haven't been pushing my pace.  4-6 weeks of real LT/VO2 work might take me to the next level?...

Oh well, everything is speculation.  All I can really do is continue to train consistently and smartly to build strength while avoiding injury and see where it all shakes out when racing resumes.

Week 28 in Review

These weekly summaries are providing a good mental boost for me as I zoom out and am able to appreciate the consistency of my training this year.  At this point I have no real goal except to consistently train with the knowledge that it is all building to a vaguely defined marathon goal in the eventual future...  Hopefully the fall of 2021 but who knows at this point.

With 8 miles on Saturday, I capped the week at 54.17 total miles, a new weekly high.  I really don't plan on building up much more weekly mileage this year.  50 MPW is a feat in itself and so far I've record 8 weeks at 50+ miles (this year/ever/in the last 16 weeks).  The plan for now is to keep hitting the 50s in July and August while I'm rocking these mileage challenges and then go from there.

Sunday's long run was really tough.  I planned on doing 16 miles but wound up doing 15.  The high mileage and last few weeks of brutal heat and humidity has been a factor.  I started the run tired and never truly found my groove.  I ran the rock island trail and a Saturday night wind/thunderstorm had wrecked havoc on the trail with trees and branches everywhere.  I had to stop to climb over/through about 10 large trees in each direction and skip/leap over many smaller branches.  Made things interesting at least.  At the 7.45 mile point there was another downed tree which was the final factor that determined I'd run 15 miles instead of 16.  The run back from halfway was extremely tough and I was feeling exceptionally tired.  I just focused on running tall and strong and keeping my core tight and my form good.  I ticked off mile 10 and 11 at 8:33 pace then really focused on 12 and 13 for 8:25 pace, then completely crashed out on the last 2 miles as my HR elevated to the mid 150s and I could only manage 8:45 pace.  My legs were completely spent and every time I had to stop to climb over a tree it was exceedingly harder to get going again.  When I finally got back to the car I chugged water and really felt off... a wave of faintness and a wave of nausea.  It passed fairly quickly but it took me a couple hours after that to really get my energy levels going again.

Final stats:
15.01 miles
2:06:36
8:26 pace

It was definitely a tough run... about one year removed from July 14, 2019 when I had a different exceptionally bad tough run where I ran a 8 mile long run at 9:18 pace (this was my long run distance a year ago).   The last three miles 6,7,8 were 9:55, 9:54, 9:51 and I had to stop and walk a few times.  It was hot and I was hungover... I was proud at the time that I still got up and ran and I'm proud of my self for yesterdays run as well.  My HR a year ago was avg of 156... My HR avg yesterday was 140 so not really that tough in the scheme of things.

Weight continues to creep down as well... probably partial due to dehydration but always good to see a new low.

____________________________________________________________________________

Yearly goal progress:

GOALS:

1.  2020 (or 1560) miles run:  1154.81 for the year (78.6 miles ahead of 2020).  

2.  5000 Pull ups: 2652  (12 behind pace) Better get some done this week before I go on vacation.

3.  5000 Pushups/Bench:  2644 (20 behind pace)…Finally hit some sets at 185 today 10, 8, 7 reps... felt good and finished with a set of 20 at 135

4.  50 hour stationary bike:  25:51 hours... I am falling off the biking train.  With 6 days of running a week and extra mileage it just seems like biking on my "rest" day is too much.  Not sure what this means for my goal.  Maybe if I ramp down the running later in the year I'll ramp up the biking and play catch... maybe it will be a good motivator to take a break from running when the time comes.

5.  12500 Steps a day:  Haven't screwed this one up yet

MONTHLY GOAL:  309k in July... 89.56 miles for the month... that's 46.6% of the way there with 41.9% of the month complete... a bit ahead for now with vacation looming.

Serious heat and humidity but still piling mileage

The last 2 weeks have been horrendous.  I don't think I ever remember humidity this bad while I was out running. Could just be that I'm running 8-9 miles now when I used to run 4-5 miles?  4-5 miles in the heat would definitely be more barrable.

Yesterday, I ran a particularly grueling 9 miles.  I headed out the door with the intention of running 10 miles.  The first 2 miles went smooth with a 6:56 followed by a 6:49.  I felt good but knew I couldn't hold that pace for a full 10 so I slowed down to 7:10, 7:07, 7:12 for the next 3 miles.

By the end of the 5th mile my heart rate was up to 162 (88% of max) and it pretty much held there for the rest of the run as a slowly died.  Mile 6 was 7:20 and miles 7, 8, 9 were 7:32, 7:28, 7:30.  I was all I could do to hold the effort and I decided to cut it short at 9 miles so I could live to fight another day. I was of course absolutely soaked by the end of the run and feeling like crap.  Still, I was satisfied with the effort and felt by cutting it at 9 I prevented myself from overdoing it.

9.02 Miles
1:05:15
7:14 pace
158 Avg HR

Last night it finally rained and the heat/humidity broke a bit.  When I left the house this morning it was 69 degrees with a slight breeze and it felt really good.  Due to yesterdays hard effort I ran easy today and ran the first 4 miles at 8:25 pace... after that I was starting to feel good so I picked it up a bit and ran 8:08, 8:11, 7:56, and then an extra 1/2 miles at 7:26 pace.

7.53 miles
1:01:48
8:12 pace
136 Avg HR

When I got back I finally felt like doing so pullups which is a good sign for my overall fatigue level.  I knocked out 3 sets of 15 (15 pullsup, 15 chin-ups, 15 side grip) for a record performance.

Mileage for the week is at 46.15.  If I run my usual 8 miles tomorrow, I will have a new weekly mileage high.

Week 27 (and 1/2) in review

Summer is truly upon us.  It has been particularly hot the last 2 weeks.  Temps above 70 even at 4 in the morning with a nearly matching dew point.  I've left every run soaking wet from sweat and it's definitely taken 15-20 seconds off my pace.  Hopefully, if I can train hard through the summer I'll hit the fall with better fitness than ever...  last year I felt like I really hit my peak at the end of August/beginning of September so hopefully I'll experience the same this year.

I knocked out a mileage high last month of 210.88 miles, chasing 309k as part of a virtual distance challenge.  I signed up for the July rendition and am chasing 309K (192 mile) again for July.  Might be a bit harder, as we have a mountain vacation planned this month but we'll see how it shakes out.

After a record mileage month of June, I started out July with an easy week of 43 miles (including 2 complete days off!!!)

Ran a 15.17 mile long run on Sunday at 8:03 pace.  It marked some firsts for me...

-It was my first time running without a shirt on (in many years).  It felt really good and really helped with the heat. It was on the Rock Island trail so I wasn't self conscious... probably still wouldn't do it running around Brimfield but maybe some day if it was hot enough

-It was my first time "fueling" on a long run (in many years).  I bought Gatorade before the run and carried it with me to about the 2 mile mark... took one swig before dropping it off... then it was there for me at the 13 mile mark where I stopped and chugged the bottle.  I could really feel the effects at about the 14 mile mark when I felt an almost euphoric boost of energy.

It was a good overall run... miles 8-13 were sub 8 pace and mile 12 and 13 were 7:23 and 7:35 so some decent effort worked in.

Yearly goal progress:

GOALS:

1.  2020 (or 1560) miles run:  1115.23 for the year (66.6 miles ahead of 2020).  

2.  5000 Pull ups: 2607  (11.37  ahead of pace) I'll hit a bunch and get ahead then I'll take a week off... need more consistency but whenever I get fatigued the extra curriculars like strength training fall to the wayside

3.  5000 Pushups/Bench:  2593 (2 behind pace)…Haven't benched in 10 days... see above

4.  50 hour stationary bike:  25:51 hours... Haven't biked since my last ride... see above.

5.  12500 Steps a day:  Haven't screwed this one up yet

MONTHLY GOAL:  309k in July... 49.98 miles for the month... that's 26.0% of the way there with 25.8% of the month complete... in other words, right on pace, even after an "easy" week last week.

Halfway there

183 days into 2020... 183 days to go.

At the beginning of the year I set some goals and so far I'm on a good pace to meet them.

I'm at 52% for my pull-up/chin-up goal of 5000 and accomplished 18 straight chin ups this morning.

I'm also at 52% for my push-up/bench goal.

I'm at 53% for my stretch running goal of 2020 miles and 68% for my original goal of 1560 miles.

I've lost close to 10 lbs on the year as I slowly but steadily work down to racing weight.

Covid 19 has put a damper on my goal of running 10 races this year, but not racing has allowed me to be fully dedicated and consistent with my training.

With everything going on this year, I've been incredibly lucky.  I'm in better shape than I've been in many years, I still have a job, everyone is healthy and we're doing alright.

Hope to hang in there and keep putting in work so I can rise to new limits when we finally come out of this.