Week 35 in review

Another 50 mile week complete, my 11th of the year.  Finished up the month with a all time mileage high of 211.24 (.36 more than June).   But hey, a record is a record.  This was my third 200+ mileage month in a row getting me a total of 1002 km for the last 3 months... random facts and arbitrary numbers that bring me a semblance of accomplishment and quantify the hours of effort I've put in.

Last week was full of hard efforts.  Pervious Sunday I ran 15 at 7:41 pace.  Tuesday I was on the track running sub 6 pace for 4600 meters .  Thursday I ran 8 miles at sub 7:15 pace and it was one of the hottest/humidest days of the year.  Saturday was still hot and I struggled through a sub 7:47 pace 8 miler at high effort.  Sunday I ran a slow 12 at 8:37 at low heart rate (135 average) but didn't feel like I could have gone much faster.  I feel better today after yesterday being easy.  Today is a day off.  This week I recover.  I need to take it easy.  Next Monday I race.

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Yearly goal progress:

GOALS:

1.  2020 (or 1560) miles run:  1477.08 for the year (130.41 miles ahead of 2020 pace and 82.92 miles to go until my original goal of 1560).  

2.  5000 Pull ups: 3411  (78 ahead of pace) 

3.  5000 Pushups/Bench:  3400 (66 ahead of pace)… 

4.  50 hour stationary bike:  26:31 hours... still no biking... too tired from running :(

5.  12500 Steps a day:  Haven't screwed this one up yet... 804 days if I make it today

Monthly goal:  211.24 miles (339.95 Km) out of 192 miles (309 km).  Met my goal for all 3 months of the challenge logging over 1000K for the total.

 

  

Track workout 4

13 days out from my first real race in 7 months.  Just about the perfect time for a final track workout to put some finishing polish on my training.

My left hip was hurting yesterday morning and I was a bit worried but the foam roller seemed to do a pretty good job of releasing it.  Following that up with some Ibuprofen seemed to do the trick.  

I headed out the door for my ~1 mile warmup as I jogged over to the track.  My legs were a bit tired from Sunday's long run but mostly they felt okay.  I wasn't completely confident in my ability to run fast but it seems like once I get on the track the pace finds me.

I had a general plan going into the workout but somewhat played it by ear... my initial idea of running 2000, 1600, 1200, 800, 400 instead became 1600, 1200, 800, 600, 400 with 400, 400, 400, 200 rest intervals.

Overall a good workout. The last laps of each interval hurt but not too bad.  I stopped and walked after each one for about 50 meters but recovered quickly and was able to jog (I never stopped my watch so the recovery time and pace include the walking).

My hip felt fine the whole time... so far it has seemed that fast running improves most of my niggles rather then aggravating them.  Probably due to crisper running form at faster efforts? 

Always some top results to be had at these workouts (although GPS inaccuracy may have partially contributed).

Week 34 in Review and my fastest longish run

Another 50 mile week in the books for 2020.  I capped that off with a 15 mile long run at 7:41 pace which was my fastest long run over a half marathon distance and my third fastest long run over 10 miles.  Best part was that it was mostly easy effort.  

I did stop during the run more often then usual (4 times)… once to pee at about 3 miles.  Once to drink some Gatorade I had dropped off on my way to the trail at about 6.5 miles.   Again to finish the Gatorade at about 8.5 miles.  Lastly, for some additional bathroom issues at mile 10.5 which might be partially attributable to the Gatorade.  I never usually fuel during runs so I don't know if my stomach issues were due to just not being used to the Gatorade or if it was something I ate the night before.

Otherwise, I ran my first mile at 8:09 and every other mile under 8:00 with the fastest stretch being mile 9-13 (7:28, 7:38, 7:31, 7:29, 7:32).  Averaged 145 HR for the run and the pace felt relaxed so I either had a great day or I'm making some progress (or both).

On the less positive side, my hip is bugging me the day after.  Hurt even walking this morning.  It relaxed a bit after a while and after I took some Ibuprofen but it's a bit worrisome.  We'll see how its feeling tomorrow after a day off.

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Yearly goal progress:

GOALS:

1.  2020 (or 1560) miles run:  1429.91 for the year (121.9 miles ahead of 2020 pace).  

2.  5000 Pull ups: 3282  (44 ahead of pace) 

3.  5000 Pushups/Bench:  3350 (112 ahead of pace)… Did 10, 10, 8 today at 185

4.  50 hour stationary bike:  26:31 hours... no biking today.  really questioning this goal at this point.

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

6. Diet... feel like I may have gained a lb or 2 :( 

Monthly goal:  164.07 miles (264.04 Km) out of 192 miles (309 km).  Need another 27.93 miles to hit 192 miles (309 km)

A new 8 mile PR

I woke up at 3:30 today to run with my early morning running group for the first time in about 6 weeks.

I didn't really know what to expect.  My hips flexors and legs were a bit sore and I rolled them out with the foam roller before driving out to meet with the group.

It had been since July 16 since I really put in a good 8-9 mile steady state run (although I did run 8 miles at 7:15 pace 2 days ago on Tuesday so maybe that's not exactly true).  The temperature was 57 degrees which was good but the humidity was still up.

My plan was to just run with the guys for the first few miles and then take off if I felt good figuring I was in better shape than anyone else.  Instead we took off fast (not my fault), hitting 7:26 for the first mile and then dropped the pace and didn't run another mile above 7 min pace (6:50, 6:43, 6:52, 6:58, 6:53, 6:50, and a 6:23 final mile).

For the most part the run felt pretty darn good.  My legs were tiring on mile 5 and were probably the most limiting factor.  Aerobically I felt okay.  The only time I was really hurting was on the last mile which I was pushing pretty hard.  I was hoping to get down to 6:15 pace but only managed a 6:23.  I'll blame the leg fatigue from all the training on this one.

Final stats:  

8.01 miles

55:00 

6:52 pace

This was a 8 mile PR for me (though I ran a 15K at a slightly faster pace of 6:51).  If I knew it was going to be so fast I probably could have shaved some off during the first mile, but I guess it's good to warm up a bit.

My stomach cramped for a  while after the run but it didn't last too long.  Haven't had that feeling for a while and didn't miss it.  Sour stomach is the one thing that makes me not like running but luckily it doesn't bother me too often except for on these long hard sustained efforts.

Week 33 in Review

A great track workout, some easy 7 milers, and a 5K PR time trial with 42.32 miles for the week.  

Yearly goal progress:

GOALS:

1.  2020 (or 1560) miles run:  1376.6 for the year (107.2 miles ahead of 2020 pace).  

2.  5000 Pull ups: 3181  (39 ahead of pace) Have been consistent with the pullups since I got back from vacation.  Doing sets at least one set of 12 or more, just about every day.

3.  5000 Pushups/Bench:  3210 (68 ahead of pace)… Did 8, 8, 8, 7 today at 185... good solid work.  Need to be doing this twice a week to continue to make gains.

4.  50 hour stationary bike:  26:31 hours... got on the bike for the first time since June today for 40 minutes. It felt good.  I'm behind on this goal but at least I got something done

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

6. Diet... Too many cookies... I just can't stop.  I'm pretty stable at 167 lb right now which is a pretty decent weight for me historically but I'd like to get down to 160.

Monthly goal:  110.76 miles (178.25 Km) out of 192 miles (309 km).  Need another 81.24 miles to go over the next 2 weeks.  

Old Setttlers Day 5K Virtual Race Report

Another year of training capped off with my local 5K.  This year, of course, was different as Covid has driven the race to virtual.  I've been doing virtual distance challenges for the last 3 months, which I enjoyed.  However, this was my first virtual race.  In retrospect, I was underwhelmed by the experience as it felt a bit empty.  The heart of racing is the thrill of competition.  Without the social aspect I really don't get the point.  On the positive note, the virtual race construct did give me the focus and motivation to go out and run a hard fast effort 5K.

I woke up at 5am on Saturday morning so I could get out and take advantage of the relatively cool Saturday morning.  I followed my normal wake routine and then headed out for a 1 mile warmup, followed by some leg swings, lunges, and squats.  I then put on my Vaporfly's and jogged the 1/3 mile to the starting point of the course.

I got there at 6:45 am, settled myself, made sure my watch was properly connected to GPS and within 30 seconds I was off.

Despite it not being a true race I still felt some excitement and I wound up going out a bit too fast.  My target pace was Sub 6:05 but I was moving at 5:00 pace for the first 30 seconds.  After about 200 meters I course corrected and settled myself down to a more appropriate rhythm.  The fast start didn't seem to have much effect except for getting my HR up to 160.  Once I slowed down to 6:00 minute miles the pace felt relaxed and easy relatively.  I cruised along just trying to stay relaxed and without much event hit the 1 mile mark at 5:52 (a 1 mile PR).  I continued cruising along through the 2nd mile, focusing on not slowing down.  I ran past a group walking the course with dogs on the back stretch of town (I assume they were participating in the virtual race as well).  I hit my second mile split in 5:57.5.  At this point my HR was in oscillating in the 171-175 range.  

I wasn't hurting too bad but I could feel the fatigue creeping in and my mind started questioning if I should let up a bit.  I thought even if I ran a 6:20 for the third mile I'd still be at my goal of 6:05 pace.  I pushed those thoughts aside and kept moving, not really pushing harder but just trying not to slow down.  I headed down the slight hill to my house and then down Calhoun street.  I started to feel the slight pain in my gut which normally accompanies hard efforts but it wasn't too bad.

At the end of Calhoun there's a very short but steep hill (maybe like 10 strides worth).  My HR reached a peak at 181.  I rounded the curve onto a slight downhill and my HR went back down to 177.  I hit the final turn onto the main street and had .20 left to the finish.

I picked it up slightly to 5:50 pace and hit the 3rd mile at a 5:56.5 split.  With .10 left I pushed a bit harder and finished the last bit at 5:30 pace with my HR finally getting back to 180 by the end.

Final stats:

3.12 miles

0:18:25

5:54 pace

After, I jogged home, swapped out of my Vaporflys and finished with a 1.73 cooldown.  

Some thoughts:

• Going into the day I thought I was probably in 18:45 shape so I exceeded my expectations by a bit
• This was definitely a hard effort... it hurt but I never hurt too bad.  I think there's still a bit more to give
• I didn't really truly kick at the end.  I ran hard but not like I would have kicked at a race.
  
• I didn't really taper for the race so that should buy me a bit of time.
• I ran just about perfect splits for all 3 miles, never really slowing, with my HR right at the correct amount of effort.  I don't think I could have done any better really at pacing and maybe having other people to race against could have messed me up
• I need to start off slow at my next real race.  I could easily see running a 5:30 first mile and dying.
• Even though it was a huge PR I'm still hungry for more.  Now I'm thinking sub 17 for next years goal.
• Even though it was a huge PR it felt empty.  Just not the same excitement as doing it in an actual race :(
• I'm at 2.5 years of consistent cardio exercise. 2018 I mostly biked with a bit of running for a combined time of 105 hours 32 minutes.  2019 I split biking and running for a combined time of 186 hours and 34 minutes.  2020 I've mostly run with a bit of biking with a combined time of 209 hours and 12 minutes (so far).  Consistency is the key here.
  

Versus

At about 1 year removed from my previous target 5K, its time to review my training and compare it to years past.  Starting on January 1 is a bit arbitrary considering I've been training all year long but whatever.

So, here's the arbitrary data, mostly for the purpose of making me feel good about my training progression.

2020 vs 2019 vs 2018

2018:  Miles run before 5K (Jan 1 - August 11th, 2018):  102.63

2019:  Miles run before 5K (Jan 1 - August 10th, 2019):  266.92  (374.36 since previous race)

2020:  Miles run before 5K (Jan 1 - August 15th, 2020):  1358.3  (1894.11 since previous race)

2018:  Miles run below 8 min pace:  9.08 

2019:  Miles run below 8 min pace:  67.55

2020:  Miles run below 8 min pace:  631.05

2018:  Miles run below 7:20 min pace:  0

2019:  Miles run below 7:20 min pace:  21.33

2020:  Miles run below 7:20 min pace:  234.75

2020:  Miles run below 7:00 min pace:  96.68 

2020:  Miles run below 6:30 min pace:  7.13

2018:  Long runs more than 5 miles: 3

2019:  Long runs more than 5 miles: 13

2020:  Long runs more than 5 miles: 151

2018:  Long runs more than 6 miles: 1

2019:  Long runs more than 6 miles: 8

2020:  Long runs more than 6 miles: 121

2019:  Long runs more than 7 miles: 6

2020:  Long runs more than 7 miles: 98

2019:  Long runs more than 8 miles: 4

2020:  Long runs more than 8 miles: 75

2019:  Long runs more than 10 miles: 1

2020:  Long runs more than 10 miles: 29

2020:  Long runs more than 13.1 miles: 17

2020:  Long runs more than 16 miles: 2