Recovery X 2

Wednesday, 32 minutes at 8:52 pace and 138 average HR.

Today, 27 minutes at 10:04 pace and 126 average HR.

Tomorrow... was originally supposed to be a workout but now my watch is saying another 27 minute recover run.  But who knows maybe that will change again by tomorrow.

The recovery run felt good though and even at the 10 minute pace I kept my cadence at 174.  I compared this to my last recovery run on July 1st and the cadence was 162 (at 10:52 pace and 123 Avg HR).  Just seems like my running is getting a lot more natural and efficient and I'm actually starting to feel a bit more fit finally after months and months and months of stagnation... So maybe slowing down to speed up isn't such BS after all.  

No matter what, I'm running a workout tomorrow.  Planning to hit the track for what would be my 4th track workout of the summer.   Could be a good test to see if my fitness has advanced at all since last workout.

6 miles... why the hell not?

 When I went to bed last night I didn't think I'd be running 6 miles this morning but when I woke up, that's what the Garmin training algorithm had come up with (or rather 54 minutes at 9:20 pace was the suggestion).  

I was surprised because this is the longest run it had suggested so far (previous was 52 minutes at 9:20 pace from Saturday) and I didn't expect it to come up with the longest run on my 4th day of training in a row...  not that I'm complaining.

Wound up running 6.10 miles in 54 minutes at 8:51 pace with an average HR of 144.  Not as good as my average of 139 yesterday but its hot out and my HR inevitably continues to creep up over time.  

Halfway through July and I'm sitting at 55.48 miles which is the most miles I've run in a July since 2021.

Tomorrow I'm supposed to run 9:20 pace for 32 minutes and Thursday recovery run and Friday a workout?  I'd be shocked if that doesn't change but also not sure why it would... I guess we'll see.

Signs of improvement

My last 3 runs (Saturday and Sunday and Monday) have actually felt pretty good.  I'm think that the last couple weeks of slow, steady, and consistent work are starting to pay off.   I also made another tweak this weekend with my cadence.  I made a focus to up my cadence and wound up averaging about 177 the last 3 runs instead of the typical 170 I had been running at.  While it takes some focus and doesn't feel completely natural, it does seem easier and also my hips are less sore. I ran 6 on Saturday, a workout on Sunday, and 3.67 today with hardly any fatigue.

The Garmin auto-coach still seems kind of wonky.  I ran an easy 6 on Saturday at 8:43 pace after a rest day on Friday.  Then I woke up Sunday, it told me to do another rest day.  I wasn't going to waste a Sunday training day so I set up my own workout: 

• 10 minute warm up at 8:45 pace
• 10 minutes at 7:12 pace
• 5 minute recovery at 8:43 pace
• 5 minutes at 6:51 pace
• 6 minute cooldown at 8:55 pace

It seemed to be the perfect workout for my current condition that day.  I ran hard but never really hurt to much and remained in control and had no problems with exhaustion.  

I woke up Monday and was expecting the watch to tell me to do a rest day since I ran a workout on my rest day but nope, instead it told me to run 32 minutes at 9:20 pace.  I would up running 32 minutes at 8:43 pace and averaged 139 HR for the run which made it one of my best "easy runs" for a while.

Garmin has me scheduled for another workout tomorrow.  I'll be shocked if I wake up tomorrow and it still recommends a workout but who knows.  If not, I can start ignoring the watches suggestions and run my own workouts from time to time until the training algorithm sorts itself out.

Steady 9 min pace

 I've been steady hovering around the 9 minute pace for my last 11 runs... this is based on actually following the Garmin training schedule I'm testing out.  When I look forward in the schedule it typically will tell me that I have a workout coming up the next day but normally once the next day comes it replaces the workout with another base run at 9:20 pace.  Not exactly sure why this is but I'm guessing that part of the issue is that 9:00 pace on a hot summer day hits harder so maybe I'm working harder than the algorithm thinks I should but generally speaking the running has seemed relatively easy and my HR has averaged 140 as long as I run in early enough in the morning that it's not in the upper 80s yet.

Don't think I'll really know if I'm actually starting to get any improvements or am at least building a base to build improvements on top of for a few more weeks or until i try to push it a bit on a cooler day.  I'm starting to get a little antsy though as I have been kind of running these "base" types of runs all year and was hoping to start introducing some workouts.

the one thing I can say about slowing down the pace is that my mileage is slightly up.  Not a ton since I'm following the Garmin training plan which is telling me to do 3-4 miles a day (normally I have to run for an extra minute after the workout is done if I actually want to get to 4 miles).  

I'm a bit conflicted because I have my yearly race coming up in August and want to perform as well as possible but also think that long term if I can just get my mileage back up to the 30-40 MPW level that considerable fitness advances will follow.

Today I was supposed to run one of those workouts but when I woke up it told me to rest... so I'm going to rest.  Looking ahead, more base runs tomorrow (51 minutes at 9:20 pace) and Sunday (35 minutes at 9:20 pace) but then maybe some workouts next week.  We shall see.

  

Hot summer reset

 I actually took my own advice and slowed down.  It allowed me to run 7 out of 8 days so far in July (with one scheduled rest day).  I've got 27.44 miles in so far so almost 4 miles a day at a 9:02 average pace.  including a couple of runs in the middle of  90+ degree and sunny afternoons.  

My legs have taken the effort well and feel less fatigued than they have for a while and my motivations is doing ok too.  So far I'm on pace for over 100 miles this month.  I've only broken the 100 mile plateau once in the past 3 years so doing so would be a good sign of progress.  

I've been following a Garmin automated training plan.  So far it pretty much tells me to run between 32 and 42 minutes at 9:20 pace every day.  Sometimes I'll look ahead and it will hint that maybe I'll run something different but then the next day I wake up and it tells me to run 9:20 pace.  I've been running closer to 9 minutes than 9:20 but still have been slowing myself way down compared to 8:30. Its kind of been nice to have a plan and I'll try to keep following it until the end of July at least and then reevaluate. 

Slow TF Down and Recover Already!

A couple days ago I decided to try using a Garmin workout plan, mostly out of curiosity.

Saturday it told me to do a recovery run of 26 minutes at 12 minute pace... I ran 26 minutes at 10 minute pace which seemed really slow.

Sunday it told me to rest, so I walked 4 miles but tried to keep my HR in the 110-125 range.  

Monday it told me to do a recovery run -  I mostly ignored but ran an "easy" 4 miles at 8:50 miles.

Today it told me to do a recovery run -  26 minutes at 11:15 pace.  I finally listened and actually did the workout.  2.4 miles with an average HR of 123.  I actually put my watch in workout mode which created a little gauge on my watch that helped me target the pace (there was a green range and a red range on each side, needle would go into the red if I went too fast or slow)

Running 11-minute pace is not natural for me but I finally sucked up my pride and listened to the watch.  I will give it a couple weeks and see how it goes..  Hopefully at some point it will tell me something different from "recovery run"

Consistent June

 I've almost made it through a consistent June and total 71 miles.  I've ran 20 days out of  30 and averaged 3.6 miles a day.  Longest run was 6.72 miles but for the most part I've been in the 3 or 4 mile range.  I've gotten a couple track workouts in and pushed the pace once or twice.  

I haven't been making any huge fitness jumps but I've seen slow and steady improvement.  My average page for the month was 8:30 which is 8 seconds faster than last month which is a fairly large gain especially when factoring in the summer heat.

I'm halfway through the year and off to my best start since 2022.  I've run 380 miles so far which exceeds the 370 I ran in 2023 and is quickly approaching the 527 miles I ran in 2024.  Not impossible that I could get 1000 miles in this year but we'll see.  I will need to significantly increase the miles and probably ease up a bit on the pace. 

I know I'm probably pushing harder than I should be on most days while also not getting enough truly hard efforts in, but once I get out on the road its really hard to slow down.  I did run a 2.6 mile recovery run at 10 minute pace on Saturday...  but it's hard to run that slow consistently and really makes me second guess myself.  I suppose I should at least try to slow down for a couple weeks to see what comes of it... I doubt it though.  

Here's where I am though.  Maybe I'm just impatient.  Maybe I'm getting old.  Maybe I'm not getting enough sleep.  Maybe I'm not training right.  I'm putting in work but not totally satisfied with the results.  I've been really hoping that some fitness will kick in and i'll see a big improvement jump but so far it has been very slow and steady.  My weight has been steady at 190 lbs too and really need this to come down as well... part of this is diet but I think a lot is genetics.  Kind of seems it doesn't matter how much I eat or exercise, I always settle at around 190.  The only time I was able to adjust was when I was running 50 miles a week and then I was at 170 but as soon as I got hurt and stopped running the weight came back on really quickly.  

For now I'll focus on the positives which are health and consistency and hope that the gains will eventually follow.

track workout 2

 Second track workout of the year.  4 X 400m again, same as last Thursday.  Pace was comparable:  1:34, 1:29, 1:31, 1:32.  It was about the same amount of effort but my body took it a little better and I slept much better after.  

This morning my legs and body have that good kind of fatigue going.  Like I worked hard and actually challenged myself but should be able to recover quickly and get back stronger.  Haven't had this type of tired feeling for a while and it definitely has an element of euphoria.

I will try to get some walks in today and then hopefully some actual easy running in this weekend.  Right now adding in track workouts sort of an experiment to see if this is the missing piece I need to get my fitness moving in the right direction.  Give me 2 more Thursdays and hopefully by that 4th one I should see/feel some differences compared to my first workout.

1.29 miles

In the name of consistency, I ran 1.29 miles (over 10 minutes) dropping off my daughter for her summer running training. I was tired and not particularly motivated but figured 10 minutes would be better than zero minutes.  7:45 pace was unfortunately uncomfortable, but 10 minutes of discomfort is totally tolerable ...so now I'm thinking.  Long run on the weekend.  Up-tempo short run on Tuesday.  Track workout on Thursday.  And as many short easy runs on the other days as I can find the time and energy for.

Made it through May

 Mileage fell off a bit in May and I wound up taking a whole week off near the end of the month (busy working on house projects that had me on my feet all day).   I still managed to get 52 miles in which is the most miles I've ran in May since 2022.  May is when I start to swoon.. temps gets hotter and the motivation to train for river to river is gone. I am on pace for an even better June.  I've run 6 out of 9 days and have 24.4 miles in so far... not a ton but considering I only ran 16 miles in June 2024 and 0 in June 2023, then this should be an easy win. Goal right now is to just remain consistent.  I think I'd rather run more often and shorter distances than less frequently and longer distances.  I think if I can maintain consistency then the mileage will follow.  

I ran my first track "workout" in about a year.  4 X 400m with a mile warmup and cooldown.  Ran about 1:30 for each lap with maybe about a minute rest between.  Not gonna lie, it wasn't pretty, but I made it through.  Hardest part was that I don't think my body was prepared for that intensity level of effort.  After the workout I had a really hard time sleeping that night with restless legs and body.  Good to get it out of the way and hope to starting running track workouts every Thursday for the next couple months to see how my body responds. Hoping this is what I need to jumpstart my way to higher fitness.  I got in an easy 6.7 miles yesterday and an even easier 3.13 miles this morning.  9:07 pace for the 3.13 miles and kept my HR under 140 for the first time this year.  

Going has been really slow but it really does seem that I'm starting to make some progress even if its hard to notice.  

8 more miles

 It took about 3 weeks but I'd say I'm finally recovered from the River to River relay and running productively again.  Kind of fascinating how much I struggled the last few weeks with slow pace and dead legs.  I guess that's what happens when you hammer yourself to the limit while also being undertrained.  So Sunday I went out for an 8 miler and for the first time in a few weeks, the run didn't completely suck.  

I went out at what was a loose and relaxed pace which was an 8:40 first mile but then ran 8:17 and 8:19 pace for the next two miles and I was probably pushing a bit too hard but I also felt pretty good so I kept pushing while at the same time trying not to over push... I cruised for the next 2 miles at 8:35 and 8:27 but then finished with 8:14, 8:10, 7:56.  It was a tough effort and my HR was high but I stayed relaxed and never hurt and it never crossed my mind to consider walking (which is something I've had to fight over the last few weeks).  

Final pace was 8:20 pace.  About a minute per mile faster than I was running a month ago and not at that much more of an effort... like tangible progress, and maybe if I can get just a few more months of training in I might bust out of my stalled state of fitness and start getting into actual shape.

New Day Mid May

 Good hard run this morning.  3.75 at 8:02 pace.  Started the first mile at 8:28 then, 8:02, then 7:40 and 7:51.  

Wasn't particularly fast but it felt like a good hard workout.  I pushed the last 2+ miles and got a decent effort in.  My only problem is that I'm still feeling mucusy.  Lots of hacking and spitting and it just seems to fuck with my breathing and breathing rhythm.  Its tolerable but would be more fun if I didn't have to contend with this issue and could just run freely.  I'm hoping that its either seasonal allergies or maybe something that will fade away as my fitness improves.  

I'm happy to get a hard effort in though.  Its something that I feel I've been lacking but lots of times my body just won't move fast enough to get that hard effort in and going slower seems laborious enough.

Really just pushing for continued consistency and then want to start getting some workouts in.  This is a good start.

Mid-May

 29 miles in May so far.  Nothing spectacular but I haven't given up and have been getting out about every other day.  Not sure what the deal is but I just don't feel great.  Legs are kind of sluggish and still sort of mucussy.  I've just been stuck in a rut for a while where I'm never running that hard but it still doesn't feel great and I don't really feel like I can handle going harder...  I figure if I stick with it then eventually, I'll pull through it, but it just hasn't quite clicked yet. Enough bitching though.  

On a positive note by Garmin, VO2 max has increased from 41 to 47 since January 1st.   My average pace has been on steady decline as well.  9:10 in January, 9:06 in February, 9:03 in March,  8:41 in April, and 8:44 so far in May.  My "race predictor" has me at 22:20 for a 5K.  22:20 is exactly what I ran last August (at the time my race predictor had me at 23:00 so maybe not that accurate).  

I would really like to break 20 in the 5K but at this rate doesn't seem likely any time soon.  Probably low or sub 21:00 is most realistic.  

Still having trouble squeezing in consistent training due to kids sporting events and work.  I've been so tired that I haven't been getting up early in the morning enough to get my run in...  there have been many weekends that i've been out of the house by 7 in the morning for some event or another.  without the consistency i've been getting out in the morning some days and in the evening on others.  I'm proud of myself for keeping with it and not completely quitting.  It is much easier to get in training and stay focused when its on routine.

This Saturday I'll probably miss again.  Twins have the state track meet.  Maya is running the 4X200 Meters at 9 am and 4x400 Meters at 3:00 pm.  Will be a long day at the track but should be fun.  Kenna is an alternate.  

May 2025

5 months into the year and another River 2 River relay in the books.  

I ran leg 8 this year, which is the leg I've run 3 out of 4 years.  This was my slowest leg 8 but I performed slightly better than last year when I ran leg 4, running a slightly faster pace ~7:50 average on a tougher course.

Its been 2 weeks since River 2 River and the effort really took it out of me but I'm slowly recovering and been continuing to put in mileage even with my legs being sort of dead.

Last year I got a few short runs in after river to river and then tapered off and took about 2 months off.  In fact I ran 28 miles between River to River last April and July 1st.  This year I've already got in 21 miles since River 2 River.  

This year I hope to forgo the break.  Train through the summer and then see what I can run at the Old Settlers Day 5K in August.  Last year I ran 22:20 so should have plenty of room for improvement by then if I keep running and way more room if I actually get in some decent training.  Stretch goal would be to break 20 minutes but probably need to start getting serious pretty soon.

For the year I'm at 275 miles. Right now I'm on pace for about 800 miles in 2025.  Hope to get in at least 1000 miles if I can keep building.  Don't have a ton of time to train but have been relatively consistent, getting out 3-4 times a week,

Looking back again

Just hopped on here again and saw that I was actually starting to get into some semblance of shape in October.  I put in 60 miles in October and then pretty much quit over November and December. 

January I put in 45 miles.  I got in 65 in February and 67 in March...  I was actually starting to feel okay at the beginning of March... I ran back to back 7 miler and 8 miler over a weekend which resulted in some Achilles soreness (which is mostly but not quite healed now).  Then I got sick which really impacted my breathing and my ability to run.  I got in lots of 2-3 mile efforts which were absolute struggles for every step.  

It really wasn't until a couple days ago that I went for a run and thought to myself "hey, that actually didn't suck"... Kind of the way my running has been going for years now... I never totally quit but I never really get into shape either.  I either lose motivation or get sick or get injured or something.

All in all I'm pretty happy with myself for sticking with it.  Sure I haven't gotten up to the 2000 or even 1000 miles in a year that I achieved a few years back but I've been getting some mileage in every year and I ran every month last year for a total of 527 miles (even if I only ran once in December.  

I got 200 miles in so far this year which is pretty much what I had at this same point last year.  Last year I just about quit for May and June.

I'm not getting any younger.   Still hoping to get my fitness back up to some semblance of a peak at some point.  Not getting any easier...  But I'm not dead yet either :)

Hoping that next time I post on this blog I'll be touting some additional progress and not just status quo.