Back to the grind and week in review

I've been taking it easy lately with my race taper followed by a few days of biking.  I plan to take it relatively easy for most of September or at least for as long as I can stand it... easy meaning more biking for reduced impact and less mileage (but at solid paces).

Today I woke up early to run with the group.  The air was wet and misty but it wasn't raining.  There was a decent breeze and it was relatively cool.

No one in the group seemed that eager for a fast day.  That was okay with me, so I started out on cruise.

7:32, 7:14, 7:08, 7:21, for the first 4 miles with might heart rate staying in the 140s.  I started upping the intensity slightly after mile 4 but since most of mile 5 is uphill it was not reflected in the pace of  7:28.

For Mile 6 I really started pushing it and ran it in 6:40.

Mile 7 I let up a bit... with most of it being uphill I ran 7:13.   The last few days I had been turning around before reaching the top of the hill to run an exact 8 miles but today I felt good enough to run to the top of the hill before turning around.

Mile 8 I really dropped the hammer for a 6:17 mile.  

I still had 3+ minutes to go to get a full hour of running it so I kept going for another 1/2 mile at 6:40 pace.

I finished up the run feeling pretty refreshed.  Overall it was a solid effort with some good hard work sprinkled in but mostly manageable pacing.  

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Yearly goal progress:

GOALS:

1.  2020 (or 1560) miles run:  1512.66 for the year (110.8 miles ahead of 2020 pace).  

2.  5000 Pull ups: 3517  (47 ahead of pace) 

3.  5000 Pushups/Bench:  3511 (41 ahead of pace)

4.  50 hour stationary bike:  28:13 hours... finally moved the needle on the biking.  I'm a bit behind now.  I'll see if I can do some final pushing to catch up. An hour a week for the rest of the year will get me to 44... extra 30-40 minutes here and there would make a big difference. 

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

6. Diet... I really have been bad about controlling myself.  In theory I want to lose weight to reach my longer term goals but its really hard to care on a daily basis.  

Crush Covid 3 Mile Race Report

Yesterday I ran in my first "live" race since February...  the Crush Covid 3 miler.  The cynical side of me questions how staging for profit road race is doing anything to crush covid…  that being said, it was a safely executed race and I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was to maintain social distance.

The race was conducted in 5 waves starting a minute apart.  The waves were all stationed in their own waiting areas in an open field with plenty of space.  People didn't really start to assemble until about 5 minutes before the race.

I lined up in the front of the 1st wave with my pink vaporflys and pink bandana...  and then we were off.  I took off with a pack of 4 for the first ~200 meters.  After that the guy who wound up winning the race took off and left me in the dust.  I already knew who he was and knew I had no shot a keeping his pace (5:23 for the first 1.5 miles, 5:27 for the entirety).  I was running with 2 other younger guys for the next 200 meters just trying to stay relaxed and not go out too fast.  After about 400 we hit a 180 turnabout.  I cut the inside tight and wound up ditching the other guys.  

After that I was by myself for the next 1.50 miles.  I hit the 1st mile at 5:45 pace which was maybe a bit too fast but not unreasonable.  The race was two laps of 1.5 miles and I hit 1.5 at 8:50.  Soon into my second lap I started lapping people who were either walking or had started in later waves.  For the most part I found my own lane and had no problem passing probably about 100 people.  The only incident was at a sharp turnaround at about 2.25 miles where I got hung up a bit which probably cost me a few seconds.

After that it was nearly a straight shot to the finish line.  I was hurting pretty bad by that point.  I wasn't quite running at 100% but it was close.  The weather didn't help as it was in the upper 70s, hot, sunny, and humid.  Plus running by myself didn't help me dig in.  I was hoping that I was going to hammer with 800 to go but instead I just held on, running mile 2 in 5:58 and mile 3 in 6:02.  

After one final turn there was a short sprint to the finish.  The race director announced me as the 2nd place winner as I surged in...  I pushed through the finish, careful to not stop my watch in the photos.  

It was a good run overall and I'm happy to log something "official" that was sub 6 minute pace.  I was hoping for closer to 17:40 but the weather, my pacing, and my fitness didn't quite deliver.

It was good to race and good to taper and get some recovery after months of hard training.  I'm thinking one more easy week and then back to serious training again!

Starting Strong

Finishing Strong (besides the guy I almost lapped photo bombing my glory)

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.