2020 Week 5 In Review

I spent several days of last week in Mexico and Southern Arizona.  I did some running but not nearly as much as I would have if I was home.  I'm supposed to be tapering anyway so maybe it wasn't a bad thing.   The first run  in Mexico was 5 miles in 50 degree temp in the evening.  It was nice out but the air was cold and dry on my lunges.  I hadn't packed my inhaler so my Asthma was kicking in.  Wound up averaging 8:43 pace with a lot of effort.  Because this was the first outdoor run in about 3 weeks (i.e. not on a treadmill) it made me really question my fitness.  Then I checked into it more and discovered my location was at 4000+ feet elevation. 

I woke up and ran the next morning and did 3.21 miles, even slower.  9:32 pace.  

The next day (Saturday) I had a flight out of Tucson at 11 am, so I woke up early and hit a trail run on the Douglas Spring Trail.  Still at ~3000 feet elevation and with 100 flights of steps climbed, plus on a rocky trail I wound up with an even slower 4 miles at 12:28 pace.  

At this point I was really questioning my fitness.

So Sunday I decided to test out my new Vaporfly Next% shoes to do a trail/break-in run before my half-marathon in 5 days.

8.03 Miles
57:55
7:12 pace

Goddamn fast for me!  I put the shoes on and headed out the door.  They felt alright but not quite what I had expected somehow (somehow heavier feeling then my normal racing shoes even through physically the same weight more or less at 6+ oz).  I took off at a fast but relaxed pace.  By the 1/2 mile mark I was thinking, these don't seem so fast... I felt like a bit of a sucker for buying into the hype.  I kept going and hit the first mile mark and my GPS watch announced 7:13 pace for the first mile.  I looked at my HR and it was at 149 which is way low for that pace.  I kept going.  The 2nd mile was hilly with one extend big downhill and uphill.  I flew down the downhill and felt great.  Ran the 2nd mile at 6:43 pace.  Figured I'd better dial it back a bit.  3rd mile was 7:14.  4th mile was 7:06.  At this point I made a conscious decision to dial it back even more and just coast.  5th mile 7:36, 6th mile 7:29.  At the 6 mile I realized I was near my 10K PR pace so I picked it up a hair.  7th mile 7:23.  Then picked it up more for the final mile.  6:51 pace.  My HR was in the high 150 low 160 range which is hard but doable.  I really felt great and definitely had more in the tank when I stopped.  

The weather was great, I was rested, and I was consciously pushing the pace a bit so I don't think it was all the shoes, but this was definitely one of my best training runs ever.  Hopefully I didn't overdo it before the race (eek!).

Wound up with the new 10K achievement... 23 second PR.

Yearly goal progress:
GOALS:
1.  1560 miles run:  183.93 for the year (39 miles ahead of pace)
2.  5000 Pull ups: 500        (36 ahead of pace)
3.  5000 Pushups/Bench:   505 (41 ahead pace)
4.  50 hour stationary bike:  5 hour  (on pace)
5.  Diet:  No junk food January...  Pretty much made it and lost 5-6 lbs in the process.  Haven't been good so far in February with the Superbowl and travel.  Need to come up with a new goal or refocus.  No junk food seems like a good way to go... I'll try to stick to that.  But for February, I think we'll go with Midnight snack free February.
6.  12500 Steps a day:  595 days and counting... 17,409 per day for the year

2020 Week 4 in review

Another 40+ mileage week logged.

12 more days until my half-marathon.  Hit my last long run on Sunday.  1:45:03 on the treadmill.  13.1 miles. 8:00 pace.  Started slow and hit the last 5K at 7:30 pace and below.  That was after skiing on Saturday. My legs were sore but the run felt fine.

Wouldn't mind a couple more weeks of training, but at this point I'm in a good spot.  Feel strong, not injured, and have hit some good paces so I should at least be lined up for a respectable effort.

I'll be travelling for work Tuesday - Saturday to Mexico.  Hope that I'll get a chance to run at least a couple times.  Not sure what kind of arrangements I'll have or if I'll be in a safe area.  We'll see I suppose.

Yearly goal progress:
GOALS:
1.  1560 miles run:  160.57 for the year (45.58 miles ahead of pace)
2.  5000 Pull ups: 435        (67 ahead of pace)
3.  5000 Pushups/Bench:   378  (10 ahead pace)
4.  50 hour stationary bike:  4 hour  (on pace)
5.  Diet:  No junk food January...  day 27.  Mostly sticking with it.  Actually feel like I've lost weight.  Been tracking the weight every day and got under 170 yesterday (169.6) for the first time.  Of course this was after my 13.1 mile run so I was dehydrated but still the lowest I've weighed in probably 8 years.  Graph below shows my weight loss trend for the year so far.  170 was my goal so new goal is 160.  Not sure what is realistic for a final goal... I just want to be fast!
6.  12500 Steps a day:  588 days and counting... 17,082 per day for the year

Work week summary

Just got done with 9.5 miles.

1:15:58
8:00 pace

Treadmill run that started off slow and ran the last 3ish miles at 7:30 down to 7:00 pace.

That put me at 44.50 for the week.  A new weekly high on 5 days of running (as opposed to 6).

Probably will take the day off tomorrow to go skiing so that will probably be it of my peak half marathon training.  Just one more long run planned on Sunday and then I'll begin to mildly taper.

Three 40+ miles in a row is breaking new ground for me.  My legs feel pretty good at this point with no injuries so I'm feeling pretty positive.

Plan to step the mileage back a bit and have a relatively easy February with the hope that it will allow for fuller recovery before I really start to hammer it come spring.

In addition to todays run, I also had a good hard Wednesday workout with 8 miles.

1:01:03
7:38 pace

This included 5.5 miles at 7:30 pace and below.

The 7-7:30 pace on a treadmill is feeling pretty good these days.  It's a hard pace that takes some concentration and resolve but I never feel like I absolutely need to slow down or that I'm hurting too bad.  I think the treadmill can be deceiving though... curious if I'd feel the same way on the road.

2020: Week 3 in review

44.31 miles over the 3rd week of 2020 brought another new weekly mileage high for the 2nd week in a row.  With back to back 40+ mile weeks I feel way stronger than when I hit near 40 mile weeks in early December.  Resting HR is still sitting at 48 so I'm going to take that as a positive aerobic improvement sign.

I feel pretty great right now.  Some general muscular fatigue here and there but nothing really feels injured.  With 19 days to my half marathon I have one more week of hard training before I start backing it off a bit for a taper.  Hopefully I can make it through the next week to ten days of polishing off my fitness and then start the recovery process so I can be in peak shape for the race.

Started out week 4 off with a bang with my second 2+ hr training run for my Sunday long run.

14.5 miles
2:00:03
8:17 pace

Ran 12 miles on the treadmill in just under 1:39:00... then quickly cancelled the workout and quick-started it to get that last 21 minutes in.  Maybe 20 seconds to get the treadmill stopped and going again.  I was dreading how it would effect me but in the end I barely noticed.  

Felt strong the whole run but could definitely feel the muscles working for the last 15 minutes.

Followed up today with 1 hour on the bike (703 calories).

Yearly goal progress:
GOALS:
1.  1560 miles run:  117.47 for the year (32.22 miles ahead of pace)
2.  5000 Pull ups: 334        (60 ahead of pace)
3.  5000 Pushups/Bench:   298   (25 ahead pace)
4.  50 hour stationary bike:  3 hour  (on pace)
5.  Diet:  No junk food January...  day 20.  A couple more slip ups with an ice cream sandwich and a scoop of ice cream and a couple cookies.  Still eating mindfully and have lost some weight (3-5 lbs).  I real success is I haven't done any binge eating...  Hope to weigh under 170 within a month if I can keep this up.
6.  12500 Steps a day:  581 days and counting... 16,828 per day for the year

I'm feeling fit, strong, and the weight is coming off.  Hoping to be fast again soon!

Miles and miles and miles

I've been loving building up the mileage.  Ever since my first marathon training cycle 10 years ago I've been enthralled with the ability to lace up, head out the door, and run non-stop for hours.  Today, I hit a new high for a mid-week medium long run.

9 miles
1:11:36
7'57" pace

Another treadmill run... Started out at 8:49 pace and slowly bumped it up. Ran mile 7 and 8 at 7:30 pace and found the pace hard but sustainable.

Harkening back to the summer, when 8 miles would wipe me out for a day its great to be able to run 9 and then shower up and head to work without feeling overly fatigued.  It's really a marvel how the body adapts.

That 9 put me over 40 miles for the 2nd week in a row.  Still plan on putting a few more miles in tomorrow as well so will probably hit a new weekly mileage high.

Workout Wednesday

Hopefully today wasn't the day that did me in.    My right hip was tight to start the workout and by mile 2 it was really singing.  I contemplated stopping and stretching but I really don't like stopping the treadmill mid-workout (for mostly irrational reasons).  Eventually it stopped nagging me as I picked up the pace but it got super tight after I stopped to the point that I was hobbling around.  Then after some quick icing and stretching it eventually just let loose and now it pretty much feels back to normal.  Hopefully it'll amount to nothing.

Moving on to the workout:

8.02 miles
1:00:01
7:29 pace

Started off at 6.8 MPH (8:49 pace) and bumped up the speed by .1 every 1/4 mile til I got to 9.1 (6:36 pace).  Then slowly eased it back by .1 every 1/4 mile to mile 7 and dropped to ~7.5+ MPH (8:00 pace) for the final mile.

Felt pretty good for the whole run though was definitely pushing it at the peak speed.  HR peaked at about 170 and then crept slowly down in the 160's as I reduced the pace.

I've seen a drastic drop in my fitbit resting HR this week.  Went from the 53-54 BPM range down to 49 the last few days and today 48.  I'm gonna take that as a good sign of fitness gain though I never have full confidence in the wrist based sensors or Fitbit's resting HR algorithm.

Running to the end of the treadmill

First off I wanted to celebrate a new weekly mileage record.  42.53 miles for the week.  I was worried after my hip flexors started bugging me but they seem to have settled on so I'm back to overdoing it again!  26 days til my half marathon which leaves about 2 weeks left of training before I start scaling back for a taper.   Not necessarily targeting a command performance for the half but it's been good motivation to keep me training through the winter and I hope to at least get a confidence boosting performance after my 5K letdown on New Year Eve.

Besides running a mileage high, I also managed to run for 6 days instead of 5.  Something else I'm working on gradually incorporating...  and yesterday I ran to the end of my treadmill.

Turns out my treadmill has a maximum workout limit of 99 minutes (1 hour 39 minutes).  Cold with snow and ice kept my inside for my long run so I decided to max out my treadmill.  

12.16 miles
1:39:00
8'08" pace

Started out slow and kept speeding up the mileage until I peaked at 7:48 pace (7.7 mph).  Ran the last 5 or so miles at 8:00 or below.  Wasn't easy but certainly wasn't hard either and my legs are really starting to adapt to the distance.  I'm barely fatigued at all after my long run at this point and have no issues completing my day.

Yearly goal progress:
GOALS:
1.  1560 miles run:  70.82 for the year (15.4 miles ahead of pace)
2.  5000 Pull ups:  220        (43 ahead of pace)
3.  5000 Pushups/Bench:   135   (42 behind pace)
4.  50 hour stationary bike:  2 hour  (on pace)
5.  Diet:  No junk food January...  day 13.  I've had 2 slip ups in the form of 2 scoops of ice cream on 2 separate occasions.  Overall I've been disciplined and mindful of what I've been eating so overall I still consider myself successful so far.
6.  12500 Steps a day:  574 days and counting... 16,288 per day for the year