40 mile week, finding my stride, and getting back on track

I ran my first 40 mile week since August last week and am already 20 miles into this week.  My loosely formulated plan to cut back a bit and then start base building again seems to be working out.

Peaking and the subsequent drop in fitness has been mentally hard for me to handle.  A couple months ago I was ripping 7 minute miles and now I'm closer to 8... and it's not like I ever stopped training, but dropping from 200+ miles a month to 100+ miles is quite a difference so I guess I just need to have faith that the process is working.

2 weeks ago on Sunday I ran 11.03 miles at 8:32 pace with a 148 avg HR. A few days ago on Sunday I ran 12.50 miles at 8:09 pace with 146 avg HR...  neither run was anything special when taken individually, but the comparative jump in fitness in just 2 weeks is encouraging.

I've ripped out 331 pull ups over the last 9 days and am quickly closing the gap on my goal pace.  

Today I dropped 7.5 miles on the treadmill at 8:30 pace.  I think that's the bread and butter type of run I need to be hitting as I build my base up.  I've been probably running a bit too fast for a lot of my runs, chasing the fitness I recently had.  

One day, I need to be more disciplined about my blogging/documentation for future Ethan's sake... For now I'll just ramble through it, much like my training :)

Yearly Goal Update

With 42 days left in 2020, its time to take a look at how I'm stacking up on my yearly goals.

1.  2020 (or 1560) miles run:  1801.93 to date (which is almost 1000 more than last year).    I've already met my original goal of 1560 miles i.e. 30 miles a week and am currently 13.73 miles ahead of pace for 2020 by the end of the year.

2.  5000 Pull ups: 4238 (188 behind pace)… I really fell off for a while between travelling and a motivation dip.   I think the rest was needed though and now I'm playing catchup.  Can still whip out sets of 15 pulls ups without much issue so I shouldn't have a problem catching back up if I can stick with it for the next week or two.

3.  5000 Pushups/Bench:  4151 (275 behind pace)… Even more behind on these but it's really easy to whip out 100 pushups in a day so I'm not worried about this at all.  Need to get back to benching at some point.  

4.  50 hour stationary bike:  37:39 hours... I'm pretty much giving up on this one.  At the beginning of the year I had planned to do more cross training but as my running mileage and goal increased, the biking took a hit.  I also figured I'd get hurt at some point which would lead to more biking.  That never materialized so I guess I could spin it that being under my biking goal is a good thing... when it really comes down to it, I prefer running so I'm not too concerned.

5.  12500 Steps a day:  Still haven't broken this streak... 881 days and counting.  Lately, the count has been a lot closer to 12500 then I'd prefer but with Covid  I'm pretty much stuck at my desk all day and with the weather getting cold. I'm outside a lot less.  Hopefully I can keep squeaking by until the end of the year.

OFF SEASON

Looks like I last posted about 2 months ago.  Don't worry, I'm still here.  I have just been having a bit of an off season.  After peaking in August thru mid September, my motivations starting waning.  My mileage dropped quite  a bit and I took some days off here and there and even a few days off in a row.  Never really quit running though.  Through it I started traveling for work again which messed with my consistency and then I got sick (not Covid), which eventually went into my lungs and totally slowed me down.  For a week or two I was jog/walking and out of breath.  Eventually I took some Prednisone and everything cleared back up.

Exiting August I had run 13 weeks of 40 to 50+ miles.  Entering September I ran 33, 21, 32, 22, 31, 23, 30, 27, 14... The last 2 weeks I've started picking it back up again, running 35 and then 37.  

I was amazed at how fast I got "out of shape".  Going out running suddenly felt tough again and my heart rate was back up near 150 for paces and efforts that had been in the 130s a couple months ago. 

Yesterday, I finally had a breakthrough run of sorts.  11.6 miles on the treadmill in 1:30:05.

I started at 7 MPH for the first mile, then bumped it up by .2 for each mile.  

Mile 1:  7  (8:34)

Mile 2: 7.2 (8:20)

Mile 3: 7.4 (8:06)

Mile 4: 7.6 (7:54)

Mile 5: 7.8 (7:42)

Mile 6: 8.0 (7:30)

Mile 7: 8.2 (7:19)

Mile 8: 8.4 (7:09)

Mile 9: 8.6 (6:59)

Mile 10: 8.0 (7:30)

Mile 11 and 11.5: 7 (8:34)

Getting under 7 for the 9th mile was a real effort... My HR approached 170 by the end but it didn't really "hurt" at least not in a bad way.  It felt smooth and natural.  

At this point offseason is over and I'm ready to start building my base back.  I hope to be able to run a half marathon in February but I have my doubts on if it will actually occur.  Without a tangible goal, I'll just keep training and building and hoping I can stay healthy so that when the time finally comes when I can use my fitness I will be ready.

Harder than expected Tuesday

My early morning group run this morning was my first run since Saturday.  I didn't really know what to expect coming into it but just wanted to put forward a solid effort.

Ran the first mile in a pretty standard 7:30 and then pretty much took off after that.  The guy I was running with had his Vaporflys on and was ready for business... We hit the 2nd mile in 7:05.  I still felt good... nice and easy at this point.  Then he started pushing the pace on the uphills during mile 3 and we ran a 6:49.  Picking up speed but I figured I'd just cruise on mile 4.  Jeff had other ideas and started pushing the pace after the turnaround I went along for the ride.  He flew down the next hill and then turned to me and said pull me up this next hill so I pushed it up the hill.  At the top of the next hill was the 4 mile mark which we hit at 6:41.  Jeff suddenly stopped running and told me he was done and to go ahead.  

I had 4 miles more to go and was already pushed harder then I planned but I decided I might as well maintain effort and just go with it. I hammered mile 5 for what was probably a mile 5 PR of 6:51 (Strava GAP called it a 6:39).  I then hammered the last 3 miles at 6:47, 6:43, 6:42.  I didn't have much left by the last mile but was able to hold pace.  

Final Stats:

8.06 miles

55:32

7:53 pace 

A few other notes:

    -This was my 4th fastest run (of 8 miles or longer for the year)

    -I ran my 2nd fastest 10K ever according to Strava of 41:58 (6:45 pace)

    -I wore my Nike Air Pegasus 2's which are a great shoe.  Probably my favorite (not counting the Vaporflys)

Week 37 in review

Had a super light week last week, running only 21.50 miles over 3 runs for the whole week.  Then took Sunday completely off for our annual company golf outing.  I did get 4 rides in on the bike plus another ride today so I haven't been letting my fitness slip.  Just figured it was time for some scheduled recovery from training after a hard summer.   If I hit in the low 100s for mileage in September plus some extra biking it should be about perfect.

Yearly goal progress:

GOALS:

1.  2020 (or 1560) miles run:  1517.67 for the year (93.74 miles ahead of 2020 pace and 42.33 more miles to go to hit 1560).  

2.  5000 Pull ups: 3553  (28 ahead of pace) 

3.  5000 Pushups/Bench:  3511 (14 behind of pace)

4.  50 hour stationary bike:  31:21 hours... after almost 5 hours on the bike over the last week I've started to play a bit of catch up.   After doing it for several days it feels easier.  I think its hard to only do it once a week while still maintaining the specific muscle groups needed.  I still think there's a place for biking as x-training in my schedule but not sure how to really fit it in.  Will have to keep playing with it as I progress.

5.  12500 Steps a day:  818 days in a row now!

6. Diet... not this week.  I have really slid backwards on my sugar consumption.  Ice cream and cookies are not my friends :(

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.  

_________________________________________________________________________________

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)