Except when you tear both of them up!
Saturday was the tough-ish MP run.
Sunday was the Spartan run. I can't climb a rope (yet) but I can carry a tire partway up a ski hill, and grass can be very sharp, among other things I learned.
Monday was my organic chemistry final (postponed (indefinitely for a while) due to the postal strike). I lost sleep over the past week over the uncertainty of the exam date, but fortunately it arrived in time and I wrote it. It was a very cathartic brain dump; it felt surprisingly intuitive. And now I feel the void--I was reviewing equations constantly, especially before bed.
Today was housework, yardwork, packing and an interval workout: We're headed to Newfoundland and I'm not sure how I will be able to get runs in, or what runs, if any, so it was best to get at least one of the tough ones out of the way.
This was an interval workout, 5X 1k, hard, with recoveries equal in duration. It was so hot, though, that a couple of them ended up being a bit longer. The temp was 28C. Some muscles were still sore from the Spartan race. My warm up jog was slower than 10:00/mile...I was not moving.
To soften the upcoming challenge, I decided to do out-and-backs on a stretch I know well. After the first interval, I changed my mind--slowing down for the sharp turn, though fine on other occasions, did not befit conditions which so strongly favoured a slower pace.
4:28. Actually, this is only a couple of seconds or so too slow, but somehow I thought that it was way too slow.
Fortunately, there is 5k's worth of 1/2k markers, and I know where they are and, thus how much or little remains of an interval when I'm suffering in the middle of it.
And a magical thing happened: I've been concentrating on form and I realized that, if I lean forward a little more, lift my shoulders a bit more, move my arms a bit more, and generally run into the discomfort instead of backing off it, things are more efficient.
4:12.
Was it a fluke? I was worried I'd start to droop.
4:01
4:05
4:10
The 4:01 was excessive...I tried to keep it up but I was getting hotter and more thirsty and more sore. The new form felt great but I wasn't able to capture it as well during the last interval...but I must not forget it! The adjustment took off at least 20 seconds per interval, I think.
I was supposed to do 4:26ish per k, and ended up doing 4:11. Not bad for 31ish C humidex (fortunately, the heat burned off a lot of humidity!) Hopefully this will make the upcoming tempo runs more palatable.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Marathon pace run
I'm even more sold on the early Sept marathon but I still haven't bought my bib: I have to evade the family curse first. In early August, we'll be going to the lake where my grandmother broke her hip, my aunt broke her foot, and I did something to my foot last year...I didn't get it checked out but I couldn't run for almost 2 months (stupidly, I still tried to get in a run here or there before accepting that I had to rest, which delayed recovery), and then I couldn't jog for almost 2 months after that. I think I cracked something while landing on a rock the wrong way. Anyway, I'll likely sign up for the race before that trip; regardless, I'll be extra careful and actually wear trail shoes on the gravel/rock bits.
With my eye on early Sept, I did a marathon-pace workout this morning. I didn't feel like getting up at 6:30 after staying up until midnight or so, but with the upcoming heat and humidity, I didn't have much choice. Fortunately, I was well hydrated. Unfortunately, I was kind of nervous about the workout. My jogging pace is about 10:00-10:30/mile these days, and my marathon pace should be 8:15-20/mile. My marathon pace wasn't plucked out of thin air: I plugged my recent slightly saggy 5K result into a VDOT calculator. Saggy = easy, right? However, it would be faster than my 2 slow 1/2 marathons this winter. I decided that I'd be happy with 8:25/mile.
After a 1/2 mile jog (over 10:00/mile), I picked things up.
Mile 1: 8:34. Too slow, but what was one slow mile? I had to ease into it and get used to easing into it. Not like I'm going to toss off a few warm-up miles before the marathon.
Mile 2: 8:27. Almost there. Keeping things easy. I also had my first gel, a Gu Roctane. Maybe having some at the beginning instead of just at the end will help.
Mile 3: 8:23. cool. It was comfortable but still sort of foreign. I noticed that my breathing was a loose 2-2..this would be my guide. I also noticed that my weird shoulder glitch was acting up. It's not painful at first, more of a flaw in form caused in part by holding a dog leash for many miles. My right shoulder drops, my arms become T-Rex-like, and this throws everything off to the point where I get off balance enough to step to the side now and then (the funky balance thing also crops up when I've been exposed to wheat). I've been practicing squaring my shoulders and moving my arms more.
Mile 4: 8:27. By now I was on the course, the uphill 'back' end. This is sort of daunting, too, some short but steep sections. Running there more often, especially in MP and tempo runs, should flatten the inclines somewhat. I tried to imagine them more flat, and as an opportunity to switch up activated muscles and give some a rest.
Mile 5: 8:11. Things were starting to click but I still had to keep resetting my shoulders. But this is a more natural pace for me somehow than 8:20-30.
Mile 6. 8:08. Ok. This was mostly downhill and a bit of a break.
Mile 7. 8:18. Going back uphill (I turned around to repeat the worst section of the course). Fortunately, before the first incline, some guy cut into the path ahead of me and he was going at the perfect pace! I was really grateful just coast behind someone for a while. I dropped him at the top to have another gel. This was an expresso love--it has a Gaz stamp of approval and since I like coffee during runs, I decided to try it. It was better than I expected, and the lingering of flavour was actually kind of nice.
Mile 8. 8:09. ok.
Mile 9. 8:05. ok, though I was starting to get kind of tired of resetting my shoulders. But it has to be done. And I was getting kind of tired in general...it wasn't bad and breathing was still pretty easy but my muscles were feeling the effort and it was starting to feel kind of hot. This mile seemed kind of long.
Mile 10. 8:07. ok.
0.89. 8:07/mile. ok. I could have kept going. I thought of taking it to 11 miles, but, nope, I'm going to save the extra for the next workout.
Total 10.89 miles in 1:30:01. Pace per mile: 8:16. NICE!!
Same irregularity that cropped up last time I did MP workouts: I don't actually go at the marathon pace, just around it. Oh, well. I'm happy with how it turned out. My expectation was to feel burnt after a few miles around 8:40 or so.
No bodyrock today: we're doing the Spartan race tomorrow. That'll be a good core workout.
With my eye on early Sept, I did a marathon-pace workout this morning. I didn't feel like getting up at 6:30 after staying up until midnight or so, but with the upcoming heat and humidity, I didn't have much choice. Fortunately, I was well hydrated. Unfortunately, I was kind of nervous about the workout. My jogging pace is about 10:00-10:30/mile these days, and my marathon pace should be 8:15-20/mile. My marathon pace wasn't plucked out of thin air: I plugged my recent slightly saggy 5K result into a VDOT calculator. Saggy = easy, right? However, it would be faster than my 2 slow 1/2 marathons this winter. I decided that I'd be happy with 8:25/mile.
After a 1/2 mile jog (over 10:00/mile), I picked things up.
Mile 1: 8:34. Too slow, but what was one slow mile? I had to ease into it and get used to easing into it. Not like I'm going to toss off a few warm-up miles before the marathon.
Mile 2: 8:27. Almost there. Keeping things easy. I also had my first gel, a Gu Roctane. Maybe having some at the beginning instead of just at the end will help.
Mile 3: 8:23. cool. It was comfortable but still sort of foreign. I noticed that my breathing was a loose 2-2..this would be my guide. I also noticed that my weird shoulder glitch was acting up. It's not painful at first, more of a flaw in form caused in part by holding a dog leash for many miles. My right shoulder drops, my arms become T-Rex-like, and this throws everything off to the point where I get off balance enough to step to the side now and then (the funky balance thing also crops up when I've been exposed to wheat). I've been practicing squaring my shoulders and moving my arms more.
Mile 4: 8:27. By now I was on the course, the uphill 'back' end. This is sort of daunting, too, some short but steep sections. Running there more often, especially in MP and tempo runs, should flatten the inclines somewhat. I tried to imagine them more flat, and as an opportunity to switch up activated muscles and give some a rest.
Mile 5: 8:11. Things were starting to click but I still had to keep resetting my shoulders. But this is a more natural pace for me somehow than 8:20-30.
Mile 6. 8:08. Ok. This was mostly downhill and a bit of a break.
Mile 7. 8:18. Going back uphill (I turned around to repeat the worst section of the course). Fortunately, before the first incline, some guy cut into the path ahead of me and he was going at the perfect pace! I was really grateful just coast behind someone for a while. I dropped him at the top to have another gel. This was an expresso love--it has a Gaz stamp of approval and since I like coffee during runs, I decided to try it. It was better than I expected, and the lingering of flavour was actually kind of nice.
Mile 8. 8:09. ok.
Mile 9. 8:05. ok, though I was starting to get kind of tired of resetting my shoulders. But it has to be done. And I was getting kind of tired in general...it wasn't bad and breathing was still pretty easy but my muscles were feeling the effort and it was starting to feel kind of hot. This mile seemed kind of long.
Mile 10. 8:07. ok.
0.89. 8:07/mile. ok. I could have kept going. I thought of taking it to 11 miles, but, nope, I'm going to save the extra for the next workout.
Total 10.89 miles in 1:30:01. Pace per mile: 8:16. NICE!!
Same irregularity that cropped up last time I did MP workouts: I don't actually go at the marathon pace, just around it. Oh, well. I'm happy with how it turned out. My expectation was to feel burnt after a few miles around 8:40 or so.
No bodyrock today: we're doing the Spartan race tomorrow. That'll be a good core workout.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
speedwork!
So, I think I'm sold on the early September marathon, especially since there will be a 10K a couple or so weeks before on the same route. A good opportunity to test it out!
So, I did intervals at "Interval Pace" (Daniels) this evening (the morning was an 8-ish mile jog with the dog). This pace is hard and slightly rusty. Fortunately, the weather was relatively cool, though windy.
My times were all over the place though (the wind and changing route contributed to that): 3:21, 3:33, 3:29, 3:28, 3:20. I was supposed to run about 3:33 according to my 5K results, but it wasn't my best race (the clammy weather, the jog there, gluten contamination a few days before and thus sore guts, plus an untied shoelace during the race).
Last time I did this workout was last Dec: 3:27, 3:29, 3:28, 3:29, 3:25. This was repeated on the same stretch of road; I will do something similar next week because it is easier to run the same bit over and over again instead of running on and on and wondering where the next stopping point is and why the Garmin numbers are going by so slowly.
I've done 800m repeats prior to that...I guess the best workout was 6X 800m in Oct 2007. I was lighter then, sick but on meds that lessened symptoms, and in general running was going very well. 3:16, 3:11, 3:19, 3:19, 3:22, 3:24. My note says that the pacing was poor (it was around a track, so no excuse!), but it would be nice to be able to do sub-3:20 repeats again. in time!
Next week will be 5X 1000, and I have more past workouts to compare to that. Hopefully the weather cooperates again.
After the running, I did a bit of weights, a bit of bodywork; I had to take a break from Bodywork for a couple of days because I was wiped, but if I do the beginner versions sometimes, I might be able to be more consistent.
So, I did intervals at "Interval Pace" (Daniels) this evening (the morning was an 8-ish mile jog with the dog). This pace is hard and slightly rusty. Fortunately, the weather was relatively cool, though windy.
My times were all over the place though (the wind and changing route contributed to that): 3:21, 3:33, 3:29, 3:28, 3:20. I was supposed to run about 3:33 according to my 5K results, but it wasn't my best race (the clammy weather, the jog there, gluten contamination a few days before and thus sore guts, plus an untied shoelace during the race).
Last time I did this workout was last Dec: 3:27, 3:29, 3:28, 3:29, 3:25. This was repeated on the same stretch of road; I will do something similar next week because it is easier to run the same bit over and over again instead of running on and on and wondering where the next stopping point is and why the Garmin numbers are going by so slowly.
I've done 800m repeats prior to that...I guess the best workout was 6X 800m in Oct 2007. I was lighter then, sick but on meds that lessened symptoms, and in general running was going very well. 3:16, 3:11, 3:19, 3:19, 3:22, 3:24. My note says that the pacing was poor (it was around a track, so no excuse!), but it would be nice to be able to do sub-3:20 repeats again. in time!
Next week will be 5X 1000, and I have more past workouts to compare to that. Hopefully the weather cooperates again.
After the running, I did a bit of weights, a bit of bodywork; I had to take a break from Bodywork for a couple of days because I was wiped, but if I do the beginner versions sometimes, I might be able to be more consistent.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Bodyrocking
http://www.bodyrock.tv/
I found this site a while ago and it intrigued me but I wasn't quite strong enough to attempt the workouts then. Now is a different story. I'm still not strong enough to complete some of the exercises, but I'll get there. I'm still doing stuff with dumbbells and medicine balls, but the arm exercises were boring me and I needed something with more spark. I don't want toned arms for the sake of toned arms anyway, but I want to get my upper body stronger so that I can do squats and so forth with more weight and run faster without my shoulders getting tired.
http://www.bodyrock.tv/2010/12/15/ninja-jump-sandbag-pick-up/
Of course, the ninja jump is a piece of cake compared to the more arm intensive stuff...but how exciting!
As for running, I have been jogging lots and getting used to doubles but I still feel a little soft. That's to be expected with increased mileage, though, so I'm not concerned. yesterday, I combined a 5K race with a longer run. That sort of thing is similar to some Daniels marathon workouts, and I wanted to try it out because I feel that those workouts really pay off for me and I want to get back into them. I jogged 5.5 miles to the race, then ran the race (not a PB at 22:45, gun 22:56), then jogged home, then ran with my family. total: 18 miles. This was the longest I've run since the marathon and my muscles are still chirping about it. But it went well overall and now I'm going to crack open the Daniels book and see where I can integrate some of those workouts.
But first I have to choose a fall marathon! I don't really want to travel far for it because I'm cheap, I get carsick, and I'm sensitive to gluten cross-contamination and would much prefer to eat at home with my 'safe' cookware before a long gut-reliant race. Fortunately, there are two marathons nearby. one is in early October, would require a short car trip, and is a slightly hilly but pretty countryside route. The other is in early September, is much closer (if it weren't a full marathon, I'd jog there because I've jogged to the vicinity umpteen times for other things), and is a boring though somewhat pretty route that 5 8km out and back repeats and some sort of blip to make up the last 2.2km, plus it is an evening marathon. I'm starting to lean heavily toward the latter: I like boring repeats, I don't really like hills that I'm not used to, I run the most of the course regularly during other runs, and I'm intrigued by the evening marathon aspect. There isn't a lot of time between now and early September, but I've got a lot of long runs behind me this year and my mileage is already pretty close to where I'd want it to be. All I'd really have to do is sharpen up and then taper.
I found this site a while ago and it intrigued me but I wasn't quite strong enough to attempt the workouts then. Now is a different story. I'm still not strong enough to complete some of the exercises, but I'll get there. I'm still doing stuff with dumbbells and medicine balls, but the arm exercises were boring me and I needed something with more spark. I don't want toned arms for the sake of toned arms anyway, but I want to get my upper body stronger so that I can do squats and so forth with more weight and run faster without my shoulders getting tired.
http://www.bodyrock.tv/2010/12/15/ninja-jump-sandbag-pick-up/
Of course, the ninja jump is a piece of cake compared to the more arm intensive stuff...but how exciting!
As for running, I have been jogging lots and getting used to doubles but I still feel a little soft. That's to be expected with increased mileage, though, so I'm not concerned. yesterday, I combined a 5K race with a longer run. That sort of thing is similar to some Daniels marathon workouts, and I wanted to try it out because I feel that those workouts really pay off for me and I want to get back into them. I jogged 5.5 miles to the race, then ran the race (not a PB at 22:45, gun 22:56), then jogged home, then ran with my family. total: 18 miles. This was the longest I've run since the marathon and my muscles are still chirping about it. But it went well overall and now I'm going to crack open the Daniels book and see where I can integrate some of those workouts.
But first I have to choose a fall marathon! I don't really want to travel far for it because I'm cheap, I get carsick, and I'm sensitive to gluten cross-contamination and would much prefer to eat at home with my 'safe' cookware before a long gut-reliant race. Fortunately, there are two marathons nearby. one is in early October, would require a short car trip, and is a slightly hilly but pretty countryside route. The other is in early September, is much closer (if it weren't a full marathon, I'd jog there because I've jogged to the vicinity umpteen times for other things), and is a boring though somewhat pretty route that 5 8km out and back repeats and some sort of blip to make up the last 2.2km, plus it is an evening marathon. I'm starting to lean heavily toward the latter: I like boring repeats, I don't really like hills that I'm not used to, I run the most of the course regularly during other runs, and I'm intrigued by the evening marathon aspect. There isn't a lot of time between now and early September, but I've got a lot of long runs behind me this year and my mileage is already pretty close to where I'd want it to be. All I'd really have to do is sharpen up and then taper.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
chasing sleep
This isn't insomnia so much as nocturnal inspiration, I guess; I'm still tired but I had a couple of really good runs yesterday, including some modest speedwork. I was surprised to see that my 200M repeats were comfortable at about 39-40 seconds, though I could feel that my legs still have to make more of an acquaintance with faster effort. Weights went really well too. But last night's sleep was especially short. I finished one assignment at 2 am and then decided to check the news and see who won the Stanley Cup...well, Vancouver lost in more ways than one. It was hard to go to sleep after watching riot footage. I guess I went to bed shortly before 4.
And of course that garbage truck had to arrive--and back up--sometime before 7 am. The apartment building next to us has private pick up and usually I'm up before 7 so the truck has never woken me up before. I can sleep through a lot of urban noise, even most sirens (for a while when I was young, I lived close to a fire station) but the back up beep is diabolically designed. It's the pitch of adrenaline, it slices deep into the amygdala or some other quasi-reptilian brain region and ostomizes terror older than dirt. I used to live behind a club in Montreal that had garbage pickup at 5 am or so--the beep eventually entered my dreams and woke me up even when the truck wasn't there and so I started wearing earplugs to starve the auditory echo.
Surprisingly, we didn't run this morning. I was up in time but I wasn't moving very fast. I think we'll do a few miles this evening, probably mostly walking.
Gotta get working but procrastination waters other gardens: new (probably transient) feature of this blog:
Burning Questions! because I wonder about things.
What (at the molecular level) makes sap and other things sticky? Mainly, other things that get stuck to sap, like dogs.
Why do mobs occur? The riot last night was just an excuse to damage things, but why does this urge exist and why was fulfilling it apparently so satisfying? The conformity of the participants was disturbing; the similar team jerseys and glazed smiles added to the effect of a human plasmodial slime mold, many organisms aggregating to become a single pulsing whole, individuality stripped away. Strengthening human interaction and cooperation is often lauded as positive progress, but there are such deep primordial drives in us all, some of which are horrifically outdated and yet so readily amplified.
And of course that garbage truck had to arrive--and back up--sometime before 7 am. The apartment building next to us has private pick up and usually I'm up before 7 so the truck has never woken me up before. I can sleep through a lot of urban noise, even most sirens (for a while when I was young, I lived close to a fire station) but the back up beep is diabolically designed. It's the pitch of adrenaline, it slices deep into the amygdala or some other quasi-reptilian brain region and ostomizes terror older than dirt. I used to live behind a club in Montreal that had garbage pickup at 5 am or so--the beep eventually entered my dreams and woke me up even when the truck wasn't there and so I started wearing earplugs to starve the auditory echo.
Surprisingly, we didn't run this morning. I was up in time but I wasn't moving very fast. I think we'll do a few miles this evening, probably mostly walking.
Gotta get working but procrastination waters other gardens: new (probably transient) feature of this blog:
Burning Questions! because I wonder about things.
What (at the molecular level) makes sap and other things sticky? Mainly, other things that get stuck to sap, like dogs.
Why do mobs occur? The riot last night was just an excuse to damage things, but why does this urge exist and why was fulfilling it apparently so satisfying? The conformity of the participants was disturbing; the similar team jerseys and glazed smiles added to the effect of a human plasmodial slime mold, many organisms aggregating to become a single pulsing whole, individuality stripped away. Strengthening human interaction and cooperation is often lauded as positive progress, but there are such deep primordial drives in us all, some of which are horrifically outdated and yet so readily amplified.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Running fever
I'm stuck in a lower gear, feels like, but I can't stop either.
There aren't enough hours in the day and of course I'm wasting part of one now.
Running has been going pretty well, but stuff has encroached upon sleep for the past few weeks: some things just beg to be done after 10 pm. Gradually, I've been getting more and more run down and less and less sleep, but I still wake up early. I feel it mostly in my shoulders, although I got up this morning with an emerging cold sore (after 4.5 hrs of sleep).
But there is a strange kind of counter-impetus to certain kinds of inertia. A layer of the ego (specifically, forethought and self-doubt) withers and before excuses erupt, motion is occurring. A music prof once told me that a fever can result in a really good performance, and I found this to be true. I'm not sure I have a fever now but I have the ether of a fever at least.
Decisions became easy...my running clothes were beside the bed, closer than any other possibilities; before I fully awoke, I rolled into them and out the door. The dog has trained himself to meet me at the front door close to his leash so I picked him up along the way and we floated for 4 miles. I felt more attuned to the surroundings than my own body. Who is this person breathing? I overdressed (accidentally?) and this created a bubble of comforting warmth, an artificial fever; we ran into the sun at first and it was disappointing to turn around.
And now I must apply this momentum to work.
There aren't enough hours in the day and of course I'm wasting part of one now.
Running has been going pretty well, but stuff has encroached upon sleep for the past few weeks: some things just beg to be done after 10 pm. Gradually, I've been getting more and more run down and less and less sleep, but I still wake up early. I feel it mostly in my shoulders, although I got up this morning with an emerging cold sore (after 4.5 hrs of sleep).
But there is a strange kind of counter-impetus to certain kinds of inertia. A layer of the ego (specifically, forethought and self-doubt) withers and before excuses erupt, motion is occurring. A music prof once told me that a fever can result in a really good performance, and I found this to be true. I'm not sure I have a fever now but I have the ether of a fever at least.
Decisions became easy...my running clothes were beside the bed, closer than any other possibilities; before I fully awoke, I rolled into them and out the door. The dog has trained himself to meet me at the front door close to his leash so I picked him up along the way and we floated for 4 miles. I felt more attuned to the surroundings than my own body. Who is this person breathing? I overdressed (accidentally?) and this created a bubble of comforting warmth, an artificial fever; we ran into the sun at first and it was disappointing to turn around.
And now I must apply this momentum to work.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
recovery
It's been two weeks since the marathon and I feel pretty much recovered. Gaz and I jogged around for about 2 hours today and then I jogged home, and it was very comfortable. Much better than my 10 mile long run last weekend.
I have been avoiding hills and speedwork...this is the week to resume them.
I have been avoiding hills and speedwork...this is the week to resume them.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
