Fall Training: Week 7 (Special tragicomic edition)

Posted on October 26, 2009 by threlkeld

09fall-training-07New highs, new lows. I’d planned (or, rather, Coach Kevin had planned) 95 miles for me this week. While that certainly wasn’t a new high, I was looking forward to hitting that number. It makes me feel like a superhero when I can emerge from two 90+ weeks with energy to spare.

The highs this week were a 14+ mile recovereasy run that was a lot faster than I’d planned. But it was fast despite a very low effort. I cruised along at sub-9:00 at avg 72% MHR. This after a fairly challenging 22 miler on Sunday. I was feeling very up after that on Tuesday.

I had enough energy for strides on Wednesday morning, although I didn’t run them crazily fast. Wednesday was a big mileage day, and the effects showed on Thursday. That was one of the week’s lows. I didn’t feel that great going into the run and I was struggling to run an 11:30 mile at 67%. Even though I lowered my expectations accordingly I was still shocked at how slow I was running at 89-90% effort.

Shocked and depressed, actually. I started questioning everything and finding fault everywhere. I was running too many miles. I was too fat. I was too old. I simply lacked talent. This went on for most of the afternoon, but then I pulled myself out of my funk by looking over training logs and realizing that sometimes you just have a shitty day.

I took it very easy for the next few days in order to rest up for Sunday’s sandwich run and race in Central Park, which provided the most extreme highs and lows of the week: what started out as a great race ended up an instantaneous DNF.

Now it’s Monday and I didn’t run at all today. Instead I continued to ice, compress and massage my hamstring. Then I went out for a 3.5 walk with a few experimental little jogs. The hamstring is still twingey, and it does not like going uphill. But it’s only been about 36 hours. I’ll see how it is tomorrow and go from there.

Filed under: central park, injury, racing, training | Tagged: , | 2 Comments »

Another DNF. So why am I smiling?

Posted on October 25, 2009 by threlkeld

This morning I experienced the second DNF of my brief competitive racing career. Loyal readers will recall the first, earlier this year, as the debacle known as the Newport Marathon. That experience made me want to stick pins in my eyes in true tragic fashion. Today’s DNF, while a bummer, was a whole different story. And, as the title of this post implies, not without its bright spots.

The site of my latest incomplete was the Poland Spring Marathon Kickoff Five Miler in Central Park this morning. It was to be the centerpiece of a total run of 15 miles: 10 easy around a 5 mile race. I’d been advised by Coach Kevin to not plan to run it all out, but that if I felt good to go ahead and feel free to turn on the turbochargers. Well, dang, but I felt good today. I did a 3 mile warmup, mostly easy running but with a couple 45 second repeats at 6:30-7:00 to get my legs ready to go fast, along with my little dynamic stretching routine

Then I lined up in the second corral of runners who’ve managed a previous NYRR race over 1 mile of between 7:00-7:59 average pace. I mention this seemingly unnecessary and wonky detail because I had one goal and one desire for this race today. The goal was to simply run it as hard as I could, with the constant reminder to myself that I need to keep running hard. I don’t race shorter distances because they are so difficult for me to run, as I’m all slowtwitch muscle fibers. The desire was to finally run a NYRR race under 7:00 pace so I can start races in the first corral.

The race started and I was again reminded of why I need to get out of that stupid second corral. Despite starting nearly at the front of my corral this time, I was still stuck in a mob running 7:20 at the start. Midway through the first mile I managed to latch myself onto a guy who I only knew in my own mind as “Lurch.” He was enormous and running fast. So I hung right behind him as he muscled his way through the throngs. We picked it up and I managed a 7:01 for mile 1. Happy with that progress, I vowed not to look at the watch again. Just run fast.

Mile 2 was faster. I could feel that it was a lot faster. That turned out to have been a 6:40. Then mile 3 had some hills and I knew I’d give back some of the time gained in the previous mile, but not all of it. The remaining hills ended at the 3.5 mile mark and then things flattened out as we approached the start of Cat Hill. I was picking up the pace, passing women, and looking forward to the last 1.5 miles, most of which would be either downhill or flat. I’d saved some energy and was getting ready to take flight.

Then, coming down Cat Hill, someone shot me in the back of my right leg. Or at least that’s what it felt like. Hamstring pull. Just like that, my race was over. One loud utterance of “Fuck!” Two hops to get off the course. Three minutes massaging my hamstring and wondering if I would be kissing my fall marathon goodbye and writing off the entire year. To distract myself, I looked at my watch, which I’d turned off the moment I stopped running, since I knew I wouldn’t be running anymore today.

The watch was stopped at mile 3.71. My average pace at that point was 6:54. Hey, wait! This was good news! Had my hamstring not turned into a shrieking diva today, I was certain I could have brought that average down to the high 6:40s and just broken 34:00. Once I managed to skip awkwardly across the wall of runners, I was able to do some walking across the park to Baggage and then another quarter mile or so to the car. While the hamstring certainly hurt, my limp was slight and it became less pronounced the farther I walked.

I’ve spent the last few hours babying it with rest, ice, compression, elevation (otherwise known as the acronym RICE), some industrial strength anti-inflammatories — and it feels better. I’m fairly certain this was a freakish event tied to coming off of two big weeks (and a hard half) as well as the fact that I never run downhills fast. I’d been vaguely aware of some tightness in the right hamstring somewhere during mile 2. But it’s a rare race when something isn’t complaining, so I didn’t worry about it. I guess today’s faster running was one straw too many on the camel’s back and something quite literally had to give.

I get to try again for the coveted blue bib in about a month, when I’ll run a 4 miler in the park. If I could run this well for 5 miles, I’ve no doubt I’ll get that bib before the year is out. But for now, I’m focused on getting my right leg back online.

Filed under: central park, injury, racing, training | Tagged: , , , | 11 Comments »

Help me pick my spring 2010 marathon

Posted on October 24, 2009 by threlkeld

I tend to have years that are either “off” or “on” in terms of heavy travel. One year we’ll travel a lot and neglect the house (which is a 1928 colonial in perpetual decline). The next, we’ll stay home and put money into our crumbling domicile. 2009 was an “on” year for travel. Next year will be mostly “off.” But that doesn’t preclude some travel for a spring marathon. I would like to limit it to a long weekend and keep it close enough that it can be driven to in a day (10 hours is the max I can tolerate) or easily flown to from NYC area airports. I accept that we’ll probably need to change planes along the way.

I’ve been researching and I’ve narrowed things down to a few races that look good in terms of location, size, weather/course and reputation/reviews. Since I like cooler weather races I’m looking for mid-to-late May as the outside date. But I’m not averse to doing something earlier, such as in mid-to-late March or April. The ones I’m researching are listed below in the poll.

Note that I haven’t included the Long Branch New Jersey marathon because the weather can be so unpredictable. But I may keep it around as a backup race. Weather considerations are the biggest reason that I’ve not included a lot of New England races that would normally be on my radar.

So, where should I run? If not one of these, what races do you like that are accessible from New England, and why do you recommend them?

Edited: I didn’t think I’d have to be this pedantic, but if you voted “Other” can you please offer a brief comment on which “other” race you have in mind and why?

Filed under: racing, travel | 13 Comments »

Fall Training: Week 5

Posted on October 13, 2009 by threlkeld

09fall-training-05Having recovered from the difficult previous week, I decided to have another go at running some miles at marathon effort before leaving South Africa. This run went much better than Friday’s semi-disaster, as it was again in the low 60s and the sun was behind the clouds.

Despite a weekend of drinking, staying up late and stuffing myself, I felt pretty good for this run. Although I have to admit that I was looking forward to getting home and swearing off shortbread biscuits, chocolate and buckets of wine and beer. At least until after I run CIM in December.

Tuesday and Wednesday were consumed with getting home and getting ready for my reentry into work and serious training again.

I guess I managed to kill a few brain cells with all that fabulous local wine and beer because on Thursday I went out and hammered a workout that was supposed to be on the easy side. My Thursday speed session should have been run at recovery pace, with the exception of the 8:00 at speedy effort. Instead, I ran the whole thing at moderate-to-hard effort. My legs felt great and I just forgot that I wasn’t supposed to run this hard for these workouts.

Not surprisingly, I was tired on the subsequent recovery runs. I cut the Saturday run short by a mile and ran it at a slow jog pace to try to save my legs for Sunday’s race.

I went into the Westchester Half on Sunday expecting…well, not really expecting anything. I didn’t know if I’d do badly, well, or somewhere inbetween. As it turns out, I did very well under the circumstances. Maybe those lighter mileage weeks gave me the rest I needed to race well. Or maybe it was the wine, chocolate and beer.

Between this and the Whale half, I’m feeling good about my current level of fitness. The next few weeks of training — under what I hope will be healthier, more amenable conditions — should yield more clues as to where I am.

Filed under: drinking, eating, racing, recovery, training, travel, westchester | 4 Comments »

Race Report: 2009 Westchester Half

Posted on October 12, 2009 by threlkeld

Short report since work is nuts, I have lots of training logs to catch up on, and I have to run 90 miles this week (eek).

Like the Whale Half in South Africa two weeks ago, I came into this race with an open mind and no real expectations. But unlike that race, the conditions were near perfect, with a starting temperature of around 48 degrees and almost no wind until the last few miles. True, the course is hilly, but not as bad as what I faced in South Africa. Plus I was familiar with the course, so I could come up with something resembling a pacing strategy.

I tried three new things in this race. I know you’re never supposed to try new things in a race, but this wasn’t an important race for me, so what the hell. The three experiments were:

  • Shoes: I wore my new pair of Adidas Adizero Ace’s (with only 8 miles on them), just to see how they compare to the Saucony Fastwitch 3’s for racing. They were great racing shoes and I’ll wear them again in my next few races. I’m not sure how they’d hold up over the marathon distance, but I plan to try them on a 22 miler this Sunday in Central Park to see.
  • Warmup: I tried a new warmup routine, a modified version of what’s discussed in this online article in Running Times. While I didn’t follow it to the letter (it was for a 5K anyway), I used the principles: a solid block of very easy running, followed by some active stretching and skipping, topped off with some short intervals at close to race pace.
  • Mental approach: I dumped the data, at least during the race. Meaning I decided not to look at my watch and run completely by feel. Although I was 3.5 minutes off my PB for the half, this was a very successful race and I suspect that this data-free approach had a lot to do with that.

Why was I 3.5 minutes off my best? I chalk it up to several factors:

  • Course: My best half was run on the nearly pancake flat Long Branch Half Marathon course. The Westchester course has significant hills throughout the race.
  • Training cycle: I’m in the middle of a marathon training cycle. When I ran my best in NJ, I’d had over a month of rest after a good full marathon race.
  • Jetlag/stress: I got home on Wednesday afternoon after close to 30 hours of travel on two flights. On subsequent nights I was sleep-deprived. We also had to deal with the burglary/rental car damage in the last few days of the trip and that caused a lot of mental stress.
  • Terrible nutrition: I’d spent the past 2+ weeks eating garbage and drinking like a fish.
  • Weight: I gained about three pounds while on vacation. So I guess I was literally hauling ass during this race.
  • Lack of recovery: Thursday featured a run that was supposed to be 8 miles at 70% MHR with four 2:00 repeats at 91-92% and 2:00 rests. Instead, I ran an average effort well into the low 80% range and only did 1:00 rests between repeats. Not until I got home did I realize my error. So my legs were still somewhat tired going into Sunday.

All things considered, this was another good race. Unfortunately, as with the Whale Half late last month, lots of factors conspired to obscure the quality of my performance. But I feel good about both races.

The Westchester course featured a steady climb in the first mile, and two other notable hills in subsequent miles, but the first half is a net downhill drop. That means the way back is uphill. So I reserved energy in the first half and ran at a manageable pace.

During the first half, some people passed me and I passed other people. I was cruising along and not really worrying about what other people were doing. The pace was hard, but comfortable, a full breath every three steps. About a mile before the turnaround I spotted the leaders and was happy to see Jonathan in sixth. He held that position to the finish. Then I started counting boobs and by the time I hit the turnaround had figured out that I was in ninth. Suddenly, I cared more about this race.

So I made a deal that I would do my best to work my way up to fifth, but exercise enough control that I wouldn’t kill myself in the next few miles only to fade in the last two. I easily passed the first woman in my sights, who was fading fast anyway. The next one was tougher, although I surged by her as she slowed at a water stop and that seemed to work. I spotted the next just beyond the 9 mile mark, right before a big hill. She was holding her pace on the hill so I thought it would be foolish to try to pass her then (especially since I’ve done no hill training). As we crested the hill, a friend of hers on the sideline yelled, “Go, Mary! There’s someone right behind you.”

I wanted to ask her friend, “How old is Mary?” but I didn’t. Instead, I felt slightly annoyed that my cover had been blown. But it was a great motivator. So I followed Mary down the hill and recovered over the next few hundred yards. Then I decided to try a longer surge on the flat bit that was coming up. So I passed her “decisively” (as they say in strategy articles) and held a pace of about 20 seconds per mile faster than she was running for a good quarter mile, then picked up the pace again on subsequent downhills. She came in a minute behind me, so I guess this was the right thing to do.

After that, the only other woman I saw was blowing her Wheaties just past mile 11 (isn’t racing fun?). I thought she was the leader at the time, but now I realize she wasn’t. She may have been a quarter marathon runner (we bumped into them on the way back), but I don’t know. But for a good couple of miles I was convinced I had fifth place, and it was a good feeling to know I did everything I could to move up. [Updated: it turns out I did get fifth.]

The penultimate mile ends with a huge hill and I felt done at the time. But I managed to rally in the last mile and ran that one the fastest, a good 20+ seconds faster than the overall average pace for the race. This makes me wonder if I should have run the whole thing slightly faster if I had that much left.

I ended up with sixth fifth overall and first in the 40-49F age group, with a net time of 1:37:35. The woman I passed, Mary Fenton (2nd in our AG), came up and congratulated me, which I appreciated. The other funny thing was seeing a young woman win an age group award and go completely batshit with excitement. It was very endearing and a good reminder that I need to remember how hard it was to win awards until very recently. Jonathan won the 50-59M age group. We have matching ugly trophies, New Balance gift certificates and enough powdered Heed drink mix to poison a small cult.

Did I say this would be a short post?

Filed under: drinking, eating, racing, shoes, westchester | Tagged: | 6 Comments »

Dispatches…from…Africa…at…128…kbps…

Posted on September 28, 2009 by threlkeld

Where it was once called The Dark Continent, I would now characterize Africa as The Slow Continent. And I’m in South Africa, the shining beacon of modernity here. Internet connectivity means plugging a cellular doohickey into the USB port and pouring a nice big cup of tea for every page you hope to load.

No matter, though. I didn’t come here to sit in front of a computer. I’ve spent most of my time either outside running and walking, or inside eating and drinking. Copious amounts of sleeping have figured into this schedule as well.

Here’s a quick rundown of activities thus far. It took us roughly 36 hours over two flights (and lots of ass time in Heathrow) to get from JFK to Cape Town, but thanks to modern chemistry we were able to sleep on the plane and get time adjusted along the way. Our destination was Greyton, a tiny town of around 800 nestled in the Overberg mountains, around 1.5 hours SW of Cape Town. It’s a combination gay/retiree mecca, which means lots of quality restaurants and watering holes, a good wine shop and many organized activities during the day.

We were only here for one night before departing 45 minutes away to the coast to run our half marathon in Hermanus, a big whale watching destination. We stayed in a wonderful B&B, just a five minute walk from the race start and finish. The race itself was actually very funny in some ways, and one I’m proud of. Funny because we awoke a few hours before our 4:30AM alarm to howling winds. They only got worse and by the 7AM start there was a steady wind of 30mph with gusts of (I’m guessing) 50. Enough to knock over heavy garden planters and turn restaurant sandwich boards into potentially lethal projectiles.

My quasi mother- and father-in-law (it’s complicated*), Margaret and Geoff, had generously scoped out the course beforehand, noting that the entire second half was straight uphill, some on loose gravel. So we knew going in that this would not be a PR course. The wind, however, introduced a whole new level of absurdity. I can honestly say that this was the toughest course I’ve ever run. The wind was just relentless. There was one section in the middle of the race, an uphill, when we had a strong tailwind, and my split shows it. The rest of the time, though, it was mostly headwind with an occasional shift to sidewind for some temporary relief.

The course was beautiful, starting in a high school rugby field, a little bit of cross-country course in the beginning, then winding through the town and down along the very wild waterfront. Then up again through the hoity toity area in which we were staying, and back to the school for the finish amongst the stands of spectators.

Knowing the challenges of the last half of the course and figuring in the headwind, my strategy was to run on effort and not worry about pace. I wanted to pass people in the second half and really be able to race those big hills. So I ran the first half at around 88-90% effort (a little lower than I’d typically do for a half), then picked it up in to the low 90%s and finished up in the mid-90%s. I passed a bunch of people and ended 11th woman overall. I have no clue what my masters standing was. Jonathan came in 5th overall and was first masters male. But after much confusion it emerged that this was a club race and, being interlopers and mere holders of “temporary licenses” (don’t ask), we were not eligible for any awards.

As usual, I forgot to turn off my watch, but I think I just broke 1:46 (update: official time was 1:45:52). A good 12 minutes off my best time for the half. Hee hee. Lousy times and awards ineligibility notwithstanding, I’m happy with my execution and ability to perform well in abysmal conditions. I felt great throughout the race and don’t think I could have run it better than I did.

The other highlight of the trip has been the little girl next door who has a massive crush on me. In this case, she’s a Doberman-Alsatian mix. I passed her on a solo run around the neighborhood yesterday, sitting in the drive two doors down from our rental, and she happily tagged along. On the way, she made sure I knew she was the boss of the cows and the guinea fowl. Although she did cower behind me when we were threatened by barking dogs behind fences.

She was the perfect running partner, spending most of her time just off my thigh, her ear brushing me, never half-stepping. Sometimes she’d run off to explore, but never for more than a minute or two. Every mile or so she’d look up as if to say, “How far are we going exactly?” But she never stopped running.

This morning, as we headed out for a group hike, there she was again, waiting for me. We tried to shake her, but she’d have no part of it. Even putting me in a car to drive away from her only resulted in her tearing down the road after us even as we accelerated to 40 km. So she joined us on the hike, again just off my leg. Now she was becoming a problem, as we had to alter the route to take the “no dogs” path. Then she followed us to the pub. So I walked her back to her home, but no one was there. I opened the gate and led her in, only to discover that she is capable of leaping right over it. So, on a lark, I tried a command. “Stay,” I said sternly. And she stayed. So now I know the trick. Fortunately, her owners speak English rather than Afrikaans.

I have more stories to tell, but I’m due at my quasi-inlaws for dinner, so I’m off…

*As Jonathan and I are not married, I’m never sure what to call his mother in relation to myself. Further complicating things is the fact that Geoff is Margaret’s third husband. Did I mention Jonathan’s half-brother, Robbie (different Dad) and his husband, Phil? After a few drinks, it’s challenging to communicate to strangers what we all are to each other.

Filed under: everyday life, racing, travel | 6 Comments »

Summer Basebuilding: Week 9

Posted on August 30, 2009 by threlkeld

sum09-base-09The heat and humidity eased a bit in the middle of the week, allowing me to comfortably do a few of my runs outside (something for which I was very happy). Then the outer edges of Hurricane Danny skirted the east coast and wrecked the prospects of having two decent outside weekend runs.

I’m sitting legs up in my fancy recliner, having resumed Semi-Stupor Sundays once again, thanks to the advent of the English Premier League Football season. Between the long runs on Sunday morning and hours of entertaining football, nothing gets done in my house on Sundays.

One of us lies half-conscious on the couch; the other semi-upright, but no less heavily lidded, in the recliner. The only motion observed is the periodic re-feedings every 2-4 hours. Sometimes in this soporific tableau I see a foreshadowing of our retirement years together. Then I remember that we’ll probably never be able to retire.

Anyway. Back to the week’s adventures. Monday, Tuesday, treadmill, treadmill. Wednesday, more treadmill, with some tempo effort miles. And, lo, they were faster than the last couple of weeks’ tempo miles.

Thursday I ran outside for the first time in 12 days and I was like a coked up greyhound. These were supposed to be recovery runs, and I did run them at recovery effort, but just barely. Zip zip zoom. Fall can’t come fast enough for me.

Friday I did more crazy fast running, this time on the track. A 1.75 warmup, then about three miles on the track with some one minute repeats. I was all over the place pacewise, anywhere from about 6:20-7:00. But I settled in at around 6:40 pace for most of them. A sprinkle turned into a steady rain, leaving the track all to myself for most of that work. Then things dried out and I finished up with six miles on the running path, again alone for the most part.

It was raining buckets on Saturday, so I did my recovery run inside. Slow, easy, boring. What it was supposed to be.

This morning was the third week in my long run experiment: how fast can I run at around 75% average HR? This week, it turned out to be faster than last. I ran the first two miles dead slow in 19:00. Then picked it up and ran 14 at an average 8:04 pace. HR was average 76%, although it crept up to 78% for the last four. Nevertheless, I was happy that it didn’t drift up farther than that. The next experiment is to see if these times/effort carry over to the roads. I hope next weekend brings good weather so I can see.

The South Nyack 10 Miler is in two weeks. I originally thought I’d like to break 1:09 this year, but I’m now approaching the race with no real goal. I’ll be running it after two fairly hefty weeks of miles and training, so that alone is making me reconsider setting lofty goals. And mid-September is always a crapshoot in terms of weather.

To put things in perspective, here are my previous times for that race:

2006 — 1:27:05
2007 — 1:23:35
2008 — 1:14:34

Whatever. I intend to race as well as I can and have fun. I’m pretty sure I can pick up at least another AG award this year. But even that isn’t a “goal” — more like a nice surprise if it happens.

Filed under: basebuilding, racing | 4 Comments »

New 5K trail race in Irvingon

Posted on August 21, 2009 by threlkeld

The Van Cordtlandt Park Thursday night 5K series has ended, alas. If you find yourself in severe 5K trail race withdrawal later this summer, you’re in luck. There’s a new trail race north of the city in Irvington. It takes place on Saturday, August 29 at 9:30AM at Irvington High School to benefit their XC team. More info here.

Filed under: racing, westchester | Tagged: , | 4 Comments »

What’s relay important

Posted on August 18, 2009 by threlkeld

A fellow runner pointed out to me recently that it’s pretty easy to win certain marathon relays, at least in the all-women’s category. So I’m thinking it’s time to get a team together and plan for something.

Naturally, the most important aspect of all this is finding the perfect team name. I found this potential source of team names. I love Batwinged Bimbos from Hell, although how can you not love Macho Women Armed to the Teeth or More Excuses to Kill Things? I discovered these while looking up the origin of Renegade Nuns on Wheels (which I’d thought was Monty Python). Score!

Are you listening, TK and Flo?

Filed under: humor, racing | 4 Comments »

Summer Basebuilding: Week 5

Posted on August 2, 2009 by threlkeld

sum09-base-04Hail pills and rest. All hail pills and rest.

Finally, after five weeks of either total rest or puttering along at a strictly recovery pace and relatively low mileage, I’m starting to feel like the runner I once knew. Who is this mysterious stranger? She sleeps 8-8.5 hours a night without interruption. She looks forward to longer runs. She yearns to run fast. She does not complain about chafing — nay, she celebrates chafing.

I ran nine times this week, again strictly by time and, with only one exception, sans gadgetry. My new watch/HRM combo is on backorder, which hasn’t been too much of a hardship. I borrowed Jonathan’s HRM (which worked fine with my watch) for yesterday’s run. More on that in a moment.

The heat and humidity this week were tough, plus we had a lot of rain. Wednesday was the worst day, like running in a giant dryer vent. This weather pattern looks to continue for at least another 10 days. And, let’s face it, it’s August. So we can probably bank on crap weather for the next six weeks minimum, longer if we’re unlucky.

Fortunately, after one false start (caused by an electrical short from a misplaced wire; oopsie) we managed to fix our ailing treadmill, which seems stable again — it’s no longer throwing random errors and shutting down unpredictably. It’s unreliability made for some very nervous running. How relaxed can you be when the treadmill may suddenly stop at any moment? Running slow was nervewracking enough — going fast on that flakey beast was out of the question from a safety standpoint.

I had some issues with my left side later in the week. The entire left side of my body, from left foot all the way to left shoulder felt achy and stiff. The outer fingers on my left hand were numb too. My suspicion is that my “nervous runner form” on the treadmill was probably responsible for these issues. Things are better today.

But did I let any of this — the heat, the humidity, the schizoid treadmill, the broken HRM, one half of me messed up — get me down? Nope. I was a happy, happy runner this week.

The highlight was yesterday’s run. It was a warm morning, but with reasonable humidity (dew point of around 62). I borrowed Jonathan’s HRM in order to do another round of data gathering. The plan was to clock another 8:20ish mile and see what my HR did for the duration. It held in the 80% range, which I was very pleased to see.  Two weeks earlier I ran at about the same pace, but at a much lower dew point of 54, at about the same HR.

I’d asked Kevin if I could do 30 minutes of faster running this week should the mood strike, and it had in a big way. So I ran four miles between 8:00 – 8:20 pace, with the HR% topping out at 82%. Good stuff.

Today I felt no worse for the wear (and my HR was at a cooperative 43) so I went forward with the plan to do 2:15 of recovery running. I would have liked to have run this outside but we had rain and lightning moving through all morning. In the end, I’m glad I did the run inside where it was cooler and drier. I expect I won’t feel as knocked out tomorrow.

Now that I’m reasonably back on track I should be able to get into the rotating three week maintenance plan I was slated to start in June before all hell broke loose. I’ll start this tomorrow, with a week in the 80 mile range featuring some “perceived lactate threshold” running, some 1 minute repeats, and a longer run (16 miles next Sunday). I am so excited to be running long and running fast again.

The next race on the horizon is the South Nyack 10 Miler, one of my favorite races to run. I don’t have high expectations, meaning I’d be surprised if I PR’ed after this significant a pause in training (not to mention the fact that early September is still heat wave season). But it gives me something to look forward to and work toward over the next six weeks.

Filed under: basebuilding, coaching, racing, recovery | 7 Comments »

« Previous Page — Next Page »