Everything You Didn't Want to Know About My Runs

Missed a bunch of miles this week because I was sick.  That stinks.  Was thinking about doing 16 miles because I did 14 last week and I thought of a crazy route that I'm excited to try.  But I didn't have any gel and it was later in the morning with the sun out and I'm recovering from being sick so I cut it and just widened my 10 mile loop from a couple of weeks ago.  

It was cooler this time so I didn't have to walk as much--which was nice.  But running up the hill on Creek Road to Wasatch was killer in the sun.  I really need to do flatter stuff when running in the sun and do these crazy hills early in the morning.  It is amazing what hills do to your heart rate.  It is amazing what heat does to your heart rated.  Hills + heat pretty much blow it through the roof. 

Easy 5 miles with 6 x 10 sec hill sprints.

Easy five miler.  I got out a little late, but at least I wasn't running past Albion Middle School while everyone was dropping their kids off this morning like I was a week ago.  However, I was running down Newcastle as they were on their way up.  Ingested lots of exhaust.

Somewhere near the end of my 5th mile, I noticed that I was feeling great.  Nothing hurt.  I felt like I could just keep going at that pace forever and feel fine.  The temperature was just about perfect as the sun had not quite risen over the mountains yet.  I almost turned around and did it again, but I have my benchmark tomorrow and this job where I have to show up occasionally. Maybe it was a carbon monoxide high.

3 Mile Benchmark.

I added about half a mile of warm-up with some dynamic stretching.  I wasn't sure how I'd do, since I missed a little last week from being sick.  I felt like I was running faster--I knew I was running hard, but wasn't sure how fast.  It's too dark to read my watch and see my pace--especially when trying to run fast.  I just figured I'd run as hard as I could and just see what that is when I was done.  I made significant improvement on every split.

Date	Mile 1	Mile 2	Mile 3	Total
9/5/12	8:50	9:04	7:50	25:44
8/15/12	9:32	9:36	8:24	27:32
8/1/12	9:16	9:42	7:58	26:56
7/18/12	9:20	8:56 *	8:46 *	27:02 *

 * Different course with less uphill

Usual eight mile route at recovery pace, which is between 10 and 11 min/mile, but more about 150 pbm.

Ran 6.  Have been reading about running form and decided to work of stride turnover rate.  Was counting strides per 30 seconds just to get a feel of where I was at.  It was probably about 120.  Ideal is supposed to be 180.  So, I tried getting up there.  What I read suggested increasing stride rate without increasing pace.  I felt like I was just shuffling along like an old man with no range of motion on amphetamines.

2 mile warm up.  

Dynamic stretching:

• High knees
• Butt kicks 

7x10 sec hill sprints.  Still working on stride rate.  10 seconds should be 30 strides, so I tried to count 15 left foot strikes while I was sprinting.  It was awkward, but by the third set, I started getting it.  I was pretty close.

~2 mile cool down.  Still trying to do 180 strides per minute. 

Timex 

Ran with a metronome on my phone set to 180 to see how close I was to the ideal stride rate.  I struggled to keep it up for very long.  I was listening to music and the metronome at the same time and was not able to stay at 180.  I thought maybe the music at a different tempo was confusing me, so I turned it off and kept the metronome going.  I just couldn't physically maintain that cadence.

It is going to take some practice to get there.  This isn't surprising, but I am wondering what the best approach is.  Do I set the metronome to what I can do and do that for a while and gradually work my way up?  Do I keep it at 180 and just keep striving for the ideal?  Do I ditch the metronome and just check in with the pace every once in a while?  I don't know.  But now is the time to work on this while I'm not really training for anything specific. 

I've mainly been running loops then end with me coming down Newcastle.  Lately, most of my loops have been going out to the north.  Today I went out to the south like I used to do.  It was nice change. 

Timex 

Ditched the metronome and just tried running at what I think 180 is.  I've noticed that I'm running at a faster pace for the same amount of effort.  I've also noticed that it is difficult to maintain the high cadence after a few miles and on sustained uphills.  I have to focus to maintain a high cadence.  If my mind wanders, my turnover rate drops.  I wonder how long I have to run like this before this just feels natural.

It was cold this morning.  I should have worn gloves.  Almost cold enough for long sleeves.  It was cool to see the moon over the mountains and under Venus with just the faintest glimpse of sunlight.  Is that Venus? It's too bright to by anything else.

Timex 

Ran a little easier this morning.  Still had a faster turnover rate, but lower than what I've been doing the last couple of days.  It was just too hard to go that fast this morning.  It is going to take some time to build up to this.

Timex 

Hill sprint day.  2 mile warm-up.  Dynamic stretching 8x10 second hill sprints.  2-3 mile cool-down.

 Missed Saturday.  My shins were really tight.  I haven't been stretching daily.  I also stopped wearing my calf sleeves because they are stretched out and I wondered if they were even helping anymore.  I suppose they were doing some good.  I think the biggest problem is that the slow pace with high turnover rate really worked my calves more than normal.  I think I need to ease into the higher cadence.  At any rate, I put the sleeves back on today and am wearing them post run for recovery.  I'm not expecting big things for my benchmark on Wednesday.

 Now that I've worked my way up to 8 hill sprints, I think I'll start doing 400m intervals on Mondays and see what that does.  My plan is to start with 5 and work my way up. 

I'm struggling to get to my goal of at least 40 miles a week for various reasons.  I will try to hit 37 this week and get to 40 the week after that.  I am down to 197 lbs and my pants are starting to fit, or rather, not fit, like they did a year ago when I was ready to run St. George.  I also have noticeably less body fat.  I still have a way to go, though.  I'd like to get down to 180, but have a hard time envisioning that.  I should give running 40 miles a week for 6 months a try and see what happens.  If I do that from here on out, I should be able to hit 1,000 miles for this year.

Timex 

I hurt my ankle yesterday.  It usually hurts in some way or another.  I've sprained it a few times in the past and there is a migrating sort of stiffness that comes and goes as I run.  Last year, it was there while I was running on the treadmill in the winter.  Then, one day, as I was running, there was a loud pop and the pain was gone.  It didn't bother me much during marathon training, but after I tapered, and spent less time on it, it was back again when I ran the marathon.

It really hadn't been bothering me much since I started up again this year.  But it has been getting more intense lately.  Yesterday it suddenly felt different when I started my 7th hill sprint.  There was a more intense pain on the side of my heel on the side of my leg that is inside.  Is that medial? It was like a bruise.  It made it impossible for my foot to pronate normally.   I ran through it--hoping for another big pop to bring it back to tolerable.

Today it was still there.  I almost stopped after about 100 yards, but decided to see if it got better after a mile or so.  It did get less painful, but there was a warm sensation there as I continued to go.  I'm not sure I'll be able to do my benchmark tomorrow. 

Timex 

I decided to do my warm-up for the benchmark and see where I was.  After a mile, I decided I needed to rest my ankle and get better so I stopped. 

I'll try biking for the rest of the week and try running again next week. I just can't quite get to 40, can I?

18 miles on my bike.  It was fun, but I have to pick a different route to get the same kind of effort as I get running.  There was too much downhill at first.

Timex 

Mountain biking at Big Water to the Wasatch Crest.  I hadn't been up there this year.  It was great, but I need new brake pads.  The ride down was more thrilling than I'd like.  I did make some pretty cool technical moves at high speed down some steep passages with blown-out front shocks.  It is good to be able to pull that off, but not necessarily the kind of thrill I'm seeking anymore.  I really need a new bike.

 I was able to do the first switchback on lower Big Water up to where it meets the trail in 3rd gear.  I made it most of the way to the first bridge in 3rd and sometimes 2nd gear.  I didn't use 1st gear until the switchback after the first mile.  I've never done that before.  In fact, I used to stop and rest at that switchback.  It is nice to be where I can rest in 1st gear while still climbing. 

 Didn't see any moose but I did see a pair of deer. 

Timex 

My ankle has still been a problem and I caught a cold, so I didn't do anything this week.  I was trying to get out yesterday, but it is really hard to start running again after stopping--especially when it is so dark in the morning.  I finally got out today.  My ankle was stiff, but the pain was not as intense.  It was difficult to run 4 miles, though.  I'm hopeful my ankle will still be OK Monday.

I left my gps watch on my bike.  When I got it from my bike, I noticed the front break cable was detached.  I had switched from my road tires to my mountain tires for the ride last week.  I noticed that my front wheel was on backwards as I was riding up the trail.  At the top, I flipped the wheel around.  I may have forgotten to reattach the break cable.  That may have been my problem with my breaks on the way down, but it seems odd because I was getting some resistance on my front break handle.  I think I may have been getting some contact on the rim from one pad while the other was disengaged. 

Timex