Everything You Didn't Want to Know About My Runs

Slow.  Recovery run on the 6 mile buffalo route which isn't really a recovery route, but then, none of my 6 mile loops are.  I suppose I could do 6 laps on the Cameo Park mile loop, but that is boring unless I'm seeing how fast I can make it around and that isn't recovery either.

I've been trying this app/online community called strava.  What I like is that after you log a run, you can take any part of it and record it as a segment.  Then you get a list of all the people who have run that segment using strava and their times and where you rank on the list.  It is a cool way to keep track of how you do on noteworthy segments, such as a brutal hill climb, that you run often.  Workouts can be logged through an app or from Garmin.  Unfortunately, I don't have a Garmin so I am recording my runs on my Timex and my phone right now. 

Strava

Training Peaks 

Quite a bit colder this morning.  I was slow getting going, but once I warmed up it was pretty good.  I ran my 6 mile route with the nice long downhill.  That usually gets me running well.  I hit the right cadence going down the hill and then kept it up on the next mile.  It all seemed to click and just felt right at that tempo.  I felt great.  Running down that hill just does that for me. 

Strava

Training Peaks 

Finally got to 40 for a week.  No going back now.  It was nice to run in the afternoon sunshine. I don't know how many days like this we have left this year.  I had a hard time with the cadence this time.  I just tried to run easy.  I thought I was going a bit slower than I really was.  This was a pretty good run.

I signed up for the Utah Valley Marathon in June.

Strava 

Training Peaks 

4 x 400m intervals.  I was hoping for just under two minutes--which was where I was at the last time I did this a few years ago.  After 3 or 4 weekly workouts doing laps in the 1:50's with a rest lap between, I ran a 5K in just under 24 minutes.  Here were my times today with a 2-minute rest interval:

 1:33; 133; 1:44; 1:44

 I guess I should make the rest interval the same as the lap time, but I was a little shocked at the times because I doubt I could run a 24 minute 5K today.  I did focus on fast turnover.  I think that made a real difference.  We'll have to see how this effects my next benchmark--which I plan to do four weeks from the one I did last Wednesday.

 My plan is to alternate 400m repeats with 800m repeats for a while.  Next week I'll do 2x800 then 5x400, then 3x800, then 7x400, then 4x800 etc and work my way up to 10x800. 

While configuring my watch to show heart rate and lap time on one screen, I discovered why my runs had been labeled as walking on Training Peaks.  I thought the training software was just mocking my slow speed--which I kind of liked.  It turns out it was a screen setting on the watch and my heart rate screen had been set to WALK.  I've been sitting on the heart rate screen mostly because I already know distance on most of my routes and I usually have a pretty good idea of pace.  I'm also starting to get a good feel of heart rate.  I mostly just wear the watch to record it all.

Strava 

Slow recovery run.  It is difficult to run with a high turnover rate and low amount of effort.

Strava 

Ran 8 this morning.  I left the music home.  I thought it would be easier to focus on turnover rate but I found my mind wandering more and focus difficult.

Strava 

Just enjoying the relatively warm dry mornings while we still have them.  6 miles on the nice downhill loop.  Shins are tight from Monday-I need to stretch.  It was kind of hard this morning so I was a bit slow. 

Strava

Almost didn't run this morning.  The fact that I did is somewhat of a victory.  I fell asleep after stretching while icing my hamstring on the couch.  Then I woke up early in the morning and had trouble getting back to sleep so I was tired.  I was thinking about trying to sleep as long as I could and running on the treadmill tonight.  But that plan never seems to work so I got myself on the treadmill and did 6 with a quarter mile cool down.

I hope the roads are clear tomorrow.  I need to do 8-10 and I don't know if I can handle doing that much on the treadmill. 

Missed Saturday's long run.  I was planning to do 8-10, but I left it for the afternoon and I was home watching Josie all day so it didn't happen.  I did shovel two driveways full of heavy snow, though and the break helped my hamstring pull.

2 x .5 mile repeats on the treadmill. With 3 miles of warm-up/cool-down and some sub 9mm filler to get to 6.25.  It is hard to know how fast to go on the treadmill.  Experience has taught me that I can set it faster than I would run on my own and let it pull me along.  Experience has also taught me that that is a good way to get new injuries.  I did my first 1/2 mile at 7.5 (8mm).  It was too easy.  I did my second one at 7.8.  It was about right, but I think I could do 8.  I was significantly faster on my 1/4 mile splits last week.

Now that the snow has fallen, it might be time to get out my mph/mpm conversion charts since I'll probably be spending more time on the treadmill. 

6 miles on the treadmill at recovery pace (6) with a .25 mile cool-down.  Shins were sore even after stretching last night and icing the hamstring.  The ankle has been better.  It was a little stiff today, but it is in a more comfortable phase.

8 miles on the treadmill.  I warmed up at 6 for a mile and then sped up to 6.5 and monitored my heart rate.  My goal was to stay around 160.  I was in the mid 150's for a while and was considering bumping up the speed.  After about 4 miles, the heart rate moved up into the low 160's so I kept it there until the end.  I wonder if the heat inside boosts my HR a bit.  1/4 mile cool-down.

Watched a couple episodes from season 3 of Arrested Development.  The whole godzilla thing had me laughing pretty hard.

I have 40 running days left this year.  I have to average 6.27 miles per day to get to 1,000. 

More Arrested Development on the treadmill.  Today I watched the one where they found out they were getting cancelled.

Ran outside this morning.  It was nice to get outside.  My shins are very tight.  Maybe I am over doing it a little bit.

I have 10 more miles planned for tomorrow and this is already my 3rd highest mileage week for the year.  Tomorrow it will be #1.  November is also currently my fourth highest month and we're only half way through.  Tomorrow it will be #3.

239 miles to go for 1,000. 

It was hard to run today.  My shins are starting to hurt.  I'm going to have to pull back a bit.  I'm going to stop doing the speed work on Mondays for now and ease up on the weekly mileage a bit and see if that helps.  I will also do more calf stretching.  Maybe after a couple of months of doing 40 mile weeks I can start working on the VO2 again.  I just want to get past the 9mm so bad.  I need to be patient.

Strava 

This morning was one of those times when it was difficult to get out.  I was a little worried about my shins and wondering if yesterday's rest was enough recovery.  I decided to do my easier 6 mile loop and just run easy.  Once I got out, I felt pretty good.  I tried to pick up the cadence and started feeling tightness in my shins after a mile.  I tried to keep it up, but when I wasn't concentrating on it, I'd fall off.  Still not as difficult as Saturday was, so the rest did do some good.  I'm just going to stick to 1 10K per day this week and maybe longer on Saturday if I feel like it.

It is time to retire my launches.  I knew I was pushing it with them because they have very high mileage on them for trainers.  Today I could feel that they were dead.  I'm looking forward to getting some pure connects to replace them.

222 miles to go. 

Strava 

I overdid it last week.  My shins were very sore the past two days so I rested.  It puts my 1,000 miles for the year in jeopardy, but I can still make it.  I certainly would not have made it if I kept going with that kind of pain.

I did 6.4 today in the sunshine.  My shins were a little tight at first, but after three miles they loosened up.  I think it had to do with running downhill.  All the uphill I do really works my calves and then they take it out on my shins.

Strava 

Another 10K in the sun.  It takes me a while to warm up, but when I do, I feel pretty good.  I think the two rest days were good.  Now I'm going to take it easy for the rest of the year.  I'll mostly do 6 mile easy runs most days while going a little longer on Saturdays.

Strava 

Bad week last week.  It was good to get some rest to recover from going overboard the previous week.  I meant to get out Saturday, but unexpectedly ended up helping someone move and had too much work to do outside the house before the sun went down to get out.  I'm not sure when I'll learn that if I don't get out early, I just don't get out, but I think the rest was good.  I had no trouble at all with my shins this morning, so it was probably the right thing to do.  It just puts my 1,000 year in jeopardy.

Nice run this morning in the frozen air.  I did the 6 mile buffalo, which has two strava segments on it that I own and set new PRs on.  It was nice and I was able to run a bit faster than usual and keep up the cadence. 

I also picked up a replacement for my dead launches.  I got some Pure Flows, which are going to be a Christmas present, but I think I'll have to break them in before then.  I tried Pure Connects, but they have a super narrow arch.  It felt like there was a big rock across the mid-sole.  It forced me to land on the fronts of my feet.  I wondered if I could get used to it, but decided to try the Flows and they were much better.  They are so light, it is like they are not even there.

203 miles to go.  I can still make it.  Can I make it with my shins intact? 

Easy run today.  Passed 800 miles for the year.   Less than 200 to go.

Strava 

3 Mile Benchmark

Well,  it had been four weeks since my last benchmark and at that point, I was planning to do some speed work and see some significant gains.  However, that was too ambitious and I with the time off last week to recover, I wasn't sure what to expect.  I figured I'd show improvement and was hoping for 25 minutes.  I got close to my September numbers which were before the blood donation.  I think I've recovered from that now.  I did record my fastest second mile--which is the most difficult of the three.  Overall, I'm happy with the progress.  I can get to 25 minutes by cutting 23 seconds from each mile.

Date	Mile 1	Mile 2	Mile 3	Total
11/28/12	8:58	9:14	7:55	26:07
10/31/12	9:28	9:30	8:28	27:26
10/17/12	9:45	10:08	9:00	28:53
9/5/12	8:50	9:24	7:50	26:04
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

There is this trend in my neighborhood for people to replace their normal exterior light bulbs for red and green ones.  These large bulbs give softer light than the strands of smaller Christmas lights that run the length of rooftops or wrap around tree branches.  The green lights kind of look Grinchy and the red lights suggest something altogether different.  I don't find the look festive at all in the dark morning just before sunrise.  It actually looks kind of creepy. 

Strava 

Recovery run.  Tried to keep my heart rate around 150.  It was a little warmer this morning.  My plan was to try my new shoes on the treadmill, but Stacie grabbed the treadmill before I got up and ready, so I ran outside again in my stinky clothes.  Maybe I'll get a chance tomorrow.

 As of yesterday, November became my top mileage month of the year, just passing October.  I'm looking to top that in December. 

Strava 

Well, I'm not going to hit 1,000 miles this year.  I've decided I need to rest to let my hamstring recover.  It is just getting worse.  I think I have high hamstring tendinopathy.  I only base that on what I've read on the internet, but everything about it is almost exactly how people describe it.  It was just there one day.  Not while I was running, but a while after.  It felt like there was this thin metal rod in the back of my leg all the way up from somewhere above the knee to deep inside the middle of the right half of my butt--right where the hamstrings attach to the pelvis.  Over time, the pain left my leg and just settled  where the hamstrings attach.  It feels like a very hard pinch.

I've been looking for any information I can find about it.  I wondered if I did it running or stretching--I thought stretching, but something I read said that it only occurs in runners, so I guess it was the running.  I don't remember when it started.  It has been a couple of months.  I can run with it and it hasn't been bothering me after warming up until lately.  I tried stretching it because I thought it would help and that only aggravated it. Later I read that stretching is bad for it.

What is good for it is not running and strengthening the glutes and abs.  So I am going to take some time and strengthen my glutes, abs, and shins (might as well try to solve that problem, too.)  I will also try to work on upper body strength, because, while my legs are probably as strong and tight as they have ever been, my upper body is way too soft.  I don't know how long it will take, but I think the pain should go away after a few days of not running.  But that won't be time to start again.  I'm sure it will come back if I run too soon.  So I will give it 2-4 weeks.  In the mean time, I need a way to maintain cardio.  I've read that biking is fine, but this isn't exactly the time of year for it--not when I have to work during all the daylight hours.  I've got to do something, though.  I want to build on where I am and not lose it.