I started this cycle with a few rest days and avoided the hard workout to allow my legs and back some time to recover from the fatigue I had been feeling in the previous cycle. When I was ready to return to running, I was in Chicago for work and had no choice but to use the Treadmill. I ran in my Nike Free's as I had decided that I was done with my Saucony's (more on that decision in another post) and had no issues or fatigue. When I returned home from my trip I ran 5 miles at a faster than normal Easy pace (again in my Nike Free's).
On Saturday I ran for the first time in my new New Balance Minimus Trail shoes on the Trails in Durant Nature Park. It was nice to run off road again and although I took a few wrong turns, the trails were in good condition and my new shoes felt great! I'd like to run two of my four 'easy runs' on the trails if the weather permits. I think it would be good for my legs and feet to run on a more forgiving surface and the trails certainly are more fun!
Cycle 2
-------
1: Tempo Workout (25 minutes): Rest
2: Rest/Cross-Train - Rest
3: 5 miles Easy - 3 miles Easy (Treadmill)
4: Speedwork (12 x 400) - Rest
5: Cross-Train -Yoga
6: 5 miles Easy - 5 miles Easy (Treadmill)
7: 5 miles Easy - 5 miles Easy (Treadmill)
8: Long Run (10-12 miles) -5 miles Easy
9: Rest - Rest
10: 5 miles Easy -5 miles Easy (Trail)
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Half Marathon Training - Days 31-40
This cycle went gradually downhill and finally ended with me deciding to take a few days off to let my aches and pains go away. My Saucony's had started hurting my feet and calves during the last cycle and they were very painful after the speedwork session. My calves and hamstring were tight and tender and my lower back had started to ache as well, so I decided to take a few days off and rest.
Days 31-40 (Cycle 1)
-------
1: Tempo Workout (20 minutes) - 5 miles with tempo miles of 7:28, 7:26, 7:22
2: Rest/Cross-Train - Rest
3: 5 miles Easy - 5 miles @ 8:24
4: Speedwork (3 x 800) - 3 x 800m: 2:54, 3:04, 3:08
5: Cross-Train - Yoga
6: 5 miles Easy - 5 miles @ 8:17
7: 5 miles Easy - 5 miles @ 8:56
8: Long Run (6-8 miles) - Rest
9: Rest - Rest
10: 5 miles Easy - Rest
Days 31-40 (Cycle 1)
-------
1: Tempo Workout (20 minutes) - 5 miles with tempo miles of 7:28, 7:26, 7:22
2: Rest/Cross-Train - Rest
3: 5 miles Easy - 5 miles @ 8:24
4: Speedwork (3 x 800) - 3 x 800m: 2:54, 3:04, 3:08
5: Cross-Train - Yoga
6: 5 miles Easy - 5 miles @ 8:17
7: 5 miles Easy - 5 miles @ 8:56
8: Long Run (6-8 miles) - Rest
9: Rest - Rest
10: 5 miles Easy - Rest
Monday, February 7, 2011
Weird Track
Last night I went and ran on the local track for the first time and noticed something weird - it was a strange shape.
I ran the half a mile or so from the house to the track and set off on a couple of warm up laps. As I rounded the first corner I thought to myself that the distance seemed short and the turn was tighter than I remembered. I brushed it off as I haven't been on a track in months and I was just jogging at this stage. I completed my first warm up lap and couldn't get it out of my head that the track just seemed short. I decided to check the distance of the track - surely they wouldn't make a Middle School track that wasn't 400m would they?
I finished my second warm up lap and my Garmin measured the distance to be 0.24 or 0.25 miles - so it wasn't short after all. I was now warm and ready to go, so when I passed the finish line I set off on the first of my three 800m repeats. I rounded the first turn and it just felt wrong, it was much to tight. Before I knew it, I was in to the back straight. I looked for the relay boxes and couldn't find them, so I had no idea what my first 100m split was (not that I could see my watch with the glare of the sun and my sunglasses!). I passed 200m and in to the other turn, again it just felt weird... what was wrong with this track?
I completed my first 800m repeat in 2:54. I had been distracted by the strange track and not being able to see my splits and had gone much to fast. I jogged my recovery lap and set off on another 800m repeat. By 400m, I wasn't surprised to find I was out of energy. That first 800m had been too fast, and I was going to pay for it. My second 800m was 3:04 and the third 3:08 - consistently inconsistent, and very frustrating.
I jogged home but couldn't get the shape of the track off of my mind. Today, I pulled up Google Maps and looked at the track that I used to run on last year (near the old house) and the track that I ran on yesterday. There doesn't appear to be a huge difference, but there is a slight difference - the weird track has slightly longer straights and slightly tighter turns. I have tried to illustrate the differences below, but even that isn't easy!
After writing this blog entry, I am fairly certain I am not making all of this up and that the track really is a different shape - and that was what I wanted to achieve!
I have no problem using this strange track - it is better than no track at all for sure! Hopefully the next time I run on it I will be thinking about my pace instead of the shape of the track and I'll have a better workout.
I ran the half a mile or so from the house to the track and set off on a couple of warm up laps. As I rounded the first corner I thought to myself that the distance seemed short and the turn was tighter than I remembered. I brushed it off as I haven't been on a track in months and I was just jogging at this stage. I completed my first warm up lap and couldn't get it out of my head that the track just seemed short. I decided to check the distance of the track - surely they wouldn't make a Middle School track that wasn't 400m would they?
I finished my second warm up lap and my Garmin measured the distance to be 0.24 or 0.25 miles - so it wasn't short after all. I was now warm and ready to go, so when I passed the finish line I set off on the first of my three 800m repeats. I rounded the first turn and it just felt wrong, it was much to tight. Before I knew it, I was in to the back straight. I looked for the relay boxes and couldn't find them, so I had no idea what my first 100m split was (not that I could see my watch with the glare of the sun and my sunglasses!). I passed 200m and in to the other turn, again it just felt weird... what was wrong with this track?
I completed my first 800m repeat in 2:54. I had been distracted by the strange track and not being able to see my splits and had gone much to fast. I jogged my recovery lap and set off on another 800m repeat. By 400m, I wasn't surprised to find I was out of energy. That first 800m had been too fast, and I was going to pay for it. My second 800m was 3:04 and the third 3:08 - consistently inconsistent, and very frustrating.
I jogged home but couldn't get the shape of the track off of my mind. Today, I pulled up Google Maps and looked at the track that I used to run on last year (near the old house) and the track that I ran on yesterday. There doesn't appear to be a huge difference, but there is a slight difference - the weird track has slightly longer straights and slightly tighter turns. I have tried to illustrate the differences below, but even that isn't easy!
 |
| This is the 'weird' track |
 |
| This is the 'regular shape' track |
I have no problem using this strange track - it is better than no track at all for sure! Hopefully the next time I run on it I will be thinking about my pace instead of the shape of the track and I'll have a better workout.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Half Marathon Training - Days 21-30
The cycle with the most miles didn't quite go according to plan. I wasn't able to complete the 12 mile long run that I had scheduled due to a stomach ache and I dropped a 5 mile easy run to give myself enough recovery time from the NHL All Star 5K (that I did instead of the 3 x 1600m intervals session).
1: Tempo Workout (35 minutes): 6 miles with tempo miles of 7:20, 7:20, 7:16, 7:24
2: Rest/Cross-Train: Rest
3: 5 miles Easy: 5 miles easy
4: Speedwork (3 x 1600): NHL All Star 5K
5: Cross-Train: Yoga
6: 5 miles Easy: 5 miles easy
7: 5 miles Easy: 5 miles easy
8: Long Run (12-15 miles): 9 miles @ 8:59
9: Rest: Rest
10: 5 miles Easy: None
1: Tempo Workout (35 minutes): 6 miles with tempo miles of 7:20, 7:20, 7:16, 7:24
2: Rest/Cross-Train: Rest
3: 5 miles Easy: 5 miles easy
4: Speedwork (3 x 1600): NHL All Star 5K
5: Cross-Train: Yoga
6: 5 miles Easy: 5 miles easy
7: 5 miles Easy: 5 miles easy
8: Long Run (12-15 miles): 9 miles @ 8:59
9: Rest: Rest
10: 5 miles Easy: None
Monday, January 31, 2011
NHL All Star 5K
As I mentioned in my 2011 goals post, I don't plan on running many races this year in an attempt to stay healthy until the Marine Corps. Marathon at the end of October. So, when the NHL All Star 5K was announced, I wasn't sure whether to run or not. It was only when I ran three tempo miles around 7:00/mile and 12 x 400m a couple of weeks ago that I began to think that I was already in good shape and that I might be able to set a new PR.
I took a look at my Raleigh Rocks Training plan and noticed that I had a 3 x 1600m workout planned for the same week as the 5K. Given that the 5K would only be slightly more effort than the 3 x 1600m workout, I felt comfortable dropping the track session and replacing it with the 5K. I signed up for the race and moved my workouts around so that I had two days of rest before the 5K and a day off afterward.
I took a look at the course map to see what changes had been made since the Canes' run that I did in 2009. I remembered that the first mile was mostly downhill and then the second was a steady incline followed by some rolling hills in to the finish. The course had changed slightly, but overall the profile was similar to the 2009 race. I set myself the following goals (my existing PR was 21:25):
Goal A: < 21:00 (6:45/mile)
Goal B: < 21:25 (6:52/mile)
I felt that 6:45/mile was possible as I had run a number of tempo miles recently at around 7:00/mile pace without really pushing myself - I didn't know whether I'd be able to hold it for 3.1 miles, but I felt it was worth a try. If I wasn't able to hold 6:45/mile, I'd have 6:52 as my backup goal, which would still give me a new PR.
Race day finally arrived and it was a cold (40F, 4C) but sunny day with only a slight breeze. Elizabeth and Jack (at his first race) came to cheer me on and we met up with Tania, Spencer, Ken and Steph' inside the RBC Center before the race. The majority of the runners were local, but I did spot (hear) some French Canadian accents when I was collecting my chip. There were lots of sweaters from other NHL teams, but given the number of transplants that now call the Raleigh area home, that wasn't really surprising.
With 10 minutes to go until the race start we ventured out in to the cold to warm up, I stripped down to the shorts and short sleeved shirt I was going to wear for the race and I set the Virtual Training Partner on my Garmin for 6:45/mile. We finished our stretching with a couple of minutes to go and made our way over to the starting corral to find that it was already jam packed with hundreds of runners! I guess I shouldn't have been surprised as John Forsland (the announcer) had been saying there were 2000 runners (more on that later). I squeezed in with about 250 runners in front of me and decided that it wasn't worth trying to force my way forward.
I bounced around for a couple of minutes and then we were off. I immediately regretted not going further forward in the corral as the crowd slowly made it's way forward and over the timing mats. I had to zig-zag around the slower runners (and amazingly some walkers who decided they needed to start at the front). As the crowd rounded the first corner I glanced at my watch and saw that I was already 10 seconds behind where I needed to be. I moved to the outside and ran around the crowds of slower runners as I finally began to find a rhythm on the downhill. After a quick uphill, downhill section the crowds had thinned out to mostly single file as we ran past Carter Finley stadium and out on to Trinity Road. My watched beeped for a 6:42 first mile and I felt great until we turned the corner and started the steady uphill grind in to the freezing wind.
The uphill section was only a 100ft incline over the space of a mile, but the freezing wind made it feel much harder. I felt my pace dropping and I watched my 3 second advantage turn in to a 17 second deficit by the time I passed the 2 mile marker. I worked hard in the second mile to maintain my form and not panic as I slowed down - I knew there was a nice downhill section coming up and that I should be able to at least run a 6:45 last mile.
We turned the corner from Blue Ridge on to Westchase and the 1/3rd of a mile downhill stretch was right there in front of us. I went as hard as I could down the hill and passed a number of runners who had obviously pushed themselves too hard up the hill. At the bottom of the hill, I glanced at my watch again: 1/2 of a mile to go and a 2 second deficit. I decided to hold back for 1/4 of a mile and then give it everything I had left. We turned the final corner and I pushed as hard as I could. I passed some runners (and my support team - Elizabeth, Jack and Spencer) and then some more as I sprinted to the line and stopped my watch.
Someone removed my chip and I took my first look at my watch, which read 20:42. I did a double and then a triple check. I really did read 20:42. Wow, I had not only broken 21:00, I had smashed it!
I checked my splits: 6:42, 7:04, 6:26, 0:29. I had finally run a 5K the 'correct' way: start hard, consolidate and then finish hard and had been rewarded with a great time. I placed 51/958 overall and 7/60 in my age group.
Here is a link to my Garmin Summary
Overall, I couldn't have asked for a better race. The weather was just how I like it and the course forced me to consolidate in the middle mile and invited a fast final mile with the downhill section before a flat stretch in to the finish. It is a pity that this was a one off race and that the only other time during the year that this course is run is during the heat of the summer.
Today I returned to my scheduled Half Marathon training with a boost in confidence and only 69 more days to go until my next Half Marathon and another PR attempt
I took a look at my Raleigh Rocks Training plan and noticed that I had a 3 x 1600m workout planned for the same week as the 5K. Given that the 5K would only be slightly more effort than the 3 x 1600m workout, I felt comfortable dropping the track session and replacing it with the 5K. I signed up for the race and moved my workouts around so that I had two days of rest before the 5K and a day off afterward.
I took a look at the course map to see what changes had been made since the Canes' run that I did in 2009. I remembered that the first mile was mostly downhill and then the second was a steady incline followed by some rolling hills in to the finish. The course had changed slightly, but overall the profile was similar to the 2009 race. I set myself the following goals (my existing PR was 21:25):
Goal A: < 21:00 (6:45/mile)
Goal B: < 21:25 (6:52/mile)
I felt that 6:45/mile was possible as I had run a number of tempo miles recently at around 7:00/mile pace without really pushing myself - I didn't know whether I'd be able to hold it for 3.1 miles, but I felt it was worth a try. If I wasn't able to hold 6:45/mile, I'd have 6:52 as my backup goal, which would still give me a new PR.
Race day finally arrived and it was a cold (40F, 4C) but sunny day with only a slight breeze. Elizabeth and Jack (at his first race) came to cheer me on and we met up with Tania, Spencer, Ken and Steph' inside the RBC Center before the race. The majority of the runners were local, but I did spot (hear) some French Canadian accents when I was collecting my chip. There were lots of sweaters from other NHL teams, but given the number of transplants that now call the Raleigh area home, that wasn't really surprising.
With 10 minutes to go until the race start we ventured out in to the cold to warm up, I stripped down to the shorts and short sleeved shirt I was going to wear for the race and I set the Virtual Training Partner on my Garmin for 6:45/mile. We finished our stretching with a couple of minutes to go and made our way over to the starting corral to find that it was already jam packed with hundreds of runners! I guess I shouldn't have been surprised as John Forsland (the announcer) had been saying there were 2000 runners (more on that later). I squeezed in with about 250 runners in front of me and decided that it wasn't worth trying to force my way forward.
I bounced around for a couple of minutes and then we were off. I immediately regretted not going further forward in the corral as the crowd slowly made it's way forward and over the timing mats. I had to zig-zag around the slower runners (and amazingly some walkers who decided they needed to start at the front). As the crowd rounded the first corner I glanced at my watch and saw that I was already 10 seconds behind where I needed to be. I moved to the outside and ran around the crowds of slower runners as I finally began to find a rhythm on the downhill. After a quick uphill, downhill section the crowds had thinned out to mostly single file as we ran past Carter Finley stadium and out on to Trinity Road. My watched beeped for a 6:42 first mile and I felt great until we turned the corner and started the steady uphill grind in to the freezing wind.
The uphill section was only a 100ft incline over the space of a mile, but the freezing wind made it feel much harder. I felt my pace dropping and I watched my 3 second advantage turn in to a 17 second deficit by the time I passed the 2 mile marker. I worked hard in the second mile to maintain my form and not panic as I slowed down - I knew there was a nice downhill section coming up and that I should be able to at least run a 6:45 last mile.
We turned the corner from Blue Ridge on to Westchase and the 1/3rd of a mile downhill stretch was right there in front of us. I went as hard as I could down the hill and passed a number of runners who had obviously pushed themselves too hard up the hill. At the bottom of the hill, I glanced at my watch again: 1/2 of a mile to go and a 2 second deficit. I decided to hold back for 1/4 of a mile and then give it everything I had left. We turned the final corner and I pushed as hard as I could. I passed some runners (and my support team - Elizabeth, Jack and Spencer) and then some more as I sprinted to the line and stopped my watch.
 |
| Sprinting along the final stretch to the finish line. |
I checked my splits: 6:42, 7:04, 6:26, 0:29. I had finally run a 5K the 'correct' way: start hard, consolidate and then finish hard and had been rewarded with a great time. I placed 51/958 overall and 7/60 in my age group.
Here is a link to my Garmin Summary
Overall, I couldn't have asked for a better race. The weather was just how I like it and the course forced me to consolidate in the middle mile and invited a fast final mile with the downhill section before a flat stretch in to the finish. It is a pity that this was a one off race and that the only other time during the year that this course is run is during the heat of the summer.
Today I returned to my scheduled Half Marathon training with a boost in confidence and only 69 more days to go until my next Half Marathon and another PR attempt
Friday, January 21, 2011
Half Marathon Training - Days 11-20
While I managed to complete Cycle 2, I didn't manage to do the workouts on the correct days due to weather and having to travel for work. I made sure that I didn't do the hard sessions on consecutive days, so I don't think changing the order of the workouts matters all that much.
Overall, the cycle went well. My tempo miles and long run both felt good. I had to run two of my workouts (including my Speedwork) on the Treadmill (in a Hotel) as I was traveling for work, and I hate the Treadmill!
Cycle 3 begins today with a 30 minute tempo run.
Cycle 2
-------
1: Tempo Workout (25 minutes): 5 miles with tempo miles of 7:04, 7:10, 6:58 (Day 10 of previous week)
2: Rest/Cross-Train - Rest (Day 1)
3: 5 miles Easy - 5 miles Easy (Day 2)
4: Speedwork (12 x 400) - 6 miles with 12 x 400 on Treadmill (Day 3)
5: Cross-Train - Yoga (Day 7)
6: 5 miles Easy - 5 miles Easy (Day 5)
7: 5 miles Easy - 5 miles Easy (Day 8)
8: Long Run (10-12 miles) - 10 miles @ 8:54 (Day 6)
9: Rest - Rest (Day 9)
10: 5 miles Easy - 5 miles Easy (Day 10)
Overall, the cycle went well. My tempo miles and long run both felt good. I had to run two of my workouts (including my Speedwork) on the Treadmill (in a Hotel) as I was traveling for work, and I hate the Treadmill!
Cycle 3 begins today with a 30 minute tempo run.
Cycle 2
-------
1: Tempo Workout (25 minutes): 5 miles with tempo miles of 7:04, 7:10, 6:58 (Day 10 of previous week)
2: Rest/Cross-Train - Rest (Day 1)
3: 5 miles Easy - 5 miles Easy (Day 2)
4: Speedwork (12 x 400) - 6 miles with 12 x 400 on Treadmill (Day 3)
5: Cross-Train - Yoga (Day 7)
6: 5 miles Easy - 5 miles Easy (Day 5)
7: 5 miles Easy - 5 miles Easy (Day 8)
8: Long Run (10-12 miles) - 10 miles @ 8:54 (Day 6)
9: Rest - Rest (Day 9)
10: 5 miles Easy - 5 miles Easy (Day 10)
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
ICE
My Half Marathon training program has come to a grinding halt today due to 1/8th of an inch of ice that appeared on roads, sidewalks and everything else last night. I have run in snow, slush and small patches of ice this year already, but a full covering of ice would be like trying to run on an ice rink! Hopefully temperatures will get high enough over the next couple of days to melt the ice, and I can get back to running. I do have a couple of travel days for work coming up, so the ice might not be the only disruption to my training.
Luckily, the weather forecast was good enough that I planned ahead and didn't miss my scheduled 'quality' workout (tempo run, track workout or long run) - I moved the tempo run that I should have had today to yesterday instead!
Today is Day 11 of my Half Marathon training program, and although my calves found the first 10 day cycle hard, I was able to complete all of the scheduled runs and apart from running my tempo miles much to fast, everything went well.
Days 1-10 (Cycle 1)
-------
1: Tempo Workout (20 minutes) - 7 miles with tempo miles of 7:12, 7:34, 7:06
2: Rest/Cross-Train - Rest
3: 5 miles Easy - 5 miles @ 8:45
4: Speedwork (3 x 800) - 3 x 1/2 mile: 3:09, 3:10, 3:09
5: Cross-Train - Yoga
6: 5 miles Easy - 5 miles @ 8:59
7: 5 miles Easy - 5 miles @ 8:39
8: Long Run (6-8 miles) - 7 miles @ 8:47
9: Rest - Rest
10: 5 miles Easy - 5 miles with tempo miles of 7:04, 7:10, 6:58
Luckily, the weather forecast was good enough that I planned ahead and didn't miss my scheduled 'quality' workout (tempo run, track workout or long run) - I moved the tempo run that I should have had today to yesterday instead!
Today is Day 11 of my Half Marathon training program, and although my calves found the first 10 day cycle hard, I was able to complete all of the scheduled runs and apart from running my tempo miles much to fast, everything went well.
Days 1-10 (Cycle 1)
-------
1: Tempo Workout (20 minutes) - 7 miles with tempo miles of 7:12, 7:34, 7:06
2: Rest/Cross-Train - Rest
3: 5 miles Easy - 5 miles @ 8:45
4: Speedwork (3 x 800) - 3 x 1/2 mile: 3:09, 3:10, 3:09
5: Cross-Train - Yoga
6: 5 miles Easy - 5 miles @ 8:59
7: 5 miles Easy - 5 miles @ 8:39
8: Long Run (6-8 miles) - 7 miles @ 8:47
9: Rest - Rest
10: 5 miles Easy - 5 miles with tempo miles of 7:04, 7:10, 6:58
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