Bryan's Weblog of Stuff

Half Marathon Training: Week 9

Running-wise, week 9 of my half marathon training was a good week. During the past week, I surpassed 100 miles for the month, for the second consecutive month, and the third month overall in my short running career. I am sitting at 117.2 miles, with 5 more to go before the end of the month.

My schedule is now calling for easy runs at 10:02/mile, down from 10:08/mile for the previous four weeks, and 10:14/mile the few weeks before that. One of the key differences in week 9, compared to prior weeks, is that I actually stayed pretty close to that pace for my easy runs. No more running faster and calling it “easy.” Well, let’s get on with the week in review:

• Monday: XT or Rest – I did full body strength training.
• Tuesday: 5 easy @ 10:02/mile – I did 5 @ 9:52/mile, but only the fifth mile was more than 4 seconds off of the 10:02/mile pace, and that was due to practicing a fast finish.
• Wednesday: 4 easy @ 10:02/mile – I did 4 @ 10:00/mile. This was only 11 hours after running the 5 easy on Tuesday.
• Thursday: 7 miles total, with warm up, 5 @ tempo 8:39/mile, and cool down – This was a very good run. Tempo splits were:
  • 8:40
  • 8:40
  • 8:39
  • 8:40
  • 8:38
• Friday: 4 easy @ 10:02/mile – I did 4  @ 10:02/mile. Legs felt heavy.
  • I also did an upper body strength training workout in the afternoon.
• Saturday: XT or Rest – I worked in the yard for about 2.5 hours as my XT today.
• Sunday: 12 miles @ 10:02 – This marks my first 12 mile run, which is my longest run, distance-wise, to date. I did this run in 1:56:28, for a 9:42/mile pace. My pace actually stayed around 10:01/mile for the first 8 miles, and then in mile 9 and 11 I did 1 mile threshold intervals. In mile 12, I ran easy, which ended up being faster than 10:02, simply due to the fact that I had been running an 8:30/mile pace the previous, so 9:30-9:35 felt really good. I also practiced a fast finish in the last tenth of a mile of the 12th mile. Here are the splits:
  • 10:02
  • 10:02
  • 9:59
  • 10:01
  • 10:01
  • 10:00
  • 10:00
  • 10:00
  • 8:39
  • 9:56
  • 8:30
  • 9:12

All in all, a good week. I am very pleased with my 12 mile long run with the 2 threshold intervals thrown in towards the end. Oh, did I mention that my average heart rate for the 12 mile run was 154 bpm? I think that’s a good sign of improving fitness.

By Bryan at 6:18 PM , in Health and Fitness - Permalink
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Tempo Run Take Two

As you may recall, two weeks ago today was a dark, dark day in my short running career. It was the day of my tempo run meltdown. It’s a day that I’d rather forget, except that I think it is more useful remembered—as a learning experience.

In case you forgot, I had 6 miles scheduled that day: 1 mile warm up, 4 mile tempo run @ 8:40/mile, and then a 1 mile cool down. I stopped twice in the last half mile of the tempo run for a total of nearly 2 minutes, and I felt like a complete failure for it. Fast forward two weeks, to a 7 mile run, with a 1 mile warm up, 5 miles @ 8:39/mile, and a 1 mile cool down.

When I went to bed last night, I wasn’t sure if I’d be doing my tempo run this morning. Part of that was probably me wanting to put off the pain that was sure to come for as long as possible, and part of it was pure practicality. That is, in order to put in 7 miles before work, I’d need to be up and running 30-45 minutes earlier than my normal morning run time, so that I still had time to completely cool down, get myself ready, supervise the kids getting ready, and get the kids to school on time. I wasn’t sure I really wanted to do that. Adding to my indecisiveness was the fact that Julie is out of town today and tomorrow, so I could easily do my run late at night, without any complaints. Well, just in case, I set my alarms (yes, alarms) to go off starting at 5:00 AM. As luck would have it, I was able to roll out of bed by 5:10 AM. And since I was up, I figured I might as well get the run over with.

By 5:20 AM I was out the door and running easy on my warm up mile. 10 minutes and 20 seconds later I was back at the house stretching, and a few minutes after that I was off and running the 5 mile tempo run. The first mile felt good, slow even. I should note that I was using the training partner display screen on my Garmin to help keep me around the proper pace. I focused on staying even or just slightly behind my training partner, never faster. This approach seemed to have worked, as I was able to hold my pace pretty comfortably through the first 3 miles. As I started in on mile 4, I was still feeling good, yet a little (very small amount) doubt tried to creep into my head. Fortunately, I was able to quickly vanquish it, replacing it with thoughts like "you're not getting me this time," "this isn't even hard," or "I've done this before, I can do it again," and finally "I did a 10K at a pace almost this fast." Once I finished mile 4 and was still feeling good, I knew mile 5 was in the bag. I cruised on through the end with an average of 8:40/mile for the full 5 miles! I finished up with a 1 mile cool down and a few strides. Success!

I really can't express how good it felt to finish this run, and finish it strong. Of course in typical fashion, I've been over analyzing it, trying to figure out what the difference is between the two runs. Was I better rested? Was it the banana I had before heading out? Was it because I'd mapped out a relatively flat 5 mile route ahead of time, rather than winging it? Could it actually be improved fitness? Perhaps it just wasn't my day two weeks ago? Maybe it's increased confidence as a result of racing the 10K this past weekend? Lastly, could it be as simple as mental toughening, and a fear of failure? My guess is that it's a little bit of all of them. One last note—I didn't run with my Zune—I wanted to be able to focus on maintaining the proper pace, and nothing else.

Here are my splits:

• Warm up mile: 10:20, Avg HR: 137
• Tempo Run
  • Mile 1: 8:40, Avg HR: 160
  • Mile 2: 8:40, Avg HR: 172
  • Mile 3: 8:39, Avg HR: 178
  • Mile 4: 8:40, Avg HR: 181
  • Mile 5: 8:38, Avg HR: 184
• Cool down mile: 10:29, Avg HR: 171 (mixed in some stride in the last half mile)

One more note regarding my heart rate: In the end, it was higher than ideal, but I still felt good, like the effort was "comfortably hard," not "hard," and isn't the goal of a tempo run to run based on perceived effort? Also, my new max heart rate is 197, as measured towards the end of the 10K.

By Bryan at 10:45 AM , in Health and Fitness - Permalink
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Reflecting On My First 10K

By now you've read the really long race report (sorry), and you know more than you ever wanted to know about the race itself. Since Saturday, I've had some time to reflect on the race, and my training, and I thought I'd share a little bit with you.

I love how I feel after I cross the finish line. This hit me yesterday as I was walking myself back through the race. If I put in my best effort during a race, the sense of accomplishment that comes with finishing is very powerful. It really is like a drug, and to me, that's my runner's high—regardless of whether endorphins are released, or not. This is why I race.

I've got to work on my pre-race jitters. It never fails, I am a nervous wreck leading up to a race. I internalize most of it, but there are some clues that are easily picked up. For example, I talk nonstop about the race: my pacing strategy, hydration, nutrition, what to wear, what not to wear, etc. When I've exhausted all of my race talk I'll begin questioning everything about my running: have I trained enough, will I be able to hold my pace, what if I bonk, etc. Oddly enough, once I'm lined up in the starting area and ready to race, the nerves go away completely and my quiet confidence returns. In my opinion a little nervousness is a good thing, as it can motivate and energize, and it shows that I care about the outcome, but I think I could manage it better (for Julie's sake).

I like the 10K distance. I really enjoyed racing the 10K. I enjoy racing 5Ks, too, but the 10K just might be my favorite. I liked that I didn't have to go hard right from the start—that I could start with a fast, but comfortable pace through the first half, and then really bring it on home to the finish. Once the race started, I was surprised that I didn't dwell on how this race was TWICE as long as any race I've done. Perhaps I like the distance so much because I so easily set a 10K PR! ;-)

Trust the training. It's not that I don't trust the training, it's that until I race, I am not really sure. I can look at all of the data from my training runs, compare recent runs to past runs, speculate as to how I'll do come race day, but until I actually race, I just don't know. Well, enough of that! I've shown progress with every race. Looking at my training log, it's obvious that I am making progress. There's no reason not to trust the training. That doesn't mean that I should blindly trust the training. Certainly, I need to pay attention, and assess how things are going. If my body stops adapting, or if I sense a loss of effectiveness, I'll need to make some changes. But unless and until that happens, trust the training.

There you go...a few of my thoughts from this weekend. Aside from the Rock 'n' Roll San Antonio Half Marathon in November, I don't have any other races scheduled. If you have any suggestions, I'm all ears.

By Bryan at 7:28 AM , in Health and Fitness - Permalink
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Half Marathon Training: Week 8

I’m now halfway through the training for my first half marathon, the Rock ‘n’ Roll San Antonio Half Marathon. Week 8 was a cut back week, with just 4 runs scheduled, all of which were supposed to be 6 miles at 10:08/mile. I didn’t even cross train on the 3 non-running days. However, I did drop my 6 miler on Friday in favor of my first 10K race this past Saturday.

Aside from my race, I probably ran this week’s runs too fast. Here are my workouts:

• Day 1
  • Rest – I was not feeling very good most of this day, and by the time I got home, there was barely enough time to get dinner ready before the start of the Cowboys vs. Eagles.
• Day 2
  • Scheduled: 6 miles easy @ 10:08/mile – I was still not feeling good Tuesday morning, so this run was pushed back until the evening, when I finally started feeling better. I broke the scheduled 6 miles down into 2 runs, 3 miles by myself, and 3 miles with Julie, with about 5 minutes in between the end of the first and the start of the second.
    • First 3 miles: Since I hadn’t been feeling good, the plan was to really take it easy. By the end of the first mile, I was feeling good, so I decided to run at what I hope is my half marathon pace the rest of the way (9:00/mile). My mile splits were:
      • 10:00
      • 8:38
      • 8:23
    • Second 3 miles: Again, these were supposed to be easy miles, but Julie had other plans. She set out at a 9:30/mile pace, and I lagged behind for most of the first 2 miles. We ran together for the first half of mile 3, and then I started to surge ahead. A couple of untimely cars forced me to stop with about .25 mile to go, which allowed Julie to pull back even with me, and we finished out the third mile pretty close together. Here are the splits:
      • 9:42
      • 9:23
      • 9:03
• Day 3
  • Rest – I did have a baseball practice to coach, so it wasn’t like I was completely lazy...
• Day 4
  • Scheduled: 6 miles easy @ 10:08/mile - Since there was a chance that I'd be racing this past weekend, I decided to work a couple of faster miles into this run. The first two miles were at an easy warm up pace, then I pushed the next two miles, and then finished with two warm down miles. I actually ran the final mile without looking at my Garmin...trying to just run on feel. It was a little fast, but not too bad. The splits:
    • 10:11
    • 9:56
    • 8:54
    • 8:40
    • 10:10
    • 9:39
• Day 5
  • Rest - I really wanted to get a couple of easy miles with strides in, but it wasn't meant to be.
• Day 6
  • Race Day: My very first 10K. It felt good, really good. I enjoyed racing this distance, and I look forward to doing more 10Ks, especially now that I've done one and have a better sense of what I can handle pace-wise. My time was 55:21.
• Day 7
  • Scheduled: 6 miles @ 10:08/mile - Being the day after my 10K, I was a little tired. Once I got going, and my legs loosened up, I felt pretty good. Splits:
    • 10:03
    • 9:50
    • 9:48
    • 9:45
    • 9:43
    • 9:17 (practicing fast finish in the last tenth of a mile—Garmin  says that I hit a 3:18/mile pace at the end!)

All in all, this was a good week of running, though it was probably not as easy as it should have been. The important thing is that all of my runs felt really good.

By Bryan at 3:41 PM , in Health and Fitness - Permalink
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Tour des Fleurs 10K Race Report

We’re back from the Tour des Fleurs 10K/20K, where I raced my very first 10K.

Today started very early—the alarms began going off around 4:20 AM, and I was out of bed by 4:30 AM. The Tour des Fleurs was held in Dallas, around White Rock Lake, which is about 45 miles from us, so I wanted to allow plenty of time to take care of things, and to get over there for the 7:30 AM start.

After taking care of the typical early morning/pre-race necessities, I got a nice hot shower (I’ve asked before, but I’ll ask again: who else takes a shower before a race?), ate half of an english muffin with some peanut butter, and sipped on some Accelerade, while Julie finished getting ready. I even had time to make the previous post before it was time to head out. By 5:50 AM, we were on our way, and by 6:40 AM we were at the YMCA White Rock, where we caught a shuttle over to the Dallas Arboretum for the start.

There were tons of people! Or at least it looked that way with everyone crowded on the path around the lake. After getting everything situated, I headed out for my warm up, and Julie made her way past the starting area. As I finished my warm up and started to make my way closer to the starting line, a woman came walking back past me (and kept walking and walking), holding up a sign for people looking to go for a 9:00/mile pace. That’s me! So I fell in behind her, while a fair amount of the crowd moved further back. Unfortunately, a lot more people didn’t heed the pace signs than did.

Within a few minutes of the start, I was across the starting line, but I was still barely running because there were so many people for such a narrow trail. Anyone who has run these races knows that this is pretty typical, so I didn’t worry about it too much. In fact, I initially looked at it as a good thing, since it helped me to avoid going out too fast. However, it never really thinned out for the entire first mile, and I found myself having to work my way past way too many slow runners, walkers, and stroller pushers—they all should've been further back. Mile 1 was by far my slowest mile at 9:24.

Finally, in the 2nd mile, the path opened up a bit. There was now more room to maneuver, though I was still zigzagging a bit, as I passed people left and right. I was feeling good, running strong, trying to stay relaxed and bring my pace down closer to 9:00/mile. According to my Garmin, I completed mile two in 9:04.

The third mile was more of the same—working my way past people, and trying not to use too much energy doing so. I also was finally able to hold my pace closer to my goal pace. It was in the 3rd mile that we passed one of the bands that was playing along the course (one band before the 10K race split off from the 20K, and another band out on the 20K course). The band is evidently an Eagles tribute band, and they sounded pretty good, even though I was racing with my Zune, and had to listen to them through the noise of my own playlist. At the end of mile 3, the 10K and 20K course finally split. This split thinned the crowds a little, but not much, it also began the first good climb of the race. I finished mile 3 in 8:58.

As I mentioned, the 4th mile started with the first real climb of the race, and I went by a lot of people who were walking it. I just kept my gaze slightly up the hill, shortened my stride and kept pumping my arms all the way up the hill. Mainly, I was happy to be at the halfway point! The rest of mile 4 was up and down, first along residential streets, and then along a narrow bike path. The width of the bike path made it very difficult to pass, and my pace suffered because of that, finishing mile 4 in 9:04.

With the start of mile 5, the path was still narrow, we were still on some rolling terrain, though not quite as bad as mile 4, and it was finally time to see what I had left in the tank! I lowered my pace down to my tempo pace, while gradually working my way through the crowd. I even found time to grab a cup of water around the 4.75 mile mark. At this point, I was starting to feel the effects of the race, but I knew I was getting really close, and was able to continue pushing the pace. I ran mile 5 in 8:39—1 second faster than my current tempo pace.

The final full mile—mile 6. By now, I knew I was in the home stretch, and it was no longer a matter of “if I finished,” it was now “when I finished.” I was focusing on holding my pace, staying relaxed, and wondering if I’d have anything left for a finishing kick. Mile 6 is mostly a blur, but I can tell you that I continued to pass people, and I was rarely passed myself. The people who did pass me, were passed right back, as soon as I was able to move around the slower runners in front of me. Somewhere towards the end of mile 6, I pulled back up to a guy who had gone speeding by in the 4th mile. He still looked strong, and I wondered how much he might have left in the tank. As I would pull even with him, he’d surge ahead. He did this a couple times as we finished mile 6. Mile 6 was my fastest full mile at 8:30.

In the final .2, I continued this little game of “pull even, surge ahead” with that other guy. Honestly, I couldn’t tell what he had left, but he didn’t want me to pass him. I felt strong, was ready to race for the finish line, and had been bringing my pace down through the first tenth of a mile. As we approached the finish, still about a tenth of a mile out, and slightly behind him, I dropped the hammer and kicked with everything I had. He was toast—I never saw him again (oh wait, that might be him at the far left edge of the photo). The final .2 (.23 according to Garmin) took 1:43 for a 7:24/mile pace. I accelerated all the way through the finish, finishing at a 5:45/mile pace.

My official time was 55:21 (Garmin says I did 6.24 in 55:24 for an 8:52/mile pace), which was good for 38th in my AG (lots of people out for this race). While I would have liked to break 55 minutes, I am very happy with this race, and I look forward to doing more 10K races. I think a 53-54 minute 10K is very attainable in the very near future.

After the race, Julie and I, along with Darren, cheered on the 20K finishers, including Annabell, and Kevin of 5ksandcabernets, who I finally had the pleasure of meeting.

By Bryan at 1:38 PM , in Health and Fitness - Permalink
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We’re about to head over to Dallas for my first 10K—the Tour des Fleurs.

Being that this is my first 10K, I’m not really sure how much of a “race” this will be for me. Rather, I think I will go out at a good, but comfortable pace, and depending on how I am feeling in the last half, keep that pace, or really try to bring it on home.

Goals:

1. Finish.
2. Finish in under 1 hour.

Two coworkers, Darren and Annabell, will also be out there. This will be Darren’s first attempt at the 10K, after racing a number of 5Ks. Annabell is racing the 20K, and is very, very fast. She’s run a number of marathons, including Boston, and has probably raced every distance there is. She currently has the 2nd fastest 10K time in Dallas/Fort Worth this year, for woman ages 45-49, at 43:02. Like I said, she’s fast.

I also hope to finally meet Kevin of 5ksandcabernets, who will be racing the 20K, in preparation for his upcoming marathon.

By Bryan at 6:51 AM , in Health and Fitness - Permalink
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Half Marathon Training: Week 7

As good as last week was, this week was tough. I suppose that I shouldn’t be surprised, as things always seem to have a way of evening out. On the bright side, the week ended on a high note, with a very, very good long run this morning. Here’s the week’s training:

• Day 1
  • Rest.
• Day 2
  • Scheduled: 5 miles easy @ 10:08/mile – I was tired, the course was hilly, the weather was humid,  and I just didn’t want to get up for this. But I did. 5 miles @ 9:58/mile pace, and my average HR was 157 bpm.
  • Push ups – I haven’t done any push ups in two weeks, and I never did do my final test for the 100 Push Up Challenge. Since I didn’t lift the day before, I decided to do a test, and then several sets of 20. The test came in at 75, and then I did 8 sets of 20.
• Day 3
  • Scheduled: 5 miles easy @ 10:08/mile – Same as yesterday—I’m just not feeling it so far this week, but again, I got out there and did it. 10:01/mile, and my average HR was 158 bpm.
• Day 4
  • Scheduled: Tempo Run; 6 miles total, with 1 mile warm up, 4 miles @ 8:40/mile, and 1 mile cool down. As you know, this run sucked. It didn’t start out bad—in fact, I was feeling pretty good well into the third mile. But halfway through mile 4, I caved. I stopped twice in the last half mile of the tempo portion of the run. It was 75°F with over 90% humidity, but still…I was so close to finishing this thing. The warm up mile was in 10:56, with an average HR of 135 bpm. The 4 tempo miles came in at 9:07/mile pace, if I factor in the 1:54 of stopped time on the Garmin (which I think I need to do), and an average HR of 176 bpm. The cool down mile was in 11:50, with a HR of 170 bpm, and I threw some strides in there for good measure.
• Day 5
  • Scheduled: 4 miles easy @ 10:08/mile – with what happened the day before, this ended up turning into a mini-tempo run. It felt good. Mile 1 came in at 9:45, with an average HR of 145, and then I eased the pace down through the next two miles. Mile 2 came in at 8:51, with an average HR of 164, and mile 3 was 8:11, with an average HR of 182. Mile 4 was a warm down mile, and I completed it in a very comfortable and slow feeling 9:38, with an average HR of 174. Obviously at that pace, my HR didn’t come down much, but believe me when I say that the pace felt comfortable, and surprisingly slow.
• Day 6
  • Upper body strength training. I didn’t feel so great today, and it really showed during my workout. Just had no energy.
• Day 7
  • Scheduled: 11 miles @ 10:08/mile – as I’ve mentioned, this was a great run. Since I am almost at the halfway mark of my half marathon training, I decided to see how I am doing, compared to what I am hoping to run on race day (between 9:00 – 9:30/mile). I figured the best way to do that, without actually racing was to make today’s run a progression run. For the first 5 miles, I tried to keep the pace between 10:00 – 10:08/mile, and then for the next 5 miles, I wanted to slowly bring the pace down with each mile: 9:50, 9:40, 9:30, 9:20, and finally 9:10. The last mile was left as a warm down mile. My mile splits ended up like this (Total time: 1:46:58 – 9:44/mile – avg HR 159):
    • Mile 1: 10:08
    • Mile 2: 10:02
    • Mile 3: 9:58
    • Mile 4: 10:01
    • Mile 5: 10:00
    • Mile 6: 9:50
    • Mile 7: 9:35
    • Mile 8: 9:21
    • Mile 9: 9:14
    • Mile 10: 9:06
    • Mile 11: 9:38

So while the first 3 runs of the week weren’t so great, the last two runs were pretty good, and the last run was especially good, I think.

This next week is a cutback week, and marks the midpoint in my half marathon training, and I really don’t think it could’ve come at a better time. I’m also looking at doing one of two races next Saturday. The first is a 10K over in Dallas—the Tour des Fluers. This would be my first 10K race, and probably the best choice, given that I am training for a half marathon. The other race is a 5K and practically in our own backyard—the Run in the Dark in Keller.

The current plan, I think, is for me to run the 10K in the morning, while Julie cheers, and then flip roles in the evening, with Julie running the 5K while I cheer. I’ve thought about running both—racing the 10K, and trying to keep up with Julie on the 5K, but that probably isn’t the best thing for my training.

By Bryan at 6:09 PM , in Health and Fitness - Permalink
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I Hate Tempo Runs

…or…

I Quit

…or…

I’m Questioning Everything About My Training

This morning I had a 4 mile tempo run, with a mile warm up and a mile warm down, for a total of 6 miles. As you might be able to guess, it didn’t go so well. Actually, it went well for 3.5 miles out of the 4 miles at tempo pace. But the last .5 mile removed any feeling of satisfaction.

I typically do not look forward to my tempo runs, especially as I move up to a longer distance. Two weeks ago, I ran my first 4-mile tempo run, and it went ok. I was happy to have finished it, yet there was room for improvement as my 4th mile was 9 seconds of my target pace, and my average for the 4 miles was 2 seconds higher than my target pace. With two additional weeks of training, including longer long runs, and mile repeats at a pace much faster than my tempo pace, I was hopeful that this morning’s tempo run would at least be as good as the tempo run two weeks ago. It wasn’t.

I stopped. Twice. Both times, were in the last .5 mile. It wasn’t enough, evidently, to just slow down some. No, I had to stop. Twice. Did I mention that I stopped twice? The good feeling I had from slowing down a bit two weeks ago, rather than stopping—gone. The positive vibes from a good 3 x 1 mile repeat workout—gone. The feeling like I was making good progress in my training—gone.

Seriously, why does this affect me so hard? It’s just a run. At least I got up early and got my butt out there in the first place, right? And I did finish it, I just stopped. Twice.

How can I race a 10K next week, if I can’t hold my tempo pace for 4 miles?

I’ve got to get past this mental block that allows me to stop when something starts feeling too hard—that seems to keep me from pushing myself further.

All right…enough “poor me.” Looking at the data, contrary to how I was feeling when I stopped the first time, I was not redlining—I was getting close, but I was closer two weeks ago, when I finished out my run. Here’s a comparison of the first 3 miles from two weeks ago, and from this morning:

* Stopped twice during the final .5 mile. Stopped watch, too.

As you can see, through the first 3 miles, my heart rate was a little lower on this morning’s run, compared to the run two weeks ago. This trend continued in the 4th mile, up to the point where I stopped. So if my heart rate wasn’t quite as high this morning as it was two weeks ago, and I was able to finish the run two weeks ago without stopping, then why did I have to stop this morning? Of course it could be a number of things—weather, nutrition, rest, just to name a few. It was over 20% more humid this morning, than it was two weeks ago, perhaps that’s got something to do with it:

• Weather from Tempo Run Two Weeks Ago
  • Avg Temp: 78.8°F
  • Humidity: 67.5%
• Weather from Tempo Run This Morning
  • Avg Temp: 75.2°F
  • Humidity: 88.6%

I think what it boils down to is that I either need to HTFU, or I need to slow my pace down just a touch.

By Bryan at 2:19 PM , in Health and Fitness - Permalink
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With this past Sunday’s 11 mile long run, week 6 of my half marathon training is in the books. It was a pretty good week, and a really good long run. What made it such a good week? Cooler weather definitely contributed, and based on my runs so far this week—back in warmer weather—that’s about it. Here’s the run down from last week:

• Day 1
  • Full body strength training
  • My first ever full body massage—it was sometimes painful, but I felt pretty good afterward. Maybe that’s part of the reason week 6 was so good?
• Day 2
  • Scheduled: 4 miles easy @ 10:08/mile – this was a really nice run at a 9:44/mile pace with my average HR at 148 bpm.
• Day 3
  • Scheduled: 4 miles easy @ 10:08/mile – another easy run, this time at a 9:25/mile pace, with an average HR of 153 bpm.
• Day 4
  • Scheduled: 7 miles total; 1.5 warm up, 3 x 1 mile @ 8:06 w/.5 mile jogs; 1.5 mile cool down – while this run was challenging, it felt good. My mile repeats were in 8:04, 8:05, and 7:50, and my total time including warm up, recovery, and cool down was 1:06:40, for 7 miles (a 9:33/mile pace).
• Day 5
  • Scheduled: 4 miles easy @ 10:08/mile – like most of my recent Friday runs, this run wasn’t quite as easy feeling as the rest of the week. I ran it at a 9:46/mile pace, with an average HR of 160 bpm. I should've slowed it down, since I was needing to recover from the previous day’s intervals.
  • Full body strength training.
• Day 6
  • Rest!
• Day 7
  • Scheduled: 11 mile long run @ 10:08/mile – this was a really, really good long run. I finished in 1:50:09, for a 10:00/mile average pace, and an average HR of 159 bpm. I also practiced a fast finish, with a 9:13 final mile.

All in all, this was a very good week.

By Bryan at 1:36 PM , in Health and Fitness - Permalink
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Thanks Gustav

Over the weekend, weather forecasts were calling for lots and lots of rain over north Texas this week, as a result of the former Hurricane Gustav. Parts of northeast Texas have received lots of rain, but a little further west, in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, we’ve seen a few sprinkles at best. We have, however, been the beneficiary of cooler weather, due in part to increased cloud cover, and some pretty heavy winds.

Yesterday and today, my scheduled 4 mile easy runs (@ 10:08/mile pace) have turned into very easy runs, at a pace between 9:25/mile and 9:44/mile. While I did keep an eye on the Garmin, I really tried to run on feel, and it seemed to work. My average HR was 148 bpm for the 9:44/mile run, and 152 bpm for the 9:25/mile run. I think I have Gustav to thank for this, at least in part.

Certainly, a strong wind at my back helps, but it also hurts just as much, if not more, when I am running into it. The cooler temperatures help, though they’re only marginally cooler. Perhaps it is the combination of the cooler temperatures and the wind, acting as an air conditioner, and keeping me fresh? Or…maybe…I’m finally seeing some improvement in my running…

Whatever the reason, I’ll certainly take it. It wasn’t all that long ago that it took nearly everything I had to do 2 miles at a 10:00/mile pace, and now I’m cruising around 9:30/mile on easy days? Nice. I think it is about time to schedule another race. Any suggestions?

By Bryan at 11:57 AM , in Health and Fitness - Permalink
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