Back to the Track #8

After 6 weeks without any trackwork, it was time to get back today and run some 1200s.  Chanage of location: now that the highschool has started doing their trackwork in the mornings I relocated to the local college.  It's just over 2 miles away and a pretty nice track.

Last time I ran 1200s I was doing them in 4:29 (6:01 pace).  This week the plan was 4:21 (5:50 pace) - A big step up in pace.  My recent 5k and half marathon showed that I am getting fitter and I have a pretty agressive training schedule.  This is Daniels' VDOT 55 for those of you that speak Daniels.  My half was 54.25, so this was a bit of stretch but the last few weeks have gone well, and my tempo runs have been pretty good.

4:21 means 87 seconds per lap, which doesn't seem that much faster than the 89-90 that I ran last time....  Here's how it went:

1. first lap 80!  man, that was fast.  finished in 4:16 (5:43 pace). I am gonna pay for that I know
2. payback time - struggled big time to run a 4:23, so decided to stretch the recovery from 90 seconds to 3 minutes
3. 4:26 - ugly, ugly, ugly
4. determined to get this one back on track, I started OK but slowed and gave up at 800m in 2:58.   decided to jog a couple laps and see if I could recover and salvage the workout.
5. Decided I would do 4:24 or better.  ran a 4:23
6. Decided I would finally run a 4:21, but failed and ran a 4:25, which included having to sprint the last 150 meters.

Overall it averages 4:23 but it was pretty much a mess.  I guess the 8 second jump was a little big after not doing track for 6 weeks, and the first lap was just suicide.  Next time I hope with a little more smarts I can run them in 4:21.  The goal before Ottawa is to get down to 6x1200 in 4:18, so I have some work ahead of me.

Then late this afternoon, just for grins I ran my second run of the day as I skipped yesterday.  It was a hilly 15 miler out on the trails.  A great run, although I started to get tired on the last mile.

Rest of the week has been OK:

Monday was a recovery 5, Tuesday I skipped and Wednesday was a great tempo in the morning (7 miles at 6:27, including my first ever sub 40 minute 10k) and a second run of 9 miles of hills in the evening.  Off tomorrow as I am travelling to Virginia, and then a 20 miler somewhere in Virginia is on the schedule for Sunday.  So it'll be high 60s for teh week, with 60+ coming on just 3 days.  Not smart, but that's how it happened.

Water is a Good Thing!

Inadvertantly tested my ability to run while being totally dehydrated today (short answer: it is not one of my big strengths).  Did a long run with my running buddy - we got dropped off about 22 miles away and then ran home.  It was hot (low 80's) and the route we chose was pretty much exposed, dusty and for the last 10 miles, into a headwind.  In all, pretty spectacular planning on our part!

Started fast, feeling good, had a few sips of water at mile 3 from a fountain.  Then kept going reasonably fast, but found no more water until mile 13.5.  By then we were completely dried up - no longer sweating.  So the combination of no water, heat, wind, and a 1:40 half marathon, left us feeling pretty crappy.  So after drinking way too much water we set off again, now running into a headwind.  The next 5 miles sucked, it was on the road, hot & windy, a boring route by the freeway, and of course, there was no water.

At mile 18.5 it became a deathmarch home - running from water fountain to water fountain, but by then the damage was done, and no matter how much we drank it was all messed up.

Finished at exactly 23 miles in exactly 3 hours.  So not too bad, but certainly a lesson in hydration for me.  Took me a good 45 minutes and about 53 gallons of gatorade to start feeling normal again.

Rest of the week was good, with a tempo-ish kinda run and some good hills on Friday.  Total was over 74 miles, which is my highest since last July.

Next week should be mid 60's but it's a little weird as we are off to Virginia on Saturday, so I need to run my long run out there somewhere.  

Running Plans

Been thinking forward on the running plan front and this is what I have come up with for teh next 3 years....

Running the 5 marathon majors.  These are the "big 5" marathons, and my running buddy and I decided it would be good to run all 5 over the next 2-3 years, so here's the schedule

2009 - Chicago (October)

2010 - Boston (April), Berlin (September)

2011 - London (April), New York (November)

I have signed up for Chicago, and got a spot in corral A based on my half time of 1:25 and full time of 3:06.  Assuming the weather cooperates it is a fast course, so a good time is possible.  I'll set my goal after Ottawa.

I think my Edinburgh time from 2008 will still get me into Boston 2010, and if not I should get a sub 3:20 at Ottawa or Chicago.  Boston isn't the fastest course, but I would want to run it as fast as possible just because it's Boston.

Berlin seems very easy to get into to (you just signup) and they have a well organized corral system so I should be able to run a good time there.  Last year over 1,400 runners ran under 3 hours!  Current world record was run at Berlin.

London has something called "Good for Age", which is open to British people.  As a 40-50 year old my time only needs to be under 3:15, so that should be easy enough.  If the good for age thing doesn't work out I can buy my way in as a foreigner, although not sure what sort of start corral I get that way.  It is also a fast course, so I'd definitely make this one a big effort if I can get a good starting position.

And the finale in New York has guarenteed entry for either sub 3:10 or sub 1:30 half.  Both of which I have run and hope to be able to repeat within the New York entry window for 2011. Course isn't all that fast, and hopefully by then I will have hit all my marathon time goals in the earlier races.

I'll be weaving in a bunch of smaller races in between but will worry about those closer to the time.  I have worked through the plan between Ottawa and Chicago, which is 20 weeks.  I'll take 5 weeks to recover and just run easy miles, then I have a 15 week schedule roughed out.  I'll run the 2nd half of the San Francisco marathon at the end of July and a local 10K 2 weeks before Chicago. 

So that is the 3 year plan - I'll be 46 by the time it's over and probably be too decrepid to run anymore.

Happy 3rd Running Anniversary to Me!

Today is the 3 year anniversary of when I started running.  I was 40 years old and had finally realized that a combination of crappy diet and zero exercise was probably not so smart, and that being blessed with a high metabolism that kept me relatively slim wasn't going to be enough.  So on April 2nd 2006, after telling all my friends, family & colleagues that I would run the Honolulu marathon for charity in December, I ran/walked for 3 miles at a blistering and exhausting 10:55 pace.  I hadn't intended to walk at all but after 3/4 mile I was unable to run any more.  

Roll forward 3 years and I recently ran a race which was about the same distance as that first adventure in just over 18 minutes (6:04 pace).  Amazing the difference a little exercise can make. I still have the GPS track for that first run and I run that some route occasionally just for fun .  Man, was I out of shape back then!

I had peaked in weight at 169 lbs before starting running, and am currently about 20 pounds under that, although I dipped to 143 when at the height of training last July.  Blood pressure is down, as is heartrate (I have never measured my resting heartrate, so not sure what it is but now I often see HRs in the 50's when I put my garmin on).

My cholesterol, which was one of the reasons I started running is way down.  Pre-running I peaked at 265, with bad cholesterol hitting a pretty scary 186 (recommended value is under 130).  Last year total cholesteroal was 221, with bad being way down to 123 (Good cholesterol is now up to 88).  I have another test next month and I am hoping that the last year of running will result in even better results.

Mileage-wise the last three years have been 1,250 followed by 1,900 and then 2,350.  If I can manage to run a full 12 months without injury I expect to break 3,000 in the next year.

I also expect my race times to continue to improve for a while, but obviously not in a linear fashion.  My first ever race was a half marathon, which I ran in 1:51 (8:31 pace).  I recently ran a half in 1:25 (6:31 pace), which was exactly 2 minutes/mile faster.  It would be awesome to trim 2 more minutes/mile from my pace but it's a little unlikely that I am running 4:31 pace for a 59 minute half marathon anytime soon.

So after 3 years I am more into running than ever, and what was initially an activity to get in shape is now truly an everyday part of my life.

Weekly Summary

My first "run every day" week since July.  Not planned, but decided to run a recovery 5 on Monday to loosen the legs up.  Overall it was 69 for the week and things are feeling pretty good.  Didn't do any trackwork but did a 7 mile tempo (6:31 pace), a nice hilly run on Friday and a good long run (20.5 with 3 at marathon pace today).  The rest was just easy miles.

Next week should be about the same mileage, spread over 6 runs.  Tempo on Tuesday, long Sunday (21 w 10 at MP), a medium long run (14) on Friday and maybe trackwork on Thursday.  I may skip the track if depending on how I am feeling.  This is the high mileage portion of my training, so I don't want to screw that up with too much fast stuff.  I'll probably stay off the big hills this week as I don't want to push things with my wimpy achilles.

And if you were wondering about the pushups, it's going very slow.  I am yet to do day 1.  I tell myself it's because I wanted to start week 1 fresh on a Monday, but deep down it's probably because I don't want to do them.  Maybe tomorrow.....

More Hills

Ran this trail route today.  A beautiful day, somewhere around 72 degrees - Nice day for some topless trail running.  Kinda ran uphill for an hour or so and then ran downhill.  

Saw lots of wildlife out there - a fox, a deer and a bobcat type thingy.

100 Pushup Challenge

So with summer approaching, and the high likelihood of weather that is suitable for shirtless running I have decided to do something very foreign.  Which is basically any form of exercise or workout that is not running.

I have chosen to do the 100 pushup challenge.  A 6 week structured plan that can supposedly transform my pathetic puny runner upper body, barely able to do a single pushup, to a bulging bicepped, ripped monster, capable of doing 100 in a row.  I am lazy in pretty much everything except running, so was attracted to the promise of startling results and the fact that it's 3 times a week, for a total of just 30 minutes.  Sounds pretty easy.

So, last night I took the initial challenge, which is to see how many "good-form" pushups you can do before collapsing.  I managed a pretty pathetic 14, and it sucked.  That puts me in the "officially lame" category, although the name they use in the program is a much more PC "Rank 3", but I should probably mention that I only just crept out of rank 2 because I am over 40.

So now I get to recover for a few days before starting on week 1, day 1.  That will be 5 sets of pushups, with 60 seconds rest in between sets.  Sets go 10, 12, 7, 7 and then the maximum I can do.  That maximum should be at least 9.  Seems pretty brutal to me, and that's just day 1.

Oh well, we will see how this little challenge plays out but hopefully in just 6 short weeks, with my new ripped upper body I will be able to safely run half naked thru town without the fear of being spotted by someone I know.

You know you want to do this too, so click the image for details and join the fun!

Weekly Summary

A hilly long run to round out a reasonable week of training.  It was a 21 miler, which is the longest I've run since July.  Route went over a small hill then out thru the Stanford campus, then I climbed up into the foothills and back home thru Los Altos Hills.  It was a headwind on the way out which worked out pretty well. Kept the whole thing about 7:50 pace, except for those last 2 miles which came in a little quicker.  Felt pretty good overall, despite getting hungry just 2 miles in - managed to gu my way thru it.

Rest of the week was OK.  Mostly just easy miles with the exception of the 1600s and the hilly run on Friday morning.  Total was 62 miles, so it's good to start getting back up there after a couple of low/mid 50's due to weekend races.

Next week I should get a little bit higher, into the mid 60's.  I have a tempo (7 miles), speedwork (probably 6x1,200) and also a fast finish long run (20 w last 3 at MP).  I'm also going to be pretty busy at work, likely doing some strange hours - Not sure when I'm going to fit it all in, but hopefully I'll manage somehow.

Back to the Track #7

Tardy post on yesterday's track workout.  I had planned to skip track this week, after the excesses of the weekend's race, but since I also skipped my Tuesday tempo for the same reason I decided to join my friend early Wednesday morning for some 1600 repeats at the local high school.  I haven't run 1600s in a while but recall not liking them all that much.  Plan was to go very low 6's in terms of pace with a slow recovery lap in between.  It was just 3x1600 on the agenda....

1. 6:02, with a fast first lap, then settled down - felt OK
2. 6:01, pretty steady splits, definitely had to pick up the effort to close this one on pace
3. 6:02, felt pretty tough from about 1000, was happy there was no #4

Overall not bad, but I definitely didn't like them.  I much prefer 1,200s for some reason.

Today's run was supposed to be my weekly medium long run at 15 miles, but my schedule forced me to split it.  Did the first part this morning.  Took advantage of being in the car dropping the kids at school, so drove to Rancho San Antonio park and ran up a 4 mile hill, turned around and ran back down.  Great run - 8:00-8:50 going up, 6:00-6:50 coming down.

Here's the elevation chart...

Shamrock'n'Half Marathon 2009

This morning it was race day once again.  My first half marathon after surgery where I expected to run fast - I'd run Kaiser 6 weeks ago, but wasn't really trained up and ran an OK 1:29:22. This time I had no excuses, and I was definitely hoping for a PR (previous best is 1:27:25)

Course is advertised as flat, but it has a lot of turns/out and backs etc, the goal was to run under 1:27, and I'd planned to pace at 6:37 minutes/mile, which should bring me in at 1:26:45. 

Weather was good, forecast called for showers (30%) but it was dry at 7:15 when I left the hotel. Shorts, singlet, gloves and hat was the plan, temps in the high 40s/low 50s.

Did a pretty weak warmup and got it line.  I was only 1 row back from the line.  Gun went off and I was over the line within a second.

Mile 1: 6:13 - started fast, lots of faster runners than me!  Didn't feel 6:13 fast though

Mile 2: 6:31 - felt faster than 6:31 - I think the mile 1 marker was a little early. started running with a guy who was aiming for 1:25-1:22 - decided I was running too fast!

Mile 3: 6:35 - this was a straight mile with a little climb - decided to let speedy guy go ahead, which I think was the smartest decision I have ever made in a race (he went on to run a 1:23:24)

Mile 4: 6:35 - this had a turnaround so I could see the leaders, I was 51st at the turn and feeling good

Mile 5: 6:34 - back up the straight and saw the rest of the pack - a reasonable race at 4,000 runners

Mile 6: 6:28 - had a freeway underpass and I flew down, the speed carried me through a fast mile

Mile 7: 6:27 - over halfway.  feeling things but not terrible.  At 6.5 a biker girl called out and told me to drop my arms a bit as I looked really tense.  I focused on running more relaxed, and just staying on course for the next 3 miles.

Mile 8: 6:31 - lots of twists and turns but kept relaxed and on pace.

Mile 9: 6:32 - I caught the guy ahead (he had passed me about mile 4) - we started chatting and he said he was shooting for 1:28.  At this point we were 1 minute ahead of my 1:26:45 plan.  We decided we

 could run together and hold on for big PRs.

Mile 10: 6:38 - this was the final out/back. at the turn we had to climb up 20' and turned back into a headwind by the river.  We put our heads down and pushed thru.

Mile 11: 6:35 - After 1/2 mile we dropped back out of the wind and kept up teh pressure.  We were starting to catch a straggler plus the group of 4-5 ahead of us.  Hurting but we kept each other moving

Mile 12: 6:31 - several turns, one more little climb but moving fast and passed a couple more people

Mile 13: 6:38 - running on fumes at this point.  more twists and then we approach the baseball stadium for the finish

Final .11 - 36 seconds (5:50 pace) - we enter the field and both sprint, catch another guy and it's a race for the line (which I lose).  Crossed the line feeling like I didn't leave a lot in reserve.

Overall 1:25:28 - 6:31 pace

 - a 1:57 PR and 

 - pretty even splits with first half at 42:35, second 42:53

 - an improvement of 3:54 since Kaiser just 6 weeks ago.  

I was 45th out of 4,000 runners

 - which was good enough for 9th in my age group (M40-44)

I was very, very happy with the result.  Pacing was good, and I managed to focus on running relaxed (many thanks to anonymous biker girl) in those tricky miles 7-10, and kept going strong when things got tough about mile 10.

I was hoping to run a 1:25 sometime before Ottawa but I think that I am going to settle with this one - I'll probably do a 10k a couple weeks before the race as a final sanity check but another 10 weeks will have me even fitter so I am feeling that I have a legitimate shot at sub 3.  

Here's some proofs from the race photos - both at the finish - not looking too comfortable.....

Team ASHA 5K

So I ran my 5K this morning.  It was a reasonably small race, on an out/back mostly flat course.  Shared the route with the 10K that started at the same time.  Race was a charity race for Team ASHA, a group that is raising money for education in India.  The runners were very much a community and I wasn't sure how much competetion there was going to be at the pace I was planning.

Weather was perfect, low/mid 40s, partly cloudy and practically no wind.  Got out there and registered, and had time to run a mile or so with some strides to try and lock in pace - Goal was to run 6:06, which should bring me in just under 19 minutes.  Based on recent training, and my goal time for next weekend's half marathon, a sub 19 should be achieveble.  But 5K's pretty much suck and I don't have much experience running them, so it's always a crapshoot.

First half mile included a 20' downhill, followed by a 180 degree turn thru a narrow gate. Not ideal for getting locked on pace.

Race started and we were off.  Started quick and after the crazy sprinters dropped off I was left in 3rd place.  The leader was running the 10k, I wasn't sure about runner #2.  I could hear footsteps behind.  First 1/4 mile was very quick - went by at 5:31 pace!  I consciously slowed, got under control and completed the 1/2 mile in 2:53 (5:46 pace).

Decided I needed to really focus and spend the next mile trying to settle down and run a steady 6:06 thru the turnaround.  Next 2 halves were 3:03 and 3:03, so I was doing OK.  Turnaround comes up right about 1.5 and I turn at 8:57, so it is going to be short, and by quite a bit.  I knew this wasn't a certified race and suspected the distance was going to be off.

Lead guy was still ahead and he sped off to the 10k turnaround, runner #2 turned so I figured I had a race to run.  He was about 20 yards ahead at the turn but he looked worse than I felt, so I picked it up right after the turn.  Caught him pretty quickly and he slowed a little as I passed. I kept teh pressure on and it did the trick - That 1/2 went by in 3:00, but I was pretty much max'd on heartrate and still had a mile to go, and I was now running on my own. (and this was not the sort of race with a police bike to clear the path for you....)

Slowed to 3:06 for the fifth 1/2 mile and was feeling like crap.  I figured that was how 5K's are supposed to feel and managed to keep going OK.  #2 was nowhere near so I knew I had the win, and given the short course knew I had the sub 19.  So I decided I needed to focus on coming in under 6:06 pace.  Managed to finish out in 3:00 for a total time of 18:06 (8:57 out, 9:06 back). Got first place by about 20-30 seconds and the total distance (from Garmin) was 2.98 miles. Pace was 6:04, which I was happy with.  That would have been a 18:53 for a full 5K - which feels about right.

It was the first race I have ever won outright, and it was very cool to run through the finish line ribbon - I suspect that the finish line photo will be terrible as I was trying hard not to throwup. As a bonus, I picked up a prize of $150 in gift certificates for a local running store, (entry was only $25) so not a bad return for 18 minutes work!

After adjusting for short distance, that is a VDOT of 53.25 (for the Daniels' followers out there) - which converts to 1:26:43 for a half.  A big confidence booster as my race plan next week is 6:37 pace, or 1:26:45.

We'll see how it goes........

Tuesday Tempo

It's Tuesday, so it's tempo day again.  Stretching it out a little this week to 7 miles.  Pace goal was a little up in the air as it's been a while since I have run a long tempo.  Decided to aim for 6:30ish but base it on perceived effort (obviously slower uphill and faster down).  Course was my usual tempo, extended a bit.  Overall the net drop was about 60', so a reasonably honest course, especially given the fact that it climbs for the last 2.5 miles.

Chart pretty much shows it all - the effort based approach seems to have worked if you look at the haertrate - climbing slightly towards teh end, so perhaps I should have eased off just a little on the last mile or so.

Overall pace was 6:30 for the seven miles.  I think that may be the quickest that I have ever run 7 miles.  Mind you, I don't run 7 miles fast very often with a 10k only being 6.2 miles.

Happy with the 6:30 pace.  Maybe there is a slight chance I can actually run my half marathon in 12 days at 6:38 pace and get my sub 1:27 result.  I am sure hoping it is the case since I chose a bib number of SUB87 and I will look pretty stupid coming in at 1:31 with that on.

I'm in for the 5k this Sunday.  I'm thinking of trying to run at 6:06 pace, which on an accurate 5k would bring me in at 18:59.  Now I'm sure the course won't be precise and I'm sure I won't be able to hold 6:06 for 3+ miles but I am hoping to get somewhere round about 19.  My best ever for a 5k was a solo time trial on the track (accurate distance, but no-one to run with) at 19:38, so I should be able to better that at the very least.