Day 2 of hill training. Tonight's run was basically a repeat of last Tuesday with a slightly longer distance on the hill portion — more up and more down. I got in one fewer laps than the first hill night, but I also think I pushed harder and was able to go faster on the up sides.
Again, no pain and no problems, except the tightness in my calves.
Run stats: 43:37 min. | 3.95 miles | 11:03/mile average pace
Friday, March 25, 2011
3.19 — Cedar River Trail 70 min.
The weather once again decided to play nice with us. It was cold and a touch on the windy side at times, but no rain. The trail itself was gorgeous and well maintained. I will definitely be back this summer with the wife and our bikes to take a ride here.
I started out on this morning's run at a relatively slow pace. I was following a group of people, chiming in on the conversation at times, and basically getting warmed up properly. After about 20 minutes or so (just about the time my toes thawed out), I decided to speed it up a bit and headed out on my own. Everything seemed to be in working condition, so I tried to slowly increase my pace through the rest of the run time.
For the most part, I was able to keep it up and got a negative split on the end of the run. I never got going so fast that I felt like I was pushing too hard, but I wasn't settling back and taking it easy either. The only ill effects I felt at the end was some tightness in my calves (my enormous, enormous calves). Some stretching and foam roller work took care of that.
The running is getting easier and the injuries are evening out. All good news as we get into the meat of the training schedule and start hitting some significant run times. Next Saturday is a 90 minute run and all the rest after that except for one, I think, are more than 100 minutes. Sounds daunting.
Run stats: 1:12:22 min. | 7.32 miles | 9:53/mile average pace
I started out on this morning's run at a relatively slow pace. I was following a group of people, chiming in on the conversation at times, and basically getting warmed up properly. After about 20 minutes or so (just about the time my toes thawed out), I decided to speed it up a bit and headed out on my own. Everything seemed to be in working condition, so I tried to slowly increase my pace through the rest of the run time.
For the most part, I was able to keep it up and got a negative split on the end of the run. I never got going so fast that I felt like I was pushing too hard, but I wasn't settling back and taking it easy either. The only ill effects I felt at the end was some tightness in my calves (my enormous, enormous calves). Some stretching and foam roller work took care of that.
The running is getting easier and the injuries are evening out. All good news as we get into the meat of the training schedule and start hitting some significant run times. Next Saturday is a 90 minute run and all the rest after that except for one, I think, are more than 100 minutes. Sounds daunting.
Run stats: 1:12:22 min. | 7.32 miles | 9:53/mile average pace
3.15 — Greenlake 40 min
Our first hills training — a few warmup laps around the track, 30 minutes of up and down the hill on the south end of the Greenlake playfields and then a few cool down laps around the track.
Sounds pretty simple, and it was. Except for the hill part. The coaches had us going up fast and coming down slow. And, they wanted us to go just a little faster each time going up. I pushed to do that and was really huffing and puffing by the end of that 30 minutes. You'd think my massive leg muscles would have helped out there, but they didn't (that's kind of a joke since it seems that someone at every group run makes a comment about how big my calves are).
I had my running app going during the exercise, but since it wasn't really a straight on run the stats are a little off.
Run stats: 47:19 min. | 3.84 miles | 12:20/mile average pace
Sounds pretty simple, and it was. Except for the hill part. The coaches had us going up fast and coming down slow. And, they wanted us to go just a little faster each time going up. I pushed to do that and was really huffing and puffing by the end of that 30 minutes. You'd think my massive leg muscles would have helped out there, but they didn't (that's kind of a joke since it seems that someone at every group run makes a comment about how big my calves are).
I had my running app going during the exercise, but since it wasn't really a straight on run the stats are a little off.
Run stats: 47:19 min. | 3.84 miles | 12:20/mile average pace
Sunday, March 13, 2011
3.12 — Gasworks 90 min.
This one could have been miserable. 90 minutes is our longest time so far and it was already lightly raining when we got to home base at the Gasworks parking lot. The announcements were short and we headed out. I had done a good 20-25 minute walk ahead of time to make sure I was nice and warmed up. Still, I started out slowly. My IT band has been better, but facing such a long time I wanted to be extra careful.
The rain continued and I met up with Karen and Ruthie, one of our group's mentors, about 20 minutes in or so. Up to this point, I really haven't talked to anyone during the runs — I wasn't being antisocial but it always seemed that I ended up in an empty area from other runners. The three of us stayed together through most of the run. Karen slowed up a bit towards the end while I tried to stay with Ruthie. I wasn't paying attention to my pace meter since I always tend to go too fast when I do.
Ruthie kept a solid pace. I kept up with her and finished the run really strong with no significant pain. A major win. I did have a little stiffness and my quads were sore, but I can deal with all of that.
It really did make the time go by having people to talk to. I can see that as we get closer to and beyond a couple of hours of running time, it will be more and more important to strike up some conversations.
Not only did it make the time go by, but it also helped us ignore the rain. It started lightly and got a lot harder during the second half of the run. We were all soaked to the bone. I'm pretty much done with winter, the rain, the cold and the gray. Spring can't get here fast enough.
Run stats: 1:31:43 min. | 9.45 miles | 9:42/mile average pace
The rain continued and I met up with Karen and Ruthie, one of our group's mentors, about 20 minutes in or so. Up to this point, I really haven't talked to anyone during the runs — I wasn't being antisocial but it always seemed that I ended up in an empty area from other runners. The three of us stayed together through most of the run. Karen slowed up a bit towards the end while I tried to stay with Ruthie. I wasn't paying attention to my pace meter since I always tend to go too fast when I do.
Ruthie kept a solid pace. I kept up with her and finished the run really strong with no significant pain. A major win. I did have a little stiffness and my quads were sore, but I can deal with all of that.
It really did make the time go by having people to talk to. I can see that as we get closer to and beyond a couple of hours of running time, it will be more and more important to strike up some conversations.
Not only did it make the time go by, but it also helped us ignore the rain. It started lightly and got a lot harder during the second half of the run. We were all soaked to the bone. I'm pretty much done with winter, the rain, the cold and the gray. Spring can't get here fast enough.
Run stats: 1:31:43 min. | 9.45 miles | 9:42/mile average pace
Sunday, March 6, 2011
3.5 — Red Hook Brewery 80 min.
Coach Shelby, dressed as if it were 80 degrees instead of 40.
The big test today was if, after my recent success with my IT band, I could complete the full 80 minute run without stopping due to pain.
The good news is that I did complete the full 80 minute run. I didn't do it pain free, however, and really struggled the last few minutes. I'm beginning to think part of my problem might be mental - I start to feel the pain in my knee at the end of my run whether it is a 30, 40 or today's 80 minute run. You'd think that if the pain really was triggered by duration of use, it would start to hurt after the same amount of time each run. It doesn't. It kicks in as I near the end of my run regardless of the duration.
Telling a Mission Moment about a young girl and her family struggling with cancer. The girl is going in for a bone marrow transplant on the 14th.
It could be in my head. It could also be that I'm relaxing my form as I get to the end of the allotted time, even though I think I'm actually paying more attention to form as I run longer and longer.
Either way, I got to about 70 minutes and my right knee started to seize up. I toughed it out, slowed down and kept running. The last 5 minutes or so were pretty tough, but I kept going and finished the 80 minutes running instead of walking.
Chocolate gu, droooool.
There was a Power Bar rep there to hand out samples of their nutrition and recovery snack options. Our coaches have been talking about the need to eat something to replenish your electrolytes and glucose every 45 minutes during long runs. I tried out some chocolate flavored "gu," which was actually pretty tasty. The energy bar I tried was not bad, although it was hard and tough. I'm not sure it would be very easy to eat while running.
Thanks to a lot of very generous people, my fundraising is going really well. I've met my minimum for my race and am now aiming higher. Other people have come up with a wide variety of fundraising ideas, like the cookies above. If I do this again, I will be lifting some of those ideas.
Run Stats: 1:19:54 min. | 7.63 miles | 10:28/mile average pace
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
3.1 — Greenlake 40 min.
Our rain luck ran out tonight and we got a little wet as we did a lap around Greenlake. And on top of that, I stepped in a huge puddle right at the beginning of the run. The coaches claimed that the wicking socks they suggested we buy would actively dry out if they got wet - I hope so since my right foot was totally waterlogged.
The good news is that I made through the full 40 minutes without needing to stop due to my IT band. It did start to tighten up towards the end of the run, but I focused on my posture, my stride length and how I was placing my foot and all of that helped keep the tightness from escalating into serious pain.
I was also very cognizant about not "racing" anyone. I ran my own pace and didn't worry about keeping up with anyone or trying to pass anyone. For someone who has never taken part in any real competitive activities, I'm extremely competitive and it's been difficult to not slip into that mode as I run. I have had to pay as much attention to not competing as I have to maintaining my form.
Run stats: 40:13 min. | 3.88 miles | 10:22/mile average pace
The good news is that I made through the full 40 minutes without needing to stop due to my IT band. It did start to tighten up towards the end of the run, but I focused on my posture, my stride length and how I was placing my foot and all of that helped keep the tightness from escalating into serious pain.
I was also very cognizant about not "racing" anyone. I ran my own pace and didn't worry about keeping up with anyone or trying to pass anyone. For someone who has never taken part in any real competitive activities, I'm extremely competitive and it's been difficult to not slip into that mode as I run. I have had to pay as much attention to not competing as I have to maintaining my form.
Run stats: 40:13 min. | 3.88 miles | 10:22/mile average pace
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