Jun 27
2009

Last week, I ran a 16 miler in which I never got my legs under me.   My expected easy/long run pace is roughly 9:30 per mile, but I’m okay with 10 minute miles given the warmer weather. My result was a 10:19 pace for 16 miles, with the last few miles being a struggle to stay under 11 minutes.

This week’s run started off slow (10:30 1st, 10 minutes for each of the next four miles). Starting about mile 8, I started hitting my stride, and finished with a nice, comfortable 9:42 average pace for the 18 mile run — 2:54:43 for 18.03 miles.

Last weeks’ run was roughly the same conditions as this weeks, but I made a few adjustments to get me a negative split (first half/second half):
Powered by RunningAHEAD.com

Change 1:
Two Fridays in a row with brutal afternoon conditions (~100′F Heat Index). Last week, I ran a 5-miler on Iroquois Hill in that nastiness. This week, I ran a 4.25 mile 2% treadmill run yesterday. Hydration and muscles were much better today.

Change 2:
Added the Camelbak Elixir electrolytes tabs this week… they’re lemon-lime flavored with electrolytes but no sugar to mess up the Camelbak liner:

Change 3:
Last week was probably the first run in which I really needed to take in extra sugar before or during the run. I didn’t take anything with me, and had to end up taking a detour to Wal-Mart (the gas station part) at mile 11 to get some orange juice.

This week, I got some Strawberry Banana GU and took them at miles 2.5, 6, 10.5, and 14. My normal pick is the Powerbar brand gels, but I thought I’d try the GU since it’s a bit thicker. (By the way, this flavor was one of the nastiest gel flavors I’ve used of any brand, but it did the trick)

Course map:

RunningAHEAD – Strings_n_88keys’s log: View Workout.

Tags: , , ,



Trackback  •  Posted in workout commentary  


Jun 15
2009

Photo_061509_001

Saucony Trigon Ride 5 with 328 miles

My other Saucony Trigon Ride 5s have lasted 530 miles before showing this much wear. I may have about 10% more road mileage (vs treadmill) than my last pair of shoes, but my last pair of shoes never reached this amount of wear.



Trackback  •  Posted in Uncategorized  


Jun 13
2009

14 mile long run (14.58) in 2:20:20 (9:38 / mile)

A crutch fails:

I had yet another crutch fail on me for part of my run:  My Garmin Forerunner 305 lost signal in a low-lying area in the dense fog this morning.  It was less than 2 miles into my planned 14 mile long run, and I actually considered ditching the run because of my GPS.

Of course, I didn’t.  Instead, I let the watch continue to run, assuming that I was just going to have to assume 10 minutes per mile, and run the run that way.  After about 1/2 mile of not having signal, I was back on one of my “normal” routes, and turned the GPS on and off, which enabled it to acquire GPS signal almost instantaneously.  For the next few miles, my watch was showing 5-6 minutes more than a 10 minute/mile pace for that distance would require, so I had to “let go” of where I really was with my run and just run.

I’ve already been trying to avoid using the watch for feedback during my runs the last week or so, and this experience just reinforces my interest in letting go, at least for planned routes–I need a basic wristwatch/stopwatch instead.

Other crutches of mine:

  • MP3 player (let go, at least for outdoors, due to having dead batteries in the middle of a run, and my wanting to run on more roads)
  • shoes – probably a permanent crutch, but I may barefoot run on a treadmill for extremely short distances to stengthen the muscles causing my feet to be so picky

No excuses:

My summer of running last year was challenging, but some of my worst moments involved blowing up on midday runs in July and August.  Wilting under excessive heat is one thing, but these meltdowns were on reasonably warm days.  My problem?  I had been doing either 6AM runs or running inside on the treadmill just because it was “too hot.”  I’ve decided to tackle this problem head on by making an outdoor run for lunch time runs the primary option.  I not necessarily going to run outside if the temperature is near 100 or storms are approaching, but Louisville is temperate enough to run at midday for at least half of the summer.

Other excuses:

  • Kids (I take my son in the jogging stroller occasionally now, or run on the treadmill in the basement)
  • Time (I dropped out most of what little gaming I did.

RunningAHEAD – Strings_n_88keys’s log: View Workout.

Tags: ,



Trackback  •  Posted in workout commentary  


Jun 6
2009

12 miles, 1:55:06 (9:36/mile), 10 straight weeks running.

This was my longest run in almost 5 months.  I didn’t get to start bright and early when the day is the coolest.  I didn’t run in a public park today (not even through Vettiner).  I didn’t run across anyone else who was running, and virtually no one was walking, either.  Plus, traffic had already picked up for a Saturday and I had chosen to run along Stonybrook all the way to Galene and Six Mile Ln.  I couldn’t find a public restroom on my route (well I was on the wrong side of the road for KFC and didn’t try El Nopal).  I had intermittent pains that threatened to stop me at any moment.

Nevermind all that.  This run was perfect.  Sure, I ran a 23 mile long run last year at a pace 80 seconds per mile faster.  Sure, I don’t feel 100% healthy still.  However, today was a beautiful day; I knocked out a few more running crutches; and, more importantly, I finished.

Oh, and I almost found a perfect loop for a 12-miler between Fern Creek and J-town:

RunningAHEAD – Strings_n_88keys’s log: View Workout.

Tags: ,



Trackback  •  Posted in workout commentary  


Jun 3
2009

Storms were rolling in this morning when I’d normally venture outside, so I hit the treadmill in the basement for 6 miles in 58:30 (9′45″/mile).  After the double runs yesterday (4.6 in the morning and 5.6 in 87 degree weather at lunch), this was a pretty rough run.

I can feel the injury pains finally working themselves out now and only the fatigue of running 40+ mile weeks and ramping up mileage remaining.

RunningAHEAD – Strings_n_88keys’s log: View Workout.

Tags:



Trackback  •  Posted in workout commentary