This was not a set up for a good long run today:
- I had a mid-back spasm in the first mile of my 5-miler yesterday morning that was still bothering me this morning. [Managed to fight for a 9'22" pace yesterday]
- The first hour of the run didn’t break 9:30 pace, the second hour was still about 9:12 pace.
- It poured rain for at least the hour of my run this morning, making my shoes incredibly heavy until the water mostly emptied after about 12 miles.
- I was wrapping up my highest mileage week in a year–75 miles–after 70 miles last week.
- I was wrapping up my highest mileage month ever [312 miles].
- I had two gels for a 20-miler [I usually use at least 3, but I take 5]
- My last two 20-milers together averaged well over 10 minutes per mile, but my target was sub-9 [under 3 hours for 20].
The results were considerably better than expected. I stopped for a potty break before mile 10, but also had to fight through running on the side of Hurstbourne Parkway that didn’t have a sidewalk. No, I didn’t run on the road; I ran in the un-mowed uneven weeds at were at times knee-high.
My first 6 miles were okay, but slower than I expected, at a 9:34 pace.
My second 6 miles were more respectable, at a 9:15 pace.
It was at the 2 hour mark that I decided: I only had 7.2 miles to go, and 8:20 [7.2 mph] is a comfortable “cruising” pace for me. Therefore, I should be able to finish in 3 hours. At that point, my mental will recovered from 4 months of not caring and leaving my legs with no support. Not only did I hit three hours, but I also had sub-8 splits a couple of times in the last hour.
Negative 6-mile splits
Tags: long run, negative splits
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- Image by TexasEagle via Flickr
I saw 5-6 turkey vultures today on my run at mile 5 1/2 [on Broad Run Road]. Before I realized that were swooping down on your garden variety roadkill, the sight of them evoked some disturbing [in a funny way] thoughts.
Of course, then, I started thinking that squirrels on Seatonville Road and Broad Run Road must not be as good at dodging cars as on the other roads on my route. Then, I started wondering what I’m doing running on roads that so many squirrels have recently met their demise on.
Maybe I should go back to running with music on roads and sidewalks that are “safe”. I clearly have too much time to think on my long runs.
This was my longest continuous run in about 2 months. Every single run since [including my Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon DNF] has had more than one long pitstop or a prolonged walk break. And so, a 15 mile non-stop long run is my longest run in at least two months. I can’t completely confirm that my 20-mile long run through Iroquois Park and UofL were continuous runs either, but I know that there weren’t many places that I could have stopped.
The pace for today’s run was a 9’31″/mile average pace, which is about 50 seconds slower than I would have liked, but I’d rather be in one piece for my next long run than hit some time goal on a training run 5 months from my goal marathon.
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Tags: long run
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[Workout - 6 x 1/2 mile progressive intervals 3:26.9 and faster]
Index card with treadmill speed by mileage marks
I’ve been pitying myself the last couple of weeks.
On February 3, I finished off a stupid 26 mile in 24 hours stunt with an attempted tempo run that turned into a slow limp for the last 3 miles.
My first thought: “Just like last year. I’ve injured myself and I’ll be sitting out all spring with injury.”
I biked the next day, and still hurt pretty bad. What was supposed to be a 66 mile running week for me came to a dead stop at day 3 with 34 miles. My back hurt, and by Friday, I scheduled yet another physical therapy appointment.
I decided to try normal running on Monday, with painful results: 6 miles in 52:57, but tremendous piriformis pain and lower back pain. The following day, I decided that I would get my 6 miles in, even if I had to walk them all. After two miles of progressively faster walking, the piriformis felt loose enough to test it running slowly. No problems.
However, last week, I bailed on my 7:30/mile pace tempo run after 2 miles. This past Saturday’s run had me feeling pretty incapable as well.
Needless to say, I’ve been building up apprehension about my first set of 1/2 mile intervals. I took the index card [pictured] from my last progressive 1/2 mile interval session [over 3 weeks ago] to the treadmill. The last time I attempted this workout, I got through the fourth set before my legs and lungs quit on me. Surely, I would barely get through the 4 sets because of my injury.
Well, the piriformis hurts a little from the workout, but I got through 6 full 1/2 mile intervals and added an extra .11 [for 5k of intervals] from the seventh interval. I probably had legs for one or two more 1/2 miles, but I didn’t want to overdo the workout, coming off of a close call with a longer term injury.
While I did have a real injury brewing, my biggest barrier was my fear of injury.
The only way I’m going to avoid injury is to sit perfectly still.
Then, I’ll never risk an injury. I’ll also never accomplish anything, either.
| Intervals (1/2 mile intervals) | |||||||
| Type | Distance | Time | Total Time | Pace | Avg HR | Max HR | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Recovery | 1 Mi | 9:32 | 9:32 | 9:32 | |||
| Interval | 0.5 Mi | 3:26.9 | 12:58.9 | 6:54 | 8.7 mph | ||
| Recovery | 0.25 Mi | 2:19 | 15:17.9 | 9:16 | |||
| Interval | 0.5 Mi | 3:24.5 | 18:42.4 | 6:49 | 8.8 mph | ||
| Recovery | 0.25 Mi | 2:18.5 | 21:00.9 | 9:14 | |||
| Interval | 0.5 Mi | 3:22.2 | 24:23.1 | 6:45 | 8.9 mph | ||
| Recovery | 0.25 Mi | 2:18.5 | 26:41.6 | 9:14 | |||
| Interval | 0.5 Mi | 3:20 | 30:01.6 | 6:40 | 9.0 mph | ||
| Recovery | 0.25 Mi | 2:18.5 | 32:20.1 | 9:14 | |||
| Interval | 0.5 Mi | 3:17.8 | 35:37.9 | 6:36 | 9.1 mph | ||
| Recovery | 0.25 Mi | 2:18.5 | 37:56.4 | 9:14 | |||
| Interval | 0.5 Mi | 3:15.7 | 41:12.1 | 6:32 | 9.2 mph | ||
| Recovery | 0.25 Mi | 2:18.5 | 43:30.6 | 9:14 | |||
| Interval | 0.11 Mi | 0:42.6 | 44:13.2 | 6:28 | 9.3 mph | ||
Tags: intervals, progressive
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My long run today was going to be fairly sluggish just because of my piriformis soreness issues lately. However, I never thought that it would be as dicey or as slow as it was today. Those who know my running habits and philosophy know that I never run outside with music: I never need it outside, and I regard it as a safety issue to not be able to hear what’s going on around me. It should be telling that I didn’t just plan on taking music with me “just in case” for this run, I ended up listening to Pandora for 2 hours of my nearly 3 hour long run.
The base road around the park [Rundill Road] was 80% clear, and there was plenty of road to run on, where the snow had either melted completely or had been reduced to a thin layer of slush. About half of this road is open to vehicle traffic, and those parts had even mostly dried out.
However, the situation changed when I turned up Uphill Road [see the picture below]. The early part was smoothly packed snow, which was very runnable, but had limited traction. A few spots further up the hill were dry from complete exposure to the sunlight. The remainder, on Tophill Road and Uphill Road, were 95% thawed and refrozen packed snow with heel divots, along with melted ATV tracks.
On the way uphill on the refrozen slush, I tried to work with the divots, but my ankles kept turning in different directions with every step. On the way back, I tried to run in either ATV tracks or the sections of unpacked snow on the road. Consequently, my already slow 9:50-ish pace slowed to 11 minute pace for a couple of miles, and often much slower than that, despite my effort level never really dropping off.
I should have taken more pictures. My run time probably wouldn’ t have suffered much.
Even back on Rundill for the reverse loop and back out Southern Parkway for an additional 4 miles, my legs had nothing left. I felt like I was at mile 24 of a rough marathon. Don’t get me wrong: I’ve felt much worse at mile 24 of a marathon, but at least I had the sense of accomplishment of having run 24 miles.
Maybe I should have had trail shoes for this. Maybe this is a sign that trails aren’t for me.
My legs hurt now. My quads hurt, but the rest of my legs feel like I’ve been standing up for an entire day without any support or chance to sit down.
Uphill and Rundill Rd at Iroquois Park
RunningAHEAD – Strings_n_88keys’s log: View Workout.
Tags: hill, iroquois hill, snow
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I ran a marathon pacing interval set (5 miles on, 5 minute recovery, 4, 3, 2, 1) on the treadmill.
I haven’t had what I’ve felt was a satisfactory workout since the November marathon in Indianapolis. This workout took care of that void.
No gels, just 96 ounces of Gatorade as fuel.
This was my fastest “long” workout since before the Indianapolis marathon (including the two marathons in between).
I also managed to break my half marathon PR by four minutes on the treadmill, even with 2 miles of recovery jogs in the first 13.11 miles.
Sometimes, you need to test what you’re made of. I feel a little better now.
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