Mon: 6-miles
Tues: 200-400-600-800-1000-800-600-400-200
Wed: 6-miles
Thurs: 7.5-miles (tried to do the middle 5-miles at a "good effort")
Fri: 4-miles (stupid swimming and yoga... I'll just run even though I really need to cross train)
Sat: 10-miles (Turkey Creek)
Sun: 5-miles (6 x 2min pickups)
Total: 44.5 miles
Monday's run felt reasonable. The Mizuno rep was at the Hibernian Harriers run, so I got to try out the Sayonaras, and I actually liked them. I took it a little bit easier on Wednesday. I wanted to swim Friday, but the pool was closed for a meet and I was too late for yoga (grrrrrr...). I managed to get in 40+ miles, which is much better than the last 2 weeks. This had been about my mileage goal for this week before I got injured. So, I guess I'm ok with it, but not really. I wanted to get in a longer run over the weekend, but my leg still hurts.
Tuesday's track workout went pretty well. The shorter stuff was a little bit slower than it has been, but my hamstring (mostly my right leg) is still a wee bit tight, and I didn't want to set myself back. I ran with Dave mostly, it was nice to have him back for track workouts! Newt kept us honest in the longer repeats. I ran 43 (200), 91 (400), 2:15 (600), 3:05 (800), 3:56 (1000), 3:06 (800), 2:14 (600), 90 (400), and 43 (200). So, pretty consistent up and down the ladder, or pyramid, or whatever you want to call that workout. The 600's are always the hardest for me, probably because I run them at the same pace as the 400's. Oh well. The workout was supposed to be done at 5k pace, but I was a little bit faster, not too unreasonable though on the longer stuff.
Thursday's workout went ok as well. We ran out on the greenway and back on North Hills. I forgot how hilly North Hills is! Anyways, my right hamstring was still pretty tight, so I didn't want to push it too much, but I still wanted to get a good effort in. Sadly, now, "good effort" is marathon pace. I need to work on that. But, for now, at least I'm running.
Friday's run and Saturday's run both hurt. It was also 30 degrees on Saturday. This sucked both in terms of my hamstring/hip hurting and breathing. I kept having to stop. It was frustrating. Plus, I think I was half asleep still when I was running. I had intended to run 12+ miles (or 100min), but my leg really hurt. I kind of want to run the City of Oaks Half Marathon. So, I decided not to go past 10-miles. I ran 5 miles on Sunday and mixed in 5x2min repeats with 1min recovery. Then, I took a little break, and threw in a 6th one on the way back to kind of simulate pushing at the end of a race. My hamstring felt ok, but my legs fatigued quicker. I think stuff is still tight and I'm relying on smaller muscles more than I should.
I'm just frustrated. I want to train again. I'm not sure what this means for November. I know I'm going to be traveling a lot the last two weeks, so that will help curtail my training. I need to fix this problem. I have spent most of the last year not training because of some nagging problem. And, my hamstring/back/hip has been a problem since last spring. When I'm running, I'm sick of it because stuff hurts. When I don't run, all I want to do is run. I want to start building a base in December, and start training for Boston in January.
Monday, October 28, 2013
Thursday, October 24, 2013
10/14 - 10/20
Mon: 6-miles
Tues: 50-100-200-300-400-300-200-100-50 ladder w/ 100yd pull in between; 100yd cooldown
Wed: 6 sets of 200yd swim / 200yd pull; 100yd cooldown
Thurs: 50-100-200-300-400-300-200-100-50 ladder w/ 100yd pull in between; 100yd cooldown
Fri: 5 sets of 200yd swim / 200yd pull; 100yd cooldown
Sat: 9-miles
Sun: 8-miles (1E + 3T + 2E + 1T +1E)
Total: 23 miles
My intention was to make this week a "higher mileage" week (>50miles) after a "rest" week last week. My back/hamstrings/hips have been rather tight. Four days worth of standing between career fairs and the BME seminar (two weeks ago), two days of standing at the wake and funeral last week, and two plane rides have not been great for that. None of last week's runs were great, and my everything kind of hurt. Monday's run wasn't great either, and then my back immediately locked up after. Awesome. I had already made an appointment with Dr. Staker since the "easy" week did not fix anything. Oh well. Swim, swim, swim.
Swimming is boring, especially when you don't have anyone to swim with. Plus, I'm not even a marginally good swimmer, and I don't do it often enough, so everything is basically at the same pace. The only variation is the distance that I swim before I stop or using a pull-buoy. I actually picture running laps around a track because that is less boring than swimming laps (50yds swimming = 200m running). Come to think of it, I must picture running around an indoor track because I consider 50yds/200m to be one lap. That's bad. At least I've figured out a whopping one other workout besides sets of 200yd swim / 200yd pull... for a long time, that was my only workout. For "variation", I'd try and swim the swim faster, but that only happened after a solid week or so of swimming. And, on those occasions, my back wasn't the problem (when I try to swim faster, I'm not as careful, and my back starts to twinge more).
There is just nothing to look at when you swim. I try and talk to myself, but then I lose track of what lap I'm on, and I really don't want to prolong the workout. That and I get cold as soon as I stop, and sometimes towards the end of the workout when I can no longer swim fast enough. And I finally broke down and wore my new goggles (mostly because I can't find my old ones), and it took me until Friday to get them adjusted so that either my right eye doesn't feel like it's going to pop out of its socket or the goggles don't fill with water. And...
Ok, enough complaining. I really only mind swimming when I know I can't run. If I choose to swim, it's a whole different story. I saw Dr. Staker again on Friday and he said I could start running, just not to push it. I promised not to run a marathon this weekend, but didn't say more than that. I don't know what his definition of push is, and I didn't want to find out. I did 9-miles easy on Saturday morning. My back/hips/hamstrings were still rather tight. I started to feel better mid-run, but coming out of Umstead hurt. I wasn't quite back to Schenck by 9-miles, and tried to convince myself that I needed to run all the way back. But, that only lasted a wee bit more before I gave up and decided not to push it because I wanted to run on Sunday.
Sunday's run was actually better than any run for the previous 2 weeks. I stretched and foam rolled a crap-ton on Saturday, and felt reasonable by Sunday. I was able to throw in some low-mid 7ish pace miles. I was tight after the run, but it's a step in the right direction.
Tues: 50-100-200-300-400-300-200-100-50 ladder w/ 100yd pull in between; 100yd cooldown
Wed: 6 sets of 200yd swim / 200yd pull; 100yd cooldown
Thurs: 50-100-200-300-400-300-200-100-50 ladder w/ 100yd pull in between; 100yd cooldown
Fri: 5 sets of 200yd swim / 200yd pull; 100yd cooldown
Sat: 9-miles
Sun: 8-miles (1E + 3T + 2E + 1T +1E)
Total: 23 miles
My intention was to make this week a "higher mileage" week (>50miles) after a "rest" week last week. My back/hamstrings/hips have been rather tight. Four days worth of standing between career fairs and the BME seminar (two weeks ago), two days of standing at the wake and funeral last week, and two plane rides have not been great for that. None of last week's runs were great, and my everything kind of hurt. Monday's run wasn't great either, and then my back immediately locked up after. Awesome. I had already made an appointment with Dr. Staker since the "easy" week did not fix anything. Oh well. Swim, swim, swim.
Swimming is boring, especially when you don't have anyone to swim with. Plus, I'm not even a marginally good swimmer, and I don't do it often enough, so everything is basically at the same pace. The only variation is the distance that I swim before I stop or using a pull-buoy. I actually picture running laps around a track because that is less boring than swimming laps (50yds swimming = 200m running). Come to think of it, I must picture running around an indoor track because I consider 50yds/200m to be one lap. That's bad. At least I've figured out a whopping one other workout besides sets of 200yd swim / 200yd pull... for a long time, that was my only workout. For "variation", I'd try and swim the swim faster, but that only happened after a solid week or so of swimming. And, on those occasions, my back wasn't the problem (when I try to swim faster, I'm not as careful, and my back starts to twinge more).
There is just nothing to look at when you swim. I try and talk to myself, but then I lose track of what lap I'm on, and I really don't want to prolong the workout. That and I get cold as soon as I stop, and sometimes towards the end of the workout when I can no longer swim fast enough. And I finally broke down and wore my new goggles (mostly because I can't find my old ones), and it took me until Friday to get them adjusted so that either my right eye doesn't feel like it's going to pop out of its socket or the goggles don't fill with water. And...
Ok, enough complaining. I really only mind swimming when I know I can't run. If I choose to swim, it's a whole different story. I saw Dr. Staker again on Friday and he said I could start running, just not to push it. I promised not to run a marathon this weekend, but didn't say more than that. I don't know what his definition of push is, and I didn't want to find out. I did 9-miles easy on Saturday morning. My back/hips/hamstrings were still rather tight. I started to feel better mid-run, but coming out of Umstead hurt. I wasn't quite back to Schenck by 9-miles, and tried to convince myself that I needed to run all the way back. But, that only lasted a wee bit more before I gave up and decided not to push it because I wanted to run on Sunday.
Sunday's run was actually better than any run for the previous 2 weeks. I stretched and foam rolled a crap-ton on Saturday, and felt reasonable by Sunday. I was able to throw in some low-mid 7ish pace miles. I was tight after the run, but it's a step in the right direction.
Monday, October 14, 2013
10/7 - 10/13
Mon: 6-miles
Tues: 6-miles
Wed: Off
Thurs: Off
Fri: 6-miles
Sat: Off
Sun: 6-miles
Total: 24-miles
My grandmother passed away on Monday, so that about summarizes this week of training.
Tues: 6-miles
Wed: Off
Thurs: Off
Fri: 6-miles
Sat: Off
Sun: 6-miles
Total: 24-miles
My grandmother passed away on Monday, so that about summarizes this week of training.
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Choose Your Own Adventure
Remember those books? They were some of my favorites. I think I probably read most of the possible "adventures" because I would inevitably make a decision that resulted in some disastrous outcome, and then "cheat" and decide that's really not what I wanted to do. Today's run was similar to that. Except the penalty for choosing the wrong adventure was extra miles and not a few flips of a page.
I started off with the intention of running 10 miles out-and-back on the bridle path, coming back to the car, and then heading out for another out-and-back of some distance on the greenway. I wanted to do 14 miles (to bring my weekly total to 50 miles), but my back and hanstrings were pretty tight so I didn't want to push it. Matt considered possibly running to Graylan and back (about 7 miles round trip) since his knee/calf was still bothering him. I had been toying with the idea of adding Turkey Creek to the mix since it was supposed to be an easy run and I figured some hills would be good for me. That sealed the deal, and I figured I'd head down Graylan when Matt left me and run Turkey Creek in the "good" direction. Then Matt's calf started bothering him, so he turned at the water fountain instead.
I didn't want to bail on my new training plan for the day. I caught up to my friend and talked to her for a bit, then headed down Graylan. And here's the problem. I've run this loop before. However, I have run Turkey Creek more in the other direction. And I have never run it alone. I know it connects to Graylan, so I was confident I could figure it out. So down the hill I went. And up a small hill, which I didn't really remember. However, I saw some people on bikes, and I know Turkey Creek is a popular route. And then I saw either some high school or college teams. I considered that a good sign too because if I were a coach, I would have my team run Turkey Creek as a "good" long run towards the end of the season. Then I stopped seeing anything I recognized. And I felt like I had been on this road forever. Way longer than I should have been. So I figured that I really didn't turn down Graylan, but some other path. It looked like whatever road I was on was continuing towards the back of the park. I don't know the back of the park really well. Then I saw a trailhead up on my right. It looked like it went in the direction I wanted. So I had a decision to make. My thought process went something like this:
So, right or wrong I decided to do something (as Sean would say). I took the trail. This, as it turns out, was wrong. It was a little while before I saw someone heading in the opposite direction. I counted this as a good sign because it meant that the trail must have another outlet; also, because I hadn't seen this runner before, I figured that the outlet must be different than the inlet. Then I saw three women a little bit ahead of me. They weren't running too much slower. And I hadn't seen then before either. So I figured that the trail must have multiple inlets and outlets. However, I am an engineer and not a detective. Good thing. I asked them where the trail ended up, and they told me it was a loop. It started and ended on Graylan. Huh. About 2min later I saw another, larger trail ahead of me, and a wooden bridge that looked familiar. I heard a shout behind me, "we think that might be Turkey Creek." I told them it was and thanked them.
Wahooo! I made it. However, although it looked familiar, it apparently didn't look that familiar because I thought I was about mid Turkey Creek. I was not. Also, I had another decision to make. Right or left. I forget which way I went, but I got to Graylan about half a mile later. Dang it, wrong again! I wanted to be going in the other direction. Oh well, at least I knew where I was and miles are miles.
The rest of the run was uneventful. I made it back in a little over 14.5 miles total, which was my goal. I also learned that I should always do the exact opposite of what I think. When I downloaded the run, I realized that if I had run less than a quarter mile further on Graylan (I had turned down the right path), I would have hit the Turkey Creek trailhead as intended.
I started off with the intention of running 10 miles out-and-back on the bridle path, coming back to the car, and then heading out for another out-and-back of some distance on the greenway. I wanted to do 14 miles (to bring my weekly total to 50 miles), but my back and hanstrings were pretty tight so I didn't want to push it. Matt considered possibly running to Graylan and back (about 7 miles round trip) since his knee/calf was still bothering him. I had been toying with the idea of adding Turkey Creek to the mix since it was supposed to be an easy run and I figured some hills would be good for me. That sealed the deal, and I figured I'd head down Graylan when Matt left me and run Turkey Creek in the "good" direction. Then Matt's calf started bothering him, so he turned at the water fountain instead.
I didn't want to bail on my new training plan for the day. I caught up to my friend and talked to her for a bit, then headed down Graylan. And here's the problem. I've run this loop before. However, I have run Turkey Creek more in the other direction. And I have never run it alone. I know it connects to Graylan, so I was confident I could figure it out. So down the hill I went. And up a small hill, which I didn't really remember. However, I saw some people on bikes, and I know Turkey Creek is a popular route. And then I saw either some high school or college teams. I considered that a good sign too because if I were a coach, I would have my team run Turkey Creek as a "good" long run towards the end of the season. Then I stopped seeing anything I recognized. And I felt like I had been on this road forever. Way longer than I should have been. So I figured that I really didn't turn down Graylan, but some other path. It looked like whatever road I was on was continuing towards the back of the park. I don't know the back of the park really well. Then I saw a trailhead up on my right. It looked like it went in the direction I wanted. So I had a decision to make. My thought process went something like this:
- I don't know the back of the park. If I get back there, I don't know if I'd be able to find my way back to the bridle trail.
- There was one time that we did a long run and jumped on some single track that paralleled Turkey Creek for a bit and finished up on Turkey Creek. This trail kind of looked like it.
- Either way, the trail must lead somewhere. It is marked, so if I follow the markers, I will get somewhere new. Since the trail looks like it heads in the direction I want, this unknown option is probably better than the other unknown option (aka continuing on the road towards the back of the park). Unfortunately, I didn't have contacts in, and this significantly hinders my ability to run single-track. I can't differentiate between a rock, a stick, a snake, a shadow, or nothing...
So, right or wrong I decided to do something (as Sean would say). I took the trail. This, as it turns out, was wrong. It was a little while before I saw someone heading in the opposite direction. I counted this as a good sign because it meant that the trail must have another outlet; also, because I hadn't seen this runner before, I figured that the outlet must be different than the inlet. Then I saw three women a little bit ahead of me. They weren't running too much slower. And I hadn't seen then before either. So I figured that the trail must have multiple inlets and outlets. However, I am an engineer and not a detective. Good thing. I asked them where the trail ended up, and they told me it was a loop. It started and ended on Graylan. Huh. About 2min later I saw another, larger trail ahead of me, and a wooden bridge that looked familiar. I heard a shout behind me, "we think that might be Turkey Creek." I told them it was and thanked them.
Wahooo! I made it. However, although it looked familiar, it apparently didn't look that familiar because I thought I was about mid Turkey Creek. I was not. Also, I had another decision to make. Right or left. I forget which way I went, but I got to Graylan about half a mile later. Dang it, wrong again! I wanted to be going in the other direction. Oh well, at least I knew where I was and miles are miles.
The rest of the run was uneventful. I made it back in a little over 14.5 miles total, which was my goal. I also learned that I should always do the exact opposite of what I think. When I downloaded the run, I realized that if I had run less than a quarter mile further on Graylan (I had turned down the right path), I would have hit the Turkey Creek trailhead as intended.
9/30 - 10/6
Mon: 6.5-miles (got to Tir na nOg a bit early)
Tues: 6 x 1000yd Lake Johnson Chip Trail (3:49-3:54)
Wed: 6-miles
Thurs: 6-miles
Fri: 3miles (shakeout run from the house... didn't bother with a watch)
Sat: Run for Athletes 5k, 4-miles before dinner
Sun:14.5-miles
Total: 50.5 miles (not sure how much I really warmed up / cooled down for the 5k)
Sean decided to switch up the track workout this week, so we met at our "favorite" alternate location, the "chip trail" at Lake Johnson. The chip trail is like a 1000yd dirt path. My times compare to about 1000m on the track. I did 6 repeats (first 4 were approximately on the 5min). It's an interesting workout. More mental really. I really don't have reference for where I am on the path (it's not marked), and I am hesitant to look down at my watch because the trail isn't exactly obstacle-free. Anyways, I ran pretty consistently and felt ok. The first one was my slowest (3:54). I ran the last one alone because I wanted to do 6 but most people wanted to do 5. I managed to run a 3:51 solo, so I was happy I was able to pace myself. It was a pretty good workout all and all, but I still find running on the track more satisfying.
I ran by myself on Wed. That was pretty boring. I made myself not stop on Glen Eden, which I find difficult to do when no one there. My IT band / hamstring started bugging me a bit when I got back on the greenway. And my knee. So I stretched a lot when I got back. We kept it easy on Thursday too because Jennifer is racing and Katie and Melissa are coming back from injury. We saw two snakes and a dead cat. I don't think we can come back on the greenway anymore because it gets dark too quickly. I also saw a dead cat on my shakeout run on Friday. Treadmills are looking better and better. Not really, but I don't like snakes and dead cats.
Melissa told me about the Run for Athletes 5k in Morrisville on Sat. It stared the same time as Railroad Days and was closer. And it's also flat. So I signed up for that instead. It went ok. I haven't run a 5k in a year, so it's hard for me to figure out what a 5k should feel like. I knew it should feel harder than a half marathon, but I'm not a good judge of pace. Melissa, I, and this other guy went out pretty fast. Too fast for me. I looked at my mile split. 6 minutes. Awesome. It didn't feel that bad though. I was trying to not be negative and psych myself out. Actually, I had no idea I could still run a mile on the road that fast (without looking at my splits every 400m; the course was marked every 0.5miles, but I only checked my mile splits), especially when I knew I had more than a mile to run. I chased Melissa and the other guy as much as I could, and wasn't too far behind at the turnaround. I think I was around 12:30 at mile 2, which is more on target. However, my back and hamstring were pretty tight by this point (4 days of standing this week was not good), and that made the third mile rough despite Matt's best attempts to get me to run faster. My main motivation was actually not letting my friend Bri, who was pushing her almost 2-year-old son in a stroller, pass me. I finished up in 20:20, which was good enough for 2nd women and 3rd overall (it was a really small race despite the fact that runs on that course usually draw a decent crowd). Actually, I crossed the wrong finish line, then went back around, and Jim Young was nice enough to knock 3sec off my time (20:20 was actually the time I saw on the clock when I crossed the wrong line). I did manage not to get passed by Bri, who finished in just over 21 minutes, and 3rd women overall. I had hoped that I could break 20 minutes, but 20:20 is not a bad time for me, so I can co-exist with it. And I did get to see my friends Bri and Karri, as well as Crit and Donna, so that was nice.
I ran 4 miles from the house after work to try and loosen up my legs and back. I kept it slow, so it didn't feel bad, but it was dark by the end (I miss summer for that!). On Sunday I ran 14.5-miles easy. That was an adventure. I think I'll dedicate a whole blog post to that one. I ran mostly by myself though. This week has been a lot of that.
I found this training program on the BAA site. I'll probably use it as a reference for mileage and for some tempo workout ideas.
Tues: 6 x 1000yd Lake Johnson Chip Trail (3:49-3:54)
Wed: 6-miles
Thurs: 6-miles
Fri: 3miles (shakeout run from the house... didn't bother with a watch)
Sat: Run for Athletes 5k, 4-miles before dinner
Sun:14.5-miles
Total: 50.5 miles (not sure how much I really warmed up / cooled down for the 5k)
Sean decided to switch up the track workout this week, so we met at our "favorite" alternate location, the "chip trail" at Lake Johnson. The chip trail is like a 1000yd dirt path. My times compare to about 1000m on the track. I did 6 repeats (first 4 were approximately on the 5min). It's an interesting workout. More mental really. I really don't have reference for where I am on the path (it's not marked), and I am hesitant to look down at my watch because the trail isn't exactly obstacle-free. Anyways, I ran pretty consistently and felt ok. The first one was my slowest (3:54). I ran the last one alone because I wanted to do 6 but most people wanted to do 5. I managed to run a 3:51 solo, so I was happy I was able to pace myself. It was a pretty good workout all and all, but I still find running on the track more satisfying.
I ran by myself on Wed. That was pretty boring. I made myself not stop on Glen Eden, which I find difficult to do when no one there. My IT band / hamstring started bugging me a bit when I got back on the greenway. And my knee. So I stretched a lot when I got back. We kept it easy on Thursday too because Jennifer is racing and Katie and Melissa are coming back from injury. We saw two snakes and a dead cat. I don't think we can come back on the greenway anymore because it gets dark too quickly. I also saw a dead cat on my shakeout run on Friday. Treadmills are looking better and better. Not really, but I don't like snakes and dead cats.
Melissa told me about the Run for Athletes 5k in Morrisville on Sat. It stared the same time as Railroad Days and was closer. And it's also flat. So I signed up for that instead. It went ok. I haven't run a 5k in a year, so it's hard for me to figure out what a 5k should feel like. I knew it should feel harder than a half marathon, but I'm not a good judge of pace. Melissa, I, and this other guy went out pretty fast. Too fast for me. I looked at my mile split. 6 minutes. Awesome. It didn't feel that bad though. I was trying to not be negative and psych myself out. Actually, I had no idea I could still run a mile on the road that fast (without looking at my splits every 400m; the course was marked every 0.5miles, but I only checked my mile splits), especially when I knew I had more than a mile to run. I chased Melissa and the other guy as much as I could, and wasn't too far behind at the turnaround. I think I was around 12:30 at mile 2, which is more on target. However, my back and hamstring were pretty tight by this point (4 days of standing this week was not good), and that made the third mile rough despite Matt's best attempts to get me to run faster. My main motivation was actually not letting my friend Bri, who was pushing her almost 2-year-old son in a stroller, pass me. I finished up in 20:20, which was good enough for 2nd women and 3rd overall (it was a really small race despite the fact that runs on that course usually draw a decent crowd). Actually, I crossed the wrong finish line, then went back around, and Jim Young was nice enough to knock 3sec off my time (20:20 was actually the time I saw on the clock when I crossed the wrong line). I did manage not to get passed by Bri, who finished in just over 21 minutes, and 3rd women overall. I had hoped that I could break 20 minutes, but 20:20 is not a bad time for me, so I can co-exist with it. And I did get to see my friends Bri and Karri, as well as Crit and Donna, so that was nice.
I ran 4 miles from the house after work to try and loosen up my legs and back. I kept it slow, so it didn't feel bad, but it was dark by the end (I miss summer for that!). On Sunday I ran 14.5-miles easy. That was an adventure. I think I'll dedicate a whole blog post to that one. I ran mostly by myself though. This week has been a lot of that.
I found this training program on the BAA site. I'll probably use it as a reference for mileage and for some tempo workout ideas.
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
September Recap
Slow start to the month (stupid tight calf), but a stronger finish. Raced for the first time since May. Hopefully training is back on track. [training log]
Total: 200 miles
Total: 200 miles
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