Training Archive: PG

road running race 44:40 6.29 mi (7:06 / mi) vdot: 46.4
ahr:157 max:163 rhr:52 weight:141lbs shoes: x-talon 212

10K in Forest Park in Springfield. A good hard effort on a nice day, about 30F, no wind, no ice. Shooting for 45 minutes. Maybe went just a little bit too quick at the beginning as I felt a bit slow the last 10 minutes. Or, maybe I just didn't put out the last 10 minutes. Possibly both. Missed the 65+ record by 20 seconds (missed last week in the 5K by 25 seconds). But still quite happy with the result.

At work now. I suppose it would be a good idea to set up my computer here (a PC) to handle the 305 downloads, will have to see if I can manage that.

Back home now. Splits: 7:23, 6:52, 7:09, 6:58, 7:20, 7:00, 1:58. Definitely started too quick, there is a good uphill right after the start, and then 6th mile should have been faster.

So I think this is the last race for a while, the next one might be the 10-miler in Amherst in 5 weeks if I am healthy and the weather is OK. In the meantime, need to keep up the training with one change -- need to slowly start adding longer runs to the mix.

C • a very fine performance 16

trail running 12:06 1.22 mi (9:57 / mi)
ahr:122 max:138 shoes: x-talon 212

Warm-up. Saw Charlie and Chris, but George and Lyn sensibly stayed away.

trail running 7:27 0.74 mi (10:08 / mi)
ahr:133 max:137 shoes: x-talon 212

And once around the block afterwards.

Note
rhr:51 weight:141.5lbs

Saw The Young Victoria last night. Pretty but not much substance. Didn't regret going, the time passed easily, but I can't recommend it to anyone else, unless of course they like pretty films without much substance. Hmmm, maybe a good one for all the Startrek fans.

And in other important news, over the past week I finally lost the fingernails off the two fingers that ended up in the wrong place when I was closing the garage door. Took a while, 4 months. The new nails that developed underneath the old ones leave a lot to be desired, hopefully they will improve. The ends of the fingers still feel a little weird.

And I have been keeping my distance from closing doors of any kind.

trail running 41:24 3.88 mi (10:40 / mi)
ahr:131 max:150 shoes: mudclaw 270

On Poet's Seat ridge again, a good bit icier than yesterday though still quite manageable without studs. I think I should try elsewhere until conditions change (which they might, if we gt a bunch of rain on Monday). Perhaps it's time to go have a look at the snowmobile trails, though they may be icy too.

Easy pace, though uphills always get the heart going no matter how slow I was going.

Probably the 10K at Forest Park tomorrow. Depends on how I feel in the morning.

track 12:50 2.4 km (5:21 / km)
ahr:138 max:168 weight:142lbs shoes: x-talon 212

At the Smith track with Dave. Warm-up, included a couple of 200s @ 50 to loosen up.

Interesting heart rate graph, obviously wasn't getting a good connection the first 3 or 4 minutes.

C • HR 1

track 12:55 3.2 km (4:02 / km)
ahr:149 max:168 shoes: x-talon 212

Made the date to run with Dave for social reasons. I'm quicker than him off the roads, he's a little faster on the roads. I figured I'd see what he had in mind for a workout and just go with the flow, as long as it wasn't too outrageous.

He said he'd done 4x800 the last couple times, we could do that again. I said OK, how fast? And he said he was doing about 3:15. And I said OK, and how much rest? And he said a minute or a minute and a half. And I said OK, jogging or just standing. And he said just standing. And none of that seemed particularly outrageous, neither overly ambitious nor lazy, so that's what we did. 3:15.7, 3:15.1, 3:12.0, 3:09.2, with 1:15 rest in between. On the last one I was getting the wobbly leg feeling on the last lap, it occurred to me that that was a good sign, that I was putting out sufficiently.

This one seems to have a proper heart rate graph.

track 8:29 1.6 km (5:18 / km)
ahr:143 max:147 shoes: x-talon 212

And then a mile afterwards. Good workout.

trail running 40:58 3.66 mi (11:11 / mi)
ahr:136 max:150 shoes: mudclaw 270

It was such a beatiful day, not a cloud in the sky, 40F, and no wind, and I was in Greenfield anyway and had some time, so it seemed totally appropriate to go have a look at the trails on the Poet's Seat ridge, and take in the views too.

Trails were reasonably decent. Some ice, but only in small patches so it wasn't a problem as long as I paid attention. Otherwise snowpack, just fine, even a little bare ground. Winter is truly almost over.

Legs were ok, just took it easy.

trail running 30:12 2.54 mi (11:52 / mi)
ahr:141 max:153 shoes: mudclaw 270

On Pocumtuck Ridge. Never been up there in the winter but I assumed it would get some traffic of some sort (foot or ski or snowshoe or snowmobile), but the only signs of activity were one old set of human footprints and a lot of fresh deer tracks. So the running was a bit more challenging than I expected -- an average about 6" of heavy snow, with the exception of immediately under some hemlocks where there was just an inch or two.

Only went as far as the power line. I was pleasantly surprised to be doing as well as I did, especially going out when it is uphill. Hard work, but I kept running, no stops, and the breathing didn't get out of control. I'm pretty sure I couldn't have done that a month ago.

Now, for it to be a proper training I should have stayed out there an hour, and repeat it on a regular basis. Because the stresses are just like running in Scandivanian forests or marshes. But that would take a lot of willpower. For today, something is better than nothing. And it was supposed to be an easy day anyway.

Track tomorrow morning at 7 with Dave.

yoga 45:00 [1]
weight:142.5lbs

And also voted, though I am not optimistic.

C • voting 5

treadmill 58:43 6.0 mi (9:47 / mi) +322m 8:23 / mi
ahr:135 max:148 shoes: mudclaw 270

Quite miserable outside so I opted for my one-hill workout on the treadmill. A mile to warm-up, then 4 miles at 6 mph and 5%, then an easy mile after. 9:30, 10, 10, 10, 10, 9:13. Did this once before about three weeks ago.

It was still a slog, but maybe a little less so. Max heart rate was about the same (148 vs. 149, neither of which is at all high), average was less (135 vs. 140), so that is a shift in the right direction. And I can't say I was breathing hard. It just seemed to go on for a while. But still a good thing to be doing. I have to get better running uphill, and that means just doing it.

I suppose the next time it needs to be 6% and same speed. I might have upped it this time, but doing it exactly the same as a previous time has the beauty of allowing valid comparisons.

Note

Watched Inherit the Wind, 1960 version, wonderful movie. And then went and educated myself a little about the Scopes trial, here and elsewhere.

A fine way to spend the evening.

Note

What the hell is going on?

Friday Spike and Mary get rear-ended. Yesterday George and Lyn hit a phone pole. Last night Rhonda falls down a flight of stairs. And today Ali runs into a tree.

I think I need to be very careful.

Which means, even though it is a longer-term proposition, not rushing into this stuff. Though I'm sure the time will come when I'll start looking at my competitors and wonder who is juiced.

C • Juiced? 4

Note

Had a look at a draft of what Phil is planning for the Billygoat. Looks awesome, will be a first-class BG.

track 12:26 2.4 km (5:11 / km)
ahr:128 max:142 rhr:53 weight:142.5lbs shoes: x-talon 212

We had 2 or 3 inches of heavy snow overnight, and while I was contemplating the possibilities for today's run, Phil called and suggested the Smith indoor track (which is open to the public only from 6 to 8 am, the rest of the time you need a pass, or to go with someone with a pass, and he has a pass because his wife works at Smith).

And that seemed like a fine idea.

A mile and a half to warm up, including a couple of faster 200s.

track 25:16 5.6 km (4:31 / km)
ahr:152 max:164 shoes: x-talon 212

The plan was 3x1600 with a 400 jog, at no worse than 7:00 pace (per mile, yes I know I'm mixing my units), and see how it went, could always adjust.

First one was 6:53, no problem.
Second one was 6:49, definitely working harder.
Third one was 6:46, took some will power, a good hard effort though not all out. The 400s in between were leisurely, just enough to get the heart rate back down.

Pace averages out to 22:34 for 5K.

track 4:30 [3] 0.8 km (5:37 / km)
shoes: x-talon 212

And then a slow 800. Was supposed to be a mile, but the legs suddenly felt very tired.

Good session, need to keep doing stuff like this.

trail running 52:50 5.24 mi (10:05 / mi)
ahr:135 max:151 rhr:52 weight:142lbs shoes: mudclaw 270

Mill River to Juggler Meadow and back, 27:00 out, 25:50 back. Easy pace. Trail was a little icier in a few places but no problem. Snow/sleet/rain coming tonight so who knows what the conditions will be like this coming week.

This American Life, the subject was "This I used to believe." Not such a good show, mainly because 20+ minutes were about a conversation between a woman who was raised a Catholic but had lost her faith as she saw a young friend die of cancer and a guy who taught at a Christian school who tried to convince her that she should resume her faith.

I used to think that when the doctor says you have just 20 minutes to live, you should hop on a stairmaster or a treadmill, because 20 minutes on one of those things feels like forever. But maybe I'll have to rethink that in favor of this 20-minute segment, because it sure was endless. Of course I don't have much tolerance for religious folks that believe they know all the answers.

The good part of the show was a snippet in the lead-in, where reference was made to the fact that the show's theme was a take-off on the "This I Believe" essays that have been a feature on NPR the last several years (and that trace their heritage back to Edward R. Murrow in the 1950s). And it seems there have been some 60,000 essays submitted, many perhaps as projects assigned in school, and that there is a database of all the entries on the web.

And it was mentioned that there was quite a variety in the essays, and you could search on any word or phrase you wanted to and find all the essays using it. And this fellow, for some reason, had searched on the word "squid" and found that there were 11 essays, essays on the "This I Believe" theme, essays one would assume that dealt with matters of some significance to a person. And "squid" popped up in 11 of them.

After digesting that, I mean 11 did seem a lot, then the next thing that popped into my mind, of course, was I wondered how many used the word "orienteering."

Got home, first thing I did was fire up the computer, find the database on the NPR site, and just to be sure they weren't joking, search on "squid." In fact there were now 12 essays, since it had been some time since the TAL show had been broadcast. I was both impressed and flabbergasted.

And then the moment of truth, the search on "orienteering," and there were 3 essays. Wow, beaten by squids by a 4-1 ratio. We have some work to do. Though not as much as another group, a search on "rogaining" turned up nothing.