Nike Free

Yesterday, I bought a pair of Nike Free 5.0 v4's and I got to try them out this morning.  Everybody warns you to start out with low-mileage, so I did about a 2km loop by my house.  I've had discomfort in my left foot for the past couple weeks while wearing shoes and walking, but I never noticed any pain while barefoot.  That was the impetus for me to buy the Nike Free's.

Starting out, my left foot hurt like hell and I was wondering if it was such a good idea to try these shoes.  The pain is normally the type where it'll be fine for 100 steps, and on the 101st, a twinge of pain shoots up my foot, but at the start of the run, I felt it on every step.  I almost turned around after going 30 feet.  Just as I was about to call it a day, the pain subsided and didn't rear its head again for the entire run.

After completing the loop in the Free's, I stopped home and got into my normal Air Structure Triax 12's and went for another 3.7 miles to get my mileage in for the day.  I immediately noticed how clumsy and abnormal my normal shoes felt.  Amazingly, after just 1.3 miles in the Free's, my feet had started getting accustomed to them.  Now all I have to do is build up strength in the parts of my feet and lower legs that have atrophied from using running shoes all this time, and I'll probably switch to the Free's full time.

Overall, I'm still not sure what I think of them.  They felt far better than normal running shoes, but at the same time, I think they still cushion a little too much.  I'm not quite sure how I'm supposed to run in them.  I chose these shoes to be an intermediate step to barefoot running, so once these fall apart, I think I'll give the Vibram FiveFingers a try.

Santa Shuffle 5k

So this past weekend, Carena and I went out to visit our friends Jenny and Doug in Chicago, and we raced in the Santa Shuffle 5k.  It was a balmy 20-25 degrees or so when the race started, and the sun was out and shining.  The weather was far better than you could hope to expect for a race in December.

I didn't feel like I was going to perform too well, seeing as I hadn't slept well and had the not-so-healthy race eve meal of a Hardee's Thickburger.  We got there with plenty of time to spare, so we got our Santa hats and beards, along with our pseudo-Santa outfits, which were just silk screened long-sleeve shirts.

I lined up at the front of the 7-9 minute mile pace group.  The gun went off, and off we went.  It wasn't too bad as far as crowds go, but yet again, several people started too far ahead of where they should have and slowed me down a bit.  Nevertheless, I passed the 1st mile marker in exactly 7:00 (which would actually be 6:50 in chip time).  Feeling good, I kept up the pace even though it was faster than I had expected to run.  Approaching the second mile marker, I saw that the first two digits on the clock were 12.  I crossed the marker just as it turn to 13:00.  I couldn't believe it! I had just run a 6:00 mile!  Thinking I might be overexerting myself, I slowed my pace just a little bit.  I had hoped to run at 7:15 per mile, but this was just too incredible.  I didn't want to take the chance of ruining my so far spectacular race by running out of steam too early, so I eased up.  Then, as I approached the finish line and the clock came into view, I saw the timer: 22:35.  What!?!?!? I thought to myself.  I did the last mile in 9:35!?!?  I crossed the finish line as the clock read 22:52.  It turns out that the clock for the second mile marker was too fast, and I hadn't run a spectacular 2nd mile, and I shouldn't have slowed down for my third.  In the end, I'm guessing the 2nd mile was around 7:15, and the 3rd mile around 7:30.  I don't really think it affected my performance by all that much, maybe 10-15 seconds, but it was more the fact that I thought I was running out of my gourd with a finishing time beyond my wildest expectations that bothered me.  I was so impressed with myself, only to come back to reality.  If I hadn't had a glimpse of a sub-21 minute 5k, I would've been ecstatic about my time (and now that it's had time to sink in, I am), but it kinda spoiled the result for me for a couple hours.

In the end, my chip time was 22:42, giving me an average pace of 7:19 per mile, a good 18 seconds under my goal time of 23:00.  In a 5k, 18 seconds is quite a bit, so I kinda blew my goal out of the water.  This race time shows me that my fitness has improved and it's time to adjust my training paces accordingly.  For the next month or so, my Easy pace will be 9:37 (I'm not that strict on Easy, somewhere between 9:10 and 9:30 is fine), my Threshold pace will be 7:42, and my Interval pace will be 7:07.  It's time to get back to work.

Catching Up

Well, I've been lazy the past couple weeks, but only in regards to updating my blog.  With my running, I haven't slacked off a bit.  In fact, I've stepped it up.  Last week I got sick Sunday night, but it was close to a 24 hour bug so I didn't let it affect my running plans too much.  I was a little weaker so I didn't run as far, but I didn't take any extra days off.

The extra rest (mileage-wise) must have helped, because last Thursday I had a great run (details here).  I set out with a bit of a spring in my step, and I didn't realize quite how fast I was going.  The first half mile was in 8:13.  That was the first time I looked at my watch, and I was quite surprised.  Effort-wise, I felt like I was doing 9:00.  Once I saw that, I decided to punch it up a notch and just run pretty fast the rest of the way.  The next half mile was in 7:08.  After that, I settled in at around 7:35-7:40 for the rest of the way.  I put in a kick at the end, doing the last tenth of a mile at around 6:00.  I ended up doing a 5k in 23:35.  (The data shows a little different, but that's because I didn't hit stop on my watch right away.)  This shocked me, because I feel like I could have maintained a slightly faster pace the entire time, and my goal at the time for my next 5k race was going to be under 24:00.  Obviously I'm going to have to set a loftier goal than that, so here it is: instead of under 24:00, I'm going to shoot for under 23:00.  I have an opportunity coming up on December 5th, so here's hoping I make it!

I had a tough 7 mile run on Saturday that felt more difficult than it should have.  I think dehydration contributed to the difficulty.  On Sunday, I ran on the treadmill, doing a warmup and cooldown with 3 8:00 miles in the middle.  So far I've run everyday this week, but Monday through Wednesday were mostly easy or marathon paced runs.  That brings me to today.

Today, I decided it was time for some VO2-max intervals (details here).  Using my trusty pace from Daniels' Running Formula, I set out to do a 10 minute warmup, 6x(3:00 at 7:24 pace, 2:00 at easy pace), followed by a 10 minute cooldown.  Well, I tried to run at about 7:24 pace, but I really wasn't breathing as hard as I believe I should have.  In fact, it felt downright easy.  The last time I did intervals, I was definitely breathing heavily after the first two, and couldn't even finish the fifth.  Well, I ended up doing the next 5 at closer to 7:15, and even then, I didn't feel like I was stressing my aerobic system to it's maximum until I hit the fifth interval. 

The fifth interval was a doozy, because for those of you familiar with Lakeville and North Park, I was heading back west on the path, and the interval started when I was at the bottom of the steep hill close to Highview (the one with a bench off to the side at the top).  Well, that hill immediately took all the easiness out of it, and the next 8 minutes were a battle, but happily, I was triumphant.  It was a bit of a struggle to keep running in the first few minutes of the cooldown, but eventually my heart settled down and I was able to run without much effort again.

Monster Dash!

Well, the day has come and gone, and I broke the 2hour mark with room to spare.  I didn't quite hit my goal of 1:55 (my official time is 1:55:17), but there were some extenuating circumstances. More on that later.  Even with those 17 seconds over my goal time, I'm still extremely satisfied with my performance.  Here is the GPS of the run, but I forgot to hit stop right away at the end so there are a few extra seconds in there.

On the morning of the race, Carena and I got out the door a little later than we had hoped, so it was kinda sketch for a little while.  Luckily, we found parking and were at the starting line with a minute and a half to go.  While it was cutting it close, it actually worked out great because we didn't have to stand around idle freezing our butts off.

I started off halfway between the 1:51 pace marker and the 2:00 pace marker, which was a big mistake.  It seems like people always overestimate themselves and line up too close to the front, so I was stuck in a big group of people running at around 10:00 pace.  In the beginning, it was really crowded so I had no choice but to follow the pace.  In the future, I guess I'll have to be one of the morons who starts further ahead than I should in order to go the pace I want from the get go.

The next 5 miles or so I probably did a little faster than I should have.  I had decided on the "no guts, no glory" method and didn't want to have the possibility of finishing and regretting not pushing myself hard enough.  In the end, I think it hurt my time.  The best performance, for me, is when I maintain a constant pace throughout the whole race.  I ran them all right around 8:30 pace, but I should have probably maintained closer to 8:40 pace.

At mile 9, I started feeling the consequences of running those early miles too fast.  My legs were starting complain, and I slowed down a bit to the 8:45 pace range.  I had not realized that the route went so far along Minnehaha Parkway, so I was not ready for the hills.  In fact, 8:45 was probably a little bit too fast considering all the hills.  There was a hill just before the 9 mile marker that really sapped my energy (even though it appears the hill doesn't show up on my elevation graph from my GPS).  It was short, just a city block, but it was terribly steep.

Miles 11 and 12 were my downfall.  As I was going up the hill just before Lyndale, I noticed all the runners ahead of me were stopped at the intersection.  I could see traffic going by, so I decided to make the most of it and walk up the hill.  I walked to the top, and sure enough, there was a cop directing traffic, and we had to wait another 15 seconds before we could pass.  I did feel bad for the guy.  Everyone was complaining to him, but he just kept saying, "Take it up with your race director."  They must not have had permits to block traffic there, which I'm not very happy about.  I'm almost certain I would've hit my goal time of 1:55 if it weren't for this snafu.  I was having enough trouble maintaining my pace at the time without having to worry about making up for lost time waiting at an intersection.

Nevertheless, I pushed on.  At around mile 12, we came back to Lake Harriet, and were met with gusting winds blowing in an unfavorable direction.  Some bystanders joked to the others, "run behind the tall guy," which made me want to punch them at the time because I didn't really have anyone around to break the wind for me.  This last mile was all willpower.  I had gone out too fast and had nothing left.  I kept looking at my GPS, trying to maintain an 8:46 pace, which was near impossible for me at that point.  Somehow I was able to, and when I crossed the 13 mile marker, I ran as fast as I could given the circumstances.  I started gasping for air and felt like I couldn't physically maintain the pace, even for .1 miles.  I just kept telling myself that I would be so disappointed if I missed my goal by something like 3 seconds that I could've made up at the end.  Mercifully, while I was arguing with myself about whether I could slow down or not, I crossed the finish line.  I had given it my all, and had a finishing time of 1:55:17 and a shiny medal to prove it.

Last Quality Day Before the Monster Dash

So yesterday was the last day of hard training before the half-marathon on Saturday, and boy was it a good day.  I set out planning to do a 10 minute warmup, 3 miles at around 8:05 pace, and a 10 minute cooldown.  Instead, I did the first in 8:56, then I managed 8:00 for the next 3 miles, and finished it up with the last mile in 8:28.  I could've probably done the last mile faster, but I allowed myself to slow down after I had finished that 3rd 8:00 mile.  That totaled 5 miles in 41:30, which would give me an 8k time of 41:19.  I did over 44 minutes in the spring, and I think I could've done it slightly faster this time had I raced from the start (maybe by 30 seconds or so).

An average pace of 8:17 is getting into respectable territory.  Not great, but something I can not be ashamed of.  You heard it here first: I'm going to do the CrazyLegs again next year, and I'm going to get a time of under 40 minutes.

I am officially setting my goal for Saturday's race at 1:55.  It's a bit of a stretch I think, but it's worth a shot.

Long Run at Ideal Race Pace

Yesterday, I set out to do 8-10 miles at my ideal race pace, and ended up at 8.33 miles (details).  I did it at an average pace of 8:46 per mile, which would put me at a solid 1:55 half-marathon.  If I could do that, I would be ecstatic.  I couldn't have done it yesterday, I know that much.  I was pretty pooped at the end of it.  But again, I hadn't been preparing and eating healthy in the days before, so I think under race conditions it might be doable.  Only one more quality training day left (Tuesday) before the race; the rest will just be easy 30-50 minute runs at around 9:30 pace to recuperate.

Half-marathon Distance Run

Well, it had been about a month since I had run more than 10 miles, so I decided I had better do a long run to make sure I didn't lose any endurance.  It was actually quite a bit more difficult than my last run of this distance, which was 2 months ago.  Back then I did 13.1 in 2:03:25, and this time I hit 13.1 at 2:03:10, so it was slightly faster, but I think the effort required was much higher this time.  I'm hoping this doesn't mean I won't be able to achieve my goal at the Monster Dash in 2.5 weeks.  Here is the GPS data.

One thing that was nice is getting to test an outfit to see if it would be good to wear during the race.  Now I know what I will wear if it's around the same temperature (40 degrees).  Afterwards, that interior calf muscle injury that hadn't shown up for a long time made itself known.  I hope it doesn't hamper my training too much for the next couple weeks; I'd hate to lose any gains I've achieved in the last weeks before the race.

Half-marathon Race Pace Run

I think part of the reason I've been slacking off a little bit is that my training was too structured for too long.  I'll get back to it eventually, but sometimes you need to just be free to do what you want.  Today, I decided to go a bit farther than normal to make up for lack of running yesterday.  I also decided I wanted to do it at speeds that are close to my goal time for the half-marathon.  I ended up doing 7.3 miles in 1:05:10 for an average pace of 8:55 (details), which I'm pretty happy with.  I think I could've gone farther while maintaining that pace, but I didn't bring any hydration or gels, and I was pretty dehydrated by that point.

As I'm typing this, it's crazy for me to compare my current ability to the running I could do even 6 months ago.  The Crazylegs 8k (4.99 miles) was about 5.5 months ago and I barely broke a 9:00 pace for that.  If I were to run 7+ miles back then, I would have been lucky to break a 10:00 average pace.  Now, I still had some gas left in the tank and was able to achieve under a 9:00 pace.

My wife and I just signed up for a membership at Fitness 19, so there will be no excuses about it being too cold to run or anything this winter.  I also have set forth a minimum distance of 5 miles outside per week over the winter.  I had some setbacks in transitioning from treadmill to pavement last spring, and I want to try to avoid that next year.

All in all, I think the lull is over.  With the half-marathon coming up, I think I'm in a good place as far as motivation goes.  Hopefully I won't have a lull after the race, but I think I'll have to plan another race (perhaps the Polar Dash and some others) to make sure I keep training.

Time to get back on track.

Well, it's been a couple weeks since I last checked in, but I've only been running sporadically.  It got pretty busy with the wedding, but now the time for slacking is over.  Carena and I stayed at a hotel downtown for the weekend, which was quite fun.  It was rainy on Saturday, and we didn't want to have to deal with the Twin Cities Marathon on Sunday, so we used their treadmills inside their workout room.  It was a bit rough, because I last ran on the morning of the wedding.  6 days off may not sound like much, but it's easy for your legs and your mind to get complacent in that amount of time.  I had run outside Friday, and to kick-start the habit by getting some faster paced running in right off the bat.  Both times, I ran the first mile in 9:05, ran the second and third at 8:06, and ran the last somewhere between 8:45 and 10:00.  On Sunday, it ended up being 4.01 miles in 35 minutes for an average pace of 8:44.

The half marathon is at the end of this month, so I have to make sure I stick to the schedule from here on out.  I want to put in a strong showing, and I think 2 hours is definitely achievable.  I'm starting to think I might actually be able to produce something in the 1:55-1:58 range, which would be outstanding.  If I break 1:55, I think my goal for a half sometime in April or May of next year would be 1:50, which is starting to get to a respectable time.  If I'm able to break 1:45 sometime in the next year and a half, I will be ecstatic.  That seems like the point at which I would feel like I'm an amateur runner and not just a recreational runner.  But looking near term, if I can break 1:58, that'll be plenty for me.

First day of weight training

Today, I did my usual ~4 mile run (details), but I atypically did some weight training as well.  My knee has been bothering me a bit, so I decided I would try to strengthen some of the muscles around it that are neglected through running.  I did squats and leg extensions for this reason, and threw in some calf raises, pull-ups, dips, and other exercises for the heck of it.  I had also intended to do some dead-lifts, but it was my first time weight training in so long that I decided not to overdo it too much on my first lifting day.  I'm sure tomorrow I'll be feeling it, but I hope it will pay off in making my knee more stable in the future.  I'm not sure how often I'll do this type of training because it's difficult to fit into my running schedule without interfering with my quality running days.  I might go for Sundays and Thursdays, because I usually take Mondays and Fridays off.

I'll probably write up another post on Tuesday after my interval session, and I'll probably be complaining about how I'm so sore I cannot walk.

Long Run

This morning I had originally planned to drive to Lake Harriet for another tour of the lakes, but my laziness got the best of me and I procrastinated long enough where I decided to just run in Lakeville.  I planned for around 10 miles; my knee has been sore ever since I sat on it awkwardly after my last long run, so I didn't want to push too hard.

This was the hilliest route for a double digit run thus far.  The middle third wasn't bad, but the starting and ending 3 miles or so had some elevation change.  I actually picked the route pretty well; it really wasn't too bad.  I ran down Ipava to Antler's Park, out to 210th St, over to Holyoke, back to Dodd, and through a neighborhood back to Ipava (see route).  My knee felt sore around mile 7 or so, but I pushed through and it actually felt better after the run than before it.

Being able to average under 10 minute miles for 10+ miles in Lakeville makes me pretty happy.  I didn't really plan for a long run in the days before like I have previously.  I didn't have a big pasta dinner like I usually do.  The ability to run a distance such as this without much preparation shows me that I have come a long way.  In fact, I'm confident I'm in the best running shape I've ever been in.  I'm not sure how successful I would be in a marathon at this point, but I think I'd be able finish and be able to beat my pathetic time from 2006.

I signed up for the Monster Dash on 10/31.  I don't think I'll wear a costume or anything, but that's where I'm planning to achieve my goal of a sub 2 hour half marathon.  Carena has signed up as well.  They have all sorts of distances: 5k, 10 mile, and half marathon, so you should sign up too!

Tempo Run

Sorry I haven't updated lately.  It's been quite busy for me.  Last night I was in a rush so I ran pretty fast for no reason than to finish quickly (details).  I averaged 8 minute miles for the whole thing, which is quite an accomplishment for me.

Interval Session

Today is Tuesday, so that must mean that it's interval day! Intervals are definitely the hardest workout of the week. Today (details) my main goal, besides just being able to complete the workout, was to run each interval at the same pace. Thankfully, I accomplished that goal, but it certainly wasn't easy. My goal pace for each interval was 7:28-7:30, and I ended up running 7:28, 7:23, 7:21, 7:30, and 7:22. A couple were a little faster than intended, but not too bad at all. The thing that makes me the happiest is that I was able to run the last one as fast as my first one.

These runs are the hardest because I'm pushing my HR to the max. I estimate my HRMax to be 190, and I hit 189 on this run, so I was definitely pushing it. In fact, on the 4th interval, I felt like my windpipe was constricting because I had to push even harder to keep the pace while running up a big hill. Just keeping the last 2 intervals as fast as the 1st made this workout far more difficult than my first interval session, but at the same time I think it will be more rewarding.

Half Marathon Distance Run!

Well, today Carena and I set out to do a long run. Her longest previously was 8.25 miles, and mine (recently) was about 10.5 miles, so we set out to do around a 10-11 miler. We decided to run the Chain of Lakes, which includes Lake Harriet, Lake Calhoun, and Lake of the Isles. This is a gorgeous route, which in turn makes it a very busy route. Nonetheless, it was an amazingly enjoyable run. One big plus is that there is very little elevation change, which made this far easier to run than it would be to run the same distance in Lakeville. As we came up on the car, we had completed just under 10 miles. Still feeling pretty good, we decided why not push for the whole 13.1 miles, so we ran an extra lap and change around Lake Harriet to hit the correct mileage. It's a pretty nifty route, which you can see in the workout details here.

I ended up with a time of 2:03:25, which I feel is pretty good for me considering I wasn't even really going for speed until the last 3 or 4 miles. If I were racing, I'm confident I could shave quite a bit off that time, so I think I could run a sub-2hour half marathon. At the end of this run, I was getting somewhat fatigued, but I certainly still had plenty of gas left in the tank. If you compare it to my only actual half marathon race time (from 2006), which was 2:12:05, it's quite an improvement. Also, if I were to compare my level of fatigue between the two runs, there's no comparison; I was exhausted at the end of the race from 2006, but I actually feel pretty good today.

Carena did amazingly well, especially when you consider she hadn't run more than just over 8 miles before in her life. She was unsure if she would be ready for the actual race we're running in October, but I'm pretty sure this should change her outlook significantly :P.

I'm definitely as pumped for running as I have been in a long time. I can't wait to get out there tomorrow!

Til next time,
Dave

Tempo Run

I seem to only want to update when I've had a good run. On Tuesday, I had another interval session in which I only completed 3 of the scheduled 5 intervals (details). Luckily I bounced back with a pretty solid tempo run (details) today. Did a 1 mile warmup, followed by 3 miles at my Tempo pace, and a 1 mile cooldown. The splits for the middle 3 miles were 8:13, 8:20, and 8:26. I'd still like them to even out a little bit, but there are a pair of nasty hills near the end of the 2nd mile and the start of the 3rd mile that take a lot out of me, so the 3rd mile takes a bit of a hit. I haven't found a route that's less hilly that I can do without driving somewhere. Maybe next week I'll drive to Lake Harriet or something and do a flat one.

One thing I do know is that this course is quite a bit harder than the CrazyLegs, and I almost completed it in the same amount of time with relative ease. And that's including my warmup and cooldown in my calculations. Subtract those and take into account the additional hills and you'll see that I've improved quite a bit since that race in April. I'd guess I could shave 3 minutes or more off my time.

My First Interval Session

Today, as the title indicates, is my first attempt at interval training. Intervals are designed to stress your aerobic system to its maximum in order to increase your VO2 Max. For those unaware, a person's VO2 Max is basically the maximum rate of oxygen consumption and utilization during exercise. It's one of the major factors in running performance, and you can improve it by running at a pace that will really push your HR up near its maximum, which stresses the oxygen delivery system. Ideally, about 2 minutes into your interval, you want to be near 98% of your maximum HR. I don't really know what my maximum heart rate is, but I think it's near 190, so ideally I should be above 186 bpm after about 2 minutes in each interval.

Since it was my first time, I wasn't quite sure what would be the correct pace, but according to my trusty book, "Daniel's Running Formula," I estimated it to be around 7:30-7:40 (which I will call I pace, and ~10:20 per mile is my easy, or E, pace). The plan for my workout was as follows:

5-10 min warmup
6 strides
5x(3 minutes at I pace + 2 minutes rest at E pace )
5-10 min cooldown

I would say that the workout (details) felt pretty successful, but I was not able to keep the last couple intervals up to the speed of my first couple. The interval paces were, in order: 7:21, 7:24, 7:36, 7:47, and 8:01. Ideally they'd all be much closer together, but I think in this case it's probably ok because the last two intervals were predominantly uphill. If anything, I probably should've run the first two faster because they included a lot of downhill. I think one of my goals before my next quality training session (by that I mean not just a constant easy pace) is to find someplace nearby that is flat where I can go to train. Hills are good sometimes, but they also get in the way when you have to deal with them on every run.

I'm anxious to see how my next run on Saturday will feel after completing this session today. I've noticed huge gains since I started including threshold pace running into my training, and I'm hoping including intervals will give me another solid boost.

Early Morning Tempo Run

Today was a real test for me, but I passed with flying colors. The test: to be able to get up and run before getting to work at 8. I woke up at 5:55 (luckily with no alarm), got dressed in my running gear and scarfed a nutrigrain bar and a banana with a swig of water, and was out the door by 6:05. It was nice and cool, which I think allowed me to perform quite a bit better than I had in the past 2 weeks or so.

Today (details) was a brief 5-6 min warmup, followed by a 5k at tempo pace, followed by a 7-8 minute cooldown. It went very well, and I was able to run 8:20 pace at about the same effort level as I had been able to run 8:40 pace about 3 weeks ago. I'm starting to get excited, because now I have my base mileage built up and am able to work on speed for the first time in my life. I think I'm going to look for a 5k in the next couple weeks, just to see where I'm at. My run today had a time of 26:21 for the 5k portion, and I was tired but not exhausted at the end. Also, the route is quite hilly, so on a flatter course I'm starting to think I could probably do under 24:00, which would make me extremely happy. In fact I'm going to look for races immediately following this post :).

One thing I noticed is that my HR was off in the first couple minutes. Sometimes the strap doesn't get a very good reading while dry, so there are some unusual peaks in the early going where it says my HR was 160+ and it was more realistically below 135. Once I get a sweat going (or I wet the underside), it's very accurate.

Off to look for some races!

Long Run

Went for a long run today. There seems to be a trend of me having my long runs on the mornings when I have plans with my buddy Ben involving beer in the evening. It's probably not the healthiest thing for me.

Today I set off with no real mileage goal in mind; I only knew I wanted it to be at least 7 miles. I kinda figured 10 might be too much for me at this time, and I was probably right. I started in the direction of Ben's house (run details), and I figured I'd swing by and see if they needed any help setting up for tonight's festivities (he's having his Lakeville wedding reception tonight). They didn't, so I just stopped and chatted for a couple minutes before departing towards Orchard Lake.

I took a GU energy gel (Vanilla Bean flavor) at around 4 miles. It seemed to give me a boost for a little while, but it might've been a placebo effect more than anything else. It was fine, as far as taste goes, but I'm still looking forward to trying some other flavors.

It was right around the time that I was passing Sarah's house (with two identical Yarises [Yarii? plural of Yaris] in the driveway) that I realized I had not worn protection. Nipple protection that is. I decided to run another couple miles, and once the sun was behind the clouds, take my shirt off. I'm glad I did. My nipples are still in great shape :), but I have no doubt that another mile or 2 and they wouldn't have been so happy.

The biggest problem with this route is that the last 2 miles seemed to be almost completely uphill, which is not fun, but overall I'm pretty satisfied with the run. Keeping the pace at 10:13 for 8.5 miles is pretty decent for me, and I'm starting to get a little confidence regarding what my half-marathon time could be.

That's all for this post. Hopefully the next post won't be too far into the future.

Busy Week

Sorry I haven't checked in for awhile; it's been a busy couple of weeks. I was in Michigan for a friend's wedding where I did a 6 mile run (details). All that accomplished was me getting mad at rich people for owning all the lakefront property, and also me stepping in dog poop without realizing it. Not fun. On the other hand, it was kinda fun just running aimlessly with no goal in mind, just exploring the town of Charlevoix.

On Tuesday, I set out with the goal of doing 5k at threshold pace, which I was able to accomplish (details). Even though I wasn't pushing myself as hard as I could (seeing as it's a threshold run), I was surprised it was still slower than the first race I ever ran (the Pi Mile Run at the U of M), but I'm confident in a race situation I could obliterate that time. I'm considering doing a 5k in the near future. One that looks like it's a nice course is Dave Ryan's 5k for Special Olympics Minnesota, so I'll probably do that. I feel like I'm almost back to the best running shape I've ever been in, though that's not really saying much. I haven't run a short race after 6 months of training before, so I'm curious to see how I'll perform. I'm hoping that I'll be able to convince a bunch of my friends (Chris, Andrew, Ben, Greg: I'm looking at you [and others if they're able]) to run it with me.

Unintentional Long Run

So this post is two days late, but I've been busy with the move so I haven't had a chance to write it up. On Friday, I had to go get Carena's car from the parking garage where we accidentally left it for a week (long story). Thinking that based on Madison's low parking rates that they wouldn't tow it so quickly, I thought it would be a nice 3-5 mile jog (see actual details) out to the ramp to pick it up. I set out with 5 bucks cash, my credit card, the parking stub, my driver's license, and her car keys. I considered bringing my phone, but I thought that it would be too much of a hindrance and left it behind. Since I'm moving out of my apartment, I don't have much food there, so I bought a PowerBar at the gas station in lieu of breakfast.

I get to the parking garage and find out that they tow after 48 hours. She gives me the number of the towing company, but I have no phone. Realizing that I'm just a block from Carena's work, I go there and ask to borrow a phone. I call up the number, and they tell me that the car has been impounded, and that I need to call the police. I call the police, and they tell me that the registered owner must pick it up or send a notarized letter authorizing me to pick it up. So there I was in downtown Madison with no access to a vehicle, so I have no option but to run home. I went to Walgreens, bought a Gatorade, and proceeded to run home.

So it's no fun to do a long run without preparing with a decent breakfast or hydrating fully before the run, but that's not the reason the run sucked. It sucked because I had rented a U-Haul and that day was the day that I had to move all the big stuff (couches, TV, etc.) out of my apartment, so the entire time I was thinking about how I hoped my legs weren't too dead to carry stuff up and down stairs all day. Luckily it didn't end up being a big deal, and my legs weren't dead like I had expected. Also, I got a notarized letter faxed to the police department and was able to pick up the car! All's well that ends well, right?

Run With Carena

Today I went for a run with my fiancée, and it was much better than my hungover run. I actually don't run with her very often, so we don't know each others' desired pace. I thought she wanted to run faster, and she thought I wanted to run faster, so we ended up running faster than either of us intended. In the end, I think it was a good thing. I ended up doing a little over 4 miles (details) at an average pace of 9:14, which for Lakeville, especially near me, is a pretty good pace considering the hills (though looking at the actual elevation gain, maybe I'm just a wimp). I'd imagine I could achieve an average pace closer to 8:30-8:40 on flat ground at the same effort level. It's difficult at the moment to see how I could maintain that pace for a whole 13.1 miles, but I think that I can achieve that in 2.5 months worth of training. Maybe this weekend I'll try for something in the 8 mile range with a goal pace of 9:30-9:45, just to see where I'm at.

Recovery Run

Well, today's run (details) was not much fun. I was still somewhat dehydrated from the long run yesterday, and I had a bachelor party last night so I was short on sleep. This combined to make the run somewhat difficult.

I ran with my friend Andrew today. We had no intention of trying to push ourselves at all today; I just wanted to recover. There's really nothing really special to report, though.

Really this post is just about something that is becoming more prevalent on the internet lately; something I have wanted to try for quite awhile: barefoot running. I'm definitely one of the minimalist types who thinks our bodies have evolved to do certain things, and we should do what our bodies are designed for, but I'm not so certain that includes running barefoot on concrete. Grass is a surface I can certainly understand, but somehow I think that even if you adapt your form that running on concrete might be detrimental.

I'm really tempted to go get a pair of Vibram Five Fingers or Nike Free, but I don't want to spend 85 bucks on something that I only use once. On the other hand, I do love to spend money :).

Long Run with Chris

Today was a very productive day, as far as running is concerned. My buddy Chris has a half-marathon coming up in two weeks, but he'd been slacking off recently. With the race coming so soon, we decided he had better get at least one double digit run in.

We took off on what we thought would be a fairly flat route (see details here), but for being around a lake, it sure seemed pretty hilly. It ended up being 10.43 miles in 1:49:58 for an average pace of 10:32, which is pretty good for me. Chris got a couple stomach cramps around 4 miles or so, so we walked for a bit there, but other than that we kept at it. Nothing starts your weekend off right like having a nice 10 mile run to get the endorphins released. Even writing this now, I can still feel the remnants of the experience. Hitting the double digits again really feels like I've accomplished something; like I'm almost back into the same level of fitness as when I last ran my marathon.

Summary for the week:
Running - 23.64 miles in 4:06:58 for an average pace of 10:27
Cycling - 9.2 miles

Another Good Tempo Run

Whew! Just got done with another good tempo run. Something must be wrong if I'm having so many good runs without a downer in between. So today (see details here), I again did a 10 minute (~1 mile) warm-up, followed by 2.25 miles at 8:45ish pace, 2 minute walk break, 1 more mile at 8:45, and a 10 minute cool-down. This was even more fantastic than last week. Pretty much the same workout/route, but this time my HR didn't go above 176 (I aim for 167-175 for the majority of a tempo run).

Greg asked me why I care about what my HR is. Well, there's a couple reasons. The first, more obvious reason, is that if I run the same route at the same pace twice, once with an average HR of 160 and once with an average HR of 150, my fitness/rest/preparedness has improved dramatically between the runs. If it was a very short time between runs, it might be caused by cooler temperatures, being more hydrated, or being more rested. But if it decreases consistently, you can tell your fitness is improving.

Since today was a tempo run, I will explain why I want my HR in the 167-175 range. Keep in mind, I'm no physician, so not everything may be accurate, but I have read much on the subject, and this is what I've taken away.

A tempo run is designed to be run at your anaerobic threshold; that is, just before the point where your body has to switch from aerobic activity (oxygen is delivered to the muscles via the bloodstream) to anaerobic (using a different process to produce energy without oxygen; produces lactic acid [technically lactate] as a byproduct and is far less efficient). Once you're in anaerobic territory, lactic acid starts to accumulate in the bloodstream. Exercising at the anaerobic threshold means you're at the point where lactate levels are constant; if you exceed this threshold, lactate begins to accumulate. Generally speaking, this threshold is obtained in running by having your HR at between 88% and 92% of your maximum HR. I don't know exactly what my max HR is, but I'm estimating it to be around 190, so this pace for me would have a HR of 167-175.

So, a tempo run is designed to stress your aerobic system to its maximum, without going overboard and switching to anaerobic activity. This also lessens recovery time as you do not deplete the muscle stores as heavily as if you surpassed the anaerobic threshold.

The end result is that this improves endurance, and makes it possible to run faster at a similar effort over time. While now I run about a 10:15-10:45 pace (on flat ground) to keep my HR in the low effort range of 135-150, I hope by the time my half marathon rolls around to be able to run about 9:30-9:45 at the same effort.

I hope this made sense!

Bike Ride

I took my dad's old man bike out for a ride today, in what is hopefully the start of some semblance of a cycling training schedule. A friend of mine, Josh, recently bought a new bike, so I biked to his house to see if he wanted to go out for a ride. Alas, he was not home, so I just turned around and came back. Still, it was a nice 9.2 mile ride at an average speed of 13 mph. While I'm not really a cyclist yet, I'm pretty sure that's a terrible speed. At that speed, it would take over 8.5 hours for me to just complete the biking portion of the Ironman. Oh well, it'll get better as my legs adapt and hopefully get a boost when I get an actual road bike.

Easy Recovery Run

Sunday is usually the day where I take it easy and go for a shorter run to recover from the longer Saturday runs. Typically, on a run like this, I try to keep my HR between 135 and 150 BPM. Lately, running in Lakeville is so hilly that even on my recovery runs pushed my HR up near 160 a lot of the time. I was starting to think that maybe I just wasn't in as good of shape as I thought I was, but today I got to do one of my normal routes in Madison which is almost completely flat (see workout details here). I achieved my goal of staying under 150 BPM for almost the entire time; the only times I went above is when I had to cross a busy street and I had to sprint to beat traffic.

This was a very reassuring run. While at a constant, relatively slow pace, being able to keep my HR under 150 but my pace around 10:30-10:40 is something I've been unable to do at home, but now I can feel confident that it's just because of all the hills. I'm hoping to improve my fitness to the point where I could do a flat route like this at a pace in the high-9's with a similar HR in time for the half marathon. If I can get to that point, a 9:00 pace for the entire race should be doable (assuming the race I run isn't too hilly).

I originally set out to do only 3 miles, but I was feeling good about finally having an effortless run, so I tagged on another mile.

It wasn't all rosy though. At around the 2 mile mark, I was overcome by a wave of weakness that lasted for about 45 seconds. I don't know if anyone ever gets these besides me, but this was the first time I'd ever encountered it on a run. Normally, it occurs when I've had nothing to eat but junk food all day (especially Frito's for some reason), and I have to stop what I'm doing and lay down for 5 minutes. This episode wasn't nearly so severe, and I was able to keep running, but the same feeling came over me. I'm hoping that I just didn't have enough to eat for breakfast. I may not have adjusted my diet enough to compensate for burning an additional 3000 calories a week these days.

6 miler through the Arboretum

Just got back from the Arboretum, where I did a 6 miler in 1:03:48 for an average pace of 10:37 (GPS info here). Normally I would run anything over 50 mins at a little slower pace (closer to 11:00), but I was followed by a woman in her 40's and I wasn't about to let her pass me. The Arboretum is a lot hillier than I remember; it's tough to keep your heart rate down when you're constantly going up and down hills. Tomorrow I'll do a nice, short 3 miler on a flat route, and hopefully I can have a similar pace but keep my heart rate closer to 150 bpm the entire time.

This run puts me at 18 for the week, so I'm almost to my desired mileage of 25 miles a week. I'll probably start hitting that mark in August, and then I can really start working on my speed a bit more.

I'm still new to this blogging stuff, so leave me comments with suggestions about what you'd like me to write about.

First Tempo Run

Whew! Just finished the first tempo run that I've run in the last three months, and it was the best run I've had in quite a while. I originally had low expectations for today because even my easy runs have seemed more difficult lately. When I set out with my ten minute warm-up jog, I expected at most to do 2x (1 mile T pace [about 8:40-8:50 pace] followed by 1 min rest). I ended up with 2 miles at 8:40, 3 min rest, and another mile at 8:40, followed by my cool-down jog. There's nothing better than exceeding your expectations and realizing you're in better shape than you thought you were.

Today the wind was pretty nasty, but the temperature was nice and cool which probably contributed to my performance. I had been feeling like I wasn't progressing, and more likely regressing, ever since my leg problems started in the spring. Nothing like a good run to change your outlook!

8.5 mile run

On Saturday (7/4/09), I ran my longest outing of the year. I ran out the door with my Garmin 305 with the goal of running a minimum of 8 miles. I ended up running just under 8.5 miles (8.43) in 1:33:03, for an average pace of 11:03 per mile. A 2 hour half-marathon has a pace of 9:10 per mile, so I certainly have a lot of work to do, both in pace and distance, but it's a decent start.

All in all, the run felt pretty good. I carried 24 ounces of Gatorade with me, but even with drinking the whole bottle I ended up weighing 2.5 lbs. less than I did when I started. The day after, I was a little sore, but for the most part I felt good. One problem that has popped up from time to time is pain in my right shin, which I didn't notice during the run, but on the following day I could feel it. I was supposed to run on Sunday as well, but I decided against it so that my leg would have time to heal. I'm hoping this is just a minor muscle strain that will disappear by Thursday or so. On Thursday I plan to do my first Tempo run in quite awhile, but I'll have to postpone it if there's any pain lingering in my leg.

Inroduction

Hello, and welcome to my blog. Over the next couple years I will be updating my progress as I train for my ultimate goal of completing and Ironman Triathlon. For those that don't know, an Ironman starts with a 2.4 mile swim, which is followed by a 112 mile bike ride, and finally ends with full 26.2 mile marathon. I have one marathon under my belt, but that was 3 years ago and I have since lost all my endurance gains.