Stupid Trees...

I'm feeling totally worn out these days, and I think it's because of the stupid trees and their annoying (but clearly necessary) reproductive cycle. For years, I've suffered with allergies to tree pollen, and have been getting immunotherapy shots every Winter for the past five years to help. Even so, sometimes the crap hits me pretty hard. I'm not completely incapacitated like I used to be before the shots, but it makes sleeping difficult and, by extension, I am constantly tired.

Anyway, blah blah blah. Long story short, this affects my running in that I have absolutely no gas (unless I eat too much cauliflower! <rimshot>!!!</rimshot>). Case in point, on Tuesday I ran my usual 5km route, but only manged a snail pace with an average heart rate to match (112bpm). Hardly broke a sweat.

This morning was a bit better, but I definitely started off thinking it would be much the same. In the end I managed an average heart rate of 125bpm, with the last 3km at 128bpm average and the pace just at or under 6:00/km. Not breaking any records, but it is good to see that I can run at that pace with such a low heart rate even when I feel worn out. A while back I was unable to run even this fast and keep my heart rate under 145bpm! This slow running is starting to pay off I think. Perhaps there is hope for some day being able to run a BQ pace and remain in the aerobic zone? Will I still be running when 6:00/km IS my BQ pace several decades from now?

Perhaps...

Here's how the running for April went in summary:

Again, not breaking any land speed records or impressing with the total mileage, but I am proud of that average heart rate. Means I'm staying true to my goal of not pushing it to the point where I have incurred injuries in the past. Running should be enjoyable, blah blah blah. And bleh...

Short(s) and Swee(T)

Nice Spring weather has FINALLY arrived and I hope it stays. Although I woke up at 5am with an allergy attack, it still doesn't matter. I eventually fell back asleep and then went out for my last Sunday run before next week's Pittsburgh Half Marathon. Can't wait! (To run it slow and aerobic...)

Today was another run much like last week so I though it useful to compare the heart rate based stats:

At a glance it looks like today my average heart rate was higher, and my pace was slightly faster. For some reason this run was tougher than the last one and I was never able to just cruise easily at a low heart rate. Could be the early allergy related wake up, or the addition of hills this week, or just life in general. My diet wasn't too good yesterday either, with just two meals, a beer, and some cake. Hmmm...

All the same, it was still in the right heart rate zone and that's something. The hill up Beechwood Drive was tougher than both yesterday's run and the one last week, as my max HR on that split (10/11) will attest. Oh well, onto the first race in nearly two years!

Might As Well

Since the whole idea behind this blog is keeping track of my running "pursuits" I feel I need to post about the Sunday run I had so that I can look back on it and compare in the future what I thought about it. Of course, the stats end up on Garmin Connect and all that, but I don't write any thoughts there so sometimes things get missed or forgotten.

In that vein, I ran a short LSD yesterday of just 12km. Two weeks out from the Pittsburgh Half Marathon and things are going well on the injury front (though my left knee tightened up after I ran around playing soccer and ultimate frisbee with the boys last Wednesday). I am mulling over ways to increase my mileage gradually over the course of the Summer and have purchased a good running backpack (at least I HOPE it's a good one having never tried it!) so that I can incorporate commuting to work on foot into that plan. I simply cannot figure out how to get my mileage up without running to and from work sometimes. As such, I will not start this until after Pittsburgh I think since the build up to this race has been steady and healthy and I don't really want to disrupt that. I might do it once though because I have an itch to try it.

But that short LSD I did this weekend went like this:

Once again, the HRM screws up in the first kilometre or so, but then it settles down and I was able to run in the low aerobic range for a bit. Near the end of the run I had to climb out of the Don Valley up Beechwood Drive, which is an almost kilometre long climb that gets pretty steep in the middle third. Naturally, my heart rate went up, but I felt pretty smooth on the way up and was pleasantly surprised at how easy this felt. Although the average pace is once again faster than the last LSD it is just slightly so due to either that hill climb or the fact that I felt a bit run down after a tough week at work. Also, I'm continuing to do the run/walk thing at a 9:30/0:30 ratio. If it ain't broke and all that.

Good times! Looking forward to the race. The Boston victims and their families, as well as all runners affected by the tragedy, will be in my thoughts as I return to "racing". Glad they caught the guy alive and that nobody else got hurt as they were hunting for him. What a senseless waste...

Moving in the Right Direction

Another day, another LSD. Longest one of this beginner Half Marathon training plan, which is also nice. I've been locked in on training based on heart rate to keep me safe and honest. Although this week I added an extra run, a short 6.4km on the treadmill on Friday due to a sore elbow keeping me off the weights for a day, I feel relatively healthy and that's a very good thing. So today I ran my longest LSD at 22.5km, waking up at 5:45am (though I was awake from 4:30am onward for some reason, just not able to sleep) on a Sunday to make sure I was around for Owen's first baseball practice of the season at 9:30am and not be absent for a good chunk of the afternoon.

In short, the heart rate is staying in the right zone and my pace is improving slightly with each long run:

Three more weeks until the Pittsburgh Half!

The LSD Lesson Continues

After my successful long run of last week I ventured out for another long steady aerobic effort this morning with a bit of apprehension. My legs were still a bit stiff, having completed the usual weight training workouts and normal runs, but also having added a Wednesday run with the basketball team I help coach wherein I lead the group in a track session that included some surges. A couple of those were of the short (80-100m) variety at full out effort, which I haven't done in at least two years.

Anyway, my intention was the same as last week: go slow and base the effort on heart rate. I'd figured out that my "bread and butter aerobic" zone was 146 - 152bpm or somewhere in that range, so I set the Garmin to alert me when I went above 152. Not sure that actually helped me as I was keenly aware of my heart rate without the alert, and the wonky metrics that tend to happen early in all of my runs meant that the alert was useless at that point, but it was worth a try. I will not use it again...

In the end I had an interesting result in this 20km run. I started off slower than last week's 18km effort, but ended up running at a faster average pace AND at a lower average heart rate! Either I was too worried about my legs being stiff or I'm already reaping the rewards of a Lydiard approach to training.

Still not very proud of the pace, but I think this is what I have to stick with for the long term. Next week is a short run with a 2km time trial, if the legs allow.

Lastly, March was a successful month for two reasons: I am not injured AND I never missed a workout. On top of that, I managed my highest monthly mileage in almost two years at 122.5km. Nothing to write home about, so I'm posting it here...

Executing the Perfect LSD for the Injury Prone Runner

Based on yesterdays effort one is inclined to believe that something finally clicked and after five years of running I've come to understand how a proper LSD should be run. Why did it take so friggin' long?! (And more importantly, will it ever be repeated?)

For years I've heard and read about the genius behind and necessity for the LSD (Long Slow Distance), but never actually internalized the essence of those three words. All three are up to ones interpretation, and mine typically was fine with the "L" and the "D", but the "S" was always a problem. No matter what I did I always felt "Slow", so what was the problem? Why was I bouncing from one injury to another? I was following mileage buildup plans, following the 10% rule, making sure to not heal strike, paying close attention to my cadence, blah blah blah. Still, my ego would not allow me to actually do an LSD the way it was meant to be done.

I had a mental block, clearly.

But, yesterday something clicked. I decided to check my ego at the door and focus only on my heart rate as THE most important metric for the long run of the week. Dozens of times I went out with this same intention, mind you, and I never succeeded to this extent. Sure, there were runs in the past where I ran on heart rate alone, but these were typically of the mid-week, lower mileage variety and, therefore, not as important to the ego.

My goal was to stay under 150bpm NO MATTER WHAT THE PACE!!! (That was key, and I used something I read in the Galloway training method to keep me on track: "Resist the temptation to speed up to just get the run over with once it starts to get tough.")

Here are the splits, of which I am proud NOT because of the pace (which is craptastically slow), but because of the Average Heart rate for each one, and the Max Heart Rate as well. Every time I noticed my HR creeping above 150bpm I forced myself to slow down and bring it back into my target zone. Even when I was being passed by other runners, I was not goaded into a fake race for pride. Amazing! Perhaps I'm actually maturing? Anyway, onto the splits:

I took 30s walk breaks every 9m30s to reinforce that as well. And even on the uphill portion at the end of the run I did not let my pace dictate my run, as I have done every other time. Although embarrassed by the speed, I am convinced that this is the way. The first 12km were a joke: so easy I thought I could do this all day. But, to my surprise, it DID get tough! So I DID get a workout, and now, the Monday morning after, I don't feel like my legs are shredded, as I did after a 15km run I did earlier this month in which I ran too fast and didn't care about my heart rate. Missed the point then. Learned the reasons behind the LSD now.

Lastly, what is up with my HR monitor in those first two kilometres! According to the max readings I should have been dead. Clearly, something is wonky in the machinery and, for once, it's not my ankle that's the culprit.

Heart Rates and Body Fats

As per my last post, I have started keeping a keener eye on my diet in an effort to see what will happen to my body fat percentage and general exerciseiness. We have one of those fancy scales that, upon entering some information as to your level of activity, height, and the like, the machine sends electrical signals up into your body through the feet and in some magical ceremony spits out your stats, including things like how much of your weight is in fat form, you body fat percentage, and your BMI.

I take all of this with a grain of salt (you know, so that I can be more conductive and such), but at least if the scale stays relatively consistent I'll be able to tell if my body fat percentage is moving up, down, or not at all. When I first stood upon the glass and metal contraption the reading said 10.2% body fat. In the past couple of days I have checked back in with my electronic fitness conscience and now stand at 9.8% body fat. I think this might be good?

The other thing I've been really gearing up for is training according to heart rate. In reading about the Lydiard method of training I realize that what I did throughout 2010, when my injury incidents were almost non-existent, was exactly what Lydiard preached. I ran according to my fitness level and abilities. I was successful in the "train don't strain" mantra that Lydiard espouses.

This year things went off the rails and the results speak for themselves. I did a lot more straining than training and now am paying the price with time off due to bad behaviour. My injuries are not yet fixed so I must placate myself with other activities.

To that end, I've upped the anty in my weight training sessions. No, I didn't suddenly increase the weight on all of my exercises, but I have been spending what would normally be rest time doing crunches. In this way I have been able to keep my heart rate up in the aerobic zone. My workouts have been great.

Also, I have been wearing my Garmin to keep an eye on my heart rate while on the rowing machine and have been successful in maintaining a good aerobic level (almost always between 140bpm and 145bpm) during my 45 minute Tuesday and Thursday sessions.

Lastly, I've started checking my resting heart rate in the mornings. I've been surprised to learn that my results are a bit higher than they used to be. I am now registering 46bpm instead of the 42bpm that I seem to remember. Perhaps the heat of the Summer, and it's been very hot here with today carrying with it the possibility of being the hottest day on record for Toronto. The one positive since I've been forced to stop running is that I've been sleeping through the night on a consistent basis. I guess that was yet another one of those signals that I conveniently chose to ignore back when I was straining and not training.

It's time to break out of the typical No Pain No Gain mentality.