5K PR in Training?

Today at lunch I hit the treadmill for another "test" of my future potential to train at the appropriate paces that will ultimately (hopefully) get me to the finish line with that much sought after BQ...

The plan was to run 10K with the first 3K at easy pace, the last 2K at easy pace, and the middle 5K at Short Tempo pace. That Short Tempo pace based on Run Less Run Faster translates to 4:04/km for a 3h10m marathon goal and 4:11/km for a 3h15m marathon goal. Naturally, being the overzealous injury prone runner my mind was firmly focused on the faster of the two.

Now, normally this would be all well and good, but in my case the pace that I was shooting for would also represent a Personal Best in the 5K by over a minute! I may be excused for having some doubts about my ability to manage this workout...

So, after the warm up I cranked up the treadmill to what I thought would be the right setting as these machines are notoriously unreliable and the pace that my Garmin foot pod reads has little to do with what the speed setting on the treadmill may be on any given day. In any case, I started off at 8.9mph and started doing the classic check of the watch far too often, and far too early. The reading was bouncing all over the place and it was tough to get a sense of what was the actual speed at which I was running, but after about half a kilometre it was clear that the foot pod was showing that my pace was too fast. So I moved the treadmill setting down to 8.8mph and kept on chugging along.

About 1.5K into the fast section my bloody shoelaces started coming undone! I was not pleased with this, but didn't want to risk a foot injury so after the 2K mark was reached I hit pause on the treadmill and tied up my shoes nice and tight. As I started back into my run the Garmin really was having none of it. First, the "start" button wasn't responding so I wasted a bunch of energy just getting this this started again. Then the watch was showing that my pace was a brisk walk at best with a reading of 9:00/km!!! I was not pleased, but kept on running, trying to trust the treadmill and how I was feeling. The pace on the watch slowly came down, but it never reached the desired 4:04/km for that split. Nevertheless, I kept on running at the same pace and my last two splits were under 4:04/km so I knew that the middle kilometre was not actually slower than the intended pace, just that the Garmin messed up.

In the end I still managed to finish the fast 5K section with an average pace under 4:04/km. The distance took me 20:13.68, which translated to an average pace of 4:02.74/km. Not bad! A PR by well over a minute if one is to trust the Garmin foot pod, which I don't exactly, but based on what I found when running with it on a track last year I feel it is more accurate than the treadmill itself. My mistrust of the technology doesn't mean that I am not pleased with the effort. Sure, it's not official or really verifiable, but it still represents quite an accomplishment for me in training. All that being said it wasn't easy, and I certainly was happy to stop for a drink of water and run my two kilometres at an easy pace afterwards.

Yay! Here's hoping the effort doesn't leave me with some tweak or injury... Sitting here hours later I feel fine.

Sleepwalking

Week 2 of Pittsburgh Half Marathon training completed. I was a bit of a suck yesterday and decided to skip the outdoors to avoid the wind and cold, choosing instead to head to the gym and the dreadmill. Have decided to run/walk my way through this training plan and re-evaluate after the race so doing  4 minutes run / 30 seconds walk from now on.

Happy to report that the treadmill still sucks ass. What a boring pursuit running becomes when done on one of those things! I don't care what's available for distraction, the bloody thing just slows down time like nothing else. If I lived on a treadmill I'm certain I'd make it to 150...

Clueless in Pittsburgh



Our view during the second game

 This past weekend we packed the family in the car for a road trip. Yay! I love road trips and this was a particularly fun one, for the most part, as we were off to Pittsburgh to see some baseball at what is the consensus best park in the Majors. What I didn't clue into as I was trying to book a hotel room for our stay was that this was also Pittsburgh's Marathon Weekend!!! No wonder everything near downtown was either sold out or way out of our price range.

Anyway, we drove up on Saturday, got lost as a result of yours truly screwing up the google directions, but made it to the game on time and it was amazing! The Pirates won 3-2 over the Reds and then we were treated to the best fireworks display ever. I can't believe how good it was, and it was only a "fireworks night" thing. They do this on a regular basis?! If you are a baseball fan and love a great fan experience you absolutely have to get to PNC Park. The place is so great, the views of the City had me mesmerized, and the whole experience was positive from beginning to end. We loved it so much we bought tickets to the Sunday afternoon game as well, though the Reds prevailed 5-0 and the Pirates did not put up much of a fight in that one.

The Boys are now Pirates Fans

Anyway, it was a great trip. The only thing missing was running to check out the City. The reason for that is that the streets in Pittsburgh as so freaking confusing to drive around that I was definitely afraid of getting lost. It's also very hilly, but that was more of a positive for me than a deterrent. Unfortunately, all I got to do was run for 30 minutes on the treadmill at the hotel on Monday morning before we left. At least I did that...



Slowly, but Surely and Goodbye to Grete

Indeed, I am nowhere near 100% as far as health goes. My immune system, weakened by antibiotics, seems to be particularly susceptible to any and all nasty viruses or bacteria that about as the weather (in theory) warms up. Although we are not seeing anything resembling Spring-like temperatures, yours truly still got hammered with a cold virus.

As reported previously I did not manage a single run over the past weekend. For perhaps the first time ever I decided that caution better than filling in the training log with what would have amounted to nothing more than junk miles. Instead, I remained confined to my bedroom waiting for the cold to run its course.

Monday I still felt like crap, but given that it was from the neck up I made it to the gym at lunchtime for a decent, if unspectacular, leg workout. My heart rate was elevated, but I managed to push as much weight as I normally do so I called it a success.

Today I feel a little better. My head is stuffed up and I have a headache, but at least I'm not going through boxes of tissues at as alarming a rate. I made it to the gym for a good chest and arm workout followed by a spur of the moment run on the treadmill.

I had designs on taking my potential run outside in the evening, but the weather looks nasty as whatever is happening in Texas will be bringing tonnes of cold rain up to Toronto. Given my weakened state I decided that a controlled environment was preferred and so hit the human hamster wheel for a nice 10km run.

To cut the boredom I played a bit with the incline settings during this run. After a 5 minute warm up at 6.7mph (5:33/km) I upped the speed to 7.2mph (5:11/km) for another 5 minutes at 1% incline. I then raised the incline to 2% for 5 minutes, 3% for 5 minutes, and 4% for 5 minutes.

From that point on I alternated 5 minutes at 1% incline with 5 minutes at 4% incline until I finished the run in 52:10 for an average pace of 5:12/km (8:23/mile). Not too bad given how I was feeling. It was nice to throw in some simulated hills as it provided a decent challenge and broke up the boredom a bit. Watching the old Star Trek episode "Mirror, Mirror" with closed captioning was somewhat entertaining as well. I think it was one of the best episodes they made if only for the goatee on Mr. Spock in the parallel Universe...

Nasty Sulu hitting on Uhura was also amusing.

And on a more sombre note I was surprisingly affected by the news of the passing of Grete Waitz today at the age of 57. I was not even aware of the existence of the New York City Marathon at the time when she dominated the race, but her impact on the sport, in particular for women, is immeasurable. She will be missed. Perhaps it is the timing of this sad news coming the day after the fastest marathon in history, and a real celebration of the sport in both the men's and women's races in Boston (Desiree Davila's runner up finish was a terrific surprise given all the hype around Kara Goucher!), that makes her passing so moving.

A Couple of Tests for the Knee

Yesterday I took my first full day "off" in a long time. How long? Well, I couldn't remember so I had to go back into the plan and check. Upon checking I was actually surprised that the last time I did not do any sort of running or working out for a whole day was January 25th. I was sick, and I guess I conveniently forget days where I am forced to rest because of illness and choose only to think of those damned days where injury forced me to take a break. My right calf forced me to take a couple of days off on January 14th and 15th, and I suppose that wasnt' that long ago after all.

Anyway, after yesterday, which was spent at a conference and, to be perfectly honest, is the real reason I didn't end up at the gym pumping some sort of iron, I was itching to try out the knee on the road. So this morning I went through my usual routine with one major exception: I finally cracked open the box of new Asics 2150 running shoes that I had purchased over Christmas. I have a sneaking suspicion that part of the reason for my left knee giving out is that my current pair of road shoes (I have a second pair for the treadmill) is up at 528 miles.

The run on the new shoes was a bit creaky, but the knee held up well and the shoes felt great. I always feel a bit weird coming back to running after a forced break of more than a day and this was no exception. I did the usual 8.5km loop and was quite happy to have no setbacks.

Today was once again spent at the conference, but since it ended early I decided to get to the gym and run a bit bore on the treadmill. This run felt even better than the morning jaunt and I managed to complete 10km (6.22 miles) in 49:43. The knee, once again, was good and despite that I am sitting and icing it while I type.

I happy to be back on the road and will continue to be cautious for the next little while. I guess 18.5km of running on the first day back may be considered a bit much for someone of my running history, but I think it was OK for me to do this as I kept the pace easy and really didn't feel any ill effects both during and after my runs.

Here's hoping the weekend goes well also!

A Little Oh Oh!

Yesterday I had a bit of pain starting in the back of my left knee and it really bugged me when I ran my 8.5km easy run around the neighbourhood. Although I finished the distance and wasn't super concerned, I did not have time to ice and stretch afterward as I had to drive Owen to his basketball tournament in Hamilton. The weather was nasty, the driving was scary, but the kids played amazing and won their first two games of the year going 2-1 on the day! The first win was very exciting because they not only had a buzzer beater at the end of one of the periods late in the game, but also won the game 23-21 on another buzzer beater! My vocal chords were shot after the first game, but I kept cheering the rest of the day, which was very long and had us home well past 9:30pm after more than twelve hours away from home.

This morning I woke up to find that the non-stop rain which started on Friday had turned to snow overnight and I had to shovel the driveway before I could think about doing anything else. With the knee pain and the snow all over the place I headed to the gym and the dreaded treadmill. Once there I commenced to do the longest run of my life indoors. It was tough, boring, and the knee was OK for the first hour, but gave me real trouble for the first twenty minutes of the second hour. I really considered just stopping at 10 miles. In the end I toughed it out and ran 14.14 miles (22.75km) and even though this was well short of the planned twenty-eight kilometres I will take it, all things considered. Now I'm icing the leg, waiting for the rest of the clan to return from winter camp, and then we can head off to Hamilton to see Owen play more basketball. I am really sorry to be missing the semi-final, but I am very excited to perhaps watch the final! GO OWEN!!!

This completes another decent week of running. The total mileage is the most for the year and since last summer, coming in at 77.05km (47.9 miles). I would have set a personal record had I been able to do the planned distance for the long run. Darn it!

PR in Training

You know you're slow when you can PR in training, but it still feels good!

This morning I finally nailed a slow recovery run. I tend to go just a bit faster than I should on recovery paced runs so this was no small feat. I ran 8.5km and kept my heart rate in the 135bpm range, and for the most part it was below that. Mission accomplished!

Then, at lunch I went over to the gym for what I've previously described as the toughest run of the week for me: the steady state. The last time I did this I managed to redeem a previous failure at ran at about my current 10k PR pace for 45 minutes, which is just three seconds slower than my 10k PR. That was close enough, but today I jacked it up just a little bit:

Duration	Speed	Pace (miles)	Pace (km)
5:00	6.7mph	8:57/mile	5:34/km
40:00	8.3mph	7:15/mile	4:30/km
5:00	8.5mph	7:03/mile	4:23/km
5:00	6.7mph	8:57/mile	5:34/km
55:00	8.1mph	7:26/mile	4:37/km

As you can see I still ran for a total of 45 minutes at steady state (ish) pace, but I increased the speed to 8.5mph for the last five minutes. I figure that probably got me to 10K in a new PR, but I don't have the energy to figure out exactly how long it took me to cross that point. In any case, it was tough, but totally doable and I was not completely gassed at the end. The total distance for the run ended up being 7.36 miles (11.84km). The total for the day, therefore, is a decent 20.3km!

Alright, I lied. I had to know and so did the math. Turns out I crossed 10K in 44:52! That's a 5 second PR if we are to assume that the treadmill is calibrated properly, and I did set it at 1% incline for what that's worth.

Now I'm ready for the weekend, which will be very busy since Owen has an out of town basketball tournament. In amogst that I will fit in one short recovery run and a long run. If all goes well this may end up being the longest mileage week ever for me! Keeping my fingers crossed...

Marching Forward

Hahaha. That's one of the worst post titles EVER! I stand by it...

Moving on, this IS the first day of the wonderful month of March wherein Spring is a promise sometimes kept, sometimes less so. The local papers are publishing rubbish to the effect that we will have a colder than normal season for the next three months. Just another reason to ignore the local papers.

This morning was a bit of a quick wake up that had me out of bed almost as fast as if there were a fire alarm going off. Instead, it was just my radio going on full blast that I had left downstairs. Hoping to keep the disruption to a minimum (because I love my family, of course) I bolted down the stairs, risking life and limb, to turn the sucker off.

After that it was the usual routine that had me out the door and running a nice and easy 8.5km recovery jog around what has become a customary route.

At lunch I finally managed to go get my haircut, an exercise that I really do dislike and tend to leave much too late. The intended 6 week between haircuts period this time stretched to over three months and it needed doing.

With the locks chopped I headed to the gym for a treadmill interval session. I wasn't sure if I would do the regular step down ladder thing where each fast and slow portion drops from five minutes down to one minute by a minute each time or if I would try something different. Even as I ran my warm up I was still not settled on the type of workout I'd put myself through.

Ultimately I changed things up a bit and I think it was the right move. Although my recovery pace is probably too fast to really get my heart rate get back to low numbers I think this type of training will benefit me in the long run (no pun intended, unlike the crappy title). Taking out the warm up and cool down the average pace for this run ended up being 4:33.5/km (7:19/mile) which is not too bad.

Here's what went down:

Duration	Speed	Pace (miles)	Pace (km)
5:00	6.7mph	8:57/mile	5:34/km
5:00	7.5mph	7:59/mile	4:58/km
5:00	9.0mph	6:40/mile	4:09/km
5:00	7.5mph	7:59/mile	4:58/km
5:00	9.0mph	6:40/mile	4:09/km
5:00	7.5mph	7:59/mile	4:58/km
5:00	9.0mph	6:40/mile	4:09/km
5:20	6.7mph	8:57/mile	5:34/km
40:20	7.9mph	7:39/mile	4:45/km

Although the third interval in particular was tough I was happy with the way I managed to get through it. I was able to concentrate on maintaining good form and staying as relaxed as possible. Also, even though I slipped on this one a little here and there, it helped to try and keep up a fast cadence. I realize that there is still much work to do in this area despite the fact that I've come a long way since last November when I first began to experiment with picking up my turnover rate.

The total distance for the run was 8.5km, and with the morning run it all adds up to 17km (10.6 miles) for the day. A good way to start the month!

Questioning My Training Methods - Putting the "S" in LSD

The recent announcement about Boston's qualifying standards got me thinking about how I'm currently approaching my training. Clearly my goal is the all mighty BQ, but in a bigger picture sense my ultimate goal is to run injury-free for as long as possible no matter what. If going after the BQ, whether the old or new standard, jeopardizes the bigger goal then I am left wondering, "What's the point?"

In November of 2009 I got back into running after a major setback suffered while training for my first marathon, which ultimately did not happen. While recovering (with a calf surgery thrown in for good measure) I not only gained 25lbs, but also had plenty of time to reflect on how I would train once my body allowed me to return to the streets. My decision, in retrospect, was easy to make given my history and ultimately the right one. I began to run based solely on Heart Rate and completely ignored pace. My aim was to do all of my running below 140bpm and slowly increase my weekly mileage throughout the year until I was, hopefully, ready to tackle the Marathon in the Fall of 2010. Given that I made it to the starting line, and also finished the race, I have no regrets about this strategy.

Then, having completed my post-Marathon recovery phase and reached the one year mark since my return, I began to experiment with pace in the middle of November 2010. First, I caught onto the whole turnover rate (cadence) thing and realized that mine was way too slow. As I focused on this aspect of running technique I was shocked at how much my pace improved! What once were 6:00/km training runs became 5:00/km training runs with not that much more effort exerted! Not only that, but I felt like the stress on my body was also negligibly higher.

I also started to sprinkle in more speed work and tempo runs and things have been going well other than for one setback in January where I felt a twinge in my right calf while doing some speed intervals on the treadmill.

Things were moving right along nicely. In fact I continued to surprise myself with my ability to maintain (what is for me) an aggressive pace while increasing my weekly mileage. This past Sunday I really nailed a good long run at a pace that last year I would have thought was only possible in a race situation. But all things come at a price and I've been more sore this week than I'd like. I made the decision after Sunday's run that I would not do any speed work or tempo stuff this week because I could anticipate that I'd pushed a bit harder and would likely be a bit drained. However, I didn't know just how sore I would be.

Now it's Friday and I'm still sore. I ran a nice easy 5km this morning and wore my heart rate monitor for the first time all year to, once again, keep me honest. My average worked out to 133bpm, which was perfect, and I will start using this important feedback tool more regularly. That being said, I also don't want to impair my ability to someday BQ, and I'm still hoping that this Fall will allow me a chance at this most worthy of goals.

All that being said, I've been reading a lot about how slow ones long run should be before it gets to the point that it's too slow to be doing you any good. There is no real consensus out there, but the one thing I am realizing is that working on speed during long runs is an invitation to injury. Therefore, I am going to do my best to stay in the right pace range and heart rate zone from now on when doing my long Sunday runs. For me this works out to a pace range of 4:50 - 5:27/km and a heart rate range of 138-152bpm. Clearly, given my long run this past Sunday as noted above, 4:50/km is much too aggressive at the moment. I was likely well above 152bpm for most of the second half of that run, but I wasn't wearing my monitor so I can't say for sure.

It's going to be tough. Slowing down will take a lot of mental fortitude and I will do my best to ignore my ego, which will constantly be telling me to get going faster, to get under that 5:00/km barrier, to see just how much I can push myself. Like I said, it won't be easy. Writing down my intentions here on this blog is one way I am trying to keep myself accountable. We'll see what happens starting this Sunday...

But first, I have a date with the treadmill this afternoon (going for 10km) and another recovery paced run tomorrow (5-8km).

Next up is my re-evaluation of racing goals for the Around the Bay 30k...

Plans Up In The Air - Boston Just Got More Elite

Well, if you haven't already heard then allow me to break the news (ha!). The registration procedure has changed for this year and onwards to allow for the fastest qualifiers to get in first, and the qualifying standards for all age categories will speed up by 5:00 starting with the 2013 running of the Boston Marathon. There are other details that you can read here, but suffice it to say I've already updated my Personal Goals on the sidebar to reflect the more difficult standard.

Now the question is do I shift my training to try for the new standard this Fall, or leave things as they are, go for the current standard (still touch and go for yours truly anyway), and then train for the faster standard at a Spring 2012 marathon?

Crap!!!

And what an appropriately momentous piece of news for this, my 500th post on Running, Wonky Ankle and All!

(Ran twice yesterday, 5km in the morning, 10km on the treadmill at lunch, and then again this morning for a tidy 8.5km. No speed work this week after my faster long run. Legs are a bit stiff.)

Redemption

One week after my, admittedly over the top and bit melodramatic, report of failing to meet a goal on a steady state training run I was back at the gym ready to get back on the treadhorse to see if he would once again buck me off. I was feeling a bit sore from the week's activities, in particular the leg weights session that left me a bit more than tender in the glutes and groin areas, and less than adequately prepared from a nutrition perspective.

Last night I did my part to devour a tub of Haagen-Dazs ice cream because the wife, whom I love and adore for just such things, said there simply was no room in the freezer and it would be a shame to have it all go to waste. (Mentioning that it was -15C outside and we could use THAT as our freezer seemed to fall on deaf ears...) She also made me a milkshake to top off the evening of insulin spiking. In short, my stomach was feeling more than a little "off" this morning before I headed out for a chilly 5km recovery run. It wasn't feeling much better as I walked over to the gym, thoughts of impending doom running through my mind...

This week I made sure to at least point one of the big fans in my general direction before getting on the treadmill and I hoped that the cold that had plugged up my airways was also finally licked for good. I punched in the necessary settings such as incline, body weight, duration of the run (which inexplicably cannot be set to anything more than 60 minutes!), and my warm up pace. Then the treadmill began to whirr and I was off.

The gory, or glory, details:

Duration	Speed	Pace (miles)	Pace (km)
5:00	6.7mph	8:57/mile	5:34/km
45:00	8.3mph	7:15/mile	4:30/km
5:00	6.7mph	8:57/mile	5:34/km
55:00	8.0mph	7:29/mile	4:39/km

Yes! I did it! I just ran a full 10k at my 10k race pace in the middle of a training run! I guess that means that my fitness has improved since the Spring of 2009, huh?

It was tough from about the 30 minute mark on, but there was never really any doubt in my mind while I was running that I would finish this time around. Once the timer on the treadmill hit 35:00, which of course included my five minute warm up, and I only had 15 minutes of faster running left I kept myself distracted by just focusing on the individual time goals:

"Just get to 40:00 and then it's easy, only 10 minutes left!"
"Just get to 42:00, that's where I needed one of my breaks last week!"
"Once you hit 45:00 it's just five more minutes and only a little over a kilometre to go!"

You get the picture. The total for the run ended up being 7.34 miles (11.8km). And perhaps more importantly I don't have to type in the word "failure" in capitals, bold, and dark blue all over this post!

Happy Day!

Bitter Cold, Better Treadmill

Today I got to experience both sides of running in a Canadian Winter. First, before the Sun was up and weakly trying to warm our City, I trotted out for an easy 5km at recovery pace. It was -13.5C (7.7F for those that use that freaky scale where something positive can still be positively freezing!) when I left the house, and the wind was definitely adding to the chill factor. Let's just say that I'm glad to have decided to put on that extra fleece jacket...

Then at lunchtime it was back to the great indoors for a bit of speed work on the treadmill. I didn't veer too far from what's been working since last November, but I did push the speed portion of the workout up by a notch to 8.9mph:

Duration	Speed	Pace (miles)	Pace (km)
5:00	6.7mph	8:57/mile	5:34/km
5:00	7.5mph	7:59/mile	4:58/km
5:00	8.9mph	6:44/mile	4:11/km
4:00	7.5mph	7:59/mile	4:58/km
4:00	8.9mph	6:44/mile	4:11/km
3:00	7.5mph	7:59/mile	4:58/km
3:00	8.9mph	6:44/mile	4:11/km
2:00	7.5mph	7:59/mile	4:58/km
2:00	8.9mph	6:44/mile	4:11/km
1:00	7.5mph	7:59/mile	4:58/km
1:00	8.9mph	6:44/mile	4:11/km
5:00	6.7mph	8:57/mile	5:34/km
40:00	7.9mph	7:39/mile	4:45/km

The total ended up being 5.22 miles (8.4km) and it felt a bit easier than similar workouts that I remember doing in the past. Perhaps it was the big fan that I pointed in my direction to cool me off? Who knows. I definitely didn't feel that energetic just before the workout and was yawning up a storm, but sometimes those things don't really come into it and you end up surprising yourself.

Good day of running, both in and out of doors...

Trying Is The First Step Towards Failure

Boy, that hurt. And if I was evaluating myself strictly then I would have to say that on my last run I FAILED. And let it be known that I always evaluate myself strictly.

But let's backtrack a little...

Yesterday was a non-running day and so I hit the gym for my usual Thursday leg weights session. My legs were feeling surprisingly stiff after doing deep squats on Monday (after a break of two full weeks for that exercise due to the cold virus that put me out for several days last week), but I made it through my usual routine with my regular weights and actually felt better after the workout then before.

This morning I got up for a recovery paced 5km around the neighbourhood and it was uneventful, which is a good thing.

Then came my lunch time attempt at a steady state run of 45 minutes on the old treadmill. Let the failure begin. Prose doesn't do it justice. Neither does a crappy HTML table, but I'm lazy, my legs are quickly tightening up like cheap banjo strings, and I remain a big fan of cut'n'paste:

Duration	Speed	Pace (miles)	Pace (km)
5:00	6.7mph	8:57/mile	5:34/km
28:00	8.3mph	7:15/mile	4:30/km
1:00	0mph	infinity/mile	infinity/km
4:00	8.3mph	7:15/mile	4:30/km
1:00	0mph	infinity/mile	infinity/km
5:00	8.3mph	7:15/mile	4:30/km
1:00	0mph	infinity/mile	infinity/km
4:00	8.3mph	7:15/mile	4:30/km
1:00	0mph	infinity/mile	infinity/km
4:00	8.3mph	7:15/mile	4:30/km
1:00	0mph	infinity/mile	infinity/km
5:00	6.2mph	9:39/mile	6:00/km
55:00	8.0mph	7:29/mile	4:39/km

I tried, I really really tried, to not stop, but I was totally overheating and the gunk remnants of cold goo that was stuck at the back of my throat made breathing really difficult, especially when my heart rate went up over 170bpm. Had I been outdoors I'd have let one fly to try and clear my air passage, but being indoors on the treadmill I thought that would just have been too gross and disrespectful to my fellow gym people, sweaty and gross as they are. So I ended having to take not one, but 4 disgusting breaks during my supposed "steady state" run attempt, and another at the end before beginning my cool down.

Had I been successful I would have done my 10k PR pace in a training run! Instead, I cannot call it that. I call it FAILURE.

That being said at least I DID run for a full 45 minutes at the desired pace. Now if I can just do it without stopping...

The total for the run was 11.75km (7.30 miles). And yes, in case you are wondering, I did have the sweet/bitter taste of lactic acid on my tongue after the run. I pushed past lactate threshold and paid the price. Paid the price for trying. The cost, clearly, was FAILURE.

Unfortunately there are no refunds for FAILURE. But there's always another day...

Another day when one can give it another TRY.

You Call This A Storm?

I can't believe they cancelled schools for this... I was expecting something much more debilitating. As a result I did not set my alarm to wake me up for my regular before breakfast run. Instead I got to "sleep in" until 6:30am, NOT use my bike for the first time since I can't recall to get to work, brave the public transit "system" and be late for my doctor's appointment, and then uber late for work (though had none of those things not happened I would not have run into an old friend that I haven't seen in many years, so I guess it was meant to be).

Anyway, instead of sloshing through the snow I took my run inside and ran the exact same thing that I did last Friday. Amazing how it worked out to the exact same time and distance. If you can't give them nothing else, you have to admit that those treadmills are at least consistent. As you can see from my office window view this is not exactly a blizzard, but I suspect I would have been slipping and sliding all over the place had I taken my run outside.

In any case, 8.05km (5 miles) done. First five minutes at 6.7mph (5:34/km) and the rest at 7.6mph (4:54/km), all at 1% incline and it took exactly 40:04 to complete. Tried to distract myself from the boredom by watching original Star Trek, but was unsuccessful partly because I didn't have any headphones and partly because reading the dialog made it seem even more cheesy. Captain Kirk's funny way of emphasizing certain words does not come across on closed captioning, in case you're wondering.

Has It Been That Long?

Only after running this afternoon on the treadmill did I realize how long it has been since I did one of these workouts! What happened? Well, I guess time just slips away. I've tried something else for speed intervals and suffered a minor calf injury as a result. Then I got sick. The weeks passed by...

But let's back it up. As Toronto is bracing for a major snow storm that is already hitting much of the USA I was able to get up early and fit in my usual 5km at recovery pace. My right calf was not an issue, and to be perfectly honest I was shocked.

As my lunchtime treadmill session neared I had no idea how the calf would hold up or what type of workout I should do. The training plan called for some "speed", and although I know that term is relative I typically push myself a bit harder on these than normal. On the walk over to the gym I made a decision that I would try something that had been working for me and if the calf started to give me trouble just turn it into another easy run or stop altogether.

No trouble from the calf as I repeated a workout that I hadn't done since January 4th! (Incidentally, that post was all about how I had not yet made any concrete goals for 2011, and I'm sorry to report that everything remains the same...)

Duration	Speed	Pace (miles)	Pace (km)
5:00	6.7mph	8:57/mile	5:34/km
5:00	7.5mph	7:59/mile	4:58/km
5:00	8.8mph	6:49/mile	4:14/km
4:00	7.5mph	7:59/mile	4:58/km
4:00	8.8mph	6:49/mile	4:14/km
3:00	7.5mph	7:59/mile	4:58/km
3:00	8.8mph	6:49/mile	4:14/km
2:00	7.5mph	7:59/mile	4:58/km
2:00	8.8mph	6:49/mile	4:14/km
1:00	7.5mph	7:59/mile	4:58/km
1:00	8.8mph	6:49/mile	4:14/km
4:59	6.7mph	8:57/mile	5:34/km
39:59	7.8mph	7:43/mile	4:48/km

In all I ran 5.19 miles (8.35km) and stopped the treadmill one second early of the desired 40 minutes, but it all doesn't matter. February is off to a good start!

Now bring on the snow...

Miserable Cold!

This friggin' cold can just go ahead and kiss it, as far as I'm concerned. The week so far has been dominated by the virus. I stayed home from work on Monday and Tuesday trying to keep warm while using up every tissue I could find. By Wednesday the nose faucet had been converted to a pipe full of cement and I made it into work only because I had a Doctor's appointment (on an unrelated matter) in the morning and I figured if I'm up to making it to that I should be up for going to work. It was NOT fun, but I did go and run 8km on the treadmill at lunch. Actually, the running was just an excuse to be able to use the shower.

Thursday was a non-running day, as usual, but once again I felt like crap. This time the excuse to use the shower came in the form of leg weights.

And today I can safely say that I feel a little bit better. My sinus pressure headache is still there and I continue to jettison stuff out of my head that looks like florescent green toxic waste (with tremendous effort, I might add, which doubles as an ab workout), but I did mange to sleep through the night for the first time this week! I even got up early enough for a short 5km recovery run before work.

Then, at lunch, I used the treadmill as another excuse to visit the showers and ran 8km. I felt a bit drained and started to overheat in the middle, but it got done. The first 5 minutes were at 6.7mph (5:34/km, 8:57/mile) and the rest was at 7.6mph (4:54/km, 7:54/mile) for a total of 40:04 of treadmilling. Given the way I've been feeling that should be considered a fantastic effort.

Now excuse me while I try and find another excuse to visit a hot shower pronto...

Oh yeah, with my runs today I snuck up over 200km for the month of January! I think that's great, especially given that I've missed three or four training runs this month due to injury (right calf) and illness (miserable cold!).

The Week(days) That Were

How to summarize the week that's been? I guess one of those day-by-day rundowns is in order given that I haven't been on here since Sunday...

Monday: This was a non-running day, but I hit the gym at lunchtime and did a decent leg weight training session. Things are getting better and better although I still have a loooong way to go in the leg strength department.

Tuesday: I ran an easy 5km in the morning and then hit the treadmill at lunch for another 8km. Normally I would have done some sort of intervals, but given the problems I've had with my right calf I just ran a solid though easy pace. First five minutes at 6.7mph (5:34/km) and the rest at 7.6mph (4:56/km). Good times.

Wednesday: The rain that fell all day on Tuesday froze overnight and I awoke to find that if I was to run before going to work I'd have to do it on a skating rink. Streets were sheer ice. Sidewalks were even worse. I scrambled for a slow 5km and was happy to stay on my feet the entire time. Dodged a bullet there I think... At lunch I had a great upper body weight training session.

Thursday: Another day with no running, but more leg weights. This marked the third time that I did single leg dead lifts and these things rock! So many underused muscles get activated with this exercise and it will surely be a staple of my strength training routine for the foreseeable future.

And that brings us to today...

Friday: After more snow fell overnight I went out for a morning recovery run on top of a couple of centimetres of the white stuff. The ice that resulted from that rain earlier in the week had mostly been dealt with by salt so the footing wasn't as bad as I'd anticipated. I ran my usual route for an easy 5km. At lunch it was back to the gym and onto the treadmill for what seems to always be the toughest run of the week for me both mentally and physically. I am trying to stretch my steady state runs out five minutes at a time and a couple of weeks ago I made it up to 35 minutes at the slower end of my steady state range (which is the pace I'd love to be able to run at Around the Bay, in case you haven't been reading along). I had to skip doing a steady state run last week on account of the right calf and was a bit worried about how things would go today as I tried to go even longer. Anyway, it was tough, but it got done:

Duration	Speed	Pace (miles)	Pace (km)
5:00	6.7mph	8:57/mile	5:34/km
40:00	8.3mph	7:15/mile	4:30/km
5:00	6.2mph	9:39/mile	6:00/km
50:00	7.9mph	7:35/mile	4:43/km

The total distance for the run was 10.6km, or that's what it works out to when one hits "stop" at 6.60 miles.

And now the weekend awaits with two more runs. A recovery effort on Saturday and a long run on Sunday. I will have to fit those in around Owen's basketball tournament and will likely have to run at odd times because his first game on each day starts pretty early. The tournament is a decent drive from our house as well so it looks like afternoon and/or evening runs will be the result.

Have a good weekend!

Trying Something New for Treadmill Intervals

After an uneventful 5km run before work, during which I was pleasantly surprised to find that the sidewalks were almost completely devoid of snow and ice, I was once again ready for some intervals on the old treadmill at the gym at lunchtime. Looking back on my previous efforts of this sort I realized that what I was doing was more tempo/lactate threshold and less true speed work or anaerobic. It's because my recovery paces were too fast at just below 5:00/km (8:00/mile), so I wanted to do something that actually could be considered true speed work.

What I did was a set of near 800m intervals with two minutes of recovery. I say near 800m because I ran "fast" for three minutes, but just not fast enough to get through a whole half-mile in that time span. The pace I chose would have had me cross 800m at 3:14, but I wasn't about to try and follow that on the treadmill.

BTW, the 9.9mph or 3:46/km (6:04/mile) pace that would allow me to complete 800m in exactly three minutes is just too aggressive for me right now, though I'd like to be able to get there sometime this year.

So, to keep things simple, here's what went down:

Duration	Speed	Pace (miles)	Pace (km)
10:00	6.7mph	8:57/mile	5:34/km
3:00	9.2mph	6:31/mile	4:03/km
2:00	6.7mph	8:57/mile	5:34/km
3:00	9.2mph	6:31/mile	4:03/km
2:00	6.7mph	8:57/mile	5:34/km
3:00	9.2mph	6:31/mile	4:03/km
2:00	6.7mph	8:57/mile	5:34/km
3:00	9.2mph	6:31/mile	4:03/km
2:00	6.7mph	8:57/mile	5:34/km
3:00	9.2mph	6:31/mile	4:03/km
2:00	6.7mph	8:57/mile	5:34/km
5:00	6.7mph	8:57/mile	5:34/km
40:00	7.64mph	7:51/mile	4:52/km

I had a bit of a scare right after my fourth fast three minute portion: as I slowed the treadmill down to 6.7mph for my two minutes of recovery I felt a twinge in my right calf that felt like the muscle was about to cramp up. I paused the treadmill and stepped off to test the calf and stretch it. A minute or two of that and I decided it would be OK to get back up there and do the last interval. Before starting into the fast portion, however, I ran the two minutes of recovery that I had just started before my calf scare. I guess that means that I took too much rest before the last fast bit, but I'd rather do that than suffer an injury.

I ran the last fast portion really concentrating on my form and saving the calf as much as possible. After that I ran I finished off the run at the slower pace until I completed 40 minutes. The total distance was 8.2km and I hope that the calf is not a harbinger of things to come. I'll have to watch it and make sure things don't get out of hand. After all, injury-free running takes a lot of discipline, which I equate with enforced disappointment. Not the type that comes with an injury which puts you on your ass for weeks or months on end, but the kind that comes with the realisation that perhaps you will not hit some of the training goals you've set for yourself until the problem area settles down and you're back to 100%.

Snowy Morning, Indoor Afternoon, and a Revelation

Last night saw the first decent snowfall of the year for Toronto and, despite my best efforts to shovel the driveway (with Owen's help) when I got home from work, I walked out this morning to see that even more of the white stuff fell overnight. After some preliminary shoveling of the sidewalk (because as a runner I appreciate it when people keep their sidewalks cleared) I set off on a typical recovery jog. Although the pace was definitely recovery I ended up working harder than I should have as I trudged and slipped my way around the neighbourhood for my usual 5km (test driving my new MEC running tights for the first time, though underneath my usual running pants for fear of disturbing the children who may be up and about before the Sun). At least 90% of the time I was running through either fresh snow that was probably 4cm deep or through a slushy mess that slipped every which way under my foot with every step.

Oh well, that's what you get here in the Winter and it doesn't bother me too much. After my run I finished off shoveling the entire driveway so that we can get the car out after work without any trouble. Typically I wouldn't care, but this evening Owen is going to the SkyDome for a Toronto Blue Jays event where kids get coached by members of the team on the big field. He's looking forward to it and I really hope he has a great time. I'll be watching from the stands, of course...

At lunch I took things inside for some stamina work. This time I wanted to run at my hoped for 30km race pace of 4:30/km for a full 35 minutes. Did I make it?

Only a trusty HTML table holds the answer:

Duration	Speed	Pace (miles)	Pace (km)
5:00	6.7mph	8:57/mile	5:34/km
35:00	8.3mph	7:15/mile	4:30/km
5:00	6.2mph	9:39/mile	6:00/km
45:00	7.9mph	7:35/mile	4:43/km

The total run amounted to 5.91 miles (9.5km) and it was definitely a challenging workout. Yesterday's first foray into single leg dead lifts left my ass muscles surprisingly sore and I was a bit concerned with my ability to complete this session. I went through the 5 mile mark in 37:07 (including the warm up, and equal to 4:37/km or 7:25/mile overall), which was nice to see, and as I passed that mark it dawned on me that I'd complete a lot more than my usual 8km on this day.

Nevertheless, I persevered and also had a bit of a revelation in the middle of the run...

I run precisely for the same reason that most people don't: because it is NOT easy.

While some will choose activities that are mentally, and potentially physically, less challenging (in the case of one friend it is lifting heavy weights and confining himself to a very few types of movements with very few repetitions) I get a great deal more satisfaction out of things that are difficult to complete. Things that leave me wondering before, and during, whether or not I will be able to finish. I've lifted heavy weights, and do so now and then during my training cycles, and I cannot say that this type of exercise approaches the challenge that comes with running, in particular stamina and speed training. Five reps is over so quickly it's hardly worth getting worked up about. But a thirty-five minute run at or near lactate threshold makes you a bit edgy before you start, and leaves you questioning your fitness if done properly.

But boy does it feel good when it's over!

For what it's worth this makes sense to me. I wonder if it also makes sense to you?

Difficulty Focusing on 2011 Goals

Here I am four days into 2011 and I have yet to set real goals for the year beyond the obvious attempt at a BQ (pending whatever changes the BAA makes to the qualifying standards). Either way, running a marathon in 3hr15m is the BIG ONE. As for the milestones along the way? They're still a bit blurry...

I am charting a course to make an attempt at running the Around the Bay 30k in 2hr15m at the end of March if for no other reason than to earn a Silver medal. They give out Gold medals to finishers under 2hrs, silver medals for those who cross the mats between 2hrs and 2hr15m, and Bronze medals for anyone slower than that. I already have a Bronze from my pathetic and injury plagued attempt at the distance back in 2009. Now, like a good Canadian, I want SECOND PLACE! (If they had a shinny medal for something equivalent to fourth place that would be the logical Canadian target, but second place will have to do in this case.)

This goal will require a rather speedy pace of 4:30/km or faster, and given that the medals are based on Gun Time and not Chip Time I will likely have to run a couple of seconds per kilometre faster. It's worth noting that this is my current 10k PR pace I am really stretching to make it a possibility, but should it come to pass it will definitely set me up for a confident attempt at 3hr15m in the marathon in October.

Anyway, those are two big racing goals. I am also mulling another Half Marathon at the end of May, which, if I do enter it, will come with its own time goal.

Other than that I am currently mired in a training plan creation malaise. The overall impression that I am left with whenever I sit down and try and plug things into my Training Plan spreadsheet is "There's just not enough time to fit everything in!" How do I get enough mileage in while working out at the gym to try and continue to add much needed strength and a bit of bulk to my weak legs?

Anyway, I will get there. But until then I am still committed to the biggest goal of all for 2011: another year of injury free running! (But this time with some speed work thrown in for spice.)

With that being said, I started off my first full week of training in 2011 with a recovery-paced 5km over snow covered sidewalks this morning. It gave me the opportunity to test drive a new running hat and light jacket that was purchased yesterday at MEC. They were great! I also bought some running tights (against every fibre of  my being since I really dislike the whole tights look on men, and on myself even more). It wasn't cold enough to test those bad boys out, but I'm not looking forward to it...

Next up? A little treadmill interval session at lunch. Yay!

And they went like this...

Duration	Speed	Pace (miles)	Pace (km)
5:00	6.7mph	8:57/mile	5:34/km
5:00	7.5mph	7:59/mile	4:58/km
5:00	8.8mph	6:49/mile	4:14/km
4:00	7.5mph	7:59/mile	4:58/km
4:00	8.8mph	6:49/mile	4:14/km
3:00	7.5mph	7:59/mile	4:58/km
3:00	8.8mph	6:49/mile	4:14/km
2:00	7.5mph	7:59/mile	4:58/km
2:00	8.8mph	6:49/mile	4:14/km
1:00	7.5mph	7:59/mile	4:58/km
1:00	8.8mph	6:49/mile	4:14/km
5:00	6.7mph	8:57/mile	5:34/km
0:51	6.2mph	9:39/mile	6:00/km
40:51	7.8mph	7:43/mile	4:48/km

I stopped the treadmill at 5.28 miles and my on the fly calculations were correct because that works out to a tidy 8.5km run! It was certainly tough, but it's these kinds of efforts that will pay off in the end. Certainly going down to 4:58/km (7:59/mile) pace for the recovery portions makes this much more challenging than it would be otherwise, but I figure that if I can make 5:00/km feel easy it's not a bad thing. I am slowly working the faster parts up as well having done this workout the first time with 8.5mph as the top end (4:22/km, 7:03/mile) back at the end of November. Each week, or whenever I do this workout, I move the speed up one tenth of a mile per hour for the fast bits and now sit at 8.8mph. It will be very cool to be able to run this workout at or below 4:00/km someday!