Today was the first time in about a year (can that even be true?) that I did anything resembling speedwork. I think it was November of last year that I started to work my way into marathon training, and from there on out my focus was on upping mileage without killing my knees. But I actually have a pace goal for this training cycle, so I thought maybe I should toss some intervals in there to help put some pep in my step.
I only had 3 miles planned for today. By the time I got around to running it was almost noon and ~75 degrees (hotter than I ever like) so I headed to the gym for some treadmill 800s. I PLANNED to get some strength training in afterwards.
The workout:
800m warmup
4x800s with standing rest until HR below 150
800m cooldown
Holy hell did this workout kick my butt.
My repeats were 7.3/7.4 mph range (8:06-8:12 pace) at 1.0 constant incline (usually I like to keep the incline on random but not for speedwork).
Repeats 1 and 2 were pretty decent, and my heart rate dropped after about 2-2.5 minutes. After the 3rd though, I was SPENT. I think it was 3 or 4 minutes until my heart rate resembled anything like 160, and I just wanted to get it over with, so I probably started a little too soon. 0.3 miles into the final repeat and I knew it was NOT happening, I just did not have the energy to keep going. I paused the treadmill and gave myself 45 seconds to recover, and then finished that last 0.2 at 8:00-7:43 pace as punishment (ha). I had to stand there for a few minutes doubled over before I could even contemplate a half mile cooldown. I stumbled over to a mat to stretch for a bit before heading the heck home... see ya, strength training.
I guess I really underestimated how much I've slowed down while marathon training this past year. I mean, I ran an 8:15 mile more than halfway through a half marathon 2 years ago, and it felt like nothing. Humbling, to say the least. Oh well, I'll get it back eventually.
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Tuesday, November 3, 2015
Fast or not fast?
As in, am I eating before I run or not?
I mentioned yesterday that I am not ordinarily a morning runner. My favorite time to run is early evening. There's nothing better than knowing that this run is the last hard thing I need to do for the day, and after that, it's all hot showers and relaxation and fun. Plus I've been eating all day and my blood is full of sugar, leading me to feel KICK ASS when I run at night.
BUT.. 99% of races are in the morning. And since I'm currently slightly funemployed (interviewing for residency programs for next year) and I don't have anywhere to be in the mornings, I figure I should try to make it a habit. Plus, I mean, everything's prettier in the morning.
I mentioned yesterday that I am not ordinarily a morning runner. My favorite time to run is early evening. There's nothing better than knowing that this run is the last hard thing I need to do for the day, and after that, it's all hot showers and relaxation and fun. Plus I've been eating all day and my blood is full of sugar, leading me to feel KICK ASS when I run at night.
BUT.. 99% of races are in the morning. And since I'm currently slightly funemployed (interviewing for residency programs for next year) and I don't have anywhere to be in the mornings, I figure I should try to make it a habit. Plus, I mean, everything's prettier in the morning.
So this morning I headed out around 8:30am for an easy 5 miler. Before breakfast.
It sucked balls.
I honestly wanted to quit at about mile 0.02. My legs were tree stumps, I was running through quicksand, hills felt like mountains, downhills felt like uphills, you get the picture.
I live towards the top of a gradual but reasonably hefty hill, so unless I'm running up to the reservoir near my house, I'm ALWAYS slogging uphill the last 1.5 miles back to my house. Today was a 2.5 mile out and back route with a solid hill in the middle miles, so although I knew the hill home was coming, I really underestimated how much of a pain in the ass it'd be.
My easy pace is usually 9:50-10:00ish, and today 9:55s were a slap in the face. My splits were pretty consistent for the first 4 miles - 9:54/9:53/9:52/9:43 - and then mile 5 was 10:20 and I felt like I was DYING. It was a battle just to keep myself from stopping. I can't remember the last time I felt this bad on an easy 5 miler. My watch beeped 5 and I almost cried with relief.
I wonder, if I ran this exact route at 6pm today instead of this morning before breakfast, how different I would've felt. Or if I had eaten breakfast and then waited until 9ish and gone out with some sort of sugar power in my veins. I never really think of 3-5 milers as anything I would need to "fuel" for, but maybe I'm underestimating the power of food in my life?
(On the plus side, I'm down 3 lbs since Halloween! Water weight, I love you. You're so motivating.)
It sucked balls.
I honestly wanted to quit at about mile 0.02. My legs were tree stumps, I was running through quicksand, hills felt like mountains, downhills felt like uphills, you get the picture.
I live towards the top of a gradual but reasonably hefty hill, so unless I'm running up to the reservoir near my house, I'm ALWAYS slogging uphill the last 1.5 miles back to my house. Today was a 2.5 mile out and back route with a solid hill in the middle miles, so although I knew the hill home was coming, I really underestimated how much of a pain in the ass it'd be.
 |
| Pittsburgh, just give me ONE flat-ish 5 mile loop. Is that too much to ask? |
My easy pace is usually 9:50-10:00ish, and today 9:55s were a slap in the face. My splits were pretty consistent for the first 4 miles - 9:54/9:53/9:52/9:43 - and then mile 5 was 10:20 and I felt like I was DYING. It was a battle just to keep myself from stopping. I can't remember the last time I felt this bad on an easy 5 miler. My watch beeped 5 and I almost cried with relief.
I wonder, if I ran this exact route at 6pm today instead of this morning before breakfast, how different I would've felt. Or if I had eaten breakfast and then waited until 9ish and gone out with some sort of sugar power in my veins. I never really think of 3-5 milers as anything I would need to "fuel" for, but maybe I'm underestimating the power of food in my life?
(On the plus side, I'm down 3 lbs since Halloween! Water weight, I love you. You're so motivating.)
Monday, November 2, 2015
Day 1
Today is day 1 of my marathon training cycle. The marathon is in 6 months. Excessive? Perhaps. (I like to think of it as "enthusiastically prepared.")
My training plan for the next 6 months is something I'll explain in a post sometime soon. Basic plan for the next 2 months or so is base building. I ran the EQT 10 miler last week, so I could keep my long run in the double digits from here on out, but my training plan calls for 5 days per week of running, and I've been averaging about 3 recently. I'm planning to back down on the long run mileage and focus on getting used to more dpw of running. Long runs from here through the end of the year are 7-10 miles each, nice and easy.
So today was the first of my Monday Easy 3s. I met up with a friend for a few reservoir loops at around 8:30 this morning. FOG CITY.
Something that has been bothering me lately is the discrepancy between any GPS app on my phone vs. my Garmin. I wore my watch and C had MapMyRun going on her phone, and we wound up with a 0.17mi difference between us. The Garmin is ALWAYS longer than any GPS app on my phone (I used to use Log Your Run). In the absence of any certified race course... what does this mean?! Is map my run short? Is Garmin long? Is the actual length somewhere in the middle? This honestly bothers the heck out of me, since by my watch we ran a 10:01 average pace, and by her phone we ran a 9:36. Those are legitimately different paces for me as far as effort/etc is concerned, so I would really like to know which one is right. Sigh.
Anyhow, I tend to go with the less impressive of the two stats so I don't give myself false hope about my fitness level. According to Garmin, our splits were 10:43 (including a stop so C could fix her shoe)/10:01/9:19.
(To be honest, the effort level felt more like what C's phone was showing -10:00/9:34/9:19/8:06 last 0.17. But running in the morning before I've eaten or had coffee is always more difficult for me, so maybe that's the difference in effort?)
My training plan for the next 6 months is something I'll explain in a post sometime soon. Basic plan for the next 2 months or so is base building. I ran the EQT 10 miler last week, so I could keep my long run in the double digits from here on out, but my training plan calls for 5 days per week of running, and I've been averaging about 3 recently. I'm planning to back down on the long run mileage and focus on getting used to more dpw of running. Long runs from here through the end of the year are 7-10 miles each, nice and easy.
So today was the first of my Monday Easy 3s. I met up with a friend for a few reservoir loops at around 8:30 this morning. FOG CITY.
Something that has been bothering me lately is the discrepancy between any GPS app on my phone vs. my Garmin. I wore my watch and C had MapMyRun going on her phone, and we wound up with a 0.17mi difference between us. The Garmin is ALWAYS longer than any GPS app on my phone (I used to use Log Your Run). In the absence of any certified race course... what does this mean?! Is map my run short? Is Garmin long? Is the actual length somewhere in the middle? This honestly bothers the heck out of me, since by my watch we ran a 10:01 average pace, and by her phone we ran a 9:36. Those are legitimately different paces for me as far as effort/etc is concerned, so I would really like to know which one is right. Sigh.
Anyhow, I tend to go with the less impressive of the two stats so I don't give myself false hope about my fitness level. According to Garmin, our splits were 10:43 (including a stop so C could fix her shoe)/10:01/9:19.
(To be honest, the effort level felt more like what C's phone was showing -10:00/9:34/9:19/8:06 last 0.17. But running in the morning before I've eaten or had coffee is always more difficult for me, so maybe that's the difference in effort?)
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