running

Zumbro 17 Training: Week 5

A step backward, but a small one.

Monday: rest (sick)
Tuesday: 5 mi, treadmill, 134 bpm
Wednesday: 4.5 mi, treadmill (including 15 min @ 15% incline), 135 bpm
Thursday: rest (sick)
Friday: 2.5 mi, treadmill, 133 bpm (quit early)
Saturday: 6.4 mi, trail (Hartley), 139 bpm
Sunday: 12.3 mi, road, 136 bpm
Total: 30.7 mi

I wanted to be at 33 miles this week, so I was three miles low, but considering I wasn’t feeling well half the week, I am surprised I still made 30 miles. I wasn’t really sick sick. I actually think most of my issues stemmed from dehydration/uneven hydration. I drink a decent amount of water, but I am not hydrating evenly throughout the day. I made some small changes in my diet, cutting down to one (12 oz) cup of coffee a day and eating a yogurt (full-fat Greek) every day. I still eat like crap, but now slightly less like crap. For now.

Friday I was hoping to do a much longer run, but my heart rate wasn’t cooperating. It was elevated even at lower paces than I normally run, and I was tired and had a headache, so I quit early. I was just running on the treadmill, so I didn’t feel badly about quitting.

Saturday I finally got outside again. It was probably warm enough to go out earlier in the week, but I had wanted to stick close to home, plus I didn’t feel the sidewalks were safe enough for road running at night. I did a Root Cellar > Fisherman > Guardrail lollipop loop at Hartley Saturday afternoon. It started out great, I was feeling fantastic and able to keep my heart rate under control. Then I hit the hills of Guardrail and started having trouble with my heart rate. All the treadmill training I’ve been doing lately has taken its toll. It didn’t help that the snow was soft, so every time I stepped even slightly off the narrow portion of the trail that was packed, I was crunching through the snow. It was jarring and also resulted in a loss of energy due to the inelastic collision between my foot and the snow, which made me have to work harder.

Saturday I also went home after running and bought a car. It has no power steering, is leaking radiator fluid, the heater recently took to intermittently working, and it takes several tries to get it started, but I finally reached my limit when my car nearly overheated in the three miles it took to drive from my house to Hartley, even after adding radiator fluid only a few days earlier. It’s not an expense I wanted to have, but there was no reason to throw more money at a ’99 Pontiac with a rusted-out chassis and large chunks of bumper missing. I ate a granola bar after running and showering, but I probably should have had something more substantial as I started to get a little desperate for food at the dealer.

Sunday I did 12 miles on the road. I haven’t replaced my shoe chains yet, and it was quite an adventure. I was concerned about pulling a muscle as the sidewalks were very icy and I slipped several times. I didn’t fall, but I did wrench myself into some awkward positions trying to stay upright. The camber of the sidewalks, especially as I ran over the ends of driveways, made it extremely dangerous, as a slip would have sent me into oncoming traffic. Exciting! I ate one energy bar during the run and finished almost an entire water bottle, thanks to my new attentiveness to hydration. It snowed the whole time, which was both nice (beautiful, I live in a snow globe, la la la) and crappy (slippery, soaking gloves made my hands cold).

This upcoming week is a cutback week, as I’m going on vacation and don’t want to do a long run. We are celebrating my grandma’s 90th birthday, and I don’t want to take 3-4 hours for a long run in the middle of a family reunion. We’ll be in Florida so I won’t be used to the heat/humidity (although it won’t be too warm, I really mean that relatively), so it’s best to just keep to some short/mid-length runs. And if I don’t run, I don’t run, although I really do want to take maximum advantage of the opportunity to run outdoors in just a t-shirt and shorts!

ZUMBRO 17 TRAINING: WEEK 4

Now 33.33333% of the way there! With excessive significant figures.

Monday: 5 mi, treadmill, 137 bpm
Tuesday: rest (I went to a hockey game and pigged out on the world’s largest carrot cake serving from Bellisio’s, It’s more like 6-8 servings, and delicious.)
Wednesday: 4.5 mi, treadmill, 134 bpm
Thursday: 6.06 mi, treadmill, 137 bpm
Friday: rest
Saturday: 6.06 mi, treadmill, 139 bpm
Sunday: 11.1 mi, road/paved trail (Minnesota Point & lower Lakewalk), 138 bpm
Total: 32.7 mi

Hooray! Another great training week. I still managed an increase in mileage, despite taking two rest days. My workouts are really boring lately, because it’s been a lot of treadmill work, and they’re all done at MAF threshold, so there’s no variety. It’s warming up again, so that should change.

Thursday and Saturday I ran til the treadmill ran out of time, or as close to it as possible. Saturday’s HR was a little higher for some unknown reason.

Sunday’s long run was the first double-digit run of the year for me. It was ok. It wasn’t as warm as I would have liked, and it was icy in a lot of spots. My heart rate was all over the place due to the cold and wind. A week ago, I did 9.4 miles at 16:07 pace with an average HR of 135 bpm, and that included a very deliberate 2 mile warm-up and 2+ mile cool-down which involved walking. Sunday I did fewer than 2 miles additional distance, with less walking to warm up and basically zero cool-down, but at at 16:51 pace and a HR of 138 bpm. Granted, I did the 11 mile workout a day after a 6 mile workout, rather than after a rest day like the 9 miler, but it just goes to show how much of a factor the weather is when running by heart rate.

I smeared Vaseline (hey, free advertising for them!) all over my face in an attempt to stave off frostbite. I didn’t feel like it did all that much. Not running into the wind did more. My hands were really cold from carrying my water bottle. It’s not insulated, so the cold water was chilling my hands, and I had to keep switching back and forth. I ate an energy bar in increments at Mile 5, 6, and 7, and then I ditched my water bottle at my car at mile 7.5. I had to in order to keep from completely freezing my hands. I need some better gloves/mittens still, because once again they were red and puffy at the end of the run and I had to sit in my car for awhile with the heat going until I regained enough dexterity to drive.

It was a bit risky to toss the water bottle, not because I was thirsty, but because I didn’t bring along the other energy bar I’d stored in my car aid station. I suppose I could have grabbed just the bar, but I didn’t want to risk it falling out of my pocket. I took a big swig of vanilla Coke before I left the car, and that was all the food I had for the next hour. Because I am slow, I have to be really careful about eating on many of my runs. Most people wouldn’t have to worry about a bonk on an 11 mile run, but most people aren’t running as slowly as I am. It ended up being ok but I probably could have used a bite or two to eat. Once I got back to the car I didn’t feel like eating but drank some more pop. It’s not that much worse than sports drinks, right? Whatever, I like pop, IDGAF. I am going to make sure I have a bottle of vanilla Coke in my car for after Zumbro. I will drink it in my hotel sitting in the in-room whirlpool tub, trying to warm up.

I ran 17 miles between Saturday and Sunday. It took 4 hours, 47 minutes. I think that might bode well for me to race under 5 hours at Zumbro. First of all, it’s 16.7 miles, not actually 17. While it won’t be on a treadmill and won’t be on flat road, it will also (I hope) not be 18 degrees and windy, and I won’t be restricting myself to a heart rate of 142 bpm (though I won’t be going wild and letting it skyrocket, either), so I am kind of hoping I’m on the right track here. Plus there’s 8 more weeks of training coming (6 more that really matter, since it takes awhile for fitness to take hold, or so I hear).

ZUMBRO 17 TRAINING: WEEK 3

25% of the way there! Holy crap.

Monday: 5.3 mi, road, 136 bpm
Tuesday: 4.5 mi, treadmill, UMTR hill challenge, 136 bpm
Wednesday: 6 mi, treadmill, 137 bpm
Thursday: 3 mi, treadmill, 134 bpm
Friday: rest
Saturday: 9.4 mi, road, MAF test, 135 bpm
Sunday: 3.4 mi, paved trail (lower Lakewalk), 134 bpm
Total: 31.5 mi

Another great week. I literally cannot remember anything about Monday’s run, so it must have been boring.

Tuesday I ran the UMTR hill challenge, which I’m not officially registered for, but I’ve already run twice now (first time in week 1). There are two separate treadmill challenges: the first is 15 minutes at 15% incline, which official participants are doing 3 times, so I will also. The second is a “Leadville Hill” challenge, which is 3 miles at 15% incline. That’ll be the final one, I guess. The first time, I did 0.71 miles in 15 minutes, and this past week, I did 0.65 miles in 15 minutes, both while doing my best to stay under my goal heart rate of 142 bpm. I was disappointed to cover a shorter “distance” in my second challenge, but it’s not that big of a deal.

Wednesday and Thursday were general treadmill runs of no consequence. Friday I enjoyed my rest day and went to a men’s hockey game. Saturday was the MAF test as previously discussed.

Sunday was not good. I was planning on doing 4.6 miles, but I felt off the whole time I was running. My heart rate was kinda funky, and I felt strange. I thought I was dizzy or light-headed, but then wasn’t having and vision or equilibrium problems. I also thought maybe I was nauseated, but I wasn’t. I maybe had a little bit of heartburn, I guess, but my stomach wasn’t upset. I felt so strange that I ended up abruptly turning around at 1.71 miles (I was looking down at my watch so I know this for certain) and walking most of the way back. It was cold and windy, and I felt a bit under-dressed even though I was wearing the same stuff I normally wear.

This upcoming week is going to be COLD, so I guess I’ll be hitting the treadmill for most of my workouts. That is so depressing.

MAF Test #2

I decided to do my second MAF test as part of the 9 mile run I had planned for the weekend. I’m really glad I chose to do that run on Saturday, when it was warm and sunny, instead of today, when it’s warm but there’s a wintry mix coming down.

My last test is documented in full here. It went badly.

I did the test on Minnesota Point again, although since I was running a longer distance, the “course” was a little different.

Warmup: 1 mile walking, 17:46, 125 bpm; 1 mile “jogging,” 16:48, 130 bpm

I think the longer warm-up helped. It was definitely warmer outside than the last time I did the test, but it was windy, which affected my heart rate. I had a spike up to 147 bpm when walking at an 18 minute pace, which I can only imagine was due to a gust of wind or something external.

Mile 1: 14:53, 141 bpm
Mile 2: 15:15, 141 bpm
Mile 3: 15:17, 140 bpm
Mile 4: 15:03, 141 bpm
Mile 5: 14:54, 141 bpm

Okay, that’s not exactly how the test is supposed to go, but the results are all kind of clustered together. I ended up averaging a pace of 15:06 and a heart rate of 141 bpm, right on the edge of where I’m supposed to be. It’s better than the last test, which had each mile getting faster and my heart rate nowhere near the max. My last results were:

Mile 1: 16:52, 137 bpm
Mile 2: 16:03, 134 bpm
Mile 3: 16:00, 133 bpm
Mile 4: 15:27, 134 bpm
Mile 5: 15:43, 135 bpm
Avg: 16:02, 135 bpm

I can’t say for certain that I’ve improved, because while the results are faster for the second test, so is my heart rate. It was also colder, I think, when I did the first test. I think I can safely say there’s been a slight improvement, but if I was asked to prove it, I couldn’t. I think it’s logical that running a minute per mile faster in the second test over the first test cannot only be explained by weather and the 6 bpm higher HR average. I definitely think the longer warm-up helped, but I think I still need to tweak the warm-up a bit. There’s too much walking, but that’s the only way to gradually increase my HR right now. My slowest running paces still keep me in the low 130s range; once I’m better conditioned, I’ll be able to run at HRs in the low 120s, and won’t need to walk to warm up. So while my heart and lungs were warmed up, my legs weren’t as warmed up as I’d have liked.

Cooldown: 1 mile walk/run & snack, 16:31, 133 bpm; 1 mile walk/run, 17:23, 128 bpm; 0.4 mi walk, 18:43, 125 bpm.

I would have liked to have had a snack sooner, but that would have affected the results of the test. I didn’t mean for the cooldown to be so long, but I ended up going a little past the 4.5 mile mark on the way out. I crossed the lift bridge and ended up going a block down to the corner of the Paulucci building in order to put some space between a group of people crossing the bridge and myself.

I feel confident that my second attempt is good enough data to use for comparison. I should be doing my next MAF test on March 5th, right before I go on a short business trip, and right after I return from my Florida vacation. We’ll see how much my vacation throws off the results.

I feel kind of crappy today. I had some general hip soreness during the run and felt a bit creaky the rest of the day, and a little into today. I still need to get out for a medium-length run today, so we’ll see how I feel. I can always take Monday as a rest day if need be.

Some Small Things

I’m in my 3rd week of training for Zumbro and my 5th week of doing MAF-based training. I have some general thoughts about both of these facts.

First of all, I was supposed to have done another MAF test already. This puts me in a bit of a tricky spot. This upcoming weekend, I have planned to run 5 miles on Saturday and 9 miles on Sunday. I’m currently at 16 miles for the week, so that would put me at 30, and I’m going to run a short run today to put me at around 33 miles for the week. Last week I ran 30, the week prior 16, and the 2 weeks previous, averaged 30. I don’t think a 3 mile increase is that bad, but I can’t run a MAF test on Saturday without extending the mileage, since the test itself is 5 miles long, and I am probably going to need at least a 1.5 mile warm-up, and then a short cooldown. I suppose I could split up the mileage differently on the weekend, but I need to extend my longest runs. I could also skip running today, but I don’t want to. The most likely solution is to do the MAF test during the 9 mile run. I also might switch up the days. I try not to do long runs after rest days, but it doesn’t really matter.

I’m nervous about what the MAF test will show. First of all, the first test was so wonky that I don’t know if it’s even worth making a comparison. But what if I do get to my max heart rate and I am still running those same paces? Sometimes I feel like I’m not making any progress, especially since I’ve been struggling at times to manage my heart rate on hills. I know there are a lot of factors in play, including weather, fatigue, illness, stress levels, route choice, etc., but I also worry I’m not making any progress.

I do know that I feel mostly fantastic after almost every run. I rarely feel sore, even after hill work. I feel at the end of most runs that I could keep going, with the exception of those runs where I’m frozen solid. While I may not be progressing at the rate I’d like to see, I know I’m not wearing myself down with my training.

I am struggling with how cold I feel after running, though. Sometimes it seems like it’s really tough for me to warm back up, especially if I have to go back outside after I’ve settled back in. I generally feel colder after a run that starts from my house than I do after a trail I have to drive to, probably because I don’t keep my house very warm (67 degrees) compared to what my heater’s blasting out in my car (who knows what that temp is, my car is a 99 model so it doesn’t have fancy temperature settings). The cold is really fatiguing, both mentally and physically. It’s not even super cold, relative to other winters, but I am looking forward to the days when there are highs in the 50s.

My shoe chains are broken. One is still functional, but the other has a broken link that causes the toe to slip off. This could have been avoided if I’d just taken better care of them. I rarely dried them off, so there was corrosion on the links and the fasteners that attached them to the rubber slip-on part, so I’m not surprised that a link broke. I’ve now used them for 1.5 winters, and they cost like $25, so that’s not too bad. I’ll prb pick up a new pair tomorrow. The freeze-thaw-freeze-thaw pattern we’ve been seeing lately thanks to the warmer weather and sunny days has resulted in a lot of ice, and not the nice scuffed-up ice either, the glassy, zero-friction, stealth ice. I’ve nearly biffed it even with the chains on.

I just received a work email regarding safe work practices and winter footwear, which is timely. It even uses the chains as an example! I’m currently wearing no shoes in my office, which doesn’t seem to be approved.

That was a lot of mostly whiny nonsense. I do have another tentative race on the calendar, as the Be the Match 5K is NOT the same weekend as the Superior 25K. It’s the weekend before, which means I shouldn’t be trying to PR or anything crazy like that, but I can’t guarantee I won’t stupidly try to test my mettle. It will still be a nice way to spend time with family and raise money for a great cause, so I can’t wait.

Zumbro 17 Training: Week 2

Back on track!

Monday: 5.6 mi, paved trail (lower Lakewalk), 135 bpm
Tuesday: 4.4 mi, 4x Bagley hill, 139 bpm
Wednesday: kind of a rest day
Thursday: 5.3 mi, paved trail (upper Lakewalk), unknown bpm
Friday: rest
Saturday: 6.6 mi, trail (Jay Cooke), 140 bpm
Sunday: 8.4 mi, trail (Munger Trail from Jay Cooke), 138 bpm
Total: 30.3 mi

This week was a heck of a lot better than last week. I mean, obviously. I ran almost twice as much. It still had its ups and downs.

Tuesday I did my first night trail run. It hardly counts because it was at Bagley, but it was a start. I did a warmup of the non-hilly loop of Bagley, then went up the hill, back down the way I came, up again, and then down the other side. I looped around and repeated the same up-down-up-and-over exercise, and then cooled down with the non-hilly loop. My heart rate sucked on the hills. Whoops.

Wednesday I did actually run a little bit. However, my heart rate was way out of whack. It was spiking at what is normally a warm-up speed, and wouldn’t settle down. I gave up after like a mile and a half.

Thursday I was stupid and didn’t quite get how cold it was. My hands were unbelievably cold throughout most of the run, to the point where they were swollen and clumsy when I got back to the car. The rest of me felt fairly warm, so I’m not sure why my hands were so cold, but it was awful and I was glad I didn’t push to go farther. I need some better gloves.

Saturday and Sunday were above freezing! It was glorious. I know it’s going to get cold again, but I don’t mind quite as much when there are a few days of respite here and there. Sunday it was even sunny. On most winter days, if I see that it’s sunny, that means it’s bitterly cold. Sunny and warm is typically too much to ask.

I went to Jay Cooke State Park both days. I wanted to get out somewhere I don’t normally get to, rather than the same old trails around town. The first day, I headed across the swinging bridge and along the Silver Creek trail. The trail was only semi-packed, so it was slow going. Even the downhills were slow, since the snow was kind of soft and would give way without warning, so I never knew if my foot was going to sink in or not.

Silver Creek (I think)

image2

The Saint Louis River, as seen from the swinging bridge

Sunday I followed the Superior Hiking Trail the other way, along the Munger trail. It’s a snowmobile trail, so it was much flatter than the Silver Creek trail, and it was… kind of groomed, I guess. The snow was really soft, so I was expending a lot more energy than I normally would have on such flat terrain. That was kind of frustrating, since it was my “long run” day. I felt pretty good for most of the run, and didn’t see too many snowmobiles, so it wasn’t all bad. I do need to get some prescription sunglasses. I wasn’t doing Future Donna’s vision any favors.

Sunday’s run was my longest run since the Harder ‘n Hell Half, which surprised me when I just now looked it up in my training log. It also took me 2 1/2 hours. That was kind of depressing, but at the same time, it’s what I’ve gotta do in these kind of conditions, with this kind of training. Once it’s milder and the trails are clear of snow and the mud’s dried up, I’ll be moving along at a much better clip. I hope.

Zumbro 17 Training: Week 1

Not the best training week, probably not worth even logging, but here it is.

Monday: 5 mi, treadmill, 131 bpm
Tuesday: 4.5 mi, treadmill, UMTR hill challenge, 132 bpm
Wednesday: rest (traveling, hotel treadmill out of commission)
Thursday: rest (sick)
Friday: rest (sick)
Saturday: rest (sick)
Sunday: 6.8 mi, trails (Hartley), 137 bpm
Total: 16.3 mi

Not at all where I wanted to be. Wednesday I had a bad headache off and on throughout the day, which I attributed to a lack of coffee. Thursday I had plenty of time to work out, since I was traveling and then worked from home, but I hadn’t slept well at the hotel, so I thought I’d take another rest day. Friday I was still feeling run down, with a slightly stuffy head and chills, so I rested and skipped the hockey game I was planning to attend. Saturday I probably could have gone for a run, but decided to be lazy and also play it safe.

I realize that this is contrary to how most runners behave when not feeling well. Most runners seem to suck it up and get out there unless they physically collapse and cannot run. I’m not very good at sucking it up. However, I also know that Friday afternoon I was sitting in my office, cold, unable to concentrate, and that’s a sign I should be resting. I wasn’t 100% back to normal on Sunday, and had some trouble keeping my heart rate down, which was another sign that I had done the right thing.

I am a bit bummed I didn’t have a nice 30-mile week to start off the training cycle, but I also feel better physically and mentally. A few days off my feet allowed some of the tiny little aches to go away, and overall I feel a lot stronger, and ready to tackle what should probably end up being more than 30 miles for week 2. Knock on wood.