slow runners

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.

Zumbro Kick-Off

Yesterday was the beginning of my 12-week training cycle for Zumbro 17. I am pretty excited! It feels nice to be training for something again. I put in a decent base-building month or so, averaging 29 miles/week over 5 weeks.

Surprisingly, there aren’t a lot of 17 mile racing plans out there! It’s unfathomable that this uber-popular distance would get such little attention. I created my own plan, starting with the Hal Higdon intermediate half marathon plan, but making some minor alterations.

I’m still moving ahead with MAF training. My hope is that I will see some real improvement with this training once the weather is milder. I need to be patient. The only speedwork I’ll be doing is hill work, and I’ll be sticking to the same max heart rate goal.

For strength training, I am trying to do the Myrtl routine at least a few times a week. It has really helped the funny little twinge I get in my hip from time to time. I’m going to try to mix in yoga, push-ups, and planks when I can, but make the Myrtl exercises my priority.

I need to make some dietary changes, but I haven’t quite decided what to do yet. I need to muster up the energy to plan and pre-make lunches, to start. Since I am working full-time now, rather than juggling school and work, I have more of a routine, but I’m also a lazy eater, I just eat what’s convenient. I don’t see that changing too much all at once.

I have two vacations planned during the training cycle: a five-day trip to Florida at the end of February, and a four-day trip down to the Twin Cities for the NCHC hockey tournament mid-March. I plan to make those both cutback weeks and go with the flow. My family doesn’t need to wait around while I run for 4 hours. I also don’t want to run for 4 hours in Florida; I won’t be acclimated.

Speaking of the weather, today is the last really awful cold day in the forecast, so I’m looking forward to getting outside to do some runs later in the week. I’ll be back to double-digit runs in a few weeks, so I need the nicer weather to continue!

Snow Falling Sideways

Wednesday I took a rest day, as it was as good a day as any, plus I was tired. I felt a bit like I was coming down with a cold. I felt pretty crummy yesterday morning, too, and was thinking of taking a second rest day. I perked up as the day went on, but I thought I’d play it safe and slog it on the treadmill. It was warmer but it was snowing and windy and I thought I might get too chilled.

I got home, farted around on Facebook for awhile, and a friend of mine posted this article about running outside in winter. It’s nothing ground-breaking, just a woman writing about why she likes it, but it was enough to get me out the door. I’ve been grousing about the cold, complaining about the treadmill, and wishing to get outside, I couldn’t squander the opportunity.

Even when it was snowing sideways on the Lakewalk. The wind was pretty rough at first, and snow had blown over the trail for the first half mile. I wasn’t sure if I had made a very good decision, especially when I was facing the wind head-on in the second mile.

Once I turned around and headed back, I was glad I’d done it. Ice floated on the water, bobbing on the waves as they crashed into the shore. The clouds over the city gave way to black sky over the open water. I had the path mostly to myself, although there were a few other intrepid runners and walkers enjoying the warm-up while it lasts.

My actual running plans are fairly boring. I run 4-6 miles or so most days, at my max heart rate. That’s it. Nothing notable.

The lottery for the Superior 25K ended last night, so fingers crossed I get in! Training plan starts Monday either way.

Are You Tough Enough?

Am I tough enough for this weather? No.

There are still some people running outside in this weather, I see them post pix on various running sites. I am not running in sub-zero weather. I don’t have the right gear, and I don’t have the mental fortitude.

Today the high is 2 F. I’ll be in treadmill town again.

The great news is Thursday and Friday look to be warm enough for outdoor running. Highs near 20 F! That is exciting. And then Saturday and Sunday look awful. The extended forecast doesn’t look that bad, though.

Next week will be my first week of training for either Zumbro 17 or Superior 25K, depending on my luck with the lottery. I hope it’s better luck than I had with the Powerball. I won $0.32 in a pool with co-workers ($16 among 50 people). Next week is 12 weeks out from Zumbro, so I’ll either be on a 12 week training plan culminating with Zumbro, or a 16 week training plan with Zumbro as a training run. Which is weird because Zumbro is a longer race than Superior.

I haven’t picked out a plan yet for training, but I might just wing it and combine some plans, or modify a half marathon plan for slightly longer and higher mileage. The final decision will depend on which race ends up as my goal race. I’ll find out next week, so my first week of training will have to be the same no matter what.

I just checked and there’s a Wild game tonight, so I’ll be able to survive the treadmill!

Molasses in January

I’ve completed one whole week of MAF training. Go me!

My first observation is that while I am running slowly, I’m not running that much slower than I was without the heart rate monitor. It seems I was doing a pretty decent job of staying close to aerobic. It is difficult to tell, of course, because I run such different courses.

I downloaded a user-created app for my watch that beeps when I go over 144 bpm, which is 2 bpm over what the 180-age-5 formula says. That works nicely, as it doesn’t start beeping if I’m briefly at 143, or if I’m holding steady at 142. It has helped me keep in check, although the first time I used it, I ended up well below the threshold, so I have been paying more attention to the heart rate display on my watch as I’m running.

Now that it’s very cold, I’m struggling. It’s still hard to keep it under control for the first mile or so, but earlier last week, when it was still in the 20s or even low 30s, it leveled off.

Saturday it was in the single digits, and I was miserable. My thighs and my butt were cold for most of the run, and I couldn’t find a way to protect my face without fogging up my glasses, so I alternated between blindness and frozen cheeks.

I gave up on keeping my heart rate below 142, and instead tried to keep my heart rate steady. I ended up completely unsuccessful. Spikes all over the place, as you can see in the picture. (Heart rate is shown with the orange line, pace with the white line.)

HRvsPace

Some of the spikes coincide with hills (corresponding to big drop-offs in pace), but not all of them. It needs to warm up so I can enjoy running outside. Today is treadmill city, again (so was yesterday), since it’s the middle of the day and it’s only 1 F. I suppose I should be glad it’s been mild up til now, but there’s still a lot of winter to go.