slow running

PP5M Training: Week 7

Another jumbled-up week, spending Thursday-Sunday trying to cobble together some miles to salvage it.

Monday: OFF
Tuesday: OFF
Wednesday: 4.5 mi, trail/run mix
Thursday: 4.6 mi, trail
Friday: 5.1 mi, trail
Saturday: 4 mi, paved trail, including 35 min tempo run @ 12:33 average pace
Sunday: 10.3 mi, road
Total: 28.5 mi

Yes, I did my speed work and my long run back to back. It wasn’t ideal, but it was what best fit my schedule.

Friday was a really frustrating day for me. I jumped on the Superior Hiking Trail at the Kingsbury Creek trailhead, heading towards town. I was moving along at an ok clip, in spite of the heat, but I ended up losing the SHT and was dumped out into a West Duluth neighborhood. I circled back, and sure enough, at the underpass, the SHT split off from the larger, multi-use trail. I was cranky enough about getting off the trail, but even more annoyed when I saw the vegetation had encroached on the trail and I was going to have to run through long grasses and other plant life. I assumed every tick in the northland would be wriggling into my socks. It was a pretty tough section of the trail, I was hot and crabby, and when I got to a steep uphill section, I threw in the towel, turned around, and headed for the car.

Saturday’s tempo run was supposed to be longer, but I kept lollygagging and I had to cut it short, since I was meeting my family for frozen yogurt (which HIT THE SPOT after that run, let me tell you!) I parked at Brighton Beach and ran the Lakewalk path from there, which was flat enough to not impede my tempo progression. Even though it was only in the 60s, it felt really hot for some reason, and I was glad to have the run over with.

Sunday’s long run actually felt fantastic, save for the first mile or so, which is always slow for me, and the 8th mile, which dragged. My overall pace was 15:51, which was similar to my last double-digit run (apparently I haven’t done a double-digit run since April, oops!), and that route was flat (Park Point + Lakewalk) plus I took a break and had sports drink and candy to refuel. For Sunday’s run, I just had a hand-held with water. It was over 80 degrees and muggy for most of the run, but because I waited til after 5, and it was partly cloudy, the heat was bearable. My back’s a bit sore today, which isn’t surprising.

The 10 mile run will be my longest of the training cycle. It’s twice the distance I’m covering in the race, and since it’s only 2 weeks out, I’m not sure I’ll see too much of a benefit from it. It will be helpful towards my base for my fall training cycle, though. This upcoming week, I’ll be scaling back down a bit, and then the week of the race, I’ll back off to just a few easy runs and a little bit of speedwork. I am really excited for the race, to see what I can do with a full 9 weeks of training and planning behind me.

Running Through Pain

On Sunday evening, as I was typing up my weekly recap post, I was thinking about all the other posts I had planned for the week. I wanted to chat about Western States, I finally got my replacement shoes, there was plenty to talk about.

Late Sunday night, my 15 year old cat got sick, and early Tuesday morning, he died.

I didn’t run Monday, because I hadn’t slept well and because I didn’t want to leave him alone. I’m glad I didn’t, because it turned out I only had hours left with him. Tuesday I was still exhausted, and I was finding everything tiring. My legs at times felt like they wanted to give out on me. I fully realize there are people who find this excessive grieving for an animal, but it’s how I feel.

I went running Wednesday evening, and every part of me felt heavy. I went slow slow slow slow slow, and I had no drive at all to run faster. I hauled my heavy limbs and heavy chest along as I went. It would have been a good time to have brought headphones, in order to take my mind of the last few days, but I focused my thoughts and for the most part kept from getting too emotional. I did half trails and half roads, running down and back up the trails along Chester Creek, then heading back past the little ski hill (noted for future hill running activities once I am done with this training cycle) and ending up on Kenwood. Parts of the Chester Creek trail are closed due to improvements, but most of the trail remains open.

I hope that heaviness is gone tomorrow, or at least starts to dissipate. I didn’t find running very therapeutic; it felt like a chore that had to be done. I didn’t feel a runner’s high or even enjoy the downhill parts of the run. There were run-able parts of the trail that I walked, because I didn’t feel like picking up the pace. Once I get back on a normal sleeping schedule and my appetite returns, I am sure running won’t feel so awful. And I probably would have felt even worse if I hadn’t gone out and run, if I’d had three days in a row with nothing more physical than a stroll around Target on Tuesday evening, so it’s good I got out there.

I need to choose my routes and my workouts wisely for the next few days, choosing trails or paths that have nice scenery and are gentle on my mind and body, and choosing workouts that don’t push too hard. No speedwork until the leaded feeling leaves my chest and limbs. There’s no value in a half-hearted speed workout, and there’s no point in trying to push aside my feelings and run a harder one anyway. I’m not a world-class athlete, I don’t make my living running races. I don’t need to push myself mentally to complete some difficult workout when I’m sad like this. I know I’ll recover mentally by race day, I just need to give myself time. I still have two weeks and a day until my race, and I’m not going to gain much speed, endurance, or strength in those days, no matter what I do, so I’ll just take things as they come, follow my training plan as best as I can, and trust that the work I’ve put in will get me to the finish line intact.

PP5M Training: Week 6

Tune-up race week!

Monday: 4.6 mi, road
Tuesday: 5.9 mi, trail
Wednesday: 6 mi, paved trail, 9×400 intervals
Thursday: rest
Friday: 0.5 + 3.1 mi, warmup + race, paved trail
Saturday: 3.9 mi, trail
Sunday: 5.6 mi, road
Total: 29.5 mi

This week ended up being a bit of a step-back week, which is fine, since I gave a pretty strong effort for the race. I slept pretty horribly after I came back from the race, as I was physically tired but my mind was racing, no pun intended. It was pretty humid all weekend, so it wasn’t good sleeping weather. I don’t have air conditioning, so all I had to combat the stuffiness was a couple of fans.

Because I hadn’t slept well, and because it was fairly warm (for Duluth) on Saturday, I kept the run short and easy. I brought my hand-held even though I was only going to run for an hour. Most other places in the country, it’s been hot long enough for runners to acclimate a bit, but here in Duluth we haven’t strung together many hot days, so I’m still trying to get used to running in heat and humidity. It was kind of a sluggish run, but I didn’t want to push it.

Sunday, I thought it had cooled off. I almost didn’t work out at all on Sunday because I thought we were going to get significantly more rain than we did. It poured while I was out to a late lunch with family, and it seemed like more bad weather loomed, but it held off long enough that I marshaled my spirits enough to get out there. The sun returned and it ended up being a lot warmer than I thought it would be; the coolness brought by the rain had been short-lived. I didn’t have my hand-held with me because I hadn’t put it in the fridge as I’d thought, but I was still able to push the pace a teeny bit and ended up finally doing a medium-long run under a 15 minute pace (14:58! But still!) despite walking the hills at the beginning to prevent getting overheated.

This was a pretty strong week of training, although it lacked a long run. I didn’t have one prescribed in Hal’s training plan, but since my race was on Friday (technically Saturday, but logged as Friday), I had two post-race days to play with and could have stretched Sunday’s run to 7 or 8 if I’d planned better. I am starting to chip away at my race pace, and my training paces are starting to drop, too. I was right that the interval paces I was naturally hitting indicated I could run a faster 5K. I’m pretty pleased with the progress I’ve made in a short time. It won’t always be that way, of course, but I’ll enjoy the rapid progress that comes with the beginner phase of running while it lasts. Eventually I’ll be working my butt off to improve a PR by mere seconds.

Midnight Sun Midnight Run 5K Goals

Today’s the day! I’ve got the Midnight Sun Midnight Run 5K coming up at 11:59 PM! I am excited, I feel ready for this race, physically. I took yesterday off from running after a nice speedwork session on Wednesday (9×400: 10:49, 10:39, 10:50, 10:46, 10:46, 10:42, 11:47 due to an intersection I think, 10:54, 10:58), and ate a bunch of food.

This isn’t my goal race, of course, but I’d like to build some confidence going into the PP5M, to really feel like my training has paid off and to feel I’ve improved. The main thing I’m worried about is the time of day. Will I feel sluggish? Or will I be able to shake off any tiredness? I’m probably going to grab a latte in the late afternoon/early evening, just to give myself an extra little perk up.

I’m a little worried about pacing, because my heart rate monitor isn’t working and it will be harder to see my watch. I did re-set it so that the “light” button is in toggle mode. I’ll probably just leave it on the whole race so I can glance at it as needed. I hope I don’t end up eating pavement as a result; tripping and falling is a little bit of a concern, too, but I do know the Lakewalk is well-illuminated at night.

I don’t want to go out too fast, but I do also want to challenge myself and push myself harder this race. There’s no sun to heat me up like last time, and I was just over 36 minutes that time. The evening caffeine boost plus a longer warm up plus a cool lake breeze might be a chance for a big PR for me. I know I’m supposed to downplay my hopes for the race and just smile humbly after the fact if I do well, but I don’t think that will work when I post my goals.

A Standard: 35:00
B Standard: 36:00

Yep. Both are below my current PR. Both are achievable for me, if I can dig deep and I don’t run into any abnormal issues (falling, coming down with a cold somehow between now and the race, getting lost on a completely well-marked trail). I do wonder if this race is going to be a little more crowded than I’d like, but I think I can fight off the crowds if I need to, and blame them for my abject failure if I can’t.

PP5M Training: Week 5

Last week’s training was a bit messed up. Here’s the log:

Monday: Rest
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: 6.2 mi (trail)
Thursday: 5.5 mi (10×400 intervals)
Friday: 4.4 mi, road
Saturday: 1.6 mi trail + 3.5 road
Sunday: 1.6 mi trail + 7.9 road
Total: 30.7 mi

I started the week with 2 unscheduled rest days in a row. Not the best way to start a week, but necessary. Both Sunday night and Monday night I slept horribly (Sunday because I wasn’t feeling well, Monday I don’t know what the problem was), and I even went home from work early on Tuesday and took a 2 hour nap, which I never do. Generally when I nap I feel really sick and horrible, so I avoid them unless I just can’t function. I did yoga both days (after the nap on Tuesday, which helped me feel better) and I walked a couple of miles on Monday, so I wasn’t a complete deadbeat.

I don’t feel guilty about “unscheduled rest days,” to use the parlance of our time, because if they’re needed, they’re needed. Knowing when to give my body or my mind a break from running is important, and not listening to that impulse is going to be detrimental to my training. I just moved everything up by a day and skipped the rest day, and tried to make up the mileage. I made it to 30!

Wednesday I tried out my handheld on a trail run. Thursday I gave intervals another try and kind of sucked at them. I did that run on Park Point (a stupid idea, because while the flat surface was nice, dodging tourists who don’t look when they cross the street and who ride tandem bikes as if the whole street is theirs was unpleasant, and then I got bridged) and I think I’ll do that for the next set of intervals (fewer tourists). My splits were unknown, 10:50, 10:39, 10:49, unknown, 10:45, 10:46, 10:53, 10:34, 10:20. I forgot to hit the lap button for the two unknowns. While those are fairly consistent (with the last one an outlier), they are too fast. Either that or I’m going to slaughter my race on Friday.

Saturday and Sunday I did “doubles” as I did a short hike each day (a dry run and then the solstice hike) and a run. My long run on Sunday went ok. I brought along my handheld and started at 6 PM, trying to avoid the heat. Instead I got full-on sun in my face for a few miles and ended up salty as hell. I used my fantastic water bottle to douse my head and get the salt off my face. I felt really gross after the run, despite sipping water the whole way and despite feeling strong during the run. It was really stuffy in my house and was making me nauseated. I’m not sure if it was the heat, or if it was because I hadn’t eaten enough before my run. I think it was the latter, because after I laid down for a little while (in the grass outside, because I was feeling a little panicky) and ate a granola bar, I was fine and ate my dinner. I also didn’t show any other signs of dehydration or heat illness. Still, that handheld is coming with on all long runs or runs where I’m exposed to a lot of sun, just to be safe.

This coming week, I’m hoping to get back on the training schedule, with a few minor, but planned tweaks. With the race on Friday/Saturday (it starts at 11:59 PM on Friday) rather than Sunday as the schedule says (why do these stupid plans always have the races on Sundays? Saturday’s probably more common!), I’ll have Sunday as an open day and do a long run, and I probably will still only have one rest day (Thursday) even though the plan calls for two rest days in a row leading up to the race. It’s a 5K, I’ll survive on just one rest day.

Even though the training plan went pear-shaped for the week, I still got the important workouts in (long run and speedwork), got the mileage I wanted, and had some fun along the way. I’ll just be over here self-congratulating for this accomplishment.

Hand Held Test Drive

I fulfilled one of the items on my summer gear wish list by purchasing a couple of hand-held water bottles.

I bought two UltrAspire hand-held water bottles from the Trail and Ultra Running store at a nice discount. They are having a blowout sale (I think they are shutting down the store and focusing more on content, but I’m not sure) so I bought two of these 20 oz hand-held water bottles for $7.00 apiece + shipping. I did absolutely zero research. They’re sold out now, probably thanks to their regram of my pic. I’m an influencer!

I took one of the bottles out for a test drive yesterday evening. I was running 6 trail miles, which I have done without a water bottle plenty of times, but I wanted to see how I liked it before hauling it along on some grueling 20 miler. (I don’t have any grueling 20 milers on my training calendar at the moment, but they’ll come.) I also was feeling pretty low on energy as my allergies have been bothering me, and I was so tired on Tuesday that I went home and took a nap after work.

I took a full water bottle (which had been sitting full in the fridge since Sunday, since I thought I’d be running Monday… nope… Tuesday… nope) and decided I wouldn’t drink anything til I was three miles in, just so I wouldn’t get sloshy. I didn’t really feel the extra weight, or at least I don’t think I did. I was running incredibly slowly and not even sweating much or feeling out of breath; I couldn’t find a higher mental gear. After the third mile, I took a couple sips of water and it perked me right up again and I was able to start really running and finish strong, sipping every mile or so.

Next time, I won’t run with a full water bottle if I’m going on a medium-length run. I’m not looking at using it for full-on hydration, just to keep my mouth from getting dry. While it wasn’t super heavy, there’s no reason to carry 20 oz of water when I’m going to drink less than 10 during the run itself. On a hotter day I would of course carry more, so I could use it to keep cool.

So hey, after one use, I’m a believer. I could stuff my car keys in the little front pocket (they are on a carabiner so I clipped that to a little loop on the pocket for extra security), and I could easily stuff a snack in there too. I noticed a few drips leaking during the run, so I tightened the lid again and I think that fixed it. I hope. It wasn’t a bad leak, but I don’t want a leak at all.

On a long run or during a trail race, I could bring both and even fill one with some kind of fancy expensive sports drink and one with water, and maybe I could leave the hydration pack at home. I will have to try a two-fisted run one of these days, just to see what it feels like. Maybe on a hot day when I could try out the water/sports drink combo and hopefully not look too dorky carrying two hand held water bottles.

I wouldn’t bring it on a 5K or a race where I really needed to run fast. I think it would be more of an annoyance there. I might bring it to my 5 mile race, I might not. I think it’ll depend on how hot it is and how confident I am that I can run hard for 5 miles without dying. Right now I’m not sure.

PP5M Training: Week 4

I need to add another item to my summer gear wish list: insect repellent. Heat + humidity + sweat + trails = bites. I was making myself dizzy whipping my head around every time I even thought I was being bit by a mosquito. I don’t want to cover myself in the hard-core, eye-searing insect repellents that I use when I’m camping or at a bonfire or something. Those repellents have their place, and I’m certainly not crunchy enough to forgo them entirely, but I don’t want them on my arms/neck/face when I’m running, since I’m always wiping my sweat off my face with my arms and hands.

Here’s this week’s training update. I skipped a week in the Higdon program, as it called for a 5K. I will do that week as Week 6, when my next 5K is scheduled.

Monday: 4.9 mi, road
Tuesday: 6.1 mi, trails (Hartley)
Wednesday: 4.7 mi, road, tempo
Thursday: rest
Friday: 4.7 mi, trails (Bagley)
Saturday: 5 mi, trails (SHT)
Sunday: 7.5 mi, road
Total: 32.8 mi

I changed the planned rest day from Friday to Thursday. It makes more sense. It also ensures that I am not doing my long run right after a rest day, as it sometimes works out better to do my long run on Saturday rather than Sunday, and I always want to make sure it’s done on “tired” legs.

Overall it was a fairly decent week for training, and I finally got above 30 miles, so that was good. I felt kind of sick on Friday night, but I was fine and it didn’t affect Saturday’s workout. Just as I was planning on heading out on Sunday, I got a charlie horse in my calf simply from trying to stand up. So, that set me back a few hours. It ended up being a blessing in disguise as it was still fairly warm when I headed out just before 4, and it was sunny most of the way. I would have liked to have a couple shorter runs in warmer temps to acclimate a little better, but that’s the way it goes. Since my goal race is going to be in warmer temps, I’m going to have to trudge along until I get used to it.