training log

Superior 25K Training: Week 6

Race week!

Monday: 6.1 mi, road/trail (ran to/from Bagley, did one loop), 144 bpm
Tuesday: 5.2 mi, paved trail (north Lakewalk), 132 bpm
Wednesday: 4.3 mi, trail (Bagley x 2.5), 140 bpm
Thursday: rest
Friday: rest
Saturday: Superior 25K
Sunday: 4.2 mi, road/trail (to/from Dan Proctor trail), 140 bpm
Total: 35.5 mi

Well. The race happened, it was ok. I was actually planning on running on Thursday but I felt fairly crappy. I was fairly aggressive earlier in the week compared to other racing cycles, running trails and/or hilly road routes Monday and Wednesday. I felt good, the weather was amazing, and I was enjoying the time outside.

I didn’t run Friday, as I still had race prep to do, and then I drove up to Lutsen to volunteer at packet pick-up. I did a very short, easy hike around the resort on Friday evening, but that doesn’t really count as a workout.

Saturday, the race happened, blah, it went not-so-great, and I lazed around the hotel room for a few hours before taking another short hike. Semi-active recovery at its finest. I wanted to have a tasty dinner from the resort restaurant, but they didn’t have room service (fine) and then when I tried to get take-out, the front desk transferred me to the “pub” and no one answered the phone. So I ate rice Chex, cookies, and bread and Nutella for dinner. It was extremely disappointing.

I felt decent on Sunday morning. I woke up feeling maybe a bit “hungover,” probably a little lingering dehydration, although I didn’t really end up dehydrated after the race, despite the heat. I suppose I eventually absorbed all the liquid that was sitting in my belly making me feel full the whole race. Whee. My back was stiff from the bed but other than that I felt good. I drove back to Duluth and got a huge latte before I even made it back to my house.

Since I felt pretty awesome (a sign that my mental game is weak and I had plenty more to give in the race) I went for a short run in the afternoon. It was a little bit warm, and I realized with a little over a mile to go that I was pretty hungry, but I felt good. I guess now I can just call the race a “long run” and parlay this week into marathon training. (I’ll get to that later.) Then I went and got a burrito bowl and ate it in about a minute and a half.

This would have been a fabulous training week, but unfortunately it was a goal race week. Womp womp.

Superior 25K Training: Week 5

One week to go! Yay!

Monday: 6 mi, treadmill, 138 bpm
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: 5x1000m @ 10:10 pace, treadmill, 153 bpm
Thursday: rest
Friday: rest
Saturday: Be the Match 5K
Sunday: 6.4 mi, road, 138 bpm
Total: 21 mi

This week wasn’t supposed to be so low on mileage, but I didn’t feel 100% most of the week. I was never sick, just off, so I took extra time to rest.

This is a really dull week to report. I had good workouts, feel like I’ve been making good progress. I can run faster at a lower heart rate than I could when I was exclusively doing MAF workouts. I suspect this is a combination of finally shaking that cold I had and the warmer weather. Or staying inside when it wasn’t warm, like most of last week. Please, please, please, let the cold weather be done with for awhile. The extended forecast says that’s the case but it has said that many, many times before.

I felt pretty good during my run on Sunday, after a heavy breakfast and a 2.5 hour drive. My hamstrings were a little tight. Why don’t I ever warm up before races? I am so dumb. It lifted my spirits to run in 60F weather instead of 40F weather.

This week, I’m going to focus on easy runs and sleeping a sufficient amount each night. I’m really excited for the race, it’s only 5 days away! It’s a stark contrast to how I felt 5 days before Zumbro, so maybe that means I’ll have a fabulous race.

Superior 25K Training: Week 4

Taking a step back was a great choice. My resting heart rate is down again, and I feel energized and cheered by the improved weather.

Monday: rest
Tuesday: rest/travel
Wednesday: 5 mi, treadmill, 135 bpm
Thursday: 3.3 mi, road, unknown HR + 3 mi, treadmill, 137 bpm
Friday: rest/travel
Saturday: 7.3 mi, road + trail (SHT – Martin Rd trailhead to home), 124 bpm
Sunday: 9 mi, trail (SHT – Highland/Getchell trailhead to home), 142 bpm
Total: 27.7 mi

My week was a hodgepodge of running. I was so tired on Monday that I didn’t run at all. I’d planned just a short run, maybe 4 miles, but I just couldn’t do it. I slept in on Tuesday since my flight wasn’t til later, and got a decent night’s sleep on Tuesday, so I was already feeling a heck of a lot better. The weather in Edmonton was great, too, which helped perk me up as well.

Wednesday I ran 5 treadmill miles, and Thursday I had a split workout: 3.3 miles running from my hotel to my work event (followed by kickball and soccer) and then 3 more treadmill miles in the evening. I had a long day on Friday, starting at 4:30 a.m. mountain time, and I sat on the plane for an hour once I finally got back to Duluth, as severe weather prevented the ground crew bringing the plane in (it’s def. not safe to be working around a giant metal airplane when there’s lightning nearby), so by the time I got home, I had lost motivation to even get a couple miles in.

Saturday I waited too long after eating to run, and I ended up running with dead legs and no energy. I should have brought a granola bar or something just in case; I thought the big sandwich I’d had at lunch would be sufficient. I hated most of the run, plodding along. It’s clear from my low average heart rate (124 bpm!) that I could have run much faster.

Sunday confirmed for me that I don’t really know how to run fast anymore. I was running pretty slowly (even for me) and again at a low heart rate (on the flats and downhills); I think a winter of slow runs dictated by my heart rate monitor has left me with a too-slow “comfortable” pace. My heels both have blisters on them from breaking in my new shoes, so that also prevented me from wanting to speed up. My GI system was a little off, so there was ANOTHER excuse. Eventually I was able to push myself past my excuses and speed up.

I’m running a 5K this upcoming weekend, so this week I’m going to leave the trails behind and focus on getting my legs turning over faster. I don’t mean a week of speed work, just a week of shaking off that complacent stride I’ve had for months.

Superior 25K Training: Week 3

Last “big” week of training. My schedule and my resting heart rate are telling me I need to back off.

Monday: 5 mi, treadmill, 140 bpm
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: 3 mi (6×400 @ 10:00 pace), treadmill, 145 bpm
Thursday: 6.4 mi, treadmill, 131 bpm
Friday: 7.3 mi, trails (Hartley), 138 bpm
Saturday: 5.5 mi, treadmill, 144 bpm
Sunday: 13.9 mi, trails (Superior Hiking Trail), 152 bpm
Total: 41.1 mi

Monday I let myself have a nice workout while ignoring that aerobic threshold. My average heart rate still stayed below 143, and the highest spike was only 156 bpm. I was pretty wrecked all day Monday, basically in a fog at work, but I felt better after the workout.

Wednesday I did my first speed workout in months! It was a little ambitious (and actually I meant to do 8×400, but I had to cut the workout short to make it to the 7 PM showing of Purple Rain on time and not sweaty), but I always find it harder to hit certain paces on the treadmill than I do outside. I hope the weather cooperates and in 2 weeks when I’m doing my next set of repeats, I’m able to do them outside and can really gauge what my speed is. It wasn’t exceptionally cold out, but there were some strong gusts of wind, and I’d have stayed inside to work out even if I didn’t have time constraints. My heart rate was in the high 170s during the 400s, but for 4/5 of the recovery intervals (0.1 mi) I was able to get my it back down to aerobic. (I say 4/5 because the 6th was also part of the cooldown so of course it was aerobic.)

Thursday I did a nice easy run on the treadmill, testing out my new shoes. I ended up running at a 15:41 pace; contrast that to Saturday’s run (there was a cold, gusting wind so I stayed inside like a wimp), where I ran at a 15:51 pace and had a higher heart rate. A clear sign of fatigue, though obviously I’d be more fatigued the day after a medium-length trail run than I would be the day after a short speed workout.

Friday I had a nice run at Hartley. I was overdressed, but not significantly. I was wearing gloves, which I ended up carrying most of the time, but better safe than sorry. I ran the Fairmont Street trail, cut over to the outer loop, ran Root Canal, and then took the Fisherman up to Guardrail. I was concerned about how much daylight I’d have left, so I thought instead of doing the full Guardrail loop, I’d run Blue Pots, the inner loop. Well, it seems like no one takes that trail, because it was really hard to follow where it went, and I ended up rejoining  Guardrail the first chance I got. If I ran out of daylight, I’d rather do it on a familiar trail. I took the hills easy, but didn’t worry about my heart rate. Liberating!

Sunday I decided to run the Superior Hiking Trail, starting at Spirit Mountain. I followed the Harder ‘N Hell course until Twin Ponds, and then turned off on Skyline to go home. I drove out to Spirit Mountain and left my car at the trailhead, and picked it up later while running errands. It was convenient! The run was… ok. It was not at race effort (I ran Zumbro at an average of 162 bpm vs this run at 152 bpm avg), but it wasn’t exactly inspiring. I was overdressed again, but I didn’t know what the wind was going to do. I wish I’d worn shorts. I had a hoodie on but kept it tied around my waist most of the time, and kept my tissue-weight long-sleeved shirt on the whole run. It saved me from more sunburn, I guess. The back of my neck is burned, and my face is a little pink (I did put sunscreen on my face, but missed the back of my neck because it was covered by my hoodie. Poor planning.) I tried to take the hills at a less-than-maximum effort, and then run flats and downhills aerobically. I had 2 protein bars, one handheld with sports drink, and one handheld with water, which I consumed almost completely during the run. It looks like 14 trail miles might be my limit as far as liquids are concerned.

This next week I need to take things down a notch. I’m pushing too hard, and getting fatigued. My resting heart rate is up, I had a bit of trouble falling asleep last night, and my ears are ringing. All of these are signs that I need to relax, ramp down my mileage, and regroup for the race. I am traveling for work this week, so I will have one, maybe two rest days, maybe more, depending on how the trip goes. I’ll be prepared to hit the hotel gym in the evenings, but will see how I feel and how much work stuff I’ve got to get done. If I don’t run much on this trip, it’s not a big deal.

Superior 25K Training: Week 2

It’s never going to be warm again. Ever.

Monday: rest
Tuesday: 5 mi, treadmill, 136 bpm
Wednesday: 4.7 mi, trails/hills (Bagley), 143 bpm
Thursday: 5 mi, treadmill, 135 bpm
Friday: 6.5 mi, road, 139 bpm
Saturday: 7.1 mi, road (MAF test), 138 bpm
Sunday: 10 mi, treadmill, 151 bpm
Total: 38.9 mi

IT’S ALMOST FREAKING MAY AND I’M ON MY TREADMILL BECAUSE IT’S TOO COLD THIS IS NONSENSE.

Ok we actually did have a couple nice days this past week, but now we don’t have another high above 50 degrees until May. It is really getting to me, mentally and even physically. It’s tough to get motivated to do anything. Last weekend, it was warm, and I had the energy to come home after a trail run and clean my house. This weekend, I slept poorly both nights, got buffeted about by the wind on Saturday, and had to do my long run on the treadmill rather than get hypothermia from running 10 miles in a frigid downpour.

I discussed in my last post that I won’t be doing MAF training for awhile. I still plan to monitor my heart rate, so I’ll still give that stat in my wrap-ups, but I won’t be sticking to any set maximum. I’ve already had a couple workouts where I’ve had sustained periods above my target heart rate.

Wednesday, I decided to do the first real hill workout I’ve had in quite awhile. I went to Bagley, which ended up being kind of stupid since it was 4/20 and there were several groups of people smoking dope in the area. I felt like a tool running by them, but no one made any comments, so I felt lucky. I did get a few whiffs of smoke as I went by. I warmed up with the easier loop, and then attacked the hill 3 times, heart rate be damned. I recovered with another pass of the easier loop, and then 3 more attacks on the hill. It wasn’t so bad, although by the end my legs were feeling a bit wobbly.

Unfortunately, the hill workouts took a toll on my calves, and they felt as taught as violin strings for a few days after. I didn’t have any other muscular issues, which was surprising. I thought I would have felt something in my thighs, but I didn’t.

My weekday treadmill runs were as uneventful as they always are. There’s really nothing to report on any of them, which is why I skip over them. I can’t stand that I’m writing about treadmill runs on the regular right now, but I am trying to stay healthy and sometimes that means staying out of the cold. I’m such a weakling right now. I’m not sure what I’m going to do now that the Wild are knocked out of the playoffs, as I watched a lot of hockey while on the treadmill. It’s a lot better distraction than movies or TV shows, although I get easily frustrated when the game isn’t going well, which doesn’t help with treadmill running.

I got in a little extra workout on Thursday as I made a little pilgrimage to Enger Tower, which was lit purple in memory of Prince. I climbed to the top, which was a nice stair workout, but it was too misty to get a good picture of the view.

Friday I had an uneventful road run. I got stopped at almost every stoplight I encountered, so that threw the pace off a bit. Saturday’s MAF test was cold but I did enjoy the roar of the surf to the north of me, just out of view.

There’s a ship just barely visible on the right side of the photo. I think the waves were more dramatic on Sunday, but I didn’t venture out of my house beyond a coffee run. Sunday I slept late, since I’d had trouble falling asleep again, and I was wrapped up in the Wild game and the extra innings of the Twins game, so there wouldn’t really have been time to go down to the beach again. Plus, rain and gusting winds and cold and sloth.

So I ran my long run of the week on the treadmill. I probably ran at a bit of a higher heart rate than I should have, but I just wanted to give it a shot. I stopped twice: once to go to the bathroom, taking advantage of the proximity, and once when I had to start a new workout because I hit 100 minutes. I ate some of a granola bar at the second stoppage, and started up at a slower pace to let myself digest a bit. I’d forgotten to take the heart rate alarm off my indoor running mode, so my stupid watch beeped like mad the whole time.

I did try again to buy a new pair of shoes, but the store I went to (a sports version of a big box store) was completely out of Mizuno shoes, and that’s what I wanted. I ended up going online and finding a clearance pair of Mizunos which weren’t exactly what I wanted, but seemed suitable and were cheap enough that I was willing to buy them without trying them on. I really hope they don’t suck. I was trying to see if I could find another clearance pair of my Wave Prophecies, but they didn’t have any in my size at the places I looked online. The shoes should be here this week, and I should have time to break them in before my 5K. So much for instant gratification.

Superior 25K Training: Week 1

Right back on the horse.

Monday: 3.5 mi, treadmill (walk), 118 bpm
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: 4.5 mi, paved trail (Lakewalk south), 137 bpm
Thursday: 4.7 mi, trail (Bagley), 125 bpm
Friday: 5.5 mi, trail (Bagley), 136 bpm
Saturday: 7.3 mi, trail (Hartley), 140 bpm
Sunday: 9.0 mi, paved trail (Lakewalk north), 138 bpm
Total: 34.5 mi

Since Zumbro was kinda/sorta a training run rather than a goal race, I jumped right back into training and treated last week like a step-back week rather than a true race week, where I’d take longer time off. I intended to take Monday as a rest day as well, but I decided to do some active recovery by walking on the treadmill, and I felt like that was a good choice. Active recovery on Saturday or Sunday would have been better, but I’ll have to remember that for next time.

Tuesday I got a massage. I had a gift certificate from Christmas that I’ve been saving for this occasion, and it was a great decision. My massage therapist is awesome, and I have grown really comfortable with her. My hips and legs felt significantly better afterward, and overall I felt a lot more relaxed. The only issue I had was a little head stuffiness, which was uncomfortable while lying face down. I asked her how long I should wait after a race, and she said that I’d waited a good amount of time; the day after a race, there is often too much inflammation to benefit from a higher-pressure massage.

Wednesday I was back at it, on the Lakewalk, taking it kinda easy kinda not easy. I ended up running aerobically at a 14:56 pace, which was unexpected. The massage, plus slightly warmer weather, plus easier terrain, must have all worked in my favor.

Thursday I ran at Bagley. I was passed early on by the Zumbro 50 mile open winner with ease; he really makes running look easy. I make it look extremely difficult. I was STARVING the whole time. I’m not sure why, but I was so freaking hungry that I had to quit early. I had no energy and my heart rate was unusually low, which was a sign that I needed to stop. It freaked me out a little, but I was fine after I ate something and relaxed.

Friday I ran Bagley again, and I felt normal. It was my first run of the year in shorts and a t-shirt, and it felt like heaven. There was a still a bit of snow on the trails, but it had receded significantly since the day prior.

Saturday I went to Hartley, where it was muddy in parts (so muddy that I felt guilty about being on Root Canal; I will avoid it for awhile and I hope they will close it until the trail can dry up), with a few patches of lingering snow, and some dry stretches. I felt decent, although I ran slower than I would have liked. Slogging through mud took a lot out of my legs and my heart rate was tough to keep under control.

Sunday I wanted to do a long-ish run, but keep it easy, so I did the upper Lakewalk. It was cooler, so I wore a lightweight long-sleeved tee over a tank top, and I was glad that I did. At first I was worried I might get a little too warm, but then the wind kicked up on the way back, and I was cold. I was also extremely frustrated. The wind started gusting after I’d turned around, so the second half of my run was into the wind, and I had been hoping to have a few slightly faster miles because of a couple of slight downhills. It was disheartening, to say the least, to have the wind gusts send my heart rate up just as I was expecting to be able to calm it down and cruise. I kept hearing the “beep beep beep” of the HR alarm on my watch, which was driving me crazy as sometimes my heart rate was only 144 or 145. I ended up ignoring it and letting it beep away for the last couple of miles, although I still tried to keep it down. The run itself was decent, with all my miles in the 16:XX range, but I am tired of being slowed down by external circumstances like wind or cold. I also got a bit of a sunburn, just on my neck and chest.

I plan to get a new pair of shoes and make a few other changes to my training plan in the next few weeks, so I’ll provide some updates once I’ve gotten the shoes and figured out what exactly I’m going to do.

Zumbro 17 Training: Week 12

Race week!

Monday: 4 mi, treadmill, 131 bpm
Tuesday: 4 mi, treadmill, 133 bpm
Wednesday: rest
Thursday: 3 mi, treadmill, 135 bpm
Friday: rest (travel + volunteering)
Saturday: 16.7 mi, trail (race!), 138 bpm
Sunday: rest (travel + sloth)
Total: 27.7 mi

Huh, that turned out to be a bigger mileage week than I thought. That’s good, because I have to segue right into Superior 25K training. Zumbro was a long hard training run for Superior, let’s say. But it was more than that, even though I didn’t list it as a goal race, it became one for me.

I took it very, VERY easy leading up to the race, with 3 gentle treadmill runs. I decided not to run outside since it was cold and I didn’t want to risk getting sick. I ended up getting a little bit sick anyway, as I’ve already complained about.

There’s nothing much to say, I am waiting on the final race results before I post my race recap. Since there is no cell service or wifi or anything at Zumbro, the timing and results are run a little differently. I learned a little bit about all the ways they double and triple back up the race data during my stint in the timing booth. Some chips weren’t reading right so some lap or finish data may have to be manually entered. I finished in 4:5X:XX I think. I could only see the clock for the 100 miler race, so I didn’t note my time as I crossed the mat.

I will take a few days off, and I have a massage scheduled for Tuesday evening. I will probably do some yoga this evening and then resume running on Wednesday, when it will be a little milder. The weather forecast is starting to look good!