21.0 Negative Split
No network connectivity back at the room for a few days and the computer’s acting up, so I can’t post the chart, but this was one good negative split.
Took off at a comfortable 10:15/mile pace, keeping to the 4 min run/1 min walk strategy. Decided that was a bit quicker than I needed to be going, so backed off a little bit, but never let my overall pace go above 10:26/mile pace. Hit 11 miles and was feeling good. The next 10 miles were consistently faster than the previous. By the time I hit mile 18, I was holding a 8:00/mile to 8:15/mile pace for the run portions; individual for miles 18-21 were all under 10:00/mile, including the two minutes of walking.
I did have three off-the-clock fuel reloads. Doing these runs unsupported, I have to make a side trip to refill my water bottles. Not to mention sucking down a can of ice cold coke at mile 15.
For my first several long runs here, I kept the clock running just like in a race. But it really wreaked havoc with my average pace, etc., which didn’t seem representative of the effort. Had these been supported runs, I’d grab the water and keep moving. So I made the decision to do them off the clock.
This run was quite a unique experience too; one that made me reflect on how full my life has been so far. I didn’t know until that afternoon that we were going to have a lunar eclipse, peaking at 80% while I’d be out on my run. It was quite odd to start out the run with a full moon and that lighting, which allowed me to get off of the asphalt and run on the rough dirt shoulders. But by mile 15, it was definitely dark and I didn’t dare run on the shoulders anymore, for fear of hitting a hole and turning an ankle.
All the while, the local mosques were rolling out their eclipse prayers, which were actually quite beautiful to listen to while running. Apparently there is a specific prayer for eclipses and it’s the same for both solar and lunar eclipses.
Definitely another page added to life’s experiences.
Workout:
- Type: Run
- Date: 08/16/2008
- Time: 20:15:00
- Total Time: 3:35:05.00
- Average Heart rate: 134
- Max Heart rate: 148
- Calories: 3067
- Distance: 21 miles
- Average Pace: 10:14.33/mile
- Max Pace: 8:20/mile
- Ascent: 110 ft
- Descent: 110 ft
Filed under: Fitness, Galloway, Inspiration, Iraq, Marathon, Run, Walk
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Hot 15
Even at 10pm it was 94F. I went through 4 liters of water and was quite nicely hydrated. Actually had to stop to relieve some pressure.
All perfectly within Zones 1 and 2. Not even a touch in Zone 3, which was surprising considering the heat.
Resurrected my Galloway-esque run plan, with 5 minutes running, 30 seconds walking. Even with a couple of relatively long stops to reload my water bottles, I still came in a few minutes quicker than the same course a few weeks ago, where I ran the entire distance straight through. And I felt stronger at the end than the last time.
Gotta stick with the run/walk on these longer runs. It really works.
Workout:
- Type: Run
- Date: 07/17/2008
- Time: 21:00:00
- Total Time: 2:37:02.00
- Average Heart rate: 131
- Max Heart rate: 142
- Calories: 2223
- Distance: 15 miles
- Average Pace: 10:28.27/mile
- Max Pace: 8:32.82/mile
- Ascent: 77 ft
- Descent: 77 ft
Filed under: Fitness, Galloway, Iraq, Marathon, Run, Walk
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Cruise Intervals
Gradual 20 minute warmup
5×3′ tempo, gradually increasing to Z5a.
Warm. 90F @ 6am.
One thing I took into consideration during last year’s IM training was the amount of stress that work, etc., put on my body and would factor that in when training. For example, if a particularly stressful or hectic week (or two) coincided with a heavy week of training, I paid extra close attention to my bodies cues.
I’ve done that a fair bit since I’ve arrived in Iraq, but it still sneaks up on me. After the warmup, the 5 tempo intervals were comfortable. I was done with them by 45 minutes into my run, so I still had 25 minutes left. Those were a tough 25 minutes. I certainly feel tired from head to toe. Nothing real signficiant, but in the heat of the morning, it certainly drops the pace.
It’s all very interesting.
Workout:
- Type: Run
- Date: 06/03/2008
- Time: 05:45:00
- Total Time: 1:09:17.00
- Average Heart rate: 132
- Max Heart rate: 156
- Calories: 993
- Distance: 6.68 miles
- Average Pace: 10:22.84/mile
- Max Pace: 6:49.09/mile
- Ascent: 23 ft
- Descent: 23 ft
Filed under: Fitness, Iraq, Run, Walk
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Last “half” of “Weekend Marathon”
Workout:
- Type: Run
- Date: 03/30/2008
- Time: 10:30:00
- Total Time: 1:47:38.00
- Average Heart rate: 148
- Max Heart rate: 163
- Calories: 1737
- Distance: 11.53 miles
- Average Pace: 9:19.88/mile
- Max Pace: 7:04.03/mile
- Ascent: 260 ft
- Descent: 260 ft
Filed under: Fitness, Galloway, General Cardio, Inspiration, Marathon, Run, Walk
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Marathon Weekend
Well, not that I’m running a marathon, but I’m running a marathon.
Today was supposed to be a 20-miler, with tomorrow my standard Sunday day off. With the run, two mid-terms due tomorrow, work piling up (at home and at work) and some other commitments, there was no way I had time to run the 20-miler this morning, unless I was up at 4am and running by 5am.
I’m a morning person, but that time of day is for studying, not for stumbling through the trails in the dark.
The I was reading a post on Gary Ditsch’s blog about the anti-20, meaning that there’s a fair bit of resistance against the standard 20-miler, in terms of damage and recovery. His post certainly wasn’t the first time I had read such ideas, so it got me to thinking (dangerous, I know).
Instead of 20 on Saturday and nothing on Sunday, I decided to split the run. Saturday would be 15 and Sunday would be 10. That would give me 25 for the weekend (watch out, math in public). I could squeeze both in comfortably, along with everything else going on, and not stress myself.
So today’s 15 was great. Started out at 42 degrees and never warmed up. Pretty breezy, but I kept to the hollers and trees, so it wasn’t much of an issue. I was very comfortable the entire time and decided that tomorrow’s run is going to be at least 11 miles so that I’ve covered the marathon distance this weekend. For no good reason other than to do it. Kind of like riding back to back centuries on a weekend - not necessary, but sometimes you just have to do it.
I decided that for now I’m following the Galloway plan on any run longer than 13 miles, so that’s what I did today. Run 4 minutes, walk 30 seconds. Following that scheme, last Saturday’s 16-miler ended up at 10:16 pace, today’s 15-miler over the same course was at 9:47 pace, including a strong 8:05 pace for the last half mile for the finish.
We’ll see how well the run-walk strategy works tomorrow when I start out on my 11-miler. The one thing that impressed me with the run-walk last weekend was how good my legs felt the next few days. Hopefully that holds true tomorrow.
Well, gotta run.
Workout:
- Type: Run
- Date: 03/29/2008
- Time: 06:45:00
- Total Time: 2:26:50.00
- Average Heart rate: 141
- Max Heart rate: 152
- Calories: 2259
- Distance: 15 miles
- Average Pace: 9:47.28/mile
- Max Pace: 7:22.8/mile
- Ascent: 1,161 ft
- Descent: 1,161 ft
Filed under: Fitness, Galloway, Marathon, Run, Walk
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4 & 30 16
16 miles today, following a modified Galloway plan (modified to hold a faster pace than I should have). Four minutes running, 30 seconds walking, 4 minutes running, 30 seconds walking. Wash, rinse, repeat.
A fairly hilly course and I still felt pretty strong, so there may be something to this. At no point did I feel that I wasn’t ready to run again after the 30 seconds. But there were a few times I was getting into my zone and ran right past the start of the walk. Perhaps I’ll wear a watch that beeps at me next time.
Workout:
- Type: Run
- Date: 03/22/2008
- Time: 11:10:00
- Total Time: 2:45:03.00
- Average Heart rate: 145
- Max Heart rate: 159
- Calories: 2380
- Distance: 16 miles
- Average Pace: 10:18.56/mile
- Max Pace: 6:55.22/mile
- Ascent: 805 ft
- Descent: 774 ft
Filed under: Fitness, Marathon, Run, Walk
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Cruisin’
Beautiful day today, with a high in the upper 50’s. Still a bit warmer than I like to run in, but being late in the day and running down in the holler’s, it cooled down nicely as the sun set behind the trees and ridgeline.
The first 4 miles were gradual warm-up then tempo. Very comfortable at 7-minute pace. After the turnaround, I worked on a tempo/walk scheme, holding 8:30-minute pace for two minutes, then walk for one minute, a la Jeff Galloway’s method. All in all, it felt quite good.
Really loosening up and looking forward to the Tom King Half Marathon in two weeks.
Workout:
- Type: Run
- Date: 03/01/2008
- Time: 16:37:00
- Total Time: 1:18:02.00
- Average Heart rate: 150
- Max Heart rate: 168
- Calories: 1204
- Distance: 7.99 miles
- Average Pace: 9:46.32/mile
- Max Pace: 6:58.12/mile
- Ascent: 340 ft
- Descent: 340 ft
Filed under: Fitness, Marathon, Run, Walk
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Running with Donna 26.2
Have I ever mentioned I hate humidity? All the fugly details here.
Workout:
- Type: Run
- Date: 02/17/2008
- Time: 08:30:00
- Total Time: 5:57:18.00
- Average Heart rate: 147
- Max Heart rate: 166
- Calories: 3531
- Distance: 26.2 miles
- Average Pace: 13:38.18/mile
- Max Pace: 8:26.33/mile
- Ascent: 215 ft
- Descent: 215 ft
Filed under: "trigger point", Fitness, Marathon, My Other Blog, Run, Walk, race report
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16. Minus 14.5
Well, today was supposed to be a 16 mile run. Absolutely gorgeous day for it too. 28F, with just a baby’s breath of wind, nary a cloud in the sky. Beautiful.
Started off real slow, which was the plan. Half a mile down the road, I could feel my left calf tightening up. It’s been bugging me since last Sunday’s 13-miler, where it tightened up quickly after my 6-mile tempo section. A couple of easy runs this week, some rolling, some stretching and all was fine, so I figured this morning that I’d work through it and it would loosen up.
By 1.5 miles it was very tight, like a string stretched too far. So I was going to walk for a minute or two and feel it out. That’s when I felt a little pop down there, which convinced me it was time to walk home. Mind you, it wasn’t a painful “something just snapped” pop, but one of those pops where something settled back into place. Either way, not something I wanted to feel.
So I’m R.I.C.E.’ing it today and will take a couple of days off, which were planned after today due to work and other commitments. Next week was a recovery week for this cycle anyway, so I’m extending it a bit.
In the meantime, we’re doing a bit of digging to try and find the trigger point. Something definitely needs some release.
Meanwhile, the countdown timer to the next marathon has ticked under 30 days…
Workout:
- Type: Run
- Date: 01/18/2008
- Time: 10:30:00
- Total Time: 00:19:23.00
- Distance: 1.66 miles
- Average Pace: 11:40.39/mile
Filed under: "trigger point", Flexibility, Marathon, Run, Walk
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