Chronicles of a fish: the days of surf and turf

banner_phoenix wrote: »

Sounds like a good solid LSR Dory, well done.

I was going to send you a pic on FB of all the chocolate in the Raheny race bag today but that might just be a tad bit too cruel :cool:...or maybe not!!

Ha! I am kind of curious, however, about what is in the goodie bag. I hear it's the bomb!! So, um, just how much chocolate is in that bag?

Oryx wrote: »

I dont agree with power walking with weights. Do weights. Or walk. Both together, youre just adding strain for little benefit.

imo.

The only thing I'm surprised with is how long it took someone to voice that thought. Thanks. I don't agree with running with weights, but trust me - between the light weight of the weights and the low impact of the walking, I'm fine. It's basically like marching in place with a few pounds in each hand.

Oryx wrote: »

I just dont get why you include this at all. Your time would be better spent doing squats or any other weight exercise, or plyometrics, than this.

Because I want to look good in a tank top?

Because I need some upper body work...because I don't have time to go to a gym and do proper weights...because I love the body movement to music with weights in my hand....because I enjoy it. That's why.

Oryx wrote: »

You already do, but thats beside the point.

Better ways of doing it.

You have 20 mins. Thats all you need.
Cant argue with that one!

I realise Im the little sprat telling momma fish how to do things. But its a particular peeve of mine, which is why Im on at you! Its cos I care!

Ah, thank you. I also look at it like this - I sometimes run with a camelpack on my back stuffed full of water, snacks, and cell phone - and it's usually running through the woods for miles on a technical trail. That's gotta be way worse than what I'm doing on the treadmill. But thanks again.

Heartbreak Hill

Plan: 8 easy miles

Hills plus a breakup don't exactly make for a very spiffy session. Well, my running buddy's girlfriend gave him the old heave-ho today...so I got to hear all about that on this 8 mile run. Blah, blah, blah....yada, yada, yada....oh, but hey, she still wants to be friends. Barf. The pace on this run was pretty downtrodden due to the mood of my companion, but that's okay as it gave me time on my feet and reinforced the endurance I have....which got me thinking (in between the lover's lamenting) that one of my next two (or three, depending on how you want to look at it) goals is to do a proper ultra-marathon. I also breezed up the hills at the slow pace....and chattered the whole time. Easy breezy. Oh...and it was a gorgeous 58 degree evening with a glorious bit of wind blowing. Tomorrow is supposed to bring torrential downpours and tornadoes.

Actual: 8:18 miles in 1:15:41 for a slow snail's pace of 9:15 min/mile

The Sweetjesusholymotherofgod Session

Plan: 2 miles easy, 8 x 1 mile @ MP, 2 miles easy

Holy crap this session was, um....well...quite a session. "Coach", I tip my hat to you sir.

Because it was raining cats, dogs, sheep, pigs, bunnies and cute little baby ducks sideways, I did this session on the delightful treadmill at a 1% incline. I won't beat this into the ground, but suffice it to say this was a substantial session in that it was long (basically 2 hours), far (13 miles) and challenging (slightly more mentally than physically). The plan allowed for a 90 to 120 second recovery interval, and I opted for the 120 second interval because I was doing the MP at 8:00 min/mile and this allowed for blocks of 10 minutes, and it was so much easier for my endorphin flooded brain to process.

The first 4 x 1 miles got progressively easier...the next two started fine, but I found myself having to really push through the second half of each of these miles. On the seventh mile, I had to really talk myself off the ledge because I was having some nagging tightness and discomfort in my left glute/hamstring (been going on for quite a while - I have an appointment w/a kinesiologist on Monday) so I relaxed my body down and it helped. I stretched the legs during the final 2 minute recovery interval, then knocked out the last mile in good form while busting a lung to Audioslave's "Show Me How To Live".

Sweated like a pig....thought about the earlier discussion with Kurt about partitioning pain and realized that a big part of the partitioning has to do with keeping the body relaxed and "fooled".....wore a new tank top just for Oryx.....and I thought a lot about Boston.

Actual: 2 miles easy, 8 x 1 miles at 8 min/mile, 2 miles easy - 13 miles total in 1:58:00.

Windy...Blustery...Blow Me Skirt Up Kinda Run

Plan: 6 miles easy

Old man winter has returned after a few 70 degree days bringing with him freezing cold temps and gusty, gusty, knock-me-into-the-next-county kind of wind. Did this one by myself and sang Evanescence's "Call Me When You're Sober" the entire time. Gah. I'm a little sick of that song right now....

The first two miles were into the blasted wind, so I tried to make myself as small as possible and kept things easy peasy. 8:29, 8:45. The hills of the third mile made me aware of the fatigue in my legs, compliments of last night's session. My thighs were so warm and tight - and they felt huge. Because I never once looked at my watch from start to finish of this 6 mile run (just ran by feel), I was a little surprised to see that this mile was 8:21, way faster than it felt. The fourth mile had one really nice downhill followed by a few short but nasty uphills, and I was in my groove at this point....but too much in my groove as this was way too fast at 8:03. Apparently I slowed it up for the last two miles (again, just running by feel) as those paces were 8:31, 8:24.

I did this run without looking at the watch, trying to pace based on effort. I thought I was going fairly easy, and trust me, because I thought my thighs were going to explode at any second I had no idea the overall pace would be as fast as it was. Oh well. Tomorrow is a rest day...then I start the cycle all over again.

Got home plenty early from the run to do some upper body and ab work while I watched the first period of the Capitals hockey game. Lovin' me some men on skates.

Actual: 6.08 miles in 51:09.06 for an average pace of 8:24 min/mile, +1 mile w/upper body work, abs

Discipline, discipline, discipline...slightly undisciplined, but in a good way?

Plan: 16 miles steady

Having seen this session on the plan a week ago, I had been stewing in apprehension ever since Wednesday's crazy hard 13 miles that left my thighs cussing, fuming and feeling unnaturally larger than they should be. I even consulted the "man with the plan" to get a few directions and a little pep talk about this session, and as always, he gave me clarity and put me at ease.

I hooked up with my running companion (sans his dog) for the first half of this run (he thinks I'm killing him with my mileage and pace :cool:), and we headed out onto the streets of town to tackle the rolling hills of the east end. The temp was 28 degrees Fahrenheit, but the wind was behaving itself nicely - only blowing at a moderate breeze. I had a brand-spanking-new pair of compression thigh sleeves on to try and protect my left glute/ham (and to help with recovery over these next several weeks of grinding sessions) - and I have to say I think they helped. Legs felt good the entire way - never had any serious pain in my left glute/ham. Yay!

One thing I really worked on with these hills was to try to keep pace and effort even. I relaxed it up the hills while trying to keep the cadence steady and using my arms a bit more, then I tried to gain back a little energy and speed on the hills while once again keeping effort in mind. We used the very first two miles as a warm up, but then my goal was to keep pace somewhere between 8:20 and 8:30. As I sit here and look at my paces for this section of the run knowing the rolling ups and downs we encountered, I am stunned by the evenness of my paces. Wow. Bang on target, and I never felt pushed.

8:55, 8:40 (warmup)
8:26, 8:24, 8:24, 8:24, 8:21, 8:28

I dropped my friend off in town, grabbed a swig of water, downed a few shot bloks, and off I went to do the last half of this run on more flat terrain with just my thoughts to keep me company. It was immediately obvious that my body wanted to go faster on this flat section - it was just so much easier than the hills - but I consciously slowed myself down. After 4 miles, however, I found myself in an "automated" groove that I just could't fight, so I gave in to the devil and allowed myself to stay at the involuntary pace and let momentum take over. The next three miles were way faster than planned, but I felt good and found myself in a happy zone. With such wanton self-indulgence being shamelesly displayed on this Sunday morning, I decided my penance would be to use the last mile as a nice, slow cool down.

8:11, 8:06, 8:11, 8:12, 7:58, 7:54, 7:38
9:10 (cool down)

In conclusion, this run was pretty amazing. I was still somewhat unsure how these 16 miles would go when I set sail this morning, but I knew pretty early on that I was knocking this one out of the park for my ability and experience. It is also becoming very evident to me how important it is to not burn all of your matches in the early miles. I'm embracing my endurance and learning to be patient. It's all good at the moment.

Actual: 16 miles in 2:13:34 for an average pace of 8:20 min/mile

Kurt Godel wrote: »

Some good work going on here Dory. Any tester races planned?

Thanks Kurt!

No tester races planned at this point. I used Disney as a tester of sorts and came away from those two days of running with loads of knowledge and added confidence, so I will leave it at that and save my time and energy for training instead of travel.

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

You know you're gonna murder your PB with runs like that - great training.

Oh god...don't jinx me. :) Funny thing is, I had my very first Boston race dream last night. Dreamt I ran it in 3:40...which is not a PB. I have serious respect for the technical course that is Boston, so I guess we'll just see what happens on the day. Thanks!!