Timed with a calendar

pgmcpq · 15-05-2014 08:54PM

Thursday: 4+ miles w 4@400m

Bah ! Blown session. As part of the plan to inject some zip into the legs I intended at least 6 400m reps and maybe upto 8 depending on how it went. Circumstances meant that yet again I was creeping out hoping no one from work would notice I was not online so felt a bit pressed as ever. Broken sleep from allergy hell has bust my morning routine such as it was. Anyway all was going well until a family with a small girl arrived on the track and started "races". I was able to dodge around them until rep 5 when I realised that the snall girl was about to cut me off at the corner ... and threw in the towel. I could have stayed in the outer lane thought that would have involved more manovering later but I used the excuse to shut things down. Annoyed with myself as I had got off to a decent start:

Reps: 1.27, 1.25, 1.26, 1.26

Anyway ... it's a start and tbh honest I was thinking 1.30 would be close to the mark so happy with what I had done - though this was hard work

pgmcpq · 16-05-2014 09:27PM

Friday: 6.5 miles

...of working off job frustrations :rolleyes:

pgmcpq · 21-05-2014 04:11AM

Saturday: 15 miles.

New route pioneered in search of a town further down the D&R canal. Had counted on getting water there but ... no store, no bar, nada

... nothing but creepily uniform immaculately manicured lawns. Turned around at 8 miles and headed home. Threw in one fast mile at mile 13 (7.10) .. next time we will try two. Arrived back at mile 15 ...
not sure where the missing mile was (out an back, turned at mile 8 .. finished at 15

)

Sunday: 7 miles

Slow run/walk with Mrs P.

Week: 49.5 miles

pgmcpq · 21-05-2014 04:20AM

Tuesday: 6.5 w 7*400m

Back to the track.

Reps: 1.27. 1.25, 1.23, 1.24, 1.24, 1.25, ?.??

400 recovery, except on the last rep where I had to divert to the water fountain ... and forgot to hit the lap button for the last rep. I'm sure it was great ... I'm thinking 1.19 :rolleyes:. Pretty happy with that session. Withoyut looking up my old log I think the times are not too far off pre injury times.

pm: 5 miles

Ok, so I should not do doubles on a speedwork day but this was my chance to run the reservoir instead of sitting in traffic. Wildlife up date: Saw a raccoon ... bigger than you'd imagine. Lovely run ... except for the insects ... it really pays to time your breathing in carefully along the water.

pgmcpq · 22-05-2014 01:53AM

Wednesday: 7 miles

Found myself dropping from the intended recovery pace on this run. First sign of summer humidity left me dripping by the time I got back home.

pgmcpq · 23-05-2014 03:16AM

Thursday: am : 3.5 miles w 10X100m strides

Out to the track with Mrs P. While she takes a recovery walk I ran strides until I had lapped and rejoined her.

pm: 6 miles

Out to a foggy evening with the tops of the buildings fading in and out of clouds. Again I'm starting to have trouble keeping the pace down, which is a good problem in some ways.

pgmcpq · 26-05-2014 08:41PM

Well, after talking about the value of honesty in logs .... Here's an entry I'd like to skip!

Friday: 1+ mile

Work issues meant that by the time I was able to think about a run a storm was closing in. After a mile a nearby lightening hit persuaded me to head home.

Saturday and Sunday ... Work coffee and junk food....nuff said?

Monday: Bad day at the office.
Ridgewood 10k. 43.15
Ridgewood 5k. 21.57

So those of you with long term partners know the dangers of "sure" as a response to muffled queries from a different room. So I ended up signed up for two races separated by an hour.
The 10k was the target, the 5k I decided to run with a friend.

So preparations for the 10k were not ideal but I felt ok at the start and for the first three miles. I though 40.xx was realistic or 41.xx at worst. To put this in context I ran a 39.36 on this course a few years ago. I started feeling very thirsty at mile 2 and by mile was having trouble swallowing so I took water at the half way mark. Been a while since I practiced with cups so half up the nose, down the shirt etc. Then the wheels started to slow, It all got very hard and finally the wheels came off - I ended up walking. I got going again but it felt like mile 25 after the wall not mile 4 of a 10k. At a second water table I took water again and stopped to drink it all. This got me going again but left me with a stitch for the next mile. I did regroup a bit and mile 6 was respectable but the damage was done. Not sure what to say... It was warm ... 75f. (23c) but not terrible. Was I dehydrated ? It felt like that but the wheels came off after I took on water. Tbh, I feel I just bottled it - the only saving grace was that I did not dnf.

Did not hook up with the group for the 5k so I decided to try for a little redemption. Again I ran out of steam after a mile and mile 3 was a slog. But after the 10k I was ok with sub 22.

Worst results in a long time and it re opens the question of whether I am really making progress. Seriously bummed out right now ...but after a day off I will take the training benefits regroup and try again.

We stayed to watch the mile races..the men had a sprint finish in 4:04 the women in 4:42. Just so damn cool !

Dory Dory · 26-05-2014 11:55PM

I did my field run yesterday morning around 10:30ish and I definitely noticed the "heat", and yesterday was slightly cooler than today I do believe...so, don't underestimate how much that may have been a factor for you today and your hydration as we've had no time yet to acclimate to the escalating temps. And honestly, after all that starting and stopping and walking and drinking, I'm impressed at your time. And my personal opinion is you are making great progress, so try and shake off those bad feelings and do your best to stop beating yourself up questioning yourself. You've made huge strides. Trust in your work, be patient, and your rewards will come.

pgmcpq · 29-05-2014 09:02PM

Dory Dory wrote: »

I did my field run yesterday morning around 10:30ish and I definitely noticed the "heat", and yesterday was slightly cooler than today I do believe...so, don't underestimate how much that may have been a factor for you today and your hydration as we've had no time yet to acclimate to the escalating temps. And honestly, after all that starting and stopping and walking and drinking, I'm impressed at your time. And my personal opinion is you are making great progress, so try and shake off those bad feelings and do your best to stop beating yourself up questioning yourself. You've made huge strides. Trust in your work, be patient, and your rewards will come.

Naaawwhhh...it was warm but with low humidity.. if I cannot run in these conditions I might as well pack it in until fall

I'm a bit baffled to be honest. Why was I so thirsty ? I had no other signs of dehydration ... so the only conclusion is that I overestimated my fitness and died a death once I put in a couple of miles at 6.3x pace. Re reading my race report and looking at the splits (6.57, 6.38, 6.38, 6.58, 7.58:eek:, 6.57, ?) it looks exactly like a classic "went out too fast, died a death" scenario. The only difference being my expectation of being able to do better !

So .... as a result I have decided to start taking my heart rate daily to see where I am. I found a free HR monitor for the iphone. I tried it out comparing it the the results from the Garmin HRM. Amazingly it works - giving exactly the same result.

Tuesday and Wednesday were rest days - the decision being made for me as on Wednesday I had jury duty.

Thursday: 8 miles.

Nice afternoon run. Got told off by a crossing guard (aka lollipop lady!) for crossing (at a run) against the light. She apparently mistook me for a student from the nearby high school. I took off my had and glasses. Oh, how we laughed - her, perhaps a little too hard:(.

pgmcpq · 31-05-2014 02:42AM

Friday: 6 miles.

Weird - this run felt waaaaay too hard. Pace was about 8mm but I faded on the second of my two three mile loops. Not sure what to make of this ... unless I am getting ill.

barryoneill50 · 31-05-2014 08:22AM

pgmcpq wrote: »

Friday: 6 miles.

Weird - this run felt waaaaay too hard. Pace was about 8mm but I faded on the second of my two three mile loops. Not sure what to make of this ... unless I am getting ill.

Did you check your heart rate? Was it up on the previous days?

pgmcpq · 01-06-2014 01:41AM

barryoneill50 wrote: »

Did you check your heart rate? Was it up on the previous days?

Yes, good point. TBH, I am not sure. I don't really have a recent baseline to compare against. My last resting HR is a couple of years and a couple of injuries ago so today's I would expect to be much higher reflecting the loss of fitness.

Satuday: 10+ miles

Ugghhh. There is definitely something wrong... another horrible run. 3 miles solo then I joined the club run. Turns out only two of us were doing the long (9 mile) route, and the other guy did not know the route and was a new member who did not know the route training for a 3 hour marathon pace. So I kept up with him as best I could until the route back was simply to follow the river bank, and I told him to take off. Well ... pretty much as soon as he disappeared from sight I had to start walking ! Smoked after about 7 miles and the rest of route was completed in a walk/run combination. Three ugly runs in a week suggests that something is going on and I need to take a step back.

Ironically... speed bit me in the ass later in the day. A 90 minute drive turned into a three hour+ drive and finished with me getting done for speeding :rolleyes:. Another day I should have stayed in bed !

Dory Dory · 01-06-2014 03:08AM

^^^ Ugh!!!

Do you feel tired? Or not really? I ask this because when I was sick a few weeks back one of the biggest symptoms I had was incredible fatigue. There was definitely a bug going around here, so I'm wondering if you've not caught a touch of that. ?? Either way, listen to the body and rest. If there's one thing I've learned over the last couple of months is that rest and recovery are every bit as important as your active training. Mind the body. Maybe a healthy dose of Mrs. P's spoiling and pampering while you put your feet up on a beautiful Sunday (tomorrow) is what you need.

(worth a try??

)

pgmcpq · 01-06-2014 04:25AM

Dory Dory wrote: »

^^^ Ugh!!!

Do you feel tired? Or not really? I ask this because when I was sick a few weeks back one of the biggest symptoms I had was incredible fatigue. There was definitely a bug going around here, so I'm wondering if you've not caught a touch of that. ?? Either way, listen to the body and rest. If there's one thing I've learned over the last couple of months is that rest and recovery are every bit as important as your active training. Mind the body.

I feel ok, but true enough the last time I had a bunch of bad runs about a week later I was floored by a virus... so I am going hit the echinacea, tumeric and vitimin C, and hope for the best.

Dory Dory wrote: »

Maybe a healthy dose of Mrs. P's spoiling and pampering while you put your feet up on a beautiful Sunday (tomorrow) is what you need. (worth a try?? )

Mrs P's contribution has been to muse if anemia could be contagious :eek:.

pgmcpq · 05-06-2014 03:25PM

So after the slog on Saturday, I took a couple of days down time ( see I am getting a little smarter).

Tuesday: 5 miles.

This run is dedicated to those of you who have wondered why wildlife hates me. I went to reservoir after work. There had been a heavy thunderstorm so I was a bit doubtful about the state of the trail. The storm had cleared off the humans so on the five mile loop.... I bounded with bunnies, danced with deer and tempo-ed with tortoises. Not sure if the rain or the relative peace encouraged the wildlife out but they all came out to play - the deer in particular were on the path and were completely unfazed by my approach (looking at me with that "wtf" expression that seems that standard deer outlook). The tortoises had come out on the path. Only at the last minute did I realise that they were not rocks. About mile 4 I started to see some lightening and realised that being in the woods is probably not a smart place to be with strip lightening about so picked up the pace. No watch so no idea about pace.

The run itself confirmed that something is not quite right - despite two days off the legs felt like lead. I also realised that for the last week I am completing even "easy" runs drenched with sweat (although this run was in very humid conditions). So I am taking some echineaca (and iron supplements in case Mrs P is right).

Wednesday: 10 miles

Back to the reservoir post work. Got there earlier so I had in mind to try two loops for the first time. I was a bit unsure after the first loop but decided there was still time. Of course I forgot that being under tree cover the light poorer so again the last mile was a bit difficult as the light became very poor.

Again starting out the legs felt heavy, better than Tuesday, but still tired. I did start to feel a little better after the first two miles, so I am hoping I am shaking off this ... thing.

pgmcpq · 06-06-2014 10:30PM

Thursday: 5 miles, RHR: 46bpm
Friday: 6 miles grass RHR: 47bpm

Uneventful runs. I'm starting to record resting heart rate (on waking) something I have not done for a long time. My pre injury rhr was low 40s to hoping to get back thre again.

Weight: 154lb... target is 142-145lbs which was my race weight in 2011. If I can fix my diet this should be doable.

pgmcpq · 10-06-2014 10:05PM

Saturday: 15.5 miles.

House duties meant this run was left until the afternoon when the temperature was maxed out. This was a new route, that I had been planning for while. Nice run but by the time I hit the turn around point I was pleased to find a bathroom .. but out of water. There is a park but not much else ... no water fountain. I finally found a "gourmet store". Unfortunately it turned out to be a liquor store where I got a slightly bemused greeting ... and a bottle of water on the house ! Very nice of them but I will need to figure some better arrangement next time. For the return leg I took of the shirt and inflicted pale pasty middle aged flesh on the wildlife and occasional cyclist.

Sunday: 8.5 miles

My first return to the loop of "goose-gate". Hopefully with breeding season now over I can run this loop safely

Took a camera as there was a civil war re enactment on the route. It did not yield any interesting photos so here are some photos from the run: This loop is 3 miles along a canal tow path that also parallels a river, then across a bridge that crosses the river and another canal running parallel to the river; down onto the two path of canal #2 and back 3+ miles to next bridge that joins two small towns; and finish with a couple of miles alongside a derelict train line.

The railroad seems to have operated as late as 1998s. But various bits got left behind ! The amazing thing is nature (and some artists!) has absorbed the tracks. There are now young trees growing in the middle of the tracks.

pgmcpq · 11-06-2014 11:30PM

Tuesday: 5 miles 6*400m

Feeling a bit more like myself, but seriously humbled : time to get back to some structured training. Really had to force myself to do this, it was hot and humid and just nasty. The negotiation process went like ... look do 4, ok 3, com'on three loops of the track. Ok ... [3 400s later] one more, get some water and do one more and it's a respectable session ..[ one more ] there now that's not too bad is it .. one more don't think about it..[5th 400m] look just one more and you;ll have the session done .. we'll even forget about the pace just get around ....

400s: 1.29, 1.26, 1.29, 1.27, 1.25, 1.28

Wednedsay: 7 miles @ recovery pace on grass

So tempo tomorrow ...I'm already dreading it. Writing it down here so I cannot wuss out

.

pgmcpq · 12-06-2014 11:56PM

Thursday: 8.5 miles w 4@LT

2 w/u
LT: 6.58 7.02 6.59 6.54

As I expected this was a stuggle and the while I aimed for 6.xx the pace is a bit disappointing. Still it tells me what I need to work on. Not pretty but at least I did it.
It was cooler but still humid, so I had stashed my hat and some water at a gazebo before starting the tempo miles. Post the tempo miles, the park workers had manged to dump my hat and water while ignoring the trash scattered across the grass :mad::mad::mad:. I finally found my hat in the nearby trash.
Meet Bob - a local runner who I've had a few head-to-heads with in local 5ks and we shared a few miles that served as a cool down.

Dory Dory · 13-06-2014 02:43AM

^^^ Gorgeous pics above!! I especially love that glammed up rail car - way cool!

And yes, hasn't it gotten hot and humid all of a sudden?? Yuck! Makes it very tough to run in, but I suppose we will acclimate. Keep up the good work!

Oh, and I know this is a long way off...but I'm doing NY City Marathon - will you be about in NY then?

pgmcpq · 13-06-2014 01:33PM

Dory Dory wrote: »

^^^ Gorgeous pics above!! I especially love that glammed up rail car - way cool!

And yes, hasn't it gotten hot and humid all of a sudden?? Yuck! Makes it very tough to run in, but I suppose we will acclimate. Keep up the good work!

Oh, and I know this is a long way off...but I'm doing NY City Marathon - will you be about in NY then?

It's amazing how fast the railway line has gone "back to nature". When I first found the carriage I had not even known there were tracks there.
Weather has not been too bad really ... actually wetter than usual here. As I type the skies have opened again.

Mrs P is doing NY so I will be around. With the apartment sold the logistics are a bit trickier as we are now 20 mins and the Hudson river outside the city. Would be great to put a face to the name !

pgmcpq · 13-06-2014 05:42PM

Friday: 5 miles @ recovery 8.5x

Managed to get out after a downpour. Pretty humid : the steam off the ground was visible.

Post the tempo session yesterday I could feel a strain in the left butt cheek:o. A bit worrying as this as my original symptom three years ago when the sequence of injuries started. I still have been to a chiro. I did

As an aside I was at the ireland v portugal game on Tuesday. Ugggh ..now that felt like a 90 minute too fast tempo !

Dory Dory · 14-06-2014 02:49AM

pgmcpq wrote: »

Mrs P is doing NY so I will be around. With the apartment sold the logistics are a bit trickier as we are now 20 mins and the Hudson river outside the city. Would be great to put a face to the name !

Let's plan on it then!

And take care of that left butt cheek! Is it a piriformis issue? If so, I had an issue with my left piriformis two years ago, and it took me almost an entire year to fully rid myself of it (including weekly therapy for about 3 months). Talk about a pain in the butt!!!

pgmcpq · 16-06-2014 01:19AM

Dory Dory wrote: »

Let's plan on it then!

And take care of that left butt cheek! Is it a piriformis issue? If so, I had an issue with my left piriformis two years ago, and it took me almost an entire year to fully rid myself of it (including weekly therapy for about 3 months). Talk about a pain in the butt!!!

Yes, I have a 2015 entry to NY deferred from 2012 and Sandy. I might be ready to try a marathon again by then!

Pinformis would be my guess ... but I suspect until I can get my hips adjusted it will be one problem after another. Anyway bit of stretching and rolling has sorted it out.

Satuday: ~9 miles (acrually 8.90)

Intended a long run about 16 miles in search of a water fountain on a new route. It was cool and overcast so good conditions to risk this run. But ... house projects meant the run was postponed and I clocked up around 5 miles walking to and fro to hardware store and getting lunch for the guys helping us with plastering and painting. And in shoes that I had rejected as running shoes as the shoe shoulder was too high. So when I finally did get out to run ... at about 4 miles I realized that my shoe seemed to be rubbing my ankles. Sure enough the ankle was grazed and there was blood on the sock. I tried to adjust and resume but shy of 5 miles it was no better so facing another 4 miles minimum to home I decided to risk real damage and turned around. To compensate I decided to drop a few faster miles in ... so clocked 2.5 miles at 7.42, 7.06 and 7.00 before dropping back to my sedate 8.4x pace.

Sunday: ~17 miles (16.88)

Did it. Vaseline, bandaid and cotton wool protected the skinned ankle, and I set off on the water fountain quest (this is important because I want to use this as a refueling point when the weather gets warmer). I did find it, but it is about a mile off the route and more of a good climb than I fancied:(. Still it is indoors and gives nice cool water ! On the return journey all was well until about 14 miles in when I just ran out of gas and had to break out the emergency gel and take a walk break. For the last two miles the pace dropped to 9.00+ ... some of this was dodging Sunday cyclists :rolleyes: and tourists as I can back through town but truthfully I was out of gas. Once again I went shirtless for the last 5 miles even though the path is largely sheltered.

Not sure why I am finding these medium long runs so tough. Is running on packed earth much more difficult than road ? Is it that the route is pancake flat so the muscles never get a break ? Am I just a lazy fat b****d ?

Post run: Oh god. There is a tiny homemade ice cream place opened near the house ... I broke down and gor a Lemon-Ginger... oh god... so good ... I think the weigh goals are doomed unless this place goes out of business. Thank god we are only here on weekends.

Week: 51 miles.

Tempo session was poor. Might start to alternate tempo intervals weekly with steady state tempo to try to get the 10k pace down a bit.

pgmcpq · 17-06-2014 04:19PM

Monday: pm ... Swim. Getting harder to get a lane as the weather warms.

Tuesday: 7 miles w/ 2*400, 2*800,1*400

Down early to the track to get this in before the real heat kicks in today. About 75f with 60% humidity at 7am.

Times: 1.27, 1.28, 3.03, 3.07, 1.32

Intended one more 400 but I was out of gas. I take >1.30 as a signal to quit. 800s were better, but they did knock the stuffing out of me.

Weight: 152.5lbs (-1.5)
RHR: 46
Post workout HR (2.5 hrs) 60

pgmcpq · 19-06-2014 01:59AM

Tuesday: pm - Swim

Wednesday: 6.5 recovery grass/wood

Between heavy legs and temps hitting the 80s at 6.30 I had no problems keeping this one slow ... only me, a couple of mad dogs and some groundhogs were out and about.

pm: swim ... what is with people who come share your lane (without any acknowledgement) and then continually stop mid lane :mad:. I need to get googles as the chlorine in this pool really bothers my eyes ... so after several near rear end collisions I packed it in.

Dory Dory · 19-06-2014 02:47AM

Two things:

1) Tiny homemade ice cream place???? :eek: Oh god....you must tell me what kind of decadent chocolate ice cream they have. Hands down, my weakness is ice cream.

2) No goggles???? :eek::eek: I can hook you up.

pgmcpq · 19-06-2014 02:56PM

Dory Dory wrote: »

Two things:

1) Tiny homemade ice cream place???? :eek: Oh god....you must tell me what kind of decadent chocolate ice cream they have. Hands down, my weakness is ice cream.

Oh ... give me a minute here ............

Well we have .... Lemon-Ginger, Lime-Cilantro, Blood Orange,three types of vanilla .... and it's what I think of as real ice cream not the heavy "lard" of B&J. Well if you insist I will have to go back to get a full list

.

Dory Dory wrote: »

2) No goggles???? :eek::eek: I can hook you up.

Well, I am not a swimmer. My swimming is a slow breast stroke - I've never mastered the crawl ... so while I have to wear a swim cap I don't like to give the impression that I think I know what I am doing ! But I have never woren googles ... it's only in this pool that I am having problems with my eyes after a while.

Thursday: 6.5 miled w/2 * 2m@tempo.

Out before 7am to beat the heat. It was 75f/68% when I went out. An old timer told me that if temperature (farenheit) plus humidity% >= 150 then forget doing any serious work. So while the plan was to try 3 * 2m@tempo I was prepared to adjust. it was clear from early on that I would struggle to complete this session.
1 rep: 6.53, 6.56
2 rep: 7.01:(, 7.03:(:(

I had been hoping to hit around 6.30 on these so this is disappointing. This suggests that I am not really making progress (at least back to where I was pre injury), so I may have to step back an have a rethink on what I am doing. Should I drop back to one quality session a week ?

At 7.03 and going south I decided to call it a day because:

a) I wanted to get back home so see Mrs P before she left for work and wish her a great day
OR
b) I was completely shattered, soaked and returned home to drip sweat on the kitchen floor and hope Mrs P had made coffee.

Dory Dory · 20-06-2014 02:30AM

Was it "b"??

Are you following a particular plan with a particular goal??

pgmcpq · 20-06-2014 02:21PM

Dory Dory wrote: »

Was it "b"??

Ahhh ... so cynical so young !

Dory Dory wrote: »

Are you following a particular plan with a particular goal??

Nothing specific. 2014 is a build back year - if by year end I could get back to 2011 level I would be happy. Progress - eh :rolleyes::). Right now I don't have the time/flexibility to follow a program - I have to get session in when I can. A generic track/temp/long-run week with the best being easy. The quality sessions are orientated towards speed right now. The immediate target is really to get the 10k back under 40. At that point I know i am in shape to think about other goals. Right now I am just not sure I am seeing progress. I have another 10k on July 4th. Depending on how that goes that will determine the plan for the rest of the year.

Meanwhile I will wring my hands with angst !

Timed with a calendar

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