Yesterday I ran my second speed workout at the Tufts Gym. The DFMC group meets there Tuesdays at 8:00. This week we ran 20 x 400m intervals. We executed these in 5 sets of 4. Between each set we ran a 400m easy. Between each other 400m we ran 200m easy. In total, with warmup and cool down I ran almost exactly 10 miles. For those of you counting, thats 30 miles in 3 days! The day in between, Reef and I did a craptastic swim workout at the Y. Luckily for me, all I needed was something to flush out some lactic acid in my legs from the day before, which I think I got. For Reef, however, he had to cut his workout short due to a very crowded pool (6 people per lane?!) and some ridiculously slow swimmers. But I digress.
So our 200m laps were averaging 0:53 which is about a 7:04 pace. We managed to keep that pace incredibly consistent through the entire set of 20. Now, here's something I learned at last week's speed workout, regarding how to gauge your marathon pace and preparedness. For some reason or another, it works out very well that your mm:ss pace on an 800m interval workout tends to correlate very well to your hh:mm pace for a marathon. This assumes you can sustain that 800m pace for 10 or more intervals with perhaps no more than 200m rests in between. But let me break down an example:
We were running 55sec laps for our 800m strides last week. So that correlates to a 03:40 (mm:ss) 800m (i.e. a 7:20 mile) Now, assuming you can sustain that pace for an extended 800m workout with little rest between sets, that implies you are prepared to run a 03:40 (hh:mm) marathon (an 8:23 pace). So this in other words, this is a fantastic way to gauge your goal. Now, we (Eric and I) were able to run that pace consistently but we did 8x800m with 400m rests (not 200m). So I don't think we're there yet. But Jack seems to think with enough speed work, we can get there by race day.
Now, I'm going to do a similar thing to translate our 400m workout yesterday to a half marathon:
We averaged a 53.5 sec 200m yesterday, or a 01:47 (mm:ss) 400m. This is a 7:08 min/mile btw. So tht 01:47 400m correlates to a 01:47 (hh:mm) half marathon (an 8:09/mi pace). So this is fascinating because the last half marathon I ran, with Jenn in October, was at an 8:10 pace. Now, I'd like to believe I've improved a bit since then, but perhaps more in endurance and less in speed, so I would believe those numbers. So as I am to improve these speeds, I can expect to see some corresponding improvement in my longer races.
At any rate, these workouts are a lot of fun, because they add variety, and a new challenge. Eric and I alternated taking the lead every other 400m and we kept each other motivated to keep up the speed. So it works out great.
Unfortunately today, I'm feeling some real tightness in my right calf, up high, just about behind my knee. I'm continuing to stretch it throughout the day. But I'm EXTREMELY grateful to be keeping my shin and ankle problems at bay. I'm continuing to take Advil before each run, and increasing the amount of icing I'm doing after tough runs.
Tonight is Runner's Meeting in Boston. And tomorrow I hope to make my first Crossroads run and get an 8-10 miler in (which will include heartbreak hill).
Here are the splits from yesterday, there are many of them:
400m Splits
53 days and counting down...
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
A Big Start to the Week
First and foremost, I ran my first 20-miler on Sunday. It was an out-and-back run starting at the Mount Auburn health club which put us out right at the top of heartbreak hill after running two miles to get to the course. So from the top of heartbreak hill, we ran down Commonwealth Ave and followed the course (in the reverse direction) down Rt 16 towards Wellesley. The turn-around point was at approximately the Wellesley tennis courts. The ones I used to spend time at before committing my legs to running. I plan to use them again soon by the way (Reef??).
Anyway, it was a couple miles before the turn-around point where I started feeling tired. In the reverse direction of the course, Rt 16 has a pretty nasty uphill. That was the start of some heaviness in my legs. I should also mention that Gill and I skiied a half day at Loon Mountain the day before, and the day before that I logged a decent bike workout at the Y. So my legs were certainly not fresh to start the run. And by the time I eventually hit heartbreak hill area, I was REALLY feeling my quads. Every single step was an immense effort up those hills. While I was cursing the previous day of skiing at the time, I'm grateful for the difficulty it added. I hope that it more accurately mimics what my legs will feel like on April 19th when I hit those hills. I also want to mention that the wind on the last mile of the run was so cruel. I looked at my watched an observed that I was clocking a 10:40 pace at one point giving it all I had into the wind.
There were some watch glitches/mistakes during the run, which really ticked me off, but I averaged JUST below 3:00 even on the run, I think about 2:58. This translates to about an 8:55 pace. Factoring in my legs, the wind, and the distance, I was really happy with that effort. Here's the run overview. Again, the time and total distance is a little off due to my screwup with the watch:
20 Miles with Heartbreak Hill
After the run Gill, myself, and three DFMC teammates (Eric, Marci, and Maggie) went out for some lunch at a local diner. We had to wait (painfully standing in the cold) for about 30 mins before being seated. I got me some eggs, toast, etc with 2 tall glasses of Chocolate Milk (great recovery drink). Gill and I then proceeded home where we spent the rest of the day lounging watching a movie (500 Days of Summer... pretty good) and the Olympics. I think I was in bed by 8:30 where I continued to veg. In the end, it was an awesome day.
Anyway, it was a couple miles before the turn-around point where I started feeling tired. In the reverse direction of the course, Rt 16 has a pretty nasty uphill. That was the start of some heaviness in my legs. I should also mention that Gill and I skiied a half day at Loon Mountain the day before, and the day before that I logged a decent bike workout at the Y. So my legs were certainly not fresh to start the run. And by the time I eventually hit heartbreak hill area, I was REALLY feeling my quads. Every single step was an immense effort up those hills. While I was cursing the previous day of skiing at the time, I'm grateful for the difficulty it added. I hope that it more accurately mimics what my legs will feel like on April 19th when I hit those hills. I also want to mention that the wind on the last mile of the run was so cruel. I looked at my watched an observed that I was clocking a 10:40 pace at one point giving it all I had into the wind.
There were some watch glitches/mistakes during the run, which really ticked me off, but I averaged JUST below 3:00 even on the run, I think about 2:58. This translates to about an 8:55 pace. Factoring in my legs, the wind, and the distance, I was really happy with that effort. Here's the run overview. Again, the time and total distance is a little off due to my screwup with the watch:
20 Miles with Heartbreak Hill
After the run Gill, myself, and three DFMC teammates (Eric, Marci, and Maggie) went out for some lunch at a local diner. We had to wait (painfully standing in the cold) for about 30 mins before being seated. I got me some eggs, toast, etc with 2 tall glasses of Chocolate Milk (great recovery drink). Gill and I then proceeded home where we spent the rest of the day lounging watching a movie (500 Days of Summer... pretty good) and the Olympics. I think I was in bed by 8:30 where I continued to veg. In the end, it was an awesome day.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Discouraging and Painful
I don't know if I'm just starting to hit my first major hump in training or if I'm starting to actually accumulate some more serious injuries, but my last two runs have gone from bad to worse. On Sunday, I ran a half marathon that got off to a very tough start. As usual, my ankles were in just a little pain but I popped a few Advil before the run so they were kept in check. The more prominent pain (or maybe its more accurately described as tightness) was in my left shin. Its been quite a while since I've had shin splints, and I used to get them seriously in high school, but I'm pretty sure that's not what this is. This is more in the meaty part of my shin where there's a bit of muscle. That muscle has been real tight after the first half mile that I've had to stop and massage it and stretch it out. On Sunday's run, I had to do this at mile 3 and mile 4 as well. I was very seriously considering quitting on a run for the first time in training. The thought of running another 10 miles or so with that discomfort was incredibly daunting. Luckily, on Sunday the pain ended up subsiding around mile 5 or 6. I actually ended up feeling really good from that point onward. I ran into strong cold wins on the return trip back home, but I was feeling incredible. So I brushed Sunday's run off as a bad start but a solid overall run.
Today's run was a different story. The same thing happened with my left shin. I stopped at mile 1 and again at mile 3 to massage and stretch. From there it was just a matter of pressing onward through the discomfort. I couldn't get my pace up to its natural speed because my gate was affected by the tightness. So instead I ended up moving about 1 min/mile slower. I was determined just to finish my 6-milerm(which was supposed to be 7) and get back home. I could feel my left foot clomping on the ground with very little grace because my shin didn't seem to want to do any leg work. Consequently, my left knee starting feeling some pain because my stride was a bit F'd up.
Anyway, I was totally discouraged for the entire hour of the run. I think it's just starting to get to that point in the training where its not new and exciting anymore and my legs are getting both fatigued and tight. I'm hoping its just a hurdle but its made running a bit less fun. Getting excited for workouts has been difficult. On the other side, I had a great swim workout Monday and a good simulated 5-miler at the gym yesterday on the Arc Trainer. Admittedly, I've been a bit light on my cross-training workouts lately because they seem to be the first workouts to fall by the wayside when time doesn't permit a workout during a hectic week. I'll plan to change this in the coming weeks
The last thing I want to mention is that I have a 16-18 mile run scheduled this weekend. This will be my longest run yet by a couple miles. I'm desperately hoping that my ankles and shins improve a bit between now and then. I'll be singing a very different tune if that run goes well on Saturday so check back in then.
Taking things in stride... thanks for checking in.
Today's run was a different story. The same thing happened with my left shin. I stopped at mile 1 and again at mile 3 to massage and stretch. From there it was just a matter of pressing onward through the discomfort. I couldn't get my pace up to its natural speed because my gate was affected by the tightness. So instead I ended up moving about 1 min/mile slower. I was determined just to finish my 6-milerm(which was supposed to be 7) and get back home. I could feel my left foot clomping on the ground with very little grace because my shin didn't seem to want to do any leg work. Consequently, my left knee starting feeling some pain because my stride was a bit F'd up.
Anyway, I was totally discouraged for the entire hour of the run. I think it's just starting to get to that point in the training where its not new and exciting anymore and my legs are getting both fatigued and tight. I'm hoping its just a hurdle but its made running a bit less fun. Getting excited for workouts has been difficult. On the other side, I had a great swim workout Monday and a good simulated 5-miler at the gym yesterday on the Arc Trainer. Admittedly, I've been a bit light on my cross-training workouts lately because they seem to be the first workouts to fall by the wayside when time doesn't permit a workout during a hectic week. I'll plan to change this in the coming weeks
The last thing I want to mention is that I have a 16-18 mile run scheduled this weekend. This will be my longest run yet by a couple miles. I'm desperately hoping that my ankles and shins improve a bit between now and then. I'll be singing a very different tune if that run goes well on Saturday so check back in then.
Taking things in stride... thanks for checking in.
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