Week Six

This is about a week late. We had one hell of a weather event last week and I just got my home internet back yesterday. So, here goes.

~Weekly Stats~
Runs: 6
Rest Days: 1
Miles: 50.5
Time: 7:19:24

This week was my lowest mileage since I started heart rate based training. I had planned on getting a short 5-6 mile run on Sunday. However, as I was driving to the gym I got in a minor car accident. So I didn't get to run that day. I am okay, my car will be okay in a few days once it gets out of the shop.

Sadly, I did not get to run my first ultra marathon. Due to the weather event I mentioned before, the race was cancelled. There were three feet of snow at the start of the race, which is a trail run in the mountains. Kinda makes it a little hard to hold the event when the course is buried. I still wanted to test my abilities so I did a 6 mile time trial. The result was an average pace of 6:19 with the last two miles in 6:09 and 5:51. Not too shabby.

The next day I got in a 10 miler @ 7:52 pace with an average heart rate of 162! That is a big improvement since I started HR training. Next week, probably Wednesday or Thursday, I will do another HADD test to assess my fitness. I would do the HADD test sooner but I have a big long run tomorrow morning. My 25th birthday was yesterday. Since I am working part time, I don't have time to run long during the week so I am celebrating my birthday tomorrow with a 25 mile run.

Run Strong.

Week Five

~Weekly Stats~
Runs: 7
Rest Days: 0
Miles: 56.1
Time: 8:37:36

This week was a little better than last week. I didn't quite make the mileage I was looking for (I wanted another 60 mile week) but I'll take what I got. This was my first week of teaching! Still getting in 56 miles while teaching, sounds like a solid week to me. My HR matched up to my paces a little closer to the way I think it should so I'm going to stick with this HR based training for a while. I may have to change the date of my next fitness test. It was going to be on the 23rd but it will probably be on the 30th because of a race I have next weekend.

Wait a minute, a race next weekend? That's right, I'm "racing" next weekend. I'm sticking to not putting out a race effort while I'm in this HR training cycle. But I'm not against running in a race. That being said, I will be running the Capitol Peaks Mega Fat A$$ 55k Ultramarathon on Saturday. I had planned on running the shorter race (17 miles) but the guys I am carpooling with are running the 55k. So I could sit around in the cold and wait for them or just join them for the long race. I opted for the long race. It will be a good test of my endurance. I've got a good mileage base going into it so I'm not too worried. The only thing a little daunting is that I've never ran farther than a marathon (42+k) before. That is why my only goal is to finish. I don't want to be worrying about how fast I am moving while I'm out there.

Run Strong.

Week Four

~Weekly Stats~ Runs: 6 Rest Days: 1 Miles: 62.3 Time: 9:41:38 Just a quick post this week. My overall pace dropped so I can assume that I am seeing a little improvement. Still, I had a few bad runs this week where my HR was very high considering the pace I was running. It ended with a great run today, 60 min @ 140 AHR. I ended up running 10:00 pace. This is the pace I ran at this HR during my initial fitness test. The difference, the fitness test was on flat ground and today was a hilly route. I take it as another sign that I am improving. On another note, I may be running my first ultra-marathon in 2 weeks. More on that later this week.

2011

Well, 2011 is almost over. If I managed to get the timing of this post right, it is one hour until the new year in NYc. I have mixed feeling about my running performance this year. Before we get into that, let's look back at the goals I set for myself. 1. 3:05 marathon/ Failed 2. 1:26 half marathon/ Check 3. Sub-40 10K/ Half Check 4. 2000 miles/ Check I only ran one marathon this year, Boston. I took a chance and went after a sub-3 performance. My efforts yielded a blow up of sorts and a 3:21:03 finish. I took that shot because I hit goal two easily. In March I ran a 1:24:36 at the Mercer Island Half Marathon. That is also where I earned my half check of goal number three. My 10K split there was sub-40. So I hit the goal, just not in a 10K race. Thanks to the streak, I crushed my mileage goal. I finished the year with a little over 2200 miles. While I succeeded at shorter distances (also managed 18:59 for the 5K)and overall mileage, I am slightly disappointed with my time from Boston. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't change how I ran that race at all. I set a goal, made a strategy and gave it my best effort. I made the Boston-rookie mistake of taking some of the early downhills too quickly and my quads were thrashed for the uphill section in Newton. Since I started running, Boston was always in my mind, even if I never told anyone. So my finish time was a little hard to deal with at first. While I am still upset by it, I have accepted it and layed out a new plan to run sub-3. **********2011 Running Stats********** Distance: 2219.5 Miles Time: 297:34:50 Average Pace: 8:03 Days Run: 302 Average Run: 7.35 miles Now, for the fun part. My goals for next year. 1. Sub-3 Marathon 2. Sub-1:23 Half Marathon 3. 2500 miles 4. Finish a 50K The marathon and half marathon goals will it until the fall. I am spending a good chunk of the first 6 months of 2912 building a strong base. I may throw in some shorter 10K/HM stuff but just for fun. No PR attempts. The 50K goal is conditional. There is a 50k race near where I live on June 2. However, I do not know if I will still be living here then. If I am still close enough (western Washington...maybe northern Oregon) I will sign up and run the race. If DW or myself gets a job out of the area, I will be focused on getting settled in our new home and getting into a new routine. I hope everyone had a great 2011 and has an even better 2012. Run Strong!

Week Three

This week was kind of a down week for me. I had some great runs with my club but my solo efforts were less then stellar. Not that I'm aiming for stellar paces but my paces were not near what I hoped they would be at this point. A good friend of mine who is also going through this heart rate training reminded me that patience is key. In time, this will pay off and I will see improvements. And I still have some speed in these legs. After my one hour run yesterday I ran a one mile time trial. Somehow I pulled a 5:20. I think the track I was on is a little short but it still translates to about a 5:45. Anyhow, I'll leave you with the weeks stats. Later I'll do a December/2011 recap post. ~Weekly Stats~ Runs: 7 Rest days: 0 Distance: 62 (currently at 58 and planning on 4 tomorrow morning) Time: 9:11:23 (plus tomorrow's run)

Week Two

Week two of heart rate training went well.

~Weekly Stats~
Runs: 6
Rest days: 1
Miles: 55.4
Time: 8:39:09

I had a great long run on Thursday. I got in 15 miles with several members of my running club, including Cat (who did my LR with me the previous Thursday). We ran the entire second half at a faster pace than we did our fastest mile last week! In all our pace was about 30 seconds per mile faster and my HR was lower! I attribute most of this to starting out more conservatively and picking the pace up versus speeding out and slowing at the end. Also, it helps to run with a group.

Saturday's club run went well too. Tom and I clocked a 6:55 last mile. That's the first time I've run that quick since I started HR training. Granted I should have been holding back more, I didn't mind letting my HR go up a little since I had a few easy miles before the club run and a few easy ones ahead of me to get home after the run.

My pace for the week was slightly slower than week one (9:23 vs 9:18). Though this is probably because week one included the initial test. I'm hoping this all pays off. It is taking a little getting use to running one minute plus slower than my average pace for the year. I'm hoping to hit 60+ miles this week. We'll see if that works out.

Santa was nice enough to bring me some new running gear: Asics jacket, a pair of Brooks PureConnect, Brooks nightlife vest, socks and a few running shirts. That makes me one happy runner :)

Week One

Just finished my first week of HR based training. In all I'd call it a good week. On Thursday, during my LR with a friend from my new running club my heart rate was a bit fast for our overall pace. Other than that everything went great! I thought that I would not like running slower the majority of my runs but my legs feel fresher than they did before. My plan is to jump near 55 mpw next week and 6x mpw the last week of the year. That should set me up nicely to get in a solid base over the first few months of 2012.

~Weekly Stats~
Runs: 6
Rest Days: 1
Miles: 47.3
Time: 7:20:02