Keep Moving Forward: A Training Log (Comments Welcome)

[lhermiston]

We got about half an inch of snow tonight and 3-6 inches more are on the way. Should make for a fun weekend and what will amount to be a mini-Dopey. I had business to take care of last night, so that run (6 miles) got pushed off to today. Six more miles on Friday, 10 on Saturday and a half (!!!) on Sunday. Bring it on.

Anyway, today's run was 6 miles @ EA (9:47/mile). Operation: Slow Down remains in full effect and tonight it actually went pretty well. My mile times were 9:29, 9:46, 9:23, 9:45, 9:34, 9:48. So, three of the miles I was within a few seconds of the goal pace and the 9:34 mile wasn't *too* far off. I'm happy about that.

Granted, this is an EA mile and I feel it gets tougher to manage my pace at faster speeds, but Rome wasn't built in a day.

Today's Distance: 6 miles
Avg. Pace: 9:38/mile
Time: 57:47

 

[ZellyB]

Hey, just found your journal!! I didn't realize there were so many new journals started, so I'm excited about that. You are doing a great job on the training and so speedy! I'm loving your pictures as well. Really happy to be here and follow your journey.

 

[lhermiston]

Hey, just found your journal!! I didn't realize there were so many new journals started, so I'm excited about that. You are doing a great job on the training and so speedy! I'm loving your pictures as well. Really happy to be here and follow your journey.

I'm happy to have you following along!

 

[lhermiston]

Happy Friday, everyone.

Six miles/fake Dopey Day 2/Operation: Slow Down tonight after work. My concerted efforts to slow down went well tonight. My prescribed pace was EA (9:47/mile). I had two miles in the 9:20s, but everything else was in the 9:34-9:48 range. So, I feel like I'm staying more consistent.

Fake Dopey continues tomorrow with 10 miles at EB.

Today's Distance: 6 miles
Avg. Pace: 9:38 (goal pace 9:47)
Time: 57:47

 

[lhermiston]

So, yesterday was 10 miles @ EB (9:06/mile). It was also day 3 of my fake Dopey and Operation Slow Down.

You guys, the snow is kicking my butt. No other way to say it. It's just a drag.

The first three miles started off pretty well, but the sidewalks were mostly clear. I logged times of 9:05, 9:00 and 9:00, all within my goal pace. Right at the beginning of Mile 3, I was going to continue on my typical long run route, but I looked ahead and saw nothing but snow-covered sidewalk. Not wanting to mess with that, I took a turn toward a different route that had been cleared pretty well earlier in the week.

On Saturday ... no such luck. At the 3.5 mile mark, which was also the start of a decent incline, I had nothing but snow. I trudged up the hill and ended Mile 4 at 9:21. Dang it (my actual words at the time were a little stronger).

I overcompensated on Mile 5 and came in at 8:54. Mile 6 was within range - 9:12 - but I was starting to really wear down. Like I said, the snow was just kicking my butt. Mile 7 came in at 9:00, but Mile 8 was 9:17 and Mile 9 was 9:19. I was feeling gassed.

I overcompensated again on Mile 10 and finished with an 8:48 mile. That said, I averaged 9:06/mile over the entire 10 miles, so that's good I guess?

13 miles at LR (8:46/mile) later today and ... it snowed more overnight. Grrrrr. Full report on that later.

Saturday's Distance: 10 miles
Avg. Pace: 9:06/mile
Time: 1:31:03

 

[mankle30]

Sucks to hear about all the snow. We've been getting 2-3 inches of snow almost daily for the past week and I've been taking things inside to the treadmill. But I'm not running nearly so far yet. I've tried 2 hour runs on the treadmill and it's depressing.

 

[lhermiston]

Sucks to hear about all the snow. We've been getting 2-3 inches of snow almost daily for the past week and I've been taking things inside to the treadmill. But I'm not running nearly so far yet. I've tried 2 hour runs on the treadmill and it's depressing.

I’ve always felt really unsteady on treadmills, so for me it’s basically run outside or don’t run at all. And yeah, two hours on a treadmill sounds like torture! Kudos to you for sticking with that!

 

[DopeyBadger]

So, yesterday was 10 miles @ EB (9:06/mile). It was also day 3 of my fake Dopey and Operation Slow Down.

You guys, the snow is kicking my butt. No other way to say it. It's just a drag.

The first three miles started off pretty well, but the sidewalks were mostly clear. I logged times of 9:05, 9:00 and 9:00, all within my goal pace. Right at the beginning of Mile 3, I was going to continue on my typical long run route, but I looked ahead and saw nothing but snow-covered sidewalk. Not wanting to mess with that, I took a turn toward a different route that had been cleared pretty well earlier in the week.

On Saturday ... no such luck. At the 3.5 mile mark, which was also the start of a decent incline, I had nothing but snow. I trudged up the hill and ended Mile 4 at 9:21. Dang it (my actual words at the time were a little stronger).

I overcompensated on Mile 5 and came in at 8:54. Mile 6 was within range - 9:12 - but I was starting to really wear down. Like I said, the snow was just kicking my butt. Mile 7 came in at 9:00, but Mile 8 was 9:17 and Mile 9 was 9:19. I was feeling gassed.

I overcompensated again on Mile 10 and finished with an 8:48 mile. That said, I averaged 9:06/mile over the entire 10 miles, so that's good I guess?

13 miles at LR (8:46/mile) later today and ... it snowed more overnight. Grrrrr. Full report on that later.

Saturday's Distance: 10 miles
Avg. Pace: 9:06/mile
Time: 1:31:03

Remember that going slower is ok when the effort dictates it. I find myself going 20-30-60 seconds slower on snow runs because the effort dictates such. Keep it up you're doing great!

 

[lhermiston]

Remember that going slower is ok when the effort dictates it. I find myself going 20-30-60 seconds slower on snow runs because the effort dictates such. Keep it up you're doing great!

Great advice! I should’ve considered that before the 13 miles today. I think it would’ve made for an overall more productive run (more on that later). Thanks for the encouragement.

 

[lhermiston]

13 miles in the snow today and it was a killer. My calves will definitely be feeling it today.

I'm not sure how instructive it will be to post my pace or time. Strava pauses automatically when I stop and doesn't resume again until I start running, so any time I paused and walked a bit, it didn't get logged. There wasn't a ton of that, but there was more in the later miles, so my final time and pace are not accurate.

Instead, I think I'm going to list some takeaways from the run so I can make it more of a learning experience.

First, the negatives:

- Too many stops/walking. I really think the snow just wore me out. It didn't help that I was stubborn and tried to stick to a pace that was meant for ideal conditions, not 2-3 inches of snow. That didn't do me any favors. Lesson learned.
- There was SO. MUCH. SNOW. Everywhere I turned, guys. And, it's only the second week of February. Not ideal.
- I didn't gauge my distance correctly and had two miles left to go after I got back to my house. Not a huge deal, but it takes the wind out of my sales a bit.

Now, the positives:

- I did 13 miles. Was it my best 13 miles ever? No. But I got there, I did it and I survived to tell the tale.
- I got out and ran for four days straight. 35 miles in four days, 23 over the last 22 hours or so. Dopey is 11 months away, but it's good to know my body can take that.
- The first five miles did go pretty well, before the snow and hills got to me.
- I dropped about four pounds on my run.
- From a mental preparation standpoint, this was a good run for me. There was some adversity to overcome and I kept on trucking. I feel good about that.
- Iowa is certainly unpredictable, but weather conditions should be much better for my race at the end of April. Training in the worst conditions should hopefully make more pleasant conditions seem easier.

So, this run was far from ideal, but there are some positives to focus on. On to the next run...

Today's Distance: 13 miles
Avg. Pace: N/A
Time: N/A
Miles This Week: 43
Miles This Year: 194

 

[SarahDisney]

Getting out there and running 13 miles in the snow (even if it wasn't your best ever) is pretty amazing - great job!

 

[run.minnie.miles]

You’re a champ for running 13 miles in this snow! Way to go!!

 

[JulieODC]

Snow running is the pits! Definitely takes more effort - like running in sand. So your 13 miles is extra impressive.

 

[ZellyB]

Way to go!! I'm impressed by all those miles in the snow. This winter running stinks, so well done on getting it accomplished!

 

[lhermiston]

Snow running is the pits! Definitely takes more effort - like running in sand. So your 13 miles is extra impressive.

Way to go!! I'm impressed by all those miles in the snow. This winter running stinks, so well done on getting it accomplished!

Thank you, both! Running in the snow is not my idea of a good time, at all. Definitely feeling it in my back and legs today!

 

[lhermiston]

No snow, no problems, dudes and dudettes!

With a slight warm up today (34 degrees!), some of the snow finally melted and I had some mostly clear sidewalks for today's workout. I was soooo thankful just for that. The fact that it was sunny and relatively warm was icing on the cake.

Today's run was a two-mile warmup, 6 miles @ Tempo (8:05/mile) and a .5 mile cool down. I've been known to reduce my warm up miles, but today I took full advantage of the two miles. My legs, particularly my right knee, were still achy after Sunday's little jaunt through the snow. By the time the two miles were up, though, I felt good to go.

All in all, the tempo run went really well. I was within range or *really* close to it on five of the six miles and there's no physical reason I couldn't have hit all six. It was a workout, for sure, but everything felt really good.

I ended this run feeling really good at how things went and am looking forward to tomorrow's easy six miles. It should be in the 40s and I'm stoked!

Today's Distance: 8.5 miles
Avg. Pace: 8:30/mile
Time: 1:12:18

 

[IamTrike]

No snow, no problems, dudes and dudettes!

With a slight warm up today (34 degrees!), some of the snow finally melted and I had some mostly clear sidewalks for today's workout. I was soooo thankful just for that. The fact that it was sunny and relatively warm was icing on the cake.

Today's run was a two-mile warmup, 6 miles @ Tempo (8:05/mile) and a .5 mile cool down. I've been known to reduce my warm up miles, but today I took full advantage of the two miles. My legs, particularly my right knee, were still achy after Sunday's little jaunt through the snow. By the time the two miles were up, though, I felt good to go.

All in all, the tempo run went really well. I was within range or *really* close to it on five of the six miles and there's no physical reason I couldn't have hit all six. It was a workout, for sure, but everything felt really good.

I ended this run feeling really good at how things went and am looking forward to tomorrow's easy six miles. It should be in the 40s and I'm stoked!

Today's Distance: 8.5 miles
Avg. Pace: 8:30/mile
Time: 1:12:18

Congrats on the good tempo run.

 

[lhermiston]

Congrats on the good tempo run.

Thanks!

 

[ZellyB]

Yay for warm-ups.

Our weather here is drunk. It was 30 degrees at run time yesterday and should be close to 60 tomorrow and then they are calling for a wintry mix on Saturday.

 

[lhermiston]

Yay for warm-ups.

Our weather here is drunk. It was 30 degrees at run time yesterday and should be close to 60 tomorrow and then they are calling for a wintry mix on Saturday.

Sheesh!

It’s beautiful here today. 45 and sunny. So, of course that means I get to postpone my run because I have an upset stomach. Grrr.