My Journey to 50 miles (2nd attempt)... (comments welcome)

[disneygpa]

So, success in slowing down at least for last night.
I screwed up putting this run in Donna's Garmin and that caused some confusion during the run.
I changed it but then Donna never synced her phone with the Garmin so anyway....



Also, because of my screw-up, we ended up running 1 less CV than we were supposed to . I thought she was only supposed to run 3 so we skipped number 4. Turns out, I had that part put in correctly.

I still can't figure out the big differences in the Garmins. Mine shows the first mile at 14:40, almost perfect for her easy pace and hers shows 15:24... a little to slow. Even though we were side by side the entire time. Weird. Her CV runs were a little slow on the first two. But given that it was warm again and her recent issues with the shot and the fatigue on Sunday, I think they are ok. The last half mile was a little fast.

4 miles both Sat & Sun. We are really gonna work on keeping her pace slow!!

 

[DopeyBadger]

I still can't figure out the big differences in the Garmins.

What are the two Garmins and are both GPS settings set to the same?

 

[disneygpa]

What are the two Garmins and are both GPS settings set to the same?

Mine is a Fenix 6s and she has my old Vivoactive 3.
Mine is set to GPS + glonass, not 100% sure about Donna's. But I believe it is the same.
Sometimes it seems like they are neck n neck and other days they are way off. I guess it isn't really that big a deal. Just curious.

 

[DopeyBadger]

Mine is a Fenix 6s and she has my old Vivoactive 3.
Mine is set to GPS + glonass, not 100% sure about Donna's. But I believe it is the same.
Sometimes it seems like they are neck n neck and other days they are way off. I guess it isn't really that big a deal. Just curious.

It's possible one has "1-second" GPS ping and the other is set to "Smart" or some other longer length of time. It would be interesting to test them head to head on a known course if the settings are indeed the same. I'd use Google Maps and map out a one mile route. Then walk the route with your watches both recording, hit the known 1 mile mark (see how they compare), and then turn around and do an easy run pace back to the same starting point (and see how they compare again). Testing them both at walking speed (and thus more pings per mile because more time per mile) and then your easy paces (to test something that has less pings per mile).

 

[disneygpa]

It's possible one has "1-second" GPS ping and the other is set to "Smart" or some other longer length of time. It would be interesting to test them head to head on a known course if the settings are indeed the same. I'd use Google Maps and map out a one mile route. Then walk the route with your watches both recording, hit the known 1 mile mark (see how they compare), and then turn around and do an easy run pace back to the same starting point (and see how they compare again). Testing them both at walking speed (and thus more pings per mile because more time per mile) and then your easy paces (to test something that has less pings per mile).

Haven't done the one mile out and back yet. However, you might be on to something. We did a walk, started the Garmin's at the same time, and stopped them at the same time. According to Google maps, the walk was 1.53 miles, and according to BOTH our Garmin's the distance was 1.54. Given that we made a few turns and I can't map it exactly, I'd say this is pretty close. So, during a walk, we are very close/exactly the same. But as you'll see, small differences when we run, even at the slow paces.

Saturday & Sunday - both easy 4 mile runs. The weather was C R A P P Y.... low 50s and steady rainfall. yuk.... typical for this time of year but still yuck. Really tried to focus on slowing down and I'd say we did better. Still not slow enough, but better than last week. Given the cooler temps and slowing down, both of these runs went well. Donna didn't need any extra walk breaks and didn't even sound like she was getting tired.

In a nutshell, Coach was right again. She's still going in to get her heart checked, but I think Billy may have discovered the fatigue issue. Thanks!!

Saturday

Donna's Garmin's battery died at 3.97, thus the reason she's a little shy on distance for today. Again, my Garmin reads about .1 more than hers.



Sunday

.09 difference today. Start and stop at the same time.



The Garmin thing really isn't a big deal, it just makes me curious.

 

[disneygpa]

Monday, fun run day!

When I went to the doc, the trainer wanted me to start working on my form. He wanted me to concentrate on picking up my feet more, leaning forward just a bit more, and not hunching my shoulders forward as I start to get tired. Now, he wanted me to focus on these during all my paces. But to be honest it seems nearly impossible to pick my feet up that far at my WU or even EA/EB paces. He asked me to really try to get my ankles above my knees. So, last night I really tried to do this especially during my HM portion of my paces. I found it easier to run when I would get in the sweet spot but also difficult to maintain as I'm just not used to it. When I would get it just right, the HM pace felt almost relaxing. Definitely, something I need to continue to work on.

The hamstring is a bit more annoying this morning and to make it worse, I didn't drag myself out of bed and stretch before work. I tempted fate last night and ran the half-mile hill during my warm-up. This was probably a mistake, but the hamstring was feeling good(ish) and I wanted to give it a test. Probably should stick to the relatively flat portions of my route before trying this again.

I probably like this run more than I should and it shows sometimes with my paces being too fast and not consistent.

Overall it felt good but I still need work....

 

[disneygpa]

Tuesday's run 1M WU, 5 x 3minCV + 90sec RI, .5CD

Donna did really well on this run. The first mile was pretty close to the pace and then the intervals that followed were pretty good also!
CD .5 was a little fast. Even though it was sunny and a little warm, she didn't seem to burn out at any point. Overall a pretty good run!



Got up early this morning and stretched and did a workout. Other than sleepy feeling pretty good!

 

[disneygpa]

Wednesday's run went well 2 miles with Donna at her EA.



Thursday's run 1 mile EA and 2 miles continuous with Donna her paces



She's doing MUCH better at slowing down and it shows. Given the disaster a couple of Sundays ago was, she was pretty nervous about 2 continuous miles. I'm happy to say that she did great! And at the end of the run, she said she felt like she could have continued at that pace for at least a little longer.
This is the first week she's going to have 5 runs and she seems to be feeling pretty good so far! We'll see how she feels after Sunday's 7.25 miles!!

As a note to have, I seem to have tweaked something in my abs while working out this morning. Nothing to be super concerned about as of now. Just making a note so I can refer back if it develops into something of concern.

 

[disneygpa]

Weekend update!

Saturday 5 easy Donna miles. All went well. We got up and got this done fairly early. Slowing Donna down has really been the key. The weather has been slightly cooler than the day she had trouble. But I think the big thing is slowing down.
Mine:

Donna:


Sunday long run! 7.25 miles at Donna's EA. Thought that this was going to be a super wet run(it was pouring at the house) but as we got to the trailhead it started to taper off and ended up being quite pleasant. There was a bit of a headwind heading east on the trail but mostly buffered by the trees and overgrowth along the trail. It was nice to have the breeze at our back when we were heading west!! No real concerns this time. Temps were in the low 60s and it was mostly cloudy. No fatigue issues for Donna this time. We took in fuel and water at 3 miles and 5 miles. Decided not to take in anything after that. Instead, we went for BBQ when we were finished!!!
Mile 4 seems a bit slow. Not really sure why. We made it to the washout on the trail and turned around during this mile. I didn't think we waited all that long at the creek, but maybe we waited longer than I thought. Also, the tree cover was pretty heavy at that turnaround. Maybe Garmin got lost.

Mine:

Donna:


We are slowly exploring the trail that I might use for my 37 miler. So far it seems like a good choice. Other than the washed-out area that I believe will be smaller come September the rest of the trail seems to be in good shape. I'm considering options for the washed-out area. I could just take off my street runners and walk through the water, or change into my trail runners at some point, go through the water and change back to my street runners afterward. Still thinking this over. We'll keep exploring further upriver and see how the rest of it looks.

Got up this morning to stretch and do our workout. Poor Donna may have pinched a nerve or something in her neck this morning. She's gonna rest it and see how she feels later.

 

[disneygpa]

The weather is getting nicer around here. Time to start considering T & D for my runs.

Monday was 5 miles @ EB + strides. Must have been fairly uneventful as I don't recall anything in particular from the run.



Tuesday 2.5 easy miles with Donna. Really focusing on slowing her down and I think it's working.



Wednesday 1.5 mile WU + 20 sets of (1 min of HM Tempo + 1 min of Easy B) + 1mile CD. I still love this run! Could have slowed down on some of the intervals. Especially since T & D was 120. I really really try to slow down. But sometimes it just feels good to go at the pace I'm going. Overall the average was good.




It's been a good week so far. I need to stretch more. I've been slacking a bit and the hamstring is reminding me of this. Also, on a clear liquid diet for the next couple of days. Not sure how that will affect the run tonight. It's a Donna run, so it shouldn't be too bad for me. But, I'll still want to see what kind of energy I have for the run.

For the few that read this. How optimistic are you for marathon weekend? The way things are going, I'm fairly optimistic but I really wish they would make some sort of announcement either way!!!

 

[DopeyBadger]

For the few that read this. How optimistic are you for marathon weekend? The way things are going, I'm fairly optimistic but I really wish they would make some sort of announcement either way!!!

I feel rather optimistic that MW 2022 will happen. I think you'll see an announcement within the next month or so. I've always felt that mid-July is about the cutoff for realistically pulling off the event (with no inside knowledge). So we'll see.

 

[disneygpa]

Weekend update! All went well over the weekend.

Thursday was 2.5 miles @ CV with Donna.

Looks like we have some work to do on CV paces. I don't really remember but it seems like T&D was something like 123 so we were aiming for something around 11:41. We definitely ran the second interval too fast but given the temps, I'm happy with intervals 1 and 3.

Saturday and Sunday were both 4 miles at Easy with Donna.



She's doing better at slowing down but, definitely could even slow down one more gear for the most part.

This afternoon is going to be toasty for around here. Probably mid-80s by run time. I'm going to have to adjust and even then it might be a tough run!
Looking forward to it though because the HM tempos are currently my favorite run!

@DopeyBadger Billy, do you know of any apps for my phone or websites that will do your T&D adjustments for you? Just curious. I can do them, but if there is an electronic way it would take my brain out of the problem-solving! Thanks!

 

[DopeyBadger]

@DopeyBadger Billy, do you know of any apps for my phone or websites that will do your T&D adjustments for you? Just curious. I can do them, but if there is an electronic way it would take my brain out of the problem-solving! Thanks!

Just save these images to your phone and then you'll always have quick/easy access to them.

 

[disneygpa]

View attachment 583854

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Just save these images to your phone and then you'll always have quick/easy access to them.

Oh WOW!!!! Thank you!!!!!

 

[disneygpa]

Whew.... Monday's Minutes run was toasty! T&D=143

Really made an effort to keep my paces slower. Some places along the route definitely felt hotter than others.
I don't usually take water on weekday runs, but I did last night. Mostly to pour on my head but I did drink a bit too!
Supposed to be cooler tonight. I sure hope so!

 

[disneygpa]

Tuesday's CV run was a success!

T+D= 134 so 2.5% adjustment.
Tried to keep the CV above 11:50, for the most part, it was a success and even when she was fast it was only a little fast.
I think we need to pick up the pace just a touch when we are walking. Looks like we are sauntering a little too much!
Donna LOVES this CV run!! She struggled a bit with the first one. She was a little out of breath, but the last three she did great on!
She felt good when finished and is feeling good today!!



@DopeyBadger Billy, it looks like we are WAY off on mileage for the CV runs. Plan says we should have done 4.8 miles but we only got 3.57. The time is about right should have been 48:10 per plan and came in at 50:25, I'm assuming because we slowed down the WU and CD portions. Am I missing something on the plan or is there an adding error somewhere?

Weird weather coming up for us. Supposed to be 90+ this coming weekend. I have to work so we've decided it's best to get up EARLY and get our runs in. Pretty sure we'll be out the door before 3 am on Sunday. Otherwise, it'll mean running in the hottest part of the day and I think I'd rather hide from the heat than run in it!!!

 

[DopeyBadger]

@DopeyBadger Billy, it looks like we are WAY off on mileage for the CV runs. Plan says we should have done 4.8 miles but we only got 3.57. The time is about right should have been 48:10 per plan and came in at 50:25, I'm assuming because we slowed down the WU and CD portions. Am I missing something on the plan or is there an adding error somewhere?

There was an error in the mileage calculation for the CV runs. So it should have been 3.6 miles per the updated data. It's because the "CD" is in the middle of the data collection for run/walk plans and at the end of the collection for run plans. So when I pulled the calculations over from a "run plan" the easy/hard calc was all good, but the CD was off. Your future ones are 4.1 and 4.0 miles. But it doesn't change the duration of the runs which is what I pay attention to when writing so no ramping changes need to occur.

 

[disneygpa]

There was an error in the mileage calculation for the CV runs. So it should have been 3.6 miles per the updated data. It's because the "CD" is in the middle of the data collection for run/walk plans and at the end of the collection for run plans. So when I pulled the calculations over from a "run plan" the easy/hard calc was all good, but the CD was off. Your future ones are 4.1 and 4.0 miles. But it doesn't change the duration of the runs which is what I pay attention to when writing so no ramping changes need to occur.

I figured it wasn't a big deal because the duration was close. Thanks for the info! Donna is really enjoying the variety and intensity of the runs! Slowing down during the easy runs really seems to have fixed the fatigue issue she was experiencing. She's doing a good job learning the T+D. With Florida running on the horizon she's going to need the chart and the adjustments!!

 

[disneygpa]

Wednesday and Thursday's runs were good. Warm for us in the PNW. T+D 133 both days. Slowed down the paces.

It's hard to run slower when you already run slow. But we managed to slow down enough that both runs went well!!
We did walk in between the last two strides. But I figured it was ok given the temperature.

Supposed to hit 100 up here on Monday. That's insanely hot for around here! Almost no one has A/C so it's a lot of sitting in front of fans. Planning on starting to get up early and run. I'd rather do that than die in the heat. Might have to continue that all next week. We'll see how it goes. I charged my headlamp just in case!!




Donna's Garmin was WAY off at the end of yesterday's run but, was spot on with mine the day before. Her's was off by more than .21 miles at the end of 3.5-miles.
The only difference between the two days is that she synced her watch just prior to running the 2-mile run and didn't sync her watch at all yesterday. So we are going to try a little experiment with syncing her watch to her phone right before our runs and see if it starts recording closer to mine.

 

[disneygpa]

Weekend update....
Hot! and I had to work. So to beat the heat and get our runs in it was early early morning 2:45 Saturday and then 2:30 Sunday.

Saturday T & D at 3 am was 133. That's high for an afternoon run around here let alone a 3 am run. So off we went. Good run, 5.5 miles at Donna's easy pace.



Sunday T & D 136. Holy smokes! Still better to run at 3 am than to try and do this in the sunshine this afternoon when it might break 100.
8 easy Donna miles! She struggled a bit the first couple of miles, but ultimately settled in and really had a good run.


We really tried to keep these over 15:08/mile. Unfortunately, we failed quite often. Slower but not quite as slow as it needed to be.