This is my training journal. I'm bad at titles. (Comments welcome!)

Hope your surgery goes well......and no barn spiders lay eggs in your nose (which will only make sense if you have ever watched Big Bang Theory)
 
striker1064 said:
POTUS is a new, limited run play starring Rachel Dratch, Julianne Hough, Lea DeLaria, Suzy Nakamura, Lilli Cooper, Julie White, and Vanessa Williams. Hilarious show! We laughed literally from the opening line. It so far exceeded my expectations, in the best possible way.
Click to expand...

Fun! I have heard nothing but good things about this new play!
 


May 3 - May 8

Tuesday - 3.5 Miles Easy (10:20 - 11:05)
  • 3.5 Miles @ Easy (10:20 - 11:05)
    • 10:20, 10:28, 10:26, 10:45
  • Actually managed to get a run in on Tuesday after a day in the office! I even impressed myself.
Wednesday and Thursday - Rest
  • Sinus procedure went well! I was nervous because it was a local anesthesia in the office, but after a pre-op Valium + Percocet I didn't really care too much what they did.
  • Wednesday was pretty rough, but by Thursday afternoon I actually felt like I could run again. I didn't, but I had energy, no pain, and no bleeding. Much better than I could have ever expected!
Friday - Daniels R Workout - 1.5 Mile Warm Up (11:48), 12 x 200 Meter reps at Daniels R (7:20) with 200 Meter recovery, 1 Mile Cool Down (11:48)
  • My only real issue in recovery has been pretty severe nasal congestion, which is normal. My issues with breathing pre-surgery meant I was mostly running while breathing through my mouth though, so this wasn't going to be too different.
  • Daniels, and by extension the V.O2 app, seem to love R workouts. There's been one a week so far, and in peeking ahead at the calendar, that pattern remains. I don't mind because I find R workouts to be fairly easy, but 12 reps is far and away the most I've ever done in a single workout.
    • Warm Up, 1.5 Miles: 12:09, 12:02
    • 12 x 200 Meters @ R (7:20)
      • 7:23, 7:23, 7:06, 7:39, 7:06, 7:06, 6:58, 7:15, 7:23, 7:15, 7:23, 7:15
    • Cool Down, 1 Mile: 11:56
  • Even after 2 days rest from surgery and somewhat labored breathing, R workouts continue to not really cause me too many issues. Also, that's some remarkable consistency - I have to think Garmin or Strava is smoothing out the segment a bit, because I find it hard to believe I hit 4 segments at exactly the same pace, plus another 3 at another pace, plus another 2 at another pace! Weird.
Saturday - 5.5 Miles Easy (10:20 - 11:05)
  • Woke up once again feeling good with no ill-effects from my tempo day Friday. Always a good sign!
    • 5.5 Miles @ Easy (10:20 - 11:05)
      • 10:42, 10:33, 10:25, 10:28, 10:17, 10:08
  • Saturday was kind of a miserably chilly, windy, and rainy day, so I definitely ran this on the faster side of easy.
Sunday - 7 Miles Long Run (10:03)
  • And back to Sunday for my favorite day, long runs! The weather is weirdly chilly for May and it's a bit blustery, but the temperature itself is very comfortable for running.
    • 7 Miles @ LR (10:03)
      • 9:24, 10:01, 9:57, 10:26, 10:05, 10:48, 9:47
  • Yeah, I clearly started way too fast, and the entire run was uneven as a result. I wasn't feeling particularly tired or worn out, but it's a good reminder that even at easier paces, getting the pace right at the beginning is important.
And here we are! I'm very satisfied my recovery has been easy enough to keep me feeling good and able to run. The congestion makes me wish I could honk my nose Foghorn Leghorn-style, but sadly that's frowned upon so I just kinda have to deal with it until my follow up next week.

Next week I'm back on my usual running schedule. I'm going to try doing a quality workout Monday and Thursday, with rests Tuesday and Friday, easy runs Wednesday and Saturday. Sunday will be the 10k! Not sure what to expect there, but I'm excited to go race.
 
May 9 - May 14

Monday - Daniels R - 1 Mile Warm Up (11:48), 3 x 200 Meter reps at Daniels R (7:20) with 200 Meter recovery, 2 x 400 Meter reps at Daniels R with 400 Meter recovery, 3 x 200 Meter reps at Daniels R with 200 Meter recovery, 1 Mile Cool Down (11:48)
  • Have I mentioned how much Daniels/V.O2 loves R workouts?
    • Warm Up, 1 Mile: 12:00
    • 3 x 300 Meters @ R (7:20)
      • 7:15, 7:06, 7:23
    • 2 x 400 Meters @ R (7:20)
      • 7:15, 7:23
    • 3 x 200 Meters @ R (7:20)
      • 7:15, 7:06, 7:15
    • Cool Down, 1 Mile: 11:12
  • One thing is for certain, when I look at my paces I definitely feel these R workouts are making me faster. Those 400 meter reps were a challenge, but only 2 meant it wasn't a huge issue, and I'm encouraged that I was able to hold on for the 200 meter reps following.
Tuesday - Rest

Wednesday - Easy - 6.5 Miles Easy (10:20 - 11:05)
  • A longer easy day! I like it. It's a good way to increase my volume without adding a ton of workouts.
    • 6.5 Miles @ Easy (10:20 - 11:05)
      • 10:37, 10:34, 10:38, 10:37, 10:14, 10:22, 10:03
  • I am taking these runs on the faster side of my paces because I've been feeling good. I can't tell if it's because I've improved, or if I'm about to blow a gasket from overtraining and I just don't know it yet. Guess I'll find out soon enough.
Thursday - Daniels R - 1 Mile Warm Up (11:48), 4 x 200 Meter reps at Daniels R (7:20) with 200 Meter recovery, 3 x 400 Meter reps at Daniels R with 400 Meter recovery, 1 Mile Cool Down (11:48)
  • Find yourself someone who loves you the way Jack Daniels loves R workouts.
    • Warm Up, 1 Mile: 11:14
    • 4 x 200 Meters @ R (7:20)
      • 7:06, 6:58, 6:58, 7:06
    • 3 x 400 Meters @ R (7:20)
      • 7:06, 7:23, 7:06
    • Cool Down, 1 Mile: 11:52
  • I definitely started too fast out of the gate here on the 200 meter reps. I was able to maintain sub-12 on all but one of my recovery intervals, and I think that's pretty great pacing on the 400 meter reps too.
Friday - Rest
  • It was another theatre day! We caught Freestyle Love Supreme at the Kennedy Center. If the tour is coming to your town it's well worth checking out! An absolutely hilarious and fun night.

Saturday - Easy - 3 Miles Easy (10:20 - 11:05) + Strides
  • That famous DC humidity is here and it's awful. Today's run T/D was 67/64 = 131, just incredibly muggy and uncomfortable running weather.
  • It has been a while since I've done strides. V.O2 only seems to assign them before a race, and also suggests 20 second strides instead of the 10 second I'm used to. Splitting the difference sounded good to me.
    • 3 Miles @ Easy (10:20 - 11:05) + 5 Strides in the final mile
      • 10:29, 10:41, 9:42
  • Even with the humidity, that was a pretty fast run, and the strides made the last mile fly by. This run was very unpleasant from the humidity, though.

Tomorrow is race day! It's been a while since I've raced a 10k, so I'm very interested to see how it goes. I haven't decided on my strategy just yet. My current fitness suggests a 52:50 10k, for a pace of 8:30. I'm not entirely sure I could hold on to that pace for 6.2 miles. I'm thinking I'll go out a little slower than LT, maybe 8:40, and see how I feel at the halfway point. Race report to come tomorrow!
 
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May 15 - Capitol Hill Classic 10k

TL;DR: 54:31

Woke up this morning and saw fog outside. Temperature 64, dew point 64 - woof. I knew I was in for a treat today. I have figured out pretty quickly I'm someone who is more adversely affected by heat and humidity than average, so right away I had to temper my expectations. 52:50 seemed unlikely in this weather.

My plan was to hit the lap button at every mile marker to try to keep track of how that mile actually went. And, go figure, I missed the first mile - but I got the rest of them!

Pre-race

The Capitol Hill Classic is more of a local race, so there wasn't a huge crowd. Race start time was 8:30 AM. DW (who wasn't running) and I walked from our apartment, which was about a 22 minute walk. Decent way to get the legs moving. We arrived around 8:20. Since there were no corrals, I didn't see a huge need to get there super early. There were long lines for restrooms and not very many available, but thankfully things moved quickly.

We met a couple of friends who were running their first race - the whole reason I signed up! DW took her spot at the start/finish line, and friends and I headed for the back and chatted a bit. We started around 8:35.

Starting T/D: 65/62 = 127

Mile 1 - 8:53

There were no waves or corrals, so all runners were released at once. That meant there was a mess of bodies to navigate. I wanted to start out around 8:40, but I kept speeding up and slowing down. My watch quite often showed a pace above 9:00, so I knew when it buzzed 8:53 for the first mile that I had probably already started too hot out of the gate. And speaking of hot, I was drenched. I accepted that 52:50 was not realistic today.

The first mile also passed directly in front of the Supreme Court, which is an interesting place these days. That's one cool thing about racing in DC - so many sights!

Mile 2 - 8:31, 0:12 = 8:43

This is where I actually noticed the mile marker, so I was able to hit the lap button and record my actual mile time. Some of this is from the first mile. And again, that first segment was a full mile at 8:31, so I was too hot. I know my calculated expected 10k pace is 8:30, but I wanted to be a bit conservative at the beginning because of the humidity. I could feel the heat affecting me already, as my stomach was... let's call it uncomfortable. Otherwise, this was a pretty uneventful mile mostly down East Capitol Street.

Mile 3 - 8:32, 0:12 = 8:44

Still a bit faster than I would like, but at least I was consistent from mile 2. I could tell I was going to struggle to hold on to this, though. Also noteworthy is this mile was largely downhill; it was a pretty gentle grade, but it helped.

Mile 4 - 8:46, 0:29 = 9:15

Pretty much this entire mile was on the East Bank of the Anacostia River Trail. The nice thing is I run this all the time so I'm very familiar with it. The downside is it's quite narrow. The path can only support 2 runners side-by-side, just as a visual aid. That meant I was running most of this mile with the pack. There were several stretches slower than 9:00. That part didn't bother me too much because I knew the rest would be beneficial. Toward the end of the mile we emerged into the RFK parking lot, and that 0:29 second segment was the second water station. I needed it badly, so I slowed down enough to get 2 drinks.

Mile 5 - 9:01, 0:03 = 9:04

This is where things fell apart for me. Coming out of the RFK parking lot is a steep-ish turning grade that gets us back onto Capitol Hill (hence, the Hill part of Capitol Hill) and I was not prepared for it at all. I think I ran the hill ok, but had I known it was coming I would have slowed down even more leading up to it. My heart rate was very solidly in zone 5 at this point and I was breathing heavy. I took the rest of this segment slowly to try to recover as much as I could.

Mile 6 - 8:13

This was a totally flat and mostly straight mile, so I managed to run it almost dead-on distance-wise. I was feeling a little better; although my HR was still in zone 5, my breathing was a little more regular. 52:50 was absolutely not happening... but I did all that R training, so it was time to find out what I had. I sped up to 7:50 and held on for as long as I could. Mile 5.85 on my watch is the point where my body had enough; I just couldn't hold on any longer and I had to let go.

Mile 0.22 - 7:04

But it turns out, that little bit of rest helped me recover. I passed mile marker 6 and I felt I still had something in the tank, so I took a few steps and let it all hang out. My watch gave me a fast alert of somewhere near 6:00 (all I saw was 6:0 and not the last digit). I was dying from the humidity but I was determined for a sub-55:00 to PR my last 10k race, a 55:15 effort at Princess 2020.

Finish Line - 6.31 miles recorded, 54:31 total. 10k pace 8:47. Total place 444/1144; gender 321/645, age group 136/220

I have never crossed a finish line as gassed as I was today, so I know I left it all on the course and I was a 54:31 10k runner today.

Finishing T/D: 68/64 = 132

Final Thoughts

I signed up for this race at the suggestion of friends running their first race, so I knew I was not specifically prepared for a 10k. However, I have to admit I'm a little disappointed in my time. The Daniels VDOT running equivalency calculator says a 52:50 10k in 68 F should be an equivalent 53:34, so I was a full minute+ slower. The same thing happened at Princess 2022 - I was dealing with adverse conditions (new injury, heat), but I was way off my goal. I'm starting to wonder if I'm not quite as fast as I think I am, and maybe I should adjust my training paces accordingly. It does seem possible that I'm overtraining, but I always feel good and ready to go again the next day so I'm not quite sure.

I'm specifically training for a 5k on June 26. I know it's going to be hot. VDOT says I should be able to do that in 25:27. I was pretty close to that number when I ran a 5k on a whim not long ago, so I'll keep these training paces through that race and see how it goes. I'll also be upping my mileage a bit now that I'm recovered from my pre-Princess and injury and my sinus recovery is going well.

Anyway, I don't want to dwell on my disappointment too much, either. I knew that without a full training cycle it would be tough to hit 52:50, and I just wanted a PR off 55:15 from 2 years ago. That 55:15 was in surprisingly cool weather, and my 54:31 today was quite warm and humid, so I'll take the victory and solder on.

EDIT: I don't know what I was thinking about the 5k time above. I actually ran the 25:27 5k not that long ago, so the 52:50 10k was derived from that. I feel a bit better now - not specifically training for the 10k plus the heat. I do wish I had a bit more in me for a faster time, but today just wasn't my day for that. My focus now turns to beating that 25:27 5k.
 
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I hear you about the weather this morning! I went for a 6.5-ish mile run around the same time and I was drenched. Nice job in those conditions!
 
Congrats on the race!

striker1064 said:
I signed up for this race at the suggestion of friends running their first race, so I knew I was not specifically prepared for a 10k. However, I have to admit I'm a little disappointed in my time. The Daniels VDOT running equivalency calculator says a 52:50 10k in 68 F should be an equivalent 53:34, so I was a full minute+ slower. The same thing happened at Princess 2022 - I was dealing with adverse conditions (new injury, heat), but I was way off my goal. I'm starting to wonder if I'm not quite as fast as I think I am, and maybe I should adjust my training paces accordingly. It does seem possible that I'm overtraining, but I always feel good and ready to go again the next day so I'm not quite sure.
Click to expand...

Remember, like you said, not everyone reacts to the T+D similarly. But also keep in mind that you're transitioning from cooler weather to hotter weather and so you're not heat acclimated yet. So those T+D calculations can be even further off here at the transition period. I bet in a few weeks time if you were to have some hotter training weather under your belt and then the T+D dropped to 128 that you'd probably outperform today. That transition from spring to summer racing season is never easy. That's not even including anything about how your recent training has been very anaerobic/neurological in basis with R pace, and likely not to put yourself in a place for peak 10k race performance. So take the 10k performance as a win and progress towards the overarching goals.
 
WillRunForPizza said:
I hear you about the weather this morning! I went for a 6.5-ish mile run around the same time and I was drenched. Nice job in those conditions!
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Thank you! Yeah, I'm looking at the weather for tomorrow for my easy run and it's not gonna be pleasant. Welcome to summer in the swamp.

DopeyBadger said:
Congrats on the race!



Remember, like you said, not everyone reacts to the T+D similarly. But also keep in mind that you're transitioning from cooler weather to hotter weather and so you're not heat acclimated yet. So those T+D calculations can be even further off here at the transition period. I bet in a few weeks time if you were to have some hotter training weather under your belt and then the T+D dropped to 128 that you'd probably outperform today. That transition from spring to summer racing season is never easy. That's not even including anything about how your recent training has been very anaerobic/neurological in basis with R pace, and likely not to put yourself in a place for peak 10k race performance. So take the 10k performance as a win and progress towards the overarching goals.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your encouragement! You are correct of course, and the more I've thought about it today, the more I'm happy with my PR and notching this as a data point in my training. Running in that humidity is tough. I'm chalking up that disappointment to post-race brain scramble.
 
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azrivest said:
Congratulations on the race and the PR!

With that time and that placement, that race ran fast, darn
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The winner crossed the line in 32:07, and 2nd was 32:55! True freaks of nature. Total time didn't break 40:00 until place 41 (hah, that's a weird coincidence).
 
Guys, I don't think I can do it. I went out at 6:30 AM for my run and the T+D was already 77 + 63 = 140. The temps are pushing 100 today and tomorrow. I think I'm going to dig a hole and hibernate until fall. Everything is awful. Why did I sign up for a fall marathon? Why am I running a 5k in June? These are the things I think about.
 
striker1064 said:
Guys, I don't think I can do it. I went out at 6:30 AM for my run and the T+D was already 77 + 63 = 140. The temps are pushing 100 today and tomorrow. I think I'm going to dig a hole and hibernate until fall. Everything is awful. Why did I sign up for a fall marathon? Why am I running a 5k in June? These are the things I think about.
Click to expand...

Oh you can do it....you just may not love it. Dial it back and to paraphrase Jiminy Cricket...always let your body be your guide.

As for the June 5k....that's on you. 😝
 
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