To Infinity and Beyond - Becoming a Better DopeyBadger (Comments Welcome)
- Thread starter DopeyBadger
- Start date
Sleepless Knight
Jedi Knight Seeking His Jedi Princess
- Joined
- May 15, 2008
Hooray for good news on the MRI front. 
dis_or_dat
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2016
Did you guys do the carvings? Great job!
Wonderful news about the MRI! I concur about the sports medicine doctor, if you could find one that runs marathons (they're typically very active), it would help a lot. Not sure exactly where on your leg the "distortion" is, but it could be an inflamed lymph node, although not noted on the MRI. Anyways, celebrate the negative MRI and run!
Wonderful news about the MRI! I concur about the sports medicine doctor, if you could find one that runs marathons (they're typically very active), it would help a lot. Not sure exactly where on your leg the "distortion" is, but it could be an inflamed lymph node, although not noted on the MRI. Anyways, celebrate the negative MRI and run!
DopeyBadger
Imagathoner
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2015
65 Days to Go (HOORAY, I'M NORMAL!)
Date - Day - Scheduled Workout (Intervals within desired pace, Strength +/- 5 sec, everything else +/- 10 sec)
10/26/16 - W - Medicine Ball Workout (MBW)
10/27/16 - R - 1.5 miles @ 9:47 min/mile + 7 miles @ 7:33 min/mile + 1.5 miles @ 9:47 min/mile (6/7) **BLIND**
10/28/16 - F - 6 miles @ 9:11 or slower min/mile (6/6)
10/29/16 - Sat - 6 miles @ 8:32 or slower min/mile (6/6) + MBW
10/30/16 - Sun - 8 miles @ 8:13 min/mile (6/8)
10/31/16 - M - 6 miles @ 9:11 or slower min/mile (3/6)
11/1/16 - T - 2 miles @ 9:47 min/mile + 3 x 1 mile @ 7:05 min/mile w/ 0.25 mile RI + 2 miles @ 9:47 min/mile (3/3)
Total mileage = 44.5 miles
Number of intervals within pace = 30/36 (83%)
Thursday was the first real training run of the Dopey training plan. I didn't know whether my body would be capable of it. So I decided to do it BLIND. If it was going poorly, then so be it as I wouldn't know any different. Just let my body guide my pace. Here was my recap previously. Needless to say, I was very happy with the outcome.
Friday was an easy day. Still a little sore and not quite the right pace yet. But I allowed myself to settle in to whatever my body would give me. I did have a touch of pain for about 10 seconds in the area of concern. But nothing worth stopping over.
Saturday was a long day. Up at 4:15am and off to work by 5:45. Back from work at 7:45 and my wife was off to work herself. Then my MIL came over and I went for a short easy run. Again not quite the paces desired, but letting effort guide this comeback.
Sunday was another long day. My wife had to be at work at 8:30am. I had about 1.5 hours of work (travel included) to take care of. But I also had a huge commitment at 7:30am that I COULD NOT MISS. So I was up at 4:15am, off to work at 5:45am, and got back home just before 7:30am. Then I sat down at the computer and like a hawk watched our amazing athlete @roxymama rock her 15K. Incredible! Amazing! So Proud! Big smile as each of those splits came across! Congrats! We had a family Halloween party where we carved pumpkins. In a surprise to me, my pumpkin didn't even come in 3rd place. Guess the judges don't know who Tinkerbell is. My wife got home from work at 6:00pm and I was off for my long run. It was originally scheduled for 12 miles, but going into it I was expecting to cut it down to 8 miles because I wasn't ready to chew on that. So 8 miles it is. A solid comfortable day. Many less occurrences of tightness in the hamstrings/quads. So I'm hoping that things are getting more normal.
Monday was MRI day. Finally after almost a month I was having the procedure to determine what my "cloudy" X-ray was. Definitely an interesting experience. It was REALLY difficult to hold still for that long. My feet were bound together and I learned I really don't like that. But I got all antsy each time they told me not to move. Oh Well. So then the procedure was done and they showed me where my clothes and eating room was. And then I came out with clothes on and didn't really know if I was done. I went to the waiting room and just sat there for 15 min. Nothing. Was someone going to tell me the results? We eventually just got up and left believing that we must be done. The receptionist confirmed it was over. Monday was also HALLOWEEN! After trick or treating, I kept the superman costume on. I thought it would be fun to run past kids trick or treating in my superman costume. It was so fun! "Hey look Mom it's superman!", "Mom, what's that? AHHH SUPERMAN!", "DAD...DAD... LOOK WHO'S RUNNING DOWN THE STREET". So while the goal effort was EA, I might have let myself go a bit and sped up. It wasn't past EB pace, but it definitely wasn't EA effort. Worth it. I also borrowed a heart rate monitor from my co-worker (who now has a Garmin 235) to see how my HR compared to historical levels for me. The HR was about what I expected given the pace. So that's another good sign.
Tuesday came and I received the good news. I'm normal. Well at least my leg is normal, right @opusone! I feel like Sloth Belle. HOORAY!!! Finally ready to move on and get back to being normal/Sloth Belle. So today was a big day for training. I moved up my strength paces (Lactate Threshold) up to Half-Marathon fitness - 10 seconds. I moved it down a step from 6 x 1 mile to 3 x 1 mile to see if I could handle it. I've done a similar workout in July (4 x 1 mile at 7:05) so I figured I could do it then, I could probably do it now. But, the big difference is no flat circle for this run. I did all the hills. And... nailed it!
1 - 7:04
2 - 7:00
3 - 7:09
And the heart rate data:
Obviously, I took too long from putting on the HR monitor to starting, but overall a good HR workout. One thing I look for is the WU and CD have nearly identical values. It's a sign that the workout wasn't too tough. And the peak of the HR during the sprint intervals was where I expected it.
Overall, given the good news and the good gains I'm making in training I'd say I'm getting back on track.
Date - Day - Scheduled Workout (Intervals within desired pace, Strength +/- 5 sec, everything else +/- 10 sec)
10/26/16 - W - Medicine Ball Workout (MBW)
10/27/16 - R - 1.5 miles @ 9:47 min/mile + 7 miles @ 7:33 min/mile + 1.5 miles @ 9:47 min/mile (6/7) **BLIND**
10/28/16 - F - 6 miles @ 9:11 or slower min/mile (6/6)
10/29/16 - Sat - 6 miles @ 8:32 or slower min/mile (6/6) + MBW
10/30/16 - Sun - 8 miles @ 8:13 min/mile (6/8)
10/31/16 - M - 6 miles @ 9:11 or slower min/mile (3/6)
11/1/16 - T - 2 miles @ 9:47 min/mile + 3 x 1 mile @ 7:05 min/mile w/ 0.25 mile RI + 2 miles @ 9:47 min/mile (3/3)
Total mileage = 44.5 miles
Number of intervals within pace = 30/36 (83%)
Thursday was the first real training run of the Dopey training plan. I didn't know whether my body would be capable of it. So I decided to do it BLIND. If it was going poorly, then so be it as I wouldn't know any different. Just let my body guide my pace. Here was my recap previously. Needless to say, I was very happy with the outcome.
Friday was an easy day. Still a little sore and not quite the right pace yet. But I allowed myself to settle in to whatever my body would give me. I did have a touch of pain for about 10 seconds in the area of concern. But nothing worth stopping over.
Saturday was a long day. Up at 4:15am and off to work by 5:45. Back from work at 7:45 and my wife was off to work herself. Then my MIL came over and I went for a short easy run. Again not quite the paces desired, but letting effort guide this comeback.
Sunday was another long day. My wife had to be at work at 8:30am. I had about 1.5 hours of work (travel included) to take care of. But I also had a huge commitment at 7:30am that I COULD NOT MISS. So I was up at 4:15am, off to work at 5:45am, and got back home just before 7:30am. Then I sat down at the computer and like a hawk watched our amazing athlete @roxymama rock her 15K. Incredible! Amazing! So Proud! Big smile as each of those splits came across! Congrats! We had a family Halloween party where we carved pumpkins. In a surprise to me, my pumpkin didn't even come in 3rd place. Guess the judges don't know who Tinkerbell is. My wife got home from work at 6:00pm and I was off for my long run. It was originally scheduled for 12 miles, but going into it I was expecting to cut it down to 8 miles because I wasn't ready to chew on that. So 8 miles it is. A solid comfortable day. Many less occurrences of tightness in the hamstrings/quads. So I'm hoping that things are getting more normal.
Monday was MRI day. Finally after almost a month I was having the procedure to determine what my "cloudy" X-ray was. Definitely an interesting experience. It was REALLY difficult to hold still for that long. My feet were bound together and I learned I really don't like that. But I got all antsy each time they told me not to move. Oh Well. So then the procedure was done and they showed me where my clothes and eating room was. And then I came out with clothes on and didn't really know if I was done. I went to the waiting room and just sat there for 15 min. Nothing. Was someone going to tell me the results? We eventually just got up and left believing that we must be done. The receptionist confirmed it was over. Monday was also HALLOWEEN! After trick or treating, I kept the superman costume on. I thought it would be fun to run past kids trick or treating in my superman costume. It was so fun! "Hey look Mom it's superman!", "Mom, what's that? AHHH SUPERMAN!", "DAD...DAD... LOOK WHO'S RUNNING DOWN THE STREET". So while the goal effort was EA, I might have let myself go a bit and sped up. It wasn't past EB pace, but it definitely wasn't EA effort. Worth it. I also borrowed a heart rate monitor from my co-worker (who now has a Garmin 235) to see how my HR compared to historical levels for me. The HR was about what I expected given the pace. So that's another good sign.
Tuesday came and I received the good news. I'm normal. Well at least my leg is normal, right @opusone! I feel like Sloth Belle. HOORAY!!! Finally ready to move on and get back to being normal/Sloth Belle. So today was a big day for training. I moved up my strength paces (Lactate Threshold) up to Half-Marathon fitness - 10 seconds. I moved it down a step from 6 x 1 mile to 3 x 1 mile to see if I could handle it. I've done a similar workout in July (4 x 1 mile at 7:05) so I figured I could do it then, I could probably do it now. But, the big difference is no flat circle for this run. I did all the hills. And... nailed it!
1 - 7:04
2 - 7:00
3 - 7:09
And the heart rate data:
Obviously, I took too long from putting on the HR monitor to starting, but overall a good HR workout. One thing I look for is the WU and CD have nearly identical values. It's a sign that the workout wasn't too tough. And the peak of the HR during the sprint intervals was where I expected it.
Overall, given the good news and the good gains I'm making in training I'd say I'm getting back on track.
DopeyBadger
Imagathoner
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2015
Thanks! I still don't know. Thankfully if the issue continues to dissipate maybe it will become just a memory and not a nuisance.
Yeah for the good report!!
Woot Woot!
Definitely great news.congrats!!
Thanks!
Hooray for good news on the MRI front.
Relieved!
LOL, I'm Sloth Belle normal I guess. I know I feel something, but who knows? It's possible it has been there all along and I never felt it prior. I mean I don't commonly feel my leg bone.
Did you guys do the carvings? Great job!
Wonderful news about the MRI! I concur about the sports medicine doctor, if you could find one that runs marathons (they're typically very active), it would help a lot. Not sure exactly where on your leg the "distortion" is, but it could be an inflamed lymph node, although not noted on the MRI. Anyways, celebrate the negative MRI and run!
Yea, I did the Tink and my SIL did the Witch Shoes. Mine was a stencil that I taped on and poked holes to trace. I had a few other options (Mike Wazowski and Pac-Man eating a ghost), but superwoman wanted Tink. Definitely celebrating the negative MRI and I'm still baffled as to what that "distortion" is on my leg. But since there's little to no pain (including 3 miles at 7:05) I'm hoping I'm back on track to becoming normal (well normal for me)!
DopeyBadger
Imagathoner
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2015
Fast passes Complete for our WDW Marathon Weekend trip
Sun - 1/1 - Disney Jr, TOT, TSM, and Frozen Sing-Along - Boma Dinner
Mon - 1/2 - Spaceship Earth, The Seas, FEA - Akershus Lunch
Tues - 1/3 - Pirates, Jungle Cruise, SDMT
Wed - 1/4 - Kilimanjaro, Everest, Festival of Lion King - Sanaa Lunch
Thurs - 1/5 - Soarin, Spaceship Earth
Fri - 1/6 - FEA, Pixar Shorts
Sat - 1/7 - Small World, Tales with Belle, Meet Rapunzel/Tiana
Sun - 1/8 - Beauty and Beast - Brown Deby Dinner
All other meals will likely be in our hotel room using groceries from Garden Grocer. Huge savings for us against eating out everyday. Plus, I can stick closer to my nutritional needs with kitchen cooked meals.
Sun - 1/1 - Disney Jr, TOT, TSM, and Frozen Sing-Along - Boma Dinner
Mon - 1/2 - Spaceship Earth, The Seas, FEA - Akershus Lunch
Tues - 1/3 - Pirates, Jungle Cruise, SDMT
Wed - 1/4 - Kilimanjaro, Everest, Festival of Lion King - Sanaa Lunch
Thurs - 1/5 - Soarin, Spaceship Earth
Fri - 1/6 - FEA, Pixar Shorts
Sat - 1/7 - Small World, Tales with Belle, Meet Rapunzel/Tiana
Sun - 1/8 - Beauty and Beast - Brown Deby Dinner
All other meals will likely be in our hotel room using groceries from Garden Grocer. Huge savings for us against eating out everyday. Plus, I can stick closer to my nutritional needs with kitchen cooked meals.
DopeyBadger
Imagathoner
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2015
And I'm jealous you're going to Disneyland for Tink.
Groceries are a sweet deal (especially for someone like me who consumes A LOT OF FOOD). Day 1 at WDW last year just for lunch prior to our groceries coming in, my bill was $50 just for me at a quick service restaurant.
We're also buying a crock pot online and having it sent to our hotel a few days early. So most of our meals will cook while we are park hopping.
DopeyBadger
Imagathoner
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2015
Uh oh.... Dopey might be in trouble.... HE'S BACK!!!
Last edited:
pixarmom
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2009
Looking forward to hearing more about your most recent post!
And many thanks to you for the inspiration to look away from the clock! Ran the running festival half this morning and could not take my eyes off the 1:50 pacer. At mile 10 or so, I was on track to beat my 1:52 PR and all of a sudden I got really nervous about my time - heart rate must have gone through the roof. Thought about your discipline in ignoring the clock. Adopted mantra of "no clock," looked down, ignored all mile markers and clocks, ignored 1:50 pacer, and finished in . . . 1:52 - just eight seconds behind my PR! I'm going to try to stop thinking of the eight seconds I wasted on the course and the potential result if I had not gone into panic mode. In any event, thanks again for sharing your experiences in this journal - wanted to let you know they are helpful in real life!
And many thanks to you for the inspiration to look away from the clock! Ran the running festival half this morning and could not take my eyes off the 1:50 pacer. At mile 10 or so, I was on track to beat my 1:52 PR and all of a sudden I got really nervous about my time - heart rate must have gone through the roof. Thought about your discipline in ignoring the clock. Adopted mantra of "no clock," looked down, ignored all mile markers and clocks, ignored 1:50 pacer, and finished in . . . 1:52 - just eight seconds behind my PR! I'm going to try to stop thinking of the eight seconds I wasted on the course and the potential result if I had not gone into panic mode. In any event, thanks again for sharing your experiences in this journal - wanted to let you know they are helpful in real life!
DopeyBadger
Imagathoner
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2015
Looking forward to hearing more about your most recent post!
And many thanks to you for the inspiration to look away from the clock! Ran the running festival half this morning and could not take my eyes off the 1:50 pacer. At mile 10 or so, I was on track to beat my 1:52 PR and all of a sudden I got really nervous about my time - heart rate must have gone through the roof. Thought about your discipline in ignoring the clock. Adopted mantra of "no clock," looked down, ignored all mile markers and clocks, ignored 1:50 pacer, and finished in . . . 1:52 - just eight seconds behind my PR! I'm going to try to stop thinking of the eight seconds I wasted on the course and the potential result if I had not gone into panic mode. In any event, thanks again for sharing your experiences in this journal - wanted to let you know they are helpful in real life!
Way to go! A wonderful day for a race this morning. Happy to hear you did so well. I've got to wonder what the experience would be like if you didn't know what the pacer was actually pacing for. If you could further ignore him unless you were truly using him. If I developed a race with pacers, I would give them symbols. That way people who wanted to know what the pacer was pacing for would know the symbol. But people intending on being blind could be oblivious to what the pacer's symbol means. Just a thought! It goes with my idea of mile marker clocks with slanted bars (like a dallas phasing traffic light) where some people can ignore the clock and others can see it if they wish.
In any event, thanks again for sharing your experiences in this journal - wanted to let you know they are helpful in real life!
LOL! Helpful in real life.... That's funny!
Sleepless Knight
Jedi Knight Seeking His Jedi Princess
- Joined
- May 15, 2008
Looks like a good list of fast passes. I feel like I have a better handle on how FP+ works now so hopefully I'll be able to get the ones I want.
pixarmom
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2009
I love these ideas!!! Meanwhile, I'm going to be more disciplined with my thoughts and avoid the "I could PR" panic mode! This is part of the reason I'm looking forward to Dopey - if I stick to the goal of just finishing, I'll be a far more relaxed runner!
And I'm super excited to run the DL Super Heroes Half with my oldest son next weekend - no time pressure and a lot of fun!Oh, and forgot to mention earlier - that $50 for CS lunch is crazy!!
DopeyBadger
Imagathoner
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2015
58 Days to Go (He's got a strong heart!)
Date - Day - Scheduled Workout (Intervals within desired pace, Strength +/- 5 sec, everything else +/- 10 sec)
11/2/16 - W - Medicine Ball Workout (MBW)
11/3/16 - R - 1.5 miles @ 9:47 min/mile + 7 miles @ 7:33 min/mile + 1.5 miles @ 9:47 min/mile (5/7)
11/4/16 - F - 6 miles @ 9:11 or slower min/mile (6/6)
11/5/16 - Sat - 10 miles @ 8:32 or slower min/mile (10/10)
11/6/16 - Sun - 13 miles @ 8:13 min/mile (5/13)
11/7/16 - M - 6 miles @ 9:11 or slower min/mile (6/6)
11/8/16 - T - 1.5 miles @ 9:47 min/mile + 4 x 1.5 mile @ 7:05 min/mile w/ 0.5 mile RI + 1.5 miles @ 9:47 min/mile (4/4)
Total mileage = 55.5 miles
Number of intervals within pace = 36/46 (78%)
I borrowed my heart rate monitor from my co-worker again just to see where I'm at cardiovascularly. But before we talk about the data, a little backstory is helpful.
In December 2001, I was a junior in high school on the football team. I weighed around 165 at the time (about 185 at the start of the season) and my coach had told me that the next season I would need to be heavier in order to play offensive line on varsity. So I set out to gain weight. This decision became a long standing issue for my health that at the time I didn't realize the ramifications of. But by April (in 4 months) I had gained roughly 80 pounds. I went from a small 165 to a much larger 245. I had lost a lot of fitness gaining that weight. And at some point during the summer/fall football season (I can't remember when), I was having issues with my heart. Whenever we would run sprints to end practice my heart felt like it was going to explode. Under the advisement of family and coaches I went to see a heart specialist to make sure everything was alright. I ended up having an EKG and stress test. The stress test started with me standing on the treadmill not moving to get a baseline measurement. I was informed that when the test began I would continue to increase in pace until my HR reached the peak for the stress test. I was set to begin and then within 30 seconds of starting and barely above a walk, they stopped the test. I had reached my HR max for the stress test. I was shocked. While they didn't find any abnormalities, I was clearly way out of shape to be playing football safely. Although I did continue without issue. Fast forward 15 years later and I stand now a different man. My heart is much stronger. But putting in graphs instead of words makes it so much easier to understand. We'll get to that at the end. But why bring this story up? To help you understand that the data I'm about to show wasn't always like this. I've come a LONG way from where I was. So if you look at your own data and wonder why, just remember that this has taken years.
Thursday was another marathon tempo day. This time it wasn't blind. It didn't go as well as last week's run. But it was still comfortable. The big thing to note was the HR was 153. Why is that significant? Oh we'll get there...
Friday was an easy day. I pushed to go as slow as possible. For this day, it turned out to be a 10:00 min/mile. And with that came an astounding average HR of 126.
Saturday was an easy day, but an extended 10 miles. The pace was a solid 8:49 min/mile average. But the interesting thing comes from the HR data.
No HR drift. A solid average of 136 essentially from mile 1 through mile 10. It signifies a strong heart on an easy run when there's little to no cardiac drift.
Sunday was the first long run of significance. I went with 13 miles at a desired 8:13 min/mile. This was a VERY good day. I FINALLY felt comfortable running again. I was hopeful that taking the last two days really easy would help my body "catch up" and finally start to feel normal again. Mission accomplished. I ended up averaging a 8:01 min/mile, so a tad faster than I was suppose to. But it was a very comfortable 8:01 min/mile. Something I found very interesting was two-fold. First the ground contact time (the amount of time the foot spends on the ground). Less time on the ground = a more economical stride.
It's really interesting to see what I feel in real life. I typically feel natural after 4-6 miles of running. This goes to show that. Again the paces from beginning to end don't differ that much. But clearly the GCT improves over time. And the heart rate data is again important.
Again, 13 miles and beginning to end almost the identical HR with little to no change in pace (if anything it was faster at the end). A very strong showing. This run allowed me to know I was back. That if things continue to progress like this Dopey could be in big trouble.
Monday was another easy day but a serious attempt to try and keep my HR as low as possible. I didn't pay attention to the HR until after the run (I never look at HR until after it's finished). I nailed a very low 124 with a pace of 9:34.
Tuesday was the first HM strength workout (7:05 min/mile) going a total of 6 miles at pace with a total of 10.5 miles. I wasn't sure whether this pace would be too much for me, but I was ready to prove it. Oh boy did I! The splits were 7:05, 7:02, 7:03, 7:02! A very solid run. But the absolute shocking data was the HR. The first split was 157, the second 157, the third 154, and the last split 153. SO my HR actually dropped during the run?!?! Like what, what?!?!?
Incredible HR data and very helpful for the big picture. So from an individual standpoint the HR data helps, but I've found I can actually create a prediction calculator based on my personal HR data. So what does that look like?
Alright, this is a lot of data. What does it mean? The x-axis is pace. The y-axis is heart rate in bpm. The blue circle and blue line represent my HR from Jan 2015 to Apr 2015. The red triangle and red line is June 2015-Sep 2015 (during my first Hansons). And the yellow squares and black line is my current HR data. The lines are logarithmic curves of the data points.
What's important to remember about the blue line is that this wasn't when I started running. At this point in my running career I had been running for 2.5 years. A total of 2200 miles. I had completed 6 halfs and 4 marathons. This is to say, this HR data is not me just starting out. But astonishingly after/during once cycle of Hansons my HR dropped DRAMATICALLY. A HR of 146 was a 9:42 min/mile, then a 8:21 min/mile, and now a 8:01 min/mile. That's progress. So an interesting trend so what good can this serve? Well, I use the equation from the logarithmic curve to predict race times for different distances. I've found what my historical HR is during different races and then plug that value into the logarithmic equation to determine my current HR pace. In Fall 2015 I used this method to predict a 3:40 marathon (I ran a 3:38). In Spring 2016 I had one data point to predict a 3:30 marathon (I ran a 3:28). When I put in one data point from my current HR (about 4 weeks post marathon which would be the equal fitness point) I had a marathon prediction of 3:24 (I ran a 3:23:43 in October 2016). It's incredible how predictive it has been. So, the big question is what does the black line say now?
My mile time is predicted at 5:47.
My 5K is a 6:24 min/mile (19:50).
My 10K is a 6:43 min/mile (41:39).
My HM is a 6:57 min/mile (1:31:15).
My M is a 7:31 min/mile (3:17:02).
Now earlier I said it was important to note that my marathon tempo was 153, and now you see why. My historical average HR marathon average is 152.1. So my marathon tempo of 7:33 min/mile seems very close to appropriate. But this data is ever changing. If you look back at the HR data graph you can see a pink square. That pink square was today's run. So as you can see I am still improving (as would be expected).
Lastly, the other metric of VO2max. The last time I had HR data (Spring 2016) my VO2max was 55. Now, after today's run I got a new VO2max...
59!!!!
Now this isn't the end all be all. But it's another measure of fitness. Now I could tell you what the race predictor from Garmin says. But it's essentially worthless because it assumes you are ELITE. Only about 1% of runners actually achieve the race predictor times.
This is all to say that I am getting significantly stronger and recovering well from the October marathon and issues I was having.
Date - Day - Scheduled Workout (Intervals within desired pace, Strength +/- 5 sec, everything else +/- 10 sec)
11/2/16 - W - Medicine Ball Workout (MBW)
11/3/16 - R - 1.5 miles @ 9:47 min/mile + 7 miles @ 7:33 min/mile + 1.5 miles @ 9:47 min/mile (5/7)
11/4/16 - F - 6 miles @ 9:11 or slower min/mile (6/6)
11/5/16 - Sat - 10 miles @ 8:32 or slower min/mile (10/10)
11/6/16 - Sun - 13 miles @ 8:13 min/mile (5/13)
11/7/16 - M - 6 miles @ 9:11 or slower min/mile (6/6)
11/8/16 - T - 1.5 miles @ 9:47 min/mile + 4 x 1.5 mile @ 7:05 min/mile w/ 0.5 mile RI + 1.5 miles @ 9:47 min/mile (4/4)
Total mileage = 55.5 miles
Number of intervals within pace = 36/46 (78%)
I borrowed my heart rate monitor from my co-worker again just to see where I'm at cardiovascularly. But before we talk about the data, a little backstory is helpful.
In December 2001, I was a junior in high school on the football team. I weighed around 165 at the time (about 185 at the start of the season) and my coach had told me that the next season I would need to be heavier in order to play offensive line on varsity. So I set out to gain weight. This decision became a long standing issue for my health that at the time I didn't realize the ramifications of. But by April (in 4 months) I had gained roughly 80 pounds. I went from a small 165 to a much larger 245. I had lost a lot of fitness gaining that weight. And at some point during the summer/fall football season (I can't remember when), I was having issues with my heart. Whenever we would run sprints to end practice my heart felt like it was going to explode. Under the advisement of family and coaches I went to see a heart specialist to make sure everything was alright. I ended up having an EKG and stress test. The stress test started with me standing on the treadmill not moving to get a baseline measurement. I was informed that when the test began I would continue to increase in pace until my HR reached the peak for the stress test. I was set to begin and then within 30 seconds of starting and barely above a walk, they stopped the test. I had reached my HR max for the stress test. I was shocked. While they didn't find any abnormalities, I was clearly way out of shape to be playing football safely. Although I did continue without issue. Fast forward 15 years later and I stand now a different man. My heart is much stronger. But putting in graphs instead of words makes it so much easier to understand. We'll get to that at the end. But why bring this story up? To help you understand that the data I'm about to show wasn't always like this. I've come a LONG way from where I was. So if you look at your own data and wonder why, just remember that this has taken years.
Thursday was another marathon tempo day. This time it wasn't blind. It didn't go as well as last week's run. But it was still comfortable. The big thing to note was the HR was 153. Why is that significant? Oh we'll get there...
Friday was an easy day. I pushed to go as slow as possible. For this day, it turned out to be a 10:00 min/mile. And with that came an astounding average HR of 126.
Saturday was an easy day, but an extended 10 miles. The pace was a solid 8:49 min/mile average. But the interesting thing comes from the HR data.
No HR drift. A solid average of 136 essentially from mile 1 through mile 10. It signifies a strong heart on an easy run when there's little to no cardiac drift.
Sunday was the first long run of significance. I went with 13 miles at a desired 8:13 min/mile. This was a VERY good day. I FINALLY felt comfortable running again. I was hopeful that taking the last two days really easy would help my body "catch up" and finally start to feel normal again. Mission accomplished. I ended up averaging a 8:01 min/mile, so a tad faster than I was suppose to. But it was a very comfortable 8:01 min/mile. Something I found very interesting was two-fold. First the ground contact time (the amount of time the foot spends on the ground). Less time on the ground = a more economical stride.
It's really interesting to see what I feel in real life. I typically feel natural after 4-6 miles of running. This goes to show that. Again the paces from beginning to end don't differ that much. But clearly the GCT improves over time. And the heart rate data is again important.
Again, 13 miles and beginning to end almost the identical HR with little to no change in pace (if anything it was faster at the end). A very strong showing. This run allowed me to know I was back. That if things continue to progress like this Dopey could be in big trouble.
Monday was another easy day but a serious attempt to try and keep my HR as low as possible. I didn't pay attention to the HR until after the run (I never look at HR until after it's finished). I nailed a very low 124 with a pace of 9:34.
Tuesday was the first HM strength workout (7:05 min/mile) going a total of 6 miles at pace with a total of 10.5 miles. I wasn't sure whether this pace would be too much for me, but I was ready to prove it. Oh boy did I! The splits were 7:05, 7:02, 7:03, 7:02! A very solid run. But the absolute shocking data was the HR. The first split was 157, the second 157, the third 154, and the last split 153. SO my HR actually dropped during the run?!?! Like what, what?!?!?
Incredible HR data and very helpful for the big picture. So from an individual standpoint the HR data helps, but I've found I can actually create a prediction calculator based on my personal HR data. So what does that look like?
Alright, this is a lot of data. What does it mean? The x-axis is pace. The y-axis is heart rate in bpm. The blue circle and blue line represent my HR from Jan 2015 to Apr 2015. The red triangle and red line is June 2015-Sep 2015 (during my first Hansons). And the yellow squares and black line is my current HR data. The lines are logarithmic curves of the data points.
What's important to remember about the blue line is that this wasn't when I started running. At this point in my running career I had been running for 2.5 years. A total of 2200 miles. I had completed 6 halfs and 4 marathons. This is to say, this HR data is not me just starting out. But astonishingly after/during once cycle of Hansons my HR dropped DRAMATICALLY. A HR of 146 was a 9:42 min/mile, then a 8:21 min/mile, and now a 8:01 min/mile. That's progress. So an interesting trend so what good can this serve? Well, I use the equation from the logarithmic curve to predict race times for different distances. I've found what my historical HR is during different races and then plug that value into the logarithmic equation to determine my current HR pace. In Fall 2015 I used this method to predict a 3:40 marathon (I ran a 3:38). In Spring 2016 I had one data point to predict a 3:30 marathon (I ran a 3:28). When I put in one data point from my current HR (about 4 weeks post marathon which would be the equal fitness point) I had a marathon prediction of 3:24 (I ran a 3:23:43 in October 2016). It's incredible how predictive it has been. So, the big question is what does the black line say now?
My mile time is predicted at 5:47.
My 5K is a 6:24 min/mile (19:50).
My 10K is a 6:43 min/mile (41:39).
My HM is a 6:57 min/mile (1:31:15).
My M is a 7:31 min/mile (3:17:02).
Now earlier I said it was important to note that my marathon tempo was 153, and now you see why. My historical average HR marathon average is 152.1. So my marathon tempo of 7:33 min/mile seems very close to appropriate. But this data is ever changing. If you look back at the HR data graph you can see a pink square. That pink square was today's run. So as you can see I am still improving (as would be expected).
Lastly, the other metric of VO2max. The last time I had HR data (Spring 2016) my VO2max was 55. Now, after today's run I got a new VO2max...
59!!!!
Now this isn't the end all be all. But it's another measure of fitness. Now I could tell you what the race predictor from Garmin says. But it's essentially worthless because it assumes you are ELITE. Only about 1% of runners actually achieve the race predictor times.
This is all to say that I am getting significantly stronger and recovering well from the October marathon and issues I was having.
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canglim52
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Sep 9, 2016
Great read!! These are really impressive improvements
Also, I had no idea you played football too! I had to gain 80 pounds over 4 years too, and I'm just now starting to get back to my natural weight...Also, going back to previous conversation on gate, I truly think relaxing my ankles/feet and engaging my gluts has fixed my concrete legs!! Hopefully you've had similar success with getting rid of the jelly legs too!
DopeyBadger
Imagathoner
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2015
Great read!! These are really impressive improvements
Thanks!
Sure did! Don't I look so mean... LOL! Other than the haircut I don't even recognize that person anymore. Of course this was 14 years ago. I've been down to less than 200 since maybe July 2012. I've been happy to keep the weight off and seem much healthier in the 155-170 range. Hoping the same for you.
I believe I have solved the main problem with my jelly legs or right leg imbalance. Cambered streets. While I believed that I was varying my running on the streets enough it seems clear to me that running nearly 5000 miles on the same 3 mile loop has caused some imbalances in my form. Thus, over the last week or so I've been varying my running when safe to try and compensate and potentially build up my right leg. It now seems that whenever I have the sense of weakness in my right leg if I just adjust where I am on the road it makes a difference. Time will tell if this is a long term solution, but I'm finding it to work at the moment. And biomechanically it makes sense why it would be just my right leg when 80% of my running consisted of being on the left side of the road (against traffic) on a cambered street.
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