61 Days to Go (Sometimes when you leap, you fall flat...)
*We will hope everyone was uninjured in any significant way.
Date - Day - Scheduled Workout (Intervals within desired pace, Strength +/- 5 sec, everything else +/- 10 sec)
4/11/17 - T - 2 mi @ WU + 6 x 1200 @ I w/ 3 min RI @ WU + 3 mi @ CD (2/6)
4/12/17 - W - 7 miles @ 8:04-9:01 min/mile + 6 strides
4/13/17 - R - 2 mi @ WU + 6 x 1 mi @ T w/ 1 min RI @ WU + 2 mi @ CD (6/6)
4/14/17 - F - 7 miles @ 8:04-9:01 min/mile
4/15/17 - Sat - 7 miles @ 8:04-9:01 min/mile + 6 strides
4/16/17 - Sun - 4 mi WU + 10 miles @ M Tempo (4/10)
4/17/17 - M - OFF
Total (training) mileage = 56.8 miles
Number of SOS intervals within pace = 12/22 (55%)
There was no more superhero tumbling on Monday. So it was just quality G and dad time. We played on the Wii. G had fun with most of the activities but really like sword fighting (she figured that one out).
Tuesday was another I paced workout!
2 mi @ WU + 6 x 1200 @ I w/ 3 min RI @ WU + 3 mi @ CD
OOOF! Before I start, a little perspective. This run has 28.5 minutes of schedule I pace work. Last week Thursday's run was 21 minutes and every other I workout the rest of the cycle is 20-23 minutes. So I knew this was the unquestioned hardest run of the entire Daniels 10k cycle.
I pace = 6:04 min/mile (1200m = 4:32 minutes) *roughly 2 mile race pace
Interval window = +/- 3 seconds (4:29-4:35)
WC of 39F with 10 mph wind. The wind was tough to deal with.
1200m intervals - 4:37, 4:32, 4:36, 4:39, 4:37, 4:33
So without further ado, interval 1 I knew it was a bit of loosening up before I was ready to run that fast. The interval was 6:20s in the beginning and 6:02s towards the end. The second interval was more comfortable and easier because it had more tailwind than headwind. Things started to fall apart in interval 3. The last few seconds of it I started developing a lung/side stitch. UGH! Breathing rhythm got off and it lingered into the rest section of interval 3. Then it lingered into interval 4. About halfway through interval 4 it was starting to get really tough to breath. It was getting frustrating because it wasn't my legs holding me back it was my breathing. Honestly, about halfway through #4 I am almost tossed in the towel. But then I said to myself, race day could feel like this too, so unless something is actually wrong let's figure out a way to persevere. So I just tried to RELAX as much as possible and make it through #4. While it was a missed interval, I definitely count it as a success. Thankfully by the time #5 came up, the side stitch was gone and things started to turn around. By the time #6 came around I was feeling pretty good and hopeful I could nail it. Ending on a success was a confidence booster.
Overall, the workout was a failure with only 2/6 intervals within window. I'll take note of this and move on. I mean it's 28.5 minutes of 2 mile (or 12 min) race pace. That seems tough on paper and in reality. The average pace was 6:10 min/mile and the average HR (visual inspection discluding the build-up) was a 159.
Wednesday was an easy day. T+D of 95 with a light wind and clouds. Nothing really to note.
Thursday was another Threshold day.
2 mi @ WU + 6 x 1 mi @ T w/ 1 min RI @ WU + 2 mi @ CD
Originally, this run was scheduled for Thursday (today). It marks the first time the two Daniels speed workouts are Tues/Thurs instead of Tues/Fri. But my daughter has sports class on Thurs night, so moving the Fri speed days to Thurs instead impacts my attendance on those classes (or makes for a late night). So I altered my schedule to attend the sports class and do this speed workout on Friday instead. But mother nature decided not to agree with this plan. As of right now, there are thunderstorms predicted for afternoon/evening which puts any run in jeopardy. I'd do it Friday morning instead, but I have a wellness appointment that requires a 12 hr fast so I can't eat post-workout if I did it Fri morning. So that made me move the workout back to Thurs. But then I noticed an ankle pain towards the end of Wed's run. It was slight, but I was hoping it wouldn't be something bigger. I knew the ankle hurt because of Tues speed workout. At the top of the bunny ear is a high turn that I always leaned into my right leg. This probably carried over some pain into Wed run that went unnoticed until the very end. So then it became a question of do easy on Thurs (because of the ankle) and then risk the hard workout on Fri. Then my daughter said she really wanted me at sports class (we played tag!) so I couldn't resist that request. I ended up making the final decision to just make it a late night and complete the workout after sports class. If the ankle didn't feel good, then I'd just convert it to an easy day instead,
T pace = 6:38 min/mile
Interval window = +/- 5 seconds
Admittedly, I was looking for a better performance in this run after Tuesday's 2/6 showing. The warmup felt fine. Little twinges here and there but I was confident it was just a mental game. As I started the first interval, I could feel the residual fatigue from Tues workout, but it still felt comfortable to stay on pace. Thankfully, this comfortable feeling stayed throughout the run.
T set - 6:40, 6:40, 6:37, 6:40, 6:38, 6:39
A very consistent workout and it never felt like too much. Even with the residual fatigue from Tues I felt I had much more to give. I wonder how many consecutive miles I could actually do at this pace. To avoid causing my ankle to feel any worse I decided to reverse the direction on the bunny ear and lean less into the turn. No issues what so ever (either during or post run) so I'm hopeful that's behind me now. Very happy to hit 6/6 paces so comfortably.
The other thing that was remarkably consistent was the HR. A solid 155 for the last five intervals at an average pace of 6:39. Plugging this into my HRvpace graph has it between Marathon and Half Marathon pacing. I find that hard to believe since Threshold pacing (T pace) is suppose to be at or near Lactate Threshold (or around 60 min race time). The prediction calculator has now moved by marathon to 2:58-3:04. Also, got a new garmin VO2max of 58 based on my HRmax being 180. But again, I'm finding it really difficult to even get my HR anywhere close to 180 no matter how hard I'm running. Technically, I pace on Tues is 95-100% HRmax (per Daniels), but for me this was only around 159 (when eyeballing the average without the build-up). Regardless, I'm pretty stoked with a 155 average at 6:39. Roughly two years ago that same HR (155) was a 9:00 min/mile.
Temp + Dew of 99 and wind was 13mph (thankfully for today's speed workout it was from the East which meant it effected mostly just the 0.6-0.8 mark of each mile).
Friday was another easy day. It was a race against the rain, which I won. Could have ended up doing the Q2 speed work on this day after all. But no worries! T+D of 113 but little wind.
Saturday was another easy day. The run felt really smooth and comfortable. I might or might (ok I did) try on some new Saucony Freedoms for my upcoming birthday. Guess I'll just have to wait and see if that's what I get...
Originally, I asked for a VO2max analysis from the UW Hospital. But my wife was informed that they don't offer it anymore. There's another place in town that offered it, but I didn't like their results output as much.
Sunday was a marathon tempo day.
4 mi WU + 10 miles @ M Tempo + 4 Strides
It's the one day a year my strava art actually makes sense (pogo bunny!). Happy Easter!
The T+D was 113 (so a tad higher than the last few weeks for a longer run) and the wind was swirling at 20-30mph. Hard to find a direction that it didn't feel like a headwind. The wind definitely wreaked havoc on my pacing. We also had almost full sun. So needless to say this felt like the real first "spring" run of the cycle.
M Pace = 7:02 min/mile
Interval = +/- 10 seconds
M Tempo - 7:26, 7:23, 7:05, 7:15, 7:18, 7:07, 7:18, 7:07, 7:18, 7:29, 7:02, 7:14
It's pretty obvious from the pace graph when there was a headwind and when there was what seemed like a slight tailwind. About halfway through, I stopped trying to fight the wind so much and switched to an effort based pacing system, thus the 7:29. But it's pretty obvious from the graph that when I could go fast I was hitting pace. Average HR for the M Tempo section was 146, which still puts it on the trend line even with the slight slow down (historical marathon 148-152). A solid end to the week!
The HRvpace graph is still on track. It seems to be getting really difficult to get my HR up high enough (per the suggested HR ranges for Daniels paces and my historical HR data). But I can also tell it would be really difficult to go much faster physically right now. I think I'm entering a phase of training where my HR improvement has surpassed my muscular improvements. Eventually the muscular should catch up. I'm also wondering if I'm starting to push the easy too hard. The HR is low, the duration is around 60 min, the resting HR suggests I'm recovering appropriately, it feels easy, but I'm wondering if backing off a touch more will help with the hard days. On to the next week, only 4 weeks left of Daniels before the unofficial Bunny Head 5k!
. Her HDL is even higher than mine at 76, and she doesn't exercise nearly as much. But my ratio was better.
