Fall Racing Season

Planned day off.  Lifted weights (upper body routine).

Hill repeats at RSPP.  Roughly 9.5M total; no time recorded.  Ran at 10am - weather was warm, sunny, and dry.

2M w.u. + assorted unstructured hill intervals with equal distance jog + 1.5M w.d.

Repeats were supposed to roughly match the Daniels workout in the schedule I'm following, but they were mowing the hay/weeds field up there so I had to improvise. As near as I can remember, I did: 1x200, 2x100, 6x500, 4x300, and 4x100.  Last 100s all out on the steepest part of the hill.  These distances are guesses and are based more on the time it takes to run them than actual distances.

Pushed hard and felt relatively strong.  About 1/3 of the way through I was struggling and not sure I could finish, but I gutted it out and got a second wind.  Probably pushed harder today than at Thursday's race.  Had those lovely symptoms of interval work, headache and upset stomach.  Legs felt almost fully recovered from last week.  Knees were slightly sore during warm up (from squats/lunges) and left achilles was a little sore during the workout but better than last week by far.

Full lower-body weights routine at the Y afterwards.

Triax (1): 356 + 300 est. OFFICIALLY RETIRED

Triax (2): 107

Adistar (1): 571 + 50 est. OFFICIALLY RETIRED

Adistar (2): 13

6M in 41:16 on the OCA South and back.  Ran at 1pm; weather was 80 and sunny.  Can't complain.

Threw in 5 pickups of 30 seconds or so each, which accounts for the overall 6:51 pace on an easy recovery run.  

Felt fine.  Legs were mostly OK, but feet were a little sore.

Triax: 107

Adistar: 19

Went to the running store this morning.  Since learning how to buy the right shoes is an ongoing process for me, I'm writing everything down for future reference.

Wanted to buy 2 pairs of shoes: (1) a 2nd pair of trainers mainly for long runs and secondarily for easy runs to rotate with my Adistars and (2) a pair of "performance" trainers for track work and tempo runs.  I usually wear my Cumulus now for speedwork but they seem to lack cushioning (esp. forefoot) for how heavy they are.

For the trainers I picked out 5 models to try on.  I chose these candidates from catalog info/ Runner's World reviews based on high amount of cushioning, soft feel, and not too heavy weight.  I came up with Nike Zoom Vomero 3, Nike Max 180 3, Saucony Progrid Triumph 5, Asics Nimbus 9, and Brooks Glycerin 6.

Nike Zoom Vomero 3: not in stock in my size, so didn't try on

Nike Max 180 3: store didn't carry them; salesman said they were BS/fashion shoes and not real running shoes

Saucony Progrid Triumph 5: first pair I tried on. Fit didn't seem great and they didn't feel very soft or cushiony, so ruled them out

Asics Nimbus 9: Great amount of cushion - of all the shoes they felt the best each time my foot hit the ground.  However, the fit wasn't great, just OK: felt a little loose and rubbed the wrong way slightly around the ankle and heel.  Salesman said that was normal and that there was a special material around the ankle that molds to your foot over time, improving the fit.  Almost got them.

Brooks Glycerin 6:  Best fit by far.  Size 9.5 was too snug but it fit like a glove, size 10 wasn't as tight but still fit great.  Feel was less cushiony than the Nimbus but still not bad, so I wasn't sure which to get.  Salesman advised going for fit over feel.  Basically a toss-up.  Bought these in size 10.

For the performance shoes I picked out NB 826, Mizuno Wave Precision 8, and Nike Zoom Skylon to try on.  Basically chose these based on weight of around 9-10 oz, amount of cushion, and no hint of any stability/motion control features.

NB 826: Size 9.5 felt great but were a little snug.  Size 10 was a tiny bit loose on the left foot but seemed OK but tighter lacing.  Couldn't see any reason not to get these, so I did.

Mizuno Wave Precision 8: Store carried version 9.  Didn't like the feel of these at all.  Felt like there was a lift in the heel and no cushion whatsoever in the forefoot.  Forefoot felt like it was 0.001mm from the street but heel felt like I was wearing high heels.  Bad.

Nike Zoom Skylon: Store didn't carry them.  Salesman said no one at the store liked the shoe.

Probably covered 2 or 3 miles running around the block and on the treadmill, but I won't count that in my mileage...

Big tempo workout today.  Total of 11 miles in 1:18, all asphalt.  Ran 2.5M from home to the North County Trailway aka Putnam Bike Path, then ran 5.7M at tempo pace out and back, and warmed down with 2.8M. Ran at around 11am - gorgeous August day - sunny, about 70, light breeze.

Was trying for a full 6.4M at tempo which would have been the full out and back from where I get on the bike path to the parking lot where I turn around and back, but I started falling apart on the last mile and eased off.  Afterwards I was pretty mad at myself for doing that.

Stats on the workout:

2.5M wu in 7:24 (incl big uphill)

Tempo portion:

Dist / Pace / Avg HR / Max HR

1 / 5:50 / 155 / 161

1 / 6:03 / 162 / 165

1 / 5:59 / 166 / 168

.2/ 6:06 / 167 / 168

1 / 5:50 / 167 / 170

1 / 5:42 / 169 / 171

.5 / 5:56 / 170 / 171

So 1st 3.2M @ 5:58, last 2.5M@ 5:48, total 5.7M@ 5:53.

Felt pretty strong overall.  A better workout than the one 3 1/2 weeks ago where I ran 4x1M w/ 2min rest in avg 5:47 on the same course.  Left Achilles/ankle area was sore during the run, and afterwards my knees ached like they used to everyday but don't so much recently.

Lifted weights (upper body) at the Y in the afternoon.  Felt tired there.  I have lost weight: 141 first thing in the morning on home scale, 145.5 in midafternoon on Y scale.

Triax: 107

Adistar: 19

Cumulus: 293

45 junky minutes - call it 5 miles.  Slow pace the whole way.  Legs were dead from yesterday, and left Achilles was quite sore, so didn't want to/ couldn't pick it up.

Ran at 11am across Hwy 448 from Stone Barns.  Very hilly up there.  Saw a wild turkey hen and 3 baby turkeys (turklings? turklets?), and also ran on a cool new trail I didn't know about.  Weather was sunny and nice.

Triax: 107

Adistar: 24

Cumulus: 293

60 minutes bike = 8 miles Cross Training Equivalent (CTE).  I record these CTE miles separately but do not include them in running mileage.

10m wu + 10 x (2min hard, 2 min easy) + 10m wd.  18.1 miles total.  Most workbouts @ 100-110rpm @ Level 11 resistance on far RHS bike at the Y.  HR in mid-160s at end of most workbouts, but 171 on last rep.

Quality workout but not all out.  I wanted to get in a hard workout today but wasn't sure it was a good idea to run hard with my Achilles being tender, so I hit the bike.  Easy tomorrow, long run Sunday.

Weights (lower body and abs) beforehand.

Had a hard time raising the HR today, and this bike workout was not as good as a couple I did in May (where workbouts were generally 110-115rpm @ 12 resistance).  Some possible reasons:

*Different bike at the Y, maybe resistance is not comparable

*Not sure I had my feet properly in the stirrups today

*Did my leg weights beforehand today, so legs were already spent when I started

*My training has been hard this week and I'm tired

8 miles in 58:22 (7:18 avg) to Dobbs Ferry and back.  Ran at 7:30am, weather beautiful and trail "crowded."

Easy pace and felt fine the whole way.  End HR 145.  Ran in new yellow Brooks Glycerin 6.  They seem more or less fine.  They are a little stiffer and less cushiony than my Adistars, but fit great and didn't seem to cause any problems. 

The first couple of miles both my Achilles (left especially) were stiff and my right forefoot was sore, but these all improved as the run went on.  Felt better and better.  However, left Achilles is tender afterwards.

Weights (upper body) in the basement afterwards.

Triax: 107

Adistar: 24

Cumulus: 293

Glycerin: 8