Of Mice and Marathons

PM: 120' on the trainer. 222W. HR 132. 

Did 26' @ Sweet Spot. 275W. HR 153. Did a few sprints toward the 2-hour mark. Decently sore from yesterday's running. I guess that is because I don't have the volume or a lot of recent outdoor miles.

AM/Lunch: 120' on the trainer. 224W. HR 134. 

3 x 10' Sweet Spot w/ 30" Hard

This was supposed to be a gravel simulation ride, but I am having trouble seeing how that is. It simulates surges in races, but not particularly gravel specific, so I think I will design my own based on what I have learned about gravel training. Still a good stimulus.

AM/Lunch: 13.4 miles, averaged 8:09. HR 145. 

10 x 1K w/ 90" Recoveries 

It has been a long time since I have done K repeats. I just decided I wanted to do something a bit faster than the half marathon tempo from last week. I figured I would start at 4:00 and work down. I felt solid through most of them and worried about holding pace. I slowed a bit toward the end, but not bad overall. Averaged about 3:55 or 6:17 pace. I looked back at some kilometer workouts and 10 days out from Philly 2015 I did 10k alternating ks HMP/GMP and ran 37:34 or 6:03 pace for 10k. The half marathon ks were 3:37 or about 5:45 pace I think and the marathon pace about what I did the repeats at today. Crazy to think I was just okay with that workout. I haven't run too many 10ks that fast since that time and it was the hard way and a workout. 

3:55, 3:55, 3:52, 3:52, 3:50, 3:55, 3:56, 3:57, 3:56, 3:57

Legs were starting to get a little sore. Maybe got nervous about blowing up. I don't know. A good session anyway. Perhaps next week I will do 12 x 1k, but work on starting at 4:00 or 4:02 and work down patiently. 

PM: 60' on the trainer. 196W. HR 119.

AM: 120' on the trainer. 204. HR 119.

PM: 7.6 miles, averaged 9:37. HR 124.

Felt very good on the run. Dark and wet, but got into a good rhythm. I fell asleep twice briefly while the boys were watching TV earlier in the day. We went to the library and had a really good day. 

AM: 120' on the trainer. 206W. HR 121. 

Just mostly zone 2 for the first part of this week. Theshold tomorrow and some longer weekend rides with some quality and maybe my first gravel simulation (though on the trainer as the roads won't be ready for a bit yet).

PM: 5 miles, averaged 8:42. HR 135.

Up early again. Got in a short run before going to pick up the boys. About 55 or so, some wind, but nice out. Moody weather. 

AM: 7.2 miles on the treadmill, averaged 9:02. HR 136.

I planned to get up early and get my trainer session in, but decided to sleep, which felt good. I ended up decided to run, but didn't want to run outside as it snowed a bit and was cold and worried it would be slick. It was also unpleasantly windy, so I hopped on the treadmill. Started slow and worked down into steady easy. Felt very good.

PM: 

AM/Lunch: 16 miles, averaged 7:29. HR 150.

8-Mile Tempo @ Marathon Effort + 1 Mile Hard

I didn't end up getting in my bike workout yesterday, so I figured my legs would be ready to go. They were. Solid warmup around low 8' pace and I was off and running. It helped that I slept about 9 hours or so. Last week I ran 6:55 pace and this week I was hoping to cut around 5-7 seconds per mile off that. I exceeded that by a decent margin. Averaged 6:44 pace @ 161 BPM, so I was mostly high moderate to low marathon effort for the first bit, which was just right. I gave myself permission too go into steady state to half marathon effort if I wanted to cut down, but just was content to pick it up a decent amount but not get carried away. This was 11 seconds per mile faster than last week at a slightly lower average HR, which was awesome. I jogged to the entryway of the tempo loop (about 4 minutes or so) and did a harder mile in 6:14. It didn't feel too hard and I could have done 1-2 more, but decided to call it and cool down for a few miles. 

This is perhaps the first real indication post-2020 that I could get back into something like I was 7-10 years ago potentially or at least make some gains from where I have been plateauing the last few years. 

6:55, 6:46, 6:50, 6:42, 6:43, 6:37, 6:37, 6:33 + 6:14

I decided to skip the half marathon this Sunday and take the next 12 weeks to build up to Bay Shore half at the end of May and see how close I can get to getting back to around 1:20-1:22. The way things are going I can get there, but it will take some work. Very pleased with my running the last few weeks. I am getting in the right kind of workouts and the aerobic base from cycling is providing a solid foundation.

PM: 120' on the trainer. 238W. HR 137.

4 x 15' Sweet Spot with 5' @ Zone 2 Recovery

278 watts (148 BPM), 279 watts (152 BPM), 276 watts (151 BPM), 276 watts (152 BPM)

AM: 90' on the trainer. 229W. HR 133.

3 x 12' Under/Overs Sweet Spot/Threshold 

Legs were sluggish, but I got through. 284 watts (HR 147), 283 watts (HR 149), 286 watts (HR 150)

AM/Lunch: 14 miles total. 

6-Mile Steady State Tempo in 39:29 (6:35 average @ 167 BPM): 6:38, 6:35, 6:32, 6:34, 6:35, 6:31

I had the day off from Lawrence Tech because of their spring break or whatever they call it there, so I had blood drawn and then got my Monday workout in a bit early. I planned on 12 x 1k to extend the workout from last week a bit, but was also thinking of something a little faster than the 8-mile tempos I have been doing to get something in between moderate to marathon effort and half marathon to lactate threshold effort (about 15k pace for me currently). I wanted to try to do this as a cutdown, starting at 6:40 and hopefully getting the last two miles under 6:30. As I got rolling I thought maybe I would just turn it into a 95% 10k time trial and maybe shoot for 40-41' but I wasn't able to cut down as far as I thought, but I went out strong and progressed a bit and hung on at the end, which I was fine with. HR never got too high, but I don't think I can sustain miles too far into the 170s these days. 

Effort was high marathon effort to half marathon effort, so right in the steady state zone target. I think last year around this time I was able to do 40' at just under 6:30 pace, so I am a little off that, but I have fewer miles and running workouts, so I really takes this as a positive I am heading in the right direction. Two weeks ago I did 4 miles at the same pace with an average HR of 170, so definite progress. 

4.5 up/3.5 down

AM: 90' on the trainer. 232W. HR 131.

3 x 15' Sweet Spot

269 watts (139 BPM), 274 watts (145 BPM, 275 watts (147 BPM)

Solid earlier session. HR was very low. I think my zones are definitely a bit low at this point. 

PM: 6 miles, averaged 9:39. HR 121. 

Recovery. Got pretty dark, but happy for the room for extra light.

AM: 120' on the trainer. 209W. HR 120. 

Basic zone 2 ride. Listened to some podcast and news, watching the world crumble. 

PM: 8 miles, averaged 8:17. HR 137. 

Felt very good. HR stayed quite low and 8' pace feels very easy at this point. I think after a few weeks of solid workouts, my fitness has turned around. Feeling really really good. The Polly Ann is in decent shape. A bit rutted, but mostly frozen a bit. I imagine it will be full ready before too long.

AM: 8 miles, averaged 8:13. HR 138.

Switched my workouts around to make sure I got enough sleep. I will hopefully get my trainer workout in after Megan gets home. Need to figure out what to do about my workout for tomorrow as Megan has to go to Toledo to help her parents. I doubt I will get up super early to get a long run tempo in, but I might just have to or reorder things for the weekend. 

My weight seems to be dropping quite significantly. I feel like this never happens, but I have been trying to focus on my nutrition a bit more and watch my snacking/what I am snacking on, and increasing my protein intake and making sure I get recovery fuel bac in almost immediately after all workouts. 

PM: 90' on the trainer. 226W. HR 136. 

4 x 10' Threshold

298 watts (151 BPM), 296 watts (155 BPM), 300 watts (157 BPM), 301(158 BPM)

Evening: 78' ride outside. 18.6 miles @ 14.2 MPH. 134. HR 102.

Recovery. First outdoor ride of the year. A bit later than normal, but things weren't great for a while and then just really turned around quickly. Roads were graded and actually very dry and chunky in places. A few wet and/or muddy spots, but nothing you don't see after a little rain in the summer. I was hoping the warmer weather would be dry so I could get a longer ride outside this weekend, but not going to happen.

I skipped my Friday long run as Megan had to go to Toledo and I took the boys for the day. The boys were extremely challenging and my parenting was about a D+ at best.

PM: 3 hours 33' (56 miles @ 15.8 MPH). 185W. HR 125. 

I thought it was supposed to be raining all day, but it cleared off and the sun came out a bit, though it was extremely windy (40 MPH gusts), but given that I figured the roads would be decently dry and it was in the 60s I was going to just deal with it. The wind was quite obnoxious at times and pulled my front wheel a few times, which was a bit scary.

Roads were generally good. Slow and chunky in places. Some real rutted out sections of low-lying areas where there is water on both sides of the road, but overall quite good for mid-March. Power was okay, though speed was lower than I would have liked, but wind and a somewhat hilly route will do that. Glad to bank a little time on a planned 3 hour ride. 

Lunch/PM: 3 hours on the trainer. 240W. HR 142. 

Gravel Simulation #1: 2 Hours @ Sweet Spot (264 watts @ 152 BPM)

Well, not exactly a "gravel" simulation but a gravel simulation. It was rainy out and knew things would not be great condition-wise, so I stuck to the trainer for this very challenging workout.

Warmup was scheduled for 15', but I did 30 before getting into things. I used one of the pacer group rides on Zwift that was set at 3.5 watts per kilo, shooting to average around 270ish. I dropped the group at one point and eventually they came back. My HR stayed quite low, only getting into the lower-160s in the final few minutes. I tried not to press too hard as 2 hours at this effort is like running at a high moderate to low marathon effort, so it helps to be patient. I have never gone this long at this intensity (though admittedly some of my really long tempo rides were probably sweet spot before). The most sweet spot I have done straight through is around 80-90 minutes. 

I tried to maintain my carbohydrate intake during the ride as I knew it would be impossible without it. I think I was north of 90 grams of carbs per hour though did not do the exact math. I know I had 3 bottles of 90 carbs each and 3 gels of 30 carbs each and I drank 2.5 bottles and took 2 gels, so around 95 grams per hour. I was going to take more but it was a lot of sugar and didn't want my stomach to revolt. I felt fine though. I think I would shoot to be around 100-110 next time and maybe even higher from there. I have been studying higher carbohydrate intake during training sessions and trying to implement it. If you look at modern endurance sports, that is where the focus has neem.

Lunch/PM: 14 miles, averaged 7:32. HR 147. 

8-Mile Tempo @ Marathon Effort Avg 6:42 @ 160 BPM

After yesterday's long hard bike effort I was really due for a recovery day, but I don't really have any other days during the week to do a midweek workout, so I told myself not to force things and if I felt awful I would adjust or just run easy. It ended up going well, though with fresher legs I would like to have seen where the pace could have gone. Effort was good, legs were decent. My HR stayed quite low. The last lap was only 162 BPM, when 10 days ago that is abotu what I averaged. This was about 2 seconds faster per mile, so still progress, which is good. I still need to find the old entry where Rob Murphy gave me advice about getting stuck comparing workouts week to week a number of years ago. 

I decided going into the workout not to do any additional mile repeats as I have done previously. The stacked training load the last few days has been a lot. 

3 up/3 down 

6:52, 6:46, 6:43, 6:38, 6:41, 6:41, 6:40, 6:31

The effort felt right. I decided to pick it up the second half slightly but not press too hard and keep the effort more or less consistent. Not a ton of cardiac drift. Hovered right at 160-161 for most of it.

AM: 60' on the trainer. 142W. HR 94.

Got up early and did a recovery ride. I was in the red the last two days, unsuprisingly. Felt like falling back asleep, but I had to go to the bathroom and figured I might as well get up. Looks like a warm day, so I will get a recovery 10k in later. 

Weight looks to be accurate accounting for hydration, etc. I have never seen weight come off this fast. I am now right around my median racing weight. I would like to see things continue to drop, but maybe not as drastically (though I don't think I have ever said that in my entire endurance career!). Some slight adjustments to eating have made a difference. I am fueling workouts more and taking in more recovery protein immediately after workouts, which keeps appetite spikes way down and ensures proper fueling and recovery, so I don't see it as a bad thing.

PM: 8 miles recovery, averaged 9:47. HR 121. 

A beautiful evening for it.

PM: 8 miles, averaged 7:57. HR 146.

It was 65 or 70. Just absolutely beautiful, though windy headed south. I kept the pace pretty steady as I wanted to get the full loop in before going to get the boys. 

Night: 120' on the trainer. 220W. HR 133. 

3 x 15' Sweet Spot

I still wanted to get in my bike workout. I slept in and didn't get it in, so I got it in late, which wasn't ideal. I got dinner ready for Megan and after the boys went to bed I got on the trainer. Energy was decent, but as soon as I tried to push my legs were super heavy. I struggled to keep my power up. My HR was very in control, but my legs did nothing. That is a tough time of day to try to do a workout, so I didn't worry about it too much. Right around the upper 260 to lowe 270 watt range. I was hoping for upper 270s to low 280s. 

AM: 60' on the trainer. 139W. HR 95. 

PM: 6.2 miles, averaged 9:41. HR 121. 

About 35 degrees with blowing sleet and snow, so quite a change from yesterday when I was in a t-shirt and shorts and I was sweating before mile 2. My bike training program signaled a red day and a recovery ride, which was welcomed. V02 max intervals were not high on my list. Felt very good for both recovery sessions.

AM: 14.5 miles, averaged 7:40. HR 146.

4 x 2 Miles @ Half Marathon Effort

It's been years since I have done this workout. I think maybe fall 2015 before my half marathon PR, but I might have done it spring in 2016. I have to look. Anyway, certainly one of the slowest I have ever done this workout, but I am pleased with it, as this would have been impossible at this pace even 6 weeks ago. Megan had something at Oakland, so I had to get moving. I usually sleep as late as I can on Fridays. Still managed a good night of sleep with good sleep data. I planned on trying to get everything under 6:30 pace as this would be just below the faster end of my recent 8-mile tempos and a bit faster than my 6-mile threshold run a few weeks ago. It was quite cold.

Warmed up 3 miles or so with some pickups and strides. I did these on my 1k+ loop, which ended up working out well because each repeat was just under three laps. I took a very easy 3-3.5' plod between repeats. I wanted to start in the same spot rather than doing them continuously as I sometimes do my workouts. Effort was good throughout. HR never got very high, but I guess that really doesn't matter. This was definitely another good step in the right direction. 

Repeat 1: 6:35, 6:30, Repeat 2: 6:21, 6:25, Repeat 3: 6:23, 6:24, Repeat 4: 6:23, 6:25

Avg 6:25/6:26

Cooled down 2.4 miles. 

PM: 60' on the trainer. 202W. HR 119. 

PM: 3 hours on the trainer. 212W. HR 122. 

Felt a little sluggish even though the effort wasn't hard. Just low on calories I think.

AM/Lunch: 120' on the trainer. 225W. HR 136.

4 x 12' Under/Overs

Got a good night of sleep, sleeping until almost 9:30. The 3 x 12' version of this workout was tough two weeks ago, mostly due to muscular fatigue. Aerobically, it is not terrible. Today I felt a bit better, but it was still challenging to concentrate. I was slightly under targets on a few of the intervals but mostly close, at, or slightly above in some cases. Having lost quite a bit of weight recently and rapidly I know that it is a bit harder to put out higher power. This was also the second week at 17+ hours of total training time. I think this week I will try to cut volume and not do a "midweek" (Monday, that is) workout and just run very easy until Friday's long run workout and do whatever is on my cycling schedule. I don't wont to get too manic about my training, but boy it feels good right now. 

Lunch: 6.1 miles, averaged 9:31. HR 121.

PM: 6.5 miles, averaged 9:10. HR 119. 

Cold and windy on both runs, but felt good to run twice. 

AM/Lunch: 14 miles, averaged 7:32. HR 146. 

6 x 1 Mile

It's been a while since I have done mile repeats outside. I did them on the treadmill in early February and I think the fastest was around 6:40. I think I started at 7:05ish pace. Today my goal was to run approximately 10 seconds faster than the 2-mile repeat pace from Friday, which would put me slightly faster than 15k-10-mile pace to around 10k pace. The boys went to their friend's for a few hours, which was welcomed given how things have been lately and that Tuesdays I am with them for the day. So instead of getting a bunch of work done, I decided to sneak this in. With two recovery runs yesterday and no bike workouts just the day before as I have been doing, I figured I would have decent legs today. I did. 

Goal was to start around 6:20-6:22 and cut down, hoping to hit 6:10 or faster by the end. Pretty much was on target. Quite chilly and decently windy, though this loop is just over a kilometer so it isn't all in the wind. 

6:16, 6:20, 6:14, 6:16, 6:15, 6:12

I took just over 2' jog recoveries. About 1/5 of a mile (2:10-2:15). 3.2 up/3.6 down. I think this is right around half marathon goal pace in about 8 weeks. I think that is double with some consistent mileage and working these midweek workouts a bit, try to extend these out to 2k next week or the week after and then maybe to 4 x 10' in about 4-5 weeks, and then about a week out do 4 x 2 miles. 

PM: 73' outside ride. 181W. HR 111.

Brrr. It was cold and spitting snow. Wind in my face for a good bit of it. Felt pretty sluggish from the morning session, so I probably should have just sat on the trainer to minimize leg fatigue. I just felt like getting outside. I am not sure I will get outside on the bike this week. Thursday Night Dirt is on, but with the boys on break and the schedule out of typical order, I think I will wait. 

AM: 90' on the trainer. 220W. HR 132. 

3 x 15' Sweet Spot (5')

I wasn't sure how my legs would feel after yesterday. They felt fine throughout the day, but they were quite sluggish and slow to warm up on this session. I am glad it wasn't threshold. HR was nice and low and my average was slightly above target and I got stronger with each interval, which was good. Not a tough workout when you have recently done two hours at the same effort, but good to stack some quality. 

267 watts (148 BPM), 274 watts (148 BPM), 276 watts (151 BPM)

PM: 3 hours 6' (54.6 miles @ 17.4 MPH). 214W. HR 141. 

Thursday Night Dirt Season Opener!

The boys have been on break so our schedule has been a little jumbled and I wasn't planning to do the ride, but I didn't have much time planned for my classes this week and I took the boys for some extra time so Megan could sort some things out for her parents. I decided it was okay to do the ride, which I really wanted to do but didn't think it was appropriate if Megan was going to be with the boys for most of the day when they are typically in school and she is on campus. 

It was in the 50s with a decent bit of wind, so I dressed for about 40-45 degrees and it worked out well. Rode to the ride as usual. Greenshield west was loamy and sandy, but the bike was actually floating over it quite well. It is amazing what the weight loss has done on the bike. Takes no effort to get going and maintain speed. Met the group coming up Sheldon. Stayed at the back to get used to riding next to people again then moved up. 

One guy off the front going up/down Hixon, so a few took off and I took a strong pull up the hill and put a gap on the group temporarily. I got into a fast group of a few guys and we were moving. We cornered and I thought they would let up, so I tried to get some fluids in knowing I needed some carbs to keep up. That was a mistake. Gap opened and I was never going to cover it. 

A few guys caught up with me and I tried to work with them a bit but our rhythm was off. The group caught us going through the Proving Grounds so I figured I would stick with them. A very good ride. Not super fast overall, but windy and an uneven effort. 

Chatted for a while and then rode home. I wasn't going to RJ's as I wanted to get home and I didn't want to sit around and then freeze on the way home. It was cold enough and sometimes even in May doing that is too cold. 

Loop Data: 19.1-19.3 MPH 247 Watts (275 Normalized). 30.2 miles in 1:33:50.

AM: 15.3 miles, averaged 7:22. HR 149. 

8-Mile Tempo @ Marathon Effort

I was going to be sensible and do 2 x 10k recovery runs, but I wanted to get in a long run. Originally I was going to do 2 x 5 miles @ high marathon to steady state effort (around 6:28-6:35), but Megan had a meeting and I needed to be back, so I figured this would be a better focus and I could get in what I wanted and have a good idea of how much time it would take. My legs were tired from last night, but knowing they actually can do well if I don't run the day before even with a longer harder bike workout, I just went with it, running under 8:00 for the first mile, which almost never happens. I had the goal of being slightly under my pace from about 10 days ago (6:42 pace), but not to force things if I felt overly tired or if I was out of my target zone. Felt quite solid if a bit tired toward the last mile to mile and a half, but I expected that. 

6:37 average @ 161 BPM

6:44, 6:39, 6:36, 6:36*, 6:36, 6:38, 6:35, 6:35

The fourth split was 6:28, but I knew that couldn't be right, and the data confirmed a pace glitch. Figured it was in line with the other splits, so I put it down as 6:36. Did a somewhat longer cool down. 

3 up/4.3 down

18 seconds faster per mile than exactly one month ago. I'm pretty much back to where I have typically been as a base since 2013 or 2014, so that feels good. 

My weight is down 8.75 lbs from one month ago, which is almost 4 kilos. I have never lost weight so quickly in my life, even when I first started running. I think I lost 10-12 lbs in early 2014 over an 8-week period, so that was close. I was also 11 years younger. That was after a serious injury. 

PM: 3 hours 10'. 52.6 miles @ 16.6 MPH. 191W (201 Norm.). HR 119. 

Decided to roll the dice on the road conditions and weather. I lost. It was fine to start. Roads a bit damp, but not bad. Got a few sprinkles and then light rain and the roads were a bit messy. I was just going to keep going, but I decided to trun back thinking I would finish on the trainer. I heard grit in my brakes, which is usually a sign to be done. I was kind of ticked at myself, but that happens some times. I had checked the forecast and thought there was a window. Oh well. I still managed to get in over 3 hours and had it not been raining I would have done 4+ hours even though my training program told me it was best to cut it down. This was somewhere in the middle. 

I had my hydration pack loaded with Flow Formula and two 25 oz bottles, so I was ready for abotu 4 hours. It worked well though I didn't ingest a ton. I did have a decent meal prior: two granola bars, a small stack of Ritz, and a bowl of yogurt with granola. 

AM: 120' on the trainer. 225W. HR 135. 

3 x 12' Threshold

297 watts (154 BPM), 295 watts (157 BPM), 295 watts (158 BPM)

Slightly lower than the same workout a month about, about 3-5 watts but 8-9 lbs lighter, so I still think I am ahead. Going to be tough trying to push 315-320 for an FTP test next week I think. HR didn't get high, but breathing got up there a bit the last 90"-2'. Legs were decent. 

Lunch: 8 miles, averaged 8:33. HR 131. 

PM: 6.3 miles, averaged 8:48. HR 124. 

Two good, relaxed runs. Stride felt great and HR was excellent.