Of Mice and Marathons

AM: 8 miles, averaged 8:16. HR 134.

Did some strides, which felt great. As I move back into racing, I need to do these more regularly. I've generally been pretty inconsistent with them throughout my running career. These felt very good and I am looking forward to running fast again. Kind of cold and rainy here and there, but I got some breaks in it and the really heavy stuff hit as I got back (about 45 degrees, so I was happy for the delay).

PM: 1:45 on the trainer. 227W. HR 136. 

45' Sweet Spot Interval: 267 Watts @ 153 BPM

Felt pretty decent even though it was getting late. Had a solid 1 hour+ nap today and that cleared out a lot of fatigue. 

The boys have screening for kindergarten tomorrow. 

AM: 14 miles, averaged 7:18. HR 152. 

8-Mile Aerobic Builder in 51:30 (6:26 Avg. @ 166 BPM)

6:35, 6:24, 6:23, 6:23, 6:24, 6:30, 6:27, 6:24

Boys were off for screening and they were having some trouble, so I was a bit worried. They only wanted one parent, so Megan took them. Sawyer had a bit of trouble, but I think they were overtired. Need to get them to bed sooner, but with twins they never want to go to bed. 

The weather was pretty decent. Cool, but not cold, but warming up. I took a slightly longer route to the tempo loop for a change in pace. I was planning on a 6-mile tempo and 3 x 1 mile around goal half marathon pace. First mile was slower than I wanted but told myself it would do no good to force it. Contractors were doing work at one of the houses blocking most of the road, so it made one of the corners a little tricky becauce Michiganers think unobstructed driving is a god-given right. 

Felt generally pretty solid. HR was a little elevated, but the effort felt pretty much in line with what I have been doing, but much closer to my 8-mile tempos of my late 20s and early 30s. I decided to go to 8 miles and see if I could knock of a mile repeat or two, but I was ready to be done and my stomach was telling me lentil tacos with corn dip at 10:30 last night was not my wisest timing. Did a shorter than planned cool down of two miles. 

I'm pretty happy with this one. It's the first time in 5-6 years (at least) that I've gone sub-6:30 miles in a workout. I was also sub-40' for 10k. On Monday, a sub-20' 5k almost killed me, and I was just above that pace for almost 52' today. 

4 up/2 down 

PM: 4 hours. 68.1 miles @ 17MPH. 210W. HR 129. 

Zone 2 with VO2 Intervals

Pretty chilly, but not terrible. Just on the cusp of trying to decide whether or not to wear a hat under my helmet. Felt generally pretty good, but a little tired toward the end. I think I needed to fuel a bit better throughout the middle. I just wasn't thirsty as it was colder. The intervals were not structured, just sprinkled throughout the first three hours, essentially. 2-5', ranging from 310-340, mostly around the mid-320s. I couldn't seem to get into a rhythm, but with changing terrain, it was somewhat difficult. I had a hard time finding the right gear a few times. 

I think I need to turn off my speed and average speed as it is too distracting and I don't need it. I just need heart rate metrics, power metrics, overall time, and training stress score when I have those workouts. 

AM: 60' on the trainer. 134W. HR 91. 

Active recovery ride. Nothing else today. The program triggered a red day, and I need it. I am going to get in an additional recovery today tomorrow and not do anything hard with a maintenance day on Tuesday to absorb everything. It's time. 

I wanted to do the Coffee Ride, but I wasn't sure if anyone was doing it and it was supposed to rain, though I think that was coming later. 

AM: 8 miles, averaged 8:11. HR 135. Did some strides.

PM: Off.

Planned to run, but it got late. We did go for a nice walk as a family for the first time in a while. Boys played on the playground and got soaked and muddy, but they had a lot of fun. 

AM: 8 miles, averaged 7:48. HR 137. 

Hit some low-7' pace miles coming down the Polly Ann. HR was still in the upper part of zone 2. Feeling amazing. I probably need to have Tuesdays as a dedicated run day and double to get some more mileage. I could probably get plenty of cycling volume from 4 days, especially in the summer when I can do long rides on Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. That could have Monday as a recovery day and I could try to do my midweek running workout on Tuesday, but we shall see. 

We got a lot more rain last night and this morning, so likely on the trainer this afternoon/evening, which is fine. 

PM: 120' on the trainer. 224W. HR 128. 

4 x 12' Criss Cross Tempo/Threshold

3 (3, 1)

262W @ 141 BPM, 261W @ 140 BPM, 263W @ 141 BPM, 267W @ 144 BPM

Decent session. Nothing too taxing, just a little quality thrown in. 

AM: 8 miles, averaged 7:35. HR 146. 

Beautiful morning. Upper 50s to low 60s and warming. Moved along pretty good. HR a bit higher than yesterday, but still fine for "easy" running. 

PM: ~120' on the trainer. 228W. HR 128. 

3 x 20' Tempo Bursts

Solid session. Not too taxing, but a little bit of work done. I wanted ot go outside, but couldn't risk a mechanical and being late to pick the boys up from school.

AM: 8 miles, averaged 7:34. HR 142. 

A bit chilly, but the kind of weather runners like. Gloves but no hat and a warmer baselayer. 

Started taking creatine this morning in an effort to reduce the effects of age-related muscle loss. I am not sure I will do the loading phase as I want to avoid a ton of weight gain and possible GI distress, which means it will take longer to see the effects, but that is okay. Over the last several months, and really the last 8-12 I have been refining my nutrition. Not so much meals, though I always try to work on that but fueling workouts and post-workout recovery. I believe that and consistency has led to my being able to get back to where I am at. That and kicking alcohol. 

Looking forward to the group ride tonight, though it might be a bit cool and windy. Yesterday was beautiful. Weather is trending up this weekend though. 

PM: 3 hours. 53.5 miles @ 17.8 MPH. 217W. HR 139. 

Thursday Night Dirt

It was chilly. Good ride. Dropped on 36 but rode with another guy and kept up the effort. Legs felt like junk on the ride over, but started to feel much better. I did better covering surges this week, but the wind through the Proving Grounds was a little tough and a gap opened and that was that. Roads were rough. 

Loop Data: 30.4 miles in 1:29:51. 20.3 MPH. 253W (280 normalized). HR 153. 

AM/Lunch: 16 miles, averaged 7:30. 

6 x 1 Mile + 5 x 200

Got a decent night of sleep. Planned on doing this workout, but I had a few other ideas, including doing a heart rate based progression run to try to get something a bit over 2 hours, but I settled with my original plan of doing 6-7 x 1 mile. I told myself to keep the first one fairly "easy" and settle into it. I figured anything under 6:20 as long as I progressed nicely by the end would be fine. I was trying not to compare things too much to previous workouts, such as when I did 6 x 2k @ about 6:10/6:11 pace, so I guess maybe I did compare a little :-). I wanted things to feel roughly like the start of a half marathon and then work done to 10k pace or faster by the end. Mission accomplished.

I decided to stop at 6 and not do 7. I did want to do something slightly faster at the end without being overly taxing, so I was going to do a couple 400s on the track (about a 5' jog from my house), but decided just to do some long strides (200 meter repeats). Those were far from my fastest but decently fast given current abilities and the fact that I did them close to the 2-hour mark. 

~4 up/4.6? down with the 200s

6:14, 6:10, 6:07, 6:06, 6:02, 6:03 (6:06 average)

42, 42, 40, 41

PM: 3 hours 34'. 65.2 miles @ 18.3 MPH. 214W. HR 137.

2 x 30' 

Head out the Polly Ann and headed east to some familiar roads I haven't been on it a while. Around Oxford the roads were very rough. Dropped my chain twice and a bottle came off of the cage but I caught it with my leg and pinched it against the frame. I went to Stony Creek midish ride to do some efforts around the lake. I was shooting for a hour of sweet spot but it wasn't happening. I tried to find the rhythm on the changing topography, but wasn't quite able to find my gearing. I ended up doing 2 x 30' @ sweet spot. My AI program told me to cut it back to two hours of endurance at the most, but it was way too nice out for that. Took just 5' steady @ 189 watts between intervals

273 watts @ 154 BPM and 272 watts @ 158 BPM

Megan and I went to Oakland's Meadowbook Amphitheater to see Sturgill Simpson. It was my birthday gift to her. It was a great show and we were pretty close. Our friend watched the boys. The show was pretty much three hours straight with barely a transition between most songs or any of the usual banter and stuff between songs. Quite impressive. He did LA Woman, which was pretty awesome. 

PM: 62'. 14.7 miles @ 14.1 MPH. 125W. HR 97.

Recovery ride on the Polly Ann and some of the neighborhoods near my running routes. I was going to do the Coffee Ride, but wanted to get up with the boys so Megan could sleep in. Took them grocery shopping and to get some flowers at the Home Depot for Mother's Day. 

Body definitely needed a recovery day. 

AM: 11.2 miles, averaged 8:12. HR 135. Did some strides. 

Boy, I was thinking I was going to mostly skipp the creatine weight gain phase. Ouch. I know it is just water, but still. Damn. It was work getting back down. I think it will settle back out, but I need to be careful. I can't have this.

PM: 4 miles, averaged 8:42. HR 127. 

Legs a little sluggish to start, then felt solid, then I felt like I got sunscreen in my eye, or pollen, then my legs just gave up and felt like I had no energy and bonked hard, but finished up 4 miles and walked the rest of the way home. Nice night for it. 

PM: 60' on the trainer. 225W. HR 135.

3 x 10' Criss Cross (Tempo/VO2s). 3 sets of 2 (4'/1')

Planned to go a little longer, but the plan only called for this for a regeneration week. I took the boys grocery shopping and then to the mall in the afternoon. They ran off on me and hid outside. I did find them, but I was flaming. A lady told me it was a bad place to let me kids run around as it was a dangerous place (as if it wasn't clear I was trying to chase them down). I didn't find that very helpful so I told her to mind her business. She continued, so I was a little less nice. 

AM: 4 miles, averaged 8:00. HR 136. 

I tried to get up early, but I just wasn't able to get up. Got in a short run before going with Megan and the boys to the Detroit Zoo for a class field trip. We had a great time. The animals were very present and active. In fact, a lion couple was a little too active maybe :-). It took the boys a little while to warm up and enjoy everything, but I think they were having trouble being caught between home and school mode with their teachers and classmates there and us. 

PM: 1 hour 37'. 28.6 miles @ 17.6 MPH. 206W. HR 131. 

Decently warm. Megan took a nap and didn't want to run, so I went out and got a ride in. I was going to sit on the trainer, but they seemed dumb given the nice weather. The humidity has settled in a bit. 

AM: 8 miles, averaged 7:51. HR 145. Did some strides. 

Beautiful morning. Started to get warm, but not super hot. I went to the KLM liquidation sale (another company is coming in). It was nuts. I didn't think there would be that many people there, but I forget that people come out of the woodwork for these kinds of things. 

PM: 3 hours 1'. 57.3 miles @ 18.9 MPH. 218W. HR 147. 

Thursday Night Dirt

Decently warm, not much wind. Did well covering speed changes, but got dropped in the Proving Grounds, much later than usual. I was doing a pull and I think some guys got impatient as they came around and the group gapped me and then that was it. I still managed to keep up a decent effort by myself. 

A PR for the loop @ 1:17:59. 27.6 miles @ 21.3 MPH. HR 161. 253 watts. 

AM: 9 miles, averaged 9:25. HR 124. 

PM: 5.5 miles, averaged 9:20. HR 123. 

It's nice and warm—beautiful weather. I was going to do a long run/workout, but it was getting warm, and I really needed this to be a down week. So, I will likely not do any running workouts this week, which isn't ideal two weeks out from a target half, but I have a big, packed week coming. 

Weight is stabilizing a bit after the creatine loading phase. 

PM: 120' on the trainer. 211W. HR 128. 

The boys fell asleep playing in their pack-n.plays. We put them in them the other night when we had a tornado warning in the middle of the night. They were tired after a birthday party, so I was able to continue on after 90' to finish out 2 hours. Megan is headed to a girls' overnight, so it is me and the boys for the afternoon/evening and a bit tomorrow. 

PM: 120' on the trainer. 218W. HR 128. 

4 x 8' Over/Unders

Hard/Sweet Spot/Full Gas. Long recovery at 8' high zone 1/low zone 2. 

AM: 8 miles, averaged 7:53. HR 140. 

Coldish this morning. Worked on cleaning the house. Took a nice, long nap on the couch. I picked up the garage a bit before picking up the boys from school. 

PM: 7.3 miles, averaged 7:53. HR 136. 

AM/Lunch: 120' on the trainer. 220W. HR 134. 

3 x 10' Criss Cross (Diabolical)

Tough workout. 4 minutes threshold, 1 minute hard, 4 minutes threshold, 1 minute all out  x 3. I did not hit the targets on the harder ones or the all outs as they ust were too high. 3 x 10 threshold is pretty challenging in itself, so I tried to smash a bit for the minute and settle back in and then just survive. I did manage to ingest 129g of carbs per hour, which I think is a new personal best. 

PM: 4 miles, averaged 9:59. HR 116. 

Rainy and cold. Legs were just not working and I felt kind of weak and dizzy, so I headed home. I started to feel better, so I just ran around the neighborhood until I hit 4. I am not sure if it was a fueling problem or what. 

AM: 120' on the trainer. 223W. HR 131. 

4 x 8' Sweet Spot Bursts

Very rainy and cold again. Helped Megan get the boys off to school did some cleaning, got this session in, did some more cleaning, took a nap. Picked the boys up from school. Went for a run. 

PM: 9 miles, averaged 9:00. HR ~124-126 I think. 

Cold and rainy still, but the rain stopped. HRM off the first two miles and then settled in. Felt much better than yesterday afternoon. Not sure what the difference was. The nap maybe?

AM: 2 hours 16' on the trainer. 210W. HR 122. 

Triggered a red day on my training app. Probably could have done my workout, but I just did zone 2 for about the same duration and that felt good. Rainy and cold. 

PM: 5 miles, averaged 9:01. HR 125. 

Legs just felt awful. I think I will try to switch things back around so my runs are in the morning. This just wasn't enjoyable. It was 45-50 windy and rainy, so that really didn't help. Over the 2-3 years as I have reintroduced doubles I haven't really felt great on my second run. Part of that has been not putting enough time between runs. 4 hours is the minimum, but really 7-8 hours really resets your body. 

AM/Lunch: 16.2 miles, averaged 7:33. HR 151. 

4 x 2 Miles @ Half Marathon Effort

Did a few things around the house, including hanging a painting for Megan that I have needed to do for almost five years since we moved into the house. I slept a good deal last night, but was nervous about the workout. My legs have not been super responsive lately. I planned to do this workout, but kind of wanted to do 3 x 3 miles or even 2 x 4 miles just to get the miles done. After the first mile, I knew that I wasn't going to be able to handle that. Despite a good warmup, my legs were not responsive and my right quote was kind of achy. I managed to really run by effort and not force the pace, which was great because I would not have gotten through the workout. It was windy and cold, but the air was damp, so I sweat quite a bit. I have been working on not getting too caught up in numbers. I think I have gotten better about that as I have gotten older. 

I did 3-3.5 minutes of very easy plodding between reps. I was more concerned with getting some solid faster miles in without too much time between, but enough time to get my HR back down into the 130s, though I didn't really check it. 

(6:24, 6:20), (6:18, 6:18), (6:16, 6:21), (6:20, 6:20)

HR on the reps averaged around 166-168 or so, so definitely high marathon to half marathon effort. I think I need to drink more water. I am pretty good at it, but I have been consuming less than I typically do to try to combat the water weight gain from creatine supplementation. 

4 up/~3.3 down

AM: 6.3 miles, averaged 9:44. HR 122. 

PM: 2 hours 20 minutes. 92W. HR 87. 

Did my neighbor's yearly ride on my fatbike. It was a nice very casual ride. This is the fourth year I have done it. Definitely recovery effort, but I enjoyed rolling on the Polly Ann and chatting with people and looking at wildlife. 

AM: 120' on the trainer. 231W. HR 135. 

4 x 15' Sweet Spot w/ 5' Recovery 

267 Watts (146 BPM), 277 Watts (151 BPM), 275 Watts (152 BPM), 283 Watts (152 BPM)

Got up at a decent hour as we were headed to a graduation party. Solid session. 

PM: 4 hours. 72.8 miles @ 18.2 MPH. 212W. HR 127. 

Pretty steady pedal pressure throughout. I decided not to run today. I tried to get up early and run before the boys got up, but I was just too tired. It was way too nice out not to ride and I didn't get a longer ride in this past week and I won't get one in this weekend with a half marathon on Sunday, so this worked out well. I had a really good ride other than dropping my chain three times and getting stung by a hornet. My energy was great throughout and never dropped. I could have pushed a bit harder without much trouble, but tried to stayed focused, relaxed and disciplined and not get too much above mid to high zone 2. 

Worked in the yard while the boys played in the backyard, the swamp, and the neighbor's backyard in the morning. Finally warming up a little bit. 

PM: 2 hours 26'. 45.4 miles @ 18.6 MPH. 223W. HR 136. 

3 x 15' Threshold

I tried to get up before the boys got up, but I was tired and decided to sleep. Worked in the yard a bit while they played in the woods. It was quite nicely actually. Did some mulching. Headed out just before 7 after Megan got home. I decided to do a straight 3 x 15' rather than the 3 x 15' criss cross diabolical given my recovery metrics and feeling, though I think I would have been fine. I ended up feeling very strong and felt stronger throughout the intervals and throughout the set, which has not been happening lately. 

292 Watts. HR 157; 296 Watts HR 161; 301 Watts HR 163. 

5' recovery easy, then progressing to high zone 2.

I think without the turns I would have held a bit higher power. Maybe 3-5 watts at least, maybe 8-10 per interval. Good cornering practice though. 

AM: 8 miles, averaged 9:14. HR 124. 

It was cool and breezy but slightly humid. I felt very good. I realized I ran Saturday but not Sunday-Tuesday. I don't need too much this week with my first race of the season on Sunday. I will try to do a sharpening workout tomorrow or Friday just to stay sharp.

PM: 60' on the trainer. 145W. HR 95. 

AM: 9 miles, averaged 8:08. HR 141. 

Sharpening Workout: 3 x 5' @ Race Effort

Cooler morning, but somewhat humid. Legs were a little sluggish, but just ran by feel and picked it up the second half during which time I also did 3 x 5' around steady state to half marathon effort. Around 6:30-6:35 pace. Hopefully race pace is faster than that. 

Figured out the boys have school all next week, which is great as that gives me an additional week of vacation. Planning to do Thursday Night Dirt, but I will do B group to keep things easy for the race this weekend. I will taper off more significantly on Friday and Saturday. 

PM: 3 hours 6'. 54.3 miles @ 17.5 MPH. 191W. HR 127.

Thursday Night Dirt. B group. Good ride, mostly quite easy with some shorter efforts here and there. Roads were decent but had chloride in places, making them wet. 

Lunch: 6.3 miles, averaged 7:59. HR 145.

Warmer than it has been, which felt nice but made the effort slightly higher than it has been. Legs felt okay. They responded but weren't snappy. Apparently, there was an air quality warning, which makes sense as my breathing was elevated. 

That's it for today. Short run tomorrow. Running is getting in the way of my weekend riding :-) 

PM: 60' on the trainer. 209W. HR 123.

Decided to do a trainer ride as it would give me some aerobic activity but not stress the aerobic system or legs and I generally don't run on Saturdays lately.