Of Mice and Marathons

AM: 15.2 miles, averaged 7:55. HR 145. 

10 Miles Steady in ~75'

Solid long run to get reset. 10 miles @ 7:36 @ 151 BPM. Effort felt like honest zone 2 to slightly moderate up to just under or starting marathon effort. Felt like I could have gone many more miles. I took a 30g gel every 30' for the first 90'. Trying to learn to fuel. If I end up doing a marathon this fall, I will need to be able to take in a minimum of 60-70g per hour I think. Likely closer to 90-100 if my stomach can take it. 

3 x 8 bench and 4-5 x 8 squats. I increased the weight significantly (90#, 90#, 100#, 110#); I have been conservative. Trying to not overdo it but also trying to build some serious strength in my legs. It's good for cycling, and I think it will also improve durability in running economy.

PM: sauna for 27'. HR 91. 

PM: 3 hours 5'. 50.4 miles @ 16.3 MPH. 190W. HR 128. 

3x15' Tempo

227 @ 139, 230 @ 139, 232 @ 140. Solid session on the tempo loop. My last day on the old 38mm pathfinders. I set up two sets of tubeless tires at night. I was pretty proud of myself, never having done it. It is nice to learn a new maintenance skill and be a bit more self-reliant. 

AM/Lunch: 3 hours 8' on the gravel bike. 48.5 miles @ 15.4. 184W. HR off?

Easy endurance. Ran into a guy I did a group road ride with last summer and rode with them on the Polly Ann for a bit, and shot the breeze. Nice to ride with people. Legs were a bit tired toward the end. Depleted from the last few days I think and the lifting soreness definitely settled in late. 

AM: 10 miles, averaged ~9:00. HR 133. 

8x5'

Got up early before our year-end spring conference. It has been a while since I last exercised at 6:00AM. My HR was a bit suppressed and lactate was reading high for the first few reps, but the effort was right, so I just kept the pace the same throughout and lactate settled into 2.3-2.5 or so for the back half of the reps. 

Boys weren't feeling well and then again this morning, so I am staying home with them. 

PM: 4 miles, averaged 10:05. HR 122. 

AM: 6.5 miles, averaged 9:39. HR 122. 

Up early. Felt good. Recovery pace is dropping. 

PM: 4.4 miles, averaged 9:13. HR 116. 

AM: 9.2 miles on the treadmill, averaged 8:42. HR 140. 

3x12'

90" recoveries. Enough to take lactate and start a recovery jog. Started around 7.5 as that is where I started my reps on Monday. Increased the second and third rep. I don't recall if I increased the first rep any, but the second rep was 7.7-7.9 I think and then 8.0-8.2 on the third. Lactate was 1.5, 1.3, 1.5, so a bit too lowm but very controlled. 152 BPM, 152 BPM, 154 BPM. I could have averaged a bit higher HR, but I didn't won't to overcook the session. Ended up too conservative, but that is better than the alternative. Next week I will start around 8.0 probably and adjust up or down depending on the readings. I think it will be worth repeating the same structure and just increase the pace. 

PM: 9 miles on the treadmill, averaged 8:31. HR 140. 

10x3'

Decided to try a double threshold session running. I have done mixed doubles of cycling and running recently, but am undecided on that approach, so I figured I would test this. I felt solid and lactate was low to start then seemed like it was right in the sweet spot. Paces were around 8.2 or so to start then worked my way down to 8.5, 8.6, 8.7, 8.8. This session added some solid volume to the week. I think I will keep on day of double threshold for several weeks and only then later maybe gradually introduce two days. If it accelerates things the way I hope, I will keep it in the rotation for fall.

AM: 4.4 miles, averaged 10:18. HR 120. 

PM: 3 hours 8' 52.8 miles @ 16.8 MPH. 193W. HR 133. 

Thursday Night Dirt!

First one of the season for me. Rode B group as planned as I have a long run tomorrow. Still got in a solid workout and it was nice to chat with people. 

AM: 16 miles, averaged 7:35. HR 149. 

11 Miles @ Marathon + 15-20"-~Light Marathon Effort

Averaged 7:17 for the 11 miles @ 153 HR. Felt very good throughout and the pace was dropping and not too hard. Steady to moderate to just about marathon effort. I took in 90g of carbs in gel form per hour, which is a new record. Feel like things really moved in the right direction this week. By mile 3 I was under 8' and mostly running around 7:35-7:08 for the faster miles without much of a change in effort. 

AM: 3.3 miles, averaged 10:42. HR 115. 

Up and out the door early before the boys were up.

PM: 2 hours 42'. 47.8 miles @ 17.7 MPH. 217W. HR 135. 

1-Hour Gravel Simulation

I was thinking I would be okay with 245-250, but though I could likely hold something in the 260s if I started sensibly. Everything went well and I got off to a fast start. The new wheels are running fast (they should for the price!). Loop was in good shape as it had been graded this week and sprayed in places, but not soaked. Well, until a thunderstorm came through and pelted me, but I just rode through it.

I kept up at 249 watts @ 147 HR through the first half and 270 for the second half @ 149 HR, so not much of an increase in HR but the watts went up a good deal. I was pretty pleased with the session. Bike fitness is coming back and running fitness is coming along nicely. 

+Weights and 26' sauna. HR 95.

4 x 8 squats. 70#, 80#, 100#, 100#

After picking up my road bike for front brake service

AM: 60' on the trainer. 122W. HR 100.

AM: 10.3 miles on the treadmill, averaged 8:45. HR 139.

3x12'

Lactate in the 2.0-3.0 range. I don't recall the pace.

+ Weights and Sauna. 26'. HR 94.

Up early as the boys were home from school, as the township had a water pipe break and we are under restrictions and a boil advisory. 

PM: 8 miles on the treadmill, averaged 8:50. HR 136. 

5x6'

Solid, second subthreshold session. Lactate was running a bit high, but I feel like I couldn't get a clean reading all day. LT1-LT2

PM: 2.5 hours on the trainer. 212W. HR 132. 

3x20' Sweet Spot

I was going to ride to Fenton and do the Depot road loop, but it looked like rain, so I settled on this. 255W @ 148 BPM, 255W @ 151 BPM, 256W @ 153.

Solid session. Bike fitness is trending in the right direction again.

AM: 6.5 miles, averaged 9:41. HR 120. 

Early run before the boys got up, as they are still home. Water situation is looking up. Someone was still watering their lawn even after a heavy rain and during a water emergency. Oh well. 

PM: 4.4 miles, averaged 9:04. HR 121. 

AM: 18.4 miles, averaged 7:22. HR 151. 

3 x 4 Miles @ Marathon Effort

Fitness definitely too a big jump this week! Bumped up my intake to 100g per hour and that worked well other than sticky hands. I figured marathon effort would probably land in the low 7s, maybe under. This was squarely marathon effort, so I imagine in comfortable conditions 7:00-6:45 is marathon pace. 

Interval 1: 7:07 pace @ 156 BPM

Interval 2: 6:57 pace @ 156 BPM

Interval 3: 6:50 pace  @ 157 BPM

Interval 4: 6:48 pace @ 158 BPM

Things have really snowballed the last 2-3 weeks. Still not fully decided on a fall marathon, but I am between that and trying to get back into respectable half-marathon shape and take a marathon PR crack next May. Things are trending well and the running feels right, so I am happy with that. 

I was supposed to run a 5k this Sunday, but they cancelled as they are using that area to distribute water. Water emergency has been lifted, but the boil advisory is still in place. 

AM: 6 miles on the treadmill. HR 117. 

Got this in before the boys got up. Megan is out of town. They ended up staying home as Sawyer's foot is still hurting and he isn't walking on it and I didn't feel like carrying him to school to drop Charlie off, so they had an entire week off from school with the water issue. Oh well. 

PM: Off. 

We took Sawyer to a specialist to get his foot issue sorted. I was going to ride, but figured I was better off going with Megan. 

AM: 4.4 miles, averaged 9:03. HR 120. 

Short, very easy run to wake up and move the legs. Enjoying early morning runs lately. Legs feel great. Longer ride later. 

PM: 3 hours 6'. 56.7 miles @ 18.2 MPH. 213W. HR 143. 

Gravel Simulation 3 x 4' Vo2 + 60' Sweet Spot

Solid ride. The weather turned warm and humid. Roads were fairly dry after some heavy rain. Vo2s were okay. 290, 283, 286 (some turning). 60' @ 258W @ 161BPM. On par with last week but warmer and with some harder efforts at the beginning. Decent. Bike fitness is rebounding. 

AM: 3 hours 11'. 52.7 miles @ 16.5 MPH. 169W. HR 123.

Coffee Ride with a small group of guys. Beautiful weather. Finally. 

Lunch: Weights and 20' sauna. 

AM: 6.5 milesm averaged 9:57. HR 119.

Beautiful morning. Warm and humid. I had to turn the air on last night. We pretty much went from heat to AC in a few days.

PM: 4 miles, averaged 9:31. HR 128.

AM: 9.8 miles, averaged 7:47. HR 150. 

4x8' @ Half Marathon Effort

Nice morning. Mid-60s and humid, but I felt fine. 15' warm up, 3 minutes around marathon effort, one short pickup and straight into it. Solid session. Moving forward a bit more. Settled into training now. Just need to keep ticking along and doing the right things.

Interval 1 = 6:46 pace @ 162 BPM

Interval 2 = 6:42 pace @ 164 BPM

Interval 3 = 6:40 pace @ 165 BPM

Interval 4 = 6:36 pace @ 165 BPM

+ squats and bench press and 20' sauna. HR 87. 

PM: 3.1 miles on the treadmill, averaged 9:39. HR 118.

AM: 6.5 miles, averaged 9:37. HR 122.

PM: 5 miles, averaged 8:53. HR 124.

Quite a bit cooler today. 

AM: 8 miles, averaged 8:34. HR 136.

PM: 3 hours 15'. 56.6 miles @ 17.3 MPH. 188W. HR 129.

Thursday Night Dirt

Pretty cool out. Feels like fall again. Solid ride on B group on the A group route. Some punchy portions. Felt decent. Didn't want to smash my legs too much as I have a long run in the morning.

AM: 18.2 miles, averaged 7:25. HR 153. 

3 x 4 Miles @ Marathon Effort

Slept in a bit or at least later than 530-545. Ate two Pop-Tarts in an effort to try to fuel my long runs. Not ideal nutrition, but very digestible. Windyish but got into the workout pretty quickly. Legs were okay, but probably needed a lighter effort last night. Didn't try to chase the pace from last week, just found the effort and kept an eye on the numbers. 

Interval 1: 7:04 pace @ 157 BPM

Interval 2: 6:56 pace @ 158 BPM

Interval 3: 6:56 pace @ 161 BPM

I signed up for a 5-mile race on Monday, so I have two days to get my legs ready. I haven't done a running race since last June, which didn't go as well as I hoped and kind of just threw me off. I need to not do that. 

AM: 4.3 miles on the treadmill, averaged 10:26. HR 114. 

Legs feel fine after yesterday, but I needed a lighter day today and tomorrow to get ready for my first race this year on Monday.

PM: Off.

AM: 2 hours 10' on the trainer. 209W. HR 123.

3x30' Tempo

I was going to do an easy run and strides before my race tomorrow, but I only got in one ride this week, and so I decided to do some lighter quality. 3' recoveries.

220W (126 BPM), 227W (131 BPM), 229W (134 BPM)

I have a five-mile race in the morning, my first foot race since last June. I think I have settled back into my running enough to know I can just make up a race pace and expect to run it. I think as I got fitter over the last 2-3 years, I had specific times I needed to run and it didn't work out, and I got disappointed. This was true for almost every race except Churchill's Half in 2023, when I actually surprised myself. A 5-mile race is enough of distance to get a good mark in the books, get a sense of lactate threshold, a projected current 10k time, and an updated subthreshold pace target to calibrate workouts, and if I run hard enough a lactate threshold heart rate.

AM: 2.4 miles, averaged 10:32. HR 118. 

Pre-race shakeout/pre-warmup warmup. Got up to get the legs moving a little in case I run short on warmup time before the race.

AM: Veteran's Memorial 5-Mile Race

2.8 up, 4.9 race miles, 2 miles down

I had a decent race. Probably could have race more aggressively when a guy or two passed me, but I haven't raced in almost a year and only did one race last year, so I was trying to have a sensible start. I went from third to fifth and stayed there. The race has some up and down, making it pretty honest and a good place to attack if the race is close. I think I managed to run a pretty even effort and maybe a click back from 100% race effort. Feel pretty good about the result. 

The course was billed as being short for some reason, the exact one I cannot remember. Going into the race I knew I could run at least 6:45 pace as I think that is in the middle of half-marathon pace, and figured 6:35 would be doable and hopefully close hard. I was able to press a bit but mostly even to slightly slower at the beginning. I figured 6:20s would be possible, but likely wouldn't start there and certainly wouldn't do it on the hills. 

Legs felt a little up and down and form felt okay here and there, but inconsistent. I haven't done much true threshold running, so that's okay. I still think the approach is paying off as I will do my subthreshold workouts closer to 6:40s than low 7s to just under as I have been. Weeks have been averaging in the 60s, so I figure with consistency things will continue to improve. 

4.9 miles @ 6:33 pace @ 168 BPM

6:23, 6:46, 6:44, 6:20, 6:28 (for the partial mile)

AM: 6.6 miles, averaged 9:54. HR 115. 

Legs felt pretty good, but a bit sore and tight in places. Hit it with the new massage gun, which is plenty intense on level 2.

PM: 5.4 miles, averaged 9:36. HR 130. 

Warming up nicely. 

AM: 7.2 miles, averaged 8:58. HR 127. Did some strides.

Lunch: 3 hours 12' on the gravel bike, 54.2 miles @ 16.9 MPH. 184W. HR 124.

Weather was really nice so I decided to ride. Went to Holly. The roads were in near perfect shape. Tested a new camera setup I got. It is a dash cam setup rather than an action came, which is what I wanted in case I get hit or someone tries to hit me or run me off the road, I have evidence of it. 

AM: 8 miles, averaged 8:29. HR 130. 

+ weights and 21' sauna. HR 99.

I might skip Thursday Night Dirt and do my own thing this week. 

PM: 2 hours 13'. 38.7 miles @ 17.4 MPH. 197W. HR 128.

3x12' Lifts

10' around sweet spot to threshold effort and then 2' @ threshold to vo2. Legs weren't willing to move too much but felt okay once I got going. 256, 264, 268

AM: 17.3 miles, averaged 7:27. HR 151. 

5-4-3 Mile Sets @ Moderate-to-Marathon

Another solid one today. I was goign to do 5 x 3 miles, but worried I would loose count of where I was at, so I decided this would be an appropriate progression from last weeks 3 x 4 miles. Figured I would start around 7:20 to 7:teens and just see where it went as my legs were pretty loaded from last night's bike session. 

7:19, 7:14, 7:10, 7:09, 7:05 (4' steady jog): 7:11 avg @ 154 BPM

7:06, 7:04, 6:59, 6:49 (3.5' steady jog): 6:59 avg @ 156 BPM

6:54, 6:54, 6:52: 6:55 avg @ 161 BPM

+30' sauna. 

PM: 3 hours 17'. 53.7 miles @ 16.3 MPH. 192W. HR 120.

Roads were perfect, weather was amazing. Dry and sunny, decently warm, but so dry it almost felt cool. Legs were crabby to start, but I just kept it light endurance and enjoyed the ride. Imagine that!

AM: 6.3 miles, averaged 9:32, HR 123. 

+weights and light core after