Of Mice and Marathons

Lunch/PM: 11.2 miles on the treadmill, averaged 8:30. HR 140.

Minutes progression: 10' @ 6.2, 15' each @ 6.5, 6.7, 7.0, 7.5 and 20' @ 8.0 then 5' @ 6.7. Got this in while the boys napped. The nap was calling my name, but I didn't give in.

PM: 60' on the trainer. 224. HR 129.

AM: 13 miles, averaged 7:39. HR 158.

8-mile Aerobic Builder

7:01 (162), 6:56 (166), 6:54 (169), 6:54 (170), 6:53 (171), 6:51 (172), 6:51 (174), 6:42 (176)

6:52 pace @ 170 BPM. This was my first run outside in about two weeks. Weather has been much better, but I just got into a treadmill groove (or is it a rut?). Decided to go off of prescription and do this classic workout to test some comparative data. This was no doubt faster than what I would have done on the treadmill (planned to start around 8.3 or what I think is 7:15 and finish up at 9.1, which is around 6:35 or 6:38 pace). So faster through the early part and about on target for the end. 

3 up/2 down

I was pretty tired at the end. I haven't done a sustained workout at this effort for some time. I probably could have gone a touch easier, but the effort was on par with what I have done for this workout in the past, going on a decade or so now.

I looked over a few blog entries from this time in 2015 looking for magic formulae. I do look back at entries from time to time. I do feel like I am not moving forward fast enough and I am running out of faster running years, so I am doing what seems to have worked in the past until I need to change my approach I think.

PM: 

PM: 2 hours 18' on the fat bike (34.9 @ 15.2 MPH). 192W. HR 135.

I was feeling unmotivated to run, unlike yesterday. Felt kind of blah and I had too much pressure in my tires. Still waiting to get my gravel bike back. I went to Friendship Park and did the small loop trails there and had fun.

AM/Lunch: 2 hours 7' on the fat bike. 181W. HR 137.

Rode to Addison Oaks after whetting my appetite for trails yesterday. Did almost the full loop and didn't have enough time for another. I tried to do the loop on my gravel bike in 2020, but my shifter battery died and Megan came to pick me up. Tried in 2022 some time I think, but it had just rained and was greasy. Not sure why it has taken me this long to make it back as it isn't that far away and it is mostly urban trail and dirt roads to get there. 

PM: 120' on the trainer. 248W. HR 148.

75' Sweet Spot Tempo @ Ideal 3-Hour Power

Did 4 hard laps of the Volcano Flat course in Watopia: Lap 1 = 283 Watts @ 153 BPM; Lap 2 = 281 Watts @ 161 BPM; Lap 3 = 284 Watts @ 164 BPM; Lap 4 = 287 Watts @ 168 BPM

Watched a video on gravel racing and how workouts and racing are different than other kinds of racing (aside from the obvious) and it brought up some metrics that made sense to me, similar to the way that in running we have a 2-hour pace or aerobic threshold. 3 hour pace is marathon pace for relatively fit people and 4 hour pace is about 50k pace for relatively fit people, so for longer events it make sense to to think in and work with these metrics.

I had planned a longer ride, but was tired and took a very long nap. I was going to do a wave tempo that I have done a few times in the past few months, but decided to keep pressing if I felt good and my HR stayed down to keep it steady rather than floating the recovery laps at tempo. It worked quite well and I set my second best power for 1 hour @ 283 watts. I have only gone higher in Zwift race. I was pleased with the effort. I might have been able to do on emore 18' lap, but not sure. Definitely not 2. I will use a different course when I do this again I think. 

AM/Lunch: 17 miles on the treamill, averaged 8:03. HR 149.

60' Steady

15' @ 8.0, 15' @ 8.2, 15' @ 8.4, 15' @ 8.6

Did an hour of progressive warmup and did an hour steady, trying to taregt 155-163 BPM heart rate. I drifted beyond that a bit, but that was okay. 2 hours and 17' of total time. Longest run in some time and longest treadmill run in a few years.

Off.

I took the boys to the park for a little while in the morning and we went to the pool at Great Lakes Athletic Club. We `had a good time other thn a few meltdowns here and there, but the boys enjoyed the pool. 

PM/Evening: 10 miles on the treadmill, averaged 8:49. HR 132. Did some strides.

AM: 10.2 miles on the treadmill, averaged 7:54. HR 152.

10'-6'-10'

I was supposed to do another 6' interval but I got 1' in and called it. Just lost concentration and confidence. Maybe could have started a little slower, but even with a lot of treadmill running lately anything faster than steady aerobic to marathon effort is a bit hard to dial in. I should have known to start at 9.0 and work my way down. That would have been doable and just about right. 10' intervals were at 9.3 and the 6' was at 9.4. I didn't take laps for the intervals so I don't have an exact HR but it was getting to around 177-180 BPM on the last one. Sometimes I can grind at that effort, other times I just cannot hold the concentration (usually not a legs or lungs problem). 

PM: 121' on the trainer. 227W. HR 130.

AM: 11.1 miles on the treadmill, averaged 8:11. HR 141. 

PM: 2 hours 17' on the fat bike. 197W. HR 131. 

I figured the roads would be a mess after all the rain we got so I decided not to do Thursday Night Dirt so Megan could work out on campus. Roads were apparently fine, so I headed out for a bit over 2 hours solo. Roads were damp, but in much better shape than I thought they might be. 

Picked my gravel bike up from the shop, but I needed to bed in the brakes. 

PM: 2 hours 53' (51.3 miles @ 17.8 MPH). 214W. HR 145.

75' Tempo @ High Tempo/SS (269W/277 Normalized HR 163 19.9 MPH)

Looked like crazy storms coming through, but I managed to avoid them by riding in the other direction. Part of the Polly Ann was closed for maintenance, which was actually a good thing as that put me in the right direction to avoid the storm I think. 

Warmed up 45' and then just gave it an effort. I was trying to maintain the same power as past Friday on the trainer, but that is much harder to do outside with turns and downhills and the like. This was definitely more race specific and you attack the roads with a little less caution than you sometimes do at endurance effort. 

Pretty please with the effort, as it suggest I can do at least this power for a 90' race effort and that for races of 30-36 miles, I really should be able to put out 270-285 watts. 162 HR seemed very manageable for a good deal longer. Short distance race HR should likely be high 160s to low 170s I think. 

Easy cool down to make it just under 3 hours. This was supposed to be a big block week for Watermoo the first part of August, but I don't think it will be that. This was still a good session though. I will try next week to extend it out to 90' or so and try to maintain a slightly higher power. 

Off.

Felt ready to get a longer ride in, but then felt overcaffeinated and anxious and then I felt like I had low blood sugar to the point were I was just staring at the boys on the couch and my speech was affected. I thought something might have been really wrong with me as I had eaten and tried to eat more to make sure low blood sugar wasn't the problem. 

I took a long nap and felt somewhat better but not well enough to do any sort of exercise. Megan took the boys to Bald Mountain. I fell asleep on the couch for another 45 minutes to an hour and felt a good deal better after that finally. 

Lunch/PM: 14.5 miles on the treadmill, averaged 7:36. HR 153.

80' Steady 

20' up/10' down.

I slept quite late as I was quite tired still. Got through almost all of the workout except for the final 10' on cool down because the boys were getting up, which was fine as I got through the warm up, faster stuff, and 10' of cool down.

Progressive warmup into 10' each @ 7.9, 8.0, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4, 8.5, 8.6. HR was 154-166, which was about what I was targeting. HR average for roughly the 10 miles was still under 160 @ 159.2. About 7:15-7:18 pace for the 80'. Next week this will extend to 90' so I will be able to get in a steady set of miles (about 12.5 or so).

Evening: 1 hour 16' (22.6 Miles @ 17.7 MPH). 187W. HR 124.

Shorter ride outside. I didn't do anything at lunch other than nap while the boys napped. Good night to ride. 

AM: 8 miles on the treadmill, averaged 8:16. HR 137.

PM: 1 hour 45' (31.7 Miles @ 18MPH). 209W. HR 135.

Megan had a late lunch, so we did a very late dinner and I did a bit of extra time. Decided to attack a segment that I knew I had a pretty good pace for on a steady ride, so I knew if I jumped on it, I might have a chance. Got the KOM. 11:05 @ 298 Watts. HR 162. I took another KOM earlier in the ride (a very short segment along the Polly Ann). I didn't think I got that one, but I did. Took another one en route on the Pine Knob segment. 

AM/Lunch: 3 hours 1'. 52.1 miles @ 17.3 MPH. 199W. HR 139. 

I was going to do my midweek workout, but decided I had the time and felt like riding.

Road east for a change of scenary on otherwise long-familiar roads. One end of Drahner road I haven't been on in a few years, which feels kind of weird I can say that. Guess I have been cycling for enough time now. Decided to attack a segment I took in 2020 and got really heavy and out of shape and have been building back for the last few years. I have given the segment a few tries in the last few years, but either didn't have the proper bike or when I did I usually gave up early. Today I smashed it and took back the KOM. 2:24 @ 422 Watts.

AM:  8.3 miles, averaged 8:48. HR 134.

I think this is only my second run outside in about 5 weeks, which is crazy. Air felt like fall. Welcomed in some sense but almost too cool for July. It would have been a good day for a workout but I didn't want to smash my legs for the ride later.

PM/Evening: ~3 hours 10' total. Thursday Night Dirt.

I ended up doing A group. Felt solid overall with legs a bit tired early. I got dropped in the Proving Grounds as always seems to happen, but I also knew moving through there yesterday that things were rough, so I wanted to avoid going through there too close in a group. Some day I will learn. Kept up a solid effort after that until the end. Ended up going out after, which I wasn't planning on doing but I got really hungry. It was nice to chat with people as I also haven't been out in a few weeks and it is really my only socialization. 

Loop Data: 31.1 miles 1:34:23 @ 20.2 MPH 243 watts HR 154.

AM: 10 miles, averaged 7:53. HR 147.

Felt pretty solid. Favorable weather. I had planned to do my long run but Megan had work to do and I needed to get the boys from their friend's. Apparently, I was early and did have time, so I wasn't thrilled about that, but oh well. My first mile was in the low 8s, which just doesn't happen much these days. Probably need to run steadier but I never quite feel like it out of the gate. 

PM: 5 hours 19'. 90.7 miles @ 17 MPH. 191W. HR 132.

Wanted to get a solid ride in with some slightly steadier stuff. Legs were just dead and unresponsive. I tried to start a tempo segment for 90-120' targeting 250-260 watts but just couldn't be bothered to do it. Low on carbs I would say. I did end up doing some 10-12' intervals near the 4-hour mark. Nothing record breaking. I had planned on 100 miles, but didn't have the overall pace and time to do it.

Off.

We took the boys on an overnight trip to Sagatauk.

Off.

We went in the hotel pool and then to the beach in Saugatauk. I was going to jump on the trainer, but didn't quite get there. 

AM: 8 miles on the treadmill, averaged 8:11. HR 142.

PM: off. Want to run again, but didn't quite get there.

AM: 10 miles, averaged 8:04. HR 145.

Bounced around with what I wanted to do for a workout and still wasn't sure warming up. I didn't feel like doing the 5k workout scheduled on the treadmill, so I thought maybe an 8-mile tempo around moderate to marathon effort woudl work. Legs just wouldn't turn over, but breathing was fine. Just couldn't concentrate so I pulled it at 3 miles (8.5, 8.6, 8.7), one mile easy, and then one mile aroudn 9.6/9.7. HR didn't actually get that high. 

Kind of frustrated, but I know a lot of it is just focus right now. 

AM: 10 miles, averaged 9:46. HR 127.

PM: Thursday Night Dirt - ~3 hours 20'. 

I was planning to do B group but then changed my mind and ended up falling in with an intentional A- group, which worked out quite well for what I needed. Roads were decent, but the stretch through the Proving Grounds was super sketchy. Freshly graded and they threw down some large crushed rock. It was quite dusty. 

Loop Data: 1:24:45, 19.3 MPH, 222W HR 149. 

Lunch/PM: 18.1 miles, averaged 9:06. HR 139.

Total time = 2:44

Decent long run if quite slow but purposefully so. Drier air and somewhat cooler made most of the run very manageable. Went out the Polly Ann and through a few new subdivisions I have never run through to a few dirt roads that I frequent. Started to get a bit tired around 15-16, got a little water and continued on for a bit. Got to 18 and wanted to go a bit more but my foot started to hurt. Thankfully it is just a corn on my foot that crops up every once in a while. Walked about 30' home.

I felt okay after the run and walking home but when I got inside and some fluids in me I started to feel very depleted. I imagine this is just glycogen depletion from yesterday.

I wasn't too bothered by the slow pace as I was keeping my HR down and logging feet time. I do think it will take a long time to get in any decent shape ever again. I need to run more mileage. No way around that. 

PM: 2 hours 3'. 32.5 Miles @ 15.8 MPH. 160W. HR 120.

Kept it mostly easy. Most of less recovery with some light zone 2.

AM: 10 miles, averaged 8:05. HR 147.

A good run. I planned to do the Coffee Ride, but couldn't be bothered to get out of bed and I did feel like it was appropriate to take the entire morning with travel tomorrow. 

Off.

We traveled to Buffalo to see friends on our way to Maine. The boys had fun as our friends' son is just a few months older than the boys.

Off.

Traveled to Maine. Fairly uneventful day as I recall. We still got in at a decent time even with a slightly longer second day than we typically do.

PM: 5.1 miles, averaged 8:56. HR 143. 

Planned on 10 or so miles, but my quads started to get painful for some reason on the downhills to the point that I had to stop and walk. I wasn't thrilled. Felt like drinking, but did not.