A Lean and Hungry Look

Drove to Washington Terrace and ran past Mtn. Dell GC, over to Little Dell, up Little Mtn., down Emigration, up Crestview to Wasatch, down 13th South to Foothill, then along Foothill to Sunnyside and over to Steiner Aquatic Center (the kids had a swim meet).  Ate a banana on the way.  Plan was to do 4-mile warmup, then 2x10k at MP effort (171 bpm target).  Unfortunately, when I got out of the car and started getting ready to run, I realized that I'd left my Garmin at home.  I did my best to guess at distance and effort, then went back later and clocked the mileage.  Here's what I found:

Warmup: 4.3 miles to the T that turns up Little Mtn., then 5-minute rest plus refueling (1 pack lime Jelly Belly Sport Beans)

10k #1 ended up being...drumroll, please: exactly 6.2 miles.  Except for first 1.5 (up Little Mtn.), pace probably ranged between 5:50-6:00.  Effort felt like high 160s to low 170s.  Stopped briefly and downed another pack of jelly beans.

10k #2 ended up being short, but only by 0.1.  Pace may have slowed a bit at the end, but probably not by much.  With about 2.5 miles to go, I sipped a Strawberry Banana Power Gel with caffeine.  Suprisingly, although sweet, the gel went down quite well with a little water (need to remember that for future reference).  I didn't notice a spike-and-crash like I've felt in the past with caffeinated gels.

When I finished, I was tired but not wiped out.  I recovered well and never really experienced the heavy fatigue that sometimes accompanies long run days.  In fact, I was no more tired than after a 10-mile day.  I wish I'd had my Garmin to give me an accurate picture of my splits, but it was kind of nice to try to gauge my pace and HR by how I felt as opposed to relying solely on the device.

Headed out for an easy 6 along 21st East to Stratford.  On my way down Stratford, a group of three runners, two guys and a woman, crossed just in front of me, with the last of them about 3 feet away from me.  He looked at me and I said hello.  He just turned the other way.  No headphones or anything.  This is one of my pet peeves--I go to the effort of saying hi and get a snub in response.  A couple of minutes later, when I had just gotten over the snub, the same group emerged onto 1700 East about even with me.  The unfriendly studmuffin barked something to the other two about picking it up, so all three crossed the street at a much-intensified pace onto my side (I assume they were just finishing up their run at Sugarhouse Park, which was about 100 meters away).  I've never been passed on a training run and was not about to let my unsocial comrades have the satisfaction, so I calmly turned on the jets for about 1/2 mile.  By the time I looked back, I couldn't see them and assume they stopped at the park.  Funny what pride will do to a guy.

Other than my run-in with the Unfriendlies, the run was totally uneventful and relaxing.

Pace: 7:26

AHR: 156 bpm

Plan was to do 15x2-minute repeats with a target HR of 180, with recovery jog in between each until HR dropped to 140 bpm.  I went to Liberty Park to avoid the issues I was having last week at Sugarhouse (HR spiking on the hills and not recovering quickly enough).  Unfortunately, I programmed the Garmin wrong and only did 12.  (For some reason, when I use the repeat functon in the "Advanced" settings, it always seems to end up short.  I think instead of repeating the named steps the specified number of times, it is including the set being repeated.  I need to make note of that for future workouts.)

I focused today on trying to bring HR up to my target of 180 as quickly as possible, then holding it to the end.  I was never able to get it that high in less than 20-30 seconds (which explains why the average is low on every set), and on almost every repeat I ended up exceeding it, even while slowing down in an attempt to hold it steady.  However, I was relatively pleased with the workout.  The legs were pretty tired during the final few repeats, though.

Here's what the workout looked like:

Warmup of about 2.4 miles

1: AHR 163/MHR 175 (5:16)

-recovery of 3:12

2: AHR 175/MHR 182 (5:06)

-recovery of 3:19

3: AHR 173/MHR 184 (5:05)

-recovery of 3:48

4: AHR 173/MHR 183 (5:23)

-recovery of 2:05

5: AHR 173/MHR 183 (5:19)

-recovery of 2:55

6: AHR 174/MHR 183 (5:17)

-recovery of 6:15 (no idea)

7: AHR 171/MHR 181 (5:05)

-recovery of 2:58

8: AHR 172/MHR 181 (5:20)

-recovery of 1:28

9: AHR 172/MHR 183 (5:14)

-recovery of 1:29

10: AHR 174/MHR 183 (5:31)

-recovery of 3:50

11: AHR 170/MHR 181 (5:25)

-recovery of 2:47

12: AHR 172/MHR 181 (5:23)

-recovery of 4:17

Short cooldown

Scheduled day off.

Drove to Liberty Park and warmed up for about 2 miles, then did 2x5k with a target HR of 176 for each, with recovery jog in between until HR dipped below 140 bpm.

5k #1: Overall AHR 176/MHR 182/Overall pace 6:01

Mile 1: AHR 169 (5:53)

Mile 2: AHR 179 (6:07)

Mile 3: AHR 180 (6:04)

0.1: AHR 180 (5:46/mi)

Recovery jog took around 8 minutes until HR dipped to 140 bpm.

5k #2: Overall AHR 179/MHR 186/Overall pace 6:04

Mile 1: AHR 174 (6:05)

Mile 2: AHR 180 (6:09)

Mile 3: AHR 183 (5:57)

0.1: AHR 183 (6:09/mi)

Cooled down for roughly 1 mile.

During the last mile or so, I started to feel a slight twinge in my right arch.  I've never had any pain there before and I was instantly concerned about possible plantar fasciitis.  As a precaution, and because I just finished Born to Run, I took my shoes off and cooled down barefoot on the grass and the wood chip path.

As for the workout, I was pleased that I was able to hang on at an effort above 178 for over 2 miles of each repeat.  I stopped looking at my monitor after about the first 1/2 mile of the second 5k because it was clear that I was going to be well above the target of 176 if I wanted to hang on to any kind of respectable pace.  The effort felt solid, but I never felt anaerobic--in fact, my breathing rate was still at a pretty reasonable level at the end of the second repeat.

The fact that my pace is still so slow after several months of reasonably hard training is puzzling and a little frustrating to me.  It seems like my body is not responding or adapting to the training as well or as quickly as it has in the past.  Maybe it's because I turned 35 last week and, now that I'm an old man, need a longer buildup, a bigger base mileage, or something else altogether.  I guess I have to keep reminding myself that it's been almost 3 years since I last trained hard for anything, and I should expect it to take longer to achieve a lofty goal than it would have if I had been able to build on my success from 2006 without more than a short break.  I'm starting to wonder whether I need to revise my goals for St. George this year to something challenging but realistic.

Stepping back for a moment, I love that I'm able to run at a pretty decent pace without pain and that I've been able to stay so healthy thus far in my training.  I love getting out and running before it gets light outside and being done with a hard workout before most people have even gotten out of bed.  I love being able to run hard for mile after mile and still have enough energy to play with my kids all day.  Even when my goals seem a little out of reach, this is a great sport that pays amazing dividends, and I'm grateful that my family and schedule allow me to pursue it.

Stayed in Park City overnight, so I decided to run on the Rail Trail.  Plan was to do 16 miles with 10 at MP effort, with a target AHR of 171.

Drove to Trailside Elementary and parked, then ran approximately 2 miles east to the Promontory trailhead and headed north on the trail toward Wanship.  Temp. was only around 60 even though I didn't get out until 10 am, and I only saw one other runner and maybe 20 cyclists the whole time (a nice change from the crowds in Emigration).  The 6-mile warmup felt very light and easy, and HR was hovering in the low 140s.  When I started the tempo section, it took a while for HR to reach target, and it still felt easy.  In fact, I was feeling so good that I decided to add a little distance (since I missed yesterday's run due to having a busy day that started at 5 am and didn't ever slow down).  That changed when I turned around at Wanship and headed back.  I haven't looked at the elevation profile yet, but it felt like a slight uphill on the way back.  In addition, there was a pretty stiff headwind.  My pace slowed considerably even though I continued to push in an attempt to hold a higher AHR for a sustained period.  I suppose the elevation may have contributed to a higher HR relative to my pace, but I certainly didn't feel that during the warmup.  At any rate, here's what the tempo splits looked like:

Mile 7: AHR 160 (6:01)

Mile 8: AHR 169 (5:55)

Mile 9: AHR 172 (6:00)

Mile 10: AHR 168 (6:28) (this was a fueling mile where I slowed somewhat to eat my Jelly Belly Sport Beans, which taste good but require a lot of chewing, and also where I turned around into the wind)

Mile 11: AHR 173 (7:18) (stiff headwind)

Mile 12: AHR 174 (7:11)

Mile 13: AHR 174 (7:16)

Mile 14: AHR 172 (7:17)

Mile 15: AHR 173 (7:06)

Mile 16: AHR 174 (6:30)

Although the pace was slow on the way back, I was pleased that I was able to hold my effort above target most of the way.  I didn't feel any hint of the arch pain that came out of the blue on Thursday.  Only pain was in my tendon on the outside of my left hamstring behind my knee, and that was more tightness than anything.  It was gone after about 4 miles.

Easy effort out along 21st East to Stratford.  Still tight behind left knee, particularly for the first mile or so, but it loosened up after that.

AHR: 157

Pace: 7:21

Plan was to do 15x1-minute repeats with goal of hitting 180 bpm or above, with recovery jogging in between each until HR dipped to 140 bpm.  Drove to Liberty Park, ran 2-mile warmup at easy pace, then started repeats.  In order to see how high HR went, I have to upload the workout to the Garmin Training Center, so I'll add the MHR data after I've done that.  AHR will be low because it took 30 seconds or so to bring HR up to target.  Here are the splits:

1: AHR 154/MHR 172 (4:38/mi)

-4:40 recovery

2: AHR 167/MHR 180 (4:42/mi)

-1:25 recovery

3: AHR 167/MHR 180 (4:43/mi)

-2:19 recovery

4: AHR 167/MHR 181 (4:58/mi)

-3:23 recovery

5: AHR 165/MHR 179 (4:53/mi)

-5:33 recovery

6: AHR 164/MHR 178 (4:55/mi)

-3:35 recovery

7: AHR 166/MHR 180 (4:57/mi)

-1:38 recovery

8: AHR 166/MHR 180 (4:43/mi)

-2:14 recovery

9: AHR 166/MHR 178 (4:49/mi)

-5:55 recovery

10: AHR 163/MHR 174 (4:51/mi)

-3:06 recovery

11: AHR 164/MHR 176 (4:59/mi)

-3:16 recovery

12: AHR 164/MHR 177 (5:06/mi)

-1:30 recovery

13: AHR 164/MHR 178 (4:52/mi)

-1:27 recovery

14: AHR 165/MHR 179 (4:56/mi)

-4:40 recovery

15: AHR 163/MHR 177 (5:21/mi)

-1:43 recovery

Cooldown of a little over a mile at around 6:45/mi pace (had to get home).  While the recovery times were pretty inconsistent, the pace seemed pretty steady.  Legs felt pretty tired by the last 10-15 seconds of each repeat.  Overall, though, I felt good.

Scheduled day off.

Left Garmin at home and ran at a comfortable pace up to the Wasatch section of the Shoreline Trail and across Parley's to Millstream Lane and back.  Still feeling some pain in the outer part of my left knee.  It doesn't feel like ITBS, but I can't quite tell whether it's in the tendon or muscle.  The pain isn't severe and goes away after a few miles, but I'd like to figure it out because it's hanging around a little longer than I'd prefer.

Stratford loop without Garmin.  The knee pain is still there, so I iced it for 20 minutes after the run.  I felt a little fatigued today for no apparent reason.

Plan was to do 20 miles, with the first 5 as warmup, the next 12 at MP effort of 171 bpm or above, and the final 3 at 180 bpm or above.  Unfortunately, I didn't dress for the weather and ended up calling it a day after 14, when I was feeling a little hypothermic and was starting to chafe and blister after running the entire time in a cold, drenching rain.  I started the run at Washington Terrace, then ran past Mountain Dell, up to Little Dell and toward Big Mountain until I hit 7 miles (started the MP effort at the 5-mile mark), when I turned around and headed toward Emigration.  At the top of Little Mountain, I stopped for a minute and took a gel and decided that I might do more harm than good if I were to finish the scheduled run.  Called Brooke and asked her to pick me up, then ran a few more miles down the canyon until she met me.  Here is the data for the MP section:

Mile 6: AHR 163/MHR 175 (6:41) (up)

Mile 7: AHR 172/MHR 176 (6:51) (up)

Mile 8: AHR 167/MHR 175 (5:59) (down)

Mile 9: AHR 169/MHR 173 (6:01) (down)

Mile 10: AHR 169/MHR 173 (6:55) (up)

Mile 11: AHR 171/MHR 175 (7:25) (up)

Mile 12: AHR 149/MHR 173 (6:15) (after 10 min. rest and down)

Mile 13: AHR 156/MHR 162 (5:43) (down)

Mile 14: AHR 162/MHR 167 (5:45) (down)

Although I was disappointed to cut the workout short, I was pretty pleased with how I felt, minus the bleeding nipples and the frostbitten hands.  I'll do the workout again next week and will compare the splits.

Easy run down 9th South, through the Gulley to 15th East, around Sugarhouse, up Parley's Canyon, and back along 20th.  Gorgeous morning with perfect temperature.  Still a little stiffness in lower left quad.  Need to do more massage work.

AHR: 161

Pace: 7:11/mi

I'm trying to drop a few more pounds before SGM, so today is my first day of being a little more careful with my diet.  I'm hoping to drop down to about 158 by race day.  I'm around 162 right now.

Repeat of last Tuesday's intervals.  Drove to Liberty Park, then ran warmup of a little over 2 miles, including a few pullouts/strides. 15x1-minute repeats with recovery jog between each until HR dipped to 140 bpm.  Target was to hit 180 bpm during intervals.

1: AHR 154 (4:44/mi)

-2:26 recovery

2: AHR 166 (4:55/mi)

-1:43 recovery

3: AHR 168 (4:43/mi)

-2:31 recovery

4: AHR 168 (4:39/mi)

-4:57 recovery (no rhyme or reason for this)

5: AHR 166 (4:51/mi)

-2:24 recovery

6: AHR 168 (4:48/mi)

-2:29 recovery

7: AHR 168 (4:56/mi)

-7:00 recovery (!)

8: AHR 166 (4:37/mi)

-5:52 recovery

9: AHR 164 (5:06/mi)

-2:01 recovery

10: AHR 167 (4:38/mi)

-2:08 recovery

11: AHR 168 (4:44/mi)

-6:01 recovery

12: AHR 167 (4:50/mi)

-1:20 recovery

13: AHR 167 (4:48/mi)

-1:55 recovery

14: AHR 168 (4:54/mi)

-4:10 recovery

15: AHR 166 (5:01/mi)

-3:14 recovery

Cooldown of a little over a mile.  I lost count about halfway through the workout, but by the time I hit about the 12th repeat I thought I was done, so the last 4 were a little tough mentally.  I was pleased that so many of the recoveries were so short and puzzled by the long ones.  Legs felt pretty worked over by the end.  Still having a lot of tightness in left quad extending down toward the knee, which is understandable since I haven't done massage work for a few days on it.  I iced it down for about 15 minutes when I got home and it's feeling a little better now.

Scheduled day off.

Easy run across U of U campus and along 11th Ave to B Street, then back along Shoreline Trail above Popperton.  Still feeling tightness around left knee, but it's now mostly in the outer tendon behind the knee and not so much at the bottom of the quad.  It loosened up after a mile or so.

Pace: 7:38

AHR: 150

21st East to Stratford loop. Semi-easy pace without Garmin to track the effort.  Tried out a new pair of Kayanos today, thinking that maybe that would help me get rid of the nagging tightness in my left leg.  It was still tight today.  I don't think it's ITBS because the tightness is more in the tendon behind the knee than the one that attaches to the side of the knee.  I assume it's based on tightness up the line, as usual.  I need to start stretching before bed again.

Post-run weight was 157.5 today.  I've been limiting my calories to 2000 per day this week, and it seems to be making a difference.

Drove to Washington Terrace and ran past Mtn. Dell GC, up past Little Dell toward Big Mtn., then turned around at 7 miles and went up Little Mtn. and down Emigration.  Plan was to do first 5 at easy warmup pace, next 12 at target HR of 171, then last 3 at 180 or above.  (Same plan as last week, when I DNF'd at 14 due to the cold and rain.)

Still had some tightness in the tendon behind my left knee.  It felt better after a few miles, but it was still hurting when I stopped at mile 5 to stretch.  I felt it intermittently throughout the run.  It never got painful, but the tightness really never left.

Here are my splits:

Mile 6: AHR 168/MHR 179 (6:30) (up 152, down 73)

Mile 7: AHR 173/MHR 176 (7:35) (up 237, down 31)

Mile 8: AHR 168/MHR 174 (5:54) (up 83, down 211)

Mile 9: AHR 169/MHR 175 (6:03) (up 83. down 234)

Mile 10: AHR 171/MHR 174 (6:41) (up 132, down 60)

Mile 11: AHR 172/MHR 176 (7:38) (up 228, down 48)

Mile 12: AHR 172/MHR 178 (6:28) (up 95, down 228)

Mile 13: AHR 171/MHR 173 (5:44) (up 27, down 229)

Mile 14: AHR 169/MHR 173 (5:54) (up 72, down 232)

Mile 15: AHR 169/MHR 174 (6:00) (up 23, down 204)

Mile 16: AHR 173/MHR 176 (5:58) (up 18, down 120)

Mile 17: AHR 174/MHR 177 (6:11) (up 29, down 151)

Mile 18: AHR 179/MHR 183 (5:41) (up 107, down 245)

Mile 19: AHR 180/MHR 183 (5:46) (up 52, down 202)

Mile 20: AHR 183/MHR 186 (5:54) (up 40, down 169)

Last 0.23: AHR 179/MHR 184 (6:01/mi) (up 17, down 48)

I didn't feel like I had much more to give during the final two miles, and the last mile was pretty tough. I wish the splits would have been a little faster, but I was relatively pleased over all.

Easy effort on 21st East to Stratford loop sans Garmin.  I did massage work on both quads over the weekend and iced my left a few different times, and it seemed to help with the tightness.  The issue in my left leg seems to be migrating a bit further around the back of the knee, almost like it's a calf issue that's driving the tightness now.  I'll try to do more stretching today at work and will fit in some quality time with the Stick tonight.

It was the first day of school, so I decided to swap my Tuesday and Wednesday schedule so that I could be there to hang out with the kids before they left.  I got to bed late last night, so the extra sleep felt great, too.

10x1-min reps at Liberty Park, with goal to raise HR to 180+ on each and recovery jogging in between reps until HR dipped back to 140.  Warmed up for roughly 2 miles, including some pullouts to get the legs going.  After having some dull pain in my left leg behind the knee during much of the day yesterday, I stretched, spent some quality time with the foam roller and the Stick, and iced it.  During the pullouts, it was feeling pretty good, so I went ahead with the workout.  Splits were:

1. AHR 155 (4:41)

-1:45 recovery

2. AHR 167 (4:43)

-1:42 recovery

3. AHR 169 (4:34)

-1:51 recovery

4. AHR 167 (4:40)

-2:25 recovery

5. AHR 167 (5:03) (seems wrong--I don't think I would have slowed that much)

-3:10 recovery

6. AHR 167 (4:51)

-3:18 recovery

7. AHR 167 (4:43)

-6:59 recovery (and I finally had to stop and walk for 10-15 seconds to bring HR back down--probably a monitor malfunction)

8. AHR 165 (4:41)

-2:52 recovery

9. AHR 166 (4:41)

-1:53 recovery

10. AHR 168 (5:01)

-1:43 recovery

Roughly 1-mile cooldown.  Felt good afterward.

Easy effort across U campus to 11th Ave, then over to B Street and back along 11th up to Shoreline Trail, then over to Fort Douglas and home.  The only exception to the easy effort came just after the fire station on 11th Ave., while I was taking it especially easy so that I could eat my Nutri Grain bar (couldn't find a spare Power Gel).  A guy I didn't recognize started to pass me going around 6-minute pace.  Since I have never been passed while on a regular training run, I decided today wasn't the time to start, so I upped the pace enough to stay with the guy.  It made the Nutri Grain bar a little hard to eat, but my pride was at stake, so it was worth it.  He continued down toward City Creek at my turnaround point, so that was it.  In the end, although I let him stay about 10 feet in front of me, I am not going to count this as a pass, since I kept pace with him quite easily and just didn't feel like passing him back, thereby making my childishness even more obvious.

Although the final push above Popperton (before the trail turns to dirt and descends into Dry Canyon) hurt as much as it always does, the Shoreline Trail was particularly spectacular this morning.  I love having it so close by.

As far as the pain/tightness in my left leg is concerned, I felt better today.  It didn't hurt throughout the day yesterday after my interval workout, presumably because of the effort I put toward massaging, stretching, and icing it the night before.  I did a shorter version of it last night, too, and will try to continue doing so for the next week or so in hopes of eradicating the problem altogether.

Pace: 7:30 (with the one on 11th Ave at 6:00 and the final mile in 6:20 or so)

AHR: 151

Ran around Liberty Park with Brooke for our Friday night date.   Last lap was on my own and was probably around 6:00 pace.  The first 4 were very slow and easy.  Ate dinner at Chanon Thai following the run.

Ran up to Wasatch, then out along Shoreline/Wasatch out to around 5500 South on Wasatch and back.  Took Enervitene at around 5 miles and again around 10 miles.  For some reason, the run felt lousy start to finish.  No pace work today, though, so it was a good day for a crappy long run.

Easy effort along Sugarhouse loop.  Inhaler is empty, so I need to refill the prescription before tomorrow's speed work.

Pace: 7:34

AHR: 159