A Lean and Hungry Look

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.