Hills for breakfast, hold the gnats

High 50s F, patchy light fog becoming heavy towards end of solo run.  Objective: 1st run = solo w/ VO2 & leg strength (hill repeats), 2nd run = barefoot w/ SnoFlake.

Hill repeats: warmed ~3.5 miles, then went to 15% grade hill and ran 6 x 1 min hard, 2 min recovery.  Garmin data:  All reps covered .11 mile in 8:56, 8:42, 9:07, 9:05, 9:27, 9:15. Cool down: a few more miles, easy.

I'm not sure what to make of my effort today.  I really struggled with the hill repeats and did not perform them as well as I did 2 weeks ago. Maybe I had fresher legs then, or maybe I'm having an "off" day, I don't know. It doesn't really matter; I did my best and I am sure I will get the same benefit. 

After the first 3 reps, I realized that I was not recovering completely, even though I walked almost the entire 2 minutes, panting all the way, so I added another 30 seconds to recovery after reps 3-5.  My understanding of VO2 recoveries (from my Daniels dvd) is that they should be complete.  Even with the extended recovery, I had more and more trouble keeping up my pace at the ends of each rep, falling apart the last 15 seconds or so.  Usually it's just the lungs that give out, but today it was the legs too. 

Fall is on the way.  Same workout as two weeks ago, same time and place -- but 2 weeks ago it was completely light out (though the sun wasn't up yet) and today it was completely dark!  The days will now get shorter very quickly.  Like a car that seems to creep along when far away and then goes whipping past you on a highway, the autumnal equinox this month will bring a sudden and dramatic shift in daylight to these northern latitudes. Thank goodness for headlamps.

I love fall more than any other season and the first of September is always welcome. But to get fog too... great day! And I had a very enjoyable barefoot run w/ SnoFlake as well.  We kept it short, since she is understandably tired from gymnastics last night.

54F, mostly clear and some patchy light fog.  Easy run, 8.13 solo & 2.3 w/ daughter. 15 min. core & upper body.

Beautiful morning.  My legs feel a bit tired, but I had a fine time.  Scheduled day off tomorrow.  Finally got back to my strength work today.  :)

54F, partly cloudy w/ full moon and pink sunrise, 1 brief shower.  Objective: tempo run. Five miles at tempo, target pace 8:30.  Splits: 8:41, 8:35, 8:46, 8:48, 9:03 (last mile was mostly uphill).  20 min. strength work.

I think I have to just accept that I'm not 100% this week. I feel fine, but I'm just moving slower. 

My first mile was going pretty well until the last 2 blocks, when I came within 2 feet of being hit by a car, the driver of which evidently does not believe in stop signs. So I lost 10-15 seconds there by stopping, putting the fear of --- into the driver, and getting back into my pace.    Mile 5, as noted, was mostly uphill, as I realized I was cutting it short getting home and had to leave my almost-flat, .8 mile loop to head back.

Mid 50s, raining.  Easy run, club run. 

My legs feel dead today.  I'm planning to run 2 medium long runs (today & tomorrow) instead of one longer one + one short,  just to let my body recover a bit more.  The tempo run yesterday is still with me.  :/  Hopefully I can get a bit more sleep tonight. That would help a lot.

The rain did not bother me a bit, I'm happy to report.  The only trouble is that it's still too warm for the jacket I wanted to wear.  I had to choose between being warm and mostly dry or possible being cold (knowing I was to get soaked).  For such a slow run, as I knew it would be, I chose the jacket.   I saw at our club meeting that Sean's sister has a very soft looking BAA Boston Marathon jacket - very good looking.  covet covet covet ...

Low 50s, cloudy w/ showers and sunbreaks, then just pouring rain.  Easy run. 

I ran my first few miles with SnoFlake, then took her home and continued on. I enjoyed running some parts of the neighborhood I haven't been to in a long time, where I ran some very steep hills and felt stronger than I used to. Nine hours of sleep = heaven -- my legs feel much better today and I was able to get into a good "easy" pace (10:00-10:30) instead of the slog I had yesterday.  But with good pace comes body heat... I was extremely uncomfortable with my rain jacket in the final couple of miles.  I guess it's better to just get wet once I am warm. 

So I am a little short on my goal miles this week, and I did not have a proper long run, but I am ok with it.  That is the really nice thing about doing lots of long runs - you can miss one without feeling tragic. 

Mon-Sun total 57.41 miles

54F, showers, breezy.  Easy run. 

Today I went with a nylon vest instead of the jacket. That worked great for this temperature.  I had some gloves too, which went on and off my hands all throughout the run, usually depending on the wind direction.

High 40sF, mostly clear and starry.  Easy run, plus minimalist-footwear trials on the TM (last 3 miles).  Extra warm up early (see below) and 10 min. core work after.

Super pretty morning.  Venus was so large and bright, I could have sworn I saw the crescent. Then, when the sky got lighter,  I could see all the fields and parks were covered with a layer of mist.  I love that. 

I had some new experiences today.  First, before running I warmed up with 50 calf pumps (barefoot) and 20 step-up/one-leg-squats for each leg on a 10 inch step.  These are exercises I often do after my run, but I'm feeling more and more like I need extra warm up time.  It seemed to work well and I hope to incorporate it into my routine.

After I had to come home, I did 3 more miles on the TM and tried 3 new minimalist footwear options, a mile each.  First was the Mizuno Wave Universe.  I found out about these shoes from a guy in my running club.  His description of the shoes struck me as quite odd and equivocal: "They are a Lifestyle shoe."  Huh?  Anyway, I would say this is a great shoe for anyone who wants to be barefoot but not attract any attention or comments.  There is just very little shoe at all.  They remind me of the leather slipper-like footwear of pre-WWII runners. They are extremely comfortable, but no support or "stability" and no bounce.  Interestingly, the shoes came with a bunch of tags with dire warnings all over them.  "Experts only.... A performance shoe... Very slippery... low traction..."  The Mizuno legal department is terrified of this shoe. 

Second was the Softstar moccasin.  These are like barefoot only warmer and slightlty padded.  My foot tended to move too far forward in them, leaving me with the urge to stop and scoot  my heel back into place.  Not sure about that.  They will be fine for a minimalist training run when the weather gets colder, if I can solve the heel thing.

Lastly was the Sockwa Aqua-sock.  Someone on a barefoot forum recommended these.  They come in a bunch of cool patterns, and honestly just look adorable. That's about as useful as they are.  I kind of doubt I'll run in them much.  I wore them all day a few weeks ago just for kicking around and I noticed they have no water resistance whatsoever. They also do not protect against little rocks.  They are not particularly warm. So... why not just go barefoot?  I guess if it was cool out -- but not cold -- I might pair them with Smartwool socks in lieu of going barefoot, but only if the streets were dry.  

Mid to upper 50s, cloudy & breezy.  Easy 5.82 solo, then 2.74 run/walk w/ SnoFlake. 

Nice run. Some really pretty clouds and pink sunrise.  I feel boring today. Nothing interesting to report...

Mid 50s, overcast/cloudy.  Objective: VO2 max and leg speed/strength.  

Warm up: a couple of miles of jogging around town, finishing with 2 track laps of alternating 100m strides w/ 100m jogs.  Interval workout:  4 x 1000 meters w/ 2:30 recovery. Target time 4:54.  Results 4:57, 4:53, 4:52, 5:05. 

I started out with an easy jog from the High School down to Centennial Park and back.  On the track, all was darkness except for a light on at one side and my headlamp, which was quite bright (new batteries). The overall effect was kind of eerie.  There was a horrible smell at the track, something between a skunk and burning plastic.  So not the best conditions, but tolerable. At least no rain falling.

As usual, the intervals were incredibly hard oxygen-wise. I was opening my mouth like a fish trying to get more air.  On the third rep I could feel myself slowing down so I am quite surprised that this was the fastest one.  The fourth one felt like desperately hanging on, so no surprise on the slowdown there.  I just kept telling myself that the effort counts more than actually hitting the goal pace, otherwise I think I would have given up after the 3rd rep.

I did a very brief cool down - legs totally shaking - by the track and drove back up the hill to home.  A couple of easy walk/run miles with SnoFlake were just the ticket to loosen up some more and enjoy a little non-gasping-for-breath running. Hey, this is nice.

55F, clear with a few light patches of fog.  Recovery run. 

I'm moving like a 90 year old today. I'm all creaky and hobbled --not fun, but satisfying to see I did my work yesterday.  Looking forward to my day off tomorrow.  Long run on Sunday this week.

I hope everyone will understand if I am a little quiet on the blog for a while, starting next week.  Our family will be adding yet another obligation to the homeschooling schedule, an educational co-op where my daughter will be taking 3 classes and meeting some new kids. We are starting it on a trial basis and hoping it will be worth the time.  Her junior apprenticeship program at the horse barn is on temporary hiatus and that will probably start back up next week too.  It just seems like a good time to take a few straws off the camel's back. 

Sunny, humid, high 60sF in the shade, Sahara Desert in the sun (felt like it to me).   Endurance run with lots of hills and some MP (9:00-9:15) at end. 

I was assigned to run 2 MP miles before my cool down today, and I had every intention of doing so.  You might even say I did. Sort of. In a mathematical way.  At around mile 15.5 I found myself in the central area of the neighborhood, where there are a few more flat stretches than everywhere else.  As planned, I started the MP part of the run. I wasn't quite through the first mile when I overheated pretty badly (face flushed with heat, head dizzy, and stomach getting ready to be sick).  So I ended up doing cool off breaks all through the rest of the MP run, going as far as I could stand to go, then walk/jogging for about a minute to cool off.  Splits:  .84 @ 9:06, .33 @ 9:15,  .45 @ 9:02, and .34 @ 9:13.  

Somehow I have my doubts that this sort of off-n-on MP running will contribute anything to my fitness, but I can honestly say I did the best I could.

 Weekly summary:
Mon-Sun total miles: 60.4

Mon 8.19 E
Tues  9.7 E
Weds 8.56 E
Thu 7.77 w/ V:   4 x 1000, 2:30 recov b/t: 4:57, 4:53, 4:52, 5:05
Fri 7.1 recov
Sat off
Sun 19.08 w/ 1.96 @ MP in "pieces"

59F, cloudy.  (ah...) Recovery run.  (20 min strength after.)  Just a short jog to get the blood flowing.  Legs not too happy today.  Saw and chatted with a woman from my running club, Sean's sister.  She is a very fast runner, so it was really nice of her to slow down (and even stop when we reached my house) to talk about marathons, speed work, being tired from training.... all the things that are on my mind right now.  

57F, mostly clear.  Hill repeats, 5 x 1.5 min up, 3 min recov., on 15+% grade hill

After a long warm up, my legs felt pretty good, but no proof in today's pudding. Very slow.  I may try for a few more miles tonight.

PM- 2.73

60F (with pockets of hotter and cooler air in neighborhood), mostly clear. Easy run.  15 min. core and upper body.

55F, mostly cloudy, w/ some stars showing, pretty sunrise.  Tempo run: 3 x 15 min w/ 1.5 minute recovery b/t.   Target pace 8:30,  distances/paces: 1.64 @ 9:10, 1.66 @ 9:02, 1.7 @ 8:50 (slightly different terrain on last rep).  (Fun coincidence that it added up to exactly 5 miles at tempo, though it should have been more.)  Finished with a 2.39 miles run/walk w/ SnoFlake.  10 min. core work.

Hard, hard, hard.  (One moan for each rep.)  Last night I was so tired and could not even imagine doing this workout, so I am fairly pleased.  The disappointing pace is what it is, and there is no way it could have been faster.  What could have happened is me blowing off the workout and just having another easy day, or even sleeping in and blowing off the run altogether.  So. Mental check mark.  :)

Upper 50s F, and raining. Windy at times. Objectives: endurance w/ hills, club run, and Spirit Crusher Hill (miles 11-13), which I am hereby renaming Leg Builder Hill.  (More positive, but I'm not sure I can ever stop thinking of it as "Spirit Crusher.") 

Ran this in 4:25, including warmup and cooldown.  Totally soaked most of the time, but not uncomfortable until the second half. (Finished up over an hour ago and the skin on my toes is still all wrinkled.)  But I will still take this over heat any day.  

Ran down the Parkway (Leg Builder) to the club meeting and ran about 5 miles on the Snoqualmie Valley Trail with one other woman.  Back up the hill and around some of the neighborhoods, where I met two sisters who are in the club but did not make it to the run.  So I ran with them for a while, which was great fun and a nice distraction. They were going on the Silent Creek Trail, which I never run alone (cougars, bears and bad guys), so I had a little treat there.  

The last 4 miles were not fun, as the rain got harder and my feet and legs were starting to ache.  The rest of the day will be blissful sitting, knitting, and Mexican food with friends for dinner. 

Recovery run on dead legs. 

Week summary: 

 Mon-Sun mileage total: 57.46

Mon 2.13

Tue 9.54 w/ hill repeats, 5 x 1:30 on 15% grade w/ 3 min recov

Wed 10.16

Thu 9.45 w/ tempo run, 3 x 15 min w/ 1:30 recov.

Fri off

Sat 23.16

Sun 3

48F, clear & starry. Another recovery run (legs still stiff and sore from Saturday).  15 min. core & upper body.

Doin' the old-lady shuffle again this morning. For some reason,  my left quad is more sore by far than my right.  I hate to think what that might mean.

I don't know how many people are familiar with Kevin Beck's rather odd website. It is odd but interesting!  Much of the oddness lies in the difficulty of navigating through all that he has to offer.  You cannot see it from the home page, but if you follow the right bread crumbs there is a nice motivational page I'd like to share, here.  

65F, clear and very windy.  Easy run, finished on the TM (ran out of time).  15 min. strength and stretching. 

It is nearly 20 degrees warmer this  morning than yesterday, some kind of freak heat wave is moving in.  The patio furniture is blowing all over the place and the house sounds like it does during our winter storms.  

There is a small group of women, some from my running club and some not, who are meeting during the week for some short runs.  I saw them this morning and joined them for a little while.  I couldn't quite keep up and chat at the same time, so I said goodbye after short time.  One of the women is someone I've seen running around the neighborhood for years (she is not in the club) so it was really nice to finally meet her.  She is from Quebec, one of my favorite places on earth.  Maybe when I am feeling a little faster I can join them again and practice my French.   

Freak heat wave continues. 70F at 5 AM. (Yuck.) Windy & overcast.  VO2 interval workout.  3 x 1600m w/ 4 min. recovery.  Target pace = ha ha ha (aka 7:55) Splits: 8:23, 8:11, 8:21.   15 minutes core & upper body strength. 

Unless I can find someone who wants to go to the track with me very early (perhaps someone from my club), my track days might be over for the 8-month dark season.  I had every intention of going today, but after a night of anxiety and very bad dreams, I changed my mind this morning.  I did it once in utter darkness 2 weeks ago, but perhaps the memory of what that was like hindered more than it helped.  The track itself is ok with my headlamp and the bit of streetlight.  The problem is: bathrooms.  I always seem to need one about 15 minutes into my warmup.  

I can either go to the super creepy, bush-surrounded park bathroom a half block away (where neither the outer door nor the stall door locks), or I can jog the half mile down to Centennial Park where the bathrooms are quite nice but surrounded by desolate woods and fields and the nearest inhabitants are the charming trailer park residents a quarter mile away. Not using a bathroom is, unfortunately, not one of my choices. 

It's a long explanation, but it's best to get it out of the way so I can stop thinking about it. I hate speed work but I also love it:  knowing what it is doing for me is enough to make it a friend. Now I just have to hope that Sean and Bonnie and all my other track heroes will forgive me.  ;) 

So, where did I do my 1600s?  Well, I thought about going around the Ridge-Kinsey loop (about a mile) where I've been doing my tempo workouts.   Then I remembered Crestview Loop, a small, circular development in a remote part of my neighborhood.  During my warmup I measured the loop at .4 of a mile.  It is almost flat, certainly flatter than the tempo run loop.  There are no stoplights or intersections, and during my entire workout I only encountered one car, easily avoided.  So that's my new "track" until the world gets lighter next spring -- unless of course I can find a track buddy.  "Hey! Who's up for driving down the hill at 4:50 AM? It'll be fun!"

Now, about my workout.  First rep: didn't quite feel warmed up, despite doing some strides at the end of my jog warm-up.  Second rep: started to feel more powerful, form felt good, split reflects better running. Third rep: falling apart now but holding on.  Still better than rep #1.  Legs feeling as miserable as the lungs - that's a first!   Overall performance... A for effort, P for pathetic pace, T for "taper is coming - it's going to be ok."

SnoFlake isn't feeling well so I sent her back to bed instead of running.  I am sure she'll be fit to come out again soon.  It's just as well she didn't have to run in this miserable heat.  

Mid 50s, clear w/ clouds moving in.  Easy pace run. 

So nice to have the cool air back.  Legs tired, pace slow.  

9 hours of sleep...mmmmm.  

Day off, but I just want to quickly promote the new issue of Running Times (November).   It's a particularly good one.  Highlights - Lydiard training concepts, Deena's review of her races this year in her own words (favorite quote: "Races are a lot like snowflakes; no two are alike."), and a great review of the Western States 100 race.  I put off reading "The Science of Aging;" those kinds of articles scare me.  Maybe someone else here can preview it for me and let me know if there is anything in it that could be paraphrased as "you are doomed." 

High 40s rising to mid 50s, partly cloudy with some light fog and mists. Very pretty morning. Objectives: endurance; club run in miles 4.3-9.7; Leg Builder Hill in miles 11.7-13.7; MP in miles 17-19.2, adding the .2 because I had to hit 'lap' and walk, twice. So, 2 miles in three "pieces," paces of which were 9:13, 9:18, 9:17. Target was 9:15.  Total running time 3:50, with 14 min walk-run warm up and same cool down. 

Sorry, this is going to be another whiney post.  But the alternative is to say almost nothing, wish everyone a happy weekend, and click "publish." I think on the whole I'd rather share...

A small part of me thinks this is just such an awesome workout because I had that big hill in the middle and still managed to get fairly close to my target pace on the MP miles.  

The other part of me looks at the totally exhausting effort level of the MP miles, the need to walk (twice! sheesh),  the prospect of holding that pace for over 4 hours, and the charley horse I got in my left calf after it was finished... and I just want to cry.  If my taper over the next two weeks doesn't leave me feeling like a million bucks I don't know how I will handle the lack of results after working so hard.  

But now I've done the training I set out to do. I may have fallen short on miles or pace but never on the time I put into my runs, the effort level, or my determination.  At the beginning of August I asked the blog at large for help choosing workouts that would make a 9:00-9:15 pace feel easier, and I followed every detail of the plan that Sean Sundwall gave me.  At this moment, I find myself wishing that a 10:00 pace felt easier! Is it even possible that my marathon fitness could be lower than it was in May? Lower than last December?  Oh please, taper, do your magic!

50sF, sunny. Recovery run.   

Very slow, easy run.  I let myself walk up most of the really steep hills.  My legs actually did feel a bit better by the end of the run than when I started.  It's like giving them an internal massage.  

Week Summary

Mon   6.13 easy

Tue   10.09 easy

Wed   7.88 w/ VO2: 3 x 1600m

Thu   9.56 easy

Fri   off

Sat   20, w/ 2 mi hill and 2 mi MP

Sun 4.59 recov.

Total for week: 58.25

47F, clear, light wind.  Easy, aerobic run.  15 min strength.

Feel-ok sandwich on stiff/tired bread.   That is, the middle of the run felt pretty good, but I was glad to stop.  No power there (11:30-11:50), but at least I experienced some comfortable miles.  My daughter is down with a fever, so I'm being super careful with fluids, rest, and vitamins -- and glad to be tapering. 

Since Rod Dixon will be one of the guest speakers at the expo in Victoria, I was surfing the web to get some background on him.  Found an interesting video in which he narrates the film footage of his 1983 New York City Marathon win.  Enjoy! 

High 40sF, rain showers. Hill repeats: 6 x 30 seconds w/ 1 min. recovery on an 8% hill.  15 min. strength work.  

Sean tells me I may cut back (even more) on some mileage this week as long as I do not abandon the intensity workouts, lest I "lose sharpness."  Bless him, he believes I have sharpness to lose.  I definitely have some dullness I could do without...  But seriously, my legs felt 100% better after the hill repeats than they did before them.  That was a surprise.  

ETA: I think I'll take a day off tomorrow, which means that's it for September.  What a month!