How Much Discomfort Can I Tolerate?!

Weather - 78 degrees, sunny.

I'm loving the warm days, and am feeling good in my training runs. Today I ran mostly easy, but threw in some fartlek style speed-ups in Busey Woods, and I finished off the workout by running 1200M to Cardinal as fast as I could. I felt better today running all out beyond my threshold than in previous attempts, so my body is beginning to adjust to the strain.

When I got to Cardinal I did my normal set of bike intervals, and I felt stronger than the last session, which is when I was on a training downer. I think I am again moving up in intensity and energy level, I'm not sure how long it will last, but I will enjoy it as long as possible.

After the bike intervals I did 4 sets of strength exercises, stretching, and 10 minute walk home.

#198

z.m. - #111

Weather - 85 degrees, sunny.

More exercise than usual today, although not by plan.

I need to renew my driver's license so I rode my bicycle into the far end of Champaign, which is about 7 miles from my home. When I got to the renewal facility I found that it was closed on Mondays. I shrugged it off and began my return trip back into Urbana. About 1/4 mile from the facility some college-aged kids swerved their car next to my bike and shouted "!@#$%^^&%$#". As they drove off I could see they did it for amusement, rather than anger, so I shrugged that off also, and laughed to make myself feel better. When I reached Prospect I ran over a large object, and 1 mile later my back tire went flat. I had about 4 miles to go, but the bike shop was on the way, so I walked another half mile and dropped off my bike for repair. I can fix a flat tire, but not very well, because more often than not, a couple of days after patching the tube, it goes flat again. Not wanting to go through that kind of hassle, I'd rather pay $15 and not have to worry about it.

When I got home I was surprised to find myself full of energy, and ready for a run. I quickly changed and went back out into the sun, this time in my running shorts and shirt. It felt good to sweat as I ran 5 easy miles, and the final half mile I ran all out. 

After the run I stretched, did 4 sets of strength exercises, and a 35 minute walk home.

I mowed the lawn a couple of hours after the run, and now I am going to walk the dog. It is great to be fit!

#199

z.m. - #112

Weather - 72 degrees, clouds, rain.

Taking it easy today with 4 miles of running. Tomorrow will be a hard track session. Friday I am planning to do a 90 minute long run with some fast running segments.

Picked up my bike from the shop today.

#200

z.m. - #113 

Weather - 80 degrees, raining, humid.

A challenging day for a track workout. I joined 2nd Wind for 6 x 800m intervals with 7 minutes between starts, so plenty of rest if I could run under 3 minutes for each 800m. We started with 4 x 100M accelerations. The first 3 intervals were done in a humid rain, then it cleared for the last 3, but the humidity seemed to be even heavier. Here are my times :

1) 2:47 2) 2:48 3) 2:54 4) 2:58 5) 2:57 6) 2:58

My goal was to simulate the final 800M of a race, so I was not holding back for each 800m. It makes sense that I was slowing down with each rep, but I was pleased that the last 3 leveled out at just under 3 minutes. Overall I am happy with my effort, although I feel I could have run a bit harder towards the end, but the pain of oxygen debt once again intimidated my mind. I need to keep working on it.

#201

z.m. - #114

Weather - 88 degrees, sunny, humid.

A hot day made for a pleasant easy 4 miles in the park and woods. 3 sets of strength exercises, stretching, and 35 minute walk home.

#202

z.m. - #115 

Weather - 83 degrees, sunny, humid. 

Did a 2 hour long run today, I handled the heat better than last week, ran a slow even pace, fearful if I ran too hard  I would crash. I ran loops in the park, then went to the arboretum and ran up the hill 7 or 8 times, then back to the park. There is a water stop at the midway point in Carle Park, and the spray fountain in Crystal Lake, every 20 or 30 minutes I was soaking my head and arms with water. I love running in hot weather, I can't think of a better way to spend my birthday.

#203

z.m. - #116

Weather - 73 degrees, raining.

Rained the whole 5 miles, it felt great because of the warmth. I surprisingly was not sore, and had an abundance of energy. I was expecting to be down and out because of yesterday's 2 hour run. I guess my body is telling me that 2 hours of running is now an acceptable level of stress.

One positive use of this journal is the ability to go back and read how I trained leading up to a successful race. I thought I had tapered down quite a bit the week before my 5k PR in early April, but reading the entries, I did 16 hill repeats 10 days to race, a hard track session with 1 week to race, and bike intervals 4 days to race. I had forgotten about those tough sessions, so I am planning to continue working hard with the Mingo race only 1 week away. Tomorrow hill repeats, although I am thinking of limiting myself to 10 reps, because some residual stiffness from yesterday's long run may surface tomorrow. I will plan to do bike intervals on Tuesday, and then short easy runs leading up to the race. I am feeling strong right now, I hope the rise in fitness will continue.

Afterward 3 sets of strength exercises, stretching, and 35 minute walk home.

#204

z.m. - #117

Weather - 88 degrees, sunny, humid.

Hottest day of the year so far, with high humidity. I ran to the arboretum with the intent of doing 10 hill repeats. However, my warm-up run indicated I was feeling much better than I thought I would be, so I hoped to do more than 10 repeats.

I did my usual routine, 100m at 5k pace to the base of the hill, 100m hard up the hill (regular form on even repeats, bounding on odd), and 250m downhill sprint. In previous hill sessions I sprinted 200m downhill, but today my body was ready for a longer effort, so I increased it by 50m, which also shortened the recovery by the same amount.

I was doing well, felt strong and energetic, but I had trouble keeping my body temperature low. I had 1 water bottle, but by the 10th repeat it was empty, most of it having gone on my head. Because I had no means of cooling myself I had to stop at 12 repeats.

#205

z.m. - #118

Weather - 80 degrees, sunny, humid.

A little cooler today, which made a big difference. I have noticed that after running hard several days in heavy humidity, when the air finally clears my running ability seems to increase. Today I felt about 5 pounds lighter because of the lower humidity, and I ran like it - loose, at ease, and faster than normal with easy breathing. Running in humidity should be considered a form of resistance training because the body feels heavier than normal.

I ran 1.75 miles barefoot on the 7th and 8th fairways, 1 mile of which was run at about 5:30 pace. It was an "easy" 5:30 pace, not out of breath, legs moving with control, it felt good.

Afterward 3 sets of strength exercises, stretching, and 35 minute walk home.

#206

z.m. - #119

Weather - 80 degrees, sunny.

The humidity has vanished, and that means running seemed a lot easier today. I ran 5 miles around the arboretum and then to Cardinal. The last 2 miles I picked up the pace and was running a relaxed 6:30. When I got to Cardinal I immediately jumped on the bike and began intervals. I usually do 10 intervals, but I felt strong so extended it to 12, all on maximum tension, which is also a first.

After the intervals I did 5 sets of strength exercises, stretching, and 10 minute walk home. 

I have had a good 2 weeks of training, and the mantra for the next 3 days will be "short and easy". Time to freshen up for the Mingo race this Saturday. The course will most likely be flooded and muddy in spots, so it should be challenging and fun.

#207

z.m - #120

Weather - 80 degrees, sunny.

Ran a couple of easy miles, felt good so I quickened the pace at the half way point, was running about 6:30 pace. Nothing else out of the ordinary today.

#208

z.m. - #121

Weather - 89 degrees, sunny, humid.

A hot day, but no problem because I had a short run planned. Ran 1 mile easy, then 2 miles at about 6:30 pace.

My legs are starting to get fresh, a bit of soreness from the hill and bike sessions, but they should be fine by Saturday.

#209

z.m. - #122

Weather - 85 degrees, sunny, humid.

2 easy miles, and 1 mile at 6:30 pace. Not much else to report.

#210

z.m. - #123

What the *%^&! I typed this report twice and it got blown away both times when I tried to save it. Screw it, I ain't writing any more about it!

#211

z.m. - #124

Weather - 78 degrees, sunny.

No ill effects from the race yesterday, it is great to be fit enough to race 7 miles through swamp and mud and to feel like nothing happened the day after.

I tried to make this an easy run, and I think it was, but I couldn't help going a bit quick on a couple of the miles. I seem to be running faster on most of my recent easy runs, I think that is a good thing, as long as my body still thinks of it as easy.

Afterward 3 sets of strength exercises, stretching, and 35 minute walk home.

#212

z.m.- #125

Weather - 82 degrees, sunny.

Was planning to do a hill workout today but I decided to run repeats in Busey Woods instead because I enjoy that workout more. I did 5 x 1200m repeats with a 400m recovery. I was running the 1200m at about 6:00 pace. I felt good, and I love running hard on dirt trails.

I did a cool down run to Cardinal and did a shortened set of bike intervals, then 3 sets of strength exercises, stretching, and 10 minute walk home.

#213

z.m. - #126

Weather - 75 degrees, sunny.

4.5 easy miles around the arboretum. Felt good, looking forward to a hard track workout tomorrow.

#214

z.m. - #127

Weather - 75 degrees, sunny.

Did a track workout with 2nd Wind today. The clipboard called for 8 x 600m with the final 200m kicked end-of-race style. I cut the workout short, stopping at #5. I'm not sure why I stopped, my body felt fine, although maybe a bit low on energy. I think it was my mind getting tired of all the fast running. So my body got the last laugh, as it wanted to go, but the brain shut down. My times seemed ok, I was about 3-5 seconds behind a 17:30 5k runner for each : 2:04, 2:05, 2:05, 2:09, 2:07. The rest was a bit shorter than usual, about 3 minutes, which was sufficient.

I think having run a 7 mile race and 2 hard workouts in 5 days made my mind and will weaken. That is alright, sometimes it is good to back off and take it easy.

#215

z.m. - #128

Weather - 78 degrees, sunny.

I felt great today, which made me feel smart for cutting my intervals to 5 yesterday. I imagine I would have been sore and lethargic if I would have completed the full 8. As a reward for my good judgment my legs had some spring in them, and my energy level was fluid and on the up. Ran an effortless 7 miles through Busey Woods and the park, then 3 sets of strength exercises, stretching, and 35 minute walk home.

Tomorrow a long run, minimum 2 hours, if I am feeling good maybe I can get it to 2:15 or 2:30 - I feel I am ready for an increase.

Looking forward to Sunday. Although the solstice is officially tomorrow, I will celebrate it on Sunday by attempting to exercise outdoors from sun-up to sun-down - a dawn run, followed by a long bike ride, lunch, a long hike, then another run. It should be fun.

#216

z.m. - #129

Weather - 85-89 degrees, sunny.

Started my long run at noon sharp, and finished at 2:45pm. I had to make a pit stop or two along the way, total running time was 2 hours 30 minutes. I am estimating an average pace of 8:30, so that comes to 17.50 miles. I handled the heat well, stopped at home at the 2 hour mark to eat a banana covered in sunflower butter, also ate some cashews and pretzels. I was out of juice and V8, so I had to settle on water. My legs were getting stiff the final 30 minutes, so I stopped at the track at the 2:10 mark and ran 5 x 100m hard/100m easy reps. The final 15 minutes were kind of easy, I started to feel loose and the food I ate at home started to help my body feel stronger.

This was my longest run of the year, it did not take too much out of me and my body seems to be acclimating to hot weather.

#217

z.m. - #130

Weather - 77 degrees, sunny, humid.

My legs were a little stiff from yesterdays long run, but I was expecting worse. After the first mile I loosened up and felt fine. I noticed that I was able to run a faster pace without losing control of my breathing. I remember last year when I was doing 20 mile long runs, it helped my lungs tolerate a harder running effort. So I will make a mental note about long runs which last at least 2 hours and 30 minutes - they make my respiration stronger. If I can continue to run the 17-20 milers my running form should improve.

Afterward I did 3 sets of strength exercises, stretching, and 10 minute walk home.

#218

z.m. - #131

Weather - 78 degrees, sunny.

Was planning to do an all day exercise adventure to celebrate the solstice with my wife, but she unexpectedly had to work, so I only ran 5.5 easy miles. Was still a bit tired from the long run, but not sore. I should be better by tomorrow, so I am planning to do a hill session.

Afterward 3 sets of strength exercises, stretching, and 10 minute walk home.

#219

z.m. - #132

Weather - 77 degrees, sunny.

Had a great hill session today, 22 reps of the usual - 100m at 5k pace to the base of the hill, 100m hard up the hill (regular form on odd repeats, bounding on even), and 250m downhill sprint. Recovery was a 300m jog.

I concentrated on lifting my legs high when bounding, my hips were able to handle the strain, although by rep 20 I could feel my legs begin to lose strength. My respiration was better than usual, most likely due to the 17.5 mile long run I did a few days ago. I am not sure if my speed has improved, but I can hold a hard pace longer without faltering. I could have done more than 22 reps if my legs had not become fatigued.

The previous hill session I had to stop at 12 reps because I was unable to control my body temperature in the extreme mid-day heat. Today was 11 degrees cooler with low humidity, it made a big difference.

Afterward 4 sets of strength exercises, stretching, and 20 minute walk home.

#220

z.m. - #133

Weather - 75 degrees, sunny, humid.

Had to work later than normal today so I did 4 easy miles at 7:30am. I was wondering how my legs would feel after doing 22 hill repeats, they were ok, although I felt sluggish the first 2 miles. Not much soreness, so I will plan on doing a track workout tomorrow with 2nd Wind. Starting early today gives me an extra 10 hours of recovery time, so I hope to be somewhat fresh for tomorrow.

#221

z.m. - #134

Weather - 84 degrees, sunny, humid.

Humid and warm made for a tough session this evening.

I ran to the track but found it to be closed due to resurfacing. There was a group of 12-15 wanting to do something hard, so Matt lead us to the arboretum for 8 hill repeats. I had to laugh at this, and told Matt that I did 22 hill repeats 2 days ago.

I ran with the group to the hill, and then made my way alone 600m south to the dirt road rectangle. The dimensions are approximately 400m length x 200m width, 2.5 times the size of a normal track. I decided to run 400m repeats with a 200m float. Most of my interval work this year has had a 400m rest, so I was upping the ante. Last year I did a lot of workouts on the rectangle, but this year only easy runs, mainly because when I am at the arboretum I have worked the hill.

As usual, the wind was brisk, and the humidity made me feel about 5 pounds overweight. On the positive side my legs had little soreness, and my energy level was average. After dousing my head in water I started out. I decided not to time my repeats, I just wanted to flow and not worry about time. Because of the short rest period I went a little slower than a normal repeat, about 87-90 second range, which is ok considering the road undulates up and down and I was always in the teeth of a cross wind.

After 2 or 3 repeats my mouth became excessively dry, but I did not stop to drink water because I only had 1 half-filled bottle and I wanted to drink that at the end of the workout.

About the 7th repeat I was passed by a stud runner, from the looks of him he was a cross country runner for the U of I. He had a long graceful stride and was running about 5:45 pace effortlessly - he was out for an easy run! I let him get about 5 yards ahead of me and I decided to string along, testing my endurance. I ran 1000m with him but then he turned off the rectangle, and I slowed down for my 200m float. The next 400m repeat was tough, I was spent. At the 10th repeat I finally started to recover and was able to get to 14 before the heat shut me down.

Overall a pretty good workout, I kept the pace at a comfortable 5k level, did not push too hard, but I sometimes drove myself into oxygen debt to accustom myself to the struggle.

#222

z.m. - #135

Weather - 86 degrees, sunny, humid.

The humidity made today's easy run heavy and dull.

I was planning to run long tomorrow, but as I was stretching after the run I realized that the past couple of weeks have had a number of hard workouts, and that I have pushed my body to the edge of its capacity. Piling on the hard stuff now would increase the chance of injury because of the accumulated fatigue. Having recognized that it is time to pull back is in a way a running breakthrough for me - the ability to know when enough is enough.

So instead of running long tomorrow, I plan to have a week of 3-4 milers. All that is needed to improve this week is to sit back, relax, and allow my body to strengthen itself through rest.

#223

z.m. - #136

Weather - 86 degrees, cloudy, humid.

Even though the weather was humid, I felt much better than yesterday. My energy was up and my legs felt strong. Since I was only running 4 miles today, I decided to run the last mile hard to work off some of the excess energy.

As I walked home yesterday my right foot cramped. Today it was still stiff and feeling off. When I ran, however, it was not noticeable, and after the run it was not too bad either. I am hoping it is nothing serious, it would be a big let down if I had to cut my training to let it heal.

#224

z.m. - #137

Weather - 78 degrees, sunny, humid.

It feels good to run short and slow. I can feel my body begin to strengthen itself through rest. Foot felt fine, so thankfully the tension was most likely a cramped muscle. Not much else happening right now.

#225

z.m. - #138

Weather - 72 degrees, sunny.

Weather cooled today, it felt really nice with no humidity.

I am enjoying the consecutive easy days, each successive run my legs feel fresher and have more pop. When I ran the small hills in Busey Woods this morning I was able to cruise them with more ease than usual.

To deplete my excess energy I ran the final 1.5 miles at about 6:05 pace - it felt good.

#226

z.m. - #139

Weather - 79 degrees, sunny.

Ran a short and easy 3 miles. Will do the same for the next 3 days.

Afterward 3 sets of strength exercises, stretching, and 25 minute walk home.

#227

z.m. - #140