How Much Discomfort Can I Tolerate?!

Weather - 40 degrees, clouds, rain.

Last night I was telling myself that I had blundered by running too many miles this past week, which did not allow my legs to fully recover from the 15K race. I woke this morning thinking I would have to once again skip bike interval session #5, but surprisingly my legs felt somewhat better, not 100% but close to it. So I ran 1/2 mile to Cardinal and ran 3.5 miles on the treadmill as a warm-up. I then did the bike interval session, and finished off with another 3 miles on the treadmill. I ran about 2 of the miles between 5:56-6:26 pace, it did not seem too difficult, my aerobic fitness appears to be improving.

Afterward 5 sets of strength exercises, stretching, and 15 minute walk home.

#135

z.m. - #49

Weather - 60 degrees, clouds, windy, rain.

Ran 4.5 easy miles in warm weather, it started to rain on my walk home, so I had a dry run. My legs are still sore in the thighs from the race, it is time to fix that problem by cutting down the miles, and making sure I run easy. Tomorrow I plan on running 4 or 5 easy miles, and if I feel good by Wednesday I will do a hill session.

Afterward 4 sets of strength exercises, stretching, and 40 minute walk home.

#136

z.m. - #50

Weather - 35 degrees, windy, clouds.

4 Easy miles to and around the arboretum, and 3 sets of knee-ups throughout the run.  

#137

z.m. - #51 

A.M. - I was planning to go hard today, a session of hill repeats - sprinting and bounding up the hill, and running as fast as I can down. I checked the 2nd Wind club site this morning and saw that the Wednesday speed sessions are starting today, so I will alter my plan and run hard with the group. They may go to the arboretum for hill work, so I could end up doing what I had planned. If they stay on the track, that will also work, since I wanted to do a track session this Friday or Saturday, I will just switch the hills to the weekend. I enjoy running alone, but I find I can get more out of myself on the hard days if I run with other people, so I am looking forward to putting in a strong effort today at 6:00pm. I am definitely ready to begin sweating blood in my workouts.

P.M. - Weather - 50 degrees, sunny.

Ran a 3 mile warm-up to the track and met with the 2nd Wind club. Last year's 1st session 4 people attended because the weather was mid-30's with wind and rain. This year a much better turnout, about 12-15 people. We ran to the arboretum for a hill workout, which fit into what I had planned to do. Matt, the leader of the group, had everyone do 8 x 100m hill sprints, with a 2 minute jogging recovery, so nothing too difficult. I told him before we started that I would be sprinting the downhills so that he would know I was not being too competitive. During the first hill the speedsters blew by me, I could only shake my head at my lack of natural speed. After the 2nd repeat I took the lead because of my downhill sprints, and it seemed that the others had gone too hard in the first 2 sprints because they were slowing down. I know from experience that these types of workouts are best if run at a pace one can maintain throughout the entire session. I was holding up well, actually picking up speed from repeat to repeat. I was getting a bit anaerobic because my rest period was about 90 seconds, but I held it together and finished the 8 feeling strong and not too winded. I decided as the group split off at the end of the session to do another set of 8 repeats, this time alternating sprinting and bounding up the hill, with a hard sprint down, but a longer recovery so that I could maintain my form. I was surprised that I felt stronger and faster during the 2nd set of 8 repeats, which made me feel that I am rounding into racing form. I mentioned to Mike as he headed off that I was doing another set of 8 and he just shook his head because he was feeling beat after 8. Considering nobody else stayed for more, I have to think that my winter base training surpassed the efforts of the people who attended the session. That made me feel good, to know that someone with no speed could still get decent results through consistent work.

#138

z.m. - #52

Weather - 45 degrees, raining.

Ran 4 easy miles to the Zendo, meditated 70 minutes, then 3 miles back to town. My legs have recovered from the race, I was a bit tired from yesterdays hard hill session, but I should recover soon.

Tomorrow an easy 4 or 5 miles, then on Saturday a set of intervals on the track to close out the week. Next week will be easy, winding it down to freshen up for the 5K on the 12th.

#139

z.m. - #53

Weather - 44 degrees, sunny.

Ran an easy 4 miles to Crystal Lake park and Busey Woods. Felt a bit tired, so still recovering from the hill session 2 days ago.

Tomorrow a hard set of track intervals. Thinking about what I wanted to do earlier today, I could not decide between doing 200m or 400m. It occurred to me that I should do both, so I will run 200M, with a 200M recovery jog, then 400M, with a 400M recovery jog. The 200M recovery followed by 400M will get my heart rate speeding. I will try to reach my threshold limit without getting overly anaerobic, as I think it is still too early in the year to be dealing with lactic overload.

#140

z.m. - #54

Weather - 60 degrees, sunny.

A great day for running. I run faster when the temps are between 60-80, so I was finally able to run a hard workout with decent conditions. I ran 1 mile to the Urbana HS track and then ran 2 more warm up miles. I stretched a bit, then walked to the indoor pool (about 100 yards away) to borrow a pen and paper. I was planning to bring paper/pen so that I could write my splits, but I forgot. When I returned from the pool I ran 5 x 100m accelerations. I only timed the last one, it was 17 seconds, which is a 2 second improvement from the last time I ran track accelerations on March 10. I waited about 5 minutes before starting the intervals. I decided to run alternating 200m/400m, with 200m/400m jogging rest. I wanted to do 8 each, which would equal 3 miles, so I decided to treat the intervals as a 5k race, starting moderately, then picking up the pace after the first 600-1000m, maintaining the pace in the middle, then holding on at the end. I was unsure how I was going to do, but the sun felt great, there was a moderate wind on the track (less than normal), I was wearing shorts/singlet, and I had my new trainers, which are 3 ounces lighter than my other 2 pair (they are bright yellow, which means I have to run faster, right?). There was one other man on the track, but he was camped on the opposite side doing jumping jacks and stretching.

Here is how it went :

1) 200 - 41 seconds. Felt great, was holding back a bit, legs felt super-charged, and my adrenaline was flowing as if it was a race.

1) 400 - 84 seconds. I had to look twice after I saw the time, because I don't think I have ever run a 400M in under 85 seconds. I was holding back, in control, wow!

2) 200 - 39 seconds. Picking it up a bit.

2) 400 - 83 seconds. Proving the first was no fluke. Can I maintain the pace?

3) 200 - 38 seconds. Went too fast on this one.

3) 400 - 84 seconds. Still feeling good.

4) 200 - 40 seconds. A good pace, this is where I needed to be.

4) 400 - 82 seconds. Too fast, but I was happy to see 82!

5) 200 - 42 seconds. Paid the price for the 82.

5) 400 - 85 seconds. Was worried about this one, the 82 took a toll, but I was still in control.

6) 200 - 41 seconds. Trying to maintain, and succeeding.

6) 400 - 86 seconds. Will I be able to hold for the final 1200m?

7) 200 - 42 seconds. Hanging on.

7) 400 - 86 seconds. Feeling a bit weary, but legs still feel good.

8) 200 - 41 seconds. Trying to save myself for the final 400.

8) 400 - 82 seconds. The homestretch, no more laps to save for, so I ran all out.

When I finished the final 400 it felt like I just finished a 5k, but I still had enough composure to keep running slowly around the track, and I recovered after only 1 lap, and finished off with a 1 mile cool-down.

If I don't include the recovery jogs, my total time for 3 miles was 16:36, averaging a 5:32 pace. The two 82 second 400's was a 5:28 pace, I have never gone that low before.

This is no doubt my best track workout ever, and one of the best runs of my life. It feels so good to be fit, to be able to make it work for a hard effort. I was not overstraining, nor trying to run past my abilities, yet I felt faster than ever before. This one run makes running everyday in the winter months worth it. To work 140 days to feel the pleasure of the 141st - I will always remember this day.

#141

z.m. - #55