How Much Discomfort Can I Tolerate?!

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