It's fitting on the last day of the year to look back and reflect. Here goes!
January started off rough, as I was still recovering from a mysterious viral illness that had me out of commission for most of November and December of 2010. However, by the end of the month I was training well again and that continued through the end of February when - SURPRISE! - I discovered I was pregnant. I had to stop training hard, but kept walking; sadly, I miscarried 3 weeks later. In retrospect it's still sad, though somewhat of a relief - mixed feelings.
So, in mid-March we resumed training, and I did the Salt Lake Half Marathon in April to get things going, under strict orders to take it easy. I did, but still set a 4-minute PR! This was just the beginning of great things to come this year.
But first, another test. I was training well for the national 15K in May in Riverside, and just 6 days before the race I incurred a shin injury. MRIs later would show it was a tear of my anterior tibialis with tendonitis in the front of my ankle as well. I rested up for the race, did it anyway, and set a new PR (well, OK, it was my first 15K race, so it was going to be a PR anyway!) of 1:29:03. I was quite happy with the time, which earned me a silver medal in the OPEN division (!) as well as a gold medal in my age group.
After resting and some physical therapy, I was able to start training hard again in June. I only had about 6-7 weeks until the World Masters Athletics Championships in Sacramento, CA. Not enough time to be as fast as I wanted to be, but still enough to do well if we trained through the 5K and 10K races. I worked really hard and pulled off three new PRs at WMA: 28:04 in the 5K, 57:35 in the 10K, and 2:00:37 in the 20K. I had wanted to break 2 hr for the 20K, but I was just too fatigued from the previous efforts. Still, I was very pleased to have three PRs and three silver medals, coming in second to my good friend and training partner Nyle Sunderland from New Zealand in all three races.
A few weeks' recovery were in order, including a week in Disneyland with the family. After that, it was time to start training again, as I planned on doing a marathon in September, and there was not much time to get my mileage up. Jim wrote me a great program that got me ready in time; however, because of the short training time it was a tough race. At the Top of Utah marathon in Logan, UT, I smashed my marathon PR by 9 minutes. It would have been more except for the last 5 miles - I hit the wall and got glycogen-depleted, and it hurt! I was still ecstatic to break my PR by so much and to know I could keep training for more.
I continued hard training, this time with the goal of being ready for a fast 50K in January, 2012. Our walking club had our first judged race in October, and though it was a short 3K I really wanted to do it to support the club. Despite training for longer distances and not doing much short fast stuff, I broke my 3K PR in that race with a 16:24.
Continuing my training for the 50K, I had a few key races along the way, the first being the Two Cities Half Marathon in Fresno in November. Since I was traveling to do the race (as well as to visit my husband's family in Bakersfield), I wanted to race it hard and do well. Coach said I could do that as long as we trained through it and didn't taper, which was fine with me. I figured my half marathon PR was ripe for smashing, and it was! I won the racewalking division with a new PR of 2:05:33 and also won a beautiful necklace, a plaque, and a free pair of New Balance shoes.
Some friends suggested I racewalk the Mesquite Marathon with them in November, and I thought that sounded like a fun girls' weekend. It was! Jim said I could do it IF I approached it as a training walk and took it easy. Cool. I was very careful not to push hard (except the last km or so!) and on this nice fast downhill course I smashed my PR with a 4:19:27, even taking it easy! Wow. I was gaining confidence for the 50K with each workout, and this race showed what I could do. Now I just had to continue to work hard for a few more weeks and increase my fitness as much as possible before the 50K.
I've trained well the last month, continuing to break PRs in various workouts that Jim gives me, and I feel my confidence growing. It's been a great year! Total mileage for the year, despite illness and injury, was 1560 miles or 2510 km. That's a lot better than 2010 :). And I set new PRs at every distance: 3K, 5K, 10K, 15K, 20K, half marathon, and marathon. I'm ready for the 50K just one week from today. Bring on 2012!
Saturday, December 31, 2011
10K fartlek - 41 second PR!
The stomach flu is going around in the family. First my brother and sister-in-law and niece had it. Bad. Then my husband and my dad got it. Then last night poor Calvin was throwing up repeatedly.
I woke this morning feeling queasy and with a roiling stomach. I knew I was to do a 10K fartlek, and I figured I'd better at least try to eat a banana. It went down OK and I went to work for an hour to stain some slides. The slides have to incubate with the primary antibody for at least an hour so I figured I'd go do my track workout during the incubation and then go back to work to finish up the staining after the workout. At work, I felt OK and ate a few crackers. Still queasyish but I felt up for a workout.
It was sunny and clear and beautiful at the track, albeit a bit windy and not terribly warm at 34F (~1C). The wind chilled me every time I went around the north side of the track. I did have some entertainment though, as Roland, the coach of Central City Cheetahs track club for kids, was there with a bunch of kids working on jumping skills. They were jumping on a springboard and then onto a padded mat, without a bar at first and then with a bar. Later, they did small hurdles and some other stuff. They were still there when I finished, and I chatted with Roland a bit about teaching some of the kids to racewalk in the spring - he seemed quite amenable! Calvin and Michelle will both be in the club this year (it's for ages 6-18) so that should be fun.
I warmed up for 1600m in 9:51 and felt OK, though slightly tight and with some minor soreness in glutes and hammies. I stretched out with some good dynamic stretches, and then got going. The first 4K or so felt a bit strained, though I was fast enough. I had to stop briefly at 4K to remove my fleece, as I was getting hot despite the wind (the wind makes it really tricky to decide how to dress for a workout!). After I took the fleece top and pants off (I still had on tights and a long-sleeved shirt and gloves and a hat) I felt much smoother and faster. Weird. Not sure if it was just being more warmed-up, or if it was that the fleece inhibited my motion, but I felt better. Lots better. By 5-6K I was feeling stronger and better and as the workout went on I just felt good, amazingly. The only caveat was that I had some GI cramps around 8.5-10k, but they weren't too awful and I was able to continue without slowing or stopping.
My times were nice and fast - the first km was 5:29, all of the recoveries were 3:00 or less, and all of the fast segments were 2:49 or less except for one, which was the 4th km in 2:52 (but then I had a fast recovery there because of the rest while removing the fleece). My 5K split was 28:32, 8K was 45:53, and the 10K was 57:28. Wow, fast! This is actually my 2nd fastest 10K ever. Today's time was 7 seconds faster than my time at World Masters in Sacramento, and only the very-much-downhill Deseret News 10K this July was faster, at 56:32. I felt really strong today, too, and my average HR was not that high at 162. That's probably about where it ought to be for a hard 10K workout, actually.
I'm VERY happy with this workout. I am feeling confident about next Saturday's 50K, but this gives me another boost going in. Now if my stomach will just settle down...it's actually feeling OK right now so maybe I can avoid the stomach flu? Maybe? Hoping so, because now would be a bad time for it.
Garmin connect data here.
I woke this morning feeling queasy and with a roiling stomach. I knew I was to do a 10K fartlek, and I figured I'd better at least try to eat a banana. It went down OK and I went to work for an hour to stain some slides. The slides have to incubate with the primary antibody for at least an hour so I figured I'd go do my track workout during the incubation and then go back to work to finish up the staining after the workout. At work, I felt OK and ate a few crackers. Still queasyish but I felt up for a workout.
It was sunny and clear and beautiful at the track, albeit a bit windy and not terribly warm at 34F (~1C). The wind chilled me every time I went around the north side of the track. I did have some entertainment though, as Roland, the coach of Central City Cheetahs track club for kids, was there with a bunch of kids working on jumping skills. They were jumping on a springboard and then onto a padded mat, without a bar at first and then with a bar. Later, they did small hurdles and some other stuff. They were still there when I finished, and I chatted with Roland a bit about teaching some of the kids to racewalk in the spring - he seemed quite amenable! Calvin and Michelle will both be in the club this year (it's for ages 6-18) so that should be fun.
I warmed up for 1600m in 9:51 and felt OK, though slightly tight and with some minor soreness in glutes and hammies. I stretched out with some good dynamic stretches, and then got going. The first 4K or so felt a bit strained, though I was fast enough. I had to stop briefly at 4K to remove my fleece, as I was getting hot despite the wind (the wind makes it really tricky to decide how to dress for a workout!). After I took the fleece top and pants off (I still had on tights and a long-sleeved shirt and gloves and a hat) I felt much smoother and faster. Weird. Not sure if it was just being more warmed-up, or if it was that the fleece inhibited my motion, but I felt better. Lots better. By 5-6K I was feeling stronger and better and as the workout went on I just felt good, amazingly. The only caveat was that I had some GI cramps around 8.5-10k, but they weren't too awful and I was able to continue without slowing or stopping.
My times were nice and fast - the first km was 5:29, all of the recoveries were 3:00 or less, and all of the fast segments were 2:49 or less except for one, which was the 4th km in 2:52 (but then I had a fast recovery there because of the rest while removing the fleece). My 5K split was 28:32, 8K was 45:53, and the 10K was 57:28. Wow, fast! This is actually my 2nd fastest 10K ever. Today's time was 7 seconds faster than my time at World Masters in Sacramento, and only the very-much-downhill Deseret News 10K this July was faster, at 56:32. I felt really strong today, too, and my average HR was not that high at 162. That's probably about where it ought to be for a hard 10K workout, actually.
I'm VERY happy with this workout. I am feeling confident about next Saturday's 50K, but this gives me another boost going in. Now if my stomach will just settle down...it's actually feeling OK right now so maybe I can avoid the stomach flu? Maybe? Hoping so, because now would be a bad time for it.
Garmin connect data here.
Friday, December 30, 2011
12K
It was amazingly, gloriously gorgeous outside this morning. Sunny, with a temperature of 40F (4C) when I hit the Jordan River Trail at 8 am. I went 4K before meeting up with my friend Sue for another 8K. I've talked about Sue before I think...she's a friend from Team in Training and a very good runner. She's qualified for and run the Boston marathon and I really enjoy racewalking with her and chatting. She was a bit apprehensive about keeping up with me today, but she needn't have been - she was fine. She's been sick and hasn't been running much, so we did walk for a minute to give her a breather at 4K (8K for me).
Brief tangent - go look at Sue's artwork - she's very talented. I'm thinking of buying a couple of her paintings. I have one in my kitchen and love it, so now I "need" another one :).
Anyway, I felt great today until about 9k and then I still felt good but my legs were a little tired, probably because we had a nice fast pace going. We kept it up and I could have gone longer at that pace easily, but it was good to stop and save my energy for the 50K next Saturday. Wow...only 8 days left.
Total: 12K in 1:14:03 for 6:10/km (9:56/mile) with ave HR 141. Low HR for that speed :).
The taper always makes me feel weird. First I am glad to have some rest. Then I start to wonder if I'm getting out of shape from fewer miles. Intellectually I know that is not true, but you still have silly nagging doubts. Add in the holidays this time and having off work this week and I feel very well-rested. Good, but odd. I feel fidgety and nervous and just want to get it all over with already! But I'm also excited for the trip and looking forward to a good time.
Garmin connect data here.
Brief tangent - go look at Sue's artwork - she's very talented. I'm thinking of buying a couple of her paintings. I have one in my kitchen and love it, so now I "need" another one :).
Anyway, I felt great today until about 9k and then I still felt good but my legs were a little tired, probably because we had a nice fast pace going. We kept it up and I could have gone longer at that pace easily, but it was good to stop and save my energy for the 50K next Saturday. Wow...only 8 days left.
Total: 12K in 1:14:03 for 6:10/km (9:56/mile) with ave HR 141. Low HR for that speed :).
The taper always makes me feel weird. First I am glad to have some rest. Then I start to wonder if I'm getting out of shape from fewer miles. Intellectually I know that is not true, but you still have silly nagging doubts. Add in the holidays this time and having off work this week and I feel very well-rested. Good, but odd. I feel fidgety and nervous and just want to get it all over with already! But I'm also excited for the trip and looking forward to a good time.
Garmin connect data here.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
10K
Easy 10K today, and I felt terrific. It didn't hurt that the weather was glorious (for December!). It was 37F (3C) and overcast, but a nice rain (rain! not snow!) had cleared out the inversion and the air was clear and clean. Lovely! I didn't even need to wear fleece on my workout and it felt so nice just in tights and a long-sleeved shirt and gloves.
I felt smooth, fast, and strong today, like I hope to feel next Saturday at the 50K (at least for the first 30K! after that, I know it's gonna hurt!).
Total time: 1:01:48 for 6:11/km (9:57/mile) with ave HR 150.
Garmin connect data here.
I felt smooth, fast, and strong today, like I hope to feel next Saturday at the 50K (at least for the first 30K! after that, I know it's gonna hurt!).
Total time: 1:01:48 for 6:11/km (9:57/mile) with ave HR 150.
Garmin connect data here.
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
cross-training
Today I cross-trained sensibly. My legs were (understandably) a bit sore this morning. Not bad, but definitely sore. I got on the elliptical and it did take about 5-10 min before I settled into a pace that was comfortable; my legs felt better when I was done. I opted to only do 30 min because I felt like I needed to take it easy, and besides, I had to go to work and inject some embryos this morning, so I didn't have a lot of time.
One thing I'm loving about this week is the extra sleep I've been getting with not having to be in to work so much. Last night, for example, I slept from 9:15 pm to 6:15 am. Ahhhhhhhhh. It felt good. I like not having to get up at any specific time, and I've been relaxed enough that I can sleep a bit later (for me). Sleep is good. :)
One thing I'm loving about this week is the extra sleep I've been getting with not having to be in to work so much. Last night, for example, I slept from 9:15 pm to 6:15 am. Ahhhhhhhhh. It felt good. I like not having to get up at any specific time, and I've been relaxed enough that I can sleep a bit later (for me). Sleep is good. :)
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
15K kickdown
I'm glad this one is over.
I felt fresh and ready to go, but I obviously wasn't, because even in the first 5K, I knew this workout was going to hurt a lot. The good thing is that I stuck with it and finished it.
I was to do a 15K kickdown, in 3 progressively faster 5K splits. I did actually accomplish that, though I was much slower than I would have liked. And it hurt. A lot. Really a lot. By 12K, I felt I was racewalking through molasses, and that someone had one of those giant PT elastic bands around my hips and was pulling me backward with each stride. Ouch. Slog. Painful.
Here are my splits:
31:12, ave HR 148; 30:29 ave HR 157; 29:52 ave HR 163. Yeah, for me in the shape I'm in right now, that's really ugly. A 29:52 5K should feel pretty easyish...not today, it didn't :(.
I don't feel so good now, about 2 hr after the workout. I just feel really tired and like all my muscles are Jell-O. I almost wonder if I am coming down with something, but I think I'm just very tired.
Jim says that I left my legs in the pool yesterday. An hour of swimming on unaccustomed legs was a bit too much in his opinion. I did kick quite a bit, as we had 2x200 kick intervals, so maybe he's right. I didn't feel sore at all from the swimming, but I guess I didn't have to for it to affect me this way.
I'm tired. Now I have a dinner to prepare for 9 people and my house is a mess. I'd better get to work.
Garmin connect data here.
I felt fresh and ready to go, but I obviously wasn't, because even in the first 5K, I knew this workout was going to hurt a lot. The good thing is that I stuck with it and finished it.
I was to do a 15K kickdown, in 3 progressively faster 5K splits. I did actually accomplish that, though I was much slower than I would have liked. And it hurt. A lot. Really a lot. By 12K, I felt I was racewalking through molasses, and that someone had one of those giant PT elastic bands around my hips and was pulling me backward with each stride. Ouch. Slog. Painful.
Here are my splits:
31:12, ave HR 148; 30:29 ave HR 157; 29:52 ave HR 163. Yeah, for me in the shape I'm in right now, that's really ugly. A 29:52 5K should feel pretty easyish...not today, it didn't :(.
I don't feel so good now, about 2 hr after the workout. I just feel really tired and like all my muscles are Jell-O. I almost wonder if I am coming down with something, but I think I'm just very tired.
Jim says that I left my legs in the pool yesterday. An hour of swimming on unaccustomed legs was a bit too much in his opinion. I did kick quite a bit, as we had 2x200 kick intervals, so maybe he's right. I didn't feel sore at all from the swimming, but I guess I didn't have to for it to affect me this way.
I'm tired. Now I have a dinner to prepare for 9 people and my house is a mess. I'd better get to work.
Garmin connect data here.
Monday, December 26, 2011
rest day, cross training
Sunday: rest day
***
Today: cross-training. I went to the gym in the morning and did 30 min on the elliptical. Later in the day I went back with my sister-in-law, Erica, and we did a masters swimming workout. I hadn't been swimming in a very long time, and it was decent. Still not my favorite, but a good solid workout and something different as I approach the 50K. My legs are feeling really good after a couple days off of racewalking. Anyway, I did about 2300 yd of swimming in an hour, including some freestyle, some kicking, some breaststroke, some intervals.
***
Today: cross-training. I went to the gym in the morning and did 30 min on the elliptical. Later in the day I went back with my sister-in-law, Erica, and we did a masters swimming workout. I hadn't been swimming in a very long time, and it was decent. Still not my favorite, but a good solid workout and something different as I approach the 50K. My legs are feeling really good after a couple days off of racewalking. Anyway, I did about 2300 yd of swimming in an hour, including some freestyle, some kicking, some breaststroke, some intervals.
Saturday, December 24, 2011
10K kickdown - HUGE PR!
I felt fresh and rested this morning. My legs weren't really that sore after the 25K on Thursday, and so I felt pretty good even yesterday. By this morning, I felt great. I was to do a 10K kickdown in four splits of 2.5K, each progressively faster and the last all-out.
I decided to go later than usual so it would be slightly warmer and the sun would be out. Then I wouldn't have to wear all the reflective gear, and it's mentally so much better to be in the sun than in the dark. I just had to teach a couple piano students later in the morning, so I figured an 8am-ish start would work. It was more like 8:45 by the time I started though!
It was quite cold this morning. My thermometer at home said 16F (-9C). By the time I got back home from the workout it was up to 24F, which is still pretty cold! Still, with the sun out, it wasn't too bad. I wore my tights and a long-sleeved shirt, with fleece layers on top of that, my balaclava, and my fleece headband, plus my gloves. It was just right.
I started off a little awkwardly for the first 500m but soon settled in and once my HR monitor calmed down my HR was in the low 140s and I was doing a good 6:10/km. Nice! My first 2.5K was 3:04.0, 3:07.7, 3:05.5, 3:04.0, 3:02.6 for a total of 15:23.8. (Oh, and the little HR dip was when my piano student for this morning called me...I had to stop and take care of business quickly!). That first 2.5K was faster than I'd planned, but my HR was low and I felt good. The next 2.5K was the slight downhill (very slight) into the park and I took advantage of it, doing 2:56.3, 2:59.4, 2:58.8, 3:04.5 (this split on this part of the park is always slower - weird!), 2:59.6 for a total of 14:58.6 and still feeling great. Now I was thinking this was gonna be a good one! I was psyched!
I knew I'd have to work the third 2.5K as it's a very slight uphill grade, and I did kick it down faster, going 2:56.1, 2:57.2, 2:55.6, 2:59.0, 2:53.4 for a total of 14:41.3. I knew I still had just a little left, and the slight downhill helped as I raced back into the park. I was really working it hard and it felt tough but I felt strong and knew I had it in me to finish well. I was surprisingly fast, doing 2:49.3, 2:46.2, 2:48.4, 2:55.4 (that's that slow split in the park!), 2:49.2 for 14:08.5! Average HR for the workout (substituting 142 for the funky spiking intervals at the start) was 156, and I was up to a max of 175 at the end, which shows how hard I worked this one. And yeah, the last 5K was 28:50 :).
These hard workouts mess with your brain - at the end, I was looking at my watch and thinking I wasn't going to break 60 min and was disappointed...then the watch turned over from :59 to :00 and it was at 59 not 60! Haha couldn't even read my watch!
Total time was 59:12.2, smashing my old PR of 60:28 by over a minute and giving me lots of confidence in my body and my training as I approach the 50K race, which is now just 2 weeks from today.
I decided to go later than usual so it would be slightly warmer and the sun would be out. Then I wouldn't have to wear all the reflective gear, and it's mentally so much better to be in the sun than in the dark. I just had to teach a couple piano students later in the morning, so I figured an 8am-ish start would work. It was more like 8:45 by the time I started though!
It was quite cold this morning. My thermometer at home said 16F (-9C). By the time I got back home from the workout it was up to 24F, which is still pretty cold! Still, with the sun out, it wasn't too bad. I wore my tights and a long-sleeved shirt, with fleece layers on top of that, my balaclava, and my fleece headband, plus my gloves. It was just right.
I started off a little awkwardly for the first 500m but soon settled in and once my HR monitor calmed down my HR was in the low 140s and I was doing a good 6:10/km. Nice! My first 2.5K was 3:04.0, 3:07.7, 3:05.5, 3:04.0, 3:02.6 for a total of 15:23.8. (Oh, and the little HR dip was when my piano student for this morning called me...I had to stop and take care of business quickly!). That first 2.5K was faster than I'd planned, but my HR was low and I felt good. The next 2.5K was the slight downhill (very slight) into the park and I took advantage of it, doing 2:56.3, 2:59.4, 2:58.8, 3:04.5 (this split on this part of the park is always slower - weird!), 2:59.6 for a total of 14:58.6 and still feeling great. Now I was thinking this was gonna be a good one! I was psyched!
I knew I'd have to work the third 2.5K as it's a very slight uphill grade, and I did kick it down faster, going 2:56.1, 2:57.2, 2:55.6, 2:59.0, 2:53.4 for a total of 14:41.3. I knew I still had just a little left, and the slight downhill helped as I raced back into the park. I was really working it hard and it felt tough but I felt strong and knew I had it in me to finish well. I was surprisingly fast, doing 2:49.3, 2:46.2, 2:48.4, 2:55.4 (that's that slow split in the park!), 2:49.2 for 14:08.5! Average HR for the workout (substituting 142 for the funky spiking intervals at the start) was 156, and I was up to a max of 175 at the end, which shows how hard I worked this one. And yeah, the last 5K was 28:50 :).
These hard workouts mess with your brain - at the end, I was looking at my watch and thinking I wasn't going to break 60 min and was disappointed...then the watch turned over from :59 to :00 and it was at 59 not 60! Haha couldn't even read my watch!
Total time was 59:12.2, smashing my old PR of 60:28 by over a minute and giving me lots of confidence in my body and my training as I approach the 50K race, which is now just 2 weeks from today.
Friday, December 23, 2011
cross-training
Today I was happy to have a little break from racewalking. I did 30 minutes on the elliptical and then some core exercises and stretching with Lisa.
Jim has rewritten my taper, so now I have a 10K kickdown tomorrow instead of 20K. I'm not complaining!!!!!
***
Funny Michelle prayer the other night when she was at my parents' house, "Dear God, I hope we have a good dessert and help me to be good because Santa's coming soon. In Jesus' name, Amen."
Jim has rewritten my taper, so now I have a 10K kickdown tomorrow instead of 20K. I'm not complaining!!!!!
***
Funny Michelle prayer the other night when she was at my parents' house, "Dear God, I hope we have a good dessert and help me to be good because Santa's coming soon. In Jesus' name, Amen."
Thursday, December 22, 2011
25K on the indoor track
It snowed last night. Not very much; about 1 inch (2.5cm), but that was enough to make the streets slippery. They did plow, and the big streets were clear, but the smaller streets that I'd be walking on were slick for sure, so I opted for the indoor track. I drove over there, paid my $3 fee, and got started.
I felt basically pretty good this morning, and was able to keep a pretty consistent pace throughout the workout. Since the track is 442m, I had to extrapolate a little bit to get my 5K splits. They were: 31:30, 31:13, 31:13, 31:33, 31:36. Despite the consistency of the workout, my legs were quite tired at the end of the 25K, and I was glad to be done. That is surely attributable to the workouts I've already done this week. Still, I was reasonably fast today, completing the 25K in 2:36:05 for 6:15/km (10:03/mile). It was a fairly good effort to keep that pace today, though. My watch said my average HR was only 145 but it felt harder than that. Go figure.
I just looked over the last week - from Saturday's 35K through today's 25K, I have done a total of 95km (59 miles) in 6 days. No wonder I was tired after today's workout! I'm looking forward to a bit easier week next week...though first I have a 20K kickdown on Saturday. No rest for the weary, I guess.
Garmin connect data here.
I felt basically pretty good this morning, and was able to keep a pretty consistent pace throughout the workout. Since the track is 442m, I had to extrapolate a little bit to get my 5K splits. They were: 31:30, 31:13, 31:13, 31:33, 31:36. Despite the consistency of the workout, my legs were quite tired at the end of the 25K, and I was glad to be done. That is surely attributable to the workouts I've already done this week. Still, I was reasonably fast today, completing the 25K in 2:36:05 for 6:15/km (10:03/mile). It was a fairly good effort to keep that pace today, though. My watch said my average HR was only 145 but it felt harder than that. Go figure.
I just looked over the last week - from Saturday's 35K through today's 25K, I have done a total of 95km (59 miles) in 6 days. No wonder I was tired after today's workout! I'm looking forward to a bit easier week next week...though first I have a 20K kickdown on Saturday. No rest for the weary, I guess.
Garmin connect data here.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
10K
Only 10K today, and the weather was decent for December, with temps of 27F (-3C) and calm. I wore my balaclava but got too warm and had to take it off.
I started off feeling a little heavy-legged but with plenty of energy. About 7.5K I started to feel the effects of yesterday's 12K fartlek and it definitely slowed me down going back up the gentle hill. Up until then I'd been keeping a 6:13/km pace, but my total today was 1:03:08 for 6:19/km with ave HR 142.
Garmin connect data here.
I started off feeling a little heavy-legged but with plenty of energy. About 7.5K I started to feel the effects of yesterday's 12K fartlek and it definitely slowed me down going back up the gentle hill. Up until then I'd been keeping a 6:13/km pace, but my total today was 1:03:08 for 6:19/km with ave HR 142.
Garmin connect data here.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
12K fartlek
Today's workout was a tough one: 12K fartlek. I slept a little funny last night because I drank a lot of coffee. I was having a girls' night out with Michelle (while Loren and Calvin watched Monday Night Football at my parents' house) and I took her to IHOP to have breakfast for dinner :). I drank about 3 cups of coffee there, and then took her to Starbucks for tea and cookies, and I had a skinny peppermint mocha there. Yeah, that was a lot of coffee. I fell asleep just fine (coffee never seems to keep me from falling asleep!) but woke up around 2 am to use the restroom, and I was feeling a bit wired. I settled back down to sleep and woke up again at 5:15 am, and tossed and turned a bit. I got up at 5:30 so I could get to the track and do my workout. My legs felt a bit shaky (caffeine probably) so I had a banana before heading to the track.
Weather: 27F (-3C) and fog, but with a slight cutting breeze every time I went around the south end of the track. The track itself was mostly clear with a very few icy spots on the south end; I lost a little toe push on one or two strides only each time I went around, but I don't think it was enough to make a significant difference in my performance.
I warmed up for 1600m in the low-10-minute range, and felt slightly sluggish. I knew I'd have to start conservatively, so I did, doing the first 1km in 5:38. I struggled a bit to settle into a comfortable pace, and was slower than I wanted to be on my fast 500s. Other than the first one (the fastest, at 2:49), they were all 2:50-2:54. However, my recoveries weren't too bad, with 8/11 3:04 or faster, and the other 3 at 3:06, 3:06, and 3:08.
This workout was hard for me today, though. Like I said, I struggled to find a comfortable pace, and didn't feel like I settled in very well until about 7 or 8k into the workout. At the beginning of the 7th km, I actually stopped for about 15 seconds, and had a little chat with myself. It wasn't going the way I wanted, with 5K in 29:10, and feeling a bit flat, and so I told myself I HAD TO FINISH this one. I knew I had to be mentally tough. The 50K demands it. I started repeating to myself, "national champions don't give up" and continued that mantra in my head for the rest of the workout. If I want to be the national champion, I have got to be in the game mentally as well as physically. This workout for me was more about the mental toughness than the physical toughness. Of course I'm sure I'm benefiting physically from the workout, but to know that I hung in there, did not give up, and worked it hard to the end is gratifying.
My self-chat seemed to help me settle in, and I felt a bit smoother and stronger and finished just fine. In fact, I thought I could have done a few more if I'd had to at that same pace. I was glad I didn't have to, though!
Oh, and since this is the first time I've done a 12K fartlek, I guess it's a PR for this workout...for whatever that is worth!
Total time 1:10:50 with average HR 162.
Garmin connect data here.
Weather: 27F (-3C) and fog, but with a slight cutting breeze every time I went around the south end of the track. The track itself was mostly clear with a very few icy spots on the south end; I lost a little toe push on one or two strides only each time I went around, but I don't think it was enough to make a significant difference in my performance.
I warmed up for 1600m in the low-10-minute range, and felt slightly sluggish. I knew I'd have to start conservatively, so I did, doing the first 1km in 5:38. I struggled a bit to settle into a comfortable pace, and was slower than I wanted to be on my fast 500s. Other than the first one (the fastest, at 2:49), they were all 2:50-2:54. However, my recoveries weren't too bad, with 8/11 3:04 or faster, and the other 3 at 3:06, 3:06, and 3:08.
This workout was hard for me today, though. Like I said, I struggled to find a comfortable pace, and didn't feel like I settled in very well until about 7 or 8k into the workout. At the beginning of the 7th km, I actually stopped for about 15 seconds, and had a little chat with myself. It wasn't going the way I wanted, with 5K in 29:10, and feeling a bit flat, and so I told myself I HAD TO FINISH this one. I knew I had to be mentally tough. The 50K demands it. I started repeating to myself, "national champions don't give up" and continued that mantra in my head for the rest of the workout. If I want to be the national champion, I have got to be in the game mentally as well as physically. This workout for me was more about the mental toughness than the physical toughness. Of course I'm sure I'm benefiting physically from the workout, but to know that I hung in there, did not give up, and worked it hard to the end is gratifying.
My self-chat seemed to help me settle in, and I felt a bit smoother and stronger and finished just fine. In fact, I thought I could have done a few more if I'd had to at that same pace. I was glad I didn't have to, though!
Oh, and since this is the first time I've done a 12K fartlek, I guess it's a PR for this workout...for whatever that is worth!
Total time 1:10:50 with average HR 162.
Garmin connect data here.
Monday, December 19, 2011
slow and slippery 12K
On the agenda for today: 12K.
Weather: a huge factor today. It was 24F (-4C) with a slight wind and fog (yeah, weird but true) and light snow. There was a dusting of snow on the ground but definitely more than last week's dusting of snow. It was very, very slippery. Seriously, I had about zero toe push-off today. How important is toe push-off in racewalking? VERY important.
So, I knew I'd be slow, and took it really easy. My legs felt fine. My right knee is slightly petulant (I suspect it's residual IT band issues?). It doesn't actually HURT, but it feels a little "off". I'm being really careful with my form, but today's slippery snowprobably did make my form a bit odd, so I'm sure that explains it.
All that matters about this one is that I got the workout done...so are you curious how much the snow slowed me down? Drum roll....
Total time for 12K was 1:21:55, for 6:49/km with ave HR of 140.
I might have been a bit flat today anyway; hard to say, though. I felt fine! But yeah, this was at least 30 sec/km slower than I'd have been with a dry road. No matter. I got in the km.
Garmin connect data here.
Weather: a huge factor today. It was 24F (-4C) with a slight wind and fog (yeah, weird but true) and light snow. There was a dusting of snow on the ground but definitely more than last week's dusting of snow. It was very, very slippery. Seriously, I had about zero toe push-off today. How important is toe push-off in racewalking? VERY important.
So, I knew I'd be slow, and took it really easy. My legs felt fine. My right knee is slightly petulant (I suspect it's residual IT band issues?). It doesn't actually HURT, but it feels a little "off". I'm being really careful with my form, but today's slippery snow
All that matters about this one is that I got the workout done...so are you curious how much the snow slowed me down? Drum roll....
Total time for 12K was 1:21:55, for 6:49/km with ave HR of 140.
I might have been a bit flat today anyway; hard to say, though. I felt fine! But yeah, this was at least 30 sec/km slower than I'd have been with a dry road. No matter. I got in the km.
Garmin connect data here.
Saturday, December 17, 2011
35K - last one!
Today's task was 35K - last really long one before the 50K!
The weather was decent for December; it was 20F (-7C) and foggy with lots of frost on everything (including my eyelashes!). By the end of my 35K it had warmed up to 33F (1C). I started out wearing shorts (the ones I plan to wear for the 50K - testing them out) under tights, with fleece pants on top. I wore 2 shirts and a fleece top, with my balaclava, hat, and gloves. I stayed warm enough in that, though my feet were a bit numb until about 8K when they finally thawed out. At 25K when I stopped at my car to refill my water bottles, I took off the balaclava and the fleece top, and that worked out well.
Frost photo - taken a few days ago, but the grass looked like this today too:
I felt good today - much better than last Saturday. I got tired, yes, but it was a normal tired for 35K and I felt that I could keep a decent pace today. I did have one 500m that was 3:18 but that was because of a very slippery spot on the plastic boardwalk on the trail. Anyway, I did feel that I could have kept going when I finished. Did I WANT to do another 15K? No, I didn't, but I felt I could have continued for at least another 5-10K without totally wasting myself, so that was good. I am still intimidated a bit by the distance, but I figure I've done 42.2K (marathon) enough times that I've got the distance in there somewhere. One thing I'm sure of: it's going to hurt. A lot. But that's part of the insanity of it all!
Interesting things I saw on the trail: 1) a woman pushing a dog in a stroller (have seen this before...yikes! Spoiled little dogs), 2) a guy wearing shorts (brrrrr!), 3) between 4500S and 3900S they are laying pipe that is about 2 ft across; I had to step over it going each way, 4) my friend Diane and another woman (who is a new member of our walking club) at 13K and then again at 23K - of course I stopped to talk to them :). Diane was very encouraging and reminded me that they are all so excited that I have a shot at the American record for my age group.
5K splits: 30:30.9, 31:27.8, 31:11.4, 31:10.3, 31:39.3, 31:29.9, 31:27.0
Total: 3:38:56, 6:15/km (10:04/mile), ave HR 152.
Garmin connect data here.
The weather was decent for December; it was 20F (-7C) and foggy with lots of frost on everything (including my eyelashes!). By the end of my 35K it had warmed up to 33F (1C). I started out wearing shorts (the ones I plan to wear for the 50K - testing them out) under tights, with fleece pants on top. I wore 2 shirts and a fleece top, with my balaclava, hat, and gloves. I stayed warm enough in that, though my feet were a bit numb until about 8K when they finally thawed out. At 25K when I stopped at my car to refill my water bottles, I took off the balaclava and the fleece top, and that worked out well.
Frost photo - taken a few days ago, but the grass looked like this today too:
I felt good today - much better than last Saturday. I got tired, yes, but it was a normal tired for 35K and I felt that I could keep a decent pace today. I did have one 500m that was 3:18 but that was because of a very slippery spot on the plastic boardwalk on the trail. Anyway, I did feel that I could have kept going when I finished. Did I WANT to do another 15K? No, I didn't, but I felt I could have continued for at least another 5-10K without totally wasting myself, so that was good. I am still intimidated a bit by the distance, but I figure I've done 42.2K (marathon) enough times that I've got the distance in there somewhere. One thing I'm sure of: it's going to hurt. A lot. But that's part of the insanity of it all!
Interesting things I saw on the trail: 1) a woman pushing a dog in a stroller (have seen this before...yikes! Spoiled little dogs), 2) a guy wearing shorts (brrrrr!), 3) between 4500S and 3900S they are laying pipe that is about 2 ft across; I had to step over it going each way, 4) my friend Diane and another woman (who is a new member of our walking club) at 13K and then again at 23K - of course I stopped to talk to them :). Diane was very encouraging and reminded me that they are all so excited that I have a shot at the American record for my age group.
5K splits: 30:30.9, 31:27.8, 31:11.4, 31:10.3, 31:39.3, 31:29.9, 31:27.0
Total: 3:38:56, 6:15/km (10:04/mile), ave HR 152.
Garmin connect data here.
Friday, December 16, 2011
5K fartlek
First, something I forgot to mention. I was to cross-train on Wednesday, and I DID do it. I did 45 min on the elliptical.
***
Here's the link to my aborted 5x2K workout from yesterday, for Jim if he wants to see it...I recommend ignoring it :).
***
Today Jim changed my workout to a 5K fartlek so that I could get in some speed work this week, since I aborted the interval workout yesterday.
The weather was decent for December, at 27F (-3C) with a slight wind. I wore 2 shirts and a fleece on top, tights and fleece on the bottom, and a hat and gloves. Usually I peel off the fleece but that wind was chilling so I left it on.
I started off well, warming up for 1600m in 9:33 (fast!) and then with the 1st km of the fartlek in 5:26. My legs felt very fresh and rested and I was ready to go. I thought I'd have a nice fast fartlek, but it ended up being just OK. My heart rate was much higher than usual (average 168 for the 5K!) and I'm not sure why. I felt really good the whole time, though I knew I was pushing pretty hard.
Here are my times: 5:26, 2:55, 2:45, 2:59, 2:47, 2:59, 2:47, 2:59, 2:45. Total time 28:25. Nice and consistent anyway, if not super speedy. It was a good, solid workout. Later in the day, my legs feel pretty good, which is a relief as I have 35K (22 miles) tomorrow. At least the weather looks cooperative.
Garmin connect data here.
***
Here's the link to my aborted 5x2K workout from yesterday, for Jim if he wants to see it...I recommend ignoring it :).
***
Today Jim changed my workout to a 5K fartlek so that I could get in some speed work this week, since I aborted the interval workout yesterday.
The weather was decent for December, at 27F (-3C) with a slight wind. I wore 2 shirts and a fleece on top, tights and fleece on the bottom, and a hat and gloves. Usually I peel off the fleece but that wind was chilling so I left it on.
I started off well, warming up for 1600m in 9:33 (fast!) and then with the 1st km of the fartlek in 5:26. My legs felt very fresh and rested and I was ready to go. I thought I'd have a nice fast fartlek, but it ended up being just OK. My heart rate was much higher than usual (average 168 for the 5K!) and I'm not sure why. I felt really good the whole time, though I knew I was pushing pretty hard.
Here are my times: 5:26, 2:55, 2:45, 2:59, 2:47, 2:59, 2:47, 2:59, 2:45. Total time 28:25. Nice and consistent anyway, if not super speedy. It was a good, solid workout. Later in the day, my legs feel pretty good, which is a relief as I have 35K (22 miles) tomorrow. At least the weather looks cooperative.
Garmin connect data here.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
5x2K - NOT!
I suppose this had to happen sooner or later.
I gave up on a workout, for no other reason than that I mentally just could not do it.
I woke up a bit late and rushed over to the track. I started my warm-up, and 10 steps in we had a problem. The track was slippery, like a skating rink. The thin layer of snow had melted yesterday and refrozen overnight leaving a very fine layer of ice and leaving me with no toe push. (It was 25F (-4C) this morning and foggy).
What to do...what to do?
I drove down to 800 East, a nice flat stretch of road, and did an abbreviated 1km warm-up. I felt sluggish. I started the intervals anyway: 500m in 2:52 (slow), 2:50 (still slow) and 2:56 (even slower). My heart rate was not budging form the low 150s. When I saw the 2:56, I gave up mentally. The thought of 4 more intervals like this was daunting, like a horse looking at a jump that is just too high and balking. I balked. I walked slowly back to the car (1.97km in 11:58) and drove home. I spent a while beating myself up, but at the sight of my kids and how cute they were this morning, I cheered up a little.
I texted Jim to call me if he was awake. He called about 90 min later and sounded very sleepy. Oops. I had woken him up (his phone keeps beeping every so often when he gets a text, which I didn't know or I wouldn't have done it). He told me it would be OK that we could sort it out. So now I'm to do a 5K fartlek tomorrow (instead of 10K recovery) and then continue with the regularly scheduled 35K on Saturday.
I still feel disappointed in myself. But maybe it was the right thing to stop. I don't know.
I gave up on a workout, for no other reason than that I mentally just could not do it.
I woke up a bit late and rushed over to the track. I started my warm-up, and 10 steps in we had a problem. The track was slippery, like a skating rink. The thin layer of snow had melted yesterday and refrozen overnight leaving a very fine layer of ice and leaving me with no toe push. (It was 25F (-4C) this morning and foggy).
What to do...what to do?
I drove down to 800 East, a nice flat stretch of road, and did an abbreviated 1km warm-up. I felt sluggish. I started the intervals anyway: 500m in 2:52 (slow), 2:50 (still slow) and 2:56 (even slower). My heart rate was not budging form the low 150s. When I saw the 2:56, I gave up mentally. The thought of 4 more intervals like this was daunting, like a horse looking at a jump that is just too high and balking. I balked. I walked slowly back to the car (1.97km in 11:58) and drove home. I spent a while beating myself up, but at the sight of my kids and how cute they were this morning, I cheered up a little.
I texted Jim to call me if he was awake. He called about 90 min later and sounded very sleepy. Oops. I had woken him up (his phone keeps beeping every so often when he gets a text, which I didn't know or I wouldn't have done it). He told me it would be OK that we could sort it out. So now I'm to do a 5K fartlek tomorrow (instead of 10K recovery) and then continue with the regularly scheduled 35K on Saturday.
I still feel disappointed in myself. But maybe it was the right thing to stop. I don't know.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
14K kickdown
This was supposed to be a 15K kickdown, but I overslept my alarm a little bit (was up late helping Calvin on his class project) and I had to cut out 1K - as it was, I barely got the kids to school on time. Whew.
I was to do 3 splits of 5K/5K/5K, but I did 4K/5K/5K instead. The weather was OK; 31F (-1C) and light snow, with a dusting of snow on the road. Mostly it wasn't terribly slippery, but at all the intersections it was a bit iffy, and in a few other places as well. I don't think I lost much time due to the conditions, but I'm not really 100% sure.
I started off slowly and sluggishly. I was not mentally into it - still sleepy and a bit groggy I think. The first 4K I had a watch issue - pressed stop for a second and somehow didn't restart and lost a little more than 0.5km - that 3:40 in there isn't right because I wasn't moving for part of it while I was figuring out what was wrong, and thought the watch was stopped though it wasn't. Oops. The average of my other 500s was 3:08 (6:16/km), which would have been a 31:20 5K. My heart rate was low this morning - Jim says that sometimes when you work out in the morning you have a slow metabolism and no matter what you do the HR won't budge. That's kind of how it was - I gave it 90%+ effort at the end and my HR was about 160, which is low for this workout. No matter.
The second 5K I felt quite good - surprisingly. I told myself I had to get my mind into the workout, and it worked! I just ticked off the km and felt good, finishing that 5K in 30:09 for 6:02/km. I paused for a second before starting the third 5K and told myself "It's a 5K race - go for it!". My legs were moving but the heart rate wasn't; I felt I should have been faster and it was frustrating. However, I did manage to finish in 29:20 for the last 5K, which is pretty good for a kickdown workout. Jim says usually the last split of a kickdown is a bit slower than race pace for the distance. My 15K race in May was 1:29 (29:40/5K) and so this was faster than that by a good bit, reflecting my improved fitness. Still...I think if I'd felt 100% this morning I might have had a sub-29 in me. Well, I get to try again next week for a 20K kickdown!
Average HR for the workout was only 144, with a max of 163.
Garmin connect data here.
I was to do 3 splits of 5K/5K/5K, but I did 4K/5K/5K instead. The weather was OK; 31F (-1C) and light snow, with a dusting of snow on the road. Mostly it wasn't terribly slippery, but at all the intersections it was a bit iffy, and in a few other places as well. I don't think I lost much time due to the conditions, but I'm not really 100% sure.
I started off slowly and sluggishly. I was not mentally into it - still sleepy and a bit groggy I think. The first 4K I had a watch issue - pressed stop for a second and somehow didn't restart and lost a little more than 0.5km - that 3:40 in there isn't right because I wasn't moving for part of it while I was figuring out what was wrong, and thought the watch was stopped though it wasn't. Oops. The average of my other 500s was 3:08 (6:16/km), which would have been a 31:20 5K. My heart rate was low this morning - Jim says that sometimes when you work out in the morning you have a slow metabolism and no matter what you do the HR won't budge. That's kind of how it was - I gave it 90%+ effort at the end and my HR was about 160, which is low for this workout. No matter.
The second 5K I felt quite good - surprisingly. I told myself I had to get my mind into the workout, and it worked! I just ticked off the km and felt good, finishing that 5K in 30:09 for 6:02/km. I paused for a second before starting the third 5K and told myself "It's a 5K race - go for it!". My legs were moving but the heart rate wasn't; I felt I should have been faster and it was frustrating. However, I did manage to finish in 29:20 for the last 5K, which is pretty good for a kickdown workout. Jim says usually the last split of a kickdown is a bit slower than race pace for the distance. My 15K race in May was 1:29 (29:40/5K) and so this was faster than that by a good bit, reflecting my improved fitness. Still...I think if I'd felt 100% this morning I might have had a sub-29 in me. Well, I get to try again next week for a 20K kickdown!
Average HR for the workout was only 144, with a max of 163.
Garmin connect data here.
Monday, December 12, 2011
12K
Weather: pretty nice for December, at 27F (-3C) and hazy. We are in inversion season, which means a lot of polluted air gets trapped in the valley causing the temps to be lower here than up in the mountains, hence a temperature "inversion". It's probably not good for my exercise-induced asthma, but I had no problems today with coughing, so go figure.
12K was on the agenda for today. I felt well-recovered from Saturday's walk and ready to go. I started off well, but I did slow and get a little tired in the legs by about 7.5-8K. I was able to pick it up a little, but then heading up the slight incline at the end slowed me down again. Still, not bad for 2 days after a long 35K. My legs feel great now (3:30 pm) and hopefully they'll be fine for the 15K kickdown tomorrow.
Total 1:15:32 for 6:18/km with ave HR 149.
Garmin connect data here.
12K was on the agenda for today. I felt well-recovered from Saturday's walk and ready to go. I started off well, but I did slow and get a little tired in the legs by about 7.5-8K. I was able to pick it up a little, but then heading up the slight incline at the end slowed me down again. Still, not bad for 2 days after a long 35K. My legs feel great now (3:30 pm) and hopefully they'll be fine for the 15K kickdown tomorrow.
Total 1:15:32 for 6:18/km with ave HR 149.
Garmin connect data here.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
35K
Weather: 20F (-6.7C) to start, and 38F when I finished; no wind or snow, so it was a good weather day for December.
How I felt: Felt rested and fresh to start, but around 10K-14K I really felt fairly lousy. I wondered how I'd finish. Jim called me 3 times, once at 8K (I didn't answer), once between 8K and 14K (I didn't answer), and then once at almost 14K (I finally did answer). I was so annoyed with how I was doing that I really needed to talk to him. He said what I expected: that I was a bit flat from so many km this week and not to worry, and to stop if my legs really died. Well, lucky for me they didn't. I felt a bit better within a few km; Jim called again about 18K and I told him I was doing OK. Then I figured I'd be able to finish. From 14K-the end, I made it my goal to think positive thoughts and not dwell on any negative ones that crept in (i.e. how the heck am I going to do 50K when I can't even do 15K?). I thought about the cute drawings my kids made for me this morning, and about how nice the weather was (cold, but nice for December), about how I was going to finish and get this one in the books, how happy I was that I had no GI issues, no chafing or blisters, etc. It actually helped - yeah, I know it's cheesy, but it did work.
Totals: Though I stopped multiple times for phone calls (thanks, Jim! sorry I was ranting at you at 14K!), nutrition, water bottle refills (ugh...at 29.5K I really needed H2O and the bathroom on the trail was locked! Grrrr! Had to wait until 32.5K to get water - wow, that was the best water I've had in a while!), stretch breaks, etc., I pushed stop on my watch, so my actual moving time was 3:41:44 for 6:20/km (10:12/mile) with ave HR 154. That's not bad considering I wanted to quit at 14K. 5K splits: 30:48.7, 31:47.7, 31:57.2, 31:21.4, 32:01.3, 31:32.2, 32:16.5. A bit variable, but that was how I was feeling today - variable.
Miscellaneous: My water bottles froze up again. I have got to remember to make my water and zipfizz with HOT water so that they don't freeze. Fortunately I had larger bottles in my car, and I was able to stop at 16K for a refill and it thawed out my bottles a bit and I didn't have any more trouble (also, it got warmer!). Around 31.5K, I met a couple ladies on the trail who shouted to me, "Hey we know you from Weight Watchers!". I stopped for a couple minutes to talk to them - they had met me last week when I got my key for another year at Lifetime, and I had told my story, including how I am going to do the 50K. They said that I was really inspiring. Standing there all sweaty and feeling icky tired I didn't feel very inspiring, but it did buoy my spirits to talk with them. They said they really want to know how the race goes, so of course I'll have to show up at my meeting after the 50K to tell everyone. Also, I saw at least 3 guys out there today in SHORTS (they had long-sleeved shirts and gloves on, but still...). Pretty crazy. One of the guys is someone I've talked with before - last year he did the Top of Utah marathon and then 2 weeks later did the St. George Marathon, so yeah, he's hardcore.
I'm glad this one's on the books. It's a hard week ahead (Jim just sent me my schedule until the 50K) with another 35K next Saturday, but I have tomorrow to recuperate and reset. One day and one step at a time, I will get there. I'm determined.
Garmin connect data here.
Here are the pictures my kids drew for me.
How I felt: Felt rested and fresh to start, but around 10K-14K I really felt fairly lousy. I wondered how I'd finish. Jim called me 3 times, once at 8K (I didn't answer), once between 8K and 14K (I didn't answer), and then once at almost 14K (I finally did answer). I was so annoyed with how I was doing that I really needed to talk to him. He said what I expected: that I was a bit flat from so many km this week and not to worry, and to stop if my legs really died. Well, lucky for me they didn't. I felt a bit better within a few km; Jim called again about 18K and I told him I was doing OK. Then I figured I'd be able to finish. From 14K-the end, I made it my goal to think positive thoughts and not dwell on any negative ones that crept in (i.e. how the heck am I going to do 50K when I can't even do 15K?). I thought about the cute drawings my kids made for me this morning, and about how nice the weather was (cold, but nice for December), about how I was going to finish and get this one in the books, how happy I was that I had no GI issues, no chafing or blisters, etc. It actually helped - yeah, I know it's cheesy, but it did work.
Totals: Though I stopped multiple times for phone calls (thanks, Jim! sorry I was ranting at you at 14K!), nutrition, water bottle refills (ugh...at 29.5K I really needed H2O and the bathroom on the trail was locked! Grrrr! Had to wait until 32.5K to get water - wow, that was the best water I've had in a while!), stretch breaks, etc., I pushed stop on my watch, so my actual moving time was 3:41:44 for 6:20/km (10:12/mile) with ave HR 154. That's not bad considering I wanted to quit at 14K. 5K splits: 30:48.7, 31:47.7, 31:57.2, 31:21.4, 32:01.3, 31:32.2, 32:16.5. A bit variable, but that was how I was feeling today - variable.
Miscellaneous: My water bottles froze up again. I have got to remember to make my water and zipfizz with HOT water so that they don't freeze. Fortunately I had larger bottles in my car, and I was able to stop at 16K for a refill and it thawed out my bottles a bit and I didn't have any more trouble (also, it got warmer!). Around 31.5K, I met a couple ladies on the trail who shouted to me, "Hey we know you from Weight Watchers!". I stopped for a couple minutes to talk to them - they had met me last week when I got my key for another year at Lifetime, and I had told my story, including how I am going to do the 50K. They said that I was really inspiring. Standing there all sweaty and feeling icky tired I didn't feel very inspiring, but it did buoy my spirits to talk with them. They said they really want to know how the race goes, so of course I'll have to show up at my meeting after the 50K to tell everyone. Also, I saw at least 3 guys out there today in SHORTS (they had long-sleeved shirts and gloves on, but still...). Pretty crazy. One of the guys is someone I've talked with before - last year he did the Top of Utah marathon and then 2 weeks later did the St. George Marathon, so yeah, he's hardcore.
I'm glad this one's on the books. It's a hard week ahead (Jim just sent me my schedule until the 50K) with another 35K next Saturday, but I have tomorrow to recuperate and reset. One day and one step at a time, I will get there. I'm determined.
Garmin connect data here.
Here are the pictures my kids drew for me.
Friday, December 09, 2011
10K
I was to do 10K today. Weather was decent for December; 21F (-6C) with no wind or snow. I'll take it.
I felt pretty good today, surprisingly. I wasn't very fast, but I did feel all right, and my legs seem to have recovered well from yesterday.
Totals: 1:02:58 for 6:18/km with ave HR 150.
Garmin connect data here.
I felt pretty good today, surprisingly. I wasn't very fast, but I did feel all right, and my legs seem to have recovered well from yesterday.
Totals: 1:02:58 for 6:18/km with ave HR 150.
Garmin connect data here.
Thursday, December 08, 2011
biology humor
5x2K
At least it's done. That's all I can say about this one.
The weather was OK. It was chilly but not as cold as it's been; it was 24F (-4.4C) but very still and calm. In fact, there was a bit of fog at the track (cold fog!). My legs felt recovered from Monday & Tuesday, and I was ready to go. I felt a little sluggish on my warm-up, but when I started my first 2K I felt pretty good. That was the last time I felt good until I was done...
The first 2K was fine; I finished in 11:14. I forgot to turn off the auto lap so had to stop briefly at 500m to turn the darn thing off. I started the second 2K and by a few laps in I knew this was going to be a tough day. I did finish it in 11:17, but I'd had to work pretty hard to get that time, and I still had THREE 2Ks left. Uh-oh. Well as you might guess, it just got harder. The 3rd one was 11:25, and the fourth 11:34. My legs just had nothing. I really wanted to quit after the third one, but I knew I had to finish the workout no matter how much it hurt. The most benefit is achieved from enduring despite the pain. During the rest interval after the fourth one (only 2 minutes between each!), I actually started to cry a bit out of frustration. I really felt bad that I was doing so poorly. I was trying not to be too negative, telling myself that I was doing the best that I could, but I could not help worrying since I've had a few poor workouts now - Monday's 30K was solid, but with a high HR; Tuesday's workout was a disaster, and then today. Anyway, on the last 2K my legs just felt like stumps. I was just hanging on for dear life and finished in 11:36. Ugh. It's not like I wasn't working hard - my ave/max HR for the last 4 intervals was 163/168, 164/170, 164/169, 164/170.
There is less than a month now until the 50K. I have to stay mentally strong. I can do this.
Garmin connect data here.
The weather was OK. It was chilly but not as cold as it's been; it was 24F (-4.4C) but very still and calm. In fact, there was a bit of fog at the track (cold fog!). My legs felt recovered from Monday & Tuesday, and I was ready to go. I felt a little sluggish on my warm-up, but when I started my first 2K I felt pretty good. That was the last time I felt good until I was done...
The first 2K was fine; I finished in 11:14. I forgot to turn off the auto lap so had to stop briefly at 500m to turn the darn thing off. I started the second 2K and by a few laps in I knew this was going to be a tough day. I did finish it in 11:17, but I'd had to work pretty hard to get that time, and I still had THREE 2Ks left. Uh-oh. Well as you might guess, it just got harder. The 3rd one was 11:25, and the fourth 11:34. My legs just had nothing. I really wanted to quit after the third one, but I knew I had to finish the workout no matter how much it hurt. The most benefit is achieved from enduring despite the pain. During the rest interval after the fourth one (only 2 minutes between each!), I actually started to cry a bit out of frustration. I really felt bad that I was doing so poorly. I was trying not to be too negative, telling myself that I was doing the best that I could, but I could not help worrying since I've had a few poor workouts now - Monday's 30K was solid, but with a high HR; Tuesday's workout was a disaster, and then today. Anyway, on the last 2K my legs just felt like stumps. I was just hanging on for dear life and finished in 11:36. Ugh. It's not like I wasn't working hard - my ave/max HR for the last 4 intervals was 163/168, 164/170, 164/169, 164/170.
There is less than a month now until the 50K. I have to stay mentally strong. I can do this.
Garmin connect data here.
Wednesday, December 07, 2011
Graduation!
Michelle and I graduated from our figure skating classes!
I finished Adult levels 1 and 2 in one session :)!
We plan to take the next set of classes in January. I'll do Adult level 3, and Michelle will do Snowplow Sam level 2 (kids 3-5). Calvin says he wants to join us, taking Basic 1 (for kids older than 5).
***
Training today: cross-training; I did 30 min on the elliptical. Yeah, should have done more, but I was a little pressed for time. I feel I'm recovering well from Monday's 30K and hopefully will be ready for a good interval workout tomorrow: 5x2km (gulp!) with only 2 min rest. Jim says this is for endurance more than for raw speed. It's a hard one, but I think it will be OK. Still cold here, but at least it's not windy or snowing.
We plan to take the next set of classes in January. I'll do Adult level 3, and Michelle will do Snowplow Sam level 2 (kids 3-5). Calvin says he wants to join us, taking Basic 1 (for kids older than 5).
***
Training today: cross-training; I did 30 min on the elliptical. Yeah, should have done more, but I was a little pressed for time. I feel I'm recovering well from Monday's 30K and hopefully will be ready for a good interval workout tomorrow: 5x2km (gulp!) with only 2 min rest. Jim says this is for endurance more than for raw speed. It's a hard one, but I think it will be OK. Still cold here, but at least it's not windy or snowing.
Tuesday, December 06, 2011
very slow, but OK with it
Today I was to do 12K; originally it was 12K with 2x6' fast segments, but that was before we had to switch today's workout and yesterday's workout due to a work meeting I had this morning at 9 am.
My legs were really beat-up after yesterday's workout. 30K at 80% effort will do that to you! I was seriously tired and sore. When I started out today I knew it would be slow, and happily I didn't really care too much. It was very cold (14F; -10C) but calm. I dressed warmly, wearing my balaclava (essentially a ski mask that just shows eyes, though I pulled it down over nose and mouth to aid breathing), but my face still got fairly cold. I talked to a crossing guard and my words were all slurred because my mouth was so cold! However, there were lots of people out despite the cold. I saw about 10 runners (including my friend from church, Pete), along with a few dog-walkers, a fitness walker, and lots of people waiting for the bus or walking to school.
Anyway, yeah, I was quite slow. Ridiculously slow. My legs just felt tired, sore, and heavy, but I'm glad I went because I think it really loosened up things quite a bit to do the walk. I ended up cutting the 12K short a bit - I did about 10.75K; it got late (partly because I started a few minutes late and partly because I was so slow that the walk took longer than I'd planned) and I had to take the kids to school. I also felt like my body had really had enough. It was the right amount to stop when I did.
Totals: 10.77 km at 6:38/km; 1:11:24 for the workout. Ave HR 136 - obviously my legs were the problem here not my cardiorespiratory fitness!
I'm glad for a cross-training day tomorrow. I obviously need it.
Garmin connect data here.
My legs were really beat-up after yesterday's workout. 30K at 80% effort will do that to you! I was seriously tired and sore. When I started out today I knew it would be slow, and happily I didn't really care too much. It was very cold (14F; -10C) but calm. I dressed warmly, wearing my balaclava (essentially a ski mask that just shows eyes, though I pulled it down over nose and mouth to aid breathing), but my face still got fairly cold. I talked to a crossing guard and my words were all slurred because my mouth was so cold! However, there were lots of people out despite the cold. I saw about 10 runners (including my friend from church, Pete), along with a few dog-walkers, a fitness walker, and lots of people waiting for the bus or walking to school.
Anyway, yeah, I was quite slow. Ridiculously slow. My legs just felt tired, sore, and heavy, but I'm glad I went because I think it really loosened up things quite a bit to do the walk. I ended up cutting the 12K short a bit - I did about 10.75K; it got late (partly because I started a few minutes late and partly because I was so slow that the walk took longer than I'd planned) and I had to take the kids to school. I also felt like my body had really had enough. It was the right amount to stop when I did.
Totals: 10.77 km at 6:38/km; 1:11:24 for the workout. Ave HR 136 - obviously my legs were the problem here not my cardiorespiratory fitness!
I'm glad for a cross-training day tomorrow. I obviously need it.
Garmin connect data here.
Monday, December 05, 2011
30K on the indoor track - 442m
It wasn't quite as cold as they predicted; instead of 15F it was 18F. Still, with the wind, it was most unpleasant outside, and I didn't want to spend 3 hours freezing. So I drove the 25 min to the Olympic Oval and did my workout there on the 442m track located just outside of the 400m long-track speed skating course.
30000m/442m = 67.87 laps. Oh yay. However, it was climate-controlled to 63-65F year-round (17.2-18.3C) and there were plenty of things to look at while I walked: other runners (a few), short track speed skaters, the Zamboni (spent a while "chasing" it), and long track speed skaters. A few school groups showed up later in my workout, and I was amused by the kids walking backwards with bean bags on their heads (not sure why!), doing push-ups, sit-ups, and touring the facility.
Before I left, I calculated that 2:45.75 per lap would be 6:15/km, so I decided to try and keep my laps at 2:45 or faster if possible. I started off well and it wasn't too hard at the beginning to keep them there with a reasonable heart rate. I was to do an 80% effort today, and that was good, because I needed to in order to keep that pace. By the end, my HR was in the low 160s (though honestly it FELT like mid-150s) and I was working pretty hard to churn out laps that fast. Still, I achieved my goal, finishing the 30K in 3:07:18 for 6:14/km (10:03/mile). I still have a bit of a cough from that cold last week, and I felt a bit tired this morning, so that probably explains the higher HR, but who knows?
When I finished my legs were VERY tired. I stretched a bit and drank a chocolate milk for recovery; I'd stopped briefly to take gels at about 8K, 15.5K, and 23K, and I did drink a lot of water. I think it was pretty dry in there.
Edited to add: I thought my watch said ave HR of 154 this morning, but when I downloaded it actually says 149...odd...looking at the HR graph, it appears that 154 is more accurate. Whatever...
Garmin connect data here.
Some photos of the facility are below. I have to admit that it is more inspiring working out in an Olympic venue with serious athletes training there.
30000m/442m = 67.87 laps. Oh yay. However, it was climate-controlled to 63-65F year-round (17.2-18.3C) and there were plenty of things to look at while I walked: other runners (a few), short track speed skaters, the Zamboni (spent a while "chasing" it), and long track speed skaters. A few school groups showed up later in my workout, and I was amused by the kids walking backwards with bean bags on their heads (not sure why!), doing push-ups, sit-ups, and touring the facility.
Before I left, I calculated that 2:45.75 per lap would be 6:15/km, so I decided to try and keep my laps at 2:45 or faster if possible. I started off well and it wasn't too hard at the beginning to keep them there with a reasonable heart rate. I was to do an 80% effort today, and that was good, because I needed to in order to keep that pace. By the end, my HR was in the low 160s (though honestly it FELT like mid-150s) and I was working pretty hard to churn out laps that fast. Still, I achieved my goal, finishing the 30K in 3:07:18 for 6:14/km (10:03/mile). I still have a bit of a cough from that cold last week, and I felt a bit tired this morning, so that probably explains the higher HR, but who knows?
When I finished my legs were VERY tired. I stretched a bit and drank a chocolate milk for recovery; I'd stopped briefly to take gels at about 8K, 15.5K, and 23K, and I did drink a lot of water. I think it was pretty dry in there.
Edited to add: I thought my watch said ave HR of 154 this morning, but when I downloaded it actually says 149...odd...looking at the HR graph, it appears that 154 is more accurate. Whatever...
Garmin connect data here.
Some photos of the facility are below. I have to admit that it is more inspiring working out in an Olympic venue with serious athletes training there.
Sunday, December 04, 2011
how cold is too cold for 30K?
Our weather forecast for Sunday night and Monday, with temps in F:
Tonight: A 40 percent chance of snow before 11pm. Cloudy, then gradually becoming partly cloudy, with a low around 15. Wind chill values as low as zero. Blustery, with a east northeast wind 10 to 13 mph increasing to between 20 and 23 mph. Total nighttime snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.
Monday: Sunny, with a high near 25. Wind chill values as low as -2. East northeast wind between 10 and 20 mph.
***
Well...I think that is too cold for me. I'm going to the indoor 442m track tomorrow. I could do 10K outside tomorrow, maybe, but not 30K. With that wind, it's just going to be way, way too cold. 68 laps of the indoor track is preferable in this case.
Tonight: A 40 percent chance of snow before 11pm. Cloudy, then gradually becoming partly cloudy, with a low around 15. Wind chill values as low as zero. Blustery, with a east northeast wind 10 to 13 mph increasing to between 20 and 23 mph. Total nighttime snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.
Monday: Sunny, with a high near 25. Wind chill values as low as -2. East northeast wind between 10 and 20 mph.
***
Well...I think that is too cold for me. I'm going to the indoor 442m track tomorrow. I could do 10K outside tomorrow, maybe, but not 30K. With that wind, it's just going to be way, way too cold. 68 laps of the indoor track is preferable in this case.
Saturday, December 03, 2011
catching up
I haven't blogged in a few days. Time to catch up!
Thursday: this was an optional day, so I opted for 30 min on the elliptical - busy day at work but still managed to squeeze something in. Very glad I did the 5K fartlek on the track 1 day early, because the winds were unbelievable, toppling 16 semis on the freeway, and gusting to 100mph (160kph) in Centerville, not far from here.
Friday: x-training day; did 55 min on the elliptical.
Today: 10K with 2x6' at 20K race pace. It was cold this morning; 25F (-4C) with a light dusting of snow on parts of the road and sidewalks. I don't think it slowed me down too much; maybe 30 sec for the whole 10K? More problematic was the fact that I just did not feel good this morning. My legs felt tired, heavy, sluggish. I have no idea why, as I have had the easiest week in a long time this week. I'm supposed to feel rested! Maybe it's the lingering cold? I am still coughing up phlegm, but other than that I feel totally fine. I didn't get enough sleep last night and feel a bit off because of that, too.
Anyway, it was not my best day, and I'm now feeling anxious about things. Silly, because it's just one workout, and I wasn't that slow. But the perceived effort was pretty great for the time I got. I did the 10K in 1:02:32 for 6:15/km, and my 20K pace segments were my 4th km (2:56, 3:01) and km 6.5-7.5 (2:54, 2:56). That all looks fine on paper, but I felt I had to work really hard for those relatively slow 500s, and now my glutes are sore. I feel cranky and out of sorts. I kept thinking "what if I had a day like this on race day?" as I walked. Not good.
The pressure is starting to get to me. I'm anxious about how I'll do the next 3 weeks of hard training, with Christmas approaching, busyness at work (things are good at work, but there's lots to do and our lab is moving to a new (nicer!) location in 2 weeks), and lots of stuff for the kids going on. I'm worried that I'll have a bad day on race day and totally tank. That would be so depressing after all the hard work I have put in to get this far. I should feel confident and ready to go, since I'm turning out all these fast times in workouts and races, but for some reason I keep focusing on the things that can go wrong.
Good news: the 50K race organizers are paying for hotel rooms for 2 nights for those who can show that they are likely to finish the 50K in under 8 hours (ouch...8 hours? I'd better not be out there that long!). All I'll need to pay is plane and food then, and maybe a car (but maybe not?). There are cash prizes, too - $300 for first, $200 for second, and $100 for third. Hopefully I can win some cash to help pay for the plane ticket!
Garmin connect data here.
Thursday: this was an optional day, so I opted for 30 min on the elliptical - busy day at work but still managed to squeeze something in. Very glad I did the 5K fartlek on the track 1 day early, because the winds were unbelievable, toppling 16 semis on the freeway, and gusting to 100mph (160kph) in Centerville, not far from here.
Friday: x-training day; did 55 min on the elliptical.
Today: 10K with 2x6' at 20K race pace. It was cold this morning; 25F (-4C) with a light dusting of snow on parts of the road and sidewalks. I don't think it slowed me down too much; maybe 30 sec for the whole 10K? More problematic was the fact that I just did not feel good this morning. My legs felt tired, heavy, sluggish. I have no idea why, as I have had the easiest week in a long time this week. I'm supposed to feel rested! Maybe it's the lingering cold? I am still coughing up phlegm, but other than that I feel totally fine. I didn't get enough sleep last night and feel a bit off because of that, too.
Anyway, it was not my best day, and I'm now feeling anxious about things. Silly, because it's just one workout, and I wasn't that slow. But the perceived effort was pretty great for the time I got. I did the 10K in 1:02:32 for 6:15/km, and my 20K pace segments were my 4th km (2:56, 3:01) and km 6.5-7.5 (2:54, 2:56). That all looks fine on paper, but I felt I had to work really hard for those relatively slow 500s, and now my glutes are sore. I feel cranky and out of sorts. I kept thinking "what if I had a day like this on race day?" as I walked. Not good.
The pressure is starting to get to me. I'm anxious about how I'll do the next 3 weeks of hard training, with Christmas approaching, busyness at work (things are good at work, but there's lots to do and our lab is moving to a new (nicer!) location in 2 weeks), and lots of stuff for the kids going on. I'm worried that I'll have a bad day on race day and totally tank. That would be so depressing after all the hard work I have put in to get this far. I should feel confident and ready to go, since I'm turning out all these fast times in workouts and races, but for some reason I keep focusing on the things that can go wrong.
Good news: the 50K race organizers are paying for hotel rooms for 2 nights for those who can show that they are likely to finish the 50K in under 8 hours (ouch...8 hours? I'd better not be out there that long!). All I'll need to pay is plane and food then, and maybe a car (but maybe not?). There are cash prizes, too - $300 for first, $200 for second, and $100 for third. Hopefully I can win some cash to help pay for the plane ticket!
Garmin connect data here.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
5K fartlek - new PR! Under 28 min!
This was to be tomorrow's workout, but seeing as how this is the weather forecast, "This Afternoon: Snow likely. Cloudy, with a high near 46. Breezy, with a northwest wind 7 to 10 mph increasing to between 19 and 22 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. Total daytime snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. Tonight: A 50 percent chance of snow before 11pm. Cloudy, with a low around 28. Blustery, with a northeast wind 15 to 18 mph increasing to between 25 and 28 mph. Winds could gust as high as 41 mph. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible." I decided to do the workout today rather than tomorrow in the snow and 41 mph (65 kph) wind gusts. It was actually fairly nice this morning, at 32F (0C) with no wind and partly cloudy.
I warmed up well, doing 1600m in 9:45 or so, and I felt good. My IT band (which niggled me the tiniest bit yesterday) felt completely fine today (and still does! Yay!), and my legs weren't really sore at all. I felt ready to go. I stretched a bit and then started the 5K fartlek. I decided to push pretty hard, because after all I was only to do 5K. I confess I wanted to see what would happen! The first km came in 5:24.4, nice and fast (for me!). My medium 500s were all fast today, and I pushed it hard to the end on the fast 500s. I saw on the last one that if I was fast enough I'd make it under 28 minutes. I had to go all-out for the last few hundred meters to make it happen, but I got it! Here are my times: 2:53.6, 2:42.9, 2:55.0, 2:44.5, 2:55.9, 2:46.1, 2:54.9, 2:41.1 (!). Total time: 27:58.6, ave HR 163, max 175 (!). It was hard to get that 2:41! Average pace 5:36/km or 9:00/mile.
This is only the 3rd time I've gone under 28 minutes for 5K, ever (that I can recall). Once was this summer at the Art Attack 5K race (27:45), and once was last summer (2010) on a downhill course for a 5K club race (27:57). Another comparison - my time at WMA this summer (in the heat, admittedly) for the 5K track race was 28:04, so this was even faster than that. I figure this puts me possibly in the 26-minute range for a 5K race under perfect conditions. Not too shabby. I'm super happy with this! Now I just have to stay healthy and train hard for a little bit longer until the 50K.
In other exciting news, my friend Dave Talcott was named USATF athlete of the week for qualifying for the men's 50K Olympic Trials at age 51. Check it out!
I warmed up well, doing 1600m in 9:45 or so, and I felt good. My IT band (which niggled me the tiniest bit yesterday) felt completely fine today (and still does! Yay!), and my legs weren't really sore at all. I felt ready to go. I stretched a bit and then started the 5K fartlek. I decided to push pretty hard, because after all I was only to do 5K. I confess I wanted to see what would happen! The first km came in 5:24.4, nice and fast (for me!). My medium 500s were all fast today, and I pushed it hard to the end on the fast 500s. I saw on the last one that if I was fast enough I'd make it under 28 minutes. I had to go all-out for the last few hundred meters to make it happen, but I got it! Here are my times: 2:53.6, 2:42.9, 2:55.0, 2:44.5, 2:55.9, 2:46.1, 2:54.9, 2:41.1 (!). Total time: 27:58.6, ave HR 163, max 175 (!). It was hard to get that 2:41! Average pace 5:36/km or 9:00/mile.
This is only the 3rd time I've gone under 28 minutes for 5K, ever (that I can recall). Once was this summer at the Art Attack 5K race (27:45), and once was last summer (2010) on a downhill course for a 5K club race (27:57). Another comparison - my time at WMA this summer (in the heat, admittedly) for the 5K track race was 28:04, so this was even faster than that. I figure this puts me possibly in the 26-minute range for a 5K race under perfect conditions. Not too shabby. I'm super happy with this! Now I just have to stay healthy and train hard for a little bit longer until the 50K.
In other exciting news, my friend Dave Talcott was named USATF athlete of the week for qualifying for the men's 50K Olympic Trials at age 51. Check it out!
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
sick, and 12K
I have a cold. So far it's not TOO awful, but it's not great either. I'm really tired, coughing a fair amount, and have a runny nose. Like I said, not too bad. I worried that the cough would hurt my racewalking, but I did the 12K anyway, and it was all right. Yeah, I coughed more than usual, but I did get through the workout. My legs felt good, technique felt smooth and fast, but I wasn't fast. I wasn't terribly slow, either. I'll take it, given how I'm feeling.
Totals: 1:15:15 for 6:16/km (10:06/mile) with ave HR 142.
Garmin connect data here.
Totals: 1:15:15 for 6:16/km (10:06/mile) with ave HR 142.
Garmin connect data here.
Monday, November 28, 2011
resting up; a few records to break
Yesterday was a rest day, and today I did the elliptical for 45 minutes. It's my easy recovery week...ahhhhh.
***
I have some records to break! The world single-age best for my age (41) for the 50K is 5:56. I can do that! How cool would that be?
Also, the American record for 50K road racewalk for age 40-44 is 5:30. That should also be quite do-able, assuming I have a decent day. I'm excited!
Edited to add: The American record for 25K for age 40-44 is 2:37:15, which I might be able to break on my way to 50K if I'm having a good day (I've gone faster than that for 25K numerous times this season in training, but of course that doesn't count for breaking the record!).
***
I have some records to break! The world single-age best for my age (41) for the 50K is 5:56. I can do that! How cool would that be?
Also, the American record for 50K road racewalk for age 40-44 is 5:30. That should also be quite do-able, assuming I have a decent day. I'm excited!
Edited to add: The American record for 25K for age 40-44 is 2:37:15, which I might be able to break on my way to 50K if I'm having a good day (I've gone faster than that for 25K numerous times this season in training, but of course that doesn't count for breaking the record!).
Saturday, November 26, 2011
30K
Brrrrrr! 25F (-4C) but at least it was calm and clear. To combat the chill, I decided on mid-thigh shorts with tights over the top, a long-sleeved shirt, fleece jacket, fleece hat, and gloves. That was just about right; I did have to push up the sleeves on the fleece jacket (by the end of my walk it had warmed up to 37F), but I was glad I was wearing it. I brought along some water bottles with zipfizz and water, and they FROZE. I had to stop for a while to drink because the top of the bottles (the part that pulls out to drink) got frozen first and so I had to unscrew the lids to actually drink. My gels were very thick and goopy, too. The joys of winter. Yay. Can you tell it's my favorite season?
The walk itself went quite well this morning. I started off a bit slow and sluggish (a couple 3:10s for 500m) because my adductors (especially the left one) were very sore initially. I think it might be from ice skating! But they loosened up quickly and didn't give me any more trouble. This was another one of those really consistent walks where I found a good pace and rhythm and was able to hold it. My 5K splits were: 31:02, 31:09 (1:02:11), 30:48 (1:32:59), 31:02 (2:04:00), 31:02 (2:35:03), 31:13 (3:06:19).
The bad part? Well, about 28K, my right knee started to hurt. Not too bad, but bad enough that I thought it might be a problem. At first I could not identify the pain precisely, but after I finished and visited the restroom (so glad Liberty Park has restrooms!) I was walking down a couple stairs and OUCH it HURT! I knew EXACTLY what was wrong...yeah, the ol' IT band was acting up. I could not figure out why for a little bit, but then I remembered that after the Cold Turkey race on Thursday that I had run about 5 minutes DOWNHILL with my work colleague after the race. She came with me walking uphill to my car to get my jacket while we waited for the awards (she won her age group!), and then when we started back toward the finish line she suggested we jog a little. I didn't think twice about it (dumb, I know, but I really didn't think!) and ran with her. I had no pain after that but today it's two days later, and the 30K of racewalking was enough to bring it out. I'm pretty sure that's what did it, and if that's the case, then a couple days off (which I have now because this week is an "easy" week), ibuprofen, ice, and foam roller should do the trick. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I have promised Jim that I will not run even ONE more step before the 50K!
I also got quite tired today by the end - the last 5K was a bit tough, and I will confess that today's walk was more like an 80% effort than an easy walk. I figured that would be OK since I have an easy week coming up, and overall I felt quite good today, so I wanted to see how I'd do pushing it a little. However, I am pretty sure that today I could NOT have held that pace for another 20km. That makes me a little worried, except that 1) I'm only one week out from the marathon, and 2) I still have a good 4 weeks of training to give me a little more staying power.
All in all, it was a good day. I'm icing my knee now and I'm going to relax this afternoon!
Edited to add totals: 3:06:19, 6:13/km (10:00/mile), ave HR 147.
Garmin connect data here.
The walk itself went quite well this morning. I started off a bit slow and sluggish (a couple 3:10s for 500m) because my adductors (especially the left one) were very sore initially. I think it might be from ice skating! But they loosened up quickly and didn't give me any more trouble. This was another one of those really consistent walks where I found a good pace and rhythm and was able to hold it. My 5K splits were: 31:02, 31:09 (1:02:11), 30:48 (1:32:59), 31:02 (2:04:00), 31:02 (2:35:03), 31:13 (3:06:19).
The bad part? Well, about 28K, my right knee started to hurt. Not too bad, but bad enough that I thought it might be a problem. At first I could not identify the pain precisely, but after I finished and visited the restroom (so glad Liberty Park has restrooms!) I was walking down a couple stairs and OUCH it HURT! I knew EXACTLY what was wrong...yeah, the ol' IT band was acting up. I could not figure out why for a little bit, but then I remembered that after the Cold Turkey race on Thursday that I had run about 5 minutes DOWNHILL with my work colleague after the race. She came with me walking uphill to my car to get my jacket while we waited for the awards (she won her age group!), and then when we started back toward the finish line she suggested we jog a little. I didn't think twice about it (dumb, I know, but I really didn't think!) and ran with her. I had no pain after that but today it's two days later, and the 30K of racewalking was enough to bring it out. I'm pretty sure that's what did it, and if that's the case, then a couple days off (which I have now because this week is an "easy" week), ibuprofen, ice, and foam roller should do the trick. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I have promised Jim that I will not run even ONE more step before the 50K!
I also got quite tired today by the end - the last 5K was a bit tough, and I will confess that today's walk was more like an 80% effort than an easy walk. I figured that would be OK since I have an easy week coming up, and overall I felt quite good today, so I wanted to see how I'd do pushing it a little. However, I am pretty sure that today I could NOT have held that pace for another 20km. That makes me a little worried, except that 1) I'm only one week out from the marathon, and 2) I still have a good 4 weeks of training to give me a little more staying power.
All in all, it was a good day. I'm icing my knee now and I'm going to relax this afternoon!
Edited to add totals: 3:06:19, 6:13/km (10:00/mile), ave HR 147.
Garmin connect data here.
Friday, November 25, 2011
elliptical & figure skating
Today I did the elliptical for 45 min at the gym, and enjoyed reading Fuzzy Nation by John Scalzi (very fun sci-fi) on my Kindle (new). I loved not having to hold my book open...it was pretty nice to read on the Kindle.
Afterward I headed home and fed the kids some homemade French toast. They ate it up...slowly...as kids do, and then we headed back to the gym for some skating. It was Calvin's first time on skates, and he did very well. He's quite cautious compared to daredevil Michelle. She's getting a lot better after skating for a month now. I am getting better too - I worked on my turns (front to back, back to front), front pivots, crossover skating, and gliding backwards on left leg and then on right leg. I figure it's good cross-training for racewalking, as it strengthens a lot of leg muscles and uses different muscles than walking. Plus it's fun!
Here are some videos of the kids:
Afterward I headed home and fed the kids some homemade French toast. They ate it up...slowly...as kids do, and then we headed back to the gym for some skating. It was Calvin's first time on skates, and he did very well. He's quite cautious compared to daredevil Michelle. She's getting a lot better after skating for a month now. I am getting better too - I worked on my turns (front to back, back to front), front pivots, crossover skating, and gliding backwards on left leg and then on right leg. I figure it's good cross-training for racewalking, as it strengthens a lot of leg muscles and uses different muscles than walking. Plus it's fun!
Here are some videos of the kids:
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Cold Turkey 6K
The race didn't live up to it's name this year - it was not cold! Unlike last year, when it was verrrry cold, this year was warm and windy in advance of a storm that will arrive tomorrow. It was 51F (10C) at the start; I should have worn shorts and a short-sleeved shirt, but it was all right wearing capris and a long-sleeved shirt - I just pushed the sleeves up. The wind was a non-factor as it was breezy but not gusty or blowing really hard; it just blew my hair in my face but nothing else of note.
I warmed up for about 1.5K with strides, and felt ready to go. However, I started off a bit sluggish with a 3:00 500m. I left my watch on auto lap for 500m because this race has no mile markers. It's supposed to be 6K, but it was long - my Garmin said 6.22km and my friend's said 3.89 miles (6.26km). Anyway, I pushed a little harder and then the hill came...it's UP for 90m (about 300 feet) in just 2.5k or so, and then a nice 140m downhill. However, the uphill is hard and steep and not easy at all. I still managed low 3:00s for most of the 500s but did have one 3:13. Then the downhill :)! I did all 2:35-2:39 on the downhill and finished in a fast 35:05 (5:38/km according to my Garmin). I was working really hard, and my HR was 170 at the finish.
I was way faster than last year's 39:09 (I was sick last year), and smashed my course PR of 36:26 (set in 2008). I am a little disappointed I wasn't faster, but the course was longer than advertised and it was hilly. It was a good workout, anyway! Sure beat doing a 10K fartlek on the track alone, and I have a pretty ceramic medal to show for it as well.
Garmin connect data here.
I warmed up for about 1.5K with strides, and felt ready to go. However, I started off a bit sluggish with a 3:00 500m. I left my watch on auto lap for 500m because this race has no mile markers. It's supposed to be 6K, but it was long - my Garmin said 6.22km and my friend's said 3.89 miles (6.26km). Anyway, I pushed a little harder and then the hill came...it's UP for 90m (about 300 feet) in just 2.5k or so, and then a nice 140m downhill. However, the uphill is hard and steep and not easy at all. I still managed low 3:00s for most of the 500s but did have one 3:13. Then the downhill :)! I did all 2:35-2:39 on the downhill and finished in a fast 35:05 (5:38/km according to my Garmin). I was working really hard, and my HR was 170 at the finish.
I was way faster than last year's 39:09 (I was sick last year), and smashed my course PR of 36:26 (set in 2008). I am a little disappointed I wasn't faster, but the course was longer than advertised and it was hilly. It was a good workout, anyway! Sure beat doing a 10K fartlek on the track alone, and I have a pretty ceramic medal to show for it as well.
Garmin connect data here.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
15K
Darn it! I left my Garmin at home and can't upload my workout. I think it was 1:33:28 (+/- a few seconds) for the 15K, for 6:14/km or thereabouts. I will update this later when I upload it. The weather was good: 34F (about 1C) and calm and clear (was going to say sunny, but the sun wasn't up yet).
Jim said I was supposed to do this at an easy pace. Well...I did and I didn't. I got into a rhythm, and it was a little on the hard side, and then I kept it. It was probably the 80% effort that this workout was originally supposed to be. This wasn't that fast for 80% effort...however, it's only been a few days since the marathon. I'm still sore in my abductors and adductors, though it's getting better. My other excuse? My right deltoid is sore from the flu shot I got yesterday. Verrrrrry sore! It is tender to the touch, and hurts when I lift my arm. But seriously, I don't think that mattered.
My right ankle in the front was a bit sore this morning - I think it's related to the old anterior tibialis/tendonitis thing from this spring. I'm hoping that it just feels OK tomorrow and that it will be nothing to worry about.
More later...
***
Edited: Yes, it was 1:33:28 for 6:14/km or 10:02/mile with ave HR 149. My glutes are sore now and I'm generally quite tired. I have a 6K race in the morning (local turkey trot) but if I'm lousy I don't really care so much. A good hard workout is what I'm after, whether fast or slow. This race is pretty slow because of the serious uphill for the first couple miles; yes, then there is a downhill, but overall it's not a fast course.
Garmin connect data here.
Jim said I was supposed to do this at an easy pace. Well...I did and I didn't. I got into a rhythm, and it was a little on the hard side, and then I kept it. It was probably the 80% effort that this workout was originally supposed to be. This wasn't that fast for 80% effort...however, it's only been a few days since the marathon. I'm still sore in my abductors and adductors, though it's getting better. My other excuse? My right deltoid is sore from the flu shot I got yesterday. Verrrrrry sore! It is tender to the touch, and hurts when I lift my arm. But seriously, I don't think that mattered.
My right ankle in the front was a bit sore this morning - I think it's related to the old anterior tibialis/tendonitis thing from this spring. I'm hoping that it just feels OK tomorrow and that it will be nothing to worry about.
More later...
***
Edited: Yes, it was 1:33:28 for 6:14/km or 10:02/mile with ave HR 149. My glutes are sore now and I'm generally quite tired. I have a 6K race in the morning (local turkey trot) but if I'm lousy I don't really care so much. A good hard workout is what I'm after, whether fast or slow. This race is pretty slow because of the serious uphill for the first couple miles; yes, then there is a downhill, but overall it's not a fast course.
Garmin connect data here.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
10K
First walk after the marathon. I was hoping it would be OK, because I want to keep training at a high intensity for the 50K on January 7th, as that is my goal race.
The national weather service said it was 36F - not too bad. However, when I stepped outside there was frost everywhere, and there was quite a bit of black ice on the roads since it had rained yesterday morning. Plus it FELT colder than 36. Turns out it was about 32F (0C). My footing was pretty good for most of the 10K; however, there were a significant number of spots where it wasn't so good. I don't think it slowed me too much; perhaps 30 seconds over the 10K but not more.
I felt good this morning, which was a huge relief. I started off slowish but caught a good rhythm around 5.5K and felt strong after that. My legs did get slightly tired at the end but nothing remarkable.
I did 1:02:46 for the 10K with an ave HR of 146; 6:17/km (10:06/mile).
Garmin connect data here.
The national weather service said it was 36F - not too bad. However, when I stepped outside there was frost everywhere, and there was quite a bit of black ice on the roads since it had rained yesterday morning. Plus it FELT colder than 36. Turns out it was about 32F (0C). My footing was pretty good for most of the 10K; however, there were a significant number of spots where it wasn't so good. I don't think it slowed me too much; perhaps 30 seconds over the 10K but not more.
I felt good this morning, which was a huge relief. I started off slowish but caught a good rhythm around 5.5K and felt strong after that. My legs did get slightly tired at the end but nothing remarkable.
I did 1:02:46 for the 10K with an ave HR of 146; 6:17/km (10:06/mile).
Garmin connect data here.
Monday, November 21, 2011
aftermath; cross-training
I'm still sore, though not as sore as I was the day after the race. My glutes and abductors are sore, with adductors slightly sore. I actually feel pretty darn good, surprisingly. I only had a little chafing during the race, which is already all better. I rested on Sunday, and this morning I got up early to cross-train. I thought I'd attend the spinning class. I got there right on time, but all the bikes were already taken. Bummer! So I did the elliptical for 45 min and the stationary bike for 15 min, and then did core and stretching with Lisa. I'm glad today was a x-training day - originally I was to do 10K today, but Jim wisely changed it. I am sure I'll be much more ready to do 10K tomorrow than I was today.
Here are the official race results from the marathon. I was 94th of 187 in the race (men AND women), and 4th of 9 in my age group. Not too bad, considering they were all runners! Even my friends that walked most of it did do some running.
Here are the official race results from the marathon. I was 94th of 187 in the race (men AND women), and 4th of 9 in my age group. Not too bad, considering they were all runners! Even my friends that walked most of it did do some running.
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Mesquite TriStates Marathon
Today was a celebration of 5 years of keeping off the 100lb (45 kilos) that I lost. In November, 2006, I attained lifetime status in Weight Watchers. Today I weigh pretty much exactly the same as I did 5 years ago. I racewalked the Mesquite TriStates Marathon in celebration.
BEFORE (Feb 4, 2005)
AFTER (Nov 11, 2006)
(
And today, I set a huge PR in the marathon - almost 10 minutes off of my time from September 17, 2011, and I was under strict orders to take it easy. I did obey them! My heart rate was pretty much in the upper 130s to upper 140s the whole time, though I did work the last 1km because I knew I was on track for a sub-4:20 marathon. Yup, sub-4:20. Wow. I can't believe I'm even typing that. I never, ever dreamed I'd be this fast.
This race has an amazing downhill for the first 13 miles, from 1222m to 560m above sea level. It wasn't leg-pounding though! I was just able to go FAST. I actually broke my PR for the half marathon (today's was 2:04:05!!!) taking it easy. The downhill really helped. However, the last 13 miles has a lot of hills - it's up and down and up and down, etc. I continued to take it easy and did the second half in 2:15:22 for a total of 4:19:27 for the race. I walked up those hills at a good clip, but didn't push too hard, and hopefully I'll be OK for the planned tough week of workouts ahead of me.
Oh, another fun thing about this race was the food. They had gummy bears, bananas, MnMs, gels, and pretzels at the aid stations. I enjoyed sampling all of them :)!
The scenery was absolutely gorgeous. The views coming down the hill were incredible, and the mountains, Joshua trees, canyons, etc. were amazing. I felt so privileged to be out there, and there was nothing I'd rather have been doing than racing today. The weather was picture-perfect too - if I'd have ordered it, it could not have been nicer. It was about 50F (10C) at the start and just under 60F (15C) at the finish, partly sunny, and calm until about 30K, when the wind picked up. That was the only negative - pretty strong headwind for the last few miles combined with the hills could have been better.
What else is there to say? I had some fun conversations with runners; I was with a group of runners for a couple miles near the 10K mark, and we chatted about racewalking, the rules, how fun it is, etc. I got another comment about Zumba, "I was watching your hips and I think you'd be really good at that Zumba thing". Hahaha. Clever, but I've heard that one before. And lots of the usual, "Wow, you walk faster than I can run". One woman about mile 20 as I passed her said, "Darn it! I KNEW you'd pass me!". It does have to be disheartening as a runner to get passed by a racewalker, but it sure is fun for me. I passed quite a few runners in the last 10K, and only one passed me that I noticed. That was nice! I even passed a group of very fit-looking women right at mile 26.0 and outsprinted them to the finish. FUN!
I felt SO good and SO strong for this race. I am feeling very optimistic about my chances in the 50K in January. Nothing really hurt today; my foot was slightly achy, and I got a blister on my 2nd right toe (in the usual spot), and a little chafing, but all minor stuff. I am very happy to be fit, training well, and uninjured. Let's hope it stays that way. Only 7 weeks until the 50K!!!!!
More pictures here.
Garmin connect data here.
BEFORE (Feb 4, 2005)
AFTER (Nov 11, 2006)
(
And today, I set a huge PR in the marathon - almost 10 minutes off of my time from September 17, 2011, and I was under strict orders to take it easy. I did obey them! My heart rate was pretty much in the upper 130s to upper 140s the whole time, though I did work the last 1km because I knew I was on track for a sub-4:20 marathon. Yup, sub-4:20. Wow. I can't believe I'm even typing that. I never, ever dreamed I'd be this fast.
This race has an amazing downhill for the first 13 miles, from 1222m to 560m above sea level. It wasn't leg-pounding though! I was just able to go FAST. I actually broke my PR for the half marathon (today's was 2:04:05!!!) taking it easy. The downhill really helped. However, the last 13 miles has a lot of hills - it's up and down and up and down, etc. I continued to take it easy and did the second half in 2:15:22 for a total of 4:19:27 for the race. I walked up those hills at a good clip, but didn't push too hard, and hopefully I'll be OK for the planned tough week of workouts ahead of me.
Oh, another fun thing about this race was the food. They had gummy bears, bananas, MnMs, gels, and pretzels at the aid stations. I enjoyed sampling all of them :)!
The scenery was absolutely gorgeous. The views coming down the hill were incredible, and the mountains, Joshua trees, canyons, etc. were amazing. I felt so privileged to be out there, and there was nothing I'd rather have been doing than racing today. The weather was picture-perfect too - if I'd have ordered it, it could not have been nicer. It was about 50F (10C) at the start and just under 60F (15C) at the finish, partly sunny, and calm until about 30K, when the wind picked up. That was the only negative - pretty strong headwind for the last few miles combined with the hills could have been better.
What else is there to say? I had some fun conversations with runners; I was with a group of runners for a couple miles near the 10K mark, and we chatted about racewalking, the rules, how fun it is, etc. I got another comment about Zumba, "I was watching your hips and I think you'd be really good at that Zumba thing". Hahaha. Clever, but I've heard that one before. And lots of the usual, "Wow, you walk faster than I can run". One woman about mile 20 as I passed her said, "Darn it! I KNEW you'd pass me!". It does have to be disheartening as a runner to get passed by a racewalker, but it sure is fun for me. I passed quite a few runners in the last 10K, and only one passed me that I noticed. That was nice! I even passed a group of very fit-looking women right at mile 26.0 and outsprinted them to the finish. FUN!
I felt SO good and SO strong for this race. I am feeling very optimistic about my chances in the 50K in January. Nothing really hurt today; my foot was slightly achy, and I got a blister on my 2nd right toe (in the usual spot), and a little chafing, but all minor stuff. I am very happy to be fit, training well, and uninjured. Let's hope it stays that way. Only 7 weeks until the 50K!!!!!
More pictures here.
Garmin connect data here.
Friday, November 18, 2011
sloooooowwwwww 10K
I felt OK this morning; legs were a bit stiff/sore, but not too bad. I thought I'd have a good walk. NOT! I was so slow, my legs felt heavy and tired, and I did not push at all because of the marathon tomorrow. Hopefully that will still go OK.
Weather was nice - 50F (10C) and windy. The "warm before the storm" is here, as it's supposed to snow tonight. Hahaha! I get to miss it! I'm headed south now to Mesquite, NV for the race. Race weather looks like low 40s to start and possibly windy, but no precipitation predicted.
Total time: 1:05:04 (slowest in a very long time...) for 6:30/km and ave HR 139. Ugh.
Garmin connect data here.
***
I may not have internet access until tomorrow, or maybe not until Sunday (the hotel charges $10 for it...ugh!), so if you need to get a hold of me, please call me on my cell or text me.
Weather was nice - 50F (10C) and windy. The "warm before the storm" is here, as it's supposed to snow tonight. Hahaha! I get to miss it! I'm headed south now to Mesquite, NV for the race. Race weather looks like low 40s to start and possibly windy, but no precipitation predicted.
Total time: 1:05:04 (slowest in a very long time...) for 6:30/km and ave HR 139. Ugh.
Garmin connect data here.
***
I may not have internet access until tomorrow, or maybe not until Sunday (the hotel charges $10 for it...ugh!), so if you need to get a hold of me, please call me on my cell or text me.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
8K fartlek - 11 second PR!
Today's workout: another 8K fartlek. Last night I was dreading it a bit. It's not that long, but it's hard, and I'm feeling a bit tired. Life is busy, and I've been feeling slightly sluggish about everything this week (work, stuff at home, etc) so it's not just the workouts. Anyway, I felt better this morning when I woke up.
Weather: It was supposed to be 34F for the low, but it was actually 31F (-0.6C). Chilly, but it's going to get colder as winter arrives, and it honestly wasn't bad once I was warmed up. I wore 2 long-sleeved shirts, tights, headband, and gloves, and that was good. It helped that there was no wind.
I warmed up in about 9:44 for 1600m including some strides in the last 400m, and then did some dynamic stretching. It was still dark when I started the fartlek, but by about 3-4K it was light enough to see my watch without my headlamp. I felt good and fast just like I did last Thursday, and started off with a 5:26 for the first km. I surprised myself with a 2:54 for the first medium speed 500m, and followed that up with a 2:44 fast one. Then I thought maybe this would be a really good day. It was! All my fast 500s were 2:44-2:47 (the last one I worked really hard and got 2:45!) and my medium 500s were mostly 2:56 and 2:57 with one 2:59.
Intermediate splits: 16:48 for 3K, 28:16 for 5K (a PR for this distance for a fartlek!).
Total time: 45:29, ave HR 162, 5:41/km or 9:09/mile. Smokin'!
Garmin connect data here.
***
Tomorrow is an easy 10K, and then Saturday I'm doing the Tri-States Marathon starting near St. George, UT, and going through Arizona to finish in Mesquite, NV. It's a nice downhill course, and I'm under STRICT orders from the coach to be sure to keep the effort easy and do the race at a training pace. I could still be pretty fast if I have a good day (but Jim - I promise not to push it!!!).
***
Some fun quotes about the 50K from my friend Karen Karavanic's website:
"Fifty-kilometer racewalkers consider themselves the toughest of the tough" -- Elliott Denman
"Veinte kilometros es para ninos y cincuenta kilometros es una distancia para las mujeres." -- Mexican saying, in translation "20k is for children and 50K is a distance for WOMEN" :)
Weather: It was supposed to be 34F for the low, but it was actually 31F (-0.6C). Chilly, but it's going to get colder as winter arrives, and it honestly wasn't bad once I was warmed up. I wore 2 long-sleeved shirts, tights, headband, and gloves, and that was good. It helped that there was no wind.
I warmed up in about 9:44 for 1600m including some strides in the last 400m, and then did some dynamic stretching. It was still dark when I started the fartlek, but by about 3-4K it was light enough to see my watch without my headlamp. I felt good and fast just like I did last Thursday, and started off with a 5:26 for the first km. I surprised myself with a 2:54 for the first medium speed 500m, and followed that up with a 2:44 fast one. Then I thought maybe this would be a really good day. It was! All my fast 500s were 2:44-2:47 (the last one I worked really hard and got 2:45!) and my medium 500s were mostly 2:56 and 2:57 with one 2:59.
Intermediate splits: 16:48 for 3K, 28:16 for 5K (a PR for this distance for a fartlek!).
Total time: 45:29, ave HR 162, 5:41/km or 9:09/mile. Smokin'!
Garmin connect data here.
***
Tomorrow is an easy 10K, and then Saturday I'm doing the Tri-States Marathon starting near St. George, UT, and going through Arizona to finish in Mesquite, NV. It's a nice downhill course, and I'm under STRICT orders from the coach to be sure to keep the effort easy and do the race at a training pace. I could still be pretty fast if I have a good day (but Jim - I promise not to push it!!!).
***
Some fun quotes about the 50K from my friend Karen Karavanic's website:
"Fifty-kilometer racewalkers consider themselves the toughest of the tough" -- Elliott Denman
"Veinte kilometros es para ninos y cincuenta kilometros es una distancia para las mujeres." -- Mexican saying, in translation "20k is for children and 50K is a distance for WOMEN" :)
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
lazy
Got up a bit late. Only did 25 min on the elliptical, and then core work with Lisa. I was lazy today...
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
20K @80% effort
My coach changed the workout from 25K to 20K yesterday, which I wasn't going to complain about! I'm doing a marathon on Saturday at training pace and he didn't want me to be overtaxed going into it.
Weather: 38F (3.3C) and overcast and calm. Pretty nice weather for November. I'll take it! I wore tights, a long-sleeved shirt, gloves (which I took on and off a few times), and a fleece headband, and that all kept me comfortable. Minor chafing under my right arm was eased by a little body glide at 15K.
I had to really concentrate to stay at 80% effort this morning. It required a lot of mental focus not to lapse into an "easy" pace. Fortunately, most of the time I was able to keep my focus, and the walk went well. My legs felt quite fresh to start, and though they got a bit tired at the end, I was able to hold my pace well.
5K splits: 30:18, 30:37, 30:59, 30:33.
Total time: 2:02:31, ave HR 147, ave pace 6:08/km (9:52/mile).
Garmin connect data here.
Weather: 38F (3.3C) and overcast and calm. Pretty nice weather for November. I'll take it! I wore tights, a long-sleeved shirt, gloves (which I took on and off a few times), and a fleece headband, and that all kept me comfortable. Minor chafing under my right arm was eased by a little body glide at 15K.
I had to really concentrate to stay at 80% effort this morning. It required a lot of mental focus not to lapse into an "easy" pace. Fortunately, most of the time I was able to keep my focus, and the walk went well. My legs felt quite fresh to start, and though they got a bit tired at the end, I was able to hold my pace well.
5K splits: 30:18, 30:37, 30:59, 30:33.
Total time: 2:02:31, ave HR 147, ave pace 6:08/km (9:52/mile).
Garmin connect data here.
Monday, November 14, 2011
shoe wear
As of today, this pair has 334 miles on them. They're ready to be retired. But you can see that I'm getting a good toe-off by the wear pattern :).
12K with 2x6' at 20K pace
I overslept a bit this morning. I needed to be up earlier so I could hit the gym with Lisa after my 12K, but I was too tired to get up that early. I seem to need more sleep the more miles I do, which makes sense. I'm just not good at fitting that in in addition to the higher training volume needed for the 50K.
It was relatively warm this morning, compared to how it's been. It was 36F (2.2C) and calm, and it was a nice morning to be out. I still wasn't really in the mood to racewalk this morning. I think the hard slog of the 30K was still uppermost in my mind, and I was sleepy, so even though 12K isn't all that far I wasn't really looking forward to it.
Because I got up late, it was getting light by the time I'd done about 3K, which was nice. About that time a friend from church (Kristin) ran by me going the other way and we waved hi to each other - sometime she and I are going to go together, I think!
I decided to do my first 6' at 20K pace from 3.5-4.5 km on my route, since that part of the route is flat/slight uphill and it's hard for me to stay motivated there. I did the 500s in 2:56 and 2:55, slightly faster than 20K pace (20K pace in the race I just did was about 5:56/km). I continued, feeling pretty good. My legs felt fresh, which surprised me a bit, as I think I expected them to feel lousy after Saturday's 30K. I did my next fast segment from 8.5-9.5km, and pushed a little harder, doing the 500s in 2:54 and 2:50. I still felt good and was able to push a bit up the hill to the end.
Total time: 1:14:06 for 6:11/km (9:56/mile) with ave HR of 143.
Of note: my left foot is bothering me just the slightest bit now. It feels a bit warmish. I have to be careful with my technique so that I do not re-injure it doing so many km. My right shin is also just a bit tired. Hopefully both will be OK despite the fact that I have to do 25K tomorrow.
Garmin connect data here.
It was relatively warm this morning, compared to how it's been. It was 36F (2.2C) and calm, and it was a nice morning to be out. I still wasn't really in the mood to racewalk this morning. I think the hard slog of the 30K was still uppermost in my mind, and I was sleepy, so even though 12K isn't all that far I wasn't really looking forward to it.
Because I got up late, it was getting light by the time I'd done about 3K, which was nice. About that time a friend from church (Kristin) ran by me going the other way and we waved hi to each other - sometime she and I are going to go together, I think!
I decided to do my first 6' at 20K pace from 3.5-4.5 km on my route, since that part of the route is flat/slight uphill and it's hard for me to stay motivated there. I did the 500s in 2:56 and 2:55, slightly faster than 20K pace (20K pace in the race I just did was about 5:56/km). I continued, feeling pretty good. My legs felt fresh, which surprised me a bit, as I think I expected them to feel lousy after Saturday's 30K. I did my next fast segment from 8.5-9.5km, and pushed a little harder, doing the 500s in 2:54 and 2:50. I still felt good and was able to push a bit up the hill to the end.
Total time: 1:14:06 for 6:11/km (9:56/mile) with ave HR of 143.
Of note: my left foot is bothering me just the slightest bit now. It feels a bit warmish. I have to be careful with my technique so that I do not re-injure it doing so many km. My right shin is also just a bit tired. Hopefully both will be OK despite the fact that I have to do 25K tomorrow.
Garmin connect data here.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
a little figure skating
Michelle and I are taking figure skating lessons!
Though maybe I should stick with racewalking! Seriously, it was really good this afternoon - I skated for 50 min and it loosened up my stiff muscles a lot. Excellent...feeling much better now.
Though maybe I should stick with racewalking! Seriously, it was really good this afternoon - I skated for 50 min and it loosened up my stiff muscles a lot. Excellent...feeling much better now.
slow 30K
The weather wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. It wasn't good, either. It was pretty warm, considering, at 48F (~9C), but it was extremely windy. Gusts almost took my baseball cap off, and the wind blew rain into my face when I walked south. It was at my back walking north, but still icky. I did four 7.5km loops, and on the first loop it merely drizzled. The second and third loops it was raining lightly but with the wind it was cold and I put on my rain jacket for the 3rd loop. By the 4th loop it stopped raining but was still quite windy.
It was not a good walk. I had GI trouble (stops at 15K and 23K), and my legs were totally done by 15K. Seriously, they were kind of numb-feeling, if that makes sense. I just kept plodding - every 500m, my watch reminded me that I was very slow, and I tried to keep a positive outlook. But with the wind and the rain and the cold and the tired legs, I got a bit discouraged. My coach called me around 25K and asked how I was, and I said, "I feel like CRAP!". He and I attribute it to a lot of km this week (about 89...just shy of 56 miles), with the hard half marathon to start the week. In any case, I finished the walk, and it wasn't pretty but I did it.
Total time: 3:14:49 for 6:30/km (10:27/mile) with ave HR of 142.
Garmin connect data here.
It was not a good walk. I had GI trouble (stops at 15K and 23K), and my legs were totally done by 15K. Seriously, they were kind of numb-feeling, if that makes sense. I just kept plodding - every 500m, my watch reminded me that I was very slow, and I tried to keep a positive outlook. But with the wind and the rain and the cold and the tired legs, I got a bit discouraged. My coach called me around 25K and asked how I was, and I said, "I feel like CRAP!". He and I attribute it to a lot of km this week (about 89...just shy of 56 miles), with the hard half marathon to start the week. In any case, I finished the walk, and it wasn't pretty but I did it.
Total time: 3:14:49 for 6:30/km (10:27/mile) with ave HR of 142.
Garmin connect data here.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Photos and video: Two Cities Half Marathon
Here are the race photos.
Here's the video. I'm at 4:00-4:20 into the video, more or less, and I'm wearing a blue top and black shorts and have very white legs :).
Here's the video. I'm at 4:00-4:20 into the video, more or less, and I'm wearing a blue top and black shorts and have very white legs :).
12K
It was really cold this morning. Though it was 27F (-3C), same as yesterday, it felt colder today. I'm not sure why, as it wasn't windy. Maybe it was more humid?
I started early so I could go to the gym afterward and lift with Lisa. However, once at the gym I ended up talking to someone I hadn't seen in a while, and then I talked to Lisa, and so I ended up just stretching and doing core work. I really ought to lift more...and do Pilates...but I'm not a full-time athlete and it's hard just fitting in the 50K training, never mind all that stuff too.
Anyway, I felt OK this morning. Not great, not bad, just OK. My legs got fairly tired around 6-7k, but I perked up a bit about 8.5k on the very slight downhill back to Liberty Park. Now, at lunch time, I feel very sleepy (a very boring/incomprehensible Research In Progress talk did not help matters much) and a bit stiff. I hope my legs recover, because I have 30K tomorrow. It's supposed to be very icky out, too - cold and rainy, turning to snow by afternoon, with lots of wind. It's possible that I'll do the 30K indoors if it's really bad. There's a 442m track around the Utah Olympic Oval (speed skating venue from the 2002 Olympics) that is a possibility if necessary.
Totals: 12K in 1:14:44 for 6:14/km (10:01/mile) with ave HR 141.
Garmin connect data here.
I started early so I could go to the gym afterward and lift with Lisa. However, once at the gym I ended up talking to someone I hadn't seen in a while, and then I talked to Lisa, and so I ended up just stretching and doing core work. I really ought to lift more...and do Pilates...but I'm not a full-time athlete and it's hard just fitting in the 50K training, never mind all that stuff too.
Anyway, I felt OK this morning. Not great, not bad, just OK. My legs got fairly tired around 6-7k, but I perked up a bit about 8.5k on the very slight downhill back to Liberty Park. Now, at lunch time, I feel very sleepy (a very boring/incomprehensible Research In Progress talk did not help matters much) and a bit stiff. I hope my legs recover, because I have 30K tomorrow. It's supposed to be very icky out, too - cold and rainy, turning to snow by afternoon, with lots of wind. It's possible that I'll do the 30K indoors if it's really bad. There's a 442m track around the Utah Olympic Oval (speed skating venue from the 2002 Olympics) that is a possibility if necessary.
Totals: 12K in 1:14:44 for 6:14/km (10:01/mile) with ave HR 141.
Garmin connect data here.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
8K fartlek - 27-second PR!
Happy me! I keep getting faster! I'm not sure where it's coming from, but I don't mind at all. Today I was only about a minute slower than Erin was when she came here last summer and did this workout. Of course, she is MUCH faster now, but still...it made me happy to be even somewhat close to her slow times.
It's been pretty cold all week in the mornings. Yesterday it was 26F (-3C) and it was the same today. Once I'm warmed up, though, it's not so bad, because it's been calm and dry. I wore 2 long-sleeved shirts today, long tights, a headband, and gloves, and that was fine. Add a bit of wind and rain or snow, and it gets ugly. It's supposed to rain Saturday morning for my 30K. Ugh.
I didn't feel like getting out of bed this morning, and was slightly sore in my legs. I'm glad I did, though! Once I got to the track I had an unremarkable warm-up (about 10 min for 1600) and felt decent. I started off quite fast, with 5:27 for my first 1K, and stayed fast. All of my fast 500s were 2:44-2:47, with one 2:48. My medium 500s were all under 3 min, at 2:56-2:59! I was working it pretty hard, but I was able to focus on my technique and I felt quite smooth and strong.
Total time: 45:40, for 5:42/km (9:11/mile), with ave HR of 160. Yup, that is 27 seconds faster than last week's 46:07!
Garmin connect data here.
It's been pretty cold all week in the mornings. Yesterday it was 26F (-3C) and it was the same today. Once I'm warmed up, though, it's not so bad, because it's been calm and dry. I wore 2 long-sleeved shirts today, long tights, a headband, and gloves, and that was fine. Add a bit of wind and rain or snow, and it gets ugly. It's supposed to rain Saturday morning for my 30K. Ugh.
I didn't feel like getting out of bed this morning, and was slightly sore in my legs. I'm glad I did, though! Once I got to the track I had an unremarkable warm-up (about 10 min for 1600) and felt decent. I started off quite fast, with 5:27 for my first 1K, and stayed fast. All of my fast 500s were 2:44-2:47, with one 2:48. My medium 500s were all under 3 min, at 2:56-2:59! I was working it pretty hard, but I was able to focus on my technique and I felt quite smooth and strong.
Total time: 45:40, for 5:42/km (9:11/mile), with ave HR of 160. Yup, that is 27 seconds faster than last week's 46:07!
Garmin connect data here.
Wednesday, November 09, 2011
15K
I've been feeling pretty well-recovered after the race. My legs were sore and stiff on Sunday, but felt OK on Monday (rest day) despite the 10-hr car ride. Yesterday I did the elliptical for 45 minutes, and it felt great.
I was only a little sore this morning when I woke up, and I figured I'd have a good walk. It did feel good until about 10K (5K split around 31, 10K around 1:02:20), and then my legs were fairly tired and heavy to the finish. I still kept a decent pace, finishing the 15K in 1:33:57 for 6:16/km with ave HR of 145. I'm not so sure how I'll feel tomorrow for my 8K fartlek, but no matter. If I'm tired, I'll just do the best I can and get a good workout in.
Garmin connect data here.
I was only a little sore this morning when I woke up, and I figured I'd have a good walk. It did feel good until about 10K (5K split around 31, 10K around 1:02:20), and then my legs were fairly tired and heavy to the finish. I still kept a decent pace, finishing the 15K in 1:33:57 for 6:16/km with ave HR of 145. I'm not so sure how I'll feel tomorrow for my 8K fartlek, but no matter. If I'm tired, I'll just do the best I can and get a good workout in.
Garmin connect data here.
Sunday, November 06, 2011
Two Cities Half Marathon
Weather: about 50F (10C), or maybe upper 40s, calm, and clear. The promised showers never materialized, thankfully. Really perfect race weather. I wore my new arm-warmers for the first 3 miles or so then stuffed them in my shorts waistband because I didn't need them after that.
Warm-up: about 1500m with Diana, pretty fast, about 5:45/km. It was fun! We also hung out with Becky & Art Klein, Doreen, and Alex before the race (all racewalkers).
The race: It felt easy at the start to do a 5:45/k pace, so we started off at that speed, getting to the first mile in 9:21. Then the 2nd mile was a bit uphill, and my shoelace came untied because I forgot to double-knot the right one (and hadn't yet put lace locks on these shoes - bit mistake!). Diana went ahead, but after I tied my shoe I accelerated and caught her. Unfortunately, I pushed "stop" on my watch when I tied my shoe (habit from workouts...grrrrr) and then thought I hit start but actually didn't. I didn't notice for about 1km, until I got to 2 miles and looked at my splits in confusion. Uh-oh. How annoying! I felt very good through about 4-5 miles (Diana says our 5K was about 29:30ish; she was right behind me), and then I had to push a bit more to keep the pace. I was slowing, still, but after 10K (in about 59:30) I picked it up going down the nice hill and did a 9:14 mile. That helped my cadence increase a bit, and I felt able to push through the next mile (9:25) and then up the hill at a 9:50 pace, much faster than last year's pace up the hill. The hill seemed smaller this year, too, though the gradual incline after the big hill makes it hard to keep pushing to the finish. Still, I pulled off a 9:32, then a 9:36, and finally 2 miles in 19:07 (forgot to press lap at mile 12) and then 1:02 for the last 0.1 (slight uphill there).
Total time from the chip: 2:05:33 for 5:57/km (9:35/mile) and a new PR by almost 2 minutes! Jim figures that my 20K was just under 1:59 (seems right). I'm pleased that I walked a very consistent pace from start to finish (except for the hill) and that I felt so good pushing to the finish this year. Last year it was really tough those last 2-3 miles, but this year, while I was working hard, it was much better - I felt stronger and able to push, and kept my pace all the way to the finish.
Family photo post-race:
Awards: LOVE this race...post-race they give out sundaes, a hot breakfast, a finisher sweatshirt (in addition to the tech-T in the goody bag at the expo), AND great awards. For winning the 1/2 I got a gift certificate from a local running store for a FREE pair of New Balance shoes! I picked out these NB1400s (awesome shoes BTW). I also got a gorgeous charm necklace from www.endureshop.com, worth $68+. It has 2 charms, one that says XIII.I (13.1) and one that has the race logo on it.
Garmin connect data here.
Warm-up: about 1500m with Diana, pretty fast, about 5:45/km. It was fun! We also hung out with Becky & Art Klein, Doreen, and Alex before the race (all racewalkers).
The race: It felt easy at the start to do a 5:45/k pace, so we started off at that speed, getting to the first mile in 9:21. Then the 2nd mile was a bit uphill, and my shoelace came untied because I forgot to double-knot the right one (and hadn't yet put lace locks on these shoes - bit mistake!). Diana went ahead, but after I tied my shoe I accelerated and caught her. Unfortunately, I pushed "stop" on my watch when I tied my shoe (habit from workouts...grrrrr) and then thought I hit start but actually didn't. I didn't notice for about 1km, until I got to 2 miles and looked at my splits in confusion. Uh-oh. How annoying! I felt very good through about 4-5 miles (Diana says our 5K was about 29:30ish; she was right behind me), and then I had to push a bit more to keep the pace. I was slowing, still, but after 10K (in about 59:30) I picked it up going down the nice hill and did a 9:14 mile. That helped my cadence increase a bit, and I felt able to push through the next mile (9:25) and then up the hill at a 9:50 pace, much faster than last year's pace up the hill. The hill seemed smaller this year, too, though the gradual incline after the big hill makes it hard to keep pushing to the finish. Still, I pulled off a 9:32, then a 9:36, and finally 2 miles in 19:07 (forgot to press lap at mile 12) and then 1:02 for the last 0.1 (slight uphill there).
Total time from the chip: 2:05:33 for 5:57/km (9:35/mile) and a new PR by almost 2 minutes! Jim figures that my 20K was just under 1:59 (seems right). I'm pleased that I walked a very consistent pace from start to finish (except for the hill) and that I felt so good pushing to the finish this year. Last year it was really tough those last 2-3 miles, but this year, while I was working hard, it was much better - I felt stronger and able to push, and kept my pace all the way to the finish.
Family photo post-race:
Awards: LOVE this race...post-race they give out sundaes, a hot breakfast, a finisher sweatshirt (in addition to the tech-T in the goody bag at the expo), AND great awards. For winning the 1/2 I got a gift certificate from a local running store for a FREE pair of New Balance shoes! I picked out these NB1400s (awesome shoes BTW). I also got a gorgeous charm necklace from www.endureshop.com, worth $68+. It has 2 charms, one that says XIII.I (13.1) and one that has the race logo on it.
Garmin connect data here.
Saturday, November 05, 2011
elliptical
Today I did 30 min on the very lousy elliptical at the hotel. I wanted to do longer, but let's just say that the machine frustrated me, and the room was too hot. Enough said.
My legs are still quite sore from the driving on Thursday. I hope that I can still RW fast tomorrow for the 1/2 marathon.
I enjoyed a wonderful pre-race taco bar dinner with the walkers from the SF Bay Area. Very enjoyable to hang out, eat delicious tacos, and talk racewalking. It will be super to see everyone in the morning and walk with them!
My legs are still quite sore from the driving on Thursday. I hope that I can still RW fast tomorrow for the 1/2 marathon.
I enjoyed a wonderful pre-race taco bar dinner with the walkers from the SF Bay Area. Very enjoyable to hang out, eat delicious tacos, and talk racewalking. It will be super to see everyone in the morning and walk with them!
Friday, November 04, 2011
10K with 2x6' at 20K pace
I felt stiff and very sore this morning. It really hurts to do a hard 8K fartlek and then sit in the car all day :(. I wasn't optimistic for this morning's 10K, but it turned out pretty well. I'm not so sure about the GPS readings this morning - sometimes when I went pretty easy my times were fast for 500s, and sometimes when going hard (on the 2nd fast 6' segment, for example) the times seemed slow. Who knows. Doesn't matter.
The weather was good - 50F (10C) and humid, with slight drizzles here and there.
The workout - started fast, with a few 2:59s for 500s, and then when I sped it up for the first fast 6' segment it wasn't much faster, at 2:55 and 2:52 from 2K-3K. Then I eased up a bit until 6K and my 2nd fast segment was 2:52 and 2:59 (? really? working harder than that...weird).
Total time 1:00:53 for 6:05/km (9:49/mile) with ave HR 147.
Now to rest up (x-training tomorrow) a bit before Sunday's race (Two Cities Half Marathon).
Garmin connect data here.
The weather was good - 50F (10C) and humid, with slight drizzles here and there.
The workout - started fast, with a few 2:59s for 500s, and then when I sped it up for the first fast 6' segment it wasn't much faster, at 2:55 and 2:52 from 2K-3K. Then I eased up a bit until 6K and my 2nd fast segment was 2:52 and 2:59 (? really? working harder than that...weird).
Total time 1:00:53 for 6:05/km (9:49/mile) with ave HR 147.
Now to rest up (x-training tomorrow) a bit before Sunday's race (Two Cities Half Marathon).
Garmin connect data here.
Thursday, November 03, 2011
cross-training; 8K fartlek PR
Yesterday I cross-trained; 1 hr on elliptical and core exercises with Lisa, including a 2 minute plank :).
***
Today: 8K fartlek.
Weather: 35F (about 1.5C?), clear, and calm. Chilly.
Other: ate a banana before the workout and it sat like a rock in my stomach. I often have a banana so not sure what was up this morning; later in the workout I got a bit of a side stitch. Didn't seem to affect me too much.
I felt good and fast. 5:28 for the first km, then fasts were all 2:45-2:48 and medium 500s were 2:58-3:03. Total time - new PR of 46:07. Ave HR was 165 - working it good and hard. I'm tired now.
Garmin connect data here.
***
Today: 8K fartlek.
Weather: 35F (about 1.5C?), clear, and calm. Chilly.
Other: ate a banana before the workout and it sat like a rock in my stomach. I often have a banana so not sure what was up this morning; later in the workout I got a bit of a side stitch. Didn't seem to affect me too much.
I felt good and fast. 5:28 for the first km, then fasts were all 2:45-2:48 and medium 500s were 2:58-3:03. Total time - new PR of 46:07. Ave HR was 165 - working it good and hard. I'm tired now.
Garmin connect data here.
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