Wednesday, March 1: Daily Log

Bodies are made up of surfaces, and surfaces of lines, and lines of points... a point is said to be part of a line in which it is contained an infinite number of times, for when a point is taken away from a line a finite number of times this act does not shorten the line.

-Robert Grotsseteste, 'De Luce'

4000

Quick and easy, I had a test this morning and got out a little early to look over my notes.

8oo
4 x 15o pull
2 x 2oo kick
8 x 5o breast
8 x 1oo breast
2oo kick
4 x 2oo back
2oo easy

Backstroke feels really good today!

Cold 7

It really helps to have company to get out the door on mornings like today. Thanks Mark.

PS - RK, a big congratulations, but how did you run in shorts in Hyannis? It must have been below zero with the wind chill.

Running Evolution

it's only possible... i spent most of the winter running in shorts - and like JC... I find wearing leggings are 'restrictive'. when I went out in the morning i thought the conditions were warm enough and right enough with the sun. On the other spectrum, Bill Rodgers told me once in awhile during his marathon training he ran in bluejeans. that's taking leggings to the next level, eh?

great marathon pr

that is a great marathon time period let alone doing it in 8 degrees.Thanks for inspiration.I've been avoiding getting outdoors the past few days because of the weather.After reading about you doing 26.2 miles in shorts in that cold I have no excuses. Dave T.

Cross Train Day

30 min of elliptical for 445 cals (in 20 min. 298 cals, I think a PR). Arms Nautilus and stretches, too.

I'll be incorporating more cross training to minimize the impact on my old injury which is causing me some stiffness, but not pain right now. Did any one read the Runner's World article about 3 days/week of running to train for a marathon. I'm going to use that basic model for the rest of my training for Boston. Basically, (at least how I remember it) I plan on running my long runs on either Sat or Sun. A moderate run (7.5M) at marathon pace or a little slower on Tuesday and a speed work out of 1/2 mile repeats or a tempo run on the dreadmill on Thursday. The other days I'll be doing 30 to 45 minutes of elliptical or recumbent biking or stair climbing.

I'll also continue my weight training until two weeks before the marathon and do core training (a.k.a. - physical therapy exercises) at night two to three times a week. And of course stretching once or twice daily.

So what's my goal for Boston ... Well that depends ... If the weather finally cooperates & I'm feeling healthy, my goal is to get my time back to 3:15 (MDI '05 3:29, Boston '05 3:28, Disney '05 3:17, MDI '04 3:14, Sugarloaf '04 3:06). For the next level, my goal is to requalify 3:30. And if every thing falls apart sub-4:00. I've found going into a marathon that it is good to have multiple layers to a "goal." This helps to put less stress on yourself, especially since you don't have control on all the factors going into any marathon (ex. weather or an injury that crops up).

More than anyone needs to know, but that's that. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

While I'm on a role, I heard from JC yesterday. It seemed he was a little bored last weekend at ZAP since he's on a rest cycle and a lot of the other runners were traveling. As he previously stated in his Sunday post, he doesn't have easy access to the Net, so that's why we haven't heard from him lately. He said to call him at his new phone number 1-828-295-6490, which he posted previously. Probably a good time to give him a call if you get an inclining.

Keep running!

Good post Steve

I liked reading about your training and goals. You sure do like doing marathons. Every three or four months or so? I bet the rest between MDI '05 and Boston '06 will help with your time. I read that Runners World article and thought it was really interesting and made sense. I am not training for a marathon but the idea of doing one long run a week, a speed work session and a medium run makes sense to me. (Not necessarily what I do but it makes sense.) Good luck on your goal - whether first, second or third goal.

Not having read the article...

...I will say that sounds a lot like the training that I did for my second Sugarloaf back in 2001. I'd gone through two fractures and was very leery of contracting a third. So for three days a week I cross-trained for 45+ minutes, either swimming or biking.

I counted 45' of x-training as the equivalent of 5 miles of running and because it was x-training I always kept the effort fairly hard, figuring that just being off from running made it a recovery day. So instead of peaking at 55 miles per week of running I peaked at about 40 miles per week of actual running plus 15 "mile equivalents" of cross training.

On my three running days, I'd do a weekend long run (which was probably always too near marathon pace), a 'marathon pace' run (which was probably a lot nearer a tempo effort), and one day of mile-repeats at a minute per mile under my goal marathon pace.

Overall, this program probably put me in good general shape, but on marathon day I was only able to run 3:40, a good 15 minutes slower than I was hoping.

As a result, I think the drawback of this kind of training is that there's no substitute for running miles in marathon training. As my performance better matched 40mpw training, I think I misled myself about the 'mile equivalents' and with that much cross-training I also think I didn't have the base to support the good 'quality' workouts.

On the other hand, I was fairly healthy and injury-free -- just disappointed in the marathon result. So I think it depends a lot on what one's goals are and how realistically one sets them.

I've given up on

trying to convert swimming to running and just accepted the fact that my cardio fitness is fine, my legs are just rebelling :P

yoga

1 hour yoga class this morning. Aylie and Ed, I need some surfing tips.

that must mean

you were accepted at the school in Hawaii!

darn tootin!

Come august I'll be matriculating in the M.A. in Second Language Studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa!!!!!!!!

Yay me:)

I'll visit

but don't think I am going to run that Ironman thing I hear about all the time.

And I'm very proud of you for getting in.

Hooray for you, Autumn!

That is so exciting, although we will miss you. Congratulations!

Congratulations Autumn

You are a risk taker! Grad school as far away as possible and still be in the same country!*!* I am confident that your adventuresome spirit will be rewarded.

After a two week vacation in Hawaii...

....Kathe and I wanted to move there. We really loved it!

Yay you indeed!

That is soooo cool!

Congrats Autumn!!!

Great news about getting accepted into grad school Autumn! Seems to me like we'll need another club send-off/celebration to launch you on your new adventure.

Congratulations!

I feel a Eden Athletics "road trip" in the future.

Oh, wait, I guess it's inpolite to invite one's self.

Wait again, I hear there's lots of hotels. ROAD (via jet) TRIP!

Keep running!

if you're seriously interested in surfing tips

my strategy was to run back and forth across the beach and watch for when the surfer guys got out of the water. Then I just batted my eyelashes nicely and asked if they'd teach me :)

Get a long board

They're much easier to get up on. And honestly there's no tip that will be as helpful as time on the board. Congratulations!

6 frigid miles

I was afraid of hurting my leg because of the weather.
Steve - I have read that same article. It seems like a great plan, but will it work??? It sounds like you have had enough experience to know. My husband(Steven) keeps screaming,"Get on that bike". I have tried an elliptical machine in Northeast, seemed a bit slow.
Autumn -what tips do you mean?

Cross Training Pitfalls

In the past year, I did a lot of cross training to maintain aerobic capacity. I think the trick is to try to maintain a similar level of effort. For both MDI '05, Disney and Boston '05, I did elliptical and/or biking in leau of running according to my training schedule, especially on EZ days. For MDI '05, I only started running at the end of August. I even exchanged some (but not all) of my long runs with the following workouts.

I used a comparable scale of 10 minutes cross training for each mile of running. For example, for a 14 mile run I'd have to do 2 hours and 20 minutes of cross training. On the weekends I chose to do cross training, I would go to the local Y where there's a 30 minute limit. So, 1/2 hour eliptical, 1/2 hour bike, maybe 4 miles (about 30 minutes) treadmill, 1/2 hour elliptical, and 10 minutes bike. I prefer elliptical because the motion is similar to running.

It's pretty humorous to see the reaction of people watching you sweat for the whole time while they're fidgeting on different equipment. No one ever outlasted me ... especially with my 1/2 hour of stretching after all this.

Now a more scientific method would be to figure out the calories you burn in one mile of running (I'm about 120 calories) and then keep track of your calories. But remember to try to keep up the level of effort (relative respiratory rate or ability to have a conversation). I think keeping track of calories would result in less time on each piece of equipment than my simplistic method.

The crazy things we do. Now the downside is that my overall times went down during the marathons. However, I was in some pain with each stride, so who knows how well I would have done without the pain.

This is a great way to incorporate some cross training when too much running is causing injuries, your injured, just want to maintain aerobic capacity, or just want a break for running for a little while.

Keep running!

I appreciate this advice!

Thank you and Brian for your info.. It gives me lots to think about. Sure makes me want to have that treadmill. I have also gotten the "evil eye" a few times in Northeast.
Next time I will give that calorie burn comparison a try. Thank You.

speed work

With Holly, 13x400 plus 1x800(just because we could)

I'm not sure of my total mileage because we did the workout on the track at the Y and didn't count the jog laps between the sets.

FYI(Amy, Jean, Carol and anyone else), The 10 cubers are doing 15 miles on Saturday. As of today, it looks like there will be two groups. One group will leave at 8:00 and another at 10:00. We talked about leaving from the Y and doing an out and back. Check back for the definitive plan later in the week.

Cold 7 with KJ and a persistent headwind

Brrrr, that was chilly. Thanks to Kevin I was still able to enjoy it. It's gotten colder every time we've run together in the morning, a progression that I hope stops now. It had to have been right around my -10 windchill threshold at times this morning. I know this has been discussed before, but how can you have a headwind just about all the way on a loop or out-and-back route?

I can't answer your question but

I bet whatever the answer is would apply to why I felt like I was constantly swimming against current this morning :P

Same speed workout as Karen and Holly

except I only did 400's, maybe I could have done the 800 in the end but I don't like to push the envelope too much:) Legs are feeling stronger, yeah!!

The results are in...

Actually, a very interesting result on the VO2 testing.

My max HR is supposed to be 200 and I got up to 198 before the new treadmill seemingly mal-functioned. At that pt...I had run for 13.5 minutes and every minute the grade would be increased and I had made it up to 9 (started increasing it after 4 minutes in or something).

VO2 max to that point was 64.3 ml/kg/min. We estimated that if I would have continued till my HR hit that max, i in all likelyhood would have hit 64.8-64.9 ml/kg/min.

Very interesting stuff...the headgear was rediculous. I'll try and post a picture sometime later today.

Interesting reading about elite runners, and how even though people like Salazar and Derek Clayton had lower VO2 max levels (70-71 as opposed to Pre's recorded 85) yet still recorded sub 2:11 marathon times. Other factors such as efficiency, lactic threshold, and overall pain tolerance can overcome a lack of VO2 strength.

Now if only i could find my Daniels revised running formula for his chart for predicted times at that level...hmmm

I had mine done also... in July of 1984.

I was 24 at the time and had just started running again a year or so earlier. I never ran in high school or college, so I'd had a long layoff - since the heavy 20 mile training weeks of middle school! I ran my first Portland Boy's Club that April of '84 in 27:26 - which by today's standards is downright slow. I finished 24th. I'm quite sure Sam Pelletier was the winner that year in under 24:00. Sam was one of the greats.

I was tested at UMO that same July - still have the results.
My V02 Max at that time was 75.2. Max heart rate - 182. I bit the dust at 22% incline/6 mph - 2 minutes on the last stage before collapse. Like Chris's test, they raised the treadmill every couple of minutes.

Interestingly enough, I wasn't doing high mileage at the time. I was running on average of 40 miles a week. For the year I ended up with 2,674 miles - a lot of that coming in the second half of the year. Biking probably helped a bit pre-test. I biked 4,730 miles that year also - all indoors.

I've seen the charts on Clayton, Shorter, etc. also. Although VO2 Max is a good indicator of fitness, it doesn't necessarily mean that the person with the highest will win the race - they're living proof. Lots of other variables that come into play in the racing game as we all know, but it's still an interesting topic.

Save your logs - it's interesting to look back 20 years later.

wow

That is really something else. I'll have to keep track of all this. I really think I can improve that level of where I'm at soon enough.

I was being tested at 8 mph for some reason actually.

Tx Brian for that...Those times seem a little quick for me right now in reality...but it's not rediculously far off. In terms of where I want to and can get to.

-Chris

PM workout

Potentially hard to explain

warm up 2 miles @ 7:15 pace

4xmile with a twist

1st 800m@ 6:15 pace (3:07ish) and then crank it up to 4:55 pace (2:27ish)

60 second rest in between sets.

An odd workout, but really good cause I felt loose from the VO2thing. Also stressed running more relaxed and then having to run hard while uncomfortable. 3rd set was the hardest, go figure.

800m cooldown.

6.5...and no more then 2.5 earlier total
so 9 miles for the day.

-Chris

the Daniels chart

projects a VDOT of 65 to:

mile: 4:37
3K: 9:09
5K: 15:54
10K: 33:01
15K: 50:50
Half Marathon: 1:12:53
Marathon: 2:32:35

Side note: these things never

Side note: these things never add up for me. my 3k and 5k times predict way faster times than my longer races actually are. And from what i've seem among my peers, its the same way for lots of people...i would guess that most 2:32 marathon people can run far faster than 15:54, and I couldn't see myself running faster than 2:32.

Anyway, thats my once-a-week post.

13 mile with (5)x 1-mile

on a treadmill at 1% grade...

2 mi. w/u
(4)x 1-mile @5:36 w/ 800m jog recoveries
(1)x 1-mile @5:33
4mi. c/d

Can't quite call it easy, but it didn't feel overly hard.

Speaking of VO2 max, this was my last interval workout of this type for this training cycle.

Run with Mainer

So I ran with Judd Esty Kendall this morning which was a little bit of a surprize since he's from Bangor. Took him up to the manor and he's looking good. You 50 year olds better be ready for a fight in the sub5 series next year.

As for the week, 14+ Sunday, 9+ monday, 15+ Tuesday which includes a workout that shows hope for me, and it looks like about 14+ today.

As for VO2Max, I will probably get mine tested down here soon, but I've had it tested 3 times, 66, 73 and lastly 62, although I stayed on the treadmill the longest during the 62, and I had the tests done at the same place each time, so I guess LT is more important.

10 miles, outside

The blue skies tempted me to skip the treadmill and run outside, and I wasn't disappointed. 22 degrees and almost no wind ... perfect for a 10-mile trip out-and-back towards Thunder Hole.

Congratulations to Autumn for getting in to Hawaii!

Today's workout

As I climbed onto the treadmill, I kept trying to think of what I had done to Lowell (my coach) to make him want to kill me. Here's how it was supposed to go:

3 mi WU
1.5 mi in 9:00
800m recovery
1 mi in 5:55
400m recovery
800m in 2:55
400m recovery
4 x 400m in 0:85 w/
400 m recovery in between
2 mi CD

Unfortunately, my treadmill doesn't have incremental mph adjustments beyond 10 mph, and jumps immediately to 11 mph, so I ended up compensating by increasing the incline to the equivalent effort for each interval. I actually think it translated into a pretty honest workout, and boy am I happy to have that one behind me.

Sorry Lowell, looks like I'll live to see another day. Maybe next time. :-)

Total 11 miles.

Nice!

He's making sure you'll already be getting your massage when the clock at your next marathon clicks over to 3:00.

Inspiring!

Chris, it is amazing to witness your hidden talents. Lowell knows you well. Sit back and relax tonight.

Run, Cycle and some iron

Good workout Chris! You will be set up well for the treadmill leg of the Y Tri.

Y tri

ooo I had forgotten about that. I'm still interested if Carol and Chris are. When's the last day for it? I'm on break as of 10:50am Friday and classes start up again on March 20. Either the 18th or 19th would work best for me, scenic route back to school...

March 18

ok

Carol and Chris, would sometime on that day work for you two?

When to tri?

I could do it on the 18th if that works ok for you and Chris.

Y-Tri

The 18th is okay for me, too. Do we have to pre-register or anything?

Pre-register

Yes, I think we do but I'll see what I can find out tonight when I'm at Spinn class

Roller Coaster Running

Saturday's run was such a confidence boost but today after back to back botched runs and a form resembling a clown whose oversized right shoe was dipped in concrete, I am frustrated and anxious. This morning I thought I could take advantage of my long commute by draping frozen vegetables over my foot and ankle. They kept sliding off and I kept diving down to the floor to reposition them. Eventually it occurred to me that on narrow winding roads where people drive 60 mph, the medicinal effects of ice would be overshadowed by a head on collision. Leading to a rash of bumper stickers "Don't Ice and Drive" MAID "Mothers Against Iced Driving". For now my veggies and I have been couched.
Just 3 miles for SlackerGirloftheSouth.

seven

on a treadmill, putting in five pretend hills. By the way, how fast are hill workouts supposed to be run? Slow days are self explanatory, as are speed workouts. Is a hill day just an average of the two? Chris, your speed day looked like murder; I'm in awe.

Hill repeat pace

As they're for strength, not speed, I don't think there's anything critical about pace for hill repeats. You just want to get them fast enough to get your heart rate up near maximum and slow enough so that you can maintain the pace through the whole set.

It's been a while since I did treadmill hills, but I seem to remember that doing 10-12 400m repeats at a 5% grade at around 15-k race pace seemed to do it for me. They start out easy but work right up on you.

Thank you Brian

I now know that I can make my hills a lot shorter, but that I need to ratchet up that pace a little bit. I was kind of liking those longer hills at marathon pace or slower...

6 Miles

I just couldn't force myself outside as the sun was already down.

spinning

40 minutes feeling awful with a cold coming on.

Congratulations Autumn. I was in Hawaii for about one week many years ago. What I remember is this shop that melted its fudge over ice cream for hot fudge sundaes. I don't know that I could study with all the distractions (fudge, surfing, sun, . . . )

Haha

Still cannot figure out the hotmail situation but I'm able to play on the internet a bit more.

Great job to RK in his marathon. Enjoy Boston. Should be a good Maine contingent this year.

It's in the 60's down here even now after the sun has gone down. Today I started my heat training for the Gate River 15-k inn Jacksonville and will continue to dress in my winter stuff for the next 10 days. I'm flying from Charlotte to Jacksonville on Friday the 10th where Pete's friend is going to pick me up. I'll stay with him and he's just a couple of miles from the start of the race. Then back to NC Sunday afternoon for the start of my real hill phase. From what Pete tells me my right foot is Pigeon footed, but when I run uphill it gets better, so hills should help. I am also not very efficient when I take off after landing, which hills just happen to help out with too. Then there is my hunching problem when I get tired. That's almost solved after many hours of lower back exercises and lots of stretching in my hips.

My first hard workout went extremely well. It was hard, but very good. I think this medium altitude is going to make a huge difference for me, especially coming from sea level. And two weeks of rest was just what I needed as I'm faster than I was two weeks ago already. It's nice to be able to spend hours doing exercises and all the little things to get better(which includes naps and watching tv, but also hours of drills, lifting, mental training, and of course the running.) Sometimes it's hard just to sit on the couch all day and rest, because there are so many cool places to explore and I love to get out and do stuff.

Well, again you all have my number so feel free to give me a ring. Evening I'm almost always here.

1 hour pilates

that's all, folks!

Speed workout.

I did the same thing as Karen and Ginger, but there was no 800 at the end. I don't think I could have done it. I felt like I was going to throw up and was seeing spots. I figure this is the first speed workout I have done correctly. Next time I will not wear a long sleeve shirt.

Estimated mileage between 7.5 and 8.

75 on the spin bike

I've been in DC for work for the past few days. That work stuff can really mess up one's training schedule ;)

I did manage to squeeze in a 40 minute recumbent bike workout on Tuesday (yesterday) before my meeting started.

Today I did 75 on the spin bike.

Looking forward to a 10-cubed run at 10 am on Saturday. I forget what I'm scheduled for...8 miles I think.

Congratulations Autumn

6 miles in the morning followed by an afternoon of 12 miles, so 18 total. I dropped by my coach's office today and talked with him about my mileage, seeing how I hadn't really talked to him about it since I increased it over winter break, aside from getting his approval to do so. He suggested that I keep it where it is at least until the summer. Here we treat indoor and outdoor track as one season apparently, so we are entering a phase of heavy VO2 workouts and soon after that will be taper time anyway, so increasing now would basically have no real benefits but would carry the risks that more mileage always has. I have no problem with staying where I am for a few more months.

A few side notes: Only five more days of classes this quarter! I don't get home until March 17th because of finals though.
Also, the highest VO2 max I've ever heard about was Bjoern Dahlie's. I've read conflicting reports but he has somewhere between 92-94 of whatever the standard units are. He made good use of it too: he was Olympic champion a few times in cross country skiing.

Also, here's an article from a magazine I get. It's about the mental benefits of exercise, which I'm sure we've all heard about already, but it's an interesting read, especially the part about the rats who run over 200 miles a week. http://sciencenews.org/articles/20060225/bob10.asp

5K Slog in Bangor

new terminology for post-marathon running - I call it SLOG - or a Slow Jog - 5K in Bangor last night. Bundled up - appears I have an adversion to cold for some strange reason.

rk.

Wednesday Totals

Running/walking = 140
Spinning = 115 minutes
Swimming = 4000
Pilates = one hour
Yoga = one hour