Endurance, the final frontier.
In the very beginning, there's tangible Ugly... everything is slow and short and feels like death. I know how to fix this part. You suck it up and you put in your days and your miles and eventually, you regain the ability to run for more than 30 consecutive minutes, or at a pace faster than glacial.
But then, after the beginning... there's this other place you go to, let's call it "Purgatory"... because that's what it feels like to me. Purgatory is deceptive. In some ways you completely resemble a functional athlete. I'm at the point now where I can run for 2 hours if need be, I can even run fast for approximately 2 miles... it's not like one can say "oh woe is me that I am completely out of shape". But I realized that the state of running purgatory is the state of lacking CUMULATIVE endurance.
I can't string together multiple days of good training (Exhibit A, after running 3 solid > 1 hour runs in Colorado, my body was completely trashed for days after I got back) ... and I also can't combine speed AND duration (Exhibit B, all tempo runs divert to Game Over after about 2 miles or 15 minutes, whatever comes first) There's something entirely lacking where consistency is concerned... Right now its not really about that tempo pace isn't what I want it to be... what's more immediately concerning is that tempo pace isn't SUSTAINABLE for very long. Maybe it doesn't always FEEL fantastic, but the sheer ability to maintain a high exertion level for 6-12 miles is something I realize I've always and completely taken for granted... and now it has vanished! Since 5K is the shortest race I run with any frequency, this poses a substantial challenge...
Here's the rub about Purgatory... its cruel because it's the illusion of being in shape. One day you feel fantastic, but then it takes 3 days to recover from it. A few days go really well... but then it crashes on down. It feels so close... so close you can feel it... but then, you realize it's not. There's something horribly wrong. But why, one might ask, is it too little training? Is it overtraining? Is it stress, is it medical mystery again? Why, why, why.... I've put in my time, it's been over 6 months and I shouldn't feel so terrible. What am I doing wrong to cause this?
Sunday 09/14: 1:40:45, Monterrey to RB perimeter and back on the other side. A good, solid long run. I felt really horrible in the morning. Stomach was gurgling and upset, and I was so, so, tired that I woke up at 6 am, then somehow walked around and then fell back into bed until I woke up in horror at 8 am. Thankfully it was still cool and foggy at this hour, but I just realized how exhausted I am. Nevertheless, I had business to take care of, including stamping out the memory of Abysmal Run yesterday. It took me a while to snap out of it, but after about 20 minutes I did regroup and focus, ran pretty easy to the RB, then picked it up a little bit for the perimeter, then ran a strong moderate pace the last 30 minutes back including fairly aggressively the last 5 minutes. I was pleased that fatigue wasn't a factor today and that I felt very much in control of all of my paces.
Monday 09/15: Off, shots. Legs actually feeling a little heavy today, glad its a rest day. Starting to feel pretty panicked about all the stuff that has to get done in the next few weeks...
Tuesday 09/16: 1:20:04, Bailey to Connector, 29:02 to camp, 48:15 to sign. Better splits this week, thanks to el HR monitor. Was interesting to have it... started off pretty easy 165-175, did most of the middle part up until the camp in 180-ish, then more like 185 past the camp, then 190-195 the last 3-5 minutes up heartbreak hill to the sign. Definitely under threshold this time until the very end. Felt alright, but total times are still moderately crappy. I guess I should give myself a break... it was warm and humid and on tired legs (and... really, the rest of me). Woke up with nightmares at around 3 am, tossed and turned still until 6 am, then decided I might as well get an early start driving to the trailhead in the dark... but the 210 East was blocked off at Michillinda, so I sat in traffic for 20 minutes while the sun came up and the temperature rose. So much for that plan.
Wednesday 09/17: 46:53, Monterrey recovery loop. Legs a little tired from yesterday, but felt surprisingly good. Went pretty easy, but probably managed a little faster than some recovery jogs... a good shake out for the legs. A nice morning, saw Ian and the Oxy women's team in the Arroyo!
Another side note that I forgot to mention yesterday, sprained L ankle fairly catastrophically coming down the Bailey trail. Stopped simply because I felt it roll so acutely, but then when I shook it out, I was boggled to discover... no pain. As I had to get back down either way, I decided at that time not to ponder too extensively whether I'd severed a nerve and the ankle would still turn purple and swell up like a basketball by the next morning... OR whether I finally succeeded in no longer having ankle ligaments left intact to sprain, thus making me effectively impervious to sprained ankles. Based on the fact that I only had mild soreness around the surgery site this morning, I'm going to vote for the latter. Woo hoo!
Thursday 09/18: 1:00:13, Monterrey to RB and back. Wanted to do a medley of paces, kind of like last week's surges, but it just felt so strained and forced so I settled back into an easy pace. Legs then suddenly felt drastically better after the turnaround point, so I cranked down the pace steadily through the last 30 minutes or so to turn it into a fairly solid progression run. Felt pretty horrible this morning after inadequate sleep and continuing stress, but felt a lot better after the run. Unfortunately, I slept in and got a late start, which meant that I ran into some grass mowers by the fields near the Arroyo and my nose has been dripping non-stop since then. Arrrghhhh... basically, the general rule is that only bad things happen when I don't get up at the crack of dawn.
Friday 09/19: Off, shots. A crappy day... stressed, sleep deprived, and generally feeling rather grim. Ate three cream puffs.
Saturday 09/20: 1:11:43, 9 laps warm up around the north field, 3 mile tempo at the track, 9 laps cool down around the north field. Slept in rather catastrophically... I think it was past 9 am when I got to the gym, and around 80 degrees. Was feeling pretty warm already when I started my warm up. Nevertheless, I powered through the rest of the workout, and it wasn't horrible. 3 miles in 6:53, 7:01, 6:55 for 20:49 total.
These actually felt like good, non-strained threshold miles. Had a little bit of trouble pacing the first mile, but then ran 1:45 laps fairly consistently. Also finally managed to get the third mile under control without the significant slow down factor. Maybe I can even do FOUR miles the next tempo session... Gotta get on that if I ever want to race 10Ks ever again.
Training this week: 5:59:38
Goals: Less stress... might help with the nightmares.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Monday, September 8, 2008
Week of 09/07/2008 - 09/13/2008 (Base Week 26)
Restructuring: More focus, more discipline, more sleep.
Okay, so Wednesday - Sunday was crappy... but I can salvage this. The bottom line is that I'm wearing a lot of different hats these days: embattled non profit employee, daughter, long distance girlfriend, severely allergic and injury prone person, manager, friend, property owner (which, as it turns out is about as fun as when you spend your last $100 on a hotel on Boardwalk that no one lands on and then you pick that Chance? card that charges you repairs on all of your properties) ... but anyways, the point is that there's not a lot of room for error. To train seriously and also balance everything else requires a lot of discipline... and when that starts to slip, the running starts to go bad too.
Discipline isn't just about doing your workouts and managing your time... for me it's also about managing stress, controlling my emotions and rolling with the punches. It's about getting enough sleep, eating a healthy diet and making smart decisions about running. Honestly, I haven't been doing ANY of that in the past 5 days, and I can tell that it's costing me. First and foremost, I want to enjoy my runs, I want to look forwards to getting out the door in the morning, instead of being stressed and worried and exhausted by it. I'm not off to a super good start this week... but I can get back on the happy life ball.
Sunday 09/07: 1:33:05, Stables to RB. You know, not really the way I wanted to start off my "let's be disciplined and make good decisions" reformation week... but gotta keep at it. Woke up SUPER late, didn't get out there until 8, and it was sunny and hot and all the weird people were already out... like three fat middle aged ladies wearing skintight pink "McCain Palin" wifebeaters. So, this is the demographic that they appeal to.... interesting... and... slightly terrifying.
Anyways, felt completely beat from yesterday complete with cramped shoulders from moving, and that awful dull achey feeling all through my legs that happens after you go lactic for too long. Felt like a Colorado run... it was so slow and painful. In hindsight I should have done a short run today, and moved the long run to Tuesday, but who says making good decisions was ever easy!
Monday 09/08: Off, shots. Ughh... calamity of the world! My pomegranite vinegar salad dressing leaked all over my trunk, which was then vaporized by the car sitting out in the school parking lot all day, and completely infused into ever inch of my car by the time I had to go home... it totally burned my eyes and nose. Still felt horrible and sneezy/drooly/congested by the time I went to sleep. Glaghalgahglahgalhga...
Tuesday 09/09: 49:27, Monterrey Recovery Loop, super super easy in the nice AM clouds. I suppose if one must be technical, this was more like 20 minutes of sleepwalking and 30 minutes of jogging. Felt pretty much like death today from too much consecutive sleep deprivation, 3 straight days of moving and two ill advised weekend runs. Blech. I rememebered from my Bain days that sometimes slow running will clear out some of the deathly feeling... and I felt moderately well enough to face the day by the time I finished. But see, I made a good training decision today! Now off to claim my first night of good sleep in about a week.
Wednesday 09/10: 58:46, RB to yellow gate at JPL. A nice run. Finally got something vaguely resembling a good night's sleep, and the mental haze is starting to lift! Felt a little bit crampy and tired still in the beginning, but started feeling really good after the devil's gate portion. L knee a bit tweaked out, was worried but it worked itself out. Ran a good solid, but not difficult pace throughout.
Thursday 09/11: 59:37, Monterrey to RB, working in 4 x 4-5 minute intervals of higher intensity running. It wasn't particularly planned this way, but I think it ended up being somewhat akin to 5 on, 5 off. The interval parts were definitely run closer to race pace than tempo pace, but I had full recovery, and they felt good, controlled. The first one felt like the toughest, just because it was kind of like readjusting one's expectations for how running should feel. I think I've gotten a little too used to low HR training... the change of pace was good for me, without it being tiring. Felt good about this run.
Friday 09/12: Off, shots. Somehow ended up staying up pretty late organizing stuff at the new place. Also ate two cookies... stress and moving are really not conducive to healthy eating habits.
Saturday 09/13: 1:09:29, California plus RB perimeter... a generous description for today's run would be "abysmal". Was supposed to be easy to RB, then RB perimeter loop at maybe a pace a little bit under tempo and then easy back the rest of the way. For some reason felt pretty dull and out of it from the beginning, and it certainly didn't help my mood to get passed by a hoard of Run with Us people. The uptempo part was the worst... somehow I took the first kind of squishy woodchips slightly uphill part too hard and felt pretty horrible by the river crossing. The total was about 36 minutes, which is slower than it took me to run this loop at a much, much lower exertion level a month or two back. How absolutely horrifying.
Training this week: 5:19:24, a pretty tame week I'd say...
Goals: to... survive...
Okay, so Wednesday - Sunday was crappy... but I can salvage this. The bottom line is that I'm wearing a lot of different hats these days: embattled non profit employee, daughter, long distance girlfriend, severely allergic and injury prone person, manager, friend, property owner (which, as it turns out is about as fun as when you spend your last $100 on a hotel on Boardwalk that no one lands on and then you pick that Chance? card that charges you repairs on all of your properties) ... but anyways, the point is that there's not a lot of room for error. To train seriously and also balance everything else requires a lot of discipline... and when that starts to slip, the running starts to go bad too.
Discipline isn't just about doing your workouts and managing your time... for me it's also about managing stress, controlling my emotions and rolling with the punches. It's about getting enough sleep, eating a healthy diet and making smart decisions about running. Honestly, I haven't been doing ANY of that in the past 5 days, and I can tell that it's costing me. First and foremost, I want to enjoy my runs, I want to look forwards to getting out the door in the morning, instead of being stressed and worried and exhausted by it. I'm not off to a super good start this week... but I can get back on the happy life ball.
Sunday 09/07: 1:33:05, Stables to RB. You know, not really the way I wanted to start off my "let's be disciplined and make good decisions" reformation week... but gotta keep at it. Woke up SUPER late, didn't get out there until 8, and it was sunny and hot and all the weird people were already out... like three fat middle aged ladies wearing skintight pink "McCain Palin" wifebeaters. So, this is the demographic that they appeal to.... interesting... and... slightly terrifying.
Anyways, felt completely beat from yesterday complete with cramped shoulders from moving, and that awful dull achey feeling all through my legs that happens after you go lactic for too long. Felt like a Colorado run... it was so slow and painful. In hindsight I should have done a short run today, and moved the long run to Tuesday, but who says making good decisions was ever easy!
Monday 09/08: Off, shots. Ughh... calamity of the world! My pomegranite vinegar salad dressing leaked all over my trunk, which was then vaporized by the car sitting out in the school parking lot all day, and completely infused into ever inch of my car by the time I had to go home... it totally burned my eyes and nose. Still felt horrible and sneezy/drooly/congested by the time I went to sleep. Glaghalgahglahgalhga...
Tuesday 09/09: 49:27, Monterrey Recovery Loop, super super easy in the nice AM clouds. I suppose if one must be technical, this was more like 20 minutes of sleepwalking and 30 minutes of jogging. Felt pretty much like death today from too much consecutive sleep deprivation, 3 straight days of moving and two ill advised weekend runs. Blech. I rememebered from my Bain days that sometimes slow running will clear out some of the deathly feeling... and I felt moderately well enough to face the day by the time I finished. But see, I made a good training decision today! Now off to claim my first night of good sleep in about a week.
Wednesday 09/10: 58:46, RB to yellow gate at JPL. A nice run. Finally got something vaguely resembling a good night's sleep, and the mental haze is starting to lift! Felt a little bit crampy and tired still in the beginning, but started feeling really good after the devil's gate portion. L knee a bit tweaked out, was worried but it worked itself out. Ran a good solid, but not difficult pace throughout.
Thursday 09/11: 59:37, Monterrey to RB, working in 4 x 4-5 minute intervals of higher intensity running. It wasn't particularly planned this way, but I think it ended up being somewhat akin to 5 on, 5 off. The interval parts were definitely run closer to race pace than tempo pace, but I had full recovery, and they felt good, controlled. The first one felt like the toughest, just because it was kind of like readjusting one's expectations for how running should feel. I think I've gotten a little too used to low HR training... the change of pace was good for me, without it being tiring. Felt good about this run.
Friday 09/12: Off, shots. Somehow ended up staying up pretty late organizing stuff at the new place. Also ate two cookies... stress and moving are really not conducive to healthy eating habits.
Saturday 09/13: 1:09:29, California plus RB perimeter... a generous description for today's run would be "abysmal". Was supposed to be easy to RB, then RB perimeter loop at maybe a pace a little bit under tempo and then easy back the rest of the way. For some reason felt pretty dull and out of it from the beginning, and it certainly didn't help my mood to get passed by a hoard of Run with Us people. The uptempo part was the worst... somehow I took the first kind of squishy woodchips slightly uphill part too hard and felt pretty horrible by the river crossing. The total was about 36 minutes, which is slower than it took me to run this loop at a much, much lower exertion level a month or two back. How absolutely horrifying.
Training this week: 5:19:24, a pretty tame week I'd say...
Goals: to... survive...
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Week of 08/31/2008 - 09/06/2008 (Base Week 25)
26 year old asian female seeking short and effective anger management course.
Hate and chocolate... are apparently NOT good fuels for running.
*Sigh* ... two runs this week have been ruined and this has to stop. I suppose my dislike isn't actually causing a certain deserving individual any pain, and it's not bringing back my opportunity to see our mutual friends that he so kindly and considerately took away... so, I suppose I should let it go. I guess I should move this weekend anyways. Gah, I need to learn to meditate.
Sunday 08/31: 1:10:35, Last Griggs Road run... *sigh* I'm making my rounds of the last Highlands Ranch area runs... which I'm finding to be sadder than I expected. The area we're going to is pretty nifty, but the non pavement running seems... limited. Felt pretty awful in the morning, something bad is going on with my sinuses, or maybe I'm catching the plague from Peter. That plus the memory of exactly how much gasping for air I had to do yesterday made me rather unenthused about getting out the door... but I did and I actually made it pretty far today too, despite the decision to move my long run over to tomorrow. Ate some delicious banana bread pudding and packed up Peter's kitchen.
Monday 09/01: 1:47:44, Last Dried Up Creek Run. I think maybe day 3 is when you finally begin to acclimate to the altitude a little bit, because today was the first day that a pace existed that did not feel like drowning. That felt really nice. Went all the way to the railroad tracks and came back. Was feeling a bit tired by the end, but overall a good long run. I think it also helped that it was pretty flat. We got done with most of the packing, ate some INCREDIBLY delicious Indian food near Peter's new home, and watched some weird British comedy shows.
Tuesday 09/02: Off, shots, traveling. Felt sad to leave, it was a really good, quiet weekend. Packing's not so exciting, but it was really nice to spend that time with Peter, and overall I felt like I had 3 quality runs. I knew I wasn't going to get anything uptempo in there, so my goal was just to log some solid base miles... er, minutes... which I think I did.
In other news, signed the lease on the new place with Kangway and Mark!
Wednesday 09/03: 49:18, Monterrey Recovery Loop. This is where it all went wrong... I woke up with some pretty major gastrointestinal distress (likely due to an excess of chocolate, junk food and cheesecake factory), and decided it was not a good idea to head out the door in this state. Drifted in and out of sleep in between bathroom runs until about 8 am... when I felt exhausted as hell and pretty horrible, but somewhat well enough to jog... so I did. And it was slow and barfy and at the end this horrible lady on a horse wouldn't stop to let me go around so I had to stand there just totally aghast waiting for her to slooooowly amble past my turnoff so I could start running again! Totally outrageous. To my credit though, I didn't shout any of the 4 and/or 5 letter words that were formulating themselves in my mind once I'd gotten over being so very taken aback.
Thursday 09/04: 55:02, a botched attempt at a tempo run. In the end I just stopped after 2 sub-standard Arroyo Tempo Loops and ran around for a little bit. For the first time on a tempo... my legs just felt like lead, and I was totally pre-occupied and my heart just wasn't in it. I've been stewing and seething since yesterday night regarding a certain selfish, inconsiderate individual who will remain nameless who unwittingly or otherwise has destroyed a weekend that I was looking forwards to... and usually anger makes me run faster and more aggressively, but today it just kinda imploded in on itself, probably just due to physical exhaustion from being sleep deprived, stressed and possibly getting sick. Went home and just stared into space for a while I was so upset.
Friday 09/05: Off, shots. I don't remember a whole lot about this day... but I think I felt better. And, less angry. Turning over a new leaf.
Saturday 09/06: 1:22:05, Bailey to Connector. I think this was like my worst Bailey run, probably... ever. And that is because I should know better. Stupid, stupid, stupid idiot. 27:54 to the camp, and 48:34 to the sign. For some reason, I totally lost control of this run and had completely gone anaerobic halfway to the camp. Getting from the camp to the top was like, worse than crawling, it was horrible... I can hardly believe I even made it.
Gah. I'm more pissed at myself for losing control than for it being a crappy run... I consider this a very technical course. It can be absolutely glorious, OR it can also easily degenerate to lactic slogging if you can't stay close to threshold. I must have run this 10, 20 times before without having a blow up like this one. I seriously considered turning back at the camp because I was in so much pain by then, but it seemed like it had to be some sort of redemption to finish... In hindsight that's horrible logic, but I think I was probably trying to burn away some residual self loathing after abandoning my tempo run on Thursday.
Training this week: 6:04:44 ... wow, my first > 6 hours in years and years...
Goals: Anger management, Weight management.
Hate and chocolate... are apparently NOT good fuels for running.
*Sigh* ... two runs this week have been ruined and this has to stop. I suppose my dislike isn't actually causing a certain deserving individual any pain, and it's not bringing back my opportunity to see our mutual friends that he so kindly and considerately took away... so, I suppose I should let it go. I guess I should move this weekend anyways. Gah, I need to learn to meditate.
Sunday 08/31: 1:10:35, Last Griggs Road run... *sigh* I'm making my rounds of the last Highlands Ranch area runs... which I'm finding to be sadder than I expected. The area we're going to is pretty nifty, but the non pavement running seems... limited. Felt pretty awful in the morning, something bad is going on with my sinuses, or maybe I'm catching the plague from Peter. That plus the memory of exactly how much gasping for air I had to do yesterday made me rather unenthused about getting out the door... but I did and I actually made it pretty far today too, despite the decision to move my long run over to tomorrow. Ate some delicious banana bread pudding and packed up Peter's kitchen.
Monday 09/01: 1:47:44, Last Dried Up Creek Run. I think maybe day 3 is when you finally begin to acclimate to the altitude a little bit, because today was the first day that a pace existed that did not feel like drowning. That felt really nice. Went all the way to the railroad tracks and came back. Was feeling a bit tired by the end, but overall a good long run. I think it also helped that it was pretty flat. We got done with most of the packing, ate some INCREDIBLY delicious Indian food near Peter's new home, and watched some weird British comedy shows.
Tuesday 09/02: Off, shots, traveling. Felt sad to leave, it was a really good, quiet weekend. Packing's not so exciting, but it was really nice to spend that time with Peter, and overall I felt like I had 3 quality runs. I knew I wasn't going to get anything uptempo in there, so my goal was just to log some solid base miles... er, minutes... which I think I did.
In other news, signed the lease on the new place with Kangway and Mark!
Wednesday 09/03: 49:18, Monterrey Recovery Loop. This is where it all went wrong... I woke up with some pretty major gastrointestinal distress (likely due to an excess of chocolate, junk food and cheesecake factory), and decided it was not a good idea to head out the door in this state. Drifted in and out of sleep in between bathroom runs until about 8 am... when I felt exhausted as hell and pretty horrible, but somewhat well enough to jog... so I did. And it was slow and barfy and at the end this horrible lady on a horse wouldn't stop to let me go around so I had to stand there just totally aghast waiting for her to slooooowly amble past my turnoff so I could start running again! Totally outrageous. To my credit though, I didn't shout any of the 4 and/or 5 letter words that were formulating themselves in my mind once I'd gotten over being so very taken aback.
Thursday 09/04: 55:02, a botched attempt at a tempo run. In the end I just stopped after 2 sub-standard Arroyo Tempo Loops and ran around for a little bit. For the first time on a tempo... my legs just felt like lead, and I was totally pre-occupied and my heart just wasn't in it. I've been stewing and seething since yesterday night regarding a certain selfish, inconsiderate individual who will remain nameless who unwittingly or otherwise has destroyed a weekend that I was looking forwards to... and usually anger makes me run faster and more aggressively, but today it just kinda imploded in on itself, probably just due to physical exhaustion from being sleep deprived, stressed and possibly getting sick. Went home and just stared into space for a while I was so upset.
Friday 09/05: Off, shots. I don't remember a whole lot about this day... but I think I felt better. And, less angry. Turning over a new leaf.
Saturday 09/06: 1:22:05, Bailey to Connector. I think this was like my worst Bailey run, probably... ever. And that is because I should know better. Stupid, stupid, stupid idiot. 27:54 to the camp, and 48:34 to the sign. For some reason, I totally lost control of this run and had completely gone anaerobic halfway to the camp. Getting from the camp to the top was like, worse than crawling, it was horrible... I can hardly believe I even made it.
Gah. I'm more pissed at myself for losing control than for it being a crappy run... I consider this a very technical course. It can be absolutely glorious, OR it can also easily degenerate to lactic slogging if you can't stay close to threshold. I must have run this 10, 20 times before without having a blow up like this one. I seriously considered turning back at the camp because I was in so much pain by then, but it seemed like it had to be some sort of redemption to finish... In hindsight that's horrible logic, but I think I was probably trying to burn away some residual self loathing after abandoning my tempo run on Thursday.
Training this week: 6:04:44 ... wow, my first > 6 hours in years and years...
Goals: Anger management, Weight management.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Week of 08/24/2008 - 08/30/2008 (Base Week 24)
Yeah okay, maybe last week was only a down week in the sense that it had only 4 days... but I'd say it served its purpose in so much that I feel not dead physically, and a LOT more enthused psychologically.
I think mostly I feel relieved that I chose not to run cross, it makes me feel less pressured and inadequate, and hence more likely to enjoy that which I can do now, rather than to bemoan that which I can't do yet. I'm gonna get there... some day.
Sunday 08/24: 1:26:40, the short long run again from stables to RB perimeter. Same as last Tuesday but taking the slightly longer way back crossing the bridges along the Arroyo. Felt a wee bit tired from yesterday but nothing substantial. Sleeping in continues though, which is a bit of a worrying trend. Started at 7:30 am, which all told isn't horrible... but for some reason I always feel grinchy about missing those nice early dawn hours.
Monday 08/25: Off, shots. Argh, swelling in one arm... they may cut my dose again, I swear I may never get through this damn last bottle. Maybe it's the world's way of telling me I'm not ready for the 6 day training week yet, meh.
Tuesday 08/26: 1:06:58, 5 x Arroyo Tempo Loops with middle 3 as tempo: 15:46, 11:47, 11:42, 11:32, 14:49 plus jog back to car. Not as fast as last week, but I think these were loads better. Effort level was much lower, felt controlled and comfortable. Pushed a little on the last one, but didn't breathe hard until the last 800m or so. Also, there were some fallen trees obstructing the path at one point, which was annoying less because of the time it takes to pick one's way around them, and more because it seriously cuts up your momentum on the slightly downhill portion. On the last cool down lap, a guy was just finishing hauling the trees away. Great timing guys, thanks. Biked to work, felt a little tired.
Wednesday 08/27: 49:04, I'm just going to call the Monterrey to Arroyo Tempo Loop thing the "Monterrey Recovery Loop". Today's was kind of sub-standard. Woke up late again, ugh... it was overcast but kind of warm and damp, AND there was ANOTHER damn tree obstructing a different part of the path. This is really getting old, really quick. Also legs felt tired in a nondescript way, I kinda suspect this has to do with the extra biking... run was slower than I expected w.r.t. perceived effort, which also makes me disgruntled. Biked to work, hoping that my body adjusts soon...
Thursday 08/28: 1:15:22, Lower Arroyo plus some jogging at Garfield park and some doubling back. (Thank goodness I'm no longer so neurotic that I need to know the length of each run down to 2 significant figures...) A great run with the whole team, pace ranged from super easy to a good clip. Felt not half bad, despite being pretty worn out yesterday.
Running with the crew is really fun, but at the same time it really throws me off... I'm so used to solitary hours on the trails, no traffic lights, no company, and a level of inner concentration that you just can't get if you're talking and stopping and constantly trying to adjust to other people's decisions around you. I also found that I get so excited with all the yakking and gossiping that I don't really pay attention to the things that I normally do on a run, like my stride and my HR and all that. I think I'd still like to run with the team every so often, but on a regular basis it probably doesn't suit my training style.
I guess one upside to being old and not an assistant coach is that I can choose what I want for each day. I'm definitely leaving the team in the much more competent, patient and caring hands of KB and Mark. Biked to work, feeling less exhausted and pretty happy.
Friday 08/29: Off, shots... traveling... don't you just love flight delays. Was even in a pretty good mood up until then too. But has some fantastic happy hour appetizers with Peter when I finally did arrive anyways and that made it all better.
Saturday 08/30: 1:02:54, Last Wildcat Trail run... felt kind of sad despite the fact that I'm not particularly attached to the frightening expanse of conservative, white, gated communities around here. The trails are actually pretty quality though with lots of rolling hills. I forgot how painful running at altitude is though, which pretty much quashed my enthusiasm for this run within 30 seconds of setting out the door. Felt moderately better after about 25 minutes, and I managed to make it out pretty far--turned around at this field full of adorable little groundhogs or prairie dogs or whatever they are. They're funny because they don't run away when you come, they all just perk up and look at you quizzically.
Training this week: 5:38:58
Goals: To lose the weight I gained while Peter was here (End of week addendum--I did, but then I gained it right back again when I went to visit him... *sigh*)
I think mostly I feel relieved that I chose not to run cross, it makes me feel less pressured and inadequate, and hence more likely to enjoy that which I can do now, rather than to bemoan that which I can't do yet. I'm gonna get there... some day.
Sunday 08/24: 1:26:40, the short long run again from stables to RB perimeter. Same as last Tuesday but taking the slightly longer way back crossing the bridges along the Arroyo. Felt a wee bit tired from yesterday but nothing substantial. Sleeping in continues though, which is a bit of a worrying trend. Started at 7:30 am, which all told isn't horrible... but for some reason I always feel grinchy about missing those nice early dawn hours.
Monday 08/25: Off, shots. Argh, swelling in one arm... they may cut my dose again, I swear I may never get through this damn last bottle. Maybe it's the world's way of telling me I'm not ready for the 6 day training week yet, meh.
Tuesday 08/26: 1:06:58, 5 x Arroyo Tempo Loops with middle 3 as tempo: 15:46, 11:47, 11:42, 11:32, 14:49 plus jog back to car. Not as fast as last week, but I think these were loads better. Effort level was much lower, felt controlled and comfortable. Pushed a little on the last one, but didn't breathe hard until the last 800m or so. Also, there were some fallen trees obstructing the path at one point, which was annoying less because of the time it takes to pick one's way around them, and more because it seriously cuts up your momentum on the slightly downhill portion. On the last cool down lap, a guy was just finishing hauling the trees away. Great timing guys, thanks. Biked to work, felt a little tired.
Wednesday 08/27: 49:04, I'm just going to call the Monterrey to Arroyo Tempo Loop thing the "Monterrey Recovery Loop". Today's was kind of sub-standard. Woke up late again, ugh... it was overcast but kind of warm and damp, AND there was ANOTHER damn tree obstructing a different part of the path. This is really getting old, really quick. Also legs felt tired in a nondescript way, I kinda suspect this has to do with the extra biking... run was slower than I expected w.r.t. perceived effort, which also makes me disgruntled. Biked to work, hoping that my body adjusts soon...
Thursday 08/28: 1:15:22, Lower Arroyo plus some jogging at Garfield park and some doubling back. (Thank goodness I'm no longer so neurotic that I need to know the length of each run down to 2 significant figures...) A great run with the whole team, pace ranged from super easy to a good clip. Felt not half bad, despite being pretty worn out yesterday.
Running with the crew is really fun, but at the same time it really throws me off... I'm so used to solitary hours on the trails, no traffic lights, no company, and a level of inner concentration that you just can't get if you're talking and stopping and constantly trying to adjust to other people's decisions around you. I also found that I get so excited with all the yakking and gossiping that I don't really pay attention to the things that I normally do on a run, like my stride and my HR and all that. I think I'd still like to run with the team every so often, but on a regular basis it probably doesn't suit my training style.
I guess one upside to being old and not an assistant coach is that I can choose what I want for each day. I'm definitely leaving the team in the much more competent, patient and caring hands of KB and Mark. Biked to work, feeling less exhausted and pretty happy.
Friday 08/29: Off, shots... traveling... don't you just love flight delays. Was even in a pretty good mood up until then too. But has some fantastic happy hour appetizers with Peter when I finally did arrive anyways and that made it all better.
Saturday 08/30: 1:02:54, Last Wildcat Trail run... felt kind of sad despite the fact that I'm not particularly attached to the frightening expanse of conservative, white, gated communities around here. The trails are actually pretty quality though with lots of rolling hills. I forgot how painful running at altitude is though, which pretty much quashed my enthusiasm for this run within 30 seconds of setting out the door. Felt moderately better after about 25 minutes, and I managed to make it out pretty far--turned around at this field full of adorable little groundhogs or prairie dogs or whatever they are. They're funny because they don't run away when you come, they all just perk up and look at you quizzically.
Training this week: 5:38:58
Goals: To lose the weight I gained while Peter was here (End of week addendum--I did, but then I gained it right back again when I went to visit him... *sigh*)
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Week of 08/17/2008 - 08/23/2008 (Base Week 23)
A down week is definitely in order.
Feeling really worn out, it was a big week last week and a whole bunch before that > 5 hours. I think the jump from 4 hours to 5+ hours went a lot faster than say going from 3 hours to 4 hours... add in some extra biking to work and I think I just have to not lose sight of the fact that I'm still working my way up.
Sunday 08/17: ~2:20 riding the new Vitus, 9 RB laps. Woke up feeling really really bad. I don't really mind soreness, but this was not sore... this was like this awful warm, inflamed, on the verge of some injury-type feeling all through my legs, just tired and worn out. Thought riding would take some strain off, but it was still pretty hard... on the upside, I feel pretty competent with the downtube shifters now. Hopefully day off will be good, and I can shift my long run over to Tuesday.
Monday 08/18: Off, shots. Felt crappy and bummed, didn't get very much done, meaning I will be extremely stressed tomorrow...
Tuesday 08/19: 1:20:09, California back to the stables then around the RB and back, same route as two Sundays ago. Unintentionally harder than usual long runs... but pace kept creeping up. I think its because its been 2 days since the last run. Felt pretty good, was glad that I felt ready and motivated to go... don't want to fall into a funk here. Every so often I have these weird days where I feel irrationally despondent and not wanting to run, and Sunday was one of those... I was a little worried about that and how I'd feel today, but it was okay.
Wednesday 08/20: 49:23, Monterrey to end of Arroyo Loop, intentionally super super easy. Felt good, another wonderfully overcast, cool morning--I'm really liking the morning fog these days. Rode to work, first time on the red bike, it was fantastic! No computer though, so I'm just going to call all of these trips 70 minutes.
Thursday 08/21: 58:56, RB trail perimeter plus detour to yellow JPL gate. Was kind of blah in the beginning, but then started feeling really really good after the little hill up by Devil's Gate. Got a bit of a late start this morning, but it's still unseasonably cool. Awesome. Didn't get to ride to work due to after work event... *sigh*.
Friday 08/22: Off, shots. Tired. There's this new annoying guy at work. He bugs me every 5 minutes about inane things ... so had to work under someone's desk and behind some boxes to be able to get anything done. My back is all tweaked out now, this can't continue.
Saturday 08/23: 1:56:10, Brown Mountain Adventure Loop. Up to the end of the Brown Mtn Fireroad, then back via El Prieto trail. 59:30 to end of fireroad, going easy until the trail splits, then started picking up the pace the rest of the way. Felt really good for most of it, but the last 5 minutes or so I was ready to be done... and the trail just goes on and on and on...
Unfortunately, got a pretty late start today so it was already sunny and warmer than I enjoy. Was pretty thirsty already at the top, so decided to take a gamble on trying to locate El Prieto trail which I thought would be a shortcut. Thankfully two mountain bikers turned into the trail right in front of me, so I was able to find the entrance... but it turns out its a pretty rough trail. The mountain bikers promptly crashed into a pile about 10 feet in, so I had to pick my way around that, and I didn't see them the rest of the way. Descent ended up taking almost as much as going up... I really don't enjoy going downhill. Took it really easy today. All in all a good run.
Training this week: 5:04:38 plus ~ 3:30 cycling
Goals: To keep things under control, no injuries.
Feeling really worn out, it was a big week last week and a whole bunch before that > 5 hours. I think the jump from 4 hours to 5+ hours went a lot faster than say going from 3 hours to 4 hours... add in some extra biking to work and I think I just have to not lose sight of the fact that I'm still working my way up.
Sunday 08/17: ~2:20 riding the new Vitus, 9 RB laps. Woke up feeling really really bad. I don't really mind soreness, but this was not sore... this was like this awful warm, inflamed, on the verge of some injury-type feeling all through my legs, just tired and worn out. Thought riding would take some strain off, but it was still pretty hard... on the upside, I feel pretty competent with the downtube shifters now. Hopefully day off will be good, and I can shift my long run over to Tuesday.
Monday 08/18: Off, shots. Felt crappy and bummed, didn't get very much done, meaning I will be extremely stressed tomorrow...
Tuesday 08/19: 1:20:09, California back to the stables then around the RB and back, same route as two Sundays ago. Unintentionally harder than usual long runs... but pace kept creeping up. I think its because its been 2 days since the last run. Felt pretty good, was glad that I felt ready and motivated to go... don't want to fall into a funk here. Every so often I have these weird days where I feel irrationally despondent and not wanting to run, and Sunday was one of those... I was a little worried about that and how I'd feel today, but it was okay.
Wednesday 08/20: 49:23, Monterrey to end of Arroyo Loop, intentionally super super easy. Felt good, another wonderfully overcast, cool morning--I'm really liking the morning fog these days. Rode to work, first time on the red bike, it was fantastic! No computer though, so I'm just going to call all of these trips 70 minutes.
Thursday 08/21: 58:56, RB trail perimeter plus detour to yellow JPL gate. Was kind of blah in the beginning, but then started feeling really really good after the little hill up by Devil's Gate. Got a bit of a late start this morning, but it's still unseasonably cool. Awesome. Didn't get to ride to work due to after work event... *sigh*.
Friday 08/22: Off, shots. Tired. There's this new annoying guy at work. He bugs me every 5 minutes about inane things ... so had to work under someone's desk and behind some boxes to be able to get anything done. My back is all tweaked out now, this can't continue.
Saturday 08/23: 1:56:10, Brown Mountain Adventure Loop. Up to the end of the Brown Mtn Fireroad, then back via El Prieto trail. 59:30 to end of fireroad, going easy until the trail splits, then started picking up the pace the rest of the way. Felt really good for most of it, but the last 5 minutes or so I was ready to be done... and the trail just goes on and on and on...
Unfortunately, got a pretty late start today so it was already sunny and warmer than I enjoy. Was pretty thirsty already at the top, so decided to take a gamble on trying to locate El Prieto trail which I thought would be a shortcut. Thankfully two mountain bikers turned into the trail right in front of me, so I was able to find the entrance... but it turns out its a pretty rough trail. The mountain bikers promptly crashed into a pile about 10 feet in, so I had to pick my way around that, and I didn't see them the rest of the way. Descent ended up taking almost as much as going up... I really don't enjoy going downhill. Took it really easy today. All in all a good run.
Training this week: 5:04:38 plus ~ 3:30 cycling
Goals: To keep things under control, no injuries.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Week of 08/10/2008 - 08/16/2008 (Base Week 22)
A little more like me
Progress:
1) Wearing my skinny clothes for the first time in almost a year: I define skinny clothes as anything I've bought post-becoming a distance runner. Everything I wore before that are fat clothes. I now anatomically resemble an athlete, even thought the functionality is still getting there.
2) Call of the demons: I'm feeling a little bit more in my element in the past few runs. Mostly this has to do with the return of competitive instincts. It feels good to go fast. I find myself working in little surges, passing people, wanting to do more. Actually, dying to do more.
I feel a little bit more like me. Of course, that comes with pros and cons. What gives me the drive to lift myself out of being defeated and depressed is also what potentially gives me the injuries that hold me back. Keeping the demons under control will be the major challenge for this next block of training.
Sunday 08/10: 1:43:08, Monterrey to RB perimeter and back on the other side. A good solid long run. Woke up a little on the late side so it blebbed into the 8 am hour... but thankfully it remained relatively cool. Ran easy and but picked it up a little at the end. Felt good the whole way, though the first 20 minutes or so felt choppy.
Monday 08/11: Off, shots. Feeling really stressed today... I just wish that every aspect of my life did not involve QUITE so much difficult person management.
Tuesday 08/12: 1:20:52, Bailey to Connector. Due to the confluence of many inconvenient things, did my birthday run 2 days early. Woke up at 5:50 am to get out there early and it was foggy and cool and wonderful. 28:29 to camp, 47:56 to connector, not particularly fast vs. last week, but the effort level made all the difference in the world. A little rough in the beginning but felt good the whole way, breathing through nose, didn't even notice Heartbreak Hill until I was already past it. Unlike last week, I never got to the super dying horrible not going to make it state.
In other news, took a little bit of a tumble biking to work... bc I am retarded. Was standing (with one foot on the ground) at an intersection, and toppled cleanly over trying to shift my backpack. Fortunately said backpack broke my fall, but the impact managed to drop my chain. Then, somehow I decided that shifting the gears would help me get it back on, but that made the situation horribly worse because then the chain got tangled and jammed around the rear derailleur area. I try not to be a complete moron regarding bike part proficiency, but I am no Katherine Breeden... I really was rather on the boggled side as far as how to fix this situation. So instead, here I am sitting by the side of the road staring at my bike like a doofus... when miraculously a car stops in front of me, and a cyclist steps out to save the day. Bike restored, I made it safely the rest of the way. ~68 minutes round trip.
Wednesday 08/13: 47:44, Monterrey to end of Arroyo Tempo Loop. Slept in, then couldn't find watch, ergo moderately disgruntled, but run was okay. A little bit tired from yesterday, so took it real easy, but was pleased that the time wasn't that off from non-post-Bailey days. Had to drive to work today due to off-campus meetings... :'(.
Thursday 08/14: 55:59, 2 laps of the Arroyo from the horse stables to the trail closure... which is a disgruntling turn of events. Wanted to do California to Salvia Canyon, but the path was blocked off right under the bridge nearest to the RB. So had to back track and run the circuit again to add up to ~ 50 minutes. Legs felt more tired than I expected, not zippy at all, but I guess it's been a big week already. Felt better after biking to work.
Friday 08/15: Off, shots. I'm finally back to about the dose where everything went wrong... a little more swelling than usual, but fingers crossed. So tired....
Saturday 08/16: 1:07:18, 5 x Arroyo Tempo Loops with middle 3 at tempo pace: 15:22, 11:40, 11:34, 11:27, 17:16 with the last cool down lap including detour to see if trail closure has been re-opened (yes) and jog back to car. Not terrible, felt good to finally make it through 3. First two breathing through nose, then last one pretty hard... harder than I would have liked, but at least it was the fastest. I think this is progress, but the issue is still mostly weak cardio.
Worked on my beautiful new commuting bike with Peter and Ian!
Training this week: 5:55:01, plus ~2:20 cycling--a pretty big week.
Goals: Need to establish a solid 5 - 5.5 hour weekly routine that's compatible with biking to work on the non-shot days. This does not come naturally to me, but I need to think sustainability.
Progress:
1) Wearing my skinny clothes for the first time in almost a year: I define skinny clothes as anything I've bought post-becoming a distance runner. Everything I wore before that are fat clothes. I now anatomically resemble an athlete, even thought the functionality is still getting there.
2) Call of the demons: I'm feeling a little bit more in my element in the past few runs. Mostly this has to do with the return of competitive instincts. It feels good to go fast. I find myself working in little surges, passing people, wanting to do more. Actually, dying to do more.
I feel a little bit more like me. Of course, that comes with pros and cons. What gives me the drive to lift myself out of being defeated and depressed is also what potentially gives me the injuries that hold me back. Keeping the demons under control will be the major challenge for this next block of training.
Sunday 08/10: 1:43:08, Monterrey to RB perimeter and back on the other side. A good solid long run. Woke up a little on the late side so it blebbed into the 8 am hour... but thankfully it remained relatively cool. Ran easy and but picked it up a little at the end. Felt good the whole way, though the first 20 minutes or so felt choppy.
Monday 08/11: Off, shots. Feeling really stressed today... I just wish that every aspect of my life did not involve QUITE so much difficult person management.
Tuesday 08/12: 1:20:52, Bailey to Connector. Due to the confluence of many inconvenient things, did my birthday run 2 days early. Woke up at 5:50 am to get out there early and it was foggy and cool and wonderful. 28:29 to camp, 47:56 to connector, not particularly fast vs. last week, but the effort level made all the difference in the world. A little rough in the beginning but felt good the whole way, breathing through nose, didn't even notice Heartbreak Hill until I was already past it. Unlike last week, I never got to the super dying horrible not going to make it state.
In other news, took a little bit of a tumble biking to work... bc I am retarded. Was standing (with one foot on the ground) at an intersection, and toppled cleanly over trying to shift my backpack. Fortunately said backpack broke my fall, but the impact managed to drop my chain. Then, somehow I decided that shifting the gears would help me get it back on, but that made the situation horribly worse because then the chain got tangled and jammed around the rear derailleur area. I try not to be a complete moron regarding bike part proficiency, but I am no Katherine Breeden... I really was rather on the boggled side as far as how to fix this situation. So instead, here I am sitting by the side of the road staring at my bike like a doofus... when miraculously a car stops in front of me, and a cyclist steps out to save the day. Bike restored, I made it safely the rest of the way. ~68 minutes round trip.
Wednesday 08/13: 47:44, Monterrey to end of Arroyo Tempo Loop. Slept in, then couldn't find watch, ergo moderately disgruntled, but run was okay. A little bit tired from yesterday, so took it real easy, but was pleased that the time wasn't that off from non-post-Bailey days. Had to drive to work today due to off-campus meetings... :'(.
Thursday 08/14: 55:59, 2 laps of the Arroyo from the horse stables to the trail closure... which is a disgruntling turn of events. Wanted to do California to Salvia Canyon, but the path was blocked off right under the bridge nearest to the RB. So had to back track and run the circuit again to add up to ~ 50 minutes. Legs felt more tired than I expected, not zippy at all, but I guess it's been a big week already. Felt better after biking to work.
Friday 08/15: Off, shots. I'm finally back to about the dose where everything went wrong... a little more swelling than usual, but fingers crossed. So tired....
Saturday 08/16: 1:07:18, 5 x Arroyo Tempo Loops with middle 3 at tempo pace: 15:22, 11:40, 11:34, 11:27, 17:16 with the last cool down lap including detour to see if trail closure has been re-opened (yes) and jog back to car. Not terrible, felt good to finally make it through 3. First two breathing through nose, then last one pretty hard... harder than I would have liked, but at least it was the fastest. I think this is progress, but the issue is still mostly weak cardio.
Worked on my beautiful new commuting bike with Peter and Ian!
Training this week: 5:55:01, plus ~2:20 cycling--a pretty big week.
Goals: Need to establish a solid 5 - 5.5 hour weekly routine that's compatible with biking to work on the non-shot days. This does not come naturally to me, but I need to think sustainability.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Week of 08/03/2008 - 08/09/2008 (Base Week 21)
Decision time
I knew that my angst about the impending XC season was starting to affect my motivation, so I had to make a choice. I decided not to train for cross this year. If I for some unlikely reason feel really compelled to race once or twice, I may do that to test it out, but I'm not going to alter my training to try to peak in a month or two.
This isn't the way I wanted it to be, but I think I've had some setbacks along the way and this is the right decision for where I am. Originally I was supposed to start doing more tempo work by now, and be on my once a week shot routine so I could phase in the 6 day week again. Instead, I'm over a month behind on my shot schedule now due to the outbreak of hives, and also missed 2 weeks of tempos. The lengthening process for the duration of my tempo runs has gotten hopelessly stalled at 3 miles, and I've yet to solve the mystery of why... so, all in all, I'm kinda shaky on even completing a 5K on rough terrain, without it degenerating into painful jogging by mile 3.
I think my runs ARE getting stronger though, and maybe I'll have a good shot at some late in the year road races if I just patiently keep at it for now. I think I can work in 1 medium hard day in addition to tempo day, hopefully that will teach my body to accept longer periods of high HR existence. Patience has never been a virtue of mine, but I try to remind myself that everything I've forced or rushed into with running has ended up a disaster. So far, nothing BAD has happened, I'm still on my feet, I'm still slooooowly making progress, I haven't made my foot completely better ... but at least it's not worse. As long as I'm still running, I'm still in the game. It's still the longest I've ever been able to train, in terms of # of weeks though not in # of miles. I guess I can be happy about that.
Sunday 08/03: 1:28:42, California backtracked to the stables, before heading out to once around the RB. Legs felt inordinately tired and sore from yesterday's adventures... but the run was fine. I realized that I'm so much happier if I can wake up and run at 6 am than 7 or later. Not sure why it makes that much of a difference, but something about that early dawn goodness makes me feel calmer and peaceful. Realized that going uphill was fine, but going DOWNHILL was the most painful thing ever, I think my quads are pickled with lactic acid from yesterday. Felt loads better after about 20 minutes of jogging, but unfortunately the soreness returned after I got back from the run and legs got a chance to cool back down. Darn.
Monday 08/04: Off, shots. Soreness continues... I'm either getting old, or maybe my legs didn't need that many miles yesterday.
Tuesday 08/05: 41:44, Huntington/Virginia/stairs. A pleasant short run with Stephanie, Sedona and Sarah. Legs were still feeling a little bit heavy and sore, but felt okay on the run.
This was also the first day of Bike-To-Work, a new fitness increasing/money saving initiative. I was only moderately terrified for my life... which I suppose exceeds expectations. ~80 minutes round trip, including getting horribly lost on my way back. It's only about 8.75 miles each way but somewhat slow going due to the traffic and heavy backpack. All in all it was not bad, I'm hoping to do this on the non shot days to supplement my meager running schedule. Toe a little bit tweaked out in the PM, maybe from pavement or from biking, or both.
Wednesday 08/06: 1:02:36, Monterrey to RB and back. The run in which I meet a golf ball named "Juice". No jokes. Ran really easy out, but pace crept up on the way back. Felt pretty good. I really enjoy the early morning. Bike to work went much better today, in which I had zero near death experiences and zero stopping to correct being losts. Hooray for improvement. ~70 minutes round trip.
Thursday 08/07: 1:01:39, RB perimeter plus the section to the yellow gate near JPL. Slept in until 6:30 this morning and it totally threw my whole morning off... Felt tired in many senses, legs felt heavy, and the temperature was creeping up. Somehow, it all started feeling a lot better after about 15-20 minutes, so I was able to finish strong, but basically ran pretty easy the whole way. I wonder if the extra biking is wearing me down... Felt much, much less zippy today both on my run and my commute. Hopefully my body will adjust... ~71 minutes round trip today, getting more comfortable with the route, but I rode much less aggressively than yesterday due to more tired.
Friday 08/08: Off, shots. It's amazing how quickly one adjusts to things. Felt really strange not to ride to work. I realized that I really enjoy riding to work.
Saturday 08/09: 54:42, some moderate tempo work in the Arroyo. 4 x Arroyo Tempo loops with the first and last warm up and cool down. There were supposed to be 3 tempo ones in the middle... but apparently it wasn't meant to be: 15:50, 11:51, 11:23, 14:23 plus jog back to car. Woke up with a stomach ache and felt pretty awful on the warm up lap. Surprisingly the first tempo lap was really good, a good clip but breathing only through nose, but for some reason I just freaked out on the second one. I think I was anticipating a slowdown and overcompensated. Then I had to sprint to pass an enormous (like, 50 kids) patch of HS cross country-ers, and at the end, I kinda felt like I was done. It bugged me for a while afterwards that I didn't do the 3 laps... but I decided that there'd be other days, and that I learned from this run that I do think I have 3 sub-12 minute laps in me right now. I was really worried about not clearing that hurdle, so I guess this exceeds expectations.
Training this week: 5:09:23, plus ~3:40 riding to work
Goals: To be able to descend a staircase without wincing.
I knew that my angst about the impending XC season was starting to affect my motivation, so I had to make a choice. I decided not to train for cross this year. If I for some unlikely reason feel really compelled to race once or twice, I may do that to test it out, but I'm not going to alter my training to try to peak in a month or two.
This isn't the way I wanted it to be, but I think I've had some setbacks along the way and this is the right decision for where I am. Originally I was supposed to start doing more tempo work by now, and be on my once a week shot routine so I could phase in the 6 day week again. Instead, I'm over a month behind on my shot schedule now due to the outbreak of hives, and also missed 2 weeks of tempos. The lengthening process for the duration of my tempo runs has gotten hopelessly stalled at 3 miles, and I've yet to solve the mystery of why... so, all in all, I'm kinda shaky on even completing a 5K on rough terrain, without it degenerating into painful jogging by mile 3.
I think my runs ARE getting stronger though, and maybe I'll have a good shot at some late in the year road races if I just patiently keep at it for now. I think I can work in 1 medium hard day in addition to tempo day, hopefully that will teach my body to accept longer periods of high HR existence. Patience has never been a virtue of mine, but I try to remind myself that everything I've forced or rushed into with running has ended up a disaster. So far, nothing BAD has happened, I'm still on my feet, I'm still slooooowly making progress, I haven't made my foot completely better ... but at least it's not worse. As long as I'm still running, I'm still in the game. It's still the longest I've ever been able to train, in terms of # of weeks though not in # of miles. I guess I can be happy about that.
Sunday 08/03: 1:28:42, California backtracked to the stables, before heading out to once around the RB. Legs felt inordinately tired and sore from yesterday's adventures... but the run was fine. I realized that I'm so much happier if I can wake up and run at 6 am than 7 or later. Not sure why it makes that much of a difference, but something about that early dawn goodness makes me feel calmer and peaceful. Realized that going uphill was fine, but going DOWNHILL was the most painful thing ever, I think my quads are pickled with lactic acid from yesterday. Felt loads better after about 20 minutes of jogging, but unfortunately the soreness returned after I got back from the run and legs got a chance to cool back down. Darn.
Monday 08/04: Off, shots. Soreness continues... I'm either getting old, or maybe my legs didn't need that many miles yesterday.
Tuesday 08/05: 41:44, Huntington/Virginia/stairs. A pleasant short run with Stephanie, Sedona and Sarah. Legs were still feeling a little bit heavy and sore, but felt okay on the run.
This was also the first day of Bike-To-Work, a new fitness increasing/money saving initiative. I was only moderately terrified for my life... which I suppose exceeds expectations. ~80 minutes round trip, including getting horribly lost on my way back. It's only about 8.75 miles each way but somewhat slow going due to the traffic and heavy backpack. All in all it was not bad, I'm hoping to do this on the non shot days to supplement my meager running schedule. Toe a little bit tweaked out in the PM, maybe from pavement or from biking, or both.
Wednesday 08/06: 1:02:36, Monterrey to RB and back. The run in which I meet a golf ball named "Juice". No jokes. Ran really easy out, but pace crept up on the way back. Felt pretty good. I really enjoy the early morning. Bike to work went much better today, in which I had zero near death experiences and zero stopping to correct being losts. Hooray for improvement. ~70 minutes round trip.
Thursday 08/07: 1:01:39, RB perimeter plus the section to the yellow gate near JPL. Slept in until 6:30 this morning and it totally threw my whole morning off... Felt tired in many senses, legs felt heavy, and the temperature was creeping up. Somehow, it all started feeling a lot better after about 15-20 minutes, so I was able to finish strong, but basically ran pretty easy the whole way. I wonder if the extra biking is wearing me down... Felt much, much less zippy today both on my run and my commute. Hopefully my body will adjust... ~71 minutes round trip today, getting more comfortable with the route, but I rode much less aggressively than yesterday due to more tired.
Friday 08/08: Off, shots. It's amazing how quickly one adjusts to things. Felt really strange not to ride to work. I realized that I really enjoy riding to work.
Saturday 08/09: 54:42, some moderate tempo work in the Arroyo. 4 x Arroyo Tempo loops with the first and last warm up and cool down. There were supposed to be 3 tempo ones in the middle... but apparently it wasn't meant to be: 15:50, 11:51, 11:23, 14:23 plus jog back to car. Woke up with a stomach ache and felt pretty awful on the warm up lap. Surprisingly the first tempo lap was really good, a good clip but breathing only through nose, but for some reason I just freaked out on the second one. I think I was anticipating a slowdown and overcompensated. Then I had to sprint to pass an enormous (like, 50 kids) patch of HS cross country-ers, and at the end, I kinda felt like I was done. It bugged me for a while afterwards that I didn't do the 3 laps... but I decided that there'd be other days, and that I learned from this run that I do think I have 3 sub-12 minute laps in me right now. I was really worried about not clearing that hurdle, so I guess this exceeds expectations.
Training this week: 5:09:23, plus ~3:40 riding to work
Goals: To be able to descend a staircase without wincing.
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