February 07, 2006
Frustrated
I know what it takes to get into shape and keep improving upon it. I have done it for most of my life in the swimming arena. It is really becoming frustrating though to try and combine work with training because I have never really had to do that. Getting up at 4:45 am when you are getting called at all hours of the night for work is not a match made in heaven. Last night my wife was doing gymnastics in bed tossing and turning and I am pretty sure it was about 1 or 1:30 am when I finally got to sleep.
So this morning I missed my spinning class, but got up to get a run in. Only 2 miles and with a broken computer I just have the data in the watch ... no pretty graphs for analysis (hopefully I will get my baby back soon). I will update this post with those stats later on, but the basics were a 2 mile run and both miles were under 10 mins. Kept a nice pace and really stretched it out on the last quarter mile. HR was somewhere in the 180's ... I can tell I have lost ground from a couple weeks ago, but I hope to get control of that and try to get some semblance of a routine back together. Over this next week I have work 12 hour shifts and so will be difficult to judge when I can get in workouts, but I am just going to grab them when I have free time and after Val hopefully I can get back to the usual routine.
Posted by bigred at 09:27 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 30, 2006
A New Day
Oh man ... what a morning ... was just plain tough to get out of bed. It shouldn't have been, I did not have a huge run planned, just a 1 mile quick down and back type run. The day though has caught up with me and I guess my body had sensed that this morning.
So my new laptop I have had for only 3 months has Blue Screened me to death, thanks Mr. Gates for that one. All my Polar info is on there, thankfully I have it backed up from last friday so I shouldn't have lost too much. The bad part is the machine is completely toasted ... no hope of fixing it without blasting it away. So there is that, plus the fact that work has increased about 10 fold because the client I am working with no is holiday dependent, so I have another reason to hate valentines day :) Searching for some good news, I had my first mile back under 9 minutes so that is positive, I did not make it to swimming today, but plan on getting a nice 5 am beating in spinning class and then cranking out a 3 mile run. Just hanging on through the rest of today first.
Posted by bigred at 04:00 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 26, 2006
An Anomoly?
Wow ... the last two times I have gone running right after cycling it is such a struggle for that first mile to get in the groove ... a painful struggle, but this morning was a completely different story. I was preparing to struggle the entire time, but it never came. Not only that, but my mile times dropped, my HR also dropped about 5 - 10 beats per minute and this run felt effortless.
When I finished and I looked down at my watch and saw the time I was just amazed. The foot pod I thought had maybe screwed up when measuring the distance, but I ended about the same place I always end ... maybe a few steps off at most. My breathing stayed controlled the entire run, which I really try to focus on, I have found through trial and error that when I really focus on my breathing I am controlling my HR. I can usually drop my HR by 5 - 10 beats per minute just by controlling my breathing. So that lines up with the drop I saw in my HR, but how did I go that much faster ... especially when I am at the end of the week when my body is pretty beaten up? Here is what the run looked like:
Overall
2.00 mile run
.30 mile walk - cooldown
avg hr: 160 bpm (max of 183 bpm)
avg speed: 5.3 mph (max of 7.2 mph)
1st mile - 10:13 min
avg hr: 166 (max of 176 bpm)
avg speed:5.6 mph
2nd mile - 9:32 mile
avg hr: 175 (max of 177 bpm)
avg speed:6.2 mph
The speed was not that far off, just the time and HR dropped significantly. I watched my HR most of the run and was just amazed at the ease of the run and how my HR wasn't jumping up at all. Maybe all this work is starting to pay some dividends. Or maybe that extra day off last Saturday was too much rest ... and took me till Thurs to get back into the comfort zone. No way to really tell if this was just a moment in the zone until the next combo on tues morning. I am definately looking forward to it now!!!
Posted by bigred at 07:02 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 24, 2006
Complete exhaustion
Starting to stack up these it is clear to see the shape you need to be in to compete or even more so finish a triathlon. My run started out slow as expected and actually comparing numbers from my last two runs after biking that first mile is just about exact in every regards. The second mile however is very very tough. Today I was getting a side stitch and although the HR and speed weren't showing it I was basically running out of breath.
The stats below are pretty close to the last two runs I had last week on Tues and Thurs. I need to be aware of these stats and track them more closely to make sure I am not overtraining and exhaustion doesn't take over. Things to look for can be found on this site
Overall
2.00 mile run
.20 mile walk - cooldown
avg hr: 171 bpm (max of 191 bpm)
avg speed: 5.2 mph (max of 6.5 mph)
1st mile - 10:45 min
avg hr: 171 (max of 187 bpm)
avg speed:5.6 mph
2nd mile - 10:18 mile
avg hr: 185 (max of 190 bpm)
avg speed:5.8 mph
Another week of training off to a decent start. I just look forward to Thursday nights after class ends about 9 pm and the brutal part of each week is over!
Posted by bigred at 07:54 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 23, 2006
Week 2 begins
It begins by doing a nice little 1 mile run which is suppose to be recovery according to the workout schedule, but I view it as more of let's get the blood flowing again and let's get back into the swing of things. A nice, but sometimes rude introduction into the week :)
It was a pretty good run and I tried to stretch out my strides. Was taking a step every 1 1/2 to 2 cement squares. Possibly not the best way to measure your stride, but I am just comparing to when I run after I bike. It was a pretty cold morning out too ... mid 20's, but all the same was a good slap in the face to get the week started off. Stats below:
Overall
1 mile run
.3 mile walk - cooldown
avg hr: 159 bpm (max of 189 bpm)
avg speed: 5.1 mph (max of 8.1 mph)
1st mile - 9:20 min
avg hr: 172 (max of 188 bpm)
avg speed: 6.3 mph
Posted by bigred at 08:53 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 19, 2006
Suit up
Well I got done with spinning and felt great on the car ride home, so I figured there is not time to rest ... I suited and geared up and was off and running. today was again a 2 mile run and tried to keep a nice even pace, which after spinning for 45 minutes isn't too difficult to do. It is more like can I up the pace so I am not considered walking :)
I think with the spinning effect, these runs are better off. It may be a slower pace, but it is keeping my HR at the right range to be effective. Really all I am concerned with at this point is not speed, I know that will come later, but efficiency with my workouts. I need to get my muscles in shape and prepared for endurance. I need to get aerobically prepared, I just have to get a good base built before any real work can get done. Otherwise if I don't at some point down the road everything will come crumbling down and by that I mean injuries, etc. So here are the results of today's run:
Overall
2.00 mile run
.20 mile walk - cooldown
avg hr: 173 bpm (max of 193 bpm)
avg speed: 5.2 mph (max of 7.3 mph)
1st mile - 10:44 min
avg hr: 175 (max of 185 bpm)
avg speed:5.5 mph
1.93 mile - 10:02 mile pace
avg hr: 186 (max of 193 bpm)
avg speed:5.9 mph
So as I look back on tuesdays run I see my speeds were down per mile, but also my heart rate was down significantly too. This run I was in a good comfortable cruise and I was still pretty much covering the 2 miles in the same amount of time. Ultimately a couple months from now I want to be at 14 minutes or under for two miles. Especially after I get done biking right before then :)
Posted by bigred at 07:23 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 17, 2006
Am I done yet?
So 45 minutes of spinning ... how will it affect my run. Well as it turns out it was not to terrible. It took about a mile to get into a good rythm, and of course going slightly downhill did not hurt at that point. I found that once I got going my heart rate seemed pretty stable and having my legs being pretty worn out helped slow down my pace to stay in an aerobic range.
The stats from the run are below:
Overall
1.93 mile run (had to stop before the huge hill crippled me)
.17 mile walk - cooldown
avg hr: 180 bpm (max of 196 bpm)
avg speed: 5.4 mph (max of 6.8 mph)
1st mile - 10:51 min
avg hr: 176 (max of 191 bpm)
avg speed:5.4 mph
1.93 mile - 9:47 mile pace
avg hr: 190 (max of 196 bpm)
avg speed:6.1 mph
So the time for the first mile was close to what I started out with on Sat. The second mile pace was a minute quicker than the first mile, and I felt really good during that portion, although as the end of the run came up I could feel some serious fatigue. I felt alot better than I thought I woudl after that spinning class, I just didn't know how my legs would respond and surprisingly they did quite well. So now it is 8ish am and I am get to sit down the rest of the day. Somehow I am looking forward to it .... can't imagine why :)
Posted by bigred at 08:23 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 16, 2006
Such a struggle
I have the day off of work today so it should not have been such a question in my mind to go for a simple 1 mile run, but it was. My legs are still a bit sore from Saturday's run, to be expected trying to get them back into running shape, but I am heading to the pool later this afternoon so I knew I would be getting some sort of exercise in. The issue was not about exercise, it is doing all the elements of the triathlon and training in each.
So it may have took 30 minutes to convince my self to spend the 10 minutes running this morning, but it was a huge mountain to overcome and hopefully it is not as difficult now to snap into the routine.
Overall
1 mile run
.6 mile walk - cooldown
avg hr: 153 bpm (max of 191 bpm)
avg speed: 4.5 mph (max of 6.6 mph)
1st mile - 10:03 min
avg hr: 178 (max of 188 bpm)
avg speed: 6.0 mph
A nice an easy run as it should be. This afternoon I will be hitting the pool and not quite sure what the workout will be or total yards, just have to see how my body is feeling. Gotta get use to doing 2 a day workouts.
Posted by bigred at 09:57 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 14, 2006
Getting my legs back
Well I broke out the new kicks for the year and went on a 2 mile run. My heart about leaped out of chest :) Was a tiny bit out of shape and after a the first mile my HR was at 195. I had to slow down and so I walked for about 30 or 45 seconds to get my HR back down to 170 and then started up on the second mile.
It wasn't to bad, but it was tough to get back in to it. Very nice to know that I have the rest of the day to recover ... rest of the weekend :)
Overall
2 mile run
.2 mile walk - cooldown
avg hr: 166 bpm (max of 196 bpm)
avg speed: 5.1 mph (max of 6.6 mph)
1st mile - 10:46 min
avg hr: 179 (max of 191 bpm)
avg speed:5.6 mph
2nd mile - 10:39 min
avg hr: 186 (max of 192 bpm)
avg speed:5.7 mph
All in all not to bad. I didn't feel all that great, but mentally felt good to just get this initial run in the books.
Posted by bigred at 10:43 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 24, 2005
Just trying to catch up ....
Nothing new to report ... just glad that I am on a route I know!! :)
My watch is complete jacked up .. it recorded my first mile as taking 10 minutes ... I know I wasn't going that slow. Now times to report today ... I did a 2 mile run though and .1 mile walk.
Posted by bigred at 10:46 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 22, 2005
I'm Lost
Yeah it happened. I thought I knew where I was going and I had absolutely no idea. I just kept running and against my better judgement never turned around ... just kept running ...
Before I knew it I had run 5 miles and I knew the only way to find my way back was the route I had run to get lost in the first place. Not a fun thought when you are worn out and only suppose to run 6 miles for the day.
Here is the mess I got into:
Overall
7 mile total run
1 mile walk - cooldown
avg hr: 166 bpm (max of 197 bpm)
avg speed: 5.8 mph (max of 8.8 mph)
1st mile - 8:13 min
avg hr: 167 (max of 179 bpm)
avg speed:7.4 mph
2nd mile - 7:42 min
avg hr: 182 (max of 183 bpm)
avg speed:7.8 mph
3rd mile - 7:39 min
avg hr: 187 (max of 187 bpm)
avg speed:7.9 mph
4th mile - 7:54 min
avg hr: 190 (max of 193 bpm)
avg speed:7.6 mph
5th mile - 8:39 min
avg hr: 193 (max of 193 bpm)
avg speed:6.9 mph
6th mile - 19:56 min (walking trying to find out where I am)
avg hr: 134 (max of 124 bpm)
avg speed:3.1 mph
7th mile - 9:12 min (running again)
avg hr: 176 (max of 187 bpm)
avg speed:6.5 mph
8th mile - 9:12 min
avg hr: 190 (max of 193 bpm)
avg speed:6.5 mph
On the last 3 miles I don't think my watch was working correctly and recording the data correctly. But I have to go by what it is telling me ... Eventually being gone so long my wife came looking for me and I had been wishing she had found me 3 miles back!!! :)
Posted by bigred at 01:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 17, 2005
Recovery day ... yeah right
Well after the 5 mile run the 2 mile recovery seemed like nothing .. and my times reflect that same though. I felt pretty good on this one and instead of taking it too slow and just relaxing and ripped off a nice 7:16 mile to cap it off.
Overall
2 mile run
.2 mile walk - cooldown
avg hr: 171 bpm (max of 193 bpm)
avg speed: 6.5 mph (max of 9.1 mph)
1st mile - 8:10 min
avg hr: 169 (max of 189 bpm)
avg speed:7.4 mph
2nd mile - 7:16 min
avg hr: 188 (max of 186 bpm)
avg speed:8.2 mph
Posted by bigred at 02:14 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 15, 2005
New Distance Record
Longest run I have ever done in my life :) Not very far I know, but hey I try to find the positive's in everything. The run started out good, but I died pretty quickly after the third mile. The last two miles were run with the "just hang on you are almost done" attitude :)
Overall
5 mile run
.4 mile walk - cooldown
avg hr: 174 bpm (max of 194 bpm)
avg speed: 6.3 mph (max of 8.4 mph)
1st mile - 8:31 min
avg hr: 162 (max of 182 bpm)
avg speed:7.0 mph
2nd mile - 7:50 min
avg hr: 179 (max of 182 bpm)
avg speed:7.6 mph
3rd mile - 8:02 min
avg hr: 186 (max of 185 bpm)
avg speed:7.4 mph
4th mile - 8:36 min
avg hr: 187 (max of 192 bpm)
avg speed:7.0 mph
5th mile - 8:54 min
avg hr: 187 (max of 190 bpm)
avg speed:6.7 mph
Posted by bigred at 02:08 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 13, 2005
Worn out Heart
Heart was hurting today ... not heart attack kind of hurting, just felt strained by all the running I have been doing as of late. Not really where I wanted to be going into the long run on Sat ... hoping that goes well
Overall
2 mile run
.2 mile walk - cooldown
avg hr: 161 bpm (max of 183 bpm)
avg speed: 6.5 mph (max of 9.6 mph)
1st mile - 8:28 min
avg hr: 161 (max of 180 bpm)
avg speed:7.2 mph
2nd mile - 7:28 min
avg hr: 176 (max of 172 bpm)
avg speed:8.0 mph
Posted by bigred at 12:25 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 11, 2005
Struggling with a Route
Still learning the distances around our new home, what streets are busy and what streets let me run in peace. The urban runner ...
Overall
3 mile run
.2 mile walk - cooldown
avg hr: 176 bpm (max of 193 bpm)
avg speed: 6.9 mph (max of 9.5 mph)
1st mile - 8:04 min
avg hr: 167 (max of 187 bpm)
avg speed:7.4 mph
2nd mile - 7:46 min
avg hr: 185 (max of 190 bpm)
avg speed:7.7 mph
3rd mile - 7:30 min
avg hr: 184 (max of 193 bpm)
avg speed:8.0 mph
Posted by bigred at 12:24 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 10, 2005
In the new Home
New running route ... just updating with the workout results ...
Overall
2 mile run
.2 mile walk - cooldown
avg hr: 165 bpm (max of 183 bpm)
avg speed: 6.6 mph (max of 9.1 mph)
1st mile - 8:07 min
avg hr: 164 (max of 179 bpm)
avg speed:7.5 mph
2nd mile - 7:44 min
avg hr: 176 (max of 170 bpm)
avg speed:7.7 mph
Posted by bigred at 12:24 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 08, 2005
Race for the Cure
A race for a ood cause and a much needed distraction in the training to just be out and about with a ton of people
was definately different being lumped in with a group of people and having to run in spurts before you could get into a nice open space to get a good pace going. Times were decent overall.
Overall
3.1 mile run
walk - cooldown
avg hr: 176 bpm (max of 196 bpm)
avg speed: 7.4 mph (max of 9.3 mph)
1st mile - 8:59 min
avg hr: 160 (max of 178 bpm)
avg speed:6.6 mph
2nd mile - 7:30 min
avg hr: 183 (max of 186 bpm)
avg speed:8.0 mph
3rd mile - 7:24 min
avg hr: 189 (max of 192 bpm)
avg speed:8.1 mph
Posted by bigred at 12:23 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 04, 2005
Easy does it
Well I was somewhat looking forward to this run. The last run I will start from our temporary house. I am going to try to get in a 2 mile run in TN on thurs, but no promises with everything that is going on (and the White Sox playing Wednesday night :) ).
The run turned out pretty good. Held a nice steady pace. Picked it up a bit on the 2nd and 3rd mile which is what I like to see and did stablize at a comfortable HR during most of the 2nd and 3rd mile. I always tend to push a bit at the end of the run because I know I am done with it at that point. Overall it felt good.
Overall
3 mile run
.2 mile walk - cooldown
avg hr: 166 bpm (max of 192 bpm)
avg speed: 6.8 mph (max of 9.3 mph)
1st mile - 8:18 min
avg hr: 156 (max of 170 bpm)
avg speed:7.2 mph
2nd mile - 7:46 min
avg hr: 176 (max of 180 bpm)
avg speed:7.7 mph
3rd mile - 7:44 min
avg hr: 184 (max of 192 bpm)
avg speed:7.7 mph
I threw in some hills in that second mile which pretty much ate my legs up. Not to bad though, I am going to need to start incorporating more hills in my runs in order to not be shocked when I face them in competition.
Posted by bigred at 02:01 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 03, 2005
I love recovery days
They are just a nice quick jog around for a mile and you are done ... as this program advances though they will be 2 and 3 mile runs, but hopefully at that time they feel the same as this 1 mile fun run.
Just got out there and got it done. Was a little sore fom the sat run so it was good to get out and stretch.
Overall
1 mile run
.2 mile walk - cooldown
avg hr: 147 bpm (max of 177 bpm)
avg speed: 6.1 mph (max of 9.6 mph)
1st mile - 7:59 min
avg hr: 157 (max of 177 bpm)
avg speed:7.5 mph
Overall not bad. Just and easy pace and got the mile in and went off to work.
Posted by bigred at 11:59 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 01, 2005
Oh dear
Oh dear is right. This mornings run was a struggle right from the get go. I simply was not hydrated going into this run, I knew it and I think that not only played a bit on the physical performance, but also on the mental performance.
The first mile is always a good warmup, I expect it to be slower and I expect to build into the run and increase to a comfortable pace. Not today, the second mile my7 legs just turned to rubber and that was that. Results below
Overall
4 mile run
1 mile walk - cooldown
avg hr: 173 bpm (max of 191 bpm)
avg speed: 6.9 mph (max of 8.4 mph)
1st mile - 9:06 min
avg hr: 157 (max of 172 bpm)
avg speed: 6.6 mph
2nd mile - 8:00 min
avg hr: 176 (max of 179 bpm)
avg speed: 7.5 mph
3rd mile - 7:58 min
avg hr: 183 (max of 184 bpm)
avg speed: 7.5 mph
4th mile - 7:52 min
avg hr: 188 (max of 190 bpm)
avg speed: 7.6 mph
After that second mile and my legs going out the door I knew it would just be a struggle to get through the run and complete it. It was very much a struggle, but also very much a success. To make it through that run in the condition my body was in was a huge success. The times were not terrible and HR was a bit lower than normal, but overall it was a still a decent run and still 4 miles. I do know though that in order to hit these long days in stride I really got to get hydrated the night before!
Posted by bigred at 02:40 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 29, 2005
34 Degrees
WOW WOW WOW .... yeah it was seriously 34 degrees outside. Thank goodness my wife had me pack some winter clothes prior to moving into our temp house here, I layered up and braved the elements this morning!
The stupid thing is it is suppose to get up to a high of 66 today and the mid 70's through the weekend. Damn cold fronts! I think my watch is getting closer to being adjusted correctly. I am about .1 or .2 off now I think overall. Here are the #s from today's run:
Overall
2 mile run
.16 mile walk - cooldown
avg hr: 171 bpm (max of 188 bpm)
avg speed: 7.2 mph (max of 9.1 mph)
1st mile - 8:05 min
avg hr: 164 (max of 182 bpm)
avg speed:7.4 mph
2nd mile - 7:16 min
avg hr: 185 (max of 188 bpm)
avg speed:8.3 mph
Not too bad, I think I was in shock of how cold it had gotten on that first mile. Took me awhile to get warmed up, but I did get to try out some of my new dri-fit clothes and they worked as advertised. My times are not that much slower than I had anticipated adjusting the watch, but I do have one more adjustment to do and I think only on special days right now am I going to be breaking 7 minutes. Still a long road to go ....
Posted by bigred at 09:24 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 27, 2005
Run like the wind
I thought I recalibrated correctly ... I thought wrong. Seems that I wasa bit off, not by much, but by enough so that I think it made a slight difference.
I knew I was running a bit short, but I am still pretty happy with the results. I have reset the watch again and manually adjusted the watch in the reverse direction for calibration. I think Thursday's run will be closer to exact with my improved stride. Here are the results from today:
Overall
3 mile run
.1 mile walk - cooldown
avg hr: 177 bpm (max of 189 bpm)
avg speed: 8.0 mph (max of 9.6 mph)
1st mile - 7:41 min
avg hr: 161 (max of 172 bpm)
avg speed:8.0 mph
2nd mile - 7:08 min
avg hr: 184 (max of 180 bpm)
avg speed:8.4 mph
3rd mile - 7:00 min
avg hr: 185 (max of 185 bpm)
avg speed:8.6 mph
See I know it is somewhat close just based off the times and my HR during each mile. I like seeing my HR stay pretty steady across the runs and the first mile now of each run is so smooth. Smooth from the standpoint of breathing ... the joints take awhile to grease up :)
Posted by bigred at 10:00 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 26, 2005
Recalibration Run
Well I thought I would take this mile run this morning to do a little recalibration. So I know a route that is exactly .8 miles and I punched it into my watch and off I ran.
Man I was cruising this morning. I mean full stride right from the get go. I completed the .8 mile run and waited for the totals to stop calculating. As I was waiting for that all of the sudden "Calibrate Failed". Words can not express the frustration after I had completed that run at what seemed like record pace. Of course a few choice words were said! Needless to say I am going to be working off my previous calibration and start bumping it up manually until I get closer to the actual distance. So for today the run went well for a recovery run and tomorrow morning I will be hitting the pavement for 3 miles.
Posted by bigred at 10:02 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 24, 2005
Go the distance
Well it took a little motivation to get up and run 4 miles. Just was not looking forward to the distance and being that any thing I have done in the way of sports in my life has involved a sprint ... 4 miles just doesn't fit that bill. :)
It went pretty well though after looking through these results:
Overall
4 mile run
1.2 mile walk - cooldown
avg hr: 151 bpm (max of 192 bpm)
avg speed: 5.4 mph (max of 9.7 mph)
1st mile - 9:03 min
avg hr: 155 (max of 172 bpm)
avg speed: 6.6 mph
2nd mile - 7:32 min
avg hr: 177 (max of 179 bpm)
avg speed: 7.9 mph
3rd mile - 7:34 min
avg hr: 183 (max of 187 bpm)
avg speed: 7.9 mph
4th mile - 7:18 min
avg hr: 189 (max of 189 bpm)
avg speed: 8.2 mph
I felt like I accomplished a huge goal after finishing this run. Now the runs just start stacking up each week. No more little runs, most of the runs now will be 2 to 3 miles for the short days and then on Saturday's they just keep getting longer. Still don't know how I am going to be able to run that long, but I will worry about that week to week.
Posted by bigred at 01:33 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 22, 2005
I definitely need to swim more
Yeah so I hit the water yesterday and it was good to get back in, but man ... when I run after swimming the day before I am like a different person. I can breath easier, running in general just seems easier. It is still by no means pleasant, but A LOT more tolerable! :)
I just seemed to start smoother on the run and was able to start at a faster pace. For the first time I finally broke through the 7 minute barrier for a mile within my workout ... very excited about that. Over the course of my running workouts I still seem to be getting faster and pacing better. Improvements keeps happening and I am enjoying that ... much easier to motviate yourself when that keeps occuring.
Overall
2 mile run
.2 mile walk - cooldown
avg hr: ??? bpm (max of ??? bpm)
avg speed: 7.2 mph (max of 9.2 mph)
1st mile - 7:51 min
avg hr: ??? (max of ??? bpm)
avg speed: 7.6 mph
2nd mile - 6:54 min
avg hr: ??? (max of ??? bpm)
avg speed: 8.7 mph
Well I did get my replace chest strap this afternoon with the mail. So on Sat when I hit my 4 mile run I will be able to monitor things and adjust my running based on that. I know when I got under 7 minutes for that second mile my HR had to be leaping out of chest. On Sat I will have confirmation of that, but I don't expect to be running that fast .... I do have to run 4 miles versus 2.
Posted by bigred at 07:10 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 20, 2005
Man is it sunny out
This morning I headed out to the trail behind our temp house and started my run into the blinding sun. It had been bright before, but maybe I was not fully awake this morning and it is like when you have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and you hate to turn the lights on for fear of blinding yourself. That is what it was like ...
So I ran with my head down for awhile until I got some shade from some trees and kept on trucking. Overall a pretty decent run. Still waiting for my replacement HR chest strap so no HR data, but speed data is here:
Overall
2 mile run
.2 mile walk - cooldown
avg hr: ??? bpm (max of ??? bpm)
avg speed: 6.9 mph (max of 9.0 mph)
1st mile - 8:14 min
avg hr: ??? (max of ??? bpm)
avg speed: 7.4 mph
2nd mile - 7:24 min
avg hr: ??? (max of ??? bpm)
avg speed: 8.1 mph
Overall I was pretty happy with the run and felt good. Tomorrow I hit the water again ... it has been too long!
Posted by bigred at 03:08 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 19, 2005
Normal in Newton
Well back in Iowa and back to a normal routine for awhile. A nice recovery run and felt good for most of it. Tried to start out fast and stretching more before running.
Here are the stats (w/o the HR data)
Overall
1 mile run
.3 mile walk - cooldown
avg hr: ??? bpm (max of ??? bpm)
avg speed: 6.1 mph (max of 9.8 mph)
1st mile - 7:42 min
avg hr: ??? (max of ??? bpm)
avg speed:8.0 mph
Not terrbile for a Monday. So much to do today to catch up after being gone for a week running was the least of my concerns today and maybe that is why it made it so easy today.
Posted by bigred at 10:28 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 17, 2005
Back in Chicago
Well it is kinda of funny, but over this week this is the third location in the US I have run. Fortunately there is not a huge difference in the altitude like running the mountains and than running at sea level. It is also unfortunate that like an idiot I forgot to pack my HR strap. So for the next few runs until I get a replacement (only $16 ... pretty lucky there) I will only have speed data.
A longer run, and here are the results:
Overall
3 mile run
1 mile walk - cooldown
avg hr: ??? bpm (max of ??? bpm)
avg speed: 5.6 mph (max of 9.2 mph)
1st mile - 9:10 min
avg hr: ??? (max of ??? bpm)
avg speed:6.8 mph
2nd mile - 7:30 min
avg hr: ??? (max of ??? bpm)
avg speed:8.0 mph
3rd mile - 7:04 min
avg hr: ??? (max of ??? bpm)
avg speed:8.5 mph
Well I know my HR was going through the roof on the last mile, but after that first warmup mile I was able to get a couple good miles in the 7 minute range. I love the long runs that go well and build up the speed into each mile. Only .2 more to finish a 5k run strong.
Posted by bigred at 02:20 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 15, 2005
No Hurricanes in Durham
Well Durham, NC seemed to be far enough west of hte Huricane, little to no rain at all this entire week. This being my last morning running in a foreign area really makes me appreciate the Polar watch I got. You just go out and run and you know when you hit your mark. You know everything about the run.
Another 2 mile run today which it may seem to be getting a bit repetitive here, but I promise the mileage will be increasing and I better be learning to pace a bit better otherwise I won't be able to make the long runs.
Overall
2 mile run
.1 mile walk - cooldown
avg hr: 175 bpm (max of 198 bpm)
avg speed: 6.9 mph (max of 9.3 mph)
1st mile - 8:29 min
avg hr: 166 (max of 182 bpm)
avg speed:7.1 mph
2nd mile - 7:34 min
avg hr: 189 (max of 198 bpm)
avg speed:7.9 mph
I really have to get out of the habit of negative splitting these mile's and I need to start focusing and getting my HR stable and the mile times closer together. I think part of it too is that the first mile is typically a good warmup. I am looking forward to seeing how this Sat's 3 mile run goes as well as the longer runs in the upcoming weeks to see if that theory holds true.
Posted by bigred at 10:12 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 13, 2005
In the Triangle
MAN ARE MY KNEES SORE!!! They are just taking a brutal beating. I don't remember this every happening to me while I was running in KC and that was 3 times a week and I thought pretty close to the same mileage per week. I just don't get it and not sure what to do about it either.
My runs are not that bad once I get going, but later in the day I just really get sore. Maybe it is time to bust out the bags of ice, but seems way to early in the training cycle for that :) Oh well ... I don't know if it was the nerves for the first day of this training class, but my HR was out of control. I mean REALLY out of control, check out the stats from this 2 mile run:
Overall
2 mile run
.1 mile walk - cooldown
avg hr: 179 bpm (max of 197 bpm)
avg speed: 6.9 mph (max of 8.7 mph)
1st mile - 7:56 min
avg hr: 172 (max of 188 bpm)
avg speed:7.6 mph
2nd mile - 7:50 min
avg hr: 191 (max of 193 bpm)
avg speed:7.7 mph
This seems ot be the first time I kept a constant pace acorss both miles. My Hr was through the roof though, I think part of that is due to the fact I had a class where I was to meet a whole new group of people. Guess the nerves were kicked up a bit.
Posted by bigred at 07:27 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 12, 2005
Back from the cold
Well I am still not 100%, but I need to keep running otherwise I am going to lose more and more of what I have actually been working hard to gain. A nice little 1 mile run to get back into the swing of things was just what the doctor ordered.
So here are the results of that run:
Overall
1 mile run
.2 mile walk - cooldown
avg hr: 159 bpm (max of 183 bpm)
avg speed: 6.6 mph (max of 9.1 mph)
1st mile - 8:01 min
avg hr:162 (max of 183 bpm)
avg speed:7.6 mph
Not terrible, but it is nice to do these quick 1 mile runs. Definately does help recover!
Posted by bigred at 12:30 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 06, 2005
Two miles keeps getting easier
Well it is getting easier, but that is after I get going. Everything ... shins, knees, thighs, ears they all took awhile to get firing today. Once they did ... WOW ... I was on fire.
So the first mile felt a lot slower than it was. I seriously thought I was staring a 9 minute first mile right in the face, but was pleasently surprised to see 8:20 pop up when the first mile marker was reached. I think it took about half a mile to even get my legs to feel good. I am not sure if it is just the amount of running I am doing and my body still getting use to the routine or if I am heading for a nice injury. I am hedging my bets on just getting use to the routine due to the fact that once my legs are rolling I feel no pain. Stats below:
Overall
2 mile run
.3 mile walk - cooldown
avg hr: 159 bpm (max of 186 bpm)
avg speed: 6.8 mph (max of 9.1 mph)
1st mile - 8:20 min
avg hr:154 (max of 171 bpm)
avg speed:7.3 mph
2nd mile - 7:12 min
avg hr:177 (max of 185 bpm)
avg speed:8.3 mph
Yeah I know, 7:12 for that second mile. I was pushing myself after that slow start and I really wanted to see how high my HR would go. I had some super long strides going and I felt in great form. I was really kicking at the end of that two mile mark just as if I was finishing a race and trying to see what kind of energy I had left. I am very encouraged that from start to finish once my body had warmed up my HR was pumping pretty good and I never felt like I was going to collapse (yes this is still always a concern :) ). I am looking forward to a day off tomorrow and to a nice dip in the pool to add some variety back into the training.
Posted by bigred at 11:08 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 05, 2005
A quick recovery run
Well even though today was a recovery run I was looking forward more to sleeping in than the quick mile I had for today. Regardless I sacrificed the pillow time for some time pounding the pavement. My wife and dog again joined me on the run.
The pace was nice a slow and I have noticed that it takes me a little bit now to get into these runs and get warmed up. It must be because I am still just starting out, my muscles don't quite know how to respond. Well I am forcing them to figure it out. Nothing to special with this run, just a nice easy one for a recovery day. Stats below:
Overall
1 mile run
.4 mile walk - cooldown
avg hr: 131 bpm (max of 162 bpm)
avg speed: 4.9 mph (max of 7.0 mph)
1st mile - 9:37 min
avg hr:148 (max of 161 bpm)
avg speed:6.2 mph
Posted by bigred at 09:15 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 03, 2005
Windy City Running
I am in the windy city, staying at my parents house, the alarm goes off and just like that I bust out the door for my first 3 mile run of the program. Ok well maybe it was not just like that ... my wife joined me on the run as well as my dog. We all survived, and I learned a little something on this run.
Being that it was the longest distance run to date and starting out at a much slower pace than normal, I was basically able to build into each mile and get faster with each one. As I finished at the three mile mark I felt tremendous and definately could have run farther. The stats are below:
Overall
3 mile run
.8 mile walk - cooldown
avg hr: 153 bpm (max of 187 bpm)
avg speed: 5.5 mph (max of 8.0 mph)
1st mile - 9:37 min
avg hr:156 (max of 167 bpm)
avg speed:6.3 mph
2nd mile - 8:40 min
avg hr:172 (max of 178 bpm)
avg speed:6.9 mph
3rd mile - 8:06 min
avg hr:182 (max of 183 bpm)
avg speed:7.4 mph
I was especially surprised that the final mile was so quick, but there was a period that I got into such a groove my HR did not fluctuate at all for like 8 minutes. It just stayed at a constant pace, but looking back at the stats of this run it is clear my pace was increasing over the entire run. It seems that my body is figuring out this running thing and I am actually hitting some stabilization points. I was excited to see that at the end of my third week of training. Now that the long run is done for the week I am looking forward to enjoying the weekend and some recovery runs in the future.
Posted by bigred at 09:11 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 30, 2005
Learning to Pace
It was a pretty laid back run. There wasn't a whole lot of pain, however I was trying to push myself on the second mile today. I got that heart rate way up again, and I am not sure at this point that it is me pushing myself or just my body being out of shape. :)
After pulling the data from my watch it is clear I was cruising at a good pace on the second mile. I hope that my times and rates start dropping as I add swimming back into the mix tomorrow. Then my heart will be getting a workout by my legs will get a day to relax and loosen up. Here is the data from my run today.
Overall
2 mile run
.15 mile walk - cooldown
avg hr: 174 bpm
avg speed: 6.7 mph (max of 8.3 mph)
1st mile - 8:45 min
avg hr:166 (max of 181 bpm)
avg speed:6.9 mph
2nd mile - 8:10 min
avg hr:186 (max of 188 bpm)
avg speed:7.3 mph
Posted by bigred at 12:40 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 29, 2005
On to Week 2
Well I jumped on in to week 2 and it was no big deal. Mondays are slated as recovery days throughout the training schedule or function as days off if I were competing in events on Sundays.
It was a pretty uneventful run. I hope that is how all recovery days end up. Just a quick mile and then I am done for the day. With recovery days slated for Monday's and Thursdays on this training guide it sets me up nicely to get back into the water and swim on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Here are the details of today's run:
Overall
1 mile run
.4 mile walk - cooldown
avg hr: 149 bpm
avg speed: 5.5 mph (max of 8.3 mph)
1st mile - 8:19 min
avg hr:167 (max of 182 bpm)
avg speed:7.2 mph
Posted by bigred at 09:14 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 27, 2005
Focus on the Heart
Sat morning my motivation was to focus on keeping my heart rate below 180 at whatever costs. So I ran slower, I focused on my breathing and taking deeper breaths when running and the result was that this 2 mile run was quite a bit easier!
I was prety surprised actually as I just kept chugging along I was feeling no pain. Granted my mile times were slower, but I was able to sustain a constant pace without worrying about bonking. The second mile was faster than the first and I really tried to get right on 180 bpm. The last tenth of the run I was sprinting just to see the spike on the graph when I uploaded the exercise. :) I really felt the need to start learning how to pace now so when the longer milage's come into play I am not bonking during the run.
Overall
2 mile run
.2 mile walk - cooldown
avg hr: 162 bpm
avg speed: 6.0 mph (max of 8.6 mph)
1st mile - 9:31 min
avg hr:162 (max of 174 bpm)
avg speed:6.6 mph
2nd mile - 8:38 min
avg hr:178 (max of 185 bpm)
avg speed:6.9 mph
Posted by bigred at 10:52 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 25, 2005
The morning run
Well my run this morning felt pretty strong. I am not nearly as sore as the past 2 runs and maybe this swimming I have been doing for so long is paying off a bit. At least I know I am in some kind of shape :) It wasn't a very hot morning and moving towards the fall here I guess I can expect that. It actually makes it nice because I don't have sweat running into my eyes until after the first mile.
I was surprised at what one day off can do for ya. My legs felt great and I was not taxed trying to breathe either ... well until I was about done with the run. At about the 1.7 mile mark I had just simply pushed too hard. According to the basic calculation for Heart max I shouls be at 191 (220 - age) ... well from mile mark 1.1 to 1.7 I was at 190 and went above and peaked at 196 bpm. Yeah ... ouch ... I definately need to learn how to pace myself, but these short runs are hard. I say short like 2 miles is nothing, but when my schedule has me out there running 6 or 8 miles at a time, 2 miles is going to be short :) Stats from my run today:
Overall
2 mile run
.1 mile walk - cooldown
avg hr: 180 bpm
avg speed: 7.2 mph (max of 9.6 mph) :)
1st mile - 8:10 min
avg hr:188
avg speed:7.6 mph
2nd mile - 8:04 min
avg hr:191
avg speed:7.4 mph
What is surprising is how much I was crusing on the second mile. During that I had to stop running when my HR hit 196 .. I walked about .05 of a mile to get my HR to 175 and I started running again and the time was still faster than the first mile. The next run is a 2 miler set for Sat. Another day off is all I am looking forward too! :)
Posted by bigred at 11:54 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 23, 2005
Let the soreness begin
So I woke up this morning knowing today was a 2 mile run and wondering how in the world am I going to complete this run without legs :) Fortunately I was not nearly as sore as I had thought I would be after yesterday's run, but already this afternoon my legs are tightening every minute.
I actually got all strapped up again and felt pretty good walking out to the trail behind my house getting ready to roll. I ran about a mile and it seemed to be a pretty strong effort, but as my distance continued to increase my strength continued to decrease. By the time I ended my run I was exhausted and refreshed at the same time. I accomplished the run without any major setbacks and am excited for the wednesday off from running. Today's run consisted of:
2 mile run
.13 mile walk cooldown
Classes are starting tonight for me so I have yet another thing taking up my free time. I hope that this weekend I can put some of the charts that the Polar software is generating of my runs out here. That are pretty amazing!
Posted by bigred at 02:59 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 22, 2005
Gotta Start Somewhere
.... so why not start ugly! Oh my, I always knew this but I hate being reminded of the fact that even though I am in decent aerobic shape from swimming that in no way translates over to running. I used a running program a year ago that seem to work pretty well and so I decided this weekend to dig it up again and see if I could apply it to my training now.
I did dig it up again and the program I will be following is the 5k/10k schedule at level 2. Level 1 was not going to give me enough punishment and level 3 is more for someone who may have been running for the past year. So I began today with the following:
1 mile recovery run
.2 mile walk cooldown
I know I know ... first day out and I am doing a recovery run, but hey I am just following the schedule (and I should have started on Sat :) ) At any rate the HRM worked fantastic. I went out yesterday and calibrated it doing a 3/4 mile run. Now I can just pop in the foot pod and start running aimlessly until I hit my mile mark. No more running the same routes because I had the distance measured. I know as I get in better running shape I will probably have to recalibrate it again, but it was very nice to see exactly how far I had ran at any given point in the run. Then after dumping the data from the watch to my computer and using the included software program it does a tremendous job with presenting the data back in such a way to really help with my training. I will be able to analyze every aspect of my training and will have no excuses come race time next season!
Posted by bigred at 03:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
