June 2017 Running Challenge
Replies
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6/1 - 4 miles
6/2 - Pre-race rest day. Ate some donuts for national donut day / carb load
6/3 - 13.2 miles. Damn HOT Dam to Dam half marathon! Race report forthcoming.
6/4 - Ow.
6/5 - Still ow. Had hoped for a recovery run, but decided against it when I got up.
6/6 - 4.3 miles.
6/7 - Unplanned rest day due to son's strep throat :-(
6/8 - 5 miles.
6/9 - 5 miles.
6/10 - 6.2 miles.
6/11 - Rest day.
6/12 - 5 miles. 78° and humid at 4:45 a.m.!
6/13 - 4.1 miles of track/speed work with a group. Then quick upper body weights. Again, 78° and humid.
6/14 - Rest day. Semi-planned.
6/15 - 5 miles.
6/16 - 5 miles.
6/17 - 6.8 miles.
6/18 - Father's Day with my Dad and brother.
6/19 - 5 miles.
6/20 - 3.4 miles.
6/21 - 4 treadmill miles, then upper body weights.
6/22 - 5 hot and humid miles.
6/23 - 5 miles.
6/24 - Baseball tournament all day.
6/25 - 3.4 on the hotel 'mill.
6/26 - Rest day.
6/27 - 5.2 miles. Gorgeously cool morning!
6/28 - 4 treadmill miles, then weights/abs.
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@girlinahat
@PastorVincent - it was not you I was referring to. I'm questioning @cburke8909 for his adding more runs without having actually tried it as it is.
wouldn't you want to give the 1969 VW Bug a thorough test drive?
When it comes to any running plan I think in terms of it being a guide not a prescription. If I were a little more serious, I'd probably look for a running coach and we could pick out a plan that was more tailored based on his/her expert opinion. I welcome the advice (even when contrary) that I get here. I think all plans I use at the moment are experiments in what will and won't work for me. When altering a plan or following a plan my biggest concern is injury. The basics that I gather from reading and the MRC are to not have long runs that are to high a percent of your weekly total, have speed work but not too much (once a week) and have recovery runs to build endurance free of excessive stress on the body. This plan is questionable because the long runs are a very high proportion, I can ignore the violation and just do the plan as written or I can add a small alteration by using some easy runs instead of the cross-training. For now I may just do the cross-training as written and see how it feels, if it doesn't feel right then I will change. If Moby, Pastor, Stan or others here were to ,in consensus, think the plan is a total "kitten" then I would alter or find a new plan. Keeping in mind that one must listen to their own body. If today's plan called for an 8 mile run at pace and my knees, or ankle were just killing me I'm altering the plan and listening to my body. If I avoid injury, I can run another day. On that note the alteration of the plan that most concerns me is the 5k for fun. They are part of weekly races put out on by a local running club. I think if I go and find myself racing that could be the wrong thing, and so I am open to suggestions as to run/not run these.0 -
SpiritHippo wrote: »Boston was awesome - 3 wonderful runs!
Sorry - no time to catch up and see what's been going on in here. Way over my mileage and still got a few days running left!
Back in Orlando and getting ready for my trip to Barcelona/Italy/Germany - leaving Thursday. I've laid out piles of running clothes and lingerie.
Apparently I think I'll be running and then just hanging out in the room with hubby. Need to figure out the other clothes now.
......
What part of Italy are you visiting? We just got back from Florence, Venice and Rome (or Firenze, Venezia, Roma more accurately) and it was shorts or capris every day. Some nights I needed a light sweater. Rome was hot, hot, hot. We were always traveling as much as possible by foot. Capris are clutch because a lot of the sights require you to be dressed a little more conservative than you might on a typical hot day. I didn't see a single person wearing any type of athletic clothes except those running their routes through town! I say bring some cute tops with short sleeves or no sleeves that are dressy enough that you could pop in for dinner or a museum and then just have a light cardigan just in case. If you are traveling south of Rome it will be a lot hotter. Plan on wearing your hair up!
some places don't like shorts, and be careful of sleeveless/vest-type tops in Italy when trying to go into churches or places like the Vatican. You'll be expected to cover your shoulders, so take a scarf or cardigan for that. The Swiss Guards may well search your bags and can happily turn you away from the Vatican for not being dressed appropriately.
Be extra vigilant in Barcelona. Sadly it is pretty much the pickpocket capital of Europe (be vigilant every tourist area). The worst place is Las Ramblas, so try not to take photos with your phone or stop to look at maps.
enjoy!!1 -
cburke8909 wrote: »@girlinahat
@PastorVincent - it was not you I was referring to. I'm questioning @cburke8909 for his adding more runs without having actually tried it as it is.
wouldn't you want to give the 1969 VW Bug a thorough test drive?
When it comes to any running plan I think in terms of it being a guide not a prescription. If I were a little more serious, I'd probably look for a running coach and we could pick out a plan that was more tailored based on his/her expert opinion. I welcome the advice (even when contrary) that I get here. I think all plans I use at the moment are experiments in what will and won't work for me. When altering a plan or following a plan my biggest concern is injury. The basics that I gather from reading and the MRC are to not have long runs that are to high a percent of your weekly total, have speed work but not too much (once a week) and have recovery runs to build endurance free of excessive stress on the body. This plan is questionable because the long runs are a very high proportion, I can ignore the violation and just do the plan as written or I can add a small alteration by using some easy runs instead of the cross-training. For now I may just do the cross-training as written and see how it feels, if it doesn't feel right then I will change. If Moby, Pastor, Stan or others here were to ,in consensus, think the plan is a total "kitten" then I would alter or find a new plan. Keeping in mind that one must listen to their own body. If today's plan called for an 8 mile run at pace and my knees, or ankle were just killing me I'm altering the plan and listening to my body. If I avoid injury, I can run another day. On that note the alteration of the plan that most concerns me is the 5k for fun. They are part of weekly races put out on by a local running club. I think if I go and find myself racing that could be the wrong thing, and so I am open to suggestions as to run/not run these.
the bold is exactly what I was getting at.....you did rather imply you were going to change it right from the start because it didn't make sense to you.
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girlinahat wrote: »cburke8909 wrote: »@MobyCarp @PastorVincent and @girlinahat that's the plan she listed. The reason for additional run is because it's lack of runs makes me less than 100% confident in the plan. I like the three workouts quality but I think at least one more easy day of running makes more sense. I would even think 2 easy runs a week wouldn't hurt. I think the designer of the plan is emphasizing recovery and rest, which can come from those intentional slow paced runs. The plan suggests two additional workouts a week.
But it's a plan that has been tested AS IS. It may make more sense to you to add in an extra easy workout, but isn't the whole point of the plan that you SHOULDN'T add in an extra run? if you add in runs, you are no longer following the plan.
I would follow it as it is set for a period of say 6-8 weeks and see what improvements you can get. Add in easy runs after that if you are not seeing improvement
It's an interesting plan, with an interesting story behind hit. The first thing that struck me was, this is not a plan that was used for first time marathon runners. It is a plan that was used by experienced, established distance runners who were substantially cross-training in other sports. I question how well it would work for people who have not already established a record of consistent marathon finishes.
The next thing that I found interesting was the target paces, which are all based off a 10K race pace. If I take my two most recent 10K races and round the pace up to the nearest half minute, that gives me some numbers I can work with and think about. Long run, 10K pace + 60 to 75 seconds per mile. That's a range between what I was targeting for MP and the fast end of my easy range. Okay, I get that for a plan that generally wants faster paces.
Long tempo, 10K pace + 30 to 35 seconds. A bit slower than the T pace that features prominently in my plan, so I'm guessing "long tempo" means 7 to 10 miles. Mid tempo, 10K pace + 15 to 20 seconds. Right around my T pace. Short tempo, 10K pace. I'm not sure where the break between short and mid tempo should be on runs of 3 to 6 miles.
Then we get to the intervals. 1600m at 10K pace - 35 to 40 seconds. That puts me under a 6 minute mile. I don't think I have 3 reps of 1600m at that pace. 1200m, 10K pace - 40 to 45 seconds. Essentially my mile race pace. Like running 1200s at R pace. When 600s at R were as much as I could handle yesterday. 800m and 400m paces are a little faster. I might pull out all the stops and hit the target for 400m. I'm not going to hit it for 8 intervals in a row on the first day of training, even if I take full recovery.
Wow. This target is for runners who are very, very good. It's for runners who are better at short distances than I am, relative to their 10K race pace.
I note that the plan also encourages 40-45 minutes of cross training on two other days. Since I'm not much of a cyclist and I'm not a swimmer, I have to think in terms of running. Say the cross training is the equivalent of easy running, for cardio purposes. The plan as a whole would be roughly equivalent to a 5 day a week running plan, except replacing two of the easy days with training for the cycling or swimming legs of a tri.
Yeah, it makes sense in the context of the population of athletes it was developed for. The volume of very fast speed work on Tuesdays looks really aggressive to me, and I think I'd go nuts without the mental release of easier running on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, or Friday.
I also noticed that the article was posted in 2006 and describes a program that started in autumn 2003. There's been more than a decade for people to try this and similar ideas and see how it's gone for a larger population of runners than the original group. I suppose people must have tried it; I wonder what the results have been, beyond that initial study? Dr. Google found a contrary opinion of the FIRST Training plan. I don't necessarily agree with everything the critical article says, but it does make some good points.
I'd be interested to read what @Stoshew71 thinks about the FIRST training plan. He's done a lot more research on training methods than I have.1 -
@girlinahat @MobyCarp @cburke8909
I do not do interval work. I personally think that is of the devil and probably never will
So I would trust @MobyCarp's opinion on that and really question this plan based on the information he provided.
@cburke8909 - I do not recall who has said what... so maybe you have done this already... but if not... perhaps you should pick up that 80/20 book and try the plans he provides?1 -
Ok, race report time! Feel free to skip over this if it's too long, lol. TL:DR is it was awesome and I managed to PR against all my expectations!
I flew up to Bangor on Thursday, and stayed at my aunt and uncle's house for the duration of my trip. My grandma had already traveled up there about a week earlier, and was still visiting. Since the Bay of Fundy International Half Marathon crosses an international border there were some extra hoops to jump through prior to race day. When I first registered for the race I needed my passport info. Once I got up there, on either the Friday or Saturday before the race, all runners were required to pass through Border Control on BOTH sides. Each Border Control Station had a list of all the runners and you needed to be checked off both lists. The race organizers were smart and made bib pickup in Canada, on Campobello Island, and packet pickup in Lubec, on the US side.
The day before the race, there was a guided 5k run around and through Lubec, which was really nice because I needed a 3 mile shakeout run anyway. We met up at 8am, and there were about 15 of us. The entire area was completely fogged in, lol, but it was a really nice way to get to chat with some other runners and have a friendly, casual shakeout run.
So, the full marathon, ultra, and 10k all started in the US, but the half (what I was doing) actually started in Canada, about 3/4s of the way up Campobello Island. So race morning we piled onto school buses with our border declaration forms in hand. It was then I realized I had remembered everything except to apply my sunscreen!
I was kinda freaking out a little bit, but the very friendly woman sitting next to me had forgotten her chapstick in her bag drop bag, so she jumped off the bus and grabbed her chapstick and her sunscreen! She was the hero of the morning!
We were dropped at Cook's Point, on Campobello Island. They could have used a few more portapotties but the important thing is I was able to get through the line and to the start line in time! Both US and Canadian national anthems were sung, and then we were off! The course went north 3 miles to the northern tip of Campobello Island, u-turned through the parking light of Harbor Head Lightstation, and then ran all the way back down the island, over the bridge, hung a right turn, and finished on Water St. in Lubec, Maine. The event's website lists the courses as being hilly and challenging and I have to concur with this assessment, lol.
I'd say the first 6ish or so miles of the course the hills were steeper but shorter. I think I managed these pretty well, as I was able to power up them and then fly pretty well on the downhills, getting back time. After the first 6 miles the hills got not quite as steep, but longer. Definitely the definition of rolling hills. I actually found these hills to be more challenging, partly because of the mental aspect of it. Just seeing these loooong inclines coming up ahead of you was a mental struggle, and I often found myself thinking, "But I don't want to run up that!"
And they continued for the entire course. Even the bridge at the very end, crossing the border, had a decent slope going up it, for ships to pass underneath. I will say though, that it was nice having a few family members as spectators at the end, definitely helped give me that boost of energy to finish strong!
Overall, Strava gave me 898ft of elevation gain for the course, which pretty closely matches with the course description on the website. It was the most elevation gain I've ever run at these types of distances, and I went out with absolutely zero expectation of PR'ing on this course. So, of course, I ended up PR'ing! I beat my Tinkerbell HM time from last month (which had ~25ft of elevation gain, lol) by 40 seconds. This course was MUCH hillier and it was also warmer out as well (I believe it was in the low 70s, with a lot of sun, and not a lot of breeze). I have two explanations for this: 1) I could have run Tink faster. I went into that race not fully knowing what I would be capable of. I took 8 minutes off my previous HM time from Sept in that race, but I still finished it with a good amount of energy, and was able to run my final mile of it quite significantly faster than the rest of the miles. 2) I was able to add additional physical conditioning in the intervening month and a week between these two races. I am following fairly aggressive training plans, and had also started with the Wednesday summer track workout sessions, so I was only continuing to get stronger since Tink.
Whatever the explanation, I am absolutely thrilled with my performance. Official posted race time for me was 2:01:15. These are small races (only 247 in the half, 152 in the full, 131 in the 10k, and 21 in the ultra), so I was 7/29 in my age group (f30-39) and 55th overall out of 247. I feel like I ran it smartly, and pretty much to the max of my current ability. By the last 3 miles I was really feeling tired, but managed to pretty much maintain my pace, and had just enough energy for a bit of a sprint down the home stretch to the finish line. Of course, now I'm tempted to sign up for one more half this year, just so I can officially break that sub-2hr barrier, lol. I KNOW I can do it if I pick a flatter course. But, we'll see. My full marathon training plan officially starts in 2 1/2 weeks, eeek!!! I might turn into the female version of @MNLittleFinn on this thread, fair warning I am both excited and nervous!
I will do a separate post with race photos
Official results:
Splits:
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Bay of Fundy International Half Marathon pics:
No mile markers on the half course, only km (thank goodness for my running watch! lol), and they were made out of buoys!
The last hill, up the bridge into the US! On the course and ONLY on the course, your race bib was your passport!
Approaching the US Border Station (wish I had gotten a pic of all the Canadian Border Control agents cheering us on on the course)
One of the coolest finisher medals I've ever gotten, hand made by a local artist
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So I have a tennis tournament this Saturday and I haven't played tennis since college.. should be interesting. At least it's a fun one for charity, so no real pressure. I haven't been running much because I see why people avoid the treadmill. It brings out aches I don't have while road running, but right now it is just too hot/humid to run outside too often. I'm thinking of doing an agility workout tonight to help prepare me for tennis. I'm just trying to figure out the best bang for my buck workout to get me prepared for my 5k on the 4th and tennis. Any better ideas?0
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@KatieJane83 Cool pics, and I love that medal!1
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@KatieJane83 well done on the half and great photos and medal!!!1
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June 1- 2.8 miles(first run back!)
June 2- 30 minutes swim (800m)+ 30 minutes yoga
June 3- 3.6 miles+ 30 minutes stretching/PT
June 4- P90X3 Challenge
June 5- 32 minute swim (850m)
June 6- P90X3 CVX Cardio + 20 minutes stretching/PT
June 7- 25 minutes swimming (650m)
June 8- 30 min strength (back, shoulders, hamstrings and glutes), 28 min walk/run w/ Stella+ 10 min stretching
June 9- 30 min swimming (850 or 900m?)+ 15 min stretching/PT
June 10- Rest/ Travel day
June 11- 3.5 mile road/trail run + 15 minute stretching/PT
June 12- P90X3 Warrior+ 20 minutes stretching/PT
June 13- 4 miles + 20 minutes strength training+ 10 min stretch/PT
June 14- 36 minutes swimming (1000m)!+ P90X3 Dynamix
June 15- 4 miles running
June 16- 30 minutes swimming (850m)+ P90X3 Isometrix
June 17- Rest Day
June 18- 6 miles + 20 minutes stretching
June 19- P90X3 Dynamix + 25 minute run/walk intervals with Stella
June 20- 4.1 miles + 25 minutes strength training +10 minutes stretching/PT
June 21-30 min swim (850m)+ 20 minutes stretching + P90X3 Accelerator
June 22-3.5 miles
June 23-17 min stationary bike warm up + 25 minutes strength training+ 30 min swimming (850m)
June 24- 10 mile run + stretching
June 25- P90X3 Pilates + stretching
June 26- Rest Day
June 27- 10 min bike warm up + 25 min strength training+ 28 min running (3.4 miles)+15 min stretching
June 28- 30 min swim (850m)
Two encouraging displays of progress have me feeling pretty good right now. Yesterday evening I went for a run. Since my hamstrings have been feeling better, I was going to make it a fartlek run to test the waters on the limits of my speed and determine if I should consider running a 5K on Friday evening. I had a hair appointment, and the salon is less than a half mile from the paved path that will be part of the 5K course, so it would work out perfectly to go for my run from there after I got my hair done. Well, it turns out I forgot to pack my pouch which holds my Garmin and headphones and it was getting late, so I did not want to go home. I figured I would just run without them and not worry about the pace part of the run.
I decided to run 15 minutes out and turn around for a total run of 30 minutes. The run starts out with an uphill which I took slow to allow my legs to loosen up. After about a half mile of uphill, it's a gradual decent onto flat ground, where I started to pick up the pace a bit. Nothing too strenuous, just going a tad faster than I have been running for the past few months since the tendinitis started. I ran my 15 minutes out, turned around, ran back to my car and finished my run in a few seconds over 28 minutes. I guess I hadn't accounted for the negative splits due to warm up.
Because this route is a familiar segment to me, I had all of the data for the route saved in Garmin Connect from previous runs. I went back and measured the distance of my run and was surprised to see that it was 3.43 miles. Almost 3.5 miles in 28 minutes means I was running at just over 8 min mile average, including my warm up, so I must have been cruising at sub 8 minutes for a good piece of that. I would never have guessed this to be my pace based on how I felt (and I probably would not have allowed myself to run at this pace if I had my Garmin to tell me what it was). Needless to say, I am feeling very encouraged. I did lots of foam rolling last night!
My second round of encouragement came in the pool this morning. I was feeling pretty stiff and tired when I woke up and almost considered skipping my swim. I am glad I did not. I told myself that I would swim nice and easy and be happy with whatever I ended up doing. The nice and easy part was a good idea because I feel like I made a major breakthrough on my form. Today was the first day that I actually felt like I was gliding through the water rather than fighting it. I took long, easy strokes, which gave me good propulsion and kept me from getting too tired. At the end of my 30 minutes, my distance wasn't much of an improvement, but the overall difference in effort was huge. I may have been swimming slower than normal, but my break periods were definitely shorter, which I believe is the goal in increasing my endurance overall.
So my hump day is starting off on the right foot (or maybe I should say arm, since I swam ). Hope you all have a great day too! 7 -
PastorVincent wrote: »
This is one of my biggest reasons for loving when I find running pants with decent-sized pockets! Lol. I can just really easily slip my phone out, and then I take bursts of photos, just holding the button down while I'm running, since I'm not gonna stop, lol, and that way I still get some decent, not-blurry photos.2 -
@KatieJane83 -That looks like a fantastic race! And big congrats on your PR! It's amazing what a little hard core training can do for you, isn't it???1
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lporter229 wrote: »Because this route is a familiar segment to me, I had all of the data for the route saved in Garmin Connect from previous runs. I went back and measured the distance of my run and was surprised to see that it was 3.43 miles. Almost 3.5 miles in 28 minutes means I was running at just over 8 min mile average, including my warm up, so I must have been cruising at sub 8 minutes for a good piece of that. I would never have guessed this to be my pace based on how I felt (and I probably would not have allowed myself to run at this pace if I had my Garmin to tell me what it was). Needless to say, I am feeling very encouraged. I did lots of foam rolling last night!
Great report!
I have found I run a bit faster without headphones. I rarely do it cause well I like them
but I wonder if it is just easier to work out your pace without the distraction or something. 0 -
@MobyCarp
interesting breakdown of the paces from that training plan. It’s a plan marketed by Runner’s World as being a good alternative training for running a marathon, although I have a feeling it was originally developed for training for a half (I may be wrong). That would suggest it is geared to us plebs and not just experienced runners.
I would question whether easy running is actually cross-training. Surely the point of cross-training is that you are using different muscles that running? So more running can’t really be called cross-training.
I have at the back of my mind a full for next year sometime. But, before I do that, I want to become solid at the half. Not fast, just solid. Capable of taking on that distance and running it casually with no ill effects still hanging round two days later. I see burn out for me in a 16 week training plan for a full (the usual timescale). The marathon I have my eye on is this time next year. So when I’m done with the next HM at the end of July, I’m focussing on swimming, cycling and strength training with only an occasional run thrown in – I have a 5 week open water swim course lined up meaning I can’t run with my club that day, and while I may do the odd gentle run there won’t be much going on.
I want to build strength to start a new training cycle. I might even look at a formal plan, but I find many of the formal plans too short – I want a 24 week plan that eases me in gradually, not something to add a mile to each long run a week. I feel that will make me a more solid runner.
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@KatieJane83 Awesome race report! Love the pictures!1
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@lporter229 one thing I have been learning from swimming more is that most of us try and swim too fast. The trick is to slow your stroke down, and you'll go further for less effort.
Slow down and you won’t get out of breath either. Have you heard of the SWOLF score? It’s a way of training where you add the distance travelled to the number of strokes to get there. So if it takes 25 strokes to do 25m, you have a score of 50. The lower the score the better. My tomtom gives me an actual swolf score (although I don’t think it can measure properly…)0 -
6/1 = Gym day; 3 miles on the treadmill and 40 minutes of strength training
6/2 = 6 miles
6/3 = 6 miles & strength training
6/4 = 13.9 miles (run/walk)
6/5 = 8.1 miles & strength training
6/6 = rest day
6/7 = 8 miles (with 6 - 5 minute speed intervals)
6/8 = 5.5 miles
6/9 = 6 miles
6/10 = Hatha yoga class
6/11 = 10 miles (run/walk)
6/12 = 4 miles & strength training
6/13 = Vinyasa yoga class
6/14 = 7.5 miles
6/15 = 5.5 miles
6/16 = 6 miles & strength training
6/17 = 3 miles (5k race so technically 3.2 - rounding down)
6/18 = 13 miles
6/19 = 5 miles & strength training
6/20 = Vinyasa yoga class
6/21 = 8 miles (with 6 - 5 minute speed intervals)
6/22 = 5.5 miles & kettlebell workout
6/23 = 8.5 miles
6/24 = rest day
6/25 = 14 miles (run/walk)
6/26 = Gym day; 3 miles treadmill and 45 minute strength training
6/27 = Vinyasa yoga class
6/28 = 8 miles
Ughhhh...96% humidity for 8 miles. So very not "woo". They were also very slow miles because I overdid the squats on my gym/weight day on Monday. I had to psych myself up every time I got up from a chair yesterday - ouch!
June mileage goal met - Woo!
(June miles to date) 157.5/150 (June goal miles)
Upcoming 2017 Races:
10/28 = Hill Country Halloween Half Marathon
11/23 = Georgetown Turkey Trot
12/10 = BCS Half Marathon4
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