Starting the last week before taper

The last week before taper starts this Sunday.  That will be the last long run. I missed two key runs and a cross training session of the current week, so I really want an extra week. But that is the nature of time, what is past is past. You can't get it back.

First off, the long run last Sunday 10/9  was a washout due to bad weather - rains and strong winds coupled with some family schedule changes due to weather.  Similar unexpected work kept me out of Tuesday's cross training. I had some 400m interval runs Wednesday which went pretty good. Then late Wednesday onwards it was downhill for me healthwise. A tooth problem that stopped my training late August into September returned.  Pain on the left side of face radiating from a couple of teeth and their neighborhood going up across the left eye to the forehead.  That is getting sorted out now. Need to get the pain under control. Also the swelling - my left cheek is x 1.5 (lol).  That kept me out of Thursday's cross training and Friday's (today) 8 mile tempo. Also, can't eat well.. mostly fluidy stuff and something soft. I can gently chew on the other side. For situations like this is where an experienced coach can step in, and I am so happy to have Mickey McCauley of Furman Institute on my side. He can't help with the pain and medication, but that is what the doctor is for. Once he gets my report for the week he prepares my schedule for next week accounting for any variations that are needed for performance or lack thereof, or unexpected situations like what I am now facing.  The goals are challenging, but they are by and large doable. Once he received my email this afternoon, after my doctor visit and her take on where I am going to be healthwise in the next day, two days and a week, he sent me the following plan for next week. I do think the long run is going to be the most challenging because of the pace. Not that the distance is easy for me to handle. It does require some mental preparation and planning, and a sort of getting into a 'zone' if you will and staying there. Getting back to the pace, I think for the route/course I will be running on my long run  days it is a tough pace to meet, but I will be trying.   So here is what Mickey has set for me for next week -

--

Hi Kris,

Thanks for the report. Hope the tooth is better by tomorrow. Your 400'were better than I thought. I have made the 800's this week a little quicker. I have the 20 miler in this week it would still give you 3 full weeks to recover. last 2 weeks will taper. I actual have cut back a little on the other keys just not the 20 miler.

Key Run #1: Warm-up followed by 4 x 800m’s in 3:59 with a 1:30 RI between 800’s. Cool down.

Key Run #2: 6 miles @ 9:10 pace. Ease into pace.

Key Run #3: 20 miles @ 9:35 pace

Keep up some core work and stretching as well along with 2 bike workouts.

Running Tip: Going Out Too Fast

You can lose much more in the first few miles of a race than you can gain. Most coaches and experienced marathoners will tell you: The marathon doesn’t become a race until the final 10K. In order to reach the final 6.2 miles with enough juice in your legs to race toward the finish, you need to relax and settle into a rhythm for the first 20 miles. This is the key to a negative split (running faster over the second half than the first).

Race day is not the time to try new shoes or a new sports drink.

There’s a reason this statement has become a running cliche of sorts—because it’s true. The opportunity for testing new paces, nutrition, sports drinks, socks, racing flats or even a hat ended with your last long run. Stick to what you know and what you’ve tried during training so you can contemplate things you can’t control on race day, like the weather.

Have a great weekend and week.


Mickey

--

Check out the running tip section above.  As the saying goes, the first half of the marathon is 20 miles and the second half is 6.2 miles!  Or some others say, as above, the marathon starts at the 20 mile mark.  Until then you are just trying to get to the starting point :-) And you want to get there in the best possible shape.

I will be focusing on the long run a lot this week as this will be my longest run prior to the event on Nov 6. If it is a race I wouldn't worry because I feel fairly confident that on a normal day I should be able to make it on pretty much any of the courses I've ran so far. However, on a training run on my normal route with other runs and workouts to follow during the week it is a different story. But hey, this is my last long run prior to taper.   So I will give it a shot.

Stick with it, folks! This is not a sprint. This is a marathon (pun intended)   :-)

If I can run, u can run

Three stretches to get you out of the bed

Even if you wake up say at 5 in the morning, or for that matter whatever time you do, if you are like me your body doesn't want to move about when you wake up. It feels like there is an invisible elastic band that pulls your 'chassis' back to bed resisting your efforts to move.   If this is you, then I will share three stretches that I do while still in bed after which the body doesn't feel bound to the bed anymore.  This is not like a whole regimen of stretches taking 20 or 30 minutes. These are three very simple stretches taking about 2 or 3 minutes at the most.


Spinal rotation or twist

Start with lying on your back with face upward (supine position)

1. Keeping your legs in front of you bend your knees so they point upward to the ceiling
   
2. Extend your arms sideways parallel to the shoulders keeping the shoulders in contact with the floor or bed. You could chose to extend your arms only up to the elbows with your hands folded and resting on your chest if there is not enough room to extend both arms fully sideways.
3. Gently drop your knees to the right side with your head turned towards your left and hips in contact with the floor as much as possible. You should feel a nice stretch in your lower back and spine. Hold that position for 10-15 seconds. Return to original position and do the same on your left side. 
4. Repeat this stretch on both sides two or three times

Prone twist

The prone twist is a mirror image or inverse of the spinal rotation. You start in a supine position - lying on your belly - and a similar twist now focused on the upper body to open your shoulders.  See the following YouTube video by Rebecca Pacheco -

Prone twist with Rebecca Pacheco

I really like the way this twist opens the shoulders and spine.  Repeat two or three times.


Child pose

By now you must be able to sense that your body is feeling more free to move. You are almost ready. The last one is the famous child pose.

1. Sit on your heels with shoulders above your hips. Keep knees at hip width.
   
2. Rest your forehead on the floor.
3. Bow forward and place your chest gently on the thighs.
4. Extend your arms gently forward 
5. Relax and let gravity gently stretch your inner thighs, hips, lower back and forward.
6. Hold position for 10-15 seconds

If you feel especially tight around the hips or inner legs you could stick a pillow under your torso or lower body lengthwise to help the muscles relax.

Spending a couple of minutes first thing in the morning on these three stretches will give you a good start off the bed.  Try it out. If you feel tightness around any of the larger muscle groups such as the outer hip (IT band) area or hamstring after a long run the previous day, you could add a couple of simple stretches to get them loosened a bit.  However, don't go overboard at this point. Any complex stretches should be kept for later when the body is properly warmed up.

If I can run, u can run

Hitting the high miles

I had a 20-miler this past Sunday.  Challenging as it looked, the 18 last week gave me the confidence to handle the distance.  I had a clear divide and conquer strategy, which is to do the 6 mile loop three times exactly I did last week and then do a couple of laps in and around Central Park of Morris County.  My main worry was to avoid running out of drinks around mile 15-16 like last week. If I run out of drinks I will cramp up and most likely will not complete 20 miles.  I could get to the car but then it will be around mile 12 or so which is too early to refill. Moreover, since I park the car at Central Park I would have a longer uphill run back to the loop which my legs will not appreciate.  Could I park the car at the other end at Mountain Way Park? That would be very inconvenient as well.  So I decided to park the car at Central Park as usual, but pack a small bag with a couple of extra bottles of drinks and snacks and leave it at Mountain Way Park. As I would have to leave this bag unattended, I didn't want anyone messing with it or calling the cops about a suspicious package. So I left a note in the bag, visible from outside, that this bag contains my drinks and snacks and I will be running in Central Park, Greystone Park and Mountain Way area. After leaving the bag at Mountain Way Park I went to Central Park to park the car and start the run. As luck would have it, a police officer was present as the park was busy with soccer games going on in all four fields.  I approached the officer and alerted him about the unattended package I've left  at Mountain Way. He agreed that someone might call and informed his dispatch office about the bag in case they receive any calls on the emergency line.

It was pretty late before I could start from home - after 11:15 or so.  Since my morning oatmeal and a plantain I ate first thing in the morning wouldn't cover several hours of calorie needs of the body I ate one more plantain and two slices of whole wheat bread - each slice about 110 calories and I am guessing the plantain would've been more than 100 calories easily.  Although the calories were covered well, this was to become a literal pain in the back pretty soon.  Around seven miles or so into the run the fibrous snack had moved from my stomach through my bowels.  I was running the next five miles with bathroom as the primary thought in mind. As you can imagine, it wasn't fun. Big lesson here. I had to break the loop and go straight to Central Park.  After the bathroom break I climbed my way back to the regular loop.

Part of the goal for this run was to eat, drink and wear as I would for the marathon.  So the eating and drinking part was taken care of with the extra package at the other end of the loop.  I put in a change of t-shirt as well as the weather looked a bit confusing. I wasn't sure if I would feel warm or cold, but thought at least initially I may need some extra warmth and wore a long sleeve warmer biking shirt. After about three miles I started feeling too warm and changed into the short sleeve tech t.  Rest of the run was comfortable in that t shirt.  I have a toe nail that is blackened from rubbing against the shoes in long runs. I had rubbed some vaseline on that nail before leaving home, but had forgotten to rub vaseline on my body.  This caused a lot of chafing.  Also another toe was feeling the friction against the shoe and had gotten sensitive.  So I definitely need to remember to rub liberal amounts of vaseline before long runs and on race day.

The 20 mile run felt more strenuous compared to the 18 than I had imagined. A long way into the run, I was feeling like, how shall I put it, a combination of pain and stress bubbling up in the leg muscles in large patches, like tiny bubbles of pain tightly packed foaming up from deep inside the leg muscles to the surface.  Perhaps this is that zone that people dread - the 'wall' that people hit and bonk as the muscles run out of glycogen.  I could still move at the pace I was moving, so I kept at it.  If this is how the three hour mark feels like  my legs better get used to it and I better get used to it mentally, too.  I stuck with the plan of doing three of those loops and coming back to Central Park for the last mile or so. As I was turning to Central Park for the finish there were cars coming out after the soccer games. It seemed like they had noticed this crazy guy running in the area for a long time... Many of them waved at me, and some even honked to get attention and then cheered as I worked hard to keep pace at the climb back into the park.

My goal pace for the run was 9:55 min/mile.  I was surprised to see that I finished 9:56.  Last week's 18 was 10:01. I was only hoping to land in that neighborhood. Anyway, the coach should be happy. I am. Personally, I think this course is hillier than NYC course which should make running here slower and harder in many ways, but I am not entirely sure if long stretches of flat sections on the actual course would turn out to be hard for my legs... Certainly, my lungs should not be worried.

After then run, I did some regenerative exercises in the soccer field such as some versions of squats with weights - I used one of them sandbags that is used to hold the goal nets down. Also did a few burpees as usual. These strength exercises help release growth hormones in the body to accelerate the recovery and rebuilding process. At the end of it all, heaviness and pain had become the overall sensation below the waist.  Hip flexors and ITB were especially sore. So where some large muscle groups in the glute area.  This is in addition to the soreness all over the legs which is hard to localize to specific points. I slowly dragged my legs (and butt) to the car.  Even the drive home felt slooooow.  Once home, did some active isolated stretches, crashed on the couch and waited for my lunch.. Shower can wait.  The only thought in mind at the time - hope I don't have another 20 miler next week :-)  But the run was satisfying.

Only one more month for the marathon - Nov 5. The countdown has begun. I am so looking forward to the taper down phase of the training :-)

If you haven't contributed to my marathon fundraiser for NYRR Mighty Milers a health program for kids, please consider making a small contribution. Time is running out -

https://www.crowdrise.com/tcsandnyrrmightymilersnycmarathon2016/fundraiser/krishnadaskootale

That which doesn't kill us, makes us stronger - Friedrich Nietzsche (and Conan the Barbarian)

Thanks again.

If I can run, u can run

Hit a snag, but back in the groove now

I hit some health issues, unrelated to running, late August into early September forcing me to stop running for nearly two weeks.  That meant after recovering a ramp up taking another couple of weeks with a total time loss of nearly one month.  To ease me into the training regime, in the first week that followed my coach had me do a 30 min run, a 40 min run and a 60 min run without regard to pace. Since that went well the following week we resumed the three key runs at a fairly moderate level  - intervals were 400m's and the long run was 12 miles.  This week we are back on full throttle with the long run at 17. Even though the long run is Key Run #3, I take that as the first run of the week.  So, yesterday I went for the 17. I was beginning to get worried about getting in the required number of long runs before the marathon. So I decided to focus on completing the distance. Further, I was having lot of trouble finding more flat sections to include in the route as we have mostly hills in our neighborhood. The search for flat sections pushed my route towards the town center. More flats should mean easier run, but I always had trouble breaking that down to mentally handle the distance. Perhaps it was because I wasn't very familiar with those roads, or it was the crowded streets and traffic. Somehow that route seemed to drain my energy.  So I decided to spend more time on my usual hilly routes in the neighborhood yesterday. Although the runs would be harder I figured it would be easier to get my head around the course. A 4 mile hilly route with 2 miles up and 2 down formed a major section of my regular runs before the marathon training pushed me to athletic fields, and other areas looking for a mix of hills and flats close to the NYC course.  I went back to that section and stuck a gentler one mile detour on the way up and the same mile on the way down making it a loop of about six miles. That worked pretty well. About two thirds of the way through I felt good enough to extend the run by an extra mile and ended up running close to 18.5 instead of 17 (Yay!!).  Although I was two seconds behind the targeted pace, this run was a confidence booster to face the 20 miler coming next week. I did run out of drinks again in the last 5k or so and the calves began feeling tight, but I was able to run and have a strong finish. In addition, also had the energy to do 10 burpees in the end to energize my legs!


If I can run, u can run

A hard but successful week

Last week wasn't easy but was a successful week.  The speed/interval sessions are feeling more comfortable. I am able to keep an even pace and the walk/jog rest intervals have now become jog intervals. The pace itself for various speed intervals are now within a few seconds of each other showing I am able to get a hang of the intervals and manage my pace better. Compare this to interval work early on where the pace was hopping around all over the place.  Coming to threshold runs, I think I still need to figure out how my Garmin Forerunner 620 work for pace alerts when used in workout mode. In the week before my pace tracking got messed up and I ended up falling below the target pace which was a doable pace. So last week I changed my pace tracking to a more simple format and didn't use the workout mode in Forerunner.  The greatest success and the hardest part of the week was the 17 miler.  It was a must do run for me as I hadn't really completed a 17 miler before.  Last time I attempted it my lower legs froze at 15 miles or so. I could've dragged them for another 1/4 mile or so but didn't see much point in it. Also, the week after I couldn't do the long run due to personal schedule. So last week was in a mandatory mode. I had to get that longer run in.  It was a hot day - upper 80's F (about 30 C) and real feel in low to mid 90 F (around 35 C) :(   There was no way I was going to be able to complete it on the usual course which is 2 miles up hill 2 miles downhill - repeat as many times as needed to cover the distance. I decided to do those hills just one time and explore other flatter areas near a park and the town center.  That really helped.  Goal pace was 9:50 per mile which I decided to throw in the wind and focus on just completing it.   I had taken 1/2 gallon of Gatorade which was done before mile 15 or so due to the heat.  Legs, especially the lower legs, were feeling heavy and muscles were complaining almost refusing to move in the last couple of miles. As would happen when you run out of electrolytes (sodium, potassium, etc.) cramps were beginning to raise their ugly heads but somehow I managed to finish the distance. It was a great morale booster.  I ended up clocking 10:07 per mile which was way better than where I thought I was going to land.

One positive about the 17 miler I mentioned earlier that i wasn't able to finish a few weeks ago is that I think I was able to narrow down what caused it. There were also a couple of similar cases in the past where I couldn't complete a long run target I had planned.  In all these cases I had done fairly rigorous leg exercises the previous day.  One time there was a 5k in the neighborhood which I judiciously decided not to run, but walk. However, I did a lot of jumping that day in the celebration with color both before and after the 'run'. No wonder the next day's long run my legs refused to move after mile 10 or so.  On the 17 miler recently that I had to stop at mile 15 or so, the day before was a rigorous session involving plyometric squats and other leg exercises.  I think I really need fresh legs for the long runs for the distances that we are hitting now.  So from last week onwards I am keeping Saturday, which is the day before my long run, a complete rest day, at least for the legs.  I don't think it is a good idea to bike the previous day and also do other leg exercises... duh..

Other things that seem to help me is some resistance band exercises for the hips on the evening of my runs, and some strength exercises for the legs and glutes right after the runs.. So this may sound crazy, but after a 13 mile run today I was doing burpees in the parking lot!!

Anyway, here is my report from last week!

Key Run #3:  Sunday 8/21

Target: 17 miles @ 9:50 pace. Lets see how this goes we need to start getting the longer run in.

Actual: 17.1 miles @10.07 (9:58, 10:23, 10:15, 10:30, 10:00, 9:31, 10:14, 9:25, 10:00, 10:14, 10:23, 10:09, 9:47, 10:09, 10:36, 10:14, 10:24 & 0.1 mile @ 9:15 pace)

Hot & humid day. Stopped a few times for bathroom and for changing drink bottles. Stopped the clock also. Finished ½ Gallon Gatorade and still ran out of drink towards the end and started feeling the beginnings of cramps on the upper calf. I know this was not the pace we were aiming for, but wanted to finish the distance.  Heart rate reached higher than ever recorded. Avg HR’s recorded for miles 10, 17 and the last segment (186, 188 and 198) were at or above what I thought was my max HR of 186 or so! Max HR for those segments were 205, 206 and 202! Just wondering whether I should update my Max HR in the Garmin watch.

Key Run #1:  Wednesday 8/24

Target: Warm-up followed by 5 x 800m’s in 4:06, jog 400  for RI. Cool down.

Actual: Warm-up followed by 5 x 800m’s in avg 4:02 (4:06, 4:00, 4:02, 3:59, 4:01). RI’s jogged. Cool down. Although didn’t run at the target, felt better at managing pace this time.

Xt-2: Thursday  8/25

Target: 10 min. easy spinning as a warm-up, alternate 1 minute at level 4 resistance (on a perceived resistance scale of 1 to 5) as fast as you can followed by 4 easy (level 1) minutes of fast spinning. Repeat this 6 times. 5 min. easy as a cool-down.

Actual: Same.

Key Run #2:  Friday 8/26

Target: 5 mile run @ 9:17 pace. Ease into pace.

Actual: 5.08 mile @ 8:59 pace (9:29, 8:43, 8:53, 9:03, 8:54, + 0.08 miles @6:58)

My attempt was to keep an even effort so the downhill was faster. Uphills actually turned out to need hard/very hard effort level.  I deliberately ran faster to make sure I don’t miss the target on this run.

Today I experienced pain on the right upper quad a spot about 6-7 inches below the joint on the front slightly to the right and a similar spot on the lower leg about four inches below knee slightly to the right again.. I thought it will go away after the first mile or so, but it didn’t.. Felt like it reduced later but never went away. It wasn’t too bad or intolerable. I also felt it on the one mile walk back home. After the post run stretches the legs felt perfect, though.

--

Thanks for staying with me.  I don't know most people who are reading this blog, but I know that you are in US, France, India, China, Jamaica, UAE, Brazil, Canada, Russia, etc. etc.. Thank you for following my training. When I am out there in the scorching sun with heavy legs in my last miles you give me the feeling that I am not alone.  Sometimes that is all I need to dig a little deeper and move forward.

Thanks again.

If I can run, u can run

Into the 4th week of training

I haven't been getting a lot of time these days to post updates more frequently. Partly, actually mostly, due to the increased demands from marathon training.  Today is the long run day and after a couple of calls that I had to make in the morning the temperature got too warm to be comfortable for the long run in the morning and quickly getting warmer.   It seemed like temperature in the evening, though in similar range was getting warm to less warm which looked a bit more attractive than running into the heat that is getting hotter and hotter. Not the best of options, but given the choices available I decided to run in the evening as the temperature starts coming down when I am hitting the tiring miles.

This training is keeping me busy 5-6 days a week. Three days running and three days of cross training. I will get into the details so you get a sense of what it is like.  In my last post I sort of complained that the training was taking down my longest run from 13 to 10. Well, after three weeks it is now at 17!  The three runs are very different and focus on different aspects of fitness. One run is an interval run which has me running somewhere from a half mile to a mile at a fast pace followed by a rest/recovery interval. Repeat 4 times or so.  This is targeting the VO2Max and running mechanics. You can read all about VO2Max here.  The second run is slightly slower but at a challenging pace and it targets the lactate threshold - essentially the level at which we can do sustained hard work.  This run has me running at something like 30 - 40 minutes at a pace that is challenging for that duration.  The third run is the long run pushing your distance limits. This is also run at a challenging pace. Last week the long run was 15 miles at a pace of 9:40 min/mile.  This may not sound like much, but my regular long run pace is 10:40 - 11:00 min/mile which may make me look like a snail to you. Let me stop you right there - remember my half marathon times? They were all in the range of 8:49 - 9:00 min/mile. They were all accomplished with my training runs in that above snail's pace range. Your race effort is best kept for the race. Not for training. Of course, my training route may be harder than some race courses and perhaps a bit easier (I'm not so sure if this is the case, though).  The point is it has me running at a challenging pace. After the first couple of weeks I started getting confidence in the paces needed for my first and second runs, but the pace for the long run is still a bit intimidating.  For those who are interested, here is my week by week training log.

WEEK 1

---------

Key Run #3: Sunday 7/17   

Target: 10 miles at 9:30/mile

Actual: 10.06 miles at 9:24 @ 8:47, 8:33, 8:56, 9:39, 10:03, 9:35, 9:51, 10:06, 10:26, 8:52, 7:45 (0.06 miles)  + 2 miles walk after

Hard effort or higher. Very hard to keep even pace due to hills.  

XT-1: Tuesday 7/19

Target: Upright bike - 8 min easy to moderate, 30 min moderate, 7 min easy

Actual: Same

Key Run #1: Wednesday 7/20

Target: 10-20 minute warm-up, 4 x 800 m in 4:05. Take 2:00 for RI. 10 minute cool-down

Actual:   10 min warmup; 4 x 800 m average 3:49 @ 3:53.6, 3:56,5, 3:43.6, 3:42.3  RI’s mostly walked.  7 min cool-down walk/jog

Ran in an athletic field. Not on measured track. Distances tracked by GPS watch. I had no sense of pace when running. So ran at effort level ‘very hard.’   Breathing level at ‘very hard’.

XT-2: Thursday 7/21

Target: 10 min. easy spinning as a warm-up, alternate 1 minute at level 4 resistance (on a perceived resistance scale of 1 to 5) as fast as you can followed by 4 easy (level 1) minutes of fast spinning. Repeat this 6 times. 5 min. easy as a cool-down.

Actual: Upright bike 10 min warm-up. 5 x  (1 min at intensity level 20/25, 4 min easy), 5 min cool down.  1 min intensity bursts were done at approx 50 rpm for the first three sets sitting on the saddle. The remaining two were done at approx 60 rpm standing.  Yikes! I just realized six reps were specified but I only did five!!

Key Run #2: Friday 7/22

Target: 1 mile easy, 3 miles @ 8:50/mile, 1 mile cool down

Actual: 1 mile downhill @9:14; 3 miles @8:24 (downhill with some moderate uphill and  flat sections), 8:37 (first half downhill, second half uphill), 8:44 (uphill with some moderate downhill and flat sections);  1 mile walk uphill - this section is very hard to run/jog.. Doable but I wasn’t sure how it fits in with the training plan focused on improving specific aspects.

Ran mostly at hard and sometimes very hard levels of effort so that I don’t miss the targeted pace.

XT-3: Saturday 7/23

Target: 30 min easy spinning on a stationary bike

Actual: 30 min easy-moderate spinning


WEEK 2
-----------

Key Run #3: Sunday 7/24

Target: 12 miles @ 9:35 pace.

Actual:  12.12 miles average 9:34 pace @ 9:09, 9:28, 9:26, 9:52, 9:53, 9:30, 9:23, 9:50, 10:07, 9:13, 9:38, 9:45, 0.12miles@6:41

Ran in the range of hard-very hard most of the time. I know we don’t go by heart rate in our program, but just wanted to note that the bpm was recorded in the range of 175-181 for the last mile+. I believe my max heart rate is 186 - when I did a ‘uphill run’ test last year.

XT-1: Tuesday 7/26

Target: Upright bike - 8 min easy to moderate, 30 min moderate, 7 min easy

Actual: Same

Key Run #1: Wednesday 7/27

Target: Warm-up followed by 3 x 1600 meters in 8:35. Take a 2:00 walk/jog RI between 1600's. Cool down.

Actual: Warm-up followed by 3x1600 m 8:03 avg  pace @ 7:55, 8:07, 8:03. RI’s 2:00 walk. Cool down

Ran at hard and higher effort level, but feeling safe that I would make the target.  I was feeling a bit of tightness on the front of the hip at/above the right upper thigh (hip flexor?). I am doing stretches after the runs and also foam roller later in the night, but the right hip flexor has a tendency to make its presence felt, more often than not.

XT-2: Thursday 7/28

Target: 10 min. easy spinning as a warm-up, alternate 1 minute at level 4 resistance (on a perceived resistance scale of 1 to 5) as fast as you can followed by 4 easy (level 1) minutes of fast spinning. Repeat this 6 times. 5 min. easy as a cool-down.

Actual: Upright bike 10 min warm-up. 6 x  (1 min at intensity level 20/25, 4 min easy), 5 min cool down.  1 min intensity bursts were done at approx 50-55 rpm. Pedalled standing up for one burst and half of another approx 60 rpm.  (This time remembered to do 6 repeats..:-) Those one minutes were strenuous, but in a few hours the upper legs were feeling nice and strong in the front and back.

Key Run #2: Friday 7/29

Target: 1 mile easy, 2 miles @ 8: 45 pace, 1 mile easy, 2 miles @8:45 pace, 1 mile easy.

Actual: Things didn’t go that well today due to a multiplicity of factors. I ran at hard level and thought I would make the target, but didn’t.  It was raining, and the GPS watch was off for the mile markers. I thought I could adjust for the calibration and extract more reasonable numbers from the garmin app, but that also didn’t seem to show much of a difference. Also the easy miles were hard due to uphill.  So, here are the stats for today - as recorded by the app :-)

1 mile easy downhill @9:15, 2 miles avg 8:43 @ (8:23 mostly rolling downhill, 9:03 half downhill and half uphill), 1 mile easy @10:02 (mostly rolling uphill), 2 miles avg 9:02 @ (8:55, 9:08 - moving pace is showing avg 8:57 - not sure what to report), 1 mile ‘easy’ @9:38 (rolling uphill).  Followed by 1 mile uphill walk.

Not very happy - seems like if I had run a bit slower in the early sections I may have had better results.

XT-3: Saturday 7/30

Target: 30 min easy spinning on a stationary bike

Actual: Same.

WEEK 3
-----------

Key Run #3:  Sunday 7/31

Target: 15 miles @ 9:40 pace.

Actual: Overall avg 9:43 @ (9:25 9:39 10:01 10:13 10:19 9:37 9:46 10:01 10:05 9:53 9:17 8:35 9:27 9:48 9:44 0.06 miles @8:25) followed by 40 min uphill walk back home.

Tried a different route after 9-½ miles from the usual 2 miles uphill and 2 miles downhill. Mile 11-12 had downhill allowing faster pace, then a couple of miles were flat. Still turned out to be a grueling run. Running 15 miles first time since last November. Rain the first hour, and then high humidity (~97%). Temp close to 80F.  

XT-1:  Tuesday 8/2

Target: Upright bike - 8 min easy to moderate, 30 min moderate, 7 min easy

Actual: Same.

Key Run #1: Wednesday 8/3

Target: Warm-up followed by 2 x 1200m's in 6:18 (8:24 pace) Followed by 2 x 1000m's in 5:12 (8:19.2 pace). Take a 2:00 RI between all. Cool down.

Actual: Warm-up followed by 1200m 5:38 (7:33 pace) 1200m in 6:08 (8:13 pace); 1000m in 5:07 (8:14 pace), 1000m in 5:08 (8:15 pace). RI’s walked. Cool-down

My pace was all over the place for the 1200m’s.. Need to learning to keep pace at a sustainable/required level.  The 1000’s were felt better in terms of keeping a steady pace, but still faster than required.  Felt like I was getting better towards the end, but I need to learn to control the pace.

(By the way, hip flexor pain from Sunday’s 15 mile run hasn’t gone away..)

XT-2:  Thursday 8/4

Target: 10 min. easy spinning as a warm-up, alternate 1 minute at level 4 resistance (on a perceived resistance scale of 1 to 5) as fast as you can followed by 4 easy (level 1) minutes of fast spinning. Repeat this 6 times. 5 min. easy as a cool-down.

Actual: Same. Tightness in hip flexor area has reduced. Due to late sleep the previous night I wasn’t able to do this in the morning as usual.  Did in the evening. Hope it is not too close to tomorrow morning’s key run.

Key Run #2:  Friday 8/5

Target: 1 mile easy, 5 miles @ 8:50 pace.

Actual:  1 mile easy @9:40, 5 miles at average 8:34 (mile splits - 8:39, 8:22, 8:50, 8:32, 8:25)  Tried to log faster pace on the downhills and flats worried that uphill sections would slow down too much..  I felt the pace was coming under better control and feeling better also mostly. Ran the last mile somewhat harder. Ended up running harder/faster overall :(    Cool down - 20 min walk uphill back home.    

Felt fair amount of tightness/tenderness from the lower front of the right hip down the thigh.  Considered not running, but decided to run hoping it would go away after a warmup. Also a slight discomfort on either side of the right knee perhaps due to the 1 minute bursts on the bike last night (?)

Given the predominantly uphill/downhill route in the neighborhood, I am trying to look for flatter segments to add by taking different routes - also considering traffic (long run on Sunday was not too good from traffic point of view - a couple miles or so with no shoulder or sidewalk and lot of vehicles and 50 mph/+

----

I have shifted some of my strength exercises to the cross training days. Especially, some burpees/jump squats, etc. and lunges after the bike or later at home. Also some core work. Added some stretches for hip flexor as well. 'Donkey kicks' seem to make it feel better also!

Well, that should give a good idea about how things are going.

Keep at it, folks.

If I can run, u can run

Switching Gears

Howdy, y'all!

Things have been a bit busy on the personal front, but running has been coming along alright also. A couple of misses here and there, but overall I have been keeping 6-6-10 schedule and also managed to raise it to 6-6-13.  As of last week another milestone is behind. The number of workouts logged by MapMyRun crossed 200 since I started using the app. Miles run stands at 1527.77 (2444 km) which was run in 248 hours 40 minutes. That is more than half way across the United States (New York to Los Angeles), or Thiruvananthapuram to Kolkata, in about 10 days and 8 hours :-)  Calories burned is 197,242.

Marathon countdown has started. Another 48 runs and if all goes well I should be at the start line. I am switching gears to a structured training plan. The specific plan I am planning to follow is called FIRST (Furman Institute of Running and Scientific Training) and is detailed in the book Run Less, Run Faster by Bill Pierce, Scott Murr, Ray Moss and Amby Burfoot. It requires three runs a week and  cross training 2-3 remaining days.  There is a multitude of training plans for the marathons. The reason I chose this one is that it involves only three runs a week. Three weekly runs goes well with my current run schedule, and I am really not excited about running on the heavily crowned roads in our neighborhood any more than I have to.  Most other programs would have me run four, five and six days a week accumulating a lot of mileage.  That doesn't mean this training plan is easy. I had a taste of it today in my first training run.  My long runs have been at 13 miles, but this plan cut it to 10 miles (yay!) but needed me to run at 9:30 per mile :( That pace is a bit ambitious for me. In the hot and humid temperature today I wasn't sure I can do it, but gave it a try anyway. I did manage 9:28 but had to work really hard for it.  Anyway, it is just one data point. The remaining two runs is a interval run and a tempo run, both at specified challenging paces. If I don't hit the target paces then the plan may have to be tuned - or I may have to work harder. The point is that the plan is not an easy plan because it involves fewer runs and miles.  Each run has a specific purpose or goal and working at a specific intensity is required to accomplish that. The interval run is focused on improving VO2Max, the tempo run for improving lactate threshold, and the long run to improve endurance at the targeted marathon pace.  Similarly, cross training also comes with specified intensities.

Don't take it easy. Keep at it.

If I can run, u can run