Friday, August 26, 2011

Friday Night Easy Run

Today's planned work out is a simple Easy Run.

DC Bike Path: 1/2 Marathon Training, Easy run. Dist: (4.33)mi. Pace-avg: (15:52). Speed-avg: (3.8)mph. Speed-max: (6.0)mph. Burned: (490) Calories. Running lights.

Plan: Run (2) mi. at a (17:27) pace for a total time of (34:55) mins.
Actual: Jog (2) miles @ a (13:27) pace for a total time of (26:54.60) mins. Bracketed by a (1) mi. warm-up walk, and a (1.33) mi. cool-down walk. 
Fuel: Pre-run: Late lunch; Mid-run:nothing; Post-run: Dinner!


Tonight's run was really good, despite getting out much later than planned. I finally found my short running shorts (track shorts?) so I was able to wear them for my run. The best thing about them is they are much cooler to run in when it is warm/hot out, which is why I bought them in the first place. I warmed up before the run by doing (30) reps. of squats with an empty straight-bar, then repeated with a curl-bar loaded with (30) lbs. of weights. [I also did that before Thursday's run, too, and I think it made a real difference.]

I kept up a pretty solid jogging pace for the entire two (2) mi. and was very pleased with that. TC shows the splits for that as: Mile 1 (13:05), Mile 2 (13:50). Not bad.

Time to stretch out, eat, and get on with the evening.

-Lancer!!

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Thursday Night Speedwork No.3

Went out for a Speedwork training session tonight.

DC Bike Path/Surface Streets: 1/2 Marathon Training, Speedwork. Dist: (7.52)mi. Pace-avg: (16:11). Speed-avg: (3.7)mph. Speed-max: (5.7)mph. Burned: (839) Calories.


Plan: Run (3x) (1600) meter intervals with (800) meter recovery jogs in-between each interval.
Actual: Jog/Fastwalk (4x) (1600) meter intervals @ a (14:49) pace, with (800) meter recovery jogs in-between. Bracketed by (1) mi. warm-up and (1) mi. cool-down walks. Oops.
Fuel: Pre-run: Late lunch; Mid-run: PowerBar Energy Blasts, Strawberry-Banana; Post-run: Banana-Chocolate-Honey Smoothie, then Dinner!

So, I made a mistake and actually jogged (1) mile more than I was supposed to. That's what happens when I avoid the computer before my run. Although, it might not be a bad idea to actually print out the training plans like other people do, so I don't have to turn on the computer. I already had the workout loaded on my Garmin Tuesday night, so that would not have been a problem. I just wanted to avoid distractions like FB, and others. Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? I must be getting stronger, since I am clearly not dead; not even Undead. Although I was a bit woozy.

During my cool-down walk home I was trying to attach my running lights to my fuel-belt and ended up dropping one of them. I wanted to keep my hands free so I could finish off the remaining Energy Chews. Well, the light went out as soon as it hit the ground. Since it landed on the power button I figured,"No problem." I pick it up and click the button a couple of times, no light. "Great," I thought, "already broken." I clipped it to my belt, finished off the 'Chews, then took a look at it. I was able to pop open the battery compartment and sure enough, the batteries had dislodged when I dropped the unit. I snapped the batteries back into place, tested the light (it worked) then snapped the battery compartment closed. I was very happy I didn't break it.

Tomorrow's training run is a mere (2) mi. Easy Run. I'll try not to overdo it.

-Lancer!!

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Tuesday Night Easy Run

Headed out for my Easy Run tonight after dark.

DC Bike Path: 1/2 Marathon Training, Easy Run. Dist: (5.70) mi. Pace-avg: (16:21). Speed-avg: (3.7)mph. Speed-max: (5.1)mph. Burned: (610) Calories.

Plan: Run (3) mi. @ a (17:27) pace for a total time of (52:23) mins.
Actual: Jog (3) mi. @ a (14:29) pace for a total time of (43:26.06) mins. Bracketed by a (1) mi. warm-up walk, and a (1.7) mi. cool-down walk.
Fuel: Pre-run: a strawberry yogurt and some Pringles Original about (2) hours beforehand; Mid-run: Gu Roctane Orange-Vanilla; Post-run: Dinner!

So I went out tonight after dark, partly because I was being lazy, and partly because the temps were in the high nineties. Also, I really wanted to try out my running lights with fresh batteries. As it happens the alkaline Duracell batteries I installed in the lights after Sunday's Long Run made the lights enormously brighter than with those Carbon-Zinc batteries. Those batteries that were shipped with the lights may have been running down while sitting on the shelf, and reading a Wikipedia article about them indicates they do not have a very long shelf life.

Now that I have the new batteries in, and completed an all after-dark run, I can say that the KnuckleLights(tm) live up to the advertising more than I had previously expected. It almost feels like you are running in a larger pool of light. I was even able to see more than five (5) feet in front of me when I pointed the lights down the path. I'm not sure I could even see that far with the previous batteries. I definitely feel safer running with brighter lights at night.

Tonight I was able to jog continuously for three (3) full miles. It felt good to finally make it that far without having to walk during the "Jog" phase. The splits in TC show:

Mile (1): (14:07)
Mile (2): (14:30)
Mile (3): (14:48)

I don't really know what it means yet, but that's OK.

Anyway, better stretch out and eat.

-Lancer!!

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Long Run Sunday No.7

Went out for my Long Run today.

DC Bike Path: 1/2 Marathon Training, Long Run. Dist: (12.38)mi. Pace-avg: (17:00). Speed-avg: (3.5)mph. Speed-max: (6.2)mph. Burned: (1358) Calories.

Plan: Run (10) mi. @ (17:33) pace, for a total time of (2:55:34) hrs.
Actual: Jog/Walk (10) mi. @ (16:49) avg pace, for a total time of (2:48:06.62) hrs. Bracketed by (1) mile warm-up and (1) mile cool-down walks.
Fuel: Pre-run: (2x) PowerBar ProteinPlus (Reduced Sugar) Bars (Chocolate Peanut Butter); Mid-run: (1x) pack of Sport Beans (Grape), had half the pack at around (3.5) miles in, then the rest on the return leg around mile (6) or (7); Post-run: Banana-Chocolate-Strawberry-Honey Smoothie (homemade), then dinner of leftover pizza and salad.

Finally got in my Long Run, even though it was later in the day than originally planned. It went pretty well overall, though my running lights crapped out on the return leg. Pretty sure it is the batteries, but I will have to check that out later.

OK. I just replaced the batteries that shipped with my KnuckleLights(tm), Panasonic Carbon-Zinc AAA batteries, with some good old-fashioned Duracell Coppertop AAA batteries. I tested them in the dark backyard and the light appears to be even brighter than with the Panasonic batteries. SWEET! Now I am really looking forward to using these on my next after dark run. I hope there will be even more depth of field visibility when jogging over uneven blacktop, et al.

While I was still on the return leg of my training run I was ambivalent about trying to jog in the dark, even though I had my SureFire with me. Once I got past the fenced off orchard and onto flatter ground I decided to give it a try. Dark as it was I was still able to see the dashes on the blacktop. There was plenty of ambient light pollution for some visibility, even without the running lights. I did use my SureFire for illumination from time to time, but not quite as often as in the past.

I met some goals today: I was able to jog continuously for (30) minutes or more on two parts of this evenings run. On the outbound leg I "jogged" [fast-walked, speed-wise, but it felt more like jogging] for (2.42) miles over (37) min. @ about a (15:33) pace. And on the return leg  I "jogged" (2.04) miles over (31) min. @ about a (15:33) pace. Both times I was trying to maintain the pace for a full (3) miles, but fell short.

I didn't eat much today before my run. For breakfast I had (2) slices of wheat toast with creamy peanut-butter, and two (2) mugs of tea with honey. I drank a good amount of water during the afternoon. Then I had the (2) PowerBars about one hour before my run. I did not feel weighed down and heavy at all during the run, but I was a bit worn down during the final cool-down.

OK, better stretch out before my muscles get too cooled off. Good night!

-Lancer!!