Thursday Speedwork

Today's plan calls for a Speedwork Run. 

DC Bike Path: 1/2 Marathon Training, Speedwork. Dist: (6.42)mi. Pace-avg: (16:42). Speed-avg: (3.6)mph. Speed-max: (5.7)mph. Burned: (680) Calories. 

Plan: Run a total of (6.0)mi., including 3x (1600)m repeats @ a (15:00) pace, and (800)m repeats at an easy pace after each run.
Actual: Run/walk (6.42)mi., bracketed by a (1.0)mi. warm-up walk, and a (1.x)mi. cool-down walk.
Fuel: Pre-run: (2x) pkts. Sport Beans (Grape); Mid-run: (water); Post-run: Glass of Gatorade (Orange), Banana, Dinner.

Lots of people out in the park today. The run was good, but very tiring. I was just barely able to keep the running intervals near the recommended pace of (15:00).

Splits: Mile (1): (14:30); Mile (2): (14:58); Mile (3): (15:49).

Other News: My 2XU compression tights in size MT finally arrived! I was able to exchange them at the store for the size M that I originally purchased. And as advertised, the new pair fit properly, i.e. the waist goes up over my hip-bones without having to tie the waist cord. Huzzah! I think I will wear them during my training run tomorrow, and also during the 408K run in San Jose.


-Lancer!!

Super Bowl Sunday Long Run

Today's plan calls for a Long Run.
DC Bike Path: 1/2 Marathon Training, Long Run. Dist: (12.0)mi. Pace-avg: (15:39). Speed-avg: (3.8)mph. Speed-max: (5.7)mph. Burned: (1256) Calories.

Plan: Run (10.0)mi. @ an (18:02) pace for a total of (3:00:25)hrs.
Actual: Run/walk (10.0)mi. @ an avg. (15:23) pace, bracketed by a (1.0)mi. warm-up walk, and a (1.0)mi. cool-down walk.
Fuel: Pre-run: Shot Bloks (Mtn. Berry), Sport Beans (Berry); Mid-run: Sport Beans (Berry), Clif Shot Bloks (Mtn. Berry); Post-run: Dinner!

Tonight's run went well. I decided to strategize a little: Instead of trying to run as much as possible at one time I used the Galloway method and ran one (1) mile, then walked one (1) mile, repeat till complete. It worked very well for me tonight and I did not develop any pain in the ball of my left foot. That intermittent pain is one reason I made a point to run/walk my workout tonight, and how I plan to run the rest of my long runs till the half-marathon in March. By race day I hope to be able to run longer continuous stretches, between three (3) to five (5) miles, and walk for one (1) to two (2) miles in between each leg.

I am a little worried that the pain in my left foot may end up being a limiting factor in future running pursuits. I hope I can build up my feet over time where this no longer occurs, but we'll just have to see how it goes. So far, the longest continuous stretch I have been able to run during my training was seven (7) miles before the pain became to uncomfortable; that was back around November, I believe.

Other News: Voomaxer seems kinda' broken, though there is/was mention of a software update/upgrade. I tried sending an email to the contact person, and the email delivery has failed after trying for three (3) days. I need to find a way to export my data so I can use a different application for keeping track of these things.


I have been using Garmin Training Center on my desktop, but haven't tried out Training Peaks. One reason I stayed with Voomaxer for so long was the option to keep track of equipment mileage, sleep data and weight data.

-Lancer!!

Sunday Long Run No.13

Today's plan calls for a Long Run.

DC Bike Path: 1/2 Marathon Training, Long Run. Dist: (14.88)mi. Pace-avg: (18:00). Speed-avg: (3.3)mph. Speed-max: (4.7)mph. Burned: (1595) Calories. Running lights.

Plan: Run (13)mi. @ a (16:44) pace for a total of (3:37:42)hrs.
Actual: Jogged/walked (13.0)mi. @ a (17:51) avg. pace for a total of (3:52:05.66)hrs., bracketed by a (1.0)mi. warm-up walk, and a (0.88)mi. cool-down walk.
Fuel: Pre-run: Glass of Gatorade (Fruit Punch); Mid-run: PowerBar Energy Gel (Banana-Strawberry), Honey Stinger Chews (Orange Blossom), Sport Beans (Grape); Post-run: GU Energy Gel (Mandarin Orange).

Ouch. Today's run was actually painful. It started out pretty good, but the last half was all pain. I jogged (7.0) consecutive miles, maintaining a pace between (14:59) and (16:31) for those seven miles, but then was overcome by pain in my left foot again, between my 2nd, 3rd and 4th toes at the ball of my foot. The last time this happened I had skipped all my runs during the week, then ran my long run (and did not finish). This week I again skipped all my training runs, then over-confidently went out for my long run. Clearly, I need the weekly build up to help maintain my running gains, so I will avoid ditching out on any training runs in the future.

I am still not signed up for the Las Vegas Strip At Night run in December, and after tonight's run I am thinking strongly of pushing back my half-marathon race till later in December, or maybe even January, so I can make up some of my lost training time from September/October; I also need to get in more strength training in the gym.

Friday afternoon I went shopping at On The Run again, and actually bought something: a Saucony Epic Run Vest. I wore it for the first time tonight, and it helped keep the chill off, though I did have to throw on my running shell, too, on the return leg of my run. The two (2) front pockets on the vest offered good storage space: I kept my running lights and my ninja hood in the pockets till after sundown, so I didn't have to carry them in my hands, or put them on my running belt; bonus. The vest also has a media pocket, and a hole for the earphone cord on the inside of the vest. The reflective surface on the Saucony vest appears to be pretty substantial, compared to the Brooks Essential Run Vest I had been looking at previously. Another bonus: the Saucony vest has a clip-on USB-LED light that can be recharged by plugging it into a USB port. It was much brighter than I expected.

Tonight's run started out at about (65) deg. F. with the sun nice and bright, then dropped down to (50) deg. F. by the time I got home four and a half hours later.

-Lancer!!

Thursday Run in the Sun Day

Yesterday's plan called for an Easy Run, which I am going to do now.

DC Bike Path: 1/2 Marathon Training, Easy Run. Dist: (5.74)mi. Pace-avg: (16:09). Speed-avg: (3.7)mph. Speed-max: (5.2)mph. Burned: (619) Calories.

Plan: Run (3)mi. @ a (16:15) pace for a total time of (50:46)mins.
Actual: Jog/walked (3.0)mi. @ a (15:11) avg. pace for a total of (45:33.03)mins., bracketed by a (1)mi. warm-up walk, and a (1.74)mi. cool-down walk.
Fuel: Pre-run: Peanut butter on wheat toast, tea with honey; Mid-run: SportBeans (grape); Post-run: Long overdue lunch: Refried beans, Spanish Rice, Chicken Fajitas.

Today's run was a break-in run for my new pair of Brooks Trance 10 running shoes. The magic is still there: They feel great and with the Spenco running inserts they have plenty of arch support, and my Wright Socks are still keeping my feet blister free. It was a nice change to be running in the afternoon sun and there were other runners, joggers and cyclists in the park today. Since school is in session I presume many of the younger runners are from one of the high school track, or cross-country, teams.

Yesterday, I bought my second pair of Brooks Trance 10 running shoes at FleetFeet Stockton. I had put (439)mi. on the old pair, and now those will be retired from running, but will be used as gym shoes and regular walking around shoes (on those rare occasions when I do wear sneakers). I also bought a Nike Element long sleeve running shirt, a pair of Nike Sport (5) in. running shorts and a Brooks LSD Lite Jacket II running shell in yellow, so I will stand out from the rest of the background and (fingers-crossed) not get run over on my way to and from the park. Since I have also been itching to buy new running shades I decide to buy a pair of Tifosi Vogel Fototec (auto-tinting) sunglasses. I tried them on my run this afternoon and they were really good. I wanted a pair of shades that change tint on their own so I can go running with just one pair of glasses when I go out before sundown and return long after sunset. These will fill the bill. I will have to test them on a night run, too, which I plan to do later tonight.

Other News: Yesterday I started the Intermediate CompTIA A+ Certification Prep class and am looking forward to it. Gotta' keep moving forward on that path to IT certification goodness.

-Lancer!!

Sunday Moonlight Easy Run

2011-10-09, Sunday

Today's plan calls for an Easy Run.

DC Bike Path: 1/2 Marathon Training, Easy Run. Dist: (7.56)mi. Pace-avg: (16:40). Speed-avg: (3.6)mph. Speed-max: (4.8)mph. Burned: (821) Calories. Running lights; near full-moon.
 
Plan: Run (5)mi. @ a (17:00) pace for a total time of (1:25:03)hrs. 
Actual: Jog/walk (5)mi. @ an avg (16:17) pace for a total of (1:21:26.94)hrs., bracketed by (1)mi. warm-up walk, and (1.56)mi. cool-down walk.
Fuel: Pre-run: (8x) multigrain fig newtons; Mid-run: Jelly Belly Sport Beans (Grape); Post-run: late dinner.

Tonight's run went very well. I got started just before midnight and there was a nearly full moon out tonight, so it was another beautiful moonlight run in the park. I able to jog a faster pace, rather than just walk as I did last time, and I had no pain in my broken toe, though I did feel a slightly dull ache from time to time during my run. My split paces for tonight's run were: Mile(1): (14:28); Mile (2): (16:06); Mile (3): (17:56); Mile (4): (15:47); Mile (5): (17:08).

The only people I encountered in the park tonight were two (2) cyclists with no lights, and a couple of juvenile hecklers that sounded like they might have been trying to skateboard by moonlight on one of the streets that intersects a hill that enters the park. They were all mouth and I never saw them, which means they were safely ignored.


-Lancer!!

Thursday Easy Run

2011-10-06, Thursday

Today's plan calls for an Easy Run.


DC Bike Path: 1/2 Marathon Training, Easy Run. Dist: (7.54)mi. Pace-avg: (17:03). Speed-avg: (3.5)mph. Speed-max: (4.5)mph. Burned: (831) Calories.


Plan: Run (4)mi. @ a (17:00) pace for a total of (1:08:02) hrs.
Actual: Walked (4)mi. @ a (16:41) avg. pace for a total of (1:06:42.15)hrs., bracketed by (1)mi. warm-up walk, and (2.54)mi. cool-down walk.
Fuel: Pre-run: Pepper-jack cheese on multi-grain club crackers; Mid-run: Jelly Belly Sport Beans (Grape); Post-run: late dinner!

Tonight's training run (walk) was good. It was nice to finally get out on the running path again. No real pain from my healing broken toe, but the tape (from buddy-taping my toes together) was starting to get tiresome. There was a waxing gibbous moon out in the sky, so there was plenty of ambient light in the park. I only encountered one other person in the park, and they were riding a bike. I heard the hooting of at least one owl, and the screech of one bat, plus assorted crickets. I even heard the lowing of what sounded like two cows, but it almost sounded artificial. Then again, the last time I heard a cow it was sizzling on the barbecue grill earlier this summer. :-)

I think if I just follow an Easy Run plan for the next week, and see how that goes, I may be able to pick up the pace the following week.


Other News: Jury summons. *bleh*


-Lancer!!

Long Run No.9

2011-09-04, Sunday

After blowing off the rest of my scheduled runs this week, it is now time to execute my Long Run, anyway.

DC Bike Path/Surface streets: 1/2 Marathon Training, Long Run. Dist: (13.09)mi. Pace-avg: (17:09). Speed-avg: (3.5)mph. Speed-max: (5.9)mph. Burned: (1440) Calories. Running lights.

Plan: Run (11) mi. @ a (17:22) pace, for a total time of (3:11:07) hrs.
Actual: Jog/Walk (11) mi. @ a (16:58) avg. pace for a total time of (3:06:34.89)hrs.
Fuel: Pre-run: GU Roctane (Vanilla-Orange); Mid-run: Sport Beans (Berry); Post-run: PowerBar Energy Blasts (Strawberry-Banana).

I have been a little down in the dumps all week, possibly because I have not been running, or exercising at all, this week. Clearly, this has been a mistake. Tonight, while getting prepped and dressed for my run I was actually getting pretty excited about it. Perhaps I should just make sure I dress for my run, even when I don't feel like it, to make sure I stay motivated to get out and do it.

Tonight's run went quite well: There was no one else on the trail in the park tonight, so that was quite nice. The batteries in my running lights need to be changed already (too many night runs). I did turn off the lights during long sections of the path tonight, and there was still enough light to see the trail, even with no moon out. I was thinking of running on surface streets around the perimeter of the park (all the way out and back), but decided that with the Labor Day weekend there will definitely be too many inebriated knuckleheads out on the roads behind the wheel, and running in the park poses no danger of being run-down by said knuckleheads (at least, so far). Besides, running on the streets means breathing far too much exhaust from passing cars, and that would just suck; so fie on that.

I read this article earlier in the week on active.com, which mentioned "sugar belly" from consuming too much sugar in ones hydration and fuelingand was glad I was not overdoing the sugar in my "training diet": for hydration on my runs I stick to straight filtered water, although my fuel definitely has sugar in it.

Weekly Mileage: Planned: (23) mi. Actual: (13.09)mi.
Shortfall: (9.91) mi.

Post-run Weight: (197.8) lbs.

-Lancer!!

Yet Another Easy Run Tuesday

As noted above, today is time for an Easy Run. Especially since I skipped my Sunday Easy Run, even though I had already met my mileage quota for last week.

DC Bike Path: 1/2 Marathon Training, Easy Run. Dist: (6.31) mi. Pace-avg: (16:33). Speed-avg: (3.6)mph. Speed-max: (5.1)mph. Burned: (698) Calories.

Plan: Run (3) mi. @ a (17:33) pace, for a total time of (52:40)min.
Actual: Jog/Walk (3) mi. @ (15:16) pace, for total time of (45:47.26)min. Bracketed by warm-up and cool-down miles.
Fuel: Pre-run: Gu Roctane, Vanilla-Orange. (Meh.) Mid-run: Sport Beans, Orange. Post-run: Tall glass of OJ, a banana (little greenish, still) then Dinner!

Tonight's run was OK. Once I started the three (3) mile Jog phase, I felt like I was smothering in the humidity. My weather widget indicates it is (34)% (23)% humidity right now, might have been more humid earlier during the run; I didn't check beforehand. It feels like it was a mistake to take two (2) whole rest days after the 10K. I should have at least gone for a bike ride as a bit of cross-training, but I did not. I think I napped off and on most of Sunday, and went to the movies on Monday. I saw "Friends With Benefits" with Mila Kunis and some dude named Justin Timberlake; never heard of him. Mila was the real attraction. She was awesome and I really enjoyed the movie. If you haven't seen it yet, go before it is gone. I'm sure it will be just as funny if you rent it later, but some movies I just want to see on the big screen.

Tech Nerd: My brand new KnuckleLights(tm) arrived Friday, and I wasted no time opening the package and checking out the contents. I took my KnuckleLights(tm) out with me on tonight's "run," since I was leaving the house so late and I knew the sun would be down long before I got back.  
Quick impressions: They work as advertised. I did not have to blip my flashlight to let people know I was on the path, so please don't run into me, or run me down on your bike. In the dark sections of the park these were terrific. Once I got back on surface streets, the KnuckleLights(tm) were only useful in the long stretches between street lights, though I am sure drivers would have had no trouble seeing them (and me), but I saw no drivers going the other way.

KnuckleLights off.

KnuckleLights on. SureFire 6P for scale (5-in.).

KnuckleLights on, room lights off.

KnuckleLights on, room lights off.

The (4) LEDs per unit provide a diffuse light that is good for slow jogging and walking. At some point I will test these at a faster pace in full dark, during the coming fall and winter, if not sooner. The back and forth swinging of my arms may have contributed to a bit of unsteadiness on my feet with the lights moving back and forth. Since this was the first time I used them on a run I will be sure to make more observations about this on future training runs. I was actually still a bit sore from the 10K this past Saturday, so that may have also been a factor. Also, I was detecting a bad chemical taste in my mouth during my run. It may have been from my sunscreen running onto my water-bottle and the cap during my sweaty, slobbery run on Saturday. I hope that is the source, because then I can just scrub my bottle inside and out and there should be no more issues the rest of this training week.

Other News: I spoke to a couple people at a local career college this afternoon and will be signing up for at least one (1) IT Certification Prep class. I need the structure because my previous, um, "efforts" at self-study with my IT books has been less than successful. I am expecting to try and boot-strap myself along some self-guided self-study on top of taking the class (different subjects).

-Lancer!!

Tempo Run 2

Continuing on with my half-marathon training I "ran" my second Tempo Run today.

DC Bike Path: 1/2 Marathon Training, Tempo Run #2. Dist: (6.24) mi. Pace-avg: (16:39). Speed-avg: (3.6)mph. Speed-max: (5.9)mph. Burned: (692) Calories.

Today's tempo run was planned as: (3) mi. @ (16:02) pace for a time of (48:07), plus a (1) mi. warm-up and (1) mi. cooldown bracketing the tempo run. My (3) mi. pace was (15:41) avg. for a time of (47:01.88). Works for me.

I bailed on the Tuesday Easy Run because I went hiking in Yosemite, and I really didn't feel like I could manage it, especially after eating dinner so late. I would have to run after dark, and I was feeling just a little whipped (and a little sunburned). Though my mind wanted to drag my body out on the path, I had to resist.

My fuel on tonight's run was (1x) pack of Sport Beans by Jelly Belly, Berry flavor (awesome!), (100) Calories; and (1x) GU Energy Gel (Mandarin Orange, excellent!), (100) Calories.

I also had my hair cut today: Clipper cut down to the skin. My scalp needs some sun, so Lex Luthor, eat your heart out. B-)

Today's Weight: (202.2) lbs.

-Lancer!!