Wow - over 50 days of training. Kind of hard to believe. That's 7 weeks so far (well 6 because of a week I took off due to injury).
Today was a 4 mile run. I've pretty much decided to use these shorter days as HIIT runs - not only for the cardio building but also for the fitness aspect of it. HIIT has been proven to really help in fat burning.
Overall - today's HIIT went really well. I did 3 circuits of 1 minute sprints with 30 second jogs. My right leg didn't fatigue nearly as bad like previous occasions, so there's some hope there.
I may have to lay off lunges though for a week. I don't think I've gone a day yet without stiffness in my thigh - which makes things a bit difficult when stretching. Oh well - no pain, no gain right?
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Monday, July 11, 2011
Day 48, 49 and 50
Day 48 was a workout day again. I've been increasing the weights somewhat, but nothing too crazy. Barbell lunges, while providing many benefits, are still an exercise I'd rather do without. Oh well.
Day 49 - 10 mile long run. Also a day of craziness of getting setup for Craven. Luckily, I was able to get to the gym to do my long run. I'd rather not do long runs on treadmills, but if it's going to save my knees/legs, then it might be a necessary evil.
For the run, I also decided to cut breaks down to 30 seconds, but also increase breaks by walking at half distance between aid stations. So, for example, the first aid station is at 1.12 miles and second one is at 2.67 miles. I put a break in of 1.89 miles. I found that by the end of 10 miles, I wasn't nearly as winded and my right leg and groin wasn't in nearly as much hurt as before. I was about a minute slower than the last time I ran 10 miles, but some of that is because of the treadmill and my watch having a discrepancy about how fast/far I ran. I had the treadmill set at 7.3mph pretty much the whole time, but my watch liked to show 7.1mph instead.
Either way - it was a good run overall. I even did some stretching before and after, which I suspect also helped quite a bit.
This morning I did another strength workout again. Still unsure how I'm going to fit in a 15 mile run this weekend. At least after this weekend, I don't have anything major until we go away in August.
Runs this week will consist of 4 miles (Tuesday) and 7 miles (Thursday) with the long run being 15.
Day 49 - 10 mile long run. Also a day of craziness of getting setup for Craven. Luckily, I was able to get to the gym to do my long run. I'd rather not do long runs on treadmills, but if it's going to save my knees/legs, then it might be a necessary evil.
For the run, I also decided to cut breaks down to 30 seconds, but also increase breaks by walking at half distance between aid stations. So, for example, the first aid station is at 1.12 miles and second one is at 2.67 miles. I put a break in of 1.89 miles. I found that by the end of 10 miles, I wasn't nearly as winded and my right leg and groin wasn't in nearly as much hurt as before. I was about a minute slower than the last time I ran 10 miles, but some of that is because of the treadmill and my watch having a discrepancy about how fast/far I ran. I had the treadmill set at 7.3mph pretty much the whole time, but my watch liked to show 7.1mph instead.
Either way - it was a good run overall. I even did some stretching before and after, which I suspect also helped quite a bit.
This morning I did another strength workout again. Still unsure how I'm going to fit in a 15 mile run this weekend. At least after this weekend, I don't have anything major until we go away in August.
Runs this week will consist of 4 miles (Tuesday) and 7 miles (Thursday) with the long run being 15.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Day 36 to Day 47
Well - I decided after that bad run to listen to my body. It was really on the right leg for a few days following. I started doing some stretching, but it wasn't healed enough to do a run on Day 37, 38 or 39. By that point, I figured it was best to scrap the week, enjoy the weekend coming up (Centennial birthday for the town I grew up in) and re-focus.
I also decided to focus on running three times a week. Tuesdays would be the "short" run, Thursday's would be the "medium" run and Saturday or Sunday would be the "long run". To start off the new week, I did a 4 mile HIIT run. I have to say it felt excellent. It felt great to get back to running.
To help supplement my running, I've also started doing strength training on Mondays, Wednesdays and Friday's. It consists of:
Bench Press
Seated Rows
Bar Curls
Pushdowns
Crunches
Lunges
Let me tell you - that Monday workout hurt. I stretched something in my right leg (imagine that!) doing lunges. I was freakin stiff for the next three days. And I am DAMN glad I am doing strength training again. It just feels good to be doing it.
I've started off at around 50-60% of weights I know I can do and I'm doing 2 sets of each exercise at 12 reps. I'm also doing a set of prescribed stretches during the rest periods.
These same stretches I'm doing on the off days for strength training in addition to some other stretches.
On Day 46, I completed a 7 mile run. My right leg stiffened up a bit, but unsure if it was due to the fact of having 3 pints of beer first (not a smart idea) or from travelling 500km that day. I know that I definitely have to focus more on my hydration during the day.
Long run is to be a 10 mile run. I think that this is a good number to reach this week. My concern is the 15 that I'm supposed to hit the week after (Craven Jamboree Weekend), so we'll see. Any which way, QCM is coming fast. I still believe I'll be ready, but unsure if I'll still be able to hit my aid station distances with 1 minute breaks. I put in some extra breaks last night to help lessen the distance I'm running between breaks, but I also shortened the breaks to. I think the 10 mile long run will be a good indicator if this is working.
I also decided to focus on running three times a week. Tuesdays would be the "short" run, Thursday's would be the "medium" run and Saturday or Sunday would be the "long run". To start off the new week, I did a 4 mile HIIT run. I have to say it felt excellent. It felt great to get back to running.
To help supplement my running, I've also started doing strength training on Mondays, Wednesdays and Friday's. It consists of:
Bench Press
Seated Rows
Bar Curls
Pushdowns
Crunches
Lunges
Let me tell you - that Monday workout hurt. I stretched something in my right leg (imagine that!) doing lunges. I was freakin stiff for the next three days. And I am DAMN glad I am doing strength training again. It just feels good to be doing it.
I've started off at around 50-60% of weights I know I can do and I'm doing 2 sets of each exercise at 12 reps. I'm also doing a set of prescribed stretches during the rest periods.
These same stretches I'm doing on the off days for strength training in addition to some other stretches.
On Day 46, I completed a 7 mile run. My right leg stiffened up a bit, but unsure if it was due to the fact of having 3 pints of beer first (not a smart idea) or from travelling 500km that day. I know that I definitely have to focus more on my hydration during the day.
Long run is to be a 10 mile run. I think that this is a good number to reach this week. My concern is the 15 that I'm supposed to hit the week after (Craven Jamboree Weekend), so we'll see. Any which way, QCM is coming fast. I still believe I'll be ready, but unsure if I'll still be able to hit my aid station distances with 1 minute breaks. I put in some extra breaks last night to help lessen the distance I'm running between breaks, but I also shortened the breaks to. I think the 10 mile long run will be a good indicator if this is working.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Day 32, 33, 34, 35
Day 32 was a 3 mile run. This was a nice easy run. A friend was in town so we went for the run together. A bit slower of a pace than myself, but it was great to run with someone and just shoot the shit instead of listening to music.
Day 33/34 were rest days. I contemplated doing my long run on Day 34, but just couldn't get the energy to do it along with some concerns about weather/time/fitness/etc.
Unfortunately, Day 35 didn't fare much better. It was to be a 12 mile run, but from around 4 mile mark on, my right leg just didn't feel right. It seemed to come back down sooner than it should and towards the end, my groin was really starting to feel it. I'm unsure if it was due to the fact that I was doing the run in the Fieldhouse (which means I was running loops), or if it was dietary/sleep/strength/etc. Either way, I only reached 8.32 miles before I called it quits. As I remember reading somewhere, you have to have bad runs to appreciate the good runs. Right now, I'm going to focus on getting a stretching regiment together and also start doing some strength training again (squats for sure) to try and steer off this problem. I'm confident I can still complete the marathon, but I'm concerned on how much my long runs will be affected.
Day 33/34 were rest days. I contemplated doing my long run on Day 34, but just couldn't get the energy to do it along with some concerns about weather/time/fitness/etc.
Unfortunately, Day 35 didn't fare much better. It was to be a 12 mile run, but from around 4 mile mark on, my right leg just didn't feel right. It seemed to come back down sooner than it should and towards the end, my groin was really starting to feel it. I'm unsure if it was due to the fact that I was doing the run in the Fieldhouse (which means I was running loops), or if it was dietary/sleep/strength/etc. Either way, I only reached 8.32 miles before I called it quits. As I remember reading somewhere, you have to have bad runs to appreciate the good runs. Right now, I'm going to focus on getting a stretching regiment together and also start doing some strength training again (squats for sure) to try and steer off this problem. I'm confident I can still complete the marathon, but I'm concerned on how much my long runs will be affected.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Day 29, 30, 31
Day 29 was rest day! Woohoo! Overall - legs felt pretty decent. Not much to really talk about.
Day 30:
3 mile run. Did this one outside and did the first 1.5 miles at a steady pace. After that, I did intervals of 1 minute fast running and 30 second rests. Without a doubt, I was huffing and puffing at the end.
Day 31:
6 mile run. Did this near end of the work day. Weather outside was very nice. My legs felt a bit "block-y" and stiff at the beginning but I pushed to get my speed up. I ended up finishing just over 50 minutes. The big shock came when I looked at calories burned. 800 vs 940 three weeks ago. Crazy.
Day 30:
3 mile run. Did this one outside and did the first 1.5 miles at a steady pace. After that, I did intervals of 1 minute fast running and 30 second rests. Without a doubt, I was huffing and puffing at the end.
Day 31:
6 mile run. Did this near end of the work day. Weather outside was very nice. My legs felt a bit "block-y" and stiff at the beginning but I pushed to get my speed up. I ended up finishing just over 50 minutes. The big shock came when I looked at calories burned. 800 vs 940 three weeks ago. Crazy.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Day 25, 26, 27 and 28
Day 25:
3 mile run again. Decided to do it after work and go on the treadmill and do HIIT again. Didn't feel the dead leg syndrome until much later on in the session, so I think Tuesday was a consequence of not doing HIIT in a while.
Day 26/27:
Rest days. Well - Saturday (Day 27) was either to be a long run or 60 min cross training day, but due to weather and garage sale, there was no way. Knees also felt a bit tender, but hoping that it is related to the pounding of HIIT.
Day 28:
HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!! Very humid day today from all the rain. Thankfully, when I went, the breeze was enough to keep the sweat down a little and the sun was hiding. It was a 7 mile run day (it seems on Hal Higdon's program that you go 2 weeks of increasing long runs and then a 1 week decrease - I'm ok with this). Overall, the 7 miles went by nicely. My knees, specifically my right one, seemed to be a bit more pained than usual, but I'll wait to see what happens. My TFL/outer right thigh behaved quite well, so I have hope for it.
I also decided to put in a break at around the 5.5 mile mark. The distance Between the two aid stations of 4.53 and 6.71 is greater than two miles and I'm worried that I'm fatiguing my leg to much early on. Therefore, if I throw in an additional break, it should help lessen the strain. Not to mention, it's a nice mental break, knowing that I only have to run a mile instead of two until my next break.
As a compromise, I've set my 4.53 mile and 5.5 mile breaks to be 30 seconds. This kind of offsets the extra break.
One other very interesting thing to note is that on May 30 (3 weeks ago), I completed a 6 mile run. This was after one week of training. Here are some stats:
Distance: 6 miles
Avg Speed: 6.9 mph
Calories: 947
Peak BPM: 194
Avg BPM: 179
Time: 51:50
So - basically about 158 calories per mile.
NOW - here's after today's run:
Distance: 7 miles
Avg Speed: 6.9 mph (same speed basically)
Calories: 982
Peak BPM: 186
Avg BPM: 168
Time: 1:00:50
Look at the calories. Very interesting. Back in the beginning, it was approx 158 calories per mile. Today was 140! My body is now burning less calories per mile.
I think the true tale though is Peak and Average BPM. Both have dropped but average BPM has dropped significantly. I'm running further, but working my heart less.
Although - a more efficient running body means that I can't simply run for an hour to burn off an Applebee's dinner. Now I need to run for an hour and a half. D'oh!!
3 mile run again. Decided to do it after work and go on the treadmill and do HIIT again. Didn't feel the dead leg syndrome until much later on in the session, so I think Tuesday was a consequence of not doing HIIT in a while.
Day 26/27:
Rest days. Well - Saturday (Day 27) was either to be a long run or 60 min cross training day, but due to weather and garage sale, there was no way. Knees also felt a bit tender, but hoping that it is related to the pounding of HIIT.
Day 28:
HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!! Very humid day today from all the rain. Thankfully, when I went, the breeze was enough to keep the sweat down a little and the sun was hiding. It was a 7 mile run day (it seems on Hal Higdon's program that you go 2 weeks of increasing long runs and then a 1 week decrease - I'm ok with this). Overall, the 7 miles went by nicely. My knees, specifically my right one, seemed to be a bit more pained than usual, but I'll wait to see what happens. My TFL/outer right thigh behaved quite well, so I have hope for it.
I also decided to put in a break at around the 5.5 mile mark. The distance Between the two aid stations of 4.53 and 6.71 is greater than two miles and I'm worried that I'm fatiguing my leg to much early on. Therefore, if I throw in an additional break, it should help lessen the strain. Not to mention, it's a nice mental break, knowing that I only have to run a mile instead of two until my next break.
As a compromise, I've set my 4.53 mile and 5.5 mile breaks to be 30 seconds. This kind of offsets the extra break.
One other very interesting thing to note is that on May 30 (3 weeks ago), I completed a 6 mile run. This was after one week of training. Here are some stats:
Distance: 6 miles
Avg Speed: 6.9 mph
Calories: 947
Peak BPM: 194
Avg BPM: 179
Time: 51:50
So - basically about 158 calories per mile.
NOW - here's after today's run:
Distance: 7 miles
Avg Speed: 6.9 mph (same speed basically)
Calories: 982
Peak BPM: 186
Avg BPM: 168
Time: 1:00:50
Look at the calories. Very interesting. Back in the beginning, it was approx 158 calories per mile. Today was 140! My body is now burning less calories per mile.
I think the true tale though is Peak and Average BPM. Both have dropped but average BPM has dropped significantly. I'm running further, but working my heart less.
Although - a more efficient running body means that I can't simply run for an hour to burn off an Applebee's dinner. Now I need to run for an hour and a half. D'oh!!
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Day 24
5 mile run was scheduled. It was a beautiful sunny day outside, but again, my legs just didn't feel "up" to it. Around the 3 mile mark I could feel my right leg not extending all the way. It wasn't a cramp feeling, but more like it was not wanting to do what it's supposed to. Very similar to the way I felt on the treadmill the day before.
I'm hoping that it's due to lack of stretching I've been doing. I'm going to be putting a more concerted effort into taking a tennis ball to my right thigh and using the foam roller on my legs. It hurts. A lot. But if 15 min of pain means being able to run farther/faster, then I'm all for it.
I'm hoping that it's due to lack of stretching I've been doing. I'm going to be putting a more concerted effort into taking a tennis ball to my right thigh and using the foam roller on my legs. It hurts. A lot. But if 15 min of pain means being able to run farther/faster, then I'm all for it.
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