Tuesday, February 26, 2013

I'm an Idiot

I've been trying out SportTracks as an alternative to the Garmin Training Center Software, and I'm not completely sold on it yet (perhaps it's because I'm not familiar enough with it's functionality, layout, and feel), but one of the features that I've stumbled across is the graphing of mileage (by day, week, month, etc...). 

After I started looking at my mileage by month - I realized what an Idiot I really am.  You be the judge - check this out - see if you can tell what I mean...


Got it?  In case you missed it, the graph starts in June of 2011 (I bought my Garmin then).  I started running again in April of the same year after having been a coach potato for about 8-9 years.  No friggin' wonder why I was always dealing with some sort of nagging injury!  Granted, the graphs for 2011 are incomplete, because I interspersed treadmill running in there (which was not captured), but COME ON!  I deserved to get injured. 

In hindsight, I feel lucky that I even made it to the Philly Marathon at all, let alone finish it!  Good grief, I was either too stupid, or too stubborn, to realize what I was doing at the time, but you know what they say about hindsight...

On a brighter note, it seems evident to me (post Marathon), that I've gone about this quite differently and much more responsibly...

 

Hints and Allegations:


I'm thinking about running that R. Falls Playground Run this Saturday.  It would be fun to obliterate my course PR there - even with a DS I think I could shatter it.  Other things in life might prevent me from running it though.  We'll see...

OK - give it to me, tell me how dumb I was/am - or share your pride vs. intelligence stories...

Sunday, February 17, 2013

River Shiver Polar Bear 5K Race Recap

I participated in the River Shiver Polar Bear 5K on Saturday.  I didn't really know what to expect from myself, because I have been feeling run down, and felt really exhausted during the last Frozen Foote.  Add to that the fact that the course in Ogdensburg has changed frequently in the past year, in light of construction to the path and walking bridge - and a time goal was simply difficult to pin down.

Race Goals:
I settled on an A goal of getting a PR for a 5K.  I decided that a good B goal was to simply be under 24 minutes.

Race Recap:
The weather was good.  Although it was slightly cold (about 20 degrees or so?), it was sunny and so it didn't feel too bad.  I was going back and forth on whether or not to wear a hat, and ultimately decided not to after my warm up.  Yes, I decided to do a warm up consisting of a 10 minutes of easy jogging (about 10min/mile) culminating in one stride of approximately 100 meters.  The reason I decided to do this is because I did it for my Frozen Foote PR this year.  I don't know how much it contributed to that success, but I figured, what the heck - if there's a chance...  I've also been scrutinizing whether or not the fact that I chose to not warm up for the last Frozen Foote contributed to my stale performance (I struggled to run 8 minute miles, and felt horrible).

Mile 1:
Like I said, I wasn't sure whether the last Frozen Foote was the start of a downward spiral, or if I'd bounce back, so I started out easy, even though many of the people around me at the start shot out (at what seemed like) a really fast pace.  Incidentally, I lined up in the middle, so I didn't think that there should be a lot of people charging ahead of me right from the gun.  But I let them go...

I focused on a pace that felt calm, and allowed me to breath easy.  I have been reading a lot lately about hitting anaerobic levels of exertion too soon in races, and the negative impacts, so I was trying to delay the cross over from aerobic to anaerobic as long as possible.  I chose not to look at the Garmin for the entire race, and simply run by effort.

The first part of the path is very windy (curves not wind), and had slick ice patches on it, so I had a difficult time really settling on my pace as I opted to change my strides and foot placement in an attempt to avoid taking a nose dive.  After the curves, we turned onto the bridge, and the course straightened out.  I think that's where my race really began.  I settled into my pace, and my breathing started to get more labored.  I began to pass a lot of the people who had shot out so quickly.

Mile 2:
I had my eye on a guy from the start, who runs similar times to mine.  He was one of the people who started quickly, so I just kind of kept him in my sight throughout the early part, and somewhere in the early part of the second mile, I realized that I was closing the gap, and soon I was running right next to him (runner A).  A pleasant surprise was that I realized that another guy I knew (runner B) was about 5 feet in front of us.  I figured that we were either moving really fast, or he was having an off day, because I don't usually see him (except for out and back races).  It turns out that it was a little bit of both.  Incidentally, I had been talking about how I want to be challenging him by the fall (which is a lofty goal for me, because he usually runs about 2-3 minutes faster than me for the 5K).  I had even mentioned this to him before the race, stating that my goal was to finish a race with him in sight by the fall, to which he responded, "it might be today."  I thought he was kidding.  I had the juice to pass him as we neared the turn around point, but I didn't want to do it right there because of the awkwardness of trying to pass someone right before the turnaround.  Plus, I didn't want to be a jerk and unintentionally cut him off, or throw off his rhythm.  It was a little frustrating, because he slowed his pace right before the turnaround - which caused me to fall a little out of rhythm.  It always seems like things like this happen to me - obstacles get in the way, right at the times when I feel best, and like I can make a move to pass someone.  Does that happen to you?  After the turnaround, the wind was in our face, so I drafted on him for a while.  Again, there were a few times, when I felt like my pace was such that I could pass him, but once when I pulled up next to him, he increased his pace, so I slid back in line behind him to draft more.  Every other time I felt good enough to make a move, the walkers and/or other runners seemed to provide a convenient obstacle for me, once again impeding my attempts, so I'd have to lay off my pace a little and slide back in behind him so that we were narrow enough to squeeze through traffic.  I heard runner A breathing behind us until somewhere right before the hill, at which point I never heard him again, but assumed he was still pretty close.

Mile 3:
I think that mile 3 probably starts somewhere near the only significant hill on the course.  I kind of psyched myself out of the hill before we even got to it - knowing that I'm not a good hill runner, and expecting him to drop me on the hill - which he did.  He put about 50 feet in between us on the hill.  So I told myself to forget him, and just run my race.  So I ran the rest of the third mile by myself, but as we closed in on the last part of the race, a slight uphill before you get to the curvy part of the path again, I noticed that I was closing the gap between us.  I told myself that the race was almost over, so that there was no reason why I shouldn't work the hill hard, so I did - and continued to close the gap.  However, the curves and ice threw me off rhythm again, and I think cost me my opportunity to get back to him (I almost took a nose dive once, and soaked my right foot in a misjudged foot placement).  When the path straightened out, I went into the "I'm almost finished, so just run as hard as you can" mode.  At this point, I was gaining on him fast.  When I was about 5 feet from him, I noticed that he started to kick, and at this point we were at about 50 feet from the end.  I managed to finish within a second of him.  Runner A never caught back up.

Results:
Mile 1: 7:15
Mile 2: 7:19
Mile 3: 7:06
21:41 Net
7:15 pace (yeah, I don't quite understand the math either - just reporting what the Garmin registered)
GR=3.0 Miles
A PR for the 5K, even though it wasn't truly a 5K, it was still a PR pace for me.

Other Stuff:
The main thing that stands out to me was how well organized the race was.  There were volunteers at every turn to help tell you where to go, so that was a pleasant surprise.  Usually there aren't very many people out helping along the races in Ogdensburg - so when the course is new, you have to guess sometimes.  In fact, we were talking about how many runners went the wrong way last year...

The refreshments afterwards were awesome.  Boy do I love bagels and cream cheese!

They started the walkers out in front of the runners by 20 minutes so that everyone could finish within a closer time frame to one another.  Great concept if the walkers actually understood how difficult it is to go around them when you're running at a 5K effort.  Many of them walked 2 abreast, and didn't move as I came up on them to pass them.  To complicate it further, other runners would be coming towards me, (out and back course), at the time when I would be trying to pass 2 abreast walkers.  The path really only accommodates 3 across comfortably, so you get the picture.  I think that the walkers lack of awareness for runners was probably the thing I liked the least in this event.

They had prizes 3 deep in every age group, so that was nice - and the medals looked nice, but I didn't get one.  I finished 8th or 9th overall, but at least 3 of the runners in front of me were in my age group.

I like the new course, and I'm curious to see if they'll keep it this way next year too - or if it was a one time deal, just to play off of the new footbridge.  Thanks to the organizers for a fun time - and thanks to runners A & B, for making this a really fun race for me.  Runner B, watch out, because I've now changed my goal to beating you sometime in 2013.

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Peaceful Easy Running

I have these great ideas for blogging everyday.  I think of my runs and themes jump like Donkey, shouting, "ooh!  Pick Me, Pick Me!"  ...and yet, I finish my runs, shower, sit down to relax, and the end of the day has come yet once again, and so I tell myself that I'll blog another day...

My kids are home sick from school today, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to try to capture bits and pieces of those themes, as the details have begun to fade and morph into one giant anomalous blob.  So here we go:

Peaceful Easy Running
Last night marks the second of my runs back to running easy - really easy.  I've been feeling like I'm on the verge of overtraining (more tired, legs heavier, racing is harder), so I've decided to make a conscious effort to back off the pace on all of my runs (with the execption of organized events).  I've had an epiphany as a result.  I don't know if it's right or wrong, but right now it feels right for me.  My current JD easy pace indicates I should be somewhere around 9:30-9:40.  The last two runs I averaged 10:45 and 10:16 (up to 3:30 slower than my current pace for a 5K) - and it felt good.  No, it felt GREAT!  My epiphany (well actually more than one), is that easy running should feel just that - EASY!  If you feel like you have to put any effort into keeping the pace, it's not really easy.  Can it really be that simple?  I've been so caught up in what pace Daniels says I should be running, that I lost focus on the "feeling."  Secondly, and perhaps more importantly - running slow is more fun!  Really, common sense right?  Not really - it's too easy to get all wrapped up in improving, training harder, intervals, hills, the right pace, appropriate mileage, etc... that sometimes I lose a grip on the fun part of running.  I found myself not worrying about pace, not thinking about breathing, just running and exploring.  By "exploring" I mean that I realized that it's been a while since I really just observe while I run - notice a house I've never seen before - watching the way the trees move in the wind, etc...  Last night was particularly cool (despite the cold strong wind) because when I started there was no precipitation.  It started to drizzle just before the halfway point - a cold, hard, in your face, stinging rain, but by the time I was hitting my last mile and a half, it had turned into a very light flurry.  The kind of snow that takes what seems like forever to fall to the ground.  The kind where the flakes often seem to be moving more upwards, or sideways, rather than downwards.

So I've decided to go easy - add some miles to my weekly total, but make all of my runs easy - at least for a month, to give my body some rest...

Ok - so another ambitious start to a post - I got so carried away with this thought, that I'll now choose to leave other thoughts for other days...

Recent Results:
Ran the Frozen Foote #3 last Saturday.  It was snowy, slow, and I felt energy-less.  I've posted the overall results elsewhere on my blog, but they can also be found on northernrunner.org.

Upcoming Races:
I'll probably do the River Shiver Polar Bear 5K on Saturday.

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Running Enigmas

I often over analyze... well everything.  However, I restrict my post to things running in order to stick with the theme of my blog.  Some of the things that I've been thinking about lately are listed below.  If you have any answers, or questions of your own, please feel free to share - I welcome your thoughts.

Mileage Allocation
Everyone agrees about the general concepts of weekly mileage.  For example, when training for a particular event, one should peak at a certain mileage in a given week at the appropriate time prior to that event.  People generally agree that more mileage is good (as long as you're not causing yourself injury or over training).  So here is my question.  Are all weeks of the same mileage equal?  What I mean is this:  I am currently running anywhere from 18 to 25 miles per week over the past couple of months.  Yet, there are some weeks when twenty miles might consist of four days of running (6, 5, 4, & 5), some weeks when twenty miles may be 3 days of running (10, 5, & 5), and still yet - some weeks when I might run 5 days (4, 5, 4, 3, & 4) for the same mileage.  Don't pay too much attention to the order, or the actual numbers, as I've simply picked random numbers to illustrate my question.  Regardless, these are probably pretty decent examples of what I'm asking.

Is it better to run less days with more mileage for each individual run, or to run more days with less mileage each run?

I'm guessing a couple of things from a very non-scientific perspective.  First, it seems logical that less mileage, with more days would equate to less injury than the opposite approach.  Second, I would think that more mileage with less days would be better if you were training for a longer event.  The question that I wonder though is, which gives you more bang for your buck?  Which one would you ultimately see better results with?  As it stands, I'm obviously doing a mix of everything, so it's convenient for me to think that a mixture of both is ideal, but I'm wondering if anyone has an answer based upon research or physiological testing.  Thoughts?  Answers?

Easy Runs vs. Days Off
I know that a lot of training plans will indicate an easy day, or a day off, as if they're interchangeable.  My question is this:  Is it actually better for your body if you run easy, or take the day off from running completely?  I've heard arguments for both sides.  The obvious ones are easy runs help stimulate blood flow and recovery to tired muscles, etc. for the former, and days off give your legs a break and more time for them to recover for the latter.  I'm not speaking about burnout or cardio - I really just want to know about leg muscle short term recovery and long term best interest (performance improvement).

The Dead Zones
What happens if you run in between the zones - as people like Jack Daniels suggests?  Seriously - logically, one would think that it would be better to run just a little bit faster if your body can handle it and you're not over training.  Let me back up. Beep, beep, beeeeeeeeep...  Ok.  Is it safe to say that if one could work out as hard as possible without over training or getting injured, it would breed the quickest and best results?

I know, I know.  Before all of you JD fans and similar types of philosophies get all bent out of shape, I know it.  I understand it.  We need the rest, because that's when our bodies get stronger.  So, I'm not arguing the merit of taking easy days or days off even.  What I'm wondering is, is it REALLY as bad as Jack would have you believe it is to run in (as he calls it) "no man's land."  Think about it.  If I ran 30 seconds a minute/mile faster than I'm supposed to for an easy run - is that really worse than taking that day off completely?  Some running has to be better than no running.  So someone help me understand just how bad those in-between paces really are?  Ok, okay.  I'll concede the easy runs.  I see it.  I get it.  We need to run slow enough frequently enough to make sure that we are rested and repairing ourselves.  Therefore, running too fast on an easy day doesn't allow us to recover properly, plus we're too tired (as a result) to maximize the workouts on hard days.  So let's not argue about the easy runs, I see the merit.  But what about the other zones...?  I mean, what if I ran a little bit slower than I'm supposed to for my intervals, or my tempo, or my threshold runs.  I get why you shouldn't run too fast for those types of training - extra effort/wear and tear, for no extra result - but what about the other side?  What if I'm not quite hitting my times for the "proper" interval pace?  I'm still doing my easy runs.  So any speed work (even if a little too slow) would be better than no speed work at all, correct?

VO2 MAX Equivalents
No way no how do my race results for different distances fall under the same VDOTs.  Do yours?  How is this possible?  They're not even close for me!  I think that they differ as much as 5...

Hill Strategies
I've read a lot that you should go up hills at the same effort that you were running at before you hit the hill.  I've tried this and I get passed by everybody else on the hills.  I've even consciously let the effort increase slightly on the uphill and still get passed.  I've read a lot that we should take shorter quicker strides going up - I do that too and I get passed.  I know that I'm supposed to keep good posture, lean forward slightly, use the arms more (front to back), look up/ahead and not down, but yet I still get passed.  HELP!  Are you a good hill runner?  Do you get passed, or do you pass people on the uphill.  I'd be happy just to stay even with everyone going up.  Especially since I have a tendency to pass a lot of people on the subsequent downhill.

Maybe I'll add more enigmas to this post at a later date...