No words but these, and some numbers.
| Total Time (h:m:s) | 2:07:51 | 10:39 pace |
|---|---|---|
| Distance (mi) | 12.00 | |
| Moving Speed (mph) | 5.6 avg. | 8.1 max. |
| Elevation Gain (ft) | +853 / -847 | |
| Temperature (F) | 36.5F avg. | 37.4F high |
Tag Archive for 'statistics'
Today, in accordance with my training plan for the miniMarathon, I completed 11.25 miles. I followed the route below. I only had a general plan before I started out; I just added on some streets to a pretty consistently run 8-mile route to give me more miles.
I enjoyed the run. For me, there isn’t such a thing as running “junk miles.” I don’t run enough miles every week to warrant any such classification. Nor am I a speed demon. I do have specific goals in races, but those are mainly just side benefits to be out there, running. Here are my Garmin watch numbers for the day:
| Total Time (h:m:s) | 1:54:40 | 10:11 pace |
|---|---|---|
| Distance (mi) | 11.25 | |
| Moving Speed (mph) | 5.9 avg. | 11.4 max. |
| Elevation Gain (ft) | +940 / -941 | |
| Temperature (F) | 42.8 F avg. | 42.8 F high |
| Wind Speed (mph) | W 14.4 avg. | W 14.9 max. |
The miles went a lot better for me than on last week’s 10 mile run. However, I am still inconsistent in my pace. Since I run alone, I think I have a tendency to not be as aware of an ideal, efficient pacing. Maybe I should advertise in the want-ads.
Wanted: Running partner to train for half marathon. Desire to run the mini in under 2 hours, so an experienced training partner who can help me achieve that goal would be a plus. Buy you a beer after.
Here is a table of my lap times today:
| Lap # | Time (m:s) | Distance (mi) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7:57 | 1 |
| 2 | 9:19 | 1 |
| 3 | 10:02 | 1 |
| 4 | 11:56 | 1 (messed with earphones) |
| 5 | 10:05 | 1 |
| 6 | 10:06 | 1 |
| 7 | 10:02 | 1 |
| 8 | 10:12 | 1 |
| 9 | 11:17 | 1 |
| 10 | 10:30 | 1 |
| 11 | 11:02 | 1 |
| 12 | 2:06 | 0.22 |
Oh, a final, humorous side benefit of today’s training run. As I had mentioned in a previous post, I track my running on FitLinxx, a website that shares data with the Downtown YMCA where I work out. After I logged the humongous amount of calories I burned on the run, it put me into the number one spot in males my age there, as you can see in the graphic below. Eat your heart out, “Facility Users” and mwebster52, whoever you are. 
Yesterday I completed a nine mile training run through Seneca and Cherokee parks in Louisville KY. What a great ending to a not-so-great week. I did the nine in accordance with my training plan for the 2008 Kentucky Derby Festival miniMarathon that I posted earlier. I had not been feeling good physically all week, fighting off a cold and flu-like symptoms that still have never seemed to fully hit me as of writing this post. I did not do a three mile outdoor run Thursday morning, but instead, opted for the misery of a treadmill at the YMCA on Wednesday evening. Oh, the horror. But it must have served it’s purpose, because yesterday I felt great.
It was one of those zen runs for me, where my mind seemed to wander in “deep space”while my body just stayed in a groove. I began the run wearing my recently purchased Mountain Hardwear Ascent mittens, even though the temperature was nowhere near as cold as the previous week. I just did not want to repeat the 20 minute painful hand thaw that I had endured last Saturday. (By the end of this run, my hands were drenched in sweat, but perfectly toasty, which was fine with me!)
As I ran along, I went into deep reflection mode. I began thanking people in my mind. I was thanking all the bosses who had ever hired me to do a job. There is nothing quite like looking for a job, applying for it, and then getting it. I continued on that vein, thanking all the people who had ever cut me any slack in my life. All the times I goofed up in something, and despite my error, the people who have stood by me stood out prominently in my mind at one point during the run. I thought about all the women who had ever kissed me. (Alas, so few!) I don’t have to say to anyone how wonderful a kiss feels. Anyway, off and on through the duration of the run, I would think of someone to thank. Even people I had never met. Thank you, Mr. Jeff Galloway. Because even though I did not come to that park to walk, the walk breaks you advocate allow the running portions of my training to be just that much sweeter. Thank you, nice woman running toward me in the opposite direction, for looking at my face and my eyes and smiling a knowing smile, for it’s good to see others sharing in the same experience.
When the run was over, there was the usual hip flexor pain I have been experiencing the past couple months, but it didn’t matter. For me, it’s part of the territory. I made my way back home, ate some real eggs and had a huge glass of orange juice, turned on the ridiculous commentary on the South Carolina election results and shortly after, turned them off again, and then soon crashed on my sofa with my cat, Starlight. A final thought of gratitude: Thanks, body, for giving me at least one more nice run.
| Total Time (h:m:s) | 1:28:28 | 9:45 pace |
|---|---|---|
| Distance (mi) | 9.06 | |
| Moving Speed (mph) | 6.1 avg. | 9.0 max. |
| Elevation Gain (ft) | +598 / -595 | |
| Temperature (F) | 31.6 F avg. | 32 F high |
| Wind Speed (mph) | SW 8.3 avg. | SW 10.4 max. |
Wow, it was cold today. The wind chill was something like 9 degrees Fahrenheit. As mentioned in a previous post, I am training for the Kentucky Derby Festival Mini Marathon in April. Today was the day to do eight miles–rain or shine, buddy. I started at Seneca Park, ran to Cherokee Park up and around Dog Hill, and then back. Okay, time for a little whining. Despite wearing three pairs of gloves [Patagonia inner layer, Seirus middle layer and standard Asics running gloves outer layer], somewhere around two miles, while I was running up Park Boundary Road near Big Rock, my hands sent me the signal. They were going to make me pay for today, big time.
Around the time I got to Cherokee Park Road, I realized there was a running event going on. There were streets cordoned off and lots of runners. I am not very plugged in to the local running community in Kentuckiana, being a returning runner and a sort of lone one at that, but I found out after doing a search when I got home that it was a four miler, something called the Snowman Shuffle. Hah, no snow but it was sure cold enough for it.
So with the race runners accompanying me for a while, all the way to Hogan’s Fountain, and the music on my iPod, it was enough of a distraction to keep my mind off my hands. I took walk breaks at intervals of nine minutes, and each time, tried making fists, squeezing some blood into fingers, etc. But it wasn’t until I was finished and in the car that the real pain came. Extreme hand pain. For a solid 20 minutes. I could not drive; I just had to sit and squirm and take it until the pain left. I am not a brainiac or a scientist or an expert on cold weather training gear, but I figured the three layers would do it. I have to think again. And why do they hurt so freaking bad immediately after a run, but the pain is not so bad during the run?
Well, once the pain subsided, I was able to better enjoy the runner’s high. An eight miles high. [Some of you may get the reference.] I feel okay, like I am on track for a decent time in the mini (decent time for me), barring no further injury. And I know, no matter what, it’s going to be fun trying.
Here are my obligatory numbers for today:
| Total Time (h:m:s) | 1:18:12 | 9:38 pace |
|---|---|---|
| Distance (mi) | 8.1 | |
| Moving Speed (mph) | 6.2 avg. | 9.5 max. |
| Elevation Gain (ft) | +603 / -603 | |
| Temperature (F) | 22.5 F avg. | 24.8 F high |
| Wind Speed (mph) | NW 12.1 avg. | NW 13.8 max. |
I was debating what to title this post. I thought about “Staying the Course,” but that phrase has already been hijacked and overused by politicians. Instead, I named it after a Steven Seagal movie that always makes my friend Reid and I laugh because of one particular scene, one of the worst movie scenes of all time. (Yeah, I have a strange sense of humor. Don’t click that link if you haven’t seen a Seagal movie and chuckled.) Anyway, on deadly ground is kind of how I felt running this morning. We had a little bit of snow, but it was just enough to make my subdivision a little treacherous.
The area where I live has a lot of underground springs and karst geographic structure beneath it. Consequently the streets are often cracked and pot-holed, and there is always pooling water in some spots year-round. So when it snows or just gets really cold, it can indeed be deadly ground for a runner, especially in the dark.
So this morning’s training run wasn’t about distance or speed or anything else other than just me getting acclimated to another type of outdoor running condition that I had not encountered in all those years of being a world class couch potato. My pace was slow. Hey maybe I should run this pace all the time, because I actually felt I could have carried on a splendid conversation with a running partner, had I had one with me today. And I didn’t do my normal distance, which calls for me to repeat a few cul-de-sacs in my neighborhood. I figured I made it through all of them safely, why push it?
| Total Time (h:m:s) | 0:28:43 | 11:13 pace |
|---|---|---|
| Distance (mi) | 2.56 | |
| Moving Speed (mph) | 5.3 avg. | 6.5 max. |
| Elevation Gain (ft) | +191 / -188 | |
| Temperature (F) | 32 F avg. | 32 F high |
I just finished a three-mile training run. Okay, I don’t want to sound like I complain all the time, but hey, it’s my online journal. It’s like a diary to me, so I want to document how I felt this morning, which was, well, like crap.
First of all, I slept horrifically last night. There were definitely three bad dreams…I woke up three different times during the night, and each time my heart was racing. I can’t remember what they were about, but they were bad enough to wake me. Oh well, that happens every now and then. It’s probably something I need to work out in my waking life. Well, consequently, I overslept. Thankfully, my job is flex time–I can go in later than normal and stay later than normal. But who wants to work really late? And there’s always this hip flexor pain. Plus, this morning, it was awfully cold–20 degrees at the moment I am writing this, just after the run. To top it all off, I think I am getting a cold. Sore throat, runny nose, general yukkiness. So, why not go ahead and take it easy and not run?
No way.
Garmin numbers:
| Total Time (h:m:s) | 0:29:12 | 9:42 pace |
|---|---|---|
| Distance (mi ) | 3.01 | |
| Moving Speed (mph) | 6.2 avg. | 8.0 max. |
| Elevation Gain (ft) | +216 / -202 | |
| Temperature (F) | 19.4 F avg. | 19.4 F high |
| Wind Speed (mph) | NW 8.1 avg. | NW 8.1 max. |
Yesterday morning I did a little over 7 miles at Seneca and Cherokee Parks in Louisville, KY. It was a cold morning but once again, the parks seemed crowded with runners, which is motivational for me in a communal sort of way. In the first mile, I was running next to a guy who started up a conversation with me. Normally, I am a huffer and a puffer and I am not much for chatting, but it was pleasant. He asked how many miles I was going, my route, and how old I was. He mentioned that he was 56, and was going to have a birthday today. (Happy Birthday, whoever you are!)
I started out a little faster than my normal pace, and although I did not have a specific route plan to give me seven miles, I had my Forerunner 305 with me. I felt like I was running strong but maybe a little too strong for my injury. When I got done, I knew maybe I had pushed myself a bit. I was limping noticeably all day yesterday after the run, and just a little this morning. I guess that comes with the territory.
When I reviewed the lap numbers from my watch, especially after uploading them to motionbased, I was able to learn a little something more about my running. Looking at my laps, my average miles per hour stayed fairly consistent, and my pace was consistent in miles one through six. Mile 7 was a lot slower.
I knew I was feeling tired by then, but the pace seemed even more slower than I thought it would be. Looking at the statistics further, I think the long, slow elevation of the seventh mile explains it. There were other elevation jumps prior to that, but they were steeper and didn’t last as long.
Here are my numbers for the run:
| Total Time (h:m:s) | 1:09:28 | 9:32 pace |
|---|---|---|
| Distance (mi) | 7.28 | |
| Moving Speed (mph) | 6.3 avg. | 9.5 max. |
| Elevation Gain (ft) | +537 / -537 | |
| Temperature (F) | 32 F avg. | 33.8 F high |
| Wind Speed (mph) | NE 0.9 avg. | NE 3.5 max. |
| Lap | Time | Distance | M Spd | Energy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (#) | (m:s) | (mi ) | (mph) | (Cal) |
| 1 | 9:06 | 1 | 7.8 | 177 |
| 2 | 9:08 | 1 | 7.6 | 180 |
| 3 | 9:50 | 1 | 8.1 | 178 |
| 4 | 9:33 | 1 | 7.8 | 177 |
| 5 | 9:32 | 1 | 8.1 | 177 |
| 6 | 9:27 | 1 | 7.4 | 181 |
| 7 | 10:13 | 1 | 7.8 | 179 |
| 8 | 2:37 | 0.27 | 7.2 | 48 |
This morning I went for a run in shorts and a cotton tee shirt. Weather.com said it was 60 degrees as I walked out the door. What a fantastic run. The wind was swirling and it felt like a cool summer morning. It was quite invigorating! Especially since I didn’t sleep too well last night. Starlight is at the vet’s for her checkup, and the place just didn’t feel right without my roommate around.
I changed the settings on my Garmin to start keeping individual lap metrics of one mile, but after I uploaded it all to motionbased, the final numbers didn’t seem to tally up correctly. Oh well, no biggie. Here are the numbers, but numbers don’t really matter. I was out, I was moving, hip flexor pain be damned, and I had a nice little training run.
| Lap | Time | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| (#) | (m:s) | (mi ) |
| 1 | 9:45 | 1 |
| 2 | 9:52 | 1 |
| 3 | 9:41 | 1 |
| 4 | 0:44 | 0.07 |
| Distance (mi ) | 3.16 | |
| Moving Speed (mph) | 5.9 avg. | 8.4 max. |
| Elevation Gain (ft) | +222 / -225 | |
| Temperature (F) | 60.8 F avg. | 60.8 F high |
| Wind Speed (mph) | S 9.2 avg. | S 9.2 max. |
It’s interesting to note what a difference that the hip flexor injury has made to my burgeoning pursuit of running. Back in August when I finally decided to get fit, I started going to the gym in addition to running and dieting. I have always tried to nuture left-brain as well as right-brain activity, so I noticed the gym (YMCA) had an online facility to track my progress, called FitLinxx. When I use certain strength machines at the Y, it automatically logs my workouts, but you can add cardio sessions separately online, which I have been doing. Their website has a home page where you can compare your current monthly numbers to your previous month. As you can see in the screenshot I took from the site and pasted below, my December cardio is way, way off from last month at this same time, down from almost 16 hours of running last month by this date (the 22nd) to 5.5 hours of running this month. And calories burned is down 16,607 to 6,791.
The good news though is I am still losing weight, just a lot slower. And I still feel a whole lot better than I did in terms of energy capacity. But daggone, getting old has its drawbacks.
