Tag Archive for 'training'

Groove Me

Published
by
Phil
on /2008/February/23/
in Running, life and music
. 0 Comments

Today I completed a 13 mile run, in keeping with my training plan for the 2008 Kentucky Derby Festival miniMarathon. It was the longest I have run since April 28, 2001 (last time I ran the mini). I am pleased that I made it through the run, but I now know that my goal of completing the mini in under 2 hours is probably not achievable. I thought I ran fairly strong, and I took a one minute walk break every 9 minutes, carried water with me and hydrated correctly, ate a bowl of Kashi hot cereal beforehand for energy, etc. But I must have bonked somewhere around mile 10. All I know is that by the time I had gone around 11.6 miles, it seemed like I was running in slow motion, maybe because I was! The last two miles seemed killer to me.

I kind of felt this coming, psychologically. I have not been losing weight like I was, in fact, I have even gained a couple of pounds in the past couple weeks [lousy diet lately], and I have been having the winter/gray skies/all work and no play blues. So building up to this day, I just felt a little anxiety. I woke up around 4 in the morning last night feeling like I needed to have some new music on my iPod to just get me through the run. I downloaded about 10 songs, most of them old funk/R&B classics. I have a huge weakness for early 70s stuff, especially soul funk. Then I created a playlist on my iPod called “Get me thru” and loaded the new songs into it, without listening to any of them because I wanted sort of a “surprise” factor, and mixed in some stuff I already had, enough to last 2.5 hours. All I can say is thank god I did. I really don’t think I could have done this run if it weren’t for the music. And I know for a fact I would have just walked the last uphill half-mile if not for King Floyd’s “Groove Me.” What an awesome, awesome song! From the moment it starts out with a grunt, all the way to the very end, just absolute beauty.

And so, I title this post in honor of that song. King Floyd died a couple years ago but I owe him big time. For those of you interested in the song or maybe want to listen to it, click on this link to a page on the NPR website about it, and about Mr. Floyd. You can then click on another link to listen to the full song, in all its funky splendor. Maybe you will see what I mean, how it carried me up the hill and through the last half mile, and why I love it so.

Obligatory numbers (Yeah, I know. Slow.):

Total Time (h:m:s) 2:21:45 10:45 pace
Distance (mi) 13.19  
Moving Speed (mph) 5.6 avg. 9.4 max.
Elevation Gain (ft) +967 / -964  
Temperature (F) 30.8 F avg. 32 F high
Wind Speed (mph) N 6.9 avg. N 8.1 max.

Twelve

Published
by
Phil
on /2008/February/17/
in Running
. 0 Comments

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

Eleven

Published
by
Phil
on /2008/February/9/
in Running
. 0 Comments

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.

Today's route

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. :)

Eat your heart out, please!

You love the thunder

Published
by
Phil
on /2008/February/5/
in Running
. 2 Comments

This morning I woke up feeling kind of blah. I didn’t sleep very well last night, and I feel like my energy level is low. I dallied a bit, checking email, etc., before I got out the front door to run. The weather was an improbable and incredible 66 degrees, and there were lightning flashes and several minutes of gentle rumbling thunder. It made for a great run. My body feels better and my spirits are higher than when I woke up.

I am not posting the numbers from my Garmin watch in a tabular format like I sometimes do (I am thinking I will only do that for longer runs from now on), but I did my normal 3.01 miles at a 9:25 pace. The rain is coming down heavier now, as I type this, and the thunder is picking up. I should have dallied more this morning. :)

Ten More Miles Down the Road

Published
by
Phil
on /2008/February/3/
in Running
. 0 Comments

Yesterday I completed a ten mile training run at Seneca and Cherokee Parks in Louisville, KY. I started out the run feeling a little out-of-sorts, a tad sluggish, and an hour later than I had planned. The rest of the run I felt somewhat fatigued. I am old enough to know–plenty old, in fact–that not every run is going to be a stellar experience. But I need to manage my running more efficiently. My laps have always been not as consistent as they should be, and yesterday it was quite evident that I need to pick a steady, workable pace and stick to it. By mile eight, I was totally out of gas. I ran on vapor from then on out. Those last two miles, I ran a 10:55 pace, but let me tell ya, it seemed a heck of a lot slower.

After the run, I went home, took a hot shower, and quite frankly, I have been lazy ever since. Tomorrow is another day. Obligatory training numbers from yesterday’s run:

Total Time (h:m:s) 1:41:04 10:01 pace
Distance (mi) 10.08  
Moving Speed (mph) 6.0 avg. 10.3 max.
Elevation Gain (ft) +702 / -700  
Temperature (F) 30.2 F avg. 32 F high
Wind Speed (mph) SSE 7.5 avg. SSE 8.1 max.

Deep Space Nine, Miles That Is

Published
by
Phil
on /2008/January/27/
in Running and life
. 0 Comments

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.

Snow falls

Published
by
Phil
on /2008/January/22/
in Running
. 0 Comments

Well, I definitely do not feel so hot today. I have been fighting off something for a week or more. Sore throat, and now I feel more symptoms all over. I just feel really awful at the moment, physically. I laid in bed when I woke up thinking that I might not feel well enough with fighting off this bug to even go into work, yet alone go out for a run. I did something I rarely do since I have started running again, and that is, think up excuses not to go out this morning. The snow that fell overnight was hardly substantial; certainly not enough to keep me from running. Slowly, I got it together enough to get out and do a once-around jog in the neighborhood. I won’t even bother with the Garmin numbers…it was just two and a half miles in the snow at an 11 minute pace. I just feel under the weather, unfortunately. To top it off, my hip flexor pain is really, really bad for some reason today. I felt it the entire time and really feel it a lot now. I am not discouraged, just feeling a bit low. Hey, not every post is gonna be upbeat. But at least I still have a beat.

Eight Miles High

Published
by
Phil
on /2008/January/19/
in Running
. 5 Comments

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.

Continue reading ‘Eight Miles High’

On Deadly Ground

Published
by
Phil
on /2008/January/17/
in Running
. 2 Comments

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

You’ve read my complaints

Published
by
Phil
on /2008/January/15/
in Running
. 0 Comments

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.