Friday, August 31, 2018

Up and down


Fri, 8/31-30 min easy. Went to the canal trail. 2.09M out in 15:45 (7:32); 2.09M back in 14:55 (7:08). Overall 7:20 pace

Thurs, 8/30-The planned workout was 10 min warm up, 20 min tempo at 10K pace, 10 min cool down.  I drove to Duke Island Park for this. I covered the full 5K route on the 20 min tempo. 6:26/mile pace.
 

Wed, 8/29-easy run...tried a new route: from Y...to New Amwell...to Auten...to Amwell...to back to Y. 4.2 in 30:50. 7:20 pace.

Tues, 8/28

I warmed up by running to Mountain Park (adjacent to Pingry) and then did "up and down the clock" pyramid: I ran 1 min fast/1 min slow, 2 min fast/2 min slow, 3 min fast/3 min slow, 4 min fast/4 min slow, 5 min fast/5 min slow,...and then back down again.  The run should have totaled 50 min, or about 7 miles.  On this very humid morning, I covered 6.83 miles in 49:00.  I reached the athletic center "early," on the fast 1 minute segment, not the slow one minute stretch.  My fast runs wound up being at 6:20 pace, while my slow runs averaged about 8:00 pace.  The total pace over the run was 7:10.

1.27M-loop 1
1.27M-loop 2
1.27M-loop 3
1.27M-loop 4
1.0M-partial/inner loop
.75M-back to athletic center

6.83M

Mon, 8/27-30 min easy

Ran from Y to CVS and back.I  started towards the far end of the YMCA's parking lot and made my way towards CVS. I covered the first mile in 7:40. I hit Beekman and Triangle (1.4M into the run) at 11:00. I figured I'd turn around at 2.04M, or 15:30 (7:36 per mile pace).  

On the way back, I hit Beekman and Triangle at 19:55 (2.6M). I kept an easy pace for the rest, finishing up the 4.08M run in 30:00, or 7:21/mile pace. (The 2.04 trek back was 14:30, or 7:06/mile pace.)

15:30 (7:36/M pace) out and 14:30 (7:06/M pace) back. 7:21 pace overall.

Sunday, August 26, 2018

hovering

Sun, 8/26-Today I was scheduled to do a 90-min run. I did most of it!

10.75M recovery run in a lazy, post-race time of 85:40, averaging just under 8:00 per mile (7:58).


Sat, 8/25

Competed in a sprint triathlon relay in Wildwood with Rob and his colleague Tom. Tom swam .25M, Rob biked 10M, and I ran the 5K. I arrived at Tom's house in Ocean City at 9:30 Friday evening. After only modest rest, we rose at about 4:00 AM, left at 4:20, and arrived in Wildwood at about 5:00. I registered and then we began to get race ready.

Lots of people. Festive atmosphere, especially for so early in the morning. As it turns out, there were about 1,500 competitors across several races, some at the same time, some staggered. The sprint triathlon relay was but one.

Tom got us an excellent start (I believe we were in second or third at the transition), and we just maintained our position among the 38 relay teams from there. After some confusion with our place, turns out we won in 1:01.18 and missed the course record by 14 seconds.

The 5K course was mostly on the beach. I tried to use the wet sand (the first 1200m probably) until it ran out. My 5K leg was pedestrian 20:56 (6:43 per mile, per the website. Seems it should be 6:44 per mile, but who's counting.). According to what Rob said, the tracker indicated I really picked things up on the stretch that was run on the boardwalk, maybe even hovering under 6:00.

Friday, August 24, 2018

Rest day

Friday, 8/23-Rest day

Thurs, 8/22-Went to the canal trail for a 30-min run. 4.0M in 30:00, 7:30/M. 15:30 down, 14:30 back.  Once I returned, I drove to Hillsborough HS and did 10x200 meters: 35, 35, 35, 35, 35, 34, 33, 32, 32, 30. 2:25/200m walk between each rep.

Wednesday, August 22, 2018

flimsy and dull

Wed, 8/22-

Today was supposed to be an easy 30-min run. I  started towards the far end of the YMCA's parking lot and made my way towards CVS. I covered the first mile in 7:40 but fell off that pace some. I hit Beekman and Triangle (1.4M into the run) at 11:00. I figured I'd turn around at 2.04M, or 15:30 (7:36 per mile pace).  

On the way back, I hit Beekman and Triangle at 20:05 (2.6M). I kept an easy pace for the rest, finishing up the 4.08M run in 30:10, or 7:24/mile pace. (The 2.04 trek back was 14:40, or 7:11/mile pace.)

15:30 (7:36/M pace) out and 14:40 (7:11/M pace) back. 7:24 pace overall.

My legs are feeling flimsy.

Tues, 8/21

The workout today was to run 10 min at 10k pace on a straight, uninterrupted path, take a 10-min break, then run back.  The idea was to try to reach or surpass the starting point.

Using the canal trail, I started at the bridge to Colonial Park covered 1.54M in the 10 minutes allotted.  The pace was 6:30/mile. With flimsy and dull legs, I tried not to press, as I wanted to stay within the 10k pace.

The route back felt harder, especially the middle.  I covered about 50 meters more than I had on the first run, for 1.57M (6:22/mile pace). 

Monday, August 20, 2018

My legs are feeling tired.

Aug 20, 2018-

Today was supposed to be an easy 30-min run. I  started towards the far end of the YMCA's parking lot and made my way towards CVS. I covered the first mile in 7:40 and continued with that pace. I hit Beekman and Triangle (1.4M into the run) at 10:55. I figured I'd turn around at 2.05M, or 15:30 into the run. I hit the 2.05M mark at 15:30 (7:34 per mile pace).  

On the way back, I hit Beekman and Triangle at 20:05 (2.6M). I kept an easy pace for the rest, finishing up the 4.10M run in 30:00, or 7:19/mile pace. (The 2.05 trek back was 14:30, or 7:04/mile pace)


My legs are feeling tired.

Sunday, August 19, 2018

90 minutes alas!

Sat, 8/19-Scheduled for today was a steady 90-minute run. I went to Duke Island Park for this. I figured I'd do five loops, and complete the full 5K on the fifth lap. To keep things less monotonous, I'd change directions of the loop after each one. I started and finished in the clockwise (regular) direction.

loop 1: 17:00 (slow first mile in 8:10)...2.11M
loop 2: 33:15...4.22M
loop 3: 49:20...6.33M
loop 4: 55:25 (hit 1:21:00 with a mile to go)...8.44M
loop 5: the 5K+ course (3.16M)...11.6M
Finished: 1:27:55 (last mile 6:55)

But, oops, that was not 90 minutes!

Realizing that I should run the entire 90 minutes, I kept going and covered an additional .37M.

11.97M in 1:30:00, or 90 minutes alas! 7:31/M pace

After a slow first mile of 8:10, I got into a groove and kept a steady pace. My early miles were about 7:40, my middle miles were 7:30, and my last miles were 7:20 (and 6:55 for the last one).

Fri, 8/18-Returned later than expected from Myrtle Beach on account of annoyances at the baggage pickup. By the time we arrived home, it was starting to get dark and gloomy. I realized that my hills workout was not to be. I'd have gotten to Colonial Park by 7:30 or so, only to warm up and start my hourlong workout at 7:45 at the earliest. It'd been rather dark by the time I finished. Moreover, it had started to rain by 7:30 any way. Bummed!

Thursday, August 16, 2018

Myrtle Beach

Sat, 8/18-Holding off on my workout until we return to NJ.

Fri, 8/17-

Ran 4.0M in 30:00, exactly what the regimen ordered.

Went from hotel down two miles a little past 38th street and Ocean Blvd and turned back around. I turned around at 15:30 (7:45/mi pace), figuring I'd run 14:30 (7:15/mi pace) on the way back. 7:30/mi pace overall. Warm!

The workout also called for 10x200 (2 min rest between reps). After a three minute stretching session, I walked down Ocean Blvd in search of a safe stretch of road/sidewalk/grass. I marked off in my mind 200 meters based on my first rep. (Turns out it was 210 meters. Not a bad estimator I am!) At somewhere between 34 and 37 seconds, my reps of 210 meters weren't supposed to be all out, just more of a stride. Shave off two seconds for the extra 10 meters and you'll get 32 (-35). Take off another two seconds for the course and heavy flats and you'll get 30 (-33). In other words, I was putting for 30-33 second 200s efforts. Not bad for today.

Thurs, 8/16-Myrtle Beach.

Ran 3.92M in 29:30, for what was supposed to be an easy 30-min run.

Went from hotel down nearly two miles (1.96M, turns out) on to 38th street and Ocean Blvd and turned back around. I turned around at 15:20 (7:49/mi pace), figuring I'd run 14:40 on the way back. Turns out I ran 14:10 (7:13/mi pace). 7:31 pace overall.

Wed, 8/15-

Went to Canal trail with DJ for an easy 30 min. Because we were moving at a pedestrian pace and wound up bumping into one of my colleagues, the run took much longer than it should have. 4.25 in 38:00.

Tuesday, August 14, 2018

perhaps too lofty this early in my training.

Tues, 8/14-

Today at the canal park trail I did 5x1000 with a 3:00 stationary rest after each. (I went to Hillsborough HS track, but it was overrun with preseason athletics activities.)

At canal, I marked the distance was from the parking lot gate until 50 meters beyond the footbridge (that goes to Colonial Park) as my stretch of 1K. I warmed up on the other side of the trail.

My goal was 17:30 5K in mind. It was tough, though, as this mean 3:30 per repeat. My runs were a heap slower, but that's okay: 3:41, 3:37, 3:37, 3:36, 3:33. 

3:41-about 18:25 pace
3:37-about 18:05 pace
3:37-about 18:05 pace
3:36-about 18:00 pace
3:33-about 17:45 pace

I should have entered the workout with 18:00 pace in mind. 17:30 was perhaps too lofty this early in my training.

Monday, August 13, 2018

Too humid!

August 13, 2018

This morning's workout was supposed to be an easy 30-minute run. In checking my blog and other sources, I think my easy runs have been too, well, easy. Seems they should be at somewhere between 7:15 and 7:30 pace. I have been hovering between 7:40 and 8:00, one time running over 8:30!

I started towards the far end of the YMCA's parking lot and made my way towards CVS. I covered the first mile in 7:40 and continued with that pace. I hit Beekman and Triangle (1.4M into the run) at 11:00. I figured I'd turn around 15:15 into the run. I hit the 2.0M mark at 15:15 (7:37 per mile pace).  

On the way back, I hit Beekman and Triangle at 19:40 (2.6M). I kept an easy pace for the rest, finishing up the 4.0M run in 29:48, or 7:27/mile pace. 

15:15 (7:37/M pace) out and 14:33 (7:17/M pace) back. 

Too humid!
http://www.glrr.net/images/track/PacingCharts/PaceChart.pdf

Sunday, August 12, 2018

I guess this means I did my 75-minute run in 72-and-a-half!

Sun, 8/12

After driving from NJ to north of the Poconos and back (5 hours+!), I went on a long run. And boy was it humid enough again. Unlike my foolishness last week in which I neglected to fuel appropriately, I was pretty prepared for today's run.

I went to Duke Island Park for 4 loops (2.11M each) around the park, with the fourth loop being the 5K course. This would be 9.48M.

Mile 1: 8:00
End of first loop (2.11M): 16:50
first mile after first loop: 7:50 (24:40)
End of second loop (4:22M): 33:10 (16:20 2.11M)
first mile after second loop: 40:50 (7:40)
End of third loop: --
first mile after this loop: --
The time read 1:05:10 with 1 mile to go
Finished up in 1:12:30 (last mile run in 7:20)

9.48M in 1:12:30. Pace: 7:39/mile

I was supposed to run for 75 minutes.  I guess this means I did my 75-minute run in 72-and-a-half!


Saturday, August 11, 2018

Talk about swamp foot!

Aug 11, 2018-

On this soggy, humid day I was scheduled to do 10x1 min up a shallow hill; walk back down recovery. I went back and forth about the venue: the foot of Sourland Mountains, the ridge at Colonial Park, or the front stretch at Deer Path Park in Flemington. I decided on Colonial, thinking the more familiar venue would be better today, particularly since there was heavy thunder and lightning this morning. 

I arrived at the Millstone entrance to D&R Canal State Park as the rain mostly subsided. It was still drizzling as I jogged 1.52M (12:45, or 8:23 per mile pace) to the site (pavilion) in Colonial as my warmup.

Starting at the portion of the sidewalk (that leads to the pavilion) closet to the park marker (near where the sidewalk intersects with the parking lot), I made my way up the soggy stretch of glass to the tree line. My 60-sec runs ranged between .31km (310m) and .32km (320m). or .20M. Per the instructions, I walked back down to the origin, for a generous rest of four (4) minutes. 

Ten of these babies felt okay, although I was not a fan of all the animal crap I encountered in the soggy grass. Talk about swamp foot!

I cooled down the same way I warmed up...1.52M (12:55, or 8:30 per mile pace).

Moderate workout.


Friday, August 10, 2018

Rerun

August 10, 2018-

A rerun of yesterday's, the workout was supposed to be an easy 30-minute run. I started towards the far end of the YMCA's parking lot and made my way towards CVS. I covered the first mile in 7:50 and continued with that pace. I hit Beekman and Triangle (1.4M into the run) at 11:05. I figured I'd turn around 15:30 into the run. I hit the 2.0M mark at 15:30 (7:45 per mile pace).  

On the way back, I hit Beekman and Triangle at 19:55 (2.6M). I kept an easy pace for the rest, finishing up the 4.0M run in 30:15, or 7:34/mile pace. 15:30 (7:45/M pace) out and 14:45 (7:22/M pace) back. 

Thursday, August 9, 2018

For perspective

Thurs, 8/9-

Workout was supposed to be an easy 30-minute run. I started towards the far end of the YMCA's parking lot and made my way towards CVS. I covered the first mile in 7:50 and continued with that pace. I hit Beekman and Triangle (1.4M into the run) at 11:10. I figured I'd turn around 15:30 into the run. I was 1.97M at 15:30 (7:52 per mile pace). For perspective, the CVS corner is at 2.04M.

On the way back, I hit Beekman and Triangle at 19:50 (2.54M). I kept an easy pace for the rest, finishing up the 3.94M run in 30:30, or 7:44/mile pace. 15:30 (7:52/M pace) out and 15:00 (7:37/M pace) back. 

Wednesday, August 8, 2018

Five would be a little less tedious.

Wed, 8/8/18

I had a 60-minute run scheduled for this humid morning. I arrived at Pingry at 7:00AM for this soggy effort. I'd use campus-side Mountain Park in Basking Ridge. The outer loop there is 1.27M. At an avg of 10:00 per loop, I my initial plan was to cover six (6) loops, 7.62M, in 60:00...for 7:52 per mile.

 I instead decided to start my run from the campus athletic center and head to the park (.75M-6 min) for 5 loops (6.35M-- 50 min) rather than 6. Five would be a little less tedious than six. I'd cap off the run with a trek back to the campus athletic center (.75M-5 min) 


.75M from athletic center entrance to walkway of park (6:05)...8:07/M pace
loop 1: 1.27M/2.02M...16:10 (10:05)...7:56/M pace
loop 2: 1.27M/3.29M...26:05 (9:55)...7:49/M pace
loop 3: 1.27M/4.56M...35:55 (9:50)...7:45/M pace
loop 4: 1.27M/5.83M...45:35 (9:40)...7:37/M pace
loop 5: 1.27M/7.1M 55:05 (9:30)...7:29/M pace
.75M to the athletic center entrance...7.85M...60:00 (4:55)...6:33/M pace

 7.85M in 60:00 exactly. 7:38/M pace

Next few days:

Thurs-30 min easy (park or YMCA neighborhood)

Fri-30 min easy (park or YMCA neighborhood)

Sat-10x1 min up a shallow hill; walk back down recovery

Sun-75 min steady (Duke Island)

Mon-30 min easy

Tues-5x10000 at 5K pace (3:35 or better, with the 200s being between 40 and 43); 3 min recovery between each effort.


Tuesday, August 7, 2018

This humidity is for the...rain!

Tues, 8/7

My early AM workout at Pingry today was supposed to be 3 x 1 mile at 5K pace with a 3:00 stationary rest between efforts, per my workout regime. I assume the 5K pace means date pace, not goal pace.

I felt okay during the warmup. My runs, though not fast, were not: 
6:01 (39, 82, 2:52, 4:27, 6:01)
6:03 (41, 84, 2:57, 4:31, 6:03)
6:00 (42, 85, 2:59, 4:31, 6:00)

This humidity is for the...rain! 

I have 60 minute run tomorrow. I may go to Mountain Park in Basking Ridge. The outer loop there is 1.27M. At an avg of 10:00 per loop, I could cover 7.62M in 60:00...for 7:52 per mile.

loop 1: 10:25
loop 2: 10:15
loop 3: 10:05
loop 4: 9:55
loop 5: 9:45
loop 6: 9:35

OR

loop 1: 10:10
loop 2: 10:05
loop 3: 10:00
loop 4: 9:55
loop 5: 9:50
loop 6: 9:45

OR

run from the campus athletic center to park (.75M-6 min)
5 loops around campus (6.35M-- 50 min)
run back to the campus athletic center (.75M-5 min) 

Monday, August 6, 2018

Inside the training log of a 16:45 runner.

Taken From:

https://www.reddit.com/r/running/comments/51and2/inside_the_training_log_of_a_1645_runner/

Inside the training log of a 16:45 runner.

First post. Maybe a few other runners can shed some light on, comment on, or learn from this. I'm in my 30's and I've been running higher mileage (55-60 mpw) for about 2 years and managed to hit some 17:3X times in the 5K. However, in the local running scene I'm always getting beat by this guy in my age group (35-39) who runs anywhere from 16:20-16:50. I've tried to stay on his shoulder during some races and he always pulls away. Getting fed up with losing, I stalked the web and was able to find his running log to see what he was doing that was giving him the edge over me.
Here is what his plan looks like. Mileage varies on some weeks but he's pretty consistent and follows a strict regimen. He also only runs 40-50 miles per week!
Monday: 4 to 5.5 miles at 8:00 to 8:30 pace. This seems to be his recovery day after long runs.
Tuesday. 2 mile warm up, 6-7x1000 at 5:26 pace, 1 mile cool down. Other weeks it's 3x1 mile at 5K pace (w/ 90 second standing recoveries). Sometimes he's doing a hard 3.5 mile tempo at 5:55 pace. Regardless, these are all vomit-inducing, difficult workouts.
Wednesday. 8-10 miles at 7:20-7:40 pace.
Thursday: 6-8 miles at 6:20-6:30 pace. He calls these "uptempo".
Friday: 2 mile warm up, 10 minutes of hill repeats, 1 mile cool down. Other weeks it's something like Daniel's 800-meter runner workout. An example of this was 600m-400m-200m (x 3) at mile pace. Some of his 200's were anywhere from 32 to 28 seconds!
Saturday: Off
Sunday: 10-17 mile long run. Some of shorter long runs were at 7:20 pace and dropped down to 6:50 for the last two miles, while a few of the 17 mile runs were done at 8:00-8:10 pace. Hmmm.
The differences between him and I was the amount of quality he put into each week. I rarely run more than one hard workout per week, and he does 3. I'm never covering more than 12 miles on my long run and he's doing 17. While my overall mileage is usually more, he's cutting out a lot of the junk mileage I do and using his time off as recovery. I'm also feeling that he has more innate ability than I do.
Anyways, I just thought I'd shed some light on mileage and training and what works for some people. Opinions or quality vs. quantity are welcome.

I made a mistake, though, and paid for it

Mon, 8/6

Today was supposed to be an easy 30-min run. For a change in scenery, I went to Woodfield Park (on Amwell Rd, Hillsborough) for my duty. I wound up doing 4 loops, each .65M; a fifth loop was in a figure 8, which was .79M.

Loop 1: 5:55
Loop 2: 11:45
Loop 3: 17:30
Loop 4: 23:10
Finished up in 29:50 (total 3.39M, 8:48/mile pace)

On tap for tomorrow: 3x1 mile at 5K pace. The workout does not specify rest time. I think I'll go with 3 minutes, per Competitor Running http://running.competitor.com/2016/01/training/workout-week-mile-repeats_115610
(Mid-August 2017 I did a solo 6:08, 6:08, and 5:57.  The average of my 200m slow jog-rest was 1:55.)

Sun, 8/5

On this humid morning, I had a 75:00 run scheduled. I went to Duke Island Park for 4 loops (2.11M each) around the park, with the fourth loop being the 5K course. This would be 9.48M.

Mile 1: 8:15
End of first loop (2.11M): 17:05
first mile after first loop: 7:50 (24:55)
End of second loop (4:22M): 33:30 (16:25 2.11)
first mile after second loop: ---
End of third loop: 49:50
first mile after this loop: --
The time read 1:06:30 with 1 mile to go
Finished up in 1:14:00 (last mile run in 7:30)

9.48M in 1:14:00. Pace: 7:48/mile

I made a mistake, though, and paid for it: I ran this on an empty stomach. I didn't mean to, but I forgot to eat. 

Sunday, August 5, 2018

I have a 75:00 run today. Argh!

Sun, 8/5-I have a 75:00 run today. Argh! I will probably head to Duke Island Park for 4 loops (2.11M each) around the park, with the fourth loop being the 5K course. This would be 9.48M.

Sat, 8/4 -

Today was supposed to consist of two workouts: an easy 30-minute run for the AM session and 10 x (1 min faster than normal pace/1 min slower than normal pace). 

Headed to the canal path and did an easy run.  I ran on the less-used side, covering about 1.95M in 16:00. I picked up the pace some on the way back, reaching my origin at 30:00. 16:00, 14:00 back. 

In the afternoon it was humid and around 90 degrees. Nonetheless,  I continued my work. I headed back to the canal path. I jogged to the stone paver area of the path (.75M from the origin) and stretched for a few minutes. I then started with the 1 min slower than normal pace. (I'm still wondering which normal pace the plan refers: race normal, steady state run normal, etc. Normal is such a relative term.) After a minute, I kicked into faster-than-normal-pace. And so forth. I took this gig down 1.38M to the 2.13M mark and turned around smack dead in the middle of one of my pick-ups. I wound up finishing about 75 meters beyond the bridge, .2M beyond where I began. This basically means I went down 1.38M and came back 1.58M. At the 1.38M I was at 9:30; I then covered the 1.58M in 10:30. Out was 6:53 per mile pace; back was 6:39 per mile pace. My thought was to run the "slower" minutes at 8:00 and the "faster" minutes in 6:00, for a 7:00 average pace. This is likely too slow, so I am glad to see my averages dip below 7:00, which means I was probably running both my slower and faster minutes faster than 8:00 and 6:00 minute paces, or running one of the two substantially faster than expected. Perhaps I was going 7:53 pace and 5:53 pace on the way out an 7:40 pace and 5:40 pace on the way back! 

In the future, I will start 100 meters shy of the stone pavers, so that as soon as I reach the other side of that stretch 60 seconds will have elapsed and it'll be time for me to run my first hard minute. This'll mean I'll reach the turnaround point (the gate) at 10:00 as I am finishing a jog. I'd then be able to turn and head back beginning hard.  Of course I say all this, not really knowing if I'll have another opportunity for this workout, per my regimen. 

Fri, 8/3-Rest. Yes!

Thurs, 8/2-

The workout today was supposed to be a 30-min run, with the last 10 minutes at 10K pace. Since I took off from work today, Davirah and I went to the Canal trail. I ran 16 minutes down (close to 2M) and headed back (out and back route), with the idea that I would take the pace down to 10K when I had 1.5M to go. I reached this mark in 21:00. I figured I'd over the last 1.5M in 10:00 and finish up at 31:00. I wound up covering it in 8:55 (5:56 per mile pace) for a total run of 29:55.

Wednesday, August 1, 2018

identical effort.

Aug 1, 2018

On tap this morning was a 45:00 run. Parked at the YMCA and then did a 5.8M route in 44:05, about three seconds slower per mile than Monday's identical effort.


Tomorrow: 30 min run – last 10 mins at 10km pace. I'll probably head to the canal trail.