Oy, what dreadful humidity for today's run. I'm mildly surprised that I was able to pound it out relatively painlessly. My legs were feeling great for most of the run, and taking very deep breaths most of the run seemed to help with controlling my HR well (with only a brief time that it spiked on the last uphill). And today, I did a reasonably good of job of staying close to pace, taking advantage of downhills and taking it slightly easier on uphills when possible. It's still a struggle to properly pace outdoors as opposed to on treadmill.
Mile Goal Actual
1 7:40 7:41
2 7:40 7:34
3 7:40 7:42
4 7:40 7:37
5 7:40 7:38
6 7:40 7:35
7 7:10 7:13
8 7:10 7:15
9 7:10 7:11
10 7:40 7:42
11 7:40 7:34
Looking forward to this next week, which should be very challenging. To include my first "double" in a training cycle.
Sunday, June 28, 2020
Saturday, June 27, 2020
Training, Days #12 & 13
Friday: Nice, easy 4-mile run at 8:00 pace, mostly to just have a simple recovery from Thursday's workout.
Today: 6 miles at 7:45 pace. Back outdoors on mildly rolling hills this morning. A little on the warm side, somewhat humid, I was definitely feeling it during the uphills (which, in the grand scheme of things, aren't all that steep nor that long). Definitely tricky controlling my pace outdoors to not exceed the goal by that much. I try to be within 5 seconds of the goal pace.
Mile Goal Actual
1 7:45 7:45
2 7:45 7:33
3 7:45 7:40
4 7:45 7:36
5 7:45 7:39
6 7:45 7:40
Today: 6 miles at 7:45 pace. Back outdoors on mildly rolling hills this morning. A little on the warm side, somewhat humid, I was definitely feeling it during the uphills (which, in the grand scheme of things, aren't all that steep nor that long). Definitely tricky controlling my pace outdoors to not exceed the goal by that much. I try to be within 5 seconds of the goal pace.
Mile Goal Actual
1 7:45 7:45
2 7:45 7:33
3 7:45 7:40
4 7:45 7:36
5 7:45 7:39
6 7:45 7:40
Thursday, June 25, 2020
Training, Day #11
Well, that was remarkably straightforward tonight. Warm-up easy-pace run leading into six fast 1-mile repeats @ 6:45 each with 3-minute walking breaks in between and then a colldown walk at the end. Those mile repeats really weren't all that bad. Again, thank you treadmill! Makes it easy to hit the right pace the whole time and not worry about going out too fast and having to pull back to average out correctly. Days like this and Tuesday are all the more encouraging for me to be able to hit my sub-3 goal in Chicago... so long as it happens.
Tomorrow is a short, easy-pace run, helpful for recovery but still get a few more miles on my legs. Should be nice and easy.
Tomorrow is a short, easy-pace run, helpful for recovery but still get a few more miles on my legs. Should be nice and easy.
Wednesday, June 24, 2020
And then there were two...
Wow, double-whammy of World Marathon Majors cancellations today: NYC and Berlin. I was only registered for NYC and will wind up taking the option to defer to next year's race. I wasn't registered for Berlin, but know a few people who were.
So, with the previous cancellations of the Tokyo Marathon (for all but the elites) and the Boston Marathon (after an initial postponement), the only two Majors left for this year -- for now -- are London and Chicago. Keeping my fingers crossed for Chicago, since that is what my current training schedule is for.
Today's training was straightforward -- 7 miles at 7:55 pace, finished just ahead of pace in 55:55. A little sore from yesterday's run, but managed it well enough. Tomorrow will be tough, with 6 1-mile intervals at a nice fast clip.
So, with the previous cancellations of the Tokyo Marathon (for all but the elites) and the Boston Marathon (after an initial postponement), the only two Majors left for this year -- for now -- are London and Chicago. Keeping my fingers crossed for Chicago, since that is what my current training schedule is for.
Today's training was straightforward -- 7 miles at 7:55 pace, finished just ahead of pace in 55:55. A little sore from yesterday's run, but managed it well enough. Tomorrow will be tough, with 6 1-mile intervals at a nice fast clip.
Tuesday, June 23, 2020
Training, Day #9
I am *so* glad that the gym is open again, so that I could do this 10k time trial on the treadmill, with pre-set pace, and an easy way up ticking up the pace when desired, and know that I'm not kicking it up too much. Nevermind the fact that it was about 85 degrees outside at the time I was starting my workout. (Yeah, that would've padded several minutes onto the run, assuming that I wasn't overwhelmed by the heat and humidity and turned the time trial into simply a 6.2 mile easy run/walk.)
Goal: 42-43 minutes. I was looking to get as close to 41:59 as possible, just 'cause. Alas, I didn't kick up the extra little bit of speed *quite* early enough, but still did a great job on tonight's run: 42:06. Not quite a PR, but a damn strong finish. And really not hurting at all. Quite pleased. The thought of doing close to this pace across a full marathon is kind of daunting (6:52/mi is the goal to crack 3 hours), but this is a nice early milestone for assessing my current fitness level. It only gets better from here. Someone please make sure that this marathon actually is held on schedule!
Tomorrow: Nice easy-pace 7-mile run.
Goal: 42-43 minutes. I was looking to get as close to 41:59 as possible, just 'cause. Alas, I didn't kick up the extra little bit of speed *quite* early enough, but still did a great job on tonight's run: 42:06. Not quite a PR, but a damn strong finish. And really not hurting at all. Quite pleased. The thought of doing close to this pace across a full marathon is kind of daunting (6:52/mi is the goal to crack 3 hours), but this is a nice early milestone for assessing my current fitness level. It only gets better from here. Someone please make sure that this marathon actually is held on schedule!
Tomorrow: Nice easy-pace 7-mile run.
Monday, June 22, 2020
Training, Day #8
Simple day today -- 7miles at 7:50 pace (actually 7:47, given the increments on the treadmill). Nice and smooth. Unfortunately, the reception of the satellite was hosed for most of it because of the thunderstorms rolling through the area. But really a rather unremarkable run. It's actually nice being able to simply get the mileage in without any difficulties. (Lord knows, had the gym not been open, it would have been totally miserable, as I would have been about 3 miles in when the downpour started.)
Tomorrow: 10k time trial.This will be tough. My PR for that length is 42:03, as part of my run in the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon last October. It'd be great to break that PR.
Tomorrow: 10k time trial.This will be tough. My PR for that length is 42:03, as part of my run in the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon last October. It'd be great to break that PR.
Sunday, June 21, 2020
Training, Day #7
Wow, who would've ever thought getting back onto the treadmill at the gym would be so great? I've known for quite a while that treadmill running is much easier for me than outdoors, but today's run (after more than 3 months of exclusively outdoor running) really brought it home. There seem to be a few factors that I can quickly identify:
1) The temperature and humidity conditions are consistent indoors, with zero wind
2) No variations in the path being run nor concern about having to run around others going slower or let others (typically bicyclists) pass
3) Absolutely zero energy (either mental or physical) going into verifying what pace is being run during any particular segment and making adjustments to get closer to pace. I usually start off any mile too fast, and then have to spend some time trying to rein it back in, but not *so* much that I then start off the next mile too slowly.
Today's effort was 5 miles at 7:47 (since I can't get the treadmill to do 7:45, only having increments of 0.1mph) and 5 miles at 7:30. Nice and easy. FAR easier than yesterday's effort, which was shorter and only slightly faster than today's initial pace. So long as I can keep getting onto the one treadmill that actually has closed captioning on it (so that I can watch more than just cooking shows that don't need audio or captioning), I'll be quite happy with being back indoors more often than not.
1) The temperature and humidity conditions are consistent indoors, with zero wind
2) No variations in the path being run nor concern about having to run around others going slower or let others (typically bicyclists) pass
3) Absolutely zero energy (either mental or physical) going into verifying what pace is being run during any particular segment and making adjustments to get closer to pace. I usually start off any mile too fast, and then have to spend some time trying to rein it back in, but not *so* much that I then start off the next mile too slowly.
Today's effort was 5 miles at 7:47 (since I can't get the treadmill to do 7:45, only having increments of 0.1mph) and 5 miles at 7:30. Nice and easy. FAR easier than yesterday's effort, which was shorter and only slightly faster than today's initial pace. So long as I can keep getting onto the one treadmill that actually has closed captioning on it (so that I can watch more than just cooking shows that don't need audio or captioning), I'll be quite happy with being back indoors more often than not.
Saturday, June 20, 2020
Training, Day #6
Oy, today was a very hard training day, and really shouldn't have been. I woke up all too early, went through my normal morning routine, but was still far too tired, so I went back to sleep for another hour. No point in heading out the door if I'm too tired to stay awake, even if it's just a short 6-mile run at 7:40/mile pace.
Once I finally got outside, I was feeling fine. While I start off a little too fast, I was able to pull it back enough to be right on target for Mile 1. I sped up a little bit on Mile 2 because of a nice downhill portion where I always gain a bit of speed (which I usually lose even moreso when returning on the back end). So far so good. But after Mile 3, all of a sudden my HR spiked something fierce, and it was a big struggle to return the last three miles.
Mile Goal Actual
1 7:40 7:39
2 7:40 7:31
3 7:40 7:39
4 7:40 7:37
5 7:40 7:40
6 7:40 7:35
Not entirely sure what happened. While it was warm, it wasn't so hot that I should have adjusted my planned pace at all. And while it was definitely very humid, it certainly wasn't oppressive (even with the reasonable temperature factored in). So what else? Not sure.
Tomorrow: 10-miler. Reasonable paces, but I'll definitely be mindful of HR spiking again. If it does for any prolonged time (sometimes the watch will scream but there really isn't any issue), I'll definitely cut things short and/or reduce speed. Fingers crossed that I've been able to recover enough today.
Once I finally got outside, I was feeling fine. While I start off a little too fast, I was able to pull it back enough to be right on target for Mile 1. I sped up a little bit on Mile 2 because of a nice downhill portion where I always gain a bit of speed (which I usually lose even moreso when returning on the back end). So far so good. But after Mile 3, all of a sudden my HR spiked something fierce, and it was a big struggle to return the last three miles.
Mile Goal Actual
1 7:40 7:39
2 7:40 7:31
3 7:40 7:39
4 7:40 7:37
5 7:40 7:40
6 7:40 7:35
Not entirely sure what happened. While it was warm, it wasn't so hot that I should have adjusted my planned pace at all. And while it was definitely very humid, it certainly wasn't oppressive (even with the reasonable temperature factored in). So what else? Not sure.
Tomorrow: 10-miler. Reasonable paces, but I'll definitely be mindful of HR spiking again. If it does for any prolonged time (sometimes the watch will scream but there really isn't any issue), I'll definitely cut things short and/or reduce speed. Fingers crossed that I've been able to recover enough today.
Friday, June 19, 2020
Back to the gym
Today is a rest day in the context of running, but I'm allowed to do some cross-training. And it coincides with the re-opening of the gym to which I belong. Nice to be able to get back, but there are some things that make absolutely NO sense. (I'm giving the gym the benefit of the doubt, that it is doing everything in total compliance with the government directives they've been given.)
Interesting to me that typically being in indoor public spaces still requires mask wearing, save for in the gym. It's encouraged, but not required. Almost none of the members (myself included) were wearing masks.
"Social distancing" typically means 6 feet minimum distance between people -- hence all these markers on the floor. Except, of course, inside the locker room. Our locker room has "bays" of approximately 60 lockers in 2 rows. Alternate lockers on the top row are available, and then the intermediate alternate lockers on the bottom row are available. So, in other words, we can still have one locker in each "column" of lockers, with men effectively standing shoulder-to-shoulder. Really? Shouldn't it really be every 4th or 5th locker available for one row (say the top row), and NONE available for the other row?
One of the included items for our fee is towels -- there's usually an abundance of them. Now, there are none in sight. After taking the extra beat to notice the sign in the shelf area, it's clear that those are held at the front desk only for disbursement. When asked why we need to come up front, the staffer (dutifully wearing both a mask and gloves) explained that CDC regulations in Phase 2 require that they be handed out by someone wearing gloves. Idiocy, IMO. We only bother taking the towels when we're going to use them; it's not like anyone goes and rubs their face on them and places them back amidst the unused towels -- give me a break. Phase 3 we'll be trusted once again to take towels for ourselves again. Sigh.
As I understand it, the coronavirus in the air or on surfaces dies relatively quickly in heat and humidity. Ironically enough, the steam room (the hottest and most humid part of our gym) is currently closed. Not that it is limited to, say, 6 people maximum at any one time, but off limits entirely. Why? Shouldn't that be the safest location in the gym, even without masks?
Then there's the exercise floor upstairs. It looks mostly the same at first blush, save for a few markers on the floor. All of the equipment is still there - none taken out. Take a bit more time, and you can see a lot more wipes and paper towels with spray sanitizer. Then looking at the arrangement of the equipment, you can see that certain pieces are "removed" from rotation by a simple sign placed on the display screen. But, while the treadmills and ellipticals have every other unit available for use, the stair climbers only have ¼ of them available, despite all of these pieces being equally spaced. Not only that, but it's straight columns of equipment available, rather than staggering the pieces in each row to further maximize the distance between rows.
I didn't look at the weights section, since I rarely bother with them. Likely not much different than normal.
For now, I'll keep my membership. We'll see how things evolve over time. Especially as it gets back to normal numbers of people coming in.
Interesting to me that typically being in indoor public spaces still requires mask wearing, save for in the gym. It's encouraged, but not required. Almost none of the members (myself included) were wearing masks.
"Social distancing" typically means 6 feet minimum distance between people -- hence all these markers on the floor. Except, of course, inside the locker room. Our locker room has "bays" of approximately 60 lockers in 2 rows. Alternate lockers on the top row are available, and then the intermediate alternate lockers on the bottom row are available. So, in other words, we can still have one locker in each "column" of lockers, with men effectively standing shoulder-to-shoulder. Really? Shouldn't it really be every 4th or 5th locker available for one row (say the top row), and NONE available for the other row?
One of the included items for our fee is towels -- there's usually an abundance of them. Now, there are none in sight. After taking the extra beat to notice the sign in the shelf area, it's clear that those are held at the front desk only for disbursement. When asked why we need to come up front, the staffer (dutifully wearing both a mask and gloves) explained that CDC regulations in Phase 2 require that they be handed out by someone wearing gloves. Idiocy, IMO. We only bother taking the towels when we're going to use them; it's not like anyone goes and rubs their face on them and places them back amidst the unused towels -- give me a break. Phase 3 we'll be trusted once again to take towels for ourselves again. Sigh.
As I understand it, the coronavirus in the air or on surfaces dies relatively quickly in heat and humidity. Ironically enough, the steam room (the hottest and most humid part of our gym) is currently closed. Not that it is limited to, say, 6 people maximum at any one time, but off limits entirely. Why? Shouldn't that be the safest location in the gym, even without masks?
Then there's the exercise floor upstairs. It looks mostly the same at first blush, save for a few markers on the floor. All of the equipment is still there - none taken out. Take a bit more time, and you can see a lot more wipes and paper towels with spray sanitizer. Then looking at the arrangement of the equipment, you can see that certain pieces are "removed" from rotation by a simple sign placed on the display screen. But, while the treadmills and ellipticals have every other unit available for use, the stair climbers only have ¼ of them available, despite all of these pieces being equally spaced. Not only that, but it's straight columns of equipment available, rather than staggering the pieces in each row to further maximize the distance between rows.
I didn't look at the weights section, since I rarely bother with them. Likely not much different than normal.
For now, I'll keep my membership. We'll see how things evolve over time. Especially as it gets back to normal numbers of people coming in.
Thursday, June 18, 2020
Training, Day #4
Thursday. Oh, how I hate Thursdays on this plan, just the same as I did when I was using Hanson's Marathon Method (which I do recommend, don't get me wrong). Interval training is definitely beneficial in helping (long-term) to increase your speed, but that doesn't make these days any more enjoyable. Nailed my goals (1st mile was a little too fast), and I'm sure it was the fact that I had a 3-minute walk in between each mile-long interval that made it doable.
Mile Goal Actual
1 6:50-6:55 6:43
2 6:50-6:55 6:54
3 6:50-6:55 6:52
4 6:50-6:55 6:54
5 6:50-6:55 6:48
Tomorrow: Rest day -- at least in the context of running. My gym finally reopens tomorrow, so I just may wind up going, seeing what's available, and do some simple cross-training.
Mile Goal Actual
1 6:50-6:55 6:43
2 6:50-6:55 6:54
3 6:50-6:55 6:52
4 6:50-6:55 6:54
5 6:50-6:55 6:48
Tomorrow: Rest day -- at least in the context of running. My gym finally reopens tomorrow, so I just may wind up going, seeing what's available, and do some simple cross-training.
Wednesday, June 17, 2020
Training, Day #3
Simple day today: goal was 7 miles at 7:55 pace. Hardest part was keeping my pace slow enough. I wound up with an average pace of 7:47.
Mile Goal Actual
1 7:55 7:50
2 7:55 7:44
3 7:55 7:52
4 7:55 7:48
5 7:55 7:46
6 7:55 7:47
7 7:55 7:46
Tomorrow: 5 x 1 mile intervals at 6:50 - 6:55. This should be a really hard day. Ah... Thursdays.
Mile Goal Actual
1 7:55 7:50
2 7:55 7:44
3 7:55 7:52
4 7:55 7:48
5 7:55 7:46
6 7:55 7:47
7 7:55 7:46
Tomorrow: 5 x 1 mile intervals at 6:50 - 6:55. This should be a really hard day. Ah... Thursdays.
Tuesday, June 16, 2020
Training, Day #2
Today's goal was 20:50-20:55 for a 5k time trial. It would have helped had I done the math a little better in advance, more than knowing I needed to go faster than 7:00/mile average, so I would have had a better idea on how to tweak my pace after I ran my 1st lap on the track in the equivalent of a 6:11 pace (way too fast!). While I pulled back successfully, it was a bit too much. And while each of the miles was faster than the preceding, I used up a little too much during that initial burst.
Mile Goal Actual
1 6:46 7:04
2 6:46 6:45
3 6:46 6:41
Total: 21:10 -- close, but not quite. Definitely a hard, fast run.
Tomorrow: Easy-pace 7 miles.
Mile Goal Actual
1 6:46 7:04
2 6:46 6:45
3 6:46 6:41
Total: 21:10 -- close, but not quite. Definitely a hard, fast run.
Tomorrow: Easy-pace 7 miles.
Training Officially Begins
While it's still unclear whether the Chicago Marathon will actually take place in October thanks to COVID-19, I've decided to move forward with my training to make sure that I am prepared for it, should it actually happen. I've run over 40 marathons to date, so finishing isn't a concern. My goal for the Chicago Marathon: break 3 hours. The closest I've come was 3:02:02 at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon this past October, so I know I'm capable of it, with proper training.
Day 1 (Monday): 6-Mile Progression Run
Mile # Goal Pace Actual Pace
1 8:05 7:54
2 7:50 7:45
3 7:50 7:42
4 7:35 7:33
5 7:35 7:30
6 7:20 7:06
One of my biggest challenges while running outdoors is hitting the goal pace a bit closer than above; this is pretty good for me. Started out pretty comfortably (since my pace during the recent maintenance phase has been 7:45-8:00), but certainly got more difficult as I picked up speed. Especially since Mile 5 contains a hill on which I almost always wind up slowing down too much. It's nothing huge (it's shorter and less steep than the MCM finish), but it's enough. Nailed it.
Tuesday: 5k time trial. Goal is to get 20:50-20:55. I know I'm capable of it (since my best 5k is 20:45 from Toronto), but it's still a bit daunting.
Day 1 (Monday): 6-Mile Progression Run
Mile # Goal Pace Actual Pace
1 8:05 7:54
2 7:50 7:45
3 7:50 7:42
4 7:35 7:33
5 7:35 7:30
6 7:20 7:06
One of my biggest challenges while running outdoors is hitting the goal pace a bit closer than above; this is pretty good for me. Started out pretty comfortably (since my pace during the recent maintenance phase has been 7:45-8:00), but certainly got more difficult as I picked up speed. Especially since Mile 5 contains a hill on which I almost always wind up slowing down too much. It's nothing huge (it's shorter and less steep than the MCM finish), but it's enough. Nailed it.
Tuesday: 5k time trial. Goal is to get 20:50-20:55. I know I'm capable of it (since my best 5k is 20:45 from Toronto), but it's still a bit daunting.
Saturday, June 13, 2020
Goals and Attitude
Lesson #1: Always set a goal for your run (regardless of whether it is training or race day).
Lesson #2: Have a positive mental attitude going into your run.
Last weekend gave me wildly different results on my runs, and while the heat had a small portion to play, the larger portions of the difficulties I faced on Friday and Saturday were strictly mental in nature. It can never be understated how much of marathoning and marathon training is a mental game, moreso than the obvious physical one.
Last Friday, I was feeling a little run down. Nothing much, but still a noticeable lack of energy compared to normal. I also didn't have any motivation whatsoever for the day, but decided to push ahead with the 6-mile run nonetheless. For my training runs, the specific distance itself is insufficient for a goal -- I should have a specific pace or challenge to be completed. I didn't have one. Despite doing well with the first 4 miles (average ~7:45/mile), the tires fell off utterly at that point, finishing my last 2 miles at 17:26 and 18:11 -- which, admittedly, had a brief stop to try to coax out a scared cat from the brush. Temps were reasonable, if a bit warm. (~68-70F)
Last Saturday, I had a slightly longer 8 miles to run. I went out a little too fast, but had a reasonable attitude. But clearly I hadn't properly adjusted my goal for the heat (~71-80F), which clearly had overtaken me in Mile 4 -- I could feel my heartbeat racing and my watch was screaming at me regularly to accentuate the fact. Slow walk back home on the second half of the run. Very demoralizing.
On Sunday, I woke up feeling good. Nice low resting HR. Good temps (66-72F). Set my sights on an easy 8-min pace. A drop slower than desired, with a brief pit stop about 7 miles in, but still went well.
Mixed bag during the week, and while yesterday's run was tough (given how tight my legs were feeling), today's 10-miler went really well. Again, low resting HR, decent temps, good energy, and my legs weren't tight at all. Managed to go faster than my goal pace of 7:45, with an average of 7:38. Splitting my distance with part of the W&OD Trail that I don't usually run certainly helped change things up a bit and keep my attitude positive.
Tomorrow, short run of 6 miles, and then my training plan for Chicago Marathon begins on Monday. (Have to be optimistic about it going forward.) My trainer is happy with the base that I've maintained, and has given me a head's up that Monday's run will be a tough start. Bring it!
Lesson #2: Have a positive mental attitude going into your run.
Last weekend gave me wildly different results on my runs, and while the heat had a small portion to play, the larger portions of the difficulties I faced on Friday and Saturday were strictly mental in nature. It can never be understated how much of marathoning and marathon training is a mental game, moreso than the obvious physical one.
Last Friday, I was feeling a little run down. Nothing much, but still a noticeable lack of energy compared to normal. I also didn't have any motivation whatsoever for the day, but decided to push ahead with the 6-mile run nonetheless. For my training runs, the specific distance itself is insufficient for a goal -- I should have a specific pace or challenge to be completed. I didn't have one. Despite doing well with the first 4 miles (average ~7:45/mile), the tires fell off utterly at that point, finishing my last 2 miles at 17:26 and 18:11 -- which, admittedly, had a brief stop to try to coax out a scared cat from the brush. Temps were reasonable, if a bit warm. (~68-70F)
Last Saturday, I had a slightly longer 8 miles to run. I went out a little too fast, but had a reasonable attitude. But clearly I hadn't properly adjusted my goal for the heat (~71-80F), which clearly had overtaken me in Mile 4 -- I could feel my heartbeat racing and my watch was screaming at me regularly to accentuate the fact. Slow walk back home on the second half of the run. Very demoralizing.
On Sunday, I woke up feeling good. Nice low resting HR. Good temps (66-72F). Set my sights on an easy 8-min pace. A drop slower than desired, with a brief pit stop about 7 miles in, but still went well.
Mixed bag during the week, and while yesterday's run was tough (given how tight my legs were feeling), today's 10-miler went really well. Again, low resting HR, decent temps, good energy, and my legs weren't tight at all. Managed to go faster than my goal pace of 7:45, with an average of 7:38. Splitting my distance with part of the W&OD Trail that I don't usually run certainly helped change things up a bit and keep my attitude positive.
Tomorrow, short run of 6 miles, and then my training plan for Chicago Marathon begins on Monday. (Have to be optimistic about it going forward.) My trainer is happy with the base that I've maintained, and has given me a head's up that Monday's run will be a tough start. Bring it!
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