Sunday, January 25, 2009

The Grief of Good: HR Training - Day 34



Today was the Pigtails Run. In the past, this was my track record:

First time in 2007 - Ran the whole 50k course in 5:28, two minutes slower than my first 50k run (which was the Pigtails Flat Ass, go figure).
Second time in 2008 - Ran two loops, fell asleep while running in the start of the third and decided to bail out. The new job I had really messed up my sleep schedule ever since, even though I quit and went back to my old company.

So, now I have this event as my third time running it and my expectations were:

1.) Do your crazy LSD Base run on the course, but keep your HR more consistant.
2.) Try to enjoy the moment.
3.) If you have time and the family is cool with it, run more loops. Maybe even finish the 50k.

Well, 1.5 out of three ain't bad (ain't good either!)

I did the same course last week, same workout. There were some things that were royally screwed up.

1.) Warm-up sucked. My HR was pretty low one minute, then high the next, waivering back and forth within the first 10 minutes, even though I did a couple of repeats to get the blood flowing in the beginning.
2.) HR was recording some really strange crap on some of the run. I would run hard and it would register 118 bpm. Seriously, WTF? Was the HRM losing contact with my chest?
3.) Footpod stopped sending data to the watch. Dying battery? I had to stick the thing in one of my strap pockets on my Nathan's Hydration Bladder to have it communicate to the watch. Seems that the beeps from the watch would only go off with the footpod being on. (Note: Alot of the data in the chart doesn't totally flow with the run, mostly the interval times.)

But with the things that failed, there were the good things too:

1.) I did enjoy that there was company on the course. Seeing people before the start, my Maniac bros & sisters and friends from the Balanced Athlete group. Honestly, it has gotten too lonely on those training runs sometimes.
2.) My HR was a bit more steady on the ups and downs as you can tell (well, when the HRM wasn't going nutty). If you compare with the previous time, I have done better.
3.) My wife and daughter being there. I usually run most of these things solo, but it is nice to have family. However, I did wish my kid was more patient and not begging for me to quit (I ended doing only one loop and lot of time to kill - next time, she's getting a babysitter).

Below, you can see how I did on Saturday versus the other day on the same course. My Training Effect ended up being higher, but there is more consistancy in the more recent run then the previous one. The recent run is listed in black. (Note: The interval points are in the wrong place for some stupid reason - don't ask me why.)



And as always, the recap for the week. Week 5 is officially over and I'm on the last week now. (Note: I skipped a light run that I was planning to do the following day, but decided to just run errands and spend time with the family. Sometimes, you just gotta do that.)



Tonight, I'm stuck between doing a treadmill Moderate run or swapping that with the Base Builder II run instead. I'm planning on meeting up with the Balanced Athlete group on Tuesday for another group run (I know, I'm asking for trouble), but Eric did say that he had some additional thoughts on my training (some things I won't like he says, but it'll be better for me in the long run) and I'm willing to listen...mind you, I may not DO everything he says, but I am willing to listen to everything. :-)

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