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. :-)

Blazing my own trail: HR Training - Day 32

In my attempt to try and run with the group, it could be only described in one word that populates the internet greatly...

FAIL.

The reasons for the fail:

- No warm-up. Note the chaos in the beginning. Although, I think that the area near the store might also have some interference as well (that's my take on it anyway).
- Letting the group dictate the pace instead of me doing my own thing. But that's the problem with going with running in a group when you're focus is how your HR is doing and no two folks are alike. The guy that eventually ran with me (Rob) the entire 4+ miles has HR trained longer than I have and even though he's coming off of an injury layoff, he's able to run at a faster clip with a lower HR. But it was a good balance that evening since my comfy pace (note the middle where it holds pretty steady) and his easy pace where he's running at a lower HR (around 135 bpm for him, I think) were pretty close.
- Not being able to actually hear the beeps this time from my Suunto to tell me to switch from Zone 2 to Zone 1. It was supposed to be a Run 12 minutes at Zone 2, run 2 minutes in Zone 1, repeat three more times. Do you see the odd markers in the beginning? That's from straight-up confusion when was running. I didn't realize to drop zones until it was too late. I also didn't complete the run (should have covered 6 more minutes worth of time).

Thankfully, I didn't get beaten up during this run like I did in the past ones, which proves that I am improving from when I started. I also did have the company of atleast one person (Thanks Rob), which was a nice change instead of being on a treadmill or alone on the roads all the time.

I had asked Eric about the training plan and what comes after day 42. At first, he said that we weren't there yet and not to rush the plan. I was very suprised to hear that response since it would be 10 days until the end and the idea of not even knowing what to do with myself after the plan just doesn't sit well with me. If this was just a fitness thing and nothing more, I would be fine with it. But since I have a goal race for the year, not having a plan of attack is foolish.

He then gave me some more detail, but not quite what I expected. He wanted me to fine-tune my HR training some more and repeat a certain week where my HR stayed the most rock-steady (after you remove the garbage data of interference, coffee, no warm-ups, or experimentation.) What? Repeat a week? THAT didn't sit well with me either. Fine-tuning my HR further, great - I'm all for it. But just repeating a previous week? That doesn't make much sense. I know I've made gains. I KNOW I'm not rushing the plan and I'm really doing my best to focus on my HR. Looking at my past data, everything does look good when you remove the crap. However, it has also been a very big learning experience and alot of information I had to figure out on my own (which is why I've been posting all this stuff).

There was an extra nugget that he tossed me though that I kind of figured on my own, but he confirmed. He said that he trains in 5 zones, while noting that I only have three (technically 4 if you include the peak zone that is usually reserved for the last minute kick in races or a flight-or-fight response that people get when in danger). Now this helps greatly since that will let me breakdown those zone runs further for my benefit. Remember the whole MAP/MEP/SAP thing I mentioned? This is where things might fall better into place.

Here are my current zones based on the VO2Max test taken on Dec 16:

Low Zone: 79-138 bpm
Moderate Zone: 139-161 bpm
High Zone: 162-178 bpm
Peak Zone: 179-183 bpm

Here are the zones based on the Maffetone 180 approach with the Stu Mittleman twist (Congrats Stu on making into the Ultrarunning Hall of Fame!):

MAP Zone: 119-138 bpm
MEP Zone: 139-149 bpm
SAP Zone: 150-169 bpm

I've made an adjustment for my age since my original calculation was when I was on the cusp of moving from age 30 to 31. Note how now my Aerobic Threshold of 138 bpm from the VO2Max test matches to the highest number of the MAP Zone. Coincidence? I think not.

Remember my comfy pace? My HR stayed around 145-149 bpm. Check out the MEP number. See how it is in the lower part of the Moderate Zone?

Update: I re-did the calculations for the other options of "If you're an experienced endurance athlete (3-5 hrs of running or more a week), add 10 points" and "If you're active but not experiened (less than 3-5 hrs of running a week), add 5 points".

Adding 5 points:
MAP: 124-143
MEP: 144-154
SAP: 155-174

Adding 10 points:
MAP: 129-148
MEP: 149-159
SAP: 160-179

Yeah, based on my VO2Max test, these numbers are WAY off if I raised them.

So if I start chopping things up from the VO2Max test and the Mittleman numbers, this is what I end up with:

= Low Zone =
Zone 1a: 79-118 bpm
Zone 1b: 119-138 bpm

= Moderate Zone =
Zone 2a: 139-149 bpm
Zone 2b: 150-161 bpm

= High Zone =
Zone 3a: 162-169 bpm
Zone 3b: 169-178 bpm

= Peak Zone =
Zone 4: 179-183 bpm

So the question is...how does this help me out now? What does this do for my training?

This is how:

= Low Zone =
Zone 1a: Warm-Up/Cooldown/Recovery, usually walking briskly or a slow shuffle
Zone 1b: Easy Pace, using fat for fuel

= Moderate Zone =
Zone 2a: Comfy Pace/Steady-State Pace
Zone 2b: Tempo Pace

= High Zone =
Zone 3a: Long Interval Pace, aid with increasing Anaerobic Threshold
Zone 3b: Short (but Harder) Interval Pace, aid with increasing Anaerobic Threshold and VO2Max

= Peak Zone =
Zone 4: The final kick (BOOM goes the dynamite!), aid with increasing VO2Max (to be used judiciously.)

Now that I have my numbers more fine-tuned to what I need to do, I just need a structured running plan (or enough info to devise my own, which I'm pretty close to). I'll try and ask again in the last week, otherwise I think I'm going to have to find my own way and hope for the best.

The Incline of Death: HR Training - Day 31

Another light session, but I decided to not run this time. I wanted to change things up and test other aspects of putting one foot after another. Since my "A" race requires me to climb every mountain (no Sound of Music jokes, please), I figured what would be a good baseline to setup is a treadmill walk with incline increases.

When I started, I was moving at a 3.8 MPH walking pace at a 1% incline. When I finished, I was moving at a 2.5 MPH walking pace at a 12% MAX incline. As I progressed, my HR struggled to stay within the aerobic zone. This is a good thing to know for those long climbs that are more either very steep and long (atleast 1 mile or longer). I know that as I continue to train, my HR will drop during the ascent if I powerwalk/powerhike and will make it possible for me to run (if only for a short time). Yeah, downhill running is what rules in ultras, but if you can get up the hill faster than others AND have good downhill running ability - you'll have the edge over many in the field and be able to survive.

Looking forward to tomorrow and running with the group (if only for a short time). Tomorrow's run: A Moderate Run (12 minutes in Zone 2, 2 min in Zone 1, repeat) and doubled! That should get me 4 miles for sure, enough distance during the group run to participate and fast enough to keep up due to the HR zone.

Built like a racehorse, stubborn as a mule: HR Training - Day 30

30 FREAKIN' DAYS!!!

Even I can't believe I've hung in this long! Although, technically it has been over 30 days since I had started dabbling in aerobic-HR training about a week or two before the VO2Max testing. I'll make a mild comparison at the end of this post.

After a few calls, I finally got my lab results from my physical. All my fears came to rest. No sign of diabetes. Glucose levels were 95, Hemoglobin A1C's were a 5.2% - diabetics are usually over 6%, non-diabetics are under this number. So I'm still a former "Type II" and despite my increase in size, I'm still good. Cholesterol, HDL, LDL, Triglycerides - they're all in excellent ranges. The nurse that gave me the info was very impressed with the data and wanted to know how I have such good numbers. I do get amused when people get shocked at the idea of ultrarunning, but you can't argue the end results of the training. :-) (Oh yeah, I also agreed to give the doc a second chance. What can I say? The nurse was really convincing!)

As for the training today, I decided to be a jackass and not warm-up to test the waters. A mistake? You betcha. A standard Base Builder run, kept at the 10m-5m-10m-5m-10m:Zone1/Zone2 pattern. I treated the first 10 minutes as a warm-up by walking a decent amount of it before running. However, since I didn't warm-up like I should have, it reflected within the 5 minute-Zone 2 bursts. My HR was already hitting the Anaerobic Threshold of 161 bpm at 5.0 MPH. That's 12 minutes a mile! I've ran faster at that higher HR before! However, the second 5 minute burst was better since my body finally was in the groove and I was able to run to 6.2 MPH before it was over.

There were some good things I did notice though and compared to the first few times when I started this training, this is what I've noticed:

1.) My walking pace has increased (able to shuffle at 16-17 minutes/mile), but my HR stays pretty low (in the 100-110 bpm range).
2.) My aerobic pace ground speed has increased. On the treadmill (w/1% incline), I'm able to cruise at a 4.0 MPH (15 minutes/mile) and have an HR ranging from 128-134 bpm usually (although I do experience some HR drift that bleeds over past my Aerobic Threshold of 138 bpm). On flat ground, I'm able to move at a sub-15 min/mile pace (best efforts at a sub-13 min/mile pace) and my HR stays around 135-138 bpm and tends to hold steady.
3.) My comfy pace on the treadmill is usually a sub-12 min/mile pace. Outdoors on flat roads, it goes between 10-11 min/mile.
4.) My fastest ground speed that could be considered a Tempo effort for the moment outdoors has been around a 9 min/mile pace, but I haven't had to hold it for too long compared to the other runs.
5.) The fastest speed I've done period during this training has been a sub-6 minute/mile pace when I went balls-out during the LSD Base run on Sunday. But the downhills kind of gave me an advantage, so I can't take all the credit.

Compared to when I first started, I was moving alot slower and having more HR difficulties. Body composition-wise, I haven't changed too much (lost about 2 lbs of just body fat only). However, this is also due to the fact that I have only been running and not doing anything else. I believe that once when I incorporate my CrossFit Hybrid training in the mix, I'll shed some of the excess fat that I don't use as fuel during my runs and I'll be better prepped for my races (and life in general).

12 days left of this plan. I'd love to know what happens afterwards. :-)

Missing my Doc: HR Training - Day 29

Today was my physical. My old doctor decided to retire after many years of being in the medical game, so I was assigned a new guy. Although I should really give him a decent chance, first impressions - he seems like a douchebag. I felt like my physical was somewhat rushed and he was really pushing the pills on me before I even had to give blood for testing. Seriously, he was pushing Metformin and Baby Aspirin on me without discussing any possible alternatives and without all the data being available from any kind of lab work. I know that Aspirin is toted as a wonder drug at times since it works on so many things, but come on - don't give out any recommendations until you get all of the data. I'll find out what my full results are by tomorrow (hopefully), but I have a funny feeling I might be seeking my medical services somewhere else in the near future.

Anyway, the run today was made to be light (no doubling up today - not in the mood to do that on the dreadmill in the dungeon). Thankfully, it was the first run where I actually managed to stay within my parameters of Zone 1 for both 15 minute blocks. I also took it really easy, refraining from the temptation of a faster pace. Good thing the run was short. If it was longer, I most likely would have pushed the pace a bit more.

Checking the schedule for the rest of the week, there is another new type of run tossed in that might be fun - stay tuned.