Green River Mara...16 miler.

Yeah, another DNF. This time @ mile 16. I was cruising along around 11 minutes a mile. Some faster, some slower, but generally at 11 minutes. I went by RPE instead of HR and everything seemed to be okay...until I started chaffing. My HRM belt was messing with me. My nipples were not feeling good against my shirt. My shorts decided to mess with me as well. Yeah, too much info, but you get the idea. All was going well until after the half-marathon point, then it went south.

Once I got to mile 16, I decided to bail simply because the fun run wasn't fun anymore and I didn't need to cause a monsterous chaffing incident with myself. I still have scarring on my chest that looks like that damn Suunto ANT+ belt.

So from now until I completely heal up or if I get the newer Comfort Belt, no more HR Training for me. Just as well, I want to go by feel anyway.

A Tweak-Tweak here, a Tweak-Tweak there...

I'm still alive. Very busy, but still training. Starting to find my groove.

Basically, due to job office relocation (same company, longer commute), my training time has been gobbled up by the commute. So I'm left with doing short runs during the week (so no midweek long runs). But that's okay. I found that my body can't really tolerate that right now anyway. So it's going to be workouts during lunch (sandbag training for strength, some rope work, and some runs - hopefully it won't rain out there too often since I won't have any indoor facility to do those things), short runs immediately when I get home of 30-60 minutes, a long run on Sundays, and maybe a middle distance or short run on Saturdays.

I've also recalibrated my HR zones, going off of the Karvonen method for HR calculation (the Suunto T-Series HRM's seem to use that) and getting my resting HR from my morning averages (64 bpm) and my MaxHR from the Dizzy Daze run at the end (191 bpm), I end up with a completely different set of zones from when I did my metabolic test. I believe that my aerobic capacity has improved since then and my training runs seem to prove this as well based on the Training Effect that is being generated and my ground speed improving overall. I'll get into this later on.

Main focus: Dial into the Zones more and treat next week's 50 miler (Mt Si) as a practice in walk/run combos, hydration/fueling, pushing after mile 29 before Rattlesnake Lake, and then throwing the hammer down for the remaining 15 miles on the downhill to finish (hopefully within the cutoff).

The Dizzy Data

The data from Dizzy Daze is an interesting one.

After the hard run with Thomas in the 3rd loop, I walked pretty much everything at the end. My walking speed at 13-14 minutes a mile had my HR anywhere from 141 bpm to 150 bpm. If I pushed my walking pace, it went close to 160 bpm. But check out my EPOC/TE numbers, they're LOW. I'm hitting the high 1's to low 2's for Training Effect if this was segmented in separate runs for each loop.

In theory, I could start LOW for the 30-60 minutes of a run and progressively increase my HR (and therefore increase speed). This would generate a higher training effect, but only do it just a little bit. If I plan this right, I could start the first half of a race at a low EPOC/TE and gradually go to a higher EPOC/TE in the second half of a race. Negative split anyone? :-)

Dizzy Thoughts

I had a pretty decent run yesterday and thanks to my buddy Rob T. and letting me borrow his old ANT belt, I had better readings using my Suunto t6. The old belt I had I found had cracks in it, which would explain the erratic readings from before. I still need to work more on keeping my HR in check, but I was able to stay in my low-intensity aerobic zone (below 138 bpm) for 40+ minutes out of a solid 47 minutes. Most of the increases in HR were around 1-3 beats above 138 bpm, which is a good thing...but it could be better. So in 3.2 miles, I'm able to run about 47 minutes. Based on this, I can potentially finish tomorrow's Dizzy Daze run in about 7.5 hours if I run/walk the 50k distance and keep my HR completely within my fat-burning zone. However, I could also do everything in 6.5+ hours if I opt to stop at the marathon point. I guess I'll just have to see how much I'm up for it. I really only need to do enough to get my endocrine system to respond appropriately in time for the Mt Si Ultra (doing the 50 miler again).

Then again, I could just run the first 6-7 loops in my low intensity and then run the last 2 loops at a harder pace to finish sooner and see how the EPOC looks afterwards. I'm sure I'll figure it out by tomorrow morning.

Transmitter Death

I think my Suunto's transmitter belt is on its final beat (no pun intended). My last few runs have been just all over the place and despite understanding things like RF interference and cardiac creep (so not to be a slave to your monitor), it is seriously f&*king up like no one's business (drops from a steady 160 bpm to a steady 80 bpm while I'm running a fast pace isn't supposed to happen). However, since the previous owner had put a lot of miles on it (pun intended and a large dose of reality tossed in), I had to figure that this could happen. Just like buying a used car, you can't expect it to be exactly new. But unlike a used car, you can't exactly fix the thing yourself...even if you do have a soldering iron and experience with circuitry.

So what am I going to do? Well, I'll do my best to fumble through my training (as piss poor it's turning out to be) and I'll have to get a replacement strap. Good thing is that I can get a new Suunto Comfort Belt like what the newer T-series Suunto's carry and from what I've seen - the newer belts that all of the HRM manufacturers are coming out with that are similar in design (like the Polar WearLink Belt) and the belts are able to stay on better while transmitting at a higher efficiency. Thanks to my friend from up North who sent me a gift certificate to purchase one at a lower cost through Amazon. However, due to financial difficulties, I'll have to hold off on getting it till late April. It's going to make the next six weeks a bigger chore in training now, but c'est la vie.

The Drain - Oregon 100 Training, Week 2

The only thing to sum up this week is...tired. I missed two runs as a result of needing more rest than I was scheduled for.

Tuesday's 4 mile tempo and Sunday's 8 mile second long run were scraped, leaving me with a 30 mile week this week.

Wednesday - 8 miles, weather was decent.








Thursday - 6 miles with the dog again. Seems she has way more energy than I do.







Saturday - 16 miles of trail and roads. I took a serious beating due to a combo of the weather and the conditions of the trail (slush, ice, and snow - lots of slipping).






I need to do my best to be more on-top of things with my training and get every run in and making it count.

Hitting the reset button - Oregon 100 Training, Week 1

Well, I can't say this is a genuine reset, but definately a rebuild. My main focus is on the Oregon 100 (aka Hundred in the Hood) as my A-priority race in late September. At the moment, I'm rebuilding my base after a bout of being ill with some kind of flu bug that really messed me up. I'm still HR training, but found some defects that I think I've remedied, so hopefully things will get even better as the weeks progress. Anyway, here's the first week of training I've done...


March 3rd - 2 Miles on the treadmill, first mile as a warm-up. You can tell I was trying to get back into the swing of things and not very well.






March 4th - 4 Miles easy, outdoor run. This was the start of when I figured that something was up with my Suunto T6. Rainy day run, but I felt really good.







March 5th - Ran 6+ miles with the group. Had about a 20 minute head start to finish with them in the end. I thought I was doing okay until after I got the HR data. More indication that something was up.








March 7th - First long run day. 14 miles of hell. My body was cooperating at first, but the HRM wasn't after about 6 miles in, giving seriously erratic readings. I eventually went old school, running about every quarter-mile and checking my pulse on my neck to stay within my HR zone. This was also the longest run I had done in a VERY long time. I realized that you need to run long frequently to be able to maintain your form and endurance level. This includes teaching your muscles to retain glycogen more efficiently while burning fat and teaching your endocrine system to not rebel against your own body.

The 7th was also the day where I had to effectively "break" my Suunto T6 in order to get the battery out of the back. Whomever designed this thing was on crack. I used a Dremel to wear down the plastic slot and fashioned a hole that would fit a regular flathead screwdriver and was able to open it easily without breaking the rubber O-ring seal. After replacing the battery, I filled the newly created screwdriver hole and slot area with glue from my glue gun and smoothed out the area. It is still retaining its water-proof design and now I can replace the batteries quickly without any headaches.




March 8th - My legs and body were really tired from the previous day, but I knew I had to do something to get those 8 miles in. Time on your feet is extremely important, so I opted to take the dog out for an 8 mile walk. This was the only time where my HR stayed in the fat-burning aerobic zone this week. But I'm glad I did that purposeful walking. My HRM didn't go crazy and I was very efficient in my walking, even with the dog. This is a good thing during the 100 miler since EVERYONE WALKS, but those that walk with purpose versus just doing the death march have a better chance of finishing.


Total miles this week (including the miles from the calibration of my device on Monday at the track): ~36 miles! (Right now, I'm REALLY enjoying my rest day today!)

Next week's projected mileage: ~42 miles. The weekend back-to-back long runs are going to be on the Mt Si Ultra course from Tanner Rd to Rattlesnake Lake and Cedar Falls (16 miles on Saturday) and then from Rattlesnake Lake to Cedar Falls (8 miles on Sunday). These two runs will essentially replicate the "hardest" parts of the Mt Si Ultra course. The last time I trained on the course like this a year ago, I had stopped at Rattlesnake Lake. This was a bad move since I could have sucked it up and kept going instead of dropping out @ Rattlesnake since I had it in my head that the final 4-5 miles to the turnaround aid-station was too far for me to do. Doing these two runs should psych me up a bit more. Familiarity can make things easier on the mind and in these events, it is more mind over body.

Flu shots - Phooey!

I was under the understanding that a flu shot was supposed to PREVENT you from getting the flu.

For the last 72+ hours, I had been fighting a really bad case of just...yuck!

My lungs had felt like they went through a Cuban Tabacco Harvest. Breathing was damn near impossible. I might as well have been at high-altitude or deep under water with the lack of oxygen. Workouts have been a big fat zero as well. I haven't ran or done any kind of CrossFit workouts at all this week.

I guess I'll just call this a recovery week. I'm already set now to train for the Oregon 100 (Hundred in the Hood) and making that the focal point of the year. I've got 30 weeks till that run and thanks to fancy-Nancy (aka Nancy Shura from the UltraLadies, she's shown me the way to my first 100 miler. I'll still incorporate HR training, but it won't be the major focus. I will use some events as supported training runs, but I've taken myself off of a lot of the races on the Maniacs calendar. I am confident that I will be able to do this and do it right. But we'll see.

Adventure awaits!

Perception is Everything

The short: 4 miles, easy feel.

The long: My wife pushed me out the door after work to get my run over and done with. I decided to test out my Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) versus what my HR would say. My aerobic/easy pace is supposed to be at 138 bpm. As you can see, it took about 10 minutes for my HR to chill out, even though I was moving at roughly a consistant 15 minutes per mile. Once when those 10 minutes passed, my HR would hover anywhere from 135 bpm to as much as 142 bpm. So my body is starting to adapt, it's just not 100% there yet. But with more time and training, it will be. My RPE seems to be better than before, so I think that I'll lean on that, but always do a double-check against my HR to be sure.

The latest...

So far this week:

Monday - Dumbbell Deadlifts (18 reps @ 40lbs, 15 reps @ 45lbs, 12 reps @ 52.5lbs)
Tuesday - 500 meter row in 1:53, really cranked it hard at the end and almost felt like puking.

And some running:



I decided to do the same type of treadmill run as last time, maintaining a HR average well below my aerobic threshold of 138 bpm. Despite going over it a few times during the warm-up for some reason as it was recorded, it went well and I did 3.5 miles worth of distance. I'll gradually increase the distance/time as the weeks go on.

Germ Warfare

This week was not a good one for training. I had gotten sick on Tuesday and it really hit hard on Wednesday and tapered off on Thursday. You'd think I would do my best to protect my immune system with having a child in the house who interacts with other kids at school (school = germ factory). So no runs for me. However, I did manage to do most of my CrossFit workouts. I figured that I could go through a very intense workout that CrossFit in a short time versus doing a run that would tax my system at a "lower intensity", but for a longer period. Although, the ideal workout day would have been to CrossFit during my lunchtime and then run in the evening a few hours later. Anyway, here's what I did workout wise:

Tuesday: 500 meter row @ work. Damper set to 5, completed in 2:02 (focused on form)
Wednesday: Sick at home, but managed push-press DB workout. 33 lbs dumbbells, chipper workout of 15/12/9. Focused on form, not time.
Thursday: Still sick at home, but feeling better. No rowing machine, so substituted 500 meter row with 50 Sumo Dead-Lift High Pulls using 33 lbs DB's. This took some time after the first 25. Unbelievably sore afterwards!
Friday: Returned to work, but opted to rest this time instead of doing squat workout.

And we get to today...



I wanted to go long and easy. So the prescription was a 2-hour run (8 miles), trying to stay at or below my Aerobic Threshold of 138 bpm as best as I could. As you can see in the image, most of the HR spots that go above th 138 bpm point are usually hanging around 140-141 bpm, so I'm doing better with handling my HR outside of a treadmill environment, but I need to stick with it and tighten up the zones even more.

Another thing that I noticed is that after an hour of running, my EPOC gradually declined as I continued to run around the same HR. It looks awfully familiar to previous sessions where my EPOC dropped during a long workout. However, the curvature of the drop is alot more easy than before. Doing some research on this (pretty tough since alot of the info was white papers) and remembering various things from my calculus classes back in the day, I believe that what should happen when I continue to run at the same HR zone, the curve will start to flaten out. The 10-minute warm-up that I did will not rise into the Level 2 area for the Training Effect and the EPOC peak will land in the lower points of the Level 2 area of the TE, like a 2.2-2.4 if things progress well and there are no setbacks.

But basically, I ran 8 miles (old running route) in under the 2-hr time and I was able to keep my HR avg in the 136-137 bpm area, so I'd say I didn't do badly this run.

Tomorrow, I get to re-learn what it's like to be on tired legs. 3 hours, same workout intensity. I'm eager to know what the numbers say! Update: Didn't happen. Did alot of walking while running errands, but that's it!

That's one slow step for man...

On my own now with my training, I've been pouring over information from various sources on being able to have a balance between:

1.) Developing an optimal training plan that will help me get to Cascade Crest this year.
2.) Having fun as I do it.

Today's workouts consisted of:

- About 7 miles of cycling for my work commute (3.5 miles each way)
- A return back into CrossFit again, using the Beginner's Routine (Today's lunchtime workout: Dumbbell Deadlifts of 15 @ #30, 12 @ #35, 9 @ #40)
- 30 min run (w/10 min warm-up) in Zone 1b.

For the run, I opted to do this on the treadmill. I wanted to see how tight I could make the HR stay within 135 bpm or less, but not go over my 138 bpm Aerobic Threshold. The warm-up was better than most other ones, but seems that 15 minutes might be the norm of when my body starts to settle in. Needless to say, I was very happy about the end Training Effect (TE) result of a 2.1 for the run. (Notice the general solid line in the training effect once it hits the Level 2 area.) This is good to know, since a majority of my training will have to be in this area to help with the fat-burning and running longer. I'll have to see how my body does doing a training run of a TE of 3.0-3.9 & 4.0-4.9 and figure out where my HR zones fall specifically around that.

The last thingy: HR Training - Day 42 & Final Thoughts

Today was a very odd day. After a stint in fixing the toilet tank in the bathroom all night and into the morning, I woke up too late for the group run. I figured that I could possibly run in the evening and subject myself to one more night of treadmill hell, but I was really tired - almost to the point where I felt like I hadn't even gone to bed at all.

After running my errands for the day, I decided to just take that final day off for my own good. This was the only one of two days where I actually bailed out during the entire training plan, the other being a light run a week earlier.

So this is what my last week ended up as for the Training Effect:



And the overall since the beginning:



So what was the point of all this?

Well, this is what I got out of it:

1.) HR Training does work, but it does take a great deal of time and patience in it. If I was an elite career athlete instead of a weekend warrior, I would probably devote a whole year to just tune in my HR and not do any events. But I'm not on the cover of a Wheaties box, so the idea of me strictly doing that doesn't fly.
2.) If you run for fun and only for fun, then HR Training isn't for you. The fun for me was gradually sucked out and I tried my damndest to enjoy the runs with what I had.
3.) If you have a very specific goal in mind, HR Training can work for you. But your patience will be tested greatly. Expect to be frustrated with yourself for the first two weeks. It will get better once your body "gets the message", but it'll suck at first.
4.) If you decide to do HR Training, expect to be ALONE. Unless you can exercise restraint and not get sucked into the semi-competitive nature that group runs can generate, you're better off being alone and focusing on yourself.
5.) If you train on a treadmill, you can tune your HR better - but it can turn to crap when you're outside. However, 99.9% of races will not be done on a moving rubber belt, so learning how to run outside while HR training is necessary. There's no point in learning how to develop perfect-pitch in vocal music if you're not going to practice actual songs for a concert. This goes back to the goals thing.
6.) If you decide to pursue HR training, get a VO2Max/Metabolic test done. There is a cost, but you'll have the most accurate information to help you out and the motivation factor of "I PAID FOR THIS, I BETTER USE IT" really kicks in. I doubt I would have taken my HR Training as seriously had I not paid for my testing.
7.) If you are not able to mentally handle HR Training while doing other types of workouts (cross-training), you might have to abandon your cross-training for a little while. I had to since my brain was stressed out from trying to remember the training patterns for my specific HR training.
8.) Get use to radio interference and those transmitter belts just going nuts for no reason. Mine would lose signal or give off a reading that didn't match my perceived exertion.
9.) Figure out what your perceived exertion is using the HR data. The better you know what your breaking points are, the more in-tune you'll be with your HR when you lose the connection or get erratic readings. My perceived exertion has gotten better since my start of this training 6 weeks ago.
10.) If you train outside, you need to REALLY focus on matching your perceived exertion against your HR. Reason: You may not hear the beeps or the HRM might not operate properly in spots. The world isn't a quiet place usually.
11.) If you decide to HR Train, do as much of it as possible to adapt faster. I walked alot more and did alot of the slower light-runs when I had time. The more time you put in, the more does come back. However, it also has the negative effect of getting really boring and giving you the desire to scream obscenities frequently.
12.) Don't be afraid to ask questions or to question the methods of any HR Training plan. I know with my training plan specifically, there were alot of crazy things and every run seemed like it was an interval run. Eric told me that the training plan he devised for me was to tune into my HR zones better. However, looking back I think my training zones were too wide and I should have had more sub-zones to train at. Running at my Aerobic and Anaerobic Thresholds made me go as fast as I could within those zones, but I know that isn't always the best thing to do now. You need a variety of HR Zones or sub-zones to train in depending on what you're aiming for in your goals. This is why I developed those sub-zones for myself based on my own observations in my training.

As for my actual performance, I'll let the numbers do the talking...

These are the numbers for the runs that were "light". Check out the average speed and the top speed of these:

12/18 - 21:50 avg/15:30 max (this was before the official training)
12/22 - 23:23 avg/13:27 max
12/23 - 20:16 avg/16:51 max
12/25 - 17:39 avg/10:44 max
12/26 - 17:57 avg/13:02 max
12/27 - 19:39 avg/13:29 max
12/28 - 16:06 avg/9:52 max (this was a very good day)
12/29 - 18:23 avg/15:28 max
12/30 - 19:23 avg/14:53 max
01/01 - 19:52 avg/14:27 max
01/03 - 18:27 avg/13:58 max
01/07 - 19:23 avg/15:57 max
01/09 - 19:35 avg/14:19 max
01/14 - 16:47 avg/11:12 max
01/16 - 15:17 avg/10:45 max
01/19 - 19:02 avg/15:52 max
01/21 - 20:07 avg/16:28 max (powerwalked, cranked up treadmill to max%)
01/31 - 17:01 avg/10:56 max

As you can see, the overall speed has increased within a six week time. Also, my HR has been more steady as well (although I do need to fine-tune things a bit more).

Overall, I would have to say my experience was good and I will be taking some aspects of what I've learned and incorporating it into my training

For those in Seattle, Tacoma, or points in-between, definately do your VO2Max training test at The Balanced Athlete in Kent. You'll get your test plus the bonus of a training plan and advice on improving your performance...and making sense of crazy HR Training zone runs.

Well, now that's over - on to the future!

I SAID GO HOME!!!: HR Training - Day 41

The last light run of the training plan, I had the fortune of running at my in-laws place in North Bend, WA. The skies were clear, so the view of the Cascades, Issaquah Alps, and Mt Si were in full view with their mild snow-covered caps.

I usually run to the Snoqualmie Valley Trail, but I decided that I would try to run on the roads. I took the original run and added an extra 15 minutes on it to make it a 15m-3m-15m-3m-15m run, using the first 15 minutes as a warm-up. For this warm-up I tried to keep my HR under my Aerobic Threshold, but as you can see in the graph - it didn't work well (although my HR didn't jump that high on the watch that I can remember, it recorded otherwise - go figure). Eventually, my heart rate settled down and overall my HR did try to stay at or below my Aerobic Threshold, occasionally drifting over. I sometimes wish that someone could invent a pair of glasses that have the HR numbers displaying in a Heads-Up Display like a video game. That way, you don't have to keep looking down at your watch to figure out where you are and when you'll be bleeding over your HR.

On the way back to my in-laws house, this insane dog decided to show its authority and come at me. I stayed remarkably cool and screamed at the dog to GO HOME! The dog gave me a WTF look and backed off. Lucky for the pooch.

I do need to practice running below my Aerobic Threshold outside. I personally think I've gotten it down decently on the treadmill, but races don't happen on a treadmill and being outside in the nice weather for the run was a good exchange for having a HR that wasn't as smooth as it would be on the treadmill. I am confident that it will improve as the weeks go on and I put more time into my training.

Last day of the plan tomorrow. I wonder if I'll be able to stay with the group? I wonder how much distance I'll cover?

Slowin' My Roll: HR Training - Day 40

There was something about this week that just seemed...draining. Originally, I was going to run immediately after work to catch some daylight left, but some force in the universe was sucking the life out of me. Maybe Dick Cheney was nearby? He is out of the White House after all. (Damn that Jon Stewart and his Star Wars comparison!)

Anyhoo, I decided to go down to the dungeon again after dinner. However, I decided to hold back during the Base Builder II run. I did my best to keep my Zone 1 runs at 135 bpm or less instead of hitting the Aerobic Threshold of 138 bpm. I also was trying to keep my Zone 2 HR at or below 150 bpm (but I was looking to keep it at 148 bpm as best as I could.)

I have to say that it was a good run. My ground speed was between 3.7-3.8 MPH for Zone 1 runs and 4.3-4.4 MPH for Zone 2 runs. I didn't have too much HR drift and I think due to the good warm-up, I was able to maintain my HR's in the right places.

Tomorrow is my light run that I'm going to do at my in-laws place, Sunday the last day of the training plan (an LSD Base run) that I'll do with the group. Looking forward to the end of this and building on what I've developed these past 6 weeks.

Feeling things out...

Setting up my training schedule for Cascade Crest and the rest of the year is going okay.

I decided to run based on time and less on distance. This way, improvement can be seen by how far I traveled at the same intensity and time. I had trained this way in the past and it was pretty effective, although a bit odd when you would tackle a route where you're use to running a 4 mile loop in 40 minutes, but find yourself having to go just a wee bit further past the loop's original starting point. I'll also be cross-training as well. I've found that I'm lacking some core strength and need a boost in firing up my metabolism, giving me overall strength (stronger muscles help dealing with the impact that running does to the body), and help burn off some of this excess fat that is weighing me down. So, back on the bike for commutes and going back into CrossFit again (beginner's routine to start).

This is the weekly schedule I've got setup at the moment:

Monday-Friday:

- Cycling commutes totaling about 7 miles of distance each workday, gradually increasing the distance as time goes on (and weather gets better).
- Following the CrossFit Beginner's Routine during my lunchtime at the company gym. (It won't be Rx'ed - Barbell will be replaced by Dumbbells for the Deadlift & Push Press; Running 400m will be replaced with 500m rowing on a Concept-2-Rower.)

For the actual running part...

I've labeled things the Maffetone/Mittleman way for now until I tweak things a bit. Remember MAP (Most Aerobic Pace/Zone 1), MEP (Most Efficient Pace/Zone 2), & SAP (Speedy Aerobic Pace/Zone 3)?

Mondays: Rest or MAP
Tuesdays: MAP
Wednesdays: MAP
Thursdays: MEP or SAP
Fridays: MAP (possible Rest if Saturday's a race day)
Saturdays: Rest or MAP (possible Race instead)
Sundays: Long MAP, Long MEP, Combo Run (combining all three zones), or Race (possible Rest or regular MAP if Saturday was a Race instead)

Most runs will be anywhere from 40-90 minutes during the week and the long runs will range from 2-6 hours or even longer depending if it's a race or I need to train for further specificity. For the mileage nuts, this would make my weekly milage anywhere from 35-ish miles to as much as 65-70 miles depending on the situation. I will be also flexible with my training. I'll really focus on listening to my body and deciding on whether I'd genuinely need a rest day or two more based on physical needs and not because I'm just wussing out.

Hope this goes well!

Setting the Dial: HR Training - Day 38

The last Base Builder run in the training plan. I did it as Rx'ed for the 40 minutes.

Certain facts I have to face:

1.) You can't win the lottery without atleast buying a ticket.
2.) My warm-ups will always be a challenge.

I did a brisk walk at a 3.5 MPH speed and my HR was hovering around a 109-115 bpm. I did this for about 8 minutes. However, once I started to get into a light jog, the insanity in the first 10 minutes showed up. As you can see, things really didn't settle in until after those 10 minutes were up and I was running in the 5 minute block at zone 2.

However, I decided to lower my intensity and try to keep my HR well below my Anaerobic Threshold of 161 bpm in Zone 2 and below my Aerobic Threshold of 138 bpm in Zone 1. As you can see, it actually did work and I was pretty steady for the most part. I did notice something else though. When I was keeping my HR around 130 bpm in the middle of the run and then shifted to the second Zone 2 interval, it took more to raise my HR to get it around the sub-150 bpm range. In my training after this week, I need to have each workout setup to run at certain points with the zones. This means possibly breaking up the zones I created into smaller sub-zones. This way, I can tune my body into the right exertion perception against my HR, eventually getting this working in my races.

Since I'm nearly done with the plan, here's the rest of the plan for the final week:

Thursday: Rest
Friday: Base Builder II
Saturday: Light (I might extend this to an hour)
Sunday: LSD Base (planning to join the group again for this one to see how my body behaves on relatively flat roads versus hilly trails like I had done the previous two LSD Base runs)

Expectations and Astronauts: HR Training - Day 37

Another group run, doing a Base Builder II workout. As you can see in the image, the warm-up isn't there. I tried to do one, but it was a serious flop. I had tried to do some brisk walking and some very easy jogging to get my HR going and the blood flowing, but my HR dropped back to the resting state again after standing around too long before the actual run.

I'm still trying to learn how to monitor myself on the ground versus the treadmill. I'm also trying to get use to running with the group without getting sucked into everyone elses pace. There are some steady moments, but not enough steady moments within the zones. I will be tightening this up as time goes on in my training after I'm done with the plan for this week and beyond.

Afterwards, Eric and I had a good solid talk about his expectations versus my goals. As I told him, I'm always willing to listen to people - even if I decide to do something else in the end. This would be one of those times. Eric's expectations based on what I've been blogging about and what his experience is, he recommended that I postpone Cascade Crest for 2010 and focus on my HR for the next 9+ months, maybe do a marathon or 50k as a race to focus on for this time (my calculation, that would put either the Portland Marathon in October, Seattle Marathon in November, Baker Lake 50k in September, or the Ron Herzog 50k in November as a single thing to focus all my efforts towards.) This means that other races throughout the year that I would desire to do would be off the table - no White River, no Chuckanut, no Mt Si, nothing. It would all be HR training and tuning. He said that it was something I probably didn't want to hear. He was right and I decided to go against the recommendations.

We talked at length about everything. The training. My progress. My goals. Everything that could make and/or break me for Cascade Crest. I totally saw where he was coming from - get the HR thing down to where everything afterwards would be awesome later. My thing was to simply aim for the stars. For the past several weeks while training, I had been reviewing all of my data from my past races and training schedules. Looking at what worked well and what didn't. This is what I found so far:

1.) HR training in the past worked (although I went off of the 220-age thing)
2.) I cross-trained a great deal (swim & bike when tri training, bike commuting, and strength training) which added more hours to my training weeks.
3.) I had only one session a week that was dedicated to just faster running (tempos and intervals). All the other runs were either easy or long. Looking at my times during my triathlon training and my half-marathon training for Chicago, the swim/bike/run gave me stronger legs with a better core, the HR training then when going out for my easy runs got progressively better as each day went on - the HR staying under control. The strength training also helped me as well, especially with my metabolism. I was able to process fuel better since the muscles were leaner and more active. Also, I could take the pounding better and recover faster in a shorter period of time.
4.) I ate better. Don't get me wrong. I don't eat the junk like I use to, but I haven't relaxed the portion control on some things.
5.) I weighed less (but that was from very tight control of my diet and workouts to the point of being obsessive-compulsive). I also had less muscle compared to now (although having more muscle mass isn't a bad thing), which made me faster since I carried less while running.

So this is what I decided to do:

1.) Sign-up for Cascade Crest this year.
2.) Focus on my HR for my training aimed towards Cascade Crest after I'm done with the current training plan.
3.) Re-incorporate my cycling (not to mention cycling work commutes) back into my life
4.) Re-incorporate strength training back into my life as well (Looking forward to doing CrossFit again, but starting back on the simple routine using the CrossFit Beginner's Program)
5.) Do my best to buckle down on some of my eating habits to find a good balance between how much I burn during training versus what I need to consume for proper living.
6.) If at any time Cascade Crest seems like it's not an attainable goal based on what I'm going through, I will request the RD (Charlie Crissman) to defer my entry for the following year.
7.) I will use various races from now till Cascade Crest as an aid to help me train, but it won't be a monsterous amount of races. Every training run, every race will serve a purpose.

I had told Eric that I want to experience all that Cascade Crest and moving 100 miles will do. In the past, I had told Eric of my first ultra - the 1st Annual Pigtails Flat Ass. I had gone through some insanity that winter and with my amount of frustration in life, I wanted to run long and just hurt. However, the hurt was short-lived and the euphoria of moving for hours (under 5:30 to be more specific) took over. This is one of the major reasons why I run. People mention their Love/Hate relationship with running and exercise in general. Hell, New Balance made a few commercials on this. The one thing that I did not want my training to turn into is ALL WORK. I want moments to enjoy as well. It took some doing, but I found a bit of the joy in the current training, usually in the slow light runs or when I hit the trail those two times. However, the stress of having to deal with mini-intervals on a daily basis and memorizing the patterns did deflate some of that fun. So this is what I'm left with: Perform at my Potential or Have Fun.

The answer: I choose a happy balance. I will HR train and do alot of cross-training to help facility my aerobic capacity. However, I will make sure that every run counts and that I can smile along the way.

Manic Moderate Mondays: HR Training - Day 36

After a good amount of debate on whether to do the Base Builder II run or the Moderate run, I had decided to do the Moderate run as a double. Basically the same run as I did on Thursday (or rather, I did HORRIBLY on Thursday), but it would be on the treadmill again at the usual 1% incline. As you can see, I was able to maintain a consistant heart rate for each of the 12 minute runs in Zone 2, only rarely bleeding past my 161 bpm ceiling. For each 12 minute part, I was able to maintain a decent speed of 5.6-5.7 MPH until the last set where I decided to slow it down to just 5.0 MPH and learn to relax more. The HR ended up being lower on the last one compared to the others, but not by huge leaps and bounds (about 3-4 bpm less than before).

It was a good run, but I was in that moment of "When is this going to be over?". It's been awhile since I've felt like that on a treadmill run. I can only assume my brain and body need more outdoor stimulation from running.

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. :-)