Resting rate

It's a rest day today so I have a few minutes to blog instead of running. My dad has a nifty blood-pressure machine at home and while I was visiting over the weekend, he sat me down to do a few readings. I was a little puzzled -- yes, my blood pressure is pretty normal.

The number that surprised me was my heart rate -- it kept on reading in the 44 beats per minute range. Later when I got home, I hooked in my Garmin heart-rate monitor and found that it reached a low of about 43 beats, and that was only after lying in bed for a few minutes. Just checked again today after dinner and it quickly went down to 45.

This is quite surprising. I know that the average male has a heart rate of anywhere from 60 - 80 beats per minute. The more sedentary you are, the higher it is. According to this article (and there are many on the net) fit endurance runners usually have heart rates of between 50 and 60 beats per minute.

While some doctors would be alarmed by a low heart rate, I know that it signals among runners that you are getting fit, that your heart has to work less to pump the necessary blood to your body. Elite endurance athletes are known to have very low rates -- Lance Armstrong famously is known for his 32 beats per minute (and a sky-high VO2 Max, and a bigger than average heart, but who's counting).

Last year, I believe my resting heart rate was as low as 52 -- so what does the new numbers tell me? Maybe I'm becoming more fit? Maybe this Pfitzinger training cycle is starting to pay off.. Maybe I should wait until the V02 Max workouts to see how things go? In any case, it's a good sign. I don't know if this is a factor, but I have been shedding excess pounds the past six weeks as I look to get down to a good race weight (the same weight I had two years ago when I set many PBs). I have 5 to 8 pounds to lose and i'm confident i'll get there by mid to late September. I'm eating healthier, i'm running more and i'm feeling strong...

Marine Corps Marathon: 13 weeks to go

Hit the mileage goal right on the dot this week: 46 miles or 74 kilometres. The great news is that it's recovery week next week. The even better news is that it's going to heat up in temperature over that time. Here's the week in recap

Monday: Rest
Tuesday: 9 miles with 4 miles LT (14.5K)
Wednesday: 5 miles recovery (8K)
Thursday: 10 miles general aerobic (16K)
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 17 miles medium-long (27.4K)
Sunday: 5 miles recovery (8K)

Weekly mileage: 74K (46 miles)
Time run: 6:28:46
Year to date: 1,343K (834.5 miles)

It's interesting to note that last year at this time, I'd done 1,426K (886 miles). I'm pretty confident i'm on course to match last year's mileage total.

The week to come:
Recovery week
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: 8 miles with 8x100m
Wednesday: 5 miles
Thursday: 8 miles
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 4 miles
Sunday: 12 miles

Medium-long?

Wednesday: Did a 5 mile recovery run in about 43:07.

Thursday: It's even getting earlier. Started my run at 4:36 a.m. (ouch) and did 10 miles on the waterfront in 1:27:35 with average pace of 5:26Ks (8:44 miles)



Today: So I read the schedule and Pfitzinger describes today's 17 mile run as 'medium-long'.... Okay.. to me, it's looong. I haven't done a run this long since last fall. It was humid but a cool 18 degrees when I started the run at 7:30 a.m. heading west on the waterfront. The out-and-back route is about 11 miles, so I decided to add a few loops to the route so I would be able to end the run close to the market, where I could buy bread and other groceries.

Again, I didn't run with my heart-rate monitor, but I did ensure I kept the pace to a reasonable slower pace. I ran a negative split -- the first 8 miles were done in 1:09:12 and the next 8 in 1:06:58. Total running time for 17.04 miles was 2:24:27.

I was scheduled to do the 20K 'race' tomorrow in the Beaches, but now i've opted to skip it. It didn't make a lot of sense to out an out-and-back only to end up 10K from home. Plus, it isn't a timed race. One option is to make it out there and do a 10K run... we'll see.

LT run

Today it was 9 miles with 4 at lactate threshold (half marathon race pace). I still dread these runs and they'll only get harder. So the plan was to run 3.5 kilometres (about two miles) then do 6.5 kilometres (4 miles) at LT. These LTs are getting me nervous...

Here are the splits

1K: 5:03Ks
2K: 5:08Ks
3K: 5:01Ks
4K: 4:33Ks (7:20 mile pace)
5K: 4:23Ks (7:04 mile pace)
6K: 4:27Ks (7:10 mile pace)
7K: 4:26Ks (7:09 mile pace)
8K: 4:24Ks (7:05 mile pace)
9K: 4:30Ks (7:16 mile pace)
10K: 4:32Ks (7:17 mile pace)
11K: 5:58Ks
12K: 5:15Ks
13K: 5:18Ks
14K: 5:01Ks
15K: 5:05Ks pace

I actually did a little more than four miles. The first kilometre (5K) was a bit fast at 4:23 and I had to force myself to slow down a tad. As a result, I think I pushed myself a little harder than I wanted to. This would have to be a hard pace but one I can keep up over 13 miles. The last two kilometres were done a bit slower and I was flagging. Next time, I have to stick closer to the 4:30Ks or 7:15 miles... That is, unless my fitness shows that I can go faster.

Racing to the music

The Globe and Mail had an article today about the racing while wearing headphone debate. Of course, it caused a lot of debate (some dumb, some reasonable).

The general two sided debate (boiled way down) goes like this:

Pro: 'Running with music helps keep me going'
Con: 'Aren't you a running purist?'

I'm somewhere in between. When I just started doing long runs of more than 1.5 hours years ago, I found that I needed the music to keep me going, it was something that kept my mind off the effort taken to run. Later, as I improved, it became a nice way to zone out and have your personal space, but not necessarily needed to help push myself.

I now do not run with music, especially during my marathon training. I find that I do want to listen to my body. I need to hear myself breathe, I need to concentrate on hitting my strides and hitting a good cadence. I don't think I'm a running purist by doing so, since I make the (technological) concession of running with my GPS and I do monitor pace and distance. I'm definately a slave to my Garmin.

I do agree with the safety angle: Just this weekend, on trails in DC, I had countless cyclists call out 'On your left' as they passed by and I always tend to stick to the right side of paths to let them get by. I had a few times when I was running with headphones when I couldn't hear cyclists, which is why I now ban myself from wearing headphones on trails with bike traffic. On races (the subject of the article), I could never run and race hard with music... but that's just me.

I do think that there's something to be said for running a long run without a soundtrack, with just the world whizzing by on cars, bikes, buses. It's just you, pushing yourself forward, feeling the effort with each step. During those runs, I've had countless eureka moments or moments of clarity after seeing the beauty of the outdoors, sights and sounds that I'm glad I didn't miss.

Marine Corps Marathon: 14 weeks to go

My mileage for the past week was as planned: 68K or 42 miles. The mileage is only going up for the next week until my recovery week.

Here's what's coming up this week:

Monday
Tuesday: 9 miles with 4 at LT pace
Wednesday: 5 miles recovery
Thursday: 10 miles easy
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 5 miles recovery
Sunday: 17 miles

Gone local? Not really...

In DC right now. I was going to get out there by 5 a.m., but didn't wake up until 5:30. Was out just after 6 a.m. and started running around the Mall.

Today, I hydrated properly. I filled by four fuel-belt bottles -- two with Gatorade and two with water. And also carried a bottle of Gatorade diluted with a little water. Twice, I was asked for directions -- first to the tomb of the Unknown Soldier (I pointed to Arlington Cemetery and I hoped I was right) the second person, a runner carrying a packback and other travelling gear, asked me where Constitution Ave. was.. I sorta knew but i'm never confident giving directions when I could be wrong.

At the 10K mark, I quickly went to R's condo for a washroom break and resumed the run. Ditching the bottle was finally freeing so I was left with four six ounce bottles for the remainder.

R called me yesterday in Toronto to tell me the weather was lovely -- the humidity was gone and the temperature was down. In fact, today was a great day for a long run. Even a little coolish at 7 a.m. and not yet hot. Happy with my hydration, I pushed up the pace for the second half of the run and crazily enough, I mapped out my route so well that I punched in at 24.5K one block away from R's condo, by the FBI building in Penn Quarter.

The week's runs are over.. I've now topped about 67K for the week... Two rest days in a row are planned, but I may do a 3 miler recovery run tomorrow morning.

Rain? Check!

Just catching up. Ran my 8 miles with 11 100m strides on Tuesday, did 5 miles recovery on Wednesday.

Today, I was up at 4:30 a.m. for a 4:45 a.m. start to a 10 miler. I was dressed, water bottles ready and just walked outside when I saw that it just had started to rain. The prospect of running 16K in rain -- and in the dark -- just didn't appeal, and I was so tired anyways that I did a U-turn and headed back into bed. I think it's first time in a long time i've done that.

So this evening, I set out on the run with skies threatening rain. After the 2nd mile, it started: first drops, then a steady pattering, followed by a downpour. The hat was keeping the rain out of my face and shades, but I was getting soaked. And you know what? I loved it. Ran for another 3 miles in the rain before it stopped and passed many a runner and cyclist looking for shelters under bridges and trees. It just felt right. 16.1K in 1:22:51.

Bloggers offline...

I saw this picture on Jelly's site so I'm borrowing it (hehe) for this post. Picture taken at brunch after we raced yesterday. Note the well-earned bacon and pancakes three of us decided on. Yum, bacon. From left, Sonia, Amanda, Fran and Moi. (And Jelly behind the camera)

Marine Corps Marathon: 15 weeks to go

Things are progressing. I've bumped up my mileage and was able to fit in all the scheduled runs. The LT run on Tuesday was successful, the long run on Thursday before dawn was an adventure and the race today was a highlight.

Recapping:
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: 8 miles (13K)
Wednesday: 4 miles (6.5K)
Thursday: 10 miles (16K)
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 4 miles (6.5K)
Sunday: 13.8 miles; 22.2K (16K race)

Weekly mileage: 64K (39.75 miles)
Year to date: 1201.5K (746.5K)

The coming week

Here's my schedule for the next week. I'm planning to do my long run on Saturday morning. I'll be in DC visiting R and would like to get the long run over with so we can enjoy our weekend together. It will be hot, so i'm going to try to get up extra early. Hydration will be critical; in fact, I think i'll do the first half of the run (8 miles) then refill on water, then head back out for another 7.

Monday: Rest/CT
Tuesday: 8 miles with 10x100 (morning)
Wednesday: 5 miles (morning)
Thursday: 10 miles (evening)
Friday: 4 miles (morning)
Saturday: 15 miler (In DC)
Sunday: Rest/CT

Race report: Nissan 10 Miler

media1.jpeg
Originally uploaded by yumkerun

The 10 miler (16K) is a nice distance, but it's a race i've never done before. This year, however, I've signed up for two, one in Toronto, the other in DC (the massive Army 10 Miler). The distance is manageable for most runners, but it's also long enough that it doesn't have the popular appeal of a 5K or 10K.

This race was a 5K last year, which I ran on a really hot Friday. Today, it was a cool 16 degrees by race time, perfect conditions, especially for a summer day. The race is perfect on the calendar for fall marathoners who are now tackling longer distances, and that's what I wanted to use it for: a quasi tuneup race that I could fit into my long run plans.

Last night, I was out late at a wedding reception, so when the alarm went off at 4:30 a.m., I decided another hour of sleep was in order. By 5:45 a.m., though, I was showered, my gear was ready and I was having an English muffin with peanut butter. I was out the door by 6:45 a.m., with a vague idea of either taking a cab, taking public transit, or going for a warmup run.

I opted for the run, and did a slow 2.5K jog with my backpack to the race site. It was already buzzing, but still early, so I checked in my bag and proceeded to do another 2K run. The goal mileage for today was 14 miles, so I wanted to fit as many as the 4 extra miles (6.5K) before and after the race.

The race went off with little fanfare, and I was, for the first time, playing it conservative. Training run, I kept on telling myself. The first few kilometres were done in 4:45/4:50 pace, which is on or a little slower than a marathon pace. I was happy to see it was a very managable pace that barely challenged me aerobically. Tell you what, it's an odd and nice feeling not to be huffing and puffing through the first part of a race, when most runners look to jockey for position and get themselves in a good place.

Much of the course takes place on my daily training ground, so it was as close to a home course as I could get. The lonely stretch of industrial land is so familiar to me. I don't enter the Leslie Spit and the Tommy Thompson park, though, so the run though there was interesting sightseeing.

I felt strong and was behind a pack of runners who also seemed to be intentionally taking it easy and I quickly made up my game plan for the rest of the run: at the 10K mark (with less than 4 miles to go), I would turn the latter part of the race into an LT run, or run it at my half marathon pace. I patiently waited for the 10K mark, which was also the site of a water station, and upped the pace. I quickly lost the pack, and started aiming at runners ahead of me.

As I was telling Fran later, it was such an amazing feeling having the extra kick at the end -- I felt myself going from easy running to racing form: the strides were getting quicker and I felt the heart, the lungs adjusting to the extra effort. I set my own pace since I was now running 4:30ish pace along a field that were doing 4:45s and slower. I can't recall, but I believe I may have past at least 40 runners in the last 3K.

My focus was to run the race hard and make the last kilometre the fastest. It was.

So that's it. A race within a race. I know I can PR at this distance at 1:13 ish, but this was a great test of pacing and patience.

After the race, I got to finally meet Sonia and Fran. Also met Amanda, Sonia's friend. Jelly came along (she didn't run today) and we went out for breakfast to trade running stories, find out more about each other. It was great, I've followed them through the past year so it was good to put faces to words...

The splits: 16:22K (GPS probably went a little wonky at the beginning or under the bridge)

1K: 4:45
2K: 4:46 (9:31)
3K: 4:50 (14:21)
4K: 4:51 (19:12)
5K: 4:50 (24:02)
6K: 4:52 (28:53)
7K: 4:53 (33:47)
8K: 4:46 (38:32)
9K: 4:45 (43:17)
10K: 4:40 (47:57)

LT portion
11K: 4:25 (52:22)
12K: 4:30 (56:42)
13K: 4:35 (1:01:27)
14K: 4:36 (1:06:03)
15K: 4:37 (1:10:41)
16K: 4:17 (1:14:58)
.22K: 49:87 (1:15:48)

Final time: 1:15:48

Place overall: 194/1192 (83.7 percentile)
Place in men: 161/630 (74.4 percentile)
Place in age group: 28/92 (69.5 percentile)

Nice splits...

Just got back from after-race brunch with a bunch of running bloggers. It went according to plan. Didn't go full out but a bit faster than planned:

194 out of 1192 with chip time of 1:15:48 with these splits
1-5 miles: 39:31 39:03
5-10 miles: 36:45
Negative split of 2:46 2:19

Race morning

The 10 miler starts in less than two hours. The plan is to run it with effort, but not race it. This is unusual for me, but Fran reminds me that if I did today's race as per normal (race it), it'd be a 10 mile LT run. The thing to remember is I gotta stay true to the Pfitzinger plan - the goal of all of this training is the MCM in October. So today's plan is to start out with 5 minute kms (8 minute miles), speeding up to 4:45 minute K (7:38 miles) for the second half..

Then the plan is to meet Fran, Sonia and her friend Amanda, Jelly and Frankie for a running bloggers meetup.

4:48 a.m.

According to the suns and normals page for Toronto, the sun rises at 5:47 a.m., which is early enough for an early morning run. But to get a 10 miler in and out the door for work at 6:30 a.m., it meant I had to get out there much much earlier.

Which is why I found myself starting my run in the dark this morning, hitting the start button on the Garmin at 4:48 a.m. and started what was a pretty memorable run

My run, in point form:

• it was very cool, in fact 14 degrees at 5 a.m.
• it's more than a little creepy to run in what is usually a fairly busy trail in the dark
• wonder where the seagulls go at night? I found hundreds (if not a thousand) of them in the massive parking lot of Ontario place at around 5 a.m. On my way back, they were gone, vanished
• same for Canadian geese. actually, they don't move that much
• at 5 a.m., there aren't even a lot of cyclists. I passed the first one about 4 kilometres into the run
• and no runners at all, I passed the first walkers at 6.5K and the first runner at the 8K mark near Humber Bridge
• running toward a sunrise is pretty much the major highlight
• so was being on the path earlier than those early-morning rowers on Lake Ontario
• a lot of solo runners at this time, and they all waved and nodded (I usually do anyways)
• negative splits are so much easier when you're asleep for the first 20 minutes

16.1K (10 miles) in 1:26:33, avg pace of 5:29Ks
Ran 6.5K (4 miles) on Wednesday

LT run with a technical problem

Today was the first of many (and progressively more difficult) lactate threshold runs and I was pumped if not nervous. I didn't want to do it after work and saw the temperature would be okay early in the morning, so I was in bed early and up by 5 a.m.

I was aiming for a pace of 4:30K to 4:30K range (7:15 to 7:22 miles), which I've consistently done in races but rarely try out in training. Doing it with race-day magic is one thing, on my own at 5:30 a.m. is another... I went out there with a bottle of water and planned to ditch it when I started the LT run so I could have it when I finished.

At the 2 mile mark (3K), I took off best as I could into a half marathon race pace. It felt good and I was really focused on the next 4 miles (I split it up in my head into 6.5K, more managable for my head to compute.) Little did I remember that I hit Garmin at the beginning at the run intending to hit the lap -- I hit the start/stop key. Luckily, right at the 1K mark (I know the path very well), I realized my error and then started the GPS again.

In the end, I was able to maintain a quick pace, maybe even a little faster than I planned. First LT done.

Here are the splits:
5:09
5:17
5:15
4:35ish (7:22ish mile pace) The lost kilometre
4:37 (7:25 mile pace)
4:34 (7:21 mile pace)
4:28 (7:11 mile pace)
4:29 (7:13 mile pace)
4:28 (7:11 mile pace)
4:23 (.48K) (7:03 mile pace)
5:29
5:02
4:56

8 miles (13K)

Marine Corps Marathon: 16 weeks to go

Target for this week was 36 miles, which I did do. A recap

Monday: Rest/CT
Tuesday: 8.4 miles GA + 10X100 (13K)
Wednesday: Rest/CT
Thursday: 10 miles GA (16K)
Friday: Rest/CT
Saturday: 13 miles medium long run (switch days) (21K)
Sunday: 5 miles recovery (8K)

Weekly total: 59K (37 miles)
Avg pace: 5:09K
Time run: 5:04
Year to date: 1137.5K (707 miles)

Yesterday's longish run went well, with an average pace of 5:13K/8:25 miles. I really concentrated on maintaining pace.

Next week is an interesting one. I have a longer run (14 miles) on Sunday, but I also signed up for a 10 miler race on the same day. I guess the smart plan is to run 4 miles to the starting line and treat the race like a training run. I know myself to be a bit more competitive, but I do plan to fit in the mileage -- before the race as a warmup sounds better than adding 4 miles to the end. The run that's challenging is the Tuesday LT run, 8 miles with 4 miles at half marathon pace. That's 6.5K of race hard running without the race environment to push me. That will be difficult, but I look forward to running it: I am aiming for a pace of between 4:30K and 4:35K.

Monday: Rest
Tuesady: 8 miles x 4 miles at LT pace
Wednesday: 4 miles recovery
Thursday: 10 miles GA
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 4 miles (I will do strides in prep for Sunday)
Sunday: 4 mile easy/warmup plus 10 mile race.

Start your engines...

Champ Car
Originally uploaded by chillywillyracefan

I've stayed away from the Western waterfront this weekend because they're having the Grand Prix of Toronto this weekend. As I write this, I can hear the racing cars (they're about 2K away from my condo). So yesterday's 13 miler and today's 5 mile recovery run were both done running East. Funny, though, as I was finishing today's run at 1 p.m., a Canadian military fighter plane came screaming through the waterfront, flying right over us.. A nice way to end the race...

Picture above is by my brother, who is a huge racing fan and watching the race right now from the stands...

The stride debate

Well, it's an internal debate, actually.

Fran's post a few days ago about strides got me thinking. He's taking this approach here:

I did the 8 strides around a track in the middle of the run. I really tried to focus on leg turnover rather than just pumping my legs and arms to run faster. I hardly had any arm swing at all. I found that by doing this the strides were easier. It caused me to be more efficient with my running which allows me to run faster at a faster pace.

I've only really started to run them with the Pfitzinger program and I've been taking cues that it's running fast, but not to the point that you're sprinting. On my last stride sessions, I concentrated on quick leg turnover while gaining speed for 80 metres, then coasting.. I think I read it somewhere. I believe my arms were swinging as I was going from a jog, to a run, and then to a near sprint.

Fran's post suggests there are a few ways around this and I'm even more interested in seeing how other people do them. A quick search on Google didn't really find much, so I turned to an friend/ex-colleague and (in my eyes) a star runner. In his college days, he was a specialist in the shorter track distances, so he's a speedster but who's also done long distances at very fast paces. I watched him speed away from me in an 8k race earlier this year. And he also ran a mile race in 5:25 a few weeks ago.. That's 3:21 km pace if you're counting.. anyways, runcoach, as i'm calling him, and I had this email exchange:

Me: On strides.. I’m doing the pete pfitzinger training program, which includes LT runs, V02s and some general aerobic with 10x100 strides, to get you used to running fast. There are a few schools of thought: 1) get your number of strides per minute closer to 180 or 2) just practice running fast.. I guess strides are not the same as sprinting because that’s a whole different type of running..

runcoach: Oh, I get it. ... strides. Okay, here's my thinking on that. Strides are not about max speed, rather it is about being relaxed and reaching a speed at which your arms and legs are moving in concert together. You shouldn't overstride, which means straining, rather find a cadence in which you feel yourself accelerate then maintain a speed without straining. Probably ends up being 75 per cent of max, but you learn to carry your speed in a relaxed state. This is key. As you get faster, your arms and legs move together with your arms dictating your cadence.

Me: you should be a running coach. I see what you’re saying and I think it’s the cadence that I’m looking for.. Xxx footsteps a minutes.. I think the criticism of most (recreational) runners is that we tend to have too long strides and too few per minute so we’re not as efficient.. Any tricks to getting your arms and legs moving on concert and on how to alter your form to get the correct stride length (varies per person I’m sure).

runcoach: Another key is to start on your toes, hips up and stay tall, this is made more difficult by weak abs and core.

So the point is not to sprint, but to get the feel, or cadence... Any other thoughts or tips would be great...

This weekend, the weather is heating up big time. In fact, Sunday will be hotter than Saturday. So the initial plan is to switch my 13 miler to tomorrow and push the recovery 5 milers to Sunday. At some time this summer, I will have to tough it out, but for as long as I can, will run at smart times...

Busy path

By Ontario Place, where I do some of my longer runs, it was busy tonight, what with the FIFA U-20 and a concert at the Molson Ampitheatre. Which meant I had a lot of company on the trails -- soccer fans and White Stripes fans. Interesting mix. Did a 10 miler (16K) to Humber Bridge and back in 1:23:33 with 5:09Ks or 8:18 miles. Since it was a general aerobic run, it felt like a moderately easy run.

Back at it...

A long training program only seems doable if you look at the short term. I can't quite remember what those 20 milers were like last year, but they'll be coming back. Today called for an 8 miler with 10x100 strides. I'm enjoying the runs and the strides give them a bit more purpose... and, well, I also like the feeling of running fast...

Happy Canada Day...

... long run over, rest of the day is relaxation.. happy Canada Day.


... and since I'm posting pictures, here's another one I like.

Marine Corps Marathon: 17 weeks to go

Target for this week was 32 miles. Did a bit more. Here's a recap

Monday: Rest
Tuesday 14K (8.5 miles with 10x100 strides)
Wednesday: 4K
Thursday: 15K (9 miles GA)
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 6.5K (4 miles recovery)
Sunday: 20K (12 miles medium long run)

Weekly total: 59.5K
Time run: 5:22:39
Year to date: 1078.5K

What a godsend the weather this week. It was cool, probably 17 degrees, today with a nice breeze.

Today's long run was done in 1:45, starting off with 5:25ish kilometres (8:50 miles) and ending with 5:10s (8:10 miles). I took out my heart rate monitor, which went beserk the first few kilometres, but settled down to the around 79%. I think either it's a bit too high but the average shows at 154 bpm / 82%. A bit on the high end for long runs. Total for the run was 1:45:57 with average pace of 5:17 kilometres or 8:30 miles.

Here's next week's schedule

Monday: Rest/CT
Tuesday: 8 miles GA + 10X100
Wednesday: Rest/CT
Thursday: 10 miles GA
Friday: Rest/CT
Saturday: 5 miles recovery
Sunday: 13 miles medium long run.

I have to find a suitable cross training activity. I think i'll have to dig out the bike for Wednesday.