High's and Low's: running and lifting

Saturday I set out for a 6.5 mile run to finish out week 6 of my training for the half marathon.  I was worried because 5 miles has been the upper limit of my running career so far, and I've heard that workouts longer than an hour are significantly harder on the body.  Even armed with that knowledge, I still felt I had good reason to hope for a good run.  My previous long run of 5 miles was easy and fun.

Imagine my surprise when the wall never came.  I did struggle a little more than usual on a couple of hills in the last mile, but I had enough on tap to power up the final climb and really push my pace.  I ended up about 10 seconds per mile slower than my last long run, and that's largely because I started out the run much slower than usual.

Feeling great, I went home for a shower and then I ate breakfast–a bowl of raisin bran.  It wasn't too long before I realized I felt very tired and my legs were weak.  The rest of the day I felt tired, and I had some lasting weakness even into Sunday.  I just lost any motivation to move.  I wasn't sore, just weak and tired.  It's something to be aware of as I start pushing into longer distances.

If only my Hundred Push-ups challenge was going so well.  Sunday I did my Week 2 assessment, and I only managed 10 push ups.  The program assumes the "base" level for Week 3 is 16.  Week 3, Day 1 has you do as sets of 10, 12, 7, 7, and 9 push ups.  I managed 10, 9, 7, 2 and 4.  I hit absolute muscle failure.  It's hard not to be a disappointed.  I try to find programs that offer a manageable progression of difficulty so I can follow my mantra of "Just Finish."  Today was the first time I was not able to complete an exercise I planned.

I'm going to repeat this day again and if I still can't do it, I 'll just repeat Week 2 until I can do 16 push ups.  I have to be in the bottom 5% for upper body strength among people my size.

At least I am trying to do something about it.

Half Marathon Training: Week 6 Day 1

Last night I did 35 minutes of Threshold Training.  In a threshold run, I'm not aiming for any particular pace, but instead trying for a consistent level of effort.  Following some magic mile practice on Saturday, my legs really weren't able to produce a pace fast enough to get my heart rate up where I wanted it.  I did manage to gain 18 seconds per mile over last Tuesday, and I did struggle a lot around the 25 minute mark.

Thursday will be an easy recovery run before Saturday's 6.5 mile long run.  That's very near half the distance I'll do in the actual race, and I'm interested to see what happens to my pace in a run that is longer than an hour.

I Believe in Magic - Half Marathon Training Week 5 Day 3

As I move farther into training, some of my shorter Saturday runs are built around a magic mile. The magic mile is the fastest mile you can reasonably do. In the program I'm doing, you run two miles as fast as you can without using a sprint stride. The weather was cool and crisp this morning, so conditions could not have been better.

I managed at 10:15 pace or so for both miles, and I felt strong the whole way. Of course, today was a three mile run. That last mile was challenging, but still much better than day 1 & 2 of this week. All in all it was a great run.

I need to learn from my dogs. They think every run is fantastic regardless of pace, training routine or route.

Half Marathon Training Week 5 Day 2

For this week's recovery run I really had one goal:enjoy it. W5D1 was so tough, I just wanted to get an enjoyable run in for the appointed 35 minutes. I started out a much better pace than Tuesday, but I was still tired much sooner than I should have. I ended up with an 11:58 pace over 35 minutes, which is only a few seconds faster than I did 5 miles last Saturday.

I have to imagine that the fatigue I'm feeling from grief over my grandmother's death and my worries about my Dad following an accident on the farm is affecting my energy. I'd had a really strong week last week, and I expected better from this week.

It's also possible that my body is starting to favor morning runs. I'll have to try that next Tuesday.

Up & Down: Week 4 Day 3 and Week 5 Day 1

Saturday's run was amazing.  Saturday's are "long runs."  The goal is to add distance comfortably and maintain a converstational pace.  I ended up with a 12:03 pace, which I was thriled with.  Better was the fact that I never percieved any real effort.  It felt like I could run forever.  Even the uphill climbs were easy.  Easily one of my favorite runs of all time.

Tuesday's run was not so good.  In fairness, I'd taken my dad out of the hospital early to be at the bedside of my dying grandmother.  It was a stressful day with a lot of driving–and my run started late in the evening.  To boost my spirits, I decided to take my dogs.  They're Weimaraners.

I'm not positive, but I believe Weimaraner is German for "Canine Cruise Missle."  My dogs can sustain a 25 mile per hour pace over 20 to 30 minutes.  Ruby can sprint over short distances at better than 35 miles per hour.  This means my sprint is a slow jog or trot to them.  They have a nearly insastiable thirst for speed and movement.  Thanks to their influence, I started out at a 9 minute per mile pace.  That is much to fast for me, even for a threshold run.  Before I knew it I was struggling to run, and the remaining 27 minutes of my 35 minute run were brutal.  I have never wanted to stop so much in mu lfe.  It was worse than when I first started Couch to 5K and the 8 minute segments hit for the first time.

I never stopped.  I did clock a 15:30 pace at one point, but I never broke a running form for a moment.  I ended up with an 11:48 pace over 35 minutes.  That's not good for a threshold run, but I went.

I certainly hope tonight's run is better.  This time I won't try to run at Weim speed.