Weakly Update

Week of 7/23-7/29:
27.52 miles/4;20:05/9:27avg

Pretty good week but slower than previous weeks. I'm really trying to keep my heart rate in the proper zone for each run. I am finding that the temperature has a huge affect on my heart rate. If it is hot it's all I can do to keep it low enough, if it's cool I feel like I am sprinting.

A perfect example is my long run on Saturday. It was a 12 miler and I started out keeping my heart rate at about 150. I kept that going for about the first 7 miles and then it started climbing and I did slow down about 30 seconds/mile but I ended up at about 160bpm for the last 4 miles. I the temperature and the humidity were starting to climb so I am assuming that is the cause.

I was suppose to go for a heart rate test on Wednesday to scientifically determine my proper zones but I had to put that off a week because of a conflict. My new appointment is next week Tuesday. I think it's probably good that I have a couple of weeks with the new monitor before I go in because I already have a bunch of questions. I'm really looking forward to it.

So all in all I think I am still in good shape and on target. I did skip my Sunday recovery run as I was out of town but that's the only run I've missed in three weeks or so.

Tom Has a New Toy!

Workout: 4 miles

Well my old Garmin finally started to die. I was thinking of buying a new one for my birthday next month but one of the important button on my Garmin 201 started to not work so I bought the new Garmin 305. This is the updated version and also includes a heart rate monitor.

I went to a seminar on Thursday that talked about Heart Rate Training. It seemed pretty interesting so I thought as long as I was buying a new Garmin I would try to incorporate the information. The basic gist of things is that when doing long runs I am suppose to keep my heart rate to 150 beats per minute. When I am doing speedwork I am suppose to be between 158 & 167 beats per minute.

Tonight I was suppose to do a 4 mile recovery run so I thought this would be a good chance to try it out. I pretty successfully kept my BPS (beats per minute) to 150 and it was really cool. I felt great the whole way. I slowed down on the up-hills and really picked it up on the down-hills. I was telling myself to slow down a lot, but when I got done I had averaged 9:14’s. I was really please. This could work out.

I’ve also emailed a company that does detailed heart rate analysis. They use an oxygen mask and the whole nine yards to determine your exact heart rate zones. The method I’ve used this far is pretty generic. I’ll keep you informed.

So another week in the books. I got all my runs in and I’m feeling really upbeat about my progress.

4.09 miles/37:48/9:14avg
Avg heart rate: 151 bpm

Holy Crap that Sucked!

Workout: 7 Miles

Let me just start by saying it was 85, no wind and muggy as hell. I walked out on my porch to decide if I was hitting the treadmill or the road. There was a slight breeze so I thought I would hit the payment. I was not looking forward to the run so I thought doing an out and back would help. Once your out 3.5 miles you pretty much have to get home one way or another.

There were a couple of spots where it was shady with a little breeze and that wasn’t too bad. But most of the run was in the sun with breeze…. Arg that sucked. But nothing like a hard run to keep you humble.

Anyway I got it in, and I am still on track with my training runs, so I am feeling positive about NYC. In fact I was reading some Runner’s World Blogs today about the race and was getting jazzed.

Well that’s all for now. Looking forward to 11 this weekend with the Team!

7.0 miles/1:06:13/9:27avg
Weight 202.5

10 Miles... Done!

Workout: 10 miles

All in all a pretty good run. I had to work today so I wanted to get my run in before work. So when my alarm went off at 4:30 I thought there was no-way I was actually going to make it out the door. I’d pretty much decided to stay in bed and run Sunday after work when for some reason I thought I would at least see what the weather was like. I stepped outside and it was perfect. 60, no clouds, a light breeze. Really I had no excuse at that point, so I laced up my shoes.

My normal 10 mile rout takes me into the country a bit and since it was still dark I was a little nervous about running on country roads in the dark so I decided to do two laps on my in-town 5 mile course. I normally hate doing laps, but this was only two, and I didn’t have to carry water or gu because I would be running past my house at mile 5. That worked out well as I also had significant bathroom needs.

I was actually surprised and how I felt at the end. Last week mile 8 and 9 were pretty tough but this week I felt good, not great but good. I am still having the left foot pain going on. I feel like it’s planter but I don’t have the classic symptoms yet. I may need to have it looked at. So far it just flares up a bit. It’s uncomfortable for a few minutes and then it will go away.

So anyway I feel pretty good about my training. My lungs seem good and my legs are getting stronger. Plus I feel like I could kick out a Half tomorrow if I needed to. I haven’t felt like that in a while.

10.02 miles/1:32:17/9:13avg

I Felt Great Tonight!

Workout: 6 Miles

Wow I really felt great tonight. I decided to run at night which has been my downfall. But I made it to the gym in time. I decided to do the whole counting songs trick. I figured each song would average 3-4 minutes so I would be done in about 145 songs. That seemed to work pretty well. I didn’t even need to stop for water I ran right through.

A couple of times I did get some foot arch pain that reminded me of plantar which scared the crap out of me. But after a few minutes it seemed to go away. Hopefully it was just a passing thing.

My legs started to get a little tired but all in all I felt strong the whole way. What a great run. I hope tomorrow’s goes as well!

6 miles/57:06/9:31avg

Speedwork Begins!

Workout: 1 Mile E/ 20 Min Tempo/ 1 Mile E

So what I learned last summer was as much as I hate speedwork I hate it even more at 6:00pm when it’s 80 degrees. So this year I have decided to do me speedwork with the morning group at 5:45….. Yes, I said 5:45 in the AM. That’s really damn early!

This morning was a pretty good run. I was surprised by the overall pace we ran. I felt pretty good but by the end of the Tempo part of the run I was breathing pretty hard.

This morning I ran with Julie & Natalie (I may be wrong about her name). The seem like a good group. Natalie is faster than me and I think Julie and I are on a similar pace. I think it will be a good group.

So all in all I think this will work out. I’ll be sure to report back more later!

Warm-up: 1.08miles/9:47/avg 9:03
Tempo: 2.50miles/20:03/avg8:01
Cool-down: 1.05/9:20/avg 9:20

Overall: 4.63miles/39:39/8:33avg