avondale training journal, starting Dec. 2018 (comments welcome)

In principle I am not opposed to doing longer runs on weekdays, I just know that with other obligations, it gets hard to fit in. Certain times of the semester require me to work more than the typical 9 - 5, and so I know longer runs would mean cutting into sleep, which is not good.

The alternative to one big chunk is two smaller chunks. Like 45 morning + 45 evening > 60 evening. But that doesn't always work well either. At least I know for me it takes too much prep time in the morning for me to truly make it worth it. I can weight lift in 15 min, get on the bike in about 30 min, or run in about 45-60 min of prep time. So a 60 min run requires almost 120 min of time, whereas a 60 min lift only takes 75 min of total time. And sleep is a vital component.

If you think slower for the weekend runs would be better, I am fine with that. (I may do that as a compromise for this week, actually.) Usually time is less of an issue on the weekends. I am tentatively hoping to try to complete a 50k in a few years...I turn 50 in 2023, which seemed like a nice time frame. That's one reason I'm trying to aim for marathons now - to help keep the base and fitness.

You almost can't go too slow when it comes to the weekends (or easy days). According to Tom Schwartz, that cutoff of too slow would be around a 13:45 min/mile (5k + 5 min). That's one of the reasons I switched the 90 min EB to 120 min EA. Trying to get more time, but not push the damage that much higher.
 
Week of July 13 - 19, 2020

This is the eighth and final week of the hill repeat plan that I listed on page 9. But ironically for the name of the plan, I changed the hill repeat workout for this week into a 4EA. I'm also still adding in 1 - 2 short walk breaks during the day, as described previously.

Next week I start my DopeyBadger training plan for the Richmond Marathon on Nov. 14!

Monday
  • Morning: foam rolling and stretching
  • After work:
    • 3EA
      • T+D 142, 3.5% correction
      • Target pace 11:56; with correction 12:21
      • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been: 12:22, 12:36, 12:11
      • Ave HR: 132 BPM - within my target range
      • Splits: 12:18, 12:38, 12:11
      • comments: I hit my splits for all miles.
      • Route: Sligo Creek Trail, going north
Tuesday
  • Morning: P90X Legs & Back
  • After work:
    • 4EA
      • T+D 141, 3.5% correction
      • Target pace 11:56, with correction 12:21
      • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been: 12:22, 12:36, 12:11, 12:30
      • Ave HR: 134 BPM - within my target range
      • Splits: 12:22, 12:33, 12:11, 12:32
      • comments: I hit my splits for all miles
      • Route: Sligo Creek Trail, going north
Wednesday
  • Morning: ab routine (like previous) and foam rolling and stretching
  • After dinner: 2-hr tennis doubles match, starting T+D ~150 🥵 🥵 ; my partner and I won 4-6, 6-2, 1-0, and our team won overall, too! My left ear plugged up at the end of the match.
Thursday
  • Morning: P90X Shoulders & Arms
  • After work:
    • 4EA
      • T+D 149🥵, 4.5% correction
      • Target pace 11:56; with correction 12:28
      • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been: 11:49, 12:34, 12:34, 13:47
      • Ave HR: 134 BPM - within my target range
      • Splits: 12:06, 12:32, 12:40, 13:52
      • comments: My first mile was too slow!
      • Route: Forest Glen Annex
Friday
  • Morning: prehab routine (like previous) and foam rolling and stretching
  • After dinner: 1-hr walk on treadmill
Saturday
  • After breakfast: 2-hr tennis practice, T+D ~145🥵; both of my ears plugged up a little over halfway through practice
  • Before dinner:
    • 7EA
      • T+D 156🥵🥵🥵, 5.5% correction
      • Target pace 11:56; with correction, 12:35
      • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been: 12:41, 12:40, 12:41, 12:35, 12:36, 12:41, 12:41
      • Ave HR: 143 BPM - above my target range
      • Splits: 12:39, 12:39, 12:41, 12:35, 12:37, 12:45
      • comments: I hit my splits for all miles! My left ear plugged up at the end of this run.
      • Route: Rock Creek Trail, going north
Sunday
  • In morning:
    • 5EA (half of 10EA)
      • T+D 144, 4% correction
      • Target pace 11:56; with correction, 12:24
      • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been: 12:30, 12:29, 12:27, 12:25, 12:30
      • Ave HR: 140 BPM - at the top of my target range
      • Splits: 12:30, 12:31, 12:30, 12:25, 12:31
      • comments: I knew a 10EA run was going to be killer with the heat, so I decided to split it into halves.
      • comments: I hit my splits for all miles! My left ear plugged up at the end of this run.
      • Route: Rock Creek Trail, going north
  • Before dinner
    • 5EA (half of 10EA)
      • treadmill: 5.0 mph
      • comments: I was originally planning to do this outside, but the heat index got up to 106 F, so I changed plans.

Health

I gave myself the second monthly Ajovy injection. I'm not sure if it's doing much. It is supposed to be more effective the longer you take it. We'll see.
 
Week of July 20 - 16, 2020

This is the first week of my 17-week DopeyBadger training plan for the Richmond Marathon on Nov. 14. The plan for this week had most of the days off from running. I'm still adding in 1 - 2 short walk breaks on weekdays, as described previously.

Monday
  • Morning: foam rolling and stretching
  • After work: 1-hr walk on treadmill - we were having thunderstorms
Tuesday
  • Morning: new legs and back workout
    • Superset 1
      • Squat (2 x 8): 60 lbs
      • Pull-up (2 x 10): 2 unassisted, 8 with chair
    • Superset 2
      • Romanian deadlift (2 x 8): 60 lbs
      • Chin-up (2 x 10): 2 unassisted, 8 with chair
    • Superset 3
      • Reverse lunges (2 x 8 each leg): 30 lbs
      • Close-grip pull-up (2 x 10): 2 unassisted, 8 with chair
    • Superset 4
      • Bench step-up (2 x 8 each leg): 24 lbs
      • Hamstring curl with swiss ball (2 x 10)
      • Glute bridge (2 x 10)
  • After work: 1-hr walk on treadmill - we were having more thunderstorms
Wednesday
  • Morning:
    • plyo & agility routine (like previous)
    • Ab Ripper X
  • After work: 1-hr walk on treadmill
Thursday
  • Morning: P90X3 The Challenge and Incinerator (not back or chest moves)
  • After work: 1-hr walk around the neighborhood
Friday
  • Morning: prehab routine (like previous) and foam rolling and stretching
  • After work: 1-hr walk around the neighborhood
Saturday
  • After breakfast: 2-hr tennis doubles practice
  • Before dinner:
    • 3EA
      • T+D 160 🥵 🥵 🥵 🥵 , 6% correction
      • Target pace 11:56; with correction 12:38
      • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been: 12:39, 12:53, 12:28
      • Ave HR: 144 BPM = above my target range
      • Splits: 12:33, 12:51, 12:31
      • comments: I hit my splits for all miles!
      • comments: Garmin was not uploading activities.
      • Route: Sligo Creek Trail
Sunday before dinner:
  • 3EA
    • T+D 158🥵🥵🥵, 6% correction
    • Target pace 11:56; with correction 12:38
    • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been: 12:39, 12:53, 12:38
    • Ave HR: no data
    • Splits: no data
    • comments: New GPS problem, so runs do not track and activities cannot save.
    • Route: Sligo Creek Trail

Health

Headache has not been good this week. Also, my neck and shoulders have been sore, probably from the new workout program.
 
Week of July 27 - Aug. 2, 2020

This is the second week of my 17-week DopeyBadger training plan for the Richmond Marathon on Nov. 14. This week was absolutely miserable for running because it was hot and the humidity was sky-high. I ended up re-arranging some of the runs this week because of a tennis match and leaving for vacation on Aug. 2.

My husband and I are going to Wintergreen Resort for some two-person tennis clinics and hiking. Hopefully it will be cooler and less humid! We are taking a big load of groceries with us, so we don't have to interact with many people.

I'm still adding in 1 - 2 short walk breaks on weekdays, as described previously.

Monday
  • Morning: foam rolling and stretching
  • After work:
    • 3EA
      • T+D 158 🥵 🥵 🥵 , 6% correction
      • Target pace 11:56; with correction 12:38
      • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been: 12:39, 12:53, 12:28
      • Ave HR: 137 BPM = within my target range
      • Splits: 12:36, 12:48, 12:31
      • comments: I hit my splits for all miles!
      • Route: Sligo Creek Trail
Tuesday
  • Morning: new legs and back workout (again)
    • Superset 1
      • Squat (2 x 8): 60 lbs
      • Pull-up (2 x 10): 2 unassisted, 8 with chair
    • Superset 2
      • Romanian deadlift (2 x 8): 60 lbs
      • Chin-up (2 x 10): 2 unassisted, 8 with chair
    • Superset 3
      • Reverse lunges (2 x 9 each leg): 30 lbs
      • Close-grip pull-up (2 x 10): 2 unassisted, 8 with chair
    • Superset 4
      • Bench step-up (2 x 9 each leg): 24 lbs
      • Hamstring curl with swiss ball (2 x 9)
      • Glute bridge (2 x 9)
  • After work:
    • 5EA
      • T+D 156 🥵 🥵 🥵 , 5.5% correction
      • Target pace 11:56; with correction 12:35
      • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been: 11:55, 12:41, 12:38, 12:41, 13:54
      • Ave HR: 137 BPM = within my target range
      • Splits: 11:50, 12:34, 12:37, 12:47, 13:54
      • comments: I hit my splits for all miles!
      • Route: Forest Glen Annex
Wednesday
  • Morning: plyo & agility routine and P90X Ab Ripper X
  • After work:
    • 5EA
      • T+D 145 🥵, 4% correction
      • Target pace: 11:56; with correction 12:24
      • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been: 12:25, 12:39, 12:36, 12:14, 12:33
      • Ave HR: 138 BPM - within my target range
      • Splits: 12:27, 12:38, 12:38, 12:16, 12:31
      • comments: I hit my splits for all miles!
      • Route: Sligo Creek Trail
Thursday
  • Morning: P90X3 The Challenge and half of Incinerator, and foam rolling and stretching
  • After dinner: 2-hr tennis doubles match, T+D ~160 🥵🥵🥵🥵 ; my partner and I lost 4-6, 6-4, 1-0, and our team lost overall, too.
Friday
  • Morning: prehab routine (like previous) and foam rolling and stretching
  • After work:
    • 5EB
      • T+D 148 🥵 (nearly 100% humidity!), 4.5% correction
      • Target pace: 11:08; with correction 11:37
      • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been: 11:38, 11:52, 11:49, 11:27, 11:46
      • Ave HR: 147 BPM - above my target range
      • Splits: 11:42, 11:49, 11:57, 11:27, 11:43
      • comments: I hit my splits for all miles!
      • comments: I moved the Saturday and Sunday runs up by 1 day because we were leaving for vacation on Sunday, and I didn't have time for a run that long.
      • Route: Sligo Creek Trail
Saturday
  • After breakfast: 2-hr tennis doubles practice, T+D ~150 🥵🥵, with nearly 100% humidity. I sweated so much that I wrung the sweat out of my tennis skirt several times. I drank 64 ounces of water with Nuun!
  • Before dinner:
    • 7LR
      • T+D 156 🥵🥵🥵, 5.5% correction
      • Target pace: 10:50; with correction 11:26
      • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been: 11:32, 11:31, 11:32, 11:26, 11:27, 11:32, 11:32
      • Ave HR: 152 BPM - within my target range
      • Splits: 11:31, 11:30, 11:33, 11:25, 11:27, 11:34 11:39
      • comments: I hit my splits for all miles!
      • comments: The last few miles were really hard. I had water with Nuun that I tried to drink at a good rate, but the conditions were really tough.
      • Route: Rock Creek Trail
Sunday morning: 3EA
  • T+D 149 🥵, 4.5% correction, again nearly 100% humidity
  • Target pace: 11:56; with correction 12:28
  • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been: 12:29, 12:31, 12:37
  • Ave HR: 135 BPM - within my target range
  • Splits: 12:25, 12:32, 12:41
  • comments: I hit my splits for all miles!
  • Route: Sligo Creek Trail

Health

I have been sweating much, much more than I remember doing last summer. I'm also drinking fluids like last summer but now I am feeling like my mouth gets dry and I'm not drinking enough. I took a look at the headache meds that I've started since last summer, the Zoloft has a possible side effect of "increased sweating". I think I must be having that. Usually I have one or two runs per summer where I can wring out my socks afterward. Now just this past week, I've had multiple tennis matches and runs where I can wring out my shirt, my skirt, my socks with sweat. Last summer, I took 24 oz of water + Nuun for 2-hour tennis matches; this summer I ramped up to 42 oz but was still dry, so I recently got a 64 oz insulated bottle. This seems like it may be hitting the spot. Also, since I've been drinking more, I seem to have fended off the ear-plugging that I was getting. Yesterday (Saturday) with 2-hours of tennis and the 7LR, I ended up drinking about 200 oz and still weighed lighter in the morning today (from water weight) than yesterday.

My headache has been worse this week, but probably not a surprise since it's been so hot and humid.
 


@DopeyBadger - question for you. You may remember that when you made this training plan, that I was going to be on vacation this week. I'm at Wintergreen Resort in the Blue Ridge Mountains. For that reason, you gave me all easy runs this week.

Well, it's really hilly here, as you might expect. The runs I had to do were 5EA, 5EA, and 4EB. I decided that because of the hills, I would run for time and slow down so my HR stayed in the EA/EB range, which tops out at 140 BPM for me. This makes the runs 60 min, 60 min, 45 min.

The first run was only 4.27 miles, but had about 750 feet of elevation gain (!!). I did a different route for the next two runs, so the elevation gain was somewhat less, but still a lot. And very steep in places, so I walked briskly to keep my HR within range in those spots.

My distances and average paces for these runs came to 4.27 mi/13:19, 4.57 mi/12:58, and 3.61 mi/12:31. According to my Garmin, my VO2max went up a point after the second run and another point after the third run. To be fair, I also went from T+D > 145 at home to T+D in the 130s here.

Should I make more of an effort to keep the HR in range? Usually if it goes a little above, I shrug it off. I suspect the answer is "Yes, DUH, this is what I keep telling you". But curious what you think.

I'm heading home tomorrow, so no more runs on vacation.
 
According to my Garmin, my VO2max went up a point after the second run and another point after the third run. To be fair, I also went from T+D > 145 at home to T+D in the 130s here.

This is very very likely the explanation. We know that as the T+D increases the effort to run at the same pace also increases. And as the effort increases, so does your HR. So your HR at the same pace will increase as the T+D increases. Since the Garmin VO2max is based on a lookup table of HR, pace, and weight, then it would make sense that if you dramatically change T+D, your HR relationship will also dramatically change, and thus it will show an increase in VO2max. It just goes to show that when the T+D finally returns to optimal levels, you should see a nice bump in VO2max.

Should I make more of an effort to keep the HR in range? Usually if it goes a little above, I shrug it off. I suspect the answer is "Yes, DUH, this is what I keep telling you". But curious what you think.

I have long believed (since 2015) that running should be judged based on effort and time. HR is a surrogate for effort, but it's not perfect. There are outside factors that can influence the HRvPace relationship, so you may not be able to always judge effort in the moment based on HR. So my recommendation is to be completely honest with yourself during the run. Does it feel ridiculously truly easy? But if the HR is off by say 10 bpm, then you know it's hard to say that's truly easy.
 
Week of Aug. 3 - 9, 2020

This is the third week of my 17-week DopeyBadger training plan for the Richmond Marathon on Nov. 14. My husband and I were on vacation this week: we arrived at Wintergreen Resort in the afternoon of Sunday, Aug. 2, and we left the morning of Sunday, Aug. 9. We got to play 12 hours of tennis, which was so awesome - I love doing tennis drills!

Monday
  • Before lunch: 2-hour tennis clinic for my husband and me
  • After dinner: 1.2-mile walk - it had rained most of the day, so I snuck this in.
Tuesday
  • Before lunch: 2-hour tennis clinic for my husband and me
  • After lunch: Loop hike to see Upper Shamokin Falls; 2.6 mi; 700 ft elevation gain; 1:18 duration
  • After dinner: 1-mile walk
516998

Wednesday
  • Before lunch: 2-hr tennis clinic for my husband and me
  • After lunch: Loop hike to an overlook via the Hemlock Springs Trail; 3.1 mi; 750 ft elevation gain; 1:36 duration
516999

Thursday
  • Before lunch: 2-hr tennis clinic for my husband and me
  • Before dinner:
    • 60 min EA
      • On my training schedule, this run was 5 EA. However, since this area is so hilly, I did the run for time and aimed to keep my HR is the easy zone for me, under 140 BPM.
      • T+D ~ 130
      • Ave HR: 138 BPM - within my target range
      • Total distance 4.27 mi; splits: 14:02, 12:19, 14:43, 12:00, 13:53
      • Elevation gain: 759 ft (!!)
      • Route: Devil's Knob Loop in Wintergreen Resort
  • After my run and dinner, we got heavy rain and then Sun. It seemed like good conditions for a rainbow, so we quickly drove to a nearby overlook facing the correct direction, and there it was!
517000

Friday
  • Before breakfast:
    • 60 min EA
      • On my training schedule, this run was 5 EA. However, since this area is so hilly, I did the run for time and aimed to keep my HR is the easy zone for me, under 140 BPM.
      • T+D ~ 135
      • Ave HR: 130 BPM - within my target range
      • Total distance 4.57 mi; splits: 11:59, 12:20, 12:38, 14:16, 12:03
      • Elevation gain: 504 ft
      • Route: Laurel Springs Drive and Fawn Ridge Road in Wintergreen Resort
      • comments: My VO2max increased by 1 point according to my Garmin.
  • After lunch: We were going to go on a longer hike since we had more time. However, before we even got off the resort sidewalk at the trailhead, I managed to trip in a hole in the asphalt and fell and really skinned up both my knees and my left palm. I also must have stoved my right wrist or something, because it became painful and difficult to flex my hand back at the wrist. :sad: To make things worse, I tend to get faint at the sight of blood, so I was woozy for a bit. We canceled the hike and went back to the condo to get me patched up. Later in the afternoon, I did a very short 1-mi hike on the easy Leisure Highlands Trail to an overlook.
  • This was our anniversary (21 years!) and so we went to dinner at a nice restaurant on the outside patio.
517002

Saturday
  • Before breakfast:
    • 45 min EB 🐻
      • On my training schedule, this run was 4 EB. However, since this area is so hilly, I did the run for time and aimed to keep my HR is the easy zone for me, under 140 BPM.
      • T+D ~ 130, nearly 100% humidity
      • Ave HR: 132 BPM - within my target range
      • Total distance 3.61 mi; splits: 11:15, 12:07, 12:45, 14:50
      • Elevation gain: 391 ft
      • Route: Laurel Springs Drive and Fawn Ridge Road in Wintergreen Resort
      • comments: I saw a black bear🐻 on this run! I was stopped at my turnaround point on the road. I heard crackling in the woods and thought I would see deer crossing the road. It was a black bear, about 100 ft away! It turned as if it was going to come down the road toward me, so I waved my arms big, and it immediately turned and crossed the road into the woods on the other side. It had an injured back leg that it did not put weight on. I talked to other runners/walkers on the road to warn them, and some of them had seen it in the area, too.
      • comments: My VO2max increased by 1 point after this run according to my Garmin.
  • After breakfast: 2-hr tennis clinic that my husband and I were invited to fill in for missing people to make 4 players. Holding the tennis racquet for volleys and serves was not easy given my wrist injury.
  • After lunch: 2-hr tennis clinic that my husband and I were invited to fill in for.
Sunday before dinner:
  • 5 LR
    • T+D 160 🥵🥵🥵🥵, 6% correction
    • Target pace: 10:50; with correction 11:29
    • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been: 11:35, 11:34, 11:32, 11:30, 11:35
    • Ave HR: 144 BPM - just below my target range
    • Splits: 11:35, 11:34, 11:26, 11:27, 11:31
    • comments: I hit my splits for all miles!
    • comments: My VO2max went up 1 point after this run according to my Garmin.
    • Route: Rock Creek Trail

Health

My headache wasn't really better or worse while I was away. Shrug.

It doesn't seem like my fall hurt me too much - probably my dignity most of all. My knees are scraped up, but were OK to run and play tennis. The worst injury was probably the one with the right wrist, but at least I could still play. I expect it will improve pretty quickly.
 


@DopeyBadger : the Richmond Marathon has joined the list of races that will not be held as planned. They are offering the usual options of virtual races or deferrals. Creatively, they are also offering a full-length race course that will be available during the days from Nov. 7 - 22. It will have restrooms, water-filling stations, and mile markers. However, it's not the usual race course in the city - it has been moved to the Virginia Capital Trail, a multiuse trail. https://www.richmondmarathon.org/covid-19-update/

Since they have given an actual race course option, it is a bit tempting to do that. However, the new course is even farther away from me, so it would likely be a 4-hour trip one-way. My husband would not want to come with me, so that's pretty lonely overall, with no fellow runners and crowds. And I don't think I could push hard for that long without the race environment.

So the Richmond Marathon is out. That was on Nov. 14. I am thinking about doing something like a Yeti 24-hr Challenge instead: run 5 miles every 4 hours for 24 hours, so it's 30 miles total. I see now that the official Yeti 30 is over, so if I want some kind of bling I'll have to find something else.

Do you think an event like this is reasonable with the marathon training plan that I'm doing? Do you happen to know of any similar events?
 
Bummer! Seems to be the way things go these days.

So the Richmond Marathon is out. That was on Nov. 14. I am thinking about doing something like a Yeti 24-hr Challenge instead: run 5 miles every 4 hours for 24 hours, so it's 30 miles total. I see now that the official Yeti 30 is over, so if I want some kind of bling I'll have to find something else.

Do you think an event like this is reasonable with the marathon training plan that I'm doing? Do you happen to know of any similar events?

I think possible considering some doubles wouldn't be a bad idea. Just to get a sense of what it's like to run more than once in a day. Although, your experience with tennis and running should give you some idea what it's like. Additionally, coming up with some good techniques that allow you to recover well in between bouts of exercise. I'd strongly consider Zensah calf sleeves (or something like them) and other recovery type devices.

Otherwise, I wouldn't really change much. Just like a marathon, this type of challenge is about endurance.

I don't know of any other similar events off hand.
 
I don't usually post much on your journal but i do read. My friend did the Yeti challenge. He said the hardest thing is the sleep and the eating. You don't feel like eating much then you are starving. You basically have 4 hours after you run, you shower, you eat, you relax and maybe sleep, then you wake up to run. The issue is the sleep. So if you want to do it and have been marathon training the miles are not the issue. If you are like me you can probably get through even the lack of sleep. My problem is how messed up i will be the rest of the week trying to recover from no sleep. That being said, i considered it but my DH would not have been happy with post Yeti challenge me. With quarantine going on i thought i would choose marriage verses divorce :rotfl2:
 
Bummer! Seems to be the way things go these days.



I think possible considering some doubles wouldn't be a bad idea. Just to get a sense of what it's like to run more than once in a day. Although, your experience with tennis and running should give you some idea what it's like. Additionally, coming up with some good techniques that allow you to recover well in between bouts of exercise. I'd strongly consider Zensah calf sleeves (or something like them) and other recovery type devices.

Otherwise, I wouldn't really change much. Just like a marathon, this type of challenge is about endurance.

I don't know of any other similar events off hand.

Thanks for the advice! For now I will continue with the plan and research possible challenges. If and when I decide on something, I'll run it by you (pun intended).

In the mean time, since I don't have an "official" race that I'm training for, I may do some of the runs as trail runs and run for the equivalent time. Not the long Sunday runs - probably mostly on Saturday.
 
I don't usually post much on your journal but i do read. My friend did the Yeti challenge. He said the hardest thing is the sleep and the eating. You don't feel like eating much then you are starving. You basically have 4 hours after you run, you shower, you eat, you relax and maybe sleep, then you wake up to run. The issue is the sleep. So if you want to do it and have been marathon training the miles are not the issue. If you are like me you can probably get through even the lack of sleep. My problem is how messed up i will be the rest of the week trying to recover from no sleep. That being said, i considered it but my DH would not have been happy with post Yeti challenge me. With quarantine going on i thought i would choose marriage verses divorce :rotfl2:

Thanks for chiming in. I've read some folks' descriptions of doing the Yeti, and they would support your comments about the sleeping. I'd probably start it on a Saturday morning so that I could collapse on Sunday. Since the original marathon I was targeting was a 2.5-hr drive and I was going to drive down the morning of the race, my plan was for sleep disruption anyway. :) We'll see, I guess! Who knows, I may find a different goal to focus on.
 
I am sure it would be fun, the challenge, just be prepared on the sleep. I think he did it right by starting late. He started at 8pm so when you hit the dark ugly part at midnIgit was the second run before you really know what you got yourself into. After that it is daylight so a bit easier.

have fun!
 
I crushed my first speed intervals on the track since March! @DopeyBadger , hopefully you won't say that I missed the point of the workout, because I was too fast on all of them.

The workout was 1WU + 8 x (400m@5k + 2min RI) + 1 CD. My 5k pace is 8:45. However, the T+D was 155, so a 5.5% correction gives me a pace of 9:14.

I decided to set up the workout with the GPS measuring 0.25 miles for the intervals - I was a bit leery that the GPS would measure this short of an interval accurately. However, 400m is one lap of the track or a little less if you're not in the inside lane, and that seemed to match up appropriately.

Here are the paces for the 8 splits:
  1. 7:43
  2. 7:59
  3. 8:37
  4. 8:30
  5. 8:23
  6. 8:43
  7. 8:37
  8. 8:36
On the first split, I saw a lap pace of 6:xx at first and my eyes nearly popped out of my head. I thought it was a quirk of having only measured a few seconds of the interval. But once I saw that my first two intervals never "settled down" toward the end of the interval, I tried harder not to go out so fast. Splits 3 - 8 still are not within +/- 5 sec of any value, so there's still too much scatter, but this is hard to control when the whole interval is only about 2 minutes.

At any rate, I hope I didn't screw things up too much, because I felt good about them. Maybe I need to go run up that hill some more? :rotfl2:

This meshes a little bit with some self-running analysis I've been doing. I've been thinking about how I feel like my form is totally different for EA, EB, LR than it is for R-pace or these 5k-pace intervals. I think I have much better form on the fast paces, that is, I propel myself more forward and have more leg extension behind at the fast paces. For the easy paces, I feel like I'm not as efficient about having the forward propulsion, even though I'm going slower. I realize it's common for runners to have better form at faster paces.

Over the last few weeks when I've only been doing easy and short runs, I've been trying to pay more attention to form, in particular better posture with my upper body. Whenever I focus on pushing off and getting more leg extension behind me, I speed up. I can't seem to do that at my easy speeds.

Anyway, those have been some of my rambling thoughts. Working from home and lots of easy runs have given me too much time to think, I think.
 
I mean yea, it's possible to do this workout too fast, but it happened so I wouldn't worry about it. Just be prepared to try and hold that same pace in the future workouts.

This meshes a little bit with some self-running analysis I've been doing. I've been thinking about how I feel like my form is totally different for EA, EB, LR than it is for R-pace or these 5k-pace intervals. I think I have much better form on the fast paces, that is, I propel myself more forward and have more leg extension behind at the fast paces. For the easy paces, I feel like I'm not as efficient about having the forward propulsion, even though I'm going slower. I realize it's common for runners to have better form at faster paces.

Over the last few weeks when I've only been doing easy and short runs, I've been trying to pay more attention to form, in particular better posture with my upper body. Whenever I focus on pushing off and getting more leg extension behind me, I speed up. I can't seem to do that at my easy speeds.

Anyway, those have been some of my rambling thoughts. Working from home and lots of easy runs have given me too much time to think, I think.

The point of the R workouts (and the hill workouts) is to teach good form and make the neurological connections. So it sounds like it worked.

You won't necessarily have the same form on easy runs. There's a reason it's referred to the Kenyan shuffle.
 
Week of Aug. 10 - 16, 2020

This was the fourth week of my 17-week DopeyBadger training plan for the Richmond Marathon on Nov. 14, which has now been made virtual, etc., so I will not be registering for it or running it.

I'm still adding in 1 - 2 short walk breaks on weekdays, as described previously.

Monday
  • Morning: prehab routine (like previous) and foam rolling and stretching
  • After work: 55-min walk around the neighborhood
Tuesday
  • Morning: new legs and back workout (again) but re-arranged a bit
    • Glute bridge (2 x 10)
    • Superset 1
      • Squat (2 x 9): 60 lbs
      • Pull-up (2 x 10): 2 unassisted, 8 with chair
    • Superset 2
      • Romanian deadlift (2 x 9): 60 lbs
      • Chin-up (2 x 10): 2 unassisted, 8 with chair
    • Superset 3
      • Reverse lunges (2 x 10 each leg): 30 lbs
      • Close-grip pull-up (2 x 10): 2 unassisted, 8 with chair
    • Superset 4
      • Bench step-up (2 x 10 each leg): 24 lbs
      • Hamstring curl with swiss ball (2 x 10)
  • After work:
    • 4EA
      • T+D 156 🥵 🥵 🥵 5.5% correction
      • Target pace: 11:56; with correction 12:35
      • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been: 12:36, 12:50, 12:25, 12:44
      • Ave HR: 140 BPM - the top end of my target range
      • Splits: 12:45, 12:49, 12:26, 12:47
      • comments: I hit my splits for all miles!
      • Route: Sligo Creek Trail
Wednesday
  • Morning:
    • New tennis agility workout:
      • Quick squats holding racquet (to simulate getting low volleys): 2 x 20
      • Shuttle runs across the room: 2 x 8
      • Side shuffle across the room: 2 x 8
      • Sprint/backpedal across the room: 2 x 8
      • Big figure-8 facing forward: 4 x 30 sec
      • Toe hops: 3 x 20
      • Single-leg hops: 3 x 20 each side
      • High skips: 2 x 20 per side
    • 1/2 of P90X Ab Ripper X
    • Foam rolling and stretching
  • After work: 4EA on treadmill because of thunderstorms outside; set treadmill to 5.0 mph
Thursday
  • Morning: P90X3 The Challenge and 1/2 Incinerator - 141 push-ups; foam rolling and stretching
  • After work:
    • 1WU + 8 x (400m@5k + 2min RI) + 1CD
      • T+D 155 🥵 🥵 🥵 5.5% correction
      • Target pace: 8:45; with correction 9:14
      • 5k splits: 7:43, 7:59, 8:37, 8:30, 8:23, 8:43, 8:37, 8:36
      • comments: I did the intervals way too fast. After the first two were really fast, I tried not to start out as fast for the rest of them, but I still couldn't seem to slow them down.
      • HS track
Friday
  • Morning: prehab routine (like previous) and foam rolling and stretching
  • After work: 80-min walk around the neighborhood
Saturday
  • After breakfast: 2-hr tennis doubles practice
  • Before dinner:
    • 65 min EB
      • T+D 139
      • I tried to keep my HR under 140 BPM instead of watching pace.
      • Ave HR: 139 BPM - within my target range
      • Total distance: 5.00 mi
      • Ave pace: 13:12
      • Elevation gain: 330 ft
      • Route: Wheaton Regional Park trails + Northwest Branch Trail; all natural surface
Sunday before dinner:
  • 8LR + 2M-tempo
    • T+D 139, 3% correction
    • Target LR pace 10:50; with correction 11:10
    • Target M-tempo pace 9:56; with correction 10:14
    • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been: 11:16, 11:15, 11:16, 11:18, 11:24, 11:11, 11:12, 10:15, 10:20
    • Splits: 11:14, 11:18, 11:14, 11:18, 11:27, 11:19, 11:16, 11:15, 10:18, 10:18
    • comments: I hit my splits for all miles!
    • comments: This was really hard toward the end. I was lucky that it was so much cooler than in recent weeks, but I was still really drained toward the end. I took a lot of breaks. I suspect I was paying for that too-fast 5k-interval run.
    • Route: Rock Creek Trail

Health

Headache persists. I'm not sure that I am seeing any benefit from the new medicine.

My scrapes from the stupid fall at Wintergreen are healing up. Some of the bruises were really deep, and I can still feel them, but it seems like there will be no long-term effect.
 
Week of Aug. 17 - 23, 2020

This was the fifth week of my 17-week DopeyBadger training plan for the Richmond Marathon on Nov. 14, which has now been made virtual, etc., so I will not be registering for it or running it. I'm thinking about what to do at the end of my training.

I shifted my Saturday and Sunday runs a bit to fit in more tennis on the weekend. I wouldn't move the runs around so much if I were "really" training for a race, but in my current situation, I feel like I can be more flexible.

I'm still adding in 1 - 2 short walk breaks on weekdays, as described previously.

Monday
  • Morning: prehab routine (like previous) and foam rolling and stretching
  • After work: 45-min walk on the treadmill
Tuesday
  • Morning: legs and back workout like last week
    • Glute bridge (2 x 11)
    • Superset 1
      • Squat (2 x 9): 60 lbs
      • Pull-up (2 x 10): 2 unassisted, 8 with chair
    • Superset 2
      • Romanian deadlift (2 x 9): 60 lbs
      • Chin-up (2 x 10): 2 unassisted, 8 with chair
    • Superset 3
      • Reverse lunges (2 x 11 each leg): 30 lbs
      • Close-grip pull-up (2 x 10): 2 unassisted, 8 with chair
    • Superset 4
      • Bench step-up (2 x 11 each leg): 24 lbs
      • Hamstring curl with swiss ball (2 x 11)
  • 4EA
    • T+D 138, 3% correction
    • Target pace: 11:56; with correction 12:17
    • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been: 12:18, 12:32, 12:07, 12:29
    • Ave HR: 135 BPM - within my target range
    • Splits: 12:16, 12:30, 12:12, 12:31
    • comments: I hit my splits for all miles!
    • Route: Sligo Creek Trail
Wednesday
  • Morning:
    • New tennis agility workout (again)
      • Quick squats holding racquet (to simulate getting low volleys): 2 x 20
      • Shuttle runs across the room: 2 x 8
      • Side shuffle across the room: 2 x 8
      • Sprint/backpedal across the room: 2 x 8
      • Big figure-8 facing forward: 4 x 30 sec
      • Toe hops: 3 x 20
      • Single-leg hops: 3 x 20 each side
    • 1/2 of P90X Ab Ripper X
    • Foam rolling and stretching
  • After work:
    • 4.5EB
      • T+D 136, 3% correction
      • Target pace: 11:08; with correction 11:28
      • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been: 11:29, 11:43, 11:18, 11:27, 11:51
      • Ave HR: 143 BPM - above my target range
      • Splits: 11:32, 11:47, 11:28, 11:32, 11:54
      • comments: I hit my splits for all miles!
      • Route: Sligo Creek Trail
Thursday
  • Morning: P90X3 The Challenge and 1/2 Incinerator
  • After work:
    • 1WU + 4M-tempo
      • T+D 137, 3% correction
      • Target M-tempo pace: 9:56; with correction 10:14
      • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been: 10:29, 10:26, 10:04, 10:23
      • Splits: 10:20, 10:24, 10:02, 10:22
      • comments: My first mile was a little too fast.
      • Route: Sligo Creek Trail
Friday:
  • Morning: foam rolling and stretching
  • After work:
    • 6EB
      • T+D 148, 4.5% correction
      • Target pace: 11:08; with correction 11:37
      • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been: 11:43, 11:42, 11:43, 11:37, 11:38, 11:43
      • Ave HR: 146 BPM - above my target range
      • Splits: 11:44, 11:45, 11:44, 11:41, 11:32, 11:40
      • comments: I hit my splits for all miles!
      • comments: my ears plugged up just at the end of the run.
      • Route: Rock Creek Trail
Saturday
  • Morning: 2-hr tennis practice, T+D approx 145 🥵; my ears plugged up just at the end.
  • Afternoon: 2-hr tennis match; T+D approx 150🥵🥵. My partner and I lost 4-6, 6-1, 1-0, and our team lost overall, too. My ears plugged up on the 30-min drive home.
Sunday
  • Morning: 45-min walk on treadmill
  • Afternoon: 2-hr tennis practice, T+D approx 155🥵🥵🥵; my ears plugged up just at the end.

Health

My headache is not good. The hot and humid weather tends to give me a headache in the best circumstances.
 
Week of Aug. 24 - 30, 2020

This was the sixth week of my 17-week DopeyBadger training plan for the Richmond Marathon on Nov. 14, which has now been made virtual, etc., so I will not be registering for it or running it. I'm thinking about what to do at the end of my training.

I'm still adding in 1 - 2 short walk breaks on weekdays, as described previously.

Monday
  • Morning: prehab routine and foam rolling and stretching
  • After work:
    • 6LR
      • T+D 149 🥵 , 4.5% correction
      • Target pace: 10:50; with correction 11:19
      • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been: 11:25, 11:24, 11:25, 11:19, 11:20, 11:25
      • Ave HR: 149 BPM - within my target range
      • Splits: 11:24, 11:26, 11:23, 11:18, 11:23, 11:27
      • comments: I hit my splits for all miles!
      • Route: Rock Creek Trail
Tuesday
  • Morning: legs and back workout like last week
    • Glute bridge (2 x 12)
    • Superset 1
      • Squat (2 x 10): 60 lbs
      • Pull-up (2 x 10): 2 unassisted, 8 with chair
    • Superset 2
      • Romanian deadlift (2 x 10): 60 lbs
      • Chin-up (2 x 10): 2 unassisted, 8 with chair
    • Superset 3
      • Reverse lunges (2 x 12 each leg): 30 lbs
      • Close-grip pull-up (2 x 10): 2 unassisted, 8 with chair
    • Superset 4
      • Bench step-up (2 x 12 each leg): 24 lbs
      • Hamstring curl with swiss ball (2 x 12)
  • After work:
    • 5EA
      • T+D 156 🥵🥵🥵, 5.5% correction
      • Target pace: 11:56; with correction 12:35
      • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been: 12:36, 12:50, 12:25, 12:44, 13:35
      • Ave HR: 138 BPM - within my target range
      • Splits: 12:38, 12:53, 12:23, 12:44, 13:33
      • comments: A thunderstorm was missing in, so I ran home as much as possible in the last mile - got 4.37 miles. I finished the last of run on the treadmill at 5.0 mph.
      • comments: I hit my splits for all miles!
      • Route: Sligo Creek Trail
Wednesday
  • Morning:
    • New tennis agility workout (again)
      • Quick squats holding racquet (to simulate getting low volleys): 2 x 20
      • Shuttle runs across the room: 2 x 8
      • Side shuffle across the room: 2 x 8
      • Sprint/backpedal across the room: 2 x 8
      • Big figure-8 facing forward: 4 x 30 sec
      • Toe hops: 3 x 20
      • Single-leg hops: 3 x 20 each side
    • 1/2 of P90X Ab Ripper X
    • Foam rolling and stretching
  • After work:
    • 1WU + 8 x (400m @5k-pace + 2min RI) + 1CD
      • T+D 143, 3.5% correction
      • Target pace: 8:45; with correction 9:04
      • 5k splits: 8:09, 8:15, 8:15, 7:55, 8:03, 8:06, 8:18, 8:16
      • comments: I did the intervals way too fast. Coach said this was OK as long as I wasn't fading with them and I did them too fast every workout. These paces were a bit more consistent than the prior workout 2 weeks ago. They were also about 10 seconds faster on average, but the T+D was a little lower, so this may be the reason.
      • HS track
Thursday
  • Morning: P90X3 The Challenge (160 push-ups)
  • After work:
    • 4EA
      • T+D 158 🥵🥵🥵, 6% correction
      • Target pace: 11:56; with correction 12:38
      • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been: 12:39, 12:53, 12:28, 12:50
      • Ave HR: 130 BPM - within my target range and surprisingly low!
      • Splits: 12:40, 12:47, 12:30, 12:43
      • comments: I hit my splits for all miles!
      • Route: Sligo Creek Trail
Friday
  • Morning: foam rolling and stretching
  • After work: 30-min walk around the neighborhood, supplemented by 20 min on the treadmill
Saturday
  • Before lunch: 20-min walk on treadmill
  • Before dinner:
    • 7EB
      • T+D 159 🥵🥵🥵, 6% correction
      • Target pace: 11:08; with correction, 11:47
      • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been 11:53, 11:52, 11:53, 11:52, 11:47, 11:48, 11:53
      • Ave HR: 138 BPM - within my target range
      • Splits: 11:53, 11:52, 11:55, 11:54, 11:49, 11:51, 11:58
      • comments: I hit my splits for all miles!
      • Route: Rock Creek Trail
Sunday before dinner:
  • 7LR + 4M-tempo
    • T+D 134, 2.5% correction
    • Target LR pace: 10:50; with correction 11:06
    • Target M-tempo pace: 9:56; with correction 10:11
    • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been 11:12, 11:11, 11:12, 11:14, 11:19, 11:07, 11:18, 10:11, 10:12, 10:17, 10:19
    • Splits: 11:15, 11:14, 11:15, 11:14, 11:23, 11:09, 11:20, 10:12, 10:12, 11:17, 12:54
    • comments: I really struggled with the M-tempo. After the second M-tempo mile, I was really wasted and decided to do the last 2 miles as LR. I got the first one, but then had to slow down to WU pace for the last mile. This was a struggle to finish. I am very unhappy with this because the T+D was so much lower than it has been lately - I thought I would succeed on the run. I didn't really have problems until I sped up for the M-tempo miles, and these killed me.
    • Route: Rock Creek Trail

Health

Not much change. Still bad headache.
 
You seem to excel at the R paces and these 400m 5k paces. With the pace you're doing them at (around 8:10) at a T+D 143, that's more like mile pace for 2 min with equal rest. Which would be an extremely challenging workout since R is usually 2-3x rest. Since you aren't planning on doing the marathon at the end, how about trying something a bit different. A workout that consists of a very long speed session. I'm thinking of something like:

10 min WU + 17 x (2.5 min @ Daniels T + 30 sec @ RI)

Daniels T pace being a 9:11 min/mile

OR

10 min WU + 33 x (1 min @ Daniels I + 30 sec @ RI)

Daniels I pace being a 8:19 min/mile

I'm curious to see how you tolerate this kind of workout.
 
You seem to excel at the R paces and these 400m 5k paces. With the pace you're doing them at (around 8:10) at a T+D 143, that's more like mile pace for 2 min with equal rest. Which would be an extremely challenging workout since R is usually 2-3x rest. Since you aren't planning on doing the marathon at the end, how about trying something a bit different. A workout that consists of a very long speed session. I'm thinking of something like:

10 min WU + 17 x (2.5 min @ Daniels T + 30 sec @ RI)

Daniels T pace being a 9:11 min/mile

OR

10 min WU + 33 x (1 min @ Daniels I + 30 sec @ RI)

Daniels I pace being a 8:19 min/mile

I'm curious to see how you tolerate this kind of workout.

Where would I place this workout? I assume it would be replacing another one.

Would you suggest one workout over the other? I can see setting up the first workout with time intervals.

For the second workout, I would be hesitant to use time intervals because in just 1 minute, I don't think my pace would be estimated well by my watch. It seems that 1 minute at 8:19 min/mi would come to 193 meters, so maybe call it 200 meters (which I can use the track markings for) and say the time should be maybe 70 seconds?
 

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