Tuesday Peak day, Monday night rainy run

After work today, I went over to the Peak centre. Started a new program for my strength and conditioning workout. Most of it was similar to what I’ve been done before just more if it. Doing push ups on a medicine ball was interesting. That took a little getting used to.

For about 45-60 minutes, there were scads of teenagers working out for some hockey program. After they left, it was very peaceful. I get spoiled on the nights that it’s quiet over there.

After the kids left, I did some yoga for a bit as well tonight. This was a good addition to the workout. Need to do that more often. Also made sure I used the rolling pin tonight on my quads and my upper back. I “smile” a lot when I use the rolling pin. Okay maybe the smile is a bit of a stretch. It’s good for me, so I try and do it as often as I can.

I was considering doing a pre-work yoga class tomorrow. Unfortunately, I need to be at work too early to be able to take in the session. I want to try these pre-work sessions and see if I can work them into my program. I have a feeling that I’ll feel better throughout the day if I do these.

Last night I experienced a deluge of rain during the last part of my run. What can you do? Once you’re wet you might as well finish the run. At least it wasn’t cold. There’s nothing worse than a cold November rain. Still the run was good. It was another “easy” below zone 1 run. As I was mentioning last week, I need to keep this run easy. It’s key to being able to do the harder runs on other days.

10k PB

Yesterday was the Steve Hall Memorial Perley Rideau 10k. I’ll post the exact stats tomorrow once I charge my laptop. The posted results are listed at http://www.sportstats.ca/res2006/perley10.htm.

I, my wife and my brother ran the race. They did the 5k while I did the 10k. This was my brother’s first official race and my wife’s second. All three of us set PRs. Jo-Anne and I both took about 2 and ½ min of our previous/best times while my brother’s time was a PR by virtue of being his first race. It was really nice to have them all there. Here’s the link for their race …. 5k Results

It’s great to see Jo-Anne’s times come down as she keeps up her regular runs. She’s slowly getting fitter and faster. I think will also better times for my brother Jim as well. Both seem be to very focused on getting their runs in every week.

Previously my own best recorded time in a 10k was 44:57.2. Yesterday I ran 42:34.6. This is a clear statement that my program through Peak is working well.

There was certain amount of guess work to figure out what pace to use. My average pace (4:16) fell into my zone 4 category. The pace felt really good for the first half. My second half was all about staying focused to keep the pace going. The last k is always tough. Needless to say, things really clicked.

Overall I came 5th in my age group. I would have needed to run 40 minutes for 4th and 39 minutes for 3rd. If things keep going like they are, I will eventually place on the podium for my age group. That would be very cool.

I think the thing that is the most exciting about these results is that if I plug the result into the McMillan Running Calculator, its shows that for the first time I should be able to hit my Boston qualifying time for my current age. Of course, the assumption is that I complete all of the appropriate training but things are looking really good. And this, after only 6 months of working with the Peak Centre. This was a good weekend indeed.

Today was a recovery run which was just what the doctor ordered. I didn’t mind the shorter easy run today. All-in-all today was about 70 minutes.

From this weekend I have 6 weeks left until the NY City Marathon. It’s getting close for sure. Over the next 6 weeks I’ll continue to focus on carb and fluid consumption for all my runs. That will be the key for me on race day.

After today, things are back to normal for the rest of the week. I’ll continue to watch my weight this week. I’m right at my goal weight.

Added Monday ...
Here are my results and the others in my category before and after my time.

5th Annual Steve Hall Memorial 10K

Perley Rideau , Veterans, Health Centre

Place	Time	Pace	Name	City	Prov	Place (Gender)	Place (Age Group)	Age Group
1	34:03.1	3:25	Chiasson, Rejean	Ottawa	ON	1/48	1/8	Men 20-29
8	37:40.4	3:47	Cote, Dalton	Kingston	ON	8/48	1/15	Men 40-49
9	38:01.5	3:49	Turner, Paul	Ottawa	ON	9/48	2/15	Men 40-49
13	38:58.4	3:54	Girdard, Yves	Gatineau	QC	12/48	3/15	Men 40-49
15	39:21.6	3:57	Stoke, David	Toronto	ON	14/48	4/15	Men 40-49
23	42:34.6	4:16	Lawless, Brian	Ottawa	ON	21/48	5/15	Men 40-49
26	44:25.0	4:27	Piche, Rey	Ottawa	ON	24/48	6/15	Men 40-49
85(last)

Wednesday's run plus intervals

Results from last nights run are below.

Wednesday’s run was nice. Ate well and was well rested coming into the run. This makes such a difference. Of course sitting all day at work isn’t too strenuous.

I tried to run the three 3:00 minute intervals at a pace that felt comfortable. This is supposed to line up with my 10k race pace. I think because it was intervals it was a little bit easier to run at these speeds. During the race you certainly don’t get a break every 3:00 minutes. They felt good so hopefully that will bode well for Saturday’s 10k race.

Right now they’re not sure about the weather for Saturday. It will rain at some point maybe in the morning. I don’t mind a bit of rain as long as it’s not a torrential downpour.

After the run last night, we went to a local diner afterwards to get caught up on the Ironman Wisconsin race that two of our friends completed earlier this month. So much goes on over the course of a 12 or 13 hour event. Both of them looked really happy nonetheless with their accomplishments. Way to go John and Venessa.

Today is a short run and Yoga after work. The short run almost makes it feel like a rest week.

Wednesday

Set	Planned Zone	Planned Time (min)	Time	Distance (km)	Avg Pace (min/km)	Avg Speed (km/h)	Avg HR	Max HR
Total		45-60 plus 3 repeats @ 10k race pace	50:17	9.90	05:04	11.8	n/a1
1	Warm-up with the boyz		13:56	2.79	04:59	12.0
2	more Z1		10:14	1.90	05:23	11.1
3	Repeat 1 @ 10k race pace	03:00	03:04	727.52	04:12	14.2
4	Repeat 1 @ 10k race pace	03:00	03:01	713.27	04:13	14.2
5	Repeat 1 @ 10k race pace	03:00	03:01	698.70	04:19	13.9
6	Cool-down		12:53	2.43	05:18	11.3

¹ HR monitor didn't kick-in; no time to stop and get it going.

Weekly Summary (10 - 16 September 2006)

Planned timed (min.)
Zone	Sun	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thurs	Fri	Satur		Totals
0	25	75 + clinic					40		140 + clinic
1	85		65	50	75		20		295
2							30		30
3				55-60					55-60
4
5
									520-5 + clinic
Totals	110	75 + clinic	65	105-110	75	0	90	520-525 + clinic	8 hours 40 minutes
Other
ST&C			1				1		2
Yoga Class					90
Yoga Cond. For Athletes DVD						60
Actual time (min.)
Zone	Sun	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thurs	Fri	Satur		Totals
0		75:08 + clinic	5:002				40:00		120:08
1	76:511		60:00	65:33	75:20		20:00		297:44
2	34:39			293			30:00		93.39
3				24					24
4
5
									535:31
Totals	111:30	75:08	65:00	118:33	75:20		90:00	535:31	8 hours 55 minutes
Other
ST&C			1				1		2
Yoga Class					90
Yoga Cond. For Athletes DVD						60

¹ Comments:
-- Warm-up and cool-down averaged in low zone 1
-- High zone 1 section averaged just into low zone 2

² Start slowly for the first 5 minutes.

³ Loops around the track were not quite as intense as noted in the blog entry.

Hydration: enough or too much?

Today was a humid day IMHO. Some people didn’t think it was humid. I did. I sweated like crazy and that speaks for itself.

Today was another zone 1 run starting in the top of zone 1 and working my way down through the middle and into low zone one in the last part of the run. I also did 10 extra minutes in total, five in high zone 1 and 5 in the mid zone 1. Total of 120 minutes.

I started with the guys at the Running Room again this morning. Bit of a faster start today but nothing out of zone 1. Usually the guys get to their target pace no later than 4 or 5 k into the run and then stick to that pace for the most part from what I’ve seen. The first part (warm-up) can be faster or slower depending on the day. The nice part is that this still falls in my zone 1 generally. Today I stayed with them for the first 20 minutes roughly.

Now, on to the topic of the post for today. My run started fine, felt comfortable, focused on keeping in the right zone again. Also really worked on “feeling” the pace today. Sounds good so far. As the run went on hydration was definitely becoming a factor. I really noticed it today. I found I drank more throughout the run but parts of the run (70-80 minutes in) were a bit rough. Thinking about it after, I probably had some discomfort simply because of the added volume of fluids and Perpetuum. It’s hard to tell if I began taking in too much or was just uncomfortable because of the added fluid volume.

Afterwards I was more stiff than usual. It’s seams okay now fortunately.

I was excited to see that I broke 100 k last week (106.5). It’s been one of my goals to see what I can do once I get to this kind of volume. I got all my runs in and as scheduled. This week should be a high mileage week as well.

Morning weight was good:- 190.6

Saturday = zone 2 day

Today’s run was another multi-zone run. Here is what was planned

Zone 0 20 min

High Zone 1 20 min

Low Zone 2 30 min

Zone 0 20 min

Total 90 min

Comments:-

- The warm-up and cool-down in zone 0 was closer to the top end of zone 0.

- The high zone 1 part was okay today. The actual averages were close to the top of zone 1 but they were still within zone 1.

- The low zone 2 stuff fluctuated a bit between the top of zone 1 and mid zone 2. Overall average was okay.

When I got down to the locks downtown I really pushed going up the hill. My turn around point was about a minute after the top of the locks. This really took a lot out of my legs for the next while. The hill comes at a good point in the run. By this point you’re not fresh (46 minutes in to the run) and the hill itself is long and steady.

Today I was out at Peak for my strength and conditioning workout in the morning. Normally I’ve been going early to mid-afternoon. Going in the morning worked out well on a couple of fronts; I felt more energetic and I got home early enough for Jo-Anne and I to do some stuff that we needed to do. I’m going to try this again in two weeks. Next week is a 10k race on Saturday (Perley Rideau).

I continued to try to do the run more by feel again today. I think that when I’m able to really focus on feeling the right pace I have better success. The fluctuations are occurring more around hills and sections that have more turns. Of course when my focus wanes, the pace also fluctuates.

Hydration/fueling were off between the two workouts today. I expected to be down a bit but I was down 5 pounds on the scale at the end of the run compared to first thing this morning. Tonight we ate well (fresh pasta) so tomorrow should be back to normal. I also slowly replenished the fluids since the run. I’ll check my weight again before bed. At this point, I’m feeling okay.

Wednesday/Thursday Runs

The last two days have been good days by and large. The run results look, to me at least, to be what they should be. For that I’m pleased.

I came across an interesting quote by someone on the Goth blog site that the Dawson College shooter belonged too. It went something to the effect that it’s easier to tell you that everything is okay even when its not. This same sentiment can easily be applied to what I and others post to our running blogs. Its easier to say that every run is perfect. The truth is that there is probably always something to learn from a run even if the majority of the run is good. Finding the balance between the two extremes is the tough part I guess.

Today I really tried to run more by feel than by what the watch told me. The results were pretty close to what I wanted. It was good as I’m not running on perfectly fresh legs today hence it mimic’d what could be happening in the big race. I plan to do a lot more of that over the next couple of weeks.

In conversions with Paula (message) and others this week, I’m coming to the conclusion that I’m favouring my right lower back/butt area. It’s not a major thing but over the course of a longer run I’m feeling some strain on the opposite side through the quads and around the knee. Basically this means that I’m weaker in this area. I’ll need to talk to Kristin about this to get some good strength training exercises for this area. It’s amazing how one part affects the other.

Yoga was really good. Translation: really good stretch and lots of sweat. The Yoga teacher David is really good at teaching the correct positions to be in for the each movement.

I’m seriously thinking of staying with this “drop-in” class as it’s earlier on Thursday’s. I’m not sure I’m too keen about doing the scheduled Runner’s Yoga from 8:00 – 9:30. It’s a bit late for me. I’m going to call them up tomorrow and see what’s possible.

Here are my results from the last two days:-

Wednesday

Set	Planned Zone	Planned Time (min)	Time	Distance (km)	Avg Pace (min/km)	Avg Speed (km/h)	Avg HR	Max HR
1	BOYZ1	55-60	1:04:47	13.27	04:52	12.3 2	156	193
2	Low Z1	50	51:02	9.42	05:25	11.1	147	162
3	10 Strides		10
4
5

¹ Run with the "Boyz" for zone 3 run. Includes warm-up phase.

² After the warm-up, the next 5 k section was right on target. The next phase included a number of laps waiting for the other guys to finish up their speed work. Then we all ran back to the store together. The run back to the store was also at a good pace. The extra laps could have been a little bit tougher. Didn't push myself quite as much during the laps.

Thursday

Set	Planned Zone	Planned Time (min)	Time	Distance (km)	Avg Pace (min/km)	Avg Speed (km/h)	Avg HR	Max HR
1	Low Z1	75	1:15:20	14.50	05:11	11.5
2	Yoga	90	90

Peaking Tuesday's

Another Peak day (strenghth & conditioning). I have to say that tonights workout was awesome. It was hard but I really felt "on" tonight. So why do we feel "on" some days and the opposite on other days? I'll take these days when I can get 'em.

I remember wondering what it would be like to run 100k in a week. (Probably most sane people don't wonder about that.) This week if all the runs pan out I'll hit a little over a 100k. I half expected to feel really beat up with this kinda of mileage but I actually feel great tonight. Obviously the program I'm getting from Peak is working. I'm just doing the work but they're putting the program together for me. I'm just kinda of amazed and excited at the same time. I really feel like I'm taking some concrete steps towards reaching my goal of qualifying for Boston.

Yesterdays run was properly below zone 1 where it was supposed to be. I need to be very focused on keeping these easy runs truly easy. Staying focused on these easy runs is really the challenge for me. Its very easy to slip into zone 1 which is not the goal of that run.

Tonight at Peak one of my colleagues from the office was also working out. He's always encouraging me and even listens to me crazy ambitions. Makes the time pass quickly. Thanks Dave.

I'm trying not to analyze tonight's run to much. It was good and that's all that matters.

Also talked to my brother today. He and my wife will be doing a 5k on the 23rd here in Ottawa. I'll be be doing the 10k on the same day. Should be a lot of fun especially watching my nieces cheer on their dad.

Morning weight:- 191.6 lbs

Weekend Runs

Saturday's run was really good albeit my warm-up and cool-down parts were slightly fast. The high zone 1 and low zone 2 sections were right where they were supposed to be.

A number of my warm-ups and cool-downs have been too fast lately. When I run with a group that may be one thing but on my own is another. I need to keep these warm-ups more gradual. When I run with the guys on the longer runs they tend to start in my low zone 1. For the most part that doesn’t feel bad. The guys don’t really tend to get going until after 3k or so.

Saturday’s strength and conditioning workout was good but I did find that I wasn’t as focused as I would have liked. I still finished everything that I was suppose to which was good.

Sunday’s run was interesting. If I had never looked at the watch I would have said it was a really great run, one of my better runs. Looking the average numbers for each segment of the run tells me that I was generally one speed zone high for each section. Please take my Garmin to the roof and through it off (just kidding).

I think after a couple of weeks of struggling to hit the right pace zones I’ll have to go back to setting up the watch to beep every k and display the time for the last k. Looking at the current pace is proving inconsistent at best. I’m sure the longer that I run in these zones that more easily it will be too hit these targets.

One really good thing from the weekend was that I certainly felt really comfortable in the new zones. Don’t get me wrong, these were still good workouts but I felt okay in the zones. I’m still burning a lot of carbs at the moment but time will help with that.

Weight was right around 191-2 all weekend. Hopefully most of this week will be 190-191. This morning was 192.4.

On a side note related to the weight loss. Bought new pants on the weekend. The waist was 2-3 inches less than when I bought the last pair of pants. My old belts just hang on the new pants. :-)

I also hit 95k last week which was really cool.

Weekly Summary (Week starting 03 2006)

Weekly Summary (Week starting 03 September 2006)

Zone	Planned Time (min)	Actual Time (min)
Z0 (below z1)	185-190	123:00
Z1	255	304:311 2 3
Z2	20	50:06
Z3	0	0
Z4	0	0
Z5	10	10:30 4
Total Time	470-475 (7 hrs 50 min)	488:07 (8 hrs 08 min 07 second)
	Planned	Actual
ST&C Workouts	2	2
Yoga Class	1	1
Yoga Conditioning For Athletes DVD	1	1

¹ For Sunday's run, did not have the schedule with me and total times for each section are slightly off. Also top of Zone 1 edged into zone 2 for the average.

² Warm-up part of Wednesday run averaged bottom of zone 1, not zone 0

³ Cool down-run on Saturday slightly fast. Edged into bottom of zone 1.

⁴ Recovery between sets not included in the numbers above.

What to drink

I was reading the NYC Marathon website today and noting what they're passing out on the course. Yet another Gatorade concoction, “Lemon-Lime Gatorade Endurance Formula”. This got me thinking of what I’m going to drink on marathon day. If my sweat rate from the last few days is any sign, it will be a lot. :-)

The choice comes down to carrying enough Heed (from Hammer) to mix my own bottles, some head plus some Gatorade or all Gatorade. I suspect it will be option two. The all Gatorade option doesn’t seam that attractive other than the pure convenience factor. I’ll probably goes as long as I can with the Heed but if race history is any indication I may finish the last few miles with the Gatortade. This is probably a good compromise as I won’t be too keen to stop for anything in the last few miles. So maybe up to mile 20 with the Head and then Gatorade to finish it out.

Is all of this crystal clear in my head. Of course not. I could probably give you a different answer tomorrow. Logically I know I should run with what works (Heed). However, there’s always that thought of not having to carry very much for the actual race itself. I’ll still be carrying stuff for carb replacement.

I have it in the back of mind to go with the small bottle at least. The big bottle may last longer but it’s a pain to carry that much weight all the time.

Okay that’s probably way too much said about drinking but it appears to be where my head is at tonight.

Today’s run was a bit hard. Several factors probably contributed. I didn’t eat quite enough last night and could have used a bit more rest. Probably key today though was that I was quite tight. The yoga tonight (see below) helped tremendously. Got through the planned 75 minutes but was happy to be done.

Today I also signed up for another Runner’s Yoga. The class starts two weeks from today. For the next two Thursdays I’m going to drop into a class at Santosha Yoga to use up the two free passes that I have.

This first yoga drop-in class ended up being quite an aerobic workout. A lot of continuous movement. Felt really good after the class which is I guess what counts.

Final note. Morning weight was 190.6. This is the first time that I’ve hit the goal weight number. I’m sure it will still take another week or so to be consistently at that number but it was really nice to see. :-) :-)

Tomorrow is a rest day plus one hour of Yoga with the DVD.

Speed Workout Night

Tonight I was off to the track for more zone 5 work. Its definitely hard stuff, so it’s nice to be done.

Tonight I did 5 x 2 minutes with up to 4 minutes in between. I would have liked if the times would have been a little closer together. For the 1st set I really went hard right from the start. The other sets were more evenly paced. I think for the next round I’ll try a little more like this 1st set as I think it gets my heart rate up better to where its supposed to be for this workout.

During the 4^th set I was getting a bit of stitch. This slowed the middle of this set down as I couldn’t push quite as hard.

Tonight I also did 5 sets instead of the 4 that I did 2 weeks ago. The 5^th set was a good effort.

All in all the times are comparable to the last track workout. One key difference tonight for me was that I didn’t feel that my legs were really fresh. 65 minutes last night on the treadmill in my new zone 1 probably took some of the edge of my legs. Judging by the amount of sweat (warning: don’t picture this) around the treadmill I’d say I worked hard last night.

One other thought crossed my mind as I ran tonight. My running was not particularly smooth. Some days you just seam to flow; tonight, I felt more like Rocky Balboa, not too pretty but getting the job done.

Weight was done to 191.0 this morning. Good number but I was a bit dehydrated this morning.

Tomorrow should be a nice run. Looking forward to it.

Here are my results:-

Set	Time	Distance (m)	Avg Pace (min/km)	Avg Speed (km/h)	Avg HR1	Max HR1
1	2:04	615.71	3:22	17.8
2	2:07	582.42	3:38	16.5
3	2:13	620.10	3:34	16.8
4	2:04	557.57	3:43	16.12
5	2:02	556.00	3:39	16.4

¹ HR monitor didn't kick-in; no time to stop and get it going.

² Had a stitch in the side for a about 1/3 of this set.

Restful Day

Today was one of the most restful days I've had for a long, long time. I think I napped 2 or 3 times. I watched a couple of movies that I had rented but didn't quite see all of them. I really wanted to make sure I had good rest this weekend anyway.

Tonight did 75 easy. Very uneventful run but nice nonetheless.

Yesterday was my longer multi-pace zones run. It turns out that I was slightly off on part of my time in my mid- and high zone 1. Total time was still fine. I had forgotten too look up the run again before I left the house in the morning to start my run from the Running Room. I thought I had remembered what the splits were supposed to be but apparently I was slightly off. Not by much hence I still achieved the majority of the goals for the run.

For the last couple of Sunday runs I’ve run the same route as the guys but still did my specific paces. This at least gives me some company for part of the run.

Weight was up slightly over the last couple of days @ 195.4. Both Saturday and Sunday I ate more in the evening than I usually do. I think this is where the difference came in the weight. I think I’ll be down again over the next couple of days. It’s amazing how much you have to work at getting your weight down. Still want to get down in the range of 190 by the middle of the month.

Weekly Summary (Week starting 27 August 2006)

Zone	Planned Time (min)	Actual Time (min)
Z0	145	153
Z1	155	109**
Z2	60*	60
Z3	0	0
Z4	0	0
Z5	0	0
Total Time	360 (6 hrs 0 min)	322 (5 hrs 22 min.)
	Planned	Actual
ST&C Workouts	2	1***
Yoga Class	1	1
Yoga Conditioning For Athletes DVD	1	0

* Run with the Boyz (Z2 to Z3 depending on the week)

** No run on the Saturday. See blog.

*** Wasn't able to get to Peak on Saturday morning before closing.

To sleep or not too sleep

That was my dilemma this morning. Sleep won and that was a good decision.

In a perfect world I would have gotten up super early (that was the plan), did my run and gone to peak for my strength and conditioning. The motivating factor was that Peak was closing early. I needed the sleep and I think that was more important today.

My rest week has been really nice. I definitely had a lot more energy. For my one and only fast run this week on Wednesday I was really moving. I just had this feeling that I could just go and go and go. If only all the days were like that.

Why is that training weeks never coincide with quiet weeks at the office. Work was tiring this week and by Friday I was definitely ready for the long weekend. I felt like I was getting enough sleep each night but I was ready to hit the pillow fairly early each night. My week can be summarized by work, work out and sleep.

A few of my friends that I run with did a half Iron Distance triathlon today. They all did really well. A few technical glitches occurred but nothing that was caused by lack of training. It's nice to see all the hard work and dedication pay off.

I can’t say that I’ll be doing a triathlon any time soon. I’ve always be drawn to the simplicity of running. And since I have a few more small goals (insert qualify for Boston here) too accomplish with my running, I think I’ll stick too it for now.

On a technical note, I started running with a new pair of Mizuno Wave Niravna 2 shoes this week. I had them checked on the treadmill before I started to run with them. My old pair of New Balance 878 (version #?) wore out faster than ideal. When we looked at them on the treadmill I was leaning to the inside as I struck the ground and rolled with each step. With the video camera stills you could really see the pronation.

Confession time. I was dressed and ready to go out the door to night for my one hour zone 1 run when the rain really started to come down. Guess what didn’t happen. Today was what it was. I’m not going to dwell on it or worry about it.

Tomorrow starts a regular week again. Wednesday has another 4-5 x 2 min on the track. I’m psych’d to see what I can do. Yes maybe that’s a form of insanity but that’s me.