Infinite details about my race in Peterborough

I won't repeat it all here but I've posted all of the race details on my website.

http://www.urbanrunner.ca/RacesPics/2008/Peterborough/Peterborough.htm

I find it's really good to work through this while its still fresh in my mind. It was a fantastic race but there's always something that you can look to work on. This race is no different.

In the mean time I'm enjoying a nice day off. It would have been nice to have the day off from work as well but not this time. The next few days are prety light while I recover from the race. I know I've raced hard enough because I need these days.

Peterborough 1/2 -- Initial results and comments

Final Time 1:32:53.6 (Personal best time)
66th overall
63rd man
604 people total
12th in my age group
Weather: Warm +1 Sunny, Windy especially in the open areas
Race weight: 185.4 lbs

Race Comments:
- ran the first 12-13k just behind the 1:30 bunny. These was really helpful as it kept me going. Good size group running with the bunny.
- the km and bit before the turn around (out and back) was on a dirt road. Traction wasn't too bad surprisingly on the stretch.
- hamstring was acting up again in the last third of the race.
- was very agressive today when people tried to pass. I didn't make it easy for them.
- the wind was more of a factor once we got out around the airport. Not horrible but in your face for a while.
- no water bottle on the course. Drank every other water stations just a bit.

Organization:
- really well organized. Water stations every 2.5 k. No problem just to show up on race morning, get your kit and race.
- new Y location is excellent for the race base.

Other notes:
- not as many people from Ottawa this year.
- Race morning preparations went well.
- oatmeal for breakfast again.
- more on sports psych preparation later but this went well as well.

Weight, Waiting and Clara Hughes

How can your weight drop by 3.4 lbs in one day? That was the case yesterday. On top of that I only ran for 30 minutes. What was strange yesterday was that the fluid was just flowing out of me. It was as if someone had turned on the tap and said okay we don’t need this now. This is not a complaint by the way as I need to get my weight down.

Last night was another of my short runs this week. Only 30 minutes in zone 1. All my runs are about ½ of normal this week. The extra the time for me was nice. The legs are responding well to the rest week.

The waiting reference is waiting for race day to get here. This part I always hate. I’m looking forward to the race but the lighter days before the race give you too much time to think about how you feel and any aches and pains that may arise.

The last topic of this post is interesting. I listened to a podcast last night while running of CBC’s Tapestry show. This is a show about spirituality and the human condition. From time to time they get some very interesting people on the show. This podcast had Clara Hughes, Olympic Gold medalist. She talked about many of the mental aspects of sport. Quotes like “Finding joy in the pain”. She really gave a sense that we do as athletes is easy compared to what many people do everyday just to survive. I think this will stay in my collection of good motivation talks.

Zone 3, Hockey and Massage

Monday was a rest day. Last night was a short zone 3 workout. As this is a race week (Peterborough ½ marathon) the goal was just to run four short sets of 2 minutes in zone 3 as part of the run. Pretty straight forward.

I did all four sets at the top of tested zone 3 (8.3-8.7 mph or 13.3 – 13.92 kph). My heart rate never got out of zone two. All four sets had me in the 160s for my HR but zone 3 is supposed to be in the 169-173 bpm range. This was even after having a late lunch before my run. Needless to say the run didn’t feel hard. This is a nice workout as it forces you to get the legs turning over.

Even though I’ve just completed a recent test of blood lactates, I suspect I’ll need to do another one not too far out. I trust how I’m feeling at this point more than the actual numbers that came out of last week’s test. I’ve done enough of the tests now to be able to translate what I’m feeling to reasonably accurate zones. This is the benefit of doing lots of testing over time.

My workout yesterday was a bit close to lunch. I was fortunate enough to get tickets to the hockey game last night (Sens and Phili). This meant moving my workout up a few hours. It was great game and my first in a couple of years. On top of that we were only 15 rows up. Oh ya and they won the game.

Today I have a massage with Paula booked. I haven’t had a regular massage since before Christmas. Looking forward to it. It sure she still find some knots to workout but it will feel good when it’s done.

Lacate Tests and General Comments

Friday was the third Lactate Threshold test I’ve done in a month. The first test, I knew something wasn't right. The second test felt good but the results were still off. Friday’s test is finally starting to show that things are coming around.

My overall results are not quite back where they were in fall which was very close to my best results from last February. As tested on Friday the top of my zone 1 is 7.5 mph or .4 mph less than less September. This isn’t a great concern as it only represents where I was at on that day.

Overall I’m actually feeling stronger than I did last year at this time. My sense is that the test results will be where we need them to be well before we get to Around the Bay (ATB) at the end of March. I’d actually like to see the test results exceed last year’s numbers before we get to ATB.

My weight is also finally starting to come down nicely. Down 3 pounds overall, 7 more to go. This week will be challenging with the lighter workouts before next weekend’s Peterborough ½ marathon.

Running updates to 17 Feb 2008

Wednesday
Planned 60 mins @ 6.6 mph/ 10.56 kph
Actual 60 mins @ 7.125 mph/ 11.4 kph
HR between 138 and 144 for most of the run. The pace felt very natural/comfortable.

Thursday
Rest Day

Friday
Lactate Threshold test @ 12:30

Regular workout @ 4:25 PM at the Dome
Planned: 15 min Z1(6.4)/ 75 min Z2(7.0)
Adjusted zone 2 based on test results
Actual:
7 lap WU easy
28 lap Main @ 1:51 min/400m or 4:38 min/k or 12.95 kph/8.1 mph. HR 162-168 bpm.
1 lap CD
Note: short on time hence only 75 minutes. I really focused on this pace to see where things were at.

Saturday
#1 Zone 5
Planned: 4x2’ Z5/4’LZ1 for a total of 58 minutes
Actual: total 9’ min Z5 @ 11.0 mph. For the 3rd and 4th set the legs felt heavy. Did only 90-100 sec for the 3rd and 4th set. Added one additional set to get the total minutes right.
If the legs had felt fresher I would have tried 11.5. Breathing felt good @ 11.0. For the day this is where I was at.

#2 Ran again in the afternoon
9.8k all in Z1 at the Dome. Legs felt good in the late afternoon. This was a nice run.

Sunday
Planned: 40 min Z2 / 20 min Z1
Actual: 40 min Z2, total run 56 minutes.
Note: Too early to run, needed to wait a couple of hours after breakfast. Not enough fuel back in the muscles after two busy days. The best time for my long runs on Sunday appears to be mid-day. Every time I try and run too early I have a so-so run. I think I need the extra time to get the fuel in place.

Mon - Tues runs

Note: cutting and pasting tables into blogger doesn't work well. Sorry for the extra spaces.

Monday

total 48 minutes @ 6.6 mph. Avg HR 149

HR was a little high today. I don't think I was 100 percent recovered yet from
the weekend. Felt okay just working a little bit harder.

Tuesday
7 lap WU
- Took just over three laps for the initial HR to come down out of the 180s into the
160s and finally the 140s. Who knows what’s going on there. Could be just the watch and the contact points.

Total of 22 laps working on
Zone 3 pacing.

I played around with this
last night since the target pace wasn’t putting me anywhere near what my zone 3
HR is testing at. New watch
batteries ensured everything is being correctly recorded.

Total time 52:11 – 13:50 = 38:21 min

Towards the end I was definitely working harder but still felt good.
Must be the water at the Dome.

Lap	Pace (400 m)	Pace (1 km)	Speed (kph)	Speed (mph)	Avg. HR (bpm)
1	1:45	4:22	13.7	8.57	152
2	1:45	4:22	13.7	8.57	156
3	1:47	4:27	13.46	8.4	156
4	1:48	4:30	13.3	8.3	157
5	1:48	4:30	13.3	8.3	157
6	1:47	4:27	13.46	8.4	158
7	1:48	4:30	13.3	8.3	159
8	1:46	4:25	13.58	8.49	160
9	1:46	4:25	13.58	8.49	158
10	1:43	4:17	14.0	8.73	160

Lap	Pace (400 m)	Pace (1 km)	Speed (kph)	Speed (mph)	Avg. HR (bpm)
11	1:44	4:20	13.84	8.65	163
12	1:42	4:15	14.12	8.82	164
13	1:44	4:20	13.84	8.65	164
14	1:48	4:30	13.3	8.3	164	Fluid break
15	1:41	4:12	14.26	8.9	164
16	1:43	4:17	14.0	8.73	165
17	1:40	4:10	14.4	9	167
18	1:41	4:12	14.26	8.9	168
19	1:44	4:20	13.84	8.65	167
20	1:44	4:20	13.84	8.65	165
21	1:42	4:15	14.12	8.82	166
22	1:34	3:52	14.69	9.18	169

10.5 lap CD. HR back in the mid 140s.

Total Workout time 75 minutes as scheduled.

last week -- part 2

Here's a brief summary of the 2nd half of last weeks runs.

*****************************************************************************
Wednesday:
Took an extra rest day as my sleep had been insufficient for the three days previous to Wednesday due to work and school commitments. Otherwise feeling fine, just needed more rest.

Thursday Zone 2 run
Ran indoors at the Dome for this. This feels very easy. After a couple of laps to warmup ran the remainder at the zone 2 target pace. Feels more like a zone 1 run. Maybe it’s just the running inside, not sure but definitely not feeling pushed by this pace at all.

Friday: scheduled rest day

Saturday Zone 5:
Still trying to find the right speed here. Ran the 4 sets in 10.2, 10.5, 10.4, and 10.5 mph on the treadmill. Still not completely trashed with these speeds. This probably means there’s a wee bit more room to go faster. 10.7. or 10.8 is where I believe I need to be judging from how I'm feeling. Running these around 10.5 however, was a good test.

I’m definitely getting a better workout on the treadmill for this type of workout. Keeps me more consistent and honest.

Saturday Recovery run:
Ran for an additional 45 minutes in the afternoon at a very easy pace to flush out the legs.

Sunday:-
2:30 min / 5:54 avg pace or 6.4 mph. Sloppy conditions but kept the run steady. Not enough nutrition between Saturday’s run and the Sunday morning long run. Good fueling during the run however.

Other notes:-
- I want to be sure to get good rest this week.
- Weight down a couple of pounds which is good. Ranging between 185.6 and 188.2 pounds.

Running this week

Lactate Threshold Test – Saturday morning
This time around, I have full confidence in the test results. My heart rate was higher than I would have liked but felt strong during the test. My one regret is that I need to push through the last 3-minute set. I was a bit too focused on the heart rate creeping up as opposed to how I felt. [insert kick in the butt here]

Zone 5 on the treadmill – Saturday afternoon
I targeted a speed slower than I have on the indoor track to try and get approximately the same effort. First 3 sets were at 10.0 mph and the 4th was @ 10.2 mph. I still had energy left at the end hence I might not be quite at the right speed yet. This was a good workout.
Recovery was good over night as well which is obviously important. Certainly felt on Sunday morning that I had a done a good workout on Saturday but was ready to go nonetheless. No good excuses.

Long Run -- Sunday
I very deliberately slowed the pace way down. The sloppy conditions along the canal made that a reality anyways. Average pace for the run 5:41 compared to 5 to 5:15 I have been running for the long runs. No problem running for that amount of time and felt quite strong at the end. Slowing done this much kept my HR well below 140 for a good part of the run. Signal not functioning for the 2nd half so no data for the HR for the last half.

Monday’s Run -- Recovery Run -- Dome
Felt well recovered Monday night. Kept the pace easy again. Total run was about 45 minutes. HR between 138 and 142.
Tuesday’s Run
This was a zone 3 run done inside again at the Dome. Total run was 75 minutes. Of that I did 22 laps (22x 400m or 8.8k) @ 1:50 per lap pace or 4:37/k. I was little tired before the run but the run itself felt good. It took a few laps I found to get into a good groove.

Tonight is just a zone 1 run. I’ll keep it slow again as I try and get my aerobic threshold back where it should be.