I gotta say, I just love intervals. They mix the fun of going fast with the easiness of going slow. This morning I switched it up a bit (in part because it's easy to do so on my new flat route) and instead of doing my long run pace (5:30 - 5:40/km) with 4:20/kms in between, I did a comfortable pace (5:00 - 5:15/km) with 4:30/kms in between. I like the fact that I am not completely letting go and flopping around in the spaces between the fast kilometers. Ultimately, I want to be able to sit comfortably at 4:30 all the time and I am wondering if just progressively tightening up the recovery pace might not be one way to get there.
This morning was 10 K and I will do another 11 tonight. I have been doing doubles for the past couple of weeks, but up to new I've just been doing 5 K in the morning, so this will be my first time with longer runs in both the am and pm. I'm curious to see how I feel. I definitely felt better (faster, more relaxed) coming at the evening run with 5K under the belt than I did just running the one evening run, but I may find that I lack freshness tonight.
--------
Follow up
I did lack freshness. I just did not have the pep to keep up with the fast kids. So it seems that, for now anyway, 10K intervals in the morning does not pair well with a negative-splits fast run in the evening.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Track in the rain
I bailed. What can I say, after a warm up and three 800s in the dumping, torrential rain, I pulled the plug, as did everyone else. Then, of course, it stopped. Should have kept going.
The Fat Trap
I thought this article in today's NY Times was interesting. The author looks at why people have so much trouble keeping weight off. I don't agree with all of the conclusions put forward because I don't think they go far enough toward explaining why people used to be skinny and are now fat, but I do agree with many of the observations.
I am glad to finally see in print that weight loss/gain is not governed by a simple mathematical formula. I have been making a determined effort to loose weight this year. I lost enough that I look slim, but since then I have been trying to push it down further, toward the bottom end of the healthy BMI, because it reduces injuries and makes me faster. I am currently at 150 lbs (with no clothes or glycogen) and I would like to be between 135 and 140. By the book, I eat about 1500 calories a day and burn an average of about 850 calories in running, so my net intake is about 650 calories a day. That should mean I have a calorie deficit of about 1200 a day, or 8400 a week. That means I am loosing about 2.4 pounds a week, right? Actually, it's about a half a pound a week. Often less.
I can accept that my numbers are probably wrong. I probably underestimate my caloric intake, but I doubt I'm off by a thousand calories a day. And Garmin probably overestimates my caloric output (though it has very precise input data to work with). What is more, the numbers all worked out just fine when I was loosing the first twenty pounds. Back then the scale lined up with what the Daily Plate predicted. So something changed (beyond the fact that I need less calories now than I did when I was heavier because there is less of me to move and to feed) and made all the clever formulas inaccurate. My body is doing more with less, so much more that it makes me wonder why it took so much to do so little in the past.
I am glad to finally see in print that weight loss/gain is not governed by a simple mathematical formula. I have been making a determined effort to loose weight this year. I lost enough that I look slim, but since then I have been trying to push it down further, toward the bottom end of the healthy BMI, because it reduces injuries and makes me faster. I am currently at 150 lbs (with no clothes or glycogen) and I would like to be between 135 and 140. By the book, I eat about 1500 calories a day and burn an average of about 850 calories in running, so my net intake is about 650 calories a day. That should mean I have a calorie deficit of about 1200 a day, or 8400 a week. That means I am loosing about 2.4 pounds a week, right? Actually, it's about a half a pound a week. Often less.
I can accept that my numbers are probably wrong. I probably underestimate my caloric intake, but I doubt I'm off by a thousand calories a day. And Garmin probably overestimates my caloric output (though it has very precise input data to work with). What is more, the numbers all worked out just fine when I was loosing the first twenty pounds. Back then the scale lined up with what the Daily Plate predicted. So something changed (beyond the fact that I need less calories now than I did when I was heavier because there is less of me to move and to feed) and made all the clever formulas inaccurate. My body is doing more with less, so much more that it makes me wonder why it took so much to do so little in the past.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Recovery
That's better. I went out today and felt fine. My pace was back to normal, and I even felt good enough to pick it up in the second half to bring the whole 10 km under 50 minutes (funny to think that was an unreached race target until late in the summer). No aches or pains to write home about, though my thighs were a bit tender for the first few kilometers.
I was also trying out my new running jacket and hat that I got from my thoughtful wife for Christmas. The jacket is yellow with lots of reflective striping for running at night and for running on the roads in the grey gloom that passes for daylight during Vancouver's winters. I'd asked for the jacket with hill running in mind. We usually run up and around Burnaby Mountain, which is a great workout, but a good chunk of it is running on the shoulder, without a sidewalk, so being visible is a good idea. I haven't been out there since the fall, and I miss it a lot, but I will start again in the New Year.
I ran a new route today. It's funny that I never set off that way before, because I have always known it was there. It's the Central Valley Greenway, and it passes right by my house. But when I first started running, one of my son's friends dad told me about the BC Parkway, and so that is what I always ran. It turns out that the CVG is flat and wide. It looks like it would be ideal for intervals and speed tests.
I was also trying out my new running jacket and hat that I got from my thoughtful wife for Christmas. The jacket is yellow with lots of reflective striping for running at night and for running on the roads in the grey gloom that passes for daylight during Vancouver's winters. I'd asked for the jacket with hill running in mind. We usually run up and around Burnaby Mountain, which is a great workout, but a good chunk of it is running on the shoulder, without a sidewalk, so being visible is a good idea. I haven't been out there since the fall, and I miss it a lot, but I will start again in the New Year.
I ran a new route today. It's funny that I never set off that way before, because I have always known it was there. It's the Central Valley Greenway, and it passes right by my house. But when I first started running, one of my son's friends dad told me about the BC Parkway, and so that is what I always ran. It turns out that the CVG is flat and wide. It looks like it would be ideal for intervals and speed tests.
Monday, December 26, 2011
Why so hard?
This morning was one of those times when it feels like the world is actively conspiring to keep me from running.
I was all psyched for a long long-run of 34K, which would be my longest to date. I had checked the weather forecast obsessively, and all the places I checked said the same thing: light rain (up to 1 mm/hour). In Vancouver, that's considered good running weather. When I woke up, it was raining a bit harder than that, but I got my running clothes out of the dryer and suited up all the same. Then I realized I was out of Gatorade mix. A long long-run with plain old water sounded like a poor idea, so I headed off to the supermarket. Closed (for Boxing Day). So I went to a different one. Got it. Now I was a good half hour behind schedule.
Having got everything together, I was about to go out the door again, when I realized I had forgotten to put on my heart monitor: unzip the jacket, remove the fuel belt, untuck the shirt, put on the monitor, retuck the shirt ... well you know the drill, not exactly the suffering of martyrs, but still. And then I open the door. It's pouring. This is no one-millimeter-per-hour sprinkle. This is borderline biblical. So I stand there for a long time. On one hand, I've had this run planned for weeks, and I don't want to let my schedule be ruined by wimpiness. On the other hand, I run for fun. And 34 K in heavy December rain doesn't look like fun.
Eventually, I wandered back to the computer and check if the weather was supposed to be nice tomorrow. No. Nor the day after. Nor the day after that. In fact, this morning's promised light rain was the best weather forecast for the rest of the winter. At this point it seemed to me that the universe did not want me to run a marathon at all. I said "oh, bother" (or words with a similar gist) and I opened up some work on the computer.
A half an hour later, the rain was back to a pitter-patter and I decided to go ahead and carpe the diem. As I was going to be running under the Skytrain the whole way, I made a deal with myself that, if at any point it looked like I was going to drown, I could get on a train with my tail between my legs.
No sooner was I out the door when I realized that I had once again forgotten my heart monitor. Tough. As it turned out, heart rate was not going to be the issue on this run. As I approached the traffic light at the bottom of the first gentle hill that takes me to the park, I checked my pace. I like to keep it between 5:30 and 5:40/km on long runs. That's a minute below race pace and feels pretty well as comfortable as walking. It's usually something like a 65% heart rate. But I have a tendency to start too fast, especially going down hill, so I checked my Garmin. 7:10. Huh? I stopped at the traffic light and put on my glasses. I must have messed up the settings. Did I switch it to imperial units, or turn it to indoor mode? No.
Assuming this had to be one of those random satellite problems that will sometimes result in pace readings like 2:14, I kept going, but I picked it up a bit all the same. Next light. 6:45. For the next five kilometers (after which I gave up switched my Garmin from displaying pace to only displaying distance) it was not much better. Never less than 6. I still can't explain it, other than by noting that I took the previous days off completely. I can't remember when I last took two days off in a row. And when I do take days off, I am usually doing yoga. This time I lay on the couch a read a book. Can two days of rest and some Christmas food really have done this to me?
I did not obsess about my pace and enjoyed the music on my iPhone. I was running to New Westminster, and the scenery is not wonderful for much of it. Especially on a dark wet December day. There was also a coffee evacuation issue. In keeping with the day's theme of crushing me like a bug, after a few slow kilometers I realized that I had forgotten to get rid of the last cup that I drank before heading out, and when I got the only toilet between my place and New Westminster, a sign was tacked to the door reading "Closed due to vandalism." That was at kilometer six, leaving a mere eleven kilometers to cover with a turgid bladder.
On the up side, it stopped raining. For most of my run there was no rain at all, other than a bit of drizzle for the last half hour or so. And having to use a bathroom in New Westminster gave me an excuse to go into a quayside pub and have a cup of coffee before heading back to Vancouver. Once I got home, I looked at the data and saw that my normal pace returned after about 8 km (though there were still some slow one's in there). I finished with an overall moving pace of 5:50. I'm not out to set any speed records on long runs, but it is still a bit weird.
The last five or six kilometers were kind of long and I did start to feel a bit of an ache in my thighs, but it was all basically fine. I was sore in my thighs for two or three hours after I got back, but that was about it. After a quick bath, I got back to work. I'm glad to see that there was no need for couch time. Basically, although I did feel it a bit more than the 29K, it's the same animal. It's more or less like a long hike, and I still imagine that the coming 38 and 42 will feel similar.
I was all psyched for a long long-run of 34K, which would be my longest to date. I had checked the weather forecast obsessively, and all the places I checked said the same thing: light rain (up to 1 mm/hour). In Vancouver, that's considered good running weather. When I woke up, it was raining a bit harder than that, but I got my running clothes out of the dryer and suited up all the same. Then I realized I was out of Gatorade mix. A long long-run with plain old water sounded like a poor idea, so I headed off to the supermarket. Closed (for Boxing Day). So I went to a different one. Got it. Now I was a good half hour behind schedule.
Having got everything together, I was about to go out the door again, when I realized I had forgotten to put on my heart monitor: unzip the jacket, remove the fuel belt, untuck the shirt, put on the monitor, retuck the shirt ... well you know the drill, not exactly the suffering of martyrs, but still. And then I open the door. It's pouring. This is no one-millimeter-per-hour sprinkle. This is borderline biblical. So I stand there for a long time. On one hand, I've had this run planned for weeks, and I don't want to let my schedule be ruined by wimpiness. On the other hand, I run for fun. And 34 K in heavy December rain doesn't look like fun.
Eventually, I wandered back to the computer and check if the weather was supposed to be nice tomorrow. No. Nor the day after. Nor the day after that. In fact, this morning's promised light rain was the best weather forecast for the rest of the winter. At this point it seemed to me that the universe did not want me to run a marathon at all. I said "oh, bother" (or words with a similar gist) and I opened up some work on the computer.
A half an hour later, the rain was back to a pitter-patter and I decided to go ahead and carpe the diem. As I was going to be running under the Skytrain the whole way, I made a deal with myself that, if at any point it looked like I was going to drown, I could get on a train with my tail between my legs.
No sooner was I out the door when I realized that I had once again forgotten my heart monitor. Tough. As it turned out, heart rate was not going to be the issue on this run. As I approached the traffic light at the bottom of the first gentle hill that takes me to the park, I checked my pace. I like to keep it between 5:30 and 5:40/km on long runs. That's a minute below race pace and feels pretty well as comfortable as walking. It's usually something like a 65% heart rate. But I have a tendency to start too fast, especially going down hill, so I checked my Garmin. 7:10. Huh? I stopped at the traffic light and put on my glasses. I must have messed up the settings. Did I switch it to imperial units, or turn it to indoor mode? No.
Assuming this had to be one of those random satellite problems that will sometimes result in pace readings like 2:14, I kept going, but I picked it up a bit all the same. Next light. 6:45. For the next five kilometers (after which I gave up switched my Garmin from displaying pace to only displaying distance) it was not much better. Never less than 6. I still can't explain it, other than by noting that I took the previous days off completely. I can't remember when I last took two days off in a row. And when I do take days off, I am usually doing yoga. This time I lay on the couch a read a book. Can two days of rest and some Christmas food really have done this to me?
I did not obsess about my pace and enjoyed the music on my iPhone. I was running to New Westminster, and the scenery is not wonderful for much of it. Especially on a dark wet December day. There was also a coffee evacuation issue. In keeping with the day's theme of crushing me like a bug, after a few slow kilometers I realized that I had forgotten to get rid of the last cup that I drank before heading out, and when I got the only toilet between my place and New Westminster, a sign was tacked to the door reading "Closed due to vandalism." That was at kilometer six, leaving a mere eleven kilometers to cover with a turgid bladder.
On the up side, it stopped raining. For most of my run there was no rain at all, other than a bit of drizzle for the last half hour or so. And having to use a bathroom in New Westminster gave me an excuse to go into a quayside pub and have a cup of coffee before heading back to Vancouver. Once I got home, I looked at the data and saw that my normal pace returned after about 8 km (though there were still some slow one's in there). I finished with an overall moving pace of 5:50. I'm not out to set any speed records on long runs, but it is still a bit weird.
The last five or six kilometers were kind of long and I did start to feel a bit of an ache in my thighs, but it was all basically fine. I was sore in my thighs for two or three hours after I got back, but that was about it. After a quick bath, I got back to work. I'm glad to see that there was no need for couch time. Basically, although I did feel it a bit more than the 29K, it's the same animal. It's more or less like a long hike, and I still imagine that the coming 38 and 42 will feel similar.
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Year end totals
Everyone is counting up their millage for the end of the year. I have 1,977 logged (about 1350 in the last 5 months), but there were runs on which I forgot my Garmin (or forgot to turn on RunMeter on the iPhone in my pre-Garmin days) and the year is not over yet, so let just call it two thousand kilometers (or 2.12×10−10 light years).
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Time for a speed test
I had been planning to make an attempt at a new 10K time this weekend. My plan was to go out on Saturday morning and see if I couldn't take at least a minute, and possibly a minute and a half, or even 2 minutes off of my current time. That's kind of ambitious, but I do feel that I have been gaining speed recently, and it has been 2 months since I last made a serious try at a 10K training PR.
As it turns out, it is supposed to dump rain on Saturday morning. I don't feel like trying to set a PR in heavy December rain. The rain is supposed to at least slow down by the afternoon, but this is the afternoon of Christmas Eve, and I would rather be at home, or picking up last-minute stocking stuffers.
So I have decided that I will run tomorrow (Friday) instead. Friday is usually a day off, but as I will be taking Saturday and Sunday off (Sunday being Christmas) I might as well run Friday. I will see if I can run at a sub 4:20 pace for the last 5K of a 10K run. There is quite a bit of downhill in those 5K, so it should not be too difficult, but at the same time I might get a new 5K PR.
--------Update-----------
Got the new PR in 20:59.7, which is really squeaking under, but it counts as a 5K time that starts with a two and a zero, and it's faster than I was expecting to get. Of course, there was 66 meters of elevation loss and though the stops at traffic lights did slow me down, they also gave me time to catch my breath. But considering I had run 45 km in previous three days, most of which was fast, I'm guessing I could repeat it on a flat course with taper.
As it turns out, it is supposed to dump rain on Saturday morning. I don't feel like trying to set a PR in heavy December rain. The rain is supposed to at least slow down by the afternoon, but this is the afternoon of Christmas Eve, and I would rather be at home, or picking up last-minute stocking stuffers.
So I have decided that I will run tomorrow (Friday) instead. Friday is usually a day off, but as I will be taking Saturday and Sunday off (Sunday being Christmas) I might as well run Friday. I will see if I can run at a sub 4:20 pace for the last 5K of a 10K run. There is quite a bit of downhill in those 5K, so it should not be too difficult, but at the same time I might get a new 5K PR.
--------Update-----------
Got the new PR in 20:59.7, which is really squeaking under, but it counts as a 5K time that starts with a two and a zero, and it's faster than I was expecting to get. Of course, there was 66 meters of elevation loss and though the stops at traffic lights did slow me down, they also gave me time to catch my breath. But considering I had run 45 km in previous three days, most of which was fast, I'm guessing I could repeat it on a flat course with taper.
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