March 2015 Totals

Run   264.2 km
YTD 774.9 km

Total Runs = 28
Rest Days  =   3  

Breakdown...

Treadmill = 20 Runs 132 km
Track      =   2 Runs   68 km
Road       =   2 Runs 22.8 km
Trail       =   4 Runs 41.4 km  

Overall a good month missing one long run.   All the runs on the treadmill were at a 5:10 pace.  In another week I will pick it up to a 5:05 pace with the ultimate goal to make a 5:00 pace my go to treadmill speed.   The trail runs were challenging due to snow but I am glad I made it out.   If I could run 10K every day on a trail there isn't a whole lot more I would have to do to get ready for what ever it is I wanted to do.  

Lucky 7 at 03:30 am

Mid one of seven so I hit the treadmill on my meal break logging a 7K run at a mostly 5:10 pace.   It was tough to get into the gym. Almost skipped it but I made it in and am glad I did because it went very well.    Max HR was a little higher at 136 bpm  the graph has some bad data early on.

Classic McCormick Loop Monday

10.3 Ks ,  half Snowmobile/Tractor Trail and half road today.  I was able to move along well on the snowmobile trail punching through a few centimeters of slushy snow but when I hit the not traveled tractor trails I really slowed down .  When it gets tough you can see where the cadence drops ,  the pace slows ,  the vertical osc drops,  ground contact increases  and my HR climbs!    Spike the HR running a hill that doesn't really stand out on the elevation profile ... topo maps of the area are good but small features are missed.

Sunday Trail

Headed out on top of the frozen work again on Sunday afternoon logging 11.1 Ks.   I avoided the areas that were tough because it was above freezing , sunny but very big winds.   Followed the Snowmobile trail for a bit then dove into the neighbors property.    The neighbor has this side by side ATV with tracks and he has been all over the trails so I had an awesome surface to run on,  groomed I would say!     At the end of the run I add a spur down the Mc Cormick Rd adding a rather large hill to finish off the day.   I more or less help pace to the top and its quite apparent looking at the HR ( RED Line ) below how hard I was working!

Trail Saturday

Still lots of snow on the trails around here at least 95% covered.  Again the freeze / thaw and now cold weather made it possible to sort of stay up on top.   Todays run reminded me of the effort it takes to run on the beach.  I was hesitant to continue after the first 4 grueling Ks but I found some better surfaces to run on so I carried on.  I got to run around and through a swamp so that was cool.  Found a couple of new trails too.    I was out for 1hr41min logging a whopping 10K.   The effort made the short distance worthwhile.  

Fartlek Friday ...going longer.

Stretched the meal break this eve logging 10K at a mostly 5:10 pace.   Starting at 4K and evrey K there after until I started the cool down I cranked it up to a 4:57 pace for the first 200 meters.  

HR shows the fartleks circled...

Lunch Run

Lower HR tonight ... around 133 bpm near the end and a record low 93bpm at the end of my cool down.  More sleep and much more relaxed tonight helped lower the HR.    So another 7ker at a moslty 5:10 pace is in the record books!

Luck 7

One more 7K@5:10 pace this eve on my lunch break.    Running on 4 hours sleep ,  to be at 2am and up at 6am...yikes!

7 on 7 in new kicks!

7K done on my 7th eve in my brand new Hoka Stinson Lite.  

Picked up tow pair of Hokas at the Runner Den in Owen Sound today.   Really look  forward to getting the trail version dirty!  

and of course I cannot forget the running dynamics ....

6 of 10 @ 5:10 on ZERO

Thats Eve #6 Run #6 of 10 planned  7kers at 5:10 pace but on almost ZERO sleep!   Best I felt all day ...  gotta love the run!   HR was around 137 near the end proving that running tired increased the HR

First Trail Run of 2015

10K on some tough trails Sunday .    The recent freeze/thaw/rain/freeze/freeze has made for some rather interesting conditions.  There is still almost a meter of snow here and there but the way the weather has been it is now supporting my weight ... most of the time.     So I headed out with a goal in mind of at least 10K and that is what I did in a whopping 1hr43min ...yikes!   It was a good substitute for an LSD this weekend because I was challenged in a different way.   I have been envious as of late of posts from running friends able to run trails.    The time in the bush just melted away.  I sure missed the trails this winter.  It was fun seeing all the tracks telling a tale of who and what was where all winter.     Did post hole until I was in the back of my property then I was sinking up to my Knee ... was real slow and cautious through these areas!

...and the data!

5 Higher

Lack of sleep ,  stressful day and a wee bit warmer in the Gym  made for a higher HR on this eves Run.   Was around 136 BPM in the final K at pace compared to 131 BPM last night.

How low can it go?

Another 7ker on my meal break this eve.  Barely broke 131 bpm today .... lower each day this week.   At reset after sitting tying my shoes up the HR dropped to 48 bpm just prior to hopping on the treadmill.

Lucky 7

Another 7ker on my meal break tonight.   Max HR was even lower at 134 BPM,  Tues it was 137 BPM and a whopping 147 BPM on Monday!

Second Seven of Ten

Another 7K on my meal break this eve.  HR never made it into Zone 3 ... maxed out at 137 vs 147 last  night ... weird!

Ignore bad data at beginning!  

7's

First of 10x7K treadmill runs,   Not sure what was up tonight but the HR was a little bit higher into the 140s after 20min.   It was a whole lot warmer in the Gym and I had somewhat of a stressful day so it was probably a combo of the two things.   I hope to push into Zone 3 in all the 7Kers!

Y Saturday

I was back to the Y for another LSD yesterday.    Did a more even effort then last week with a 5:46 avg pace vs 5:50 avg pace a week ago through 30K.    This time I did a 5K cool down VS 3K last week.  

Looking at the graphical data when the HR increased and I started to fatigue my cadence dropped....

 For the first hour I was running somewheres around a 5:40 pace and the HR  remained in Zone 2 131 to 141 bpm ...

Zone 2: 70-80% of threshold heart rate: A light intensity effort level where you can still hold a conversation. Use it: for easy/recovery runs, warm up and cool down.

In the 2nd and 3rd hour I more or less pushed into Zone 3 which is where I need to be for maximum "training affect" 142-158 bpm ....

Zone 3: 80-90% of threshold heart rate: A moderate intensity effort level where you begin to hear your breathing, but you can still talk in sentences. Use it: long runs, training runs.

I don't ever get to "Zone 3" in my short runs ( 10K or less) which really demonstartes the need for the weekly LSD Run.   

First 30K by numbers ....

At 30K I reset the Garmin then went on to walk for a K ,  run  albeit slow for 2K then walked 2K.   HR tells the story...

Getting going again after running for awhile can be quite difficult.  Things hurt and running feels unnatural.   Yesterday when I walked the 31st K I was eating and drinking catching up on hydration and nutrition. When I started running again it felt great ...not awkward or hard but I was more around a 7:00 pace vs a 6:00 pace .  I refer to that as "changing gears".   I felt like I could have easily continued for another couple of hours but I had things I wanted to do and I stopped satisfied that I got the maximum training affect out of the long run .  Even Garmin agrees giving me a "Training affect " score of 4.4...yippee!

  

Last lunch this week

5K the usual way on meal break .

Lunch Run

5K@5:10 pace ....

Data, data , data

Yet another

5K@5:10 on my meal  break today

Lunch again!

5K the 5:10 way again at lunch.   Data was solid and it looks good.  

Back to work!

5K@5:10 pace toady on my meal break.

Hot Sunday

 Headed out Sunday afternoon at 1:30 it was Sunny with a stiff Westerly breeze and temps near freezing.   Dropped a thermal layer going to compression shirt ,  light tech T and shell.    Heading out I was 100% A OK comfy but when I turned around the wind was at my back and I was hot hot ho the heavy sweat salt in the eyes kind of hot.  Thought about taking a layer off but things became cooler when I climbed and was more exposed.    Went a little further then my planned 10K stopping the Garmin at 12.8K.  

Outside

Temps near freezing made for a more pleasant outing today.   Logged a little 10K out and back on the 2nd today.

Y today

Back on the track logging 33K today. The graph below tells the story of 30K ...

First hour YAK YAK YAK with Grant ,  6:00 pace.  Second hour moslty 5:30 pace all the way up to 2.5 hours then the HR started to spike so I ran the last 30 minutes holding the HR to 152 BPM...higher seemed to fatigue me.   Zone 3 is 142-158 BPM or 80-94% of my Max HR...this was my ultimate target today!  

Did a 3 K cool down after stopping the clock 2:54:52 good for a 5:50 avg pace.

Ditto but with data, data, data ....

5K the 5:10 way.  First data collected at the 5:10 pace.

Day2

Another 5K@5:10 pace yesterday at lunch.

Faster Again

Reset my treadmill pace from 5:15 to 5:10.  I am ever so slowly inching faster.   Logged a short 5K run at the faster pace today.  

Lunch Run

2nd of 2 12 hours days today.  Jumped on the treadmill and logged a 12K run at lunch.  In spite of not having much sleep last night the run felt very solid.