14 Weeks to Tacoma

Week 15 done!

Yes, boring training logging but sorry, that's what I'm all about these days...for me it's not boring...you can bet I'll be referring to it in race buildups to come down the years...

This week Toni said "You are one lean mean running machine!". Nice to hear 8)
However I'm still 174 lbs ..and want to be sub-170. Ever little bit less weight carried helps! (And I need ALL the margin I can get) 

I was 178 after my post Berlin layoff and I'm halfway there with 15 weeks to go. It should be doable to lose another 4 lbs but never easy to lose weight when you are down low already..especially while doing heavy training.

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Tuesday I planned to do my 800 meter hill sprints..4x this time. I felt tired from the weekend still and thought about bagging it and just doing a base run. Instead, as I ran,  I decided to wait and see how I felt when I got to the hill (which is 2 miles from my house). 

As I suspected I felt a lot better and managed to do the 4 without too much trouble:

2013-01-22 Tue
Split	Time	Miles	Pace	HR	Cad	Elev+	Elev-	YPB
1	588.9	1.00	9:48	148.0	86.0	4.2	2.3	1.214
2	597.8	1.00	9:57	125.0	85.0	24.5	0.0	1.435
3	161.3	0.28	9:40	118.0	83.0	5.2	1.1	1.558
4	148.8	0.28	8:46	145.0	88.0	55.9	0.0	1.554
5	154.0	0.25	10:22	123.0	83.0	0.0	43.0	1.296
6	128.1	0.24	8:45	142.0	87.0	44.4	1.4	1.572
7	161.8	0.25	10:41	123.0	82.0	1.2	46.2	1.258
8	129.4	0.25	8:39	142.0	87.0	44.2	0.0	1.590
9	172.3	0.26	10:52	123.0	82.0	1.5	48.4	1.238
10	138.6	0.26	8:53	142.0	87.0	49.9	1.4	1.559
11	626.7	1.00	10:26	118.0	83.0	3.6	72.9	1.395
12	636.8	1.00	10:36	116.0	83.0	2.4	20.6	1.422
13	345.5	0.55	10:27	115.0	83.0	1.1	2.2	1.463
Sum	01:06:30	6.6	10:01	126.9	84.3	238.0	239.4	1.436

Wednesday a nice slow recovery run. I always work on form but this run I really worked hard to make my slow pace as efficient as possible. Score! Very low bpms for these paces, and so very good yards-per-best (ypb) of 1.55 for the whole run.

2013-01-23 Wed
Split	Time	Miles	Pace	HR	Cad	Elev+	Elev-	YPB
1	619.2	1.00	10:19	117.0	85.0	4.2	1.1	1.461
2	618.0	1.00	10:17	112.0	85.0	14.9	11.8	1.534
3	621.7	1.00	10:21	112.0	84.0	10.4	4.5	1.524
4	603.7	1.00	10:03	110.0	84.0	0.0	17.7	1.580
5	496.8	0.82	10:05	112.0	84.0	7.6	2.2	1.564
Sum	00:49:19	4.8	10:13	112.6	84.4	37.1	37.3	1.550

Thursday was tempo day, I was feeling a teeny sore spot in my left foot so I decided to run to the Paly Track track and do the tempo portion there. It's been a long time since I've been to the track and I found they are rebuilding the grandstands there..fancy!

 OInce on the track I did 2 miles of gradually speeding up to faster than 8:20 pace and then holding there a mile and then easing back. The ypbs on the track are really good..they are always a little better because of the rebound, but yes I'm getting fitter. 

2013-01-24 Thu
Split	Time	Miles	Pace	HR	Cad	Elev+	Elev-	YPB
1	584.7	1.00	9:44	118.0	86.0	4.2	2.3	1.533
2	595.7	1.00	9:55	121.0	85.0	21.9	0.0	1.485
3	43.8	0.08	9:20	121.0	85.0	1.0	0.0	1.570
4	543.3	1.00	9:03	125.0	87.0	0.0	1.0	1.554
5	517.7	1.00	8:37	131.0	87.0	0.0	0.0	1.557
6	494.4	1.00	8:14	138.0	88.0	0.0	0.0	1.548
7	586.0	1.00	9:46	123.0	84.0	1.0	8.6	1.462
8	645.3	1.00	10:45	114.0	83.0	4.4	17.1	1.431
9	372.1	0.57	10:57	111.0	83.0	1.0	4.2	1.444
Sum	01:13:03	7.6	9:33	122.6	85.5	33.5	33.2	1.502

When I got up Friday morning I could still feel very minor sore spot on my left heel a bit, I'm doing some long walking to day to loosen up but I think I need to ease up. Last weekend I really pushed too hard too soon on Saturday's MP run and as a result Sunday was just too hard. 

This weekend I will do a very easy 4 miles at slow base on Saturday and then see how the long run goes on Sunday. I have not done a step-back week yet so easy does it for this weekend.

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So today is now Saturday and I did the 4 slow base miles:

2013-01-26 Sat
Split	Time	Miles	Pace	HR	Cad	Elev+	Elev-	YPB
1	619.3	1.00	10:19	121.0	85.0	1.0	7.2	1.407
2	601.0	1.00	10:01	112.0	85.0	0.0	8.4	1.564
3	607.1	1.00	10:07	112.0	84.0	9.8	0.0	1.563
4	601.6	1.00	10:01	114.0	84.0	8.7	4.3	1.546
5	39.1	0.07	9:49	110.0	83.0	0.0	0.0	1.627
Sum	00:41:08	4.1	10:06	114.7	84.5	19.5	19.9	1.559

A super efficient slow run!..1.559 ypb average...wow.  (My software throws out the first mile in the average ypb btw as my HR monitor is often wigged out for a while reading 160+ in dry winter months. Once I crack a sweat it starts working).

These HRs are low, just about as low as they have ever been (since age 52) for a 10:00-ish pace for me. 

Legs, etc felt good during the run, but just to be safe I soaked my feet in ice water afterwards...I've learned this really keeps problems at bay. And not just the lame frozen peas..against the skin ( a recipe for frostbite) ...I put my feet in full-on ice water..it's the only way...works like a charm.

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Saturday morning was bright crisp sun and 45F to start. Perfect running weather! My goal was 12 miles-ish and keep the pace down below 9:45. This was not hard to do as I was feeling slow. I concentrated on good Chi form while enjoying the sites over in the baylands. (Morning is a great time to watch the birds) and felt great until about mile 9..then it became harder as the muscles in my upper legs and glutes/hips let me know they were tired after this week. I stopped the clock at 12 miles even though I was a mile from home and walked the rest of the way to relax things...and that helped a lot.

Summary for the week:

Date	Miles	Pace	BPM	WHR%	Cad	Elev+	Elev-	YPB
2013-01-22 Tue	6.6	10:01	126.9	66.31	84.3	238.0	239.4	1.436
2013-01-23 Wed	4.8	10:13	112.6	54.62	84.4	37.1	37.3	1.550
2013-01-24 Thu	7.6	9:33	122.6	62.77	85.5	33.5	33.2	1.502
2013-01-26 Sat	4.1	10:06	114.7	56.32	84.5	19.5	19.9	1.559
2013-01-27 Sun	12.0	9:54	116.2	57.56	84.7	58.0	58.6	1.524
Summary	35.2	9:55	118.9	59.76	84.8	386.1	388.4	1.510

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Body niggles status: the trigger points on my left calf are now almost only a memory. Nothing much there to roller or massage. The heel soreness doesn't seem to be anything that is progressing.  Mostly I feel just plan sore all over ...in a good way.

For week 14 I will reduce mileage to 30 (run only 4 days), do some stationary biking one day and strength training...i.e. a step-back week. I'm doing well vs my previous buildups (more data on that in another post) and so best to not over-do. In the last 90 days I have run 227 miles and in the last 30 days, 140 miles (!) I have been pushing my luck ramping up so fast but so far so good 8)

Here's some smoothed graphs of my mileage buildup..scary but I'm surviving! From now own it should be much more gradual...I'll  be hitting 45-50 miles/week at the peak if all goes well.