Epic.

That's the word the younguns would use to describe this mornings run.


I am traveling to DC and so Jill moved the Sunday run to today since I could not spare 3+ hours on Sunday when I am in DC. Last night I had two bowls of pasta with artichoke-olive sauce in preparation.

For the first time in a looong while, I got up early (6am) to get the run done and not be into work too late. It was cloudy so no stars out and also not as cold as it normally would be. There was no wind.


I had my stuff ready before I went to bed so I was out the door in a few minutes....still feeling sleepy. After a quarter mile I was at my favorite stretching place and glanced at my watch and saw the pace was in the 12:xx range! Yikes! I though I was running pretty fast but the Garmin said nope.


After stretching for a minute or two I continued and found it very hard to speed up. I was wearing my Kinvaras (with my new lift in left shoe) for the first time in a while..my left foot issue seemed to be pretty cleared up after wearing the Brooks Launches and I wanted to see if I could get back into the K's for base pace runs. (I'll still use the Brooks for hard runs).


The Brooks are cushy, but I don't want to get too used to cushy ..bad old  AT got started from doing that.  Also the Brooks are HEAVY: almost 2 oz heavier than the K's. They also absorb more water in the rain becoming even heavier (the Kinvaras have these really nice mesh uppers that don't hold water). 


I was a bit worried that the K's would make my feet hurt or something so I did a first minor loop of 7 miles that would give me a chance to swing by the house and change shoes if I needed to.


Eventually, I warmed up and was able to speed up to high base pace by mile 4. After the first 5-6 miles I could tell I was in some kind of zone... the HRs were way low for that pace. You may recall my 13 mile run where this happened...but that was at a low base pace.

Split	Dist	Pace	HR	% WHR	Cad	YPB
1	1.00	9:51	114	55.7	89	1.568
2	1.00	9:33	124	63.9	89	1.486
3	1.00	9:24	122	62.3	89	1.536
4	1.00	9:03	123	63.1	89	1.581
5	1.00	9:02	123	63.1	89	1.585
6	1.00	9:15	122	62.3	89	1.561
7	1.00	9:15	119	59.8	88	1.599
8	1.00	9:12	120	60.7	89	1.595
9	1.00	9:01	120	60.7	88	1.625
10	1.00	9:08	122	62.3	88	1.580
11	1.00	9:31	120	60.7	87	1.541
12	1.00	9:18	120	60.7	87	1.576
13	1.00	9:18	122	62.3	87	1.551
14	1.00	9:31	125	64.8	87	1.479
15	1.00	9:04	125	64.8	87	1.554
16	1.00	9:13	125	64.8	88	1.528
17	1.00	8:50	133	71.3	89	1.498
18	1.00	9:02	137	74.6	89	1.421
19	1.00	8:35	136	73.8	89	1.508
20	1.00	8:49	137	74.6	89	1.457
Sum	20.0	9:11	124.3	64.2	88.3	1.540

This continued for the entire run...I just could not believe how good I felt clicking off these 9:xx miles with crazy low HRs. From miles 9 to 14 I was on trails and this didn't even mess things up.

I was wondering if I should push the last few miles as I normally would do...but I was going pretty fast already and in the K's too..so far so good but might I  regret it later?

When I got to mile 16 I said F-it and dropped my little sub-9 minute 'hammer': when you are feeling so good it's time to push.  The last 4 miles felt great..at no time did I feel like I was going all-out. Mile 18 was a bit slower but there is the 50' pedestrian overpass climb done there. The left foot was fine during and now, after.

This run was a great confidence builder...it is my most efficient 18+ mile  run ever...I am starting to believe I can hit 3:55 at Eugene.

A DIRTY WORD

Sarcopenia

(from the Greek meaning "poverty of flesh") is the degenerative loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength associated with aging (0.5-1% loss per year after the age of 25). Sarcopenia is a component of the frailty syndrome.

This is not a happy thing. BUT, in the good news department, in case you haven't already heard.....there is hope!

Take a look at these MRIs images of upper thighs...the little white things in the center with very dark black around are the hollow femur bones and  the dark gray stuff is muscle. The skin is also white.

You'll notice (and the paper here has more comments about it) that the 70 yr old triathlete's thighs look the same as the 40 yr olds.

But avert your eyes from the sedentary thighs. Yow. All that white stuff is "adipose tissue", i.e muscles that wasted away to fat.

So SHUT UP AND RUN! (Or Bike, or Swim, or All of Them)

Skiing, not running 8)

We had a great day skiing at Heavenly in South Lake Tahoe. Good snow and no crowds

Legs not sore much from the 18 yesterday and conditions great!

Weekly Status, 5 weeks to Eugene

Monday: Rest


Tuesday: 5 miles @ base, 2x30 of three drills, 100ups

Split	Dist	Pace	HR	% WHR	Cad	YPB
1	1.00	9:26	120	60.7	89	1.554
2	1.00	9:25	123	63.1	89	1.519
3	1.00	9:27	126	65.6	88	1.478
4	1.00	9:23	122	62.3	89	1.536
5	1.00	8:51	130	68.9	89	1.531
6	0.08	11:26	130	68.9	85	1.231
Sum	5.08	9:20	124.3	64.9	89	1.517

Did the drills between miles 2 and 3 on the grass. They get the HR going into the 145 arena, but like last week they didn't leave me shot for the rest of the run..HRs came back down to normal vs paces.


Garmin TE 2.8


Wednesday: 8 miles, 1 mi w.u. 5x1 @ 1/2 MP, 1 mi c.d.


The problem you may notice with the above is that a mile is missing...probably just an error but ...hmmm...perhaps a good idea to purposely introduce such ambiguities? It gives type A overachiever runners some flexibility if you happen to feel bad that day.


Depending on how you feel, you could


a) run 7 miles,  5 @ 1/2 MP
b) run 8 miles,  5 @ 1/2 MP, add another cool-down or warm up mile
c) run 8 miles,  6 @ 1/2MP


I felt pretty good this morning.... I did c).

Split	Dist	Pace	HR	% WHR	Cad	YPB
1	1.00	9:16	118	59.0	89	1.610
2	1.00	8:30	136	73.8	91	1.523
3	1.00	8:26	136	73.8	91	1.535
4	1.00	8:25	138	75.4	90	1.515
5	1.00	8:29	138	75.4	90	1.502
6	1.00	8:26	136	73.8	91	1.535
7	1.00	8:26	137	74.6	91	1.523
8	1.00	10:37	118	59.0	86	1.405
9	0.08	10:32	114	55.7	86	1.534
Sum	8.08	8:50	131.9	68.9	89.8	1.510

The first fast mile split (2) was difficult. I could not hit 8:27...gradually I warmed up and it got easier and could hit the splits for each mile where I wanted them. (Using the lap average display to see them as they develop and tweak pace accordingly)

By the last split I actually felt like I was rolling along. Perhaps I could have done a 13.1 time trial at this pace...I'm not sure. It would be difficult for sure, but it was last time too. Anyway, with a few more tempo runs I think I'd be there.

My foot was very excellent during this run but I did feel a teeny bit sore on the bottom of my heel afterward, enough to make me ice it a bit just to be safe.

Garmin TE 4.0

Thursday: 7 miles, 3 miles @ base then faster each mile until 1/2 MP.

Normally today would be an XT day, but we have stuff this weekend which means moving the 18 mile run to Saturday morning, making Friday a rest day and moving Friday's tempo to Thursday. 

Of course we just ran a tempo yesterday, so this is pushing things a bit, but it's just one of those things you have to try to get done if you want to be ready on race day.


I used one of my new tricks: I ran later in the day after I was more limber and the muscles less stuff. This trick worked really well today...when I hit the road I still felt a bit beat up in the legs but not too bad at all. And the foot was not a factor, either during or after the run (no icing done)!

Split	Dist	Pace	HR	% WHR	Cad	YPB
1	1.00	9:21	120	60.7	89	1.570
2	1.00	9:04	125	64.8	90	1.552
3	1.00	9:34	126	65.6	88	1.460
4	1.00	9:18	128	67.2	88	1.477
5	1.00	8:57	129	68.0	89	1.524
6	1.00	8:43	131	69.7	89	1.542
7	1.00	8:19	138	75.4	90	1.535
8	0.01	15:55	140	77.0	77	0.762
Sum	7.01	9:02	128.0	67.2	89.0	1.520

It was windy today..so that messes up the paces a bit but as long as the HRs are where they need to be that's ok. Even so, the running economy continues to show as very good. 


After the run I felt good I went over to the gym and did 2x15x4 types upper body weights.


Garmin TE 3.7


Friday: Rest


Saturday: 18 miles, last 20 min hard


Awoke to a very light spitting rain..@ 48F. Just about perfect running conditions 8)..slathered some vaseline on my feet to prevent blisters.


Even though my legs were NOT fresh they had no problems and the foot was still most excellent. So, I decided to do the run in 3 segments, speeding up in each segment to make the average pace around 9:20 on the Garmin for the run (MP + 27s)

Split	Dist	Pace	HR	% WHR	Cad	YPB
1	1.00	9:53	115	56.6	89	1.548
2	1.00	9:45	121	61.5	88	1.493
3	1.00	9:38	119	59.8	88	1.534
4	1.00	9:54	121	61.5	87	1.469
5	1.00	9:48	119	59.8	87	1.509
6	1.00	9:34	120	60.7	88	1.533
7	1.00	9:23	120	60.7	88	1.563
8	1.00	9:25	125	64.8	87	1.494
9	1.00	9:14	124	63.9	87	1.537
10	1.00	9:23	120	60.7	87	1.564
11	1.00	9:19	122	62.3	87	1.547
12	1.00	9:16	126	65.6	87	1.508
13	1.00	8:54	133	71.3	88	1.488
14	1.00	8:55	133	71.3	88	1.485
15	1.00	9:04	133	71.3	89	1.461
16	1.00	9:13	135	73.0	89	1.415
17	1.00	9:01	138	75.4	89	1.415
18	0.94	8:57	137	74.6	89	1.434
Sum	17.94	9:22	125.4	65.1	87.9	1.499

This run was extremely efficient until I tried to notch up the pace at mile 13. At that point I was also hitting the trails and so I found it very tough going after a while... my legs were pretty tired. I was a little disappointed that I could not hold MP for the last 4 miles but then I stopped beating myself up about it....I knew this was a very good week. The final number was 1.499 for the run. Damn good for an 18 miler with soggy shoes and full double bottle water belt. Super ketosis smell after the run...lots of fat burning. Oh, yes: the DIY shoe lift held up just fine in the wet.

Garmin TE 3.4

Sunday: Rest (actually skiing ;)

Total of 38.1 miles of fast paces for the "canonical" week Mon-Sun. ...but because of the run juggling to avoid this Sunday it's actually it's 38.1 + 16 (last weeks Sunday run) for a total of 54 miles for my trailing 7 day mileage (which is what your body cares about.)  I think that's a record for me or at least close to one. 

5 weeks to go!

Dunked again!

Back in May of 2011 you may recall that I got 'dunked'. This is where you get your percentage of body fat measured by being weighed on dry land, and then again underwater (with all the air expelled from your lungs!). You do this 3 or 4 times to get a good reading.

(Being an avid snorkeler/surface diver, I have no problem with doing this, but it's not for wussy types that have a pathological need for frills like oxygen ;)


I found out I could get a deal on a testing for $35 and figured I'd sign up. I knew my weight was pretty similar to May, and I felt with my 'pinch test' that my fat was down just a bit...perhaps muscle up from strength training..so I figured I'd be a touch better on this metric.


And indeed, I was right:


Total weight:        172 to 171.4 (lbs)
Lean body mass: 140 to 141.26 (lbs) 
Fat body mass:      32 to   30.17 (lbs)


My body fat: 18.6%  to 17.6%



This isn't a very big change given that it's been 10 months  but at least it's in the proper direction! At this price, I plan to get tested once a quarter as an incentive to keep things moving in that good direction ;)

For my age group this is in the "good" category. I would need to be less than 14% bf to be in the "excellent" category...assuming I add no muscle this would require getting down to 164.2 lbs.


This would of course be awesome for my marathon times, or conversely allow me to run at my current paces with less impact forces.

Lifts and Pillows

My foot has been doing really well. I'm doing no icing after runs and I don't really feel it too much. The lift (placed under the running shoe innersole) seems to have really helped even out my stride....it's really obvious doing all-out hill sprints.  I did finally coat the cardboard with duct tape to make it waterproof, which has already come in handy.  Did you know you can get duct tape in colors now? I picked blue 8)


Today I was to do 5 miles at base, with drills in the middle...I had a good nights sleep and felt pretty darn good as I set out.  I have become quite fond of the drills and did them justice at mile 2.


After I started running again, heard a runner just behind me. I tried to ignore the sound of the footfalls and just do my own thing. After about a mile and a half, she passed me. My competitive urges wanted to blow by her but I have become used to ignoring all this stuff and just doing the pace I'm supposed to do (i.e. base)


I could see that the pace vs HR was pretty darn good indeed...and that made me also feel better..but I just trucked along at my HR of 125. At mile 4.75,  I heard a heavy-breathing guy closing on me from behind and I just could not take it anymore..after a few seconds I floored it and took off at a 7:30 pace for .25 mile..it felt really really great. Probably not the best idea..but sometimes you just have to do what you have to do....people have been gunning for you!


Later in the day, I had a massage for my legs. My glutes have been various levels of sore for 2 weeks since my heavy hill sprints and they just haven't fully recovered. One good  thing is that the soreness has been quite even between left and right side, which hopefully means its just normal healthy stuff. 


While painful, the massage WAS AMAZING AND released my trigger points in the upper hamstrings and glutes and immediately helped.


Awesome. WHY DID I WAIT? STUPID.

When I got home, I found my wonderful spouse had bought a pillow for one of our couches..photo enclosed 8) I can see this photo from my usual internet-enabled papa-bear chair. 


How great is that?




8)

Weekly recap: 6 weeks to Eugene

Monday: Rest. "Sorely" needed rest too.


Tuesday: 5 miles@base, 100ups + drills + LB strength.


Still a bit sore..also raining...boo. So, treadmill for 5 miles at average of 9:25 /mile with a few miles at 9:09 / mi. HR about 125 at this pace which is good. 


Hot in the gym...sweating a lot 8/ ...LB strength after. No drills or 100 ups.


We have had several weeks now of amazingly large and long lived flowering trees in full bloom...hopefully the rain won't be hard enough to hammer the blossoms off.


Wednesday: 2 miles wu + 6x2 min uphills @ 5K effort w/jog back recover + 1 mi cd


Did these on Page Mill road, which has a nice hill about 2 miles from my house. Effort was sprints to HR of 145, which turned out to be about 8:30-8:50m/m pace.

Split	Dist	Pace	HR	Max HR	% WHR	Cad	Elev+	Elev-	YPB
1	1.00	10:03	114	137	55.7	88	3	0	1.536
2	1.00	10:19	120	131	60.7	88	25	0	1.421
3	0.22	9:45	121	123	61.5	88	0	0	1.491
4	0.24	8:32	141	147	77.9	90	36	0	1.473
5	0.16	11:23	124	146	63.9	83	0	0	1.257
6	0.19	8:41	138	150	75.4	92	25	25	1.479
7	0.20	10:58	124	149	63.9	83	18	46	1.267
8	0.23	8:34	142	151	78.7	93	27	0	1.458
9	0.24	11:06	121	150	61.5	85	26	54	1.295
10	0.22	9:21	137	146	74.6	89	28	0	1.393
11	0.23	11:31	118	146	59.0	82	22	49	1.295
12	0.23	8:49	137	149	74.6	91	27	0	1.465
13	0.25	11:19	116	148	57.4	85	24	53	1.316
14	0.23	8:52	137	147	74.6	91	29	0	1.460
15	1.00	10:43	115	144	56.6	86	22	69	1.427
16	1.00	11:01	111	118	53.3	85	0	10	1.438
17	0.55	10:49	111	116	53.3	84	0	5	1.475
Sum	7.19	10:18	125.1	n/a	64.9	87	312	312	1.364

Slow 2 miles back to house....pretty beat after that.
Garmin T.E. 3.0 (Improving)


Thursday: 40 min XT, myrtle


Nope. Drove to Yosemite today for a one night stay and dinner at the Ahwahnee Hotel with my work group.


Friday: 8 miles @ base, UB strength


Did 4.5 miles @ 10:11 pace.

Too much wine last night, but did manage to get up and out early for a 5 mile run in Yosemite Valley. This has to be the most beautiful run I have ever taken. I stopped several times just to look around.


There were clouds of low hanging mist here and there but the rain held off. I could feel the altitude a little bit (4000') but not too bad really.


After breakfast we all did a 4 mile level hike to Mirror lake.



Saturday: 100 ups, 3 miles easy, myrtle


Even after a long sleep, today I was feeling a bit under the weather,m (perhaps from 500 miles of driving in two days?) so I decided to rest so I would be better off for tomorrow's long run.


Sunday: 16 miles, last 20min moderate.


15-20 mph winds today with threats of thunderstorm showers.

Split	Dist	Pace	HR	Max HR	% WHR	Cad	YPB
1	1.00	9:52	119	130	68.9	89	1.372
2	1.00	9:28	128	134	67.2	89	1.453
3	1.00	9:28	127	131	66.4	88	1.465
4	1.00	9:38	125	130	64.8	88	1.462
5	1.00	9:23	120	130	60.7	88	1.564
6	1.00	8:54	126	131	65.6	89	1.569
7	1.00	9:19	124	127	63.9	87	1.523
8	1.00	9:09	126	131	65.6	87	1.528
9	1.00	9:21	125	132	64.8	87	1.506
10	1.00	9:15	124	130	63.9	87	1.535
11	1.00	9:44	122	127	62.3	86	1.482
12	1.00	9:52	118	124	59.0	86	1.511
13	1.00	9:52	122	128	62.3	87	1.462
14	1.00	9:14	128	136	67.2	89	1.490
15	1.00	9:03	137	140	74.6	89	1.420
16	0.98	10:26	126	142	65.6	85	1.334
Sum	15.98	9:29	124.8	n/a	65.2	88	1.485

Splits 5 to 10 were on the Paly track..this was nice and soft running but the wind was right down the long dimension of the track. So the back straight was into the teeth of the wind and the front straight was 'hoist the spinnaker' time! (Are sails legal in running?)

During the run some very cold rain came down a couple of times but never for very long. At one point on the track we had very small BB-sized hail for a minute.

I was thinking about a co-worker and all the other the people running the LA marathon..I remembered running it last year with my brother-in-law and how rainy it was. This was also my first 'breakthrough' road marathon where I had no fade and felt strong for the last 6 miles.

I pushed miles 14 and 15, but this was all into the wind so it was TOUGH.  I wanted splits in the 8:xx range but just could not do it against that wind without pushing more than "moderate". Overall I am happy with this run...pretty good economy for 16 miles and considering the winds.

Garmin T.E. 3.0 (Improving)

Total for week 32.75 miles

For some reason, I was down on energy in the latter half of this week...not sure why. Glutes are still a bit sore from the hill sprints..perhaps the hills were tougher on me than I thought?

On the good news front, my left heel is holding up. I am still using the lift in my left shoe (put duct tape to make it waterproof 8). I had no problems on the long run or the hill sprints i.e. it's not getting worse and still getting better, slowly. 


I have been able to back off on the icing with no problems. During the CIM build-up at this time my foot was in far worse shape, so perhaps we have figured out some new tricks that work.

Obligations ate into the mileage this week but not sure another few easy miles this week would have helped things so just moving on! 

There is some air travel looming on the horizon, at just about the most difficult time in the training, so it will be interesting to see how it all works out. Jill may need to do some fancy rearranging of my weeks to get the important runs in.