Funkadelic Happening

Tom H wrote:8 hours sleep.  How do you do that?

Easy...just close your eyes

Nick Morris wrote:

Tom H wrote:8 hours sleep.  How do you do that?

Easy...just close your eyes

Preferably while not driving or texting.



I'll be lucky to get 4, tonight.  But tomorrow night, I might get 9.

ounce wrote:

Nick Morris wrote:

Tom H wrote:8 hours sleep.  How do you do that?

Easy...just close your eyes

Preferably while not driving or texting.



I'll be lucky to get 4, tonight.  But tomorrow night, I might get 9.

I have found that 7 is a good number for me. If I get too much sleep, I feel groggy. If I get not enough sleep, I feel groggy.

Nick Morris wrote:

ounce wrote:

Nick Morris wrote:

Tom H wrote:8 hours sleep.  How do you do that?

Easy...just close your eyes

Preferably while not driving or texting.



I'll be lucky to get 4, tonight.  But tomorrow night, I might get 9.

I have found that 7 is a good number for me.  If I get too much sleep, I feel groggy. If I get not enough sleep, I feel groggy.

Since starting this training cycle, which is running 3 days a week, I'm not as groggy as I was during the Summer when I was running 4 days a week.  6-7 hours is a good number, too.

That's where I'm coming from.  If I get +8 hours it seems like I struggle to get going a lot more than with 6 or 7.  How about after especially hard workouts, long efforts or races - do  you sleep better or worse?

I came into the wrong conversation. The last time I slept 8 hrs was over 10 yrs ago.

Tom H wrote:That's where I'm coming from.  If I get +8 hours it seems like I struggle to get going a lot more than with 6 or 7.  How about after especially hard workouts, long efforts or races - do  you sleep better or worse?

I sleep like a baby.  Unless something is on my mind, I can fall asleep most anytime within 10 minutes.  But you have to keep in mind that I'm a nocturnal runner.  So, I have all day at work to wind down (hopefully).

Julie wrote:I came into the wrong conversation. The last time I slept 8 hrs was over 10 yrs ago.

That's understandable since your home's population exploded.  But you should try, Julie.

Ha!  I get 8 hrs most nights now, but I certainly didn't for years - especially when my daughter was young (and even when she was in high school) and I had to get my run in before the sun rose every morning.  This often meant crazy hrs like Doug keeps!

Thanks for stopping by, 1L.

-30-

This morning was a long run of between 14-18 miles.  The Half race is Sunday week, so I decided to do 18 because I wouldn't do a similar distance for a couple of weeks.  It was 64 degrees with a dewpoint of 61.  Not too bad and I did sweat more than Wednesday, but not as much as a week ago.  It wasn't a Goldilocks amount of humidity.  The watch messed up in about the same spot, but I didn't know how much over I was running because 18 is not a repetitive distance that I do, unlike pretty much anything from 12 miles or less.  I think I over ran about a 1/4 mile.  And it screwed up around the same place as before.

18 miles, 3:54:34, 13:00 pace, 149 avg bpm, 161 max bpm during mile 18, 164 avg cadence, 0.75 m avg stride length, 1st half pace 13:00, 2nd half pace 13:00.
1.  13:07, 145 bpm, 164 spm, 75 sl
2.  12:49, 146 bpm, 164 spm, 76 sl
3.  12:55, 147 bpm, 165 spm, 76 sl
4.  13:02, 146 bpm, 164 spm, 75 sl
5.  13:02, 143 bpm, 163 spm, 76 sl
6.  13:13, 144 bpm, 164 spm, 74 sl
7.  12:49, 145 bpm, 165 spm, 76 sl
8.  13:05, 145 bpm, 164 spm, 75 sl
9.  13:06, 147 bpm, 164 spm, 75 sl
10. 12:56, 146 bpm, 163 spm, 76 sl
11. 12:49, 147 bpm, 164 spm, 76 sl
12. 13:14, 151 bpm, 164 spm, 74 sl
13. 13:16, 154 bpm, 164 spm, 74 sl
14. 13:05, 154 bpm, 163 spm, 75 sl
15. 13:17, 153 bpm, 162 spm, 75 sl
16. 13:46, 152 bpm, 163 spm, 72 sl  (split with bad time and stride length)
17. 12:30, 156 bpm, 164 spm, 78 sl
18. 13:00, 158 bpm, 164 spm, 75 sl

So, I like the steadiness of the heart rate.  The creep was sure slow, up to mile 17.  I had done yoga yesterday and my hip flexors were whining a bit because we did a lot of poses that affected them.  Then the last 3 miles, I worked on stretching the stride length when I was tired.  I figured I could shave some time and get the body used to rotating the hips under less than fresh legs.

That's 36 miles for the week.  1 mile less than last week, without a lot of the tired legs.  It seems that doing the sorta mid-week long run on Mondays, then the speed or hill work on Wednesday tends to give me the opportunity to have fresher legs for Friday because I'll sleep more hours over 3 nights, rather than just Wednesday when a sorta long run occurs.  Just an experiment.

Thanks for stopping by.

Very consistent run. You are right about the heart rate...a very slow creep, which is good to see.

I thought you said that it is warm down there?? 64 is great running weather

Nick Morris wrote:Very consistent run.  You are right about the heart rate...a very slow creep, which is good to see.

I thought you said that it is warm down there??   64 is great running weather

Yes, thanks for confirming my thought.  I'll file that away as an idea to keep.  As far as the weather, just two days ago it was 51.  Something in the 50's is great running weather, down here.  64 is just 6 degrees from 70.  Given the option, I'll take 64 any day over 7x degrees.  Mind game.  Thanks, Nick.

I wish I could get my weight down.  This year is by far the toughest year trying to lose weight.  I don't know if my metabolism dropped so much or what.  I'll keep plugging away at it.

ounce wrote:

I wish I could get my weight down.  This year is by far the toughest year trying to lose weight.  I don't know if my metabolism dropped so much or what.  I'll keep plugging away at it.

I hear ya on this one. I lost some lbs., but didn't quite get to where I wanted to be. That will be a focus this winter.

Nick Morris wrote:

ounce wrote:

I wish I could get my weight down.  This year is by far the toughest year trying to lose weight.  I don't know if my metabolism dropped so much or what.  I'll keep plugging away at it.

I hear ya on this one.  I lost some lbs., but didn't quite get to where I wanted to be.  That will be a focus this winter.

+1

(Actually, I wish it was just +1. After this summer, I'm scared to get on the scale.)

This coming Sunday is the Houston Half.  So, this week I'll be scaling back on the distance some, but not the intensity, which pretty much means no Friday long run.  Saturday, I will be walking/running a loop of the Wild Hare course in Warda, Texas.  I have registered for the 50K of this November 22 race.  Reina is doing the 50 mile part and I will be with her probably from loop 2 or 3 on for the remaining laps.  I have to do 4-7.8 mile loops and she has to do a 3.2 mile loop plus 6-7.8 mile loops.  Saturday will be a reconnaisance mission.  Partly to see if I can wear my road Kinvara's. 

Maybe I should go ahead and get some trail Kinvaras.

It was 64 degrees, this morning, with a dewpoint of 60.  A nice feel, with an east breeze.  The idea was to run 8-10 miles at a good pace to see what the HR and pace registers.  Cadence was to be 165.

9 miles, 1:49:13, 12:08 pace, 142 avg bpm, 161 max bpm during mile 9, 165 avg spm, 0.80 m avg stride length, 1st half pace 12:20, 2nd half pace 11:56.
1.  12:52, 134 bpm, 164 spm, 76 sl
2.  12:22, 136 bpm, 164 spm, 79 sl
3.  12:06, 138 bpm, 164 spm, 81 sl
4.  12:10, 143 bpm, 165 spm, 80 sl
5.  12:02, 142 bpm, 165 spm, 81 sl
6.  11:50, 143 bpm, 166 spm, 82 sl
7.  11:59, 145 bpm, 166 spm, 81 sl
8.  12:20, 146 bpm, 165 spm, 79 sl
9.  11:31, 150 bpm, 165 spm, 85 sl

So, this looks good on paper for me.  I'm still marveled at the pace and HR.  AND the stride length was getting better.  One thing that was interesting during the run was that my turnover was getting faster than the gnome (metronome chirping out the cadence).  I bumped it up from 165 to 166 and that was better.  It could be the cooler weather might mean I can bump up the cadence one or 2 more, but I'm not ready to do that on a long run (which is really where it needs to be increased, but I don't want to use up too much energy just yet.

What was odd was the watch.  It measured it fine for the most part, but it can't do math.  It said that I ran a 12:15 pace.  Well, if you take 1:49:13 divided by 9, you get 12 minutes and 14 hundreths of a minute or 12:08 pace.  How silly is this watch?

I don't know what to think.

But I am asking for your recommendation on how to run the half on Sunday?  Easy for the first 2 miles, faster for 8, then see what happens for the final 3?  Thanks.

Nice run...looks like the cadence, stride, pace, heart rate all came together well. The work you did this summer appears to be paying off.

Race, Doug!  That means warm up with a mile or 2, and then at the start run the pace that feels comfortably hard.  What was your pace at the last half you ran?  You have done a lot of work, and I think you start there and slowly bring it down

nkrichards wrote:Nice run...looks like the cadence, stride, pace, heart rate all came together well.  The work you did this summer appears to be paying off.

Yeah, the heart isn't putting out much effort and the legs weren't terribly taxed.  Thanks, Nancy.

Michele \"1L" Keane wrote:Race, Doug!  That means warm up with a mile or 2, and then at the start run the pace that feels comfortably hard.  What was your pace at the ast half you ran?  You have done a lot of work, and I think you start there and slowly bring it down

Yes, ma'am, but I haven't raced a half, hence the question.  Last year was during my recovery period from my calf and foot troubles, so I was told not to push it and just finish by the PT people.  PR is from 2004 at a 12:15 pace.  So, I should have a new PR on Sunday.

I figure, after warm up, to run 10 miles at 75-80%, then see what the last 3 shows.  I'd really like to be able to run the double underpass at 80-85%.  AND I get to run the double underpass twice on Sunday (out 'n back course).  I'm looking for a 2:24-2:30 time or 11-11:27 pace.  The double underpass is at miles 23 to 24 of the Houston course.

Reasonable, 1L?  and thanks, Michele.

Yes, reasonable, but I want you to warm up a bit before you start the race.  You don't have as much time to get into pace as you do in a marathon, and I don't want you to waste it .  jk - you will be fine execute carefully, smartly, but not too comfortably - push yourself as it is only 13 miles.  you want t be comfortably numb and make that feeling last.

Michele \"1L" Keane wrote:Race, Doug!  That means warm up with a mile or 2, and then at the start run the pace that feels comfortably hard.  What was your pace at the last half you ran?  You have done a lot of work, and I think you start there and slowly bring it down

What she said. (And what she said later, too.)

This is a great time to test your system, and get a little more practice pushing it harder and help your body understand that the higher intensity is not an imminent catastrophe, just a bit of discomfort. It'll remember that lesson when the marathon rolls around, and you'll be glad it does.

As far as the Kinvara's go, I was surprised to see they make a trail version of Kinvara now. It used to be that the Peregrine, which was based on the Kinvara design, was their main go-to lightweight trail shoe. I see the Kinvara TR2 is even lighter. It doesn't look quite as robust as the Peregrine, but it's also 45 grams lighter and a whole lot less expensive.

Michele \"1L" Keane wrote:Yes, reasonable, but I want you to warm up a bit before you start the race.  You don't have as much time to get into pace as you do in a marathon, and I don't want you to waste it .  jk - you will be fine execute carefully, smartly, but not too comfortably - push yourself as it is only 13 miles.  you want t be comfortably numb and make that feeling last.

Yes, I shall warm up.  And since "Comfortably Numb" is my favorite Pink Floyd song, that gets to be the mantra for the race.  Thanks.

Mark B wrote:

Michele \"1L" Keane wrote:Race, Doug!  That means warm up with a mile or 2, and then at the start run the pace that feels comfortably hard.  What was your pace at the last half you ran?  You have done a lot of work, and I think you start there and slowly bring it down

What she said. (And what she said later, too.)

This is a great time to test your system, and get a little more practice pushing it harder and help your body understand that the higher intensity is not an imminent catastrophe, just a bit of discomfort. It'll remember that lesson when the marathon rolls around, and you'll be glad it does.

As far as the Kinvara's go, I was surprised to see they make a trail version of Kinvara now. It used to be that the Peregrine, which was based on the Kinvara design, was their main go-to lightweight trail shoe. I see the Kinvara TR2 is even lighter. It doesn't look quite as robust as the Peregrine, but it's also 45 grams lighter and a whole lot less expensive.

Funny that you should mention the Peregrines.  I went on to runningwarehouse.com's website.  They didn't have any Kinvara TR's (they did last year), but they had Peregrines, which I hadn't heard of but sure looked a lot like the Kinvaras.  The drop is the same 4 mm, but are a smidgen taller.  And seeing the soles of the shoes convinced me that I in fact needed a trail shoe for Wild Hare.  I should be getting the Peregrines on Thursday and test them out on Saturday.

Thanks for the help, y'all, very much.

Good - so I think you know what I mean.  In the zone and don't let up but not a 5K sprint.

Michele \"1L" Keane wrote:Good - so I think you know what I mean.  In the zone and don't let up but not a 5K sprint.

Yes, ma'am, I think that I do.  Thanks.  Get and stay in the groove.  Warm up the muscles, so they know something important is going to occur because I only warm up for a Race.  Find the pace that I want and set the speed control.  Temps are supposed to be low 60's at the start with clear skies...probably 70 at race end.  Oh, well.

ounce wrote:

Michele \"1L" Keane wrote:Good - so I think you know what I mean.  In the zone and don't let up but not a 5K sprint.

Yes, ma'am, I think that I do.  Thanks.  Get and stay in the groove.  Warm up the muscles, so they know something important is going to occur because I only warm up for a Race.  Find the pace that I want and set the speed control.  Temps are supposed to be low 60's at the start with clear skies...probably 70 at race end.  Oh, well.

Those temps aren't ideal, but they could be worse.

Nick Morris wrote:

ounce wrote:

Michele \"1L" Keane wrote:Good - so I think you know what I mean.  In the zone and don't let up but not a 5K sprint.

Yes, ma'am, I think that I do.  Thanks.  Get and stay in the groove.  Warm up the muscles, so they know something important is going to occur because I only warm up for a Race.  Find the pace that I want and set the speed control.  Temps are supposed to be low 60's at the start with clear skies...probably 70 at race end.  Oh, well.

Those temps aren't ideal, but they could be worse.

All depends on the humidity...really when the southeast wind starts to blow in humidity from the Gulf.

An added plus is the race starts at 7, but sunrise is 7:30.

Yesterday, I did some hill training at a nearby parking garage.  1.4 miles to get there, a mile running the ramps over 3 sessions, then 1.4 miles back.  No muss, no fuss, no pain.

This morning, I took my car to the shop to replace the rear brake pads, then ran the 2 miles back home.

For Sunday's race and in order to give myself the best possible chance of stringing thirteen 11 minute miles together (never done that at 11:anything before), I'm going to move going to Warda to check out the Wild Hare course to Sunday after the Half, if I'm whole.

This race will take a whole lot of concentration.