A Great Rise to 50 (Redux)

Following the plan.  What a concept?  

You might want to invest in some tights or running pants; however, I run with some guys here in NE OH who wear shorts - always!

Tom - I'm usually pretty good about it.  Thing is, right now, the plan is "run a lot whenever you're not working."

Mom - I plan on it.  Fortunately, this Arctic Blast or whatever they're calling it should let up soon and I'll have time to find some tights before it gets that cold again.

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10.4mi this morning.  Despite 2 days off, I didn't feel particularly well rested this morning.  Probably a mixture of excitement to be going home and a marital tiff that led to sub-par sleep.  Still, the run was relatively easy, HR a bit high (I'm not surprised, given the aforementioned agitations), and the miles clicked by steadily.

I've found that it's not the (cough, cough) legs that suffer the most without some type of extra insulation. If you're looking for tights, I know that Nike has them in several different weights. Nothing fancy about them, but they've worked well for me.

A shade under 2hr this morning in beautiful southern California.  Man, the 12hrs of travel yesterday took it out of me (as did going to bed at 5:15EST).  Woke up tired but wide awake... 

A combination of not enough sleep, the heat (60 and sunny!) and close to 200'/mi gain/loss made for a higher-than-normal HR, so I ran by effort.  Power-hiked the big/steep hills (of which there were many) and even passed some mountain bikers.  

12.2mi and 2000' gain/loss on the day.  I'm tired.

Yup, I read all the blogs about cold weather running and feel guilty because I haven't even had to wear long sleeves yet this year.  

Welcome back to SoCal Mike.  If I remember right, you're in Mission Viejo.  I'll be heading out for 10 with the group at the Fullerton courthouse loop in a few - lots of hills and mountain bikers there as well.

Tim - It's always easy to tell the weekend warriors whenever I come back.  I swear, 2/3 of the runners I saw today had tights and long sleeves...  It's too bad that run is going on tomorrow - I'll be in Lakewood from Monday-Fri morning and would have come out for it.  My dance card is all filled up, running-wise, in MV.

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7.5mi around Lake MV (x2) this morning.  Once CCW and once CW.  Tried to keep the effort minimal, and the HR reflected that (average 140 until the end).  Heading back up the hill to my parents' community, saw a few bikes and ended up crossing the road as one was passing.  I decided to just drop the hammer and see what happened.  Handily left him behind and almost caught the group in front of me (that had passed me 1-2min before).  Low 6s pace on a 4-5% gradient.  Just a little surge to keep the legs peppy.

Welcome back to California, even if it is only a temporary thing!   Ya know, it sounds like you are really enjoying your running right now, and it is treating you well.  What a great combo - keep it up!

Tom - Running is going well.  I definitely bit off quite a bit for my brief stay in MV...

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Another 7.5mi to/around RSM Lake (the other local one) last night.  My dad and Aileen met me there for 3mi.  Closed out the run with a 200m sprint (~:33).  

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9mi in 1:30 this morning.  With almost 2000' gain/loss.  Pretty much running either uphill or downhill the entire run, with lots of the uphill at/near 20%...  So lots of hiking.

Rest day, shmest day.  

5mi recovery around Aileen's neck of the woods.

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On an unrelated note, two of her best friends from undergrad (who now live in Louisiana) surprised her by flying in for Thanksgiving/her birthday.  I had no idea, either.  Pretty cool.

10.4mi in 1hr30min this morning.  Slow/LSD, ave HR 142.  Effort was very easy and steady.

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I'm going on 110mi in 11 days (11/20-11/30).  Today is day 6 and I'm at 62.xxmi.  Kind neat.

Nothing like a bit of California running conditions to keep you going this time of year. Nice work, Mike!

Mark - It's strange; usually my motivation plummets mid-October through Thanksgiving.  This year, I'm hitting a high point right now.  On the other hand, I usually notice that my appetite decreases and I turn towards more low-calorie foods as the temperatures warm during summer (more veggies, lighter meals) and I crave high-calorie stuff during the fall and winter...  This year, that seems to be the opposite, too.  Stomach physically feels smaller, and I can't eat nearly as much as I'm used to.  Hm.

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6.6mi this morning.  Pretty tired, but slogged through the recovery with views of the San Gabriel mountains and quite a few stables/horse places.

Good thing you're in California and not back east if running is a priority!

Nancy - But we missed our first snow!  Or so the weather forecast said.  I don't know if DC actually got any of the white stuff, but it was supposed to yesterday.

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14mi total broken into 2 runs today...

First, an 11mi impromptu-progression run to kill a decent hangover.  Aileen's family, friends, and I all hit the Long Beach bar scene last night, and Mom tried to drink me under the table.  It kind of worked.  So, after a few very groggy warm-up miles (10:00, 9:40, 9:20), I decided to keep the 20sec/mi trend for the remainder of the run.  Finished with a full mile at 6:5x and a short bit at 6:40.

I also just so happened to finish the run in Belmont Shores (Long Beach), where there happened to be a 5k that Aileen and her 9yo niece were running.  What a coincidence!  I paced them to a 29:30 (30:00 goal) and informed the little one that she just beat me to a sub-30 5k by 11 years.

A solid end to our week home on Thursday night as some 30+ friends/family gathered at Aileen's brother's new house for Thanksgiving.  Highlights of the evening included both Aileen and my mom crying during their "what I'm thankful for" speeches and 4 separate people giving shout outs to "El Jefe," which is a nickname I decided to give myself just two days earlier.  I don't even think I was drunk when I did that.  

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After a day of relative rest yesterday (as restful as air travel can be), I woke up feeling a bit more alive this morning after getting a full night's sleep.  Still have some fatigue hanging over me, but I'd be surprised if I didn't.  

The legs felt peppy, though, as I was able to knock out 10mi at an 8:20ish pace with minimal effort.  Definitely a fan of the cooler weather (30s as opposed to 60s).  

Tomorrow will bring (hopefully) 20mi as I head into two weeks of lots-of-work-and-little-running before the holiday break.

El Jefe!

Sounds like a great holiday, Mike. Quite the temperature difference between Cali and DC, isn't it?

Mark - Indeed.  Gotta love those CA Indian summers that seem to last forever.

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20mi in the bag, and I'm glad that one's done.  I kept myself very disciplined through mile 10, where I gave myself a bit of leeway coming down Beach (the closed off section) and closing in on a fellow runners.  Still within my Maffetone HR range, but pretty much right at it.  Things started to feel tight by mile 13, so I backed off again and pressed on, hopelessly, as things got more and more uncomfortable.  The normal, I'm-running-20-miles uncomfortable.  

I'm sleepy.

4 days off?!  I'm surprised I still remember how to run.  Fortunately for me, my legs were ready to pick up where we left off last Sunday.

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Had a pretty busy week scheduled in terms of work this week, so I'd planned to give myself some rest and let the past two big weeks settle in.  After a very shitty day at work Monday, I desperately wished to run more, but alas, even a revised schedule kept me pretty busy until today.  

I did get in a core/pull up workout this week.  

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10.75mi today in 1hr31min.  The usual south-Arlington-Mt-Vernon-Trail-DC loop.  Felt smooth and fresh.  HR low and steady, pace settling into the low/mid 8s after a few miles warming up.

Well, that was interesting.

Let's preface today's run with the fact that it was Aileen's friend's boyfriend's birthday party last night.  Nothing huge, just 3 couples going out to Red Lobster (a new, decidedly "okay" experience) and then heading back to his apartment for some video games and beers.  Dinner was very filling, mostly due to it being almost too rich (Aileen and I split an appetizer and dish and still have ~1/3 of both left).  

I also ate some Spicy Nacho Doritos.  Like, a serving size.  Honest.

Bedtime was 2am.

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After 6hr sleep, I wasn't exactly looking forward to 2hr30min on a cool, damp morning.  Fortunately, the damp was mild and the cool was even milder, so my TCM long-sleeve tech shirt (just arrived last weekend) was a good choice.

Then things suddenly went downhill around mile 1.5.  Sudden, vicious GI distress.  To keep things family friendly and not too off-putting, I was mostly walking by the beginning of mile 3 and it took me about 25-30min to get from that point to the nearest bathroom, about 1.5mi away (Roosevelt Island).  Ugh.

Near-death experience averted, I was able to head up the Potomac Heritage Trail, a semi-technical (in that half of it is non-technical, half of it is very technical) trail that follows the GW Parkway.  I ended up at Chain Bridge around 1hr20min (not including the walking of that horrendous 3rd mile) so I decided to come back along the Capital Crescent Trail.  Another first for me.  It was pleasant, my HR was shockingly low, so I was able to bang out some miles in the low 8's and still be well below my LHR threshold.  

Had another pro-active potty stop at mile 9.5.  Spicy Nacho Doritos, never again.  

The last half hour was uncomfortable, but that's why I'm pushing my normal 2hr run to 2hr30min - to start extending that comfort to longer and longer runs.

16.75mi total with probably around 800' of elevation, most of which came in the 4mi on the PHT.

Whoa.  Rock Creek Park has some decent, and dare I say, good trails. 

1hr26min on a clockwise loop of Western Ridge and Valley Trails.  Got lost for a minute which added ~.5mi for a total of 9.3xmi.  A fun and variegated blend of technical stuff, just-hard-enough climbs, and groovin' descents that really let you open up the legs and charge.  

Nothing excessively noteworthy other than the fact that I was having so much fun towards the end that I let my HR climb into the high 150s for a couple miles.  Scandalous.  Also, I'm always astounded at how many runners are in Rock Creek Park.  Seriously, this city is pretty damn active, and it's not just walkers with lattes, like at home.  Nice to see.

Nice to see you found some decent trails there in the D.C. area, Mike. You're probably unlikely to find huge climbs like the ones outside of Auburn, but I'm not surprised that you found some technically challenging paths. Well done!

I'd bet good money your GI issues had more to do with Red Lobster than the Doritos.

Mark - Yeah, definitely lacking serious climbing here, but fortunately that means any races I enter in the vicinity won't have those big climbs, either.  On the other hand, every time I visit home, my ass is going to get handed to me.  Speaking of my ass getting handed to me, with Red Lobster's price point, I don't need to be returning, anyway.

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17.5mi this morning.  This was one of those mornings that I was sitting on the couch, groggily slurping coffee, and I had to tell myself it was now or never.  Either I become unglued from the cushion this instant or I am going back to bed.  Needless to say, the mental motivation wasn't there today.  The commitment was.

Decided to forego the HR strap, as I wanted to just run by feel and not judge my abilities today - figured I'd be pretty pooped.  I avoided looking at my watch for most of the first half of the run, too, but started keeping an eye on it for the 1:15 mark, when I'd take a gel.

Got to 1:15 and wasn't really feeling like I needed the gel, so I decided to continue with the fat-burning thing and not take it.  Ended up feeling pretty decent, although I got very hungry, for the last hour of the run.  Kind of just wanted to get home, so I pushed the last half hour to a moderate fast finish (low 8's/high 7's) before a 1mi cooldown.  

2:29 total time.

5.7mi recovery today.  Good thing, too, as I'm tiiiiiiired.

The light rain and gloomy skies didn't help my motivation, but once I was out there, it wasn't half bad.  Until the end of the run, getting a crosswind that for some reason targeted my hand and made it go numb.  Kind of scary when you get home and can't sign because your hand is working in slow motion.  All thawed out, now.

5.1mi easy with 3 short intervals thrown in.  Scouted some local hills (walls?) to see if any would be suitable for 2min vo2max repeats.  Turns out that one is the perfect length.

Intervals included 4:00 tempo effort (the "warm up") on a 5.5% gradient, 2:00 vo2max effort on a flat--->10%--->flat hill, 1:30 vo2max effort on a 10%--->flat hill.  

Had a weird, quick cramp in my right quad during my actual warm-up (before the tempo interval).  Hobbled for a second before it went away.  Scared me.