Building A Better Bumblebee

Good to see that your disappointing outing didn't keep you from stepping up for another workout.

Hope you adjust to your school year schedule and get back on track soon.

nkrichards wrote:Good to see that your disappointing outing didn't keep you from stepping up for another workout.

Hope you adjust to your school year schedule and get back on track soon.

Me, too, Nancy!

I've been looking back at training records and blogs from a few years ago (2012) when I decided to take a year off from racing. It was the year when I finally managed to lose some excess weight and unintentionally lay the foundation for my 50-miler the following year. I was curious to see what I'd done differently.

What was different? The biggest thing I noticed is that most of my runs were at or below 60 minutes. I did some 90-minute runs and a few 2-hour runs, but the weekly mileage generally stayed in the 20s. I lost weight and got faster, which is always a plus. I also generally had more fun.

That trip down memory lane is helping convince my brain that leaping into longer distances and bigger miles is probably not the best idea for me right now. And that's a tough thing to accept, because part of me wants to head out and run for four hours in the woods RIGHT NOW and doesn't understand why a fitness base gained from a year of lower mileage three years ago isn't still there.

I mean, really. What's up with that?

If you figure it out....I was just thinking how much easier running was 4 yrs ago, but I guess things change.   I experienced the wt loss with lower mileage this summer, too. Seems weird but my appetite always keeps up with my miles. Sleep deprivation is tough. I think you can get used to it but I think it's always tough.

Julie wrote:If you figure it out....I was just thinking how much easier running was 4 yrs ago, but I guess things change.   I experienced the wt loss with lower mileage this summer, too. Seems weird but my appetite always keeps up with my miles. Sleep deprivation is tough. I think you can get used to it but I think it's always tough.

Thanks, Julie! I found that higher mileage just isn't conducive to weight loss -- I'd usually gain 10 pounds in a marathon cycle, just because I'd get so hungry. But running less and staying active? Mix that with better eating, and weight loss is more likely.

I've heard that you CAN lose weight with big miles, but they have to be BIG miles -- as in, 70+ a week.

Once my schedule settles out at work and with school, sleep should work out. Even if it means using one of my periods of alone time before a night shift to take a nap.

Naps are how I stay semi-sane, seriously. even if I can just fall asleep 20 minutes during the kids' nap I feel better for the evening. No nap days = crabby mommy days.

Julie wrote:Naps are how I stay semi-sane, seriously. even if I can just fall asleep 20 minutes during the kids' nap I feel better for the evening. No nap days = crabby mommy days.

It's the only way, really. Which means things didn't bode well for us when one of our child's first sentences was: "Not gonna sleep. Ever, ever again."

Even now, he gets up with the chickens, no matter how late he stays up the night before. The upside is, he's not having trouble with a Zero Period class that starts at 6:25 a.m....

I may be starting to adjust. I woke up this morning like a light switch going on, checked my watch and saw it was maybe 90 seconds before the alarm was going to go off. That sort of internal clock system always amazes me. How does my body know?

Guess I am the anomaly then as I lost 4 lbs this summer as I picked up my mileage.  Then again, I am not one who gains weight during marathon training and I know many of my running friends do.  I guess I still think about what I eat rather than think I can just eat - lol.

You will figure it all out Mark, but for now, resist the urge to run too much until you can get back on track.

Michele \"1L" Keane wrote:Guess I am the anomaly then as I lost 4 lbs this summer as I picked up my mileage.  Then again, I am not one who gains weight during marathon training and I know many of my running friends do.  I guess I still think about what I eat rather than think I can just eat - lol.

You will figure it all out Mark, but for now, resist the urge to run too much until you can get back on track.

Funny you mention that, Michele. I was just out on the trails and hit a junction. Going to the right, which I had planned, would have put my run at about an hour. Going left would have added another 20 minutes or so. I SO WANTED TO GO TO THE LEFT, but I forced myself to listen to my body and my better instinct. But I'd be lying if I didn't petulantly harrumph "fine!" as I took the right path.

Trail Run: About 60 minutes, about 3.5 miles

Weather: Overcast and cool, with a shower. 51° Gear: Lone Peaks, shorts, T, jacket, hat. Fuel: Regular breakfast and coffee, had larabar about halfway through run.

It hit 94 a few days ago, and it probably won't hit 64 today. When the weather changes here, it can be dramatic.

This is my first Monday to myself since the start of school. It's the day I've traditionally reserved for my longest runs. Except I'm not quite ready for "longest" yet, so I decided to fool around on the trails at Whipple Creek Park for about an hour and see how it went. I promised myself to not turn it into a fartlek run.

Fool around was the operative term, too. I parked in a different spot than usual and explored some unmapped single-track trails in the northern section of the park. It seemed like the right time for it, and one of the trails was quite nice. I'll definitely be going back. Another trail practically put me in somebody's backyard, and another put me face to face with a NO TRESPASSING sign. That was an out-and-back segment.

My biggest disappointment was that I forgot to restart my Garmin after a pit stop, so I lost about 7 minutes and maybe a half mile of trail I was hoping to get into GPS. Oh well, it keeps the mystery going, I suppose!

I also ran on the main trails, which have now been so improved that they resemble small gravel roads in places. That's less fun, but it will mean it won't turn into a bog in the winter. So that's a huge benefit.

Speaking of rain, some did roll in, though it mostly didn't penetrate the canopy. It was cool hearing it approach in the tops of the trees.

Walked first and last 5 minutes. Average HR for entire run: 125

Walk: 2.3 miles

Weather: Overcast, cool. 61 degrees.

Needed to get out at lunch for a walk and was glad to be able to get it done. My body needed to move, and my brain needed a break.

Strength: core/calves

1x40 of each/side: clamshells, side leg lift, leg circles
3x50 of simple bridges
1x50 each side: single-leg lift
4 minute/side: single-leg stance

I could feel my hip muscles quivering by the time I got halfway through the single-leg stances. Quite the sensation.

With the wide swing in temperatures, has your body decided to hang on to the summertime water weight or let it go?

ounce wrote:With the wide swing in temperatures, has your body decided to hang on to the summertime water weight or let it go?

Water!? Oh, THAT's what it is? No wonder its so jiggly.

Speedwork: 2x 1.26 mile repeats above LT (2.95 miles total, counting warmup and cooldown walks)

Weather: Partly cloudy, cool. About 60. Gear: Testers, shorts, T. Fuel: Regular breakfast, plus snack on way

I went in for a dynamic testing session this morning at Nike, which was perfectly timed for my uptempo day.

Can't talk about the shoes, but I knew I'd be running at a higher intensity than usual. I just can't help myself when I get inside the berm! Anyway, I had my HR monitor but decided to go mostly by feel and time. The testing route is about a mile and a quarter, with a decent uphill section and nice downhill bit before a small uphill section heading back in. One of those routes that's more difficult than it looks, especially if you're pushing.

I pushed. I decided fairly quickly to try to keep my pace under a 9/mi pace as much as I could. That got me into some huffing and puffing on the uphill section, and I couldn't quite hold it, but as I recovered on the downhill section, my pace picked up. So did my heart rate, but at least I wasn't sucking wind. It felt sort of comfortably hard. It got harder on that last uphill bit, of course, and that's where I saw my highest heart rate. On my first lap, I set a "new" MaxHR of 175.

I did two loops, with a break between to give feedback on the shoes. I'd pushed so hard, though, that there was still an element of interval training... it didn't take much in the second time around for my HR to the upper reaches, even at a slightly slower pace. And that "new" MaxHR from the previous loop? Yeah, I exceeded that by 5 bpm, hitting 180.

By the time I was finishing the second loop, I was wheezing like I had asthma. Thank goodness no one was around to hear it! My body was working pretty hard, but I was still going strong. I think I got under 8/mi for some of it.

Whew! Quite the workout. After wrapping up my reports, I walked back to the car as a cooldown.

Average HR for entire 2.95 miles: 133. Max HR: 180

Well, I didn't keel over after those fast repeats (though my lungs were a bit tattered the rest of the day). I took Friday and Saturday off, and we'll see how the next couple of days go.

Trail Run: About 5 miles

Weather: Sunny, cool, gorgeous. 56-58° Gear: Lone Peaks, shorts, T. Fuel: Regular breakfast, carried water.

I felt sufficiently recovered after last Thursdays flirtation with MaxHR to slightly extend my trail run this morning. I headed out to my neighborhood forest and did a double loop on one of the main trails. First time, counterclockwise, then tag the sign and loop back clockwise. It gives a nice few of the scenery from both directions.

My HR settled down as low as 52 bpm before I started the run, which was nice to see, and I was able to keep moving at a running pace uphill more than last time. The HR started drifting up as the run continued, so I decided to let it float up to as high as the mid 130s before slowing to a walk, then making sure to start running again if my HR dropped into the mid 120s. Kind of amazing how fast it can drop sometimes. 

The distance felt about right for where I am right now. I hope that with time I'll be running more and walking less. It'll be a good way to measure fitness.

But really, a lot of this morning wasn't about fitness. It was a gorgeous day. Nice and cool, with a bit of a breeze. The sun was right and a few leaves had already fallen. Autumn. At last.

It's possible I ran enough to release some endocannabinoids into my system.  

Walked first and last 5 minutes. Average HR for entire run: 130. (Max 145)

Mark B wrote:Strength: core/calves

1x40 of each/side: clamshells, side leg lift, leg circles
3x50 of simple bridges
1x50 each side: single-leg lift
4 minute/side: single-leg stance

I could feel my hip muscles quivering by the time I got halfway through the single-leg stances. Quite the sensation.

What are these?

mul21 wrote:

Mark B wrote:Strength: core/calves

1x40 of each/side: clamshells, side leg lift, leg circles
3x50 of simple bridges
1x50 each side: single-leg lift
4 minute/side: single-leg stance

I could feel my hip muscles quivering by the time I got halfway through the single-leg stances. Quite the sensation.

What are these?

Huh? Oh, you mean the "simple" bridges? It's just how I described a two-legged bridge, as opposed to a "ridiculously-strenuous-and-hard-to-coordinate" one-legged bridge. I've tried it one-legged before, and may try it again, but not until I'm a LOT stronger. Yowza. I think I'd rather do pull-ups.

Speaking of "simple bridges"...

1x40 of each/side: clamshells, side leg lift, leg circles 
3x50 of double-leg (aka "simple") bridges 
1x50, then 1x30 each side: single-leg lift 
5 minute/side: single-leg stance (balance supported)

Slightly more on the calves. Could really feel the burn.

---
And, later...

Walk: 2.3 miles

Weather: Nice! Sunny, bright and cool. 62° 

It's the last day of summer (at last!), so I celebrated with a walk at lunch. I wanted to keep things loosened up after my strength work this morning. Besides, it was cool and breezy, with just a touch of warmth in the sunlight. Pretty much ideal. Bring on the fall!

Barefoot: 3.1 miles on dry asphalt

Weather: Autumn! Clear and cool. 44-48° Gear: Bare feet, shorts, long-sleeved T, jacket, hat (for low-angle sun) Fuel: Post-breakfast

Celebrated the autumnal equinox with a barefoot run through the neighborhood. It has been a few weeks since I went barefoot, and I don't want to lose the ground awareness it gives me. So I'll be trying to do one a week. It was one of the coolest mornings we've had in some time, so I had to actually add clothes. My feet were fine.

The run went pretty well. I didn't hew too closely to low HR dictates, opting instead for the low-to-mid 130s. It felt pretty natural, and the pace dropped about 40 sec/mi from Mile 1 to Mile 3. It's a start.

No warmup/cooldown walk: Average HR for entire run: 133 (Max 146)

Core/Calf work: 30 minutes

1x40 of each/side: clamshells, side leg lift, leg circles 
3x50 of double-leg bridges 
2x50 each side: single-leg lift 
5 minute/side: single-leg stance (balance supported)

Able to get up to 2 x 50 on the heel lift, but it made the single leg stance pretty challenging.

Nice job on the core/calf work.  I still haven't started back up on my core work.

We're back into an Indian Summer over here and we never did get enough rain to do any good.

nkrichards wrote:Nice job on the core/calf work.  I still haven't started back up on my core work.

We're back into an Indian Summer over here and we never did get enough rain to do any good.

Well, I can sure understand why. Core work is sheer drudgery. Necessary drudgery, perhaps, but drudgery nonetheless.

We got some rain here today, so I hope it makes it over the mountains with some moisture leftover.

Hills: 60 minutes (4.5 miles, about 400-500 feet of climbing)

Weather: Overcast, just after rain. 58° Gear: Altra Instincts, shorts, T, jacket, hat (removed after rain failed to return). Fuel: Post breakfast

It was rainy this morning, and I decided I was actually looking forward to a rainy run. So I geared up and headed out the door... just in time for the rain to stop after about 10 minutes. Oh well.

I took a hilly route and started out trying to keep my HR down, until I got to the biggest, steepest hill around. Then I let my HR rise slowly up into the mid-150s, where it stayed as I chugged uphill. Didn't feel particularly difficult or winded. Interesting. I coasted down the other side and back up a smaller hill before I turned around and headed back. 


(Kinda looks like a Rorschach test, doesn't it?)

I couldn't get my HR to settle back even into the 130s after the hilliest part, so I just kept going and treated it like the more-intense workout it was intended to be. That helped me end up going about a half mile farther than I'd expected, too. Funny how that works.

Walked first and last 5 minutes. Average HR for entire run: 134 (Max 157)

Gear Schlepping: About 1.4 miles

Weather: Sunny and cool, maybe in the low 60s.

Helped move equipment for the local high school marching band at a competition here in town on a very large high school campus that included a section known affectionately as "the hill of death." Which was rather challenging when you're pushing a large vibraphone up it. Glute work!