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Long Hot Summer

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Nick Morris
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Mike MacLellan
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Post  Mike MacLellan Sat Jul 28, 2012 6:08 pm

Planned 2hr ride with a couple long tempo intervals turned into an hour and a half ride with a 14.5mi time trial in the middle, complete with a couple pace lines, and a heart rate that never dipped below 160bpm. Well, okay. I'm "peaking" in cycling anyway, so this probably wasn't too disastrous of a ride. Just one more high-intensity ride on the schedule, next Sunday, before I cut back for a couple weeks to start my 10k training.

All in all, that hurt, but felt good, but hurt.
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Post  Mike MacLellan Wed Aug 01, 2012 11:23 pm

6mi recovery + 4x strides on Saturday.
10mi easy/GA w/ a short tempo interval while pacing with a bike on Sunday.
5mi recovery on Monday.
4mi recovery + 4x 10sec hill sprints on Tuesday.
7mi GA tonight.

Didn't get a chance to run on the strip in Vegas - oh hey, I went to Vegas for 4 days - due to 3am bedtimes and 11am mornings, but hit the treadmill to keep the running going.

More on Vegas when I'm not so sleepy.
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Post  Mike MacLellan Thu Aug 02, 2012 8:37 pm

21mi on the bike after work today. 2k' climbing. I've been uploading my rides to Strava lately - happened to find the guy I pacelined with on Saturday, as Strava said that we did the ride together (cool!) - and got 4th overall best for a local climb today. I was shooting for a PR and with admittedly dead legs missed podiuming by just 1 second.

Intervals for the ride included 10-12min tempo, 5min VO2max (the climb), 12min threshold on rollers. 1hr12min total.
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Post  Mike MacLellan Sat Aug 04, 2012 11:38 am

Bad at following all your blogs. Gonna try to catch up this weekend. But here's a brief recap of my week, aside from the training:

I sent in a resume and cover letter to Competitor Magazine's EIC on Saturday. We've been emailing for over a month regarding a new Assistant Editor position opening up there. Followed up with an e-mail Thursday. Fingers crossed I'll hear back from him soon. Typical response time is 3-10 days, so...

Vegas was for the DeafNation World Expo. Huge, every-other-year week in which Deaf people from literally everywhere come and eat, drink, party, and hang out. I met Marlee Matlin, didn't lose any of my money, Aileen won 54 bucks playing 3 on a slot machine, and we saw Zumanity (and ate an amazing lobster spaghetti at Lavo). All in all, a very good trip. And I was very, very tired when I got home.

Worked Thursday and yesterday. Neither day was too bad; I've noticed that this time around, I'm much more mature and less privileged about the fact that I'm working. Before, I'd just say that I didn't want to do something if I didn't (hey, times were good and my dad was the boss, so there was always someone else around to do it), but now, after meeting quite a few laborers who are just stoked to be working despite making only 8 bucks an hour... my job and pay seem pretty damn good. So, I'm digging that change in the thought process. Also, it's making working for my dad a lot easier.

Breakfast is ready, so I guess I'll wrap it up here. Hope to see what you're all up to shortly.
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Post  Mike MacLellan Tue Aug 07, 2012 8:45 pm

I'm bad at this working+doing real life thing.

Brief recap:

6mi recovery run on Saturday, 4ish with Aileen. We "raced" up a .75mi hill. Girl's still got her speed. Then we watched Saw while house-sitting for my parents, made a batch of brownies, and ate half of them. Yep.

25mi bike ride Sunday. Wanted to meet up with a local group ride, but apparently the time on the website is wrong. So I went out for my own high-intensity ride. I felt like shit 12.5mi in, so I turned around and went home. Still hadn't recovered fully from the lack of sleep in Vegas. Barbecue at Aileen's sister's house with the whole family in the afternoon. Some deeeeeelicious fish tacos, lots of good beer, and a nap. And a swim, and a game of freeze tag. I passed out at 9:15.

7.5mi run after work yesterday. Was a reasonably hard day at work, but I was able to get in at least 5mi at GA pace (7:27 average, including the warmup) before Aileen showed up, then we did 20min together. She got some Brooks PureFlows over the weekend. She likes them. We grabbed Thai for dinner (pad thai with tofu + eggplant basil) and fro yo for dessert. Then headed to our respective homes.

4.75mi run after work today. Very strenuous day at work, but ultimately I feel pretty accomplished. Poured four footings (mixed 12 bags of concrete in a wheelbarrow; ugh) and framed columns on two of them. When my boss/dad/Dan showed up to check everything out at the end of the day, he brought out a digital level, held it to each of the vertical 2x4s, looked at me and said, "No one builds 90 degree walls, Mike." Every one of them was within .2 degrees of 90, with half of them on the dot. The run was recovery, and felt great.

Gonna do a ~2hr ride with Aileen and her neighbor after work tomorrow, and a run on Thursday.
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Post  Mark B Tue Aug 07, 2012 11:23 pm

Seems like I'm doing a pretty bad job of keeping up with your blog, Mike. Sorry about that!

Vegas sounds cool, the magazine job sounds interesting and the current paying gig with your dad seems pretty rewarding, too. Bet he smiled when he checked those footings. Talk about a plumb assignment. Wink

Anyhoo, I'm glad you're not hammering out the huge miles right now. I think your body will appreciate it.
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Post  Mike MacLellan Thu Aug 09, 2012 11:05 am

Not a problem, Mark. I know there's not too much exciting going on in this blog lately.

I finished framing the four columns at my jobsite yesterday and wrapped them all in plywood so they're ready for stucco. I really enjoyed yesterday's work. Nice to put my brain to use and watch when things come together and look nice.

---

I seem to have hit my cycling peak and let it pass - just a couple weeks ago, I was dying to get on the bike every day I could. Now? Over it. Just wanting to run, and run fast.

So last night, I did. I remembered the discussion about McMillan's Even Steven workout from a couple months ago - I think the consensus was that 10-8-6-4-2 was way too much for an "easy" workout - so I decided to cut all the numbers in half and run it just as an introduction to some speed work. It just so happened that this workout would fit perfectly into the 6.5mi route from Aileen's house to her sister's (where we would watch So You Think You Can Dance), so all the better.

I wanted to take the first couple intervals slightly conservative (MP @ 6:52 instead of 6:45, HMP @ not quite 6:24)... so after a pretty smooth-feeling 2mi warm-up, I pressed on the gas. Man, dropping from 8's to MP was tough. And holding it for 5min was tough. Definitely wasn't able to find the pace with any easy, so I yo-yoed a bit, running anywhere between 6:40 and 7:10. Overall, nailed the 6:52 average.
Legs were definitely in a bit of shock after that interval, but I decided to go for broke and dial it in for interval #2. Started at a 6:30 pace and ended at 6:24, all the while feeling pretty strong and much more comfortable finding the pace. Averaged 6:27 for that.
Third interval was supposed to be 10k pace, which will be somewhere between 6:00-6:03 for me this fall. Right now, probably closer to 6:08-6:11. For the first 2min, I was averaging 6:05 pace, then hit a freeway overpass and the average dropped to 6:11. I'll take it.
Fourth interval dialed in at 5k pace, averaging 5:52. Form started faltering on this one.
Last interval was mile pace, 5:11. My form definitely disintegrated during this interval, so it was more a function of "throwing hammers" and trying to keep my knees high than actually paying attention to pace. Still, with a McMillan prediction of a 5:10 mile, not bad.

So I'd say I nailed this workout, and after an almost-mile cool down, I didn't feel too fatigued at all. I'm not sure if this one will be helpful during my actual 10k training at all, but I'm thinking about doubling it (2 sets of 5-4-3-2-1, not 10-8-6-4-2) at some point just for kicks.

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Post  KathyK Thu Aug 09, 2012 12:43 pm

Nice workout, Mike!

About building, and your satisfaction with what you do...I understand that. In my profession, (IT project management), we don't often get to 'see' anything that is done. In many cases, my job is to keep things moving forward and between the ditches. I don't get to step back at the end of the day and LOOK at what I've done. So I go home and trim hedges or do yard work so I can see the end result of my work.
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Post  Alex Kubacki Thu Aug 09, 2012 2:49 pm

Nice set of intervals Mike. You'll get it going and then those paces will be easy to you.

Anything more from the magazine job?
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Post  Mike MacLellan Thu Aug 09, 2012 6:56 pm

Kathy - You're exactly right there. That's part of why I loathe lists of small tasks. There's no sense of accomplishment, looking back and seeing progress. You just see very minor changes that only you notice if you did them. I like knowing that buildings are standing because of me. What a Face

Alex - No word from the magazine. Sent another follow-up e-mail. I'm pretty sure I'll get an interview, but since the position STILL isn't listed on the website, I think I might just need to be patient for a little bit.

---

25mi on the bike with Aileen. Drove to Huntington Beach and headed south to Newport Back Bay. Around the bay and onto Balboa Island for a frozen banana (never had one dipped in chocolate - was strictly vegan last time I went). Aileen got rainbow sprinkles. I got chocolate sprinkles and peanuts. Her choice was better. Then back to HB to go to the beach. Very leisurely ride, with my average HR probably around 110. That's barely halfway up in my recovery zone.

Kind of in the mood to run tonight. We'll see.
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Post  Mike MacLellan Sun Aug 12, 2012 4:13 pm

Didn't run Thursday night.

Been off the healthy train for the last 4 days, so today's run hurt a bit. Yesterday was a nice and clippy 5mi (7:4x pace after the warm-up). Today was 6.5mi, also a bit clippy, but hurt. It was hot, humid, and my legs were zapped. Time to start taking care of my recovery a bit more.
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Post  Mark B Mon Aug 13, 2012 11:23 pm

I was about to say "nice job" on the speed workout, but it seems like it might have zapped you a little bit.

Then again, it has been pretty hot down there lately... so who knows? Still, I'd wait until I felt good again to hit the gas pedal again.
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Post  Mike MacLellan Tue Aug 14, 2012 9:10 am

Mark - I think it was more a function of the sudden heat than anything else. Body just isn't used to those temperatures and humidity anymore. But yes, speedwork has a history of leaving me a bit fatigued. I'll have to remember that come 10k time.

---

4mi + 5x 8sec hill sprints yesterday. The first was a bit longer, as it was an all-out uphill sprint between Aileen and I. We like racing What a Face . Run was in the low 80s and mostly shaded, so it felt much better than Sunday's.

---

No word on the job in SD yet, so I've been looking for a place in Sac. Many responses so far, so it looks like I'll be able to nail down a room within the week I get back. Phew. Speaking of a week... I probably head back in a week. Not ready. Not excited yet.
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Post  Mike MacLellan Thu Aug 16, 2012 9:28 am

Ran something on Tuesday. I forget what. Oh, that's right, it was 6.2 pretty-miserable miles in the heat/humidity. Trying to get the run done so I could come up to Aileen's. Nice guy, I am. The stress of impending separation got to us on Tuesday night and made for a late one.

Of course, I had to wake up at 5:30 yesterday after that "fun" discussion. Work was a rough one until I called out my boss/father for being a dick, at which point things seemed to improve. After work, back to Aileen's house. Vegged out most of the afternoon, took a nap... and started my run at 7:15. I like running at night, as long as I can motivate myself to do it.

Ran 6.5mi total, broken down as such: 2.0xmi warm, 5x Yasso 800s (3:05, 3:03, 3:02, 3:02, 3:00... Each of the intervals had some sort of barrier or weird sharp turn to navigate, so they were a little surge-y), .5mi cool. Once I found the pace, it wasn't bad. Though I was pretty tired by the last one. Followed up the run with an extra-bean burrito from Taco Bell What a Face, a pair of Blue Moons, and So You Think You Can Dance. Wow. Yassos completely drain my glycogen and amplify alcohol's effects. Good to know. At least the walk home from Aileen's sister's house took care of some of the buzz.

I'm tired. Must be leaving soon.
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Post  Mike MacLellan Thu Aug 16, 2012 8:52 pm

So, now that I've uploaded and looked at yesterday's run... I run 800's funny. First and 3rd minute are fast (5-8k pace), 2nd is slow (15k pace). Need to work on keeping a consistent pace. Note to self.

---

Last day of work today. Was very bittersweet... I've really enjoyed working for my dad the last month or so. We shook hands, had mutually good things to say to one another, and then got frustrated trying to install new doors in a wall I didn't frame. Ugh. Alas, by the time 3:30 rolled around, we were just chatting and waiting for the inspector.

Got home and ran 4mi recovery + 6x 8sec hill sprints. Didn't look at the watch once until right around mile 4 to make sure I got them all in What a Face. Felt pretty good, strong, but could tell I worked hard yesterday.

---

Since Sunday "officially" begins my 10k training and I move Tuesday, I'll be starting a new blog next week. Thanks all for following this one while it lasted.
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Post  Mark B Thu Aug 16, 2012 9:20 pm

Ah, transitions. It sounds like, all in all, you had a good summer.

The fall build-up to a 10K ought to be fun to watch. Good luck!
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Post  Chris M Thu Aug 16, 2012 10:34 pm

It will really really help you to run the Yassos at a track. Try and find a HS not too far away. Its roughly 5k pace and very good practice to dial that in again and again for 2 laps. Sometimes it will take 2 repeats to get it right but then I'll typically go through a stretch where every 200 is within a second of each other. But I highly recommend doing that at a track over any kind of road course.

What's your 10K PR? It better be down in the 3X:XX range or [insert mean comment about your sandbagging race times]. 38:59 is a relatively random target I picked out of thin air for you that seems very doable right now and you probably could go lower soon.

Which reminds me....my 10k PR sucks. I need to go find one of those this Fall. When will your race be? I should look to do one around the same time.
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Post  Mike MacLellan Fri Aug 17, 2012 2:13 am

Mark - I'm going to keep it sane, I hope. So far my plan peaks at 50mi with most in the 40mi range. I'm going to see how comfortable that is with the extra speed/tempo work before tacking on more miles, but I'm open to more if my body can handle it.

Chris - 38:25. That was a time trial, not a race, and with little-to-no specific training. I'm shooting for 37:12-37:37. I know it's super ambitious, but 6:45 marathon splits (I think I'm capable of training to that right now) equate to the high end of that range (according to McMillan), and the low end is even 6's. So... it just seemed like a good range. I'll be training in that range and hoping for the best, anyway. I'm going to run a Thanksgiving race. After that, my training and diet go to hell anyway, so it's appropriate.
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Post  Chris M Fri Aug 17, 2012 9:27 pm

Wow, your 10K ambitions are way above mine right now. Your Yassos the other day were not fast enough, frankly. 10k pace is not nearly fast enough for them. Hit 2:50-2:55 next time.
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Post  Mike MacLellan Sat Aug 18, 2012 10:30 am

Duly noted. I started each at a 5:40-5:50 pace before going "whoa, that was way too fast" and easing up. So next time, I'll just hold onto the pace.
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