Days of the Phoenix

You guys are just worrywarts - it was 95% humidity here this morning...  

Spoiler:

5mi with 8x 30-30s @ vVO2max (5:57 goal pace)...  Yeah, that was funny.  I have no concept of that pace, apparently.  Or maybe I do, since the ones I ran by feel were at a 6:02ish pace (even though my watch told me 6:15 during the workout), so I hammered the next couple and ran 5:35 pace.  Such is life.  I think I'll head to a track next time instead of a 1mi lake loop.  Easier to gauge ~135m when you can see it in relation to a lap.  

Overall, a good introduction back to speedwork, a good reminder that I have no top gear, and a good note to self for an area of improvement.

8mi this morning.  My left calf/ankle wasn't stoked about yesterday's antics - that's the shin splint that I've been dealing with off and on for over a year... it'd finally gone away - but not enough to concern me.  Ave HR 142, pace 8:43, 500' gain/loss overall.  

Started planning our roadtrip back east...  Looks like we'll be going through Chicago/Indiana/Ohio...  Which means there are at least 3 people I expect to hear from.  Ahem.

You should try to end up in St. Louis.  I can point you in the direction of delicious and hoppy beer.

mul21 wrote:You should try to end up in St. Louis.  I can point you in the direction of delicious and hoppy beer.

They make beer in St. Louis?  Whoda thunk it? 

Mike MacLellan wrote:You guys are just worrywarts - it was 95% humidity here this morning...  

Spoiler:

Oh, the INDIGNITY of it all!!!!  You poor thing.  Good thing you're getting acclimated, now!

ounce wrote:

mul21 wrote:You should try to end up in St. Louis.  I can point you in the direction of delicious and hoppy beer.

They make beer in St. Louis?  Whoda thunk it? 

This however, is not the beer you usually think of when St. Louis is mentioned.  That stuff is watered down crap.

Well I'm guessing you are headed through southern Ohio and well, I live in NE Ohio on Lake Erie. However, if you are taking a northern rout and heading across I90, I'm less than a mile from the highway. You may however. Goose the Ohio turnpike (I80) and I'm about 4 miles from the I90/I80 split. You guys are more than welcome to stop/stay for as long as needed. Not sure of your timing and route -just let me know.

I need to be in western NY state on the 20th of June but I can still make sure you can get in if it is after that. Again, dele dung on the dates, I can arrange my schedule.

And we have good beer in Cleveland. http://www.greatlakesbrewing.com/home

Suddenly the focus of this trip has become beer.  This is appropriate, given the arguments we've been having over me bringing my homebrew stuff.  Then again, the sum of possessions I want to bring include my bike, clothes, homebrew, computer, and bed.  I'm sure Aileen will be thrilled we're going to get beers in every city.  And that I'm running every day.  Hey, I'll be approaching my peak month, after all.  

Jim, Chicago is the one city we're still undecided on, simply due to cost.  The majority of our nights will be in campgrounds, with a hotel or motel every few days to really get clean and try to sleep decently, but Chicago so far hasn't fit into our "let's be frugal" mentality.  If it weren't for the youngin'(s), I'd probably ask Schuey, but there's no way I'm going to impose that much on a young family where they're at.  So, if we take the "southern" route, we'll probably be coming through St. Louis.  

Michele, we're talking what, 100-150mi out of the way?  I think seeing my running mom is worth it.   I'll keep you posted on details.

I think I was woefully naive in imagining the next 2 months to be any type of true vacation.  I had a screening for an agency out in DC yesterday (went well/representative of my abilities), have been semi-planning this trip for a few days now, have a laundry list of things to do/people to contact/etc., and we still have no place to live... and now, no place to stay, since our previous plans didn't work out.  Oh, and I got a $40 ticket for parking on Aileen's street during street sweeping day.  Okay, white people problems.  Gotta keep perspective, but man, I wanted at least a week or two to disconnect... and I can't even run to day; planned off day.

EDIT:  I ran today.  2.7mi recovery.  Just had to get out and do something; too beautiful to sit inside all day.

Well, depending on your timing, I may be able to offer lodging.  Let me know what your schedule is if you end up on the southern route.

Will keep that in mind.  Thanks

6mi easy today.  Pace was just about on par with my recent MAF test (low 8s), but HR was 2-3bpm lower (150), so, good...?

My whole lower leg(s) are a little tight today.  The whole tibialis anterior flexion thing.  It seems to always do that when I move from hillier routes to flat ground.

Mmm. Beer. Pity you weren't able to take the Mike 'n' Aileen Tour 2014 through Brewtopia (aka Portland, though I still don't understand why the hipsters chug PBRs when so much good brew is available...).

Similar pace to a MAF test with a slightly lower HR is good. Though you could keep the MAF heart rate and run a little faster next time, maybe...

Mark, maybe if we get really bored and decide to take off for a week or two this summer...

10.1mi today.  HR was a little on the high side, and me constantly monitoring it only made it worse.  As did cyclists who don't comprehend that runners run against traffic.  C'mon people, this is a recreational, multi-use trail.  I understand that your paceline is really important, but if it were any sort of real paceline, you'd be calling out hazards to each other.  Sigh.  Anyway, once I ignored the HR and just ran by feel, it really didn't rise all that much, and hovered nicely for an average of 145, which was my goal.

Want to send a huge congrats/shout out to Tim Miller for completing his first 100.  Maybe it's because of Wendy's incessant Facebook updating during the race, but I felt like that one was a pretty monumental occasion.

5.6mi recovery, nice and easy and boring, yesterday.  One of those runs that you only do because you're a runner and you're training and sometimes, you just have to go obnoxiously slow.  But really, it was kind of enjoyable.  Cool and damp and overcast.

7.5mi on rollers today.  Mainly by effort, but noticed the HR was nicely in the low 150s...  Hey Mark, are you sure I can run this fast?  The effort was definitely "easy" and felt smooth, but it felt fast.  I hammered 2nd to last hill (.3mi @ 6-7%) just because I felt good and wanted to let the legs rip a bit.  

I've decided against pursuing the vVO2max workouts for now.  I'm still feeling residual meh in my calf from the shin splints last week caused.  Maybe fartleks + strides + 8sec hill sprints will help my economy in the meantime.

6mi recovery pace with Aileen today.  "I died," she says, hanging her head.  She did fine.  It was warm and sunny and mostly pleasant.

Mike MacLellan wrote:5.6mi recovery, nice and easy and boring, yesterday.  One of those runs that you only do because you're a runner and you're training and sometimes, you just have to go obnoxiously slow.  But really, it was kind of enjoyable.  Cool and damp and overcast.

7.5mi on rollers today.  Mainly by effort, but noticed the HR was nicely in the low 150s...  Hey Mark, are you sure I can run this fast?  The effort was definitely "easy" and felt smooth, but it felt fast.  I hammered 2nd to last hill (.3mi @ 6-7%) just because I felt good and wanted to let the legs rip a bit.  

I've decided against pursuing the vVO2max workouts for now.  I'm still feeling residual meh in my calf from the shin splints last week caused.  Maybe fartleks + strides + 8sec hill sprints will help my economy in the meantime.

Watch it using the 'obnoxiously slow' term.  I have that trademarked as part of the Obnoxiously Slow Distance Runners Club.  I'll have my attorney from the law firm of Dewey, Cheatham, and Howe contact you.  

Saw your question about Schuey's fartlek run and when I went back and looked at the details, I had to laugh as it was/is similar to a workout that I adapted from when I used McMillan training back in 2004.  I actually love the workout as it is "speedwork" in total disguise.  My typical fartlek workout is very similar where I warm up for 20-25 minutes and then I do 8-10 x 1 min at 5-10K pace with 1 min VERY slow in between followed by a cool down of 20-25 minutes.  I do this workout a lot in the beginning of a training session and I'll also do it during a recovery week as it is speed but not really.

Also meant to ask about your timing on your move????

Oz - I had to look that reference up. I'm ashamed. Shoulda known it.

Michele - I think the part that gets me in trouble is trying to hit a pace during speedwork. That's when I get on my toes and start to hammer, realize I'm in the mid 4s, and get shin splints the next day. I'll try an effort based one next week.

Move timing - sometime around Aug 5-8 we'd be in your neck of the woods. It depends if we go to St Paul to see my brother, and for how long. I will get you details as soon as I have them, even if it's just for a run.

Ok, just let me know as I'll have to head back to CLE for the days as western NY is way out of the way unless you are being adventurous.  I'm also running HTC which is the end of the month (August) and then taking my daughter to school, so I want to make sure all the timing works

We are in the western 'burbs of Chicago.

I'll keep that in mind, Jim.

Michele - Aileen does want to see Niagara falls... I will know details as soon as our leaving date is set in stone.

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8.5mi easy/some GA in the "heat" yesterday. All in all, a good run. My parents had left to take our last remaining dog to the vet before my run, and when they were gone for an hour, I realized he wasn't coming back. Weve been expecting it for a while, he was 16.5yo, but it was still a weird sensation to not know if my first dog was still alive during my run. My dad and I are going to run their old weekend route on Sunday in memorium. RIP, Rebel.

Mike MacLellan wrote:I'll keep that in mind, Jim.

Michele - Aileen does want to see Niagara falls... I will know details as soon as our leaving date is set in stone.

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8.5mi easy/some GA in the "heat" yesterday. All in all, a good run. My parents had left to take our last remaining dog to the vet before my run, and when they were gone for an hour, I realized he wasn't coming back. Weve been expecting it for a while, he was 16.5yo, but it was still a weird sensation to not know if my first dog was still alive during my run. My dad and I are going to run their old weekend route on Sunday in memorium. RIP, Rebel.

Wow, what a feeling that must've been.  I had a similar one when I was in high school, when coming around the corner of the house and to not see our dog's face sticking through the gate was very odd.  RIP, Rebel.

Mike MacLellan wrote:I'll keep that in mind, Jim.

Michele - Aileen does want to see Niagara falls... I will know details as soon as our leaving date is set in stone.

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8.5mi easy/some GA in the "heat" yesterday. All in all, a good run. My parents had left to take our last remaining dog to the vet before my run, and when they were gone for an hour, I realized he wasn't coming back. Weve been expecting it for a while, he was 16.5yo, but it was still a weird sensation to not know if my first dog was still alive during my run. My dad and I are going to run their old weekend route on Sunday in memorium. RIP, Rebel.

Well, the Niagara Falls thing I can accommodate as I am 1.5 hrs from Niagara all summer!   I'm about 25 min south of I90 at exit 60 into western NY and we go to Niagara Falls at least 1x per summer! It is really a cool site especially the Canadian falls.

Oz - Yeah, I had a similar thing coming around the corner and seeing that my dad's truck was still there, meaning he hadn't gone back to work.  Rebel was his first real man's-best-friend dog.  

Michele - This is starting to sound more and more like a good ol' family vacation!

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House is eerily quiet.  Not like Rebel did much in the last 2 years of his life (hell, I said goodbye to him when I went to Italy, which was before I even started running)...  But sometimes you'd hear his tags jingle, or something.  Also, all the gates/barriers in the house have come down, doors are opened more...  It's weird.  

Also, BOOOOOOOOOO KINGS.  And Aileen is unhappy about the Spain game.  But that header was amazing.  That's all for sports.

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Running!  Yes, that's happening, too.  6.5mi planned today, 6.9mi run.  Went to my ooooooold mountain bike stomping grounds, a little regional park with a 6-ish mile loop (up up up up up, down down down down down).  Started at the top by taking a back access road and WOW my quads aren't used to that kind of pounding.  -10% gradient for 2/3mi followed by -4% for almost a mile followed by -3% for another one.  Basically the same thing going back up the other side.  Fortunately, no joint discomfort or even muscular soreness afterward, but my extra winter weight is definitely noticeable on terrain like that.  Oof.