A Great Rise to 50 (Redux)

Mark - Yeah, just in that mental slump of same routes, too many solo miles, blah blah.  Variety is what's helping right now.

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1hr last night with a group who call themselves the Wolf Pack.  Run started at 6pm and explored the icy trails of Great Falls Park.  Aileen joined, as well.  We ended up getting 5mi in, which was the most you could reasonably do without risking serious slips and falls.  Lots of howling (and other animal noises) from the group during the run.  I'll probably start joining them more often, as the social aspect (an Irish pub every Wednesday night?!) seems to be pretty serious, too.

Snow day means government is on a 2hr delay, so my morning jobs were cancelled.  Unfortunately, I haven't heard back about any possible rerouting, so I can't sneak out for a run yet.  Wish I had a treadmill (or access to one!) right about now.

A wolf pack in DC? Whodathunkit?

Nice job finding ways to spice up the variety. Do you have a trainer stand for your bike? That'd be a decent stand-in for a TM on days like this.

Unfortunately, I left it in CA.  I'd used it a few times in Sac and really, it's an awful experience...  So I'm not sure I'd use it more than once or twice here, anyway.  

Was never able to sneak out ("Keep your phone nearby all day" - at least I'm paid for it), so I did some bodyweight squats (4x12), one-legged deadlifts (4x8-10 each leg), and box jumps (4x12) as super sets.  That at least put a little burn in the legs.

Mike, if you get your trainer for your bike back, try using TrainerRoad.  It is an on-line set of workouts that give you real-time feedback on your effort and can be a lot of (quasi-painful) fun.  It's need because you can see your progression of cycling efforts in an objective (power) measure.  And because you are following the working with on-screen feedback all the way, the rides are a lot less mind-numbing than doing nothing or watching a movie.

Tom - To get power readings, wouldn't I need a power meter?  I'm not sure they'd be able to extrapolate based on RPE   Although, my next "luxury toy" buy is going to be one of those crank-based meters.  Just waiting for them to get to ~$300 (currently there's one for sale for $400).

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1hr easy this morning.  30 degrees, which was warm enough for me to lose the arm warmers and unzip my jacket's armpits (love those vents), and gloves towards the end.  My legs are surprisingly cognizant of yesterday's workout - not sore, but definitely responsive - which made the risers at the end of my run a good exercise in trying to activate each muscle group.  A form check, if you will.

7.2mi total.

23.3mi today, or at least something around there.  Watch died at 18.1, so I'm basing that mileage total on MapMyRun.

Ran "with" the DC Road Runners today.  Quotations because I was being very strict about HR (145 bpm) and got dropped pretty early on only to watch as they steadied into a pace just a smidgen faster than mine and some of them faded and fell behind even me.  So it was really a solo run.  

Headed up the Capital Crescent trail, which is a new one for me.  Nice easy uphill going north, which made the back half zippy (7:30s and :40s) before leveling out again.  Fought off a bonk from mile 12-16, during which I ran out of water, too.  

Decided to keep things interesting by starting a comfortably hard fast finish at mile 18... then the watch died.  So I ran by feel, trying to find that "nearing the end of a marathon" effort level, until I was close to home.  Turns out that was a 4.5mi segment at 7:16 average pace.

.7mi cool down got me home.  ~3hr10min.

Mike MacLellan wrote:Tom - To get power readings, wouldn't I need a power meter?  I'm not sure they'd be able to extrapolate based on RPE   Although, my next "luxury toy" buy is going to be one of those crank-based meters.  Just waiting for them to get to ~$300 (currently there's one for sale for $400).

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1hr easy this morning.  30 degrees, which was warm enough for me to lose the arm warmers and unzip my jacket's armpits (love those vents), and gloves towards the end.  My legs are surprisingly cognizant of yesterday's workout - not sore, but definitely responsive - which made the risers at the end of my run a good exercise in trying to activate each muscle group.  A form check, if you will.

7.2mi total.

TrainerRoad actually uses an algorithm to create what they call virtual power, and have done quite a bit of work to test against actual power meters to see how accurate, and I want to say it is within 2-3%.  The important thing is that it is a consistent measure so that as you improve your fitness, you see your power numbers creep up.  Check out their website for a better explanation of how they do it at http://www.trainerroad.com/virtual-power.  Of course this only works when you are on the trainer, but I've found it to be a really good tool.

Tom - Makes sense, but if I were to be willing to spend $100/yr on a website, I'd probably already have a power meter.  And a Strava premium account.  Or I'd be on Zwift.  

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16.25mi in "light freezing rain/ice pellets/snow" this morning.  I had sort of planned on 3-4hr, but made the mistake of stopping by home to refill my water and grab some food...  Which meant all the ice that had frozen on my jacket/gloves/hat thawed and became cold water.  After heading back out (this was only 9mi in), cold turned to wet and cold which turned to miserable.  I bagged the run at 13.25mi.  Walked in the door to Aileen trying to convince me to stay out and finish the planned time, but I wasn't going to budge.  I did give in to run her 3mi with her, which made the total of 16.25.  That last 3 was extra cold and I was happy to be done.

1300' gain/loss in the first 13.25mi with an average HR of 138 or so.  Very low, which was the plan.  A good discipline day.

Well, I may need to pick up some screws at Home Depot today to make a pair of ice shoes.  Spent nearly an hour slip sliding along this morning.  Beautiful, sunny, and "warm" (35), but with the pattern of above-below freezing, our snow is turning to thin, slick ice.  Good hip flexor workout, I guess, though I'm not sure it's what they wanted after this weekend's efforts.

6.25mi total.

Got the screws and made some ice shoes.  Also took my bike in for a tune up and drive train cleaning.  Then went to Trader Joe's and got salami, cheese, a baguette, and wine.  Last night felt like summer (inside, looking outside), and made me excited for warmer temps.

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9.5x mi today w/ 4x 10min tempo intervals.  The first 2 were relatively flat - c'mon legs, wake up, bring up that turnover.  The last two included the usual hill and somehow loosened up my calves enough to stop the front of my shins from being sore.  I guess I figured out the solution, so that's good.

Mike MacLellan wrote:Well, I may need to pick up some screws at Home Depot today to make a pair of ice shoes.  Spent nearly an hour slip sliding along this morning.  Beautiful, sunny, and "warm" (35), but with the pattern of above-below freezing, our snow is turning to thin, slick ice.  Good hip flexor workout, I guess, though I'm not sure it's what they wanted after this weekend's efforts.

6.25mi total.

I battled the ice during a couple runs earlier this winter...before our unexpected spring-like weather arrived.  The shoes with screws were the only thing that gave me the confidence to even attempt to run in those conditions.  It definitely uses different muscles in different ways than running on dry pavement!

The weather here changed very shortly after I got my shoes set up...maybe getting set up for icy running conditions is like washing your car and making it rain.

You could be on to something, Nancy.  It was almost 50 today.  Then again, we're to get 4-10" snow tonight/all day tomorrow and that will result in another "shitty icy mess."  Also, it caused my 50k this weekend to be postponed 2 weeks, which is fine, given that I planned on 30 that day anyway.

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7.1 this morning in an hour.  Legs are a little beat up from yesterday's tempo efforts, but nothing too horrible.  It's finally getting light earlier only to have daylight savings ruin it on Sunday.  Oh well, at least the t-shirt and shorts were a nice change of pace.

Mike MacLellan wrote:Got the screws and made some ice shoes.  Also took my bike in for a tune up and drive train cleaning.  Then went to Trader Joe's and got salami, cheese, a baguette, and wine.  Last night felt like summer (inside, looking outside), and made me excited for warmer temps.

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9.5x mi today w/ 4x 10min tempo intervals.  The first 2 were relatively flat - c'mon legs, wake up, bring up that turnover.  The last two included the usual hill and somehow loosened up my calves enough to stop the front of my shins from being sore.  I guess I figured out the solution, so that's good.

how did the shoes work?  Did that one.  Loved em.

I actually haven't used them, since all the ice is gone.  Then again, we're getting 3-10" of snow today, depending who you believe, so I'm sure we'll have ice in a week.

Mike MacLellan wrote:I actually haven't used them, since all the ice is gone.  Then again, we're getting 3-10" of snow today, depending who you believe, so I'm sure we'll have ice in a week.

Wouldn't be surprised, given what sort of temperatures they're predicting...

...WIND CHILL ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 AM EST FRIDAY...

* WIND CHILL...5 BELOW EAST OF THE BLUE RIDGE...5 TO TO 12 BELOW
WEST.

* TEMPERATURES...SINGLE DIGITS...AS LOW AS 5 BELOW ON RIDGES.

* WINDS...NORTHWEST 5 TO 10 MPH.

* IMPACTS...LOW WIND CHILLS MAY LEAD TO FROSTBITE AND
HYPOTHERMIA.

Brr.

Hey Mike, Just checking in.  How are things going?  Hang in there man, I think this weather is going to break in the next week and we'll start having some glorious spring weather.  Actually, I don't know if you're going to be able to take advantage of your new ice shoes.  Anyway, I hope everything is going well.

Tim - If I were to quantify my running lately, I'd say physically it's at a 7/10, mentally at a 4-5/10.  Motivation is still severely lacking, even though most runs are going very well.  Other than my right IT band, which will be explained below.

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7.1mi in 1hr+ today.  Job was cancelled, so I got to sleep in (until 7:45, woo!), lounge around, and take my time getting ready to run.  A nice change of pace.  Terrain was 1/3 ice/icy snow, 1/3 packed snow, and 1/3 asphalt.  I used the new ice shoes and they worked well, though the asphalt chewed up the screws a little bit.  Still, effective and cheap.

My right IT band bothered me a bit today at my knee.  It started to speak up after my run Wednesday, and was a little cranky yesterday while walking to Starbucks (which was, of course, closed due to snow).  It yelped at me once or twice during today's run but had mostly gone away by the time I was headed back home.  Seems to dislike flat/downhill, but I'm not sure if that's due to the angle or the pace.  Uphill at 8:30ish pace it didn't mind at all.  Will stretch and keep an eye on it.

3hr today.  We'll just put that number up instead of the mileage.  Okay, okay, it was a measly 14mi.  What?!  Yeah, with 6" of powder and trailblazing most of the loop the first time around, we averaged 15min/mi at an effort level that was more like 9-10min/mi.  First loop averaged that 15min/mi, second was 12min/mi.  A marked improvement, but still pretty slow.  IT band was unhappy for a short bit at the beginning of loop 2, but that went away.

A much more pleasant 3hr today.  Got off to an iffy start, with the right knee feeling pretty wonky by mile 2, but fortunately that was short-lived and felt much better by 4 or so.  Ran into Kevin at just over 5, so he turned to join me.  We ended up running the next 9 together, taking in the beautiful morning on Hains Point before taking the adventurous route back to Columbia Heights via 16th St NE.  

I hit a bit of a bonk at mile 13, but a gel at 14 (and dropping down into Rock Creek after climbing for 2mi) brought the life back to my legs.  Ran out of water shortly thereafter, so the HR started climbing steadily as the miles continued on, but I got in a good 21 and change when all was said and done.

The IT band niggle has moved to the back of the knee, and is effectively targeted through both a gastrocnemius and hamstring stretch.  Should be fine.

Right knee was tight and grumpy today for most the day, particularly when descending stairs/hills.  Definitely ITBS.  Ran after work with Aileen, which turned out to be fine for an afternoon run.  Temp was around 60, nice and springtime-y, with a strong breeze.  Knee really got upset about halfway through the run, and didn't really enjoy the latter part, but after a good stretch of everything when I got home, it's now fine.  Zero discomfort whatsoever.  I dunno.  

Tomorrow won't be the usual tempo - I'll save that for this weekend, if the knee feels better.  We'll just go for an easy hour.

1hr with a progressive finish at moderate pace.  Just a slight niggle in the knee, but it never got much worse than what I'd describe as a weak feeling + an itch.  Weird sensation.  From mile 4.5-6.5, ran at a moderate/GA pace with a couple minutes of harder effort on the last little kicker before getting home.  

7.3mi total.

Hey Mike, Just checking in.

I'm happy to read that your ITB issue seems to be fading and is becoming a thing of the past.  Just stay vigilant with the stretches if that is what is helping you.  Don't fall into the trap that many do and get lazy only to have their issues resurface.  Only 5 weeks to the 50.

The weather is improving here and the snow is almost gone.  I hope you're experiencing the break in weather too.  It's pretty exciting to put the winter misery behind us and start our spring time training.

Happy Training

Tim - You're making sure I don't drop out, aren't you?    

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4.4mi with 6x 8sec hill sprints today.  Wanted to get some miles in before work, since my usual job was cancelled and my schedule is kind of up in the air.  Not 100% sure I'll make it out to the group run tonight, but it's at least looking like a 95% certainty. 

ITB is 90% better.  No pain or discomfort on the knee itself, but some weird residual muscular stuff on my shin.  Stretches are working really well to take care of this, though.  

Along the lines of Tim's comments, yes, the weather is SO FRIGGIN' NICE.  Monday afternoon's run was close to 60, yesterday morning was in the low 40s, this morning 45 and overcast.  Supposed to hit 60-65 this afternoon.  My brother said it was 70 in Minnesota yesterday.  

Should have a pretty easy hour this evening with the group and Aileen.

4.7mi at Great Falls last night.  Welp, we found the culprit for the ITB - hills.  Particularly steep descents.  My knee was all sorts of unhappy after that one.  Again, though, after a stretch and about 10 minutes, it felt fine.  Feels fine today.  I guess it's flatflatflat for a little while.

Be careful with that ITB, Mike. You want to be healthy enough for that 50 coming up.

You might want to see if your vastus medialis is doing its job. A lot of knee wonkiness can be attributed to weakness in that area. It provides a lot of support at that joint, especially on hills.