Category Archives:

Closer

0, 09mi

Start time: 6/10/07, 8:00am
Location: Capital Crescent Trail, C&O Canal Towpath, and Georgetown
Distance: 9 miles
Run:Walk Ratio: 8.5:1
Average pace: 9:40min/mile

Last week I’d said my plan for this weekend was to shift up one group to the 10min/mile group, but I’d found out the day before that a 9:30min/mile group existed. I’d been feeling good, so I decided, why not? Chris was starting to shift up one group as well, and Zack had been out sick so decided to shift down a tiny bit to get back up to speed. We joined the three regulars in the 9:30 group; Ben, Steve, and PWNICR (Person Whose Name I Can’t Remember), who warned us that sometimes their 9:30s were a little… slower. Chris and Zack and I found ourselves continually pulling ahead; the times we tried and stay with the others, we were definitely going a little slower. We finally gave up and let ourselves pull ahead, which worked well since the other three guys ended up turning around early anyway. Once it was just us, though, we hit our marks every mile and took the last mile in fast (per Fred) which felt great. A nice run!

Oh, and for my first time on the C&O Canal Towpath? So far, not a fan. Perhaps it’ll get better/easier, but I don’t like the shifting of the gravel, or getting rocks in my shoes. I know the softer surface is supposed to be good for you, but… hmph.

Next week I’ll be down in Wilmington, but will try and squeeze in my 10-miler down there. We shall see!

Back up to speed?

0, 04mi, gym

Start time: 6/8/07, 6:30pm
Location: Thomas Jefferson Community Center
Distance: 4 miles
Average pace: 8:53min/mile

I didn’t run VO2 Max runs on Friday because I knew I wasn’t up for it. Instead I went for what was supposed to be on my “off weeks”—in this case a 35-minute 9min/mile. It was in the mid-to-high-90s on Friday so I ran it on the gym’s track, which worked out pretty well. My splits were 9:01, 8: 50, 8:48, and 8:55. Only the vaguest of soreness, which was a very good sign. I’ll take no chances and this Sunday’s 9-miler will probably be with the 10min group instead of the 9min group, but provided that goes well I should be back up to my full steam next week. Yay!

(Afterwards, I used the weights for a bit and then realized I was running late and that Charlie might possibly make it to the apartment before I did. Oops.)

Back to the LTRs

0, 02mi, lactate threshold run

Start time: 6/5/07, 7:00pm
Location: McLean High School
Distance: ~2 miles
Average pace: 9:30min/mile & 7:00min/mile

The idea on Tuesday was to get back into the LTRs. My schedule said 8 reps, but I ended up doing 4 strong ones and started but didn’t finish a 5th. Considering how long it had been, I was pretty pleased. Ended up walking my cooldown instead of running it, but it was still all good.

Darn Toe

0, 03mi, 08mi

Start time: 5/31/07, 9:00pm
Location: Arlington Boulevard Trail
Distance: 3 miles
Average pace: 9:15min/mile

Start time: 6/3/07, 8:00am
Location: Capital Crescent Trail and Georgetown
Distance: 8 miles
Run:Walk Ratio: 10:1
Average pace: 11:00min/mile

So! When we last left off over in this journal, I was getting ready to take some time off from running due to an injury. I saw an orthopaedist and he diagnosed the pain as being a “strained achilles mechanism” which consists of the three muscles in my lower calf. He sent me off to physical therapy, which I started on May 30th. There, the physical therapist did a thorough look over and said, “I think I’ve found your problem. Did you know the big toe on your left foot isn’t flexible?”

Yeah, I know. Not the response I was expecting. Apparently while my right toe can move up about 60 degrees, the left toe gets about a 30 degree range of motion. As a result, when I run I lift my left heel much faster than I should be in order to compensate, and that’s putting a strain on those muscles in my left calf. (Which would explain why all three injuries have been in the left calf and never my right one.) She told me to go out running on Thursday and see how it felt, just 3-5 miles. That run went ok, with a little stiffness and soreness around mile 3. Unfortunately, my dinner did not cooperate with me and I had to stop a mile short of my planned 4 miles, in order to keep from heaving my dinner up all over Arlington Boulevard. (Don’t worry, I didn’t.)

I reported back and she gave me some calf stretches (while still working on the toe) and said it was ok to run this Sunday if I took it easy. Well, I’d already planned on running slower until I got that back up again anyway, so it gave me a great opportunity to run with Julie once again, yay! As an added bonus, Doug was running a recovery run with us. So it was a really nice run in a bit of a drizzle, but nothing to complain about. The 11:00 group takes a one-minute walk break at each mile marker, which was a great way to get back into the swing of things (I wholeheartedly approve). Best of all? No pain while running whatsoever. This gives me hope!

Two fast work-outs

0, 03mi, lactate threshold run, vo2 max

Start time: 5/11/07, 6:00pm
Location: McLean High School
Distance: ~3.25 miles
Average pace: 9:30min/mile & 6:20min/mile

Start time: 5/15/07, 6:00pm
Location: McLean High School
Distance: ~3.7 miles
Average pace: 9:30min/mile & 7:00min/mile

Last Friday was my first VO2 Max run, which was like last Tuesday’s Lactate Threshold Run… only faster. Well, that was the idea. Laura and I did it together again, but we were never able to nail our projected 6:00min/mile pace. We were always about 5 seconds off at the quarter mile mark, which actually places us around a 6:20min/mile pace. Still, not bad for four 2-minute bursts of speed the first time out of the gate.

Then, yesterday, was the return of the LTRs, but with 6 2-minute reps instead of just 4. That went really well… aside from the lower-calf problems I’ve been having for a few weeks with a general soreness/stiffness. I suspect that I’m going to have to take a couple of weeks off and see if that does the trick, as frustrating as it is. (It’s really hurting today, which is not good.) I’d rather have to take time off now than right before the marathon. *sigh* Not happy.

Off-Tempo

0, 02mi, tempo

Start time: 5/10/07, 7:30pm
Location: Arlington Boulevard Trail
Distance: 2.50 miles
Average pace: 8:12min/mile

Thursday’s scheduled run was a Tempo run, which for me is supposed to be at an 8:30min/mile pace. I plotted out a route where I knew every half-mile marker, and set out to see how I would do. Unfortunately, for the second time in the past week or so, I’d neglected allergy medicine. I at least had taken a morning dose but I’m so not used to needing a late-afternoon/early-evening dose that it keeps slipping off my radar until it’s too late. My head felt like it was packed in cotton and it was extremely uncomfortable at best to run. I finally gave up with half a mile to go, because I just felt horrible; it was hard to breathe and really unpleasant. On the bright side, while I started off a little too fast (oops) I’d done a pretty good job of hitting each half mile around the 4:15 mark; the exact times were 3:46, 4:01, 4:14, 4:08, 4:18. Next time, hopefully, I’ll be a little wiser when it comes to the Allegra.

Spring In My Step

0, 03mi, lactate threshold run

Start time: 5/8/07, 6:00pm
Location: McLean High School
Distance: ~3 miles
Average pace: 9:30min/mile & 7:00min/mile

Yesterday, Laura and I ran the first of our “Lactate Threshold Runs” which involve short bursts of running at a faster pace, with slight breaks between them. The schedule was as follows:

10 minute warm-up jog
4 2-minute bursts at a 7:00min/mile pace, separated by a 1-2 minute walk
10 minute cool-down jog

We headed over to McLean High School to use their track, since it’s nice and flat, has no traffic, and is easy to figure out distance since it’s a quarter-mile loop. So we did the warm-up, then headed around for our first lap. At our correct pace, we should run one lap in 1:45, with 15 more seconds to go. So we took off along its wonderful bouncy surface (I do love new tracks) and the first loop was done in… 1:30. That’s a 6min/mile pace. Oops! We were more on track for the others, though, and Laura was a great person to run with.

Once we were done (amidst the occasion dodging of the women’s soccer team which was setting up for a game), we hit our warm down jog for another mile, then headed on out. A good time! As the LTRs continue we’ll be having additional loops to do, but for now it was a nice start.

I need to find me a 5K race!

0, 03mi

Start time: 5/6/07, 8:00am
Location: Capital Crescent Trail
Distance: 3 miles
Average pace: 7:55min/mile

Empowered & Fit started their training season this morning; I’ll be doing some assistant coaching this season but on the days I’m not, I’ll be out there running. So, it was time trial morning where you figure out what group you’ll be in. I was in the first group to head out, and while I wasn’t the first one to finish (that was Andreas with his 6min/miles… good lord…) I was quite pleased to knock out a 23:46, which means that on my training days I’ll be with the 9min/mile group. I’m happy with that. Even better, on the days I’m running on Sundays, I’ll get to do so with Laura and Dave and Paul and the rest. Yay!

Scavenger Hunt

0, 05mi, custis, pacers arlington

Start time: 5/3/07, 7:00pm
Location: Clarendon and the Custis Trail
Distance: 5.4 miles
Average pace: 8:57min/mile

This was both fun and deadly; a scavenger hunt as part of a running route. It started out like the normal Tuesday Clarendon run from Pacers, but we went the opposite direction on the Custis Trail and ran a little over an extra mile as a result. The course? Also full of hills. Yay, hills.

But hey, I won a $100 gift certificate so I’m not complaining!

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=921565

Quickie

0, 02mi

Start time: 5/1/07, 6:30pm
Location: Arlington Boulevard Trail
Distance: 2 miles
Average pace: 9:06min/mile

The plan was to actually run 4 miles, not 2, but my calf was feeling a little stiff and I quickly decided that discretion really is the better part of valor. That, and there was a breeze kicking up a nasty amount of dust and dirt from the road and I was actually starting to choke. Fun!