Slowly Getting Faster

Due to the winds, which I heard were somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 mph, I couldn't run today.  Not only was road running virtually impossible but the Gym, along with most of davis county, had it's power knocked out so I couldn't even hit the treadmill.  

 Instead I did 20 minutes on the spin bike in my garage and a bunch of pushups and sit ups. If I'm going to hit 40 this week I'm going to have to put in some serious miles in the next 2 days.  

I opted for the treadmill again today.  It was already 30 degrees outside when I got time to run and it was dark.  In lieu of tripping over fallen tree branches in the dark - the result of the storm - I went to the gym. Because it was a treadmill and because I didn't get my run in yesterday I thought I should push harder than normal. I managed to do 5.1 miles in 40 minutes (7:50 avg pace). Because that is pretty flat running, even at the 1% incline, I then took the treadmill up to a 4% grade and put in another mile and a half.  At the 1 1/2 point I took it up to 5% and at 1.75 I took it up to 6%.  In the end I the machine said I did just under 500 feet vert in 2 miles. 

I feel pretty great after that run and I'm hoping to get some trail time in tomorrow if the snow isn't too deep. Maybe BST from NSL to City Creek or from Farmington to Adams Canyon.  Either way, I need to get in some miles and I would prefer that they were interesting.  

I am done with Cascadias! I haven't ran that many miles in these shoes this year and every time I run in them they hurt my feet.  I bought them because I'm a sucker for what big name ultrarunners endorse, or at least I used to be.  I've found, over the last several months, that footwear is really a personal issue. Like trying to determine whether or not you like the way something tastes. No one can tell you if a pair of shoes is good for you - or no shoes for that matter - it's just something you have to figure out as you go.  That said, Cascadias are not good for me or my feet. I tried on the Altra Lone Peaks yesterday and I liked them a lot.  I also tried on the Hookas for the first time and I liked them a lot as well. They feel like your walking on marshmallows. Whether it's the Hookas or the Lone Peaks I'll be switching trail shoes before I hit the trail again. 

My shoe bitching aside, the trail was pretty fun.  I went up the BST from City Creek to the towers on the top of the mountain.  I thought about taking the trail down into North Salt Lake and coming back but that downhill off the ridge made me think about the uphill I would just have to face latter.  Instead, I decided to turn right at that junction and just head up to the top of the mountain.  The idea was that I would just get the up hill out of the way while my legs were pretty fresh.  In retrospect I'm glad that's how I did it because my legs were tired by the end.  It was 2,229 feet of vertical gain, all of which came in the first 5 miles.

The first 3 miles is all up hill, and some of it is pretty steep. after 3 it mellows out for a while, some rolling hills, then its straight up hill to the tower. The ridge at the top was very windy, and since it's only 35-40 degrees here that meant it was also very cold. My nose and cheeks were frozen until I got off the ridge. I tried to speed up on the way down but my legs (quads) were pretty tired and my shoes were hurting my feet. I wonder what I could do with good shoes on that trial.  

Feeling sick and finals are taking up too much of my time.  consequently, I didn't get any miles in today.  Don't know how I'm going to make my quota this week. 

It's too cold outside so I ran on the treadmill today.  I don't know if refusing to run outside when it's 20 degrees makes me a wuse, but if it does I guess I'm a wuse. I know it's winter and it will be cold for a while, but I hope that it gets back to 30 or 40 before too long. There is only so much that can be done on a treadmill. 

I've been sick all week.  I thought, on Tuesday, I could just out run it, but it caught up with me. I don't know how much of a set back a week with virtually no training will be but I would like it very much if I could just get over this and get back to it. 

This is my first run in a week.  I came down with a nasty sinus cold and that, coupled with finals, kept me inside all week. I got sick of sitting around though so now I'm back.  I wanted to do more than 5 but thought it wise to get back into it easy. Or at least sort of easy

This run wasn't really easy though. I did the first mile at an 8:45AP then had to make up the difference over the next 4 miles.  Since the TM i run on will only let me run for 40 minutes before stopping, I like to try and squeeze in at least 5 miles.  at the 1 mile mark I upped the speed to 8:00 per mile and kept it there until I hit 20 minutes. At 20 minutes I started running intervals of 1 min at 6:39 and 2 min at 8:00.  I did that for 10 minutes then took the machine back to 8:00.  At 35 minutes I took the speed up to 7:30 pace, then at 32 I took it up to a 7:00 min pace and at 39 minutes I took it up to 6:39 again for the last minute.  I was tired and sweaty when it was over but it was good to be back at it.

TM again.  Instead of killing myself on speed 2 days in a row I shot for elevation this time. I started with an easy 8:34 pace and kept that all the way through.  I began my elevation at 2.5% grade and stayed there until 20 minutes in.  At that point I upped the elevation to 3 for a minute then down to 2.5 for a minute, then up to 3.5 for a minute then back to 2.5, then up to 4.5, etc.  I repeated this until I got to a 5% grade.  Then I backed it off to 2.5 and held that until the final 5 minutes.  At 35 minutes I went to 4.5%, at 37 I went to 5%, at 38 I went to 5.5%, and at 39 I went to 7%.  I was surprised that I didn't have to lower my speed, especially on that last minute, but I maintained the 8:34 until the end. It would have been nice to get in more than 4.75 miles but the TM will only let me go for 40 minutes.

In the end my total elevation gain was just under 800'. 

On the TM again.  The yellow air day and the cold kept me from wanting to go outside. The TM is getting old. I hope the inversion clears by the time finals are over. 

I planned on doing 6 miles today even though it meant stopping and restarting at the 40 minute mark.  The gym was pretty empty and no one was in line so I didn't think it would be an issue. I did the first 4.2 miles at 8:34 per mile then had to stop for an urgent bathroom break.  When I returned  I decided that I should do 1.5 as fast as possible with a .3 medium effort jog to warm back up.  I did the .3 at 8:19 pace then upped the speed to 6:39 pace.  I did the remaining 1.5 at that pace.

I noticed something tonight that I haven't noticed before.  I think I realized this due to the fact that I was on the treadmill.  Unlike the road, where I run as fast as I can talk myself into until I get to tired and ultimately slow down, on the TM I am forced to keep moving fast for as long as I leave the speed turned up.  After the first half mile I began having a hard time getting my foot to land properly.  I don't mean that my form was bad, but rather I couldn't quite close the mental gap between how fast I needed to move my leg to get it underneath me before I stepped down again.  I didn't hurt myself, or even break stride, but to me it was quite noticeable how difficult it was to make my brain and my leg work together. 

I have read a lot of stuff in the last few months about the importance of neuro-muscular training along with aerobic conditioning but it has never been more clear to me than it was tonight.  Aerobically, I was fine at the 6:39 pace but had I kept going at that pace for any longer than I did I would have hurt myself simply because I was loosing the ability to control the speed and coordination of my legs. So I guess the point here is that if I want to get faster than I am already, and especially if I want to do so sooner rather than later, I should get back on the treadmill and teach my legs how to move that fast. Clearly it is going to take some practice.

One other thing I noticed tonight, though this has nothing to do with me.  When I first arrived at the gym I picked a TM and started stretching next to it.  One machine to my left was a woman (20's probably) wearing Vibrams.  While I stretched I watched her run and I noticed that every time her foot came down it came down heel first. It was painful to watch, almost like she was trying to land on her heel.  I'm not sure how long she had been doing that but she stayed for another 10 minutes and left.  I'm a fan of minimalist shoes because I think it can teach a person how to run correctly, but I am amazed at how someone can be conscientious enough to buy those shoes but know that the whole point is to train yourself to run correctly.  I guess that's the point of all the McDougal hatred I've heard lately, though I don't think that it's his fault or even his suggestion.  

Nothing interesting tonight.  I wanted to do the workout that Broaddwg told me about today, but figured I better give myself an easy day before pushing it again. 6.2 on the treadmill at an 8:34 pace the entire way is not nearly as interesting as that workout would have been though. Hopefully the rest will pay off tomorrow. 

Broaddwg TM workout tonight.  I mixed it up a bit by doing a 2 mile warm up on the indoor track then 4 x 1mile @ 7:30 pace on the TM and 2 mile cool down back on the track. I didn't think I could maintain the 6:39 pace for the mile repeats and I'm expecting my MP to actually be somewhere around 8:15 to 8:00 AP.  Based on that I figured 7:30 was a good pace for the repeats.  

I didn't quite make my milage quota for the week but since I missed Monday due to illness and still got 30 miles in I guess I'll consider it a successful week. Hopefully with the end of finals I will be able to have time to more miles in next week.  

The smog finally cleared and I was able to hit the road today.  I thought I should break back into the week with an easy effort so I ran at a pace that felt comfortable and didn't check my watch until mile 3.  When I did finally check my watch it said I had been running 8:15 per mile. Before the smog set in, this same course at an easy pace usually worked out to around 8:30-8:40 per mile. There are a couple of reasons that this could have been faster today. 1) I was rested because I couldn't get out monday or tuesday, or 2) the speed work I've been doing on the treadmill has been paying off. I hope it's the latter.  We'll see how the rest of the week works out.  I did notice that my form felt better today than I remember the last time I ran the road; almost smoother than it previously had.  If the rest of the week plays out this same way I won't regret using the TM when it gets smoggy again. 

I decided to do the treadmill workout from last week on the road today. It all went well up until the last half mile.  I did 1 mile warm up, 4 x 1 mile @ 7:00-7:30 pace w/90 sec recoveries, and 1 mile cool down.  My splits were: 7:23, 7:22, 7:19, 7:22.  On the final half mile I felt the muscles in the arch of my foot starting to strain, like when you lift a lot of weight at the gym and feel sore the next day. By the end of the cool down, which was much slower than the warm up, both the bottom of my foot and muscle on the back of my right calf were soar. 

I'm not sure I understand why this happened.  I can run faster than this on the treadmill without this problem. I have even run a consistent 7:38 pace for 5 miles on the road and not had this problem. The only thing I can really think of is that the cushion in my shoe is shot at this point.  I've been running in the same Altra Instincts since September (maybe earlier) and maybe it's time to get new shoes? If anyone has any insights I would appreciate it. 

Either way, next time I need to just stop and rest when my foot starts to hurt.  Had I done that the injury might not have been that bad.  

1 hour on the spin bike (20 miles). Trying to maintain my cardio while nursing my injury

another hour on the bike (20 miles)

20 more miles on the stationary bike.  The bike is getting my quads nice and conditioned.  Hopefully I'll be able to hit the hills harder when get back to running again. 

Another hour on the bike.  This time I got to 25 miles by the hour mark.  I would rather be running, but if I can't at least I'm improving on the bike. 

I had hoped to be recovered by today so I could get one last run in before the year is over.  Looks like that isn't going to happen.  I may even be on the bike until next Saturday. It's a pitty on such a beautiful day.