Back to Normal

Today I went back to my normal routine, with my Sunday boxing class in the morning.  Of course, my legs were still really sore.  I took it kind of easy at boxing.

I ended up not being very active the rest of the day, just doing chores around the house.  I took a nap that ended up being over an hour long, which was nice.

Yesterday, I had still been frustrated over my race, so I was doing some searching online for the possibility of online trainers.  I thought maybe it would help if I had someone more experienced looking over my races, my training schedule, and my other activity to see where I am having problems.

While searching for that, I ran (ha ha) into something else that may have been a big problem for me:  I have been running my "easy" training runs way too fast.  I know that easy runs are supposed to be slow and, well, easy, but no one ever tells you how slow they should be.  All of the training plans I've used, and even read through just for interest, have said that when you're doing an easy run, you should be able to hold a conversation.  Well, I've never really been able to judge that, because I never run with anyone, so I don't converse!  I have to say, this really makes me mad - I've been doing something totally wrong because of this stupid way of stating the guideline!

At any rate, I found a few articles like this that give a better guide to how fast your easy run should be.  The article I linked said that it should be about 65% of the pace of your 5K pace.  The goal time I just set for myself for my next 10K was 55:00.  Using a race prediction calculator, that tells me I should do a 5K in 26:23, which is a pace of 8:30.  If I ran my easy runs at 65% of that pace, I'd be running a 13-min mile or 4.6 mph!

However, another resource I found said that you should try to run 1 - 2 min slower than your projected marathon pace.  Again, if I can run a 10K in 55:00, my projected marathon time is about 4:13:00, which is a pace of 9:40 min/mi.  Two minutes slower than that is 11:40 min/mi, which is 5.1 mph.

Whichever guideline you follow, it's clear that I've been running my easy runs way too fast.  And as those resources show, that compromises development of aerobic conditioning, stamina, and recovery.  So, I think I will start out with my easy runs at 5.1 mph for a month, then increase to 5.2 mph, and then 5.3 mph.  Fortunately my current training schedule is by time, not by distance, so I won't be running absolutely forever.  If this is really helping me out, I think I should see a noticeable difference in how I run my 10K in September.  We'll see!

Another Half-Marathon Disappointment

Well, the St. Michaels Running Festival half-marathon was a serious personal disappointment. I finished in 2:20:15.

It was a beautiful day.  I had no problem with traffic during the 80-mi drive to St. Michaels, and I got there in plenty of time for my bib pick-up and to use the bathroom twice before the race.  I think the race was pretty well organized, except that we didn't start until 7:55 am, 15 minutes after our scheduled start.

The course was reasonably scenic.  It was a bit sunny, although there was a nice breeze.  It was blessedly flat, as advertised.

I felt like I started off pretty well, starting about 5.8 mph and eventually getting up to about 6.1 mph after a few miles.  I did the first half in about 1:07, which wasn't too bad.  I didn't feel great, but I also didn't feel horrible.  But then between miles 7 and 8, I just started to run out of gas.  I wanted to step it up a bit, but ended up doing a lot of walking breaks.  I drank Gatorade at nearly every stop (maybe 10 of them), and I even ate a free Cliff fuel shot thingy (I'm lucky it didn't bother my stomach), but I just couldn't get going any better.  My right calf started to get pretty tight, but fortunately did not get any worse than that.

I'm really very disappointed with how I did in this race.  I had thought that I was feeling pretty energetic and rested, but now I wonder if that was just relative to the complete exhaustion I was under just a few weeks ago.

Maybe it's that, but I think there are a couple other things:

• I bet that I am still anemic.  I'm waiting to hear back from my blood test last week, but I still think this felt too hard, given my training and background.  According to my Basis Peak, the last 2/3 of the race or so I spent with a heart rate at 170 bpm or higher.  This doesn't seem right - I tried to maintain that level for over an hour!  I wonder if this is partly due to my anemia.
• The training plan I used for this race was based on one of Jenny Hatfield's plans for improving speed for the half-marathon.  However, I stretched it over twice as long of a time period.  I think I ended up having too any short runs as a result, and maybe lost some distance endurance.
• Along the same vein, Jenny's plan didn't have the same kind of speed work that seemed to help me for my first half marathon.  My first training plan for my first half-marathon in May 2014 had speed intervals and separate tempo runs; Jenny's plan did not do that.

The thing that really gets me is that at my average pace from my May 2014 half-marathon, I could have run a whole extra mile in the time I ran today!

So, looking forward...I am hoping to find out about my iron levels soon.  Even if they are back to normal, I'm going to try to ask about stamina and cardio ability.  Actually, I may end up discussing this more with my rheumatologist, who I'm seeing next week, since she has time for this, unlike my PCP.  A lot of people would brush it off as "you finished the race" and not see it as such a regression in ability, but I'm hoping she will understand.

I think that for the summer, I am going to focus on trying to increase my speed and not worry as much about the distance.  Instead of doing a half-marathon in September, I think I will do a 10K with a goal time of 55:00; I would also like to do the Marine Corps Marathon 10K again in October.  I am going to use a training plan from Runner's World last month, again, extended over twice as long so that I have 2 runs per week instead of 3 - 4.  I'm going to try not to have too many easy runs less than 40 min.

After the 10Ks in the fall, if my speed does seem to have increased, I'll move back to a half-marathon goal for next May.  Hopefully changing the emphasis of the training will help me out.

Past Race Results

With the death of my previous laptop, I lost a lot of info, including my race result records.  After some digging, I managed to find them all except for the Diva Dash I did on Sep. 21, 2013.

• Prince George's County Road Runners Club SIDS 5k, Sep. 8, 2013: 26:53
• Diva Dash, Sep. 21, 2013
• Clyde's Columbia 10k, Apr. 13, 2014: 56:36
• Frederick Running Festival Half-Marathon, May 4, 2014: 2:07:16
• Montgomery Parks Half-Marathon, Sep. 14, 2014: 2:12:07
• Marine Corps Marathon 10k, Oct. 26, 2014: 59:27

Day Before the St. Michael's Running Festival Half-Marathon!

Yesterday after work, my husband and I did a short walk around the neighborhood.  It was another pretty night, but I didn't want to do anything too hard.

This morning, I did parts of P90X3 Dynamix again.  I skipped the moves that focused more on the upper body in order to just get some movement on my legs and lower back again.  That burned about 50 calories.  Then I did some foam rolling.

I have been working really hard in this past week to get more sleep in preparation for the race.  Fortunately, my teaching semester has been coming to and end, which has helped me sleep more.  Most of this week, I haven't had to get up as early, and I've been getting to bed earlier.  I've been trying to get more like 7.5 hr of sleep a night, which is definitely more than I usually do.

A side effect of getting the extra sleep, I think, is that it's helping me maintain my weight, even though I'm eating quite a bit this week.  Since it's the end of the semester, there are a lot of parties and incidental food.  Even so, I've been keeping toward the low end of my recent weight measurements.  Can't complain about that!

Here's a list of my running since the Marine Corps Marathon 10K I did last October:

• Oct. 29, 2014: 3.0 mi, 31:03, treadmill at 5.8 mph
• Oct. 30, 2014: 3.48 mi, 35:30, average 5.9 mph
• Nov. 2, 2014: 3.89 mi, 41:29, average 5.6 mph
• Nov. 8, 2014: 2.94 mi, 31:16, average 5.5 mph
• Nov. 9, 2014: 4.5 mi, 45:00, treadmill at 6.0 mph
• Nov. 14, 2014: 5.0 mi, 50:00, treadmill at 6.0 mph
• Nov. 16, 2014: 4.0 mi, 40:00, treadmill at 6.0 mph
• Nov. 20, 2014, 4.5 mi, 45:00, treadmill at 6.0 mph
• Nov. 21, 2014: 5.0 mi, 50:00, treadmill at 6.0 mph
• Nov. 23, 2014: 7.0 mi, 1:12:25, treadmill at 5.8 mph
• Nov. 25, 2014: 3.0 mi, 30:00, treadmill at 6.0 mph
• Nov. 26, 2014: 4.0 mi, 40:00, treadmill at 6.0 mph
• Nov. 28, 2014: 8.0 mi, 1:20:00, treadmill at 6.0 mph
• Nov. 29, 2014: 4.04 mi, 40:00, treadmill at 6.0 mph
• Dec. 2, 2014: 4.5 mi, 45:00, treadmill at 6.0 mph
• Dec. 6, 2014: 5.12 mi, 50:00, treadmill at 6.0 mph with 5 x 60 s at 7.5 mph
• Dec. 7, 2014: 3.0 mi, 30:00, treadmill at 6.0 mph
• Dec. 9, 2014: 3.0 mi, 30:00, treadmill at 6.0 mph
• Dec. 10, 2014: 4.0 mi, 40:00, treadmill at 6.0 mph
• Dec. 13, 2014: 9.0 mi, 1:33:10, treadmill at 5.8 mph
• Dec. 14, 2014: 3.0 mi, 30:00, treadmill at 6.0 mph
• Dec. 17, 2014: 4.5 mi, 45:00, treadmill at 6.0 mph
• Dec. 20, 2014: 5.97 mi, 60:04, treadmill at 5.8 mph with 6 x 60 s at 7.5 mph
• Dec. 23, 2014: 4.0 mi, 40:00, treadmill at 6.0 mph
• Dec. 24, 2014: 8.0 mi, 1:22:30, treadmill at 5.8 mph
• Dec. 26, 2014: 4.0 mi, 40:00, treadmill at 6.0 mph
• Dec. 27, 2014: 6.0 mi, 1:02:00, treadmill at 5.8 mph
• Dec. 31, 2014: 4.0 mi, 40:00, treadmill at 6.0 mph
• Jan. 2, 2015: 4.5 mi, 45:00, treadmill at 6.0 mph
• Jan. 4, 2015: 5.95 mi, 60:00, treadmill at 5.8 mph with 6 x 60 s at 7.5 mph
• Jan. 6, 2015: 4.0 mi, 40:00, treadmill at 6.0 mph
• Jan. 10, 2015: 10.0 mi, 1:43:33, treadmill at 5.8 mph
• Jan. 11, 2015: 3.0 mi, 30:00, treadmill at 6.0 mph
• Jan. 13, 2015: 5.0 mi, 50:00, treadmill at 6.0 mph
• Jan. 17, 2015: 5.98 mi, 60:00, treadmill at 5.8 mph with 6 x 60 s at 7.5 mph
• Jan. 20, 2015: 4.0 mi, 40:00, treadmill at 6.0 mph
• Jan. 23, 2015: 3.0 mi, 30:00, treadmill at 6.0 mph
• Jan. 25, 2015: 11.0 mi, 1:53:47, treadmill at 5.8 mph
• Jan. 26, 2015: 3.0 mi, 31:00, treadmill at 5.8 mph
• Jan. 28, 2015: 4.5 mi, 45:00, treadmill at 6.0 mph
• Jan. 31, 2015: 4.38 mi, 43:00, treadmill with 4 x 5 mi at 6.5 mph and 4 x 2 min at 5.8 mph
• Feb. 4, 2015: 3.0 mi, 30:00, treadmill at 6.0 mph
• Feb. 7, 2015: 7.0 mi, 1:08:45, treadmill with 3 mi at 5.8 mph, 1 mi at 6.0 mph, and 3 mi at 6.5 mph
• Feb. 8, 2015: 3.02 mi, 30:49, average 5.9 mph
• Feb. 10, 2015: 4.83 mi, 50:00, treadmill at 5.8 mph
• Feb. 14, 2015: 4.4 mi, 43:00, treadmill with 4 x 5 min at 6.5 mph and 4 x 2 min at 5.8 mph
• Feb. 17, 2015: hill HIIT, 2.8 mi, 30:00, treadmill
• Feb. 18, 2015: 3.86 mi, 40:00, treadmill at 5.8 mph
• Feb. 21, 2015: 12.0 mi, 2:04:10, treadmill at 5.8 mph
• Feb. 25, 2015: 4.83 mi, 50:00, treadmill at 5.8 mph
• Feb. 28, 2015: 4.0 mi, 39:00, treadmill with 2 x 10 min at 6.5 mph and 2 x 2 min at 5.8 mph
• Mar. 3, 2015: hill HIIT, 2.83 mi, 30:00, treadmill
• Mar. 4, 2015: 3.86 mi, 40:00, treadmill at 5.8 mph
• Mar. 7, 2015: 13.0 mi, 2:14:30, treadmill at 5.8 mph
• Mar. 8, 2015: 2.52 mi, 28:16, average 5.35 mph in the snow!
• Mar. 10, 2015: hill HIIT, 2.83 mi, treadmill
• Mar. 11, 2015: 4.35 mi, 45:00, treadmill at 5.8 mph
• Mar. 14, 2015: 4.0 mi, 39:00, treadmill with 2 x 10 min at 6.5mph and 2 x 2 min at 5.8 mph
• Mar. 18, 2015: 3.04 mi, 28:23, average 6.4 mph
• Mar. 22, 2015: 4.83 mi, 50:00, treadmill at 5.8 mph
• Mar. 24, 2015: 8.0 mi, 1:19:30, treadmill with 4 mi at 5.8 mph and 4 mi at 6.3 mph
• Mar. 25, 2015: 4.15 mi, 40:00, treadmill with 10 min at 5.8 mph, 25 min at 6.5 mph, and 5 min at 5.8 mph
• Apr. 1, 2015: 4.03 mi, 38:38, average 6.25 mph
• Apr. 2, 2015: 2.7 mi, 29:37, average 5.5 mph
• Apr. 4, 2015: 14.0 mi, 2:24:55, treadmill at 5.8 mph
• Apr. 8, 2015: 4.35 mi, 45:00, treadmill at 5.8 mph
• Apr. 11, 2015: 4.15 mi, 40:00, treadmill with 10 min at 5.8 mph, 25 min at 6.5 mph, and 5 min at 5.8 mph
• Apr. 14, 2015: 3.86 mi, 40:00, treadmill at 5.8 mph
• Apr. 18, 2015: 10.0 mi, 1:43:25, treadmill at 5.8 mph
• Apr. 21, 2015: 4.6 mi, 46:15, average 5.97 mph
• Apr. 22, 2015: 3.0 mi, 31:00, treadmill at 5.8 mph
• Apr. 26, 2015: 4.15 mi, 40:00, treadmill with 10 min at 5.8 mph, 25 min at 6.5 mph, and 5 min at 5.8 mph
• Apr. 28, 2015: 2.95 mi, 29:07, average 6.1 mph
• May 2, 2015: 6.0 mi, 59:37, treadmill with 3 mi at 5.8 mph and 3 mi at 6.3 mph
• May 6, 2015: 3.85 mi, 40:00, treadmill at 5.8 mph
• May 9, 2015: 2.98 mi, 30:909, treadmill at 5.8 mph with 4 x 60 s at 7.0 mph
• May 12, 2015: 1.97 mi, 20:23, average 5.8 mph

I have run 374.47 mi in the 28 weeks since my last race, which is 13.4 mi/week.  That sounds pretty lame, but I know I've also played a lot of tennis, which helps with the cardio.

I am hoping to do well with this race.  I am feeling a lot better than last fall.  I hope I'm finally getting over my anemia, but I'm still waiting to hear back about my latest blood test to find out.

P90X3 Dynamix

Yesterday evening I did a walk around the neighborhood.  It was a pretty evening, even if it was a little chilly.  I walked about 2.4 mi in 40 min, which got me some steps and an easy calorie burn.

This morning I did P90X3 Dynamix, followed by some foam rolling.  This is the second time I've done Dynamix, and I think it's a useful routine.  It's about range of motion and mobility, not strength or just static stretching.  I've been trying to decide if there's a way I can work it into my routine more regularly, but I'm not sure.  I burned about 76 calories.

Last run before half-marathon

Yesterday after work I did my last run before my half-marathon race on Saturday.  I was supposed to do a 20-min easy run.  I ran from my house toward the Georgetown Branch Trail.  I did 1.97 mi in 20:23, which was an average speed of 5.8 mph.  The hilly parts didn't seem too hard, which was good.

This morning I did my shortened version of P90X2 Recovery + Mobility.  I burned about 85 calories.

I am really trying to get rested for this race.  Now that my classes have ended and my workload is finally (!) getting lighter, I've been trying to get more sleep.  An extra 30 - 60 minutes a night really seems to do wonders.

Back after hiatus

Well, I had a bit of a hiatus in blogging because of the death of my previous laptop and the loss of a whole lot of work I had to re-create.  Fortunately the semester is just about over, so I have time for blogging again!

Last night was my usual tennis doubles at TCCP.  I played pretty well despite the sore lower back I've had for a week!  In the first round, my partner, Jill, and I won 6-3 after being down 3-1.  In the second round, my partner, Julie, and I won 4-0.  However, in the last round, my partner, Donna, and I got crushed 6-0.

This morning I did P90X3 MMX, preceded by Cold Start and followed by some foam rolling.  This is my second time through MMX, and I really like it.  It is very similar to P90X+ Kenpo Cardio+, but with more floor work via sprawls.  I burned about 180 calories.