Weekly Training Report for 2013-02-24

 Training Log  Comments Off on Weekly Training Report for 2013-02-24
Feb 232013
 

Workouts 6
Time 344 min
Running 10.9 miles
Core Fitness 180 min
Weights 40 min

  • wed: Pillings Pond and Wildwood. Ran 4.9 miles. Another heart rate run. I aimed for 133 but averaged 136 BPM over the course of the hour. I needed to walk up 4 hills to keep my HR from spiking too much. My max HR was 146 and I never saw that happen… but my watch recorded it at some point. Still, I am happy with the run. I am not minding the slow jogging as I don’t feel as spent afterword, but I am not enjoying the slow cadence. I just can’t jog with 180 footstrikes a minute without my HR going too high… which means slow, plodding steps. Before I add speed I am going to increase turnover as my HR improves.
  • thu: Heart rate training on TM. Ran 3.0 miles. Average HR was 129. My HR started high, probably due to too much caffeine and stress. It gave me less headroom and I had to walk part of this to keep my HR down.
  • thu: Full body weights. Lifted for 40 minutes . Still trying to build up shoulders and arms.. slow going.
  • fri: 3 hours skiing. Exercised for 60 minutes . I am going to say this was a 1 hour core fitness exercise. Sure felt like it.
  • sat: 7 hours of skiing. Exercised for 120 minutes . I am marking this down as 2 hours of core fitness. I am wiped out.. easily the equivalent of a 2 hour run.
  • sun: Running workout. Ran 3.0 miles. Still trudging along keeping my HR down low. Average HR was 134 for this session. Makes for an easy workout. Here’s hoping that eventually this will make a difference. Its hard to feel that this is really “training”. I am so used to running at a much higher effort level that this feels like cheating.
 Posted by at 8:00 pm

Weekly Training Report for 2013-02-17

 Training Log  Comments Off on Weekly Training Report for 2013-02-17
Feb 162013
 

Workouts 4
Time 170 min
Running 10.4 miles
Weights 45 min

  • tue: Heart rate training. Ran 3.0 miles. Slow jog keeping my HR under 133.
  • tue: Full body. Lifted for 45 minutes . My strength is slowly improving, but I am not sure how long it will take to move from “pathetic” to “weakling”.
  • thu: Locksley-Essex out and back. Ran 4.2 miles. This was the first outside run where I was attempting to maintain a low heart rate (under 133). I found it quite a bit more difficult than on the treadmill and in some cases it seemed like I could have walked faster.
  • sun: Heart rate training on TM. Ran 3.2 miles. This was a very interesting workout because my HR seemed pretty high today. I had to walk/jog to keep my HR below 133. It could be that I changed the treadmill to 1% and was wearing heavier shoes, or it could be that my resting HR is up today due to stress or some other external force.
 Posted by at 8:00 pm

Run Slower to Run Faster

 Running Information  Comments Off on Run Slower to Run Faster
Feb 102013
 

heart rate (2)I have long suspected that I train at higher heart rates than I should.  When I go out for a run I generally start out with a short walk, then a jog and by the time I am at a half mile I am running at a fair clip.  I have learned how to listen to my body and know when I am running too fast to sustain my distance goals for the day.  When I reach that point I pull back and run just below that line, which nowadays is about a 9:30 pace.  I usually end my run with the last half mile at my 5K pace (around 8:00 pace or so).  I stop at my driveway completely spent and hope that I am recovered enough to do it all again tomorrow.  Little did I know that all that running wasn’t doing my fitness as much good as I thought.

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Weekly Training Report for 2013-02-10

 Training Log  Comments Off on Weekly Training Report for 2013-02-10
Feb 092013
 

Workouts 6
Time 280 min
Running 13.4 miles
Core Fitness 120 min
Weights 20 min

  • mon: TM miles. Ran 3.0 miles. As usual by the time I had a chance to run today it was dark, so I jumped on the treadmill for a few miles while I watched TV. I kept it easy and just kept my HR in the right zone for the run.
  • wed: Quick upper body workout. Lifted for 20 minutes . Not much to say, just hit the usual upper body muscles.
  • wed: TM miles. Ran 2.0 miles. I had very little time today, but I managed to get a quick 2 miles in on the dread mill.
  • fri: Pillings Pond Run. Ran 5.2 miles. I managed to get this in right before the blizzard hit. The roads were empty and I didn’t see a soul. kept the run very easy and focused on my form and breathing.
  • sat: Snow blowing and shoveling. Exercised for 120 minutes . I had hoped to get in a workout, but hours of clearing snow left me exhausted. I feel it was an excellent workout based on the number of muscles that hurt and the amount of exhaustion I feel.
  • sun: Heart rate training. Ran 3.2 miles. Slow run to keep the HR down. Average was 131 BPM and the max I reached was 139. The number I was shooting for was 133 so I am happy with that. I will be doing exclusively this type of running for the next 3 months or so. If you are interested in HR training I put up a blog post here: http://overthehill.me/2013/02/10/run-slower-to-run-faster/
 Posted by at 8:00 pm

Blizzard of 2013

 Running  Comments Off on Blizzard of 2013
Feb 082013
 

20130210-090232.jpgI decided to try to get a run in just before the blizzard hit in force.  It had started snowing and there was about 2 inches on the ground.  The roads were pretty clear though, so there wasn’t much issue with traction at all.  So many people had stayed home and off the roads and were huddled in their houses that I really didn’t see anyone out and about.  I ran one of my favorite 5 mile loops which takes me past a frozen lake and 2 smaller ponds.  I snapped this picture with the snow covered frozen lake behind me.

 

Weekly Training Report for 2013-02-03

 Training Log  Comments Off on Weekly Training Report for 2013-02-03
Feb 022013
 

Workouts 5
Time 212 min
Running 16.4 miles
Weights 45 min

  • mon: Treadmill Miles. Ran 3.0 miles. Still breaking in my new treadmill. Belt adjustment held very well since last session. It stayed centered and doesn’t slip any more, so I think I have that right. The incline calibration if off again, where when I press 0 degrees my level says its 3-4 degrees. I may have to call customer service if it de-calibrates again.
  • tue: Full body workout. Lifted for 45 minutes . Tried to hit all the main muscle groups and also got in some flexibility exercises.
  • tue: TM Miles. Ran 3.5 miles. Easy run on the treadmill. I am finding if I run in the center of the belt (as opposed to the end near the console) that it seems easier. I still think it is psychology, but maybe when I am near the console I change my form?
  • thu: Quick TM session. Ran 2.2 miles. I didn’t have a lot of time, so I banged this out before heading out for some errands.
  • sat: Lynnfield-Summer-Essex-Loop. Ran 7.7 miles for 80 minutes at 10:26 pace. Cold run today at 21 degrees. It felt good to get outside in the fresh air, but I hate the amount of gear I have to wear to make that possible. I kept an easy, non stress pace. I started to fatigue at the end which is telling me I my endurance is starting to slip with the lower weekly milage I have been doing. That is ok for now, and expected.
 Posted by at 7:00 pm

Blog change

 Uncategorized  Comments Off on Blog change
Feb 022013
 

I realized recently that the vast majority of my blog postings were details of my weekly training and that more interesting content was getting pushed down and lost amid the clutter.  I found a WordPress plugin that let me suppress my “Training Log” category on the main page.  For those of you interested in my weekly training you can just click the tab marked “Training Log” in the menu at the top of the blog.  I post everything I do every week in detail there with a history going back a few years.

 Posted by at 9:14 am