I did a MAF test today. My times have improved over my last months test, but overall I'm still a lot slower than when I first started. I know a lot of factors come into play like weather, stress, hydration, overtraining, etc but I"m hoping I'm on track to see more improvements next month. I've been LHR training now for about 5 months

Quote from jvrunning on 2/7/2010 at 8:44 PM:

Are you logging all your miles?

thanks for the responses...

After struggling with hills in Austin ny DD's neighborhood this weekend I got a run in this morning between rain squalls. Heavy rain woke me up early around 3am, so I got up to get ready to go to the gym and dreadmill. But local 24hr Fitness doesn't open until 5am, then I noticed it had stopped. Checked the radar and there was a window of not rain. So I ran the 1mi lop in my development. It felt good and in the 2nd mi of warmup I noticed that hr was getting close to maf so I decided to do a short maf test as a what the heck. got two mi at maf range of 107-112.
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Type	Distance	Time	Total Time	Pace	Avg HR	Max HR	Notes
Interval	1 Mi	0:12	0:39	12:11	107.0	111.0	maf 1
Interval	1 Mi	0:12	0:51	12:06	108.0	111.0	maf 2

then cooled down and called it a day. I felt good about it. Pace was about the same as last test, although a few seconds slower. Could be the time of day. Still it felt good.

Several days ago, a local tv station did a short story of a lady who had undergone heart valve repair, or replacement (not sure which), all done through a two inch incision! No major chest opening. Hope to learn more.
Time for some due diligence!

Find me a good ventricle man/lady and I'm down with that type of proceedure! I've already got the spacious atrium (check my avatar--you don't want to be near that sucker when it's filled with helium. Trust me) so a newly sculpted left ventricle seems fitting. After all, you're lookin' at a 3 hour marathon specimen in the making here, don't ya know?  

Today's +2 F and -8 windchill presented as dual qualifiers.
I vaguely recall making a decision last winter to venture out, as long as the temp and windchill didn't exceed -10. (Was it one, or both? Doesn't much matter).
I swigged some 8 ounces of ice water from the fridge for a pre-workout warm-up. (Can't risk dehydration, today).

I believe that I actually do better in this environment than in the heat and humidity of summer. Today I was feeling particularly frisky:
After a 1.5 mile warm-up walk, I went quarter mile laps:
(1) 3:28   (2) 3:10   (3) 3:07   (4) 2:48   (5) 2:58   (6) 2:45
So, for this cherry-picked mile and a half segment, the average was 12:11 per mile ??

I sought an intermediate goal of sub 13:00 for the close of year 2009. Whether this holds up in an official Maf test remains unclear. One thing is for certain, though - I need to get many, many more miles in. Actual running miles have been extremely low. A little better when coupled with warm-up/cool-downs.

I plan on streching out, come spring - - that's right around the corner, according to A.G.
Hmm, now that water boarding seems out of favor, how bout icicle boarding??
Drip, drip, drip onto a sweaty forehead.
"Say uncle, Al - - Say uncle".

lg

I'ts been nothing but blizzards since mid-October, here in the midwest.
BUCK UP, D. C.!!! You don't like the weather??? Wait 'til November.

Got me didgeridoo tuned, so it's time to stop harping on the weather.
Forecast of freezing drizzle never developed. Cool!

No sooner do I get my 2 mile warm-up complete, and log an opening quarter mile at maf, when a wayward trucker petitions me for directions. I get him headed the right direction and continue.

I'm a bit astonished at pace improvements, (but, this isn't my first rodeo).
Granted, portions of this route are near 2 percent downslope, but still I manage to go easily in the low 12's and high 11's.. This, from a guy who was going mid teens just months ago!

Any number of things could explain this spike, including my fav - a recent bout of maf+ explosions. Think fartlek. Otherwise, putting to rest "over-training" issues, and the like could explain. Anyway, it's been a blast.!

Now to build mileage. Slowly of course.

An Maf test might be in order. (I did one of those, once).

After all, this is not my first rodeo. Did I mention that already? Sorry.

lg

Ron - take care of that back! We only have one of those!

 

Had to use dreadmill this am because of snow in north Texas! We had an inch of wet stuff on the ground. Did maf-5 for 1mi after warm up and decided I wasn't enjoying it and quit. To warm... am now sitting in bed watching out the window as it continues to snow. We have close to 6in on my deck with another 1-2 tonight. Will probably be an all time record for Dallas/Fort Worth. Good thing tomorrow is my rest day!

 

C-R - am not at the point of running w/o looking at the hrm yet. Will be interested to see how the maf test turns out.

Quote from bobev on 2/12/2010 at 1:19 AM:

 Hey Bobev,

Caught the report of snow in the DFW neighborhood. That can be a bit of a crisis for you folks. I had an ocassion several years ago while traveling through during an ice storm. Not pretty.

Isn't there a big all star basketball game coming up at your new stadium. Heard somthing to that effect on the Dennis Miller radio show. Sounds pretty wild. Attendance has got to be unreal!

Be careful if you need to drive!

lg