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Tom's Journal (Read 596 times)


Future running partner.

    Finished a real solid week 50 miles. A very good hill work out and a 3 mile tempo run for the key workouts. Did 15 reps on the hill workout before loosing form. 2 more than last week. Tempo run was good finished in about 23 minutes and avged about 7:40/mi. According to Jack Daniels tables is spot on. This week I will be cutting back since its Christmas and I am away with the families. I'll probably get in 30 to 40 miles. It's cold up here WV the low tomorrow morning is supposed to be 5.


    Future running partner.

      Well last week I only managed to do 20 miles. Between not having proper gear for the weather, celebrating 4 xmas's, not being in control of my daily schedule (DW in control last week), and about 1500 miles of driving, it was tough fitting all my runs in. I only managed one long run of 12 miles and the rest were easy runs. I'll have to extend the hill phase one more week. This week the goal is to hit 50 miles, starting with a 12 mile long run, run a Lydiard style hill workout, and finish the week off with a 4 mile tempo run.


      Future running partner.

        Wild week this week. Started late since last Sunday was a travel day and time spent with family. So long run didn't happen until Monday. Wednesday was New Years so I couldn't do the scheduled two a day. I also didn't get up early enough before work to do the scheduled hill workout and only managed an easy 5. New Years day I ran a very tough Lydiard style hill workout (described on my runninig schedule in the link below). That and yard work made me to tired to do a second run that day. Friday I was going to try another 2 a day but was so sore and could only manage a very slow 4 miler. Since I wanted to get in one more quality session I did a tempo workout yesterday. I ran this workout the exact same way I did the one 2 weeks ago. I still felt pretty sore and stiff from the Lydiard workout on Thursday. After 4 miles of easy running I ran miles 5-7 at LT effort, then finished off with a one mile cooldown for a total of 8 miles. I was very surprised that my first mile of the tempo portion, despite feeling sluggish, was very fast (7:02). It was mostly down hill, but the next mile was about 7:40 uphill and the last mile was 7:22. I was very pleased because I ran this with a little less effort then I did 2 weeks ago, my avg hr was 2 bpm less, and pace was about 17s/mi faster. All while still feeling sore and stiff from the Lydiard workout 2 days ago. It was a real confidence booster for my next race where I hope to break 22 for a 5k or low 45s for a 10k. This coming week will begin a new phase, where the focus will be on increasing anaerobic capacity. So each week will have 1 interval session, long runs will be 15 and the secondary workout will probably start with an AeT run this week, then probalby 2 more lydiard sessions and 1 race. The secondary workouts will be more maintenance of phisical strenghth and aerobic strength. The goal for this week is 54 miles and will include interval workout with shorter repetitions probably 400/200s. The secondary workout will be an AeT run, since my mileage totals have not been as high lately. My aerobic fitness could need a little boost.


        Future running partner.

          Last week was an awesome week. Completed 54.5 miles with a 1000/500 interval workout to build up V02max capacity. For my second quality session I did 12x 200/200 repetions for leg speed and efficiency. Only 2 problems. The long run was only 12 miles instead of the scheduled 15 do to time constraints. Secondly the second quality session was Saturday, the day before a 15 mile long run. This week started really well. With an easy 15 mile long run. A little slow because of the day before quality session. Then 2 days later another interval session of 400/200 V02 max intervals. I think a combination of too many quality days in a short period and the fact that I did the interval session in the cold was not good for me. As i developed a case of bronchitis the afternoon after the intervals. I think I was too heavily dressed for warmups and cooldowns, causing me to sweat a little too much and get chilled during the intervals and while stretching after the cooldown. Its been really cold since that morning so I've taken a few days off and decided not to run a scheduled race tomorrow. I think I may start doing some easy 5 milers at the gym. I've read on here that easy running can help bronchitus a bit. Also, I don't want to loose conditioning. Hopefully, I can get over this sooner than later with lots of fluids and rest and strictly easy running for a while.


          #2867

            Nice work on the workouts, good luck w/the bronchitis. A few days of relative rest won't hurt and can only help and you won't lose a ton of conditioning.

            Run to Win
            25 Marathons, 17 Ultras, 16 States (Full List)


            Future running partner.

              Thanks man. I've haven't shaken this thing yet. I went for a couple of easy 5 miler runs Monday and Tuesday, which I am not sure helped or hurt me. I'm starting some antibiotics today. I'm thinking these may temporarily hurt my performance but once they clear, I should get it back.


              Future running partner.

                I'M BACK!!!. Started feeling sick after the Interval session a couple of weeks ago as I said in my last post. After a few days off I tried to start back up the Monday before last, even though I was still not feeling completely well but was starting to feel better. I managed to to do an easy 5 miler that was surprisingly fast for the effort I was putting in. The next day (last Tuesday) we had about 6 inches of snow dumped on us, so I didn't have to work. I went out for a wonderful run around 4pm. It was fairly warm when I started (around 40) but the temperature dropped to below freezing during the course of the run. Then next day I was feeling worse again. So rather than risk getting pneumonia I decided not run until I was feeling better again. Over the next few days I wasn't getting any better so on Friday I figured I should go see the doc. Turned out it wasn't the flu thank goodness. I got some antibiotics and finally, I am slowly feeling better. It's actually been hard to motivate myself to get back out and run. I've been feeling pretty discouraged and a little depressed cause I am not sure how much conditioning I've lost and I am wondering if I'll be able to make the goals I've set out for this spring. It felt good to get out for even just an easy 5 miler today. Although, I am not completely better, I still feel pretty good. So I should be able to continue. We'll see how things go in terms of my conditioning. For this week I plan on continuing where I left off at 2 weeks ago. I'll probably do about 32 miles between today and Saturday with an 8 mile run thursday that has a 3 mile tempo run from miles 5-7. This will be a good test to see where I stand fitness wise. Then next week I'll start with a 12 mile long to ease back in, then try to complete at least 50 miles for the week. I'll finish of 2 more weeks of interval training then do a final phase (4 weeks) of stamina training, were the focus will be on LT paced running, before I start the spring racing season.


                Future running partner.

                  Last week was disapointing Sad I thought I was going to be able to just jump back into training, but nooooooo! Started with a couple of easy 5 milers. I noticed they were slower for the given HR, which I generally expect the first couple of days back. For some reason my sides(hips) where really sore the Thursday after those 2 runs, which is weird after a layoff. I took Thursdays scheduled Tempo run off and attempted to run it Friday. I figured I should knock my pace down to what tempo pace was back in December to be on the safe side. I started with 4 miles easy on a treadmill. Then attempted to run Tempo pace at about 7.8mph with 1% incline (=7:45/mi). Significantly slower than my last Tempo run a few weeks ago (7:22/mi). I felt horrible! I felt like I was already running at LT HR less than a mile into the run. My hips were hurting like hell. So I decided to stop after 1.5 mi and jog a 1.5 cool down. Saturday was another easy run. Again significantly slower than usual. Yesterday I did manage a 12 mile long run w/o too many problems. Again it was pretty slow for the HR range, but a little better at least. My hips started to hurt a lot again on the last couple of miles. Did I really loose that much conditioning? Maybe its the antibiotics I just finished. I am really disappointed. Before I got sick I really feel like I was on track to run a 21:30 5k. I am hoping within a couple of weeks I can get back into that shape. All I can do is try, not give up, and use this as a learning experience. Based on how crappy I've been feeling on my runs and how slow I've been. I think I will just try to get in some mileage this week (50+) but all low intensity. I think I'll do a second long run on Friday. Then if I feel good on next Sunday's long I'll resume my 5k/10k program where I left off which was week 2 of Interval Training.


                  Future running partner.

                    AAAAAAAGHHHH! I'm so frustrated. Angry A mile into last nights workout I sprained my ankle. I was able to complete the run but it did get pretty sore overnight, enough so that I am limping around today. This season is not looking so good now. I hope this is just a minor sprain and that I can get started again soon. Even if I do, I am not sure if I can get back to were I was at the beginning of January. I'm afraid I may not even break my easiest goals this spring. Although at the beginning of January I felt ready to run a sub 45 10k then.


                    Future running partner.

                      Last post on this thread. I think its a good time to take a break for a couple of reasons. I have lost a lot of conditioning over the last 4 weeks do to the inconsistency caused by the bout with bronchitis and recently the sprained ankle. I was planning on peaking in another couple of weeks, which that plan is pretty much shot now. Before I got sick, I was starting to feel mentally tired to the point that the only thing keeping me going was the success I was having. Now that that's gone I am having a real hard time finding the motivation to get back to that level of intensity in training. It's too bad I couldn't get one more race in before getting sick. I really feel like I was ready to run a sub 45 10k or about a 21:30 5k.. So I do have a lot more confidence in my potential then I did last summer. The plan now is to take a little time off and figure out my next goals. A do a little running here and there to stay active, but nothing serious. Within a couple of weeks, I think my hunger should come back again, for new goals and a new training plan and ready to start fresh again with a new thread.