I did the five mile run with keeping the HR at or below 142. It was NOT easy. First, no matter how slow I went, if I started to run at all (and I use the term "run" loosely), it would skyrocket. I ran most of the run at 4.0 mph, but again, most of the run was a walk. In fact, I could WALK at 4.0, which I did, and anytime I turned it into a jog, after 30 seconds, the HR would go so high that I would have to go back to walking. Frustrating to say the least. Oddly enough, I could bump up the running to 4.6, and have the same effect, meaning I could run at 4.6 for 30-40 seconds and then have to go back to a walk. Basically, anytime I ran, no matter at what speed, I could only run for about 30 seconds.
I don't know that I can do that and continue to train for the marathon. On the Mark Allen message boards, one of the other coaches responded to my post as well and said that often times, people fine that they start this approach AFTER their event, because they find it too difficult to train like this while training for an event. I thought as a compromise, what I might do is to make my weekday runs keeping the HR lower, and the long run, just run it as I feel comfortable.
We'll see how it goes, because this weekends run is a 12 mile run. Since we have pacers to run with, I'm going to run with the 12 min/mile pacer, and walk as I feel like i need to, doing my usual 5:1, or maybe even do 3:1. I will go by how I feel.
I'm also calling today to schedule an appointment with the sports clinic to get in and have my foot looked at. we'll see what they say, but I'm going to guess that I'll need some custom orthotics. I better get them made before my miles get too high!
Yesterdays stats: 5 mile run. 1 hr 14 minutes. Avg HR 139, max 163. 537 calories burned
Today's plan: Full body strength training. It will be the third one this week. Yeah!
Friday, July 31, 2009
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Workout Results 7/29
Tonight I did the Get Ripped strength training workout. It was, again, a really good workout. Jeff did the workout with me, which I really enjoyed because for whatever reason, the time seemed to go faster with him being there with me doing everything.
Also, today I posted to Mark Allen, an ironman triathlete who has lots of coaching experience in regards to heart rate training. He suggested that for the next six weeks that I train at or below my max HR of 142 and then I can pick it back up for the marathon. Its going to be tough to do, because that most likely means that I'll often have to walk to get my HR down. That makes it REALLY hard to get long runs in and done in a reasonable time. But I'm going to give it a go. Besides, the worst of the long runs aren't until september, so at least for the next four weeks, I can do my best to give it a go. I'm hoping that by training lower, that maybe I won't feel so nauseated after my runs.
No question that once the marathon is over, all my aerobic training is going to be in the aerobic zone, which means I'm going to really have to slow it down. The good news is, my workouts will probably feel like a piece of cake. The bad news is, no doubt I won't be burning nearly as many calories! It's a trade off I guess.
Tomorrow, its a five mile run. Bring it on!
Also, today I posted to Mark Allen, an ironman triathlete who has lots of coaching experience in regards to heart rate training. He suggested that for the next six weeks that I train at or below my max HR of 142 and then I can pick it back up for the marathon. Its going to be tough to do, because that most likely means that I'll often have to walk to get my HR down. That makes it REALLY hard to get long runs in and done in a reasonable time. But I'm going to give it a go. Besides, the worst of the long runs aren't until september, so at least for the next four weeks, I can do my best to give it a go. I'm hoping that by training lower, that maybe I won't feel so nauseated after my runs.
No question that once the marathon is over, all my aerobic training is going to be in the aerobic zone, which means I'm going to really have to slow it down. The good news is, my workouts will probably feel like a piece of cake. The bad news is, no doubt I won't be burning nearly as many calories! It's a trade off I guess.
Tomorrow, its a five mile run. Bring it on!
Workout Results 7/28
I was scheduled for a 5 mile run today, but I ran six miles instead. I wanted to swap it with Thursdays 6 mile run because I don't have as much time to run on thursday and those extra minutes will make a difference. The run was better than the last couple of runs. First, my foot didn't start hurting during the run. So that was good. But geez, my heart rate was still WAY up. I kept bringing the speed down to see where I needed to be to get it out of the 170's, and even running at 4.2, which I can basically WALK, I could STILL only get my HR down in the 160's. The the thing is, I FEEL crappy when I run with my HR that high. Yet again, about an hour after the run, I felt sick. Nauseated. I'm sure it had to do with running with a high HR. i don't know what the heck is going on. This just really started.
Prior to the run, I met with one of the personal trainers at the gym, because I wanted to get some additional stretches for the calves, which are SO tight right now. She gave me some stretches to do, but also we discussed my foot pain. She said she had the exact same issue until she had custom orthotics. She also went through all the insoles and stuff like I'm doing. She also recommended doing an ice bath for that foot. Well, I tried the ice bath for it, and I could only handle maybe 10 seconds of the foot in the ice bath before it felt like it was getting a charlie horse. It's that feeling like my foot was getting an ice cream headache! Anyhow, even though it wasn't in there that long, I DO think that seemed to make a difference, as the foot felt much better throughout the evening and even this morning when I first got up.
Today I'll be doing a full body strength training. I'm very committed now to getting in a minimum of 2 full body strength training sessions each week. My pants have been getting tighter and I hate it. I just began a new challenge for 8 weeks with the online training group I work with, and Jeff is doing it with me. I think the challenge will really help to keep me focused with the food, the strength training and the running. I would just LOVE to shed some inches!
Then tomorrrow, its a 5 mile run, and friday, if i can squeeze it in, I may do another ST session. Looks like sundays will have to be my rest day.
Prior to the run, I met with one of the personal trainers at the gym, because I wanted to get some additional stretches for the calves, which are SO tight right now. She gave me some stretches to do, but also we discussed my foot pain. She said she had the exact same issue until she had custom orthotics. She also went through all the insoles and stuff like I'm doing. She also recommended doing an ice bath for that foot. Well, I tried the ice bath for it, and I could only handle maybe 10 seconds of the foot in the ice bath before it felt like it was getting a charlie horse. It's that feeling like my foot was getting an ice cream headache! Anyhow, even though it wasn't in there that long, I DO think that seemed to make a difference, as the foot felt much better throughout the evening and even this morning when I first got up.
Today I'll be doing a full body strength training. I'm very committed now to getting in a minimum of 2 full body strength training sessions each week. My pants have been getting tighter and I hate it. I just began a new challenge for 8 weeks with the online training group I work with, and Jeff is doing it with me. I think the challenge will really help to keep me focused with the food, the strength training and the running. I would just LOVE to shed some inches!
Then tomorrrow, its a 5 mile run, and friday, if i can squeeze it in, I may do another ST session. Looks like sundays will have to be my rest day.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Back from Vacation
I've been off on vacation in Myrtle Beach, so I haven't had a chance to update the blog until now. This might be a little lengthy.
Let's see...the day we left for vacation, I got up early and did our 10 mile long run for the week with Kathy. We met at Glacier Ridge Metro park, and decided to try one of the trails for some trail running. It was mostly grass. What a mistake. In fact, the whole run totally stunk for various reasons. First, because we weren't doing the group run and wouldn't have water stations, I decided to use my new hydration belt. Big mistake. The stupid thing kept riding up on me. The water sloshing around didn't bother me, but the belt moving up on my waist totally bothered me.
Then, we ended up on the bridel trail, so we ended up having to watch out for big piles of horse poop. Between that and making sure I didn't twist my ankle in the divits along the trail, it was just not fun. We finally got onto some trail that went into the woods, which was really nice, however, it is obviously one not used much since Kathy and I ended up with mouthfulls of cobwebs as we ran through it! By the time we finally got onto a paved trail, we had only gone a few miles or so, and frankly, my legs were already tuckered out from running on the trail. It seemed so much harder than running on pavement. The rest of the run was lousy because I just didn't have the energy in me. I had to stop and do a lot of walk breaks.
Kathy and I each had ticks on us afterwards. Not good. We both seemed to agree that we will never do that again! Trail running just isn't for me I guess.
While on vacation, I did two 5-mile runs. The first one I did on tuesday, and it went great. The second one I did on friday. It was not a great run. I did it inside on the hotel workout room. The room was like a suana. In fact, I had wondered if it would have been just as easy or cooler to run outside! I even contemplated stopping at two miles, it was THAT hot. But somehow I suffered through it. To add to the already tough workout, my right foot and calf were really bothering me.
Saturday we had our drive home. 10 hours in the car. Each time we got out of the car, my right foot was really hurting me. I was limping into the rest areas. My calves were really tight too. I feel like I have really deep muscle aches in the calves. But the right foot, in the arch, feels like I'm walking on a ball or something.
Then yesterday, Sunday, I was scheduled to do my long run for the week. 11 miles. I went to the Y to do it. God, yet another miserable run. First, I could not for the life of me get my HR down. At only running 5.0 mph, it was in the 170's. What the heck? Do I dropped down the speed to try and get my hr down into the 150's. I couldn't get it down. I had to walk to drop it down. I finally found that by running around 4.2 mph I could get it into the 150's. But geez, I do my walk breaks at 4.0 mph! And you could say that I should throw out the HRM and go by how I feel, but honestly, I felt lousy when my HR was so high. My heart was racing, I couldn't catch my breath. I'd had a little bit of asthma over the week, so I wasn't surprised about not catching my breath. But if I was going by the RPE chart, I still could not carry on a conversation when my HR was so high. So I don't know what that all means. Am I overtraining? Am I getting sick?
It took me 2.5 hours to do the 11 miles. I had to walk the last 1.25 miles because my right foot and calf were hurting so bad. I can't even believe I made it the whole 11 miles. I really didn't think I would.
I went home, and took a cold bath to soak my foot and legs. I couldn't do an ice bath but figured a cold bath might do some good. I could barely walk later in the afternoon. Then I started feeling really sick. I took a short nap on the sofa, and felt like I had a fever. I was really nauseated too. Eventually it all passed. I had a hard time getting to sleep last night. I went to bed at 9:30 and was still awake at midnight. I don't know if this is all related or not, but I really just felt like crap yesterday.
I'm feeling better today, but my foot is still hurting. It throbs even when I'm not walking on it. I'm icing it and taking ibuprofin. But to be honest, I'm giving some serious thought to ending the marathon training. :( I really don't like feeling this bad. I don't like being in this much pain. My right foot has always given me problems. I'm sure its plantar fascietis or something of the likes of it. Its just plain painful right now, whatever the problem is. I've tried to run through it over the past few months, but as my mileage is increasing, I just don't know that I can continue to do so.
I'm thinking...this is a really tough decision to make. I'll see how I feel as the week progresses.
Let's see...the day we left for vacation, I got up early and did our 10 mile long run for the week with Kathy. We met at Glacier Ridge Metro park, and decided to try one of the trails for some trail running. It was mostly grass. What a mistake. In fact, the whole run totally stunk for various reasons. First, because we weren't doing the group run and wouldn't have water stations, I decided to use my new hydration belt. Big mistake. The stupid thing kept riding up on me. The water sloshing around didn't bother me, but the belt moving up on my waist totally bothered me.
Then, we ended up on the bridel trail, so we ended up having to watch out for big piles of horse poop. Between that and making sure I didn't twist my ankle in the divits along the trail, it was just not fun. We finally got onto some trail that went into the woods, which was really nice, however, it is obviously one not used much since Kathy and I ended up with mouthfulls of cobwebs as we ran through it! By the time we finally got onto a paved trail, we had only gone a few miles or so, and frankly, my legs were already tuckered out from running on the trail. It seemed so much harder than running on pavement. The rest of the run was lousy because I just didn't have the energy in me. I had to stop and do a lot of walk breaks.
Kathy and I each had ticks on us afterwards. Not good. We both seemed to agree that we will never do that again! Trail running just isn't for me I guess.
While on vacation, I did two 5-mile runs. The first one I did on tuesday, and it went great. The second one I did on friday. It was not a great run. I did it inside on the hotel workout room. The room was like a suana. In fact, I had wondered if it would have been just as easy or cooler to run outside! I even contemplated stopping at two miles, it was THAT hot. But somehow I suffered through it. To add to the already tough workout, my right foot and calf were really bothering me.
Saturday we had our drive home. 10 hours in the car. Each time we got out of the car, my right foot was really hurting me. I was limping into the rest areas. My calves were really tight too. I feel like I have really deep muscle aches in the calves. But the right foot, in the arch, feels like I'm walking on a ball or something.
Then yesterday, Sunday, I was scheduled to do my long run for the week. 11 miles. I went to the Y to do it. God, yet another miserable run. First, I could not for the life of me get my HR down. At only running 5.0 mph, it was in the 170's. What the heck? Do I dropped down the speed to try and get my hr down into the 150's. I couldn't get it down. I had to walk to drop it down. I finally found that by running around 4.2 mph I could get it into the 150's. But geez, I do my walk breaks at 4.0 mph! And you could say that I should throw out the HRM and go by how I feel, but honestly, I felt lousy when my HR was so high. My heart was racing, I couldn't catch my breath. I'd had a little bit of asthma over the week, so I wasn't surprised about not catching my breath. But if I was going by the RPE chart, I still could not carry on a conversation when my HR was so high. So I don't know what that all means. Am I overtraining? Am I getting sick?
It took me 2.5 hours to do the 11 miles. I had to walk the last 1.25 miles because my right foot and calf were hurting so bad. I can't even believe I made it the whole 11 miles. I really didn't think I would.
I went home, and took a cold bath to soak my foot and legs. I couldn't do an ice bath but figured a cold bath might do some good. I could barely walk later in the afternoon. Then I started feeling really sick. I took a short nap on the sofa, and felt like I had a fever. I was really nauseated too. Eventually it all passed. I had a hard time getting to sleep last night. I went to bed at 9:30 and was still awake at midnight. I don't know if this is all related or not, but I really just felt like crap yesterday.
I'm feeling better today, but my foot is still hurting. It throbs even when I'm not walking on it. I'm icing it and taking ibuprofin. But to be honest, I'm giving some serious thought to ending the marathon training. :( I really don't like feeling this bad. I don't like being in this much pain. My right foot has always given me problems. I'm sure its plantar fascietis or something of the likes of it. Its just plain painful right now, whatever the problem is. I've tried to run through it over the past few months, but as my mileage is increasing, I just don't know that I can continue to do so.
I'm thinking...this is a really tough decision to make. I'll see how I feel as the week progresses.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Workout Results 7/15
This was a speedwork day. Kathy and I met at the track and we warmed up by walking a mile around the track. The instructions were to run 8-10 laps around the track about 3/4 of the way around, and then walk the last quarter of the lap and repeat. It was okay, but I struggled, mostly because it was really humid, so the air was really heavy. It was tough for me to breathe. But we did it.
Workout results: 52 minutes (includes warm up and cool down). 3.45 miles. HR average 134 (76%), Max HR 183 (103%). 357 calories burned.
We've moved the long run up to Friday since I'll be leaving for vacation on friday afternoon. We have 10 miles to do and we are meeting at a metro park to do it. I'm looking forward to running somewhere different, so I think it will be a good run.
Thank god for Kathy though. I could NEVER do this without her. I REALLY did not feel up to doing the speedwork and easily could have talked myself out of doing it. But knowing that I had to go because Kathy was going made me go and of course, I'm glad now that I did. Having a runnning partner makes all the difference in the world, and I would encourage anyone who is training for a marathon to get a partner (you just can't have Kathy!). :)
Workout results: 52 minutes (includes warm up and cool down). 3.45 miles. HR average 134 (76%), Max HR 183 (103%). 357 calories burned.
We've moved the long run up to Friday since I'll be leaving for vacation on friday afternoon. We have 10 miles to do and we are meeting at a metro park to do it. I'm looking forward to running somewhere different, so I think it will be a good run.
Thank god for Kathy though. I could NEVER do this without her. I REALLY did not feel up to doing the speedwork and easily could have talked myself out of doing it. But knowing that I had to go because Kathy was going made me go and of course, I'm glad now that I did. Having a runnning partner makes all the difference in the world, and I would encourage anyone who is training for a marathon to get a partner (you just can't have Kathy!). :)
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Workout Results 7/13
Today was a four mile run. I ran it inside on the treadmill at the Y because I didn't want to run outside in the heat of the day. It actually went pretty well. I took it nice and easy. I was a little worried because I haven't had a day of rest since doing the long run saturday, but the run was actually pretty good. Tomorrow is my rest day from running. It might be a complete rest day, but I was hoping to do some strength training.
Workout results: 4 miles. 54 minutes. 458 calories burned. Avg HR 151 (85%), Max HR 170 (96%)
Workout results: 4 miles. 54 minutes. 458 calories burned. Avg HR 151 (85%), Max HR 170 (96%)
Monday, July 13, 2009
Workout Results 7/11 - 7/12
The long run on saturday was an 8 mile run. I suppose you could say we lucked out on the weather because it didn't start raining until after we finished our run, but it was really humid out, rain or no rain! We started out the run way too fast. What the heck was I thinking? I am NOT doing that again. It was tough enough with the humidity, but add in the way-too-fast pace, the fact that I ate like crap the day before, and it was basically a recipe for disaster. Oh, and we can also add in that there were some hills in this run!
The first half of the run wasn't all that bad, to be honest, but the last half couldn't be done fast enough. I had to do a lot more walking than usual. I also forgot to take my ibuprofin before the run, so my knees were kind of feeling it too. Anyhow, lesson learned. I need to really slow the pace down, ESPECIALLY for the long runs, and I need to adjust for the heat as well.
Then Sunday was supposed to be a day of rest. But I'm having to move all my runs up this week because we're leaving for our vacation on Friday. So since I'll be doing the long run Friday morning, I need to move everything up. So Sunday morning, I did a five mile run.
I thought that it might be pretty darn hard to do the 5 mile run after doing an 8 mile just 24 hours earlier, but really, it wasn't too bad. I kept the pace REALLY slow. In fact, my garmin showed me running anywhere from an 11 - 12:30 pace. But I didn't care. My goal was actually to keep my HR down, and it took going that slow to keep it to a reasonable level. Plus, it was hot. The temp guage at home said it was 64 when I left, but honestly, with the sun beating down, it felt at least 10 degrees hotter. But really, it was a good run. However, about 2 miles into it, my right foot started hurting. In fact, it was hurting enough that I had to walk. I thought I would have to give up the run, and hoped to even just make it home by walking. I didn't have a choice because I didn't have a phone with. I was limping. But after about 5 minutes of walking, I tried to run again. No dice. Walked a couple minutes more, and then tried running again. I wondered if the foot was hurting from the way I was running because I was running so slow. So I started running faster, and sure enough, the pain completely disappeared. I've had this happen before. When I run slow, I'm MUST be doing something that is putting extra pressure on that foot.
Anyhow, I eventually slowed it down again, and it was fine. No problems for the rest of the run. Then Sunday evening we went out for our weekly "family walk". We were about a quarter mile from home, and all of a sudden the bottom of the right foot started to kill me. Out of nowhere. The pain this time was closer to the heel though. I had to stop walking for just a few seconds , and then the pain went away. Anyhow, I don't know what is going on. I hope it will be okay for the runs later this week.
So, the plan this week is a 4 mile run today, Strength training Tuesday, Speedwork Wednesday, Day of rest Thursday, and 10 mile run Friday.
Workout results from Saturday: 8 miles, 1 hr, 43 minutes. 950 calories burned. Average HR 156 (89%), max 194 (110%).
Workout results from Sunday: 5 miles. 1 hr 5 minutes. 523 calories burned. Avg. HR 149 (84%), max 170 (96%).
The first half of the run wasn't all that bad, to be honest, but the last half couldn't be done fast enough. I had to do a lot more walking than usual. I also forgot to take my ibuprofin before the run, so my knees were kind of feeling it too. Anyhow, lesson learned. I need to really slow the pace down, ESPECIALLY for the long runs, and I need to adjust for the heat as well.
Then Sunday was supposed to be a day of rest. But I'm having to move all my runs up this week because we're leaving for our vacation on Friday. So since I'll be doing the long run Friday morning, I need to move everything up. So Sunday morning, I did a five mile run.
I thought that it might be pretty darn hard to do the 5 mile run after doing an 8 mile just 24 hours earlier, but really, it wasn't too bad. I kept the pace REALLY slow. In fact, my garmin showed me running anywhere from an 11 - 12:30 pace. But I didn't care. My goal was actually to keep my HR down, and it took going that slow to keep it to a reasonable level. Plus, it was hot. The temp guage at home said it was 64 when I left, but honestly, with the sun beating down, it felt at least 10 degrees hotter. But really, it was a good run. However, about 2 miles into it, my right foot started hurting. In fact, it was hurting enough that I had to walk. I thought I would have to give up the run, and hoped to even just make it home by walking. I didn't have a choice because I didn't have a phone with. I was limping. But after about 5 minutes of walking, I tried to run again. No dice. Walked a couple minutes more, and then tried running again. I wondered if the foot was hurting from the way I was running because I was running so slow. So I started running faster, and sure enough, the pain completely disappeared. I've had this happen before. When I run slow, I'm MUST be doing something that is putting extra pressure on that foot.
Anyhow, I eventually slowed it down again, and it was fine. No problems for the rest of the run. Then Sunday evening we went out for our weekly "family walk". We were about a quarter mile from home, and all of a sudden the bottom of the right foot started to kill me. Out of nowhere. The pain this time was closer to the heel though. I had to stop walking for just a few seconds , and then the pain went away. Anyhow, I don't know what is going on. I hope it will be okay for the runs later this week.
So, the plan this week is a 4 mile run today, Strength training Tuesday, Speedwork Wednesday, Day of rest Thursday, and 10 mile run Friday.
Workout results from Saturday: 8 miles, 1 hr, 43 minutes. 950 calories burned. Average HR 156 (89%), max 194 (110%).
Workout results from Sunday: 5 miles. 1 hr 5 minutes. 523 calories burned. Avg. HR 149 (84%), max 170 (96%).
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