I finished my partial week (got parked for a few days by Achilles tendon injury) with one hard workout: a 6 x 1000 meters on Friday. I ran on the track in perfect running weather, so the only negative factor was that I started it at 7pm, which means it was already dark

It went OK: the splits were 3:36, 3:36, 3:38, 3:35, 3:43, 3:39. My goal was to keep the average below 3:40, which I succeeded in, but the workout became pretty hard by the end. I ran the first 3-4 repeats in the usual way: digging a bit deep in the straights, coasting in the curves, pushing the last 100 meters. When I realized that I'm a but faster than what I wanted, I cut back for the 4th repeat by keeping myself deliberately out of any oxygen debt, even for the last 100 meters. Then I pushed the last one, maybe even harder than the first 3, but by that time, I was exhausted, so I only managed 3:39. I deduced that my VDOT is a bit under 55, which is not too surprising given that I did limited mileage and not many workouts since early November. I also need to improve my LT max next, because the relative ease of the first few repeats, and the difficulty of the last one suggests deficiency in that department.

I'll try to get a full good week in next week, and then do whatever is necessary to win the PBGP master division. Even though I realized that final standings are not based on time, but on positions in age groups. Then, hopefully, off to marathon training.

As I wrote in the previous posts, I pulled my Achilles tendon last week on a snowy run. Then I raced on it, and although it didn't affect my race performance, it aggravated the injury. So when I tried to run on it on Sunday (planned to do a 15-mile long run), I decided to quit after 3.5 miles, because it hurt, and it didn't get any better as the run progressed.

I skipped Monday and Tuesday, and my Achilles appreciated it: today I still felt it a bit in the morning, but after that, I couldn't tell by walking that I had any injury. So I tried a 9-miler, and it went fine. I felt a minor discomfort at some point, but I think (hope) I'm over it.

So I just jump back to training. I planned to do week 2, 4, and 6 of Phase IV, so I'll just jump back to the middle of week 2. Fortunately both today and tomorrow are easy days for an easy comeback. So here is the plan:

Th: 9 E
Fr: 2 E + 6 x 4 min H w/ 3 min jg + 1 E
Sa: 9 E

Next week:

Su: 15 L
Mo: 9 E + 6 ST
Tu: 3 E + 3 T + 2 min rest + 2 T + 1 E
We: 9 E
Th: Rest
Fr: 2 E + 8 x 3 min H w/ 2 min jg + 2 E
Sa: Whatever is needed to round out 60 miles for the week. Shouldn't be more than 9 miles.

Frostbite 5k Race Report

Goal: Run by feel. Preserve or increase overall lead in age group and/or master category.

The preparation for this was the usual, less than perfect, winter training, in which I got sick for about a week, and the usual busy schedule derailed my training a few times. The race got postponed by week, because last Friday night it started to snow, and very cold temperatures (~15 F) were expected for Saturday morning. This time, it was not too cold: just a few degrees above freezing, but this Friday was the first time in a week that the temperature rose above freezing, so the ice and snow didn't completely melt. Even worse: some parts of the race course was in a cold depression, and the melted ice froze back on the road during the night, and didn't melt again by the morning, so we had a half a mile of very slippery road.

Esther and I arrived to the park about an hour before the start. We warmed up, by jogging to the start line from the parking place, and we jogged around a bit more. I felt good, but not great. My Achilles kept bothering me, and despite the short run on Friday, I didn't feel well recovered. The 37 degrees in the park felt warm compared to what we had to endure since Christmas, but it is still less than ideal for running. I ran in long sleeves, shorts, gloves and cap, which was fine.

The race organizers informed us that some part of race course is very icy, so they would cut the distance to about 2.3 miles (3.7 km). That's bad news for me... 4 km is already too short, and this would be even shorter. Also, the race course they posted on-line is several years old, and they hadn't used it in many years, so what we previewed was already inaccurate, even without the modifications. I used to love this organizer company (River City Races), but they have had so many screwups recently...

We started right on time. I got boxed in a bit at the start again, but I didn't sweat the lost 1-2 seconds. Especially, because the race started with a half-mile uphill, so if you don't go crazy on it, it's fine. After pushing myself hard for a quarter mile to reach my VO2 max, I maintained a good 6:40-ish pace uphill, trying teeter on my VO2 max. Then we hit the top, and we were going down for a half of a mile (though the downhill was not quite as steep as the uphill). I had to be careful in the turns not to slip, and I did slow down. A stupid mistake could cost me the overall position. I also had to fall below my VO2 max, because even 4K is too long to maintain it for the whole race.

Mile 1: 6:08

The second mile started with another hill (about 0.3 mile long), similar grade as the first. Obviously I was a bit slower here, but I tried to race pretty aggressively. It is such a short race! On the other side we reached the bottom at around mile 1.7. Here in the "valley" the road was still frozen, and I had to slow down just because of that! One guy passed me, but he looked quite young, so I didn't bother to chase him. In fact I was kind of surprised how he can run so fast on such slippery road, when I realized that he ran on the snowy side, which is less slippery than the icy side. So I also started to run on the snow, but he still pulled away a bit.

Mile 2: 6:22

I started to push the pace, but I had to slow down one more time in a turn. Then I threw down a strong kick to finish at a 5:10 pace.

Last ~0.3 mile: 1:45
Total: 14:18 (14:15 chip time). 12th place overall out of 339, 1st in AG.

A bit regretfully, there were two runners within 4 seconds in front of me; though I was actually closing on them in the finish line. I got my age group win, but not the master win this time. Fortunately the master winner didn't run the first race, so I lead the master category of the Grand Prix by over a minute. Unless I really screw up the 4-miler next month, I can win the master division of the Polar Bear Grand Prix, not just the AG.

A bit embarrassing though that the grandmaster leader, a 53 year old guy has more than two minutes on me! It makes me feel like I don't really deserve a master trophy, if somebody who has over a decade on me is so much faster!

This is the training I did after the last post:

I ran the 9-miler on Friday, I rested on Saturday, and I wanted to run my Phase 3 week starting Sunday. We had snow and icy and freezing temperatures for the whole week, so it was impossible to run outside - at least for the first half of the week.

I got so busy on Monday, that I ran out of time, so I skipped that day. Otherwise the training was not too bad: on Sunday, after an easy warmup mile, I ran 10 miles at 6:42 pace (marathon pace), all treadmill. On Tuesday, I ran 10 intervals of 2 minutes VO2 max pace (5:50 pace) with 1 minutes of recovery, treadmill again. Then two easy days of 10 miles each, running outdoors on Thursday for the first time. It was still too much ice and snow on the ground, and I pulled my Achilles a bit... I only ran an easy race course preview on Friday, which turned out not to be the course that we ran on race day. More about this, in my next post: the race report.

So much for my plans! I got sick and I had to skip 5 days of training, which was supposed to be basically the first week of Phase II training. Then, coming back, following Daniels's advice on unplanned breaks, I just did easy running for 5 days, and since the Frostbite 5K was supposed to be this weekend, I just did easy mileage until Thursday, planning a rest day for Friday.

OK, now the race got canceled due to inclement weather. Two weeks of Phase II is gone. I think I'll try one week of Phase II and 3 weeks of Phase IV. Hopefully it'll work.

So I'll probably just run another niner today, rest on Saturday, and start my Phase II week on Sunday.

For my Phase II training, I'll run weeks 2, 4, and 6 of the Daniels 5K plan.

Week of 12/31:

S: 15L (max 120 min.)
M: E + 10ST
T: 2E + 6 x (200R + 200jg + 200R + 200jg + 400R + 400jg) + 2E = 10 mi
W: E + 8ST
T: E
F: 2E + 5 x 1T w/ 1 min rests + 6 x 200R w/ 200jg + 2E = 10.5 mi
S: E + 8ST

Average easy day volume, assuming one rest day: 8.17 miles.

OK, decision is made, I train for the Polar Bear Grand Prix, and when it's over, I'll make a decision about a spring marathon. KY Derby is 11 weeks after the last race in the PBGP, so I can almost do a short Pfitzinger cycle after that. With the winter training it should be good enough.

Here is my training schedule for the PBGP. We start weeks on Sundays.

Phase I: 12/10
Phase II: 12/31
  Frostbite 5K: 01/13
Phase IV: 01/21
  Snowman Shuffle: 02/10

For Phase I, I just easy runs to ramp up the mileage. Tentative plan is to run 50 (12.5 + 5 x 7.5), 55 (13.75 + 5 x 8.25), and 60 (15 + 5 x 9) miles a week.

Reindeer Romp 4k Race Report

Goal: Place well, maybe win age group. Due to terrain, temperature, and training, no time goal.

We signed up for the Polar Bear Grand Prix race series with Esther mostly to keep ourselves motivated to train through the winter. (And for her, maybe for the swag.) I just had my recovery month after the Bowling Green Marathon, which was complicated by a bad case of PF after that race - but I'm not complaining. So the goal was just to race as well as possible given the circumstances.

And those were not easy! The course is only 4 km, which is way too short for me, it has two long, hard hills (Urban Bourbon Half Marathon hills compressed into 1/5 of the length of that race), and it was a balmy 25 F (-4 C) in the morning. We jogged the course last afternoon with Esther so we knew what to expect. We arrived to the park at 8:15 for the 9:00am race. We did about 2 miles of warmup, a few strides, and we were ready to race.

I got a little boxed in at the start, but quickly jumped ahead (got a cheer from Esther), and off I went. The large amount of cold air flared up my exercise induced asthma, and I had some breathing issues for a minute of two, but fortunately it quickly resolved. After a short (0.1 mile) flat segment, we started the first downhill (1/2 mile long). I knew I can't rest on the downhill if I want to race well, so I pushed a 5:30 pace there. When we got to the bottom, I settled into a slightly uncomfortable, but controlled effort that (I guessed) I could maintain (or increase) till the end.

Mile 1: 5:52

I tried to run somewhat conservatively in this flat section between the two hills, so I tried not to overtake people. But I found that people around me slowed more than I expected (their pace was 6:20-ish), so after a while I passed a young guy, then a child, and I was back to my 6:00 pace. I kept slowly passing people, and I did not get passed after the first few hundred yards (I think), so I guess it was a well-run race.

We started the climb (1/2 mile long) of the second hill. My strategy was to be conservative here, and to start to run hard on the top. I allowed my discomfort to slightly increase, making sure I'm not going over my VO2 max. I ran the uphill at a pretty constant 7:10 pace, and then accelerated on the top to my standard 6:00 pace. We went on a slight downhill, took a U-turn around a statue of Daniel Boone, while I kept my place behind a small group.

Mile 2: 6:32

I knew we were close to the finish, but there was one more climb left to go back up the first hill. Not as bad as the other one: only about a 1/4 mile long, and the finish line is on the top. At the bottom of the climb I increased my effort and I passed the small group. I was powering up the hill, but I got slightly worried around 3/4 up that I started this kick too early... I was suffering bad! But I knew that only a few seconds left, so I toughed it out, and finished the race.

Last 0.5: 3:16 (6:44 pace)

Time: 15:40 (15:37 chip time). 13th place (out of 422), 1st in AG. (In fact master win, see update.)

I waited for Esther and cheered her on when she arrived at 18:30. The great thing about this race was that we both won our age groups! This motivates me to train harder for this race series and try to win my age group in the cumulative results. And if we both do it with Esther, that would be something!

We hung around for the awards, but we didn't quite feel like eating anything yet. We just had some hot drinks (it was still freezing), hung around for the awards, and then we jogged back to the car.

Update: A few days later I found out there they somehow miscalculated the results and I actually won the master division. They will switch out the trophy at the next race of the Polar Bear Grand Prix.

That recovery plan was completely ignored. First I was fighting with a pretty bad case of plantar fascitis, and then I was busy or lazy, or it was too cold or too dark... the point is, for the last month, I just ran when I felt like running, which (I think) turned out to be a remarkably good recovery strategy. Today, I feel fine, recovered, still in somewhat reasonable shape.

Recovery plan.

M: Rest
T: Rest
W: 5 R
T: Rest
F: 6 R
S: 5 R
S: 8 GA

M: Rest
T: 6 R
W: 8 GA
T: Rest
F: 8 GA + 8x100 ST
S: 5 R
S: 10 GA

Bowling Green Marathon Race Report

Goal: 3 hours (?)     Secondary goal: 3:10

Preparing for this race, my goal was to run 3 hours on a difficult course. I chose Bowling Green mainly because it is hilly, and I thought it would be nice to run a 3-hour marathon on a hilly course. There is a website that compares marathon courses, and I didn't read they methodology, but they rated Bowling Green 2 minutes slower than Indianapolis Monumental (where I ran 2:59 two years ago), just based on the elevation profile. 

Three or four weeks before the race I thought my shape was worse than going into the Indianapolis race, but I started that training cycle after some serious 5K-10K training and I started this one on nothing but base mileage. By the time I did my last workout (3 x 1600), I felt I caught up, and I was maybe in better shape. I weigh a few pounds more, but that's actually upper body muscle, because I spent some time in the weight room in the summer. Good or bad for running, it is arguable, but I need it for firefighting.

Then I saw the weather forecast. It got worse and worse as race day approached. The last two weeks of training in Louisville was in cool weather, typically 40 F (4 C), no sunshine; in fact my last (medium) long run was in 35 F (2 C). Compare that to race day morning: 70 F (21 C), 90% humidity (66 F dew point for the weather geeks), and mostly sunny. It wouldn't be terrible, if I didn't acclimate to the cool weather in the last two weeks, but it was quite brutal this way.

I did my usual morning routine: getting up early, having a good breakfast, driving to Bowling Green (2 hours). The advantage of a small race and being early is that I could park just 100 yards from the start/finish line. I was hit by the hot and muggy air when I got out of the car, so I decided not to warm up (except for some dynamic stretching), because I knew I would pay dearly for any fluid loss, even if it happened during warmup. I was also able to pick up my packet on race day morning. They had amazing swag.

It was a very small marathon: less than a thousand runners, and most of them ran the half. There were only 166 entrants of the full. It was a nice group of people, and I had conversations with a bunch of them. Most notably I met Hajime Nishi.

The race started at 7:00 (central time), but Louisville is on Eastern Time, so it was really 8:00 for me. The course has a unforgiving elevation profile starting with four major hills. It is basically uphill-downhill-uphill-downhill etc., for the first 7.5 miles, and everything is steep. If you've ever been to the campus of Western Kentucky University, you may remember Cherry Hall: it's on the top of a steep hill. Well, basically we climb that hill four times. Then from 7.5 to the halfway point it is "flat", but not like Indianapolis. It is still up and down, just without the steep grades. Then we are back to campus, and repeat the whole thing again.

I should have known that with the way the weather was and the way my fitness was, I had no real chance to run 3 hours. Yet, I didn't want to give it up before I started, so I decided to follow the 3-hour plan until mile 16, and then decide: if I don't feel great, then I slow down and just focus on getting my safe Boston Qualifier (3:10).

I started with a group of runners who ran the 3-hour pace (some of them were half-marathoners). The pace felt OK, but you can't make it feel super easy when you are climbing the Cherry Hall hill. The group broke up quickly, but everyone was in sight, and we sometimes passed each other: some people were faster going uphill; I was usually faster on the downhills. There was a guy in an "Army" shirt (his name was Peter), who was mostly ahead of me, but I passed him on a few downhills.

Mile 1: 7:01
Mile 2: 6:29
Mile 3: 7:03
Mile 4: 6:26
Mile 5: 7:11

The pace seems to vary, but it was a quite even effort with the hills. I was about 30 seconds ahead of my planned time (very unwise). I tried to take it easy, but I didn't want to walk uphill and didn't want to brake downhill. Mile after mile I recognized that the 30 seconds stayed about constant. On the other hand that meant that at least my current pace was correct.

We were still downtown, going up and down on parallel streets. A few jackrabbits were passed by this time, and I found myself in 5th place. I knew that the guy just ahead of me (Ryan) was a half-marathoner, so that made me at least 4th in the marathon.

I caught up to Ryan, and asked him if he knew who were marathoners and who were half-marathoner in front of us - he wasn't sure. I had had a conversation with him before the start, and I knew he was aiming run a 7-minute/mile pace. I told him we are a bit faster than that. We climbed the last steep hill of the first loop together.

Mile 6: 7:05

The hot and humid air affected me already. I felt warm. I took water at every aid station - drank half of it, dumped the rest over my head. Ryan started to fade and I left him on the next downhill. We entered an alley (it seems to be called BG262 Alley - I'm note sure if it's an official name). We ran a good half a mile in the alley among backyards. I liked that part. By this time I only had Peter (Army guy) in sight, and our distance was basically a constant 100 yards.

Mile 7: 6:32

Conditions deteriorated quickly. Temperature rose, the sun came out, and wind got stronger. We ran on a large road (two lanes in each direction), on which one lane was closed for runners. No shade, quite hot, and no aid stations. My singlet and my shorts were complete wet now and started to drip.

Mile 8: 6:46

I was just following Peter, still at 100 yards. I felt fine. The steep hills were over, I was running a good pace. I knew I was losing a lot of fluid though, and despite drinking at every aid station, I knew I can't physically replenish enough when I sweat so much.

Mile 09: 6:57
Mile 10: 6:42

After a short loop in a suburban neighborhood, we were back on the large road to the opposite direction. I noticed that Peter was slowing a bit, and I started to catch him. I didn't want to pass him. It is much better to run behind somebody than just ahead. Behind us there was nobody in sight any more. I was content to give up a few seconds here, because I knew that things would get hard. By this time my sweat saturated my socks and shoes so much that I heard a swishy sound on my footfalls. My right nipple patch fall off from the sweat and I started to bloody up my shirt. And there were still 16 miles left.

Mile 11: 6:54
Mile 12: 6:52

Peter continued to slow, so I pulled up to him. I asked his age (34). I knew we were 3rd and 4th on the road, but I didn't know how many were half-marathoners (I knew Peter was running the full), and how many over 40. I wanted to win an award and for that I would either have to place in the top three, or would have to win the over 40 category. I thought, even if Peter beats
me, I would have a good chance for the latter.

Mile 13: 6:57

Peter seemed to slow even more here, so I left him. I ran by the finish line to start my second loop. My time was a few seconds under 1:30, as planned.

And this is when things are started to go wrong. Yes, this early. I climbed the Cherry Hall hill again, and I lost all my advantage against the clock. Peter was quite a bit behind. I knew I wouldn't run 3 hours today, so I tried to conserve more energy. I decided that from here my goals are (1) securing my Boston Qualifier (2) preserving my position. People looked at my bloody shirt in horror (or at least that's what I conceived).

Mile 14: 7:37

This was a super lonely mile. I went down on a straight road, no spectators, no cops, no signs. I started to get worried that I got lost, but then I recognized some of the buildings from the first loop. This part was mostly downhill. From the little attention I was getting from the organizers I deduced that I'm not the leader of the race. He would surely get at least a leading cyclist.

Mile 15: 6:33

After the next aid station I decided to remove my shirt. I was climbing a hill slowly while I unpinned my bib from my shirt and pinned it to my shorts while running. The chafing was so bad that I didn't mind the lost time. I carried my shirt in my right hand from here, and I only put it back on right before the finish.

Mile 16: 7:36

A cyclist organizer finally started to lead me. I figured I was second or third; I was guessing second (I was correct). I could have asked, but I decided not to: it wouldn't have changed my strategy. I learned my position a few miles later when somebody told me (without asking) at an aid station. I was working my way over the hills. They were much harder than for the first time. I started to feel my quads.

Mile 17: 6:39
Mile 18: 7:43
Mile 19: 7:36

I switched into survival mode. I didn't need fast miles to finish under 3:10, but I still needed to do a sub 8-minute pace. So I just focused on to keep running.

Mile 20: 7:05

On the big road again. Even hotter, full sun, misery. I think I had a runner right behind me, because I heard the cheer squads cheering the a second time shortly after I left them. In one intersection, a cop stopped the traffic for me, and I noticed that he didn't let the cars go when I crossed the intersection. From that I knew that this other runner must be very close. I never looked back, just tried to maintain my pace. And somehow I got rid of him. Not sure exactly where and how, but I didn't hear the cheers behind me after a while.

Mile 21: 7:19

I turned into the suburban neighborhood again. I had a crisis here. I really thought about dropping out or at least starting to walk. But I would lose my BQ time for sure.

Mile 22: 7:52

I summoned some more will and kept pushing.

Mile 23: 7:27

Back on the big road. More hot, more sun, less energy.

Mile 24: 7:52

This part of the course followed the same big road back that we took to get from downtown to the suburb. I was now heading back to downtown, and I saw Peter running still toward the suburbs. He was now way behind me. (He finished in 16th place in 3:43.)

When it rains, it pours. I careless volunteer misdirected my cyclist and I. I only ran maybe 20 yards in the wrong direction, but I was tired enough without this! She apologized profusely. (Honestly, it's OK. It didn't change anything.)

Mile 25: 8:03

The last mile. Many turns, strong winds, hills, and my only thought is on finishing. I was running like a zombie, looking at my GPS every minute. I tried to imagine how many laps of a track is left. "Only five laps. I can run five laps."

At one point we had another out-and-back portion of the course - a short one - but it was enough for me to see the competitors at least a quarter mile back. Nobody was that close behind me. I was fairly sure then that I had my 2nd place.

Mile 26: 8:07

Even the last 0.2 mile was long. I put my shirt back on. Somehow the motion of the sweaty shirt in my hand washed out the bloodstain, and it was reasonably presentable. I crossed the finish line, picked up my medal, and I sat down on the curb. I used up everything I had.

Final time: 3:08:37, 2nd place overall.

The winner ran 2:58:04, and the third place was at 3:14:11.

Post race food and party was fantastic. They offered beer and burger. People were very nice. They didn't announced the awards, but they gave them out (or mailed them out, if the winner didn't ask for it). It is slightly weird, but I see this at more and more small races. I won a really nice glass cup.

I don't know if this was the hardest race I've ever done, but it was definitely the most miserable. On the other hand, it is not clear that if I ran a 1:34 first half, then I could have run a faster second half. The weather was clearly an issue: I got overheated and dehydrated by the end, but there were also some muscular fatigue problems from not training enough on hills. My fitness, the only thing I had actually been worried about, was probably fine.

It is very temping to come back next year to redeem my performance. But there are so many other nice races to do, and there is new fall marathon in Louisville (also hilly). For now, after recovery, I'll do a winter race series of 4K, 5K, 5 mile races with Esther. I have at least a few more days to figure out if I want to run a spring marathon.

It doesn't matter how fit you are. When you have to race in 70 degrees and 90% humidity, you can't realistically aim for the same the same goal as you would in 50 degree dry weather.

Tomorrow's weather forecast is exactly like that. 67 F at the 7:00 start, 71 F at 10:00. Dew point is pretty uniformly 66 F, which corresponds to humidity going from 92% to 84%.

I'm pretty sure I have no chance of running 3 hours in this weather. I'm not sure I should even try. According every heat table, it is already a good performance if I run 3:10 tomorrow.

I did my 3x1600 workout last Thursday, as planned, on the Jeffersontown High School track (asphalt, quarter mile track), in the dark. It wasn't the easiest thing, but I hit my paces with no problem: 5:48, 5:49, 5:50. Only the last one felt hard, but no pain cave.

Then I felt strong for my "long" run on Sunday: 13 miles @ 7:38 pace, but 3.6 miles were on trails with many steep hills. The last four asphalt miles 7:21, 7:10, 7:25, 7:01, and they also had some hills in them. It almost makes me worried that I push too hard on these runs, and I won't be sufficiently recovered.

So I took my Monday rest day, my very easy Tuesday run (still 7:47 pace), and I was ready for my dress rehearsal today: 7 miles, 2 at marathon pace. I ran the two miles way too fast: 6:39 and 6:29. OK, the second one was slight downhill, but the first one was slight uphill (Strava GAPs are 6:36, 6:33), but it is still too fast. They felt quite easy. I tried to restrain myself, but I felt if I ran any slower, it would be jogging. I will seriously have to restrain myself in the first half of my race.

Now it is really nothing left, but eating healthy, not getting sick, not getting injured, and finish my recovery in the last few days.

After my hard LT run on Saturday late evening, in about 12 hours I was again on the street running my 17 miler. It was not so easy to do it on tired legs, but I managed to finish it at a decent pace. I ran the first portion with Adam, so that was a bit slower (8 min/mile), and I picked up from there. Good training.

Nothing hard is left. The only somewhat challenging training is the VO2 max session this Thursday. It would probably count as a hard session on a typical day, but considering the shape I'm in, it should be fairly easy. I was able to run some 6:1x miles at the end of the LT run without getting too winded, so running single miles at 5:50 pace with ample recovery on already fairly rested legs should not pose a problem.

Taper plan:

10/23, M: Rest
T: 7 GA w/ 8x100 ST
W: 4 R
T: 8 w/ 3x1600 VO2 max. (5:50/mile, 5:48/1600), 50-90% rests (~2 laps)
F: 5 R
S: 6R w/ 8x100 ST
S: 13 MLR

10/30, M: Rest
T: 7 R
W: Dress rehearsal: 7 w/ 2@MP (6:43/mile)
T: 5 R
F: 5 R w/ 6x100 ST
S: 4 R
S: Race

OK, so I waited until 8pm with the LT run. So the weather cooled down, but I had to face the other problem: chili and coffee before the run = upset stomach. Somehow I did manage the run without throwing up though, and my splits were quite good: 6:15, 6:18, 6:31 (hilly mile), 6:16, 6:08, 6:13. It's a 6:17 average, and this was definitely not race effort. In fact I sprinted another quarter mile after finishing the sixth mile, because I felt like pushing a bit and I thought it would be cool to run a sub-39 10K in training (which I did).

So it seems like all three components are together. Fitness is fine. Lactate threshold is fine. Endurance is fine. I do have a chance of sub-3.

About a week after my last post, not much happened. I had my last 20-miler on Sunday, and I felt good, so I pushed it a bit. I ran a 7:26/mile average, and the last part was the fastest. After that run I only had pretty easy runs, except for a 12-miler on Wednesday, which, again, went just fine.

Today I was supposed to run a tune-up race, which didn't happen, because we went to the cross country state championship for schools, because Esther ran the 4K there. I will go out for an LT run later (maybe soon). It's 78 degrees and sunny outside. I'm wondering why I don't ever have the chance to do a good lactate threshold workout in nice, cool weather...

I had a very strong 17-mile run on Sunday. Finally it was cool, and I felt good the whole time. I averaged 7:25/mile, and it felt pretty easy.

Monday was rest, then two horrible recovery runs on Tuesday - this happens often: when I have a little rest after some hard work, the next easy runs feel totally hard. I didn't sleep much the next night, and I had a terrible headache all day on Wednesday, so I wasn't looking forward to going to the track at 8pm in the dark for a 6 x 1200 session. Fortunately it went fine. Splits were 4:22, 4:20, 4:22, 4:20, 4:22 (goal was 4:21).

Interestingly, the second rep felt very hard, and I thought I was done, and I decided I would just go out carefully (not too fast) for the third one, and try to speed up the last lap, if necessary. I used this approach for all the remaining reps, and it not only worked: the first two laps always turned out to be fast enough and I never had to overexert myself for the third one.

I'm probably not as strong as I was two years ago at the same time, so that's not a good sign for sub-3, but I have some time left, and maybe I can peak and race better. If it won't be sub-3, it's not a disaster, as long as I safely BQ. I will need about 3:10 for that.

I've had two weeks of pretty good training. After the race I had a good long run (18 miles) the following day. Then a rest day on Monday, and Tuesday 6 x 1000 meters VO2 max workout pretty consistently in 3:40. Three more long runs at 15, 12, and 18.6 miles: the last one included a 14 mile marathon paced workout that I nailed pretty well.

Then this week started with another rest day on Monday then 5 x 600 meters on Tuesday that went well, and felt quite easy. It is still too damn hot pretty much every day, but intervals are not affected much. The intervals were consistent 2:09. 14 miles on Wednesday, then two easy days, and an LT run today. It was supposed to be a race but I haven't found a good race in 2 hours driving distance, so I ran a 6-mile LT run instead. It was hot and windy, and I didn't feel great. Seriously, 79 F at 8pm on October 7? Anyway, I still managed to run 6:13, 6:24, 6:29, 6:22, 6:22, 6:13, and I lost ~4 seconds in mile 2 at a road crossing, so it's a 6:20 average. All in all, a successful run. It was hard, but not unreasonably, and some of the time variation was due to terrain and wind direction.

I'm a little worried that this LT run may have felt a bit harder than it should have been. I thought after this run I would have a better indication on what I can run in Bowling Green, but I didn't really get any wiser.

Hawk Walk 10K Race Report


Goal: 39:21 (6:20 pace). Revised goal: run at least as fast as my perceived lactate threshold, and try to win the race.

This was  a very small race near Indianapolis. The reason we chose it, because it was the only 10K available within 2 hours of driving on this day, it had a 5K, so Esther could run with me, and it was for a good charity (fighting addiction). Also, because it is a small race, maybe we would have a chance of placing, and Esther and I thought it would be really cool if we both place in our respective races.

The 10K only had about a dozen runners, so I already thought it would not be a real competition. In either case of being the fastest runner, or not, chances are that I would be running alone.

We also loved the idea that the race started at 10am, so we didn't have to get up super early. The downside, with the record breaking heat waves we are getting here that we realized we would run in 80 degrees. Add the hills to that (220 ft of climbing in 10 km according to Strava), and it was clear to me that running a 6:20 pace would place me well below my lactate threshold. It is certainly possible to run a 10K below the lactate threshold, but it may be unwise, if I'm winning the race. Position over time, any day.

So I decided to go out and run at my perceived lactate threshold: a comfortably hard pace. Unless I have to compete faster.

I got even more scared when I was totally sweaty and hot after just two miles of very slow warmup. I quickly figured out that you can tell by the bib number what race everybody was running. I asked a singlet wearing guy (his name was Armani), who had a 10K bib number, about his pace. He said 7:30, which I found suspect.

A cute little boy started the race by blowing a horn, though we had the ready-set-go commands about two seconds before he could push that button, so there was some confusion about the start time. They also started the race 6 minutes early, which screwed up my warmup recovery, but it was OK. You can expect these things in a small local race.

I went out by feel at about a 6:15-6:30 pace. The first mile was gently rolling hills that ticked up a bit at the end. Armani followed me a short distance behind: I heard him running behind me. Immediately I thought he was BS-ing me with the 7:30 pace. We ran through some patches with no shadows, and we started to climb. Somebody was passing me, and I though it must be Armani, but in fact it was a 5K runner (Alec). After we discussed briefly that we don't actually compete against each other, I let him go.

At the steepest part of the climb, Armani passed me (I did slow on the uphill deliberately to conserve energy). I thought he would probably beat me today, but to my surprise, he didn't pull away, and I was running right behind him.

Mile 1: 6:33

I didn't pay much attention to the splits. The race was being run slower than 10K pace at perceived lactate threshold, and this split was about right for the circumstances. I followed Armani for a short time, and when the climb got gentler, I pulled up next to him, and I said:

"This is definitely not a 7:30 pace."
"What?"
"We're doing like a 6:30-ish pace."
"Yeah, I know."
"You said 7:30 at the start."
"That's my minimum goal. That's in fact my half-marathon pace."
"OK."

I wasn't sure if he was still playing games, but this pace seemed still too fast if in fact his half marathon pace was 7:30/mile. In which case I would probably beat him easily. Of course there is still the possibility of somebody coming behind us beating us both.

I left him, and I kept following Alec. Our distance stabilized at about 50 meters. The climb extended to mile 1.7, where there was a sharp right turn, and then slowly descending, but rolling hills down to the start line, at around mile 3. The 10K did the course twice. I was in the zone, trying to do constant comfortably hard effort. This part of the course was mostly in the woods.

Mile 2: 6:34
Mile 3: 6:26

Alec won the 5K easily, and I ran back to the course for my second loop. I made a mistake by turning down the water here. It was so hot that a 10K managed to dehydrate me a bit. If for no other reason, I could have dumped the water on my head.

I had two goals after the turnaround: to see my standing in the 10K, and to see how Esther was doing, who was finishing the 5K soon. Armani was about 30 seconds behind me. I saw a girl about 30-60 seconds behind Armani, but I thought she was in the 5K. There was a 5K runner, and then Esther. So with the winner, I thought Esther was at 4th place, 2nd place female, when in fact she was in 3rd place, 1st female, because that other girl was in the 10K. I told her "2nd place female", but she didn't hear me (fortunately, as this was wrong information). She was very exhausted.

I started the climb now, in a patch of full sun, which was obviously hotter than the first time around, and I was obviously more tired/overheated/dehydrated.

Mile 4: 6:38

I got to the long climb with nobody in sight. The whole mile was almost pure climbing: I reached the top at mile 4.9.

Mile 5: 7:11

I started to meet 5K walkers and some people who just enjoyed the trails, but were not in the race. I glanced back a few times to make sure that Armani (or anybody) is not in sight, but otherwise just continued comfortable hard. No pain, just strictly at lactate threshold. Rolling hills, net downhill.

Mile 6: 6:33

I had to dodge some more walkers here. I had to leave the path twice due to careless walkers, but this is part of the game in local races. I clinched the easy victory with a time of 41:55.

People congratulated, but Esther wasn't there, because she got light headed, and sat down in the shadow. She finished her race in the 3rd place!

There was a small post race party, where Esther and I enjoyed our minor celebrity status. The best post-race food ever: strawberry sorbet! After about 20 minutes of resting, eating, and conversing, we headed back to the car. I did a 2-mile cool-down in a different part of the trail, and I didn't feel too tired. Clearly this was not a 100% effort from me, but it had the right training effect, and I didn't want to risk victory for time.

The only regret I have is that I would have loved a good indication of my fitness. This was hopeless when we realized what the race-day temperature would be. I may run another 10K in two weeks and/or one in four weeks. We will see what happens then. If this was the best I could do, then a sub-3 hour marathon would be hopeless.

Training report of the last two weeks:

Everything was smooth for the first part of week 7. It was nice and cool for my 15-miler on Wednesday, and I ran a 7:30 average pace and it felt pretty easy (I went sailboat racing after the run).

Then by Friday the hot weather was back. I attempted to run an LT run outdoors on Thursday, but I got overheated and dehydrated. My splits were 6:10, 6:33, 6:36, 6:34, 6:34, 6:33, 6:42. According to Daniels, my LT pace should be 6:20, and I've done a 6-mile 6:18 LT run just a bit more than a week ago on the firehouse treadmill. So this sucked - again. I didn't call it a failed run though. My heart rate was pretty constant ~168; in fact it jumped to 170 for the last, slowest mile. It shows that my exertion level was probably appropriate. It was just two hot. I sweated through my shoes again.

Nevertheless, the 22-mile run just two days later on Saturday was fine. It was still hot during the day, but I waited until 6:45pm to start my run. It was completely dark for the last hour for this 3-hour long run, but it wasn't super hot. I still got drenched by the end, but I completed the run and finished relatively strong (7:25 last mile). It took quite a bit out of me though.

So I did struggle to recover, and the prevailing hot weather didn't help. I had a 5x600 workout on Tuesday my splits were 2:09, 2:10, 2:10, 2:08, 2:12. I got drenched again by the end, and I still felt the 22-miler in my legs.

I ran 14 miles on Wednesday, which I did by running four 3.5-mile laps shirtless in the neighborhood. I didn't want to carry water, so I just periodically returned to my house. It worked well. I may do this for other medium long runs, until the weather gets cool enough to get away with just the water fountains along the way.

Then two days of recovery runs (the first 6-miler on Wednesday was run in 97 degrees), and I'm racing tomorrow. A 10K tuneup, and Esther runs the 5K. It would be great if it wasn't going to be 76 degrees by the 10 o'clock start. Probably over 80 by the time I finish. It will be hard, but I'll try to go out at 6:20/mile, and see if I can hold it in the rising temperature. It will be a very small race, so chances are, I'll run alone (hopefully in the lead).