Long and Less Long Runs: 3-19 to 3-25

[KSH]

Well, I don't have any running scheduled until Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.

But I figured I would start the thread for all your running ladies out there! :)

[tattiefritter]

Due to forecasted strong winds today (which haven't really materialised annoyingly) I decided not to ride to work today but go for a run instead. Consecutive days running is new territory for me as I've never been able to manage it due to my calves needing time to recover. My calves felt fine from yesterdays run so off I went.

Decided not to run the same route as yesterday to make sure I did not get hung up on time and try to push the pace. Wandered around a bit keeping my breathing under control at all times just enjoying the run. Ended up doing 5.5 miles though it didn't feel like it. :D

Will run Thursday as well but will probably not run over the weekend.

[Grog]

I think we got your winds here Tattie!! It's about 50 km/h out there with several heavier gusts. The good thing about windy days is that the eagles are out. The same (I assume) four as a few days ago greeted us on the start of our run this morning, right above our college. One of my running partners wanted to go in the forest so we did... It was still pretty muddy in there from the recent downpours but that made it more fun somehow, and there we were sheltered from the wind. We ran for about 40 minutes, and the eagles were still there waiting for us when we came back. I'm sure they had not had to flap their wings in the meantime, they're so graceful... *sigh* Yet you can hear them chirping at each other and they sound like tiny birds with a very cute way to talk.

Anyway, that was a good run, at a very gentle pace, which was good for my beaten up legs from the Sunday morning race. My quads really hurt and I've lost a few inches, flexibility-wise. I have start being more serious about flexibility...

Oh, and can I complain? I don't like my shoes. It's my second pair of Asics Cumulus VII (or VIII?). The first pair - purple - was just great. The second pair - orange - is the exact same except, it seems, for the material that's just above the toes (at the bottom of the lacebox) and it just bites into my lower foot on the right side. Really annoying. I should have done something about that in the weeks after I bought them but I didn't. Maybe I should get a new pair way ahead of my half-marathon in May?? Grrr.

[limewave]

I did hill repeats last night, about 3.5 miles worth. Today I'm hoping to do about 5-miler pushing DD in the jogger. Thursday, if I'm lucky, I'll do speed work and Saturday will be the longer run at 8 miles.

[Pika]

Today we did our usual 8km, at the moment I am finding it really hard to get going now that it is pitch dark again when we head out- before the time change it was so nice and light!!!
This run is usually slow because I take my two dogs, one is a golden retriever who is getting old so she is not that interested anymore, she will just stop refusing to budge- she never limps or breathes hard - I think she just likes to be her own boss- she grew up running in the park with me ( off leash and now I have to run on the road- I don't think she likes me setting the pace so she just will stop suddendly and then sit down, then when I stop she just sniffs around rolls in the snow, lollygags..generally enjoying herself while I cool my heels:) LOL- in the end I know who is boss and it ain't me!
I get my km in but it is hardly a straight run- lots of stops, starts. Oh well I count it as my easy run- when we do speed or or long runs I don't take the silly dogs with me so I can be more "serious".
Looking forward to the daylight again:)

[tattiefritter]

Aww Eagles! Didn't see any wildlife on my run today (unless you count the Blackpool natives) but I almost had a close encounter with a large branch - there was a man pruning some trees near the end of my run but he was hidden away, I didn't notice him until one of the prunings fell across the road right in front of me. It made for some amusement as I forced my way through to the other side as if I was hacking through jungle.

After the problems my shoes caused me last year I personally wouldn't hesitate to change them if they were causing me discomfort after a few break in runs. Its annoying when they change shoes between models, I've debated whether to buy up the UKs supply of size 6 Wave Rider 9s just in case! I don't get on with Asics shoes, my last pair gave me huge blisters on my insteps after 40 minutes running due to the fact I have quite low arches.

[KSH]

33 minutes 3.00 miles 11m /mile


Looked like rain, so ran on the treadmill at the gym.

I made sure I didn't eat anything after 4:00 PM, and my workout started at 6:20 PM.

I started out at 5.2 and stayed there for .50 mile. I breathed deep and made sure to keep the side cramp at bay.

At .50 mile I upped it to 5.4. I stayed at 5.4 until 1.0 mile.

At 1.0 mile I went up to 5.6 and at times up to 5.8. Focused on breathing deep and not rotating my body too much.

My right calf, was hurting pretty bad... typical leg pain... but I pressed on.

At 2.0 miles I started to feel a side cramp coming on and slowed down to 5.4 and stayed there for the last mile.

I also found out that when I took a sip of water my cramp would pop up.

Great... so I can't eat or drink when I run. This doesn't sound good.

[Wahine]

Hey KSH. You just need to grow a camel hump so you can drink all your water days ahead of a race. :D :D

Is the water you drink really cold? Sometimes drinking room temp water can help with cramping. When the cold water hits your stomach it can lead to spasm.

As for my running. I did a measly :rolleyes: 9 miles at lunch with 2.5 miles of fairly steep hill climbing at right around my LT. It started out sunny, then turned to sun showers, then turned to full on rain with cloudy skies, this eventually turned to hail and high winds that were very cold. By the time I was done running I had sunny skies and a decent temp again. 3 seasons in one run. I also got to see a piliated woodpecker, one of my favorites.:D :D

[limewave]

Wahine--

Those are the kinds of runs I love. The weather just seems to push me harder.

Measely nine miles. At lunch. You're an inspiration :)

[tattiefritter]

4 miles today (what did I say about patience) however my legs don't seem to be being affected the way they used to by running. Weather was a bit warmer than of late so was boiling in my jacket and took off my gloves after about 5 minutes :D . Legs felt a little sluggish, not tight or tired just sluggish so did some very short fartlek type efforts after two miles just to get a bit of foot turnover, felt nice to have some pace going even if for only 20 seconds or so and it perked up my legs no end.

Did the 4 miles in 35 minutes (8:45 mm) and I wasn't being anal about stopping the watch at crossings or anything so quite pleased as that's not far off my 10K (8:20) race pace but heart rate was 155 which is actually quite low for me - about 161 is normal. I was only breathing through my mouth on the fartleks the rest was easily through my nose.

So that's a total of 13.5 miles this week so I won't be running over the weekend.

[rocknrollgirl]

Howdy.
One word for tonight's run...OUCH. I already had a lactic acid alert from mt biking last night and.....

We did interval training 8 x 400 repeats full sprint effort the second half of every repeat. And then a mile at race pace, or well the fastest pace I could hold which was about 7:40. Not bad since we were in the woods on a trail. I would love to be able to maintain that pace for even a 5k. Maybe someday.

Total with warm up and cool down 4 miles.

[yellow]

Jeez, ladies, y'all are pretty quick! I didn't time my run this evening. Good thing, as what started out as a routine recovery trail run turned into an adventure. In a good way.

After about 2 miles my buddy had to call it (she had fallen on our run Tuesday and banged up her knee and it was hurting her) but she instructed me to keep going. So I did, and I turned on a trail that I had never been on before. Up and up it went. And up. And eventually another fork in the trail, and I decided to take the path less traveled. It's very open up where I was running so I wasn't too concerned about getting turned around (I mean, you could see the city down below...not hard to figure out where you are). The trail stayed faint, and it took me up an incredibly steep hillside with the beginnings of spring wildflowers--mules ears, yellow globe lilies, and balsamroot just popping up. I ended up on a rocky ridge spine, where there were about a dozen deer hanging out...and there's the city below me. It was breathtaking. I continued cross country to another trail I could see, and that trail eventually took me back down into one of the side canyons that I am familiar with.

All together I have no idea how much I climbed. But I started at about 4900' and peaked at about 6200', with lots of up and down inbetween. I did walk some of the very steep and/or sketchy pitches, but wow! What a run! And right in my backyard.

:D

[btchance]

Okay, I'm going to get back to posting my runs now - this past couple of weeks have been crazy and my training time has decreased significantly, so I'm trying to make the few work-outs I can get in count. yesterday was my key run for the week - it was 50min total - the first 10min was a warm-up, then 15min of hills with my HR going between zone 1 and zone 4, then 5 minutes easy, followed by 20min in zone 4. Afterwards I walked the last 1/2 mile home. No idea how far I went in total, but was probably around 5miles, give or take 1/2 either way.

today I wasn't planning on running any, but had a horrific day at work so I went out on a very, very easy recovery run/walk of 3 miles mainly to clear my head. I was actually talking on the phone to a friend about the day as I was running on the trail, so I definately wasn't exerting myself. The next work-out scheduled is for a brick on Sunday - we'll see how it goes.

[KSH]

29m 3.00 miles 9m 40s /mile


Went to track to do the workout as given by my coach.

1st mile- slow. I did a 11 minute mile on this one. No side cramp.

2nd mile- fast and even speed. I timed myself and stayed pretty much on a 2:10 for every quarter mile. This run was 8 minutes.

3rd mile- slow. I was kind of warmed up at this point so I had to force myself to slow down. I got it to 10 minutes. Side cramp popped up the last quarter mile.

Otherwise... I stopped eating 2 solid hours before the run, drank so Gatoraid today and I didn't drink any water while running.

I almost made it cramp free!

[Grog]

Wow! Yellow, you lucky woman! That sounds like a terrific run!!!

Well I came home tonight - still in the pouring rain. I'm sick of the rain - and was pretty decided to go for a run despite not really feeling like it. (Contradictory I know.) So as I stepped into our suite I heard my sweet partner clicking into his pedals on his trainer bike. I quickly said hi and started changing and just as I was getting ready to go I heard him slow down, stop, and unclip. I had never seen that.

He was quite tired and down, and although he wanted he just couldn't do that bike thing tonight. So I ended up hanging out with him, forcing him to get dressed in street clothes and come with me to the coffee shop to buy coffee. (Made it to the coffee shop, smelled the fresh coffee they were roasting... only to find it was closed. Whatever...)

We don't get much time together these days so that short "date" was better than a run. I'll run tomorrow morning instead. The pouring rain will still be there.

[Wahine]

Grog - I think you made a great coice tonight. DH and I did the same sort of thing last week. We had so much fun and we really needed it.

I ran a little over 4 miles today. Hilly terraine and stayed in Z1 to 2. Run time about 43 min. The views we nice, I could see MT Hood but it was a little cloudy and gloomy. I'm looking forward to spring.

[colby]

We're stuck in "spring taunting" mode out here, last Sunday was 60 degrees and clear (a little windy), perfect for a 30 mile ride. Now, it's back to cloudy and wet, some ski areas got 6-8" of snow in the last 2 days.

Anyway, running... I put in 3 miles after my ride last weekend (had horrible side cramps, thought of you, KSH), took Monday off, did strength training on Tuesday, and was out of town yesterday, so I get an F in running this week. :) Getting back on the bandwagon for an early May hilly 12k and late May 1/2 marathon... hard to believe it's almost April.

I went to the chiropractor last week for my hip, sure enough it was out of alignment. He realigned it and it's been feeling a lot better, now it's just the muscles that are re-adjusting to the proper alignment. I was hesitating on running at the end of last week/early this week but now I feel like I'm at about 90% on that hip.

Happy running!! :D

[rocknrollgirl]

Yellow, I want to come run with you! I would throw my watch out the window and never think about time and distance again if I could run on trails like that! We have nice trails here, but NOTHING like that. You are lucky.

[tattiefritter]

Second that Rocknrollgirl. We have some nice trails about a 10 minute drive away which I have no problem putting my MTB in and going to ride on but have never considered driving to run. I have Monday off work and may go do a little exploring...the path less travelled is usually fun! There are lots of little footpaths that we are not allowed to cycle on but would be great to investigate on foot.

[HappyAnika]

I think I'll sneak in here on these running threads now that my back is doing better and I can start working on my running again. I just got my new heart rate monitor last weekend, had used it twice on rides, and was anxious to try it out on a run. So after a lot of thought about fat burning and zone training sparked by the weight question in the tri forum, I decided to do a zone 2 run. At first this was really hard, I tend to think that if I'm not huffing and puffing, then I'm not getting a good work out. I had to slow down a lot (and I'm a slow runner anyway) to keep my HR down. If I'd just gone by my breathing, I would have thought that I was hardly working, but the hrm proved otherwise. I kept a nice steady pace at the top of zone 2 and for the first time ever while running I hit that "I could do this all day" feeling. It felt fantastic! I went to a trail I'd never been to before that was perfect for running: dirt, pretty flat, along a creek, a bit through the trees, sweeping views of the mountains and the plains. I got to listen to the new Modest Mouse disk, for which I'd been impatiently waiting for 3 months to come out. It was just fabulous, I'd never had so much fun running! I ran for 28 minutes, about 2.3 miles. I actually want to go again, that's a new feeling for me. :)

[rocknrollgirl]

Good Morning,
I just got back from a long slow run, well long for me. 6 mile trail run, nice and slow. The DH had practice, so one of our training buddies went with me. It was pretty in the woods this morning. It had just stopped raining, so everything was fresh in the woods.

Also on the schedule, I am trying my wetsuit in the pool today..woo hoo

[alpinerabbit]

I had the sniffles, coughing , congestion all week, so no sports. I will hit either the trail or the pool for the first time in 2 weeks tomorrow.

[Wahine]

I was wondering where you've been Alpine. That's too bad about the sniffles, cough etc. But you seem to progress quite quickly, I'm sure it'll be no time before you're back up to the longer runs.

[Grog]

Took the Sweet Partner on a run with me this morning. I was running slow, focusing on controlling my heart rate and keeping it low, and he ran with me a lot of the time, sweet.

That was the only dry hour of the day. It started raining again while we were having breakfast at a neighborhood cafe, just so we'd be a little more cold walking home. That's life. We're expecting a few more INCHES today. I'm sick of the rain.

[KSH]

Rode 35 miles at a 16 mph average.... ran 2 miles at an 11 minute mile.

Today was a good day! I really pumped it out on the bike! Up until mile 18 (rest stop), I had a 17.5 mph average. That's fast for me.

[yellow]

Is it my imagination, or has KSH broken the plateau and moved to the next level??? :)

Nice enough to ride today, but I chose to run. There's a mountain I've been wanting to tackle for a while now, so I went for it. It's part of a 17 mile trail run that they do here called the Wahsatch Steeplechase, so I'm calling it the Wahsatch Steeplechase Lite. You can watch my bad videos of the adventure here (in this sequence...it's a little point & shoot camera and unfortunately it really picks up the air pollution!). I used my new Forerunner 305, and I won't even tell you heart rate gurus where I was most of the time. The total ascent was 3,989', distance 10.78 miles. I also won't tell you my pace since it was greatly affected by all the walking I did in the last 0.75 miles to the "summit". :rolleyes: BTW, KSH, I thought of you as I got a SIDE CRAMP at about mile 9. :p

Clip 1: http://s24.photobucket.com/albums/c1/tasdan/Just%20for%20Fun/Running/?action=view&current=WS_Lite_2.flv

Clip 2: http://s24.photobucket.com/albums/c1/tasdan/Just%20for%20Fun/Running/?action=view&current=WS_Lite_3.flv

Clip 3 (actually only about 4.6 miles, not 5 as I state in the video):
http://s24.photobucket.com/albums/c1/tasdan/Just%20for%20Fun/Running/?action=view&current=WS_Lite_4.flv

Clip 4: http://s24.photobucket.com/albums/c1/tasdan/Just%20for%20Fun/Running/?action=view&current=WS_Lite_False.flv

Clip 5: http://s24.photobucket.com/albums/c1/tasdan/Just%20for%20Fun/Running/?action=view&current=WS_Lite_False2.flv


I took an ice bath afterwards. I haven't done that in a long time. All in all, it still hurt less than cycling does. I think I have another year of training before I can even THINK about doing the full Steeplechase.

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c1/tasdan/Just%20for%20Fun/Running/WS_Lite002.jpg

[rocknrollgirl]

Hi Yellow, what time are we running tomorrow? I will be there!

Loved the video clips. I just watched them with my husband. How did you get them to post without crashing the entire network! My camera takes amazing video, but I can hardly get my pictures to post.


Ruth

[yellow]

Hi Yellow, what time are we running tomorrow? I will be there!

Loved the video clips. I just watched them with my husband. How did you get them to post without crashing the entire network! My camera takes amazing video, but I can hardly get my pictures to post.


Ruth
7:30 am MDT. :p I run on Sunday mornings with a group of other middle aged ladies. Tomorrow we are running up the Dry Creek trail (which I mention in one of the video clips) round and about. We'd love to have you join us. Heck, you can come run with me anytime! I'd love more company.

I just put the clips on my PhotoBucket site. I love PhotoBucket! The clips were originally intended for my Dad, who went to undergrad school at the University of Utah here in the 40s (and loved it) and now is suffering from pretty bad dementia...my mom and I are working on making life better for him (they live in California and he's been enjoying the little movies I've been making for them). But they didn't turn out too badly, so I thought I'd share!

[Wahine]

That was cooooool Yellow. I'm glad that you had a good run today. You've inspired me to take some video when I'm out and about here in The Gorge. I think I'll wait until the fruit trees are blooming.

I ran through the orchards today. Beautiful. 14.5 miles.

Big ride tomorrow, then it's a rest week.

[KSH]

Yellow... nice pictures! Intresting how "Yellow" is wearing yellow in the pictures! ;)

Sorry to hear about your side cramp. I feel your pain.

That run sounds brutal! I can't imagine doing such a run. Shoot I get a route with a little incline and it's torture!

Keep up the great work Yellow!



Is it my imagination, or has KSH broken the plateau and moved to the next level?

I can only hope. I am going to be focused and ride fast when I can!

[yellow]

I can only hope. I am going to be focused and ride fast when I can!

Girl, from the outside looking in, I think you have moved to the next level. All your training is paying off!

Ala LeMond: it doesn't get easier...you just work harder. But to be able to work harder is something to feel good about!

[btchance]

Cool videos yellow - looks like a fun, but extremely hard place to run. And I agree, KSH is doing great!

For me, my workout this morning was longer in duration than the rest of my week put together - eh, life gets in the way. Anways, I decided to do the distance of my duathlon on the 15th plus a little bit. I think it will help me prepare mentally, which is my biggest obstacle. The duatlon is 4k, 17mi, 4k so I did 3mi, 20mi, 3mi. The 1st run and bike were all zone 1 (except for being greated and then chased uphill by a rather large dog). The second run was done with the first 2 miles in zone 2, then walked one mile home to cool off. It went well, and I was suprised that I averaged 15mph on the bike in zone 1.

I also worked on my nutrition during the workout and it seems to have been a little closer to what I need. Before hand I ate 2 pieces of wheat toast with peanut butter on it. Then at transition one I took one gel, and another gel at 45min into the bike. I also drank Powerbar Endurance fruit juice flavored drink throughout and my energy was good until the last mile of the second run. I think I needed another gel at T2, and I needed to drink more fluids (I lost 1lb of weight from before to after the work-out - I'm not used to 80+ temps yet). But overall, I think this is going to work better for me.

[KSH]

Anways, I decided to do the distance of my duathlon on the 15th plus a little bit. I think it will help me prepare mentally, which is my biggest obstacle. The duatlon is 4k, 17mi, 4k so I did 3mi, 20mi, 3mi. The 1st run and bike were all zone 1 (except for being greated and then chased uphill by a rather large dog). The second run was done with the first 2 miles in zone 2, then walked one mile home to cool off. It went well, and I was suprised that I averaged 15mph on the bike in zone 1.

I also worked on my nutrition during the workout and it seems to have been a little closer to what I need. Before hand I ate 2 pieces of wheat toast with peanut butter on it. Then at transition one I took one gel, and another gel at 45min into the bike. I also drank Powerbar Endurance fruit juice flavored drink throughout and my energy was good until the last mile of the second run. I think I needed another gel at T2, and I needed to drink more fluids (I lost 1lb of weight from before to after the work-out - I'm not used to 80+ temps yet). But overall, I think this is going to work better for me.

WOW BT... that's a great workout there! Or rather a great test run. So you have a Du coming up? Awesome! It looks like you are really prepared.

Thank goodness the dog didn't get you going up the hill, but it sounds like it was very motivating. :cool:

Great job on the nutrition. This is my weak spot. Sounds like you really have a plan down.


As for me... I got up at 6:45 AM and ran 5 miles. It was slow, at a 12 minute mile pace, but my focus was to finish in 1 hour (exactly), and not get a side cramp.

By going that slow I was able to keep the side cramp away until mile 4.75. But that's when I sped up.

After running I showered and ate, and met my cycling club at 9:30 AM for the Sunday Roll ride. We went 28 miles and I had a 14.5 mph average.

This ride is typically a SLOW ride with a 12 mph average. It's all good, I was feeling just fine. My achilles tendon was sore from running though and by the end of ride I was in pain and it hurt to pedal. I'm kind of limping around now, but I'm sure it will be fine in the next day or so.

I had a great day and I really surprised myself... being able to run 5 miles and go ride almost 30 miles... and not feel fatigued during any of it!

[Wahine]

Great news on the 5 miler KSH. Then you rode afterward, well done.

BTChance, sounds like you had a great teat run too. It sounds like everyone had quite a good week for the most part. Ain't spring grand?

I totaled 27.5 mi running this week. More than I've done in a long time. And I'm still in one piece. Phew.

Next week is a rest week then I move into a build phase which means less total hours of training and more intensity. Yikes. It's about to start hurting.