Run for February, week of 1/31-2/6/10

[Aggie_Ama]

Did 45 minutes including 40 minutes of intervals. My new shoes were much better on the path instead of the treadmill. It is supposed to rain the next couple days so I will probably focus on core and some strength exercises.

[Grog]

Oak, 19 miles?! That's awesome.

Made myself go 6 km this morning. I was ready to stop after 3, but I kept going. I felt better after a while, but my legs felt really heavy. Ooof. I hope it's better tomorrow, I want to get a light track workout in.

[colby]

A couple of long runs and other milestones this week... nice work, ladies!!

Hang in there, kat. You will go the distance! My fueling plan was something like a gu every 30-40 minutes with closest water station, half gatorade/half water every other aid station, just water if there was another aid station. It sounds like a lot of liquid, but I don't really feel like I get it all in and down so I drink more often. The last marathon I ran didn't have aid stations every mile, more like every 2, so I had to adjust accordingly. So, something like 150 cals/hour x 4.5 hours = 675 cals total.

In training, I didn't take in any gatorade, just water and gels every 30 on the dot. Usually a bad thing to not race how you train, but I know from experience I can tolerate the extra gatorade as long as I split it with water. In a race, I tend to eat later, which I think can put me in a game of catch-up later in the race, so this is what I'll be working on this year.

I was supposed to go 8-10 but only went 6 on Saturday due to other commitments. Today I did about 5 miles at max sustainable pace (maxes out at about HR 185). Next run, Thursday. I imagine it'll involve intervals. The weekend will probably be a longer run. I think February goes up to 10-12 most weekends.

[indigoiis]

omg Oak, nineteen miles? Inspiring!
I did 3.6 on the TM this morning in speed intervals of .25 ea with about .10-.15 resting pace.

[Susan Otcenas]

In training, I didn't take in any gatorade, just water and gels every 30 on the dot.

I do this on all my long runs over 10 miles (water & gels every 30 minutes). Works like a charm. Did the same thing in my half marathon in October and it came off without a hitch. I have a race belt that holds a whole bunch of Gu packets and it was perfect.

oak - 19 miles! Zowie! At my pace, that would take me forever.

10 miles for me this morning. Nothing like a 10 mile run at 5am in the cold and rain. Wasn't my peppiest day, but it got better the longer I was out there. Came home to steel cut oats in my crock pot. Yum.

Susan

[OakLeaf]

At my pace, it DID take forever. Three and a half hours, just about exactly. Seven more miles, and three and a half months. I want to train the full 26.2 (scared not to), and I should have enough time to do it.

I've been taking water every 20 minutes and gel plus water at 40 minutes. I've been thinking about cutting that to every 30 minutes though. Ten miles is pretty much my limit without carrying fuel, too - I carry water anything over an hour, sometimes shorter if it's really hot.

I like HEED in my bottles on the bike, but I just can't bear to put it in my hydration pack. Mold is growing in my drink tube just thinking about it. I tried HEED mixed really strong in my gel flask two weeks ago, and it seemed okay, but it was hard to mix in the flask to the strength I wanted. So, it's been water plus "gel" (rice syrup, molasses and salt) - I'm going to give commercial gels another try and see if I notice any difference.

Kat, the other thing I thought is maybe a slightly more substantial breakfast might help - something with a little more protein and fat. I usually toss a handful of nuts into cold cereal, a dollop of PB into hot cereal.

So today I did another six-tenths of a mile barefoot. So far, so good...
No wait, I did a whole kilometer! That sounds so much better.

[Susan Otcenas]

At my pace, it DID take forever. Three and a half hours, just about exactly.

Just over 11 min/mile. Yup, sounds about right in my world too. And it's yet another reason I will probably never do a full marathon. I always do my long runs before work, and I'd rather not have to start at 3 a.m. to get done in time.

How do you keep your mind engaged for that length of time? I listen to NPR when I run, and by the time 2 hours rolls around, I've usually heard the stories at least twice! If I had an ipod (am I the only person left on the planet without one??) I'd probably download podcasts.

[OakLeaf]

Honestly, keeping my mind engaged isn't usually an issue. I mean, if it were a bike ride, three and a half hours would be only middle distance. I own an iPod (two, actually - want a last-gen Nano?) but have no interest in listening to anything when I run.

I watch my form a lot - let my attention just kind of wander around my body, correcting anything that feels tense or out of whack, trying to bring everything into good Chi Running form. I take in my surroundings - wildlife, people, traffic, landscape, businesses, whatever. If I'm on the beach I might meditate, but only on the beach - just not safe to zone out that much, even if the only thing that might trip me up is an irregularity in the sidewalk.

I've got the luxury of not working, but I think the time involved is why most people do their long runs on their days off work, mostly weekends - if you take any!

[WindingRoad]

Rest day for me today: I plan to head out in the AM before the big snow storm hits and do a nice slow 4 or 5 miler. I have weened myself off most of the cold meds now and discovered I don't feel as bad as I did so I think a low intensity run would be OK.

[Grog]

I also don't own an iPod, Susan I do own an MP3 player or two, but I don't take them on run. I'd rather be aware of my surroundings. My mind goes off as soon as my heart rate goes over 140 bpm or so. It's like meditation to me. I don't get too bored, but I also run in very varied terrain over the course of a long run...

[colby]

I also prefer to run without music or noise, except on the treadmill, then I plug in to the TV at the gym - no scenery to keep my brain (dis-)engaged. Since I spend so much time engaged all day every day, running (outdoors anyway) actually lets me NOT multi-task and do 10 things at a time like I usually do.

[Bike Chick]

Bike Chick, hope your training is going well! The weather is more mild up near Chicago than it was last year, but it still stinks. luckily I just wear lots and lots of layers and I get by OK.

Thanks, Syn. I'm in week two of my training and so far, so good. Did a 2 mile run on my lunch hour yesterday.

The weather has been colder down here for us this year. I've learned to dress for running in single digit temps. I'm really looking forward to spring. My son and wife are from up your way and have registered for the half at the Illinois too........this will also be their first so it will be a lot of fun. They are struggling with snow and temps too and my DIL is still on the treadmill. Ugh!

Glad you are back at it!

[Grog]

I also prefer to run without music or noise, except on the treadmill, then I plug in to the TV at the gym - no scenery to keep my brain (dis-)engaged. Since I spend so much time engaged all day every day, running (outdoors anyway) actually lets me NOT multi-task and do 10 things at a time like I usually do.

I think it's also why I prefer to run without. I also find it messes up my cadence.

But! I have found from my log that I used the music once recently. If I have a hard time getting my old self out of the door, music will sometimes convince me. About twice a year... And for the treadmill it's a necessity, but that would be about once a year when in a hotel without outdoor running possibility.

Today is a rest day for me!

The Slowgeek thing works (re: another thread on the Nike+ Sensor), here's my log: http://slowgeek.com/pr/Grogotte I find this really cool.

[skhill]

I don't have an iPod either-- most of my waking life, there's some kind of background noise, and I like the respite. And I don't get bored, somehow (unless I'm on the treadmill).

Today's run was awesome-- 10k in 1.5 minutes less than my best race time! 56:55!! Maybe it was hitting all the stop lights/ traffic just right, maybe it was *really* needing to go to the bathroom towards the end... hey, whatever works...

So now I'm thinking of revising my goal time for my upcoming first half-marathon (end of March). I was hoping for something from 2:10 to 2:15, but maybe sub-2:05 will be possible... Still, the great thing about the first time racing a distance is you know you'll get a PR if you just finish!

[Susan Otcenas]

So now I'm thinking of revising my goal time for my upcoming first half-marathon (end of March). I was hoping for something from 2:10 to 2:15, but maybe sub-2:05 will be possible... Still, the great thing about the first time racing a distance is you know you'll get a PR if you just finish!

My long runs were all 10:30-10:45-ish (11:00 on an off day) and on half marathon day I ran 9:55s to finish in 2:09. You'll be amazed at how the river of people and the adrenaline just carries you along. I cried when I came over the finish line because I was a) so overwhelmed just to have accomplished it and b) was stunned at the result. It was an incredible moment for me. Anyhoo, with that kind of 10K time, I'm sure that sub 2:05 is well within your reach!

As for engaging vs. disengaging... when I trail run, I don't listen to music. I find it takes all my concentration to keep myself upright, and I love the sound of the wind in the trees (when I can hear it over the noise of the wind in my chest...)

But when I run in the early a.m. (as I almost always do) I run the same set of roads in whatever configuration gets me the mileage I need for the day. It's boring scenery. This is suburbia, so I pass lots of dark homes, silent business parks, and I regularly do a huge loop around one of Intel's campuses that's surrounded by a huge berm. Basically, there's nothing interesting to look at and at 5am there isn't much traffic either. I'm *aware* of what traffic there is (I'm very cautious about being highly reflective and since I usually have to cross several freeway on/off ramps I have to pay attention) and don't feel like listening to the news hurts my ability to do that.