I Did It!

Today was another one of Karen’s killer treadmill workouts.  It was not my nemesis workout but one that appeared to be just as challenging.  I was to run a 10 minute warm uo then 1 mile at 7:15 pace, 1.5 mile at 7:00, 1.5 mile at 6:45 then 1.5 mi at 6:30.  Because of my schedule this week, I had to fit in a bike ride before the run.  I was nercous I would be too tired to pull off the 6:30 pace portion of the run.

The bike ride went well, an easy 40 minute ride with some sprint intervals in the middle then it was on to the treadmill.  I did not feel great during the warm up and the 7:15 pace didn’t feel all that wonderful either but my heart rate was right in the usual range so I remained hopeful.  I then did the 1.5 mile at 8.6 (hr 146 – again in range), then 8.9 (hr 157 – spot on), and then to the 6:30 pace. I am not sure why this has been so difficult in the past (I mean I ran the Boilermaker 15K at 6:15 pace last year) but I was anxious when I started hitting the up button for the speed.  I settled on 9.3 and made the first mile.  Feeling good and strong, I went up to 9.4 for the last half mile.  My heart rate averaged 165 for the last section…right where Karen wants it.  I finished with a 10 minute cool down.

I have been feeling so fit these last couple of weeks.  Karen’s workouts are really starting to kick in and make me a better athlete.  I am looking forward to testing my foot speed at the National Half Marathon in DC next month.

Olympics, training, blogging . . .

I feel bad that I have not blogged much recently.  Life keeps getting in the way of fun.  Plus, Phoebe and I have been obsessed with the Olympics.  All of our free time is spent watching or reading about them!  The Men’s Nordic Combined was so exciting!  I have never XC skied but after seeing that event I am ready to go out and give it a try.  Plus, I read somewhere that Deena Kastor skis in the off-season and if it is good enough for her, then…

Anyway, back to my workouts.  This past weekend, I had a series of workouts from Karen that were  very challenging but left me feeling stronger and fitter.  I am confident that she is helping me improve!  The girls and I went downstate to visit my parents and Scott met us there.  This meant that I had my training partner for the weekend.  I was psyched!  Saturday, Karen had me scheduled to do some hill repeats.  We found a 400-600 yard hill and after a brief warm up we started climbing.  My heart rate peaked at about 157 and I was concerned that maybe the hill was not steep enough because the workout didn’t seem that difficult.  Scott was ready to cool down after what he called a short workout when I told him we still had 3x1mile repeats at 5K pace to do.  Because the blizzard had hit a few days before we were without a track.  So, I went to mapmytri.com and measured out a mile on a stretch of road.  It was tougher, mentally, than on the track but I was pleased with the results.  I hit the miles in 6:13, 6:01 and 6:16.

Sunday we took a ride up to route 293.  This is the road that leads to West Point.  We used to run this road back in HS XC and I think Monroe-Woodbury still uses it today.  It’s an out and back, 14 mile, all downhill then all uphill run.  Definitely tough but beautiful.  I definitely recommend this run if you are ever down in Orange County, NY and want a challenge.  Our only goal was to even split the 2 halves.  An all out sprint to the finish got us in right when we hoped – exactly the same as our first half split.  We were wiped out and our legs were shot.  I guess the hills the day before were tough enough!  Afterward, Scott and I took Phoebe and Maggie out to the Monroe Diner for brunch…nothing like a Belgian waffle after a long run!!

Scott had to return to Virginia Sunday night so I was on my own for Monday’s run.
It was supposed to be a day off but the snow in the forecast for Tuesday scared me into going out Monday.  Karen had me scheduled for a hilly 30 minute tempo run at heart rate 154-160.  I did not feel like doing this at all!  The warm up was slow and painful, my legs were still tired from the long run the day before but I put on my gameface and gave it all I had.  A mile into it, I realized I was feeling great!  I ran 4.7mi with my heart rate averaging 159.

I was so encouraged by how well I ran all 3 days and am really looking forward to testing my foot speed at the National Half Marathon in DC in March.  Maybe I can close the gap between Scott and me!

Attempt #2

Today I cringed when I looked at the workout that was assigned…it was the same treadmill workout that I could not complete 2 weeks ago.  To refresh your memory it was a 10 min warm-up (treadmill on elevation 1 as always) then 5 minutes at 7min pace, 5 min at 6:45 and 10 minutes at 6:30 pace…then repeat.  Thankfully, this time she gave me a 5 minute easy jog before I started the second set.
I decided to skip the cycling and do that another day…wanted my legs to be fresh for this challenge.  I felt OK during the warm-up. Definitely not my strongest but decent.  I made it through the first set with my heartbeat at 163 – 10 beats lower than last time.  I jogged very easily (at 6.6mph) and then started the second set.  The 7 minute and 6:45 intervals went fine but my heartrate was averaging higher than the first go round.  When I hit the 6:30 pace, I knew I was in trouble.  I made it through 5 minutes but just barely – my heartrate was registering 173 and that is close to my upper limit, I believe.  I knew I wasn’t going to make 10 minutes so I backed down for another 5 minute jog and then headed back up for 5 more minutes at 6:30.  This time it was actually easier and my heartrate stayed down at 167.
Afterwards, I spoke with Karen and told her I couldn’t complete it again.  She reassured me that it was OK and that if I was doing it easily she would have to make it harder.  She also said that in a month or two I WILL be telling her it is too easy.  We’ll see.  For now, maybe third time’s a charm

Testing Week

This past week was my recovery week, or as I call it, testing week.  Karen backs off my workouts and then near the end of the week I am supposed to do a time trial in each of the 3 disciplines to see how I am doing.  Since this is the first one of the season, it was more of a baseline test.

For the swim, I swam 1000 yards hard.  I ended up doing it in 13:33 (or 1:21 per 100 yards).  I was pretty happy with it.  I can’t remember where I was last year but I think I was somewhere around the same time near the end of the season. George was there in the lane with me and he said that my form did not fall apart too much near the end.  That was good news but there is obviously more work to do because Saturday, Scott was here visiting and he videotaped my swim again and my arms still come out of the water too soon.

The run test is always tough.  It was super cold and windy out so Scott, the girls and I went over and ran at Manley Field House at Syracuse University.  The girls had fun running around the track and playing on the high jump mat while Scott and I ran.  I ran 3.25mi in 20:21 which was about 6:15 pace.  My heart rate averaged 164 for the run.  I was definitely pleased with that after the two less than stellar workouts I had on the treadmill the last 2 weeks.  Afterwards, we all took off our shoes and ran barefoot around the track.  Scott and I had been reading articles about barefoot running and wanted to try it.  (Interesting article here.)  We all did well but Maggie took first prize with the way she motored around the track!  I’ve never seen a 4 year old run like that!!

For the bike test, Karen had me take a ride out to Oswego to get tested by Ron, an awesome cyclist and friend of hers.  He did what is called a FaCT test.  Basically, this does not test your fitness level but test where your lactate balance point is…the point (power and heart rate) where you are producing lactic acid and clearing it at the same rate.  As your fitness level improves, this number should go up.  It is a good test for getting information for what heart rate zone you should do various training intensities at.  I will admit I do not understand the whole thing yet and I don’t understand my results either but Karen and Ron did and that is what matters.

Ron hooked my bike up to a computer, got the heart rate monitor on me and then we began.  Basically, I rode easy for 10 minutes and then he increased the power wattage by 20 watts every minute until I was at a perceived exertion level of 8.  At that point, he did a fingerstick to check the lactic acid level of my  blood.  After staying there for 5 minutes, he backed me down to the original power wattage and then tested my blood again to see of the lactic acid had cleared.  Then he increased the power wattage again to find the point where I was just clearing the blood.  To his surprise my heart rate was extremely low when this occurred.  He was baffled by the results.  He said he never saw anyone with a heart rate so low at their balance point.  Karen said she thinks this means I need more endurance training at a lower heart rate.  We are going to try that and then get tested again in a few weeks and see if anything has changed.  They both felt that I should be encouraged because if I was able to ride as well as I did last year, just wait until my LBP improves!

On another note, my new wetsuit arrived.  I bought an XTerra Vortex 3 full sleeve.  Hopefully it will be easier to get off than the ProMotion from last year.  I spent way too much time in transition this past year…can’t afford that at Buffalo Springs!