Training Log Archive: ccsteve

Event: ROC - 2nd Annual Adventure Run
 

Extreme Adventure run at Ellison Park teamed with Gil. He's got greater reserves and we used him to punch 22 of 24 controls - the hills wore him out in the end;-)

Good start on map 1 - controls 2, 5, 4, back by 5 to 1, 3, 7, cross the stream to 6 and then on to NA - 16 1/2 minutes to NA1. [Yes, stream was chest high to me... Going around would have added at most a minute, and we were eager;-]

Trail run to NA3, and WIll passed us about halfway there - he didn't feel like crossing the stream - woo-hoo for us;-)

Nice trail run to NA4, and a good route around on map 2 - staying reasonably high - 12, 8, 9, 15. Out of 15 and down to the road well, and then around - 10, 11, 13, 18, 14, 16, 17. I bobbled at 13 misreading where to head off the main trail - at about 55 minutes in...

On the trial run back we took the "old" white trail - low by the base of the hill. I was ok with it, think it might have been more work for Gil's larger frame;-)

Good place to note - we did well as a team. Gil punched all of the first controls and I hung back, checked the map, rested, and took a slight lead-off to the next control. He made up ground and climbed hills with his greater conditioning... I was a bit speedier on winding / close vegetation / downhill & obstructed portions, and he's got the horsepower for any open area and hills.

Not much to say about the 3rd map, though we dropped our speed down a notch for sure.

Needed to drop off the van for service this week - took the same 5 mile route home on foot. After a 6 minute warmup ran on for 3 minutes and then recovered for 3, four sets. Then finished up at a light pace to cool down.

Low 80s and muggy, so I'm feeling rather whipped afterwards.

Back to the park for some intervals. 1 mi / 9min warmup, 1 mi / 8 min warmdown. 6x400m runs with 2 min rest. Splits - 1:18, 1:20, 1:22, 1:24, 1:22, 127.

A little better than last time - not so much the time, but getting in a couple more. I wanted 8, but stopped at the bump.

C • Intervals 2

Better rerun of Mango 1 & 2 at Durand. 65 degrees and very nice conditions today, and I really enjoyed this!-) [check the rerun splits;-]

Because I had rerun Mango 1 already, I wanted to look at the map beforehand and try to think up different / better ways of reaching the controls. Mango 2 was a fresh look at it, and so I navigated a bit more.

#2 - Original plan, better implementation - up past the second pavilion and straight over the edge, right to the pond crossing.

#3 - Had been going left down the valley and out - easy navigation, and great lead-in to the control. Tried around the right along the road. Good running, but I think the extra distance lead to a correct decision originally. I'm sure with my faster speed today I would have been even quicker the other way.

#7 - First significant indication that my legs are stronger - 15 minutes in, and I'm faster over the same route with two climbs.

#8 - instead of popping out to the road and around, I went back up the hill and straight over. half a minute better route, more climb;-)

#9-13 - a tiny bit quicker due to stronger legs.

#14 - Tried back down the re-entrant to the pond and around the pond and up. Avoided a bit of the climb, but because I overshot on the climb, I lost some time re-orienting at the road / pavilions. My race path was the right decision for me.

#17 - Here's a minor improvement - instead of getting up the hill to the road, I cut across and up the hill reaching the road right where I wanted to cross - straighter course, slightly longer less steep climb - few seconds saved.

#18 - officially I would have lost 75 second on my time as I made my 45 minute error and ran back up the re-entrant for 13 after "punching" at the mouth of it. I've left them off as the actual control was plainly visible and I would have run along the pond until I saw it. (which was why I liked the navigation this way;-)

Punched in at the end of Mango 1 - 2:07 from 18 to the "finish", had a water break, and set off for Mango 2.

#19 - Navigated around to the left on the level ground instead of cutting into the valley. Half a minute shorter, but there is also the climb to the finish and the water / map exchange to think of - I'm not sure it was faster, but it certainly was easier, and no slower.

#20 - Much more optimized "line" to the control - shows I had 2 minutes of error during the meet on that control.

#21 - Faster though the woods and straight at the control up the hill. I was fatigued during the race at this point, and took the gentler slope up and around... Minute and a half faster direct / less fatigue.

To finish - essentially the same path, but faster times.

Park is much fuller than it was - I think I ran through the same poison ivy patch twice..-) I also crossed three streams on bridges - hardly ever see them when I'm competing... Maybe better that way... Gotta keep my head up more though.

I've got to move my "bubble" out to 70 minutes, it seems clear that last year I had a fatigue point 15-20 minutes into events, and this year it is 45-50. I know that means even longer runs... Well, hopefully the body is ready for it, and I can find the time.

Mango 1&2 - Splits

Had to drop the car off for service south of Panorama Plaza, and realized I could get a nice run on the way home and save some miles on the other car... Booked a route through Linear Park, past the high school, Shadow Lake, the middle school and home. Nice easy run. Don't think the knees particularly enjoyed it though, felt a little off afterwards.

Measured out a 400m loop over at the little park. (found the high school track is a bit far away at 3+ miles...) Warmup 1 mile - 9:22, Warmdown - 1 mile - 9:08.

400m runs - 1:16, 1:15, 1:21, 1:21.

Interesting in that the run less run faster guide suggests I should be at 1:56 for 400m workouts but do at least twice as many... I kind of liked running faster and think I should probably do more of that;-)

C • Adventure Run 3

Out 2 days after a longer run, and feeling good about it. An average of 8 sec / mile faster than last Thursday - I concentrated on leg turnover again.

New topic - steps per breath. I find that on a no-effort jog, I can breath in on four steps, out on four steps. On a light run, I do three steps. When I'm winded, or working up a hill, it's two steps. Rarely I get into a three steps breathing in, two steps breathing out, and that one doesn't feel as comfortable.

Anyway - I dropped into a somewhat artificial two step breathing pattern 2/3 of a mile into the run and stayed in that the rest of the way - but I don't think I "needed" to because I was winded, just that it felt comfortable for the pace. I'm wondering if I've moved up a level and that my body is now capable of expending more energy longer and is pulling my breathing along with it...-)

Splits: 8:13 / 7:34 / 7:51 / 7:32

Re-run of my Green leg of the relays. (splits in as a rerun)

Interesting differences:
Ctrl 4 - a little slower pace I think, but a more controlled run. I didn't overshoot and cut off some distance vs the race. Same time.
Ctrl 5 - decided to head over the hills vs the around path I used in the race - potentially as expected - 6 minutes slower as I didn't make it through properly. (Though I also lost time leaving 4 getting a bit turned around for a moment)
Ctrl 9 - corrected the 3+ minute error there.
Ctrl 11 - saves a minute and a half through instead of around on that one - not as hard as I thought it might be.
Ctrl 17 - through instead of around also saved 1/2 minute.
Ctrl 18 - 1 minute faster on fatigue I'd say (and no racing the day before)...

And again a nice workout. A bit slippery with the light rain and slick fallen trees.

Relay - Green Leg - Splits

Nice morning for a run - went on a pacing run, and thought it worked well: 8:30 / 8:07 / 7:56 / 7:15. The nice part being that I was moving faster each mile (including the 3rd mile long uphill segment) - and worked 4 miles in under 8 minutes a mile!-)

Couldn't get much energy this morning, so I just tried to keep the stride rate up... 7:39 / 1:10 / 8:00

Rerun of last week's Mango course(s). Well that was the plan - I broke at control 16 of Mango 1 and decided it was best not to continue and do 2... Followed up by tripping on the descent to 17 and catching myself - if not, that would have been quite a tumble... I put the numbers in the splits as a rerun and 11:11 for the later legs.

Temperature 83 when I started, 86 when done, 89 at home away from the lake... (and speaking of home - worst navigation error was seeing "roadwork" signs on 590 and not exiting at Empire - I sat 15 minutes in the stopped traffic as they closed down 2 lanes at Browncroft... ug)

Leg - felt tight, but worked well. Not enough to call that an injury though I'll rest two days now.

Very interesting comparison:
C Old Re-run
1) 1:19 1:00 - I did look at the map a bit starting out...
2) 4:37 3:37 - Down and around vs around and down, more running, less looking.
3) 3:07 3:09 - Same route and run.
4) 1:58 1:38 - Had stopped and looked at the first re-entrant last time.
5) 2:58 3:45 - Instead of popping out to the road, I cut through the woods.
6) 1:14 1:16 - Same route and run.
7) 5:31 5:51 - Same route and run. Physically slower.
8) 4:28 4:33 - Same route and run.
9) 2:55 2:12 - Same route and run, no distractions inside the fence.
10) 1:17 1:21 - Same route and run.
11) 1:09 1:13 - Same route and run.
12) 5:46 4:59 - Same route, no tentative running or map checking.
13) 3:52 4:06 - Same route and run.
14) 4:06 4:57 - Down spur instead of around lake. Tired, caution over roots.
15) 3:51 2:03 - Direct vs back to 17 error... only 2 minutes of error...
16) 1:37 1:43 - Same route and run, tired and no anger...
17) 2:32 2:50 - Same route and run, tired.
18) 2:55 2:29 - Same route, no map checking or hesitation.

In general I was whooped - don't think it was the leg tightness as much as the heat. Interested in seeing a chart or formula for heat / humidity effects on running...

C • Construction Woes 1

Mango 1&2 - Splits

9 minute / 1 mile warmup to the park, sprints and a 9:30 warmdown back.

11.3 / 11.2 / 10.5 / 13.1 / 12.9 / 13.2 / 12 / 13.1 [70m with 1 minute between]

Problem on the third one - felt my hamstring pull, and eased back. completed the 8 I wanted to, but not a lot of effort on the remaining 5. Easy jog back.

Never really pulled a hamstring before, and I think "stress" might be a better word for it... Couple Ibuprofin this morning, and I was fine walking on it all day, but I could feel the difference.

Was ok walking behind the mower tonight, and I'll rest tomorrow. Saturday's my day to get out and work hills, so that will be when I'll see how it's doing.

Repaired my shoes with shoegoo, I'm not ready to give them up... (casualty of the weekend's race - sole separation)

Didn't mean to, but started out rather fast and made aware of that after 400m... Decided to continue and had a decent run (for me;-)

6:42 / 1:01 / 7:19

C • shoes 3