Thursday, November 30, 2006
beta.blogger.buggered
I'm not happy with this new beta blogger. Google, are you listening? I'm not happy. It is obvious that the site feed is dodgy. After the initial changeover it seemed to cough and splutter a bit but then did care of the site feed and my posts were appearing in Bloglines. Sweet. Then it stopped. So I re-subscribed, and the only feed available was Feedburner. That's OK, it should only take one feed, as long as the bastard works. For the last couple of days, though, it seems to take forever for a new post to show up on Bloglines. And some people reported, for example, that they didn't receive my marathon reports on Bloglines until days later, and when they did, a swag of posts all came through at the same time. Bah...what a pain in the butt. At least I seem to be able to comment on (some) other people's blogs now, but it is still a little patchy. Be warned. And Google, if you are looking in, please fix this!!
You were right, I was wrong
That was a silly mistake to run the time trial last night. I pulled up fairly sore in the lower left leg between the calf and the ankle. I think I may be lucky and will get away with it as it isn't sore this morning, but it certainly shows my legs were not ready for that kind of running just yet. I should have just done another steady 8 to 10k. So do as I say, not as I do. Don't run hard in the first week or two after a marathon, no matter how recovered you think you are!!
Anyway, foolishness aside, it went alright. I decided to target 90 second laps for an 18:45 finish. The first one, predictably, was a bit fast at 85 seconds, but after that I fell into almost spot on 90 seconds every lap. One or two were a little better and one or two slipped off by a second or two and I finished in 18:39. Aerobically I felt fine. There was just that slight sense of fragility in the legs which was enough to make me not try to red-line it too early. I'm sure I had at least another 15 to 20 seconds in reserve if I'd been able to go all out. I'd really like to run an 85-second/lap 5k by the end of the winter.
Anyway, foolishness aside, it went alright. I decided to target 90 second laps for an 18:45 finish. The first one, predictably, was a bit fast at 85 seconds, but after that I fell into almost spot on 90 seconds every lap. One or two were a little better and one or two slipped off by a second or two and I finished in 18:39. Aerobically I felt fine. There was just that slight sense of fragility in the legs which was enough to make me not try to red-line it too early. I'm sure I had at least another 15 to 20 seconds in reserve if I'd been able to go all out. I'd really like to run an 85-second/lap 5k by the end of the winter.
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Second recovery run
I got up at 5:30 this morning and after a minimum of vacillating headed out the door for my second recovery run. I have an 8-km loop from home that I do from time to time and decided that would be an appropriate distance. I had no particular thoughts about intensity other than to do it at a comfortable pace. Right from the start though I was moving quicker than I would have expected and my legs felt pretty good. I ended up running the 8.2 km in 38:17, or 4:40/km. I divide the course into four splits and none of them was slower than 5:00/km and my average heart rate was 131. My legs started to fatigue somewhat in the last couple of km, but this is a really excellent rate of recovery from the marathon.
It is the 5-km time trial at the track tomorrow night. I haven't done one for absolutely ages, so maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to do that, and in keeping with the low-volume approach for the this week, not much more than that other than a km or two to warm up and cool down. I'm planning to put more emphasis on speedwork over the next few weeks anyway, so some kind of time trial, 3k or 5k, for benchmarking and monitoring progress would be a good idea. Given that nobody around these parts does 3k time trials, I guess it will have to be the 5k.
It is the 5-km time trial at the track tomorrow night. I haven't done one for absolutely ages, so maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to do that, and in keeping with the low-volume approach for the this week, not much more than that other than a km or two to warm up and cool down. I'm planning to put more emphasis on speedwork over the next few weeks anyway, so some kind of time trial, 3k or 5k, for benchmarking and monitoring progress would be a good idea. Given that nobody around these parts does 3k time trials, I guess it will have to be the 5k.
Monday, November 27, 2006
A few bits and pieces
A couple of readers have been confused by my reference to "No. 2 toilet stop", thinking I had more than one toilet break. Sorry, this is an English expression to mean my one toilet stop was of the type that is best not executed in a standing position.
For anybody who has me on Bloglines, it appears that the feed may have been broken since I switched to beta (grr), so you might have to re-subscribe.
Thanks again for all the encouraging comments. I am still quite content with the result. One thing I haven't mentioned yet, as I don't want to make excuses, is that I am not sure that I went into the race at 100% health. I don't know whether it is nutritional or a low-level virus or something, but somehow I just haven't felt quite 100% in the week or so leading into the race and still now. Toilet function was also not great and alternated between too much and too little, shall we say (as testified by the stoppage during the race). I have no idea if any of that contributed to my legs conking out, but it is possible.
My legs have had surprisingly little soreness since the race and I managed a slowish 6 km yesterday without much drama. My legs did mention towards the end that that was far enough.
For anybody who has me on Bloglines, it appears that the feed may have been broken since I switched to beta (grr), so you might have to re-subscribe.
Thanks again for all the encouraging comments. I am still quite content with the result. One thing I haven't mentioned yet, as I don't want to make excuses, is that I am not sure that I went into the race at 100% health. I don't know whether it is nutritional or a low-level virus or something, but somehow I just haven't felt quite 100% in the week or so leading into the race and still now. Toilet function was also not great and alternated between too much and too little, shall we say (as testified by the stoppage during the race). I have no idea if any of that contributed to my legs conking out, but it is possible.
My legs have had surprisingly little soreness since the race and I managed a slowish 6 km yesterday without much drama. My legs did mention towards the end that that was far enough.
Saturday, November 25, 2006
Ohtawara Wrap
Thanks for the well wishes on the last post.
The weather turned out to be very good, if a little cold at about 8 degrees with a light wind. It was touch and go whether to wear a long sleeved shirt but I stuck with a singlet and gloves. That was a good choice because I never wished I was wearing more and never wished I was not wearing the gloves. I wore my footpod but not my heart rate monitor, mainly, in the end, because I just didn't want the constriction on my chest and wanted to be as unencumbered as possible.
Basically, I decided to go out at a pace that would give myself a chance at a good time...around 2:57 pace, which I thought would give a couple of minutes in the bank to allow for any fade. While I thought my pacing was pretty well executed, the first 10 km was probably a little too fast, closer to 2:55 pace, and at the end of the day, I can only conclude that it was a bit over-ambitious given my condition. Nevertheless, I was feeling quite OK at the halfway mark, then had to have a No. 2 toilet break between half and 25k (48 seconds). From 25k to 30k I actually still felt OK, but my legs were starting to fatigue and I was getting ominous twinges in both calves. As that 5k split slipped to 4:15/km I was really not too worried because I didn't think I was tiring so much. Then, during 30-35k, bang, I just watched my pace slide. This section is slightly uphill, then 35-40 is even a little more uphill and it was a real struggle. My legs were heavy and threatening to cramp with every attempt to pick up my leg speed. I felt frustrated and helpless because I didn't feel that bad; my legs simply wouldn't do what I needed them too. I realized that my pace had slipped so far that my buffer was going to get eaten up very quickly. Going through the "5k to go" point I realized I'd have to run almost 4min/km flat to get under 3 hours, and my legs were clearly not up to that. So I knew it was gone and then it was a question of whether to back right off and just shuffle in to try and preserve my legs for a quicker post-race recovery, or whether to do all I could to still give my best time under the conditions. I went more for the latter and just ran it in as best I could without quite killing myself.
In the end, I was quite accepting of the result. I took a little bit of a gamble with the pacing and didn't do too much wrong on that basis. I think if I'd gone out at 4:15 pace neat, the splits would have been more even, but there still would have been some fade and the end time not much different. So ultimately I just wasn't quite in the shape I thought I was...perhaps. It gives me a lot of food for thought about how to prepare now for Tokyo, and then, how to run it.
Race breakdown
The weather turned out to be very good, if a little cold at about 8 degrees with a light wind. It was touch and go whether to wear a long sleeved shirt but I stuck with a singlet and gloves. That was a good choice because I never wished I was wearing more and never wished I was not wearing the gloves. I wore my footpod but not my heart rate monitor, mainly, in the end, because I just didn't want the constriction on my chest and wanted to be as unencumbered as possible.
Basically, I decided to go out at a pace that would give myself a chance at a good time...around 2:57 pace, which I thought would give a couple of minutes in the bank to allow for any fade. While I thought my pacing was pretty well executed, the first 10 km was probably a little too fast, closer to 2:55 pace, and at the end of the day, I can only conclude that it was a bit over-ambitious given my condition. Nevertheless, I was feeling quite OK at the halfway mark, then had to have a No. 2 toilet break between half and 25k (48 seconds). From 25k to 30k I actually still felt OK, but my legs were starting to fatigue and I was getting ominous twinges in both calves. As that 5k split slipped to 4:15/km I was really not too worried because I didn't think I was tiring so much. Then, during 30-35k, bang, I just watched my pace slide. This section is slightly uphill, then 35-40 is even a little more uphill and it was a real struggle. My legs were heavy and threatening to cramp with every attempt to pick up my leg speed. I felt frustrated and helpless because I didn't feel that bad; my legs simply wouldn't do what I needed them too. I realized that my pace had slipped so far that my buffer was going to get eaten up very quickly. Going through the "5k to go" point I realized I'd have to run almost 4min/km flat to get under 3 hours, and my legs were clearly not up to that. So I knew it was gone and then it was a question of whether to back right off and just shuffle in to try and preserve my legs for a quicker post-race recovery, or whether to do all I could to still give my best time under the conditions. I went more for the latter and just ran it in as best I could without quite killing myself.
In the end, I was quite accepting of the result. I took a little bit of a gamble with the pacing and didn't do too much wrong on that basis. I think if I'd gone out at 4:15 pace neat, the splits would have been more even, but there still would have been some fade and the end time not much different. So ultimately I just wasn't quite in the shape I thought I was...perhaps. It gives me a lot of food for thought about how to prepare now for Tokyo, and then, how to run it.
Race breakdown
| Section | Distance | Split | Duration | Pace |
| 0-5k | 5 | 0:20:47 | 0:20:47 | 0:04:09 |
| 5k-10k | 5 | 0:41:28 | 0:20:41 | 0:04:08 |
| 10k-15k | 5 | 1:02:33 | 0:21:04 | 0:04:13 |
| 15k-20k | 5 | 1:23:49 | 0:21:16 | 0:04:15 |
| 20k-21.1k | 1.1 | 1:28:15 | 0:04:26 | 0:04:02 |
| 21.1k-toilet | 2.4 | 1:38:10 | 0:09:55 | 0:04:08 |
| toilet break | 0.1 | 1:38:58 | 0:00:48 | 0:08:00 |
| toilet-25k | 1.45 | 1:44:54 | 0:05:56 | 0:04:06 |
| 25k-30k | 5 | 2:06:08 | 0:21:14 | 0:04:15 |
| 30k-35k | 5 | 2:28:36 | 0:22:29 | 0:04:30 |
| 35k-40k | 5 | 2:53:09 | 0:24:32 | 0:04:54 |
| 40k-42.2k | 2.2 | 3:04:01 | 0:10:51 | 0:04:56 |
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Ohtahwara result
3:04:01
Excellent pace through 25k, OK through 30, then ran into cramp bear and wall. Nothing I could do but watch the 3-hour slip away. Posting by mobile, so more detail tomorrow. But I made no big tactical errors, so it just wasnt meant to be today and I am OK with it.
Currently in party mode at the hot spring -yeehaa--. Sorry Clairie and Satohi, I was particularly trying to get there for you guys today, but the legs just didnt hold up.
Excellent pace through 25k, OK through 30, then ran into cramp bear and wall. Nothing I could do but watch the 3-hour slip away. Posting by mobile, so more detail tomorrow. But I made no big tactical errors, so it just wasnt meant to be today and I am OK with it.
Currently in party mode at the hot spring -yeehaa--. Sorry Clairie and Satohi, I was particularly trying to get there for you guys today, but the legs just didnt hold up.
I'm off...
Just a quick note as I sit here browsing the morning paper and checking email and eating some rice porridge (okayu) before heading off to meet Gareth and Colin at Shinjuku Station to drive to Ohtawara. The wind is making a bit of noise outside and it is forecast to be cloudy and cold (8 deg) with rain starting later.
My target times are: 2:55 (if I can manage to kick in the second half -- unlikely)
2:57 (ideal)
sub 3:00
Bye for now.
My target times are: 2:55 (if I can manage to kick in the second half -- unlikely)
2:57 (ideal)
sub 3:00
Bye for now.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Counting down now
There isn't much left for me to do now except eat, drink, and ...pack my bags for Ohtawara. The merry-making, though, will have to wait until after the race.
I just went out at lunch time to a lovely sunny 18 degrees. Ran gently over to Gosho and then once around the 3.3 km loop at a fairly brisk average pace of 4:12/km. It got my heart started I suppose, especially the hills, but not much more. I guess that's all that should happen at this stage. I'd love to slip onto a running track tonight and just do a bit more stretching out. But too much work to do. Maybe tomorrow evening. But if not, it doesn't really matter.
What a bugger we didn't have this weather on Sunday!! Interestingly we are forecast to have another day of this loveliness and then Thursday is forecast to be cold and "light rain late"...which is exactly what the forecast was for last Sunday a couple days out. It might be a week for cold, wet marathons.
I just went out at lunch time to a lovely sunny 18 degrees. Ran gently over to Gosho and then once around the 3.3 km loop at a fairly brisk average pace of 4:12/km. It got my heart started I suppose, especially the hills, but not much more. I guess that's all that should happen at this stage. I'd love to slip onto a running track tonight and just do a bit more stretching out. But too much work to do. Maybe tomorrow evening. But if not, it doesn't really matter.
What a bugger we didn't have this weather on Sunday!! Interestingly we are forecast to have another day of this loveliness and then Thursday is forecast to be cold and "light rain late"...which is exactly what the forecast was for last Sunday a couple days out. It might be a week for cold, wet marathons.
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Satohi
After foreshadowing her race, I think it is encumbent on me to give a quick update on Satohi's run in Tokyo Women's Marathon. The forecast for today was 14 degrees and cloudy. Perfect. Unfortunately it deteriorated and was lucky to have been 5 degrees and constant light rain. Miserable. Unfortunately Satohi was badly affected by the harsh weather and had to pull out at about 28 km. She was devastated afterwards, but bounced back and put on a brave face when a large group of us went out for churrasco (Brazilian BBQ) later. We did have a good night and I hope it helped her get over her disappointment and start looking towards her next goals. If you have a word of encouragement for her, please give her a cheerio over at her place.
Our other three runners went well, and Mika T., she of the poor neglected blog, managed to shave over a minute off her PB. Congratulations Mika and also Yoshiko (3:14:xx) and Mika K. (3:34:xx). otsukaresamadeshita!
Our other three runners went well, and Mika T., she of the poor neglected blog, managed to shave over a minute off her PB. Congratulations Mika and also Yoshiko (3:14:xx) and Mika K. (3:34:xx). otsukaresamadeshita!
A little tempo run & not so long Sunday run
Ewen: the pedometer is one of those pod things that go on your shoe and talks to the Polar watch such that if the calibration is good you can get a fairly accurate read-out of pace on your watch. I agree with your comments on the difficulty of using the heart rate as a guide to pace, and really don't intend to do that. I'm leaning more and more towards leaving the HRM at home.
So running. Yesterday, Saturday, I got out the door reasonably early and just went for a little blat around the block. Two times 3.3 km loops from the front door. The first was at an average of 4:15/km and HRavg of 139. The second was 4:04/km and HRavg of 149. These numbers clearly spell out the truth in Ewen's comment. If I were to say that 149 is my "race" heart rate and follow that, I'd probably run a lot of the first half othe race at sub 4:08/km, and some of the downhill parts at sub 4:00/km -- and subsequently go to pieces late in the race, especially on the uphill pull from 35 to 41 km.
This morning I just ran to Yoyogi Park (5.2 km) ran one 2.5 km loop with Colin, Gareth & Alexei, then ran home again for just on 13 km. Nothing too exciting in the heart rate or pace data.
I'm about to leave and go to the National Stadium to watch the start of the Tokyo Women's International Marathon. Four Namban ladies are running: Mika T, Mika K, Yoshiko, and Satohi. I have been coaching Satohi. After running 3:27 to qualify, she had set herself a rather ambitious target of 3:15, but we have settled on 3:17 as probably being the A goal. She has trained very solidly, mainly doing aerobic endurance work. I am fairly confident she will go close to going under 3:20, but it is hard to say how she will stand up to the last 5 to 7 km. There is one reasonably nasty little hill at about 38 to 39 km, but she is strong and determined, so I think she will be fine. Go Satohi!! (And Mika and Mika and Yoshiko!)
So running. Yesterday, Saturday, I got out the door reasonably early and just went for a little blat around the block. Two times 3.3 km loops from the front door. The first was at an average of 4:15/km and HRavg of 139. The second was 4:04/km and HRavg of 149. These numbers clearly spell out the truth in Ewen's comment. If I were to say that 149 is my "race" heart rate and follow that, I'd probably run a lot of the first half othe race at sub 4:08/km, and some of the downhill parts at sub 4:00/km -- and subsequently go to pieces late in the race, especially on the uphill pull from 35 to 41 km.
This morning I just ran to Yoyogi Park (5.2 km) ran one 2.5 km loop with Colin, Gareth & Alexei, then ran home again for just on 13 km. Nothing too exciting in the heart rate or pace data.
I'm about to leave and go to the National Stadium to watch the start of the Tokyo Women's International Marathon. Four Namban ladies are running: Mika T, Mika K, Yoshiko, and Satohi. I have been coaching Satohi. After running 3:27 to qualify, she had set herself a rather ambitious target of 3:15, but we have settled on 3:17 as probably being the A goal. She has trained very solidly, mainly doing aerobic endurance work. I am fairly confident she will go close to going under 3:20, but it is hard to say how she will stand up to the last 5 to 7 km. There is one reasonably nasty little hill at about 38 to 39 km, but she is strong and determined, so I think she will be fine. Go Satohi!! (And Mika and Mika and Yoshiko!)
Friday, November 17, 2006
12 km of indifference
Today was the first day of the week that I managed to wake up early for a run. Otherwise I ran on Tuesday at lunch and Wednesday night. Monday and Thursday off.
It was cooold today. I rugged up in long tights, T-shirt and my sexy little red Saucony long-sleeve number that I won at the Inagi Ekiden earlier this year. I also decided to wear gloves. And a cap. And...
I ran to the park at a reasonable clip, sub 5:00/km. Then had to make a short loo stop. I ran two laps of the park and gradually eased up towards marathon pace, but you know, I couldn't really hold it there and kept dropping back into the 4:20s/km, even though my heart rate was OK. I continued the run home at similar kind of upper aeobic pace, again trying to hit on marathon pace where I could. It led to my fatsest run between park and home for a while.
The knee was a bit uncomfortable at first, but sort of disappeared into the background as the run went on. So I think injury worries are behind me. I'm a little more concerned about the ever so slight malaise that I feel, and which might have been taking the edge off this morning. I think I have to really watch my diet and hydration from here on.
Thanks folks for thoughts on the pace strategy. I'm leaning towards an ever so slightly fast first half. Perhaps aim to go through 30k in 2:06, which would give me a pretty nice buffer to be able to come in under 3:00:00 without going overly fast. If by some miracle I were able to hold that pace through tho the end, it would yield a around about a 2:57:00. So that's the theory! Clairie's suggestion of breaking it down into minin-races or "milestones" is probably a good one, except that when i worked asa research scientist, I was always lousy at meeting project milestones :-/ (but I still always finished and wrote up my work! Eventually.)
I have another little quiz to occupy your minds: should I wear my pedometer and heart rate monitor? I wasn't going to, then I decided I would, and now I am not sure again. I think the pedometer would probably be a help, but the heart rate monitor has the potential to play with your head, give excuses to slow down...oh no...look at how high it is! I better slow down...but on the other hand, depending on the stage of the race and how I actually react to that data, that might be a good thing. But it is a race and really, the object is to put the body on the line. So there are few conflicting thoughts there.
It was cooold today. I rugged up in long tights, T-shirt and my sexy little red Saucony long-sleeve number that I won at the Inagi Ekiden earlier this year. I also decided to wear gloves. And a cap. And...
I ran to the park at a reasonable clip, sub 5:00/km. Then had to make a short loo stop. I ran two laps of the park and gradually eased up towards marathon pace, but you know, I couldn't really hold it there and kept dropping back into the 4:20s/km, even though my heart rate was OK. I continued the run home at similar kind of upper aeobic pace, again trying to hit on marathon pace where I could. It led to my fatsest run between park and home for a while.
The knee was a bit uncomfortable at first, but sort of disappeared into the background as the run went on. So I think injury worries are behind me. I'm a little more concerned about the ever so slight malaise that I feel, and which might have been taking the edge off this morning. I think I have to really watch my diet and hydration from here on.
Thanks folks for thoughts on the pace strategy. I'm leaning towards an ever so slightly fast first half. Perhaps aim to go through 30k in 2:06, which would give me a pretty nice buffer to be able to come in under 3:00:00 without going overly fast. If by some miracle I were able to hold that pace through tho the end, it would yield a around about a 2:57:00. So that's the theory! Clairie's suggestion of breaking it down into minin-races or "milestones" is probably a good one, except that when i worked asa research scientist, I was always lousy at meeting project milestones :-/ (but I still always finished and wrote up my work! Eventually.)
I have another little quiz to occupy your minds: should I wear my pedometer and heart rate monitor? I wasn't going to, then I decided I would, and now I am not sure again. I think the pedometer would probably be a help, but the heart rate monitor has the potential to play with your head, give excuses to slow down...oh no...look at how high it is! I better slow down...but on the other hand, depending on the stage of the race and how I actually react to that data, that might be a good thing. But it is a race and really, the object is to put the body on the line. So there are few conflicting thoughts there.
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Cold, wet & not much fun
The regular Wednesday night workout needed to be curtailed somewhat in deference to the taper. I was (am) feeling much more chipper with the hip and back having settled down, leaving only the knee as any source of discomfort, but then it is no different to what it has been for a thousand or so km of training, so I regard it as something that would be nice to iron out through the taper, but no threat if I don't.
While I'd toyed with the idea of a tempo run last night, I felt that would be just a bit too much given how shaky I had been feeling on Monday...even if there is still a week to go. "Time to cruise" was how I think 2P put it. What's more, it suddenly came in all cold and rainy just in time for our running. It proceeded to stay that way for the next hour and half and then cleared. Typical.
So, anyway, after 4-km warm-up with Gary I decided to re-try that Maffetone heart rate test on the 400-m track (running five miles at my "upper aerobic limit" of 143 beats per minute (77%) for 8 km). I actually only held the 143 for three miles (three times four laps) and then decided to do two miles at 149 (80% HRmax).
The data for the HR143 section are a bit different to last time. I was certainly a lot faster, as would be expected, but in contrast to last time there was actually some drift. I didn't actually quite average 149 for the second part, but the fact that the pace was up close to marathon pace was good. To be honest, I'd have liked to have seen it a bit faster, but I can't complain too much.
Mile Time Pace (min/km) AvgHR HR%max
1 0:06:56 0:04:20 144 78%
2 0:07:04 0:04:25 143 77%
3 0:07:12 0:04:30 142 76%
4 0:06:52 0:04:18 147 79%
5 0:06:55 0:04:19 148 80%
I am happy that I did this run because it wasn't stressful and has given me some valuable feedback on my aerobic state. I think the result is that I can expect to be able to run the first half to 30-km of the race at about 3-hour pace without getting uduly stressed. The really tricky part will be getting from 25 to 30 km without the heart rate getting too high, but if I manage that, then I could probably afford to start throwing caution to the wind and see how hard I can bring it home.
In my previous marathons I've gone out a little fast and then had a positive split on the second half. The best ones were where the fade was only slight. This time I am seriously considering keeping right on or marginally slower than pace for that first 30 km and then trying to bring home a negative split. It is risky though, because I can't help thinking that even if I run easy, I'll be too buggered after 30 km to pick up the pace -- hanging on is about as much as I can expect, and any slight fade would lead to a blown goal. By starting just ahead of pace gives some time in the bank, but then you have the risk of that over-pace segment causing a bad late fade? A negative split sure would be nice...
Such are the thoughts of one who is staring down his fifth marathon.
While I'd toyed with the idea of a tempo run last night, I felt that would be just a bit too much given how shaky I had been feeling on Monday...even if there is still a week to go. "Time to cruise" was how I think 2P put it. What's more, it suddenly came in all cold and rainy just in time for our running. It proceeded to stay that way for the next hour and half and then cleared. Typical.
So, anyway, after 4-km warm-up with Gary I decided to re-try that Maffetone heart rate test on the 400-m track (running five miles at my "upper aerobic limit" of 143 beats per minute (77%) for 8 km). I actually only held the 143 for three miles (three times four laps) and then decided to do two miles at 149 (80% HRmax).
The data for the HR143 section are a bit different to last time. I was certainly a lot faster, as would be expected, but in contrast to last time there was actually some drift. I didn't actually quite average 149 for the second part, but the fact that the pace was up close to marathon pace was good. To be honest, I'd have liked to have seen it a bit faster, but I can't complain too much.
Mile Time Pace (min/km) AvgHR HR%max
1 0:06:56 0:04:20 144 78%
2 0:07:04 0:04:25 143 77%
3 0:07:12 0:04:30 142 76%
4 0:06:52 0:04:18 147 79%
5 0:06:55 0:04:19 148 80%
I am happy that I did this run because it wasn't stressful and has given me some valuable feedback on my aerobic state. I think the result is that I can expect to be able to run the first half to 30-km of the race at about 3-hour pace without getting uduly stressed. The really tricky part will be getting from 25 to 30 km without the heart rate getting too high, but if I manage that, then I could probably afford to start throwing caution to the wind and see how hard I can bring it home.
In my previous marathons I've gone out a little fast and then had a positive split on the second half. The best ones were where the fade was only slight. This time I am seriously considering keeping right on or marginally slower than pace for that first 30 km and then trying to bring home a negative split. It is risky though, because I can't help thinking that even if I run easy, I'll be too buggered after 30 km to pick up the pace -- hanging on is about as much as I can expect, and any slight fade would lead to a blown goal. By starting just ahead of pace gives some time in the bank, but then you have the risk of that over-pace segment causing a bad late fade? A negative split sure would be nice...
Such are the thoughts of one who is staring down his fifth marathon.
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Below par
I didn't run yesterday, Monday, because well, it is really time to start tapering. And my hip was sore. Somehow I managed to accidentally run more than 90 km last week. I am not that worried about that except for these issues in my left leg/hip and the general bit of run-down feeling that I have. Gareth told me on Sunday that it was a mistake running 30 km, and Tesso registered some surprise. Really though, I don't think that distance in itself is a worry 11 days from the marathon because I am normally pretty much recovered by the Wednesday after a Sunday long run, and that includes with a reasonably hard run on Tuesday mornings. So I think my judgement was OK under normal circumstances, but given the bit of fatigue and back/hip niggles, maybe it would have been better to back off a bit. I checked my log from last year after hearing these comments and discovered that I ran 25 km 10 days out last year, so it is about on par I suppose.
I chose sleep over running this morning but took my gear to work. I took a few doses of Ibuprofen yesterday and the hip did feeI better today, even though other niggles are still hanging around. What I really need is a masseur on staff. Anyway, I managed to get out at lunch time and run just under 10 km. About 4 km of it varied from very slow (along the streets of Kojimachi, crowded as they were with lolling freshly-sated pedestrians) to easy. The other 5 km, a lap of the imperial Palace, I tried to maintain marathon pace. In general I think my heart rate was a little high for the pace. So whether it is running induced fatigue or lurgy-fighting induced fatigue I'm not certain. I still finished feeling fairly fresh though, so it is not all doom and gloom. All I know is that I have to try to get more rest and keep the length of my runs down. So tomorrow night I'll probably just aim for 12 km with maybe 8 km at tempo pace, provided I feel spritely and pain free.
I chose sleep over running this morning but took my gear to work. I took a few doses of Ibuprofen yesterday and the hip did feeI better today, even though other niggles are still hanging around. What I really need is a masseur on staff. Anyway, I managed to get out at lunch time and run just under 10 km. About 4 km of it varied from very slow (along the streets of Kojimachi, crowded as they were with lolling freshly-sated pedestrians) to easy. The other 5 km, a lap of the imperial Palace, I tried to maintain marathon pace. In general I think my heart rate was a little high for the pace. So whether it is running induced fatigue or lurgy-fighting induced fatigue I'm not certain. I still finished feeling fairly fresh though, so it is not all doom and gloom. All I know is that I have to try to get more rest and keep the length of my runs down. So tomorrow night I'll probably just aim for 12 km with maybe 8 km at tempo pace, provided I feel spritely and pain free.
Monday, November 13, 2006
A weekend of beer and running
Luckily the beer reference was not all drinking. Saturday my brewing partner, Bryan, andd I brewed a wheat beer at our brewery, aka, his office. It is 5-km from my place to his, so I ran over in the morning and back again in the evening. Easy pace both times. My hips and lower back were feeling a little stiff and uncomfortable even before the running and brewing.
Sunday morning I woke up feeling not exactly on top of the world. There is no doubt that my immune system is a little run down. Cold symptoms are creepingly gettting worse and I have a sore cheek that doesn't seem to have any internal cause, i.e. an mouth ulcer. The only thing I can think is that it is a cyst or something. So far it is not too bad, but it is uncomfortable. I could also tell that I was getting that twinge in my lower back that pulls my torso slightly to one side -- when I looked in the mirror, sure enough, there was a crooked man... And the muscles of my left hip below the pelvis were tender. All this without any good reason because, honestly, I have been scaling back the running intensity and duration.
Still, I wanted to do one last decent length long run. There was an icy wind to torment us, but without that it was a glorious sunny day making the choice of attire a little difficult. I set off and was fine running at long-run pace, 5:20-5:30 min/km. I arrived at the park and met up with Gareth, Jayne and Motozo, and soon afterwards, Colin joined. I ran to about 22 km at easy pace, and that was fine. I then tried picking it up for the last 2-km lap of the park and the 6-km to home. I found it not at all difficult aerobically--I was running for periods at 4:15/km at a heart rate of 143 to 148--less than 80%HRmax, but a bit hard on the left leg/lower back. Finished up with 30 km in 2:37 and average heart rate of 129. Apart from the leg/hip tenderness felt pretty good afterwards. Later my hip was even more tender and continues so today. So it is Ibuprofen and rest for today. Hopefully it will settle down and allow one or two more half-decent workouts, but somehow I think I am now going to be concentrating on trying to straighten out the kinks so I can toe the line feeling strong ten days from now.
After lunch I attended a beer tasting at a friends's apartment. Good food, good beer and good fellow beer-geeky company. Best of all, I didn't get smashed at all. Arrived home feeling quite compus mentus and ended up watching the DVD Be Cool (John Travolta, Uma Thurman) with my two older sons.
Sunday morning I woke up feeling not exactly on top of the world. There is no doubt that my immune system is a little run down. Cold symptoms are creepingly gettting worse and I have a sore cheek that doesn't seem to have any internal cause, i.e. an mouth ulcer. The only thing I can think is that it is a cyst or something. So far it is not too bad, but it is uncomfortable. I could also tell that I was getting that twinge in my lower back that pulls my torso slightly to one side -- when I looked in the mirror, sure enough, there was a crooked man... And the muscles of my left hip below the pelvis were tender. All this without any good reason because, honestly, I have been scaling back the running intensity and duration.
Still, I wanted to do one last decent length long run. There was an icy wind to torment us, but without that it was a glorious sunny day making the choice of attire a little difficult. I set off and was fine running at long-run pace, 5:20-5:30 min/km. I arrived at the park and met up with Gareth, Jayne and Motozo, and soon afterwards, Colin joined. I ran to about 22 km at easy pace, and that was fine. I then tried picking it up for the last 2-km lap of the park and the 6-km to home. I found it not at all difficult aerobically--I was running for periods at 4:15/km at a heart rate of 143 to 148--less than 80%HRmax, but a bit hard on the left leg/lower back. Finished up with 30 km in 2:37 and average heart rate of 129. Apart from the leg/hip tenderness felt pretty good afterwards. Later my hip was even more tender and continues so today. So it is Ibuprofen and rest for today. Hopefully it will settle down and allow one or two more half-decent workouts, but somehow I think I am now going to be concentrating on trying to straighten out the kinks so I can toe the line feeling strong ten days from now.
After lunch I attended a beer tasting at a friends's apartment. Good food, good beer and good fellow beer-geeky company. Best of all, I didn't get smashed at all. Arrived home feeling quite compus mentus and ended up watching the DVD Be Cool (John Travolta, Uma Thurman) with my two older sons.
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Blogger Buggered to Buggery
Well, if you were thinking of switching to Beta Blogger, don't. Not yet anyway. Little did I know that after you migrate you cannot comment on non-beta blogs. It is "coming soon". What!! So far I have found only one advantage of beta, that you can label your posts with a category. There are probably other benefits, like the blog layout editing function, but to use that you have to basically abandon your current template and start again. And I'll be stuffed if I want to lose my counters and my tables and my Hannah Banner ... so for now, Blogger can get stuffed. I'm sorry I didn't check it out more thoroughly before being seduced by the little beckoning button. And I'm sorry friends, it appears I am unable to comment on your blogs for a while.
But it is good to see Go Girl back out there doing 18 km, great to see Ewen clawing his way back to fitness, 2P being mesmerised by carp (shame you didn't have a stick of jelly 2P) on Quarry Road, Clairie running strong on tired legs, Tesso coming within a whisker of her 3000 m goal, Hannah conquering the heat, Luckylegs outrunning the Ghosts of Fisher and breaking 1500 m records, plu riding out his GNW frustrations...
Hope to be able to comment properly gain soon.
But it is good to see Go Girl back out there doing 18 km, great to see Ewen clawing his way back to fitness, 2P being mesmerised by carp (shame you didn't have a stick of jelly 2P) on Quarry Road, Clairie running strong on tired legs, Tesso coming within a whisker of her 3000 m goal, Hannah conquering the heat, Luckylegs outrunning the Ghosts of Fisher and breaking 1500 m records, plu riding out his GNW frustrations...
Hope to be able to comment properly gain soon.
Friday, November 10, 2006
A bit of a struggle (running and blogging both)
To anybody who has me on Bloglines, sorry for the flood yesterday. I migrated to Blogger beta. I'm not sure why I did or what benefits it might bring, but anyway, it's done now, and as a result all the old posts seemed to have been posted to Bloglines. (Edit: and what's worse, I sent this post by email early this morning but it hasn't showed up, so had to resurrect from my Sent folder. Another grrr..)
Thursday
Worked at home most of the day and got out for an easy 7.5 km in the afternoon. Nothing much to say about it. Just plodded around and did a few core exercises.
Friday (this morning)
The last couple of Friday mornings I have done a tempo run in the middle of a run to work. For one reason and another it didn't suit to do it that way this week, so I had to wake up at 5:00 and get out the door. Despite a few hints of cold symptoms coming on, I did manage to get up. I knew that because of the distance to Komazawa Park, the total distance would be a bit more than is optimal at this point in a taper, but I wanted to do at least 8 km of tempo. So I decided to make sure I took it easy on the run to the park. Well, that turned out to be no problem as I did it at an average pace of 5:33 min/km. Slowest I've done it since the time I tried it with a massive hangover ;-)
So then I hooked into the tempo run, but I really wasn't warmed up enough and the first lap (2.15 km) was a real struggle to raise both heart rate and pace. The lap pace was 4:16 /km and average heart rate only 141 (76%). On the next lap I came up behind this Japanese guy running a similar pace, but as I approached, he surged. I was deliberately trying to lift my pace gradually, but didn't need someone surging and slowing in front of me. I expected to go past him soon, but each time I would draw close to him, the richard would surge forward again. It was really annoying. Just run your own pace, dude! Then after about 1.5 km he stopped, so must have been doing an interval or tempo or something. I was glad to see the end of him, but at least he had got me moving faster and the second lap was 4:01/km, HR avg: 154 (83%). Pushed on through the next lap for an identical pace, but HRavg up to 157 (84%). On the fourth (last) lap I managed to slip under 4:00 to 3:57/km, but it seemed like too hard work for that pace. HRavg was 160 (86%). I then had to make an urgent use of the facilities. After that I ran home, again at an easy pace that averaged 5:03/km.
Basically, I found it hard to really get properly into this run and couldn't hit the pace and heart rates I wanted. I think this is just a function of running so early in the morning, or could also be some residual fatigue from Wednesday night's workout, so I am not too unhappy. Hopefully it is not a sign of an encroaching lurgy. I have been cramming in the Vitamin C, and so far the cold symptoms are very mild indeed.
Basically, I found it hard to really get properly into this run and couldn't hit the pace and heart rates I wanted. I think this is just a function of running so early in the morning, or could also be some residual fatigue from Wednesday night's workout, so I am not too unhappy. Hopefully it is not a sign of an encroaching lurgy. I have been cramming in the Vitamin C, and so far the cold symptoms are very mild.
Thursday
Worked at home most of the day and got out for an easy 7.5 km in the afternoon. Nothing much to say about it. Just plodded around and did a few core exercises.
Friday (this morning)
The last couple of Friday mornings I have done a tempo run in the middle of a run to work. For one reason and another it didn't suit to do it that way this week, so I had to wake up at 5:00 and get out the door. Despite a few hints of cold symptoms coming on, I did manage to get up. I knew that because of the distance to Komazawa Park, the total distance would be a bit more than is optimal at this point in a taper, but I wanted to do at least 8 km of tempo. So I decided to make sure I took it easy on the run to the park. Well, that turned out to be no problem as I did it at an average pace of 5:33 min/km. Slowest I've done it since the time I tried it with a massive hangover ;-)
So then I hooked into the tempo run, but I really wasn't warmed up enough and the first lap (2.15 km) was a real struggle to raise both heart rate and pace. The lap pace was 4:16 /km and average heart rate only 141 (76%). On the next lap I came up behind this Japanese guy running a similar pace, but as I approached, he surged. I was deliberately trying to lift my pace gradually, but didn't need someone surging and slowing in front of me. I expected to go past him soon, but each time I would draw close to him, the richard would surge forward again. It was really annoying. Just run your own pace, dude! Then after about 1.5 km he stopped, so must have been doing an interval or tempo or something. I was glad to see the end of him, but at least he had got me moving faster and the second lap was 4:01/km, HR avg: 154 (83%). Pushed on through the next lap for an identical pace, but HRavg up to 157 (84%). On the fourth (last) lap I managed to slip under 4:00 to 3:57/km, but it seemed like too hard work for that pace. HRavg was 160 (86%). I then had to make an urgent use of the facilities. After that I ran home, again at an easy pace that averaged 5:03/km.
Basically, I found it hard to really get properly into this run and couldn't hit the pace and heart rates I wanted. I think this is just a function of running so early in the morning, or could also be some residual fatigue from Wednesday night's workout, so I am not too unhappy. Hopefully it is not a sign of an encroaching lurgy. I have been cramming in the Vitamin C, and so far the cold symptoms are very mild indeed.
Basically, I found it hard to really get properly into this run and couldn't hit the pace and heart rates I wanted. I think this is just a function of running so early in the morning, or could also be some residual fatigue from Wednesday night's workout, so I am not too unhappy. Hopefully it is not a sign of an encroaching lurgy. I have been cramming in the Vitamin C, and so far the cold symptoms are very mild.
A bit of a struggle
For anybody who has me on Bloglines, sorry for the flood yesterday. I migrated to Blogger beta. I'm not sure why I did or what benefits it might bring, but anyway, it's done now, and as a result all the old posts seemed to get posted to Bloglines.
Thursday
Worked at home most of the day and got out for an easy 7.5 km in the afternoon. Nothing much to say about it. Just plodded around and did a few core exercises.
Friday (this morning)
The last couple of Friday mornings I have done a tempo run in the middle of a run to work. For one reason and another it didn't suit to do it that way this week, so I had to wake up at 5:00 and get out the door. Despite a few hints of cold symptoms coming on, I did manage to get up. I knew that because of the distance to Komazawa Park, the total distance would be a bit more than is optimal at this point in a taper, but I wanted to do at least 8 km of tempo. So I decided to make sure I took it easy on the run to the park. Well, that turned out to be no problem as I did it at an average pace of 5:33 min/km. Slowest I've done it since the time I tried it with a massive hangover ;-)
So then I hooked into the tempo run, but I really wasn't warmed up enough and the first lap (2.15 km) was a real struggle to raise both heart rate and pace. The lap pace was 4:16 /km and average heart rate only 141 (76%). On the next lap I came up behind this Japanese guy running a similar pace, but as I approached, he surged. I was deliberately trying to lift my pace gradually, but didn't need someone surging and slowing in front of me. I expected to go past him soon, but each time I would draw close to him, the richard would surge forward again. It was really annoying. Just run your own pace, dude! Then after about 1.5 km he stopped, so must have been doing an interval or tempo or something. I was glad to see the end of him, but at least he had got me moving faster and the second lap was 4:01/km, HR avg: 154 (83%). Pushed on through the next lap for an identical pace, but HRavg up to 157 (84%). On the fourth (last) lap I managed to slip under 4:00 to 3:57/km, but it seemed like too hard work for that pace. HRavg was 160 (86%). I then had to make an urgent use of the facilities. After that I ran home, again at an easy pace that averaged 5:03/km.
Basically, I found it hard to really get properly into this run and couldn't hit the pace and heart rates I wanted. I think this is just a function of running so early in the morning, or could also be some residual fatigue from Wednesday night's workout, so I am not too unhappy. Hopefully it is not a sign of an encroaching lurgy. I have been cramming in the Vitamin C, and so far the cold symptoms are very mild indeed.
Thursday
Worked at home most of the day and got out for an easy 7.5 km in the afternoon. Nothing much to say about it. Just plodded around and did a few core exercises.
Friday (this morning)
The last couple of Friday mornings I have done a tempo run in the middle of a run to work. For one reason and another it didn't suit to do it that way this week, so I had to wake up at 5:00 and get out the door. Despite a few hints of cold symptoms coming on, I did manage to get up. I knew that because of the distance to Komazawa Park, the total distance would be a bit more than is optimal at this point in a taper, but I wanted to do at least 8 km of tempo. So I decided to make sure I took it easy on the run to the park. Well, that turned out to be no problem as I did it at an average pace of 5:33 min/km. Slowest I've done it since the time I tried it with a massive hangover ;-)
So then I hooked into the tempo run, but I really wasn't warmed up enough and the first lap (2.15 km) was a real struggle to raise both heart rate and pace. The lap pace was 4:16 /km and average heart rate only 141 (76%). On the next lap I came up behind this Japanese guy running a similar pace, but as I approached, he surged. I was deliberately trying to lift my pace gradually, but didn't need someone surging and slowing in front of me. I expected to go past him soon, but each time I would draw close to him, the richard would surge forward again. It was really annoying. Just run your own pace, dude! Then after about 1.5 km he stopped, so must have been doing an interval or tempo or something. I was glad to see the end of him, but at least he had got me moving faster and the second lap was 4:01/km, HR avg: 154 (83%). Pushed on through the next lap for an identical pace, but HRavg up to 157 (84%). On the fourth (last) lap I managed to slip under 4:00 to 3:57/km, but it seemed like too hard work for that pace. HRavg was 160 (86%). I then had to make an urgent use of the facilities. After that I ran home, again at an easy pace that averaged 5:03/km.
Basically, I found it hard to really get properly into this run and couldn't hit the pace and heart rates I wanted. I think this is just a function of running so early in the morning, or could also be some residual fatigue from Wednesday night's workout, so I am not too unhappy. Hopefully it is not a sign of an encroaching lurgy. I have been cramming in the Vitamin C, and so far the cold symptoms are very mild indeed.
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Four times 2 km tempo intervals
There is a post that I sent to my blog by email earlier today, hours and hours ago, and it has not shown up yet. Bruddy Brogger. It wasn't about running though because that happened this evening. Anyway, just be warned that it may turn up some time completely out of chronological sequence.
So I ran from the sento to the park tonight and had a rather gentle 6-km warm-up with a few of the guys. We then seemed to gradually break off into our own little groups, my group, Gareth's group, and Satohi's group each consisted of a total of one member. I decided to run four repeats of a 2-km ( 1.94 km to be precise) loop with 2 minute recovery. The idea was to go faster than tempo pace but not as fast as 1600-m repeat pace. I think I succeeded on the first measure, but not so sure about the second. They went like this:
Rep Pace HRmax HRavg Comment
1 4:01 84% 80% Just warming up
2 3:51 88% 84% Pretty hard
3 3:49 89% 86% Starting to hurt a bit - should I do another?
4 3:44 90% 88% That was definitely enough
I enjoyed this session. It was hard, but fair. I feel tired in the quads, but not overy taxed. The left knee hs come through it pretty well so far (touch wood). Tomorrow will be an easy day and then maybe another tempo run on Friday.
So I ran from the sento to the park tonight and had a rather gentle 6-km warm-up with a few of the guys. We then seemed to gradually break off into our own little groups, my group, Gareth's group, and Satohi's group each consisted of a total of one member. I decided to run four repeats of a 2-km ( 1.94 km to be precise) loop with 2 minute recovery. The idea was to go faster than tempo pace but not as fast as 1600-m repeat pace. I think I succeeded on the first measure, but not so sure about the second. They went like this:
Rep Pace HRmax HRavg Comment
1 4:01 84% 80% Just warming up
2 3:51 88% 84% Pretty hard
3 3:49 89% 86% Starting to hurt a bit - should I do another?
4 3:44 90% 88% That was definitely enough
I enjoyed this session. It was hard, but fair. I feel tired in the quads, but not overy taxed. The left knee hs come through it pretty well so far (touch wood). Tomorrow will be an easy day and then maybe another tempo run on Friday.
My leg feels good
I haven't run today yet, but I just feel like announcing that my left leg feels a lot better today (as far as just walking around and sitting is concerned). I will give it a thorough thrashing tonight though, because like Clairie, I believe that the body is evil and must be punished.
Tesso, those "builders" face masks you were talking about are actually very commonly used in Japan, often by people who have a lurgy, but also by people who don't want to catch one, and also to protect against kahunshoo (hayfever). The recommended way to wear them is like this. ;-)
Tesso, those "builders" face masks you were talking about are actually very commonly used in Japan, often by people who have a lurgy, but also by people who don't want to catch one, and also to protect against kahunshoo (hayfever). The recommended way to wear them is like this. ;-)
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Another easy day
Headed out the door a bit later than usual and ran a shade under 10 km in 48:02 (average pace 4:54, average HR 131). The left knee etc were not too bad, but I still felt enough general fatigue and stiffness to not try anything silly. Just take it easy and let the recovery take its course and maybe have a harder session tomorrow.
One worry is all the disease and pestilance around at the moment. My wife had the flu over a week ago, then my youngest son has had a few headaches, probably cold related, and then last night the oldest came down with a high fever and some up-chucking. I'm lucky I only work in a very small office, but the train ride to work every day is like Russian roulette. Maybe I should start getting around like this.
Monday, November 06, 2006
Easy recovery
I worked at home today so took the opportunity to slip out in the afternoon for an easy 5k in 27:16 (5:27/km) at an average heart rate of 121 (65%). It was a bit clunky getting going, but my legs thanked me for it later.
Rest assured, Clairie, the taper has started. Actually, it started last week as I only ran 94 km. It's just a lot higher proportion of them were at a hard pace than in previous weeks.
This week the plan is for the hard days to be hard and the easy days to be easy. But all in all, it will add up to the first real week of taper.
Rest assured, Clairie, the taper has started. Actually, it started last week as I only ran 94 km. It's just a lot higher proportion of them were at a hard pace than in previous weeks.
This week the plan is for the hard days to be hard and the easy days to be easy. But all in all, it will add up to the first real week of taper.
Sunday, November 05, 2006
30 km at 4:13/km (avg)
Today is two weeks until Tokyo Womens International Marathon in which Satohi, the lady I coach, is entered. And it is two weeks and four days until my Ohtawara Marathon. I had originally scheduled a regular 30 km long run at increasing pace. But after some careful consideration, I decided that another long race-pace run would be best. The two important points leading to this decision were that a) We have both recovered quite well from the same kind of run two weeks ago, and b) We have (at least I know I have) gained a strong fitness stimulus from that run. So I figured that we have enough time to recover fully from today, and enough time for the training stimulus to come through and help out on race day.
Again, we chose the Imperial Palace with its 5-km loop (4.96 to be precise) for this run, which would give a good basis to compare with two weeks ago. In contrast to two weeks ago, we went for a minimal warm-up of only half a kilometer. Satohi was sorted out with the paces she had to run and also had the experience of the previous run under her belt, so didn't really need me to ride shotgun for a lap. So without much ado we started.
That dull achy sort of pain at the back of my left knee was present right from the outset, but not intefering too much. With target laps of 21:15 per lap (or a little better because of the short 50 m), I was perhaps moving a bit quicker than I should have. I was fine through the first two laps, with heart rate on the flat staying under 155. Up the hill (and this is the challenging part of this course) it was staying under 160, but that would not last for many laps. I was able to stay under 4:15/km pace for all but the sixth lap, though during that sixth lap my heart rate was getting pretty high and my left leg was sore in the rear thigh as well as the knee. Interestingly, though, I didn't get any of the quad pain that I have experienced in my previous two sub 3-hr marathons (it seems to start around 25 km). Also, I didn't take any water throughout, though the temperature was about 19 to 20 degrees. I took a gel before the end of lap 5, just for the practice, but don't think it made any difference to the sixth lap. Anyway, basically the data tell the story:
Lap time Pace Hrmax Hravg
0:20:39 0:04:10 84% 78%
0:20:50 0:04:12 85% 81%
0:20:55 0:04:13 87% 82%
0:20:55 0:04:13 87% 83%
0:21:05 0:04:15 88% 84%
0:21:15 0:04:17 89% 85%
Total time: 2:05:40, distance: 29.76 km; average pace 0:4:13 min/km
I would be lying if I said I was unhappy with this result, but I would have preferred slightly more even pace rather than the fast start and gradual slide. Who knows how much worse that would become over the ensuing 12 km...and without a lot of buffer.
Still I think with this run under the belt, and the order of difficulty presented by the Palace hill (and bloody crowds), the three-hour target is now looking clearly possible, and it will be all up to getting this dicky knee sorted out through the taper and then good old fashioned execution.
Satohi had a good run too, generally maintaining slightly better than her target race pace of 4:40/km for 25 km. And at least she doesn't have any injury problems!
Again, we chose the Imperial Palace with its 5-km loop (4.96 to be precise) for this run, which would give a good basis to compare with two weeks ago. In contrast to two weeks ago, we went for a minimal warm-up of only half a kilometer. Satohi was sorted out with the paces she had to run and also had the experience of the previous run under her belt, so didn't really need me to ride shotgun for a lap. So without much ado we started.
That dull achy sort of pain at the back of my left knee was present right from the outset, but not intefering too much. With target laps of 21:15 per lap (or a little better because of the short 50 m), I was perhaps moving a bit quicker than I should have. I was fine through the first two laps, with heart rate on the flat staying under 155. Up the hill (and this is the challenging part of this course) it was staying under 160, but that would not last for many laps. I was able to stay under 4:15/km pace for all but the sixth lap, though during that sixth lap my heart rate was getting pretty high and my left leg was sore in the rear thigh as well as the knee. Interestingly, though, I didn't get any of the quad pain that I have experienced in my previous two sub 3-hr marathons (it seems to start around 25 km). Also, I didn't take any water throughout, though the temperature was about 19 to 20 degrees. I took a gel before the end of lap 5, just for the practice, but don't think it made any difference to the sixth lap. Anyway, basically the data tell the story:
Lap time Pace Hrmax Hravg
0:20:39 0:04:10 84% 78%
0:20:50 0:04:12 85% 81%
0:20:55 0:04:13 87% 82%
0:20:55 0:04:13 87% 83%
0:21:05 0:04:15 88% 84%
0:21:15 0:04:17 89% 85%
Total time: 2:05:40, distance: 29.76 km; average pace 0:4:13 min/km
I would be lying if I said I was unhappy with this result, but I would have preferred slightly more even pace rather than the fast start and gradual slide. Who knows how much worse that would become over the ensuing 12 km...and without a lot of buffer.
Still I think with this run under the belt, and the order of difficulty presented by the Palace hill (and bloody crowds), the three-hour target is now looking clearly possible, and it will be all up to getting this dicky knee sorted out through the taper and then good old fashioned execution.
Satohi had a good run too, generally maintaining slightly better than her target race pace of 4:40/km for 25 km. And at least she doesn't have any injury problems!
Friday, November 03, 2006
Steady as she goes...
I took a little rest yesterday, which was good for the knee. More by good luck than good management though. I had all my gear at work and was going to run home, but 3/4 of the way through getting changed I discovered that my "shorts" were in fact a singlet! Doh! It was only going to be a gentle run anyway...
So it is a holiday in Japan today! I had the luxury of sleeping in a bit and then getting up and heading out for my tempo run. I ran to Komazawa Park, knee feeling quite alright, and then as soon as I turned into the park put the foot down and reeled off four laps ( 8.6 km total) at tempo pace that looked something like this:
Lap time Pace Hrmax Hravg
0:08:32 0:03:58 84% 81%
0:08:21 0:03:53 87% 84%
0:08:14 0:03:50 89% 87%
0:08:19 0:03:52 90% 88%
That's pretty much how a tempo run should look, with the rising heart rate starting to push into anaerobic territory in the latter half. And I finished it feeling comfortably fatigued and just had a reasonably relaxed run home. I wore my light shoes (Adidas Adizer CS) purchased the other day that I intend to wear in the marathon; they went well. So, everything is looking pretty good. Just have to be careful not to completely stuff up this knee while getting in the last little top-up of heavy work over the next few days, then start backing off the quantity and dealing with the head games that are the taper.
So it is a holiday in Japan today! I had the luxury of sleeping in a bit and then getting up and heading out for my tempo run. I ran to Komazawa Park, knee feeling quite alright, and then as soon as I turned into the park put the foot down and reeled off four laps ( 8.6 km total) at tempo pace that looked something like this:
Lap time Pace Hrmax Hravg
0:08:32 0:03:58 84% 81%
0:08:21 0:03:53 87% 84%
0:08:14 0:03:50 89% 87%
0:08:19 0:03:52 90% 88%
That's pretty much how a tempo run should look, with the rising heart rate starting to push into anaerobic territory in the latter half. And I finished it feeling comfortably fatigued and just had a reasonably relaxed run home. I wore my light shoes (Adidas Adizer CS) purchased the other day that I intend to wear in the marathon; they went well. So, everything is looking pretty good. Just have to be careful not to completely stuff up this knee while getting in the last little top-up of heavy work over the next few days, then start backing off the quantity and dealing with the head games that are the taper.
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Tracking fitness with the heart rate monitor
A while back I mentioned that I have this test where I run to Komazawa Park (3.8k), run one lap (2.15k) at continuing warm up pace, run the next lap accelerating to a heart rate of 149 (80% of HRmax) then run the third lap at as close to 149 as possible all the way. I've been doing this and accumulating the data, both in the raw pace for the third lap(red line) and as a kind of index (blue line). The index is something like "how many seconds of pace better than 5:00/km do I get for each heart beat greater than 130." It just allows some standardisation if I actually run a slightly different average heart rate, and it gives an increasing trend line instead of decreasing. Anway, both lines show that things have been going in the right direction of late. What is interesting is the big jump in September-- that is very largely weather related as our season changed from summer to autumn. But the improvements over the past couple of measures are unmistakable. Note that the pace for last Tuesday was 4:12/km -- doesn't mean I can run at that for a whole marathon, but gee, it is encouraging to be up in that ballpark again.
Nov 1st - Intervals
Yesterday, Wednesday 111, 22 days to the marathon, my left knee felt tender during the day, and of more concern than anything was that I felt discomfort in the front of the knee below the kneecap. I hesitate to call it pain, but it was definitely enough to instill doubt about the most appropriate course of action for the evening running.
I headed to the sento and found it deserted. Got changed, hung around a bit, still nobody showed up. So I set off for some easy running in the park to see how the leg felt. Met up with Stuart and Kibe-san and we jogged around at 5:10/km for 7 km or so.
Being the first Wednesday of the month the club interval session would be six by 1000 m, and I thought that at this stage of the marathon preparation that might be as good a workout as any if the knee was up to it. So we headed to the track. It was a very large group of Nambanners gathered for the session, and being the first time I'd jumped in with the communal workout in ages, it was nice to catch up with some people. I got a few comments that I am fading away, which I was surprised to hear because every time I jump on the scales there is no change. Later in the sento the scales did suggest I've lost a kilo in the last week or two.
I could still feel the knee during the easier running, but it was not really painful and not getting any worse, so I thought I would give the intervals a go. Interestingly, in the first few the knee actually became completely pain free while running at 1000-m pace. It started to hurt on number four, moreso on number five, and although I started number six I decided after 300 m or so to back off to something less intense, and that worked out OK.
During the first interval I was following behind Teruyuki (Terry) and was using him as my cue to stop. But when we came to where I thought we should stop, he kept going. So I thought, hey?, did I miscount the laps? And kept following him for another lap. It turned out he had simply decided to do an extra lap, the bugger. So my first 1000 m rep was actually 1400 m.
Anyway, the times were: 5:14 (3:44/km), 3:38, 3:33, 3:37, 3:35, 4:09 -- not as even as I'd like, but the knee and size of the group had something to do with it. Plus after reps three and four I ran at about 4:50/km for most of the recovery period. I'm not sure why, but I just felt that standing around chin wagging for almost three minutes was not a particularly constructive use of training time :-).
It was interesting running with the large group. There was one particular pack of guys that included Motozo & Paddy and a couple of others whose names I'm not sure of. They would always leap out of the blocks ahead of me and for the first 100 m I would be running behind them and feel as though we were all on about the same pace. But then suddenly it would be like, oops, watch out guys, and I would be nearly tripping over them and have to sneak around or through or whatever. I talked to Motozo about it later and mentioned that I didn't think I was speeding up, and he confirmed that he definitely, but not consciously, slows down. So I don't know if it is my superior aerobic base or their superior fast twitch muscle ratio or what, but whatever it is, it really seems to suggest some fundamental difference in physiological composition.
I iced my knee front and back when I got home and slept with a medicated plaster on it. Seemed a bit better this morning, but I took a couple of Ibuprofen anyway. You can never be too careful.
I headed to the sento and found it deserted. Got changed, hung around a bit, still nobody showed up. So I set off for some easy running in the park to see how the leg felt. Met up with Stuart and Kibe-san and we jogged around at 5:10/km for 7 km or so.
Being the first Wednesday of the month the club interval session would be six by 1000 m, and I thought that at this stage of the marathon preparation that might be as good a workout as any if the knee was up to it. So we headed to the track. It was a very large group of Nambanners gathered for the session, and being the first time I'd jumped in with the communal workout in ages, it was nice to catch up with some people. I got a few comments that I am fading away, which I was surprised to hear because every time I jump on the scales there is no change. Later in the sento the scales did suggest I've lost a kilo in the last week or two.
I could still feel the knee during the easier running, but it was not really painful and not getting any worse, so I thought I would give the intervals a go. Interestingly, in the first few the knee actually became completely pain free while running at 1000-m pace. It started to hurt on number four, moreso on number five, and although I started number six I decided after 300 m or so to back off to something less intense, and that worked out OK.
During the first interval I was following behind Teruyuki (Terry) and was using him as my cue to stop. But when we came to where I thought we should stop, he kept going. So I thought, hey?, did I miscount the laps? And kept following him for another lap. It turned out he had simply decided to do an extra lap, the bugger. So my first 1000 m rep was actually 1400 m.
Anyway, the times were: 5:14 (3:44/km), 3:38, 3:33, 3:37, 3:35, 4:09 -- not as even as I'd like, but the knee and size of the group had something to do with it. Plus after reps three and four I ran at about 4:50/km for most of the recovery period. I'm not sure why, but I just felt that standing around chin wagging for almost three minutes was not a particularly constructive use of training time :-).
It was interesting running with the large group. There was one particular pack of guys that included Motozo & Paddy and a couple of others whose names I'm not sure of. They would always leap out of the blocks ahead of me and for the first 100 m I would be running behind them and feel as though we were all on about the same pace. But then suddenly it would be like, oops, watch out guys, and I would be nearly tripping over them and have to sneak around or through or whatever. I talked to Motozo about it later and mentioned that I didn't think I was speeding up, and he confirmed that he definitely, but not consciously, slows down. So I don't know if it is my superior aerobic base or their superior fast twitch muscle ratio or what, but whatever it is, it really seems to suggest some fundamental difference in physiological composition.
I iced my knee front and back when I got home and slept with a medicated plaster on it. Seemed a bit better this morning, but I took a couple of Ibuprofen anyway. You can never be too careful.
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