Mileage Reporting 44th week 2013

Saturday morning
13.3 mi / 21.4 km
37 F / 2.8 C
29 F/ -1.6 C WC

44.13 miles on the week, a new mpw PR! Crappy week for strength-training though. I'm still waiting for that elusive, perfect week when both the running and the st really come together.

Got out the door a little after six, still pitch black out (except for all the street lamps of course). I put on my ankle bands (as recommended by JosephTree) for the first time of the season, and brought my Moc3s as back up. It wasn't that cold out, but I'd never run this far in cold conditions, and a good part of the run would be on concrete, so I didn't want to take any chances. Turns out my feet got slightly numb for the first half or so of the run, but warmed up once the sun came out. Two layers of Merino wool on top (one light weight, one medium weight) did the trick, with sweat pants below, and cap and gloves. By the end of the run my top was soaked with sweat yet I was still nice and warm. I love Merino wool! I took off the gloves for a while, but put them back on when the wind picked up again. On a longer run like this, there are lots of micro-climates. I brought a banana, protein bar, and water along, but ended up not using them. I guess the ribeye and red wine from the night prior had put me in good stead.

The 10+mile runs aren't easy yet, but they're getting easier, and recovery time is coming down each time. Today my legs feel fine--just need to massage a little achiness out of my feet. The run was pretty uneventful, except one spot where I accidentally took a curvy street with no sidewalk or shoulder, tried to get off it, and ended up running a bit farther than planned. I listened to an old free jam for the first half of the run, and then my 'English Beat' Pandora station for the second half, which made me reminisce about college parties in dorm basements, dancing ourselves sober while listening to ska and new wave . . . "Concrete jungle . . . "; "You may find yourself . . . "; "Can't stand losing you . . ." And we covered a lot of those songs in the various bands I played in.

Where was I?

Oh yes, I took a pic with my phone when I got to Lake McCarrons, just as the new day was dawning.
13.11.02 1 McCarrons Lake.jpg
I stepped off the asphalt path to take the picture. I was amazed how the leaves on the side of the path became quite toasty warm after just a minute or two of standing in them while I dumbly fumbled with my smartphone. I'll have to remember that trick in the coming weeks, pre-snowfall, if I ever need a little relief from the cold. A tiny family of middle-aged and elderly Hmong out for their morning walk all gave me the same quizzical look as I prepared to resume my run. A while later, on Como Lake, a big woman said, "Barefoot?! Whoa, . . . . . Whooooooooooooooa."

After just a week, I think I've got my left foot to land like my right foot automatically. Actually, the last time I had to think about it was on Tuesday's run. On Thursday's, I think the track's sandy gravel surface helped reinforce the habit, and then on yesterday's run every time I checked I seemed to be doing the same, slightly more forefooted landing. Maybe the cold helped?

I snapped two more phone-photos during the run. One where I got sidetracked, overlooking a nature reserve:
13.11.02 2 View from Wheelock Parkway.jpg
I remember riding my bike on this road as a kid on my first trip out of the neighborhood. I think I rode to downtown St. Paul and back. It was the first time I experienced that sense of freedom that traveling alone and exploring brings. Probably my first inspiration for later travels. I still have images from that trip appear in my dreams.

Then close to home, I took this pic in the Minnesota State Fairgrounds (with the University of Minnesota St. Paul campus in the background). I had read in the newspaper that they're tearing down the Fairground's old Heritage Square, so thought I should take a photo when I came across the demolition work.
13.11.02 3 Bye-bye Heritage Square.jpg
 
8.4 miles of a planned 10 mile run before I started bleeding all over the place. Apparently your soles lose conditioning far quicker than I expected. It's been about a month since I've done a long barefoot run because I did my last few weeks of half training and the actual half in trail gloves. It was unfortunate and surprising and I ended up hobbling 1.5 miles to the trail head with bleeding feet. It sucked and now I'm having to pour hydrogen peroxide into partially opened blisters so I don't die of an infection. You know, sometimes barefoot running isn't all its cracked up to be.
 
6.2 mi today. We had a record 21 people show up for our Sunday after church run. (I am the only BF one). 36 degrees but some sun and no wind. Post run Jamaican me crazy coffee and pumpkin bagels hit the spot. A great day.


 
Excellent 16.8 mile run at 5:00 am 50 deg. f., 58%rh.. Saw 3 large hawks, some water fowl, heard owl for the first time in a while, cool creek crossings!
Love the cooler temp.
I love to run barefoot!!
last run of week 11 of training. 34 miles total. Miles still creeping up slowly prepping for Dallas Marathon Dec. 8 (5 weeks to go).
Feet good, Legs good
 
Weekend wrap: 7.5km with the social running club on Saturday, and a slow 10km beach run on Sunday morning. Two fairs with the family, and a couple of hours surfing after Saturday's run.

I got a little bit MAF-curious this weekend, so I threw on a HR monitor on Sunday and decided to see what a run at 141 BPM felt like. I was surprised to see that I could maintain a gentle lope at around 5:30 per km (my usual pace is around 5) and didn't have to walk for the first 7km or so. 2/3rds of the way through the run the wind changed to a howling gale which pretty much ruined the experiment - I was able to run much faster with the wind behind me, and then when I got to the second turn-around point I ended up stuck in soft sand trying to run into the wind, so I plod-walk-plodded back to the start.

Not sure if I'll do it again - to be honest I found it a bit of a pain having to remember to check my heart rate all the time, and for the first time in ages I actually pulled up with a sore spot below my calf - maybe the soleus or thereabouts. On the plus side, I figure the first bit tells me that my usual relaxed 'just run and don't try too hard' is serving me well enough in terms of keeping things aerobic - I figure if I really needed MAF I would have found myself walking, right?
 
11.25 miles on my trail. In 3 hours. That's the longest run I have done and it was in surprisingly good time -for me. AAANNNNNDDDDDDD I ate lunch one whole hour before I started running, I only sipped water the entire run -no more than 20 oz. for the entire run- and I ate only ONE date at about mile 7. And I lived!!! :)
 
i attempted to run today. just couldn't sit still anymore. 1 m warm up then started maf test on track. barely made it a mile when i had too much pain in my shin. stopped and worked it out then jog/walked home. not going to wait anymore and just start running again. i don't think the interns are going to help out too much.
 
i attempted to run today. just couldn't sit still anymore. 1 m warm up then started maf test on track. barely made it a mile when i had too much pain in my shin. stopped and worked it out then jog/walked home. not going to wait anymore and just start running again. i don't think the interns are going to help out too much.

:( Are you going to start back on pavement or on trails?
 
44.13 miles on the week, a new mpw PR!

Congrats on the weekly PR and the cold weather half marathon!

11.25 miles on my trail. In 3 hours. That's the longest run I have done and it was in surprisingly good time -for me. AAANNNNNDDDDDDD I ate lunch one whole hour before I started running, I only sipped water the entire run -no more than 20 oz. for the entire run- and I ate only ONE date at about mile 7. And I lived!!! :)



Nice Jen. It's rare that I give good advice, but once in a while......:p Now, add in a 1 mile warm up and 1 mile cool down next time and you've done your half marathon.
 
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Congrats on the weekly PR and the cold weather half marathon!

Thanks Rick! Hey, I have a few questions for you (and for anyone else who has an opinion on these subjects):

1.) Last winter towards the end, 7-9 miles was my long-run distance. I seem to recall that in borderline conditions, the feet sometimes continued to numb down throughout the run. But I may be misremembering things. Did you find after a certain time, given constant temps and surface conditions (albeit borderline barefootable), that the numbing down will stop? In less borderline conditions, I usually stabilize after a mile or two. I'm trying to figure out if I need to prepare differently when I begin to do these halfmarathonish distances in subfreezing temps.

2.) I seem to be slowing down a bit on these longer runs, even as they're getting easier. Do you think this is because I'm going through a period of adaptation, or do you think I might be overtraining?

On the plus side, I figure the first bit tells me that my usual relaxed 'just run and don't try too hard' is serving me well enough in terms of keeping things aerobic - I figure if I really needed MAF I would have found myself walking, right?
That's what I found to be true, the one time I ran with a HR. My sense of my own effort level jibed pretty well with the numbers, but I was using the Mayo Clinic's formula, not Maffetone's, the latter which requires a lower heart rate.
Excellent 16.8 mile run at 5:00 am 50 deg. f., 58%rh.. Saw 3 large hawks, some water fowl, heard owl for the first time in a while, cool creek crossings!
Love the cooler temp.
I love to run barefoot!!
last run of week 11 of training. 34 miles total. Miles still creeping up slowly prepping for Dallas Marathon Dec. 8 (5 weeks to go).
Feet good, Legs good
Some pics please!
2.5 miles with air temp of 3C and windchill of -1C. Still niggle free, also trying to keep my speed up while running. I find my form is better at faster speeds and has the benefit of getting done faster in the chillier temps. :D
Glad to hear you're running nigglelessly Dutchie. Hey, how spontaneously could you get down to the Twin Cities? I'm thinking of running a half-marathon in January if temps are favorable. It would be great to run it with a vet like you, and it seems like we have pretty similar tolerances, but we'd only have a reliable forecast a few days beforehand. The one on Shepard Road is towards the end of January.
 
Tough call at this time Lee for a half in January. I have a project coming up in North Dakota that will keep me busy and tends to keep me from running other then 2 or 3 miles on a treadmill in a hotel fitness center that will leave me ill prepared for a half in January. But if the Half is on Sheppard Road you would be hard pressed to find smoother pavement.
 
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No run yesterday as I raked leaves to place in the garden for compost but did make a lot of tomatoe juice with my BF as I removed the old plants from the garden. Planning on a run today probably before lunch time.
Yeah, I find I'm not nearly as bothered by stepping on squishy things as I thought I might be! I threshed my dry beans with bare feet a few days ago. Worked really well.
 
Saturday morning
13.3 mi / 21.4 km
37 F / 2.8 C
29 F/ -1.6 C WC

44.13 miles on the week, a new mpw PR! Crappy week for strength-training though. I'm still waiting for that elusive, perfect week when both the running and the st really come together.

It gets hard to find the time after a while to do that much.
My kid's teacher is an ultra-triathalon whatever.
I'm always torn between thinking how cool to have her as a role model for my daughter; otoh I often wonder how many lesson plans and work she skips to get her million miles/week plus million miles swim plus million miles bike. Maybe she grades on a treadmill.
 
It gets hard to find the time after a while to do that much.
My kid's teacher is an ultra-triathalon whatever.
I'm always torn between thinking how cool to have her as a role model for my daughter; otoh I often wonder how many lesson plans and work she skips to get her million miles/week plus million miles swim plus million miles bike. Maybe she grades on a treadmill.
Well, I dunno. I think almost everyone can find an hour a day to exercise if they really want to. I'm taking care of my aging parents right now, so I get daily reminders of what happens when you don't stay fit. Once you reach middle-age, the tendency is to decompose unless you do something to counteract it. My folks never did, and now they're paying the price by spending their last years in ill health.

And you have to remember I don't swim or do any other aerobic exercise like you do, and I often listen to my field recordings while running, tuning in and out of them, so that's a little bit like grading on a treadmill . . .

And your comment is ironic, considering that you were one of the first high-mileage people I became aware of on this forum. I was amazed how you would casually report your 10-mile runs.

But last week was a 'perfect storm,' to use an expression I hate, of running on Sunday because I missed my Saturday long run the week before due to illness, and then running somewhat long last Tuesday in addition to this last Saturday's long run. So that was almost two extra hours of running. Plus, these rinky dink one-mile run-commutes add another 5-10 miles per week to my total. My normal routine is supposed to be

Sun: 40-60 minutes, Strength-training
Mon: 40-60 minutes, Strength-training
Tu: 60-90 minutes, Running (Tempo and/or Aerobic)
Wed: 40-60 minutes, Strength-training
Th: 60 minutes, Running (Tempo and/or Intervals)
Fri: : 40-60 minutes, Strength-training
Sat: 90-150 minutes (Aerobic)

Which translates into about 30-35 mpw, which is my goal mileage. That's what I've been working on the last month or two--getting my daily and weekly mileage up a bit. The 40 mpw was a silly PR that popped into my head somehow that had to be taken care of so that it would go away. I don't anticipate running that much in a week again anytime soon, and I'll probably back off a bit on the weekly long runs too. I want to work on pace more now that I've achieved my bump-up in weekly mileage. I would like for my aerobic pace to be under 9mm on a more consistent basis, and eventually I'd like to get it down to 8mm pace, although I'm beginning to wonder if that will ever happen.

You also have to take into consideration that I have almost no social life outside of my family, and I only watch TV when I can Tivo a Vikings game.

Anyway, this week I'm also trying a new strength-training routine, in which I'm doing two body zones in each workout, instead of one per workout. This means I'll be working the same body zone twice a week instead of once. So far it's going well. What I especially like is that if I have a so-so workout, I don't have to wait a whole 'nother week to get back at that zone. Yesterday, I went easy on the bench presses, to give my left shoulder blade a little more time to heal, but then on Friday I'll be doing my dips, so I don't feel like my "front" zone will be regressing. I've uploaded the new routine in case anyone is interested.

Also this week, I'm trying to do 10 minutes or so of ab/mobility/plyometric stuff in my office on a more consistent basis. I have trouble getting around to this stuff before a run or during an st session. I just got a medicine ball and a power wheel. I'll use those together with my incline sit-up bench, cinder block for plyo jumps, furniture glides for stretching, ankle weights, and wobble board.

Tough call at this time Lee for a half in January. I have a project coming up in North Dakota that will keep me busy and tends to keep me from running other then 2 or 3 miles on a treadmill in a hotel fitness center that will leave me ill prepared for a half in January. But if the Half is on Sheppard Road you would be hard pressed to find smoother pavement.
Oh well, I'll keep you posted in any case.

http://www.securian.com/Securian/Securian Winter Run/

My only worry is that Sheppard is concrete, right? But there's a fairly smooth asphalt bike path alongside it, so hopefully that would be plowed. Basically, if the temps are -5 C or above, I'll probably go for it. By then my soles should be well-conditioned to the cold.
 

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Thanks Rick! Hey, I have a few questions for you (and for anyone else who has an opinion on these subjects):

1.) Last winter towards the end, 7-9 miles was my long-run distance. I seem to recall that in borderline conditions, the feet sometimes continued to numb down throughout the run. But I may be misremembering things. Did you find after a certain time, given constant temps and surface conditions (albeit borderline barefootable), that the numbing down will stop? In less borderline conditions, I usually stabilize after a mile or two. I'm trying to figure out if I need to prepare differently when I begin to do these halfmarathonish distances in subfreezing temps.

2.) I seem to be slowing down a bit on these longer runs, even as they're getting easier. Do you think this is because I'm going through a period of adaptation, or do you think I might be overtraining?


1. That just seems odd to me given the constants. Almost always the feet are going to warm up during the run. I usually give myself about 2 miles to warm up in above freezing temps. about 1 mile in sub-freezing temps. or borderline conditions. I don't mess with snow or wet dirt.

2. That's normal. I found out that I was never running my long runs slow enough and that added to injury and recovery time. Ideally I would get to a mileage level and then adapt to that level but I always seem to be pushing the distance up. I go in cycles with a big week or run and then back off for a while, sometimes even up to two weeks. Looks like you answered yourself in your next post. I think 30 to 40 miles per week is plenty for achieving most goals. If I could only listen to myself.:)
 
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1. That just seems odd to me given the constants. Almost always the feet are going to warm up during the run. I usually give myself about 2 miles to warm up in above freezing temps. about 1 mile in sub-freezing temps. or borderline conditions. I don't mess with snow or wet dirt.

2. That's normal. I found out that I was never running my long runs slow enough and that added to injury and recovery time. Ideally I would get to a mileage level and then adapt to that level but I always seem to be pushing the distance up. I go in cycles with a big week or run and then back off for a while, sometimes even up to two weeks. Looks like you answered yourself in your next post. I think 30 to 40 miles per week is plenty for achieving most goals. If I could only listen to myself.:)
Yah, I'm not messing with snow again. I learned my lesson. Slush is ok a little bit around freezing or above, but I may be misremembering things again. I do recall at least one run, I think about 5-7 miles, where the feet kept numbing down throughout the run, but it was towards the end of the afternoon, so perhaps the temps were dropping. I'm going to use my smartphone more this winter to monitor the temps.

Thanks for the confirmation. My sense is that in another month or two the long run pace will start picking up again. I'm pretty sure I've been overtraining, but sometimes, within a limited time frame, I think that can be a good stimulus. The long runs are getting easier on my legs, so I know adaptation is occurring, just hasn't happened yet in the cardio. I'll start pushing the pace a bit now that my distance push is over.
 
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