Daily Quote: "DO NOT go out too fast on this course. There is quite a bit of flat to downhill before you get to Heartbreak Hill and there is a tendency for better runners to think the course is easy. Then when they get to the hills, they basically hit the wall. Be prepared for the long downhill after the Heartbreak Hill section. Pacing yourself will do wonders and you will feel stronger as you come into the heart of Boston. The crowds will definitely carry you through this race and inspire you more than any other race." --Gayle Barron, 1978 Women's Boston Marathon Champion
Today is a Tempo Run as scheduled in the book, "Runner's World, Run Less, Run Faster."
8:20 a.m. Life Fitness Treadmill set at 1% Grade. 7 miles total. Warm-up, 1 mile at 6.0 mph (10 minute mile). Tempo, 5 miles at 7.2 mph (8:20 minute mile pace). Cool-down, 1 mile at 6.0 mph. Average heart rate: 157 bpm. Cardiac Drift: 171 bpm. This week's tempo run was longer than last week's two miler, but it was also slower at 8:20 minute per mile pace, hence it did feel easier...or maybe it felt easier as I'm getting fitter?!?
15 Weeks Until Boston Report
Finished first week of Boston Marathon Training and ran a grand total of 25 miles!?! I'm following the guidelines of "FIRST Training Program" as explained in "Runner's World, Run Less, Run Faster" book. Quite frankly, I'm more than a little worried that the small mileage and quality cross-training will help me run faster in Boston, but will continue with this experiment.
I've added another pound last week, I'm now 177 pounds and has been several years since I've been this heavy. MUST eat a cleaner diet with fewer calories next week. I've been reading a few testimonials about plant based diets and the book, "The China Study," which I would like to purchase soon.
I've accomplished three weight circuit training session this week and plan on changing some of my machine routines for free weights.
With the exception for Wednesday, I slept well, averaging 7-8 hours of sleep daily. Wednesday squeezed in my Long Run by cutting my sleep to six hours, hopefully I'll be able to sleep longer on Wednesdays. My morning heart rates have remained low, 38-41 bpm.
A short recap of last week's training:
Sunday: Weight Circuit Training.
Monday: Tempo Run, 6 miles.
Tuesday: Cross-training, cycle.
Wednesday: Long Run, 13 miles.
Thursday: A.M. Weight Circuit Training. Later A.M. Cross-training, cycle.
Friday: Intervals, 6 miles.
Saturday: Rest Day.
Sunday: Weight Circuit Training AND Cross-training, cycle.
Total weekly mileage: 25 miles.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Weights AND Cross-Training
Daily Quote: Champions do not become champions when they win the event, but in the hours, weeks, months and years they spend preparing for it. The victorious performance itself is merely the demonstration of their championship character.
-- T. Alan Armstrong
Today I'll try something different in my training, I'll be attempting to do my weight circuit training AND my cross-training back-to-back nonstop.
Warm up: Elliptical machine for 10 minutes. Weight Circuit Training (upper and lower body) for 30 minutes.
Cross training: Life Fitness Cycle. Workout: 10 minutes easy spinning as a warm-up, alternate resistance between PE level of 4 (Level 4 is Hard. Noticeable increase in breathing; difficult to talk in full sentences.) for 1 minutes with 4 minutes of fast spinning at a PE level of 1 (Level 1 is Easy. No increase in breathing rate; can go all day.) Repeat this six times. Finish with 5 minutes easy as a cool-down. The cross training was particularly vigorous after doing weights before hand, I was exhausted and took a long afternoon nap before the Bishop Gorman Bowling League tonight.
Bishop Bowling League. Our team, One Wonders, won 2 Games (Won one game and took the other game of total points) tonight against a team that's very competitive...too competitive! I had picked up a strike that I thought I had missed, but one of the pins slowly knocked down the standing pin before the pin-setting machine picked it up. The challenging team, that shall remain nameless, must not have seen the pin being knocked down and accused us of being cheaters!! My wife was so upset with the incident that she wanted to forfeit the next game, myself, I wanted to beat them badly. The rest of the games were uncomfortable as they gave us angry stares. Glenn registered a complaint about poor-sportsmanship with the league captain, but doubt that the team will change its aggressive behaviour. We bowl primarily for fun and exercise, if it isn't fun, what's the point?
-- T. Alan Armstrong
Today I'll try something different in my training, I'll be attempting to do my weight circuit training AND my cross-training back-to-back nonstop.
Warm up: Elliptical machine for 10 minutes. Weight Circuit Training (upper and lower body) for 30 minutes.
Cross training: Life Fitness Cycle. Workout: 10 minutes easy spinning as a warm-up, alternate resistance between PE level of 4 (Level 4 is Hard. Noticeable increase in breathing; difficult to talk in full sentences.) for 1 minutes with 4 minutes of fast spinning at a PE level of 1 (Level 1 is Easy. No increase in breathing rate; can go all day.) Repeat this six times. Finish with 5 minutes easy as a cool-down. The cross training was particularly vigorous after doing weights before hand, I was exhausted and took a long afternoon nap before the Bishop Gorman Bowling League tonight.
Bishop Bowling League. Our team, One Wonders, won 2 Games (Won one game and took the other game of total points) tonight against a team that's very competitive...too competitive! I had picked up a strike that I thought I had missed, but one of the pins slowly knocked down the standing pin before the pin-setting machine picked it up. The challenging team, that shall remain nameless, must not have seen the pin being knocked down and accused us of being cheaters!! My wife was so upset with the incident that she wanted to forfeit the next game, myself, I wanted to beat them badly. The rest of the games were uncomfortable as they gave us angry stares. Glenn registered a complaint about poor-sportsmanship with the league captain, but doubt that the team will change its aggressive behaviour. We bowl primarily for fun and exercise, if it isn't fun, what's the point?
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Complete Rest
Daily Quote: “People who ate the most animal-based foods got the most chronic disease … People who ate the most plant-based foods were the healthiest and tended to avoid chronic disease. These results could not be ignored,” --Dr. Campbell "The China Study."
My legs are still a bit sore from yesterday's vigorous interval work and decided I should take a complete rest today...no running, no cross-training, not even weight training. It's nice to be lazy and enjoy the day with my wife.
Suzie and I went to see Denzel Washington's latest movie, "The Great Debaters," the ending wasn't a big surprise, but we enjoyed the uplifting movie. It's difficult for me to keep an open mind in regards to race relations as I've been a cab driver for the last 18 years and have been robbed three times...all three times were by Afro-Americans. Most of my fellow cab drivers are prejudice, yet, I still have hope that love and understanding will conquer all and the world will be a better place. By the way, I also enjoyed the snacks too much, buttered popcorn, Skittles candy, and Diet Coke.
During the day had plenty of time to visit many blog sites and also discovered a new ultra running forum called, "Fried Quads," that has me hungering for the adventure of an ultra race!! One of the posts recommends a diet from the book, "The China Study," which is heavily based on plants, something I should read as my personal diet lately is a mess!
My legs are still a bit sore from yesterday's vigorous interval work and decided I should take a complete rest today...no running, no cross-training, not even weight training. It's nice to be lazy and enjoy the day with my wife.
Suzie and I went to see Denzel Washington's latest movie, "The Great Debaters," the ending wasn't a big surprise, but we enjoyed the uplifting movie. It's difficult for me to keep an open mind in regards to race relations as I've been a cab driver for the last 18 years and have been robbed three times...all three times were by Afro-Americans. Most of my fellow cab drivers are prejudice, yet, I still have hope that love and understanding will conquer all and the world will be a better place. By the way, I also enjoyed the snacks too much, buttered popcorn, Skittles candy, and Diet Coke.
During the day had plenty of time to visit many blog sites and also discovered a new ultra running forum called, "Fried Quads," that has me hungering for the adventure of an ultra race!! One of the posts recommends a diet from the book, "The China Study," which is heavily based on plants, something I should read as my personal diet lately is a mess!
Friday, January 4, 2008
"FIRST" Intervals
Daily Quote: "The track repeats include running relatively short distances of 400 meters to 2000 meters repeatedly, interspersed with brief recovery intervals. Track repeats are designed to improve maximal oxygen consumption, running economy and speed. Most of these workouts total about 5000 meters of fast running per session. Including warmup and cooldown, Key Run Workout #1 (track repeats) typically totals 6 to 7 miles." --"Runner's World Run Less, Run Faster," pg 60.
Today's workout is the "Track Repeats," which I call "Intervals" due to the exact time of the Recovery Intervals. The FIRST Training Program calls for the intensity to be 5k race pace or slightly faster. The following is the "FIRST" interval plan for Week 16:
10-20 minutes warm-up.
3 X 1600m with one minute recovery interval.
10 minutes cool-down.
My last 5k race was almost 9 months ago, "Come Catch a Leprechaun 5k Race," which was 22:36 with a pace of 7:16, only four seconds slower than my personal best. Might be crazy to run faster than my last race as it was back in last March AND today I'm a bit out of shape...nevertheless, will strive to do an aggressive 7:14 pace today. I'm not exactly bubbling over with confidence, but will do my best.
11:00 a.m. Life Fitness treadmill set at a 1% grade. I'm treating this workout as if it was a race, wearing my racing kit and racing shoes (ASICS GEL-DS Trainers).
Warm-up: 2 miles at 6.0 mph (10 minute miles). Normally my warm-up is at 6.3 mph, but taking extra precaution as this is my first interval session for the spring season. My average heart rate is good for a warm-up, 142 bpm (Note: my maximum heart rate is 191 bpm).
Interval #1: 1 mile at 8.3 mph (7:14 minute pace) Average heart rate was 179 bpm, but the cardiac drift was 181 bpm. Tough, and I'm thinking ..."how am I going to do this two more times!"
Rest Interval: ONE MINUTE at 6.0 mph (10 minute mile pace) Average heart rate at 161 bpm. One minute was hardly enough to catch my breath and take a quick swallow of water before the next repeat.
Interval #2: 1 mile at 8.3 mph. Average heart rate was 182 bpm, cardiac drift 187 bpm. I'm huffing and puffing as I push myself, I keep fighting off negative thoughts of slowing the treadmill. I'm sweating like a river...how I wish I could take off my singlet...the gym feels hot and stifling. I hope I haven't bitten off more than I can chew!!
Rest Interval: ONE MINUTE at 6.0 mph. Average heart rate was 177 bpm, but knew I was in for a lot of pain for the last mile repeat! How I wish the recovery was more than a minute.
Interval #3: 1 mile at 8.3 mph. Average heart rate was 185 bpm, but maxed out my heart at 190 bpm. Extremely hard effort, can't catch my breath...my shoulder and hands are tightening up, strive to stay loose...the last .20 mile was mostly 189-90 bpm and felt like I was going to pass out any minute, but fought it off and tried to stay focused on good form, but legs are wobbly and refused to cooperate. A tremendous relief when I finished the mile! I just wanted to collapse in a heap.
Cool-down: 1 mile at 6.0 mph. Normally during a cool-down when I'm at 6.3 mph it takes me a mile to get my heart rate below 150 bpm...this time at a slower speed my heart rate was still elevated at 166 bpm at the end of the cool-down mile...a good sign that I'm not in shape for such a vigorous workout!!
It has been a year since I've tested my "maximum heart rate," which was 191 bpm...I'm sure after this workout where I ran as fast and hard as I could during the last mile interval that my new "maximum heart rate" is now 190 bpm.
This is by far the hardest speed drill I've ever trained!! Not because of the speed, I've run faster in training, but because of such a short recovery interval!! Normally I would have a 1/4 mile recovery or at least a 1/2 mile recovery between mile sets. The ONE MINUTE recovery interval kicked my butt!! This is as close to racing that training can get.
The book, "Runner's World Run Less, Run Faster," states the purpose of track repeats would be to "improve my VO2, running speed and running economy," which I'm sure this workout will do wonders for my 5k and 10k races, but I'm skeptical it'll make me a faster marathoner. I remember reading in "Advanced Marathoning" by Pfitzinger and Douglas, "Looking at these schedules, you might be wondering, 'Where are all the speed workouts?" Afterall, it's normal to think that anyone preparing for a marathon should be training as hard as possible, and what better way to be sure that you're doing so than by hitting the track at least once a week for lung-searing intervals, right?" Then they state, "In the long run, so to speak, it's your long runs and tempos run that have the most relevance to your performance on marathon day, not how often you've churned out a sterling set of half mile repeats." (pg 180) Nevertheless, I'll continue doing these speed drills from the FAST Training Program and hope for the best.
Today's workout is the "Track Repeats," which I call "Intervals" due to the exact time of the Recovery Intervals. The FIRST Training Program calls for the intensity to be 5k race pace or slightly faster. The following is the "FIRST" interval plan for Week 16:
10-20 minutes warm-up.
3 X 1600m with one minute recovery interval.
10 minutes cool-down.
My last 5k race was almost 9 months ago, "Come Catch a Leprechaun 5k Race," which was 22:36 with a pace of 7:16, only four seconds slower than my personal best. Might be crazy to run faster than my last race as it was back in last March AND today I'm a bit out of shape...nevertheless, will strive to do an aggressive 7:14 pace today. I'm not exactly bubbling over with confidence, but will do my best.
11:00 a.m. Life Fitness treadmill set at a 1% grade. I'm treating this workout as if it was a race, wearing my racing kit and racing shoes (ASICS GEL-DS Trainers).
Warm-up: 2 miles at 6.0 mph (10 minute miles). Normally my warm-up is at 6.3 mph, but taking extra precaution as this is my first interval session for the spring season. My average heart rate is good for a warm-up, 142 bpm (Note: my maximum heart rate is 191 bpm).
Interval #1: 1 mile at 8.3 mph (7:14 minute pace) Average heart rate was 179 bpm, but the cardiac drift was 181 bpm. Tough, and I'm thinking ..."how am I going to do this two more times!"
Rest Interval: ONE MINUTE at 6.0 mph (10 minute mile pace) Average heart rate at 161 bpm. One minute was hardly enough to catch my breath and take a quick swallow of water before the next repeat.
Interval #2: 1 mile at 8.3 mph. Average heart rate was 182 bpm, cardiac drift 187 bpm. I'm huffing and puffing as I push myself, I keep fighting off negative thoughts of slowing the treadmill. I'm sweating like a river...how I wish I could take off my singlet...the gym feels hot and stifling. I hope I haven't bitten off more than I can chew!!
Rest Interval: ONE MINUTE at 6.0 mph. Average heart rate was 177 bpm, but knew I was in for a lot of pain for the last mile repeat! How I wish the recovery was more than a minute.
Interval #3: 1 mile at 8.3 mph. Average heart rate was 185 bpm, but maxed out my heart at 190 bpm. Extremely hard effort, can't catch my breath...my shoulder and hands are tightening up, strive to stay loose...the last .20 mile was mostly 189-90 bpm and felt like I was going to pass out any minute, but fought it off and tried to stay focused on good form, but legs are wobbly and refused to cooperate. A tremendous relief when I finished the mile! I just wanted to collapse in a heap.
Cool-down: 1 mile at 6.0 mph. Normally during a cool-down when I'm at 6.3 mph it takes me a mile to get my heart rate below 150 bpm...this time at a slower speed my heart rate was still elevated at 166 bpm at the end of the cool-down mile...a good sign that I'm not in shape for such a vigorous workout!!
It has been a year since I've tested my "maximum heart rate," which was 191 bpm...I'm sure after this workout where I ran as fast and hard as I could during the last mile interval that my new "maximum heart rate" is now 190 bpm.
This is by far the hardest speed drill I've ever trained!! Not because of the speed, I've run faster in training, but because of such a short recovery interval!! Normally I would have a 1/4 mile recovery or at least a 1/2 mile recovery between mile sets. The ONE MINUTE recovery interval kicked my butt!! This is as close to racing that training can get.
The book, "Runner's World Run Less, Run Faster," states the purpose of track repeats would be to "improve my VO2, running speed and running economy," which I'm sure this workout will do wonders for my 5k and 10k races, but I'm skeptical it'll make me a faster marathoner. I remember reading in "Advanced Marathoning" by Pfitzinger and Douglas, "Looking at these schedules, you might be wondering, 'Where are all the speed workouts?" Afterall, it's normal to think that anyone preparing for a marathon should be training as hard as possible, and what better way to be sure that you're doing so than by hitting the track at least once a week for lung-searing intervals, right?" Then they state, "In the long run, so to speak, it's your long runs and tempos run that have the most relevance to your performance on marathon day, not how often you've churned out a sterling set of half mile repeats." (pg 180) Nevertheless, I'll continue doing these speed drills from the FAST Training Program and hope for the best.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Cross-Training Workout #2, Mode 1
Daily Quote: "Change the exercises you are using each month to keep mentally stimulated and to ensure that strength gains continue (runners can quickly plateau if they do the same exercises month after month)." --FIRST (Furman Institute of Running
& Scientific Training) website.
Early Morning, after work, 2:15 a.m. Warm-up: 10 minutes on rowing machine. Weight Circuit Training. Cool-down: 10 minutes on elliptical. I've been doing the same weight machines and routine since I've started weight lifting; I will follow the advice in the above daily quote and start replacing the weight machines with free weights. I'll gradually change my weight circuit training circuit as my body is adapting to a change in my running program as well.
Later Morning, after sleeping, 11:00 a.m. Today's cross-training workout is called, "Cross-Training Workout #2, Mode 1," and trained exactly stated in the book, "Runner's World Run Less, Run Faster:"
Stationary cycling (45 Minutes)
Workout: 10 minutes easy spinning as a warm-up, alternate resistance between PE level of 4 (Level 4 is Hard. Noticeable increase in breathing; difficult to talk in full sentences.) for 1 minutes with 4 minutes of fast spinning at a PE level of 1 (Level 1 is Easy. No increase in breathing rate; can go all day.) Repeat this six times. Finish with 5 minutes easy as a cool-down.
The stationary cycling workout sounds more difficult than it was, one minute at Level 4 was doable as it was very short...I was a little paranoid that my huffing was disturbing the cyclist training next to me as he was reading a newspaper!! After my workout ate a small lunch and took a short 30 minute nap before work.
Tomorrow is my first interval workout in the 16th week FIRST Training Schedule! I'm rather intimidated with the speed and one minute rest interval, but will strive to adhere to the workout guidelines.
& Scientific Training) website.
Early Morning, after work, 2:15 a.m. Warm-up: 10 minutes on rowing machine. Weight Circuit Training. Cool-down: 10 minutes on elliptical. I've been doing the same weight machines and routine since I've started weight lifting; I will follow the advice in the above daily quote and start replacing the weight machines with free weights. I'll gradually change my weight circuit training circuit as my body is adapting to a change in my running program as well.
Later Morning, after sleeping, 11:00 a.m. Today's cross-training workout is called, "Cross-Training Workout #2, Mode 1," and trained exactly stated in the book, "Runner's World Run Less, Run Faster:"
Stationary cycling (45 Minutes)
Workout: 10 minutes easy spinning as a warm-up, alternate resistance between PE level of 4 (Level 4 is Hard. Noticeable increase in breathing; difficult to talk in full sentences.) for 1 minutes with 4 minutes of fast spinning at a PE level of 1 (Level 1 is Easy. No increase in breathing rate; can go all day.) Repeat this six times. Finish with 5 minutes easy as a cool-down.
The stationary cycling workout sounds more difficult than it was, one minute at Level 4 was doable as it was very short...I was a little paranoid that my huffing was disturbing the cyclist training next to me as he was reading a newspaper!! After my workout ate a small lunch and took a short 30 minute nap before work.
Tomorrow is my first interval workout in the 16th week FIRST Training Schedule! I'm rather intimidated with the speed and one minute rest interval, but will strive to adhere to the workout guidelines.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
"FIRST" Long Run
Daily Quote: It's (FIRST training program) a great training program in my opinion...it helped me out a lot in speed as well as endurance with no training related injuries. --Charlie, of "Running Nowhere Fast."
Today is FIRST Training Program's 16th week Long Run, which is a scheduled 13 miles at marathon pace, plus 30 seconds per mile. My Boston Marathon goal is 3:40, that's 8:23 minute per mile pace. Therefore, today's Long Run will be at 8:49 minute per mile pace, or 6.8 mph on the treadmill (ideally would be a 8:53 minute mile pace, but the treadmill can't get that exact with the speed, four seconds per mile faster shouldn't kill me).
10:00 a.m. Life Fitness Treadmill set at 1% grade and 6.8 mph. 13 miles! Average heart rate: 165 bpm. Cardiac Drift: 177 bpm. I'm a bit out of shape and my heart rate reflects that fact, the last mile was the hardest as I kept fighting negative thoughts to quit...I perservered and felt euphoric after the run!
This is my longest run since the marathon and much faster than last week's 12 miler that was on the roads. I prefer to run my hard workouts on the treadmill as I can control all the variables.
Charlie has warned me about my upcoming Friday's interval session and says, "I hate to be bearer of bad news but I found the tempo and long runs are the easier sessions in the FIRST program...wait till you get to the Speed Intervals...they are killers!" I'm such an old geezer that I know that my fast twitch muscles are barely there, which is why I prefer the longer, slower paced runs as I have abundant slow twitch muscles...that's my story and I'm sticking to it!!
Today is FIRST Training Program's 16th week Long Run, which is a scheduled 13 miles at marathon pace, plus 30 seconds per mile. My Boston Marathon goal is 3:40, that's 8:23 minute per mile pace. Therefore, today's Long Run will be at 8:49 minute per mile pace, or 6.8 mph on the treadmill (ideally would be a 8:53 minute mile pace, but the treadmill can't get that exact with the speed, four seconds per mile faster shouldn't kill me).
10:00 a.m. Life Fitness Treadmill set at 1% grade and 6.8 mph. 13 miles! Average heart rate: 165 bpm. Cardiac Drift: 177 bpm. I'm a bit out of shape and my heart rate reflects that fact, the last mile was the hardest as I kept fighting negative thoughts to quit...I perservered and felt euphoric after the run!
This is my longest run since the marathon and much faster than last week's 12 miler that was on the roads. I prefer to run my hard workouts on the treadmill as I can control all the variables.
Charlie has warned me about my upcoming Friday's interval session and says, "I hate to be bearer of bad news but I found the tempo and long runs are the easier sessions in the FIRST program...wait till you get to the Speed Intervals...they are killers!" I'm such an old geezer that I know that my fast twitch muscles are barely there, which is why I prefer the longer, slower paced runs as I have abundant slow twitch muscles...that's my story and I'm sticking to it!!
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Cross-Training Workout #1
Daily Quote: "As a coach with a more-than-casual interest in research, I find Runner's World Run Less, Run Faster refreshing. The three quality days of training attend to a variety of runners' needs, and the nonrunning cross-training sessions continue to work the body in ways that will protect against injury. For anyone interested in optimizing limited training time, this is a good approach to better performance." --Jack Daniels, Olympic medalist and author of "Daniels' Running Formula."
Today I did Cross-Training Workout #1, Mode #1, as written in "Runner's World Run Less, Run Faster" book (pg 106).
9:30 a.m. Life Fitness Cycle. Total time was 45 minutes. 8 minutes easy spinning, 30 minutes moderate, 7 minutes easy; cadence about 95 to 100 rpm. The effort was moderate to hard effort level. Today's workout does feel I'm keeping my overall aerobic fitness high and at the same time help my running muscles recover from the stress of high-intensity running as the stationary cycle is a non-weight-bearing exercise. Only problem is that I'm not yet comfortable with the bicycle seat and do feel a little soreness...hopefully my rear end muscles will adapt to the seat; I may wish to invest in padded cycle shorts.
I feel I'm ready for tomorrow's Long Run of 13 miles, which is my longest mileage since the marathon.
Today I did Cross-Training Workout #1, Mode #1, as written in "Runner's World Run Less, Run Faster" book (pg 106).
9:30 a.m. Life Fitness Cycle. Total time was 45 minutes. 8 minutes easy spinning, 30 minutes moderate, 7 minutes easy; cadence about 95 to 100 rpm. The effort was moderate to hard effort level. Today's workout does feel I'm keeping my overall aerobic fitness high and at the same time help my running muscles recover from the stress of high-intensity running as the stationary cycle is a non-weight-bearing exercise. Only problem is that I'm not yet comfortable with the bicycle seat and do feel a little soreness...hopefully my rear end muscles will adapt to the seat; I may wish to invest in padded cycle shorts.
I feel I'm ready for tomorrow's Long Run of 13 miles, which is my longest mileage since the marathon.
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