Pheidippides’s BodyBlog

Whatever I’m doing right now seems to be working.  I’ve been running a lot more, but barely going to the gym, and barely biking or swimming. The Achilles tendon is feeling a lot better and is not interfering with running.  Some of the lower back pain I’d been feeling before has abated.  My only recent setback is a bad ear infection I got  a week ago.  I’m loaded up on antibiotics, decongestants, and pain reliever, but it’s still congested and I can’t hear very well out of the right ear.

Running is going very well.  Yesterday I ran 9 miles, my longest since last August.  Started first 1.5 miles at about 9 minute pace for warmup, then shifted for next three to about 8:10 or so, then for the next three picked it up more, so I covered 6 miles in 47:13, about 7:52 pace.  Then slowed it down for the last 1.5 miles at about 8: 30 pace. Total time 1:14, average 8:13 pace.  I felt pretty strong considering my current level of mileage.  I’m going to work on gradually building mileage to boost my basic foundation for aerobic capacity and endurance.

Last Thursday I went on a tempo run — 1.25 mile warmup and cool down, with a three mile tempo run in between.  I tried a 7:16 pace with my Garmin, but I went out way too fast to start, getting about 200 plus feet ahead of pace after the first half mile.  I burned my legs out a bit and after two miles had to slow it down.  I still managed to clock 22:10 for the three miles, about a 7:23 pace.  Next time I will set the Garmin for around the same pace but try to stay on that pace rather than get ahead of it.  Pacing is my great weakness.

I had hoped to go for a 5K PR this Saturday, but I had neglected the fact that there is a scheduling conflict with my sons’ Little League, so I probably will have to bag it.  I may sign up for a 5 mile race the next day, Sunday, instead.  I have never run at that distance before.  It’s supposed to be a fairly hilly course, so it’s probably not suited for really fast running.  If I do it I will try to maintain around 7 min/mile pace or slightly under.

Need to get back on the bike.  My biggest potential weakness for the triathlon is going to be the inability to sustain riding around lactate threshold for a long time.  I still need a few long rides before the triathlon.

I ran a 5K yesterday, my first race in ten months, and following eight months of little running.  It went better than I expected.  I am very encouraged.

I finished in 20:33, only five seconds off my previous 5K last June.  That run came after several months of regular running, and averaging well over 20 miles a week for eight weeks or more before the run.  This time I did not start running regularly again until just a few weeks before the race, and even then I’ve only been running twice a week.  Obviously the cross training — swimming, weights, and use of various gym machines, including the stationary bike — have kept my aerobic capacity up and sustained me despite the lack of pure running practice.

There were nearly 1200 runners in the race, and it was not easy taking a spot near the starting line because of all the kids jockeying for positions.  I was determined to get off to a fast start and didn’t want to get bogged down and cut off from the top 30 or so runners in the crowd.  As it was, the first 300 yards was a bit of a melee, and I found myself going faster forward and sideways than I wanted just to position myself correctly.  After the first quarter mile the crowd thinned.  I could tell there were about 30 to 40 runners ahead of me, with a very few sprinting out way beyond the rest, a smaller group slowly increasing the gap with my position, and a group that was more or less running at the same pace as me.  After half a mile I felt like I’d started too fast, with my legs feeling the start of a lactic acid attack.  I eased just a bit, but I still hit the mile mark at 6:20, the same as last time and faster than I’d intended.

I eased a bit, still trying to keep up with the runners around me, but I found myself moving backward just a bit, passing a few but being passed by a few more.  By 2 miles I was a bit over 13 minutes.  At that point I just tried to hold on, and did O.K. for most of the rest of the race.  I tried to finish strong but was outkicked by a teenage girl in the last 50 yards (the blows to the male ego . . .).  My final time of 20:33 was good for 49th place overall (out of a total race tally of 1167, I think), and 7th out of 55 in the 40-44 year old male age group.

So, although I’d like to do better, given my lack of recent running practice, my eight month battle with Achilles tendonitis, and the slight cold I picked up 36 hours before the race,  I was very pleased.  I think a sub-20 minute 5K is in sight.  My plan: lose 5 pounds, run 3 times a week, with some limited emphasis on speed intervals and lactic threshold improvement, continue strength training with moderate weights, and get a few sessions of swimming and/or biking in each week with an emphasis on building endurance.  If I stick to that I can meet my sub-20 minute goal by mid-summer, I think.  The next goal will be sub-19 minute 5K and/or a 40 minute 10K.

Weight this morning was 169.4; bodyfat 19.7%.  That’s an improvement over the last couple of weeks, and I’m now back on track where I was a few weeks ago.  Over the next few days, as I gear up for the 5K, I’m going to continue to try to east sensibly, and lay off alcohol the night before the race.  My goal is to be at about 168 by Tuesday morning.

The 5K is this Sunday. I ran 5 miles yesterday in 43:10; most of it at a fairly slow pace but with two faster half mile intervals: interval 1 — 3:15 (6:30 pace)  interval 2 — 3:34 (7:08 pace).  I held back just a bit on the second one, concerned about straining the achilles tendon.  I need to time my intervals better so I can hold a pace throughout the interval session.  I tend to go too fast in the early intervals and then slow down in the later ones.
Right now the tentative plan for the 5K is to start at or very close to the front of the line, start out fast, and settle in over the first mile at whatever pace under 7 minutes I can sustain without feeling like I’m going to die.  I need to hold back just a little bit so I have reserves left for the last mile.   I’m going to guess right now I’ll be able to do about 6:50 pace in race conditions, but we’ll see.  If I feel really good I’ll try to go faster than that.  I’ve found I can go a lot faster in race conditions with other people around me than when I run by myself.  Another factor is the Achilles tendon; if it feels tender or strained I may have to hold back more than I would otherwise.

I’m not sure if I’m quite ready for it yet, but I signed up to run in a 5K this Sunday.  It’s one of the bigger races in the area; there should be 700-800 runners in the 5K and over 400 in the 10K.

The achilles tendon is better but still not 100%.  I’ve run three times in the last week or so with minimal discomfort, but I can tell it’s still vulnerable.  I’ll try to get in one more moderate run, hopefully with a few fast, short intervals, between now and Sunday, and a few non-running aerobic activity workouts — probably on the elliptical or stationary bike.

My goal will be 21:30, a minute slower than ten months ago, but I was regularly 20 plus miles per week then and I haven’t been running regularly at all since last August.  My last few runs have convinced me it’s worth trying.  I’ll target a starting pace of a bit under 7 min/mile and see if I can hold that for the whole race.  If I feel really good I’ll try to go a little faster, but I can’t really imagine being able to hold the 6:35 min/mile pace of my previous 5K.

Nothing else to report fitnesswise.  Weight loss has stalled, but not reversed, I think.  I’m going to try to get back on track this week.  Triathlon is about nine weeks way; I haven’t been training seriously for it, but there’s still time to train enough to avoid flaming out.

I have continued to be a bit of a slacker in the gym lately, but my running is picking up.  I ran last Sunday and yesterday, and both times my Achilles held up with no pain and no residual soreness.  I think the recent relative lack of exercise activity is giving it time, finally, to heal

Sunday I ran 6 miles at a fairly steady, moderately easy pace — 50:03 in all, an 8:20 min/mile pace.  Sometimes I slowed down to about a 9 plus minute pace, sometimes I picked it up to a little faster than 8 min pace, but never too slow or too fast.

Yesterday I ran 5 miles and tried some intervals.  Overall time was about 41:40, again, around an 8:20 or so pace, but I ran a lot slower during the recovery stretches and a lot faster during the intervals this time.  1st interval: 1 mile at a bit faster than what felt like somewhat faster than my current tempo pace — 7:08 min.  At the end I was tired but not exhausted.  After about a mile and a half of slow running, I ran the second interval 1/2 mile in 3:20 — 6:40 min/mile pace.  After half mile reocvery ran 1/2 mile in 3:30 or 7 min/mile pace.  The last two intervals were definitely a very tiring pace.  There’s no way I could have sustained that pace over a 5K at my current level of fitness.  Right now it’s hard to believe I could sustain a faster pace last June in my first 5K (6:35 min/mile).

If I can keep gradually getting back into running while minding the Achilles I think I can continue to heal and get faster at the same time.

I’m thinking about running a 5K in 10 days.  It should be O.K. if I don’t push too hard.  I will aim to beat 21:30, a minute slower than my PR but probably a tough goal given my current level of fitness.

Been slacking lately on weight loss and no improvement to report over the last week.