Kara Sevda

So I was wondering why I was a little fatigued on my very short run the other day... Until I woke up yesterday and felt a little blah. Despite having very little motivation, I jogged up to the gym, did 10min on the elliptical, then 20min on the treadmill, and jogged home.

My progression from feeling blah to having zero energy confirmed it; I've got a little cold going on.

Oh well. That's two days running with no pain. Going to do a very easy hour spinning on the bike trainer today and take tomorrow off. Hopefully I'll be better by Friday, as Aileen and I will be in Santa Barbara and I'm really excited to ride up there.

Good luck with cold and do rest. HR monitor helps tell me if the cold is affecting me or not. Sometimes it is others no issues.

What kind of ride are you doing this weekend Mike? Hope your cold is better soon (or never gets really bad in the first place)...

Kenny - Yesterday, the HR shot up from ~135bpm on the elliptical (9:30 pace) to ~155bpm running (9:00 pace). Today, it didn't get much higher than 130bpm, averaging around 120bpm, for the bike spin. Pretty high for the run, pretty low for the spin. Go figure.

John - I was planning on doing a really easy 2hr ride down the coast from Santa Barbara to Carpinteria and back with Aileen on Friday morning, but as of now, I'm not sure I'll want to stay the night up there tomorrow on couches of questionable comfort. We'll see how I feel in the morning.
As for the weekend, Sunday is Aileen's last full day here, so I'm probably just going to do a short run Saturday, short ride Sunday, and head back north Monday (a short run in the morning). Tuesday will be a 2-3hr ride up north. I'm strongly considering making Sundays my off days and Tuesdays my long days (with Fridays/Saturdays being my mid-week sorta-long) this time around so I have nice weekends.

I see you're having a great time - and getting in some decent workouts - on your extended SoCal holiday.

When are you heading back up north again? The tule fog is calling you.

I really like how you have set this blog up. Your thoughts and being real about your experiences are very refreshing. Also glad to see that you have been coming out of your injuries. The only thing worse than running into 35mph winds is riding, but as you say being in a state of mind of not feeling you need to overcome it is helpful. I could use that sentiment more often....

Squid ink in a running blog makes for interesting reading....

Interestingly, I also have experienced a period of the blahs regarding running so I took a few weeks with minimal training during the month of December which I feel did me good.

I will be interested to see how this blog progresses.

Mark - Headed back on MLK day. Fortunately, Auburn has been just out of the fog to date, which has made for some weird motorcycle rides to school (suddenly hitting a wall of the stuff in Folsom) in the past.

Jon - I try to keep things fresh around here... Whereas my last blog seemed to give extra attention to how many different combinations of alcohol could intoxicate me, I think I'll benefit a bit more from a seafood-centered smorgasbord this time around.

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But, for the sake of a little throwback, I did make a Zesty-Orange-Airborne vodka tonic last night. The vodka was a mistake, of course.

Looks like the trip to SB is put on hold for now; I was kept up most of the night by one of Aileen's family members coughing and neither of us rolled out of bed until 11 this morning. Kind of a sucky way to end break, but not much I can do about it aside from rest rest rest.

So we didn't make it to SB, despite feeling a bit better today. Instead, I cruised down the river path for an hour at an effort level just hard enough to drain my sinuses without actually feeling like work. Also confirmed that the trainer I got is MUCH harder than actual street resistance, so I will definitely be disregarding the pace/mile numbers I get from my bike computer on that one and going purely by feel.

20-30min run planned tomorrow on the 'mill. We'll see.

Quick, bare-bones post:

10min on the elliptical followed by 35min on the 'mill. Lower legs were a little tender on the 'mill but nothing resembling my knee problems. HR was all over the place, as per usual, and actually increased when I slowed down (wtf?). Oh well, effort level was easy and pace was slow.

Well Mike I'm glad to read that things are starting to go into the right direction for you with running and the knee feeling better. I'm sure the legs are just feeling a little fatigued from getting back into the running. I have had the same issue when I started to really started up my Boson training.

Actually I'm on my second start up of Boston Training! HaHa, I tried about 4 weeks ago and just realized that my body but mostly my mind still need some more time to recharge itself after all the hard training last year and running Boston, Chicago and then JFK 50. So I just dialed it back and just based trained some more and now finally my legs are starting to responded the way I want them to and use to having them feel. Anywho hope your progress continues in the right direction and note I ran Boston in 08 with doing 98% of my training in a swimming pool.

Also good old SB!! I can remember some crazy weekend trips to that place!

Schuey - What kind of running have you been doing of late? I'm trying to figure out how to reincorporate long runs into my training, since I haven't done one in months.

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Couple miles running this morning; 22min total time. Then a quick circuit workout before leaving home to head to Aileen's.

1:01 bike ride here... A bit interesting as there was an ambulance blocking the path on the way back; apparently some kids were riding their BMX bikes - without helmets, of course - and one took a spill. I didn't get a good look. The last two miles on the bike path, a tall, very in shape guy passed me so I played chase after letting him get a gap large enough to not be drafting. Built from tempo to threshold to sprinting by the end and still didn't catch him. The headwind didn't help.

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EDIT: Totally forgot, but I found a great quote on endurancecorner.com (great site, especially for us cross-discipline types) the other day and plan on making a change based on it... "I only count calories when I am looking for a reason to eat too much."

Yeah, I do that. So, time to stop looking at my food log and saying to myself, "oh, I'm 1500 down this week; time for Oreos!" Besides, training starts tomorrow.

Mike MacLellan wrote:Schuey - What kind of running have you been doing of late? I'm trying to figure out how to reincorporate long runs into my training, since I haven't done one in months.

Mike my plan has been pretty basic and it might actually be something I might try to contiune to do throuhtout my whole Boston training this year. It's really to old school Lydiard school of training, I have been doing all my runs for time and not worrying at all about mileage except for now I have been doing my weekend long run for distance.

So things for this past week looked like this:

M- am 1 hour pm 1 hour

T- am 15min to 30 min warm-up, 30min Tempo, 15min to 30min cool-down pm 45mins to 1 hour

W- am 1 hour 30mins did my Boston Course simulation

R- am 1 hour pm 1 hour

F- 15min to 30min warm-up, Fartlek 2mins little faster then 10k pace, 1min jog 10x's, 15min to 30min cool-down

S- am 1 hour pm 1 hour

S- 20 miles



Tuesday's are now becoming my tempo days but I will also do a fartlek run on that day. When I do that then Friday becomes hill repeats but that depends on if I run a hard 1:30 to 2 hours on wednesday doing the Boston simulation. If I do the Hill repeats hard then on Sunday it is a long run doing the Boston Sim but done very easy.

Things do swicth up with doing the Tempo. fartlek and different types of runs right now but the basics stay the same a lot of 1 hour runs done easy and the hard days done hard. I've decided that I would like to do everything over time vs mileage just to see how it works out.



I would think for you since you are just getting back you could start the long at hour and see how that feels and then build it up from there till were you can then start to build that run back to a distance number. I know that this type of stuff can work because when I trained in the pool it was all for time. I really found myself refreshed and ready to go for Boston outside the pounding on my legs. So again I figured why not try it for a training cycle and see how it works out and maybe keep a bay some of the niggles and pressure I put on myself. Also I really just want to have fun with this training cycle. I think I will be starting a new blog this coming weekend and will explain more about my plans and the direction things are goin.

Mike, I'm in about my 3rd week back running and I just did a slow progression up to my long run today of 10 miles. The first week the furthest I went was 6, second week was 8, and today was 10. I'll probably hold steady at that for a week and throw in a few more miles during the week before trying to go 12 or so in 2 weeks. Just do what you can handle and keep it nice and easy for the most part. You've run enough miles that you'll know if your body isn't happy about what you're doing to it.

mul21 wrote:Mike, I'm in about my 3rd week back running and I just did a slow progression up to my long run today of 10 miles. The first week the furthest I went was 6, second week was 8, and today was 10. I'll probably hold steady at that for a week and throw in a few more miles during the week before trying to go 12 or so in 2 weeks. Just do what you can handle and keep it nice and easy for the most part. You've run enough miles that you'll know if your body isn't happy about what you're doing to it.

Sure you could do that but at the same time I think that tagging a certain mileage number to your runs can also get you into trouble. Why? Because we all know that once we tell ourseleves we are going to run x miles no matter what we do them. Were the trouble comes in lets say you pick 10 miles and you are 5 or 6 miles into the run and you just want to be done for whatever reason. What do you do? You end up picking up the pace because you are x miles from home and you want to get home, hence you put more stress on the body then what you want.

With running for time when getting back into training you already know that you are going to run for x time so no matter how fast or slow you are running an hour is an hour. I just find that this works better then worrying about mileage. If that makes sense, not that what Jim is saying doesn't work. I just have found with myself and watching others, we get ourseleves caught up in this mileage count and that I have to run this number.

Yes my over thinking is that the more miles you run the efficent you can become as a runner, that has shown to work for me and othes. At the same time I have found that chasing mileage numbers has also allowed me to ignore body signals that things are going in the wrong direction due to thinking what would it hurt to go another mile or 2.

Hence the reason that I have flet that I would go back to running by time vs distance. I don't find myself rushing my easy/recovery runs, I'm just running what every feels good and I'm not in a hurry to get it over because I know I'm running for a time frame example 45mins to 1 hour. I just find it easier to cut a run short when running for time vs. distance. And by cutting a run short, I mean cutting it short due to something not feeling right or just that darn flat and tired that it should be a rest day or cut short. When running for a distance it is so easy to push on becuase you want to see that number in the log book, you want to pat yourself on the back and say see what I did.

The funny thing is I have found as I have gotton back into shape and I have increased my time or pace on certain runs I'm running the mileage I want but find that I'm doing it more naturally rather then forcing it.

I also believe more in the theory these days that the body doesn't know mileage but it knows time. The body doesn't just breakdown because it says hey I'm at 18 miles. I have seen with my own growth as a runner that things when I sarted would hurt at x distance but now it hurts at x distances even though the distance numbers are different I have been able to see that the time variable is just about the same.

Anyway no matter what way is right or wrong. I find that especially when getting back into the swing of training I find it easier and more productive do set my runs up by time. Then after awhile I will change my long run to be by distance but even then I'm starting to still go with time unless I decide to do a fartlek, MP or fast finish long run. Again bottom line to me is that the body needs time to go through certain changes and if you don't spend enough time on your feet the you, your body and mind never get a chance to adapt to those changes. Hence the reason a lot of people have a hard time hold a given pace or effort for a certain distance due to never putting their body in that situtaion enough times to adapt to it. Well anyway hope some of that made sense, just trying to take a different look at doing things. I just feel sometimes in training it is good to mix it up and find ways to changes it since most workouts are the same and they are need to have the body go through certain changes. So why not play with time to be that factor to mix it up.

Thanks for all the advice, guys. Interestingly enough, I can actually follow both methods outlined at the same time. More or less.

So, Boston's in 13 weeks, right? I thought it was 12 until 2 seconds ago when I made sure it was indeed 12... Which it isn't. Even better!
I guess that kind of changes my game plan, but not too much. Basically, the "plan" for Boston is as follows (I just made this up off the top of my head, and I think it's pretty conservative up until the end, but it seems about right, as of now):



Yes, the title is a bit tongue-in-cheek.

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To start off my Boston training, today was a 30min run. It didn't hurt other than the usual "you haven't done this in a while" quirks, but I did find that running up here - I'm back in Auburn - feels extremely lonely. It felt a lot more fun at home. Might need to check out some new routes outside of town to get that mental funk away.

No worries, Mike. I'm only doing a 12 week schedule for Boston. I know that I have a lot more years of base, but I also am not as young with as much talent. Be smart - you have plenty of time.

Thanks Michele. I hope you're right.

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Here's a riddle: what's the easiest way to numb your brain in 2 hours?
If you said "throw your road bike on a trainer and go," you win!

Well, the forecast was calling for 27 degrees when I woke up this morning, but it was actually 32. Regardless... I'm not riding in that. 45 is about my limit, and that's pushing it. Since the schedule called for my long ride of the week today, I had no choice but to give the brain a workout, too.

The first hour was mentally the most grueling - took me a very long time to find a rhythm, even with a solid half hour easy warm-up - but some of the boredom was alleviated with a Skype conversation with Aileen. I can only imagine what her roommate thought as she looked over to the screen and saw a guy in a wifebeater riding a bicycle but going nowhere.

The second hour, after a short break to pee and grab a banana, I watched some cycling I had on my computer, as well as a couple other TV shows. Definitely easier to focus on the shows when riding than running on a treadmill, for me.

Effort level was "Aerobic Threshold," which is defined as the point where you stop breathing through your nose and start through your mouth, according to some sports physiologists. Once I was warmed up, this equated to a HR of ~140 (135 earlier, 140-145 later). At the end of each hour, I put in 15min at ~150. I then cooled down with 15min spinning for a total of 2:15.

The higher-than-road resistance of the trainer cooked my legs pretty decently.
All in all, really not as awful as I thought, but not something I'm itching to doing again.

Classes start tomorrow. No better way to kick them off than with a 1hr ride down in Sacramento.

45 is your limit? Pussy.

2:15 on the trainer is sheer torture. You've got to want what you are getting to commit to that - good job on getting it done. Enjoyed reading comments from others and I like your plan - look forward to seeing how it all comes together!

mul21 wrote:45 is your limit? Pussy.

Ouch, that's rough!

Schuey - Jim's just not fast enough of a runner to have ever felt any sort of considerable wind chill when it's 45 out.

Jim - Just kidding. Sort of. Actually, I don't think any of us are fast enough to have felt that. When you're bombing a hill at close to 40mph when it's that cold out, it really saps the heat quickly. For the record, I run in shorts when it's 30 out.

John - Tell me about it. I'm going to be very happy when it's back in the 50s (as it should be, this time of year) again and I can get outside for the rides.

Hour of riding before class. Actually, just a hair over. Kept the HR between AeT-10 and AeT for the entire ride (recovery to easy effort) and cruised about 15.75 miles.

Then had the first day of the semester. Almost 8 hours of class. Talk about getting thrown right into it.

Double recovery tomorrow; 30min run before it starts raining, then 30-45min on the trainer in the afternoon.

This is what I texted Aileen after I finished my run:
"30 minutes. Just over 9 minute pace. Best part? First run I've enjoyed since my injury."
That's the short of it.

The long of it is only slightly more in-depth; I was finally able to stop worrying about my form and that I might injure myself again and was able to really find a groove and just cruise along the canal. No pain, no niggles, not even any discomfort. Just good running.

Mike MacLellan wrote:This is what I texted Aileen after I finished my run:
"30 minutes. Just over 9 minute pace. Best part? First run I've enjoyed since my injury."
That's the short of it.

The long of it is only slightly more in-depth; I was finally able to stop worrying about my form and that I might injure myself again and was able to really find a groove and just cruise along the canal. No pain, no niggles, not even any discomfort. Just good running.

The long of it:

The short of it:

Good news Mike