Run of the Week - 95 Laps at Jamie Platz

The Weather Outside

Sunday I did my long run inside, normally when I do this I like to go to one of the centers in the Edmonton area with a bigger track, such as Servus Place or Terwillegar Rec Centre.  This time I was going in the afternoon and running by myself so I just kept it simple and went to the Jaime Platz YMCA.  The track here is about 170 M, 9.5 laps per mile, and isn't completely round so it isn't too hard on the body (eg. always turning).  I like running laps inside because it is easy to track your pace and adjust as needed.  I had started my run with the intention of doing 86 laps for 9 miles, but as I went I thought why not go 10 miles, after I've gone all this way.  Running that many laps is a little boring, almost like the IM practice swims in 25 m pools (152 laps) but not as bad as you can people watch look outside, etc.  I tried to adjust my pace every mile and ended up going 10:30/10:00/9:30/9:00/10:00/9:30/9:00/8:15/9:00/9:00.  At the end of the run it felt like I had just finished a race, I was exhausted and am still sore.

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I thought it would be interesting to compare this run to the my last two Fall Classic 10 Milers, to try to get an idea of what type of shape I am in.

Comparison of Jamie Platz YMCA 10 Miler with Previous Fall Classic Results Section!

Total Time:
Run of the Week: 1:33:17
Fall Classic 2013: 1:35:16
Fall Classic 2012: 1:28:07

Average HR:
Run of the Week: 166
Fall Classic 2013: 183
Fall Classic 2012: 182

In conclusion, I am definitely in better shape now than in the fall of 2013, and probably in at least a little better shape than the fall of 2012 too, though I did run 5 minutes faster in that race.

Measuring My Lactate Threshold with the Conconi Test...

Recently I read this article in Triathlon Magazine Canada about measuring your lactate thresh hold with the Conconi Test.  The article refers to biking but I figured it would work for running too.  Basically, you run on a treadmill at consistently increasing speeds and measure your heart rate at each speed.  Then you graph the results and apparently there is a deflection point (slight flattening) of the heart rate at your lactate threshold point, when you stop using aerobic energy and start using anaerobic energy.  (Training just below this rate helps you push it higher, which makes for faster half marathon running.)

I did two test runs two weeks apart, starting at 5 miles/hour and going up to 8.4 miles/hour, increasing by 0.2 miles per hour every minute.  Total distance run on the treadmill was 2 miles each time.  Unfortunately, I couldn't really tell what my lactate threshold was from the result, so I may repeat the test with 0.1 mile per hour increases every minute.  The most interesting result to me was how close the two lines were to each other.

Heart Rate Vs Miles/Hour

Getting Schooled By Fast Alex

Fast Alex and His Close Friend Kooper

Tired Out By Fast Alex

This morning I ran with Alex for the first time this year, and he was...  Fast!  We ran 8.5 miles in 1:23:25, but only went that slow because I made him.  He didn't look tired at all and said he is in better shape this year than years past and thinks he can crack 1:40.  I let him set the pace for a mile near the end and my heart rate was pretty high, I attached a graph of that stretch and looking back it actually doesn't look that bad, but definitely above my lactate threshold.  I'll have to be able to hold that pace for the full race to even come close to Alex on the big day, so hopefully I get in better shape by then?

Alex Sets the Pace, Mark Can't Keep Up

We ran into Troy at the end of the run

Mike And Kathleen's Rock Off Push Up/Sit Up/Plank Down Challenge

The Challenge

Mike and Kathleen have thrown down a challenge...  Every night each of us has to attempt as many push ups, sit ups, and plank (duration) to see who is the king (or queen) of the core.  I'm not sure how long the contest runs for, or whether the winner is the person with the highest cumulative results or one time results, but you can follow along here in any case.  The goal is to do as many as possible, quantity and form are key here.

The Results

		Mike			Kathleen			Mark
Date	PushUp	SitUp	Plank	PushUp	SitUp	Plank	PushUp	SitUp	Plank
4-Mar-13	25	17	0:20	10	15	1:20	25	10	1:05
5-Mar-13	25	27	0:30	9	26	1:40	26	11	1:10
6-Mar-13	24	25	0:32	10	27	1:30	27	9	1:15
7-Mar-13							29	6	1:46
8-Mar-13
9-Mar-13
10-Mar-13

The Details

• Order of the exercises is:
• Push ups
• Sit ups
• Plank (front)
• Each participant will perform as many of the exercises in a row as they are capable of, with no break in between (except plank, that is one continuous timed excercise)
• For proper push up form your nose must touch the ground at the bottom and your back must stay straight the entire time
• For proper plank form, only your elbows and one foot can touch the ground and your back must remain straight

Commentary

• Early results show a tossup, Mike leading in Push ups and sit ups, but KK devastating the competition in planks!

Training Update - 2 Months In

Training went pretty well in February, the big change was dropping from 6 days to 5 days running.  My hip was really bugging me at the start of the month but by taking off a lot of days that first two weeks it seemed to recover, and after I implemented a much more thorough stretching regime it hasn't come back as bad as before.  Often it still feels a little sore or wrong, but not painful anymore.  I've ramped up my weekly mileage and my long run length this month, and am trying to do almost all runs under 10 minute mile.  I've also lost 10 pounds since training started in January, another 10 and that could be 40 seconds/minute free speed increase?

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Total
01-Jan-12	0	2	2	2	2	2	1	11
07-Jan-12	0	2	3	2	2	3	1	13
14-Jan-12	0	2	3	1	2	3	1	12
21-Jan-12	0	2	2	3	1	4	1	13
28-Jan-12	0	2	3	3	1	5	1	15
04-Feb-12	0	2	2	3	3	5	0	15
11-Feb-12	0	0	2	3	0	6	2	13
18-Feb-12	3	2	0	0	4	2	6	17
25-Feb-12	0	3	4	2	0	7	2	18

Goals for March will be:

• increase pace slightly and continue to build mileage
• get a workout in 6 days a week, even if only running 5 of those days
• early on I was doing 2X core and 2X legs weights a week, have to get back to that...
• ramp up rowing mileage slowly