Random Banter

 The last race I did was a half marathon at the end of March and for my speed it was more of a shuffle than anything. This was my first race since then and with my coach.   The couple of weeks prior to this race we had backed off of the long runs and did some specific running focused on the 5K speed.  I had dreams of setting a new 5K PR at this elevation (I set a 5K PR at a much lower elevation that I hope to break some day!).  In order to set a 5K PR I needed to average a mile pace of something like 8:15 or less.  I was optimistic to start with but after a workout or two of trying to hold that pace I knew it wasn't in the books.  So I re-adjusted and just wanted to beat my time from the previous year (27:10).   It was kind of odd because the race was on Thursday rather than a Saturday when most races are held. But it is what it is.  The weather turned out to be pretty good because we had been having some high temperature's leading into ...

 It's been awhile but I wanted to get this out more for myself than anything.  This Sunday the 24th is my half marathon.  Starting off the year with this race.  I'm not considering it an A race by any stretch of the imagination.  It was more of a race that I was using to keep active through the winter.   On reflection I'm not sure it was the best idea.  My time might have been better spent doing some training and maybe pushing things a little more.  However I did run the longest I've run in a couple of years which I think is needed.  Having said that I didn't do anything that got me close to a half marathon distance. So Sunday will be interesting to see how it goes.   My goal is to try and run somewhere around 12:30 to 12 minute miles.  The one thing I have going for me is that this race is at a slightly lower elevation but not much. I'm fairly confident in this because on my last long run outside I was just just running f...

Today was the day I had been thinking about for the past 5 weeks or so.  It was race day! My last race, to recap, was the trail race at the end of August.  It went well but I came out of that race kind of down due to expectations being set to high and it messed with my head a bit.  I did get over and it's helped me reframe how I think about racing. Racing shouldn't be worrying about what place you will get or even what time you should get (mainly for trails I've discovered) but should be about you versus the course. So that's how I went into this race.   As I mentioned in my post last week my critical power did go down but I thought that was a mistake.  However I thought about it all week and thought maybe it was correct.  On Monday I did a work out of 6 times 2 minutes with 1 minute recovery which was about half of what I had done the previous Monday and I have to say it felt relatively easy.  So heading into the race I told myself that I was goi...

 I logged into the Stryd Powercenter yesterday after my long run to update my run with my thoughts and I noticed that my critical power, CP, had dropped.  It went from 322 to 312 (Stryd has a few bugs in their little graphs...they say it went from 325 to 312 but it was really 322!).  Which caused me to pause for a minute.  I should have known with running more on the treadmill and not doing any long hard runs that it would drop.  But after pausing for a moment I got it back together and told myself that I'd run what I had planned on running this next Saturday.   The race plan.  The Stryd race calculator says that I should race a 5K at about 319 watts and that will put me somewhere in at 27:37 which will not be lower than my summer 5K.  This might be subject to change but I think what I'll do it set my watch to run between 320 and 340 (Coros watches only do 10 watt increments).  My runs in the 330 area have felt really good.  I don't...

 I haven't posted here for a few weeks due to real life!  But I've been running and getting ready for this upcoming race in 2 weeks time.   Things have been going well...until recently.  I've been running 5 days a week and getting a couple of workouts in each week.  One workout is hard and the other isn't as hard.  However the last two times that I've run I haven't been feeling it.  Just felt kinda blah.  I got the runs done but on today's long run I cut it short by about 4 minutes and did not do any faster paced work which I've been doing on most of my long runs as of late.  I have a few theories as to why this might be the case.  Since I've started running 5 days a week my body hasn't caught up until now.  I've actually been gaining weight the last couple of weeks so I wonder if my body is under a lot more stress with this additional day or running.  So I've backed off trying to lose weight and am just going to try and m...

 I didn't expect to race again this year but there was a race that came up for early November so I went for it.  In all honestly I needed this.  It's a very long stretch from late August until sometime in the next year to not have something specific to train for. So this race was put on the schedule.  It's just a 5K race but it's reinvigorated me to get training for something specific.  Here's my plan.  This next week I'm just going to run like I have been running. So that means on Monday it will just be a very short run (25 minutes most likely) on the treadmill. Tuesday will be an outdoor workout of some sort.  I'm not sure what that will be but it will done at lunch time during work...if the weather permits.  I will run either on Wednesday or Thursday just depending on how I feel.  It will be another session like Monday. Friday will be the same.  On Saturday where I usually have a long run I will do a critical power (CP) test to see wh...

 I've done the easy running before and it feels great for a few weeks but then there is no progress!  You have to have some sort of speed in there.  Just running slow and easy does not make you faster no matter what people say.  I do believe that 80%+ of your time/miles should be slow and easy but if you want to get faster, and who doesn't, you need to have that 20% where you are throwing in some extra stuff. So after 2 weeks of easy running, or doing nothing for the first week, I'm going to be starting a program tomorrow to maintain what I have.  I'll run that for about 10 weeks and see where were are at.   This last week was the first time I've ran 5 days in a week.  Everything went fine.  There were a couple of times where I wondered about getting up so early but I did manage to get it done.  My right calf, at times, when I run gives me a bit of issues but I can't put my finger on it. So for now I'm using the massage gun on it and hop...

 Another week in the books and another critical power test done! This was the 4th week of training and thus had one less day of training.  I didn't run on Monday but ran Wednesday and Friday.  Wednesday was a 35 minute easy run and Friday was also 35 minutes easy but with a couple of strides thrown in.  Both of the runs felt good and are probably what was needed.  Once again I've hit the dog days of summer or of training or something.  I just wasn't feeling the training this last week and the idea of getting up early to go running is just getting to me.  But I'm pushing through for the next couple of weeks and then will have some vacation time where I'll be able to run in a new location and at different times.   I wasn't sure what to expect coming into this critical power test.  I was nervous about doing it because it was in the heat or more in the heat than my past CP tests.  I almost tossed in the towel to put it off a week but I ...

 Much like the previous week the Monday that I ran, with some strides, just didn't feel right.  I got in 8 strides vs the 10 I had done the previous Monday but I also decided that I wasn't going to do any of my "faster" work this week and see if I could get out of this funk.  So that's what I did and I think I might be out of this funk, after week 20. But we shall see.  Monday was a 36 minute run with 8 strides Wednesday was a tempo run/fast finish where the last 10 minutes were at a faster pace.  Friday was back to a somewhat easy run with 8 strides.  This one felt okay.  Saturday I ventured up to the park where my trail race at the end of August will be and I ran the course.  I also attempted to do some threshold on it and it was way harder than what I was doing on the road so I did one session of 7 minutes and then one session of 4 minutes and dialed it back!  Despite not being able to get a 2nd set of 7 minutes I think this was good becau...

 The day had arrived.  All week I had been thinking about this and getting nervous.  I don't know why but I was.  My thought going into it was this is going to hurt and be painful.  And I had resolved myself to that. However when the race was done...it wasn't painful and it didn't hurt.  It felt good and it made me want to run more which is quite the accomplishment.  Most races at the end I feel like shit and don't want to run anymore but since the race I've been thinking about all the running I want to do! But let me tell you about the race! I arrived at the race about 30 minutes early and found my friend who was doing the race with me.  Going into the race it seemed like we would be evenly matched and would be able to run together so that was good.  I asked if he wanted to go and do a warm up run.  He didn't but I went ahead and did a 6-7 minute warm up. The first half of it was just jogging easily.  The second half I threw in som...

 As I right this I'm feeling a bit burnt out and I need a couple of day break that I'm going to get.  I'll take Monday off from running and possibly go running on Tuesday but we will see.  But lets recap last week! On Monday of last week it was the hardest workout we've had so far.  It was 10x2 minutes with a 1 minute break in between.  This was supposed to be 400 meter repeats but since I don't have access to a track I did the 2 minutes (which is close to what I think my 400 meter time would be...it's a bit more 2:20 I think).  We did these in the 305 to 320 watt range (CP is 306).  It's been a few days so it doesn't seem as bad now but at the time I think I was starting to feel some pukiness coming on. Thankfully I didn't.   Wednesday was supposed to be a tempo run but because I was still feeling it (tired) from Monday's workout I just did an easy run.  Also this was my first run with my new Topo Cyclone 2 shoes (may do a review on the...

 Week 14 is in the books and I'm feeling very good.  This morning for my "long" run I went and ran the 5K course that I'll be racing on in a few weeks time.  I don't know what it is or what it was but I came away from that just feeling really good.  I know it's going to be work when I'm racing but I just came away from it feeling really good like we will knock it out of the park. Who knows.  The Stryd racing calculator says I should race at 313 watts (my CP is 306) and that should bring me in around 28 minutes.  That doesn't feel right currently but maybe that's where I'm at.  I feel like low 27 is more possible...I know there will not be a new 5K PR but 28 just doesn't feel right.  I've cut back my volume a bit and maybe that's why I'm feeling so damn good.  Not a ton but just a little bit.   Week 15 has, for me, a huge workout.  I calls for 10-12 400 meters at 5K pace.  I don't have access to a track so I'm at about 2 ...

 This was the first week where we put in some specific 5K training.  I feel kind of foolish even saying this or even writing about it.  But I'm going to!   As I posted previously, my CP went up to 306, so my Stryd Race Predicted time has me racing at 312 (at the time) and I had 4 minutes at 5K pace with 3 minutes recover on Wednesday.  So that's what I did.  It was a lot of work but I'm hoping that as I get close to the race it will pay off.  This coming week I don't have any specific race pace stuff but I do have 12 strides (30 seconds with 1 minute rest).  On Monday we have "tempo" which is our half marathon pace...LOL!  But I really feel like running at something faster than what we have in the past ran at is helping us.  My pacing, so far, has been faster than it has been in the past and I'm kind of excited about that.  Now I'm not going to set a new 5K PR...I believe but I think my trail race in late August has a chance of...

 Another critical power test is in the books!   Week 12, or every 4 weeks, is only 3 days of running vs the normal 4 that I run (or attempt to run!).  I think it's important to take a step back.  However at the end of these 4th weeks I do a critical power test.  The previous 2 CP tests that I've done I haven't been very nervous about but this one, for some reason, I was pretty nervous about.  I decided to do a 3 minutes - 12 minute CP test.  I had never done one of these before and maybe that's why my nerves were a bit high.   Yesterday (Saturday) I set out on my CP test.  It was earlier than I normally run on Saturday but I had other stuff that I needed to get done so I was up early and had fueled like I have been doing.  After 10 minutes of warming up I went into my 3 minute test.  My goal for each test, based on some reason, is to keep the first 75% of it at the modeled ability on Stryd and then after that I push...or a...

 As the title suggests I wonder if I'm over doing it.  I felt pretty tired over last weeks up hill session (6x30 seconds up with 90 seconds recovery).  That was on Monday I believe and the rest of the week just felt kind of blah. And that was the case with today as well where I had another work out.  It's something I am definitely watching as I try to get back into some sort of shape.  I don't want to over work my thyroid or boost my cortisol levels to high.  Even though I'm staying with in that 80/20 realm I wonder if I need to be more of 90/10.  Or perhaps I'm just not sleeping as well as I thought I was.  I know I've said it before and I'll say it again...It's something I'm going to watch.   I think I'll switch to the 90/10 or at least 85/15 and see how that works for me.  Additionally I think I might make my workouts shorter and then just include some faster pace work in my long run.  I know it's not going to be easy but I'...

 I have just completed my 10th week of training and overall I think I'm getting faster.  I don't have any races, yet, to be sure about that but the training I'm doing looks like I'm overall faster. And this is at the same critical power that I've had before.  I think it's a combination of things that has made this happen.  Losing weight - I'm carrying around 10-15 lbs less. Additionally I think some of that weight has also been transferred to muscle which is helping.  Getting thyroid in check - As of my last blood draw, March, my numbers were as low as they ever had been.  So I think that's helped out a lot.  I know that I've had much more energy.  I'm hopeful that the training I'm doing right now does not bump it up again (ie: I'm not over doing it).  I didn't realize this but I was listening to the Kara Goucher and Des Linden podcast a few weeks ago and apparently this drug I'm on is controversial in the running world for helpin...

 As is typical for me I've dropped off on writing.  But I'm back for a short update.   Weeks 6, 7 and 8 all went well.  Week 8 was a lower volume week with a critical power test thrown in at the end of it.  I managed to increase my critical power from 261 to 296 which seems about right.  It might be a bit high but only time will tell.  Doing this 3 week build and then a lower week with a critical power test at the end of it seems to be suiting me well.  Now I'm under no illusion that my critical power will continue to go up and up and up but so far it's been nice.  I've only done one run at this new power and I think it's the right setting. Previously I knew that 261 was a bit low as when I'd do certain runs they just felt to easy.  However when I was attempting to run in zone 2 yesterday morning it felt like I was doing work and not just putting in the motions.  So I think that's a good thing.  We will know more in about ...

So I just finished week 5 of training on Saturday.  This is the first week after our "deload" week.  It was easy.  The amount of work was a bit more than my week two training.  I'm trying to stair step up my time and not push it to hard. Each 4th week I kind of back off an do a CP test at the end of that week.  The first time around I took off the Monday from running but I'm not sure yet if I will do that this time around.  Time will tell. The biggest thing about this week is that I was able to input a couple of my runs that I did outside that were faster and a critical power test and my power jumped WAY up (my watch wasn't syncing with Stryd).  I went from 193 CP (LOL!) up to 261 CP I believe.  So I'm now running about where I think I should be. Saturday was my first day running at this power and it felt good.  Felt like I was doing something! Most of the running was in high zone 1 and low zone 2.  I'm really trying to take things easy....

Week 2 starting weight: 212.8 (after running) Week 2 ending weight: 216.2 (WTF!) Starting waist measurement (8/29/2022): 40.5 Starting chest measurement (8/29/2022): 38.7 Waist measurement (9/12/2022): 39.9 Chest measurement (9/12/2022): 38.4 A big WTF stepping on the scale this morning.  It was lower than my starting weight on 8/29/2022 (217.6) but most of my weigh ins have been a lot less than what I saw this morning.  Not going to put to much thought into it and move on.  I will say that on Friday night I had my wedding anniversary and I did splurge a bit there, but it wasn't super bad.  Ate keto for the most part the rest of the weekend.  Just one of those mornings where things were up.   The measurements being down is nice.  I knew they would be down based on how my shirts were fitting.  My XL shirts are pretty lose and I should probably wear a large shirts but they are still just uncomfortable enough (ie: tight) that I'll stick with my ...

Yesterday morning, the 27th, I did a critical power test.  I think workout in the Stryd application said it was a critical power calibration but for all purposes it was a critical power test.  The prescription was to warm up for 5 minutes, run hard for 20 minutes, recover for 5 minutes, run extremely hard for 30 seconds and then cool down for 5 minutes.   In typical fashion I had been thinking about this for two or more days prior to the event. Where was I going to run? Should I include a hill? What if it's really windy?  Is 5 minutes warm up enough?  Should I do this on the treadmill since it will be treadmill time shortly? You get the idea!   Since this was not scheduled to be as long as I normally run in the mornings I slept in for a few minutes and was out on the road, lit up, at 5:25AM.  The route I ended up choosing was mostly flat but there was some downhill and some uphill.  But they were both very slight in nature!   A...