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Archive for July 2008

Altitude Training

Dad and I visited South Tahoe, CA. In the afternoon, once we arrived at our hotel, I went for a run. I figured two-four miles. Weather was very warm but the humidity was very low compared to home.

I wanted to work on attacking the hills in anticipation of Sunday’s race. I had no idea how hard it would be to run at 6,000+ feet of altitude. My effort level was the same as it was at home but I was much slower.

Activity
Route: Elev. Avg: 6283 ft
Location: Stateline, CA Elev. Gain: +3 ft
Date: 07/30/08 Up/Downhill: [+193/-190]
Time: 05:09 PM Difficulty: 2.5 / 5.0
 
Weather: Fair
  78 F temp; 21% humidity
  75 F heat index; winds S 15 G 20
Performance
Distance: 3.15 miles Goal: 12' 30 min/mi pace

Time: 0:44:24
Speed: 4.3 mph Attained: 88%
Pace: 14' 05 /mi
Calories: 487
Map

 
Elevation (ft)

 
Pace (min/mile)

 
Splits
Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation
Gain
actual +/- goal actual +/- goal
1 12' 54 +0' 24 4.7 -0.1 +20 ft
2 16' 12 +3' 42 3.7 -1.1 +85 ft
3 13' 07 +0' 37 4.6 -0.2 -99 ft
end 15' 00 +2' 30 4.0 -0.8 -3 ft
Versus goal of 12' 30 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

Monday Run 05:54 am

It’s tough to keep the pace down when running shorter distances. Good run this morning. Felt like the fastest man in the world at times - until the mom pushing the stroller came whizzing by.

Activity
Route: Elev. Avg: 15 ft
Location: Charleston, SC Elev. Gain: +0 ft
Date: 07/28/08 Up/Downhill: [+114/-114]
Time: 05:54 AM Difficulty: 1.7 / 5.0
 
Weather: Fair
  74 F temp; 91%% humidity
  74 F heat index; winds SW 3 MPH
Performance
Distance: 4.38 miles Goal: 12' 30 min/mi pace

Time: 0:53:53
Speed: 4.9 mph Attained: 101%
Pace: 12' 18 /mi
Calories: 701
Map

 
Elevation (ft)

 
Pace (min/mile)

 
Splits
Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation
Gain
actual +/- goal actual +/- goal
1 12' 19 -0' 11 4.9 +0.1 +10 ft
2 11' 52 -0' 38 5.0 +0.2 +6 ft
3 12' 02 -0' 28 5.0 +0.2 -10 ft
4 12' 45 +0' 15 4.7 -0.1 -3 ft
end 12' 44 +0' 14 4.7 -0.1 -3 ft
Versus goal of 12' 30 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

I’m Certifiable!

I passed my RRCA coaching certification exam with a score of 94. I really want to know the 6 questions I missed. I also completed and passed my First Aid for Coaches course and I already have my CPR certification. Now, we just need to put all of the paperwork together and I’ll be a certified running coach. (insert laugh track here because I laugh too when I think about it.)

No Race on Saturday

I needed to be at work early on Saturday and was not able to run the IOP Beach Race. I let myself sleep in which was nice and ran later in the day. I was going to use the race as a 4-mile pace run so instead I hopped on the treadmill and set it at 5.5 mph and went for four miles.

That’s the first time I actually ran on a treadmill. Weather, traffic, and time kept me inside and used the treadmill because I couldn’t even stand the thought of running 24 laps on the track. This way I could also see the last time trialists in the Tour de France.

Once I got into a rhythm, the pace felt really good. I was pushing but I wasn’t redlining so I think I’ll be just fine next week in the half.

Friday Pacing Drills

Worked with Allan, Pat, Val and Trish on pacing for the race tomorrow. Allan and I want to run at the same pace. For him, it would be fairly fast - for me it will be at marathon race pace (11 min/mile). It will be good for both of us. That will keep me form pushing too hard and will encourage both of us.

We normally warm up for a mile and then run full laps (6 miles/lap) at the goal pace. The ladies were working on their mile run times so we had people spread out who were doing 8, 9 , 10, and 11 minute miles. When we hit the half-lap, we noted the time and tried to adjust our pace to come in at exactly the right time.

(Postscript - Trish won third in her age division at the race!)

Thursday Glide

Spent 45 minutes on the arc trainer and then stretched

Group Run 06:04 am

Ran with Allan, Val, and Nancy. A good run and I would have liked to have run a little bit faster but with the humidity - it just wasn’t in my today. I also didn’t eat as soon as I woke up - I think that made a difference, too.

Activity
Route: Elev. Avg: 14 ft
Location: Charleston, SC Elev. Gain: +0 ft
Date: 07/23/08 Up/Downhill: [+252/-252]
Time: 06:04 AM Difficulty: 2.5 / 5.0
 
Weather: Fair
  76 F temp; 85%% humidity
  76 F heat index; winds SW 6 MPH
Performance
Distance: 4.80 miles Goal: 11' 00 min/mi pace

Time: 0:59:58
Speed: 4.8 mph Attained: 88%
Pace: 12' 29 /mi
Calories: 753
Map

 
Pace (min/mile)

 
Splits
Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation
Gain
actual +/- goal actual +/- goal
1 13' 23 +2' 23 4.5 -1.0 +4 ft
2 12' 17 +1' 17 4.9 -0.6 +3 ft
3 12' 05 +1' 05 5.0 -0.5 0 ft
4 11' 39 +0' 39 5.2 -0.3 0 ft
end 13' 07 +2' 07 4.6 -0.9 -6 ft
Versus goal of 11' 00 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

Pace Running

Today I worked on marathon race pace - 11 min/mile. I’m basing it on a 1.03.00 10K, my PR at that distance, done in May. I want to run the half marathon next week at the same pace. It will be my tune up race for the marathon. I went to the outside track so I wouldn’t be distracted by Boot Camp. They came upstair during my third repeat.

I did 4 x 1/2 mile repeats with a one lap walk/jog in between. Laps are 1/6 mile. Started with a one mile warm up and ended with a one mile cooldown.

Times: 5.32, 5.32, 5.30, 5.09 - Boot Campers were running on the track at the same time. I’m not competitive but I stopped paying attention to pace. 

Monday Ride

Spent 30 minutes on the bike. NR=1150. I’ve found it gets harder for me to push the HR up as I get fitter. Now my quads have to catch up to my cardio endurance.

The Sweat Test

Oh, gosh, that really does sound gross, doesn’t it. Today, Class, we’re speaking of body fluids and nakedness, so if it bothers you, go somewhere else. It’s my blog and I’m staying here.

Last week, during a 12-mile run, I ran into some serious problems because I was not well hydrated. I was probably either on the brink of heat exhaustion or may have even crossed over the line. That’s a problem not only for that run but for all future runs. If you end up with a severe instance of your body adversely reacting to the heat - either heat exhaustion, or more seriously - heat stroke - you are more susceptible to heat illness in the future. So you need to do everything you can combat that without going into hyponatremia.

The sweat test is part of the arsenal of tools to combat dehydration. Plan a run of 60 minutes in the conditions in which you normally train. For me, it’s high humidity and temps in the high 70s. Weigh yourself with no clothes on just before running. Use a scale that is accurate to at least a tenth of a pound, prefereably accurate to the ounce. When you get back from your run, strip down and dry yourself completely before stepping on the scale. Your weight loss in ounces is the amount of liquid ounces you lost during the hour run.

For me - this morning I ran for 56 minutes and lost 4.0 lbs. That’s 64 ounces. No wonder I had such a problem last week - I only consumed 24 ounces in the first 90 minutes and then went for another 90 minutes with no additional fluids. I already knew what I did this time didn’t work and that what I did last year mostly did work. Now I know if I’m running for more than an hour that I need to consume 64 ounces every hour. That’s a lot more than the Fuel Belt carries. I may resort to a Camelback or use some other plan. Bottom line is - I need a better plan next time.