A Lean and Hungry Look

Week starting Aug 21, 2011

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Location:

Salt Lake City,UT,USA

Member Since:

May 06, 2006

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Local Elite

Running Accomplishments:

Won Park City Marathon (tiny field, slow course, no purse) and Utah Grand Slam in 2006

Marathon: 2:37:04 (St. George 2009)

Short-Term Running Goals:

Train for as solid a race in Boston 2011 as my schedule will allow.  Accept the fact that there isn't room in my life to train for a breakthrough performance and do the best I can under the circumstances.

Long-Term Running Goals:

Lose the all-or-nothing mentality and start using running as an outlet instead of an additional source of stress.

Personal:

I'm married with 4 kids (2 boys, 2 girls) and live in Salt Lake City, where I work as a real estate attorney. 

Let me have men about me that are fat,
Sleek-headed men and such as sleep a-nights.
Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look,
He thinks too much; such men are dangerous.

"Julius Caesar," Act I, scene 2, 190-95

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Kayano Blue Lifetime Miles: 352.51
Kayano Orange Lifetime Miles: 413.88
DS Trainer Lifetime Miles: 259.32
Nike Free Lifetime Miles: 164.78
Kayano Red Lifetime Miles: 371.34
Kayano 15A Lifetime Miles: 310.02
Kayano 15B Lifetime Miles: 340.36
Vibram Five Fingers Lifetime Miles: 66.50
DS Trainer 15A Lifetime Miles: 310.92
DS Trainer 15B Lifetime Miles: 297.94
DS Trainer 16C Lifetime Miles: 308.08
DS Trainer 16D Lifetime Miles: 207.49
DS Racer Lifetime Miles: 72.98
DS Trainer 16E Lifetime Miles: 66.73
DS Trainer 16F Lifetime Miles: 48.80
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
63.058.000.000.000.000.000.0071.05
DS Trainer 16D Miles: 7.00DS Racer Miles: 13.68DS Trainer 16E Miles: 36.23DS Trainer 16C Miles: 14.14
Weight: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
7.000.000.000.000.000.000.007.00

U campus to 11th Ave and west to the funeral home, then back along the Federal Heights Drive/Primary Children's/Fort Douglas/Research Park loop.  Right achilles was bugging me for the first mile.  It's been tight before, but this seemed a little worse than usual.  I'd better keep an eye on it.

DS Trainer 16D Miles: 7.00
Weight: 0.00
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
5.688.000.000.000.000.000.0013.68

8x1-mile repeats at Liberty Park with 3 min rest between each (down from 4 min the last time I did them).  Since I've been doing mile repeats either uphill or downhill for the past 4-6 weeks, I wanted to see what kind of pace I could hold over flat terrain.  Typical warmup and cooldown.  Splits were as follows:

1: 5:41 (AHR 167/MHR 176)

2: 5:41 (174/180)

3: 5:40 (175/180)

4: 5:35 (175/181)

5: 5:36 (175/179)

6: 5:39 (176/179)

7: 5:40 (173/177)

8: 5:36 (174/177)

As usual, I wasn't able to see my pace at all during the workout, so I went entirely on perceived effort.  Given the consistency in the splits, I certainly didn't over-exert myself, but given the HR data, I would also say that I was probably right on.  That being the case, I'm a little disappointed in the splits, as I think they indicate that I'm slower than I'd like to be at this point.  If I were on track to break 2:30 at SG this year, I think I'd be able to hit 5:20s in a workout like this.  At this point, I think I'm going to revise my goal to set a new PR if it's an average day.  If I'm feeling good, I'll shoot for sub-2:35.  To break 2:30, I think there would have to be a brisk tailwind, cool temperatures, and a pack of 4-6 guys I could run with for most of the race.

DS Racer Miles: 13.68
Weight: 0.00
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
8.080.000.000.000.000.000.008.08

I had another massage last night.  It felt great (except for the painful parts), but I felt wiped out on this morning's run.  I forgot to take my inhaler, which didn't help, and I also dragged Maja along (guilt is a powerful motivator for me), so those two factors contributed.  For the first mile or so, though, my legs felt like jelly.  I suspect that was due more to yesterday's hard workout than the effects of the massage, but it still felt kind of crappy.  Maja was useless after 5 miles.  I talked to Leah (my LMT) about the possibility of Maja's leash throwing my back out of whack, and she didn't think it sounded likely, so I decided to accede to the dog's demands and get her back out on the road with me.  In fairness, she's probably gotten out of shape after not running with me for a couple of weeks, so I forgive her for dragging behind me.

DS Trainer 16E Miles: 8.08
Weight: 0.00
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
14.140.000.000.000.000.000.0014.14

I don't know what's going on, but I felt crappy from start to finish today (some back pain, some stomach discomfort, but mostly just general fatigue).  From the first few steps until I staggered home, I was counting the miles until I was done, and I never felt good.  After Saturday's debacle, yesterday's sluggish effort, and today's death march, I'm concerned that something is amiss.  As for potential causes: sleep (I'm probably not getting more than 6 hours each night; stress (things are crazy at work and have been for some time), burnout (I'm enjoying running less and less these days, as it feels more like a job than an outlet), or something else entirely.  I just hope that Saturday's 28-miler doesn't feel like this, because I'll never make it that far feeling so lousy.

DS Trainer 16C Miles: 14.14
Weight: 0.00
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.00

Because I've been feeling totally drained on my runs lately, I decided to take a day off and get a full 8 hours of sleep.  Hopefully it helps on tomorrow's 28-miler.

Weight: 0.00
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
28.150.000.000.000.000.000.0028.15

While the distance seemed extremely long, I think it was a good decision to skip yesterday's workout and get some needed sleep.  My energy felt much better from start to finish, and the run went off without any trouble.  I tried using PowerGel (Raspberry Creme and Kona Punch) as my fuel source, and I think I've found a winner.  The consistency is far less viscous than GU, ClifShot, Hammer Gel, Honey Stinger, or some of the others, and the flavors I tried were downright palatable.  The only hang-up was when I stopped at my parents' place in Murray for a potty break (around mile 16) and changed my music selection (from podcasts to Pandora), when I apparently didn't close my Amphipod pouch tightly enough and lost both of my remaining gel packets.  I didn't realize it until I went for my third at mile 20.  Fortunately, I felt pretty decent all the way to the finish in spite of the lack of fuel from mile 15 on, although I suspect it would have been even better had I been able to fuel at least once more.

No MP work today, but hopefully the overdistance tactic will pay dividends next month.

DS Trainer 16E Miles: 28.15
Weight: 0.00
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
63.058.000.000.000.000.000.0071.05
DS Trainer 16D Miles: 7.00DS Racer Miles: 13.68DS Trainer 16E Miles: 36.23DS Trainer 16C Miles: 14.14
Weight: 0.00
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