Jon’s musing about running and things about running while running and after running and probably before running too

[global_dev]

Weather has gone from nice to hot and humid but I’m still getting out there with the run sessions as best i can. Took the weekend off and was back at Tues-Thursday with some effort at getting some recovery and speed in.

Both speed and endurance are kind of hard to work at the same time. I feel like it’ll come but got to work to the performance gains. I did shorter “return to sprint” Intervals at a track on Wednesday to help out my rehabbing kid and then dropped into more speed work for myself yesterday on some tired legs in high humidity and upper 80°f weather. It was a good 10k session on a ~flattish road but felt pretty long by the beginning of 4th longer interval. But i made it and didn’t do too poorly. Hoping to get a pace faster (and easier) in the next 90 days or so.

 

[global_dev]

Happy father’s day to all the dad’s!

I really wanted to get out for a run yesterday morning but i had a hard time getting to sleep early enough and since no one is paying me to run, i took a rest day since my ankle is still a bit tender when i wake up. Plus i had to go to a soccer game about an hour from my home. That eats up most of a day.

But today it was gorgeous and my two daughters were up for going on a run with me. Schools out, summer soccer just started, and my girls need some training off the field. I am happy to oblige.

Long run (70mins) with 3x1 kilometer repeats in the middle. It was awesome. I felt great and my kids were just hanging on and its clear we were in a good space.



I think my kids are a bit confused how I was kicking there @$$ but in truth, one is in crazy acl rehab strength and speed Sessions 2x a week and the other played 90 mins at the 9 yesterday. It wont be long before i am at the back of the pack again.

At the end of the third repeat and cooldown we did some strides. My youngest still had a last kick to beat us out, but we had to wait for her to recover before we started those parts.

 

[GearNoir]

Happy Father’s Day to you as well Jon!

 

[global_dev]

been out there every day racking in time on feet. everyday i try to take a look at the weather forecast and try to decide what time i can get out there and where openings in my schedule are, and i am getting kind of good at dropping a 60-90 min session into a space i normally would have overlooked, but also trying to not let going for a run take over all my free time. 90 mins at the wrong time is clearly a solid chunk of time to spend with my wife and/or kids. tbh, the weather bothers me little, i'll try to go out properly dressed/sunscreen in any weather. the wet-bulb globe temperature app is basically a sanity saver trying to figure out how to dress for the second mile and not the first.

all kinds of different runs, tempos, pyramids, negative splits. it honestly keeps it interesting, yesterday i hit up a track and what a difference no elevation changes make after 3 days of seeking out hills. did 4 sets of negative split miles. increase in pace every 1/4 mile with a 1/4 mile rest in between. felt great.

 

[global_dev]

Just noticed a great looking trend i didnt really didnt quite understand before until i looked up what it really was saying.

Pace Trends takes your 3 best performing* runs every month and draws a best fit line through them, across your entire running history, so you can see how well you've improved your overall pace over time.



*The Smashrun Performance Index (SPI) is a value derived from a performance curve to help you compare runs of similar effort across various distances.

Since the SPI value normalizes pace across different distances, it's able to compare every distance as equals. That makes it an invaluable tool for measuring overall improvement. It helps you realize that a 7:00min/mi (4:20min/km) may not actually be as good as your 4-hour marathon and that should make sense because you might be able to run a super fast mile, but can you keep up that same pace over the distance of a marathon?

I’m kind of psyched because day to day i feel like i see paces that seem a bit slower now than last year this time but i absolutely feel way stronger and faster than last year. I havent previously had a good way to really compare based on the variability of the runs, routes and training blocks. Running time trials on tired/fatigued legs can be really depressing. Still have to do the time trials from time to time though.

 

[dangerousdon]

Just noticed a great looking trend i didnt really didnt quite understand before until i looked up what it really was saying.

Pace Trends takes your 3 best performing* runs every month and draws a best fit line through them, across your entire running history, so you can see how well you've improved your overall pace over time.

View attachment 86628

*The Smashrun Performance Index (SPI) is a value derived from a performance curve to help you compare runs of similar effort across various distances.

Since the SPI value normalizes pace across different distances, it's able to compare every distance as equals. That makes it an invaluable tool for measuring overall improvement. It helps you realize that a 7:00min/mi (4:20min/km) may not actually be as good as your 4-hour marathon and that should make sense because you might be able to run a super fast mile, but can you keep up that same pace over the distance of a marathon?

I’m kind of psyched because day to day i feel like i see paces that seem a bit slower now than last year this time but i absolutely feel way stronger and faster than last year. I havent previously had a good way to really compare based on the variability of the runs, routes and training blocks. Running time trials on tired/fatigued legs can be really depressing. Still have to do the time trials from time to time though.

That is definitely a great trend! And one you wouldn't have noticed being that it's a bit subtle. But the graph clearly shows progress! Congrats man! You are fitter than something like 99% of the US!

 

[global_dev]

You are fitter than something like 99% of the US!

Lol, maybe but i know i must be crazier than 99% cause i ran those mile repeats yesterday in my homemade flip flops because it was gonna rain according to the weather channel.

 

[dangerousdon]

Homemade flip flops...that is funny. I have been doing a good bit of walking lately in my Merrell Sandals (Merrell Alpine Strap) and they seem way more comfortable than I remember. Seems like I am getting more support out of the Sandals than I do my Hoka's.

 

[global_dev]

I spent some time driving down and back to Charlottesville yesterday and decided to take another rest day and just walk around the UVA campus with my family. Gorgeous day! Beautiful campus

Today was just as nice but i ddnt get out until just before noon, slept late until 8:30, about 6.5 hrs of sleep, and the humidity looked low enough to hit the trails for a 10k. The HRV tests are telling me my cardiovascular system is still recovered from last weeks sessions. Took about 48 hours to see it get back to recovered on Friday morning.

Grabbed some water (about 1L) and some just “in case” gels if i decided to go out a bit further. Totally didnt want to, maybe should have prepped for a hike or a ruck walk. 10k in 80mins. 1 mile repeats, hill runs, and some fun stuff.

The stuff: basically saw no one on the trail, i can tell because webs. Almost stepped on snake sunning itself on a small plank bridge about 1.5 miles in, pretty sure i scared it as much as it scared me and it jumped off. So now i am paranoid, lots of ground growth, ivy and branch/leaves this time of year, its hard to see whats below foot. Every downed branch looks like a snake. i see another about a mile away cross the path about 5-10 feet ahead of me in my field of vision into the bush brush. No idea how far it was away when i passed.

About a mile away i decided to take a short break and listen to some music, bad idea.. started fiddling with my pack, thought i had it all in place, but kept hearing some odd noise, so i slow down to try to“fix” it, catch a root..

If a tree falls in a forest…

Thats how i felt as i met the ground… just needed a minute, take a deep breath and contemplate what to do next. So i checked for injuries, but just some scrapes and bumps, brushed some of the ground off me and continued on with a long deep pho sound and and shake of the head.

The last 2.5 miles, i came across a decent size white tail deer, took me by surprise and in my head it more resembled a big cat at first glance. No joke, like a lion. Took me like 1/2 second to realize that was low probability.

About half mile later i apparently suprised a big fox, it took way too long to notice me and it was cool to watch it just kind of meandering/ standing around, , eventually looked over at me and then jumped off away. Probably all of 5 seconds, but felt like a discovery channel show.

The last mile started with 2 great blue herons taking off about 50 feet in front of me from a tiny little water overflow wetland marsh near a creek area around my neighborhood. Like dinosaurs, pretty much dinosaurs.

Decided to try to drink the last couple mils of h2o and was finished about 10 mins later.

walked home to get clean, assess some damage and get some food into me. Tried to eat an apple in the shower, i don’t recommend it. I think i left the core on the shelf in there, now that i am thinking about it. scrapes in the shower burns pretty good for a sec. I dont recommend that either. Probably need a nap, but so hungry.

 

[global_dev]

Definitely some minot trail rash turning red already alongside some tender ribcage. Well worth it though. Do it again in a second.

I actually was just thinking recently how i hadnt taken a digger in a while… lol

 

[global_dev]

so i definitely bruised my upper ribcage, it's kind of sore, no coloring, maybe 85% ok. i thought i'd give a 5K tempo workout a whirl and see if it was ok. hurts to sneeze

The PT says not much to do, but wait for it to heal.

noticeable discomfort, but not painful at all only for the first 100 meters, and then I realized i had gone out way way too fast and that quickly took over my focus.. l i had plotted this route earlier today, uploaded the route to my watch. I had driven a portion of it once or twice. i did not remember the hills for sure. and i got lost about 1/2 way for about 20-30 seconds. felt like a lemur looking around i think this may be a difference between routes and maps. i don't have a map, i have a route line. it took me a couple moments to get back on the path, but i was 95% running and searching and finally got back on it, it was definitely interesting route of long industrial streets and parking alleys..

here is a tour, btw (this was too much work on my old laptop, so never doing this again). My kid was at PT rehab and the area usually has some runners and cyclists, i figured it was a good way to kill some time while she was getting her workout on. 5K done in 28:15. not bad for running on tired legs, injury, hills, getting lost twice, running past a brewery and then a bbq joint..


Starting line was the yellow hydrant to the left.



1/3 mile in start of the first hill - can't see that it keeps going, and i wasn't too thrilled at this point



start of second hill, also can't see it, but i know it keeps going



and here it is



1 mile in at the top of the hill looking back on where i just came up, i had past the route and was kind of confused , i figured i'd head left into the parking lot and try to find a connection to the left, nope, the route is past the orange cones on the right of the photo, i had gone too far up the hill and lost my way




back on the route and in some odd commercial lots. definitely not what i was expecting and had me question if i was on the right pathway, but the route was telling me i was good to go.



more commercial alleys, luckily it appears the area is not active at this time.



another exciting and beautiful view of a business area, a few "no service" metro buses came this way to call it a day i guess.



and finally the half way point 1.6 mile point, the gate was closed.. hairpin turn and back to the beginning






not sure I'll run this path again soon, there are some walkways going the other way, which may be nicer views (water features, walking pathways and i don't think i recall hills), but it's an nice out and back 5K length.

 

[global_dev]

On Wednesday, i hit the track for a little 6x400m interval action.

Ribcage feel ok, hurts to sneeze, mildly sore when weight bearing, but otherwise fine. weather was nice, not too many people on the track that were in lanes 1-4.

So my intent was to do each of the 6 400m in 1:45s with a minute rest walking/slow jog interval. So i warmed up for 15 mins for about 6 laps and took off for the first lap. Tried to maintain pace and not go to fast. Felt really good through the first 3 laps and the 4th was getting tougher. After the fourth I decided to grab some water and give myself a longer rest of 2-3 mins. That changed everything, popped that 5th lap off easily and then decided to give a 5 min rest and go almost all out the last lap. What a difference a rest makes, I was feeling really nice under my goal pace and when the last 100meters hit, i really felt it all fall away.. it was a struggle to finish quickly but i gave it all that i had and passed the mark. Tried to keep my body relaxed and loose to the end, once i realized i was definitely grimacing and tensing up from 100m down to 75m, really hard to concentrate at that moment.



Finished off with a dynamic stretching cooldown and some strides. Overall i think the distance covered was just under 3.5miles with all three phases, so a pretty good session. But clearly my pacing at speed needs some work.

Over the next couple weeks, i’ll jog/shorten the interval rests until i can get through the 4 400s without rest at that speed. I’m hoping that this slight change to my speed days will move the needle a bit more for the both the physical mental aspect also. I focused a lot on endurance kind of to the detriment of speed and i need to keep them somewhat in balance if i am trying keeping my overall goals in realistic range.

Took the day off yesterday so i could get in a long run today (i hope)

 

[global_dev]

Today was really hot and humid, walking outside felt like wading into a light steam bath.

Afternoon felt like 100F+ with ~50% humidity so my 13yo and i kept the run to an easy pace 5k. Absolutely happy to be done in about 33mins, super slow and just wrecked with sweat at the end. The last K felt like forever. My kid picked up the pace at the end to 8:30. /smdh

 

[global_dev]

Orthostatic test was telling me my cardiovascular system was recovered yesterday and today. Feels good to get those results pretty quickly.

Took a rest day yesterday and mowed the lawn. Not a big yard so took the time to enjoy the moment. Did cross hatch in the front, single cut on the side and a three pass cut in the backyard. Very fulfilling and a nice rest from pounding pavement in the heat/humidity.

Probably gonna go for a longer run today. Gotta get out that door though.

 

[global_dev]

Wow, definitely did not do a long run. Instead i took my kids to a soccer field and we did some flag to flag (through the center circle, jog the goal line) intervals for 15 mins and then had some fun playing around with crosses, corners, headers and 1v1s for about an hour. Tbh, its great to see 2 girls loving the sport at such a high level at their age and practicing with such enthusiasm.

 

[global_dev]

Tried to a 5k alongside my kids training practice and it was hot/humid at 6:30pm. “Feels like”temp over a 100°F. Had a friend join me and we kept the pace to ~9:30mins/mile. it was nice to end it and grab some water. I dont think i had much more in me at that pace yesterday. HR cardiac drift happened about halfway through outside the zones i was trying to keep. Just really hot outside.

 

[GearNoir]

Tried to a 5k alongside my kids training practice and it was hot/humid at 6:30pm. “Feels like”temp over a 100°F. Had a friend join me and we kept the pace to ~9:30mins/mile. it was nice to end it and grab some water. I dont think i had much more in me at that pace yesterday. HR cardiac drift happened about halfway through outside the zones i was trying to keep. Just really hot outside.

Extreme heat + any type of movement =

 

[global_dev]

Thursday, my youngest and I did a 5K on a pretty shaded flat route and it was nice and easy, gave me hope that i wasn't gonna have to drop the pace and effort in this heat.

sooo Friday i went out for a "long run" usually about 7-10 miles maybe 2hrs+ and I decided to go along my 30K path. wasn't too hot or humid, but not cool either. I brought 1L water, an RX bar, and a GU gel. i figured i'd take a sip or 2 of water every mile, eat the rx bar one hour in which should be around 6 miles, take the gu bar sometime later. got about 7 miles in and i was not feeling going the extra 3 and turned around. it was a long 7 miles back, a bit of run/jogging/walking depending on my HR, too high and i would slow way down, felt like the humidity was rising and i didn't want to feel too bad. ate the gel around 3 miles away from home, and just enjoyed a brisk walk back. so about 13.5 miles in 3hours.

today it''s raining, so hopefully the humidity drops a bit this weekend.

 

[global_dev]

Gorgeous day today, low humidity and not too hot, but definitely hot under the sun.I think Friday’s run stressed me ala bit. Had trouble sleeping (maybe cortisol issues) and really really hungry all the time, but the HRV tests tell me I’m ok to train

I was in a rush to get out of the house and forgot my watch, but grabbed the pair of shoes i used on Friday that coincident had a pod still attached. Plan was to run around a track for 4 miles while my kids trained with their summer club and do it kind of easy.

Felt awkward to run by feel 100% and have no pace information. First couple of laps i felt like i was going pretty slow and at the last 6 laps i thought we were pushing it too fast for the initial idea of the easy run.



No HR info, but i am really surprised that each mile was 15 seconds faster than the previous mile. My friend (who runs with me at these trainings) and i were talking easily 90% of the run which is pretty close to easy pace.

Not sure i really want to run without a watch often right now, but i think i’ll try it a bit more often.

 

[August West]

I couldn’t run if I tried.