Week 2+

Week 2 Overview

Last week was a busy week.  I was busy with work and work-related things, so I didn't get much of a chance to post.  So here is my week 2+ overview.

It was overall a good week.  The last time I posted was on Thursday morning with a run of hill repeats planned for that night.  When I talked to my running partner he wanted to run what we call "The Ridge."   The Ridge is a pretty vigorous run that includes rolling hills with 3 sharp inclines.  I figured that it would work for our hill repeats so we set out that afternoon for a shorter run.  We were able to keep a pretty solid pace of around a 10 minute mile for the whole run. 

On friday I had a rifle qualification range, so after the range I did not have the energy to run at all. 

Saturday was my off day for running, so I spent a little time doing some light bike and spent a good part of the day relaxing.

Sundays are my days for my long runs.  I started around 4:30-4:45 in the morning without a running partner and set out for my 12 mile run.  It felt pretty good.  I maintained around an 8:30-8:45 per mile.  Around mile 9.5 on my run, my GPS lost signal so I had to guess how much farther I went to hit my 12 miles, so I simply ran for an extra 40 minutes to be safe.  Since most of my runs are time based rather than distance based, on my long distance run I wanted to make sure that I didn't cut it short.

So far this week has gone quickly.  My running partner's work schedule has switched to evenings, so this week I will have to do my runs on my own, until Sunday for the long run.  Monday was an hour run at medium effort, which went pretty well.  I didn't use a GPS for the run, just my heartrate monitor watch.  It was nice to not focus on mileage and pace for the run, and keep my focus on how I felt.  My average heartrate for the hour came out to right around 160 with a max around 170. 

This week I got the foam roller I had ordered.  I had never used a foam roller and have now used it twice.  It feels pretty good.  My plan is to try to use it 3 times a week, but I need to find different things to do with it. 

This week I also watched the movie "Ultramarathon Man."  Awesome movie about the runner Dean Karnazes (http://www.runnersworld.com/deans-blog) and his 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days.  Awesome inspirational movie.  It really shows some of what the human body can do when conditioned.  From what I have read and heard he is an exceptional case, but in the end the human body is able to withstand so much more than we think it can.

Looking forward to my run tonight.  Hopefully I will be able to update again tomorrow.


 

Week 2 Day 3

Stats:

REST!!!!!
 
Day 3 of each week is my rest day.  I feel like it is way too early in training to be relishing rest days as much as I did yesterday.  On the other hand, it was great.  I did absolutely nothing in my evening.  I sat around and spent time being social.  Social life is good for you.  Enjoying the company of other people is essential to who we are as people.  I am quite an introvert so I have to force myself to spend time with other people, but I find that when I do, most of the time I end up enjoying myself and feeling really good afterwards. 
  
I also started working on my new diet yesterday.  I am working on reducing/cutting out refined carbohydrates.  I do not know if I can completely cut out refined carbs.  Both because I love sweets, and because of my limited choices on some days.  So my go-to breakfast right now is an egg-white omelet, some form of breakfast meat, and oatmeal.  I am also working on keeping filled up on fruit.  I eat pears and bananas throughout the day. 
 
Tonight my training plan shows that it is a hill workout which will consist of 3x600 meter repeats.  Not sure where to find a 600 meter hill, but I think I found something close to it.  I will be working out with my running partner tonight.  It will be a nice shorter workout rather than simply sustained running.  I am looking forward to that.

Week 2 Day 2

Week 2 Day 2:

Stats:
Time:45 Minutes
Effort: Easy
Distance: 4.6 Miles
Pace: 9:50

Yesterday was day 2 of week 2 with an easy run of 45 minutes.  I got off work last night with a pretty painful headache and waited around for my running partner to show up.  I really did not want to run, and was hoping he would not show.  After waiting for 15 minutes past the agreed start time, he still wasn't there.  I had a tough decision to make: Get out and run the 45 minutes, take the evening off, or go for an easy 45 minutes on the elliptical.  In the end I decided to go ahead and do my run.
 
I started my run by myself feeeling pretty good.  A nice easy jog.  Because I didn't eat dinner before starting my run, I was having no stomach pains, which was really nice.  I have been reading a few ultramarathon blogs, and I am thinking about switching my diet a little bit to only eating natural carbs, no processed carbs.  The hardest parts about trying to make this switch would be my sweet-tooth, which I have mentioned before, and the fact that the dining facility here has amazing desserts at least twice a week.  I think that despite my limited food choices where I am at I should be able to make this switch.  I will take a look and maybe start today.
  
After about 15 minutes, I passed my running partner on his way to meet me and he joined in.  We then did 30 minutes together at a nice conversational pace.  The headache didn't go away at all during the run, but I was able to work through it and start to ignore it. 
  
There are two things I really like about running.  The first is simply moving under your own power.  The fact that the human body can move and flow naturally is incredible to me.  Everything is designed to work together and to in harmony, and the more we allow it to through working out the better it gets at it.  The second is being able to look inside of yourself and be introspective on a deep level.  The surface questions such as "Who am I?" fall away and you begin to start asking questions like "What am I made of?"  Do I have what it takes to tell my body and my mind who is boss in this relationship or am I going to let them get the best of me and tell me to take a day off when I do not need it?  I'm not saying I have always won that battle, but when I do it makes me want to win more and more. 
  
Today is a scheduled off day.  I think I may still hit the gym for a little cross-training with the elliptical or the stationary bike.  I also like to get in a little tanning session at the end of my shorter work days.  We shall see how today pans out. 

Week 2 Day 1

Week 2 Day 1:

Stats:
Time:1 Hour
Effort: Medium-Hard
Distance: 6.9 Miles
Pace: 8:44

Last night was an hour run at a medium effort... or at least that was what is was supposed to be.  Ran with a friend and I think we pushed each other a little too much.  We finished 6.9 miles in the hour with an average pace around 8:45 per mile.  Not fast, but a little bit faster that I had intended.  Still a very good run.
    
Right now with my current schedule, I have been eating dinner before I run, but I think that the food I am eating is not agreeing with my stomach in the early parts of my run.  I need to experiment a little bit more with what I am eating pre-run.  Last night it was a turkey sandwich and potato wedges, and a couple bites of cheesecake.  I wasn't going to eat the cheesecake, but someone set it on the table and rather than saying no completely I agreed to have a couple of bites.  Then I let my food digest for about 30 minutes and set out.
   
For the first 10 minutes or so, I had to take it pretty easy because of stomach pains from food intake.  Once those went away we were able to pick it up.  Tonight I plan to eat after my run so I do not have the stomach pains.  I also need to start working on things that are easily digested that I can eat during my runs for when I increase distance.
 
I like the running app I am using.  I am using the free version of the Noom Coach on Android which I can set a time goal in and it will give me regular updates on percentage completed and estimated final distance.  That helps me keep within an approximate goal pace without being too strict about it.
 
It is always nice doing an evening run out here, because the sunset over the city looks absolutely amazing.  I love the way the colors reflect on the buildings in the near distance, and the uniformity of the color of the buildings makes it look incredible. 
 
After the run, I stretched out for a little bit.  I am thinking about incorporating some yoga or something similar into my cooldown/stretching.  I just need to find something to use.  I also have ordered a foam roller for when my muscles need some extra working out and I should be receiving that soon.
 
Tonight's run will be a 45 minute to one hour run at an easy pace. 

Background and Week 1

Background:

I am a 29 year old male in the US military.  I am 6 feet tall, and before starting training I weigh 220 pounds and have an average weekly mileage of around 20-25 miles.  I am currently deployed and do not have many choices as to my nutrition, but I try to be moderate in the things I eat.  I have a serious sweet-tooth and allow myself to indulge a couple of times a week.  I run because I love to, and also  because of my sweet-tooth.  While deployed I work 12 hour days most of the week and am trying to fit my training into this schedule.

To me there is very little in life that compares to the feeling you get when you keep going on and pushing your body, and get “into the zone” on a run and everything else other than moving fades away.  The world could start ending around me while I am on a run and I am pretty sure I would ignore it. 

My current goals are to train for a 50k during my deployment and keep working on the UltraMarathon distance. 

My current training plan incorporates time on my feet, no matter how tired my legs are, and a couple of hill workouts.  However, where I am located, there are hills everywhere, so every run I do turns into a hilly run at some point.  I take no credit for the training plan I am using, I found it online at: http://running.competitor.com/files/2012/11/46_nat_r1.pdf.       I altered the schedule to fit my long days, and my days off.

My modified schedule fits something like this:

MON- 1 Hour medium effort

TUE- 45-60 min easy run + core workout

WED- OFF

THURS- Hilly run or hill repeats

FRI- 1:15-1:30 easy run + core workout

SAT- OFF

SUN –Long run

Week  1:

I will give a brief gloss over the past week, simply because I am writing at the beginning of week 2.

Last Monday was the start of week 1 with one hour of medium effort.  One of the things I really like about this plan is that the focus is not on mileage, but on time and personal effort.  Currently my focus on effort works like this.  With a medium effort run, I try to run around a 9-9:30 mile.  On an easy day run like Tuesday, I try to run between a 10-12 minute mile.  I am also trying to incorporate some sprints into my morning workouts.  I run in the evenings for all days except for my long day which I try to get done in the morning. 
 
This past Thursday I skipped my run.  My Friday run was probably one of the best runs I have had in the three months I have been deployed.  The hour and a half simply flew by in no time and I was done before I knew what had happened.  The same thing happened on my Sunday run.  However, I need to remember to wear sun block for my longer runs in the mornings because when I got done the whole left side of my face and my left arm were quite red from the sun being on that side of me almost the whole time. 
 
All in all, it was a very good week 1 for my training plan and I absolutely love the increased mileage.  According to my GPS app, and my heart rate monitor watch I burned approximately an extra 4500 calories throughout the week.  I have had very little soreness in my legs and no pain in my joints.  I am sure part of this is due to properly refueling with protein and carbs after my runs, and taking cool showers after my longer runs. 

This week, I will be keeping most of the same schedule, with a 12 mile run on Sunday.