8K PR!

I ran my first 8K and also my first night race back on Friday, as the State Troopers Association and a local restaurant paired up to put a Freaky Friday event together for a 9 pm start.

Some folks dressed up for Halloween-- some dressed as basketball/football referees, lots of tutus, and a few kitty cat outfits worn by girls and other women. Some came dressed as runners, including myself-- I dressed as a Kenyan runner.

The weather was a little chilly, with temps in the upper 40s. I had my race team shirt on, followed by my running hoodie (worn the day I completed my half marathon) and new red vest. I also had racing tights on underneath my wind pants, as well as my new beanie cap. So, yeah, I overdressed a little. Also provided was a racing light, which was pretty critical. I've run every step of the course many times over, but you're unsure of your footing since there is no lighting for much of it.

I chose a goal time of 40 minutes, or 8:00 per mile. I've been running sub-8 in 5K races, and I wanted to see if I could hold it for five miles. So I put my foot on the accelerator and took off. Turns out the pace was pretty quick-- 7:42 for the first mile. Something I can't really explain is how my heart rate monitor pegged at 220 and 208 in the first five minutes, before settling in the low 170s for the first few miles, and the mid to upper 170s later on. So yeah, I was redlining it.

I finally got my pace under control a little, as my next five half-mile splits were 3:57-4:02, with a max of 4:05 on the eighth split, which translates to an 8:11 mile, by far my worst. I had decided to hold the pace as long as I could, and I really wasn't sure I would be able to.

My best half-mile split was the last one-- 3:49. So there was something left for a bit of a finishing kick and a 39:24 finish.

Now I mentioned how I overdressed, and how you dress for 10 degrees warmer than it actually is, since once you start running, your body will heat itself. I sweated through my shirt, hoodie and vest. All were soaked, as was my cap. I was 4th in my new 40-44 age group, with third place two minutes ahead of me. But I was very pleased with my run-- I gave everything I had and beat my goal time by 40 seconds, placing 27th out of 113.

It brought a close to easy week-- my first easy week with some meat on the bones. Some intervals during a five-miler Monday and the effort here. Back up to near 30 in the weeks to come.

Light Week

I've reached the end of another training cycle... Mileage was 28-30-28 for the last three weeks. Solid workouts.

This week I'm planning four runs of five miles each as I reduce the workload this week. I'm thinking of throwing in some heart-rate intervals for my second run Tuesday, and I'm signed up for a Freaky Friday 8K this week. But otherwise nothing intense is planned.

I did sneak in eight miles yesterday and ten the week before for my Saturday long runs. I've been throwing in five-minute pickups every 20 minutes to change things up a little. And for the first time, I was bored on a run. Not tired or out of gas, just wanting to do something else. It was pretty weird.

The weather is also starting to turn colder here in Alabama. I used my birthday money to buy a Brooks running vest at the store that I had my eye on for several months. I imagine I'll get to take it for a spin before too long, as I get used to my cold weather gear once again.

Heart Rate

It’s the third week of the training cycle, meaning that an easy week is next. I ran 28 miles two weeks ago, 30 last week and 30 also this week. The long run last week was a 10-miler, just as it will be this week.

I’ve begun experimenting with heart rate workouts, where you aim for a certain target with each run, even the recovery runs. I did intervals Monday, harder running to get the heart rate to a certain number, then easy running until it lowers to a certain point. Wednesday was tempo run day, four miles at about 8:15 or so, with a HR of about 165-168.

My max heart rate (MHR) is 185, so I’m going off that to get a zone 4 range of 157-171. My Garmin is designed to handle these things—it beeps at you if your HR is too low or too high, and is silent if you’re in the range you want.

What I’m having trouble with is telling the Garmin where I want the ranges to be. I’ll be running in the range I want, but it’ll tell me that’s too high. So it’s a trial and error process. We’ll get there.

I’ve also learned about the array of info available on my Garmin watch. I’ve had the settings a certain way as long as I’ve owned it, but tinkering with the number of data fields on each screen and what those screens display has been an eye opener. I can have it tell me things like pace, heart rate, speed (mph), sunrise, sunset, cadence (unsure on that one), etc. Amazing. That’s also a work in progress as I determine what info I want to have while I’m out there.

Wednesday Intervals

Took off on my six-mile interval run today, picking up the pace for a full minute at 8, 15, 23, 31, 39 and 47 minutes. I don’t aim for a pace on these pickups, but they get near the 7:30-mile area. Three weeks ago I did these intervals every nine minutes, two weeks ago every eight. Total time this morning was 56 and some change.

It’s a great way to get the heart rate up, but the end of my runs typically pose the biggest challenge, with two decent uphills at the end, one of which is at the very end of the run.

Today’s run was in my Saucony Guide 2 stability shoes, which have about 275 miles on them. A few weeks ago I put navy blue bungee laces on them, and the results are excellent. No laces to tie/untie, and the shoes fit looser but are just as secure on my feet. The elastic laces spread the pressure up and down my foot instead of concentrating the pressure at the knot in regular laces.

So another six in the bank—15 for the week, headed for 28, which includes a scheduled nine-miler on Saturday.

New cycle

I relaxed a little last week, which was the fourth week of a training cycle. I try to ease up on my mileage. My last heavy week was 26 miles, so the goal was 18 or 19, or roughly 2/3 of the previous week.

I only made it to 13 miles, and I'm not feeling badly about it. I could've reached the goal, but a few things came up and I chose not to. I think it's important to not get too wrapped up in getting all my runs in, as I think it becomes a little unhealthy to get too wrapped up in 'the streak.'

I compare it to going to church. My wife and I really enjoy worshiping every Sunday. Every Sunday. We don't even ask what we're doing Sundays, we just go. But sometimes I like to skip a week (preachy moment approaching), because I want to make sure I'm focusing in the right direction.

So for similar reasons, I don't mind skipping a run.

I ran a five this morning, my first outing since Thursday, and it sure felt like it. I went with tights underneath wind pants and a t-shirt, as some cooler temps are here. Right around 50 degrees as I took off this morning. It's nice that I can be a little more leisurely, instead of worrying about the mercury skyrocketing as soon as the sun rises.

28 is the goal for the week-- interval work 6 Wednesday and nine miles is on the agenda for long run Saturday.