Change of plans

So I was creating a training plan for a friend and I was thinking about the directions I was giving, and it occurred to me that I am probably not taking my own advice. While I have a pretty good base, I still need to remember that I am starting off on a much more focused training effort than I have done before and need to think of myself as less experienced.

Right now my heart/lungs have improved beyond my muscles. It's easier to get the heart/lungs in shape than the muscles and bones. I am at risk for a soft tissue injury.

I'm going to cut back on the number of "4" training days to one from two, at least until the muscles have a chance to catch up to the improved cardiopulmonary performance. The adjusted plan is:
Monday - 3
Tuesday - 4 (or 3)
Wednesday - 2 (or 3)
Thursday - 2 (or 4)
Friday - 3 (or 2)
Saturday - 3 (or 2)

The "3" training days are still solid training and help to advance my fitness level, whereas "2" is just maintenance and recovery. (BTW a "1" seems to be equivalent to "living a daily life"). Let's see how that goes through February.

The downside of getting in shape

After just these few weeks working with my new training plan, I can
see cardiopulmonary improvements in my daily workout.

I have to run longer and harder to get my heart rate and epoc levels
up. This is really neat!

The downside is that hitting a "4" on the five-point suunto training
scale is harder and now it is beginning to feel like a workout. I may
have to change my training plan to only have a "4" one day per week
instead of two days per week.

2009 Disneyworld Marathon Weekend photos

I've posted my photos to my FaceBook account.
You can see them at:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2015074&l=cd0f1&id=1042743758

The new toy

So I did get my new toy for Christmas. It is the Suunto t6c, with the heart rate monitor and the GPS Pod. It's a sweet deal!

It does all sorts of cool stuff, but what I like most about it is that Suunto boils my workout down into a single number, 1 through 5, where 1 is not really exercising much and 5 is killing myself I'm pushing so hard. And now, finally, I can plan and execute training runs which are defined levels of hard on a weekly basis, and I can be sure that my workout outcome is not just how I happen to feel at the moment, but based on what my body actually did.

Ok, other interesting things it measures are heart rate (min, max, average, R-R [measuring between the beats]), ventilation, temp, elevation (ascent, descent), EPOC, and a bunch of other things I'm forgetting. EPOC is kind of cool, the basis for the one-number workout results. It indicates how much of an oxygen deficit has been created by the workout. The higher the oxygen deficit, the harder the workout. Of course this is relative - Lance Armstrong and I running the same mile are going to have vastly different results. But then I'm not trying to improve Lance, I'm trying to improve the real me.

So far I've used it on the treadmill. I need to get outside one moderately warm day and test that out.

What sealed the deal for me with the Suunto? Well, a couple of things:
* it has owner-replaceable batteries. The best rechargeables only last for 10 hours, most only 8hrs, and if I am going to run longer on a regular basis I need to be able to use the device for longer.
* It comes with analysis software (Training Manager) which helps to interpret the training results. Others had software also, but most were moving to the web-based approach.
* training results can be downloaded into a CSV file for use in Excel, or in some other way. Polar and Garmin only let you download to their software or their website.
* it captures temperature. Not true ambient temperature when it is on my arm, but then it doesn't always need to be on my arm, it could be in a pouch. Temperature is one of those things that has seemed to kill me and I'd like to have the data points to disprove it or not.
* I can use the Suunto as a...watch! Without the attachments sending in data feeds, the watch itself has a regular-watch battery life. And it looks like a watch. tells time, has an alarm, etc.

Things that didn't matter to me:
* GPS is implemented in a pod. Oh well, half had a pod, half had it incorporated into the watch. It seemed like the pod approach had the capability of being more accurate, since it should be possible to place the pod where it would get more sky exposure than where I can place the watch.

Things that the Suunto didn't have:
* Suunto didn't have the neat Garmin feature of showing breadcrumbs from the GPS and being able to record GPS coordinates. That would have been nifty but I don't usually run out in the wilderness where I might get lost, and I hope I never wish I had breadcrumbs to get home.
* Suunto also has a web site for data analysis, but I haven't been able to get it to work yet.
* Suunto also doesn't let me download the GPS trail for GIS use, which would have been neat. Oh well, it is true that you can't have it all.


Interesting conclusions so far:
* I have been working out too hard. I would train lightly during the week and then go pull a 5-level workout every weekend. My body never got a chance to build itself up before it was slammed, and then spent all its time recovering without building new capability.

My current workout plan is:
Monday - run a 3
Tue, Thu - run a high 4
Wed, Fri - run a low 2
Saturday - run a high 2 or low 3
Sunday - rest

As my body adapts to the workout, my capability will increase, and the definition of any particular level will also adjust itself.

Happy Trails!

2009 race plans

These are my 2009 race plans so far.

January 10, 11 - Disneyworld Goofy Race-and-a-Half
February 15 - Washington's Birthday Marathon, Beltsville, MD
March 22 - Shamrock Marathon @ Virginia Beach, VA
April 18 - Charlottesville Marathon @ Charlottesville, VA
May 3 - Frederick Marathon (first half of Maryland Double)
June 27 - Rock-n-Roll in Seattle
July - TBD (I don't think I will be ready for Vermont, and I can't stand the thought of another DNF at that price)
August - TBD
September 6 - Disneyland 5K and Disneyland Half Marathon
October 10 - Baltimore Marathon (second half of Maryland Double)
October 25 - MCM
November 21 - JFK
December - TBD (Dec 12 - VHTRC Fat-Ass 50K)
January 9, 10 - Disneyworld Goofy Race-and-a-Half

Goofy's Race-and-a-half - Mickey's Marathon

The marathon is the signature event of the DisneyWorld Marathon Weekend. Weather forecasts had been toying with brief showers forecast for race day, but by race morning those had been pushed back to Sunday evening.

Sunday was forecast warmer than Saturday. In fact, starting temperatures were about 9F higher than Saturday, while the noon temperature was in the upper 70s. I forced water at each water stop and limited my carb intake - once again this technique served me well (thanks to Gatorade Sports Science Institute for their help). I finished in 5:09, an okay time and my fastest on this course, but i really did want to break 5 hours. oh well.
5 miles 11.55
10 miles 11.221
Half way 11.38
20 miles 11.55
Finish 11.826

2009 Goofy Race-and-a-Half - Donald's Half Marathon

The forecast was chilly, for Florida - 50F starting temp at 6am, 55F by 8am. I ran almost the entire way, excepting water stops and a handful of water stops. I tried to hold back, but my body and my mind wanted to go. I finished in 2:24 for a hair under an 11 minute mile, in the 40% percentile for males and the 58th percentile for my 44-49 age group. My splits were:
5K 11.:32 min total pace
10k 11:40 min total pace
15k 11:11 min total pace
the moon was out and it was just lovely overall.
I was a little concerned about the pace I kept, considering that speed was not important on this race.