Category Archives: 04mi

Stopping Short (again)

0, 04mi, tempo

Start time: 9/6/07, 7:30am
Location: Arlington Boulevard Trail
Distance: 4.5 miles
Average pace: 8:32min/mile

On the schedule for Thursday was a 10-mile tempo; the plan was to split it up into two parts like I did for the 9-miler. Easy, right?

When I headed out in the morning for the first 5-miler, I was already really tired; not a good sign. I hadn’t slept well and I was just dragging. By the time I began to near home base at mile 3, I was giving serious thoughts to just quitting. Instead, I sucked it up as best I could and pushed on, doing a pretty good job of keeping pace the whole way through. Well, up until mile 4.5 where I decided I really was done and would just use the last half mile as a cool-down. So of course, looking grubby and walking dejectedly home is when Steve and Britt drove by on their way to work, waving merrily away. My timing is impeccable.

I was supposed to run the other 5 miles with Pacers (whom I haven’t been with in ages) but when I left work I was even more tired than I was in the morning. So, I ended up scratching the run entirely, which was disappointing because I’d been really looking forward to it. *sigh* Some days, you just can’t win. Here’s to a better run this weekend, right?

LTRs yet again

0, 04mi, lactate threshold run, new shoes

Start time: 9/4/07, 5:30pm
Location: Thomas Jefferson Community Center
Distance: ~4.5 miles
Average pace: 9:15min/mile & 7:00min/mile

This was definitely a little harder, as the reps shot up to 6x3min. (Plus no running since the previous Thursday.) Feeling it in the last lap? Oh, you betcha. But on pace, so all’s well that ends well.

Split Shift

0, 04mi, 05mi, 09mi, tempo

Start time: 8/16/07, 7:30am & 6:30pm
Location: Clarendon/CourtHouse/Rosslyn & W&OD Trail
Distance: 5 miles & 4 miles
Average pace: 8:50min/mile & 8:38min/mile

Now, I’ve been told for years that splitting up a long run into two portions throughout the day will give you the same benefits as running it all at once, and that various studies have confirmed such ideas. But, I’ll be honest, I’ve always been a little wary of that. As my scheduled Thursday runs get longer, though, splitting them up into morning and evening seems like a better and better plan. So, today I chopped my 9-miler into two segments.

The morning part started out well, but around halfway through with a huge uphill trudge and enough humidity to make me feel like a smear on the pavement, I was definitely slowing down; by mile 4, I couldn’t take it anymore and I ended up taking a minute walk break to help recharge somewhat. Oof. Not a pleasant run.

The evening part was hotter, yet I ended up actually doing a lot better. It was only the third mile that really brought my average down; I was pretty pleased with my splits overall (8:40, 8:34, 8:54, 8:24) and I felt like I could’ve kept going for another mile or two at that pace. Well, if it wasn’t for the fact that I was so sweat-soaked I was afraid I was going to pour out of my clothing. As I told a friend later, only three times before have I ever been so miserable while running that I took my shirt off, but if tonight’s run had been any longer it would’ve been the fourth. Oof!

Which way to go?

0, 04mi, lactate threshold run

Start time: 8/14/07, 7:15am
Location: Washington & Lee High School
Distance: ~4.75 miles
Average pace: 9:25min/mile & 7:00min/mile

In the “planning to do this for ages” category, for this morning’s LTRs (after a week off of running due to weather conditions and then being on vacation) I did my warm-up run by jogging a mile over to Washington & Lee High School, then ran the LTRs on their track. For the most part it was nice, but I did get a little annoyed at one point. When I got there, other runners were on the track and everyone was running clockwise. Ok, clockwise it is.

Halfway through my run, most of the other runners had left, and then a new group showed up and… started running counterclockwise. Which means you’re dodging each person twice per lap. Maybe it’s just me, but if I show up at a track and everyone is running in one direction, I’ll do the same out of consideration for my fellow runners. Pfft.

(Suddenly the “you must run this direction” signs at my closed-for-two-weeks community center’s indoor track make even more sense.)

Next week, the LTRs shift from 10x2min to 4x3min. This ought to be interesting.

Return to the Max

0, 04mi, vo2 max

Start time: 8/3/07, 7:30am
Location: W&OD Trail
Distance: ~4.5 miles
Average pace: 9:30min/mile & ~6:20min/mile

Well, I finally hit the VO2 Max runs again. The plan was to run them with Laura at Madison High School (I had checked on my parents’s house the night before, done some weeding, and then spent the night; Madison is just around the corner) but instead we had to scrub that plan because the track is being rebuilt. Oops! So, off to the W&OD Trail, where we did 8 reps of the VO2 Max runs. Not the full prescribed 10, but considering the most I’d done before was 4, that’s a big victory for me. Just guessing on times here. All I knew for certain is we worked.

Two Updates for the Price of One

0, 04mi, 08mi, lactate threshold run, tempo

Start time: 7/31/07, 7:30am
Location: Thomas Jefferson Community Center
Distance: ~4.75 miles
Average pace: 9:20min/mile & 7:00min/mile

Nothing to really report about the LTRs; the 10 reps went great, the “cool down” lap was above pace again, and about the only thing new was for a chance I did my LTRs on the indoor track on a “counter-clockwise” day. (I seem to always hit “clockwise” day.)

Start time: 8/1/07, 7:00am
Location: W&OD Trail
Distance: 8 miles
Average pace: 8:55min/mile

Well, there was nothing “tempo” about the run at all based on that pace, but after spending 40 minutes of yawning and trying to talk myself out of running at all (tired tired tired), I got the distance under my belt for what turned out to be a very, very long Wednesday indeed. Oof.

New LTR Distance

0, 04mi, lactate threshold run

Start time: 7/24/07, 5:30pm
Location: McLean High School
Distance: ~4.75 miles
Average pace: 9:20min/mile & 7:00min/mile

Tuesday’s LTRs extended the number up from 8 reps to 10. I was of the, “We’ll see how this goes” mindset, but happily reps 9 and 10 were right on pace at the 7min/mile time. Hurrah! The funniest part, though, is that at the start and end is a mile warmup/cooldown at a nice slow pace. Lately when I’ve been doing them with Laura, we end up somewhere around a 9:40min/mile pace for those. (Which is exciting when I think that last year my regular pace was a 9:30.) So I’ve finished up all ten LTRs, I’ve started my cooldown, I feel like I’m going slow, but the quarter mile loops on the track seem a bit fast according to my watch. Sure enough? 8:55. Heh. Proof that those LTRs really do work!

Highs and Lows

0, 04mi, 05mi, lactate threshold run, tempo

Start time: 7/17/07, 6:15pm
Location: McLean High School
Distance: ~4.25 miles
Average pace: 9:40min/mile & 7:00min/mile

It was sickeningly hot on Tuesday, yet somehow Laura and I had a really good set of LTRs. We kicked some serious butt, and I was delighted with how on-the-dot we were. This was a good prelude, then, to…

Start time: 7/19/07, 7:30am
Location: W&OD Trail
Distance: 5 miles
Average pace: 8:39min/mile

…my crappy tempo run, which doesn’t look bad until you realize it was supposed to actually be a 7-miler. I just felt run down and a tiny bit sick as it progressed, until I finally just decided that enough was enough. I’d been smart enough to weigh myself right before leaving. Upon returning? 2.5 pounds of water sweated out. Ouch. Too hot, and bad hydration equals a crappy run. I must try and keep that in mind. (How long have I been doing this?)

“Stop that, you’re making me giddy!”

0, 04mi, lactate threshold run

Start time: 7/10/07, 7:45am
Location: Thomas Jefferson Community Center
Distance: ~4.25 miles
Average pace: 10:00min/mile & 7:00min/mile

After running LTRs with Julie and Laura last week, it was a little sad to be by myself today. On the other hand, it is still hot as blazes in the DC area, so given an option of outside after work at the McLean High School track, or using the indoor (and therefore air-conditioned) track at my gym in the morning? I know which one I will take every time. Anyway, 8x2min were knocked out just fine. Hurrah! That said, using an 1/8th mile track? Ugh, you get a little dizzy after a while.

Sir Sweat-a-Lot

0, 04mi, tempo

Start time: 7/6/07, 7:30am
Location: Clarendon
Distance: 4 miles
Average pace: 8:40min/mile

Went for a quick run this morning; not the full prescribed distance, but a lack of proper hydration coupled with early morning temperatures meant that it was a tad uncomfortable; according to the scale approximately 1.5 pounds of water were sweated out this morning. Oof. (Also, a sudden surprise while running: the Arlington Boulevard Trail doesn’t go past Glebe. Oops. I quickly changed direction and veered north on Glebe and continued there in a big loop, rather than my planned out-and-back route. Oh well.)