The run didn't start out very good as by the time I got out the door it was already 6 am which for me is very late. And not to mention that I haven't been sleeping well. Its been a constant pattern of being exhausted by 9 pm and crashing but wide awake around 1 am for a couple of hours, then back to sleep and finally getting up at 5 am to workout. I think its the return of insomnia.
Anyways, I headed out the door and got about 400 metres when I felt the hot water in my water bottle slosh around and start to run down the back of my shirt, pants and running jacket. WTF??? The water bottle was leaking and every step I took the water spilled out and I was getting wet. Not a good thing as I start out for a two hour run in the middle of winter so I had to head back home and changed all my clothes.
The wind had picked up so I figure the best tactic was to run into the wind for the first part and have the wind at my back on the way home which worked out to be perfect. I was tired when I reached my turn around point after 53 minutes of running but I really begin to run out of gas around the 1:20 mark. Fortunately I had put two gels in my running belt and probably would have been walking back home with out them. My hamstring began to ache and I could feel my glute begin to shut down so a couple of times, I ran backwards for a couple of hundred metres. I look like a dork running backwards but it worked as it helps reactive the glutes and I could feel instant relief.
The last 15 minutes were brutal and I really struggled to finish. I know I missed a couple of runs last week but I was really surprised how tough it was to run for two hours (21.5 km). I was really sore and stiff after the run and popped a couple of aspirins for the aches and pain. I thought running a marathon wouldn't be that tough as I did Muskoka 70.3 last year but I'm beginning to wonder how painful a full would be.
On Thursday at Masters, Serge had us to a 1,000 metre time trial with pull buoys after the warm up. This was very interesting as I learned a lot about pacing and perceived effort. The idea was to break it into four 250 metres tranches which each tranche increasing the speed but Serge wasn't going to call out your times so you had to figure it would yourself. I started out first and didn't bother with the pull buoys as I was worried about the strain on my shoulders as well as the fact that its so much easier to swim with them. I was interested to see what time I could come up with to compare it with my race times.
I'm a horrible counter when swimming laps and can lose count after three laps. I'm not sure why but fortunately I had my sports watch that had a lap counter. I started out slow trying to stretch out each stroke and fought the urge to speed up. By the half way mark, I began to speed up (or I thought). I was annoyed that the lady (who never yields) was right behind me for the whole time. Goes to show how much easier it is to swim when you're using pull buoys and drafting so I began to pick up the pace and by the last 250 metres I began to hammer it and pulled away from her. In fact, I sprinted the last 25 metres.
The results were interesting. My time was 18:41 which works out to be 1:52 per 100 meters. Nothing great but pretty much in line with my normal race pace and I wasn't that tired and could have swam faster. I swam the first 250 metres in 4:41 and then the next two tranches, I actually got slower!! I could swear that the 2nd and 3rd tranches I had picked up the paces but my times show the opposite. Only in the last tranche did my pace pick up faster than the first one (4:21). As Serge said, I was goofing around in the 2nd and 3rd tranches. That is totally weird as I thought I was going faster but actually I was going slower. I think this exercise can easily be translated to riding and especially running as I'm always sprinting at the end when really what I should be doing is maintaining a constant steady pace.
Ok enough blogging. Time for some P90X yoga as I'm sore from yesterday's run.
On Thursday at Masters, Serge had us to a 1,000 metre time trial with pull buoys after the warm up. This was very interesting as I learned a lot about pacing and perceived effort. The idea was to break it into four 250 metres tranches which each tranche increasing the speed but Serge wasn't going to call out your times so you had to figure it would yourself. I started out first and didn't bother with the pull buoys as I was worried about the strain on my shoulders as well as the fact that its so much easier to swim with them. I was interested to see what time I could come up with to compare it with my race times.
I'm a horrible counter when swimming laps and can lose count after three laps. I'm not sure why but fortunately I had my sports watch that had a lap counter. I started out slow trying to stretch out each stroke and fought the urge to speed up. By the half way mark, I began to speed up (or I thought). I was annoyed that the lady (who never yields) was right behind me for the whole time. Goes to show how much easier it is to swim when you're using pull buoys and drafting so I began to pick up the pace and by the last 250 metres I began to hammer it and pulled away from her. In fact, I sprinted the last 25 metres.
The results were interesting. My time was 18:41 which works out to be 1:52 per 100 meters. Nothing great but pretty much in line with my normal race pace and I wasn't that tired and could have swam faster. I swam the first 250 metres in 4:41 and then the next two tranches, I actually got slower!! I could swear that the 2nd and 3rd tranches I had picked up the paces but my times show the opposite. Only in the last tranche did my pace pick up faster than the first one (4:21). As Serge said, I was goofing around in the 2nd and 3rd tranches. That is totally weird as I thought I was going faster but actually I was going slower. I think this exercise can easily be translated to riding and especially running as I'm always sprinting at the end when really what I should be doing is maintaining a constant steady pace.
Ok enough blogging. Time for some P90X yoga as I'm sore from yesterday's run.
GREAT RUN! 21.5 dude nice job indeed! Running backwards though, yeh that'd turn a few heads haha! Does it work? I've never thought about that. My hamstrings are burning up, getting tight, would that help?
ReplyDeleteI dont bother counting at the pool. I swim continuous freestyle for 1hr. I check my lap times once and while to makes sure I dont got any slower that 1:50min/100m. Usually I'm 1:40 cruising. That way, in one hour I know I did at least 3000m. Its more like 3300, but I say 3Km to be safe.
I dont do drills. not yet at least, they dont appeal to me.