Hal Higdon Training: 18 Mile Run

18 Miles - 3 Hrs 8 Mins 44 secs - 10:29 pace/mile - 2251 Total Calories Burned - Avg Heart Rate 136

Them there are me stats for this mornings run. The weather was cold and it rained the entire time so absolutely perfect for a run!

Here is a Google Earth view of the Kingwood Greenbelt trails we ran:

What a difference a week makes! Last weeks long run which was a mere 12 miles damn near ended me. This weeks run of 18 miles was relatively easy. Well, as easy as running 18 consecutive miles can be!

We parked the car at a Walgreens on Northpark Drive, just down the road from the house, at about 7:30am. It rained all of last night and was still raining. Annie and I talked about postponing until Monday morning when the weather was supposed to be better but we decided to Harden the F up and just do the run in the cold and rain. This ended up being a good decision. It was uncomfortable in the beginning but after about 2 miles my body adjusted to the weather and I was feeling pretty darn good. Aside from ringing water out of my hat every few miles it was pretty refreshing running in the rain. If I had to do it again I'd have worn my trail running shoes instead of the Asics because they are Gore-Tex!

During the run I hydrated with fruit punch flavored Gatorade (40oz total) and every 30-45 minutes I took in a pack of Vanilla Bean GU. The GU is about 100 calories and the Gatorade is 70 calories per 10ozs. So I took in 400 calories of GU and 280 calories of Gatorade for a total of 680 calories. I burned 2251 calories so just by simple comparison you can see I am going to have to increase my intake if I want to go longer distances. This was about right for this distance. However, about mile 16 I could tell I probably could have used some more fuel. I was still able to finish strong - the last mile was my best split of the day! But as I continue to learn how my body responds to these increased distances it is important to understand the impact nutrition intake during the workouts has on overall performance.

After today's run I am even more stoked to do the 50k trail run in two weeks. The reason is twofold: One is that over 18 miles my Avg Heart Rate was an extremely low 136 BPM. In my opinion, this means I have the conditioning for the longer distance. Two is that my legs feel pretty darn good. They felt good during the run and feel good now. I have no need for ice or advil and this is a sign that I have put on the necessary miles in training to successfully complete the 50k. I actually think that the determining factor for me having a successful race is going to be my nutritional intake. If I get the right amount of calories in then I should be able to finish this crazy race!

Tomorrow and Monday are off days. I might slowly spin the bike around the neighborhood just to loosen up and maybe get a brief swim in on Monday.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Rest Day - 18 Mile Run Tomorrow

I am resting up right now for the 18 miler tomorrow morning.

It is 9:30 on a Friday night and I am getting ready to go to bed ... the life of a Triathlete!

Will report back after the run.

Jeff

Hal Higdon Training: 5 Mile Run

The alarm clock went off at 5am today and Annie and I looked at each other and decided to run in the evening! Neither of us slept good and it didn't take much convincing to stay in bed for another 2 hours.

Annie got home from work around 6:30 so we got on the running gear and hit the road. It was dark so we put on bright reflective clothing and went for our run. 5 miles was no problem tonight, even after 9 miles yesterday! We ended up doing the run in 47 minutes and that included a couple minute hiatus to play with a neighbor's puppies.

Up to 30 miles run for the week!

Tomorrow is a scheduled off day and we will rest up and get ready for the 18 mile run on Saturday.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Hal Higdon Training: 9 Mile Run

Did 9 miles on this cool, crisp Texas morning!

It is amazing how some days the run is hard and other days the run is easy. Today was one of the easy days!

Getting ready to settle in for a marathon catch up of, "Californication" Season 3. I On-Demanded the first 8 episodes and can't wait to watch it. This show is hysterical.

Tomorrow morning is a 5 mile run.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Hal Higdon Training: 4 Mile Run

Here is a little something I picked up for my upcoming Trail run - a First Aid Kit!

I got this little sucker at REI and it has everything in it that a injury prone person like myself could need - bandages, gauze, scissors, tape, antiseptic spray, bee sting stuff, stuff for pain, stuff for your stomach and much more! I am ready for the trail run!

Back on the horse today!

Got up early and put on a long sleeve running shirt and a knit hat - It was only 40 degrees - which is like the end of the world for us Texans!

The good news is that today's 4 mile run was very strong. My legs felt great and with each step I got progressively stronger. According to my training schedule this run is supposed to be an easy one that lets you recover from the long weekend run. That is exactly what today was! The 4 miles was done in 37 mins which is about a 9:20/mi pace.

On Sunday I blogged about how difficult the 12 mile run was and I'm not taking any of that back. Yesterday I felt awful all day long. My body was sore all over. Last night I actually took a heating pad with me to place under my neck and popped aspirin all day long. Luckily though I recovered enough for today and am looking forward to the 9 miles scheduled tomorrow.

Tomorrow morning is 9 miles.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Hal Higdon Training: 12 Mile Run + Time to HTFU!

Today was the hardest, most exhausting run I have had in my life. It was harder than any of the Triathlons. It was harder than the 10K I ran at a 7:20/mile pace. It was harder than any wind sprints or laps I ever had to do playing football. It was even harder than the 16 miles I did seven days ago!

Now everyone has bad days while training and you should just chalk it up to that, but this was somehow different. And Annie had the same experience. We both were sucking wind the entire run. Our nutrition and hydration were spot on and neither of us can figure out why it was so hard. The only thing we can come up with is that it is actually part of Mr. Hal Higdon's training plan. Last week he had our long run set at 16 miles and we slowly had worked up to that distance and did quite easily. Then this week it was only 12 miles. We went into this morning's run thinking this run was going to be a breeze, no problems, and we were horribly mistaken!

So just to give a recap: We got out of bed a little late and started around 8am. We walked outside and it was hot and humid. My sunglasses immediately began to steam. It usually takes me about 2 miles to find a nice groove and this did not happen the entire run. About 4 miles into the run my right foot was numb. I have been having some minor comfort issues with my right foot since I bought new shoes. I have been adjusting how tight I am tying the laces and today I think the were a little too tight! So I stopped running and adjusted the laces. It felt a little better but overall I am not very pleased with this pair of Asics. I cannot remember the type of Asics and I am not at home to check but I will let everyone know later.

After about 8 miles of struggling I told Annie we just needed to Harden The F*** Up and finish the run. She agreed and we sucked it up for 4 more miles. The last half mile almost ended me. It was only 5 minutes long but felt like an eternity. I could not have done another mile. My legs were sore, my ankles were pounding, my breathing was all over the place .... I was toast. This was the first time since I began running seriously that I felt like I was going to vomit while running and it happened on multiple occasions today!

As I sit here my legs feel beat and I am going to go home and take a nap before I go to bed!

Tomorrow is an off day and I imagine that it will be much needed. Then on Tuesday we do 4 miles, Wednesday is 9 miles, Thursday is 5 miles, and the weekend long run is 18 miles. I am dreading the 18 miles right now!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Hal Higdon Training: 5.1 Mile Run

Run Miles this week: 32.1

Tomorrow is an off day and then we have a 12 mile run as our long run scheduled for Sunday. In Higdon's plan he had us do 16 miles last weekend and only 12 miles this weekend. I am guessing Higdon suggests doing it this way to let your body recover but also to help prevent overuse injuries. It is pretty funny to me that I think of a 12 mile run as being short.

Annie and I got up at 5am again today to get our 5 miles in. It was 48 degrees out so I had to go with a long sleeve DryFit shirt today and I am glad I did because it was still 48 degrees when we got home 47 minutes later. Nothing to really report about this run, pretty ho-hum. My legs are still feeling good!

Tomorrow is a fun Saturday of working, chores, and cleaning. Sunday is the 12 mile run and a Steelers thrashing of the Bengals. Glad it is the weekend!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

7 Mile Trail Run

Text message to Annie from me at 3:00PM: "Call me if you want to go on an adventure!"

That is how the trail run idea came about. I was over in West Houston this morning for work and at lunchtime I hit a Subway and realized it was right next to an REI. I went inside and ended up finding some Trail Running Shoes (Salamons) on clearance and also picked up some trail runners socks. I was ready.

We were supposed to run 8 miles this morning but we both went to bed late and decided to get a couple extra hours of sleep and run in the evening when I got home. And Annie had an off day so it worked out perfect.

A couple of hours later we were on our way to Huntsville State Park, which is the site of my 50K! We found the trail and got our gear on and started to run. The trail was awesome - roots, sand, leaves, and elevation changes. I was loving it ... but some others, Annie, were not! She did not pay proper respect to the roots and ended up taking a tumble or two or three! I can joke now because she wasn't hurt and ended up landing in the sand but the fact is you have to pay extra attention to your footing because one little misstep can end your day rather quickly!

We ended up doing 7 miles. Hal Higdon wanted us to do 8 miles but we ran out of daylight and those trails were a little spooky when it got dark!

After this trial trail run I am stoked to do the 50k race. Pretty sure it is going to take me 6.5-7 hours to finish and I am going to be in a great deal of pain when done but for some reason I can't wait to do it!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Hal Higdon Training: 4 Mile Run

Higdon's plan called for an easy 4 mile run today and that was exactly what I did!

Actually slept in to about 7am! Since the Steelers were on late last night I didn't get to bed at my normal early hour. It was actually fun to not run in the dark for once on a weekday.

The weather was a little warm out, around 78 degrees, so I decided some hydration was needed. I was going to wear my nathan's hydration belt with gatorade in one of the 10 oz containers but Annie suggested I try the hand held container she has been using. She doesn't really like the hand held container because it starts to hurt her arm after a few miles. It straps to your hand and has a compartment to stores keys and stuff. I only filled it up 1/2 way (10oz) and really enjoyed running with it. I barely even noticed it was in my hand! I think on my under 5 mile runs this is going to be my hydration mechanism of choice from now on.

Here is what it looks like:

As for the run, my legs were a little sluggish. They still felt fine but I had to focus to get myself in the groove. I wanted to keep myself in the 9-9.5 min/mile pace time and I did with a total run time of 36:50 over 4 miles.

Tomorrow morning at 5am Annie and I are scheduled to run 9 miles. This should be a good test of my conditioning of where I think I am and where I actually am relative to my upcoming 50k event.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Rest Day

Some updates:

• I received, "The Essential Triathlon Swimming DVD" in the mail today. A big Thank You to Kevin Koskella from TriSwimCoach.com for sending it out to me. I am going to watch it over the next couple of days and then after the ultra trail run bust some butt working on my swimming and give everyone a day-by-day review!

• My legs feel great today after the 16 mile run yesterday. It had a little fatigue last night and ended up going to bed around 9pm. I was a little tight when I woke up but after a shower and some coffee I felt fine. I had to drive about 150 miles today and even when I got out of the car I still felt fine! So that is good.

• I need 21 points from Mendenhall and the Steelers Defense to win my fantasy league game. It is a PPR league so receptions to the RB are good (trying to send a message to Ben).

• Tomorrow is a 4 mile run and I am looking forward to it!

• Going to go buy some trail running shoes and some heavy duty socks this week and begin training with them.

• Annie and I got a new couch in the game room. It is big and ugly but oh so comfortable!

• Steelers 24, Broncos 10.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff