Hal Higdon Training: 7 Mile Run

Annie and I got up at 5am this morning but didn't make it out of the house until 5:45. We were both moving rather slow! We wanted to get in 9 miles but because of our tardiness we didn't have enough time before work. So we settled for a nice 7 mile run!

We finished the run in 1 hour and 8 minutes. That is about a 9:40ish pace which was a nice easy paced run. I thought about busting it for the last 2 miles but with our race coming up tomorrow decided it would be better to take it easy and save the energy.

The Turkey Trot 5 Mile Race we are doing tomorrow morning is the GE Run Thru the Woods:

I already picked up our packets and got the customary crappy cotton logo T-shirt. Cotton is not a friend to my nipples!

We are going to leave the house around 6:30 am. We have to park at the Woodlands Mall and walk a few blocks to the race start. From what I have heard this is a very big race with a few thousand participants so it should be a good time. I am not sure if I am going to try and bust arse or do this as a training run. Will probably just wait until tomorrow morning and see how the legs feel, but being the overly competitive person that I am it might be rather hard to take it slow!

After the race we are going to do our annual scouring of the Houston Chronicle to see if there are any Black Friday deals worth fighting the crowds for! After that it is football time and then a big old Turkey Dinner with our best friends. Should be a nice relaxing day!

I will post up some pictures and results of our race tomorrow during the Green Bay/Detroit game!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Hal Higdon Training: 5 Mile Run

Just checked my workout logs and I'm up to 101.62 miles running for November. Still have three days left with 9 miles, 5 miles, and 14 miles scheduled. That is a lot of miles for me!

Annie had to be at work early this morning so no morning run for us. She was going to do her run mid-morning, she was working a split shift thing today. And I just finished up my 5 miler. I was going to go to the gym to try and hit the treadmill but traffic was awful and I just didn't feel like driving anymore so I just busted it out in the neighborhood.

It has been awhile since I have ran without Annie. This is sometimes a bad thing because I tend to set my pace too hard. Higdon wants us running at slower than race pace to build up your base and this technique has been doing wonders for my conditioning. Well, maybe it is because I am a meathead or maybe it is because I am just impatient but I ran too hard. Five miles in 38 minutes flat. That is a little over a 7.5 minute pace. The reason this is stupid is because I have a 9 mile run tomorrow and a 5 mile race on Thursday. Since I pushed it I will more than likely feel it on my next two runs. Now I am not sure if I should bust ass on Thursday or treat the race as a training run.

Oh well what ya going to do?

Tomorrow is a 5am 9-mile run!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Programming Notes & Rest Day

First, the day after my long run I still feel great. I am ready for the 50k run.

I'd like to clarify what my future training plans are for the foreseable future. It is always good to write down your goals so you can come back later and reference them.

Here are my upcoming races:

• Nov 26th, 2009 - Run thru the Woods - 5 miles (Turkey Trot)
• Dec 5th, 2009 - Texas Trail Run - 31 Miles (5oK)
• Feb 14th, 2010 - Austin Half Marathon - 13.1 Miles
• April 25th, 2010 - LoneStar Olympic Triathlon - .9 Mi Swim, 24Mi Bike, 6.2 Mi Run

5Mi Run thru the Woods:
The 11/26 run is this Thursday. Annie and I are both doing this and it fits perfectly with our current Hal Higdon training plan. This race is in the Woodlands, which is like 20 minutes from our house, so we decided it would be fun for both of us to run. No real goals for this race other than to just get my training in. I should try and run it at a 9 min/mi pace (45 mins) but inevitably my competitive side will kick in and I will bust it from the starting gun because I can't help it.

50K Texas Trail Run:
The next event is theh Epic 50K Trail Run. I get anxious just thinking about this race because the distance of 31 miles on State Park Trails is intimidating. Heck 31 miles in my car is sometimes intimidating - especially in Houston traffic! I usually get agitated when I hear people say their goal for an event is too: "Just Finish". To me that is code for: "I didn't put in the time training that I should have and this race is going to kick my butt and I really am not ready for this!"

Now that being said, and that my own hypocrisy never really even surprises me anymore - I really want to Just Finish! Not because I don't want to set a goal but because I have no idea what to expect from this race. I have never done one of these. I have never talked to anyone who has. Race reports I have read really have given my no indications of what to expect. I have only run one small portion of the trail and supposedly this is the easy section. If I was doing a 10k and said I wanted to Just Finish I would hope my readers would bash the heck out of me in the comments and tell me to HTFU. But with 31 miles on hiking trails and no idea what to expect I am okay with Just Finish (This one time!).

13.1 Austin Half Marathon:
This race is not about me. It is all about my wife Annie. Annie is signed up to do the FULL Marathon. Seven years ago Annie had a herniated disk and had to have surgery on her back. It was a long and painful recovery but she worked very hard and now her back is as good as ever. I think in a way this marathon represents to her that she has finally beat the back issues that had limited her so badly in the past. Annie has been into fitness and clean eating a lot longer than me and was one of my main inspirations when I decided to change my lifesyle. She has supported me on all my races and I want to be there to support her. So I am doing the half mary. I plan to do it in about 1:50 minutes or less and spend the rest of the day cheering for Annie!

LoneStar Olympic Triathlon:
After the 50k run I am going to begin training for this event. I plan on doing the Essential Triathlon Swimmming DVD that is listed over to the right --->>> and following a 1/2 IronMan training program. This Tri is being held in Galveston and is an ocean swim in the Gulf of Mexico. From all the reviews it is considered a great event and I am excited to be competing in it this year. This is my "A" event that I will be focusing on it for the next 5 + months. I need to really make some positive strides with my swimming and biking so after the Trail Run this blog is once again going to become Triathlon Only driven. The good news is that with all the running I have been doing I should have one heck of a base to begin.

That is the Reader's Digest version of my upcoming training and events. I am not really sure what I am going to do after the LoneStar Tri. I think that depends on if I enjoy doing an Oly distance Tri or not?

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

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