NYC Half

Got into the NYC Half Marathon on March 18th via the lottery!

Aerobic Test #1

Six weeks into my base period plan I did my first aerobic re-test. Here are the results compared with my initial pre-plan test...

HR 130 9:14 9:13
HR 140 8:43 8:37
HR 150 7:55 7:56
HR 160 7:19 7:21
HR 170 7:07

For the 170 interval this time I only ran half the prescribed distance. I stopped because I felt terrible and was not even able to get my HR up to 170. Only to about 165 or so. But I suppose that's an improvement on not running it at all. And I'm looking for any improvement since the test was pretty much flat compared to the initial test.

Thing is, though, I was sick for the 3 days before running the test and didn't do anything those days. Not sure why I felt the need to do he test right away. Should have waited until the following week after having gotten better and had a few rays of running back under my belt.

Let's see if we can be a little smarter six weeks from now.

Base Period Plan

Weekly Base Period Plan (based on Max HR of 183)

Sat 1:30 Long on Trails HR 140-145
Sun 1:00 Recovery on Trails HR 130-135
Mon 1:15 Steady on Road or Path HR 150 (Start with short then the 75 minutes)
Tue 0:45 Recovery HR 130-135
Wed 1:00 Easy HR 135-140
Thu 1:15 Steady on Road or Path HR 150 (Start with short then the 75 minutes)
Fri 0:45 Easy HR 135-140

Before starting I did an aerobic test as prescribed by the plan. The test consists of running 2400 meters at HR 130, then 140, then 150, then 160, then 170 with 90 seconds standing rest between each interval. My initial test resulted in these paces at the given HRs...

130 9:14
140 8:43
150 7:55
160 7:19

I skipped the 170 interval because I didn't feel so good running even at 160.

We shall see how it goes.

2011 Re-cap

Injuries kept me from running the 5th Avenue Mile this year so one try at the 5:00 mark at 50+ years old has passed. Starting a new training cycle with a base period of undetermined length. As Lydiard said: "for as long as necessary." Using a plan based on one described by John Hadd on Let's Run. HR-based and meant to develop the full range of the aerobic system over time. I'll describe it in more detail some time.

Ran the Ridgewood and Tenafly 5ks this past week with Will. On Memorial Day in Ridgewood he took 1st place in the 9-year old and younger group with a 2 minute and 33 second PR of 22:58. On Sunday in Tenafly he took 1st place for 4th graders from Tenafly in 23:23. His goal had been to run under 24:00 this spring so he did it for both and even got under 23:00 for Ridgewood. His mile splits for Ridgewood were 7:40, 7:40, 6:46. It's a flat, fast course but it was very hot out. With better weather and more even pacing perhaps he could have gone even faster. The Tenafly course is a bit tougher with two non-trivial uphill sections and he didn't seem to be feeling as good as he did at Ridgewood but the weather was perfect. His mile splits were around 7:25, 7:50, 7:20, with a full out sprint at the downhill end.

May Update

Finished up my extended base-building period after having to take 6 weeks off in February and March due to illness and then back spasms. Feel like I am now back to where I was at the end of January. Got in my two hill sessions this week: first with 5 reps of high knees and then with 6 reps. Next week shooting for 7 and then 8. Then it's two weeks of bounding and then 2 weeks of springing before a transition week and then into 1-mile type training with lots of 400 meter repeats etc.

A couple weeks ago ran the Wednesday night XC 5K for a second time this year at took 42 seconds off my first effort for a course PR of 19:48. Last year my best (well, only, actually) time on that course was 20:30 in mid-July. So I seem to be well ahead of last year, which is the plan. A week later I paced Will to a 25:28, 1:42 below his course PR of 27:10 from the previous week. The course wasn't even that fast as it was soaked from rain all week but it was perfect running weather as it was a bit cool with a bit of a mist coming down.

Planning on pacing Will through the Ridgewood 5K on Memorial Day and then perhaps racing the Tenafly 5k on my own the following Sunday. If so would be shooting for sub 19:00 with 18:36 (6:00 pace) as a stretch goal.

Easter Run with Scott Jurek

Will and I did one loop (6.55 mile quarter marathon) around Van Cortland Park at the Easter Holiday Marathon. Scott Jurek was there jogging with the crowd. He jogged along with us for a bit and asked Will a bunch of questions. The course was mostly flat but had two hilly sections with pretty good climbs. Will did 1:07 (10:15 pace) for the loop.