Target: 350 miles in 2017

Target: 350 miles in 2017

Target: 350 Miles in 2016

- did 250 in 2015, but focused on re-building in 2016
- 2016 going well:

200 miles in 2013

 

Cutting back in 2013, but still planning on 200 miles (5 miles/week).
- Roughly on-track except for 4-week terrible cold/flu

 

It is Dec, my 2010 goal (520 miles) almost reached

I am doing less in these winter months, but will still reach my 2010 goal of 520 miles in 52 weeks:

Aug+Sep Heat+Humidity slowing me down

The heat +humidity have slowed me down, but i still try to go 3 miles every 3rd day (instead of 4miles every 2nd day).  see the 2010 cumulative progress graph at the bottom left.

Aerobic (Low-HeartRate) Training Results (4weeks)

OK, I have been fairly carefully following Aerobic (Low HeartRate) Training for 4+weeks now.  The articles say it takes at least 4 weeks to see initial results, and often 6-8 weeks. 

Aerobic (Low HeartRate) Training is supposed to reduce my effort (my HeartRate at any particular speed) and increase my endurance (ability to increase speed and/or distance).  Has it started to visibly work?

Start: 03-May-2010.  4mile run at constant pace:

 Current: 31-May-2010 (4 weeks later) 4 mile run at constant pace:

Result: I am now running at a constant 0.2mph faster (30sec/mile faster) at a 3 bpm lower average HeartRate (6 bpm lower max HeartRate at the end).  Not bad for 4 weeks, we will see what the next month produces.

Run:Walk Intervals in Training and Races

In each of the Aerobic Training and Warmup posts below, I mentioned the Run:Walk Interval approach favored by some coaches, especially for beginners and intermediates but also for experienced competitors.  Other runners have been asking about it, and expressed interest in it (and some have started using it with good success).  Hence I thought it deserved its own separate post to highlight this approach.

There are several coaches who are strong believers in walking intervals (during training and races):

• Joe Henderson (10:1): http://www.running-world.net/walk_and_run_better_1.php
• Jeff Galloway (3:1 or 2:1 or 1:1): http://jeffgalloway.typepad.com/jeff_galloways_blog/2010/03/index.html

The above articles described the concept in detail, but in summary the idea is that you can walk for a short interval to massively rest your muscles and reduce Lactic acid buildup and to reduce stress and injury, and then more than make up that time by running slightly faster for the next interval.  The net effect can be little lost time and sometimes even faster overall times, and almost always the overall run has less stress on the body (less injury) and you finish feeling much better (and/or can go further).

For example, in 1984 Stu Mittleman set an American distance record for the 6-day World-Championship endurance event, 578 miles.  He did it by following Dr. Philip Maffeton's advice and alternating 1hour walks and 1hour runs, and was still going strong on the last day when many others had long-since hit their "walls".

I believe that the "Running Room" programs use a 10:1 Run:Walk approach.

In particular, see the charts in my Warmup post to see how such Run:Walk intervals help me lower HeartRate (and Lactic acid and stress/injuries) throughout a run.  I now use this approach during my Long-Slow-Distance weekend run, but not during my slightly faster mid-week speed/strength building runs (where I intentionally want to stress the muscles a little more).

Warmup critical to good run (also: Run:Walk intervals)

Good warmups are key to having a good run, and equally important is not starting too fast during the actual run. If you start your run too fast, your HeartRate goes up too fast and too high, and you also build up LacticAcid in your muscles that slow down the rest of your run and reduce your endurance. If you dont warmup enough but then start a normal run, the effect is the same due to the large transition from nothing (or just walking) to actually running.

1) Here is a normal run for me, proceeded by a good 5-10 minute jogging warmup. Then I stop, reset my Garmin HRmonitor, and start my actual run. The actual run is then done at totally constant pace start-to-finish:

2) Here is a run where I decided to try a 6:1 Run:Walk set of cycles. Foolishly I only did a walking warmup, then started my normal run. You can see exactly the difference, the first cycle is not good and it takes until the second cycle to settle down, Third and other cycles are then fine. Good warmups and not over-doing the start of your run (start slow to finish strong) are really important.

I am not a really experienced nor long-distance runner, but I know about the importance of a good warmup and the recorded charts above capture and show it amazingly clearly


PS:  Some coaches are strong believers in Run:Walk intervals (during training and races) to actually increase your overall speed and endurance while reducing the stress and strain on your body:

• Joe Henderson (10:1): http://www.running-world.net/walk_and_run_better_1.php
• Jeff Galloway (3:1 or 2:1 or 1:1): http://jeffgalloway.typepad.com/jeff_galloways_blog/2010/03/index.html

Web "Training Log" sites

I have been using several for nearly 6 months, to see which I liked best. To me the main must-have features are:

• easy (preferrably automatic) upload of Garmin data and show result as nice graph of activity speed/pace+HeartRate+Cadence
• graph of daily distance for last several months (so I can see how I am doing)
• ability to send link to others without them having to be member signed-in (but with controllable access)

The sites I am trying, in preferred order, are:

1. Daily Mile (Garmin import but no workout graph): http://www.dailymile.com/people/searle
   
   • D.M. Workouts: nice open community for sharing workouts and progress
2. Running Ahead: http://www.runningahead.com/logs/3e29c941dd9a434e8374d841c41d3e1e/reports/graph?e12=40&x=12&y=20&t=0
   
   • R.A. Garmin Workout: http://www.runningahead.com/logs/3e29c941dd9a434e8374d841c41d3e1e/workouts/06afe8d362b64391b0ce9caf4f622ba4/graph?x=20&y=200&y1c=0000ff&y2c=ff0000&y2=82&avg=1
3. Run Saturday: http://www.runsaturday.com/Profile/Analysis/tabid/63/subView/Daily/StartDate/20%20Dec%202009/UserId/3444/UseKm/0/Default.aspx
   
   • R.S. Garmin Workout: http://www.runsaturday.com/act/280334/subView/Charts
4. Runners World (no Garmin import): http://traininglog.runnersworld.com/logs/0dcc1b32a27445239f3949a84a2d6ab2
5. Garmin Connect (no daily charts): http://connect.garmin.com/
   
   • G.C. Workout: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/30486242
   
   
6. Fetch Everyone (must register/login, nice time predictor): http://www.fetcheveryone.com/
7. LogYourRun (must register/login, no daily graph): http://www.logyourrun.com/
8. MapMyRun (must register/login): http://www.mapmyrun.com/
9. TrainingPeaksPersonal (Poor unless you pay): http://home.trainingpeaks.com/

So, what sites do you use and prefer? (and WHY)...

A quick note on Chia seeds

I buy mine from http://www.superseeds.ca/.  The SuperSeeds site has pages describing Benefits, Nutrition, Recipes, etc.  They point out that Chia has:
- 6x more calcium than milk
- 7x Vitamen-C than oranges
- 3x antioxident than blueberries
- 3x more Iron than spinach
- 2.5x more vegetable protein than Kidney Beans (20-23% protein by weight)
- 8x more Omega-3 fatty acid than salmon
- 15x more Magnesium than Brocolli
- almost tasteless so can be added to almost anything

A good Iskiate (Chia Fresca) drink recipe is:
- 8 oz (1 cup) water
- 2.0-2.5 teaspoons of Chia Seeds
- 1 tsp fresh lemon or lime juice
- 2 tsp sugar or honey
- Mix water, sugar, and juice
- Add Chia Seeds, shake or stir
- chill 10-15 mins, stir,serve