Training Log Archive: ebuckleyIn the 31 days ending Oct 31, 2009:
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Saturday Oct 31, 2009 #
Running (Road) 25:00 [2]
shoes: 2140 White
Easy run in Connecticut with my college roommate Kevin.
Picked up my number and then took Yaya to the Museum of Natural History to see the Dinosaur bones. Kevin came along and we met her aunt Emily there as well.
Picked up my number and then took Yaya to the Museum of Natural History to see the Dinosaur bones. Kevin came along and we met her aunt Emily there as well.
Friday Oct 30, 2009 #
Note
(rest day)
Travel day. Not too stiff after driving 1000 miles.
Thursday Oct 29, 2009 #
Running (Road) 38:00 [2]
shoes: 2140 White
Easy jog round the hood.
Wednesday Oct 28, 2009 #
Running (Track) 48:00 [3]
weight:172lbs shoes: Grid A2
3x1200@4:45 400R. Pre-marathon workout suggested by Daniels. Felt wierd running 1200's at T pace; ended up being a bit fast on all of them (4:42, then two 4:44's).
That's a wrap. All signs point to another near miss and the recent news from the New York Road Runners Club doesn't help any: they messed up my seed and I'll be a lot further back in the grid. Oh well. I'll stick to the plan of trying to get to the half in 91 and take it from there. I already have a Boston qualifier and the next race I care about is the Possum Trot, so there's no reason not to try for 3:00, even if success is unlikely.
That's a wrap. All signs point to another near miss and the recent news from the New York Road Runners Club doesn't help any: they messed up my seed and I'll be a lot further back in the grid. Oh well. I'll stick to the plan of trying to get to the half in 91 and take it from there. I already have a Boston qualifier and the next race I care about is the Possum Trot, so there's no reason not to try for 3:00, even if success is unlikely.
Tuesday Oct 27, 2009 #
Note
(rest day)
Yet another cold, drizzly day. Lots to do at work and the marathon is this weekend, so I had all the excuses I needed to stay inside.
Tae Kwon Do (Technique) 30:00 [3]
Family class which included testing for Yaya and I since we won't be here for the official test on Thursday.
Monday Oct 26, 2009 #
Running (Road) 45:00 [2]
shoes: 2140 White
Easy jog round the hood. Another cold drizzle day. What sort of October is this, anyway? Almost makes me glad I've been working 60 hours a week.
Sunday Oct 25, 2009 #
Orienteering (Park) 23:00 [2] **
12c shoes: Reebok spikes
Warmed up with an old Yellow course plus a few extra minutes at Jefferson Barracks (1:10).
Terrain race (Grass) 15:05 [3]
shoes: Reebok spikes
Bubba XC#2. None of the fast guys were here (except Andy Koziatek who can beat me any day, on any surface, over any distance) so I just did a tempo run. Nice course. Something like 2.3 miles, but that's just a guess. 2nd overall, 1st M40.
Orienteering (Woods) 1:01:00 [2] ***
17c shoes: Reebok spikes
Followed with a Green and Orange course. Since running through the southern rough open with no leg protection on the warmup was just about the least fun thing I've done this year, I jettisoned those controls from the Green loop. The map has not magically become any better since the meet 2 years ago, but knowing the problems made it tolerable. I think I may have been a little hard on the venue. If it was mapped REALLY well, it might be pretty interesting. But, that's the rub. Why would we put that much effort into a small area when we have similar terrian, only better, already mapped just a couple miles away in Cliff Cave?
Note
The C race was just about over when I finished, so I stuck around to watch the first few laps of the B race. Rudy is riding B this year, which is pretty stout. He was hanging in OK when he got to where I was watching. Of course, I had picked the spot where I expected everybody to wreck because that's what's fun about Cyclocross - people go down, but they don't get hurt. Well the guy in front of him does an awkward remount at the bottom of the berm and he's flying down because he remounted at the top. He goes wide to miss him and the front wheel washes out. So far, just standard stuff, but just before he hits the ground his position changes a bit and it turns into really nasty face plant. In fact, his head bends back so far and so fast I'm thinking that not only is his race over, but this might be the sort of thing that has permanent consequences. He lies there for a few seconds and I feel my whole body go cold thinking, "He's broke his neck." Then, he hops up and gets back on the bike. Damn, dude, you scared the crap out of me.
Running (Road) 31:00 [2]
shoes: 2140 White
On the way home, I dropped the WRX at the shop because I think the steering pump is dying. Jogged home. Turns it into a longer day than I needed, but I've got plenty of time to recover for the marathon.
Saturday Oct 24, 2009 #
Terrain (Trail) 2:03:00 [2]
shoes: Sportiva Grey
Lewis and Clark trails. Last long run before NYC.
It's been almost a year since I ran these trails, but if you're going to wait a year to run the best trails in the state, today would be the day to run it. Bright, cool, and the leaves as good as they're going to get this year (which isn't that great with all the rain, but it will do).
It's been almost a year since I ran these trails, but if you're going to wait a year to run the best trails in the state, today would be the day to run it. Bright, cool, and the leaves as good as they're going to get this year (which isn't that great with all the rain, but it will do).
Note
Yaya and I went to 6 Flags to "Thrill the World". As world record attempts go, this one had a bit less drama than, say, running 100m in 9.58 seconds. Furthermore, the lame website (which is currently down, so I won't even bother to link it), isn't clear on whether this is a world record for simultaneous dancing, or just simultaneous dancing to Michael Jackson's Thriller (a narrow category to be sure). And, since it's down, there's no inidication of whether the record was broken. Did manage to get that over 23,000 people participated from 16 countries. I have no idea if that's a lot for this sort of thing. Seems like you get that many dancing to the same song at concerts all the time, but this was an actual choreographed and rehearsed dance.
But none of that matters to a 6-year-old who really, really, likes dancing to Michael Jackson videos. So, maybe we're world record holders, maybe we ain't, but we had a good time.
But none of that matters to a 6-year-old who really, really, likes dancing to Michael Jackson videos. So, maybe we're world record holders, maybe we ain't, but we had a good time.
Friday Oct 23, 2009 #
Event: US Individual Champs 2009
Running (Road) 34:00 [2]
shoes: 2140 White
Easy jog round the hood.
Thursday Oct 22, 2009 #
Running (Track) 50:00 [4]
weight:171lbs shoes: Grid A2
4x800@2:55 400R. Morning intervals.
Tae Kwon Do (Technique) 30:00 [3]
Family class with Yaya.
Wednesday Oct 21, 2009 #
Running (Road) 1:19:00 [2]
shoes: 2140 White
Over to TKD and back. Slightly longer route.
Tae Kwon Do (Technique) 30:00 [3]
Evening class.
Tuesday Oct 20, 2009 #
Note
(rest day)
Not a whole lot of rest as I put in 16 hours at work. Really nice afternoon and fortunately I was able to take a couple hours to spend at a park with Kate and Yaya.
Monday Oct 19, 2009 #
Running (Road) 44:00 [2]
shoes: 2140 White
Nature continues to make ammends providing a very fine sunrise for this morning's easy run.
Sunday Oct 18, 2009 #
Terrain (Grass) 23:00 [2]
shoes: 2140 Black
Warmup.
Terrain (Grass) 17:22 [4]
ahr:172 max:178 shoes: Reebok spikes
Bubba XC#1. 2 laps of the cyclocross course. Not sure of the distance - a bit over 2.5 miles. I guess.
After 2 weeks of rain we finally got some October weather today. Couldn't have improved on the atmospheric conditions. Bright, high 40's, light breeze. The ground, on the other hand... did I mention we've had 2 weeks of rain? Course was routed around the standing water and there wasn't too much mud, but it sure was soft.
Field was about the same as last year; small, but with some quality. Mostly road runners, so the conditions favored me a bit. Ran it hard, but not quite all out. No kick as I was alone after the first lap. 2nd overall, 1st M40.
After 2 weeks of rain we finally got some October weather today. Couldn't have improved on the atmospheric conditions. Bright, high 40's, light breeze. The ground, on the other hand... did I mention we've had 2 weeks of rain? Course was routed around the standing water and there wasn't too much mud, but it sure was soft.
Field was about the same as last year; small, but with some quality. Mostly road runners, so the conditions favored me a bit. Ran it hard, but not quite all out. No kick as I was alone after the first lap. 2nd overall, 1st M40.
Terrain (Trail) 32:00 [2]
shoes: Reebok spikes
After a brief chat with Rudy (who decided not to do the runs this year so he could focus on the cyclocross), I went for an easy jog around the park. I've been to this park dozens of times (it's one of Yaya's favorite playgrounds), but I've never been into the wooded part. It's small, but nice. Certainly capable of hosting an interesting sprint, you might even be able stick a middle in there. Might be worth mapping.
FatTire (Trail) 1:08:00 [2]
shoes: Bike:Redline Mono
After taking Yaya to the pumpkin patch, I got out for an easy lap of the CC Lake trails. In better shape than I expected, but still greasy enough that I was glad I wasn't trying to push the pace. The new section GORC built yesterday is nice.
Saturday Oct 17, 2009 #
Running (Track) 42:00 [4]
shoes: Grid A2
8x300@65 100R
Friday Oct 16, 2009 #
Orienteering (Woods) 56:00 [2] ***
17c shoes: Jalas Black
Somewhat lame session at Rockwoods. Sloppy contact. Tried going a bit harder near the end and that did sharpen things up a bit, but I just couldn't hold much focus. Not really a surprise given the lack of sleep and workload this week. Sadly, next week looks pretty much the same with a big testing deadline for the payroll cutover. I think I'm going to have to bail on nationals. :(
Thursday Oct 15, 2009 #
Note
(rest day)
Work-mandated rest day as this was the big install for merging all of Wachovia's HR data into Wells Fargo prior to open enrollment. A moderate-stress event as this just allows the Wachovians to enroll in benefits for next year. The big deal comes in December when we get ready to pay them (another reason the new, improved PT weekend is very, very bad for me.)
Wednesday Oct 14, 2009 #
Running (Road) 46:00 [2] 5.9 mi (7:48 / mi)
shoes: 2140 Black
Easy AM jog round the hood. I only note the mileage (which is farily accurate) because it illustrates a side effect of the increased cadence work. If I start at 90 right off the bat, I don't seem to need the obligatory 9-minute-mile before my body gets going; I can settle into my usual E/L pace right from the start. I guess that's good.
Tae Kwon Do (Technique) 30:00 [2]
Family class with Yaya, then watched again while she did sparring class. Lots of white belts tonight, so the pace was pretty slow.
Tuesday Oct 13, 2009 #
Running (Road) 2:22:00 [2] 18.0 mi (7:53 / mi)
shoes: 2140 Black
Low Plains Drifter on a rather chilly morning. Now that the corn is down, the flood plain is very exposed to wind.
Cadence work was moderately successful. I wasn't able to hold 90 for much more than an hour, but backing it off to 86 felt pretty comfortable for the rest of the run. I guess I'll have to settle for "progress, but still a ways to go" for this training cycle. Hamstrings did get tight, but yesterday's tempo probably had as much to do with that as anything.
Cadence work was moderately successful. I wasn't able to hold 90 for much more than an hour, but backing it off to 86 felt pretty comfortable for the rest of the run. I guess I'll have to settle for "progress, but still a ways to go" for this training cycle. Hamstrings did get tight, but yesterday's tempo probably had as much to do with that as anything.
Running (Road) 48:00 [2]
shoes: 2140 Black
Over to TKD and back. Took roads because it rained yet again today.
Tae Kwon Do (Technique) 30:00 [2]
Evening class. Mostly took it easy as the legs were dead. Qualified for testing so Yaya and I will both test at a special session prior to leaving for NYC (the regular test is during our trip).
Monday Oct 12, 2009 #
Running (Road) 55:00 [3]
shoes: Grid A2
5K@19:50 plus warmup/down. Probably last tempo run before the marathon.
Daniels and Pfitzinger both devote a fair bit of ink to running economy. I don't know why I've never taken this all that seriously. I used to spend three full months out of each year working on pedalling efficiency. I can draw a better circle with a pen taped to my foot than I can with my hand (really, this is the sort of stupid thing that teammates do killing time in a motel room, but I digress). Everybody seems to agree that good runners have a turnover of over 90 double strides per minute. Mine has always been a lot slower than that. Again, it's not that I don't see the value in turnover; I rarely let my cycling cadence go below 100. It's just something I've never bothered to work on as a runner.
So, I've been working on it. 90 has been a real struggle for me. Then, last Saturday, I managed to run a full hour at over 90. It wasn't the "gliding along like the elite" that Daniels describes, but it wasn't forced, either. I did it again on Sunday. Today's experiment was to see if I could do that while keeping a foot on the gas. Worked out pretty well. I certainly had to concentrate on it, but I held 90 for the full run and the tempo portion didn't feel any harder (or easier) than it usually does. It feels like I'm going slower, but the watch says otherwise. There certainly is a lot less wasted motion since I'm not in the air as long. My only concern is that with such a short stride, I might stiffen up in a longer run. I'll test that out tomorrow.
Daniels and Pfitzinger both devote a fair bit of ink to running economy. I don't know why I've never taken this all that seriously. I used to spend three full months out of each year working on pedalling efficiency. I can draw a better circle with a pen taped to my foot than I can with my hand (really, this is the sort of stupid thing that teammates do killing time in a motel room, but I digress). Everybody seems to agree that good runners have a turnover of over 90 double strides per minute. Mine has always been a lot slower than that. Again, it's not that I don't see the value in turnover; I rarely let my cycling cadence go below 100. It's just something I've never bothered to work on as a runner.
So, I've been working on it. 90 has been a real struggle for me. Then, last Saturday, I managed to run a full hour at over 90. It wasn't the "gliding along like the elite" that Daniels describes, but it wasn't forced, either. I did it again on Sunday. Today's experiment was to see if I could do that while keeping a foot on the gas. Worked out pretty well. I certainly had to concentrate on it, but I held 90 for the full run and the tempo portion didn't feel any harder (or easier) than it usually does. It feels like I'm going slower, but the watch says otherwise. There certainly is a lot less wasted motion since I'm not in the air as long. My only concern is that with such a short stride, I might stiffen up in a longer run. I'll test that out tomorrow.
Sunday Oct 11, 2009 #
Running (Road) 1:07:00 [2]
shoes: 2140 Black
Easy jog round Champaign before driving back to STL.
Saturday Oct 10, 2009 #
Running (Road) 1:06:00 [2]
shoes: 2140 Black
In Champaign for my sister-in-law's wedding. Easy morning run.
Note
The wedding was very nice. Yaya was quite pleased to be flower girl.
Not sure how to log it, but there had to be some training value in dancing swing with her for an hour. She's up to 60 pounds and she likes the dips a lot.
Not sure how to log it, but there had to be some training value in dancing swing with her for an hour. She's up to 60 pounds and she likes the dips a lot.
Friday Oct 9, 2009 #
Note
Holy smokes, my finger is totally jacked. If I was some really old guy who was in the typical old guy habit of devoting large portions of my log to infirmities, I might even post a picture of how jacked up the finger is. Then I'd compensate by shaving off my beard so people would say how young I looked. But, since I don't have a beard to shave off, I'll just note that the little finger is really jacked up from yesterday's fall.
That is not, however, why I got no training in today. The problem was much more a malady of middle age: I just had way too much work to do.
That is not, however, why I got no training in today. The problem was much more a malady of middle age: I just had way too much work to do.
Thursday Oct 8, 2009 #
Note
weight:173lbs
There's my 5 seconds per mile. I'm a bit peeved that I let that slide. So hard to monitor the G when you're doing long races. You have to eat both in prep and for recovery, but when the dust settles it's always higher than you want. Not much I can do about it now; trying to drive it down in the last three weeks will just have me weak at the starting line.
Tae Kwon Do (Technique) 30:00 [3]
Midday adult class. Ms. Young wasn't there, so I was ranking student. Kind of fun to have the coveted spot on the floor (although it didn't change the workout any).
Orienteering (Park) 45:00 [3] ***
12c
Ran the Queeny Sprint I designed for the SLOC meet this weekend at roughly competition pace. I'll keep things a secret and not post the time, splits, or routes until after the meet except to say it's slightly long (but still under 20 minutes for me). I rather like the course; the map isn't perfect (or even particularly good in spots), but it gives you enough to run it well.
Footing was sloppy to say the least (5" rain in the preceeding 10 hours). Fun, once you got past the freezing your ass off part. Slipped on a rock and jacked up my little finger a bit.
Rest of the time was a short warmup and then poking around making sure that the alternate routes were adequately represented on the map.
Footing was sloppy to say the least (5" rain in the preceeding 10 hours). Fun, once you got past the freezing your ass off part. Slipped on a rock and jacked up my little finger a bit.
Rest of the time was a short warmup and then poking around making sure that the alternate routes were adequately represented on the map.
Wednesday Oct 7, 2009 #
Tae Kwon Do (Technique) 30:00 [3]
Family class with Yaya. Then hung out while she did sparring class. I'm not going to risk breaking anything this close to the marathon.
Running (Road) 1:23:00 [2]
shoes: 2140 Black
Easy late night run.
Tuesday Oct 6, 2009 #
Running (Road) 38:00 [2]
shoes: 2140 Black
Jog round the hood at the stiff end of easy pace.
Tae Kwon Do (Technique) 30:00 [2]
Family class with Yaya. Big class tonight so we didn't go as hard.
Monday Oct 5, 2009 #
Running (Trail) 1:12:00 [3]
ahr:160 max:168 shoes: 2140 Black
10K@42:06 (Marathon pace). I'm not sure when the last time was I ran a 10K on the track. I've never raced one on the track, but I have done training runs before. Not as boring as I expected.
I may have to reassess the plan for NY. The pace felt fine of course (I only went 1/4 the distance after all), but the HR would indicate that it might be stiff by about 3-4 seconds per mile. I don't think 6:48's will be enough to get back the time I'll almost certainly lose in the first couple miles. Maybe it just won't be the race. On the other hand, unlike previous efforts, I'll almost certainly have people to run with (read, draft off of) late in the race, so maybe that will help. We shall see. For now, I'm sticking with the idea of getting to the half between 90 and 91 and then seeing what's left.
I may have to reassess the plan for NY. The pace felt fine of course (I only went 1/4 the distance after all), but the HR would indicate that it might be stiff by about 3-4 seconds per mile. I don't think 6:48's will be enough to get back the time I'll almost certainly lose in the first couple miles. Maybe it just won't be the race. On the other hand, unlike previous efforts, I'll almost certainly have people to run with (read, draft off of) late in the race, so maybe that will help. We shall see. For now, I'm sticking with the idea of getting to the half between 90 and 91 and then seeing what's left.
Sunday Oct 4, 2009 #
FatTire (Trail) 1:48:00 [2]
shoes: Bike:Kona Hardtail
CC Lake via the Powerline. Felt a bit off and the trail was greasy, so I didn't push things. Very fine day to be out. Spent the remainder of the day at a park with Yaya.
Saturday Oct 3, 2009 #
Orienteering (Woods) 1:40:00 [3] ***
35c shoes: Jalas Black
2 control picking courses of around half an hour each run at competition pace. Time includes 15-minute warmup, jogging between the courses and back to the car.
Decent flow. A few small bobbles, but nothing to be too bent about. Certainly good enough to peg last weekend as just one of those horrible things that happens from time to time and I can now put it behind me.
Decent flow. A few small bobbles, but nothing to be too bent about. Certainly good enough to peg last weekend as just one of those horrible things that happens from time to time and I can now put it behind me.
FatTire (Trail) 34:00 [3]
shoes: Bike:Kona Hardtail
Then the obligatory laps on the Dogwood trail. Second one was hot so I set a defacto PR (I've never hammered that trail before) or 16:08, but I don't think I'll have much trouble improving on that because I came up on some horseback riders who ignored me when I yelled from 50m, again at 30m and again at 20m. At 10m one of their horses jumped and the guy finally turns around and says, "Hold on, buddy, you're scaring the horses." No shit, dude, that's why I've been yelling at you to get the hell off the trail. Probably only 30 seconds and of course the time doesn't really count, so there's nothing to be pissed about except the attitude. First off, there's no reason why a horse needs to be spooked by a bike. A horse can be trained like just about any other large mammal. If you're not going to do that, maybe you could stick to the 40K of horseback trail in Greensfelder/Rockwoods and leave the 20K of mountain bike trail to the mountain bikers.
Friday Oct 2, 2009 #
Note
(rest day)
My body is back, but my mind definitely is not. Decided to take another day off and went to the Zoo with Yaya. Hopefully will feel more motivated tomorrow.
Thursday Oct 1, 2009 #
Running (Road) 48:00 [2]
shoes: 2140 Black
To TKD and back. The powerline was muck after this morning's rain so I took the road route.
Tae Kwon Do (Technique) 30:00 [3]
Family class, but no Yaya.