Kevin's musings

This week was an easy week with 4 runs totaling 48 km. I skipped the long Sunday run in preparation for the upcoming Paris marathon next Sunday.

The weather was cold for this time of year with near freezing temperatures at night and not much sun or warmth during the day.

I did one good run where I averaged 4:52/ km over 13.32 km of hilly terrain.

Five runs this week, totaling almost 82 km, or 96% of objective. The weather was cold again. When is it going to warm up?

On Sunday I did the last long run (28 km) before the Paris Marathon on 7 April. It was cold and I wasn’t real motivated.

On two other mid-week runs of 14.5 and 18.5, in the evenings, I averaged 4:53 / km. That’s a real good pace for me considering there were some hills on the route.

It was a cold and snowy week. Fortunately the snow came early in the week when I was recovering from last Sunday’s marathon. I rested on Monday and Tuesday.

On Wednesday morning I braved the cold and snow and ran on the track in about 5 or 6 inches of snow. Temperature was -7° C.

It warmed up as the week went on and on Sunday I had a good workout with a 20 km run at 4:50 min/km pace. During the run a squall came up with a strong head-wind, rain, and hail. I pulled my cap down and accelerated thru it clicking off kms at a 4:35 min/km pace.

Overall for the week I ran 62.75 km which is a good score for a week after a marathon. After the ‘thon, I had no lingering effects or injuries and felt fully recovered after the two day rest.

The objective was 85 km and I logged 81.76 in 5 runs. The weather warmed up some and I ran in the evenings during the week.

On Sunday I ran the St-Leu-La-Forêt maratrail (42.75 km) in 4:47:15 which was good enough for 5th in my age group category out of 9 runners and 21st out of 46 overall.

The course was 100% on forest trails on a 2 loop course. It was only 5°C at race time (9 am) and didn’t really warm up. I got cold during the last 5 kms. The track was fairly muddy with some short steep sections that were difficult to negotiate.

I completed the first loop in 2:09 and the 2nd in 2:35 after a 3 min break to fill up my camelbak. On the 2nd loop I passed 5 guys and did not get passed by anybody. For more than an hour I was all alone with nobody in view ahead of me nor behind me.

I drank about 3 liters of fluids and consumed 3 gels on the course. At the halfway point I ate some banana and some gel cubes.

I didn’t fall although came close to it one time when I stubbed my toe on a root. A couple of times I had twinges in my legs that I thought were the onset of cramps but none ever developed. The legs just got tired during the last 10km.

The course was advertised as having 1200m of positive vertical but my garmin measured only 736m (2415 ft).

My average heartrate was 132 which I consider is pretty low. The HR was significantly slower over the last half when I was going slower.

Average pace was 6:43 min/km (10.49 min/mile). Average speed was 8.9 km/hr (5.5 mph).

Further details here http://connect.garmin.com/activity/282671731

This week I got in some quality running during 5 sorties, culminating with a strong half marathon at Rueil-Malmaison. I didn’t make the weekly kilometer objective but made up for it with a good perf in the half.

The weather was cold all week so a certain amount of courage was required to get out and brave the elements.

For the half marathon, fortunately the sun was out to warm up the atmosphere a bit. I guess it was about 3°C at the 10:30 AM start. There was a gym where runners could hang out until it was time to do a warm-up jog.

Like the half-marathon the week before, I was able to sign up to run on race day. By the way, I had no lingering effects or extra tiredness from the half I ran last week at Savigny-sur-Orge.

At the start, I positioned myself just behind the 1:40 objective sign where people with that objective were supposed to line up. I should have moved myself up further because the first 2 km were on a narrow track along the Seine which made it difficult and dangerous to get up to my target pace of 4:40.

At km 4 there was an unexpected hill that hurt and hurt even more on the second lap, this time at km 14.

My average HR was 144 or 85% of max which is just about where it should be. Average pace was 4:44/km. Over the last 5km I averaged 4:32/km.

I did the first 10 km in 47:49.

The first split in 49:40 and the second in 48:49. It’s always good to have a negative split like that.

My overall time was 1:38:29 which I’m happy with at this point early in the year. If I had had a better position at the start and if not for the hill, I think I could have approached my half PR of 1:35. I’ll have to save that exploit for another race.

I finished 48th out of 220 runners in my V2 category. 

Next Sunday is the Maratrail, which will be a tough 42 km test. I want to do it in a round 5 hours.

This is on the first pass through the sports complex when we were still relatively fresh.

Had a good week of running despite cold, sub-freezing temperatures, surpassing the 75km goal by 4km.

On Saturday I did a relatively easy, long steady 26 km run down to the Seine, over to St Germain-en-Laye, and up into Marly forest. It was below zero so instead of taking my backpack with the hydration system that tends to freeze, I took two bottles. After a while, the liquid got cold and my hands as well. Again, I had to eat the paper on an energy bar. It’s impossible to get the sticky paper off. Maybe you’re supposed to eat it?

The highlight of the week was a half marathon at Savigny-sur-Orge that I ran with Thomas and Emmanuel. It was cold and snowy but we did it in 1:51:39 with a strong finish.

Here are the pics:

Surpassed my 75km objective this week with a strong 85.57km effort spread over 5 different runs.

On Tuesday, after a 2 day rest, I did an evening run for a change. I covered 16km in a brisk 4:54 min/km pace, especially considering that there were some hills during the run. Average HR was 147, so that is encouraging.

On Saturday I did an 18.84 km run and followed that with a 31.28 run on Sunday. It was sunny and dry on both days with temps around 8°C.

The Sunday run was a loop thru St Gemain-en-laye forest, around Maisons-Laffitte, and back along the Seine, thru Le Pecq. I crossed the forest on horse trails and in a few places slogged thru ankle deep mud.

I read that the Yasso test is a good indicator of marathon time.

15 min warmup

do 10 x 800m  reps separated by a slow jog to rest and recuperate

if 800m time < 3:30, rest time between reps is 2:00 to 2:30

if 800m time > 3:30, rest time between reps is 2:30 to 3:00

throw out the fastest and slowest times and average the 8 remaining times

if average time is 3min 35 sec, estimated marathon time is 3h 35min

This week was a soft training week. I only did 28.67 km, or 41% of the 70km goal. I did three runs and no long run. The weather was foul so this was a good week to cut back.

On Saturday I did a 10km time trail in 44 min. on the track. I’m happy with that time and my condition right now.

This week I did 72.8 km in 4 runs. I rested Monday and Tuesday to recover from the 35 km on Sunday.

On Saturday I kept up a good pace over 18.57 km in Marly forest, averaging 4:52 min/km with an average heart rate of 151 bpm..  If I want to set a new marathon PR I’ll have to do better than that. To break 3 hours 25 min, I need to have a sustained moving pace of around 4:45 which works out to 200 min. or 3 hours 20 min. That pace leaves 5 minutes for drinking, eating, and relieving one’s self along the way. I tried my new heart rate monitor on Saturday and had it too tight across my chest. The strap cut into my skin and gave a nice welt. You probably heard the painful screams when I stepped into the shower.

On Sunday I did a 36 km run along the Seine down to Herblay and back so it was basically a flat course. The return run was more difficult because it was up river, against wind, and included the “climb” into Marly. I tried two different gel packs; Overstim and GU. I preferred the GU. I also tried an energy bar. After taking the plastic wrapper off, I couldn’t get the thin paper off the sticky bar, so being ravenously hungry at the 25 km point, just ate paper and all.

Legs and toes felt fine. I had no cramps. Average heart rate was 134 bpm which I’m happy with. That rate should be sustainable for many hours.

Four runs this week, on Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday after rest days on Monday and Tuesday. I made the 70 km objective with a long 35 km run on Sunday.

The long run was encouraging. I had no cramps. My legs and feet held up well. I used the backpack hydration system. The weather warmed up and I ran in late afternoon. I didn’t eat anything on this run, because I just wasn’t hungry. I had eaten too much pizza for lunch I guess.

For week 9, I did 57km or 88% of objective in three outings, twice during the week and a long 30.65 km run on Sunday. Weather was cold so it was tough to get motivated. The long run was encouraging. I did it in just under 3 hours. Afterward I was still lucid and the next day had no soreness, just tiredness. The big toe held up well.

This past week, I did 65 km in four outings to hit 93% of objective. Three of the runs were in snow. On Tuesday I ran on the track where I could count on having good footing in the dark.

It snowed about 3 inches on Friday night, so the Saturday morning run was in the snow. I went up on the forest trails which was difficult because the uneven ground underneath the snow was frozen making the footing treacherous.

Today I did the 30 km in 3 hours during another snow storm. There was about 5 inches of fresh snow on the ground. I stayed on the sidewalks and on the road in the forest to get some good footing. My camelbak butt back tube kept trying to freeze up on me. I had to remember to drink every few minutes to keep the water flowing even though I started out with it filled with hot water.

Week 6 was the week before Christmas. The major difficulty was the multiple pre-Christmas parties and dinners that I attended. In addition to that there was a travel day to Gerardmer that I had to run around. Despite that, I was able to log 55.86 km or 86% of my weekly goal.

Week 7 was the week of Christmas and I faced some really awful weather at Gerardmer. Most days I faced cold rain and wind. There was one day of exceptionally nice weather when I was able to go out in shorts. That day I dad 15 km. We also travelled to Germany and I had a nice run at Amberg, running up the hill to the Kloster overlooking the city and going on thru the “Wald”. Because of the travel day back to Paris I only did 59.56 km or 92% of my objective. But I’m still happy with that, considering some of the conditions that I faced. The hills in Gerardmer were good for training also.

For both of these weeks, I was motivated and pushing hard to make the 2000 km objective for 2012.

This was a strong running week, based on a 20k run on Saturday, followed by a 25 run on Sunday. I also ran on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings in sub-freezing temperatures for those two mornings.

The total for the week was 66.9 km, exceeding my objective of 60 km.

My objective for the year is 2000 km and I’ve got 137 km to go to attain that goal. There are 15 days left so I have to average 9.13 km/day. I can’t afford to skip many days. I may be out running on New Year’s Eve to get it done.

I got to 87% of my 60 km objective this past week, running a total of 52.47km. I missed a morning run because of bad weather. It snowed during the early morning hours of Thursday and I didn’t go out in the slippery conditions.

The long run of the week was on Saturday when I did 23km. I started out with the idea of only doing 15 and saving the long run for Sunday so I didn’t take any drink or food with me. After the first 10kms I hit a good rhythm and felt good so I picked up the pace and just kept going, kind of like Forest Gump. The weather was nice with a temperature at around 40°F.

Sunday’s run was an 11km effort at a more leisurely pace.

I had a good running week logging 58.95 km with no new aches or pains. My goal for the week was 50km.

I did 4 sorties with a strong 21 km on Sunday at a sub 5min/km pace. It was a crisp, cold, and dry day and I stayed on the hardtop to get a reference time for a half marathon distance. When I go on the forest trails in the mud and over difficult terrain the pace goes down of course, so a trail run is not a good indicator of 1/2 ‘thon performance.

This past week I ran 5 times for a total of 55.83km. Sunday was the long run day with a 20.74km run thru Marly forest. I started after 4PM and it got dark so I had to return by way of Etang-la-Ville under the street lights. I didn’t want to risk turning an ankle on the  trail after dark. The average pace was 5:17km/min which is encouraging.

Other runs were on Tue., Wed., and Fri mornings, and a Sat 10k in the park.

No injury issues have developed over the past 2 +50km weeks so that is a good sign.