Kevin's musings

Got home from work on an exceptionally warm March day and had some daylight left to go out on a run. Went on a somewhat hilly course up thru Mariel-Marly and Etang-la-Ville for a total of 9.27 km, at a 5:00 min/km pace, at an average HR of 152 bpm (85% max). That’s proof that I was not poking along, considering the hills. So I’m happy with that performance considering my current state of fitness and my kind of tender toe and feet.

My Nike Max Air shoes seem to be the best choice among the 7 or 8 pairs of running shoes.

Did just a short 5k run on the track this morning. The important thing was that I got out of bed, put on the shoes, and got out the door to put in a few kms so that I get back in the habit of running just about everyday.

I’m worried about my left foot, specifically, the big toe which has been bothering me for about 18 months now and which I aggravated doing the stress test, but more for the arch which could turn into a show stopper if I’m not careful. The arch gives me pain during the first 2kms then goes away.

Went for an easy 6.7k run this morning. My legs are still sore from the long Sunday run.

Only the third time in 6 weeks that I’ve run at 6AM. Early in the weeks I’ve been recovering from long weekend runs, or I’ve been giving my feet a rest and recover from persistent minor injuries to the toe and arch.

It was a long run day and I started out after 16:00 to maximize my rest after ysterday’s run. I tested Ellen’s hydration pack which has a 2 liter bladder. Wearing a pack carrying all that water made me feel heavy. I noticed it more than the hip pack which holds less than a liter.

It turned out that I didn’t drink all the water and had about 33 cl left at the end of my 27.3 km.

It was a slow run of course up thru the park and into the forest, cumulating an elevation gain of 285 m. Average hr was 139 bpm. Time: 2:40.

I had to hop the fence in the park because they closed it early. Luckily there was one of those movable barriers leaning againt the fence that I used as a ladder.

When I got up to where the trail parallels the autoroute, I was running faster than the traffic was moving due to a traffic jam.

My current condition has regressed from late January when I did the same run but 10 minutes faster. Must be because of my light running over the last 2-3 weeks. Need to get back into the groove.

I wore the Nike Max Air and they didn’t give me any problems.

Did an easy run on the track this morning, going only 6.38 kms. Not really motivated this morning.

I waited till late in the day to run and as I was putting on my shoes I noticed it was starting to rain. And I was in shorts to make sure that I would get cold and I did. At first the rain was a drizzle but as I went further the rain got harder.

I went out thru the park and up into the Marly forest for the standard loop, doing 24.94km in 2:22 min for an average pace of 5:43 per km.

As I write this my legs, feet, knees, hips, etc are all stiff and sore. I’m blaming this out-of-shapeness on the week in the Alps with too much to eat and drink.

I ran in my trail shoes for the first time in a long time and my right toe got hammered again. I think I’ll have to give up on these shoes for long runs.

I took a 5 day break from running because of the ski vacation in the Alps. The legs were ok for running despite the tiredness from skiing. I did 10ks at a normal pace.

I took a 5 day lay-off to rest my feet that were starting to get too much stress on the arches. Especially in my left foot which was giving me a little pain. I did a short 7.5 km in the park.

My big left toe got bent back a little yesterday during the cardiac stress test and that aggravated the lingering pain there. Running uphill is hard on my big toe if I don’t place my foot right. The 18% grade on the treadmill was enough to do it.

I went to the cardiologist last summer and had an electrocardiogram done. He recommended I also do a cardiac stress test.

So, I finally got around to it 8 months later. The test is done on a treadmill with electrodes attached to chest, arms and back. You go thru stages of gradually increasing speed and inclination of the treadmill. It’s called the Bruce Protocol.

For the average guy like me they don’t hook up a mask and measure oxygen intake and lung capacity. The doc said professional athletes regularly do that test at the sports medicine clinic. He said if I really wanted to do it he could arrange it. 

I only went thru 5 stages as I was in my street shoes and couldn’t really break into a run very well.

My heart rate went up to 164 bpm so, yes I was suffering and worked up a good sweat.

After the test the doc looked at the printout and saw a little blip after each beat while at rest at the beginning of the test, calling it an atypical anterior repolarization. Repolarization is the restoration of the electrical potential of the myocardial cell. During the test the blip disappeared. During the cool down he noted a few small late blips. He said all was within the normal range.

My Q-T interval (the time required for depolarization and repolarization of ventricles) is 0.40 sec, which is normal (0.34 to 0.42) according to the doc and this web page BasicECG.

It was sunny and relatively warm (5°C) this morning for my long run thru the St Germain-en-laye forest. I started at about 10 AM in shorts and as long as I stayed in the sun I didn’t get cold.

The objective was 30 kms and I made it without any serious problems so I’m happy about that. I didn’t cramp up and just had some minor pain in the arch of my left foot.

I wanted to follow the blazed 18 km trail but got off course somewhere. It didn’t matter because I know the general direction to go and got back on course when I got near the train tracks.

Here is the garmin trace and stats http://connect.garmin.com/activity/150795098

My pace was 5:27 /km and bpm was 137 or 77% of max. Naturally I slowed over the last 5 kms just from overall fatigue.

I went on a nice run thru the park this morning. The weather is warm and dry for a Saturday in February so I went out in shorts, which made the run enjoyable considering the runs in the bitter cold of last week.

For the 12 k, my average pace was a comfortable 4:54 per km with average bpm of 149 or 83% max.

Just for the record and so that I don’t forget, Runner’s World cited a study of how to best determine your theoretical max heart rate. For men the formula is 205 minus half your age. For me right now that works out to 179. Determining your real max heart rate is hard work. Basically you run a mile or 2, accelerating as you go and when you’re about to drop dead, measure your bpm. It’s best to have a buddy with you to read the heart rate monitor, because in that state it can be difficult to concentrate and be lucid.

Tomorrow is a long slow run day with an objective of 30 km.

Got up early this morning and the weather wasn’t too cold, not too snowy or rainy so I headed over to the track. When I got there I was feeling pretty good so I decided to do 10ks and see how I measured up at that distance.

I was pleased with my time of 47min given that my 1st two km were the warm up getting over there. I gradually accelerated, doing the last five in about 22min.

145 bpm or 81%, so I figure if I up that effort to be at an average of 150, I can knock off 3 or 4 minutes from my time.

There’s still snow from last weekend on the ground in the forest. I went up there and did my normal loop. Footing was decent since everything is frozen. I was able to keep up a decent pace at 4:56/km with a hr at 145 or 81% max. Distance was 18.59 km so I’m happy with that pace for that distance.

This was a three t-shirt day with temperature at about -2°C.

For the week, I logged only 27.59 km. With the artic temps I think that is still a good perf.

The coming week is expected to be warmer and rainy so again, it will be difficult to motivate oneself to get up and out of bed for the 6am training runs.

it was cold all week and I didn’t have the courage to get out of bed early and face negative temperatures. No above freezing temps all week long and with the snow and ice on the sidewalks and roads, it was a good time to take a break. My body and my mind needed a rest anyways.

Today it is still below freezing, but the sun is out and I went for an enjoyable 9 k run in and around Marly. The route had some short hills that made my hr go up and kept me warm. Average pace was 5:07/km and avg hr at 143 or 80% max.

We got about 3 inches of snow this morning. Since the temperature stayed below freezing all day none of it melted. I went out for my run in the late afternoon. It was tough going in the snow on the forest trails. The ground underneath the snow was frozen so I had to be careful not to turn an ankle. I did 21.81 km in about 2 hours at a 5:33 min/km pace. Average of 135 bpm or 75% max. I developed a blister on the end of one of my toes. I don’t know where that came from.

53.32 km for the week.

I wanted to run in the park but it was closed for bad weather. Some people have a strange idea of the definition of bad weather. Today there is not a cloud in the sky and not the slightest breeze. The temperature is in the mid 20’s F (-5°C).

I ran up to the forest and did several loops around with some short hills, stopping to do some situps on the way.

Totals 11.14 km, 144 bpm, 4:53 min/km.

It was cold this morning for the 10k. Only -7°c, or 19°f. I wear a tshirt under my long sleeve but if it gets any colder, I may have to wear 2 long sleeves. The cold motivated me to quicken the pace to get back inside to find some warmth. 5:01/km; 138 bpm.

My 10k run yesterday morning went well. It was about -3°C, dry and with clear skies. I had to wear my headband and gloves to keep warm. I noticed no after effects from my long run 2 days before.

Here’s an article about barefoot/minimalist running: Wired article on barefoot running

It was cold this morning for the run thru Marly forest. Had to have gloves with me. My gloves are 30 year old standard issue US Army wool inserts to the standard issue black leather gloves. They have a few holes which are perfect for letting a little air in so that hands don’t get too warm. One day I will wash them.

I used my hip belt hydration system. It’s a camelback model that holds 1 liter. I use an energy drink that comes in a powder. In the pouch I had dried apricots. They’re easy to eat, not sticky, and give a good energy boost.

Started with a loop thru the park and then into the forest. The trails were wet and muddy so the going was slow in some sections.On the paved trail I run off to the side in the leaves and soft areas to avoid the hard top.

Tried to keep my pace so that my HR stays around 135. On uphill sections it goes up into the 140s and on downhills sometimes falls into the 120s. My garmin is set to display the HR in real time.

Running time was 2:44, distance 29.94 km or about 18.5 mi, moving pace 5:26/km. For the week, distance 61.32km.

The garmin trace http://connect.garmin.com/activity/145490950