More Nike+ Woes

So today I set out to do a little test for myself. I'm running a 10k on Saturday and wanted to see if it was even feasible for me to try to break the hour mark. I haven't run a mile in under 10 minutes for my training but I'm also not really pushing it too high into HR Zone 1. Anyway, I started out at an even pace and tried to hold it steady even though there are a lot of hills on my route (route map below). According to MapMyRun, I actually went 3.3 miles, even though Nike+ called it only 3. I finished 3.3 in 30:22, which is about 9:20 per mile, giving me some hope that I can break an hour in the 10K. I have 6 miles tomorrow but will try to really stay in HR Zone 1 and take it kind of easy so I'll be ready to go out strong on Saturday morning. In the meantime, it might be time for a Nike+ calibration. It seems to be off by more the faster I run, creating constant frustration.

Finished 5 in 50:25 today in zone 1. I was pretty happy with that. I've done 8 so far this week. I have 3 tomorrow, 6 Thursday, doing a 10k Saturday, and 8 on Sunday. If all goes well, I should be over 100 miles for the month by the end of the weekend - just a little ahead of schedule. And when my Goofy Race and a Half Training number hits 292, I will surpass 500 total miles on Nike+. Nice.

11

So I tackled 11 miles today. After getting some advice for my nutrition strategy yesterday, I went with my 4 bottle belt, giving me about 24 oz of Powerade and 1 package of Shot Blox. I took a Shot Blox cube along with a swig of Powerade on odd miles and just a healthy drink of Powerade for the even miles. The strategy worked great. I was able to finish strong (last mile in 9:36) after averaging 11:12 for the rest. I felt a little sluggish at first but after about 3 miles, I started feeling better. My knees were hurting pretty severely after about 6 miles. Not really sure why since the 10 I did earlier this week didn't bring any knee pain. I'm a little sore but all in all, it was a good run and I was happy with it. It took me just over 2 hours total and my only stops were due to crossing streets. I'm 3.5 miles ahead of my target of running 100 miles in September as of today. I added the tally to the blog. A nice, easy 3 tomorrow to keep the legs working.

Chugging through the week so far. It's Game Day, so that's always exciting. I put in a little over 5 this morning and now getting ready for another Buckeye noon game. Out of the first five games this season, 4 are at noon. Definitely makes for a hectic morning with workouts, showers, dogs, prepping for company, etc. I'm also trying to mentally prep for my 11 miler tomorrow. I mean, I've done 10 so what's one more? For some reason it just seems longer since a 10 miler is easily done with 2 of my normal 5 mile laps. I have to do even MORE than that! More than 2 laps just seems crazy. Anyway, tomorrow should be fun. GO BUCKS!

OK, so I haven't been really keeping up with the blog so much...  My last post mentioned that I was approaching 100 miles since beginning Goofy Training (and it was April 5).  So as you might have guessed by the fact that I'm at 203+ miles today, I've been running since April 5.  I think the blog, like my fitness, has evolved a bit.  I have some new plans for this.  I'm not going to really break every workout down totally everyday.  I am keeping all of my run data in so many places, I don't really think I need it here too.  Not to mention the few people that are reading this probably don't really care that much.  I will, however, mention the overall stats of different workouts from time to time just to show progress or brag about a particularly good run.  My original intent is still the same, which was to give me something to read later to remember how tough this year was, but I think the approach will vary slightly.  I'm also going to experiment with adding graphs and other fun stuff.  So all of that out of the way....

Today I ran 10 miles after coming off 5 yesterday.  Weather was awesome for running and I felt pretty good.  Although now that it's been 5 hours since I ran, I can definitely feel that I'm going to be a little stiff tomorrow.  I missed my runs last weekend so I'm having to kind of juggle a bit to get them in along with my scheduled workouts.  

Here's the route:

Adding the MapMyRun stuff into the blog is pretty cool.  OK, so the rest of the week, I have 3 tomorrow, 3 Friday, 5 Saturday, 11 Sunday.  This is my highest mileage week so far at 37.  Should be a great time.......

Workout 21: 1 hour run

I skipped to workout 21 because I did run on Thursday in addition to my strength routine but only about 1.75 miles with Bella, which was a mistake. Today called for 1 hour. I ticked off 5.19 miles at an avg pace of 11:40 and avg HR of 167. I didn't stop at all - all the lights were timed perfectly so I could just keep running-- Nice! Weather was pretty nice - light rain and about 60 degrees. Doesn't sound that great but was nice for running. Oh, and I did use my inhaler today. No breakdown since Nike+ doesn't alert me at each mile when I set it for time. I'll know next time to just set a distance. One point of interest: I've surpassed 300 miles in Nike+ as of today - and my tally for the Goofy Year is approaching 100.......

Workout 19: 4-Miler

I'm an idiot. Amongst the cars covered in yellow pollen, freshly cut grass at every yard along my route, and more flowers than France, I forget to use my inhaler before I go out for my 4-miler today. It was an awesome day: 65 and sunny. I had to stop at the Big Peach for some water though. The inability to breathe really makes me tired and thirsty. I managed 4.1 miles at 11:30 avg pace, 172 avg HR. Definitely NOT where I want to be right now but, given everything, I'm OK with it. Just battling back... Here's the breakdown:

Mile Pace Avg Max
1- 11:28 161 180
2- 11:56 178 182
3- 8:29 181 190 (about 3/4 of mile 3)
H20- 3:33 161 183 (water break)
3- 4:36 174 186 (rest of mile 3)
4- 11:23 187 193
5- 0:54 191 192 (last tenth of a mile)

Pretty brutal and I was really feeling it toward the end. I was also feeling yesterday's strength workout a bit as well. Tomorrow I have the strength workout again and I short run if I feel up to it.