I manages to go running on one of my ski days!
Category: RunLog
Recovery Run Around The House
As I had a tougher race than anticipated yesterday (Trail Du Mont, race report coming this week) I woke up with sore quads this morning.
Seeing that Monday and Wednesday are my running days and I can’t really move them around, the question was if I would go running this evening or not.
I decided a recovery run was in order, so after work I headed out.
Only half a mile away from home I noticed that the quads were more sore than hoped.
So instead of going on my regular run that consists of running away for X kilometer and then back again I decided to run laps around my house.
The diameter of my town is about 3.3 km (~2 miles) with an awful lot of shortcuts should I wanted to head home early.
The plan for this week (made before the race) was twice 90 minutes of running, once in my zone 1 and once in my zone 2.
For my Goal For 2015 of running 2500km this year I should end with 210km per month. Those 2 runs would get me in that range, but stepping out today soon put me in another mindset.
Nice and easy and fairly short would do it today. Waking the legs to help the recovery.
I ended up with 3 laps, good for a good 11km (~7 miles) which isn’t all that bad in the end.
Do you go running the day after a race? Always or only up to a certain race distance?
Have you got a backup plan like this if you feel your legs aren’t all that?
Running abroad
For my work I’m staying abroad at a hotel this week.
It’s not all that far away from home (2.5h drive without traffic), but just far enough to not go back-and-forth every day.
This isn’t a lot of fun, seeing as this means leaving The Girlfriend and The Daughter behind, but preparation is everything, so off course they will be fine.
Preparation is also everything if you’re suddenly running on unknown terrain. I wasn’t able to go running until it was dark, so I’m glad I made a map beforehand.
Running with a map in your hand isn’t always easy, so I made a lot of extra notes with street names, landmarks etc. Basically this meant I had to look a lot less at my map than I expected, because I had studied it quite often the days before…
If you look at the pictures of the plan vs the actual route I’d dare to say I did very well. My heart rate suffered sometimes as looking around all the time and searching for street names, … can be distracting. But it was a very good run.
As long as I’m here (this week Monday until Wednesday, next week Monday until Friday) I’d like to make the best of the situation and go running as much as I can. Really max out my mileage for once, training my body to become really fatigued and recover… That is, if work won’t intervene off course…
If you go running on unknown terrain, do you print a map as well? Or use your phone? Or just go for some local laps so you can’t get lost?
Stormy means no running :(
This weekend I wanted to go for a 30k run (~19mi), because it has been over 2 months I did such a long run.
Unfortunately the weather disagreed. Wind normally isn’t something I stay home for, but when it exceeds 50km/h up to moments of 90 it’s not fun at all anymore…
Yesterday I thought “tomorrow” but after waking and looking at ‘The Flags’ I did not only see the flags themselves move, but the poles as well.
On top of that I crashed in the couch yesterday evening. It seems my body tries to fight off the start a nasty cold.
Sadly my week will end with 2 runs and about 32km(20mi) total, but rest is important too right… 😉
Let’s see if I can make up for my lost distance in following weeks…
Transition Week Recap
I don’t and won’t do a lot of week recaps as I feel no one is really interested in those, but seeing it was a special week…
Oh and I promise this is the last New Year related post 🙂
This week I ran twice, once in 2014 and once in 2015.
I summed up a total of 36.85km (~22.9 miles) in those 2 runs, which isn’t all that bad.
First run was Tuesday, nothing exciting happened, but I did get a very nice pace (5:05min/km in Z1)
Strava & Endomondo for the number fans.
Second run was Sunday (yesterday). I hoped to get a long run in this weekend, but with another New Year dinner and The Girlfriend working shifts there wasn’t a lot of time to spare. Sunday morning I had the chance to bring my daughter to my father-in-law and I made do with the time I had.
Sadly no 2+ hours, but only 90 minutes.
So instead of a long slow run, I went for a mixed tempo run: 15′ Z2 – 20′ Z3 – 20′ Z2 – 20′ Z3 – 15′ Z2 (See my Heart Rate Zones here)
I went out on an empty stomach, as I always do in the weekends and brought some dates and carb-rich cookies, but in retrospect I should have eaten.
Weather was nice, wind was doable, yet I did not get to my desired pace at any point. My Heart Rate constantly went way too high.
I was glad to be home again.
Strava & Endomondo for the number fans.
So what did I learn?
- Don’t do tempo runs of +1h on an empty stomach
- You need more water when you run faster
- Enjoying the sun is easier during a slow run
But hey, first run of 2015 is a fact and with 19km(~12mi) it could be worse.
Tonight a shorter recovery run and back into the weekly rhythm after two difficult weeks.
On a sidenote, seeing I want to run +200km(~124miles) per month, I joined the Greater Fitness 100 January Miles.
Have fun with all your runs!
I Ran Again! (120′ LSD)
YouTube movie: The song that got inexplicably stuck in my head for 70% of my run…
I finally ran again!
So the last 2 weeks I have lacked motivation and was feeling not 100%
Aside from some speed work Tuesday it has been slow…
This morning I was determined to go running.
Depending on my daughter’s hungry hour I would take off for something between 15 and 25km (9-15 miles).
When she woke I first checked “The Flags”.
A downside of living at the coast is the wind. I can see a row of flags from my house and they help me estimate how windy it is and when I will have the wind in my back.
It didn’t look all that good… 9m/s apparently, but hey, I was determined, so after feeding my daughter I layered up and headed off.
I ended up with 21km (hooray HM) but my heart rate was constantly too high so all in all it’s one to forget soon. Most positive is that hopefully it gets me started back into a routine…
To end: random picture from during my run!
Tonight off to a wedding to add all my lost calories 😉
- Ride Name:
- Distance: 0 km
- Elevation Gain: 0 m
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Strava – Endomondo
Speed work
With the upcoming 10k race in mind and not feeling 100% well, I decided yesterday speed work is more important now than my base runs. So no running yesterday, all the harder work this morning.
Plan was getting up at 6 am, daughter decided 5.30 was already enough 🙂
So after feeding her and laying her back in bed I got dressed in my new shirt, ready to go.
Biggest problem about speed work in the morning is to eat or not to eat.
I practically always decide against it, because my stomach just acts up otherwise.
That automatically means that I can go for max 40, otherwise I would be running on less than fumes…
It ended up being a ‘ladder’ (name makes sense if you see the workout :-)). Default interval provided in my FR 310xt.
- 2′ Z1
- 2′ Z2
- 2′ Z3
- 2x(200m Z4 – 200m rest)
- 4x(400m Z4 – 400m rest)
- 2x(200m Z4 – 200m rest)
- 2′ Z3
- 2′ Z2
- 2′ Z1
You can always see more info about my zones here
Some parts were really hard, definitely when I was going uphill against the wind.
But now I’m ready to start the day, totally fresh after a good shower.
Training summary:
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- Distance: 0 km
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- Moving Time: 00:00:00
- Location:
Strava – Endomondo
Hopefully I can benefit from it December 12!
Do you like speed work or stay away from it as far as you can?
November closing
So today is the start of the Friday of months, welcome December, welcome holiday month, almost welcome 2015
November was a relatively calm month, because October 27th was my main goal of the year: a 56k trail run (1200hm) (race recap coming once…)
I ended up with a 158km month (~98 miles), only February was worse in terms of distance.
Seeing it was the aftermath of a really good race and the days shortened I don’t really mind.
December will probably be quite similar, with 1 or 2 10k races planned.
So tell me, how was your november?
Beach running in the dark
This summer I started running on the beach in loose sand to train for my first trail.
Lacking hills around here I had to do something to get my quads burning…
All in all it did help I think, so after my resting weeks I decided yesterday it was time to hit the beach again.
Only problem was … Daylight saving time kicked in four weeks back.
That meant running in the dark. On the beach.
Not the brightest idea as I ended up tripping more than I wanted to.
On the bright side: I did feel my quads burning =]
Pros about running on the beach:
- Soothing sea sounds
- Heavy training without having to get in my car
Cons about running on the beach:
- When dark: tripping…
- Far from even underground, not always good for the joints…
Do you have a beach nearby? Do you like beach running or like to stay on the road close by?
Bonus (as I lack pictures for now): a post-run selfie 😉
Training summary:
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- Distance: 0 km
- Elevation Gain: 0 m
- Moving Time: 00:00:00
- Location: