Kazrak's In My Day We Had A Kessel Run Training Journal (Comments Welcome)

Not a bad week.

Monday: Younger son wasn't feeling well, so did 2m/30s x8 with daughter. 1.49mi, 12:46/mi pace.
Took Tuesday morning off because I'd had a serious run on Monday.
Thursday: 2m/30s x8 with daughter. 1.48mi, 13:06/mi pace.
Friday: C25K with younger son and daughter, slow. (Daughter flew back to college on Friday afternoon, so last run with her for a while.)
Sunday: Bridge to Bridge. Race recap over on the main thread, but: 1:33:46, missing PoT by under three minutes. About what I expected.

Plan for the week:
Trainer session for Tuesday is iffy due to sudden meetings. Trying to reschedule.
Taking most of the week off, trying to figure out what my next race is and what I want to do to train for it.
 
So, two weeks later...

Last week:
Monday: C25K week 3 with younger son, slow.
Tuesday: 2m/30s x8. 1.52mi, 12:42/mi pace.
Tuesday afternoon: Trainer session.
Thursday: Scrubbed due to computer issues in the morning. (For those who understand what this means: the RAID array on my desktop had a disk fail.)
Friday: C25K week 3 with younger son, slow.
Saturday: Really not feeling it. Ended up doing 2m/30s x6, slow. 1.06mi, 13:39/mi pace.

Plan for this week:
Monday: Planning to switch my more serious run to Monday from Tuesday to spread out the workouts more. So, 2m/30s x8, or maybe x16 if I get up early enough.
Tuesday: Running with younger son, slow. Might try to push him to C25K week 4.
Tuesday afternoon: Trainer session.
Thursday: 2m/30s x8, or x16 if I get up early.
Friday: Running with younger son.
Saturday: Loop the college, 2m/30s intervals.
Sunday: Fly to Omaha for work.
 
Decent week.

Monday: 2m/30s x8. 1.45mi, 13:03/mi pace.
Tuesday: C25K week 3 with younger son, slow.
Tuesday afternoon: Trainer session.
Thursday: 2m/30s x8. 1.54mi, 12:42/mi pace.
Friday: C25K week 3 with younger son, slow.
Saturday: 2m/30s loop. 2.90 mi, 12:40/mi pace.

I'm flying to Omaha tomorrow for work. Hoping to get some runs in there, but not sure where there are trails near my hotel yet.
 


Not my best week. I was staying in Council Bluffs, IA all week, just across the river from Omaha.

Monday: Went out for 2m/30s x8, but ran out of sidewalk after x6. 1.14mi, 12:47/mi pace, 14:39 time.
Wednesday: Unable to run because somebody turned up the gravity under my bed.
Thursday: Got up early enough to run, but decided that running in a lightning storm was unwise.
Friday: Stayed up too late, didn't get up early enough.

Weight's up as well. Going back onto the wagon tomorrow.

Plan for next week:
Monday/Thursday: 2m/30s x8, maybe more if I get up early.
Tuesday/Friday: C25K week 3 with younger son.
Tuesday afternoon: Trainer session.
Saturday: 2m/30s loop.

Also planning to figure out a training plan for a NYE half marathon this week.
 
Weight's down about 5 pounds, so progress there. (Of course, breakfast out this morning with my son isn't going to help.)

Monday: 2m/30s x8, 1.44mi, 13:27/mi pace.
Tuesday: C25K week 3 with younger son, slow.
Tuesday afternoon: Trainer session.
Thursday: 2m/30s x8 ish. Watch was set to 2m/2m intervals so I wasn't hitting the 2m/30s exactly. 1.48mi, 13:10/mi pace.
Friday: C25K week 3 with younger son, slow.
Saturday: Went for fast 2m/30 over 1 mile. 11:03/mi pace.

I'm planning out the training for the NYE half marathon. Goal is to hit 2:30, although I'm aware that's a stretch goal. I figure if I aim for 2:30 then I should almost certainly hit 2:45. I'm currently eyeing a Runner's World plan - it's a 12-week plan, so I have one week before it starts. I may try week one an extra time just to get a feel for it.

Main issue with it is that it's got some hour-long weekday runs that will be tricky to get into my schedule - looking at 6:15 (or even 6:00) alarms and running in the dark, I think.

Plan for the week:
Monday: 3 miles, aiming for 12:00-12:30 pace.
Tuesday: C25K with younger son.
Tuesday afternoon: No training session due to meeting, unfortunately. We may reschedule.
Thursday: 2 miles, aiming for 11:00-11:30 pace.
Friday: C25K week 3 with younger son, slow.
Saturday: 6 miles, aiming for 13:00-13:30 pace.
 


So, early update - did the first run today. It went...really well, actually, although I think I'm pushing my limits. (Not a bad thing, just something to be aware of.)

The plan I'm looking at is at

https://www.runnersworld.com/uk/tra.../rws-12-week-sub-230-half-marathon-schedules/
I'll note that I don't quite hit their prereqs (sub-1:05 10k), so I'm shooting for a bit slower than their recommended paces. (So, they say 12:00, I'm aiming for 12:00 to 12:30.)

Given my usual 2m/30s intervals, I figured I needed a running pace of 11:00 to 11:30 to get a 12:00 to 12:30 overall pace. I started off a bit fast (closer to 10:00) and had to back off a bit, but by the second interval I had settled in in the 10:45-11:15 range. And then, I was pretty much able to keep that pace up for the rest of the run. I had a couple points where I felt a little nauseous, like I was getting close to my limit, but they passed. As I got close to the end, I skipped my last walk interval and instead picked up the pace.

Overall stats: 3.00 miles, 11:51/mi pace, 35:36 time. Mile splits were 11:46, 12:03, and 11:44. Peak pace at the end was 9:51/mi. Heart rate averaged 151, better than I expected. (Or maybe the Garmin was just reading low.)

I'm a bit more concerned about the 11:00 pace for 2 miles on Thursday, but we'll see what we can do. I did manage 11:03/mi over 1 mile on Saturday.
 
Very good week overall.

Tuesday: Younger son decided he wanted to go faster. Still on C25K week 3 - we ran at about an 11:15 pace for the first 90 second interval, and about a 12:00 pace for the first 3 minute interval. We took it easier on the way back, hitting an overall pace of 15:01/mi over 1.00 miles.

Thursday: Goal was 11:00 pace for 2 miles. Still doing 2m/30s intervals, so my goal for running was around 10:00. I hit the one mile mark at 10:59.5, turned around and headed back. On the return leg, I picked up the pace on the last interval, seeing if I could push a bit harder. I peaked at about an 8:36 pace and finished the last mile in 10:53 for an average pace of 10:56/mi over 2.0 miles.

Friday: Younger son was still game for picking up the pace. 11:30/mi for the first run and 12:00/mi for the second. (I started the watch a bit late, so I don't have an exact distance.) Average pace was 14:44/mi, and might have been a bit higher as I missed about 20 seconds of running.

Saturday: Goal was 13:00 pace for 6 miles. 6 miles is an awkward distance here due to how things are set up, but I cobbled it together - twice around the loop, add in a detour out on the creek trail, and then loop the soccer field twice. Early on, my biggest problem was keeping the speed down - I kept wanting to go at closer to 11:00/mi instead of the 12:00/mi that I was targeting. I managed to keep from pushing too hard, and today's run was far easier than either of the other two. Splits were 12:46, 12:49, 13:01, 13:02, 13:06, and 12:38 - I skipped the last walk interval, instead running for the finish line. 6.0 miles, 12:54/mi pace.

And, weight was fluctuating a bit over the week but is down right now. Not as much as I'd like, but progress.

Plan for this week:
Monday: 4 miles, 12:00-12:30 pace.
Tuesday: C25K week 3 with younger son.
Tuesday afternoon: Trainer session
Thursday: 3 miles, 11:00-11:30 pace.
Friday: C25K week 3 with younger son.
Saturday: 6 miles, 12:30-13:00 pace.

I've decided to just continue with the plan - it gives me a bit of slack to deal with Thanksgiving week. I figure I'll probably duplicate that week because the travel is going to mess it up. (Although perhaps not as much as I think - we fly out Tuesday and come back Saturday, and I'll be doing the Turkey Trot 5k on Thursday, which I think should be a 4 mile run at a 10:30 pace on the plan.) We'll see how it goes.
 
Yeah, I was expecting this.

Monday went fine. 4.00 miles, 47:08, 11:47/mi pace.
Tuesday, younger son was willing to push some more, 0.97 miles, 15:41/mi pace.
Tuesday afternoon, trainer session, no problems.

And then Thursday. This was supposed to be the 'fast' run, 3 miles at 11:00-11:30 pace. I'm not sure if it was lack of sleep or what, but I was no up to that pace, especially not for that long. First mile was close (10:54/mi pace) but I was about to barf after that, so I backed off a bit. Remaining two miles were 11:23 and 11:35, for an overall pace of 11:17...and those numbers are the Strava ones with 'pauses' where I wasn't walking fast enough. Total elapsed time was 22 seconds longer than Strava's moving time, which would bump the overall pace to 11:24. This was not a happy run at all.

Friday went better, younger son pushed even more and we got to 1.03 miles, 15:07 time.

Saturday was going fine. Goal was 6 miles at a 12:30 pace. First three miles were 12:03, 12:15, and 12:23. Right on target, even a bit fast. And then, just at about three miles...that's odd. My shin hurts a bit. Actually, no, that's my knee. My right knee is decidedly unhappy with running. I hit my next rest interval, deciding to see if that would help. Started running, got about 15 seconds in, and nope. Called the run there and walked home. 3.07 mi, 12:16 pace, 37:45 time.

So, now to figure out where to go from there.

I've got a spare week in here, so I may try to repeat this week and see how that goes. We'll see if the knee is back to normal tomorrow. If not, then I think I take the rest of the week off for it and then pick up from there. Worst case, I ditch this plan and see about a 10k plan for NYE; I haven't registered yet, so I can still drop down without a major problem.

Plan for this week:
Monday: 4 miles, 12:00-12:30 pace.
Tuesday: C25K week 3 with younger son.
Tuesday afternoon: Trainer session
Thursday: 3 miles, 11:00-11:30 pace.
Friday: C25K week 3 with younger son.
Saturday: 6 miles, 12:30-13:00 pace.
 
And, I'm taking the week off. Got up this morning, tried a run...by the end of the first two-minute interval, the knee was starting to complain.

So, I'll take this week off, and decide if I want to keep pushing on the half-marathon training or back off and do 10k training.
 
Okay, two week summary: just bad all around.

I took the week off and let the knee recover. Did a little running last week, but not much at all. The planned run on Saturday didn't happen due to air quality issues. Weight's up as well.

Plan for this week:
Monday: 2m/30s x8
Tuesday: C25K week 3 with younger son
Tuesday afternoon: Trainer session
Thursday: 2m/30s x8
Friday: C25K week 3 with younger son
Saturday: 2m/30s around the college (3 miles)
 
Been a few weeks. Air quality has been iffy here due to the fires, so I took a couple weeks off. Got back to it this week, going easy with my son for most of it.

Monday/Thursday: C25K with younger son, slow.
Tuesday: Trainer session.
Saturday: Trying a solo run, 1 mile. 12:40/mi pace, and kept the heart rate below 150. (I think. The Garmin flaked with 1/5 of a mile left, but I was at 148 then.)

Plan for this week:
Monday/Thursday: C25K with younger son.
Tuesday/Friday: ~20 minute runs. Not worrying about intervals, just trying to get them done.
Tuesday afternoon: Trainer session.
Saturday: A longer run to be determined.

Assuming, of course, that I can breathe the air instead of chewing it.
 
Okay, so I missed a few weeks.

I ended up taking it casual before the Turkey Trot, which I posted about in the main thread.

Since then, older son and I did two runs on Tuesday/Friday, I did one-mile runs on Monday/Thursday, and I had a trainer session on Tuesday.

Plan for this coming week is basically the same.
 
And, missed a few more.

Did some one-mile runs leading up to the NYE 10k/NYD 5k that I posted recaps of in the 2019 Running Thread. And then...well, I had a Disneyland trip last week. So no running since the 5k.

I have Princess half marathon next month, and Star Wars two months after that. I think it's time to get more serious. I need to get another qualifying time in here somewhere as well.

Did 20 minutes in 2m run/30s walk intervals today. It felt good, but I was slowing down by the ends of the intervals. I think the plan is going to be to go back to my normal schedule:

Monday/Thursday: 20 minutes, 2m run/30s walk, aiming for a 12:00 run pace.
Tuesday/Friday: C25K week 3 (90s run/90s walk/3m run/3m walk, repeat) with younger son.
Tuesday afternoon: Trainer session. (Looking forward to this. Haven't seen him since before Christmas. I expect to be sore Wednesday.)
Saturday: Currently thinking 2m run/30s walk around the college (roughly a 5k).

I expect to have some other races in there - there's another combo medal on the weekends before and after Princess, and my wife wants to run them. I'll probably do casual 5ks for both, maybe do a casual 10k before as a training run. Hellyer is in March, and I really like that one. I may aim for a PoT 10k there. If that doesn't work, I'm probably looking at Summer Breeze (August) for a 10k or half PoT. (Or I could go for Bridge to Bridge 12k, but Summer Breeze is probably easier.)

Trying to find a good dietary solution as well. Current plan is to log my eating but not count the calories, work on improving my food quality, and give myself some sort of credits to use for occasional junk food. Not sure yet. I've decided it's more important to get the running back first, and then worry about food afterwards. First step: at least one salad daily.

I've been slacking since I hurt the knee by overtraining. Time to get back on the wagon, but a bit more intelligently.
 
Slower week than expected. We're still recovering from travel crud from the Disneyland trip. Younger son wasn't up to running this week, and I didn't run as much as planned.

Monday: 2m/30s for 20 minutes. Took it slow, 13:31 pace for 1.44 miles.
Tuesday: Son wasn't feeling good, so skipped the run. Trainer session. Left shoulder is still a little sore after this.
Thursday: Too cold and rainy, so skipped.
Friday: Son still not feeling good, so I went solo. Very cold (38F), so I ended up doing a 1 mile run at 2m/30s intervals. 1.00 miles, 12.59 pace.
Saturday: Still too cold.

Weather is warming up this week, so the hope is to get back into the usual schedule.
 
Back on track this week, mostly. Son is still sick, so we skipped his, and my trainer had to bail for the week. (And he may end up needing to reschedule me or swap me to a different trainer.)

Monday: 2m/30s for 20 minutes. 12:57 pace, 1.49mi, 19:24 moving time
Thursday: 2m/30s for 20 minutes. 13:08 pace, 1.48 mi, 19:28 moving time
Saturday: ~5k loop at 2m/30s intervals. 13:01 pace, 2.90 mi, 37:50 moving time

Plan for this week:
Monday/Thursday: 2m/30s for 20 minutes.
Tuesday/Friday: C25K week 3 (maybe 2) with younger son.
Tuesday afternoon: Trainer session
Saturday: Two loops, about 5 miles, 2m/30s intervals.
 
Good week. I'm going to need a new trainer, so no session this week, and I changed up the Thursday run, but otherwise, I hit my goals.

Monday: 2m/30s for 20 minutes. 1.51mi, 12:54/mi pace, 19:32 moving time.
Tuesday: C25K week 3 with younger son. 0.88mi, 16:25/mi pace, 14:33 moving time.
Thursday: 1 mile for speed with wife. Had to drop to a walk for a bit after half a mile. 1.00 mi, 11:59/mi pace.
Friday: C25K week 3 with younger son. 0.92mi, 15:59/mi pace, 14:51 moving time.
Saturday: 2m/30 for two loops. 4.80mi, 13:19/mi pace, 1:03:57 moving time.

I'm pleased with this. Plan for next week is the same, except pushing for three loops on Saturday.
 
Good week, until the end. Got a new trainer, did a half-hour session with him to start getting to know each other.

Monday: 2m/30s for 20 minutes. 1.48mi, 13:08/mi pace, 19:32 moving time.
Tuesday: C25K week 3 with younger son. 0.91mi, 16:19/mi pace, 14:51 moving time.
Wednesday: Half-hour trainer session.
Thursday: 2m/30s for 20 minutes. Sore from trainer session. 1.41mi, 13:49/mi, 19:33 moving time.
Friday: C25K week 3 with younger son. 0.94mi, 15:34/mi, 14:43 moving time.
Saturday: Only did one loop. 2.78mi, 13:11/mi, 36:45 moving time.

Plan for this week is basically the same, except on Saturday, I have a 10k race. I'm not planning to push very hard for it, using it as a supported training run for the Princess half in two weeks.
 
Mostly a good week.

Monday: 2m/30s for 20 minutes. 1.44mi, 13:09/mi pace, 19:04 moving time.
Tuesday: C25K week 3 with younger son. 0.92mi, 16:04/mi pace, 14:49 moving time.
Wednesday: Hour-long trainer session.
Thursday: 2m/30s for 20 minutes. Dropped out after 6 minutes because my knee hurt. 0.42mi, 13:47/mi pace, 5:54 moving time.
Friday: C25K week 3 with younger son. 0.88mi, 16:29/mi pace, 14:33 moving time.
Saturday: Bay Breeze 10k. Race recap over in the main running thread, but: 6.24mi, 12:58/mi pace, 1:20:56 elapsed time. (Not the official time, I'll put that in the recap.)

This coming week is weird due to Princess Half.
Monday: Recovery.
Tuesday: C25K week 3 with younger son.
Wednesday: Hour-long trainer session.
Thursday: Fly to Orlando, hopefully hit expo.
Friday/Saturday: Park with my daughter.
Sunday: Princess Half Marathon.

I'm much more optimistic about the Princess Half after today. Being able to sustain a 13-minute pace for a 10k means that even if I drop down to a 14- or even 15-minute pace by the end of the race, I'll still have time to stop for photos if I want.
 

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