2010 Presque Isle Half Marathon

Duration = 2:34:29 (Official Time)
Distance = 13.1 (Half Marathon)
Calories = 1758
Max HR = 198
Avg HR = 170
Running Index = 44
Max Cadence = 98
Avg Cadence = 89

Sunday: race (long run)
Equipment: Asics Gel-Nimbus 11s, shorts, tech shirt
Conditions:
Start: 71F, 75% RH, wind S 5mph, clear
Finish: 78F, 50% RH, wind S mph4, clear

Presque Isle Half Marathon, Erie, PA, USA

This was a nice little (~1000 finishers) race. The Erie Running Club provides good support for this fairly flat course. The most notable feature is a hairpin turn in the first mile. Most of the course has some cover from the sun, but this also reduces the amount of air flow. I noticed that I was pushing harder sooner in the race than in previous races.

The only significant issue, other than the heat, I had was severe thrubbage. I rubbed myself raw by the end of the race. I need to remember to wear my compression shorts or apply Body Glide. I didn't notice any issues with my ITB or my muscles.

I need to calibrate the stride sensor to my new shoes as it was reporting long.

Data (from Polar HRM; Time=gun time):

Mile    Time    Lap Time  Max Avg Min
1.    0:12:21.7 0:11:40.7 160 151 121
2.    0:24:13.6 0:11:51.9 164 159 152
3.    0:35:43.6 0:11:30.0 167 163 153
4.    0:47:03.8 0:11:20.2 172 167 155
5.    0:58:25.3 0:11:21.5 175 170 164
6.    1:10:01.2 0:11:35.9 178 171 163
7.    1:21:06.9 0:11:05.7 180 176 171
8.    1:32:25.8 0:11:18.9 182 178 168
9.    1:44:00.5 0:11:34.7 182 178 164
10.   1:55:50.3 0:11:49.8 185 177 166
11.   2:09:44.7 0:13:54.4 183 172 155
12.   2:22:05.5 0:12:20.8 179 174 163
13.   2:34:26.3 0:12:20.8 198 178 164
part  2:35:12.5 0:00:46.2 198 190 180

[Posted 2010-07-21]

USAF Week 9 - Thursday

Duration = 58:44
Distance = 4.15
Calories = 436
Max HR = 143
Avg HR = 134
Running Index = 46
Max Cadence = 98
Avg Cadence = 84

Thursday: short treadmill session
Equipment: Asics Gel-Nimbus 11s, shorts, t-shirt

Warm-up: .25 miles @ 3.0 mph
Main: 3.5 miles with HR in 130-140
Cool-down: .25 miles @ 3.0 mph

Another short session. I didn't push as hard as Tuesday, but I did run further. I'm feeling good headed into the half marathon on Sunday.

Data:

Lap    Time    Lap Time  Max Avg Min Dist  min/mile  
A 1. 0:14:15.9 0:14:15.9 142 125  87 1.001  14:15  
A 2. 0:27:45.1 0:13:29.2 143 139 134 1.005  13:25  
A 3. 0:41:26.6 0:13:41.5 143 139 129 1.004  13:38  
A 4. 0:56:13.5 0:14:46.9 142 136 117 1.006  14:41  
1.   0:58:43.5 0:58:43.5 143 134  87 4.148  14:08

USAF Week 9 - Tuesday

Duration = 38:27
Distance = 3.14
Calories = 332
Max HR = 186
Avg HR = 145
Running Index = 45
Max Cadence = 98
Avg Cadence = 84

Tuesday: short treadmill session
Equipment: Asics Gel-Nimbus 11s, shorts, tech shirt

Warm-up: .25 miles @ 3.0 mph
Main: 2.5 miles @ 5.0 mph (planned; actual included .5 of 7.0 mph)
Cool-down: .25 miles @ 3.0 mph

This was a short, quick session. I wanted to push the pace a bit, so the plan was to run the stress phase at 5.0 mph (12:00 pace). This was going well and I have an eye on my Fit-to-Fight assessment, so I ran the first half of mile 3 at 7 mph (8:34 pace). I am very happy with the result. I had no issues with the mechanics of running at that pace. That was a bit over 4 minutes continuous at the pace (and 1/3 the distance of the assessment). Heart rate and respiration were still climbing when I slowed back to 5.0, but I was still able to get enough air to sustain the effort when I got to the planned end of that burst. I will continue to add speed to my Tuesday session.

The reported pace is likely a bit fast as I haven't calibrated the foot pod to the new shoes and, while the treadmill may have been a bit fast at times, I don't think the peak paces were really as fast as shown.

Data:

Lap    Time    Lap Time  Max Avg Min Dist  min/mile  
A 1. 0:13:34.1 0:13:34.1 151 126  82 0.998  13:36  
A 2. 0:25:02.9 0:11:28.8 158 153 147 1.003  11:26  
A 3. 0:35:53.0 0:10:50.1 186 164 127 1.002  10:48  
1.   0:38:26.6 0:38:26.6 186 145  82 3.142  12:13

Strength Program Redux

Push-Ups Initial Test: 15
Sit-Ups Initial Test: 14

I will be following the 100 Push-Ups and 200 Sit-Ups programs. I will be doing these three days a week. Most weeks this will be Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. I will likely move Saturday to Sunday if I do my long run on Saturday. Exhaustion tests will be inserted into the three-day-a-week pattern. I will start on Thursday with Week 1 Day 1 of each program.

Today was the Initial Test. I did fewer push-ups than when I started early last year. I did more sit-ups than when I started early last year. Both tests were with good form and not pushing real hard.

I need to be able to complete 34 sit-ups crunches in one minute to pass the assessment. I need to be able to complete 21 push-ups in one minute to meet the minimum requirement on that test. My goal here is to achieve maximum for push-ups with 44. (50 is maximum for sit-ups which I would love to meet but don't seriously expect this year.)

USAF Week 8 - Long Run

Duration = 2:28:38
Distance = 10.04
Calories = 1138
Max HR = 150
Avg HR = 136
Running Index = 45
Max Cadence = 98
Avg Cadence = 87

Sunday: long session
Equipment: Asics Gel-Cumulus 9s, shorts, tech shirt

Warm-up: .25 miles @ 3.0 mph
Main: 9.5 miles with HR in 130-140 (pushed a bit at the end)
Cool-down: .25 miles @ 3.0 mph

I could tell right away this was going to be good session. During my warm-up, my heart rate stayed under 100 for the entire 5 minutes. Then, the heart rate was slow to enter the target range. I pushed the speed up to 4.5 until, after the end of the first mile, I hit 140 and backed off. I was pretty steady until 100 minutes when the treadmill rolled-over and had to be restarted. (Only the time starts over; all other values keep running.) After the restart, I worked back to 4.0. I stayed there until after the end of mile 7. I then pushed the speed to 4.1, and then to 4.2. I also allowed my heart rate to rise with a hard limit at 150 which I saw but never exceeded.

The only issues were a bit of stiffness in my left ankle and minor soreness in the right ankle. Both of these worked out nicely over the first few miles. I will wear the current pair of shoes through the race next weekend, then I will switch over to the newer pair for the shorter runs. I expect I will be ready to retire the current pair after the USAF marathon in September.

Data:

Lap     Time    Lap Time  Max Avg Min  Dist  min/mile  
A 1.  0:15:11.3 0:15:11.3 139 115  85  1.000  15:10  
A 2.  0:29:03.0 0:13:51.7 141 139 134  1.000  13:52  
A 3.  0:43:44.0 0:14:41.0 144 139 134  1.006  14:36  
A 4.  0:58:43.2 0:14:59.2 141 137 131  1.004  14:55  
A 5.  1:13:41.6 0:14:58.4 141 137 132  1.004  14:54  
A 6.  1:28:38.2 0:14:56.6 141 137 132  1.003  14:54  
A 7.  1:44:11.8 0:15:33.6 144 136 122  1.004  15:10  
A 8.  1:58:43.4 0:14:31.6 143 137 129  1.004  14:28  
A 9.  2:12:58.0 0:14:14.6 148 144 134  1.006  14:09  
A 10. 2:28:27.4 0:15:29.4 150 141 118  1.007  15:23  
1.    2:28:38.3 2:28:38.3 150 136  85 10.042  14:45

USAF Week 8 - Thursday

Duration = 1:33:45
Distance = 6.02
Calories = 702
Max HR = 147
Avg HR = 135
Running Index = 44
Max Cadence = 100
Avg Cadence = 86

Thursday: sorta-long session
Equipment: Asics Gel-Cumulus 9s, shorts, t-shirt

Warm-up: .25 miles @ 3.0 mph
Main: 5.5 miles with HR in 130-140
Cool-down: .25 miles @ 3.0 mph

I have to stop just getting the one run in during the week, but at least I'm getting it in. No issues during this run. The treadmill was running well under the set speed, but I'm adjusting for heart rate so this isn't as bad as it would otherwise be. I did a quick stop near the end of mile three to swap clothes from the washer to the dryer.

Data:

Lap    Time    Lap Time  Max Avg Min Dist  min/mile  
A 1. 0:15:36.5 0:15:36.5 143 124  93 0.997  15:34  
A 2. 0:30:16.4 0:14:39.9 141 137 132 1.007  14:33  
A 3. 0:47:14.4 0:16:58.0 141 135  98 1.003  15:00  
A 4. 1:02:16.4 0:15:02.0 141 137 130 0.997  15:04  
A 5. 1:17:17.7 0:15:01.3 147 140 133 1.007  14:55  
A 6. 1:33:33.8 0:16:16.1 145 136 120 1.006  16:09  
1.   1:33:45.0 1:33:45.0 147 135  93 6.021  15:13

USAF Week 7 - Long Run

Duration = 2:28:49
Distance = 8.34
Calories = 1249
Max HR = 161
Avg HR = 143
Running Index = 36
Max Cadence = 94
Avg Cadence = 69

Sunday: long run
Equipment: Asics Gel-Cumulus 9s, shorts, tech shirt
Conditions: >90F and 50% humidity at the start, some wind from the south that was mostly screened by trees

Warm-up: 5:00 walk
Main: balance of 12 miles with heart rate 130-140 (that was the plan)
Cool-down: 5:00 walk

I knew pretty quick that Plan A was out the airlock. What I settled on was run/walk til dark and call that "good enough". I would try to run near 15:00 pace, but that developed a higher than desired heart rate. I set a limit of 160 at which point I would walk until I was back in the mid 130s. The caused a lot of walking as just walking was keeping my heart rate in the 140s for quite a while before it was finally drop to my target. I used this run outside to get an idea of distances around different "blocks" near where I live. I now have a known route this is ~5 miles around. There is a convenience store on this route that I can use if I need something before I pass my house. I still need to gauge the larger available "block" to determine its length.

This was hard enough with the Polar HRM I use adding its own challenges to the situation. It seemed to loose steps occasionally. This impacts total distance, pace, and cadence. When I'm running I tend to be very consistent around 90 strides/180 steps per minute. When the reported cadence is in the 50-60 strides/minute ranage, I know it is whacked. I didn't run with the GPS sensor today, but that has its own issues. The Polar uses the stride sensor for pace/distance as the priority. It will only use the GPS for speed/distance if the stride sensor is not reporting. I would prefer to have the pace/distance to come for the GPS if it is available while still recording cadence.

Data:

Lap    Time    Lap Time  Max Avg Min Dist  min/mile  
A 1. 0:15:45.8 0:15:45.8 152 134 110 1.002  15:43  
A 2. 0:31:26.0 0:15:40.2 161 150 136 0.997  15:43  
A 3. 0:48:26.0 0:17:00.0 160 145 120 1.003  16:56  
A 4. 1:09:58.9 0:21:32.9 154 142 127 1.004  18:48  
A 5. 1:28:49.7 0:18:50.8 154 140 125 0.999  18:52  
A 6. 1:45:28.0 0:16:38.3 160 151 138 1.005  16:33  
A 7. 2:03:31.4 0:18:03.4 159 143 131 1.000  18:03  
A 8. 2:22:22.2 0:18:50.8 161 144 124 0.998  18:48  
6.   2:28:48.9 0:06:23.8 151 141 128 0.328  19:35

USAF Week 7 - Thursday

Duration = 44:18
Distance = 3.03
Calories = 372
Max HR = 193
Avg HR = 143
Running Index = 38
Max Cadence = 109
Avg Cadence = 82

Thurday: short session
Equipment: Asics Gel-Cumulus 9s, shorts, tech shirt

Warm-up: .25 miles @ 3.0 mph
Main: 2.5 miles speed pyramid and a fast quarter
Cool-down: .25 miles @ 3.0 mph

It's been a while, so I decided to blow the rust off. After the warm-up, I did a quarter at 4.0, then a quarter at 5.0, then a quarter at 6.0. This was followed with the down side of a quarter at 5.0 and a quarter at 4.0. I then did a quarter at 8.0. The treadmill took a bit to get up to speed. Final peak was probably over 8.0 (closer to 7:00). This was followed with a quarter back at 4.0 and then a quarter walking at 3.0. I finished with a half-mile at 4.0 and the quarter cool-down with a 3.0 walk.

Data:

Lap    Time    Lap Time  Max Avg Min Dist  min/mile  
A 1. 0:14:17.9 0:14:17.9 169 125  84 0.998  14:19  
A 2. 0:26:35.9 0:12:18.0 193 163 144 1.002  12:16  
A 3. 0:43:43.5 0:17:07.6 157 144 129 1.002  17:05  
1.   0:44:17.8 0:44:17.8 193 143  84 3.030  14:36