Wednesday Treadmill Run

Duration = 33:53
Distance = 2.25 miles

Wednesday: building-to-short treadmill session
Equipment: NB Minimus Trail WT10s, shorts, tech shirt

Warm-up: .25 miles @ 3.0 mph
Main: 1.75 miles @ 4.4 mph
Cool-down: .25 miles @ 3.0 mph

Ok, today I remembered my shoes and the strap for the HRM, but I left the watch next to the computer.  This was run strictly to plan based on pace.  Only issue was some muscle spasms in the front of my left lower leg.

Tuesday Treadmill Session

Duration = 33:58
Distance = 2.25
Calories = 278
Max HR = 158
Avg HR = 142

Tuesday: building-to-mid treadmill session
Equipment: Nike Structure 12s, shorts, tech shirt, Suunto t6c HRM

Warm-up: .25 miles @ 3.0 mph
Main: 1.75 @ 4.4 with HR in 150-160
Cool-down: .25 miles @ 3.0 mph

This time instead of my HRM, I forgot my shoes.  Fortunately, I had a pair that I could use.  This was a very good run.  I can see, and feel, some improvement in conditioning.  The urge to push the pace is strong, but I think I need at least another session at this pace (4.4 mph) with declining heart rates before I increase the pace.  I'll likely stay here for this week and increase to 4.5 for next week.  Time will tell.

Details below (each lap is nominally 1/4 mile):

Lap	Time	min HR	avg HR	max HR
1	5:04	100	111	117
2	3:22	113	133	142
3	3:24	140	143	146
4	3:26	144	149	152
5	3:23	148	151	153
6	3:26	151	153	155
7	3:24	149	155	158
8	3:26	155	156	157
9	5:00	130	139	156
Total	33:58	100	142	158

Monday Treadmill Session

Duration = 33:51
Distance = 2.25

Monday: treadmill building-to-short session
Equipment: NB Minimus Trail WT10s, shorts, long-sleeve tech shirt

Warm-up: .25 miles @ 3.0 mph
Main: 25:00 @ 4.4 mph
Cool-down: .25 miles @ 3.0 mph

Since I like to run full "laps", I finished with the lap closest to the target time.

I forgot my HRM, so I just ran the plan.  I'll need to get a few measured runs to see how I'm doing.  The target progression is 5 minutes added each week until I hit my target times each day.  (The shortest is 1 hour, so I have a while yet to build.)  Also, I'll yield to the fact I'm over 40 and plan a rest day.  Sunday was it last week.  Friday will be that day this week, and I expect I can just leave Friday as a rest day as it works well with most everything else I'm doing.

Yesterday, I signed-up for the USAF Marathon.  This will be my fourth time participating.  The first time was my first half marathon.  The other two were for the full marathon.  2010 is still my marathon PR at 6:45; 2011 was a DNF.  2012 will be run 6 weeks out from the Marine Corps Marathon.  I will plan to run to the gate at Mile 21 and make a call on how I feel.  Any risk to the MCM and I will ride the bus back to the finish.

Saturday Treadmill Session

Duration = 30:33
Distance = 2.0 miles
Calories = 249
Max HR = 159
Avg HR = 140

Saturday: treadmill building-to-long session
Equipment: NB Minimus Trail WT10s, shorts, long-sleeve tech shirt, Suunto t6c HRM

Warm-up: .25 miles @ 3.0 mph
Main: 20:00 @ 4.4 mph with HR in 150-160
Cool-down: .25 miles @ 3.0 mph

Today we ran the plan and finished with everything where I wanted it.  I did not exceed the target range.  I had no issues with completing the run at the planned speed  The only issue is that I still have a period early in the session, but not the start, where the HR reading goes wonky.  This usually resolves itself and the post-processing handles it pretty well.  For longer events, I don't think this will be a problem, but I may need to investigate conductive gels for shorter events.

Friday Treadmill Session

Duration = 31:03
Distance = 2.0
Calories = 242
Max HR = 158
Avg HR = 138

Friday: treadmill building-to-short session
Equipment: New Balance Minimus Trails, shorts, long-sleeve tech shirt, Suunto t6c HRM

Warm-up: .25 miles @ 3.0 mph
Main: 20:00 @ 4.2 with HR in 150-160
Cool-down: .25 miles @ 3.0 mph

This we originally planned as 20 minutes of 4.2, but after 10 minutes I was only up to 145 bpm, so I increased the speed to 4.4 mph.  I went ahead and completed the last little bit to have another 2 mile session.  The temperature was in the low 60s and that may have helped keep the hear rate down.  I'll try 4.4 continuous tomorrow to see if that bring me in on target.  I'm quite happy with this run.  My left calf was still a bit stiff, but maybe a bit better than yesterday.

Earlier in the day, I spent 26 minutes walking with my wife in the local neighborhood.  We covered 1.5 miles while we were at it.

Thursday treadmill session

Duration = 29:41
Distance = 2.00
Calories = 278
Max HR = 167
Avg HR = 150


Thursday: treadmill building-to-midlong session
Equipment: New Balance Minimus Trail (blue), shorts, long-sleeve tech shirt, Suunto t6c HRM

Warm-up: .25 miles @ 3.0 mph
Main: 20:00 with HR in 150-160
Cool-down: .25 miles @ 3.0 mph

The above was the plan.  I figured that 5.5 mph should be about right based on my run yesterday.  For various reasons, I decided to be conservative and started with 5.0 after the warm-up.  This did well until the HRM caught up.  I think the sensors on the strap loose signal until I start sweating.  Once I had a good reading I was already out of the range I really wanted to be in.  I finished the 1/2 mile at 5.0, but I started dropping the speed after that.  I eventually got all the way down to 4.2 mph.  The time when I finished 1.5 miles of running was close enough to the target of 20 minutes that I started the cool-down then.  Other than some slight stiffness in my left foot and lower leg, there were no issues with this run.

I was quite surprised by how much slower I had to run.  I figured that there might be some due to the grade of the treadmill because I tend to find running "for real" to be easier than my treadmill.  I'm sure that was part of it.  The other part, which I hadn't considered, was the temperature.  I ran outside yesterday in ~35F with some wind.  The temperature in the basement where I keep the treadmill is in the upper 60s F.  That was a good part of the rest.

The final item for today, and possibly related to the previous, was USAF strength training.  About an hour before doing my run, I did 5 sets of push-ups and 5 sets of sit-ups.  These were done to temporary muscle failure in the later sets.  These completely wiped me out and required some time before I felt ready to do my run.  The plan was to have done the strength training much earlier in the day, but I ran out of time.  Final counts today were 41 push-ups in 5 sets (2x15, 5, 2x3) and 48 sit-ups in 5 sets (4x10, 8).

First run of new plan

Duration =31:36
Distance =2.4
Calories =238
Max HR =164
Avg HR =138

Wednesday: short session
Equipment: New Balance Minimus Trails WT10s, shorts, tech shirt, jacket, cap, gloves

Warm-up: 5 minutes walking
Main: 21:36 aerobic run (~150 bpm)
Cool-down: 5 minutes walking

Basic out and back including 5 minutes warm-up and 5 minutes cool-down walking. I ran on a fairly level route to the local library and back. No significant issues. Temperature was just under freezing with a brisk NW wind, but the sky was clear and I was in the sun for most of the route.