avondale training journal, starting Dec. 2018 (comments welcome)

Space Coast Marathon Training Plan Reflections

I've got about 10 days until the race and all my remaining runs are at easy paces. I wanted to get some thoughts down about the training plan before my race performance potentially changes my (current) views.

I looked back through all my postings in this log about the training plan to see how well I adhered to the training plan. The answer to that is: very, very well. I've completed 14 weeks as of my prior post. In those 14 weeks, I made significant changes only 4 times:
  • In week 5, I added a 3EA run on an off day because I didn't have any tennis or other activities going on
  • In week 7, for my 11.5LR, I kept the planned pace through 8 miles and then got dizzy and HR way too high, so went much slower for the rest of it. This was also a pretty hot and humid run.
  • In week 9, I dropped a 5EA run due to a need to sub into a tennis match, so I only ran 4 times that week instead of the planned 5. However, a number of my weeks in the plan were intentionally only 4 runs per week.
  • In week 12, I changed an 8EB run to 6EB due to traveling time constraints.
In these scheme of things, these seem pretty minor. For the remaining runs, I generally hit my target paces for all but 1 or maybe 2 miles - I did a very good job of pacing. I did make T+D adjustments as appropriate and in the last few weeks also used GAP adjustments after having these calculated via Strava.

One of the biggest changes that I think DopeyBadger made in this plan compared to my previous ones was the speed work. Previously I had a lot of speed work that involved T-pace intervals, starting with 0.5-mile and rapidly increasing (in my body's opinion) the interval length. I never did those very well.

In this plan, I did a lot of CV-paced work. These intervals started a lot shorter, but with more numerous intervals, and built up. Even though CV is a faster pace, I definitely handled this approach a lot better and consistently hit my targets. I also had a lot of R-pace intervals and these also generally went very well. Later, when I had progression runs that went through T-pace and M-tempo runs with T-pace at the end, I was able to handle it.

It was also very helpful that some of the longest/fastest training runs were when the temperatures here got cooler, but that was by design. I very much prefer to run in cool to cold temperatures. In particular, the last two long runs of 14.5 and 16 miles were in relatively cool temperatures and I felt pretty good throughout for them. Also, the last three M-tempo + T runs were all in cool temps, which I am sure was helpful.

In terms of my other activity, I had a lot of tennis during this plan, which was expected. But mostly I managed to work out the schedules and it only affected my training plan the one time mentioned above.

I did try to prioritize sleep more than usual, so when I played a late tennis match, I would skip a strength workout in the morning and sleep more, for example. I also resisted the urge to add in an extra run every time I had a day off.

I may edit this to add other things that I think of before the race.
 
Week of Nov. 18 - 24, 2019

This is the fifteenth week of my DopeyBadger training plan for the Space Coast Marathon on Dec. 1. One week until race day!

Monday
  • evening: 2-hr tennis doubles match - my partner and I lost 3-6, 6-3, 1-0, and our team lost overall, too.
Tuesday
  • Morning: foam rolling and stretching
Wednesday
  • Morning: Workout 2 (like previous)
  • After work:
    • 0.5 WU + 4.5M-tempo + 1T
      • T 48 F
      • Target M-tempo pace 9:56, target T-pace 9:11
      • M-tempo splits: 9:52, 9:58, 9:53, 9:55, 9:49
      • T-pace split: 9:10
      • comments: My last half-mile at M-tempo was a bit too fast.
      • Route: HS track
Thursday
  • Morning: foam rolling and stretching
  • After work:
    • 5EA
      • T 50 F
      • Target pace: 11:56
      • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been: 12:05, 12:10, 12:23, 12:10, 12:20
      • Splits: 11:54, 12:09, 11:53, 12:02, 12:17
      • comments: Like last week on this 5EA, I went too fast on the downhills. Since I've been doing that M-tempo run, I can't seem to slow down. :)
      • Route: old loop around the neighborhood
Friday
  • Morning: foam rolling and stretching
Saturday
  • Before lunch:
    • 5EB
      • T 39 F
      • Target pace: 11:08
      • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been: 11:08, 11:23, 11:20, 10:58, 11:17
      • Splits: 11:04, 11:13, 11:20, 11:10, 11:19
      • comments: I hit all my splits. Mile 4 had a GPS issue in the last tenth of a mile.
      • Route: Sligo Creek Trail, going north.
  • Evening: 2-hr tennis doubles match - my partner and I lost 6-2, 6-2, and our team lost overall, too.
Sunday
  • Before lunch:
    • 5LR
      • T 43 F, WC 34 F
      • Target pace: 10:50
      • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been: 10:56, 10:55, 10:53, 10:51, 10:56
      • Splits: 10:49, 10:54, 10:48, 10:43, 10:53
      • comments: I hit all my splits, but I definitely had trouble keeping things this slow. Even though my legs felt sore.
      • Route: Rock Creek Trail, going north.
  • This evening (hasn't happened as I write this): 2-hr tennis doubles match

Health

My headache has been killer this week. :(
 


Week of Nov. 25 - 30, 2019

This is the sixteenth week of my DopeyBadger training plan for the Space Coast Marathon on Dec. 1. The race is tomorrow!

The goal for this week was to take it easy and get some sleep.

(ETA: My VO2 max went up to 45 after the last run this week. That's the highest it's ever been - I got that high once before in the first half of this year.)

Monday
  • After work:
    • 5EA
      • T 45 F
      • Target pace: 11:56
      • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been: 12:05, 12:10, 12:23, 12:10, 12:20
      • Splits: 11:57, 12:04, 12:04, 12:11, 12:15
      • comments: I hit my splits for 4 of 5 miles.
      • Route: old loop around the neighborhood
Tuesday
  • Morning: foam rolling and stretching
  • After work:
    • 4EB
      • T 50 F
      • Target pace: 11:08
      • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been: 11:31, 11:20, 11:22, 11:29.
      • Splits: 11:38, 11:16, 11:30, 11:34
      • comments: I hit my splits for all miles!
      • Route: new loop around the neighborhood
Wednesday
  • Before dinner:
    • 3EA
      • T 57 F
      • Target pace: 11:56
      • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been: 11:57, 12:01, 12:05
      • Splits 11:54, 11:59, 12:00
      • comments: I hit my splits for all miles!
      • comments: I did some foam rolling and stretching after the run.
      • Route: Sligo Creek Trail, going north
Thursday: off!

Friday
  • Before breakfast:
    • 2EB
      • T 28 F
      • Target pace: 11:08
      • Splits: 11:01, 11:08
      • comments: I hit my splits for all miles!
      • comments: The plan said to do 1.75EB, but that was for Saturday. Since I was doing this a day earlier, I didn't think an extra quarter-mile would hurt.
      • Route: Allegheny River Trail
Saturday: off - very early wake time in order to drive to the airport to fly to Orlando and drive to Cocoa Beach.

Expo was small and not too crowded - my preference. Love the space-related touches!
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Space Coast Marathon, Dec. 1, 2019: Race Report

This is a race that I trained so well for, but the weather doomed me. The forecast 10 days out was for above-average temperatures, and unfortunately that didn't change substantially leading up to race day. The bad joke on all of us runners is that overnight tonight it's supposed to drop to 60 F and not really get any warmer tomorrow, and then drop into the 40s F on Monday night.

This is the first time I've done one of the Space Coast races. As @camaker said in his race report, it was extremely well organized in pretty much all aspects. If that were the main consideration, I'd be back to do many more races here.

The T+D at the 6:00am start was 125 (63 + 62). The T+D when I finished was 144 (77 + 67, I think?). I had a bad feeling about the starting T+D, but was crossing my fingers. I missed @camaker in the start area. I was with the 4:30 pacer, and we crossed the start line at 6:05am.

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I feel like this race followed the stages of grief, as I grieved my lost chance at a good race. (I say this somewhat tongue in cheek - I am disappointed, but it's not the end of the world.)

Denial
Miles 1 - 6: I was in denial of the fact that the temperature and Sun were likely going to sink my race. I stuck with the 4:30 pace group (10:16/mi), getting splits of 10:27, 10:19, 10:15, 10:06, 10:12, 10:11. Unfortunately our pace leader was a bit quiet instead of chatty and cheerful, so being with the group didn't feel as helpful as usual. We do the north half of the course first, and even though everyone says it's "flat", there are gentle rolling slopes everywhere. I started to think of them as sucking the energy out of my legs. During the last mile, I tried joining the Galloway 4:30 pace group, but I felt like every time we started running again, it was like sprinting.

I was carrying over 2L with 700 cal of Tailwind and 3 packets of Sports Beans. I at the beans at 5 miles and 10 miles (and didn't eat the last packet). I spaced out the Tailwind and finished it at about mile 25.

Anger
Miles 7 - 9: I was angry at the fact that I was already getting into a HR range that wasn't going to be sustainable for nearly 20 more miles and the fact that my legs were already getting tired and heavy. The Sun was up and it was getting significantly hotter. My splits were 10:38, 10:43, 10:52. We were heading south now, so it seems like all those little rolling uphills should now be downhills and help me, but that didn't seem to happen, so that was annoying, too.

Bargaining
Miles 10 - 14: My goal was 4:30, but I would get a PR if I beat 4:49, so I started the mental math of how much I could slow down and still PR. I decided to be safe, I should try to keep my splits at about 10:50 or below - this is my LR pace, so it seemed like it should have been feasible. My splits for these miles were 11:06, 10:56, 11:06, 11:10, 11:15. You can see that this was working well for me. The Sun was in full force and there wasn't a lot of shade, especially the area bypassing the start/finish region.

Depression
Miles 15 - 17: I started to have to slow down more and more to keep my heavy legs moving. This is the region where I started (??well, maybe earlier) to think that doing a race in Florida was a bad idea, even if it was in December. I didn't look forward to how many miles I had left to run. I had heard the south half of the course was flatter, but I wanted to ask the people who said that what they were smoking (saw CBD stores in the area). I think my tired legs were making mountains out of molehills. My splits were 11:35, 11:54, 12:13.

Acceptance
Miles 18 - 26.2: I finally accepted that there was no chance of a PR and that I was going to have to count a finish as a win for the day. I started mixing running and walking - with the spotty shade, I decided to walk the shade (to recover more) and run the sunny sections (to get through it faster). I did not strictly follow this. :) My HR recovered pretty well with this strategy, but whenever I did a longer running section, my legs were just so heavy and tired that my HR would blast back up But, I was doing much better than the man who was taken away in an ambulance when I went back and forth near the southern turnaround point - don't know what happened to him. When I got up to 26 miles, I decided to run it out no matter how slow I had to go. Splits: 13:44, 12:45, 13:33, 13:32, 13:34, 13:03, 13:49, 13:02, 11:05.

Result
My chip time was 5:11:53. This better than my first marathon (5:25:04), but worse than my second (4:49:29).

I was 549/911 total (60%). 204/401 women (51%). 34/63 in my age group (54%). It's amazing what a tail there must be with the slower runners, because although I was about halfway in all the stats, I felt like there was no one left on the course when I finished - it was so empty around me. Obviously there were still a lot of runners to come in. (I was only 4 minutes behind gun time.)

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Sometime during mile 21, my phone screen managed to activate and turn the screen brightness all the way down. It wasn't until after the race was over and I could get indoors was I able to see the dark screen enough to turn it back up - very frustrating.

The medal was huge and heavy! Finishers got a beach towel. The long-sleeve tech tees were also very nice, IMO. I am an astronomer, so I did dig all the nerdy space stuff. (But, the race newsletter used "light-year" incorrectly as a unit of time, not distance! Insufferable!)
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I did visit the Kennedy Space Center in the afternoon after the race - not enough time to do it justice, but it was worth it.

Summary
The conditions for this race were very similar but hotter than they were for my first marathon (Marine Corps Marathon 2017), so in that sense, I improved quite a bit. But since I don't do that many races and really work hard on the training plans for them, it's disappointing to have a wash-out like this. I guess I need to be more careful about the weather when choosing races, but this race didn't seem like such a weather risk - now I know.

As I said before, the race is well organized, and the bling is good. However, it's logistically difficult for me to get to right after Thanksgiving - my mother and sister got up before 5:00am on Saturday morning to drive me the 2 hours to the airport from their rural PA homes where I was visiting. Given that and the iffy weather, I don't think I'll be coming back to this race soon.

I may edit this if I think of things I wanted to include but forgot - it's nice to have everything together in one post for my future reference.

ETA:

I did the one-day carb loading plan outlined by DopeyBadger. I did this for my previous marathon and ate pretty much the same foods this time.

Also, looking back at my report for my last marathon (March 17), I did a much better job this time of pacing and finishing my Tailwind (the same amount). Even though this race was much, much hotter, I didn't get a plugged up ear or cramping after I finished - probably because of the extra hydration.

Another addition:

There was a guy on the marathon course that held up funny encouragement signs involving tacos. When I was with the pace group, I learned that he usually spectates the race and has lots of signs. I think I saw him seven times at different places on the course - he really managed to jump around and somehow was always ahead of me. That was fun.
 

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Love the recap. Ugh, how unlucky about the weather! To train in cold conditions and then going back to racing in hot conditions is rough. Great job adjusting throughout. Congrats on getting through the marathon and hopefully you've learned some new lessons for when you make your next attempt.
 


Love the recap. Ugh, how unlucky about the weather! To train in cold conditions and then going back to racing in hot conditions is rough. Great job adjusting throughout. Congrats on getting through the marathon and hopefully you've learned some new lessons for when you make your next attempt.

Not sure yet what the lessons are except "don't race in hot weather". I seem to be particularly bad at high effort in high T+D weather, despite the fact that I run all year through Maryland summers. Not quite Florida, but certainly hot and humid. Sigh.
 
Great recap! If you're ever looking for another December space themed race with better weather, give Rocket City a look.

Full disclosure: it was nearly 70 degrees at the start one year, but that was highly unusual.
 
Great recap and I can totally relate to the stages of grief. You are so good with your training, it's a bummer the weather didn't cooperate, but congrats on your finish anyway!!

And I know you're already considering a Michigan race next time... :teeth:
 
Great recap! If you're ever looking for another December space themed race with better weather, give Rocket City a look.

Full disclosure: it was nearly 70 degrees at the start one year, but that was highly unusual.

Thanks! I didn't realize the Rocket City Marathon was in December! Oh, dang. If it's the same Saturday of December next year, it will fall on the date of the final exam for the course that I teach. Hmm.
 
Man, what a bummer! I heard the conditions were rough, so major kudos for sticking through it and finishing! Great recap!
 
DopeyBadger:

As we talked about before, I hope to start running for training the week of Christmas.

I'm considering the Martian Invasion Marathon in Dearborn, MI on April 18, 2020. The average high on this date for this location is in the 50s F.

I may be running the Cherry Blossom 10-miler on April 5. This is two weeks ahead. In my previous training plan, you had me do an 8-mi long run two weeks prior to the marathon. Would it be acceptable to do this 10-miler as a long run? I am mostly running it because a friend wants us to run it. She would not mind if we don't race it.

If this sounds good, I will probably go with this.

Thanks!
 
DopeyBadger:

As we talked about before, I hope to start running for training the week of Christmas.

I'm considering the Martian Invasion Marathon in Dearborn, MI on April 18, 2020. The average high on this date for this location is in the 50s F.

I may be running the Cherry Blossom 10-miler on April 5. This is two weeks ahead. In my previous training plan, you had me do an 8-mi long run two weeks prior to the marathon. Would it be acceptable to do this 10-miler as a long run? I am mostly running it because a friend wants us to run it. She would not mind if we don't race it.

If this sounds good, I will probably go with this.

Thanks!

I think that could work as long as you stick to LR pace or slower. Looks like that would come out to around 1:50 hrs.

Here's the weather from WU over the last 6 years during the time period you would be running (Detroit was the closest historical weather location):

Screen Shot 2019-12-06 at 11.00.39 AM.png

So a 50/50 chance of less than 100, and always less than 120 over the last six years.

Not a flat course and would describe it as rolling hills based on the course map, but the GAP difference is only 1 second.

https://www.strava.com/activities/1507994177/overview
 
Week of Dec. 2 - 8, 2019

No training plan for the week, since I'm recovering from the marathon. My quads were the most sore for me after the race, which is very strange. Usually my calves and shins are the worst. It wasn't until Wednesday that I was going down stairs without being really sore.

Monday: OFF - traveled back to Maryland

Tuesday
  • Morning: foam rolling and stretching
  • After work: 40-min walk on treadmill
Wednesday
  • Morning: foam rolling and stretching
  • Evening: 2-hr tennis doubles practice
Thursday: OFF

Friday
  • Morning: Prehab routine (like previous)
Saturday
  • Afternoon: 40-min walk on treadmill
Sunday
  • Morning: 40-min walk on treadmill
  • Afternoon:
    • 3EA
      • T 44 F
      • Target pace: 11:56
      • With GAP adjustment, splits should have been: 11:56, 11:59, 12:05
      • Splits: 11:49, 11:58, 12:00
      • comments: My legs felt OK with this, but my HR was definitely too high.
      • Route: Sligo Creek Trail, going north

Health

My headache has been really, really bad this past week. I decided to start taking the cyclobenzaprine again (muscle relaxer). After two days of it, today seems to have been better - hopefully that will continue.

When I talked to my neurologist by phone recently, he said I needed to schedule a visit; I called to schedule the appointment and the earliest available one was mid-March! That is so crazy. I would think about trying to switch to a different neurologist, but it took me awhile to get into any neurology group and I'm afraid they'd want me to start from scratch on my treatments and try again some of the things that didn't work.
 
Week of Dec. 9 - 15, 2019

Still no training planning. Just running easy for recovery. I will find out tomorrow if I got into the Cherry Blossom 10-miler through the lottery.

Monday
  • Morning: foam rolling and stretching
  • After work: 40-min walk on treadmill
Tuesday
  • Morning: prehab routine like previous
  • After work: 40-min walk on treadmill
Wednesday
  • Morning: Workout 3 (like previous)
  • After work:
    • 3EA
      • T 32 F
      • Target pace: 11:56
      • With GAP adjustment, splits should have been: 12:05, 12:10, 12:23
      • Splits: 12:05, 12:14, 12:33
      • comments: I hit my target for all miles
      • Route: old loop around the neighborhood
Thursday
  • Morning: foam rolling and stretching
  • After work:
    • 3EA
      • T 32 F
      • Target pace: 11:56
      • With GAP adjustment, splits should have been: 12:19, 12:08, 12:10
      • Splits: 12:13, 11:56, 12:10
      • comments: I missed my target for the second mile
      • Route: new loop around the neighborhood
Friday
  • Morning: prehab routine (like previous)
  • Evening: tennis doubles match - my partner and I won 6-3, 6-1, and our team won overall, too!
Saturday
  • Before dinner:
    • 3EA
      • T 46 F
      • Target pace 11:56
      • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been: 11:57, 11:59, 12:05
      • Splits: 11:45, 11:59, 12:00
      • comments: I missed my target for the first mile.
      • Route: Sligo Creek Trail, going north
  • Evening: tennis doubles match - my partner and I lost 6-4, 6-6, timed, and our team lost overall, too.
Sunday
  • Morning: 40-min walk on treadmill
  • Before dinner:
    • 5EA
      • T 50 F
      • Target pace 11:56
      • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been 12:02, 12:01, 11:59, 11:57, 12:02
      • Splits: 11:56, 12:00, 11:51, 11:57, 11:59
      • comments: I hit my target for all miles.
      • Route: Rock Creek Trail, going north.
  • Evening: 2-hrs tennis mixed doubles practice

Health

Taking the cyclobenzaprine again seems to be helping the headache, at least earlier this week, but yesterday was horrible. Sigh.
 
Week of Dec. 16 - 22, 2019

Still no training plan. Just running easy for recovery. I got into the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler, so DopeyBadger's next training plan for me will include this as a long run.

Monday
  • Morning: foam rolling and stretching
  • After work: 40-min walk on treadmill
Tuesday
  • Morning: Workout 1 (like previous) and foam rolling and stretching
  • After work:
    • 3EA
      • T 39 F, WC 30 F
      • Target pace 11:56
      • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been 12:05, 12:10, 12:23
      • Splits: 12:31, 12:39, 13:22
      • comments: I was planning to do 5EA, but my HR was just too high and I was nowhere near my splits, so I cut it short.
      • Route: old loop around the neighborhood
Wednesday
  • Morning: Prehab routine (like previous)
Thursday
  • Morning: foam rolling and stretching
  • After work:
    • 5EA
      • T 28 F
      • Target pace 11:56
      • With GAP adjustments, splits should have been 12:05, 12:10, 12:23, 12:10, 12:20
      • Splits: 12:10, 12:24, 12:53, 12:16, 13:04
      • comments: My HR was still too high, so I didn't hit my targets for most miles. I think the hills are just too hard, still.
      • Route: old loop around the neighborhood
Friday
  • Morning: Workout 2 (like previous)
  • Before dinner:
    • 5EA
      • T 39 F
      • Target pace 11:56
      • With GAP adjustments, my splits should have been 11:57, 12:11, 12:08, 11:46, 12:05.
      • Splits: 11:44, 12:16, 12:04, 11:46, 12:04
      • comments: My HR was still too high for this, but much better. The hills are not as steep on this route.
      • Route: Sligo Creek Trail, going north
Saturday
  • Before lunch:
    • 5EA
      • T 32 F
      • Target pace 11:56
      • With GAP adjustments, my splits should have been: 12:02, 12:01, 11:59, 11:57, 12:02.
      • Splits: 11:51, 11:57, 11:54, 11:53, 12:01
      • comments: My HR was better on this run - mostly in range.
  • Afternoon: 2-hr tennis doubles practice
Sunday: OFF - traveling

Health

No changes. The headache continues.
 
HR Analysis

I took a look back at my average heart rates for my EA, EB, and LR runs for my training cycle for the Space Coast Marathon on Dec. 1. Since I've been trying to pay more attention to my HR zones and not just my pace targets, I've had a suspicion that my HRs for my EA runs are a little strange.

HR Zones

From my Garmin, I've estimated that my resting HR is about 55 BPM. From my last 5K race, I've estimated that my maximum HR is about 182 BPM. This gives me a Heart Rate Reserve (HRR) of 182 - 55 = 127 BPM. From there, I can calculate my HR zones with the the zone = %HRR + resting HR.
  • Easy (53 - 67%): 122 - 140 BPM
  • Long Run (71 - 77%): 145 - 153 BPM
  • Marathon (82 - 86%): 159 - 164 BPM
  • HM/threshold (87 - 89%): 165 - 168 BPM
  • 10K (92 - 94%): 172 - 174 BPM
  • 5K (98 - 100%): 179 - 182 BPM
What I'm looking at is whether the average HR for my EA, EB, and LR runs are falling within the proper zones.

Run Stats

My training cycle for the Space Coast Marathon ran from Aug. 12 - Dec. 1, 2019. During this time, for all of my runs, I corrected the target pace for the T+D conditions. Partway through my training cycle, I began taking into account the GAP for my routes. When I corrected for the grade, I corrected the target paces for the individual miles.

EA runs:
  • 22 runs: 12 were not corrected for GAP and 10 were
  • Average HR for all EA runs: 136.9 BPM
  • Average HR for EA runs before GAP correction: 137.7 BPM
  • Average HR for EA runs with GAP correction: 136.0 BPM
  • Routes:
    • Average HR on the Sligo Creek Trail (11 runs): 138.3 BPM
    • Average HR on the old loop around the neighborhood (8 runs): 136.0 BPM
    • Average HR on the new loop around the neighborhood (2 runs): 136.5 BPM
    • The remaining runs were on other routes.
EB runs:
  • 19 runs: 12 were not corrected for GAP ad 7 were
  • Average HR for all EB runs: 141.4 BPM
  • Average HR for EB runs before GAP correction: 144.0 BPM
  • Average HR for EB runs with GAP correction: 136.9 BPM
  • Routes:
    • Average HR on the Sligo Creek Trail (7 runs): 142.7 BPM
    • Average HR on the Rock Creek Trail (7 runs): 143.9 BPM
    • The remaining runs were on other routes.
Long Runs:​
  • 13 runs: 9 were not corrected for GAP and 4 were
  • Average HR for all LR runs: 146.5 BPM
  • Average HR for LR runs before GAP correction: 148.0 BPM
  • Average HR for LR runs with GAP correction: 143.0 BPM
  • Nearly all LR runs were on Rock Creek Trail.
Zone Analysis
My EA run average HR was within the specified range, 122 - 140 BPM, both before and with GAP correction. But even though it within the specified range, it's definitely on the high end of that range, which may not be appropriate for "Easy A" runs.​
My EB run average HR was higher than the range it should have been in; but once the GAP correction was applied, the average HR was within the correct range. In fact, when only look at the EA and EB runs with the GAP correction, the average HRs for these runs are not significantly different. This seems odd, given that the EB pace is significantly faster.​
My LR run average HR was within the specified range (145 - 153 BPM), and once the GAP correction was applied, the average HR was slightly below the specified range.​
Interestingly, it seems like my EA, EB, and LR runs have all fallen within a relatively small HR range, from about 136 - 147 BPM, even though the training range is much larger. In particular, my EA runs may be at too high of a HR.​
There are a lot of confounding factors here. I think the biggest one is that I started applying GAP corrections late in the training cycle, when I was approaching my peak running condition, so my HR was probably naturally becoming lower on these runs. I have noticed that starting this new training cycle, the GAP isn't helping nearly as much at keeping my HR down.​
I also feel like when I run that the hilliness of the route has a big effect on my HR. For my EA runs. the old and new loops around the neighborhood have much more significant grades on them than the Sligo Creek or Rock Creek trails; however, the statistics don't show much difference in the average HRs.​
There is always the issue of how rested I was for each run, due to other runs, tennis, job stress, etc. I would also be interested in whether my HR is lower for morning runs vs. after-work runs, but generally all of my morning runs are at atypical locations, so it would be difficult to separate these factors.​
T+D Analysis
I've often wondered if the T+D correction is very effective. To test this, I've plotted my average HR versus the T+D (for the runs that had T+D > 100 F).​
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There really doesn't seem to be a strong correlation between average HR and the T+D for any of the types of runs. I can maybe imagine a positive correlation for the LR data, but I think it is likely pretty weak. I don't really have a good way to assign uncertainties to either the average HR or T+D values, but I suspect that if I could, this would wash out the possible correlation. So, it seems that the T+D correction is in fact doing its job - the variability in the HR is due to other factors.​
I may add to this post if I think of other analyses that I'd like to do with these data.​
 
Week of Dec. 23 - 29, 2019

This is the first week of my DopeyBadger training plan for the Martian Marathon on Apr. 18, 2020. I've been doing some easy running on my own, but it's nice to be back on a training plan.

My husband and I have been visiting family for the holidays. We drove to his family's house in Grosse Pointe on Dec. 22, and then to my family in western PA on Dec. 27. We are heading home on Dec. 31.

Monday morning:
  • 5EA
    • T 36 F
    • Target pace 11:56
    • Splits: 11:50, 11:57, 11:55, 11:58, 11:57
    • Ave HR: 130 BPM - within target zone
    • comments: I hit my splits for all miles.
    • comments: This was an extra run not on the training plan.
    • Route: Lakeshore Drive
Tuesday morning:
  • 4EA
    • T 28F
    • Target pace: 11:56
    • Splits: 11:55, 11:56, 11:57, 11:53
    • Ave HR: 128 BPM - within target zone
    • comments: I hit my splits for all miles.
    • Route: Lakeshore Drive
Wednesday morning:
  • 5EB
    • T 32 F - windy
    • Target pace: 11:08
    • Splits: 11:02, 11:07, 11:05, 11:09, 11:09
    • Ave HR: 142 BPM - higher than target zone
    • comments: I hit my splits for all miles.
    • Route: Lakeshore Drive
Thursday
  • Morning:
    • 4EA
      • T 46 F
      • Target pace: 11:56
      • Splits: 11:55, 12:01, 11:54, 11:51
      • Ave HR: 137 BPM - within target zone
      • comments: I hit my splits for all miles.
      • Route: Lakeshore Drive
  • Afternoon: 3.7-mi walk around the neighborhood - it was so warm!
Friday morning:
  • 5EA
    • T 54 F
    • Target pace: 11:56
    • Splits: 11:48, 11:54, 11:53, 11:52, 11:57
    • Ave HR: 136 BPM - within target zone
    • comments: I hit my splits for all miles.
    • comments: This was an extra run that was not on my training plan.
    • Route: Lakeshore Drive
Saturday morning:
  • 4EA
    • T 34 F
    • Target pace: 11:56
    • Splits: 11:57, 11:55, 11:57, 12:01
    • Ave HR: 138 BPM - within target zone
    • comments: I hit my splits for all miles
    • Route: Justus Trail
Sunday morning:
  • 5EB
    • T 41 F
    • Target pace: 11:08
    • Splits: 11:07, 11:07, 10:57, 11:03, 11:10
    • Ave HR: 145 BPM - higher than my target zone
    • comments: I hits my splits except for the 3rd mile.
    • Route: Allegheny River Trail

Health

My headache is usually really bad when driving in the car for so long (8 hours to Grosse Pointe), but it wasn't as bad as usual this time, fortunately. I took some Dramamine to try to help me sleep, and I did mostly sleep in the first half, which I think was good. It's been up and down during the rest of the time.

My husband and I both started to feel like we were getting a cold yesterday (Saturday). Today confirmed it. Probably we got it from his niece and nephew during the Grosse Pointe visit, since they were getting over colds and we both got it simultaneously. Fortunately so far it is not too bad for either of us, so we are hoping to kick it quickly. I haven't had a cold since last December if I remember correctly, so I can't really complain.
 

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