Pandemic Running Thoughts (Comments Welcome)

Another week in the books.

Last week was easily my heaviest week in terms of running volume since my return from injury, hitting 16 miles total. Did all four runs to full mileage.

Sunday: 6 miles - 1:20:05 (13:20 min/mile) - As mentioned above, I was actually pretty surprised with this run since it was very hot and humid despite running after 9 pm. My miles were 13;32 (warm up), 12:55 (then i pulled back after my heart rate was getting high) and then 13:27, 13:23, 13:18, 13:23. It was a satisfying run overall and, while I didn't feel like I wanted to run longer, I probably could have.

Tuesday: 4 miles - 53:09 (13:16 min/mile) - It was still hot and humid and I started the run at almost 9pm. My splits weren't as consistent but I seem to run my second mile fastest - 13:15, 12:58, 13:30, 13:20.

Thursday: 4 miles - 53:25 (13:21 min/mile average) - We had thunderstorms as the heat wave was breaking and I went inside to the treadmill. I ran 4.5 mph for most of it but started to accelerate for the last 3/10 of a mile, just to get moving a bit faster.

Saturday: 2 miles - 26:51 (13:23 min/mile average) - I had gone to Buffalo on Friday night to take in the Bisons vs. the Syracuse Chiefs (Triple-A minor league baseball) and I really got a workout going up and down stairs from the field level up to the press box several times. That, combined with too little sleep, made my legs heavy. i was also deliberately going easy as this was the first time I was going to do consecutive day runs (Saturday and Sunday) in a long time. I wasn't crazy about how I felt but I never considered stopping, so that's a plus.

Week coming up:

This is a "step back" week for me. Since I've been increasing distance over the past several weeks, I'm stepping back to 13 miles total,but I'm going to reintroduce some faster paces for 1 mile at a time on Tuesday and Thursday.

Sunday: 4 miles
Tuesday: 3 miles (1 mile WU, 1 mile 11:00 min/mile pace (or so), 1 mile CD)
Thursday: 3 miles (1 mile WU, 1 mile 11:00 min/mile pace (or so), 1 mile CD)
Friday: 3 miles easy

Note, i'm going away next weekend so I may have to delay the Sunday long run (Sunday, July 15) until Monday. I'm doing the Saturday run on Friday to ensure I get the run in.
 


Last week was a "step back" week.

Sunday: 4.12 miles - 52:47 (12:49 min/mile). This was pretty comfortable. Mile 1 - 13:09; Mile 2 - 12:18; Mile 3 - 12:45; Mile 4 - 13:06.
Tuesday: 3.00 miles - 37:58 (12;38 min/mile). I did a 1 mile warm up at 13:30 and ran the second one at 10:25 (trying to hit 11:00 by feel). I really went out fast and slowed down after about half a mile. My final mile was 14:01.
Thursday: 3.10 miles - 39:26 (12:44 min/mile). 1 mile warmup - 13:51; fast mile - 10:33 but my pace was much more relaxed at the beginning and I didn't feel like I hit the wall; 1 mile CD - 13:34.
Friday: 3.04 miles - 40:00 (13;11 min/mile). Looking at my splits, miles 1 and two were strong (12:51 and 12:59) but I think the residual fatigue from the week caught up with me and I faded to 13:42 in the third mile.

Total miles: 13.26
Total time: 170 min or so.

Coming up this week, we're ramping things up again.

Monday - 6 miles (once the rain stops, planning to run around 8pm)
Tuesday - 4 miles (with one faster mile in the middle, still trying to hit 11:00 min for that faster mile)
Thursday - 4 miles (with one faster mile in the middle, still trying to hit 11:00 min for that faster mile)
Saturday - 3.5 miles easy
 
Last week was a "step back" week.

Sunday: 4.12 miles - 52:47 (12:49 min/mile). This was pretty comfortable. Mile 1 - 13:09; Mile 2 - 12:18; Mile 3 - 12:45; Mile 4 - 13:06.
Tuesday: 3.00 miles - 37:58 (12;38 min/mile). I did a 1 mile warm up at 13:30 and ran the second one at 10:25 (trying to hit 11:00 by feel). I really went out fast and slowed down after about half a mile. My final mile was 14:01.
Thursday: 3.10 miles - 39:26 (12:44 min/mile). 1 mile warmup - 13:51; fast mile - 10:33 but my pace was much more relaxed at the beginning and I didn't feel like I hit the wall; 1 mile CD - 13:34.
Friday: 3.04 miles - 40:00 (13;11 min/mile). Looking at my splits, miles 1 and two were strong (12:51 and 12:59) but I think the residual fatigue from the week caught up with me and I faded to 13:42 in the third mile.

Total miles: 13.26
Total time: 170 min or so.

Coming up this week, we're ramping things up again.

Monday - 6 miles (once the rain stops, planning to run around 8pm)
Tuesday - 4 miles (with one faster mile in the middle, still trying to hit 11:00 min for that faster mile)
Thursday - 4 miles (with one faster mile in the middle, still trying to hit 11:00 min for that faster mile)
Saturday - 3.5 miles easy
It has stopped raining in Mississauga but it is soooo humid. Bring water!!
 
It has stopped raining in Mississauga but it is soooo humid. Bring water!!
Looking at the weather, i don't think i'm going to be able to get it in tonight with Thunderstorms starting up in the next hour or two (need to wait until 8pm or so). Tomorrow morning it is!
 


Another week in the books, but it's been an exciting/compressed week. As you can see above, I went ahead an registered myself and my wife for the WDW 5K and then myself for the marathon. Glad I waded through the online registration hell to do it because the 5k sold out in about 8 hours!

I also registered for the Oakville Half Marathon on September 30, to give myself a better shot an earlier corral.

Oakville Half.jpg

This week's running has been very compressed. I was out of town on Sunday and so the rescheduled long run for Monday was already on tap. Then, thunderstorms struck Toronto and I pushed the long run to Tuesday. I pushed my Tuesday run to Wednesday and had to shorten it due to fatigue. Took Thursday off (and was glad to do it, I felt physically drained and sore after the run Wednesday and two games of umpiring) and ran Friday and Saturday with my long run for next week on Sunday (tomorrow). Gonna be a rough 7 miles tomorrow but if I can get through it, it will be good for the whole "cumulative fatigue" build as well as getting me back on schedule.

Oh, and I came home from the trip with a mild cold which was also dragging me down and leading to higher than usual heart rates for a couple of days (feeling better today actually).

Total miles: 16

Tuesday - 6 miles - 1:21:00 - 13:30/mile. Felt good actually. Went slow on purpose.
Wednesday - 2.51 miles - 34:19 - 13:41/mile. Felt awful. Legs died.
Friday - 4.02 miles - 53:32 - 13:19/mile. Ran the first couple miles maybe a bit fast (13:14, 12:57) before dropping off in mile 3 (13:44) and back to a better pace for mile 4 (13:23)
Saturday - 3.5 miles - 46:51 - 13:22/mile. Felt ok. Legs are still a bit wonky after 2 miles.

The plan for this week is to add 2 miles to last week's 16.

Sunday - 7 miles
Tuesday - 4 miles
Thursday - 4 miles
Saturday - 3 miles
 
Last edited:
Things are cooling down in Toronto but the running is heating up! It's now two months until the Oakville Half Marathon!

Sunday, July 22: 6.45 miles. This was intended to be 7 miles but there was a lot of rain that just kept going and going and my app cut off the run at a point and I restarted it but it was getting very difficult to manage my phone and I was legitimately afraid that the rain would kill it.

Tuesday, July 24: 4 miles - 51:31 - 12:52 min/mile - I ran the third mile of this four-mile run faster, clocking in at 11:50 for that mile.

Wednesday, July 25: 2 miles - 28:31 - 14:13 min/mile - This is a "bonus" run. In order to ramp up the miles, and after three consecutive days last week that didn't make me want to die, I added a Wednesday run, keeping it just at 2 miles for now. I kept it very slow and definitely felt the heavy legs. Hopefully as I get used to the increased load, that will ease up.

Thursday, July 26: 4.04 miles - 53:50 - 13:19 min/mile. This was a funny one because my average heart rate was right in the zone (124 bpm) where it's not a stressful run at all but the legs felt heavy. Probably due to my 2 games of umpiring on Wednesday night.

Saturday, July 28: 2.37 miles - 31:38 - 13:21 min/mile. Despite taking Friday off, my legs were done after about 2 miles of a scheduled 3 mile run. Rather than stick it out all the way, I decided to cut it short, saving energy for 7 miles on Sunday and not worrying too much about the last km or so, because I had added 2 miles on Wednesday.

Total miles: 18:86

Next week, we ramp up the long run to 7 miles and try to get through a 5-run week. One more week of increases will increase the long run to 8 miles the following week before pulling back the week after.
 
Another week down. Another week closer to the Oakville Half Marathon and another injury scare that cost me a few miles. Fortunately, the injury(?) went away rather quickly and I was able to resume full activity after a day of rest.

Sunday, July 29: 7 miles - 12:57/mile (1:30:40 total) - this run felt pretty good and I even hit a 12:33 mile in mile 6 (but faded to 13:31 in mile 7 -- we'll call that one the "cool down")
Tuesday, July 31: 4 miles - 11:57/mile (47:53 total) - I had to squeeze this run in downtown since I was teaching in the morning and in the evening and had a few hours off in between. I did a "speed mile" after 2 miles to warm up but I think I went out too fast for the first two miles (12:13 and 12:36) and the 10:09 third mile really wiped me out. I'm searching for a 11:00 minute fast pace and have yet to really hit it comfortably.
Wednesday, August 1 - 2.09 miles - 13:30/mile (28:10 total) - This one was ok but I felt like I didn't really have my legs here. I started feeling pain in my foot when I was umpiring Wednesday night and had to deal with it.
I cancelled my Thursday run after the pain in my foot was continuing and was feeling better so I kept the regular Friday day off.
Saturday, August 4 - 4 miles - 13:32/mile (54:08 total) - I really wanted to go easy for this run with an 8 miler coming on Sunday and kept the pace below 13:17 for each mile (13:29, 13:17, 13:33, 13:47).

Total: 17 (ish) miles

Coming up this week (with two of the runs in the books):

Sunday August 5 - 8 miles
Tuesday August 7 - 4 miles
Wednesday August 8 - 2.5 miles (I may drop this to 2 miles)
Thursday, August 9 - 5 miles
Saturday, August 11 - 3 miles

I'm definitely struggling with the increased miles but I really also need to push through to get adjusted. I think I need to keep my paces fairly slow in order to stay healthy.
 
Last week was a very good week for me running-wise (this week not so much, but I'll get to that after the weekend)

Sunday, August 5 - 8 miles - i got the 8 miles in despite my phone shutting off part way through the run. Total time was about 1:49:20, averaging about 13:38/mile.
Tuesday, August 7 - 4 miles - 53:14, 13:17/mile. I was still a bit fatigued from the long run on Sunday, so I took it easy.
Wednesday, August 8 - 2 miles on treadmill - 13:40 mile - Rainy day out with thunderstorm threat. This was fine.
Thursday, August 9 - 5 miles - 1:06:53 - 13:22/mile - My average heart rate for this one was 118, which is pretty low, meaning that I was taking it pretty easy. My splits were 13:35, 13:13, 13:28, 13:32, 13:01 so I had a lot of giddy up for the last mile in order to make it my fastest.
Saturday, August 11 - 3.1 miles - 35:33 - 11:27/mile - I had a VERY busy weekend and Saturday was just the beginning. i decided to make this a bit of a Tempo run because my time was short. I rant the scheduled 3 miles with mile splits of 11:55, 11:02, and 11:28.

The upcoming week is a bit of a rest week but it seemed that my body needed more rest that even easier running could give it. Sunday was a busy day but I got the 6 mile run in but switching from a very late night on Sunday to very early (for me) mornings Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday with commitments in the evenings on all three days, the lack of sleep, fending off a cold, and just general exhaustion and lack of time forced me to take those three days off. I resumed Thursday and plan to run Friday and Saturday at easy paces to get some miles in before spooling back up for a heavier week starting August 19.

I'm a bit disappointed in myself, but, being in my early 40s, I think I know my body a bit by now and didn't want to risk a big physical break down by pushing things too hard when I wasn't getting enough sleep.
 
What's with colds in the summer?? My co-worker came back from vacation with a cold and now I have it. :(

Good call on taking it easy. Hope you've had a chance to rest and are ready to tackle the weekend!
 
What's with colds in the summer?? My co-worker came back from vacation with a cold and now I have it. :(

Good call on taking it easy. Hope you've had a chance to rest and are ready to tackle the weekend!

I've been fortunate enough to avoid the cold although I still feel like I'm teetering on the precipice. On to last week's running report!

Sunday, August 12 - 6.03 miles - 1:19:49 - 13:14/mile (13:23, 13:03, 13:09, 13:17, 12:54, 13:36). After performing in Oakville on Saturday and spending the rest of my Saturday evening preparing for the Sunday wedding gig, I got up and ran. Then I got home, showered, changed and went to a family photo shoot that my mom had requested for her 70th birthday (which was the week before). Had brunch with the family, came home, took a brief nap and then went to my wedding gig, carrying sound equipment, playing and then sitting around for several hours before getting home by 1:00 am.

I'm not a "day person" and, as a musician, my "day job" is mostly teaching and gigging in the evenings. Rarely do I have to wake up early and commute like normal people. And so, after getting up early (6:30am!) and commuting to the suburbs for three days, plus some of my regular teaching in the evenings, for three consecutive days, I decided not to run Monday - Wednesday.

Thursday, August 16 - 4.03 miles - 54:40 - 13:33/mile. I remember my legs being pretty tired for this one and whether it was the lack of sleep in the previous few days (hovering around 6 hours or less a night) or just the layoff, I'm not sure.

Friday, August 17 - 5.02 miles - 1:06:31 - 13:15/mile. This run actually felt pretty good. After a slower warmup (13:41) mile, I ran 12:57, 13:05, 13:29 and 13:02 for the remaining miles.

With an 8 mile run scheduled for Sunday, I took Saturday off.

Next week:

Sunday, August 19 - 8 miles
Monday, August 20 - 2.5 (moved to Wednesday, explanation as to why coming in the next weekly update)
Tuesday, August 21 - 4
Wednesday, August 22 - 2.5 (originally 0)
Thursday, August 23 - 4
Saturday, August 25 - 3.5

Total expected: 22 miles
 
So for some reason, my runs haven't been uploading to Strava since Wednesday. This is troubling but I'm not sure what to do about it since I'm using Runkeeper on my phone and it gets transferred over via Tapiirik .....

Anyway, on to the weekly summary.

Sunday, August 19 - 8 miles - 1:46:53, 13:22/mile - This was very tough. I tried to go easy but really struggled the last couple of miles. (13:41, 12:48, 13:08, 13:38, 13:18, 12:51, 13:49, 13:36). Now, mile 2 and mile 5 are both mostly (gently) downhill which makes things easier but I was really struggling towards the end and doing some walking here and there.

Monday, August 20 - I moved this 2.5 mile run to Wednesday, because not only did I run 8 miles on Sunday, but I umpired 4 softball games, meaning that I spent an additional 8 hours on my feet and four of those hours were spent doing light squats about 300 times.

Tuesday, August 21 - 4 miles - 51:27; 12:52/mile - this run was pretty good overall. Felt good.

Wednesday, August 22 - 2.69 miles - 32:30, 12:06/mile - I didn't have much time and decided to make this a harder workout than usual. I decided to see how I'd be able to hold my pace if I ran about a 12:00 min/mile. Not too bad overall. Could I have gone faster? Yes. My heart rate averaged 121 bpm and didn't get above 130.

Thursday, August 23 - 2.24 miles - 29:34, 13:11/mile - This run was the consequence of the harder run on Wednesday. My legs felt dead and after 2 miles, I couldn't really push it much farther. I tried taking a walk break and things just went downhill.

Saturday, August 25 - 3.57 miles - 47:51, 13:24/mile - I took this one very easy, averaging just 111 bpm for my heart rate. Saving energy for Sunday's 7 miler.

So, not bad. About 5 weeks away from the half marathon and I can feel that when I settle into a relatively easy pace, I'm running faster for less effort. That said, I still have my days when I just can't seem to get anything out of my legs.

We'll see where we are in another few weeks!

This week:

Sunday, August 26 - 7 miles
Monday, August 27 - 3 miles
Tuesday, August 28 - 4 miles
Thursday, August 30 - 5 miles
Saturday, September 2 - 4.5 miles

Total projected: 23.5 miles
 

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