What's My Running Pace

EDIT 2012.05.15: I added a half marathon time from a 70.3 I did in 2011 as well as a new training run I recently did.

I've found a great triathlon community in Google+. We post workout information, questions get asked and answered, and I'm feeling more and more like I'm in a large, virtual training community. Besides my own (Google Docs) spreadsheet that I use to track all of my workout information, last Fall I started to use DailyMile.com to post my workout information. It auto-magically sends a post to my Facebook and Twitter accounts as well. Since they left out Google+, I do a quick post by-hand.

After posting a running workout this morning, one of my G+ followers ask: "Just curious, what is your normal race pace for say a 13.1 or a 26.2?" I actually had to think long and hard about that one. After posting my answer, I realized it might make a good blog post, so here's what I said:

Well, that's an interesting question that has a long, convoluted answer. The short answer is ~7:45 - 8:00 pace (per mile). The long answer follows, if you really have that much time to read it. :)

I ran the Jacksonville Marathon in 2002. To date, that's my only official marathon run. I was running with a friend, who'd done many previous marathons, and her brother, who was doing his first and hadn't properly trained. The long of it is, I ran a 5:05:?? (11:38 pace!). Slow! I'd committed to running with them and it wasn't until the last 4-5 miles that she said I could take off on my own. I finished 20 minutes ahead of them.

Then, in 2009, when I started doing triathlon, I did a local half marathon with my partner. Again, I'd committed to running with her, so we finished in 2:18:36 (10:35 pace).

I've never really considered myself a runner, but in my training runs and triathlon events, I could usually run a 9:00 pace, sometimes as "fast" as an 8:30-ish.

Last year, 2011, literally the evening before the event, my brother and sisters in-law, who were running the Madison full and half marathon (respectively), convinced me to run with them. I did the half, running with my sisters in-law, and we ran one of them to a PR of 2:05:38 (9:35 pace), which was also a PR for me. Later that same year, in a 70.3 event, I managed to run a 2:01:27 (9:16 pace), another new PR.

I've never run a half, or even a full, marathon by myself for my own time. However, given some strong finishes at the end of last year's triathlon season (I placed 4th in my AG in my second to last event and then finally managed an AG "Podium" finish with a 3rd place in my last event), I decided to really start working my run, which is my _*weakest*_ event in a triathlon.

Last fall, during a training run of 15 miles, my running partner with a GPS watch hit our half marathon split and it was a 1:49:11 (8:20 pace). A couple of weeks later I managed to run the same course on my own and took a half marathon split of 1:48:19 (8:16 pace), which was a huge confidence booster for me as I learned I could run that pace on my own. Based on that, I signed up for the Madison Marathon this coming Memorial Day weekend and plan on running a 3:30 (8:00 pace).

I did a long training run of 20 miles just a week ago. The overall time was 2:34:41 (7:44 pace). My running partner had his Garmin GPS and shared the per mile split data. If I look at the first 13 miles and add up the cumulative time, then take a tenth of the next mile's time, I get a 1:41:40 half marathon time (7:45 pace). Most recently (2012.05.14), I ran 13.21 miles in 1:38:54 (7:29 pace) during a training run. I started the watch, didn't look at it the whole run, and then stopped it at the end. That run was really great!

For my Madison Marathon, coming up in just less than six weeks, I should be fine for my goal of a 3:30 time (8:00 pace). I feel like I could have held the pace we were running at during that 20 mile training run, which would be a 3:23 finishing time.

So, to wrap up, here's what I have:

2002 11:38 pace for an official marathon
2009 10:35 pace for an official half marathon
2011 9:35 pace for an official half marathon
2011 9:16 pace for an official half marathon (in a 70.3)
2011 8:16 pace for an unofficial half marathon (training run)
2012 7:45 pace for an unofficial half marathon (training run)
2012 7:29 pace (1:38) for an unofficial half marathon (training run)

I'll let everyone know how my Madison Marathon goes and we'll see what I can add for an official marathon time and pace. :)

Nice Improvement

I spent a lot of time this past winter putting in base miles running, saddle time on the trainer and rollers, and getting in the occasional swim. I am now at the point where I need to work on strength and power. I did do some nice interval workouts on the trainer. I've also done some intervals (strength / power) and tempo (muscular endurance) work in my running over the past month or so.

To focus on the running a bit, I also have been lucky to have a running partner who paid for coaching in his bid to qualify for Boston (he'd previously ran his PR yet missed qualifying by 15 seconds). This has provided not only himself but also the rest of us in the running group with some excellent, professional (the coach has run 2:30-ish marathons himself) training plans and workouts.

One of the running partners commented over the winter that, collectively, they were all running faster this year. The Boston hopeful also just ran a local half marathon and PR'd. I am simply playing the sheep and following along, yet getting all the benefits. I truly am lucky to be in such a situation as my running has dramatically improved.

For instance, last fall I'd commented on a 14 mile run at 8:11s. That was a great run for me at the time. I even noted my heart rate was a 148 average. This past Saturday I did a (broken - part of it on my own with a ~15 minute break waiting for my running partners) 19.6 mile run and averaged 8:03s and just 140 for the average heart rate. That's a great improvement in efficiency that will really benefit me in 5.5 months.

This past Sunday I got out for my first outdoor ride of the season and loved it. I rode 64 km over 2:20 and really felt great. That's not a speedy ride, but the point is my backside was fine in the saddle and my legs really felt wonderful. It's nice to get out there early and feel good about it and not internally commenting about how out of shape you are and how much work you have to do. I've done that base work and now I need to start working the power and speed, which I'll be doing in short order. :)

Different Muscles

NOTE: I started writing this in mid-December but obviously didn't post it right away. It was applicable in January and February as well. Sorry for the hiatus, I'm going to try to stay current from now on.

So, at this point, I can consider myself a cold weather, winter runner. I've never been one before. I've had to learn how to adjust to the cold and what clothing to wear. I think I have all of it down at this point.

Something interesting I've learned though, which maybe some of the rest of you knew, and is certainly obvious when you think about it, is that you have to run on ice and snow just like you walk on ice and snow. For those who live in the south, walking on ice can certainly be done if you tense your legs the proper way. Running on ice isn't much different, other than the fact that you're doing it all faster.

Using those different stabilizing muscles while running on ice and snow these past few weeks has caused aches in places I don't normally feel when I run. At first I really noticed it, however it's getting to be less and less of an issue. I've run on paved city trails covered in ice and packed snow. I've run on unpaved trails with sand and snow, and I've run through many inches of snow on the streets at this point.

The worst that happened was on a 20 miler when I slipped on the ice coming down a hill at mile 14 and really hurt my right hip. I also slapped my left hand on the pavement when I tried to stop my fall. My whole hand was bruised purple. To add insult to my injury, I also slipped at about mile 16 and this time when I went to brace my fall, my hands slipped out and my face smashed the pavement. I had two cuts, one below my nose and one above my lip, and had a very swollen lip for several days. :(

Double Workouts

Three of my training days last week were double workout days. I either swam first then rode (rollers or trainer), or I rode first and then went for a run after a fairly short "T2." I wasn't pushing anything for any of the workouts, I was just trying to put in some miles and saddle time. I was also trying to attain my training goal of 13.5 hours in a week.

I've been reading Joe Friel's "The Triathlete's Training Bible," which is highly recommended reading, and I've been talking with my sister-in-law training partner about properly preparing for this thing. Truthfully, it was my sister-in-law who first proposed a very well fleshed out training plan for me and I'm doing my best to adopt and adapt the plan to fit my needs. The plan called for 13.5 hours of training last week as well as this Thanksgiving week. Given my daily schedule, the only way I can put in that time is multiple workouts throughout the day.

Of course, I'm no stranger to multiple workouts, however, I have not done them this early in the season before. I really think I handled them well (not pushing and keeping things aerobic) and I'm not really tired from them. However, I did take the weekend off, due to some previously scheduled events that would have made doing even one workout a day quite difficult. I rode (rollers) yesterday and ran this morning and it felt great. I think the combination of ramping up the training and then taking some time to rest and recover is a wonderful thing.

This, of course, is one of the basic tenets of training: stress a physiological system then let it rest and recover. It's just pretty neat to see such on-the-surface results from it all. Nice to know I'm making some progress in this long journey!

Confidence Run

I had a great run on Sunday. I almost always run with a partner or small running group these days and rarely run alone. That's quite a change from years past, and even earlier this season, when I would almost always run alone. I also think this reflects my "break through" in running this past season.

One of my fears, though, in running with others is that I wouldn't or couldn't hold the pace on my own. Well, the run this weekend should lay those fears to rest. I ran just shy of 14 miles in 1:54, which is an 8:11 pace. I wasn't trying to run at any particular pace. As a matter of fact, my legs were just a touch tired from a group ride the day before, as well as the cumulative effects of the week's training. I even felt tired at first and considered cutting the run short.

I stuck with it though and hit a great groove. I didn't look at the clock or my heart rate for the first 50 minutes. After that I was monitoring my heart rate to keep it in my aerobic range, below my lactate threshold. I was also watching how things were on the hills (up), which dominated the second half of the run. I averaged 148, which isn't too bad for me.

I also hit another PR on the half marathon distance. Though I don't have a GPS watch, I ran basically the same route as last time (a couple of weekends ago) and remembered roughly where the 13.1 mile mark was. I used my watch and took three splits at the end of three blocks and then when I plotted the run on dailymile.com the 13.1 mark was between the first two splits. The second split was 1:48:19, so I beat my previous PR of 1:48:11, by about a minute.

Yesterday, I signed up to do the Madison Marathon at the end of May, both to keep me motivated to train and as a way to gauge my progress at the beginning of next season. I'd love to run it in 3:30, which would be an 8:00 pace. If I could hold the pace I just ran, I'd finish in 3:34:24. I know that's not reasonable. Typically, you're 5% slower, in pace, when you double the distance. That would mean an ~8:35 pace and a ~3:46 marathon time. So, I still have quite a bit if work to do to shave the 16 minutes.

First Injury?

Well, I think I have my first training injury, but it's a weird one.

When I was 16, I broke my foot. I was on the summer swim team and the water was a bit too cold, 58 F as I recall and coach wouldn't let us in the water if it was below 60 F. So, we went to the park across the street and ran an obstacle course. On the last of many rounds, and near the very end, I slipped of some equipment and came down hard. I got up on my right knee, brushed the grit off my left knee, stood on my left foot and started to run again. As soon as my right foot touched the ground I was down again and in a _LOT_ of pain. I'd broken the 4th and 5th metatarsals, the bones behind the joints of my pinkie and adjacent toes. For various reasons, it was almost 8 hours before I was seen by a doctor and by that time the foot was very swollen and I think they had a hard time setting the bones back. I had an "old fashioned cast" made with real plaster, up to just below the knee.

I'd never really noticed it before, but I think they really didn't get the bones set quite right. In recent years, doing triathlon, I've noticed that the outside (nearest the pinkie toe) tip of my middle toe initially blisters, in the early season, then callouses over by mid-season. This is due to a slight "V" depression between my 3rd and 4th toes (possibly due to the mis-setting of the bones). Not a big deal. The blisters never hurt and the "V" has never bothered me in anyway. Now, however, I have this:

It looks worse in real life, darker and "bloodier"

I'm guessing it's a blood blister under the toe nail. I have no idea how it got there or really when. It seemed like one day it was there, and the other it wasn't, but I really didn't mark the day. It's been this way for a couple of weeks now. I initially thought I was going to lose the toenail, but it seems fine and like it's going to hang in there.

I need to be careful not to blame running though. I also rock climb, a sport I've recently gotten into because of my youngest child, who's taken to that sport like a fish takes to water. I've gotten involved so I can do it with him and have been belay certified so he and I can climb together as a team, him climbing and me belaying. I do a fair amount of my own climbing though when he's in team practice. The shoes you were are supposed to be stiff soled, which I'm used to from cycling, but also very tight. So much so that your toes are bent a bit in the toe box. This is so you can use your toes with strength and support when you're trying to find purchase to stand up in a maneuver. It may be a combination of the tight toe box and the "V" in my foot that's caused this.

However, I've been climbing, in my own climbing shoes, for a couple of years now and I never had anything like this last year. So, I'm not really sure what's going on, and it's really not that bad an injury, if you can even call it one. But, it's something that I'll need to watch. If I do lose the toenail, I'll have to treat it carefully with all the running I'm doing so I don't get an infection. I'll keep you all posted.

Too Much Training?

I'm going to take my first stab at a "real" post and talk about training. I've done a bit of reading, not a ton, over the years and my various athletic pursuits and I know enough about the science of exercise and exercise physiology to not get myself into trouble when devising my own training plans, but I'm no expert by any means.

One of the basic premises are cycles and building a proper fitness base. If you want to ride your bike in a race at a 40 kph average, you don't just go out and push it as hard as you can and hope you can hold 40 kph during your training. You need to build up your base fitness and work all the systems involved in getting you to that speed, and you do that work in escalating cycles of stress and rest (relief). You'll have little micro cycles that make up larger macro cycles that will build you up to performing at your goal effort.

So, I've signed-up for Ironman and have been training. I have to admit that at this point I don't have a formal training plan written down on a sheet of paper nor anything entered electronically. What I've done thus far has been based on my own experience and historical knowledge, plus what feels "right" for me to be doing at this point. My partner, who's the consummate list-driven person, has watched this over the recent weeks and asked if I was doing too much too soon.

I have a tendency to get defensive (that could be a whole other blog in itself), but have tried to take some time to think about that and do see her concern. What I'm attempting to do in my training so far is:

1. Focus on my weakness, which is running
2. Build my fitness base, in all three sports, but focusing again on running first, then cycling, and finally the swim
3. Hold on to some of the fitness I achieved over this past triathlon season

The result has been a lot of running, at distances I've usually not run. Part of that is the fact that I'm going to need to run a marathon at the end of all of this, and I've only ever run one in my life so far. Another outcome is that I've felt I needed to add in the cycling early than I have in the past. In previous seasons, I wouldn't get on the rollers until January. This year I've already added them (for the past couple of weeks). Finally, just this past week I managed to get into the pool again, which felt great.

What this has meant is that I'm up almost every morning at 05:00 and out the door or down to the basement to do something by 05:30. I'm already at back-to-back training days, and it's the off-season. I won't add multiple training days until next Spring, but I do feel that I need to get in the "base" miles and saddle time now so that come Spring, I can really put in some work for speed and endurance.

So, that's the "gamble" I'm making right now. I'm hoping I'm not wrong and that I'm going to be burnt out come Spring, or that I'll be risking injury by training as much as I am now. I guess time will tell, so stay tuned. Another side benefit of all this is that I'm hoping I can eat what I want over the holidays and not worry about putting on weight, as I have in the past.  Not really the best motivator, but it's certainly a factor. :)