bobev's Journal

cold morning maf test

Dec 10 2009 11:08

173.0! Scale moved in the right direction.
Good run - 5.1 max aerobic func (maf) test (hr=107) this am. 23F, lt wind, wind chill 16F! loved it. Actually overdressed and felt a bit to warm in mi 4 & 5. Wore compression shorts, Under Armour fitted pants, sht slv compression shirt, lng slv Layer 8 1/4 zipr mock turtle, Bolle 1/4 zipr wind brkr (a Golf jacket), wool cap, flip back mittens, neck warmer.

maf run was 1mi warm up, 5 min walk then bring hr up to 97 and hold, then when gps auto lapped picked up pace to hr=107 and hold for 3mi, then slow jog to bring hr under 100, then walk for 4 or 5 min. Idea is to examine how pace changes during the maf runs. A large slow down is an indication of poor aerobic function. maf pace changes versus time show should show increase in pace for fixe hr. I held avg hr=107 well for 3 maf mi's. Pace was 12:49, 12:48, 13:06 - not bad, shows (I think) good aerobic function. Minor slowing of pace could also have been impacted by the fiddling around I did with clothing - see below.

A kind of malfunction junction kind of run. First my mp3 quit at about 2.5 mi and I finished the run in silence, well I could hear my noisy feet! Tried to run more quietly but when I did hr went up a beat or two. Have to figure out how to be lighter on my feet with that happening. Then when I got to warm in mi 4 I tried to unzip the Layer 8 - had already had wind brkr unzipped for over a mi. I fumbled with the zipr, even with mittens flipped back, thumb was still covered, so it was a challenge while trying to maintain pace, then it got stuck then the teeth opened up under the zipr. I was pissed, saw hr dropping and said %&*&&*%$^ and left it like that. During mi 5 cool down I decided to open it all the way, then pull from the top and got the zipr back to the bottom.

Crazy time at work. Could be a late night trying to get a baseline and release to occur so others can work the weekend, followed by being on call for off Fri, with more on Monday. We've also been tasked with a 7 day week thru the holidays, with only 12/25 and 1/1 as off days. The $ will be good but its annoying that this has happened on every test program I have been involved with for the last 40 years! Its like holidays are black holes that suck the work into them! Oh well, just a few more years and I'll chuck it in, but then I am also learning a new aspect of engineering I hadn't worked in and possibly an additional area for consulting after retirement. gotta love it!

Kristen - I don't how many push ups I can do now that I stopped the boot camps and cross training. Dr Maffetone says that is anerobic exercise that negatively impacts building up aerobic function. I was doing over 50 push ups, but then I always had muscle soreness. Since I stopped I have had not muscle soreness from running or anything else. And my quads are looser and my heels can touch my butt - which I couldn't do before. I still do light "angle" push ups off sink or counters in hopes I can maintain some of the conditioning. Not to many since I want to keep hr low.

annual physical w/new Dr.

Dec 09 2009 12:31

173.5! Scale moved in the right direction.
No run this morning, or even a walk, annual physical with fasting blood test. Slept until 0530! After the physical I didn't get to my car until almot 9:30 and had a banana while I drove to work. I was happy I controled my eating once at work and didn't really have a breakfast. Hope the scale continues downward tomorrow morning.

My bp was up a bit this morning. I'm a morning spiker, and it had been under control b4. The upward drift could be because of increase in weight (10lbs) and re-intriduction of caffienated coffee. So we increased one of my nightime meds - one that will not effect hr! I also want to cutback the caffien - again, and lose the 10-15 lbs - again!

The new Dr is a runner recovering from PF so he understands. My prostate is still enlarged and we decided to start Avodart and stop the Flomax next year when my supply runs out. It might help me reduce further how often I get up to urinate at night. Its gotten better but still 3-5x/nt.

Am thinking about a maf test (couple of mi with hr=107) tomorrow morning. Temp will be in the low 20'sF, not supposed to be as windy as this morning.

easy 4.6 run

Dec 08 2009 14:54

175! gotta get on the ball.
Ran an easy 4.6mi this am, 38F, 100% humidity, raw, no wind in my area. Time 1:11:17, ahr=93, mhr=105, finished with no ill effects, no muscle soreness, so objective is being obtained, a no stress run. Focus was ahr=97 which I maintained for almost 4 of the mi. The total includes walking Zoe, 5 min warm up walk, and cool down walk.

No run tomorrow. Annual physical with fasting blood test.

early morning run

Dec 05 2009 04:51

up early to run with a group for the first time. They call themselves the "Running Family" a couple that just celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary is the organizer. Its 24 deg, 8mph, wind chill 18!!! Glad I checked - that means I'll wear a neck warmer and cap instead of just the ear muffs. hope to bbl

It wasn't windy so I ran with ear muffs and running jacket not the heavier wind breaker and wool cap. the group I ran with ran 5 min, walked 1. I ran with them and kept my hr below maf except for a couple of peaks that got away from me. They had a water stop setup at a little over 3mi. Since they were running 10 that was my turn around point since I am rebuilding base and didn't want to go over 1 1/2 hrs of running. I tried to keep hr at maf=107 max most of the way back. For the first time, couldn't hold my "water". Fortunately there was a porta potty in a park we ran thru and I just barely made it with it coming out as I got my clothing out of the way - it was on the way ready or not at that point! Dang, I ran 10 mi of the Altanta Half and it didn't get that bad. It was 26 deg at the start, less wind than predicted. I was surprised to get a pace of 13:30 on the way back with walking only when hr climbed to high. Overall Av hr=101, mx hr=110, 6.5 mi, 1:31hrs. Not bad for a first group run.

The end to a busy week.

Dec 04 2009 06:24

173.5 down a touch from yesterday. No grazing or other special events at work so that is helping get back on regular track again.

No run this am, or walk, slept in a bit. Rest day in prep for long run tomorrow morning with a running group. Am planning on 7 mi tomorrow morning with them. Then coffee at Panera's, home to shower and go to lunch at a friends. Should be a nice start to the weekend. Shabbat dinner tonight is always good.

As expected the week back from a holiday is crazy on test programs. This is no different. Gotten to many t-shirts! Will be glad when I retire and can just run and read and hang out with better half.

Edit: Lulu - I added a comment to yesterday's journal entry replying to your question

getting cold in North Tx

Dec 03 2009 13:39

174.5 down a touch from yesterday. Learned another thing yesterday about logging my runs on RunningAhead.com (RA) and having them automatically publish to Facebook - my wife reads them! Well she had a fit that I meantioned running barefoot! Have to watch that and use a code so I know how far I've gone barefoot. I just looked at what gets published to FB and I think I can use a bf in the lap details to show when I did bf running and she won't find it. Takes to many mouse clicks to uncover it. That's a good thing!

31 windy deg, wind chill 28, full moon. The cold air made it easy to get hr up, which of course, reduces pace. Once I warmed up was able to jog continuously, even slow jog up the hills and keep hr in range.

Wore the Mizuno's with trift's - no foot problems, just a hint of toe numbness near the end. These may become my long run and maybe 10k/half racing shoes.

I ran full barefoot, no socks, for .4 mi at end of the run. Interesting. The ground was cold soaked so I could feel it and the ball and heel got cold, maybe a little numb, but that could be from being moist with sweat. I could feel the moisture in my socks. Of course I can't let E know I did this...

I'm planning on running with a local Sat morning running group this week for the first time. Have been on the email list for 6 months and haven't been able to join them. Finally decided I had to make time. 0630 at a local Panera's. A bunch of folks run 7, 10, up to 18 mi! I'll probably do 7 because we have to be somewhere at 1130 and I'll need to get home, shower and drive 40 min to get there. Oh its a 20 min drive to get to where the run starts. Should be fun.

Oh, they are talking about snow tomorrow afternoon into the evening. Could be an inch accumulation with temps cold enough for it to stick and be there in the morning. Running the trails and streets could be interesting Sat morning.

Work is, well, typical of test programs. Been there, done that, gotten more than one t-shirt. The adrenalin can get habit forming, but I'd rather be with the grandkids running in a park!

Edit: should have mentioned that ~mi 3 when I was coming down a main street running in the bicycle lane I saw a critter down the block across the street. Thought it was a big cat or a small dog. As we closed on each other it started to cross to my side of the street, I went up on the side walk to give it room. It saw me and went to the far side of the street to stay away from me, then I realized it was a coyote. Could have been a fox tho. Definitely was not a dog or cat. First time I've seen one in the neighborhood. Probably picking up stray cats or all the rabbits that run wild...

cold morning rain - loved it

Dec 02 2009 09:44

175 ugh, but not bad considering we had a protein pig out yesterday at Christmas luncheon at Texas de Brazil.

Went for 3.3 mi, 50 min run this morning. Leggings,shorts, long slv compression, zippered vest, ear muff headband, Alchemy's with trifit orthodic. Almost no toe numbness. May have found the right combo for the alchemy's. This is the way I used them before.

Cold rain last night had abated, 35 deg, but it got windy at points and was periodically blowing drizzle around so my glasses and gps got water on them. It started raining again after I finshed and actually turned to snow by the time I got to work. Being in N Tx means it will not stick tho! I stayed in the neighborhood loop in case it rained again. On the cool side to be running in the rain so if it started I wouldn't be more than a 1/2 mi from home. Some rain training would be good so I know how to deal with it should it happen in the middle of a race, but not today. No fully acclimated to the cool weather yet. I was wearing the right mix and was comfortable once I started moving. Learned a new feature of my gps the hard way - by accident. Seems if you press both scroll buttons at the same time it triggers a lap. I was pressing the up scroll button to make the back light come on and hit both scroll buttons at the same time winding up with more laps than I wanted recorded.

Kristin - I'd use Jeff Galloway's run/walk or Dr Phil Maffetone's low heart rate training methods to train for a spring half. They both focus on avoiding injury - which we both have to do it seems. Its safer and just as much fun.

2/27/10 Cowtown Half training begins - TODAY!

Dec 01 2009 05:06

174.5 ugh. Have to get back on track and shake this off!

41 def, no wind, cloudy, moonless morning. Wore tights, lg slv compression shirt, Zipperd vest, light gloves, had with headlight, and flasher on back.

Started low heart rate (lhr) training for 2/27/10 Cowtown Half. Plan is 2x/wk very lhr (v-lhr) walk/run with hr=87 target for 30-60 min, 2x/wk continuous run/jog lhr hr=97 for 60 min+, long run on Sat or Sun hr=97, run/walk and continuous, re-establish base of 3hr long run.

This morning is first v-lhr day and first barefoot (well socks) attempt. First prob I had was getting hr up while walking. It climbed to 82 then dropped to 77. Had to slow jog/shuffle to get hr up. Even walking up hill it was hard to keep at 87.

At end of walk/run I decided to try barefoot around inner loop for ~.3mi. Took shoes off and started slow jog with just socks. I knew the middle of the road did not have any pebbles or rocks. It felt good, I really liked it and could have kept going, but restrained myself. Have heard about the muscle adjustments and want to ease into it.. Immediately landed mid foot with no problem. I'm hoping it helps change my gait so I land mid foot when running with shoes.

here we go again

Nov 30 2009 08:22

174 - up 1 from last Tues morning. Not bad considering how much I ate on Thanksgiving day, and at friends house yesterday. He smoked a brisket and another friend made cheese cake. I kept sneaking back to the kitchen to nibble more brisket! It was out of this world.

Bakt at work with the old grind. Haven't quite come down from the ATL Half high! Still can't believe how well I did for such a hilly course. I keep going over where I could hve made up the minute and had a pb. Stop if dang it! Am going to workout a low heart rate training plan and start executing to prepare for Cowtown half the end of Feb.

here we go again - shin splints r back!

Nov 29 2009 09:13

first run after Atlanta half. Breaking in Mizuno Wave Alchemy's. Warm humid morning. Shorts and short sleeve shirt and that's it. Was surprised to get shin splints during walk intervals again in right leg for the first 1-1 1/2 mi. Could be new shoe syndrome as when I broke in the Saucony and Asic's. Not as bad tho. Tried running 2 min, walking 1, without exceeding hr-107 (Maffetone's max aerobic hr). Also got some left foot toe and ball of foot numbness during the running segments. I had re-laced the left shoe and the eliminated the pressure on the top of my foot. Started to feel slight pressure on right so re-laced that one too after the run. Will add the Dr Scholls in for next run to see if that helps. I had to use them when I had the last Alchemy's. Might also try removing the insoles as I did with the END OTG shoes.

Overall, a struggling beginning with a sweat ending. Could need a more thorough, more walking, warm up - another thing to try. Why is it the races seem so much easier than training?

Type Dist Time Total Time Pace HR Avg/Max Notes
Interval 1 Mi 14:35.95 14:35.95 14:36 89/102 pace to fast for warm up
Interval 1 Mi 15:07.51 29:43.46 15:08 94/102 run 2 walk 1;shin splints slowed walking
Interval 1 Mi 14:53.71 44:37.17 14:54 97/106 run 2 walk 1
Interval 0.75 Mi 11:46.91 56:24.08 15:43 94/106 cool down, r/w=1