Day Twenty Six - I've Made A Terrible Error In Judgement
Apparently I don't know fast I am. Another way to say this is apparently I don't know how slow I am, but I'm a glass half full kind of guy, so we'll go with the former. Last night was a group workout where we learned a little something about effort levels. I'll break it down the way I understand it. There are basically four effort levels. E1 (effort level 1 for those of us not renewing our MENSA memberships any time soon) is basically breathing in a conscious state. I kid. E1 would be like a slow jog - somewhere around 50% of your max effort. E2 moves up to between 60 and 70%. This is the effort level we are supposed to be using on our long runs. You should be able to hold a conversation at E2. E3 brings things up to about 75 - 85%. You're definitely working harder, but you can still maintain this level of exertion for extended periods. Your breathing should be at the same rate as E2, but your breaths should be deeper. E4 is just balls out sprinting like a lunatic. That's not what the Team people told me, but I'm a pretty smart guy and I like figuring things out for myself.
So last night we had instructions to alternate between E2 and E3. (For what it's worth, G-Rocks explains this all much better over at http://girlyoubetterrun.blogspot.com.) The intermediate group was told to be "on" (E3) for 6 light poles and "off" (E2) for 3 light poles. Simple enough.
We started with a warm up jog and then were instructed to count our strides for the first minute. I had no watch so had to mooch off of Charlotte. However, Charlotte has a shorter stride than I do, so I don't know if my count was accurate as I was trying to stay close. I think it was around 160 or so, but there was some discrepancy as to when I was supposed to stop counting, plus I remember getting distracted around 118 and letting my mind wander. I'm not that bright. Our next task was to count our breaths for the second minute. You can count breaths in or out - it all ends up the same. After you get both of these numbers you can do some convoluted math to tell you...something about running, but I kind of forget what the point was. One day I'll get a watch and do it proper and when I get the numbers I'll figure out how far I am from elite. I think you're supposed to take like 160 strides per minute (elite runners take between 180 and 190) and one breath every 3 strides or so.
OK, here's a little inside info on my running style. It's pretty much all based around my breathing. I start out breathing in on a four count, then breathing out on a four count. To keep things simple I count along with my strides. Right - 1, Left - 2, Right - 3, Left - 4. Still with me. I try to keep this up for the first third of the run. This would be my E2, I guess. After a while this starts to get to be too much and I switch things up. I move to a three count in and a three count out, still staying with my strides. This is my comfort zone, as the four count can be a lot of breath to take in. When I get REALLY tired (usually the last 5 minutes or so of the run) I switch to two in and two out, although I am usually able to alternate back to three every minute or so. The way our coach Ramon described things I think what I need to do is alter my breathing so that it's the same for the duration of the run - probably three in and three out. I need to make that work for when my effort level is low and for when it's high (up a hill, or at a faster pace - although it is important to remember that SPEED DOES NOT EQUAL EFFORT). Anyway, that's a peek into my untrained running habits that I'm probably going to have to break if this thing is going to work.
Last night started out great. I was moving along pretty quickly during the "on" portions and recovering nicely during the "off" sections. This lasted probably about 10 to 15 minutes. I think what I need to understand is that my E3 over the distance of a mile or two is going to be much different than it is over the distance of say 5 miles (or 26.2 for that matter). About half way through the run I was struggling...badly. My breathing was a mess and my pace was falling flat. My "off" times were just pathetic with me huffing and puffing trying to get back into form for the next "on" time and I just felt like I was moving backwards. On my fourth trip round the course that had been set for us I was BEGGING for this to be the last one. I had no idea how much time had passed or how far we had gone, I just knew I was done. Throughout the practice I had found myself keeping a steady pace with another runner and towards the end he just started blowing me away because he was able to keep his pace while I was falling apart. I finished strong, only because I KNEW we were done, but if I had to take another pass I probably would have collapsed. Tough workout that will hopefully go a long way in teaching me how to set my pace over longer distances.
Today is supposed to be a 4 - 5 mile EZ run as they call it, but I have a work thing that will probably prevent me from running (although I guess I could have done that instead of blogging just now). I'm gonna make it up tomorrow on the treadmill before work and then Saturday while the rest of the Team folks are running a 4 mile race in Manhattan I'll be up in Connecticut. I'll be with them in spirit though as I attempt 8 miles again.
The really big news today is that I sent out the fundraising letter to the first round of friends and family yesterday and got a very favorable response. A huge amount of thanks go out to my mom, Aunt Po, Jessie, D-Bo, Nye, Randy S., Lissette and Robyn who have all been very generous. See that? All you have to do is donate and you get what the kids call a shout out right here in my fantastic blog for all to read. Maybe I'll even come up with a bitchin nickname for you.
That's all for now. Thanks for reading. More later...
DAY 26
TODAY's MILEAGE - 5.6 (according to G-Rocks anyway)
TOTAL MILEAGE - 53.74
So last night we had instructions to alternate between E2 and E3. (For what it's worth, G-Rocks explains this all much better over at http://girlyoubetterrun.blogspot.com.) The intermediate group was told to be "on" (E3) for 6 light poles and "off" (E2) for 3 light poles. Simple enough.
We started with a warm up jog and then were instructed to count our strides for the first minute. I had no watch so had to mooch off of Charlotte. However, Charlotte has a shorter stride than I do, so I don't know if my count was accurate as I was trying to stay close. I think it was around 160 or so, but there was some discrepancy as to when I was supposed to stop counting, plus I remember getting distracted around 118 and letting my mind wander. I'm not that bright. Our next task was to count our breaths for the second minute. You can count breaths in or out - it all ends up the same. After you get both of these numbers you can do some convoluted math to tell you...something about running, but I kind of forget what the point was. One day I'll get a watch and do it proper and when I get the numbers I'll figure out how far I am from elite. I think you're supposed to take like 160 strides per minute (elite runners take between 180 and 190) and one breath every 3 strides or so.
OK, here's a little inside info on my running style. It's pretty much all based around my breathing. I start out breathing in on a four count, then breathing out on a four count. To keep things simple I count along with my strides. Right - 1, Left - 2, Right - 3, Left - 4. Still with me. I try to keep this up for the first third of the run. This would be my E2, I guess. After a while this starts to get to be too much and I switch things up. I move to a three count in and a three count out, still staying with my strides. This is my comfort zone, as the four count can be a lot of breath to take in. When I get REALLY tired (usually the last 5 minutes or so of the run) I switch to two in and two out, although I am usually able to alternate back to three every minute or so. The way our coach Ramon described things I think what I need to do is alter my breathing so that it's the same for the duration of the run - probably three in and three out. I need to make that work for when my effort level is low and for when it's high (up a hill, or at a faster pace - although it is important to remember that SPEED DOES NOT EQUAL EFFORT). Anyway, that's a peek into my untrained running habits that I'm probably going to have to break if this thing is going to work.
Last night started out great. I was moving along pretty quickly during the "on" portions and recovering nicely during the "off" sections. This lasted probably about 10 to 15 minutes. I think what I need to understand is that my E3 over the distance of a mile or two is going to be much different than it is over the distance of say 5 miles (or 26.2 for that matter). About half way through the run I was struggling...badly. My breathing was a mess and my pace was falling flat. My "off" times were just pathetic with me huffing and puffing trying to get back into form for the next "on" time and I just felt like I was moving backwards. On my fourth trip round the course that had been set for us I was BEGGING for this to be the last one. I had no idea how much time had passed or how far we had gone, I just knew I was done. Throughout the practice I had found myself keeping a steady pace with another runner and towards the end he just started blowing me away because he was able to keep his pace while I was falling apart. I finished strong, only because I KNEW we were done, but if I had to take another pass I probably would have collapsed. Tough workout that will hopefully go a long way in teaching me how to set my pace over longer distances.
Today is supposed to be a 4 - 5 mile EZ run as they call it, but I have a work thing that will probably prevent me from running (although I guess I could have done that instead of blogging just now). I'm gonna make it up tomorrow on the treadmill before work and then Saturday while the rest of the Team folks are running a 4 mile race in Manhattan I'll be up in Connecticut. I'll be with them in spirit though as I attempt 8 miles again.
The really big news today is that I sent out the fundraising letter to the first round of friends and family yesterday and got a very favorable response. A huge amount of thanks go out to my mom, Aunt Po, Jessie, D-Bo, Nye, Randy S., Lissette and Robyn who have all been very generous. See that? All you have to do is donate and you get what the kids call a shout out right here in my fantastic blog for all to read. Maybe I'll even come up with a bitchin nickname for you.
That's all for now. Thanks for reading. More later...
DAY 26
TODAY's MILEAGE - 5.6 (according to G-Rocks anyway)
TOTAL MILEAGE - 53.74
posted by Demps at 10:17 AM
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