Friday, August 6, 2010

Secret Weapon Confirmed

I have officially crossed over the 50% mark of my 100 day training to run my race in Guelph.

I ate two cups of boiled macaroni with my vegetable tomato sauce at 5:30-6:00 p.m., then ate 1 1/2 bagels at 9:30 p.m., interspersed with 1/2 liter of water every 1/2 hour from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.

This seems to work for me in terms of minimal energy loss near the end of the race. I also feel less anxious [... if you know how calm I am you might think this puts me in a coma]. Running is new for me so I am a little unaware of what to do or how to do it so everything is an experiment.

So 5.6k in 41:24 mins @ 7:23/k pace.

SplitTodayWeek Ago
1k6:526:46
2k7:176:59
3k7:297:24
4k7:157:43
5k7:258:12
5.6k4:57

It's a lot like Adam said that you can "pay me now or pay me later". If you run fast at the start you collapse at the end, but if you pace yourself like I did today you actually have relatively more energy at the end! Today I ran 5k in 36:26 mins and last Friday in 37:04, but today I never had my heart beating out of the fat burn zone and I felt really good. This would be one bracket on the good side that I can start moving closer to a performance compromise by increasing my pace at the start of each split. One thing to note is that the trail I ran today had more uphill portions in it than the one last Friday. I actually finish the run on a crest without getting some payback on the run down. One thing I forgot to do was drink a sugar drink before the run - I want to test how much can help before it hurts.

Had some time to think Captain. You are right it's a decent time to think. But I don't think about many other things. I have a tendency to think about what I am doing. [Hey since I'm there, why not think about running. :) ] I find I get discouraged when thinking about some things. I stopped a lot of my exercise routines when I had to care for my sick family members the 3 years before the EMBA. I found I was doing more damage to myself by not being present in my workout than I was helping to think some things through and to get rid of the stress. I try to do a daily examen also, this helps me not think about things that I have no business thinking about.

I friended Rio on daily mile. She's part of Adam's running pack in Phoenix. I'm very lucky to see right into people's training schedules and what things the are doing to achieve their specific goals. I'd like to officially say hello to Rae as well a not-so-new runner who is now training for a 10k race - and you has not so long ago posted stuff very similar to my questions about running in the last couple of months.

FINALLY: I have some questions about after race stuff to do. Basically, how do you stretch, eat, hydrate, [how long to you wear that aluminum blanket]? Do you do any cool down exercises? All my friends suggest lots of beer ... which I have been experimenting with since my 16th birthday.

2 comments:

Johann said...

Keep doing what you are doing and you'll have a wonderful race. I don't do much after a race except for rest. I get into dry clothes and rest. While I rest I'll drink water and some energy drink if it was a long run. After marathons or ultras I usually have some chocolate milk. I eat once I'm hungry. I don't do any stretching or cool down exercises or stuff like that.

The Boring Runner said...

Hey, do whatever works for you and everything else will fall into place.

After the race..... I'll catch my breath, get something to drink (water), and stretch. I've never wore one of the mylar blankets for a 5K before - but after each marathon I'll wear them for 15 or 20 min after a marathon