Ok, since my last post, I have been more active, and Mrs discovered this blog, so my audience has doubled!
Let’s break this down day by day and see where it goes. Over the course of the weekend, I am trying to make a concerted effort to build up to a goal. I did better when tracking mileage with the pup toward a goal, so I’ll start with that: Let’s track mileage. We decided to run the half marathon on Whidby Island on April 20th.
Feb 8th – 0.77 mi Time 9:30.7 Avg Pace 12:20 /mi Avg HR 151 bpm – R
This was the typical block around the house. The problem here is that the Garmin ran out of power shortly after the pup and I started. We did the same lap as the next one, but I want to make this be tracked, so I will keep what data it gives me, and if I get no data because I forgot to charge the Garmin, then so be it. I will also use the mode that is closest to what I am doing or attempting to do. In this case, the R is for run, but on my Garmin, that is a Run/Walk with 30-second intervals.
Feb 8th – 1.37 mi Time 15:30 Avg Pace 11:18 /mi Avg HR 152 bpm – R
Again, I wanted to complete at least one circuit around the house, and I went for the same loop after the Garmin charged up. I was with the pup, but not the Mrs, so my pace was a little faster.
Feb 10th – 3.70 mi Time 50:29 Avg Pace 13:39 /mi Avg HR 140 bpm – R
Here, Mrs and I went for our first training run after committing to each other that we should run a half marathon in April with the goal of completing it in under three hours. We can easily finish a half marathon, but the time constraint means we have to work for it. Three hours is within our reach, so it is achievable if we train. The place we want to go is fairly hilly, so we’ll need to keep that in mind and make sure our training isn’t just on nice days with flat trails.
On this training run, Mrs started with a run to see how far she could go while still being able to talk instead of the usual run walk. This was to set a benchmark for future training from her coach to improve those areas that will make her run more efficiently.
An aspect I pointed out was that when we walk in our run walk, we tend to slow to a “shopping mall” pace. We should also try to push to a fast walk, like a purposeful walk with our arms pumping to help, but always keep one foot on the ground so it is a walk, and it should give us a break from the run. That is a benefit of the run/walk strategy, to use other muscles and give yourself a brief break.
Toward the end, Mrs. needed to pee, so the pace of the walk picked up. This is an example of how we can walk faster if we need to, and during these training runs, we should try to push what we can where it makes sense.
I went further than she did, simply because I was trying to see if, during the run interval, I could step out faster and then walk back to her; so, kinda doing mini loops, which I am guessing might have been annoying.
Feb 10th – 0.83 mi Time 18:34 Avg Pace 22:21 /mi Avg HR 111 bpm – W
After the distance was complete, there was walking back to the car, so I clocked that as a purposeful walk. We also noticed on this run how we both felt better after we started and agreed that on the next run, maybe we should include a “walk to the start” to get warmed up before just hopping out of the car and starting to run. Before stepping out, we must get all the fluids moving and the joints lubricated.
Feb 11th – 1.52 mi Time 18:59 Avg Pace 12:30 /mi Avg HR 151 bpm – R
Sunday, the pup and I went for a quick run around the block.
Feb 12th – 1.42 mi Time 33:56 Avg HR 94 bpm – H
Feb 12th – 1.55 mi Time 21:26 Avg Pace 13:49 /mi Avg HR 136 bpm – W
Feb 12th – 0.57 mi Time 9:04.8 Avg Pace 16:03 /mi Avg HR 111 bpm – W
Yesterday, the Mrs and I went out first thing in the morning after the girls left for school, and I put a 30lb pack on, so I tagged it a Hike. I noticed that if we go out in the morning instead of mid-day or evening, we tend to get more out of the exercise. It may even give us more energy throughout the day. I was always taught that if your routine can be pushed to the morning, you get more out of it throughout the day, but just doing it is more important than the time of day.
The other two walks were my trying to understand how far 10,000 steps are. I had no idea that 10k steps is about four miles. This leads to another goal: I will try at least to check the boxes on my Garmin daily events and see how many days in a row I can do that. This told me I needed to take the pup out for four miles daily to get those steps in. We’ll see how consistent I can be
Total – 11.73 mi since re-starting.
Thanks for listening.