Winter Running

If you hadn't heard, the Northeast was slated for (and received) a fair bit of winter weather this past weekend.  You may recall from my schedule that I posted the other day, that I try to do my long runs on the weekends.  Since the blizzard of 2016 was going to hit Friday - Sunday, I knew that the long weekend run was out this week.  Luckily, we had several days notice for this storm so I was able to switch my schedule around a bit and fit in (almost) all my runs.

I managed to squeeze in a 9 miler after work on Wednesday, a 6 mile run after work on Thursday, and a 6 mile run Friday morning before the storm.  I had already run 4 on Monday, so that brought my week total to 25 miles, definitely shy of my planned 33.

I spent most of Saturday doing chores around the house.  I accomplished a lot, but didn't get in any cardio or exercise of any type.  So when I woke up on Sunday to find that the snow had stopped, I was hopeful that I might be able to get a run in.  Here's the winter wonderland I woke up to that morning - so pretty!

After a lazy morning of coffee, waffles, and chores, I ventured outside to see if a run was doable.  To my happy surprise, my street and the main neighborhood roads had been somewhat cleared.  There was still ice and snow on the roads, but it was compact - perfect for my YaxTrax.  I received my YaxTrax (traction cleats for running in the snow/ice) a few years ago, but hadn't had the opportunity to try them out yet.  Here's what they look like on my shoes:

After figuring out how to put them on and doing a brief test walk on the snow, I headed out for a 5 mile run.  Between dodging snow piles, walkers, sledders, and 4WD vehicles, it was a little slow going, but it still felt great to be outside in the fresh air.  I ran painfully slow (even slower than my normal MAF method training), but I put the miles in and made it to an even 30 miles for this week.

It looks like the weather is going to cooperate better the rest of this week.  Let's see if I can fit in all my runs (35 miles) and most importantly, make it to the gym this weekend to run my third MAF test to see if I've made any progress with these slow runs.

Current Training Plan

After having accomplished my goal of running a sub-2 hour half marathon in December 2015, I knew that I needed to take a step back and focus on strengthening and building my running base before jumping back into racing again.  I truly believe one of the key factors of my success in meeting my goal was the fact that I took the time over the summer to build a strong running foundation.

From June to late August, I built my base by running 25-30 miles per week at a slow, easy pace.  Although it was challenging at first not to have a "plan" that I was working towards,  I eventually just relaxed and had fun with it.  By switching my focus from a running schedule culminating in a race to a running schedule simply to build mileage, I felt better physically and mentally by the start of Fall.

So after my great base-building experience over the summer, I decided to focus on base building again this winter.  I eventually want to meet my goal of a sub-23 minute 5K this Spring, so I'll spend the first few months of this year building my base and then follow a more specific plan to improve my speed.  

For this go round of base-building, I decided to give heart-rate training a shot.  More specifically, I'm going to follow the MAF method (at least the exercise piece - I'm not going to change my diet at this point.)  The MAF method requires that you calculate your maximum aerobic heart rate and run all of your weekly mileage below that rate.  According to the 180 formula, my maximum heart rate is 145 so I am making a concerted effort to keep my heart rate below that number for every single run.

Every couple of weeks, you perform a MAF test, which requires you to run 3-5 miles AT your maximum aerobic heart rate and to record the time for each mile.  In theory, by running at a lower heart rate, you're working more aerobically and you become a more efficient runner.   That means for each MAF test you should see a decrease in mileage times because your fitness improves to allow you to run faster at a lower heart rate. 

So here's a look at my running schedule for the MAF method. I'm building my base for about 15 weeks and trying to average between 25 - 35 miles per week. Since I'm writing this post in the middle of my training, I've included previously completed weeks. You'll notice that all hasn't gone according to plan as I was sick after Christmas this year and had to take some days off for travel. 

Week	M	T	W	R	F	S	S	Total
12/14/15	OFF	4	3	3	8	4	5 (Test)	27
12/21/15	4	OFF	6	4	3	5	SICK	22
12/28/15	SICK	SICK	SICK	3	4	4	5 (Test)	16
01/04/16	3	OFF	OFF	3	4	5	5	15
01/11/16	4	4	OFF	3	6	5	6	28
01/18/16	4	OFF	6	5	4	9	5	33
01/25/16	OFF	5	6	5	4	10	5 (Test)	35
02/01/16	3	OFF	3	3	3	3	3	18
02/08/16	OFF	5	6	5	4	10	5	35
02/15/16	5	OFF	6	5	4	10	5	35
02/22/16	OFF	5	6	5	4	10	5 (Test)	35
02/29/16	3	OFF	3	3	3	3	3	18
03/07/16	OFF	5	6	5	4	10	5	35
03/14/16	5	OFF	6	5	4	10	5	35
03/21/16	OFF	5	6	5	4	10	5 (Test)	35

Kind of a boring schedule, but I'm very interested in seeing whether or not my times decrease for my miles.  As you can see above, I've already done two MAF tests and I'll reveal the results of those in a separate post later this week. :)

I admit that part of me is a little worried that running so slowly will make me a slower runner.  But I figure even if that appears to happen after this trial, I can always just follow the same schedule I did this summer as I did last summer and hopefully have a great fall running season!

Long Time, No Blog

I had the best intentions last year to continually update this blog with my progress towards my goal of running a sub-2:00 hour half marathon.

Obviously, my good intentions weren't enough to make it happen.

So let's try this again!  But this time, with a new goal.  Yes, that's right - I accomplished my sub-2:00 hour half marathon goal last year!  After a disappointing May race, I was able to run a 1:57:50 in December.  I'll post more details about my journey to a sub-2:00 race (bumps - literally and figuratively) in a later blog post.

This year, I actually have two goals.  The first is to run a sub-23:00 5K and the second is to run a sub 1:50 half-marathon.  Given my progress and success over the past year, I think these are realistic and achievable goals.  Stay tuned for additional blog posts as I document (this time, for REAL) my journey towards these mileposts!