Run fast

Easy treadmill run

1 hour on the bike in the gym

5 miles of cross country skiing

5 miles of cross country skiing

Not sure what was wrong today.  I have been running a lot outside so I decided I would put in some time on the treadmill (I know I am crazy to run indoors today).  When I started I didn't have a set distance I wanted to run but a common workout I do is 10 miles at 10 mph.  After one mile I up'd the pace to 10.1 with a 1% decline.  My quads felt really tired but I thought they would feel better after I got warmed up.  This didn't happen.  My quads felt really tired for the entire run and I felt like I was working unusually hard for that pace (maybe I warmed up to fast?). For the first time I actually took along my heart rate monitor and surprisingly my heart rate was at about 180-185 for last three miles.  Although I haven't used a monitor on a treadmill before I know for a fact that my heart rate is never that high at 10 mph, which is close to my marathon pace.  

I am not sure what to conclude from this.  Any thoughts?  I have been running often, about 6 times a week, but I really haven't been putting in many miles.  What it is interesting is that I have run my best marathon times when I only ran 4-5 times a week for longer distances each day and on off days I cross trained (biking or swimmming).  At least for me, I think my body responds better when I run fewer days and include more cross training.  Fortunately the weather appears to be changing so I am looking forward to getting out on my road bike; my quads will be whipped into shape in no time.

Wow. That was really a pain to get those stats posted. Does anyone know of an easy way just to export information from the Garmin Training Center into excel? Several hours later.....I found a solution. I downloaded some new software, SportTracks, which allows me to simply copy the data from the Activity Screen.

As for the run, I think I did a good job to redeem myself from yesterday's poor performance on the treadmill. I ran north from Holladay and turned around at Myriad Genetics and returned on a similar route. My slowest mile in 7:07, lap 8, included about a half a mile up Wakara Way, which is the first part of the Deseret News10k.

Yesterday I was dying at 10.1 mph, 1% grade for 4 miles but today I managed to average 6:36 for 17 miles on a fairly hilly route. Maybe the treadmill was lying about the speed. :) Go figure. Also, my heart rate today looked much better. Averaged 147 bpm, which is about what I would suspect for my effort.

A little sore after yesterday's run.  I will probably do some cross training tonight. 

Legs were still tired. Felt ok at the end of the run. Probably around 7 min pace.

Time	56:19:00
Distance	8.06
Split pace	6:59
Elev. chg.	-27
Avg. HR	149

TM 10 mph, 1% incline, ~160 bpm

I went a mile farther than my usual pre-race routine because I felt good and the race is only a 15k ;)

I am convinced that the treadmill I used last Saturday was not calibrated correctly because my heart rate was at 185 bpm for the same 10 mph pace. My run today validated my assumption that at  my marathon pace my heart rate averages about 160 bpm.

Considering my max heart rate is about 195 I think I should be able to run a marathon with an average heart rate of 165-170 (about 85% of max). To get there I will need to start doing more interval training or track work.

Today was one of those rare days when I didn't feel like I was working that hard but I was still going at my pace.  I wasn't wearing my Garmin so I will have to rely on my manual watch clicks.  It sure didn't feel like my last 5k was faster than my first but I suppose that's because I was working harder and the miles felt longer.  Overall I felt really good and relaxed so I guess I will have to take some mental notes on how I prepared.  I am crediting the pre-race hot chocolate.