Tag Archives: speed improvement

I’m Proud Of…

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I’ve gone for six runs since I last posted (and almost as many bike rides). I’m not going to catch up, but here are some highlights I’m proud of.

On the 18th, I did a hill training run. I ran to the closest steep hill and ran intervals up it. I was always slowing a lot by the top, so my last two, I broke it in half, and found it was not the slope of the hill but my endurance that was the problem.  That said, I’m proud of my average speed for each of my uphill segments.

Lap Highlights

I’m also proud of my peak speed for the run being while running uphill, and of how fast it was.

Peak Speed Uphill

Today, I did an interval workout. It was tough. Randomly drawn distances from the set of {100m, 200m, 400m, 800m} (4 each of each distance but only two 800s). But Garmin thinks I got new 1K, 1 mile, and 5K records (I accepted them even though they weren’t continuous). This hard workout resulted in my run being primarily anaerobic, and my post-run weight lifting session being primarily aerobic.

And I’m Back

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Back hurdling hydrants, and phone punch down panel boxes (not sure what they’re actually called). Nearly biffed it on that last one as I forgot to take into account the fact that I was going downhill.

Went for a six mile run. I had forgotten how fun it is to run downhill for a mile and a half after having gone uphill for almost two. I ended up getting a 5K time faster than my race time.

Suburban Waxing Moon

The sun was setting as I started, and it was almost completely dark as i was finishing. I harvested some zucchini when I finished.

Apple Harvest Run 5K

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On Saturday, October 5th, I ran the Apple Harvest Run 5K in Santaquin. Did okay. Didn’t quite hit my goal of under 33:00, by about 4 seconds (except the course was short, by 0.05 miles, so more like 44 seconds). I did get my fastest 1K, 1 mile, and 5K (since starting running again).

The course was pretty great, from a cross-country perspective: dirt, gravel, grass, asphalt, gentle hills. If I were to complain about anything, it would be having the finish line be basically all uphill from the mid point of the race, or having a long, continuing uphill on asphalt (I’d rather have a short steep hill).

I took third in my age division, out of three. But, in several other age divisions near mine, I would have come in 3rd or even 2nd, with more than 3. I was 59th out of 177 overall, 28th out of 52 among the males.

Catchup: I also went on a very short 1.6 mile run on the 3rd to break in my new running shoes. Game changing, having shoes that aren’t worn out. I also went for a short, relatively easy run on the 8th, 2.5 miles.

Catch Up

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On September 25th, I didn’t leave myself enough time for a longer run before dark, so I only went 3.1 miles. My fastest pace was only 5:19, with an average of 6:58 in my last 0.1 miles.

On the 27th, I did another hill workout, mostly the same route as on the 23rd. It was really hot out, max temperature during my run was 99°F, with an average of 94°F. It appears Garmin made an update that made it so my watch or Garmin Connect figured out I was doing intervals, so I can say that my interval average was 7:56. But, it lumped my hills with my last 0.1 mile. The hills were in the 8:xx range (8:31, 8:11, 8:53), while the last 0.1 was 6:47. My fastest pace, in that last 0.1, was 4:45, after having run over 6.5 miles. And once upon a time I could keep that pace up for at least a mile!

October 1st I went for an easy, short run, 2.11 miles, basically uphill then back down. This allowed me to get a new “fastest mile” (as far as Garmin knows) of 9:55, with a max pace of 7:29, but this was not pushing hard, just going downhill.

10K, 7 miles, Hills

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10K

Last week I ran one more time. I planned to do six miles, but as I was finishing, decided to add 0.2 miles to make it a 10K. So it was my first run of 10K for a long time.

There wasn’t much special about it (it took almost 1:18:00), but I did have a fastest pace of 5:00 and an average pace of 7:18 in my last 0.1 miles despite being quite beat. Then I thought about how in high school, that 7 minute pace was my easy run pace.

Cycling

I didn’t run more last week because I went for bike rides instead: 18+ miles on the 17th, 26.2 miles on the 20th, and 35.2 miles on the 21st, for a total of just over 80 cycling miles last week. That 26.2 took me just under two hours, but taking out traffic lights and such, it was about 1:45.

The 35.2 took me 2:53:50, but 2:43:09 moving time. I was kind of beat before I was headed home. I stopped for a tiny rest at a place with a great view. I didn’t take pictures that time, but I had rested there on Labor Day, and took some then.

7 Miles and Hills

Today I decided to go for a seven mile run, because why not? I also decided to do a hill workout. So I ran three miles or so to a great hill by a river. I forgot to press the lap button for my first time up, which was going to give me a nice, slow baseline. Oh well. I ran up twice more, each time trying to go fast.

My first fast lap up was 0.09 miles in 0:43.1. Second was in 0:45.9. I was a little bummed that I didn’t get my second lap faster, but, my average pace was 8:04 and 8:41 on an average of 5.3% grade (there’s a fair bit of not steep distance, followed by steep stuff). And, my fastest pace for the run was not downhill, it was on my first uphill, 5:33.

Let’s not discuss my pace in my last mile.

First Five in Three Years

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Stats

  • Distance: 5.11
  • Time: 1:00:43
    • It’s kind of sad to think I used to be able to run five miles in almost half that time (58%), but I used to weigh almost half what I weigh now (59%)
  • Fastest pace: 4:17 🎉🥂
    • During my last 0.1 mile speed challenge
    • Pace during that last 0.1 was 7:01

I’m happy with that fastest pace, even though the average for the last 0.11 was only 7:01. I really started slowing down at the end. I was kinda of winded. That 4:17 might possibly have had something to do with it.

4:29

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I ran the reverse direction from what I’ve been running, and in the 5 pm afternoon sun. I had a little bump that formed on my leg, which I’m hoping a) that it was due to the lotion I had put on trapping heat in, and b) the cold water shower I took after my run resolved the issue. If not, I may not be working out for a few days while I deal with another eczema flare up.

The course is harder in reverse. It’s a little bit of downhill followed by a lot of gentle uphill, then steep uphill, and then it’s still uphill, until finally it’s downhill. I wasn’t feeling motivated to push it downhill. I still did a 0.1 “speed test” even though I was running short on time before symphony orchestra rehearsal.

Stats:

  • Distance: 3.1 miles
  • 36:42
  • Fastest pace for the last 0.1 mile: 4:29
  • Average pace for the last 0.1 mile: 6:48

I also got my fastest mile since starting to use my 965: 10:13

Update: oh, and I hurdled over a hydrant. Sort-of. If my left foot had been further over, I might have caught the tip of it, and the ensuing scene would have been reminiscent of the time I hurdled three garbage cans at the curb, and my foot caught the inside lip of the last can.

Four

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Four miles. Plus a 0.1 speed challenge. Even though I already did four sprint segments.

Stats:

  • 4.1 mi
  • 49:28
  • Fastest pace 4:30 during last 0.1 mile
    • Also the fastest for the run!
  • Average pace for the last 0.1 mile: 7:02
  • The big downhill:
    • 0.09 miles
    • 0:35 time
    • 6:38 pace
  • The second big downhill:
    • 0.08 miles
    • 0:29.5 time
    • 6:06 pace

I slept decently last night, so my body battery wasn’t stuck at 5 like it was on Friday. It’s now at 20, with my workout impact of -22. My 965 estimates I lost almost 0.9 liters of fluid. Good thing I’m about to replace it.

Here’s I pic I snapped mid-run:

Fading Sunset as August 2024 Fades Away

A Different Route

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Similar distance. But no comparing, because the route differences made it harder to keep my pace up: it was substantially darker, so I couldn’t see my path well enough to go faster at times. Also, I had my phone weighing me down, and I didn’t try as hard to go fast going downhill.

Stats:

  • 3.12 mi
  • 35:46
  • Fastest pace 5:01 during last 0.12 miles
  • Average pace for the last 0.12 miles: 6:32

My “Body Battery” according to my 965 is at 5 now, down from 79 this morning (with a max of 100 possible). My watch tells me it was a demanding day, and that I should focus on rest and recovery for the remainder of the day.

Dropped Another Three

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I didn’t hit my goal of a sub-35:00 5K on last Friday’s run, but last night I did it. I changed several things, so it’s hard to say which had the most impact, and which had little or no impact. But here’s what was different:

  • No phone weighing me down
  • I got a Garmin Forerunner 965. This allowed me to not lose time unlocking my phone in the dark. It also enabled better visibly for my stats, so I could see how fast I was going downhill, and try to keep the pace from slowing too much. I could see when I was dragging (especially as I approached the 2 mile mark) and pick up the pace.
  • I uploaded a Spotify playlist to my Garmin, with songs specifically selected with running in mind, rather than random every eclectic thing I’ve ever liked on YouTube Music. This focused list made it easier to run harder, and let me not lose time to skipping or rearranging songs (and more phone unlocking).
  • Because I was thinking about high knee workouts last time, I tried harder to use my hamstrings when I started going slow.
  • I stretched deeper and longer before my run, and I didn’t do an upper body workout the night before.

Here’s my stats:

  • 3.1 miles
  • 34:50, more than 9 minutes less than four runs ago
  • Average pace was 11:14
  • Top pace in last 0.1 was 4’36”
    • My last 0.1 mile overall was slower than it should have been because I tried to see what my instantaneous pace was while running

I’ll probably bring my phone next time, as I like being able to reflect on my run (viz. make these post-run posts) during my cool down walk home, I like being able to take pictures on my run, and it looks like I can’t control the Spotify playlist from my Garmin while in the middle of an activity. I also can’t get messages from Live Tracking if I’m sharing a feed without my phone.