gamby
UltimaDork
8/21/13 11:09 p.m.
In reply to AngryCorvair:
I promise that physical is going to go great. Doctors LOVE seeing people who are taking care of themselves. I had mine last month and my (rather blunt) doc shook my hand, congratulated me on my level of fitness and said I had the resting heartrate (59) and EKG of an athlete. I was on top of the world and my wife never heard the end of it. 
Best of luck. I hope it goes well. I also hope the knee straightens out. I'd love running if it weren't for the constant injuries. 
sat 24 aug weekly long run was 15 miles, which i completed in 2hrs 28min, for an average pace of about 9:52. i say "about" because my suckberry decided not to find satellites that day, so i am assuming it was exactly 15.00 miles. no issues with bones or joints, but my glutes were pretty fatigued for the last few miles. no cramping, just worn out. i remember smiling when i passed the 13-mile mark, as i knew i was entering uncharted territory. and i smiled again at the 14-mile mark because my wife and daughters were waiting at the side of the course with squirt guns! that was a pleasant and refreshing surprise, and definitely gave me a lift for the final mile. covered the final mile in 9:38 according to the person i paced from the ambush to the finish. overall, i'm pretty happy with my progress but would like to be faster.
kroger has honey stinger waffles for a buck apiece. will my heart explode if i eat one while sitting here at my desk? 
i see it's been about 3 weeks since i updated this thread, so here's where we stand about 4 weeks out from the marathon:
it's all good!
long version: last saturday (14 Sep) our weekly long run was an 18-miler. it was 39 degrees F at the 7AM start! i purposely went out slow because i wanted to have a good finish. first mile, GPS says 9:02, so i slowed down. second mile, GPS says average pace 9:06 so i slowed down again. when i get to the spot that i know is 3.00 miles from the start, GPS says 3.28 miles. Hmmm, nine percent high on distance. that splains why i'm averaging 9:08 miles while breathing through my nose.
anyway, at the turn i was at 1 hr 32 minutes. intentionally picked it up a little bit, and pulled a two-minute negative split, finishing a verified 18.05 miles in 3 hrs 2 min 25 sec. door to door average pace 10:03, and i breathed through my nose for the entire run.
four miles in, i had half a pack of Shot Blocks with Caffeine. eight miles in, i had a honey stinger gu. 10 miles in, i popped an electrolyte capsule. 13 miles in, i finished the Shot Blocks. that was it for calories. i still had a honey stinger waffle and another gu in my pocket.
i had my annual physical earlier this week, and today the doc called with my cholesterol results.
NOV 2012:
- Total Cholesterol 270
- Triglycerides 201
- LDL 160
- HDL 52
SEP 2013:
- Total Cholesterol 217
- Triglycerides 69
- LDL 143
- HDL 60
tomorrow our weekly long run is only 14 miles, but that's long enough for another nutrition lab. i'm sticking with the honey stingers, but i'm going to try to take one every 45 minutes to see what happens. i'm going to try to run 9:30's the whole way.
update for 29 Sep 2013:
the 14-miler on sep 20 was cake. i ran the first 7 miles at 9:46 pace, then picked it up and ran the return at a 9:26 pace. i think i had a half pack of shot blocks and one honey stinger, and one electrolyte capsule.
the week ending yesterday was the highest-mileage week in the training plan. 5 mi Mon, 10 mi Tu, 5 mi Th, and the 20-miler yesterday was the longest single run of the plan. i thought i ate well enough during the week, but i didn't feel quite right during the run. i stayed on top of my hydration, energy, and electrolytes, and i went out intentionally slow at around 10:00 pace, but i never really felt like picking it up.
my wife and kids were responsible for the chalk art along the route this week, so i got a couple of personalized encouragement graffitis along the way and had to jog in place as i fumbled with the blackberry to take pix of them. aside from those two breaks, the only other non-running times were when i was receiving cups of water or gatorade from our support stations along the way.
i finished in 3hr 30min, about 45 seconds per mile slower than i wanted. my hips and glutes are a little sore, but aside from them i'd say i'm at about 100%.
so now we taper off the mileage until the marathon on october 20th. if i finish in under 4hr 30 min i guess i'll be happy, but 4hr 15min would make me happier. we shall see.
AngryCorvair wrote:
i had my annual physical earlier this week, and today the doc called with my cholesterol results.
NOV 2012:
- Total Cholesterol 270
- Triglycerides 201
- LDL 160
- HDL 52
SEP 2013:
- Total Cholesterol 217
- Triglycerides 69
- LDL 143
- HDL 60
tomorrow our weekly long run is only 14 miles, but that's long enough for another nutrition lab. i'm sticking with the honey stingers, but i'm going to try to take one every 45 minutes to see what happens. i'm going to try to run 9:30's the whole way.
other than the total Cholesterol, (and it improved) those are some pretty impressive lab reports ... especially the improvement in Triglycerides and the really nice HDL
don't know what your doc would think about adding large doses of omega 3 fish oils to your supplement intake ... but that's what it took for me to get my total down ... but I don't seem to be able to get my HDL above 40 ... much less the 50's and 60's like you've done
well done (on the running also)
Angry- First, congrats on what you have accomplished. Second, what are you using to track your times and distances?
I'm looking at getting into duathlons, so run, bike, run. And I'm a total newb. I'm looking at training programs and most talk about split times, distance times, time trials, etc. I realized my current watch doesn't have a stopwatch or a way to keep split times. And I don't really want to run with my phone all the time.
In reply to octavious:
A GPS based running watch is a good investment. We use a Garmin, but I know the others have been advancing quickly in the last few years.
In reply to AngryCorvair:
Awesome. I have managed to get myself into the low 9's (high 8s inconsistently) for a half distance and done 2 20 milers at just under 10. I need to get that number down a little. I suspect it's just running out of calories. I only eat a couple slime pellets at the 2hr mark for a pick-me-up because they give me terrible heartburn.
I still haven't gone for blood work but I'm hoping for numbers like yours.
I missed the Steamtown Marathon because it sold out - I wasn't really ready anyway so... I'll find one in the spring. In the meantime... I'm closing in on weight and body fat goals I haven't seen since my 20's.
Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:
In reply to AngryCorvair:
<>In the meantime... I'm closing in on weight and body fat goals I haven't seen since my 20's.
berkeleyin' ay! nice work. how old are you, anyway? i'm going to be 47 a couple days before Christmas.
In reply to octavious:
i use the mapmyrun app on my blackberry. it's not great, but it is free and doesn't require buying new hardware. i haven't worn a heartrate monitor since 1996, when i saw 202 bpm climbing the first hill at the 24 hours of canaan MtB race, two days after donating a pint of blood. i figured that if i survived that, the HRM was never going to tell me anything i should worry about. 
very brief update:
now in the third week of tapering (reducing mileage) before the marathon on october 20th. long run was 12 miles on oct 5th, and only 8 miles on oct 12th. i did that one at an 8:52 pace, just for grins. 4 miles this morning, 2 on thursday, then rest / eat / rest / eat until the marathon. still no injuries. :-)
and now i must eat!
Wife just did the half of the hartford marathon. I borrowed a bull horn from work and yelled encouragement to her. 1st half and did 2:22. Not too shabby.
Good luck with your full.
Hope the weather holds out for you tomorrow! Good luck!
In reply to Paul_VR6:
http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/hey-angrycorvair-good-luck-today/72687/page1/#post1340143
