Heart blank

A-left atrium
B-right atrium
C-left ventricle
D-right ventricle
E-ascending aorta
F-pulmonary trunk
F1-left pulmonary artery
F2-right pulmonary artery
G1-superior vena cava
G2-inferior vena cava
H1-left pulmonary veins
H2-right pulmonary veins
I-coronary arteries
J-brachiocephalic trunk
K-left common carotid artery
L-left subclavian artery

Heart Rate Training

Since getting a Garmin, I've been wearing a heart rate monitor on my runs. I don't pay much attention to it on the run, but I do like to have the data. It's got me interested to know my resting heart rate (RHR) and maximal heart rate (MHR), so that I can determine my heart rate reserve (HRR) for purposes of analyzing my workouts. I don't like the idea of being a slave to the data, but it could come in handy in avoiding overtraining.

How to establish MHR:
-genetically determined
-not increased by training
-after thorough warm-up, run hard, straight up steep hill for at least 3 minutes
I have not yet done this but, in the meantime, applied a figure that an online calculator spit out after inputting my details. It's probably way off.

How to establish Anaerobic Threshold Heart Rate:
-85% of MHR

How to establish RHR:
-decreases over time with aerobic training
-average of three recordings first thing in the morning
-best endurance workouts done at 60-80% of HRR
I have not yet done this either, but RHR is bit easier to determine as you don't have to get up off your butt and give up a day of rest (i.e., screw up your training). I've had RHRs in the high-30s/low-40s in the past, but I think 45 is a good figure for now.

How to establish HRR:
-HRR = MHR - RHR (e.g., 192-45 = 147)
-60% x 147 + 45 = 133.2 (aerobic threshold; low end of bread and butter aerobic)
-65% x 147 + 45 = 140.55
-70% x 147 + 45 = 147.9
-75% x 147 + 45 = 155.25 (high end of bread and butter aerobic; low end of 3/4 effort run)
-80% x 147 + 45 = 162.6 (high end of 3/4 effort run)
-85% x 147 + 45 = 169.95 (anaerobic threshold)
-90% x 147 + 45 = 177.3
-95% x 147 + 45 = 184.65
-100% x 147 + 45 = 192

With all the hills I've been running lately, my average heart rate is in the low 150s, which, according to the above calculations (based on my unscientific method of determining my MHR and RHR and therefore my HRR), is pretty much where it should be.

I never thought that I'd be able to do this kind of running again, much less running that includes over 3,000 feet of climbing. Yesterday, Jess, Joe, Bethany, Rich, and I ran over 12 miles up to Ostrich Peak (between 600 and 800 feet of climbing per mile), down the connector trail to National Forest road 2060, and then all the way down 2060 to Lithia Park. See details of the run here. About three quarters of the way up to Ostrich Peak, my right hip flexor started hurting. I had done some hip flexor strengthening exercises the day before, so I don't think it's cause for concern--just a touch overworked. My knee/leg felt mostly fine, but I was shot by the time we got down to the southern edge of the park. And we still had about another mile to go to get to the creek, but I made it. Joe and Rich continued on for about 8 more.

Joe, Bethany, and Rich are great training partners, as Joe just finished a 100k in less than 14 hours, Bethany is currently training for a marathon, and Rich is currently training for a 100 miler. Joe and Rich have been running ultras for a few years now, are pretty plugged in here in Ashland, and know the trails quite well.

Monday, 8/13/12- Bike to/from gym and strength training.

Tuesday, 8/14/12- Grizzly Peak w/Jess. Not feeling it at all even though I think I set a new PR to the top. Jess pushed the pace the whole way. 31:40. See workout to the top here. I thought I had recorded the descent but when I got back to the trailhead, there was maybe two seconds of recorded running. The whole run took about 52min, and I was completely shot when I got back to the car. :(

Wednesday, 8/15/12- Some swimming but mostly lounging around. Didn't make sense to do a gym workout, as the leg was feeling tight from what I think was overstretching. Can't quite figure out the hamstring stretch.

Thursday, 8/16/12- To and around Lithia Park w/Jess. 45min. Felt pretty good. Soaked in the creek, walked home barefoot, and then hit up the gym. Did a decent workout there. I was hoping to have my new Garmin watch for today's run, but perhaps tomorrow.

Friday, 8/17/12- Finally got my Garmin. 35ish minutes around Lithia Park. Details here until I figure out how to get a feed working on this blog.

Saturday, 8/18/12- Bike to/from gym and strength training.

Sunday, 8/19/12- Got up early to run with Jess before work. Felt pretty good. Great run. Check it out here. The one hitch on this run was where the ditch dead-ended. We exited up the stairs and then went left down the paved road to yet another dead-end. We then took the ditch back to where it dead-ends again and went right down a side trail, which emptied out onto another paved road. From there, we could not figure out how to circumvent the closed off section of the ditch and get back onto the ditch, so we ran down some steep paved roads, which I was hoping to avoid today. Oh, well.

Total: 4:02 (23.19mi)

Garmin Forerunner 610

Got me a GPS watch. Expensive but so worth it given the positive reviews and my test run with it today. See link.
Untitled by ryanrnnr at Garmin Connect - Details

Torrington Road Race 2012

Won by a woman for the first time, and it wasn't even close. Wow. Results.

Monday, 8/8/12- nothing.

Tuesday, 8/7/12- 52:23 run. Grizzly Peak loop w/Jess. 31:47 to the peak (13:20 to the 1.1mi post; 23:05 to the overlook). Spent about 6min at the peak and descended in 20:36.

Wednesday, 8/8/12- 2hr. 20min bike to/from Y and strength training in the AM. Yoga w/Jess in the PM.

Thursday, 8/9/12- 36:14 run. To and around Lithia Park.

Friday, 8/10/12- 56:18 run. White Rabbit w/Jess.

Saturday, 8/11/12- YMCA strength training.

Sunday, 8/12/12- 1:29:10 run. Ditch loop w/Jess. Finished with some soaking in creek in Lithia Park.

Total: 3:54 (21.7mi)

It had been a long time since our last Sunday "long" run together. This morning, we did about 8 miles. The iPhone GPS had us at about 7 but lost signal for part of the run, as you can see on the graph below. For the first 2.5 miles or so, you run straight up--just over 1300 feet--and then it's pretty much all downhill from there. Instead of completing the loop at home, we ran about another mile to Lithia Park and soaked in the creek.

White Rabbit

This was the first hike Jess and I did in Ashland. And it was difficult. And it was difficult the second, third, and fourth times. I recall one time seeing a guy running up while we were struggling to even hike and saying to myself, "holy shit!" Well, after a lot of practice on steep mountain trails, we're finally running the whole thing ourselves. I've always been curious as to the distance and elevation gain of this route and was seriously considering purchasing a gps/altimeter watch until I remembered that the mapmyrun iPhone app could possibly serve this purpose. So I tested it out yesterday around town and in Lithia Park, and it worked great. Today, I tried it on White Rabbit. The results are below. It worked perfectly. It turns out that it's 2.35 miles of climbing to the top with well over 1000ft of elevation gain. We did an out and back...very slowly (but ran every step). On the way back down, Jess was in front by about 50 yards and I heard some rustling leaves. I thought Jess had possibly fallen. Then, about a minute later, I heard the same rustling leaves and Jess yelled down from the upper trail (I had taken a lower trail): "A black bear!" I think Jess came very close to the bear and then stupidly ran away quickly. I've been on this trail a lot and have never seen a black bear or mountain lion. The difference today, however, was that it was early morning.

Find more Run in Ashland, OR

Back In Action

I did an 8 mile hilly trail run on Sunday with no knee/leg pain, so I'm somewhat optimistic about MDI marathon in October. The strenuous hiking in bozeman seemed to strengthen whatever needed to be strengthened and get me back on track. Only problem now is that biking irritates my knee/leg. The pain has recently migrated to the side of my hamstring where I have a huge knot after some seat adjustments. 3 times a day on the foam roller is taking care of it, but I'm wondering if the biking was the problem all along. Either way my new plan is to get as strong as possible. That means hills, trails, and stairs. I do the most hilly trail runs I can find. Weekdays that usually means multiple trips up east rock giant steps trail and on weekends west rock. And every opportunity I get I also take the stairs. I live on the 18th floor of an apartment building. You can only get to the stairs from the 6th floor, but 11 flights of stairs still gets the muscles warm, especially if carrying grocercies. I'm also making an effort to boost my protein intake. Lots of smoothies with hemp, soy, spirulina, chia, and flax. And kale, beets, carrots, and all kinds of fruit of course.

Monday, 7/30/12- 54:58 run.  Ran the whole Grizzly Peak loop! 32:57 to the peak (13:40 to the 1.1mi post; 23:49 to the overlook). Spent about 4min at the peak and descended in 22:01. Then drove to San Francisco in 100-degree heat with no A/C.

Tuesday, 7/31/12- TRX with Kyle in San Francisco.

Wednesday, 8/1/12- ~25min run. Stillwater Cove Regional Park in Jenner, CA. Nice, but short, trails.

Thursday, 8/2/12- 20:25min run. To and around Lithia Park in NB Minimus. Cooled off in the creek and walked home barefoot. Needed that after being the car all day.

Friday, 8/3/12- 59:25 (41:51 run). White Rabbit with Jess. 28:18 to the top. Almost two minutes faster than last time. Spent about 5min at the parking lot and hiked/ran back.

Saturday, 8/4/12- ~20min bike. Strength training at YMCA.

Sunday, 8/5/12, 1:23hr (1:17:36hr run). Ran from home up an alley to Liberty Street to "the ditch" trail and then straight up with Joe. Handled the climb well but with some hiking on various sections. Once to the top (Ashland Loop Road), ran up to Alice, down Alice, to Bandersnatch, and then various other trails until we emptied out onto the ditch. Roads back home.

I did well over three hours of running this week. Probably 20 miles. The leg seems to be fine. Hoping that it only gets stronger.

Return to Action

Jessica and I are running the Enchanted Forest Wine Run (Timothy Olson, this year's winner of The Western States, is the RD), which is a trail half-marathon in Grants Pass, Oregon on September 29th and marks our return to "racing." We haven't done anything significant since the Austin Marathon in February 2011. Yikes. The race has a ton of climbing (no wonder given the RD) and a 5hr time limit. I don't think we'll need all 5hrs, but we certainly won't be running our fastest times. Actually, it will be my fastest time, as I've never done an organized half-marathon.

The good thing, though, is that we live in a valley, and if you want to run trails, you don't have much of a choice but to run up. We've both been increasing the amount of climbing per run. All of the running we do now is on steep trails in the mountains. Yesterday, we ran up White Rabbit, which climbs a good 1,000ft in roughly 2mi. It's an insane workout. Jess continued down the other side to the park to get in about an hour and a half of running, and I double backed, running about half of the descent.

It seems that ever since moving to Ashland, my knee has gotten a lot better. It's nearly 100% now. I'm doing all of the right things--staying off pavement and on trails, cross-training, and stretching. I've also made a few biomechanical tweaks. My left knee turns out a bit and my right knee turns way in. To correct this, I've turned out my right foot, which has allowed me to more easily engage the glutes and keep my knee directly under my hip and over my ankle instead of collapsing inward.