Sunday, February 8, 2009

Back on the Horse

Today, eight days later, I went for a short run.  Officially, my first day of base training starts next week, but I decided to get back out there today and at least do a little something.

The legs were quite sore from yesterday's lifting session (as expected), and this certainly was a factor during the run.  I've gotta get used to this again - during the base phase I need to be prepared to drop the pace somewhat due to the two leg lifting sessions/week.  

The HR was up about 7-beats/min probably due to the soreness, being overdressed for the temperature, and a slight drop in fitness.  

Overall not too bad - good to lace up the "blood soaked" shoes once again.  (I ordered a new pair that should be arriving by Thursday)  

If all goes well tomorrow, I'm going to head to the gym to see if I can't figure out some way to get in some upper body lifting.

Training:

Sun, 2/8:  4-miles @ 6:55 pace.  HR-162 (quite a bit higher than normal - need to monitor periodically to see if this is real or just due to being overdressed and sore)

6 comments:

Ewen said...

It must feel good to get out for a run at last.

Actually, that's not a bad idea to do one of your non-workout steady runs over the same course at a similar HR and/or pace.

I multiply ave HR x pace to get a number. If the number is lower for a particular course, that might show cardio fitness has improved. If the number is higher, the reverse could be true... or it could show you're overheated, tired etc.

. said...

Them blood soaked trainers should be kept for the warm up on race days. Something nice to let the others in the race know that you're a hard bastard!

Mike said...

Private - That's funny.

Yeah I'm sure those guys will be trembling at the starting line upon seeing the bloody shoes. :)

bricey said...

sub 7 pace one handed - sounds like a nice run. Good to see that you're back. It's a pity though that you have to wait so long for a race (of any sort). I think that they're always a good way to measure progress and break the monotony of solo running!!

RICK'S RUNNING said...

easy does it on the upper body weights, after all was 'Arnie'every a GOOD runner!!!

Mike said...

Hey Rick - I pretty much go against the grain on this one at least for middle distance runners.

Most top sprinters hit the weights for upper body. (even the long sprinters doing the 400m) It definitely helps w/ speed. And as we get over 35yo, unfortunately we lose x-amount of muscle mass per year naturally - lifting helps to slow this process to a crawl.

While I agree we don't want to add much unnecessary weight, I believe that 40+yo runners should hit the weights quite a bit. It helps us maintain speed and slows some of the natural process of aging.

Not to mention it promotes bone density which also deteriorates as we age unless we do something about it.