Thursday, March 19, 2009

Long Run with Long Socks

Training plan for the day:
S: speed day
wu: 350 continuous. last 50 in each 100 is kick
main: 10 x 200 EBEH (each 200 = 50Easy, 50Build, 50Easy, 50 Hard)
cd: 6 x 25, each slower than last

R: 120 minute long run. Keep RPE at 3, no harder! Stretch well afterwards
and have a good recovery meal.
I woke up at 5:00 this morning and had a little oatmeal with blueberries, then headed to the pool. I ate too much though, so I wasn't feeling great for the first little while, even though I didn't start swimming until half an hour after I ate. It should probably be an hour. What is it they always tell you about eating before swimming? I should know this.


It was ok, though. After I got warmed up, I felt fine. I did my 200s at around 3:50 (at least the ones I thought to time), and I thought this was pretty good. I only ended up doing 7 out of the 10, though, because people were coming in for a swim meet, and I was afraid they would kick me out before I got to cool down. Still that is 1,900 meters - more than an olympic tri.

I hurried and went home to help Pete get Mindy ready for school, and move the coffee table he bought last night out of the jeep. Then I headed out for my 2-hour run. Pete was great to stay home for the morning and take care of the kids so I could do this!

When we were up at Coeur d'Alene last year for Pete's Ironman, we saw a lot of people wearing compression socks. It was something I had never even heard of, but it seemed pretty big up there. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about so I bought myself a pair. The most expensive pair of socks I have ever seen. So far I have only used them for recovery, and they've been really nice for that. They help my calves not feel very sore at all after a big workout. 

Today I decided, since it was my long run, to try running in them. At first I was just glad to have them because it was cold. I dressed in just a t-shirt and shorts, thinking about how I got hot last time. Well, last time I ran in the middle of the day so it was a little different! It was ok, though, really just my hands were cold, and they warmed up after a little while. 

I did the full 2 hours, even though I was tempted to cut it a little short when I got to my house at around 1:53. I didn't stop, though, I ran around the block and past my house again until I finished my time. I have no idea how far I ran since I did a lot of it on the trails. I would say probably about 11 miles, though. That's quite a big jump from 8 miles! I hope I don't regret it. If I were running at a good 10-minute mile, it would have been 12 miles, but both Pete and my training plan said to take it really easy so I didn't push it. I tried to keep my heart-rate at around 150 (it tends to want to be at 160 when I run), but I also tried not to putt along too slow either.  

My legs felt pretty good. They were tired, and at the end I kept kicking myself in the ankle, but they didn't really hurt. I'm pretty sure I remember my legs actually hurting on my last long run. I don't know if this is just coincidence or the work of the compression socks, but I was happy with it! We'll keep trying it. 

When I got home, Pete and the kids were gone to help a friend, so I stretched, had a nice relaxing bath then made myself some eggs, sausage, toast and a protein drink for lunch. This protein drink is also from Odwalla, but it wasn't the chocolate one. I think I'll stick to the chocolate one from now on. This one was a little too gritty for me. 

5 comments:

  1. I am so impressed with your training! My goal is to run a marathon, but I haven't yet found a way to get the training in.
    Good luck!

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  2. That's the problem with the PiƱa Colada Naked protein drink, too. its just a little too gritty for casual consumption. Of course when you're completely glycogen depleted, the sugar helps to get it down. :) I could drink that chocolate odwalla, though. (400 calories for a snack is a little much for a sedentary person like myself, but hey! you're in training, right?)

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  3. Thank you Kit Kat, and welcome to the blog! That's awesome that you want to run a marathon. Have you got one in mind? Have you signed up for it yet? This is step number one. There's nothing like a deadline to get you training! Then you can look online for free training plan and that also really helps because there will be a set distance/time for you to do each day. That way you can plan for each day and work your training into your schedule. That always seemed to help me anyway. I don't know how well I'd be doing without my training plan.

    Pete - that chocolate odwalla is so good hu? And yeah, 400 calories is no big deal after a 4-hour workout.

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  4. Colleen- Lance and I were up in your neighborhood last night. Before we left I tried to find your phone number or your address. we seem to have neither. We tried to go to the Red Iguana, but it was an hour late so we went to Whole Foods and got sandwiches and some soy nuts. Have you tried soy nuts. They are very yummy and they have 11 grams of protein per 1/4 cup. Another good snack idea. so, e-mail me your address or a phone number or something so that we can come see you next time we're out. talk to you soon. Happy training.
    Heather

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  5. I'm so sad we missed you guys! And I'm sad you missed out on the Red Iguana. That's one of my favorites!

    I will have to try out soy nuts sometime.

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