Nippy postscript

As soon as I crossed the finish line I resolved that Hadd was being kicked to the kerb. I do believe Hadd can benefit you but this depend on whether there is a dissonance between your marathon times and you shorter race times, where your shorter distance PBs indicate you should run a much quicker marathon and demonstrates an under developed aerobic base. On reflection this was not my situation. I had a poorly developed base late last year but that was primarily the result of severe overtraining and four months of Hadd has now left me under trained, but with a good base from which I should make good progress pretty quickly.
For the next few weeks my approach will be to drop my mileage to less than fifty miles per week; include a 'Yasso' session every week; and a tempo and marathon paced effort on alternate weeks. Standing my training on its proverbial head should make the next 2400 test interesting.

Nippy Nor' easter half marathon

The day before this I realised it would be my first half since September 2010! I was able to show up fifteen minutes before the start, collect my number, walk two minutes to the start and join a queue of three for a port a loo - that's my kind of no fuss race! In the first mile I needed to reign in my pace; in the first third of a mile the Garmin showed me running at close to six minute mile pace. I let the hares go and completed the first mile in 06:36. Shortly into the second mile I overtook probably half a dozen of the first mile hares. Mile two 06:39 and mile three 06:42. By now I was running on my own but could see a group of about eight a quarter mile ahead who were slowly pulling away. During the next few miles I had increased the effort but was slowing; my HR was hovering around 92/93% of maximum. As I approached the turn around and halfway point my pace slowed into the high 06:50s and I knew the second half would be miserable. It was now obvious that I should have been much more disciplined in keeping the HR below 90%. Long story short: I was running on my own for the next couple of miles and then in the final 5k a number of people overtook me. This was actually something of a blessing as it gave me people to try and hang onto and prevented me from completely throwing in the towel. By now my splits were well north of seven minute miling and I crossed the finish line in 01:32:19 to avoid a personal worst by thirteen seconds! Amazingly in a field of over 200 I managed to place eighteenth; had I been in the kind of shape I was in in late 2010, early 2011, I would have finished third - if, buts and maybes.

Plateau & the end of Hadd?

Latest 2400 test tonight and some strange results; at last I saw significant improvement at the 135bpm effort but I have actually gone backwards or remained pretty much static at the higher efforts. In the intervening five weeks I increased my sub LT runs to 82%, I wonder if that played a role in these statistics. It's time to reassess my approach and consider amending my approach but I'll take a few days to consider things; in the meantime Saturday's half-marathon should be instructive.

29 March 2012
1.49m - 12:40 (08:30) 136bpm
1.49m - 12:06 (08:07) 145bpm
1.49m - 11:13 (07:31) 156bpm
1.49m - 09:54 (06:39) 166bpm
1.49m - 09:08 (06:07) 174bpm

23 February 2012
1.49m - 13:38(9:09/m) - 136bpm avge
1.49m - 12:19(8:15/m) - 145bpm avge
1.49m - 11:00(7:23/m) - 154bpm avge
1.49m - 10:00(6:42/m) - 165bpm avge
1.49m - 9:13(6:11/m) - 171bpm avge

19 January 2012
1.49m - 13:43(9:12/m) - 136bpm avge
1.49m - 12:30(8:23/m) - 145bpm avge
1.49m - 11:10(7:29/m) - 154bpm avge  
1.49m - 10:07(6:47/m) - 163bpm avge
1.49m - 9:20(6:15/m) - 174bpm avge

2 December 2011
1.49m - 13:37(9:08/m) - 134bpm avge
1.49m - 12:39(8:29/m) - 144bpm avge
1.49m - 11:19(7:35/m) - 156bpm avge
1.49m - 10:23(6:58/m) - 165bpm avge
1.49m - 9:28(6:21/m) - 172bpm avge

Third 2400 test

23 February 2012
1.49m - 13:38(9:09/m) - 136bpm avge
1.49m - 12:19(8:15/m) - 145bpm avge
1.49m - 11:00(7:23/m) - 154bpm avge
1.49m - 10:00(6:42/m) - 165bpm avge
1.49m - 9:13(6:11/m) - 171bpm avge

Things are still moving in the right direction, although the pace of the 135bpm effort stubbornly remains the same as it has since I began Hadd. Additionally, the differential between 145 and 155bpm remains more than fifty seconds. I have concluded that both of these stubborn trends indicate that I probably need to increase the effort on my sub LT runs from 80 to 82% MHR.
My next 2400 hundred test will hopefully demonstrate the efficacy of increasing the sub LT effort and will play a significant part in my decision to do a spring marathon or not and also the pace at which I will race the Nippy Nor'easter at the end of March. The long term trends are quite pleasing and if I can continue to take about six second per mile off my 165 and 175 efforts every five or so weeks I will be quite happy. Interestingly I struggled to get the HR up to 175 on the final 2400m effort. I also felt that the 165bpm effort was more sustainable than it has been; I felt that I could have kept going at that effort for at least ten miles while this effort in December felt more like 10K pace. 

Stats, half-marathons & 'Natty Boh'

Not much to report since my last post. I have been 'Hadding' away and have not seen much if any improvement in my steady state 80% runs (averaging out just south of 8:00 min/mi). However, this week I managed back to back one hour recovery runs at 74% MHR that exceeded seven miles, with respective average mile splits of 08:26 and 08:27. I am hoping this is a sign of a developing aerobic base and that while my 80% runs have not been getting faster I could maintain their pace for considerably longer.

I also signed up for a half-marathon, the 'Nippy Nor'easter', which takes place on the National Central Railroad trail. It's not a certified course and proceeds are in aid of the 'Back on my feet' charity. The registration fee of $28.50 is hard to beat and my ongoing unemployment means I am especially discriminating in what races I will do! I had planned on the B&A trail half marathon, which receives rave reviews; however, the race filled up quickly and at $50, while not expensive, was more than the 'Nippy'; maybe next year.

My wife received a new digital camera from her parents for Christmas. I took it with me on a run recently and below are some pictures from my usual running route.

 Pagoda at Patterson park, just across the road from our house

A view of Brewer's hill from the Pagoda. The building in the distance is the old National Bohemian brewery and the famous 'Natty Boh' on the roof, a caricature synonymous with 'Balmer'. 

First Mariner bank HQ at Canton and the start of the harbour boardwalk which constitutes the majority of my runs. 

 The Maryland Korean war memorial at Canton waterfront park

Domino sugar factory from the south east, frequently depicted in The Wire television series from the Harbour's opposite side. 

Historic Fell's point. This is a social part of town with lots of pubs and restaurants. Most of the buildings are from the 18th and 19th centuries - old for America I suppose. The building on the left is a now abandoned police station famous for being the police station depicted on the TV series, Homicide: life on the streets.

Hadd update and second 2400 test

I completed my second 2400 test this morning and below is how the results between the first and second compare. 

19 January 2012
1.49m - 13:43(9:12/m) - 136bpm avge
1.49m - 12:30(8:23/m) - 145bpm avge
1.49m - 11:10(7:29/m) - 154bpm avge  
1.49m - 10:07(6:47/m) - 163bpm avge
1.49m - 9:20(6:15/m) - 174bpm avge

2 December 2011
1.49m - 13:37(9:08/m) - 134bpm avge
1.49m - 12:39(8:29/m) - 144bpm avge
1.49m - 11:19(7:35/m) - 156bpm avge
1.49m - 10:23(6:58/m) - 165bpm avge
1.49m - 9:28(6:21/m) - 172bpm avge

A bit disappointed but not surprised. Interestingly and disappointingly the difference between the second and third intervals remains fifty-four seconds min/mi. The fourth interval provides some encouragement, being eleven seconds min/mi faster for two bpms less.

Not sure what to make of it but I will continue for another few weeks on the Hadd approach; I will abandon it if I do not see significant improvement in the pace of my sub LT runs in the next three weeks. Notwithstanding what I do in the future I think there's a benefit to keeping the pace of recovery and long runs below 75% MHR. 

Not rockin' my world

Regular readers of this blog will possibly know I am not keen on the 'Rock n' Roll' marathon concept. Disclaimer: I have never run one and so cannot comment authoritatively; their their prices mean I will never have the opportunity. However, I had always thought they were well organised events for what they were; well the Las Vegas marathon last week was a disaster of epic proportions: CEO and his wife win their age division group with implausible times; mass food poisoning; incorrect medals and people passing out from overcrowding. A news report outlines some of the problems and the Facebook page is alive with recriminations.