Thursday, January 3, 2008

Thursday 18 miles.


I finally "crashed" today... sort of. I had planned to run a marathon specific workout on Left Hand Cyn. (see above elevation profile), which I did, but fatigue got the better of me and I went in to survival mode just to finish. Matt Reed joined me for this and crushed me. Matt is ranked #1 in the US for ITU triathlon.. in other words the dude is bad ass. He's a super fish with uber-cyclist legs that can run a 30:XX 10k off the bike. The workout was 2 miles warm-up then: 5 X 1 mile up Left Hand Cyn. at goal marathon pace with 1' rests after each/ followed by a steady 5 mile descent at goal marathon pace (5:30-5:40). Sounds easy.. ha.
Mile 1 was 5:31. Then Matt dropped me and held the pace I had wanted.. I struggled just to break 6:00 pace. HR averaged 173 for the 5 miles.. On the descent we eased up at mile 4 which we ran in 22:50 (5:42 pace) and cooled-down 1 mile.
So, even though I wasn't able to hit my goal paces the effort was there for sure and even better was the fact that I was wasted tired and still gutted it out to finish with a good workout.
Tyler Hamilton was riding up and (he's a friend of Matts) he said hello to us. I've seen him out a lot but he's usually going so fast that his voice is about 30" behind him.

I ran 6 miles easy before this workout.

5 comments:

kerrie said...

where did you start the run? sounds like it'd be a good one... i ran poorman's loop this morning but you get to the top pretty quick so i'm looking for something a little longer/different/more thrilling.....

Lucho said...

You should do my Lee Hill loop if you're looking for a little challenge. Start at the parking lot at the base of Lee Hill and run up Lee and over Old Stage (like the Boulder Peak bike)and down to Left Hand... up Left Hand to Lee.. up and over Lee Hill back to the start. It's about 12 miles I think but a ton of climbing and descending! The shoulders are ok.
Matt and I started right at the corner of 36 and Left Hand Cyn. and just ran the mile markers up for 5 miles (resting 1' after each mile) then turned around a descended. I have to say.. it was a brilliant workout in terms of training stimulus. I am going to try and do it every week. I'll shoot for Thursday again if you're interested.

kerrie said...

i hope this isn;t a double post...tried earlier but doesn't look like it went through. yeah, i'm in - just let me know when/where and all that.

dude said...

Lucho
Reading your intake/burn stats I wonder if you feel that these deficits limit your training performances/recovery.
Also, are you trying to be so low day-to-day or are you easier on yourself on certain days (maybe even overeating on rest days to enhance recovery)?
Cheers
uli

Lucho said...

Uli- I plan on addressing your question in detail soon.. but real quick- there are different aspects of training performance. Volume is one aspect and I don't feel that running high mileage requires anything special.. just a strong will. If I want to run fast then I would need to eat a little more to replace glycogen. I also think that my metabolism is not normal.. a 1000 cal. deficit feels better to me and I have plenty of energy. In regards to recovery- I am trying to lose muscle and body weight.. healthy? No. It isn't. But neither is racing a marathon or training high mileage. I'm committed to my goals and am trying to figure all of this out.. if I'm doing it wrong then I'll try something else.