Gosh, it has been a while since I posted an update. I have just been so busy.
8/25/09 - another early morning walk. I was out of the house at 5:39 am and walked 4.43 miles, according to my Garmin Forerunner. My main concern walking this early in the morning when it is still dark is getting specific types of training done. How are you supposed to do intervals (speed training) when it is dark out without tripping, falling, and/or breaking an arm or leg??? I just don’t know.
8/26/09 - Great afternoon bike ride! Almost 11 miles and no worse for the wear.
8/27/09 - I got a little later start this morning (6:10 am). I had an 8 mile walk on the schedule and it went very well. I was able to complete the walk at an average pace of 12:59 minutes per mile, which is a little faster than marathon pr pace. My average heart rate was only 75%, which means that I should have been able to walk faster. Heart rate should be 80% or a little over for a good tempo walk. I just don’t think my racewalking technique is good enough for me to walk any faster. I am really looking forward to the racewalking clinic in Dallas this October!
8/29/09 - Saturday morning, I left the house at 6:17 am, still a later than I should be leaving for my long walks, but it is better than 9 or 10 ;-). It was a great walk, marathon pace LSD. The average pace was 13:09 minutes per mile and average heart rate was 76%. There it is again; that mid 70’s % maximum heart rate. If I continue to do all my training walks in that same range, that is all I will ever be able to do. I have to find some way to increase my heart rate during training if I am to increase my level of endurance.
9/1/09 - Tuesday morning got kind of a late start at 6:31 am, but did go out for an interval workout at the track, wearing the new Adidas Adizero RC. I warmed up a little over a mile walking to the track, stretched, and then did 5 x 400 with 200 meter rests. All the 400's were in the low 11's (pace) with the last one at 10:59. I followed the interval workout with a little over a mile walk home, stretched, showered and went to work.
9/2/09 - Wednesday morning at 5:42 am 10k at marathon pace (13:10); average HR 74% Max HR 78%. It was a nice cool morning, probably in the high 60's when I started and 71 when I finished.
9/3/09 - Thursday morning at 5:58 am 4.46 miles this morning this included almost 2 miles of jogging. I have not been very successful at getting my heart rate high enough while racewalking because the technique just isn't there, so I have been tossing the idea of doing some jogging around for a while now... I feel like I need to get some workouts in at a higher HR in order to increase my level of endurance while training for the 100 mile race in February. I was very surprised that I could run a half mile without stopping to walk. And now that I looked at my Garmin data, I was successful in getting my heart rate up into the high 80%, even breaking 90% at one point. When I stopped to stretch, the sweat faucet turned on full force. I had driven to the little league park because I was walking/jogging in the dirt and don't like wearing my trail shoes on the pavement. My car has leather seats and of course, I forgot to bring along my old beach towel. Thank goodness there was some newspaper in my trunk.
Post Script
There, now the training blog is up to date. I don’t know where this jogging thing is going to take me. I still have the goal of walking 100 miles within the time limit of 30 hours at Rocky Raccoon February 7 in Huntsville Texas. The goal of becoming an American Centurion continues to be my ultimate goal. I would be so proud to have my name on this list together with such amazing company.
Here is my race schedule for the next several months…
9/6/09 - bear creek 10k Houston - 10k
10/9/09 - racewalking clinic Dallas
11/7/09 - rocky raccoon 50k Huntsville TX
11/15/09 - San Antonio R&R full marathon
12/5/09 - RD Sealy 5k Jingle Bell Fun Run
1/1/10 - texas full marathon Kingwood TX
2/6/10 - rocky raccoon 100m Huntsville TX
3/7/10 - Little Rock full Marathon
4/24/10 - Nashville Country Music full marathon
I am sure to add shorter distance races as they come up, they are just not as important to me as marathons and ultra distance races.
I can tell you first hand that jogging will improve your racewalking. At first I didnt think it would but my fitness came up very quickly and it gave my shins a chance to rest and my calfs took over. Now my legs have more balance and I dont get nearly as much shin problems as before. I am lighter on my feet when I race walk (I tended to jog simular to my racewalk style lol) but it changed everything for me. So I still go out and jog once a week for fun.
ReplyDeleteYou will do 100miles in 30hours....believe in it and it will be!
as for early morning training in the dark, I do it all the time - I have 3 suggestions 1) go where there are streetlights, and mark out a 0.5 mile and 1 mile path on a street (use USATF MapIt tool to map out) for repeats; 2) work out at a track that is lit, 3) wear a headlamp
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