HyperTortoise: Life on Maffetone Training

My tale (in progress) of slowing down in order to really speed up and be a better runner, plus whatever strikes my fancy. I'm in the early stages of training for my first marathon - Amsterdam (21 October 2012). Real training will start after I sit the CFA Level 2 exam on 2 June. var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-6792854-2']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); new TWTR.Widget({ version: 2, type: 'profile', rpp: 5, interval: 30000, width: 'auto', height: 300, theme: { shell: { background: '#333333', color: '#ffffff' }, tweets: { background: '#000000', color: '#ffffff', links: '#07ebe0' } }, features: { scrollbar: true, loop: false, live: false, behavior: 'all' } }).render().setUser('HyperTortoise').start();

[hypertortoise]

I'm not feeling much like posting... there's so much to do, and I'd rather do stuff than write about it. 

I've begun marathon training, keeping in mind that I want to work aerobically but also want a respectable time. 16 weeks to go

[hypertortoise]

Not a great day out. Lots of walking, which was a bummer after Sunday. My garmin chip bruised my foot over the weekend, and it's still painful, so I cut this one short at Waterloo Bridge. 

I'm also eating ice cream out of the container as I write this, like the winner I am. 

[hypertortoise]

Today's went much better; although I left my Forerunner off for a bit of it, so I'm missing about 20 minutes of it. 

The usual routine - 1st and last 10 mins walking

[hypertortoise]

Not a very long workout. Today I planned to do two spin classes, but the room was so sweltering, I decided to just do one. It's not much, but it's better than nothing

My gym (looking at you, Virgin Active - Barbican) used to have it's spin classes in a basement room with four or five air conditioners. Despite complaining that they needed an nth AC, Some genius decided to move the spin room out of the basement into an upstairs room with *two* air conditioners. I'm going to fill out yet another comment card moaning about the AC, but I'm sure it will make no difference. 

If anyone can point me to a gym in the City of London that has American-style, meat locker cold AC, I would be thrilled. Trying to do HR training in a hot gym blows.

Now to make brownies. It's my day to make sweets for the office. 

[hypertortoise]

After a wonderful, horsey morning and a Sunday lunch out, I settled in and worked on rewriting my CV. It never gets easier!

After working through a draft, I went on a little jog and walk around. 

I can't help but cringe a little at my pace, or really that I can't do much without my Forerunner beeping away. (That alarm shames me into stopping, which is why I set it!). Being a bit dehydrated didn't help, either.

It's going to be lovely when I can go just a bit faster. I just need to keep plugging away. 

[hypertortoise]

My mighty Saturday workout. Some treadmill and some spinning, totaling around 2.5h

Was reading a bit more on base building, and I've got to log more time, plain and simple. Such explains why normal people tend not to train this way. It's so time consuming!

[hypertortoise]

RHR du jour.

[hypertortoise]

Thursday's go

[hypertortoise]

I suppose the good thing is that when I finish, I don't want to be finished. 

Today's go was on the treadmill, followed by physio work for my knee. 

I've decided to cleanup my diet earlier than later. My lungs hurt, and I know cutting out the sugar and dairy will help with that. So, I'll start posting about that as of tomorrow. 

Tomorrow will likely be my rest day (cringe) due to hair dyeing tonight and a networking thingamajig for others in CFA exam withdrawal. 

[hypertortoise]

Resetting my Training Log

Given the great hiatus, I'm blanking out my progress page and starting fresh.

Storing my old progress (and lack thereof) here

2012 Progress Notes:

*Workouts here refer to training at around my (MAF) target rate of 141 bpm (or 145 during a 2 month bad idea). I seperate warmup/ cooldown at the gym. I don't count any activity that I don't manage via my monitor, so things like horseback riding and walking to get places aren't included

1-7 Jan (Maffetone 2 Week Test in progress)

RHR: 65 bpm

Minutes trained at 141bpm: 150 minutes

Total Minutes Trained: 210 minutes

1st MAF test of 2012: 2 Jan 8-14 Jan (Maffetone 2 Week Test in progress, sort of)

Minutes trained at 141bpm: 70 (Sunday) 

Total Minutes Trained: 125 mins

15-21 Jan : MAF raised to 145 in honor of my 35th birthday- later determined a bad move.

Minutes trained at 145bpm: 120 minutes 

Total Minutes Trained: 160 minutes

22-28 Jan 

Minutes trained at 145bpm: 100 minutes

Total Minutes Trained: 135 minutes

29 Jan - 4 February (Registered for Amsterdam Marathon)

Minutes trained at 145bpm: 155mins

Total Minutes Trained:  205mins

5 -11 February 

Minutes trained at 145bpm: 32mins

Total Minutes Trained:  52mins

12 -18 February (Travelling in the States 10-18th)

Minutes trained at 145bpm: 70mins

Total Minutes Trained: 100mins

19 -25 February 

Minutes trained at 145bpm: 111mins (Thurs)

Total Minutes Trained:  145mins

26 -3 March

Minutes trained at 145bpm: 95 mins 

Total Minutes Trained:  145 mins

4-10 March 

Minutes trained at 145bpm: 100mins

Total Minutes Trained:  140mins

11 -17 March 

RHR 63bpm

Minutes trained at 145bpm: 150 min 

Total Minutes Trained: 210 min

18 -24 March 

RHR 60bpm

Minutes trained at 145bpm: 55minutes

Total Minutes Trained: 70minutes

Asthma issues - Predisone started 19/3

25 -31 March (back to MAF= 141bpm)

 Minutes trained at 141bpm: 225 minutes (Weds)

Total Minutes Trained: 290 minutes

Asthma continues - Antibiotics started 23/3

1-7 April 

Resting HR: 56 (Monday)

Minutes trained at 141bpm: 90 minutes (Monday) 

Total Minutes Trained: 110 minutes

Asthma continues - antibiiotics & prednisone through 5/4

8-14 April: Severe Bronchitis - home sick for part of week 15-21 April: Severe Bronchitis - home sick  22-28 April: Severe Bronchitis- home sick

29 April- 5 May: Recovering 6 -12 May: Recovering

13-19: Out of town/ recovering/ studying

20-26 Studying

27-2 June: Studying through exam day

[hypertortoise]

Today's go.

I'm not worrying about food or distance right now. I'm just trying to get time in, enjoy it, and not fixate on lost time. I'll probably start tracking more details in a week or two. 

So, I spent about 20 mins on the treadmill and then another 70-80 on the spin bike. I tried to stay below 141, rather than working at 141, as I have been out for a while. After that, I did some physio work on my knee, and called it a day. 

What's frustrating is that my lungs hurt for the first half hour. I guess it really hasn't been that long since walking to work was to much. I also notice that I seem to have the stamina to go faster than I am, but I keep having to slow down to stay under threshold... same whining, different month! I want to train more, but I know I need to ease back in. It's only day two that I'm back at it. 

Good news is that my knee seems to be doing better, and all those muscles I've been prepping w/ physio exercises are sore, so perhaps they're doing their job now. 

Hard to believe I'll run 26 miles twice in October. Bit scary, even. For now, I'll just focus on today.

[hypertortoise]

First workout after 60 days. There was more walking than running, but where there was walking, it was on an incline. 

[hypertortoise]

After 60 Days Off

Having not trained n 60 days due to being sick and then needing to study, I was kind of dreading going to the gym, especially as the weather isn't very asthma friendly. 

The good news is that it was nice to be back and moving around. I finally got to use my new foot pod (after two months!) It's accurate but not precise.

The bad news is that it seems all the improvement I saw has been a casualty of the last two months.  I'm hoping it comes back quickly, as I have a lot to get ready for in October. 

[hypertortoise]

Not dead, just in a CFA hole! I've been feeling 100% good for about a week now, so I think I'm fully recovered from SuperBronchitis. A victory! I haven't trained in I don't even know how long anymore... 8 weeks maybe? My exam is a week from tomorrow and I think every spare minute I have needs to be spent studying. Only 30% or so of people will pass it, so it's tough! First thing I'm going to do on 3 June is go out and get some exercise!

[losingitall]

This is the truly inspiring Claire Lomas, she finished the London Virgin Marathon today.

She is paralysed from a showjumping horse accident, but with the help of a ‘Bionic’ suit, she managed to walk the 26.2 miles in 16 days. It takes this amazing woman such strength to walk in the suit, every step a real effort.

The rules, that were just changed this year, says that all competitors for the marathon only get medals if they complete the course that day, so I’m thrilled so many runners who got their medals a few weeks ago came out to support Claire in those final miles today and she did get a medal from Branson himself.

She never gave up, even though it took her hours to walk 1 mile, an amazing achievement for her to finish today, and she raised £80,000 for Spinal Research. 

Truly inspirational.

[hypertortoise]

Kudos!

[hypertortoise]

Now researchers suggest that those chemicals may have helped turn humans, as well as other animals, into long-distance runners.

[hypertortoise]

Steadily on the Mend after nearly 6 weeks

40 days since the start of what I'm affectionately calling, *SuperBronchitis", I'm feeling on the mend. 

I've been off the antiibiotics for 5 days and the Prednisone is tapering. My lungs are still a bit sore, my voice is still screwed, but my energy levels are definitely increasing. At this time last week, walking to my office would have been work, whereas I've walked nearly every day this week. It's progress, and after having been quite so sick, I'm pleased.

MAF buddy Leo asked me earlier this week about whether there were signs I could look for again, and he reminded me of something quite key. Before this all kicked off, I went though a time where my RHR was unusually high. I gather this was probably due to reduced lung capacity (thanks, asthma!) and my body coping with the resulting lung inflammation. I didn't rest up until I got really sick, which was definitely a mistake, too. So, now I have a little signal to look for. We'll see if it helps me next time. 

So, it's May, and I've been lazing around for over 5 weeks.  I have a crazy hard exam four weeks from tomorrow that has to take my priority, and while in my mind I'm read to work out, my lungs aren't so up to the task yet. What's a girl to do?

Here's the plan:

Study. Plain and simple, prep for CFA 2 has to rule my life for the next 4 weeks. 

Exercise gently if/when my lungs aren't hurting. I'll be starting up very slowly. My usual MAF is 141 bpm, but I expect to target any workouts I get over the next week to peak at 125bpm. I don't see it so much as training as much as simply getting the blood flowing a little. I'm hoping to do a little bike soon. I hoped I would today and even brought my kit, but I felt pretty sore this afternoon. The recent London weather has not been to my advantage

Enjoy NYC: I'll be in New York from the 10-18th to hole up and study and eat dinner with people I like. I have a new set of 10.5 AA running shoes coming while I'm there, but I don't know if I'll get to test them. I'm packing my garmin, just in case

Get back to full health/ my pre-SuperBronchitis level

Kick some CFA Exam Butt on 2 June 

Start training for Amsterdam and Dublin - yes, Dublin too. A friend who I cajoled into Amsterdam has signed up for Dublin 2 days later and, well, solidarity matters!

So, I'm probably not going to post much of anything for next month because I'm not going to have much time, but who knows. I suppose it all depends on how long it takes me to be ready to exercise, but I'm looking forward to June.