Cycling HR

Most days of the week I cycle to work. It is about 5.5 miles each way with the trip to work being mostly downhill or flat and of course the trip home is mostly uphill or flat. If I had to guess, I would have said that my heart rate didn't average over 85 on the ride to work and 110 on the way back. I also figured that I wouldn't get higher than 135 max for the ride home. Those numbers were based on my resting and maximum heart rates which are 44 & 178.

Last week I wore my Garmin on the ride to and from work to see what my heart rate really was. Here is what the ride to work looks like.

Average HR: 106
Maximum HR: 136

Here is the ride home from work.

Average HR: 126
Maximum HR: 157
The graph shows a shorter distance because the satellite didn't lock in right away and I didn't feel like waiting for it.

So the way home is 20 BPM higher than the way to work. Should these rides be considered a workout? At first I thought not, but after riding to and from work for a few days in a row, I can definitely tell that I start getting tired because the hills start getting tougher, especially the last 1/2 mile to the apartment which is all up hill. I guess the morning ride is more like a super easy recovery run with no pounding on the legs. The evening ride is a bit like an interval workout because I usually try to power up the hills as fast as I can.

Now the question is will the cycling help my running out????

Stretching

Two years ago I used to be a regular stretcher. I did a lot of running at the gym and it was convenient to stretch on the mats after running. I started thinking that stretching didn't matter and that I didn't need to stretch - so I stopped doing static stretching and just did some dynamic stretching before running. Well, for pretty much most of 2008 I have been experiencing really tight hamstrings and as a result, most of my running started really slow until my hamstrings warmed up and then I could pick up the pace a bit. I didn't really give too much thought to why my hamstrings were sore and tight all the time, I assumed it would work itself out on its own, but it didn't.

Since I'm going to start my marathon training at the beginning of January, I started looking back at my old logs from 2006 when I was in top shape and ran my marathon PR. I was really surprised to see that that my average weekly pace was around 8 minutes per mile - compared to lately when 8:40 or so was the average, so I started to wonder how I could have slowed down so much in only 2 years! After much pondering and some reading on the web, it finally struck me, stretching!!!! I know, Jim has been preaching to me about stretching forever, but I thought that dynamic stretching was even better than static stretching, apparently I was wrong - at least for me. I know, some people don't have to stretch at all, but I'm not one of them. So about 4 weeks ago I started to stretch again, 2-3 times per day, in the morning, after a run and before bed. At first, it was hard, I was soooo tight I couldn't even get close to touching my toes. I could also tell that my right hamstring was a lot tighter than my left and even lifting my leg in the air while lying down caused pain. Here is my favorite stretch, the lying hamstring stretch. There are more great stretches to try at VeloGirls.com

I am happy to report that my hamstring tightness and soreness is pretty much gone and after 4 weeks of stretching I can tell that my range of motion has increased, I can easily touch my toes now! About a week and a half after starting to stretch regularly I also noticed that my daily pace started to pick back up and now it's averaging about 8:15 over a week instead of 8:40. Looks like I will be a regular stretcher from now on!

Turkey Trot

I just signed up for the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning. The race is called the Turkey Trail Trot, formally known as the 'Turkey Beach Trot' since the race used to be run on the beach. Apparently races are not allowed to be held on the beach so it was moved to Golden Gate Park. The race takes place on a cross country course around the Polo Field. I am looking forward to running this race and then feasting on some holiday fare.

Course

Running in the Rain

On Saturday, I wanted to get in a long run of 12 miles, unfortunately the radar had nothing but green all over it - meaning it was raining and there was no end in sight! Normally that would mean a treadmill run for me, but since I don't have a treadmill anymore or a gym membership, I decided to suck it up and head out into the rain. I did wait about 2 hours though until it started to taper off a bit. Once I got outside, the rain was falling lightly, but I was well protected with my hat and jacket. I decided to head up the hill on Stanyan since I had never run that way before. It turned out to be a great move, I ran through this really nice neighborhood up some windy roads and found a great lookout spot where I took the opportunity to stop for a moment and enjoy the view. That's when the rain started really coming down! But I didn't mind, I was enjoying the view and peacefulness up there too much! The hill climbing fun was not over though, and I kept heading up hill until I reached the Mt Sutro Tower. By this point, I was totally drenched, including shoes and socks so there was no point in hopping over puddles and I just started running through them! I felt like a kid splashing through the rain as I made my way down the hill! Here is a cool picture of the Sutro tower from Wiskinator on Flickr.

Marathon!!!

Ok, a little revision on the race schedule. First of all, I decided not to run the 10k back on October 12th, instead Jim and I went for a run with a local running group on Saturday, then on Sunday I did a 'long' run...I was planning on running 12 miles, but missed the street I was planning on turning down and then I found myself running along the coast in the Presidio area and then Chrissy Field. I had never been running in that area so I just went with the flow. Well, since I didn't know the area well, I didn't know what road to take to get through the park to go south to head back home. Unlike most parts of San Francisco, the roads in that area are not north-south, east-west, and alot of the roads are dead ends or go in circles...the point being that you really need to know the way if you want to cut through the park. So I kept running until I got past the park to Broderick St and ran south until I got to my neighborhood. That was adventurous too since parts of it are among the highest peaks in San Francisco. By the time I got home, the run had turned into 15 miles! Oops! It was fun though!

Anyway, back to the race schedule. I just signed up to run the Avenue of the Giants marathon on May 3rd. The race is run through the giant redwoods and is supposed to be beautiful. Jim and I will probably tack a vacation on the end of this trip and travel up to Seatle for a few days. Should be a good time and hopefully a PR as well!

Running Groups

Saturday we went running with a local running group. The group meets at a restaurant called Crepes on Cole which is about a mile from our apartment. There were about 12 people that showed up for the run and everybody paired off depending on mileage and anticipated pace. Of course after group runs, just like in Ohio, it's time for breakfast! It wasn't Bob Evans, but it was really good. I had pancakes and Jim had french toast and we sat around and chatted with others from the running group. It was a good time and we will be back to join them again.

Last month when we went back to Cleveland for a wedding, we had a chance for one last morning group run with the gang, what a great morning it was for a run at the towpath with a great group of people!

Racing Schedule

Ok, time to set some goals! Here are a list of races I plan on running.

10/12/08 - Golden Gate Park 10k
11/16/08 - Polo Field 5k
12/14/08 - Conservatory 5k
12/21/08 - Christmas Classic 5k
02/01/09 - San Francisco Half Marathon
05/15/09 - Bay to Breakers 12k
06/27/09 - Double Dipsea 13.7 miles, 2200 vertical feet

The first 3 races are low key, put on by a running group in the area. The Bay to Breakers race is a huge race with 33,000 registered runners last year and an estimated 60,000 total runners! If I run a sub 19:00 or sub 21:30 5k before May 1st I can get a seeded or sub-seeded starting position rather than starting with the masses. 21:30 is doable, but it would be nice if I can get the sub 19 ... that will take a lot of work. Well, I guess I have 7 months of training and racing to try to get there, so we'll see. I'll be adding more races for 2009, just haven't picked them out yet. The Double Dipsea is a challenging run and I hope I can get in since registration is limited and sells out fast I hear. Check out this fly-by of the course.