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Period: 5 May 2014- 4 October 2014 (22 Weeks)
Summary: 676.78 Km Running, 15.8 Km Swimming & 9 Amazing Paddle Boarding Trips
Training Excel Analyze File
Training Calendar
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2014 Marathon Training Summary
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2014 Training Week 22 (29/09/2014 to 05/10/2014)
Activity Details in Google Sheets
Activity Schedule in Google Docs
Summary of this week’s activities
First, let’s review my activities during this week. I had 5 run activities this week. On Monday (29/09) I had an easy 5K run with the following averages: (5.00 K, 5:13 min/km, 166 bpm, 27m elevation gain). On Tuesday (30/09) I had an easy 10K run with the following averages: (10.01 K, 5:08 min/km, 169 bpm, 87m elevation gain). On Wednesday (01/10) I had a long 20K run with the following averages: (20.00 K, 5:09 min/km, 157 bpm, 89m elevation gain). On Friday (03/10) I had a strength 10K run with the following averages: (10.01 K, 4:45 min/km, 161 bpm, 40m elevation gain). On Saturday (04/10) I had a 5K run with the following averages: (5.00 K, 4:45 min/km, 166 bpm, 19m elevation gain).
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Total Easy 5K run Easy 10K run Long 20K run 2 Strength 10K run 5K run 5 50.0 km Run VO2Max and weekly mileage
My VO2Max this week in my (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday) activities were (53, 52, 52, 52, 52) ml/kg/min respectively. Also my weekly mileage this week was 50.0 km run.
About individual runs
On Monday (29/09): Stopped running due to the pain in the lower right side of my stomach.
On Tuesday (30/09): However it was just a 10k run with the average pace 5:08 min/km, but it was so hard for me as you can see the training effect is ridiculously 4.7! The reason is I gain weight about 1 pound during past days and therefore this run was so hard for me . The main reason for gaining weight is over usage of the running gels that I had and also sudden change in my daily millage (I was resting for 3-4 days cause I wanted to have my final 35k run before the marathon and eventually I couldn’t have it due to different reasons)
On Wednesday (01/10): pain in my knees specifically in the last quarter of the run. It’s definitely a poor decision for me to rest in the last 3-4 days before the marathon, cause I can see I had problems in the first two days of run after 3 days rest.
On Friday (03/10): I had a completely comfortable run till the 10th km where I again had pain in the lower right side of my stomach, it wasn’t that sharp but I decided to stop running.
My injury and the end of 2014 training 😦
On Saturday (04/10): The pain in the lower right side of my stomach is moving down, consistently painful and sensitive by touching which are all symptoms of appendix. previously I was assuming its just abdominal pain or stomach cramp but with the recent changes in the pain and while it lasts for about two months, it seems it’s more serious than what I thought . Apparently I totally forgot about the Marathon in next week and I’m just thinking about the seriousness of injury. I can’t even walk properly today, so chances of not being able to do the Marathon is not slim.
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2014 Training Week 21 (22/09/2014 to 28/09/2014)
Activity Details in Google Sheets
Activity Schedule in Google Docs
Summary of this week’s activities
First, let’s review my activities during this week. I had 4 run activities in this week. On Monday (22/09) I had a 10K run with the following averages: (10 K, 4:43 min/km, 174 bpm, 44m elevation gain). On Tuesday (23/09) I had a long 20K run with the following averages: (20 K, 5:00 min/km, 162 bpm, 240m elevation gain). In that activity, my watch tracked all of the features of the run but the location. Location data is available just for the first 50 minutes of the run. On Wednesday (24/09) I had an easy 5K run with the following averages: (5 K, 6:25 min/km, 134 bpm, 15m elevation gain). On Thursday (25/09) I had another easy 5K run with the following averages: (5.01 K, 5:47 min/km, 142 bpm, 22m elevation gain).
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Total Strength 10K run Long 20K run Easy 5K run Easy 5K run 26 27 28 40.0 km Run VO2Max and weekly mileage
My VO2Max this week in my (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) activities were (53, 53, 53, 53) ml/kg/min respectively. Also my weekly mileage this week was 40.0 km run.
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2014 Training Week 20 (15/09/2014 to 21/09/2014)
Activity Details in Google Sheets
Activity Schedule in Google Docs
Summary of this week’s activities
First, let’s review my activities during this week. I had three run activities in this week. On Tuesday (16/09) I had a long 26K run with the following averages: (26 K, 5:00 min/km, 157 bpm, 97m elevation gain). In fact my heart rate monitor disconnected from my watch at 1:08:29 so I am not sure if my average heart rate is correct, but the rest of the data should be OK. On Friday (19/09) I had another long 20K run with the following averages: (20 K, 5:37 min/km, 146 bpm, 108m elevation gain). On Sunday (21/09) I had an easy 5K (4.15 K, 5:08 min/km, 157 bpm, 27m elevation gain) and an easy run (1.36 K, 5:19 min/km, 144 bpm, 5m elevation gain) where I stopped both of them due to a severe pain that I had in my stomach.
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Total 15 Long 26K run 17 18 Long 20K run 20 Easy 5K run Easy run 51.5 km Run VO2Max and weekly mileage
My VO2Max this week in my (Tuesday, Friday, Sunday) activities were (NA, 52, 53) ml/kg/min respectively. Also my weekly mileage this week was 51.5 km run.
About individual runs
On Tuesday (16/09): Tip of the day: Focus on cadence and posture and the speed would be guaranteed. As it’s shown in the photos , my watch was frozen during the run and it didn’t save the activity. It was a perfect run and the key point was keeping the cadence around 180 during the whole run, right posture is so useful to minimize the pressure on your back. As my goal is to run the marathon in 3:30:00 hours , I would just try to have a couple of 30+K runs with that speed to make sure I would able to get my goal. The whole idea is to make your body strong enough for 30+K runs , and as Chris told me , over 30K is more mental than physical.
On Friday (19/09): Tip of the day: It’s ten times easier to keep the cadence steady on 180 rather than trying to improve it when it’s dropped down. Possible reasons for losing cadence is gradually losing it when you cannot monitor it (usually when it’s dark at night), running on hills for a long time or maybe when you are tired.
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2014 Training Week 19 (08/09/2014 to 14/09/2014)
Activity Details in Google Sheets
Activity Schedule in Google Docs
Summary of this week’s activities
First, let’s review my activities during this week. I had four run and one paddle boarding trip in this week. On Wednesday (10/09) I had a Running Room speed run 4×800 with the following averages: (5.76 K, 4:47 min/km, 163 bpm, 6m elevation gain). On Thursday (11/09) I had an incomplete 7K run that I stopped the run because of a sudden severe pain in the lower right side of my stomach. The 7K run had the following averages: (6.75 K, 5:09 min/km, 155 bpm, 36m elevation gain). On Friday (12/09) I had again another incomplete 4K run that I stopped the run due to the pain that I experienced in the same region. The 4K run had the following averages: (3.18 K, 5:09 min/km, 152 bpm, 22m elevation gain). On Saturday (13/09) I had 21.22K run (half marathon) with the following averages: (21.22 K, 5:06 min/km, 164 bpm, 100m elevation gain). On Sunday (14/09) I had a paddle boarding trip in False Creek Vancouver.
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Total 8 9 Speed run 4×800 Easy 7K run Easy 4K run Half Marathon Paddle Boarding False Creek 36.9 km Run one Paddle Boarding Trip VO2Max and weekly mileage
My VO2Max this week in my (Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday) activities were (NA, 52, 53, 53) ml/kg/min respectively. Also my weekly mileage this week was 36.9 km run and one paddle boarding trip.
About individual runs
On Wednesday (10/09): Enjoyed happy run at running room. Also last day of Michael in Vancouver , he is back to London; Good luck for him! I had a few days rest because of the backache (which was obviously because of the intense activity I had during 6 days included one hills run, a new record for my half marathon , another 30 km run and a 1500m swim). Because I didn’t have swimming for awhile, it worked reverse and put more pressure on my back, therefore I postponed it temporarily cause we are close to the race day. Also it wasn’t a smart idea to go for speed today with the group but I did it. I guess I would train on my own for the remaining 31 days. I know my body better and I know how I can improve it (just in short term though)
On Thursday (11/09): Stopped running cause of sudden severe pain in the lower right side of my stomach (exactly at the same distance as of August 25th 6.75km vs 6.99km). Now I know it’s not because of water as I didn’t have it this time and it’s not my appendicitis because of the location of pain (and as I discussed with my doctor in past) Partially it might be because of the time I started (8:40pm vs 8:59pm) and I won’t start it that late anymore (although it would help me to sleep better specially cause I have 4-5 cups of coffee during the day) As the pain continues, I should check it with a sport doctor.
On Friday (12/09): Again stopped running due to the pains!
On Saturday (13/09): VO2Max is an important factor for any athlete and I guess 53 is pretty good for a runner (not for professionals!) I have to work hard to achieve my potentials which is as following by Garmin race predictor and would improve by training: 5K: 19:35 10K: 40:37 Half Marathon: 1:29:54 Marathon:3:07:24
On Sunday (14/09): There are a couple of things that I won’t compromise in my life, physical and mental health is among them that I always want to keep them at the highest level. I promised myself to have at least one paddle boarding every month, it really helps me to clear my thoughts. Next time should be in Victoria I guess. look at the photos and see how people are nice to me 😀
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2014 Training Week 18 (01/09/2014 to 07/09/2014)
Activity Details in Google Sheets
Activity Schedule in Google Docs
Summary of this week’s activities
First, let’s review my activities during this week. I had three run and one swim activities in this week. On Monday (01/09) I had a 21.42K (half marathon) race with the following averages: (21.42 K, 4:50 min/km, 169 bpm, 81m elevation gain). On Wednesday (03/09) I had a Running Room hills training 10×400 with the following averages: (8.42 K, 6:49 min/km, 152 bpm, 328m elevation gain). On Thursday (04/09) I had a 1.5 km lap swimming with average pace 2:15 min/100m. On Saturday (06/09) I had a long 30K run with the following averages: (30 K, 5:19 min/km, 160 bpm, 86m elevation gain).
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Total Half Marathon Race 2 Hills Training 10×400 1.5K Lap Swimming 5 Long 30K run 7 59.8 km Run 1.50 km Swim VO2Max and weekly mileage
My VO2Max this week in my (Monday, Wednesday, Saturday) activities were (50, 50, 50) ml/kg/min respectively. Also my weekly mileage this week was 59.8 km run and 1.5 km swim.
About individual runs
On Monday (01/09): Tip of the day: No fear . Improved my half marathon record by 170 seconds. If you are not 100 percent happy or some one makes you disappointed, you want to gain your confidence and get back to your normal , try to improve your record, trust me it always works. At first I was a bit nervous to try to improve my record for half marathon, but when I tried it , I improved it significantly , 170 seconds ! The only things which prevented me to run faster was my knee condition. Now , six weeks to the victoria marathon, I am much more confident and I know , I just have to try a couple of 30km runs and gradually improve my pace at them , hopefully my knee condition would allow me to finish the marathon with something like 5:00 min/km pace.
On Wednesday (03/09): Last time we had hills , I pushed myself too much and had an extra day off for recovery (two days off instead of one ) due to the pressure on my knees. This time I took it much easier and I just had 11 hills to avoid any injury . (for some reason one hill is missing by watch possibly due to the lost of satellite , similar to last week) In general it was a good run with friends and a nice dinner after that (which I missed it , first because I left my credit card home and later because of the story I had in the way to the restaurant 😀 hahaha). Life is fun man !
On Thursday (04/09): So excited to get encouraged by one of my best friends. I restarted swimming for three main reasons, The first one: form now on , the focus of my runs would be on long distance ones i.e. 30km or at least 20 km. Therefore , the best way to release pressure in your muscles is by swimming , the second reason is while I would usually have one day rest between the runs , the best way to keep my body active might be by swimming. Finally while my ultimate goal is to prepare myself for the Ironman next summer, soon or late after marathon I should restart swimming so why I don’t start it now.
On Saturday (06/09): Goal of the run : Run 30km with the increasing race split technique with the average 5:17.5 min/km starts from 5:30 min/km and with the increasing steps 0:05 min/km (as it’s written on my hand in the pics) . Overall success : 40 seconds back the schedule (desired time was 2:38:45) Body condition during and after the run: No much pain on my knees , instead I had pain in my back both during and after the run, the possible reason is because it was longer than my regular exercises and solution for it is to correct my running style (correct the posture) . Nutrition point during the run: start having your chocolate or whatever you have at 10th km and for your drink I guess the ideal point is about 15th km as I had it at 10th km this time and it didn’t work because it caused some pain in the lower right side of my stomach as what I experienced in August 25th, but after 15th km , I guess my body lost enough water that the drink was absorbed immediately or at least I felt that way. Comment on the watch: change the auto lap from 1km to 5km , it’s much easier to adjust your run that. It’s like putting an integrated filter on it 😀 . Analyzing the run: The first 25k was much more efficient than the last 5k, I guess when I am tired I cannot adjust my cadence and speed simultaneously ,
ave. Cadence : first 10k: 179 spm (1s ahead) , second 10k: 175 spm (21s ahead), third 10k: 170 spm (50s behind last 5k 65s behind) , In general in the last 10k you can hardly adjust and you mainly put as much power as you can. I had the same problem for the last 5k in my 20k runs before , and I resolved it by practice and increasing my physical ability. I guess the same is here , your body have to be comfortable with 30k and 40k runs just by doing it.
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2014 Training Week 17 (25/08/2014 to 31/08/2014)
Activity Details in Google Sheets
Activity Schedule in Google Docs
Summary of this week’s activities
First, let’s review my activities during this week. I had three run activities in this week. On Monday (25/08) I had a 7K run with the following averages: (6.99 K, 4:52 min/km, 169 bpm, 30m elevation gain). On Wednesday (27/08) I had a Running Room hills training 10×400 run with the following averages: (9.15 K, 5:54 min/km, 163 bpm, 317m elevation gain). On Saturday (30/08), I had a 11.35K run with the following averages: (11.35 K, 4:58 min/km, 169 bpm, 24m elevation gain).
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Total 7K run 26 Hills Training 10×400 28 29 11K run 31 27.49 km Run VO2Max and weekly mileage
My VO2Max this week in my (Monday, Wednesday, Saturday) activities were (51, 50, 50) ml/kg/min respectively. Also my weekly mileage this week was 27.49 km run.
About individual runs
On Monday (25/08): Again I had a pain in the lower right hand side of my stomach, this time even at the 7th km which was the best excuse to stop running 😀 hahaha (one possible reason maybe the water that I drank in the 5th km)
The positive point of the run: Now I can see if I focus on my run (not flirting with the other runners:D) , I can easily adjust my cadence on 180 +/- 1 spm and also my pace on 4:55 +- 0:05 min/km . In the actual day for marathon I plan to run the whole thing with a 5:00 min/km pace or so in the average and it’s important in terms of saving power to have an steady run (at least for my running style) . One of my problems in long distance runs is having an unsteady run, i.e. I was running faster the first 10 km (maybe up to 4:40 min/km) and slower in the second half (maybe down to 5:30 or even 6:00 min/km) . I am trying to correct it in order to have a more steady run !On Wednesday (27/08): Good to see Chris , Justin, Danielle and the rest of the guys after awhile. I talked with Chris about the pain in the lower right side of my stomach, he and Justin gave me their idea about it and advised me to talk to my gp or a sport specialist if it continues . Again he suggested me not to train alone and do it with the group as the chance of getting injured would be higher when you train lonely . The problem that I have with Sunday morning long distance runs of the group is their techniques is 10min run 1 min rest which is different with my running style which is continuously running. Due to my limited for training for Victoria marathon , sometimes it really doesn’t work for me to join them for it , but there is absolutely no excuse for not joining them for Wednesday evening runs which is basically either hills or speed or a typical 10k run and I promise to join them all the time. Later I talked to my doctor about the pain to make sure it’s not my appendicitis and after our discussion apparently 95% it’s not . The main point is it was in the right lumbar region not the right iliac region , also it should start from the middle of my stomach and tend to the right side by means of time and also be sensitive by touching (if it was appendicitis) which wasn’t. Later I the pain gradually vanished and occasionally I had it when I drank water in the first 10km of the run (like sep. 6th which I experienced it a little bit)
On Saturday (30/08): At some parts of the run I was trying to adjust my cadence but I had difficulties in it so it seems to me i have to review the general idea of cadence one more time. Technically , the most effective way to decrease the pressure on our feet in a (long distance) run is to adjust the cadence. By experience, it seems it’s more efficient to keep your cadence around 180 spm during the run, but there is no absolute study which shows it should be exactly 180 spm. I can see when I am running with an appropriate pace like 5:00 min/km or faster , the 180 spm really works for me. But for the slower runs , usually the cadence would drop down to something like 174-176 spm or sometimes even lower. At those speeds when I am trying to (artificially) increase my cadence in order to decrease the overall pressure on my feet , it works reverse on my feet and the sudden attempt to increase the cadence put more pressure on my feet. I recall, first the ideal cadence is about 180 spm not exactly 180 , second the ideal cadence is appropriate for the ideal run not for one with pace higher than 5:20-5:30 min/km. So maybe for those speeds, 174-176 spm work better for your run. And finally I should mention that I adjust my cadence with what my watch tells me , and you know sometimes the GPS of the watch doesn’t work properly and you are trying to adjust your cadence with the wrong data . So the final conclusion is in general try keep your cadence around 180 spm , but if you see your attempt to increase the cadence works reverse for you (particularly when you are slow and tired) , keep working with the low cadence which is usually still over 170 spm. The other point is I have to improve my motivation and concentration during the runs; Sometimes runs are boring. I have to make it more fun for myself by group running or other ways and also remember training time is not always fun time 😀
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2014 Training Week 16 (18/08/2014 to 24/08/2014)
Activity Details in Google Sheets
Activity Schedule in Google Docs
Summary of this week’s activities
First, let’s review my activities during this week. I had three run activities in this week. On Tuesday (19/08) I had a 12.31K run with the following averages: (12.31 K, 4:59 min/km, 169 bpm, 45m elevation gain). On Wednesday (21/08) I had a 19K run with the following averages: (19 K, 5:45 min/km, 152 bpm, 57m elevation gain). On Saturday (23/08) I had another 19K run with the following averages: (19.01 K, 5:21 min/km, 160 bpm, 50m elevation gain).
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Total 18 12K run 20 Long 19K run 22 Long 19K run 24 50.3 km Run VO2Max and weekly mileage
My VO2Max this week in my (Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday) activities were (51, 51, 51) ml/kg/min respectively. Also my weekly mileage this week was 50.3 km run.
About individual runs
On Thursday (21/08): First 12K: As the first invariant, I tried to keep my cadence around 180 spm. As the second invariant, I tried to keep my power balanced for a 20K or 30K run. As a consecutive result of keeping the power steady, my stride length was determined. The stride length varied mainly depend on the slope and hardness of the rode , but it was always between 1.13m-1.18m . I can remember in past for long distance runs, after trying to keep my cadence around 180 spm, I was also trying to have long stride lengths which wasn’t consistence with my overall power and that caused me to have an imbalanced run for the last parts of it. This time I can say I had a pretty balanced run as my cadence was successfully always 180+/-4 spm and my other running dynamics was also steady. After 12K: in the middle of the 12th , I suddenly felt pain in my left knee and also the upper and outer part of my left foot. As I had the same pain exactly in the same distance and also from the same part two days ago (except that I didn’t have pain from the upper part of my foot), I decided to finish a 19K race, even with a very low speed. At first I tried to keep my cadence balance which was almost successful up to the 15th K (however it decreased to 172spm), but my run was completely disturbed in the last 4K due to the pain, as my cadence decreased to 162spm and my pace also increased up to 8:02 min/km. Anyways I am satisfied of the run, cause I guess continuing this was (finishing the race with the highest possible speed due to the injury limitation) would ultimately improve the injury and increase my physical fitness.
On Saturday (23/08): It was a good run. I guess I found a pattern in my runs regarding my cadence. I can adjust my cadence much easier when I am running faster (i.e. pace less than or equal 5:00 min/km) compared to the slower runs (i.e. pace greater than 5:15 or 5:30 min/km ) At least my ear can easily recognize the frequency for the 180 spm in higher speeds. When I am running slower (particularly for the the second 10km of the run) , I am not having a correct run. Also regarding this specific run, the pain in my left knee was much lower compared to the previous run, I didn’t have any pain in the upper and outer part of my left foot, I just felt a one time sudden hurt in my left knee at 15km but it was just a second. Also at the beginning of this run and the previous one, I had pain in the lower right part of my stomach, but it gradually disappeared during the run (maybe disappeared after about 3km or even less) My knees are also much more comfortable after this run compared to the previous three runs as I feel maybe I can go for a 10km the day after (but I won’t and prefer not to push it too much)
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2014 Training Week 15 (11/08/2014 to 17/08/2014)
Activity Details in Google Sheets
Activity Schedule in Google Docs
Summary of this week’s activities
First, let’s review my activities during this week. I had two run and two paddle boarding trips in this week. On Wednesday (13/08) I had a 10K run with the following averages: (10.01 K, 4:52 min/km, 168 bpm, 40m elevation gain). On Thursday (14/08) I had a paddle boarding trip in Kitsilano Vancouver. I started my trip in Kitsilano and ended my trip in Granville Island. On Friday (15/08) I had the most amazing paddle boarding trip of my life. I started my trip again from Kitsilano, paddled all the way along the Stanley park up to Lions Gate bridge, then passed the Lions Gate bridge to the east and finally ended up right in front of the Coal Harbour park. My second run of the week was on Sunday (17/08) which I had a 14.13K run with the following averages: (14.13 K, 5:36 min/km, 156 bpm, 59m elevation gain).
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Total 11 12 10K run Paddle Boarding Kitsilano The amazing SUP trip 16 14K run 24.1 km Run Two Paddle Boarding Trips VO2Max and weekly mileage
My VO2Max this week in my (Wednesday, Sunday) activities were (50, 51) ml/kg/min respectively. Also my weekly mileage this week was 24.1 km run and two paddle boarding trips.
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2014 Training Week 14 (04/08/2014 to 10/08/2014)
Activity Details in Google Sheets
Activity Schedule in Google Docs
Summary of this week’s activities
First, let’s review my activities during this week. I had three run activities in this week. On Monday (04/08) I had a 10K run with the following averages: (10.01 K, 5:13 min/km, 165 bpm, 24m elevation gain). On Saturday (09/08) I had another 10K run with the following averages: (10.00 K, 4:36 min/km, 182 bpm, 36m elevation gain). Finally on Sunday (10/08) I had a Running Room 25.63 K run with the following averages: (25.63 K, 5:31 min/km, 158 bpm, 144m elevation gain). It was actually an incomplete group run for me due to the fact that I burned out almost at the end of the run.
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Total 10K run 5 6 7 8 10K run Long 26K run 45.6 km Run VO2Max and weekly mileage
My VO2Max this week in my (Monday, Saturday, Sunday) activities were (NA, 50, 50) ml/kg/min respectively. This week I noticed something interesting. Also my weekly mileage this week was 45.6 km run.
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2014 Training Week 13 (28/07/2014 to 03/08/2014)
Activity Details in Google Sheets
Activity Schedule in Google Docs
Summary of this week’s activities
First, let’s review my activities during this week. I had two run and two paddle boarding trips in this week. On Monday (28/07) I had a 10K run with the following averages: (10.01 K, 5:01 min/km, 155 bpm, 19m elevation gain). On Wednesday (30/07) I had a paddle boarding trip to watch the second night of Vancouver 2014 Fireworks live. It was again a unique and an awesome experience. On Friday (01/08) I had a 10K race run with the following averages: (10.00 K, 4:29 min/km, 179 bpm, 4m elevation gain). On Saturday (02/08) I had another paddle boarding to watch the third night of Vancouver 2014 Fireworks live. It was really great.
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Total 10K run 29 SUP Fireworks 2014 day two 31 10K Race SUP Fireworks 2014 Third Night 3 20.0 km Run Two Paddle Boarding Trips VO2Max and weekly mileage
My VO2Max this week in my (Monday, Friday) activities were (50, 50) ml/kg/min respectively. Also my weekly mileage this week was 20.0 km run and two paddle boarding trips.
Comparing activities to see my improvement
In order to see my improvement, I can easily compare this week’s 10K race that I had on 01/08 i.e. (10.00 K, 4:29 min/km, 179 bpm, 4m elevation gain) with my last time 10K race that I had on 07/07 i.e. (10.01 K, 4:45 min/km, 180 bpm, 30m elevation gain). All factors of these two runs are almost the same except their running time, so in order to see my improvement I can easily compare their pace with each other. That shows 00:16 min/km i.e. 5.6% improvement in 24 days which is pretty promising.
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2014 Training Week 12 (21/07/2014 to 27/07/2014)
Activity Details in Google Sheets
Activity Schedule in Google Docs
Summary of this week’s activities
First, let’s review my activities during this week. I had two run and one paddle boarding activities this week. On Wednesday (23/07) I had a 10.16K run with the following averages: (10.16 K, 5:00 min/km, 165 bpm, 17m elevation gain). I actually started this run as an individual run, then I saw the Running Room group in the middle of my run and joined them. It was a coincident that we had our runs at the same time. On Friday (25/07) I had a paddle boarding trip to see the first night of Vancouver 2014 Fireworks live. It was very rewarding. Finally on Sunday (27/07) I had a strength 10K run with the following averages: (10.01 K, 4:58 min/km, 176 bpm, 126m elevation gain).
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Total 21 22 10K run 24 Fireworks 2014 day one 26 Strength 10K run 20.1 km Run One Paddle Boarding VO2Max and weekly mileage
My VO2Max this week in my (Wednesday, Sunday) activities were (48, 48) ml/kg/min respectively. Also my weekly mileage this week was 20.1 km run and one paddle boarding trip.
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2014 Training Week 11 (14/07/2014 to 20/07/2014)
Activity Details in Google Sheets
Activity Schedule in Google Docs
Summary of this week’s activities
First, let’s review my activities during this week. I had one run and three paddle boarding activities this week. On Tuesday (15/07) I had a paddle boarding in Vancouver English Bay. On Wednesday (16/07) I had a paddle boarding starting from English Bay, paddling all around stanley park passing Lions Gate Bridge and ending up there. On Friday (18/07) I had a paddle boarding in Vancouver Jericho Beach. On Sunday (20/07) I had a 21.13K run (half marathon) with the following averages: (21.13 K, 4:58 min/km, 176 bpm, 65m elevation gain).
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Total 14 Paddle Boarding English Bay Paddle Boarding English Bay 17 Paddle Boarding Jericho Beach 19 Half Marathon 21.1 km Run Three Paddle Boarding VO2Max and weekly mileage
My VO2Max this week in my Sunday run was 48 ml/kg/min. Also my weekly mileage this week was 21.1 km run and three paddle boarding trips.
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2014 Training Week 10 (07/07/2014 to 13/07/2014)
Activity Details in Google Sheets
Activity Schedule in Google Docs
Summary of this week’s activities
First, let’s review my activities during this week. I had 3 run and 3 swim activities in this week. On Monday (07/07) I had a 10K race with the following averages: (10.01K , 4:45 min/km, 180 bpm). On Tuesday (08/07) I had a 1.5 km swimming with average pace 1:45 min/100m. On Wednesday (09/07) I had a Running Room 10.56K run with the following averages: (10.56 K, 4:53 min/km, 172 bpm, 99 m elevation gain). On Friday (11/07) I had a 1.5 km swimming with average pace 1:42 min/100m. On Saturday (12/07) I had a 1.5 km lap swimming with average pace 2:19 min/km. Finally on Sunday (13/07) I had a Running Room 18.67 K run with the following averages: (18.67 K, 5:26 min/km, 157 bpm, 136 m elevation gain).
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Total 10K Race 1.5K Lap Swimming 11K run 10 1.5K Lap Swimming 1.5K Lap Swimming Long 19K run 39.2 km Run 4.50 km Swim VO2Max and weekly mileage
My VO2Max this week in my (Monday, Wednesday, Sunday) activities were (50, 50, 50) ml/kg/min respectively. Also my weekly mileage this week was 39.2 km run and 4.5 km swim.
Comparing activities to see my improvement
In order to see my improvement this week, I want to compare two activities, one on 09/07 with the following averages: (10.56 K, 4:53 min/km, 172 bpm, 99m elevation gain) and the other on 22/06 with the following averages: (13.01 K, 4:57 min/km, 174 bpm, 97m elevation gain). I assume the harder effort (174 bpm vs 172 bpm) and easier elevation gain (97m vs 99m) of the second run would balance it’s longer distance (13.01K vs 10.56K) when comparing those two runs with each other.
Therefore in order to see my improvement, I can just compare the average pace in one run with the average pace in the other. That means I had 00:04 min/km i.e. 1.34% improvement in 17 days. Therefore not a significant improvement in past two weeks. As we all know, running improvement comes in sudden, therefore we might not observe a significant change in our pace for a certain period of time, but all of a sudden we’ll observe a jump in our speed which shows our hard effort during that period of time.
New 10K record on Monday (07/07)
The Ave. pace was supposed to be 4:50 but it ended up to 4:45. It was almost a flat race , but it still had a few hills.
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2014 Training Week 9 (30/06/2014 to 06/07/2014)
Activity Details in Google Sheets
Activity Schedule in Google Docs
Summary of this week’s activities
First, let’s review my activities during this week. I had 2 run and 2 swim activities in this week. On Monday (30/06) I had an easy 3K run with the following averages: (2.80 K, 5:14 min/km, 157 bpm), On Wednesday (02/07) I had a Running Room 10K run with the following averages: (10.00 K, 4:59 min/km, 168 bpm), On Wednesday (02/07) I had a 1.5 km lap swimming with average pace 2:18 min/100m (my watch says it’s a 3:43 am Wednesday swim but that’s not possible so there might be a one day inaccuracy in the time of the activity), On Friday (04/07) I had a 1.5 km lap swimming with average pace 2:11 min/100m.
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Total Easy 3K run 1 1.5K Lap Swimming 10K run 3 1.5K Lap Swimming 5 6 12.8 km Run 3.0 km Swim My weekly mileage
Again based on this article, my two lap swimmings are equal with a 12K moderate run. Therefore my total weekly activities are equal with 24.80 K weekly mileage run. Comparing it to the 33.21 K weekly mileage of last week, we observe a 25.32% decrease in weekly mileage this week. That means I have to be more active in future as such a huge decrease in weekly mileage in week 9 doesn’t make sense at all.
In fact the way that I am training right now is not very appropriate as I have less activities in certain weeks and too much activities in the others. I have to train slow and steady in a safe manner to avoid getting injured and achieve the best results.
Comparing activities to see my improvement
Again if I compare my run activity on 18/06 with the following averages: (10.01 K, 5:04 min/km, 169 bpm, 182 m elevation gain) to my other run activity on 02/07 with the following averages: (10.00 K, 4:59 min/km, 168 bpm, 75m elevation gain) , we see everything is the same in those two activities but average pace and elevation gain. My this week’s pace was 0:05 min/km slower and at the same time it’s elevation gain was 107m harder. I guess the elevation gain and the pace would balance each other and that means we cannot observe a significant improvement in my activities during past 2 weeks.
Buying a new Garmin Fenix 2 watch
Due to the fact that I was swimming a lot in my trainings, I decided to buy a Garmin Fenix 2 watch which was more appropriate for my training compared to Garmin FR 610. The complete description of Fenix 2 in the Garmin website is available here and a comparison between Fenix 2 and Forerunner 610 is available here and here and here.
But in short, the advantages of Fenix 2 compared to Forerunner 610 for me are as followings:
- Fenix 2 records swimming activities
- Fenix 2 and it’s heart rate monitor measures running dynamics (included cadence) and also VO2Max which are very important features for runners (I don’t know if it’s about Fenix 2 or it’s heart rate monitor but in any case I have these extra features in Fenix 2 where I didn’t have them in Forerunner 610)
- Fenix 2 is more appropriate for hiking
- The battery of Fenix 2 lasts longers
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2014 Training Week 8 (23/06/2014 to 29/06/2014)
Activity Details in Google Sheets
Activity Schedule in Google Docs
Summary of this week’s activities
First, let’s review my activities during this week. I had 3 runs and 2 swims during this week. On Monday (23/06) I had a 1.5 km lap swimming with average pace 2:24 min/100m. On Tuesday (24/06) I had a 5K Race with the following averages: (5.01 K, 4:19 min/km, 183 bpm). On Wednesday (25/06) I had a Running Room 10.73K run with the following averages: (10.73 K, 5:11 min/km, 158 bpm). On Thursday (26/06), I had a 800m lap swimming with average pace 2:30 min/100m. Finally on Sunday (29/06) I again had a Running Room 8.27K run with the following averages (8.27 K, 4:56 min/km, 177 bpm). The recent run was an incomplete group run that I burned out in the middle of the run.
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Total 1.5K Lap Swimming 5K Race 11K run 800m Lap Swimming 27 28 8K run 24.0 km Run 2.3 km Swim My weekly mileage
My weekly mileage this week was 24.0 km run and 2.3 km swim. Again based on this article, my two swimming activities are equal with a 9.2 km run therefore my total weekly activities are equal with 33.21 km run. Comparing it with the last week’s weekly mileage of 29 km, we observe a 14.5 % increase in weekly mileage which is OK.
Comparing activities to see my improvement
There are two activities that are very suitable for comparing them with each other. My run on 29/06 with the following averages: (8.27 K, 4:56 min/km, 177 bpm, 178 elevation gain) compared to my run on 11/06 with the following averages: (10.01 K, 5:05 min/km, 177 bpm, 151 elevation gain).
These two activities were both with the Running Room on the same terrain (Vancouver Stanley Park) so elevation gain in both of them were almost the same. We assume the length of activities were both equal with each other, however there is a 1.74K difference between them. Fortunately my effort in both of them were the same (177 bpm vs 177 bpm for average heart rate).
We observe my pace improved from 5:05 min/km to 4:56 min/km. That’s a 0:09 min/km improvement which is equals with 2.95 % improvement in 18 days and it’s pretty good.
Response of my body to the level of activities
As I increased the level of my activities recently, my body responded to it in a certain way. I was mainly tired and needed to sleep much more compared to past and I also needed to eat more. I was talking to Jason in the Running Room about it and he advised me just to listen to what my body tells me, if it needs more sleep just sleep more, if you feel more hungry just eat more and etc. I was thinking more about this matter and noticed that was a pretty wise advise.
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2014 Training Week 7 (16/06/2014 to 22/06/2014)
Activity Details in Google Sheets
Activity Schedule in Google Docs
Summary of this week’s activities
First, let’s review my activities during this week. I had two runs and one swim activities this week. On Wednesday (18/06) I had a Running Room 10K run with (ave. pace, ave. heart rate) equals (5:04 min/km, 169 bpm). On Saturday (21/06) I had a 1.5 km lap swimming with average pace about 2:10 min/km. Again according to this article, that swim was equals with a moderate 6K run. On Sunday (22/06) I had a 13K run with (ave. pace, ave. heart rate) equals (4:57 min/km, 174 bpm).
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Total 16 17 10K run 19 20 1.5K Lap Swimming 13K run 23.0 km Run 1.5 km Swim My weekly mileage
My weekly mileage this week was 23.0 km run and 1.5 km swim. Therefore my weekly total was equals with 29 km of running. Comparing it with last week’s weekly total activities (42 km of running), I had a 30.95 % decrease in my weekly mileage which is reasonable because last week’s weekly mileage was a little bit too much for me at this stage of my training.
Comparing activities to see my improvement
Comparing the activities to see my improvement during past two weeks is a little bit difficult at this stage due to lack of relevant information (so far I have just 5 activities with heart rate data in them).
But if we compare my activity on 11/06 which is (10K, 5:05 min/km, 177 bpm, elevation gain 182m) with my activity on 22/06 which is (13K, 4:57 min/km, 174 bpm, elevation gain 97m) we can see even though I had less effort in the second activity (174 bpm vs 177 bpm) and the length of my run was also longer in the second activity (13K vs 10K), my average pace improved by 0:08 min/km (4:57 min/km vs 5:05 min/km).
Elevation gain is the only factor which was harder in the first activity compared to the second activity (182 m vs 97 m). We can assume the last factor (elevation gain) would balance the first two factors (length of activity and average heart rate) so for comparing two activities we can just compare pace of two activities. If we do so, we can observe a 2.6 % improvement in just 11 days which is not bad.
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2014 Training Week 6 (09/06/2014 to 15/06/2014)
Activity Details in Google Sheets
Activity Schedule in Google Docs
First Let’s mention my weekly total for this week, I had 30.03 km of run and 3.0 km of swim. This is the first week that I am adding swimming to my training plan and I am very happy about it. Also from this week, I started wearing my heart rate monitor and that helps me a lot to analyze my daily activities, compare them to each other and see how much effort I put in each of them.
During this week on Friday (13/06) and Saturday (14/06), I had two 1.5 km swims and my average pace in both of them was about 2:10 min/100m. I also had three 10K runs on Monday (09/06), Wednesday (11/06) and Sunday (15/06) with (average pace, average heart rate) equals (5:11 min/km, 163 bpm), (5:05 min/km, 177 bpm) and (4:59 min/km, 171 bpm) respectively.
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Total 10K run 10 10K run 12 1.5K Lap Swimming 1.5K Lap Swimming 10K run 30.0 km Run 3.0 km Swim I was interested in finding out my weekly total just in terms of running. I googled the matter and found this article useful where it says a moderate 1.5 km of swim with ave. pace 2:00 min/100m is equals with a moderate 6.0 km run. Therefore my weekly total this week just in terms of running is about 42 km run. Comparing this week’s total with last week’s total (30 km run) I see a 40% increase in my weekly mileage. That is still OK as I had a 35 km run weekly total in week 3 and this week’s total has just about a 20% increase compared to week 3’s total.
Apparently I see the following pattern in my weekly mileages: I would have a high weekly mileage in one week and then I would reduce my weekly mileage for a couple of weeks as my body recovers and then again I would get back to a high weekly mileage. Ideally, I should stay on a certain weekly mileage (at least 3 weeks) before I increase it to the next level. Therefore my current approach is not ideal but as long as I have enough rest in my weekly training plan, chances of getting injured would be reduced.
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2014 Training Weeks 4-5 (26/05/2014 to 08/06/2014)
Activity Details in Google Sheets
Activity Schedule in Google Docs
I had 5 runs during these 2 weeks, all of them were 10K runs. On Friday 30 May I had a 10K run with the following averages: (10.01 K, 5:00 min/km, 194 elevation gain). On Sunday 1 June I had a 10K run with the following averages: (10.01 K, 6:07 min/km, 208 elevation gain). On Monday 2 June I had a 10K run with the following averages: (10.00 K, 5:38 min/km, 237 elevation gain). On Thursday 5 June I had a 10K run with the following averages: (10.01 K, 5:21 min/km, 50 elevation gain). On Saturday 7 June I had a 10K run with the following averages: (10.01 K, 5:25 min/km, 147 elevation gain).
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Total 10K run 3 4 10K run 6 10K run 8 30.0 km Run 26 27 28 29 10K run 31 10K run 20.0 km Run Starting from the next week, I was using my heart rate monitor but during these two weeks I didn’t wear my heart rate monitor and therefore I can’t talk about the intensity of my runs and how much effort I put in each run.
On May 30th, I had my first 10K sub 50 minutes run ever and I was extremely excited about it. In the running session that I had in the Lululemon club a few weeks ago, each person had to introduce himself/herself to the group and tell one of his running goals to the others. As my running goal, I mentioned I want to make a 10K sub 40 minutes run. Therefore making a 10K sub 50 minutes run was the very first step towards my goal and fortunately I made it very fast.
In terms of my weekly mileage, last week (19/05 to 25/05) I had a 35 km weekly mileage considering the fact that the 3 km Grouse Grind hike would consider as a 10K run. The week after that (26/05 to 01/06) my weekly mileage dropped to 20 km. Considering the fact that I needed a bit of rest after a heavy week like last week and also another fact that one of my runs (on may 30th) was an intense run, my performance on this week was reasonable.
In the next week after that (02/06 to 08/06) my weekly mileage again increased to 30.02 km and all of my three 10K runs were with medium effort i.e. with average pace of 5:38 min/km , 5:21 min/km and 5:25 min/km respectively. That was good Because otherwise if I have spent too much effort in my runs during a short period of time, my chances of getting injured would be increased rapidly.
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2014 Training Weeks 1-3 (05/05/2014 to 25/05/2014)
Activity Details in Google Sheets
Activity Schedule in Google Docs
Beginning of my running journey
I officially started my journey of running and marathon training in summer 2014. I had the passion of running since high school and since that time on and off I was running, but I never had the experience of calling myself a runner or a marathoner. In fact I started this journey to call myself a runner and a marathoner.
Buying GPS watch and shoe from Costco
In my eyes, the very first step and one of the most important steps to start running seriously is buying a running GPS watch, if it comes with a heart rate monitor it would be great too. I purchased my first running GPS watch from Costco and it was Garmin Forerunner 610 , it came with a heart rate monitor as well.
As you can see in the above youtube videos, Garmin Forerunner 610 is a gorgeous running watch and it has a touchable screen that I love this feature of the watch. I also purchased a pair of Fila shoes from Costco for my runnings as well.
Getting injured and figuring out the reason
I turned on my watch on April 29th for the first test to see how it works and after that I had a few test runs/walks with it on May 5th, May 6th, May 16th and May 17th but non of them was a real comfortable run because of the difficulty that I had with my feet. Due to that difficulty, I was just able to walk properly and I couldn’t walk fast or run with my new watch and shoe.
I was thinking a lot about it and I was so disappointed as I never had this problem before and I finally guessed maybe it’s about my running shoe. As soon as I changed my shoe with an old one that I had since before, my problem solved. In fact this was my first running lesson about the importance of your shoe. I didn’t know Costco’s Fila shoes don’t count as running shoes. I paid the price and I found it through practice.
Finding a running club
In order to get encouraged more, I was thinking about joining a running club. I googled and found out a few running clubs in my neighbourhood in downtown Vancouver. I decided to try two of the most popular ones Running Room and Lululemon and select one of them for my primary running club.
I found Lululemon running club in Robson street is more a fun running club versus Denman Running Room club again in Robson street which was more a technical running club so I chose the Denman Running Room club. Lululemon runs was on Thursday evenings and Running Room runs were on Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings.
Getting familiar with the concept of training plan
Through participating in Denman Running Room runs, I got familiar with the concept of training plan. Fortunately I joined their club at the right time because their new training program was due on June.
My first run with my Garmin Forerunner 610 watch
My first real run with my Garmin watch was on Friday May 23rd which was a 10K 56:54 run with 229m elevation gain. My previous 10K run before this was with Running Room and it was a 10K 60 min run. Therefore I had a 3 min improvement in this run which was pretty good. Unfortunately I didn’t wear my heart rate monitor in that run so I can’t say how intense my running was.
The Grouse Mountain Run/Hike with Running Room
My last run in this period was on May 25th which was a long distance 15K run with the Denman Running Room club with the following averages: (15.00 K, 8:01 min/km, 595m elevation gain) plus a 3K Grouse Grind hike. We started the run from the store, then through Lions Gate bridge and Capilano Pacific trail we went up to the base of Grouse Mountain. We had a short rest there and after that we climbed the Grouse Grind up to the top of Vancouver. Jason, one of my friends in the club told me however the Grouse Grind is just 3km, but because it is uphills it counts as a 10K run. We also had a 15K run from the store up to the base of Grouse Grind so this run was technically a 25K run. That’s what Jason told me.
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Total 19 20 21 22 10K run 24 16K Grouse Mountain 25.0 km Run 12 13 14 15 7K run 10K run 18 16.6 km Run 6K run 3K run 7 8 9 10 11 8.8 km Run 28 First test 🙂 30 1 2 3 4
Exploring the World, One Lesson at a Time 