P & D week 4: back in Leipzig
9:14pm, 15th Jan 2023 | 2 Comments
Blog by tipsku
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On Monday morning, I took a train back to Leipzig. Time passed quickly with watching movies in the entertainment portal of the ICE. When I got back home after 5:30 pm, I had about an hour to have a bite and then head off to meet my beginners group at 7 pm. 5 runners greeted me, wished me Happy New Year and then we went on our beginners loop, a 5k course past the RB Leipzig stadium. While I had been busy training for a marathon over the festive period, most of them hadn’t been training so we took it easy. 12:01 pace for an AVG HR of 112, that’s almost outside my training zones, true recovery after a long travel day.
Tuesday, I originally had an 8 mile run with 10x 100 m strides on the plan but with doing the laundry and sorting out the luggage, I didn’t have time for a longer run. So I followed Garmin’s suggestion of 37 minutes base at 145 bpm. That turned out to be 4 miles easy, 9:15 pace for 136. Nice! I didn’t expect to be that fast at that HR – beats/mile was under 1300 which is really good for me.
Then I had early dinner and headed off to meet the second beginners group. 6 runners tonight, same loop, 5k at 12:15 m/m pace and 115 avg HR which seems alright but the data looks suspicious. At first, it spiked to 170 bpm and then dropped to 70 and then hovered between 100 and 140. Maybe the battery is going flat, I’ll have to check that when I get home.
Wednesday, I did the 8 mile run with strides with a serviced HRM. I felt a bit sluggish, maybe it was the heavier long distance shoes that I decided to wear or running later than planned because of the rain. It still rained a bit when I left the house but it stopped a mile in – checking the radar was worth it. But I was a bit overdressed, HR increased after 2 miles so I shed the jacket. After the first couple of strides, my legs found their groove and I felt better. I really enjoyed the second half of the run and I was happy with a pace of 9:48 and avg HR of 142, the strides didn’t get HR into the red zone, I topped out at 170. Maximum pace was 5:20 m/m and 249 W maximum power. That’s alright, considering that I’m a bit slower in the darkness – barely got the cadence above 200 spm.
Thursday is MLR day, 10 miles on the menu today. Because of the strong winds, I was looking for a course that wouldn’t be too exposed. I decided to run the 2 mile loop around Nonne because that is partly in a woodland. The first couple of km were sheltered by the houses, then I had to battle the headwind until I got into the park. It was a bit muddy there. The splits also tell the story, wind or no wind, mud or tarmac. Running 10 miles felt good, nice and easy pace at 9:55, avg HR 138, stayed in Z2 except for two short faster bouts, a sprint up the bridge.
Friday, just a quick 5 mile recovery run. I checked where the Rundle digits were today. I could connect 7 of them with a 5 mile route. The legs were a bit heavy after 8 and 10 miles but after 20 min, I settled into the run. As a bonus, I saw a beautiful sunset. Pace 10:33, avg HR 132, 70% in Z1, 20% in Z2, the rest below training threshold.
Saturday is parkrun day, also here in Germany. I had asked my beginners groups if anyone fancied joining me today but nobody turned up. Getting up early on a Saturday may be a bit difficult for students
There was an average crowd, 32 runners, for this parkrun location. I recognized the local record holder Gillian Allen so finishing first was out of the question. I ran it as a solid threshold session. HRM didn’t work so I don’t have the stats but it felt right there. It was very muddy and I guess that would have been a problem for some of the beginners who are not very secure on challenging surfaces yet. I finished 2nd lady in 24:22, happy with that. Hopefully, this won’t have affected my legs for the long run tomorrow.
Sunday, 15 miles on the plan. I decided to run around Markkleeberger See to bag the first of 7 lakes in the RunTheLake challenge. Running from home, around the lake and then to the mobility station in Lößnig should be about 15 miles. It rained over night and early in the morning and the wind was very strong. The forecast promised some sun in the afternoon, so I decided to wait until 2 pm. It paid off. Good plan, about an hour in, just when I approached the lake, the sun peeked out between the clouds and illuminated the scenery - I watched a couple with a kite on the western shore (see photo). Running towards the western shore was hard - right into 25 mph winds. In return, the southern shore was a breeze with the wind in my back - resulting in the fastest km splits. Then, I had to return along the eastern shore and that was hard work. Stryd showed that air resistence increased the needed power by up to 22% when I was running into the wind. At easy pace, I run around 140 W, so that would require up to 170 W to maintain the same pace. I also felt that I was losing heat, my hands and forearms went numb. So by the time I got to Lößnig, I was struggling with opening zippers, handling the phone and then unlocking the bike and adjusting the saddle. At home, I needed a pot of hot tea to defrost. Next time, I'll wear a bit more on a long run or I take an additional layer for the final hour and for the bike ride. Happy with 9:59 m/m pace and avg HR of 136, max 148, very disciplined in Z2.
To summarize the week and the plan so far: for the fourth consecutive week, I’ve run 50+ miles. I’m still feeling strong but I have to keep up with the cross training or the first niggles will begin to impact running. After the longer runs on Thursday and Sunday, I need to do my hip and lower back exercises to smooth out some crinkles. I didn’t do that on Thursday so I have to schedule it next week.
Tuesday, I originally had an 8 mile run with 10x 100 m strides on the plan but with doing the laundry and sorting out the luggage, I didn’t have time for a longer run. So I followed Garmin’s suggestion of 37 minutes base at 145 bpm. That turned out to be 4 miles easy, 9:15 pace for 136. Nice! I didn’t expect to be that fast at that HR – beats/mile was under 1300 which is really good for me.
Then I had early dinner and headed off to meet the second beginners group. 6 runners tonight, same loop, 5k at 12:15 m/m pace and 115 avg HR which seems alright but the data looks suspicious. At first, it spiked to 170 bpm and then dropped to 70 and then hovered between 100 and 140. Maybe the battery is going flat, I’ll have to check that when I get home.
Wednesday, I did the 8 mile run with strides with a serviced HRM. I felt a bit sluggish, maybe it was the heavier long distance shoes that I decided to wear or running later than planned because of the rain. It still rained a bit when I left the house but it stopped a mile in – checking the radar was worth it. But I was a bit overdressed, HR increased after 2 miles so I shed the jacket. After the first couple of strides, my legs found their groove and I felt better. I really enjoyed the second half of the run and I was happy with a pace of 9:48 and avg HR of 142, the strides didn’t get HR into the red zone, I topped out at 170. Maximum pace was 5:20 m/m and 249 W maximum power. That’s alright, considering that I’m a bit slower in the darkness – barely got the cadence above 200 spm.
Thursday is MLR day, 10 miles on the menu today. Because of the strong winds, I was looking for a course that wouldn’t be too exposed. I decided to run the 2 mile loop around Nonne because that is partly in a woodland. The first couple of km were sheltered by the houses, then I had to battle the headwind until I got into the park. It was a bit muddy there. The splits also tell the story, wind or no wind, mud or tarmac. Running 10 miles felt good, nice and easy pace at 9:55, avg HR 138, stayed in Z2 except for two short faster bouts, a sprint up the bridge.
Friday, just a quick 5 mile recovery run. I checked where the Rundle digits were today. I could connect 7 of them with a 5 mile route. The legs were a bit heavy after 8 and 10 miles but after 20 min, I settled into the run. As a bonus, I saw a beautiful sunset. Pace 10:33, avg HR 132, 70% in Z1, 20% in Z2, the rest below training threshold.
Saturday is parkrun day, also here in Germany. I had asked my beginners groups if anyone fancied joining me today but nobody turned up. Getting up early on a Saturday may be a bit difficult for students
There was an average crowd, 32 runners, for this parkrun location. I recognized the local record holder Gillian Allen so finishing first was out of the question. I ran it as a solid threshold session. HRM didn’t work so I don’t have the stats but it felt right there. It was very muddy and I guess that would have been a problem for some of the beginners who are not very secure on challenging surfaces yet. I finished 2nd lady in 24:22, happy with that. Hopefully, this won’t have affected my legs for the long run tomorrow. Sunday, 15 miles on the plan. I decided to run around Markkleeberger See to bag the first of 7 lakes in the RunTheLake challenge. Running from home, around the lake and then to the mobility station in Lößnig should be about 15 miles. It rained over night and early in the morning and the wind was very strong. The forecast promised some sun in the afternoon, so I decided to wait until 2 pm. It paid off. Good plan, about an hour in, just when I approached the lake, the sun peeked out between the clouds and illuminated the scenery - I watched a couple with a kite on the western shore (see photo). Running towards the western shore was hard - right into 25 mph winds. In return, the southern shore was a breeze with the wind in my back - resulting in the fastest km splits. Then, I had to return along the eastern shore and that was hard work. Stryd showed that air resistence increased the needed power by up to 22% when I was running into the wind. At easy pace, I run around 140 W, so that would require up to 170 W to maintain the same pace. I also felt that I was losing heat, my hands and forearms went numb. So by the time I got to Lößnig, I was struggling with opening zippers, handling the phone and then unlocking the bike and adjusting the saddle. At home, I needed a pot of hot tea to defrost. Next time, I'll wear a bit more on a long run or I take an additional layer for the final hour and for the bike ride. Happy with 9:59 m/m pace and avg HR of 136, max 148, very disciplined in Z2.
To summarize the week and the plan so far: for the fourth consecutive week, I’ve run 50+ miles. I’m still feeling strong but I have to keep up with the cross training or the first niggles will begin to impact running. After the longer runs on Thursday and Sunday, I need to do my hip and lower back exercises to smooth out some crinkles. I didn’t do that on Thursday so I have to schedule it next week.
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tipsku
Triathlete in my youth (1994-2001), martial artist in Finland (2002-2006), a brief stint on the rugby field (2009-2010) before I ran my first marathon in October 2010 and haven't looked back since. Still looking to improve my PBs even though it's been 13 years of running. Times to beat: 5k: 21:20 (2016) 10k: 44:37 (2023) half: 1:37:42 (2023) mara: 3:29:26 (2023)Profile | Blog | Other Blogs