Welcome to Episode 3 of my training diaries for the 2022 season.
This week I've been testing out two new pairs of shoes from Salomon
the S/lab Phantasm for on the road
and the S/lab Pulsar for on the trails.
I'll talk more about these shoes later
and I'm also going to walk you through how I plan my long runs
in response to a question that I had on last week's episode.
But first, let's talk about this last week of training.
I took last Monday off as a rest day as always.
Tuesday, I then did an easy run on the trails
just under 90 minutes with my usual Tuesday night run group.
Wednesday was then my first of my two weekly strength training sessions
and I won't go into too much detail on this this week
but I've been listing all of the exercises I do in the gym on Strava
so you can go through the notes for those workouts if you are interested in learning more
and of course check back to last week's episode
where I talked in more detail about my overall approach to strength training
in case you missed it.
That evening I then did my first of two structured run workouts for the week.
This week was a tempo or threshold run
and I wanted to keep it as runnable as possible
so I headed back to the Seymour Valley Trailway
where I did one of my two long runs last weekend.
That route was actually probably a little bit too hilly for speed work
but it was paved and I was really itching to test out those new Salomon Phantasms.
The workout was a 20 minute warm up
followed by 5 repeats of 30 seconds of hard running, so Zone 5
with 30 seconds of easy running in between each.
I then transitioned into 3 sets of 8 minutes at threshold or tempo pace
where it's difficult to speak in full sentences
with 5 minutes of easy running in between each of those
and I followed all of this with a 10 minute cooldown on my way back to the car.
The Salomon Phantasms felt great for this workout.
They're feather light and fast with just enough cushion underfoot.
Just let me know in the comments if you'd be interested in a full review
and I'll include a link below where you can learn more and compare prices in the meantime.
Something I've been struggling with - pun intended actually
is in trying to do these run workouts immediately after my gym workouts
when I really should be doing it the other way around.
The way I've been scheduling my training sessions in the gym though for the past few months
just doesn't quite give me enough time to get my run workouts done first
because I usually have a few calls to do in the morning and early afternoon for work
but I'm finally going to do the sensible thing
and schedule my gym sessions for a little bit later in the evening
so that I can run first
because as I mentioned last week
my strength training is intended to support my running
and not the other way around.
So I definitely need to prioritize being able to give it my all during my run workouts
even if it means being able to lift a little bit less later in the gym.
On thursday, I then did just an hour of cross training on the gravel bike with Audrée.
The idea here was just to get the legs moving a bit to help with recovery
and I definitely needed it after those two workouts the day before.
We just did an easy loop on some urban trails around North Vancouver here.
Friday I then had a second session at the gym
followed by my second structured running workout.
This was an easy run with strides where I did a 15 minute warm-up
followed by 4 sets of 90 seconds at close to all-out pace
with 2 minutes of easy running in between each
and then a 15-minute cooldown.
I think I was actually supposed to do 3 minutes of recovery in between each repeat
but that's okay.
Saturday was then my long run for the week which was scheduled for 4.5 hours.
This would make it my longest run so far this season
as we continue to increase the volume.
As usual, I was looking for something relatively runnable
but it was forecast to rain all day on the North Shore here.
The weather looked a little bit better in nearby Burnaby
so Audrée and I decided to hop in the car and drive just over the bridge to Burnaby Lake Park.
So we're out here in Burnaby.
We're running around Burnaby Lake
and then I'm gonna head over to Burnaby Mountain
and then come back here and do another loop around the lake.
It's just over the bridge from where we live in North Vancouver
and it's actually right off the highway
but this is a bit of an oasis in the middle of the city.
Audrée joined me for the first 10 km or so
and then hopped on her bike for the rest.
I managed to take a couple of wrong turns
and to get a little bit lost on some of the mountain bike trails on Burnaby Mountain
so my pace was a little all over the place
much faster on the two flat loops around the lake
that I did at the beginning and then again at the end of my run
but much slower on some of the more technical and steep single track on Burnaby Mountain.
My average moving pace for the route in the end though was right around target
at just over 6 minutes per km
or about 9.5 minutes per mile.
I covered 46 km or 20.5 miles
in about 4 hours and 40 minutes
with about 750 meters of elevation gain
or roughly 2,500 feet, plus equal descent.
So I'm at about 33k
about 3.5 hours in.
All the climbing is behind me though
so it's all flat for the rest of my run
and I'm feeling pretty good.
I definitely feel like I have another 10 or 15k in my legs
which is a good sign.
33k is about what I did both days last weekend during my back-to-backs
so it's a sign that the progression is working.
I had a question last week from Jerome one of my supporting channel members
about whether I target time or distance on my long runs
and how I factor in elevation.
The short answer is that I've always trained based on time on feet as opposed to distance
and this season is technically no different.
But usually, I don't worry nearly as much about pace when I'm training for more mountainous races
especially when it comes to my 200 milers.
For my upcoming race in Georgia though
my goal is to run all of my long runs at roughly the pace that I expect to run during the race
of roughly 6 minutes per km
and to do it on terrain that's similar in terms of elevation change
which is roughly 1,000 meters or so for every 45 km.
So I was able to calculate that, over the course of 4.5 hours
I would need to run about 45 km to hit my goal pace.
It was then just a matter of planning a route with the appropriate terrain and elevation change.
So I guess you could say that I schedule my runs based on time
but I plan my actual routes based on distance.
The way I then actually planned this route was to map it out first using Strava's route builder.
Audrée and I tried a few different options
and I wanted to err on the shorter side
since it's always easier to add on a few km at the end if need be
which is what i ended up doing.
I then exported the GPX file to import into the COROS app
in order to load it onto my Vertix 2 watch, just in case.
We strategically placed the car where I'd pass it twice during the run
in case I needed to get changed if it did end up raining
and to refill my bottles if I couldn't find a water fountain en route.
Although, I carried my nutrition for the entire run with me from the start
along with a rain jacket
but thankfully the rain held off.
The amount of total elevation change for
this route was a little bit lower than I would have liked
and was also too bunched together on a few really steep climbs.
This route was basically pancake flat for the first and last kind of third or so
with a mountain in the middle.
So I'd like to find some routes that spread the elevation out a little bit more evenly
into more rolling terrain in the future if I can.
I did much better on this run on hydration though
which I mentioned in last week's episode
was something that I needed to work on for this weekend.
I drank a total of 2 liters of water
so right around the target that I'd set for myself of roughly a bottle every hour.
I ate 775 calories, so about 175 per hour
and this included about 100 milligrams of caffeine.
I was actually trying a few new nutrition products on this run.
I've kind of gotten into this habit of just using the same products all the time
mostly because of the Clif Bar sponsorship that I'd had for a few years.
So a new goal of mine is to use the coming weeks
to experiment as much as possible with my nutrition
and I plan on talking more about some of these
new nutrition products that I'll be trying over the coming weeks
in case you guys are interested in trying out some new stuff too/
The Salomon Pulsars worked out great for this run as well.
They're definitely designed for faster and less technical trails though
so think more kind of Western States rather than UTMB.
The lugs aren't quite as deep as the Salomon Sense Pros that I've been using
and the tread pattern is quite different as well
with less lateral or downhill traction.
But given that my route was mostly crushed gravel with a bit of pavement
they were by far the best choice.
I do plan on doing a full review on these once I've put a few more miles on them
but I'll include a link below in the meantime for these as well
in case you want to learn more.
Sunday I woke up feeling pretty stiff
but I had just 90 minutes of easy running on the schedule
which I was able to push through.
So it's Sunday morning.
I'm just out for a 90 minute easy run here.
It's partly a recovery run and a little bit more time on feet for the week.
I'm about 30 minutes in so I'm finally getting warmed up
but I was definitely feeling pretty stiff this morning after yesterday's long run.
But overall, I feel fine so that's a good sign.
Towards the end of this run though
I was definitely feeling a lot of residual fatigue
which is to be expected.
So last week I ran a total of just over 91 km or 57 miles
with 1,650 meters of elevation gain
or about 5,300 feet plus equal descent.
So it's Monday today which is my rest day
and I've got an appointment for a well-deserved massage later this afternoon
before I get back to training starting again tomorrow.
This week includes another tempo run on Wednesday
followed by back-to-back long runs on the weekend.
I appreciate the support from my channel members as always.
So be sure to keep those questions and suggestions for future topics coming.
You can become a channel member if you haven't yet by clicking the join button from a web browser.
This week I'll also be publishing the
second of a new series of headlamp reviews that I have in the works.
You can watch my first in case you missed it on the high powered Nitecore HC68
which I published last week.
I hope you have a chance to spend some time on the trails this week as well
and I will talk to you all next week.