Monte's Log, Featuring a Debate About Dotard Genetic Potential with an Ant

1/16
PM
Marathon Tempo
15:00 - 1.72 mi/8:43 pace/140 HR (warmup)
20:00_1 - 2.55 mi/7:50 pace/158 HR
5:00_r1 - 0.55 mi/9:02 pace/149 HR
20:00_2 - 2.59 mi/7:43 pace/165 HR
5:00_r2 - 0.54 mi/9:09 pace/153 HR
10:00 - 1.09 mi/9:12 mi/147 HR (cooldown)

Ended up doing this on a track nearby my hotel, so that combined with not running in a polar vortex meant my HR for this session was a lot more reasonable than last week even though my legs were a bit fatigued.

I ran five miles in the hotel gym yesterday too, but it was essentially a sauna due to being in the room next to the heated pool, so nothing to write home about.

1/18
AM
Z2 Run
1:00:00 - 6.51 mi/9:13 pace/145 HR

Got back late Friday from a business trip and the kids had an early robotics competition, so I squeezed this in by sneaking out and running on the track (their competition was at a high school). It was only half clear and slushy/icy, so I had to keep the pace pretty slow.

1/19
AM
Long Z2 Run
2:30:00 - 16.74 mi/8:58 pace/145 HR

Ran my extended normal route and this went pretty well, all things considered; hopefully I can bring the pace down on these over the next few weeks, but this was much better than last week's slog over ice and snow.

1/20
AM
A
Single Leg Press: +90 x10, x9, x8

B
Incline Bench: wu, 145 x6x3
Seated Calf: 3x12, x11, x10
Back Extensions: +10 x6x3
Facepulls: 4x12

C
Abductor Machine: 2x15
Adductor Machine: 2x15

D
Seated DB OHP : 40s x10, x9, x8
DB Incline Row: 60s x10, x9, x8

E
BB Hip Thrust: +90 x8x3
Dips (paused): +0 x8x3

F
Bayesian Curl: x10, x9, x8
Lateral Cable Raise: x12, x11, x10

Felt good; still keeping it light, but getting a bit more regular with the gym sessions.

1/22
AM
Z2 Run
1:00:00 - 6.30 mi/9:30 pace/144 HR

1/23
AM
Z2 Run
1:00:00 - 6.37 mi/9:25 pace/142 HR

Two boring treadmill runs; hopefully it will warm up a bit, because I hate the treadmill and I can't control my heart rate as well.

1/23
Early AM
Z4 Intervals
13:00 - 1.52 mi/8:33 pace/149 HR
6:00_1 - 0.80 mi/7:30 pace/168 HR
3:00_r1 - 0.35 mi/8:35 pace/164 HR
6:00_2 - 0.80 mi/7:30 pace/174 HR
3:00_r2 - 0.35 mi/8:40 pace/164 HR
6:00_3 - 0.80 mi/7:32 pace/176 HR
3:00_r3 - 0.35 mi/9:01 pace/164 HR
6:00_4 - 0.80 mi/7:30 pace/176 HR
3:00_r4 - 0.33 mi/9:04 pace/165 HR
6:00_5 - 0.80 mi/7:29 pace/175 HR
3:00_r5 - 0.33 mi/9:07 pace/164 HR
7:00 - 0.76 mi/9:12 pace/161 HR

A few consecutive days of poor sleep led to an RPE for this session that was probably too high; of course I was too stubborn to dial down the pace.

Late AM
A
NG Pullups: +15 x7, x6, x5
RFESS: +40 x8, x7, x6

B
Bench: wu, 165 x6x3
Facepulls: 4x12
Seated Calf: 3x12, x11, x10

C
Step-ups: +25 x8x3

D
Incline Bench: 50s x10, x9, x8
DB Pullovers: 60 x10, x9, x8

E
Adductor Machine: 2x15
Abductor Machine: 2x15

F
Overhead Rope Tri Ext: x12, x11, x10
DB Hammer Curl: 22.5s x12, x11, x10

This was fine. Glad to knock it out given today's work schedule.

1/25
AM
Z2 Run
45:00 - 4.87 mi/9:14 pace/142 HR

1/26
AM
Z2 Run
1:30:00 - 10.15 mi/8:52 pace/143 HR

Friday was so cold that my tears froze on my left eyelash so I couldn't see out of that eye, which given it's my dominant eye, was a bit problematic. Cutting that run short was smart, which I did, for once. Today was much nicer and pretty leisurely.

This was a mini-recovery week for me (only 36 miles), so I'm feeling reasonably good; next week is going to be heavy, then the week after I'm going to have to fit things in around our ski trip.

Trump related?

Tears of joy, baby.

1/27
Late AM
30' Threshold Test
30:00 - 4.15 mi/7:13 pace/177 HR

I warmed up for about 20 minutes for this - some easy running with some strides mixed in - and then did this thirty minute piece. Supposedly the average heart rate you can hold for the last twenty minutes is a good proxy for what your lactate threshold heart rate is - I averaged a 179 over that period, so the system raised my threshold HR to 98% of that (up to 175). Ended up being, including the warmup and cooldown, 7.1 miles of work in 55 minutes, so pretty brisk for me.

All in all, a pretty decent result considering I was randomly up until 2 last night.

PM
A
NG Pullups: x11, x9, x7
Walking Lunges: 35s x8, x7, x6

B
OHP: wu, 95 x6x3
Pallofs: x10, x9, x8
Seated Calf: x12, x11, x10
Facepulls: 4x12

C
Leg Ext: x11, x9
Leg Curl: x11, x9

D
Flat DB Bench: wu, 60s x12, x11, x10
HLRs: x7x3
Adductor Machine: x15x2
Abductor Machine: x15x2

E
DB LTEs: 30s x9, x8, x7
DB Preachers: 20s x12, x11, x8

Dragged a little during this; not surprising given the above.

1/28
AM
Z2 Run
7.00 mi - 1:02:47/8:58 pace/146 HR

1/29
AM
Threshold Intervals
7:00_1 - 0.96 mi/7:17 pace/164 HR
7:00_2 - 0.97 mi/7:13 pace/170 HR
7:00_3 - 0.98 mi/7:10 pace/175 HR
7:00_4 - 0.99 mi/7:06 pace/176 HR
7:00_5 - 0.97 mi/7:11 pace/176 HR

I was feeling a bit tired yesterday, so I kept it slow. I felt pretty good today; the session was programmed as seven minute reps at a range around threshold pace (6:55-7:35/mi) with two minute recoveries, all of which I hit. Including the jogging recoveries and the warmup/cooldown, this was a 70 minute session and around 8.8 miles of work. Good sleep the last few days definitely helped.

1/30
AM
Z2 Run
1:00:00 - 6.75 mi/8:53 pace/144 HR

1/31
AM
Long Run w/Z4-5
40:00 - 4.69 mi/8:32 pace/145 HR
15:00 - 2.04 mi/7:22 pace/176 HR
40:00 - 4.70 mi/8:31 pace/163 HR
15:00 - 2.04 mi/7:20 pace/176 HR
10:00 - 1.13 mi/8:54 pace/164 HR

I moved up tomorrow's run to today as I'll be traveling; I felt good, so I pushed everything to the top of the programmed pace ranges (as fast as 8:30/mi for the easier stuff and ~half marathon pace - 7:20/mi - for the faster pieces). Most of my easy and long runs have constraints based on HR, not pace, so when I have something like this programmed, I want to make sure I work hard.

I ended up running almost 200 miles this month (197.3 to be exact) so I'm definitely ramping up.

Wow, that seems like a lot.

2/8
AM
Long Z2 Run
2:30:00 - 17.01 mi/8:49 pace/146 HR

Managed to get four half decent treadmill runs in while I was gone (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Friday) and skied Wednesday and Thursday, so managed to stay pretty active. I'm a bit fatigued from a full day of travel back home, but happy to get this in at the goal pace I'd set out (I wanted to cover 17 miles and just barely eked it out). HR stayed very controlled, so the fitness is coming back.

2/10
AM
Z2 Run
45:00 - 5.07 mi/8:52 pace/144 HR

2/11
AM
Z4-5 Intervals
15:00 - 1.75 mi/8:34 pace/145 HR
7:00_1 - 0.99 mi/7:05 pace/176 HR
7:00_2 - 0.97 mi/7:11 pace/163 HR
7:00_3 - 0.95 mi/7:20 pace/176 HR

Cut this one short as I just didn't have it; maybe it was fatigue from travel plus my wife and kids being sick, maybe I overcooked the first interval. Kind of annoyed, but we move on.

2/12
AM
Z2 Run
75:00 - 8.59 mi/8:44 pace/144 HR

2/13
AM
Z2 Run
90:00 - 10.36 mi/8:41 pace/147HR

These last two runs were fine enough; my easy pace is definitely dropping, so hopefully full speed ahead. This weekend's run has an hour of marathon pace work in it, so we'll see how that goes.

Out of curiosity, how much variance do you notice between treadmills. When I travel, I use the same settings as my home one and even with same incline and speed, sometimes it's easier and other times it is much harder. Speed seems more reliable, but incline is a different story. A couple of weeks ago did my standard lol slow run on a 1% incline and my quads were dead one mile in. Had to go back down to zero to finish. I guess I could bring a level with me, but I'm not that crazy.

Also belated congrats on your Eagles shipping it. Must be nice to get two.

I didn't get it quite right this last trip, but I think running to effort (i.e., HR) is probably the best method, because there does seem to be a decent amount of variance with how the watch measures your distance/pace. Obviously you can "calibrate" it at the end of the run, but that's a bit unsatisfying. Just hitting whatever the right HR is for Zone 2 or whatever it is you're doing is probably good enough until you get back to the usual.

It was a pretty magical run, that's for sure; I knew they had the better team overall, but hard to be too confident given my history of Philadelphia fandom and the Chiefs' run over the last few years.

2/14
AM
Z2 Run
6:00 - 51:49/8:38 pace/142 HR

2/15
AM
Marathon Tempo Intervals
15:00_wu - 1.77 mi/8:30 pace/136 HR
20:00_1 - 2.61 mi/7:40 pace/159 HR
5:00_1 - 0.58 mi/8:37 pace/155 HR
20:00_2 - 2.65 mi/7:33 pace/169 HR
5:00_1 - 0.58 mi/8:35 pace/162 HR
20:00_3 - 2.64 mi/7:34 pace/172 HR
5:00_1 - 0.57 mi/8:46 pace/166 HR
10:00_cd - 1.16 mi/8:39 pace/158 HR

My sixth straight day running; my legs are carrying a bit of fatigue, but I've been making/revealing some gains now that the intensity is picking up, so that's promising. My target page for this one is calculated off of my newly calculated threshold, so the top end of the range was 7:38/mi (corresponds to a 3:20:00 marathon); this was tough with the lower body fatigue, but given I was able to do the last two at faster than target page at a quasi-reasonable HR, I'll take it.

I'm planning to get back to the gym for the next two weeks before I'm on the road (again) the first week in March.

2/17
PM
Z2 Run
75:00 - 8.71 mi/8:37 pace/139 HR

Later PM
A
NG Pullups: +15 x7, x6, x5
RFESS: +40 x8, x7, x6

B
Bench: wu, 165 x6x2, x5
Facepulls: 4x12
Seated Calf: x12, x11, x10

C
Step-ups: +25 x8x3

D
Incline Bench: 50s x8x3
DB Pullovers: 60 x8x3

E
Adductor Machine: 2x15
Abductor Machine: 2x15

F
Overhead Rope Tri Ext: x12, x11, x10
DB Hammer Curl: 22.5s x12, x11, x10

Running fitness is really coming along; I ran after work because the wind chill was -5 this morning (and likely will be all week).

I managed to get back into the gym finally, and did as good as I'm capable of doing these days.

all seriousness, you need to move somewhere warmer. I can't even contemplate living in those conditions

This is the coldest winter in quite a while, actually; it's generally a fair bit more mild. It's supposed to warm up a decent bit next week, though the cold snap for the last few weeks has been hard to deal with. Running after work has been ok enough, though.

Did four easy miles at the gym on Tuesday while the kids were at soccer practice, then had these two fairly decent sessions the last few days:

2/19
PM
Z2 Run
75:00 - 8.73 mi/8:35 pace/142 HR

2/20
PM
Z4-5 Intervals
15:00 - 1.76 mi/8:33 pace/138 HR
7:00_1 - 0.96 mi/7:18 pace/161 HR
7:00_2 - 0.97 mi/7:12 pace/167 HR
7:00_3 - 0.97 mi/7:14 pace/169 HR
7:00_4 - 0.97 mi/7:12 pace/171 HR
7:00_5 - 0.97 mi/7:12 pace/173 HR
10:00 - 1.13 mi/8:50 pace/155 HR

My easy pace has come way down over the last few weeks, and this threshold work was easier (per my HR data) at this pace than it's ever been (even though my legs were a little fatigued). Onward and upward hopefully.

Gym tomorrow morning, hopefully.

2/21
PM
A
NG Pullups: x11, x9, x6
Walking Lunges: 35s x8, x7, x6

B
OHP: wu, 95 x6x3
Pallofs: x8x3
Seated Calf: 3x12, x11, x10
Facepulls: 4x12

C
Leg Ext: x13, x10
Leg Curl: x13, x10

D
Low Incline DB Bench: wu, 60s x10, x9, x6
HLRs: x7x3
Adductor Machine: x15x2
Abductor Machine: x15x2

E
DB LTEs: 30s x10, x9, x8
DB Preachers: 20s x12, x11, x10

2/22
AM
Z2 Run
1:30:00 - 10.51 mi/8:33 pace/148 HR

Broke down and had some bourbon last night (unfortunately I was out of EPO and tren), so my average HR was probably five beats higher than it would have been at this pace. Oh well, my ascetic/autistic monk counter is back at zero again.

I don't suppose you play Go? I had a 9x9 game on GoQuest recently against a Montecore.

2/24
AM
Fishtail Progression
20:00 - 2.35 mi/8:31 pace/140 HR
20:00 - 2.66 mi/7:31 pace/164 HR
15:00 - 2.06 mi/7:17 pace/174 HR
5:00 - 0.72 mi/6:56 pace/177 HR
10:00 - 1.13 mi/8:53 pace/155 HR

This felt hard but good; I overcooked the intended paces for this just slightly on the first leg, as the intent was to do twenty minutes around goal marathon pace (7:38/mi on the top end), fifteen at half marathon pace (7:15/mi on the top end) and five at 10k pace (top end 6:55/mi). The recoveries were short (two minutes easy), so I was happy I was able to do it as programmed.

PM
A
Single Leg Press: +90 x8x3

B
Incline Bench: wu, 145 x6x3
Seated Calf: 3x12, x11, x10
Back Extensions: +10 x6x3
Facepulls: 4x12

C
Abductor Machine: 2x15
Adductor Machine: 2x15

D
Seated DB OHP : 40s x10, x9, x8
DB Incline Row: 60s x8x3

E
BB Hip Thrust: +90 x8x3
Dips (paused): +0 x8, x7, x6

F
Bayesian Curl: x8x3
Lateral Cable Raise: x12, x11, x10

Kind of half-assed this, but I'm doing this at a different Y near where the boys' soccer club practices indoors that I don't like as much (this is definitely an excuse for me being a bitch). I'm happy that I got through it, though.

It was not; I'm much too dumb for Go.

2/25
AM
Z2 Run
60:00 - 7.07 mi/8:29 pace/146 HR

2/26
AM
Z2 Run
90:00 - 10.4 mi/8:39 pace/145 HR

2/27
AM
Z1/2 Run
75:00 - 8.29 mi/9:03 pace/134 HR

Same ol'; took it easy today as I'll be squeezing in my hard weekend session tomorrow before I leave for Italy later that day.

3/1
Late AM
30' Marathon Tempo
15:00 - 1.77 mi/8:28 pace/133 HR
30:00_1 - 4.00 mi/7:30 pace/160 HR
10:00_r - 1.20 mi/8:18 pace/160 HR
30:00_2 - 3.94 mi/7:37 pace/169 HR
20:00 - 2.34 mi/8:34 pace/151 HR

The trip got postponed until April, so I ran this today. The first half hour was very pleasant, but when I turned back around and started going north I realized that I had been running with a pretty significant tailwind that I was now going to have to deal with on the way back. It was harder work than I'd have preferred, but still happy to get it in.

3/2
AM
Z1/2 Run
60:00 - 6.68 mi/8:59 pace/133 HR

Later AM
A
NG Pullups: +15 x7, x6, x5
RFESS: +50 x6x3

B
Bench: wu, 165x6x3
Facepulls: 4x12
Seated Calf: x12x3

C
Step-ups: +25 x8x3

D
Incline Bench: 50s x 10, x9, x8
DB Pullovers: 60 x8x3

E
Adductor Machine: 2x15
Abductor Machine: 2x15

F
Overhead Rope Tri Ext: x13, x10, x9
DB Hammer Curl: 20s x12, x11, x10

The run was pleasantly easy; given my marathon paced work is increasing over the next few weeks, I'm going to dial back the intensity on a few of the easy runs and try to keep my HR towards the bottom of Z2 at most. Lifting was fine; might try to stop being such a pansy and shoot for three sessions a week so even if I slack I'll get two. We'll see.