Taper (ha ha!) week!

I'm getting ready to leave for my first run of my last week of 5k to 10k, and I was thinking about why I haven't been too psyched to get out for this run* (beside the horrible travel conditions) but I just figured out the holdup while I was changing into my workout gear.

This is "rest/recovery" week with the idea that the end of this week should be an actual 10k race so I have to do a fifteen minute run with five minute walk on each end for warmup/cooldown. 

The effective upshot of that is that it literally took me longer to get dressed then it will to do my entire run today.

img src: isucceedbook.com

I think it took longer just to get my new sneakers de-tissued and laced on just right.

The bright side however is that I will be trying out my new sneakers so I'm pretty psyched about that.

*I was going to go yesterday but there was apparently an accident on the road immediately next to my gym so I couldn't go right after work... aaaaaand then I got a Kindle so the whole evening pretty much disappeared after that.

Something is not adding up here

Apropos of the time of year I've been poking around at heart rate training info. I've poked at it a bit before, but not enough to really get any sort of handle on what it was I was reading.

This is an array of different heart rate range calculations based on my stats, including Karvonen which seems to be the gold standard. It also tends to have the highest ranges. I've highlighted the Karvonen calculations and the Max heart rate zone.

Calculated via http://www.racedaynutrition.com/HeartRate.aspx

Also per http://www.racedaynutrition.com:
90%-100% = VO2 Max Zone
VO2 Max is your body’s maximum oxygen consumption level. It is measured in volume/time units. You may reach this zone only for very short bursts of time. When you go into oxygen debt by racing your buddy to the finish line you have reached your VO2 max. Your lungs can’t keep up your body’s demand for oxygen and lactic acid floods into your muscles. Training in this zone increases enzymes in your muscles responsible for anaerobic metabolism.

We've already established that I'm a bit shall we say, overclocked... but what actually does that mean?

This is the average of all of the stats from just about all of my workouts since I got my Garmin

Via my Garmin Connect profile (this should be just about everything since October)

185 is the AVERAGE heart rate which I have been operating at for all of my runs for about six months. I have gone as high as 207.

Just throwing that out there.

Call the waaaahmbulance!

My left hamstring tendon is super tight and grumpy today so I'm taking an extra rest day.

I don't wanna.

Tarder Sauce is one of my spirit animals.

My next run in 5k to 10k is sixty minutes, the longest of the entire training. I feel confident that I can nail this run and I was actually really looking forward to it so I'm pretty annoyed at postponing. Apparently somebody slipped the Kool Aide into my recovery chocolate milk (I blame Running on Candy).

Ultimately though I'd rather take a break today than be limping for the rest of the week. Friday's run was unpleasant enough that I almost tapped out halfway through my run because my feet and lower legs were so achy. From the determination perspective I'm glad I kept going that day, but this hamstring thing has been creeping up on me for a few days and it was especially sore and tight when I woke up today, so sometimes a day off is the better part of valor. I know my head is still fully in it and that's the part that gets you there in the long run.

img source: http://www.theknee.com/knee-pain-causes/hamstring-tendon-strain/

My body has been pretty unbalanced for the last few weeks anyway. I have this sort of recurring thing since college where my body alignment goes haywire and half of my joints tell me to take a long walk off of a short pier. Apparently it has to do with a car accident I experienced as a teen. There's this sort of cascade effect where my hips unbalance and to compensate my right leg lengthens, my ribs twist and I get a giant knot under one of my shoulder blades. My range of motion goes kaput and everything hurts.

There's a pretty straight-forward stretch that fixes it all within a few days and even a small amount of regular yoga will keep it at bay but I never do them anymore because... apparently I am stupid? I don't know what stops me. There's really no excuse.

The universe is pretty much conspiring to get me to cross-train and I am very stubbornly ignoring it. The sad part is that I actually really like yoga and so far I enjoy using kettle bells so you'd think it would be a no-brainer.

So there! Take that... um... me?

Jawa needs a new pair of shoes!

The Saucony Progrid Hurricane 15s are coming out so the 14s are starting to go on sale! I have a little bit of mad money available right now so I am going for it while the going's good.

I currently have this black and orchid version of the 14 with close to 200 miles on them.

I figured I should get a new pair so I can start alternating to spread out the wear. I think it's pretty safe to assume that at current mileage this will give me a good two to three years before I have to buy another pair, and then I won't have to be going straight from one dead busted pair to a brand new one.

I'm generally bad about trashing possessions  that seem like they might still have even the tiniest bit of use, so I'm hoping that with newer shoes for comparison I'll actually be able to feel when it's really time to retire the old pair.

That's the theory anyway.

There's a certain point when you look at an old possession next to its new counterpart and the petulant seven year old inside voice changes from "but these are COMFORTABLE" to  "but I don't WANNA use the old one!" and that's an important moment to pick up on. Over the last few years I've even started following through that realization with "so I... don't need to keep them anymore!" and once in a very great while I throw something out.

So I'm clearly totally cured of the hoarding thing!

Yup. totally cured.

http://www.amazon.com/Keeping-Shirt-Hoarders-Juniors-T-Shirt/dp/B006R6028Q

*ahem* Anyway...

I was thinking about poking around at different brands, but really between my beginner status, preference for pavement, tendency to over-pronate, and need for the maximum in toe wiggle room, (all of which are particular strengths in the Pro-Grid Hurricane) it would be pretty silly to push the luck I have had with my current shoes.  

With that in mind I just scored this pink and black version of the 14 via kellysrunningwarehouse.com for $80 with free shipping.  

Mine, all mine!

Honestly, the colours on the new 15s are ATROCIOUS, the pricetag is eye-twitchingly high, and the functional changes are pretty minimal so I can't say I'm too terribly upset about getting proven shoes on sale instead of something all Exciting and New.

That's right, I went there.

The 15s come out this month so most sites are still selling the 14s for full price (around $140-ish). The designs are so similar (and yet somehow uglier?) that I don't see the price dropping much on the 14s for a while. Even so I will be keeping an eye on things and I figure if I can score at least one more backup pair within the next year and a half-ish I will be SET.

I really would have preferred to get some sort of aqua, green, or blue as I'm a touch pinked out at the moment. I literally just got rid of the pink hair yesterday so I'm back to a nice subdued bombshell platinum! But based on the yawn level of everything they have in blue that must be the designated "safe" (BORING) colour in the Saucony line and green is... apparently only for boys?

I'm still mad I can't get the same glorious highlighter chartreuse they have in the men's line.
Seriously, this would be my JAM