April 10th, 2009 – Threshold 2

Disaster!  Holy COW!  This was the hardest workout I have ever attempted and it didn’t go well at all.  Threshold 2 was 2 minutes in Zone 2, one in Zone 4 repeat for 60 minutes or 20 iterations.  That in itself doesn’t sound difficult, but the jump between zones in that short a window was not trivial.  I was running at 10.5 miles per hour at the start and still could not get my heart rate up above 173 beats per minute, which was where Zone 3 ends!  I didn’t have the leg strength to run any faster I don’t think.  It seemed a couple of times that I would literally fall off the treadmill.  That’s a 5:42 mile and wholly faster than I ever imagined I’d be able to run.

So, I didn’t end up running the whole 70 minutes.  My body gave out on me.  The blisters in my arches are killing me and I am sure the skin has now torn and may be bleeding.  I’m going to have to figure out how to get past this until I can replace the shoes.  I can’t wear a neutral shoe, that’s all there is to it.  On top of the blisters, my calves and knees betrayed me.  I probably should have rested longer after the race.  There’s no way to marry the two and especially at my age, I need to rest more than I have after a race.

The housekeeping: 65 minutes, 7.1 miles for a 9:09 average, 741 calories burned.  I walked the last 10 minutes and had to do quite a bit of walking to get my heart rate back out of Zone 4 and to give my legs a chance to rest.  I was disappointed in myself.  I *might* have been able to do the last 10 minutes of running and actually finish the full 70, but I was in physical and psychological pain and stopping seemed the only solution.

The ironic part for me is of course that this isn’t very dissimilar to the first serious 12 week program I’d started.  By week 9, I could not physically do the exercises and hurt several knee ligaments and tendons.  I walked around in a great deal of pain for weeks it seemed.  This was the program I had started right around the time Haylie was born.  I had started it the week before and then pushed on after she was born.  So, that means it was into September I was still working that first program.  Since I didn’t want to just keep paying the gym for testing and new programs, when I finished that 12 week, I took a week off and then started it over.  By the end of the second round of that first 12 week program, I was able to do the week 9 and higher workouts without significant problems.  I wonder if that’s the case with this one?  I can only hope I’ll heal enough to find out.  I know for sure I’m unlikely to shoot for another.

I think this program will put me in good stead for my half marathon.  That assumes I’ll have the stones to actually register for the thing!  I found out it is Sunday, November 1st, which means I’ve got a little over 6 months to train.  I can do it.  Can I do it in a way that makes me feel good about it?  That’s a different statement altogether.  I *want* to run in 95 minutes or lower, which means right around 7:13 or so for the average mile.  I don’t know if that’s my optimum goal or my first step though.  Below 50 was my first goal for a 10K and I shattered it.  7 minute average was my May goal for a 10K and I did it in April.  The only friend I have locally that ran cross country and long distance track tells me my now perceived goal of below 42 minutes is probably out of the question, but he also said 7 minute miles were probably out of my range.  I just don’t know what my limits are, and whether or not there is any real value in trying to find them.  Right now, it seems my sole motivator.  The fitness has become quite secondary.  I didn’t even realize when that happened until I just put it down.  No wonder everyone in my life says I’ve become obsessed.  I am! LOL

Cheers!