Moar Running
Cold Weather Running
This year I was a big wimp, and mainly ran on a treadmill during the colder winter/spring months. The company I was working for at the beginning of the year offered a small stipend to use for fitness-related expenses, so I renewed my membership to the Worthington location of Snap Fitness. Treadmill running is boring as heck, but I found it preferable to the cold/dark. Sadly, my Lung Plus is collecting dust.
VO₂ Max Test
After the training season last year, I found out that the Exercise Science Lab at OSU offers performance testing. Months later, in February of this year, I was finally able to go in for the test. While I was interested in my VO₂ max, I specifically wanted to know my max heart rate, as I would base my upcoming training off that value. I had done an “at home” max HR test (sequential hill sprints, measure HR at the end of the third one), but it seemed low based on most age-based calculators. The test itself was interesting; I got hooked up using the standard heart rate chest strap and respiratory mask, then ran on a treadmill for a while. They increased the speed until I hit 8.5 mph, and then started cranking the incline. What I didn’t realize was that the test ends whenever you want it to. Basically, when you think you can’t go any more, you tap out. Of course, after the fact, you second-guess yourself, and wonder if you couldn’t have kept going for a bit longer. Regardless, my max HR came in at 160 (which is about 12% lower than my age-based calculation), and VO₂ max was 58.2. This was super helpful for targeting an aerobic heart rate during this year’s training season.
2023 Marathon Training
This year I’m using the 55-70 miles per week plan detailed in Advanced Marathoning. I specifically upped my milage in April/May in order to be able to start this plan safely. For the most part, it has been going OK — I did have to visit a PT in order to resolve some IT band pain, which caused me to downgrade about a week and a half’s worth of training in June. Comparing with my speed/heart rate from runs last year, there doesn’t seem to be a marked improvement, even though I’m running about 33% more. I will say that this volume is pushing the limit of what I’m able to integrate into my life, as I’m averaging 10 miles per day at this point, while trying to be a (present) parent and work a full-time job. The mid-week long runs usually have me questioning my sanity.
All that being said, I have plans to run two races this season. I signed up for Chicago — it’ll be my first out of town race. The plan is to take the family and do some tourist stuff, then run the race and head home that same day. My goal this year is fairly conservative — to be able to stick to last year’s target pace and hit 3:10, which is a Boston-qualifying time for my age. In the event that I fail spectacularly, I have a backup in the Columbus marathon, which will be a week later. I haven’t run marathons that close together before; in 2020 I ran two races two weeks apart, so we’ll see how I feel after a single week’s worth of recovery.
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