New twist on the old run

It's been a couple of weeks since I updated my run blog. I've been running pretty regularly around 8-10 miles per week and about 3 times each week. It was a great afternoon to run, sunny and about 55F. Not bad for the end of November in Ohio. Nat went with me & we ran on the bike trail.

Today I completed week 6, day 3 of the 10K trainer but added a new twist to it: after some research into interval training I learned about HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) and an especially extreme version of it, Tabata interval training. Tabata is a very intense 4 minute workout that research has shown to be very effective in increasing both aerobic and anaerobic efficiency. It's also been shown to be quite effective in increasing fat burn for accelerated weight loss. After a warm-up, the Tabata interval is 20 seconds of VERY INTENSE cardio followed by 10 seconds of low intensity cardio or just resting. That 20+10 second interval is repeated 8 times for a total of 4 minutes. Those 4 minutes are said to be equivalent of at least 60 minutes of steady-state cardio.

So here's how I incorporated Tabata into my run for the first time today. Knowing that Tabata is at a high level of aerobic intensity & that I'm not quite ready for that yet, I set up an interval timer on my iPhone for 2 minutes warm up, 2 minutes of Tabata (4 - 20+10 intervals instead of 8), and 2 minutes cool down. I plan to increase that gradually to work myself up to being able to complete a full 4 minute Tabata. :-)

My regular run for today was to be 5m warm-up, 15m run, 3m walk, 5m run, and 5m cool down (total-33 minutes). After 5m of the first 15m run interval, I paused that app and started the Tabata itnerval timer. For the 20 secs of intense cardio, I sprinted as fast as I could. For the 10 secs low intensity, I walked. The 20 sec intervals seemed long and the 10 sec rest intervals seemed like they were only a couple of seconds long! By number 4 I was feeling pretty much beat. I even started to feel a little nauseous, but I made it. After a short cool down, I went back to the 10K run plan and resumed running at a medium intensity level. Following the 3m walk interval, I again paused the 10K app and did a second 2 minute Tabata. It felt worse doing it the second time, but I kept after it anyway. I again resumed the 10K app but instead of stopping at 5m of running for the second run interval, I ran about 10 minutes, then did my 5 minute cool down walk.

All told, I did 4 miles (bringing my weekly total mileage up to 10.8 miles) in 42:40 for an average mile time, including warm-up and cool-down walking, of 10:39/mile. I felt pretty good afterwards other than a moderate headache from dehydration just as I finished my run. My legs and feet were a little sore but nothing unusual or too bad. I did notice that it seems to have ramped up my metabolism for some time after my run. It took about 3 hours before my heart rate dropped significantly below 100 bpm. That would seem to line up with the research that showed Tabata to have an after-burn effect (I saw it labeled as EPOC, although I don't know what that stands for), keeping the fat burning furnace going for hours afterwards.

I like the idea/concept of Tabata intervals and plan to keep using it from 1-3 times per week either incorporated into my running or stand alone. As its coming on towards winter, there may be days when I won't be able to run, but I can do Tabata intervals inside using exercises like burpees, speed skaters, jump squats and jump knee tucks among many other choices.

I should mention that, along with the apps I'm using on my iPhone to help me with and track my running, I also use a Sportline multiple-function heart rate (HR) watch that I bought at Wal-mart. It can be used by itself or with a chest strap that gives a continuous HR reading. I've set it with a heart rate zone between 135 and 155 for my steady state cardio. I came up with those figures using the Karvonen HR formula which factors in resting HR along with age. The watch beeps to let me know when I'm outside that range. Of course when doing Tabata intervals my HR is well above that.

I currently have a resting HR of 49! Not bad. It's the same as my age! And I've lost 5 pounds from my max weight of 198 & I'm down to 193. Woohoo! Only about 30 more pounds to go.

Till next time...

Monday night run

The weather was great this evening so I ran on the track at the base. I did week 4 day 2 of the 10K Runner. Averaged 12:00 per mile for 2.5 miles. The maximum HR was 152. Pretty good run overall.

Oops! I messed that one up!

In my last entry I mentioned looking forward to the time change because I'd be able to run in the day light later in the day, but I obviously had that one figured wrong. Instead of staying light later, it gets dark earlier! Oh well, I guess I'll be doing more of my running on the road. For this evening, I'm going to be at the base so I'm planning to run on their 1/2 mile track.

Back on the road in my Bikila's

It was another beautiful evening to go running again with clear skies and about 48F. I hit the bike trail this time since I was able to get my run in while it was still light and I'm looking forward to the time change since I'll have more opportunities to get runs in while it's still light.

I did about 3 miles in 37:14 , or about 12 1/2 minutes a mile (including the warm-up walk). The plan called for today's run to include about 14 minutes of actual running. As it tunred out, by the halfway mark I still felt pretty good so I put in more running and less walking in the second half, & ran a total of 23 munites. I can definitely tell that I'm making progress towards some much longer runs. The maximum HR I saw on my HR monitor was 145, so I think my body is getting more efficient at this running which is making it easier to keep my HR in the desired target range.

Now for 2 days of rest for the ol' bod.

Thursday evening

I got home later this evening so didn't get my run in until after 2030. I ran on the road since it was after dark. It was a beautiful evening to be out running, a little breezy, but not bad with an air temperature just above 50F. I ran week 3, day 3 of the 10K Runner plan (it's setup to be run 3 days a week) with just 1.5 minutes of extra running thrown in for good measure. The actual total time running with walks dispersed in between was 11.5 minutes. The total time out-30:20.

In order to increase the calorie & fat burning on my runs as well as reduce the generation of lactic acid, I'm working on keeping my maximum heart rate while running somewhere in between 135 & 150 BPM. During the walks my HR quite naturally drops to between 125 & 130 BPM. In order to keep the max down below 150, I slowed my pace down some while maintaining a cadence of around 180.

The slower pace meant only covering 2.3 miles in that 30:20 for an average mile pace of 13:10 including the 5m of warm-up & 3.5m of cool down.

I'm not having any knee, leg, ankle, or foot problems with my running. Everything feels pretty good overall. Not bad for a person that is getting awful close to 50 & is overweight.

Looking forward to my next run...

Vibram FiveFingers Bikila LS

 

The Coolest Shoes! I love running in them!

It has Been Awhile...

I've needed to get on here & post some updates so here goes...

After the last post, I did some running throughout the summer but not a lot. Some runs were completely barefoot while other runs were with my harauches. Starting in late August to early September I picked up the pace a little in order to get ready for my fitness test in October. I passed my fit test but my time for the run was longer than I would like. :-(
After the fit test I felt more motivated to run more often & more consistently.

I like using technology where it can help so went in search of iPhone apps that might help me. I downloaded 2 apps that have been helpful: 10K Runner & iMapMyFitness.

10K Runner is a 14 week, couch to 10K trainer plan & tracker as well as a digital assistant & coach. It takes you slowly through a running training plan that starts out mostly walking with a little running & works up to straight 60 minutes of running with no walking & hopefully a 10K. I like the way I can get the program started & it tells me when to walk & when to run-pretty easy to follow.

The other app, iMapMyFitness, tracks via GPS the route of my runs on the map as well as time, distance, speed, & pace. With some accessories it would also track heart rate & cadence. All the info from each run is then uploaded to their web page: mapmyfitness.com for weekly or monthly tracking & for archiving.

Something else I did was buy a pair of Vibram FiveFingers toe shoes. I'll try to get a picture of them posted soon. When I first started looking into barefoot running, I found that some recommend the Vibram's while others did not. They are fairly expensive shoes (about $100/pr or around the same price as a lot of other good quality running shoes) so I didn't want to just go out & buy a pair unless I was pretty sure I was going to wear them a lot & like them. That's one reason I started out with the inexpensive running sandals (harauches) & plain ol' bare feet-to see if I really liked it & it looked like I was going to do a lot of barefoot or minimalist running. As it turned out I like the minimalist running & I think it's been good for my aging body as well-I really haven't had much of anything as far as injuries go since I started min-running. So, with fall & more inclement weather coming on, I went to SecondSole in Boardman & bought the Bikila LS model Vibrams & I love'm. They are the most comfortable running shoe I think I've ever run in. They make me want to go out & run more! So, since early October all my runs have been in my Vibrams.

October was a very rainy month so I haven't run as much as I'd like last month. In fact I should be nearly done with week 4 of the 10K runner but I'm only in the middle of week 3. But I'm still working on it.

Today after work it was such a beautiful fall day & I got a great run in. It was about 50F & sunny. I went to the bike trail & started in on the planned run. For today it was supposed to be a 5m warm-up walk then alternating walking & running anywhere from 1.5-2.5 minutes followed by a cool down walk of 5m for a total of 26m. Not too bad. I did the 5m walking, ran the 1.5m & walked the next 1.5m. When I got going on the 2.5m run, I didn't want to stop & walk so I just kept running for about 25 minutes. I ended up doing a total of 38m with about 26-27 of it running & the rest walking. I covered 3.25 miles. I didn't feel too bad afterwards even though that was further & quicker than I'd gone in awhile.

Looking forward to my next run, although I don't plan to push it as hard & do plan to go back to the 10k running plan.