Tag: running

first half marathon and training plan

alan Leave a comment

i’m planning on doing my first half marathon this year, the syracuse half marathon! i’m also going to be posting my training updates here, mostly for myself to refer to

the race is on march 23, so that’s 10-11 weeks from now. that’s plenty of time for a good training block. my A goal is to finish in 1:45, my B goal is to finish in 1:50, and C goal is to finish under two hours (this is all based on my current threshold pace for 5k which i think is around 7:45 – 8:15 mpm) and keep it conservative. training wise i’m adapting the novice marathon program in hal higdons Marathon Guide book for a half marathon. a couple of interesting parts of his training program is the long run mile step back every 3rd week and gradual increase of the mid week mileage. the purpose of the step back is to support recovery after a couple of consecutive mile increases before building back higher

unlike his program for the novice training instead of doing saturday long run i’m doing a sunday one followed by a recovery run. he also packs all three non-long runs together consecutively but i like having space between those runs for cross training / strength training or just rest – so i adjusted that too.

overall i’m optimistic about this program because it’s not too far off from my current weekly mileage and i’m coming off of a short break from running due to the weather lately, so i should adapt well to this but who knows. since i am going to be targeting a specific pace i know i need to throw some speed work and threshold runs in there so the breaks between runs mid week should help

here’s my full schedule (thanks claude ai for formatting my original csv into a table)

WeekRun 1Run 2Run 3Long RunTotal Miles
1333615
2333716
3343717
4343515
5343919
63531021
7353718
83631224
93631022
10363820

for race pace and finish times i like to use this chart.

training updates

1/15

  • training going well, been hitting the workouts and also did a tuesday short 45min group running training sesh (polymetrics mostly) at gym
  • today did a 3miler on treadmill, 10min warmp up and 10 cooldown with threshold pace in middle
  • TIL that 1% incline is good for imitating wind resistance friction for treadmill + lower knee impact. makes sense
  • form / mechanics notes: working on landing softer, more knee drive and less lower leg extension
  • pace feels a bit quick – will work on increasing incline but reducing pace
  • also may look into interleaving outdoor runs with treadmills at some point, weather permitting…

1/16

  • OK, so today i think i’m officially starting to overtrain…. i did a 1hr yoga at 5:30, 45min circuit training and sprinting at 8 followed by a 3 mile threshold. um my right foot ankle felt wonky and weird to put pressure on. i think i also laced my shoes too tight on the right
  • i ALSO tried a slightly different gait (shortening leg extension to land closer to my center of mass) at the same time, which honestly felt better
  • i made an effort to run more lightly on the treadmill today (focusing on reducing impact sound mostly) and my stride felt much smoother
  • anyway, im pretty much set with my mid week mileage (9 total so far) so im just gonna rest up for my long run over the weekend (6mi)

1/19

  • completed my first long run of the halfy training!! ran outdoors for 6.2 miles. most of the route i picked was pretty snow packed and my legs were sinking with each stride. left calf muscles and achilles feel pretty sore – not sure if snow or new shoes (lone peak altras) or both
  • i had to avoid sidewalks in a couple of .5 – 1 mile stretches and ran pretty close to threshold pace because i wanted to get off the road quickly
  • feeling good though, the snow def. forced me to slow down for most of it. got to get in a bit of hill work at beginning at end too. overall great workout

1/20

  • did a 3 miler today, started at easy pace and then did threshold for about a mile before dropping back to easy. good workout, but in future im going to try to hold the pace for the entire session, and reserve threshold workouts for specific days. it does seem like the treadmill picks up my HR reader so that’s good!

running economy and vo2

alan Leave a comment

running economy is a complicated topic and hard to measure, but a common measure of economy is done through vo2 (volume of oxygen) measures as a proxy. according to wikipedia, “Those who are able to consume less oxygen while running at a given velocity are said to have a better running economy”.

i put together a few visuals to illustrate this concept better.

here’s a graph showing

  • oxygen consumption or vo2 on the y axis
  • velocity in meters per second on the x axis
  • as velocity increases, so does oxygen consumption. they increase together up to a point (vo2 max)
  • oxygen consumption plateaus / steady states at the vo2max at and beyond a specific velocity

now, if the athletes is able to train their aerobic system to run at the same velocity with lower oxygen consumption, you get this graph

  • the dotted black vo2 consumption at given pace is the original line. the new solid line is as a result of training
  • same pace, but lower o2 consumption. this athlete has improved their running economy!
  • similarly, if you graph the relationship between vo2 and velocity for different athletes, the one with the lower vo2 consumption at any given pace is more economical

i also find this relationship interesting because it also tells you why increasing vo2 max is valuable. vo2 max sort of represents near maximum / max effort and running at vo2 max typically can’t really be sustained for longer than 11 minutes. right now, the athlete can only run at their max for 11 minutes. if you shift the max up, here’s what happens

  • the previous velocity is now a fraction of max, so less effort is required to sustain the same pace. they can now race at that same pace for longer! better endurance
  • the new max is associated with higher velocity. their previous 11 minute high effort pace is even faster

precise vo2 max testing is typically done in a lab hooked up to an mask that measures oxygen consumption while running on treadmill at increasing intensity. one of my favorite running youtubers / olympic athlete is luis orta (venezuelan runner). he does a vo2 max test here and gets an 80 mL/kg/min.

that is a ridiculous number because the average vo2 max for untrained individuals are around 30 – 40!

vo2 max at the end of the day is just a metric / one indicator. i used to see vo2 max videos everywhere on youtube when i first started running and it made me feel like i somehow needed to track it as part of my training. completely untrue.

jack daniels types of running training

alan Leave a comment

jack daniels classifies running training into four categories (see his lectures here). i’ll summarize here because i found it to be a helpful framework for building my own training program for the new year. each type adheres to the same general principle of minimum effort for the maximum gain. he says if you want to improve physiological function, you want to stress it. but you want to stress it at the lowest intensity of stress

easy runs

  • build aerobic base and ability to do higher volume runs
  • train at max stroke volume to gradually create cellular adaptations
    • mitochondrial density
    • fat oxidation
  • 60% of max heart rate

threshold training

  • build endurance through pushing the lactate threshold. blood lactate accumulation happens at difference paces / effort levels. so goal is to push accumulation farther out relative to effort
    • accumulation is function of how much produced vs how much cleared
    • past the threshold is where speed of running beyond which blood lactate rises continuously instead of plateau
    • at or below threshold = steady state lactate accumulation (not rising)
  • train at threshold means training at pace where any faster results in lactate rising continuously
  • 82 – 88% of mhr
  • threshold is basically pace you can hold for roughly 1 hour

interval

  • purpose is to maximize aerobic power. how much blood is delivered and how much of that o2 is converted to energy
  • aerobic power is approximated via vo2 max
    • o2 consumption measured by millilitres of oxygen per kilogram of the body mass per minute (e.g., mL/(kg·min)). 
    • vo2 max is max rate of oxygen consumption
  • 97 – 100% of MHR

repetition

  • kind of like intervals (honestly not sure why he called this out separately), except the focus is on even higher intensity followed by long rest periods. purpose is to improve running economy

as you go from easy running to repetitions, the main variables within a training session that change are intensity and volume. easy runs are high volume, low intensity. on the other ends, repetitions and intervals are high intensity but low volume. this is a helpful lens through which to view running programs because the proportion of a type of training in a running program tells you the type of race or performance it’s effective for

while i really like doing threshold training, my current volume of training is low so right now i feel like i’m sacrificing base building when i really ought to aim at building more volume and developing a larger base. right now i do higher intensity training twice a week, but i may dial that back to just once a week and dedicate my other days to easy runs. it’s hard for me to do two intense sessions a week without feeling the impact on my joints / ligaments, particularly my right knee – which tells me i should probably scale back the intensity and just focus on volume

purpose of zone 2 easy runs

alan Leave a comment

i went for an easy run this morning and was thinking about the purpose of training and zone 2. a cornerstone of pretty much any aerobic training program is the easy (zone 2, 60-70% of max heart rate or 5-6 RPE) run. there’s usually the long easy run combined with shorter easy runs throughout the week. when i first started training for longer races (15k), i thought the sole purpose of these longer runs was to progressively overload until i’m comfortable running the race distance. so if i’m training for a 15k, i’m increasing my ability to sustain a comfortable aerobic effort little by little until i’m able to do it for my desired distance.

if i’m training for a 5k, there must not really be a purpose of doing these longer runs. right? there’s a principle in training called specificity – basically it means you tailor your training to the specific energy system and skills that you are trying to improve. so if you’re trying to become a better long distance runner, run long distances. if you’re trying to become a better sprinter, sprint! this seems pretty intuitive, except what’s not obvious is that if you want to become a better runner at any distance, you also want to incorporate long runs!

base endurance

i’m not really an expert on physiology and there’s a ton of resources covering the benefits of long runs, but my layman understanding of this so far is that doing easy runs at roughly 60% of MHR is what allows you to

  • build your heart muscle (increasing stroke volume or how much blood can be pumped per beat) with minimal effort
  • these improvements are primarily a function of duration. so, generally speaking, the longer you are working your heart at that intensity the more of the benefits (up to a point, we can’t run forever without risking injury).
  • allow your body (muscles, bones, ligaments, joints, etc) to gradually adapt to higher volume
  • by doing easy runs at higher volume without injury, you unlock higher volume of more intense workouts into your schedule. someone who is comfortably running 30 miles a week can introduce a couple of 5k intense threshold runs into the week to build even more speed and endurance. if you’re doing 5 miles a week, there’s just no room for that. nothing wrong with running 5 miles a week, but my point here is to illustrate the relationship between steady state volume and training opportunity

the minimal effort point here is pretty key. you can train a far higher intensities to build your heart muscle, but turns out your hearts current maximum stroke volume is reached at 60% of MHR. so if you do a full out run, your stroke volume is still the same – you’re just expending more energy for the same heart muscle building benefits. also since doing high intensity runs all the time means you likely sacrifice on volume aka less time overall in this zone. people are also all different – in some situations there may be runners that can do very high volume and intensity and that works for them. i know that’s not me 😀

there are also numerous other related responses that support this gradual volume buildup of the heart muscle, a couple that i notice come up often are:

  • increase mitochondrial density (mitochondria generate energy in a cell using oxygen and glucose) so higher numbers of mitochondria means being able to use more of the available oxygen and glucose during aerobic activity
  • increase in ability to use fat stores as fuel instead of glycolysis, using glucose and oxygen (able to run longer)

so overtime, spending a lot of time in easy runs builds the heart muscle and its ability to pump out blood and increases your capacity to make use of that higher volume of blood per beat thanks to cellular level changes like mitochondrial density (more efficient). how this translates to races is that you’re able to do them at any distance without getting as tired because your aerobic system is more efficient. and because of the gradual buildup in your overall muscular strength you can run at higher volumes at a comfortable pace per week. this higher mileage then unlocks higher quality / higher volume intensity training.

jack daniels, a well known running coach, often says that you should know the purpose of your training. why are you running today? what is the purpose of this long run? well there’s the purpose of long runs. you do long easy runs because it builds the very foundation of your aerobic performance.

runners knee update

alan Leave a comment

good news! the runners knee pain that i was experiencing back in november is no longer an issue. i’ve been clocking in 13-14 miles and slowly building back up to 15/16 miles per week the past two weeks and i haven’t been experiencing any pain around my patella. granted, i’ve been mostly been using assault treadmills at the gym (i got a 1 month membership to avoid the ice and snow of december) so that’s lower impact but i’ve also been running harder than usual so maybe it cancels out. I did spend a couple of weeks before that outside too so there’s good reason to think i’m pretty well recovered.

the funny thing is i think the thing that actually helped me was taking an entire week off running and ONLY doing strength training instead of doing both low intensity running AND strength training (specifically ones for quad strength building and my adductors). trying to do both was not actually working for me – i don’t think it was enough for the inflammation around my knee to actually subside. i live in a very hilly area so in reality even though i was doing low intensity, slower pace running i think i was still putting too much load on my knees.

so there you go, taking an entire week off running and focusing only on rehabilitation exercises was what finally helped. anyway here’s to another year of hopefully injury free running in 2026, peace.

short vs middle vs long distance

alan Leave a comment

ever wondered what it means for a runner to be a “middle distance” or “long distance” runner? in the running / racing world there’s three main categories of distance events that differ by distance ranges

short or sprint distance

these are traditional 100 meter (100m), 200m, 400m, and the 4x100m and 4x400m relays. these are pretty much purely anaerobic events. anything beyond 400m is in the middle distance category where the running starts to demand both high aerobic and anaerobic work

medium distance

common track distances are the 800m, 1500m, milers (1609m) , 3000m and the steeple chase variations involving obstacles and water jumps. anything beyond 3000m is going to be long distance

long distance

this is where my current comfort level is with running, although i do most of my higher intensity work in the short distances. common races in this range are the 5000m or 5k (though some people also consider the 5k a medium distance event), 10k, half marathon (21k), marathon (42k), and beyond (ultra marathons) like a 50k (31 miles). pretty much most road racing and cross country running fall into long distance category.

the longest official race i’ve run so far is a super popular local 15k (https://www.boilermaker.com/). i’ve been running this race in the last 3 years. my impression is that the 15k is not a common race distance (compared to the 10k) because when i share this with people they always express surprise that such a distance is even a thing. my goal next year is to run a half marathon, so hopefully that will be my new long race record!

boilermaker fun fact: the boilermaker actually draws a good number of elite international runners – this past year the winner was john korir of kenya who’s one of the current top 10 marathon record holders!

boilermaker fun fact 2: not sure if this is verified, by i learned this through my wife. the event takes place in july, which seems odd because it’s a distance event that’s smack in the height of summer heat. but this is a couple of months before the marathon majors in the U.S (nyc, boston, chicago…) that run between september – november, so this off season schedule suits international runners that are training for the majors. i think this sort of makes sense because if they stuck the race in november, there’s probably going to be a non-existent elite pool…

anyway, here’s an easy / quick way to remember these ranges

short distance – up to a single lap on a standard outdoor track (400m)

medium distance – up to a 3k / two miles / 8 laps on a standard outdoor track

long distance – everything else

running training load update

alan Leave a comment

i’m currently working on running a consistent weekly mileage of 16 miles this year and hopefully making my way up to 20-25 by the beginning of next year.

so far … it’s been going mostly good. a couple of weeks ago following a 5k race (i hit a pr of 23:57 at a 7:43 mile pace!) i started experiencing some very mild symptoms of runners knee / patella-femoral syndrome (more so on my right knee, towards the medial underside of the patella) but it seems to be subsiding / not getting worse over time. i’ve been trying to loosen up my quads a bit with rollers to see if that helps but i’ll keep an eye on it

my current training schedule is:

sundaylong run (8 miles)
mondayrecovery / easy run (2 miles)
tuesdayrecovery / strength training (lower body) (3 miles)
wednesdayeasy run combined with a workout like strides or tempo
thursdayrecovery / strength training (upper body) (3 miles)
fridayeasy run combined with a workout like stride or tempo
saturdayrest / recovery. no strength training to prepare legs for long run the following day

this schedule is basically identical to the boilermaker 15k training program that i’ve been following for the last 3 years (very inconsistently). in my first two boilermakers i ran with my wife and we did about an avg 12min pace and finished in just under two hours. this year in july i ran by myself and finished in 1:28 at a 9:31 mile pace.

the key thing about this training schedule is that it follows a mostly low intensity, 80/20 philosophy where at least 80% of the runs are easy runs and at most 20% is high intensity. with 16 miles per week, 20% is about 3 miles and that’s how much time i try to spend in higher intensity running distributed between tuesday and thursday. outside of that, i try (but not always successfully…) to stick to an easy pace of 10-11min mile.

there’s a couple of tweaks i’d like to start making to my running moving forward to hopefully reduce any risk of injury and improve my overall enjoyment of running

  • adopt RPE (rate of perceived exertion) as primary measure during my runs instead of glancing at my watch first to gauge effort based on pace or heart rate. i run on hills often and sometimes focusing on pace causes me to go much faster than i should for easy days
  • pick a couple of specific and recurring workouts for my run workout days on tuesday and thursday. right now it’s a bit make up as i go and i’d like to just remove that decision making on the day of