Last week: 45 km. I did not complete the planned long run. Due to pain in my right hip I have to pause my training for some days. It’s only 8 weeks to my planned half marathon. However, the pain’s there for 3-4 weeks (since the beginning of August) and I fear if I go on there will be a problem… Don’t know if it’s the iliotibial tract.
Filed under: Personal Log, Photography, Training | Tags: intervall, iPhone, Photography, sweat rate, tempo run, Training
It’s getting cooler, autumn is coming. Makes it easier to run faster… 
Today, the sun gave long shadows – as shown in the photo I took with my iPhone. For more runner photos see my website.
On Monday, I did a tempo test run over 5k, finishing in 22:54 (4:35 pace @ 93% of max heart rate). Intervals on Wednesday (5×1.2k), and 10 miles yesterday on Saturday with 5:50 pace. I feel quite tired although it was a low mileage week.
I calculated my sweat rate again, it was 125 mL/km at 16°C. Not much less than the 145 mL/km at 26°C two weeks ago.
10 weeks to Lausanne HM!
My first >70 km week (43 miles)! Two interval trainings, a long run, and two slower runs.
Of the total training time of 7:50:32, my heart rate was 57% of the time in the 75-85% zone, 16% in the 85-90% zone, and 15% in the 90-100% zone.
I feel a slight soreness on the lateral sides of both hips at the ilio-tibial tracts. But the knees are okay.
It’s 12 weeks to the half marathon in Lausanne…
My long run was very pleasant today, listening some great music, and the weather was fine. I did 22k, and passed the half marathon distance (21′098 m) after 2:13:25 hours. Heart rate averaged 79% of my maximum. What a good feeling to finish the week!
Filed under: Personal Log, Training | Tags: Haile Gebrselassie, marathon, training plan, Viktor Röthlin, world record
After starting to run regularly in 2007, there have been quite some low-intensity weeks the winter. Too much work… After realising its effects on my mood, I reduced my workload and increasedrunning training. So this was my first >60 km week, yeah!
I started to use a training plan by Viktor Röthlin, our Swiss marathon professional. He’s the fastest marathon runner in the german-speaking countries in Europe. His personal best is 2:07:23 at the Tokyo marathon in 2008. Not quite the world record hold by Haile Gebrselassie from Ethiopia (2:04:26 in Berlin, 2007) but still…
I like the training plan – it’s internet-based accessible at VicSystem – because of the flexibility and variety. The plans allows to specify training days of the week and change them also in the short-term. The long runs are to be run in considerably faster pace than traditionally recommended.
The system also allows to plan for races which then are specifically incorporated in the plan. So I am thinking about my first race… Maybe a half marathon? There is one in Lausanne on October 26, 2008…? Let’s see.
Filed under: Personal Log, Training | Tags: heart rate, pace, progress, Training
In the first 12 weeks of regular training, I run 323 km. That’s 27 km per week on average. The last two weeks were 40+ weeks. As every novice runner asks: how long does it take to get better?
The graph below shows my improvements over these 12 weeks. Heart rate at a given pace has gotten clearly lower.
Filed under: Culture, Personal Log, Training | Tags: Barcelona, El Xampanyet, Manairó, pain, restaurant, runner's knee, tapas
Three days in Barcelona! Running is so easy here in Barcelona. Just at the sea, there are wonderful running possibilities. You meet a lot of other runners of all types, the athletic semi-professional as well as the overweight once-a-month jogger with a red face. And at the beach, there are a lot of bars providing hydration, also of the non-alcoholic kind. There is also a runner’s shop, where a bought a new pair of shoes: Asics Gel Foundation 7.
It seems that I overdone it in my enthusiasm. After the long run on my first day in Barcelona (where I attended a meeting), I had a pain on the lateral side of my left knee. That’s called Runner’s Knee! I couldn’t hardly walk down the stairs to the metro in the evening… Bought some ibuprofen, as well as beer and tapas at El Xampanyet in the old town of Barcelona.
Nevertheless, I managed to take the metro to go out. There is a phantastic restaurant called Manairó at Calle Disputació. The cook is Jordi Herrera, only 29 years old. He’s quite famous in Spain as an avantgardist.
