Sunday, January 22, 2012

60 Day Milestone

Today was day 60 in my planned 100-day running streak. Not sure why this seems so big to me, but it does. 60 days. 2 months. 60% done. It's all good! Once I hit 90 days, there will be no stopping me...unless this turns out like last year when I died at 95 continuous days. Yikes. Gotta keep humble. No speed sessions on the treadmill. Just good old basic running. I'll keep under control with the assistance of my fancy Garmin GPS watch and heart rate monitor...and a soon-to-arrive matching foot pod (so I can track indoor workouts and running cadence). Technology will save me this year. Below is my Day #60 run of 8-miles on a combo of roads and trails (clickable for more details).


And here is my latest "Training Load" data from a great Sport Tracks plug-in:

Pretty cool information. Blue is my "chronic training" fitness effect (more is better), the red line is "acute fatigue" (low is better), the green is "training stress balance" (positive is good). The bars going up from the bottom are individual runs and their "training impulse"--higher means a more difficult run (higher "impulse"). Notice the two that reach "epic" levels--those are my last two 50K trails races. Indeed, they were epic!  I only installed this plug-in yesterday, so I'm still figuring out what it all means...but I'm enjoying it none-the-less. It'll be my secret weapon as I approach races.  You can set target race performances and the software will suggest tapering and peak workouts. I only have the free trial version of the software... might need to upgrade to the full version soon ($12). There's no stopping me now. Woops, gotta stay humble. Don't taunt the running gods. One day at a time.

4 comments:

Laurens said...

Nice!

Training Load is a one of the most impressive plugin for sporttracks. So damm usefull and intresting.

Chris Ⓥ said...

Laurens,

After just 2 days, I'm in love with this plug-in. Awesome. It takes Sport Tracks to a whole new level.

Brad Williams said...

Nice job Chris,

I've thought about a streak like this myself but I have one major concern with it. Do you feel like running is something that you have to do? Do you feel like you've enjoyed your running less while on this streak?

Best of luck this weekend. Going 110s, right?

Brad

Chris Ⓥ said...

Brad,

The streak has felt burdensome AT TIMES, but usually not. I get a real sense of accomplishment and pride in running every single day--even with the 2-milers. Overall, it's a net GAIN in running enjoyment.

First ultra of the year this weekend. 28-mile fat ass trail run. Plan on the 110s. I'll have a back-up pair, but hope to do all 28 in the new 110s. Weather looks good--high 20s, low 30s.