Taper Time in Milwaukee, Kalamazoo Trail Running, & Spring Weather (Half Marathon Training - Week #14 Recap)
In this weekly blog series, I plan to share a training recap as I prepare for Brew City Half Marathon in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It will include an overview of my training plan with the good, the bad, & the ugly which every runner undoubtedly experiences along the way. Enjoy and let me know if you have any feedback or thoughts based on your experience.
Wednesday, April 5th:
With high winds and thunderstorms for the past few days, the day slowly turned around with 55-degree temperatures and blue skies in the afternoon. I was anxious to get out and move as we relaxed a little too much the through the rainy weather.
The plan called for 5-miles with easy hill running. With a trip to Kalamazoo on Friday for Easter weekend, I shifted some runs around to create the best training schedule based on the location. That mean knocking out hills and easy running here in Milwaukee before a tempo and long run in Kalamazoo.
Today, my primary goal was to add some variability to the run in the form of hills without getting too aggressive where they would count towards my speedwork total. While following the 80/20 principle of running, 80% of runs are easy/conversational while 20% is speedwork. If I could keep the heart rate in the easy range while tackling hills, it means I can spice up the weekend’s long run a bit to become more familiar picking up the pace on tired legs.
Around 2:30pm, I headed down the lakefront. I was skeptical about this choice since the wind was gusty at home which meant it must be even worse coming off Lake Michigan. However, with blue skies and a relatively beautiful day, it’s always my preference to enjoy the scenery down the lake.
I started from Bradford Beach and ran one mile north to the hill on Lincoln Memorial Drive. It’s reliable, and can pack a punch when done repeatedly. Rather than repeating smaller segments over and over, I ran the entire length of the hill from the rugby field to the entrance of Lake Park.
While reflecting on my Garmin, each hill repeat lasted approximately 8-minutes with 4-minutes up the incline and 4-minutes down the decline. With pace remaining relatively constant, it was a good run where the heart rate ranged from zone 2 to the very low end of zone 4. I made sure to monitor the heart rate screen on my watch as the hill progressed to manage intensity adequately where this would still be an “easy” run. After completing the hill 4x in total, it was time to run one mile back to the Bradford Beach parking lot to wrap up.
On the hill I did cross paths quite a few times with an older gentleman doing barefoot hill repeats. I was impressed to see him running on the grass edge of the sidewalk without shoes on. Although I’m a big advocate for barefoot training, you need the right amount of resilience and strength in the foot to tolerate barefoot running. Over the years I’ve seen people switch to this style of running too aggressively and end up injured. In my opinion, it isn’t running barefoot which is the issue but the body’s lack of tolerance to this type of stress. We should all be able to manage it fairly well, however, our modern lifestyle and cushioned footwear are causing us to adapt in the opposite way.
Thursday, April 6th:
Against my better judgment, I went to Planet Fitness today on Capitol Drive to knock out 4-miles at easy pace on the treadmill. Since Kristen was doing a Peloton run, it made sense to join her before grabbing dinner.
There’s nothing special to report about the run. My hip felt super weak to start but warmed up slowly after a mile or so. I neglected to complete my hip exercises today which probably contributed to that. The intensity was kept relatively low but I increased the speed every half mile or so to finish strong.
Tomorrow I’ll get to Kalamazoo and tackle a workout with 20-minutes at threshold. The contrast between hills, easy running, and speedwork fits well to flow through the week. Or, maybe my mind will shift to the Pretty Lake trails. We shall see!
Saturday, April 8th:
Since we arrived in Kalamazoo later in the day on Friday, I decided to push the runs back to Saturday and Sunday to not force the run around dusk. On the sheet was 5-miles with 20-minutes at threshold pace but I elected for a trail run instead. My desire to hit the pavement was low, especially since this meant driving somewhere to run.
With the goal being 20-minutes at threshold pace, or a “tempo run,” my intention was to run easy but allow the hills and difficulty of the terrain push me into zone 4. Although I wouldn’t be getting much speed that you’d get from threshold pace, the heart rate response and goal to clear lactate would be relatively the same.
Intensity comes in different forms… whether that’s increasing your pace, running on hilly terrain, etc. Since I elected for a trail run, it just made more sense to use the undulating terrain to train the body as opposed to needing to run faster.
The route I ran was directly next my mother-in-laws house as I can enter the Pretty Lake Camp from a back trail and enjoy a quiet area without other people. It was mid-morning so I expected to see maybe a few people walking since lake residents have access in the off-season. To my benefit, I was completely alone.
5-miles requires a few loops that consisted of flat and sandy along the lake path to hilly and rolling deeper within the pine trees. There were no deer sightings today but I did see some ducks on the shoreline, pileated woodpeckers, and other various birds.
After the run, my Garmin showed that I was in zone 4 for 32% of the run which equates to roughly 19-minutes and 16-seconds. Not to shabby compared to the original plan. However, I know it may have ranges from 80-90% of my maximum heart rate as opposed to the recommended 88-92%. That’s just the nature of trails with hard uphill sections where the heart rate increases followed by easy downhills as the heart rate drops back down.
Tomorrow, I’ll devise a plan for 10-miles and hope the added yard work today doesn’t sabotage my efforts!
Sunday, April 9th:
The weather has been beautiful this weekend but motivation is low. Here in Kalamazoo we are doing a lot of yard work as Winter turns into Spring. With a big property, my mother-in-law usually has a lot of tasks to get things ready for the warmer months. This weekend it includes power washing, cutting up fallen trees and branches from winter storms, and cleaning the drains which are clogged from heavy precipitation.
Despite the plan calling for 10-miles at easy pace, I decided to hit the trails once again and told myself 8-10 miles would be acceptable. Similar to yesterday’s run, my motivation to run on pavement is low and I just couldn’t get myself to drive out to the local Texas Drive Park.
The justification on the total miles was simple… compared to all easy runs, the difficulty on this trail in particular would be above average so I would sacrifice a few miles to account for the increased intensity. It was still important to keep the heart rate low to achieve the goal of the run and this would have to be monitored throughout even if it meant stopping for a quick walk break to allow the heart rate to reset.
I set out around 9:00am and the temperature was already climbing. With 45-degrees and blue skies, I knew it would be warmer today so I had to get moving.
I ran up Pretty Lake Heights and turned into the shorter connector trail to get into Pretty Lake Camp. With a scheduled Easter egg hunt at 10:00-11:00am in the neighborhood, I expected to come across some people walking the perimeter of the lake before or after that event. To my good fortune, I didn’t see a single soul the entire time.
Rather than following my normal route which is a nice 3.5-mile loop, I decided to freestyle this run to see where it takes me. My understanding of the trails is pretty good so I would be aware where I was and when to head home at the right mileage.
My average heart rate for the run was 151 which falls nicely into zone 3. I did enter into zone 4 for 11% of it but this most likely accounts for the harder hills and increase in intensity. Otherwise, it was a nice mix of easy running while slogging through different loops and exploring sections of the trail that I don’t normally visit.
8.18-miles later and I arrived back home to my now warm water bottle waiting for me. I didn’t come prepared with my handheld water bottle so I was eager to rehydrate before working in the yard.
Thanks for following along this week! If you have any questions or want to talk about creating an individualized running and injury prevention plan for you, click the ‘Healthy Running Program’ tab above and fill out the form.
Onward to week 15!