It's Not the Years, It's the Mileage - birthday marathon training journal

[Herding_Cats]

Oooh I’ve spent plenty of time in that same wallow! Try not to cake too much mud on yourself, it simply isn’t worth it.

 

[GollyGadget]

Today was what Garmin classified as a "Threshold" run, which was one 17 minute interval with a goal heartrate of 158. Garmin gave me a 12 percent execution score, which I guess is better than 0.

I feel attacked. My last threshold workout was 0% execution score.

I didn’t realize you were still using r/w/r. I definitely don’t think the garmin plans are designed for that. Whether you were using pace or hr, it would expect something more stable. Garmin used to have adaptive plans where you selected a coach and one was Galloway. That might work a bit better for you.
https://connect.garmin.com/features/coach/

Regarding speed, have you tried doing fartleks or 15 second sprints? I wonder if you could trick your brain into a really quick interval. I can generally convince myself to push for at least a minute. Once it gets over a few minutes though, my brain starts to wander and my effort decreases.

 

[GollyGadget]

I just tried to create a Coach Plan and had trouble finding it. It does still exist, but you must select "Achieve a Milestone" as your goal.

 

[The Expert]

I agree that the Garmin plans really aren't built for r/w/r and they also aren't built for treadmill, which is what I used most of the time. I've been curious to try one since they added Galloway, though.

After hunting and pecking for the last 10 years since I started running, I've found most plans out there are for younger, faster runners with different goals. I don't want to BQ, I just want to be comfortable, not hurt, and not come in last. Parts of some plans work, but then other parts just do not. That's why I started going to DopeyBadger, since he's studied them all and combines the best aspects of what he knows works, then can apply that to any pace and to r/w/r runners too.

I have enough of his plans built up that when I feel I need one, I just go back to one of his. But I also know he's written some pretty specific plans for folks here who have made huge improvements in speed (@SheHulk comes to mind). I know he's terribly busy (which is why I'm not tagging him here), but it might be worth hitting him up for your POT attempt plan for when he does have the time.

 

[nancipants]

I applaud your doing a plan that uses effort level. I would never be able to make anything like that work. It's too subjective. And HR has always been a joke for me since everything I do is never below 2-3, so it would say I'm doing things "wrong". For me, paces are easier to adjust and gauge progress. And Garmin was fine for that type of plan that I just finished.

I hope you find a better fit plan for your needs. And it's not wallowing.....it's assessing what is working and what is not. Data is good to help you refine in the future.

Thank you. Effort-based plans are useful for me since at least half of the year is too hot and humid to run at my "best" paces. The first time the temperature gets below 60 in the fall, my easy pace drops at least 30 seconds to a minute per mile!

Oooh I’ve spent plenty of time in that same wallow! Try not to cake too much mud on yourself, it simply isn’t worth it.

I feel attacked. My last threshold workout was 0% execution score.

I didn’t realize you were still using r/w/r. I definitely don’t think the garmin plans are designed for that. Whether you were using pace or hr, it would expect something more stable. Garmin used to have adaptive plans where you selected a coach and one was Galloway. That might work a bit better for you.
https://connect.garmin.com/features/coach/

Regarding speed, have you tried doing fartleks or 15 second sprints? I wonder if you could trick your brain into a really quick interval. I can generally convince myself to push for at least a minute. Once it gets over a few minutes though, my brain starts to wander and my effort decreases.

I've gotten several 0 percents.

I did see that they have a Galloway based plan, but I picked the "Garmin Coach" plan since it will adjust based on other watch metrics, and I thought that would be cool. Turns out, no, I like having a structured plan and forcing myself to run no matter how I feel. I'm definitely going to look into the Galloway plan for next time.

That's a good idea about trying a faster interval. I usually stick to 30/30, or use 15/30 during the summer, but I'm not opposed to trying it and see if it helps me run faster for longer! I follow an instagram account called RunGallowayGirls and they can run like 8 minute miles doing 15/30 intervals, which seems WILD to me.

I just tried to create a Coach Plan and had trouble finding it. It does still exist, but you must select "Achieve a Milestone" as your goal.

View attachment 951374

Thanks!

I agree that the Garmin plans really aren't built for r/w/r and they also aren't built for treadmill, which is what I used most of the time. I've been curious to try one since they added Galloway, though.

After hunting and pecking for the last 10 years since I started running, I've found most plans out there are for younger, faster runners with different goals. I don't want to BQ, I just want to be comfortable, not hurt, and not come in last. Parts of some plans work, but then other parts just do not. That's why I started going to DopeyBadger, since he's studied them all and combines the best aspects of what he knows works, then can apply that to any pace and to r/w/r runners too.

I have enough of his plans built up that when I feel I need one, I just go back to one of his. But I also know he's written some pretty specific plans for folks here who have made huge improvements in speed (@SheHulk comes to mind). I know he's terribly busy (which is why I'm not tagging him here), but it might be worth hitting him up for your POT attempt plan for when he does have the time.

Thanks! I'm going to check out the Galloway plan on Garmin, but DopeyBadger plans have always been good to me!

 

[nancipants]

Thanks everyone for commiserating with my wallowing. I'm feeling slightly better today, still discouraged about my ability to get a POT, but trying to focus on the positives: I can run and my fitness is improving. Today I had a 30 minute "base" run and I did it on the treadmill since I wanted to keep a steady pace. I ran for a mile straight, took a 1 minute walk break, and ran for the rest of the workout. First mile was 14:24 and second was 13:46. Running continuously at faster than 4.0 speed used to make my heart rate go into zone 3, and my max heart rate for this run was 138, so I will take that small bit of progress.

 

[avondale]

Effort-based plans are useful for me since at least half of the year is too hot and humid to run at my "best" paces. The first time the temperature gets below 60 in the fall, my easy pace drops at least 30 seconds to a minute per mile!

Amen to this, and I don't even live in Florida!

I do wonder how much the slowness of the HR monitor response is affecting everything. You could have been at threshold HR level for most of your long interval but if the HR monitor didn't catch up to that, the watch isn't going to think you've done it. Heck, you might have been above your threshold level.

 

[nancipants]

So, for poops and giggles, I changed the preferences on my plan to show me goal paces, and yeah, there’s something very off here!

Did I mess up while setting up this plan? I picked finish a race with a time goal. Should I have picked a different option?? Why do they think I should do a 11:15 pace in a warm up when my goal pace is 11:16???

I should just quit this plan, but I’m stubborn, LOL.

 

[The Expert]

So, for poops and giggles, I changed the preferences on my plan to show me goal paces, and yeah, there’s something very off here!

Did I mess up while setting up this plan? I picked finish a race with a time goal. Should I have picked a different option?? Why do they think I should do a 11:15 pace in a warm up when my goal pace is 11:16???

I should just quit this plan, but I’m stubborn, LOL.

That seems way off for sure!

 

[nancipants]

That seems way off for sure!

It's like it thinks I've already achieved this goal. Which is why I'm thinking I selected the wrong option (finish with a time goal) and I should have picked achieve a milestone. But it didn't EXPLAIN that when setting up the plan!

 

[nancipants]

I just did a bunch of squats, lunges, and dead lifts, and if this doesn’t make me run faster, I’m suing the internet for telling me it would help.

 

[sandam1]

I just did a bunch of squats, lunges, and dead lifts, and if this doesn’t make me run faster, I’m suing the internet for telling me it would help.

It might not make you faster, but it should help keep you healthy. At least that's what my physical therapist keeps telling me...

 

[The Expert]

When I started running, my trainer told me if I did nothing else, work on my glutes. If your glutes are firing, nothing else is overcompensating. Glutes + balance are the best strength training you can do to compliment running. Now I just need to practice what I preach.

 

[nancipants]

It might not make you faster, but it should help keep you healthy. At least that's what my physical therapist keeps telling me...

Anything to make me feel better during the Western Way-finish portion of the Marathon!

 

[nancipants]

Today's "Anaerobic" run, which consisted of 7 x [1 min at 7:50 pace, 3 min rest]. My average pace was 7:52 and I got an execution score of 77!



Despite feeling like I was going to puke after each interval, I really liked this workout. It was fun to push myself really hard and then have a recovery period. I'm definitely going to incorporate more like this in the future.

I was supposed to do this workout on Friday, but moved it to today since I had more time. Now Garmin wants me to do a Threshold workout tomorrow and Sprints on Friday!!! No, thank you. I'm doing just an easy run tomorrow and another speed workout Saturday (have to move it around due to plans).

Next Sunday (April 13) is my "race" day, which I'm just doing around my neighborhood. My goal is 1:10, but I'll be happy with anything faster than 1:15. The weather has gotten stupid hot again, so we'll see.