18 Miles with a Heart Rate Monitor

Starting to add to the gadgets once again. I got a heart rate monitor--albeit the simplist one that I could find, a Polar B1. Don't bother looking for it at the "official" site, it is too basic to make the list. I got it at a good price, $30, through drugstore.com. In Dave McGovern's clinic we did some heart rate monitor training and it was quite interesting. According to the test we did in class, my maximum heart rate is about 191 beats per minute (bpm) which is pretty good because if I would have used the rule of thumb method (220 - Age = Maximum Heart Rate) I'm 29 years old! (Actually, I'm 51.) Another measure is lactate threshold, which is the point at which the body can clear the lactate acid from the muscles, and that came out to about 172 bpm. A general endurance walk like today should be done at around 65 to 75% of maximum heart rate, about 124-143 bpm. But that's not how it went.

The easy first mile started out at 145 bpm and most of the walk was around 155 bpm. Towards the end it got warmer, I was getting tired and I was pushing harder on the last few miles, it was up to about 165 bpm. Anyway, this is the first time using a heart rate monitor so I don't have enough experience to know how much my heart rate fluctuates during these training walks.

I started the walk at the Santa Monica Beach pier at 8am and headed past the Venice Beach pier, 6 miles round trip for three laps. By the time it was over I had dodged three bicycles, slowed down for a downed Rollerblader, stopped to kiss my wife twice (who was doing a much shorter walk with our dog) and weaved my way through countless pedestrians. Still, I managed to get close to my 13 min/mile goal pace for this walk--my marathon goal is 12 min/mile. Here are the numbers:

Mile  1 - 12:21            Mile  7 - 12:46          Mile 13 - 12:09
Mile  2 - 13:39            Mile  8 - 13:34          Mile 14 - 13:06
Mile  3 - 13:11            Mile  9 - 13:14          Mile 15 - 12:49
Mile  4 - 13:11            Mile 10 - 13:35          Mile 16 - 13:02
Mile  5 - 13:10            Mile 11 - 13:05          Mile 17 - 13:24
Mile  6 - 12:00            Mile 12 - 12:11          Mile 18 - 12:13

Total Time - 03:52:40
Average Pace - 12:55 minutes/mile

Great, I was able to beat the 13 min/mile goal even though I did start out too fast--as usual. Now how about crunching some of these numbers. First of all, did I have a negative split? This means that the second half was done faster than the first half.

First Half - 1:57:06
Second Half - 2:08:48

Even though it fealt like I was giving it much more effort on the second half, I didn't make a negative split. In fact the second half was almost 11 minutes longer. That could be attributed to getting tired, the temperature got hotter and the crowds that kept growing later in the day, especially in Venice Beach.

Now how about some other split times?

Approximate 10K Split - 1:17:32
Approximate 20K Split - 2:35:57
Approximate 1/2 Marathon time - 2:49:00
Approximate 30K Split - 3:52:40

These are some of the splits that are listed in the L.A. Marathon results for 2006. If this were the actual marathon I would be somewhere in the middle of the racewalk division. Of course there is still a long way to go after mile 18. In addition, if this were a real marathon I might have tried to do 12 instead of 13 min/miles and right now I'd probably hit the wall well before crossing the finish line.

There is still five months before the L.A. Marathon. I often wonder if I will I make it to 12 minute/miles by then?

Solana Beach Racewalk Clinic Photos

Dave McGovern put up some photos from the Solana Beach racewalking clinic:

http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/marchista/racewalk/solana.htm

In case the link breaks, here are the photos he posted.


The mandatory group photo.


Sloan tortures Dan -- Yes, that's me getting a workout.


Neighborhood walk

Lucky 13

This morning I wanted to see how close I could get to 13 minute/miles, without looking my watch every other minute! This should be my pace for the 18 mile long slow walk tomorrow. Here's how I did:

Mile 1 - 12:30
Mile 2 - 12:55
Mile 3 - 12:44
Average - 12:43
Total Time - 38:10

Still going out a bit too fast even though it feels slow, should be no problem doing all 18 miles at a 13 min./mi. average. Why pick this pace? It is about a minute below what I hope will be my marathon pace come March 4, 2007.

Not much to report for yesterday. It was just a very easy walk with Rosie followed by lots of stretching. The stretching seems to be doing the trick--no more aches that used to be a part of the "no pain no gain" way of making it though a marathon training program.

Trying to find my Groove

This morning I tried to do a smooth pace of around 12 min/mile. I thought I had it on the first mile but came in way under 12 min. Slowing down a bit I couldn't find something that fealt good and when I saw how far off I was, I gave up and did a cool down walk on the last mile. Funny thing was that my cool off pace was faster than when I started racewalking a few weeks ago (14 min/mile).

Mile 1 - 11:40 * New PR
Mile 2 - 12:24
Mile 3 - 13:56
Average Pace - 12:40/mile

So what is The Groove? Well, it seems that once I get into a balance between the right pace, technique and mental state, it doesn't feel like I'm walking. It feels like running, but not really. Hard to explain it but maybe it would make sense if it can be compared to a boat just plying through the water and one planing over the water. All of a sudden the drag on the hull diminishes and the boat is moving much faster using the same amount of power. Try walking fast, not race walking just regular walking, then switch from a fast walk to a slow jog. It feels more comfortable, you're using less energy yet you're going faster. That's what it feels like when I hit the racewalking Groove. Of course right now I'm doing the equivalent of a slow jog and haven't moved into a full run pace, but my slow jog is pretty much the same feel and speed as what I'm hitting now when racewalking. The difference is that when I run long distances I take walking breaks and when racewalking it isn't quite so obvious--but I know when I fall out of my Groove.

Now here's something to ponder. When I was running I took walk breaks to recover. There was no way to I could run a full three miles, much less a marathon, without those walking breaks at the beginning of my training. Looking at the interval training I did earlier in the week, the average pace was pretty good even though much of the time I was walking relatively slow. Back to when I was running, eventually I could run a full 6 miles after extending my run intervals and diminishing the walking intervals. Maybe that's what I should do with racewalking--speed and recover intervals? Or maybe I need to find the right pace where I can go at a speed where recovery walks aren't necessary?

Weighing In

I'm not much into watching my weight, I'd rather go by how I look and feel, but this morning I stepped on the scale. When I first started racewalking after a running injury I weighed in at 165 lbs., that was less than two months ago, today I weigh 155 lbs. but more importantly I feel much better.

Yesterday I got up too late to do a morning workout--had my earplugs in and didn't hear the alarm. So I decided to do a hill climb after work. The course was going up La Cienega Blvd. from Beverly all the way up to Sunset. It starts out as a gradual incline and keeps getting steeper and steeper as you approach Sunset Blvd. No racewalking, but it got my heartrate up.

This morning I tried some interval work. This was the first time using the interval timer on the Timex. I thought I had it figured out, two minutes hard, one minute easy, but on the last mile I fealt something was wrong so I looked at the watch and I was doing two minutes easy and one minute hard! Even with that screwing up the walk I was still able to put in a decent overall pace:

Mile 1 -- 12:16
Mile 2 -- 12:16
Mile 3 -- 12:56

Finishing off this hard day I did some of the exercises from Dave McGovern's clinic followed by lots of stretching. This isn't something that I would be able to do every day unless I set the alarm clock earlier--got to rush off to work now!

Message from the Master

After that big improvement in my pace, I thought it appropriate to send a thank you message and post it on Daves World Class Racewalking Clinic Alumni Association message board:

Solana Beach weekend

Just a quick thanks for a great workshop at Solana Beach last weekend. After taking a week to recover, and changing my weekday workouts I was able to take off a minute off my mile pace. Nothing really earth shattering but before the workshop I did 6 miles at 13:30 min/mile and yesterday I did 8 miles at 12:30 min/mile and didn't get nearly as tired. My best mile yet is 11:41 so I've still got lots of room for improvement.

Thanks again Dave, and thanks Karen for being a great hostess and Sloan for the workout!

And I got a reply from the master himself--Dave McGovern:

Dan,

Nothing to sneeze at? Are you kidding? If I could take a minute off my best mile pace I'd have the world record! The best part is you're going farther at that pace and feeling good aftewards! Racewalking is all about technique. It can be a gradual proccess, but that's a good thing. Steady improvement over time!

ok

DMcG

Long Not So Slow Day

Today was the long slow day. We went to our usual venue starting at Venice Beach and I figured that I'd do the whole walk with whatever speed my first mile time would be. I was surprised that it was under 13 minutes, it was only a warm up, but that's how I set my pace. I also saw one of the participants from Dave McGovern's clinic out there--but she was going way too fast for me to keep up so we just exchanged polite hellos.

Anyway, here are the times for the 8 mile walk:

Mile 1 - 12:50
Mile 2 - 12:55
Mile 3 - 12:58
Mile 4 - 11:57
Mile 5 - 12:59
Mile 6 - 12:10
Mile 7 - 12:09
Mile 8 - 12:52
Average Pace - 12:36
Total Time - 1:40:54

Whoo hoo! Now if I can get my pace down half a minute and keep it up for 26.2 miles I'd be a happy camper--but now is not the time to beat myself up on the long walks. I have to admit, this one fealt really good and comfortable.

I'm not sure if the mile markers are all that accurate, that 11:57 mile seemed a little out of place, but what followed that was crossing the bridge at the Santa Monica Pier. Whoa, that took a lot out of me but was able to recover and pick up the pace again.

In any case, it is all good.