30km on Somewhat Tired Legs

This morning I finally did a quality long walk, 30 kilometers. I liked the route from yesterday's bike ride so I decided to walk it. I had to go to the end of the pier in order to make it to 15k before heading back. However, I took a couple of extra turns on the way out so I also had to add a lap around the parking lot in order to make it to 30k.

Now that the software is working I pulled a load of data from this walk and edited it down to some statistics that might be useful.

Average Pace = 6:49 min/km (10:58 min/mile)
Best = km 14   5:18        ( 8:31 min/mile)

Data                    Value   Unit
Duration                3:24:30
Sampling Rate           5       s
Running Index           53

Energy Expenditure      1847    kcal
Number of Heart Beats   28437   beats
Recovery                -42     beats
Minimum Heart Rate      103     bpm
Average Heart Rate      139     bpm
Maximum Heart Rate      154     bpm
Standard Deviation      5.9     bpm

Minimum Pace            12:46   min/km
Average Pace             6:49   min/km
Maximum Pace             4:34   min/km
Distance                30.0    km

Minimum Cadence         44      rpm
Average Cadence         72      rpm
Maximum Cadence         87      rpm

.                           Heart Rate        Speed                 Stride
km  Time        Lap Time    Max   Avg   Min   min/km Avg    Cadence Length
01. 0:06:16.5   0:06:16.5   135   125   103   6:49   6:49   72      111
02. 0:13:07.7   0:06:51.2   139   135   130   6:45   6:47   70      105
03. 0:20:33.2   0:07:25.5   142   136   129   7:25   7:00   70       96
04. 0:27:52.8   0:07:19.6   140   135   130   7:25   7:06   71       96
05. 0:34:44.1   0:06:51.3   142   135   128   6:53   7:03   71      102
06. 0:41:33.4   0:06:49.3   141   136   132   6:55   7:02   71      103
07. 0:48:25.5   0:06:52.1   152   135   128   7:04   7:02   71      102
08. 0:55:46.2   0:07:20.7   153   139   129   7:23   7:05   71       95
09. 1:03:17.6   0:07:31.4   144   137   129   7:36   7:08   71       93
10. 1:10:12.7   0:06:55.1   139   134   127   6:55   7:07   71      102
11. 1:17:54.9   0:07:42.2   142   135   130   7:43   7:10   70       92
12. 1:25:30.3   0:07:35.4   147   135   126   7:49   7:13   72       91
13. 1:31:25.7   0:05:55.4   149   141   134   6:01   7:08   73      115
14. 1:36:43.6   0:05:17.9   151   146   140   5:20   7:00   76      124
15. 1:43:06.4   0:06:22.8   150   139   131   6:27   6:58   73      108
16. 1:48:51.9   0:05:45.5   149   141   137   5:53   6:54   74      116
17. 1:54:27.4   0:05:35.5   144   140   136   5:40   6:50   74      120
18. 1:59:59.2   0:05:31.8   146   142   135   5:34   6:45   74      122
19. 2:07:12.9   0:07:13.7   145   140   133   7:16   6:47   70       99
20. 2:14:25.8   0:07:12.9   147   141   133   7:14   6:48   71       98
21. 2:21:50.3   0:07:24.5   148   138   128   7:32   6:50   70       95
22. 2:28:10.2   0:06:19.9   143   136   129   6:22   6:49   72      110
23. 2:35:29.8   0:07:19.6   142   138   133   7:18   6:50   71       96
24. 2:42:30.9   0:07:01.1   144   138   132   7:15   6:51   72       99
25. 2:49:32.9   0:07:02.0   145   141   135   7:04   6:52   71      100
26. 2:56:37.0   0:07:04.1   144   139   134   7:11   6:53   72       98
27. 3:03:18.4   0:06:41.4   154   146   139   6:36   6:52   72      103
28. 3:10:49.8   0:07:31.4   152   146   141   7:39   6:54   74       90
29. 3:17:41.1   0:06:51.3   150   145   138   7:01   6:54   72      101
30. 3:24:19.4   0:06:38.3   151   147   140   6:39   6:53   74      101

Yikes! That's lots of information!

The bottom line is that it was a good workout, especially considering that yesterday I did speed work and went on a 30k bike ride. There were a few hills so that might account for some of the variations in speed but the fastest kilometers I recall that I was trying to chase down a couple of runners. I didn't catch them but felt that I could have pushed a little harder had I not been thinking that I was only halfway through the walk.

Note that there is a discrepancy between the lap time and the pace. I think it is because it doesn't always auto mark the laps at exactly the same distance, but it does average out over the course of several auto laps.

A Little of This, A Little of That

Today I was sort of a Triathalon day. Sort of because instead of running I racewalked, instead of riding a racing bicycle I tried out a recumbent and instead of an open water swim I soaked in a jacuzzi.

I am very courious about recumbent bicycles, probably because they aren't mainstream, and today I finally got to experience riding one. The bike, a custom made Haluzak, belongs to a friend. We rode it on the beach bike path between Marina Del Rey and the Manhattan Beach pier. It was a blast and quite different from my old Trek diamond frame "city" bicycle. No danger jumping in and ordering one of these--the news on the recumbent bicycle blogs is that the maker closed shop and the plug was pulled from company website.

It started like most Saturdays, speed work with the Southern Cal Walkers. Today we did an easy lap, the next lap at a good 75-80% effort and a lap at race pace. We got videotaped so we'll be able to check out our form when we find the time to gather in someone's home. I left the watch on auto lap and "free" run. Instead of trying to break down today's workout I'll just post the graphic from the Polar software--now that I've finally got everything working.

Found Last Saturday's Workout

It is a little lame to be posting this almost a week late, but I figured out how to access last Saturday's workout. It started with some 200 meters repeats followed by a couple of 300 meters and finished with a 400 meters. It was a good time to check the accuracy of the RS800sd's distance measurement. I think that some of the variations were more my fault not starting or stopping the watch exactly on the mark so I'm not sure whether to believe the watch's readings or my pace calculations. In any case, it was a good workout.

1st 200 meters Pace=4:41.0 min/km 7:32.2 min/mile

Start Time:     7:27:18
Total Distance: 0.14 km
Total Workout:  0:56.2
Heart Rate:     164 bpm
Cadence:        67
Stride:         109cm
Pace:           6:00 min/km

2nd 200 meters Pace=5:31.5 min/km 8:53.5 min/mile

Start Time:     7:29:37
Total Distance: 0.20 km
Total Workout:  1:06.3
Heart Rate:     175 bpm
Cadence:        83
Stride:         107cm
Pace:           5:24 min/km

3rd 200 meters Pace=5:42.5 min/km 9:11.2 min/mile

Start Time:     7:32:01
Total Distance: 0.19 km
Total Workout:  1:08.5
Heart Rate:     174 bpm
Cadence:        84
Stride:         98cm
Pace:           5:54 min/km

4th 200 meters Pace=5:31.5 min/km 8:53.5 min/mile

Start Time:     7:35:31
Total Distance: 0.19 km
Total Workout:  1:02.9
Heart Rate:     164 bpm
Cadence:        85
Stride:         107cm
Pace:           5:33 min/km

5th 200 meters Pace=5:12.0 min/km 8:22.1 min/mile

Start Time:     7:39:04
Total Distance: 0.18 km
Total Workout:  1:02.4
Heart Rate:     170 bpm
Cadence:        90
Stride:         96cm
Pace:           5:17 min/km

6th 200 meters Pace=5:02.0 min/km 8:06.0 min/mile

Start Time:     7:43:13
Total Distance: 0.16 km
Total Workout:  1:00.4
Heart Rate:     164 bpm
Cadence:        78
Stride:         96cm
Pace:           5:51 min/km

1st 300 meters Pace=5:33.7 min/km 8:57.0 min/mile

Start Time:     7:47:41
Total Distance: 0.27 km
Total Workout:  1:40.1
Heart Rate:     169 bpm
Cadence:        79
Stride:         101cm
Pace:           6:07 min/km

2nd 300 meters Pace=5:30.0 min/km 8:51.1 min/mile

Start Time:     7:52:36
Total Distance: 0.27 km
Total Workout:  1:39.0
Heart Rate:     165 bpm
Cadence:        79
Stride:         103cm
Pace:           6:08 min/km

400 meters Pace=5:19.0 min/km 8:33.4 min/mile

Start Time:     7:59:24
Total Distance: 0.36 km
Total Workout:  2:07.6
Heart Rate:     173 bpm
Cadence:        77
Stride:         109cm
Pace:           5:48 min/km

I'm not sure why there are discrepancies between my calculated pace and the watch's pace even when the distance measured the same as on the track markings--like on the 2nd 200 meters.

In any case, this morning I did an easy walk with Rosie. Nothing to brag about but I did wear the watch so here's what we did:

Start Time:     6:38:59
Total Distance: 4.48 km
Total Workout:  44:06.4
Heart Rate:     100 bpm
Cadence:        58
Stride:         86cm
Pace:           9:51 min/km (15:51.1 min/mile)

5K at 29:37.6

I was falling way behind in my training because of all the workouts that I missed this week so I decided to do a 15 kilometer walk to make up for it. I was feeling pretty good and here's how it went:

Start Time:     6:00:29
Total Distance: 15.04 km
Total Workout:  1:31:06
Zone 1 = 00:00:16 very light ( 50-60% HRmax)
Zone 2 = 00:00:42 light      ( 60-70% HRmax)
Zone 3 = 00:05:54 moderate   ( 70-80% HRmax)
Zone 4 = 01:24:14 hard       ( 80-90% HRmax)
Zone 5 = 00:00:00 maximum    (90-100% HRmax)
Average Pace:  6:03 min/km   ( 9:44 min/mile)
Max Pace:      4:14 min/km   ( 6:49 min/mile)
Best Lap= 9 at 5:48.1        ( 9:20 min/mile)
Kilometer ## - Lap Time - Average Heart Rate - Cadence - Stride Length
1 - 6:10.2 141bpm 72 113cm  6 - 5:56.1 162bpm 76 111cm 11 - 6:24.6 163bpm 75 104cm
2 - 6:06.5 158bpm 74 110cm  7 - 6:06.5 160bpm 74 110cm 12 - 6:19.9 157bpm 73 108cm
3 - 6:07.5 160bpm 74 109cm  8 - 5:49.8 161bpm 76 113cm 13 - 6:02.6 159bpm 75 110cm
4 - 5:52.4 160bpm 75 112cm  9 - 5:48.1 160bpm 75 115cm 14 - 5:53.3 159bpm 76 112cm
5 - 6:14.2 159bpm 74 108cm 10 - 5:57.1 162bpm 76 111cm 15 - 5:59.9 163bmp 77 107cm

After writing down all my splits I noticed something interesting from kilometers 6-10. Plugging the numbers into a spreadsheet, that second 5K split time was 29:37.6. So I reached another goal--5K under 30 minutes. I never thought I'd do it in the middle of a 15K morning workout!

Since this was longer than my usual morning workouts I took along a couple of 8 ounce bottles of my homebrewed honey/salt concoction* and a packet of GU. Before starting I drank 16 ounces of the concoction* and took sips every lap, about 2.5 kilometers. At the halfway point I swallowed the GU and took some more fluid. Overall, it was a good combination and I had plenty of fluid left at the end of 15 kilometers. This would probably be just the right amount under the same conditions on a half-marathon.

*1/4 cup honey and 1/4 teaspoon lite salt dissolved in one quart of warm water, refrigerated overnight.

Good Quality, Not Much Quantity

The issue of the time and energy devoted to work taking away from the amount of racewalking I can get in the mornings continues. This time it isnt' so much my job but Rosie's. She has been getting up way too early and coming home very late. It isn't always work that's a distraction--Tuesday we had a DreamWorks Animation night at the Giants/Dodger baseball game.

I did get a good walk in on Tuesday morning:

Start Time:     6:27:50
Total Distance: 5.02 km
Total Workout:  31:15.6
Zone 1 = 00:01:05 very light ( 50-60% HRmax)
Zone 2 = 00:00:56 light      ( 60-70% HRmax)
Zone 3 = 00:08:00 moderate   ( 70-80% HRmax)
Zone 4 = 00:21:14 hard       ( 80-90% HRmax)
Zone 5 = 00:00:00 maximum    (90-100% HRmax)
Average Pace:  6:13 min/km   (10:00 min/mile)
Max Pace:      4:19 min/km   ( 6:56 min/mile)
Best Lap=3 at  6:05.3        ( 9:47 min/mile)
Kilometer ## - Lap Time - Average Heart Rate - Cadence - Stride Length
1 - 6:19.5 134bpm 72 109cm
2 - 6:23.4 152bpm 76 102cm
3 - 6:05.3 159bpm 77 106cm
4 - 6:08.2 158bpm 77 105cm
5 - 6:13.5 168bpm 81  98cm

Almost to that 30 minute 5K. I would have gotten even closer if I would have started timing after warming up instead of including the warmup kilometers. I've got to get used to the idea that I can start when ever I feel ready and walk where ever I want and the Polar RS800sd will keep track of all the statistics. That's quite a freeing sort of feeling.

Bottom line, I'm not getting in all the workouts that I'd like, but the ones that I'm doing are pretty good quality.

Lost in Time

Well--not really lost in time like in a science fiction story, but I can't figure out how to get today's workout statistics out of my new running watch. I did speed work with the Southern Cal Walkers and kept up with Pedro Santoni for a while longer than usual. That's because it was a shorter workout, 5x 200 meters, 3x 300 meters and 1x 400 meters. I turned off auto lapping at 1 kilometer intervals and instead started and stopped a new workout on each of the repeats. The distance was pretty accurate for the most part but I can only read the last 400 meters statistics--where did all the other repeats go? I can't even find the workouts that were stored from earlier in the week.

Oh well, that ends a rather crazy week where I worked so much overtime that I didn't have time for my Thursday and Friday morning workouts. The good news is that the distance measurements on the RS800sd seems pretty accurate, the most it was off was on the last 400 meters, which is the only repeat that I can retrieve right now.

Start Time:     7:59:24
Total Distance: 0.36 km
Total Workout:  2:07.6
Heart Rate
Min = 131bpm (68%)
Max = 181bpm (94%)
Avg = 173bpm (90%)
Cadence
Max = 106
Avg =  77
Stride Length Avg = 109cm
Pace min/km
Max = 03:34
Avg = 05:48

That's what the watch says, but it was 400 meters, 0.40 kilometers so the pace was actually 5:17 min/km or 8:30 min/mile. Too bad I don't have the times for all the repeats, I did one of the 200 meters under a minute. That's better than 5:00 min/km or 8:02 min/mile pace. This is the fastest I've ever racewalked--though not very far!

Post on Racewalking yahoogroups

Things got crazy at work. We're having a screening Saturday and I was at work late last night and had to get back early in the morning so no time for today's workout. However, it was hurry up and wait so during some idle time I answered a post on the racewaking forum at yahoogroups.

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Howdy.
Been a semi lurker,begining racewalker trying to learn from the
really fast folks in this group.
I just made a personnel goal of breaking 10 minutes per mile for a
road 5K. 31:01 at 52 years old and 4 years of racewalking. Endurance
athlete for 40 years-ex-runner - too many knee surgeries.
Anyway. My question for the fast folks. Was there any kind of
specific workouts or drills that really took you to the next level
of speed in racewalking ? I am use to running track drills. I view
racewalking as being similar to X-country skiing and swimming. In
that it is mostly technique and the better your technique the faster
you go. That technique has more effect on speed then being in shape.

Any input from the fast folks ? Am I just dreaming about a silver
bullet - and I just need to "walk faster to walk faster" ?

Thanks in Advance
Mike "wannabe a fast racewalker" Madigan
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Hi Mike,

I'm also a lurker on this dicussion board but your comment brought me out of the woodwork:

> I just made a personnel goal of breaking 10 minutes per mile for a
> road 5K. 31:01 at 52 years old and 4 years of racewalking. Endurance
> athlete for 40 years-ex-runner - too many knee surgeries.

I'm also 52 but have been racewalking for less than a year. I turned to racewalking after injuring my knees running but even with the more "knee friendly" walking gait I've managed to over stress my knees whenever I broke that 10 minute per mile barrier.

> Anyway. My question for the fast folks. Was there any kind of
> specific workouts or drills that really took you to the next level
> of speed in racewalking ?

Just recently I was able to get the that "next level" without the pain. You are probably experienced enough to know about properly warming up before and stretching after every workout, that's even more important for us 50 something athletes, but here are some other tips that helped me out.

1. Take a class. I took Dave McGovern's beginners clinic but there are others too. Philip Dunn and Jeff Salvage also teach some classes.

2. Join a group. The group I joined, Southern Cal Walkers, meets every Saturday and they vary their drills so it isn't boring. One of my favorite games is trying to keep up with the fastest racewalker, even if it is only for a lap or two. Our fastest guy is Pedro Santoni and just by following him around the track I've gone faster than I ever dreamed--short sprints close to a 6 minute mile pace.

3. Get a good running watch. Something that can give you constant feedback of your heart rate and pace is very helpful. I just got a Polar RS800sd and it gives real time information about cadence and stride length along with speed and distance. Although I haven't figured it out yet, it can also send alarms if you are above or below a set pace or heart rate--probably not legal in a race but very useful for workouts.

> ...That technique has more effect on speed then being in shape.

That brings up the next tip:

4. Concentrate on technique before speed. That's what messed up my knees, I wanted to go faster with poor technique and pounded the heck out of my knees. Racewalking should be a smooth and flowing movement. In fact it wasn't running but bad running technique caused my knee problems in the first place.

> Am I just dreaming about a silver
> bullet - and I just need to "walk faster to walk faster" ?

One last tip along those lines--at least for me there was a silver bullet:

5. Strength training. I do a quick set of 30 reps for each exercise. When I injured my knees I was referred to Dr. Robert Klapper who authored a couple of books, Heal Your Knees and Heal Your Hips, and instead of prescribing rest for orthopedic patients he emphasises strength and mobility exercises. I got a simple bench with a leg extension, leg curl attachement, some some ankle weights and an elastic band and do strength training two to three times per week. And don't just do legs, abs play a big part in proper technique and saving your back.

These tips probably won't get you into the Olympic 'A' standard pace, but a 10 min/mile for a 52 year old on a 5K, 10K or even a 20K, should be a reasonable goal. By the way, at 51 Mark Green kept up an 8:55 mile pace for 50K, but that's a master's record.

--Dan