Jogged up to LA Fitness hoping to sneak in on Joan's card. They had the card reader turned around for self-swiping, but the woman at the front desk never left her post and I was too chicken to attempt entry. After loitering outside the door for about 10 minutes, I gave up and decided to give the Del Norte High School track a try.
The warm-up run up to LA Fitness measured 1.2 miles on the Nike+, taking me 10:15 to get there. That's about an 8:30 pace with about half the distance uphill. Measuring the distance on MapMyRun, I get 1.25 miles, which improves my measured pace to 8:20-ish. Either way, I didn't feel comfortable, still feeling sore from yesterday's run and slightly fatigued overall. My calf felt a little twinge of strain during the run up to the gym, so I chose to walk the mile to DNHS.
The stadium complex was open, with something going on at the aquatic center. I had the track to myself and decided to re-calibrate the Nike+ during my workout. My task was to run 5K at HM pace, which I figure is around 7:45 at best and 8:00 at worst. I wound up sort of doing mile repeats instead. Was that a mistake?
I did a couple of walking 440s to see what the Nike+ would say, and both times it was spot on at .25 miles as I did each lap in 4 minutes. I followed that with a test run of 4 laps - 1 mile - which I finished in 7:29. Nike+ measured the distance as .95 miles.
So I walked another quarter to rest and then ran a calibration run, finishing another mile in 7:30. I counted my strides on each lap: 332, 334, 334, and 332. That equals 1332 strides over 5280 feet or 63360 inches. That would mean that at that pace, my stride length is 47.6 inches and my stride rate around 177-178. I felt like it was a comfortable pace, and one that I would like to see as my half marathon pace, although right now it's probably more like something I can sustain for maybe an hour or 8 miles before I'd start to tire and slow. But it's a good baseline pace for calibration, I think.
I walked another 440 for rest and recovery and then tried another mile to test the calibration, only this time pushing the pace just a little. I did 4 laps in 7:02, and the Nike+ got it right, reading 1 mile completed. I counted my paces again and pretty much hit 326 on each lap, or 1304 overall. So, at around a 7:00 pace, my stride length would be 48.6 and my stride rate about 186 strides per minute. That still felt pretty comfortable for the mile, but that's definitely more a 5K pace and not something I could sustain for much longer than that. Maybe, if I'm running 7:30 for 13.1, I'll be able to do 7:00 for 6.2. Not yet though.
Another quarter mile resting walk, and I did one more mile at pace, this time specifically trying to run slowly, or around 2:00 per lap. I wound up with splits of 1:55, 1:51: 1:55 and 1:53 for a total of 7:34. My stride counts were close to 340 per lap, meaning I was taking a few more strides over the same distance at around the same pace I had run a couple of repeats ago. 1360 strides in 1 mile in 7:34 means 46.6 inch strides at a rate of 179-180 strides per minute. I have to think about what that means, but initially, I think that as I consciously tried to run a tad more slowly (like around a 7:45-8:00 mile), I shortened my stride but wound up increasing my stride rate, which boosted my speed a little more than I wanted. Nike+ still correctly measured the repeat at 1.0 mile, so it looks like that calibration is holding.
So, all told, I completed 4x1 mile repeats, plus the 1 mile warm up jog, making my running total 5 miles at an average pace of around 7:40. That's a little bit faster than my current HM pace and 2 miles more than what Mike and Clarence wanted me to run today. Do I tell them the truth? I know today was supposed to be recovery from the Fartlek, but I'm not sure I did that. I felt good on the track; at least better than I did during that first mile. I'm hoping they'll schedule me a rest day from running tomorrow though. I feel like I could use it. I'd like to swim again tomorrow.
I walked the mile home from the track, which put my walking distance in at 3.25 or so. That should count for something too.
Today marks the final day of my 4-week effort to get a little leaner and try to affect my cholesterol through diet and exercise one last time before contemplating medicines. I'm weighing 143 to 143.5 now with my waistline at 31.5. That would put my body fat composition at 15.4-15.7% according to the table, though the scale is still reading out 16%. I'm guessing that might be due to rounding and the margin for error that bio-impedance is known for.
A little over a year ago, I took a photo of what I think was me at my leanest. I was weighing 144-145 in August 2009. I'm lighter now, but I don't think I'm as lean.
I had more "cut" and a little more muscle definition. I'd really like to lose that remaining abdominal and waistline fat. Joan thinks I'm took skinny now. What'll she think if I drop down to 142 or less? I'd really like to see what it's like at 13% body fat, which for me about 140 lbs. and a 30" waistline.
My calorie deficit tally over these past 4 weeks has been 2450, which should equate to -2.3 lbs. Instead, I'm only down around 1.5 lbs, so I must have some error in my daily calorie count or in the estimation of what my daily BMR is. I'm definitely not over-counting my calorie burn rate. I think the most likely suspect is un-counted calories from foods (snacks) that I forget to record. It's just a surprise to me to think I could have swept over 3500 calories under the carpet, but that only 100C per day, so that's entirely possible. My downfall is the evening snacking.
Lots of number crunching here. Am I being obsessive? Now that I'm 18 weeks out from the Carlsbad marathon and through with the weight loss/fat loss goal, I'm going to relax on the calorie-counting and just focus on eating right and following the workout regimen. My goal is to gain stamina and strength, build my mileage and avoid injury. If I do that, the fat will be held at bay, and so, too, will my cholesterol...I hope.
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