Training Log Aerobic vs anaerobic training strategies

[thegreenhand]

Lol you’ll get there quicker than you think

if you’re interested and wanna do some more reading, the concept of “reverse periodization” sort of follows what the goal is here. Basically it’s doing your intensity work early in the off season and then as races approach you transition to longer slower work and more event specific training. For something like an ultramarathon it could be great as the event specific training actually IS high volume low intensity miles on trails. Maybe I’ll have to try a 50k this summer since my road marathon got canceled this year lol

 

[Serotonin101]

Lol you’ll get there quicker than you think

if you’re interested and wanna do some more reading, the concept of “reverse periodization” sort of follows what the goal is here. Basically it’s doing your intensity work early in the off season and then as races approach you transition to longer slower work and more event specific training. For something like an ultramarathon it could be great as the event specific training actually IS high volume low intensity miles on trails. Maybe I’ll have to try a 50k this summer since my road marathon got canceled this year lol

My schools exercise science department actually used an ultramarathoner for a couple research studies lol. She was incredible and demonstrated some very interesting data points as she was a major outlier. Those people are amazing physical specimens

 

[thegreenhand]

My schools exercise science department actually used an ultramarathoner for a couple research studies lol. She was incredible and demonstrated some very interesting data points as she was a major outlier. Those people are amazing physical specimens

Yeah it something I’d like to try at some point. Trail running is almost religious in nature for me. Something about it really makes me feel connected with my soul in a way that few other things can do. I’ll be focusing on triathlon for a few years probably while I can compete for my college (it’s all club level so being on the team isn’t all that difficult lol). But it’s a very expensive sport. I haven’t been cycling lately because my bike got wrecked and I can’t afford a new wheel for it. And my bike is entry level. To compete at higher levels it’s insanely cost prohibitive

But ultras do intrigue me. It’s a very unique form of fitness but honestly I just want to run through the woods, mountains, etc. because of the spiritual and mental experiences it brings. If it gets me in shape for 50-100 mile races eventually then I might as well try em lol

 

[thegreenhand]

nov 23 2020

run
1.5 miles. maximal. 145 avg HR

a quick sprint today as i was running late for a meeting. the cold winter air feels nice but it is beginning to make it harder to breathe while exerting

 

[thegreenhand]

nov 26 2020

run
4.3 mi. 9:00 min easy pace. 135 avg HR

Trail run Back home for the holidays and i finally had car access to get out to a national park near me. Did a nice easy run on one of my favorite loops there. Wet and muddy though lol

Enjoy thanksgiving everyone, make sure to relax !!

 

[thegreenhand]

Nov 27 2020

run
3.2 mi. Maximal. 145 avg HR

trail run again. did it in 19:20 so Im Thinking on a flat course I may be able to get sub 19 min 5k maybe even sub 18. Beautiful day though

 

[RDP89]

Sep 3 2020

bike
20.3 mi. 13.3 mph avg. ~105 avg HR

was with a riding buddy of mine today so i took things slower than i probably would have on my own. That said after he had to head home i stuck out there and tested riding close to my max for a sustained time. the good news is that my cardiovascular system can take it - the bad news is that my legs can't

My legs were hitting fatigue much quicker than my heart/lungs. No matter how hard I pushed was never "running out of breath" but my legs would be crapping out. I suppose this may be good news if i can train my quads to endure longer because i still have plenty of room to go before hitting "the ceiling" with my HR. guess we'll find out...

Yeah, that's what I've found with cycling as opposed to running....it's mostly leg endurance. Sometimes with riding uphill for a sustained amount your heart rate will get pretty high, but you can never get it up there easily like with running. I ran a 3 mile race yesterday.......18.38 which isn't too bad I guess especially for my first actual race.

Today I cycled 18 miles at 14.4 mph. I prefer cycling only because when I run too much my knees go to shit very quickly. I was running about 50 miles per week at one point. So now I cross train both cycling and running but never run more than like 4 miles at once. I want to get my endurance up to where I can do 50 miles straight on the bike as my first goal with that. Good luck with the training!

 

[thegreenhand]

Yeah, that's what I've found with cycling as opposed to running....it's mostly leg endurance. Sometimes with riding uphill for a sustained amount your heart rate will get pretty high, but you can never get it up there easily like with running.

Yep haha it’s all muscular endurance, not the sort of fitness my body is used to lol

 

[thegreenhand]

Nov 28 2020

run
4.5 mi. Maximal. 110 avg HR

trail run again. HR stayed surprisingly low even during a long flat section that I really cranked out

 

[thegreenhand]

Nov 29 2020

run
8.4 mi. EZ. 130 avg HR

this was a trail run (again lol) but I really took it slow. I had my hydration pack on as I planned to do the full 13 miles of the trail but it got dark and I didn’t wanna run in the dark. So that definitely weighed me down but I still felt good on all the climbs and everything.

 

[thegreenhand]

Nov 30 2020

run
10 mins. Maximal. Avg HR 175

This was a ‘depression run’ haha. I had to drive back to school today and get back to real life. It was a much needed break at home though.

but yeah just a melancholy day and I needed to vent. There’s a beautiful 1-2 inches of snow dusted over everything and the flakes keep coming. A peaceful night for an intense run...

 

[thegreenhand]

dec 2 2020

run
8.5 miles. avg HR 175

another trail run back at school (i brought my car down). weds was a rest day and i did this one yesterday. i went too hard at the start of this one and sort of bonkws unfortunately. it was super muddy too so i had to go slower than i would have liked. so yeah... not my best workout. but at least i tried out a new trail

 

[thegreenhand]

nov 7 2020

run
1.5 mil. maximal 170 avg HR

Its been a long week y’all. Finals are kicking my ass. Have been biking around for commuting and such but not as disciplined with my workouts. Luckily I’m done on weds. Currently planning on driving down to a backpacking trail 1.5 hrs away on Thursday to celebrate the end of the semester. its a 20 mile loop that so we’ll see how I do... should be able to run it all before dark lol

 

[thegreenhand]

Nov 9 2020

bike
5 miles intense Didn’t check HR

done with finals as of today.. excited to have my days back lol

Looking like a sunny day tomorrow so I’m gonna explore a state forest that’s about 1.5 hrs away. There’s a 20 mile backpacking trail that I’m gonna run. It’s nice because it’s shaped like a figure 8 so I can park at the cross and have a water + food stored in my car almost exactly halfway through the course.

ill give a write up after, this might be nice metric to see if the plan has worked at all to improve my performance at all for longer endurance (which obv I have not been specifically training)

plus i need to get lost in the trees for a bit

 

[Serotonin101]

Nov 9 2020

bike
5 miles intense Didn’t check HR

done with finals as of today.. excited to have my days back lol

Looking like a sunny day tomorrow so I’m gonna explore a state forest that’s about 1.5 hrs away. There’s a 20 mile backpacking trail that I’m gonna run. It’s nice because it’s shaped like a figure 8 so I can park at the cross and have a water + food stored in my car almost exactly halfway through the course.

ill give a write up after, this might be nice metric to see if the plan has worked at all to improve my performance at all for longer endurance (which obv I have not been specifically training)

plus i need to get lost in the trees for a bit

Lucky duck. I'm finishing up a monster project that's worth 1/3 of my grade. On the brightside I only have 1 final next week!

 

[thegreenhand]

Lucky duck. I'm finishing up a monster project that's worth 1/3 of my grade. On the brightside I only have 1 final next week!

You’re almost there bro ! Just keep that grind up a lil bit longer

this has been a semester from hell, I’m sure you can relate haha

 

[Serotonin101]

You’re almost there bro ! Just keep that grind up a lil bit longer

this has been a semester from hell, I’m sure you can relate haha

It definitely has been. Remote learning blows. I lost an A in a class because of it. Teacher had these pre-recorded lectures that we had to watch for completion credit, and more than one of us has messaged her to tell her we were not receiving credit despite having watched it. Yet she still remains adament it's our problem and not hers so there's a handful of us who lost significant points for the class. At this point I'm glad I'm done with that class.

 

[thegreenhand]

It definitely has been. Remote learning blows. I lost an A in a class because of it. Teacher had these pre-recorded lectures that we had to watch for completion credit, and more than one of us has messaged her to tell her we were not receiving credit despite having watched it. Yet she still remains adament it's our problem and not hers so there's a handful of us who lost significant points for the class. At this point I'm glad I'm done with that class.

damn bro that's fucked. currently 2 of my classes are in person next semester (but ofc that could change) so i'm looking forward to some sense of normalcy in that aspect

but onto the run..

dec 10 2020
run

11 miles. 100-150 avg HR

So first thing you'll notice is that I only did half the distance lol. This is because i am an idiot. i prepared a bunch of trail food (PBJ sandwiches etc.) but when i was oading up my car this morning i forgot the cooler

ofc i didn't notice until i parked at the trailhead. luckily i had a banana with me in the front seat so i decided to do one of the loops at least. performance was ok... i kept a solid 7-8:00 min pace on flat sections. a bit slower on technical descents, and then i had to power hike the climbs. trying to run them wouldve been so much more energy for pretty much the same pace as hiking it. my feet did start feeling sore towards the end but i suppose that's to be expected. i guess i should note too that i wasn't trying to race on this run lol i still wanted to enjoy myself

as for the trail itself, it was really cool. pretty remote area. the trail was really overgrown in some parts and washed out in others. it basically alternated between flat (ish) ridge tops and down in the valleys with steep climbs/descents in between. unfortunately there was quite a bit of logging activity going on which did ruin the scenicness of it in parts. but i had the entire 16,000 acres to myself which was cool. no cars when i came or when i left and didn't see a soul on the trail.

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[Serotonin101]

The pics are great! Was actually gonna ask if you snapped a few as the trails you describe sound like beautiful places to see.

 

[thegreenhand]

Yeah it was beautiful haha