Apr 28

Apr 28 Oh the Struggle!

90°F Heat and hills, yeah, the struggle was real today. Holy heat and hills!!! Man, I can’t say enough how tough that felt. It’s pretty funny because that is my shortest run in about 2 weeks but it was probably my toughest. I mean, come on….I ran 18 miles on Saturday and felt great! 7.5 miles today and I struggled. It’s crazy how different a run can feel.

These workouts are no joke though. I’ve probably explained them before but I will do it again and go a little further into my understanding of the reason for them. To start, right now I am training to build my base. At least that is what I call it. My goal is to get stronger and faster. I want to be able to run faster, further and harder than I do right now. During this time when all races are on hold or canceled I figured it was a perfect time to work on my “core”.

These workouts are designed to build my VO2 Max. I’m not sure of the exact science behind it but the way I understand it is the maximum amount of oxygen your body can use during excercise. Typically it is generated in a number…..I’m sure there is some math there but I don’t know it. The bigger the number the better. Although I have never done a formal test my watch tracks my VO2 max. I’m not sure how accurate it is but I have to imagine the smart people at Garmin figured out how to get it close with the data they get. My current number is 55 which is pretty darn good for my age. I’m hoping to raise it higher.