Breaking 15 #2
Weeks 3-4: October 21 to November 3 | 37.16 miles, 6:26:11 run time, 10:22 pace
Howdy! Welcome to the second issue of the Breaking 15 Journal. My impossible goal is to run a 5K faster than 15 minutes. I published the first issue two weeks ago. The format is similar to last week but will continuously evolve. Your feedback is welcomed.
Notables
I ran 100.20 miles in October. This is the first time I reached this milestone in a calendar month since February 2021. The cost, it seems, is sleep deprivation. I slept an average of 6.30 hours per night, the lowest in any calendar month since April 2017.
Due to feeling like death, I didn’t complete any speed runs the week of October 27.
I started experimenting with running in zone 2 according to my rate of perceived exertion (RPE) instead of heart rate. The jury is still out—and will be out for a while—on whether this is best for me.
The 10 Min. Post-Run Stretch video by Mady Morrison is still my go-to yoga session post-run. For me, it’s perfect. Her other yoga videos are also great.
Aches & Pains
My mid-bottom right foot ache is gone. It was with me for more than a month. Changing what I did with my right foot when sitting was key.
I felt sick on and off from October 24-27 but never got sick. I felt like death on October 31 but felt better the days after.
Chest tightness and related symptoms (read this post for the background) returned during the final day days of October and continued into November.
On October 23, at the start of my final quarter-mile sprint, I felt a sharp pain on (or right next door to) my knee. It let up while I was walking home but returned while taking my shoes off after walking inside my apartment. It felt fine the rest of the day. Since then, I’ve felt sensations in both knees on and off, mostly while running.
The blister on the corner of my left big toe remains. It’s not worse and not better. It’s just hanging out.
Runs
I ran less in these two weeks than I did in the previous two weeks, contributing to my faster per-mile pace.
In the lists below, the RPE (rate of perceived exertion), heart rate, feels like temperature, and sleep metrics are averages for the week.
October 21-27
3:16:45 total time running
18.57 total miles run
10:36 per mile pace
160 ft total elevation gained
110 total effort
134 bpm heart rate
64 feels like temperature
6:46 hours of sleep
61 minutes of yoga
On October 23, I ran a quarter-mile sprint followed by a quarter-mile walk/jog, repeated four times. I also added a half-mile warmup and a half-mile cooldown. The final split was the slowest due to sharp knee pain. The quarter-mile splits were 1:32, 1:29, 1:36, and 1:48. The quarter-mile split paces were 6:08, 5:55, 6:23, and 7:11.
October 28 to November 3
3:09:26 total time running
18.59 total miles run
10:10 per mile pace
60 ft total elevation gained
107 total effort
2.4 RPE
131 bpm heart rate
63 feels like temperature
6:39 hours of sleep
90 minutes of yoga
This is the first full week I tracked my perceived exertion (RPE).
Moving Forward
My only goal for November is to sleep an average of seven hours per night. Running 100 miles in October seemed to impact my running negatively. Thus, I’ll likely run 50-75 miles in November, 25-50% less than the 100.20 miles I ran in December.
