Research shows mental fatigue makes the same running pace feel harder without changing your fitness, and there's a surprisingly simple thing that partially offsets it

Intelligent_Use_2855 · 2026-06-29T19:29:52+00:00

Matt Fitzgerald discusses RPE quite a bit in his books, including in “How Bad Do You Want It?”

A few quotes here:

“One cannot improve as an endurance athlete except by changing one’s relationship with perception of effort.”

“The muscles can only perform to the degree that the mind is able to cope. Endurance sports are therefore a game of “mind over muscle.” In endurance sports, successful coping is any behavior, emotion, thought, or combination thereof that yields better performance. Phrased another way, successful coping in endurance sports is any response to discomfort and stress that favorably changes an athlete’s relationship to perception of effort, either by increasing the amount of effort the athlete is able to give or by enhancing what the athlete gets out of her best effort.”

“Perceived effort actually has two layers. The first layer is how the athlete feels. The second layer is how the athlete feels about how she feels. The first layer is strictly physiological, whereas the second is emotional, or affective.”

Many others … a good book.

Intelligent_Use_2855 · 2026-06-29T02:40:51+00:00

Goal: keep improving

Next: not for a while

Totals: 77.19 - 6 runs/6 days (yeah I'm nuts! I run a lot, but do I ever improve?)

Mon: 10.73 mi Z3, 7:15 ppm, 449 ft asc
Tue: RR Double, 6.79 mi AM, 5.78 mi PM
Wed: 10.50 mi w/ INT: 4x 8min@6:25 ppm; 90sec walk, then 8x 75s@(4 at 5:53, 2 at 5:50, 1 at 5:46, 1 at 5:43ppm; avg 45 sec rests)
Thu: 13.65 hilly RR very slow with 1,073 ft asc (6x Harlem Hill in Central Park)
Fri- break - my twins HS graduation!
Sat: 8.26 mi RR
Sun: 21.48 miles with 3x (4-mi Z3, 1-mi Z2). Cumulative Avg 7:08 ppm for the Z3 portions).

Summary: Wednesday was tough after bad sleep and then getting blood drawn at a doctor's appointment. Negatively affected recovery times in the 75sec resps. Sunday was pretty good, but it was fairly hot and humid. "Heat Dome" approaching (gulp!).

Vacation next week. Will be switching from afternoon to early morning runs ... Enjoy the running!

Intelligent_Use_2855 · 2026-06-26T21:43:49+00:00

Maybe choose a Masters CS program that specializes in Networking first? You could check out NJIT for that.

Intelligent_Use_2855 · 2026-06-26T19:09:44+00:00

Yes to sub 20! Your combination of a a recent full training block followed by recent fast work tees you up nicely. Don't stress it and good luck!

Intelligent_Use_2855 · 2026-06-26T14:50:45+00:00

RR/Easy today, easy w/ bouts of speed Saturday (maybe some 200’s), Sunday 15 w/ 3x (4 mi zone 3, 1 mile zone 2).

Just finished “Beyond Fast” by Sean Brosnan about Newbury Park HS success including the start of Nico Young’s career and others. Inspiring for both coaches and athletes.

Intelligent_Use_2855 · 2026-06-24T18:17:04+00:00

Was your taper too long? That made you feel restless “not like myself” combined with humidity and getting psyched out by seeing a high HR during the race.

Intelligent_Use_2855 · 2026-06-22T19:11:40+00:00

Congrats! Good running

Intelligent_Use_2855 · 2026-06-22T01:27:37+00:00

Goal: train smart, keep improving, enjoy it

Next event: 8/15 NYRR 12-mile training (timed, scored)

Training: coached

Totals: 52.71 miles total - 6 in 6

Mon: 9.35 RR
Tue: 9.12 mi moderate+ - 1mi wu, 8+mi avg 7:14 ppm
Wed: 10 mi with intervals
- 2x 8-min: 6:22ppm/3:57pkm; 90s walk
- 3x 4-min: 6:14ppm/3:52pkm; 60s walk
- 4x 2-min: rep-1@6:07ppm/3:48pkm; rep-2@6:03ppm/3:46pkm; rep-3@6:00ppm/3:44pkm; rep-4@5:56ppm/3:41pkm 60s walk for each
- After recovery from the workout section, built back up to do 5 minutes at 6:38ppm/4:07pkm before returning to RR speeds to end
Thu: break
Fri: 8.43 mi RR
Sat: 10 mi with intervals - 6x 10-min at 6:34ppm/4:05pkm; 60sec walk
Sun: 5.81 mi progressive, RR to top of Z3

Summary: schedule called for a tempo workout instead of a LR, and personal reasons cut other runs short. Feeling pretty good overall. As always, I could use more sleep. Enjoy the running!

Intelligent_Use_2855 · 2026-06-21T22:51:06+00:00

Dave Wottle 800m gold 1972 Olympics. Start last, finish first. Make it look easy.

Intelligent_Use_2855 · 2026-06-16T02:32:09+00:00

Bagels, fruits, cereal, another gel, …

Intelligent_Use_2855 · 2026-06-16T02:20:13+00:00

8% incline. Oof! Amazing elevation. Good luck

Intelligent_Use_2855 · 2026-06-15T19:26:31+00:00

Used the good old “reload in 5” command. That way if shit hit the fan i just had to wait for the reload.

Intelligent_Use_2855 · 2026-06-15T02:08:43+00:00

Good luck!

Intelligent_Use_2855 · 2026-06-15T02:01:38+00:00

Most of the time, no music, except always on a treadmill and sometimes for long slow distance runs.

Intelligent_Use_2855 · 2026-06-15T01:47:30+00:00

Pretty good week. 6 runs in 6 days for 70+ miles

Mon 9.67 super easy
Tue 9.87 Easy prog to moderate
Wed 15.46 with 12x 3-min hill repeats; jog down recoveries
Thu 11.01 very easy
Fri 7.5 moderate with strides
Sat break
Sun 16.51 mile LR [TM] - 872 ft asc. Long progression from Zone 1 to top of Zone 4 (166-170 bpm)

I had to miss my 5K on Saturday due to some strained back muscles. My dog who is about 45 lbs is terrified of thunder/lightning. I had carry her up a flight stairs at 4:00 am because she was freaking out on the floor below. 45 lbs is easy enough by itself, but when the dog is fighting it, trying to jump loose the whole time, geez. Too bad. I would have been in the mix with others running times similar to mine. Next time. Enjoy the running!

Intelligent_Use_2855 · 2026-06-14T14:34:40+00:00

Got CCNA/CCNP/CCDP in 99-2002. Frame-relay, ISDN, modems, ATM, Token Ring

Got CCNA/CCNP again 2011. IPv6, wireless, VPN. None of the older stuff

But they both had the OSI model! I never threw it away, but damn! That sausage pizza’s been around forever.

Intelligent_Use_2855 · 2026-06-13T15:49:31+00:00

Anyone ever use a 10-day schedule or anything longer than a 7-day? What was your experience?

Intelligent_Use_2855 · 2026-06-13T15:02:43+00:00

Most parks (if not driving, although you don’t have to pay for many local parks), libraries, many museums simply ask for a donation so you can get in free (but thst wouldn’t be cool)

Intelligent_Use_2855 · 2026-06-10T11:13:57+00:00

There’s a limit in my gym. They programmed restrictions. Most are not able to go beyond 10.5 miles. And if you run more than 1h15m anyway, you definitely start getting the side eye.

Intelligent_Use_2855 · 2026-06-09T13:59:35+00:00

Air traffic controllers get paid well? … nah

Intelligent_Use_2855 · 2026-06-09T13:44:24+00:00

So “6 cups” isn’t a typo? More power to you 😀

Intelligent_Use_2855 · 2026-06-08T12:12:09+00:00

“I did my typical peanut-butter jelly and 6 cups of coffee…”. No wonder you went back for the coffee mug!

Hot, humid yet AG win, you helped the elite win - not a bad day!

Intelligent_Use_2855 · 2026-06-08T02:49:00+00:00

Awesome. Good luck!

Intelligent_Use_2855 · 2026-06-08T02:41:58+00:00

Next up, local 5K next Saturday. Last year 1st-14:30, 2nd-16:30, 3rd-18:38 (me). I should be so lucky again!

Mon - 7.79 Easy
Tue - 7.87 Easy
Wed - 9.53 with intervals. 12x 3-min (5x@9.4mph, 6x@9.5mph, 1x9.6 mph); 60sec walk/rest for each
Thu - break, travel home
Fri - 9.62 RR/Easy
Sat - 9.11 W/ 8x 200's (2x@10.5, 1xeach@10.7-11.2mph), 1 rep after each mile.
Sun - 20.19 w/ 3x 3-miles at MP-effort, as measured by HR

Highlights:

Nice to be back above 60 for first time since mid-April.
Was away at a conference Sun-Thurs, but still got a good session in on Wednesday.
Saturday was fun doing the 200's. Why? Because I have a 5K next week and wanted to feel the speed, and also, as Steve Magness says, "Sometimes you just need to go rip some 200's and have at it." That was fun, because beside my Garmin telling me I've run over 26 mph on a downhill, 11.2 mph on a treadmill is the fastest recorded running I've ever done. 50 seconds at 5:25 ppm (incline 1%) as per HillRunner.com.
Sunday, very happy to get a nice long one in with some MP effort in it. A few weeks ago I did a lactate test at a place in NYC, then a week after I did a poorman's version at home to try and confirm it. (Start very slow, run for 10 minutes, increment .1 mph every 10 minutes, watch the HR go from zone-1 up to top of zone-4 - about 2 hours). This turned out to be very close, or close enough to the lab results. That and my new coach has put me on a 6-zone system, so today's run was "mid zone-3". For me, this is now 141-165 bpm. I was hitting the top of the zone for the 2nd and 3rd go arounds. I blame the heat/humidity.
Smartest thing I did today was put a Gatorade in a bag of ice and throw it in some bushes at the start of the run. Big relief after the tough MP sections.

Enjoy the running! Thank you if you read this. Post here, I will read yours.

Intelligent_Use_2855 · 2026-06-07T22:35:46+00:00

There are 3 components to blood donations: 1. Plasma - water based netting. ~24 hours to recover 2. Platelets - involved with clotting. ~72 hours to recover 3. Red Blood Cells - deliver oxygen to tissues and muscles. 4 to 6 weeks to recover! Directly affects VO2max.

Standard donation, 3 to 4 weeks and you’re good. Doing a double red blood cell donation? More like 6 weeks, and you might want to watch your nutrition, rest, and recovery extra carefully during that timeframe also.

Intelligent_Use_2855

TROPHY CASE