week of 25 May

MPW 45

45.6

Monday, May 25

Rest

Yep.

Tuesday, May 26

4-6 mile easy run then Power Core Circuit (PCC)

5.3 @ 9:33 then PCC (2x thru). Skipping rows and squat thrusts like last week.

Wednesday, May 27

8-10 mile total moderate run including 10 min @ LT effort then 20 min fartlek @ 5k effort w/1-3 min recoveries (fartlek means you choose the time that =s 20 min..ie 1,2,3,4,1,2,3,4 = 20 min @ 5k)

Finish w/3 x 150m cutdowns

Ran on hotel treadmill in St. Louis. 2 miles wup. 10' at 7:03. 90'' at 10:00, then 31:20 fartlek w/ 5k segement (6:31 on treadmill) and 1:30-2:00 rests at 10:00. 21:37 cdn including 3x40' @ 6:00, 5:52, and 5:42. Total 10.0 miles. 1h23'.

Thursday, May 28

4-5 mile easy run

5.0 on the hotel treadmill in 47:30. 9:30 pace.

Friday, May 29

6-7 mile easy run including 5 x 15 sec high knees up a hill and 3 sets of 3 x 100m cutdowns and later PCC

Out and back on the shoulder of a road running by the airport. Not exactly scenic but relatively flat and it did the job. There was a very nice grass hill for the high knees and I got in the cutdowns. 6.0 miles @ 9:01.

Got home from St Louis and did the PCC at about 8pm. Skipped the rows (still haven't figured this out) and the squat thrusts (being cautious).

Saturday, May 30

5-6 mile easy run

6.1 miles @ 9:31. I must have been exhausted because I slept until 9am! By the time I got out is was pretty warm, but very dry and pretty decent in the shade.

Sunday, May 31

11-13 mile moderate run including Antelope Circuit 1 x thru. Full recovery then 25 min @ progression run. Start @ marathon effort and increase your effort every 5 min so that the last 5 min is at 10k feel. 15 min recovery then 4 x 75 sec hills @ mile to 3k effort w/very easy jog down rests. Finish run w/5 strides

Ended up staying up past midnight (That's what sleeping in does to you!) and woke up at 8am. Got out at 9am when it was 64 deg, but it warmed to 70 by 11am. The humidity wasn't bad at all, but there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

This run is pretty complicated logistically (stadium bounds?) and after plan A went by the wayside, I headed to the highschool track. 5+ miles to the track and my legs (especially quads) could still feel Friday's PCC.

Except for some funny looks, the Antelope circuit went fine. I even made it through the squat thrusts. I think I was bringing my feet to far forward before and my stomach sagged, straining up near my ribs. The bleachers weren't great for bounds though. The stairs aren't steep enough or long enough. I did the circuit on the turf which was nice because it was measured out (just did 25 yds instead of meters). It was HOT on the turf and just as hot on the track.

For the 25' progression, I thought I'd do 5 1200m increments since each would be about 5 minutes. The plan was to hit the first 200 in 55'' (7:20 per 1600) and then take a second or two off that in the next 1200 block. Unfortunately, I hit the first in 50''! I tried to slow down, but the first 1200 was 5:20/168 bpm (7:09 pace). The second was 5:15 (7:02) and the third was 5:05/182 (6:49). Well, that's as fast it got. I was breathing really hard and the next was 5:10/184 (6:56). I struggled through the last in 5:20/183 (7:09). I guess that was a (slow) 6k race? The heart rates weren't crazy high, but I didn't have anything else.

Anyway, I jogged home and dutifully did the 4x75'' hills. Turns out the hill next to my house is a perfect 75'' hill. Did a half-decent job at the 5 strides and headed home. 13.2 total. 8:33 avg.

PM: Did the core 100.

week of 18 May

Monday, May 18

rest

Tuesday, May 19

4-5 mile easy run including 4 x 15 sec high knees up a hill and 4 x 15 sec speed bounds up a hill

Wednesday, May 20

8-10 mile total moderate run including run up a hill for 25-30 min @ half marathon effort. Jog easy down Finish run w/6 strides and 3 x150m cutdowns. If you are not able to run up a hill try to run on rolling hills.

10.6 @ 8:02/mile. 5 miles easy-to-moderate. 4 miles mostly uphill -- 7:26/169 bpm avg, 7:16/174, 7:06/179, 7:19/177. 6 half-hearted strides, followed by a pretty good job at the cutdowns. By the way, the first part of this course is a pretty fair Boston simulator.

PCC

Did PCC in the evening. Skipped row again, since I can't do at home. I pulled something in my abs in the top center (around my "xiphoid process" -- that thingy that stick below your sternum) doing the squat thrusts.

I also starting coughing in the evening having finally succumbed to the virus spewing from the woman at work whose been hacking up a lung since Monday. The worst part is feeling my ab strain every time I cough.

Thursday, May 21

4-5 mile easy run

Emphasis on the easy. 4.0 @ 10:00 and that's all I really wanted. My heart rate was high, too. Think I'm sick. This is the 4th day of incredible weather. It was in the 40s. Mon-Th have been ~50 deg or less. Two bad I didn't have these conditions for the 5k.

Friday, May 22

5-6 mile easy run including 3 strides then sprint training:

Use the first few sprints as a warm up and always run in control with good form

4 x 15 sec’s w/75 sec rests

3 x 20 sec's w/75 sec rests

Humidty was back and I'm still sick. My HR was off the charts for my pace. Other than that it went fine. 2.25 wup, sprints w/75 sec rests, and 2.25 cdn. Nice to be back at the track.

I was planning to do the core 100 tonight, but I'm still feeling the ab strain when I cough.

Saturday, May 23

5-6 mile easy run

Terrible night. Sick and couldn't sleep more than 45 minutes at a time. Aborted after 2 miles. Had to sit outside from 9:30am to 7pm volunteering and watching my daughter's soccer tournament. Actually felt better from sitting in the heat all day. Maybe tomorrow will be OK. The ab strain is still there. Think I'll do PCC tomorrow but avoid the squat thrusts.

Sunday, May 24

12-13 mile moderate run including 15-18 x 1 min @ 5k effort w/1-2 min jog rests over rolling hills

Had to leave the house at 7:45am for another fun-filled day of soccer. Alarm went off at 4:45. I actually only woke up two or three times during the night. Anyway, I was off at 5:10. Can't say I'm not committed! Looks like yesterday was rock bottom. My Garmin was out of juice, so I went old school. 9 minutes past the rec center porta-johns should have put me at about 6 miles. Turned around and did 16 x 1' @5k w/90sec jog rests. The hills were definitely rolling. More fun on the way down than up! I think this was close to 5k effort. I might have slacked a little, but no worse than 10k. Hard to tell. I'm actually glad I got out before the games and didn't try to squeeze it in between as I beat the sun. We're going to call this one a win.

PCC

Finally got home from the soccer extravaganza at 7:45 (we did also get to be home between 11 and 1). Did the PCC 2x thru. I skipped the squat thrust b/c of my strain and the rows b/c I can't figure out how to do them at home. (No Smith machine at this house.)

Total: 40.3 miles (scheduled 45)

week of 11 May

Stamina/Power Phase/Race Week
Foam Roller Exercises 1-2 x this week
Weights –Power Core Circuit (PCC) 1 x week
Core 100 1-2 x week – 100 total reps of ab/back exercises

MPW 32
32.5

Monday, May 11
rest

Tuesday, May 12
5 mile easy run including 4 x 10 sec high knees up a hill and 4 x 10 sec speed bounds up a hill

In Atlanta for work. 5.10 @ 9:37 including drill. I did the drills on the sidewalk because I didn't have any other choice.

Wednesday, May 13
6-7 mile easy to moderate run including 15 min @ LT effort. 10 min recovery then 15 x 30 sec’s @ 5k effort w/1 min jog rests

Still in Atlanta.

This is really hard to squeeze into 6-7 miles. Did 1.64 mile warmup, 15 min tempo was 7:00, 6:50, 1:12 (6:38 pace). Turned around. 10 min jog. Fit in 13 x 30 sec @ 5k before I was back where I started. 7.40 miles total.

PM: Did the Core 100. I did 15 crunches, 15 rt oblique crunches, 15 lt oblique, 15 reverse, 10 prone double arm raise, 10 prone straight leg lift, 10 australian crawl, and 10 opposite arm/opposite leg.

Thursday, May 14

4 mile easy run w/4 strides

Still(!) in Atlanta. 4.00 @ 9:15 including 4 strides.

Friday, May 15
3 mile easy run w/6-8 strides @ 5k effort

3.24 @ 9:22/137 including 8 strides.

Resurrected my Nike Free 5.0v1s. After giving up on them, I found that with the 4.5 insoles they feel fine. (I put 1100 miles on a pair of 5.0v2s. Then I horded 4 pairs of v1s when they were on sale and found the arch didn't feel right. The "4.5" insole is lower than the "5.0" insole.)

Saturday, May 16
8-10 mile total run including 2 min @ LT effort, 5-8 strides @ 5k effort then 5k race

3 mile wup w/2' tempo and ~6 strides. 5k in 20:21. 2.6 mile cooldown. race report here

Sunday, May 17
4 mile easy run

PCC

4 miles @9:17. It rained overnight and was nice this morning. Did the PCC 2x thru afterwards. I skipped the reverse row b/c I don't have a bar or weight machine at home to use.

PM: Did foam roller.

5k report

warm and very humid. I couldn't see out the windows because of the water condensed on them. Looking at wunderground it was 68.2 deg with a dew point of 66.9 (96% rel humidity) at 8:55am (race started at 8:30). A very light drizzle off and on. We're supposed get thunderstorms today and you could feel it in the air.

For the warmup, I ran most of the course -- call it 3 miles -- in 26'49'' including 2' @ LT and ~6 strides @5k.

I went out relaxed in the first mile and repassed a lot of people in the second half mile as the usual sprinters fell back. I hit the first mile at 6'19'' (which I was very happy with) and found myself alone. There was a pack maybe 200m ahead and I just decided to track them and pick off the stragglers. At the half point I heard 9'55'. Slowing down I guess.

I passed a bunch of people in the 2nd mile, but my split was 6'45''. What the #@$#@? I wouldn't have guess I slowed that much, but I guess so. I think running without the HRM cost me a little. I usually try to keep the needle above 190bpm in the second mile when my mind tends to wander. It was especially hard without anyone running my pace.

Soon after the 2nd mile I saw group of 3 high school kids (it was a booster event) passing a straggler who I though might be in my AG. I passed the straggler too and tried to reel the 3 kids in. I passed one pretty quickly and then right when I'm going by the others, a spectating coach yells "don't let him pass you" and one kid takes off putting 15-20m on me in an instant. With about a half mile to go I came up even on him and to his credit he stuck with me, so we were running shoulder-to-shoulder. I should have gone harder by him. I realized I'd never outkick him so I surged with ~400m left and put a pretty good gap I think. The race finishes on a track and with about 200m left, still pretty well ahead of him, I went into my "sprint." Well, he just blew my doors off and I finished 2-3m back. I went to shake his hand a couple of steps after the race and he was bending over, holding his shorts and couldn't talk. I felt kinda wimpy! Anyway, my watch says 20'20.8'' So much for the negative split I'd planned. 7'17'' last 1.1 (~6:34 pace). My 5k split at the Cherry Blossom 10 miler was 20:29! Last year my watch time was 19:44.

Anyway, I did a 23' cooldown. I felt surprisingly good and probably ran about 9:00 pace or better, making me think I really didn't give it my all. My right hamstring was a little sore, like it always is after a race, but nothing else. We'll call this 2.6 miles. So, 8.7 for the
day.

I stuck around for the awards and actually won my age group (M35-39). It was a little embarrassing, but I'll take it -- $25 restaurant gift certificate and a little medal. Last year I was 35 secs faster and finished 3rd. You have to show up to win I guess! (It helped that 2nd overall was 39 and you can't double dip.)

week of 4 May

Stamina/Power Phase

Foam Roller Exercises 1-2 x this week

Did once

MPW 26

Did 26.5

Monday, May 4

rest

Tuesday, May 5

4-5 mile easy run including 2 x 10 sec speed bounds up a hill and 2 x 10 sec high knees up a hill

5.26 @ xxx including bounds, high knees, and 10 single leg hops for distance (each leg, on flat). 5 miles is starting to seem like a long way!

Wednesday, May 6

10-15 min XT easy then Power Core Circuit but do 1 min hard XT between exercises

Thursday, May 7

3-5 mile easy run w/10 strides @ 5k effort

5.25 @ 9:27 including strides. The 4th mile was only 9:15 pace and 142 bpm. Man it was humid. 65 deg and 63 dew point (94% humidity). The "am I out of shape or is it just the weather?" question seems to be an annual rite of spring. Warning: Last year I ran 19:49 for 5k and then 35:57 for 5 miles 3 weeks later when it was about 80 and 100% humidity.

Friday, May 8

5-6 mile total run including 10 strides

6.00 @ 8:46 including strides. Intensity wasn't specified. Started easy and worked my way to moderate. avg 145 bpm.

Saturday, May 9

8-10 mile easy run w/10-20 x 30 sec’s @ 5k effort w/1 min jog rests

10 miles @ 8:46/152 bpm. Very sticky outside. Did an out and back to the rec center porta-potties. 3 seconds short of 5 miles on the out. Nice. 5 easy. Pit stop. A couple of minutes then did a bunch of 30 sec @ 5k w/1 min jog rests on the way back before jogging the last mile or so. Counting the peaks in the HR graph, turns out a bunch was 22!

Sunday, May 10

10-15 min XT easy then Power Core Circuit but do 1-2 min hard XT between exercises

Did 15 min easy, 1 PCC w/ 2 min elliptical hard between and one PCC with no XT between. Took 67 minutes total. Avg 145 bpm. Was wimpy on the first 3 or 4 but was hitting ~170 bpm on the 6 or 7 XT intervals.

Circuit training will kick your butt

Today I did the somewhat benign sounding "10-15 min XT easy then Power Core Circuit but do 1 min hard XT between exercises."

15 min on the elliptical 2 x 14 exercises with 1 min hard elliptical between each and another 3 minutes easy on the elliptical. The circuit is 14 exercises, so that 27 minutes hard between them. Took about 75 minutes.

Holy. Crap. I was trailing puddles around the gym and counting down those last five intervals. It's tough when "pushups to fatigue" is your break. I can feel the endorphins though. If your goal is just good health, I think circuit training on the hard days with some kind of easy XT (like swimming) on the easy days is probably the way to go.

Here are the 14 exercises (not in order).

- pushups to fatigue
- step ups to fatigue
- squat thrusts to fatigue

http://insidenikerunning.nike.com/2008/09/30/general-strength-video-pedestal-routine/
- side pedestal

http://www.expertvillage.com/video/7353_bodyweight-exercises-dumbells-squat-press.htm
-Dumbbell squat press

http://insidenikerunning.nike.com/2008/09/30/general-strength-video-back-routine/
-Prone Double Arm Raise
-Sitting Bicycle
-Sitting Push Kicks

http://www.muscleandstrength.com/exercises/smith-machine-bodyweight-row.html
- body weight rows to fatigue (I don't have a smith machine at the gym, so I use the seating row weight machine)

http://insidenikerunning.nike.com/2008/09/30/general-strength-video-myrtl-routine/
-Lateral Leg Raise
-Donkey Kicks
-Lateral Leg Swing
-Linear Leg Swing, Bent Knee

week of 27 April

training - week of 2009.04.27

Active Recovery Week
Foam Roller Exercises 5-6 x this week
- manage to get this in 3 times. I'm awful about remembering the "do x times this week" stuff.

Monday, April 27
rest
-- done

Tuesday, April 28
XT 30-60 min easy
-- 60' on the elliptical. About 20' to get to 140 bpm and then stayed low 140s until 5' left and dropped down to 130s. Nice to sweat again! I had it set to level 4.0 when I think I was doing 3.5 when I used it about a year ago. Stronger now? My hips were a little sore afterwards.

Wednesday, April 29
XT 30-50 min easy w/ 10-15 x 45 sec hard /1 min XT easy rests
-- 50 mins elliptical. 15 min easy (~130bpm), 25.5 mins of 15x(45 sec hard/1 min easy), 9.5 minutes of very easy. My hips were pretty sore afterwards. Not used to the elliptical I guess.

Thursday, April 30
3-4 mile easy run including 10 strides @ 10k effort
-- 4.0 @ 9:30 including 10 strides

Friday, May 1
10-15 min XT easy then Power Core Circuit but do 1-2 min moderate XT between exercises and 1-2 x thru
-- Went really well. 15 min elliptical. 2 x thru with 1 min moderate elliptical in between. I had 3 minutes left on the timer, so added that at the end. Not sure if there was supposed to be a cool down. I didn't have anywhere to do the reverse row, so I used seated row weight machine. It's not quite the same though since your hands are close together (about 6'' apart). I only managed 30 pushups on the first go around (was doing 35 before marathon) and 23 on the second.

Saturday, May 2
5-6 mile easy jog
-- 5.95 @ 9:32. 64 deg and humid. I felt out of shape. A few sore places from the PCC, but not bad.

Sunday, May 3
10-15 min XT easy then Power Core Circuit but do 1-2 min hard XT between exercises and 1 x thru
-- I elected to do 2 minutes between and 15 min warmup. "hard" is the key word above and makes this workout pretty tough as you can see from the hr graph (average 149 bpm). I wasn't completely recovered from Friday so I only made 25 pushups. With 13 x 2 min intervals you end up with 26 minutes "hard." I had 4 minutes left on the timer (set to 30 minutes), so I did 4 minutes very easy on the elliptical as a short cooldown. Total time was only 61 minutes, but I got a lot in there. If you were just exercising for health, circuit training is probably a good way to go.

Total: 5h47'. Only 10 miles running. My inner mileage junkie is cringing.

I've pretty much made up my mind to run the B&A trail marathon on 7 March (not announced, but I believe it's the first Sunday of March). See this post for my handwringing/reasoning.