Mo - Rest
Tu - 10.45
I ran home from work tonight. 85 degrees when I left, but a little cooler when I got home. Did 9 minutes at near MP and then another 11. wp7-1
We - 13.35
Went to work the long way around the lake. Holy cow, this was not easy. The last two miles felt like miles 17&18 rather than 13&14. PM followed by AM definitely brings some residual fatigue. I'm pretty sure this is good for me. wp7-1
Th - 4.68
1.5 easy around the neighborhood. Forgot to stop the HRM, so it's got an extra minute on it. wp7-2
Fr - 12.0
Not sure this 12, but it's close. I did my usual CCT out and back but went farther. I took a wrong turn and ended up at a dead end after 4m14s. 8:30 was probably short of .9m at my anemic pace (it was pretty hot and humid) but I'll call it close enough. wp7-1
Sa - 4.68
Ugh. My legs are dead. I really want to quit this recovery run. Only 5 miles and I wanted to quit? wp7-1
Su - 18.4
I set out to do 20, but I have a load of excuses. The dog kept me up, I did a lot of miles (for me) in a short period of time this week and it was hot and humid. 79/68 at 8:30 when I started, and 84/71(!) when I finished. My shin really hurts. I could feel it during the first lap and it got progressively worse. It hurts to point my toe. Had a lukewarm bath afterwards. I used all cold tap water, but it wasn't that cold. Ice my shin with an ice pack. wp7-2
Cut back week this week. I desperately need it. Unfortunately, I only get to cut back to 55! I believe I'll bag doing the 5K Saturday unless I'm feeling unusually chipper.
week
64 miles, 10h13m
shoes
wp7-1: 315 + 41 = 356
wp7-2: 215 + 23 = 238
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
week of 16 July
Mo - Rest
Didn't feel like getting up and my legs were stiff anyway (especially my !@##$@!# hamstrings). Also, I believe I'm going to try and pick up the Pfitzinger 18/70 schedule at week 14, which began, easily enough, with a rest day. Now, if I can only survive the rest of the week (14 miles on a Wednesday?). After my lack of improvement yesterday, I've decided that I'll have to do more to get faster and mileage is my best weapon. This means peaking at 70 mpw instead of 60. The difference with Benji's plan is basically that I'm exchange the interval day and an easy day for an 8-10 and a 11-15 mile run. A tempo/interval day is every other week instead of every week.
Tu - 9.08
Schedule calls for 9 miles with 10x100m strides. I did the lake A loop + a Grn-???-Grl loop (.78 miles). I put in 8 strides because I couldn't remember how many I was supposed to do (already off track!) in there with lots of jogging in between to get hr down to 135-138. I also doubt I went 100m. I go until my breathing starts to catch up and the slow down, wanting to avoid generating oxygen debt. I doubt I go more than 70 meters. My hamstrings are still sore from the 5K. wp7-2
We - 13.35
corrected: this route is 13.35, not 13.8.
Schedule was 14 mile medium long run. I went to work but went the long way around the lake. I'm calling this 13.8, which should be within a tenth. I took it *very* slowly and even took 4 walk breaks. I didn't want to do any damage to my already sore legs. That part seems to have worked out. I know I was supposed to do long run effort, but better safe than sorry I think. Ended up at 9:31 pace and 139 bpm average, which actually isn't too bad. My usually long run route happens to have me at 13.8 miles through 3 laps. During my last long run on that route, I was at 2:09:11 at 13.8 versus 2:11:08 today, so pretty close when you include the stop lights. Still my heart rate averaged 143 at that point versus 139 today, so definitely not quite long run effort today. wp7-2
Th - 4.68
1 nbrhd loop plus the long half. I was pretty slow for the heart rate. 139 bpm for 9:27/mi. Makes sense after the last two days. wp7-2
Fr - 11.1
Out and back up the CCT. I got pretty tired just before the turnaround. I hadn't felt that way that early in a run in a while. It looks like the residual fatigue thing is working. 141 bpm for 9:19 per mile. I really feel like this schedule is the way to go if I survive. I feel something on top of my right knee and have lots of tweaks, but nothing terrible. wp7-2
Sa - 5.05
1 nbrhd loop (2.86), veer off to school track (.19 miles), and do 20 laps around trying to hit 145 bpm. Unfortunately, my HRM didn't record the heart rate (read 0 at the start and when I reconnected after the start, it didn't record the data). MAF mile 1 was 8:37 and mile 2 was 8:40. Weather was unbelievably good. 68 deg. 49(!) dew point. wp7-2
Su - 18.4
I set out to do a Pfitz type long run. He says 20% below MP increasing to 10% below and a heart rate range of 73-83%. I did my usual 4x4.6-mile lake loops. I checked real quick before I left and saw that 10-20% above 7:30 per mile as 41:30 to a little over 38. In retrospect, I don't know what I was thinking. I shouldn't have used any better than my 7:47 marathon pace from May. I got a little out of my comfort zone on the first lap, which means not jogging and getting in the 135+ range in the first 10 minutes. This is what I was doing in the spring. Unfortunately, it turns my leisurely Sunday jog into a bit of a workout, but I think that's what it will take. Here are the splits
week
62 miles, 9h30m
shoes
wp7-1: 315 + 0 = 315 (where are these?)
wp7-2: 153 + 62 = 215
Didn't feel like getting up and my legs were stiff anyway (especially my !@##$@!# hamstrings). Also, I believe I'm going to try and pick up the Pfitzinger 18/70 schedule at week 14, which began, easily enough, with a rest day. Now, if I can only survive the rest of the week (14 miles on a Wednesday?). After my lack of improvement yesterday, I've decided that I'll have to do more to get faster and mileage is my best weapon. This means peaking at 70 mpw instead of 60. The difference with Benji's plan is basically that I'm exchange the interval day and an easy day for an 8-10 and a 11-15 mile run. A tempo/interval day is every other week instead of every week.
Tu - 9.08
Schedule calls for 9 miles with 10x100m strides. I did the lake A loop + a Grn-???-Grl loop (.78 miles). I put in 8 strides because I couldn't remember how many I was supposed to do (already off track!) in there with lots of jogging in between to get hr down to 135-138. I also doubt I went 100m. I go until my breathing starts to catch up and the slow down, wanting to avoid generating oxygen debt. I doubt I go more than 70 meters. My hamstrings are still sore from the 5K. wp7-2
We - 13.35
corrected: this route is 13.35, not 13.8.
Schedule was 14 mile medium long run. I went to work but went the long way around the lake. I'm calling this 13.8, which should be within a tenth. I took it *very* slowly and even took 4 walk breaks. I didn't want to do any damage to my already sore legs. That part seems to have worked out. I know I was supposed to do long run effort, but better safe than sorry I think. Ended up at 9:31 pace and 139 bpm average, which actually isn't too bad. My usually long run route happens to have me at 13.8 miles through 3 laps. During my last long run on that route, I was at 2:09:11 at 13.8 versus 2:11:08 today, so pretty close when you include the stop lights. Still my heart rate averaged 143 at that point versus 139 today, so definitely not quite long run effort today. wp7-2
Th - 4.68
1 nbrhd loop plus the long half. I was pretty slow for the heart rate. 139 bpm for 9:27/mi. Makes sense after the last two days. wp7-2
Fr - 11.1
Out and back up the CCT. I got pretty tired just before the turnaround. I hadn't felt that way that early in a run in a while. It looks like the residual fatigue thing is working. 141 bpm for 9:19 per mile. I really feel like this schedule is the way to go if I survive. I feel something on top of my right knee and have lots of tweaks, but nothing terrible. wp7-2
Sa - 5.05
1 nbrhd loop (2.86), veer off to school track (.19 miles), and do 20 laps around trying to hit 145 bpm. Unfortunately, my HRM didn't record the heart rate (read 0 at the start and when I reconnected after the start, it didn't record the data). MAF mile 1 was 8:37 and mile 2 was 8:40. Weather was unbelievably good. 68 deg. 49(!) dew point. wp7-2
Su - 18.4
I set out to do a Pfitz type long run. He says 20% below MP increasing to 10% below and a heart rate range of 73-83%. I did my usual 4x4.6-mile lake loops. I checked real quick before I left and saw that 10-20% above 7:30 per mile as 41:30 to a little over 38. In retrospect, I don't know what I was thinking. I shouldn't have used any better than my 7:47 marathon pace from May. I got a little out of my comfort zone on the first lap, which means not jogging and getting in the 135+ range in the first 10 minutes. This is what I was doing in the spring. Unfortunately, it turns my leisurely Sunday jog into a bit of a workout, but I think that's what it will take. Here are the splits
- 41:25, 139 bpm, 9:00 min/mi = 7:30 + 20%, 70% MHR
- 39:53, 148 bpm, 8:40 min/mi =7:30 + 16%, 74% MHR
- 39:17, 156 bpm, 8:32 min/mi = 7:30 + 14%, 78% MHR
- 38:20, 170 bpm, 8:20 min/mi = 7:30 + 11%, 85% MHR
week
62 miles, 9h30m
shoes
wp7-1: 315 + 0 = 315 (where are these?)
wp7-2: 153 + 62 = 215
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
week of 9 July
Mo - 4.1
nbrhd loop. wp7-1
Tu - 10.5
Ran to work. It was very hot and humid. It was 78 with a dewpoint of 70(!) at 6am. Did two tempo intervals. I did the first one two long and probably too hard and had trouble recovering my heart rate, so I ended up running my cooldown at about 160. First interval was 1.86 miles in 14:10 @166bpm (7:37 min/mi). About 9 minutes rest including a minute at a stop light and then 1.14 in 8:38@169bpm (7:35 min/mi). I was shooting for MP, but realistically, this was probably faster than that. On one of the uphills I hit 179. Still my legs didn't get that hardened feeling like they did during the tempo intervals in the spring. Average was 155 bpm, which is very high for one of these runs and the average pace was on 9:09 min/mi. wp7-1
We - 4.1
Cooler, but just as humid. 70 with a dew point of 70. You can't see out our windows because of the moisture on them. HRM was kind of haywire for the first 20 minutes. My right quad still hurts from Sunday. wp7-1
Th - 10.3
Lake A loop with 2 mile spur. Sorta tried 3x8 min faster, but legs felt heavy and only got in the upper 140s in the first and low 150's for the last (except a few hills where it went higher). wp7-2
Fr - 4.1
nbrhd loop. 38:32, 9:23 pace, 134 average. Pace/heartrate is in the ballpark of spring runs I think. wx was cool and not too humid. 64/56. wp7-2
Sa - 0
Slept in thinking I could run after the swim meet, but it was 2pm before we got back and very hot and well I'm kinda tired and...
Su - 8.9
35 minute warmup, 5K in 20:38/187, 17 minute cooldown. I'm calling the wup and cdn 9 min/mi pace so today was 8.9 total. wp7-2
Last 5K in May was 20:31/188. It's hard to compare these. This was a modified cross country course on a pretty humid July morning. I really don't know what the distance was today, but a friend ran this 12 seconds slower than the one in May and I was 7 seconds slower. I think I'm about in the same shape as I was then, which isn't good when you need to drop 9 minutes off your marathon time. I'll know more in 3 weeks when I run a certified 5K. wp7-2
week
42 miles, 6h20m
shoes
wp7-1: 296 + 19 = 315
wp7-2: 130 + 23 = 153
nbrhd loop. wp7-1
Tu - 10.5
Ran to work. It was very hot and humid. It was 78 with a dewpoint of 70(!) at 6am. Did two tempo intervals. I did the first one two long and probably too hard and had trouble recovering my heart rate, so I ended up running my cooldown at about 160. First interval was 1.86 miles in 14:10 @166bpm (7:37 min/mi). About 9 minutes rest including a minute at a stop light and then 1.14 in 8:38@169bpm (7:35 min/mi). I was shooting for MP, but realistically, this was probably faster than that. On one of the uphills I hit 179. Still my legs didn't get that hardened feeling like they did during the tempo intervals in the spring. Average was 155 bpm, which is very high for one of these runs and the average pace was on 9:09 min/mi. wp7-1
We - 4.1
Cooler, but just as humid. 70 with a dew point of 70. You can't see out our windows because of the moisture on them. HRM was kind of haywire for the first 20 minutes. My right quad still hurts from Sunday. wp7-1
Th - 10.3
Lake A loop with 2 mile spur. Sorta tried 3x8 min faster, but legs felt heavy and only got in the upper 140s in the first and low 150's for the last (except a few hills where it went higher). wp7-2
Fr - 4.1
nbrhd loop. 38:32, 9:23 pace, 134 average. Pace/heartrate is in the ballpark of spring runs I think. wx was cool and not too humid. 64/56. wp7-2
Sa - 0
Slept in thinking I could run after the swim meet, but it was 2pm before we got back and very hot and well I'm kinda tired and...
Su - 8.9
35 minute warmup, 5K in 20:38/187, 17 minute cooldown. I'm calling the wup and cdn 9 min/mi pace so today was 8.9 total. wp7-2
Last 5K in May was 20:31/188. It's hard to compare these. This was a modified cross country course on a pretty humid July morning. I really don't know what the distance was today, but a friend ran this 12 seconds slower than the one in May and I was 7 seconds slower. I think I'm about in the same shape as I was then, which isn't good when you need to drop 9 minutes off your marathon time. I'll know more in 3 weeks when I run a certified 5K. wp7-2
week
42 miles, 6h20m
shoes
wp7-1: 296 + 19 = 315
wp7-2: 130 + 23 = 153
Saturday, July 07, 2007
week of 2 July
Mo - 4.1
ndbrhd loop. wp7-1???
Tu - 11.1
CCT out and back. Missed the turn to the flagpole and turned around at the marker. Might be 11.0, but who cares. Mixed in 3x8min at slower than tempo w/ 4 mins rest. Nice run. At the end of the last tempo it felt like my form clicked, standing tall and having my femurs swinging symmetrically likely pendula below my pelvis while not really thinking about my lower legs. Wx was like a spring day. wp 7-1??? need to keep better track of shoes.
We - 4.1
nbrhd loop wp7-2
Th - 10.66
In Atlana. wx was pretty cool, but a little humid. parents to 1-mile loop (2.33 miles, 22:01). 1 mile easy around (9:29), 1 mile "tempo" (7:26, avg 165 bpm), 0.5 miles easy (4:30, 151), 1 mile tempo (7:22, 167), 0.5 easy (4:39, 152), 1 mile tempo (7:19, 172), 1 mile easy loop (9:37, 153), back home (2.33 miles, 22:18, 147). Very nice run. Tempos were probably a little faster the MP today and slower than 10-mile race pace I'd normally call tempo. wp7-1
Fr - 4.1
nbrhd loop. wp7-2
Sa = 4.1
nbrhd loop. wp7-1?
Su - 16 miles
Did a double out and back on the Bull run trail, which is "moderately strenuous" according to the sign. My watch had 3800 feet ascent + descent and it took 2:45 @ 151 bpm average, so this was about as hard as my normal 18-miler. It was also 86 degrees at 10am when I finished. Thankfully, it was shaded. I felt very good after the run. wp7-1
Good week. Really felt like my form improved over the week and my hamstrings aren't bothering me.
week
54 miles, 8h33m
wp7-1: 250 + 46 = 296
wp7-2: 122 + 8 = 130
ndbrhd loop. wp7-1???
Tu - 11.1
CCT out and back. Missed the turn to the flagpole and turned around at the marker. Might be 11.0, but who cares. Mixed in 3x8min at slower than tempo w/ 4 mins rest. Nice run. At the end of the last tempo it felt like my form clicked, standing tall and having my femurs swinging symmetrically likely pendula below my pelvis while not really thinking about my lower legs. Wx was like a spring day. wp 7-1??? need to keep better track of shoes.
We - 4.1
nbrhd loop wp7-2
Th - 10.66
In Atlana. wx was pretty cool, but a little humid. parents to 1-mile loop (2.33 miles, 22:01). 1 mile easy around (9:29), 1 mile "tempo" (7:26, avg 165 bpm), 0.5 miles easy (4:30, 151), 1 mile tempo (7:22, 167), 0.5 easy (4:39, 152), 1 mile tempo (7:19, 172), 1 mile easy loop (9:37, 153), back home (2.33 miles, 22:18, 147). Very nice run. Tempos were probably a little faster the MP today and slower than 10-mile race pace I'd normally call tempo. wp7-1
Fr - 4.1
nbrhd loop. wp7-2
Sa = 4.1
nbrhd loop. wp7-1?
Su - 16 miles
Did a double out and back on the Bull run trail, which is "moderately strenuous" according to the sign. My watch had 3800 feet ascent + descent and it took 2:45 @ 151 bpm average, so this was about as hard as my normal 18-miler. It was also 86 degrees at 10am when I finished. Thankfully, it was shaded. I felt very good after the run. wp7-1
Good week. Really felt like my form improved over the week and my hamstrings aren't bothering me.
week
54 miles, 8h33m
wp7-1: 250 + 46 = 296
wp7-2: 122 + 8 = 130
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
week of 25 June
Mo - 4.1
Nbhrd loop and a half.
Tu - 10.3
lake A + spur. Missed the turnoff for the flagpole and guessed the extra. Worst wx all year. 70/69.
We - 4.5
Ridgecrest, CA. 4.5 mile out and back from the hotel. 64/27 (low dew pt. It's the desert!) and about 70/27 at the end. (High that day was 102.)
Th - 11.0 miles
Did the same 2.25 out. Then did three total loops around a block that's right at 2.00 miles around. One of the streets was a gravel road. I did half the block (out + half = 31:24@132) then did a "tempo" of sorts for a full block (16:27/153, 8:14 pace), jogged one street (4:42/144), did another full block tempo but a little faster (15:13/166, 7:37 pace, was low 170s after plateauing), jogged one street (4:28/155), and then went back to the hotel a different route (2.75 miles, 25:27/146).
Fr - Rest
travel back from CA
Sa - 3.46
running late for a swim meet so I added a little extra to one nbhrd loop
Su - 18.4
Felt good to do this. Ran it the way I did in the spring (although not quite as fast). Humidity was low, but it was fairly warm. 70/52 at the start, 76/49 at the end. Felt my hamstring on the 3rd and 4th laps, but it wasn't bad. It seems like the lower mileage, but more intense Benji plan is helping my leg. I also used the 172 bpm podcast for working on my stride during the 3rd lap. I need to do that more often. I swam in the evening with the kids and a few laps. Maybe 15 minutes of getting my heart rate up.
Feel like I'm coming around this week.
week
51 miles
shoes
wp 7-1 234 + 16 = 250
wp 7-2 85 + 35 = 122
Nbhrd loop and a half.
Tu - 10.3
lake A + spur. Missed the turnoff for the flagpole and guessed the extra. Worst wx all year. 70/69.
We - 4.5
Ridgecrest, CA. 4.5 mile out and back from the hotel. 64/27 (low dew pt. It's the desert!) and about 70/27 at the end. (High that day was 102.)
Th - 11.0 miles
Did the same 2.25 out. Then did three total loops around a block that's right at 2.00 miles around. One of the streets was a gravel road. I did half the block (out + half = 31:24@132) then did a "tempo" of sorts for a full block (16:27/153, 8:14 pace), jogged one street (4:42/144), did another full block tempo but a little faster (15:13/166, 7:37 pace, was low 170s after plateauing), jogged one street (4:28/155), and then went back to the hotel a different route (2.75 miles, 25:27/146).
Fr - Rest
travel back from CA
Sa - 3.46
running late for a swim meet so I added a little extra to one nbhrd loop
Su - 18.4
Felt good to do this. Ran it the way I did in the spring (although not quite as fast). Humidity was low, but it was fairly warm. 70/52 at the start, 76/49 at the end. Felt my hamstring on the 3rd and 4th laps, but it wasn't bad. It seems like the lower mileage, but more intense Benji plan is helping my leg. I also used the 172 bpm podcast for working on my stride during the 3rd lap. I need to do that more often. I swam in the evening with the kids and a few laps. Maybe 15 minutes of getting my heart rate up.
Feel like I'm coming around this week.
week
51 miles
shoes
wp 7-1 234 + 16 = 250
wp 7-2 85 + 35 = 122
Monday, June 18, 2007
week of 18 June
Mo - 4.7
1.5 nbhrd loops. Very warm, but decent pace at 9:37 min/mi. HR was OK too I think. I felt my hamstring/calf a little in the last 10 minutes though. I also felt it some in the last hour yesterday. I felt like I ran very upright for some reason. Could it be the crunches? Doesn't seem possible. wp7-2
Tu - 9 miles
Ran the Lake Hodges trail. From the hotel 2.4, wrong way and back on trail .5, out and back on trail 3.7, back to hotel 2.4 for 9 miles. The trail part was run pretty hard for only 10mm. I did the distance on gmap, but there were lots of twists and turns, so who knows if it's right.
We - 9.5 miles am, 3.3 miles pm
From the hotel 2.4, wrong way and back on trail 1.0, out and back on trail 3.7, back to hotel 2.4 for 9 miles. Down at shelter island in San Diego bay, I did basically a slow "lap" around the island at 10:30 min/mi. My first double. Not a bad way to do it!
Th - Rest
travelling back from west coast
Fr - 8.3
Usual Lake A loop. I was a little rambunctious with some good weather and got to the lake in 21 minutes, but my hamstring *really* tightened up after 30 minutes. Crap. I slowed down and made it home. I'm paying from my exuberance in San Diego I'm afraid.
Sa - 4.1
Slow neighborhood loop. Running while trying to keep my right foot from splaying took the pressure off my "outer" hamstring and calf.
Su - 13.8
I didn't want to push it and run 18. I did this at a a pretty high heart rate though. 44:34/137 (9:41), 43:08/148 (9:23), 41:10/165(!) (8:57). 9:21 min/mi @150 over a short distance. Obviously this is quite pitiful. Felt the hamstring the whole time, but the non-splaying of the foot seemed to help. This is basically the same injury I DNFd the 10K for back in February.
What seemed like a turnaround week ended up as a setback. I'm not sure what to do at this point. More long, slow distance or go back to Benji, but with modest/no speed (i.e. short slow distance). I think I might need those back-to-back short days on Fr/Sa to get back to form, but I'll have to suffer some low 50s weeks with no speed.
week
53 miles, 8h26m (9:36 avg)
shoes
wp7-1: 186 + 48 = 234
wp7-2: 80 + 5 = 85
1.5 nbhrd loops. Very warm, but decent pace at 9:37 min/mi. HR was OK too I think. I felt my hamstring/calf a little in the last 10 minutes though. I also felt it some in the last hour yesterday. I felt like I ran very upright for some reason. Could it be the crunches? Doesn't seem possible. wp7-2
Tu - 9 miles
Ran the Lake Hodges trail. From the hotel 2.4, wrong way and back on trail .5, out and back on trail 3.7, back to hotel 2.4 for 9 miles. The trail part was run pretty hard for only 10mm. I did the distance on gmap, but there were lots of twists and turns, so who knows if it's right.
We - 9.5 miles am, 3.3 miles pm
From the hotel 2.4, wrong way and back on trail 1.0, out and back on trail 3.7, back to hotel 2.4 for 9 miles. Down at shelter island in San Diego bay, I did basically a slow "lap" around the island at 10:30 min/mi. My first double. Not a bad way to do it!
Th - Rest
travelling back from west coast
Fr - 8.3
Usual Lake A loop. I was a little rambunctious with some good weather and got to the lake in 21 minutes, but my hamstring *really* tightened up after 30 minutes. Crap. I slowed down and made it home. I'm paying from my exuberance in San Diego I'm afraid.
Sa - 4.1
Slow neighborhood loop. Running while trying to keep my right foot from splaying took the pressure off my "outer" hamstring and calf.
Su - 13.8
I didn't want to push it and run 18. I did this at a a pretty high heart rate though. 44:34/137 (9:41), 43:08/148 (9:23), 41:10/165(!) (8:57). 9:21 min/mi @150 over a short distance. Obviously this is quite pitiful. Felt the hamstring the whole time, but the non-splaying of the foot seemed to help. This is basically the same injury I DNFd the 10K for back in February.
What seemed like a turnaround week ended up as a setback. I'm not sure what to do at this point. More long, slow distance or go back to Benji, but with modest/no speed (i.e. short slow distance). I think I might need those back-to-back short days on Fr/Sa to get back to form, but I'll have to suffer some low 50s weeks with no speed.
week
53 miles, 8h26m (9:36 avg)
shoes
wp7-1: 186 + 48 = 234
wp7-2: 80 + 5 = 85
Monday, June 11, 2007
week of June 11
Mon - 5.86
2x nbhrd loop *really* slow. 10:12 min/mi. 132 bpm average. wp7-1
Tu - 8.3
good old lake A lollipop. Weather was good (65/55) and I was motivated to run a wee bit faster than recently but still low heart rate (avg 140). I also felt my hamstring a "wee bit" too. Time was 1:19:24 (9:34 pace), so it's good to be below 10mm again. Good run. wp7-2.
We - 10.5
Ran to work. wx 64/61 - 65/63. More humid than yesterday, but I felt OK. Right at 10mm again, but probably 9:40-9:45 if you exclude stop lights. Set HRM alarm to 145 and average 136 bpm. Maybe I'm turning a corner? Weighed 158-3/4 on drs scale at work. Exactly the same as on 4/30. Hamstring was fine. Felt it just a tad in the last mile or so. wp7-1.
Th - 4.7
1.5 nbhrd loops. 9:45 min/mi @135 bpm.
Fr - 10.5
Ran to work. Very nice day. 57/53. I was motivated by the weather and ran a little faster, but still a pretty low heart rate. 9:17 min/mi @141 bpm. Got very lucky on the stop lights. wp7-2
Sa - 2.9
I debated running at all since my legs felt pretty heavy. I settled on just one nbhrd loop. 9:52 pace. HRM was whacky until the last 5 minutes or so.
Su - 18.4
Four lake B loops kind of in the style of the marathon build up. Very similar avg hr (148 today versus 149 then), but a lower first lap and a higher last lap. 9:33 pace. Felt very good. Impossible to compare to the spring since it was much warmer. 66/61 - 79/62. I think it was a good run considering the temps. I also didn't feel my hamstring until the last lap and then it was only a little tight. Had a cold water bath and for the first time did some core conditioning exercises. wp7-2
Week
61 miles, 9h51m
shoes
wp7-1: 165 + 21 = 186
wp7-2: 40 + 40 = 80
2x nbhrd loop *really* slow. 10:12 min/mi. 132 bpm average. wp7-1
Tu - 8.3
good old lake A lollipop. Weather was good (65/55) and I was motivated to run a wee bit faster than recently but still low heart rate (avg 140). I also felt my hamstring a "wee bit" too. Time was 1:19:24 (9:34 pace), so it's good to be below 10mm again. Good run. wp7-2.
We - 10.5
Ran to work. wx 64/61 - 65/63. More humid than yesterday, but I felt OK. Right at 10mm again, but probably 9:40-9:45 if you exclude stop lights. Set HRM alarm to 145 and average 136 bpm. Maybe I'm turning a corner? Weighed 158-3/4 on drs scale at work. Exactly the same as on 4/30. Hamstring was fine. Felt it just a tad in the last mile or so. wp7-1.
Th - 4.7
1.5 nbhrd loops. 9:45 min/mi @135 bpm.
Fr - 10.5
Ran to work. Very nice day. 57/53. I was motivated by the weather and ran a little faster, but still a pretty low heart rate. 9:17 min/mi @141 bpm. Got very lucky on the stop lights. wp7-2
Sa - 2.9
I debated running at all since my legs felt pretty heavy. I settled on just one nbhrd loop. 9:52 pace. HRM was whacky until the last 5 minutes or so.
Su - 18.4
Four lake B loops kind of in the style of the marathon build up. Very similar avg hr (148 today versus 149 then), but a lower first lap and a higher last lap. 9:33 pace. Felt very good. Impossible to compare to the spring since it was much warmer. 66/61 - 79/62. I think it was a good run considering the temps. I also didn't feel my hamstring until the last lap and then it was only a little tight. Had a cold water bath and for the first time did some core conditioning exercises. wp7-2
Week
61 miles, 9h51m
shoes
wp7-1: 165 + 21 = 186
wp7-2: 40 + 40 = 80
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
week of 4 June
Mo -4.1
wp 7-1
Tu - 10.7
Ran to work. Took alternate route b/c of the rain, but started on my old route and added two tenths in the confusion. hamstring started to tighten up. wp7-2 (New shoes. Same model. Why does blue feel better than lime green?)
We - 6.15
c-g loop (4.35) + 0.05 + half nbhrd loop (1.75) = 6.15. 1:01:54/135. That's 10:04 pace. There were also at least 90 secs of traffic lights (it's about 9:45 if the lights were 1:54). The nbhrd loop was unobstructed 16:52/140 (9:38 pace). The reason for the improvement over the recent dismal runs has to be the weather. Temp/dp was 62/58 rising to 65/56. Hamstring was still there, but I didn't make it worse.
Th - 10.5
Ran to work by the usual route. Utterly fantastic morning weatherwise. 57/53 at the start and 63/57 at the end. Right at 10 min/mi and averaged 138 bpm. I think I just need to get used to 10mm. Maybe next summer I can run.
Fr - 4.7
nbrhd loop and a half
Sa - 8.3
Lake A loop. 137 bpm. 10:21 min/mi. My, I'm slow.
Su - 18.4
I wanted to make 4 loops without hurting my hamstring, so I'll say mission accomplished. I didn't want to push it and let the "run" come to me. I didn't want to get out of first gear though. Laps were 49:18/128, 49:27/130, 50:05/135, and 44:32/155. I picked it up and felt like I was racing the last one. 155 bpm for 9:40 pace? What's the matter with me? At least I got in 63 miles this week. wp7-1
63 miles, 10h45m (most distance and especially time in a while)
shoes
wp6-1: 409
wp7-1: 146 + 23 = 165
wp7-2: 40
wr10-1: 335
wp 7-1
Tu - 10.7
Ran to work. Took alternate route b/c of the rain, but started on my old route and added two tenths in the confusion. hamstring started to tighten up. wp7-2 (New shoes. Same model. Why does blue feel better than lime green?)
We - 6.15
c-g loop (4.35) + 0.05 + half nbhrd loop (1.75) = 6.15. 1:01:54/135. That's 10:04 pace. There were also at least 90 secs of traffic lights (it's about 9:45 if the lights were 1:54). The nbhrd loop was unobstructed 16:52/140 (9:38 pace). The reason for the improvement over the recent dismal runs has to be the weather. Temp/dp was 62/58 rising to 65/56. Hamstring was still there, but I didn't make it worse.
Th - 10.5
Ran to work by the usual route. Utterly fantastic morning weatherwise. 57/53 at the start and 63/57 at the end. Right at 10 min/mi and averaged 138 bpm. I think I just need to get used to 10mm. Maybe next summer I can run.
Fr - 4.7
nbrhd loop and a half
Sa - 8.3
Lake A loop. 137 bpm. 10:21 min/mi. My, I'm slow.
Su - 18.4
I wanted to make 4 loops without hurting my hamstring, so I'll say mission accomplished. I didn't want to push it and let the "run" come to me. I didn't want to get out of first gear though. Laps were 49:18/128, 49:27/130, 50:05/135, and 44:32/155. I picked it up and felt like I was racing the last one. 155 bpm for 9:40 pace? What's the matter with me? At least I got in 63 miles this week. wp7-1
63 miles, 10h45m (most distance and especially time in a while)
shoes
wp6-1: 409
wp7-1: 146 + 23 = 165
wp7-2: 40
wr10-1: 335
Monday, May 28, 2007
week 28 May
Mo - 3.3
Pretty stiff and went really slowly (first lap was 29:0X -- a little over 10 min/mi). Then at about 30 minutes the back of my right knee suddenly grabbed me. I tried to walk/jog it off for a couple of minutes, but gave up and walked home. I think I should take the next couple of days completely off.
Tu - Rest
We - Rest
Th - 4.86
9:04 min/mi. Shouldn't have run this fast. Felt like I was lucky to finish without hurting it.
Fr - 8.3
old lake A route. Very, very slowly. 10:32 min/mi (135 bpm). Went gingerly to avoid any strain on the hamstring and walked 60 steps every 5 minutes or so.
Sa- 8.3
Week after the marathon I ran 8.3 miles @9:09min/mi (143 bpm). Today was 9:58/145 on the same route. Ugh. Temp today was avg 73 with a dew point of 60. Before it was 65/38. Weather explains a lot, but I feel like I'm out of shape. The hamstring was much better today. I hardly felt it. It's almost like the long slow run helped more than the days off.
Su - 12.8
Dreadful run. I planned for 3 laps around lake B (4.6 each). 1st 2 were 45 minutes (just under 10mm) and my hamstring felt fine although it was harder than it should be for 10mm. It wasn't even warm (71 degrees) but the dew point was 66(!). Is humidity really that bad or am I just out of shape? Then about 10 minutes short of finishing my hamstring really hurt and I walked it in. Steady rain to add to the fun.
week
38 miles
shoes
wp6-1: 396 + 13 = 409
wp7-1: 121 + 25 = 146
wr10-1: 335
Pretty stiff and went really slowly (first lap was 29:0X -- a little over 10 min/mi). Then at about 30 minutes the back of my right knee suddenly grabbed me. I tried to walk/jog it off for a couple of minutes, but gave up and walked home. I think I should take the next couple of days completely off.
Tu - Rest
We - Rest
Th - 4.86
9:04 min/mi. Shouldn't have run this fast. Felt like I was lucky to finish without hurting it.
Fr - 8.3
old lake A route. Very, very slowly. 10:32 min/mi (135 bpm). Went gingerly to avoid any strain on the hamstring and walked 60 steps every 5 minutes or so.
Sa- 8.3
Week after the marathon I ran 8.3 miles @9:09min/mi (143 bpm). Today was 9:58/145 on the same route. Ugh. Temp today was avg 73 with a dew point of 60. Before it was 65/38. Weather explains a lot, but I feel like I'm out of shape. The hamstring was much better today. I hardly felt it. It's almost like the long slow run helped more than the days off.
Su - 12.8
Dreadful run. I planned for 3 laps around lake B (4.6 each). 1st 2 were 45 minutes (just under 10mm) and my hamstring felt fine although it was harder than it should be for 10mm. It wasn't even warm (71 degrees) but the dew point was 66(!). Is humidity really that bad or am I just out of shape? Then about 10 minutes short of finishing my hamstring really hurt and I walked it in. Steady rain to add to the fun.
week
38 miles
shoes
wp6-1: 396 + 13 = 409
wp7-1: 121 + 25 = 146
wr10-1: 335
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
week of 21 May
Mo - 4.11
9:31 min/mi, 137 bpm. Still high for the pace, but closer to normal. Could feel the calf, but didn't get worse. wp7-1
Tu - 10.1
Lake A loop plus 1/2 a nbhrd loop (8.3 + 1.8). I could feel the calf but I still tried a very ill-advised tempo portion. About 7 mins in, the hamstring and calf really started to hurt. After I slowed down, I could still feel it with every step. It got a little better at the end and I think I can run, but I might have to forget about a tempo on Thursday. I should have just run easy today. Heart rate pace was OK though. 9:00 min/mi, 140 bpm. The last half loop was 15:26/142 compared to 15:23/138 and the awful 15:11/157 last Saturday. wp7-1
We - 4.1
Still felt hamstring, but made it through OK.
Th - 10.3
Lake A loop plus a "spur" to the flagpole at the rec center. I was told the spur was worth 2.2, but paced on my pace for the rest of the run, dead reckoning puts it at a little over 2. At 54 minutes, the back of my leg *really* started to hurt. I did some jog/walk for a while and then was able to run again. I picked my knees up more (like I was doing before this 9 min shuffle I've fallen into)
and things were easier.
Fr - 4.1
nbhrd loop. 9:02 min/mi
Sa - 4.1
9:35 min/mi. This is what I was doing recovery runs up to the marathon at.
Su - 17.9
Got out fairly early to beat the heat. Hit start at 6:51am. out, around lake b, and back. I warmed up slowly, cautious about my hamstring -- 50:13/131 to the rec center. Pushed it up to 140 and then gradually to 150 by the time I was leaving the lake. On the path to the rec center I let it get to 160 on the big hill leaving and then ran at 160 until I hit the last *big* hill on the parkway. I let it get above 170 and held it there for the last 15 minutes or so. I tried to finish in 2:45 and did it in 2:44:47/147 (9:17 min/mi). The last two 20-milers I did were 9:07 pace and 148 average, but it was pretty warm and humid today though. It was already 69 (62 dew pt) when I started and 78/64 when I finished. I'm almost back to normal. I need to get this hamstring healed though before I start doing tempos. The hamstring didn't really bother me today although I could feel it.
55 miles, 8h24m
shoes
wp6-1: 396 + 0: 396
wp7-1: 66 + 55 = 121
wr10-1: 335 + 0 = 335
9:31 min/mi, 137 bpm. Still high for the pace, but closer to normal. Could feel the calf, but didn't get worse. wp7-1
Tu - 10.1
Lake A loop plus 1/2 a nbhrd loop (8.3 + 1.8). I could feel the calf but I still tried a very ill-advised tempo portion. About 7 mins in, the hamstring and calf really started to hurt. After I slowed down, I could still feel it with every step. It got a little better at the end and I think I can run, but I might have to forget about a tempo on Thursday. I should have just run easy today. Heart rate pace was OK though. 9:00 min/mi, 140 bpm. The last half loop was 15:26/142 compared to 15:23/138 and the awful 15:11/157 last Saturday. wp7-1
We - 4.1
Still felt hamstring, but made it through OK.
Th - 10.3
Lake A loop plus a "spur" to the flagpole at the rec center. I was told the spur was worth 2.2, but paced on my pace for the rest of the run, dead reckoning puts it at a little over 2. At 54 minutes, the back of my leg *really* started to hurt. I did some jog/walk for a while and then was able to run again. I picked my knees up more (like I was doing before this 9 min shuffle I've fallen into)
and things were easier.
Fr - 4.1
nbhrd loop. 9:02 min/mi
Sa - 4.1
9:35 min/mi. This is what I was doing recovery runs up to the marathon at.
Su - 17.9
Got out fairly early to beat the heat. Hit start at 6:51am. out, around lake b, and back. I warmed up slowly, cautious about my hamstring -- 50:13/131 to the rec center. Pushed it up to 140 and then gradually to 150 by the time I was leaving the lake. On the path to the rec center I let it get to 160 on the big hill leaving and then ran at 160 until I hit the last *big* hill on the parkway. I let it get above 170 and held it there for the last 15 minutes or so. I tried to finish in 2:45 and did it in 2:44:47/147 (9:17 min/mi). The last two 20-milers I did were 9:07 pace and 148 average, but it was pretty warm and humid today though. It was already 69 (62 dew pt) when I started and 78/64 when I finished. I'm almost back to normal. I need to get this hamstring healed though before I start doing tempos. The hamstring didn't really bother me today although I could feel it.
55 miles, 8h24m
shoes
wp6-1: 396 + 0: 396
wp7-1: 66 + 55 = 121
wr10-1: 335 + 0 = 335
Saturday, May 19, 2007
week of 14 May
Very tough week with travel and a cold. I felt like I locked in on an efficient 9 min/mi shuffle though.
Mo - 4.68
41:56. Good pace/heart rate. 8:58 min/mi and 135 bpm average.
Tu - 10.32
7 laps around "The Great Mall" in Milpitas, CA. gmap-pedometer calls it 1.474 miles around. I got out of bed at 3:40am to run with beginning of a cold. Watched the mall start to life as I ran around. At least it was flat as a pancake. I remember thinking I could run a fast 5K on it. After the first lap, the heart rates were 144-146 until the last which was 148. It got noticeably harder the last lap. Quads were also quite sore by the last lap. Splits were very even. Average pace was 8:23 min/mi. 144 bpm average. Nice MAF test I suppose.
We - 4.42
3 laps around the mall. 8:34 min/mi. 148 bpm average.
Th - 10?
Thankfully I switched hotels. My hotel was right by the Coyote creek trail which has a nice path with a surface like the Mt. Vernon bike trail. Unfortunately, I got some bad directions from the hotel and ran an hour before I found it. The trail runs for miles. I saw "mile 13" markers. It's got to be tens of miles. It has markers every half mile. The only downside is you can hear the freeway the whole time, but for travel running this was more than one could hope for.
Fr - 4.7
SFO Marriott. Ran on the path by the hotel along the bay. Guessed the distance assuming ~9 min/mi.
Sa - 4.68
Extremely high heart rate for the pace. Temps in the low 60s. 8:49 min/mi. 151 bpm. Compare to monday. 9 secs/mi isn't worth 16 bpm!
Su - 15.7
Heart rate not as ridiculous as Sat, but still high. At about mile 12 the back of my right knee started to hurt. Really it was the top of my calf and the bottom of my hamstring. I jog/walked for a while before settling into a slower run unil the end. This run really beat me up. I must be sick. 9:06 pace and average 153 bpm over 16 miles. My last two 20 milers were the same pace (9:07) and 148 bpm and through 16 miles were probably in the low 140s. Felt like I got hit by a truck. The temps probably hurt though. It felt OK, but it was 63 when I started and 75 when I finished. Those 20-milers were probably in the 40's.
54.5 miles, 8h1m
shoes
wp6-1: 346 + 50 = 396
wp7-1: 63 + 5 = 68
wr10-1: 335
Mo - 4.68
41:56. Good pace/heart rate. 8:58 min/mi and 135 bpm average.
Tu - 10.32
7 laps around "The Great Mall" in Milpitas, CA. gmap-pedometer calls it 1.474 miles around. I got out of bed at 3:40am to run with beginning of a cold. Watched the mall start to life as I ran around. At least it was flat as a pancake. I remember thinking I could run a fast 5K on it. After the first lap, the heart rates were 144-146 until the last which was 148. It got noticeably harder the last lap. Quads were also quite sore by the last lap. Splits were very even. Average pace was 8:23 min/mi. 144 bpm average. Nice MAF test I suppose.
We - 4.42
3 laps around the mall. 8:34 min/mi. 148 bpm average.
Th - 10?
Thankfully I switched hotels. My hotel was right by the Coyote creek trail which has a nice path with a surface like the Mt. Vernon bike trail. Unfortunately, I got some bad directions from the hotel and ran an hour before I found it. The trail runs for miles. I saw "mile 13" markers. It's got to be tens of miles. It has markers every half mile. The only downside is you can hear the freeway the whole time, but for travel running this was more than one could hope for.
Fr - 4.7
SFO Marriott. Ran on the path by the hotel along the bay. Guessed the distance assuming ~9 min/mi.
Sa - 4.68
Extremely high heart rate for the pace. Temps in the low 60s. 8:49 min/mi. 151 bpm. Compare to monday. 9 secs/mi isn't worth 16 bpm!
Su - 15.7
Heart rate not as ridiculous as Sat, but still high. At about mile 12 the back of my right knee started to hurt. Really it was the top of my calf and the bottom of my hamstring. I jog/walked for a while before settling into a slower run unil the end. This run really beat me up. I must be sick. 9:06 pace and average 153 bpm over 16 miles. My last two 20 milers were the same pace (9:07) and 148 bpm and through 16 miles were probably in the low 140s. Felt like I got hit by a truck. The temps probably hurt though. It felt OK, but it was 63 when I started and 75 when I finished. Those 20-milers were probably in the 40's.
54.5 miles, 8h1m
shoes
wp6-1: 346 + 50 = 396
wp7-1: 63 + 5 = 68
wr10-1: 335
Saturday, May 12, 2007
week of 7 May
Mo - Rest
Tu - Rest
We - Rest
tempted to run, legs felt good, but was traveling to CA. Sprinting for the parking lot bus was easy though :-)
Th - 8.9
Ran from LAX hotel to the beach, maybe 5 or 6 minutes on the beach path?, then back to hotel. I was able to gmap it and see 8.9 miles. Took 1:27:02. Avg hr was high (142) for the pace 9:46. Legs felt pretty good (until about 60 mins in I felt my quads), but I still had the fatigued feeling in my chest. Also, it was pretty warm and I never run well in the afternoon.
Fr - Rest
Travel day back from CA
Sa -6.2 (5K race)
29:40/141 warmup. I sorta ran the course and guess 9:30 pace in the warmup, which came out to 3.12 so I'll call it 5K :-) I could tell during the warmup, I still had the a little of the fatigued feeling but my legs felt quite good (quads a little sore, but not much).
I guessed I'd run about 20:30 before the race, but I started fast in the first 30 meters or so before realizing I shouldn't be right behind guys I knew ran low 18's. I ran pretty evenly the first mile after that and saw 6:26.7 at the split (avg 177bpm). Right on 20 pace. Should I try? Next mile had some hills and I slowed down like I always seem to in the middle miles 6:35.7/191. I sustained quite a high heart rate, which I'm happy with. The places were basically sorted out by then, except 2 guys passed me in the last mile, but I repassed one. It turns out that was just enough to knock me from 10th to 11th male (12th overall). The last 1.1 were 7:28.8/190 (6:45 pace). 188 average overall from STraM. Obviously I went out too fast, but I have a good idea what 20 min pace feels like (6:26) and how much I'm short. Better rest, a flatter course, and more motivation (if I'm close to 20) is probably worth 15 seconds. I'll have to improve for the other 15.
Anyway, big news is that I got a 2nd place age group award. It was a small race and I had a lean age group I think, but I got to shake my congressman's hand, get my medal and a gift certificate to a restaurant. I ended up $5 and a t-shirt over my entry fee. Maybe I should quit my day job?
It wasn't a certified course, but the RD said it was wheel measured and double-checked with a bike. The mile markers also seemed spot on to me, so I'll count it. Official time was 20:32. 20:31 on my watch. Closest I've ever been to a starting line. I was about third row.
Su - 8.3
Usual lake A route. I thought about doing two laps around the lake (12.1 miles total), but my quads hurt (sharply at times) and I decided that discretion was the better part of valor. I haven't run this in a while and got a little caught up in being able to run it faster now. 1:16:05/143. 9:09 pace. This is a couple of seconds per mile slower than I was running my 20-milers before the marathon, but it felt harder than that! Several factors: marathon 7 days ago, 5K yesterday, I ate breakfast ~hr before, and 63-67 degrees.
week
23.5 miles (yikes that's low!)
shoes
wp6-1: 340 + 6 = 346
wp7-1: 45 + 18 = 63
wr10-1: 335 + mowed the lawn in them :-)
Tu - Rest
We - Rest
tempted to run, legs felt good, but was traveling to CA. Sprinting for the parking lot bus was easy though :-)
Th - 8.9
Ran from LAX hotel to the beach, maybe 5 or 6 minutes on the beach path?, then back to hotel. I was able to gmap it and see 8.9 miles. Took 1:27:02. Avg hr was high (142) for the pace 9:46. Legs felt pretty good (until about 60 mins in I felt my quads), but I still had the fatigued feeling in my chest. Also, it was pretty warm and I never run well in the afternoon.
Fr - Rest
Travel day back from CA
Sa -6.2 (5K race)
29:40/141 warmup. I sorta ran the course and guess 9:30 pace in the warmup, which came out to 3.12 so I'll call it 5K :-) I could tell during the warmup, I still had the a little of the fatigued feeling but my legs felt quite good (quads a little sore, but not much).
I guessed I'd run about 20:30 before the race, but I started fast in the first 30 meters or so before realizing I shouldn't be right behind guys I knew ran low 18's. I ran pretty evenly the first mile after that and saw 6:26.7 at the split (avg 177bpm). Right on 20 pace. Should I try? Next mile had some hills and I slowed down like I always seem to in the middle miles 6:35.7/191. I sustained quite a high heart rate, which I'm happy with. The places were basically sorted out by then, except 2 guys passed me in the last mile, but I repassed one. It turns out that was just enough to knock me from 10th to 11th male (12th overall). The last 1.1 were 7:28.8/190 (6:45 pace). 188 average overall from STraM. Obviously I went out too fast, but I have a good idea what 20 min pace feels like (6:26) and how much I'm short. Better rest, a flatter course, and more motivation (if I'm close to 20) is probably worth 15 seconds. I'll have to improve for the other 15.
Anyway, big news is that I got a 2nd place age group award. It was a small race and I had a lean age group I think, but I got to shake my congressman's hand, get my medal and a gift certificate to a restaurant. I ended up $5 and a t-shirt over my entry fee. Maybe I should quit my day job?
It wasn't a certified course, but the RD said it was wheel measured and double-checked with a bike. The mile markers also seemed spot on to me, so I'll count it. Official time was 20:32. 20:31 on my watch. Closest I've ever been to a starting line. I was about third row.
Su - 8.3
Usual lake A route. I thought about doing two laps around the lake (12.1 miles total), but my quads hurt (sharply at times) and I decided that discretion was the better part of valor. I haven't run this in a while and got a little caught up in being able to run it faster now. 1:16:05/143. 9:09 pace. This is a couple of seconds per mile slower than I was running my 20-milers before the marathon, but it felt harder than that! Several factors: marathon 7 days ago, 5K yesterday, I ate breakfast ~hr before, and 63-67 degrees.
week
23.5 miles (yikes that's low!)
shoes
wp6-1: 340 + 6 = 346
wp7-1: 45 + 18 = 63
wr10-1: 335 + mowed the lawn in them :-)
Sunday, May 06, 2007
frederick marathon
The picture tells a lot of the the story. I was running from 7:30am to a little before 11am. Here's some additional whining:- The wind was from the NNE and the course is basically a skinny loop oriented NNE.
- The weather history also shows gusts from 25-30mph from 8:20am on.
- The course is also probably 90% on open roads -- no shelter.
- The course is not exactly flat either, but it's fair. +810/-876ft on my watch. MCM was +579/-459 on my watch.
- It was just insane the last 4 miles having to run much of it straight into the wind (and often uphill).
Overall a good race for me and I feel like I'm within striking distance of a BQ.
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
week of 30 April
Race week
Mo - 4.11
neighborhood loop. I haven't been using bah-bump and I think the bad HR data encourages me to run faster at the beginning. 8:53 pace overall. Didn't notice the calf/tendon thing at all. Didn't feel the knee except walking down the steep hill home. wp7-1
Tu - 4.68
My 4.11 runs have been getting down to 36 minutes and Benji calls for 45 today. I did the longer lap and a half route. 41:XX. Probably too fast for a recovery run, but still the last half lap only average 141 bpm. (First lap avg screwed up by 12 minutes of messed up HRM.) 8:51 pace. No calf/tendon problem and didn't even feel the knee. wp7-1
We - 10.45
Ran to work. Started at about the pace I've been doing the last couple of days (probably too fast) and then probably picked it up slightly. 8:52 pace overall. Out of curiosity, I hit the lap button at the lights, which accounted for about 2 minutes and brings the pace down to 8:40. Average heart rate was 144. HRM worked from the start today. It was warmer than yesterday. 60 at 6am. Hopefully it won't be that warm for the marathon. The forecast keeps improving. High of only 67 now! 50 at 8am and 68 at 2pm. I weighed myself on the dr's scale. 158-3/4. I was 160 flat two weeks ago.
Th - 4.11
nbhrd loop. 36:57/140 (8:59 min/mi). HRM seemed to work pretty well at the beginning again.
Fr - 4.11
nbhrd loop. 37:04/139 (9:01 min/mi). HRM a little goofy at the very beginning. I had some fairly sharp knee pain early in a weird location, but after some walk breaks it went away.
Sa - Rest
Benji says to run 25 minutes, but I didn't see the point, so I didn't.
Su - marathon
3:24:16/172. I've raced 6 marathons and all of them have had an average heart rate of 172 or 173.
week
54 miles
shoes
wp6-1: 314 + 26 = 340
wp7-1: 17 + 28 = 45
wr10-1: 335 + 0 = 335 (not sure I'll wear these again)
Mo - 4.11
neighborhood loop. I haven't been using bah-bump and I think the bad HR data encourages me to run faster at the beginning. 8:53 pace overall. Didn't notice the calf/tendon thing at all. Didn't feel the knee except walking down the steep hill home. wp7-1
Tu - 4.68
My 4.11 runs have been getting down to 36 minutes and Benji calls for 45 today. I did the longer lap and a half route. 41:XX. Probably too fast for a recovery run, but still the last half lap only average 141 bpm. (First lap avg screwed up by 12 minutes of messed up HRM.) 8:51 pace. No calf/tendon problem and didn't even feel the knee. wp7-1
We - 10.45
Ran to work. Started at about the pace I've been doing the last couple of days (probably too fast) and then probably picked it up slightly. 8:52 pace overall. Out of curiosity, I hit the lap button at the lights, which accounted for about 2 minutes and brings the pace down to 8:40. Average heart rate was 144. HRM worked from the start today. It was warmer than yesterday. 60 at 6am. Hopefully it won't be that warm for the marathon. The forecast keeps improving. High of only 67 now! 50 at 8am and 68 at 2pm. I weighed myself on the dr's scale. 158-3/4. I was 160 flat two weeks ago.
Th - 4.11
nbhrd loop. 36:57/140 (8:59 min/mi). HRM seemed to work pretty well at the beginning again.
Fr - 4.11
nbhrd loop. 37:04/139 (9:01 min/mi). HRM a little goofy at the very beginning. I had some fairly sharp knee pain early in a weird location, but after some walk breaks it went away.
Sa - Rest
Benji says to run 25 minutes, but I didn't see the point, so I didn't.
Su - marathon
3:24:16/172. I've raced 6 marathons and all of them have had an average heart rate of 172 or 173.
week
54 miles
shoes
wp6-1: 314 + 26 = 340
wp7-1: 17 + 28 = 45
wr10-1: 335 + 0 = 335 (not sure I'll wear these again)
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
week of 23 April
Mo -4.11
neighborhood. I felt so good yesterday, I almost went for an afternoon run. This morning, the only after affect was some tightness in my right hamstring. I think this is from my right hamstring being tighter than my left. Anyway, it seems a little strange that 15 miles with 10 @7:26 pace would be so much easier to recover from than 20@9:07 pace.
Tu - 10.8
Repeat of last Tuesday. 1 loop warmup, 8 x 0.3 miles. Split/Rests were: ..... Finished with the 4.11 loop. The first interval was slow. Then I decided to start with 2-2 instead of 3-3 breathing and my breathing sort of got out of the way of my running and it was much easier. I'd run with 2-2 breathing the whole way with progressively more forceful exhales. Legs felt fine during the runs except a few twinges of the left knee doing the 10 laps/mile track. Then walking down the steep hill to my house, the left knee didn't quite "groove" right -- the usual knee thing.
We -4.11
Felt inspired to run my recovery a little faster. 8:43 pace and 144 bpm average. Knee didn't bother me at all except a little bit when I was walking afterwards and later in the morning when I dropped my car keys and stopped to pick them up.
Th - 11.5
Ran to the lake and then an out and back up CCT plus a detoure to check on the stair construction (it doesn't look like they've done anything in a month). Distance is a bit of a guess with gmap but probably within a couple of tenths. I did the warmup a little quicker than normal (a little over 20 minutes to the lake ~9mm pace). After 30 minutes did 3x10 faster with 5 minute jog between. averaged about 160 bpm I think with the last near 170. Don't know the paces. Animal count on the trail: 1 possum (I think it was a possum), 2 deer, 1 fox, and something jumping in the pond (fish?) that scared the bejeezus out of me. I was doing a tempo section when I saw the deer. I was running fast enough at him that he gave me the "deer in the headlights" look for one potato, two potato... I started to slow before he ran away. At the end on the big hill, I noticed that my calf (or something) was very tight and had a little pain. It's about 6 inches above my right outside "ankle bone."
Fr -4.4
Had to watch the kids and run on the treadmill. 40 minutes. HRM was off until I built a sweat and I was surprised to see it at ~132 when it corrected itself and I was at 9:30 pace. I upped the pace over time and was at 6.9mph (8:41) for most of it. Just got over 140 in the last 10 minutes and got in the 143-145 range at the very end. I am much faster than last time I ran on a treadmill. I felt the calf thing again today. It feels like it my be my peroneal tendon, but up where it connects to my calf (not in the foot where you usually hurt it). This is a little distressing. I need to make sure I take it really easy tomorrow.
Sa - 4.3
Treadmill again. 9:16 pace. HRM messed up for first 10 minutes (read 160+) and 140 average isn't close to right (I occasionally touched 139 at the end). Once the HRM started working, I found myself at 8:57 pace and a heart rate of 129. I've definitely improved a lot recently. New pair of shoes. wp7-1. Shoes felt perfect. I'm still having the calf/tendon problem and it's pretty distressing. It was about the same as yesterday. I think what's going on is that my turned out right foot is using some of these tendons on the outside of my leg when it sure be relying on the more capable Achilles more.
Su - 13.2
The schedule said 2 hours and I aimed to get them in although real life made it tough. I got 15 minutes in outside before my daughter got home. After a 15-20 min break of making lunch, I was forced to the treadmill for the next 1:45, which involved me watching about 4 episodes of Arthure. This was brutal. My pace/heart rate was very good, but I was absolutely drenched in sweat and the monotony cause me to reduce to 6 mph for the last 15 minutes (I had been at 7 mph and 150 bpm, which is pretty good for me). 11.6 miles on the treadmill and google says 1.6 outside. 2:00:14/140 average (messed up for first 5-10 minutes), pace 9:07 min/mi. Exactly the same as the last two 20 milers. Calf thing didn't bother me at all during the run although it felt a little tight afterwards. The left knee is still troubling though. It's only at slow speeds and downhills where it gives me problems. Used new shoes.
This week I'm hoping accuweather isn't right. High of 78 and low of 58. Ugh. accuweather's saturday high is 76 vs 68 for wunderground though, so I'm not sure who to believe. I'd have settled for today. It was 50 at 7:30am when I start and 66 at 11am when I should be finishing.
One thing I did well this week was sleep. I was asleep before 10 on Th, and Fr, and by 10:30 on Saturday.
week
52 miles, 7h 49m
shoes
wp6-1: 279 + 35 = 314
wp7-1: 17
wr10-1: 335 + 0 = 335
neighborhood. I felt so good yesterday, I almost went for an afternoon run. This morning, the only after affect was some tightness in my right hamstring. I think this is from my right hamstring being tighter than my left. Anyway, it seems a little strange that 15 miles with 10 @7:26 pace would be so much easier to recover from than 20@9:07 pace.
Tu - 10.8
Repeat of last Tuesday. 1 loop warmup, 8 x 0.3 miles. Split/Rests were: ..... Finished with the 4.11 loop. The first interval was slow. Then I decided to start with 2-2 instead of 3-3 breathing and my breathing sort of got out of the way of my running and it was much easier. I'd run with 2-2 breathing the whole way with progressively more forceful exhales. Legs felt fine during the runs except a few twinges of the left knee doing the 10 laps/mile track. Then walking down the steep hill to my house, the left knee didn't quite "groove" right -- the usual knee thing.
We -4.11
Felt inspired to run my recovery a little faster. 8:43 pace and 144 bpm average. Knee didn't bother me at all except a little bit when I was walking afterwards and later in the morning when I dropped my car keys and stopped to pick them up.
Th - 11.5
Ran to the lake and then an out and back up CCT plus a detoure to check on the stair construction (it doesn't look like they've done anything in a month). Distance is a bit of a guess with gmap but probably within a couple of tenths. I did the warmup a little quicker than normal (a little over 20 minutes to the lake ~9mm pace). After 30 minutes did 3x10 faster with 5 minute jog between. averaged about 160 bpm I think with the last near 170. Don't know the paces. Animal count on the trail: 1 possum (I think it was a possum), 2 deer, 1 fox, and something jumping in the pond (fish?) that scared the bejeezus out of me. I was doing a tempo section when I saw the deer. I was running fast enough at him that he gave me the "deer in the headlights" look for one potato, two potato... I started to slow before he ran away. At the end on the big hill, I noticed that my calf (or something) was very tight and had a little pain. It's about 6 inches above my right outside "ankle bone."
Fr -4.4
Had to watch the kids and run on the treadmill. 40 minutes. HRM was off until I built a sweat and I was surprised to see it at ~132 when it corrected itself and I was at 9:30 pace. I upped the pace over time and was at 6.9mph (8:41) for most of it. Just got over 140 in the last 10 minutes and got in the 143-145 range at the very end. I am much faster than last time I ran on a treadmill. I felt the calf thing again today. It feels like it my be my peroneal tendon, but up where it connects to my calf (not in the foot where you usually hurt it). This is a little distressing. I need to make sure I take it really easy tomorrow.
Sa - 4.3
Treadmill again. 9:16 pace. HRM messed up for first 10 minutes (read 160+) and 140 average isn't close to right (I occasionally touched 139 at the end). Once the HRM started working, I found myself at 8:57 pace and a heart rate of 129. I've definitely improved a lot recently. New pair of shoes. wp7-1. Shoes felt perfect. I'm still having the calf/tendon problem and it's pretty distressing. It was about the same as yesterday. I think what's going on is that my turned out right foot is using some of these tendons on the outside of my leg when it sure be relying on the more capable Achilles more.
Su - 13.2
The schedule said 2 hours and I aimed to get them in although real life made it tough. I got 15 minutes in outside before my daughter got home. After a 15-20 min break of making lunch, I was forced to the treadmill for the next 1:45, which involved me watching about 4 episodes of Arthure. This was brutal. My pace/heart rate was very good, but I was absolutely drenched in sweat and the monotony cause me to reduce to 6 mph for the last 15 minutes (I had been at 7 mph and 150 bpm, which is pretty good for me). 11.6 miles on the treadmill and google says 1.6 outside. 2:00:14/140 average (messed up for first 5-10 minutes), pace 9:07 min/mi. Exactly the same as the last two 20 milers. Calf thing didn't bother me at all during the run although it felt a little tight afterwards. The left knee is still troubling though. It's only at slow speeds and downhills where it gives me problems. Used new shoes.
This week I'm hoping accuweather isn't right. High of 78 and low of 58. Ugh. accuweather's saturday high is 76 vs 68 for wunderground though, so I'm not sure who to believe. I'd have settled for today. It was 50 at 7:30am when I start and 66 at 11am when I should be finishing.
One thing I did well this week was sleep. I was asleep before 10 on Th, and Fr, and by 10:30 on Saturday.
week
52 miles, 7h 49m
shoes
wp6-1: 279 + 35 = 314
wp7-1: 17
wr10-1: 335 + 0 = 335
Sunday, April 22, 2007
10-mile race as a training run
Sorry this is long...
I ran a 69:49 10 miler 3 weeks ago, which mcmillan tantalizingly calls equivalent to a 3:15:30 marathon (my BQ is 3:15:59). I'm doing a marathon in two weeks and I did a BQ pace experiment at a 10-mile race this morning. The plan was to run even 7:28 min/mi and see how I felt and what my heart rate was. I learned that 1) I'm a pretty bad test subject (didn't run even splits) and 2) it's unlikely I can run 7:28 for a marathon. The data is below. "asc/des" is ascent and descent in feet during the split; "hr" is average heart rate and the last column are my heart rate splits for my PR marathon. I did a 26-minute warmup @ 133 bpm.
mile..asc/des..pace...hr..mar_hr
...1..+10/-92..7:31..163..161
...2..+00/-10..7:34..171..170
...3..+30/-10..7:35..173..170
...4..+49/-33..7:45..175..169
...5..+20/-00..7:16..178..169
...6..+00/-66..7:13..177..170
...7..+00/-00..7:27..178..169
...8..+00/-10..7:15..179..169
...9..+30/-20..7:51..178..170
..10..+10/-23..6:42..185..170
pace: 7:26 min/mi, avg hr: 177. avg marathon hr at 10 miles: 169.
I was pretty encourage during the first mile (which is very downhill), but when I couldn't keep near 170 and make 7:30, I pretty much the result of the experiment. After the 7:45 split I tried to ease back down to the 7:28 pace I wanted to average and overshot some. Then I was right back on overall pace at 8 miles and tried to ease back to do two 7:30s, but ran a 7:51 9th mile?! At this point I was annoyed and tried to make sure I made up the lost 20 seconds, but overshot again and (in my annoyed state) ran the 6:42 last mile.
One thing that I found interesting is that I appear to have bounced back from the lower heart rates I saw at cherry blossom. I averaged 180bpm there. If I went for a PR today, I'm pretty sure I could have averaged 184bpm today like I did last august at annapolis. I felt completely fine the whole way, but I'm quite sure I couldn't have run back the other way and then 2/3 of the way back :) If I had paced myself a little better, I'd say there's a chance I could have run 20 at that pace.
Realistically, I don't think I have any shot at a BQ (damn you calculators for telling me I do!). The course I ran today is fast with a net downhill of 80 feet and temps were ~55deg with no wind, sunny and no shade. Conditions can't be any better on May 6th and from the course elevation map it looks like the marathon has some hills. The question I have now is what to shoot for. It's been awhile since I blew up at a marathon (closing 47-minute 5K last march!). Maybe I should foolishly try to hang with the 3:20 pacer for the first half. (By the way, I wish 14 day forecasts were real. Accuweather calls for low 48 and high 62 on May 6th.)
Followed the race with a 20-min warm down at 156 bpm average. My tweaked knee kept me from jogging the downhills during the warm down. I need to keep an eye on it.
Warmup was probably 9:30 pace and warmdown probably 10:00, so I'll say 14.8 total today.
I ran a 69:49 10 miler 3 weeks ago, which mcmillan tantalizingly calls equivalent to a 3:15:30 marathon (my BQ is 3:15:59). I'm doing a marathon in two weeks and I did a BQ pace experiment at a 10-mile race this morning. The plan was to run even 7:28 min/mi and see how I felt and what my heart rate was. I learned that 1) I'm a pretty bad test subject (didn't run even splits) and 2) it's unlikely I can run 7:28 for a marathon. The data is below. "asc/des" is ascent and descent in feet during the split; "hr" is average heart rate and the last column are my heart rate splits for my PR marathon. I did a 26-minute warmup @ 133 bpm.
mile..asc/des..pace...hr..mar_hr
...1..+10/-92..7:31..163..161
...2..+00/-10..7:34..171..170
...3..+30/-10..7:35..173..170
...4..+49/-33..7:45..175..169
...5..+20/-00..7:16..178..169
...6..+00/-66..7:13..177..170
...7..+00/-00..7:27..178..169
...8..+00/-10..7:15..179..169
...9..+30/-20..7:51..178..170
..10..+10/-23..6:42..185..170
pace: 7:26 min/mi, avg hr: 177. avg marathon hr at 10 miles: 169.
I was pretty encourage during the first mile (which is very downhill), but when I couldn't keep near 170 and make 7:30, I pretty much the result of the experiment. After the 7:45 split I tried to ease back down to the 7:28 pace I wanted to average and overshot some. Then I was right back on overall pace at 8 miles and tried to ease back to do two 7:30s, but ran a 7:51 9th mile?! At this point I was annoyed and tried to make sure I made up the lost 20 seconds, but overshot again and (in my annoyed state) ran the 6:42 last mile.
One thing that I found interesting is that I appear to have bounced back from the lower heart rates I saw at cherry blossom. I averaged 180bpm there. If I went for a PR today, I'm pretty sure I could have averaged 184bpm today like I did last august at annapolis. I felt completely fine the whole way, but I'm quite sure I couldn't have run back the other way and then 2/3 of the way back :) If I had paced myself a little better, I'd say there's a chance I could have run 20 at that pace.
Realistically, I don't think I have any shot at a BQ (damn you calculators for telling me I do!). The course I ran today is fast with a net downhill of 80 feet and temps were ~55deg with no wind, sunny and no shade. Conditions can't be any better on May 6th and from the course elevation map it looks like the marathon has some hills. The question I have now is what to shoot for. It's been awhile since I blew up at a marathon (closing 47-minute 5K last march!). Maybe I should foolishly try to hang with the 3:20 pacer for the first half. (By the way, I wish 14 day forecasts were real. Accuweather calls for low 48 and high 62 on May 6th.)
Followed the race with a 20-min warm down at 156 bpm average. My tweaked knee kept me from jogging the downhills during the warm down. I need to keep an eye on it.
Warmup was probably 9:30 pace and warmdown probably 10:00, so I'll say 14.8 total today.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
week of 16 April
Mo - 4.11
nbhrd loop. 9:21 min/mi @ 138 bpm
Tu - 10.8
Set off without a real idea of what I was going to do. I thought I'd repeat last Tuesday, but I decided that maybe the rest intervals were too long on the hill loop. Then I thought that the only thing that I might improve before marathon day is VO2max. With this illogic, I did a nbhrd loop, ran to the 10-laps-per-mile school track and did 8 x (3 laps in ~2 minutes, 1.5 laps rest). I picked 2 minutes because I figured 3:20 marathon was 6:40 yasso 800's and 3/5*3:20 is exactly 2 minutes. Neat, huh? I shot for 2 minutes because I figured that's about what Benji was doing his 800s in and because I strained my hamstring on lap 4 last time I did intervals :) Anyway, the intervals went 1:59, 1:59, 2:01, 2:00, 1:58, 1:59, 1:58, 1:59. I concentrated on running relaxed start at number 4 and the rest went quite easily actually. Rest periods were 1:22, 1:27, 1:23, 1:27, 1:24, 1:27 , 1:22. The alternating pattern is because I just picked some convenient landmarks at opposite sides of the track and guessed at half a lap. The track is crushed gravel and isn't marked. Max heart rates at the end of each intervals was 173, 176, 174, 177, 179, 179 , 179, and 180.
What does this workout say? One thing it says is that I probably can't break 20 minutes in a 5K. These weren't at all hard really, but I don't think I could turn my legs over much faster while running relaxed. I think I could do yasso 800s at this pace. 3:15 800's would be 6:32 pace. These were 6:33 to 6:43 pace.
OK, how far did I run? 2.86 + .2 to track + .1 around + 8 x .3 + 7 x .15 + .1 around + 4.11 = 10.82. Pace was 8:41 min/mi. 150 bpm average.
We - 4.1
Very slow today. 40:00. Nice and slow. 132 bpm average. Left knee felt kind of weak and I tweaked it walking up the driveway after work.
Th - 10.5
My legs felt kind of dead and I was worried about my knee so I only did a couple of faster sections rather than anything like a tempo pace and I did the 10.5 route instead of the 11.7. I almost didn't do any faster running, but I had to get something out of today before doing 2 easy days on Fr and Sat. It went like this
I weighed myself on the dr's scales at work. Weighed 160 flat with socks, shirt, tie, and pants. Discovered my wallet weighs 1/8 of a pound :)
Fr - 4.11
nbhrd loop
Sa - 4.11
nbhrd loop
Su - 14.8
26m wup. 10 miles @ 7:26 min/mi (177 bpm avg), 20m cdn
week
52.5 miles, 7h43m (lowest time in a *long* time)
shoes
wp6-1: 226 + 53 = 279
wr10-1: 335 + 0 = 335 (am I ever wearing these again?)
nbhrd loop. 9:21 min/mi @ 138 bpm
Tu - 10.8
Set off without a real idea of what I was going to do. I thought I'd repeat last Tuesday, but I decided that maybe the rest intervals were too long on the hill loop. Then I thought that the only thing that I might improve before marathon day is VO2max. With this illogic, I did a nbhrd loop, ran to the 10-laps-per-mile school track and did 8 x (3 laps in ~2 minutes, 1.5 laps rest). I picked 2 minutes because I figured 3:20 marathon was 6:40 yasso 800's and 3/5*3:20 is exactly 2 minutes. Neat, huh? I shot for 2 minutes because I figured that's about what Benji was doing his 800s in and because I strained my hamstring on lap 4 last time I did intervals :) Anyway, the intervals went 1:59, 1:59, 2:01, 2:00, 1:58, 1:59, 1:58, 1:59. I concentrated on running relaxed start at number 4 and the rest went quite easily actually. Rest periods were 1:22, 1:27, 1:23, 1:27, 1:24, 1:27 , 1:22. The alternating pattern is because I just picked some convenient landmarks at opposite sides of the track and guessed at half a lap. The track is crushed gravel and isn't marked. Max heart rates at the end of each intervals was 173, 176, 174, 177, 179, 179 , 179, and 180.
What does this workout say? One thing it says is that I probably can't break 20 minutes in a 5K. These weren't at all hard really, but I don't think I could turn my legs over much faster while running relaxed. I think I could do yasso 800s at this pace. 3:15 800's would be 6:32 pace. These were 6:33 to 6:43 pace.
OK, how far did I run? 2.86 + .2 to track + .1 around + 8 x .3 + 7 x .15 + .1 around + 4.11 = 10.82. Pace was 8:41 min/mi. 150 bpm average.
We - 4.1
Very slow today. 40:00. Nice and slow. 132 bpm average. Left knee felt kind of weak and I tweaked it walking up the driveway after work.
Th - 10.5
My legs felt kind of dead and I was worried about my knee so I only did a couple of faster sections rather than anything like a tempo pace and I did the 10.5 route instead of the 11.7. I almost didn't do any faster running, but I had to get something out of today before doing 2 easy days on Fr and Sat. It went like this
- 28:38 jog, avg ~130 bpm
- 14:48, avg 152, 1.86 miles, 7:57 min/mi
- 8:23 jog (and waiting at stop light), avg 143
- 18:17, avg 157, 2.38 miles, 7:41 min/mi
- 22:43 jog, avg 145 (includes 2 minutes at light and I did jog up the big hill and hit 160 bpm at one point)
- overall: 1:32:49, avg 144, 8:53 min/mi
I weighed myself on the dr's scales at work. Weighed 160 flat with socks, shirt, tie, and pants. Discovered my wallet weighs 1/8 of a pound :)
Fr - 4.11
nbhrd loop
Sa - 4.11
nbhrd loop
Su - 14.8
26m wup. 10 miles @ 7:26 min/mi (177 bpm avg), 20m cdn
week
52.5 miles, 7h43m (lowest time in a *long* time)
shoes
wp6-1: 226 + 53 = 279
wr10-1: 335 + 0 = 335 (am I ever wearing these again?)
Monday, April 09, 2007
week of 9 April
Mo - 4.1
Nbhrd loop. Legs felt surprisingly good for the day after a long run. I thought about my form and ran this without picking up my knees so much, but picking my feet up and leaning forward a little. I can't tell whether it makes any difference. 38:28/137. Basically like Saturday. What happened to the Friday magic? Maybe that was the post-tempo HR suppression. My weight was 156 after the run?! Can that be right? I never even saw 157. Maybe I'm dehydrated. I believe I was 155 when I graduated from college 14 years ago. 156 would be great, but I can't believe it.
Tu - 10.66
Bear with the g-mapping pointless precision. Plan was to do a little short of 1 nbhrd loop (2.86-.24 =2.62), but I overshot, so call it 2.59, plus 9 times the new hill loop (9*.44 mile), plus a nbhrd loop and a half (4.11) for 10.66. Up the hill was ~0.15 miles. It was dark and I couldn't see my watch, so I'm glad the splits for the hills turned out as well as they did (although I miscounted and only ran 9)
1:21 up, 2:31 jog down and around
1:21, 2:33
1:21, 2:34
1:20, 2:32
1:19, 2:35
1:20, 2:37
1:21, 2:35
1:17, 2:36
1:18
I would have sworn the first couple were the fastest. Glad I didn't fade. Hill was between 49 and 62 according to the old T6. 55 ft in .15 is a 7% grade. Of course that means I was doing 9 min/mi which seems way slow. No way to know for sure. Anyway, on the last two my left foot hurt on top towards the outside (like when you turn your ankle). Hopefully nothing bad. I was surprised when the neighborhood loop went in 36:32/148 (8:53 pace). After running a little harder, I usually find my deliberately slow jog (I even walked for 60 steps) is faster than my normal pace. Weight 157 after.
We - 4.1
Nbhrd loop and a half. Probably should have jogged a little slower. Scale (digital) was wonky. I stepped on it 4 times and saw 160, 155, 159, and 159. I'll call it 159.
Th - 11.44
4 nbhrd loops. 4*2.86 = 11.44. Did a 1.90 miles of tempo at the beginning of the second and third loops, which gave ~9 minutes jog between. First was 14:10/164 (7:27 min/mi) and second was 14:04/169 (7:24 min/mi). I'm surprised they were that slow. I felt more comfortable on the second than the first for some reason. I can't believe I ran 25 sec/mi faster than that? Can't imagine doing that for 26.2. Still, I didn't have the heavy "lactic" feeling in my legs I normally have after the last tempo intervals and looking at the first 15 minutes of my PR marathon, I average 165 or 166, which compares favorably to the 164 above. During the run, I tried to concentrate on not raising my knees and picking up my feet behind me. I'm not sure whether that's right or not. Weighed 160. My left foot really hurt in the arch when I was walking barefoot afterwards. It might be PF, but didn't feel the same. The overall pace today was 8:48, which I believe is the first time I've ever averaged under 9 min/mi for an entire training run (seems crazy).
Fr - 4.1
Maybe it was because I was cold or because my legs felt better, but I started off faster than a normal recovery run and just kept clicking. My pace was 8:55 min/mi. Average HR was 141, which is considerably higher than a normal recovery jog (133-137). I should be more than fine for my long run on Sunday, so I don't see the harm.
Sa -4.1
'round the nbhrd. 38:21/136 (9:21 min/mi).
Su - 20.3
Steady rain and 45 degrees. Funny, but the the lake wasn't too popular today. I skipped the ice bath after I got home and opted for a hot shower instead. I hope the tights soaked in 45 degree rain water did the trick. I felt very strong. My mental math wasn't that good and I thought I was slower than last week, but it turned out I was only a whopping 5 seconds slower this week at the same average heart rate (9:07 min/mi @ 148bpm). I felt strong at the end of this one. I also noticed my heart rate was lower at the end. The out and back last week was 16:40/164. Today it was 16:37/161. I should also give the nod to today since I ran in waterlogged shoes. The trail was full of puddles and had a few areas where it was flooded about a foot under water. The rain was a little annoying at first, but once I let go of the idea of staying dry it turned into a nice run. I had the beautiful trail almost completely to myself and listening to Dave Van Ronk's Fair and Gentle Ladies in solitude near the end more than made up for getting a little wet.
My foot bothered me again. In the last lap, it felt sore just behind the ball of my left foot. I expected it to hurt walking barefoot at home, but it wasn't as bad as Thursday. I was shivering when I got home and decided to skip the ice bath and take a hot shower instead. Hopefully my rain-soaked tights and waterlogged shoes made up for it :)
week
59 miles, 8h54m
shoes
wp6-1: 167 + 59 = 226
wr10-1: 335 + 0 = 335
Nbhrd loop. Legs felt surprisingly good for the day after a long run. I thought about my form and ran this without picking up my knees so much, but picking my feet up and leaning forward a little. I can't tell whether it makes any difference. 38:28/137. Basically like Saturday. What happened to the Friday magic? Maybe that was the post-tempo HR suppression. My weight was 156 after the run?! Can that be right? I never even saw 157. Maybe I'm dehydrated. I believe I was 155 when I graduated from college 14 years ago. 156 would be great, but I can't believe it.
Tu - 10.66
Bear with the g-mapping pointless precision. Plan was to do a little short of 1 nbhrd loop (2.86-.24 =2.62), but I overshot, so call it 2.59, plus 9 times the new hill loop (9*.44 mile), plus a nbhrd loop and a half (4.11) for 10.66. Up the hill was ~0.15 miles. It was dark and I couldn't see my watch, so I'm glad the splits for the hills turned out as well as they did (although I miscounted and only ran 9)
1:21 up, 2:31 jog down and around
1:21, 2:33
1:21, 2:34
1:20, 2:32
1:19, 2:35
1:20, 2:37
1:21, 2:35
1:17, 2:36
1:18
I would have sworn the first couple were the fastest. Glad I didn't fade. Hill was between 49 and 62 according to the old T6. 55 ft in .15 is a 7% grade. Of course that means I was doing 9 min/mi which seems way slow. No way to know for sure. Anyway, on the last two my left foot hurt on top towards the outside (like when you turn your ankle). Hopefully nothing bad. I was surprised when the neighborhood loop went in 36:32/148 (8:53 pace). After running a little harder, I usually find my deliberately slow jog (I even walked for 60 steps) is faster than my normal pace. Weight 157 after.
We - 4.1
Nbhrd loop and a half. Probably should have jogged a little slower. Scale (digital) was wonky. I stepped on it 4 times and saw 160, 155, 159, and 159. I'll call it 159.
Th - 11.44
4 nbhrd loops. 4*2.86 = 11.44. Did a 1.90 miles of tempo at the beginning of the second and third loops, which gave ~9 minutes jog between. First was 14:10/164 (7:27 min/mi) and second was 14:04/169 (7:24 min/mi). I'm surprised they were that slow. I felt more comfortable on the second than the first for some reason. I can't believe I ran 25 sec/mi faster than that? Can't imagine doing that for 26.2. Still, I didn't have the heavy "lactic" feeling in my legs I normally have after the last tempo intervals and looking at the first 15 minutes of my PR marathon, I average 165 or 166, which compares favorably to the 164 above. During the run, I tried to concentrate on not raising my knees and picking up my feet behind me. I'm not sure whether that's right or not. Weighed 160. My left foot really hurt in the arch when I was walking barefoot afterwards. It might be PF, but didn't feel the same. The overall pace today was 8:48, which I believe is the first time I've ever averaged under 9 min/mi for an entire training run (seems crazy).
Fr - 4.1
Maybe it was because I was cold or because my legs felt better, but I started off faster than a normal recovery run and just kept clicking. My pace was 8:55 min/mi. Average HR was 141, which is considerably higher than a normal recovery jog (133-137). I should be more than fine for my long run on Sunday, so I don't see the harm.
Sa -4.1
'round the nbhrd. 38:21/136 (9:21 min/mi).
Su - 20.3
Steady rain and 45 degrees. Funny, but the the lake wasn't too popular today. I skipped the ice bath after I got home and opted for a hot shower instead. I hope the tights soaked in 45 degree rain water did the trick. I felt very strong. My mental math wasn't that good and I thought I was slower than last week, but it turned out I was only a whopping 5 seconds slower this week at the same average heart rate (9:07 min/mi @ 148bpm). I felt strong at the end of this one. I also noticed my heart rate was lower at the end. The out and back last week was 16:40/164. Today it was 16:37/161. I should also give the nod to today since I ran in waterlogged shoes. The trail was full of puddles and had a few areas where it was flooded about a foot under water. The rain was a little annoying at first, but once I let go of the idea of staying dry it turned into a nice run. I had the beautiful trail almost completely to myself and listening to Dave Van Ronk's Fair and Gentle Ladies in solitude near the end more than made up for getting a little wet.
My foot bothered me again. In the last lap, it felt sore just behind the ball of my left foot. I expected it to hurt walking barefoot at home, but it wasn't as bad as Thursday. I was shivering when I got home and decided to skip the ice bath and take a hot shower instead. Hopefully my rain-soaked tights and waterlogged shoes made up for it :)
week
59 miles, 8h54m
shoes
wp6-1: 167 + 59 = 226
wr10-1: 335 + 0 = 335
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
week of 2 April
Mo - 4.1
Slow around the neighborhood. Ouch, ooch. Still smarting from the race. Weighed 160 after the run. I fell off the wagon on Friday (McD for lunch and pizza for dinner) and then had some celebratory chips ahoy and ice cream on Sunday.
Tu - 10.5
Ran to work. Benji thinks I'm doing hills two days after a race? He's crazy. Just slow and easy to work. Took some walk breaks, especially on downhills. 1:43:26/134. A little under 10 min/mi pace.
We - 4.1
Plodded around the neighborhood in 39:19. Still very sore. I don't see how I'll run a tempo tomorrow. Weighed 161 after the run. What happened to the weight loss? Maybe this is just the temporary weight gain after a race I've seen before. Swelling of some sort? Wish I'd have remember to take an ice bath on Sunday.
Th - 10.5
1:34:17/144 (9:01 pace). I think this was my faster ever run in to work, but I attribute a lot of that to hitting ever stoplight at just the right time. I also got to the lake about a minute quicker in part because it was cold and I tend to start quick to get warm. My legs were still quite sore, but not as bad. No way could I do the normal tempo run, but I didn't want to wait around until Sunday to get a workout in either, so I decide to do two ~10-minutes stretches of some faster running, but not tempo pace. 1st was 10:01/154 (max 165) over 1.27 miles (7:55 pace) and 2nd was 9:40/157 (max 165) over 1.27 miles (7:38 pace). My avg HR during the first mile of the NCR marathon was @161 bpm, so I think something 7:45ish is in the cards allowing for the race day elevation in the first mile. I think I'll try BQ pace at the 10-miler two weeks out to see what it's like.
Fr - 4.1
It was cold this morning (36 degrees) and my legs were a lot less sore. When I started, I felt like I had a little spring in my step and might have been going a little fast, but checked my HR and it was 125. I had the same feeling the rest of the run where I'd look at my watch and it would be 5 bpm lower than I expected from the speed. Pace was 9:15 min/mi which is about 20 sec/mi faster than it's been since I started this route and my heart rate was 133 which is as low as it has been. This is despite walking for about 30 secs to get a knot out of my left calf. I think my legs will be good by Sunday's long run. Weight was 159. Again, I've seen the same things where my weight goes up a couple of pounds after a hard race and it's back down by Thursday. Maybe it's some residual inflammation?
Sa - 4.1
Cold again and legs feeling even better. I think I raced this a little bit, trying to capture the magic of yesterday. It wasn't there. 9:19 min/mi, but my heart rate was 5 bpm higher. 5 is a lot.
Sun - 20.3
I always seem to dither before getting out on Sunday. I think I secretly hate 20-milers. Anyway, this one is in the books and it went quite well. My trend of progressively faster long runs continues (although this was a few bpm higher than last week). Today was 3:05:23/148 (9:07 pace). It was faster than my 1.5 year old 20 mile race PR. Splits were 43:24/135, 41:50/144, 41:59/149, 41:29/158, 8:19/163 (out), 8:21/165 (back). My last 4 20-milers (4 of the last 5 weeks with a race thrown in) have been 9:41 min/mi (152 bpm), 9:35 min/mi (151), 9:23 min/mi (147), 9:07 min/mi (148). My paces have finally fallen to Benji's recommendations of 9:34 easy, 9:05 long run for a 43 min 10K runner (which I looked at based on my 5 mile time).
week
57.6 miles, 8h58m
shoes
wp6-1: 109 + 58 = 167
wr10-1: 335 + 0 = 335
all runs were in the precisions
Slow around the neighborhood. Ouch, ooch. Still smarting from the race. Weighed 160 after the run. I fell off the wagon on Friday (McD for lunch and pizza for dinner) and then had some celebratory chips ahoy and ice cream on Sunday.
Tu - 10.5
Ran to work. Benji thinks I'm doing hills two days after a race? He's crazy. Just slow and easy to work. Took some walk breaks, especially on downhills. 1:43:26/134. A little under 10 min/mi pace.
We - 4.1
Plodded around the neighborhood in 39:19. Still very sore. I don't see how I'll run a tempo tomorrow. Weighed 161 after the run. What happened to the weight loss? Maybe this is just the temporary weight gain after a race I've seen before. Swelling of some sort? Wish I'd have remember to take an ice bath on Sunday.
Th - 10.5
1:34:17/144 (9:01 pace). I think this was my faster ever run in to work, but I attribute a lot of that to hitting ever stoplight at just the right time. I also got to the lake about a minute quicker in part because it was cold and I tend to start quick to get warm. My legs were still quite sore, but not as bad. No way could I do the normal tempo run, but I didn't want to wait around until Sunday to get a workout in either, so I decide to do two ~10-minutes stretches of some faster running, but not tempo pace. 1st was 10:01/154 (max 165) over 1.27 miles (7:55 pace) and 2nd was 9:40/157 (max 165) over 1.27 miles (7:38 pace). My avg HR during the first mile of the NCR marathon was @161 bpm, so I think something 7:45ish is in the cards allowing for the race day elevation in the first mile. I think I'll try BQ pace at the 10-miler two weeks out to see what it's like.
Fr - 4.1
It was cold this morning (36 degrees) and my legs were a lot less sore. When I started, I felt like I had a little spring in my step and might have been going a little fast, but checked my HR and it was 125. I had the same feeling the rest of the run where I'd look at my watch and it would be 5 bpm lower than I expected from the speed. Pace was 9:15 min/mi which is about 20 sec/mi faster than it's been since I started this route and my heart rate was 133 which is as low as it has been. This is despite walking for about 30 secs to get a knot out of my left calf. I think my legs will be good by Sunday's long run. Weight was 159. Again, I've seen the same things where my weight goes up a couple of pounds after a hard race and it's back down by Thursday. Maybe it's some residual inflammation?
Sa - 4.1
Cold again and legs feeling even better. I think I raced this a little bit, trying to capture the magic of yesterday. It wasn't there. 9:19 min/mi, but my heart rate was 5 bpm higher. 5 is a lot.
Sun - 20.3
I always seem to dither before getting out on Sunday. I think I secretly hate 20-milers. Anyway, this one is in the books and it went quite well. My trend of progressively faster long runs continues (although this was a few bpm higher than last week). Today was 3:05:23/148 (9:07 pace). It was faster than my 1.5 year old 20 mile race PR. Splits were 43:24/135, 41:50/144, 41:59/149, 41:29/158, 8:19/163 (out), 8:21/165 (back). My last 4 20-milers (4 of the last 5 weeks with a race thrown in) have been 9:41 min/mi (152 bpm), 9:35 min/mi (151), 9:23 min/mi (147), 9:07 min/mi (148). My paces have finally fallen to Benji's recommendations of 9:34 easy, 9:05 long run for a 43 min 10K runner (which I looked at based on my 5 mile time).
week
57.6 miles, 8h58m
shoes
wp6-1: 109 + 58 = 167
wr10-1: 335 + 0 = 335
all runs were in the precisions
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Cherry Blossom 10 miler
A bit much drama for a slow guy but...
I ran the Cherry Blossom 10-miler today. The weather was perfect -- cool (50 degrees) and overcast with light winds. This is a very fast course where world records have been set. If I didn't have a good race, I'd have no excuses.
I ran a 5M PR of 34:20 at the end of January, which is my best race by a good bit. According to mcmillan, I could run 1:12 today. The 5M race was extremely hilly though. I've also lost 2 or 3 pounds since then and my long runs have been getting faster at the same heart rate after I started incorporating tempo runs and some hill/intervals the last four weeks. All of this made me think that sub-1:10, while ambitious, was possible. I've been running regularly since 1 Jan 2005 (I had some aborted attempts before that) and an April 10-miler has become my annual fitness test since it was the first distance I ever raced (April 2005). I shocked myself then by running 1:24:49 when I was hoping for 1:40. I met my goal of 1:20 last year running 1:19:25. I'd set this up in my mind as my goal race for the spring. How would I do today?
I was in the green corral, which meant I was in the first wave of the common folk but after the elite and sub-seeded waves went. I did a token 2 minute warmup before I stood and shivered in my short sleeves in the corral. I tried to position myself guestimating at 500 people in front of me (1:10 was around 500th last year). I was afraid I lined up too close to the front, but once we were off, I found myself dodging and weaving to get by people. The green corral is just too big. It goes from 62 minutes to at least 90 and it seems to be a pretty homogeous mix in there.
Last thursday, I did one of my cruise intervals at 7:05 pace. I tried to replicate my breathing and how I felt then during the first mile and it seemed to work. I hit the first mile in 7:12. This 7:12 was probably sub-7 effort though as I dodged people.
The 3-3 breathing I started with gets a little harder to maintain in the second mile. I'm passing people in droves and must be going a min/mi faster than some of them. How were they this far ahead? It doesn't slow me down too much though. Second mile is 6:51. I'm thinking two things: 1) that was my 5K PR pace I set on New Years and 2) I'm back close to 1:10 pace and not feeling too bad.
There are a few gentle inclines now as we approach and pass over the memorial bridge in the third mile. I'm into 2-2 breathing now and I can feel myself over my threshold on a couple of the inclines and back off a little when I feel it. 6:56 for this mile.
I pass the 5K marker and look at my watch. 21:43. My 4 month-old PR is 21:15. (One nice thing about a world class even like this is that I'm pretty sure of all the markers.) We turn onto rock creek parkway, which I remember from last year has a slight uphill grade. I believe I picked it up slightly reacting to the fall off in time between mile 2 and 3. This split is 6:51.
The fifth mile is *very* slightly uphill I think but we're basically in the flat section. The lead elite woman (who had a head start) comes flying by the other way. Nobody is anywhere close to her. We also start to see the elite men and someone says, "they look like they're in such pain." I'm thinking, "that will be us in about four miles." Split is 6:53. It's starting to get hard, but I think that it's supposed to be hard halfway through a 10-miler.
Mile 6 is slightly uphil, but it's definitely uphill. I fade some along with everyone else. I spend some effort dodging people and I notice some people passing me for the first time. I'm just hoping to hit that turnaround between 6 and 7 with enough left to go for it. I pass the 10K mark in 43:14. (My PR from Feb 2006 is 47:21.) Split is 7:05.
We turn around in middle Mile 7 and I think I pick it up a little on the downhill half, but my split is 7:07. Oh no, I'm letting it slip away! Need to push up the effort.
Mile 8 is pure downhill (although slight) and I'm hoping to get back to those low 6:50's as I'm now working hard. Split is 7:00. For the first time I think to look at my overall time and not just the split. It's couple of seconds after I hit the lap button and I see 55:59. 1 second in the bank. I'm running 7:00 min/mi on the downhill with one second in the bank. (Turns out I actually had a whopping 6 seconds in the bank.) I'm going to have to work harder.
Mile 9 is back on the flat part. I'm running hard but can't let it all out just yet. I'm hoping to get anywhere near 7 on this split and then hope I can sprint in at the end and gain back whatever seconds I lose. Late in this mile when it gets hard, I think about what it would be like to be on the edge of a boston qualifier and whether I'd gut it out and make it. I decide I'm going to prove to myself I can gut it out. Split is 6:59. I'm going to need another sub-7 in the last mile.
I pick it up as much as I can, but I can't sprint yet. I'm passing people, but others are passing me. Am I going slower or faster? I have no idea. Just go as fast as you can I tell myself. You don't want to find yourself a second over. Finally, I can see the finish line from a very long way down the flat, straight Ohio drive. It looks so far way. I look at my watch and I'm at about 1:07. I think I'll never get there. I'm now into ragged, freight train breathing now. Nobody around me seems to be breathing this hard. At one point I think I see Bill Rodgers! (No, it's just a girl with short brown hair.) There's an older guy (65+) next to me who's outkicking me. How is he doing that? One minute left. They're screaming in the megaphones to kick. At this point I think I'll never make it. It's so far away. Then suddenly I'm right there at the finish (!) and this easy sprint comes out of nowhere to cross the line. I stop my watch and it says 1:09:48. Last split 6:56. I'm elated. It was very, very hard and I did it. No regrets. Not a thing I'd have done differently. Just a perfect race.
Next stop is the frederick marathon (after my backup 10-miler that I'm now running as a training run).
I ran the Cherry Blossom 10-miler today. The weather was perfect -- cool (50 degrees) and overcast with light winds. This is a very fast course where world records have been set. If I didn't have a good race, I'd have no excuses.
I ran a 5M PR of 34:20 at the end of January, which is my best race by a good bit. According to mcmillan, I could run 1:12 today. The 5M race was extremely hilly though. I've also lost 2 or 3 pounds since then and my long runs have been getting faster at the same heart rate after I started incorporating tempo runs and some hill/intervals the last four weeks. All of this made me think that sub-1:10, while ambitious, was possible. I've been running regularly since 1 Jan 2005 (I had some aborted attempts before that) and an April 10-miler has become my annual fitness test since it was the first distance I ever raced (April 2005). I shocked myself then by running 1:24:49 when I was hoping for 1:40. I met my goal of 1:20 last year running 1:19:25. I'd set this up in my mind as my goal race for the spring. How would I do today?
I was in the green corral, which meant I was in the first wave of the common folk but after the elite and sub-seeded waves went. I did a token 2 minute warmup before I stood and shivered in my short sleeves in the corral. I tried to position myself guestimating at 500 people in front of me (1:10 was around 500th last year). I was afraid I lined up too close to the front, but once we were off, I found myself dodging and weaving to get by people. The green corral is just too big. It goes from 62 minutes to at least 90 and it seems to be a pretty homogeous mix in there.
Last thursday, I did one of my cruise intervals at 7:05 pace. I tried to replicate my breathing and how I felt then during the first mile and it seemed to work. I hit the first mile in 7:12. This 7:12 was probably sub-7 effort though as I dodged people.
The 3-3 breathing I started with gets a little harder to maintain in the second mile. I'm passing people in droves and must be going a min/mi faster than some of them. How were they this far ahead? It doesn't slow me down too much though. Second mile is 6:51. I'm thinking two things: 1) that was my 5K PR pace I set on New Years and 2) I'm back close to 1:10 pace and not feeling too bad.
There are a few gentle inclines now as we approach and pass over the memorial bridge in the third mile. I'm into 2-2 breathing now and I can feel myself over my threshold on a couple of the inclines and back off a little when I feel it. 6:56 for this mile.
I pass the 5K marker and look at my watch. 21:43. My 4 month-old PR is 21:15. (One nice thing about a world class even like this is that I'm pretty sure of all the markers.) We turn onto rock creek parkway, which I remember from last year has a slight uphill grade. I believe I picked it up slightly reacting to the fall off in time between mile 2 and 3. This split is 6:51.
The fifth mile is *very* slightly uphill I think but we're basically in the flat section. The lead elite woman (who had a head start) comes flying by the other way. Nobody is anywhere close to her. We also start to see the elite men and someone says, "they look like they're in such pain." I'm thinking, "that will be us in about four miles." Split is 6:53. It's starting to get hard, but I think that it's supposed to be hard halfway through a 10-miler.
Mile 6 is slightly uphil, but it's definitely uphill. I fade some along with everyone else. I spend some effort dodging people and I notice some people passing me for the first time. I'm just hoping to hit that turnaround between 6 and 7 with enough left to go for it. I pass the 10K mark in 43:14. (My PR from Feb 2006 is 47:21.) Split is 7:05.
We turn around in middle Mile 7 and I think I pick it up a little on the downhill half, but my split is 7:07. Oh no, I'm letting it slip away! Need to push up the effort.
Mile 8 is pure downhill (although slight) and I'm hoping to get back to those low 6:50's as I'm now working hard. Split is 7:00. For the first time I think to look at my overall time and not just the split. It's couple of seconds after I hit the lap button and I see 55:59. 1 second in the bank. I'm running 7:00 min/mi on the downhill with one second in the bank. (Turns out I actually had a whopping 6 seconds in the bank.) I'm going to have to work harder.
Mile 9 is back on the flat part. I'm running hard but can't let it all out just yet. I'm hoping to get anywhere near 7 on this split and then hope I can sprint in at the end and gain back whatever seconds I lose. Late in this mile when it gets hard, I think about what it would be like to be on the edge of a boston qualifier and whether I'd gut it out and make it. I decide I'm going to prove to myself I can gut it out. Split is 6:59. I'm going to need another sub-7 in the last mile.
I pick it up as much as I can, but I can't sprint yet. I'm passing people, but others are passing me. Am I going slower or faster? I have no idea. Just go as fast as you can I tell myself. You don't want to find yourself a second over. Finally, I can see the finish line from a very long way down the flat, straight Ohio drive. It looks so far way. I look at my watch and I'm at about 1:07. I think I'll never get there. I'm now into ragged, freight train breathing now. Nobody around me seems to be breathing this hard. At one point I think I see Bill Rodgers! (No, it's just a girl with short brown hair.) There's an older guy (65+) next to me who's outkicking me. How is he doing that? One minute left. They're screaming in the megaphones to kick. At this point I think I'll never make it. It's so far away. Then suddenly I'm right there at the finish (!) and this easy sprint comes out of nowhere to cross the line. I stop my watch and it says 1:09:48. Last split 6:56. I'm elated. It was very, very hard and I did it. No regrets. Not a thing I'd have done differently. Just a perfect race.
Next stop is the frederick marathon (after my backup 10-miler that I'm now running as a training run).
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