week of 25 Feb

Mo - 6am flight, no running
Tu - 12.04/8:12/152 - red eye home from the west coast that night
We - 6.08/9:24/145- wt: 164.5
Th - 14.0/8:12/No HRM - wt: 161.4
Fr - 6.16/9:00/143 - wt: 162.5
Sa - 6.18/8:44/143
Su - 22.47/9:10/150
Week - 66.9/8:45/148

I ran with the Free's on Thursday and again on Friday, developing a blister. I just can't wear those things anymore until I get a bigger size.

Today's run was pretty good. I ran around 9:30 pace for probably 13 miles, then worked down to 8:30 where I stayed for the rest of the run. I have no idea how I'm ever going to run 7:27 at the end of the race. My last 1.5 miles was 8:35 pace average 181 bpm! (My avg marathon heart rate is 172.) Still, something magic happens on race day. Last spring I'd averaged 9:07 per mile and 149 bpm on my last 20-mile long runs and ran 80 secs/mile faster on race day. It looks like I'm in about the same shape now. If I can just shed that extra weight...

Speaking of quickly shedding some pounds. Don't ever eat chili right after a long run. "Honey, do you want me to heat you up some chili?" "Sure." Not a good idea. Kids, don't do it. I'm not quite sure how to enter 1 cup of chili digested for 1.5 hours into the sparkpeople calorie log. Do I get a pro-rated rate?

Pretty good week. I think that's the most I've ever run in 6 sessions.

I need to lose weight

I turned of the alarm and 5am and next thing I know it's 5:20. Argh! I got to work, threw on my stuff, and noticed I left my Garmin, so I went both HRM-less and watch-less today -- caveman running. I did 14 with the last 5 at marathon effort. The first 9 were a little faster than a couple of weeks ago (I'm guessing). I ran with the Free's again and my form felt so much better, but my pinky toe was bothering me again for the last 4 miles.

I stepped on the scale last night and saw 164.5! Holy cow. What happened? I weighed again after my run this morning and saw 160.5. That number was 157.5 not too long ago. I've signed up for sparkpeople.com to help track my calories. I set my goal as 154 lbs on 3 May. I think getting the BQ is as simple as that. If I weigh <= 154 on the night of 3 May, I'm pretty sure it will happen. If not, .... Losing weight is a lot harder than running though.

jet lagged

I had a whirlind 2 days. Woke up at 4 am Monday to catch a 6 am flight to LA. Drove 100 miles when I got there. Worked 1-5, collapsed, got up at 4:30 to run 12 miles, worked 8-5, drove 100 miles, flew the red eye back, got home at 10 am this morning, napped, coached basketball, went to "math night," sat down at the computer to type this.

I'm considering those 18 miles a moral victory. My legs were still pretty sore from the 20 on Sunday. I've had sore on the back of my legs (hamstring, knee, upper calf). I think this comes from running a little faster *and* from wearing my wave precisions. They let me fall back into my heel-striking ways. I wore the Free 7.0's today and my piggy toe seemed perfectly fine. I noticed that I was running differently and I believe better. Still, I think the Free 7.0's heel is way too big.

Next up: 5am alarm and 14 miles.

If it hasn't been clear, as much as I say it, the 10-miler isn't my goal. I won't really have another goal until I BQ. I hope I get that knocked off soon, because I don't know how much longer I can keep this up. I also know I'm not going to BQ if I don't get my weight under control. It's heading in the wrong direction. I've narrowed the cause down to all the food I keep stuffing in my face.

week of 18 February

Mo - 6.3/8:35/149
Tu - 14.02/8:24/149 steady
We - 6.59/8:01/150
Th - 10.15/7:49/161 -- ~1.6 w/up, 7/7:34/165 (roughly marathon effort), ~1.6 c/dn
Fr - Rest
Sa - 6.12/8:40/149
Su - 20.7/9:37/147 (HRM was way messed up 1st two miles, 144 is probably right)

Week - 63.9/8:43/150

So, I just went out and slogged a really slow run today. I ran 3:05 last week and the plan was just to run another 15 minutes. Everything went OK except I felt a strain in my left calf at 17 miles that was pretty sharp at one point. I threw in some walk breaks and made it through OK.

My mileage has slumped recently, but it's been because of missing one or two short day, which I don't equate the same as missing (drastically shortening) one of the three 10+ mile runs.

Back from travelling

Mo - 6.3/8:35/149
Tu - 14.02/8:24/149 steady
We - 6.59/8:01/150
Th - 10.15/7:49/161 -- ~1.6 w/up, 7/7:34/165 (roughly marathon effort), ~1.6 c/dn
Fr - Rest
Sa - 6.12/8:40/149

I was proud to get in the 16 miles over the three days on the road (we, Th, Fr). I was at a conference that basically ran from 7:30 am to 10:00 pm every day (talks plus breakfast, lunch, and dinner), so I got up at 5am and get in 6 miles one day and 10 another (with ~7 at MP). The third day though, I just couldn't get out of bed. Still, I'll chalk it up as a victory.

I noticed my left foot aching this morning and some plantar fasciitis warning signs. I'm pretty sure it's from switching back to the wave precisions from the Frees. The wave precisions are considered pretty minimal by conventional, Runner's World standards, but I really think they're a little too much shoe. Unfortunately the narrow Nike's have mauled my toes. I'm not quite sure where to go now with shoes.

As you can see, I've upped the intensity quite a bit. I did that partly because I knew that I would get my normal mileage in over Wed-Fr. I'm also thinking of varying my approach a little to make more out of my time during the week. Really, I'm probably just getting impatient. I'll make sure the long runs are still be quite slow though. A 20-miler is on deck for tomorrow.

week of 11 Feb

Here's how the week went:

Mo - 6.15/9:11/143
Tu - 12.16/8:48/144
We - Rest -- blistered pinky toe
Th - Rest -- blistered pinky toe
Fr - 14.03/8:27/151
Sa - 6.13/8:54/150 (inflated by early bad HRM data)
Su - 19.5/9:30/141

Week: 58.0/9:00/145

Today was just odd. I didn't get out of bed until 9! (Even subtracting the time dealing with the dog, I still had to sleep 9 hours.) I finally got out the door at 10:30 knowing I wouldn't get home until probably 1:30 and that I hadn't eaten yet. I started jogging slowly as usual and let my body tell me when I was ready to run. Well, I just never felt like running. I felt like calling a cab three miles in, but I decided just to cover the distance. That didn't even quite work out. I hit the start/stop button at a stoplight while waiting for traffic and saw "timer started" -- oh, crap, how long was it off? I took a guess and shot for 20 miles, but after filling in the gap with google earth, I found the total was only 19.5. That's the way the day went. To continue the theme of leaving everything unfinished, my wife and I watched "Lost in Translation" this afternoon.

Good news on the pinky toe. It's getting back to its pasty white self and didn't really bother me that much during the run. It wasn't any worse when I finished than when I started.

Another 14 miler

I was back in the saddle Friday. The toe still hurt, but it wasn't unbearable. I did the same 14 mile route and I did it the same way as last week. Run the 9 miles however I feel like and then pick it up for the last 5. 7:31/160, 7:41/164, 7:27/167, 7:46/170, 7:24/171. I did better last week, but I ran the first 9 a little faster this time. Overall 8:27/151 versus 8:40/146 last week. 5 bpm should be worth more than 13 seconds. The third split of the fast part is the only one that's close to level -- gentle downhill first minute, flat, then *steep* uphill last 30-45 seconds. Yesterday it was 7:27 (exactly goal mp)/167. Last week it was 7:37/157. Again, much better last week.

I did 6.2 this morning. I wrapped the toe with athletic tape which I think was a mistake. It hurt enough that I stopped and took at it off at mile 4. I'm hoping I haven't done too much damage to get in 18+ tomorrow.

Two days for a piggy?

Maybe it was the toe, or maybe it was a lack of motivation, but I didn't run this morning. The toe is red, puffy and a little disturbing, so I think I made the right call. It's doing somewhat better tonight. The blister is now just a shell, but the damage has been done on my toenail and the top of my toe behind my nail is where it really hurts. When my foot flexes and my shoe bends, the crease hits right there. Tomorrow I'm planning on 14. I was entertaining the idea of a 10K on Saturday to get a little inspiration, but I'll probably pass.

This little piggy goes "ouch!"

I gutted through 6 miles on Monday and 12 on Tuesday by draining the blister and wrapping my toe in athletic tape, but it has hurt more each day. This morning I went through the drain and tape drill, put on my shoes, limped a couple of steps, and decided it was a bad idea. Damn.

week of 4 February -- I've got blisters on my blisters

Today was the longest run I've done since the marathon. I took it very easy, just wanting to cover the distance. Normally I do my long runs as loops around a 4.5 mile lake path. Today I decided to run there from my house, do one loop around, and then run back. I've done this a number of times before and find it psychologically easier. Here's the numbers (note that the HRM reads *way* high for the first 10-15 minutes, so the short runs are more distorted by that).

Mo - 4.7/9:35/136
Tu - 12.22/8:56/140
We - 6.16/9:26/133
Th - 14.02/8:40/146
Fr - 6.15/9:42/135
Sa - 6.13/9:16/137
Su - 18.15/9:22/142

This week: 67.5/9:11/140, 10h20m
Last week: 68.5/8:41/144, 9h54m

Obviously I ran much harder last week, but I really wanted to make sure I had enough gas to do a comfortable 18 today, which I did. Saturday's run felt very easy. Looking at my logs from Sept/Oct (but without looking too closely), I think I'm doing about as well as then or perhaps better.

The Nike Free experiment has gone pretty well except one big problem. Actually it's two little problems -- the shoes are too narrow in the toe box and squeeze my little piggies, giving me blisters. Also, the 5.0v1s finally ripped in the back like everybody Yesterday, I went in search for a half-size larger at the mall with my whole family (I was ready to spring for them on line or make calls to running shoe stores -- trust me). I found the size 9.5s I was looking for, but ended up with Free 7.0 instead of 5.0. The 7.0s are kinda chunky but maybe it's good to get a little extra cushioning for my long runs. They didn't squeeze my toes nearly as much but they did manage to give me a blister on top of my pinky toe. The existing blister got worse as well. I expected to find an exposed bone when I got home, but only a blister about half as big as my toe.

advancing the process

I did the same 14-mile route as I did last week, but much slower. Running the downhill portions fast isn't worth the muscle damage, and subsequent impact on future training, it produces. I decide that after last week's 14-miler left me listless for a few days. This morning I did the (net) downhill portion (first 4.5 miles or so) at a very relaxed pace. I then kept that pace up for the uphill portion, which of course meant more effort, until I finished the 9-mile loop. I did another half loop (cut across) for the last 5 miles. I said to myself, I'd keep it under 8:00 min/mi, which would make the last uphill miles tough. I ended up running considerably faster than that. The last 5 miles were 7:49/150, 7:41/160, 7:37/157, 7:30/169, 7:23/167. Look at the elevation above from my GPS to make sense of the splits (note that GPS elevation data sucks and this is smoothed by SportTracks). Overall the run was 14.03/8:40/146.

Advancing the process is an essay by John Wiegley that I find myself having read a number of times over the last year or so. I read it in a non-running context, but I think it has some bearing on training, so I'm mentioning it here.

Holy heat wave, Batman

At 6am this morning it was 65 degrees. I kid you not. It was so strange hearing the sound of road sand under your shoes and sweating through your short sleeve shirt. Plus, it's dark out. When it's 65 at 6am, it is light out, because it's summer. While I ran, I wondered if there would be an uptick in crime today from the weird energy in the air. What I forgot, was that I had to coach basketball practice tonight. Those kids were out of control.

eat like crap, run like crap

On Monday morning, too much cheese dip on Superbowl Sunday "inspired" me to cut my run short at 4.7 miles (meant to do 6) and deal with some, shall we say, digestive issues. This morning, I did a 12-mile run, but it didn't go nearly as well as last Thursday's. I also confirmed on the gym scale what my home scale was telling me -- I'm about 1.5 to 2 pounds over my pre-Disney weight. As Adam would say, I've fallen below the yellow line. I was about 158 (I think) before Frederick last May and now I'm at 159. If I really want to qualify, I should be less than 155. The tire around my midsection confirms it can be done. It only requires the will to do so.

I need to eat healthy. I started with a mish-mash from the salad bar for lunch, but I need to come up with some alternatives. I'll have to check Adam's recipes. I'm basically looking to eat more plants -- vegetables, beans, etc.

My run today was 1h49m. It's hard to believe last Thurday I did 2 more miles in only 6 more minutes. Of course, I ran at a much higher heart rate to do that. My quads were sore though and I didn't push it. I think my cardio is well ahead of my legs. My basic plan is 1:45 on Tu, 2:00 on Th, 2:30 on Su, and 1:00 the rest of the week. That adds up to 10:15. I'd like to get more sleep on the nights before 1-hour runs, but if I do them at home, the extra 30 minutes in traffic means I don't save that much time. If I do them at work, then I'm driving in to work in the dark and driving home in the dark every day. That kinds of sucks.

Week of 28 Jan -- weird week

I went from thinking I was in the best shape of my life on Thursday to thinking I should just give up on this running thing today. 15.47/8:49/149 today versus 14.04/8:14/153 on Thursday. I planned to do 18, but my schedule (along with some common sense?) prevented that. Anyway the week was

Mo: 10.27/8:09/???? am (battery died on HRM), 4.00/9:09/133 - hotel treadmill
Tu: 8.00/8:50/136 - hotel treadmill
We: 7.00/8:49/133 - hotel treadmill
Th: 14.04/8:13/153
Fr: 4.86/9:13/143
Sa: 4.82/9:33/133
Su: 15.47/8:45/149

Week: 68.5/8:41/144

I sure miss the 8:46/137 of running on the flats at Disney. My average was really even higher for this week since the monday run with no HRM was certainly greater than 144 bpm. I'm probably tired because this was really a pretty big jump in overall workload. My previous biggest week was 70.2 miles @ 140. Hopefully this will pay off.

Thoughts of a 2 March marathon have given way to reality. I gotta keep this up until May?

just tired

It took a lot of motivation to get out of bed at 5am on Thursday, but I ended up having a great run. On my tough work course, I did 14 miles at 8:13 pace and 153 bpm average, which in addition to being a little higher end aerobic was the longest I've run since the marathon. I felt like I was in better shape than my peak before marine corps. 8:13 is only 26 secs/mi off my PR marathon pace and I usually average 172 bpm. Of course this was much shorter, but it was also much hillier. During the run, I even entertained the idea of sneaking in the 2 March marathon, because, frankly, I'm not sure how much longer I can keep up the enthusiasm for 5am runs. Also, the weather should be good and the course is very flat. Anyway, the last two days, I've just felt tired and have been way overeating for some reason (maybe thinking food will give me energy?). Rather than push it, I just ran 45 minutes yesterday and today. Hopefully, I'll be re-energized for my long run tomorrow.

a few days in St Louis or how I learned to love the treadmill

Mo: 10.27/8:09/???? am, 4.00/9:09/133 -- I got home at 12:30 am from Disney World. Slept to about 8 and got in my 10 miles. I forgot to put the Garmin on the charger after getting home. I got the start time though and could power back up to get the stop time (clock time), so I could get pace. Went to work and then flew to St Louis. I knew it was going to be tough to get runs in, so I stole another 4 miles on the treadmill. No Garmin again, but I sampled HR at .5, 1.5, 2.5, and 3.5 and averaged them. Treadmill running is the only real option given the dicey area around the airport.

Tu: 8.00/8:50/136. Got up at 5am to make sure I got a treadmill for long enough. I planned to do an hour but stole some extra miles, worried again about getting miles while here.

We: 7.00/8:49/133. They moved the start time for the meeting up an hour, so 7 miles was already pressing it.

Getting to 70 miles a week isn't easy. Four pretty good runs in 3 days puts you a mile behind the pace. I'm mixing the runs though, so a long run on Sunday should make up some ground. The good news is that my pace/heart rate is as good as I can ever remember it on a treadmill (I'm generally lousy on those things.)

week of 21 January -- my week in flatland

Sorry for the silence and thanks for the comments. I just got back from Disney World. The picture shows the running story for the week. A 0.93-mile nearly pancake-flat loop at the Port Orleans resort. (By the way, the map the hotel gives you says it's 0.7 miles. Mr. Garmin begs to differ.)

I did a medium/really easy week (as opposed to hard/easy) and cut back the miles.

Mo - "rest" (2 airplanes and MGM studios)
Tu - 9.97/8:43/138
We - 8.00/9:04/134
Th - 9.97/8:38/140
Fr - 6.14/9:20/138 (HRM falsely high first miles)
Sa - 9.96/8:11/141
Su - 6.22/9:01/130

Total: 50.27/8:46/137

It's amazing the difference the terrain makes. Last week was 9:16/140. The Saturday run was a little less than two minutes slower than my 2006 Cherry Blossom time (which was then a PR), so I guess I've come a long way.

After this week, I could smell 3:15 and thought about the importance of terrain and good weather. Even if I'm in much better shape would I do better at a 4 May marathon on a pretty hilly course than a 2 March race on a perfectly flat course? Ah, I'll never get in the long runs to do a decent 2 March marathon, but the thought has crossed my mind.

-----
Joseph, I'll try not to get volume drunk. I think my non-running schedule might take care of that for me.

Adam, my goal races are the Cherry Blossom 10 mile run on 6 April and the Frederick Marathon on 4 May.

Mindi, the damn dog is lovable and, unfortunately, very old. He's 13 and a half and the demographics for 14 year old labs aren't that good. He's got back/leg problems and can't get up by himself, so he barks to get up to get water, when he falls off the sofa trying to reposition position himself in the middle of the night, when he wants to go out, experiences fecal incontinence (there's a euphemism), you name it. Getting old is a bitch.

week of 14 Jan -- a bird in hand is worth two in the bush

A bird in hand is worth two in the bush. That's been my approach to getting the miles, but I went after the two in the bush on Thursday and it cost me some time on the 'mill. On Thursday I was going to run home from work and then back in on Friday. I somehow convinced myself the snow and freezing in the forecast wouldn't be a problem, but when the freezing rain was actually just rain, I was staring at about 3 inches of slush. I took a couple of steps and wisely decided to drive home and run on the treadmill. Then 3 on the treadmill the next morning (couldn't get out of bed for more after the dog woke me up several times during the night) and 6 in the neighborhood Friday night, which I started at about 8:00 because I was stuck at work (my own fault) until 7:30. I should have just stuck to the routine and driven to work and run there on Thursday morning before the snow. Live and learn.

Here's how the week went:

Mo - 9.34/9:28/137
Tu - 9.33/9:19/136
We - 9.44/9:02/139
Th - 9.00/9:32/139 pm
Fr - 3.25/9:14/135 am, 6.04/9:07/141 pm
Sa - 10.72/9:14/144
Su - 13.03/9:12/145 -- actually exactly 2:00:00 long without planning it that way

Total - 70.15/9:16/140

Everything is holding up OK except I got a twinge on the medial side of my right knee today. I don't think it's anything though, but I can still feel it as I type.

I was pretty tired again at the end of the 13-miler. It feels like all these "short" runs have made me weak (endurance-wise), but hopefully I'm just tired after a big week. I was ready to be done at 13 miles when in the past I would have just been getting started. I haven't done more than 13 since the marathon on 10/30/2007. Between 1/1/2007 and 10/30/2007, I ran 18 or more miles 26 times. You have to give up something though, and I've been sacrificing the long run for weekly mileage.

Next week is a cutback week. When I come back, I'm going to go into more of a hard/easy schedule, extending my long run and doing some faster aerobic running.

The pretender running on empty

My day today

• Alarm goes off at 5:20.
• After shaving and brushing my teeth, I'm on the road at ~5:45.
• I get to work at ~6:05 (takes only 20 minutes this early)
• I get changed and am running at 6:15 am.
• I finish running at 7:48.
• I do some stretching, crunches, etc., take a shower, get dressed and am in my office at 8:30 am (right on time).
• Leave work at 5:45.
• Get home at 6:10 (light traffic tonight).
• Eat some pizza that's awaiting me.
• Change and pack up clothes in my gym bag for tomorrow.
• Sit down to write this at 7 pm, which is only two hours before we put the kids to bed and get ready to start this again.

One thing I don't like about driving to work and running there is that I leave when it's dark and get home when it's dark. If I give a generous 15 minutes for eating my pizza, the whole run, work, prepare for tomorrow's run/work took about 13 hours. You subtract some sleeping time and there's not much left each day. You throw in coaching basketball, a cub scout meeting or two, and whatever random stuff comes up, and it's pretty easy to answer the question "where does all the time go?"

I know everybody else is in the same boat, but I was listening to Jackson Browne on the way home, which can be kind of depressing :-)

And when the evening rolls around
Ill go on home and lay my body down
And when the morning light comes streaming in
Ill get up and do it again

Gotta do what you can just to keep your love alive
Trying not to confuse it with what you do to survive

If I can, I'm going to try running home from work Thursday and then into work on Friday (10.5 each way). This way I'll have my car at work and don't have to deal with taking the bus home (which adds probably 45 minutes each day). It also means I get to sleep in Thursday and see my kids before school and I save the 20 minutes in the morning and 45 minutes in the afternoon driving to and from work. An added benefit over my usual running in routine is that I can arrive a little later on Friday. Normally when I run in I try to get there before 7:45 so I can get to my office to retrieve my work clothes without seeing too many people in my sweaty running clothes. With this plan, I can leave my clothes in my car and still be on time if I get there at 8 or so.

Another low heart rate day

After a high heart-rate Sunday, Monday and today were better. I did my at work route yesterday and today. It's quite hilly, but it's more like San Diego was. Long steady climbs and descents rather than a lot of ups and downs. Basically I run down close to the Potomac and back in a loop.

Yesterday was 9:30 min/mi and 136 bpm. Today was 9:20 min/mi and 134 bpm. I need to look at my log when I get home, but I'm pretty sure when I did this on the third it was about the same pace and 140 bpm. It was windy that day though and 15 degrees compared to 30-35 yesterday and today, so I'm not sure they're comparable. Today's run was right in line with San Diego though, so maybe it wasn't a fluke out there.

(mpw > 70) == True

I ran 72.25 miles this week. It's the first time I've ever run more than 70. The magical low heart rate of San Diego was lost when I returned to SloTown, U.S.A. on Friday. I'm still scratching my head why I was so much faster out there. It wasn't the terrain since it was definitely hillier there (confirmed by Mr. Garmin -- see above for Tuesday's run). I just dunno.

Mo - 9.4/9:42/135 -- at home
Tu - 10.2/9:33/132 -- San Diego
We - 6.5/9:24/132 am, 3.6/9:22/132 pm
Th - 9.4/9:29/135 am, 6.6/9:13/135 pm
Fr - 4.7/9:37/139 pm -- back home
Sa - 8.3/9:41/147 -- HRM way screwed up, think this was about 140 really
Su - 13.6/9:57/138 -- I was just slow today

Total: 72.25 miles, 9:36 min/mi, 136 bpm average

Anyway, that's about 6 more miles than I've ever run in a week. I'll try for something similar this week. After that, I'll try to move to more hard/easy, mixing in higher-end aerobic runs and longer runs on Sunday.

running on the road

I flew out to San Diego on Monday where it was actually colder than an abnormally warm Virginia. I saw some of the fire damage as my favorite running trail was closed. I managed to get my running in around meetings and airplane travel though by getting up at between 4:30 and 5:30 and doing some doubles. Mo - 9.4; Tu - 10.2; We - 6.5 am, 3.6 pm; Th - 9.4 am, 6.6 pm; Fr - 4.7.

The legs are a just a touch sore right now, but not really as bad as they were nearly every day at the height of marathon training. I was really sailing along fine this week, but might have overdone it a bit with the double on Thursday, but I had to run along the water (see above) when I stayed by the airport before flying out on Friday morning. I also wanted to make up for the morning running I wouldn't get on Friday because I was flying out. If all goes well, this should be my first 70 mile week ever.

The heart rate is low though and the living is easy. Averaging 134 bpm this week and 9:30 min/mi so far. Is my HRM screwed up? This is amazing since last week I averaged 143 and 9:25 pace. There was a 5K thrown in there last week, but still. I've checked the maps on SportTracks and I can see the path I ran is shown correctly. The track shows me turning around at precisely the intersection I did, so I believe the distances. (GPS is amazing by the way.) Could the low heart rate be the mileage be kicking in?

I haven't mentioned it, but I've been doing all this in the Nike Frees without a problem. The only thing "Free-related" is the callus on my right big toe is getting rubbed a little raw. The left arch feels like it's too supportive, but I've had that same issue with other shoes. I'm not sure if my left foot is wider or my arch is lower or what.

week of 31 December

I finished the week with 13.2 miles today. Despite how slow it was (9:35 per mile) and being pretty short for a "long run," it took something out of me. It could be my lingering cold or the muddy conditions or it could be that it was at the end of the biggest mileage week I've done it a while.

Mo - 1.6 warmup, 5K in 20:35, 1.55 cooldown.
Tu - 4.7 am, 5.8 pm
We - 9.5
Th - 9.3
Fr - 10.4
Sa - 7.3
Su - 13.2

week - 66.3, 9:25 min/mi, 143 bpm avg

Exploration run

A friend and I went exploring a new network of trails today. It was very slow going because of not only the hills, but frequent stops to check the map, take a few pictures, etc. These pictures were taken with the $10 Vivitar mini digital camera my wife got me for Christmas. (That's yours truly in the first picture.)

1:21:09 (6:27 of this was stopped), 7.26 miles, 11:09 min/mi, 135 bpm hr avg

2 hours devoted to running -- what am I doing?

For the second day in a row, I drove to work early to beat traffic and get a 90 minute run in. As I was stretching and doing crunches afterward, it struck me that between the 20 minutes or so packing my stuff last night, the 5 minutes getting dressed, the 90 minutes running, and the 10 minutes stretching and crunching (to coin a term), I spent over 2 hours devoted to this run. I did the same thing yesterday.

Is this really worth it? Seriously, is there some sort of record for hours running per year per age grade point. I should patent this. I'll call it the futility index. Mine for 2007 is 6.4 based on my 412 hours running and 10 mile time of 1:09:49 (64.7 age graded). Post yours for fun. I used this calculator (the first google found) for my age graded score.

I satisfied myself with one of my favorite rationalizations: opportunity cost -- better known as "what the hell else am I going to do?" (This same rationalization got me a PhD in Chemistry.) Really, what was I doing before I was running? Mainly, I was getting a little more sleep and staying up for my local news and part of Letterman. I'll take running. This morning I saw the sun rise over the Potomac and ran by the George Washington Masonic Temple Memorial before turning around and heading back for work. There are worse ways to start your day.

a cold wind blows

You people from Minnesota might want to stop reading, or at least promise not to make fun of me.

I froze my %$$ off this morning. Maybe the 10 days in Atlanta made me soft, but I was cold out there this morning. I wore my usual winter fare -- tights, two tech shirts, a running vest, hat, and gloves. I did an out and back. The out was downhill with the wind at my back. The back was... well, you figured it out. The wind blew whatever warm air was trapped in the layers and froze my arms. The same for my cotton gloves and my hat didn't cover my earlobes. Plus, for good measure, it started snowing. Ok, wunderground confirms it was only 28 degrees (stop laughing there in Minnesota) but the wind was 18 mph sustained, gusting to 28, and I was running straight into it.

Of course a nylon shell and a hat that covered my ears would have solved all my problems. Lesson learned I suppose. Now if I could just find that damned hat.

New Year's Eve 5K and 2007 running wrap-up

New Year's Eve 5K

I had no idea what to expect in this race. I did it last year in 21:15 and then later set a 5K PR in May. I feel like I might have even been close to 20-flat shape before marine corps, but after being confined to the elliptical for the last 3 weeks in November and a low mileage December (170 compared to 250-260 in the summer/early fall), I didn't know what to expect. Anything under 21 would be good, but I feared losing ground compared to last year. I even had a dream last night where I was in a race where I could hardly run (like the dreams where you can't get away from the bad guys). That surprised me since I really wasn't anxious about this at all. I took it casually enough that I forgot to unset autolap on the Garmin before the race, which is normally part of the checklist.

I got there pretty early and hung around and socialized with some people before heading out for a warmup. The course is two laps, so I did one lap as a warmup, which is really nice since you can visualize the race. My heart rate was high for the pace, but it always is before a race -- nerves I suppose. I got back to the starting line 10 minutes before the gun. I would have done another quick out and back, but I ran into friends again and chatted with them. The course has some considerable climbs for a 5K. There aren't any up and downs, but there's one long climb per lap. It's basically a tilted saucer. The highest point is 85 feet higher than the lower point.

I lined up behind a big guy and asked him to lead block for me. I was in the 6th or 7th row of people with entire families ahead of me (including kids I'd guess were about 8 years old -- what is wrong with people?). I took off not really knowing how fast I was going. The Garmin said about 6:30 and I settled into that. The waves of children started to come back to me, but my lead blocker was still pulling away. I resisted the urge to follow him. After the climb, I picked up the pace and the Garmin auto-lapped at 6:20. Crap, I forgot to turn it off. When I hit mile 1 less than 10 seconds later, I hit the "lap" button. Actually, I thought I hit the lap button, but instead I hit "start/stop." Double crap. I spent the next five minutes thinking I was running 6:49 pace and wondering how I could possibly be that slow, but I slowly started to pull in a female runner up ahead that was looking pretty strong.

I started the Garmin again and it was reading somewhere around 6:30. My heart rate was also right at 190-191 from mile 1 on. I've never had this much ease maintaining this high a heart rate. In fact, I've never had it feel this easy in a 5K, but I'm pretty sure I couldn't have run much faster.

At the highest point of the second loop, I moved to pass the woman I had been following. We ran abreast a bit and then she picked it up. That was fine with me, so I just stayed behind her again. She started to pull away from me, but I would just pick it up and stay maybe 10 feet back. The garmin auto-lapped in here at 6:28 "garmin" pace, but I had no idea what my time was.

At the bottom of the second loop we started run into the walkers we were lapping. Ugh. They were lined up in rows literally 10 abreast. This forced us to run *very* wide. When the rows of walkers got narrower, we made our to the curb and after a while were generally able to run on the cement part of the curb to get around the walkers. I just stayed behind the woman I'd been following and let her make the decisions. According to Mr. Garmin, we were holding a steady pace and I was at about 190-192 bpm, which is about all I can muster for 5K.

At about 2.5 miles another woman came up behind us and the woman in front of me tried to go with her. I picked it up and stayed with them, but the woman I'd been following faltered and when we reached some walkers who were four abreast, I went right and she went left -- that was the last I saw of her as I was pulled along by a new woman. I was really in cruise control and started to pick it up after we hit 3 miles. Hang a sharp right and we head toward the finish. As I get close, I see the clock. Holy crap, this is going to be close to a PR, so I sprint as best I can, but it ticks 20:33, maybe 20:34 -- I missed a PR by a second or two. I forgot to hit my watch at the finish. Too bad I screwed up the watch or I might have been able to claim a "watch PR" since I must have lined up at least 3 seconds farther back than I did in May (that was a smaller race and I finished 11th).

I ran into the 62-year-old who finished a place ahead of me in May. It turns out I beat him by 10 seconds, so that's a benchmark for improvement I suppose (this was a tougher course I think). After waiting for some friends, I did another lap around for a cool down, and my legs didn't feel beat up at all. They've never felt so good after a race.

I'm not sure why I did so well, but I feel like I have more pure speed than I did before. You might think I'm crazy, but I honestly believe these shoes (Nike Frees) have helped. I can already tell that my right foot that is normally pointed out, points more forward and I definitely have a higher stride rate and heel strike less. If I can get my mileage (and endurance) back up without sacrificing speed, I think I'll have a real shot at 3:15 this spring.

2007 running wrap-up

I set PRs at every distance in 2007.

5K - 20:32 (12 May)
5M - 34:20 (20 Jan)
10K - 43:15 (1 April - 10K split of 10M PR)
10M - 1:09:49 (1 April)
HM - 1:33:28 (16 Sept)
marathon - 3:24:16 (6 May)

The training for the beginning of the year was long slow distance with some races. I had a dramatic improvement in January from a 21:15 5K (6:50) on 12/31 to a 34:20 5M (6:52) on an extraordinarily hilly course. Between those two was the Disney Goofy Challenge where I jogged 39.3 10-minute miles over a Saturday and Sunday.

The goal race for the first half of the year was the Cherry Blossom 10 miler and I exceeded my dream goal in beating 70 minutes. It was the hardest race I've ever run and one I finished with no regrets. I started doing the Benji Durden marathon plan about 4 weeks earlier, which has intervals/hills on Tues, cruise intervals on Th, and a strong long run on Sunday -- the others days are 40 minute recovery runs.

I thought I might parlay that into a stab at a BQ (3:15) at the Frederick marathon. I ran the first 3 miles or so under BQ pace, but quickly backed off. Still, I hit the half at 1:38:54 (a half PR at the time), but struggled through the second half in 1:45:22. There was a wicked wind that day and the last four miles were into sustained 20 mph winds gusting to 30 mph. I was very happy with a 19-minute PR and thought Boston was easily within reach in the fall.

The second half of the year revolved around training for the failed attempt at the marine corps marathon. I was on pace for 3:15 through 17 miles and died at Hains Point, struggling home in 3:27:34. Despite the time, I was in the best shape of my life. Actually, I believe I peaked a couple of weeks earlier when I could suddenly run 6 x 0.5 miles at 3:11 per with no problem, when I couldn't break 3:20 for the life of me.

After that, I got rambunctious and thought I'd double down marathons like I did successfully in 2006. I wound up with an injury (right shin) and 3 weeks on the elliptical for my trouble. I'm still carrying around the after effects, but it doesn't seem to limit my running at this point. I just feel something creepy in my shin.

Tonight I had an unexpected good race to end the year.

2007 stats

running: 2640 miles, 412h 25m, 9:22 min/mi avg pace, 145 bpm avg hr (9/21 - 12/31)
elliptical: 22h 16m, 142 bpm avg

Three weeks of injury really cut into my mileage total. I barely squeaked over last year's 2589 miles, but ran it about 1 min/mi faster.

A while back, I told myself I'd avoid setting race goals and instead focus on training goals. I'm not sure that's the best idea. I'd just be kidding myself. My goal is to qualify for Boston. There's just no way around that. To get there, I need to train. When all is said and done, my total for 2008 should be at least 3000 miles, so I'll call that a goal. If I don't get there, I'll know why I didn't get to Boston.

week of 24 Dec and the tale of the migrating cold

Happy new year, everyone. Hope everyone had a happy holiday.

We arrived back home last night after a 10.5 hour car ride. The drive back to Virginia was thankfully quicker than the way down Georgia as there wasn't any traffic. We did make an unwise choice to use the HOV lanes and sat for about 20 minutes watching car fly by in the main lanes. (The anxiety was made worse by the fact we were maybe 20 minutes from home.)

I think I'm nearly over the cold, which moved into my chest and was pretty nasty. It's head north to my ears and nose, but I think it's on its way out. Unfortunately, it's also made it to my wife and kids. My daughter gets pneumonia at the drop of a hat so I'm hoping she avoids that this time. My son, however, could be missing an arm and he'd say, "Oh, I'm all right." He never complains, so I'm not sure how sick he is.

I finished reading Running Your Best by Ron Daws in the car on the way back. It's really an excellent book. There are some editing problems (typos), but most of them are obvious and I could have done without some of the physiology, which I believe might be dated. I believe he must have felt compelled to put that in despite having started the book saying it was a "practical guide" and that the physiologists were forever catching up to experimenting coaches. Bob Glover's Runner's Handbook for beginners followed by Running Your Best for those who decide they want to run their best isn't a bad formula. It's too bad it's out of print.

Running Your Best has schedules for 20 weeks and some general guidance for shortening them, which will be necessary for me. My basic plan is to build to my target mileage in January (and maybe a week or two in February) and spend February on aerobic base (includes fast aerobic running). March will be hill resistance training with perhaps a touch of anaerobic running, following by racing in April (Cherry Blossom 10 miler and maybe the GW parkway 10 miler). 4 May is either the Frederick or Potomac River Run marathon.

What's my target mileage and how do I build to it? Well, I think 70 mpw is reasonable and Daws has you run relatively even efforts each day to get there as quickly and comfortably as possible.

The week's training was (miles/pace/avg bpm)

Mo - 8.46/8:52/142
Tu - Rest (xmas)
We - 10.95/9:06/145 (hilly)
Th - 7.50/9:12/139
Fr - 10.60/8:54/149 (I rushed to beat a storm)
Sa - Rest (drove GA to VA)
Su - 10.04/9:24/142 (high HR for the pace -- all the sugar in the car?)

Week - 47.57/9:06/144

I hated to run less miles this week than last, but considering I had to take two goose eggs, I did pretty well to get 47.6 in 5 sessions versus 49.6 in 7 sessions (6 days) last week.

Tomorrow I'm running a New Year's Eve 5K. I ran it in 21:15 last year and then better my 5K PR to 20:32 in May. Given my condition, I'm a little worried I won't even beat 21:15. That would be pretty hard to have worked this hard this year and come into the new year slower than last.

Merry Christmas to me -- Running Your Best by Ron Daws

It was quite a Christmas haul for me and my family. The kids got a Wii, which makes my wife and I Wii widows. We figure we'll see them again when they're teenagers. Rather than annoy everybody by not telling them what I wanted for Christmas, I made an amazon wish list, which works well since books, CDs, and electronics are all I ever want. Anyway, I actually got things I wanted. The real gem is Ron Daws's book "Running Your Best: The Committed Runner's Guide to Running and Racing."

I'd heard that Ron Daws explained Lydiard better than Lydiard and, 115 pages in, that seems to be the case. Of course I have no basis for judging that, but the approach he describes matches what I've gathered from reading what's on the Lydiard foundation web site and reading the Lydiardite's posts on the various running web sites.

It's a little dated (the discussion of winter clothing is pretty funny) but the nuts and bolts haven't changed. The book is also written in a direct style that I appreciate. For example, the mileage buildup section of the mile - 5km "Relative Beginner's" schedule says, "Few beginners should tackle more than 50 miles per week. Much less than 35 mpw isn't training." I'm guessing that last sentence wouldn't go well in Runner's World.

I was a bit surprised by how comprehensive the book is, discussing clothing, keeping a running log, stretching, strength training, plyometrics (he calls "resiliency training"), race tactics, and more. It's more like Bob Glover's book that Daniel's, coming in at about 280 pages, 40 of which are the schedules.

Training so far this week: 8.47/8:52/141, Rest (xmas), 10.94/9:07/144 (quite hilly), 7.51/9:12/138.

week of 17 December -- the "no plan" plan

It started as a scratch in my throat on Thursday night. Twenty-four hours later (12 in the car -- to grandmother's house we go!), I was using my new-found baritone voice to wow disinterested audiences with my Johnny Cash impression. Saturday's run was OK, and on Sunday I was just sick as I ran in the 40 degree rain.

My approach for the week was just to let the pace come to me and run as long as I felt like and time allowed. This resulted in 10.1 miles at 10:07 per mile(!) on Sunday. Anyway, here's the way the week went. (miles/pace/avg hr)

Mo - 5.9/8:58/145
Tu - 4.7/9:22/138 am; 5.9/9:55/146 pm
We - 5.9/9:09/143
Th - 10.5/9:33/135
Fr - Long car ride
Sa - 6.8/9:16/144
Su - 10.1/10:07/133

49.8 miles. Not at the right computer to get hr avg, etc., but it looks like maybe 139 bpm as a rough guess. That's much lower than the 147 from the last couple of weeks.

By the way, note the pm run on Tuesday. I am always much, much slower for a given heart rate in the afternoon. I have no idea why that is.

great, slow run

If you haven't tried running slowly, you should at least once. Just shuffle your way along and breath in the fresh air, noticing the sights, sounds, and smells of the world around you. When you run fast, you develop tunnel vision and miss the world around you.

This morning, I did what I refer to as a "transportation run" into work. The point is just to get from home to work with the least wear and tear possible. I even took some short walk breaks (gasp).

Why am I in such a good mood? My dog slept through the night! I sound like a new father rather than the owner of a 13.5 year old black lab mix.

10.5 miles, 9:33 min/mi, 135 bpm average.

25 hours: 3 runs, 16.5 miles, and 4.5 hours of sleep

Let's see. I ran a pretty slow 4.7 yesterday morning although my heart rate was much higher than expected. I ran a very slow (9:55 per mile) 5.9 after work with a group and my heart rate was again high. 146 bpm for 9:55 per mile???? At that pace, I doubt I would have cracked 130 bpm only 3 months ago.

Then I slept from 10:45pm to 3:00am when my #$(@#$#@ geriatric lab mix decide to bark every 15 minutes. First it was to go out. Then it was to get water. Then he slid off his pet bed. Then he wanted to get on the sofa. Then he got off for no reason and when he attempted to get back on, he fell. He can't get up by himself because his back legs are shot. I love him and feel sorry for him, but sleep deprivation has a way of just making you crazy. I was back in bed for good at 4:49am. I slept maybe 15 minutes before my alarm went off at 5:45am and I trudged out for another 5.9 miles.

Tonight I coach basketball for an hour and a half. I'll try not to fall asleep. I've been waking up at least once and often twice a night for the dog, but usually it's "only" for 10-15 minutes. Last night was the worst.

Tomorrow, the alarm will go off at 5:15 (5:30?) for a 10.5 mile run to work. I hope I can sleep tonight.

Thanks for listening to my whining!

Coolrunning -- Active gave angry people a blank page

Just what were they thinking? They take the site down for 5 days and then put it back up before populating it with the old threads. There are only three options when you visit a message board: 1) just read, 2) post a reply to an existing thread, or 3) post a new thread. The first two capture 99% of the board's activity. By putting up a blank board they left people only option 3.

What were they going to post about? If you look at coolrunning, there are actually very few new threads each day and they usually come from whatever is happening in people's lives -- "Help! My heel hurts," "I just signed up for Cherry Blossom -- who's in?" What was happening in the coolrunners' lives over the last couple of days was, "Yuck. Look at this unfamiliar design monstrosity with no posts that messed up my user name and screwed up my running log."

If the old threads were up, this would have been a few new threads where people vented. People would respond to the existing *running* threads in time and eventually the anger would be bumped off the first page. Instead, there was no option to reply to an existing thread on running and talk about running, so it was just about guaranteed that 90% of the threads on the board would be angry complaints. Brilliant.

Also, look and feel matters. You can't just shove people who are used to a new interface and expect people to be happy because it has improved functionality (this is very debatable of course). People are creatures of habit. Look at what google did with blogger. They didn't just create blogs.google.com with a completely new look and turn it on one day with a blank page and a promise to eventually migrate your old posts. They kept it the way it was and slowly migrated it to their authentication system and database.

Coolrunning RIP?

Well, it took me a few days to realize coolrunning.com is back up. I got an email on Saturday inviting me to log in after the transition, but it didn't work ("C??? authentication server error" or something like that) and the link I used to use -- http://www.coolrunning.com/cgi-bin/ubb/Ultimate.cgi -- said (and still says) that their still migrating. You can now get there from this link.

They had something like 5 days and didn't manage to move the old posts over. Meanwhile people are jumping ship right and left to other boards. Don't they realize that the archive of posts and the user base is the only thing the web site has? I'm guessing the old system was pretty primitive, which probably complicated the transition, but come on guys!

Anyway, I noticed Nobby (now Nobby063 because I guess active has 62 other "Nobby"s on other active sites?) has posted on the new site, so maybe there's a reason to go back there.

The old board was a little long in the tooth and could have used some improvement like RSS and speed in posting to long threads, but this could have been done with minimal apparent change to the user. I'm guess active really just didn't want to deal with this separate thing called "coolrunning" that they bought and were just looking for a way to shove it into community.active.com and be done with it.

They could have just said, "Hey guys, we're shutting down coolrunning. Just go to community.active.com and make an account there if you like it."
Instead they just create a new redundant hierarchy of groups within community.active.com, create a bunch of new user names there from the coolrunning database, and make a link from coolrunning.com. (It really took days to do this?)
Look at how stupid this is. They have Mainstream racing (/community/sports/running/racing) and Mainstream racing (/community/coolrunning/mainstreamracing). There are also parallel Newbies and Injuries forums. It's so confusing they had to put an announcement on the front page of the running forums link that said "Looking for the Cool Running forums? Click Here." This should be a case study in how not to handle a web site transition.

So what to do? Maybe the blogosphere is the wave of the future, but how does one recreate the social network that was coolrunning.

week of 10 December -- Nike Free 5.0

It might seem a little impetuous, but I ran Wed through Sunday in Nike Frees. I did one 40 minute treadmill run in them last week as well. I've had these things hanging around in my closet for probably a year. I bought them when I was battling plantar fasciitis (which lingered for about a year so I had plenty of time to experiment) and decided to move to running in "less shoe." I slowly mixed in shoes with less cushion, going from Mizuno Wave Creation to Rider to Precision, and I believe going to less shoe was one of the things that helped me beat it. I stopped at the precisions and never made it to the Nike Frees.

Thinking about my most recent injury, I realized that the loading (eccentric forces) on my shin occurs when I heel strike and overstriding while doing downhill strides was the straw the broke the camel's back. How could I stop myself from heel striking? The barefoot running crowd will tell you that you can't heel strike when running barefoot. It hurts too much and your brain won't let you. I thought I'd give it a shot.

I could tell from the first step that things were different running in the Frees. Leaning forward for the first step, my first step is short and basically underneath my body (like running in place) rather than long and in front of me. Even though there's less cushion, it actually feels smoother and less jarring. I guess my legs and feet work as pretty good shock absorbers when working properly. I kept my mileage low and have been carefully monitoring how I feel, but I'm surprised at how easy the transition has been so far.

My running this week:

Mo - 3 miles - shin bothered me from previous day's 13 miles (too much too soon); mizunos
Tu - Rest
We - 4.7
Th - 4.7
Fr - 5.9
Sa - 5.9
Su - 9.5

total: 33.8 miles, 4h58m, 8:49 pace, 148 bpm avg

Yes, 148 is a bit high for me again, but I'm recovering fine with the low mileage, so I figure why not. Speaking of the low mileage, I can't believe I ran this little.

6 miles a little faster

I was probably a little underdressed for the weather, which might have caused me to pick up the pace at the beginning. Anyway, I did the same 5.9 mile route a little more than 5 minutes faster today. My average heart rate was 154 bpm, but that was skewed by bad (high) HRM readings for the first mile.

another day, another run

My right calf was very tight this morning, so I took it very easy. I ran slow enough that I felt like I was recovering during the run. Registered an average of 138 bpm and 9:22 min/mi for 5.8 miles. I'll probably do the same route tomorrow. I'll pick a pace after I warm up.

Is this the mysterious Lydiard "1/4 effort?" Mystery Coach says, "I used to tell my runners that 1/4 effort was a run you could repeat as soon as you came in, a 1/2 effort was a run you could repeat the next day. A 3/4 effort run would need an easy day but could be repeated the day after."

two in a row

I did the same run today as I did yesterday without any problems except some tightness in my calf. Don't tell Tusca, but I averaged 152 bpm. My mood was up after my run. It reminded me of when I first started running and probably ran too hard everyday. It felt great. Then I got into low heart rate training and building my miles. My race times dropped, but the nature of my runs changed. I felt more akin to the walkers, out in the fresh air taking in the scenery.

Here's the basic strategy

• get up to 1 hour daily runs
• work toward Lydiards time-based marathon conditioning schedule by lengthening some of the days
  
• incorporate hill resistance training
• profit

I'll try and listen to my body throughout and progress to the next step when I'm ready.

By the way, I started doing active isolation stretching again (from the Wharton book). This is the only stretching technique that's ever improved my absolutely pitiful flexibility. Yesterday I was actually able to touch my knees with my wrists! Yes, I am that pitiful. My kids mock me. When I'm stretching, my 8-year-old daughter will sit next to me and put her head between her knees as I struggle to reach past mine with my fingertips.

I've also been doing a minimal amount of core exercise (crunches -- regular, left, right, and reverse; "superman;" bridges; and planks (the easy way with the knees). I really feel like I'm a very weak runner muscularly.

"good" run

Well, "good" is a relative term. I ran 42 minutes without any pain and only noticed the shin a couple of times. I didn't have the acute pain I had when I first hurt it though. It was just an occasional discomfort like a tight muscle and not really in the same area. If I keep my mileage low for a while, I think I should be OK. A March marathon looks unlikely. I'll probably use Cherry Blossom as my goal race (closed out in 4 hours!) and run a May marathon as an afterthought. I set a huge marathon PR last spring without a lot of angst beforehand.

sleep, no run

My dog slept through the night! (Reminds me of when my kids were babies.) I still woke up at 5:25 though, but that means I slept for over 6.5 hours straight!

No run today. I decided I would alway take an off day following any twinges even though it means my last 4 days are 0, 13, 3, and 0.

I'm probably going to have to forget about an early March marathon unless a miracle occurs. Today registration opens for my favorite race -- the Cherry Blossom 10 miler.

bad run

Running this morning was a bad mistake. I thought I'd just go out for 40 minutes. Well the dog kept me up all night and then I thought I'd just bag it and get some sleep, but I couldn't sleep anyway. After my indecisiveness, I was running late and cut it off at 30 minutes. Well, now I sit hear with ice on my shin, because the creepy tendon feeling is back. It feels like I'll never get back in shape.

week of 3 December -- a week of running

Mo - 3 (9:09/143) - felt a little twinge in the shin and cut it short (planned <=4 anyway); core
Tu - 5.8 (8:31/159) - no pain except to my ego; really huffing and puffing
We - 4.7 (8:53/143) - much better pace/hr; 1st snowfall of the year started during my run; core
Th - 4.3 (9:25/140) - treadmill
Fr - 8.8 (9:10/142) - nice run; hamstring sore, but shin fine; core
Sa - Rest
Su - 13.5 - absolutely no problem with the shin for the first two laps, but felt it some on the last; core

Week: 40.0 miles; 6h1m; 9:02 min/mi avg; 147 bpm avg;

Obviously I'm out of shape. A couple of weeks before the marathon I average 8:45 and 143 bpm. I'm probably 30-45 sec/mi slower than I was then. Hopefully, it will come back quickly.

I'm beginning to think my foot pain is caused by this particular pair of shoes. I know they pinch my right pinky toe (which gave me a nasty marathon blister) and it feels to me like the arch is too high on the left foot, which might be the cause. Has anybody seen variation between shoes of the same model. (This is my 4th pair of mizuno wave precision 7s and they don't feel like the others.)

I ran today

Last week was 50 min elliptical on M, W, Fr, Sa and 100 min elliptical on T, Th, and Su. Really boring. But this morning, I ran! A whole whopping 3 miles. I was slow and it required entirely too much effort, but I ran!

I was totally pain free for the first 2.9 miles. Then my heel hit the lip of a sidewalk cutout (car forced me onto the sidewalk) and I had a *little* pain in my shin. Walking home I could also feel it a little. It wasn't really in the area where I've had a problem, so I think I'm OK, but I'm being cautious.

I'm not quite sure what to do from here. I'll probably run by feel in the morning and then elliptical every other day in the afternoon to keep the volume up.

2.89 miles @ 9:09 min/mi, 142 bpm average. (Hopefully this will rebound quickly.)

week of 26 November

This last week is pretty easy to summarize: M, W, F, Sa - 50 min elliptical; Tu, Th, Su - 100 min elliptical. I'm going to try running 40 minutes tomorrow. I haven't quite decided where. I might try the treadmill or I might venture outside. I think the leg should be OK, but there's no way to know for sure.

sleep, finally

My 13.5 year old black lab who has been neurotically barking during the night finally slept until 4:45am! Hey, that's progress.

Got up and did 100 min on the elliptical. There's nothing to say about 100 min on the elliptical. I slowly got my heart rate up to 140 over the first 30 minutes, then up to ~145 by the end, averaging 140 bpm. I didn't run across any deer. I didn't twist my ankle in a pothole. I just used the elliptical for 100 minutes and got off. How boring. (Oh, I did the same core routine.)

no sleep

Barely slept last night. 100 minutes on the elliptical. I'm a zombie. Blech.

I don't think I've mentioned it but I've added some core exercises about every other day. 10-15 each of regular, left/right oblique, and reverse crunches; 3x30sec superman; and 3x20sec easy planks (knees on floor).

week of 19 November - Patience

Mo: 4.3 miles in 41 min on grass - slow, kinda painful, high heart rate. Caught a cold
Tu: Rest
We: elliptical 100 min - back to the elliptical where I belong
Th: elliptical 60 min
Fr: elliptical 100 min
Sa: 4.4 miles in 39 min on grass - less painful, but not good. Used very short strides. Heart rate pretty high.
Su: elliptical 94 min, bike 6 min - a little discomfort on the inside of my left knee and I moved to the bike

I tried running twice, but it was probably premature. I had swelling later in the day. I also have that disturbing sensation of friction between the tendon and ligament as I plantar- and dorsi-flex my foot. I'm about 90% sure I have tibialis anterior sheath inflammation. I'm not going to run a step this week. Hopefully I can mix in some runs the next week. It's hard to be patient. I can't decide whether or not I should use the referral for an MRI I have. He said to get the MRI if it still hurt after a week (which it does), but on the other hand it's improved a lot and I'm sure the treatment will be the same regardless of what it says.

Uncle

I'm crying uncle. I haven't recovered as well as I hoped from my four-mile test run yesterday (swelling increased) and I can only imagine what 26.2 would do. It looks like the most direct path to 3:15:59 probably doesn't go through the marathon this weekend. I went 1 for 3 on goals this year (I did sub-70 10 miles, but didn't break 20 in the 5K or BQ in the marathon). I'm thinking of just establishing training goals for next year (like mileage, but trying not to become a slave to it) and let the race times take care of themselves. (Wait, I do have another crack at the 5K on New Years if I recover -- there I go again!)

What to do from here? Do I keep up the elliptical or just get lazy for a while? I'll probably do the former. I'm not sure what kind of training strategy do use after this. I'm considering either something complicated or something simple.

The complicated approach involves core exercises, cross-training, working on power/speed (through hills and intervals) and gunning to get faster before building up fatigue resistance. A lot of this stuff is in Matt Fitzgerald's "Brain Training for Runner's." While I think his justification is weak and informercialish (to invent a word), the recommendations make some sense to me. He starts with speed/power and builds to more race pace specific quality training a la Renato Canova. He recommends doubling several days a week with running and cross-training, which is something I've thought of doing before to bump up the volume without the injury risk. He also recommends core conditioning, which is something I believe I sorely need. (This speaks for itself.)

The simple approach involves just running -- a lot. Run home and to work twice a week (total 42 miles), a long run on the weekend (14-18), and a fill in run or two (5-10) to get to about 70 miles (preferably in 6 days). Something like Mo - off, Tu- 5 am/10.5 pm, We - 10.5 am, Th - 10.5 pm, Fr - 10.5 am, Sa - 5 am, Su - 18 for 70 miles. I like to talk big when I can't even run 10 miles right now! I felt like I improved a lot this summer even though it didn't materialize in any big PRs (I PR'd the half at the end of a big week, but it was equivalent to the 10 mile time). In restrospect, I think it was mainly the mileage and doing 4 10+ mile days per week rather than three. I've done the pm then am thing before and together it's almost like another long run. I'd be getting three pseudo long runs a week (if I survived).

An advantage of the run a lot approach is avoiding the headache of 4 out of 10 commutes a week. I'd save maybe $8 in gas, but the self-righteousness I'd earn would be priceless. The dollars per mile is pretty close on shoes versus gas in the car -- about $0.20 per mile. I figure I probably break even in car service and depreciation costs versus medical co-pays and future knee replacement :-)

first run back

I did my first test run back today (loops around a grass field) and it hurt a lot more than I thought it would. The swelling is nearly gone, but I have pain up in the shin muscle near the bone (anterior side). I was also very, very slow for my heart rate today. 9:35 min/mi @139 bpm average. Looking at the weeks before MCM on the same route I ran 9:06 @ 133 (40 degs) and 9:26@133 (72 deg, 70 deg dew pt). Despite 8.5 hours of cross training, the week off seems to have really affected me.

If this were football, I'd be on the doubtful list. With the loss in fitness, it seems much more likely I'll injure myself than qualify.

week of 12 November

Mo - <2 min running (physical ouch), 170 min elliptical (mental ouch)/145 bpm avg
Tu - 33 min stationary bike/140 bpm; my hips were so sore after this!
We - 120 min elliptical/143 bpm
Th - Rest, saw orthopedist - x-ray neg, prescription for MRI to use in a week if I still have pain
Fr - 60 min elliptical/forgot HRM
Sa - 121 min elliptical/145 bpm
Su - Rest

My poor "wattage" on the elliptical on Wed and Fri for the same heart rate was mainly due, I think, to the fact they turn the heat down on holidays (vet's day) and weekends. Still Monday seemed considerably better than Saturday.

My shin is feeling a lot better than it was, but it's still swollen compared to the left and I can't do foot circles without pain. The creepy "creaking" sensations as my flex my foot isn't as pronounced though. I'm considering testing it with a short run tomorrow. Maybe I should try the treadmill and then hop on the elliptical if it doesn't work out. If I run at home, I'll do laps on the crushed gravel track to avoid hills. Only 6 days left.

Week: 0.18 miles running, 7h52m elliptical, 33 min bike, 144 bpm avg hr

my legs are itchy

When I haven't run in a day or so, my legs get "itchy" and just need to go out for a run to put them back in their place. Having not run since last Saturday, I'm desperate to scratch, but I know I need to hold off.

My leg has continued to improve and I must be optimistic because I found myself checking the marathon weather: high 54, low 44, and 60% chance of rain. The temps are perfect but rain wouldn't be fun. While it's a very flat marathon, it is a "trail marathon" and I'd be a little worried about the footing. There's lots of crushed limestone sections that would be unaffected, but the packed dirt section might be slick in spots.

I can't believe I'm even considering this. MRI prescription dated 15 November. Marathon on 24 November. Hmmm.

Today was 60 minutes on the elliptical. I had a fantastic 2h50m elliptical at level 3.7-3.8 at 77-78 rpm on Monday. I've stunk since then. Today was eventually level 3.0 and ~80 rpm. I left my HRM at home by accident, but I know I was probably about 150 bpm. How could I sustain level 3.8 for nearly 3 hours on Monday and today not be able to sustain it for an hour? Have I lost that much fitness?

Hoping for a miracle...

*************
By the way, I've started reading Mircea Bogdan's blog. He's a Romanian steeplechaser training for the 2008 Olympics.

x-rays are negative

My leg was much better this morning but not nearly good enough to run on. I wouldn't have made the appointment if it had felt like this yesterday. It's funny how making an appointment will heal you.

I saw the doctor and it went down like I thought it would. First, I'll say I liked the doctor. He was probably about my age (I'm getting older) and I'd bet money he was a runner based mainly on how thin he was. He also didn't bat an eye at things like 60 miles per week and speeding up on the downhills to work on turnover ("sure, sure"). I told him I was taking 600 mg 3 times a day and icing. "Perfect" he said, although he did say I could go to 800 mg.

So I got an x-ray and he didn't see anything although he did look puzzled and asked me if I ever had a stress fracture or problems with my shins before. "No," I said. He said I had unusually thick leg bones along the front. He thought it might be from running but wasn't sure and said it was pretty unlikely I'd break my leg. That's nice I guess.

The plan is to see if it still hurts in a week. If it does, then I should go for an MRI and follow up with him. If it doesn't then I should slowly mix running back in with the elliptical. Is 26.2 a week from Saturday slow enough? I didn't ask that. I did get one answer I wanted: "If it's not painful then you're not hurting yourself." The plan is vitamin I, elliptical, and ice and hope that I don't feel any pain in a week. I'll have to run some by late next week before I'd attempt a marathon. I'm not sure how many miles I'd need to be confident though. A lot of braggadocio from a guy who's walking with a limp!

Is sugar evil?

It's funny how I log a beautiful run around the lake as "Mo: 8.3 (8:57/138)," but will go on and on about injury and not being able to run. Human nature I guess. If I ever run again, I'll try to be more appreciative.

My hips were incredibly sore after only 33 minutes on the bike yesterday. I notice my quads were a little sore when I started the elliptical this morning.

I have a working theory that sugar is evil. After feeling kind of fried a week after the marathon I switched to slow running and looked to reduce other stress-inducers. I switched to the classical station in the car and stopped pounding the Halloween candy. The runs in the couple of days after I swore off sugar were noticeably better, but not enough to conclude anything. The other thing that happened was I slept through the night rather than waking up at 3am feeling hot, sweaty, and wide awake. Of course, I took my renewed health and blew it on a 13 mile progression run, 8 miles with strides, and 6 "easy" with some faster downhill stuff, which led to my current situation.

Last night we had "homemade" pizza (made from Trader Joe's dough) , which is basically like eating a loaf of wonderbread for dinner. I woke up again at 3am. This is starting to be a trend. My elliptical session much "slower" than Monday also. On Monday I did 2h50m at level 3.7-3.8 and 76-78 rpm, which put the watts in the low 80's. Today at the same heart rates I started at 3.8 and quickly went down to 3.0 at about 75-78 bpm, generating 65-70 watts. What a dramatic difference. I wonder if it could have been hotter in the gym.

Anyway, the results today were 2h0m on the elliptical and an appointment with the orthopedist (I see him tomorrow). I guess I want to rule a ruptured tendon or anything crazy. I know what will happen though (at least this is what I'm hoping for). x-ray negative. MRI says stuff is swollen (ya think?) and you ought not run. Rest, ice, and vitamin I.

Ouch

I did 33 minutes on the stationary bike today. I planned to do 30 and then midway through thought I'd try for 40, but the boredom was too much. Plus, my butt hurt. How do people do this? I'm sitting there with my legs whirring around at 95-100 rpm and breathing fairly hard while a puddle of sweat pools below me. All the while, I'm going absolutely nowhere. The only saving grace was listening to Highway 61 revisited.

Anyway, my shin is still killing me. It hurts to walk. Pointing my toes is excruciating. The swelling has gone down some and there's actually bruising on the surface of my shin in a couple of places. What the hell did I do? It's not like I had shin splints that I was ignoring. This just came out of nowhere. My guess is that I pulled/strained something. I'd go to the doctor, but I'm 99% sure it's not a stress fracture. All he would do is x-ray (negative), MRI (gee some stuff is swollen), and tell me to rest, ice, compress, and elevate.

The plan is to alternate between the elliptical and the bike until I feel better. Hopefully that will be well before the marathon. If not, I'll just bag it. I wish I knew now if I wasn't going to make it though, because I'd just take a couple of weeks completely off.

hours on the elliptical

I made an optimistic attempt at running and made it 1 minute 53 seconds before I realized I wouldn't be able to tolerate the pain and limped back to my car, wincing. Then I drove to the gym at work and attempted to do my long run there. I'm proud to say I did 2 hours 50 minutes in an empty gym. The last 20 minutes were tough and I started to slow down some. My heart rate slow ed down as well like at the end of a marathon where my legs give out before my lungs. I think it might be due to the resistance of the elliptical creating some muscle fatigue. Average heart rate was 145 bpm, which is a little lower than my usual 148-150 bpm average for a long run, but I'll take it.

My shin is so bad that I've taken to walking backwards downhill. It's hard to imagine how I'll be recovered in 12 days, but since I believe it's a muscle (and not a tendon), I think it's a possibility. I'm planning to elliptical until I can walk without pain.

week of 5 November

Mo - 8.2 (9:31/136)
Tu - 8.2 (9:18/136)
We - 4.6 (8:53/140) - HRM messed up first mile, more like 138 avg
Th - 13.3 (8:19/151) - progression run, 6 ez then 7:59, 7:47, 7:34, 7:29, 7:15, 7:39, 8:18
Fr - 8.2 (9:06/142) - w/ 10 strides
Sa - 5.8 (8:53/142) - hurt right shin, very painful to walk home
Su - planned long run, but off for injury

Things were going pretty well until yesterday. I was trying to work on my turnover a little on the downhills on saturday and that, combined with the strides the day before, is what I think caused me to hurt my shin. I think I was overstriding on the strides and downhill running and the breaking action strained my shin muscle (tibialis anterior). The marathon is two weeks away and I was hoping to do a long run this weekend (say 18 miles). I only did 13 last week (the week after marine corps). I might be rationalizing, but I think running might be less painful than walking. The other option I can think of is trying to use the elliptical for a long run, but I can't imagine hours on that thing.

week 48 miles, 7h14m, 8:57 avg, 142 bpm avg

week of 29 October

I'm signed up for another marathon on 11/24. Goal again is 3:15:59 (as it will be until I BQ). Realistically, I might back off earlier that 18 this time if I know it isn't going to happen.

(last Sunday was MCM)
M, Tu, We - Rest
Th - 6.6 (9:13mm/138bpm)
Fr - 8.2 (8:59/139)
Sa - 4.2 (9:30/139) - I'm always much slower on the treadmill
Su - 13.6 (8:42/150)

My pace/heart rate was bad all week. Hopefully it's just recovery. I feel like I lost my mojo and I'd like it back. I have the dumbest thing bothering me now: a blister/callus thingy on my right pinky toe. Ouchy.

32.6 miles, 4h53m, 8:58 avg pace, 143 bpm avg hr

not hitting the wall

"... the marathon without hitting "the wall"-- I can tell you what it will take to get over that hump as I've been in that exact same boat as you but was able to figure out how to get out: (larger volume/base-- avg. 50-60 mpw for a few months, then Pfitz 70 mpw for 12 week program, add several miles of goal MP running into the mid-week med. long runs, run long runs on "empty", without carbo loading or caloric intake, just water, run easy on recovery days, be honest and do tempo effort the full 7 miles of the prescribed 12 mile workout that day, stay healthy, do approx. 1/2 of long runs finishing the last 3 miles at MP, 1/2 MP, 10k pace. Most long runs can be 17-20. Do one long run of about 22-23 one month prior to goal marathon). Carbo load appropriately (not too much to gain weight), and fuel pre race morning and during race appropriately."

Above is some from advice from an internet board. I've come to most of these conclusions on my own, but have yet to reach others. The 12 w/7 @ tempo just seems impossible for someone of my limited speed and I've never figured out how to "carbo load appropriately" or "fuel pre race morning."

training strategery

Well, I ran a marathon two days ago and my legs are still trashed. That didn't stop me from signing up for another in four weeks. What to do...

I did the same insanity last year, so let's look back at what I did for those four weeks

Week 1 - 0, 0, 6, 6, 8, 8, 18
Week 2 - 8, 8, 0, 9, 8 , 9, 20
Week 3 - 0, 9, 9 w/6@mp, 8, 9, 18, 0
Week 4 - 9, 7 w/ 2@mp, 5 w/strides, 5, 3, marathon, walk 3 miles

I blamed overtapering for the busted '06 MCM and went on an anti-taper with 18, 20, and 18 milers the 3 weeks between races.

Pfitz has a 4 weeks between marathon schedule that a 15 mile MLR 10 days out as the longest run in between and also has a VO2 max session 14 days out. Pfitz has the first run back as Wednesday (just like I did last year), but I don't think I'm going to run tomorrow.

I haven't quite devised my schedule, but I a few ideas. I'll probably do 60 minutes or so on Thursday (90 was too much on Thursday after my May marathon); an 18 or 20 miler 2 weeks out; and a 13.5 mile progression run to work 9 days out (my marathon is on a Saturday). I probably won't do anything fast until a week from Thursday (maybe a 13.5 miler).

Marine Corps Marathon

I ran the Marine Corps Marathon today. This was my third time at MCM and I've always fallen a little short of my expectations there for some reason. I'm not sure why. Maybe I build up expectations during the summer? Maybe I don't train effectively in the summer heat? Who knows. Anyway today was no different. My goal was to BQ (3:15:59, 7:28 min/mi), which I knew was a stretch based on my 1:33:27 half I ran 6 weeks ago. My marathon pace run (20 w/14 at MP) didn't really support it either, but I had some great long runs and interval sessions in the last few weeks that made me think I was in 3:15 shape.

The short story is that I held onto pace as long as I could even though my HRM and my senses told me it was going to cost me later. Then, I died on Hains Point like many a good man.

00:37:38 @ 5M, Pace 7:31, Predicted 03:17:04
-- hills early, I tried to be smart

01:37:57 @ Half, Pace 7:28, Predicted 03:15:45
-- at the half, I realized I had nothing in the bank, but I couldn't really go faster, so I just tried to run 7:27's as long as I could

01:52:05 @ 15M, Pace 7:28, Predicted 03:15:45

02:15:09 @ 18M, Pace 7:30, Predicted 03:16:38
-- 15 to 18 is hains point. Miles were 7:30, 7:31 (tailwind) and then 7:57 for mile 18 (headwind). A guy in a cow suit also passed me here, which was kind of demoralizing :-)

02:49:08 @ 22M, Pace 7:41, Predicted 03:21:26
-- I was bleeding fast and by 22 knew I had no chance, so I just wanted to finish and didn't really care about my time. Lots of thoughts in here like "Maybe I should race shorter distances for a while?"

03:27:34 @ Finish, Pace 7:54
-- I was done! One important note: I re-passed !#$#@% cow suit at mile 24. He had taken off his cow bell by then.

A little over 3 minutes slower than my PR in May. 29 minutes faster than last year's MCM, so that's something I suppose.

Despite the disappointing time, I had fun today. Mainly because I had my very own spectator! A childhood friend of mine (who's also a runner -- but *much* faster than me) was in town and came to see me. He couldn't have been a better spectator. He was at the start (didn't see him though), at Lincoln's left hand (Lincoln memorial) and then at his right hand -- saw him both times. Then (now this is a real friend), I unexpectedly saw him out on the 14th street bridge! (I thought he was going to be in Crystal City.)

A couple of notes on the new course: I don't like it. I felt like the stretch that replaced Rock Creek Parkway (under construction) was hillier, which delayed buying back time from Rosslyn hills. Also going past Iwo Jima and then having to double back sucks! Please, can I just make a left? You also go downhill on the out and have to go back up some ramp on the way back. You can look up at the runners ahead and know that you're going to have to get up there somehow. Geez.

I'm not sure what I'll do now. There's another marathon I like in four weeks that I did last year after MCM, but 1) I think I'm just not quite in shape to run a 3:15 right now; and 2) I feel like this race took more out of me than last year's. The early steep downhills did a number on my quads and both my calves cramped up in the last two miles (which was pretty uncomfortable!).

[Epilogue: I've signed up for the marathon in four weeks.]

week of 22 Oct

Here's my week that concluded with MCM.

Mo: 4.4 - grass
Tu: 4.4 - grass
We: 7.0 w/ 2 @ MP - 7:29/160 (net uphill), 7:23/167 (net downhill)
Th: 4.7 - road
Fr: 4.7 - road
Sa: Rest
Su: Marine Corps Marathon 3:27:34/172

51.9 miles, 7h9m, 8:16 avg pace, 156 bpm avg

week of 15 Oct

• Mo: 4.5 (9:06/133) - grass
• Tu: 10.2 (8:47/146) - 6x0.5 w/ 0.5 rest: 3:17, 3:13, 3:11, 3:09, 3:11, and 3:11. Way, way faster than I've ever done them. Am I faster or is it just the weather (47 degrees)? I'm regretting that I didn't throw the Benji Durden switch earlier, but hopefully I'll peak for race day. I really felt like 3:15 shape. I still need to not get sick or injured and get lucky with the weather.
• We: 4.7 (8:46/138) - nbrhd loops
• Th: 13.4 (8:15/148) - Progression run to work. 6 @ 9:00/138bpm then 8:11/149, 7:49/152, 7:52/154, 7:34/157, 7:07/163 (downhill), 7:24/152 (downhill), 7:37/163 (big uphill).
• Fr: 4.2 (9:26/133) - grass
• Sa: 4.6 (8:56/138) - nbhrd loops
• Su: 13.5 (8:48/145) - lake loops. Bad run. I did exactly the pace I wanted. I planned to run 3 laps just under 40 minutes. They went 39:54, 39:33, and 39:36. My hr was much too high at the end for the pace. Mile 13 was 8:45/155 compared to 8:21/154 last week when it was cooler and 8:31/155 two weeks ago when it was warmer and *much* more humid. This is a reminder that I not only need to have good weather, but I also need to have a good day.

Looked great this week until today. I think I ate too much junk yesterday. Perhaps that had something to do with it?

week: 55.0 miles, 8h1m, 8:45 avg pace, 143 avg hr

I'm in shape for 3:15

A rare, mid-week post to say I believe I'm good for 3:15 on a good day. The weather was 47 degrees this morning and I did my 6x0.5 miles in 3:17, 3:13, 3:11, 3:09, 3:11, and 3:11 with ease. These were around 3:20 last week (although it was *much* warmer) and weeks ago, I felt like I couldn't go faster than 3:19 if I fell off a cliff. Despite the slowish HM (1:33), I was still almost ready to declare myself fit after my long run last week. In the spring I thought that if I could do <40 minute laps on my long run at a normal effort, I'd be a shoe in. Last week I averaged a little over 38 minutes per lap at an average heart rate of 150. The lack of speed in my intervals was still a concern though until today.

One more workout on Thursday (progression run to work) and then it's time to pray to the weather gods. They aren't being cooperative right now though projecting a high of 75 and sunny. Yesterday they said a high of 54 and raining though, so I'll hope for a better forecast tomorrow.

MCM pacing strategy

The world-famous PacerChris gave me this MCM strategy on coolrunning.com. I'm putting it here, before I can't find it there anymore.

Paced MCM last year - on a brutally windy day which ultimately caused me to miss my time (3:10:47 - still a BQ, but I wanted to be about a minute faster - had a BAD day!)

Because MCM is a very popular (read:BIG) course with lots of first timers, if you start with 3:20 you may find yourself pretty far back. I'd position yourself in between 3:10 and 3:20, erring on the side of being too close to the 3:10 group before the cannon goes off.

3:15 is ~7:27/mile - last year I was right where I wanted to be through the early miles. My goal time was 7:15 and my first 3 miles up the hills averaged around 7:30 - take it easy up those hills! The 4th mile you'll make up a lot of that time - we made up half of the 45 seconds deficit in that one mile with no effort at all, and the 5th mile is also downhill. Miles 5-8 are less steep but generally uphill - by this time we were warmed up and ran them right around 7:10-7:20.

From 8-10 is a nice gentle downhill so try to get back onto your overall goal time during these 2 miles - you should be fairly close. It's time to start banking a little bit of time - if you're a minute slow at mile 8, you're in decent shape - it should feel easy, you've relaxed up the hills and you can make up most of that time from 8-10. Use that momentum off those hills to keep rolling from 10-20...if you can bank no more than 5-10 seconds per mile from 10-20, you'll have a nice 60-90 second cushion - the bridge to Crystal City is tough, and there's a climb from 25-26, plus the last little bit is uphill as well. If you can get to 20 with that banked time, try to squeeze 1 more mile out at 7:27, and then 1 more, and then another. If you can maintain most of your banked time through 23, you can slow down up those hills the last 2 miles and still make 3:15.

Summary - take the first hills easy, roll down the hill from 3-5, relax from 5-8, pick up the pace from 8-10, try to bank between 10 and 20, hold on as best you can 20-24, and be prepared to give back your banked time from 24 on to the finish. Then go home and fill out your Boston application and have a beer!

week of 8 Oct

Mo: 4.45 (8:53/136) -- on grass field temp/dp 69/67 and foggy. Strange October weather.

Tu: 10.01 (9:00/150) -- 30 min wup/30 min cdn on grass field. 6 x 0.5 miles w/ 0.25 rest on 10 laps per mile track: 3:21, 3:19, 3:18, 3:20, 3:21, and 3:21.

We: 4.67 (9:09/136) -- neighborhood loop. Sped up on downhills to work on turnover.

Th: 13.41 (8:18/149) -- Long route to work. Felt great! It was finally October. 61 degrees, but felt colder: very dry (dp 37) and windy (18mph). Easy first 6 miles (9:09/138), then 8:06/148, 8:04/149, 7:53/151, 7:25/160, 7:08/165 (downhill), 7:17/164 (down), 7:33/171 (*big uphill*), and 7:09/174 (0.41 miles). I was very happy to see paces below 7:25 (goal MP) and heart rates below 172 (expected avg marathon heart rate).

Fr: 4.4? (9:26/136) -- On grass field. Left FR305 at work and used Suunto T6. The distance is a guess. HRM didn't work well for first 5-10 minutes as usual (read high).

Sa: 4.08 (9:10/135) -- Up at 5am on a Saturday and did the 4.1 neighbordhood loop. Had to get up early to volunteer for a race. I strung tags off the bibs of ~750 K-6 graders pulling them out of their grimy hands. It will be a miracle if I don't get sick.

Su: 18 (8:28/150) -- GREAT RUN! 4 laps at lake B. Weather was perfect. 16 secs/mile faster than last week although my avg hr through 18 last week was ~147 bpm compared to 150 today and the weather was much worse then. My poor son was diagnosed with strep today. Did I say it would be a miracle if I didn't get sick?

I am in way better shape than I was in the spring. I'm not sure I'm in 20 sec/mile better shape and I still have a bunch of landmines to negotiate a lot of landmines even if I am. We enter the 15-day forecast from accuweather -- Sunny with a high of 73. I don't like that. Hopefully it will change. The average high for the day is 62 I think.

Totals: 59 miles, 8h35m, avg pace 8:43, avg hr 145 bpm

week of 1 Oct

The plan was to maximize my rest between workouts to help my foot and calf, so I went back to the Benji way of doing very easy easy days (jog ~40 minutes) and I did it on grass to help my legs.

Mo - 4.2 (9:40/131) on grass field
Tu - 11.1 (8:42/147)
31 min wup on grass field, 6x0.6 mile w/ .2 mile rest (10 laps per mile track). Intended to run 6:40 pace (4:00 per .6). Did 4:08, 4:00, 3:57, 3:59, 3:58, 3:59. First was done without looking at my watch (too dark). I felt like I found my form on the third one. Max HR was 181 and I seemed to recover better than normal. 31 min cdn.
We - 4.3 (8:59/134) on grass field
Th - 13.5 (8:30/146)
Ran to work. This is the route what I was calling 13.35 before I got the FR305. A progression run of sorts. 1st 6+ miles at 9:20, then following miles at 8:03 (147), 8:03 (153), 7:40 (158), 7:36 (163), 7:37 (163), 7:28 (158, -58ft), 7:56(169, +156ft). The plan was to do the last mile at tempo, which I did (or close to it), but it was up a big hill so it was slower. I hit 178 at the end.
Fr - 4.5 (8:57/134) on grass field
Sa - 4.2 (9:29/135)
Field was occupied so ran around the nbhrd. Discovered a new trail along the creek that went for about a mile. Trail was OK, but not all that runnable.
Su - 20.0 (8:42/149) (this is what garmin calls it. Used to call 20.3)
I was smart and got out early before it got too hot. It was still pretty warm though, especially for Oct. Run went just great. I start slow and progressively sped up. My best 20M run in the spring on this exact route was 3:05:23 @148bpm average heart rate. Today was 2:54:19 @ 149 which is 6.0% faster and only 1 bpm higher. Temps then were in the upper 30s compared to 60 warming to 76 degrees todays. 5M splits were: 45:41 (9:08), 43:59 (8:48), 43:00 (8:36), 41:50 (8:22). Calf hurt a good bit throughout. I could feel my foot as well.

Week: 62 miles, 9:06:29, avg pace 8:50, avg hr 143 bpm

week of 24 Sep

Mo - 10.5 easy (9:30 min/mi) - unplanned run to work b/c of car trouble
Tu - 9.7 - Intervals on a 10 laps per mile track. 45 min wup, 6 x 0.4 w/0.2 jog - 2:43, 2:40, 2:39, 2:40, 2:41, 2:39, 15 min cdn
We - Rest
Th - 4.9 easy (9:45 min/mi) -- evening run during daughter's soccer practice
Fr - 7.6 easy (9:21 min/mi) -- nbhrd roads
Sat - 4.5 (9:12 min/mi) -- grass field at elementary school
Su - 6 mile wup at 9:00, 14 miles at marathon pace
Total - 57 miles

Because of traveling for work and a desire to take it a little easier with my aching foot an calf, I ended up coming into the Sunday 20-miler with a semi-taper.

The Sunday run was run in a 20 mile race. I was hoping to see 7:27 per mile (BQ pace) at my normal marathon heart rates (~170-172 until ~15 miles in). Here are the splits of the MP: 7:26 (163), 7:25 (168), 7:14 (170), 7:32( 168), 7:19 (170), 7:14(170), 7:19(171), 7:27 (172), 7:27 (172), 40 (171), 8:00 (172), 7:47 (172), 8:03 (173), 7:31 (177). You have to add 5 secs to each of these. I had a consistent, accumulating error at each mile marker and ended up with an extra 95 seconds. When I ran the 7:14 (really 7:19) at 170 on a flat section, I thought I might just have a chance to qualify. Then it fell apart in the end. The first 8:00 came climbing up a big hill that I had run down with the second 7:14 (170). Not even hitting BQ pace on a flat section at the end despite a heart rate near 180 was somewhat demoralizing.

Looking back to my MP run in the spring though, I think this was better, but it's hard to tell since the pace was so different. Sunday was 7:36 pace @ 171 avg. The spring was 7:26@177 avg. I guess 6 bpm is worth more than 10 sec/mile, so I'd have to say it was an improvement. Conditions were very similar and this was definitely a harder course.