week of 20 May

Decent week except the weakness on Thursday.  Normally I get up at 4am to get my son to swim practice at 4:30 and run while he's there.  He hasn't been swimming Thursday mornings and it's too tempting to stay in bed.

• Mon - Wakefield 6.38 1:06:26 10:24 132 (66%) 5:53 AM
• Tue - WSHS track 8.03 1:18:39 9:48 148 (74%) 6:12 AM
•  started out to do 400s at 5k pace w/400 rest.  No set #.  Did 8 in 1:38, 1:36, 1:35, 1:34, 1:35, 1:34, 1:40.  After 400 rest did MP for as long as I felt.  Only 800 in 3:45 (~7:30 pace)
• Wed  - Burke Lake 7.31 1:23:29 11:25 126 (63%) 6:09 AM
• Thu - weenied out
• Fri -  Burke Lake Trail Running Morning 8.15 1:28:28 10:51 128 (64%) 6:16 AM
• Saturday Springfield loop Running Morning 7.81 1:17:30 9:55 143 (71%) 10:30 AM
• Sunday Springfield loop Running Morning 8.81 1:30:30 10:17 134 (67%) 10:19 AM

Total:  46.49 8:05:02 10:26 135 (68%)

Mileages are probably inaccurate (stupid 410) and heart rates are unduly influenced by wonkiness for the first few miles.

6 months out to Richmond

I hit 60 miles the week of 18 Feb and was so proud that I posted for the second time this year.  Well I haven't come close again.  Here are my miles and paces.  I've mostly been trail running in the dark without a headlamp while my son swims at his 4:30-6am swim practice.  This isn't conducive to fast running.  My new Garmin 410 also seems to be stingy with the mileage, especially on trails.  One Burke lake loop is at least 4.5 miles and it gives me 4.35.  With the excuses out of the way

• Week of 25 Feb - 56.3 in 7 runs, 10:14 per mile
• Week of 04 Mar - 49.1 in 6 runs, 10:18 per mile
• Week of 11 Mar - 33.2 in 5 runs, 9:58 per mile
• Week of 18 Mar - 20.6 in 3 runs, 10:14 per mile
• Week of 01 Apr - 34.5 in 5 runs, 10:35 per mile
• Week of 08 Apr - 31.7 in 4 runs, 10:10 per mile
• Week of 15 Apr - 43.4 in 6 runs, 10:23 per mile
• Pike's Peak 10k in 43:44 (7:03 pace).  Didn't really race.  Settled into 7 minute pace and stayed there.  Felt I maybe could have run 5k more at this pace, but who knows.
• Week of 22 Apr - 49.0 in 6 runs, 10:40 per mile
• I think part of slower pace is that the leaves are back and it's very dark under the shade
• Week of 29 Apr - 42.7 in 6 runs, 10:23 per mile
• Sunday was two laps at 8:34 pace around burke lake.  Garmin 410 only gave 8.70 mile even though it's definitely at 9.0 (8:17 pace).  This was Hansons long run
• Week of 06 May - 40.9 in 6 runs, 10:30 per mile
• Tues - nominally 12 x 400 @ 5k.  Ran in rain on .18-mile bumpy gravel elementary school track.  ~1:45 on and 2:30 off.  If you believe Garmin (and I don't), the on paces were 6:41, 6:24, 6:23, 6:21, 6:29, 6:22, 6:43, 6:42, 7:02 (no way), 6:35, 6:45, 7:09 (uh uh).
• Thur - 1.7-mile wup at 10:30.  4.5 miles at 7:47/169, 7:38/171, 7:40/172, 7:44/172, 7:41/170.  1.7 cdn at 10:50.  Supposed to be MP in middle but probably a little harder.  172-174 is my average MP, but usually takes me 10 miles to ease up there.  This is a very hilly course.
• Sunday was easy long run
• Week of 13 May - 37.8 miles in 5 runs, 10:13 per mile
• Tues - Did 5 x 2:00 hills at Lake Accotink.  Jogged over and did 2 x steep hill sprint by dam.  Jogged back and did last 2:00 hill on way home
• Wed, Th - no running due to lack of sleep and too much work
• Friday was a moderate 9:32/144 on trail.  Had to be faster than 9:32.  Stupid 410.
• Sunday was semi-moderate. HR in low 140s and then 148, 149 last two miles.  Two burke lake laps in 1:24:36.  9:41 pace according to Garmin.  9:15 if Burke Lake is 4.57 per lap.

 I'm trying to figure out a training plan.  I bought new Hansons book.  It looks pretty good, but speed on Tues, MP runs up to 10 miles on Th, and MP+30sec long runs every other Sunday sounds like a lot of intensity for an old chunk of coal like me.  I ran 65:55 for 10 miles when I only did uptempo running every 3rd or 4th day.  Their elite schedule has workouts every third day, which makes more sense to me, but hard to schedule long runs on a 9-day cycle.

More in another post.

Signed up for Richmond and back over 60 again

I signed up for the Richmond Marathon (November 16th) with a high school friend who's much faster than me.  My goal is to finish within a half hour of him, which won't be easy.  His best is 2:44 and he still typically runs around 2:50.

A lot of stuff going on in real life got in the way of running in January/February, but I got in some decent mileage.

• week of 31 Dec.  28 miles in 4 runs.  New Years day 5k in 20:48.  Hilly race and I was sick with a cold that kept me sleepless.  Skipped the next 3 days of training.
• week of 7 Jan.  48 miles in 6 runs.  My usual routes at ~10 - 10:30 pace with one treadmill run.
• week of 14 Jan.  51 miles.  4 runs of 8 miles at 10:00-11:15 pace, one 8-miler a little faster (9:11), a 10 miler at 9:50, and an aborted run (1.35 miles).
• week of 21 Jan.  50 miles. 10, 8, 8, 8, 0, 8, 8.  Pace was 10-10:30 except Saturday was faster (8:17).
• week of 28 Jan.  53 miles.  8 every day except 5 on Monday.  10-11 pace except 8:53 on Thursday.
• week of 4 Feb.  53 miles.  8, 9, 7, 8, 5, 8, 8.  Same as previous except slower.  4 runs 10:30-11 and 3 at ~10:00.
• week of 11 Feb.  28 miles.  0, 0, 0, 7 (pm), 5, 8, 8.  10-11 pace.  Family emergency.
• week of 18 Feb.  60.2 miles.  9, 8, 10, 7, 8, 8, 10.  9:45-10:25 pace except 9:16 on Sunday.
• Started sort of following Bill Squires book (alpha phase, level 11, week 1) about halfway through week.
• Thursday included 6 hill repeats (1:05, 1:06, 1:41, 1:08, 1:05, 1:37).
• Did pickups on Sunday starting at 50 min.  Did 1', 1', 2', 1', 1', 2' faster on 5 minutes.  "Faster" was maybe HM pace.  Who knows?

This was my first week over 60 miles since 3/7/2011.  I averaged over 60 mpw in 2008 and only managed a 3:15 marathon, so getting within 30 min is going to be tough!

Weight was 167.8 after long run.  Need to lay off the cookies.

2012 wrap up

 

 It was certainly a down year for running (and blogging).  I DNS'd a marathon, ran my fewest races ever (3?), and ran the fewest miles (2098) I've run since my first year of running.   I learned a thing or two though.  The first is that the primary benefit I get from running is mental.  This makes it a bit easier to get out out of bed because it's not just a 41-year-old slow dude running a bunch to lower his 10k time.

MP = Meditation Pace

 Here's a post from me to runningahead that summarizes my "discovery"

Great to see everybody still at it.  I've been AWOL for a while.  I just wanted to share a benefit of slow running that might be glossed over:  it lets you clear your head!  My mileage dropped a lot over the last 6 months as the demands of work took their toll and I had trouble rationalizing the time.  I also wasn't enjoying running very much and probably didn't try as hard to "get it in" as I would.  I'd try to make it more efficient by doing more workouts as well.  Running less just stressed me more.  The low was when I bagged an out-of-state marathon I'd signed up for.  Eventually I was watching Google tech talks on youtube and saw a guy dressed as a Buddhist monk (Ricard Matthieu).  He was giving a talk about happiness and meditation.  It made me re-remember one of the key benefits of running, especially slow running, that I'd always been aware of -- it's essentially meditation.  When people would ask what I was thinking about on those long runs, I'd say "everything and nothing."

As always happens when I get off track with running, I went back to MAF.  For the last 6 weeks, I've run *very* slowly on the same 7.8 mile route.  Heart rates ~130 (I'm 41) and paces in the 10:30-11:30 range.  I'd listen to my body, stopping to stretch if I felt a niggle.  I'd admire the leaves and watched them change color over the weeks.  I don't think I broke 9:45 on a single mile.  Last week I finally got a full 7 days of running and about 55 miles.  Yesterday I did a turkey trot and ran 20:34, so I think I'm finally back on track.  I have a ways to go before I can attempt a PR in anything, but I now think I'm not too old yet.

As an aside, I tried treating the race itself as meditation, focusing on my breathing, paying attention to my body, but trying not to feed the negative thoughts that come during the hard parts of the race.  It was by far the easiest 5k I've ever run.  My HR was 189 (versus my usual 192) in the last mile, so maybe I didn't go all out, but it was pretty close and the race just flew by.  I also passed a guy at the end that I swear I normally would have let go because I'd rationalize that it wasn't worth the extra pain.

 New Year's Day 5k

Ran 20:49, which is 15 seconds slower than Thanksgiving.  I was expecting something more like 20:15, but I've had a cold and haven't been sleeping and also have a few extra Christmas pounds.  My heart rate was crazy high.  (http://connect.garmin.com/activity/256717909).  It avg'd 195 for the second half of the race.  I borrowed a garmin 210 (my 305 might be done for), but used my HRM belt and my understanding is that the processing to bpm is done on the belt itself.  Weird.  Was it the cold?  Not whether to be upset with my fitness or happy about my ability to push myself.

Some numbers

This extends on something I posted at the end of 2009. Months are in parentheses.

 2005 - 1224
10M - 1:24:49 (4), 20M - 3:06:27 (9), M - 4:49:21 (10), 10k - 50:17 (11), 5M - 38:56 (11)
2006 - 2589
M - 4:17:03 (3), 10M - 1:19:25 (4), M - 4:00:03 (5), HM - 1:40:08 (10), M - 3:56:14 (10), M - 3:43:16 (11), 5k - 21:23 (12)
2007 - 2640
5M - 34:20 (1), 1:09:49 (4), M - 3:24:15 (5), 5k - 20:32 (5), HM - 1:33:29 (9), M - 3:27:34 (10), 5k - 20:35 (12)
2008 - 3180
8k - 32:45 (3), 10M - 1:08:49 (4), M - 3:21:50 (5), 5k - 19:49 (5), M - 3:15:22 (11), 5k - 20:15 (12)
2009 - 2303 + 41h59' XT * HM - 1:29:48 (1), 8k - 31:55 (3), 10M - 1:06:43 (4), M - 3:19:01 (4), 10k - 41:47 (10)
2010 - 2644
8k - 32:07 (3), 10M - 65:55 (4), 10k 40:04a (4), 10k 40:21 (5), 8k 33:21 (7), 10k 40:43 (11), 10k 41:08 (12)
2011 - 2324
10k 41:01 (3), 10M 66:16 (4), 10k 39:35a (4), 10k up a mountain 44:30, 5k 20:41 (12)
2012 - 2098
5k 20:34 (11) + a race (maybe 2?) that I didn't really race

Goals

I need to race more and run more.  Cherry Blossom switching to a lottery has thrown me off.  I didn't get in for the second year in a row.  Ran it 5 times in a row before that.  I was considering an early March marathon, but I'm not in shape for that.  I'll try to race more and at least break 20 in the spring.  Do St Pat's 8k like I always used to do.  Find a Cherry Blossom substitute.  GW parkway is a great race, but it's later (read 'potentially hot') and isn't a fast a course (although pretty fast).  It also conflicts with Pike's Peak.  If I'm feeling sporty, there's a low key May (often quite hot!) marathon.

Not running MDI marathon

Too much going on.  Not training enough.  Blah.

14 weeks to go

Well, I had the best intentions.  It was 20 weeks to go.  I thought I could use Brad Hudson's "Run Faster" schedule, to get back in shape and give 3:15 a scare.  Life and not really caring has derailed that dream.  I've basically just run and not all that much.  My only emphasis has been increasing my long run (up to 15 now) so that I can ramp up and get some 20 milers in.  I've had a slight strain with my right lower leg (lateral side -- calf or one of those stabilizer muscles), for the last couple of weeks, so I ran/walked Sun - Sat this week.  Here's the tally

• week of 5/27 - 55 miles - 9, 7/2, 6, 10.2, 6, 8.8, 5.4, 9.9
• week of 6/4 - 44 miles - 4.7, 7.9, 2, 0.7, 8.6, 6.5, 13.6
• week of 6/11 - 49 miles - 0, 10, 6.4, 8, 7.7, 6.1/1.6, 2.9, 13.6
• week of 6/18 - 42 miles - 8, 1.1, 7.6, 8, 1.4/3 (before and after swim meet), 13.6
• week of 6/25 - 32 miles - 0 (no sleep), 7.5, 7.1, 8.2, 0 (6:30am flight), 0 (swim meet/tired, sore) , 9.1 (run/walk) -- work travel this week
• week of 7/2 - 50 miles - 8.3 (r/w), 8 (r/w), 8.8 (r/w), 0,  8.1 (r/w), 2.2 (swim meet), 15 on mill

All running quite slow except  6/26.  miles were 9:05, 7:57/153, 7:32/160, 8:01/155, 7:26/166, 8:01/163, 7:29/170, 10:29.  This was on a track.  Wx was pretty good.  It was 70 deg and dry (in desert).

Where to go from  here?  I need to stop skipping days, but I'm just not motivated and am able to rationalize a tweaked muscle into an off day or use a family activity (read: swimming) as an excuse.  15 miles is enough for the long run for now.  I could try and add a mid-week medium long run or add some intensity.  Ah, maybe I'll just shoot for finishing.

week of 21 May - 20 weeks to go

20 weeks to go today (5/27) until the marathon.  A lackluster week of running to start, but I had a renewed focus after commiting myself to run 42.195km.

 - Mo - nada, strangely sore
 - Tu - 5.6 @10:00 on TM
 - We - nada, no sleep
 - Th - 7.9 usual out and back, 9:18 pace
 - Fr am - 7.6 on TM, 78' weight loss level 7
 - Fr pm - 2.0 @ 10:00 on TM
 - Sa - 7.6 on TM, 78' weight loss level 7
 - Su am - 9.1 @ 9:48 at Burke Lake, 76deg and humid
 - Su pm - 3.0 @ 10:00 on TM
Total: 42.9 mile

I doubled on Friday and Sunday, which is always awesome.  I had planned to do 3 laps (13.8 miles) but stopped at two because my legs were sore and I didn't want to start this adventure injured.  I made up for it with 3 in the afternoon.  43 isn't good, but not bad with two days off.  I'll do better this week.

I'm still mulling over how to go about training.  I had hoped to have a plan before today, but... oh, well.  Here's a list of things I think are important:  weekly mileage, weight.  That's about it.  There's a long list of semi-important stuff I can't decide between -- long runs, hills, moderate runs, marathon pace runs, tempo, intervals, drills, strides, core, ...

Mount Desert Island Marathon - 14 October 2012

 20 weeks from Sunday, I'll be running the Desert Island Marathon in Bar Harbor, Maine.  The last marathon I ran was Boston in 2009.  Frankly, I've gotten a bit lazy.  I chased the sub-40 10k for a while and I sort of got there last Spring when I ran a downhill, wind-at-my back 39:35.  That was good enough I guess, because I haven't run that much since then.

I signed up for a Fall marathon, but it was local and easy to bail on.  This suckers in Maine.  We're talking hotels and airline tickets.  Plus a friend of mine is going.  Fear and same -- my greatest motivators.

I'm also planning to get back on the blogging horse, so I have to write down my weekly mileage.

Here's my mileage by the months since I last posted (July 2, 2011!).

July - 162 (37 mpw)
August - 152 (34 mpw)
September - 203 (47 mpw)
October - 190 (44 mpw)
November - 162 (38 mpw)
December - 218 (49 mpw)
January - 182 (41 mpw)
February 182 (44 mpw)
March 163 (37 mpw)
April - 155 (36 mpw)
May - 136 (thru 5/24 -- 40 mpw)

Compare this to the 60 mpw I *averaged* over 2008.  Also I notice a trend with my good races.  I ran 232 miles in March of 2011 before running 1:06:17 at Cherry Blossom and 283 in March 2010 before running 1:05:55.  I didn't make it in the lottery for Cherry Blossom, which I think killed some of my motivation.

The last race I ran was a 20:41 5k on New Year's Eve.  I did manage 2nd in my age group (the strange M36-40???), but didn't stick around to find out.

The race is in early Fall, so I'll have to get in some mileage this summer.  Here we go...

last bazillion weeks

What I've been doing. The last 3 weeks are a virtual guess as I got in the habit of not wearing my garmin and then not writing down the time or distance.

Big picture is the last couple of months I've been doing the lunge matrix before and after at least half my runs. I was doing pilates regularly (10 minutes with Denise Austen DVD) in May but have been off the wagon this month.

In June I started to follow coach squires SWEP book alpha phase level 11, but have blown it the last couple of week. At the same time I've slowly introduce and now run a good bit in zero drop Saucony shoes (Hattoris). During this time, I've also been concentrating on minimizing ground contact time by not allowing myself to rest in the stance phase (basically increasing turnover) and constantly working. I'm a bit sore with these changes and have dropped mileage while I build up.

week of 4 April

Mo - jog 2 miles @ 9:30 [recovery from Cherry Blossom]
Tu - 7 easy @ 9:12 on treadmill
We - 9 easy @ 9:15 on treadmill
Th - 6.2 easy @ 8:30 in neighborhood -- always want to run faster outside
Fr - 10 @ 8:51 on treadmill including 6 x 5' at 7:30/3 deg incline w/ 5' at 10:00/0 deg include rest
Sa - 6.2 @ 8:31 in neighborhood
Su - 9.1 @ 8:05 on lake trail including 6x1' pickups at maybe HM pace over last 30 minutes (roughly every 5 minutes)

Week - 49.6
Week comments: Been doing pilates 10' core routine from Denise Austen pilates DVD 3-4x /week for past month or so, but never logged it.

Week of 11 April

Mo - 7.92 @ 8:44
Tu - 6.2 @ 9:20
We - treadmill 8.0 @ 9:30
Th - treadmill 8.0 @ 9:30 including 6x1' at 9mph (6:40) with 2:40 rest at 6mph (10:00)
Fr - 6.15 0:55:05 8:57 138 (69%)
Sa - rest
Su - wup 0.23 miles (porta john outprioritized my warmup), Pike's Peek 10k in 39:35!
Week - 42.8
Week comments: My faster-than-normal easy pace running the previous week, combined with residual fatigue from Cherry Blossom, and running a bit too fast hard on my friday workout left me pretty sore early in the week, so I took it easy.

Week of 18 April

Mo - 2 mile jog -- more sore from 10k than 10 miler
Tu - 6 @9:25 on treadmill
We - 7.9 @ 8:39 - still easy
Th - 3 @ 10:00 on treadmill -- hamstrings sore, too much, too soon on Wed
Fr - 7.9 @ 8:51
Sa - 5.9 @ 9:02
Su - 10.3 @ 8:36 including 4x1' @ about HM effort w/ 3' rest -- moderate effort with temp @79 degrees!
Week - 43 miles
Week comments: Sore this week and didn't push it. I've been playing it by ear race-to-race for a while and consequently not getting in much mileage, but I seemed to race myself into shape. Not sure how long I can keep this peak this way though.

Week of 25 April

Mo - 6 @ 9:26 treadmill
Tu - 7.9 @ 8:41
We - 7.8 @ 7:54 including 5 x 1k @10k with 300m jog rest. 70 degrees and 65 dp. 3:58, 3:55, 3:58, 3:58, 4:08. Felt too hard on the 2nd to last so ran the last relaxed w/o looking at watch. 4:00/k is not 10k pace when 70 degrees!
Th - 7 @ 9:26 treadmill
Fr - 9 @ 8:49
Sa - 6 @ 9:45 treadmill
Su - 10 @ 8:30 including last 2.5 at ~7:40 pace
Week - 52.6

Week of 2 May

Mo - 6 @ ~9:30
Tu - 8.5 including 7 x 1 @ 6:40 with 3:00 rest
We - 6 @ ~9:30 ???? (think I did this and didn't write it down)
Th - 6.1 @ 8:43
Fr - rest
Sa - 6' wup, 10k in 40:20, 2' cdn
Su - 9 on trail

Week: 42.6
Week comments: 10k was strange. Pretty calm wind and a super flat course, but the race started a little late (~7:45) and it was 59 degrees and full sun on exposed airfield at 8am which is a little warm for my Swedish blood. There were no mile markers until mile 5, so I went by the garmin. I was about 6:23 at 1st mile and then slowed to 6:27 overall by mile 5 (6:26 is 40-minute pace). There was a big gap in front of me so I was running alone and having to yell to volunteers to find out which way to go as they were turned around directing the 5k runners who started 10 minutes later. One pointed me the wrong way and I had to turn around when they yelled after me -- only lost ~5 seconds though -- but it was around mile 5. I hit the lap button at mile 5 finally (the first with a mile marker) and saw ~6:45 pace -- which I hadn't done that. I was shocked though when the clock said 39:44 when I crossed. I quick look at the watch showed 40:20 though and that's how it ended up in the results.

Week of 9 May

Mo -6
Tu - 8.6
We - 7
Th - 8.6
Fr - 10.4
Sa - 3.5
Su - 12.3
Week - 56.4
Week comments: Went to all easy this week to get my volume up a little.

Week of 16 May

Mo - 6 @ 10:00 TM
Tu - 8 @ 9:15 TM
We - 7 @ 9:39
Th - 6 @ 9:56
Fr - 0
Sa - 5.44 @ 8:38 springfield loop
Su - 9.7 @ 9:38 TM
Week - 42.1

Week of 23 May

Mo - Rest -- up too late working
Tu - 7.40
We - 4.50
Th - Rest -- dog kept me up all night; turned out the poor thing had a scratched cornea
Fr - 8.00
Sa - 6
Su - 6 -- didn't get usual long run b/c of daughter's soccer tournament
Week - 31.9
Week comment: Least mileage since I was hurt last fall and least non-hurt, non-marathon-recovery, mileage in maybe 5 years.

Week of 30 May

Mo - 8.2 @ 9:05 TM
Tu - 6 mi at 10:00 alternating incline every mile -- 2 deg, 0, 3, 0, 4, 0
We - 6 @ 9:33 TM
Th - Rest? (didn't record anything for this day)
Fr - 6.14 @ 8:47 nbrhd loops
Sa - 7.23 @ 8:42 springfield loop
Su - 11.74 @ 8:42 fartlek SR to Burke lake -- 1' 1' 2' 1' 1' 2' pickups every 5'
Week - 45.3
Week comments: started doing alpha phase level 11 of http://www.speedwithendurance.com/ book on Sunday

Week of 6 June

Mo - 5 @ 9:42 TM
Tu - 7.9 @ 9:02 carleigh
We - 7.49 @ 9:12 dam out and back including 6x1' hills and 4 8'' hill sprints by dam
Th - 7.86 @ 8:56 carleigh
Fr - 10 @ 9:46 on treadmill
Sa - 3.72 @ 9:53 nbhrd -- first 0.5 in new hattoris
Su - 12 @ 9:28 -- 70 minutes + 1', 1', '2, 1', 1', 2' pickups at 7:03 (8.5 mph) every 5 minutes. 1st mile in Horratis. Rest in Frees.
Week - 54.0
Week comment: continued alpha phase of S.W.E.P. Trying new zero-drop shoes

Week of 13 June

Mo - 4 @ 9:26 ft belvoir afternoon
Tu - 8.07 @ 8:40 at belvoir (no watch, time a guess)
We - 7.9 @ 8:11 carleigh
Th - 7.85 @ 8:56 carleigh
Fr - ??
Sa - 3??
Su - 12.44 @ 8:54 to and around burke including including 1' 1' 2' 1' 1' 2' ever 5' pickups
Week - 43.3
Week comment: never wrote anything down for Fr and Sa but think I ran one or both. Put 3 for Sa (before swim meet). Wore hattoris during this week (I think on Fr and Sa) but not sure how much

Week of 20 June

Mo - 3.5 @ 9:26
Tu - 7.0 @ 8:56 springfield loop + 6 x strides at school
We - 6 @ 9:10
Th - 2.16 @ 8:59 nbhr loop + 6 x strides. Short b/c of early meeting. hattoris
Fr - early meeting
Sa - 5.0 @ 8:34 nbhrd - first 3.2 in hattoris
Su - 8.96 @ 8:14
Week - 32.7
Week comment: bah. run beginning of Mo and We in hattoris I think. The non-garmin stuff is kinda a guess. Suppose I should write it down at the time. Anyway, I increased the mileage on the hattoris. The two laps around I concentrated on minimizing ground contact time and always working to pick up the puppies and put them down as fast as I could. (I had read this article.

Week of 27 June

Mo - 6 @ 9:00
Tu - 6 @ 9:00
We - 6 @ 9:00
Th - 6 @ 9:00
Fr - 8 @ 8:55
Sa - 7 @ 8:50 -- middle 4 at 7 mph (8:34)
Su - 7.9 @ 9:07 -- carleigh easy in frees. Last .75 in bare feet b/c getting blister between toes
Week - 46.9
Week comment: work hattoris for entire runs on Fr and Sa and much of runs earlier in week. The 6 per day on Mo - Th is a total guess. I think I ran every day but can't remember how much. 6 is close enough I guess. I ran faster than normal all week continuing to try and not be lazy and minimizing ground contact. A bit sore and took it easy in old shoes (frees) on Sunday.

racing season is over

94 degrees yesterday and no chance of a decent race anytime soon, so I'll declare the sub-40 by 40 chase over.

I managed to run 39:35 at Pike's Peek downhill with a tailwind, so I guess I can declare victory on the sub-40 by 40? We'll have to put an asterisk.

I made another attempt on a loop course at the Manassas Airport 10k, but only ran 40:20. It was low 60s by the end and totally sunny, which is sadly way too warm for me. I also lost about 5 seconds when a volunteer sent me the wrong way right around mile 5. I was actually on schedule at mile 5 but gave up 20 seconds in the last mile. I ended up winning M40-44 despite being 39 because it was a tri club and they use your birthday at the end of the year. Finished 7th OA.

When I get a chance, I'll cut and paste my logs here. Suffice it to say that I've totally slacked off the last couple of weeks and only managed 32 miles last week.

week of 28 March

Mo - treadmill easy 5.7 @ 9:39
Tu - threshold - 8.5 including 3 x 1600 w/500 rest in 6:20, 2:48, 6:31, 2:50, 6:20 (10k, 10M, 10k pace)
We - treadmill easy 6 @ 9:20
Th - rest
Fr - treadmill easy 5 @ 9:30 with 6 short "strides" (punch 10 mph on mill)
Sa - rest
Su - 0.9 wup, Cherry Blossom 10 miler in 1:06:17, 0.5 cooldown

Week - 36.6

Sharp taper this week out of Hudson's half marathon plan. I thought it worked very well. Got home at 12:30am on Fr and 11:30pm on Sat because of children's activities and got up at 4:50am on Sunday, so had a splitting headache all day Saturday and until right before the race (miracle of adrenaline). Legs felt good warming up before the race.

Cherry Blossom

I had a pretty good race, but didn't get the desired PR (65:55/6:35 pace), so that ends my streak of 10M PRs at Cherry Blossom.

Basically I went out too fast and died. But I felt so good early on! 6:38, 6:30, 6:24, 13:05 (4&5), 6:34, 6:35, 6:40, 6:49, 6:58. 1:06:17, so missed it by 23 seconds. After mile 9, I was exactly on pace and only had to run one more 6:35 to PR, but I was headed in the wrong direction. I didn't feel like I was redlining, but I suddenly just didn't have any pop in my stride. I put in a surge after the mile marker, but looked at my garmin a minute later and was still only 6:45 pace. Knowing I wasn't going to make it, I probably backed off a hair in the last mile although keeping under 7 minutes was some motivation. I have to kick myself for that 6:24 2nd mile, but it certainly felt good at the time :-) A smarter race and I might have PR'd. Overall it was a good race though and I'm in near-PR shape, so I stand a good chance at getting the sub-40 10k I'm after.

week of 21 March

Mo - 4 easy @10:00 on treadmill
Tu - 7.9 easy @ 8:49
We - 12 easy @ 9:48 on treadmill
Th - 6 easy @ 9:46 on treadmill
Fr - 9.4 @ 8:48 including 6 x 90sec hills (progressing 10k effort to probably 800m effort)
Sa - 6 easy @9:38 on treadmill 0:57:49 9:38
Su - 11.4 easy @ 8:54
Week - 56.8

Signed up for two more races:

Pike's Peek 10k - 17 April
Manassas Runway 10k - 7 May

Piece of Cake 10k - 41:01

Elevation profile/Pace chart pretty much tell the story. I also started to dog it a bit as the HR graph reveals in the second half as I knew I didn't have a shot. Average pace was 6:36. I'll need 6:35 for 10 miles to PR at Cherry Blossom. Surprisingly, I'm going to say that's "not crazy." It's a flat course and I'm better at 10 miles than 10k. I find it easier to be sub-threshold and hang on the last few miles than continuously try to keep myself above threshold.

week of 14 March

Mo - easy 6.00 0:58:00 9:40
Tue - easy 6.82 1:03:10. Aborted workout after 200 meters. Butt sore from last Friday workout and Sunday long run
Wed - easy 9.00 on treadmill 1:27:17 9:42
Th - easy 6.09 out and back 0:55:13 9:04 136 (68%)
Fr - easy 7.91 1:12:40 9:11. No workout. Not up to it and race on Sunday.
Sat - all day soccer event and race on Sunday made enough excuses
Sun - warmup 1.56 0:15:47 10:06, Piece of Cake 10k in 41:01 (hilly race), cooldown 0.76 0:07:25 9:43

This Week 44.45 6:40:33 9:01

week of 6 March

• Mo - tmill 6.00 0:57:00 9:30
• Tu - track 8.98 1:10:47 7:53 - speed endurance 4 x 1600 @10k w/500 jog in 6:18 (3:09/3:09), 6:18 (3:09/3:09), 6:19 (3:07/3:12), 6:21 (3:09/3:12). jog ~3min
• We - tmill easy 12.00 1:56:01 9:40
• Th - tmill easy 6.00 0:58:20 9:43
• Fr - track 8.89 1:08:53 7:45 - threshold 3 x 2400 @10-mile w/400m jog in 9:52, 9:45, 9:52 with rests of 2:21, 2:22. 9:50 = 6:35 pace. Last interval had start hard rate of 142 and max 180, so good recovery and pretty low hr. Didn't feel that hard.
• Sa - tmill easy 6.00 0:56:50 9:28
• Su - burke lake 3 lapper easy 13.68 2:01:36 8:53

This Week 61.55 9:09:27 8:56

Good week. First 60-mile week since November and the most mpw since last June. Track stuff indicates a decent shot at PRing at Cherry Blossom (65:55). Running a 10k on 20 March, but course looks like it will be hilly, so not sure sub-40 is possible there. Not enough 10ks around here!

Week of 28 Feb -- Disney sucks

Mo - 6.20 on Disney concrete and brick
Tu - fartlek w/6x 2' faster than 10k w/2' rest. First 5 on cart path before Disney folk kicked me off 8.00 1:05:00 8:08
We - 10 .00 1:30:00 9:00
Th - 6.60 1:00:00 9:05
Fr -6.20 1:00:00 9:41
Sa - home mill 6.00 0:59:10 9:52
Su - mill 12.00 1:54:51 9:34
This Week 55.00 8:29:01 9:15

Went to a conference at a Disney hotel. Kicked me off the nice 2.5-mile golf cart path because they were "worried I'd be hit by a ball" at 6:30 in the morning when the grass was being mowed. Instead I weaved in and out between pool furniture and trying to avoid being run over by those small service trucks on the designated Disney path that's about a whole 0.5 miles long and covered in the hardest substance known -- disney concrete.

Had a terrible cold all week and legs were so beat up by the surface, so I just did 6 easy instead of the workout on Friday.

Forgot my garmin, so times are with my analog Seiko and distances are a guess.

Week of 21 January

Mo - President's day. Easy 6 at Burke lake on day off
Tu - 9 on mill with hill reps, 6 x 2' @ 6 deg/8mph with 2' @ 6mph/0 deg rest
We - 12 easy on mill
Th - 6 easy on mill
Fr - 7.9 threshold outside: 2 wup, 4 in 7:14, 6:40, 6:49, 6:35 over hills, 1.9 cdn
Sa - 11.8 pretty easy at Burke Lake
Su - 6 easy on hotel mill
This Week - 58.73 8:57:10 9:09

Week of 14 February

Mo - easy + Magill drills 4.25 0:41:36 9:47
Tu - track 8.23 - 200-400-800-200-400-800-400 @ 10k, w/400 rest
We - easy 9.88 1:27:01 8:49 142 (71%)
Th - TM Easy 6.00 0:58:30 9:45
Fr - easy 3.91 @ 9:29 -- found new trail, not really runnable
Sa - 0.7 wup, 10k race in 41:01 -- crazy windy (24 gusting to 43)
Su - TM Easy 6.00 @ 9:45
This Week 45.26 6:37:38 8:47

Tuesday's workout
200-400-800-200-400-800-400 @ 10k, w/400 rest
4:00/k would be 48/96/3:12

Started too slow, ended too fast
49, 101, 3:15, 47, 95, 3:09, 94
Rests between 2:07 and 2:13

Pretty windy, but felt pretty easy. Max HR was 176 (on last 800).

By George 10k

http://www.runningfreeonline.com/Profile/Activity/ActivityId/483804/UserName/greg

41:00 for 10k this morning. The race was on Hains Point which is a peninsula separating the Potomac and Anacostia rivers, which is super flat and super fast... except when it's windy.

.. High Wind Warning remains in effect until 9 PM EST this
evening...
... Wind Advisory has expired...

The Wind Advisory is no longer in effect. A High Wind Warning
remains in effect until 9 PM EST this evening.


* Timing... 5 am to 9 PM... with the strongest winds between 10 am
and 5 PM.

* Winds... northwest 20 to 30 mph. Wind gusts up to 60 mph.

* Impacts... be prepared for power outages... and downed trees and
large branches. Ensure loose objects on your property are
secured or brought inside.

The wind was absurb. Double out and back course -- down Anacostia side, up Potomac side and back for 5k and do it again for 10k. I was running with these two girls and when we turned up the potomac side, it's like someone hit them in the stomach with a cannonball they shot back so fast. One time I was glad to have a few extra pounds. It was even worse the second time around. Laugh out loud wind guest ground you to a halt and you had to lean to the left just to stay upright.

Despite the 41:00, I think this was a pretty good race for me. I had more power in the last mile and ran a 20:24/20:36 splits (based on 5k turnaound cone). Splits were (in km)

Time Split time Distance Split pace Avg. HR
03:55 3:55 1.00 3:56 224 (112%)
07:55 3:59 2.00 4:00 237 (119%)
12:06 4:10 3.00 4:11 206 (103%)
16:00 3:54 4.00 3:54 181 (91%)
20:04 4:03 5.00 4:03 189 (95%)
24:04 4:00 6.00 4:00 185 (93%)
28:02 3:57 7.00 3:58 181 (91%)
32:19 4:17 8.00 4:17 181 (91%)
36:16 3:57 9.00 3:57 181 (90%)
40:29 4:12 10.00 4:12 181 (90%)
41:00 0:30 10.13 3:50 181 (91%)

HRM goofed up for the first few k, but you can see the wind after that 3:54/181 followed by 4:03/189. My HR was quite low for the end of a 10k (181 versus 188-190), so I may have dogged it a bit after I wasn't going to get sub-40. The good news is that my training seems to be going well. I honestly think if today were calm I'd have clicked off some pretty easy sub-4:00 k's in the beginning and made it at least very close.