Runner that is....So last night I was hit with the news that my training partner, Paul, has decided that he can't make the morning commitments to be a running partner. That's a big blow to the training plan, because a large majority of the reason I'm up and out there is because I made that commitment to be there. Sure there have been a couple of setbacks here and there, but in large, we were a good team and making significant strides. So, at least until '09, these morning runs are going to have to be done SOLO. I still have the running group 3-4 times per week, it was those extra two days that really helped to the trick. I do understand his reasoning. He and his wife just had a new baby, and these first few weeks of sleepless nights have really been pretty tough to adjust to. He's said his wife ends up sleeping on the couch to be closer to the baby when it's time to take action. This is similar to the situation I had, only mine wasn't a newborn, it was being a small business owner of a small coffee house, and having to deal with the day to day issues of what seemed like 13 newborns. That was the main driving factor to why I was never making any progress in running goals, and my times progressively got slower and slower.
But, I need to keep to the task at hand, and keep making strides forward, even if it's in the O Dark early hours of the morning. Today I set out on the standard Friday run of 5.6 miles. Nothing real significant to report there. The time by myself allowed me to totally restructure my training plan to the next level. I'm constantly figuring out ways to juggle the schedule around and get in quality miles. I'm coming up on that next phase where I need to intorduce that mid week long run into the plan. So, starting the first Wednesday in December, I'm going to up my hour long run to 1:30. That not only will get in some quality miles, it's starts adding to that base to the Sunday Long Runs. I'm hoping that next week I'll hit the big 5-0! Yep...that would be 50 miles in a Single week. That's a big challenge, but I'm extrememly confident my legs can handle it. Here's a preview of what's on tap:
Monday - Rest
Tuesday - 5miles
Wednesday - 7 Miles
Thursday - 7 Miles
Friday - 5 Miles
Saturday - 8 Miles
Sunday - 16 MIles
Very doable, if you ask me. And nothing too taxing. The 7 mile says are right at an hour. The 5 mile days are around 45 minutes. Sturdays a mile repeate speed workout and then Sunday is the long run. I may even bust out more miles since it's Thanksgiving week, and I have 2 days off from work. We'll just have to play it by ear and run by feel.
Well, until tomorrow.....LIVESTRONG and Trian Hard....
P.S. GO CARDINALS! SHOCK THE WORLD ON SUNDAY!
Friday, November 21, 2008
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Back with the group at O'Dark early....
Winter time is really a hard time to muster up the gumption to get out of bed and go running. Here in Tucson, we at least have that advantage where the temperatures aren't too extreme like they could be say in the North East. Most mornings it's cold, but not to the point where adding an extra layer wouldn't get you by. Today was one of those days. Low 50s, just a nice morning for running. The hardest part was that it's just so darned dark out there. So dark, to the point, that you can't see much in front of you. Thank goodness for headlights! Those little LED lights you wear around your head...you know the ones....they make you look like your a coal miner....or going spelunking. Okay....I jsut wanted to say spelunking...
So, I finally got back with the group today. Officially over that head crud that I had, only having minor gunkage coming out. The only problem with the cold is that my nose runs like a freakin fire hydrant when it gets cold. Which is a really nice site as I'm blsting snot rockets out in between sets. It's okay....Most of the group is doing the same thing...we just try and get out of range of one another. It's a good thing to keep your runny snot to yourself. Not the gift that keeps on giving. So, you can just imagine the sounds of heavy breathing between each of the 12 400m repeats. I swear, the people that live in those houses along that path.....I just wonder what goes through their minds when you hear 12 people out there clearing their sinuses. All at different times, because we have little packs that end up running together. What a site we are. This is also going to be a staple Thursday run for a while. My target pace is 1:45 for the quarters. The goal is to keep them even, and that seems to be my problem. Well, not that they're even, but that I think I'm running them too fast for my target marathon training. The last thing I want to do is get to marathon day and go out too fast and ruin what's been a great training segment. Or mayby I'm jsut underestimating my talent level. Either way, I managed to run all 12 sets between 1:40-1:43. Not a huge disparity. And actually, I'm pretty proud of that fact because I never actually took the full 45 second prescribed rest. Coach Mamma Michele pointed that out to me as well. But, she wasn't either, and I didn't want to tail the group. I wanted to run fairly close to my pack. But, I can honestly say that I'm realy happy with my times.
This week isn't going to be huge action packed mile week. I really need to let my body catch back up after going through what I went through this weekend. I had initially planned 18 miles on Sunday as the next increase from teh 15 mile "tempo" run two weeks ago, but since I didn't get my 16 mile run back in, I'm going to keep it at the 15 the rest of the group will be running. We have it coming up again three weeks from Sunday, so then will probably be an appropriate time to up it to 18. We have some really good tough runs coming up, so I don't feel like pushing that out will be harmful. I'll take the 14 that's scheduled next week and up that to the 16 I was to do last Sunday. Flexibility is the key to any good training plan!
With that, LIVESTRONG and Train HARD!
So, I finally got back with the group today. Officially over that head crud that I had, only having minor gunkage coming out. The only problem with the cold is that my nose runs like a freakin fire hydrant when it gets cold. Which is a really nice site as I'm blsting snot rockets out in between sets. It's okay....Most of the group is doing the same thing...we just try and get out of range of one another. It's a good thing to keep your runny snot to yourself. Not the gift that keeps on giving. So, you can just imagine the sounds of heavy breathing between each of the 12 400m repeats. I swear, the people that live in those houses along that path.....I just wonder what goes through their minds when you hear 12 people out there clearing their sinuses. All at different times, because we have little packs that end up running together. What a site we are. This is also going to be a staple Thursday run for a while. My target pace is 1:45 for the quarters. The goal is to keep them even, and that seems to be my problem. Well, not that they're even, but that I think I'm running them too fast for my target marathon training. The last thing I want to do is get to marathon day and go out too fast and ruin what's been a great training segment. Or mayby I'm jsut underestimating my talent level. Either way, I managed to run all 12 sets between 1:40-1:43. Not a huge disparity. And actually, I'm pretty proud of that fact because I never actually took the full 45 second prescribed rest. Coach Mamma Michele pointed that out to me as well. But, she wasn't either, and I didn't want to tail the group. I wanted to run fairly close to my pack. But, I can honestly say that I'm realy happy with my times.
This week isn't going to be huge action packed mile week. I really need to let my body catch back up after going through what I went through this weekend. I had initially planned 18 miles on Sunday as the next increase from teh 15 mile "tempo" run two weeks ago, but since I didn't get my 16 mile run back in, I'm going to keep it at the 15 the rest of the group will be running. We have it coming up again three weeks from Sunday, so then will probably be an appropriate time to up it to 18. We have some really good tough runs coming up, so I don't feel like pushing that out will be harmful. I'll take the 14 that's scheduled next week and up that to the 16 I was to do last Sunday. Flexibility is the key to any good training plan!
With that, LIVESTRONG and Train HARD!
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
3 days felt like an eternity....
Well, the last time I blogged, I just wasnt' feeling myself on the run. Every step just kept sending back signals to the engine room...i'm given' er all shes GOT captain! Well, Friday afternoon I figured out why....I was on my way to coming down with a nasty cold that ended up knocking me out of my weekend runs and Mondays as well. Thankfully, it really only lasted Saturday and Sunday. I took Monday off because it was my first full night of sleep that I had gotten since Thursday night. I think it didn't last very long mainly because I'm in such good shape right now. I watch what I eat, I take my vitamins, and most of all, I each a fresh fruit soy protein smoothy every night to aide in recovery. I'm sure that played a big part.
Yesterday, I got the chance to not only sleep in, but still get in the workout midday. I was able to work from home since we had the final inspection on our pool that we're building, so it meant that I didn't need to get up at 5am for the group workout. I also didn't want to take the chance of passing on whatever I was just getting through to them, seeing as there are several who are on their last dificult week of marathon training. They don't need to have an awesome training session messed up by me. Besides, I had my target times, I knew what needed to be done. And so I did it. Yesterdays workout literaly seemed as if I had missed a week. Whatever I had, thankfully never got fully entrenched in my lungs. That's normal mode of operations for me. I could tell that it had started to go there, but not comepetely. The workout entailed 1 mile at your Half Marathon pace, 3/4 miles at your 10K pace, 1/2 mile at your 5K pace, and 1/4 mile at your 3K pace. Defeinitiely a tough workout that would gaurantee whatever was in my lungs, would soon be gone. :) The first set, my legs were fresh and felt great, and I definitley ran it faster then the 7:50 targeted pace. In fact, I came in at 7:30, and boy were my lungs burning. After the 2:30 rest period, I knocked oout the 3/4 mile in 5:33, faster then the targeted 5:40. This trend continued for the entire workout. My 800 was in 4 seconds faster, and my 400 which was targeted for 1;45, was done in 1:40. I added in a 1 mile cool down and by the time I got home, I could really feel that I was going to be hacking up a lung. And for the next hour or so....weird things kept coming up at random intervals. I'm glad for that because once they were gone, they were gone!
In the evening, my son Dylan had his first ever track meet. He's in 4th grade, and he was singed up for the 400m and the 4x100 relay. As a spur of themoment, he addedin the 4x200m relay. His first running event's ever. On the 400m relay, he ended up finished 6th with a time of 1:27....DANG!!!! Good job son! Dad was proud with that time, especially considering he lost a couple of sends and places when he lost his shoe about 100m from the finish. After that I laced them up properly so he wouldn't lose them, and his relay team got 3rd in both events!!!! I think I have a little track star on my hands. Even better, I may have a new running buddy!
By the time we got home, we were all dog tired. The entire family went to bed at 8:15. What a bunch of dorks. :) But, It was good for whenmy alarm went off at 4:20 this morning, as I had no problems getting up for the run. I got out of bed, got dressed and headed out the door to meet Paul. he must have had a rough night with the baby, so I ended up doing the 5.6 miles solo this am. It felt so good to get back ou there on that loop. And I can officially say, whatever I had is in the rear view mirror. All of my mile splits were much faster then Fridays, and I feel strong again. I so bad want a makeup of Saturdays run. On the schedule was the Long Loop Lope 5 Mile Time Trial. I know that there was a several minute personal best in there.....but that's just going to have to wait until next time. It's on the schedule for 12/20. I'll just have to make sure that not only I PR it by a couple of minutes.....I need to add in the couple that I would have PR'd it this time!
Until the next run....LIVESTRONG and Train Hard!
Yesterday, I got the chance to not only sleep in, but still get in the workout midday. I was able to work from home since we had the final inspection on our pool that we're building, so it meant that I didn't need to get up at 5am for the group workout. I also didn't want to take the chance of passing on whatever I was just getting through to them, seeing as there are several who are on their last dificult week of marathon training. They don't need to have an awesome training session messed up by me. Besides, I had my target times, I knew what needed to be done. And so I did it. Yesterdays workout literaly seemed as if I had missed a week. Whatever I had, thankfully never got fully entrenched in my lungs. That's normal mode of operations for me. I could tell that it had started to go there, but not comepetely. The workout entailed 1 mile at your Half Marathon pace, 3/4 miles at your 10K pace, 1/2 mile at your 5K pace, and 1/4 mile at your 3K pace. Defeinitiely a tough workout that would gaurantee whatever was in my lungs, would soon be gone. :) The first set, my legs were fresh and felt great, and I definitley ran it faster then the 7:50 targeted pace. In fact, I came in at 7:30, and boy were my lungs burning. After the 2:30 rest period, I knocked oout the 3/4 mile in 5:33, faster then the targeted 5:40. This trend continued for the entire workout. My 800 was in 4 seconds faster, and my 400 which was targeted for 1;45, was done in 1:40. I added in a 1 mile cool down and by the time I got home, I could really feel that I was going to be hacking up a lung. And for the next hour or so....weird things kept coming up at random intervals. I'm glad for that because once they were gone, they were gone!
In the evening, my son Dylan had his first ever track meet. He's in 4th grade, and he was singed up for the 400m and the 4x100 relay. As a spur of themoment, he addedin the 4x200m relay. His first running event's ever. On the 400m relay, he ended up finished 6th with a time of 1:27....DANG!!!! Good job son! Dad was proud with that time, especially considering he lost a couple of sends and places when he lost his shoe about 100m from the finish. After that I laced them up properly so he wouldn't lose them, and his relay team got 3rd in both events!!!! I think I have a little track star on my hands. Even better, I may have a new running buddy!
By the time we got home, we were all dog tired. The entire family went to bed at 8:15. What a bunch of dorks. :) But, It was good for whenmy alarm went off at 4:20 this morning, as I had no problems getting up for the run. I got out of bed, got dressed and headed out the door to meet Paul. he must have had a rough night with the baby, so I ended up doing the 5.6 miles solo this am. It felt so good to get back ou there on that loop. And I can officially say, whatever I had is in the rear view mirror. All of my mile splits were much faster then Fridays, and I feel strong again. I so bad want a makeup of Saturdays run. On the schedule was the Long Loop Lope 5 Mile Time Trial. I know that there was a several minute personal best in there.....but that's just going to have to wait until next time. It's on the schedule for 12/20. I'll just have to make sure that not only I PR it by a couple of minutes.....I need to add in the couple that I would have PR'd it this time!
Until the next run....LIVESTRONG and Train Hard!
Friday, November 14, 2008
Strong in Mind You Must BE......
That's my mantra for today, a quote from the amazing Jedi Master Yoda. Strong in the mind.......It means so many different things. Today it meant you have to will yourself to get out of bed, even though your body is tired and telling you otherwise. Thank goodness I had that guilt factor of a training partner out there going to meet you for that 5am run. I had already screwed up once this week, and missed him on Monday, there was no way I could do that to him on Friday. I made the commitment, I have to mentally stay strong and get out there.
Today my legs just weren't ready for the days run. They felt heavy, and didn't want to go. The rest of my body....Didn't really care either way. I just knew that I set a goal, I MUST do my best to accomplish it. This is hard week #2 out of three. The remainder of the weekend and next week is going to be an absolute mental battle. I don't have a scheduled day off until next Friday. I may swap Wednesday for Friday, just because my legs will have gone 8 days in a row without a break at that point, making them go 10 could just be insanity. And I don't intend on messing up a speed workout session on Tuesday by taking that day off. Those are way too valuable. Anyways.....back to today's run. On the schedule I had just a 5 milers planned. The way I felt this morning, I really didn't want to go 5 feet. But, it was a nice bright morning with the full moon out, pretty much rendered my headlight useless. Not far from home, met up with Paul, and we started our planned run. Those thoughts of cutting it short kept dancing through my head. See how you feel at Safeway. Those inner daemons were playing havoc on me. We finally got to Safeway, and I absolutely didn't feel strong at all. But, I cussed myself out a bit for being a wuss, and that I could make it to the next street turn in. In between those two points, I started doing math in my head. When I started out the door today, I had a little over 18 miles officially in the books. So, to get to 45, it became apparent that I MUST get 5 miles in today. I really had to play those mind games to just keep putting one foot in front of the other. We got to the second shortening point, and I put the strength of my mind to keep on going. Passing that spot, there was no more shortening spot along the route. To get home, you have to get through it, and suck it up soldier! And suck it up I did. We made our final turn into the Sunflower retirement community, and it was the last homestretch to get back on home. In all, I ended up with 5.25 miles. Even better, the average split times were ALL UNDER 9 mins. For how I felt, I didn't think that was possible. I would have sworn we were running a 9:30 pace. Not so much...They were all around 8:40.
So, Jedi Master Yoda, you are correct, "Strong In Mind You Must BE!"
Train Hard and LIVESTRONG!
Today my legs just weren't ready for the days run. They felt heavy, and didn't want to go. The rest of my body....Didn't really care either way. I just knew that I set a goal, I MUST do my best to accomplish it. This is hard week #2 out of three. The remainder of the weekend and next week is going to be an absolute mental battle. I don't have a scheduled day off until next Friday. I may swap Wednesday for Friday, just because my legs will have gone 8 days in a row without a break at that point, making them go 10 could just be insanity. And I don't intend on messing up a speed workout session on Tuesday by taking that day off. Those are way too valuable. Anyways.....back to today's run. On the schedule I had just a 5 milers planned. The way I felt this morning, I really didn't want to go 5 feet. But, it was a nice bright morning with the full moon out, pretty much rendered my headlight useless. Not far from home, met up with Paul, and we started our planned run. Those thoughts of cutting it short kept dancing through my head. See how you feel at Safeway. Those inner daemons were playing havoc on me. We finally got to Safeway, and I absolutely didn't feel strong at all. But, I cussed myself out a bit for being a wuss, and that I could make it to the next street turn in. In between those two points, I started doing math in my head. When I started out the door today, I had a little over 18 miles officially in the books. So, to get to 45, it became apparent that I MUST get 5 miles in today. I really had to play those mind games to just keep putting one foot in front of the other. We got to the second shortening point, and I put the strength of my mind to keep on going. Passing that spot, there was no more shortening spot along the route. To get home, you have to get through it, and suck it up soldier! And suck it up I did. We made our final turn into the Sunflower retirement community, and it was the last homestretch to get back on home. In all, I ended up with 5.25 miles. Even better, the average split times were ALL UNDER 9 mins. For how I felt, I didn't think that was possible. I would have sworn we were running a 9:30 pace. Not so much...They were all around 8:40.
So, Jedi Master Yoda, you are correct, "Strong In Mind You Must BE!"Train Hard and LIVESTRONG!
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Still on Schedule
With today's run of 4.25 miles officially in the books, I can say that things are still on schedule to hit the 45 mile target goal. Hitting this goal will be another huge milestone, that's mostly mental. Mentally, it's hard to comprehend running 45 miles in 6 days of running. It's even harder to imagine that it's something that I've been able to get to in such a short time. When I look back at my training logs that go back to July and August, I really wasn't running a lot of miles. Maybe 15-20 per week. There definitely wasn't much quantity there, but there was quality. I was hitting most of the group workouts, which are for the most part speed sessions. Mentally I wasn't ready to accept long days, and basically would consider a long run 6 miles. Oh what a couple of months can do for your psyche. Now, when I look at my runs, if I'm doing 4 miles, it seems like a day off, and six miles is the norm. In fact, this week, I've taken my 6.5 miles to 7 and those are the strolls through the neighborhood. Weird. I actually enjoy going our for those long runs on Sunday.
So on todays schedule was a group speed session, with the workout being nothing out of the norm. It was 12x400m with a 45 second rest in between. Today's group was actually smaller then usual. Some of the regular faces weren't there, which was weird. Since I didn't go on Tuesday I don't know how people were feeling after Sundays workout. Perhaps there are some tired peepz in the group. I know that I'm tired, but my legs still had a little get up and go in them. I definitely didn't break any land speed records, but I wasn't a slacker either.....Well...except for that first set. I think that one was like 1:48.....We all seemed to be dogging a bit there. But we picked them up from there, and I would say the large majority were all around the 1:41-1:42 range. That's a nice 6:45ish pace per mile, and definiitly faster then what I was running several weeks ago. So, I can definitely say that progress is still being made. The nice thing is, I wasn't destroyed either. I still had some energy left in the tank. To me, that's pretty important. Sure, I probably could have run just a bit harder, but at what expense. To totally kill tomorrws run......Or even the time trial on Saturday. No way. You have to put the whole week in perspective. If you want to achieve your goals, and get theappropriate feedback, you sometimes have to just run consistent. I think that if I would have gone out harder, I probably would have blown up on the last two, and not run them in the fashion that I did. After that first set, once we settled into the pace, everythign was nice and even. So needless to say, I'm really looking forward to Saturday, so that I can see how far I've come. NO WAY NO HOW I'm missing that one!
But, there's still one more day to go before we get there, and I need to get those 5 miles in the books. Until then, train hard and LIVESTRONG!
So on todays schedule was a group speed session, with the workout being nothing out of the norm. It was 12x400m with a 45 second rest in between. Today's group was actually smaller then usual. Some of the regular faces weren't there, which was weird. Since I didn't go on Tuesday I don't know how people were feeling after Sundays workout. Perhaps there are some tired peepz in the group. I know that I'm tired, but my legs still had a little get up and go in them. I definitely didn't break any land speed records, but I wasn't a slacker either.....Well...except for that first set. I think that one was like 1:48.....We all seemed to be dogging a bit there. But we picked them up from there, and I would say the large majority were all around the 1:41-1:42 range. That's a nice 6:45ish pace per mile, and definiitly faster then what I was running several weeks ago. So, I can definitely say that progress is still being made. The nice thing is, I wasn't destroyed either. I still had some energy left in the tank. To me, that's pretty important. Sure, I probably could have run just a bit harder, but at what expense. To totally kill tomorrws run......Or even the time trial on Saturday. No way. You have to put the whole week in perspective. If you want to achieve your goals, and get theappropriate feedback, you sometimes have to just run consistent. I think that if I would have gone out harder, I probably would have blown up on the last two, and not run them in the fashion that I did. After that first set, once we settled into the pace, everythign was nice and even. So needless to say, I'm really looking forward to Saturday, so that I can see how far I've come. NO WAY NO HOW I'm missing that one!
But, there's still one more day to go before we get there, and I need to get those 5 miles in the books. Until then, train hard and LIVESTRONG!
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Monday Night Footbal!!
This week got of to an absolutely crazy start. I totally knew it would, but I didn't want to think I would get caught up in all the excitement of Monday Night Football in Phoenix. Who was I kidding. My first mistake, was not resetting my alarm on Sunday night before. So, when the alarm went off at 5:30, I realized rather quickly that I screwed up and missed the scheduled run with Paul. What was I thinking.....Probably wasn't thinking clearly on Sunday night. That run Sunday AM really took a lot out of me. I went to bed feeling as though I had run a race. Basically, I did. In the on times, I was only 1.1 miles from doing a Half Marathon. So, that threw a MAJOR wrinkle in the training plan because I knew that I wasn't going to be able to make the group workout Tuesday AM. But it made it imperative that I get a run in. More on that to come later.....I need to talk Monday Night Football!!!! If you've read my profile, you know I'm a huge football nut. I'm that fan guy who dresses up, in my case to look like Kid Rock. Well, this was MY night to get crazy in front of the World. Monday Night Football is a HUGE stage. And the team set up everything amazingly! They had American Idol champ, Jordan Sparks singing the national Anthem.
That's her hamming it up for me during the pregame. And then you have the Hank William Jr intro song, 'Are You ready for Some Football'. And to my absolute amazement, I MADE THE CUT! At the very end, there was a clip of me that was taken during the Buffalo game, and even best, it was right at the very end of the song. That's been a dream of mine since god only knows how long to be part of that game intro! That's just plain HUGE to me! My crazy antics with HANK WILLIAM JR! I love it! The only thing better would have been to tape it with him, but I'll take this as one small victory for the KidStallyn! Next I was in the live broadcast on two separate occasions. Once giving the first down signal after a key 3rd down catch in the first quarter, and again around the two minute warning where we were on defense, and I was working my hardest to get the crowd rowdy and was pounding on the stadium padding. And to top it all off, the Cardinals avoided another Monday Night Meltdown and somehow managed to keep San Francisco out of the endzone as time expired with the Niners down by 5 points and having the ball on the 1 yard line. Talk about an exciting end, but man, I was hoping for a blowout!
So, by the time my boys and I got home, it was 12:30. No way I was going to make the run in the AM, but I knew that. But since my kids didn't have school, and my wife also got the day off from teaching, I decided to stay and work from home on Veterans day. I actually managed to get a TON accomplished. And finished up my work around 3:30 pm. From there I went out for a nice run. I was feeling pretty good, so midway I decided mentally I would extend my 6.5 mile run to make it 7 miles. I've got 45 miles scheduled as my goal this week, and since I fubarr'd Monday, I needed to do a little extra credit. And it was a very nice 7 miles...I threw on my music and just went by feel. Sure it wasn't a speed work session, but I wanted quality miles instead. And quality they were. I managed to run each mile split at around an 8:15 pace. At the end, I came in at 57 minutes. HUGE for me. It just shows how far I've come in such a short time. And I absolutely LOVE IT!
Today, I also wanted to run the same course, this time it was at 5am with Paul. Paul enjoyed the extra credit as well. His running was scaled back a bit in the past two weeks since the new baby's arrived, but he's getting back into his normal schedule. And since the turnaround time was really like 14 hours instead of 24, I decided I didn't want to run real aggressive. But, I also didn't want to slack it. So the middle ground was that we ran it and finished right at 1 hour. Absolutely perfect in my opinion. I haven't gotten a chance to look at the splits, I was in a hurry this am to get into work since I had to participate in a 7am teleconference that's taking place in Europe.
With that....I need to figure out how to dial internationally so that I can be a part of this meeting rather then watching them type.
That's her hamming it up for me during the pregame. And then you have the Hank William Jr intro song, 'Are You ready for Some Football'. And to my absolute amazement, I MADE THE CUT! At the very end, there was a clip of me that was taken during the Buffalo game, and even best, it was right at the very end of the song. That's been a dream of mine since god only knows how long to be part of that game intro! That's just plain HUGE to me! My crazy antics with HANK WILLIAM JR! I love it! The only thing better would have been to tape it with him, but I'll take this as one small victory for the KidStallyn! Next I was in the live broadcast on two separate occasions. Once giving the first down signal after a key 3rd down catch in the first quarter, and again around the two minute warning where we were on defense, and I was working my hardest to get the crowd rowdy and was pounding on the stadium padding. And to top it all off, the Cardinals avoided another Monday Night Meltdown and somehow managed to keep San Francisco out of the endzone as time expired with the Niners down by 5 points and having the ball on the 1 yard line. Talk about an exciting end, but man, I was hoping for a blowout!So, by the time my boys and I got home, it was 12:30. No way I was going to make the run in the AM, but I knew that. But since my kids didn't have school, and my wife also got the day off from teaching, I decided to stay and work from home on Veterans day. I actually managed to get a TON accomplished. And finished up my work around 3:30 pm. From there I went out for a nice run. I was feeling pretty good, so midway I decided mentally I would extend my 6.5 mile run to make it 7 miles. I've got 45 miles scheduled as my goal this week, and since I fubarr'd Monday, I needed to do a little extra credit. And it was a very nice 7 miles...I threw on my music and just went by feel. Sure it wasn't a speed work session, but I wanted quality miles instead. And quality they were. I managed to run each mile split at around an 8:15 pace. At the end, I came in at 57 minutes. HUGE for me. It just shows how far I've come in such a short time. And I absolutely LOVE IT!
Today, I also wanted to run the same course, this time it was at 5am with Paul. Paul enjoyed the extra credit as well. His running was scaled back a bit in the past two weeks since the new baby's arrived, but he's getting back into his normal schedule. And since the turnaround time was really like 14 hours instead of 24, I decided I didn't want to run real aggressive. But, I also didn't want to slack it. So the middle ground was that we ran it and finished right at 1 hour. Absolutely perfect in my opinion. I haven't gotten a chance to look at the splits, I was in a hurry this am to get into work since I had to participate in a 7am teleconference that's taking place in Europe.
With that....I need to figure out how to dial internationally so that I can be a part of this meeting rather then watching them type.
Monday, November 10, 2008
A weekend of Major Accomplishments
When I last left you, I had completed just over 21 miles and taken a much needed Friday off. But the weekend is ALWAYS jam packed with mega miles, and the Sunday run was going to be a major test of endurance.
Saturday started off with 40mins of alternating reps of 5 mins 10K pace and 5 mins HM pace. It was a group workout and I didn't want to go out there and really hammer the course. I had to leave something in the tank for Sundays run. The only real marker I have to go by, is where would I be at the 5 mile point. Typically, I run that course in somewhere around 40ish or just a few seconds under. But over the past few weeks, Paul and I have really made great strides on our weekday workouts. I did manage to keep my paces under 8 mins per mile on each segement. On the 10K sets, I ran a nice 7:15 pace. On the off sets, I ran a nice 7:45 pace. POIFECT. The nice thing was that I crossed the 5 mile point in 38 mins. CHECK! Goal accomplished there. HUGE goal accomplished there. And by the time I finished the workout, I was quite a ways down silverbell. That's a really nice feeling. Butch, wast too far ahead of me, maybe 30 seconds overall. That's a huge accomplishment considering I'm used to him being minutes ahead of me on the finish of a workout like that. I jogged past the half mile mark and started my 5 x 1 min intervals back to the starting point. These I was able to run at a very brisk 6:45 pace. Not too shabby after pumpin out a pretty tough tempo workout. In all, I was able to log 6.6 miles. That's exactly where I wanted to be going into Sundays run of 15 miles.
Sunday's run wasn't the normal 15 mile jog through the park. It was going to be the first real endurance test to really see what my projected marathon pace is going to be. Can I hold that 8 minute mile pace during a run like this.....ON TIRED LEGS. Remember, last week, I cut back to 36 miles to allow for recovery. This week was back to 41, and if I complete it, it will be a hair short of 43. The 15 miles consisted of 2 miles of warmup, 4 miles at marathon pace, 2 miles recovery, 4 miles at marathon pace, and a 3 mile recivery back to the start. That's right, 8 miles of this run were at your targeted marathon pace. We had a group that are about 3 weeks out from thier goal race, doing the same workout, but doing 23 miles. They started at 5:30, and we started at 6. Two of the UBER fast runners came through the first 5 miles at roughly 6ish, so 30 mins and averaging a 6 minute pace. NICE! But, for me I needed the group aspect of this run, and I did the taboo thing....I had my iPhone jammin musinc in one ear. I was using the playlist that I used for the NYC marathon. And boy did that come through for me. Mamma Michele led me out at the start, she set the opening warmup pace at 8:25s for the first two miles. At the time I thought that was a little fast, but it felt really good so I didn't question it and just hung on. when we hit the 2 mile point, that was where I had to get it on. I jumped up to speed and left Michele to do her own thing. I think she was only doing 10 miles yesterday, as she's not training for any upcoming races. I immediately settled into a 7:45 pace, fromthere I eased it back after the fisrt couple of miles and held right on my target of 8ish. I had the alarm set on my garmin to keep it between 7:45 and 8:15 with a butter zone of 8 minutes. And I kept it very nicely at 7:55. When we got tot he end ofthe first 4 mile segment, I was under 32 minutes, and felt very accomplished. Butch finished maybe 10 seconds ahead of me, which was much closer then I had expected. I then started the 2 mile recovery jog in between. That's where it got interesting. Butch took his much sloer then i did. I never once got over a 9:10 pace. Managed to keep that right around 9:05. It allowed me to get my breath back, and start mentally preparing for the next set. I didn't want to slow down so much that I lost my rythem. When I started the next 4 mile set, I knew it was going to be tough to get back going. My legs already had 8 miles on them but I managed to puch through that zone and get right back up to speed. Granted, I was a little bit slower, but I still managed to end up that 4m ile set spot on in 32 minutes, a whopping 20 seconds slower then the first set. To me, over 4 miles, that's in the noise. I'm not going to lie, it was dificult, but mentally, I just kept telling myself to stay focused. and keep turning the legs over, and take them one mile at a time. And to be honest, towards the end, I started feeling stronger and stronger. But boy was I happy to see that 2 mile marker on the road that signified the point at which my 4 mile segment was OVER. From there, there was the 3 mile jog back to the start of our famous 5 mile loop. Strangely, that was the hardest spot for me. By the time I got tot the last mile, I was pretty wiped out. I took a quik look to see where everyone was, and I saw a couple of our marathon trainers and Butch coming up. I slowed and did some backwards strides and started the jog back with them. They were just about complete, and ready to finish as much as I was, but it was the motivation i needed to get through it. They kept a nice brisk pace, and with about half a mile to go, pulled away to get some striders in. I picked up my own pace, but it was no match for their striders. These guys are in a different class then me right now, but it's the place where I want to be. When my watched beeped for the end of the 15 miles, I couldn't believe my time. 2 hours 8 minutes and 16 seconds. I actually had to do a double take. That's a full 2 and half minutes FASTER then what I ran 14 miles in last Sunday. Honestly, that's AMAZING! I didn't think that I could do that.....and shockingly.....I DID IT!
So, next weekend will be a true test of speed, as Saturday is a Long Loop Lope Time Trial on that 5 mile course, and Sunday will be an easy 16 mile run. Two weeks will be the ultimate though....I'm extending what I did on sunday, to 18 miles! Look out world, here I come!
Until then, Train hard, and LIVESTRONG!
Saturday started off with 40mins of alternating reps of 5 mins 10K pace and 5 mins HM pace. It was a group workout and I didn't want to go out there and really hammer the course. I had to leave something in the tank for Sundays run. The only real marker I have to go by, is where would I be at the 5 mile point. Typically, I run that course in somewhere around 40ish or just a few seconds under. But over the past few weeks, Paul and I have really made great strides on our weekday workouts. I did manage to keep my paces under 8 mins per mile on each segement. On the 10K sets, I ran a nice 7:15 pace. On the off sets, I ran a nice 7:45 pace. POIFECT. The nice thing was that I crossed the 5 mile point in 38 mins. CHECK! Goal accomplished there. HUGE goal accomplished there. And by the time I finished the workout, I was quite a ways down silverbell. That's a really nice feeling. Butch, wast too far ahead of me, maybe 30 seconds overall. That's a huge accomplishment considering I'm used to him being minutes ahead of me on the finish of a workout like that. I jogged past the half mile mark and started my 5 x 1 min intervals back to the starting point. These I was able to run at a very brisk 6:45 pace. Not too shabby after pumpin out a pretty tough tempo workout. In all, I was able to log 6.6 miles. That's exactly where I wanted to be going into Sundays run of 15 miles.
Sunday's run wasn't the normal 15 mile jog through the park. It was going to be the first real endurance test to really see what my projected marathon pace is going to be. Can I hold that 8 minute mile pace during a run like this.....ON TIRED LEGS. Remember, last week, I cut back to 36 miles to allow for recovery. This week was back to 41, and if I complete it, it will be a hair short of 43. The 15 miles consisted of 2 miles of warmup, 4 miles at marathon pace, 2 miles recovery, 4 miles at marathon pace, and a 3 mile recivery back to the start. That's right, 8 miles of this run were at your targeted marathon pace. We had a group that are about 3 weeks out from thier goal race, doing the same workout, but doing 23 miles. They started at 5:30, and we started at 6. Two of the UBER fast runners came through the first 5 miles at roughly 6ish, so 30 mins and averaging a 6 minute pace. NICE! But, for me I needed the group aspect of this run, and I did the taboo thing....I had my iPhone jammin musinc in one ear. I was using the playlist that I used for the NYC marathon. And boy did that come through for me. Mamma Michele led me out at the start, she set the opening warmup pace at 8:25s for the first two miles. At the time I thought that was a little fast, but it felt really good so I didn't question it and just hung on. when we hit the 2 mile point, that was where I had to get it on. I jumped up to speed and left Michele to do her own thing. I think she was only doing 10 miles yesterday, as she's not training for any upcoming races. I immediately settled into a 7:45 pace, fromthere I eased it back after the fisrt couple of miles and held right on my target of 8ish. I had the alarm set on my garmin to keep it between 7:45 and 8:15 with a butter zone of 8 minutes. And I kept it very nicely at 7:55. When we got tot he end ofthe first 4 mile segment, I was under 32 minutes, and felt very accomplished. Butch finished maybe 10 seconds ahead of me, which was much closer then I had expected. I then started the 2 mile recovery jog in between. That's where it got interesting. Butch took his much sloer then i did. I never once got over a 9:10 pace. Managed to keep that right around 9:05. It allowed me to get my breath back, and start mentally preparing for the next set. I didn't want to slow down so much that I lost my rythem. When I started the next 4 mile set, I knew it was going to be tough to get back going. My legs already had 8 miles on them but I managed to puch through that zone and get right back up to speed. Granted, I was a little bit slower, but I still managed to end up that 4m ile set spot on in 32 minutes, a whopping 20 seconds slower then the first set. To me, over 4 miles, that's in the noise. I'm not going to lie, it was dificult, but mentally, I just kept telling myself to stay focused. and keep turning the legs over, and take them one mile at a time. And to be honest, towards the end, I started feeling stronger and stronger. But boy was I happy to see that 2 mile marker on the road that signified the point at which my 4 mile segment was OVER. From there, there was the 3 mile jog back to the start of our famous 5 mile loop. Strangely, that was the hardest spot for me. By the time I got tot the last mile, I was pretty wiped out. I took a quik look to see where everyone was, and I saw a couple of our marathon trainers and Butch coming up. I slowed and did some backwards strides and started the jog back with them. They were just about complete, and ready to finish as much as I was, but it was the motivation i needed to get through it. They kept a nice brisk pace, and with about half a mile to go, pulled away to get some striders in. I picked up my own pace, but it was no match for their striders. These guys are in a different class then me right now, but it's the place where I want to be. When my watched beeped for the end of the 15 miles, I couldn't believe my time. 2 hours 8 minutes and 16 seconds. I actually had to do a double take. That's a full 2 and half minutes FASTER then what I ran 14 miles in last Sunday. Honestly, that's AMAZING! I didn't think that I could do that.....and shockingly.....I DID IT!
So, next weekend will be a true test of speed, as Saturday is a Long Loop Lope Time Trial on that 5 mile course, and Sunday will be an easy 16 mile run. Two weeks will be the ultimate though....I'm extending what I did on sunday, to 18 miles! Look out world, here I come!
Until then, Train hard, and LIVESTRONG!
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