So yesterday was called due to work getting in the way. It was a group session run, but my normal 6am telecon got trumped and was replaced with a 5.5 hour version that started at 5:30am. See that's the joy of outsourcing! I manage a team member who's in Bangalore India. Along with that comes a 12.5 hour time difference. So, to make it easier on each of us, we've adjusted our schedules accordingly. I actually don't mind the early meetings. It just mean my day ends sooner....Well.....accept for yesterday, but that's a different story. :) By the time we were done, it was almost midnight for him, so I figure, I had it easy. As I was still able to finish up with my last meeting by 4pm. What's a 10 hour day when you enjoy what your doing? It's all cream cheese.
So, seeing as yesterday got washed out, I was antsy to get out there this morning and really let my legs go. And did they ever! It was the normal meet Paul at 5am Wednesday. We are both really making great strides by running together. As I've said before, having a training partner with similar goals really does a body good. And, it turns out he took yesterday off too. his legs were tired, and he needed a day off. No need in getting injured. That's just bad joo joo. Anyways, we met up at the normal location and headed off on our 5.7 mile course. The first mile was pretty pedestrian as we worked our way into stride. But by the time mile 2 came around, I could tell we were clipping along at a nice pace. We were at that point where you could converse, but just needed to suck air every now and then. A little faster then conversational, but not sprinting by any means. As we ran, the mile alarm beeped, and I hit the lap to try and record mile splits.....About mile 4 I decided to see where we were, and BAM...just as I thought, we ran a 8:40....Then mile 5.....BAM...another 8:40.....consistency, consistency, consistency.....We came around by my house, and I was feeling GREAT....So I made the command decision that I wanted a little extra credit and added an extra mile onto my normal run. And whats funny, was Paul was going to "cut it short", but he too was feeling good, so he did the extra credit as well.
I'm really enjoying my running life right now. My goal of 38.5 miles this week is ABSOLUTELY attainable. I've got 12.2 in the books, and already have Thurs, Friday, and Saturday workouts planned. From there, I will see how many I need on Sunday, and just go out for a nice stroll through the neighborhood. This is when the schedule gets fun! I love the ramping up of the miles. I'm doing everything the body needs. Getting quality hours of sleep in, not running beyond my abilities, and I have a training partner that's a huge part of keeping my focus. This is a BIG week, and hitting my goal will be a HUGE accomplishment. Next week is the planned "rest" week. Basically it's a cut back to about 30 miles. Part of my philosophy is taking strides forward, but taking a step backwards to allow the body to recover. The thing that's crucial about next week. SPEED SPEED SPEED. Sure, I wont run as many miles. But they are going to be at a higher then normal tempo so that the engine room inside your body gets a boost!
So, for all those out there keeping track of this blog: TRAIN HARD, KEEP FOCUSED, and LIVESTRONG!
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
The Trek to 40 Continues!
Some may ask, Trek for 40?? What's that? Well, it's a little thing that I've got going in my pursuit of marathon training. My first hurdle was reaching 30 miles per week. My second hurdle will be achieving 40 miles per week. It's been a long time since I've run 40 miles per week. And when I say a LONG time, I sure do mean it. I'm guessing that it's been at least a year, but unfortunately my Garmin deleted all of those previous workout logs when my watch stopped communicating with the computer and i was forced to upgrade software versions. I'm guessing I had weeks where I hit 40, it's not completely out of the realm of possibility considering I was doing long runs of 18 to 20 miles on Sundays in preparation for NYC. And it was all being done about this time last year. But last year was very different for me. 1) I was about 10 pounds heavier. You don't think that's much, but when you consider all of the pounding your legs take, it's actually quite a bit. 2) I had the iinterfereance of the coffee house. When an employee got stupid, it was usually me that ended up covering their shift for them. And aroudn this time of the year, it seemed to happen frequently. 3) I didn't have a running partner. So, there was a LOT of time to myself to think and think and think.....
All three of these aspects, are 180 degrees from where I was just a year ago. I'm running at 181.6 pounds as of this morning. at a full 10 pounds less then last year, that's about 20 seconds per mile I'm running faster. And since we closed the coffee house, that stress is gone (although not totally complete yet). And finally, I've got a running partner whose goals are very similar to mine. What that means, total dedication to the sport I love!
Last week, my goal was to se out and run 35 miles. And after the first 3 days, I was right on track. I wanted to do it in 6 days of running, but wouldn't you know it, life happened, and I ended up taking 2 days of rest. Not that it's a bad thing, just made the weekend runs a little longer then previously scheduled. But it actually turned out to be a good thing. Because I changed my focus to a my Saturday run, and turned it into a 6 mile tempo run, with a 2.8 mile cool down. I wanted to go out there and run a little bit faster then my HM pace, but not wquite my 10K pace. And the route I chose was a bit more dificult then our Long Loop Lope which is a 5 mile marked very fast and flat course. This route I chose was my normal long run, but I cut it short and cut through a neighborhood after the 6 mile point for the cool down. Miles 1 and two are very fast and pretty flat. I ran those two in 7:25 and 7:27. Miles 3 and four is where the challenge begins. They are steady uphill segments, that took me into Continental reserve. It's not bad that my pace slowed, because it was pretty much expected with the hills the way they were. They were 8:02 and 8:31. As the hill started to turn the other direction, I ran mile 5 in 8:05 for a 39:30 split at the five mile point. I held that pace for mile 6 and actually ran a 7:55 finishing at 47:25, a time that put a HUGE smile on my face. After a couple of minutes to catch my breath I started off on the recovery part of my run the 2.8 miles home. This was the time I used to reflect on the run that was. When I got home, I was tired, but I was beaming with the accomplishment of a great tempo run where I averaged 7:49 for the whole run, basically EXACTLY where I wanted to be. Faster then the 8 min/mile pace of a HM, but slower then the 7:40 pace of a 10K.
So when I woke up Sunday with tired legs, I wasn't surprised one bit. Sunday was all about getting in the miles. It didn't matter how long it took, its a nice easy run to go clear out the junk from yesterdays run. Basically I ran the same course, but instead of cutting through the retirement community, I ran the entire long loop for a 9.5 mile day. I started out very predestrian at a 9:45 pace to warm up the legs, and it wasn't too long before I was at my normal stide. the nice thing was, as I ran along, my pace kept increasing. In fact, I ran a negative split. By mile 5 I was running at an 9:05 pace. Milres 6, 7, 8, and 9 gradually increased until I was running an 8:45 pace. And it was all good! I got home, made my post run omlette and sat back and watched the Cowboys get spanked. Nothing puts a smile on my face like watching the Cowboys lose. I finished the week with 35.5 miles. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!
This week I have a great big target on 38.5 as my goal. I don't like to increase by more then 10% over the previous week. No need to push it and get injured at the beginning of the training when your running so well. So when the alarm went off today, I knew it was a meet paul morning. I had intended to cut the run at 3.5 miles, just for my legs sake, but at the cut point, I was feeling OKAY and ended upt doing the full 5.7. It's kind of a nice feeling, running on tired legs, and accomplishimg more then you mentally had set out to do. The thing about running with Paul is that the time goes by faster then when your by yourself. I still need those day of solitude, but I definitely need the motivation of having to meet someone. If you skip, your letting them down, and they are out there getting stronger while your slacking. Plus, it's nice to see the other runners in your group out there. Every day we run that loop we see Dave and Todd, and somedays in there we'll see Steph joining them. It's good to see them getting ready for California International marathon coming up.
So, with 5.7 on the board this week, we'll keep the trek to 38.5. After that its game on with 40!!
LIVESTRONG, and keep on training HARD!
All three of these aspects, are 180 degrees from where I was just a year ago. I'm running at 181.6 pounds as of this morning. at a full 10 pounds less then last year, that's about 20 seconds per mile I'm running faster. And since we closed the coffee house, that stress is gone (although not totally complete yet). And finally, I've got a running partner whose goals are very similar to mine. What that means, total dedication to the sport I love!
Last week, my goal was to se out and run 35 miles. And after the first 3 days, I was right on track. I wanted to do it in 6 days of running, but wouldn't you know it, life happened, and I ended up taking 2 days of rest. Not that it's a bad thing, just made the weekend runs a little longer then previously scheduled. But it actually turned out to be a good thing. Because I changed my focus to a my Saturday run, and turned it into a 6 mile tempo run, with a 2.8 mile cool down. I wanted to go out there and run a little bit faster then my HM pace, but not wquite my 10K pace. And the route I chose was a bit more dificult then our Long Loop Lope which is a 5 mile marked very fast and flat course. This route I chose was my normal long run, but I cut it short and cut through a neighborhood after the 6 mile point for the cool down. Miles 1 and two are very fast and pretty flat. I ran those two in 7:25 and 7:27. Miles 3 and four is where the challenge begins. They are steady uphill segments, that took me into Continental reserve. It's not bad that my pace slowed, because it was pretty much expected with the hills the way they were. They were 8:02 and 8:31. As the hill started to turn the other direction, I ran mile 5 in 8:05 for a 39:30 split at the five mile point. I held that pace for mile 6 and actually ran a 7:55 finishing at 47:25, a time that put a HUGE smile on my face. After a couple of minutes to catch my breath I started off on the recovery part of my run the 2.8 miles home. This was the time I used to reflect on the run that was. When I got home, I was tired, but I was beaming with the accomplishment of a great tempo run where I averaged 7:49 for the whole run, basically EXACTLY where I wanted to be. Faster then the 8 min/mile pace of a HM, but slower then the 7:40 pace of a 10K.
So when I woke up Sunday with tired legs, I wasn't surprised one bit. Sunday was all about getting in the miles. It didn't matter how long it took, its a nice easy run to go clear out the junk from yesterdays run. Basically I ran the same course, but instead of cutting through the retirement community, I ran the entire long loop for a 9.5 mile day. I started out very predestrian at a 9:45 pace to warm up the legs, and it wasn't too long before I was at my normal stide. the nice thing was, as I ran along, my pace kept increasing. In fact, I ran a negative split. By mile 5 I was running at an 9:05 pace. Milres 6, 7, 8, and 9 gradually increased until I was running an 8:45 pace. And it was all good! I got home, made my post run omlette and sat back and watched the Cowboys get spanked. Nothing puts a smile on my face like watching the Cowboys lose. I finished the week with 35.5 miles. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!
This week I have a great big target on 38.5 as my goal. I don't like to increase by more then 10% over the previous week. No need to push it and get injured at the beginning of the training when your running so well. So when the alarm went off today, I knew it was a meet paul morning. I had intended to cut the run at 3.5 miles, just for my legs sake, but at the cut point, I was feeling OKAY and ended upt doing the full 5.7. It's kind of a nice feeling, running on tired legs, and accomplishimg more then you mentally had set out to do. The thing about running with Paul is that the time goes by faster then when your by yourself. I still need those day of solitude, but I definitely need the motivation of having to meet someone. If you skip, your letting them down, and they are out there getting stronger while your slacking. Plus, it's nice to see the other runners in your group out there. Every day we run that loop we see Dave and Todd, and somedays in there we'll see Steph joining them. It's good to see them getting ready for California International marathon coming up.
So, with 5.7 on the board this week, we'll keep the trek to 38.5. After that its game on with 40!!
LIVESTRONG, and keep on training HARD!
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Taking Victories, One Workout at a TIME!
I think that my time playing, watching and coaching football has really helped me clearly see that you cannot look ahead in order to meet your goals. In football terms, it's focusing on that BIG game 2 weeks from now, and not taking care of business the way you should with the teams your supposed to beat. I'm starting to apply that same philosophy to my speed workouts in the morning, and it has really had an impact on my performance, it a positive way.
Mamma Michele is the master creator of some of the most amazing workouts. Where she comes up with some of these workouts is beyond me. I swear....there has to be some torture book out there. Either that, or she's writing a psych book on getting grown adults to do insane things. I've compared us to Pavlov's dogs. We're out there doing the session....beep beep beep.....slow down.....beep beep beep......speed up.....and so on and so on. We're conditioned to the beep beep beep. And today there was a WHOLE lot of beeping going on.
On the schedule, 20x1 minute with decreasing rest periods (1 min, 45sec, 30sec, 15 sec). Those rotated as we went through the workout. What was funny, I had programmed my Garmin to do the workout. And, it gives you a heads up that the interval is about up....little 5 second beep warning....Threw everyone off thier routine a bit at the start.. hehehe....Like I said, we're conditioned to the beeps. you hear a beep, you either speed up or slow down.
But, those who weren't used to the Garmin got used to it...Or got used to Dave giving the verbal, 5 seconds left, warning. :) The last time I did this workout it was only 16 1 minute sets. This time, being 20, I wasn't totally turned off. I actually like the challenge of building up the number of sets. And after examining the data of Dr. Garmin, my body agreed. I had a great run! Almost all of my sets were in the 7:15 range, and I had several at 6:59. Yep.....Mark that, there's a 6 in that first digit! Hopefully that's a trend that you'll be seeing more of those as the blog goes on. That's the goal: Hammer the hard workouts, and cruise the tweeners all the while building up the miles and doing more with less. That's the important part. The repetition of running for a predetermined amount of time, but because your getting faster, you're mileage increases.
So today, I managed to get in exactly 4 miles during this workout! With the 1.75 miles of warm up and cool down, I got in 5.75 miles. I've set my goal this week at 35 miles. And after 2 days, I'm almost a third of the way there with just over 11 in the books. So now, with Today's in the book, I can officially look forward to tomorrows workout. It's a 5.7 mile meeting with Paul.
Until then, Train Hard and LIVESTRONG!
Mamma Michele is the master creator of some of the most amazing workouts. Where she comes up with some of these workouts is beyond me. I swear....there has to be some torture book out there. Either that, or she's writing a psych book on getting grown adults to do insane things. I've compared us to Pavlov's dogs. We're out there doing the session....beep beep beep.....slow down.....beep beep beep......speed up.....and so on and so on. We're conditioned to the beep beep beep. And today there was a WHOLE lot of beeping going on.
On the schedule, 20x1 minute with decreasing rest periods (1 min, 45sec, 30sec, 15 sec). Those rotated as we went through the workout. What was funny, I had programmed my Garmin to do the workout. And, it gives you a heads up that the interval is about up....little 5 second beep warning....Threw everyone off thier routine a bit at the start.. hehehe....Like I said, we're conditioned to the beeps. you hear a beep, you either speed up or slow down.
But, those who weren't used to the Garmin got used to it...Or got used to Dave giving the verbal, 5 seconds left, warning. :) The last time I did this workout it was only 16 1 minute sets. This time, being 20, I wasn't totally turned off. I actually like the challenge of building up the number of sets. And after examining the data of Dr. Garmin, my body agreed. I had a great run! Almost all of my sets were in the 7:15 range, and I had several at 6:59. Yep.....Mark that, there's a 6 in that first digit! Hopefully that's a trend that you'll be seeing more of those as the blog goes on. That's the goal: Hammer the hard workouts, and cruise the tweeners all the while building up the miles and doing more with less. That's the important part. The repetition of running for a predetermined amount of time, but because your getting faster, you're mileage increases.
So today, I managed to get in exactly 4 miles during this workout! With the 1.75 miles of warm up and cool down, I got in 5.75 miles. I've set my goal this week at 35 miles. And after 2 days, I'm almost a third of the way there with just over 11 in the books. So now, with Today's in the book, I can officially look forward to tomorrows workout. It's a 5.7 mile meeting with Paul.
Until then, Train Hard and LIVESTRONG!
Monday, October 13, 2008
WOW! What a Sunday.....
Talk about an EPIC performance! Sunday was definitely the day of all days. I had a HUGE day planned. Normally, on Sundays, I don't set my alarm for the 4am wake up call. Not in the NORM. But yesterday wasn't normal by any stretch of the imagination. Let's break it down, blow by blow! Saturday ended up getting washed out by a garage sale. The early start of trying to capture those early buyers made me forgo the group workout, that just was moved to 6am for a little bit more light. And to be honest.....I'm glad I didn't go out. for my horrible allergies sake, it would have ended up as a disaster. The winds were howling as a front moved through, and at about 10am, it collided and brought about MUCH cooler weather. So yesterday when I stepped out the door, I encountered my first go at 43 degree running weather. I had a compression shirt, and a long sleeve running shirt, shorts and GLOVES. The wind had really calmed down quite a bit, but it was C-O-L-D and D-A-R-K at 5am. WHAOH! But, you got to git er done. And I started off on my 10 mile stroll through the neighborhood. I took my mormal route down to the running path, up to coyote trail elem, down silverbell to wade, up wade and around the reserve loop, and then finally the BIG loop. And because I had to git 'er done, I couldn't dilly dally around. When I got home, it was a little after 6:30ish....and I did the 10 miles in 1:30. Not bad at all for running my myself, and starting off really slow in the first mile (9:45). But as the sun started to rise and I managed to get on home, I was FREEEZING by the end. It was that cold....But I felt GREAT afterwares. But there was no rest for the weary. After an overly long hot shower....I re-warmed up and managed to wrangle up the kids and get them loaded up in the truck for a long day to Phoenix. WHY??? Because the Arizona Cardinals had a battle with the Dallas Cowboys. And boy, all this running has really helped out with my cheering from the front row seats. As a DIEHARD Cardinals fan, we had a tough job on our hands to drowned out the Cowboys fans that showed up. And my Ton Loc voice today is a great reminder of one of the BIGGEST victories this franchise has EVER seen. And for those who haven't seen it, this is what I saw from my seat in the South Endzone.
And that's how we won the game. For the first time in NFL History, a game in Overtime was won by a team with a blocked punt returned for a TD. How fitting. And the Cardz are 4-2 with a 2 game lead in the NFC West for the first time in team history.
Finally, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention todays BRRRRRRRRRRR of a run. It was again 43 degrees at the start, but today I was a little bit smarter. I did wear the long spandex to cover my whole legs, but I couldn't find my cold weather hat.....well...that was until AFTER I got home.....Peachy, just when I needed it. Anyways, I met with Paul, and we managed to do out 5.7 mile loop. I actually didn't think I would get the whole thing in. I was drained after yesterday, and my legs were tired. But we cranked out a 9 min mile pace and got it done. That's 15 miles in 2 days! My legs ROCK right now. Tonight, I've got a date with my Compex and a protien fruit smoothy! Can't wait!!! And tomorrows workout....20x1 minute! BOO YEAH!
Until tomorrow, my Ton Loc voice bids you farewell!!!!
Finally, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention todays BRRRRRRRRRRR of a run. It was again 43 degrees at the start, but today I was a little bit smarter. I did wear the long spandex to cover my whole legs, but I couldn't find my cold weather hat.....well...that was until AFTER I got home.....Peachy, just when I needed it. Anyways, I met with Paul, and we managed to do out 5.7 mile loop. I actually didn't think I would get the whole thing in. I was drained after yesterday, and my legs were tired. But we cranked out a 9 min mile pace and got it done. That's 15 miles in 2 days! My legs ROCK right now. Tonight, I've got a date with my Compex and a protien fruit smoothy! Can't wait!!! And tomorrows workout....20x1 minute! BOO YEAH!
Until tomorrow, my Ton Loc voice bids you farewell!!!!
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Sluggish, but complete!
The title says it all. Today, my legs were had that traditional dead feeling about them. In latin, it's called Elegusbetiredus. And that they were. Mostly from the above threshold workout from yesterday. Those 16x400m were a killer. And I knew they would be too. So I fully expected todays run, whihc was scheulded as the same as Mondays, to be slower. And that it was. And thank goodness for running partners. Otherwise I wouldn't have been there. Having that guilt hang over your head that you were at home sleeping while your training partner is out there getting stronger is not a good feeling. I'll get that one on him tomorrow, since he has to go into work early and can't make the group session. I'll be grindin out those 800m repeats! All eight of them. Seems crazy that we put our bodies through this motion. But there one thing I can honestly say is, I've never met a runner who hasn't been goal oriented. We're a strange breed. And now that my Coffee Shop nightmare is over, I suddenly have all this extra time that I can dedicate to the sport that I love, and stay trim and fit along the way! That's the greatest part. Getting out there and exercising an hour a day, it means you care about yoursself. That's probably the main reason that you can find yourself blend into a running group so well. It's like minded people that have similar goals and care about themselves.
That was actually one of the many topics we covered in our run today. Surprisingly, we weren't a whole lot slower then Monday. About 15 seconds per mile difference which equated to a little 2 mins overall. Not too shabby considering my legs didn't have the getup and go they had on Monday! And not too bad considering we beat our time from two weeks ago. I can always find the silver lining and make it into a positive. I guess that's my gift. I'm a glass half full kinda guy. There's always an oppertunity in somthing.
And with that, I'll end this post. It's time for a little post run relaxer of Green Tea and some breakfast. Throw in a side dish of my compex on my back, and my morning is SET. If only I could take a little nap.... HA! I wish!
Train Hard and LIVESTRONG!
That was actually one of the many topics we covered in our run today. Surprisingly, we weren't a whole lot slower then Monday. About 15 seconds per mile difference which equated to a little 2 mins overall. Not too shabby considering my legs didn't have the getup and go they had on Monday! And not too bad considering we beat our time from two weeks ago. I can always find the silver lining and make it into a positive. I guess that's my gift. I'm a glass half full kinda guy. There's always an oppertunity in somthing.
And with that, I'll end this post. It's time for a little post run relaxer of Green Tea and some breakfast. Throw in a side dish of my compex on my back, and my morning is SET. If only I could take a little nap.... HA! I wish!
Train Hard and LIVESTRONG!
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
The weather cool off, but the Training RAMPS UP!
The training regimen too another giant ramp up this week. I like to follow the philosophy where you work hard for two weeks, take an easier week to allow for a little recovery, and the start the cycle over. With that, last week was my easier week, so this week, I have to come out of the gate and start getting the miles in. This past Saturday, I scheduled my own workout of a 30 minute tempo so that I could keep the miles low, but still get a feel of where I am. Two weeks before that I ran the same workout with the group of non-racers, and I got in 3.85 miles. Saturday was used as a measuring stick to make sure I'm still making progress. That was difficult, because only 2 of us weren't racing, so my normal group wasn't there to keep pace with. That's the beauty of training with a group. You have someone out there to keep you mentally focused. I have a problem where my mind wanders when I get out there by myself. BUT, as luck would have it, my first two miles were incredibly steady at a pace of 7:34 and 7:37! Talk about consistent. I have no idea what my 3rd mile was because I didn't capture it when the alarm went off, but I'm pretty sure this is where mentally I checked out. I'm thinking it was around the 7:50 or 7:55 range. It's this are where I really need to "focus". Having said that, I did make it almost a full 10th of a mile further then two weeks ago. That's a HUGE mental victory. My first goal is making it to the 4 mile mark. I should have that the next time I run it. Not sure exactly when that will be, as I'm considering running the 10 miler coming up since it's going to be run on a Saturday instead of the usual race Sunday.
I ended up taking Sunday off as a rest day so that I could keep my mileage down, and the fact that I had to head up to Phoenix for the Cardinals game early. This week, I cannot afford to skip. I have to get up and out of bed, and GIT 'ER DONE!! NO EXCUSES. So far, I'm right no track mileage wise. Yesterday was a GREAT run with Paul. We did the 5.7 miles (Paul did 10), and we managed to cut 2 full minutes off our time from two weeks ago. Talking the whole time. that is another marker of your fitness. As the pace of your easy days picks up, that just means your fast days are going to get even faster. That's a great thing. Eventually, instead of going by mileage I'm going to have to start managing by time. Right now, that only took 49 minutes. I'm going to have to increase that to a full hour. But that's for another day.
Today was what I like to call a "Ball Buster"! 16 x 1/4 mile, NO REST, Target times of 1:45 on the out, and 1:55 on the return. This was the first time we've EVER run that workout. And it was everything I thought it was be. But you have to GRIND IT OUT! And, as expected, I only hit my target time twice. Obviously, I'm not happy with that. But I really had no idea what I would to it in. The hardest part of the workout was actually the turn around. You easily lose 2-4 seconds, and it really takes you out of your stride. So, even though I'm unhappy that I didn't make my times, I'm happy that I ground them out. In looking ahead in the schedule, it doesn't look like we're doing that one anytime on this schedule. So it will probably be a while before I get to see progress n that one. No biggie.
And with that, for the remainder of the week, I've got another 5.7 miles tomorrow with Paul, 8x800 on Thursday, and the 2 fer 5K on Saturday. So far, so good, and it looks like I've got a LOT of quality time scheduled with my Compex and Active Recovery massages! LIVESTRONG, train hard, and keep reaching for new heights!
I ended up taking Sunday off as a rest day so that I could keep my mileage down, and the fact that I had to head up to Phoenix for the Cardinals game early. This week, I cannot afford to skip. I have to get up and out of bed, and GIT 'ER DONE!! NO EXCUSES. So far, I'm right no track mileage wise. Yesterday was a GREAT run with Paul. We did the 5.7 miles (Paul did 10), and we managed to cut 2 full minutes off our time from two weeks ago. Talking the whole time. that is another marker of your fitness. As the pace of your easy days picks up, that just means your fast days are going to get even faster. That's a great thing. Eventually, instead of going by mileage I'm going to have to start managing by time. Right now, that only took 49 minutes. I'm going to have to increase that to a full hour. But that's for another day.
Today was what I like to call a "Ball Buster"! 16 x 1/4 mile, NO REST, Target times of 1:45 on the out, and 1:55 on the return. This was the first time we've EVER run that workout. And it was everything I thought it was be. But you have to GRIND IT OUT! And, as expected, I only hit my target time twice. Obviously, I'm not happy with that. But I really had no idea what I would to it in. The hardest part of the workout was actually the turn around. You easily lose 2-4 seconds, and it really takes you out of your stride. So, even though I'm unhappy that I didn't make my times, I'm happy that I ground them out. In looking ahead in the schedule, it doesn't look like we're doing that one anytime on this schedule. So it will probably be a while before I get to see progress n that one. No biggie.
And with that, for the remainder of the week, I've got another 5.7 miles tomorrow with Paul, 8x800 on Thursday, and the 2 fer 5K on Saturday. So far, so good, and it looks like I've got a LOT of quality time scheduled with my Compex and Active Recovery massages! LIVESTRONG, train hard, and keep reaching for new heights!
Monday, September 29, 2008
A weekend of Beautiful Weather and Great Running
So after taking my two scheduled days off, I came into Saturdays' run rested and ready to push out a great workout. Saturday is always a speed workout day, and on tap for this day was a mental crusher of 2 x 5K with a 3 minute rest in between. I hadn't intended to run the second 5K since I had an appointment to get my trucks AC fixed, but I was feeling really great.
My first 5K was incredibly consistent on the out and back course. 7:15, 7:23, and 7:33. Considering the homeward stretch was slightly uphill with a stiff breeze in your face, I'll take that as a consistent run. I couldn't have been happier. I hammered home one of my best 5Ks in well over a year. That's a great place to be at the start of a marathon plan. The second 5K, I had intended to go out to the 1 mile mark and make the turnaround there. Wasn't pushing the pace like before, but I wasn't totally slouching either. The goal pace was supposed to be 30 seconds per mile slower. And when I got out to the 1 mile mark, iI made the command decision to just do the whole darned thing. What's an extra 8 minutes amongst friends. So it was at that point I set out to catch some of my group members that were ahead of me. In all, I ran my final mile at a 7:45 pace, within the 30 seconds. And best of all, I felt great and that's a HUGE mental boost. I have to say, my mental state of running is probably my biggest deamon. It keeps me from waking up in the morning. And it keeps me from doing the FULL workout, because I'm usually somewhat intimidated by the "mileage". Lately my minds been in the mode of saying I'm not prepared for the longer workout. But, with each and every milestone met, that facade gets chipped away.
Which takes me to Sunday. My planned run was only going to be 8 miles. Mentally, that's a really long way. But, after running 7 (after warmup and cooldown) from the day before, it was only 1 extra mile, and it's not anywhere near the pace I had run in Saturday. Sundays are a nice easy, throw on the iPod and lose yourself in the outdoors and music. Which is EXACTLY what happened. I got up a little later then usual, and headed out t he door a bout 8:15. I had one of my genius playlist rolling and I have to say...The are GENIUS. A great set of tunes for a nice easy run. The thing about my Sunday runs, I like to run them a bout 2 mins per mile slower then my speed sessions. I never even looked at my watch, and after the first 5 miles I hit the lap at 45 and some change. Suring these worksouts, I take a few breaks along the way to break up the monotony. So after a quick water break, I got back to pace and busted out the next 2 mile segment. This is where the run got a bit deviated. That 2 mile segment took me a little further out then I had though, I 8 miles wasn't really going to b e 8 miles. It ended up being close to 9.5, but hey....You gotta get home don't ya. But, after that 9.5 miles, I had a GREAT amount of energy left over. I came home, hooked up the compex, and rolled through a nice active recovery cycle of my back and legs and manages to BUST through all the jobs I had intende dto do. Talk about productive. Not only did I have a great weekend of runs, I ended up above my 27 mile goal with 28.6 miles.
And this week has started off even stronger. I fugured my les would be spent today, but I met Paul again, and we wne out for a little Monday AM stroll. Last week on Monday, I did 2 miles of what I like to call cleanup. Today, I wasnted to extend it a bit, but not the full 5 miles we had run on Wednesday. This time I did a modified small loop with the intent of doing 3.5 miles. More then last week, which is the ULTIMATE goal. Build up the miles, lose some weight, and run your marathon like ya stole something!
Hope everyones weekend of runnign was as great. LIVESTRONG and Train HARD!
My first 5K was incredibly consistent on the out and back course. 7:15, 7:23, and 7:33. Considering the homeward stretch was slightly uphill with a stiff breeze in your face, I'll take that as a consistent run. I couldn't have been happier. I hammered home one of my best 5Ks in well over a year. That's a great place to be at the start of a marathon plan. The second 5K, I had intended to go out to the 1 mile mark and make the turnaround there. Wasn't pushing the pace like before, but I wasn't totally slouching either. The goal pace was supposed to be 30 seconds per mile slower. And when I got out to the 1 mile mark, iI made the command decision to just do the whole darned thing. What's an extra 8 minutes amongst friends. So it was at that point I set out to catch some of my group members that were ahead of me. In all, I ran my final mile at a 7:45 pace, within the 30 seconds. And best of all, I felt great and that's a HUGE mental boost. I have to say, my mental state of running is probably my biggest deamon. It keeps me from waking up in the morning. And it keeps me from doing the FULL workout, because I'm usually somewhat intimidated by the "mileage". Lately my minds been in the mode of saying I'm not prepared for the longer workout. But, with each and every milestone met, that facade gets chipped away.
Which takes me to Sunday. My planned run was only going to be 8 miles. Mentally, that's a really long way. But, after running 7 (after warmup and cooldown) from the day before, it was only 1 extra mile, and it's not anywhere near the pace I had run in Saturday. Sundays are a nice easy, throw on the iPod and lose yourself in the outdoors and music. Which is EXACTLY what happened. I got up a little later then usual, and headed out t he door a bout 8:15. I had one of my genius playlist rolling and I have to say...The are GENIUS. A great set of tunes for a nice easy run. The thing about my Sunday runs, I like to run them a bout 2 mins per mile slower then my speed sessions. I never even looked at my watch, and after the first 5 miles I hit the lap at 45 and some change. Suring these worksouts, I take a few breaks along the way to break up the monotony. So after a quick water break, I got back to pace and busted out the next 2 mile segment. This is where the run got a bit deviated. That 2 mile segment took me a little further out then I had though, I 8 miles wasn't really going to b e 8 miles. It ended up being close to 9.5, but hey....You gotta get home don't ya. But, after that 9.5 miles, I had a GREAT amount of energy left over. I came home, hooked up the compex, and rolled through a nice active recovery cycle of my back and legs and manages to BUST through all the jobs I had intende dto do. Talk about productive. Not only did I have a great weekend of runs, I ended up above my 27 mile goal with 28.6 miles.
And this week has started off even stronger. I fugured my les would be spent today, but I met Paul again, and we wne out for a little Monday AM stroll. Last week on Monday, I did 2 miles of what I like to call cleanup. Today, I wasnted to extend it a bit, but not the full 5 miles we had run on Wednesday. This time I did a modified small loop with the intent of doing 3.5 miles. More then last week, which is the ULTIMATE goal. Build up the miles, lose some weight, and run your marathon like ya stole something!
Hope everyones weekend of runnign was as great. LIVESTRONG and Train HARD!
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