Thie miles keep on building....and building....and YIKES.....BUILDING!

So here we are week #3 of the marathon training plan. My first two weeks came and went, and I will say this, actually kinda surprised myself. After last week, I left off with my 12 miler adventure on Thursday. After a much needed Friday off, I toe'd the line on Saturday morning for 15x300m hill repeats. The goal was to run each one in 1:20. Not blazing fast, but a really good pace. There was a group of 5 of us at that pace, and we all stayed together each and every set, and we hit our marks spot on. Well.....except for the last one....where the two little rabbits took off, and I found myself staying with them....that one came in at a 1:16. Not my fastest split ever, but one to be remembered. I will admit, after that workout I was pretty tired. I'm finding my mind looking for that reason not to run. It's that mental fatigue that I need to overcome, and GET THROUGH WEEK #3. The YIKES week. But before I could get to YIKES, I need to get through Sunday's 16 miler. In every marathon training sequence I've never hit 16 miles this early. That's always at least 2 months into the cycle. Also, I've never worked mini bouts of speed work into them, like i am now. The 16 miler included 4 miles at marathon pace. Very similar to last week where we did the last 5 miles at marathon pace. This week, though, they started at miles 9.25 and went through 13.25. So, realistically, I should have been able to knock them out easier then last weeks. Oh how wrong was I .....Actually, the first two miles went very well. 8:05 and 8:06. Mile 3.....that's where we turned into the wind and that little blast of air (which I liked from the cool down perspective), zapped all my energy out....I slowed to an 8:32......Mile 4 was even worse as I argued with myself to keep chugging along. I finished that one in 8:54. That's not acceptable. Honestly I think it's a combination of miles, and the heat and humidity that's starting to build. Although we started at 5am....It's starting to be much warmer. And it's going to ZAP the energy right out of us. Not to mention, the first 9.5 miles weren't the flattest....They were ridiculous hilly. The slowdown hit everyone, and we all came back with the same tales of breakdown in the last couple Marathon Pace miles. And when i got home, I confirmed my bonkage by getting on the scale and having lost 8.5 pounds during the run.....That's AFTER drinking 64 ounces of fluid!

Needless to say...Monday AMs alarm came while i was in a dead sleep. I managed to crawl out of bed and make my 3.5 mile run. Not sure how...But I did it. I even got in a 1.5 mile walk in the evening with the wife and kids. Which leads me to todays workout....a 6 mile tempo run in which I had target times of 7:57/mile. I will say this....My LEGS WERE TIRED! BIG TIME! As we toed the line, I through out my target times and ran by feel. Actually....I didn't remember my target times, becasue i forgot to look at them before i left.... LOL... Anyways, I took off at what felt like a nice easy pace that I could hold for the whole workout....Mile 1: 7:39.....WHAT??!!?? Mile 2: 7:39.......Okay.....Mile 3: 7:38......Huh....Mile 4, which is my mental mile on this 5 mile course.....7:44.......Not a huge slowdown.....Mile 5 (i think) 7:42......Finally, Mile 6: 7:40.....I got back in the groove a bit. Everyone at the finish (of the marathon group) seemed a little down about not making thier target times. Although, Rhonda was very close. Since I knew mine was 7:xx....I was very OKAY....and I thought they were around 7:40-7:45ish. To my surprise they were the 7:57 I listed above. We'll mail those to coach mamma michele and see if I get yelled at, or adjusted from here on out...

Until then.....TRAIN HARD and LIVESTRONG!

Small Victories Come with Consequences....

So.....After my last few days of screweduppedness....yes....that's a word dammit....I finally conquered the wake up daemons that have been plaguing me this first week and a half of training. today, I woke up an rolled out of bed at roughly 4:30 am.....The dog was ready for his morning treat and trip outside.....and I was just happy that I wasn't going to be late. Last night I took some time to get my watch setup for the 60 minute tempo workout. We had a nice group of people show up this AM, and both marathoners and non marathoners took off at the same time. The non marathoners were doing a 40 minute version of our workout, but at a faster pace. We were supposed to run at 90% of our marathon pace, but that's where I made mistako numero uno!

My goal pace was supposed to be an 8:55/mile for this workout.....But as we took off with the group, I went out on what felt comfortable. And by comfortable, I mean conversational pace. There was a pack of 4 of us that pretty much ran the whole workout together, the only problem was that the pace was just a wee bit faster then I should have been running......In fact.....we pretty much ran an 8 min/mile pace for the entire workout. At the 5 mile point the 40 minute tempo twosome bailed off to the side.....and I continued on....my eyes squarely focused on the runner in front of me. Now...She had a good 25 seconds on me, but I didn't want to let her increase that I just wanted to stay nice and even.....and as I clicked off the miles, I kept hitting right at an 8min/mile pace.

In all.....I covered 7.6 miles in that 60 mins. And things were going well, until Mamma Michele asked me what my pace was..... ;) Well....I've never been one to lie, and I knew it wasn't going to be pretty, and she lived up to the hype....She let me have it. I know she's right, but I also know that what she predicts my goal time to be, is based off of times that are a totally different me. That's the me that ran at close to 200 pounds.....That's not the me that is currently running at 183, and just came off a 3 pound weight loss week. So, I should be faster for crying out loud. We both made concessions and I'm going to dial it back a bit for the rest of the month.....and at the end of the month she can go through all my splits and times from the June workouts and we'll make the adjustments for July. So I'll run my thang, and just keep loggin' the miles.

Up for Thursday is 12 miles with 5x800m stuck in the middle. Until then, TRAIN HARD and LIVESTRONG!!!

The long weekend.....

And I don't mean rest......well, except for Friday...... Saturday started out on the wrong foot. For whatever reason on Friday night, I somehow forgot to plug in my phone when I went to bed, and that started the subsequent cascade of dominoes, that I have yet to fully recover from. LOL.... Anyways, since my phone is my alarm clock, and it wasn't plugged in, the battery died sometime in the night. You know that feeling when you wake up that something isn't quite right.....and then as you come to it kicks in, and you jump into OMG FREAKOUT mode....well, that was me Saturday morning. The session started at 5:30, and I literally woke up at 5:20.....to the sound of chirping birds and fresh off some weird dream that involved pole dancing.....and I was the one doing the dancing.....HA....you can deal with that mental image.....LOL

Anyways, in my rush to get out, I got changed, threw on my shoes, grabbed my Garmin....and headed out the door....From that point on, the dog got t'd off at me, and ended up keeping my wife up....so, straight to the dog house for that one...It's okay....it's comfy out there, and comes fully furnished with a pool and gazebo.

I managed to get to the start line on time, but still half asleep. I told myself, that this 5 mile time trial was important, but since i didn't warm up properly, that I would hold back for the first couple of miles. So, I know I wouldn't be breaking any land speed records, or personal bests. Just get in under 40, and enjoy that it was over. When I crossed the finish line in 37:24, I was VERY pleased with my time. That was by far the most consistent take at the course in a very long time. Didn't bonk, and felt great afterwords. Afterwords, the group went off and did the 2 mile cool down....this is where it gets a little sketchy. Since my morning routine was totally screwed up....so was my mornign movement....you runners know what I'm talking about, and about a half mile from the end of the cool down I started getting that clenching feeling.... ;) I was able to hold it back without having to divert into the desert...NOTE TO SELF.....PLUG IN YOUR PHONE THE NIGHT BEFORE.

Which I successfully did Saturday night. Sundays run was 15 miles, with the last 5 miles at marathon pace. Unfortunately for me, I made the "assumption" that the workout started at 5:30.....Well.....You know what happens when you assume.....it means I showed up 30 mins late....Which sucked, because I was really hoping to run with the group. Anyways, I started out, (at this point I didn't realize they had started at 5:30) so instead of taking it easy, I took off at an 8:30 pace to hopefully do a little catch up. but, since they had a 30 min head start, all I was doing was pulling further away....No biggee though....I made it through the first loop, and decided that I should tone it closer to my target splits for lap number 2. On lap number two, I got passed by Todd and Dave while they were busy hammering their 3rd lap at marathon pace. When I finished lap #2, I stopped at my truck for a quick Power Aide break, and then started the last 5 miles. I started off at an aggressive 8 min/mile pace. That actually quickened on the second mile to 7:55. Mile three was still at 8min/mile, and I made the decision to get some water, so I pulled back the throttle a bit and drank from my fuel belt. At the end of that mile, I had increased my speed back to an 8:40 pace, and with 1 to go, I stepped on the throttle a bit. My legs were screaming not to, but that's about the point where the Rocky songs kicked in on the iPod. Burning Heart, Hearts on Fire, and Eye of the tiger got me to the finish in 8:26 for the 15th mile. In all, my run was MUCH faster pace wise then last weeks 14 miler. That one worked out to be about 8:55/mile in the end, this one was a) only 4 minutes slower then last weeks, but one extra mile, and b) an overall 8:25 pace! talk about GIT ER DONE! I took that one home, and shoved that baby in the BANK!

In all, it was a great ending to what looked like a daunting week. In total, I got 52 miles, and I was still able to get out for my 3.5 miler this AM. I'll definitely take that, and LOOK forwards to this weeks challenges. First goal of the week.....Proper alarm clock setting......Second Goal.....Proper Start Time.......Third Goal.......Proper start location....All the rest is cream cheese!

Until tomorrow, TRAIN HARD and LIVESTRONG!!!

10 more miles in the books!

On today's plan, the first mid week long run of the marathon training schedule. It's was to be a 10 miler with 5x800m somewhere in the middle. So, just to be fair....I realized how crazy I actually am when I went to set my alarm at 3:30 in the am so that I can get through the morning routine and out the door by 4:30. It was designated as a group run, so what I needed to do was get some miles in before, meet the group at 5.....and then finish up with a group run.

So I actually woke up (put up a Face Book note for proof at 3:50am), and got out the door by 4:20.....a full 10 mins before I had hoped to. That was great because by 5am I was able to get in 3.5 miles before we all toe'd the line for the 800s. My target times for the 800s, 4:12 per set or a 8:24/mile. Well......Needless to say I didn't hit any one of them.....Actually, I ran every one of them at 3:50. And to be honest, it seemed SLOOOOOOOOOOOOW! I'm realyl thinking that Michele and I are going to have to sit down after the first month of training and re-evaluate my goals. I was wanting to shoot for 3:30....Mamma Michele thinks 3:40....That's just going to be a wait and see.

Once we got through the 800s, I ran the final 3.5 miles partially with a training partner. And there too.....MUCH faster then prescribed. But, that's not necessarily a bad thing. So, needless to say I'm DAMN excited to know that the most daunting workout on the first week schedule wasn't actually so bad. That's such a mental victory, I can't even explain. Knowing that I CAN get that 10 miles with the 800s in, and actually get home by 6am, so I can get into work on TIME!

Also, with that victory comes a much earned DAY OFF tomorrow. At the onset I'm going to take Friday's off, and get my legs ready for a TOUGH weekend. Saturday is scheduled for a 5 mile Tempo Run. Sunday....15 miles with the last 5 miles at Marathon Pace.

So....Until then.........Train Hard and LIVESTRONG!

Group Workout #2 - Glitch Recovery

So talk about a little bit of a workout hiccup....I'm going to have to through in a little Top Gun quote here...."Good Recovery Mav!".....Because today started out just plain weird. For the first group workout of the 18 week marathon training schedule, seems there was a bit of a mixup on the spreadsheet, and I apparently didn't get the memo. Anyways, I actually showed up about 10 mins early, and to my surprise there was a parking lot full of cars. I wasn't sure who had fully signed up for the marathon training program, but this is a pretty sizable group! To be exact there are 17 of us making the plunge into the marathon training plan ravine. So there's going to be a lot of support along the way. So, imagine my surprise showing up 10 mins early seeing all the car of my fellow runners.......but an empty starting location......eeerie! Where were they....I saw two runners coming up that looked to be finishing their warm up, but they went into the parking lot and disappeared. And with the weird cloud cover, I thought for sure I was in the twilight zone.

SO I started to jog the loop we were supposed to run backwards when all of a sudden, here comes the group....full steam ahead. Apparently the start was a half mile from where I was.....although, not on the sked. No biggie....I got my watch started, and took off with them. What I ended up doing was going past the 2 mile finish mark by a quarter mile, and turn around so that I could at least finish and start the next set in the correct spot. Also......Apparently I didn't get the email that gave us target times. Mamma Michele sent out a spreadsheet that gave everyone their goal workout times. Since I didn't get that, I actually pushed todays workout a tad bit too hard. I was supposed to be paired with another runner, who, not only did I catch.....I passed and finished ahead of. Anyways, to make a long story short....I now have my target times to work with! WHEW. So here's what my splits are....and here's what my target times were supposed to be on the 3x2mile workout.

Set 1:
Target - 17 mins (8:30/mile)
Actual - 15:20 (7:40/mile)

Set 2:
Target - 17 mins (8:30/mile)
Actual - 15:20 (7:40/mile)

Set 3:
Target - 17 mins (8:30/mile)
Actual - 15:28 (7:44/mile)

LOL.....At least I was consistent.......consistently WRONG.....

Anyways, Thursday is going to prove to be a bear. We have a 10 mile stroll though the neighborhood planned with 5x800m in the middle. Lets see if I can hold back and make my 4:12 target times. :)

Until then, Train Hard and LIVESTRONG!

Let the GAMES BEGIN!

Well...We are officially 18 weeks from toeing the line in Long Beach CA for what will hopefully be a successful attempt at a Boston Qualifier. Last wee was kind of a rest week with some shorter speed sessions and a tempo run that we haven't done in a loooooong time. But the weekend was all about sunday sunDAY SUNDAY and the start of my journey. And of course....all good training plans have to be somewhat flexible....and what I mean by that is that if something sums up, you just have to know when to alter things a bit.

And of course, alterations happened Saturday night. On the schedule was a 14 mile run that was being held across town with my running group. Well.....To get there by the 5:30 start time, meant getting up before 4am and leaving the house by 4:45....That's a tough one during the week, let alone on a Sunday. Well...Saturday night we got invited to a pizza party. Well....After a few too many rum laced Eegees Pina Colada drinks, and lord knows how many beers......I happened to look at my watch and it was already 10:30.....After we packed up the kids, and got home, I didn't even roll into bed until almost 11. Now, in my defense, I did fall asleep quickly......as Saturday started with a 6 mile run with the group at 5:30am....and then I unloaded and spread about 6 tons of rock in my backyard. Needless to say, I was beat....So....I altered my plan, being my alarm clock, and made the decision to run solo Sunday am by 7. I would still do the 14 miles on the schedule. And that was EXACTLY what I did.

As I took off out the door just slightly before 7, I took it nice and easy. My body was kinda sore from Saturday, but my legs definitely wanted to run. My goal for the 14 miles was 2 hours and 6 mins. That's a nice easy 9 min/mile pace. My first mile came in at 9:11 as it almost always does. As my legs started to wake up, I dropped my splits to 9:04 and 9:02......From there, the faster songs on my iPhone started playing and I immediately lowered the pace down to 8:45ish. And that's pretty much where I stayed for the remainder of the run. Which meant, I started putting 15 or so seconds into the bank with each mile. At the end of the 14 miles, I clocked in at 2:04 and some change. Almost a full 2 minute quicker than I had expected. So, that made for a nice relaxing dive into the pool for a quick cool down before I started unloading that last ton and a half of rock.

And what's even more amazing....I FELT GREAT throughout the day. I managed to finish up the rock....Wash my poor 'ol truck free from the debris of hauling rock.....That, and I successfully managed to wake up this AM and log 3.5 miles of a recovery run! BAM! That's what I'm talkin' bout.

So, tomorrow is going to be another group workout. On the dockett is 3x2miles. Let's git er done! Until then, train hard and LIVESTRONG!

The start is about here!

We officially start the mountain climb of training towards the Long Beach Marathon on Sunday. It's going to be a bitter sweet start....It's been a bit over a year since I last trained for a marathon, and I did that one solo. This will be my first time training with a group.....who all have the same goal. A BQ on Oct 11th! The crazy thing is....I'm actually going to miss a football game to run this marathon! I know....I know....It's crazy....In my almost decade long quest of playing my alter ego on Football Sundays, I have yet to miss a single home game. My streak is in the 90s. Crazy!!!! I've never even missed a home pre-season meaningless game. But, unfortunately, the NFL schedule gods wait for nobody. And they could care less if the Kid has a marathon to run! I'll just make sure my seats are fully occupied by a fully qualified NFL fan, someone that has the same dedication that I do to the sport.

Speaking of NFL football......Tomorrow I'm heading up to the Cardinals training complex in PHX for a film shoot. They are doing some promo spots for TV commercials and in game entertainment, and I was asked to participate as my alter ego! OF COURSE I'm going to make that happen! When have I ever turned down a camera OP! That would be never! Look for those commercials in PHX, TUC, and a Jumbotron at UofP.

And so much for a "rest" week. Mamma Michele gave us the week off in the hopes that we'd sleep in....lol.....So many people (myself included) questioned her "mistake" that she threw together some little diddy workouts to keep us running addicts happy. You know....we have to get our fix in! So, today was 10x300m.....45 second recovery, and no target times. It was a git' 'er done kinda morning. We busted them out and then went on a nice and easy 2 mile cool down run. Those are my kinda workouts. But we all know the real work begins on SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY!!! What's 14 miles amongst friends!

Until then......Train Hard, and LIVESTRONG!!!! If I get any video or pics from the photo shoot tomorrow, I'll be sure to get them here!