Liftoff

AM: 10 miles. I think I was really able to appreciate my new surroundings for the first time at 5AM this morning.

PM: 10 miles at lunch with Quint.

PM: 10 miles at track.

A few factors came together this morning which pointed toward skipping the AM run. I had tons of work, however I made unusually good progress. I'll ponder the connection.

It was cloudy and rained most of the day, so I also figured this would be a good chance to run hard at track. The humidity was still pretty unpleasant, but heavy clouds and light drizzle were way better than we'll get most of the summer.

Workout:

1 X 800 WITH 200 REST, 1 X 1 MILE WITH 200 REST, 1 X 800, FIVE MINUTE REST, REPEAT ENTIRE FIRST SET

Splits:

1. 2:31, 5:04, 2:32
2. 2:27, 5:06, 2:32

I have to consider this a good workout. I was pretty well-rested, and was running hard with no physical impediments.

The effort was high, though - and 4 months ago I did this workout in 1-2 seconds per 400 faster. I could not run sub-5 minute miles today though.

Rationally, I know you have to accept the slower summer times. This is about as fast as I've ever run in June. It is just something to get your head around though - almost like running with a weighted vest on.

Intervals are such an honest assessment of fitness. Running a bunch of miles is great and all, but it would have been nice to see slightly faster splits.

Just recently struck again by how specific training is. Sometimes I get myself through unpleasant slogs by saying- hey, you are probably ready to race faster, or soon will be... after about 5 weeks of base training, I have seen one noticeable adaption show up - simply that I feel less tired at the end of a 20+ mile run at easy/moderate pace.

Which is pretty much exactly what most of my training is like now. I think it's a necessary start, but I have plenty of hard running ahead of me this summer.

AM: 10 miles. Beautiful weather, calm mind, no rushing. I need to do more runs like this. Having the kids out of school definitely helped.

PM: 0. Busy at work.

AM: 12 miles on the bridge, medium pace.

PM: 0, another work through lunch day. Nearly done with the project though. I'm moving a client's health care claims format from old to current version. It is almost as exciting as it sounds.

AM: 10 miles. Was aiming for a 4 mile tempo @ 5:30 pace. Got through 2 miles (5:26, 5:32) when I abruptly stopped, without really thinking about it. At first, I was thinking "Wow, I just chickened out!" But pretty quickly I realized my body knew what it was doing. I was heading fast into the red zone.

There's no reason at the beginning of June to do that. I could handle 5 miles ~5:30 in the winter, but it took several workouts to sharpen into that. The humidity hasn't been bad yet, mostly with dew points around 70 degrees. Every tick after that is significant, and today was up to 74. By July it will settle in around 76 and 77, so I really need to be patient and incremental right now.

On the positive side, after I cooled down I didn't feel beat up. The last two weeks have messed with my rhythm a little. I just need to keep going.

PM: 10 miles at lunch with Quint, and lunch run guest Mike M. Mike, being a lunch run n00b, ran shirtless. It was funny though - within literally a minute of leaving the parking lot, a young lady screamed out her window THANK YOU!!

Quint and I have been running through there for a couple years, and that has never happened.

AM: 5 miles with the girls to a new park, then 6.5 solo.

PM: 3.5 miles with Elise riding her bike.

AM: 24 miles, avg 6:45. Last 4 miles @ MP (5:56, 5:54, 6:01, 5:55).

Best long run yet of this training cycle. Overall endurance is feeling good. Although I'm still a way off from where I want to be at Twin Cities, I'm at a good place in the timeline.

AM: 12 miles.

PM: 8 miles at lunch with Quint and Mike.

AM: 4 miles at lunch with strides, loosening up for track.

Elise's bottom/front teeth have been loose for months, and we've been waiting to see if they would fall out naturally. This morning after breakfast she told me her loosest tooth was ready to come out. So we went to the bathroom and I pulled it out. She was a little shaken at first, but got over it quickly and began brushing it.

It brought back strong memories for me of my Dad pulling my teeth. I was always a little nervous from the pressure. He was very calm, and being a dentist, he knew what he was doing.

PM: 10 miles at track. Today was good from a standpoint of getting stronger through the workout. I'm a fan of conceding the first 3rd of the workout during the summer - just using it to warmup. Beside conserving energy, it seems to help mentally.

Workout: 4 X 400 WITH 200 REST, 3 X 800 WITH 200 REST, 4 X 400 WITH 200 REST, 400 REST BETWEEN THE SETS

Started out with Lee and Mike, everyone running carefully.

1:25, 1:20, 1:20, 1:15

Got moving on the 800s. Felt better than last week.

2:29, 2:30, 2:27

A high school guy named Ched joined us for the final 400s. His coach was telling him to hang with us and run 1:15s, while the four of us were looking distracted and thinking "Time to race these things!"

1:08, 1:07, 1:08, 1:10

I was feeling pretty good about outlasting our high school friend on the second and third repeats until Mike blew past me like I was standing still.

Love having these guys to run with. Solo I'd be lucky to make it to the track.

AM: 10 slow miles.

PM: 10 miles at lunch with Mike and Quint.

AM: 12 easy miles on the bridge.

PM: 8 miles at lunch with Mike and Quint.

AM: 11 miles. I took the day off, so like any sensible person I slept in, did a few chores, then met three buddies for 2 x 1.5 miles in Tampa at 10 AM.

This plan developed over the last couple weeks. We ran the workout at Al Lopez park, on the course where the 5k is staged next week. Charles was very familiar with it. I had heard it was a good, and it really was - a couple of slow circles around ponds with decent shade. Not only certified but engraved mile markers by the City of Tampa!

Charles wanted to run the full course as a 5k practice, while Mike, Quint and myself opted for running 1.5 miles, 5 minute standing rest, then another 1.5. I've done this workout once before, and it was a great indicator and confidence booster.

This time, I had a lot of work-related stress on my mind, so at least I wasn't thinking too much about running. It was still daunting though. I want to believe that on a good day in winter I could run close to 7:30 for both repeats, and my goal was to get as close to that today as possible. I tried to clear my head and just slug it out.

We staggered our starts, which really helps us with motivation. I ended up running 7:45/7:55 - solid but not spectacular. That suggests to me I'll run around 16:15 next Sunday. I'd really like to cheat the reaper and get under 16, and I think I have a slight chance, very slight.

PM: 4 mile shakeout.

AM: 12 miles on the waterfront. That's all for the day- heading to Orlando for an engagement party.

AM: 7 miles with Allison around Lake Baldwin in Orlando. One of the rare times in the last half decade we've run together without a jogging stroller.

PM: 4 miles back in St. Pete with Elise on her bike. Good quote from her when we finished: "It is completely hot!"

AM: 8 miles.

PM: 8 miles at lunch with Quint.

AM: 4 miles. Tonight is a short and sharp track workout, then an easy recovery week leading up to Sunday's 5k.

After that, it's 15 weeks to Twin Cities, and if you throw out the final two weeks for taper, that seems about right for a marathon-specific training block. Over the last two months, I've put down a decent base (could always be more), and I've done some sharpening - think I'm ready to get down to business.

I'd really like to hear about any key workouts other runners have had success with in the build-up to a marathon. I have some things that work for me, but I have a lot of time this cycle and I'm looking to incorporate new ideas.

PM: 8 miles at track. Summer has arrived in full fury mode, and at least once around this time of year I need my Groundhog Day.

On this day each year, I attempt to ignore the conditions, then I explode. At least this year I didn't waste much time crying in my Cheerios. Plan was 5 x 1k with 200 rest, target 5:00 pace. Plan was also to put mind over matter and ignore conditions.  Plan failed. Started at 5:30 PM, 94 degrees, 78 DP.

First K was 3:06, felt pretty good! Second was 3:09, skin melting, eyeballs baked. I sat around for 5 minutes in the shade feeling sorry for myself, then jumped in with Lee for his last two: 3:35, 3:36. I rallied for one last K solo: 3:15.

Lesson relearned: start slow and speed up, or adjust winter times by 10-15 secs pace per mile. These roads lead to a productive workout. Otherwise disaster.

AM: 4 miles.

PM: 6 miles at lunch with Quint.

Carrying over some thoughts on marathon workouts, here are some things I plan on this summer. Most of them I've done in previous cycles, all of them are stolen from other sources.

Mid-week

1. 5-6 mile wave tempo, alternating MP and 10k pace every 1/2 mile
2. 6 x 1 mile at 10k pace, 400 jog recovery
3. 10-12 mile MP tempo
4. 6-8 mile HMP tempo
5. Random intervals to maintain speed (400/800/Ks/etc)
6. Bridge (hill) repeats

Longish

1. ~16 miles at MP
2. 20 miles - First 10 MP+1:00 min/mile, second 10 MP
3. ~24 mile run ~ 85% MP (Canova ripoff, means of calcuation percent described here: http://www.runningwritings.com/2014/04/championship-racing-with-renato-canova.html)
4. ~20 mile run ~ 95% MP (Same as above)
5. 4-3-2-1: Want to incorporate Jason's suggestion on this one.
6. Standard long run with finishing miles at MP, build longer as summer goes on. Aim for getting to 8 miles or so.

AM: 4 miles. Sleeping in is nice, I could get used to it. Maybe it wouldn't be nice then.

PM: 4 miles at lunch, back to Al Lopez Park. I like it there, more shade than the usual trail.

AM: 4 miles.

Cutting back this week has been good physically. I was feeling pretty lousy at the start of the week, and by yesterday I could feel the turnaround. Mentally though, a lot of second-guessing. I feel like a slacker, and a small voice wonders if this is the beginning of the end. End of what, I'm not sure.

Obviously kind of silly, since after seven big weeks, one week of light running is probably in order. But the mentality that creeps in with a lot of training can be pretty illogical at times.

In the past, one thing I've done poorly during light weeks or tapers is taking care of myself. Since I have more energy, I stay up later. There's a link in my life between focused training and eating well. I don't eat healthy as a default, but it's easy when I can link it to good fueling. So in the past, I've often gotten less out of rest weeks than I should have. This week I've done much better. I feel like I'm doing everything in my power to produce good results- hopefully they will come.

AM: 4 miles. Last night Elise was in a short play, end result of a week at drama camp. It was super cute. Anna sat in my lap and was totally spellbound.

Mostly excited to race tomorrow, it's been a few months. Interested (in a perverse way) to see how I handle the heat.

I'm going to bullet point this one. Sorry for the unattractive presentation, but I'm eager to press the reset button on and get on with Father's Day.

• I was surprised (and mostly happy) to see Jon Noland at the start. He is a Masters runner who thumped me in a 10k last Feb. As I warmed up, I told myself I am in better shape now, and I could take him.
• He joined me for a warmup mile. We compared notes- he was a little stiff after running a 4:26 mile on the track last night. He is preparing for Masters Nationals in Jacksonville in a month. The realization washed over me that he is a signficantly better runner than me.
• I need to make time to run with him in the future.
• No excuses day. Hot and humid, sure, but the course was shaded and the humidity was if anything better than most of the week. I was well-rested, nothing hurt.
• Planned to run 5:10-5:15 for the first mile. Came in around 5:12.
• Jon and a college guy were about 6 seconds ahead.  Instead of digging in, I just let go. 5:20 second mile, 5:25 3rd mile. Got the college kid in the second mile as he was dying off.

Sick of bullets. Today was an underperformance, plain and simple. Wasn't a disaster. It was flat and sluggish. It's been a couple months since I raced, and it felt like it today. I ended the race far too fresh, and mentally was lacking.

This happens though. My focus has been overwhelming on endurance. It may not be healthy, but I'm going to think of this as a workout of 3 miles @ 5:19 pace rather than a 16:30 5k.

Still, I feel like I should have run closer to 16:15. It's never good to check out like that in a race.

I'm pretty over it already. My girls were out there cheering, which is always great. And we get to spend the rest of the day goofing off.

PM: 4 miles. Laziness cancelled starting tomorrow.

Plan for the week- Tues: 2 x 2 miles @ 5:30 pace for track. Fri: bridge repeats, pretty hard effort. Sun: long run with last 5 miles @ MP.

We saw the new Pixar movie Inside Out with our girls yesterday. Our younger daughter is pretty hard boiled, but our older daughter is sensitive. The movie isn't frightening, but it's very emotional, and she cried for most of it. I took her out for a break and the first thing she said to me when we got outside was "Why would anyone make a movie like that?!" I'm hopeful it was more cathartic than traumatic.

It might have been more traumatic. I still remember the bad feelings I got from Pete's Dragon, which I saw in the theater when I was about her age.

AM: 6 miles.

PM: 8 miles at track. Workout was 2 x 2 miles with 5 minute standing rest between. Splits: 10:58, 10:57.

Although Sunday's 5k felt negative at the time, several positives came out of it. One of them was that I knew this workout would feel manageable, and it did. This was the best I've felt running on the track so far this summer.

Coach Joe was quotable as usual: "Every time I've had a bad race, all it made me do was want to try harder. It just renewed my running. To really train...to overtrain...oh, and by the way, there is no such thing."

AM: 12 miles.

PM: 6 miles at lunch with Quint.

AM: 11 miles, bridge repeats, hard. I really want to go to sleep now, but I have the next best thing across the street from my office- a homestyle Cuban place that serves Cafe con Leches that should be classified as Schedule 1 drugs.

PM: 7 miles at lunch with Quint.

AM: 10 miles, felt pretty lousy on the way out, light fartlek on the way back, just to end the misery.

PM: 5 miles. Late afternoon run with Quint. Mostly to battle the summer slog, we came up with a running game. The rules were:

• Set watch to beep every 1/2 mile
• No looking at the watch except when it beeps
• We have to stay together
• Every 1/2 mile has to be faster than the last, otherwise game over

We got through 4 miles like that, starting at 8:45 pace and ending a little under 6:30. It wasn't intended as a workout per se, but getting a little quality was a bonus.

Mostly just looking for ways to break up the summer running. Other ideas under consideration are:

• Superhero / Carnival costumes
• Parkour
• Acting out historical scenes

Quint isn't actually aware of these ideas yet.

6 miles. A bit before noon in the middle of errands on the Pinellas Trail to get in a few overpasses.

I was very close to skipping my run and grabbing lunch somewhere, but I dragged myself onto the trail. As I was getting to the top of the last overpass, I was patting myself on the back for making it out there. Some guy rode by on his bike and muttered "Looks like you need something to eat."

AM: 23 miles, about 2/3 with a good group of 9 people. I really struggled with overheating today. We had friends over yesterday, and I did pretty good eating-wise for a pool party. Mostly pasta, a couple chips, one beer. I still felt off this morning. I would get rolling for awhile then I'd start overheating. I went through that cycle about 4 times.

My goal was to run the last 5 miles at target MP. I made it through 2, then blew up and staggered home. A little frustrated - with the heat I feel like every aspect of pre-run and recovery has to be managed perfectly, and perfection is not my strong suit. 7:05 avg pace today.

PM: 2 much more relaxed miles running with Elise while she rode her bike.

10 miles in Whedon Island Preserve. There are miles of boardwalk and actual trails running through mangroves, palms and pines back there. Unique place in Pinellas County. Sawgrass Lake is a miniature version, but before you go a quarter mile you are either running up against the 275 Interstate, or back to the water where the shots from a gun range constantly echo across the water.

AM: 4 miles.

PM: 10 miles at track. The workout was an ascending & descending ladder from 100s to 400s. I'm planning something separate tomorrow morning, so I just ran with the group as a rabbit. I ran a steady pace through the recoveries to get ahead of everyone, then I'd get caught on the fast sections. I really like sessions like this where I'm not concerned with my own splits, and helping my teammates through a workout is gratifying. If I ran like this all summer I'd probably be a lot less stressed.