Marathon Training

Spent 45 min on the bike trainer.  Off day from running.

A severe thunderstorm warning and tornado watch was issued between 4 and 6pm which is usually when I run on Wednesdays.  So I went to the gym at night and played raquetball for the first time this year.  My arms are so out of shape.  I overextended my elbow a few times, so I had to only hit the balls that I could get close to which resulted in me losing the second game.  I rarely lose at raquetball too, so I wasnt too happy about that.

Nice and easy 8mi run around campus.  I think it was around 9:15/mi.

This was a good run.  I just did an out and back and had to play Frogger crossing a few busy streets.  I was able to hold a little under my marathon goal pace.  I ended up doing around 8:14/mi and the course wasn't that flat.  There weren't any huge hills but it was a constant up or down incline.  My legs felt pretty good afterward and the pace didn't feel difficult to hold at all.

Another good run.  It was cold and rainy, but I have a running jacket that worked perfectly.  I held a minute slower than my race pace for the first 16mi 9:24/mi, then I picked up the pace the last 4mi and ended at 9:18/mi overall.  My legs felt good and I had plenty of energy.  I took 1 gel at mile 8 and had a bag of gu chomps with 8 gummies in the bag.  At mile 12 I started taking 2 gummies with 4 oz of water every two miles.  Since I was doing an out and back and there was a water fountain at miles 6.5 and 7.5, I only had to carry two 8oz bottles and one stayed empty until the return trip.  I am very excited about my marathon now.

Today was 5k time trial day for the Trigator's track practice.  I just used the 5k as a tempo run.

2.25 mi at 7:55/mi

0.5mi straights and turns on the track

3.1mi at 22:20.  I had to kick in the last 1/2 mile to pass people even though I knew I should have held pace at 7:20

2.9 mi at 8:22/mi.  Still had enough energy to hold my marathon goal pace for almost 3 mi but I'm probably going to be sore tomorrow.  I also did not plan the distance to be 2.9, its a loop around a lake, it just worked out that way.

0.25mi cool down on the track

 3.5 mi at a 9:06/mi pace before I met up with the Trigator group

6 mi, the first 3 was quicker and averaged 7:55/mi and the last 3 were slower.  The overall pace for the 6 was 8:09, which makes the second 1/2 a 8:23/mi pace.

Jogged back to my car at the track and ran a lap which was close to 1/2 a mile, probably on the longer side. 

Easy 3.  Classes are over for the semester and I have only one final next week. Yeaa!

Ran the first half around my marathon goal pace and picked up the pace the last two miles.  My average pace was 8:16/mi.  It was pretty cold which I'm not use to in Florida.  Its not as bad as what people are currently experiencing in the western and northern states, but still not fun.  I haven't had to pull out the tights yet.  I'll use those if I have to run in the 30's.

It rained the whole time I was running.  It was a constant drizzle and I was running on a trail, so when I finished I was covered in mud and my shoes were filled with water and were also covered in mud.  It wasn't as cold as yesterday and I was wearing a running raincoat, so I wasn't miserable.  I also had a friend join me who runs at about the same pace as me.  I've been doing the long runs by myself for the past several weeks and it was nice to finally have someone to run with.  The pace average was 9:09/mi which was good for a muddy hilly trail.  A few months ago I was running about that pace on the same trail for 8-10mi and it felt difficult.  This trail is nice because it is two loops that join in the center and there is also cuttoffs so there are many different combinations of distances.

I wore my old shoes that I wear when it is raining.  Also mizuno precisions that are a neon green color.  I have no clue how many miles are on those.

2.25 mi with the Trigators around 8:00/mi

0.5 straights and turns

4 x 800m (3:17, 3:15, 3:13, 3:12)

0.5 mi cool down

Ran the first 3mi at about an 8:12/mi pace.  I eased off because I wanted to pick it up the last three miles, but I got a side cramp that wouldn't go away.  I had to slow my pace so I could change my breathing and massage it out which worked but I couldn't run as fast as I wanted too.  I ended at about 8:30/mi for my overall pace.

The northwest florida track club has one of its annual Christmas parties at one of the members house every year.  We did a run through the neighborhood before the party and I just ran with a friend that I haven't seen since the summer.  I'm not sure of the pace but if felt around a 9.  I started my GPS watch inside and it didn't track the pace. I just had an overall time. 

I found out that there is still a group that does long runs on Sunday and they put water out every two miles for 10 miles on an out and back course, which is perfect because I'm supose to do 20 this weekend.  I do have to push back my running schedule though and do 10 on saturday and 20 on sunday instead of friday and saturday like I usually do.  I'm glad it worked out that way because it was cold and rainy all day on friday and its supose to be clear skies saturday and sunday, but still cold.

went for a run later in the morning when it wasn't so cold.  I held around 8:20/mi most of the run and picked up the last mile to drop the pace to a 8:17 overall.

It was so cold I had to wear my tights, gloves, a jacket, and a headband for my ears and I didn't take any of it off the whole time except for my gloves the last two miles.  I ran with a couple of people the first 6 miles at an 8:45 pace then I slowed down a little because of some hills and I was also running a little faster than I wanted to go.  I ended up feeling pretty good, there was water out every two miles, so I wasn't dehydrated at all.  I held around 9:00/mi most of the way back and picked up the pace the last two miles.  I felt a blister starting to form on the back of my heel from the tights but it didn't bother me enough to stop and roll the tights up.  I ended at an 8:58/mi pace overall. 

My legs felt fine the rest of the day, no calf stiffness or quad soreness.

Ran with a group from my hometown.  We were running 7:55/mi for the first 4 miles and then started to pick it up the last mile and dropped to a 7:45 pace overall.  There is a nice hill at the end that is fun to sprint up.  Tonight wasn't as bad as sunday morning.  It was probably 15 degrees warmer so I was able to wear shorts.

This was a rough run because of the wind.  My parents live on the water and it was very windy today.  I don't quite remember the pace details because I haven't gotten around to filling out my running calendar lately, but its in my GPS watch so I will update this entry eventually.  I believe that the pace was around 8:45 overall though.

Easy run with wind.  One way I was averaging 8:30/mi without even trying and on the way back I was doing about a 9:45/mi to keep it at minimal effort.

I was averaging a 7:50/mi pace for the first 3 miles and then I slowed down a little and the overall pace was 7:54/mi.  The wind wasn't as bad today.  I was wearing my old green accented mizuno shoes with red shorts for Christmas spirit.  These shoes are really old and don't have much cushining.  I usually just use them for things besides running, golf,  frisbee golf, when I am doing a lot of walking....

I ran the first 9.5 with my brother who is training for his first marathon.  He is becoming a much faster runner than when he started running regularly about 2 years ago.  We kept around  9:00/mi and he was doing 18 because his marathon is still about a month away and mine is only 2 weeks from tomorrow, so I split off after 9.5 to do the last 3.5 by myself.  I picked up the pace to about 8:30/mi, and the last 1.5 mi I wanted to do a fast finish so I dropped to a 7:30/mi when I was running on the sidewalk.  There was loose sand for about 0.15mi where the sidewalk was being repaired and I had to slow down to cross the street and run up a hill so I ended up doing the last 1.5 in a  7:50/mi pace. 

This was my last long run before the first marathon of the two.  Now I start my taper and cutting out alcohol (except on New Years Eve and New Years I will be in Biloxi and then New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl to watch Tebow play his last game with the Gators) I will try to only have a couple though.

Ran with a Monday night group back in my hometown.  The first 4 miles I averaged a 7:39/mi pace.  The 3rd mile was a little slower and the fourth a little faster.  At one point I was doing a 7:18/mi pace.  Then I dropped close to my marathon goal pace for the last two miles and ended up averaging 8:15/mi.  The pace was difficult to determine because it was so cold.  I kept jumping between 8 and 9 min/mi.

Ran the first 2.25mi at a 8:42/mi pace

Did 6 x 400m with 400m easy run in between.  I wasn't able to run on a track, so the distances are close I used my GPS watch and tried to start and stop the lap as close to a .25mi interval as I could.

splits -1:41, 1:43, 1:34, 1:42, 1:44, 1:44

last 1.75 mi at a 8:36/mi pace

Easy jog at about a 9:10/mi pace.