Bret

PM - easy 4 miles with 3-4 striders with Richie around the Carillon office park.  Flights appear to be on for tomorrow.  All things are pointing to a race on Sunday.

AM - 3 miles easy - if for nothing else, just to satiate my nervous energy.  

AM - went out mid morning to clear my head.  Really humid and warm despite the weatherman saying how pleasant it was outside.  Did about 6 miles, did not feel that great.  Probably will not do the half tomorrow morning as the time change will have the temps and humidity soaring at race time - not condusive to favorable racing conditions for me at least. 

With the NYC Marathon canceled, and my plans for a replacement race still up in the air, I decided to do this half marathon which was literally only a couple of miles from my house in Ozona, FL - and to use it as a workout...13 miles at MP.  So this was more of a training run than a race - glad I did it though, because it made me feel pretty good about my fitness.

Kept all of the miles except the first one which was fast, all between 6:38 and 6:52 per mile with a sub-threshold heartrate.  Felt solid throughout the 2 loop course which wound through Ozona and down the Pinellas trail to the Dunedin Causeway and back.  Mark from the FRB was at the start and we finally met in person for the first time.  He ran a PR today of a high 1:26 and was one place in front of me.  Very warm/humid and densely foggy morning with 97% humidity.  Came int 4th overall and saw lots of folks I know from the community.  Lots of fun... and keeps me on track in case I decide to to a marathon in the next couple of weeks. 

AM - easy 4 miles shake out run. No real soreness or fatigue from yesterday's workout/race.  

PM - aerobic 6 miles on the treadmill no more than 70% HRR.   

PM - busy day at work - was able to squeeze in a quick 4 miles with Richie before dark.

PM -  5 miles easy with some striders on a crisp breezy fall afternoon - very pleasant run around Feathersound.  

Read a nice article about Sebastian Coe in the Financial Times - he has a memoir coming out in December. 

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/9b3762c0-21e6-11e2-9ffd-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2BIgEEJc7

2 miles easy shakeout in Richmond Va.

So as a replacement race for NYC last weekend, I decided late Tuesday this week to do the Anthem Richmond (Virginia) Marathon.  It was close in time to the race I had peaked for, and got reasonably good reviews on Marathon Guide.

A bit gutted after this race.  No excuses - just did not get it done under 3 hours after a solid effort.   Trained very well - at least from an aerobic build-up stand-point - and I executed reasonably well in the race.  First half was 1:28, but I think the rolling hills which pushed my HR a bit in the to red zone a few times eventually caught up to me between miles 20-21 and a slow fade saw my hopes for a sub 3 hour marathon fade with it.  No question in my mind that I gave everything I had - as I was completely knackered afterwards and my HR data from my Garmin can confirm it.  

They had a pacer group for 3 hours with whom I ran for the first 8 miles and then I decided to pull away.  The sole pacer was all over the place with his pacing - (sometimes too fast and other times too slow).  After pulling away from them,  I kept expecting the 3 hour group to pass me at the end, but they never did. They must have faded worse than me. :)  With my string of 3-3:05's I should really consider pacing at a race some time  - LOL. 

This was a very pretty race course for the most part - and had a series of rollers from miles 4 through about 17 which do not seem too significant viewed alone, but at least for me, I think the cumulative aspect of them is what may have been my downfall.  The event was reasonably well organized and the weather was absolutely spectacular.  

On the positive side - this is my 3rd fastest marathon and my best in nearly 2 years.  So the training is working.  Just don't know if at age 46 if it is a race against father time that I am really losing.  

PM - expecting to be very sore and fatigued I went out to just run a mile or two, but was pleasantly surprised that I really did not feel all that bad  - so I ran 3, and though I could have easily done a few more, I thought it best to keep things light for a few days.  

PM - so I went out at lunch today to run some easy miles and again felt no significant fatigue or soreness - certainly less than I expected and less than I have had during some tough training weeks - so I just ran to feel and with no particular thought but to enjoy the run.   Turns out the last mile was just at MP according to the Garmin.  Perceived effort certainly did not suggest it. Anyway 5 miles around Feathersound.  I suppose those big mileage weeks last over the summer have me at a point where I am finally getting the benefit of my body being able to recover without too much soreness.  

PM - 7.5 miles at lunch with Richie - we ran the "dump run" and I bent his ear regarding my race last weekend.  Nice run.

PM - 10 aerobic miles on the treadmill at lunchtime.   Noticed some discomfort on the front of the patella - never had that before - doesn't seem serious though.  

PM - did not feel like running today - body felt a little bit down, so I decided to do a little speed work as a way of getting me out running.  2 mile warm up then 4 x 400 with a full recovery (4 mins) and then about 1.5 miles cool down.  Did the quarters all between 76-77 seconds without checking the time while doing them.  Not flat out but not holding much back.  Interesting.  Felt energized when I got back to the office.  

AM - 4 miles easy before heading over to the State High School Cross Country Championship Meet in Tally.   Cool morning - bodes well for racing.  

Great meet -- Delaney and I drove up yesterday evening and 4 of her other teammates came up too in order to support their two runners who advanced to State's individually.  New site for the event was really very cool and surprisingly pretty good from a spectating standpoint.  All 8 races were good to watch too.  Delaney's girls ran well - one with a PR and the other close behind.

Got to see Doug and his son Travis (and Doug's parents too - been a while since I have seen them).  Travis had a very very good race and looked exceptionally strong in the last 400 meters.  Doug had related to me that Travis had been suffering from some prolonged URI issues - but he seemed to come through in the clutch today.  Really nice to see.   I understand his team pulled a bit of a surprise and took second place for the meet too.   

Headed back home and did a proper 6 miles this evening after a full day of driving.  

PM - 9 miles on a pleasant Sunday afternoon.  Last 2 miles at MP.  

AM - 4 miles easy this morning - quite chilly (for Florida) at 56 degrees - I felt like I should have worn gloves.   Did not feel well for most of this run even though it was easy.

PM - 8 more at lunchtime around Feathersound and Carillon.  Soreness in left knee at the start and in my ribs up almost to my right armpit.  Recall having some pain there in the marathon.  Must have a trigger point there that needs to be released.  Anyway, most everything loosen / warmed up and felt fine on an easy comfortable pace.  Very nice weather in the mid 60's and sunny.   Watched a youtube video with Luke Humphrey pitching his Hanson Marathon Method book.  Interesting stuff.   

AM - 3 very light easy miles before work.

AM - 3 miles easy with some striders.  

AM - My family's Thanksgiving tradition:  The Times Turkey Trot is early Thanksgiving morning and my three girls love the idea of going out to do the 5k and then head home and help prepare the meal for the afternoon.  This year Bradlea's sorority little sister came to stay with us, and so she was included in the tradition as well.  I decided to "run" with the four girls in the "Wing Ding" 5k which is the first of 4 races in Clearwater.  We learned after the event that this was her first ever 5k.  But we left "no man behind" and jogged it all together and really enjoyed a beautiful morning.  

Afterwards I stayed around for an hour until the 10k to start.  Not a stellar performance but steady as she goes.  I got a little excited in the first half and blew up a bit in mile 3 which required me to regroup - basically finishing out at marathon pace for the second half of the race with an overall 6:30  average pace.  I would have been satisfied with a sub 40 min effort, but went out too hard and did not have it today.  Meh.  I am only 10 days out from my marathon in Richmond - perhaps expected more than I should have.  Anyway - Time to eat.  Happy Thanksgiving.

AM - 9.25 miles easy on a late morning while the rest of my family was out shopping - I enjoyed an absolutely pristine weather day and a relaxing recovery run.  

AM - met up with my friend Brian who is training for a 100 mile ultra in Wesley Chapel early this morning at the Cypress Creek Nature Preserve.  Temps were in the mid 40's when we started in the dark with headlamps.  I had expected the pace to be a bit slower, but Brian has really been training well over the summer and his weekly mileage is in the 70's now - He claims to have not run that fast in a long time, but he was conversational for most of the run, and I don't know that I would have gone a whole lot faster on some of the more technical parts of the trail. Nice way to start the morning - good conversation.  He's going to do great in his race in January on this trail.

AM - 4 miles easy on a cool crisp morning before work.  Did not run yesterday and so, was a bit "off" when I started out this morning.  

PM - just under 9 miles with Richie on a very pleasant lunchtime run around Feathersound and Carillon.  Weather was just about perfect.  Enjoyable run. 

AM - 6 miles easy before work.  A little warmer this morning.

 PM - did a late lunch run due to work scheduling.  Hopped on the treadmill and did a workout of 5 x 400 meters with full recovery at 1% grade.  Actually had fun with this, as I did not know the treadmill speed at this gym would go as fast as 4:48 per mile pace.  Did the first 2 at 75 seconds then the third one at 74 and the last two at 72 seconds when I found out it would go to 12.5 mph.   Full recovery was about 3:30 - 4 mins.  Did about a 1 mile cool down.  

AM - very easy 3 miles before work this morning.

PM - late lunch - limited time - just enough to squeeze in 5 miles of work-stress relief running. 

PM - lunchtime run with Richie.  Tempo run of 45 mins at MP (6:50) after a couple of miles warm up on a pleasant but warm sunny afternoon in the Feathersound neighborhood.  Richie was feeling good and pulled away after a little over 3 miles to run the remainder of the time at 6:36 pace.  I thought I was slowing down (and my heart rate was disappointingly high) - but I stayed on pace with the exception of the last half mile or so.  Really way to hard of an effort (both perceived and actual HR) for this type of pace.  (actual splits were 6:40 (partial) 6:41, 6:48, 6:55, 6:50, 6:55, 7:15).  Average HR was above threshold.

PM - lunchtime run with Richie - easy 8-9 miles on a pleasant afternoon around the Carillon office park and Feathersound.  Good running and training conversation.  Richie is going to be working with a coach online in his training with an old teammate and later coach when he was in college named Scott Simmons.   Richie reconnected with him in NYC over the weekend that the marathon did not happen.  Scott started the American Distance Project (or ADP) in the last year or so and has had some good success over the years in coaching - most recently two of his female runners were 12th and 14th in the Olympic Trials.  Richie ran with them when he was in NYC.  

When we were doing our workout yesterday he mentioned the Scott was connected with "some guy" named Canova.  And I said, Renato Canova?  And Richie said, yeah, I think so....

Well I did not realize how connect his old coach and teammate was in the running world.  His website lists Canova as one of the coaches - and that Simmons was mentored by Joe Vigil.  I imagine some of the folks on this blog may know him or know of him.

So today, I took video of Richie (and he of me) to send to Simmons to analyze his form etc.  We then had a nice run.