M'kay

Recovery Run. Hard to maintain recovery HR headed uphill today, and encountered worst case of Runner's Trots yet...need to figure out how to prevent this!!!  Managed to not get bitten by aggressive dog (called owner...again) out and back. Hope to be well rested for tomorrow's Tempo Run.

2 mi warmup, 6 mi Hill Tempo Run, 2 mi cooldown.

Better (more even) effort on tempo portion through hills, but hard run nonetheless.  Must remember to periodically stretch legs on long car trip today, or I'll pay tomorrow. 

In Pullman w/ family visiting daughter at WSU.  Recovery run at easy pace.  Is asphalt in WSU harder than back home??? Sure felt that way.  Forerunner went on the fritz after easy run, so 6x100m Striders done by feel but not recorded.

20 Mi Long run from Pullman, WA to Moscow, ID along Chapman trail and thru UofI campus.  Mostly flat (slight incline 1st half), with a decent hill halfway that I went up and down twice.

Increased pace in last half.  Effort last few miles grew considerably.  Bad hydration plan yesterday, and no so great sleep last night probably made this run tougher than it should have been.  Last 20 miler before Seattle Marathon. 

Recovery Run at 8:56 pace.  Nice easy run thru WSU campus.

3 mile warmup at 7:58/mi pace.

6x600m intervals with 90 sec recovery in 2:21, 2:20, 2:21, 2:21, 2:18, 2:18. (5K pace).

3 mile cooldown at  8:20/mi pace.

Intervals felt pretty easy (relatively) and breathing only got intense towards end of each.  Good to feel like I've got some juice left.

Having some left abductor muscle soreness probably since I'm running weekly mileage at my upper limit.

Good easy run at 7:58/mi pace. Temps a bit warmer and much more humid than normal contributing to higher HR than normal for the effort (which was easy). Actually, legs felt good even after yesterday's Intervals....no deadness whatsoever.

Some tightness in upper-left quad that never really worked out during the run. Also some tightness on left knee outside (ITB), so some definite quality stretching after run was in order. Did some plyometric drills (high knees, butt kicks, skipping) after run.

Last non-recovery run before 10K this weekend (one and only tune-up race between Portland and Seattle marathons). Am aiming to:

1 - PR at this distance, and

2 - Break the magic 40 minute mark. Well, maybe not magic, but it's going down!!!

These longer aerobic runs at closer to MP have become easier after Portland. I believe my hopes that I could use that race as a very high-quality workout and springboard to the small performance increase I need to break 3:15 are on target. Now, I'll just need a good 10K race for a confidence booster, one last 17 miler on Sunday, and 2 weeks of quality taper and I'll be set.

Also decided it was high time to start figuring out how much fluid I lose on runs. So far for all my training and races, I go "by feel", which obviously is imprecise since I don't know how it feels until it's "too late". So with today's run under temps of ~ 53 and high humidity (> 80%) at an easy pace lasting 1:43 I lost 3.8 lbs. Wow. Guess I need to track this a bit more often under different conditions and paces to really nail down how much fluid I should be taking in during races.

7 mile recovery run at 8:44/mi pace, followed by 6x100m Striders w/ 100m rest.

Despite blogging in the forums about using my Garmin 305 HR monitor to keep my HR low for recovery runs, I blew it on the uphill stretch and pushed a bit too hard (as reminded by the constant beeping which I evidently ignored) so my overall recovery pace was on the fast side. Overall though, the effort was very light.

Still some 'twinges' from my left quad....this time in the center of the muscle, not the top. Strange, but didn't affect my run at all. Also some left achilles stiffness...need to watch that since that was an old injury site back when I started running.

Striders were in :16, :18, :18, :18, :17, :18. Weird, since the first one felt the slowest.

Followed up with some core and upper-body exercises and a healthy dose of stretching.

1:02:41 (8:57/mi) Recovery Run. 

Nice and easy today, with little difficulty keeping HR under recovery threshold up and down the hill.  Smack in the middle of my recovery pace.

Despite the dire forecast, gorgeous conditions.  Mostly sunny and 50+ instead of rainy, cloudy, and 40.  Gotta love the NW!

Some 'tension' in my outer left leg.  This seems to have moved around my left leg the past week...nothing that is causing me to worry too much (or stop running), but starting to make me wonder what's going on.  Got some good stretching in again post run.

Ready for tomorrow's 10K.  (Ready for everything except the 5am wakeup and the 2 hour drive to get there!).  

 On another note, my dog problem seems to have gotten fixed.  She's been restrained to her property for the past 3 days straight now.  I feel bad that she's on a line instead of running free, but do feel better than it's better odds I'll come home in one piece from here on out.
 

Garmin Splits: 6:26, 6:22, 6:38, 6:34, 6:30, 6:20, 1:11.

Day began with an early (5am) wakeup, a bagel, banana, some juice, coffee, and prepping the dogs and ferrets to survive the morning cooped up in the house. Also saw my wife prepping to depart on a 2 day horse hunting trip (yes, that's horse, not house). At 6am, I was off on my 2 hour drive to Carnation, WA to the site of the 10k. One potty stop and 2 hours later, I was there.

A quick and painless registration, oriented myself to the start line and the restrooms, and got myself warmed up with a nice easy 2 mile run. Since some intermittent rain had fallen, decided to keep my hat and gloves to go along with tshirt and shorts. Temps were near 50F and mostly cloudy, so relatively ideal weather. Wandered around waiting for a while, then as the race got closer, ran another 1/2 mile with some Striders thrown in to stay warm. Found a good place in the starting pack (5k and 10k started together) and waited for the horn. Right around 9am, we were off!

The crowded start kept things slow for about 1/4 mile as we run down a driveway, thru a parking lot, over some grass, and onto a track. Here it started to open up as we crossed some more grass, ran up some steep railroad tie steps and turned right onto a gravel trail. Settled in at a comfortably hard pace. After running on the gravel trail for a while, descend a short but steep dirt track that took us from the high trail ground to a crossing road below. Followed the road into a park, where the road turned to dirt at around the 1 mi mark.

The road remained fairly level for the next mile and I settled in several paces behind a female runner (who became my pacer) that appeared to be running at about my same speed fairly easily. We were slowly picking off other 5k and 10k runners as we made the loop, but my effort increased out of the "comfortably hard" and starting getting into "just hard" territory. I focused on good belly breathing that I've been practicing and managed to keep a good pace through the 2 mile mark. Shortly thereafter, the 5k and 10k paths split, with 10k'ers being directed "up the hill". Oh boy!

The next 2 miles were an out and back along more dirt road trails, this time over "rolling hills". Some were steep enough that I had to run short downhill stretches a bit slower to keep my footing over the wet dirt and rock ground. On the outbound stretch, my pacer and I passed one last 10k runner. I remember seeing 2 10k'ers ahead of us and thinking "I'm in 4th! If I can pass her, I'll take 3rd!" Unfortunately, in my oxygen-deprived state, I later discovered that I'd managed to miss the fact that 2 other runners were ahead of me and ran right by me going the other way!

On the return trip from the turnaround point, my pacer almost took a wrong turn, causing me to holler (gasp) "LEFT!", which caused her to jump briefly and return to the proper trail. Several times over the hilly terrain I'd almost catch and pass her, only to fall behind a few steps again. We hit the flat portion again after the 4 mi marker and increased the speed a bit over the flat terrain. Effort now was definitely hard and it took all I had to keep in a 2-2 deep breathing rhythm. Just after the 5 mi marker, my pacer again almost took a wrong turn, and this time a feebler "RIGHT!" plus a volunteer who first looked confused but then started pointing got her back on track. We hit the paved street briefly, climbed the steep (and slippery) trail up to the gravel trail and I started pouring on the little I'd been holding back. I finally managed to pass my pacer here kept it redlined down the gravel trail. The 10k route had rejoined the 5k route, and dodging slower 5k runners and other regular trail users became an small issue. The 10k route continued past the turnoff point another 150 meters or so to another 180 degree turnaround, then back to the turnoff.

After a brief descent, I found myself running across wet grass complete with big slippery leaves. This probably warranted some caution, but I was really trying to break 40 minutes and knew I was behind from the hilly miles. A couple of slips but no falls took me through the 6 mile mark, and I headed back over the track towards the parking lot and driveway towards where the finish was located. I poured it on at this point, sprinting (or some semblance of a sprint) towards the finish. 40:04, a few seconds over my sub-40 goal time, but well under my 10k PR from August 07 and given the course conditions, an effort I'm very proud of.

Woke up after 11 hrs sleep with headache from yesterday. Obviously needed the rest. Ate a bagel, OJ, banana and waited for the headache to fade. 1 hr before run, took 2 tylenol.

Felt surprisingly good (other than headache) for having raced 10k yesterday. Have never run particularly good long runs on the days after races in the past. Often struggled and other times cut the long run short. Didn't feel like that would be the case today.

Decided to run up and down Scott Turner twice (9 mi round trip 1st time, 8 mi round trip the 2nd). Outbound legs gain about 500 feet elevation total with rolling hills throughout.

Outbound trip felt good, so kept pace relatively fast with loose and easy effort. Outbound avg was 8:17/mi. Hit halfway point in w/ 7:43/mi avg pace (PMP +:32; GMP + :16). Finally shook the headache somewhere near the halfway mark. Drank some powerade at my stash at the halfway point, which was the extent of my rehydration plan.

Second trip outbound, legs started feeling a bit tired....about what I'd expected for the start of the run today, given the race yesterday, so not bad overall. Decided to increase pace/effort for second half, but stay within the easy realm (okay, so maybe moderately/hard easy, but still "easy").

Second outbound trip in about 8:04/mi pace. Still felt pretty good and loose most of the way, but started tiring the last uphill mile. Ran across neighbor walking dog in last mile, asking how far I was going. I replied "13 miles on my way to 17". On my return trip, she called out "I'm proud of how far you're running!" Now, I don't really know this neighbor other than I've seen her driving up/down the road before, so needless to say this anonymous boost helped me stay focused on staying loose and knocking out the miles. Started feeling my leg muscles the last couple of miles, and last mile I started gradually feeling like I was running low on gas (some mild brain fog). 2nd (downhill) return leg was in 7:03/mi.

2nd half pace was 7:33/mi (PMP + 0:22, GMP + 0:06). Overall pace for run was 7:38/mi (PMP + 0:27, GMP + 0:11). Great confidence booster given the 10k race yesterday, how I felt before and after this run, and the aggressive pace. Now I need to sit down and settle on a race strategy for the marathon, and let the taper do it's work, without suffering from the normal stress and self-doubt period I inevitably experience during taper.

I'm thinking I'll keep my mileage a bit higher than normal for the taper, since my last taper felt like I cut too far back and was a bit sluggish the last week. Will see how that works out.  Also put a few long run miles on my new Adrenaline shoes to make sure I had no issues.  I plan to save them now for the marathon...they felt great!

Recovery run in ugly weather (rain, wind) this afternoon.  No idea pace/time since my garmin died around mi 3, probably since the power went out last night and just came back on before I left.  My laptop has a nasty habit of turning my garmin on when I shut the lid and it hibernates.  Kept the effort very easy (recovery zone) throughout.  Felt like a sauna heading up the hill and I thought I'd worn too many clothes.  Coming back down the hill, the wind, rain, etc. picked up and it got colder, and then it felt like I didn't wear enough.

Did some plyometric drills after run.  Then clean a couple of clogged gutters since I was soaked anyway. 

Woke up with my hamstrings sore from some new exercises (lunges) I started yesterday after my run....guess I need to do more so they don't make me sore in the future.

9 mile easy effort run followed by 8x100m Strides w/ 100m rest. 9 mi pace was 7:54/mi, right in the middle of my easy run pace. Striders run in :16, :16, :17, :17, :19, :17, :17, :18.

Run was marred by yet another dog encounter (guess my problem isn't solved) and by smoke from logging cleanup fires across the roadway....tried to slow down and only nose-breath for about 1/2 mile to prevent completely polluting my lungs, but since I smell like smoke, I'm sure it did no good. Other than that, good run.

A nice and easy recovery run.  A bit of difficulty keeping it slow enough on the uphills to keep my HR down, especially with the windy/gusty conditions, but all in all a nice and easy effort.

Followed up with some plyometric drills and some lunges.

Tough wake-up this morning, tired. Wound up working thru normal lunch/run-time and didn't get started until nearly 1pm.

Today is last VO2Max workout (warmup, 3x1mi intervals, cooldown) before Seattle 07. Decided to run on roads instead of heading down to the track. 3 mi warmup felt a bit tougher than normal, but discarded as being in my head.

Intervals in 6:29, 6:20, 6:00. Target pace was 6:12 for level ground. 1st interval uphill...very tough and couldn't have held pace past the 1 mile mark. Started feeling some significant GI distress towards the end. Walked the 2 minute rest. Second interval half uphill, half downhill. Tough judging proper pace w/ rolling hills...wound up out too fast uphill, took a 10 second pause (to avoid puking), continued out and back in 6:20 overall (slow). Some bad GI distress.....considered terminating intervals, but took an extra 1 min rest. Third interval mostly downhill (some flat) in 6:00. Probably should've run it a bit faster given the downhills, but with GI distress best I could manage. Average interval pace 6:16. Slow end of new range, but dead middle of old training ranges (prior to 10k race adjustment), so not too bad.

Continued on 3 mi cooldown (with interruption at 1 mi mark for a bathroom break). Again, cooldown tougher than normal. Need to take it easy the next few days; next significant workout scheduled is13 miler this Sunday, so should be in good shape to recover.

Not my best workout ever, but I managed.

Assessment later in the day:  Boy, did that hurt.  Effort definitely took quite a bit out of me...trouble concentrating for the rest of the day.

Still feeling the effects from yesterday's hard effort in my GI system, but no real soreness or pain anywhere in muscles. Kept today's recovery run very easy (8:55/mi avg pace); no problems keeping HR below threshold going uphill, and despite speeding up it stayed very low on the downhill. Pace in middle of recovery zone (getting very good at judging this pace on this course).

Core exercises following run, then some stretching.

Doubts started surfacing during today's run as my mind wandered (of course)...probably due to yesterday's "felt like disaster" run. Kept knocking them down as fast as they surfaced, but it'll be a struggle not to push too hard on a run (to prove to myself that I'm ready) between now and next Sunday. Must stay focused!

7 mile recovery run (9:00/mi, 4 uphill, 3 downhill), followed by 8x100m Striders w/ 100m rest (Striders in :17, :18, :17, :17, :18, :18, :17, :16).  Felt strong out of the gate, but ran into difficulty keeping HR below threshold on uphills.  Being overdressed for the wx probably didn't help (when will I learn?)

Pre-marathon phantom pains started this morning with the left knee and my right foot (under the arch).  Quickly disappeared after I started running, and haven't returned yet.  At least I recognize them for what they are.

Striders felt particular good today.  Very loose, very relaxed.  Walked most of the rest to get HR back down before next stride, but probably best set of Striders I've ever done.  Good omen.

Another good omen.  The power that went out in the 3rd quarter of the Michigan/Ohio State game and forced me to go run was back on by the time I got back home.

 

Decided to run a Progression Run today, since I'm only scheduled for a 13 miler today, and it's normally long run day.  All this disregarding the fact that I *should* be in serious taper mode.  Oh well... Feeling the effects of the lunges yesterday in my legs...a bit of stiffness and "dead" feeling, but quickly got beyond that.

Started off running 5 miles at an easy pace (fast side of easy pace, 7:58/mi pace, 1 downhill, 4 uphill).  Stepped up the next 4 miles to MP pace (7:07/mi, 1 uphill, 1 flat, 2 downhill).  Finished the last 4 miles at Tempo pace (6:32/mi, 3 downhill, 1 uphill).  Last mile was especially tough, and felt closer to VO2Max effort.

Cold and rainy today, but I didn't overdress.  Despite the "rain gear", I was soaked by mile 4.  Had some GI distress towards the end of the run, but nothing that interfered with pace.  All in all, a good solid training run.  Now is the time for a serious taper this week.

Feeling beat-up after yesterday's run.  Not too difficult to keep pace slow enough (8:55/mi) to keep HR in check today.  Form felt completely wretched...like my legs consisted of independent parts that weren't synchronized and all just kind of moved in the same general direction.  Obviously not all that bad, but definitely needed an easy day today.

Plus, the rain (again) didn't help the motivation levels.  Nor did the reports that snow may be headed our way tonight. 

Four easy miles at recovery pace (8:54/mi avg), followed by 8x100m Striders w/ 100m rest in
:16, :18, :17, :16, :17, :17, :16, :18. Form felt crappy again today...just felt tired and legs heavy. Striders not as fluid as the other day, but after the first couple, felt a little looser.

Core exercises following run.
 

Marathon Dress Rehearsal Day.  Of course, today was gorgeous....sunny with some clouds and a bit of ice in spots on the road, but very nice outside.  Temps ~ 42.  Sunday is scheduled to be cloudy and rainy.  Excellent.

3 mile warmup (7:45/mi), 2 mile Marathon Pace (1st uphill mile 7:16/mi, 2nd out&back mile 7:06/mi), 2 mile cooldown (7:29/mi).  Still don't feel quite "right", but felt better today stretching it out a bit.  Broke out the shoes with a mere 30 miles on them...worked fine but still has the "new shoe orthotic squeak, so my apologies in advance to everyone running near me on Sunday.   I don't even notice the noise anymore...

Standard plyometric drills and lunges afterwards, although I only did half the normal lunges to avoid sore hamstrings/quads.  Next 3 days short recovery runs only, followed by raceday Sunday.

5.0 mile recovery run at 8:41/mi pace.  Felt pretty loose and easy.  HR lower than normal at faster pace for this type run.  Some tightness in various left leg areas, so definitely laying off the core exercises and plyometric drills between now and Sunday.  Yesterday's run must've knocked the gunk off the cylinders though...

Stepped it up to an Easy Run today (from a Recovery Run).  5 miles at 8:05/mi pace average.  Felt like crap this morning w/ congestion and just overall blah feeling.  Too much sleep?

Run helped get some of the garbage in my lungs out.  Lingering smoke from burns up the street didn't help matters.  Ice on the roads made it tricky keeping footing in spots, so pace a bit off in some areas.

8x100m Striders w/ 100m rest in :19, :20, :19, :18, :19, :18, :19, :19. 

Striders a bit slower than normal.  A couple of segments over icy streets, but also took it a bit easier w/ marathon in 2 days.
 

Felt warmer than last few days....roads not iced up.
Left leg tightness in ITB.  Worked loose after first couple of miles.  Dog encounters at 1 and 3 mi.  Final easy run before Seattle Marathon.

8:00/mi pace. 

Redemption! After a lousy Portland Marathon race where the wall made sure I didn't BQ, I got my second chance this morning in Seattle. Couldn't have asked for nicer weather....start temps were around 39, partly cloudy with some areas of sun, and no rain or snow. Aside from not getting out the door quite on time, sitting in traffic and searching for a place to park for more time than I'd like, the morning prelims went well. Had some qualms about how much clothing to wear and settled on a light tech longsleeve shirt and my CW-X tights, which turned out to be a perfect decision. Found my way relatively near the start of the pack. Looked around for Aaron who also ran Seattle today, but wasn't able to pick him out of the crowd from his blog photo. My plan was to run around a 7:10-7:15 pace on the flats, same effort on the downhills, and whatever didn't kill me on the uphills, which based on my previous day's scouting report were fairly numerous in the 2nd half. In my back pocket, I knew that a 7:27 average would carry the day.

At 8:15, we were off. Slight uphill start and I kept reminding myself to go easy early and not to burn myself out. First mile wasn't quite as easy as I'd intended, but I managed to keep it at around my goal pace effort. Next couple of miles I made sure I stayed off the accelerator and settled into a groove. Headed down onto the I-90 floating bridge for the out and back trip across to Mercer Island. A small headwind hit for the outbound trip and I wasn't able to tuck behind anyone, so I was fighting a small headwind from 4.5 to 6mi. Wasn't feeling so hot at this point, and the uphill turnaround didn't help, but I kept pace and headed back across the bridge for miles 7 and 8. I could definitely feel the concrete and knew my legs wouldn't feel quite as peppy after this run, but what the heck.

The next section was a 9 mile out and back stretch along Lake Washington down to Seward Park. Plenty of spectators here helped keep things light and easy, and I was able to keep my pace in my goal range pretty easy. Overall effort felt okay, but my left leg started feeling tight (ITB & Hamstring). Figured I'd stick with the plan and if it got worse deal with it then, but for now, it was managable. Ran for a stretch with a girl who was on her first marathon and was in need of a distracting chat. She revealed later that she was aiming for a 3:30, at which point I told her what our pace was, which got quite a reaction. Anyway, we chatted for a while and once we hit the park, she decided to slow a bit so I was running alone again.

Hit the 13.1 mark in around 1:35, which I felt was good. On pace for a 3:10, but I knew the main hills were yet to come. Put it on cruise control for the next several miles of the "back" portion until we crossed under the I-90 bridge and headed up the northern part of the route.

At mile 18, I was really starting to get nervous. I'd been consistently getting gatorade at every aid station, and had gotten the "sloshy stomach" feeling a couple of times, so I knew water intake was good, but I was fearing "The Wall" was nearing based on my Portland experience. At this point, my muscles were starting to hurt, but energy-wise I felt really good. Surprisingly good. The "rolling hills" portion began, and somewhere around here is where I caught up with Aaron. He'd stuck with his plan too, and was looking strong somewhere around mile 19 (wish I'd run that well *my* first marathon!!!). We ran together for a bit, but once the 20 mile mark hit, I decided to try to open it up a bit, since I felt so (relatively) well.

Shortly after 20, the steepest hill hit....not too long, but most everyone was either reduced to walking or a shuffle. I managed to keep moving at faster than a walk, but not by much. After cresting the really steep part, the rest didn't seem nearly as bad as I'd feared. My splits for the next couple of miles were over 8 minute miles, but most of this was uphill, and I'd planned for these to take some of my time away, so I wasn't too concerned. I was getting more and more surprised at my energy level, and decided to try to stick as close to the 7:10-7:15 range as I could. I still had some fear of the wall, but my energy level stayed up and I felt more and more like I might make it to the end running strong. I really started picking off other runners at this point, which also helped tremendously.

The last few miles were something of a blur. I had the energy to go, but the legs were beginning to scream at this point. At the 2 miles left point, I decided to stop fearing the wall and go. I felt like I was flying by others at this point, but also felt like I was really working. We had some downhills here that helped, but some were so steep they probably did more harm than good. Coming into the last 1/2 mile, which was uphill into the stadium at the square, I poured on what I had left. I went into all-out sprint mode with .2 left, which actually resembled my all-out sprint. I saw 3:11:49 on the clock in the distance and gave it everything I had left to get in under 3:12.....didn't find out my real time until I got home and checked online, but I knew I'd managed to nail a BQ time, on a hilly course, a mere 7 weeks after Portland. This was the first marathon I'd run start to finish (no forced walk breaks), no wall, and with some gas in the tank (even if the legs weren't working so hot towards the end). All in all, I can honestly say I'm completely satisfied with how things went today....couldn't have asked for a better race!

Splits:
7:27
6:21 (no marker, inaccurate)
7:50 (no marker, inaccurate)
7:24
7:01
7:31
6:56
7:29
7:11
7:09
7:31
7:17
7:12
7:19
7:16
7:23
7:14
7:13
7:17
8:04
8:13
7:14
7:30
7:23
7:08
7:12
1:13

1st half- 1:34:52

2nd half - 1:37:05
 

Taking 2 days completely off following race, but a few thoughts I needed to save for posterity...

Legs ached in several places yesterday, but overall mobility was good.  I even had to trot out to the mailbox to get the mail in the rain and wind last evening (good that I could trot, bad that I had to because it told me exactly where every ache was...)  Today, even better.  Expecting little to no obvious residual soreness tomorrow.

Had the on-top-of-the-world feeling all day yesterday and thru this AM.  Suddenly, at around 5PM it hit me......I wonder if I should've pushed a bit harder since I had so much juice left in me to the end.  Why can't I just enjoy it???

This is supposed to mark my 2 "down" weeks, when I'd intended to just run for fun.  However, I found myself starting at my blank training calendar and finally couldn't stand it.  I had to put in a few entries, but kept them of the "Recovery" or "Easy" run nature and only enough for a few days.  I can already tell I won't be able to keep from plotting my next several months out though.

Decided to institute weekly Steady State (threshold) run during Base period (it shouldn't all be slow, right?).  I asked for coaching lessons from Greg McMillan for Xmas, and this dovetails into his philosophy, so hopefully my next few weeks will gracefully merge into a training plan we develop when I begin.  I also hope I can manage to take advice from a coach.  Since I never ran in HS/College (or really did any sports), I really don't have a clue what it's like to have a coach.  But I think I know enough to know I don't know everything.

Finally, I can't wait to tackle another marathon.  Only running 2 a year seems so....minimalistic.  After all, I did manage to bounce back 7 weeks after running a marathon PR to run another marathon PR, so isn't that a good thing I should continue?  Is there anyone out there that's fairly competitive that does this?  The recoveries certainly seem to be getting easier as I go.

Deciding which Spring marathon to run is hard.  On one hand, I'd like to return to my first (Yakima River Canyon Marathon), which is fairly small, so I can place much better.  On the other hand, its in early April, so I'm not sure if I'll be ready for a sub-3 by then.  Oh, and there's a *big* hill....

Okay, obviously need to get out and run tomorrow since that's about all I can think about today!

First run back from marathon felt pretty good.  Some tightness in left achilles when running uphill, but otherwise no real stiffness/aches.  Legs felt dead for a couple of miles but then loosened up.  Ran by feel rather than time, but easy effort (8:07/mi pace).  Ready for more tomorrow.

Core exercises and stretching following run. 

First snow of the year; some slush on road but footing was fine. 

Nice and easy run at 7:56/mi average pace, followed by plyometric drills and lunges.

Some mild pain in left knee.  Been weaning myself off Cosamin DS last two days (1 vs 2/day).  Could this be it or just in my head?

Some stiffness in legs, worked out by first couple of miles.  Average pace was 8:00/mi.  Intermittent mild pain in left knee.  Form still feels off after race Sunday.  Didn't sleep well last night, and was fairly tired towards the end despite the pace.  Core exercises and stretching afterwards.

Got a late start due to some home remodeling work that needed done in the AM.  So, started off a bit tired and hungry (one banana and a yogurt for breakfast/lunch).  Some left knee/quad pain on the uphill and steeper downhill stretches.  Snow started to stick in the 2nd half, making footing a bit tricky in spots.  Forgot to bring my sunglasses so kept getting snowflakes in the eyes, which made me drop my head, which worsened my form.  A bit slower pace than normal (8:07/mi avg).

Pylometric drills, lunges, and squats with stretching after run.

Crazy bad weather today.  Wind gusts up to 45 MPH with trees coming down across the road in spots.  Needless to say, I got some sprints in anytime I head the oh so familiar CRACK near the big trees.  Rain was sideways is places.  Middle 4 miles had plenty of leftover slush in the roadway making footing tricky (and wet).  Tired legs made this run difficult (not to mention the difficulty convincing myself to actually get out the door).  Almost talked myself into stopping at the 11mi mark (as I ran back past my house), but I kept at it for the full 13 miles.  Average pace was 8:09/mi, but it sure felt a lot harder today.  

Left knee in some considerable moderate pain in places on this run.  I'm considering going back on the full Cosequin dosage, but think I'm going to hold off for a few more days to make sure this isn't a fluke.  Tomorrow is definitely a recovery run day for me. 

Another crappy weather day. Fought gusting headwinds on much of the outbound leg (uphill, of course), then winds died on return so no boost there. Difficult to keep HR below 146 threshold. Some local flooding from all the rains and the snow runoff from increased temps today had me soaked above my ankles in about 5 minutes....felt like I was running cross country (not that I ever did run cross country) on the road. 2 dog encounters (same dog); 1st included a connection between my foot and it's jaw (just enough to let it know to back off); 2nd took about a minute for owner to finally retrieve pooch from our standoff, so overall recovery pace of 9:15/mi average is a bit off.

Time to retire my oldest pair of shoes today as the just hit 500 miles.

Much less left knee pain today.  Suspect pushed too hard on Easy run days this past week, so must continue to program in Recovery days.

Easy run at 7:56/mi average pace.  A beautiful day compared to the last few.  The winds I encountered were headwinds on the downhill and much milder than the gusting mess from the last few days.  Felt MUCH better after yesterday's Recovery day effort.  Some left knee pain (mild) 7-8 miles into the run, but much better compared to yesterday.  I'm taking this to mean that I needed to include more Recovery days in last week than I did, not that the Cosequin was having any real effect.
Last mile was 8x100m Striders w/ 100m rest in :17, :17, :19, :17, :18, :18, :18, :18. 
Run followed by plyometric drills, lunges, and squats.

Good running weather. Recovery run today; very easy to keep HR low enough today, even on most of the uphill sections.

Need to try Spenco insoles in these (Trance 7) shoes....some minor pain under ball on left foot. No wearing cushioned orthotics in these since they're smaller than the Adrenaline 7s I have. Not going to get Trances again...too cramped.

No knee pain today, so recovery sessions have done me good. Ready to tackle a Steady State run tomorrow.

Core exercises and stretching afterwards. 

Cooler and foggy today. Started with a 2 mile warmup at 8:02/mi average pace. Shed some clothing and started my 6 mile Steady State run. 3 miles uphill (progressively steeper), 3 miles downhill in 7:06, 7:18, 7:25, 6:24, 6:32, 6:40. Aiming for 6:55 avg pace, so effort was pretty even throughout. Felt pretty good and probably could've sustained for another mile or two, but that's for another week. Finished off with a 2 mile cooldown at 7:45/mi average pace (a bit fast as I unintentionally ran the first (slightly downhill) mile at near marathon pace before I backed off).

Plyometrics, lunges, squats, and stretching afterwards.

Easy recovery run at 8:35/mi avg pace, a bit fast for a recovery day.  No problems keeping HR down and speed was a bit faster than recovery zone.  Experiencing some minor pain in ball of left foot that I need to monitor so that it doesn't get worse.
Core exercises and stretching afterwards.

Left ball of foot pain this AM almost caused me to skip run, but it felt pretty good with shoes on, and didn't get any worse when I moved around. It's definitely being caused (or made worse) by Trance shoes I have, so I really need to stop wearing them. Decided to try run and bail if it felt worse.

4 miles on road, and decided to run the local logging trails. Figured my feet could use a break from the asphalt and I'd risk the odd painful foot-plant on the rocks. Started at 20% off MP and worked into 10% off MP halfway into run. Route had 2 very large hills, one early and one late, which definitely slowed pace, but took them much better than last time (few months ago). Overall pace in fast end of Easy range, with some miles at close to MP (downhills). Quads got pounded on extremely steep downhill section, and abductors sore towards end of run, but happy with the result.

2:16:39 @ 8:02/mi pace.

Flew today to Chesapeake, VA.  Up at 2:45 am for flight (ugh!)  Ran Recovery Run on treadmill in hotel this evening in 1:05:29.  Footpod mileage way off actual (4.9 versus 7.0).  Run felt easy from breathing perspective (never left 4-4 breathing pattern), but HR up over time and legs felt sore and tired; worse towards end.  Some pain still in left ball of foot, worse from being cooped up in flight.  Now I remember why I dislike running on treadmills.

Easy run in 56:12 (8:02/mi).  Run felt harder today than it should have.  Some definite soreness remaining from yesterday's travel and treadmill run.  Warm temps raised effort level.  Left foot didn't bug me during run, but I skipped plyometric drills to take it easy on it.  Squats and chair exercises, followed by stretching.

Humid morning and warm (63).  7.0 mile Recovery Run in 1:01:14 (8:44/mi pace).  Not hard to keep pace in recovery zone nor HR below 146, but effort still felt harder than when running back home (in Chesapeake, VA this week).  Also ran 8x100m Striders w/ 100m rest that I missed yesterday in :17, :19, :16, :19, :17, :18, :16, :19.  Guess which way was slightly uphill?

Missed yesterday's 12 mile easy run.  Decided to give my foot a rest to see if the ball pain would recede some more, since it seemed to be sticking around (unlike before).  Strategy seems to have worked a little, but I'll really see later today after the run.  Hope to be ready for tomorrow's Steady State.

Core exercises and stretching following workout.

Started with 2 easy miles in 16:16 (8:08/mi avg pace), then started 7 mile Steady State run.  SS run time was 47:59 (6:51/mi avg pace) with splits of 7:00, 6:52, 6:54, 6:52, 6:48, 6:45, 6:44.  Aiming for 6:55/mi avg pace, but had some obvious problems towards the end with pace control (felt like I was struggling to keep up w/ 6:55, when in fact I was faster).  Pacing more difficult than normal since I'm away from home and the area is very flat (I'm used to the rolling hills).  Leg muscles felt a bit sore today, and by the end of the SS run, my left abductor was pretty sore.  Finished up with 2 easy miles in 15:44 (7:52/mi avg pace).

Recovery run in 1:01:20 (8:45/mi pace) this morning on treadmill in hotel before heading to the airport for the trip back home.

Slept pretty well last night, but had some mild dehydration from long travel day.  Today is long run day.  Aimed to run first half at 20% off MP, and second half  at 10% off MP.  1st half in around 1:17, second half in around 1:11; pretty close on both halves (each a bit fast).  Overall time was 2:28:16 at 8:14/mi pace.  Muscles really started to complain around the 14 mile mark, but managed to keep pace throughout, so good run overall.

Recovery run in 1:02:23 at 8:54/mi avg pace.  Felt a bit sore and tired but after a couple of miles got into the groove and felt pretty good.  Dog encounter at 3 miles paused the run briefly but quickly resumed.  Considering last evening was a late night at an Xmas party, pretty decent run.

7 mile Easy run in 55:45 (7:57 pace) followed by 8x100m Striders w/ 100m rest in :17, :18, :17, :17, :20, :18, :17, :17.  Cold weather made for an early aggressive pace to warm up, but effort not too bad.  Striders felt smooth and form felt right, but late striders effort increased a bit.  Reverted to running in Trance 7s w/ stock insoles until they're retired, no foot pain during run.  Some afterwards, but nothing more than pre-run, and it feels like it's finally fading.

Late run today, extending after dark in 1:46:42 (8:12/mi avg pace).  Couldn't see watch in 2nd half, so entirely effort based at that point.  A bit slower than normal when dark, since didn't have a light and was a bit tentative on footing.
After, core exercises and stretching.

Recovery run in 1:02:10 (8:53/mi avg).  Nice and easy, nothing special.  HR monitor went a bit nuts halfway into the run, so I ignored it and kept the easy pace until it regained it's sensors.  Finished up with some leg strengthening exercises and stretching.

Annual physical this morning showed no matter how much exercise I do, my cholestrol will always be marginal.  Otherwise, all is good.

2 miles Easy in 16:21 (8:10/mi, avg HR 148) warmup.
8 miles Steady State (4 uphill, 4 downhill) in 55:08 (6:53/mi, avg HR 174) with splits: 7:09, 7:10, 7:16, 7:17, 6:33, 6:23, 6:39, 6:38.
2 miles Easy in 15:47 (7:53/mi, avg HR 157) cooldown.

Brief snowstorm from mile 1 to 2 in Steady State, followed by clouds, then sun, then clouds again. SS felt good and easier than last week (despite the hills and the extra mile, a good sign). One of those runs that inspires confidence that your fitness is improving!

Went to the Chiropractor today for the first time in ~ 15 years.  Came home with another appointment, some exercises, and some explanations as to why parts of my back are stiff and I seem to have continual issues with my left side. 

Brooks Adrenaline (Yellow) - 107 miles.

7 miles Recovery in 1:02:19 (8:54/mi, avg HR 137).

Run felt very easy and light. A bit stiff and sore from my Chiro visits initially, but worked itself out in about a mile and got that feeling that my fitness has suddenly improved just like yesterday. HR easy to maintain under the recovery threshold, and pace felt very very easy today, even on the uphills. Unfortunately, two more dog encounters, so today I got fed up with trying to work with my neighbor and finally called Animal Control. Of course, it's a recording and by the time they call back, I'll probably be feeling guilty for turning them in, but I have tried working with them for more than 6 months now and no luck.

Speaking of Chiro, my initial visit was yesterday. Xray's revealed that I can bend to the right fairly well, but bending to the left, my spine is all messed up. Some vertebrate aren't bending at all (between them I mean), and overall my spine is being pulled and twisted to the right. The doc gave me some exercises to perform in a 3-to-1 ratio to help correct the muscle imbalance that's causing this, in addition to an adjustment. I went back this AM for a second adjustment before my run, and boy was I stiff and sore and needed it!

I also had this test that measures the electro-muscle activity on either side of the spine, at points starting at your neck and descending to the base of the spine. This nifty test spit out a computer image that shows my muscle activity around most vertebrate as red (bad), indicating a bunch of imbalances (muscles working too hard to stay aligned), in addition to the spine being pulled to one side or another depending on which part of the back it's on. Now, I'm a bit of a skeptic about most of this stuff, but I've had good results from a chiro in my past, and this particular one appears to believe in not only adjustments but getting the patient to correct muscle issues as well, and so far so good. We shall see how this goes, I suppose.

Brooks Trance - 251 miles.

19 miles Long Run in 2:35:41 (8:11/mi, avg HR 152).

When I woke up to the wind howling, I knew I was in for a tough run.  Needed to get it done relatively early so I could make an eye doctor appointment at lunchtime.  Swirling winds greeted me in the beginning 6 miles.  Those were joined by the rain-front that moved through, with the rain changing to sleet and hail at different points.  Had to make a quick stop at 8 mile point to call my insurance company (5 minutes) which I realized would be closed by the time I got done since they were on east coast time.  Got back to it and slogged through the wretched conditions.  Towards the end of the run, started feeling like I was running out of gas, likely because I hadn't eaten anything since the evening prior and I was probably approaching the wall.  Good mental test today, aside from the physical benefits.  Soaked thru and a bit chilled by the end.

Brooks Adrenaline (Blue) - 352 miles.


 

7 miles Recovery in 1:00:31 (8:38/mi, avg HR 138).

Pretty stiff from the Chiro adjustments on Friday. He's obviously hit on a problem area, because the tingly leg sensation I'd been getting on long runs in the past is now in full force and obviously emanating from my lower back. Once I got on the road today, though, things loosened up nicely and the run felt super-easy. Wound up running a bit faster than my recovery pace allows but just couldn't help myself, and since my HR was well below the 70% threshold, why not? Perhaps the feeling that I'd gotten a few days this week that my fitness had suddenly jumped was right on.

Merry Xmas to me. Got my personalized training schedule from Greg McMillan today, along with some light reading material. Before I blog about any sort of specifics, I've asked if there's anything he'd like me not to write about, and there's nothing worse than making your coach mad I suspect, so I'll withhold details until I get the okay, but I'm well and truly excited. It starts tomorrow with an Easy Run, which is much less exciting, but still has me pumped. I was somewhat bummed to see that there is no "Run This Workout Twice And It's Guaranteed To Halve Your Marathon Time" workout included, but I'll get over it :)

Brooks Trance - 258 miles.

8 miles Easy in 1:04:23 (8:03/mi, avg HR 158), followed by 8x100m Strides w/100m rest in 17.9, 19.7, 21.6, 21.1, 19.8, 19.6, 19.9, 19.8.

First six miles felt *very* easy, followed by last two just easy. My sciatic nerve in left leg is bugging me, as a result of my Chiro adjustments today and Friday, but run was still easy. First six miles felt extra easy today, while last 2 just easy. Took the strides slower, since the nerve discomfort increased a bit with faster running, so I didn't push too hard. I think the 8 miles was a bit long today, since my Garmin decided to space out for a few tenths of a mile halfway into the run, but even at what I guess is the true distance (8.3 mi), was still in the Easy run range.

Brooks Adrenaline (Yellow) - 116 miles.

14 miles Easy in 1:52:43 (8:03/mi, avg HR 162).

A sleep in late morning today cost me when the winds and snow started just prior to commencing my run, making it tough running in spots.  As added incentive for keeping pace was the turkey dinner waiting my return home, so neither wind nor snow...sciatic nerve gave me some problems early on, but they worked themselves out by about the halfway mark, and my leg felt much better by the end of the run over when I started. 

Brooks Adrenaline (Blue) - 366 miles.

7 miles Easy in 57:50 (8:15/mi, avg HR 151).

Ran by easy effort today, looking at the watch as few times as possible. Road covered with slush and icy in spots resulting from snow yesterday and sun out today.  Wound up a bit below my Easy run range, but effort felt easy and I needed the recovery in prep for tomorrow's Steady State. All the extra sleep has done me good, but it's about time to stop sleeping so late. Got back to my core exercises and stretching following run.

Brooks Trance - 265 miles.

2 miles Easy in 16:47 (8:23/mi, avg HR 145) warmup.
9 miles Steady State (4 uphill, 1 flat, 4 downhill) in 1:02:07 (6:54/mi, avg HR 174) with splits: 7:02, 7:22, 7:25, 7:25, 6:52, 6:33, 6:17, 6:25, 6:42.
2 miles Easy in 16:12 (8:06/mi, avg HR 156) cooldown.

Blowing flurries and some winds to deal with today.  I've been having some mental trouble in that I find myself dreading Tempo/Steady State runs starting about a day prior.  Nonetheless, got to it today and upped the distance to 9 miles.  Harder than last week, in that uphill miles felt substantially harder (and were even run a bit slower) and the last 2 felt like I was about out of gas.  The 2 mile cooldown even felt somewhat difficult.  Need to take tomorrow really easy to try to recharge, and perhaps a nap today. 

Brooks Adrenaline (Yellow) - 129 miles.

7 miles Recovery in 1:02:51 (8:58/mi, avg HR 141).

Completely wiped by yesterday's Steady State, so I ran my scheduled Easy run as a Recovery run today.  Felt uncoordinated for the first 5 miles, last 2 finally felt a bit better but legs still very tired.  Will take it easy the rest of the day to prep for tomorrow's long run.

Brooks Trance - 272 miles.
 

20 miles Easy in 2:43:59 (8:12/mi, avg HR 154).

Today's run begins yesterday. After run yesterday, legs, hip, feet, everything felt bad. Would get sharp pains in left foot randomly, making me think I'd cracked something. Bunion was bugging me and big toe was almost immobile. Left leg, from hip to foot would get shooting pains, making me think the sciatic nerve issue I've been dealing with was more, and for once I could replicate by applying pressure in certain positions. Stayed up late and last thoughts on going to bed were to make today a rest day and attempt the long run tomorrow instead.

Fast forward to this morning. Felt much better, but still some sciatic nerve twinges depending on how I applied pressure to the leg. After taking it easy in the morning, I decided to try the long run, but abort and only run 7 recovery if things didn't go well. Things went well.  Road was slick in spots, with about 1/3 of the route covered with slush, 1/3 snow, and 1/3 just wet.  Sciatic issue disappeared after 2 miles and got back into the normal groove. Some very minor left big toe discomfort off and on, but much better than yesterday with full joint mobility. Tried to keep speed constant throughout on a 2 10 mile loop course, running the 1st half in 1:44, 2nd half in 1:40.  Back on track!

Brooks Adrenaline (Blue) - 386 miles.

7 miles Easy in 56:16 (8:02/mi, avg HR 153).

Plenty of snow overnight made for a slippery run, but felt good and kept good pace, especially after long run yesterday.

7 miles Easy in 56:45 (8:06/mi, avg HR 152).

Bad road conditions today....plenty of ice and treacherousness to go around.  Still managed a decent pace and easy effort to finish off my runs for the year.  By my calculations, this puts me at 2656 miles for the year.  So I guess my first resolution for next year is to log 3000 miles.  I'm also thinking about running a 5K tomorrow morning to get the New Year off on the right foot.

Brooks Adrenaline (Blue) - 393 miles.