Puttin' Money In The Bank (L.A.D.)

12pm, sunny, nearly 50 degrees and no wind. Ugh. Coming off 2 days with the flu, but was able to get out for a run today. First 3.15 in 23:40 (7:31s), followed by 4.75 in 33:57 (7:09s). Total run of 7.9 in 57:37 (7:18s). A solid 'moderate effort' run coming off the flu.

4:30pm and 35 degrees. Did a 3.15 mile warm-up in 23:35 (7:29s). Then hit a 5.5 mile tempo run in 36:00 (6:32s). Finished with a 3.15 mile cool down in 25:50 (8:12s). Don't think I did a good job today with fuel and such, so I was a touch slow on this tempo run. Still a decent run considering that fact.

4:45pm, low 20s and a slight breeze (making it cold!). Planned to do a 10.5 mile base run tonight. Actually ran it at the fast end of 'base pace', but it always felt comfortable to moderate. 10.5 in 1:14:24 (7:05s), followed by a .5 mile cool down in 3:59 (7:58s).

Nice day today. 4:45pm, no wind and 45 degrees. Did a 4.4 mile out in 31:44 (7:13s) and back in 30:13 (6:52s). Finished with a .5 mile cool down. The goal today was to get in some base miles at a 'comfortable' pace. Again today the pace was faster than I intended, but it felt comfortable. Interestingly, it felt less stressful (not that this describes the feeling, but I use it in a technical sense) than yesterdays run, despite the fact that the overall ppm was faster today (1:01:57 [7:02s)]). The trip back felt like I was going at a nice aerobic oriented base pace, despite the fact that it was actually at goal M-pace. I guess the best way to describe today's run was that it certainly didn't feel like I was going at M-pace, but 20 or secs slower. So this was a good run! Faster than intended, but in the confines of how I intended the run to feel.

42 minutes of stadium stairs tonight at a nice easy pace (rough road equivalent 8:00/miles).

1pm, 62 degress and breezy. Crazy tough run today. Started out with some nice easy miles and ran 4.4 to the top of Grant's Trail. This portion of the run was into the wind, and it was a bit of a battle. 4.4 in 33:41 (7:39s). My stomach was feeling, sluggish, as if I had maybe eaten too much for breakfast (I didn't and that was 3 hours ago). At any rate, I shook it off and started what I hoped to be a race pace portion of the run. My goal was to run down to the bottom of the trail at race pace. So I tried to hit a quick, but comfortable pace. Well, I blew that. The trail is nearly flat, with just the ever so slightest hint of a downhill when running from top to bottom. I hit 7.5 miles in 48:52 (6:31s). At this point I did a very very slow jog the last .5 of the trail to cool down. Then my goal was to do just easy aerobic miles back up the trail and 1.4 miles past it to where my wife was picking me up. Ugh. I was struggling to get going. 4.5 miles back up the trail I hit a GU and stopped for some water (did an extra .2 getting from the trail to the ice rink lobby and back to the trail). I think this 4 mile section was probably hitting about 7:50s or so, but I wasn't sure. When I got back to the top of the trail the time for the 8 miles was 59:46 (7:28s) and the last 1.4 back to the car was 10:29 (7:29s). The total run, excluding the .7 recovery miles when I stopped my watch, was 21.3 miles in 2:32:47 (7:10s).

I was pretty much destroyed by the end of this run, but I think it was a quality workout and I will make some solid adaptions to this run once I recover.

11am and 40 degress. Did an 8.5 mile recovery run today in 1:06:30 (7:49s). Did 1.5 to the YMCA where I picked up Chris. Did 5.5 with him and then the 1.5 back home again. Nice easy comfortable run. I don't do enough of these I think. Will shoot for the same sort of pace tomorrow, but a bit longer.

9:15am, calm, 63 degrees. Still feeling effects of Saturday's killer run. Started out in the 8:00-8:10 range running to the YMCA where I was hoping to meet up with Nancy, Megan, and Julie. But I was running behind, so they had already left. I figured they ran the 5.5 mile loop, so I did that one backwards and ran into them about mid-way, turned around and finished with them, then did the route back to the house again. Did the last 2.5 at about 6:45 pace.

5pm, 40 degrees, and very windy. Progressive 9.75 miles in 1:09:12 (7:06s). Finished with .6 mile cool down in 4:43 (7:52s).

11am, 35 degrees, mostly calm. 2.35 mile start in 16:42 (7:06s). 8.1 mile tempo run in 53:20 (6:35s). 2.05 mile cool down in 15:30 (7:34s). Total run 12.5 in 1:25:31 (6:50s). Total run time under goal M-pace for Boston today. Good run.

Missed 3 days this week, 2 of them unplanned. Good week for a recovery week in terms of miles, but some good quality miles. Next week will be a big mileage week. As of right now I'm shooting for my first ever 70+ mile week. We'll see if scheduling allows for it.

9:30am and 30 degrees, calm and sunny. Nice day for a run. Tired today from yesterday's run, but not so much that I couldn't get some good fat burning/aerobic miles in. Planned on doing 12-13, but 5 or so in it was clear I was too tired still. I'm sure I could have gone the 12-13, but at what cost? Altered my route and did 10.4 in 1:19:41 (7:39s).

12pm, 35 degrees, sunny, calm. Ran for about 38 minutes and then turned around and ran home today. The pace was very comfortable, just a touch harder than easy ... moderate at best. 5.1 out in 37:45 (7:24s) and 5.1 back in 36:16 (7:07s). Interestingly, the route out had 2 solid downhills, which, of course, made the route back 2 solid uphills. Total run time for 10.2 was 1:14:01 (7:15s). Followed up with a .5 mile cool down in 3:54 (7:48s).

Dropped the car off this morning to have the brakes checked. Ran a route from there home. 8am and 35 degrees, calm. Had and 8.4 mile route planned out, but a mile from home I saw Nancy doing a warm-up before she met with the YMCA group, so I hopped in and joined her for an extra mile. 9.4 miles in 1:08:10 (7:15s).

5pm, 40 degrees, windy. Did a short progressive run in the aerobic zone tonight. First mile was about 7:45 and last one was about 7:00. 6.3 miles total. Followed up with a .5 mile cool down.

12 sets of stadium stairs at work tonight. Rough road equivalent based on pace prediction 8.75 miles.

2:30 pm, 32 degrees, and windy. Seemed like I was fighting the wind every time I turned today. It was also the first time I've pulled out of a run. I had planned to go 20 today. The first 11.1 were at a solid clip 1:17:54 (7:01s). I did a loop and came by my house. Went inside, grabbed a Gu and some water, got on google maps to see how far I ran and see how far I had to go. Big mistake. Should have just guessed. My guess was right on anyway. While inside my gloves, hat, shirt, etc all began to get warm and as they warmed, the wet from the sweat became more noticeable. I stepped back into that cold and wind ..... and the shoes I had on just weren't good shoes for long runs and I had no socks except thin ones ..... I started down the road and within the first 10th of a mile knew I was done, turned around and came home. Ugh. Certainly no 70 mile week this week, not even 60. Oh well, we'll see how next week goes. And to top it all off, I got to the Running Center to pick up my new shoes just as they were turning off the lights. Now I'll have to wait until Monday.

Yay, new shoes! Got a pair of DS Trainers and a pair of Nike Structures today. Todays run was 13.2 total at 5pm, nearly 40 degrees and mostly calm. Did my first 5.2 in 37:26 (7:12s). Then hit 6.95 in 47:31 (6:50s). This second portion felt good. It was quick, but in control. It felt like a borderline marathon pace. Not entirely sure if I could hold it the whole way, but its not out of the realm of possibilities. Finished with mile cool down. Running time on the 12.15 was 1:24:57(6:59s).

37 degrees and breezey today at 9am. Did 2.4 in 16:40 (6:56s). Hit the YMCA loop backwards and met the ladies halfway around ... 5.5 in 41:10 (7:29s). Finished off with 3.2 in 24:12 (7:34s). 1:22:02 for the 11.1 (7:23s)

11.1 mile progressive run tonight. Beautiful night, 65 degrees and a little windy. First 3 miles in 22:45 (7:35s). Next 1.8 in 12:45 (7:05s). Next 1.7 in 11:30 (6:45s -- I'm guessing the measurement on this section was probably off by .05 or so, but google maps isn't the best option, I so need a garmin). Next 1.1 in 7:39 (6:57s). Last 3.4 in 22:02 (6:28s). Opening mile in 7:30 and closing mile in 6:20. All followed up with 1.2 mile cool down. Total run time for the 11.1 was 1:16:40 (6:54s). Not the most accurate measurements, but the sum total was right and appm for that comes out to 6:54s. I know my first 3 miles were correct, so the breakdown on the last 8.1 would have been 6:39s, so this was a great run tonight that felt mostly comfortable and in control, obviously the last few miles were cookin. Sometimes I don't know about cracking 3 hours at Boston. Some days I think I don't have a chance at it, then other nights things click and I think that I might. Either way, its going to be a tough run.

UPDATE: Not satisfied with my googlemap results, I drove the car today over the route from yesterday. The primary reason for this was that yesterday's run was not a tempo run and was almost entirely controlled moderate breathing, it simply didn't have a tempo feel to it, wasn't intended to be a tempo run, but the times were coming out to nearly tempo pace (6:30ish is my general tempo pace. As usual, when in doubt trust the body over technology. So the splits based on the car's odometer come out as follows from the 3 mile mark on. First section was in fact 1.8 (7:05s). The next section was more like 1.625 (again 7:05s). Then 1.1 (6:54s). The last section was closer to 3.35 (6:34s). If I take out the last mile run at 6:20 (because I really picked up this finishing section beyond any pace I'd want to be in a marathon), that gives me for the 2.35 15:38 (6:39s). The sum total of this was not in fact 8.1, but 7.875 and a pace of 6:51s which is right on M-pace. This makes this run still a great run because I was able to hit approximately marathon goal pace for a run that was what I would consider still in the aerobic zone. This gives me solid hope for breaking 3 hours at Boston primarily because I didn't feel that I was working at a rate that was exhaustive over time. Obviously over the course of 26.2 there will be some system exhaustion at this pace, but I did it without really feeling taxed and with some slight chest congestion. I think that the training in combination with 'race day magic (adrenaline)' will make this goal achievable. Again though, it won't be easy. I felt well fueled for this run, which is a final important factor to keep in mind. Sum total for the run was 10.875 (7:03s) + 1.2 cool down.

5:45pm and 65 degrees, humid and windy. We're on the verge of severe thunderstorms before the bottom drops out and the temp drops some 30-40 degrees. Tonights run was quite hilly and it seemed like fighting the wind was killing me. I think I took it as a personal challenge, because I really didn't want to run quite as fast as I did tonight. Once I turned the corner though with 3.5 or so to go and I had the wind at my back it was coast city. 8.65 in 1:02:42 (7:15s), including at least my last 2 miles sub 7, perhaps my last 3. Followed this up with 1.45 cool down in 11:30 (7:56s). Tomorrow I want to really work on sticking to the 7:20-7:30 range.

1pm, 36 degrees and somewhat windy. 10.25 mile route today over a course that I rarely run. I always forget how hilly this course is. The first half is flat to net downhill and the second half is a series of 9 hills raning in distance from 150 meter to 500 meters, with 3 of them over 400 meters. To add to this, the last 3 miles was into a fairly steady wind with my jacket acting like a negative sail. All this checked against my time reveals that I dropped the ball again today. Just not sure why I can't seem to get an easier run in at least 7:20-7:30. Today's run was 1:14:45 (7:18s). Close, but given conditions, I think it was still a touch too fast.

USATF coaching clinic all weekend. 6 hours today, 14 tomorrow and 5 on Sunday. Doubt that I'll get a run in tomorrow, but I may try to get up at 5:30 and get 8 or so in to get me over 60 for the week. Sunday I'll be done by 1pm, so I may try for a 20 miler then.

Went to St Louis Community College at Florissant Valley today for an all-weekend-long USATF coaching certification. Some interesting stuff, but mostly just a long day. Met up with a woman who is a marathoner and running right about the same goal pace as me. We did 9 at lunch (her garmin shows splits as follows: 7:42, 6:52, 6:52, 7:10, 6:50, 7:00, 6:50, 6:45, 6:50). This gives me 6 miles at or below goal m-pace. The route was considerably hilly and cold (20 degrees) and very windy. Got another 6.8 -7.0 in at dinner. Her garmin wasn't picking up the signal though, so I google mapped as much of it as I could. Time for the second run was 51:10 (7:19-7:31).