Cursed Realm of the Faceless Ghost

Rest day!

Today's schedule called for 15 steady miles, and I was lucky enough to score some beautiful weather. I ran on the River Trail, but instead of heading up the canyon, as I have the last few times, I headed down toward the lake. It's just over five miles from our house to the lake, so I had to double back on Center Street all the way to Geneva just to hit my miles. I think the lesson is that from now on my long runs on the trail have to be up the canyon.

My legs felt pretty good, and I can tell I've made some progress this year. Consistency will do that, I guess. I slowed down a bit in the last three miles, but even so I wound up with an average pace just under 7:00.  

One mile at 6:00, followed by seven miles at 6:40. 

I had some treadmill issues today, and my legs felt a little less snappy than usual, but otherwise this was a decent run.

The treadmill issues were particularly annoying. I had to try three before I found one that would 1) start and 2) not lurch and stutter while I ran. And the one I thought would work shut down when I tried to drop the speed from 6:00 to 6:40, so I had to grab my stuff and move to a new machine in the middle of my workout.

Also, I think that the air conditioner was broken, or at least not turned up high enough. Things were getting pretty stuffy in the gym. 

 I had to run late tonight instead of early this morning because I had to stay up late last night to finish some homework for a class that was due at 7:30 this morning. And because I was up so late I decided not to run this morning But I have no energy when I run at night, and after two miles I could tell I was off, so I cut it short and ran 5 miles instead of 8. Oh well.

When I started training for this marathon, one of my goals was to not become a slave to the training schedule. Some days it's better to know when to quit, and today was one of those days. I'll be back at it tomorrow. 

This one was hard.

I ran two sets today: 1.5 miles at 6:00, then 0.5 miles at 5:40, then a final quarter-mile kick at 5:00 before recovering for another quarter mile. 

During the first set I could tell I was still a little off from last night, but I made it through just fine. The recovery was distressingly short, though, and by the time I increased the speed for the first time on my second set I was having trouble breathing. When I kicked it up to 5:00 it felt like there wasn't enough room in my lungs. Fortunately, a quarter mile is pretty quick at that pace, and I didn't have to hang on too long before I could drop the speed down. Way, way down.

Long(ish). Slow. Boring. That's about it. 

Still not feeling as well as I'd like to. I don't feel bad in the sense that I fell sick or injured, only in the sense that my legs feel heavy and slow. I ran a little more slowly than I normally do this morning, but i picked up a bit at the end. My spirits were bolstered by the fact that the ROTC color guard guys were practicing their gun routines while wearing short shorts, cotton t-shirts, dress hats, patent-leather loafers, and white socks. Say what you will about the ROTC, but those guys certainly have style. 

Tempo run today. I decided to step the pace up a bit from what I've been doing, so I ran my 8-mile block at 6:22. It didn't feel easy, but it wasn't hard, either. I hope that means I'm getting into shape.

Anyway, this is the halfway point. I started training ten weeks ago, and Ogden is in ten weeks from now. So far so good.  

Elliott had a rough night (daylight savings it tough on toddlers) and I was up with her, so I skipped the run this morning. I was a little worried because the scheduled run was pretty tough, and I don't usually do well in the evenings. But I planned my day so I would be ready to run at night (which means I ate the right things at the right times) and the workout went without a hitch. 

Seven 1-mile repeats at 5:52 with eighth-mile recoveries at 10:00. Faster than my previous my repeats, with less recovery, too. I think that the fact that it went well means I'm getting stronger.  

Six miles. Late at night. 

I wanted to get off the night schedule, but because I ran so late last night there was no way I would have been ready for an early morning run today. So I went out around 11:00 with Elliott in the jog stroller. It was a little tricky, since I was running intervals, but she loved it so it was worth the hassle. Besides, I've missed my runs with her.

Thirty minutes of 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off. It wasn't perfect because of the realities of navigating the River Trail with a stroller, but it was close enough that I'll count it as a complete workout,  

This week up until now has left me pretty sore, so I wasn't looking forward to a longer run this morning. That's why I slept in a little bit. Once I got out, things weren't that bad, even though it was a bit colder than I had anticipated. 

Tomorrow is a rest day. I'm looking forward to it.  

Rest day!

This one didn't go as planned. 

 I headed out around 7:30, which seems to be the perfect time to run right now, and headed up the River Trail to Provo Canyon. The plan called for 17 miles, with four miles at goal pace. I decided to throw those in early in the second half of the run, so I wouldn't have to worry about them at the end and so I could practice running hard on a slight decline (I hear there's a bit of that at Ogden). The first three fast miles went fine (6:14, 6:16, 6:04), but a little more than a quarter of the way into the final miles I felt a rumble just below my tummy. I was able to find a relatively discreet spot in the office parks north of Riverwoods, but I was a little rattled because it's been a while since I've had an, ahem, "intestinal malfunction" while running, and because my rhythm had been wrecked. I got back on the trail and jogged the rest of the mile and then ran one more fast mile (5:55) before settling in for a steady cruise back home. 

Unfortunately, the last fast mile gave me a terrible side stitch, which, on top of the earlier incident, killed what was left of my running mojo for the day. So I took a shorter route back home and finished with 16 miles instead of 17. But when I got home Catherine and Elliott were out on their own run with some friends, so I turned right around, and slogged through the last mile in our neighborhood.

So, in the end I did all the running I needed to, just not quite the way I had planned to. On the plus side, the whole run took just a couple minutes over 2 hours, even with all the stops, so I think I'm in reasonable shape, especially compared to where I have been for the last few years. 

Since Saturday, my left foot has been hurting. The pain is on the left side of my arch under the foot. I've been afraid that it's an injury, but I decided to test it out today, anyway. There was some pain as I started, but it went away as I ran. Now that I'm done, it hurts again. Weird. I'll have to keep an eye on it this week, and I may just replace my steady runs with cross training, just to play it safe.

Four 1.5 mile repeats at 5:52 with quarter-mile recoveries at 10:00. Short warm up and even shorter cool down.  

My foot was more sore when I woke up this morning than it was before I ran last night, but it felt much better by the end of the day. Even so, I thought it was best not to run tonight, so I spend the time I would have spent running six miles on the stair stepper. 

The weather isn't nearly as nice today as it was yesterday, but it was still good enough for me to bundle Elliott up and take her for a run with me. We went out onto the River Trail, heading west, where we did 20 minutes at 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off. It's harder with a stroller, but it's fun to have Elliott with me. 

Today I had a hard time deciding whether I should actually run or just take another day on the stair machine to make sure my foot has healed. I decided to cross train, mostly because the weather wasn't appealing at either of the times I could go run. That's right--things warm up for a week and already I call a day like today too cold. 

Four miles easy. No pain in my foot. 

I went to the gym later than usual this morning and was surprised to see how crowded it was. Maybe it was because of the snow, but here were so many people that none of the new treadmills were open. Luckily, the old treadmill I ended up on worked fine. It had a little TV, too, so I was able to watch Michigan dismantle VCU as I ran.

Today's workout was 9 miles at my goal marathon pace, which is 6:18 right now. It felt reasonably mellow at first, but for the last couple of miles I just wanted to stop. It definitely raised some doubts as to whether I can do that for 26 miles. Of course, I still have 8 weeks to train. And I'll be better rested for the race. And I'll be running outside rather than in a hot, sweaty gym. So I guess today's run doesn't say much about what I will (or won't) do in May.

In a word, meh.

I just felt off this evening. I was supposed to warm up for a mile before running six miles at goal pace and another two at 10k pace. But after the first fast mile I could tell that wasn't going to happen. I ended up running three miles at goal pace and one at 10k pace. then I dinked around for a bit less than 20 minutes: five minutes hiking on the 30 percent grade, 10 minutes running easy on the flat, and then a half mile at 10k pace.

In the end, it wasn't a great workout, but it wasn't a total waste of time, either. I guess that happens on occasion.

Easy miles.

Today's workout was supposed to be three miles up a gradual hill at goal pace, then back down at goal pace. I figured I would go up at three percent on the treadmill and back down at three percent, because the newer treadmills at the gym go down that far. But the first one I was on shut off suddenly after half a mile, and the next four I tried were broken (sticky and lurching). Way to go with the maintenance, Gold's.

I ended up doing three miles at three percent on an old treadmill, but instead of running down I ran a little bit slower on the flat.

We had In 'n Out for dinner tonight, so I didn't feel great while I was running, if you know what I mean. But my legs did okay.

I didn't have time to run at night today, so I decided to sneak out between classes for nine miles on the Rive Trail. It was a beautiful day, and it was great to be outside running while the sun was out. 

Rest day. 

Well, this was my longest run in who knows how long. I know I ran farther on my birthday last year. I don' think I've gone long since, though, so I guess it's been more than a year. 

Anyways, I didn't get out until past 11:00, because I stayed home while Catherine went running in teh morning, and then my parents (who are in town for the weekend) came by with my sister and our nephew, so I hung around to visit with them and watch the babies play.

Anyway, my schedule called for 19 miles, with 6 at goal pace. I ran 4 at goal pace. It was mostly a good run, except I started to feel off at mile 16 and at mile 17 I imploded. I guess it makes sense, since I ran the whole thing without any water or calories, and I skipped breakfast this morning. You can only go so far without a bonk.

Also, for all you locals, was today a beautiful day or what?