Boston, here I come?

I had another faster-than-expected run today, given the odd sleep schedule I'm keeping this week.  After a 7:14 opening mile (which felt faster), I went 6:52, 6:52, 6:51, 6:57, while keeping my average heart rate at 159 bpm.  It was evening by the time I got to the run, and the cool air really felt nice.  I'm really just doing what I can this week until we bring the baby home, then maybe I'll get to resume a schedule.

This was easily my favorite run of the year, if not ever.  We had a plan to go to the hospital at 8:30 to bring little Ryan home, so I set my alarm for 4:40 to get a good long run in, and figured the adrenaline would get me through it.  It definitely worked out, I kept a nice steady pace, finishing at 7:13/mile and feeling good.  Then after a quick shower and snack, we picked up our son and brought him home!  What a great day :)

This was not a fun run.  I must've not eaten enough between yesterday's long run and today (although it sure seemed like I did), and I felt very rubbery and strange during the 4 miles.  I actually tried to cut it a bit short, but the road I turned down didn't go back the way I wanted, so I was stuck with the whole distance.  I don't worry about these runs much, as long as they're isolated incidents..but they're still not fun.  I wound up pacing 7:32/mile, but it felt much worse than that.

13 weeks down, 5 to go! 

Objective: 5 mile easy run

I'm going to try to get back on the training schedule this week, let's see how it goes.  Today's run was more normal than yesterday's, although it was hotter than when I usually hit the street.  I kept it easy, and paced 7:16/mile for the run, keeping my heart rate in the 150's most of the way.  Hopefully I can finish up the scheduled runs without too much interruption, but I'm not in charge of that anymore :) 

Objective: 6 mile run

I decided to turn this into a pace run, as I snuck out while the baby was sleeping and didn't want to miss too much waking time.  The run turned out well, after a 7:13 opening mile the rest were between 6:52 and 7:00 and I felt pretty strong.  My legs have felt great recently, so I think the rest I got a couple of weeks ago really helped..I just hope they can feel great for 26.2 miles! 

Objective: 5 easy miles

It's a good thing I wasn't meant to go faster today, because I opted to run just before noon...and it's a hot one here in LA.  I didn't push it at all, and wound up at 7:21/mile, with consistent splits.  I got back to find the wife and baby still as asleep as when I left them, which made me very happy to see! 

Objective: 45 minute tempo run

I hit my tempo goal pretty well in the afternoon head today, pacing 7:46, then 6:50 for 11:30 stretches, and 7:45, then 7:05 for 10 minute stretches before a slow 4 minute finishing leg.  The heat made it tougher than usual, and I was careful not to overdo it even during the faster stretches.  Overall pace for the run was 7:23/mile.

around college 

Objective: 6 mile run

I did the same loop as Thursday's tempo run, but picked up the pace overall, finishing with a 6:58/mile average despite a 7:15 opening mile.  It was much cooler today, which made the run a lot easier, and the day off yesterday left my legs feeling very fresh.  It does seem like hitting these numbers is harder than it was a couple of months ago..I am getting less sleep with the baby of course, and hopefully that's the only reason.  Of course he's not going anywhere before the marathon so I'd better get it figured out! 

around college 

Objective: 12 mile run

Today's run was tougher than I hoped it would be, I think due to a mid-run pit stop which made my stomach feel better but didn't make the rest of my upper body feel very good.  Legs felt great, and I ran a nice steady pace, averaging 7:20/mile for the duration.  With the baby, these Sunday runs simply have to be done very early in the morning, luckily my wife is leaving me alone for most of the middle-of-the-night activity.  Big week coming up with about 55 miles scheduled, this is going to be quite a test.

14 weeks down, 4 to go!

Objective: 5 mile easy run

My early weekday morning runs began today and the first one went very well.  Today wasn't much earlier than in the past (out the door at 6:15 instead of 6:45ish), but tomorrow will be much earlier with a longer run in store.  I paced 7:06/mile for the run and felt just fine doing it..that's faster than I usually go for these easy runs but the effort level was pretty low. 

Objective: 10 mile run

The final double digit mile weekday run kicked off bright and early, at 5:45 AM, and went really well with an overall 7:14/mile pace.  I was up for an hour during the night with a gassy baby, but it didn't seem to affect me too much.  Mile 6 was a bit slower than the rest..there's a good hill at that point, but I felt like I was dragging a bit as well.  Luckily that cleared up and I finished strong and felt great at the end.

Objective: 5 mile run

Pretty typical morning run, with a 7:24/mile average.  I almost wasn't able to get out early enough due to a fussy baby, but luckily he calmed down and I got the run in and laundry done before heading out for work.  My legs felt great and I had plenty of energy, but wanted to be sure to take it easy on this run with intervals coming up tomorrow night. 

Objective: 8 x 800 repeats (3:00 per interval)

This run was supposed to be done yesterday, but a cranky stomach got in the way of that.  So I did it tonight, after walking to the park with my wife and baby, and they patiently waited for all of the running to be over with.

In the first fast interval today I finally got under 3:00 with a 2:56, which was a 5:27/mile pace thanks to the slightly longer than 400m laps.  From there I was back to normal, going 3:04, 3:13, 3:17, 3:17, 3:17, 3:14, 3:16 (5:36/mile up to 6:19/mile)..very consistent although not as fast as I would have liked to have gone.  I didn't feel like I went as hard as I could, as I wasn't wiped out afterwards like I usually am, but I didn't feel like I could have been going too much faster.  In reality, these times are fine, as they are right at my 5K pace..so there's really nothing to worry about.

Objective: 10 mile pace run

I intentionally shortened today's run, with week 11's bad finish fresh in my mind.  Going 10 and then 20 in consecutive days was too much for me then, and I don't want to risk it being too much for me again.  So I set out for 5 miles, trying to get faster with each one, and managed to do that (7:17, 7:10, 7:06, 7:03, 6:35), while finishing right at my race pace overall.  Big day tomorrow, gotta get up nice and early to get all 20 miles in! 

Objective: 20 mile run

I did nothing - didn't think last night got as late and whiskey-heavy as it did.  Great job on my part. 

Objective: Make up for yesterday

While being mad at myself for screwing up the last shot at a 20 miler yesterday, I determined I would wake up very early and do the run this morning.  The baby complied by going to sleep early, and I was in bed around 9 last night to wake up at 4 this morning and get the run finished around 7.  I got out of bed on time, got out the door on time, ran a steady and easy pace until passing my condo at the 9.5 mile mark...and my stomach threatened to blow up.  It didn't feel perfect during the run but I was really hoping it would hang on..I actually passed by home, thinking that I'd be okay to continue.  However, after a few steps I realized what a terrible decision that would be and I headed up the driveway instead.  I got home at 6 AM, with a 7:26/mile, halfway completed run behind me and an undeserved taper ahead.  

In the afternoon, I had to take my car into the shop for some body work.  I decided to use this opportunity to get a few more miles in, and spare my wife for having to come pick me up from work in the evening.  My stomach was still not 100%, but it survived the almost-5 mile, mostly downhill run home, which I did at a very good and surprising 6:35/mile pace (6:34, 6:46, 6:32, 6:32 full miles).  So instead of doing a 20 mile run, I did two shorter runs..I'm still not happy with this but it's better than just skipping it all together.

Objective: 8 mile run

Another early morning was in store to get this run in, which luckily came after another early bedtime for the family.  Other than some fatigue in the legs after yesterday's split workout, the run was unremarkable, with a 7:20/mile finishing time and all miles in the 7:12-7:30 range.  I figure if I'm not going to do a 20 miler (although I did one in May, and a 19 mile run in August), I'll have to get some "tired legs" running in somehow, so that's what the rest of this week will be used for.

Pico and back 

Objective: 5 easy miles

This run was scheduled for yesterday, but a fussy baby interfered - so that became this week's day off instead of Friday.  He slept a lot better last night, so I was able to get out and run this morning, keeping a fairly steady and easy 7:15/mile pace throughout the run.  My stomach is slowly recovering from whatever tried to kill it on Monday, and hopefully it survives the final 2 1/2 week push to the marathon. 

Objective: 6x hills

I left the weight vest at home, as I did the hill run in the morning.  The run went well, with each uphill right around 3:00 (for a .37 mile incline), and an overall 7:46/mile pace (which really doesn't mean anything, but I still like to include it).  I'm glad that this was my last hill run of the training schedule, but was also glad to do it and feel good at the same time. 

Objective: 4 mile race pace run

My plan was to achieve my 7:00 race pace goal by doing the miles in 7:15, 7:05, 6:55 and 6:45.  I came close, going 7:18, 6:52, 6:58, 6:42, and most importantly, felt pretty good doing it.  The other part of the plan was to not feel overextended while speeding up, and that worked out well too.  In these final couple of weeks before the race, I'm trying to focus on "easy speed," picking up the pace but not working too hard. 

Objective: 12 mile run

Today was one of the best runs I've had during this training schedule.  I did the very hard golf course loop, which I consider a fast run if I break 90 minutes - today I was home in 85:52, and felt great doing it.  I wasn't trying to go fast in the first 2/3 of the run, but did want to speed up in the last portion - that worked out, with miles of 6:52, 6:50, 6:47, 6:40 to finish the run, and an overall 7:03/mile pace.  I definitely could have gone a few miles more at around a 6:45 pace, but I know better than to overdo it this close to the marathon so I'll settle for the confidence-boosting run that it turned out to be.

Around golf course 

Objective: 4 easy miles

I was a bit more stiff than I thought I would be from yesterday's run, but wasn't concerned about it at all..just got up early (although not as early as the last couple of weeks) and let my body wake up during the run.  I finished at exactly 30:00, for a 7:30/mile pace, which was a great place to end up after a 7:52 opening mile.  I may take an extra day off this week, but we'll see how it goes - I'm feeling good, and want to be sure this feeling lasts for the next 2 weeks. 

Objective: 6 mile race pace run

I've been doing these faster runs in the evening to meet my time goals, but did this one in the morning to make the day easier.  I knew after a couple miles that I wouldn't get down to 7:00/mile for the whole run, so instead just kept in the 7:15 range until the final mile, when I turned it up to get to 6:50.  Yesterday was a good day off, I woke up planning to run but didn't feel quite right and the baby was being fussy anyway..my legs enjoyed the extra rest so it all worked out. 

Objective: 30 minute tempo run

I hit my pace goals in today's run, starting slow with a 7:54, then a 6:46/mile pace for the middle 2.43, and finishing with a slower 7:31 mile.  It's always tougher to go fast in the morning, but now that I can see the finish line of the training schedule I'm not too concerned with getting tired or feeling slow so early in the day.  Getting closer and closer to leaving for NY for the marathon!