Of Mice and Marathons

Newtone - 6.93 miles easy. Yep. 6.93.

No run again today. -13 with a -40 wind chill. I think that crosses the threshold. Gym was closed.

Need to get in shape. Starting to think Boston might be a training run and run Sugarloaf again.

I shaved my beard and gained 5 more lbs.

In cheerier news, I offer the key to a successful smoothie. An avocado.

Some strength work later. Might run in circles in the basement. I once heard that Nelson Mandela used to run the equivalent of 5 miles in his cell. I guess the rest of us can work around our own obstacles.

PM: 40 minutes of jogging in circles in the basement, drills, weights, planks. About an 65 minutes total. Managed to average 149 BMP, which is testament to neither the speed of the jogging nor the size of my basement. Still, 40 minutes of aerobic jogging is better than crying into this giant salad topped with smoked salmon.

Noon: Newtone - 9.5 miles. 2 up, 4 @ high AT, 3.5 down.

I brought my waterproof iPod back to life last night. I dunked it in water. Huh. Who knew?

Evening: 25-30 minutes of stretching, hips, and glutes. I generally don't put down my strength training stuff on my entries, but I also don't track it anywhere else.

Newtone - 7.4 miles easy

Got a secondary hip and quad workout walking back in the snow. Sidewalks are impossible.

PM: Core work and stretching

Newtone - 7.75 miles. Felt good. Well, that is until I was leaving and saw a very pregnant woman spotting some bro lifting with an extremely arch and jerky back.

Evening: Hips and basic stretching. Myrtle turtle.

North side - 7.25 land miles, averaged 7:48.

Felt like a runner today for the first time since October 25. Slushy, 40 degrees. Raining the last 2 miles.

Evening: core and stretching

Jefferson High School - 8 miles, averaged 7:41. Set of pushups before and after.

Did a WHATEVER Fartlek (what the Fartlek?). I guess it's a traditional fartlek where you run random distances and paces as the mood strikes you. Threw in some strides too. 1 x Riley stide at 4:24 pace. According to the very reliableness of the Garmin at distances that short I broke 4:00 peak pace for the first time ever @ 3:52. In any event I felt in control keeping my feet under me.

Might be time to give my training parter Brandon a call. I think if he doesn't run 6:40s out of the gate I can hang on until my fitness improves and weight drops.

Campus loop - 10 miles, no watch. Pace was probably 8:15-8:25. Ran with Brandon and Jim did a few miles with us. Very icy in spots. Good to get in a run in the morning for the first time in a while.

Vinton Woods - 9 miles, averaged 7:26. Did some faster miles (3, 5, 7). Got a bit too proud and blew the start of a baby builder and just kind of resigned myself to the fact that I am overweight and out of shape, but that running a few faster miles even with super long recoveries would be okay for now. Mile 3=6:41, Mile 5=6:36, Mile 7=6:17 (about 76 feet of drop). Did a few strides in the last mile.

Evening: 30 minutes of core and stretching. The giant blood blister on the right ball of my foot feels like it has a headache.

Newtone - 8 miles easy

Newtone - 8 miles easy

Late: Pre-LOST rewatch, post-cookbook perusal: 30 minutes of core and stretching. Impending cold me thinks. I made it about 375 days.

After reading about Scott Wietecha's diet today I was happy to find this on my door step. I need some low-sodium meals after ODing on smoked salmon the last few days...some other "dietary" stuff to work out as well.

Newtone - 5.6 miles.

The cold has hit me. Combine that with sub-1500 calories yesterday and you aren't worth a hoot. Felt pretty awful yesterday after walking home in the cold without my hat so my appetite was 0.

This one is for Rob and others who like insane core workouts. That is an amazing mid-section:

Still a bit sick, so a day off.

Scott W. to Newton? I confess I spent some time looking at his gear recently and saw some Distance and MV3 and kind of had an idea. I think the flats are tough to beat. Newton spilled the beans on FB.

AM: final day of the week weigh in. A sensible 1.75 lbs from last Saturday. Weighed Oliver as well. He's running a bit high at 12.6. If he is ever to fight in the 12 lb alley cat division we need to work on his diet and get him some outside experience (highly supervised of course).

If folks are having trouble with runner tracking search for Houston, log out and then log back in and you should get the search function to work. Otherwise it will tell you a runner is not found when the spelling is correct.

I am sure there are plenty of people I am missing but I tracked Cabada, Wietecha, Jake, Riley, and Joe. Happy to pretend to do work tomorrow morning and track others.

PM: Newtone - 9.15 miles.

Got a pair of Mushas for a decent price. Haven't found anything suitable for the treadmill other than my A5s and I don't run in the same shoe two runs in a row. On first test, this is a GREAT shoe. Much higher heel than I am used to, but I barely noticed it.

Purdue Co-Rec - 6.75 miles easy. Brandon, Jim, and I did a "group" treadmill run.

I ran on a Woodway treadmill and fell in love with a machine, yes, it's true. It's like running on a tank track but the stability and feel is amazing. I just need to figure out how to 1) get a living space big enough for one 2) be able to afford one.

I should be going to Purdue instead of Newtone for the cost (I've already paid) but I don't like to wait and I don't like to run into people I know (love my students but not when I am sweating in split shorts), such is why I am at my gym. I think Saturday mornings or early Monday mornings might be good. I've gotten soft this winter with my nice warm gyms.

Hanging out with Jim and Brandon later. Trying to keep my calories sensible.

Newtone - 7.5 miles easy. After running at Purdue my gym feels very inadequate. Need to try to get up around 5:30 get the bus to Purdue at 6:30 and begin running around 7:00 and I think I can avoid the crowds.

Evening: 35 minutes of core and stretching

Just as I was leaving for campus I got a message about a shooting at Purdue. Decided to stay home even though they have a suspect in custody. Some sort of running meditation a bit later.

Afternoon: Newtone - 9.4 miles

Evening: 30 minutes of stretching + hips and glutes exercises

Newtone - 9.5 miles

Evening - 30 minutes of core and stretching

Newtone - 9.6 miles easy with 5 minutes @ 9.2-9.3. I'm too lazy to figure out the math to add it as a faster partial mile.

The blister on my foot has given birth to an angry child.

Purdue Co Rec - 14 miles easy (fat kid birthday run pace of 2 hours). Lots of work to do, but I am feeling good and more than pleased to be able to run.

Started my run before Jim and Brandon got there. Got a locker, so I guess I need to phase out my Newtone membership but I may Krong it a bit an log some hot tub time.

Newtone - 8.4 miles easy

Another 1.5 lbs this week. 8 more to go until I get back to fall racing weight. 12 lbs to the Bam + 40 goal, and so on.

Evening: 30 minutes of stretching + hips and glutes

Newtone - 7.25 miles easy

Allowed myself a glass of chocolate milk for the first time in probably 2 years. I forget how magical a substance that stuff is.

Purdue Co-Rec - 9.5 miles. Ho hum; unward and upward.

Ran into Brandon who was looking spiffy. I'm lucky to put pants on since I am not teaching this semester. My only complaint about the Co-Rec (other than them not giving me a Woodway treadmill) is no towel service. Easy enough to bring one I guess.

Night: 35 minutes of stretching, rolling, and core.

At this point last year I was 165lbs. A bit of work to do to get back to and below that.

Purdue Co-Rec - 9.5 miles

First race of the season on Saturday. I've done 0 workouts at 5k pace, so it should be interesting. I hope to at least break 20 minutes or I will be very sad. Trying to treat all races other than my half tuneup as workouts and fitness indicators. No expected or guaranteed PRs this spring season. I'll take 1.

Purdue Co-Rec - 14.25 miles

Resting heart rate was 44 this morning, which is about normal. Not sure how off it got during my down time, but a return to the low 40s looks good on paper. I think when I was still smoking and I started running it was about 60.

Evening: 40 minutes of stretching, core, hips, and glutes

Purdue Co-Rec - 7.5 miles easy w/ 6 x 240m on/off. Nothing fast just faster than my usual 8:20 pace. 5:40 felt really good. Cut it down to 5:06 pace. Fairly standard 25 pushups before and after.

Not sure what the weather is going to be for Saturday morning. Wintery mix doesn't sound very good. I ran in my racing flats today to prepare for the race, but I think I will also bring snow shoes and ice skates. On further suggestion, I whipped up these. I've fallen so deeply in love with the treadmill I forgot I am actually am a road runner.

Purdue Co-Rec - 6 miles.

Did ~250 meters at 5:45. I have no delusions that I can run that right now even on dry ground but I wanted to keep my legs stretched out. Did ~150 meters as fast as the treadmill would go (sadly 12.5 MPH). 28 pushups before, 26 after.

Pretty good month for coming off a 70 mile month and a 150ish month. Did 285 miles last January with two rest days). Did 300 miles last year in February (no rest days) and I would like to do at least that this year. Trying to stick with long singles but if my weight doesn't get where I need it to be I will do 5-7 in the afternoon 3 or so days a week, retaining the longer morning run of 70-90 minutes.

I need to work on my max efforts as Coach Bam has been telling me for a year and a half. I will work those in over this next 2-4 week cycle. Well, not sure if it is a cycle but it is the next 2-4 weeks of "let's see what happens" kind of training.