Of Mice and Marathons

Nothing.

Lunch: 7.5 miles

Nothing. Travel day and I didn't feel like running on the treadmill.

PM: 11+ miles easy. Accidentaly turned my GPS off but the watch was within ~.4

Cold, windy, but sunny. Back in Philadelphia. Time to get my head on straight (pretty typical holiday nonsense for me).

PM: 11.3 miles

PM: Flourtown Tempo Loop - 14 miles, averaged 7:11

Did an impromptu aerobic builder. Felt pretty decent overall even with this crappy cold.

Warmed up a bit over 3 miles then did 8 miles steady in 52:04 (6:30 average)

6:31, 6:29, 6:26, 6:30, 6:31, 6:30, 6:35, 6:28

Cooled down to 14 miles.

A little tired in the last two tempo miles but the cold is draining me and I am still deydrated from the holidays. It was nice to run somewhat fast. Very hungry and thirsty when I got back.

PM: 10.3 miles easy.

As I was working on my syllabi last night (avoiding them), I remembered that I didn't do an end of year recap. It's mostly numbers and random, unconnected thoughts.

Total Miles: 3948 (a PR by 300+ miles)

Hours: 544:45 (from Strava)

Avg pace: 8:18

Easy/Quality: 89%/11%

Races: 18 (a PR)

5 PRs (mile, 5k, 10k, half, marathon). Some 10 mile and 15k PRs enroute but no actual splits I don't think.

I had some really good workouts as well. I was able to get 6 mile repeats under 5:40 pace (I think my best was maybe 5:45 before that). I was able to get my 8-10 mile tempos under 6:20 pace for the first time ever. I logged more miles with Megan, and spent a lot more time on the trails. I've also run with more people than I ever have. I need to do that more.

Goals for 2016? Set PRs at all distances maybe. Try to maintain the balance of fun/drive in running that helps me in other areas of my life without being too running focused. Try not to buy too many shoes :-)

Cheers.

Off.

My cold I've had for almost two weeks went south. I always run when I am sick, but I think it is hurting me in this case. So much for getting any sense of fitness in January. Looking like Broad Street might be my key race. I am not planning on racing that much due to financial and time constraints but I'd like something to look forward to.

PM: 7.25 miles. It felt terrible. Probably going to take another 2-3 days off.

Off. Sick.

PM: 10 miles slow.

Pre-bed: stretching

PM: 11.3 miles.

Lunch: 10.25 miles slow. Still do not feel great.

PM: 4 miles on the treadmill. Did some stretching, light weights, pushups and situps

I was going to cross train because I am mostly doing long singles this spring, but the ellipticals were all taken up and I didn't feel like biking. They were all taken and all three treadmills were open. Figured I would just run.

Great first day of teaching. However, I don't meet with them again until next Wednesday and La Salle doesn't start until Tuesday. Nothing like starting in the middle of the week with a Monday holiday the next week. My classroom is really nice. It's in this building.

AM/Lunch: 10.5 miles easy. Did a few strides. Finished up with 10 x 10 second hill sprints (which I am counting in my mileage)

Still pretty sluggish but I am getting there. Had an unleashed German Shepherd come after me a little bit. She was definitely barking and not far from jumping/biting. I gave those two folks some words of advice. I don't think they expected me to freak out and were set aback and completely unapologetic. I run in the park to avoid idiots, not to seek them out.

Pre-bed: Stretching and pushups

Lunch: 12 miles total. 40 minute fartlek with 28 minutes up and 26 minutes down

20 x 1 minute hard/1 minute easy

When I checked the split times after they varied a lot, which makes sense on rolling dirt with tree cover. My sense was that I was moving around 5:25-5:35 but with the short time and tree cover the lap time and moving time was off by as much as 4 seconds. Reflected pace was just under 6:00 to start and as fast as 5:25, but my avg moving pace was 5:15-5:45. That sounds about right. It is a much harder workout than I thought. Felt good about it as I get my mileage up, recover from the plague, and get into some faster stuff.

I could have done this one the track and done 400s and probably got through it will sensible pacing but I am going to stick with old school fartleks as long as the snow continues to hold off. 50 degrees today.

PM: 7.25 miles slow.

PM: 15.3 miles quite easy.

A light dusting of snow for the first snow of the season. Mostly just wet and muddy. Forbidden Drive was a Zoo. At one point there were 8 Huskies blocking the trail. Two different sets of owners. They could have harnessed a full team.

+ stretching and psuhups (pre-bed)

PM: 10.3 miles slow. HR 136.

Starting tracking HR again as me mum got me an early birthday present. It's a simple optical monitor that replaces the chest strap (mine is fried I think). I couldn't think of anything I wanted but I looked at one of these last fall but decided I I didn't need it. Mom insisted on getting me something.

It was cold outside and the wind was bitter cold.

+ stretching, light core, and pushups (before bed)

AM: 10.3 miles. HR 145. Did some strides. RHR 41.

First day in tights. Around 16 degrees with 15MPH winds. Cold, but doable. Snow looks like it is coming in for Saturday. A storm on the weekend day and a day before my birthday. #thanksobama Long run will be tough if we get what they are calling for and a foot of snow will mess up Forbidden Drive probably for the rest of winter, so it looks like my last farlek down there tomorrow. 3 x 8 minutes around 10k-15k pace I think with some faster, short intervals tacked on unless someone wants to throw me one of their favorites and I'll do that.

AM/Lunch: 13 miles with a fartlek of 42:30. 29 minutes up/30 down

6 x 5 minutes with 2:30 recovery jogs.

Averaged between 5:44-6:00 depending on the terrain. Felt okay. The effort was hard to maintain on the last one. Decent LT session to get things rolling. HR monitor is already wonky.

+ Stretching, light core, hip routine, pushups (late)

AM: 10 miles slow. 

Lunch: 11.25 miles. HR 148. Did a few strides then did 10 x 10 second hill sprints.

A major storm coming through. Stay safe folks.

PM: 8.4 miles in the blizzard. HR 149.

We already had around 17 inches of snow when I went out and the worst of the storm is just arriving. The roads in Chestnut Hill were awful but I went over into Wyndmoor and the roads were pretty decent. Apparently the suburbs know how to maintain roads despite a @5 drop in taxes wihout the city tax. I stopped to help push a guy out of a 7-11 parking lot. He was going home to South Philly with bald tires. People were out walking their dogs and one guy was cross country skiing.

Looks like a birthday long run on the treadmill tomorrow. #ohjoy

PM: Treadmill - 16.5 miles in 2 hours.

I didn't feel like running in circles at 9:00 pace for two hours in the snow so I settled on something almost as mindless. I turned 31 today. Still young I guess but already plenty cynical and world-weary.

I ended up going very easy to start but finished decently. The last 10 minutes were definitely faster than aerobic threshold. About half marathon effort.

First hour

20 minutes each @ 7, 7.5, 8

Second hour

20 minutes each @ 8.5, 9

10 minutes each @ 9.5, 10

PM: Treadmill - 10.2 miles easy in 90 minutes. Did some strides in the last 10 minutes.

AM: 6.5 easy. Ran out of time. Treadmill at 9:30 tonight? Maybe.

PM: Treadmill - 5 miles. Did 5 x 1 minute pickups. Set of weights and stretching after.

PM: Treadmill - 65 minutes. 7-mile steady state tempo. HR 162. 15 minute warmup, about ~41 minutes very steady, cool down

The 41 minutes equated to 7 treadmill miles starting at 10.0 increasing .1 every mile until 10.6. Ended up with a heart rate not far off from some aerobic builders but the last 2-3 miles were 175-179, which is fairly solidly in the LT zone in my experience. Lower 180s tend to be 5k effort for me. It took some concentration but I was able to stay fairly relaxed. Hoping to get a fitness boost from this. I was working hard in the last 3-4 minutes. Definitely the fastest and longest I've run on this particular machine.

If nothing else, this worked as a good destresser. Anxiety and stress is at an all-time high.

My recommended reading for the day. From allie's blog.

PM: 10 miles nice and slow (9:30 pace). HR 136.

It got pretty dark and I dodged snowbanks and cars here and there.

PM: 11 miles moderate to uptempo on a hilly route - averaged 7:37. HR 155.

Did 10 x 10-15 second hill sprints after.

I felt good. Best I've felt all year I think.

PM: 10.25 miles. HR 139.

Lunch/PM: Flourtown Tempo Loop - averaged 7:43. HR 155.

4.5 up/4.5 down.

8-mile aerobic builder in a bit over 53 minutes (6:37 average). HR 166.

6:41 (162), 6:41 (165), 6:42 (166), 6:37 (167), 6:35 (167), 6:36 (168), 6:36 (167), 6:29 (169)

A beautiful day, sunny and around 50 degrees. Tempo was quite slow and I felt like I had zero turnover and my feet felt like they were jackhammering the pavement. I like to get around 6:30 or under for these but I just couldn't move my legs. It's a start.