Of Mice and Marathons

AM: Flourtown Tempo Loop - 10 miles, averaged 7:32. Stretching and core.

Sharpening Workout of 5 x 1000+ with 2:00 recovery jogs

Warmed up a little over 3 and went straight into the workout. There was a bit of construction so I played nice and jumped on the sidewalk in places. Goal was to get down to low 17-minute 5k pace or under. Couldn't quite get there today but I got a little bit of faster work in. Probably ran too hard given the effort output and could have lengthened the rests just to get the pace in. Plan is to taper a bit. Yep, tapering for a 5k.

Averaged 5:42 pace for the 1000s. Jogs were 9-9:30

AM: 6.25 miles easy.

PM: 4 miles. Core and stretching that I didn'y end up doing earlier.

Feeling very run down. Not just training tired. Likely stress, but I'm going to mark it here in case I need to refer to it in the future.

AM: 4 miles. Did a few strides. Core and stretching at the gym after.

Looks like tomorrow will be warm and windy (it's been warm the last two days here). 20 MPH winds. Hoping it's a tailwind, but I can't get a map even though the course is supposedly certified. Plan is to run as hard as I can and go for the win. It's at the zoo, so maybe first place gets a monkey.

AM: Philly Rabbit 5k in 17:26 (short course).

What a cluster of a race. Just terribly organized. Megan and I got there are around 7:20 and there was a line of at least 100 people. I had her hold our place and warmed up a bit but I was nervous they would start without everyone getting bibs. I didn't get a sufficient warmup. Only 2 miles. Got my bib just before 8:00 when the race was supposed to start. They extended the start time so I changed into my flats and continued to warm up and do some strides. The organizers kept saying they were going to start soon but it kept not starting, so I stood around for a while.

At 8:29 we got going. I started out behind a young guy who knew the course from the previous year. I stayed behind him. There were a lot of winding turns and short, sharp downhills that didn't feel great after standing around. I took the lead around three quarters of a mile and kept the lead. I kept the guy off and always felt like I had several more gears but just couldn't get the legs to move. The wind was pretty unpleasant, blowing around 20-25 MPH. Toward the end of the race I had another guy not far from me but I held him off and kicked it in. The results show a 1 second win, but this couldn't be correct. 

Time was irrelevant today. Last Sunday I ran 3 x 2.5 miles at only 3-4 seconds slower (with a bit too much wine over the weekend) than this 5k today, so I am not upset about it. Need to find a decent 5k I can compete in and run fast. I'm also going to have to do a few weeks of mile-5k stuff this summer to be respectable at Beach to Beacon.

Only cooled down 2 miles. No great place to do it. I did manage to get a $75 gift card, which I appreciated even though it was $15 to park and $15 for Megan to get into the zoo. Megan and I walked around after, which was great but very windy.

PM: Treadmill - 7 miles. Kept my compression socks on, mostly to embarrass Megan

AM: 8 miles

PM: 4 miles

Little tight in the hamstrings but nothing terrible. Seems like my post-30 inability to quickly recover continues.

Megan and I are going to a prime rib dinner tonight. We've been cutting back on our going out to eat, so I am looking forward to this. Happy Easter.

Lunch: 8 miles. Did a few strides.

PM: 4 miles

AM: Off. Came down with a little bit of a cold. It's been quite some time. I guess I was due.

PM: Impromptu Sharpening Workout - 8.5 miles on the treadmill

Decided I would do my workout today and on the treadmill, which seemed silly at first but as I got moving I realized I wouldn't be able to whine tomorrow if my pace was off and I felt sluggish tomorrow. Given that the treadmill isn't super accurate I could just come close and go by effort. I already did a big goal pace workout the weekend before last, so this was more to get the wheels turning (and they have felt pretty rusty lately).

4 x 1 mile: 5:53, 5:50, 5:46, 5:43 w/ quarter mile recovery jog, then 2 x 400 @ 5:30 pace

Felt good today. Easy double tomorrow then descending singles until Sunday's race. Bib number 24, which I think means that is my first official seed (other than Boston). Goal is not to keep a PR out of the question but I'm going to work into it I think. I am not sure I have the strength I usually do from marathon training but my fitness is decent. Got to be under 80 minutes, but I wouldn't be suprised if 78-79 is where I am at.

AM: 7.25 miles

PM: Treadmill - 5 miles. Stretching, core, and pushups. Getting pretty strong. I can knock out 35-40 before and after each of my runs. Not going to be Mr. Universe but trying to make my arms a bit leaner. Helps with arm swing and race fatigue too I think.

AM: 7 miles slow. Purposefully, but slower than I even thought.

Noon: 6 miles easy. Did some strides in the middle, mostly barefoot on the turf.

I got moving pretty good and had fun. Always feels good to run fast barefoot. I used to jog barefoot a bit in my basement and do drills. Need to do more of that.

Noon: 4.3 miles with Megan. A few pickups here and there crossing the street but nothing serious.

AM: Rutgers Unite Half Marathon in 1:20:05

I didn't deserve to run much faster but I was somewhat suprised by the lack of sub-6:00 miles given that workouts, although not great, have been solidly in the 5:5X range. Part of the problem today was a lack of a proper warmup. These days I don't run fewer than two miles before a half. Today I got in a 5 minutes. Driving to New Jersey, the shuttle, etc.

Started out fine, but felt very flat. Breathing was up and it took me a while to settle and I really didn't want to run after 2-3 miles. About 5-6 miles in a felt better and my breathing settled, but I lacked turnover. I ran behind a guy who increasingly was having a hard time. I could feel my legs waking up but still no real snap. I got passed around mile 9, but spent the final 5k reeling him back in and kicked from behind just before the 13 mile marker and handily beat himw with a 32.5 second partial (with a little bit of performance enhancing downhill).

The course was okay, aside from 3 180-degree turns and some really rough pavement.

Slowest half marathon in 2 years, but I'm fine with today. I'm going to keep pressing on.

The rich chocolatey goodness: 5:58, 6:04, 12:10 (missed), 6:04, 6:01, 6:10, 6:12, 6:04, 6:21 (not sure. bridge?), 6:07, 6:09, 6:05, 32.5 seconds (decent downhill)

Megan told me a guy ran about 4:50 pace for roughly the first 5 miles or 10k. Turns out he ran 10 miles in 46:42 or 4:40 pace. He's 45, so I'm guessing he cheated and still didn't win, running 1:27 something. Or maybe he had a funky chip. But I am guessing something is rotten in the state of New Jersey. On closer thought, he may have been the guy in the wheel chair but he has no 10k time.

3 mile cool down. Felt a little loopy.

PM: Likely no shakeout

AM: 6 miles slow. Some light hip stretching.

Feel pretty good. Quite sluggish but not too bad.

PM: 4 miles. No time for more. Less sluggish.

Megan almost beat me for mileage today. She's gearing up for Broad Street, so we will be extending our occasional outside runs with maybe some tempo minutes this weekend.

AM: 8.25 miles slow

PM: 5.75 miles slow. Stretching and core.

Slowing things down even more than my recent committment to slow down from what ends up being ~8:00-8:15 to 8:20-8:40. Today I ran 9:05 in the morning with only 1.25 miles under 9 minutes. Tonight I ran 9:20 (but over some technical trails in spots) and ran only 1.75 miles under 9 minutes. I'm hoping it burns some more lard and running is really enjoyable when you slow way down.

Observation: Strides become even more important when you run your easy runs slow as you get pretty stale.

AM/Lunch: Wissahickon Valley Trails - 10.6 mile w/ ~1200 feet of gain.

I fell of course but only once and more of a stumble if we are keeping track. That's probably it for today (100 minutes on my feet is fine for today) even though the weather is very dry and around 70 degrees and mostly sunny. Very tempted to pack on miles and see if we can get this machine looking like a runner by August 1.

Decided to race a 5k on Sunday to get the legs spinning. A few of the Wanderers are also running, so I might have some guys to latch on to, and see if we can beat up on the young guns.

AM: 8.25 miles easy. Stretching and core.

PM: 5 miles easy. Did a few strides to wake the legs up from their sleepy 9-minute pace revery.

The humidity has been in the 20-30% range in the afternoon. It's glorious. Except for the fire danger warning. It's 67-72. I could use a few weeks of this.

Lunch/PM: Wissahickon Valley Trails - 11 miles w/ 950 feet of gain

Paid some bills, felt good and bad about that, then plodded on the trails for just under two hours #notbad I jumped a deer (I was very close to it) and a few frogs. The greenery is getting green.

PM: 8 miles w/ Megan.

Just under 80 degrees with 25% humidity. I'm getting used to this. Best run of the year. Goal was to get Megan some time on her feet. She was working coming up the hill and of course I was goofing off with an old piece of bamboo pretending I was carrying a pacer's stick in between swiping at cars that might come too close to us.

Legs are feeling good after all the really easy running. 5k course tomorrow looks fast and flat. I need to make sure I get a good warmup, and not make the mistake I have the last two races.

AM: Run for Jake 5k in 16:57. A little short on the Garmin at 3.03 but still a PR given that my posted 5k is for a 3.05

Warmed up 2.8, which wasn't enough but better than I have been doing. Did a few brief strides. Weather was dry and fairly cool with some decent sun.

I found Leo and Jonathan at the start line and introduced myself (they are two of the Wissahickon Wanderers, an informal running club I am a part of).

A slight uphill start and I got through some young, overzelous high schoolers. There was a pack of 4 or 5 that I passed and we hit some slight downhills as I tried to keep Jonathan in range, knowing he is faster than I am. The course flattened out and I could see the first mile marker ticking sub-5:00 and crossed somewhere around 5:10-5:15 but it was definitely short, Garmin believer or not. Mile 1 split later at 5:22. That seemed about right.

I realized about this point I was in 3rd and feeling really good. I maintained perhaps 15-20 seconds on Jonathan. Leader was pretty much gone after the turn around, which was probably 1.5 miles. I slowed quite a bit but tried to grind it out. Two miles was under 11 minutes and 11:03 on my watch. Mile 2 5:41. There was a slight winding grade and I started to lose time. I still felt pretty good but my legs were firing on all cylinders, probably complacent 3rd place mode. Someome coming the other way shouted some encouragement. Something like "you don't even look tired!"

Crested the small hill and got a nice bit of downhill. Jonathan is lost at this point. I can see the course flatten out but can't see the finish. I should have pushed harder here. I did push but I should have sooner as I crested the hill because I had another few gears. I got a nice response from the crowd and started to dig. Saw 16:42 on the clock and immediately grabbed another gear. Mile 3: 5:45. 9 seconds for .03. On closer inspection the last ~.25 was around 5:00 flat or a bit under. I recovered pretty quickly so the effort wasn't all there but it wasn't easy.

Jonathan got me by about 30 seconds and Leo came in about 18 seconds behind me. The winner ran 15:low.

2.8 cool down with Leo and Jonathan.

I got shafted during the awards. They were supposed to award to top 3, but they only did top 2 then they didn't count me for the first age group award. I put in a mild complaint, not really caring about the medal but that's just silly logic.

PM: 5.7 easy. Stretching and core.

PM: 11 miles easy. Felt great. Humid but not too hot.

Day off. 32 days on. Would have rather run but rest is good and sensible.

(weight 173.7)

Late: Stretching and light core

AM/Lunch - Backup Tempo Loop - 15 miles, averaged 7:29

Did 10 x 1000 w/ 90 second jogs, averaged  ~3:37

Warmed up 5 miles instead of the planned 3-4 because the Flourtown tempo loop is under construction still. It was between there, Forbidden Drive (too much tree cover), and the track (too many kids more than likely). Only did a few quick strides because I wanted to get moving and I already had over 40 minutes of warmup.

First one was on the faster end of things at just under 3:33. Ended up doing fairly well. I checked in on my watch a bit but it was showing current pace, which doesn't help much for a 3:30+ interval. Where there's consistency there wasn't any looking. Go figure.

3:32.6, 3:35.3, 3:38.4, 3:37.8, 3:36.5, 3:38.3, 3:38.2, 3:38.7, 3:40.3, 3:36.3 (3:37.2 average)

2.4 cool down with a good bit of climbing, which hurt quite a bit. Tough workout but a good one.

PM:

AM: 7.25 miles easy. A little bit of hip stretching.

PM: Trails - 6.25 miles

Wisshickon Valley Trails - 12.3 miles in a bit over 2 hours with 1300+ feet of climbing

Stretching and core after some lunch.

PM: 11 miles mostly easy w/ 1 mile @ 5:46 and 4 x 200 strides in 35-36 seconds on the track at the end.

Think I paid a little tree tax (Forbidden Drive) on the mile because it felt pretty hard and faster than 5:43-5:46. Strava adjusted it to 5:26, which was very nice of them. The primary purpose was to inject a little speed into my as of late 8:40-9:30 easy pace. Running for two hours on trails will slow your foot speed down too.

Saw an honest to goodness cricket game going on across from the track. I assumed "Philadelphia Cricket Club" was a place for old men to hide from their wives so they could drink, smoke cigars, and play cards.

Core and stretching after a little lunch.

PM: 10.5 miles easy. HR 145. Enjoyable run. 60ish, partly cloudy, and dry!

Wore my heart rate monitor for curiosity. I kept the same easy pace I have been 8:30-9:00. I would have thought it would be lower but I guess the heart rate is where is should be. I need to ask the resident expert, Bret Jardine, how I am supposed to keep it adjusted. I keep having to monkey with it.

Heart rate while I was sitting at the table was 38-40, which seemed low after being up for a bit and having a ton of coffee but I checked it against the manual test and I got about 42 when it was reading 40/41.

PM: 10.5 miles easy. HR 139. 40 resting.

Had to take advantage of the Valley Green bathroom just before mile 8. Figured I would get it over with before things got ugly.

AM: 4 miles easy. HR 144. Stretching and core.

PM: Short Track Workout with Leo and Jonathan

Jonathan was doing a couple 800s since he is doing the Pittsburg Marathon. Leo was doing 6 x 800. I was doing whatever they had planned on.

I ended up doing 4 x 800 then 4 x 200. I led the third 800 and went to fast because I am an idiot. Nothing like looking like a hot shot on your first workout with a new group. Ran another one with Leo. Jonathan stopped, but jumped back in for a bit with Leo at one point while I did 4 x 200.

4 x 800 w/ 85 second rest ~2:40 (missed the first 400), 2:40, 3:36 (nice work, Jason), 2:44

85 seconds rest, then

4 x 200 with 200 jogs 33.3, 35.2, 34.2, 33.9

HR was 172-176 for the 800s, which doesn't seem high enough, but had I continued I guess it would have skyrocketed. I think I will put my pace on next time or bring my Timex.

AM/Lunch - 8 miles slow. HR 142. Core and stretching.

PM: 4.25 mile w/ Megan. HR 137 (but I was jabbering the whole time).

Enjoyed the run. Showed Megan a few neighborhoods just across the street from Philadelphia proper. 75 and 27% humidity. Loving the dry air.

AM: 8 miles. HR 156. Core and stretching.

PM: Off. Decided it was high time to start tapering off for Broad Street.