Of Mice and Marathons

Noon: 13.2 miles, averaged 7:38. HR 160.

6-Mile Aerobic Builder

6:55, 6:52, 6:45, 6:44, 6:38, 6:29 (about 6:43 average). HR 172.

30' up/30' down

Same workout as last week. Warmed up a bit faster, fast miles were faster, cool down was slower. My legs felt kind of dead as I progressed through the workout. Not sure if it was running to hard to finish yesterday's run or doing the StairMaster to warm up for weights, or just general fatigue. I think this is about 15-18 seconds faster than last week. I'll be happy when I cut off another 30 seconds or so. All in time.

Happy Easter!

PM: 7 miles, averaged 9:15. HR 135.

Skipped my morning run. Should have got out as I didn't sleep well with the extra sleep. Had a good afternoon nap, as I felt exhausted. Yesterday wore me out. Legs felt fine, just tired.

Had a not inconsiderable amount of leftover ham.

AM: 8.4 miles, averaged 7:44. HR 155.

PM: 4 miles, averaged 9:44. HR 132.

Rainy and cold this afternoon. Took it slow but felt sluggish anyway.

PM: 8.3 miles, averaged 7:48. HR 156.

It was extremely windy and snow was blowing albeit not accumulating.

I went to my first phyical in some time today at 3:00. I fasted, which wasn't as bad as I thought. Blood pressure was 110/72 and my EKG showed a heart rate of 40, which of course immediately set the doctor off. She still isn't sure about the data on the print out so she sent me to a cardiologist.

I wish I had all of my numbers from my fitness checkup at Purdue from fall 2013. I know my resting HR was 37 and my weight was 171, but I can't remember my other numbers. I do recall my good cholesterol was beyond the measurable range on the machine.

I also asked her for a physical therapy referal for my hip/psoas, which has been tight for several years. It is long overdue to be released, which will hopefully help with flexibility, efficiency, and injury prevention.

I ran immediately after the visit and actually felt decent and had a solid finish to the run. I had a few snacks and asked Megan to pick up some Buddy's pizza as I didn't feel like cooking.

PM: 12.7 miles, averaged 7:56. HR 154.

Fartlek: 8 x 3'(1')1'(3')

Recoveries were 1 minute after 3' (at 10-mile effort) and 3 minutes after the 1 minute (at 5k effort). I worked into a bit as the warmup was only 2 miles, when I typically need at least 30 minutes (3+ to 3.75 miles, sometimes more than 30' and more than 4 miles) and I didn't want to get burned, which is fairly common with the 10 rep version of this workout. It's harder than it might appear on paper, especially if you try to blast the 1' efforts.

Probably my best workout since I have started to build back up since around mid to late February. I don't think I am too far off from where I was in late November of this fall when I just started to get to the point where I could start to get to the point of getting in shape again.

Fairly cold, and a little wind. Better than yesterday's foolishness. Maybe some light snow into early next week. Bleck!

AM: 4.6 miles, averaged 9:51. HR 132.

PM: 8.5 miles, averaged 7:37. HR 157.

Steady easy to fairly moderate. 

A woman collapsed on the sidewalk and she didn't get up, so I ran over to help her. I asked if she was okay, sat her up, then pulled her up. A couple came over and asked her about her blood sugar, which was the apparent problem. They took her to get something to eat. 

PM2: 60' walking @ 15% incline on the treadmill. Did weight and core after (captain's chair and core machine). Megan did her long run. I watched a bit of an MLS soccer match

Noonish: 13.3 miles, averaged 7:32. HR 155.

40' Aerobic Builder

6:47, 6:42, 6:36, 6:33, 6:35, 6:22 (6:35 Avg. HR 169)

30' up/30' down. Covered just over 6 miles (6.07). About 8-9 seconds faster than last week and kept it below 170 avg HR. Felt pretty good. Legs started to stop firing in the last mile. Left leg does that sometimes. Could have run 5-10 seconds faster on the last mile I think. I feel less wiped out throughout the afternoon than last week.

AM: 6.7 miles, averaged 9:39. HR 127.

PM: 4 miles, averaged 9:23. HR 127.

It needs to stop snowing even if it is just flurries.

Pre-bed: AIS glutes and hamstrings

AM: 8.2 miles, averaged 7:54. HR 150.

PM: 4 miles, averaged 9:09. HR 133.

PM: 10 miles, averaged 7:23. HR 162.

20 x 1' on/off

20' warmup, 2 mile cool down, which was a bit too fast at 7:20ish and 6:50ish, but I just felt like spinning the wheels as I felt decent after the workout. The weather felt very nice, if a bit windy (about 53 degrees with a bit of sun. During the workout I felt smooth and fast, even if the paces didn't end up reflecting that.

AM: 4.5 miles, averaged 10:05. HR 130.

Ran a little bit on the kiddie trails around Spencer Park. I cannot get the correct direction on these and the arrows aren't much help as I cannot tell if the blues are all the same color or some slightly different shade. Colors plus words would make for more universal usability.

Gave a tree company a pretty wide berth by running on the lawn of an apartment complex and still almost got tagged by flying tree debris.

"Debris" is a weird word.

AM: 8 miles, averaged 8:05. HR 152. Did some strides.

Felt sluggish in the legs, which isn't bad considering I have felt pretty darn good lately. Strides felt good.

First run in the Escalantes, which I like quite well. Should be better for faster running than my other Altras. I paid pretty much full price, which I wasn't happy about. I have become the guy who won't buy them until they are online for $50 or under, as I did with my other new pair.

Noon Thirty: 8.6 miles, averaged 7:33. HR 158.

Drove to campus so I could run a few hills. Still only managed 500 feet, but that's about 50%-70% of what a typical week looks like for this area. It was rainining, cold, and very windy at times, but I had an absolute blast.

Did a campus loop (which really isn't fully loop shaped) and did a loop using the library hill that ended up being 1.25 miles total and I did 3 of those with a 4th library hill climb before going back down to the car. It was nice to run some varying terrain.

I'll try to do this once every week or two weeks I think.

PM: 13.4 miles, averaged 7:29. HR 156.

40' Aerobic Builder

6:46, 6:39, 6:34, 6:32, 6:33, 6:22 (6:35 avg)

Pretty much the same exact splits as last week but slightly higher effort (~172 HR), as the conditions were some of the worst cold weather conditions I have had in if not ever, then at least in a long time. 33 degrees and raining, which left a good bit of unfirm ice, water, and slush. It was slippery, but workable and mostly an issue on the turns. I was going to run in a pair of screw shoe flats, but I couldn't find the other shoe and my Nano Spikes haven't been tested for faster running.

Weight slowly dropping. Down about 1.4 average or so this week from last week.

AM: 6.6 miles, averaged 9:49. HR 131.

PM: 4 miles, averaged 9:20. HR 128.

It was great to see that Desi Linden won Boston today. I would love to have seen Shalane win, but Desi never gets any credit and she's a fine example of smart running in a marathon.

Most people I followed had pretty rough days, but one guy ran a sensible race and still put up a good performance, running 2:45, when his PR is 2:44. He had an incredible buildup (likely capable of running faster than 2:40). I was once faster than him and he's an example that I can still run fast if I get my self back into things.

AM: 8 miles, averaged 7:52. HR 150.

It needs to stop wintering.

PM: 4 miles, averaged 9:05. HR 135.

PM: 9.2 miles, averaged 7:40. HR 158.

20' Tempo

6:25, 6:18, 6:08 (6:02 for just over 1'): 6:16 Average 

3 up, 3 down. Weather was actually not bad. Felt pretty good overall. The last 4-5 minutes were quite tough. I didn't realize I had picked up the pace as much as I did. HR 178 for the 20', so a pretty hard effort. Workout called for 10-mile effort, which was about right for the first 7-9 minutes. I had to collect myself for 1-2 minutes before cooling down. 

Late: AIS glute and hamstring

Lunch: 4.6 miles, averaged 9:44. HR 130.

PM: 3 miles with Megan, averaged 10:19. HR 124.

We just did a short run so Megan could break in her shoes.

PM: 8.1 miles, averaged 8:26. HR 161. Did some strides.

I drove to Stony Creek and ran on the trails. It took me a little bit to find the single track, but once I did I really had fun. I haven't run any decent trails since leaving Philadelphia. I kept the effort very moderate. I fell once, but escaped with only minor scrapes. I saw several groups of deer. They clearly are used to people being around.

The $59 I spent for my combo pass will definitely be worth it, even for this park. The city of Rochester Hills wants $70 for a pass that basically covers two parks, which is ridiculous. My pass gets me into 12 or 13 Metro parks and all the county parks. Megan has a state pass, so we need to do some exploring this summer.

Lunch: 7.5 miles, averaged 9:18. HR 139.

Ran the first 3 with Megan. We are running Glass City Half tomorrow. Just a moderate run for me. I'll likely run with the 1:35 pace group and maybe work up to the 1:30 group, but I'm not interested in racing a disappointing time only to be banged up for several days when I have training to do. If I had to run all out I think 1:24-1:25 is probably my current fitness.

AM: Glass City Half Marathon in 1:27:51 as a progressive workout. HR 162.

Megan wanted to run Glass City again this year, which I was not keen on but figured I would need to do my weekend workout anyway. Decided not to run it all out as I knew I would run a disappointing time (I ran 1:20 last year off only a few weeks of consistent training). I figured I would run it as a moderately paced run and maybe pick it up toward the end. I decided to run with the 1:35 pace group to start.

I got annoyed with the pace group as it seemed to yo-yo, so I just ran my own effort and didn't take splits or pay a ton of attention to time. I picked the effort up to moderate to marathon effort from miles 4-9 then picked it up to steady state and started picking A LOT of people off. The last kilometer I picked up the pace to make some strong passes, particularly in the last third of a mile to put a long kick on the last runner I could get. Ran hard once I hit the stadium just because that's what you do.

Short warm up (1 mile) and cool down (1.6 miles) I checked my splits on Strava after. I guess 6:10 on the last mile. I was close.

Splits: 7:13, 7:03, 7:03, 6:48, 6:48, 6:48, 6:39, 6:41, 6:34, 6:20, 6:30, 6:26, 6:08, 5:38 (partial)

The course has a few more small hills this year due to course changes to avoide construction.

Lunch: 6.6 miles, averaged 9:54. HR 134.

Slow recovery. Legs were a bit heavy but felt very good overall, which means I ran the right effort yesterday. I did not want to spend 4-5 days getting the soreness out of my legs as I did last year. It was around 65 when I got out. Very nice weather.

PM: 4 miles, averaged 9:28. HR 145. 

Breathing felt very labored for some reason. Felt like an air quality warning, but there wasn't one. HR confirmed what the breathing suggested.

Lunch: 8 miles, averaged 8:06. HR 157.

Felt a little rough. Warmish out. Better the sun I got than the rain called for

PM: 4 miles, averaged 9:39. HR 136.

PM: 12 miles, averaged 7:49. HR 161.

20' Tempo + 10 x 1' On/Off

I was tempted to wait another day, but then just went with it. Warmed up 30 minutes with a few strides. I avoided the geese who have just hatched goslings in the last day or so. It was a little windy, but cooler than yesterday. I started slow and then worked my way down. I thought for sure I was slowing down in the last mile, but I was speeding up considerably. I got into the wind and the ever so slight grade change and died with 30 seconds to go. I collected myself and did my 5' jog and went into the last part of the workout. First 5 were at 10k effort and the last 5 were at 5k effort (more or less)

Splits: 6:27, 6:20, 6:09, 6:13 for the partial, 6:18 average

The 1' were roughly 5:40-5:58. Cooled down just over 2 miles. This was a fiarly difficult workout. About the same effort as last week, but with more tired legs plus the bonus part of the session.

PM: 4.5 miles, averaged 9:55. HR 133.

First few with Megan. Beautiful weather.

I've done some thinking and planning over the last few days and I'm ready to return to serious racing. I'm running Beach to Beacon in August, Detroit International Half in October, and the Houston Marathon in January. The schedule basically gives me 12 weeks between races to do 10k training, half training, and marathon training (actually maybe 13 weeks for that). I've never taken such an approach, but I think it's the right one particularly since it will take me all summer and fall to get into serious PR potential shape. I'm very excited. I'm 33 and started running late. Other than incidentals there's no reason I don't have some years ahead of me.

PM: 7.8 miles, averaged 8:24. HR 151. Did some strides.

Took it easy, but breathing felt somewhat labored. Might be the spring flora.

Late: AIS glute and hamstring 

PM: 8.8 miles, averaged 7:26. HR 159.

Drove out to Stony Creek. Rather than doing the loop I did an out and back because I wanted to make the run a bit harder and I still cannot figure out which direction is the harder way. I felt pretty blah the first two miles, but I was suprised to see low 7s after 4 miles as my legs didn't feel like they were moving that fast. My breathing was fairly moderate to uptempo, which the HR confirmed.

It was a bit cold, but that just meant the path wasn't at all busy.

Late: AIS, hip routine, and push-ups

PM: 13.7 miles, averaged 7:18. HR 164.

40' Aerobic Builder

Splits: 6:38, 6:38, 6:28, 6:33, 6:34, 6:29 (6:34 average)

Drove to Stony Creek again today. Beautiful weather and a good number of people out. Warmed up 30 minutes and went into the workout which was fairly hilly. The effort was a touch high and I found it difficult to find rhythm, probably because of all the rollers, false flats, and downs. I struggled the last two miles as my legs were feeling dead. Cooled down 30 minutes.

Felt pretty tired after. Warmed up a bit too fast and the effort was a touch too high. Significant GI distress after I got home and throughout the evening.

PM: 7.2 miles, averaged 8:59. HR 146.

We had our end-of-year conference, so I didn't have time to run. We went out for happy hour beers. I was tempted to skip my run but it was around 70 degrees, dry, and very sunny.