Of Mice and Marathons

PM: 7.25 miles. HR 150.

AM/Lunch: 5 miles. HR 152. Did some strides. Stretching.

Typical pre-race run. Legs are junk, I'm fat, nobody likes me (even the cat). Should be somewhat warm tomorrow (60 at the start) but not bad. I will have VIP bathroom and parking access, as well as my private track to warm up on (La Salle is ~1/2 mile away). Good thing too because there's no way I'm running through the neighborhood and the area around the race will be an absolute zoo.

Broad Street Run in 59:28. 2.5 up/10 mile race/2 down

WU HR 150?! (nerves? error?), Race HR 173 average, CD HR 143

I had a good race, but not a great one. I raced a bit aggressively for the first 2-3 miles then fell into 6:00 pace purgatory but I ran more or less as hard as I could. Wore my heart rate monitor, which I wouldn't normally do in a race but I was just kind of curious given that it would be a pretty solid indication of LT and I wanted some data for times I might be on the treadmill or when it is warm and I complain about pace being slow.

Megan ran well, negative splitting.

I'll post a bit more later.

Warmed up on La Salle's track, which was fairly uneven (either grooved or pitted I couldn't decide). It's only 6 lanes, so it doesn't meet the NCAA changes that were made sometime in the 80s when they went to 8 (or so a student told me). Walked about 7/10 of a mile to the start line, left Megan, did some stridesm and lined up. I was able to get pretty close to the start line.

First few miles were fast and I was feeling bullet proof. Miles 3-6 were harder than I wanted and the last 4 miles were all tough (even though gently downhill). Hit the entrance to the Navy Yard (quarter to go) and started to dig in a little bit. Started passing some guys. I heard the announcer call my name and say something about the Dodge Motor Company. I could hear a lot of encouragement from the crowd as I was passing people. Coupled with the announcers voice, I gave the crowd a few fist pumps.

The rich chocolatey goodness: 5:43, 5:40, 5:54, 5:58, 6:01, 5:58, 5:57, 6:06, 6:06, 5:51

Trying to view the race and fitness built this winter and spring as positive and as a ground for the foundation for a fast fall marathon (admittedly a bit disappointed with how it has gone). I am doing 3-4 weeks of maintenance then 8 weeks to Beach to Beacon in preparation for fall. The idea is to do some honest "speed work" (sorry, Rob, I'm not sure what else to call it) to lay that foundation.

As this week I have down on my schedule "run whatever feels right." I don't do enough of those.

AM: 8 miles easy. HR 138.

A little soreness throughout the legs, but overall they feel pretty good. No workouts for probably a week.

PM: 4.5 miles. HR 149. First mile seemed to throw the HR up for some reason.

Lower 80s and 25% humidity. Welcome to the east coast desert!

AM: 8.25 miles. HR 156 (mile 2 reading error).

PM: 4 miles w/ Megan. HR 141.

AM/Lunch: 8.75 miles. HR 155.

PM: 5.25 miles slow. HR 141.

AM: 4 miles. HR 140. Stretching and core.

Going to do an informal 3 mile trail race this afternoon. No entry fee, no bibs. I'll spend a bit of time on the trails getting there and back too.

PM: Wissahickon Wanderers Trail Race #1. 3 miler in 21:07 - 9 miles total

WU HR 15, Race HR 175, CD HR 143

Warmed up on the trails for 3 mile to commute to Valley Green. Warmish. About 80 or so. Wasn't sure if I wanted to race or just have fun. I ended up running fairly hard. Flat for ~3/10 of a mile, a decent climb, some single track, some sharp turns, and a kamakazee decent. About 200 meters of Forbidden drive. I stayed behind the lead pack and they slowly got away from me but I camped out behind a guy for a while. Sorry dude.

I hadn't been on this section so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I waited until about 2.5 miles and ran by him before the hill and bombed the descent. Sharp turn on to Forbidden Drive, and I kicked just under 250 meters out, running it in at 4:50 pace. Kicking in trail shoes. Never done that before.

Splits: 6:51, 7:49, 6:22

A better picture of the race (below)

https://www.strava.com/activities/300192997/overview

It was truly a fun race and got a little workout in even though I wasn't supposed to do anything hard until at least this weekend.

3 miles back home on the trails after standing around a little too long, but I met a few people and chatted with them.

AM: 8.25 miles easy. HR 145.

PM: 4.75 miles easy. HR 138.

My watch was busted so I picked up a new one and a new HR monitor. My old one was from my first Garmin I got in 2010. I am pretty sure my heart rate has been fairly inaccurate given how I felt during the afternoon run with the new one and the results I got. I know I'm not an Olympic athlete but I should be able to get me heart rate much lower than 140-145 for 9:30-9:40 pace.

The 620 is pretty amazing. In a lot of ways it has too much stuff, but I like to look at numbers (just not so much when I am running). I got the stupid extra warranty because if anything goes wrong I want it covered. If not, it's the last Garmin I will ever buy. Hopefuly IT IS the last Garmin I ever buy.

PM: 8 miles. HR 143.

More humid but pleasant. I think I will use the old BMX safety gear deodorant trick on my heart rate monitor to keep it from getting too stinky.

Good week. Mostly just really slow stuff, but I'm feeling good. I'll start making sure I get my 16+ mile LR from now until Beach to Beacon. I started out the year well with long runs then let the snow cause me to fall apart. I'll do a faster workout early in the week and a race on Saturday and see how I respond and adjust from there. Not sure if I will be able to handle track workouts and 80-85 but they can't be too much harder than the 80-95 with workouts I've done in the past.

PM: 16 miles slow. HR 150.

Warm, humid, and the dew point is up. My endurance is terrible. Baseline established.

AM: 8.5 miles. HR 144.

The SlowJoe numbers 76/77%/67 DP. Not terrible mind you, but I've been running in the 70s with humity between 25-40% with the dew point in the 40s.

PM: 5 miles. HR 146. Did a bunch of strides.

Late: Stretching and core that I didn't finish earlier.

AM: Wissahickon Trails - 8.5 miles. HR 141.

PM: 4.25 miles. HR 148. A little bit faster than I've been running. 7:30 last mile like a rock star. Hoping to knock out a string of 6:30s in the morning.

AM/Lunch - Flourtown Tempo Loop - 15 miles, averaged 7:28. HR 156. Did an 8-mile AT tempo @ 6:30 pace

3.5 up, 8 miles steady, 3.5 down with a couple strides

6:37, 6:38, 6:30, 6:31, 6:26, 6:28, 6:23. HR 165-169, so basically right at the top of the zone and a bit high and working out of it at the end. Felt comparable to the range I usually do. Used my watch for the first few hundred meters then pretty much just let it autolap.

Weather in the low to mid 60s but low dew point and low humidty. Good workout for me today, but I generally do fine with aerobic stuff. The construction seems to be done on the loop for now, but they messed up my footing in places. Barstools!

Lunch: 8 miles easy. HR 134. Stretching and Core.

PM: 4.25 miles easy. HR 135.

Lunch - 5.25 miles. 6 x 200 on the track 38-40 to start, a couple 35s, the just under 34 while the richs kids threw frisbees around me. Felt good to get moving a little.

No real goals for tomorrow's race. Just run hard and see what happens. Legs have some miles in them but that's generally how I race 5ks.

AM: RUN, WALK, AND ROLL 5k in 17:34

3 up/2.25 down

Decent effort today. Getting my mileage back up, so I figured I would be slugglish. I wasn't too much. I drove about 40 minutes with my new running buddies. We got there in plenty of time to warm up. Scoped out the course, which was an out and back with some unfortunate turns onto and off from sidewalks but not terrible.

We warmed up 3 miles. Did some light stretching and strides. We got started RIGHT ON TIME. They yelled "go!" and I got jammed in to a bunch of the overzelous and underfit. Jonathan took off. Leo was in front of me but I caught up to him. Things thinned out from there. First mile was fine. Mile 2 was slow with the left-hand turn over the sidewalk and up a short grade. I was ahead of Leo but he came back and we ran together for a while. Hit the turn around and came back up a short grade on a path that caused me to start to fade. I picked it back up a bit after 2 miles (11:13 was the split I heard) but kind of coasted. Wasn't completely into it today but I didn't dog it either. Definitely warmer and more humid than the 5k we did a few weeks ago.

I'll get my faster legs and ability to hold sub-5:30 pace once I man up (to use a phrase I don't care for) and I get into some track workouts. I had a very good week of running this week and felt normal again. Plenty of time to get in a solid training block and run a big 10k PR on August 1. Just need to be patient.

5:32, 5:48, 5:42, 31.3

PM: Treadmill - 5 miles slow. HR 134. Core work and light stretching.

Decided to run next to Megan in the air conditioning. The humidity has come in and I didn't feel like making up a random route. I was somewhat confused when my watch starting autolapping (forgot to turn it off after the race), but it has built in accelerometer. It's pretty far off but I think the cadence is pretty close.

PM: 16 miles slow. HR 148.

AM: Wiss Trails - 8.5 miles at gentlemanly trail runner pace. HR 135.

PM: Treadmill - 5 miles. Strides and hill blasts. Stretching.

AM: Off

PM: Track Tuesday - 10 miles. 4.3 up, 6 x 800 w/ 75-80 seconds rest, 2.7 down

Took the morning off to make sure I got some writing in and to get on top of my hydration. I drink water all the time but the last few days I have had some dull headaches, which seem to be caused my dehydration (or tension perhaps)

It was 85 degrees when I left just before 6. Humidity in the 50% range. Warmed up about 1.5 and saw Leo so I started chasing him. We warmed up about 3 for him and 4.3 total for me, which is more of a "February warm up" but I felt like I needed it. Jonathan planned 8 x 800 of 60 seconds rest, which sounded nuts (assuming 5k pace) so we settled on at least 6 x 800 with 75 seconds rest and I figured 2:45 or faster was good for me.

Leo and I ran together and did: 2:43.5, 2:46.2, 2:43.6, 2:44.8, 2:45.1, 2:45.8

Jonathan ended up running 7 at 77 seconds per quarter. I was happy with what we did. I've never run 800s that fast and definitely not in that heat off shorter rest (I usually jog 2 minute recoveries).

AM: 8.5 miles. HR 138. Stretching and core.

PM: 6 miles. HR 133.

Lots of critters in the woods. I told a goose to "keep your kids out of the road." She challenged me bit, so I told her "it's cool. I'm leaving."

Day off. 29 days on. Megan and I are headed to Toledo to see her family. Probably long singles where and when I can fit them in. I've marked out a tempo loop in my in-laws' neighborhood (we usually stay with her uncle).

I found some track races at one of the local high schools. Looking at two 5000s and one 1 miler. I'm beyond excited. I'm sure in the heat and during the race it won't seem like such a good idea.

Brandywine Tempo Loop - 14 miles, averaged 7:32. HR 156

Broke in a new loop about a 1/2 mile from Megan's parents'. I want to bring it home. It's better than mine. About 1.1 for the loop. I got the rhythm of it quickly. 

4 miles @ ~9:30 with Megan

8 miles @ just under 6:22

6:24, 6:27, 6:25, 6:25, 6:25, 6:22, 6:19, 6:08

2 miles easy

HR was a bit outside of high marathon pace, but my legs weren't accumulating any lactic acid yet and I could have pushed had I been asked to. Splits were 171-173 BPM, which is supposedly low LT but it doesn't feel like it. My HR didn't really change much from 6:25 down to 6:08 (171 versus 173).

Pleased with the workout. Ate crap yesterday and had too many beers. Focusing on being (more or less good) even though it is vacation.

10 miles easy. 3 with Megan. HR 135.

Farnsworth - 10 miles. 3 w/ Megan who did about 5. Did some strides. HR 146.

AM: Brandywine Tempo Loop - 10.25 miles, averaged 7:45. HR 162.

4 up, 4 mile cutdown, 2.25 down with hard strides

Planned to go 6 but I needed to start slower and cut down more incrementally toward the end. Plan was to get into the 5:40s but I didn't and that's okay. I got what I needed today. It was about 80 and more humid than it was been. It was also very windy. 20-25 MPH.

6:16, 6:08, 6:05, 5:52

HR was 173 for the first mile then 181-185 for the last 3. Called it for 4 on mile 3, got out of the wind and finished mile 4 hard but without killing myself. Collected myself for a few seconds then jogged half a mile before doing some hard strides. 

My fitness is coming along nicely. Consistency and patience.

Light core and stretching after.

Sidecut - 10 miles. 4 with Megan. HR 149. HR a bit elevated. I blame the humidity. It felt easy and I was running on flat dirt around 9:00-9:40 and that's about as slow as I know how to run. The park was nice but not really marked well, but I made it work. I'll probably head back to Farnsworth tomorrow and get in a workout the day after.

PM: Oak Openings - 5.3 miles w/ Megan. HR 139.

A bit tired. Didn't feel like another loop. More confusing trails. Very nice though. Workout tomorrow.

Brandywine Tempo Loop - 10 miles, averaged 8:01 w/ 3 hard miles broken up. HR 163.

Did 3 x 1 mile hard with slow quarter mile jogs . Followed that with a 5 minute jog, then 2 x 400 hard with equal recovery. Goal was to get under 5:40 pace to shock the system and stress the lungs. I want to run sub-35 in the 10k in ~9 weeks and it's going to take some unpleasant workouts to do that. My goal was to run 4 x 1 mile then 4 x 400 but I stayed up late with my wife and her uncle having drinks. Today was plenty to start. I paid for my sins today. Sunny and warm. Felt warmer than 73.

5:34 (182), 5:32 (184), 5:34 (185), 74, 78 (turns)

Farnsworth - 11 miles. 3.25 with Megan before she turned around. HR 148.

PM: 10 miles. HR 148. Did some strides. Megan and I visited some friends in Ann Arbor and we had beer and brats for lunch. Not the best pre-run meal, but better than not running. Decent week off of singles since I've been in Ohio and three solid workouts. Back to 85+ next week and my routine.

Late: 9 miles in 62:20 on the treadmill. 1 mile warm up, then 52 minutes @ 9 MPH

Drove 8-9 hours from Toledo, unpacked, and it was still warm and muggy outside and I didn't feel like a slog so I did an solid aerobic effort on the treadmill. I didn't start my watch until mile 4 because I was half asleep but it was AT+ effort. Felt strong though. I was going to do the Roblek but I forgot the exact steps, so I kept it simple.