Of Mice and Marathons

AM: 15.25 miles total including Broad Street 10-mile race in 58:09/10

Report later. For now I'll say I had a good day given how I've felt the last three weeks or so.

REPORT

I had hopes and dreams of running under 57 minutes several weeks ago. I was finding that even late in workouts I could hit mid- to low-5:30s on my mile repeats and given a gentle downhill point-to-point course and that I was going to try fro sub-75 minutes in the half 3 weeks before that the goal made sense. After a rough half and very rough last 3 weeks I basically didn't want to embarrass myself by running slower than 60 minutes. Last year I ran 59:28. I said I didn't have a time goal but of course I did. I thought going under 58:30 would, if not make me happy, make me realize I haven't messed up as bad as I thought.

Warmed up for 20 minutes at La Salle in a good bit of rain. The track was closed, which was fine because the track sucks (pitted and very hard). Changed shoes and clothes and got Megan and we headed out. I did a few short, half-hearted strides (Philadelphia lacks good stride real estate, especially in that part of the city).

Last year I smoked the first 2 miles in the low 5:40s. The course is very fast with 150 feet of net downhill and one S-turn around City Hall. I went through the first mile in 5:48 which felt very easy. Breathing was good, legs were okay. From there I tried to ratchet down the pace as I figured why not go for it? I was running 5:45 through 5 miles then worried my legs just wouldn't have it even though my breathing was quite good. 28:49 for 5 miles and I knew I was on sub-58 pace if I could more or less hang on.

I somehow missed the split at mile 6 and realized just before mile 7 that I was at almost 7 and not at almost 6. I've done that in a marathon with miles 22 and 23 and it is a glorious feeling.

I started to slow a bit the last three miles and tried to close some gaps to hang on. I even thought about trying to help the 5th place woman catch the ladies in front of us but I was ready to be done and she really didn't sound interested. I passed her and a guy she was with but they passed back as I started to die aroun 8.5. I picked it up the last kilometer and a good bit once I could see the finish. I felt like I gave up but then I starting weezing a bit and grimacing the last quarter mile.

Cooled down in the grass. Talked to Jonathan who ran 56:45, which was crazy given that I beat him in the half. He'll be very fast if he gets higher mileage and consistent workouts. Leo can in around 59:30, which was about what he was hopping.

It was very cold and thankfully they had heat shields because I had nothing. Finished cooling down for 30 minutes then waited for Megan. We froze on the way back to La Salle on the subway.

This was technically a 10-mile PR since I don't have an offial split from the Rock and Roll half this last fall but I know my first 10-mile split was something like 58:22 or about 5:51 pace and I dropped to 5:47/5:48 overall pace over the last 5k, meaning that if you take out the first 3 miles and exchange them for the last 3 when I was running ~5:40 pace I was likely faster.

Strava Splits: 5:47, 5:42, 5:45, 5:49, 5:45, 5:45, 5:48, 5:53, 5:56, 5:52

PM: 6.25 miles. HR 138. Sore.

Night: Treadmill - 6.7 miles. HR 136.

Saw a recent picture of Ryan Hall. He's put on about 40 lbs, meaning we are roughly the same height and weight. His arms are a little bigger maybe but we now have the same body "type." The difference is he's been doing a lot of lifting. Me, it's just me.

Lunch: 6.5 miles.

Night: Treadmill - 4.25 miles. Did some stretching.

Off.

Feeling pretty crappy. The weather is awful and without a race in mind I don't feel like going out and the treadmill is driving me crazy lately.

Off.

Might be doing a reset. Not sure. Might take another day or so off. Tomorrow will tell.

PM: 60 minutes easy. HR 142.

Trying to change perspective a little bit as I work through the final week of recovery/slacking and move into base building so I am running by time rather than miles. I don't know if it will work, but I am going to give it a try.

PM: 100' Somewhat moderate. HR 158. Stretching after.

Lunch: 7.25 miles - No Watch

PM: 4 miles - No Watch

Lunch: 60' on the Cresheim Trail

PM: 35'

PM: 38' easy.

I felt like absolute crap.

PM: 62' easy. Mix of trail and roads.

Did 2 very humbling pullups at Springside. I'm guessing it's been 15 years or more since I have done any.

PM: 70' Trails. Felt better today. Jumped two deer.

PM: 62' Roads/Trails

PM: 137'. 60' on my own then picked Megan. 

I pulled a biff and roll on some gravel. Glad it wasn't the rocky trail I was on.

Rough day. Hungover and found out that I won't be getting any summer hours from an (unnamed) educational company. It's basically the Wal-Martification of tutoring. It wouldn't have floated me but I've never felt more dispensable. This coupled with an extraordinarily rough year of teaching and as no job in Michigan has me feeling pretty down. People think you can just walk in somewhere and get a job. I'm overqualified and under-qualified at the same time.

PM: Trails/Roads 65' w/ 10-minute pickup at the end.

Did 4 pullups at Springside. Getting better. Slowly. My melon barely fits between the bars, but there aren't many tree in the Wissahickon with low-lying branches.

PM: Trails 115' w/ 1000 feet of gain

Almost went headfirst into the gorge at one point. I am remind that although trail running is not extreme it has its hidden dangers. At the Wissahickon isn't that deep but 200-300 feet will still do some damage.

PM: 95'

23' up/3(6 X 35 second aerobic strides)/25' down. 5 minutes jog between sets. Supposed to be 5k effort, 2-mile effort, mile effort. I barely know what 5k effort feels like, so I just tried to run fast and with good form and not sprint. I typically start at probably 5:30 and work down to 4:45-4:50 for 5-6. I imagine this was something like that. 

It doesn't look like much on paper but I was breathing on the final 3 of the last set. After humping up and down rocks and trails yesterday for two hours I did okay. 

Waiting for the semester and moods to settle so I can plug along with basebuilding.

Unplanned day off.

Just kind of blah. The semester is over so I read for a while. That was nice.

PM: 62' easy

Megan and I went for a walk/hike for 95' directly after that. That was nice.

Lunch/PM: 60' easy. Did some strides.

PM: 35' easy progression.

Felt like I had something back in my stride today, aside from hips feeling out of balance for some reason the last week or so.

PM: 95' moderate

Lunch/PM: 65' easy

PM: 40' mostly easy with non-forced last mile pickup

PM: 60' moderate with 10-12 minutes of higher aerobic running

11:07 PM and I forgot until now about doing my blog entry.

Getting warm and only going to get warmer. Megan is headed to Kenya tomorrow. I'm going to my parents for 7-10 days. Not sure what I am going to do the other two weeks she is gone.

AM: 57' somewhat moderate 

PM: 5.25 miles easy, no watch

I headed down to Flourtown to do a workout but decided doing a workout was inappropriate given that Megan was leaving and it's her birthday. It was already warm and I would have got zapped by the sun. I'll move it to Friday and find a place to do it at my parents'. I expect that going from 430' of elevation to 250' should help a good deal :-)

Off. Travel day.

Drove to Maine with the boys (my cats). Megan is in Kenya and figured it would be a good time to visit as they were getting anxious since I hadn't seen them since the new year. Lots of traffic. Took 10+ hours when it's an 8-hour trip.

AM: 50' easy. At my parents'. Cool and a little rain

PM: 50' hilly

I ran up and down the Farm Road half a dozen times or so. It ended up being about 90 feet over 200 meters. I tried to get Mandy my parents' pointer to come with me because she's overweight but she didn't really care. I might see if we have a leash for her and try that. It warmed up a bit but it's dry. Supposed to be almost 90 tomorrow. It's basically Philly weather, but I imagine these Mainers will be dying of the heat.

After I did some pull-ups in the maple tree in the front yard. Did some halfhearted drills and some barefoot strides. I raced my nephew while running backward. He won. Barely.

AM: 63' easy. Stretching

Hot. I bonked a little. Bad diet and bad hydration will do that. Did some pullups on the maple tree.

Off.

Skipped my long run, skipped any sort of run. Ate like crap and drank. I thought a different setting would improved things, but only marginally so.

Noon: 60' easy progression, ending with 10-minute high aerobic finish from moderate pace down to 5k

PM: 48' easy steady pace. Warm and dry.

Felt pretty decent today on both runs. I didn't expect that. If anyone is in the market for a dad I'm trying to sell mine. Heck, I'll give him away.

AM/Lunch: 63' easy. 

40 push-ups and 4 pull-ups before, 5 after and 45 more push-ups

A terrible month. I'm never under 300 unless it's marathon month. I put up some big summer months last year. Not sure I'll get there this year.