Of Mice and Marathons

Lunch: 8.3 miles, averaged 10:37. HR 131.

PM: 5.3 miles, averaged 10:36. HR 130.

Night: AIS

AM/Lunch: 8.3 miles, averaged 10:06. HR 136.

PM: 37.2-mile ride. HR 151.

Email went out late and no one showed up except me and two other guys. One guy was heading to do another ride, so the other guy and I did the Thursday route. We got a bit of rain and it was a little messy, but the roads were hard packed.

Lunch/PM: 15.3 miles, averaged 9:01. HR 144.

Did my long run early as Megan and I are going to meet some friends at Bell’s, a brewery in Kalamazoo. This week has been a pretty darn good start to the summer.

AM: 4 miles w/ Megan, averaged 10:09. HR 124.

Lunch/PM: 4.6-mile walk on the Kal-Haven Trail

Megan and I got up and out at a decent hour to do a short run. Ended up on part of the Kal-Haven Trail, which forms part of a 33.5-mile trail from Kalamazoo to South Haven. I was supposed to do the ultra the first spring we moved here, but scrapped it. I might do it next spring and do a gravel season to go with it. We ended up walking on a different part of the trail with some friends we stayed with over the weekend. We had a great time.

PM: 6.3 miles, averaged 8:16. HR 157.

Felt kind of rough and anxious. Ran a bit faster and my body wasn't having it. Too dehydrated from having too much fun in Kalamazoo last night.

PM: 30.5-mile ride. HR 146.

Got on the bike directly after my run. Didn't have a proper meal all day other than some snacks when I got home. Felt it on the ride, especially after running. Managed to have an okay time, even though it felt like the ground was pulling every ounce of energy from every pedal stroke. Looks like a good deal of rain this week and next week I will be away at my brother-in-law's bachelor party.

Night: AIS, PT, and light core.

Lunch: 8.3 miles, averaged 10:04. HR 131.

PM: 5 miles, averaged 10:11. HR 132.

PM: 5 miles, averaged 9:23. HR 134.

Warmed up for workout, but I abandoned it. Did not feel great. A rough day. I was going to jog out some mileage, but just headed home. It's a very easy workout, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I will give it a shot tomorrow.

PM: 51.2-mile ride. HR 151.

Averaged 17MPH w/ 2000 feet of climbing. Not too bad.

+ 4 miles w/ Megan after I got home. Averaged 9:59. HR 155.

There was a break in the rain and I was grumpy this morning and didn't feel like running. I figured I would get a ride in and my mood brightened.

Roads were fast in places with only a few chunky sections. I did go on one road that wasn't much more than a camp road and it was muddy sand and rutted, so I had to do a little cyclocross maneuvering through there. I had a few granola bars this morning, but only electrolytes on the ride and I had a heavy protein bar and small bag of chips after. I went running with Megan once I got home. My legs were like lead and my HR was still up. Good run though.

Noon: 8.3 miles, averaged 10:13. HR 137.

PM: 4 miles on the treadmill.

Did some strides and then a re-introductory hill blast session. 4 x 8" Hill Blasts

Did captain's chair and pushups after.

My brother-in-law's bachelor party is this weekend, so I figured I would do these today and combine my long run and skipped Tuesday workout tomorrow before leaving. These have been on the schedule for weeks and I keep skipping them. I will be working back up to 8 x 8" and eventually 40-50m "slopes," or longer hill blasts with a slightly different purpose that I have now forgot.

No Thursday night ride this week. Heavy rain and potential for Thunderstorms. The way the season started out I thought we would be in the full swing of thing, but we have had a lot of rain.

Lunch/PM: 15 miles, averaged 8:59. HR 150.

Stridlek Workout: 3 (6 x 45” w/ Equal Jog Back). 5’ Jog Between Sets 

Did a long warmup to get miles in. Felt decent. Got moving toward the end. Hopefully the beginning of getting my speed back.

Drove to Port Clinton Ohio to take the ferry to Put-in-Bay for a bachelor party. It’s weirdly coastal without the ocean smell I’m used to.

Off.

Went out for my brother-in-law's bachelor party. We started in pretty early, so I took two naps throughout the day. Lots of flooding from Lake Erie.

PM: 10.3 miles, averaged 9:57. HR 135.

Wasn't sure I was going to make it out as I was feeling super rough, but the cold air did me some good. That was quite a weekend. Back to more consistency this week. Hoping it stops raining at some point. We have had plenty.

Lunch/PM: 8.3 miles, averaged 8:57. HR 146. Did some strides and felt very good.

Had lunch and read for a bit, went to the gym and did some weights, then went out again with Megan.

Pec Flys 4 x 15 @ 45#; Chest Press 4 x 15 @ 45#; Pull Downs 4 x 15 @ 45#; Rows 4 x 15 @ 45#; Shoulder Press 3 x 12 @ 25 #. Captain’s chair after.

PM: 4 miles, averaged 10:07. HR 134.

Lunch/PM: 13.2 miles, averaged 8:25. HR 165.

Stridlek Workout: 2 (10 x 50" w/ Jog Back) 5' Jog Between Sets

Nice weather today. Warmer and dry, but the pollen was high. I felt quite fast (relatively speaking), starting in the 5:30s and running most in the 5:20s and 5:teens with some around 5' flat and the last one at sub-5. The recovery is long (just under 2'), but I was happy with my turnover and how much faster I was than last week on the 45" intervals. Building up from here.

3.2 up/2.6 down

PM: Off. Didn't get the workout in early enough to allow for proper recovery time.

Lunch/PM: 8.3 miles, averaged 10:29. HR 144.

Warmer and nice. Heavy pollen though. Like running with a mouth full of sawdust.

PM: 4.4 miles, averaged 10:42. HR 141.

Night: AIS and pushups

Lunch: 9 miles.

6 x 8" Hill Blast w/ 3' Walkabout Recovery

Did drills and strides before. Shed my shirt and used it for a starting marker for the blasts. Some guy on a bike was interested in it and was looking like he was going to take it. I told him it was mine. Probably should have just let him have it. I can't remember when I last did these outside. They are as beneficial as strides, maybe even more. They aren't hard, but they take a lot of time between doing the drills and strides and the walking recoveries.

4.5 up/4.5 down.

PM: 37.2-mile ride. HR 157.

Thursday Night Ride. Beautiful evening. 70-75 w/ a little bit of wind. Set a few solid PRs on some segments. Harder effort overall, but felt decent. This is approximately 50-mile race effort over slightly hilly gravel I would say. We were 19MPH around half way but slowed up for some folks and some of the gravel was pretty loose on the second half, so I finished just under 18MPH. Fun ride. Looking forward to more consistency with this ride, as it has been spotty with the weather.

Lunch: 8.3 miles, averaged 9:16. HR 141.

PM: 4 miles w/ Megan. HR 130.

AM/Lunch: 10.2 miles, averaged 8:36. HR 143.

Did a couple strides and a third of a mile pickup. Didn’t get up early enough to fit in my long run. Headed to Toledo for a wedding.

PM: 15.3 miles, averaged 8:58. HR 149.

We had a good time at the wedding last night (one of Megan's cousins). We got back from Toledo at a decent time. It was pouring and thunderstorming, so I wasn't sure about running, but I got a window and then got poured on, which was fine as it was around 70 degrees. Rain let up here and there, I ran to River Bends and ran up and down a 1/3 mile hill to try to get some elevation gain. Enjoyed the run.

A solid week. A little more discipline next week going to bed earlier rather than 2 or 2:30AM. Need to cut the booze calories as well.

Night: AIS and PT

Lunch: 8.3 miles, averaged 10:44. HR 121.

PM: 4 miles w/ Megan, averaged 10:24. HR 123.

Was finally able to keep sub-130 HR for recovery for the first time in months. A cool and moody sort of weather day.

Lunch/PM: 15.2 miles, averaged 8:34. HR 158.

2 (10 x 1' w/ Equal Jog Back) 5' Jog Between Sets

I didn't feel as snappy as last week, but I did my long run on Sunday this week rather than Saturday. Weather was pretty ideal for a workout this time of year. Paces were around 5:25 down to 5:00. Jogs got a lot slower as I progressed. Felt it more than I wanted to with the longer recovery, but the wheels are spinning.

4 up/2.7 down

Lunch: 8.3 miles, averaged 10:47. HR 129.

PM: 5.2 miles, averaged 10:53. HR 133.

Lunch: 9 miles w/ drills, strides, and hill blasts.

6 x 8" Hill Blasts

PM: 47.3-mile ride. HR 158.

Thursday Night Dirt w/ some bonus miles. Started from a different venue to test it. We met up with others from the typical starting point. A little warm. We hit some segments hard and regrouped. I was going to try A group but I dropped my chain and that was it. Had an excellent burger after. I burned almost 4000 calories from exercise today. Hopefully knock my weight back down. Good ride and fun times after.

Noon/PM: 15.2 miles, averaged 9:33. HR 143.

Thunderstorms tomorrow and I didn’t want to do my long run Sunday. Was very tired but I got through and enjoyed it. Cooler and overcast made for comfortable weather.

Night: AIS, PT, and pushups

Noon: 8.5 miles, averaged 10:22. HR 144.

PM: 5.2 miles, averaged 10:11. HR 138.

Nice and warm. Felt good though. Tough to keep the HR low though

Megan’s birthday today. We drove through some towns to get a sense of the area. I was familiar with a few of them from cycling. We agreed on the areas we liked. I was surprised I knew my way around Oxford as I had only been once. I showed her how quickly it goes to dirt roads and horse farms.

We had a nice dinner at a Brazilian steak house. Food was good, experience was odd (but good).

AM/Lunch: 6.3 miles, averaged 10:15. HR 130.

PM: 4 miles on the treadmill. HR 133.

Weights after:

Tri Press 3 x 15 @ 40#; Bicep curls 3 x 15 @ 40#; Shoulder Press 3 x 15 @ 25#; Rows 3 x 15 @ 40#

I was going to do a long ride, but it rained thoughout most of the day. Was going to just do 6 in the morning but felt a bit anxious and felt better after.

PM: 63-mile ride. HR 150.

Decided to take the day off from running to get a long ride in. Perfect weather. Hit some new roads and the Polly Ann Trail for a while. Probably need to start taking in more than electrolytes and water on rides 3+ hours. I felt okay, but I had a pb&j at lunch and that was it until after the ride. I took off from home to save time. It worked out fine. I really enjoyed this one. 

AM/Lunch: 8.6 miles, averaged 9:37. HR 141.

Finished Tom Wolfe’s Bonfire of the Vanities last night. Starting I am Charlotte Simmons today. Right around a year ago that he died.

PM: 4.4 miles, averaged 9:58. HR 134.

Night: AIS, PT, light core, and pushups

AM/Lunch: 11.3 miles, averaged 8:24. HR 153.

20 x 1’ On/Off

Cool but slightly humid. I didn’t want to get burned so I started somewhat conservatively. Just under 6’ pace then 5:40ish and the later ones in the 5:30s and 5:20s. I was really jogging the recoveries by the end. Need to get this extra 7 lbs back off.

3 up/3 down.

PM: 4.2 miles, averaged 11:02. HR 123.

AM/Lunch: 8 miles, averaged 11:13. HR 121.

First mile in 11:46! Took it very very slow.

PM: 32.6-mile ride. HR 145.

Thursday Night Dirt. Weather cleared out nicely for us. Somewhat shorter route, but that was okay. Good ride and good time.

AM/Lunch: 8.3 miles, averaged 8:18. HR 150-155?

HR data dropped a bit last 3 miles. Great weather.

PM: 5.3 miles, averaged 10:09. HR 136.

Perfect weather.