Of Mice and Marathons

Lunch: 18th street, etc. - 10.5 miles, averaged 7:21 w/ 4-mile baby a. builder @ 2:55 marathon pace (hair under 6:40): 6:40, 6:44, 6:38, 6:38. Felt kinda meh even though it was cool.

PM: North side - 6 miles, averaged 7:28. I did a quarter mile pick up in 1:14.34 (4:52 pace) according to the very honest measurement of the Garmin.

Cool and windy. Think I will hit the track on Wednesday or Thursday rather than my usual stretch of trail for some mile repeats.

Lunch-ish: Vinton Woods - 9.25 miles, averaged 8:02. 62 degrees and almost chilly!

PM: North side - 5.25 miles, averaged 7:55

Fink Cemetery/Fire Cracker loop - 10.5 miles, averaged 7:38. Began pouring at mile 9 (I could see it coming down the road). It was awesome until I remembered this area has the worst drainage. Felt awesome though.

Had toyed with the idea of doing a 5k, but the local one sounded like sidewalk running and I run that area often, so I decided to go to track and get a sense of where I am. The idea was to do 3 1600m repeats, 4 if things were going great, 5 if the planets were aligned. My main goal was to try to hit a certain pace without my Garmin. I at least accomplished that (although 400m updates are pretty helpful). I was shooting for 400s that would put me in the 5:50 range or just barely over 6:00 at the slowest.

Ended up fast on the first one (of course) 5:44.2, 6:01.5, 6:03.1. 2.6 up and 4.1 down.

I expect this will be half marathon pace by Philly RnR, assuming I don't blow a tendon or get hit by a car. In April I hit several miles at 6 flat and most under 6:10 in my half, so I should be able to exceed that in 2.5 months.

 Happy 4th of July!

9th to Heritage Trail to Happy Hollow Park and back - 11.25 miles, averaged 8:06

Not sure why I never put these routes together since much of it is covered and there are numerous water fountains and options to extend or change direction early.

Couldn't decide what to do today, but this is what I ended up with. 3.1 warmup up w/ a bit at MP to get things going, brief stretches, few strides. Then 3 x 10 minutes @ LT w/ 3 minute recovery jogs. I've done the workout before and it is deceptively difficult. Not as hard as the Hanson's that I like to do (about 4 x 12 minutes+ for me), but that is a peak workout and this one was perfect right now. Weather was cool and overcast, but the air was saturated and that made it a bit tough. Better than blinding sun and steamy pavement for sure.

Interval 1: 6:13 average; interval 2: 6:17 average; interval 3; 6:20 average. 6:17 overall for the fast intervals. I'm guessing that is 10-15k pace right now, but we will see in a few weeks. My plan for B2B is to have a good time and get a 10k time from a legitimate course on my PR board.

2.25 cool down.

North Side - 6.25 miles, averaged 8:13

AM: Jefferson High School - 8 miles, averaged 8:19

PM: North Side - 5.1 miles, averaged 7:59. Did some strides. Got into the 4:15-4:25 range. Need to get some 200s on the track to get some accurate measurements. My Timex arrives tomorrow! We will see how long it takes me to shed my Garmin for a race. 

Vinton Woods - 9.25 miles, averaged 8:29 with a few water stops and head soaks.

It was pretty warm. 89 with humidity around 63%. Not the most enjoyable run, but it was probably a good fat burner. I guess I've been pretty lucky because in recent years this weather is typical. Going to get some cooler nights later in the week, so I should get to the track on Thursday and a longer run on Saturday.

AM: North Side - 6.5 miles, averaged 8:55. Can't remember the last time I ran that pace. Just loafed along, sweaty and cursing.

PM: Impromptu baby aerobic builder. After 1.25 my watch messed up, so I reset it and warmed up another mile to avoid restarting the watch. So 2.25 warm up, 4.25 in 28:56 (6:46 average). 3 mile cool down. Sweaty. 9.5 miles for the afternoon.

Vinton Woods - 10.5 miles, averaged 8:44

Track workout. My first non-Garmin workout! Got myself a little Timex. Very exciting I know, as you can tell from the number of significant digits below. 6 x 800m with 400 meter jogs (2:00-2:30, about 2:19 average for the recoveries). 3 mile warmup, with 1 x 400 @ about 6:00 minute pace to make sure I didn't smoke the first repeat, then into the workout.

2:52.7, 2:55.63, 2:56.77 (ran into lane 3 and 4 around some footballers), 2:51.18, 2:52.99, 2:49.40 (2:53.11 average).

Walked and got some water. Then started a fast 400, but I bailed at 200. I think. It was 35 seconds, but I'm track illiterate :-)

I was kind of tired going into it, but I'm satisfied with the workout. It was warm, but dry so it was actually kind of perfect.

3 mile cool down.

Lunch: Hedgewood/Columbian Park - 6.25 miles, averaged 8:13

PM: North Side - 5 miles, averaged 8:02. Did a few hard pickups. One Riley stride (.10) @ a Jason pace of 4:27. I love running fast because it freaks people of the neighborhood out. I'm already weird because I exercise.

South Side loop - 10 miles, averaged 8:18. Did some strides.

AM: North Side - 6 miles, averaged 8:36. High dew point is making things a wee bit uncomfortable. Temps aren't brutal, but the running is sloggy.

PM: Columbian Park Zoo - 4.25 miles, averaged 8:14

9th Street to the Heritage Trail beyond Davis Ferry (should be called Davis Beach now) out and back - 13 miles, averaged 9:13 (~2 hours!). 91 with 50% or so humidity. Mostly tree covered. Decided to bring a little water (good thinking it turns out). The spring floods have left a good portion of the trail covered beach sand, which makes the trail a bit more challenging.  

North Side - 7 miles, averaged 8:17 w/ 2 x Riley Strides @ 4:31 pace, 4:26 pace. 91 degrees, but fairly dry and quite pleasant really with occasion breaks of clouds. 

Columbian Park Zoo - 6.75 miles, averaged 8:51.

Ran to the zoo and checked to make sure the mile markers would be up for Saturday. Ran a bit of the course, then I got hot, so I did some mini loops in the park. Did some race effort pickups on the way home. Pretty blah.

North Side - 5 easy, then 4 x 240m leg tuners (the more expensive Garmin 610 can only go in .5 increments), averaged about 5:41 on those. Felt pretty relaxed, but it was warm.

AM: Zoo Run 5k. 75 degrees and 86% humidity. Not comfy, but the sun stayed hidden. Warmup up 2.5 miles, with about a quarter to a third @ MPish, which was plenty. I was already sweaty.

Lined up, and a mother was telling her 6- or 7-year-old to be careful. I was a bit worried about him going around the first corner, so I watched out for him a bit. The faster folks were breaking away in the first quarter mile, but I could still see them most of the race. I didn't feel like the pace was fast enough, so I started picking it up through the zoo into the first slight downhill, splitting Mile 1: 5:44. Hit the 3rd turn going onto 31st street, heading up Wallace, which parallels the the last ~half mile of mile 2. I passed maybe 2-3 people during mile 2. Right on Park next to the zoo. Fellah in front of me was grabbing water and dumping it over his head. Down Rugar (again, similar profile going slightly downhill). I may have passed someone here, but I can't remember. Mile 2: 5:48. Effort felt high, but somehow my breathing wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. Back up one side street and I sat behind two guys (turns out one was 18, and I feel old being 10 years older). I tried to get by them but they were racing each other and I was 2-3 seconds behind and couldn't get much on them (I'm guessing I was running low 5-minute range). I saw the clock ticking 17:42 and knew I was under so I may have let up a bit, but re-kicked when I saw the clock ticking into the 17:50s. I had 17:53 on my Timex (Garmin-Free Racing!), which I think was gun time as I was a bit back from the mat and took a second to stop the watch. I missed mile 3, but at that point it's silly to worry about the split button: Mile 3 + .1: 6:22 (5:47 average).

Pleased with the effort in the humidity today. Started to pour about 3 minutes after I was done, so I did 2.25 mile cool down in the pouring rain. It was beautiful. Wanted to get 10 on the morning, but the lightning was pretty scary :-)

PM: North Side - 6.25 miles, averaged 8:31. My legs just turned 2000 miles for the year. Last year I hit that mark on October 18th, so I am 3 months ahead.

Brandon picked me up and we went to the celery bog. We did about 1.5 miles in the woods on the bark and then looped around campus ranging from 7:45-7:20 pace. Did another 1.5-2 miles on the bark (or is it wood chips?) - 12 miles, averaged about 7:50 I think. My watch was being funky. Plenty fast for a recovery day, but that's what you get for running with a former 30:1x 10k runner getting back into shape! Nice to chat and run and explore other loops.

Watched some Beach to Beacon footage. Got slight butterflies in my stomach (not like before a game in high school, the exciting kind before a race).

I would have to say that is a Bill Rodgers coming by at 2:10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqVm6DFeV0c

AM: North Side - 6.5 miles, averaged 8:21

PM: Jefferson High School, modified due to closed roads - 7.25 miles, averaged 7:48. Started with a 9-minute mile, then picked it up a bit. Did .75 @ 6:05 pace, which is estimated current 10k pace. 

New, untested theory. My right foot sweats more than my left (observation based on level of audible squishiness)

AM: 9th to the Heritage Trail out and back, little variation at the end to get some light, gradual climbing - 6.25 miles, averaged 8:35

PM: Union to Courtland and back - 6 miles, averaged 7:33. Started a MP tempo after 2 miles, but quickly realized I wasn't ready for it. More mad that I was foolish enough to think I was. 1 mile @ 6:50, cursed myself for my post-5k-PR arrogance, ran back toward home, and did a slight downhill/flat quarter in 76 seconds. Just kinda cruised the first 200 or so meters and then I hit the flat a bit harder and went into low on gas mode. Amazing what even a slight grade will do.

Pedestrian bridge to Happy Hollow Hill and around campus w/ Brandon - 8.14 miles, averaged 7:57

AM: Brandon asked me if I wanted to do a workout in the morning last night. Sure! I've never done a workout with someone, but today I learned the benefits. We had settled on a 4-mile LT tempo. I sketched out a serviceable 2 mile loop (pretty good as it turned out). We went to Cumberland Park, and I started warming up. We did 2.5 warmup w/ a bunch of strides (my legs have been heavy). We alternating taking the lead for a mile, which was helpful and fun. 4 miles in 24:08 (6:02 average): 6:13, 6:08, 5:54, 5:55

2.15 cool down. Pretty pleased with my fitness, especially off of 65-75 miles and being fat :)

PM: North Side -  5.25 miles, averaged 8:17

AM: North Side - 4 miles, averaged 8:54. Early. Well. Not for adults. Off to Maine to run Beach to Beacon on Aug 3.

PM: didn't get out after traveling. That's okay. Plenty of running available this week. Plenty of family time as well. It's been a while. Had 20 more minutes than I realized this morning. Oh well. Good, actual recovery day.

In unrelated news, perhaps the only downfall to Saucony is their odor retention factor. I could smell them in my racing bag (while wearing a suit coat I brought for my cousin's wedding). I may have been the only dude in the airport wearing a suit coat and a Timex and Salomon trail backpack.

RYAN HALL DEENA KASTOR AND MEB ARE RUNNING BEACH TO BEACON. I learned this through Facebook on the way to my parents. Also, my mother and sister picked strawberries with one Joan Benoit Samuelson. Many runners who know their running history (Jake, Mr. Murphy I suspect and others) will remember she's a 2:21 marathoner. I knew she was sub-2:30 and an Olympian, but I didn't know she was a gold medalist. I'm looking forward to running the course, running fairly well and running a legitimate course. I'm glad my parents will get to see some world class runners. I'm still working on running an 800 as fast as these guys are averaging 6.2! 27:27 course record in 2003.

10 miles steady over some decent rolling hills, averaged 7:22 w/ 1 mile @ MP mostly uphill in 6:42. Mostly dirt for the run. Then I did some easy barefoot running on the grass for 10+ minutes. Went straight into the pool.

Did a loop using the main roads in my parents' town and a few other towns. I passed the memorial for my high school physics teacher, Mr. Ridgeway, who died in a car accident a few years ago. I will name the loop after him. This run was very enjoyable. Got several miles on hard-packed dirt. 16 miles in 1:58 (7:23 average). Longest run since the marathon. Slow the rest of the week with a sprinkle of razzle dazzle on Wednesday to sharpen up for Saturday.

AM: Wingood Road out and back + some barefoot running on my parents' front lawn - 7.5 miles, averaged 8:17

PM: Wingood Road out and back - 6.5 miles, averaged 7:55. Tried to convince Mandy, my parents' pointer, to start training for a sub-2-hour marathon. She fancies herself a pool long jumper though.

AM: Wingood/Cooper's Mill/Erskine Loop - 7.5 miles, averaged 8:06

PM: Wingood Road out and back + lawn loops - 4.5 miles, averaged 8:27. Almost brought a puppy home for Mandy. Cute little lab running after me into the road.

Late morning/lunch: 10 miles on the track. Did a sharpening workout for Saturday. I did this on my high school track where we used to run 2 miles for soccer. I doubt I ever broke 19 minutes. I know I ran 9:15 in the mile (1600) my freshman year in the spring.

I never do the same sharpening workout twice, so last night I decided 4 x 800 @ goal 10k pace then 4 x 200 @ around 5 minute pace (3-5 seconds slower than they should be). Did a 3-mile warmup with the idea that the last 400 would be @ fast MP (~6:20), but it was a bit fast (1:32), which was fine. Just needed something a bit above pace. Last night I wrote down 1:28-1:29 400s and 38-39 for the 200s.

2:58, 3:02, 2:58, 2:57 w/ ~ 2 min recoveries. Second was slow because I thought the fact that I had a running start (unlike the first) would make it too fast. Should have just went with it. A 400 recovery between sets, then on/off 200s: 37, 39, 38, 38. Pace was controlled. I wasn't breathing too hard on these, but I couldn't get my legs turning over much faster, which means lots of pool time, rolling, and easy running the next few days.

3-mile cool down. 10 total.

PM: Lawn loops - 3.1 miles, averaged 8:25. Did a little bit on road. Unlike Lafayette, no broken bottles and/or syringes to go through your feet.