Of Mice and Marathons

AM/Lunch: 10.2 miles, averaged 10:00. HR 139.

Did some strides. Ran a little single track to mix it up.

PM: 4.3 miles, averaged 10:27. HR 127.

Hot out there, but it is July.

AM/Lunch 7.1 miles, averaged 8:28. HR 156.

Blown Workout

Scheduled for 4 miles around marathon effort working down to half marathon effort. Tried to get the effort right in the heat but my HR blew up. I should have done the workout on the treadmill as planned.

PM: 5.6 miles on the treadmill. HR 141.

Started out very slow, but had a solid progression toward the end. Felt great.

Night: AIS, PT, and pushups

Lunch: 10 miles on the treadmill. HR 154.

25’ easy progressive warmup, then 15’ @ 8.0, 10’ @ 8.5, 5’ @ 9.0, 5’ @ 7.0, then cooled down with strides to 10 miles. This was the workout I wrote for yesterday, could’ve pushed the last 5’ had I done it yesterday. Gives me a good benchmark for treadmill efforts.

PM: off.

Headed to Toledo for a Fourth of July party.

Noon: 8.5 miles, averaged 11:26. HR 126.

Did what I had to do to keep HR under 130. Sub-5:00 hour marathon pace is apparently what it took.

PM: off. Did a solid weight session though.

Megan wanted to go over to Planet Fitness and I didn't put enough time between runs and I was planning to do weight anyway, so I took the afternoon off from running.

Bench/Dumbell Routine:

Incline curls 3 x 15 @ 12#, inclinde bench press 3 x 20 @ 17.5# (ea); flat bench press 3 x 20 #@ 17.5# (ea); flat flys 3 x 20 @ 12#; hammer curls 30 ea. @ 12#; dumbell side bends 3 x 15 @ 20# ea side; barbell durls 3 x 15 @ 30#

Machines:

tri press 3 x 20 @ 50#; bicep machine 1 3 x 20 @ 50#; shoulder press 3 x 15 @ 30#; rows 3 x 20 @ 40# pull downs 3 x 20 @ 60#;

Captain's chair and hip stetching between sets on the bench.  Definitely the most involved weight routine I have done.

Lunch: off. Didn't feel like running in the heat.

PM: 9.2 miles on the treadmill + hill blasts 

1 hour progression + 8 x 8” Hill Blasts + 2 mile steady down

Noon: 8.6 miles, averaged 9:24. HR 154.

Humid hills. Worse conditions of the year so far. Mostly manageable except for the last mile and a half.

PM: 4 miles w/ Megan, averaged 9:59. HR 129.

AM: 48-mile ride. HR 139.

Did my first D-Ride ("Detroit Ride") with the guys as one of them is leaving for 6 months to work in China. The ride starts from the other bike shop location in Birmingham (a wealthy suburb north of Detroit) and goes through some of the other suburbs and into Downtown Detroit. They sometimes do Belle Isle, but it is closed due to flooding. I had to get up early for this one, but I am glad I did it as it was a blast and a great way to see the city.

I would like to do more of these, but I will have to do long runs on Friday or it will likely eat too much into recovery as some portions guys would take off and I had to grind to keep up (though I did much better in the second half I was able to chase some of the guys who were breaking away who were on road bike. Admittedly, they could have dropped me had it come down to it, but my strength this year has made amazing improvements). Longest road ride so far. Definitely one to do in a group and not solo.

PM: 4 miles with Megan, averaged 9:53. HR 128.

Beautiful out. Summer is half over. Been great so so far. I am very fortunate to be able to do what I do. Megan and I are headed to Maine for a week on Tuesday.

AM: 4.3 miles, averaged 9:13. HR 134.

Megan and I had lunch with some friends who were traveling back to Buffalo from northern Michigan.

PM: 10.5 miles, averaged 9:08. HR 142.

Tired. Beautiful evening for a run.

AM/Lunch: 13.3 miles, averaged 8:11. HR 162.

4-Mile Progressive Tempo + 8 x 45" Strides

We have a late flight to Maine today, so I was glad to sneak in a workout before travel. Warmed up 3 miles with a few light strides. It was warm out (80 degree to finish), but very dry, so I made it through okay. Much better than I bombed workout last week.

Splits: 7:13, 7:01, 6:41, 6:24

Jogged a mile and then did 8 x 45" strides with 75" recovery jogs. Cooled down ~3.25 miles.

I was happy to get through the workout and get on my way back to running faster.

PM: AIS, PT, light core, pushups 

Noon: 10.1 miles, averaged 10:51. HR 128.

In Maine. Got in around midnight and stayed up late with my mom.

First few with Megan. Weather is good.

Noon: 10.7 miles, averaged 9:01. HR 143.

Did some pushups. Trying not to eat too much but it’s impossible here. Might get out again later, might not.

Lunch/PM: 10 miles, averaged 9:09. HR 138.

First few with Megan.

PM: AIS, PT, pushups throughout the day, light core.

Day off.

We had a nice day at my sister’s camp on the lake. 

Lunch/PM: 11.2 miles, averaged 9:08. HR 147.

First few with Megan. Got in some solid hills this week.

AM: 4.1 miles, averaged 9:33. HR 135.

PM: 4 miles, averaged 10:28. HR 129.

Barefoot beach jog in the PM. It was nice. We went swimming. The water was 54-56 degrees. Nice day. Headed back to Michigan tomorrow.

Lunch/PM: 11.2 miles, averaged 9:51. HR 145.

Rough run, but that wasn’t surprising. First few with Megan. Last day in Maine. It was a good trip. Much better than last summer. I can really feel my glutes from the hills. Mild compared to some places, but it’s closer to mountain climbing when compared to my typical Michigan routes.

AM/Lunch 8.5 miles on the treadmill. HR 146.

Weights after: Incline curls 3 x 15 @ 12# ea.; Incline bench 3 x 15 @ 17.5 ea.; Flat bench 3 x 5 @ 17.5 ea. Flat flys 3 x 14 @ 12# ea.; hammer curls 30 ea. @ 12#

PM: 4 miles w/ Megan, averaged 9:40. HR  142.

It was fairly warm and decently muggy today. Megan was on the move and had me working a bit harder than my standard shakeout effort. Good run though. We might be flirting with double digits on Friday and Saturday low on Friday Saturday will be close to 80 degrees.

Night: AIS and PT

Lunch: 8.5 miles, averaged 10:11. HR 160.

Rough run. It was about 86 to start and around 89-90 to finish. Not too muggy, but I though I would have to walk a couple miles. I stopped for water at the park and just bulled through. Even with a very easy pace it was very hard (about marathon effort).

PM: 37.2-mile ride. HR 168.

Thursday Night Dirt. Very hard effort in the 90-degree heat. I was just going to ride easy, but I chased the lead group who was riding somewhat fast but not hammering. It was basically 50k race effort for me but in 90 degree heat. We slowed down in places to collect people and I slowed up to make sure one of the ladies had someone to ride with and knew where to go. Lost a lot of water weight on this one. Nice to back on the bike after about 10 days off.

It's going to be very warm and muggy the next two days. I will likely be inside for most of it.

Lunch: 8.2 miles on the treadmill. HR 144.

Temp 90, dew point 76, humidity 63%. Heat index 102. Wasn't running outside.

PM: 4.2 mile on the treadill. HR 139. Did some strides.

Lunch: off. Slept too late. Hungover. Takes a good one for me to miss a run.

PM: 4 miles on the treadmill. HR 137.  + 20' StairMaster. HR 144.

Legs were quaky and I was a bit dizzy and off balance, so I cut it short and did some cross training, which felt fine. I have had pressure in my right ear for a day or so and think it is from sweat as opposed to the swimming we did in Maine. Hoping it is not an ear infection.

Night: AIS, PT, and planks (been a long time)

PM: 4 miles w/ Megan, averaged 10:21. HR 132.

I was going to run a bit longer but wasn't feeling great so I cut it short and did some weights.

Incline curls 3 x 20 @ 12# ea.; incline hammer curls 3 x 20 reps (10 ea); incline press 3 x 20 @ 17.5# ea.; flat bench 3 x 20 @ 17.5# ea. Flat flys 3 x 20 @ 12# ea.

Was going to do more, but I had to get home to make dinner. Need to get workouts and mileage back on track this week.

PM: 10.6 miles, averaged 8:50. HR 148. Did some strides.

Had a hard time getting out of bed today and ended up napping twice. Not sure if it is being over tired (somehow) or if its the onset of depression. Feel like the previous two days have been kind of sinking. Marking it here so I have a note on it. Felt a good deal better after the run. Strides were fairly fast without pressing too much.

Lunch: Off. Skipped workout. Slept until 1:15.

Didn't feel great today. Took a nap and then got out for a little single track on my bike.

PM: 15.3-mile ride. HR 140

Did okay staying on the bike and the trails. Still trying to figure out the proper pattern to do the full course. Didn't hit any trees, so that was a plus. Exited the woods when the thunder started. I will try to get my workout in tomorrow. If nothing else, I hope to get in two runs. Really fell off the last handful of days.

My right ear is plugged and think it is likely an ear infection, so hopefully I can get into urgent care tomorrow before Megan's brother's wedding this weekend.

PM: 13.2 miles.

4-Mile Tempo (6:32 Average)

Splits: 6:30, 6:32, 6:33, 6:33

3 up/6.2 down

Went to urgent care and got my ear straightened out. Swimmer's ear.

I wasn't sure if I would do a medium long run or ride or what, but I decided to do the scheduled workout and see if it might lift me out of the funk. Prescription was 4 miles starting at marathon effort working down to half marathon effort, 1 mile jog, 10 x 1' on/off. It was 80 degrees but very dry so I wasn't too concerned. I took off way to fast and couldn't seem to slow down. Effort was pretty much honest LT tempo effort to a touch deeper toward the end. I was pretty gassed at the end, so I just did a long cool down with short strides.

Definitely the fastest I have run since earlier this winter. Hoping after this week I will be back on track to get some miles in August as I build toward a late fall marathon. Currently have a lot of work to do.

Lunch/PM: 8.6 miles, averaged 11:06. HR ~132.

Instead of dropping like yesterday my HR monitor was spiking. Upper 70s and nice and dry. Looking forward to the ride tonight.

Did weights after lunch:

Tri press 3 x 20 @ 55#; bicep curls 3 x 20 @ 40#; shoulder press 3 x 20 @ 30#; rows 3 x 20 @ 40#; pull downs 3 x 20 @ 60#; chest press 3 x 20 @ 40#; pec flys 3 x 20 @ 45#; rear deltoids 3 x 15 @ 40#

PM: 32.7-mile ride. HR 156.

Thursday Night Dirt. B Group, shorter loop but solid pace. Had a good time even getting there late with INSANE metro Detroit traffic.

AM/Lunch: 10 miles, averaged 8:56. HR 156.

Headed to my brother-in-law’s wedding in Toledo.

AM: 5.25 miles, averaged 9:59. HR 136.

Fell on the sidewalk almost immediately. It hurt. Banged my knee, but I think all is good.

Day of Mike's wedding. We had a good rehearsal and dinner last night. Cigars were part of the wedding gift, which I decided to partake in even though it's been many years since I had tobacco and have moved on from that business. Definitely an very occasional rarity.

The wedding was lovely and the reception was fantastic. First time at a mass in quite some time. Took communion for the first time in I don't know how long. Probably not supposed to given that I haven't done the typical proper steps of recent confession (though I am confirmed), but it felt right for the occasion I guess. I do miss the singing.

Off.

Had a lot of fun last night. We were out very late and I didn't run before we left out hotel. I slept about 2+ hours in the afternoon as I haven't sleep much or well for the last 3 nights.

Need to get back on schedule and get things rolling. Cooler air blowing back through this week and need to get back to consistent doubles as I was doing before Maine two weeks ago.

Lunch: 10.3 miles, averaged 9:56. HR 140.

PM: 4.5 miles, averaged 9:36. HR 134. Did some strides.

Night: AIS and PT

Lunch: 6 miles, averaged 8:31. HR 148.

Pulled workout. Just couldn't get into it from the beginning mentally and gave up. It was a bit warm and slightly humid, but I just wasn't there. These last three weeks have thrown me for a loop. I am seriously contemplating doing less structured training and scrapping marathon training and doing a half this fall off whatever fitness I can build and doing a full cyclocross season, which I have been threatening to do for a while. I'm just not doing any racing and it is getting to me.

AM/Lunch: 10.2 miles, averaged 9:15. HR 140.

PM: 4.6 miles, averaged 9:56. HR 128.

First few with Megan. Comfortable air today and it looks like for the next week or so.