Of Mice and Marathons

AM: 10.2 miles, averaged 9:23. HR 153.

Stridlek Workout: 3 (6 x 40”) w/ Equal Jog Back and 4’ Jog Between Sets 

Warm and muggy. Made an easy workout tough.

PM: 6.3 miles, averaged 10:16. HR 131.

Overcast and light rain at times. Got a new watch, a Suunto after 9 years of Garmin.

Lunch: 8.1 miles, averaged 9:57. HR 129.

Night: 6 miles treadmill, averaged 10:00. HR 134.

+ Weights

Tri press 3 x 15 @ 50#; Bicep curls 3 x 15 @ 35#; Shoulder press 3 x 15 @ 25#; Pull downs 3 x 15 @ 60#; Chest press 3 x 15 @ 40#

AM: 10.2 miles, averaged 8:39. HR 147. Did some strides.

PM: 6 miles treadmill, averaged 8:35.

+ weights

Incline curls 3 x 15 12#, incline bench press 3 x 15 17.5#; hammer curls 25 each @ 12#, dumbbell side bends 3 x 15 each side @ 20#

No ride tonight as it has been raining for the last two days and I imagine the dirt roads are a complete mess. Supposed to d the Fall 50 ride on Saturday morning. Roads should be decent by then. For now, I'm going to pack on running mileage.

AM/Lunch: 21.2 miles, averaged 7:58. HR 155.

12-Miles Steady/Moderate

Warmed up 5 miles in some very fallish weather. Mid-50s. overcast, threatening rain, and somewhat windy. Schedule called for 18 w/ 10 steady, but at this point I want to get in some solid 20 milers for the 50k, but mostly so I can build toward something more respectable in April.

Felt strong throughout and the effort was perfect. Wanted to run around 155-164 BPM, so that I was maybe just slightly creeping into marathon effort for the last couple miles. I averaged 7:34 for 12 miles, which is far from what I am capable of but even two weeks ago that would have just about killed me after 8 miles. Averaged 160 BPM, only slightly creeping out of the intended goal the last mile or two. Cooled down for a bit.

Ran unfueled and nothing but coffee and a few swallows of water before. Never bonked, and felt like I could have taken the steady miles out to 15 or maybe even 18 if asked to.

Night: AIS and PT

AM: 48.6-mile ride. HR 140.

We did the Fall 50 route, designed by our team leader. A mixed bag of conditions on the gravel roads today, which made things interesting. Lots of climbing. Thankfully we had some slower guys to keep things on the lighter end as my legs did not want to put power down after running 21 miles yesterday. Very fall-like conditions with a bit of wind. Hit some roads I have never been on before, which was good.

PM: 4.3 miles, averaged 10:20. HR 127.

AM/Lunch: 8.3 miles, averaged 10:22. HR 127.

Beautiful out. 

PM: 4 miles w/ Megan, averaged 10:20. HR 120.

Lunch: 11 mile, averaged 8:33. HR 145. Did some strides.

Did some exploring on some trails I found between a few different subdivisions. Part are mowed like a cross country course (a much more challenging one that Oakland University's) and some of it is wide two track and some single track. I managed to fall, which always happens any time I go off road these days. Did some ~20" strides on the turf athletic fields.

Night: 6.3 miles, averaged 10:21. HR 120.

AM/Lunch: 14.2 miles, averaged 8:42.

Stridlek Workout: 3 (6 x 45"). Equal Jog Back. 4' Recovery Job Between Sets

Quite fallish this morning with temperatures expected to climb into the upper 60s. A most perfect fall day. Warmed up a bit over 4 and got going. Pretty much everything was 5:35-5:00 pace with most of the last 8 or so around 5:15-5:00. The last one was 4:46, which felt pretty good. Reps were extended from 40" last week. I imagine next week will be the same deal but with an addition 2' @ 5k effort after a recovery on the last set. Cooled down about 4 miles.

PM: Off.

Lunch: 8.2 miles, averaged 10:14. HR 127.

Absolutely beautiful out.

Night: 6.2 miles, averaged 10:28. HR 120.

AM: 12.2 miles, averaged 9:10. HR 140. 

PM: 34.2-mile ride. HR 147.

Beautiful night for a ride. The moon was out and we rode in the dark for about 50-60 minutes. Smaller group, but I wasn't sure if people would continue (I think this was the week we ended last year). I hoped we could start earlier, but I also realize people don't have as flexible a schedule as I have. It is just dangerous to ride in the dark even with fancy lights.

I got talked into a mountain bike race. It's not too technical, but it's about 30 miles of two track with some single track and some sand. I am either going to borrow a fat bike or rent one. I'd love to buy one, but can't right now for a few reasons.

AM: 10.3 miles, averaged 8:42. HR ~143.

Several very high spikes on HR data. Overall, I'm not completely bowled over by Suunto. Overall, I am getting used to it, but the HR data should be more consistent when new.

PM: 6.3 miles, averaged 10:06. HR 128.

Night: AIS, PT, and pushups

PM/Evening: 20.2 miles, averaged 7:29. HR ~157.

Was going to move the long run to tomorrow but high winds and high gusts would have made it miserable. A tad hungover this morning and I had a good deal of work I had to get done, so I decided to just get it in later, which mostly worked out fine.

Warmed up 4 miles, then did 14 miles steady trying not to dip too much into marathon effort by the end, and cooled down 2.2 miles.

Averaged just under 7:15 pace for the 14 miles, which was about 10 seconds faster than last week's 12 miles. My overall run average was faster than those faster miles last week. Starting to get some fitness back. I don't have a ton of speed and cannot run too fast, but I have some strength and endurance. Run was 30 seconds faster per mile overall than last week.

One of the guys I ride with loaned me his fat bike, so I am going to ride some trails tomorrow in preparation for the moutain bike race in 3 weeks.

Lunch 15.2-mile ride. HR 126.

Road my riding buddy's fat bike at River Bends. I didn't want to stop. It was such a blast. Now I really want one. Lots of deer trying to run me over. None that close but I was concerned as they were on the move.

PM: 7 miles, averaged 10:00. HR 125.

First few with Megan.

Lunch: 10.7 miles, averaged 8:37. Did some strides.

HR off. Sending it back. I already ordered a Polar.

PM: 6.3 miles, averaged 9:16. HR 127.

I had to get out of the house as the apartment complex is having the roofs redone and it sounded like we were getting shelled. I am sure they will be up there again tomorrow in the AM while I am trying to sleep. I cannot wait to get out of this place. Absolutely no communication from the complex that they would be roofing today. They came to the door at 7:45 to have people move cars. I was already gone.

AM: 12.3 miles, averaged 9:10.

The roofers were making an incredible amount of noise, so I ended up going to campus when I usually work at home on Tuesday. The poor cats are a bit unsettled. 

Came down with a mild cold, seemingly in the middle of teaching yesterday. Hoping it is not going to turn into a head cold. I had a workout scheduled, but I just jogged the rough equivalent of the mileage, which is probably too much but I need to run.

PM: 4.5 miles w/ Megan on campus, averaged 10:10.

I worked her a bit on the hills. Made a last minute decision to go out for burgers. It was the right choice.

Lunch: 9.8 miles, averaged 8:58.

Drizzly and cool. Cold feels okay. Not bothersome, but I am quite tired to the point people seem to be noticing.

Ordered a Polar Vantage V last night to replace my Suunto. After about 2 weeks with that one, it's going back.

PM: Off.

I was extremely tired throughout the day, to the point that people were commenting on it. Took the afternoon off from running and got some work done. Mixed in some pushups here and there. Cold feels quite mild.

AM/Lunch: 12 miles, averaged 8:23.

Evening: 6 miles, averaged 9:41.

Beautiful night for a run. I'm in the manic running mode when I want to run all the miles. I was going to fat bike, but I took a much needed nap and it was getting dark and my running skills in the dark are much better than my biking ones.

PM: 14.4 miles.

Aborted long run due to digestive issues. Should have just gone when I got up as planned, but I thought it would be sensible to get some work out of the way. I didn't seem to get much checked off the list, but oh well.

Set up my new Polar watch to test it. I should have used an old watch as the settings were off and threw me a bit.

Night: AIS, PT, and pushups

Day off.

40 days on running and 50 days on with riding on the last time I didn't run. Slept in late this morning. Skipped out on going up north to do the Iceman preride. Just too much time. 

Megan and I spent the day at Blake's Orchard and Cider Mill. Super fun.

Lunch: 15.5-mile fat bike ride. HR 136.

Much better handling today than last week. Learned a few things about riding more technical sections. A beautiful fall day.

PM: 4 miles w/ Megan, averaged 9:44. HR 132.

A perfect fall afternoon to run. Almost 70 and sunny.

Lunch: 7.2 miles, averaged 8:19. HR 145.

PM: 6.8 miles treadmill, averaged 8:40. HR 149.

Strides on PM run.

Weights: Tri Press: 3 x 20 @ 50#; bicep curls 3 x 20 @ 35#; 3 x 20 @ 25#; Captain's chair

Lunch: 11 miles, averaged 8:27. HR 145.

Stridlek Workout: 2 (8 x 50") w/ Equal Jog Back and 4' Job Between Sets

Solid workout. Managed between 5:35-5:05 w/ most @ 5:15-5:20. Very windy, but was able to set it up with a partial cross/tail wind. Stride felt good even though legs were tired when I got up.

PM: 4.3 miles w/ Megan, averaged 10:03. HR ~125-126.

HR off first mile. Pretty much any watch on the market seems to be crap. Or my standards are too high. It's been mostly good so far.

Lunch: 8.7 miles, averaged 9:48. HR 130.

PM: off.

Took a nap when I got home. Got up, had a snack, and then fell back asleep in the chair with a horror movie on in the background with Oliver sleeping in my lap.

AM: 12.4 miles, averaged 8:32.

Looks like we are riding tonight. It appeared the Thursday Night Ride was done for the season, but maybe this is the last one. If not this week then definitely next as we go into Iceman and fat biking season.

PM: 42.6-mile ride. HR 150.

Rode to the ride and had Megan pick me up after we ate and had drinks. Beautiful fall ride. On the cooler side. Could have dressed a touch warmer, but wasn't getting too cold until the end. Predictably my legs didn't have anything on the late climbs given that I ran for an hour and forty-five minutes in the morning.

Lunch/PM: 22 miles, averaged 7:36. HR 160.

5-4-3-2 Mile Sets

Scheduled for 14 miles of steady miles with 20-22 total. I ended up doing this workout because I wanted to rachet down the pace a bit to see where my fitness is. I planned on the last set being 1 mile, but figured I didn't want to push my luck as I did 4+ hours of training yesterday. Workout went quite well considering my legs were pretty dead.

7:25, 7:28, 7:24, 7:21, 7:17 (7:23 average; HR 160.4 average)

7:03, 7:12, 7:01, 6:55 (7:03 average; HR 166.3 average)

6:45, 6:49, 6:43 (6:46 average; HR 171 average)

6:42, 6:38 (6:40 average; HR 172 average)

Lunch: 8.3 miles, averaged 10:28. HR 125.

PM: 3.1 miles on the treadmill. HR 124.

Weights: Tri press 3 x 20 @ 50#; Bicep curls 3 x 20 @ 35#; Shoulder press 3 x 20 @ 25#; Rows 3 x 20 @ 35#; Pull downs 3 x 20 @ 60#

Night: AIS, PT, and other stretching

PM: 11.3 miles, averaged 8:33. HR 140.

First few miles with Megan. Had a few too many pumpkin beers last night! Felt good on the run. 7:40-8:15 pace after Megan left and it is starting to feel quite easy again. It's only taken 8-10 months.

Lunch/PM: 3.2 miles, averaged 8:16. HR 148.

Short on time as I had to run across town to get the mail at the post office. I guess the mail carrier was tired of trying to cram mail in a mailbox we rarely check. Opps!

PM: 10.3 miles, averaged 8:03. HR 145. Did some strides.

Felt great on the second run. It was a beautiful fall day. One more decent day and then things are going to turn a little more "seasonable."

AM/Lunch: 13.2 miles, averaged 8:05. HR 156.

2 (10 x 1' On/Off) w/ 3' Recovery Between Sets

Had a dentist appointment this morning and whatever was in the rinse I used made me a bit queasy for the first part of the run, but then it settled.

I did a bit over 4 miles warm up w/ a half mile at marathon effort and two strides. I've been pretty lazy with my warm ups over the last 2-3 years. A few half-hearted strides is about it. However, someone on Strava did 3' @ marathon effort and I remembered Jake Krong used to do ~half a mile at marathon effort during a warmup and I implemented the practice in 2013 (I think).

Didn't feel fantastic during the workout. Turnover and power were good, but the efforts got hard quickly. Made it through and was glad this was a bridge workout and not 20 x 1' On/Off, as the last few reps had me working more than I would have thought. Cooled down a couple miles (about 3 or so I think).

Lunch: 8.4 miles, averaged 9:49. HR 128.

Night: 5.1 miles on the treadmill.

Watch restarted and deleted part of the run. Short weight session after.

Tri press 3 x 20 @ 50#; incline curls 3 x 20 15# ea.; incline presses 3 x 20 @ 17.5# ea. hammer curls 3 x 25 ea. @ 12# ea.

Lunch: 5 miles on the treadmill HR 160. + 20' StairMaster. HR 143.

Got some solid sleep last night. Didn't get up early enough for long run. Cold and rainy and I just wan't feeling it, so I planned a minutes progression workout on the treadmill. It felt very hard very quickly, so I pulled the plug. Too dehydrated from running late last night. Finished up some of my planned time on the StairMaster.

Might do my long run tomorrow and just survive Iceman on Saturday. It's going to snow anyway and I will be behind weekend warriors and other slow people, so it just makes sense to go have fun and try not to kill anyone or myself. 

It's the 4 year anniversary of running 1:16:02 at Philadelphia Rock and Roll. I was in my Philly Marathon buildup and I couldn't seem to run much faster than 5:55 or so for the first few miles. But, as a pure slow twitcher I finally warmed up, and I ran the last 10k around 35:42 (technically a PR), clipping off a few splits in the high 5:30s. One of my best performances of all time. I doubt I'll ever beat that time, but maybe some day I will try. 

PM: 9.3 miles, averaged 8:49. HR 140.

Wet and cold with the winds picking up. Nice run in the semidark and then dark with the kiddos out and about getting their Halloween on even with less than ideal trick-or-treating weather.