Of Mice and Marathons

AM: 7 miles, averaged 9:21. HR 128.

PM: 6.1 miles, averaged 9:17. HR 127.

Headlamp died at the beginning of the run. It was fiarly dark. Peaceful, yet creepy.

Jeff Shadley informs me that I surpassed my 2017 mileage totals. 2017 was a rough year of multiple colds that knocked me so bad I took many days off. This might be my most consistent year even if it hasn't been my highest mileage. I have taken only 12 days off this year from running, but only 11 days completely off. At the end of my run streak this year, I did a short commute ride and then almost 40 miles in the evening.

AM: 8 miles. Did some hill blasts.

Drills and Strides + 8 x 8" Hill Blasts

Cool and not quite raining, as it has been all week. Saw a few deer. I was social and pleasant to people. I was sluggish warming up, but felt pretty explosive on the blasts.

PM: 6.2 miles, averaged 9:39. HR 129.

Noon: 13.5 miles, averaged 7:26. HR 157.

6-Mile Steady State Tempo

4 up/3.5 down. Workout was supposed to be 40' aerobic builder. I figured I would probably go about 44'-45' and do around 7 miles if I was feeling good. On the warm up I felt pretty spry, which I did not expect given how my legs felt yesterday and how they have been feeling on Saturday workouts. Got out fast and tried to ease off but as is typical I actually sped up. After that I just tried to hang on and get through at least 6 miles. I left about 2-3' and could have kept going a little bit after 6 miles, but given that it was pretty fast and the effort was higher than it was supposed to be I called it good.

Splits: 6:16, 6:11, 6:17, 6:13, 6:16, 6:13 (6:15 average)

Averaged HR was 176, so a touch high. Pleased to be working the paces back down for workouts. It has been a little while since I was running workouts in the low-6s.

PM: 4 miles w/ Megan, averaged 10:21. HR 124.

Mileage PR by 1.3 miles. Previous high was 102 September 20-26 2015 during Philadelpia Marathon training. This was pretty good without a significant long run, just consistent doubles all week of about 65'. Most of the mileage was pretty slow so it doesn't actually feel that hard. 8-10 weeks of this probably would.

I’m Lunch: 6.6 miles, averaged ~10:00. HR 122.

PM: 6.5 miles, averaged 10:02. HR 124.

All in the dark. Peaceful though. Big buck at the park. Feeling good. Needed some big miles the last week to cleanse all the bad juju.

Lunch: 8 miles, averaged 8:08. HR 148.

PM: 7 miles, averaged 9:18. HR 126.

It's election day tomorrow and I know nothing about politics or about Michigan. I'm an educated idiot and it's pretty sad.

AM: 17 miles, averaged 7:38. HR 158.

20 x 2' On @ 10-Mile Effort/Off @ Light Float (To Start)

It was warm, wet, and windy, so I was going to do this workout on the treadmill, but decided to just focus on effort and try not to fit the wind. The recoveries were supposed to be around 8' pace, which they were for roughly the first half and then it got hard. The wind killed me in a few places but I kept working and got through it. 

Cover 6.62 miles in 40' or exactly 6:00 average 

30' up/20' down.

Pretty knackered during the cool down. I also tweaked or pinched something in the top of my back/lower part of my neck on the first recovery when I stepped on some uneven grass. It was slightly painful and then kind of numb and tingly but it felt okay when I got moving. Now it just feels like I slept on it wrong. I will ice it later.

Lunch: 6.8 miles, averaged 9:33. HR 127.

Cold and windy. Nice recovery run.

PM: 7 miles, averaged 9:17. HR 125. 

Neck/back felt fine running. It was a little rough sleeping. Every time I rolled over I woke up. Took some pain reliever.

Late: AIS 

AM: 9 miles, averaged 7:12. HR 153.

Steady easy to light moderate with one slightly uptempo mile in 6:19 to finish it off. Felt strong. Nice not to plod for once.

PM: 6.5 miles, averaged 9:11. HR 127.

Lunch: 8.8 miles, averaged 7:25. HR 145.

PM: 6.2 miles, averaged 9:47. HR ~124-125.

It snowed today and I wasn't feeling it. Took a while to get out. Skipped my hill blast session as it would have made the timing of getting two runs in difficult with dinner prep and the like. Got some sleep today which felt great. Back and neck are still a little jacked up, but better than when it happened.

I found out yesterday that Mad Anthony CX was cancelled due to some permit issues with the city of Detroit and some other organizations. To compound matters the mounds at Fort Wayne where the course is has earth that contain material from indigenous remains. A hearty kudos to the race organizers for taking the matter seriously. It was supposed to be in the upper 20s and windy, so I cannot say I am disappointed. And I haven't been on my bike for two weeks. Might try for one more race this season or call it good and try to hit the gravel scene hard in the spring and summer and get in a full cyclocross season next fall.

Lunch: 8.7 miles, averaged 7:25. HR 149.

Pulled workout due to GI issues. Taking the rest of the day off.

Plan was 45' aerobic builder + long strides and about 2 hours of total work. I started to notice my stomach was going south during the warmup, which almost never happens. I don't think I ever has a workout cut short due to GI issues (they usually hit after the hard running). Got through 3 laps and was working on the 4th when I decided things weren't going to settled. I assumed the bathrooms were closed this time of year so I hit the woods (one of the fewer and fewer areas we haven't knocked down for cookie cutter subdivisions and strip malls).

I tried to restart after that but it wasn't going to work. I barely made a second pitstop at our apartment complex. The issue was likely the 3 FiberOne bars I slept at around 6:00 this morning when I feed the cats. Megan eats the bars and I haven't paid much attention to them for a few years but stress and anxiety make me snack like crazy and these seem to be my new target.

Splits: 6:26, 6:25, 6:17, 6:11 (for .67)

Felt decent during the workout if a bit tired and my legs weren't much interested in turning over fludily when the wind hit, but I was working into it and think the last 18-20' would have been pretty fast.

Late: AIS

Lunch: 7.2 miles, averaged 9:03. HR 126.

PM: 6.5 miles, averaged 10:01. HR 117.

First few with Megan in the afternoon. We saw a deer.

Lunch: 8.6 miles, averaged 7:32. HR 152.

Saw 5 deer. They usually wait until dark.

PM: 6.6 miles, averaged 9:54. HR 127.

Left achilles a little achy. It usually happens when I bumped my mileage up. A little snow coming tonight. Hopefully it doesn't mess up my footing for tomorrow's workout. Otherwise I'll just move it to the afternoon.

AM: Took the morning off for extra sleep. It snowed and I wasn't sure about footing, so I moved the workout to the afternoon.

PM: 18 miles, averaged 7:36. HR 151.

Fartlek: 10 x 1' On/Off + 10 x 2' On/Off + 10 x 1' On/Off

5' jog between sets. Warmed up 30' cooled down to 18 miles (~19'). Weather was lightly windy but damp and cold. The park was plenty clear as it warmed up slightly throughout the day, but I think we got 3 inches of snow last night, which is considered a storm when it is not even the second half of November.

I was warned that this would be difficult. I was mostly worried about the 2' intervals as a solid set of 2' intervals at 5k effort isn't easy. Well, the last set was what really hurt. Felt strong overall and throughout. Covered 6.89 miles for the 40' of faster stuff or 5:48 pace, which doesn't seem that great considering I did make it into the 5:30 range for a solid number of these.

Lunch: 6.4 miles, averaged 10:12. HR 117.

Cold but sunny. Legs pretty heavy, but that was to be expected.

PM: 6.3 miles, averaged 10:15. HR 116.

Legs weren't quite firing on all cylinders. Kind of flopped around at times. Just tired. Cold and damp.

Lunch: 8 miles in 60' on the treadmill. HR 156.

Slept in a bit and ran at Oakland during lunch. I made a smart decision and drank last night during the week, so I didn't get up early. 7:30 pace feels easier outside right now. Got up a good sweat though, which hasn't been happening in the cold. It's snowing again. I checked out some of the Spin Bikes and they have a nice one. I need to do some cycling in the next few months or I am going to get killed on the Thursday rides in March and April (or whenever the roads are good, could be July with the way winter is coming in).

PM: Off.

Had a long and important conversation with a student. I was going to head to Planet Fitness, but it was just too late to get dinner on the table at a reasonable hour.

Lunch: 7.9 miles w/ 8 x 8" hill blasts.

3.7 up/4.2 down. 3' walkabout recovery. Drills and strides prior. It was very damp and very cold. Patches of snow, but very manageable.

PM: 7.2 miles in 60' on the treadmill. HR 146.

Lunch/PM: 16.3 miles, averaged 7:45. HR 149.

4 x 10' w/ 3' Jogs, 5' Jog, then 6 x 45" Strides w/ 1:15 Jogs

Interval 1: 6:04 (168 BPM)

Interval 2: 6:05 (168 BPM)

Interval 3: 6:04 (168 BPM)

Interval 4: 6:06 (167 BPM)

30' up/30' down. Felt pretty good throughout. Did 1/2 mile at ~marathon effort to try to get rolling as I used to several years ago. Legs weren't quite firing. Breathing felt good. Strides felt like they had some pop even though they weren't fast.

Weather was in the upper 30s, which felt pretty ideal.

Night: AIS and PT routine

Lunch: 6.3 miles, averaged 10:16. HR 118.

PM: 6.4 miles, averaged 10:08. HR 117.

First 4 w/ Megan in PM

Night: AIS and PT routine

Lunch: 8.7 miles, averaged 7:28. HR 148.

PM: 6.5 miles, averaged 10:01. HR 124.

AM: Moved workout to afternoon due to ice and snow.

PM: 13 miles, averaged 7:23. HR 154.

10 x 1K w/ 35” Recoveries (3:46 average or 6:04 pace)

It took me longer to get out than planned, but I got the faster stuff in before it got dark. It was cold and the wind was bone chilling.

30’ up. Started a bit too slow and the first jog too fast. You just need to shuffle your feet. These ultra short recovery workouts are always strange. Tough to find rhythm. Felt pretty solid overall. Glad I got it in. I was starting to feel like skipping.

Lunch: 6.6 miles, averaged 9:55. HR 121.

PM: 6.8 miles, averaged 9:34. HR 121.

Cold and damp. 23 in the PM but with the humidity in the upper 50s and some wind the feels like temp was 14. Cold tomorrow too.

Late: AIS and PT routine.

AM: 12.2 miles, averaged 7:35. HR 147.

Pace felt quite easy. HR in upper 140s for 7:15-7:30 pace. Very cold again. Did a hot mile to finish in 5:44. It felt hard but not too hard. 

Headed to Toledo.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Lunch: 10.2 miles, averaged 8:23. HR 140.

Out and back on the University of Toledo trail, which features miles 21-24 of the marathon. Flat but it will be seem like forever as it’s also straight.

PM: 4.1 miles, averaged 10:37. HR 119.

Went back out just a few hours later with Megan after I did some light grading.

PM: 12 miles, averaged 7:49. HR 155.

Easy to moderate to uptempo finish. Cripplingly hungover. Enjoyed the run.

Off. 41 days on.

Didn't want to get out of bed. Body and mind are rebelling in the final weeks of the semester. We drove back from Toledo.

Lunch: 8.5 miles in 65' on the treadmill. HR 156.

Picked it up a good bit the last 7-8' with the last ~2.5' @ 10MPH. Did a quick set of hip machines after.

PM: 7 miles, averaged 9:19. HR 137.

Late: AIS

AM: 13 miles, averaged 7:51. HR 152.

20 x 1' On/Off + 10 x 30" On/Off

Around 5k effort for the 1' and a bit faster for the 30". Didn't want to get out of bed, but I got out eventually. Cold, windy, and damp. November has not been pleasant. 30' warm up w/ a few half-hearted strides. Workout went fairly well. The 30" are tougher than they look on paper, but they aren't terrible. I did this workout within the last year but cannot remember when. Cooled down to 13 miles.

Weight really got away from me again. Oh well.

PM: 5 miles, averaged 9:54. HR 131.

AM: 6.2 miles, averaged 10:14. HR 121.

PM: Off. I was exhausted and I’m tired of running in the dark and cold.

AM: Off. Couldn't get out of bed. 

PM: 7.7 miles, averaged 8:32. HR 146.

Much needed run. Should have got out for a short run this morning. I had an owl hooting at me.

Lunch: 8.9 miles, averaged 7:20. HR 158.

A little out of the maintenance zone, but it didn't feel that hard. Legs felt good. Too many Voodoo Ranger IPAs. Layed in bed through the morning.

PM: 6.2 miles, averaged 9:53. HR 131.