Of Mice and Marathons

Newtone - 7.25 miles easy

Allowed myself a glass of chocolate milk for the first time in probably 2 years. I forget how magical a substance that stuff is.

Purdue Co-Rec - 9.5 miles. Ho hum; unward and upward.

Ran into Brandon who was looking spiffy. I'm lucky to put pants on since I am not teaching this semester. My only complaint about the Co-Rec (other than them not giving me a Woodway treadmill) is no towel service. Easy enough to bring one I guess.

Night: 35 minutes of stretching, rolling, and core.

At this point last year I was 165lbs. A bit of work to do to get back to and below that.

Purdue Co-Rec - 9.5 miles

First race of the season on Saturday. I've done 0 workouts at 5k pace, so it should be interesting. I hope to at least break 20 minutes or I will be very sad. Trying to treat all races other than my half tuneup as workouts and fitness indicators. No expected or guaranteed PRs this spring season. I'll take 1.

Purdue Co-Rec - 14.25 miles

Resting heart rate was 44 this morning, which is about normal. Not sure how off it got during my down time, but a return to the low 40s looks good on paper. I think when I was still smoking and I started running it was about 60.

Evening: 40 minutes of stretching, core, hips, and glutes

Purdue Co-Rec - 7.5 miles easy w/ 6 x 240m on/off. Nothing fast just faster than my usual 8:20 pace. 5:40 felt really good. Cut it down to 5:06 pace. Fairly standard 25 pushups before and after.

Not sure what the weather is going to be for Saturday morning. Wintery mix doesn't sound very good. I ran in my racing flats today to prepare for the race, but I think I will also bring snow shoes and ice skates. On further suggestion, I whipped up these. I've fallen so deeply in love with the treadmill I forgot I am actually am a road runner.

Purdue Co-Rec - 6 miles.

Did ~250 meters at 5:45. I have no delusions that I can run that right now even on dry ground but I wanted to keep my legs stretched out. Did ~150 meters as fast as the treadmill would go (sadly 12.5 MPH). 28 pushups before, 26 after.

Pretty good month for coming off a 70 mile month and a 150ish month. Did 285 miles last January with two rest days). Did 300 miles last year in February (no rest days) and I would like to do at least that this year. Trying to stick with long singles but if my weight doesn't get where I need it to be I will do 5-7 in the afternoon 3 or so days a week, retaining the longer morning run of 70-90 minutes.

I need to work on my max efforts as Coach Bam has been telling me for a year and a half. I will work those in over this next 2-4 week cycle. Well, not sure if it is a cycle but it is the next 2-4 weeks of "let's see what happens" kind of training.

AM: 500 Festival 5k. I ran PR pace but ran the course long. Not bad with nothing other than some strides and 4 weeks of rebuilding my base. A slightly longer report to follow. I will say I feel like a tool for complaining that I wouldn't even break 20 minutes. I have just felt very out of shape. And ... Pancakes are here.

Actual Report:

Somehow I didn't leave enough time to do a proper warmup of 3-4 miles w/ a half mile at MP and a few light strides (this is what I do for a half usually), but I got in 20 minutes abd some strides and felt just okay. Started a row or so back not wanting to slow anyone down. We got rolling and I knew where I was at for pace without looking but I checked anyway: 5:40ish. Tried to keep my eyes off the watch an maintain form and effort. I stayed a few meters behind Joe Bell after getting clear of some stragglers. I tried to stay within reach of him (knowing even if I was in front of him he would be able to outkick me). Effort got pretty hard after mile 2, which means the effort was about right. I lost my form and died a bit, despite being 5:40 on my watch (about 5-6 seconds faster than PR pace). I just kind of coasted from there, picking it up at the end in weaksauce fashion. Joe must have heard the fat kid breathing and screw shoes digging in because he kicked a few seconds after the 3-mile mark--the kind of kick where the person is running very fast without any really noticable change in form or effort. That comes with years of running (off and on or not). I watch Brandon do the same thing.

Rich chocolatey goodness: 5:40, 5:41, 5:53, ~45 for .14 (5:28). I usually run the course about .5-.6 shorter so I am not sure what happened.

Much work to be done, but I am feeling much better. Lots of work to be done, but I now have an indication of where my workouts should be.

2.25 up, race, 5.25 down

PM: Purdue Co-Rec - 6 miles easy. I was hungry before I got on the treadmill and moved past the "I don't feel hungry anymore" kind of hungry. First double since October 24. Will probably start throwing some in after a lighter upcoming week.