Of Mice and Marathons

Ran with the boys in the early afternoon. 11 miles, averaged 7:21. They continued on. I ran more than I planned, so I turned back. Felt pretty good once I got moving. However, someone, he shall remain nameless, decided to eat pizza for breakfast and had to hit the park at 8.5. One of the reasons I (I mean he) doesn't eat much dairy. Apologies to the ladies for commandeering the rest room, but thanks to Patrick for covering the door.

New world record in the marathon. 19 second positive split? Nuts.

AM: Spring Vale Cemetery - 10.5 miles, averaged 8:33. First mile in 9:50. There were times when I would have cried if I ran that close to 10 minutes; today it was a badge of honor.

PM: Vinton Elementery playground on the gass - 5.5 miles, averaged 8:30. Thought to myself it is silly to run .2 mile loops on the grass, then I stepped back onto the concrete. It is similar to the sensation of jumping on a trampoline and then trying to jump once back on the ground.

I thought I set a monthy mileage PR this month, but I didn't quite beat March of this year. Still, 31 days versus 30, and 1 race (10k) versus 4 (4 miler, half, 15k, 10k). 8 miles difference. I was running at 164-167 lbs then and 168-172 now. Now sure how/why the weight is what it is, but I definitely do a lot more strength training in the form of pushups and core work. Not obsessing about it, but still a bit annoying. I have gotten stronger though; I can knock out 25 pushups before and after each of my morning and afternoon runs, where I before I could do 25 and that would be about for the day.

AM: 9th street to Heritage Trail south to Happy Hollow Park and back - 11 miles, averaged 8:09. I checked the first mile when I got back. 10 minutes with slight downhill. Has me rethinking workout Wednesday, moving it to Thursday. Ran the last 4-5 miles in the 7:20-7:30 range so I would get back by my imposed 9:00AM deadline.

PM: 4.25 miles, averaged 8:11. Did some strides.

Thinking some sleep and a lighter day tomorrow and 3 x 2 miles for Thursday morning. Or 10 x 1000. Feel like I need to get some longer reps in the 1:15 half range so high-1:15 to mid 1:16 feels "easy."

AM: North side - 4 miles, averaged 8:02. Did some strides.

PM: North side 7.75 miles, averaged 7:32. Angry running. Had a car slow down and some folks harass me, so I told them what a piece of crap they were when I chased them to their house. Had someone else make a comment, so I gave her a nice nickname as well. To top it all off, I thought I ran 4.25 miles this morning, but should have run 8 this afternoon to make an even 12. What luck!

AM: Pretty spectacular fail for this morning's workout. Goal was 3 x 2 miles as close to "ideal lactate threshold" as possible, meaning a pace based on a recent race with adequate rest, which is about 5:50 or 5:51 for me. A little ambitious. So I figured 5:55 would be okay. 5:58 for the first mile, then things just got bad and I could barely run 6:30 and I was doubled over sucking air and dizzy when I cut the workout (very) short. About 68 degrees with saturated air. This is not an excuse, but it should have been an indication that I should have gone with a more sensible 6:10ish goal and see what happened from there. Trying to do to much, trying to push, push, push and I think it may have caught up to me. Or something else could be going on. Still plan to cut back this week. I'm just glad my arrogance was punished by a frustrating workout and not an injury. Afternoon off. Headed to Toledo for Megan's bother's wedding. Might run tomorrow, might not. Approaching 60 days and very few have been easy. Lots of racing and weekly mileage PRs.

Onward and upward.

PM: Off

In Toledo for Megan's brother's wedding. 6.25 miles, 5.5 with Megan. Did some strides. Averaged 8:50 I think. My legs feel like bricks. Megan will be busy all morning tomorrow, so I'm going to hit the trail and see if I can get something over 2 hours at pace that will be determined by feel.

Best of luck to all those running St. George. I have some predicted times, which have been time-stamped on my iPhone.

University of Toledo campus and trail - 16 miles, averaged 7:30. Changed my plans of hitting another trail because I couldn't get around the parade. Misty, and not really an enjoyable run, but I got in 2 hours on my feet and kept the pace as honest as I could for how I was feeling. 

I was a bit off on my predictions, but I did okay. Lesson of the day: never underestimate Fritz. I thought 2:23 given his rebuilding months. Boy, was I wrong. Amazing stuff. Congrats to all. 

Off to Megan's brother's wedding. I'll try not to drink and eat much more than I already did this weekend.