Of Mice and Marathons

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.

PM: 12 miles, averaged 7:46. HR 154.

Easy to moderate with one hot mile to conclude in 6:09. Fastest mile by a good bit since March. The stayed up too late after working late. I drank too much and watched Halloween movies. 

Megan and I drove to Traverse City for Bell's Iceman 30-mile mountain bike race. Weather looks cold and with snow flurries. A few places up this way got plowable snow yesterday.

AM/Lunch: 31.1-mile ride. HR 162.

Bell's (the beer) Iceman Cometh. Rode my buddy Joe's fat bike. The course is point to point on season roads from Kalkaska, Michigan to Traverse City, Michigan. The course is two track with some single track. Wooded and seasonal roads. It was very muddy. Thick peanut buttery goodness. 4000 people and things were so clogged we had to get off and stand in line. Didn't enjoy that as I dislike stopping in running and riding. Gave it a hard effort and had fun despite some frustrations when the chain came off and was so packed with mud it wouldn't track on the front sprocket.

I love running but the race after parties and expos for cycling are really something. Good short trip with Megan.