Boston Strong

After 70 miles in 7 days, I have decided to give myself a full day of rest, probably will bike some and maybe a couple light miles this evening.  I am a little concerned about high mileage injuries, and don't really like mileage goals, as a result ... but know increasing my mileage is what I need to do for a strong fall marathon!  I should be excited to run, as my next run will put me over 1,000 miles for the year ... this is a big milestone for me... considering it is a 50% leap over my previous high mileage, last year. ... and there are still 5 months to go! My goal in January was consistency, with a minimum 30 mpw .. for the most part I have accomplished that over the last 7 months.  Would be nice if I could put together (2) 200 mile months to get ready for October, that is my goal, if my legs can handle it without being in a constant state of soreness! 

9 PM - Severe thunderstorms all night, cleared just as sun was set.  Stepped outside & it had plummeted to 70 degrees, so I threw on my shoes & got a quick 3 in as darkness set in!  Felt good   7:32, 7:16, 7:19

Two easy days & a full day of rest yesterday were in order, felt good today.

Progression run 10 seconds faster each mile was my goal ...

Kicked it in a little the last mile because I just wanted to be done!  First 9 miles were relatively easy, last 2 sub 7's were hard!  Overall felt good & was pleased with workout.  Quick water break at half way point ... don't really know what to make of HR info, but it appears to start spiking when I go under 7:30 mile.  Probably need to do a tempo run at about 7:15 & see what it does ... I consider anything under 7:20 my marathon pace, which equates to a sub 7:00 mile with downhill, hence the goal to break 3 hours in Oct on a big downhill course.

No plan, late dinner, was getting dark before food fully digested but went out for some miles with a little speed work.  Ran a 10k in 50 minutes, mostly easy running after start.

Mile 1 - 6:38

Mile 2 - 6:20

1.84 miles @ 9:10 pace

0.27 @ 6:18 pace (across bridge)

0.9 @ 9:04 pace (around island)

0.27 @ 6:08 pace (across bridge)

0.92 @ 9:16 pace

Happy to get 6.2 miles in ... riding bike 20 miles early in morning, followed by some trail running.

Biked 24 miles easy pace

Pretty steady effort tempo run - felt good - other than the squishing sound in my shoes!

22 miles on bike @ 14.2 mph avg

Although I fell well short of my 50 mpw goal (32), I did bike 45 miles on two non-running days, so I guess I am still pleased with the training I got in this past week.  Legs felt like they needed some rest from the previous high mileage week ... hopefully I can hit 50 this week!

Well, last night I signed up for a 10k here in PA for next Sunday, before heading back to Atlanta.  Sometime I wonder why I do such things, the course description is "Hot & Hilly Picturesque Course".  That last word sounds appealing, but I hate Hot & Hilly!  Oh well, a 10k is about the only way I can get myself to run all out for 6 miles this time of year, so I guess I signed up to give myself a solid 6 mile training run!  It was only $20, so that was appealing!  It is called the Twilight Trot, at 6:30 ... so I guess I will go out around 6 tonight and try to do 4 miles at race pace ... I really feel like I should be able to run a sub 40 10k which is a 6:25 pace ... but I usually crash at that pace when you throw in heat & hills!  Maybe with a little race mojo, I can hang on a little longer!  Ok ... this is just my personal little pep talk, to try to get myself to run 4 @ 6:25 pace tonight ... where at least it will be flat!

 PM - Take what thy body gives you & give thanks!  Plan was 2 easy, 4 fast, 2 easy.  Since the 2 easy never happened, I switched gears to 8 slow!  Did not matter that I had strapped on my racing flats, I knew a half mile into the run my legs were not going to turn over faster than an 8:30 pace, God forbid I attempt 6:25 pace!  Oh well, I guess 24 miles on a bike does not classify as a recovery day for me!  8 miles @ 8:37 pace  

6 mile progression run with 2 mile cool down at 9:10 pace

Went to Spiin class at 5:30 pm, instructor was pretty lame, so I left after about 35 minutes, threw some dumbells around for 10 minutes, and headed home to get in a run.  Legs felt pretty good after the bike warm-up, so I worked up to some faster miles, then finished with a 3 mile cool down at 8:55 pace. 

Opted for 20 mile bike ride today.  Will be cool tomorrow morning, perfect for a run!

Went out at 8 am, a cool 63 degrees & 67% humidity.  At 10, it was still only 72 degrees and 50% humidity!  I am so ready for fall, I actually like running in cooler temps!  :)

This was my longest training run ever ... woohoo!  I felt pretty good, and just wanted to keep my pace around 8 minute miles.  Because I felt good I was able to comfortably run a little faster, as that helps the time to seem to go by faster!

Probably threw my chance at a 10k pr out the window for Sunday night, but my October marathon is the only race I am thinking about right now anyway.  Tomorrow will be a day of rest, and Sundays 10k will close out the week with a solid fast tempo run, putting me over my goal of 50 miles for the week.

This run was the conclusion to my mostly flat PA training, where over the last 24 days I ran 168 miles and biked 100 miles ... a good step in the right direction for my marathon training.

ran a mile and biked six just to get blood moving thru the legs.  played golf with dad to celebrte his birthday, brother joined us as well, great day

Race Flyer desribed course as 'Hot & Hilly", and after an 18 miler on Friday, at the one mile mark, I was not happy with my decision to run this race, as history tells me I need rested legs to run fast.  After a 6:50 mile, which included 170' of climb, I can honestly say I have never been breathing so heavy at the 1 mile mark in a race ... not too mention my legs were screaming at me.  Yep, went out way too fast first 1/4 mile as usual, and then the climb started.  My goal was to win the Masters, which came with a sweet trophy & a $75 prize. 

Towards the end of the first mile I got passed by a guy who definitely looked over 40, and he was like on cruise control while I was gasping for air.  Also got passed by another guy who looked 40ish, who was not laboring either.  The uphill continued & the first guy was out of sight before long & the second guy was gapping me pretty quickly!  I had to slow to get my breathing under control, but was more concerned about my screaming legs, and was seriously considering an easy 5 mile run the rest of the way ... but I didn't pay $20 for that, so hung on & figured I would settle for a solid 6 mile fast tempo run, my secondary goal.

Next thing I knew I was getting passed by another guy who was def 40+ & it sounded like another half dozen set of footsteps directly behind me!  I never looked backed & picked up the pace to run side by side with the guy attempting to pass me, with footsteps right behind us.  Finally, almost half way into Mile 3, the big downhill began, and yes, I live for downhill running!  I blocked out the pain & pulled back ahead, but knew I had to throw the hammer down, or I would be getting passed again on the next uphill.  I had been struggling to try to hold a 7 min pace, but threw in a half mile at a 6 min pace ... closing the gap on the guy in front of me from about 200 yards to 100.  As we rounded a turn at the bottom I glanced back, and sure enough I had put a good distance between myself and the pack I had been with ... unfortunately now I felt like I was in no mans land!  Fortunately, my legs had livened up a little, and my breathing was a little more under control. 

The decline became more gradual mixed with flats, but there was enough for me to keep slowly closing the distance on my next target.  By the time we hit Mile 5, where the uphill started again, I had closed to about 30 yards, what I considered to be striking distance if I could just hang on.  Fortunately he was no longer motoring uphill like he had been in Mile 2, and I inched my way closer ... which was exactly the positive mojo I was needing to keep pushing at this point.  At the 5 mile split I was only about 10 back & wanted to get a better feel for my competition, so I pulled even for a little while to assess things.  At this point, we had both closed the gap on the next target to only about 30 yards, so i told the guy 'let's reel him in.  Started pushing harder, and he only stayed with me for about a 100 yards.  I was gaining but really concerned, because I was pushing my limit & there was a big uphill ahead ... I don't like these , especially when I am whooped!  Apparently he was whooped to as I kept gaining on the incline.  As I passed him he gave me words of encouragement, and said great job attacking the hill ... not sure I ever heard that one before!  lol  Anyway, his words of encouragement helped, so I pushed a little more. 

Never thought I would catch the next runner, who was the 2nd place female finisher, as she was about 50 ahead, but kept getting closer.  I felt confident if I could close half the gap, I could catch her in the last quarter mile.  I passed her with about 100 yards to go, & she tried to go with me ... I went to sprint mode & with some enthusiastic spectators at the finish threw the hammer down & pulled substantially ahead!

 I nearly puked/collapsed after finishing but was really happy with my effort, figured I probably won my age group, but never even saw the guy again that had passed me in the first mile ... until about 20 minutes after the race, where I congratulated him on a great race, & told him he probably won Masters!  He looked at me funny, don't even think he knew what a Master was, so I asked his age ... 36!  I swear he looked 43 minimum!!  Hmmm ... maybe  I did win, thank goodness I did not throw in the towel at the 2 mile mark like I was considering!

 Sure enough, I got the big trophy & $75 to boot!  What a pleasant surprise!!  42:50 is not a great time, but considering heat & hills, it was everything I had to do it, and I was pleased with my time ... early in the race I decided I would be thrilled if I could hold a sub 7 pace considering conditions & my long run Friday.  This was the identical time I ran Peachtree in July 4 ... but I think this course was tougher ... and that one had a lot more adrenalin/race atmosphere on its side.

Sorry for the long report ... first time I ever won cash and bigger than a 6" trophy!  :-)   I ate hot wings & drank beer to celebrate!

* I ended up winning Masters by 40 seconds, but I did not pass the guy that finished second until just after the 5 mile mark.

In Charlotte, NC, was getting dark out by the time I got situated & headed out, but had head lamp.  Found a park about a mile up the road & then ventured out on to single track mtn bike trails, was pitch black minus my head lamp, finally after about 3 miles I resurfaced at tennis courts & made my way back.  2 miles road/3 trail/ 48 minutes

same trails as last night, much nicer when i could see where i was going.  great single trck trails for a city park.  ran for one hour.  heading back to atlanta now

hot

played soccer ninety minutes, hilly hot trail run.

A year ago I quit playing soccer, for two primary reasons ... one being so I could focus on qualifying for Boston, and the other because I did not want to risk injury continuing to play soccer with 30 year olds with my aging body!

Well, I qualified ... but now I am questioning some of my logic.  Almost every distance runner I know is battling injury of some sort ... and I don't know any soccer players who are injured ... although they do tend to have more of a beer gut!

I really enjoyed the scrimmage I played in, scored a goal and had 4 assists.  I am leaning   towards joining the team for the fall season, and scaling back my running, focusing mailnly on speed work.  Then again, I am excited about my fall marathon, Boston in April, and New York next November.  How I got excited to run 3 marathons in the next 15 months when I don't enjoy running over 10 miles, I am not sure.  I definitely want to and will PR this October, but Boston and New York may evolve into just enjoying the experience and not worrying about time ... of course, that would be in direct conflict with my competitive nature!

 I am conflicted ....

trail run up and down one hour

Hot & hilly, but low humidity, shady & breezy ... 55 minute trail run.  Will be in 90's all week ... but possibly some cooler temps next week!

lots of hills (1470 vert) , 8:15 pace, poured sweat out of shoes when finished.

2PM -well, I bought some Kinvaras because a $75 Saucony purchase got me a free entry into a Labor Day 10k, not to mention the fact that all my road shoes should pretty much be retired.  I wanted to test them out, so I ran 6.8, first 2 fast cuz I was catching up to a friend on path.  They felt pretty good, tough to evaluate a new shoe after running 12 hilly miles this morning.  I guess the true test will be if I PR in them Monday ... which i better, because my 10k pr is getting pretty stale and coming up on a 1yr anniversary!

trail run with Alex's cross-country team