Random Inspirational Quote

PM: 8 mi. super slow and easy around the neighborhood and fairgrounds - 1:10:09

PM1 - 8mi. - 4 mi. mod. hill work (trying to maintain consistent pace on hills) - 6:50, 6:48, 7:06, 6:55  -- Total: 1:04:43

PM2 - 5mi. bike/1.25 mi. run working on transition - 18:24/10:03

AM: 11.3 mi easy bike - over to bike station and back,

2 mi. easy jog - 17:00,

early PM: 3.5 mi. easy - 29:16

First Triathlon tomorrow!

AM: Columbus Sprint Triathlon at Tipton Lake:

First off - these things are very fun, so don't take any of this as complaining, just helpful mistakes that can help others :)

Get there about an hour early - be sure to bring all your gear! Swim cap, tri shorts/suit, helmet, a fast bike, socks and running shoes, a lightweight short or belt that you can put your bib number on for bike and run... I was missing about 3 of these things.

Train for the swim - its great cross for runners and is zero impact.  IT IS HARD!  I was one of the last out of the water - literally.  800m - 24:52 - swim complete, but, so far, in like 160th place and exhausted :)

Went out hard on the bike and maintained 20 mph.  It took me to about mile 10 of the 17.5 for my heart rate to get back down from the swim.  Overall, bike was decent for first racing experience - 52:07 - made up quite a bit of ground. Now when you transition it helps to remember which rack/row you were on - it took me 3 tries on this venture :)  Finally got the running shoes on and my hat.

I was thinking- the run, oh good the easy part! Nope!  I was gasping for air for the first mile.  got a decent rhythm after about 1.5, but could tell that I was slow.  5k run time - 22:51 :(  Yikes! 

Overall time - 1:43:XX

This was a great workout and a lot of fun!  I was beat down at the end, felt like I really pushed my cardiovascular limits, but did not feel like I killed my legs.

 Highly recommend doing at least one of these to all who love any endurance sports! 

Easy miles - PM - 2 mi. easy on treadmill while the 10k final was run - way to go Mr. Rupp!!!!!!!  2mi. in the heat, and then 4 more in the heat an hour later - I'm dehydrated and a little tired still from this morning.

PM Long Run: 90 deg./50% hum and sunny here in IN.

Made the mistake of putting this off until afternoon, but I felt like I needed the additional sleep and recovery after yesterday's shock to the system.  

Pretty slow and painful today - needed about 2 more water stops.  20 mi. over to Hospital around Mill Race and Lincoln Parks and back, no real climbing except for Terrace Lake Blvd the (at the beg and end of the run)  Much slower as the run dragged on and dehydration worsened -- 2:43:22

Recovery miles - PM: 7 mi. after work. 3.72 after dinner - slow pace

PM: 10 miles - easy pace - 1:21:30.  Mileage build throughout August.  So far, off to a good start :)  I had lunch with an old buddy who hasn't trained in a while and registered for Chicago Marathon- I now have a free Chicago reg. even though they don't allow transfers.  New Fall Plan will be similar to last year's craziness :)

Sept. 15 - Fox Valley Marathon

Oct. 7 - Chicago Marathon

Nov. 3 - Indy Monumental Marathon :)

New shoes came in the mail today - Kinvara 2's for $50 :)

sunny and in the low 90's today.  Ran over to the track close to the house to discover that they had very recently put a new surface on it - yaahhhh!!!  It was in bad shape - almost fresh HMA combined with new shoes made for the most well cushioned surface I have run on in a while.  Did 4x400m at 5k pace and jogged around a bit more before dinner.  2 mi. easy after dinner with the dog.

8.4 mi. today taking it easy.

Anywhere from 2 to 4 races this weekend

Took half a day off at work after a meeting in Indy.

Late AM run - 70 degrees:

easy 8 mi. - 1:07:46

AM: easy super slow 5k with the dog.  Early PM: easy 3.36 around the neighborhood in the grass.  2 hour nap and then watched the US BBall team ass beating.

Cross Roads 5k tonight at 8pm:

Flat Rock, IN - 8pm, sunny and 65 degrees:

1.33 mi. WU, Pretty sore legs at the start - Its not good when your hammies feel this tight to sart a race... Another 5k, another typical result.  Mile 1 - too fast, fall off the rest of the race.  The only good thing about this race was that I kicked well at teh end to hold off another one of the regulars (a younger kid - I would've never heard the end of that one if he had passed me :)

5:39, 5:54, 6:15, 0.16 - 0:49.5

I'll take Sat morning off to recover and let the legs have a chance in tomorrow night's race in Lexington, KY.  I think I'll really try to focus on even splits - mile 1: 5:45-5:50 instead of 5:30-5:40... we'll see.  Midsummer Night's Run usually has about 3-4k people, so should be really fun. 

Midsummer Night's Run in Lexington, KY- 8:30pm start time, upper 60s and getting dark when race started.  I spotted the guy who won the age group last year at the start line and followed him the whole race.  Mile 1 was all focusing on holding back a little bit and weaving through the masses of people.  There were 6500 people in this race! 

Splits were - 5:38, 5:36, 5:49 and :45 for final 0.16- again the course was long.

Although it appears as though the race timers really messed up and did not even show me in the results, I Finally broke 18 again!  Don't know if I'll have an official time :( 

 1.5 miles today - Off/easy running - 45 minutes of core and legs workout - pretty sore :(

PM slow/rec. miles - temperature has final cooled off, got a little rain today.  Very sore/tight legs from weekend - this was not a fun run near the end.

16 mi. - about 9 min. pace at the end - 2:20:17

PM runs: mild temperature and overcast again :)

4 mi. easy after work - 35:34

After dinner: 0.5 mi 3:55, 

3.5 mi. MP - 6:26, 6:41 ?, 6:30, 3:13,

0.37 CD

Still sore on the legs, easier to move, though - All the same, icing time has become a regular practice post run each night.

PM Track Workout:  80 deg. and sunny.

Breakthrough today!  I started off getting home from work feeling tired and sore, but managed to psyche myself up and drove over to the track

Yasso 800s (10x800 @ 2:50 or less)

1.5 mi. WU - 12:08,

10x0.5mi w/ 0.25 mi. rec. jog

(2:50, 2:47, 2:48, 2:48, 2:50, 2:47, 2:48, 2:50, 2:47, 2:44)  :))

I'm very happy with this workout!  Even the recovery jogs were around 8:00/mi. pace and less.

CD 0.5 mile

Wow - I was struggling today.  MY left knee felt like it was moving in directions that it shouldn't :(

Took it real easy and iced while watching the latest Dexter season that come out on DVD :)

AM mod. effort run w/ strides:  Kept it about 7:30 pace over the 7 mi., but felt comfortable, and the knee was a lot better -- 52:56. 

Took my first ice bath after run this morning.  Actually, it was more like a leg and lower back soak.  It was painful and awful getting in the water, but after the first 30 sec, it was bearable.

I've had to really doctor these new red Brooks Ghost 4 that I got a couple weeks ago.  The right outside ankle ridge really digs in to under my ankle.  The shoes also feel like there is not enough arch in them.  They feel dead and my foot falls feel extremely flat footed in them, which is weird because I have had Ghost 4's before and they were wonderful.  Really disappointed with this pair.  Hopefully they loosen up before Fox Valley in mid Sept.  

Conversely, I am extremely happy with the Kinvara 2's I bought off line for $50 - they are probably the best running shoe I have had. 

A couple miles easy tonight.  Crossroads Series 5k tomorrow morning (very hilly).  Long run tomorrow evening 

AM:

1mi. WU,

Bump & Run 5k - beautiful weather, hilly course.  Started off 4th and finished in 4th - satisfied with the run with the amount of hills, and soreness in the legs and left knee.  5:45 first mile didn't turn in to as much of a melt down for the next 2 mi. as it has in the past, though pushing at the end going downhill really didn't feel good on the left knee :(

5:44, 5:59, 5:56, 30.9

1.78 mi. CD with the guys who usually beat me (and did again today) - spent the run learning about swimming from one of the guys who has become somewhat of a tri expert in the area.  (Don't kick so much! :))

AM: 6mi. w/ 4.5 MP (effort) -- 44:21 - it was difficult to maintain under 7 minutes on this run - ran this about 10 minutes after 5k cooldown, so the legs didn't want to get out of first gear?

On a side note, my weight has really started to approach my target for this fall (and stay there), so that's great news!

Made blueberry and PB/banana pancakes and feasted and watched Dexter for most of the rest of the day. :)

PM: 2.81 junk miles to round out 60 mile week.  My legs are hurting...

AM: started off for a 10-12 miler this morning and decided against it.  0.37 mi. jog up the street and back :(  The legs were not moving, with the exception of the left knee :(.  More rec. time needed.  XT and light run in the evening if feeling alright.  AM 20 mile bike to Grandview Lake and back on the old clunker - 1:10:06 (17.1 mph).  

Trip down to Lexington for niece's birthday - Happy birthday, Hannah!  We bought her Bieber's Never Say Never - you're welcome mom and dad :)

That put us back at around 8:30pm - the legs/knee actually feel better after 5 hrs in the car and poor cookout diet for the day...

PM: 4 mi. easy - 32:35,

20 min. of Bootcamp video of plyo and light leg work and call it quits for the day.

Came from work and started dosing off as soon as I sat down - nap time :)  Slept until about 7:15p.  Extremely slow run in the wonderful evening (almost fall-like) air.  12 mi. - 1:49:03

PM Solid Tempo Run:

11.36 - 1.5 WU w/ strides,

8 mi. tempo on track - (6:34, 6:29, 6:27, 6:30, 6:30, 6:30, 6:34, 6:31)

1.86 mi. CD

Really going for a feel of baseline effort level to maintain 6:30's.   Maybe the horrible diet toady affected me, but, this pace felt like it was a little strained to be marathon pace at times.  Try again Saturday - 10 mi., same pace.  Hopefully, do better on the diet, though its hard with amount of cake and sweets provided daily at work. 

PM Run: 80 degrees and sunny today.  4.5 mi. over to track down a busy state road.

3 mi. WU, 2mi. MP - 13:22 -- this felt harder than it should've - road running fighting traffic could be the culprit, 0.5 mi. rec.,

4x1mi @ 15k-HM Pace w/ 0.25 mi. rec. (track running) - 6:15, 6:18, 6:19, 6:12 - these felt easier than I thought they would (that's good, right?), 0.5 mi. rec.

2 mi. MP - 13:48 -- I really struggled with this portion of the workout, though, I think with the solid tempo yesterday, and the decent amount of effort today, this simulated later miles in marathon.  Hopefully, I can maintain pace better than I did today in the later stages of the upcoming races...

2 mi. CD

PM Recovery Run:  These runs suck, but are necessary.  6 mi. at over 9 min. pace - 54:40, hangover from good hard workouts previous 2 days...

The shoe cuts into the right ankle a lot more when running slower pace - diff. form, I guess.  Whatever the reason may be, I'm not running marathon in these shoes, nor will I buy Ghost 4 again.  

AM: easy 4 mi. w/ the dog around the neighborhood - 35:55, about 4 mi. around the CR 300 loop - 33:08

 Another CR 5k race tomorrow morning - nice and flat - time to break 18 again...

long run after race or in the PM - would like to get 23 mi. total tomorrow and round out an 80 mile week.

AM: WU - ~1.5 w/ strides, Sprint for the Spirit 5k - 17:47 (5:33, 5:42, 5:57, 28.9) - felt good this morning and stayed with the leaders until about mile 2 - I think with fresh legs I could win some of these things :).  CD - ~4.5 mi. with the usual guys that beat me :) 

AM2: got home chugged a gatorade and off: 3 mi. easy over to track for tempo run - 5 MP - 33:07 (6:32, 6:30, 6:30, 6:39, 6:54) - really struggled with the last mi. :(  I predict that the last mile will be similar to how I will be finishing the marathons this fall... it looks like I simulated this breaking point twice this week.  

The newer Ghost 4's are retired with about 150 miles on them - that's how terrible these shoes were made - must've gotten a bad pair.  I busted out the old Ravenna 3's with 450 miles on them and felt a lot better.

5 minutes of abs afternoon

PM: easy 7 mi. - 60:12 - nice and easy recovery pace and slower,

PM2: super slow and easy 3 mi. with dog in the evening - 27:07

PM slow run in the 200% humidity :) - 10 mi. - Tipton Lake Marina and back - 1:26:00 - about 8:35 pace.  I wrung my shorts after the run - enough said... 

PM Track Workout: 90 deg. and sunny.  WU jog over to track - where there is now a full blown construction zone all around the track - dust and equipment everywhere.

Anyway, it felt hot today, and I felt tired at the beginning of the workout.  The results reflect this:

2 mi. WU - 15:57,

8 x 0.5 mi. w/ 0.25 mi. rec. jog

3:05/2:00, 3:02/2:00, 3:00/1:56, 3:01/2:04, 3:03/2:08, 3:04/2:25, 3:00/2:25, 3:02

rec. 0.3 mi.,

0.25 mi. - 1:08,

CD 2.34 mi. - 23:04

10.62 mi. total 

This was a far cry from the 10x800 I did a couple weeks ago - the effort was there today, not the results. 

PM Run over to track for 6 mi. MP - 85 deg. and sunny/dusty in the construction zone.

1 mi. WU - 8:31,

6 mi. MP - 39:23 (6:33s)

rec. 0.7 mi - 6:51,

0.12mi. x 4 w/ 0.13 rec. (34,36,36,36) - ouch - these hurt :(

1mi. CD,

Dinner and then easy 1.6 mi. w/ the dog - 14:33

pm easy  run 4 mi w\ dog - 36:22 ,  10min core work,  5mi after dinner - 45:02

am easy bike and run- 10mi bike over to walmart for to buy a crappy calc (the PE test has a specific list), 5mi easy around nieghborhood.  3.5 more easy 2nite and i'll have my first 300 mi. month!! :)            another CR 5k 2mor if the hurricane system doesn't wipe us all out :)