The Quest for Boston

Today was just a rest day.  I am 2 1/2 weeks post-Baltimore Marathon--my first.  I see myself as a "miler turned marathoner"--thus the title for my blog.  I was never great at very long distances when I ran in high school  I was never good at spring distances.  The mile was the only event I was really good at, and I was good but not excellent.

My first marathon was satisfying, particularly in light of an overuse injury that I was nursing for most of the last four weeks before the race.

I'm looking forward to a winter of individuals training so that I can be ready to go back to my training group next summer and train hard to get myself a lot closer to (if not below) a Boston qualifying time.  

Look forward to interacting with others on this blog. 

5 min warmup on the treadmill at 4 MPH

Weight training circuit (legs/arms/back/abs) including leg press (3x12x260)

 1/2 mile @ 10:00/mile

1 mile ~ 6:18/mile

1 mile ~ 6:32/mile (12:50 for 2 miles)

3 minute cooldown

Not as much stretching as I would have liked

Felt good when I was done

Definitely went out too fast.

Don't plan to do a 2 mile time trial for about a month but I haven't lost much since the pearly September time trial and today's was after a strength training workout which my last 2 mile time trial on a treadmill was not. 

5+ hrs sleep.  As usual broken up by having to let the dog out

Worked out at the Y 

15 min on eliptical burning 217 calories

On the treadmill did 2.5 @ 8:34 and 2.5 @ 7:30.  Average overall 8:02.  Somewhere got an extra 0.01 miles in there but that is inconsequential.

Some incline on both the slower and faster parts.

FElt great afterwards although was a bit tired the rest of the day. 

3 x 1 x 7:08 on the treadmill

Plus 5 minutes walk at the start and about 1/4 between 1-2 and 2-3 with enough at the end to get up to 4.3 in 40:17

Felt great at that pace

10 weight exercises

Leg press 2x12x260 + 1x12x265

20 minutes on the elliptical machine for 301 calories

4+ hours of sleep 

7.3 miles at not quite my goal marathon pace but at faster than easy miles.  7.3 in 56:16 or 7:42/mile on average.  A lot slower first half than second half.  So even without my new Garmin (waiting on the 410), I probably ran about the way that the Charm City Run coach suggested I approach my winter workouts--start slow and end at marathon pace.  

First run with new Brooks, and new Under Armour outerwear.  Yay! 

5K in close to my desired marathon pace (23:45 is just under a 7:40 but not quite a 7:39 which is what I need).  It was cold.  I didn't warm up enough.  I didn't have any pre-carbs/caffeine (think Gu), and I was not as hydrated as I probably should have been.  Still, it was a nice little run at 5:20 and a great way to get my day started.  I hope to get to a point there my quick morning 5K (on days when I have only a little time for exercise) can be 23:42. 

3.1 miles n 22:20.  Ran at 5:15.  Had been up since about 2:50.  Ate a banana, drank a 12 oz can of Classic Coke. and drank some water before the run.  Potassium, carbs, and caffeine.   

Ran the course "backwards".

This pace is better than what I need for the marathon next year (I ran around 7:12 average today).  That means I can lay off trying to run super fast on the 5K's and just concentrate more on distance for a while.  Next step is to see if I can run a 5 miler at marathon pace.

Can't complain about where I am.

Life is good. 

Ran 5.0 a lot faster than I had been planning.  But it felt so good and so easy.  Ran it in 37:29 but have to be careful not to get carried away running too quickly.

Then went out with my kids.  My 11 year old ran 3.1 on a local high school track.  I am trying to convince my 5 year old there is a reason we did not register him for the 5K Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving.  He did run 1/2 mile without stopping and managed to get around another 1 mile.

Hoping that the little pain in my left knee that showed up when I ran with my 5 year old goes away. 

Had some water and a banana before a gym workout.

10 exercise machines

Leg press 3x12x270.  (I like how I am moving up). Others were all good.

Elliptical for 30 minutes burning 452 calories.

Nice intensity cross-training workout. 

4.0 in 30:55.  Did the first mile in 8:51 and ran the other three under 7:40 each.  Great weather for November.  Put my new Garmin 410 to good use.

It was after a few nights of not enough sleep and days of hard work.   

This was a great workout--sort of.

 I ran 8:18/8:18/8:21/8:21/8:14 for my first half.

Then, I ran 7:52/7:54/7:31/7:14/7:30 for the second half.

Why did I do this?  My training group coach had suggested that I divide my longer runs into an easy pace (which I didn't quite achieve--I should have been up around 8:35 rather than at 8:20) followed by marathon pace.  The first two of those miles were not quite there (looking for 7:39) but the last three were.

Everything up to this point suggests, "great workout". 

Issue--had a twinge in my knee around mile 5.  Felt pretty okay through the run.  After the run, a quick breakfast, a quick shower, and a 40 minute drive to drop of my oldest at school and get to work, my left knee is yelling at me.  That is the "sort of".  

Enjoyed using the Garmin 410 including heart rate monitor today.  Still learning what all I can do with it. 

Need some ice and heat and some strength work tomorrow. 

10 weight exercises

Leg press: 2x8x265 + 1x12x265

2 5 minute walks on the treadmill

5 hours of sleep 

Going on a somewhat disrupted 7 hours sleep, I ran an easy 5K with my 11 year old so that he will be ready for the Turkey Trot on Thursday.  He is feeling a little less ready than for two 5K's last spring, but he has not been retraining for as long.  My left knee is still acting up a bit but it is less than last week.

10 weight exercises

Leg press 3x12x270 

Ran 5 miles at evening rush hour.  So, the run was with stopping for lights.  Did not over exert myself. Ran in 41:51 (or 8:22/mile).  Feeling really good except for my left knee that continues to act up.  

So, my Gamin tells me I hit 5000m at 21:22.  The official posted race time is 22:32.  The is consistent with where my meters per second slowed down quite a bit at 5290m.  I also Google mapped the course and it came out closer to 3.3 miles.  Whatever the case, this is my best 5K official time in many years!  

32:30 on the elliptical for 505 calories

10 weight exercises

 Leg press: 3x12x270

 Many of the other exercises felt easier than usual

30 minutes for 501 calories on the elliptical 

A little over 4 hours sleep.  Was up from 3:45ish--working on a lecture for today, making bagels to sell at the kids' school, and making pizza dough for dinner.  Then just out for a nice little run.

The 162 rather than 159 is because of a little too much holiday eating.

Pace was all over the place today.

Need to run a little more deliberately/slowly.  OVerall pace was 8:05 (in 35:01) and there is no reason to run that fast.

Knee acted up from about 2.5 miles.  

Need to make sure to have pre-stretch and post-stretch time if I am going to keep this up.

I'll feel better by tomorrow, but I'd rather not hurt while I run.  

Keep working on 4 hours sleep.  Had a great elliptical workout: 575 calories in 35 minutes.

Had a very nice 10 exercise workout.  Some of the exercises are coming together so that I'm at 12 reps at a weight I'm just getting comfortable with.  On those, I'll do a few more 12's before moving up in weight.  Others, like the "push out", are difficult when not done first.  Finally, I did my first two sets of 8x275 on the leg press.  The difference between 270 and 275 is much "bigger" than any difference I've felt before.  So much that I could only do 4 leg presses in my third set and I did those at 270.  I will have to make any further leg press progress slow and steady.

Cold morning.  Nice run.  Kept a 7:32 pace.  

30 minutes on an exercise bike burning 277 calories.  

Then did 10 weight exercises.  All arms were good.  Abs were tough after the recumbent bike.

Leg press: 1 set of 9 at 275 lbs. 

A 5 minute treadmill walking warmup at 4.0 miles per hour

Stretch

5 minute job at 6.7 MPH 

4 Yasso 800's at 3:20 each

Extra 3:20 walking cooldown

I may have been able to do one or two more 800's but had to stop to get on with my (and my family's day). 

Another cross-training day as I try to continue to avoid injury

 40 minutes on the elliptical burning 635 calories.  Life is good. 

On the treadmill

Some inclines for 1/4 to 1/2 mile at a time

Ran 1st and last half at 8:57 pace (6.7 MPH)

Ran the middle 4 at 7:35 pace (7.9 MPH)  

Still a little issue with the left knee but it is going away more an more quickly afterwards

Ate some cashews and drank water before I left.  That helped. 

30 minutes on the elliptical after work.  508 calories.  Did Hill Interval program rather than manual.  nice way jut to get the heart rate up for a bit.

7 miles in 60 minutes on the treadmill at the Y.  It was a nice workout with regular interval inclines.  Needed it before a heavy dinner.  Nice, constant 8:34 pace.  Knee was a little stiff but feeling not so bad after each run.  The idea of running through seems to be working better this time than at any time in the past.

10 exercise weight workout including 12x275 leg press.  Just enough cardio to get the muscles warmed up before I began. 

Not sure how to classify  my Yasso 800's although I think that since I ran 6 of them, calling it three threshold miles seems about right. I ended up with as many easy miles as I ran 6 3:20 segments at 8:57 pace along with a 5 minute run before the first 800 and a 3+ minute extra cool down at the end.  Nice 800 calorie workout this morning.  Trying not to rush my push toward a 3:20 next October but feeling like everything is good.

Knee a little stiff but not as bad as last time.  Each time the degree the knee hurts seems to decrease.

Also, already registered for the Baltimore Marathon 2011 already--they opened with a $12 discount on the early bird registration fee yesterday.  

40 minutes on a recumbent bike; 381 calories; 5 warmup/5 cooldown; for the 30 in between I kept HR between 120 and 135.  Not bad.

1/2 mile at 6.7MPH on the treadmill with no incline

5 miles (7:35, 7:41, 7:35, 7:41x2 for an average of 7:39--just can't set it for 7:39 to begin with) with inclines lasting up to 1/4 mile at each level with the longest inclined stretch being more than 1 mile

Felt pretty good

Just a little knee issue still  

Weights.  Feeling very comfortable with a 1x12x275 leg press.  Otherwise, just carrying on.

Ran about a constant 8:34 pace (7 MPH) on the treadmill with lots of inclines.  Burned off 891 calories in just about an hour.  Felt good.

40 minutes of shoot around basketball with my 11 year old

35 minutes on the rowing machine.  Burned 421.  Started out way too hard and nearly felt like I was going to vomit.  But slowed down a bit and had a nice complete workout.

40 minutes on the rowing machine.  Decent amount of water and some calories before the workout which included a warmup and stretching.  So, this time I burned 500 cal in 40 minutes and felt much better than after the 421 cal workout in 35 minutes yesterday.  Hope everyone has a great day.

5 min warm up/5 cool down

10 weight exercises

leg press1x12x280 

30 min on the elliptical--441 cal

30 min on a recumbent bike--285 cal

726 cal overall is not a bad way to start the morning.  Have a great day 

No running today.  Just a few weights.  1/2 hour on an exercise bike (293 cal), 1 hour of yoga, and 1/2 hour of elliptical (503 cal)

Again, no running.  Just a little more healing to go and a lot of prophylaxis.  1/2 hour on a bike twice (294 and 306 cal) with an hour yoga class in between.  I won't be able to keep up with this much time every day once I return to real work and real life after the holiday but it is enjoyable right now.