Winning Back What I Lost

I wanted to get out and get a feel for what I'll be facing come April.  I've never really done any hill training since I started running.  This neglect, more than anything, led to my disappointing times in the Sun Valley 1/2 and the Mesa Falls Marathon.  Both races had significant climbs that sucked the life out of me and I never really recovered. 

Anyway, what I found out was that I'm nowhere near ready to take on the huge climb to Aldape Summit.  I parked my car on Shaw Mt. Road about a mile below where the pavement turns to gravel and ran an out and back.  There's still quite a bit of packed snow and ice on the dirt road, as well as mud where the ice and snow have melted.  This made the climb even more difficult b/c I had to pick certain lines to avoid sloshing through the mud and/or sliding on the ice.  The packed snow was easiest to run on, both uphill and downhill.  At least 4 other runners were getting their licks in and, curiously, quite a bit of automobile traffic going to the Summit.  Temp was just above freezing w/ bright sunshine.  Total net elevation gain in the 2.75 miles was right at 700 feet, or a little more than 1/3 of the net gain in the first 8.4 miles of the Robie Creek course!  Yikes! 

If there was one bright spot it is that the downhill portion was quite enjoyable even w/ the braking for the ice, snow and mud.  My legs felt great and I felt like I could go longer if I didn't have to return to the office.  If I continue to build my base cardio back up by dropping more weight and increasing my weekly mileage to 45+mpw I think I'll be ok.   I'm planning on doing some 1 mile hill repeats later on in the week.

T/M workout: Slow, easy recovery run after yesterday's hill training.  Treadmills were packed this morning and I had to wait a few minutes for one to come free.  I told myself that I would go super slow this morning but my type A competitive personality won't allow it when I have people running on both sides of me.  It shouldn't matter to me either way but it does for some reason.  I'm feeling a little run down w/ the beginnings of a sore throat.  I only got about 4-5 hours of decent sleep as I tossed and turned all night. I've got two sick kids at home but hopefully I can ward of their sickness at least until I get out of town tomorrow through Friday.  

Early AM T/M Tempo Run:  Warmed up for a mile then 4 miles at 8:27 pace and 1+ mile cooldown; my legs are starting to come back; I didn't have a heart monitor on but I could tell that I was just below threshold; last week I did this for 3 miles and it wiped me out; this week I could have gone longer than 4 if I didn't have to be a responsible adult and go to work.  Weight= 185 lbs

Went to the chiropractor yesterday and he used some weird hammer-like electric device to loosen up the swelling and popped my ankle back in line for me.  My neck was pretty out of whack too.  He's a pretty cool guy and told me about his new workout routine called Crossfit.  Apparently, there are Crossfit gyms popping up all over the place.  I checked out their website and it looks interesting.  Looks like they do a lot of different plyometrics as fast as they can which gives it a cardio component.  He claims that his buddy trained for and completed a marathon doing nothing but Crossfit.  He didn't say what the guy's time was though.

Traveled to Vegas yesterday afternoon for a conference.  I was hoping to get outside w/ the nice weather here but my hotel is just off the strip in a neighborhood w/ alot of traffic so I decided to hit the treadmill instead.  I got 2 workouts in, mostly because I had already lost my quota on the blackjack tables by 8 o'clock.

AM:  4 miles on alternating incline between 1.5% and 2.5%; 1 mile at 4.5%.

PM: 5 easy miles @ 1%.

Back home in Boise; Long, slow easy run, well except for the stomach problems that had me running for the toilet at the nearest Jackson's;  I don't know what it is about longer runs but I inevitably get the runs; I even brought what I thought was sufficient water so I don't think it was dehydration; it's got to be something else, most likely my diet.  Anyway, the good news is that I felt that I could longer but for the stomach discomfort- legs and lungs felt better than they have in a long time.  First 40 mile week since last summer and I only ran 5 days.  Weight- 183 lbs.

Hit the hills again this afternoon.  Started at the base of Shaw Mtn. Road and ran uphill for a little over a mile then down into Rocky Canyon and then uphill again to where the pavement ends and back.  Weather was nasty w/ an ice/snow mix at my back on the way out and in my face on the way back.  This is roughly the first 1/5 of the Robie Course.  I like this run because it has an uphill and downhill on both the out and back portions.  My base training seems to be paying dividends.  I was breathing heavy on the uphill but nowhere near VO2 max.  Held my pace at no worse than 9:45 for the steeper sections and no slower than 7:45 on the downhill.  The best part is that I felt like I could give more if I had to.  This might become my regular Monday lunchtime run for the next couple of months. I was a little overheated because I had to bundle up for the ice/snow w/ the temp right at freezing or slightly above. 

I've been limiting myself to somewhere between 1,200-1,500 calories for nearly a month now and its helped me shed some of the winter pounds I put on during my injury hiatus rather quickly.  However, I can tell that I need to consume more if I'm going have the energy to ramp up my mileage even more.  My goal is to be hitting 50 mpw w/in a couple of weeks and get back down below 170 before Robie.  Need to find a balance between losing weight and maintaining the energy I need for increased training mileage.

Early morning T/M run:  Took me a while to wake up this morning.  I only got maybe 4-5 hours of solid sleep.  I'm just not made for morning runs, particularly when its still dark and cold in the early morning.  Once I woke up I settled into a comfortable 8:50 pace for 4 miles or so- 6.3 miles total.  My abdominal pain on the right side has returned.  For the longest time I thought it was a strained muscle but I've recently looked into the side effects of the prescription anti-inflammatory that I began taking off and on last year, diclofenac sodium, and it lists gastrointestinal problems such as ulcers and internal bleeding.  Something the PA that prescribed it never mentioned when she gave me a prescription w/ at least 3 refills so far.  I think I'll stick to Motrin from now on and see if the pain subsides.   

PM T/M run:  Got a little restless this evening so I decided to hit the gym again.  45 mins of strength training on legs followed by 4.75 miles on T/M hill program.  Hills varied from 2% to 5% incline.  I decided to stop off at the local convenience store on the way home for some Diet Mt. Dew and my truck died.  I ended up running home (at least 1 mile, probably more) carrying 2 one liter bottles of DMD in each hand and no sweatpants (20 degrees). 

Didn't run yesterday due to some car problems that I had to take care of and a nasty head cold that had me on Sudafed and a little loopy.

Early AM: Hit the T/M again for some Yasso 800's. This is a workout that I read about recently in Runner's World ( http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-244-255-624-0,00.html ). The workout claims that you can predict your marathon time based on how quickly you can run a half mile/800 meters. More precisely, how fast you can run 10 x 800 meters w/ half mile jogs in between. My goal for the Ogden Marathon in May is 3:45 so I set the TM at 8.0 (7:30 mile). The good thing about doing these on the TM is that you are forced to run the required pace. The bad thing is that you are forced to run the required pace. There is no working up to it or making up for lost time or running faster. Unfortunately, I only had time to do 4 sets this morning, not that I could have finished 10 sets (equivalent to 10 miles w/ half mile jogs in between) because frankly I was wasted. I probably could only have completed 6 sets at best. However, I plan on doing this workout semi-regularly until I can complete 10 sets and then see how this translates in May.

PM: Ran outside during my lunch.  Ran from my office on Washington St. to Fort Boise Park and up Military Reserve Road past the old cemetery and then up past the shooting range.  This is most of the Les Bois 10k course that I'll run next month.  It's a good tune-up for Robie.  I didn't run the full 3.1 miles uphill, more along the lines of 2 and a quarter miles w/ a about 450 ft of elevation gain.  The trail narrows and steepens quite a bit once you turn left at the shooting range and I didn't feel like killing myself having already done a speed workout in the morning.  The trail was muddy on the upper section but nowhere near as bad as the Robie trail right now.   

Early AM:  Easy run this morning on the TM following yesterday's two workouts.  I averaged an 8:41 pace but I did the last two miles before cooldown @ 8:19/mile.  Legs are kinda dead right now and my left heel is aching.  I'm trying to ween myself off of the anti-inflammatory meds I've been on and sticking w/ ibuprofen.  I'm getting better range of motion in the ankle but its still at about only 75% or less. 

Salt Lake City, UT

AM:  Holed up in a Holiday Inn near the airport w/ the fam.  We're here visiting my wife's grandmother.  I had planned on doing a nice long run outside but about 2 hours of sleep and 3-4 inches of snow put the kabosh on that.  I settled for a shorter TM run.  My legs were dead.  The fitness room was about 80 degrees w/ no discernible ventilation- only a glass window separated this room from the pool and hot tub.  The fitness room may as well have been the sauna.  I was proud of myself for draggin my arse out of bed.  I'm all about building up the base and getting the mileage in.  Not for some arbitrary number but to get some time on my feet every day to strengthen my legs for the tough hill climbs that are just around the corner.  I settled for 6.25 slow miles.

PM: Returned to the hotel around 7ish after visiting family and an afternoon at the Dinosaur Museum in Lehi, UT.  Kids wanted to go for a swim so I spent a couple of hours splashing around in the tiny Holiday Inn pool.  I didn't want to go but I knew that I had to increase my mileage from last week.  My legs were actually stronger this evening but it was still hotter than a whore in July in that blasted fitness room.  I stopped at 3.6 miles feeling like I could easily do another 3 but w/ sweat pouring off of me like I had just jumped into the pool.

Registered for Robie Creek 1/2 marathon today.  The field filled up in less than an hour and to tell you the truth I wasn't real optimistic about 15 mins into the open registration period.  After about 20 mins of hitting the refresh button I finally got in.  The powers that be switched to active.com this year due to the enormous problems they had w/ online registration process the past couple of years. 

Temp run on the T/M.  Warmup, 6 miles at 8:30, and cooldown.  Legs felt great after a day off.  Did some strides at 7:24 toward the end.  I think my conditioning is almost back to where I was last summer.  Weight= 181 lbs.

Lunchtime hill training on the Les Bois 10k Course.  I could tell that this was going to be a tough day even before I started.  I had a bit of nausea and stomach pain even before I started and my legs were a little sore after yesterday's long tempo run.  I should have done a recovery run today and hit the hills tomorrow but I'm getting anxious to build up my hill strength with less than 2 months before Robie and a month to the Les Bois 10k.  This time I was armed with my Garmin to get an idea of what type of climb this course offered.  I didn't run the full 3.1 miles out but the roughly 2.5 I did run revealed approximately 700 feet of elevation gain w/ an avg grade of 6.4% and a maximum grade of 20% just before you hit the top of Trail #5.  I'm not quite sure where the turnaround is on this course having never run it and there's no race map that I can find anywhere.  If one doesn't turn off the main trail from the shooting range onto trail #5 then it actually kinda levels off as it heads north and begins to descend.  I plan on contacting the race director and get a race map. 

Lunchtime run from Municipal Park past Warm Springs and back.  Beautiful weather w/ sunny skies and temp in the mid 40's.  I ran in shorts and even shed my long sleeve micro for the first time in a long time.  Didn't get into a groove until the second mile or so.  Average pace of 8:38 for the middle four miles w/ a warmup and cooldown mile.  Right knee pain is returning.  I used the foam roller for the first time in a long while last night and it seems that it will be a regular routine for me once again. 

Lunchtime run:  Another hill training session (5.3 miles).  Tons of people out running in the Ft Boise area of the foothills w/ bright sunshine and temps nearing 50 degrees.  Parked at Ft Boise Park and this time I ran all the way up to the end of the Les Bois course and back.  I contacted the race director and he graciously sent me a google earth map of the course .  I started about 1/3 mile from the starting line so the math comes out OK I think.  Contrary to what I had previously thought, the course doesn't descend after the 2 mile mark but rather continues to climb, albeit not as steep, at "only" about a 5% grade until you hit the Trail 26 marker which is the 3.1 mile turnaround.  Between roughly mile 1.5 and the 2 mile mark it varies between a 12 and 15% grade!!  This, as far as I can tell, is roughly equivalent to the last half mile before Aldape Summit on the Robie Creek course which should be a good prep given that the upper end of the Robie Course is still kinda sketchy w/ ice, mud and snow these days. 

PM:  Weight training on lower body at the gym (leg press, leg curls, squats, lunges); followed that up w/ 30 minutes of hill training on the TM, alternating 1 min hill intervals of 3, 4, 5, and 6.4% incline.  Starting to get a sideache again.

Nice easy lunchtime run on the GB at 8:55 pace including warmup and cooldown.  Legs are a little bit sore after yesterday's two workouts.  I'm not sure if I'll get my run in tomorrow b/c I'll be at Tamarack w/ the family- if I do it will be late- so I wanted to get a few extra miles in this afternoon.  I'm always wary of being away from the office too long though so ended up settling for 7.  I could have eked out another half mile to a mile if I ran harder but my heart wasn't in it.  Maybe someday I'll be able to squeeze in another couple of miles in the same amount of time?  Probably not. 

Returned late this evening, around 9pm, from an overnight family outing @ Tamarack Resort.  Succumbed to the pressure of gradually increasing my mileage and hitting my 50 mpw goal by the end of the month.  Ran @ a nice and easy conversation pace (9:15).  Temp wasn't that cold (29 degrees) but there was a very cool breeze hitting my face on the way home.  Felt like I could go 12-14 but it was getting late and I have to get up early tomorrow.

T/M:  Late run tonight.  Easy pace (8:50) w/ miles 3-6 at 2% incline.  I was really worried that I would wuss out of this workout b/c the crud is going around every one of my kids and my wife.  I felt a little achy and lethargic at the start but after a  mile or so my legs and lungs started to feel really strong.  I'm actually starting to enjoy uphill running a bit more every workout. 

Today was another hill day. I briefly thought about going up Shaw Mt. to Table Rock because I wasn't sure if the upper end of the Les Bois 10k course was bogged down w/ the recent rain we've received.  Temp was excellent, mid 50's, but it was windy as heck which alternated between a blessing and a curse on the way up and on the way back.  I decided that I was gonna attack the uphill 5k portion and see how fast I could run it.  About 1/4 mile into that plan I finally got my legs to respond.  The good news is that the narrow dirt trails on the upper portion were in great shape and I thought I might be able to push through the steepest portion of the uphill (12-20% grade) around mile 2 at this accelerated pace- but it wasn't to be.  I bonked and had to walk about .2 miles of the steepest portion.  That said, I was still able to complete the first 5k in 29:02.  The downhill was more encouraging.  Instead of braking on the steepest of the downhill I was able to more or less fall down the slope and really make good time.  For a brief moment I imagined that I was Ice-T being chased by Rutger Hauer through the wilderness.  My overall pace was 8:20.  If I can whittle that down to around 8 mpm by a week from Saturday then I'll be extremely pleased.  I should also add that I learned that eating a Jello Sugar Free Pudding Snack immediately before a strenuous run is ill advised.    

Midday run on the GB.  Temp in the 50's and overcast.  No real aim or purpose to today's run, just looking to log some miles.  My hamstrings were extremely tight and never got loose during the entirety of the run.  Warmup, 4 miles @ 8:37, and cooldown. 

San Francisco, CA

Checked into my hotel on Embarcadero right on the Bay and couldn't wait to go for a run along the Pier.  Ran from Embarcadero Plaza to Fisherman's Wharf back underneath the Bay Bridge then to South Beach Yacht Club, McCovey Cove @ AT&T Park, where Bonds used to launch his steroid induced bombs, and back to the Plaza. 

AT&T is a lovely venue and not long ago it was center of the baseball universe.  My how things have changed.  If Yankee Stadium was the "house that Ruth built" then PacBell/AT&T is the house that Bonds built that was later foreclosed upon and now the Giants have to write down as a toxic asset.  Beautiful view of the Bay Bridge all lit up at sunset.  I could even see into right field @ AT&T Park through the iron gates as I ran past.  Lots of people running which forced my type A competitive personality into hyerdrive.  I ran @ my 10k pace most of the run which is alright I guess but I wasn't planning on a tempo run- it just sorta happened.  8:03 pace overall. 

San Francisco, CA

Planned on running the Embarcadero again but I ended up going to dinner and getting back after dark.  Ran on the TM, a nice one for a change.  It seems like no matter how nice the hotel I stay in their treadmills are almost always horrible.  Did some light weight work followed by a slow run w/ a couple miles of incline (2-6%) mixed in.  I plan on a long run tomorrow along the Pier and possible as far as GG Bridge and back.

San Francisco, CA

Set a new high in monthly mileage in just 28 days.  Had to transfer to another hotel that is smack dab in downtown.  It was kinda fun running through downtown and weave in and out of the crowds.  Surprisingly few stops for lights.  Ran down the Embarcadero but continued and to Fisherman's Wharf, Fort Mason Lookout (Nice steep climb), Marina and finally to the Presidio at the base of GG Bridge and back.  Plenty of people out and about on a Saturday so I had to dodge a lot of human and dog traffic.  Should not have done that weight training or hills late last night.  I'm plenty sore right now and I seem to be fighting a sore throat as well.