Winning Back What I Lost

6AM: Back in Boise. Temp in the 20's, welcome home. :(  Easy recovery run of 6+ miles.

Noon: Another easy recovery run at lunchtime from AM Park (4+ miles). Fitness seems to be improving weekly.  Even a couple of weeks ago, running a double was much more difficult during the first few miles of the second run. Today, the legs felt springy and strong from the outset. That's something I guess.

515AM: Easy Medium Long Run. This run felt too laborious for such a slow pace. I really struggled to find a groove.  Got to bed late because I was catching up on all my DVR recordings that had backed up during vacation (Mad Men, Game of Thrones, 30 Rock, Southland, Daily Show, etc.). I usually don't have problems following the prescribed workouts but sleep and proper nutrition are another matter.  They're so crucial and yet I continue to neglect them.

6AM:  Easy recovery run. Very mild temps this morning for a change. Ran in shorts and a light jacket w/ no gloves or hat. 

530AM: General Aerobic Run (10+miles). Sleepwalked through this run. I'm running on fumes this week from lack of sleep. Was supposed to go 13mi but my daughter missed the bus so I had to get her to school. I'll try to fit a short run in during lunch.

Noon: Easy 30 min run during lunch. Bright sunshine but still kind of brisk. 

630AM: Easy + speed (7 x 100m strides) TM run + 3 x single leg extensions & single leg press. 

Marathon pace workout: 1.5M warm; 12M @ goal MP (7:30/mi); 1.5M cool. Ran this workout on the Boise GB from Glenwood to Muni Park and back. 1st half was upwind and slight uphill. Felt pretty good until about mile 9. Tried fueling with sports beans this time but it didn't agree with me Had a total gut ache the last 4M. Not sure what I'm going to do if I can't fuel with beans or gels.

6AM: General Aerobic Run. Easy 8:30/mi pace. Left hamstring was a little tight but otherwise my legs felt strong and springy. Had a horrible sugar relapse over Easter weekend but I'll get back on track this week w/ a carb detox. 

6AM: Interval workout: Warm; 6 x 600m @ 6:39/mi w/ 90 sec jogs; cool. This felt fairly easy and for good reason. When I got home I looked at the Pfitz 18wk/55-70mpw plan and it turns out that I've been working off of the old Pftiz plan from 2001 and not the updated one included in the book. I have the book but for whatever reason I just googled the plan when I started this training cycle and got an article from Running Times w/ the old plan. The new plan calls for 800m intervals once you start transitioning into the speed mesocycle. Oh well. 

615AM: Easy recovery run. Got a sports massage yesterday so I was feeling a little off this morning. My left hip was way out of whack so the therapist did a fair amount of work getting it back in line. Already feeling the difference but it will take a couple of days to get re-acclimated.   

530AM: Medium Long Run. Still feeling the effects of the massage. Usually takes me 3-4 days to work out all of the lactate that is dislodged. This is a slight step down week, which in this case means that I'm running 5 miles less than last week instead of increasing my mpw.  Right in the heart of training and, as per usual, I need to get serious about my diet.  Weight loss is stagnating after a promising February and March.  Easter candy has nearly all been consumed so at least that temptation will go away soon. February has Valentines Day and April has easter so the kids' "candy" holidays are nearly over. 

6AM: General Aerobic + speed (8 x 20 sec strides). Left heel & PF flared up this morning. Soaked in some epsom salt when I got home. Not sure how or why that helps but it always seems to.

6PM: Easy Long Slow Run. This run was a little tougher than it had to be because I was running into a stiff wind on the last half.  Prior to the run, I was on my feet all day doing yardwork followed by a T-Ball game (coach). Nevertheless, I'm noticing that my easy pace has been slowly inching closer to where it was last spring/summer. When it comes to non-tempo/LT/speedwork runs, I just try to run strong and not elevate my HR above 145-150max. Sometimes this means 9:00/mi pace and other times, like today, it is 30 to 45 secs per mi faster. 

9PM: Transitioning to 7 days of running to build a larger base.. Easy short run to return a couple of Redbox movies and back home. A little bummed that another year has passed and I won't be running Boston. Heat warnings or not, I'd love to be there. Hope everybody on the blog runs strong and stays safe.

615AM: 6+ miles easy. 3 x single leg extension + single leg presses. Watching live streaming of Boston has got me pumped for running. Hope to be there next year but with all of the deferments due to heat it will be that much tougher to get in even if you qualify. I'm thinking it will take at least -5 mins under BQ time to assure a bib. 

NOON: 2.8M w/o a watch/iphone progressing from easy to moderate to marathon pace effort. Light rain and temps in the 50's. 

520AM: Easy Medium Long Run. No food or drink. Felt very weak by the end of this run. The obvious options would be to get up earlier to eat something beforehand or take something with me. I have a hard enough time getting up at 5AM and I generally don't want to upset my already sensitive stomach. So I guess I'm screwed. Also, nice to see that the morning sprinkler minefield is in full effect- watering everything but the grass!

620AM: Easy recovery run. Nice to see that its getting light out earlier in my runs.  Some warm weather coming for this weekend with temps in the 80's. Can't wait to be able to run in short sleeves in the daylight. 

530AM: Hard LT workout. Stepped outside and discovered it was raining. Since I'm a wuss when it comes to running in the rain, I head over to the club for some hard tempo work.  20 min warm; 35+ min @ 7:03/7:03/7:03/7:03/7:08 mi; 5 min recover; 10 min @ 7:03 mi; 15 cool.  I was supposed to go 7 mi @ threshold but I just couldn't hang. I believe I went out to fast as my HR was closer to 5k pace or VO2 max.  I should have run it closer to 7:11-7:16/mi until my fitness improves. Still a very good workout.

Weight is down to where it was when I ran 3:20 at UVM last year. Another month of 60-70 mpw + sensible diet should bring it down further.  Only need to lose 5 min to BQ, but each min under 3:15 improves my odds. Focus and discipline are the buzzwords the next 8 wks.  

630AM: Easy Recovery Run. Temp around 50 w/ only a slight breeze. Perfect weather for running and I even got to run in the sunlight for 2/3 of the run. Spring has arrived!

1030AM: Easy Long Run. Warmest day of the year so far. Temp not bad when I set out but it warmed up to mid 70s, with bright sunshine. Really concentrating on making my easy runs easy and saving the legs for tempo, speed work and marathon pace runs. Running these weekend long runs at about MP + 60-70 secs/mile. Faded a bit in the middle miles but recovered at the end, with my last mile+ being my quickest. Sorry that I had to break my 3 yr Robie streak but this long training run will end up helping me more with my goal marathon in June.

845PM: Easy Short Recovery Run on my new 7 days of running program. Very warm, 90+, today so I waited til dusk to make it tolerable. Started slow but once the legs warmed up I was able to finish the last 5+ mins at goal MP.

615AM: Headed over to the MVHS track for some aerobic + speedwork: 30 min warm; 5 x 800M @ 10k pace (6:40ish on the first 4 & 6:15ish on the last one); 20 min cool.  Could not get the legs to warm up but they started to feel better after the first 800M repeat.  I'm a little dubious as to whether this speedwork will transfer over to the marathon, but if nothing else I think it helps mentally to break up the monotony of long slow aerobic training. 

525AM: Easy Medium Long Run. Didn't get much sleep last night but it seemed like I had enough energy. Hips felt tight though, especially the right one. I've got a couple of easy days in a row so hopefully its not something that a couple of good nights sleep can't cure. 

620AM: Easy + 10 x 100M strides. Almost getting to the point where my shorter runs are completely in sunlight. Legs and hips bounced back today. Feeling much lighter and springy even though my weight loss has hit a plateau recently. Using the Lose It! Iphone App to track calories consumed and burned through exercise. I should be losing 2 lbs/week but it seems to come in spurts rather than gradual loss. A little frustrating to eat less than 2k calories per day & run 60-70 miles/week and still gain a couple of lbs. 

1230PM: Easy 4.7M on the GB. Partly sunny w/ a slight breeze and temps in the mid 70's.  Kept HR at 140 or below. Ran past Bronco Stadium. Exciting to see them moving earth and beginning the new construction on the North Side. It'll look a lot different this fall w/o the track and the North Side enclosed.

830PM: Horrible stomach pains kept me up last night so I put off the run to this evening. Rain finally let up & got in a short run. Still feeling queasy but not quite as bad as last night. Hoping it's just a 24 hr bug as I feel like I'm starting to make some breakthroughs in my fitness and I'd hate to take a step back now.

630AM: Cool (upper 30's) temps this morning. Perfect for a hard tempo run: .5M warm; 6M @6:58/mi avg (6:53;6:55;6:57;6:58;6:58;7:03(ugh!)); cool. Still battling stomach flu a bit. Felt like I was going to hurl the last quarter mile but I held it together. Any run that brings you to the edge of vomitting is a sign of comittment. Also, purchased some Balega Soft Tread running socks and they are awesome. That is all.

5PM: Legs a little bit trashed from yesterday's hard workout. That and I was on my feet all afternoon coaching my son's TBall team & team picture day. Got it done though. Very comfortable temps to run in but it was a little breezy. The most exciting development was that I tried a new fuel source for this long run and it didn't cause any stomach issues- Gummi Bears. They tasted good but it was hard to choke down more than 1 at a time. That could be a problem since it takes 10 of them just to get 90 calories.

My Sunday evening recovery run. This makes 21 straight days of at least some running. I'm positive that has to be a new personal record because until recently Sunday has always been a full rest day. This also puts me over the top for a monthly PR in mileage.

545AM: Interval workout: 3.5M warmup; 6 x 1000m @ 10k pace (7:00/mi) w/ 2 min jogs between; cooldown.  Interesting series of workouts that Pftiz/Douglas put together. Excluding the 3.5M recovery run I did last night, Friday: I subbed a 6M hard tempo @ 10k pace for the Pfitz recommended 8-15k tune-up race; Sat- 18M long run; Mon- 6 x 1000m @ 5k pace (I subbed 10k pace which I think is more transferable to the marathon w/ only 5+ weeks left).  These are all followed by the biggest workout of this cycle which is coming on Saturday (17M w/ 14M @ goal MP) and at the end of a 73 mi week.  In short, this is the biggest/most important week of this training cycle.