Winning Back What I Lost

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.