Buttsweat Towel© season has begun

5:30am, 66F.  7 easy and the last 4 at MP.  8:13 avg overall.  The 4 MP miles (slightly fast - 7:49, 7:47, 7:51, 7:42) felt pretty good, I must say.  I'm starting to be able to at least settle into the pace, even if it's a little less comfortable than easy pace.  Felt tougher, but sustainable.

5:30am, 52F.  With the crazy temperature drop, my plans quickly changed from easy run to tempo run.  4 ez, followed by 4 tempo.

4 warmup miles, 8:16 avg.  4 tempo miles, 7:07 avg (7:15, 7:16, 7:08, 6:49).  Ahhh.  Went ahead and emptied the tank on the last mile.  At the end I was covered with snot and saliva and it felt great.  7:41 AP for all 8.  I knew temperature was important but this is my proof, I guess.

My reward for suffering through the summer should be absolutely perfect running weather for marathon training these next 2 months.  This really is the perfect winter running destination, low wind, temps should be 40s and 50s, flat terrain, only occasional mortar attacks.  Looking forward to starting official marathon training next week!

5:30am, 55F.  8:07 avg.  Tomorrow I go for a distance PR - 15 miles.

5am, 57F.  New distance-PR, 15 miles.  I did 10 easy, followed by 5 MGP.

10 easy averaged 8:29.  For the 5 MGP(ish) I averaged 7:48 (individually they were 8:05, 7:47, 7:40, 7:45, 7:43).  Overall 8:15 AP for all 15.

Nice and achy by the end, but my lungs/cardio felt great the whole time, even at the end.  Gotta get my legs/joints/tendons used to taking a pounding, though.  When I changed speeds to MP, the achiness actually went away for a few miles; guess different muscles were being used?  What do I know..

Day off tomorrow, then start week 1 of Houston training.  I've been doing 5 days a week this past month, but I'll be doing 6 runs starting next week.

Nice temps, about 48F!  I'm going to quit looking them up to post them since they're not affecting me anymore.  From here on out, if the weather is anything but perfect, I'll be sure to complain.

Today starts official marathon training week 1, and I just did an easy 8, 8:15 AP.  Tomorrow I'll tackle the first workout.  Felt really strong this morning, and I'm loving that the old "easy run pace" is finally dropping.  Seems like it's been 8:30-ish forever, no matter what kind of shape I was in.

I'm doing "key workout 1" each week from a marathon training plan April gave me a link to.  Today was 3 x 1.5 tempo with a half-mile active recovery in between.  First I ran 5 miles warmup @ 8:23.  Then the 1.5 mile repeats (goal < 11:00 which is 7:20 pace):

10:49 (7:13 pace)

4:03 recovery

10:48 (7:12 pace)

4:03 recovery

10:29 (6:59 pace)

4:16 recovery

Pretty hard effort by the last repeat.  Felt like the end of my last 5K where I was struggling against the 7:00 guy.  AP 7:51 for the 11 miles.

8:35 pace.  Gotta start working in recovery-type runs now that I'm back up to 6 days/week.

Didn't really have a plan today.  I ended up running the first 4 in the 8:10s and the next 4 in the 7:40s, followed by a cooldown mile.  8:02 AP.  Felt sluggish and heavy-legged but probably got a decent workout anyway.

I'm thinking of changing up my plan and making my recovery runs shorter (and slower) to be fresher for these MP and tempo runs.  So next week I'd do something like: 8, 11, 6, 10, 6, LR, rest...with the 8 and 6 milers being easy-paced.  The 11 and 10 milers will have some faster stuff.  I know a lot of people say it's better to get the consistent mileage though (like 8, 8, 8, 8, etc).  Clearly I don't know what I'm doing...any thoughts?

Easy 5 @ 8:36 pace.  Should help me out for my 16-miler tomorrow, as my legs have felt tired and dead this week.

Last night I saw people lining up for something; sure enough it was to sign up for a race - there was a 10K this morning.  So obviously I go get in line to sign up, but then realized that it might not be a good idea to replace a desperately-needed recovery run with an all-out 10K race right before a 16-miler (a distance I've never before reached).  I almost had to give myself a Tonya Harding to the kneecaps to get out of that line, but I eventually left.  Eyes on the prize SlowJoe, eyes on the prize....  There will be more races (at more conveinient times).  Actually, there is yet another 5K on Sunday, so I'll be fresh for that after a rest day and can go after that sub-21 to scratch that itch.

Another world-record distance PR, 16 miles.  Overall 8:14 AP.

I did the first 10 easy (8:27 avg), then did the last 6 progressively (8:18, 8:15, 8:04, 7:52, 7:42, 7:01).  Lots of energy at the end, which is good.  My plan was to just run tempo pace for the last mile, but I checked my watch at 15.92 miles and it said 7:08.  I put in a quick burst of speed but it was too late to get the sub-7 finish.  The fact that I could tap into some pretty good speed at the end was a nice confidence boost.

I'll rest tomorrow, then maybe a 5K on Sunday...maybe.

This race was for the Iraqi boy and girl scouts, and it came with a free t-shirt.  My goal was to break 21:00, and I did by a couple minutes!  Unfortunately the race was almost a quarter-mile short.

My splits were 6:34, 6:42, 5:44 for 0.87 (6:36 pace) for a time of 19:00 (6:37 average).  I figure worst-case scenario I would've run that last quarter-mile in 1:45 and finished around 20:45, but what can ya do?  I like the races up at Liberty (base just to the north) more because they go around a lake that happens to be about 5K and are always accurate.  Still nice to know I CAN break 21 though!

It was neat to see the Iraqi kids because I haven't even seen a child in 4 months, the young ones were probably my oldest daugher's age.  So a pretty good morning altogether.

A nice progressive effort today, 7:54 avg.  First 5 miles easy - 8:10s and 8:20s - then 7:58, 7:49, 7:32, 7:30, 7:23, 7:14.  I was really only uncomfortable the last mile, but I'll generously award myself 2 fast miles...whatever that means.

Recovery miles, 8:44 pace.

10 miles, 7:42 AP.  I did this week's "key workout" today - 2 x 2 tempo with a half-mile recovery between sets.

First I did 5 miles @ 8:07 pace.  Then,

7:13, 7:05

3:57 recovery

7:07, 6:58

4:06 recover / cool down

My brilliant idea was to first put in some decent mileage at faster-than-warm-up pace to make the tempo portion more challenging.  And it worked, because I was truly miserable for the second set.  Mission accomplished.

5 @ 8:36 pace.

Strange pain in the crook of my ankle (where top of foot meets shin) after yesterday's run, but not during the run.  Some tendon I think.  I unlaced my top shoelace holes, loosened the laces, and it seemed to help (thanks, google).  Didn't hurt at all for this run, so, green light to go long tomorrow.

Ran an 18-miler today, which is 2 miles farther than I've ever run.  8:07 AP.

I didn't really confine myself to any pace; I just knew I wanted to run easy, with a few MP miles at the end.  Well, the tendency to speed up as the miles drag on kind of took hold.  Here are my splits - 8:28, 8:25, 8:29, 8:28, 8:18, 8:19, 8:22, 8:20, 8:21, 8:09, 8:09, 8:06, 8:04, 7:47, 7:44, 7:41, 7:38, 7:20.  The last mile would've been faster but my keys fell out of my pocket with 0.2 to go and I had to backtrack a couple steps to get them  That physically hurt.

I'd say my lungs never felt challenged until the last mile, maybe second-to-last.  My limiting factor right now is my aching legs, and all the nagging minor injuries that intensify on long runs.  I think I just don't have the long runs under my belt yet.  I felt like Frankenstein on the last couple miles - almost bit the dust just trying to hop up a 4-inch curb in the last mile.  Weak!

The other thing that makes me nervous is the tendon I mentioned yesterday showed up with a sharper, more localized pain on my foot in the last 4 or 5 miles and is killin' me now.  It's that big tendon that goes from the shin muscle all the way toward the big toe.  I got some ice from the dining facility after my run and was able to ice it a few times before it melted; I'm also gonna hit the ibuprofen hard to nip this one quickly.

8 @ 8:09 avg.

I broke out the anti-inflammatories out of paranoia.  When I dorsiflex (new word I learned, means lifting your toes toward your shin) my ankle, that dang tendon really hurts (anterior tibial tendon - 2 more new words).  I guess that motion is not required when running though, because I didn't feel it at all while running.  So how did I hurt it then?  I guess it's ok to run on it.  I'm always wondering if the current injury in question will be the one that sidelines me and ends my marathon hopes.  It was like this when training for my first half too, earlier this year.  Always teetering on the brink of injury.  Guess it comes with the territory...

11 miles, 7:41 AP.  I tried to run easy and got carried away on my pace again.  The temperature dropped down to 50 this morning and it really felt good out there.  I'll call this my workout for the week and really, really try to take it easy the rest of the week until my long run.  Getting faster is too fun.

8:10, 8:04, 8:10, 8:05, 7:44, 7:46, 7:50, 7:31, 7:22, 6:59, 6:46.

Not much complaint from my foot.  I don't think it's an overuse injury because it came on all at once and seems to be feeling a little better, I think.  I stopped taking NSAIDs since I read they are no good for tendons.  Hoping for the best...

8:46 pace.

8:01 avg pace.  A nice even, moderate effort starting around 8:10 and finishing in the 7:50s.

I'm starting to feel a bit beat up...everywhere (I won't bore anyone with the full list of problems), so next week will be an easy low-mileage week for sure, in an attempt to rest tight/sore muscles and heal the little nagging tendons, joints, etc.  I want to get through this week and my 20-miler first though.

Maybe in hindsight it's a bit agressive to go from a total non-runner to 60-mile weeks in the span of a year or so but that's the kind of impatient dufus I am.

My foot stated hurting while just walking today, so I think it's time for a short break.  Pushing out my first 20-miler tomorrow seems dumber and dumber the more I think about it.  So my tentative plan for now is to take the rest of the week off and start running again on Sunday with an "easy" 40-mile week, which is probably still plenty of miles for me to keep improving with.  Hopefully 3 days off plus a light week of running will do the trick, and not cause any loss of fitness.  If I want to run a marathon I gotta get to the starting line...

8:20 pace.

I'm trying out a new harebrained idea tomorrow and running without arch supports.  Testing a theory.  Too boring to detail.

Good to be running again after a 3-day break.

8:08 avg.

I don't know about my foot.  Pretty much regressed to where it was before.  It's basically fine when I run on it.  It hurts 45 minutes to an hour later.  Maybe that's not a problem?  Nothing left to do now but ignore it unless it starts hurting during a run.  Then see the doctor medical..guy and maybe they'll have magic pills again.  No more mileage increases I think.

I cut this run short with foot pain.  Afterward, I went to the clinic again and actually saw a doctor this time, who confirmed anterior tibial tendonitis.  I think ideally he would like a couple weeks rest, but he took the position that I was probably going to run anyway and was behind me going for the marathon (or he at least accepted that this was what I was going to do, and would try to get me there).  He gave me more anti-inflammatories and said I probably wouldn't do any major damage to the tendon but advised it wouldn't really heal until I stopped running.  But I can run while on this meloxicam stuff, so I think I will give it a go in a couple days to see if the medicine has dulled the pain.  Apparently it will hurt bad enough, even with the anti-inflammatories in my system, to let me know if/when something is really wrong.  Anyway, the whole visit made me feel a lot better and now I have a gameplan...just hope I can get through the next 2 months without any major setbacks.  There's plenty of time to rest starting January 31.