How Much Discomfort Can I Tolerate?!

Weather - 59 degrees, sunny.

2 nice days in a row. Ran 4.25 miles to the Zendo, meditated for 2 hours, then ran 3 easy miles back to town. Legs were not sore from yesterdays track session.

#142

z.m. - #56 

Weather - 61 degrees, sunny, breezy.

With the sun shining and the air warm I decided to venture to Homer Lake and run the trails. I ran 6.25 miles through the nature preserve, seeing the fresh sprouting grass and the purple tips of the budding bluebells.

#143

z.m. - #57

Weather - 62 degrees, cloudy.

Ran 2 miles to Crystal Lake park, then .5 miles to Cardinal because I wanted to do bike interval session #6. I am starting to enjoy treadmill running, so I hopped on and ran a 2.5 mile "cross country course", which meant the treadmill continued to raise and lower itself. I picked a "hilly" course, and averaged 7:30 pace, which was stiff with the elevation changes. I was not feeling all that great mentally because the past couple of nights my sleep has been choppy, so my energy level was down. When I finished the treadmill I stretched a bit and hopped on the bike. As I pedaled easy for 5 minutes my will started to slack, I felt I did not have the strength for a tough interval session. I decided to at least try, and if I felt like crap I would cut it short. Happily when I began the intervals my body went on autopilot and cranked out a good effort, moving up a tension level from previous sessions, and taking shorter rest periods (30 seconds to 1 minute rest). After doing a couple of the 1 minute hard slogs, my heart rate topped out at 157. I was in oxygen debt, breathing heavily, so I expected a number around 165-170. Maybe a longer period of hard work is required to get the heart beating at 85-90% max.

I checked the weather for this Saturday's 5k, it looks tough - low 30's with snow/rain, and windy. Considering how well my training has been going, though, I am confident I can get down to 19:55. If the weather is better than expected, I believe I can run 19:40.

#144

z.m. - #58

Weather - 51 degrees, sunny.

Ran 3 easy miles to the arboretum, then 1 threshold mile as I ran back home. I'm taking it easy so that I can feel fresh for the upcoming 5k this Saturday.

#145

z.m. - #59

Weather - 59 degrees, clouds, windy, rain.

Ran 1.5 miles in the rain to my wife's work, stopped in and gave her a kiss, then turned around and ran 1.5 miles back home. My energy level was exceedingly high, so after a short .50 mile warm-up I ran 1 mile at 5k race pace. After the short break I ran easy, but slowly built up the speed.

The past few weeks I have been running better than I ever have - energy is always good after a few easy days, and other than the 15K 3 weeks ago, my legs are doing a good job of recovering from the hard workouts.

Tomorrow 2 or 3 miles with 6 x 100m accelerations on the track, then - Saturday racing!

#146

z.m. - #60

AM - There is an ultra race this weekend in Pekin, IL (McNaughton Park Trail Run). A few of the 2nd Winders are running it. I happened upon a blog of an out-of-state runner who is experienced in ultras, and is planning to run 150 miles in 48 hours or less. He happened to mention his training mileage in March, and his mileage totals for 2008. He ran 215 miles in March, and his 2008 total is 644. This surprised me - I am training for a solid 5K performance in 2008, and I am putting in more mileage than an ultra runner? It makes no sense......

PM - Weather - 57 degrees, sunny, very windy.

Ran to Busey Woods and the golf course and ran 6 x 100M accelerations on the 7th fairway. The fairway was saturated, and with each stride I kicked up mud and water, covering the back of my white shirt with slop. Ended up running 4 miles total because of the distance to the golf course, then walked 35 minutes home.

Tonight the temperature will drop more than 20 degrees, and tomorrow morning will be low 30's, snow, and 20-30mph wind. I won't be running a PR in those conditions, but I should get under 20 minutes. In normal conditions I think I could hit 19:40, but I will have to forget about time and enjoy the challenge of the weather. I should have an advantage with similarly skilled runners who trained indoors all winter.

#147

z.m. - #61

Weather – 36 degrees, cloudy, windy. Rain/snow.

Woke to poor racing weather, but since it was expected, it did not bother me, I put away thoughts of time and focused on battling the elements.

The previous night I felt my nervous excitement reach levels that were perhaps too high strung. I plugged into my iPod and listened to a 19:40 piece by Philip Glass, and I ran a 5k in my head as I listened to the music while laying in bed. I felt pretty spent after this mental exercise, so I went into my study and meditated for a few minutes. Before falling asleep I read a good book on 5k/10k training, but this seemed to bring the nervous tension back. I dozed off and slept deeply for 8 hours.

I ran to the race site, which happened to be the midpoint (2.5 miles) of my route to the Zendo. I tried to monitor my energy level as I ran, I did not feel good, but I did not feel bad either. Snow/Rain was falling, making the streets bright and smooth, it felt refreshing to gaze at the long lines of car lamps reflected in the river-like asphalt. I felt like I was going too slow, and wondered why. Perhaps it was the weight of jacket, 3 shirts, hat, gloves, and sweats? When I got to the registration tent I turned around and realized I had been running into a stiff wind during the entire jog, which made me feel better about my speed and neutral feelings. I went inside the hospital (Christie Clinic was the race sponsor) and pinned my number and warmed up a bit. I took a 5k race map and headed outdoors to run a bit of the course. I came across a schoolyard and did 4 x 75M accelerations. They felt fast, and I was starting to feel good. The final mile of the course is a straight shot to the finish, with the wind at my back. I ran about 400M at race pace, my confidence gaining with each stride.

When I was standing at the start line I realized I had left my gloves inside with my sweats and jacket. My hands were already going numb, but with only 2 minutes to race time I stuffed them in my shorts pockets and tried to forget about it. Unlike the last 5K I ran a few weeks ago, I positioned myself near the front, so that I would not have my pace interrupted by slower runners. The horn sounded and I was immediately passed by a throng of runners. For 200M I was passed and passed. I couldn’t believe it when Don from 2nd wind passed me, he ran 24:47 at the Earth Wind and Fire 5k. Either he had done a massive amount of interval training in the past 4 weeks or he was going out over his head. I rechecked my pace, I was fine, actually a bit too strong, so I did not panic, although it did not make me feel confident seeing 30-40 runners surging ahead of me. After 600M I felt my pace pick up, and it was a good thing that I had forgotten my gloves, because the cold feeling in my fingers made me think that I was constantly being slapped in the face, and this caused my nervous energy to stay at a high level. At 800M I was going even faster, and as I began passing the runners who had passed me earlier, I saw they were slowing down. As I passed Don he was talking with another runner, and slowing appreciably. I sometimes wonder about the tactic of surging at the beginning of a race - what purpose does it serve if one slows down permanently after 1000M? At the one mile mark I had passed all the fakers, leaving about 10-12 runners ahead of me. I checked my watch and was hoping to see 6:10-6:15, but instead it read 6:32. This depressed me, I had run the same mile split in the last 5K, where I ran 20:15. Was I headed for another similar effort? With all of the good training I had been through in the past month, that did not seem right, but the split time does not lie. As we made a turn off the long straight, I realized I had once again forgotten to account for the wind. The first mile was kicked directly into the fists of a 15-20mph wind. I felt better after realizing that I ran a 6:32 mile in those conditions. I knew I would soon be turning around and have it at my back. At about 2000M a man pulled up beside me and looked like he was going to pass, but as he took a few steps ahead of me he slowed his pace and we remained equal. Watching him for 50M I realized I should tuck in behind him. He should have gotten behind me, but since he missed his chance, I decided I wasn’t going to miss mine. He did not seem to mind blocking all that wind for me, and I tried to run the pace on autopilot, waiting for the turnaround, which would soon be upon us. I sensed he was trying to shake me because he was slowly increasing the pace, but it was not enough to make me let him go. I was starting to labor a bit but I knew I would soon be feeling very good. We caught a swift moving slender female and we ran in a line of 3. We reached a 100M downhill at the turnaround, so the wind was now at our backs. I thought of the downhill sprints I had worked on in the past few weeks and I let the brakes off, quickly passing the 2 runners I had been following. I was probably running this downhill at 5:30 pace. When it flattened out I slowed a bit, but not too much, the wind was really pushing me along. When I got to the final mile straightaway I started to push the pace. I passed a runner, and saw another about 200M ahead of me. I did not think I would catch him, so I put my head down and started grinding/smoothing the pace. With a half mile to go I surprisingly passed this runner, I seemed to be really moving because he was out of my sight in a heartbeat. I worried that I was going too fast, I still had 800M to go, and I was already in top gear, but I felt in control and it was great having my legs in full stride. With 400M to go I turned my head to see if anyone was making a move on me, but the closest runner was about 100M away. I was safe, but I increased the pace anyways. With about 200M to go I started going anaerobic, but was able to hold my form and had a strong sprint into the chute as the clock clicked 19:13, which meant I had PR’ed by 7 seconds. I was able to recover in 1-2 minutes, and after watching a few runners finish, I took a 1 mile jog. I felt strong on my jog, as if my body was expecting more training. That made me smile.

From the race site I decided to run 1.5 miles to the Zendo, and I meditated for one hour, which calmed my body and mind. I then ran 3 miles back to town, which gave me 12 miles for the day.

#148

z.m. - #62