I love running

This weeks schedule :

Monday - 3 easy + 2 recovery pace with Drills and Strides

Tuesday - easy pace - 8 miles – glycogen depletion run

Wednesday - recovery pace - 5 miles

Thursday - 8 miles – Your choice - based on the hill workout options you were sent last week

A) 2 miles easy, hilly power run for 5 miles with 1 mile recovery

B) 2 miles easy, 5 mile hill run where you push MP (marathon pace) for
10 minutes, recovery for 2 minutes, and repeat with final mile being
recovery

C) 4 easy miles in the AM then join one of the PM hill groups for Grinders.

Friday - Off

Saturday - 12 miles

Sunday - 6

With the lack of hills at the beach.. I will probably sub in a two a day with more mileage than called for on Thursday.

Tonights workout was warm, humid and sunny which seems to be the norm lately.

3 @ easy (8:24, 8:06, 7:53)

2 @ recovery (8:41, 8:26)

4x skips, 4x high knees, 4x grapevines, 4x butt kicks

6 striders (4:46 pace, 4:34 pace, 4:31 pace, 5:28 pace, 4:43 pace, 4:53 pace)

Glycogen Depletion run.  85ish, humid with a stiff breeze in my face only on straight away 1.  The track in Kill Devil Hills has a building that blocks the breeze for straight away 2.  So lucky me only fought the head winds and was robbed of the tail winds.

8 (8:43, 8:25, 8:10, 7:58, 7:50, 7:37, 7:29, 7:01)

Felt great

Bright and early run with Greg and Blair.  Short time frame between last nights run and this morning.  Felt great again.

6 (9:29, 9:03, 8:53, 8:52, 8:35, 8:27)

Schedule calls for hill training today.  Aint happening here in flatville at sea level.  So this is a two a day.

Part 1 :

5 easy with Greg & Blair (8:43, 8:35, 8:45, 8:41, 7:57)

Tonights run will be super slow.

Part 2 :

5 @ recovery (9:52, 9:40, 9:35, 9:31, 8:41)

Second workout no issues.

5 easy with Greg (9:05, 8:53, 8:48, 8:35, 7:47)

9 runs in 7 days means im going to take Saturday off and run long with the MTT Sunday team supplimenting with 3 extra miles I think.

Todays blog title is "Crash is totally a bitch to his Garmin".

So coming off vacation and being less than organized.. im running around this morning trying gather all my stuff to head out to the MTT Sunday run.  I get almost to the 64 entrance on Gaskins and realize that I had left my Garmin back home.  So being the bitch that I am.. I uturn it and haul ass back home to get the my magical watch.  I get back in the car and the other Garmin says I will arrive at the stadium at 6:29.  Great one minute to spare :-)  My old saying is "if your not 5 minutes early then your LATE!".  Not how I like to start to my runs.

So I arrive at the stadium and see a group of runners turning left on Boulevard.. im like wth??  Im 1 minute early.  So I hop out of the car and see Blairs pink team still getting their pep talk.. I bolt right by them all and happen to catch another group just as they are taking off.  Wait a minute.. I know these guys :-)  In the front of the green pack is Peter, Brad, Scott, Monolo, John D and John M.. all my black team buddies.  Awesome I thought but then wait a minute.. im beat all to hell and had planned on taking it easy today.. lets just see how this pans out.

Brad and Peter's plan coming off yesterdays hot run was to take it easy.  Brad even told a story of Ross (a 2:50 marathoner) who yesterday said "guys its july and its hot and humid.. there is no need to run fast today."  Ross ran 8:15's or so yesterday.  Now thats a smart runner.

So fast forward to about mile 5 and they are faster than I want to run so I decide to let them go.  I basically shut it down and ran recovery pace from then onwards.  Could I have continued the sub 8 pace.. sure but why do that this early and in those conditions?  You sure as hell cant win the race today but you can totally ruin the race any given week by running stupid.  Casey always used to tell me to "the truly good runners dont force things.. they take what the day gives them and live to run train day".

12 (8:18, 7:54, 7:51, 7:57, 8:08, 8:28, 8:33, 8:50, 9:20, 9:08, 9:16, 9:22)

Miles for the week = 46.79 

Crash 

This weeks schedule :

7 @ fast end of easy + 6x 400 (200 in / 200 out) + 1/2 mile recovery

7 (7:49, 7:44, 7:46, 7:35, 7:33, 7:35, 7:27)

200 ins at (5:44, unknown garmin error split 2 unknown, 5:06, 5:59, 5:56, 6:18)

1/2 mile recovery @ 8:50 pace 

Totally started to feel some burn during 200 in numbers 4,5 & 6.  Fast end of easy at 3:20 goal marathon pace is 8:00 minute flat.  So basically ran the front 7 too fast in humid conditions and paid the piper for the latter intervals.  Dumb running.

6 @ recovery (8:51, 8:57, 8:50, 8:45, 8:51, 8:39)

status quo recovery run 

Was going to do 10x on Sorrento plus extra mileage to total 9 miles but Kenny Rodgers once said "You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, Know when to walk away and know when to run."

No real aches or pains but for the first time this training season.. the legs just weren't there :-( Combine that with my inability to hit my latter interval splits on Tuesday night and I think im about ready for an up coming extra unscheduled day off.  Im going to play Saturday by ear and see if im able to hold MP for the middle 5 miles and then go from there.

6.35 miles total with 10x on Sorrento.  Pretty steady on the uphill sections.. not too fast and not too slow.  Ran some with my All Black teammate Eddie.  Him & I are about the same speed and are both headed to NYC.  Was good to see a familiar face among the MTT'ers on scene.

Tonight was the final night of HMT hills.  As normal the crowd had dwindled down.  Including myself there were only 4 runners tonight.  We start speed at Godwin next Thursday.  Im much more at home on the track.  Guess im not a mountain goat.

Crash 

15 All Black (5 easy / 5 marathon pace / 5 easy) - Average pace overall = 8:01

first 5 @ easy (8:59, 8:03, 7:53, 7:58, 8:12)  average pace of section = 8:13

second 5 @ marathon pace (7:36, 7:38, 7:27, 7:44, 7:49) average pace of section = 7:40 which equals 3:21 marathon pace.

third 5 @ easy (8:12, 8:09, 7:54, 8:13, 8:17) average pace section = 8:11

Ruthie (by design.. tough love) had us do the MP section through a rather hilly section of Riverside drive coming off the Nickel Bridge and then onwards to the Lee Bridge.  Temps were starting to rise and dew point was near 70.  Not the easiest running conditions.

All pace zones were right where I wanted them.  Numerous times in the opening 5.. I made myself back away knowing the hills were coming.  Even started to mow some All Blacks down during the final easy 5 miles through Bryan Park.

Im somewhat surprised with the results.. after my lack luster performance on Tuesday and Thursday.. I totally thought this run would be more difficult than it was.  After the run.. last years coach Scott comes up to me with a huge high 5 and says "Solid Brother!!  Well done!! "

Very happy with my performance.

Crash

5 @ recovery (9:29, 9:02, 9:16, 9:22, 9:15) + 2.5 cooldown

Noon time run equals crappy conditions

Mileage for week ending 7/15/12 = 51.49

This weeks schedule is :

Monday- 6 miles @ recovery with Drills and Strides 

Tuesday-9 miles generally easy ( 2 miles at the slow end of your easy pace, then progressively get faster so that your 8th mile you are at marathon pace- 9th is recovery pace)

Wednesday- 6 miles recovery pace

Thursday- 9 miles your choice:
                1. 6 Very Very Easy miles in the a.m. with Hill Grinders (repeats) at one of the Hill Workouts in the p.m - see MTT website for locations
                 2. 9 mile hilly run done at the fast end of your easy pace
                 3. Same as 2 above but push MP (marathon pace) for 10 minutes then 1 minute recovery. Repeat until done, then last mile should be RECOVERY

Friday- Off

Saturday-16 miles very similar workout to this weekend (5 miles slow easy, 6 MP, 4 easy,1 recovery)

Sunday- 8 recovery pace

Tonights workout was : 

6 @ recovery (9:21, 8:51, 9:08, 9:00, 9:06, 8:32)

6 pm run.. slightly sweaty :-)

Slight twinge in the right calf tonight.. may just run entire week at Time on Feet.  Not sure and watching it closely. 

9 miles total (working from slow easy downwards and then 1 recovery).  Perfect running conditions of 89 degrees, sunny and dew point of 71 at time of start.  lol.  Will gladly take it over winter 365 days a year though :-)

(8:13, 7:58, 8:04, 8:11, 7:46, 7:34, 7:37, 7:17) + 9:54

Calf was a hair stiff at the start but loosened up after the first mile.  Felt solid throughout.. ditched the shirt and hat for the final 2 miles.. cant even recall the last time I did that.  8th mile was too fast.  I know Ive worked my ass off when I enjoy running the recovery mile at almost 10 minutes.

6 @ recovery (8:58, 9:00, 9:08, 9:19, 9:43, 9:37)

95 degrees, 5:00 pm sunny run with 73 dew point.  Same old same old normal running conditions for Richmond in July.

Felt like ass.  Not sure if it was from yesterdays tough workout or the conditions.  Could have been a combination of them both.  Regardless I wasnt recovered from Tuesday's workout.  Plan on cutting Thursday's short and just do some speed with the HMT team. 

HMT speed number 1.

took it very easy due to calf tweak.  Ran only 2x 800 and everything else at easy roughly 8:30 paced

5 miles w (800 in 3:04 & 800 in 3:07)

Only 5 runners showed up and I was the only coach :-(

Looking forward to rest day.  Saturday and Sunday's run will complete week 7 of All Black training.  So far.. zero missed workouts.

Onwards 

And so the wheels came off :-(  Was supposed to be 16 miles with All Black but turned into survival mode with right calf cramping and pretty much disabling me.

Now the 64 thousand dollar question..  how much time off??

8 (8:20, 8:00, 7:53, 7:58, 8:39, 8:50, 10:24, 10:19)

I have a love / hate relationship with this sport. 

Calf stiff big time.. unable to run today.

This weeks schedule TBD

After speaking with my coaches.. Ruthie has me on a day to day basis pending approval from Dr Dec.  Amazingly I was able to land a 2:00 p.m. appointment to get it looked at.  I wouldnt normally go to the doctor this soon for a muscle injury but ive got too much invested to not do everything in my power to get this calf worked out.  Further details to follow.

Dr Dec with CJW Sports Medicine was able to squeeze me in today.  She noticed several muscular issues (tight hamstrings, tight calf’s and some tenderness in some tendons that I cant pronounce.. she also said my right ankle isn’t performing 100 percent).. all of which when combined are probably related to Saturday’s cramping session.

 Her course of action for today was to put an orthotic in my shoe and give me a laser treatment to speed the recovery in the calf.  She wants me to run one mile tomorrow with the orthotic to see if the calf will loosen up.  If it does then I will probably go on a reduced mileage week at least until after the weekend (she mentioned running half my normal weekend miles).  She also mentioned getting me a gait analysis and probably starting some physical therapy to address the root cause of a potential alignment problem.

 I think all in all its probably good news.. I highly doubt she would let me run at all so soon if she truly thought I was severely injured.

1.12 @ 7:59 pace

Tonight was a test to see how my near future would proceed.  It was a 1 miler and based upon the results.. the treatment plan would follow.  

 Great news because the calf loosened up nicely and I ran pretty much pain free.  So this weeks mileage will follow with one more short run (prob a 2 miler) on tomorrow and then 2 additional days off until a half the mileage TOF run on Saturday (8.5 miler).

Im icing both the calf and the ankle (surprisingly the ankle has been HUGE!!  Who knew that a calf injury could actually cause fluid in the ankle to build and swell.  Thats a new one to me. 

The orthotic in the shoe felt a little odd.. it basically elevates the inner right side of my right foot and basically helps the foot to not roll in as much as normal hopefully stopping some of the pressure my calves have been feeling.

I truly believe that if my injury were major there would be no way in the world I would be able to run pain free and normal with only 2 days of rest after the cramping session.

I start to look back at my 2010 Richmond Marathon where both calfs cramped severely and ending my race early.  The training that led into that race was very much alike what ive been doing for the last 7 weeks.  Hmmm.. could I just be working myself too hard and possibly having the calf be the first thing in the armor that fails?  If so.. I think thats much better than the alternative of having a skeletal problem.

I also started looking back at the 2010 and 2011 All Black schedules where the coaches would have 2 mileage groups (a high mileage group for the veterans and a lower mileage group for the new comers).  With Greg's absence.. The 2012 All Black team no longer has duel groups.  Well the lower mileage group seems to be more of a logical plan for the mere mortals.  Im thinking about possibly mixing the 2 plans into a custom one of my own.  Do we really need 57 mile weeks 15 weeks away from race day??  How high could the 2012 team possibly climb mileage wise??

I still believe in the All Black motto that "Excellence is built on the edge of destruction".  But knowing when the cliff is coming is very very key and Im going to start to better zone in on when that is about to occur.  Maybe I actually have a muscle that acts like an alarm clocks as to when im about to go over the edge??

Anyways.. im pleased with my ability to be able to run just 1 mile tonight.  I am confident that ive done everything in my power to move towards the right direction.

I was almost giddy out there on the track.  I always say it every time I get hurt.. "you take for granted your abilities until you are no longer able to do them".

Run strong

Crash 

The calf had very little tenderness tonight.. prob the best its felt since in the initial injury.  Hopefully will be cleared tomorrow to proceed back to a mixture of normal running + cross training then progressing onwards to a reduced mileage week and then back to normal.  My second mile which I posted rather easily confirms that this is all probably related to good old fashioned over use.

2.13 (8:00, 6:49)

Dec cleared me back to a reduced mileage schedule starting on Saturday.  Friday will be totally off and then 9 time on feet for Saturday.  Sunday off and then a reduced mileage week upcoming after that.  Probably returning to the All Blacks on Saturday August the 4th.  She wants my ankle to show no signs of swelling at all before resuming mileage and effort.  I still think its odd to have a swollen ankle from a calf injury.

This slow return process back is killing me mentally.. im chomping at the bit to get back out there and resume tearing up the roads but I know in the long run this is the smart play for a successful NYC.  This week is pretty much a wasted week for fitness gains but its necessary if I want to resume at the level that I was previously training.

I am very pleased with my overall attitude and work ethic towards this 2012 marathon training season.  I do know when I toe the line on November 4th that I will have worked very hard and I look forward to enjoying my race.

5k (8:39, 8:36, 8:24)

Felt real good!!  Hardly any tightness and no pain in the calf.

Kinda of scratching my head.  The ankle was swollen from fluid before I went for the run.. afterwards it was all gone and looked normal.  I mean seriously... where the f did all that fluid go?? 

Considering my situation.. I wasnt really sure how may miles I was going to run.  I decided at the last minute to run with All Blacks and cut the route short by 4 miles.

Totally a time on feet run.  Horribly humid conditions.  I was pretty much holding my breathe the entire time hoping the calf would hold up.  It performed great and I could have finished off the other 4 miles but decided against it.  What a difference a week makes.  This sport is crazy. 

13 ( 8:57, 8:10, 8:06, 8:14, 8:08, 7:57, 8:04, 8:11, 8:05, 8:37, 8:12, 8:40, 8:23)

total rest day

5 easy (8:08, 7:49, 7:45, 7:38, 7:26)

felt great.  no issues.

This weeks schedule is to be played by ear.  Everything to be either TOF or easy.  Will probably run something like this :

M - 5

T - 8

W - 5

T - 5

S - 17

Thats 40 miles for the week with Sunday pending still feeling good.  Hopefully to resume full fledged training next week.  

8 (8:54, 8:55, 8:56, 8:54, 8:57, 8:44, 8:39, 6:37)

felt great again.. no issues.