I love running

14 time on feet (9:03, 8:51, 8:44, 8:35, 8:50, 8:59, 8:35, 9:15, 8:52, 9:13, 9:03, 8:50, 9:05, 8:31)

I totally screwed the pooch on this run.  It was a fair bit more humid that I expected and only carried one hand held bottle.  Had to start to conserve liquids by mile 6.. by mile 11.. I was totally out.  Just before I walked out the door.. I said nah I wont need to carry a cc with me.. one bottle was enough for the same route last weekend.  Got home and downed a huge glass of water, a tall glass of chocolate milk, a soda and a gatorade.

Im 99 percent positive a 20 miler awaits for me next Saturday.  Game on. 

7 time on feet (8:50, 8:08, 8:19, 8:21, 9:14, 9:18, 8:57)

80 some degrees, sunny and dew point of 73.  yuck.  Legs felt super fresh and bouncy but still decided to shut it down and run as slow as possible for the final 3.  Next week starts the guts portion of this training program and I need to be fresh. Im going to be diligent about hitting pace sections.  If not then I wont be able to hit my hard workout goals.

Total for the week ending Sunday = 51.12 

Starbucks River Road run with John.

6 (9:41, 8:47, 9:45, 9:09, 9:44, 9:29)

Humid as always.  This was my first time over the new bridge.. really wish they would give the foot traffic a little more shoulder room on the area from the eye place leading onto the bridge.  The curb is much lower and the exit area from the bridge onto River Road is much smoother.

Had me a Mocha Cookie Crumble thingy from Starbucks and sadly couldnt even finish a Grande.  That thing was rich.. tasty but just a little too sweet for me.  I think I will be sticking with Iced Carmels

Enjoyed the run as always with John. 

 Glycogen depletion run 10 (8:41, 8:38, 8:36, 8:29, 8:16, 7:48, 7:39, 7:31, 7:13, 6:50)

felt awesome, executed perfectly.  Humid 80ish degrees. 

So I woke up this morning and went into the bathroom only to step in a puddle of water.  I thought what the heck.. is the sink leaking??  Didnt see anything out of the normal and then cleaned it up with a towel hanging on the rack.  Then I realized that I had hung my shorts from the previous nights run on the closet door handle in the bathroom.  gross!!  Needless to say.. I didn't use that towel this morning.

So my hard days are Tuesday, Thursdays and Saturdays.. however Tuesday almost always comes the easiest.  Coincidence?  probably not.. I do believe the combo of Sunday and Monday being recovery days is working well for my chances to hold pace easily on Tuesday.  So with the mileage getting ready to increase.. im going to be extra diligent to run recovery and easy days in the correct pace zone.

6 @ recovery (9:17, 9:14, 9:13, 9:12, 9:08, 9:15)  smooth pacing in humid conditions 

10k - 45:23 (7:40, 7:27, 7:33, 7:22, 7:06, 6:54)

Im trying to keep this weeks mileage in the mid 50 range so I had to cut tonights run short by a little bit.. I still have a Saturday 18 miler and a Sunday half the distance run.  Tonights 10k should put me right where I want to be. 

I was cruising along somewhere on mile 3 and a dog darts out from behind me and then cuts me off big time.. sadly my knee landed squarely to his head on the upswing.. I damn near knocked the poor dog out.  I briefly stopped to see if the dog was ok.. the owners who were walking the track werent that far behind and saw the entire thing go down.  No apology no nothing!!  Seriously who brings a dog to the track where people are running??  If my season would have gone down that way to an injury or fall.. I would have been pissed big time!!  Then on two more occasions.. the dog is darting around me.. I finally had to start yelling at the dog.  Shake my head.  The two ladies with the dog finally left the track area.

Despite the animal challenge.. the run came very easy.

Crash 

All Black Team

18 time on feet (8:06, 7:41, 7:38, 7:40, 7:46, 7:55, 7:51, 8:05, 8:01, 7:57, 7:54, 8:03, 8:13, 8:58, 10:15, 9:20, 9:28, 9:07)

I totally took this run for granted.. my pre run hydration the day before and this morning preceding the run was just horrible.  I even had Cheeburger Cheeburger (huge burger, onion rings and a Butterfinger milkshake) last night for dinner.  Big mistake in hindsight.

I actually felt ok until mile 13 or so and then my right calf and hammy had slight cramps so I pretty much had to shut it down from there.  The humidity was just horrible today!! Even one of the All Black coaches dropped out at a sag today... ive only seen that happen one time before.  Shows us that we all indeed do have bad days.

One of the things that separates the better runners from the pack is how they deal with adversity.  I need to remember to take all my training runs seriously.. take nothing for granted.  Truly how hard is it to sip on water and or gatorade the day before??  Doing simple things like that lead to successful races.  I need to keep my mind in the game.  Live and learn.

Crash 

9 recovery (9:08, 8:50, 8:56, 9:10, 9:08, 9:07, 9:12, 8:40, 8:43)

68'ish degrees with lower humidity.  Sometimes the day after a less than stellar run.. ive been known to drop the hammer.. Did a good job keeping the pace in the recovery zone.

Total miles for the week ending Sunday = 55.54 

5 recovery (9:06, 8:49, 8:55, 8:47, 7:24)

humidity all but gone.. totally wanted to zoom zoom but didn't.  All systems a go. 

10 (7:38, 7:19, 7:14, 7:19, 7:20, 7:00, 6:56, 6:48, 6:44, 6:38)

one word blog = awesome

I may have told this story once before.. I cant remember.

Back in 2010 I was closely mentored / coached by one of the best runners in the state.  When I first started working with her.. I questioned all the "slow" paced recovery runs stating something along the lines of "I cant truly run that slow.. thats poking".

She then proceeds to tell me a story about what happened to her in college.  At the time she was having just a mediocre season.  She was tearing up all the runs in practice but when it came down to the meets her results werent nearly as good.  So the coach sets her down in his office and says something along the lines of "you truly are a good runner.. if you could ever learn to have the confidence to run slow then you would be a great runner!!"  My friend totally changed her training program and starts running EASY runs very EASY and HARD runs very HARD.  This enabled her to add more miles but yet still be fresh on the days when she needed to crank out specific workout.  Her season turned around quickly and she actually went on to be a Division 3 All American and winner of a major marathon qualifying for the United States Olympic trials and finishing 25 or so in that race.

A runner is only as good as his or hers last recovery 

6 recovery (9:23, 9:19, 9:26, 9:30, 9:37, 9:37) 

10 working downwards (8:23, 7:50, 7:49, 7:46, 7:49, 7:33, 7:34, 7:22, 7:20, 7:06)

Humidity just a wee bit higher than the last 2 nights.

This run came easy.  Its always a good sign when Thursday night workouts go well.  Thursdays are always my 6th day straight running...  this one on the tail end of just shy of 58 miles.  Ive certainly had some not so good runs this season but all in all its been going very well.  Im very pleased with where I am in my training right now.  Looking forward to continuing onwards and finishing this season off strong

Crash 

All Black 16 miler (2:02:45) 7:42 pace

This was by far my best performance of the year.  Runs where I feel this good truly make me want to come back for more and more.

Today was picture day with the All Blacks.  Greg's new role as one of the overall team coaches has him running with different teams each week.  Of course Greg bleeds black and decided to take his picture and run with us.

Two seconds before we are headed out the door.. my Garmin beeps saying it had a low battery.  So I was forced to break out the ironman and go old school with no GPS.  Shortly before we were taking off Greg asks if would stay with him.  Of course I said.  He had plans on breaking off and not doing the extra 4 miles that only the blacks were doing.  So were running along roughly at 8:15's and almost right away we lost site of the back of the pack blacks.  I didnt mind.. Greg is one of my favorite friends to run with and I normally end up by myself anyways.  His knowledge is truly unmatched in the area and I always learn something new during our runs.  I had a blast!!  Greg breaks off somewhere near the 10k mark and I was feeling pretty good and decided to drop it down a bit.  Without my GPS and on turf that I dont normally run.. I had no clue how fast I was running.  For lack of a better term.. I will call it comfortably hard.  The extra 4 miles had us jaunting through all the hilly areas of the UofR campus.  No worries.  I was feeling great!! As I was exiting the area and heading over to 3 Chopt.. I saw Shannon doing her coaching gig directing Red Bellied Cooters as to where to run.  I said "hey girl" and went about my way.  I think she was somewhat surprised to see me among her group.  Somewhere on Grove.. I passed JK smooth talking all the Cooter girls at one of the HMTT sag stops.  I yelled something not so funny like "dirty old Cooter" and kept going.  

Lol.. JK jumped on his tempo horse and tracked me down.  Nice speed teammate! I slowed my pace just a wee after I saw he was coming for me and we ran together for a bit until he bailed out.  He proceeded to tell me how he had yelled at some All Black dudes because they darted out in front of car thinking they were super heros.  John is a great friend and all around good guy.  Its always fun to run into good friends when your not expecting it.  I continue onwards to Locke and Grove and I spot the back the pack Black teamers.. I thought to myself wow they were in striking range.  I was honestly shocked when I saw that I had made up all the ground that the 8:15's had caused.  I caught Scott and Nick and ran a few miles with them until I decided to peel out a bit further leaving them behind.. I was closing in on the next pack for the remaining mile or so but I just couldnt catch them coming up the Boulevard bridge leading into the stadium.

This is one of the runs where Im truly sad to not be able to see my splits.  I had blazed the middle section and I will never know how fast I ran it.  I guess it doesnt matter.  Start to finish I felt "in the zone".  Could not be any happier than I am right now with my training.

Onwards

Crash 

11 recovery with John (9:34, 8:54, 8:53, 8:52, 8;59, 8:56, 9:02, 9:09, 9:11, 8:53, 8:33)

Legs felt pretty heavy on the opening few miles but that means I worked them well on Saturday.  John and I ran over and did a loop around Deep Run high school and got to see a lot of the bikers and runners during various stages of the sprint tri that was going on at the YMCA.

Once I go to get out of the car at home.. I notice that my left butt check isnt feeling right.  In fact it hurt to get up out of the car and into the house.  Like where in the world did that come from??  Could it be that im getting old???  or could it be that im straddling the excellence is built on the edge of destruction line???  or could it be a combination of both??

So I got home and rolled it out with the foam roller took a couple of Aleve and will play it by ear.  Unless im seeing some major improvement over the next 24 hours then Mondays recovery run will not happen.  Running smart and getting to the starting line is my motto for the year.

Total for the week ending Sunday = 58.57

My friend Peter just texted me with his Erie Marathon time of 2:59:36.  Awesome performance!!!  Congrats my friend!! 

im 99 percent certain tonight is going to be a scratch.  Butt still hurts.

Mileage for the week is scheduled to be 60 miles.. skipping tonights fiver and only getting 55 for the week is the smart play.

Will revisit the foam roller tonight and hopefully be able to go for Tuesday.

Crash

1 (8:07)

Left butt check still not happy with me :(  I felt much much better after being off on Monday but still could feel it nagging me during the run.  I probably could have finished this run but at what costs?  My fitness isnt going to vanish overnight but I surely could put Saturday's 20 miler off the table if I decided to run stupid this week

Getting ready to hit the foam roller again and then we give it another tomorrow night.

Crash 

10 (8:00, 7:50, 7:51, 7:51, 7:46, 7:41, 7:36, 7:15, 7:02, 6:04)

I think im back and I think its all starting to fall into place.

There is still a remnant of a slight tender spot on the left cheek but wasnt enough to effect my stride.

The first seven miles felt super super easy.  I dropped it down a bit for miles 8 and 9 and it still felt pretty easy so I dropped it down into another gear for the final mile and posted 6:04 

I think im at the point of my season as to where I truly need to race to see how fit I am.  To be honest.. I have NO clue as to what my marathon race pace is going to be in NYC

6 recovery (9:02, 9:03, 9:07, 9:04, 9:05, 8:57)

Good consistent recovery pacing.  However with 2 miles to go.. tonights run turned into a "run happy not crappy" type of run.  I will spare you the details and call it a night :-)

Crash 

All Black 20 @ 7:48 pace (8:11, 7:40, 7:34, 7:54, 7:38, 7:32, 7:32, 8:03, 7:56, 7:52, 7:49, 7:54, 7:52, 7:41, 7:48, 7:58, 7:58, 8:11, 7:44, 7:44)

Good promising start to my 20's.. let the course dictate my pacing.. felt good and under control.  Not the easiest course.. (Nickel Bridge, Riverside Drive and Lee Bridge) sections.

I dropped a couple 7:32's early on in the run and then realized I was actually leading the All Blacks turning onto Floyd.  Backed off from there and enjoyed the rest of the run with Jim and Richard.. both running NYC.  I am seriously starting to get excited!!!

Crash 

Tour de hills half marathon @ recovery (Turtle Creek, Falconbridge, Popular Forest, Shady Branch) all up hill.

13.1 in 1:54:29 (9:27, 8:58, 8:53, 9:10, 9:13, 9:10, 8:45, 8:41, 8:40, 8:24, 8:08, 7:52, 8:10)

One would think that after a 20 miler pretty much at race pace that I would have some soreness, some heavy legs, something??  Unlike like last week recoveries with John.. the legs felt totally fine and actually somewhat fresh today.  Maybe John truly did kick my butt last week :-)  Ive long ago quit trying to figure out this crazy sport.  I guess if could actually solve what separates good runs from bad runs then I could write a book and be a rich author like Bart and Dean.

I have the Colonial 200 on Friday and I plan on going into Friday's leg #2 being totally fresh.  Going to run Monday recovery and Tuesday prob 10 - 12 then 2 days complete rest going into Friday morning.

Miles for the week ending Sunday = 50.32  good mileage considering my Monday and Tuesday combined total was 1 mile.

Onwards

Crash 

6 recovery (9:31, 9:29, 9:32, 9:52, 9:41, 9:37)

Almost too relaxed.. fell asleep during mile 4.  just kidding.

Broke out the long sleeve shirt for the first time this year.. it was after all 60 degrees at the start.  A nip in the air.  I already hate winter!! Looking forward to enjoying my races and then as always hibernating until late March like Yogi Bear.  

10 (5 working down to tempo 8:07, 7:17, 6:55, 6:38, 6:32) + (5 recovery 9:02, 8:56, 9:10, 8:59, 9:04)

Wanted a mix of speed and recovery for tonight.. opening 5 to remind the legs they know how to boogie.. back 5 to start the recovery process for Friday's race.

49.4 miles combined for the last 4 days with a good mix of MP, easy hills, recovery & tempo runs.  Pretty much felt great for all the runs.  Great signs this close to NYC.

2 days complete rest for Wednesday and Thursday

Crash 

Full race report to follow.. just typing out a few specs about my legs.

Colonial 200 (Legs 1 & 2)

Leg 1 : 

I goofed up leg 1 some kind of bad!!!  I had planned on racing the opening leg to determine current fitness quality.  After getting there and seeing some of the course I should have backed off and just run for fun.  Instead I went out running hard on some tough rolling terrain.  I ended up missing the first turn and kept going roughly a mile before I decided to back track and see what was going on.  I finally get back on course and yes a sign was there but it was very low to the ground and well off to the left.  From there onwards I was truly upset at myself for committing such a rookie mistake.  Always know the course youre running.  I failed to do this and it cost me and my teammates dearly.  So I continue onwards and kinda felt defeated for the rest of the leg.  The hills and humidity and lack of mental focus started to take its toll on me.  I knew I had a lot of running left to do so I just finished off the rest of the leg at a time on feet pace.

Leg 1 which was supposed to be 8.8 miles ended up being 10.96 @7:59 pace

Not the way I wanted to start my day.  Live and learn.

Leg 2 : 

This leg went much better... hey look mom.. no turns :-)  The first half of this run was flat/downhill and the second half was all uphill.  Mentally.. I managed to shake off the earlier mistake and was in a much better place.  I simply let the terrain dictate my pace.  About midway.. I was chased by two dogs.  Luckily I got away.

4.3 miles @ 7:19 pace 

Colonial 200 (Legs 2 & 3)

Leg 3 :

This was my only in the dark run.  Im totally paranoid about running in the dark so I was going to take this super slow at all costs.  My goal was to simply to stay up right.  Several cars whizzed by me at super sonic speed!!  People are crazy!! 

5.05 - 39:08 (7:44 pace)

Leg 4 :

Most of this leg was on the Cap to Cap trail.. not easy terrain not like the hills I had seen earlier but still rolled pretty much the entire time.  Felt great

8.04 @ 7:47 pace

All in all I was pleased with my running