I love running

Pre rundino's run with John.  Felt great.  Felt light on feet.  Good run.

8:44

8:11

8:10

8:11

8:09

Well its been a long time. 

Today was a good day for my running.  I have a renewed spirit and now have a goal.  I signed up for the RRRC Advanced 10k Training Team which starts next weekend.  I have several goals for the race.  Goal 1 is to beat my age.  Im 41 and think it would be cool to run sub 41.  Goal 2 = Sub 40 minutes.  With a concentrated speed effort.. I feel that is totally within reach.  Now its time to make it happen.

Tonights workout was 2 warm up / 1 hard / 2 cool down

8:42 / 8:40 / 6:37 / 9:15 / 8:51

I felt great the entire time.. could have slammed the hard mile much harder but hey.. its been a long time since ive truly put the hammer down.  True speed isn't built over night.

Friday is a rest day and Saturday is LSD.. will prob put in 9-10 at a super super slow pace.

 Well today was going to be LSD but time constraints put me into speed mode.. so if im running speed.. im running Black.  Nothing like jumping into the deep end.  LSD can wait until tomorrow.

All Black opening loop.  Garmin stopped shortly after starting run.  Not real sure how far I ran.. prob somewhere near 5 miles.  I had forgotten how tough the UR hills combined with the All Black can be.  Was great to catch up with team.. had been way too long.

7:38, 7:19, 7:26, 8:06

Next Saturday starts my journey with the Advanced 10k Training team.  Here is the email from the Advanced 10k Team to me :

 Todd,

Based on your past times.. I have placed you with the Sub 41 group which currently shows a target range of 37 to 40, with actual performance of 39 to 43, looking at your past results and know some of the runner in this group it should be a great fit.

 The program has 2 key components. 1- Saturday Run of 6 to 8 miles with a tempo portion starting at 2 miles going to 6 plus a structured track workout on Wed nights based off the McMillion Calculator.

You will have fun and get fast... see you Saturday. 

Also my entry into the November 4th, 2012 NYC Marathon has been officially accepted!!  Time to get my training on!!!

As Greta would say "GAME ON!!!!!" 

Crash

Treadmill workout.  Cardio still pretty good.

5 miles total (3 x 800 @ 6:40 pace) + (2 x 800 @ 6:00 pace)  Everything in between at easy and recovery.

Solid workout 

TM 4 Miles (Easy + 4x 400 @ 6:00 pace)

Rolfe Gym is way too hot.  Very much dislike the new placements of the treadmills.  Ceiling is lower there.. no air flow.  I hate change. 

Opening day for the RRRC Advanced 10k Training Team

I was assigned to Team Lilac (41 minutes and below target goal)  I mean really.. Team Lilac??  This is the fastest group they have and they name us that??  Oh well.. what you going to do.. just hope an unnamed MTT coach never finds out that 3 of his guys (Crash, Monolo & Stephon) are running for Team Lilac :-)  However.. we represented our true color well with our matching badass All Black Skull and Cross Boned Nike tops.  Hopefully this time next year I wont being wearing Lilac.  If I am.. shoot me and take my man card away.

So the coaches say this 6.3 run was supposed to be a nice and easy run with no tempo section.  Yeah right.. our opening day easy run turned into more of a slong measuring contest than anything.  Unless these guys are capable of running sub 35 minute 10k's then they all ran too fast.  Miles 1 and 2 were somewhere in the low 7's.  from there I pulled back and ran 7:35's for the final 4.3.  Got to see Peter, Scott, Ruthie, Matt, Richard, Brad all running the opposite way on Grove.  They were like.. what the heck?  Im sure Peter filled them in.

I was the last one to finish for team Lilac but I know better.. you don't go balls to the wall on day one.  Thats just dumb!!  Run smart and beat them further down the road.  Anyways.. a good solid effort for me.  Many more to come.

Crash 

TOF (Time on feet)

6 @ 8:26 pace

Felt good.  No issues.  Cold.  I dressed like Matt.  Long pants, Long Sleeve Shirt, Running jacket, stocking cap and gloves.  37 degrees

Monday off day.  See you Tuesday.

 Crash 

Today's entry is about puzzle pieces.  There is no such thing as a good workout or a bad workout.  All workouts are pieces to a big puzzle.  I even include each time I go to be early, each dessert I skip, each article I read, each tempo section I complete, each core session, etc, you get the drift.. they are all pieces to the puzzle.

For me.. I get to see my completed puzzle on November 4th, 2012 in NYC when I execute a well thought out and smart race.

Today puzzle piece was TOF (5 miles @ 8:07 pace)

onwards.. tomorrow's workout is my first true speed session.

Crash 

4x 400

TOF 8

Forgive me blog because I have neglected you.

Im not even going to attempt to log the past weeks miles into this system.  Training is going very well.  Im starting to get that zoom zoom turn over that i love.

Tonight was opening night speed workouts at Sports Backers Stadium

1 mile warmup @ 9:31

 6x 100 meter strides (1/3 acceleration / 1/3 maintain / 1/3 easing back down)

4x 400 meters with 1 minute jog (1:33 ,1:37, 1:34, 1:32)

3x 600 meters with 1 minute jog (2:18, 2:21, 2:13)

1/2 mile cooldown @8:38

So the 600's were faster than the 400's.  Great workout.. although.. I was sucking hind tit on the final 5:58 paced 600 meters.  That one kicked my ass.

Crash 

After running with the 2nd team on Wednesday and running 38:00 minute goal pace.. I decided to step down into the 3rd team.

6 miles = 1.7 @ 8:30ish / 2.0 at 6:45 / remainder at 7:45

This may be the group for me.  Worked hard but didn't over do it.  They are much more friendly too. 

TOF 8

5 miles

3 negative split (7:46, 7:33, 7:26) + 2 easy @ 8:23

felt great!! 

1 mile warmup (8:59)

 4x strides 

3x 600 (6:29 pace) (6:29 pace) (6:30 pace) 1 minute jog between each

3x 400 (5:40 pace) (5:48 pace) (5:49 pace) 1 minute jog between each

1 mile cool down (8:54)

Dropped down into group number 3 again.. and love running with these guys!!  Nothing like having a conversation while your moving along at 5:49 pace :-)

Saw lots of friends (Monolo, Brad, Bert, Jim, Stephon and Maribeth)  Even met a guy that I went to middle school with (Patrick).  Crazy stalker picked me out of the crowd.

Solid effort.. prob could have run with group 2... was leading the pacing.  Very consistent and happy with effort.

Opening day MTT All Black Team.

Goal for the day was to run between 7:45 to 8:00 minute miles.  Oops just a bit quick.

7.22 miles @ 7:33 pace (7:51, 7:39, 7:32, 7:33, 7:21, 7:32, 7:21)

Perfect weather.  I attempted to run with some of the new people.  I was talking to one guy and noticed he was wearing vibriam 5 fingers shoes.  I asked him how well they hold up during the longer mileage runs.  His response was "I don't know.. ive never run further than 8 miles".  Me and couple others in the pack were speechless.  This will be very interesting to see how his program pans out.

 I was very happy with my performance.. I ran well within myself, met some new people, caught up with some friends I hadn't seen in awhile.  A perfect start to NYC training.

 Crash

Sunday's are always super slow recovery days for me.  Sunday's goal was to run as slow as possible and maintain proper form  My legs felt great, the weather was awesome!! It took total discipline to hit my splits.

6 miles @ 9:22 pace (9:24, 9:17, 9:28, 9:24, 9:15, 9:20)

This weeks schedule calls for this :

Mon 5 @ recovery

Tues 7 @ time on feet

Wed 5 @ recovery

Thurs 8 (2 recovery / 4 tempo / 2 recovery)

Fri Off

Sat - 10 @ time on feet

Sun - 6 @ recovery

Mileage for the week = 41

5.22 @ recovery 9:25 average pace (9:05, 9:20, 9:36, 9:27, 9:32)

My pace zone breakdown is :

recovery : 9:21 - 9:51

TOF : 8:21 -9:21

Tempo : 7:08 - 7:26

Cruise Interval 1 mile : 6:59 - 7:08

Pace zones will change as my fitness improves.  Right now we set the pacing so it should feel rather easy.

Felt super super fresh during tonights run.  Once again.. it was hard to run that slow.  Rome wasnt built in a day.  To quote Brad on opening day : "Todd,  our goal this year is to get you the start line prepared and healthy"

Crash 

Bad news Good news

Bad news is WAY too fast.  Time on feet runs need to be 8:21 - 8:51 paced

7.17 @ 7:53 pace (7:59, 7:55, 8:06, 8:02, 7:50, 7:54, 7:23)

Good news is my Sunday / Monday runs did their job and refreshed me for today.  Poor self control.  Cannot let this happen very often.  Especially important to hit 9:21 or greater on tomorrows run gearing for Thursday's tempo section.

Garmin officially crapped out and would not stay on.  Used my Garmin Iphone app.

5.12 @ 9:17 pace (8:57, 9:08, 9:16, 9:25, 9:30)

First 2 miles were a bit fast but was able to adjust accordingly and get close enough to my target recovery pace of 9:21.

Finally starting to feel like the old Crash again.  Tempo range is 7:08 - 7:23'ish.  Was too quick again with tonights workout. I think I may be in better shape than I realize and may have to readjust pace zones in the future.  Going to stick with current zones for a bit more while I accumulate more base mileage.

2.20 Miles Warmup @ 9:04 pace

4 Miles Tempo @ 6:49 pace (6:55, 6:56, 6:41, 6:42)

2.16 Miles Cooldown @ 9:34 pace 

Nutrition has never been better.. honestly thats been the hardest part of this entire thing.  I miss my beer, candy bars and chips but im eating healthy and drinking a ton of water.  Im making smart choices, working hard, having fun and enjoying the sport once again.  Not sure it gets any better than that.

Crash 

All Black Team - TOF

9.84 miles @ 7:44 pace (8:03, 7:45, 7:30, 7:45, 7:49, 7:29, 7:48, 7:34, 7:51, 7:42)

Despite my brain totally telling me to do it.. I didnt want to be "that guy" that ran around the Sports Backers parking lot for the Garmin to read a perfect 10. 

A hair fast on some of the mile splits.  Ruthie toured us down towards the state Capital to give us some hills.  Not exactly the easiest section of town.  Need to work on some leg strength in order to better handle the hills.  Tuckered out just a bit on the final miles but nothing to be worried about.  Probably remnants of Thursdays tempo run, the Capital grounds hills and the complete lack of water for a 10 miler.  All in all a solid workout.  Onwards to recovery day Sunday.

We got to laughing at Starbucks... due to our bad reputation as a team.  Our new racing singlets will simply say "f@ck you".  We were just kidding.. but it gained a laugh out of all of us.

Crash 

6 @ recovery (9:32, 9:06, 9:14, 8:56, 9:02, 8:51)

Humidity seemed to be higher than normal.  Non eventful recovery run. 

5 @ recovery

Here is tonights scenario :

Lane 1 = High School field hockey chick doing 8:00 minute miles flailing her arms like Pheobe from Friends.

Lane 5 = Myself trying to maintain proper form while as running as slow as possible.

Lane 6 = High School soccer dude doing 3x 400 repeats with what seemed to be 15 minute recoveries.

I aint gonna lie.  I took every fiber of my being to not put the hammer down.  Seriously soccer dude??  Maybe im getting ornery in my old age but did he really have to do all 3 of his repeats in lane 6?  Anyways.. I stuck to plan and performed workout as planned.

5.41 miles @ 9:52 pace (9:39, 9:47, 9:57, 9:57, 9:56)

This weeks schedule looks like this :

Mon - 5 @ recovery

Tues - 7 miles (start at the slow end of easy and drop it down every mile till the last mile is at the faster end of easy)

Wed - 5 @ recovery

Thur - 8 miles (2 miles slow easy - then 5 miles at the fast end of easy - then 1 mile recovery  (For me this workout will be replaced by coaching of the HMT hills 5x Sorrento prob with some added mileage afterwards

Fri - Off

Sat - 12 TOF

Sun - 6

Miles for week = 41-43'ish depending on how many I do on Thursday 

Tonights workout was to start at the slow end of easy and work downwards towards the fast end of easy.

My pace zones need to be adjusted down faster.  I ran this workout based on feel.. excluding the last mile (which was too fast) this workout was pretty spot on for the goal at hand. The 7:47 mile 6 split actually felt very comfortable.

My Sunday / Monday recoveries are doing their jobs and allowing me to be fresh on my legs for Tuesday.  Ive felt totally awesome both times.

7.16 miles @ 7:55 pace (8:19, 8:16, 8:05, 7:59, 7:49, 7:47, 7:17)

Very humid run.  Dew point of 64.  Felt great.  Wish they would all come this easy.

Im watching my weight very closely.  Since MTT and my healthy eating have started.. Ive lost between 3 to 5 pounds.  Im now starting to consume extra calories during the day.  Its too early to be dropping pounds. 

Very late start due to Kari's PTA meeting

5 @ recovery (9:16, 8:55, 9:06, 8:59, 9:12)

67 degrees / 52 dew point.  Almost too cold to run.  Just kidding.  However I do prefer it to be at least a few degrees warmer.  I am the new Matt :-)

Crash 

HMT Hill Session # 1

Matt arrived head of schedule and decided to do his repeats ahead of the team.  I was dropping water at Sorrento and decided to join Matt for his final repeat.  55 seconds.  Prob not the smartest thing to hop out the car and do one that fast.  oh well.

Matt and I then ran back over to Deep Run park for our speech.  Lots of newbies.

2.10 warmup with Matt / couple of loops around the lake with the team.

repeat 1 - 1:03 (8:15 pace)

repeat 2 - 1:00 (7:48 pace)

repeat 3 -  :57 (7:31 pace)

repeat 4 - :59 (7:32 pace)

repeat 5 - :43 (5:54 pace) 

.62 cooldown with team

1.69 extra loop back to car 

5.71 miles total - Solid workout.  Hills are surely needed. 

All sorts of challenges on today's run.

I hit the start on the Garmin as we pulled off.. but it seems the watch has a "power save" mode.. so I when I hit start all I did was wake it up from its nice little nappy.  About a half mile later I hit start again.  Oh well.

I purposely was going to hang with the back of the pack on today's run.  I think the others are speeding along way too quickly this early in the season.  Lots of newbies will sadly find out the hard way.

Also my splits are all jacked up due to this Garmin not set for "auto pause" so some of my mile splits are skewed because of the stops.  We managed to hit the same stop 3 different times.  That was nice.

About the 4.5 mile mark we turn left on Tredegar following Greg.  Greg started the run with us so I thought it was safe to assume he was going the full 12 miles.  About a mile later.. something seemed off because I couldn't see any other Black team members even in sight so I asked Greg if he was running 12 miles.  He said "I don't know.. im just following the pack."  For me this was "bizarro world" because Im so used to him knowing exactly when and where the special team turns are.  At this point.. I knew we were way off course.  Greg continues onward and runs the 8 with the rest of the normal teams.  Me, Yob & Moreland decide to loop back and do a lap on Browns Island and then just wing the rest.  We get over the bridges and onto the island and Steve says.. I have to take a piss.  Yall go right,..  he will go left and we will meet back up in the middle.  Only problem is Chris and myself never see Steve again.  We hang around for a bit and then finally decide to just head back to the stadium with just 2 of us.  We somehow lost poor Steve.

Back at the stadium as we are about to send Peter out to look for Steve.. Steve comes running.  He somehow managed to sprain his ankle and was probably lying on the ground as Chris and I chit chatted right on by him.  oops.  Luckily Steve was able to stretch out the ankle and finish the run.

Splits (8:09, 8:13, 8:06, 9:24, 7:57, 9:45, 9:03, 9:57, 8:46, 8:02, 7:54, 8:01)  So the splits were all over the place but that was due to me not stopping the watch at the various stoppages on the route.  Oh well.  A new device comes with a learning curve.

I felt solid and ran well within myself over the entire duration of the run.  Need to do this type of run more often.

Group lunch at Kitchen 64 afterwards.  Party of 19 with 19 individual checks.  Oh boy!!  I totally felt sorry for the waitress.  A great run and a great bunch.  An awesome start to my weekend.

 Crash 

6 @ recovery (9:02, 8:33, 8:40, 8:47, 8:48, 8:35)

humid but cool.  legs felt great.  too fast on the pacing.  The upcoming weekdays should be interesting to see how they pan out with Kari in Florida.  Will prob end up with all time on feet runs. 

5 @ recovery (8:53, 8:47, 8:51, 8:25, 7:53)

5x strides 100M (5:27, 4:40, 4:19, 4:56, 4:18) pace  all too fast

This weeks schedule :

Mon 5 recovery

Tues - 1 slow end of easy / 5 @ MP / 1 recovery

Wed - 5 recovery

Thur - 8 miles (6 miles at the fast end of easy and then 1 mile of 200M in and outs & 1 recovery)

Fri - Off

Sat - 12

Sun - 5 recovery

Total for week = 42 

Today was one of those days where I felt busier than a cat covering up 5 pounds of sh#t

7 on the treadmill (1 @ slow easy 8:20 pace, 5 at MP 7:30, 1 @ recovery 9:00) 

7:30 pace actually felt pretty comfortable.  Pleased with fitness level development 

Sometimes life gets in the way.  Its how you rise up and conquer the challenges that matters.

Unexpected boss arrival in from Philadelphia, Kari in Orlando and Emma's swim meet at the Colonies left me with zero chance to get my recovery run in.

I pulled down the recumbent bike from the attic and got in 30 minutes easy. 

Tonight was one of the nights where I truly wanted to stay and hang out with my good friends.  Watching Dave drink the Miller Lite was tougher than tough.  I continue to stand beside my training theory that smart choices add up and lead to successful miles 20-26.2 on race day.

Temperature 83 degrees with obscene dew point of 71 :(

6 @ fast end of easy (7:42, 7:31, 7:37, 7:44, 7:40, 7:37)

1 @ 200 in and out (in paces = 5:50, 5:42, 5:33, 5:03) (out paces = 9:56, 10:24, 10:35, 9:31)

1 @ recovery 9:31

Legs felt fresh from the first few steps on the track.

Crash 

All Black - Time on feet

Stayed with the back the pack and kept it under control.  High dew point made running somewhat stinky.  Forgot to pause Garmin at sag stops.  Wish this model Garmin had auto pause but oh well.

11.14 @ 7:57 pace (8:22, 7:44, 8:04, 7:30, 8:26, 7:36, 7:42, 7:44, 7:51, 8:11, 8:00)

MTT industrial route was really boring for the first 5 to 6 miles or so.  Wish we could have had more than 2 sag stops.  May have to start bringing supplemental water in the near future.

A solid under control run in tough conditions. 

8 @ recovery (9:56, 9:25, 9:24, 9:16, 9:22, 9:05, 9:05, 9:17)

84 sunny and humid at 9:00 am.  Still prefer this weather over winter every day of the year though.

This week out of necessity was a (5 run days and 1 cross train day) week but still managed to get in 40 miles.  

3 complete All Black Team training weeks are in the books and so far so good.  I have for the most part hit my pace zones rather well.  Some of the quicker workouts needs to be a tad slower but all in all its going well.  Im starting to feel fit again.

Owen and his son Ian passed me Ridgefield riding a double decker bike today.  I asked for a ride.. but Ian denied my request :0(  Maybe next time.

Crash 

The program is starting to get specialized.  This week looks like this :

Monday - recovery pace - 5 miles (recovery pace) with Drills and Strides

Tuesday - easy pace - 8 miles – glycogen depletion run…start at the slow end of your easy pace and after 4 miles go to the faster end of your easy pace… Glycogen depletion and training your body to become more efficient burning fat. Start running your longer Tuesday, Thursday runs without taking on carbs during the run – energy gels or carb loaded sport drinks. Take on the water you want/need or electrolyte supplements if you want to use them. We want to train the body to burn fat. It is also important that we go negative splits on these runs. By going slower on the first half we don’t deplete our glycogen and then start burning thru protein, which is counterproductive to what we are training our body to do. By taking it easy on the first half of your run you will be able to run much faster on the second half w/o a lot of effort.

Wednesday - recovery pace - 5 miles

Thursday - 8 miles –2 miles slow easy…then do 4x6x90 – simply this 6 mins at your threshold pace with a 90 second recovery and do it 4 times…so 6 minutes at threshold 90 second active recovery and repeat…final miles at recovery pace….why are we doing this…first it is a bit of speed training on the road – again we don’t run the marathon on the track so this helps you get used to going faster on the road – the road is un-even, road has turns which force you to run the tangents correctly, the road puts stress on the stabilization muscles in your legs because it is un-even, and the road helps build physiological memory in your muscles…the 90 second recovery is a starting point…as time goes on we will drop the recovery period…this helps teach our bodies to become more efficient users of oxygen which allows us to recover faster – active recovery allows us to flush the lactic acid .

Friday - off

Saturday - 14 miles

Sunday - 6 miles recovery

Total for the week :  46 miles

Tonights workout was :

5 @ recovery (8:51, 8:37, 8:58, 9:07, 9:09)

4x 20 meters skips

4x 20 meters high knees

4x 50 meters carioca

4x 20 meters butt kicks

6x 100 strides (paces = 5:08, 5:00, 5:21, 5:02, 4:55, 4:48)

Felt great overall.  Lots of spring in the step doing the drills and strides.  Im going to concentrate on doing a better job of these this year.  They truly give you that pep in your step.  The drills and stride add about 25 minutes worth of time to my workouts but the runners that do things correctly are the the lawn mowers and not the grass at mile 23 :-)

8 Glycogen Depletion Run (8:18, 8:16, 8:06, 8:06, 6:38, 7:43, 7:34, 6:57)

Supposed to start at the slow end of easy and negative split my way down to the fast end of easy.  Low humidity and fresh legs equal too fast.  The rear four was quicker than the opening 4 tho.

and yes the 6:38 came about because some doofus thought he was racing me during my 8:06's.  Sometimes you just have to drop the hammer... Im pretty sure it hurt his foot.

Tuesdays continue to be my best feeling day.  Loving the Sunday / Monday combo of super slow recovery miles. 

Crash 

 Today was slightly busy.

 Worked 9 hours straight no lunch and then drove straight to Emma's swim meet.  Watched her kick some ass and take some names!!  Ribbons in all 4 races!!  She teamed up with Levengood again in the relay and brought home the bacon.  Who knew TI would have a aqua division? Then it was my night to work the proofreading desk at the meet.  I left the meet around 11 p.m. and then headed straight to Godwin for my recovery run.  Finished up right around midnight.  Commitment to excellence means making the time.

5 @ recovery (9:22, 9:27, 9:34, 9:39, 9:42) 

Decided to do HMT hills instead of threshold workout.

Warmup with team 1.34 miles

Repeat 1 = 7:57 pace

Repeat 2 = 7:56 pace

Repeat 3 = 8:37 pace

Repeat 4 = 7:35 pace

Repeat 5 = 7:18 pace

Repeat 6 = 7:11 pace

Repeat 7 = 7:06 pace

Cooldown with team .58 miles

5 @ recovery (9:09, 9:33, 9:08, 8:54, 9:21)

8.56 total miles.  94 degrees and sunny.  Great workout!! 

Due to traveling to the Outer Banks bright and early.. my plans were to run the recovery run on Saturday and then do the long run on Sunday.  However we managed to stay busy all day long and into the night.  Even with company over at the beach house.. I had to say.. ok im headed out for my run.  This was like 9:45 at night or so.  Earlier in the evening I had made plans with Greg and Blair to run on Sunday morning starting at 6 am.  I wasnt real sure how my body would react towards two runs scrunched so closely together.  The only way was to do it and find out.

It was still 85 degrees and humid as all get out.  I ran as slowly as I possibly could.

6 (10:10, 9:55, 10:19, 10:28, 10:21, 10:38)

and 6 hours later.. I had to awake to run long. 

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. 

4.89 @ John (8:59, 8:30, 8:25, 8:22, 8:33)

Pretty warm run and humid again of course.  What I thought was uncharged Garmin turned out to be a Garmin that wasnt responding to anything including plugging into the computer.  Got home and called the support line.. he walked me through a hard reset by holding Lap Reset and the power button and viola.. it came back to life.  Odd.. hopefully not a thing of future things to come with the product.

Was good running with John.. it had been probably close to 2 months since we had been able to get our schedules together and plan something.

Unable to ice afterwards but will hit the foam roller very shortly here at the house 

8 (warmup, 2x 3 miles, cooldown)

Warmup mile (9:04)

1x 3 miles (8:46, 8:10, 8:03)

2x 3 miles (7:48, 7:52, 7:45)

Cooldown mile (8:25)

The storm cooled down the temperature quite a bit.. probably low to mid 80's degrees.. humidity rather high still.

Felt great. 

17 (8:25, 7:48, 8:05, 7:59, 8:08, 8:09, 8:14, 8:18, 8:25, 8:19, 8:20, 8:34, 8:46, 9:01, 9:18, 9:54, 9:41)

Nice positive split long run.  lol.  Felt like a$$ for the second half of that run.  No real aches or pains.. my body simply hit the wall and didnt feel like running.  If they all came easy then  I guess I wouldnt be so challenged by the sport.  

Might need to start thinking about using gu's now that these runs are creeping up there distance wise.  Regardless.. the miles are in the bank.  

Myself and a handful of others are totally the slowest on the team by far.. but quite a few team mates are injured with stress fractures, knee issues, IT bands, etc and many have decided to either move downwards or have been demoted by the coaches to a slower team.

onwards

Crash 

7 @ recovery (9:42, 9:14, 9:29, 9:38, 9:29, 9:49, 9:56)

middle of the day suck the life right out of you run.  Legs felt pretty good.

ending mileage for the week = 50.95  a good comeback week after the super reduction of next to nothing miles from the previous week.  Going to run close to full fledged miles with reduced intensity this week. 

Monday - 5 miles easy with Drills and Strides

Tuesday - 10 miles - glycogen depletion - take on no carbs during the run - water only. Start easy for the 1st 5 miles then get progressively faster for the next 5 - no faster than marathon pace. At the finish of the run get your recovery fuel in ASAP (sports drink with electrolytes & carbs)

Wednesday - 6 miles recovery

Thursday - 10 mile hilly run. Pick a course that rolls...3 mile warm-up..then for the next 5 miles alternate MP pace over the hills - i.e. - run pace for 10 minutes recover for 2 minutes...so that you are going MP up/down the hills...final 2 miles recover

Friday - off

Saturday - 16 miles

Sunday - 8 miles

Total for the up comingweek = 55

Tonights 5 @ easy (8:54, 8:18, 8:24, 8:09, 7:48)  felt super fresh 

Glycogen Depletion run.

10 (9:03, 8:53, 8:47, 8:33, 8:15, 8:xx, 7:35, 7:41, 7:29, 7:19)

The garmin took a crap during mile 6.. it says I ran a 10:35 mile.. lol.. not sure what was going on with that?  Unless there was some sort of time warp that I wasnt aware of.. im 100 percent positive I posted right at a 8:00 flat for that mile.  My ipod took a poo as well.  Time to hit Costco for a new shuffle.

Rock solid run 

6 easy (8:13, 8:17, 8:28, 7:47, 8:53, 8:56)

Was getting too hard so cooled my jets for mile 5 & 6.  Felt great. 

So oddly after I got home from my Wednesday nights run.. I thought I had something stuck in my right shoe.  Upon further review.. my right 4th toe had a rather large blister to the right of the toe nail.  Wth??  where in the world did that come from??  I didnt even notice it during Wednesdays recovery run.  This thing was large!!!  I proceeded to drain the fluid and bandage it up but then didnt like the way the bandage felt between my toes so I said "ef" it and ripped it off.  Now onwards to even further gross out "both" of my blog readers.. lol.. my feet have been peeling non stop for weeks now.. not real sure where that is coming from either.. its pretty gross.. im able to peel long long strips of saggy skin off at will.. and the combination of new skin with old skin has made the bottom of my feet rather bumpy.. they feel like sandpaper.  So if you need some wood sanded then feel free to hire the bottom of my feet.  good rates apply :-)

So as im lacing up to head out to Thursday's HMT yasso session. I notice another toe blister on my left foot.  really??  How can I not notice these things??  Anyways.. giving the tenderness on both feet.. I decided to skip the yassos all together and simply go for the pick your own time mile.  The kids were super excited to participate!!!  We get to Godwin and sadly there is only 1 HMT'er there.  I made the decision to cancel the PYT and just do a little challenge between Emma and myself.

Emma runs her mile and is only 4 seconds off her predicated race time.  Damn thats pretty good!!!  Now its dad's turn.. im thinking to myself.. wow 4 seconds is going to be hard to beat.  My predicted time was 8:00 flat and posted 7:24 :-(  Not even close.  Emma destroyed me.

So this goes to show me that kids run via feel and im a total bitch to my garmin.  Maybe I need to revisit my "out of shape" training days where I never ran with a garmin at all.  Knock on wood.. what would happen if my Garmin decided to die on the starting line in NYC??  What would I do??  Wing it right.  Sadly if I would have started a marathon and then proceeded to run 36 seconds per faster than my goal pace then I would have surely died a harsh and painful death on the course.  I need to be able nail my MP no questions asked anytime of the day without even thinking about it.  I have some work to do.

So the feet are feeling somewhat better today.. it was probably a good decision to skip the workout and I fully plan on running the entire 16 miles on Saturday with all black.  Im going to body glide the toes, eat a small breakfast beforehand, carry gatorade and gu doing the run.

This season has certainly had some aches and pains and bumps in the road but im still doing things correctly and im still having fun.. as long as those two things stay in the mix.. then I guess im doing well.

onwards

 Crash

All Black 16.5 

Felt much better this week vs last week..  Started a bit quick with early miles but settled into an easy pace.  Storms came through bright and early before the run.. wasnt sure if we were going to get it in or not.  Humid as normal.

Forgot to restart Garmin leaving one of the sags.

Splits (8:28, 7:57, 7:38, 7:48, 8:05, 8:05, 8:16, 8:37, 8:30, 8:49, 8:34, 8:30, 8:47, 8:26, 9:01, 9:02)

Slim pickings in the back of the pack All Black.. ran with a group of 3 other people which was nice.  Sadly im one of the few slow ones still running with black.

Once the humidity breaks.. I will start running the long runs a bit quicker.. right at sub 8 but right now I like my pacing on these runs.  There are lots of heros who think they are badasses and run too fast in July & August only to blow up on race day.  I continue to stick by my goal of getting to the start line healthy.  If that means plodding along during these humid runs then so be it.

9 recovery (1 400M @ 5k pace) + 1 1600M @ tempo

felt great

(9:21, 9:17, 9:20, 8:13, 9:05, 9:57, 9:51, 9:18, 9:07, 6:52)

Total for the week = 50.2 

5 recovery slash into easy (9:11, 9:00, 9:08, 7:37, 8:08)

non eventful time on feet run.  felt good

Glycogen Depletion Run - 12 miler w/ water only between sets

1x 5 (8:57, 8:45, 8:48, 8:48, 8:41)

2x 5 (8:12, 7:53, 7:35, 7:43, 7:29)

2@ easy (8:43, 7:45)

12 miles on Tuesday equals welcome to Marathon season :-) 

6 recovery (8:42, 8:33, 8:45, 8:58, 8:40, 8:40)

Another one of my team mates sadly went the way of the dreaded stress fracture :-(  I remember on day one looking around at the 50+ people and wondered if I belonged??

Fast forward nearing the end of August now and the field has been pretty much reduced in half.  Stress fractures, surgeries, IT issues, demotions, voluntarily pull backs to orange team and even a move to the west coast has occurred for this team.  I think in order to successfully operate on this team you have to be in constant adaptation mode.  That means listening to your body and adjusting workouts accordingly.  You CANNOT be afraid to shut it down and turn a tempo'd run into a recovery run.  If your body isnt feeling it then forcing it is the worst thing in the world.  

For the most part.. im almost always running in the back of the pack but thats ok.. I know the race cant be won this early on in training but it surely can be lost.  If you let your ego get the best of you then rest assured your chances of getting injured sky rocket.  

One of the sub 3 guys (who routinely runs 8+ minute miles) summed it the best in saying "There sure are a lot of hero's in July and August on this team".  Im not sure if im the slowest on the team or not??  Frankly.. I dont really care.. I do know that im putting in some high quality work and im still standing and feeling pretty damn good.  I think that answers my question from day 1.  I do belong.

48x 400 -  executed about as good as I could possibly ever hope for :-)

(8:41, 8:32, 8:34, 8:30, 8:29, 8:15, 8:03, 7:48, 7:37, 7:29, 7:27, 6:44)

Very pleased with the results.. this run came super easy!!!  Especially good considering this was the final run in a 6 day stretch which totaled 62.24 miles.  Normally im pretty flat on Thursday's.  A sign of great things to come.

Complete rest day tomorrow and then 16 miles on Saturday.

Training really ramps up from here.. most Tuesday and Thursdays will be 12 miles each and Saturdays should start alternating between 16 and 20 milers. 

All Black 16 (8:21, 7:54, 7:53, 8:12, 8:11, 8:12, 8:04, 7:49, 7:43, 7:43, 8:05, 8:29, 8:01, 7:37, 7:41, 8:18)

Lots of loops to avoid something occurring downtown.. people running in all different directions.. pretty crazy.  They had a little Texas hold em poker type game.. where you picked up a two cards from the various sag's.  I sadly drew a 5 of clubs and 3 of hearts.  Got to the end and showed my sweaty cards to Garber.. he laughed and said "you need at least two pair to get on your name on the board".  I could have gone for the straight right??  Lame game but hey.. guess they want to spice things up a bit.

Rock solid run.  I think my training is starting to turn the corner into a higher fitness level.  We will see.

Crash 

Recovery (9:28, 9:25, 9:32, 9:28, 9:20, 9:17, 9:22, 9:20, 9:10, 8:59)

felt great.  Decent even paced splits.

Total miles for week ending Sunday = 62.35

Just got email from Ruthie.. the next 2 weeks are reduced mileage weeks.. a calm before the storm we shall say. 

5 recovery (9:02, 8:51, 9:00, 9:07, 8:57)

non eventful 

Lots of time on feet / easy / recovery runs for the next 2 weeks.  Going to take full advantage of the two rest up weeks.  I have a feeling I will need this coming down the stretch.  Will drop some quick splits here and there to remind the legs they know how to run fast.  Mile 4 came rather easy.

10 (8:22, 8:42, 8:58, 6:08, 9:25, 8:59, 8:57, 8:50, 8:35, 8:09) 

6 time on feet (8:39, 8:55, 8:42, 8:52, 8:47, 8:22)

was shooting for 9 minute pace but couldnt quite make myself run that slow.  Legs felt pretty fresh.

onwards 

5 working downwards to tempo (7:44, 7:16, 7:01, 6:46, 6:30) + 1 cooldown 9:16

The run came rather easy.. I think in getting into pretty decent shape. 

Post PH spur of the moment run with John.  The quickness that we were able to get away from PH allowed this run to be squeezed in nicely.

We ended up being totally soaked but John's company certainly made the run awesome.

8 (9:34, 9:17, 9:18, 9:19, 9:15, 8:52, 8:44, 8:22)  Nicely paced negative splitting into the latter miles.

14 time on feet (9;16, 8:35, 8:32, 8:31, 8:32, 8:29, 8:46, 8:47, 8:25, 8:35, 8:09, 8:18, 8:32, 8:08)

Had a odd shooting pain in the left ankle about mile 5.5  Went away after a couple of hundred yards.  Guess im getting old.  Tried a Citrus Orange AccelaGel at mile 9 and that was the worst thing ive EVER tasted.  How can chocolate from the same maker be so good but the orange be so bad?  Anyways.. it was a freebie I picked up from SB.  I wont be grabbing anymore of those.  Stay clear of that flavor.

So I was running down Castile and passed a lady wearing a confederate flag tshirt, smoking a cigarette while walking a dachshund and the dog was wearing a red Run DMC tshirt".  Not something you see every day.

Hey thats a new idea for blog data.. "things seen while out running".  Entry number 1 in the books :-) 

Super humid run.. resisted the urge to run much faster.. felt good.

Mile for week ending today = 50.19 

Crash 

Failed to charge Garmin so had to run with phone.

6 time on feet (8:54, 8:39, 8:40, 8:33, 8:00, 7:20)

Totally trying to figure out when the humidity will subside.  I do like the temperature warm but the humidity is starting to irritate me.  Finishing every run soaking wet stinks.

Sometimes life throws you a curve ball.  Tonights 10 miler turned into a 7 miler.  Brody selected Cheeburger Cheeburger for his birthday dinner and dad had too many onion rings.  Poor decision on my part but oh well.. I will have to make up the 3 miles elsewhere during the week.  Life goes on.

7 Time on feet (8:49, 8:50, 9:08, 8:59, 8:53, 8:30, 8:32) 

10 Time on feet (8:39, 8:16, 8:13, 8:12, 8:12, 8:34, 8:34, 8:38, 8:32, 7:57)

89 degree and sunny workout.  Humidity wasnt as high as normal which was nice.

Was feeling great and totally fought the urge to take off and run hard.  I constantly reminded myself that I dont normally put in a 10 miler on Wednesday...  add that to a week thats supposed to be easier than normal and I did the right thing in shutting it down for the latter miles.

Its very difficult to describe in words but almost all my training runs are feeling what I like to call "automatic".  Kinda like I could be running along and almost close my eyes and not have to worry about what im doing.  Its kinda like the body automatically knows what to do and does it.  I guess the power of repetition has kicked in with full effect.  Ive only felt this way once before and that was back in 2010 when I was in really good shape.  All great signs.  Now I can see 20 milers in my near future.. lots of them.  At least 5.. may 7.  We will see how the body holds up.

Crash 

6 time on feet (8:50, 8:40, 8:49, 8:48, 8:50, 8:21)

late start tonight due to the All Black fantasy football draft.. an hour and half of smack talking / football picking / busting on one another which resulted in Scott calling Peter a pu$$y on a FB comment.  lol.

I was lucky to have the first overall pick and decided to go with Baltimore's Ray Rice.  I foresee many a points to be racked up there.  I like my team a lot.. I failed to get the quarter back I wanted but I still got Philip Rivers, Big Ben and wait for it.. wait for it.. wait for it.. Tim Tebow!!!  Hellz to the yes!!! they might as well just give me all the prize money now :-)  Hopefully im better at making football picks than I am with golf picks.  This one is for real live cash money though!!!  Cha Ching!!  Show me the money!!

The run was great.

Crash 

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 

5 recovery (9:10, 9:19, 9:28, 9:13, 9:10)

I was on the fence yesterday as to run vs not run.  I probably could have done it and been ok but my quads were a tad sore from the hills so I stuck true to my master goal of getting to the NYC starting line healthy.  When in doubt.. I haven't been afraid to bag a run.  Mentally I totally wanted to run.  Smart decisions lead to success.

This week will probably end up being 62ish miles.  Saturday's 20 has easy, marathon pace and recovery sections.  That should be a great workout.  Looking forward to it.

onwards

Crash 

9 easy + 1 cooldown (8:04, 8:01, 8:02, 7:58, 7:53, 7:55, 7:51, 7:49, 7:50, 9:08)

felt really good.. lots of time on feet this week as mileage will reach 60+

Humidity was crazy high for October

6 recovery (9:00, 9:04, 9:07, 9:07 9:03, 8:59)

Very humid and warm for an October evening.

Nothing special to report 

4 Warmup (8:48, 8:39, 8:44, 8:44)

1x 2 mile - 15:14 (7:40, 7:34)

2x 2 mile - 14:41 (7:28, 7:15)

3x 2 mile - 13:27 (6:58, 6:29)

1 Cooldown - (9:21)

Slightly humid and cooler than previous nights.  Strict 1 minute recovery between 2 mile intervals.  Worked it down with relative ease.  Solid workout.

Crash 

All Black 20 (8:43, 8:00, 8:03, 7:45, 8:05, 8:08, 8:09, 8:08, 8:33, 8:06, 8:21, 7:37, 8:06, 8:17, 7:54, 8:28, 8:33, 8:31, 8:32, 8:39)

Felt run down and tired during this run.  Most likely related to the previous two weekends being a 20 at race pace and then running the Colonial 200.  Thursday's run was too fast as well. 

9 recovery + 1 MP (8:55, 8:40, 8:55, 8:47, 8:44, 8:54, 8:45, 8:38, 8:37, 7:40)

Felt much better today.

Miles ending for the week Sunday = 63.14

Next week will be a fall back week. I need the rest.

onwards

Crash 

5 recovery (9:21, 9:17, 9:11, 9:13, 9:16)

50 degrees and I already hate cold weather.  Seriously give me 100 degrees any day over the cold weather.  Felt refreshed though.

Crash 

8 (8:01, 7:38, 7:34, 7:25, 7:23, 7:28, 7:21, 7:14) + 2 recovery (8:56, 8:39)

Im physically in really good shape.. mentally im starting to get tired of all the 6 day workout weeks with 4 of them being double digits.  For the first time in a long time.. I didnt want to run tonight.  I remember SB 2045 telling me about a "dont be a p#ssy" motto that he uses sometimes.  I used this to get me out the door... plus when Im standing on the starting line knowing that I missed "zero" workouts due to laziness.. I will be happy I went.

onwards

Crash 

6 recovery (9:21, 9:13, 9:23, 9:24, 9:24, 9:03)

10

3 easy (8:21, 8:09, 8:17)

Fiver negative split (7:36, 7:27, 7:23, 7:19, 6:46)

2 easy (8:17, 7:54)

Felt good.. no issues.  Chilly at first but warmed up on the opening 3 

All Black 14 (8:19, 7:35, 7:31, 7:31, 7:34, 7:38, 7:36, 7:40, 7:45, 7:26, 7:27, 7:16, 7:33, 7:09)

The weather was down right cold at the beginning of this run.

The more I ran the better I felt.  Peter kept me in check during the last 5 miles or I probably would have gone faster.  Good signs

Crash 

Broke out the NYC Marathon shoes.  Cant believe the race is getting so close.

7 recovery (8:48, 8;27, 8:40, 8:47, 8:47, 8:51, 8:29)

Total miles for the week ending Sunday = 53.49  

5 super slow (9:46, 9:24, 9:47, 9:49, 9:46)

This week will prob be rather easy as I head into the Army 10 miler on Sunday. 

Sick :-(

6 easy (7:51, 7:51, 7:43, 7:53, 7:41, 7:27)

After being under the weather and unable to run last night.. I decided to keep tonights distance short.  Felt really good considering the cold and cough. 

Sick :-(

2.5 Warm up

Army 10 Miler - 1:08:40 (6:51, 6:46, 6:40, 6:40, 6:45, 6:45, 6:53, 6:51, 7:01, 6:46) 

3 Cool down

Well executed race..  felt pretty comfy most of the time and let it ease just a little on the mile 8 bridges.  Totally nasty snot rocket blowing from miles 7 onwards.  Stupid head cold.  Good enough for a PR by almost a minute.

Was going to run my final 20 today but decided against it with the cold and hard effort.

NYC bring it

Crash 

5 recovery (9:30, 9:23, 9:42, 9:40, 9:42)

True dedication is getting your recovery done (during taper) after projectile tossing your cookies in the Ganghas Grill parking lot.  Dont ask... lol.  A combination of cooking my stir fry just a bit too spicy and a strong cough. 

8 (7:57, 7:29, 7:38, 7:36, 7:25, 7:21, 7:13, 7:07)

6 recovery (9:06, 8:38, 8:43, 8:48, 8:56, 8:36)

6 recovery / 1 up tempo / 1 recovery

(9:35, 9:19, 9:13, 9:16, 9:21, 9:14, 7:20, 9:34)

Still fighting the cold but back in the groove with 5 consecutive days running.  Training is pretty much wrapped up at this point.. the hay is in the barn.

Saturday 12, Sunday 6, Monday 5, Tues 5, Wed off, Thur 4, Fri off, Sat off, Sun 26.2 

12 All Black - (8:04, 7:42, 7:29, 7:47, 7:43, 7:44, 7:54, 7:49, 7:47, 7:42, 7:40, 7:38)

Nice smooth and relaxed pacing.  Felt really strong and resisted the urge to run harder.  Rock and Roll all systems a go!!!

Crash 

6 recovery (9:24, 9:00, 9:11, 9:16, 9:26, 9:09)

Total for week ending Sunday = 46.71

Just a wee bit tight in the achilles.. going to sit out Monday.  Tuesday & Thursday very short runs for sanity.. maybe add in a few miles at MP to remind the body what to do.

Crash 

Dreadmill easy

Dreadmill easy

4 (easy / quick quick / easy)

8:12, 7:21, 7:06, 7:58 

Final training run before NYC is in the books.

3 (8:09, 7:42, 7:14)

Well thats a rap and I after my double race entry.. I probably wont update this blog until the spring time.

By far this was the most dedicated training season ever.  I missed zero runs dues to laziness, weather and or life obligations.  Im pretty proud of that as I look back.  There were some nights where I didnt start running until 11 at night.  There were some days missed due to aches and pains (calf and achilles) mainly and few just to general soreness when I felt my body needed a break.  I was very focused on the long runs.. most of the time I ended up doing them by myself because my teammates were running too fast.  As the season ended.. I noticed my time dropping greatly and I was finding myself further up in the pack with little effort.

I vividly remember my coach pulling me aside on day 1 back in June and saying "todd.. I dont care what it takes.. were getting you to the start line healthy".

Well I trained smart and very disciplined and have made that happen.  To be honest whatever happens in NYC happens.  Im still not sweating it.  Im just going to go enjoy myself.

Crash 

All Black Sunday 8 (8:20, 7:42, 7:28, 7:09, 7:20, 7:33, 7:31, 6:57)

Some good size hills through Hollywood Cemetery.  Not sure why but felt crazy strong on todays run.. could have been I was supposed to run a marathon today and needed to release some frustration??  yup!!  I needed a few up tempo miles today because of the extended taper session that the NYC cancelation is causing me. 

4 Treadmill easy

4 (7:46, 7:20, 7:44, 7:16)

Solid despite dressed like Matt (pants, long sleeve techincal, RRRC brooks jacket and Nike gloves)  41 degrees

onwards

Crash