Run Old Boy Run

Marathon Training Sucks

2014-07-21T16:44:00.002-04:00

Marathon training sucks. Its funny, as I write those words I realize that I have been here so many times before. After months of slowly building myself back up into an endurance machine, sacrificing, my time, my energy, my friendships, my photography, things were just not falling into place. Normally by this time in a marathon cycle I have blazed my way to a fast 10k or had a spectacular 10 miler. Not this cycle. So far this cycle I have run zero miles under 6 minute pace and barely even strung together a halfway decent 5 miler. Last month I pulled my calf pretty badly and had to take a full week off. These last couple of weeks my tempo runs have been flat and I had not yet knocked out any 16 plus mile long runs. Needless to say I came close to hitting my wall and throwing in my shorty shorts. But.. I know myself. So as I have always done in the past I struck a deal with myself.

On Wednesday I ran a halfway decent track workout. A small spark caught the tinder and shoes began to smoke. 4x1600 meters around my 10k pace with 400 meters in between on a 80 degree / 80 humidity day was all I needed to kick things into place. I knocked out the workout and felt like there was still some hope. I didn't feel great, but for the first time in 8 months I did not feel like total crap either. I told myself that I had permission to drop out of the Chicago Marathon if I couldn't complete my Saturday workout. On Saturday morning I woke up at 4am and trotted out a 16 mile run at MP plus 1 minute per mile pace. Normally I never do a run like this. Most of my long runs are within 30 seconds of my marathon pace, but I knew that this run was important and I had to try my best to complete the workout. As I clicked off mile after mile my body and mind began to relax. My aches and pains started to disappear as did my blanket of self doubt. I completed my run, hydrated, ate like a beast and took a well deserved nap.

I have done all the math and realized that I still have plenty of time to pull of a great marathon this year. I have mapped out 6 more 16 mile plus runs (from a fast finish, middle mile tempo run, to my 30k simulator run). All of these runs are spaced at least 10 days from each other giving ample time between to recover. The next weeks are going to be tough, but I am finally excited and motivated to buckle down and push on through.

So, the plan is to forget about the speed workouts, focus on the strength workouts, the core work , the long runs and gently move myself into a place where my strength leads the way. My hope is that my use of hills, and core work will replace what my speed work does for me. I'm also going to lay off my mileage totals this year and focus on building strength where I have weakness. I figure if I spend time working on my weaknesses I will get more than grinding out 75 miles per week on weak legs. So here we go. Finally!

Adaptation

2014-05-20T10:38:00.000-04:00

The last two weeks have been brutal. Changing around my stress and recovery pattern has put me
at the edge of exhaustion. I am now working on a 7 day on two day off training pattern.
In the past I would take a day off mid week and one or two off at the end of the week. I am trying my best to use nutrition, and sleep to my advantage, but am just about at the point where I need to bring my mileage back down for two weeks so that I can fully adapt to my training. Nothing about training while tired feels good except knowing that after my body adapt to all this stress and strain I will be able to ask more of my body in the future.. Its all about adaptation..

This Monday I am running my first race of the year to see how things are going with my training. Having done limited speed work for the past couple of months racing will give me an idea of how my baseline fitness is coming along. Running sub 6 minute miles will be painful at this point in the year but thats the fun of racing. More.. Excited.
Excited for more.

What it takes to get back in shape

2014-05-14T09:22:00.000-04:00

After that brutal Midwestern winter it has taken me 10 weeks of conditioning to get myself back into shape again. I am in that ready to start training shape. Its amazing how fast you fall out of shape even more amazing how hard it is to regain your lost fitness. On memorial day I will be running my first 5k of the year to test my fitness level and put down a baseline to build from. The idea of running sub 6 minute miles right now seems painful, but as I have learned over the last 5 years of training, put your trust in your training and your body will respond. My mileage has returned to 50 miles a week or more, and as of right now we are steadily building up to 60 miles plus for the start of marathon training. Lots of goals for this year. Staying healthy, racing more, and setting some new post 40 PRs in the process. 2014 will be exciting.
MY MILEAGE

Chicago Marathon

2014-04-15T08:31:00.000-04:00

Well its official... Now its time to work. Slowly building mileage and stress back up. Nothing to report. Racing on memorial day to see where we are at before diving into marathon training. Feeling excited about October.

Re Boot

2014-03-11T08:32:00.000-04:00

Week two of conditioning started on Sunday. I pounded out an easy 7 miles on a beautiful 40 degree day. 40 degrees feels like a sunny day on a beach somewhere compared to the past few months. As with most of the other starts of a new season I find that my cardiovascular system gets back in shape way before my body can handle the stress and strain of running again. This year I think I am finally able to capitalize all of my mistakes from years past and train smarter than ever before. Take your time or take time off for injuries. With that in mind.. My conditioning plan for the month is to jog an easy 125 miles or so before I do any real workouts. My plan is to only run 5 days a week, 1 day a week I will pound out an hour long core workout and one day a week will just be a hard day off. Taking days off at this point in my training will help my body adjust to the new stress and strain and hopefully by April I will be ready to add some real workouts into the mix. I have not decided what my overall goal is for the year, but I am leaning towards working on my 5k speed during the spring and summer while slowly building my endurance back up for a super fast fall half marathon. As much as I would like to run the Chicago marathon again doing so limits my ability to run any other October races. I love October. We shall see. My first race of the year is going to be a 5k in Chicago on memorial day. As of right now the idea of running sub 6 minute miles seems like a far off dream, but as I have learned every other year my fitness always returns no matter how out of shape you are at the beginning of the season.

The Key

2014-02-14T09:26:00.000-05:00

The key to booting back up the running machine is to gradually add stress over a large period of time. Do not rush into tempos, long runs and speed workouts too soon. Simply take 30 days or so remind your body what its like to run. For the Month of March I will ~~run~~jog 4 miles a day. I will not wear a watch. I will look at the trees, and enjoy being outside again. In April I will add a hill workout once a week (using hills simulate a hard track workout without the stress) and a long run starting at 9 miles once a week. My winter fat and sugar diet will soon be coming to a close. My 3 beer a night thing needs to go too. By May, my body will be ready for hard training. Ready to throw down again by the end of June.

2014 Return From The Dead

2014-02-13T09:18:00.002-05:00

33 Days until Spring. Goals RAce a bunch of 5ks Grand Rapids Half Marathon October 2014 Either I run outside or I join a gym on March 1st. Core Work starts again Saturday Feb. 15 Easy Running/Conditioning Begins March 1st 3-4 miles a day. No watch. Just start adding stress on ye ole legs again. April 1st First Long run April 15th add Track/Hill/Tempo Runs Ease into Modified Hanson 10k Plan. May Start Hanson Plan 10k First Race Chicago Memorial Day. June add Mileage July Start pushing Mileage 2 double days per week Track repeats get longer 1600s repeat 3200 meter repeats 3200 x 2 1600 x 1 @ 10k or faster. Fun. August Start 16 Plus long runs Add 10 mile Tempo runs September PUsh PUSH PUSH October Sharpen it up Taper Race Rest., Try to squeeze in one more cycle before winter… Race Rest.. Gym Thats the plan so far

Shutting it Down

2014-01-04T12:06:00.001-05:00

I made the decision to shut down my winter training and take my annual 3 weeks off a little early this year. After weeks of attempting to train in sub 10 degree weather, ice and snow, a nasty sinus infection put the final nail in my winter training schedule. I am sure its for the best. My training started to suffer early on in December. My last 19 mile long run was the weekend after Thanksgiving, and my 8-10 mile tempo runs could not be done without risking life and limb. I am still planning on going south for a couple of weeks and getting in some good runs but for now I am sitting on the couch eating like crap and enjoying the life of a sedentary slob. When I return its back to base core training and re conditioning myself for my spring training. Ah the cycle of life continues.

Snow Storms and Marathon Training

2013-12-15T17:25:00.001-05:00

I have missed more training days in the last 3 weeks than I took off this entire year combined. I need these never ending snow storms to stop, or a least give me 3 good days a week so I can trot out 3 hard workouts. My long runs have been few and far between, my tempo runs have been cancelled.. I have I normally run at least 7 miles a day. Now trotting out 4 miles on snow covered sidewalks feels like I'm running 10. I am in desperate need of a couple more good hard weeks of training. No end in sight. Note to self. The idea of running a marathon in South Carolina in January is great. Training for one in the winter time in Michigan is a bad idea. Continuing on...

Week 4 and 5 … Go!

2013-12-01T22:06:00.000-05:00

I'n starting to feel good about things again. Starting to adapt to the stress of the slightly higher intensity and moving towards the halfway point at the end of this week. Last Saturday I knocked out a 19:23 5k in 20 mile per hour wind and 19 degree temperatures. Im about 2 minutes off where I should be right now, but seriously in late November who is really focused on time. It was hilarious to run hard in those temps. I was thoroughly warmed up and ready to go but after running the first 2 miles in sub 6 minute mile pace my body just couldn't deal with the icy cold wind to continue on at that pace. It was fun and good enough for 21st place.. After a day off I started my week of 7s. Mostly I ran different variations on the seven miler. One where I ran 3 of the 7 at 10k pace, one where I ran one mile of 7 @ 5k pace and the other two just my normal pace 2 easy running. I topped of my feeling great week with a silly post thanksgiving 19 miler that is bound to leave me a bit sore on Monday morning. Going to take a couple hard days off and start up again on Wednesday with a hard 10k. The fun continues.

Charleston Week 3

2013-12-01T21:57:00.000-05:00

Its time to get this right. I have learned my lesson in these last two weeks. When you are exhausted you need take a rest day. This seems like an easy lesson to learn, but grinding yourself into the dirt is a difficult habit to break. I am a grinder. I enjoy working myself into a puddle and reaping the fitness benefit weeks later. Last night I ran a nice 10k in the dark with a friend from Striders, and a random ultra marathoner visiting on business. We comfortably talked about our training plans as we clipped off mile after mile at around 7:18 pace. It was nice. I need to build up my confidence to go out with the lead pack and just stick with them, but for now my focus is about getting back into really good shape and slowly getting faster. For my 6x800 meters I took to the roads for half of them and finished the last 3 on the track. Not much to say here. I tend to feel like crap running on day 2 of any week. My 800s were run @ 6 mpm or slightly under. 2 mile wo / 2 mile cd Day Three - Took Friday off. Hip Flexor was a little tight and there is no reason to not try a day off here. Day 4 wo/cd 2 miles 4.5 miles @ 7:20 pace Day 5 am easy 4 miles shakeout pm Im starting to realize how much better I feel running 90 percent of my mileage around my marathon pace or faster. Im not running a bunch of easy junk miles and then burning myself out by running everything else at my 2 mile pace. Starting to become accustomed to running consistently harder. Skipping the tempo run this week to just get a nice healthy week done without grinding myself into the ground. Racing on Saturday will be enough stress on my body.

Charleston Week 2

2013-11-14T08:34:00.002-05:00

Day One: 6 miles @ 7:19 pace nice and relaxed minus my shin splint in my right leg. Hopefully its just that Im ramping up the mileage and will disappear in a couple of weeks as I get stronger. Day 10 without a day off is a new thing for me. I will see how Im adapting to all this new stress at the end of the week. Day Two: Hall Street Hills 11 200m hard walk/jog back down 1.6 mile wo / 1 mile cd. Short on the cd and should be around 15 repeats Day Three: Rest Day (shin) Tight calf is the cause here. I am working the crap out of it.. Day Four: 6 miles @ pace 1, 2 Nice and easy 8:07 pace Calf is still tight, shins can suck it Day Five: Got to do what you got to do. Easy 2 mile wo 3 miles at tempo pace 1 mile cd My weekly mileage is going to be lower from my day off but Im not going to skip a wo. Day Six: 8 miles (calf don't fail me now.) Still kind of tight.. Just working through it. Going to get new shoes. I changed up the model of NBs that Ive been running in for the last 2 years. I have a feeling that there is something different with this model. I have never had shin splints before.. Oh well I run, and sometimes I hurt. Day Seven: No long run Day Eight and Nine Rest

Charleston Half Marathon Week One

2013-11-03T19:11:00.000-05:00

I started training for my goal race this week. Originally I was going to run the Charleston Marathon in January, but after my last training cycle I have decided the smart move is to sharpen myself up and race a strong half marathon. I never really felt like I've put in the work to run fast. Whether an injury has interrupted my training plan or I have burned out halfway through my cycle I have yet to go into a race feeling 100% ready to run. Something inside of me tells me that now is the time to push. Being a tweeker, I am constantly experimenting with my body. I take my training seriously, and am becoming more aware of myself as I get older, sometimes getting the tweaks just right. This cycle, I am going to just go for it. I have decided to give the next 12 weeks of training everything I've got and just go for it. How? That is the question. I have chosen to follow an advanced 10k plan from Hansons Running to frame out my training cycle. Coming off of almost 25 weeks of strength/core and conditioning I feel that the speed work / tempo work / and faster than normal easy runs of an advanced 10k plan will chisel my body down into a well honed machine. Its always and experiment, and I am ready for the challenge. Week One : 57 Miles Day one : 10k @ 7:34 pace.. Its hard for me to pace easy runs faster and not push at the same time. Should have been between 7:38-8:30 pace. I need to find that pace or I will not be able to survive. Day two: 12x400 meters @ 5k pace wo/cd - Kind of boring.. The recovery of 400m made this feel like the wo was taking forever. Stride is choppy @ 6:00 mpm felt like going faster.. but Im doing what the plan says. Ran 2 mile wo and 1 mile cd for 9. Not the greatest workout. I normally run my repeats much faster, and do a standing rest. The rest 400m of this workout just felt a little too long.. But, I have committed to this plan and will stick to it. Day three: 10k @ 7:36 pace.. I just tried to be comfortable here.. I guess Im going to hard.. Im sure we will find out when we tempo tomorrow.. Felt good.. Don't know how Im going to run like this until January but… you know. Day Four: 2 mile wo / 3 miles @ hmp 2 mile cd total of 7.. Felt a little forced and my stride felt off.. Its going to take some time before I can string together days like this and feel like running hard.. 6:45 pace Day Five: 8 miles @ 7:43 in the rain.. Felt pretty good.. My legs are tired. Will try to slow down for the scheduled 8 for tomorrow. Day Six: 8 Miles @ 8:00 Trying to conserve a little energy and take it easy on this run. Im feeling a little worn out which was to be expected upping the pace of all my easy runs. I have slight calf tightness in my right leg which is giving me a bit of a shin splint. I got tired at 5 miles, and realize that Im just not eating enough to compensate for the amount of calories I have been burning this week. Vitamins and rest are my best friends. I normally run 7 days and then take 2 days off, this is my 8th day of running without a break, and if I can figure out how to relax on these medium and longer runs I might not have to take rest days at all. As of right now all I want to do is not run. After next week we will see what sort of adaptation happens. I might have to include rest days. Day 7 12 miles 8:12 pace lots of traffic stops and a few stops to work out my calf tightness.. Shin splints went away after 3.5 miles. Tired as shit but tried to work hard on the hills and keep my form.. Glad to have made it to the second week.

The Perfect Race

2013-10-28T10:08:00.002-04:00

I am not sure what it means to run the perfect race. On Sunday October 20th I think I ran my smartest race possible. I did not run my fastest time and frankly I did not even seem to be racing at all. My plan going in was to stay relaxed and comfortable and test out how my body feels. Normally I fall into every trap imaginable on race day. I tend to go out to fast, race someone faster than me in the middle miles and wind up dying in the last few miles. This time was completely different. I went out and hit my first mile at 5% slower than my race pace and then slowly eased myself into a comfortably hard pace for the remaining miles. Here is what I need to work on.. At mile 11 I started to feel tired. My left hip started to get a small cramp. Easy enough to fix. My long runs were sporadic and I need to up my mileage a little bit. My plan for the next cycle is to run my easy runs at a faster pace than normal and slow my tempo and speed workouts down a bit. I feel that I have been racing my track workouts and just going too slow on my easy days.

Taper Capers

2013-10-12T10:43:00.000-04:00

Every running cycle comes to an end. This last cycle of mine is 8 days away from completion. On the 20th of October, after a long and grueling year since breaking myself at the Chicago Marathon, I am ready to toe the line and put in a good effort. The last few months have not been easy, but I have learned how to take care of my aging body on my road to healing and growing stronger. Am I ready to race? Sure. Am I just happy to be able to run again? Exactly. I have one more cycle to go this year before I take some real time off. After I race on Sunday I am going to take a few days off from the intensity of my interval sessions and then after I feel fully recovered I am going to start the 12 week build up to the Charleston Marathon in January. The next 12 weeks will be fun. I have a training plan in mind that will hopefully keep me motivated through the cold dark days of Nov, Dec, and January. But I'm getting ahead of myself here.

Almost Half Way There

2013-09-20T10:11:00.000-04:00

2013 has been a very strange year for me. I did not start running again until April of this year. I spent April and May jogging and doing core work. 4 mile runs at 10 minutes per mile just to get my body back into dealing with the stress of running. I spent the next couple of months losing the 10 extra pounds that I gained wallowing around all winter with a feed bag attached to my head. As July came my legs started to feel like being a runner again and the 7:30 miles started to comfortably come from me again. August came and went. I spent the month just head down running through the hot and humid days and night. September, Now September always surprises me like a bi polar girl friend. The first crisp and cool days of September come and my body wants to go fast. Mile repeats start at sub 5k pace for the first time all year, 400 meter sprints feel effortless and then... You have an awful shitty run and you lose all confidence in your training. I should be aware of this cycle by now, but even though I know that this is what motivates me to work harder, I still crash hard every single time I string together a couple of bad days. Am I ready? Exactly one month from now I will run my first race since my Chicago marathon debacle. I have spent many months doing physical therapy, and slowly, carefully, and methodically I have been getting myself back into shape. I am still not 100% injury free, and I'm about 2 months, 5 long runs and 8 track work outs away from being back in half way decent shape. My mind has played tricks on me since last October and I seriously have contemplated calling it quits after this year buying a new mountain bike and just letting go of these insane ideas of being a runner. The funny thing about this is that no matter what I do, and how damaged and broken I feel I can not let go. Last Wednesday night I did a mile time trial on the track at the end of a 1600/800/400/400 meter workout and started to feel the snappiness that fills my soul with hope. I have good days and I have bad days. Last night after 7 long, tight and crooked miles I wanted to light my shoes on fire and just give up. Tonight, I am sure I will feel the same, but I am willing to push through. Is it all about just pushing through the low points? We will find out soon.

Insanity

2013-07-22T05:08:00.000-04:00

Its officially marathon training season and my body is finally ready to face this challenge head on. To make matters a little bit more interesting I have also started an Insanity circuit to supplement for the missing core work in my life. After months of physical therapy I have learned that my core being weak is one of the main reasons I wind up injuring myself. The past two weeks have been brutal. I am finding that the Insanity program needed to be tweaked just a little bit so that I do not destroy my legs overworking muscles already taxed by running. As of right now I feel stronger. So far.. So good. I will report back.

The Hope of Getting It Right Just One Time

2013-07-07T13:25:00.003-04:00

What a long slow and boring climb it has been for the last few months. Since April I have taken the time to rebuild my fitness, work out some imbalances and re learn how to listen to my body. I am convinced that the life of an athlete is 1 part work and 9 parts maintenance. 7 days a week I spend running, 3 days a week I spend doing physical therapy, it seems like I am eating all the time, and doing strength and flexibility drills in between meals. I am just your average runner who puts in the time and energy to be ready on race day. There are no prizes given for effort, only for winning. I am the man in the middle who puts one foot in front of the other because I still can. 16 weeks from now I turn 40. 16 weeks from now I toe the line of another marathon in hopes of getting it right just one time. What getting it right means is beyond me, but for now, for the next 3.5 months I will continue to chase my great white whale, in hopes of finding some sort of meaning to all this. Let the games begin.

The Long Run

2013-06-06T09:30:00.000-04:00

Just ended my second full week of my 21 week marathon cycle. My long runs are easy and only 13 miles, but they are such a perfect way to gauge my fitness. My mind and body have become weak during my 2 month break with no running. I can not focus on my breath, my thoughts run wild as I labor towards the end of my 2 hour easy runs. Its a game, a practice and something we learn to perfect over the course of 21 weeks. I know this, so with all my weakness, I continue on without fretting too much over this. My stamina runs are my simple mp/hm pace 1.5 or 2 mile runs. Nothing of real substance yet, but this will change as July moves in. My form is atrocious and I need to get back on the track in a couple of weeks to correct this. Nothing much else is going on. I am just taking my time and trying to stay healthy.

Post Injury

2013-05-29T09:45:00.001-04:00

May 29th. I am back. After months of nursing myself back to to good health my body is ready to cooperate. I was about 3 weeks away from calling it a year and packing in my ideas of racing this year. My secret weapon was to obsessively focus on rolling out my I.T. bands 3 times a day. Like magic, it worked. I am 100% knee pain free, and my strange hamstring soreness has pretty much disappeared completely. I just completed my first full week of training with a good 13 mile long run thrown in for good measure. I can not tell you how good it feels to be able to say that. I'm ready to get back at it. So relieved and excited to be able to race again. I was sure I was going to the glue factory this time. I am in a perfect place to start my marathon journey. Its 21 weeks away from my goal race, i am out of racing shape, have a few extra pounds on my frame, but well aware of how much time I have to rebuild myself into a marathonin machine. Oh and for those extra pounds I have some really fun workouts planned for the next 5 months. I have given myself the entire month of June to re-condition myself back up to 40 plus mile weeks where I will begin my 16 week marathon plan. This is the first time in years that I will not be grinding myself away this spring and summer racing 5 and 10ks before starting a marathon build up. I am hoping, that what I lose speed wise will translate better into good strong limbs and a hot stoked fire of an endurance monster. I keep on reminding myself that I have a billion sustainable steps to go until October 20th. I am re charged, but will continue to hold the reins tight until the final 13 weeks of all out training. During my Chicago training last year I made a few mistakes. The intensity of my speed work was too high, and the frequency of my finish faster long runs were too many. This year I am going to be precise about things. I will not be running 5:30 mile repeats on the track. My track sessions will be plentiful but not of the same intensity of the last few years. My long runs will be longer, slower and more precise. When its time to throw in a 10k pace last 3 miles of a 20 mile run it will be planned. Just because I felt like it is no longer a game plan. Like a surgeon I will be precise. Keys to this year will be more long slow fat burning long runs at an easy pace. My body needs to learn how to properly and efficiently burn fat without turning into a wet puddle. My long runs are going to be at the core of all my training. The 3:15 long run will be the staple of my endurance training. All summer we will practice running for 3 hours and 15 minutes at an easy pace. I will not be using gels or any other supplemental carbohydrate drinks until the last 6 weeks of training. I must make my body into an efficient machine. I plan on hitting higher mileage than last year, and perhaps seeing a 4 hour effort in there at some point. We will see how things go. My marathon pace runs will be starting in July at around 8 miles and building to about 25k. My tempo runs will be good short effort of lactic acid building delights. I have many ideas to work out before July, but without getting too far ahead of myself I will just stop here.

Target 40

2013-05-22T09:18:00.004-04:00

Its the end of May and I am just now allowing myself to believe that I can be back in shape and healthy by October. I am a doubter, obsessive about the injuries that have hobbled me in the last 6 month, but this past week has given me hope. I have been able to put together a 6 day training week without locking up or limping home. I am aggressively stretching and rolling out my legs, have started to eat like an athlete again, and am laying of the endless pints of beer. Last night I ran my first hard workout in months. Today I will do an easy warm up / cool down and then shut down this circus for 2 days and allow my body to recover. Im going to try to do a 7 day cycle this year followed by a full day off and an easy day of mountain biking. This seemed to work for me last year. The one thing that I am going to modify is the frequency of my long runs towards the end of my training cycle. Weekly 20 plus milers left me depleted by the end of September last year. I am going to try to do more 20 milers this year but space them out with at least 10 days apart. I am getting ahead of myself here, but I feel like its time to turn the ocd back on and just go for it. June is my last month of basic conditioning so i will be adding a few extra easy miles to my weeks next month. When July comes I will being my climb back up the mountain mileage wise. I plan on peaking at 75 miles this year and not running to many sub 6:30 miles during speed work sessions. The endless 5:45 mile repeats last year were over kill. For marathon training I think more 6:20 mile repeats will be better than burning out with 5:40s. We shall see.

9 the hard way

2013-02-03T15:17:00.002-05:00

We have had quite a bit of snow in the last week making training outside miserable. I missed my 2 easy runs last week, but I feel I made up for that today. Too much snow to do my 10 mile run outdoors so I moved inside for one heck of a workout. I get very creative with my workouts when I run indoors. I can't easily disappear into the zen of the run surrounded by other people and running on a machine. This progressive workout helps me deal with efficiently processing lactic acid and becoming more gritty when I am tired. I should name this beast sometime. After a 9 minute mile warm up I turned up the heat and progressively ran The next 4 miles in 7:53, 7:47, 7:37 and 7:22. From here I took a 5 minute break to stretch and hydrate and then moved on to a 2 miler at 7:18 and 7:07 pace. Took another break Then did a mile @ 6:47 pace. I finished the workout with 4x400 meter repeats @ 5:55 pace with 1 minute rest between them. A very satisfying run indeed. Got in some good mileage but also was able to make a strong workout out of it. up 1 mile 4 miles progressive 5 min between 2 miles half marathon pace 5 minutes between 1 mile between 10k and half pace 5 minutes between 4x400 @ 5:55 w 1 minute rest between cool down

Back to Life

2013-01-27T14:49:00.000-05:00

Sunday afternoon 10 miler today in the slush turned out to be a pretty great run. I felt really good after I warmed up a bit so I pushed myself to the turn around and ran a pretty strong 5 mile. The Obrien hill hurt a little bit, but I can see that I am starting to regain strength.. As with all my long runs, I run as comfortably as I can without tensing up. Today I allowed myself to run at a medium paced sub 7:40 pace for the first 5 miles of my 10 mile run. I slowly jogged the last 5 miles home and just enjoyed myself while cooling down. This marks the beginning of my 4th week back in training. I feel pretty good. Next week I add a couple miles to my long run. Most likely will finish my week off at the Y with my mile repeats. I can not imagine how slushy the track is going to be this week.

Coldest Week in Years

2013-01-20T12:29:00.001-05:00

Yep, the title says it all. My 10 mile run was run in 15 degree weather. Its done. 1 3 mile run in 5 degree weather just to do it. Did my repeats on a treadmill at the YMCA. 1 more little 3 miles and the week is done.

3x1 mile

2013-01-17T09:20:00.001-05:00

Its amazing how much fitness you lose when you take 2 months off from training. After the Chicago Marathon I spent 2 months resting and rehabilitating my tired and some what broken body. On January 5th I returned to the track with a fire in my belly and the will to build a strong, healthy body in a sustainable fashion. To do so I had to look at what I had done wrong in the past and adjust my training accordingly. The one staple of my training that I will never give up is the dreaded mile repeats. I have been doing this workout since I was 15 years old and nothing else in my mind helps shape the runner's mind and body like a good set of evenly paced 4 laps around the track. The one issue that I find myself running into with this workout is that I historically try to 'beat' the workout, and run these intervals too fast. This leads to burnout, injury and a feeling of dread on Wednesdays knowing what workout lays ahead. This cycle I am going to pace my workout down to the second, slowly building strength and adjusting my interval pace and recovery time as my speed, stamina and strength develops over the 4 months leading up to my goal race. The idea that you can just race yourself into shape is just not a sustainable practice for the runner who wants to train and race 12 months out of the year. I have 16 more sets of mile repeats to go before my goal race. I have broken down the weeks into 4 phases. My pace and recovery times are 10k-1/2 marathon pace w/ 5 min recovery. Phase 2 10k pace w / 4 minutes recovery phase 3 1 mile - 5k pace with 5 minutes recovery Phase 4 10k pace with 2 minute recovery. Exciting things to come.