Hershey Park Long Run Hosted by Stacey

OBJECTIVE
16 mi.@ 8:24-54/mi. w/last 2 mi.@ 7:55/mi.

ACHIEVED
16.01 mi.@ 8:18/mi. w/last 2 mi. 7:53/7:32

5:36 AM 78° 89% 1 mph

Stacey Almond hosted Steph's group for a long run at Hershey Park this morning. Stacey runs with Steph's group downtown occasionally. Along with her today was Steve Brammer who may ??? have won this year's New York City Marathon 50-59 age group and a strong runner named Kevin. Joining the run from Stephanie's group was Laurie, Stacey, Stephanie, Randy, Jonathan, William, and me. Our merry band got started down the trail in the dark around 5:30 AM. I decided I'm not fond of running in unknown terrain in the dark. The path was okay but I seemed to find a few uneven spots.

After a little over 2 miles, we ran repeats on a long hill. We did 10 from about 2 miles total up and down. Knowing that this is my longest run since the Ogden marathon and since I just did intervals on the track on Wednesday, I did not push myself on these. Before we were finished I was near the back of the pack.

From there we headed out a long paved trail that generally parallels I-10 leaving Houston. Somewhere around 5 miles out, an injured runner from KatyFit was manning a water station. I had a couple cups of Gatorade. It was very nice for him to be there. Stacey runs and coaches with KatyFit so we were welcome to share their refreshments. From there we turned and went out a long dead end road until we came to a failing bridge then turned back.

There were a bunch of runners and bikers along the paved trail on the way back. Going out, I stayed with Stephanie and Randy most of the way to the Gatorade stop. From there I was with Jonathan to the bridge. On the way back, I was with Stacey and Randy to the Gatorade truck. From there I was alone until about 2+ miles where the group stopped for a rest hydration break. Jonathan and I hung back for William after the others left. Once William joined us, we walked a bit then started back. I asked Jonathan to keep us on a 7:55/mi. pace which he did ... much easier for him than me! Right before the end we passed the others. Stacey and Steve were heading back for William.

KatyFit has a bunch of people participating in their program. It was like a post-race event afterwards. I helped myself to some Powerade but passed on the core stretching. Hung around a bit and chatted then headed home.

I generally felt okay today. It was a long run but I had no hint of IT band issues. For this I am ecstatic. Hopefully everything stays that way. I still need to build endurance for St. George. The long runs are now the most important part of my training.

Once at home, I took an ice bath but didn't get it quite as cold as I wanted so I'm not expecting the full benefit.

On a side note, it's Christmas in July at our house. Paige got a new car this afternoon. She ended up with a 2005 Buick Rendezvous which is what she wanted. ... Buick ... we must be getting old!

PRE RUN
water & oatmeal w/flax & turbinado

POST RUN
Accelerade, 2 SlimFast, water

Plodding

OBJECTIVE
4 mi. SLOW

ACHIEVED
4.01 mi.@ 9:11/mi.

7:54 PM 75F 92% 5.3 mph

My legs were quite fatigued tonight. I was slow but just tried to enjoy it. It had rained most of the day so everything was wet and green. Based on how I feel, Dr. Cianca's advice and Saturday's scheduled long run, I've decided to take tomorrow off. Hopefully that will help get my feet back under me.

PRE RUN
water & Kashi GoLean cereal w/skim milk

POST RUN
5 grain hot cereal w/ turbinado, flax & skim milk

Yes ... Yasso 800's!

OBJECTIVE
9 mi. w/7 x 2:00 @ 6:40/mi.

ACHIEVED
1.9 mi. warm up
10x800 meters
1.8 mi. cool down

8:00 PM 79° 84% 7 mph Light Rain

Ended up not running this morning. Thunder, lightning, and rain offered a lame excuse and I took it. (It wasn't that bad. Just the leading edge of Hurricane Dolly that ended up hitting the US- Mexican border later in the day.) So this led to a PM run for me. Under the soggy conditions, I decided to take advantage of the high school track and try running Yasso 800's.

It was around 8 pm by the time I was on my way. I was NOT feeling it. I slogged my way over to the track, considering cutting it short the whole way over. Once on the track, I figured I'd try a couple 800's hoping to feel better. It didn't happen but I was hitting my times. I decided rather than do 10 I'd just cut it short at 5. But by the time I got to 5, I couldn't think of a reason not to do another. After 6, I started thinking it would be a complete waste not to try for the original 10. So I pressed on. I was still hitting my times but was tiring. After 7, I decided I was going to get 10 and pressed on. It was raining lightly much of the time and the wind was occasionally gusting. I felt really tired but very satisfied about finishing this workout when all along it seemed it wasn't in the cards. The s-l-o-w march home wasn't the most pleasant cool down but before leaving the house, I had thrown together batter for blueberry-walnut pancakes that I was looking forward to.

The concept of Yasso 800's is to run 10 in the time you anticipate running the marathon ... except in minutes and seconds rather than hours and minutes. Therefore, my 3:25 marathon had me running 3:25 800's. If a runner can do 10 in the prescribed time while limiting his recovery to the same time, it's an indicator of what he can ran a marathon in. So here's what I ended up with:

800 / Rest

3:24/3:24
3:23/3:35
3:21/3:26
3:30/3:54
3:27/3:31
3:24/3:39
3:24/3:29
3:21/3:31
3:25/3:26
3:20/3:24

So I did it! Effectively, I ran 10 x 800's at 3:25. Okay here's the huge caveat, instead of jogging in between each 800 like your supposed to, I walked. Of course, that's cheating. So I didn't exactly do it but I know it's achievable. The last time I did Yasso 800's was June 5, 2007. It's most comical to look back at how that went. Here's my blog entry. It's good for me to look back occasionally to get some perspective on my progress.

I may trying these again during this training cycle. I know I'm not ready to run 3:25 in St. George today but at least I have an indicator that it's not out of reach.

PRE RUN
water

POST RUN
chocolate milk, blueberry-walnut pancakes, skim milk, calcium & vitamin A&D supplements

Startin' Late; Feelin' Good

OBJECTIVE
6 mi. EZ

ACHIEVED
6.07 mi.@ 8:35/mi.

8:07 AM 82F 68% 8 mph

Got a late start today but ended up having a good run. Run out and back on Wimbledon Forest. Felt good right from the start. Just tried to maintain it.

Met with Dr. Cianca this afternoon. I need to be smart about my training and keep doing the exercises. I'll meet with Danie in 3 weeks to make sure I'm still on track then again 3 weeks later.

PRE RUN
Low-fat granola w/skim milk

POST RUNchocolate milk, multivitamin, & water
Later, English muffin, poached egg, & Canadian bacon; water

Yes ... This Felt Like a Recovery Run

OBJECTIVE
4 mi. SLOW

ACHIEVED
4.03 mi.@ 9:06/mi.

5:04 AM 75F 89% 0 mph

My legs were tired this morning. I really didn't ever push out of a warmup pace. I'm sure Saturday's run is still heavy on my legs ... even after yesterday's rest. I wish I would have followed up on the ice bath I had considered for Saturday. I need to remember that for this coming Saturday's 16-miler.

I've got Dr. Cianca tomorrow. Hopefully I check out and he clears me to get on track with my training.

PRE RUN
nothing

POST RUN
chocolate milk, multivitamin, oatmeal w/flax, turbinado & skim milk

Training Schedule: July 20 - 26

Sun. - Rest
Mon. - 4 mi. SLOW
Tue. - 6 mi. EZ
Wed. - 9 mi. w/8x2 min.@6:40/min. & 2 min. jog
Thu. - 4 mi. SLOW
Fri. - 6 mi. EZ
Sat. - 16 mi. EZ w/@ MP = 7:55/min.


I have a follow-up visit with Dr. Cianca on Tuesday so this schedule is contingent on getting good news from him.