Saturday, September 5, 2009

Still a Novice - As a Sense of Accomplishment Accompanies 20-miler

OBJECTIVE
20 mi.@ 7:46-8:36

ACHIEVED
20.02 mi.@ 8:35

5:38 AM 78° 77% 1 mph

Ran with Jonathan, Augie, Randy, Josh and William today. The group had varied distances scheduled today but generally hung together through 14 miles. I guess I felt okay overall. It's good to be reminded what it feels like to run 20 miles. I also came up with this mantra along the way: "Start smart; finish strong." My last 7 mile's splits broke down as:

8:35/8:33/8:09/8:05/7:53/7:44/7:39

Of course that means the start was slow but that's fine. I had a nice, unplanned progression to finish this long run and I felt fine doing it.

In addition, this comes at the end of my all-time high weekly mileage: 57.7 miles. I've got another big week next week then it will be time to taper.

Gritted my teeth and hopped in a 20-minute ice bath when I got home. It made a difference last time.

PRE RUN
oatmeal w/brown sugar & skim milk

POST RUN
SlimFast & water
Later, cherry-blueberry smoothie and multivitamin
Later still, frosted mini wheats & skim milk

Friday, September 4, 2009

OBJECTIVE
2-6 mi.@ 8:37-9:47

ACHIEVED
6.08 mi.@ 8:40/

7:10 AM 72° 89% 1 mph

Easy recovery run. Ever-so-slightly sore from yesterday's tempo but generally felt fine.

PRE RUN
water

POST RUN
water, multivitamin & oatmeal w/flax, brown sugar & skim milk

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Now That's Thinking

OBJECTIVE
1.5 mi.@ 8:37-9:47
7.5 mi.@ 6:59/mi.
1.5 mi.@ 8:37-9:47

ACHIEVED
1.52 mi. WU
6.50 mi. tempo @ 7:04/mi. (7:10/7:05/7:03/7:02/7:08/6:57/3:23(0.50)
1.58 mi. CD

total time = 1:16:51
total distance = 9.70

5:21 AM 71° 88% 0 mph

I thought I had a successful run today. It was challenging. I pushed myself hard. I stayed consistent with the tempo throughout. Given the temperature and humidity, I was happy to be within 5 seconds of my target pace. It was all good. It wasn't until I had synced my run that I realized that I'm a complete bonehead. I only ran 6.5 miles instead of 7.5! Stupid! Now for the disclaimers. I'm completely distracted by work now. I've been working 12-14 hour days. I have to get to work early today so I didn't drive to the Y for a run of this distance like I normally would. I ran from home and just added on. In the brief moments before falling asleep last night, I worked up the route in my mind and mentally confirmed the distance was about right. When I started out this morning, I still wasn't exactly sure of my routing so I worked it up while I was running. Bad idea. I've proven in the past that my mental acuity drops off the table while I'm running. (Must be a lack of oxygen to the brain!) Anyway, that's how I came to short myself on today's run and turned a seemingly solid run into a bit of a disappointment.

PRE RUN
weight=163.5
water

POST RUN
SlimFast, multivitamin & low-fat granola w/skim milk

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Why Do You Run?

OBJECTIVE
2-6 mi.@ recovery pace

ACHIEVED
6.09 mi.@ 9:00

6:09 AM 68° 79% 1 mph

Almost perfect symmetry today: I ran 6.09 miles at 6:09 AM while it was 68°. (It was a very good run and almost seemed perfect for a recovery effort.)

PRE RUN
weight=162.5
water

POST RUN
chocolate milk, multivitamin & oatmeal w/brown sugar & skim milk

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

OBJECTIVE
Dynamic stretching warm-up
1 mi. warm-up @ 8:37-9:47
1x3K @ 6:59/, 2-minute active recovery
1x2K @ 6:39/ pace, 2-minute active recovery
1x1K @ 6:25/, 2-minute active recovery
1x800m @ 6:11/
1 mi. cool-down @ 8:37-9:47

ACHIEVED
dynamic stretch
1 mi. WU
3K @ 6:48/
2K @ 6:37/
1K @ 6:22/
800m @ 6:10/
1.09 mi. CD

Total time = 53:41
Total distance = 6.71

5:42 AM 71° 82% 3 mph

Felt pretty good out there hammering away today.

PRE RUN
weight=164
water

POST RUN
SlimFast, multivitamin & low-fat granola w/skim milk

Monday, August 31, 2009

OBJECTIVE
9 mi.@ 7:46-8:36
steep hill sprints 2x20 sec.
one-leg hop 2x20 sec.

ACHIEVED
9.03 mi.@ 8:28

5:15 AM 74° 80% 4 mph

Interesting observation about today's run. I ran the same distance as last Monday - 9 miles (albeit on a different route: YMCA out-and-back last week versus Wimbledon Forest add-on today). Today's pace was 5 seconds per mile faster than last week's. Today's temperature was 5 degrees cooler than last week. I didn't notice this until reviewing the run information after the fact. Coincidence or science ... ???

Saturday's ice bath seems to have helped. I felt pretty good the rest of the day Saturday. However, I started noticing some soreness yesterday afternoon with a bit carrying over today.

On this last day of August, I'm happy to report a +200 mile month.

PRE RUN
weight=163
water

POST RUN
chocolate skim milk, multivitamin & Kashi GoLean cereal w/skim milk

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Training Schedule: August 30 - September 5

SUNDAY - Rest

MONDAY - Base Run + Drills
9 mi.@ base pace
steep hill sprints 2x20 sec.
one-leg hop 2x20 sec.

TUESDAY - Mixed Intervals
Dynamics stretching warm-up
1 mi. warm-up @ recovery pace
1x3K @ half marathon pace, 2-minute active recovery
1x2K @ 10K pace, 2-minute active recovery
1x1K @ 5K pace, 2-minute active recovery
1x800m @ 3K pace
1 mi. cool-down @ recovery pace

WEDNESDAY - Recovery Run
2-6 mi.@ recovery pace

THURSDAY - Tempo Run @ Half-Marathon Pace
1.5 mi.@ recovery pace
7.5 mi.@ half-marathon pace
1.5 mi.@ recovery pace

FRIDAY - Recovery Run
2-6 mi.@ recovery pace

SATURDAY - Endurance Run
20 mi.@ base pace