Boston Strong

.6 mile hill loops @ park @ 8:02 pace

AM - 6.5 @ 7:23 ap

1 - 7:41

2 - 7:13

 3 - 7:19

4 - 7:39

5 - 7:25

6 - 7:20

.5 - 6:45 

 PM - 4 @ 7:07

1 - 7:29

2 - 7:08

3 - 7:00

4 - 6:51

.5 cooldown @ 8:11

PM miles served purpose of giving me free pass to drink beer during Super Bowl 

Wasn't really feeling it today but got out there, felt better as run went on, so stayed out 

8:30 AP

8 @ 7:45

Wanted to do some 800's, as usual I kind of bailed on that, but at least I kept doing some speed work.  Either I don't have the mental strength for track work or I am running faster than I should be. I would like to think it is just the latter, but I think it is a combination of the two!  Anyway, I guess I got enough in to prepare me a little for the 5k shock I will get this Saturday.

3 mile warmup around 8:10

800 - 2:56, 2:57

400 - 1:28, 1:23, 1:20, 1:24

200 - 38

1.5 cool down around 9:00

8:15 AP

8:21 pace

Today was just about time with Alex, not racing.  He is fit from soccer, but not really doing too much 'running' per se, these days.  I told him we would just go out at a 7:00 pace for first mile and then just go from there.  He is battling a cold which made for a convenient excuse for him, as he clearly was not too interested in pushing the comfort level too hard, but that is ok.

We hit the first mile in 6:49, and he said he he was fine ... I was pleasantly surprised at how easy that pace felt for me, I was not really pushing at all.  We held the same pace & then not too far into the second mile Alex slowed ... I just slowed with him & gave some positive words of encouragement to keep him moving.  Second mile was 7:20. 

 The coughing of flem got a little more dramatic at this point, but I told him just keep moving, pace didn't matter, but we were not walking in a 5k ... which I believe he was ready to do at that point.  But he was a good sport and kept moving.  There is only one hill on this course late in the 3rd mile, so we just kept it steady up the hill without pushing ... I told him to hang in there we could still get sub 23 if we finished strong.  Mile 3 was 7:48.

After cresting the hill & turning the corner to a slight downhill stretch to the finish, Alex turns to me with probably about 300 meters to go & says I'll race you to the finish.  We gradually increased speed to an all out sprint, which of course he won, but it was fun trying to hang on.  Garmin read 3.17 at finish ... we ran the last .17 at a 4:50 pace.

Sandbagger!

Did a nice mile cool down with Tim, who had a solid race!   Alex & I then headed to the park to play some soccer & met up with a couple cousins who were in town for a lunch.  All in all, a great day.

After a 4 day mileage break from my 200 in 30 days, I eased back into things with a progression run. Well, ease does not really correspond to my effort level, I was pushing pace a little, a lot on the last mile. Was happy to finish with 7 with a 2 mile cool down @ 8:30 pace.

5 @ 7:18 ap. 7:37, 7:37, 7:24, 7:18, 6:35

Hilly Highlands roads ... 7:24 ap Will do easy miles @ Sims Lake enroute to Alex's soccer game tonight.

PM   7 at 8:00 ap 

My feet felt like they had cinder blocks strapped to them today ... I would have stopped after 3 miles, except I pre-fueled my run with 24 Girl Scouts Thin Mints, so I figured I better go for an hour ... since that is 960 calories of Thin Mints!

Trudged along at an 8:30 pace for first 6 miles, then fell in behind a faster girl who had just entered the park, pacing me to a 7:15 last mile.  Unfortunately she exited the other side of the park, as I probably would have followed her as long as she ran in the park, maintaining a distance of about 40 yards.  As soon as she exited the park, I turned directly into a headwind ... so thankfully my hour was just about up & I was near the car!

 Hopefully tomorrow the legs are feeling better, as I need to do a longer run ... not putting a number out there though, that I can be accountable too!  :)

Well, I had aspirations of a 16 miler this weekend, but after the way I felt yesterday, I was happy to get in 11.5 @ a 7:45 pace.  I have pretty much concluded I race better than I train, my body is cool with running longer once or twice a year, but long training runs only serve to take the pleasure out of running for me!  Cumulative mileage can be just as effective, at least according to Hansons Marathon Method ... which is good enough for me.   :)

 On another note, Plantar Fasciitis wiped me out for about 7 months last year ... it seems that even with extended rest, if I went out and ran 6 miles, I experienced pretty bad heel pain, particularly when I got up first thing in the morning.  A friend told me about Feetures PF compression sleeves, so I bought 2 ($24.95 each), and have been wearing them to bed every night.  I went from not being able to run 6 miles without pain the next morning to running 50 miles/week without any pain ... so if you ever experience PF & want to knock it out before it sidelines you ... they work wonders!

http://www.feeturesbrand.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=210&Itemid=109

AM - 4 easy miles to coffee shop & back, no watch, but pretty sure my pace dropped into the 9's on the downhills.  :)   This is my daily plan to try to jump start the second half of my targeted weight loss.  The first couple weeks I dropped from 164 to 155, but seem to have leveled off the last 2 weeks ... goal is to get back down to 148, my racing weight in 2011.  Another benefit I figure is I won't feel bad if I stop after 5 or 6 miles in the evening, as I usually push on to get 7 or 8. 

PM - 7 @ 7:57

1.5 mile wu @ 8:10

4 x 800    3:08, 3:08, 3:08, 3:05  (500 meter recoveries around 8:30)

4 x 200    37, 34, 38, 36  (200 m recoveries, 1st & 3rd into wind)

1 mile cd @ 9:10

8:15 pace, beautiful sunny day at park ... Was cold & rainy in morning, so I skipped my jog for coffee, but don't think legs were up to it anyway ... They felt much better this afternoon though.

AM - Altered my route for my morning coffee jog slightly to include more of nature preserve trail, it is now 4.3 instead of 4.  I am not allowed to run faster than 9:30 pace on these.  Hanson actually says my recovery pace for a 3:15 marathon goal is 9:38.  My easy pace should be between 8:25 & 9:02, which is 3 of my runs per week. 

Of course, at this point, I have no idea what my marathon goal is ... I am just telling myself that because I am doing a fair amount of easy running, which is mostly faster than what is prescribed ... if I were doing the harder workouts.  Perhaps my base is built up enough to start incorporating some of those, instead of just throwing in random intervals & some faster miles when I feel like it.  Of course, I tend to enjoy the random stuff more than heading out the door for targeted workouts.  My only real goal for Boston is to re-qualify (3:23) for next year, and I am pretty confident if I just run an hour a day, that should not be a problem ... as long as it is not 85 degrees again!

No idea what I will run later in day, but we have a day & half of sunshine left before the arrival of rain ... so I will get out there for something!

16.1 @ 7:35 pace,   I am happy camper, off to have dinner with Alex

Update:  Went to Sims Lake to get in a spontaneous long run in 60 & sunny weather, with 2 days of rain in forecast.  Also, following Hanson's principles, that your longest run should be 16 miles, but coming off high mileage ... so it simulates the last 16 miles of the marathon ... not the first 16!  Since I may never have a 4 day period  with 44 miles again, I figured this was perfect timing to get 'er done!

Path is a hilly loop, 1.15 miles long.  I knew my Garmin would die early, so wanted to have accurate lap data with my trusty Timex.  Garmin actually lasted 11.9 miles, its lifespan is rapidly shortening, & not uncommon to die after 8 miles!  Anyway, I was thrilled when the last look I had was 11.7 miles @ 7:30 AP.

My goal was just 8:00 miles, but first mile was 7:30 & I just went with what was comfortable from there.  I think I held Mile 13 at same pace, but it was getting harder, so I slowed to stay comfortable.  The last couple miles were tough ... was actually glad my watch had died ... because no doubt I would have pushed to hang on to that 7:30 pace ... but the plan was to just run comfortably.

 Well, that is the back story, these are my loop splits which have less variation than my 12 recorded mile splits, because obviously each loop has 0 net elevation change.

 Loop    Time    Pace

   1         8:35      7:28

   2         8:50      7:41

   3         8:46      7:37

   4         8:44      7:36

   5         8:40      7:32

   6         8:34      7:27

   7         8:41      7:33

   8         8:34      7:27

   9         8:33      7:26

  10        8:27      7:21

  11        8:36      7:29

  12        8:50      7:41

  13        8:55      7:45

  14        9:09      7:57

Amazing what losing 12 pounds can do for your fitness! 

As I look at the numbers for the first 10 loops (11.5 miles), I find it interesting that if you throw out the first loop where I was clearly running faster than I should have been & made an adjustment ... every loop is ever so slightly faster with the focus on just running comfortable ... with the exception of Loop 7, where I remember telling myself to chill as I was not even half way done yet.  :)

Reading Anatomy for Runners ... How exciting ... Back to actually running tomorrow!

I have decided to halt all marathon training indefinitely & have joined a soccer team for the Spring season.  When I reviewed my training, I realized that I ran a 3:20 marathon in Oct. 2010 after only having run 400 miles in the previous 9 months, including 190 miles in the previous 3 months, and a whopping 60 miles in the 30 days leading up to the marathon.  At this time, I stopped playing competitive soccer & channeled my competitive juices into running ... and my time dropped to 3:06 ... and was enroute to a sub 3 ... until I got injured.

In retrospect, taking 14 minutes off my marathon time ... or dropping it another 6 ... just is not that important to me in the grand scheme of things.  I am proud to have run the PR times I have, but improving on them further is not that important ... I would rather play soccer & just enjoy running when I choose to.

We all set goals ... and somewhere along the line, my goals went from running a marathon to getting a BQ to breaking sub 3 ... but why?  I can not answer that question ... but feel like if I don't break the cycle ... when I run a sub 3, my goal would simply become to run a 2:55 ... that is just my competitive nature and desire to continually improve.  But again ... if I step back & ask ... why would you want to run a 2:55 marathon?  I have no answer, and certainly not one that justifies the commitment it would require in my own mind and sacrifices ... like not playing soccer.

 If one day I happen to cross a 5k finish line at sub 18:30, I will probably entertain a 16 week training cycle to go after a sub 3 ... but only if that happens first.  The jury is out on if I will run Boston this year ... sometimes we have things other things in life that are more important than running ... and this is one of those times for me. 

8 x 200m