Weekly Recap

Tuesday: 7.25 miles (Speedwork)
Wednesday: 5.31 miles (Hill Work)
Thursday: 4.26 miles (Recovery)
Friday: 8.25 miles (Tempo)
Sunday: 14 miles (Long Run)

Total: 39.08 miles

I already covered the Tuesday speedwork session in the last entry. Wednesday was a pretty nice hill workout. It wasn't too taxing on me, but it gave me enough workout to make my legs feel it. Thursday was just a nice recovery run with an increase in speed during the last 1.5 miles. Friday was a great run. I did my Neighborhood Loop for the first time in quite a while. I tried to keep a quick, consistent pace all the way through the run and succeeded. My long run for the week was pretty good as well. I ran on the Greenbelt because it was pretty wet out and I didn't think it would be a good idea to mess up the trails at Rainbow. The paths were pretty icy, but it didn't cause any problems. I got to utilize my new running gear that I got for Christmas as well, so it was a pretty comfortable run. I still have 5 days left to complete my monthly and yearly goal. Only 8 miles left!

Frank's Killer Tempo Run Attempt #2

Today I decided to try this workout again. 25 laps, alternating between 5k pace and marathon pace. I warmed up with a mile at ~8:20 pace and then did 5 miles alternating between the paces. After which, I did another mile at ~8:20 pace to cool down. I really considered doing the rest of the workout, but I really like my approach of building up with my speedwork. I really didn't do a lot of it while preparing for the COTM, so I have just decided to play it safe and attempt this workout every other week and add a mile on each time. On each off week, I will do another speed workout, but with less miles at a slightly faster pace. It seems to have worked pretty well so far.

As far as this specific workout, I felt really strong for the first 4 miles. For the last mile, I started to feel my form getting a little sloppy, but I was able to get it back in check. I think I kind of zoned out for a bit. It's almost surreal to me that my marathon goal pace (7:13/mile) seems so much easier than the actual pace that I had in my first marathon. (8:43/mile) Granted, I had some issues in the last 4 miles that dropped my pace significantly, but being able to drop my time this much feels awesome. I can't wait to see what this next year brings.

Hell Week

Quick Recap:

Tuesday: 5.26 miles (speedwork)
Wednesday: 4.50 miles (recovery)
Thursday: 5.01 miles (not sure what to call it)
Sunday: 10.01 miles

Total: 24.77 miles

I was hoping to get more miles in this week, but I didn't have the time on Friday to go for a run. Oh well, I suppose I could use a lighter week considering I jumped up my mileage last week, and then worked 95 hours this week.

The speedwork was really a huge confidence builder. I warmed up at 8:00 pace, and then I ran 3x1 mile at 6:07, 6:06. and 6:03 pace. After that, I had kind of a cooldown at 6:50 pace. The 5k time was ~18:50. I can't believe that I am getting this fast. I wonder how far it will go?

Today, I set out to run. The weather was pretty shitty outside. I wasn't going to let that stop me though. Unfortunately, I stepped in two puddles, and wound up with completely soaked feet. The first 2.25 miles to the Eagle greenbelt were pretty shitty. The roads were complete shit. Once I hit the trails though, everything was awesome. Snow covered trails, good temperature, and good music helped me have a fantastic run that closed out my week in a good way.

My new shoes are fantastic. I haven't had any issues with my knee, and I have not had to wear my insoles. I also decided that I am going to do the WIFMER (Wild Idaho Fifty Mile Endurance Run) in August to honor my Grandpa. It's been a hell of a good week.

Week 1...

Of the running blog that is.

Quick Recap:
Tuesday: 6.25 miles (Speedwork)
Wednesday: 6.03 miles (Recovery)
Thursday: 5.08 miles (Hill Workout)
Friday: 7.5 miles (Not sure how to classify this one)
Saturday: 1 mile (Test run in new shoes)
Sunday: 12.13 miles (Long Run)
Total: 37.99 miles

I guess it was kind of cheesy to count the test run in, but what the hell. My legs feel pretty good after getting a real week of running in. I haven't run this many miles since mid September when I started my taper for the City of Trees Marathon. Fortunately, my knee held up perfectly all week.

I bought a new pair of running shoes this week. I picked up the Asics Cumulus. I was stuck trying to decide if I wanted to stick with the Brooks Ghost 3 or switch, and in the end decided to give the Asics a shot. They seem to provide more arch support and also some heel support which feels very comfortable. They also feel lighter, but I found out that they are actually slightly heavier. I'm anxious to see how they are when I get into real running in them this week.

My long run today was pretty cool. I left the house and ran to the Eagle greenbelt, and hit the trails. For some stupid reason, I thought that the trails would be clear of snow, but I was mistaken. There were some bare spots, but I definitely got some work in on the snow. I also found my lost gloves from last week.

I am getting a lot more serious about training for WIFMER. I know it is a crazy race, but something keeps calling out to me to do it. I think I will wait until after Robie to make my decision for sure. Until then, I will keep putting in the miles.

Treadhill Workout 1

4 miles on a hill course level 10 at roughly 7:45/mile. After a short recovery, I closed out with a mile at 6:00 pace. I felt pretty good. I am still trying to figure out what my actual max heart rate is. Pretty uneventful run though. Not much to report.

To Treadmill Or Not To Treadmill...

I don't know what I think about running on treadmills. I have been able to tolerate it a bit over the past week, but I don't know how much longer I will be able to keep that up. I think that I prefer the speedwork more, but at the same time I feel like I am cheating by doing my speedwork on the treadmill. Long runs are definitely out. Tempo runs are possible and so are recovery runs.
I don't know. Hopefully I only have to deal with the treadmill until Christmas. Then, with any luck, I will have gotten cold weather running gear or I can go pick it up myself.

Well, as far as this run, I just needed to have a nice recovery run after my speedwork yesterday. I felt fine the entire time and had no issues with my knee. My plan was to run 5 miles, but I kept adding on distance, and then decided to make it a 50 minute run which ended up just over 6 miles. The average pace was like 8:17 or something. It's really hard for me to run slow, especially when I don't have the walk breaks to slow me down. It's pretty cool how much my natural pace has sped up over the past few months.

Frank's Killer Tempo Run Attempt #1

Frank's Killer Tempo Run is 25 continuous laps (400m) with no rest, alternating between 5k pace and Marathon Pace. According to the calculator at runningforfitness.com, and my goal of qualifying for Boston, my marathon pace is 7:13/mile, and that makes my 5k pace 6:18. I decided that I was going to attempt this as my speed workout for the week. I started with a warmup mile at 8:45/mile and jumped into the speedwork. I felt really good throughout the next 4 miles, and I had no issues with the paces. I did however start to feel some twinges in my knee, so I decided to slow down and finish the last mile and a quarter at around 7:20-7:30 pace. All in all, 6.25 miles with an overall average pace of 7:01. I felt very strong, and I know that I could have done the entire workout but I just thought it was best to play it safe with my knee. I am really looking forward to continuing with my speed work training, racking up the miles, and dropping my times.

Eagle Road

I spent an hour and a half on Eagle Road today.  After a long day at work yesterday, I wasn't sure how I would feel attempting my first "long" run in a month so I decided to keep my run closer to home, and hopefully as clear of snow as possible.  My plan was to run 10 miles and assuming that I would be pretty sore at the end, I didn't want to have wet feet as well.

I layered up, slapped some Girl Talk on the iPod and hit the road.  I am still forcing myself to follow the training guidelines for my long runs that are in Jeff Galloway's book.  This means to run at 9:13 pace with 4 minutes of running and 30 seconds of walking.  I have altered this slightly, as I just can't run any slower than 9 minutes per mile.  I also choose to run for 5 minutes and walk for 30 seconds.  This works for me in training, and it worked at Zeitgeist.

The run itself was pretty uneventful.  It felt fantastic to be out on the road after being stuck in the gym on the treadmill on Thursday and Friday.  My legs felt a little stiff for the first couple of miles, but after that they were just fine.  I had no issues with knee pain either, which really makes me optimistic about reaching 130 miles this month.  I only  ran 46 miles last month, so I am worried a bit about adding on 84 miles, but if this last week is any indicator, I think I will be in good shape.  I worked 54 hours this week, ran 27 miles, and I feel great.  Almost like I haven't done anything.

I did like the small hill portions on Eagle road.  Definitely not challenging, but the hint of a burn in my legs was nice.  I wasn't interested in pushing too hard today.  I am just itching to get back into my running full force, but I would rather build up then risk injury.  Not running much in November really just sucked the life out of me, and I know that I am going to need to use my running as an outlet in order to get through this month.

Here are the stats on the run:
Distance: 10.11 Miles
Time: 1:30:00
Pace: 8:54/mile
Avg Heart Rate: 148 bpm

Numero Uno

I have really been considering changing my running goals for next year.  Initially, my primary focus was going to be qualifying for Boston.  That would require me to drop my marathon time from 3:47 to 3:10.  During the 3:47, I was feeling very good until mile 23 when I got really bad leg cramps.  I am pretty sure this was due to lack of sodium, so I will be sure to carry salt pills during my longer distance races.  I am also using a run/walk strategy that helped me perform fantastically in the Zeitgeist Half Marathon.  However, even if I ran an even split in my next marathon based on my time at Zeitgeist, I would end up with a 3:20 ish time.  It could be possible to shave some additional time off, considering how hilly the Zeitgeist course was, but highly unlikely.  I am starting to feel more and more like I should quit focusing on times, and work on breaking into the longer distances.  I am highly considering doing the Wild Idaho 50 miler.  It's on the same weekend as Grandpa's birthday, near our campground at Crouch.  It just seems kind of fitting.