Mile Repeats

Just a quick one tonight. I had a decent outing back to the track last night. The running club was meeting for possibly a 15K relay but with Heather out of town, I had too much going on to spend that much time away from home. So... I went to the track instead.

It was still warm, about 80 degrees, full sun, but less humid than Tuesday. The run would still be a warm one though. As I arrived at the track I still wasn't decided on what workout to do. I had been toying with the idea of mile repeats on the drive over, and that's what I decided on.

There was a group of either USMC recruits or ROTC students having a workout on the field when I arrived. And let me just say, I was glad to be running. I don't think I would have lasted very long with the drills they were doing! After a mile warm-up I was ready to get started.

Cutting to the chase, I did 3 X 1 mile with 400 meter recovery between. I felt good, to a point, and pushed when I felt I could. I was hoping for sub 7 minute miles and that's what I hit: 6:42 / 6:37 / and 6:32. I wasn't planning on the progressively faster thing, but that's a good sign. With about a mile and a half cool-down, I was done in 46 minutes. Much faster than going to the club run.

Running fast mile repeats has nothing to do with Burning River. I'm thinking beyond already to Columbus. I was hoping to run super-fast there so I need to work some speed back into the high mileage base I have prepared. Running in the heat was good training though. It should still be hot at the end of the month.

Good luck to everyone running the Buckeye Trail 50K tomorrow!

A Saturday Trip to the Track

So, after taking Friday off and missing the great weather we had in the hopes of healing some more, I couldn't let Saturday pass me by. I went up to the track in the afternoon to A) See how the leg felt and B) Try out the Newtons. I decided to wear calf compression for both support and so I could wear shorts. I don't know if that was the best idea.

I did three miles. Beginning with a one mile warm-up I then proceeded to run a mini interval session: 1600m - 6:41 and 800m - 3:20 with a quarter mile recovery and a short cool-down after. My shin felt fine throughout the session. No pain. However, I did develop some minor swelling just under the elastic band of the calf sleeve. I'll have to mention that to Dr. Joe tomorrow during my follow-up appointment. This thing is really puzzling. I just can't figure out what's going on there and it's driving me a little batty!

As for the Newtons, I liked them. They're pricey but hopefully I can coax a ton of miles out of them. If the only place I wear them is at the track, I should be able to run in them for some time to come. I'm going to have to get used to the different running position though. I've never been much of a ball-of-foot runner and these force me to be. My calves were a little sore by the time I was finished.

Running in Circles

Literally! I was running in circles yesterday at the Rec Center. Weather.com was showing Medina at -5° F and I made the decision that THAT was too cold! I needed 16 miles, so the treadmill was out. What was left? The 1/10th mile indoor track at the Rec. It wasn't so bad, really. I charged my iPod so I had some tunes. The miles actually pass pretty quickly up there if you're not paying close attention. The worst part was all the people! Lots of traffic. Things got gummed up at times. The worst offenders where the people who thought it was OK to stay two and three abreast so they could talk. Hey, Einsteins, when the track is busy, it's time to zip your conversations and go single file!

Anyway, 16 miles in the outside lane on that track is 160 laps. I've already been asked how I keep track of the laps. I worked out a simple system that works well for me. I count on my fingers! As I finish each lap, I move another finger under my thumb. When the right hand is done at five, I switch to my left hand. When ten laps are complete, I take a split on my watch and start over.

I averaged sub 8 minute miles, which I wasn't expecting. Mile splits were: 8:07 / 8:11 / 8:12 / 8:09 / 8:01 / 8:00 / 7:57 / 7:54 / 7:45 / 7:45 / 7:53 / 7:56 / 8:00 / 7:51 / 7:43 / and 7:38. That last mile was supposed to be a cool down, but it doesn't look like it turned out that way. Oh, well, back outside today. It's 10°!

46 Days and Counting

I haven't written as much as I thought I would regarding the lead-up to Ironman as others have or that I thought I would. I mean, this is a pretty big deal. In the words of Vice President Biden, "This is a big f***ing deal!"

It's pretty much all that's been occupying my mind lately, I just haven't found the need to go into detail about it here. I wonder why. Could it be I'm not intimidated by the distance? That because of what I've accomplished in training so far I know I can do it? Could it be that I hurt so much during that 24 hour run, and yet still kept pushing onward, that I'm not concerned about hurting in Wisconsin? Could it be that I am worried about what's ahead of me, I've just chosen not to write about it? Honestly, I'm not sure if it's any of those, all of those, or something else entirely.

So let's assess where I'm at in training. I'm not logging as many weekly miles on the bike as I would like, but I'm sticking to the long rides on the weekends. My weekly running mileage has been variable, but strong. My swimming mileage has dwindled somewhat due to the summer hours preventing me from swimming at lunchtime. And I'm not logging any open water time, which bothers me.

This past weekend was 7 weeks out from race day and I had the longest training brick scheduled: a 100 mile ride followed by 8 - 10 miles. I've only ever ridden that long many, MANY years ago, coming a few miles short of a full century. With my knee bothering me on the hills, I didn't know how it would go.

Well let me just say it went very well! I was able to get an early start on Saturday, which was good as Sunday morning turned out to be a windy wet mess, in the hopes I wouldn't be gone all day. I didn't get home until 5:30, but hey, it was a long workout.

Starting out of Buckeye Woods Park, I rode west first, doing a big 50+ mile loop of rolling to hilly roads. This route took me through three counties: Medina, Ashland, and Lorain. I passed three Amish buggies and one large wagon being pulled by two rather large horses. There were also a few Amish children out and about. I wonder what they were thinking when they saw me coming? Crazy! After re-fuelling at the car, I rode the south loop into Wayne County and back. The day was getting hotter and hotter with each passing hour. The only relief was the wind, which though cooling, provided added resistance and made the ride even tougher. There was a storm brewing as I was making my turn to head back and I knew there was nothing I could do to outrun it. I would just have to deal with whatever the weather dealt me. Which in the end was just wind. I was on the very western edge of the developing storm and only received a few drops of rain. The sun was back out just in time for my run.

Which was horribly hot! Possibly one of the hottest runs I've ever done. Right up there with the 2007 Caesar Creek Olympic Duathlon. But at least this time I had plenty of fluids to deal with it. Though unmercifully hot, humid, and buggy, I forced myself to run the 10 miles I had planned. They didn't feel too bad. I could have gone farther, especially if it had been a little cooler. Completing this workout left me with some huge confidence about doing a ride of that length and then running afterward. All the data for the ride and run can be found here (bike) and here (run).

In other Ironman news, after running with Brian from the club last Thursday night on the Hinckley trails, I decided to incorporate some changes. The first of which was to check for hotel rooms in downtown Madison, instead of staying 8 miles out of town. Someone must have been looking out for us because I found a very nice room only 5 blocks from the start and 3 to the finish! That should make everything at least a little easier on race weekend.

One more thing, last night was speedwork night at the track. I've been attending speedwork, but my speed has been something less than what it was last year. Last night felt really good though. The heat was tempered a bit, as well as the humidity. We ran 8 X 800 meter repeats with 400m recovery. My splits were: 3:13 / 3:15 / 3:08 / 3:06 / 3:05 / 2:57 / 3:01 / and 2:59. I felt very strong and am happy to be able to get down to the 3 minute mark and even dip below. I was told by JB to get slow for IM, and that's what I've been doing. But I'm still happy to know there's some speed in there somewhere!

P.S. I need to mention something about that heat on Saturday. It was HOT! By my estimation I drank somewhere in the neighborhood of 230 oz of fluid that day including Gatorade Endurance Formula with NUUN added, Powerbar Ironman Perform, a bottle of Coke, a bottle of cola NUUN, a half bottle of orange ginger NUUN, plus numerous bottles of plain water. It was a hot one!

Speedwork 7/13/10

We gathered at the track last night for our weekly attempt to run real fast in an oval-like direction. We were successful! Thankfully, the heat relented a bit this week, although the humidity was still very high. We were running 800m repeats, but most of what we talked about was how Connie was doing at Badwater. I'll post more on her feat later, but she was still running, closing in on the finish, as we were running our half miles.

6 X 800 was the order of the day and I must say that I was surprised to pull some of the splits I was. I expected to be dragging my butt around the track even though I had taken a rest day on Monday. My splits ranged from a high of 3:08 to a low of 2:59. Quite a good grouping! Of course, I would like to get them faster again, but right now I'm not training to be fast. I'm training to go really, really long!

A Minor Training Setback

Everything was going so well just a few weeks ago. Then, with one telephone call, everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, shifts in importance and priority. Vacations, training, racing, everything was thrown to the wind and left to land where they would.

Without getting into any detail, we had a family medical emergency arise on June 6 that had us cancelling work, school, and a trip to Colorado we'd been planning since January. That's life, I suppose.

The physically hard part for me now is to figure out how to get back into my training. The day before the phone call I completed a rocking bike/run brick in the Cuyahoga Valley. 41 miles touring The Valley with some serious climbs mixed in, followed by 15 miles of running on the Towpath. The day was warm, muggy, buggy, and GREAT!

Then came a week and a half of 0 swimming, biking, or running. I decided enough was enough and planned a long run for the morning of Thursday the 17. I was hoping for 20 to 26 miles but only managed 17. That was all I had. I was hurting and tired. The damp fog I was running in probably wasn't ideal, but the hours I was keeping and the diet I was eating were more so.

Hit the track Tuesday for a 5K in the 90 degree heat and sun. I didn't feel too bad, better than I expected, and finished in 21:40. Definitely great hot weather training!

Hoping to get back into the water this afternoon for a long swim. Something in the range of two miles. I'm also planning another bike/run brick for tomorrow. Maybe this time I will take the run to the trails!

The Track? The Track!

THE TRACK! I've forgotten all about the track. It's been so long since I've been there! But I was there last night and it was nice to be back.

I didn't expect to see anyone else up there so I wasn't disappointed when no one was there. With temperatures hovering right about 33 degrees or so, I wanted to get out for a few miles in the relatively "nice" weather. Speedwork is something I stopped doing as 24 hour training began ramping up last fall, and it's been calling my name for a while.

There were snowy spots, clear spots, and clear "wet" spots that began freezing once the sun went down. I wanted to get 5 miles total in with warm-up and cool-down. 800s were on tap. Five of them with 400 meter recovery. My times weren't great, but decent enough: 3:25 / 3:25 / 3:16 / 3:14 / and 3:18. With all things considered: my leave-of-absence from speedwork, the snow on the track, the cold temperature, and my persistent pain, I'm happy with the times. If anything, they will become a baseline for the rest of the year. Something to shoot for.

Only my left foot really bothered me. I needed to stop and loosen the laces on that shoe a couple times due to a pressure spot. I also wore an older set of shoes, the Scarlet and Gray Asics Gel Stratus Gen 1's, with approaching 400 miles on them. They felt light and fast, not at all like the Nimbus the other day.

I'm feeling a little under the weather today with a slight sore throat and a mild fever so I don't know if I'll do anything tonight or just take a rest day.

We Three Dans, The Triumvirate of Dans, Three Dan Night...

Whatever you want to call it, Dan H., Dan B., and myself hit the track Tuesday night for some speed work. It was dark, as seen by the photo below, where you can also make out some Christmas lights toward the right. What you can't see, and I wasn't able to get a good photo of, was the HUGE full moon in the cloudless sky. It really helped around the backside of the track where the light from the stands fails to reach.


We had a decent workout. After a nearly two mile warm-up we decided on alternating 400 and 800 meter repeats X three sets. With a mildly gusting breeze out of the south, it was a darn near as perfect a December night as we could hope for. Splits were: 1:36 / 3:13 / 1:34 / 3:02 / 1:24 / 3:09. I think I really could have busted out a nice final 800 except I had a tight hamstring and I didn't want to injure anything. Not with what I have planned for 4 weeks from today. Details to follow...

Running Repeats With George Thorogood

Usually when you have "George Thorogood" in a sentence with the word "repeats" it means you're a frequent listener to an FM station that either A: is a not-so-classic classic rock station, or B: also plays too much Lynyrd Skynyrd and caters to the Budweiser drinking biker crowd. In this case (fortunately) it has nothing to do with the amount of times he still gets radio play, but may have everything to do with the result of listening to said radio stations over the course of 35 years.

As I headed out the door for the track Tuesday night I didn't expect to see anyone else there. After all it's dark and cold now at 6:00 and who in their right mind would be out running in conditions like that? Well it wasn't so bad this week. Dark? Yes. Cold? No! It has still been very mild and Tuesday was no exception. A little chilly to start but soon it warmed up just fine.

No, my George Thorogood experience happened a little ways into the ladder workout I was running. For whatever reason, while running down the back straight of the track, his I Drink Alone song began playing inside my head, only with lyrics customized for running:

I run alone, yeah, with nobody else.

I run alone, yeah, with nobody else.

Yeah, you know when I run alone, I prefer to be by myself!

Well I thought it was humorous at the time. Until I realized that I couldn't get that song out of my head and I would have to run the rest of the night with it stuck there! Annoying song or not, I still had a pretty decent outing by myself in the dark. Splits were:

200 m - :40

400 m - 1:25

800 m - 3:09

1200 m - 4:59

1600 m - 6:34

1200 m - 4:53

800 m - 3:07

400 m - 1:24

200 m - :36

I was delighted to see that all the duplicate distances were faster the second time. And that wasn't because I sandbagged the first set! I just felt like pushing on my way back down. Add a mile warm-up and another to cool-down and I had just over 8 miles for a Tuesday night in November. Nice.

A Little Bit of Confidence

After last night's track workout, I've found just a little bit of confidence that I might be able to finish in under 3:15:59. For the past few weeks I have felt sluggish and tired when running. The speed sessions have been OK, but trying to run at race pace out on the road has been tough. Maybe because I've been out doing that alone and on the track I've had company, people to keep my pace honest and to push me. The problem is, there is only a handful of people I run with who push me.

Pete, whom I haven't seen since February, was just finishing last night when I arrived. It turns out he had knee surgery over the summer and is just getting back into running again. Maybe I can actually keep up with him now! Bob was there, but he was just doing some easy laps, still recovering from the NC 24 and possibly preparing for another 24 hour run in Iowa. And then there was Rachel, who has probably pushed me harder than just about anyone else. She's incredibly fast and it's about all I can do to keep up with her sometimes.

We ran 3 X 1 mile repeats at marathon race pace last night. After some of our workouts, it felt incredibly easy and I couldn't believe just how fast we were really going. Each mile was under 7:15, which is our target pace for Sunday. Rachel and I are going to run together in Columbus, lining up with the 3:10 pace group. She only needs a 3:40 to qualify for Boston, but she can go much faster than that, as witnessed by her 1/2 marathon PR of 1:28! I need a 3:15, but the extra cushion might be a good idea. We can at least keep each other motivated and although I like going it alone, having a friendly face with you along the way makes things just a tiny bit easier.

Three Runs, Three Days

After resting the remainder of Sunday, I decided to go out for an easy 3 miles Monday after work. The weather was amazing and I didn't want to miss a chance to enjoy it. I ended up with 3.1 miles, a 5K, in 23:34. That's the kind of time I was looking for, but it sure felt like I was running much harder than that. I'm going to chalk that up to still being tired from the weekend.

Tuesday was speed night so it was off to the track I went. Charles and Marsha were already in the throes of their 10 X 800 meter set, but Chuck was jogging around so I joined him for a warm-up. He wasn't going to be doing any speed work on account of a nerve issue in his leg, so it was just Rachel and I. I forgot it was my turn to pick the workout and came up with a ladder: 200, 400, 800, 1600, 800, 400, 200. She agreed but suggested we turn the 1600 into a 1200. That was fine by me! Our splits: 200m - :42 / 400m - 1:31 / 800m - 3:07 / 1200m - 4:57 / 800m - 3:11 / 400m - 1:33 / 200m - :43. Some of those were a little on the fast side for where we are in training, but we felt good finishing each one. The weather was windy and chilly, so can't complain.

Wednesday I was able to run from Stimie's house as the women were preparing food for a party tonight. They live on the south side of Medina, in the hills. I hit one of the bigger ones within the first mile. After that it was a net downhill to my turnaround point. I felt good with the wind at my back, but started getting a little warm. On the way back though, I was starting to feel the cold. The wind and chill had not left from Tuesday. I maintained my pace better than I could have expected coming back the last 4 miles with the headwind and the hills. I even went up the big one, Mt. Crumpet as I like to call it, one last time before returning to their house. 8.2 miles in 1:05:12, which is a 7:50-something pace. Very good, all things considered. A stop at Panera on the way home to pick up dinner and I was pretty much done for the evening.

I'm taking rest days from running today and tomorrow. I have to keep reminding myself that I need to be tapering right now. I need to be fresh and ready to go in 10 days. Maybe some cross-training is in order?

Cold and Wet on the Track

I don't mind running in the rain, especially when it's in the summer and is hot a humid. I will actually run better in a nice warm rain shower. However, what we ran in on Tuesday was not, I repeat NOT a nice rain. It was cold rain. On a cold evening. I wasn't ready to don sleeves, a warm-up jacket, and gloves just yet. 50 degrees, rain, and a slight wind do not make for comfortable running. But I was to find out that our workout would completely take my mind off the weather.

Our workout for the night was one of Connie's ideas, although she wasn't there to share our misery. (She's currently tapering for her record attempt at the 24 Hour run this weekend) After a nice enough mile and a half warm-up, which did indeed help to warm me up, we were set to run 3 X 2 mile repeats. That's right, three sets of two miles. And we had negative split time goals to meet for each mile too. It was a team effort as we attacked each mile. Chuck, Rachel, and I ran single file, alternating lead runner each lap. Each of us running with a watch helped us check our splits each 200 to 400 meters, keeping us on pace. Having a Garmin with a current pace readout didn't hurt either.

Here are our splits:

Mile 1 - Goal 7:00 - Actual 7:00
Mile 2 - Goal 6:45 - Actual 6:39

800 meter recovery

Mile 3 - Goal 6:45 - Actual 6:39
Mile 4 - Goal 6:30 - Actual 6:27

800 meter recovery

Mile 5 - Goal 6:30 - Actual 6:25
Mile 6 - Goal 6:30 - Actual 6:25

We decided to just maintain mile 6 rather than try to drop it down to a 6:15. I'm sure we could have hit it, but we agreed the current pace was challenging enough. After a cold three quarter mile cool-down in the rain, we parted ways dripping and shivering. The heater in the car could not warm up fast enough for my liking and I needed to turn on the rear defogger in order to see. That was the coldest run I've done since the spring. All told: 9.5 miles in 1:13.

The sun's out today for the first time since Sunday. Which makes me wish I could get out and run in it. But there's too much going on today for me to be able to take advantage of it. Maybe tomorrow. The big Northcoast 24 Hour Endurance Run is this weekend. I plan to help work it overnight into Sunday morning. I know quite a few of the entrants and it's also the 24 Hour National Championships. It should be fun. Fun for me because I'm not running!

Post Marathon Recovery Run

Recovery run? Yeah, right! I was hoping for just a couple-three easy miles but ended up being talked into mile repeats by Connie. After a nearly two and a half mile warm-up (during which I actually felt pretty good), we started. Mile one was around 7:00 or so. I don't know for sure because I hit the buttons in the wrong order on the GPS and it got all messed up. I didn't feel bad during that first mile. I was able to keep the pace, which left me pleasantly surprised.

The pack took off again with only a 200 meter recovery, which I forgot about and missed because I was talking with Dan, who was doing his own set of 800's. So I began my second rep half a lap behind everyone else. I was able to close the gap a little, but I never caught them. Just maintaining an even distance behind them was all I could muster.

Another short recovery and we were off again. With one important difference: There was nothing left in my legs. They just wouldn't do what I wanted them to do. Post-race exhaustion raised it's ugly head and won. I finished the mile, but at a very slow pace. Cool-down pace. And then I was done. Six miles in just under 50 minutes was the total. I wouldn't even call it a speed workout.

I should rest tonight but we're hitting the trails instead. You can bet I'm just going to take things easy though.

Speed Work, Solo Style

While I wasn't exactly "alone" at the track last night, I arrived after the ladies were already into their workout, so didn't join them. So I was running solo on the track, something I haven't done since last fall or winter. Maybe one of the snow runs in the dark in December or January. Either way, I wanted to get in a total of ten miles. So, as I'm doing my warm-up I try to do the math as to how many 800's I should do, combined with an adequate warm-up and cool-down. Oh, and don't forget the recovery laps!

So what I came with was a 2 mile warm-up, 8 X 800 meter repeats with 400 meter recoveries, and a 2 mile cool-down. I completed the slow warm-up in 19:09, which I thought was slow, but still caused me to get out of breath and begin sweating profusely. What I was to figure out eventually is that the humidity was about 70%! I just couldn't cool off last night.

The 800 repeats went well with times of: 3:13 / 3:16 / 3:09 / 3:06 / 3:09 / 3:10 / 3:12 / and 3:01. I put everything I had left into that last one. I didn't want anything coming home with me. And I felt it during the two mile cool-down. I was ready to stop after the first mile but pushed through to get my mileage in.

I'm looking to hit the trails again tonight, probably locally, just to get some off-road miles in. Then an off day tomorrow with runs of 10 and 20? this weekend. Just have to wait and see how those days shape up.

Track and Trails

First, the track. Tuesday both Clagget and the high school were in use and we didn't want to drive to Root to check there, so we headed home. Mrs. P went out for a run and I tried to get caught up on stuff. Bummer. Wednesday I was able to meet up with a small group for some 800 repeats. They were doing 9, but started before I arrived so I only managed 5. I was worried about what kind of times I would be able to maintain after a long vacation and was pleasantly surprised to land 3 out of 5 under three minutes. My splits were: 3:14 / 2:55 / 2:58 / 3:05 / and 2:53. Not bad at all considering the time I had taken off and how hot and humid it was that night. I plan on getting in a longer workout next week.

After speed work was over, we met up at Fiesta Jalapenos for dinner and margaritas. I can't say no to margaritas right now. They're my new favorite drink. These were tasty, but a little too sweet. I might need to try the next level up next time. I can do without the sweet-and-sour mix. A good margarita shouldn't need any mix at all. Just juice and alcohol.

Last night was trail night and I was all ready to head up to Hinckley to run for a couple hours. The problem came in the afternoon when the line of storms finally arrived. I was watching it approach for a couple hours, but it really sped up around 5:30. It hit us pretty hard with driving rain and gusty winds. Fortunately not much lightning and no hail. Still, I was glad to be in the house and not caught outside in it.

So a change of plans was in order. Ladd and I decided to meet in town at Reagan Park and run the mountain bike trails there. I knew of their existence but never considered running them before. I'm glad I tried them out on foot first before hitting them with my bike. They are very advanced trails and have more ups, downs, and turns than the single track in Hinckley. They were also pretty slick in spots, making planting a foot in the turns hazardous at times.

I ran for about 20 minutes before Ladd arrived, getting in only about a mile and a half. Then we ran for over an hour and a half on both sides of Reagan Parkway, getting in a little over 9 miles. All told I had 10.8 miles in 2:02. Those were some hot, humid, and tough miles. My right foot began giving me some problems about an hour and a half in. I don't know if it was the socks, the shoes, or just not running on trails in a while. I also noticed my ankles were bothering me. Those trails were so rutty and hard, maybe I was just getting beat up a bit. Although, I'm not terribly fond of the Brooks Cascadias above a certain amount of mileage, so I may have to look into finding some trail shoes that feel more like my road shoes. And I'll need to do that before the Bobcat Marathon.

A Quick Recap of the Week

Somewhat busy this week. Both at work and in training. I'm slammed at work trying to have parts done for 18 prototypes before I go on vacation in two weeks. I'm tapering, but still training hard, as I approach Steelhead next weekend.

At Tuesday's speed work we did 3 X 5:00 with about a three minute recovery. Then it was 1 X 4:00 / 3:00 / 2:00 / and 1:00. With warm-up and cool-down, a total of 8 miles.

Wednesday I hit the pool for 3/4 of a mile. I had only a limited amount of time, so I tried to do some "speed" intervals in the water. They weren't as successful as the one's I run at the track.

Thursday marked my return to the trails. I joined Connie, Roy, and Bob for a nice tour around the Hinckley Reservation. We were out for a little over two hours, so I'm guessing about 12 miles. Having rained all day, the single track trails were very muddy, and I made a mess of my shoes. Unfortunately the rain stopped before our run. We really could have used it to cut the humidity.

Finally, this afternoon, I hit the pool again for a long swim. I went for 1.5 miles in 1:08. My half mile splits were: 23:28 / 22:15 / and 22:12. I felt great during the swim, finding my rhythm quickly and holding it throughout. My splits really show that too. Each half mile interval was quicker than the one before it. I hope I'm ready for the swim at Steelhead!

Meeting Ladd and Chuck in the morning for a long run of 17 miles. Should be a nice morning for it. Rain is moving in, but not until later in the day. It's time for me to start thinking about marathon training again!

Oops, I Did it Again

I just registered for another marathon this year. But wait! This one's a little different. It's a trail marathon. It's also 3 weeks after Columbus. So, that will have me running 3 marathons within an eight week time span. Fun! Fun! Fun! This is the inaugural race and the field is limited to just 300 runners, so it should be a fun/different experience. Oh, did I mention the 2,000 feet of elevation gain and loss throughout the course? I didn't? I must have forgotten about that. I'm looking forward to this race come November 8.

In other news, had a decent time at the pool last night. It was pretty crowded when I arrived so I shared a lane with someone else. That really kept me from feeling comfortable and kept my times slow. I swam a mile with the first half in 29:48 and the second half in 27:12. Not great times, but I was happy to swim faster on the second half.

Tuesday night's speed work at the track was great. Somehow I busted out some fast times again. We did 800's and 200's this time. My 800 splits were: 2:57 / 2:54 / 2:57 / and 2:50. I still need to check my old times, but that 2:50 is faster than my fastest split last week by two seconds! My 200 splits were: :36 / :36 / :36 / and :33. I'm going to have to check on that last split and see how it compares to my old track times as well. I don't know where they keep coming from!

First Run of Summer

Last night's speed work was my first run this summer. And boy did it feel like summer! I think I even made that observation while we were running. It was HOT. Like 85 degrees, not a cloud in the sky, humid hot. Our workout was a little shorter due to the heat, but our times were still on the nice side. 8oo and 1200 meter repeats were on order with splits of: 3:09 / 4:59 / 3:06 / 5:01 / and 2:58. Add nearly 2.5 miles of warm-up (was a warm-up really necessary yesterday?) and just over a mile cool-down for a total of 7.8 miles. Good, solid heat miles. Those will come in handy later in the summer.

We had a great turnout too. Tons of people. Some I've never met before. I hope it stays like that all the way into the fall. A nice turnout helps keep motivation up while training for fall marathons. Did I say marathons? I guess I did. I'm considering adding the Erie Marathon in mid-September to my schedule as a tune-up for Columbus in mid-October. I'll be sure to update when I make a decision.

4 Days and Counting

Wendy's has really snuck up on me. I can't believe Tri number one is this weekend. So for a final week of preparation I hit the pool Monday night for a half mile with a short warm-up and even shorter cool-down. The summer hours at the Rec. are bad. Where I would have had up to two hours of pool time available, I only have one with the new hours. Oh well, I do what I can do. It went alright, for me anyway. I think my swimming ability is OK, but my breathing messes everything up. I'm going to try to work on that when I head back up there tonight.

I'm also awaiting delivery (I hope) of my wetsuit today. I need to check in on the UPS page to make sure it's still on time.

Last night was speed work night and what a turnout we had. That may have been the biggest showing since I started going last June. We ended up breaking into two groups. I think it worked out well. Our group did alternating 200 and 400 meter repeats. It was hot and humid and a tough workout. My splits were: :38 / 1:28 / :39 / 1:28 / :38 / 1:27 / :38 / 1:21 / :35. The 200 meter recovery between each repeat offered just enough time to catch my breath. We were pushing pretty hard! I could barely muster any strength at all for the cool down even. I was done. What a great workout! 6 miles total with warm-up and cool-down.

It should be a busy end of the week with hopefully 2 more trips to the pool, some trail running, getting the bike ready, getting the new wetsuit, and packing everything up to head down to Columbus this weekend.

Back to the Track

I finally made it back to the track last night after missing two weeks in a row. And it didn't hurt as much as I expected it to. I actually felt pretty good during a couple of the repeats. But not the last one.

After running 1.5 miles to the track, I joined the warm-up, already in progress, for nearly a mile more. Then it was time for 1,000 meter repeats with 200 meters recovery. The splits were: 3:57 / 4:02 / 4:01 / 3:58 / 3:48 / 3:44. I felt really good on the 5th repeat, finishing fast after a slow first lap. But that caught up to me on the final repeat, where I felt horrible but still managed to come in a little faster. My cool-down was running back home, another 1.5 miles. All told I logged 8.3 miles for the night. Which is good because now that I'm concentrating on bike/run bricks on the weekends, my long runs are going to have to come during the week.

Only 11 days until Wendy's!