Weekly Training: January 24 - 30

(The graphic is from my page at dailymile.com.)


This was better than the previous week, but still just trying to hang on to as much conditioning as possible while this knee continues to recover.  It looks like a lot of miles, but only six of Saturday's eleven were running; the rest were cycling.  However, the cycyling was much less knee strain, and I'll take what I can get.

Don't get me wrong.  Cycling is great, it's just not comparable mile-to-mile with running.  With that in mind, instead of substituting cyling miles for running miles, I substituted cycling minutes for running miles at a ratio of 10 minutes of hard cycling for each scheduled running mile.  The rationale for this conversion was based on run training at roughly 10 minutes/mile.

By the end of the week, knee soreness was gradually improving, and I'm optimistic about working more running miles back into the mix.  Daily yoga practice is now up to 156 days.

YTD: 98.2 miles running, 104.3 miles cycling, 202.5 miles total.

Weekly Training: January 17 - January 23

(The graphic is from my page at dailymile.com.)

A pathetic week, five miles on the bike Monday and a six mile run Saturday.  I had rested a sore right knee since for a week and it felt pretty good, but soreness and a little swelling developed after Saturday's run.  I'll have to allow more recovery time.  I'm also forced to consider the possibility of dropping out of my March 12 marathon. 

I tried to maintain the activity I could, and continued with normal schedule of weights, core and yoga, even investing extra time to these activities.  My daily yoga practice is up to 149 days.

YTD: 91.9 miles running, 36.8 miles cycling, 128.7 miles total.

Weekly Training: January 10 - January 16

(The graphic is from my page at dailymile.com.)


Week: 28.09 miles running, 10.0 miles cycling, 38.09 miles total.

Lowlight:  Sore knee condition, cancelled Thursday run.  Soreness was gone by Saturday morning, but returned after Saturday's run.  Cancelled Sunday run.

Training Tip Thursday

"Do you know your maximum heart rate? formulas don't work for everybody, meaning. One way to determine maximum heart rate is to measure your heart rate in the last 90 seconds of a race where you have sprinted all-out for the tape. If your heart rate hits a peak, then flat-lines for that length of time, that should offer you an accurate reading."

Hal Higdon's Tip of the Day, January 11, 2010, http://www.facebook.com/halhigdon

Weekly Training: January 3 - January 9

(The graphic is from my page at dailymile.com.)


Week: 40.08 miles running, 26.8 miles cycling, 66.88 miles total.

Highlight: 20 mile run, 1/8/11.

Marathon Training - 20 Mile Run

20 Miles - 03:24:00 - 10:11 minutes/mile pace

My original plan was to run 10 miles today and 20 tomorrow. However, with 90% forecast of thunderstorms for all day tomorrow, I wanted to make sure I got my LSD run completed.  I moved the 20 miler to today, and I'll take whatever I can get tomorrow.

This run went pretty well. I planned to try to keep it a little slower, on the high side of 10:30, but I had to keep pulling myself back in the first couple of miles. I finally settled into a comfortable stride around 10:14 pace and cruised in that neighborhood through about 12 miles. I struggled a little in the low and mid teens, caught a little second wind at about 17 miles, and finished feeling good. Mile splits: 10:53, 9:59, 10:09, 10:15, 10:10, 10:13, 10:15, 10:12, 10:19, 10:15, 10:15, 10:08, 10:25, 10:23, 10:28, 10:26, 10:18, 10:06, 9:39, 9:21. More stats at http://connect.garmin.com/activity/62495323

Weekly Training: December 27 - January 2

(The graphic is from my page at dailymile.com.)

Not as tough of a week as it appears by the graph.  Actually kind of a "stepback" week in marathon training, with fewer running miles, but 20+ cycling miles inflates the total.

Runs: 6/8/3 miles Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday, a 3.3 mile race Saturday, and a 14.4 mile long run Sunday.  Cycling miles: 5.1/5.61/5.75/5.6 Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday/Friday.  For the week, 35.77 miles running, 22.06 miles cycling, 57.83 miles total.

Race Review - Resolution Run 5K

Resolution Run 5K Run
3.26 miles,  27:19, 8:23 pace

Nice local 5K to start the new year. 27:19 clock time/27:23 Garmin time. Finished 38th overall, won't know the number of the field until web posting later. The event's Facebook page says "about 160" No PR, 1:45 behind my best. Saw local dailymilers Tammy H., Shauna A., William F.(running barefoot!), Jeremy F.(in VFF's), and John F. Perfect temps for running, low 50's and low humidity, although north wind was gusting to almost 30 mph. Stayed ahead of PR pace through 2 miles, but finishing into strong headwind made for a slower finish. Splits were upside down, as the turn into the headwind started at 1.55 miles.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/61408059

A 2010 Running Retrospective

2010 Miles – Running: 1,900.3; Cycling: 474.75, Total: 2,375.05.

2010 Goals:
Run 1,500 miles – Done. October 30, 2010.
First marathon – Done. May 1, 2010, 4:45.
PR half marathon <2hrs – Logged PR 2:04; missed target time. December 11, 2010
PR 10K race – Missed this one by 2:24. My 2009 54:29 still stands.
PR 5K race – Done. 25:34, beat previous 26:41. May 15, 2010

2011—Bring It On!



Weekly Training: December 20 - 26

(The graphic is from my page at dailymile.com.)

A mixed bag this week, some great stuff and some not so great.

Monday - Rested the legs.  Weights and Yoga.
Tuesday - Running,  6.12 mi 00:59 09:34 pace.  A comfortable run, followed by a short yoga practice.
Wednesday - Running, 8.1 mi 01:26 10:35 pace  Ugly run.  Struggled all the way.  Weights and yoga.
Thursday - Hill Repeats, 6.37 mi 01:05 10:07 pace - Struggling in the recent hilly half marathon told me I need hills in my otherwise flat terrain training.  There are no hills in my area.  Ran about a mile from my home to the nearest rail overpass, over and back seven times for about four miles of hill simulations, fourteen uphills and fourteen downhills, and back home again.  Followed with a short yoga practice.
Friday: Rested the legs. Weights and Yoga.
Saturday - Running, 8.42 mi 01:19 09:22 pace.  A nice Christmas morning run.   Ran from home to the Gulf Terrace Hike & Bike Trail, 2 laps on the trail, and back home. Followed with a short yoga practice.
Sunday - Long run, 16.3 mi 02:44 10:03 pace.  Ran a long tour of the city's west end (http://connect.garmin.com/activity/60675196).  Tired at the end, but recovered quickly. Followed with a short yoga practice.

Running Miles - YTD: 1,882.3; Month: 144.0, Week: 45.3.  Personal daily yoga practice now at 121 consecutive days.

Weekly Training: December 13 - 19

(The graphic is from my page at dailymile.com.)

This week started poorly and ended well.  After resting Monday, I struggled through my midweek runs, experiencing lingering soreness from the December 11 half marathon.

I'm totally accustomed to the half marathon distance.  I run a similar distance almost every week in training, and it doesn't faze me.  However, after the half marathon race, I had considerable soreness deep in the lower abdominal muscles.  I attribute the difference to the hills on the half marathon route; I train in an area that is almost completely flat.  Because of the soreness, I ran Tuesday, Wedesday and Thursday comparatively slowly and never found a smooth running rhythm. Finally, after after another rest day Friday, I had a great 10+ miler Saturday, pushing the pace, calling it my "long-ish" pace run.  Sunday, I ran the same distance and route more slowly, calling it my weekly "long" run.

I had my fun.  I ran two races in the last three weeks.  In the process of extra pre-race rest and post-race recovery, my weekly mileage slipped from the 50 mile range into the 30s for four weeks.   Now, it's time to get in serious training mode, build miles, and get ready for my March 12 marathon race.

This marathon training cycle "officially" started in early November, with a modification of the same 18-week training plan I used for this year's marathon.  To date, I have not paid much attention to the schedule, because my routine runs follow the same general pattern, and my routine mileage has been higher than that in the first 6 or 7 weeks of the training plan.  The training plan builds mileage from week to week, so I intended to just pick it up when the plan's mileage caught up with my current in the 6 to 8 week range.

My plan will be a modified version of Hal Higdon's Intermediate 2 program.  I plan to add a few miles to it, to raise the peak weeks from 50 miles to about 55 miles, and to build to the 20-mile runs earlier, allowing me to put four 20 milers in the schedule instead of three.

Running miles- YTD: 1,836.9; Month: 98.7; Week: 40.4.

Training Tip Thursday

Running form: Can you change it? Yes, but maybe you should not. We run the way we run because we run that way. Particularly for new runners, as you continue to train your form will continue to improve, particularly as the muscles that propel you get stronger. Relax, and let running come to you rather than you going to it.

A Hal Higdon "Tip of the Day" from his Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/halhigdon

Weekly Training: December 6 - 12

(The graphic is from my page at dailymile.com.)

This was intended to be an easy week, to taper into Saturday's half marathon race.  Weekday runs were short.  I pushed on Monday's run, with four miles at tempo pace, then ran five, three and three at easy pace and a day off before the race.  The race went pretty well, considering we had another unseasonably warm day on race day.  Details are contained in a separate post.  On Sunday following the race, I met up with a local road running group for their weekly group run.

Running miles - YTD: 1.796.5; Month: 58.3; Week: 34.7.

Race Review - Swamp Stomp Half Marathon, Lake Charles, LA

Swamp Stomp Half Marathon - 13.1 miles - 2:04:19 (9:29 pace)

This was a tough run. I didn't quite make my sub-2 hour goal, but it was still an official PR. Slightly disappointing, considering I ran four trial halfs in training between 1:52 and 1:58, but the trials were all in 30 to 50 degree temps, and today's weather brought unseasonably warm and humid mid 70 temps with gusty south winds.


I actually feel pretty good about the results, probably the best this day could yield for me. Unlike Thanksgiving Day’s 10K fiasco when I went out way too fast and crashed early, I think I had a reasonable pace strategy. I wanted to ease into it it, find a good rhythm and build gradually, averaging about 9:00 pace. My plan was to run the first mile at 9:30, the second mile at 9:15, the third at 9:00, and cruise the rest of the way between 8:50 and 9:00. I stuck to the plan fairly well through 8 miles, but could never quite find that sub-9:00 cruising zone. Splits through 8 were 9:28, 9:16, 9:02, 9:04, 8:57, 9:04, 9:05, 9:07. From there, it got ugly. and my goal became just holding on enough to finish without walking. Miles 9 through 12 were: 9:32, 10:06, 10:59, and 10:50. I tried to pull together what I had left at the beginning of 13, but my left calf cramped when I pushed too much, and all I could manage was 9:32 the rest of the way.

Overall, it was a good event in a beautiful setting. I met up with local dailymilers Tammy H, Shauna A, Jeremy F, and WiIlliam F.

Training Tips Thursday - Marathon Success

From a Hal Higdon "Tip of the day:

"Building mileage is essential for success as a runner regardless of racing distance. Gradually increasing mileage loads over three or four months seems to work best. But how many miles a week? A high of about 35 seems adequate to finish a marathon, 55 miles to finish well."

http://www.facebook.com/halhigdon

This kind of defines the difference in how I look at my upcoming second marathon, compared to my first.  On my first, my focus was on finishing.  I finished, and finished respectably, for a first effort.  I took quite a few short walk breaks between 20 and 26.  For my second, I want to finish well.  I'd like to complete the whole distance on the run.  I want to finish feeling strong instead of struggling to survive.

Weekly Training: November 29 - December 5

(The graphic is from my page at dailymile.com.)

This was a transitional week.  I ran one last half-marathon tune-up  Tuesday, running under my 2 hour race target at 1:58:56.  Following this, I let myself take extra leg rest logging sixes and a five at easy pace.
Running miles - YTD: 1,761.9; Month: 23.6; Week: 36.7.

Weekly Training: November 22 - 28

(The graphic is from my page at dailymile.com.)

Thanksgiving week, my focus was the Turkey Trot 10K race on Thursday morning.  I rested my legs Monday as usual, ran one last speed tuneup Tuesday, 4 miles at 8:18 pace.  This was pretty close to my target pace for the race, a target that I didn't maintain on race day.  I rested my legs an extra day Wednesday to be fresh for Thursday.  Thursday, I ran a warmup mile before the race, and Raced 6.2  miles (see separate race report).
After the race, I ran four, six, and eight on Friday, Saturday and Sunday to transition back into a more normal following training week.

Running miles - YTD: 1,725.2; Month: 163.0; Week: 29.3.

Race Report - Turkey Trot 10K Race

(Early in the race.  I'm just over the left shoulder of #469)

20th Annual Turkey Trot 10K at Tyrell Park - 6.2 miles, 56:53, 09:10 minutes/mile pace

I had high hopes for setting a new 10K PR at this year's Turkey Trot.  My best existing official 10K time was 54:29 (8:47 pace), at this event in 2009.  In general, my running is stronger and quicker than last year.  Based on my October and November training runs, I really expected to be able to finish at around 52 minutes, or 8:20 pace.

No PR was to be had on this day.   Firstly, I do not run my best in warm weather.  The average temperature for all of my runs in November was about 53 degrees (F).  However, temperature for this race was unseasonably warm, in the mid-70s, very humid, and windy. When I ran well in this race in 2009, it was 39 degrees.  Huge difference. By mid way, I'd even pulled my shirt of to try to stay cooler.

I can't blame the results entirely on the weather, either.  I didn't run a smart race tactically.  As my longer runs have increased in length, 6.2 miles feels like a fairly short run.  I went into this race overconfident, and didn't respect the distance or the weather.  I didn't employ a pace strategy at all, went out WAY too fast for the weather, and burned out early.  My mile splits were: 7:44, 8:17, 9:15, 10:14, 10:07, 9:31, 1:43 (0.2).

This was still a great local event, with over 850 runners this year, a record turnout. I got to meet up with local dailymilers Jeremy F, William F, Tammy H, Evan A, Tara C, Daniel F. And still much to be grateful for on this day.

Weekly Training: November 15 - 21, A Recovery Week

(The graphic is from my page at dailymile.com.)

This week was all about recovery.  After six consecutive weeks of increasing mileage, fatigue became a factor, and I planned a lighter week this week.

I kept the runs pretty easy all week, shortening the distances and reducing the intensity.  I skipped the mile intervals, and a run at tempo pace Thursday was the only quicker-paced run all week.

I thought I could cut back from the 50's to about 40 miles, but late in the week, it became apparent that 40 was too much.  I struggled Saturday, and cut an intended 13 miler back to 8.  By Sunday morning, I started feeling some energy in my legs again, but instead of running long, I opted to keep it light another day.  This turned out to be just what I needed.  I had a good 7.5 miles at a comfortable pace, and finally feel 100% again.  Now, I should be in good shape to run the 10K Turkey Trot race on Thanksgiving morning.

Sunday's run was a nice change of pace.  Instead of my usual long, solitary run, I met up with the local Exygon Fitness Center's Road Runner group for their weekly group run.  I actually started a little earlier, running to a local park, and then to the gym where the group meets.  I've run with the group on a couple of occasions, and know several members.  They run an out-and-back route that totals eight miles.  Runners turn around and return from different points along the way, depending on their intended distance.  The runners tend to fall into groups of similar pace.  There was no way I could keep up with the lead group and paced with Brad, a runner I hadn't met before, slightly behind the lead group.  Brad turned around at the midway point for a four mile run, and I continued solo, catching up to the lead group as they rested a few moments before turning around at the midway point for 6 miles.  They ran a little easier on the way back, and I managed to keep up without pushing too hard. 

They had a very good turnout of runners Sunday, as a local magazine was there to do a feature on local runners.  Our local marathon's site had posted this in advance, encouraging a good showing of local runners for the feature.  The group runs this route near my neighborhood  every Sunday morning.  Most weeks I pass them goiing the opposite direction on my route.  so this was a good opportunity to meet a few of the runners that I wave to on the way by every week.  I met one runner, Celeste, who visits my blog.  Thanks, Celeste!   It's always nice to know that there are people out there reading it!

Running miles - YTD:  1,695.9; November: 133.7; Week: 29.5.
Daily yoga streak still going at 86 days!

Weekly Training: November 8 - 14, Another Record Week!

Graphic is from my page at dailymile.com.


One more record week - 53.1 running miles, beating my previous best week of 51.1 miles last week.  This week's highlights included a third half marathon trial Saturday, and an 20-mile long run Sunday.  I struggled toward the end of this week.  I had to push harder than I should have to maintain pace on the Thursday, Saturday and Sunday runs.

Today was my weekly long run.  I hadn't run twenty or more since May, and I'd been wanting get back to that level. This may not have been the best day for it, since I struggled a little on Thursday's and Saturday's runs.  It wasn't pretty, but it's done. The first fourteen were OK, but the last six got pretty tough. Good training on the mental game.  Easy pace that went downhill toward the end: 10:24, 10:00, 10:14, 10:00, 10:14, 10:06, 10:15, 9:56, 10:02, 9:27, 10:17, 10:04, 10:16, 9:46, 10:15, 10:26, 10:47, 10:48, 10:48, 10:57.   I felt much better at the end of last Sunday's 18-miler than I did at 18 today.

Saturday was a third half marathon tune-up.  On the previous Saturday, running this same course at 8:37 pace seemed almost too easy. Today was a struggle to get average pace around nine. Splits: 9:40, 9:07, 9:14, 8:49, 9:06, 8:57, 9:05, 8:54, 8:55, 8:44, 8:57, 8:49, 8:16, 0:56 (0.1).

Weekday runs were 6 mile repeats at 8:02 pace Tuesday morning, and easy 8 miles at 9:25 pace Wednesday morning, and a 6 mile tempo run at 8:37 pace Thursday morning.

Same weights schedule: chest and biceps Monday, shoulders and legs Wednesday, and back and triceps Friday.

Struggling on the last 3 runs of the week tells me that I need to cut a few miles out of next week's schedule.  My normal pattern is to run a slightly lighter week after every 2 or 3 heavy weeks, and it's been 6 weeks since I've had a lighter week.  I'm overdue.

Running miles - YTD: 1,666; November: 104.2, Week: 53.1.
My daily yoga streak is at 78 days!