Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Recap of week beginning 07-24-06:
Week 3
Skipped Monday's added run again. I have ramped up my mileage pretty quickly and don't want to do too much too soon. Maybe next week I will add it in.
Tuesday was supposed to be 8 miles with 4 at half marathon pace. I opened the door to head out and it was foggy/muggy/warm which worried me. I started out for a 2 mile warm up and felt pretty good. At 2 miles I sped up to "percieved" half mp and immediately couldn't breath. I stopped and walked to catch my breath, tried it again- same thing. I decided to run mile 3 at normal pace then try it again at mile 3. No go. I ended up trying to just run a good 8 mile run but it turned out to not really be that good of a run. I was glad to get it over with. My legs were tired and sore the rest of the day. I almost physically got sick during the run and felt like I could "lose my lunch" at any time for most of the day.
Wed- had a pretty good 6 mile run at recovery pace. I didn't care about pace- I just ran and enjoyed the cooler morning. My hamstrings are still sore for some reason. Amazing how the same temp can feel so much different from day to day just because of humidity differences.
Thurs- 10 mile run went ok. My legs got heavy around mile 5 and I walked a little in the late miles but no longer than I would if I had been walking through water stops in a race.
Fri- rest day. Feel like I am coming down with a head cold.
Sat- woke up early to go run and felt liek crap. I rolled back over and went back to sleep thinking the extra sleep would do me good. Woke up later feeling about the same but went out for a 3 mile run. Left shortly after that to go to the lake house for some relaxation. Planned on running my long run while at the lake but it never happened. I felt pretty guilty for missing my long run (14 miles) which is a good thing. I didn't feel much guilt when missing runs for my last race. I want to run these days so hopefully that means I am getting the fire back. I want to run a good race this fall. My total for the week was 27 miles which I am disappointed in, but in retrospect, that was one of my high weeks when training for my last race. Also- I am going to try to go back to running 6 days a week this week, so I will just look at last week as a step back week going in to harder weeks.


Mon- rest day
Tues- 8 miles
Wed- 6 miles
Thurs- 10 miles
Fri- rest day
Sat- 3 miles
Sun- missed 14 mile run

Total - 27 miles

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Recap of week begining 07-17-06
week 2
Monday was an added run of 6 miles but it didn't happen. I was still really dehydrated and tired from Sunday's 12 miler, so I decided to skip the mileage and use the rest.
Tuesday's 8 miles with 100M pick ups was a pretty good run. My legs swithced back and forht of feeling good then feeling tired. I eneded up taking a couple of walk breaks for water in mile 5 and one in mile 7. As the day went on Tuesday I didn't really feel (leg wise) like I had run 8 miles in the morning- that is a good feeling to have.
I ran the added run of 6 miles on Wed. About 2 miles in to the run my legs loosened up nicely and the rest of the run just seemed to flow.... what a good feeling.
Thursday called for a 10 mile run. I woke up a little late and thought about cutting it short, but not for long. I decided if need be I would just be alittle late to work. This run picked up where yesterday's run left off. Everything seemed to just flow. I didn't want to push my luck to much but since I was feeling good I brought he pace down to close to marathon pace for the last 2 miles. Everything fely pretty good- my breathing got a little harder than I would have liked but the legs responded pretty well.
Friday is a rest day.
I woke up Saturday morning to Thunder and rain, so I rolled back over and went to sleep. Due to plans for the day I ended up doing my 6 miles today and moved my 13 miles to Sunday. I was shocked at this 6 mile run. I actually had a run like I used to have 3 years ago- fast and effortless. I knew I was pushing the pace a bit but didn't realize how much. All smiles afterwards.
I went to the park for Sunday's 13 miles and sat in the truck for 20 minutes as another thunderstorm came through. Finally when it was only sprinkling I started the run. Got to about 3.5 miles and the I saw the rain comiung across the football field and high tailed it for the pavillion. Another 25 minute delay while waiting on the thunderstorm to move through. I finished up the 8.5 in sunny/humid weather. Wierd weather. Even with the couple of breaks my splits were very consistent, although a little slower than I wanted but my goal was to have a good long run and come out of it feeling encouraged- which I did.


Mon- rest day
Tues- 8 miles w/ 100M pickups
Wed- 6 miles
Thurs- 10 miles
Fri- Rest day
Sat- 6 miles
Sun- 13 miles

Total - 43 miles

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Recap of week- 07-10-06
Week 1
The training program for Richmond started on Monday, 07-10-06. I am going to use the Pfitzinger 55 mileage program that I altered to add more miles to for this race. I toyed with the idea of using the 70 miles/week plan but decided given my lack of training the last couple of years that I would be better to use the 55+ program for this race then bump to the 70 plan for my next race if I felt like it. Plus, I figured out 4-6 weeks where I can run some doubles and get to the 70 mile mark using the program I am.
On the "book" schedule Monday's are a rest/CC training day but I added a 6 mile to every Monday to add mileage. In week 1, Wed. is also a rest/CC day, but I added a 6 mile run to that day also.
I eneded up over sleeping Monday and had errands to run at lunch so I didn't do the run. Tuesday called for 7 miles w/10x100M pickups. Run went very well. Wed. was supposed to eb a rest/CC day but I ran 6 miles- pretty non-eventful.
Thursday called for 9 miles. This run was horrible from the start. I walked out of the door and was hit by a blanket of humidity. I weighed before I started my run, drank a 20 oz. bottle of H2O before heading out, drank 20 oz. while on the run, and about 10 oz. when I got back to the house afterwards. I weighed again and was 4 lbs. lighter. I knew I was sweating bad but not that bad.
On this run, it seemed like everytime a car was coming towards me there was a car in the other lane and they were side by side when they passed me. Why does this happen at 4:30-5:00 in the morning. Why are there so many cars out at that time of the day? Then- I saw a guy come out of his house, jump in his truck, start it up, immediately put it in reverse and fly back in to the road and take off. When I saw him backing up I crossed to the opposite side of the road and off to the grass. He still came within 3 feet of me. Yea- I yelled "Good Morning" to him. He just took off and sped off.
When I finally finished the run I was looking at my splits and somehow deleted them. I had the overall time already but it kind of ticked me off. Even though it was a bad run I was able to bring my average pace by about 25 seconds from mile 3 to mile 9 and wanted to see what my splits were and how progressively even they were.
Friday was a rest day.
Saturday's plans to get up early and get out for a 12 mile run didn't happen. I got up early but it was because Glenn woke up 1 1/2 hours earlier than normal so I got up with him. Got out for a 4 mile run later in the middle of the afternoon.
I endedup having to do my 12 mile run mid afternoon Sunday. Temp was 95 degrees. At 2.5 miles I started taking a water stop every mile. Then in the last couple of miles it went to every 1/2 mile. I almost stopped at 11 but went and ahead and finished it out and completed 12. I didn't weigh before I went out so I don't know the exacts- but I weighed before showering and I was about 6 lbs. under what I was on Friday when I weighed. All water weight!!! And I drank a lot of water before, during, and after the run.

Mon- over slept- no run
Tues- 7 miles w/ 100M pickups
Wed- 6 miles
Thurs- 9 miles
Fri- Rest day
Sat- 4 miles
Sun- 12 miles

Total- 38 miles

Monday, July 10, 2006

Recap - week of 07-03-06:
I took the entire week off of work for the first time since I can't rememember when. My plans were to have a very relaxing week and get a little running in. The 18 week program for Richmond starts on July 10, and I wanted to go in to it relaxed and rested.
I ran a 5K on the 4th of July that I run annually. This is the worst I have done in it but that was to be expected. I have come to grips that the 15-20 extra lbs. I am carrying right now are really affecting my speed and have started really watching what and how much I eat and drink. That, along with the increased intensity of the program should give me some positive results in that area.
I kept Glenn out of day care Wed, Thurs., and Fri. and just had Father/Son time for 3 days and it was awesome. Cut in to my running a little but with my planned step back week it didn't really bother me.

Mon- rest day
Tues- 4.1 miles (1 mile warm up/strides + 5K)
Wed- 3 miles pushing Glenn in the running stroller
Thurs- no run
Fri- 6 miles pushing Glenn in the running stroller
Sat- 6 miles at Stone Mtn.
Sun- no run

Total- 19.1

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Week of 06-26-06:
I am trying to get back in to serious base building and running to get ready for my fall race. When training for Green Bay I had 3 weeks of just under/over 40 miles and then got sick and never got back in to training. I kind of played aroudn with training and made it through Green Bay. I want to get back to serious training and see what I can do. I am not sure what program I will do yet and what mileage I want to run. I had been thinking of Pfitzinger 70 mile/18 week program but some of intimidates the heck out of me. I could use the Pfitzinger 55 program with added runs that I used for a few races. But I want to try to get my mileage up over that a little, so I will look for something that is suitable. WIth that in mind I may be adding doubles to some of my weeks so I am going to add some here and there. I did one double on Tuesday just to see how it felt with a run in the morning and then one at lunch. It wasn't too bad until I had been sitting at my desk all afternoon and my legs stiffened a bit. Other than that I felt good and strong all week.
Had a great 12 mile run at Stone Mountain Saturady morning. I haven't run out there since before Green Bay- it was nice to get back out to the hills.
We left Saturday evening to go to the lake for 4 days Saturday p.m. I tried a new 6 mile route at the lake. I knew it was hilly where I was going to run but didn't realizt it was continuous 1/2 - 1 mile ups and down- no flats. I think once I am back to where I want to be condition wise I will really like that route.
I am probably ramping my miles up too fast but I am hoping that my muscle memory will take over and all will be good. We'll see. I am getting a slight touch of PF I think, but that has been going on off and on since the Knoxville Half Marathon in March.

Mon- Rest day
Tues- A.M.- 6 miles
P.M.- 3 miles
Wed- A.M.- 6 miles
P.M.- upper body/core weights
Thurs- 6 miles
Fri- Rest day
Sat- 12 miles
Sun- 6 miles

Total- 39 miles