ING Georgia training- week 10

I am in the 2nd half of the training now and in the harder part of the program. This week didn't start off like I wanted as I tweaked my knee on my Tuesday morning run, but as has been the case in the past, luckily I recovered quickly.

Mon- rest day

Tues- 4 miles in cloudy, cold windy conditions. At about the 2 mile mark I noticed the back of my knee (right above the calf) really starting to hurt. I finished the run and by the time I had gotten to work it was hurting pretty badly and stiff feeling.

Wed- got up with my knee still hurting so I thought I would change my Thurs. 4 mile run with today's 9 mile run. I got out and made it about 15 steps and stopped and went back inside. As the day wore on my knee started feeling a little better so when I got home from work I went out for a quick 4 miles. There was a little pain and stiffness but I was able to complete the run.

Thurs- Another cold windy morning. Ran yesterday's 9 miles today. Overall a pretty slow run as I didn't want to push it on my knee too much even though it was feeling much better.

Fri- rest day

Sat- 19 miles at Stone Mtn. This run started off really smoothly and was feeling good through the first 10 miles. Miles 11-13 were "ok", then I started struggling mentally for the last 6 miles. The last 6 were really slow, methodical miles just trying to get through them and get finished. Around miles 5-6 a cyclist came up beside me and saw my DWD shirt and said he had run the 50K twice. Talking to this guy helped me get through the worst hills before I really realized it.

Sun- 9 miles at Stone Mtn. In the middle of the afternoon it 40 degrees with a wind chill of 29. I think the winds were 20-25 mph and gusts up to 35 mph. There were a couple of hills that I was in to the wind on that I had to walk up. There is a set of 3 hills near my finishing point that I used to have to walk on some. I have yet to walk any at all on these hills through out this whole training program. I knew I was going to be in to the wind going up these hills and thought I may have to walk some. I hit the hills and ran them very slow and just kept moving- finally at the top and a small victory for this run that even with the wind I didn't walk on the hills.

Mon- rest day
Tues- a.m.- 4 miles
p.m.- upper body weights
Wed- 4 miles
Thurs- a.m. 9 miles
p.m.- upper body weights
Fri- rest day
Sat- 19 miles
Sun- 9 miles

Total- 45 miles

ING Georgia Training- week 9

This was a recovery week.
Monday was a rest day.

Tuesday- A.M.- Woke up to a rainy morning but it was warm (50*) so it wasn't too bad.
P.M.- Upper body weights

Wed.- The cold front that was causing the rain and wind yesterday morning has come through. This morning's run was with 32* and cloudy conditions. I overdressed a little and knew within the first mile of the run but decided I would rather be hot than cold so I finished out the 9 miles.

Thurs- a.m. -The weather was very iffy for this run. We were right on the line for bad weather vs. "ok" weather. Nothing ever materialized really. It was 29* with rain/sleet mixture for this mornings 4 miles.
p.m.- upper body weights

Fri- rest day.

Sat- 12 miles on the 1.2 mile loop at the park near my house. Run went ok but ran a little too fast on some of the early laps again. Didn't really worry about it since I was only running 12. Other than those couple of miles I had very even splits through out the run.

Sun- Had a 9 miler on the schedule today. Got home after church and had a basketball game at 2:00 p.m. Got home around 3:30 from that and it was raining pretty hard and the temp was 38* (wind chill of 30*). I had been cold all day and just couldn't get the motivation to get out in that weather for 9 miles. I kept telling myself if I would just get out there and start that it would be fine but in the end stayed home and watched a movie with Kathy. This was my first missed/skipped run of the program and it came at the end of the 9th week so I guess that is good considering my last 5-6 traning programs I missed runs with in the first 3 weeks and spiralled down from there.


Recap-
Mon- rest day
Tues- a.m.- 4 miles
p.m.- Upper body weights
Wed.- 9 miles
Thurs- a.m.- 4 miles
p.m.- upper body weights
Fri- rest day
Sat- 12 miles
Sun- skipped 9 mile run

Total- 29 miles

ING Georgia Training - Week 8

Monday was, as usual, my rest day.

Tueday-woke up to a very clear, 34 degree morning. I don't like cold weather and thought I was going to freeze but it acutally felt good while I was out running. I don't know what I did but when I finished running the muscle that runs up the left side of my spine was hurting- and by the time I left for work an hour later was worse and hurt all day. At lunch I went to gym to see if I could do my weight work out. I went down in weight for this work out and tried to use it as a way to stretch my muscles a little rather than work them out.

Wed- had 8 miles on the schedule for today but wasn't sure I was going to be able to run with the way my back was still hurting when I woke up. I went out with the idea that I would start and if it was too bad I would switch Thurs.'s 4 miler with today and do my 8 tomorrow to heal a little more. I started out and there was no pain so I got in a good 8. It is really weird. To walk, to sit, to turn/twist hurts, to run doesn't.

Thurs- another cold morning. Got out for a 4. I ran this one in my subdivision instead of heading out on the surrounding roads. I am getting really tired of all of the cars that are out. The number of cars that are out at 4:30-5:00 a.m. is incredible.

Fri- rest day

Sat- I ran my 17 miler late in the afternoon due to our basketball game at 10:00 a.m. Also- I ran at the park by my house instead of Stone Mountain. A 1.2 mile loop..... 17 miles..... I was almost dizzy when I was finished. Great for mental concentration work though. I ran the first few miles too fast and thought I would pay for it in the end. It wasn't too bad. I had a rough couple of miles around 13/14 but was able to pick it back up.

Sun- 8 miles at the same park. I am tired of seeing this 1.2 loop. I don't have to see it until next Sunday so hopefulyl I won't mind getting back on it for my run next Sunday.

Mon- rest day
Tues- a.m. - 4 miles
p.m.- weight work out
Wed- 8 miles
Thurs- a.m. - 4 miles
p.m.- weight work out
Fri- rest day
Sat- 17 miles
Sun- 8 miles

Total - 41 miles

ING Georgia Training- Week 7
I bounced back strong after ending last week on a tired note. My weight is cmoing down and my conditioning is improving. I am actually getting excited about the marathon coming up in March but there is still a lot of time and training to do before then.

Mon- Much needed rest day.
Tues- Got up and went to the gym before work and did my upper body weigth work out for the day then ran my 4 mile run at lunch. I was excited to see the pace that I ran today.
Wed- ran my 8 mile run before work. Again, another run where I felt great when I was finished. Ran about the same pace as I did in yesterday's 4 miler.
Thurs- 4 miles before work then upper body weight work out at lunch.
Fri- rest day
Sat- 17 miles at Stone Mtn. I had 16 on the schedule but mis calculated my route so I ended up adding a mile. Not really a big deal. I can tell that I am really getting my conditioning back. The hills on the back side of the big loop that I was running have been a struggle for me the last couple of years but I cruised up them on both loops on Sat. I couldn't believe how it felst that it took little energy to get up these hills. My pace for the long run was slower than I have been runnign them so maybe that helped with not feeling tired- but I think that is how a long run should feel.
Sun- 8 miles of very consistent pace. Except for the first mile which is always a little slower for me due to being a warm up mile all of the miles were within 7 seconds of each other.

Looking back at the past 7 weeks and the progress I have made physically and mentally I know that I made the right decision going back to the program that I am using.

Mon- rest day
Tues- a.m.- upper body weights
p.m.- 4 miles
Wed- 8 miles
Thurs- a.m.- 4 miles
p.m.- upper body weights
Fri- rest day
Sat- 17 miles
Sun- 8 miles

Total- 41 miles

Week 6- ING Georgia Marathon training
I was off from work all week and moved my schedule back a day because of travel during Christmas so I ended up running 5 days in a row which I am not accustomed to doing. 3 of those days I pushed Glenn in the running stroller. He loves it and by the 3rd day got up in the morning asking me if we could go running that day.

Wed- Glenn made it through the first 3 miles talking non-stop then slept for the final 4 miles of this run. When we were finished I woke him up and he wanted to run more.
Thurs- the 3 mile run felt pretty good. I expected to be tired from pushing Glenn yesterday but wasn't.
Fri- ended up stopping at 4. Thought about running 6 but decided to stop due to 10 miler scheduled for Saturday.
Sat- 10 miles at Stone Mtn. I can honestly say that this was my worst run in the last 6 weeks. I was tired mentally and physically which isn't good during a step back week. I stopped to regroup around mile 6 and then finished up. I think I pushed it too hard up the last set of hills because when I stopped I got dizzy and a little disoriented. After about 5 minutes I got my legs back under me.
Sunday- had 7 scheduled but stopped at 4. I felt pretty good mentally but was just out of it physically. I was about 65-90 seconds slpow per mile and decided it would be better to stop and relax for the upcoming week.

Mon- no run- Christmas
Tues- no run- travel
Wed- 7 miles pushing Glenn
Thurs- 3 miles pushing Glenn
Fri- 4 miles pushing Glenn
Sat- 10 miles at Stone Mtn
Sun- 4 miles

Total- 28 miles

Annual total- 1140.4. This is way down from 2003 and 2004 but up significantly from 2005. I didn't have a goal for miles this year and am happy with the total.