Sunday, June 22, 2008

Week in Review

Today I started training for the Triple Lakes 40 Mile. it was a good week, and having something for which to train makes all the difference in the world.

Let me see...

M- rest
Tu- 6
W- 6.25
Th- 8.25
F- 9.0
Sa- rest
Su- 6.75

Total of 36.25 miles in 5:24:14; an average pace of 8:57. it's a lot easier to run these days with heat only being in the 80s.

My plan for next week is to run 38-40 miles, all things going well. I have my VO2 max test on Thursday, which may screw up my group run with Godiva. But thems the breaks. If I'm lucky, I might be able to get there in time to catch up, if I push hard enough. I will almost certainly catch them on the way back, if everything goes well. If the test doesn't take too much out of me.

I guess that'll be my speed workout. I might do some speed play between now and then. But only a few pick ups just to remind my body that it can go fast.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

VO2 max with LT

So I signed up for a VO2 max test with lactate balance. They may even be able to hook me up to a EKG for kicks and to see if my heart might want to flip into a-fib.

it's pretty exciting... I'm thinking I'll probably test in the 40s somewhere. I push against the O2 deprivation spot pretty easily and regularly even when running an "easy" run.

it's funny- they fellow with whom I talked to in order to set up the eval is someone that I fitted into shoes. He really likes them, so it appears that I did a satisfactory job.

I want this to help me in my training for the 40 miler.
I want to have an excellent training cycle and do it again in six months to see if there are any improvements.
I want it to be an enlightening experience, and a lot of fun, too.
But, as with everything, I'll take what I can get. :)

Excitement

I'm getting excited about running in a way I haven't been in a while.

Goals are a nice thing. New PRs, new distances, new experiences- they have a way of getting the juices flowing. Even though this has been a year of new for me- I really haven't been intensely excited about much of anything since Umstead in March. Not coincidentally, that was when I last updated this blog.

Even though I've run and done well in a number of races, I wasn't really deeply excited about them... I knew I could PR in the half marathon. I knew I could finish an Olympic distance tri. They were more just things to fill up the time.

But I'm far more excited about the possibility of doing a 40 mile trail run in October than I have been about... well... many things. I think I'm more excited to go home July 4 weekend. But it's very different.

I'm not wholly sure if I can do it.
I'm going to be very excited to try.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Marathon training...

Decisions, decisions. The only thing I'm good at is indecision, so this makes life interesting.

First off, there's a trail marathon in 16 weeks. October 4th, which is a weekend I have off, and would seem to fit pretty well.

There is, however, a 40 miler. same place same time. Uh-oh.

Also, there are a couple of other marathons later on in the year that are tweaking my fancy- either of them would be a decent place to BQ, if BQing is possibly in the cards for me.

plans are swirling and swirling...