Over doing it...

Days off work can be dangerous. Especially when wedded to a high mileage week, speedwork that needs to be done, and a love of running trails at night.

So yesterday, I did my Q workout- four 1200 meter intervals at a 7:02 pace with ~ two miles of warm up and cool down for a total of about eight miles. Again the snow and ice covered path made it a little difficult to hang onto the pace, but I ran hard and was fairly happy with the result.

About eight hours later I was back out on the trails, doing my typical 10 miles trail run... slowly. Seems my stomach either disagreed with dinner, or was just unhappy with me on general principles. made for a difficult run, in more than one sense. it's been a while since I was that happy to see my car, even though it was a beautiful night- silent, still, and moon lit. I probably could have navigated the forest without my lights, but I wanted to be sure of my footing.

I did have an running companion for a minute or so- I think an owl was entranced my my lights, or something, because when it cut loose with it's call it scared the bejesus out of me. A few seconds later up the trail, it cut loose again, and then a third time. I tired to shine my light up to where I thought the sounds came from to see if I could catch its eyes, but never saw them. In retrospect, I think it was a good thing. Deer eyes I've caught when out on a run can be scary as hell. I have no idea how much more scary big eyes would be gleaming out of a tree some 30 feet up.

I got myself a new running toy, too: katoola micro spikes which make running at night on ice a not-too-insane of an idea. Or less-insane-than-it-sounds kind of idea. Think of a cross between Yak Trax and Crampons, and you might know what I mean. Or just hit the link. that works, too.

So anyway, I did ~18 miles yesterday, four of them relatively hard intervals. Today I skipped out of my group run because I'm feeling kind of beaten. tomorrow I've got a ring in the new year run, friday 15 miles on the schedule, maybe seven on saturday and ten on sunday. with the seven I did on monday, I should be up to 63. If not, I'll figure out something...

week three in review

This Daniels and Daniels training regimen is teaching me lots. Like when i do these week in review write ups- it's typically just after having my shot. You know how you shouldn't drunk text? Well, I guess it also applies to blogging. With texting, likely only one person is reading you. With blogs, it's a little different.

except, of course, when only one person reads your blog. So I should be safe. BTW, Hi, one person! *waves*

(And yes, i really did wave. One thing about me is that I have a very low tolerance for alcohol)

Anyway, this week. it was a good week, with a step down to 49 miles, a couple of good interval sessions, a Fat Ass, and a nice easy night trail run with lots of ice any snow. Four runs all together, which is less than normal, but I got my goals. And it's been fun.

I've already written up two of the four; the other two were good, solid runs but nothing outside the ordinary.

But I was struck by this thought, today, as I was listening to Jim Butcher's Academ's Fury- A quote out of the books is this: "Big things are made of little things." Walls, books, laws, societies- they all obey this law. I thought of runs as the same thing- one step in front of the other. Many steps equals a mile. many more equals a marathon.

But I also thought of training in the same manner- one run in front of the other- all working towards the same goals of a successful race. Or health and fitness, or whatever. But the rule applies.

So I had four relatively stressful but in a good way runs this week. All of them were helpful in my training, and all of them were fun. Next week I bounce up to 63 miles. I'm really looking forward to it!

24 Miles...

If I do 24 miles before thursday, it'll mean I'll have run 6000 miles in three years.

6000. That's a lot of miles. A lot of running. If I can keep at that rate, in nine more years I'll have reached 24,000 miles. If I remember right, that's roughly the circumference of the earth around the equator.

Which is pretty neat, and not a bad goal....

Oy. Achiness.

Out of the choice of the 50K or the 30K, i chose 30. Or rather, 29. Well, almost 29. If my garmin is slighly inaccurate, I did 29 for sure. Unless, of course, it's inaccurate short instead of inaccurate long.

Anyway, the Annual Fat Ass 50K (or, as I liked to think of it- the Boxing Day 30K) went well. The Screw shoe gave me traction, the hills were more ice covered rather than the 4-6" of slush people encountered last year, and I did most everything right except whom I chose to run with.

I decided to go out with pretty much the lead group. I really should have known better. They might not think of themselves as fast, but 11:30s on extremely treacherous (as well as fairly hilly) ground is more than I should have tried. If I wanted to do 50K.

So i did 17.9 miles, or 28.8K, in 3:27 and called it good for the day. Good times!

Mile Intervals

On Saturday of Sunday of each week, i work to figure out what I'm supposed to be doing for the next week when it comes to my training. I know I should be better at this, and plan at least a few weeks ahead, but it's kind of like Christmas. It takes a little bit of work to open the presents, and it's always a surprise to discover the plan. Sometimes though, once you've deciphered Daniel's code, you almost wish you hadn't.

So, for this week, two Q workouts. Q1 was written this way- 20 min E pace + 5 X (5-6 min T pace with 1 min rests) + 1 hour E pace. This translates practically to: run two miles slow and easy, run moderate/hard (7:45 pace) for five minutes, rest one, repeat four times, then run for easy another hour or so.

Not too bad.

Q2 was like this- Run a mile at I pace with 5 min recovery for up to 6% of weekly mileage.

Turns out, according to the charts, my "I" pace is 7:02.

Right. My earlier intervals in the preceding weeks, running "hard" for four minutes turned out to be a 7:03 pace. On clean pavement. And not suffering the effects of overindulgence during the weekend.

Luckily, 6% of my weekly miles turns out to be about four miles, so that leaves me with only three intervals. Not so bad. And there are times you just have to shrug and deal with it. Trail is slippery and snow covered. I'm going to try to run faster and longer than I have in months, possibly all year. And my throat feels kind of sand blasted from vomiting four times Sunday night.

It'll be okay.

So I did my little warm up, hit the lap button to start the intervals, and started running hard. it went well. The snow was difficult, and I watch pace slip away as I tried to run uphill with poor traction, but I persevered and finished the first interval in 7:06. Not exactly what I had hoped for, but not too far off. I thought to myself- if I can keep myself from slipping much slower than 7:15, I'll be happy.

five minutes of easy jogging flew by. then the second interval. Bits of twists and turns, but no hills, and I hit the mile mark in 7:02.

Nice! Technically, according to Garmin it was 7:01.85, but I won't quibble about 15 hundredths of a second. Again, and five minutes flying by. Final interval.

I start off too fast, and look down to see a 6:35 pace for the first tenth of a mile.... bit too fast. I dial it down, let my mind unfocus hit a hill and think: "oh, am i glad I don't have to do this during an interval!" Then I realize- um, oops. So I see my pace has fallen off to 7:25, and figure I have a lot of work to do, starting by conquering the hill.

I kick it up, happily take advantage of the downhill on the other side, and try not to let me mental focus slip again. My breathing gets ragged. I lose my rhythm. And my throat hurts. But I hear the final beeps letting me know I'm seconds away from the end of the interval and finish something close to strong.

I look down. 7:02. I do a painful sort of shuffle jog for a minute or so, then tighten up my form, do my two miles of cool down, and hop in the car.

It was okay. I have another Q workout this week that should be easier, and a decision on whether I want to do the Fat Ass 50K, or some fraction thereof.

But the week, it has started off well.

Week two down, 16 to go!

... well, almost. I figure I won't have time to update tomorrow- it's going to be a busy day. All I have is a 10 mile easy run, though, so it shouldn't be a problem.

And I did the two Q workouts happily, so that's the important thing.

The first Q workout sort of happened by accident. Originally, I was supposed to run easy with my running group, then retire to the treadmill to do a tempo run of 20-40 minutes. What actually happened is I liked up with a guy in my running group who chose a pace right within my tempo pace. Worked out well.

The second Q workout was intervals. I just did them by feel, and the average of the five were fairly close to the intervals I did last week. I knew that I wasn't going to be able to maintain that sort of regularity, though. Two of the intervals were sub-7, though, so that was good. Perhaps I'll be able to make them all so by the end of the training cycle. I certainly hope so.

More thoughts-
It's easier to run at a high cadence on flats. Without snow. In lighter shoes.
Need to work on running mantras, and how to distract myself when the time is right.
If I want to do something more than an easy run, there may be people out there who are interested in the same thing. Keeping up with them might be exactly what I need.
I still don't know if I want to do Bayshore, either the half or full. North Country 50 mile is also an option on the table, but I'm not certain how big of one.

next week- 49 miles total. The two Q workouts, both intervals. The first is a two mile warm up, 5X 5 minutes at 7:41 with a one minute rest, and then an hour easy as cool down. The second is 3X 1 mile at a 7:02 pace with five minute rest interval. I'm going to assume a two mile warm up and cool down, though it's not specifically mentioned in the text.

Difficult on Christmas week. I'll see what I can do. oh, and I want to do the Fat Ass 50K on Saturday. That's going to be interesting to try to fit in...

Winter Wear

Figuring out what to wear in the winter can be... interesting. An exercise in problem solving, at the very least.

And even though I made up my handy-dandy chart to help me figure it out, real life will always be a little more... fluid then legalistic world a chart inhabits. It can never address the issue of a precipitous drop in temperature. Or a significant wind direction change. Or understand the fact that hail driven by 30+ mph winds hurts.

Or, if you prefer, humans don't always run at steady state speeds. We get tired, slow down, and get chilled. Or we hurt something, slow down, and get really chilled- adding insult to injury.

Or we do what the training program tells us. For instance, intervals.

Two mile warm up, four minutes hard and three easy, repeat five times. Four minutes might not seem like a long time, but it adds up. And my body got pretty warm. And Indian spring's middle four miles are protected from the wind by trees- a wind that is generally in my face on the way out and at my back on the way in.

Sadly, it didn't work out that way yesterday. I was mildly uncomfortable- on the ragged edge of shivering uncontrollably, but was generating just enough heat during my 'cool down' run to avoid it.

But it was uphill, and into the wind, and after a successful though tiring interval session. The only thing I think I might have been able to do to make it more comfortable is wear my pack away vest. Let it bounce on my hip during the intervals but wear it on the warm up and cool down. Hm...

Sapping the will...

I took up counting during running when I was training for my second ultra.

It was a way to pass the time, and try to keep my cadence at something approaching 180 steps (90 strides) per minute. I've been given to understand that running along at this cadence is a good way to keep from overstriding, which has led to all manner of issues for people in the past and me in particular.

So I count, and have my garmin bleep at me every minute so I have some idea of how I'm doing.

Yesterday I forgot my garmin, and things became a bit different. I wasn't counting, which let all manner of distracting and will sapping thoughts flood into my head. It became difficult to run at all, and almost impossible to run well. Flats became difficult, and I was walking the uphills a lot more than I was running them. A pleasant, easy run through the woods because a slogfest.

At times each step became a struggle, and if I had been on a track I would've probably just given up, jumped into my car, and gone home. I really didn't want to be there, which is a pretty sad state of affairs. Most of the time, trail running is what I prefer to do most.

So three thoughts occur to me from this experience- the first is that I'd better start working on other mental techniques to keep me going. The second is that next time, I'd better not forget my watch. And lastly, in light of my last post, I guess the irony gods wanted to teach me a lesson.

Denied

Wanted to do my tempo run this morning, time carefully planned out. Sadly, a deer culling at my local metropark ended that plan.

Oh well, such is life. Probably safer to do it on a treadmill anyway. Sadly tho, it's not the intensity level that's going to be the issue on the treadmill, but the boredom.

Still, like I've said, the treadmill is great for developing two things in running: a sense of pace and mental toughness.

Pace because it does not let you cheat. It will not let up.

Mental toughness because of the aforementioned boredom. It's terribly easy to run through the woods without a sense of time. In comparison to running on a treadmill, it's a vacation.

Week one down, 17 to go!

Well, I had 56 miles on my schedule. According to Garmin, I got 55.2. Close enough, right? :)

the first week went well, although I take a few lessons from it:

1. The shin thing is still an issue. keys to dealing with it- proper warm up, work on form, possibly foam roll.

2. Don't back load the week. It's not a good idea. The last three days of the week shouldn't have been 2/3 of my miles.

3. I don't like the idea of a Monday rest day. There are too many opportunities for a good group run. But the weekend can take a lot out of a fellow.

4. Fencing might be good cross training, but my body feels well beat up. I'm not sure it's the best idea I've ever had.

5. Running on ice is hard on the glutes- stabilizing works some interesting muscles.

6. Jack Daniel's is quite tasty. And a nice reward for a week relatively well done.

Next week my two quality workouts are a tempo run and intervals. For the tempo, 20 minute warm up, 20 minutes at a 7:32 pace (or 40 at 7:47) and 20 minutes cool down. The intervals are like last weeks- 3 minutes easy and 4 minutes hard. No long run.

Hitting the 2K mark

Missed it in '07 by 60 miles.
Missed it in '08 by 104 miles.

Today,however, I hit 2000 miles for the year- for which I am most heartily grateful. Sickness and injury have played roles in foiling me before- and they've reared their ugly heads this year, too- but I made it. So, yay me!

Anyway, it was an interesting run, even for all that. It was supposed to be 14 miles or two hours, whichever is less- but running at Pontiac, in the snow, is usually always quite slow going.

I did the first 10 in Saucony Razor, which worked quite well. it's a tank of a shoe- vibram outsole, waterproof upper, and water resistant gaiter which let me run through some treacherous terrain without difficulty. heavy, though- mine weigh just about 16 oz, which makes for a hard time when it comes to keeping a cadence in the 90 strides/minute range.

Still, they kept my feet warm and dry, which is a lot better than the alternative. Cold and wet is no fun at all, believe me! But I had a funny realization today- essentially we keep our feet in mittens year round, expect when we wear sandals. Or Vibram five fingers.

Which leads me to the next four miles (well, 3.25 really. I ran both out of time and out of light, neglecting to bring my own). I decided to see if the Vibram Flow that I purchased would really work for winter conditions. The neoprene upper, I thought, would go a long way towards keeping my feet warm. And their light weight would make life easier when it came to cadence.

Anyway, I donned my Vibram flows with Injinji socks and started back down the trail. It helped to have gaiters on, too. and they worked fine, for a while. Up hills was a little tough- even with vibram outsoles, they tended to slip on the snow and ice. But it was really difficult with the puddles. Ice and snow covered puddles, which none the less had a decent amount of water in them.

Soakers are no fun in slippers, especially when the real temp is 20, and the wind chill makes it feel like its about three degrees. it wasn't so bad when I was running, but afterward I felt like my toes were encrusted in ice.

Turns out, they were.

Still, all in all it was a really nice, fun run. I know better now, than to use the five fingers on the bridle trails until they completely freeze over. And the Razor really works well. So... yay!

Q1 week one

Daniels' schedule is a little different than most. instead of charting out exactly how much you should do each day of the week, he suggests a certain percentage of max volume and two quality workouts (Q workouts). the rest are supposed to be easy, aerobic miles.

so today was the first of my interval sessions. it wasn't a difficult session- essentially, do something between 4.5-6 miles ofrunning four minutes hard and three minutes easy pattern. Warm up and cool down. No problem.

except I started having that shin thing again during the first mile. talk about annoying. So I stopped and stretched and thought that I'd go to 1.5 miles- if it gets better, i'll continue the workout. If it gets worse, I'll call it a day.

Thankfully it went away, and at two miles I started the program. it went well- I ran at something faster than my 5K pace, i think, but not straining if you know what I mean. I my paces for the up temo bits were 7:25, 7:02, 7:02, 7:02, 7:02 and 7:02.

So I was pretty pleased with my consistency. i also counted strides, and found myself at the 93-96 strides per minute (186-192 steps) which is... pretty good. better than i thought. No problems with my shins after that first mile. And it just felt... fun. :)

Next Q workout is a long run- 2 hours or 25% of my weekly mileage (14 miles) whichever is least. Seven miles per hour is about an 8:36 pace (if I've done my math right) which is certainly doable on a paved surface. not so likely on trails. Hm... I'll have to see what happens.

18 weeks to Martian, 18 shots in a fifth. coincidence?

And, strangely enough, 18 holes in a round of golf. According to my sources, the fifth and golf were given to us by the Scots. Interesting, no?

So anyway, in honor of an ex relationship, I'm dedicating this training cycle to Jack Daniels. I've wanted to try this for a while now, but was lacking the proper inspiration.

So, here we go. Let's see what happens.

Oh, and I know it's obvious, but it had to be done.

It's time to indulge...

... in a little self destruction.

18 weeks to martian. 20 weeks to the trail. Pretty much everything now has been base building. A few rough patches along the way, but mostly just running easy, lolly-gagging, and not trying all that awfully hard.

Everything going well, that's all over.

19 Weeks to Martian

next week things start to get interesting. Up till then, it's all a matter of building base and maybe doing some strides. things get more intense 4.5 months out... meaning speedwork.

I'm looking forward to it.

this last week was not so great- the holidays took a big chunk out of my schedule, and I couldn't get together the emotional fire to run after work. And I seemed to come down with something after thanksgiving- so 25 miles all together, rather than the 50 I was shooting for.

Oh well. Life goes on.

Breathing

My run earlier today was hijacked.

I wanted to work on strides- essentially, 20 seconds of faster running ramping up to my 5K or mile race pace, with a complete rest inbetween. Five miles easy prior to and three miles easy afterward.

But my body decided to work on breathing instead, and rather than fighting it I tried to learn what I could.

My normal pattern is two steps breath in, two steps breath out. It makes it easier to count strides this way, if I'm doing cadence work. It typically give me all the oxygen I need. And it's simple.

But it's better, I think, to double it- four steps in and four out... makes it a little harder to shoot for 180 steps per minute. It makes me slow down, which is good. It takes concentration, which I need to develop. And lung capacity, which is also kind of good.

But if I can make it work, this training cycle has a lot of potential!

Foam rolling, without the roll

The foam roller, by itself, can be sweet healthy trigger point pain.

My calfs seem to be one part knot to three parts muscle.

I start off with the foam roller. On goes my leg. next goes a nice, big, dense pillow. Then a 30# dumbbell. Finally, my opposite leg.

Then I wait. sometimes the muscle goes into a cramp by itself, sometimes I have to contract it. But when it decides to spasm, I work on stretching it out, and lo and behold the knot feels smaller than it did when I started.

I don't know whether I'm right in what I'm feeling, or if I'm deluding myself, but at the very least it's teaching me to deal with pain, which is always a useful skill.

What I think I might need is a skilled massage therapist who's also part sadist. That might be the way to go...

21 Weeks to Martian

50 miles next week. Long run of 12.5 miles. Begin adding strides into the training.

I want to read all of Daniels' Running Formula, as well as make up a plan for peak of 70 mpw.

I want to continue to practice form, as well as rig up a camera/computer thing to use at the gym with a treadmill. Hopefully I'll be able to make that work.

Things to add in: cross training. stretching. foam roller. cold showers. :)

Good Form Running

So on Monday I was crusing through Run Michigan's calendar wondering what was going on, and found something called Good Form Running class on tuesday. It sounded interesting, so on a whim I signed up and went to it (free is good, too).

It was pretty interesting. I'm not certain I'll be able to incorporate it easilly into my form (form, like any habit, is awfully difficult to change) but I'm pretty sure that it'd be helpful if I were able.

I'll let you know how it goes!
btw, if you want to check it out, it's goodformrunning.com

Rain, rain. It really isn't so bad...

I was all set to wimp out of today's run. It's easy to wimp out on a cold, dreary day when I'm not training for anything. But I got my stuff together, drove off to the trail, and got in one of the most enjoyable runs of the season.

Part of it is because I'd never explored these trails before, and even though I didn't get lost, it was a near thing from time to time.

Part of it is the added element of danger. Freshly fallen, wet leaves make a great cover for rocks an roots. It keeps things interesting, slippery, and slow.

When I have to go slow, I can usually take things in a little better, and think a little more. I occasionally run to escape my thoughts, but sometimes (like today) free association is a good thing.

And of course, I get to feel all hard core and brag about it on my blog. So ya'know... miserable days are made to run!

Running as work...

I realized, earlier this week, why I think my running has been so lackluster of late.

Part of it might be because of a lack of focus. I don't have a goal race this season, and it's definitely effected my training.

Part of it might be because I've hit my first real set back in running- where I achieved only one of three goals for Bayshore. So I'm displaying a singular lack of character.

But I think the big thing that's keeping me from logging miles is how I'm now finding running to be fairly tedious and unenjoyable work.

And the fact that it is work, and that I occasionally through the week I do get paid fairly well to run a few slow miles isn't a bad thing. But it can be a hard thing to put aside when I want to run for myself.

I do hope I get back on the wagon soon...

Woodstock

it was a long day.

12 miles running with 501, work, dinner, and then volunteering at Woodstock from 10 PM to 4 AM.

The only thing I needed to do for volunteering was make sure a warm body (mine) was there just in case it was necessary (it kinda wasn't) and try to stay awake.

Not many finishers came in between 10 PM and 4 AM. In fact, I know of only two, and one of them was a... jackass is probably the best term.

17 year old kid, maybe, but he cut corners (at least one) and came in first as a finisher for the 100 mile, and when he was told so, didn't protest that he couldn't have finished first. He (and his girlfriend) seemed awfully eager to leave.

Ten minutes later, when the real first place finisher came in and the poser was confronted, he dropped all pretense and said he thought that he must've made a wrong turn.

I don't know if the kid had run 99 miles, 29 miles, or whatever. I have felt the mental confusion that comes from prolonged exercise. He didn't have it. What I did see was a sort of shame that keeps someone from enjoying a prize he didn't earn, and hopefully some sense of gratitude that in the end he didn't didn't get away with it.

Thankfully, the real winner got the rewards. But it was a surreal way to end a rather long day.

On the plus side, as I listened to Moby Dick on audiobook, inbetween chapters I started writing down various thoughts about running in the style of Herman Melville. I thought they were pretty amusing, so I may continue, and possibly post them here.

Volunteering for Woodstock

So, I'm off to help those poor souls doing the 100 miler for Woodstock. If it goes well and I'm inspired, it may be me next year.

On the other hand, it turn me off to the whole idea. Difficult to tell which way...

Eddie Izzard

Anyone who does 43 marathons in 51 days has my admiration- especially if they weren't all that fit at the start.

Also, he's really a funny comic, too.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8256589.stm

Running as Batchlor Party

So, my brother got married again this weekend, and I happened to be his best man. This was his second marriage, and he had a traditional party the first time, I think. (I was 16 at the time, so I wasn't invited).

This time, he wanted something a little different. Instead of something wild, he just wanted me to do a run with him. So a couple of days before the wedding, he and I did a nice, easy 10 miler together, talking about just about anything.

It was a beautiful weekend for it, and really started it off right. The wedding and reception went pretty well, too. :)

Red Carpet Run

Race I didn't run, but I did pour out, um... sparkling wine. Pretty good stuff, espeically when I felt bad about abandoning a bottle when it was *almost* finished. So I killed it. After doing it four times, I was just a bit tipsy...

Fun race though. I think people really enjoyed it. :)

Compression Gear

Thinking about that particular injury, it might be that certain kinds of compression gear might be helpful- it's a thought, at least. Not really sure if it'll be worth it, though.

The CW-X tights and Zensah stuff are only marginally helpful. But the Zoot stuff might be better- at least, according to their literature, it might.

I'll have to give it a try and see how it works. If I do, I'll probably go on about it. If it doesn't, and I really hunger to do road races again, I'll probably have to consider surgery. argh. :P

Road Running

No matter how slowly I go, running on a harder surface than a dirt road causes pain in my shin. Or better, I think that the harder surface makes me work Tibialis Anterior in a way it doesn't want to, causing pain in my shin.

Whatever. The point is road running effed up for me for a while. perhaps a certain doctor will be able to fix it up for me.

don't know. but I do know that in my current set of circumstances, I'll never run a good road race again. sad, eh?

Running Pontiac

There's a 10 mile trail loop which I dearly love not far away from my place. it's tough and fun.

I gage myself as a runner by the time it takes me to run a loop without feeling like wrung out. Two hours for mediocre shape, 1:50's for decent, 1:40's for pretty good.

On Monday, I ran it in 1:46 when I would've been pretty happy at 1:56. Perhaps, someday, I'll be back down into the 130's. That'd be awfully nice...

Leading the Blind

Had an interesting experience this morning- the Free Press is having a series on the marathon that bears it's name, go figure, and they featured a blind runner that my boss knows.

So my boss calls me up and asks if I'd like to come along to the filming and pretend to be a guide. It isn't that hard, really, and I wouldn't actually have to do much of anything- or so she said.

So I went, and got to try my hand at something new. Essentially beyond a tether and four commands, there isn't all that much too it. If you're going to gradually turn right, for instance, you say "soft right" More abrupt turns would be "hard right". And if you're not going to turn at all, I said "straight".

Takes some doing, though. Constant communication is pretty important, and so you have to be going at a speed which is conversational. If you're leading someone faster than you, that can be problematic.

Still, it was a good experience. I'm glad I went. But I do wish I had gotten a bit more of a chance to sleep in...

Oh, and...

I know that I had posted about doing all sorts of miles this week. Beyond things falling through on certain runs, injuries screwing up other runs, and just being too lethargic to get the hell out of bed in time, I think I might've logged 30 miles this week, including some walks and the pub run. Weak. :P

Not really ready for the cold

Been chilled recently. 50s and 100% humidity can do that... still, with the rain it's been tough for me to get out and run, without a race to train for.

I've got the lazies. Kind of a not good thing for a coach to have. And I don't think I've had a summer yet. I never do, until I feel all the chill that was frozen into my bones (and there was a lot this winter) has been baked out. A couple of 80 or 90 degree runs don't do it. Need hot temps for about a week before I really start to complain.

Believe me, I'm much happier running in the cold. But I don't appreciate it enough, till I've had my fill of the heat. And this summer just hasn't provided yet. I don't know that I hope it does, but I've hoped for more stupid things...

Well.... that sucked

I think my shin hates asphalt and loathes concrete. One terrible run today makes me think about chopping the damn thing off and going with one of those spoon shaped lower leg things.

Damnit to all hell, and points further south.

Food

Maybe 2500 calories, and I ran maybe 6-7 miles. Though I'm not really sure how much alcohol I drank....

It may not be a news flash to anyone but me, but I gotta say that pub runs are fun! :)

Food

I've begun to keep track of food intake; it might work out, or it might just kind of fall by the way side like it has in the past. Sometimes after reaching a goal, somtimes because I'm just kind of lazy.

Anyway, ball park figure of total calories consumed yesterday: 3300. Since I didn't run, I probably burned ~2500. Uh-oh. :P

Lethergic

A cost to the hill work from yesterday is a deep sense of ennui today. Meaning the vague feeling of wanting to do 17 miles today (I was off work- that's how I would have the time) came out to a total of zero miles run.

This isn't a bad thing, though. I want to stay in the 40-50 miles this week. With everything that I have scheduled, if I had run 17 today I'd finish just shy of 70. Which wouldn't be so good, even when they're easy miles.

Hill Training!

Went running through Cranbrook School in Bloomfield Hills yesterday. It's one of the few places around that seems to organically incorporate nature and human presence. Not try to dominate, which was pretty nice.

Has some nice hills, too. :)

Nine weeks (and change) to Bayshore

Nine weeks doesn't seem all that much. A little over two months.

Training has been going fairly well. No snafus as of yet; injury and illness have been held off, thankfully. Perhaps some mental/emotional/physical fatigue, but that's fairly par for the course. Speedwork starts next week, and that's a big jump in challenge so far as the training is concerned.

Upping my cadence to 90 strides per minute has been an interesting experience. It's drained a little bit of the relaxed feeling I get from running, but I figure I'll get it back when I settle into the new form. And upping turn over is a big key to getting faster, from what I understand.

The weather change has been nice. I just kind of wish that I could have worked more of my runs in with people. Oh well, such is life.

So, 19 weeks to Bayshore.

Next week I begin my program; I'm following the Pfitzinger/Douglas method. Ought to be interesting.

Last week I Snowshoed for about 22 miles and ran for about 28. 50 Miles, which isn't half bad. This up coming week... well. I'll probably take it relatively easy. I'm going up north for a 10K snowshoe race, but I'd like to get 30 miles of running/snow shoeing in before then.

Glad today way my off day. The rest of the week should be fun!