8 days to Marathon.

I have been running once or twice per week as time permits.   Sun Feb 25, 13 miles in 2:25.  Thu Mar 1, 5 miles in 50:04; Sun Ma back r 4 16 miles in 2:55:18.  I had intended to run more than that but between work and family, I am WAAAAY out of balance…I just can’t seem to get my cycle going again…have to put limits somewhere…definitely not family, they don’t get enough of my time as it is.  SO..cut back on the 18 hour work days…get some rest and get back in balance.  Easy to say, hard to do. 7 miles tomorrow.

feeling sick

I was supposed to put in a good 3 miles on Tuesday and another 5 today, but I have been sick...cough, 102 fever, chills…hopefully I will feel well enough to put in some easy miles Thursday and Friday in preparation for long run on Sunday…we will see.

7 miles in 1:10:40

Weight 227: 7 miles out and back (out in 36:11, back in 34:39, total 1:10:40): Pacing 10:06 min mile, 5.94 mph: Mile by mile (10:35, 10:25, 10:30, 9:51, 9:49, 9:50, 9:40): Temp 37F, slight wind, ran in shorts, but 2 wicking layers on top, gloves, and head cover.  Ran with Larry who finished in 1:10:20.  Shamrock Marathon in 28 days.

 

Wow, it has been about 7 weeks or so since I have run.  Work has been keeping me too busy I guess…I get to bed too late to wake up and run in the morning…as I get older, running on 3 to 4 hours sleep doesn’t work for me anymore.  In any event, Larry called me yesterday and asked if I wanted to run.  This was the spark I needed to get off my fat butt…it is really great having a running partner.  Anyway, we started at 7:05am and kept together nonstop until the last half mile, when I stopped and walked for a little…the pace got to me.  However, considering this was my first run in a while, this was a pretty good effort for me.

 

I will need to do some hill repeats and speed intervals over the next 4 weeks to get in better shape for the marathon.  I was hoping to do 4:30, however, it looks like my best effort may be a 5:00 right now…we will see how I do over the upcoming weeks.

 

 

10 miles in 1:53:56

Weight 230. 10 Miles out and back (out in 57:00 back in 56:36).

My weight is moving in the wrong direction, so I need to make a change somehow. My desire is to be about 210 for the marathon so I need to lose 20 pounds over the next 12 weeks. This is certainly a reasonable and
respectable rate of loss...I just need to commit to it and do it. Besides,
aside from the marathon, I have a life to live... Anyway, m legs got cramped after the second mile...M waited for me at the turnaround point....my legs felt better on the way back

Sunday long run

Sunday @7

My place

8 – 10 miles

 

(8 miles on my plan, 10 miles on Larry’s plan)

5 miles in 51:06

5 miles out and back (out in 25:04, back in 26:02, total 51:06).
Mile splits (9:47, 10:22, 9:53, 10:55, 10:09); Pace 10:13 min/mile 5.87 mph
No stops, no hydration
Next run Friday 3 miles…goal 28:30

This was a disappointing run. This was supposed to be a timed trial with a goal of 47:30 or so, but I fell far short. The weather was perfect, and I had a decent first mile, but there was no “juice” in my legs after the second mile…I got winded pretty early and had to gut it out for the other 3 miles. Mile #4 in 10:55 was particularly slow. Oh well, at least I got the run finished.

7 miles in 1:10:58

Weight 228. 7 miles out and back (out in 35:38, back in 35:20, total 1:10:58).

Mile splits (10:00, 9:58, 10:29, 10:13, 10:00, 10:27, 9:51); Pace 10:08 min/mile 5.92 mph

No stops, no hydration (225 lbs after run – 3lb water weight loss)

Next run Wednesday 5 miles.

 

Well, I didn’t run on Sunday with the group…I couldn’t get up because I had a late night Saturday…I just can’t run on 3 hours of sleep anymore like I used to.  However, I made up for it with a nice even run this morning.  Weather was upper 30s, so I had on 2 upper layers, gloves, skully, and shorts.  Felt good, but got a little tired for the last 2 miles.   Not a bad outing today.  Weight loss was slightly disappointing, however, I did eat quite a bit this week.

3 cold miles in 30:15

Goal was just to get back into swing of things…nice easygoing pace. Next run on Sunday, 7 miles.

 

BRRRRR!  I have found that breaking down mental barriers is just as important as surpassing physical limitations if I want to improve my running.  So, when I woke up this morning, and the weather people said mid 20s and windy (with gusts to 35) and wind chill in the teens, a part (the sensible part at that) of me said “Screw this! No running today, go back to bed!”  But the animal in me said…”Oh yeah, bring it on…wind chill in the teens is nothing…wear shorts!”  So I did it.  A West Indian man ran in shorts on a cold windy (with wind chill down to 14) morning in Virginia.  Let me tell you, there is NOTHING that will wake you up more than a cold run!  (well except maybe a cold and WET run).  Let’s just say, however, that there were certain extremities that wanted to stay asleep…

 

I think I am ready to sign up for the bobsled team.

3 miles in 31:08

Nice even run; just getting back into the groove. The plan for the next few runs is just to get my legs back. So although I am keeping time, I am not really going after any specific time goals for now...2 weeks from now is a different matter. It would be good to be like LM and do a 7 miler in about an hour, but I'm a long way from that. Next run is Friday.

Starting Over: 15 weeks until Shamrock

Weight 229. Well, I ran (if you can call it that) about 5 miles on Sunday.  I was huffing and puffing the whole way…it was ugly and it felt bad…but I have the bug again, and will be increasing my running as a result…Shamrock Marathon 2007 is in 15 weeks and I am WAAAAY out of shape…but I will be ready at the starting line.  My goal this time is 4:30, which would be a 45 min improvement over Shamrock Marathon 2006…challenging but possible if I remain dedicated and injury-free.

 

I will be doing more cross training and pace development this training cycle…let me know if you want to see my training plan…

 

Have a good day, and happy running/cycling/hiking/walking.

Ugly 8.2 miles in 1:36:13

Wow…8 miles in 1:36:13.  Not good, in fact very bad run for me…I should be able to do this in about 1:20…I started out okay, but burned out after mile 3…did a lot of walking for miles 5 – 8.2. The weather wasn’t so bad, just a little humid.  I did not have the conditioning to run the thing the whole way…at this rate, my half marathon will not be as good as I would like…

Not prepared for 2:00

Weight 218. I figure 2:10 best case for Rock and Roll half marathon in 2
weeks. Why? Well, I have been travelling for the past 3 weeks, and I have
allowed this to derail my training...I only did 4 miles here and there on
treadmills in hotel gyms. I did try to do some speed intervals on these
treadmills, and my speed is intact, but my endurance is definitely not where
it should be. I did 13 miles on Sunday, and I hurt for 2 days afterwards.
I intend to do another long run (10 miles or so) between now and race day.

Haven't "blogged" in a while

It has been about 5 weeks or so since I last wrote.  In that time I have done 8.2 miles every Sunday, and a couple 3 mile runs here and there.  I played soccer a couple weeks ago and I think I hurt my right knee…it hurts when I go up and down stairs.  Anyway, I have the July 4 8k tomorrow…I was hoping to be able to do 42 or so, but my current conditioning will only allow me to do 46 at best…at least that is what I think.

The Rock and Roll Half Marathon is 9 weeks away…I have a lot of work to do if I expect to break 2 hours.  The condition of my knee(s) will determine how much I can push it though…

6 hill repeats

Ran up trashmore times with 3 minutes jog/walk in between. I felt the burn and it was a good workout...Maybe when I do these next week, I will try to increase the number of hill charges and lessen the time between reps.