March 20 - March 26 Training

Monday: 3 miles (9:03), 2 miles(9:30), 3 miles (9:22).  Quick easy run at lunch time.  Went for a pre-Brixx run just after 5 PM, however, while running on the library greenway, the skies started looking pretty dark to the north and they were moving my way.  So looped back to the car and went home and ran a few on the treadmill.
Tuesday: 9 miles (9:22).  Easy run on the treadmill, weather didn't look too good outside.
Wednesday: 2 miles (9:46), 5 miles (9:22).  Went to go do a workout on the Station Camp Loop, but I felt hungry and tired on the warmup and went home and had an early dinner and took a nap and then got up and ran 5 on the treadmill.  Will try to get in a tempo run tomorrow.
Thursday: 4 miles (8:19), 4 miles (8:18), 2 miles (9:28).  I walked a half mile for my warmup and then started with the Station Camp Loop Jr., which was a PR at 32:43.  It was straight into the wind down Lower Station Camp and it was tough to get under 8:30 that first mile.  Felt pretty tired after 1 loop, so rather than another loop, I just did an out and back on LSC for another 4 mile tempo run and then did a 2 mile cooldown on the Greenway.  It shouldn't be that tough to run an 8:20 pace, which means I'm in trouble for London.  1 month isn't enough to gain the fitness to go after a BQ, so it's going to be a 3:59 target for London.
Friday: 6 miles (9:13).  Didn't run until late, so ran on the treadmill.
Saturday: 6 miles (9:22).  Decided not to run the Middle Tennessee Shootout 5K.  Ended up mowing the lawn and going to a piano recital at Vanderbilt and didn't run until late, so another treadmill run.  But the run streak did hit 800 days today.

Sunday: 8 miles (8:51), 3 miles (9:22).  Woke up with a stomach ache that really never went away. Finally went out around 2:45 PM to run at Drakes Creek Park.  I repeated running 5 minutes and walking 1 minute for a nice 8:51 average pace.  Then added 3 miles on the treadmill watching the end of the North Carolina - Kentucky NCAA game.

Total Miles: 57 miles.  Not the miles I should have been going for, but motivation has been a big struggle for this marathon cycle.  The net result is that there won't be any BQ attempt in London.

March 13 to March 19 Training

Monday: 5 miles (9:13), 3 miles (9:15).  First run on the treadmill, then went to Brixx for the second run.
Tuesday: 7 miles (9:22).  Opted for another treadmill run rather than go fight the mid 30's temperatures with 15 MPH winds.
Wednesday: 2 miles (9:22), 8.52 miles (8:28), 1 mile (9:31).  Wimped out with the cold weather and ran my workout on the treadmill.  2 mile warmup, 12 x (4:00 @ 7.8 mph + 2:00 @ 5.7 mph).  The 7.8 mph was a pace of 7:41, while the recover was at a pace of 10:31.  Tough workout.
Thursday: 6 miles (9:22).  I was pretty sore in the quads from yesterday's intervals.   So took it real easy.  Wanted to watch my team, so ran the treadmill watching NCAA.  I hate losing in the first round!
Friday: 6 miles (9:23).  Finally back outside after 3 days on the treadmill.
Saturday: 3 miles (9:55), 13.17 miles (9:06).  3 mile warmup followed by the Music City Half Marathon where I finished in 1:59:34.  I had to run pretty fast the last 3/4 mile to get under 2:00, which was good enough for 1st Place Age Group.  I could tell by the high heart rate on the warmup that it was going to be a struggle today.  Yesterday my first mile at 9:28 had an average heart rate of 128.  Today's first mile at 9:53, 25 seconds slower, had an average heart rate of 135.  But mentally, I kind of checked out by miles 3-4 and became satisfied to just shoot for a 2:00 half marathon when I should be pushing to run faster.
Sunday: 6.1 miles (8:53).  Today, I tried the run walk.  I thought a 4:00 marathon pace would be good for an easy run and calculated that 5:00 at 8:25 pace with a 1:00 walk at a 15:00 pace would translate to just over a 9 minute pace.  I ended up running the 5:00's at around 8:20, but the walk was faster than anticipated at around 13:20-13:30.  Net result, was 8:53 pace, which is a 3:52 marathon pace.  But the amazing thing is when I got home, I felt very fresh.  Usually I'm a bit achy getting out of the car, but felt fresh as could be.   Could have gone on another run.

Total Miles: 60.7 miles.  If you read my Sunday's run, I think you will see some more of this run/walk. It is seriously time to try this in a marathon.  I've had the idea to do it before, but now I feel is the right time.  I haven't really had a good marathon in a long time, so why not try something different?  I'm looking to run the Andrew Jackson Marathon on April 1st and a long training run, and this would be the perfect time to try it.  If it is successful, maybe I'll try something at London.

March 6 - March 12 Training

Monday: 9 miles (8:37).  Mild afternoon at 66 degrees.  I am determined to make a big change in my training the next 6 weeks and try to run with a minimal number of stops.  So I ran this 9 mile run with no stops, no water, just continuous running.  If I can continue this, it will make me stronger both mentally and physically.
Tuesday: 7 miles (9:11).  Nice and easy 7 miles without stopping.
Wednesday: 3 miles (9:11), 4.5 miles (8:38), 1 mile (9:29).  3 mile warmup at Drakes Creek Park and then off to the HHS Track for 6 x (800m@3:40 + 400m jog).  The 800's were a little tougher than I was expecting. I averaged 7:21 pace for the 6 intervals and the target was to get sub 7:20.  So I was close, just not quite there.  68 and sunny is a bit warm for early March.  1 mile cooldown.

When I ran my first track workout ever in 2014, it was the same workout.  Look at the comparison below with the 2017 workout on the left and 2014 workout on the right.

The heart rates are pretty similar, however, I ran it much faster in 2014. Can I get back to running the 800m's in the 3:25 range versus 3:35-3:45?

Thursday: 3 miles (9:42).  I wasn't feeling good today and when I got out to run, it felt tougher than it should for the pace I was going and I kept slowing, so I called it a day after 3 miles.
Friday: 6 miles (8:43).  Moderate paced run.  Didn't want to overdo it with the long run planned for Saturday.
Saturday: 7 miles (9:26).  Woke up to snow and went back to bed, so just did an easy run today and will run long on Sunday.
Sunday: 14 miles (9:01).  The plan was for 20 miles, but I was pretty tired and thirsty after 14 miles and didn't have the motivation to go on.  I did, however, run the 14 miles without stopping.  That is a training run record.  I've never run more than 10 miles non-stop on a training run before and I doubt I have ever run more than 6 miles without stopping on a long run.

Total Miles: 54.5 miles.  Not a good total.  Wasn't feeling good on Thursday and lost some miles and didn't finish the long run on Sunday.  But this was my first week ever that I never stopped once on any run.  This is my new mantra to try to not have any stops, except some very short stops on long runs to refill the water bottle.  If I can keep this up for the next 5 weeks, I should feel pretty good getting on the plane to London on April 14th for the London Marathon on April 23rd.

February 27 - March 5 Training

Monday: 4 miles (8:57), 6 miles (8:37).  Needed to stay near the house, so ran the first run on the treadmill.  But really wanted to get outside, so I ran the neighborhood, staying close to home on the second run.  That's the fastest I've run the neighborhood, which is pretty hilly.  Sticking with my new strategy of running harder on the "easy" runs.  If you want to be the course record holder for a Strava segment, create a segment that no one else has run.

Stay away Scott, Max, Darron, Kevin, Rodney, Leigh!  Just keep running down Anderson Road.

Tuesday: 9 miles (8:45).  Another neighborhood run and a new course record on Fountain Brooke Drive.
Wednesday: 3 miles (8:57), 3 miles (9:13).  Two easy treadmill runs.
Thursday: 6 miles (9:22).  Trending slower on the easy miles leading up to the Tom King race on Saturday morning.  Crazy busy week needing to stay close to home, so using the treadmill.
Friday: 4 miles (9:31).  Easy treadmill taper run for Tom King.
Saturday: 1 mile (9:19), 13.19 miles (8:04).  1:46:26 time at the Tom King Half Marathon, which was good for 6th place age group out of 26. I ran it at a pretty good effort, even though it is a long way from a PR.  But the heart rate was just a couple beats below my 1:38 PR, so the effort was there, I just don't have the same conditioning.  It had been a while since I ran this distance without stopping.  A lot of my past races, I've stopped at the water stops and had a short break.  That happens in training runs also.  What I think I need to do is start stopping less on training runs, so the body doesn't use them as a crutch to rest up to continue the run.  If I'm running the distance where water is needed, I might need to start carrying some water and drink it and keep running.  I think I really need to train like this in order to have the mental toughness when it comes race day.  I have 50 days until the London Marathon.  I think a good, solid 6 weeks of training could be a big benefit to London.  I can't give up on the BQ yet.
Sunday: 4 miles (8:42), 4 miles (8:57).  Outdoor run in the afternoon followed by an easy treadmill run while watching the Minnesota Gophers basketball game.

Total Miles: 57.1 miles.  Not the volume I wanted for this week, but I had a pretty busy week and did the best I could.  I also was tapering to give Tom King a good effort on Saturday.   Hopefully close to 70 miles next week.