Monday, October 31, 2016

Training October 24 - October 30

Monday: 10 miles (8:31), 3.1 miles (9:20).  Started at Drakes Creek Park with a 2 mile warmup, and then 3 x (1@9:00 + 1@8:00, and then 2 mile cooldown.  I was feeling pretty good after a light weekend.  Averaged 8:42 on the 9:00 targeted pace and 7:54 on the 8:00 targeted.  I ran medium on the cooldown (8:30,8:19) because I was going straight to Brixx after the workout and would run an easy 3.1 at Brixx to make it a half marathon Monday.
Tuesday: 7 miles (9:25).  Super easy running.
Wednesday: 6 miles (9:26).  Allergies continue to make my eyes sore and itchy.  Seeing the Eye Doctor on Friday.
Thursday: 7 miles (9:26).  Looks like my runs are consistent, last 3 runs 9:25, 9:26, 9:26.
Friday: 8 miles (8:41).  2 Mile Warmup, 15:00@7:55, 3:00@slow, 10:00@7:35, 3:00@slow, 5:00@7:15, Cooldown.  This would have been easier with normal temperatures, but it was in the upper 70's.
Saturday: 4 miles (9:50).
Sunday: 9 miles (9:59).  Mid 80's run starting at Kohl's trailhead and running to Wave Country and back.  This was supposed to be a 16 miler, but it was just too hot for an afternoon long run.

Total Miles: 54.1 miles.  I should have gone over 60 miles this week, but failed on the Sunday long run. Heading to New York City on Friday morning to run the NYC Marathon on Sunday.  My only two outdoor runs beyond 14 miles in the past 5 months are the two marathons I ran (Grandmas and the Nashville Greenway), so I can't expect too much this weekend.  I think I will just go out at 9:00-9:30 and see how I feel.  It should be nice and cool, but since I am not in shape to go after a great marathon, it is time to just enjoy running the streets of New York.

Monday, October 24, 2016

October 17 - October 24 Training

Going to be a warm start to the week.  Really frustrating to get this warm weather continuing this far into October.



Monday: 5 miles (9:59).  Quads were sore today.  I don't recall having sore quads in the past from a treadmill run.
Tuesday: 7 miles (9:34).  Easy miles with pickups in another hot afternoon.
Wednesday: 8 miles (9:08).  Wow, 91 degrees this afternoon and still 86 when I reached Station Camp at 4:40 PM.  2 mile warmup, then 10 x (2:00 on/2:00 off).  Ran the fast intervals at just under a 7:45 pace.  It felt like more work than it should and made me wonder how in the heck did I ever run a marathon at a 7:53 pace?  Will I ever get back to that speed?  If it doesn't happen in London this spring, it never will.
Thursday: 8 miles (9:08).  Easy treadmill run with the rain and hail out there today.  Ran a progression from 6.3 mph (9:31) to 6.7 mph (8:57).
Friday: 13.1 miles (9:21).  With another weekend trip, I put some extra miles in today by running 3 Baby Station Camp Loops.
Saturday: 4 miles (9:52).  7:30 AM flight to Philadelphia, followed by some sightseeing and a nice lunch with wine in downtown Philly.  I did manage a short run in the Navy Yard.  Low 50's and very windy out.
Sunday: 4 miles (9:16).  Just a short run again today before heading to the Vikings - Eagles game at Lincoln Financial Field.  Felt very old, cold, and achy to start with the first mile being 10:13.  So I pushed the last 3 miles all under sub 9.  Might take some time to get used to running in the cooler weather after such a warm fall in Hendersonville.

Total Miles: 49.1 miles.  Not the volume you would want two weeks before the New York City Marathon.  But I am just going to run NYC to have fun and it will be over 4 hours.  But I am going to enjoy the streets of New York.

Monday, October 17, 2016

October 10 - October 16 Training

Monday: 5 miles (8:45).  Went straight to Brixx to run after getting back from Minneapolis.
Tuesday: 10 miles (8:54). 2@Warmup, 3@ sub 8:30, 1@easy, 2 x (1@sub 8:00 + 1/2 easy), 1@Cooldown.  Felt pretty good out there despite it still being 79 at the start, well above normal temperatures still lingering.  Woke up with some very sore and puffy eyes that only went away during my run and then came right back when I was done running.  I believe it may have been caused by gnats getting into my eyes during Monday's run as there were tons of gnats you could see splattered all over my shirt.  Felt some near my eye on Tuesday.  Total discomfort.
Wednesday: 7 miles (8:54).  Six straight days of sub 9:00 runs for the first time since November 2014.  The splits were in a 7 second range, so is the old Alan Watts even split runner back?  I really feel like I ran better when I ran even splits and made sure I gave a good effort each mile rather than getting lazy and slower.  Once the temps get under 60, I am ready to rock it!
Thursday: 8.08 miles (8:29). 2 mile warmup, 4 miles of 0:45 @ sub 7:15 + 2:15 @ 9:00, 2 mile cool down.  Temps were in the upper 60's and it felt really nice out and the gnats were gone today.  Averaged 7:03 on the fast 0:45 and 8:45 on the off 2:15. So it was a really good run.  I suppose the last cool down mile with a 66 elevation gain at 8:29 wasn't really a cool down.  Felt great.
Friday: 6 miles (8:55).  Went over the 10,000 mile mark today since starting in March of 2013!
Saturday: 4 miles (9:33), 3 miles (9:54).  Felt a bit sore, probably from running sub 9 on 8 straight days, so I slowed it down today.  Last time I had that many sub 9 days in a row back in 2014 I was soon on the injured list, so don't want to do that.
Sunday: 17 miles (9:17).  Treadmill long run watching football after a night downtown in Nashville.  Probably should have got up early and ran but sleeping in was feeling good at the Renaissance Hotel.

Total Miles: 60.1 miles.  Not a bad week, but I just haven't been getting in the runs to get the 70 mile weeks.  Over 2500 miles for the year.



Tuesday, October 11, 2016

October 3 - October 9 Training

Monday: 3 miles (10:50).  Very sore quads from yesterday's Greenway Marathon.
Tuesday: 3 miles (10:22).  Still pretty sore!
Wednesday: 6 miles (9:53).  Starting to recover.
Thursday: 5 miles (9:34).  12 x 1:00 on/off.  Felt slow and sluggish on the warmup, but felt pretty good on the fast intervals, the last 6 averaging 6:39 pace.
Friday: 7 miles (8:50). The car showed outside temperature of 90 degrees at 4 PM.  That is crazy for this time of year.
Saturday: 5 miles (8:46). Flew to Minneapolis in the morning and ran along the Mississippi River in the afternoon with a temperature of 51!
Sunday: 5 miles (8:53).  Ran after the Minnesota Vikings game.  I was pretty exhausted from cheering on the Vikings.  Wanted to run longer, but was too worn out.  Beautiful running weather with temperatures in the upper 50's.

Total Miles: 34 miles.  A low volume week after the Greenway Marathon and traveling to Minneapolis.  Time to pick it up this week.

Monday, October 3, 2016

September 26 - October 2 Training

Monday: 8 miles (8:38).  Finally some nice fall weather and I found myself running much faster and it felt great.
Tuesday: 10 miles (9:14).  2 Mile Warmup, 6 x (1/2 mile @ sub 8:00 + 1/2 mile easy), 2 Mile Cooldown.  Averaged 7:54 on the fast intervals, which were pretty consistent.  It was about 75 degrees out, which was nice.  I could feel that yesterday's run was affecting me a little as I ran too fast on Monday when I was thrilled it was so cool outside.
Wednesday: 4 miles (9:22).
Thursday: 10 miles (9:08).
Friday: 3 miles (9:21).
Saturday: 5 miles (9:51).  Went super easy as I had decided earlier this week that I would run the Greenway Marathon on Sunday rather than do a 20 mile long run today.
Sunday: 26.42 miles (9:56).  I ran the Nashville Greenway Marathon in 4:22 GPS time.  The goal was to run the first 20 miles and then run/walk to the finish line.  It was low 60's at the start, but the clouds went away after about 15 miles and it was sunny and warm the rest of the way.  I was feeling pretty good in Shelby Bottoms until it got pretty warm.  Considering I had not run outside beyond a half marathon since Grandmas Marathon in June, I felt pretty good to get this marathon in.



Total Miles:  66.4 miles.  The marathon sure helped get the mileage up for the week.