Back to Training!

I haven't had any success running since the cardiac catheterization surgery back in July 2019 following our trip to Brazil and Argentina for the Rio Marathon.  About 5-6 days after arriving in Rio, I started to feel some tightness in the chest.  I tried to just brush it off as being paranoid and still ran 17 miles of the Rio Marathon.  I had stopped training about 5-6 weeks prior to the marathon, so I wasn't in enough shape to run a marathon.

When I got back home, I was still feeling this chest tightness.  So I went to the emergency room where they performed an EKG.  Everything looked good on the EKG, however, they also did some blood work and it showed elevated levels of troponin levels, which is a sign of a heart attack.  So they put me in an ambulance and checked me into the hospital.  The next day I had the surgery, which showed there was no blockage occurring.

The cardiologist determined I had myocarditis, which affects the heart.  I was eager to get back running and most likely didn't wait long enough after the surgery before I started running.  I ran 3 miles 9 days after the surgery.  Soon after this, it would start to hurt just trying to walk 10 minutes.  This led the cardiologist to perform additional exploratory surgery including MRI of the heart and lower legs.  After another month, I could finally start walking 2-3 miles at a pace of 20-22 minutes per mile.

For the next couple months I would try to run, but the right leg would always hurt after a few minutes of running.

Over the next few years I would periodically try to run, but there were only a few times where I would run a full mile non-stop, and it was always hurting before the end of the mile.

In March of 2023, I decided it was time to get back into better physical shape.  After traveling to a wedding in Uruguay, I started a diet and exercise program where I was averaging over 8 miles a day.  After 8 weeks, I dropped from 200 pounds to 176 and was back at the running weight I had when I went to Rio for the marathon.

I decided it was time to try running again.  Over the past few years, I would always try to run as long as possible until it hurt.  Now I decided to take a new approach.  So I started by running intervals of .2 miles, then waiting 45 seconds or so, and continue with another interval.   On March 18, 2023, I was able to complete 3 miles of intervals at a pace of 10:38 with no pain.  4 days later, I ran the intervals again, this time 3.25 miles.  My pace was faster at 10:15 and without pain again.  The following day I decided to alternate running and walking intervals rather than stopping and was able to complete 10K at a pace of 13:04 without stopping.   Again I was able to do this without any pain.

So now it is time to restart training with a goal of running the Nashville Marathon on October 23, 2023.  With a run/walk strategy, I am hoping to complete it in under 5 1/2 hours.   

Time to get running again!

The White Line Podcast

If you want to hear about my recent training cycle and upcoming running plans for 2019, check out episode 12 on the White Line Podcast hosted by Max Cook.

www.thewhitelinepodcast.com

I have the Houston Marathon coming up on January 20th where I will be trying to qualify for the 2020 Boston Marathon.  In order to qualify, I have to get under 3:35.

I will be posting a race recap after the race.

Reposting "My Road to a Boston Qualifier" at the 2014 Grandmas Marathon

This is my RACE RECAP that I originally posted on June 23, 2014 after qualifying for the Boston Marathon with a 3:26:21 PR at Grandmas Marathon on June 21, 2014.

My road to a Boston Qualifier -

This past weekend was very exciting when I was able to go to Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota, and come home with a Boston Qualifier.

15 months ago I didn’t even know what BQ stood for. 

As many of you know, I took up running in March of 2013 and started being coached by Scott Wietecha at the beginning of June last year.  The initial goal was to train me for my first marathon, the Twin Cities marathon, in October of 2013.  My target was to be able to run a sub-4 hour marathon, which was an aggressive goal when you consider I had just ran my first half marathon in 2:22:57.  I needed to be able to go from a 10:55 half marathon pace to a 9:09 marathon pace in less than 6 months.  With a lot of good training in the heat last summer, I was able to finish the Twin Cities marathon in 3:59:33.

After that first marathon, the thought of being able to qualify for Boston still seemed years away.  Maybe with some hard work, I might have a shot at it in January of 2015 at Houston.  If I couldn’t qualify for the 2016 Boston Marathon with a 3:30 time, then I would get 10 more minutes starting with the 2017 marathon.

10 weeks after the Twin Cities, I was able to knock off over 8 minutes off my marathon time with a 3:51:10 time at Rocket City.  But dropping another 22 minutes, still seemed like a long way off. 

After surviving the Goofy Challenge in January, I now had over 5 months until my next marathon (Grandma’s) and Scott was able to shift some of my training towards track and speed work. 

When I entered 2014, I had the following PR’s:

5K: 25:06

10K: 50:18

Half Marathon: 1:52:49

Marathon: 3:51:10

My body started responding positively to the track and speed workouts.  Coming into February, I had never run a mile under 7:30 pace.

I ran the Hill Yea! 5K on February 8^th and set a PR at 23:16 and had my first ever mile under 7:30.

3 weeks later, Scott paced me on a 5K at Hendersonville High School and I was now down to 21:33, with my first ever sub 7:00 pace run. 

The following week I ran the Tom King half marathon and hit a big PR with a 1:42:05 time, which was a PR by over 10 minutes.  When I fed that time in to the race prediction software, it came up with a marathon time of 3:33:37.  This was the first time that I thought I could actually consider going for a BQ at Grandma’s if I had really good weather.

I continued to work on speed and improved on my 5K time with a 21:17 at the Middle Tennessee Shootout to win my age group.

In April I ran my first 10K of the year at Purity on April 12^th and had over a 5 minute PR with a time of 45:04.  The next week I went to Louisville and knocked off another 3 minutes off my Tom King PR with a 1:38:46 time at the Derby Half.

When I put the BQ time of 3:30 into the race prediction software, I had now beat the 5K, 10K, and half marathon times that the chart was showing for my BQ pace.

I would spend the next two months doing a lot of training at the 7:55-8:00 pace.  This was the BQ pace that my legs would run over and over.  Several long runs would end with 8-10 miles at this pace. 

But there still was the factor of the weather.  It’s amazing how many times the weather forecast changes in the couple weeks leading up to a race.  And the different weather sites can vary quite a bit as well.  Early forecasts had the lows in the 60’s, then upper 40’s, then back to the 50’s.

I left Thursday morning for Minneapolis where I had a rental car to drive to Duluth.  They had to re-route the plane around several storms and at one point they announced they may have to land in Sioux Falls, SD, if the storms didn’t clear in Minneapolis.  No doubt that sent some worries into my mind.  That could mean several hours of delays.  Luckily, all of a sudden they said the storms had cleared and we were given a landing slot.  It was still 2 hours, 45 minutes in the air form Nashville to Minneapolis.

A big sigh of relief as we landed.  They gave us a rental car with Massachusetts plate.  Was that a sign for Boston?

We were able to get up to Duluth and checked in by 2:30 PM.  It was amazing how cold the air felt.  I couldn’t believe somewhere in the continental US could be this cool in the second half of June.  I went out for a 5 mile run around 3:30 in the afternoon. I ran along the Duluth shoreline and it was nice and cool.

Thursday night I went to bed at 8:30 PM and slept 11 hours, before heading out for an easy 3 mile run.  I know it can be troublesome to sleep the night before a marathon, so I made the sure I got the extra sleep on Thursday. 

On Friday, I started the day with some French Toast, had deep dish pizza for lunch, and had the spaghetti dinner at the expo on Friday.  I had to get some carbos in.  I hydrated well with some bottles of Powerade during the day.  I decided to take a Benadryl on Friday night and was in bed by 9 PM.  Surprisingly, I had a really good night of sleep. 

Saturday, I woke up at 4:45 AM and felt really good.  I had 2 Clif bars and a banana for a total of 600 calories.  I ate two granola bars before falling asleep to give me an additional 200 calories.  I needed to ensure the fuel tank was full to carry me through the marathon.  I strapped on my fuel belt that I bought at the expo that had 5 GU’s attached to give me another 500 calories for the race.

I went downstairs at the Holiday Inn at 5:30 AM to get ready for the 5:45 AM bus to the start line, for the 7:45 race time.  I really nice bus showed up and several of us went to that bus, but we discovered that bus was for the “elites” and we were shown the city buses for us non-elites.

It was pretty cool outside, around 50, but it was raining a little in Duluth.  It was around a 25 mile bus ride to Two Harbors where the race was to start.  Having overdressed for so many runs this past winter, I finally was going to run with just a shirt and singlet and a pair of thin gloves to keep my hands warm.  I wore my gear check clothes (sweat pants/sweat shirt) on the bus so I would be warm when I reached Two Harbors.

When the bus arrived at the starting point, it actually felt really nice out.  The rain had stopped, the winds had died down, maybe some patches of fog.

I waited until about 30 minutes before race time to take the sweats/sweatshirt and then I handed in my gear bag.  Remembering how nice that garbage bag kept me warm before the Disney marathon, I had brought a garbage bag from home and kept that on until it was close to race time.

I went into the corral and went to line up at the 3:25 pace area.  I figured this would be a good pace area to start so I wouldn’t have to pass as many slow runners.  I took my first GU around 15 minutes before the start, as planned.

The race started about 5 minutes late, but finally I was off and running.  For the first half of the race, I knew to stay close to the 8:00 pace, at least within 5 seconds either side.

I would change the GPS watch so it would be on my lap pace.  I would adjust my pace to make sure I was staying somewhere near 8:00, preferably just under. 

I hit the first mile at 7:56.  I was in the range I needed to be.  At the start of the second mile, all of a sudden my shins were sore, both of them.  I’ve had this happen before on the cold runs where you aren’t properly warmed up and going straight to a fast pace.  I knew to just push on and forget about them.  I knew it would go away in a mile or two and by midway through the 3^rd mile, the shins were fine.

I had anticipated the first split was at the 10K mark and I wanted to make sure I didn’t get too far under 8:00 that early on, so I was making sure I wasn’t dipping much below 8:00, and right at 8:00 or so was fine.  I was also making sure I took a GU nearing the 5 mile mark. My plan was GU at 5, 10, 15, 20 miles.

I finally hit the 10K mark at 49:24 and I was pleased with that.

With the GPS on the lap pace, I was taking each mile one at a time.  Each mile was just as important as the other miles.  I had to stay focused and on pace.  I was concentrating on my breathing and taking nice strides, and keeping good running posture.  The runners were pretty well spread out by now so I was able to take good tangents.  When I saw slight curves ahead, I tried to get the best tangent to the curve.

I was also making sure I didn’t lose any pace going through the water stops.  I would notice people running slightly ahead of me would all of a sudden be behind me after the water stop.  I may have splashed a few cups of water on the volunteers in my attempt to grab them without losing pace, but you have to do what you have to do.  I felt I didn’t lose any time on the water stops.  I would grab a cup about every 2 miles and drink just a small part of it and keep moving.

I wanted to make a mental note of my time when I was approaching the 13.1 mile split.  I looked down and it showed 1:44:10 (officially was 1:44:12).  With the same pace in the second half, that would equate to 3:28:20.  So I was still right on target for a BQ.

After the halfway point, I started pacing more towards 7:55 rather than 7:55-8:00ish.  It was still feeling pretty cool outside, so temperatures warming were not a factor at this point.

At around the 19 mile mark, all of a sudden I felt that first feeling in my stomach that I might get when I’m starting to be tired or feel a bit sick.  But I had to push on. I only had 1 GU and wanted to wait for mile 20 to be finished.

I took the GU at mile 20 and all of a sudden I felt re-energized.  Wasn’t sure if it was the GU or the fact that the first 20 miles are out of the way and now I have the toughest 10K left in a marathon and I was also now getting to the section where there were more fans cheering, which helps.

I had watched the preview online of the course and was anticipating lemon drop hill on mile 22.  When I finally was approaching it, I sped up to attack it. I didn’t want to lose any pace on the hill.  It wasn’t terribly steep, but if you keep the same effort, you would lose some pace.

When I got to the top of that hill, I kept the same effort that I used to get up the hill.  Now I was running around a 7:40 pace in miles 23 and 24.  Even though I knew I had the BQ at this time, I was remembering the last words of advice that Scott gave me.  He said if you get to the point you are certain you have the BQ, don’t enjoy the moment and press on, every second counts. 

The adrenaline starting lower the pace more on miles 25 & 26, which were around 7:20.  It was nice to see my wife cheering me on with about ¾ miles to go.  I just kept pushing, keep breathing, do not stop to enjoy any of this and I was able to give a good sub 7:00 pace that final .2 miles to the finish line for a 3:26:21 finish.

I almost always get sick after races, including half marathons, but I was feeling good.  Not even close to feeling sick.  All I could say out loud is that “I’m going to Boston!”.

I took a rest day on Sunday to end a 121 consecutive day run streak that included 1021.8 miles (8.4/day).

Until the next marathon.

Alan Watts

Remaining Races 2018

This is my scheduled races for the remainder of 2018.

The goal is for a BQ at Rocket City Marathon in December.

2018

June 30 - White House Independence 5K, White House, TN.
July 4 - Striders Firecracker 5000, Nashville, TN.
July 15 - Napa to Sonoma Half Marathon, Napa, CA.
July 28 - Goodlettsville 4-Miler, Goodlettsville, TN.
September 3 - Franklin Classic 10K & 5K, Franklin, TN.
September 22 - Hendersonville Half Marathon, Hendersonville, TN.

October 7 - Twin Cities Marathon, MN.
October 27 - Races 13.1, Nashville, TN.
November 3 - Team Nashville 10 Miler, Goodlettsville, TN.
December 8 - Rocket City Marathon, Huntsville, AL.

March 5 - March 11 Training

Monday: 4 miles (9:02), 6 miles (9:01).  First run at lunch time from the library. Nice and easy.  Surprisingly, I really don't feel any soreness/fatigue from the hard running this past weekend.  The second run was the Monday night Brixx run.
Tuesday: 8 miles (9:09).  Easy miles with 8x30s pickups.  The wind was very strong out there today.  The first 4 miles mainly into the wind averaged 9:18, while the last 4 miles with the wind averaged 9:01.  My left hip flexor started bothering me the last mile.
Wednesday: 2 miles (9:14), 6.86 miles (8:45), 1 mile (9:31).  2 mile warmup followed by 20 x 1:00 on/off, 20 x 0:30 on/off, 1 mile cooldown.  That was a tough workout.  The fast 30 minutes of intervals averaged 7:24.  I felt pretty good out there today.
Thursday: 10 miles (9:00).  40 degrees didn't feel too bad out there, luckily it wasn't too windy.  Probably ran a little faster than I should have, but it was feeling good.
Friday: 3 miles (9:08), 1.2 miles (6:54), 3 miles (9:11).  3 mile warmup on the Station Camp Greenway followed by 4 x Bison Way downhill repeats.  I just walked back to the top and ran the downhill sections with the GPS on.  3 mile cooldown.
Saturday: 5 miles (9:21).  Easy treadmill run watching golf on NBC.
Sunday: 17 miles (8:48), 3 miles (9:40).  Started at Shelby Bottoms with a 4 mile warmup, 6 miles at sub 8:40, 1 mile easy, 6 miles sub 8:30.  It was tough, but I was able to hit the desired paces.  It was on and off rain the entire run.  Went home for the cooldown watching Tiger Woods get second place.

Total Miles: 70.3 miles.  First 70 mile week of 2018.

February 26 - March 4 Training

I didn't post the past few weeks and was battling motivation to get back on the right track.

I feel I finally am back on track and can get excited about the upcoming training.

Monday: 3 miles (10:16).  Slow recovery miles after yesterday's 20 mile run.
Tuesday: 2 miles (9:18), 5.23 miles (8:37), 1 mile (8:38).  2 mile warm-up followed by 6 x (5:00 on + 2:30 off).  The 6 fast interval paces were 8:29, 8:20, 8:12, 8:04, 8:04, 7:35.  I kept getting faster the further I got into the run.  Good workout.  The cooldown was a bit fast at 8:38, but I was feeling really good today.
Wednesday: 7 miles (9:54).  Went for a slow recovery run after yesterday's workout.
Thursday: 6 miles (9:04).  Easy miles with 30 second pickups on each mile.
Friday: 3 miles (9:14).  Very short, easy run before tomorrow's race.
Saturday: 1 mile (9:26), 13.18 miles (8:26).  1 mile warm-up followed by the Tom King Half Marathon where I finished in 1:51:04. 4th place out of 20 in the 55-59 age group.  I could feel myself wanting to go into struggle mode halfway through mile 10, but I fought to keep running sub 8:40 and was able to get back on track with mile 13 being the fastest at 8:07.  Negative split by about 1 minute.  Finally I was able to overcome the mental struggles I've had on recent longer races.
Sunday: 8 miles (8:43).  I was running easy on the first half, but when I was nearing the turnaround at Shelby Bottoms, I just felt like getting stronger and this turned into an 8 mile progression: 9:23, 9:18, 9:02, 8:56, 8:41, 8:28, 8:11, 7:43.  That felt great!

Total Miles: 49.5 miles.  A low volume week due to the Tom King Half Marathon.  But I felt this was the week where my training finally got on the right track.  I won't quite be ready to BQ at the Carmel, Indiana, marathon on March 31st.  But I feel I can put in a solid run with a goal of sub 3:48.

January 22 - January 28 Training

Monday: 10.5 miles (8:51). 3 mile warm-up, 3 x (2 @ 8:15 + 1/2 @ easy).
Tuesday: 3 miles (9:40).  Wasn't feeling good today, so just ran 3 miles.
Wednesday: 6 miles (9:40). 4 miles (9:30).  Easy treadmill running with some pickups on the seonc run at 7.7 mph (7:47).
Thursday: 9.95 miles (8:55). 3 mile warmup followed by 15 x (2:00 on + 2:00 off).  Ran speeds of 7.8, 7.9, and 8.0 mph for the on intervals.
Friday: 5 miles (9:40), 3 miles (9:40).  Two easy treadmill runs.
Saturday: 4 miles (9:40), 3 miles (9:40).  More easy treadmill runs.
Sunday: 18 miles (9:40).  Slow paced long run on the treadmill.  I should get back outdoors next week.

Total Miles: 66.4 miles.  Biggest week since November, so it's a start.

January 15 - January 21 Training

Monday: 2 miles (9:31).  After the incredible Vikings touchdown on the final play, celebrated a bit too much and only ran a couple miles on the treadmill before traveling back to Nashville.
Tuesday: 5 miles (9:31), 3 miles (9:31).  Snow on the ground, so I ran two runs on the treadmill.
Wednesday: 3 miles (9:37), 6.36 miles (8:40), 1 mile (10:00).  3 mile warmup, 6 x (6:00 @ sub 8:00 + 3:00 @ easy), 1 mile cooldown.  Treadmill run due to the sow.
Thursday: 6 miles (9:31).
Friday: 9 miles (8:42).  Nice progression run.  Finally outside after some snow melted.
Saturday: 4 miles (10:07), 3 miles (9:38).
Sunday: 3 miles (9:31), 2 miles (8:26).  Was supposed to be 18 miles, but my mind was too much on the Vikings football game for tonight, that I simply wasn't focused to run.

Total Miles: 47.4 miles.  Not good, struggling to get back into the routine.

January 8 - January 14 Training

Monday: 5 miles (9:14), 3.11 miles (9:15).  Ran an easy 5 in the misty cool afternoon at Drakes Creek Park followed by a 5K Brixx Run in the rain.
Tuesday: 2 miles (9:35), 4.07 miles (8:53),  1 mile (10:35).  2 mile warmup followed by 12 x 1:30 on/off, 1 mile cooldown.  Struggled to run the fast intervals at a 7:35-7:45 pace, but finished them without stopping.
Wednesday: 8 miles (9:02).  Progression starting around 9:30 working to 8:44.  Was supposed to go to 8:30, but this was a struggle for me today.  Not sure if it's because I've been sick for 6 days or waking up at 3 AM and not falling back asleep the last couple days.
Thursday: 4 miles (9:25), 3 miles (9:40).  Afternoon run at Drakes Creek Park followed by a treadmill run at home.
Friday: 5 miles (9:31).  Easy treadmill run.
Saturday: 5 miles (9:31).  Treadmill run at the Minneapolis Westin.
Sunday: 3 miles (9:31).  Morning treadmill run before heading to the Minnesota Vikings playoff game at US Bank Stadium.

Total Miles: 43.3 miles.  Low miles due to travel to Minneapolis, so I missed the 18 mile long run that was scheduled for Sunday.

Training January 1 - January 7 2018

Monday: 1 mile (9:30).  An early mile before heading to the Rome Airport for the long travel day back to Tennessee.
Tuesday: 6 miles (8:26), 3 miles (9:40).  A little faster than easy run workout.  I can tell I lost a little conditioning with the easy couple weeks I just had, but hopefully it comes back fast.  25 degrees out  didn't feel too bad this afternoon compared to those who ran early this morning.  Added a 3 mile very easy tempo run in the early evening.
Wednesday: 7 miles (9:21).  Ran an easy 7 from the library with James Horton.  Felt a little sore from yesterday. 
Thursday: 8 miles (8:31).  Treadmill run with the cold temperatures.  1 mile warmup, then 6 miles starting at 7.1 mph and progressing to 7.5 mph.  This felt a little tougher than it should, but hopefully I regain some conditioning in the first couple weeks of this training cycle.  1 mile cooldown.
Friday: 6 miles (8:57).  Got back outside this afternoon for an easy 6.  Temperature was about 32 degrees, which felt pretty good.
Saturday: 5 miles (9:22).  Very easy run on the Station  Camp Greenway.  Mid 20's outside, even at 11 AM.
Sunday: 10 miles (9:30).  I've been battling a cold for 4 days, but today was the first day I felt better than the previous day.  First 10+ mile run since the Rocket City Marathon.

Total Miles: 46.1 miles.  After two very low mileage weeks, it was good to start to ramp up the mileage.  This starts three 4-week training cycles.  4 weeks to the Frostbite Half Marathon, then 4 weeks to the Tom King Half Marathon, and then 4 weeks to the Carmel Marathon.  A lot of work today between now and the Carmel Marathon.

December 18 - December 31 Training

December 18 - December 24

I decided to take a rest while I was on my vacation in Rome.  I just ran the mile to keep the run streak alive.  I probably walked 5-6 miles each day in Rome, so I was getting some exercise.  But probably fattened up a bit with the pasta and tiramisu every day.

Monday: 10K (8:38), 5K (9:34).  Finally got some leg turnover on a 10K with 7x30s Pickups on the Hendersonville Greenway.  Felt good to get the legs moving after having an easy rest week last week.  Added an easy 5K for the Brixx run.
Tuesday: 3 miles (9:31).  Easy 3 mile lunch run on the treadmill.
Wednesday: 3 miles (9:31).
Thursday: 1 mile (9:31).  Treadmill before heading to the airport.
Friday: 1.06 miles (10:15).  Circus Maximum in Rome.
Saturday: 1 mile (10:15).
Sunday: 1 mile (9:53).

Total Miles: 19.4 miles.

December 25 - December 31 - Rome Vacation

Monday: 1 mile (10:45).
Tuesday: 1 mile (10:25).
Wednesday: 1 mile (10:32).
Thursday: 1 mile (9:26).
Friday: 1 mile (8:54).
Saturday: 1 mile (9:30).
Sunday: 1 mile (9:22).

Total Miles: 7.0 miles.

December 11 - December 17 Training

Monday: 5 miles (9:26).  Working through the marathon soreness.
Tuesday: 4 miles (9:40).  Easy treadmill miles.
Wednesday: 4 miles (9:31).  Another day on the treadmill.  Legs feel recovered from the marathon.
Thursday: 3 miles (9:31).
Friday: 3 miles (9:31).
Saturday: 3 miles (9:31).
Sunday: 3 miles (9:31).

Total Miles: 25 miles.  This was basically a rest week to recover from the Rocket City Marathon and take a rest after 5-6 months of marathon training.

Should get a fresh start after the 1st of the year.

December 4 - December 10 Training

Monday: 4 miles (9:31).  Easy 4 miles with pickups. Taper week for Rocket City.
Tuesday: 4 miles (9:05), 1 mile (9:37).  2 mile warmup, then 2 miles of 0:30 strides + 2:30 at 8:40-8:50.  1 mile cooldown.  Felt good to get a couple fast miles in.  All easy running now until Rocket City Marathon on Saturday.
Wednesday: 5 miles (9:23).  Nice and easy.  Everything feels fine, so it is all systems GO for Saturday.
Thursday: 3 miles (9:25).  Keeping it easy.
Friday: 2 miles (9:49).  Easy miles in Huntsville.
Saturday: 26.51 miles (9:13).  Rocket City Marathon.  It was pretty cold at the start, just over 25 degrees.  I ran well the first 15 miles, almost hitting 8:42 on every mile.  But then the wheels started to fall off on mile 16.  And then I started taking some walk breaks beginning with mile 20 before running the last couple miles in to finish at 4:04:16.  Wasn't what I was hoping for, but I made a couple mistakes during the last month of training.  I got all excited about running a couple half marathons in 1:49 and 1:55, however, I cut short the two 20 mile long runs that were planned for November 19 and 26.  Those runs were more important than the 10 mile workouts that had a warmup/cooldown to reach a half marathon.  So the focus for this next training cycle is to make sure I get in those long runs when they are planned.  And I really need to do them at the crack of dawn.  When it sit around the house until 10 or 11 AM, the odds of getting in a 20 mile long run diminishes.  So I know where to put my focus in 2018.
Sunday: 1 miles (10:20).  Flew to Charlotte Saturday night for the Vikings game and did one mile on the treadmill in the morning to extend the running streak to 1060 days.


Total Miles: 46.5 miles.

November 27 - December 3 Training

Monday: 3 miles (9:40), 2 miles (9:30).  Treadmill run at lunch time.  Short Brixx run in the evening.  Feel a little sore from yesterday, but not too bad.
Tuesday: 7 miles (8:35).  7 miles with 7x20s pickups.  After an 8:48 mile warm-up, my body wanted to go to the 8:25-8:35 pace, which is feeling pretty good these days.  I think the pickups make me want to keep running at a good pace even after the 20 seconds of fast running.
Wednesday: 13.1 miles (8:21).  Plan was 2 mile warm-up, 10 x (1/2 @ 8:35 + 1/2 @ 8:20), 1 @ Cooldown.  I got rolling pretty good after the warm-up and was running faster than the original plan and added an extra 1/10th mile on the cooldown to make it a 1:49:28 half marathon.  This was one continuous non-stop run.   No stopping after the warm-up or before the cooldown.  No water, so I guess I don't need water stops on half marathons unless it is warmer than it was today, which was low 60's.  10 days to Rocket City!
Thursday: 6 miles (9:18).  Legs felt a little stiff after yesterday's half marathon, but not too bad.  I've been using the Normatec Leg Compression regularly and it helps on the recovery.
Friday: 6 miles (9:05).  Legs feel pretty good today, a nice recovery from a half marathon race effort just 48 hours ago.
Saturday: 13.1 miles (8:51).   Plan was 4 mile warmup, 3 @ 8:45, 1 @ easy, 3 @ 8:45, Cooldown.  I made the cooldown 1.1 miles to make it a half marathon.  Time was 1:55:49.  That made it two half marathons in 72 hours with times of 1:49, 1:55.
Sunday: 3 miles (9:50).  Short treadmill run from the Atlanta Residence Inn before heading to the Vikings - Falcons game.

Total Miles:  53.2.  Not a big week with a marathon this next Saturday.  Here is my plan for Rocket City this coming Saturday:

Miles 1-13 : Run around 8:40-8:45 pace.
Miles 14-20 : Work down to 8:30 pace.
Last 10K: Open it up and see if I can't get towards a pace of 8:10.

If all goes well, I should be able to finish between 3:45 and 3:48, which would be my 3rd fastest marathon ever.  We will see how it goes.

You can see how my average pace has suddenly got quicker the last couple weeks.

November 20- November 26 Training

Monday: 3 miles (9:38), 3 miles (10:14).  Two very easy short runs.
Tuesday: 5 miles (9:30).  Treadmill run, busy getting ready to travel tomorrow.
Wednesday: 4 miles (9:27).  Treadmill run at the Detroit Marriott.
Thursday: 1 mile (9:20), 6.3 miles (7:50).  Because it was 30 degrees outside, I did my warmup on the hotel treadmill, and then got ready for the 10K.  49:25 in the Detroit Turkey Trot 10K was a good race for me.  A slight negative split.  First time under 50 minutes on a 10K in over 2 years, so my comeback is continuing.

Friday: 7 miles (9:31).  One last treadmill run at the Detroit Marriott.  Legs feel pretty good the day after the 10K.
Saturday: 5 miles (8:38).  Felt really good when I got back home to Hendersonville and ended up going faster than easy.  This is my Rocket City marathon pace targeting sub 3:48.
Sunday: 5 miles (9:31), 10 miles (8:15).  The plan was for 2 miles with two 5 mile sections at 8:45 and sub 8:45.  Started on the treadmill with a warm-up progression, but I really wasn't feeling it on the treadmill, so drove to Station Camp.  It felt much better out there, nice temps in the upper 50's and the first two miles started at 8:37, 8:30, and then I started going faster.  I decided to just go with it at the faster pace and not go easy after 5.  I ended up stopping after 10 miles at an average pace of 8:15.  The 10 mile time was nearly 5 minutes faster than my recent Team Nashville 10 mile race.  The last 5 I was averaging 8:10 and felt I could have maintained that 8:10 for another 3.1 miles for a sub 1:48 half marathon.  Only 1 in my last 10 half marathons was below 1:48, so this is a good sign that I am making a comeback.  I was going to add miles back home on the treadmill, but my right hamstring felt sore when I got home, so stopped at 15 miles for the day.

Total Miles: 49.2 miles.  Low mileage week mainly due to traveling to Detroit where I don't run as many miles when traveling.  But with the Rocket City Marathon 13 days away, that is OK.  The race prediction calculators translate my 49:25 10K to a 3:47:xx marathon.  So that is the goal for Rocket City.  A sub 3:48 would be my 3rd fastest marathon on my 17th marathon.  That would make me extremely happy.

 

November 13 - November 19 Training

Monday: 4 miles (9:41), 4 miles (9:42).  Two very easy 4 mile runs.  Not feeling any marathon soreness, just a little tired is all.
Tuesday: 10 miles (9:06).  Recovered well from the marathon and ran 10 miles with 30 second pickups each mile.  Back to having fun with even splits: 9:06, 9:07, 9:07, 9:05, 9:05, 9:06, 9:05, 9:07, 9:05, 9:05.
Wednesday: 6 miles (10:08).  Felt some soreness in my right hamstring when I woke up.  So I skipped the second run since it was bothering me on my first run.
Thursday: 2 miles (9:08), 6 miles (8:44), 1 mile (9:21), 2 miles (9:53).  Right leg felt better today. 2 mile warmup, followed by 6 x (1/2 mile @ < 7:35 pace + 1/2 mile jog), 1 mile cooldown.  Added an easy two miler later.  The intervals felt pretty good.  I had to push it a bit on the first two to get under 7:35 pace, but felt much easier starting with the 3rd one and I was able to open it up on the 5th (7:20 pace).
Friday: 10 miles (9:16).  I felt physically tired when I went to run and could easily have taken a nap.  But then I started feeling energized on mile 4 and ended up with a faster second half.  First 5 miles 9:25 pace, second 5 miles 9:08 pace with mile 10 at 8:52.  80 miles the last 7 days!
Saturday: 7 miles (9:51).  Late morning very easy 7 miles on the Station Camp Greenway.
Sunday: 6 miles (9:15), 4 miles (9:20).  This was supposed to be a 3 mile warm-up followed by 10 x (1/2 @ 8:25 + 1/2 @ 8:45).  I was struggling to hit the pace and felt weak.  Not sure if it was the wind in the cold air, but I just didn't have the strength today.  So stopped after 6 miles.  Went back out in the afternoon to try again, but still wasn't feeling it today.  But that is going to happen every once in a while, so not going to let it bother me.  Just come back the next day.

Total Miles: 62 miles.  I was hoping for 70 miles, but not getting all the miles in on Sunday and skipping a run on Wednesday prevented me from reaching 70 miles.

November 6 - November 12 Training

Monday: 5 miles (10:20). The body just didn't feel like running today and it was lazy, slow.
Tuesday: 3 miles (9:30), 4.77 miles (8:23), 1 mile (9:40).  Treadmill day starting with a 3 mile warmup followed by 10 x (1:00 @ 7.6 mph + 1:00 @ 6.7 mph), 1 mile cooldown.  Felt pretty good.
Wednesday: 10 miles (9:11).  Felt great out there with temperature at 54 degrees.
Thursday: 8 miles (8:41).  I had a pop in my step right from the start with an 8:50 first mile.  That hasn't happened in a long time.  Ran faster than I should, but it was feeling easy and good.
Friday: 3 miles (9:39).  Easy run at lunch time on the Station Camp Greenway.
Saturday: 26.57 miles (10:19).  I ran the Nashville Marathon as a training run.  I ran the first 20 miles (2:57:27, pace 8:52) and then mainly walked the last 6.57 miles to the finish to complete Marathon #16.  I did drop a 7:58 on mile 20, knowing that I was going to start walking after that point.  Solid long run 4 weeks before Rocket City Marathon.
Sunday: 5 miles (9:34), 4 miles (9:50).  I ended up adding a second run today to reach 70 miles for the week.  I'm not feeling very much marathon soreness, which is good.

Total Miles: 70.45 miles.  A solid week of training with a marathon to get over 70 miles for the week. Weather is starting to be very good for running.  Hopefully I can make some fitness gains the next few weeks and target a good race at the Rocket City Marathon in early December.

October 30 - November 5 Training

Monday: 4 miles (9:32), 4 miles (9:13).  Afternoon run on the Station Camp Greenway followed by a Brixx Run a couple hours later.  Feeling sore from yesterday's long run.
Tuesday: 4 miles (9:57), 5.6 miles (8:37), 4 miles (9:51).  Long warmup of 4 miles.  I really never felt good on the warmup.  Then 8 x (4:00 on + 2:00 off).  The goal was to start the fast intervals around 8:15 and work down to mid 7's.  Actual paces were 8:08, 8:06, 8:08, 7:55, 7:50, 7:34, 7:32, 7:30. Long 4 mile cooldown.  I was still sore from Sunday, so 13.6 miles was a tough day for me today.
Wednesday: 7 miles (9:52), 3 miles (9:48).   Afternoon run on the Station Camp Greenway followed by an evening run on Saundersville Road.  Ran very easy today.  Still a little sore from the last few days.
Thursday: 5 miles (9:34), 3 miles (9:31).  First run with pickups on the Station Camp Greenway followed up with a short treadmill run in the evening.
Friday: 5 miles (9:57).  70 and humid is not what you expect in November.  Come on Winter, please hurry to get here.
Saturday: 1 mile (9:26), 10.09 miles (8:37), 3 miles (9:43).  I ran the Team Nashville 10 Miler today in 1:27:02.  Good enough for 2nd Place Age Group. Maybe not as fast as I used to be, but this was a solid effort.  Negative split on the second half of around 1:30.  Once I got to the top of the big hill around 5.35 miles, then I was able to open it up and start running 8:15-8:25 until the last mile where you go back up some hills.  I kept good race focus the entire way and never giving up and settling for easy running.  So this is a good start on my journey to return to my old racing focus.  It's good to get sick again at the finish line 8-).  Added a 3 mile shake out run late in the afternoon.
Sunday: 6.22 miles (9:36).  This ended up being a progression, which wasn't the intent.  After a 10:15 first mile, I just kept getting faster with mile 6 in 9:06.  Legs feel pretty good after yesterday's race.

Total Miles: 65 miles.  I continue to get more confident and I'm really starting to enjoy running  again after a long time where I was just going through the motions.  I'm looking forward to running the Nashville Marathon next Saturday as a long training run.  Weather is looking good.  4 more solid weeks to train for Rocket City.

October 23 - October 29 Training

Monday: 3 miles (9:31), 4 miles (9:38), 1 mile (9:48).  Lunch run on the treadmill and then ran 5 miles at Brixx.  Ran 4 before the group started and then added an extra mile.
Tuesday: 3 miles (9:31), 4 miles (8:16), 1 mile (9:50).  3 mile warmup followed by a 4 mile tempo run from 8:27 to 8:06.  Kept tough and got through the tempo run without stopping.
Wednesday: 6 miles (9:31), 3.1 miles (9:43).  Afternoon 6 miles on the treadmill followed by an early Fleet Feet Run Sum 5K.
Thursday: 10 miles (9:33).  Nice, easy 10 mile run on the Station Camp Greenway.  After 7 miles, I started feeling stronger and the last 3 miles were the fastest.  Just a 3 second stop for a car.
Friday: 8 miles (9:26). Easy miles with 8x20s pickups.  Wanted to keep running and just like yesterday, I was getting faster at the end.
Saturday: 8 miles (9:25).  Same route as yesterday, without the pickups, but I was 7 seconds faster.  Throwing in an 8:41 to end the easy run.  It felt great out there.
Sunday: 18 miles (8:54), 1 mile (9:36).  Started the long run with a 4 mile warm-up followed by 4 x (3:00@ sub 8:50 + 1/2 @ jog).  The key was to have as little as stop time as possible.  After the warm-up, I went straight into the intervals without stopping and only took one 25 second water stop after 15.25 miles.  I was amazed I didn't need water for over 15 miles and probably could have ran the entire 19 miles without water.  Averaged 8:36 on the 12 faster miles.

Total Miles: 70.2.  I believe this is the turning point in my training.  I've started to learn to run without any stops.  I felt like I had my old marathon focus on the long run and look forward to continuing this approach to my training.  I must drink way to much water during marathons, because I had maybe 4 ounces of water during the 19 miles.  When it is cool out, you just don't need much water.

October 16 - October 22 Training

Monday: 5 miles (9:31).  Easy 5 on the treadmill.  A new presonal record, 5 miles on the treadmill without stopping.
Tuesday: 7 miles (9:29).  7 miles with pickups.  A new personal record, 7 miles on the treadmill without stopping.  More record breaking runs to come!
Wednesday: 10 miles (9:10).  Another new record, 10 miles on the treadmill without stopping!  Started a 9 mile progression at 6.2 mph (9:40) and ending at 7.0 mph (8:34) with a 1 mile cooldown.
Thursday: 4 miles (9:36), 4 miles (9:36).  Two easy 4 mile runs.
Friday: 3 miles (9:31).  My cold was feeling worse today, so after a 3 mile warmup, I deferred today's workout until Saturday.
Saturday: 2 miles (9:31), 6.61 miles (8:28).  After a 2 mile workout, 8 x (5:00 on + 2:00 off).  Started the fast intervals at 7.3 mph (8:13) and worked them down to 7.7 mph (7:47).  It felt pretty smooth.
Sunday: 8 miles (9:27).  Wanted to do a long run, but been run down with a cold all week and just managed 8 miles.

Total Miles: 49.6 miles.  Not bad considering I woke up sick Monday morning and never felt well the entire week.  I did get a couple good workouts in.