Training Log: 14.4

Thursday, 1/31: 6 miles in 50:00; FIRST week 2 tempo run

2 miles easy (9:05/mi), 3 tempo (7:45/mi, PMP -:30), 1 easy (9:05/mi)

Solid tempo effort today. This is actually the week 3 tempo workout, but I did it this week for three reasons: 1) this week's scheduled workout was the same as last week, 2) I felt good, 3) I want to make next week a pacing run (extended effort at PMP rather than a FIRST-style tempo run.

Interesting quasi-fact:

Number of calories in the small Steak-n-Shake vanilla yogurt shake I had today = 385
Number of calories the treadmill says I burned on this run = 610

Even if the treadmill is off by a lot, I figure I'm ok, eh?

Training Log: 14.3

Tuesday, 1/29: 5-ish miles in 48:00; FIRST week 2 intervals

Today's interval punishment session went like this:

Warmup 13 minutes at 8:30/mi
5 x 1 min fast (6:30), 2 min easy (8:30)
Cooldown 13 minutes at 8:30/mi

Tough stuff. I've always disliked speedwork, first of all, and the RI here is just under what you need to fully recover...which means this is a progressive workout. To top it off, I did it on the treadmill. Say what you want about comparative pace, there is no fooling the treadmill...so at the very least the last WI is the same as the first. And going 6:30/mi on a treadmill is scary too. One misstep and you go flying off.

Glad that one is over.

Training Log: 14.2

Sunday 1/27: Hard intervals on the trainer, 60 minutes
Spin 10, 2x (5 x 2 min max effort WI, 2 min RI) w/ 5 min RI between sets, spin 5

My fitness level is very good now. I am able to push a bigger gear in the WI and maintain a high cadence without losing power.

Looking ahead this week, I am hoping to take advantage of a relative warming trend (30's and even low 40's) in the early part of the week to run outside. I want to do a speed interval workout if I can fit one in (and if it is not raining).

Training Log: 14.1

Saturday, 1/26: 8 miles in 67:02 or 8:23/mi; FIRST week 2 long run

In Ohio, so today's long run was a nice hilly course out to the C.J. Brown Reservoir , up the back side of the dam to the ranger station, a little tooling around on top of the dam to make sure I got eight full miles, and back down. Two good climbs other than the dam(n) hill (three total, out and back) make this long run function a bit like long intervals.

The plan called for 9 miles in week two, but it didn't quite work out with this course. My brother and I measured it when I was here for Thanksgiving. Eight is ok with the hills, I am guessing. It was windy on the way back, but not terribly cold. It's odd for my training week to start on Saturday, but since we are traveling on Sunday, I squeezed it in a day early.

Training Log: 13.4

Friday 1/25: Tempo intervals on the trainer, 72 minutes
4 x Spin 8, Tempo 8 + Spin 8 cooldown

Swapped this for short intervals (speedwork) run. My main reason is that due to scheduling issues, I may need to do a long run tomorrow. Great workout, as it turned out. And a solid first marathon week, I would say.

Training Log: 13.3

Tuesday, 1/22: 6 miles in 50:28; FIRST week 1 tempo run (short)
2 miles easy (8:57/mi), 2 short tempo (7:13/mi), 2 easy (8:57/mi)

Times are a little off because I did this one on the treadmill (I assume, somehow, that the treadmill is easier. Not everybody agrees, though). I based this off of the low number on my PMP window (8:05-8:15/mi) to help compensate for the treadmill.

Training log: 13.2

Monday 1/21: Hard intervals on the trainer, 65 minutes
Spin 10, 2x (5 x 2 min max effort WI, 2 min RI) w/ 5 min RI between sets, spin 10

My tried-and-true interval session. This one is a suffer fest every time. Watched the Democratic debates while riding, which only increased the pain. I will withhold further comment, but I have to say I didn't hear a single new idea the whole 65 minutes...is that too much to ask? one idea?

Haven't reported on my weight in a while. Today I was 160lbs on the nose. Steady as she goes.

Training log: 13.1

Sunday, 1/20: 6 miles in 58:34 or 9:25/mi; FIRST week 1 long run

Brrrr. This was more like an episode of Survivorman than a training run. The plan was to go 8 miles, but that was not going to happen. Once I turned West into a wicked headwind, I had to cut it short. Hypothermia was a real risk. Here's why:

Temperature: 9f
Wind: 20-22 mph sustained out of the West, with gusts up to 40!
Wind Chill: -9
Frostbite time: about 30 minutes, max

My route would have had me running mile 4, 5, & 6 into that headwind for right about 30 minutes. And me without my wind briefs.

I don't feel too bad about today. I ran miles 1 & 2 without a watch (forgot to push start), but they felt about the same as mile 3, which was 8:00 flat. Mile 4 & 5, into that wind, were 10+ each, in part because I stopped and turned my back to warm up a few times and also because I had to, erm, look after myself in certain places...let's just say that it didn't make for a normal running stride. Mile 6 was 8:30. Still too quick, but I was not really worrying about pacing today since I just wanted it all to be overwith.

No looking back from today. The rest of the week will be on the treadmill if it's even close to this cold!

Training officially begins!

Today is the first official marathon training day on the FIRST 18 week plan. The week shapes up like this:

Sunday Long Run: 8 miles at PMP of 8:45/mi
Monday Cross Train
Tuesday Tempo Run: 2 easy, 2 tempo, 2 easy
Wednesday Rest
Thursday Intervals: 10 minute warm up, 6x1 minute fast followed by 3 easy, 10 cool down
Friday Cross Train

It's supposed to be super cold this week, so the tempo and interval days will likely be on the treadmill. And, as always, I reserve the right to swap one of those for a bike day.

That's the week one plan! I took last week off, for the most part, to start fresh.

Training Log: 12.1

Sunday 1/13: Long Run
8 miles in 1:06:10 or 8:16/mi

This ended up being a bit quicker than planned. In anticipation of my 18 week training plan starting next week, I decided to do the week 1 long run of 8 miles. Working from my calibration run last week, I was shooting for a long run pace of about 8:35/mi, which is based on a PMP of 8:05/mi. But 20 seconds per mile isn't too far off, and it lends some confidence that I could actually sustain my PMP come race time. I'd be more than happy to put 26.2 miles together at 8:16/mi (that's a 3:37 marathon, folks!). But let's not get ahead of ourselves...

Learned a little something today too. I felt a twinge about mile 4 in the familiar knee/tendonitis spot. I started paying more attention to my heel strike and actively making sure I didn't land flat-footed on that left side, in particular. This involved lifting my legs more and curling my toe a bit to ensure that I was hitting on the heel and rolling off the sole. Of course, this lets the shoe absorb more shock rather than my knee. Voila, almost instant change in the pain. Running on the canted surface where my left foot strikes the ground much lower makes it very difficult to strike heel first...I tend to strike quite a bit forward, almost the ball of my foot.

Of course, I had already aggravated the tendon somewhat by then, so I suspect it will be a bit sore for the next few days. I'll take an NSAID today to compensate. And from now on I have a new training goal, teach myself how to run correctly again. I will have to do some digging, but I think part of the problem may be that I lost a lot of weight and no longer have a 60lb cantilever effect!

Training Log: 11.3

Saturday 1/12: Resistance training on the bike
3 x 15 min pushing heavy gear with 5 min spin warmup, RI's & cooldown

What is a heavy gear, you may wonder? I haven't explained that before. Rather than trying to count chain rings, I think it's easiest to calibrate a resistance workout on the bike by paying attention to your cadence (that is, your RPM).

Spin cadence for warmup and RI is 110-120 RPM
Work Interval cadence for a threshold workout is 90-100 RPM
Work Interval cadence for a resistance workout is 70-80 RPM

The WI should be sustainable for the planned duration, so shorter intervals can be done with more resistance, etc. Calibrating this way also lets you adjust for how tired you might be from a previous workout, etc.

Rhinovirus & Training Schedule

Achoo!

I've been under the weather since about Tuesday. Feeling better today (Saturday). Looking forward to training again.

We are just over a week away from the official start of the 18 week pre-marathon training schedule, btw. That will begin on Sunday, January 20th. The goal for those 18 weeks will be to do 2-3 runs and 2-3 bikes per week (5 workouts total) and one long run each week. Now that I've had my misadventures with tendonitis (almost positive now that it was due to running on the canted road surface - I've been more careful about that lately and have been pain free) and am getting over this cold, let's hope that health issues won't impede the schedule!

Training Log: 11.2

Monday 1/7: Calibration Run
Measured 10k (6.2 mi) in 45:25 or 7:18/mi

!!!

I decided that with today's warm temperatures and in anticipation of the start of my 18 week official pre-marathon training period, I would do a calibration run today to determine workout intensity. I went faster than I thought I could go.

If I hadn't obsessively measured it myself on my bike (with the computer), I would scarcely believe it myself. The conditions today were good, but not ideal. I felt fantastic. It was 63 degrees outside, foggy and misty with a wet track and lousy visibility. This meant I was dodging cars on the non-existent shoulder for about 3 miles, and one of the miles was on a dirt road that was just slightly less then firm. In dry, safer conditions, I might have gone just a hair quicker.

What does this mean for my training program? Well...I'm not sure yet. I don't want to use this as my official training benchmark for FIRST. I think it's better to be a bit more cautious. A 45:25 10k predicts a 3:30 marathon. That means my planned marathon pace would be 8:00/mi. I think 8:30 is more realistic, which is still a 3:43. That would be awesome, in my book.

Still, on this day, on this run, I was quick. And I know my last mile was a negative split. When I think about what kind of shape I was in one year ago, that sort of performance is unthinkable.

Training log 11.1

Sunday, 1/7: Hard Eights on the Trainer
Spin 8, 4 x 8 min hard intervals w/ 5-6 min RI, Spin 8

Good workout today! It's warming up for the next few days too, so I hope to get a longer run in tomorrow.

Training log 10.1 - 10.3

Sunday, 12/30: 6 mile tempo run @ 8:30 pace. I ran today with my good friend Randy, triathlete extraordinaire. He and I have been running together since we were kids, quite literally. It was great to have he and his partner Tamra up for a visit. We got out for a brisk run in slightly sub-freezing, but otherwise pleasant weather.



Tuesday 1/1: 45 minutes of XC skiing
Eight inches of fresh snow to start the new year. I cruised around the yard and behind our property just a short way. The snow was fairly sticky, so the conditions were not ideal. Still a good workout though!

Wednesday 1/2: 90 minutes of XC Skiing
Oh yeah! 5 inches of fresh powder and colder temperatures made the ski conditions absolutely perfect. To make it even better, our neighbor saw me zipping around yesterday and invited me to ski on the trails on her 65 acres behind our house. Awesome...but see for yourself:

Training Log, Catch Up 8, 9

I didn't do much during week 8, just one tempo run workout before Christmas. I did two bike workouts during week 9, one Terrible Twos and one Three Quarters. All in all, let's call it a recovery period, shall we?

The good news is that I didn't gain any weight over the holiday, so I was at least responsible in that way.

And week 10 is already turning out great! (see the next post)