A Little Bit Of "Speed" + A Day Off

After running a gigantic 23.1 miles last week, all at HR135 level, Monday was my first speed session (if you want to call it that). The plan was 1 hour at HR150. Based on my previous blazing runs of last week I fully expected not to break 8:00 pace for this run. In fact, I went into the run thinking I would be gleeful if I  broke 8:00 pace for the run.

As it turns out, I was thoroughly surprised at the run. The HR was low (relatively speaking, considering I'm a fat sow now) at the start and through the run. Yes, there was pace degradation versus HR as the run went along but that was to be expected. I was actually glad that my new ILTHR was 150 and not 155, as I didn't really want to run faster.

Ran this in my old pair of Kinvara 2's as they are nearing the 500 mile limit I put on my shoes. I've got a brand spanking new pair ready to go, and honestly they just look cooler than my current version.

Unfortunately, I broke the 5-day consecutive weight streak of 166.4lbs. And doubly unfortunate, I went up to 167.8 lbs. I think I need an intervention from food. Maybe I should contact A&E.

Here is the nitty, gritty of Monday's run. Fresh from the best running log site online (http://www.runningahead.com), but this is just a screen capture of it.

 

Since my legs felt like death warmed over (does that make sense? I don't think so). Tuesday was an off-day except for Week 2, Day 2 of the 100 pushup challenge. Waking up a portly 168.2 lbs (did I say I needed an intervention?) I managed to do 14-16-12-12-11 push-ups with 60 seconds rest. Unfortunately, that is a big ole' F for the day, so I will try and repeat in two days time. The last set needs to be at least 17.

Running + Spring Is A Bad Combination

Why is running and spring a bad combination? Two words: yard work. I am always lax on the yardwork pre-Boston, which result in having too much to do post-Boston. Add into the equation that I will be on vacation from May 24th through June 4th, I've basically been working overtime (especially on weekend) to get the outside of the house in order. Unfortunately, I'm not 25 anymore, and this 40 year-old body gets a tad bit sorer when weeding, etc. for 4-5 hours a day.

Anyway, I ran Saturday, Sunday and Monday. One weird aspect of last weeks training was the interesting fact that I weighed 166.4 lbs for 5 straight days (using a scale with a resolution of 0.2 lbs). This has never happened before, and would probably be very difficult for anyone to replicate.

Saturday

Went out for 45 minutes at HR135 on Saturday morning. The tendency on weekends is to sleep in a bit. This will not be good in the summer when it gets hot and sticky. Unfortunately, Allison woke us up at 6am, but I managed to sleep until 7:45am. She was sick most of the day with a 101-102F fever and just plain lethargic.

The run was a slog and just plain slow. Basically made it under 9 minutes per mile by the skin of my teeth and the HR vs. pace degraded again as I ran.

Spent the rest of the day with Kristin cleaning up most of the front beds outside and mowing most of the lawn. Then basically sat on my ass.

Sunday

The big decision here was whether or not to run or not run. The decision in the end was to do 45 minutes at HR135.  Basically for this 2nd week (Sun-Sat) of HADD training, I will do a typical week 1 schedule but take off 15 minutes of each run. Next week (week 3), I'll add those 15 minutes back on.

The run was pretty much as crappy as Saturday's run. Slightly faster and slightly lower HR. Though there was nothing to write home about.

Also did W2D1 of the 100 push-ups challenge. Did 11-14-10-10-15 with 60 seconds rest. The first set was supposed to be 14, but misread on my phone. Followed this all up with another 4+ hours of yard work. Fun. Fun. Fun.

Week In Review

• Total Runs: 5 (3 outside, 2 treadmill)
  Miles: 23.1
  Pace: 8:47/mile
  AHR: 130.3
  Beats/mile: 1144.5 (Treadmill bts/mi less than outside bts/mi)
   

Back Inside Again, I Guess It's May Showers....

What happened to all of that dry, sunny weather we had for most of March and April? I don't think the sun has been out since this past weekend. Woke up to do 5 miles at HR135. Looks at the radar and a nice blip of red was heading our way. So headed down to the basement to do 5 miles on the treadmill.

Yesterday was a day off, with just doing the push-up challenge. Managed to get through Week 1, Day 3 of it (barely). 11-15-9-9-13 push-up's with 120 seconds rest in between. I will do Week 2, Day 1 on Sunday (probably multiple times).

My upper left hamstring (OK, butt) has been really tight and sore. Probably from inactivity for two weeks and that I have the flexibility of a 90-year old man. Plodded through the 5 miles. The run was better than Tuesday's run (according to HR), but there was some degradation of pace vs. HR over distance.

The dirty details are below....

Back To The Great Outdoors

It wasn't pouring rain out this morning, so today's craptacular run was going to outside. Grey, cool cloudy morning. Temps in the upper 40s. Seems like the heat we had in Boston on April 16th was that single day you always get in April/Early May that is uber-hot and near 90 degrees. What luck...

So, today was 4 miles outside. It hurt, my left buttock is sore. It complained the entire run. I was slow. My HR was high for the pace. I'm still fat. But that's all to be expected in my 2nd run, 1st outdoors since Boston. Now the decision is whether to run tomorrow or sleep in. I miss sleeping in.

The dirty details of today's run. Speed-a-rific. I'd say I am close to 1 minute/mile slower than where I want to be in 6+ months. That's OK.

You Have Start Sometime/Somewhere...

First run this morning. Woke up early and it was pouring out. When it comes to real cold, very high winds, or pouring rain, I am a wuss. So I headed down to the basement for a short 4 mile jaunt on the treadmill while finishing up Episode 13 from the Biggest Loser, and the very beginning of Episode 14. Nothing like training for a marathon while watching America's morbidly obese try to lose weight by exercising for 8 hours a day...

The were a couple of things different about this morning's run:

1. I am fat (relatively speaking). I left for Boston at 155.2 lbs. I weighed 166.6 lbs this morning. I haven't been this heavy since January 2011. 
2. Holy crap did this hurt. I thought taking two weeks off might make my legs fresh. Nope. My quads were like, what the .....? The first 1.5 miles were like running on broken legs.
3. Put on the HRM for the first time since June 23rd of last year. New one from the new Garmin 305 I bought last year. Strap needed to be adjusted for my new "girth".

So here's the dirty details below. Not that horrible, expected crapiness after two weeks completely off, post -marathon. Also, doing the 100 push-up challenge. I did Week 1, Day 3 after the run and could not complete the last set (by 1 measly push-up). Did 11-15-9-9-12 push-ups with 120 seconds rest.

So 4 miles @ 8:38/mile. AHR 128. Will start also reporting a beats/mile metric.

The Road To New York 2012

This will be the only place I will talk/write about my training for the New York City Marathon on November 4th, 2012. If you find it, congratulations. If not, I guess you will never see this.

Previous Year in Review

• Boston Marathon 2011: 2:48:41 PR
• Horrendous summer training with below par shorter races.
• Catching Lyme's disease in July 2011, resulting in 3 weeks of sun-sensitive antibiotics treatment.
• Sub-par training for New  York City Marathon 2011.
• New York City Marathon 2011: A training run in 3:09:43. 
• Shortened training cycle for Houston Marathon 2012.
• Injure left hip after a 100 mile week, 2nd week after New  York.
• Follow Canova type training workout, which are done mainly on the treadmill due to hip injury.
• Houston Marathon 2012: 2:55:55. Attempted to run 2:46-2:47, but after 7-8 miles new that wasn't going to happen...
• Boston Marathon 2012 training cycle. After one week of 3 miles after Houston, attempted to jump gradually into Pfitz 12/85+ cycle.
• Legs never responded. 10-day Hawaiian vacation in middle did not help. Hurt ribcage on vacation, causing 6 days off from  running.
• Four tune up races for Boston 2012 were significantly slower than Boston 2011
• Caumsett 25k: 2012 - 1:48:4x, 2011 - 1:38:5x
• Huntington 4 miler (different course layout): 2012 - 25:23, 2011 - 23:39
• Suffolk County Half Marathon: 2012 - 1:30:5x, 2011 - 1:23:5x
• Aspire 10k: 2012 - 39:15, 2011 - 37:10
• Boston Marathon 2012: It was 80-90F and sunny. So basically, it was a no pressure race due to horrible training cycle and with a goal of just finishing upright and not needing med tent. Mission accomplished. 3:33:55

What's Next???

Well, the plan is to actually race New York in November. Hopefully, for a PR, but I will let the training cycle play that out. I already have a BQ-19:05 for Boston 2013, but do not have a NYQ for 2013 (1:23 half, 2:50 full). I had decided that after Boston 2012, I would take 2 weeks completely off of running. That ended yesterday. I was 155.2 lbs when I left for Boston on April 13th, and this morning on May 1st I was 166.6 lbs.

One decision I have struggled with is what training plan I was going to follow. I definitely knew I was going to sit out the New York State Park Summer Series since those races never went well (since it usually was 80-85F and humid during the races) and always made me feel negative about my running.

So the two options were:

• Concentrate on some track races (400m, 800m, mile) to improve leg speed and change it up a little.
• Go back to the HRM and HADD base training for a couple of months to improve the aerobic engine. I haven't worn a HRM since June 23rd, 2011.

So, what was the choice????

The plan is:

1. Start running May 1st
2. From May 1st - May 24th, easy HADD type running in the HR range of 135-150. First week, will be short easy runs at strictly HR135. I will set my ILTHR to be 150. 
3. Vacation. I'll be traveling to Ireland from May 24th through June 4th. Not sure how much running I will be doing while there. Hopefully, maybe once everyday. Again, in HR135-150 range
4. From June 5th - July17th, more HADD type running.
1. I will try to do 2 ILTHR runs a week, probably keep the ILTHR @ 150.
2. I will start to throw in some 5-6 mile double runs during lunch @ HR135.
3. I would like to run at least 300-350 miles in June and somewhere near 500 miles for July. (Yes, that is almost 17 per day). 
4. For the two weeks in July, I will replace one of the ILTHR runs with some 5k interval work. Something like 5-6 x 3min.
5. July16th - August 12th. 4 weeks of Canova type training, which will consist of a Power Workout and an Endurance Workout each week, while trying to maintain mega-mileage. Paces for the workouts are based on MP, and I will assess what I think my current MP is at that time.
1. Power Workouts
1. 10 x 800m with 90 sec jog @ 110-112% of MP
2. 6 x 1mile with 2 min jog @ 108-109% of MP
3. 4 x 2 mile with 3 min jog @ 105-106% of MP
4. 3 x 3 mile with 4 min jog @ 103-104% of MP
2. Endurance Workouts
1. 18-22 miles @ 90-95% of MP
2. 24-26 miles @ 80-85% of MP
3. 18-22 miles progression @ 85-100% of MP
4. 12-15 simulation miles @ 100% of MP 
6.  August 13th - November 4th. 12 weeks of Pfitz 12/85+.

Planned/probable races:

1. Reach The Beach: NH. September 13-14.
2. Hamptons Half Marathon. September 29.

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