Heckuva Week!

I had a week with every type of run, both good and bad.  After an easy recovery run on Monday I went to the Metrodome for a planned 8 miles with 3 or 4 at MP.  Mile one was easy and by mile 2 I was already at MP.  I decided to turn it into a progressive run and by mile 8 I was under 6:30 and most of mile 9 was at 6:26.  One mile of cool-down and I called it a night.  This morning I completed my long-run and it was a beautiful run.  The sun was bright and the trail along Lake Minnetonka was gorgeous.  Now, contrast that with my run on Friday.  I wanted to make it a GA run and conditions outside were not favorable, so I reluctantly moved indoors to the treadmill.  Now the run itself was not too bad, but this run made it clearly obvious why I hate running indoors.  The gym was really warm and stuffy, more so than normal.  As I was running gentlemen in his mid-20's chose the treadmill next to me.  He was built like Newt Gingrich and was wearing Vibrams.  For those of you not familiar with the name, they are the "toe shoes."  So anyway, Newt fires up the treadmill and is walking for a few minutes.  I thought to myself, okay, walking is okay, but running could be a problem.  The treadmill gets faster and before you know it, Newt is in full-stride; holy crap, I thought he as going to break the treadmill.  I've never heard such pounding from a foot-strike in my life.  The treadmill was rocking back and forth and he continued to stomp away.  This went on for about 15 minutes, so I'm guessing he ran about a mile and a half.  He shut her down, put on some fingerless gloves (irony) and went over to the punching bag and took some more aggression out on that.  I guess beating up on the poor treadmill wasn't enough!

So, the totals for the week were about 64 miles, with a couple of good tempo runs and general aerobic jaunts.  The body feels pretty good, as I found some power yoga to do before and after running which really helped with the soreness.

Happy running!

Rough Start to New Training Cycle

I had a rough start to this week.  This was to be the week where my new training cycle begins for my spring marathon.  Well, Monday morning I was sitting in my office chair and when I got up to get some coffee my lower back went twang!  At least I think that is the correct medical terminology for what happened.  I spent the next two days hunched over; running was out of the question.  I'm always a little freaked out about back injuries.  I've heard too many stories about people with chronic back issues and their lives never seem to be the same.  As I venture into my 50's I think more and more about these type of injuries; things just don't heal as fast and in the back of your mind you are thinking, is this injury "the one."  Well, I may have let my negative thinking get a little out of control.  Wednesday I was feeling better and Thursday I was back at it.  I ran 7.5 at the Metrodome and 3 more with my daughter at the high school.  Friday I hit the treadmill for some speed work and after a few miles at 6:40 pace I found out everything was in good working order.  Finished up the week with 7 on Saturday and 11.25 today.

This little scare has made me realize that I have been taking some things for granted.  I definitely need to work on my stretching and core conditioning.  I can't expect to make it through this very aggressive training cycle and high miles without it.  Hers is to a new week with some higher mileage, tempo work and yes, conditioning.

Ran with my daughter this morning and was privileged to run with her on her longest run of her very young running career.  Nice going Malena!

Happy Running!

Now thats more like it...

I've been complaining over the past few weeks that this mile race training is for the birds and was anxious to get back to some more mileage.  This week was a nice easy buid-up to the 80 mile per week average that I plan on doing for this marathon cycle.  It was a good 56 plus mile week with a couple of good HMP and MP tempo runs.  Oh, and I did finally ran the Meet of the Miles race and came in at a respectable 5:34; not a PR, but not too bad for an old guy. 

A new lesson learned this week.  I've tended to be a runner who gets really set in his ways; running at the same time every day and generally the same routes.  However as schedules get tighter and weather doesn't always cooperate I have learned to be a bit more flexible with my running schedule.  I may run an early am run indoors, followed by an evening run outside the next day.  This, week, I even took my lunch break and ran an 8-mile tempo run.  Rather than make excuses, I'll make time instead!  I bring my running stuff with me at all times and am ready to run anywhere, anytime; I'm diggin' it!

Lastly, signed up another student for my spring marathon clinic.  If a persons name is any indication of their toughness, this guy will do very well.  Welcome, Stan Hammer!

Happy Running!

Base Rebulding

Now this is more like it.  I mentioned that I abandoned my "mile-race training" a few weeks ago.  My heart wasn't in it and I was itching to start running some "real" miles again.  I had a run on Wednesday night of almost 9.5 miles, mainly due to getting lost in "The Prairie!"  Thanks for the run, Eugene!  I have now had two weeks over 50 miles and feel really good about it.  I actually felt a little sore and fatigued (the good kind of sore and fatigued) last night.  That was because I did a nice speedy track work-out of about 8 miles on Friday night, followed by long run of the week (12 miles) on Saturday night.  (Boy, do I know how to party on a Saturday night!)  The long also included some miles at GA pace and a nice, long, fat hill that runs along Christmas Lake to finish.  All in all it was a pretty easy pace, but I really was feeling it before bed.  I'm going easy today and then run the Meet of the Miles at the U of M fieldhouse tomorrow.  Not expecting great results, maybe to break 5:35 without puking is achievable!

My goal for this week is to break the 60 mile barrier for the first time since September.  I also see some two-a-days in my future.  All signs of my plantar fasciitis are gone, except for lingering pain when I first get up.  Not even sure if this is PF; it just may be some normal old age pains or possibly some arthritis.  It only lasts for a few minutes every morning or occasionally if I don't get up and move around for an hour or so.  Nothing like the pain I had last summer though.

I got my first marathon clinic student signed up.  He is a second-time marathoner (about my age) looking to improve on his 4:45 time at Minneapolis last year.  He went from no running to marathon in 13 weeks, so with a running base, 18 full weeks of training and my tutelage we should have running well under 4:30 by June.  He is eager and enthusiastic, so it should be fun.  Let me know if you know anyone looking to run a spring/early summer marathon who is looking for a little coaching from a "seasoned" runner. 

Happy Running!

Good Bye 2011 and Hello 2012!

Completed my last run of the year yesterday, a SLOW 6 mile recovery run.  I ran easy, took my time and thought about the past year of running.  I'm quite content with how things went, even though I didn't achieve my main goal of a sub-3 marathon, I did manage PR's in the 5K 10K and marathon.  There is a lot to be said for high mileage programs.  I managed just over 2,700 miles for the year and outside of a pretty nasty case of plantar faciitis, I stayed happy and injury free.  I also made some new running friends, which has made the training much more enjoyable.  I coached my first marathon clinic, which was fun and I look forward to coaching number 2 coming up in March.

So, in 2012, I will continue my quest to break 3-hours.  I feel like I have may have hit the high water mark in the other distances, but only time will tell.  I have to admit it would be fun to break 37 minutes in the 10k, or 18 minutes in the 5K, but while the endurance may be there, the speed is slowly diminishing.  As far as miles go, I don't see a big increase for this year.  2,700 seemed the right amount for where I want to get, but a modest 5 to 8% increase may serve me well.  Hell, 3,000 is a nice round number.  I think my 50-year old body can handle that!

Well. I'm off to the gym for my first run of 2012.  It's just too windy and blustery to run outside today.  Thanks to everyone who has offered advice and words of encouragement over the past year.  Also many many thanks to my family for supporting me and putting up with my obsession.  I'm looking forward to another great year of running and hopefully make some new running buddies while I'm at it.

Happy Running!

Rick