Feeling Fifty-One, so Please Pass the Fish Oil

Perhaps it was the added stress of my wife's hip surgery this week, but my body felt like it was every bit it's 51-years.  True, I did some fairly aggressive running last week, but I honestly expected to bounce back better than this.  It may be just a placebo effect, but I cranked up the fish oil intake and the old joints started to feel much better.  I'm a far cry from "well-oiled" but getting there.

I also fell way short in the mileage department this week.  I intended to do a modest 16 mile easy-paced tun today, but because of my nursing duties, I had to go later in the day.  The heat did not get to me, but the huge serving of chips and salsa I consumed a couple of hours before the run caused me great discomfort.  Again, I seem to forget I am 51; I used to be able to do things like this.  This was the closest I've come to puking while running, ever.  So, I shut it down after 6 miles and plan on doing my long run on Monday.  I still managed 61 miles for the week, but the plan was to be hitting 80 miles per week by now, so I got some catching up to do.

I've been watching some of the Olympic trials, but to be honest, it is entertaining, but not very motivating.  Watching the world-class middle distance guys just makes what I do, seem kinda silly.  Don't get me wrong, I will continue to be "silly" for as long as humanly possible, but I don't like to be reminded of it.  Also, too much diving.  Not silly, but truly boring.

Kristen's hip replacement surgery was a rousing success.  She is getting around remarkably well and appears to be on the recovery fast-track.  At least she is smart enough not to eat a ton of salsa before her physical therapy.

Happy Running!

Rick

Dis, Dat and the Other Ting...

For those of you who don't get the title of this week's blog post, you are obviously not fans of the classic T.V. show, Gilligan's Island.  It relates to my week because nothing big of happened, which is good in marathon training circles.  You can't have major breakthroughs week after week, and on the other side, you don't want major breakdowns.  Slow and steady improvement is the name of the game.  So, I finished week two without incident, capping off with a 16 mile LR with half of it averaging below MP.  All but the last mile seemed effortless, so fitness test number one is an A-.  Finished with a mileage total in the the mid-70's and plan on breaking 80 miles this week upcoming before I go in to a cutback week.

Enjoyed a great birthday and Father's Day.  I am really enjoying my Bose headphones and also got a slick, Ipad cover and stand.  Weather was great for running, and am very happy with how this 51-year old body is responding to the training. 

I would also like to congratulate a couple of Running Room Marathon Clinic Alumni who had successful races this week-end in Duluth.  Jess T. set a massive PR at the Gary Bjorklund Half Marathon with a 1:42 and change.  A little over a year ago he started running and is already running a 1:42 half.  Pretty amazing.  Stan H set a marathon PR at Grandma's Marathon at 51 years old, cruising in at 3:36.  Wow! Congrats to both of you!  Well done!

Also, good luck to Kurt J. this week as he goes in for knee surgery.  Looking forward to getting back on the trails with you for some mid-week runs.  Speedy recovery!

Finally, while my running goes well, my thoughts will be focused on my wife for the next couple of weeks.  She is having hip replacement surgery on Wednesday and we are hoping for speedy recovery.  She is looking forward to getting back to doing things she loves, figure skating, yoga and dance.  She deserves to be living pain-free again and am excited to see her get her life back.  Love you!

Happy Running!

Rick

Volume I, Chapter 1, page one....

My 20 week plan is underway.  I've decided to break down my plan into five, 4-week segments.  To steal a phrase from Pfitzinger, I will call them mesocylcles.  All that means is a mini-plan within a bigger plan.  Sounds cool, though.  So without further adieu I give you Mesocycle I, week 1 and days one through six.  It was a rousing success.  I nailed my first 70-plus mile week and feel energized and ready for more.  Now, come see me at Mesocycle III, week 2, day 4 and I may have a different tale to tell!  This week included 3 two-a-day work-outs, a MLR on Friday, a speedy tempo run on Tuesday and a 16 mile progression run today, starting at 9:00 per mile pace and finishing at 6:41.  I was looking at my blog posts from last year and about this same time in 2011 I had a similar post, some nonsense about feeling giddy about my running.  It must be the first warm days of summer that does strange things to your brain.  Whatever is causing it, I'll take it and go with it for as long as possible. 

Thanks to the neighbor's obnoxious dog, I was up at 4:45 this morning!  Who lets their dog out at 4:45 am?  Anyway, it turns out to be a blessing in disguise.  I'm on the trail at sunrise and had a wonderful running moment, listening to Ray Lynch while running the trail along Lake Minnetonka.  Perfect easy 6 mile warm up before I got into the meat of my workout.  I'm not much of a meditative/Zen kinda guy, but this is probably as close as I'll ever get.

I'll need those Zen-like influences today.  Of course, in the middle of a major June heatwave our AC goes out, followed soon after by our refrigerator.  We had some meat in the freezer that we didn't want to throw out, so we stuck that in the crock pot and let it cook all night.  What a combo, hot, stuffy house and a crock pot full of meat cooking all night.  Not quite a what you read about in the Feng Shui books.  I call it Hillbilly Feng Shui.  

Happy Running!

Rick

Doin' a Little Inventory before Go Time!

Alright, here we go again.  20 weeks to race day  Training officially starts tomorrow.  Time to take a quick inventory of where I am at right now and where I need to get to.  In terms of fitness, I am really close.  Keep in mind I only missed my goal last October by 137 seconds.  Since then I have completed a partial training cycle (before it was derailed by life) and have also set PR's in the 5K and half-marathon.  I am very confident that one more, well-planned and well executed training cycle will get me to sub 3-hours.  So, before I begin, where am I at and what needs to happen?

Mileage base - slowly and smartly build my base back to an average of 80 miles per week and a peak in the mid-90's.  I should be there in 30 days, leaving 16 weeks for speed work and fine tuning.  I'm not worried about this phase as I am feeling good and not averse to some long slow miles.  I currently have no injuries, not even a niggle and I plan on keeping it that way.

Fitness level - highest it has been in a long time.  Again, be smart about the miles and I should be ready to kill this.  I'm not going  to get too hung up on gym work-outs.  I don't get a lot of benefit of weight training, but I do enjoy a light workout now and then.  Here are the numbers, resting HR of 42, BP this morning of 111/78 and post run weight of 159.  I want to try to keep that weight there, but it always drops to the low 150's no mater how much I eat.  My 5k pace is 5:50, 10k pace is 6:04 and HMP is 6:28.  According to all the calculators I am a 2:57 marathon guy!

Gear - I am still debating what shoe to run the marathon in.  I am running almost exclusively in the Brooks PureConnect, a very minimal shoe.  I have run many 16 to 20 mile runs in these with no ill effect, so maybe they will be a good race day shoe.  Need something light, flexible and cushioned.  Need to work on this.

Diet - wow, does this need to change.  I really have let this go in the past month or so.  Way to much beer, sugar and refined/processed crap.  I just have to remind myself how good I felt last summer when I virtually eliminated this from my diet.  So, that being said, I think I will enjoy my last pale ale tonight for the summer and begin to fuel this body properly.  I am not against a little indulgence every now and then, but it needs to be kept to a minimum

The Plan - based mainly on the Pfitzinger 85 mile plan, with some easy miles added to the mix.  Most weeks will consist of doubles on Monday (both easy) speedwork on Tuesdays (9 to 12 miles) doubles on Wednesday (again, very easy) recovery Thursday, MLR on Friday (9 to 15 miles) recovery on Saturday and LR on Sunday (17 to 24) with monthly MP runs.

Racing - I do have some tune up races planned.  The usual MDRA Grand Prix series, my hometown's 5 miler (I have defend my title) and I plan on throwing in a couple more 10k tune-ups in there.

Intangibles - mentally I feel pretty good.  Looking forward to the plan and am positive.  Work schedule continues to be a b***, but at some point I need to let some of this stress go.  Stress is my enemy right now and a man can only work so many hours in the day.  I plan on being better organized this year.  I realized that I waste too much time every morning rummaging through gym bags looking for clean socks, my Garmin or nutrition.  I need to get up in the morning and get out the door.  Lastly, I think I need some good ol' fashion Rocky Balboa type motivation on a semi-regular basis.  I tend to approach these training cycles in a very methodical and rational way.  Nothing like a little corn ball type motivation to make this a little more fun!

Concerns - nothing to major.  Really, the only things that can get in my way are my work schedule and an unforeseen injury.  Some fatigue and the occasional GI will improve with the diet change.  I just gotta stay positive and motivated. 

Wish me luck!

Happy Running!

Rick