Race Week!

I am looking forward to racing this week.  I've been disciplined about piling on the mileage and now is time cut loose a little.  I ran 7 easy this morning and hope to have relatively fresh legs for tomorrow's Victory 10K.  A sub 37:30 would be nice, to beat last year's time of 37:15 would be great and a sub 37 would be awesome.  The rest of the week will be devoted to maintenance mileage because I get to race again on Sunday.  The City of Lakes Half Marathon in next on the docket.  This race was normally a 25k and always been hit or miss for me.  Last year it was good, running sub 1:40, but the year before I averaged 6:55 pace.  I would like to run a 1:22 for the half.

I logged 85.5 miles this week, which puts me just short of 400 miles for August.  I may go out for an easy recovery jog tonight, just to put me over!  Not much quality to speak of, the last of the Como Park Relays were Wednesday night and my contribution was not good.  My mile splits were 6:19, 6:11, 6:07 and 6:12.  Yikes.  I did a light progression run on Tuesday, and 9x600m hills on Friday and paced my daughter to a 20 miler on Thursday night.  We had a great time and it is always fun to run in Minneapolis after sundown.  It really is a beautiful city.  Well-done Malena!

Happy Running!

Rick

Speed Focus - Only Six Week To Go

After weeks and months of piling up miles and miles and miles, it's now time to fine tune.  I was  hoping to begin this past week, but with dew points in the 70 to 75 range and coming off multiple 20 milers, I just couldn't get my body to move very fast.  I did recovery runs Monday, then a half-hearted progression on Tuesday (8:30 to 7:00), recovery with Como Park Relays on Wednesday, where I ran my 5x1k's at around 3:45 pace.  As a team we finished in 37:30.  I was fading big time on the last leg.  I tried another progression run on Thursday (8:30 to 6:30) which was better, but did it on the treadmill because of the T-storms and extreme dew points.  Did my long run on Saturday, which was my 3rd 20-miler in 8 days.  I have to admit, I am really getting sick of running on tired legs, every run feels like a slog.

So, with 6 weeks to go, I need to trust that the endurance to run a 2:52 marathon is there, and now focus on intervals, tempos and racing.  This is good timing as I have the Victory 10k coming up on Labor Day followed by the City of Lakes Half Marathon the following Sunday.  Goals are sub 37 and sub 1:22.  So that means a cut back in mileage this week, a mini taper for the 10k, and will probably will forgo anything over 20 miles for the next two weeks.  I am sure that my legs will thank me.

Happy Running!

Rick

Eventful Week!

I nailed another high mileage week, adding another 94.2 to my growing total.  Not a ton of quality, but it felt pretty effortless which a really good sign.

I ran the Como Park Relays again this past Wednesday.  This week was 6 x 1 mile and my partner and I ran all of them between 5:59 and 6:12.  My splits were 6:09, 6:02 and 6:01.  As I said last week, this is a tough course, not all that hilly, but really lumpy.  I never feel secure and the last thing I want to do is turn my ankle this far into my marathon training.  I enjoyed some watermelon and cookies with my Wednesday night running pals.  A really nice evening.

My daughter had a rough go of it last week during her long run, so I volunteered my services as pace monkey for her first 20 miler this week.  She nailed it!  We had to get up at 4:30 am and were out the door by 4:45.  It was a beautiful morning and outside of an emergency bathroom break and a frantic cross country trek over a scary looking railroad trestle, it all went according to plan!  Well done, young lady!

I also had a running/camping trip planned.  I simply locate an interesting campsite, set up camp and run as much as possible.  53 miles of week-end running!  Bam!

I really feel the need to focus on some quality this coming week.  Como Park Relays are 10x 1k, I plan on running a 1:30 half at some point this week, then finish off my weekly 20 miler with a handfuls of miles at MP.  Not sure how many, I have to see how my body feels.

Happy Running!

Rick

Well Deserved Cut-back Week

After several 90 mile plus weeks and last week's effort over 100, I decided to give myself a bit of a break.  My legs and my brain really needed it, plus, I had a key race on Sunday.  It was the MDRA 15k, the only race at this distance that I am aware of, so I didn't want to miss out.  My plan called for 18 miles with 10 at MP, which sounded boring, so the race plus a warm up and cool down was the perfect replacement.  It was humid this morning , but not too warm, no reason not to just let it rip. I ran the race last year in 59:48, coming off a back injury, so I was hoping for something closer to 59 flat this year.  I went out easy, too easy I thought at the time, clocking a 6:34.  Turned out this was a wise strategy, as the humidity would take its toll later in the race.  I stayed easy for the first few miles and handled the long hill at mile 3 pretty well.  After the hill I got to work, reeling in miles of 6:12 to 6:16.  All seemed pretty effortless, but I have to admit that the last mile was pretty miserable.

Also, ran the Como Park Relays on Wednesday night.  We finished the 8k race in 30:53, which wasn't too bad considering the hilly and very lumpy cross-country course.  I was the weak link on the team, as my legs were still shot, from last week's high mileage.

Very happy with the week and where I am at fitness wise.  The fact that I ran the 15k close to 40 seconds faster than last year is definitely a good sign.

Happy Running!

Rick

Hitting the Century Mark Plus Unsolicited Gel Review

Wow, what week!  I was over the century mark for the week, but the highlight was pacing my daughter to a successful finish to her first half-marathon race.  Since it was her first race, we decided to play it safe and go out nice and slow.  The miles were clicking by and she was all smiles and chatty through mile 8.  She experienced a little IT pain at 9, but she was still not laboring, so we decided to let loose on the pace.  The final four miles were the fastest and we had great fun passing many of the people who were suffering from going out too fast.  (274 to be exact) A smart race and a very successful race.

I found a new flavor of nutrition this week that I couldn't pass up, Salted Watermelon from GU.  There are several brands of gels out there, all of them pretty much the same, just slight variations on the base recipe of sugar, refined starch and flavorings.  Personally, I prefer the Power Gels, just because they have a thinner consistency than most.  Certain brands are like choking down a 7 ounce package of frosting.  So I sampled two new gels on my long run today, lets start with GU Salted Watermelon. This flavor is part of their Rock and Roll series.  I consumed this one at mile 10 and I have to admit it was pretty good.  I would have preferred a little saltier, but it was pretty spot on with the watermelon flavor.  No problems in the stomach, but I didn't experience much of a lift.  There was no caffeine.  The second gel was the the Honey Stinger Acai Pomegranate which they boast as being organic.  This was the tastiest gel I have ever had.  This one had a little zip to it, a good consistency and a healthy dose of Green tea extract, which gave me a much needed boost at mile 15.  I experienced a noticeable lift from this one and will definitely use again.

The week was a big one, with 100.1 miles, a 1:33 13.1 on Tuesday, hill sprints on Friday and a 22.6 mile run in some nasty humidity today.   I will back off on the mileage this week and do some racing.  It's the Como Park Relays on Wednesday night and the MDRA 15k on Sunday.  If the weather is good I hope to run a 59 something.  

Happy Running!GU Salted Watermelon