My math was a little off…

Workout: 40 to 50 minute Easy Run

Tonight I was suppose to do an easy run at about 9:00/m miles.  But since I’m going to be running a 10K for time this weekend I thought I would run 6.2 miles at 8:00/m.  For some inexplicable reason I thought all I had to do to get a better seed at Indy was run an average of 8:10/m.  Upon further review I will need to average 7:45/m.  Oops  

As I’ve said before I think this is probably a fool’s errand but, what’s the harm in trying.  As Ann from playmakers says, its all about attitude.  I guess I’ll just eat well and get a good night’s sleep.  

Over all the 6.2 miles I ran was hard but I got through it.  It took a lot of mind games but I got there.  We’ll see what happens on Saturday.

6.2 miles/49:36/Avg 8:00  

Hard Workout Today...

Workout: Stride Workout (15-30 warm-up, 6-8 strides, 15-30 cool down)

Oh my… Still paying for yesterday.  It was really odd because I felt fine yesterday afternoon so I thought today would be another great workout, but boy did it hurt.

Also it was very cold and windy.  This generally led to a lot of whining by me.  Of course there was no-one else around to hear me so it was pretty much just me complaining to myself!

Lesson learned, if possible save the long run for Sunday!

Stride 1: 6:14
Stride 2: 5:49
Stride 3: 5:44
Stride 4: 6:26
Stride 5: 7:30
Stride 6: 7:03

So the other thing was I may have run a bit fast.  My first 6 splits were probably too fast.  Although I really felt like I was flying on the last one, but I guess not.

3.52 miles/33:17/Avg 9:27

16 Miles is FAR!

Workout: Fast Finish Long Run: 14 to 16 miles

Holy cow. I haven’t run 16 miles since the Marathon. That was freaking far, but a good boost of self confidence. It was another great run!

First of all I ran with a new group today, the Grand Rapids Running Club. They’re based out of GR which is a little closer. They were great, just your typical happy runners. It was a good sized group, maybe 70 people, of all ages and abilities. I think they are all training for the River Bank Run, although some had other races on the agenda as well.

I fell in with Allison & Bob, a big shout out to them. They were clipping along around 8:50’s which was a little faster than I was suppose to run (9:00-10:00) but close enough and I was happy to have the company. There were two basic groups of runners, one running 5 miles and one running 9. I was running with the 9 milers and we missed the turn-around so did closer to 10. After we finished I stopped for just about 3 minutes and then took off on my own again and did 6 more miles out and back to get my 16 in for the day. The great part was although I was running by myself, there were still a bunch of runners on the course. I think it was other people getting in additional mileage like me, and also I think some of them were Team In Training which was having their group run as well.

It was such a beautiful day. The sun was out for the entire run and it was in the mid 20’s. The course was a little more rolling than I would have hopped for but everyone tells me hills are good for me. Well I had plenty of them today.

At the end of the run I was suppose to run at my goal pace for the last 2 miles (8:00/m). I was able to keep it up for a mile but after 15 miles my legs were weary and I dialed it back a little. But the good news I got all 16 in and had great experience. I’ll definitely run with this crew again.

I am so pumped up after this week. I feel the training program is great and I will be ready for Indy in May. More than that though, I think I’ll be OK for a full in the fall.

16:39 miles/2:29:08/Avg 9:05

Another Good Run...

Workout: 40 to 50 minute Easy Run

I felt good again tonight, although not as strong as the last two nights. I feel pretty good about my mileage though. If I follow the program this weekend I’ll be around 35 miles for the week. Perfect!

I can really tell my mileage has upped because my appetite has jumped as well. Last night I could have eaten my own arm! I think I need to focus more on my nutrition program.

5.58 miles/50:00/Avg 8:57

Fast Finish Run

Workout: 40 to 50 minute Fast Finish Progression Run

This is basically an easy run with the last 5 minutes at a sub-5K pace. In my case this meant running for 45 minutes at 9:00/m and then the last 5 minutes 7:20/m.

Another good workout although the last 5 minutes were tough. I felt great for the first 45 minutes. I was in the zone, time was passing by quickly. I was pleased because I wasn’t sure if yesterday was a fluke. Then the last 5 minutes was fast to be sure. I remember thinking “holy crap this is fast” as the treadmill speeded up. But I got through it and felt pretty good at the end.

Most of all I’m really excited that my training seems to be paying off. I guess the real test will be next weekend!

45 minutes @ 9:00/m
5 minutes @ 7:20/m

5.65 miles/50:00/Avg 8:50

A New Short Term Goal...

This is one of those highly unrealistic goals that are probably out of reach. But hey… sometimes you just have to try.

Next weekend (3/4) there is a training race put on by the Indianapolis Mini Marathon folks. It’s a 10K and qualifier for preferred seeding for the race in May. While I have already secured a preferred spot with my Miami time, if I can complete the 10K in 48:00 (8:10/m) I get an even better start. The challange is that 10K split in Miami was 52 minutes (4 minutes slower than the cut-off) so I will really have to step it up.

What gives me hope is before Miami I was running most of training runs at an 8:00/m pace. Also, I was pacing myself in Miami to make sure I had gas at the end. If only had to run 6 miles than I’m sure I could have gone faster.

So my thought is why not give it a try. First, I think it will be fun. And second, who knows… It could be my day. I’m not planning on changing my training program. We’ll just see what happens.

Wow… I felt Great!

Workout: 40 to 50 minute Easy Run (8:59-9:28)

Tonight was one of those really great runs.  Which I needed.  I’ve been feeling out of shape and kind of down about my running lately but tonight was awesome.

First of all I paid closer attention to what I ate all day.  I’ve really been struggling with my lunches.  A sandwich seems too much, but I need more than a little fruit.  I was reading the McMillan site and Greg talked about drinking a Slimfast after his runs, so I decided to try that for lunch along with a banana and it appeared to work.  I had a snack around 2:30 and then a Power Bar before I ran and I felt great.

The run itself was great.  I was a little cramped for time so I ran inside at Pennock.  I talked to a couple people at the start and then just lost myself in my headphones.  I looked at my watch about 25 minutes in to the run and then not again until the run was virtually over.  I definitely feel like I could have run farther and faster.  What a great feeling.  It’s amazing what 30 miles the week before will get you in shape for!

5.6 miles/50:00/Avg 8:55

Long Steady Run

Workout: Long Steady Run: 105 to 120 minutes (8:59-9:28)

Today was my long run and I ran it with the team. I was suppose to clip along at around a 9:00/pace but not long into the run I fell in with Steve (of Steve’s Running Blog) and we seemed to be averaging a 8:30 pace. It felt pretty good so I just went with it.

The day was cold, but not as cold as yesterday, and the sun was out and the wind was pretty quiet. What a great day to be out and about.

One of the challenges though was that portions of the Lansing River Trail were flooded and impassible. So our normal rout was altered and took us into the Mt Hope Cemetery. At some point we picked up another runner who had qualified for Boston and was clipping off 18 miles. So it was nice to have a little group to run with. But once we got the cemetery I realized why she was running Boston and I was night. There were fairly sizeable hills in that cemetery. She and Steve seemed to be taking them in stride, and I was crying like a little school girl. Obviously I will need to add some hill workouts to my regiment,

All in all it was a great run. A nice day, I ran hard, and had company most of the way. One week into the new program and I feel pretty good. I need to do a lot more work but it was a good beginning.

11.30 miles/1:40:14/Avg 8:52

It was COLD!

Workout: Stride Workout (15-30 warm-up, 6-8 strides, 15-30 cool down)

Today was freaking cold to be sure. One of the first things I did after crawling out of bed was to check the temperature. It was 0 with a -17 wind-chill. Ouch! So I layered up and headed out the door.

The first part of the run was the coldest because the wind was blowing. My hands and my face were the real problem. I only had on one pair of gloves and no face guard. Actually once I got out of the wind I was appropriately dressed and felt pretty comfortable.

As for the workout it was good. I got to run with Stacy which I haven’t done in forever, but it just kind of worked out. I was suppose to warm up and cool down at slow/steady pace which worked out perfectly. In the middle of my run I had to do 6-8 strides. These are basically 15 second wind sprints separated by 60 seconds of easy running.

The sprints were suppose to start out at a 5K pace (7:18) and gradually increase to a 1 Mile pace (6:33). I found it hard to keep track of my pace while I was sprinting. I think in the future I’ll try to run these workouts on a track. Here were may paces…

Stride 1: 6:46
Stride 2: 7:22
Stride 3: 6:44
Stride 4: 8:14
Stride 5: 6:38
Stride 6: 7:22
Stride 7: 6:39

The stride were actually pretty fun. I was sprinting long enough to get tired which is nice.

5.4 miles/49:58/Avg 9:16

Recovery Run

Workout: 40 to 50 minute Easy Run (8:59-9:28)

Tonight I really had to hurry to fit my run in. So it was only about 40 minutes, and since it was raining I decided the treadmill was the way to go. Plus I’ll be running outside at least once if not twice this weekend.

I felt pretty good but am still amazed I was doing training runs at 8:00/m just a month ago. The good news I think I will log more than 25 miles this week and may even break 30. Almost a real runner again!

Not much to say. I ran my 40 minutes and then decided I wanted to finish at the next half mile so kept running until I got to 4.5.

I’ve been running with inserts because the coaches at the injury clinic feel I could developing Plantar Fasciitis. I sometimes feel like a ligament on the bottom of my foot is tearing and I can actually feel some scar tissue. So they gave me inserts which I thought I would hate, but so far so good.

So I think I am well on my way, and finally getting back into the swing of things.

4.5 miles/41:50/Avg 9:17

Progression Run…

Workout: 40 to 50 minute Progression Run (DUSA)

Tonight was my first speed work of the new training program.  I am becoming acutely aware at how out of shape I am.  My instructions called for a DUSA Progression Run which basically means run 30-40 minutes at and easy pace (9-9:30) and then the last ten at a half or 10K pace (7:30-8:00).

I thought the first part would be boring because it is so slow.  But I was actually pretty fricken tired.  As I was running along I remembered reading in the instructions that the last 10 minutes would be “fun” at the faster pace and thinking… Doubt It.  But it really was fun.  I ran them at 8:00/m pace and since it was such a short amount of time as tired as I was I knew it would be over soon.  It was kind of cool.  I even ran the last minute at 7:30’s.  

35:00 @ 9:00/m
9:00 @ 8:00/m
1:00 @ 7:30/m

5.15 miles/45:00/Avg 8:44

First Workout of the Program… AND IT SUCKED!

Workout: 40 to 50 minute Easy Run (8:59-9:28)

Just an easy run, this should be no problem right? Oh my good lord! I’m not really sure what the deal was. I really felt like I was working hard, harder than Saturday’s run.

It was so nice when I got home tonight I decided to run outside. It was about 40 and the sun was out. I didn’t do a good job of snacking through-out the day so I thought I would grab a quick meal. So that could have been the problem. Also, I chose a new rout tonight that involved most of the first mile going up a gradually hill. So that could have been the problem. Or it could just have been the fact that I’ve taken most of the last two weeks off!

On the upside I really liked my new rout. I even stumbled across a new road and found a park I never knew existed before. Yes that’s right, I’ve lived in Hastings for a good share of my life and found a new road and a park the size of half a city block. Perhaps I need to get out of the house more!

Anyway, the new program is underway and I have a lot of work to do.

5.54 miles/48:51/Avg 8:49

New Training Program!

So my new McMillan Customized Training program arrived today. I’ve posted the program online and have included a link here as well as on the menu bar on the right. Admittedly there is a lot of stuff I have yet to figure out, but I’m confident I’ll master the different runs.

McMillan really seems to stress that each run has its purpose. They also do a good job of detailing what pace you should do each run. I’m very optimistic about this program, although am a little intimidated about the mileage. I’ll be running a lot!

Just a quick 9 miles...

Just a quick 9 miles today with Playmakers. I started out planning on running 10, but as you can tell by my lack of postings I have been having trouble staying motivated these last two weeks. The good news is I start my new training program on Monday. I am very excited!

All in all I’m feeling pretty good considering I haven’t been running for a week. I could have easily run a half today, although it would have been slow to be sure.

I can’t wait for next week. New types of training, new speedwork, new program. I guess I should start thinking about setting some concrete goals for Indy.

9.36 miles/1:24:22/Avg 9:00

Super Bowl 5K

Today was the Playmakers Super Bowl 5K. It was freaking cold and a little sloppy from the snow the night before. There were a couple of hundred people which made it fun, although I have to admit that I am a little bored by 5k’s. Why aren’t there more 10K’s out there?

The race was pretty good although not the fastest I've very run. But the roads were sloppy, I had new inserts in my shoes and I knew I was going to run some extra mileage after the race.

After the race I tacked on another 3 miles to bring the total up to 6 for the day. The distance was not a problem at all but then again I haven’t run in a week.

I’m sort of in limbo this week without a real plan. I signed up to get a custom 12 week training program to prepare for Indy from McMillan Running but haven’t seen it yet. Plus I think it will actually start next week. I guess I’ll just try to get 25 miles in this week and some weight lifting. Maybe 5 on Tues/Wed/Thurs and 12 this weekend. Well’s see how it goes.

3.1 miles/25:05/Avg 8:05 (SuperBowl 5K)
3.09 miles/28:12/Avg 9:08

Stealing Doug’s Idea

I was reading Doug’s Weakling Records Blog and he posted a list of all the Marathons he would like to run at some point. I thought what a great idea to have a list races and their links all in one place. So I have added a “Races I want to Run” section on the right.

Feel free to add suggestions or make comments

Now What????

Today I submitted my Miami Results in the Indianapolis Mini Marathon folks and it was accepted.  I now have a preferred starting position for the race in May.  I am very excited.

But the question remains… Now What?

I’m planning on doing a little strength training this week and then run with the team on Sunday but that’s it.  

My next plan of attack is to find a new training program to get me ready for Indy.  I would like one that has a long run of 15 miles or so and has me running at least 20-25 miles a week.  I think I’ll be spending the rest of the week trying to find a training program that will work for me.  It may be time to look beyond Uncle Hal.