20 Miler in the Books!

Workout: 20 Mile Long Run

So I said to myself… Tom…. Do not run faster than 9’s on this run. I have been feeling a bit out of shape lately and have skipped several of the shorter runs. This is not the time to make up for missed training.

I have been very nervous about my fitness level. I think compared to last year at this time I am way ahead, but compared to May of this year I’m behind and that is the yardstick I’m comparing myself to. Probably not a good measure because I was crazy over the top focused on my time in May. In any event, I though I should just take it easy and just take what the course gave me.

The 20 miler was the culminating long run for all 3 of the Gazelle programs so they worked out a point to point along the Kal Haven Trail. Basically we started in Kalamazoo and ran 20 miles West on this old converted train bed. It was really neat. We started out around 7:00am and it was still pretty dark. There must have been 50 or 60 people all doing 20 miles. It was cool to start out and hear all the footsteps and excited chatter going on around me. It was drizzling a bit but nothing terrible and the canopy from the trees kept us pretty dry. There we all were, a lot of nervous energy running through the woods in the early morning light. Awesome!

So anyway I immediately hooked up with the J’s. The gave me a certain amount of grief for not being around much lately but accepted my list of excuses (Football games, other races, had to work, etc…). Anyway I announced my 9:00/m plan and they all said that was fine with them. Of course the first mile we ran at about 8:15. This was going to be a long day!

We cliped along at sub 8:30’s for a long time and at about mile 13 I knew the last few miles would be a mental struggle. We all stayed together until about 17 when Chuck (one of the guys I run with) started having knee pain and wanted to hang back. I was more than happy to hang with him, but still we were clipping off 9:00’s. I was tired but doing better than I thought I was going to. I kept thinking… how did this compare to my 20 before SD. No question, this was a lot harder. But how did this compare to my last 20 before Detroit, no question, felt stronger.

I lost Chuck at 18. His knee had had enough and he was done so I was on my own the last 2. Mile 18 was a chore but I felt OK, and mile 19 I just kind of died, but was able to bring it on in. Not bad considering I thought the last 5 would feel like that. It was only the last mile and I attribute some of that to being alone and the rain kicking up.

So what have I learned from this run? First don’t start out too fast, and Second, I’m not in as bad of shape as I think I am. We’ll hope both of these lessons are true on the 21st in Chicago.

Good run, very hard but mentally it was a good exercise.

20.10 miles/2:52:57/avg 8:36

14 Miles Plus the GR Bridge Run

Workout: 12 Mile Easy Run

So today was the Grand Rapids Bridge Run. This is a 10 mile run so I decided to run a little extra to get my miles in. But it seemed silly to run just 2 miles so I decided to run 4 giving me a total of 14 for the day.

I tried to take it really easy on my first 4 so that I would have some left in the tank for the race. My plan was to run the race sub 9’s. I ended up running it sub 8:30’s. My first mile was at a 7:58, and my next was at 8:00. It’s the same problem I always have in a race, I hate getting passed!

Anyway I really tried to rein it in and after about 5 miles I settled into a more manageable pace. I felt pretty good through the whole run. In fact the middle section of the race I felt great and thought it would be a piece of cake. I did get a little worn out at the end but still felt pretty good.

The other fun thing was that there were a handful of Hastings folks running. Very cool!

Anyway great run and I feel good about my pace. Below I’ve included my overall pace & distance as well as my race result (the last 10 miles).

Race: 10.0 miles/1:24:41/avg 8:28
Overall: 14 miles/2:01:27/avg 8:41

Midweek Long Run

Workout: 10 Mile Easy Run

Well it wasn’t pretty but it’s in the books. I got the miles in but my legs were fighting me most of the way. I’m not sure what the problem is this week?

I did forget to take any Ibuprofen which might have been part of the reason my legs were sore, but I really haven’t been using it except for the really long runs. Maybe it’s just that the days at work seem to be extra long these days and I am really spent at night.

But the good news is I get tomorrow off and have a relatively light weekend. Just 12 on Saturday and 4 on Sunday. I’ll probably run a bit more on Saturday but we’ll see how it goes.

10.0 miles/1:25:40/avg 8:34

4 Miles Easy... Wus!

Workout: 5 Mile Easy Run

According to the schedule I was suppose to run 10 tonight but I got out of work late so decided to rearrange this week’s schedule a bit.  I’ll run Friday’s 5 miler tonight and run my 10 miler tomorrow.

I have to say my legs were pretty sore after last night’s LT’s.  Arg.  I know I’m being a big baby but decided to call it good at 4 miles.  It was getting late and to get all 5 in I would have had to make the gym folks stay a few minutes late.  I know… excuses excuses!

In any event I got 4 in and feel good.  Looking forward to the race this weekend!

4.0 miles/33:51/avg 8:27

Tuesday Night Speedwork

Workout: 2 mile warm-up, 4x1 LT, 1 mile cool down

Oh how I dislike speedwork! Once this marathon is over I’m looking forward to not having to do speedwork for a while. I’ll probably choose a nice half marathon somewhere to train for and eliminate all the speedwork. Just add a bunch of miles and more strength training.

Having said that though tonight’s speedwork went reasonably well. The last LT was a bit of a struggle but I got it in. Arg!

Here were my splits…

Warm-up: 2miles @ 8:57
1st LT: 1mile @ 7:53
Break .15mile @ 8:57
2nd LT: 1mile @ 7:53
Break .15mile @ 8:57
3rd LT: 1mile @ 7:53
Break .20 mile @ 8:57
4th LT: 1mile @ 7:53

6.50 miles/53:53/avg 8:17

Yes I’m still alive!

Sorry to all my devoted fans. Yes I am still on track and have been running injury free. I’ve just been so busy these last couple of weeks I’ve not been able to update my blog. Rest assured though that I have been keeping accurate notes in my log and am please with my progress.

While I don’t want to go back and list each run, mostly because I don’t remember them all I will tell you I had a really nice 18 miler last weekend. I was dreading it but it turned out great and even had negative splits on the last 9! Woo Hoo.

I’m got some big runs still coming up but feel good about me training for Chicago. As always I’d like to drop a couple of pounds before then but we’ll see what the ice-cream gods have to say about that.

I am off today but will be running tomorrow. Hope all is well in your lives.

Later,
Tom