Training, 01-30-12

@60 degrees. 3.2 miler taper, 27:10, 8:30 pace. Legs a lot stiffer and more tired than previous tapers. Still thinking it might be from the 60 mile week. Hopefully it pays off Saturday.

Training, 01-28-12

Upper 40's and sunshine. 7.9 miles, 1:07:42, 8:32 pace. A few 3 mile runs and then we see about this 50k business.

Friday, 01-27-12

Ran in the morning with temperature in the low 50's. Very nice weather. I ran a somewhat known route, trying to get @3 miles, but took some different streets to make myself slow down and think about where I was going. Mostly to force myself to slow down. Ended up with 3.4 miles, 28:43, 8:30 pace. Still need to go slower.

Wednesday, 01-25-12

Upper 50's, maybe low 60's when I ran. Felt slow and sluggish. I wasn't. Muscles still tight, probably from the 60 mile week. Ran 4 miles, 32:21, 7:59 pace. I'm supposed to be tapering. I need to promise myself to run slower tomorrow.

Tuesday, 01-24-12

Due to my wife being in Virginia on a work-trip this past weekend, and then the incessant rain, I haven't been able to run since the long run on Thursday. This is the longest break I have had in a while. Wanted to get 8-10 miles in. It was a bit cold when I started, very foggy and cloudy. About halfway through the sun broke through and it warmed up quickly. Supposed to get into the 60's today - maybe I should have waited to run. Ended up running 9.2, 1:15:57, 8:13 pace.

Thursday, 01-19-12

So this was my last long run before the 50k. Wanted to make sure I added to the 7 miles from the night before and run at least 20 miles so I ran a few extra blocks here and there, even though it was going to be good and cold the whole run.

Around mile 7 I had to stop and use the bathroom. I didn't want to, I knew that the cold wind was going to make me pay if I stopped, but I had to. Quick stop, started back up, felt like I was being cut into shreds by the wind against the moisture of my shirt, then settled back into the run.

Around mile 10 my old friends right knee pain and top of left foot pain came to hang out. By mile 16 right knee pain was totally dominating and I didn't even notice left foot pain anymore. Around mile 20 left foot pain came back and brought left knee pain with him. Sweet! One foot in front of the other. Finished up by running 21.3 miles, 3:13:26, 9:04 pace.

Wednesday, 01-18-12

I needed to try and back to back one more set of runs before the 50k (in 2 1/2 weeks). We are going to be fairly busy/absent this weekend, so I had to make the determination to do it today and Thursday. Sounds ok until I remember I just did it last Fri/Sat. If I pull this off it is going to be 64 miles in one week. Definitely the most miles in a week that I have run.

So to start it off I ran 7.3 miles today in 59:55, 8:12 pace. Weather was good, upper 40's, but it was the afternoon, getting close to sundown with the temp dropping fairly rapidly so I wanted to get in the car before it dropped too much. Plan is to do 20+ miles tomorrow in the morning with the temps in the 30's, hopefully in the 40's before I am done.

Monday, 01-16-12

In the 40's. Got out around 2:30pm. No more biting cold wind from the cold front that had moved in so the weather was nice for a run. One note - don't take your cayenne pill 30 minutes before your run. I was breathing fire (kind of cool) but it was a wreck on the intestines. 5 miles, 44:04, 8:48 pace.

And I officially signed up for the Charlotte Ultra 50K today. Gonna try to get another B2B in this Fri/Sat and taper from there.

Saturday, 01-14-12

I was waiting for it to warm up. Wasn't going to happen. High supposedly in the 40's, but the biting wind was keeping that high seem an illusion.

Ran 7.4 yesterday. I wanted to run @31 miles in 24 hours in preparation for a 50k that I still haven't signed up for but I'm creeping towards. I didn't want to run 24 miles to get that total.

Went to the Swamp Rabbit Trail. I've run on it in different races but never stayed on it for any length of time. Felt pretty good the whole time (except my gut was a bit twisted from the meatball sub and milkshake I had last night - oops) but when I got to what I thought was 20 miles (ended up being 20.7, one day I'll get a garmin) in 3:09:46(9:09 pace), I stopped running.

Which is when I began a fast-walk/shuffle run that I have read is good to do when training for an ultra since, unless you are elite, you need to train to shuffle along. I probably should have shuffled along a bit faster but the top of my left foot was feeling sore and I'm still keeping an eye on that little pain. This section ended up being 3.5 miles in 49:14 (13:56 pace).

If you're a purist and think I should have counted all this distance together that would be 24.3 miles in 3:59 (9:50 pace). That's a total of 31.7 miles in 24 hours and you do the math for pace. Makes me fairly confident I can do the 50k in a respectful time for an old guy.

Friday, 01-13-12

Cold front moved in last night. It was supposedly @50 degrees when I finally went running around 3:30pm. The very cold wind that was penetrating my clothes made it seem a lot colder.
7.4 miles. 1:02:17.
Looking to turn around and do 20+ miles tomorrow morning on the Swamp Rabbit Trail. We'll see how cold it feels.

Wednesday, 01-11-12

Rained all day. Then stopped. So, for some reason, I decided to get a run in. It is the week after the marathon and I'm supposed to be recovering but in some senses I feel like I really did a 16-17 mile run with a 9 mile cool down. So I think I'll just get right back into a regular-ish schedule.

This evening it was a 4.2 mile run in 33:17. Tomorrow will be a day off and then I am going to do a back to back run on Friday and Saturday to get over 30 miles in the two days. In preparation for the 50k I'm going to do. Don't tell anybody because I haven't told anyone yet.

Tuesday, 01-10-12

3 days since marathon. Had to get up and run to remind my legs we weren't quitting. Wanted to get 2-3 miles, just took off and decided to just go until the exhaustion set in and then make my way back.

By the time I looked down at my watch I was over 15 minutes into the run so I turned back. Ended up running 3.8 miles in 30:44, 8:10 pace. Yes, this pace and distance were completely unexpected.

Other than my quads everything felt good during the run (and they weren't bad). I have some pain on the top of my left foot into my big toe that has been "lingering" around since before this past marathon. I pass the hop test but I need to keep my eye on it.

Mississippi Blues

So, I ran with my cousin, Shane, trying to get him a marathon under 5 hours. We failed. Good weather to start (upper 40's), saw 69 degrees on a readout towards the end. Cloud y first half of run, sun was out later but it wasn't oppressive.

First 16 miles were getting us in at 4:30, then Shane hit the wall. Slowed down a bit but still coming in at 4:40 through mile 19. Then the knee went. Finished in 5:31:15. I'm thinking it was a pretty good training run for a 50k.

This highlighted the importance (because I know something of Shane's training) of consistently getting the long runs in AND getting the total weekly mileage over 30 miles for at least the last 3 weeks before taper.

I have read some "hilly" comments about this race but I thought it was a nice course - some rolling hills to break the monotony and a course you could PR on if you train on this sort of terrain (which I do). I would recommend for that reason and for some decent swag.

01-05-12

Ran with Marlaina and Regan - it was freezing. Almost attacked by dog but I had to protect my family so I got my alpha male on. 2 miles, 20:16.

Wednesday, 01-04-12

Ran 3.4 miles in 28:37. 8:23 pace. Upper 30's. Full sun, just the wind was a little chilly. Listened to Colosssians and Ephesians, ESV Mclean version. Maybe one more run before marathon on Saturday, haven't decided if I'll run tomorrow. I'll try to take Regan.

Love of Running

"I always loved running...it was something you could do by yourself, and under your own power. You could go in any direction, fast or slow as you wanted, fighting the wind if you felt like it, seeking out new sights just on the strength of your feet and the courage of your lungs." - Jesse Owens

Monday, 01-02-12

Tapering for MS Blues Marathon on Saturday. Running 3 miles. Ran at a YMCA on a treadmill (first time in years) so I naturally ran too fast. 22:28. 7:29 pace.

Purpose.

Undetermined. Primarily where I will be posting my running exploits.