Running & Racing

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Weekly Summary 11/22/2009

Weekly total: 71.7
Monday: 7.6
Tuesday: 12.4
Wednesday: 8.54
Thursday: 10.1
Friday: 8.17
Saturday: 8.44, 6.35
Sunday: 10.1
Average pace: 7:53

Overall another productive week. This was my 3rd highest weekly mileage and is keeping me on pace for a record month. Even though I’ve really picked up the training lately, my body has held up surprisingly well. I’m a little stiff after sitting around for a while but once I get moving I feel pretty good.

I have a lot of things getting in the way of a good training week this week. Ron and I are hosting Thanksgiving this year so if I want to run on Thursday then I’ll have to do it early in the morning which means no long run on Wednesday night. We are also spending the weekend in Ft Lauderdale (leaving Friday morning) so that means another early run on Friday morning. Saturday and Sunday will probably be treadmill runs at the hotel (which is never good) so I’ll probably be lucky to get in 50-55 miles this week.

2 weeks until WBP
7 weeks until Disney

Monday, November 16, 2009

Weekly Summary 11/15/2009

Weekly total: 63.1
Monday: 8.06
Tuesday: 8.63
Wednesday: 9.1
Thursday: 10.14
Friday: 8.35
Saturday: 8.51
Sunday: 10.29
Average pace: 7:51

Overall it was a pretty good training week. I was never able to fit in a double and missed my 70 mile goal but I still had a week’s worth of solid runs all with a pace at or under 8:00. My ankles and lower calves are a little sore (more stiff than sore) but other than that I’m pain free.

My plan this week is more of the same, run every day with each run at least 8 miles. I would like to get in a longer run of at least 12 miles. It’s been a while since I’ve had a run of over 11 miles.

Currently, I’m on pace for a 270+ month which would easily beat my current highest (258). My current 25 day streak should continue to 53 before I take a couple of days off before my next race.

3 weeks until WPB
8 weeks until Disney

Monday, November 9, 2009

Weekly Summary 11/8/2009

Weekly total: 64.6
Monday: 8.6
Tuesday: 10.59
Wednesday: 8.03
Thursday: 8.32
Friday: 8.5
Saturday: 9.02, 5.39
Sunday: 6.1
Average pace: 7:52

I fell a little short of the 70 miles that I wanted to run but overall it was a productive week. I managed to get a couple of solid medium runs in but only one of 10+ miles. My legs were feeling pretty stiff and tired this week but part of the reason for that was breaking in new shoes. The inserts were making the shoes stiff and that was causing some strain on my calves. After putting the original inserts back in the shoes were much better but it took a few runs to work the stiffness out.

My plan for this week is to shoot for 70 again and if I feel good maybe stretch it to 80 but really anything 65+ will be a good week. I don’t want to push myself into an injury.

4 weeks until WPB
9 weeks until Disney

Monday, November 2, 2009

Weekly Summary 11/1/2009

Weekly total: 82.7
Monday: 5.48, 5.49
Tuesday: 8.73
Wednesday: 5.63, 8.52
Thursday: 10.74
Friday: 8.69
Saturday: 10.08, 8.25
Sunday: 5.77, 5.34
Average pace: 8:09

It took 11 runs but I managed to set a new weekly high with 82.7 miles. My previous weekly high (81) took me just 9 runs and at a faster pace (7:49). I’m a little tired but overall I held up pretty good.

I have 4 more weeks until I need to taper so I want to see if I can keep the mileage around 70. I don’t see a problem with using doubles to get to this high mileage. The point is to run when feeling fatigue and I did plenty of that this week so a 6 and 8 mile run in the same day is just as good as a single run of 12-13. I just need to run a little faster on that second run.

My plan this week, outside of getting 70 miles, is to pick up the pace a little. Last week I only had 3 runs under an 8:00 pace and 3 over an 8:15 pace. If I can get 70 miles at an 8:00 pace I will be pretty happy with the week.

5 weeks until WPB
10 weeks until Disney

Monday, October 26, 2009

Weekly Summary 10/25/2009

Weekly total: 56.0
Monday 7.07
Tuesday 8.77
Thursday 5.34, 10.12
Friday 6.37
Saturday 10.2
Sunday 8.18
Average pace: 8:11

A fairly uneventful training week. I felt a little sluggish during most of the runs but no aches or pains that I can’t deal with. I was able to get in 2 morning runs outside. The weather seems to be cooperating so hopefully I can get some more outside training in. It’ll be nice when the time changes next week.

I registered for Boston yesterday so I’m all set. I have a hotel, plane ride and now a race to run in. It’s a long time until April but I’m already excited. Right now I just need to focus on training hard so I can get my 2011 BQ out of the way.

My goal this week is to run every day and get over 70 miles.

6 weeks until WPB
11 weeks until Disney (I should track this instead since this is really my A race)

Monday, October 19, 2009

Weekly Summary 10/18/2009

Weekly total: 32.9
Tuesday: 1.06
Wednesday: 7.33
Thursday: 8.2
Saturday: 10.23
Sunday: 6.05
Average pace: 8:30

The upside to running a shitty marathon is that you can have some pretty productive training the following week.

I didn’t plan on running much last week but knees or hamstrings weren’t bothering me much by Wednesday so I decided to start running again and see what I could handle. I did take the pace a little slow but overall I felt pretty good.

Summer is finally over so there will be a lot more opportunities to run outside now. On Saturday’s run the temps were in the low 60’s with very low humidity.

My plan this week is to start building up the mileage again. I’d like to get a couple of short runs in the morning with my longer runs after work. A couple of doubles will allow me to get back up around 70 miles which is where I would like to be for the next few weeks. Palm Beach is in 7 weeks and even though that isn’t an A race I don’t have a lot of training time between that a Disney.

7 weeks until West Palm Beach

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Hartford Marathon

Time: 3:51:48
Overall: 672 out of 2287
Age Group: 78 out of 210

Running a lot more marathons has forced me to change my mindset of what I consider a successful race. I have finally accepted that fact that I’m not going to set a PR in every marathon and by not setting a PR I shouldn’t be disappointed in the results.

Going into Saturdays Hartford Marathon I knew that the temperature was going to be too high for me to run a 3:30. As the race started I had 2 choices. The first was to run conservatively and settle for a time no better than a 3:40. The second option was to run at a 3:30 pace as long as I could and maybe be able to keep that up for the entire race.

Being a stubborn person I decided to go for it. As you can see from my time that choice didn’t work out too well.

The temperature at race start was overcast 60 and humid. My first few miles went well but by mile 5 I knew that I wasn’t going to keep that pace for the whole race. I was running with the pace group so I decided to just stick it out as long as I could. By 9.5 miles I was struggling to keep the pace and decided to pull back a little. I still kept the pace group in sight for the next few miles and even managed to pass the half way point under a 3:30 pace (pace group must have been running too fast).

Somewhere around 14 or 15 I started to really slow down the pace in an attempt to avoid a total crash and burn. My goal now was to just run the rest of the way. The hills seemed nonstop after the 20 mile mark or right about the time that I had nothing left. I still managed to keep running (at a very slow pace) until mile 23 when I started walking up the hills.

The crowds picked up near the park (and finish line) and I managed something closer to running at the end.

Even though I consider 3:51 a bad time, I’m not disappointed in my effort. I took a chance and it didn’t work out. If I ran slower early on then I may have finished in 3:40 but who knows.

Every race is different. Hartford had a lot more hills than most and you never know what the weather will be when you register. Speaking or weather I have the worst luck. Not only do I usually run in unseasonably warm temps but a day or two after the race is usually perfect running weather. Saturday was an unseasonably warm 60 at 8am, this is bad luck. Sunday morning it was 32, this is something way beyond bad luck. I don't expect ideal weather in WPB so I'll have to hope for cooler temps (i.e 40's) at Disney.