Week #9 recap

Weekly Mileage: 34.48

Monday: Rest Day

Tuesday: Rest Day - I was supposed to run but had alarm issues and missed my run. I was pretty nervous about running as I had been sore since last week and was unsure how I would feel, but was still upset because I needed to get the miles in before the weekend.

Wednesday: I ran without the heart rate monitor so I could just try out the legs without worrying about pace or heart rate. I got 5.56 miles in at a pace of 8:24 but still felt very tight and sore.

Thursday: We were heading to the beach for a long weekend so I was only able to sneak in 2.55 miles  at an average pace of  8:34 again I felt very tight with deep muscle soreness. I have been spending extra time at night stretching but just can't seem to get my body to loosen up. I'm assuming its from the amount of miles I have been piling up but had hoped my light week last week would help me recover, if anything I felt like I got tighter even with the extra rest and shorter distances.

Friday: I decided to get in a few miles and hopefully build some confidence for my long Saturday run. I ran along the boardwalk at Seaside later in the day and got just over 4 miles in at a 7:49 pace. I still felt tight but did feel better and I think the warm weather and faster pace helped me loosen up a bit.

Saturday: was my long run day (3 1/2 hours) I took off about 7am and planned on coming back to our rental about 2 hours in to refill my water bottles and grab another gel. The run started off o.k. But quickly became daunting. I realized the boardwalk was only 1.5 miles from end to end and that I may go insane running that same stretch about 17 times give or take so I headed for the beach. The mistake I made was going to the beach in an area with a lot of soft sand this made for an interesting experience as the sand came in my shoes and attached to the Vaseline on my toes (it helps avoid blisters) I was only a few miles in and realized it would be a miracle if my feet could make it through 3 more hours of running with sand stuck in between my toes.

After about an hour the run became mentally challenging I wasn't feeling great and all I could think about was that I still had 2 1/2 hours of running left. I gutted out another hour wanting to quite many times and then headed for the rental house to refuel. I'm not sure if it was the short break or seeing the family but after about a 5 minute stop I was off again and feeling pretty good. I started alternating my route from the boardwalk to the beach and was running much faster over the next hour then in the previous 2. Things were going pretty well until about 3 hours in (right at mile 19) there is something about mile 19 where you just want to weep you may not even be hurting but mentally and spiritually you have fought with yourself to keep going and something inside finally gives in.

I was feeling pretty spent when an older guy caught up to me and had some encouraging words. He said "how's it going" and told me good job and then mentioned that my form looked great (which at mile 19 I can only believe was a complete lie) he asked how my run was going and how long I had been out there I told him I just hit 19 and he said oh good. Then he paused looked at me strangely and said 19 minutes or 19 miles? I said miles. He asked if I was training for something and we began talking and running together, he told me he is in his early 60's and was in town from Las Vegas. He runs 10k's and half marathons mostly (over 450 all time) we ran together for almost 2 miles before he was done, but it was a great distraction and very uplifting right when I needed it.

I thought things would just finish up without much excitement the rest of the way (and I really wish they had) but just after mile 21 a lone seagull starting screeching and dive bombed right for my head. I ducked quickly with the little energy I had left and strained my neck in the process. The bird kept circling and making the horrible noise so I changed directions and and got out of there. Now the thing is that act of ducking from a crazy bird might normally take a unnoticeable amount of energy but when your 200 minutes into a 210 minute run it pretty much uses up everything you have left. Fortunately I was able to finish the run and got in 22.29 miles at an average pace of 9:23 (not bad for at least half of it being on the sand)

All in all it went well I suppose it was a challenge and an adventure and that's why I do this type of stuff. I hope next week I am healthy enough to do it again (minus the bird)

Sunday: Rest Day

Week #8 Recap (Light Week)

Weekly Mileage: 22.06

Monday Rest Day

Tuesday Rest Day

Wednesday was an early morning run in Zone 2 and it felt pretty average. I got in 5.7 miles at an average pace of 8:57

Thursday was my first Tempo Run in 5 weeks so I was excited to see if their was any progression. I was happy with the results, below are the splits from week 3 compared to this week.

Week #3          Week #8
9:01                         8:23
6:52                        6:31
7:50                        7:11
8:31                        8:34

Friday I was supposed to do another 5/6 miler in Zone 2 but felt I really needed the extra sleep and rest. I was disappointed as this is the first workout I have missed in 8 weeks but felt like I needed to listen to my body and take the extra rest especially on my light week.

Saturday Rest Day

Sunday was my long run day it was supposed to be 2 hours. I took off early in the morning and the weather was great but I never could get a good rhythm going. I didn't feel sore, tired or tight but for some reason my form felt off and I never got into a flow that felt easy. I finished with just over 12 miles at an average pace of 9:13 but in the very last stretch I felt a very sharp pain in my lower right leg (the type of pain that makes you curse out loud) I was still able to run on it but all day it has been lingering and when I step a specific way the sharp stab comes back.

I will take some ibuprofen tonight and do some stretches to see if I can't get it to work itself out before my run on Tuesday. I have been pretty lucky up to this point as far as injuries but I have some serious mileage coming up over the next 3 weeks and can't afford to not be able to run on it. Fingers crossed and prayers sent!

HOW DO THEY DO IT?

Do you ever wonder how Elite Athletes have the discipline to be so consistent with their training programs?

Do you struggle to get out of bed in the morning and get up and workout? Do you find that you're great at convincing yourself why you should take the day off?

Listen to this conversation between two of the fittest humans on earth discuss how they have the same problem and make a note of their tips on how to get in the right mindset and overcome the issue.

Podcast #37

Step #1 Click the link above
Step#2  Push Play on Podcast #37
Step #3 Fast Forward to 1:08:30 (it's about 3 minutes long)

*sorry I couldn't make it easier but Blogger doesn't allow you to attach audio files.

WEEK #7 RECAP (Heavy Week)

Weekly Mileage: 42.15

Monday Rest Day (Ab workout at night)

Tuesday I slept in and decided to run at night, this was not a good decision. It was muggy out that night and when 8:30pm came along I was not in the mood to run. They say sometimes just getting out the door is the hardest part unfortunately this was not one of those times. My legs felt very heavy and the run was sluggish I don't think my body was quite recovered from the 19 miler on the previous Saturday. I finished 4.85 miles at a pace of 8:33 and was happy to be done but knew I had to get up in 7 hours and do my next run.

Wednesday came early as I had trouble falling asleep after that late night run and only got about 5 hours of sleep.Today was supposed to be my speed work day so I ran 4.06 miles in a "Tempo" style, this is where you run fast almost sprint speeds for short durations (1/4 or 1/2 mile in my case) and then jog for the same distance then repeat. This went well overall and I averaged a pace of 7:59 and then got another Ab workout in that night.


Thursday I was not excited about another early morning since my legs had been feeling heavy and sure enough the run was difficult. My body doesn't seem to want to recover from that last long run but it had better get on the program because my "will" is not going to wait around for my legs to catch up. It's a mental struggle when a 5 mile run feels difficult and you start thinking how am I ever going to run 50. I try my best to not think about those things run-to-run and just worry about getting in the miles. I finished the run getting in 4.16 miles at an average pace of 8:39 and a little nervous for my 3 hour Saturday Run.

Friday Rest Day

Saturday I drove down to the Eastbank Esplanade to get in my 3 hour run. The views were great and the route gave you allot to look at (It is Portland) but once again my legs felt heavy from the first miles. I enjoyed the run overall and pushed through the heavy legs and minor aches and pains to finish 19.05 miles at an average pace of 9:32. I was glad it was over but very nervous about Sunday's run. This is my heavy week it falls every 4 weeks where I do a long run on Saturday and then a shorter but still long run on Sunday. I wasn't sure how I was gonna feel or even accomplish Sunday's 90 minute run, but that is the idea of the training. In a 50 mile race you will inevitably be running on tired hurting legs and you need to have confidence that you can make it to the finish and assurance that your not doing serious damage to yourself.











Sunday's run started pretty good, I had felt very stiff and had many nagging pains after the Saturday run but as soon as I started on Sunday my legs actually felt better running then they had felt hobbling around the house for the last 18 hours. It was pretty warm out and I did not bring enough water but overall I kind of just zoned out and didn't have any struggles until about the last 2 miles. I finished 10.03 with an average pace of 9:11 and a little more confidence that even when things are daunting you just have to jump in and see if you can swim.

WEEK #6 RECAP

Weekly Mileage: 34.02

Monday A.M. I ran which is unusual but I modified my days this week to fit in the "Freedom 5k" on the 4th of July. I went 5.12 miles at an average pace of 8:34 my pace is definitely increasing in the zone 2 range, my legs were a little tired since I only had 1 day off after my 15 miler at the coast.

Tuesday I ran at night, it was later and muggy I decided to scrap the heart rate monitor and just have a free run at a comfortable pace. I ended up going 5.67 miles at an average pace of 8:02 and overall it felt pretty good.

Wednesday Rest Day

Thursday was the "Freedom 5k" (3.1 miles) it was the 4th of July and Beth and her brother Shawn decided to run as well. We had a blast and I got a new PR 21:45 (7:00 pace) I was hoping to run it in under 21:00 my strategy was to run the first 2 1/2 miles right at 7:00 pace and then sprint the last bit. I stuck to that plan but didn't have as much energy at the end as I had hoped. Beth and Shawn also had great results and we stayed for the parade and really enjoyed the morning.

                Beth & Shawn

Thanks to Donna, Brian and Tiffany
for watching the kiddos while we ran.








Friday Rest Day

Saturday there was some small ankle and foot pain on my right side (this tends to happen when I run faster paces) and in my right hip which has been tight lately but nothing that was slowing me down. I got up early so I could get the 3 hour run in and still have sometime with the family before Beth had to go to work. I started at 7:30 and the weather was perfect (about 60 degrees and cloudy) the run went really well. I had trouble even getting and keeping my heart rate in Zone 2  I am back at my normal/past pace but able to run it and stay in a lower heart rate zone, meaning I am using less energy while accomplishing the same tasks (this was the goal of this training) I am surprised it has worked so well this fast.

At mile 9 I got a rush of adrenaline (runners high) and was actually running at a 7:06 pace and still in zone 2. I ran faster than I had thought so at mile 18 I reached the house and had to keep going. I finished with 19.13 miles at an average pace of 9:03 and felt really good overall (within context)

Sunday Rest Day

*Compression Socks: I got a pair of compression socks at the Nike Employee Store a few weeks back (only because they were cheap) I never thought much of the concept but after using them on my last 2 long runs I was really impressed with the difference. In the past I always experienced a painful tightening in my upper calves making me slow down dramatically towards the end of my long runs. Wearing the socks the last 2 weeks I have not had this feeling. This could be a change from my training and not the socks but I will continue to use them and would recommend them for distances over 10 miles.