Summary - 3/4 to 3/24/2013

3/4 to 3/10/2013 - Taper week to LBL trail marathon

3/4 - Monday - 4.6 miles/ 3.7 running
am- real easy at fittek 60 m at 107 hr

3/5 - Tuesday - 4.7 miles/ 3.4 running
am- bike path , easy 2 x 1.7 miles in 18.50 at 127 hr & 18.08 at 132 hr

3/6 - Wednesday - 2 miles/ 1.4 running
am- fittek 27.27 at 97 hr

3/7 - Thursday - 4 miles/ 3.4 running
am- fittek easy 50.36 at 111 hr

3/8 - Friday -0 miles - 1st rest day of year

3/9 - Saturday - 26.2 miles trail race in Grand Rivers
6:30am - 5h 17 m 54 s  (12.08 pace)
see previous post on race

3/10 - Sunday - rest day - tired - very sore in quads
(hindsight comment - should have walked some)

3/11 to 3/17/2013- recovery runs


3/11 - Monday - 2 miles/ 1.4 running
am- fittek - tired

3/12 - Tuesday - 2.5 miles/ 2 running
pm - fittek - tired and sore

3/13 - Wednesday - 6 miles/ 3.7 running
am- fittek - 60 mins better
pm- walk dogs at trails cold windy

3/14 - Thursday - 3.1 miles/ 3.1 running
am- bp loop 35.37 at 130 hr - still feel tired

3/15 - Friday - 4.5 miles/ 2.5 running
am/pm - tired

3/16 - Saturday - 6.6 miles/ 3.7 running
9am- fittek - 60 mins + 60 mins of weights - I've decided to start back with a regular weight routine with arms and legs.....at LBL race my legs seemed weak and got sore earlier than I remember they should

3/17 - Sunday - 9 miles/3.5 running
8am- easy 5 mile trial in 65 mins walking 5 mins at start of each mile
1pm-fittek - walk uphill at 2mph at 15% incline
4pm-walk dogs

Note: I forgot what it is like to recover from a hard marathon.  I should have gotten more sleep and only did 30 min easy runs in pm....allow myself to sleep more in am.

3/18 to 3/24/2013 - more recovery


3/18 - Monday - 4.7 miles/ 3.8 running
am- fittek

3/19 - Tuesday - 7 miles/ 6.3 running
pm - bp with gregg - felt better but extreme cold/windy 10deg , 2 x 2miles in 21.46 at 131 & 20.22 at 147
am- tergat loop 2miles in 22 mins very cold

3/20 - Wednesday - 5.5 miles/ 5.5 running
am- in dark bike path/LOW road loop, all run, 62.11 at 131hr, extreme cold and windy 5 deg, should not have run outside in shorts . my legs hurt from running into wind, stupid me

3/21 - Thursday - 5 miles/ 4 running
am- fittek - workout - 15 min warmup + 10 x 2 mins fast in 9.50-10 min pace w/ 1 min walk at 4mph + cooldown of 15 mins
(Hopefully this is the first of a weekly speed session of 20 minutes total fast.  I plan to vary the time and paces.  The paces will be 10:00 down to 8:30 pace.  Goal is to do a little bit of speed to get ready for some shorter races.)

3/22 - Friday - 5.5 miles/ 5.5 running
am- same LOW/BP loop as Wednesday, 60.54 at 135, not as much wind, still very cold.

3/23 - Saturday - 11.8 miles/ 11.6 running
8 am-  2 loops of allerton shrocth trail w/ chris. 32-42 deg, no wind, nice
2.07.51 in 143/164hr
1st loop -walked first 2 mins then ran all the loop back to car in 64.45 at 138hr ( 10:58)
2nd loop - same as above in 63.05 at 150 hr, ran harder the last 20 minutes
good 2 hour run

3/24 - Sunday - 2.2 miles/1.6 running
1pm- fittek 30 minutes warmup at 104hr + weights

Land Between the Lakes trail marathon race 3/9/2013

Saturday, I ran a true marathon race for the first time since 12/4/2004 (Tuesmuch trail 5:34) in Grand Rivers, KY.  My time was 5:17.54, just over 12 mins per mile.  If my opinion that trail races take 10% longer than road races, this would mean I'm in 4:46 marathon shape, about what I thought, and how I've been training.

As typical for the trip to this race a couple of friends, gregg and chris, went with me and also finished the marathon, apparently only a few minutes ahead.  Personal comment:  they should have ran 30 minutes faster.

Also, as usual we stayed at my sister's house, which makes for an easy trip.  Thanks Susan and Danny!!

The weather was perfect, 40 at start, overcast, light breeze, 60 at end.  This race is one of the best organized and with great volunteers, making this race one the best, if not the best, I have ever run.  It helps to have a great trail to run, a fair course, runable all  plus with 4 major hills on KY lake side.  This year it was dry and soft, perfect.

The start is in Grand Rivers at lighthouse landing down by the waterfront.  In trail races unless you know exactly how a course was measured you never know its true length but the advertised marathon appeared to be this:
1.9 miles on road to trail loop
11.3 miles trail loop x 2 (note: since 2010, last time I hiked the course, changed a little)
1.7 miles road back to finish
26.2 miles total, I think its pretty accurate.

Overall, I will admit to thinking I could run 5 hours or under, but I just do not have the mental toughness to run thru the pain and tiredness like I used too.  Maybe that will come with more racing, especially short races, as I re-learn what a race day effort feels like again.  I love to run, but racing is done to test myself and doing this makes racing fun.  I love to do workouts then race and see how they relate to each other.

So on to the race.  My splits:
1.9 miles road = 20.10 at 142 hr- seemed real easy but HR was high
loop 1 - 11.3 miles = 2h 15 m at 150 hr - just cruising, running easy and steady how I felt
loop 2 - 11.3 miles =  2h 25 m at 151 hr - more of a struggle, had to concentrate more- drank 33 oz of tailwind drink which seemed to keep energy level good
1.7 miles road to finish = 18.57 at 150...a mental struggle, almost cramped in hams on downhill finish
Overall race avg hr was 150/ max 163
Overall, a very even effort, even hr, even energy level.  I'll see in the results how I did overall.
My legs seemed to fatigue earlier in the quads then I expected.  I know from past racing this may mean I trained a little too hard the last 2 weeks (the key workouts I have noted in other posts) or possible just normal fatigue from a long trail race.  Maybe I need to starting my leg extensions exercises again for my quads.  Anyway, I was happy to see I did not slow down that much over the last half of the race.  I passed a few people and a few passed me.

I ran in Hoka One Evo's.  They did good.  My bottom of feet feel good, no heel pain, no left foot pain (Thank You Mettler Center!!) and no knee pain, just good ol' soreness from the marathon.  Had not felt this for many years....crazy but a good feeling that I've missed, although it reminded me I need to be  lighter weight and better trained.

My nutrition plan going into the race was to drink the Heed at the aid stations the first loop then use my new hydration pack with 32 oz. bladder filled w/ tailwind sports drink.  I felt very good plus I ate 3 gels.  I forgot the gels go down better with water as I did not time the gels well.. However, my stomach had no problems. Chris had told me of reading that taking 1 pepsi AC at the race start might keep the stomach settled.  Well, my stomach felt great, maybe the pepsi AC was why.....I will definitely do this again.

Now, its on to recovery for a few days and losing a few more pounds.  Next planned races are June 8, Shadow of the Gaints 50K in Fish Camp, Calif., which will be more of a sight seeing/hiking trip with Gregg in and around Yosemite National Park.  After that is Howl at the Moon 8 HR, August 10.  In between I want to run some shorter races (road races and trail)  but with so many to pick from you do not have to sign up early which is nice.

Next week will be easy but hope to keep the miles up.  Heartrate this morning was 50, about 6-7 more than normal, so I need a few good nights sleep for recovery.. Time changed this early morning so its back to dark for mornings and more light for evening's, which means more walking the dogs.

It was good to see Ed running but I must admit I missed seeing most of the runners when I would hike backwards on the trail in past years.

Weekly Summary 2/25 to 3/3/2013

2/25 - Monday - 4.9 miles/ 4 running
am- treadmill 60 at 114/135, very good easy

2/26 - Tuesday - 5 miles/ 4 running
am - 60 at 119/140 with 5 x 1 m fast

2/27 - Wednesday - 10.2 miles/ 9 running
am- Fittek - 60 min at 124/148 = 5.1 miles like this: alternate 5mins at 4.9mph or 12:14 pace w/ 5 mins at 5.8 or 10:20 pace...HR for easy 5 mins at 109, 118, 125, 131, 136;  HR for faster 5 mins at 124, 128, 135, 142, 145......fun!!  toughest part was the slower 5 mins, I'm so used to walking the recovery's.
pm- same as AM.....60 mins at 124/147....w/ last 2 - 5 mins at 131 HR/ 142 HR which means I was recovered from the am workout

2/28 - Thursday - 5.1 miles/ 4.4 running
6 am - bike path w/  gregg .....ice covered so ran easy

3/1 - Friday - 7 miles/ 5.2 running
am - short easy = 1.3 mile.
pm- did my test # 1- 70 mins ( W5/R40 at 5,5.2,5.4,5.6/W5/R5 at 5.6/W5/R1/W1/R1/W1/R1 at 5.8/W5) at 115/137....compare to 121/150 on 2-1-13.

3/2 - Sat - 10 miles/ 0 running
am- hike Clinton lake trail w/ chris in 2h 51 mins at 110 HR/137 max....snow/ice covered so took it easy.  Hoka mafate 2 shoes had good traction

3/3 - Sunday - 12 miles/ 8 running
8am -  trails - hilly route + bp real easy, still snow/ice covered = 5miles
12:30pm - fittek - 60.31 mins  with warm-up then 10 x 1 min fartlek at 6.1 to 7.0 pace (9:50 to 8:36 pace) 1 min walk at 4mph....119 HR avg compared to 137 avg for same workout on Jan 16.
3pm- walk dogs at trails, very muddy now

Weekly totals = 54 miles/  34.7 running

Okay week.  Got in my last 2 workouts as noted below on Wed and Sunday, so now its taper week until LBL trail marathon next Sat.
1.  progressive fast run of 45 mins
2. 10 x 1 mile repeats at trails w/ rest between at 10:40 pace
3.  2 x (4 x 1.5 miles) at 11:10 pace with .5 mile easy between. 1 in am/1 in pm.
4. 10-13 miles cont trail run at 11:15-30 pace or equal effort
5.  10-13 miles cont. alternate .5 miles at 5:10/ 6:00, could be bike bath done
6. 10-15 x 1 min fast fartlek runs w/ 1 min walk between- done

Feb was a very winter month compared to Jan.  Looking forward to warmer temps and drier surfaces to run outside more.

Monthly totals in Feb = 252 miles/ 183.5 running
Yearly totals = 472.5 miles/ 350 running

Weekly Summary - 2/18 to 2/24/2013 + Hoka One mileage update

Thur 2/24/13 I've run 777 miles in Hoka One Stinson Evo's since Oct. 2012.  The left shoe has a worn out liner at back of heel.  I put a piece of duct tape over the worn area.  seems to be working okay.  I may be close to 1000 miles by April.
I also bought a pair of Mafate 2.  This fit bigger and had to relase the shoes to keep the heels from slipping.  it caused a heel blister and several on both big toes.  like them but still getting used to them.  Probably have about 50 miles + on them.  These are more for outside running on trails.

2/18 - Monday - 7 miles/ 5 running very easy
am - 60mins/4.8miles at 115/137
pm- fittek = 2.2 easy

2/19 - Tuesday - 7.2 miles/ 6 running - easy
am --5 wind chill, no gregg or chris - trails easy in 60.35 at 130/147
pm- fittek 2.2 warmup + weights

2/20 - Wednesday - 15 miles/ 12.3 marathon pace long intervals (see other post for details)
am- 3 x 1.7 miles at fittek
pm- 4 x 1.7 miles at trails

2/21 - Thursday - 2.2 miles/ 1.6 running - recovery
am - fittek real easy 30 minutes at 103 hr avg

2/22 - Friday - 7 miles/ 5.8 running easy
am- fittek 60 mins/4.8 miles at 114/134
pm- 2.2 at fittek = 27.22 at 117

2/23 - Sat - 12.6 miles/ 10 running - cont. run/marathon pace workout
am- prefer outside but footing on road and trails is very rough/icy/hard so ran at fittek
2 hours: 5 min walk + 1h 50min run at 11:00 pace avg + 5 min walk = 10.6
noon- walk dogs in rough snow in crampon's.
ARW = 214

2/24 - Sunday -  12.4 miles/ 7.2 running - very easy day
mp = 42 (recovered)
am- 1h 44 mins at 5 walk/10 run pace = 7.8 miles very easy on road/some trails but this was not smart, so got back on road
2pm- fittek for 2.2 miles in 28.52 at 110 hr
3pm - walk dogs at trails = 2.4

Weekly totals = 63.2 miles/  49.5 running........I'm hitting real good mileage for me, probably too much but I feel good.  What's a running addict to do but run when I want too!!??

Feb. has decided to have cold/snowy/icy winter weather, about 10 degrees below normal.  This past week was not good for outdoor running.

Another good week.  1 more good week until rest week before LBL trail marathon.  would like in get in the following workouts in this week:
1.  progressive fast run of 45 mins - done
2. 10 x 1 mile repeats at trails w/ rest between at 10:40 pace - done
3.  2 x (4 x 1.5 miles) at 11:10 pace with .5 mile easy between. 1 in am/1 in pm done
4. 10-13 miles cont trail run at 11:15-30 pace or equal effort done
5.  10-13 miles cont. alternate .5 miles at 5:10/ 6:00, could be bike bath
6. 10-15 x 1 min fast fartlek runs w/ 1 min walk between

I'm doing good with  the 2-3 very easy days in between harder efforts.

Marathon workout - long intervals

Today I ran/walked 15 miles with 11.9 miles at marathon pace (11.00??) and faster.  I could have never done this much volume at that pace without breaking it up and staying under control.

It went like this:

AM: planned 3 x 1.7miles w/ .3miles walk/run/walk
ran a little outside then drove to fittek for the following:
1-1.7miles  in 18.47 at 134 hr, wrw 4.28
2-1.7miles in 18.32 at 136 hr , wrw 4.37
3- 1.7miles in 18.20 at 141 hr , walk 6.10 cooldown
paces were 10.54 - 11.06 per mile
total = 6.5 miles  (77 mins)

PM : planned 4 x 1.7 miles w/ .3miles walk (this one to be outside on trails, the Tergat 2 mile loop, walking the .3miles of bike path then running downhill then the uphills of trail backwards.
I started off not feeling that great in the legs.
1-walk 4.44 + 1.7 miles in 17.50 at 141 (warmup- stumbled along)
2-walk 5.00 + 1.7miles in 17.19 at 142
3-walk 5.02 + 1.7miles in 17.33 at 143
4-walk 5.00 + 1.7miles in 18.51 at 139 (getting very dark - no headlamp)
walk .5 miles in 7.50
paces were 10.10 to 11.06
total = 8.5 miles  (1h 39mins)

This was another volume workout designed to allow more MP work without getting overly tired.

Tomorrow will be a real easy day with an early meeting, which means short run then in evening going to UI b-ball game, which means no pm run.

we will see what this workout means for the marathon race I'll run at LBL but I feel in good shape, but the mental part of racing is what I lack.  The workout today helps me to get mentally tougher and it was FUN. We'll see on march 9.

Weekly Summary 2/11 to 2/17/2013 (nice week)

2/11 - Monday - 8.9 miles/ 5.8 running very easy
am- recovery 60 mins at 117hr = 4.7
5pm- walk dogs north trail-nice = 2.2
6pm-24min at fiitek at 124hr = 2

2/12 - Tuesday - 10 miles/ 7 running - faster run
am - frozen trail run w/ gregg/chris, wup + 4.5M in 46.34 at 153 hr, nice progressively faster run 1st mile in 11:27 down to 9:24....wow.....fast for me
pm- fittek 65 mins very easy R/W at 113hr w/ 10 x 1min at 5.5mph
ARW = 221

2/13 - Wednesday - 7.6 miles/ 5.6 running easy
am- 65 mins very easy road loop,thru trails up Goat =5.6
pm- dog walk  = 2

2/14 - Thursday - 8 miles/ 7 running moderate run
6 am - bike path w/ chris,gregg..steady pace 5M 55:09 at 133hr/147 max = 5.3
pm - fittek 34 mins w/ 8x1m fast = 2.7
did not eat until supper

2/15 - Friday - 3 miles/ 2.7 running very very easy
mp-42 hr
am - fittek 36 mins at 118/135max = 3

2/16 - Sat - 17.5 miles/ 12.2 running - marathon pace workout
(planned 10 x 1 mile at 10:40 pace with 5 mins rest between.  goal is to run controlled pace work with good rest but do many reps for a high volume workout)
7:30am- trails - warmup1.5 miles + a few strides.  cold,sunny, windy day . decided to run the mile loop that goes up Goat mt.
splits:
1-9.41 at 147 - walk rest 5mins for .3M....this is typ. rest between repeats
2-9.55 at 148
3-9.52 at 150....at this point the sweat/cold/wind was getting to me so I decided to finish the workout at fittek......at fittek I was able to control the pace of the repeats.
4-10.33 at 138
5-10.41 at 139
6-10.39 at 143
7-10.30 at 147
8-10.40 at 148
9-10.01 at 156.......decided to go a bit faster the last 2 repeats
10-10.16 at 155
cooldown of 16 mins = 1.1 miles
total = 16 miles
....overall pleased.  the trails were actually easier than the treadmill and a better trail race workout BUT the purpose of the run was not to run the fastest I could for the repeats but to run controlled so running on the treadmill solves that.  there will come time for faster trail intervals some day.
ARW = 217

pm- walk dogs = 1.5......I like the walks to flush out the legs

2/17 - Sunday -  12.2 miles/ 8.8 running - very easy day
mp =42 hr.....so I recovered heart wise from yesterday
8am - w/ gregg....trails, walk to 3.5pt, then run 5M at easy effort in 55.24 at 136, then walk. = 5.5
This run shocked me how easy it was at 11:05 pace.
12:30pm - fittek w/ tanya/jason -  60 mins at 116 avg HR very easy recovery, ran at 4.6,4.9,5.2,5.5 mph pace = walking = 4.7
4:30pm- walk dogs  = 2 miles

Weekly totals = 67.2 miles/  49.1 running.....wow, this is alot of miles as I'm just running when I feel like it

Very good week.  2 more good weeks until rest week before LBL trail marathon.  would like in get in the following workouts in these 2 weeks:
1.  progressive fast run of 45 mins - done
2. 10 x 1 mile repeats at trails w/ rest between at 10:40 pace - done
3.  2 x (4 x 1.5 miles) at 11:10 pace with .5 mile easy between. 1 in am/1 in pm.
4. 10-13 miles cont trail run at 11:15-30 pace or equal effort
5.  10-13 miles cont. alternate .5 miles at 5:10/ 6:00, could be bike bath
6. 10-15 x 1 min fast fartlek runs w/ 1 min walk between

To succeed with these workouts I must cont to have the patience to do the 2-3 very easy days in between.

Weekly Summary - 2/4 to 2/10/2013

2/4 - Monday - 6 miles/ 4.8 running
am/pm- 2 very easy runs + weights/abs

2/5 - Tuesday - 9.2 miles/ 4.5 running
am - frozen trail run w/ gregg/chris, 4.5M in 48.44 at 144 hr
pm- fittek + walk dogs

2/6 - Wednesday - 9 miles/ 6 running
am- very easy hilly route
pm- dog walk + fittek run, weak but good to run

2/7 - Thursday - 7 miles/ 5.5 running
6 am - bike path w/ chris, gregg 57.17 for 5.3 miles 2 x 2M in 20.48 + 19.24..good
pm - fittek warm-up w/ 2- 30s fast + weights/abs/squats

2/8 - Friday - 5.3 miles/ 3.5 running
am - very windy/ very easy run/walk w/ gregg at W.3/ run .7 mile.

2/9 - Sat - 21.3 miles/ 15.7 running
am- 3 loops at lake mingo part of KRR fat ass - 4.31.41 @141avg/162 max at W5/R10 pattern, each loop even pace 1.29/1.30/1.31, last one tired last 2 miles...firm trail at start then getting slippery at end of 3rd loop........huge spread of food and drinks...fun to be able to do some of the longer runs now.  ran in hoka one mafate 2, 12.5 runs big and left heel slipped and got a slight small blister, sock had hole in it, plus left big toe got blister.

2/10 - Sunday -  9 miles/ 3 running
8:30am - just walk around the woods and river banks of LOW 3.75 miles
12:30pm - fittek w/ tanya/jason -  60 mins at 101 avg HR very easy recovery, ran at 4.5,4.6 pace plus lots of walking at 3.7-4.3mph = 4.25 miles
3pm- walk dogs -2 loops of purnell woods loop = 1 mile

Weekly totals = 61.2 miles/  42.7 running

Good week.  3 more good weeks until rest week before LBL trail marathon.  would like in get in the following workouts in these 3 weeks:
1.  progressive fast run of 45 mins
2. 10 x 1 mile repeats at trails w/ rest between at 10:40 pace
3.  2 x (4 x 1.5 miles) at 11:10 pace with .5 mile easy between. 1 in am/1 in pm.
4. 10-13 miles cont trail run at 11:15-30 pace or equal effort
5.  10-13 miles cont. alternate .5 miles at 5:10/ 6:00, could be bike bath
6. 10-15 x 1 min fast fartlek runs w/ 1 min walk between

To succeed with these workouts I must have the patience to do the 2-3 very easy days in between.  5-10 miles a day is fine but pace must be real easy.