Practice To Suffer So Racing Becomes Easy

Lunch:  Coach J routine

PM 1    8.31 miles easy recovery running

PM 2    Lifts

Lunch 3.1 miles around school neighborhoods at a leisurely pace.

PM:  8.08 miles at a moderate pace + 6x8 sec. all-out hill sprints.  Reasonable temps in the 30's today, with little to no wind.

The achilles seemed to do well with the double run today, so thats promising.  I'll be sticking to the 10% mileage increase rule going forward.  I'm way too close to a setback to be hero with my training volume.  Hopefully, I'll have enough volume to get another marathon PR at Boston.

Evening:  9 miles easy to moderate pace, temps around 35 and light wind out of the North.  + core and light lifts

Afternoon: 20.53 mile run w/4 miles at marathon pace. Awesome weather, sunny, 43, light wind out of the North. Marathon pace miles slower than I wanted, but to my credit I was fighting some GI issues. Last 4 miles were 6:24 w/big up hill and major gut rot, 6:09 flat bike trail w/mental block of gut rot, 6:06 flat bike trail w/numb legs (weird - don't know why that happened) & gut rot, 6:17 w/2 good size hills and painful gut rot that at this point I was unable to mentally block out. A successful run in terms of how I managed my achilles problems this week. To finish a hard long run with no pain is a major step in the right direction! Although, I've got to get my nutrition for the long run figured out, I definitely loss some time with the gut pain!

Evening:  4.69 easy miles 7:01 pace in my new fire engine red Lunarlons.

Afternoon:  Core & Lifts

Evening:  8.66 miles easy pace + 4x10sec. all out hill sprints + some more lifts

Afternoon:  Coach J workout

Night:  15.28 miles w/7x3:00 min @ LT pace w/60 sec. rest.  Did these at night on random in town route where I could find some street lights.  Went 5:54 uphill, 5:50 uphill, 5:54 uphill, 5:44 flat, 5:40 flat, 5:32 flat, 5:50 uphill.  Paces were about the same average as last week, but with tougher terrain, so I'm happy with the effort.  Wind was swirling around town making much of these also against the wind.  Much colder than its been, but dry footing. Temp 21

Morning:  Core + Lifts

Evening:  8 miles easy

Afternoon:  3 miles easy.  Here's an interesting study.  I like the part that says if it ain't broke don't fix it!

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/08/why-runners-get-injured/?ref=health

Evening:  7.5 miles easy (more easy than I wanted - the achilles gave me a little trouble on the run)  It seems like it acts up for a few days after I do my medium long run with intervals.  I thought I was past it since my 20 mile with mp on Sat. went well with no pain.  I may have to go to 1 quality day a week if I can get it back on track doing singles.  Its limiting my buildup, but my overall fitness feels good so I'm not really too woried about it at this point.   

Evening:  5 miles on the treadmill, trying not to aggrevate achilles by running in the slippery snow.

 Not a great day for a race with -15 degree windchill and winds topping 30 mph.  Roads were slippery with slush and snow, but traction was good enough for a 28:40.  This is technically a race distance PR by 35 sec.  I never really felt like I went into the red for more than a 1/4 mile in this race.  I didn't try to hold back, but it just kind of worked out where I had A LOT left in the tank.

I did a 2 miles warm-up, which never really did warm me up.  I couldn't feel my toes until about the 2 mile marker in the race.  The race starts on a hill, which then heads out with the wind for about 3/4 of a mile and then turns up a .1/2 mile long hill into the wind with a 180 degree turn at the top to go back down the hill.  I got out to a slow start off the line to ensure I didn't loose my footing down the steep start hill and I also wanted to make sure I felt out the achilles that has been causing me some pain the past couple of days.  Everything checked out to be good to put in a solid effort up the hill.  I worked myself into 5th place and drafted up the hill into the wind.  The mile split was a 5:36, which felt very comfortable. 

As I approached the 180 degree turn I slowed down quite a bit to make sure I didn't slip.  As I came down the hill Nick in 4th put a surge to try and catch the other 3 guys.  I went with him and stayed on his shoulder down the hill and back up another small hill for a 2 mile split of 5:31. 

The course took a 90 degree turn, which made for a little ice skating around the turn, but I managed to stay upright and accelerate out of the turn to stay with Nick.  At this point Nick and I had gained little to no ground on the 3 leaders. 

The 5:31 felt great, but the next mile with the wind wasn't as strong of a mile as I was hoping it would be splitting a 5:36 going slightly uphill. 

I think this got me a little discouraged because Nick made a move up a hill and I didn't respond like I normally would have.  We made another 180 degree turn back into the wind.  Nick gapped me about 10 seconds and 6th had caught me.  So rather than fight with the wind I tucked behind into 6th place and let the other guy buck the wind for the next 2 miles. 

I was hoping that we would overtake Nick, but instead my wind blocker slowed me down to a 5:51 4th mile!  Ouch!! that was slow and it felt slow to me, but I can't imagine how much harder that mile would have been running on my own into the wind (I wish I would have tried to find out). 

Unfortunatly, I became complacent on the pace and continued to draft into the wind for a 5:48 5th mile.  With about 300 m  to go I surged finishing in 4:55 mile pace up the hill and into the wind out kicking my wind blocker. 

I finished feeling like I hadn't raced at all!  I felt way too good.  I'm happy about the PR, but I'm not happy with the effort.  I should have run those last 2 miles much harder and had use some guts to take on the wind or surge to run with Nick.  I can't complain when I get a PR, but it certainly wasn't my best effort.   

Finished with a 6 mile cooldown.

Night:  4.8 mile shakeout on the treadmill 

Morning:  Lifts + Core + 10 min bike (runners knee is super sore)

Afternoon:  Coach J exercises + some more core

Evening:  3.5 miles on the treadmill, kept this run short and very slow like 11:00 min pace, the knee wouldn't allow any faster until I got to about 2 miles where I picked up to 10:00 min miles.  Very slippery outside today, I'm glad I made the choice to use the treadmill because I could set the incline up to put less strain on the knee. 

If I wasn't training for Boston I wouldn't have ran the race on Sat., but I felt I needed a test to really see how the achilles and knee are handling the training volume and intensity.  The result is not good, this means I'll have to reduce intensity since that seems to do the most damage.  Looks like slow running for the next training cycle.  In all retrospect I should have never tackled Boston this year, but I signed up before the Monumental and paid my way, so no bailing now, just got to roll with it.  I also think it's time to think about going up a little on my heel lift for my short right leg.  The doc said I'm 1.5 cm short and I'm using a .25 cm lift, acceptable range is 1.25 cm short, so I'm just within that range, but I wonder if more lift is needed.

Evening:  5 miles easy on treadmill - I've got a cold :( - boring slow pace.

Afternoon:  Coach J workouts + Core

Evening:  8.2 miles Slow pace with a nasty head cold, started out slow enough where the knee didn't bother me and I ran outside on clear footing.  Tired, not sleeping well. Few strength lifts, not much energy though

Afternoon:  Lifts + Core

Evening:  10 miles no watch, no achillies or knee pain

Afternoon:  Coach J exercises + Core

Evening:  8.5 miles + 5x10 sec hill sprints

Morning:  3 mile warm-up, knee a little sore on the warm-up.  Didn't bother me during the race though.  The achilles did well during the race, warm-up and cooldown.  I tweaked the hamstring a little in the race, but nothing too bad.  Wow- that was quite the injury report!

Not a bad day for racing in WI this time of year, temps in the low to mid 30's, 10 mph wind out of the North.  The race starts off on a steep hill then takes a sharp right after a 100 meters making for a tricky start, but the rest of the course was rolling hills on a 1 loop 5K (actually 3 miles not a 5K).  They advertised the race as a 10K, but my Garmin and several others show 6 miles.  I hate it when race directors mess up on distances.  There is really no good excuse for it, a lot of people are paying money for an honest course.  So anyway the mile markers were all off distance. 

I got off to a comfortable 5:40 1st mile with it being mostly downhill and with the wind.  This exactly what I was shooting for and I figured it would be a pace to try and average for my current fitness.  I was sitting in what I thought was 6th, but later learned one of the leaders was just a pacer for the 1st 5K.

I came through the 2 mile in 5:37 going mostly uphill and at this point I made a move to catch the two leaders because I kept seeing them looking back, it motivated me to run a little harder.  The runners around me happened to be UW-Whitewater Alums that recognized me from my 1st year of collegiate running.  They remembered me, but I didn't recognize or remember them, which made feel like an ass.  To my credit memories did come back after the race.

Through the 3 mile it was now 1 leader, my fellow alums Ruffalo, Kyceke and myself.  I managed to lead our pack to about 5 sec. behind the lead runner, but the wind and hill took a toll on me as I slowed to a 5:42. for the 3rd mile. 

The leader put in a solid surge dropping Ruffalo and myself while Kyceke dropped off about 10 sec. behind us.  I came through mile 4 in 5:34 (same downhill as the 1st mile) as we now started the 2nd lap of the 3 mile loop. 

Between mile 4 and 5 Ruffalo who in his prime was a 2:25 marathon 31 10K guy dropped me.  I maintained a smooth efficient effort, but I was lacking the threshold endurance to keep the 5:40 pace dropping back to a 5:45 pace now going into the wind and up hill.  So sitting in 3rd place I thought if I can just stay relaxed through this portion I'll get some downhill for the last mile and maybe I can recover and surge for a strong finish.  As I was thinking this a different runner passed me like I was standing still.  I went with, but the left hamstring was tight and when I surged to go with I felt it tweak.  I backed off a little as we finished the long hill climb and lost 10 seconds on 3rd place. 

I maintained the same effort through mile 5 splitting a 5:46 and by now I knew it was damage control and no miracle surge to catch 3rd place.  My last mile slightly downhill with the steep finishing hill was a 5:49 for a final time of 34:05 for 6 miles.

I was disappointed with the last 2 miles, but I ran stronger than last week and improved my average pace to 5:41, which is only a couple seconds off my best of 5:39 for the 10K.  I debated running this race because the knee gave me trouble after last weekends race.  I also don't normally like to race two weekends in a row, plus an 8K/10K back to back isn't ideal.  However, I had someone to watch Jameson and the next two weeks doesn't hold any potential races in my area.  So, with basically the whole week being low volume and easy running I thought maybe I could make the best of the situation by getting in a race on fresh legs, but also use it as my threshold/speed work for the week.  It worked out to be an excellent effort and I can tell this down week and the back to back weekend racing really opened some doors for me.  I'm excited to get back after the volume and marathon pace running for the next couple of weeks as I inch closer to Boston.   

Night:  5 mile easy shake out

Afternoon:  14.55 miles on Glacial River Trail out and back.  The legs felt peppy and the stride was smooth.  Best of all ZERO pain in the knee and achilles.

Morning:  7 miles in town loop

Afternoon:  Core + Lifts

Evening:  8.11 miles Glacial River Trail East

Afternoon:  Coach J routine

Evening:  14.63 miles w/ a few faster miles to finish off the end of the run.  Just planning to keep this week full of easy running to let my body absorb the race from Sat.  I might do some mp training in my long run this weekend depending on how my body handles the 30% mileage increase.  So far the body is doing really well with easy running, no muscle soreness. 

Morning:  6.14 miles in town loop

Afternoon:  Core + Lifts

Evening 8.47 miles in the country through rain, sleet, snow, finished in the rain. 

Afternoon:  Coach J workout (15 donkey kicks, 15 fire hydrants, 15 clams, 15 fwd knee circles, 15 bkwd knee circles, 15 straight leg circles clockwise, 15 straightl leg circles counterclockwise, 15 donkey whips, 15 lateral leg lifts toe neutral, 15 lateral leg lifts toes down, 15 lateral leg lfits toes up, 20 groiners, 20 scorpions, 20 iron crosses, 20 hurdle exchanges, 15 lateral leg swings, 15 straight leg swings, 15 bent knee leg swings, 15 v-ups, 15 l-ups, 1 min of air bike  into 1 min of crunch)  I skipped some exercises today due to laziness.

Evening:  6 miles very very slow, body is feeling the 4 straight days of 15 miles coming off the 10K this past weekend. 

Morning:  20 miles w/6 miles uptempo.  Cold wind out of the north today made for a challenging run.  Managed to build into this tempo with 6:48,6:33,6:32,6:18,6:12,6:06 running into the wind.  I can tell the marathon specific fitness isn't there yet, but I guess that's what the next 7 weeks of training is for.

Morning: 3 miles on the treadmill to shake out the legs + core work and a few lifts

Afternoon:  7.2 miles in town to avoid the 20-30 mph wind gusts. 

Morning:  15 miles around Janesville while Jen and Jameson did the grocery shopping.  Average pace 7:05 with swirling winds, seemed like I couldn't catch a tail wind today. 

I had an eventful night due to a possible break in our home.  I went to bed around 8:00 feeling kind of lousy; I woke up with my 3^rd head cold in the past 3 months.  Jen locked up the house and was 100% sure she locked everything up.  Around midnight the alarm started going off, I ran across our bed leaped into the hallway ready for battle.  As I went running down our hallway I caught my shoulder on Jameson's door frame, which now aches.  I managed to stay on my clumsy feet as I flew into the kitchen yelling what most movie directors would consider an outstanding war cry, to find our door from the house to the garage and basement door open.  I heard no footsteps or commotion, but grabbed the phone and immediately dialed 911.  I shut the basement door and threw the latch on it in case someone was in the house.  The police showed up in less than 5 minutes and did a search around the parameter of the house.  An officer did a search in garage and basement.  All other doors were locked and secure with no sign of forced entry.  The garage door was shut and from the time the alarm went off to me flying into the kitchen I'm guessing it was less than 10 seconds!  I learned today that when my fight or flight response is activated I'm 100% a fighter!  Although, I'm pretty sure my fight would have been useless if the intruder had more dangerous intentions.  Jen still claims she locked all the doors; however with no forced entry into our garage I think this was a false alarm.  My best guess is that after Jen locked the doors Jameson went around and unlocked them when she was getting ready for bed.  The wind was blowing hard so if the door wasn't fully shut a draft might have blown it open.  Needless to say neither of us got much sleep.  We have both been on edge due to a neighbor having a break in last year. 

So with lack of sleep, Jen being on edge, and the head cold I decided to skip out on my teacher conference and run a 15 miler instead :-)  I had to sneak this one in a different city though; Fort is too small to take the risk of someone seeing me out running while I'm supposedly at home too sick! 

 Night Run:  3.7 very easy with Jen and Jameson in the stroller.  + Coach J routine

Afternoon:  Core exercises and lifts

Night:  12 miles relaxed easy pace 7:48 avg.

Afternoon:  3.5 miles + 6 strides

Night:  8 easy miles