Practice To Suffer So Racing Becomes Easy

Morning:  12.72 around Lake Mitchell in Mitchell, SD.  Windy, but cool morning.  Avg pace 7:33  Still battling a cold, but each day seems to get a little better.

Morning:  10 miles around Maple Grove, MN neighborhoods.  Cool to start the run, but got hot and humid toward the end.  Still not quite over the cold.  Should be past it in the next couple of days.   

 Evening:  10.8 miles under another heat advisory.  I managed to sneak out just as the sun went down so the heat wasn't near as intense, but it was enough to be uncomfortable to say the least.  I've been sick for just over a week with a cold that made me feel wiped out.  I just didn't feel on, a loss of energy was noticeable throughout the week.  I did my best to work through it with lower intensity running and less of my auxiliary exercises.  I loaded up on vitamin C and vitamin D3 and tried to get at least 8 hours of sleep.  

Tonight was all about feeling my way though the workout.  I wanted about 6-8 miles of mp pace, but I didn't want to overdo it with the heat being so intense and not really feeling like I'm out of the woods yet with the cold.  Started out with a 4 mile tempo 6:35, 6:21, 6:14, 6:07 then I decided to take it 1 mile at a time with the tempo efforts.  So I ran a steady 1 mile recovery and did another tempo mile in 6:15.  I did one more 1 mile tempo in 5:59.  Felt my body had enough in the heat, finished up the run with a steady cool-down for an average of 6:49 pace.  Not a stellar workout, but felt like a smart workout.   

Afternoon:  3 miles around St. Joe's.  It's been a good solid 4 weeks since I've done a double.  Avg pace 7:39

Evening:  7.71 miles on Hwy M and back + 5 striders.  Felt terrible, I think my body is still having a hard time recovering from being sick.  Avg pace 7:37

Came home to a fried main breaker and no power to my house.  I happened to be with an electrician so he was able to fix it for me.  Could have caused a fire if the main breaker failed to trip.  God was looking out for us.

Evening:  7.8 miles very very easy.  I wanted to do a hard workout today, but my body is recovering so slowly right now.  I still wasn't recovered from Tuesday's workout.  I think the slow recovery is partly due to the heat, but also from being sick. Avg pace 8:30 

Evening:  6 miles in the rain on bike trail in Janesville before St. Joe's CC meet.  The rain felt good, but the legs felt terrible.  I'm really in a slump right now.  I may not run the 30K training run I've got planned for tomorrow.  Avg pace 7:53  

This 30K was a very low key race; maybe 20 people ran the race.  It's an inaugural event, but you'd think with the Lakefront marathon 6 weeks away people would want to use it for a training run.  I think the race director thought the same thing because he was a little surprised by the low turnout.  I got to the race early to do a warm-up.  I was worried about how bad I've felt on my last 3 runs so, I really wanted to prep myself for a solid effort.  Temps were low 60's and windy for the race.  I was happy because it was much better than 90-100 degrees like we've had most of the week.  I started to run and felt a stabbing pain where the hamstring and upper calf meet.  It gave me some concern about actually running the race and I decided to take the warm-up very slow.  I was able to get the calf warmed up with only a minor discomfort when going uphill (more like a loss of power).  I cut the warm-up short and went into the fitness center to see if I could work it out with some stretching and massage.  I must have done a good job because I was able to get the start line and run the race with little to no pain and some loss of power when climbing the hills.  

 We started the race on some gravel, which we ran for about a mile.  The rest of the course was on a bike trail and through a park where we ran in the woods for a couple miles.  The 1st mile was with the wind and went out conservative to make sure the calf didn't cause any problems.  I ran with another runner named Gabe who was from Madison and we talked a little bit about marathon training and pacing for the race.  He wanted a 6:50 pace and I was shooting for a 6:20-6:40 pace.  I figured that would be a pace that gave me a good workout and wouldn't put me in a hole, since my real focus is the Twin Cities Marathon in early Oct.  Gabe and I split a 7:06, but got a little lost because the path to the bike trail wasn't marked for the 1st mile.  So we added about .2 to our total distance and everyone else followed us the wrong way. Somehow I had a hunch we went the wrong way and I turned everyone around to join the trail.  The rest of the race was straight forward.  Gabe dropped back to 6:50 pace after 1.5 miles and I went toward 6:30 pace splitting a 6:34 for mile 2.  I made a quick stop in the woods to use Mother Nature’s bathroom and Gabe passed me.  He held his lead through mile 3 and mile 4 when I finally caught back up with him.  I split a 6:41, 6:44. for those 3rd and 4th miles going up some hills.  Also the way out was into a strong wind, which was nice to have on the way back.  Those 1st 5 miles were about the flattest part of the race.  The course got much more difficult than any average marathon for the rest of the way out.  I passed Gabe going 6:32 for mile 5.  The 1st long climb came at mile 6 and I was able to put a lot of distance between Gabe and splitting a 6:46.    The 7th mile was a steep downhill and I split a 6:28.   My splits stayed pretty much where I wanted to be other than a little slow down in the park/woods we ran through.  The rest of the way I ran alone, but I loved having the aid stations every 1.6 miles.  For a race that only cost $35.00 it was well worth doing for the aid stations alone. The rest of the splits went:

Mile 8 6:33

Mile 9 6:21

Mile 10 6:29

Mile 11 6:24

Mile 12 6:55 (lots of steep up hill)

Mile 13 6:18 (more steep up hill)

Mile 14  6:00 (lots of downhill)

Mile 15 6:34

Mile 16 6:20

Mile 17 6:19

Mile 18 6:28

Last .98 6:12 pace 

Average 6:30 pace

The race turned out just the way I would have hoped.  I finished feeling pretty good and won a $50 grocery gift card and a $10 lunch along with a fitness membership and massage.  The gifts were worth well over what I paid in gas and entry fees to race.   

Afternoon:  11.67 easy miles through Kettle Moraine on the nordic trails.  The legs felt a little sluggish and sore, but not as bad as they've been during my couple weeks of sickness.  I finally feel like I'm past the cold.  Strong finish to the run.  Avg pace 7:55 

Morning:  6 miles in town loop.  It's been a long time since I've done an early morning run on a Monday.  Felt good to run in some crisp cool air.  Avg 7:30

Evening:  9 miles Hwy K loop + 5 strides Avg 7:36 

Evening:  12.92 miles with 1 mile marathon on, 1 mile off.  This was the 1st workout since getting sick that I've felt like I normally should for a Tuesday workout. With that said I still took it conservative and that should hopefully keep the recovery from this workout short.  The 70 degree days feel so much better on the body.

mp avg  6:04

avg pace 6:42 for the run

Evening:  10.55 miles Pond Rd. to Glacial River Trail.  Legs felt sluggish, but not much soreness. Had GI issues though, made for an uncomfortable run to say the least.  I was running from one thing to the next today.  The beginning of the school year is always so crazy.  I'm looking forward to less work and more play.  Avg pace 7:40

Evening:  8.80 miles River Rd + 5 striders - cool temps - Avg 7:17 

Evening:  6 miles out and back on Glacial River Trail.  Avg 7:34

Another nice morning for a race.  Cool temps, actually a bit cold at the start, little to no wind.  This was another very low key (30-40 finishers) race to use as a marathon workout.  It was reasonably priced and advertised as a really hilly course.  I'd say it lived up to it's description.  

I hit my goal of running +/- 10 sec. of my goal marathon pace, so I'm really happy about that.  I think I should recover quickly from this one.  I finished feeling strong and basically negative split the race.  I also took 1st for the 1st time in a 1/2 marathon. 

A couple of the miles were more difficult than I was hoping for.  Mile 3 had a climb that went up 117 ft in less than a 1/2 mile and miles 8-10 where all up hill.  I could have lived without those climbs, but hopefully they'll make me stronger ;-)  The rest of the course wasn't all that easy either.  Most of the hills were long gradual hills that would be considered large hills on most 1/2 marathon courses, there was also a combination of short/medium steeps ones that made the legs scream.  It was hard to keep a steady pace with so many hills, plus I was running on my own in the lead, so it took a lot of concentration to keep the effort steady.  Good thing I kept my concentration because 2nd was only about 2 minutes behind me.

The legs felt flat, but that's probably due to the jump in mileage.  I also had some GI issues miles 8-13, they were actually really more of an issue after the race.  I only managed a run walk cool-down of .66 miles because I  kept getting waves of nausea.  Hopefully, I'll get the issue figured out before TC.

Something I thought was kind of funny.  A guy running barefoot led out the 1/2 marathon.  He had to be running the 1/2 because the 10K and 5K started at different times.  He ran for a couple of strides in front of me until the 1/2 mile point.  When we made a turn at about 1.5 miles and I took a quick look to my right to see if that guy was still going.  I never saw him, so either I missed him or he dropped out.  I didn't see him finish, so I'm guessing he realized that the feet weren't going to make it a 1/2 marathon.  I just had to shake my head at that one :-)

The splits were up and down with the hills, but I managed a 6:10 avg, I'm shooting for 5:55-6:00 pace for the TC marathon.

Mile 1 - 6:22 (lots of uphill)

Mile 2 = 6:30 (lots of uphill)

Mile 3 = 6:44 (117 ft climb, lots of steep uphill, but the music 1/2 way up motivated me to stay under 7 min pace)

Mile 4 = 6:09 (steep rolling)

Mile 5 = 6:11 (light rolling)

Mile 6 = 6:09 (moderate rolling)

Mile 7 = 5:52 (finally got some downhill) 

Mile 8 = 6:10 (flat)

Mile 9 = 6:30 (lots of uphill)

Mile 10 = 6:18 (lots of uphill)

Mile 11 = 5:59 (steep rolling, and a back down the 117 ft steep downhill)

Mile 12 =  5:44 (short steep uphill, then all light to steep downhill)

Mile 13 = 5:50 (pancake flat) 

I think the course was a little short based on my Garmin, but better short than long considering all the hills we ran.  Garmin says it was 13.03. 

Evening:  11.96 slow miles out Hwy 106 W to J and back - Avg pace 7:53

Morning:  4.33 miles very very slow Avg 8:32 in town loop

Evening:  10.51 miles in town loop Avg 7:35

Evening:  8.79 miles Main to Hoard Rd loop Avg 7:27.  The leg soreness isn't around anymore, but the tendons and ligaments are still sore from this past weekend's hills. I'm going to forgo a hard workout this week since I'm running another marathon pace 1/2 marathon on Saturday.  No forcing a hard workout  with only 3 weeks until TCM. Plus a 30K, 1/2, 1/2 triple weekend isn't something to take lightly even if the pacing has been less than an all out effort.  My training cycle has been a lot different than my traditional buildup, but I'm running by feel rather than a plan.  It certainly doesn't look as pretty on paper, but I don't feel as stressed out getting the miles in using races as hard workouts.

Evening:  8.39 miles airport road Avg 7:38 

7.49 miles Avg 7:27 pace

3.39 miles avg 8:32 pace

A another big workout for me.  This was the only workout of the week coming off a 1/2 last weekend and it took all week to get my legs back to almost feeling fresh.  Last night I thought 8:30 pace felt difficult for 3 miles, so I was a little concerned about how I'd feel running another 1/2 marathon.

 Driving to the race was a difficult drive.  I drove through snow, sleet, rain, hail, lightning, and high winds.  I couldn't believe I drove through snow accumulation on the road.  I've never seen snow this early in WI.  The weather made me very late.  I got to the race at the time the race was going to start.  They had delayed the race due to 7:30, so somehow I managed to make the start.  The turnout was excellent for a 1st year event, but when you tell people they get to run along the warning track of the field that's going to bring a lot of people to the event.

I got out to a 6:12 start running with some guys from UW-Whitewater I ran with my freshman year.  We did some catching up the first 2-3 miles.  The rest of the race I ran alone except for one guy who passed me and then stopped to tie his shoes.  The course was rolling and we had low 40's with high winds (gusts up to 30 mph).  The wind war really brutal on the bridge over passes.  Somehow the course was long according to my watch again.  

Mile 1 6:12

Mile 2 6:12

Mile 3 6:04

Mile 4 5:57

Mile 5 6:10

Mile 6 5:56

Mile 7 6:02

Mile 8 6:03

Mile 9 5:55

Mile 10 6:19

Mile 11 5:55

Mile 12 5:44

Mile 13 5:45

last .22 6:45 pace hitting a wall of wind and a steep uphill while trying not to push the finish

Avg pace 6:01 - if I can run that for a full marathon I'll be in the 2:37-2:38 marathon range.   

6.69 miles very easy + 4 striders  Avg 8:09 pace. 

8.97 easy miles w/ a couple of hill striders Avg pace 7:54

8 miles Glacial River Trail - Avg pace 7:33

8.34 miles in town loop up Main St.  Turned this one into a light progression run.  Avg page 7:10

8 miles along Lake WI - Avg 7:15

Late Evening 6.08 miles - Avg 7:08