early start

its 5 am and you are lissss...ening to Los Angeles. Haha, just kidding. Had to put the Soul Coughing reference in there. It's actually 5:30 and I'm checking the weather and my proposed route before heading out on my 10-miler. Looks like i may be running in a little rain. No big deal - maybe it'll cool things down a bit. It's 80 degrees and muggy right now. No fun - i'll be sweating like a horse. I'm planning on running downtown and back, but that may change.

Gotta get an earl start cause of the Beer Festival today. So, Im running early, taking a nap, doing chores/cutting the yard and then I'll be ready to leave at 1pm. Should be fun.

Stair-stepping

So, one of the principle tenants of marathon training, or really ANY running program is that you counter "hard" with "easy". For example, hard workouts should be followed by easy runs. And, weeks with increased mileage should be followed by easy weeks -- or leveling-off. I failed to totally incorporate that into the Training Plan.

You see, I was trying to accomplish three things at once (in 12 weeks no less), which is a bit much to bite off. Instead of shooting for PRs at the 5k and 10k, I think we should just shoot for finishing strong and having fun. For the Half Marathon, I believe we ought to revise the goal to be "any time under 2 hrs" and finishing strong. These new goals will allow us to modify the training regimen to accommodate the stair-step approach to weekly mileage.

So what, exactly, am I talking about? Here it is: Instead of increasing mileage each week, we increase by no more than 10% every *other* week. During weeks where we're not making a push, that mileage can drop-off by no more than 10% of the previous amount - unless specifically resting for some reason. This is what I did for my 1st Marathon, and that worked. Why mess with success, right? Here is a link: NEW TRAINING PLAN

Richland Creek

I set out to run my 8-9 miles this morning - but it turned into 11. I ran up to the Richland Creek Greenway, and I was happy to see the extension has been completed! The Greenway runs along the west side of the McCabe Golf Course and along the beautiful Richland Creek. I gotta say - the Greenway program is one of the things I really think this town is doing right. I love running from greenway to greenway -- pretty soon you'll be able to run clear across the city! I found a picture on Flickr, but it doesn't do it justice. Im gonna have to go back and take some of my own. Anyway, I didnt set out to run more than 9, but it just happened. Glad to say that I finished strong -- before the heat of the day got to me. Now, I just gotta get 4.5 miles in tomorrow to get my 24 for the week.

playing catch-up

Again, I fell behind and had to cram some workouts to get almost caught-up. I took Mon, Tues and Wed off. I ran twice on Thursday. The morning run was awesome -- I ran up this big hill in Green Hills and caught a great pre-dawn view. The afternoon run was brutal. Of the 3 scheduled intervals, I could only complete 1! It was 95 degrees and the sun was zapping me good. I managed to eek out a 6:59 pace at 800 m and realized that was enough. So i took it slow after that and got in about 3 and a half miles. The shower never felt so good after that.

2-a-days

Back when I was training for the Detroit Marathon, I would often workout twice a day. I'd run in the mornings, then bike and lift weights in the evenings. Sometimes, I'd run during both workouts. I don't know how I ever did that.

I decided to take Saturday off due to some mile fatigue in my calves. Consequently, I'd have to give the ol' 2-a-day a go on Sunday. So, after a nice walk with Mende and Lana, I tackled the 7-miler. Then i took a nap. I got up and worked in the yard for a few hours then scrubbed the bathrooms (they really needed it). Then, I set out on the 3 mile recovery run. It went okay, I guess. But boy - i sure was tired. I propped my legs up on pillows as I slept last night. I feel better this morning. Ahh, the joys of training...

hitting stride

It may be too early to declare, but I'm going to do it anyway: I think I'm back in the swing of things. What do I mean? I'm in "training mode", not just run-a-few-times-a-week mode. The 5 mile w/ intervals went well yesterday. I nailed the first (+2 sec), overshot the second (-10 sec) and tightened up the third (-5 sec). Follow the link in the training log for details.

It's official - I've signed up Olivia and myself for the Murfreesboro Half Marathon on Sept 22nd. Hopefully, the Padgetts will be up here by then.

Mr. Slowski

Went out for a quick run today. As I left the house, I thought "I felt great". So, about 3 or 4 minutes into the run, i decided to turn it on and run at a pretty hard pace. I felt like I was really moving. I figured that I was at least touching my 5k goal pace (7:04). When I got home, I immediately mapped out the run (i have never run that particular route before) and did the math to figure my pace. 8 minute mile. I was very...underwhelmed. How'd I get this slow? I guess it's been a while and I've lost more than a step or two. But, it is only week 1. I'll do this again in a week and see if there's any difference. Until then, I'm in no hurry (quite literally).

Make A New Plan, Stan

So, I'm back on the training stick again. I've even made a plan and everything! This time the goals are 4-fold.

The first, and most important/exciting/appealing is training "with" someone: my sister, Olivia. I say "with" because we're actually 700 miles apart, but we're working from the same training plan. I've never had a training partner before, and I'm looking forward to sharing the push/pull of the regimen -- especially when it becomes a real grind down the stretch.

The remaining goals are all time-based and would represent PRs in each distance. For the 5k, we're shooting for sub-22 min, which is a 7:04 pace. The 10k is at a 7:45 pace and the time is 48 minutes. Finally, for the Half Marathon, we're targeting sub-1:55 at a 8:45 pace. Considering previous marks and current fitness levels, these goals are a "reach", but not insurmountable.

For each distance, I've identified a race here in Mid TN. 5K will be the "I Run For The Party" race on August 25th. This is the 3rd annual race. I've run the previous 2 races, and they're always a lot of fun. Folks get dressed up in costumes, and there's a great after-race party. For the 10K, it'll be the Franklin Classic on Sept 3rd. This event has been going on for quite some time, and I've never actually participated. It's about time! For the 13.1 mile challenge, we'll participate in the inaugural Murfreesboro Half Marathon. This race fills a middle-distance voind during the fall in the midstate and should be quite popular.

So, I'm almost finished with week 1 of the new training program and I am pretty beat. The weather has been hot and muggy lately and I haven't been hydrating as well as I need to. Consequently, the runs have been more like death-marches. I've forgotten that I need to fuel properly, stretch regularly, and get enough sleep. That is, until just recently. I realize that in a couple short weeks, I'll be able to poke out 4-5 milers without much thought. Just right now, it's a challenge.