Lost my mojo? ...new goals!

 Felt like I lost my mojo a bit.  I was able to drag myself outside for 7 painfully slow miles on Thursday.  Really wanted to stop and walk several times and just did not enjoy it.  It wasn't cold out but it was gloomy and windy and I just didn't feel very passionate about running.  

I took Friday and Saturday off, mostly due to the holidays and having other things to do.  Sunday I finally squeezed in 5 slow miles on the treadmill in the afternoon.  I got another 5 slow miles in this morning.  Better than nothing I guess, and it didn't feel terrible but I didn't feel great either.  Just felt like I was going through the motions :(   I'm hoping I can find renewed vigor in 2022.  I know it's arbitrary but sometimes drawing a mental line can help facilitate returned inspiration.

I also totally slacked off on my pull ups over the 4 days I had off work.  Then I squeezed in 94 this morning before work to make up for it.  I feel "out of shape" but I ran 5 miles and did 94 pull ups this morning so I guess I'm doing okay overall.  At this point I need 100 more push ups and 57 more pull ups to hit my yearly goal.  

Speaking of goals, I may or may not have a chance to post again this year so I'm going to go ahead and review my goals from 2021 and set some new ones for 2022

WHAT WENT RIGHT:

-12500 steps a day...  I'm on day 1283 so this wasn't my strongest goal for the year.  

-5000 pulls ups...  5000 was my 2020 goal and started out as my 2021 goal.  Eventually I wound up doubling it.  This was tough but attainable.  I

-10,000 push ups.  10000 pushups doesn't turn out to be much of a goal.  Much easier than 10000 pullups anyway.  

-2021 miles.  Got these early and then got hurt.  Will probably end up with 2260ish for the year.

-26 hours on the bike.  Got this fairly easy too after getting hurt.  Not sure how I should be fitting biking in to my overall plan.  When I get up to 60 miles a week I pretty much just want to run and don't feel I have the effort left to bike.  When I'm less than 60 miles a week I feel like I should just run more.  Biking is good for switching things up in the winter, during breaks, and while recovering from injury.  

RACE GOALS

Here's my statement going into the year:  "setting racing goals seems frivolous but I'd like to run a marathon this year if it works out (the Peoria marathon or maybe even CIM).  Also would like to run a OCR at some point, break 18 in the 5K, break 40 in the 10K, and break 1:30 in the half marathon."

Racing is where I get to test my fitness from all this training.  Based on that statement 2021 has been a great success.  I broke 18 in the 5K (17:53).  I smashed 40 in the 10K (38:18).  I ran the Peoria marathon and set a 28 minute PR (3:11:27).  I never wound up running a half marathon but I could have broke 1:30 in training when I was at top fitness.  

I won the free turkey I was yearning about for 2 years although the resultant injury may not have been worth it.  

WHAT WENT WRONG:

-52 weight workouts...  started out benching and doing some other things but lost steam.  Lifting weights has very little appeal to me.  I'd probably squat and deadlift if I had a gym membership but for some reason it seems like to much pain at home (partially due to equipment and space constraints but mostly just a mental block)

-90 days of no junk food.  I made it through January but not 90 days.  I'll need to do that again to take care of my holiday weight gain :(

SETTING GOALS FOR 2022

1. 12500 steps:  the goal continues, I guess.  Not so much a yearly goal but rather an obsession at this point.  

2. 10000 pull ups:  don't think I want to try to do any more than 10000 after struggling to keep pace all year but don't think I should do less either.  

3.  5000 burpies:  I'm going to try to add burpies this year.  Think they might be better than push ups.

4.  10000 pushups:  Was going to replace some of these with burpies but WTF, might as well do both

5.  Hip strengthening routine:  Twice a week (104 times a year)

6.  30 hours on the bike:  30 sounds better than 26

7.  2022 miles or running:  If I can hit 2000 miles 3 times in a row it will be a testament to consistency.  I hope for closer to 2500 but we'll see how things go.  Based on how I feel right now 2000 seems hard :(

8.   I believe my weight is still a bit of an issue, at least in terms of maximizing my performance.  I'll dip down to the low 160s when I'm training really hard but will bounce back to the low 170s eventually.  I'd like to get down to 155 and see how I perform.  So far, I have had little luck controlling my appetite or at least making healthy choices.  May this will be the year I finally pull it off?

Racing goals:

• I broke 18 in the 5K but not sure how much lower I can go.  I'd be happy to break 18 again.  17:30 would be a stretch goal.  Lets go with 17:45 for now which is 5:42 pace.  
• Break 38 in the 10K.  (Would like to hit low 37s actually but we'll see)
• Break 1:30 in half (Would like to be closer to 1:25)
• BREAK 3 IN THE MARATHON.  I think it's finally time to set that as a stated goal.  It was a long term goal but after running 3:11 in tough conditions I think it might be possible with another year of good training and good conditions.  Right now Indy is on my radar

We'll see how it goes but even stating my racing goals is motivating.  I just need to get myself through another winter first.

8 miles outdoors

 Having been posting as much recently, partly due to injury and partly due to winter doldrums.  At this point I think the injury is behind me but I'm still taking things easy with my buildup to avoid reaggravation.

The big news is that I got in an 8 miler outside on Sunday.  I started out at 7:50 pace and ended in the 8:40s, so it wasn't exactly pretty.  The effort was definitely more than I expected and my legs were tired by the end but I ran the whole way and I didn't any pain besides the normal pain of running 8 miles while not being quite in shape.  8 mile is not great for a long run but hopefully with no regressions, I can build from here and be back in the double digits for January.

I thought I played it smart after my marathon but in retrospect I guess I ramped up too fast.  It's just hard to let go of marathon fitness, going from 20 mile long runs at 7:30 pace to 8 at 8:15 pace :( ...  the good thing about the injury (maybe) is that now I've been forced to have a hard reset and build back up.  I attributed this years success from building back up so I'm hoping this layoff results in more improvement.  

Mileage may be down but cross training is up.  16 rides on the bike in the last month with just about all of them at fairly high intensity.  I've now exceeded last years total time on the bike and last years Calories/Min. 

2021 Goals Update

1. 10,000 pushups:  9815 pushups... that's 185 left with 10 days to go.  I know I should really just knock these out, but it just hasn't quite happened yet.  

2. 7500 10,000 pulls ups: 9793 pulls ups... 207 left with 10 days to go.  207 pull ups are a lot harder than 185 pushups.  I don't think I could know those out in one session but I could easily know them out in 4 sessions.  It really would be prudent to finish all this up during the 4 days I have off for Xmas.

3. 26  38 Hours on the Bike:  I'm now at 39:10.  Not going to adjust my goal again.  Just going to count this one as complete.

4. 2021 miles:  I'm now at 2231.  Looks like I'll end up somewhere between 2250 and 2300 which is about 200 miles more than last year.  Would have been more if I didn't get hurt but overall can't complain.  

5. 12500 steps a day:  Still hitting this.  Some days have been harder than others.  I'm a lot less active during the winter.  On days that I bike instead of run I don't get any steps from the workout so I have to make them up walking.  With Covid I stay at my desk a lot more than I used to.  There are some nights where I get home from work still needing 6000 steps and have to walk for an hour on the treadmill with minimal motivation.  But despite it all I've got it done.  550 more steps today and then 10 more days to go.  

Recovery Road

 As a runner it's inevitable that eventually I was going to get hurt.  My real surprise is how long it took.   Almost 2.5 years without a real injury.  Now I'm spoiled thought and am not having the easiest time adjusting to the fact that I'm injured and trying to recover.  

The good news is that I'm improving and can run now.  But the hard part is that I still feel it in my hip and ITB and I'm limiting my runs to way lower mileage than I'm used to.  I got in 19 last week with some 4 and 5 mile runs.  I even ran 6 on Sunday at 7:30 pace.   That was a good effort and felt okay but the hip and ITB just feel a bit weak and I can't imagine just going out and doing 12 miles right now.  I'm also worried that doing too much is going to lead to some other injury.  I'm trying not to alter my mechanics but it's hard to tell.  My ITB and knee just seem a bit wonky... not hurt exactly but I want to keep it like that.

The real question is how am I going to get back to 50 miles a week.  Hopefully a slow build and as I build the injury will fade into distant memory.  My fear is that it will draw out, never feeling quite right and occasionally getting reaggravated.  

For now, I'm at least getting in as much work as I can... Hitting the bike several times a week, running as much as I feel I can and doing bricks to get in the time, plus walking.  It's working for now, and at least it's winter so I'm not really itching to do long runs outside anyway.  

My bike riding keeps improving over time and I can burn more and more calories per hour as I progress.  Of course my legs are a lot fresher now without the running but still satisfied overall with the advancement.  749 calories in an hour is my new record as of Saturday and I wasn't even really trying for it.

I feel like I'm limping to the finish line here in 2021 but I'm probably going to hit or exceed all my goals and hopefully with another 18 days left in the year I'll be farther down the recovery road and ready to get back to some mileage.

Month 12

 It's December!  2021 is almost over.  

I got a Covid booster shot yesterday.  I seem to be doing okay but am starting to feel a bit tired about 20 hours post shot.  My arm is unsurprisingly sore.  Didn't prevent me from biking and then getting my pull ups and push ups.

Still not running but I think I'm getting close.  Possibly tomorrow, or if not I think I'll at least try this weekend.  My hip will feel fine and then I'll sit for a while and when I get up I'm limping around again.  I really don't want to test it out too soon and pay the price.  I also don't want to wait to long.  Injuries suck!

Not too much else to report so I'll give an update on my yearly goals.

2021 Goals Update

1. 10,000 pushups:  9305 pushups and on pace for 10108.  Lots more pushups recently.  I'm ready for these to be done for the year so I can check them off my list.  Should be pretty close in about a week.

2. 7500 10,000 pulls ups: Also at 9305 and on pace for 10108.  It has really been a grind to keep up this pace.  I wasn't always sure I'd make it but I definitely should be able to with 29 days left and being ahead of pace.  I've been hitting these every day lately as well and squeezing in a few extra.  Don't think I'll get these done too far ahead of schedule but I'll keep chipping away.

3. 26  38 Hours on the Bike:  I blew past by goal due to my injury and am now at 33:48.  I could just be satisfied but now I'm upping the goal to 38 hours.  26 hours was 30 mins a week, so why 38?   Because I biked 37:39 last year... so new goal is really to beat last year. 

4. 2021 miles:  2165 for the year.  No new goal here but hopefully can get at least a few more miles in before 2022.  Right now I'd be happy just running 3 miles without causing any additional pain or damage.

5. 12500 steps a day:  Now that I'm not running this one has been a lot tougher.  I've just barely been squeezing in the 12500 but I haven't missed it yet.  I've been walking on the treadmill for 20-30 minutes in the morning after riding the bike and more after work.  Quite a bit of this has been at a brisk pace and steep incline so hopefully that's helping to offset the missed running at least a bit.  This is the one goal I can't get ahead of before Dec 31 so I'll just keep grinding.  

Better, bit by bit

 It's been 9 days since I've run and my hip is slowly feeling better.  Still quite a bit of pain at the source but the areas around it have calmed down so at least now I have a bit more clarity what's going on.  I'm fairly convinced it's a tendon thing which unfortunately will probably take a long time to completely heal.

In the meantime I've been hitting the bike most every day.  The bike workouts continue to improve and I've been hitting relatively high intensities.  Also road my longest ride ever (1:37:00)... I know that's not a ton of time for a cyclist but I always struggle with fatigue and boredom around the hour point on a stationary bike (I've gone longer outside but that's a totally different effort for me).

Today I took a day off from biking and walked on the treadmill.  Wound up doing 1500 feet of incline in an hours walk and about 3.75 miles.  

Overall, nothing too interesting about my training, but I'm trying to stay active and heal as fast as I can.

The next big determination will be how to start running again.  Like I said I'm still in some pain, but I think that's going to last a while and I'm hoping I can start working in some easy running while I heal.  I had originally though December 1st, but now I'm thinking I'll give it a few more days just to be sure.  I've already done some run/walking with 4 to 5 minutes at a really slow pace (10 min miles).  It was manageable but I felt it a bit the next day.  At this point I'd rather take an extra day or two off than do too much too soon and wind up with a setback.

Adapting to the bike

 After a couple of lack luster maintenance efforts on the bike I finally got a solid effort in today.

1 hour and 3 minutes at ~20 MPH (11.22 Cal/Minute).

I followed that up with another 40 minutes of walking on the treadmill on a 5% incline.  I'm almost back to walking normally and can jog for a few steps.  My running form is not at all right but a couple days ago my leg muscle wouldn't even fire to run a single step so that's improvement.  Still in quite a bit of pain though and don't think I'll be running again for at least a little while.   

So if I'm going to be stuck on the bike I'm going to have to step up my game.  Getting in an hour of solid effort was a good start but it's hard to make up for running with biking. I'm going to have to up duration and intensity here if I want to maintain and build fitness...  looking to start adding some HIIT sessions fairly quickly.

Less hurt than yesterday

 Still gimping around but I feel better than yesterday and I can walk a bit more normal.  

I got another 39 minutes in on the bike today and then walked on the treadmill for 41 minutes at a 5% incline.  If you question my random times on these exercises it's mostly attributable to me extending the workouts to hit arbitrary metrics (400 calories burned, 500 feet climbed, 2.5 miles walked)... figure every extra minute helps.  Need to get some longer sessions in on the bike, but trying to ease into it and not do any additional damage to the hip.

Unlike last time I was injured, I don't feel that there is an overtraining component.  I might have gone a little too hard to soon but I'm not burned out.  I'm also not freaking out about not being able to run at least not for now.  I'm just going to bike a bunch and hopefully build fitness.  Maybe I'll even start to do that weight work I've been meaning to do once my hip allows it.

Staying positive for now...  we'll see what happens.

Turkey Trot 2021 Race Report

 When you schedule a race for late November in central Illinois you’re rolling the dice on the weather.  Luckily for me, Sunday turned out to be a beautiful Sunday for the 50^th annual Peoria Turkey trot!   55 degrees and full sun = shorts and a tee-shirt running weather.

Since the race started at 1pm, I was able to convince the whole family to tag along and cheer me on.  After I got there I was also able to convince Nori to do the fun run (Maya and Kenna were not feelin it).  I snuck in a mile warm up before the fun run began.  Nori was able to come in 2^nd in the fun run (out of 2), but put on a good effort and ran most of the way on the ~1/2 mile course.  Most importantly she had fun!

My race started soon after the fun run finished, so I booked it over to the start line.  I was nursing a sore hip and knew I really shouldn’t be running but I’d been waiting for this race since 2019 when I came in 3^rd in my age group (top 2 in each age group get a free turkey) and was itching for redemption.  I had run 4 miles on Saturday and it felt okay so I hoped my hip would hold up. 

I lined up in the front and with the sound of an air horn we were off.  I tucked in behind the front pack of over-eager racers for the first ¼ mile.  After that a lone male runner broke away and I followed suit (winding up ~20 feet behind him).  At the ½ mile point the race includes a steep climb.  I followed along in 2^nd place for the next mile over a winding, slightly rolling climb, to the top of Detwieller hill. 

The hill is broken up with several downhill sections.  I was able to keep pace with my competition on the first climb.  I was really pushing the effort the whole climb but it was manageable.  I just focused on smooth, short, steady strides.  By the 2^nd steep climb I started gaining some ground and the guy ahead of me even started walking for a few steps.  I weighed pushing it to make up some more ground but decided to keep it steady. 

At the 1.5 mile point the course flattens out a bit as the road comes around to an intersection before hitting one last short climb before a long descent.  Although my HR was in the mid-170s for most of the climb I actually felt alright.  I pushed it a bit on that final climb and started gaining some more ground.

The next ½ mile was steep downhill and that’s when the problems started.  I could feel my hip throbbing a bit on the climb but it was manageable.  Then the downhill section totally blew my hip up.  I didn’t feel there was much I could do but just let the hill carry me down, but the pounding took its toll.  I tried to run tangents and even hopped onto the grassy shoulder for a bit to reduce the loading but nothing really helped.  By the bottom of the hill I was in a lot of pain and when we finally reached the flats I was basically limping. 

With almost 1.5 miles left, I briefly considered dropping out but I was in 2^nd place and there wasn’t another runner in sight behind me, plus I didn't want my kids to see a quitter.  I decided I’d power through and deal with the aftermath later.  For the rest of the run I didn’t really have the ability to race anymore.  The 1^st place runner pulled way ahead and wound up pretty much out of sight.  I just chugged along as fast as my injury would allow and tried to keep my stride normal and avoided limping as much as possible.  It hurt on every step but I knew I didn’t have too far to go. 

The last mile is on grass along the Illinois high school state cross country course.  It’s pretty much a flat open field so I could see behind me and no one was close.  I was able to maintain about a 7:15 pace and my HR dropped back into the 160s.  I didn’t feel like I was running that hard but my leg wouldn’t let me run any faster.  I just tried to go as fast as I could sometimes even focusing on powering off my good leg as I hobbled along.

Mercifully, I finally came to the finish and was able to stop.  I was hoping my kids would at least been around to cheer me in but they were screwing around in the car and missed the finish by about 5 minutes L.   None the less, my daughter Maya was still very excited and proud of her father for getting 2^nd place overall so I suppose it all worked out okay in the end, for all intents and purposes.  Plus it was a good opportunity to get everyone out of the house to enjoy the nice weather.

We stuck around for the next half hour waiting for everyone to finish and the award ceremony to start.  I wasn’t able to cool down because once I stopped running the leg completely tightened up to the point that running even another step was out of the question.  2^nd Overall came with an oversize turkey trophy and a coupon for a free Turkey (up to 15 lbs and/or $25).   We stopped by the grocery store on the way home and claimed said turkey.  It’s sitting in fridge thawing for the smoker.

I was happy with the result and beat my previous time by about 30 seconds.  I was disappointed that I was hurt and couldn't compete for first place.  I was in pretty good position with 1.5 to go and on flat terrain.  I don't know if I could have won but it would have been nice to at least compete for it.  Jogging in to a far off 2nd place was sort of anti-climactic.  Oh well, I guess I have something to shoot for next time.

_______________________________________________________________________

Today, my hip is not in very good shape.  I’m pretty much limping around even when walking, although once I start walking it loosens up some and the limp gets less pronounced.  I was able to ride the bike for 45 minutes this morning.  I wouldn’t say that biking was exactly pain free but it didn’t really seem that it was making it worse and if I got into the correct alignment it was okay.  I also walked on the treadmill for 2 miles after that to get some of my steps in.  This was also manageable, although occasionally I’d take a wrong step and my leg would nearly buckle.

Looks like I’m biking for a bit, which I’m mostly okay with… I knew the risk when I raced and decided to go ahead with it anyway.  I’m hoping a week off will be enough to get me running a bit again but it’s hard to tell… right now it feels more tender and swollen than actually damaged so I’m hoping it amounts to a bad bruise rather than something more nefarious. 

Taking it easy

 Took Thursday completely off from real exercise and opted to walk on the treadmill.  My hip still hurt but not as bad as on Wednesday.

Today (Friday) I ran/walked on the treadmill for 5 miles over an hour.  I started out walking but then threw in a couple minutes of running at 8:50 pace and it felt okay.  Sprinkled in a bit more running at 8:50 pace doing .25 miles, then 1/2 mile, then 1 mile.  Took walk break in between.  Ended with 5 minutes of running at 7:30 pace.  I can still feel the hip but it's definitely better.  These brief efforts didn't really hurt and I don't feel much worse for the wear later in the day either.

Maybe some light running outside tomorrow and hopefully it's good enough to race on by Sunday (and hopefully racing on it doesn't screw it back up).

Workout Wednesday, hurt Thursday

 I got my first workout in yesterday.  It was actually 60 degrees out so I ran outside in the semi-dark (local town Facebook haters be damned).  

2 mile warm up, then 15 minutes at threshold, then 4 minutes easy, then 12 at threshold.  7:55, 7:40 for the warm up miles.  6:40 pace for the 1st threshold (~2.25 miles).  8:00 pace for the 4 minutes.  Then 6:50 pace for the 2nd threshold (1.75 miles).  The 8 minutes for the last bit home.

Ended with 7 miles at an average of 7:13 pace.  The 6:40 pace was hard but sustainable for the 1st threshold.  I was glad when 15 minutes was up though.  The 6:50 pace was a little slower than I would have liked.  I probably needed to take the 4 minutes much easier in retrospect to recover a bit more.  Not sure how much it would have made a difference though.

My left hip really started hurting on 2nd threshold session... of course I ran through it.  Felt/feels like a nerve or bursitis or something.  I definitely aggravated it because it really bothered me for the rest of the day.  It's still hurting today as well but feeling a little better.  It's probably caused by impact from running hills on Saturday and maybe the damn marathon too... and of course I'm racing that same hill in a few days.  

I hope if I just take it easy until Sunday it will recover.  I took today off (only walking) and will maybe just bike tomorrow and maybe even Saturday.

My fitness level is weird right now, between the marathon and then recovering and then having a cold and now my hip I'm not quite sure where I'm at.  I wouldn't have thought that 6:40 pace would feel as hard as it did but then again that's still pretty fast.  

I'm chomping at the bit for my next stage of training so hopefully this hip thing is short lived.  If I was smart I wouldn't race on Sunday but I'm pretty set on it.  

Week 1

With 12 weeks until my target half-marathon, training starts today. 

For the first time in forever I'm actually going to attempt to follow a plan.

Today, I was supposed to run a prescribed 9 miles of general aerobic.  I wound up running 8 which is pretty close and at least meets the general intent.  I'm still a bit beat up from running on Detwieller hill on Saturday and following that up with 12 miles in a 22 mph wind on Sunday... not sure if I'm beat up because I'm still rounding back into shape or because I'm not adapted to running up and down a really steep hill.  It was damn good work either way and I really need to do that more often.

so anyway, 8 treadmill miles on beat up legs.  1:04:33 and a 8:04 average pace.  I picked up the pace as the run progressed and varied the incline between 0 and 1.5.  0 incline felt like it beat me up the worst to be honest.  I'm getting more and more comfortable on the treadmill but I'm also quickly running out of streaming content.  Gonna need to find some more shows and movies to watch since it's going to be a long winter.

Also, day 1 and I'm already deviating off plan... probably not a good sign.  Then I'm running a race on Sunday that will put me even more off plan...  I'm really not sure if I can handle following a plan but I'll at least use it as a guide line.

And speaking of plans... I posted an update on my 2021 goals for a while.

1. 10000 push ups:  currently at 8865, on pace for 10111.  These are so easy that I just never remember to do them.  Then I'll do a couple hundred over several days and catch up.  I either need a more aggressive goal to keep me honest or I need to come up with an actual routine instead of just cramming them in in the 5 free minutes I don't have between getting ready for work and driving to work.

2. 10000 pull-ups:  currently at 8783, on pace for 10018.  getting in an average of 28 pull ups a day is hard enough that I need to be pretty consistent.  Sometimes I fall behind and then am forced to do 50 or 60 a day for a week to catch up but super-compensation and rest is a real thing so I don't think I'm hurting myself with this technique.  

3.  26 hours on the bike.  currently at 25:38.  22 minutes to go.  Literally ready to coast this one in.  Plan to close this one out on Monday.

 

That's about it at this point.  My 12500 steps a day streak is at 1242 days.  I'm at 2146 miles on the year (on pace for ~2450).  I've met most of my racing goals (except I haven't run a half marathon).

With the year winding down I'm starting to consider my goals for next year.  Thinking the myrtl routine and some burpees may be involved.  Also, I'm hoping that next year will be the year I really go for the marathon.  Should be okay, as long as I stay healthy.

Workout Wednesday

Treadmill progression workout today starting at 7 mph and advancing by .1 mph every 1/4 mile until I got to 9.5 mph (6:18 pace) which I held for 3/4 of a mile.  I was working pretty hard by the end with the last 3 miles being at a sub 7 pace but maintaining this pace on a treadmill is a lot easier than doing it on the roads. 

mile 1    mile 2      mile 3     mile 4     mile 5   mile 6   mile 7 

(7-7.3)  (7.4-7.7) (7.8-8.1) (8.2-8.5) (8.6-8.9) (9-9.3) (9.4-9.5)

Also of note in my recent training:  3.13 miles in 20 minutes last Saturday.  20 minute tempo that wound up being just about a 5K.  6:31, 6:20, 6:20 splits.  The last mile really hurt but this was my first workout since the marathon so partly attributable to getting back into the flow.  

Sunday, LSD 12 miles at 8:30 pace.  Didn't feel like going much faster after Saturday, but this was a really easy run.  

I'm starting to get my legs back under me and am excited to build up to my next challenges.  Short-term I'm trying to prep a bit for a Turkey Trot in 11 days but my real focus is on a half marathon in February.   3 months is about perfect for a build up.   

My key for this build up is going to be these briefer 20-30 minute workouts.  I think I can recover fairly quickly from this type of work so should be able to do more of them without wearing myself down.  I really enjoy the longer steady-state runs but they are sometimes hard for me to recover from.  I'm sure I'll wind up doing one or two of these but will primarily keep the efforts more concentrated.  

One thing for sure, I really feel good after today's work.  I'm tired but also invigorated.  

 

Throwing up bricks

 33 minutes on the bike this morning followed by 30 minutes on the treadmill (3.77 miles).  Always a bit curious if there is any benefit to this type of workout vs just running for an hour instead.  I could understand if I was running triathlons but no plans for that in the immediate future.  At least I got an hour of aerobic work in and saved a bit of pounding from my legs. 

Hope to get outside and hit some hills this weekend.

Better than last year

6 miles into today's 7 miler on the treadmill I officially breached last years mileage total.  I am now at 2069.75 miles on the year (versus last years 2068.36).   Average pace of 7:54 (versus last years 7:58).

I've gotten into my groove on the treadmill which each run feeling more and more natural.  

I did a about 3 minutes of 8% grade at a 7:40 pace... that was enough of that.  Did another mile at 7:19 pace.  Mostly kept the grade between 0 and 1 and the pace between 8:30 and 7:40.

Averaged 7:50 pace for todays 7 miles.  Really was just having fun with it for the most part.

Was considering getting an actual workout in this week but I think I'll just keep it steady, sneaking in a few quick jaunts of speed or grade and then push it a bit more next week.

Almost back

 Took a look back at last years training and saw that I took about a 9 weeks "break" in September where I gravitated between 20 and 30 miles a week finally dropping down to 14 in week 9.  Then 2 more weeks at 35 miles and 37 miles to get back into the 40s and then a few more weeks in the 40s to build back to a 50 MPW in December.

This year I've had 4 weeks down and 1 of those weeks was pre-marathon taper.  Then 3 weeks post marathon recover at under 15 MPW average.  As of now, I'm feeling just about fully recovered and am itching to get back to training.

I kicked the comeback off this weekend starting with 6.25 on the treadmill on Friday at 8:10 pace, Then 6.25 on the road Saturday at 7:40 pace.  This was pushing it a bit but not too hard.  I charged the hills and did 4 strides in the baseball field at the beginning of mile 6.   Then I went all in on Sunday and ran my first long run since the marathon.   

12.01 miles 
1:35:22
7:56 pace

I was tuckering out by the end but overall it felt pretty darn good.  HR was in the 140s.  I think in a week or two I'll be totally back to normal.  

Today I did 36 minutes on the bike but actually pushed it pretty hard and then did 24 minutes walking on the treadmill on a 5% grade at 4 MPH.   I really just felt motivated and energized.  

I ended October with 126 miles, which was my lowest mileage since last October but still higher than 3 of my lowest months in 2020.  Hope to be pushing closer to 200 in November but we'll see.  Plan to build a bit on my way back to 50 MPW for the next few weeks.  Judging by how the 12 miler felt, it should be to bad.

Also, I've been meaning to do this for a while but I did the Myrtle routine Saturday and Sunday before my run and it felt pretty good.  I could feel it in my hips but in a good way instead of the usual bad way.  Going to try to start doing this every day before I run and see if my hips start feeling better. 

2021 Goals Update

With 2 months left in the year its time for a goals update:

1. 10,000 pushups:  8465 pushups and on pace for 10130.  Knocked out 2 sets of 60 this morning in fact.  I'm tempted to just bulldog this goal and hit the mark in the next few weeks so I can stop worrying about it.  Pushups are easy for me but I think they are valuable for my core.

2. 7500 10,000 pulls ups: 8285 and on pace for 9914.  Travelling got me off routine again and I slacked a couple days after.  I'm back underwater on these again but just barely.   I did 76 this morning to catch back up a bit.  I'll hopefully be back on pace by the end of the week.  The closer I stay to my goal as the year comes to an end, the easier it'll be to sprint to the finish... I'm sure I could do 300 pull ups over a weekend if I really had to but hopefully I won't have to.

3. 26 Hours on the Bike:  Hit the bike again today and now am at 23:44.  I really like hitting the bike for these 30-40 minute sessions.  Not sure about multi-hour sessions unless I got hurt or something.  I was doing hour long sessions last year but they seemed to tire me out the next day for running.  I'd really like to cross-train more but don't want it to effect my workouts.  I'd toy around with using the bike to get easy 30 minute recovery efforts in as doubles on workout days.  That's an idea for 2022 anyhow.

4. 2021 miles:  I'm at 2055 for the year.  13 miles away from last years total with 2 months to go.  2nd year with 2000+ miles.  Currently on pace for 2459.   2500 would be a good stretch goal but that seems unlikely at this point.  2400 is way more likely.  The main thing is to not force anything.  The purpose of the goal is a boost of motivation to get out there most everyday but the actual miles I run depend on how I'm feeling.

5. 12500 steps a day:  Currently at 1226 days in a row.  

Just about time to get back to it

 It's been a good recovery October since my marathon and I've only run 37 miles since.  Had a 3 day streak on Saturday, Sunday, Monday going but then I travelled for work and took 3 days off before getting back on the treadmill today for 6.26 miles.  Today's run was kind of a struggle but I got through it.

Got a race pamphlet in the mail today though for a 4 mile Turkey Trot on November 21st.  It's a vicious course with a huge long uphill and downhill segment.  I ran it in 2019 but it was cancelled in 2020 so I've been anxious to run it again to see how I've improved.  

So I got 3 weeks to get back into a bit of shape.  I feel like my bodies ready to start training again and I'm definitely ready mentally.  We'll see how things go.

Recovering along

 3rd run since the marathon today and first run on the treadmill.  I feel like I'm handling things pretty well right now.  I ran for the first time last Saturday (3.5) and still felt some lingering effects in my ligaments.  Ran again on Tuesday for 4 miles after biking for 30 minutes first and it actually felt normal.  Then another 6 miles today on the treadmill.  I more or less feel normal now but am trying to treat this as a bit of an offseason break and plan to build the mileage back slowly over the next few weeks.  Also, have been on the bike 5 times since the marathon so for the most point I shouldn't be losing too much fitness.

Kind of depressing getting onto the treadmill.  It usually takes me a few runs to get back in the groove... hope that's all it is, although it's so much better running outside!  The worst part is that the weather is almost perfect right now but it's just too dark in the morning to run.  Might get out a few more times after daylight savings hits but at that point it starts to get too cold... I toughened up a bit last year and did more running in the cold so hopefully that trend continues and I'll at least get out on the weekends. 

Got my award in the mail last night for the Whiskeydaddle marathon.  First overall masters.  The award is an oak barrel that's actually designed to hold liquor.  It came with a bunch of maintenance instructions about filling it with water, soaking it, washing it multiple times a day, and generally conditionally it so that the wood will saturate and hold together.  Taking care of this thing is almost more work than training for a marathon!  I guess I'll get some whiskey to put in it even though I don't really like whiskey all so much... although I did have a shot after the marathon and that tasted pretty good!  

Certainly the coolest award I've ever gotten.  Probably the coolest award I'll ever get :( ... Kind of crazy it's the Master's overall award... First overall got the same award as did first master's in both male and female division.  The fact that I came in second overall in the race had zero impact... If I had been 39 years old I would have gotten 1st in my age group... funny thing is, the overall winner was also over 40 so I'm technically not the first master's runner either.  Oh well... still super cool award and overall pleased with my performance.  

Back in the saddle

 Monday I was hobbling around.

Tuesday I was starting to walk more normally, but still was in pain.

Today, I'm finally starting to feel almost normal again.  I could run up the stairs and the muscle soreness is mostly gone.  Still a bit in the ligaments and tendons but nothing alarming.

I even got in 35 minutes on the bike today.  First stationary biking in almost 5 months.  Low intensity but had the HR in the 120s and got a good sweat going.  

Only concern right now is a nerve in my back is hurting.  It's the same place that I was hurt 10 years ago... it never really healed I don't think but it hasn't been this aggravated in a long time.  I'm planning on ignoring it for now and hoping it goes away :)

2021 Goals Update

1. 10,000 pushups:  7655 on pace for 9769.   I have really lost steam on these marathon runners and pushups are like cats and water I guess.  I keep thinking I can easily catch up but I probably should start actually catching up before I'm pumping out 2000 pushups on New Years eve.

2. 7500 10,000 pulls ups: 7837 on pace for 10001. Still on pace here.  I'm always just barely getting these in as I rush out the door in the morning but I'm still getting them in.  Maybe pull ups in the morning and pushups before bed?

3. 26 Hours on the Bike:   19:31  Finally moved the needle forward on this.  I'm thinking I'll be on the bike quite a bit more over the next month so I should see some progress and meet this goal. 

4. 2021 miles: 2000 miles right now.  Hope start getting a few miles in pretty soon and reach the 2021 goal next week.

In retrospect

 Just a few more thoughts about the marathon:

• I didn't come into the race with the highest of expectation but in the end it went just about perfectly.  I honestly don't think there's anything I could have done on that day to make any tangible difference in my performance.   

• I slowed down the last 4 miles and I think that was completely attributable to my conditioning.  I've been consistent with my long runs and building them up over time but a lot of those runs have been in the 12-15 mile range.  I built those long runs up to 20 miles over the summer but I still wasn't quite there.  Just averaging one or two more miles a week on the long runs will make a ton of difference I think.

• Even though I crashed a bit at the end I didn't crash nearly as hard as my first marathon.  I dropped an average of about 30 seconds off my pace the last four miles.  My first marathon I lost more like 1:30 a mile over 8 miles.  

• Knock on wood, but so far I don't think I've done any long term damage.  The first marathon I did knocked me out for at least a month.  I'm going to take the recovery slow but I think I could be back jogging in a few days.  

• Super shoes probably helped... not exactly sure how to quantify?  The made my pace feel relatively easy and I held decent form and pace even at the end when I was wearing down.

• I was getting burned out at the end of my training cycle but now I'm reinvigorated and ready to take on my next challenge.  Just need to be smart and not rush my recovery.  

Checked back today and there was actually a good photo of me finishing the marathon... I'm actually smiling and not making a stupid face like in most of the other photos... really need to work on my race face

Peoria Whiskeydaddle Marathon Race Report

Woke up at 5:00am in prep for the 7:30am start.  Started the day pretty normal with a walk up and down the block and some coffee.  I was a little worried because I was dealing with a bit of indigestion from garlic the night before... nothing terrible but more than I've been having lately.  Maybe it was just nerves but my biggest concern for the marathon was GI issues so I was uber conscious about it.  After a 2nd cup of coffee and about 5 nervous trips to the bathroom I thought I was okay.   As I went out the front door to head to the race the weather was 68 low and it even sprinkled a bit.  It was also windy.  Despite all that it didn't feel too horrible. I think I was in race mode and more tolerant to conditions than I normally would be,

Got out of the house at about 6:50 and parked my car a few blocks away from the starting line at about 7:10.  It's really nice not having to deal with big city logistics!   Leaving the car, I felt like I better use the bathroom 1 more time.  I saw some porta-potties up the block so I jogged to them but they were part of a construction site and fenced off... then I jogged down to the race start area and there was a line of about 20 porta-potties with a bunch of runners lined up outside of it.  10 minutes to race start I was in line, but luckily it cleared out fast.  I finished up quick and headed to the line with about 5 minutes to spare.  Saw a buddy I run with sometimes and went to talk with him a bit.  He was doing the half-marathon.  I lined up about 20 feet back from the start.  Maybe 50 people ahead of me.  

They started the race and we were off.  Took about 7 seconds to move across the start mat.  Final results use gun time so maybe I should have started up front but I feel like I can hold myself back better if I stay back a tad... the plan was definitely not to gun it from the line.

I took off at what I felt was easy.  Some of the people ahead were going pretty slow so I passed quite a few people in the first couple hundred meters.  My watch said I was going 6:50 pace so I eased back just a bit... not even sure how accurate the start was per my GPS.  Peoria is no Chicago but there's enough buildings that it seemed to have some effect.  My watch hit the first mile split about 75 meters earlier than the actual marker.  Went through the 1.25 at 7:14 pace and by then I was settled in.  

For the first few miles I had several runners in my general vicinity.  One guy had what I assume was his dad biking along with him.  Seemed questionable... Someone call Marathon Investigations!  There was another younger guy in a Bradley jersey who turned out to be in the marathon kind of shuffling along...  shuffling along at a 7:10 pace that is and he slowly pulled away.  Also a couple of women who were running the half marathon.  We were all going about the same pace +/- 10 seconds but I didn't really try to run with anyone and just tried to find my own rhythm.  

At close to the 2 mile point we went up the big hill.  I just tried to not expend any more effort than I had to.  I was worried about the hill but it didn't effect me much.  First water station was at the top of the hill so I dumped the first cup of water over my head and splashed a bit of Gatorade into my mouth before dumping the cups in the trash. (side note:  I probably went through 25 cups and I think I got 24 of them into the trash can).

Once up the hill there's about 5 miles through some of the nice older neighborhoods in Peoria.  Flat part of the course and a really nice area to run.  There were quite a lot of turns but there were volunteers at just about every intersection.  Also quite a few people outside of their house cheering.  I just focused on cruising at my pace.  

About 4 miles in there was an electronic speed limit side.  It was reading 7 to 8 MPH for the runners coming by.  I couldn't resist and did a quick surge to stride past it.  Not sure what it registered.... was hoping for 10 MPH... Wondered if I'd regret that move later on but sometimes you just got to have fun.  Continued to weave through Bradley and then past Bradley park.  Good support through the neighborhoods... then finally the course kicked out of the neighborhoods on back onto main street.  At about mile 7 it was back down the hill.  I grabbed a GU at the aid station and carried it for a little while.  Eventually I opened it and tried to suck some of it down.  It just about made me choke.  At that point, I decided to give up on the GU and just rely on the Gatorade to get me through.

With the downhill I hit mile 7 and 8 at 6:55 & then 7:01.   Then it was time for a section through lower Peoria.  Good support through those neighborhoods to plus a ton of nice kids outside of the high school at the water station helping out.  

Right around this point I got passed by a woman moving pretty fast who was doing the half.  As she passed me I told her good work.  I felt like she came up on me pretty strong but pretty soon after passing me she slowed down.  She got about 20 feet ahead but then I started reeling her back in.  I wasn't going faster but she was slowing down.  I was on her tail for a bit but didn't want to be on her heels.  I passed her back at mile 9 and didn't see her again.  

Mile 10 had a turnaround point and a timing mat.  At mile 10 I was at 1:12:37 which is 7:16 pace.  I did a self assessment and didn't feel all that great.  I was getting hot, my HR was in the 160s, and I had just ran a 7:25 split for the 10th mile.  Mile 11 things got easier and I realized I was running downhill.  I also realized that the last couple miles had been sneaky uphill.  As I headed back towards downtown I started to feel better and by mile 13 I felt pretty good again and with some more downhill sections I hit a 6:57 mile and came through the halfway point at 1:34:53 (7:15 pace).

Mile 14 was back towards the hill and I was starting to catch the guy in the Bradley jersey.  He had slowed way down.  I was worried about the uphill but took it one step at a time and it really didn't have the much effect.  The water stop at the top of the hill was welcoming and after some more water in the face and some Gatorade I kind of got a surge of energy.  

Mile 14-18 were interesting.  I still felt okay but I was starting to hurt a little bit.  On the other hand I figured I shouldn't feel totally fresh more than halfway through a marathon.  Also, I was starting to feel hot and was anticipating the next aid station for water and Gatorade.  For a couple mile a cop car and a couple motor cycles were right ahead of me leading the way.  I wondered, am I in first place right now?  I didn't think I was but figured I was at least near the lead.  There was a lot of winding though neighborhoods and I could see someone coming up on me pretty fast.  I thought, here we go, some real talent who is planning on negative splitting and is about to blow by me.  The guy finally went past me but he was wearing a relay bib as he was part of the marathon relay.  That explained the strong pace.  He wound up passing me and putting some distance on me but then he wound up slowing down and I wound up getting closer and closer.  I never caught him before his leg was over but I got within 20 feet I think.  

The second time through the Bradley park neighborhoods was less fun.  With 10 miles left I was counting off mile by mile.  My pace was actually a bit faster... more like 7:08 then 7:15.  It wasn't really intentional but just felt like the right effort to be putting in even though I was starting to hurt.  Someone shouted "you're in 5th place".  My dreams of being in 1st were crushed ;).  then back on Main street towards the 20 mile mark.  The wind picked up and it started to sprinkle a bit.  I thought it might actually rain which would have been welcome at that point but it held off.  It was supposed to be windy the whole race actually... winds around 12 MPH but with the direction of the wind and the neighborhoods blocking most of the wind it really wasn't too bad.  If anything the wind helped dissipate heat for the most part... definitely none of those several mile sections straight into the wind like I have during my standard long runs in the winters.

Mile 20 was back down the steep hill.  That marked the first sign of real trouble for me.  I tried to keep the pounding to the minimum but the hill really tore up my quads.  At the bottom of the hill I was no longer just running on tired legs, I was now running on damaged legs. 

Miles 21 and 22 I was struggling.  Things were no longer fun and even though there was only a 10K left I was questioning if I was going to have to stop and walk.  I ran a 7:11 and a 7:20 for these miles but I'm not sure how.  I really felt like I was slowing down.  At 22 miles I was right about 2:40:00.  Now I'm thinking "am I hitting the wall right now?"... if I can put in some 10 minute miles for the next 4 I'll run 3:20... that would be respectable.  I just focused on keeping running for as long as I could and holding good form.  I got to the 23.1 mile point (10 mile point on the first loop) at 2:47:51 after a 7:56 23rd mile.  

I really thought I might be done, but since then like the previous loop I started heading back downhill and started feeling at least slightly better.  I ran 7:30 for the next mile which really isn't that far off my targeted 7:15 pace.  At the 24 mile mark there was a volunteer holding 4 water bottles.  I think he was carrying them over to some other volunteers.  I ran over and basically grabbed one right away from him.  He was kind of surprised since the water wasn't supposed to be for runners.  To my defense I didn't really realize that it wasn't for runners until I was right up by him... I was a bit delusional at this point.  I also really wanted that water.

The water as a huge pick me up!!!!  First off it was ice cold vs that room temp water at the stations.  Also, it was way easier to drink from the bottle than from the cups and the ice cold water on my head really helped cool me down.  It gave me just the boost to get from mile 24 to 25 in 7:35.

Right at mile 25 my left forearm started cramping up.  Of all things to cramp?!?  I thought, hey... at least it's not my legs!  I tried to shake it out and ran with my left arm tucked in like a chicken wing for a bit.  It kind of loosened up a bit.  

Right around mile 26 my right leg started to cramp.  I thought... hold it together, almost done.  

The 26.1 mile point was at 13 mile point for the half marathon.  At that point you either turned left and finished or would keep going for the 2nd loop.  The volunteers said marathoners run straight, half marathoners turn.  The course map wasn't marked very clearly when I studied it so I thought maybe I had to run one more block... I chatted with the volunteers a bit... "so I need to run one more block and then turn left?"... after a bit of discussion I realized that they thought I had only ran half so were trying to send me on another full 13.1 mile loop.  I almost cried... lol.  "but I already ran 26 miles I pleaded"... finally we agreed that I should turn left and finish along with the half-marathoners.  

Heading towards the finish line I put on my best smile (I thought) for the photos and tried to pick up the pace.  There was a woman finishing the half marathon up ahead of me and I wondered if it was poor etiquette to go sprinting by her... but on the other hand I was literally running more than twice as fast as her so what am I expected to do here?!?  I passed her with plenty of space to go before the line.  

Immediately after the race I was pretty trashed.  I used the food ticket from my bib to get my bag of snacks... a granola bar, bag of potato chips, 2 fruit snacks, and some animal crackers... and proceeded to ravish the food.  I had chip crumbs all over myself.  Also drank two bottles of water.

After sitting for a couple minutes I got up.  I must of looked distressed because someone asked me if I was okay.  Also I was soaking wet from all the water I was dumping on myself plus the sweat (it was in low 80s by the end of the race).  I said I'd be fine in a little bit.  

I made my way to my car.  the couple blocks from the starting line now seemed like a loooong way!!! Then I found that untieing my wet shoes after a marathon might be on par with the difficulty level of actually running the marathon.  I changed my shoes, shirt, shorts, socks and was starting to feel better already.  I removed the beer and whiskey shot ticket from my bib and went back to the finish line (actually I drove half the way back to the finish line where I had seen closer parking).

Got back to the race and had my shot of whiskey and a Coors light in honor of my late father-in-law.  I then hung out and cheered on some of the finishing runners up until about the 4 hour mark,

Then I went to the awards table to look into awards... and found out I had finished 2nd Overall!  Also, I was the #1 Masters runner (actually the guy who won it was also a Master's runner but since he got the overall award, the master's prize falls to me).  Supposedly the award is a nice model Whisky Barrell which is going to be custom engraved and mailed to me.  Should be pretty cool!  

Spent the rest of the day laying around in a stupor and feeling like crap.  still feel like crap now... mostly because my quads are trashed.  I don't think I'm injured so hopefully in a few days I'll feel a bit more normal.  Until then, I'll just need to take it easy.

Final Stats:

26.2 miles
3:11:27 
7:18 pace
2nd Overall

It's done!  After a 12 year hiatus I finally ran another marathon.  28 minute PR.  I was worried about the heat and wind but I don't feel like it hurt me too bad.  Could have been a little more fun in the cool but not sure how much faster I could have gone.  My HR was at 164 by the last mile so it never really took off.  The real limiting factor was my legs.  More cumulative training and more long runs should help with that.  7:15 pace felt easy until the end when it suddenly didn't... Not quite the 3:10 I had hoped for but I'm completely satisfied with my effort.  I don't think I could have done anything any different.  

trying to stay calm from the start

cruisin' down main, gel in hand

nice and easy

fuck this shit, I'm done

I'm happy... and delirious... but didn't stop my watch til the photo were done

One for Saba Bob

and one for me!

Posting for the sake of it

Nothing too exciting going on as I taper.  

5.37 miles on Wednesday at a 8:23 pace

4.99 today at 7:57 pace.  Mostly slower but it started pouring rain the last mile so I booked it home.

Got some blowback from Wednesday's run on our local facebook group about not wearing hi-visibility gear.  I get where the drivers are coming from but also run towards traffic on very unbusy streets.  Will often switch sides of the road depending on which way a car is coming and will run way into the grass on the side of the road when the car passes.

After this marathon will be a good time to switch back to the treadmill I guess.  It's just too dark out to really get my runs in.  Today I did a small loop around the local park multiple times to get the mileage in until it finally got light.  

Other than that, I've been pretty good about getting my pullups in and am now on pace for 10085.  

I mostly feel pretty good right now except I keep slipping on stuff and doing other random things to hurt myself.  For instance I was riding my bike with my kids and somehow jammed my left foot.  I actually think I messed it up quite a bit.  Maybe even a fracture?  Hopefully not.  Doesn't bother me at all when running though so that's lucky.  Just hope the marathon doesn't do anything crazy to it.  I probably just need to lay low for the next 2 days.

Hope to get at least 5.58 miles in between tomorrow and Saturday.  Thinking 3.58 tomorrow and 2 on Saturday.  That will put me at 1968 for the year and the marathon will put me at 2000.  

After that some time off for recovery, some biking, lifting, and then transition to the treadmill.  

I'm sort of ready for a break but more just ready to stop focusing on running a marathon and get back to just regular training.  Marathon training hasn't exactly been hard.  Just lots more 10 milers and longer long runs but less workouts and the overall mileage has been about the same too.  Mid-50s dabbling into the 60s.  Right now I'm averaging 49 miles a week for the year.  24 out of 39 weeks have been over 50.  7 of those weeks have been over 60... I only ran 12 weeks over 50 last year so steady progress.  

One last shake out

With 5 days until marathon and today was my last day of any intensity.  Obviously no fitness to be gained at this point but at least I could myself a bit and maintain my training longer term.

I'd been feeling pretty crappy up until today, but today I suddenly felt much more in tune.  My Garmin VO2 max dropped from 60 to 58 over the weekend as I struggled through 2 runs.  After today it's back up to 60.  Not sure what gives but my breathing had been a bit off... maybe a small cold or allergies?  I felt much better today which was a good sign.

I started out with a 1.68 mile warmup in the dark at 7:40 pace.  It's dark now until 6:30 am... I don't remember it getting dark so early in the season last year but obviously it did?!?  After that I stopped, changed into my Asics Metaspeeds... 2nd time wearing these shoes.  I was debating and debating on what to wear on race day but I think I'm settling on these...  then set off for 3 miles at marathonish effort?!?  Wound up with 3.09 at 6:41 pace; 6:48, 6:45, 6:35... HR in the 150s.  I was pushing a bit but definitely didn't feel hard... 1 minute per mile slower than PR 5K pace so I guess it shouldn't feel terribly hard.   Then finished with 2.39 miles at 7:22 pace... 7:27, 7:08, then made myself slow down to 7:40 for the last .39.  Those paces felt like jogging compared to 6:40 pace.

Add it all together and I wound up with 7.16 miles at 7:08 pace.  Legs feel more peppy now then they have in a while.  

Limpin on in to the finish line

 Not literally limping but I'm definitely not as enthused as I should be about running a marathon on Sunday.  I've been downplaying it in my mind this whole time but secretly hoping I would pop-off come race day and deliver an unexpected performance.  Now I'm not quite as confident and am not sure I'll even be able to hit my initial conservative goal at my current fitness.  

To top it off the weather has been crap this last week with heat and humidity back up and Sunday is right now projected to be the hottest day of the next 15 with a low of 66 and a high in the 80s.  Seems like a sufferfest.  Time goals might be out the window and I'll just run for fun.  

Putting aside any expectations I am looking forward to the experience.  I'm not going to jog it... just plan to run the effort I feel is right on that day have fun with it and see how it shakes out.  

It's October

 235.75 miles run in September.   My 2nd highest monthly total ever.  Would have hit a high except I started tapering the last 2 weeks and it shaved off just enough mileage to keep me under my 244 mile record.

I've been feeling a bit flat lately.  Maybe it's just from tapering?  Could be the time of year...seems like it's the 3rd October in a row where I've felt like my fitness was on the decline.

I ran 6.27 miles today at a 6:51 pace.  It was really a struggle though.  My HR didn't get too high but my legs just didn't seem to want to turn over any faster.  I suppose this hasn't ever been exactly easy for me so maybe my expectations of myself  are just higher then they used to be.  

No point in fixating on all this now.  9 days til marathon time.  My goal pace is 7:15.  A few weeks ago I thought that could be doable but now I'm questioning myself.  Hopefully come marathon day I'll wake up feeling ready to go.  Right now my legs are just stiff and flat... no pep at all.  Plenty of time to get over that though.

I guess we'll see.

ITB BS

 Last night my IT bands were tight for the first time in a while and my hips were barking at me.  Not an unusual feeling as I've felt not quite right in these areas for years now but the last month or so they suddenly stopped bothering me and I thought maybe I've worked through it but last night it was back.  

Maybe just a culmination of a couple days off and then running hard?  Or driving in the car, running hard, and then sitting all day?  Feeling a bit better today at least.

Ran another 9 miles today at 7:55 pace.  Mostly just running easy.  Felt more normal than yesterday anyway.  Last thing I need is issues popping up when I'm getting ready to taper.  Technically I'm tapering already but I don't feel like I've trained all that hard that a full 3 weeks is required so it's more like a 2 week taper.  

It's finally getting cool but it's also staying dark.  To get in 9 miles before work I'm running my first mile in the dark pretty much.  leaving the house at 6:10 and not getting done to 7:20.  If I want to get more miles in I have to run faster to squeeze it in.  I'll be back on the treadmill soon and I'm dreading it... once I readjust it wont be bad but right now I can't even think about it.

One year fitter

 I ran 2068 miles last year at an average pace pf 7:58.  This year I'm at 1880 miles at an average pace of 7:54.  I don't know if that 4 seconds faster really means anything?  My easy runs might be slightly faster but not significantly... not sure if I have a point here, just thinking out loud.

A lot of times I wonder if I run too easy.  Nothing wrong with easy runs easy but i'm not sure if I run enough workouts.  I got some track workouts in over the summer and I had a handful of hard lactic sessions in the spring but more often than not I'll run longer rather then faster.  Part of this is staying within my limits and avoiding getting hurt.  Eventually I'll need to push it but right now I'm steadily improving and I'm happy with that.

It's not that I never push it.  Today I ran harder than most days.  I pushed it... not sure if I pushed it enough.  Maybe in the gray area.  Had the HR in the 150s but barely breached the 160s.  Last year I used to get it into the upper 160s more often (I think).  Last year it really hurt.  I'd go run 8 miles at 6:53 pace and my stomach would hurt and cramp for the next few hours.

Today I ran 9 miles at 6:49 pace... I was pushing it but it was also pretty easy.  It was probably the fastest I could run without actually hurting.  I was at about 6:55 pace the first 7 miles.  I'd zone out and lose some pace and then pick it back up.  Last 2 miles were 6:34 and 6:17.  Those 2 miles felt harder but even then my HR was still at around 160.  

I wonder if 3 miles easy, 3 miles at 6:10, then 3 miles easy would be a more productive way to run 9 miles?... But I like running medium fast for longer distances.  I don't know why but I just love that feeling 7 miles into a run where I should be tired but I'm still just cruising along at sub 7 pace and now instead of being tired I'm running even faster and even after mile 9 I could have kept going.

Last year I ranked my top 10 runs and I put 9 miles at 6:51 pace as my #1 run of the year... this year I can run that easily.  I could probably run 9 mile at 6:51 pace once a week if I really wanted.  9 miles today at 6:49 was way easier then when I ran 6:51 last year.  

This year 10 miles at 6:33 pace is probably my number 1 run... that or my sub-18 5K. 

So if 6:33 pace is my new 6:51 pace, then maybe next year I'll be running 6:20 for 10 miles at my peak and 6:30 will be manageable?  

16 more days between today and marathon time.  Expectations are tempered.  I'm almost looking past it.  Almost guaranteed a PR unless something tragic happens.  

< 3 Weeks out

 Solid 17 miler on Sunday on a very hilly course.  I ran a loop I'd been eyeing for a while but didn't have the guts to try because of all the hills.  According to Strava it was 1000 ft total gain which is probably not a lot if you live in the mountains but is a ton when you live in central Illinois where it pretty much equates to constant rolling hills.

I didn't run particularly fast 8:13 average pace but it was also fairly easy.  I was squeezed for time because my daughter had a couple soccer games so I got out early, which was probably for the best because it wound up being a hot day.  

Heat didn't effect my run too much although I did stop after 16 miles for some water at the track.  After the water stop I contemplated running 2 more miles but as I got close to home I said screw it... 17 will do and took the easy route.  Could have run 18 no problem but I'm starting to get into the taper mentality.

Got another 7+ miles in this morning at 8:30 pace.  Also felt quite easy.  

I'm travelling for work again this week for a couple days which will probably result in a day or two off from running?  

We'll see though.  Don't plan on cutting mileage too much this week but with 20 more days to the marathon I'm not going to worry about pushing it.  

Another drop in the bucket

 8.31 more miles at 7:34 pace.  Average HR of 139.  After feeling kind of crappy for about a week, I'm suddenly feeling fit again.  Garmin VO2 max dropped to 59 on Tuesday but is back up to 61 after today.  I figured I was just tired from training but not sure what caused it to go back up.  It's not like I've taken any days off.

If I run 4.80 miles tomorrow I'll have hit my highest mile week to date.  

I kind feel myself getting more and more crazy as my race approaches.

Almost there

 Just back from another work trip.  Lots of driving really wears me down these days.  I'm powering through though.

20 more miles on Sunday (2nd week in a row with a 20 mile long run).  This one was tougher (and slower) than the previous week.  Weather was much hotter and legs were much more tired as well.  Still kept it under 8 minute pace on average but just barely.

5 slower miles on Monday at 8:47 pace before driving 6 hours to Nebraska.  Slowest recovery run in a while.

Worked all day Tuesday and drove several more hours.  But then miraculously I dragged myself out for a run and wound up running 10 more miles on the Cowboy trail out of Norfolk.  Planned to do 5 miles but then just kept going and next thing I know it was 10.  This was my first afternoon run in quite a while.  Body is not used to that but I felt okay.  Worked pretty hard in the afternoon sun and still barely held a sub 8 minute pace.  Unlike Sunday's 20 miler the last few miles were the quickest and felt the best so that was good.

Woke up the next day and squeezed in another 10K worth of mileage at 8:35 pace on the Cowboy trail again...  once I find a route to run when I'm travelling for work I usually stick to it... exploring new places is great and all but it's nice to find some consistency where you can.  More work and then a 7 hour drive home.  Got home late and tired.

Still woke up at 5am this morning and got in 10 more miles.  This time at 7:05 pace.  Felt way better then I have the last few days.  Maybe just being home and getting a night of sleep in my own bed?  The didn't necessarily mean to run quite this fast but today this was the pace that felt good... well, really 7:10 pace felt good and pushing a few miles here or there had me down at 7:05 pace.  

I officially have 3 more days until my 3 week taper starts.  Not sure how much I'll actually taper next week but I'm looking forward to it.  I really have hardly any unexpected soreness or injury right now but my legs are definitely tired and I'm looking forward to getting some pep back in my step.