Week 2 Day 3-- A Clunker

Well my legs were dead, today, I warmed up with a slow mile jog and then when I tried the workout which was 3 miles at 10:30 mile pace, 1 mile further the same pace I nailed last week. The Galloway pacing strategy was 4:1 and 6.2mph to 3.7mph.

I was able to barely hold the pace with difficulty for the first mile, doing it in 10:42, but was unable to in the 2nd mile at all, ending it at 13:18. I just decided to stop the workout right there, and I walked the last mile rather then over do it. My thinking here was that I have 5 miles at 11:00 minute pace tomorrow, that is probably more important then this workout, in the grand scheme of things, and rest is genuinely more important to my legs then an extra mile of jello inducing running.

After I returned to the house, I was entering this run in my excel run log and I gave it a red band on the date, to indicate a poor run. I then scrolled back through my run history leading up to the half marathon in November and found 3 similar red runs that had coincidentally followed a longish run, in 24 hours not my designed 48 hours recovery.

MORAL: Always give your 55 year old legs, time to rest.

Week 1 of Wisconsin Marathon Training complete!

Had a good first week, completed all the workouts right on schedule (except for the long run, which was one day late). I hit all the time goals I established as well. Plus the weight training did not seem to interfere with the rest for my legs. My waking pulse which I track closely was in the positive zone each morning when I got up.

As for week 2, nothing terribly different other then the Wednesday run is going to be 3 miles at marathon pace minus 1 minute, as opposed to 2 miles last week, and my long run will be 9 miles instead of 8.

Week 4 has the first significant run, when I go into double digits for the first time at 11 miles. The next 12 weeks after week 4 all have long runs in the double digits except for one, so that's when I get into the meat of the plan

2015 Racing Schedule

Did some work on my 2015 schedule to try to determine what my plans are and how they match up with my running program. As I choose races to consider and or do for sure, I applied two rules.

1. Is it consistent with my training plan.
2. I rather race long then run long.

So using those rules I have scheduled the following races:

• Frosty 5K, February 22-- A race for a charity near and dear to my heart, The Friends of the Round Lake Area Park District, in Round Lake Beach
• Cary Half Marathon, March 15th-- in Cary Grove, its nearby and I need some long racing prep.
• Shamrock Shuffle, March 29th-- looking forward to this since this 8K or roughly 5 mile race, while not really close to my 12 mile run that day, the 40,000 plus runners and similar start to the Chicago Marathon will be great practice for the real thing in October.
• Wisconsin Marathon, May 2nd-- in Kenosha Wisconsin, this is the one the 20 week program is pointing towards.  If (when) I finish it will be my first marathon.
• Northshore Half, May 30th-- These are three potential half's, I will likely just run in one.
• Summerfest Half June 13th-- These are three potential half's, I will likely just run in one.
• Rockford Half, June 20th-- These are three potential half's, I will likely just run in one.
• Lake Zurich Triathlon, July 12th-- One of my colleagues from my work task force and I are going to do the team tri, with her riding the bike and me running, we have yet to find a swimmer however.
• Wauconda Triathlon, July 26th-- same as above
• Pick one! Week of August 23, 30th and September 5, there are three half's in Lincolnshire, Bativia and Libertyville. Its likely I will do one of these.
• Chicago Marathon, October 11th-- The ultimate goal!

Week 2 Day 1-- Carryover run from Sunday

So I did my long run today after refereeing in a charity soccer tournament on Sunday. Got up after a good nights sleep with my resting heart rate quite low, showing that I was ready for a good solid effort. Sure enough I was, the goal was 8 miles in 1:48 at a 13:30 mile pace, and I hit that easily being 20 second over at 1:48:20. I used a 3:1 Galloway ratio with the mph on the treadmill being 4.7 to 3.7. I drank about 30 ounces of water and had one power bar at 60 minutes. The heart rate did not get above 120 until I hit about 7 miles, which I was quite pleased with. Overall even though it took place on a Monday, the Sunday run did well.

Day 7-- Confusion already?

So I got asked to referee in a indoor soccer tournament, The Chris Applegate Memorial Tournament, that's being held in Crystal Lake today, I am doing 6 30 minute men's games starting at 9am. So I decided not to do my 8 mile long slow distance run this morning. I have two options open to me, the first is do the run when I get home today in the afternoon, and the second is to do it tomorrow morning. The reason I would be willing to do a long run on Monday is I am off all week, so I have time to run on the Monday. Basically I am going to see how energetic I am while refereeing this morning, before deciding.

Day 6-- New Garmin 610 Debuts

So I got a Garmin 610, for my anniversary which was yesterday. Today I rolled it out on the treadmill, so no distance, altimeter, and cadence figures, just heart rate. It took me about 20 minutes of the run to get the chest strap in a logical position that synced up with the treadmill, and my Basis watch, once that was done HR seemed spot on. One thing I can say is a little moisture under the strap was an amazing thing for conductivity, I will try that first thing next run.

The run went quite well, after the tinkering with monitor was done I cruised non-stop to the three miles at 13:30 pace I was shooting for with zero discomfort.

Saturday runs are slow runs for the most part, until they switch over in weeks, 6,7, and then weeks 10-16 to a variety of speed work. I also throw in some upper body weightlifting as well either in the afternoon or right after the run. Today I choose the afternoon.

Day 5-- Boxing Day Workout.

This was today's workout, after struggling to wake up I did pretty well with it, mostly chest and shoulders. I enjoy the dumbbells, it forces me to be in control of the weight at all time and focused on the muscle. Which seems like a positive, and feels like it afterwards! I got this workout from FLEX magazine, in an article by Mr. Olympia Phil Heath's for his ideal chest workout.

The workout pictured at right is an app I found on line that is called Full Fitness that is very useful with tracking and planning. You can design and or use some custom designed workouts already in the app. I would highly recommend it. I just designed the "Heath" workout right into it and was able to save it that way.

Friday's are weight training, and no running, I will have two runs to cap off the week, a 3 miles on Saturday, and an 8 milers on Sunday. I am hoping I can run outside this weekend as well.

Xmas Miracle, or Day 4, one of the two.

Happy Holidays from the Wilson Road Snap Fitness, because that's where I was at 6:30am this morning. Slept in a little but easily ran 5 miles in 57:57 (11:35 per mile pace) which is a little slower then my goal of 11 minute mile pace.

In this plan the Thursday runs are steady pace runs, and my goal pace is generally around 11 minutes. My splits were not what I wanted 10:50, 11:16, 11:27, 12:00 and 12:23 but I am okay with the whole workout. My heart rate never got above 150, and during the walk breaks it dropped quickly into the low 120's. I used a Galloway 3:1 ratio and 6.0mph to 3.7mph on the treadmill.

The reason I am okay with this workout is I ran an internal PR for the 5k of 34:40 which is about a minute faster then the NICASA 5K I ran right before Thanksgiving. The positive is I was not even shooting for that, and easily sailed past that time.

Day 3-- The first Wednesday Run

In my plan, Wednesday's are quick tempo run days (shorter distance, faster then desired pace) in this case one minute faster then my hoped for marathon pace on race day.

Today's went well, I warmed up for a slow mile, reset the treadmill to zero and took off using a Galloway run/walk 4:1 strategy and a 6.2mph to 3.7mph on the treadmill to achieve my goal of 21:00 for 2 miles.

My max heart rate hit 151 briefly, but I was consistently in the low 140's in the second half of the workout. I also recovered quite quickly during the brief minute breaks down into the high 120's.

Day 2-- Marathon Training for the Wisconsin Marathon

Upper body workout, felt good, hit all my reps with decent form and some "burn". Did a "Mr Olympia" Phil Heath workout I saw in a FLEX magazine, obviously not at his level but "close" and by close I mean, he does this workout in a gym just like me.

Day 1-- Marathon Training for the Wisconsin Marathon

A day of rest to kick things off. The perfect plan so far! I nailed this workout.

This is a 20 week program with 4 runs a week, on Wednesday and Thursday, followed by Saturday and Sunday, with some weight training and cross training thrown in for good measure. Some of the Saturday's I do speed work. But mostly I train to run at my goal pace.

The red dates are long runs of over 13 miles. I also have a couple of races thrown in for good measure, the Shamrock Shuffle, the Frosty 5k and the Cary Grove half marathon.

Race Report: Madison Half Marathon Report

Short Story: Personal Best by 17 minutes at 2:50:55, plus I think I had a few minutes left in the tank!

Long Story: Coming from the flatland's of Illinois I was surprised to see that there are hill's in Madison, and in fact this half marathon which started at the state capitol, had quite a few, including an uphill 1.5 miles to the finish. I am glad I drove the course ahead of time.

Fueling: Had about 750 calories of mac and cheese from a nice Italian restaurant in Middleton near the hotel. I woke up at 4:30 to have my pre-race gas station apple fritter (don't ask why a fritter and not a bagel). Drank my 16 oz of Diet Coke at 530 am, plus an energy bar. Then I loaded 5 energy bars into my special "Pocket Shorts", overkill in terms of how many there were on me, since I ate 2.5 during the race (Millville - white chocolate macadamia nut peakbar energy bar at 250 calories per bar) every 30 minutes or so. I also had one cup of TYR sports drink at each of the rest stops, plus water after the first two. I did not feel at any point, any indication, that I was hungry or thirsty, so my fritter fueled eating strategy apparently worked.

Garmin Data

Today's run with some speed work thrown in.

My Race Schedule

So after consulting a Ouija board, I have three major races on my calendar. There are fall backs in case my schedule does not permit, or my physical issues do not permit me to participate.

2014 November 9-- The Madison Half Marathon
2015 May 2-- The Wisconsin Marathon in Kenosha
2015 October 11-- The Chicago Marathon

Fall Back's
2015 May 17-- Green Bay Marathon
2015 November 1-- New York Marathon

Reemergence of the Blog?

So after being away for quite along time (18 months!) I have decided to put my big toe back into blogging. This time the focus will be on my nascent running career!

So a little of what has happened since the Trailbreaker Half Marathon last April. I started training for the Fox Valley Marathon which would have happened in September 2013 and on my birthday no less. The training went well, until something went wrong with my foot in late July on a long run. A few weeks of rest pretty much solved that issue, but my fitness to go 26.2 was also gone as well.

As you may or may not know I referee High School and Club Soccer and refereeing at those levels usually involves anywhere between 3-5 miles of start/stop running (think wind sprints for old guys). The fields can be either perfectly smooth turf, and provide a pounding fast experience, or the fields are rough and chewed up from football games and every step is an uncertain one.

Anyway I let the fitness levels I had achieved handle the soccer season, which I did quite a bit easier then I thought it would, and let the Fox Valley Marathon slide.