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.

Week 1 Complete! I give it a 6.5.

While I did not blog much this week, I did get quite a bit of running in just a different fashion then my usual, running. I was supposed to do 5 miles on Wednesday, 6 miles on Thursday and then 8 miles today.

I ended up with 5 games IHSA varsity games during the week which gave me about 12 miles total and then popped out 9 U-10's yesterday at a tournament each one is about a mile of running, then I did an older U-17 to top off roughly 12.5 miles.

I am giving the Jacobs vs Huntley varsity game where I did quite a bit of up and down the sidelines in a very fast and competitive game, the data is slightly off because when the game was over I glanced down and noticed I neglected to start the watch for the second half, but it was more of the same so I guesstimated the mileage.

Next week I have 2 IHSA games on Tuesday and Thursday and 2 club (USSF) games on Saturday. Both IHSA games I am in center and should get between 3-3.5 miles in. Plus they are on grass fields so its always heavy going after all the rain.

As well as a programmed run on Wednesday of 4 miles, 6 miles on Friday and 10 miles on Sunday.

The look of the Half Marathon.

Marathon Training Program starts next Monday

Been going through my rest period following the half marathon. Mostly shortish jogs and refereeing, yesterday I did the Zion-Benton vs Lake Zurich JV game which was a rout, and I barely moved at all, 2 miles versus the usual 3 in a JV game. I am looking forward to getting my engine going forward to the Marathon in September.

Return to Running

So I refereed a JV game yesterday, and felt very very good, three days after the race, no residual soreness or pain, so I am very pleased. By the way Lake Zurich won 3-0.

Race Report: The Trailbreaker Half Marathon

Well I ran it, in 3:07:59 (Garmin time) finishing last in my age bracket and 2nd last among men. The wind was not that bad as it turns out, and it barely rained at all so that was all good. Had a few glitches along the way and before the start but otherwise smooth sailing.

My glitches:

• My Bluetooth headset for music would not pair with my phone, so at the last minute no music for the race, which was frustrating, no idea what was wrong with it.
• I was overdressed, had to much on and was hot most of the race until I saw my daughter and gave her some of my stuff. Felt better immediately
• My Garmin worked fine all race but for some reason would not recognize and download here at home, after about 100 downloads with no issue, the one download I really want, no go! I was able to copy the splits from the watch, but no map of the race route for me.
• My fueling plan went awry when I ate a Cliff Bar at mile 4.5 which proceeded to give me GI distress until mile 7.5 when I found a rest room. I would estimate this little snafu cost me 15 minutes.

My positives:

• I was calm at the start plus I felt properly fueled, my hydration was fine, and it remained so throughout the race.
• At no time during the race did I think about quitting, although the GI distress made me very uncomfortable for about 20% of the race.
• My first six miles were 12:04, 12:30, 14:00, 14:23, 13:09, and 13:56. A little faster then I would have liked, but I was very comfortable.
• Mile 12 was 14:07 so I still had something left in the tank.
• I am writing this about 12-14 hours after the race (insomnia) and while my legs are tight, I have no other issues physically.

 The Trailbreaker  

• Getting numbers and chip was a breeze, the start was well organized.
• Race runs the first 2-3 miles and last 2-3 miles on sidewalks in the business section of  Waukesha, which was awkward at times.
• The trails we ran on were nicely paved and clear so that was fine.
• I would personally would have liked to see a few more aid stations, there were only 3 for a total of 5 on the out and back race course.

Future plans

• I start the Fox Valley marathon training on the 22nd of this month, with a slightly different program, three runs a week, Wednesday, Friday and the long run on Sunday. With some weight training in between.
• Two intermediate goals are out there, the Highland Park Half marathon (June 2), and the run portion of the Wacounda triathlon (July 28th)

Race Day! Half Marathon Style

Well my 15 week beginners half marathon program is coming to a head this morning with my first half marathon. I have trained quite regularly for the race with about 4-5 runs a week, and over the 15 weeks I have missed maybe 3 of the scheduled workouts for one reason or the other.

My training times suggest I can do somewhere between 2:50 to 3:00 hours, I would be quite pleased with that, however my main goal is to finish, and get a medal, and get that cool sticker saying 13.1 for my car, and be able to walk tomorrow!.

24 hours to go and 23 mile an hour winds in store for me.

So I made my decision to do the Trailbreaker race on Saturday morning, a couple of days ago and then the moment I registered (non-refundable) the forecast changed to what you see in the picture.

The temperature is fine, the rain is okay, but what really is annoying is the wind S at 23 mph. The race is slightly south west going out and then comes West near the turn around point, then it will be behind me the whole way back. So its a mixed bag. I need to find a slow fat guy to draft off of. Oh wait thats me!