End of week 12, race, and beginning of week 11

Friday was an easy 3.1 miles on treadmill.  20:56.

Saturday I headed up to Milbridge for a 5k race.  2.1 warmup,  5k (16:20),  2.8 mile cooldown. 

Very happy with the 5k 11 weeks out.  Legs felt really good after.  I should have warmed up better, but I was tired from working night before and didn't do much for strides.

Sunday I got in 7.5 miles onnt treadmill with pickups every half mile. 48:35.

Monday, medium effort progressive run on treadmill.  7.5 miles, 43:32,  mile splits of
6:00
5:56
5:53
5:50
5:46
5:43
Half mile at 5:40 pace
Half mile at 5:36 pace
Half mile at 5:33 pace

PM run

2.2 miles easy, 14:04

2x.28 mile loop with easy loop between.

1:20.5
2:03.0
1:21.1
1:47.5

Just wanted to get my legs moving faster than 5-k pace.

2.2 miles easy with one 90 second pickup.  12:54

AM easy run

3.6 miles on treadmill.  23:13.  Pickups every half mile.  Another run later with some strides and drills.

Not sure what kind of time I'll have to get the mileage up too much but I'd like to stay close to 60 the next handful of weeks, then bump it up into the 70-85 range for a couple of weeks, then one week over 100 about 5 weeks out from marathon.  The main thing is getting in a good 20+ miler once a month and a couple 16+ milers each month as well.  My lack of long runs before Sugarloaf kept me from doing better in that race.  I was toast by 16 miles and just gutted it out.

Next 20 miler will be on MDI marathon course, and I'll be doing a lot of longer workouts on the course as well.  Just knowing the course as well as I do should help a little bit.  Trick is to get to mile 12 feeling ok.  First 12 are pretty hilly, but from there until 17 its pretty fast.

Right now I'm thinking I could run about low 2:30's on the course, but with some work I'd like to get close to 2:26.

Easy run

7/26 easy run, 4.1 miles, 27:21.  Treadmill.  Last mile uphill at 3% to change it up, only a few pickups.  Wanted to keep it pretty easy after long run Tuesday.

Decided to run a 5-k race on Saturday.  Going to try and run 16 minutes.  It's a pretty flat course, for Maine Standards, but figure if I go out in about 5:00 and then try and hold 5:15's in.  We'll find out.

Back in 2007 I was only running 16 minute 5-k's but could run 2:23 for the marathon, so I'm not too worried even if I run slower, especially with 11 weeks to go.

Medium long run

2.2 mile warmup, 13:21

31 of my .28 mile loop(8.68 miles)

Goal was to run just a hair quicker than goal marathon pace(about 1:34 per loop.)
Splits of
1:26.8
1:29.6
1:30.8
1:31.8
1:30.6
1:31.5
1:31.4
1:31.4
1:31.3
1:32.1
1:31.8
1:31.4
1:31.9
1:32.2
1:32.8
1:31.4
1:33.0
1:32.3
1:33.0
1:32.8
1:32.7
1:32.6
1:32.9
1:32.2
1:29.1
1:33.9
1:32.1
1:33.2
1:33.8
1:32.9
1:28.7
Total: 47:23, about 5:27 pace.

Then I did two loops easy, followed by 4 loops running 30 seconds hard and the rest of the loop easy, then another loop easy.  So 1.96 miles total, 12:17

3.82 mile cooldown, 25:52

16.66 miles total.

Easy run

7.5 miles in the rain.  Carriage roads,  49:05.  Some strides, drills and uphill sprints afterwards.

Easy run

Slept in pretty late.  I ended up working late Wednesday morning after an overnight, and then getting called in for a couple of hours the night before the relay.  Then I stayed late last night because I always get into stuff.  Today I managed 6.2 miles on the treadmill, 40:01.  6:40 pace other than the pickups every half mile.

Bottoms of my feet and knees were sore a little yesterday from running on the sandy, rocky trail, but today my legs feel good.  Probably another easy run tomorrow, with some uphill sprints, then a long run Tuesday or Wednesday evening.  I'm thinking a little shorter than last time, 16-18 miles, but getting some work in at marathon pace or faster.  Had about 51 miles for the week last week, hopefully 55+ this week.  12 weeks to go until marathon.

Relay

I met up with the team around 10:15pm.  I got my traffic vest on, my headlamp on, and went and ran a mile easy in the dark on the trail.  (6:50).

Start time was 11pm and it was just me and one other team starting.  The previous start time was 10:30, so over 9ish miles I doubted I would be catching anyone on this leg.

Started out and went out fast knowing the first mile is slightly down and probably the best packed down mile of the whole relay.  About a quarter mile into it a 4-wheeler came towards me and I coughed on dust all the way to the mile mark.  Plus I couldn't see a thing, it was like having high beams on in the fog.

A couple porcupines in the middle of the trail brought me to a stop briefly, but I got into a good rhythm and other than trying to find a patch of dirt that wasn't like running on sand and dodging the rocks, I ran pretty even from start to finish.

GPS had me at 9.17 miles(52:16)  About 70 degrees, but super humid, like an oven.  But no sun, so I was pretty good.

After that I jumped around to different legs before putting my damp running gear back on and getting ready to go again.  Jogged around a couple hundred meters, tried to stay warm.  It was less humid and about 60 degrees.

About 4am, I started leg 8.  The going here was way worse and it was soft, and rocky, but I was determined to break 5:50 pace for the whole thing.  7.85 miles-45:39.  Weather was much nicer here and the sun started to come up.

Got to work at 3pm, so I came back to BH and was in bed by 7am.

Easy run

Brutally hot out.  Kept things as easy as I could other than wanting to get it over with.

7.5 miles, 47:11.

Easy run

6.2 miles on treadmill.  41:07,  Also used my foot pod on my Garmin which measured run as 6.17, so pretty accurate.  Was going to run a bit longer, but the treadmill at about mile 4.5 cranked up to 6% all by itself and I couldn't get it to go down below 3%.  Plus I had dinner plans and had to cut it short.

My cadence is pretty slow, around 160-165 when I was running at 6:40 pace.  A bunch of times I brought my cadence up to 180, and it was easier when I brought the to 6:00 pace or faster.

12 weeks 4 days to go

With just over 12 weeks to go I'm well ahead of where I was 12 weeks out from sugarloaf.

First 3 weeks of 15 week sugarloaf mileage was 12.3, 17.7, and 27.5 miles.

First 3 for MDI have been 49.2, 52.52, and 51.8.

I'm going to try and build up to a couple weeks at around 85, then take a rest week before my big week in September where I'll go to 100.

Really going to work on my cadence.  It's  about 168-170 right now, but I need to get that closer to 180.

Current weight is about 155-157, and that's got to drop by 10 pounds.

Workout

It was only in the low 60's, but with the humidity up in the high 90's it was a swampy run.

Warmed up 2.48 miles(15:05),  drills, strides, uphill strides.

Workout was straight up 4.2 miles, 15 of my loops.  Goal was to run a little faster than goal marathon pace which is 5:35 pace.  So goal laps of about 1:32 which is about 5:28 pace..

Splits

1:25.9- always too fast.
1:31.2
1:31.4
1:30.8
1:30.3
1:31.1
1:30.8
1:31.1
1:30.8
1:31.1
1:31.5
1:30.9
1:31.3
1:30.2
1:26.9

4.2 miles-22:35(5:22 pace)  A little fast, but felt comfy, and my Heart rate stayed in the 160's the whole time.

With cooler temps. this would have been way easier.  I actually ran shirtless which I almost never do, but the slight breeze against the skin was very nice.

Once I got that first lap out of the way I fell right into my pace.  Last one was fast, but I only picked it up the final 20 seconds.

Cooldown 2.48 miles(14:45)

Total: 9.16 miles

Foot pod calibration, easy run

Went to the track and ran 800 meters at normal pace and calibrated my foot pad.  Mainly I just plan on using the foot pad to help work on getting my cadence up, but it works well in those few areas that the GPS doesn't work.

After the 800 I did some drills, and plyometrics on the grass, track and up the steps.  Also did some barefoot strides.

Then I went and ran an easy 4 miles in 25:53.  Training in these heavy shoes all week should help when I put the lighter shoes on, and keep me going too fast, and prevent injuries.

Weekend of Nascar at Loudon

So after that long run I worked the overnight Wednesday into Thursday, slept 90 minutes, and then headed to Loudon with the fella's.

Thursday-  No running.  Between no sleep, the long run yesterday, and the travel, I decided to take the day off from any kind of health activities.

Friday-  Got up at 7am, didn't want to, but got in 4.1 miles, 27:29.  Too busy the rest of the day, evening, and night to wait, so I got it out of the way so I could have fun all day.

Saturday-  Got up at 7am,  didn't want to,  Got in 5 miles.  This was on a pretty hilly road and the first 2 miles gained about 200 feet.  33:56 total.  Another day of fun.

Sunday-  Got up about 6:45am, didn't want to.  Got in another 5 miles, although this was a flat run, 33:08.  Another day of fun.

Monday-  Got up early, didn't want to.  Managed to sneak in 3.5 miles before the guys wanted to pack up and leave.  23:25. 

 Made it back to Maine.  Going to head out for an easy run tonight.  Workout tomorrow night.  It's been nice giving my legs a good break after that 21+ miler, but now that I've got the fun out of my system, it's time to train. 

Long Run

21.3 miles, 2:12:04.   I started from town and went out to the park loop road.  Ran around the loop and then back into town.  1425 feet of elevation gain.  Hot and humid, so I didn't push too much.  Luckily I had someone on the bike giving me water.  I also used up a pack of the gummy chew blocks during the run.

For the most part I felt pretty good.  Kept the flatter miles around 6:00 pace, although not many of those, kept the downhill ones a bit faster and the uphill ones a bit slower.  A couple of the uphill ones were 200 feet of gain, and they all just had to be in the sun.

Probably the longest training run I've done since 2010.  I definitely needed a good strength run.

Average HR was 161 which is not that high, so that's good.  I've got a really busy schedule the next 4 days, so I'm going to try and get in 3-4 miles through Monday and then a workout Tuesday evening.  21st and 22nd I've got a 9 mile, and 7.7 mile legs for the sunrise trail relay to run, so this should set me up well for that.

After that my fall schedule of races is as follows.

August 26th, Northeast Harbor 5-miler.
Labor Day 5-miler in Bangor.
September 16th- 12-k in Stockton Springs.
MDI marathon-October 15th.

I also took a week off about 5 weeks out from the marathon and plan on getting in a big week.

Easy run

4.75 miles, treadmill.  30:30.  Pickups every half mile.  1.5% incline the whole way.

I've got someone to bike with me for long run tomorrow.  So I'm going to start from town and run the loop road.  About 20 miles.  Be hot, but at least I'll have water and get off the treadmill.

Easy run

Got up early and ran with Matt F.

Got going by 8am, but it was still in the 80's.  Luckily it was mostly shady, and we went along easily.

A loop of Eagle Lake and then a short out and back.  7.5 miles, 54:22.  That should help the legs recover.  Average Heart rate was 139 which is good on the hilly dirt roads in the heat.

I'll only have time for a short easy run tomorrow, but I plan on a longer run of 16-20 on Wednesday evening with a workout thrown in there.  Then I've got a few days where I'm only going to be able to get in 3-4 miles a day if I'm lucky.

Easy run

Easy 7.5 miles on the treadmill.  48:56.  Kept it around 6:50 pace and at only .5% incline to keep it flatter.  Light pickups every half mile.  Legs feel pretty good after yesterday.  I thought they'd be sore, but not at all.  So I'm going to have to step things up a bit.

Workout, Hill cycles

I went over to Seal Harbor,  a little cooler, about 64 degrees, but still humid heavy air.

1.12 mile warmup, 7:06

3 hill cycle loops nonstop.  Basically the middle 90 seconds has a hill that is about 400 meters and you gain about 110 feet.  The first 200 meters is steep, then it's gradual the rest of the way.  Rest of the loop is flat to gradually downhill.  Goal is to run even pace for whole loop.  Just before Hyannis 201 I was doing these in the 6:20-6:30 per loop.  So today I set a goal of being under 7:00.  By the time you get to the top of the hill you want to stop, and I always think I'm done, but by the time you get back around to where you start I'm always feeling good again and ready for another loop.

Loop 1:  6:40
Loop 2:  6:45
Loop 3:  6:44

Total was 20:09, 3.42 miles.  Each loop is 1.14 miles.

Was pretty happy with that with the humid weather.  I'll build up to 5 of these at some point.  A workout I used to do when I was with Zap.  Usually did this in the winter months but I'll be doing it at least twice more this summer building up for MDI.  It's really good because it beats up your legs a little going downhill and teaches you to recover and relax after a killer hill.  And the uphill is just a matter of gutting it out.  I'd say the flat to downhill section feels like marathon effort, but you're going tempo pace or faster, and the uphill feels like 1-mile to 3-k effort and you're doing all you can to run marathon pace.

If I can build up to 5 of these at around 6:30 a loop I'll be in good shape for MDI in October.

2.21 mile cooldown.  14:33.

Easy run with new watch

I was thinking about a workout today, but the rain stopped and it got humid as heck and I just didn't feel it, so I did an easy run testing out the Garmin 610.  I've never used a GPS watch before.  Lots of data and its got a HR monitor too.

Got to say it's pretty accurate as long as I stayed away from the side of the mountains.  My 2.2 mile warmup which I've wheeled out was 2.19 miles on the watch.  I'd call that pretty close.  My .28 mile loop which I've also wheeled out was pretty off on the watch, but I think because it's smack in the middle of three 1000+ foot mountains, and other than a few hours a day you cannot even see the sun..  So no workouts around my loop with this watch, but should work most other runs.  Got the foot pod on order and I'll see if that helps with the workout loop,  Although since I'll be training for a hilly marathon I'll probably be doing most of my workouts elsewhere anyways.

So 5.6 miles total today, 33:44.  Just over 52 miles for the week.  14 weeks 2 days to go.  15 weeks out from Sugarloaf I was at 12 miles for week 1, so I'm well ahead now.

I'm definitely in ok shape, while sitting on the couch before the run my HR was about 35bpm.

Easy run

Easy run on treadmill.  7.5-miles, 47:58, with pickups every half mile.  Middle quarter mile at 6:00 pace at 4% incline.  Rest of run at 1.5%.

Heart rate was nice and low.

Easy run

Planned day off yesterday.  Came into work around 4am, took a shirt break after lunch and then came back in from 3pm to 2am.  So I didn't have time anyways.

Today I woke up at about 1:45pm, got on the treadmill for an easy 2.72 miles, since I have to work at 3, 17:36, with pickups every half mile.  Still about 40 miles for the week with Thursday and Friday to go, so probably an easy run tomorrow and a workout on Friday should put me at about 50 for the week. 

PM workout

Went for a late afternoon hike with Autumn.  Up North Bubble.

Got back and headed out for run just before 7:30pm.  Didn't matter, it was still hot.

2.2 mile warmup, 14:00.  Felt pretty terrible with high temperature. 

Workout was better.

5 loops, 1.4 miles, 7:27.42
1 loop easy,  .28 miles, 2:10.23
4 loops,  1.12 miles, 5:52.69
1 loop easy, 2:05.41
3 loops, .84 miles, 4:20.41
1 loop easy, 2:07.22
2 loops, .56 miles, 2:48.67
1 loop easy, 2:07.39
1 loop, .28 miles, 1:16.91
1 loop easy, 1:42.78

Total was 20 loops, 5.6 miles, 31:59.13.

2.2 cooldown, 13:59.

Easy morning run

I usually don't run in the morning, but I knew it would hot and my buddy Nick Wheeler was in town so I did an easy 4.7 miles with him, 31:18.  Even at 6:30 it was pretty hot, but better than it will be later.

Legs feel good after yesterdays run.  Probably do a quicker workout tonight around 7pm.  Maybe some 3 minutes intervals.  About 16 weeks until the marathon so still lots of time.  A few more weeks at 40-50 miles a week before slowly ramping things up.

I've got a week and a half off in September abotu 5 weeks out from MDI, so I'm either going to run a 50-k time trial or a Longer Canova day where I do a hard half marathon in the morning and then 10x1000 in the evening and get in a total of 40-50-k.  Or I may hike the 100 mile wilderness on the AT.

I'm hovering at about 150 pounds right now, so I don't have mush weight to shed for October.  I want to be around 145 for the marathon, so with a few weeks at 85 miles that should be pretty easy.

Long Run

Hit the treadmill with about 100oz of fluids.  First mile at 6:00 pace, again the treadmill was stuck at about 5%.  So I stopped and did a calibration check on it.  Once that was fixed again, I ran just over another mile and a half at 6:00 pace at 1.5% incline before the treadmill shut off.  Reset it and did another mile and a half at 6:00 pace at 1.5% incline before it shut off again.  In between each reset I did high knees in place to keep my heart rate up.

Another reset and I backed it off to 6:15 pace but set it up to 2.5% which is about equal to 6:00 pace.  Kept the fan on the treadmill off so the motor didn't have to use any extra power, which was brutal.  Felt like I was running in a swamp of hot air.

After an hour I did 3x9:00 with each 3:00 bringing the incline up, going 3%,3.5%, 4%. so equal to about 5:55 to 5:45 pace.  3:00 easy between at 2.5% incline.  Last mile I crept the pace up to 6:07 at 2.5% incline.

Not as far as I wanted to go, but I had run out of water and had climbed about 2000 feet.  Felt easy for the most part other than the heat and the issues with the treadmill.

16.5 miles, 1:41:53, so 6:10 pace average, but with the incline it was equal to sub 6:00.  Didn't take any gels because they make my stomach feel like crap after, but I used some of the gummy chew blocks with extra salt which seemed to help.

I'll do a quicker workout tomorrow night to get some speed in since I couldn't do the 8 to 1 with the treadmill issues.

Overall it was a good medium effort run.  And i like to do the 3x9:00 uphill early season anyways, so it worked out.

Easy run

5.5 miles, 35:22, treadmill.   Pickups every half mile.

First mile it was stuck at 5-6% incline.  All my runs on the treadmill I do at 1.5%, so I  stopped  because that was too hard for an easy run.  Did a incline calibration on the treadmill which seemed to fix the issue.  After that the rest of the run was easy.

Long run tomorrow.  Depending on weather I may do it outside, or I might do it on the treadmill so I can have plenty of water.