uninspired

last night's run was uninspired, but i suppose it's better than nothing. i hope i start feeling faster soon.

total: 7.0 miles

1.5 mi @ 10:00 pace (warmup)

1 mi @ 9:00 pace (walked a couple minutes recovery)

1 mi @ 8:30 pace (recovery)

1 mi @ 8:30 pace (recovery)

1 mi @ 9:00 pace

1.5 mi @ 10:00 pace.

then i had a beer with dinner and passed out. such is the life of 'training', i suppose.

sore

i'm sort of still sore from the 11.4 mile run tuesday, but i dutifully did the 3 miles + 6 x 100 (which takes me an extra 1.2 miles the way i do it), for a total of 4.2.

i'm oddly sort of looking forward to the weekend already and getting my 18-miler over with. i want to prove i can do it and at the same time, i want to be done with it. i can't believe that a little more than 3 weeks from now, i'm supposed to run . . . 26.2 miles?

gulp.

not so easy

i had to take 2 days off after that sunday long run b/c i had a little run-in with a virus that sucked the life and energy out of me. but today, i was better (fever-free, sore-throat-free, and um, gi-symptom free - god that virus sucked) so i figured i'd get my weekday long run overwith. i did get it done, but i must say it was rough. i think i only got through it because the newest issue of runner's world happened to come today and i got absorbed in an article about a transsexual runner (sadly, she became much slower when she became . . . a she).

anyway:

total = 11.4 miles

2 miles, 9:30 pace

2 miles, 9:00 pace; 2 minutes 10:00 pace

2 miles, 9:00 pace; 2 minutes 10:00 pace

2 miles, 9:00 pace

2 miles, 10:00 pace (were supposed to be 9:30 but -- i couldn't hack it)

1 mile, 9:30 pace

wow, that layout makes it look long. well, it felt long, so i suppose that's appropriate. i'm trying to avoid the mentality of 'i ran X, thus i get to eat Y without guilt' but i must say i really enjoyed the slice of key lime pie i just finished off. hopefully it will aid in my recovery . . .

my first over-40 week!

a rather tough week. i'm a little sore right now, but nothing too serious. thankfully, i'm not running today!

yesterday i did 16ish miles (i think it may have been like 15.6, but it was on trails with some big hills, which made it infinitely harder for me, so i'm going to say close enough!). i did the first 12.5 (at least) with a group - 2 older guys and a woman training for a triathlon. the second 3.1 was with josh -- i had to make him run behind me because otherwise i get panicked that he will subconsciously revert to an 8:00 pace and i will die. however, amazingly enough, he ran out of steam towards the end. i'm not going to make fun of him though b/c i think he did 20 miles.

the rest of the week:

friday: 4.2 mi / 9:20 pace for 3 miles, then alternating bursts of 7:30 - 8:00 pace and jogging intervals

saturday: 5.0 mi / 47:30

sunday: 15.6 mi / alas, i'm really not sure how long it took. probably 9:30ish miles

weekly total: 42.35 miles. woohoo!

mediumish run

i can't believe i'm really doing this training-for-a-marathon thing. even though the main difference is just the fact that i am going to run *16 miles* this sunday, that's enough. it's already looming in front of me as i'm doing my training runs. i'll think, 'ok, 8 miles! 2x that on sunday!' or '2 miles is only one EIGHTH of what i am going to run on sunday'. i think i need to try to focus on what i'm doing on a daily basis. but it's easier said than done.

today: 8.55 miles, 8:00 minutes TUT (4 and 5 incline) / 80 minutes. i'm happy to say that 8.55 miles no longer feels like a 'long' run, but more like a longish medium run. and i remember when 5 miles was an eternity . . .

it didn't feel too hard or too easy. but i did get a little bored. where are the 3,432 magazines that i subscribe to when i need them?

so i'm going to do this

i may be slightly crazy, but i think that the marathon in 5 weeks in doable. i made up a schedule that is a sort of truncated version of the ultimate marathon training program in runners world. long-run-wise, i'm going to try a 16-miler this weekend, then a 17-miler the weekend after, and then 20-miles 2 weeks before the race. after that, i'll taper.

IF the long runs are impossible or terribly, terribly hard on me - then i'll re-evaulate. i could always do the half! but i think i'm at least going to try this!

yesterday - 9 miles

2 miles goal pace (9:30-9:40 on treadmill)
2 x 2 miles tempo (9:15 pace on treadmill)
3 miles goal pace (9:30-9:40)

i even added some tiny incline in parts. my legs didn't feel so bad considering that i did a half marathon 2 days ago and hiked up a steep hill yesterday. i'm hoping that's a good sign . . .

race report

i'm very excited to report that i finished in 1:52:50, which is 18 minutes or so faster than the charlotte half that i ran 6 weeks ago! i'm really excited and i refuse to pay attention to josh's comments that the course was too short (ie, less than 13.1 miles) - even if it was, i'm sure i still improved a lot. and that's the whole point of this training thing, right?

it was quite hilly, but i think in some ways it made it more interesting. i was able to get going pretty fast on some of the downslopes, and there was only one serrrrrrious hill right before the turnaround (it was an out-and-back course, for most of it) that caused pain. i'm not saying i really powered on up that sucker, but i didn't stop to walk, so i'm considering it a success.

so now what next? probably another half in may and definitely a marathon in the fall. i wish i could run the full one in may (it's the 22nd) but i don't think i could be ready. i guess my main goal will be to match the time i got today so that i can prove to myself that the course was full-length - that would be accomplishment enough. yay!

the final 2

thursday: 3.3 miles, intervals. i don't remember how many minutes (oops).

friday's final pre-half-marathon-run: 3 miles, easy. i'm excited for the race. and scared. hills, here i come!

with the half tomorrow, total mileage for the week will be 26.0. not too steep of a taper, but hopefully enough.

tapering

isn't that much fun. i feel like i just start a run, and then it's like, over already. i actually miss the 7-milers! this week so far:

tuesday: 4 miles / 36:33, intervals (1.5 mi warm up, 4 x 400 at 8:30 pace with 200 jog in between, then 4 x 200 at 8:00 pace with 100 jog in between, and then a very short (.20 mile) cooldown

wednesday: 2.60 miles / 23 minutes, 2 miles at 8:57 pace and then 4 'sprints' at the end.

two more mini-runs to go, then RACE!

backlog

so i've been better about my running than my posting in this blog. a summary of the rest of last week:

friday: 7.2 miles / intervals. something like 66 minutes-ish.

saturday: 7.5 miles / 6 mi with a 'speed increase' every song change on the iPod all the way up to 7.0 mph, and then speed intervals up to 7.5 mph at the end. all to beat the boredom (i was home in philadelphia, so no little tv to watch!)

sunday: 6.3 miles / outside in prospect park! a little hilly, very scenic and fun.

total miles for the week: 31.0

i took a rest yesterday (needed it) but woohoo, taper week has begun!

back to the grind

rest day monday (and ohhhh, did i need it).

tuesday april 5: 6 mi intervals (same as last week), 54ish minutes
wednesday april 6: 4 mi incline intervals (also same as last week).

i'm looking forward to the race more and more! but the question remains: then what?

exploring miami beach

12 miles around some of the most beautiful and luxurious properties in the world -- yep, i ran my long run in miami beach this time. where jlo lives, although i believe she's moving because the property reminds her too much of ben affleck. anyway, it was pretty hard and i don't know exactly if it was 12 (i just ran for 2 hours), but i'm proud of myself. at least it wasn't hot . . .

weekly mileage: 37.25. yeah!

quickie

at 6:30 am, i ran 7 miles. and that was AFTER going to lab to treat cells. talk about dedication (or consistency, at least!).

7 mi / 66 min (approx)

it was really 6 miles at varying speeds from 9:30 - 9:00 mile, and then 1 mile of 6 100m speed intervals with breaks in between.

ok, off to miami!