28 July, 2008

10 yesterday, SRD today.

Got in my 10-miler yesterday afternoon (treadmill, no shame in that). 10 was a nice surprise, as I had been remembering my schedule to have a 12-miler.

Anyways, SRD today, then 4 miles tomorrow.

25 July, 2008

99 days until the NYC Marathon!

Guess I need to catch up here.

I was having a bit of a mental slump earlier this week. There are days where I really just don't like to run, and getting out the door is impossible. But I got a few words of wisdom from the MASTERS on the RWOL forums :-) and got back on track.

Did 4 easy Wednesday, 6 easy last night, and will do 4 easy tonight. It's a gorgeous day out, so will run outside as opposed to the treadmill like my last few runs.

SRD tomorrow, then 10 on Sunday.

21 July, 2008

10-miler tonight

I was scheduled for a 10-mile long run yesterday, but my stomach had other ideas in mind for me. Apparently, it did't like something I ate on Saturday, and as a result, I stuck pretty close to home yesterday. Except for a trip to the grocery store for milk.

Anyways, I'm doing yesterday's run tonight, and will shuffle this week's schedule forward a day. This seems to happen a lot...

19 July, 2008

I got in a little over 5 miles at the gym last night on the treadmill. It was in the midst of a huge thunder/lightning/pouring rain storm, so was happy to be inside. Funny, though, is that when the power went out for a second or two, I went plowing into the front console of my treadmill. Power came back on and the display was still at the right distance and timing, so I kept on going.

SRD today, back at it tomorrow with 10 miles. I'm scheduled for an 8-mile race up in Stowe, but frankly would rather skip the race and just do my long run locally without travelling for it. We'll see what my sister says, since she's also registered for the race. Maybe if I reimburse her the race fee (since the race was my idea)...

17 July, 2008

So, my goal this fall is to go sub-5:00 in my marathon. I just can't run another slow race. Anyways, with that in mind, I just plugged my half-marathon PR into the MacMillan Running Calculator, and that 2:28:53 half indicates a 5:14 full marathon.

Good grief.

So, extrapolating backwards, I plugged half times into the calculator until it gave me a sub-5:00 marathon. You know what I need? A half run in 2:20 (10:46/mile pace).

That means almost 9 minutes off my half PR, and a 10:46 pace which I've never even run in a 5k, so heaven knows how I can run that for a half-marathon.

Deep breath...

Unrelated topic - I finally found a use for the 2 pair of Asics running shoes that I can't run in. My local running specialty store collects sneaks for "Soles for Souls," a non-profit that sends running shoes to Africa for those who can't afford them. I'm glad they'll get a good home. And lesson learned that Asics just aren't my brand. I'll stick with my Sauconys going forward.
I got in a 4 miler last night, as scheduled. I did first 2 miles at 5.0-5.1 mph (slow, I know), mile 3 at 5.3 mph (slow, I know), and mile 4 at 6.0 mph (might be slow to some, but that's an effort for me LOL). Good grief, I really need to work on my speed.

Back at it tonight w/ 6 easy miles. My easy pace needs to come in around 5.3-5.4 mph if I'm to have any chance at a sub-5:00 marathon in November.

16 July, 2008

back at it...

again.

After last week's trip to KC, and then to Boston on the weekend, I was happy to be back home on Sunday night and sleep in my own bed. Last night I ended up dog-sitting for my sister while she's travelling for business, so I stayed at her house last night, but didn't get my run in.

So, I'm shifting my schedule this week a day forward. So tonight is 4 miles, tomorrow is 6 miles, 4 on Friday, SRD on Saturday, then 10 on Sunday.

Well, actually, I have an 8-mile RACE on Sunday, so will tack on an extra 2 miles after the finish. I'm starting the race w/ my sister (different one than the traveller), but she's not trained up for that distance, so she's planning to walk part of it. I think that might give me some time at the finish waiting for her, so I'll just keep running.

I'll probably also break out my new Garmin 405 for the event! :-) I haven't even charged the battery yet and have no idea how to work it. I'm on the verge of buying a new computer soon, though, so just need to see that I don't have any software that needs to be loaded onto my computer. If there is, then I'll have to wait to use it until the new computer arrives.

anyways, now I'm rambling so will stop now.

11 July, 2008

back in town - for the moment...

I got home from Kansas City last night at 12:30 (so technically this a.m.). Severe thunderstorms in Chicago, not to mention their radar system was out, delayed our flight by 3+ hours. No worries, I have the largest Dunkin Donuts coffee known to man at hand, and that'll get me going...

Here's my recap of Kansas City:
* Beautiful city (we were in the Country Club Plaza area of town - beautiful architecture, lovely sculpture and fountains), and
* Great BBQ: baby back ribs at Jack Stack's on Monday night, Gates BBQ on Tuesday at the Royals game (brisket on a bun), Gates BBQ on Wednesday night at a BBQ and Blues party at the American Jazz Museum (brisket and ham), and a pulled pork sandwich with spicy slaw at lunch yesterday before heading to the airport.

Tuesday a.m., I hit the treadmill at the hotel fitness center, and I was sweating smoke from my BBQ the night before. :-)

Back at it tonight w/ 5 easy miles.

Tomorrow a.m., I head to Boston to host 60 alumni at the Red Sox game, back to VT on Sunday a.m., so I'll run again on Sunday.

PHEW!

06 July, 2008

yesterday/today

Was schedule for 8 miles yesterday. Got to about 6 and started having some pain in my right piriformis - kept going, but it started affecting my gait, so I dropped it down to a walk, and stopped at 6.5 miles.

Today, I'm scheduled for 3, so will add the 1.5 left over from yesterday, and do 4.5 miles.

I'm off to Kansas City for a work conference tomorrow a.m., travelling home on Thursday. Will get my runs in at the hotel fitness center.

03 July, 2008

This week's runs

Did 3 miles last night, per my schedule. That seems low to me, and hardly worth getting sweaty for, but it's on the schedule so I did it.

Back at it tonight w/ 4 or 5 (schedule says 4 miles).

Pre-marathon season, I was running 5s and 6s as my midweek runs, and it doesn't make much sense to me to back it down to 3s and 4s. I might take my own mid-week schedule and then couple it with the long run progression from one of the plans I like (Glover or Higdon).