Running For My Life

On treadmill:

2.75 miles warm-up

14 x 400-meter intervals at 10 mph with gradually increasing incline with 400-meter “rest” breaks in between

2.5 miles cool-down

12 miles total

Workout:

• Type: Run
• Date: 03/31/2009
• Time: 04:30:00
• Total Time: 1:38:11.00
• Calories: 1475
• Distance: 12 miles
• Average Pace: 8:11.13/mile

I was reading an article in Running Times magazine the other night about marathon training and the author was throwing around an acronym called DOMS quite a bit.  I had to re-read the article to figure out that it stood for Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness or something goofy like that.  So this morning when my legs died in Mile 7 of a 12-mile run, I came up with my own fancy acronym called DLS, for Dead Leg Syndrome.  Actually DDLS - Delayed Dead Leg Syndrome - might be more fitting since it didn’t occur until the second half of my run.  All I know is that this caused my MPH to slow down, which in turn reduced my PPM and my SPM (a gold star to anyone who can get what SPM stands for….).

Workout:

• Type: Run
• Date: 03/30/2009
• Time: 04:30:00
• Total Time: 1:40:31.00
• Calories: 1510
• Distance: 12 miles
• Average Pace: 8:22.79/mile

In keeping with my alternating fast long run/short long run schedule, I did 24 miles this morning.  I ran with my friend Tim and we kept a consistent 9:00 pace for the first half.  We picked up the pace on the way back even though we were running into the teeth of a fierce wind, and I finished at an 8:51 pace.  It tied for the longest training run I have ever done (the only other time I did 24 was last March and that is the run in which I injured my Achilles after slipping on some ice).

Next Saturday is an 18-miler at race pace (7:00-7:15) and then my final long run for this training program will be the following Friday - a 26-miler.  I will be putting in 70+ mile weeks in each of the next two weeks.

Workout:

• Type: Run
• Date: 03/28/2009
• Time: 06:30:00
• Total Time: 3:32:16.00
• Calories: 3049
• Distance: 24 miles
• Average Pace: 8:50.97/mile

Workout:

• Type: Run
• Date: 03/27/2009
• Time: 05:00:00
• Total Time: 1:28:19.00
• Calories: 1269
• Distance: 10 miles
• Average Pace: 8:50.19/mile

For the next three weeks I will be doing some two-a-days just to get some extra miles in……somewhat like cramming before an exam.  It works out perfect to do it right when I get home from work like I did tonight.  I just throw on some short and jump on the treadmill….and then I can have a few more bites at dinner and not worry about it!

Workout:

• Type: Run
• Date: 03/26/2009
• Time: 17:00:00
• Total Time: 00:26:19.00
• Calories: 378
• Distance: 3 miles
• Average Pace: 8:46.32/mile

I’ve had some great workouts this week despite the fact that I’m still recovering from my crazy weekend.  This morning I pushed out 10 miles and kept the pace at an even 8:00 until the final mile when I picked it up to 7:20.  Tomorrow I will do an easy 10 followed by a 24-miler on Saturday (hopefully not in the snow, which is what the they are predicting).

Workout:

• Type: Run
• Date: 03/26/2009
• Time: 05:00:00
• Total Time: 1:19:22.00
• Calories: 1294
• Distance: 10 miles
• Average Pace: 7:56.19/mile

40 minutes on exercise bike, 40 minutes on elliptical machine

Workout:

• Type: General Cardio
• Date: 03/25/2009
• Time: 05:00:00
• Total Time: 1:20:00.00
• Calories: 728

Much of running is mental, and much of that mental part is the battle that we wage within ourselves.  It is what pushes us to excel or causes us to fail.  Each and every run is a mental battle for me, and this morning’s tempo run was even more so than usual.

I started with a 1.5-mile warmup jog, then went into 7.5 miles of tempo running at a 6:35 planned pace.  About a mile into my tempo pace I thought to myself “there is no way I can hold this pace for 7 more miles”.  About a mile later, I said the same thing.  But as the miles kept clicking along, I got more and more confident that I could continue at that pace, which I did for the entire 7.5 miles.  I finished the run with a 1 mile cooldown for a total of 10 miles.  Battle won.

Workout:

• Type: Run
• Date: 03/24/2009
• Time: 05:00:00
• Total Time: 1:11:20.00
• Calories: 1256
• Distance: 10 miles
• Average Pace: 7:08.06/mile

Normally when my alarm sounds at 4:30 a.m. I eagerly bounce out of bed in anticipation of my morning run.  But after a weekend of little sleep and lots of Jagermeister, I was in no mood to run 10 miles when my alarm went off.  Somehow, however, I managed to drag myself outside and move my legs down the street for 10 miles.  I don’t know if it was one of my better training runs, but at least I got my miles in.

Workout:

• Type: Run
• Date: 03/23/2009
• Time: 05:00:00
• Total Time: 1:26:38.00
• Calories: 1242
• Distance: 10 miles
• Average Pace: 8:39.48/mile

My marathon goal is shaping up to be 3:10 or better, which would give me an automatic qualification for the New York City Marathon.  To do that, I would have to run at a 7:15 pace.  With that in mind, I set out this morning to do 20 miles at that pace.  For most of the run I stayed within that range, but with two miles to go I was about 30 seconds behind the pace (and goal finish time of 2:25).  So I switched into high gear and cranked out two straight sub-7:00 miles to finish the run in 2:24:36.  I have to say it was probably one of the hardest training runs I have ever done, but it felt great to hit that goal.  With six more weeks of training, including a taper, I should be in good shape to go 26.2 at that pace.

In looking at my running logs, this was the fastest pace I have ever done a 20+ mile run in.  In last year’s Lakefront Marathon, I hit the 20-mile mark in around 2:20 (so a little faster than this morning), but my final pace was 7:22 due to an unfortunate crash into the dreaded wall during Mile 22.

Just for the heck of it, here are my splits for this morning’s run.  It makes for boring reading, but these kinds of things excite a numbers freak like me.

Mile 1 - 7:30

Mile 2 - 7:10

Mile 3 - 7:14

Mile 4 - 7:11

Mile 5 - 7:15

Mile 6 - 7:17

Mile 7 - 7:39

Mile 8 - 7:21

Mile 9 - 7:12

Mile 10 - 7:09

Mile 11 - 7:15

Mile 12 - 7:11

Mile 13 - 7:21

Mile 14 - 7:09

Mile 15 - 7:13

Mile 16 - 7:18

Mile 17 - 7:19

Mile 18 - 7:15

Mile 19 - 6:59

Mile 20 - 6:38

Workout:

• Type: Run
• Date: 03/20/2009
• Time: 09:00:00
• Total Time: 2:24:36.00
• Calories: 2543
• Distance: 20 miles
• Average Pace: 7:13.73/mile