training

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It was the best of runs, it was the best of runs

Guess what?   Yesterday was the best run I have ever had.   I ran 4 miles at a 7:54 pace and 3 of those miles averaged 7:48.  I wasn’t tired.  I wasn’t pushing it.  It was just great.

Now to my question.  Why was yesterday so easy when Monday was one of the worst days I’ve had running in a long time?  I don’t know.  I was using the same shoes.  It was a similar day, other than no rain.  The only thing I did do differently was eat a piece of plain bread right before I left (something I remember my dad doing before his runs).  Surely a few carbs couldn’t have made that much of a difference.

Well I guess I won’t question it.  It was supposed to be an easy run for 4 miles since we are tapering for the big day.  It was so easy I thought my phone might be wrong.  I know some days are better than others and TJ said he has had similar days, but this was about a minute faster than my normal pace about a month ago.

On to training for Sunday.  TJ said today I should run a minute at half marathon pace and a minute jog and alternate back and forth.  That is what he is going to do.  It sounds good and I can make my phone tell me when to switch so that won’t be too hard.

3 more days to the half marathon.  I was talking with a sales rep the other day who has run this race for 4 years now and he said it is very well done.  Being my first I didn’t know what to expect.  He said they have pacers who will run the half marathon (and the whole) at different paces so, for example,  if you want to finish in an hour and 30 minutes, someone is setting that pace. Or if you want to finish in 2 hours, someone is setting that pace, and so on.  I guess I’ll start in the two hour group and then try to pull ahead in the last few miles.  He also said there is lots of food, beer (9:00 in the morning?) and massages given to runners.  I am hoping my lovely wife comes to cheer us on, but I understand it might be a bit difficult for her to sit for 3 hours with a bad back.  I’ll understand if she doesn’t go, but it would really be special if she did.

That is it for now.  This is so exciting, it is like Christmas is 3 days away and I’m an 8 year old kid.

I love running.

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4 days to go until our first half marathon…

Wow, only 4 days until our half marathon.  To be honest, I wish we were running the full marathon, but that will come in the fall or winter.  I know I’m not there yet physically, but it would be so cool.

TJ has helped me this week with my run plan.  The idea is to still workout, but not as hard since we want to be fresh for the race.  So yesterday I did “cruise intervals” where I ran 1K at a steady state pace and then 200m at a slower jog to recover.  I did this 5 times.  It went really well.  Considering the day before was so difficult, yesterday was much more fun.  It was raining pretty hard though, but for some reason that didn’t bother me.

I use iSmoothRun for my running app.  I was able to set it to kilometers rather than miles and set up my intervals so that it would tell me exactly when to start them and when to jog.  I haven’t used this part of the app before, but it was great.  Also, at the end of the run it not only showed me my spits, but also my intervals so I could see how I ran them.  I ended up averaging about an 8 minute pace for my intervals and 8:24 overall.

Although I didn’t think it possible a few weeks ago, I am going to try to run an average pace at 8:23 for the half marathon.  At least it is a goal for now.  I am not going to push it too hard, but if I could do this, I would be happy that I gave it my all and that this training has paid off.  I hear that this event is really done well and that we should have a good experience.  Right now the weather is going to be sunny with a high of 48 and probably about 27 degrees at race time.  I really can’t wait.

I know that TJ and RS will do great.  I hope I can also.  After next Sunday, I am going to need a break, but all in all, this hard work will make a difference.

I love running.

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Final week training for the Mercedes Half Marathon

Well, my experiment yesterday proved to be a success!  I chose to take Saturday off to see how my long run day went.  Normally I take off the Monday after my long run day to recuperate, but my thought was that since I run early in the morning on Sunday and don’t run on Monday until mid-afternoon, there is quite a lot of time between the two runs.

Yesterday I ran 10 miles in preparation for our first half marathon next Sunday.  TJ encouraged me to run the first 7 at a good regular pace and the pick it up for the last 3.  Usually I have been pretty worn out by the end of the 7th mile and just push through the last 3.  Yesterday was different.

To begin with, I never hit the psychological wall about having to run so many more miles than my norm.  It just didn’t bother me for some reason.  I don’t know if it was the fact I didn’t run on Saturday and so my body was more rested or what, but it was nice to just run and not worry.

Second, I was able to pull it out for the last three miles.  I was averaging about an 8:40 pace for the first 7 miles and finished the last three in about an 8:10 pace.  In fact, I felt better during the last three than I did on the first 7.  Don’t get me wrong, I was tired and ready to stop at mile 10, but my body felt better picking up the pace. Ultimately I was able to set a new PR for the 10 miles, shaving off over 4 minutes from my last best time.

Today starts more tapering and our workouts aren’t as difficult.  TJ has some good ideas for this last week.  I’ll write each day what we did and how it goes.

T minus 6.

I love running.

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I chose not to run

Yes, I borrowed the (altered)  title of this post from my favorite episode of Seinfeld, “The Race”.  The funny thing is that the episode is all about running and it was my favorite long before I started running.

So my run plan was to run 6 miles yesterday.  As I’ve said here, I try to always run my plan.  In fact there have only been a few planned days where I haven’t run in the past year and 2 were from in injury and a couple because of extenuating circumstances where time just wasn’t available.

Yesterday was neither.

Yes, for the first time yesterday, I chose not to run and had no good reason.  I guess I’m not as obsessive about running as I thought!

I got up early 4:00 am (and not on a work day – ugh).  I did some things around the house and then my lovely wife, RS and I went to Starbucks and to run errands.  My plan was to run in the afternoon as I do during the week.  But while sitting in Starbucks, drinking my grande blond roast coffee, I realized that perhaps I needed a day off.  Monday is usually my day off, but I ran 3 miles since I had taken the Friday before off due to a painful knee.  So it had been a while since a day off and the next day (today) was my long day.  Soooo, I made the radical decision to just play hookie from running and have a day with my lovely wife and kids.  I’m glad I did.

Now…  T minus 7 days until our half marathon.  This week will be our prep week.  If my long run today goes well, I’ll take off next Saturday also.  TJ doesn’t like to take the day off right before a race as he tends to feel a bit stiff.  I usually run better on my day back, so I’ll test that theory today.

It is so exciting to be so close to our first half marathon.  If we can all stay healthy this week, next sunday at 7:03 (don’t ask my why they picked that time) in the morning, all the work will pay off.

I love running!!!

For your entertainment, here is a clip from “The Race”

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Back in the saddle

Or, back in running shoes!

We had our practice run for the Mercedes half marathon yesterday.  Running 9 miles through the streets of Birmingham at 6:30 am.  I felt great.  TJ and RS ran also and we ran together for the most part.  It was a lot of fun and makes me look forward the the race that much more.

Taking a day off from running was really difficult for me.  I have taken time off in the past, and one day leads to another and the next thing you know, the “habit” of running is gone.  I know, one day won’t kill a habit, but it really was hard.

It was worth it.

My knee is a little sore, but no pain while running yesterday and I feel even better today.  I really think the hill runs are messing with me some.  I didn’t have such problems – or not as many – as I have had while running up mountains.  On the other hand, my speed and endurance has gotten a lot better.  I cut 30 seconds off my pace between December and January!

This week we begin to taper some to prepare for our race.  TJ and I are going to run together one day so I can get in a steady state run.  He has a great feel for pace and it will be helpful to run a longer run and faster pace with him.

That’s it for now.  On to another day.

I love running… again.

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I didn’t run…

I didn’t run yesterday.

Let me say that again, I didn’t run yesterday.

I decided it would be best not to run since I was in pain from the day before. It was the first day in a long time that I didn’t run my plan. Sometimes wisdom is more important than running the plan.

This morning is our practice run for our half marathon. TJ, RS and I will all run at 6:30 this morning.

I love running?

🙂

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Ouch, that run hurt

I learned something yesterday…  Don’t run hard the day after a hill run!

I over did it and it started with a warning.  I was less than a quarter mile into my run when I had such a horrible knee pain that it stopped me in my tracks.  I stood there for a minute thinking about hobbling home, but then thought I would try running slowly and see if it still hurt.  I was fine.  In fact after about another half mile I picked up my pace and had a decent run.

Then I finished.

It hurt.

My knee was not in good shape.  I have been running for 10 months, only missing a day or two because of injury, and now 15 days before my first half marathon I am hurting.  My knee, my legs and my hip.  So I went home after my run and put ice on my knee immediately.  After about 20 minutes, I did what all runners do after such a horrible run. I went to Dominos and got 4 pizzas for the kids and me while my lovely wife was sleeping off a migraine.

This morning, things aren’t much better.  I may miss my run today, just to play it safe.  I definitely don’t want to miss this race.  I will wait until this afternoon to make up my mind.

Tomorrow is a practice run for the marathon/half marathon.  It starts at 6:30 – ugh.  The bad thing is that those of us running the half marathon only run an 8.6 mile course and my goal tomorrow is 12 miles and TJ I am sure wants to run 20.  We will see how it goes.  We may just continue to run afterwards.

One last mention.  RS is back on track.  He ran 5 miles yesterday in an 8:30 pace. He was been out with sickness, wisdom teeth extraction and a knee injury, so it was rough getting back into the game. He’s back and I am so excited for him.

I love running.

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“Running head games” or “The psychology of running”

On a quick note… I changed my run plan around for this week.  TJ likes to run his first day back for the week as a normal run and then on Wednesday do a tempo run.  I did this last week, but found that by doing this, my hill run was on Friday and then I only had one day before my long run.  I wonder if that was my issue on Sunday with my hip and legs hurting so much during my long run. So, I’m trying my tempo run this afternoon and see how it goes.  I think having 2 regular days before my long run should help.

I am sure many people have written about the psychology of running, but the more I run, the more I am convinced that 50% of running is in my head.  What I mean is that my mind will tell me to stop, tell me to slow down, tell me my legs are tired, etc.  My mind will tell me, “don’t run today it is too cold, it’s raining, it’s snowing, it’s hot and so on”.  I think the psychology of running is as much of telling your mind to shut up as anything else.  There are times to listen though.  If I am running and my hamstring starts to pull, or my knee hurts, I’ll tell my body to relax and slow down a bit until the pain goes away.  But for the most part, running is a mental activity in which I run best when I do the opposite of what my head is telling me to do.

This is the reason I get home from work and immediately get on my running clothes and go out for my run.  I say hi to my lovely wife and pat the dog and wave at the kids and I’m off.  If anything interrupts that schedule, my chances of making my run for the day goes down dramatically.  Habit is as important in my running as anything else.  In the summer when it is 107 degrees and 90% humidity, I have to run anyway.  In the winter when it is 22 degrees and 20 mph wind, I have to run anyway.  6 days a week 52 weeks a year, on vacation or during a holiday, I cannot give my head an excuse not to run.  If I do it once, then I’ll do it again and before I know it, I’ve stopped running.  Then the momentum is gone and it is twice as hard to get going again.

These are my thoughts on the head games I play with myself to make myself do something I’ve not done in 49 years.  Run.  I’m up to 40 miles a week now.  The half marathon is in less than 3 weeks.  My body has to contol my mind, not the other way around.  I guess what I am talking about is discipline.  Also wisdom to know when to stop or when to ignore what I am feeling.

I love running.

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13.1 miles yesterday, but it was not fun

Sunday was our long run day.  My goal was to do 13.1 miles in under a 9 minute mile.  I did it.

It was tough!

I ran 13.14 miles in an 8.58 pace.  I don’t know how, but it was a personal best for me.  TJ ran 18 miles at a 7:18 pace – how does he do that??? I am totally amazed what he can do.

Now to a question.  Why is it so hard for me to run in the morning?  I guess it is because I run in the afternoon 5 days a week and only run in the morning on weekends.  But this is crazy.  At mile 3 of my long run, I felt like I’d been hit by a truck.  My legs hurt, my hip hurt and I just wanted to stop.  This was mile 3!!!  I have been running 5-6 miles a day for a long time now and don’t have much of a problem doing that.  I don’t know if it is the thought of going 13 miles that is my problem or if it is the fact I get up and eat some eggs and grits and then go out, but I have to figure this one out.  Most races are in the morning and I don’t want to get into the middle of my half marathon and feel like I can’t go on.  To be honest it was a miracle that I made the mileage yesterday.  Most Sundays I try to run about 10 miles, but with the race coming up in 3 weeks I figured it would be a good day to give the full mileage a try.

It was a victory to finish under a 9 minute pace.  And once again, TJ continues to amaze me.  We’ve only been running about 10 months and he is burning it up on long run days.

Today is our off day.  I am thankful for that.  Then Tuesday it all starts over again.

I love running, but I don’t know why some days.

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My first hill run

Okay.  It was not as fun as I thought it would be – Actually I really didn’t think it would be fun, but this was a rough hill.  TJ says it is about an eighth of a mile, but I think it might be further.  It goes straight up for a long time and then levels out a bit and then up more but at a slower incline.  TJ ran it 6 times.  Not me.  I ran it once and then ran other areas of the same neighborhood that were hilly and then I ran it again.  So all in all I ran it twice and then another few miles to make 5 miles for the day.  It was crazy though.  After running the hill/mountain twice, I could barely keep a 10 minute pace.  My legs were shot.  So I guess it did what it was supposed to do.  Hill runs are supposed to help your speed similar to 800m intervals but since you don’t have to run as fast or as hard, it isn’t as hard on your body.

As TJ and I were going to get the pizza for dinner we talked the half marathon.  He really wants to run it in 90 minutes. I told him I want to beat a 9 minute pace.  He said if I can make it in an 8:23 pace and we do the Chicago Marathon, I’ll be about to be in the first 14,000 runners.  Hmmm.

I think I may be in over my head.

I run my first 13.1 miles tomorrow since October. I’ve been doing about 10 miles on my long day, but with the race close at hand, I figure I need to get another one under my belt.  I’m going to try to run it at the same pace I would like to do the half marathon in, so we’ll see how it goes.

I love to run!!!

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My half marathon training plan

TJ has been helping me with a plan for our half marathon that is coming up on the 17th of next month.  Yesterday morning before work he came by to pick up something he had left the night before and we eat brownies for breakfast and talked running.  I finally put two and two together and now have a plan rather than just running 5-7 miles a day.  You can read my plan on the “Run Plan” tab above the top picture on this page.

Basically our plan is to run regular runs mixed with tempo (fast pace) and hill runs.  I really think this will be a good thing.  I’ve noticed that after I run a 5K, I generally run at a faster pace the following week.  I am sure there is a scientific way to explain this, but it seems that expending a lot of cardiovascular effort in a race helps me run my later runs easier.  Before this last 5K, I was running in the 9:00 pace.  I ran my 5K in a 7:08 pace and now, with general ease, I am running about an 8:30 to 8:40 average pace.

All that to say, adding a run that is at a fast pace (with warm up miles and cool down miles before and after) and running hill runs should make a big difference.  Just to make it clear, everyday is a hill run in our neighborhood.  However about a mile from home is a hill that is almost a mountain.  It goes straight up for what must be a quarter mile.  It is hard to run up, but harder to run down since it is so steep.

Today is my tempo run.  It should be interesting.  I don’t think I would have much issue with it, except that at 50 years old, my hips and back tend to hurt a lot after running.  If I remember to ice my lower back afterwards, it isn’t as bad, but I’ve been forgetting lately.

26 days and counting until our half marathon!  Now I’m not just running, I’m training.  Life is good!!!