Pool Running is Fun

Good riddance January (my least favorite month). I opened February with a good workout. I went by effort but paid close attention to my pace on my GPS. my GPS was a little weird on some of these splits. Obviously I didn't drop a 5:25 on the first set so I will average then out. It went like this: 2E, 4MP, 1E, 3MP, 1E, 2MP, 1E, 1MP, 2E

8:19, 7:44,(5:50,5:53, 5:25, 5:41 AVG=5:42),

7:08,(5:40, 5:56, 5:39 AVG=5:45),

7:02,(5:37, 5:36 AVG=5:36),

7:22,(5:34), 7:23, 7:21

Overall marathon pace average: 5:41, or the exact pace I want to run to get to sub 2:30on the big day. We'll see how the rest of the cycle goes

PM: 1 hr pool run

AM: 8 easy + standard core routine, stretch trainer, foam rolling

PM: 5 easy

pool run yesterday afternoon helped me recover from yesterday's workout. It was 40 degrees at 6 am with no wind chill. At 5:30 PM it was 32 with a 15 wind chill. Really windy

AM: 2 WU (400,800,1200,1600,1200,800,400 with 1/2 inerval jog distance) 2.5 CD

PM: 5 easy + alternate core routine, stretch trainer, foam rolling

this morning's workout was 20 degrees with a 10 degree wind chill. As a result, splits were a little slow but the effort was there and it ended up being a good workout.

AM: 9 easy + standard core routine, stretch trainer, foam rolling

PM: 5 easy

very warm, 48 degrees with light wind, on my way home. I felt fast and comfortable. A far cry from yesterday's 20 degree/10 windchill day. Tired. I ran too hard on that last 400 yesterday.

AM: 9 easy + standard core routine and stretch trainer

PM: 5 easy + 5x100m strides and drill routine

so windy I nearly blew over a few times, 35 mph wind gusts make it cold. The low tonight is 15...Tomorrow morning's tempo will be 15 but the high on Saturday will be 51. Looking forward to some more stable weather this spring. At least we are through January

AM: 2 WU 4 mile tempo 2 CD

PM: rest

This morning's workout was awful. I felt like shit waking up, then I get out the door and it's 15 degrees which puts me in a pissy mood. I still feel like ass during the warm up. We start the tempo and the first mile was 6 minutes and I fell off the pace and couldn't get my legs to move. I spoke with coach and we agreed high mileage isn't worth it if I'm run down and can't hit the workouts so I am resting tonight and running once tomorrow.  Who cares whether I hit 100 if the workouts are crap? I think I'll focus on 90 or so and see how I feel. I am running a 21 mile progression Sunday and hitting the workout is important but feeling recovered and healthy is number one and I've been feeling run down the last three days. Working full time, I feel that 90 a week hitting multiple workout targets is far more effective than 100-110, dragging ass and getting slower. If you think about it, I haven't ran consistently long enough at 70+ MPW to really make the leap to 100+ anyway. 

things to keep in mind:

1. keep my easy days easy...no running fast even if I feel good

2. running big miles is pointless unless I'm hitting the workouts and recovering. I'm probably not ready for 100+

3. I need to keep eating healthy, sleeping enough, and drinking enough water.

4. I always want to go run each day and when I really don't want to go for a run (this morning) that should tell me something

AM: 5 easy

PM 1 hr. pool run

A much needed very light day in an attempt to recover a little bit after the past few days.

AM: 21 mile progession run:

8:32, 7:59, 7:43, 7:21, 7:15, 7:03, 6:57,

6:26, 6:24, 6:13, 6:21, 6:14, 6:03, 6:03,

5:57, 7:17*, 5:42, 5:41, 5:41, 5:37, 5:42, 

something wrong with my GPS and running through the tunnel. Obviously I did not run 7:17 here. Anyway, we went too fast on the second stretch. Should probably have been 6:35-6:25 through there but I felt great after yesterday's day of rest. It was also warm today--near 40 by the end of the run so I was in shorts and felt great. Legs are tired but feel good and I didn't kill myself at the end to maintain. Obviously the last 5 were perfectly at my goal marathon pace.

IMPORTANT: I ate a GU Rocktane gel (yuck) at 7 miles with some water. at 14 I drank the rest of the bottle of water.  I got two side stitches in the last set of miles and it took deep breathing to get them to go away. Everytime I eat sugar in any run, I get side stitches. Next 20+ run I will try a new product.

PM: 30 min pool run to recover the legs.

What's more convenient than an ice bath, much cheaper than a massage, and provides a similar stimulus to an easy run with no impact? A pool run of course! I didn't even get charged for the run this time sinceno one was in the lobby to punch my ticket.

I feel pretty good today and I took a walk. A beautiful 63 degrees makes everything a little nicer. I wish I could bottle up this weather and sell it to runners. Extended forcast looks really cold for next week's 10K.

AM: 8 easy+ standard core routine. stretch trainer, foam rolling

PM: 5 easy + 5x10sec steep hill sprints

feel fine today. Recovered well from yesterday.

AM: 8 easy + alternate core routine, stretch trainer, foam rolling

PM: 5 easy

AM: 2 WU 25x400m @ 10K pace with 100m jogs. 1.5 CD

PM: 4 slow + alternate core routine, stretch trainer, foam rolling

special marathon workout. It really worked the lactate threshold, which is good, very good. It was tough but manageable. about 30 degrees

noon: 5 easy + standard core routine

PM: 8 easy

A little backwards today because I had an appointment with the chiro.I wanted my back and my pelvic alignment to be checked.  I was having issues with a back muscle and my breathing.  More pre-hab than rehab, he cracked me good and I feel so much better now. You'd be surprised how much stress 90+ MPW puts on your back.

running a "race" Sunday morning. Forcast at 8 am: 13 degrees with -15 wind chills...literally dangerous outside, but I'm running it anyway.  I'll be well dressed for the occasion and even a semblence of a good 10K time just wont be possible.It's either that or run a hard marathon based workout over 17 miles with 40-50 MPW wind gusts. I'll take the 10K. Normal high and low this time of year:  47/31

AM: 7 easy + foam rolling, stretch machine, and some abs

PM: 5 easy + 5x10sec hill sprints.

It was cold this morning, 15 with a -8 wind chill. I dressed appropriately and I felt fine (double socks, three upper layers, double tights, mittens over gloves, vaseline on the face). I did get cold running along the Potomac near the end. My gloves/mittens just werent's thick enough for the ridiculous wind. I'll go with thicker under gloves Sunday. Projected wind chill Sunday is -15. I just hope the wind is favorable on the way back to the finish line. 

update: race cancelled Sunday

Well today the plan was supposed to be 6 easy with strides in preparation for tomorrow's race. It turned into a planned 12 easy by myself and then it was 12 easy last night and this morning when Greg picked me up for the run. My training partners were there so we decided to do 4321 instead.  Ugh. I was tired, I had my heavy recovery shoes on, and ate a load of Mexican food last night. BUT it was the smart thing to do. The race was cancelled and the forecast is only getting worse. This morning the forecast was 8 degrees with a -22 wind chill tomorrow morning at 8.  That's absurd. I cannot even comprehend how -22, 50 MPH winds would feel for a long run workout. Sowe got it out of the way.  My GPS wouldn't connect and I had to stop and $hit (luckily this was at the tail end of the workout).

AM: 2WU, 4MP, 1E, 3MP, 1E, 2MP, 1E, 1MP, 2E

8 degrees this morning with a -17 windchill. Even I decided to go to the dreadmill at the gym.  

PM: 12 miles easy-moderate on the dreadmill then 1 mile of the 15 lap/mile track with the straits used for strides + standard core routine, foam rolling, and stretch trainer. 

AM: 1 hr. 10 min pool run

PM: 12 miles 

cold. 17 with a breeze. Felt like crap at first, with treadmill legs from yesterday. warmed up but my hands, which were under two heavy glove layers, slowly got colder and colder. Got it in though. tomorrow's workout is cancelled since we have a forecast of 6-10 inches of snow. Later on this week there will be lows in the negatives at night here....I've been here in DC area nearly 5 years and it's never been anywhere near that cold. I've seen 105+ degree days in the summer here each year but never -5 winter days.  It's going to be tough this week. 

AM: 5 easy + standard core routine

PM: 3 WU 5x1300m loops @ 5k pace w/3min jogs. 1 CD

Snow day, luckily the trail was clear. Track was not. Ran under Whitehurst freeway in Georgetown.

AM: 8 "easy" + alternate core routine, foam rolling

PM: 5 easy

8 easy turned into trudging through a foot of snow in some places on an unplowed Mt. Vernon trail, causing the run to be a little more taxing. Cold, at 17 degrees but not too bad. Wind chills will be in the negatives the next two mornings. It's supposed to be 12 with -7 wind chill tomorrow morning. Friday morning 2 degrees with a -16 windchill. Absolutely insane. This kind of weather for days on end is where it gets really tough to maintain motivation and your sanity. My skin is dry, chapped, and itchy despite lathering up in lotion and I'm getting a little down with the thought of running through this bull shit but I guess it's winter and with global warming large temperature fluctuations are probably only going to get worse in my lifetime. remember Last week Sunday when it was 63 and calm? Feels like 6 months ago. 

AM: 8 easy + drill set and strides

PM: 5 easy

12 degrees wasn't too bad this morning but when the wind hit it was -4 windchill and that was truly cold on my face. I had many layers on and had to trudge over packed snow.

This evening was a different story. windy and when I went over Key Bridge it felt like icy death from the pit of a frozen hell. -2 with a -17 windchill tonight. Literally record breaking lows. It's never been near this cold for over 119 years in DC. 

AM: off...was -2 with -16 wind chill so I went up to campus to treadmill run. Well metro had a cracked rail due to the cold so it took an hour to get to campus. No time for a run

PM: 10 easy + standard core routine, foam rolling. Low wind, peaceful run. About 14 degrees. No wind, no problems

22 mile progressive long run. 16-18 degrees with a slight breeze. Since multiple trails were snow covered, we ran back and forth on beach drive. Rather hilly with rolling hills both ways slowed me down a bit. I ran with a bottle of water during the early part of the run. It was freezing inside the bottle, even as we were running with it. Made my hands cold as hell too. Happy to get it in before an additional 3 inches falls today.

8:07, 8:05, 7:40, 7:45, 7:23, 7:20, 7:15

6:55, 6:51, 6:47, 6:37, 6:43, 6:45, 6:25

5:50, 5:46, 5:49, 5:45, 5:47, 5:48, 5:41

7:54 (CD)

NOTE: at 6 miles I ate 4 little Cliff shot bloks and a half a bottle of water (133 cals). No cramping issues..the next few miles I felt like I was on crack, running too fast, then easing the pace a bit to let me teammates catch up so that I didn't run too fast too soon. Turns out that I at about 60mg of caffeine in those bloks so I was energized  for a little while. I will try a PowerGel next long run to see how that works and decide what I want to use for marathon day after that.

noon: 11.5 easy. Greg came over and we ran a strange route due to snow.

PM: 4 easy

today was "normal" weather and the high reached 47. After last night's snow storm, everything was soaked and there were snow mounds and puddles everywhere. It felt amazing to run outside in shorts and not have your hands or face freeze off. back to the polar air though. The low for Tuesday morning's workout is just 7 degrees.

AM: 7 miles + standard core routine, foam rolling. Fell on my ass while waiving to a teammate I passed on the trail. The melting/re-frozen ice is in black patches everywhere. I'm alright though but I got a late start and couldn't get 8 in.

PM: 6 miles. windy, cold and icy. Low tonight is 6. race morning will be 18. this cold is really starting to grind my gears. It looks like a big warmup is on the way in March but I was hoping that it would at least be 30 degrees on race morning. Anything under 30 I've noticed is hard to get in fast efforts.

AM: 1.5 WU 25x400m @ 10K pace with 100m floats between reps. 1.5 CD.

12 degrees, freezing.  What else is new? legs got a good workout but were cold. my face/nose hurt.

PM: 4.5 slow + alternate core routine, foam rolling.

AM: 8 slow/recovery

ran before work this morning. Legs are pretty tired from yesterday. It's my late night, can't run to work due to having to take my lap-top home. Going out to Ashburn tomorrow for training and thus begins the very busy season at work on Friday.

PM: 5 easy during my lunch break. It was warm and I overdressed. It was amazing: the unpassable rock solid ice patches were melting. Of course I fell down again on a patch that remained.  Running in 43 degrees is so nice!..can't wait until all of that garbage snow has melted. alas, it will not be for awhile...the high the next two days is just 30 degrees, 2 degrees below the "normal" low.

AM: 6 miles through heavy snow. tired, legs are slow.

PM: 6 miles + 6x100m fast strides and full drill set + barefoot run

easier day because I felt like crap this morning. I felt fine this evening.

AM: 7 miles + standard core routine and foam rolling

PM: 5 miles easy with 6minutes of tempo-10K pace up the hill

PM: 1 hr pool run.

Legs were still tired today and I needed a day off. The day before a race is as good of day as any. Of course I still got some work in doing a pool run. No long runs during this week makes my total a paltry 81 miles. Needed a down week though.