Pre-workout report

Tonight's the big night, folks. Well, not really. I've just always wanted to say that. Although, it is kind of a big night. Jessica and I are doing a 6-mile tempo run, plus 1-mile warm-up/1-mile cool-down. The big event will take place in Guilford, CT. We're going to run out on 146 to Sachem's Head. It's a nice shore run. Last time we ran out that way (we, as in Jessica), we encountered two very large bucks and a skunk. The skunk was much more frightening than the deer. I'd rather be spooked by a couple of deer with big antlers than sprayed by a smelly skunk. Anyway, it'd be nice to run into something like these animals again tonight, as it gives the run a little bit more excitement than it otherwise would have. Running tempo can be exciting, though, so maybe a run in with an animal or two won't be necessary. Jessica doesn't get out of work until 7 (more likely half past), and then we have to drive all the way to Guilford, so by the time we finish tonight, it most likely will be dark. That's O.K., though, as I welcome the adrenaline rush. In an ideal world, I won't be too sore after this run, and it will be relatively easy. Last week, I didn't recover fully from my tempo run for my long-run and paid slightly in pace. No big deal, but it would have been nice to hit my long-run pace. After all, the marathon is a "long-run," and that's what I'm training for. We'll see how it all plays out. Usually, I like to write in paragraphs, but it's so much easier to just write in one big block. There's a lot less thinking involved. I'd rather think about running than grammar and formatting; however, it's usually the latter that gets me every time. Not this time, though. Or, maybe, since I felt the need to mention it in the first place.

In any event (this warrants a new paragraph), happy running, be well, and safe journey. Cheers.

OH, I almost forgot..If I run well tonight (i.e., tonight after the run, regardless), I plan on enjoying a nice porter with a leftover lentil/quinoa burger. I took my first shot at a homemade lentil burger last night. I screwed up the first batch pretty bad by adding water to the mixture. Poorly written recipe. The second batch came out pretty good, although the spices are a little bit off. Only cumin and coriander? Next time, I'm going to try a different mix. Anyway, they came out well enough to plan on eating them again for dinner tonight. I guess that's all that really matters.

Coventry Tri

Dan and I did the weekly Coventry tri today. He wasn't into all the silliness so much (it took a while to convince him he needed a number on his arm), but it was still a nice workout, so I hope he won't object to me summing it up here.

ca. 5mi bike to Coventry lake, 0.5mi swim (give or take), 5mi ride back, 4mi run with lots of great hills. Sure, our transition times were abysmal but why not interleave a workout with some good chit chat, right?

oh and I think my swimming form is actually improving! yay :)

got my final race instructions and I'm getting a bit nervous about Sunday already. I think I'm quite likely to break the drafting rules, but I'll worry about that when the time comes. Three bike lengths between me and the person in front of me. How the hell am I supposed to tell how far that is? My ability to estimate distance is practically nonexistent. Oh well... we'll see Sunday.

Blog, eh?

OK, Dan says I should blog here, so here I am.

We just ran 20mi at Mansfield Hollow and it was as fun as ever, especially for Niko. I'm going to take a little break from running now, maybe except for a couple short easy runs, because my triathlon is next Sunday and I need this stupid knot in my left calf to go away. In case you're wondering, running 5 miles in the Fivefingers without easing into it is not such a great idea.

I got some good advice regarding my pathetically inefficient crawl stroke, so I'm going to practice a bit this week. I should probably clean/lube my bike, take off the rack and install the tube protector on the rear wheel. Most likely though, I will just lube the chain and ride with the rack and my fingers crossed for no broken glass on the course. Laziness is a horrible illness.

On the biking side of things, I ran over a woodchuck on Thursday; completely flattened it I thought but then it got up and ran away. These animals aren't very smart. If I had killed it, I probably would have given up biking and become a hermit. Now, it may have sustained some internal injuries, but I keep telling myself that it didn't that me and my bike are light enough and a woodchuck that size (it was giant by the way) has enough fat and fur to protect him. I haven't seen him since, but maybe he's on vacation or moved to British Columbia.

so that's about it. oh, i ran a 6:20 mile the other day on the track, which I thought was good enough to justify a big chocolate cookie. Because I never thought I could run a mile under 7 minutes and because the convenience store that sells ABC vegan cookies is right across the street from the track. So there.

Week 3 In Review

8-9-10
Strength training at NHHR

8-10-10
7 miles (1hr 6mins)
Up east rock, down whitney after work.

8-11-10
Strength training at NHHR

8-12-10
7 miles (57mins)
1-mile warm-up, 5-mile tempo (7:54/mile), 1-mile cool-down
Branford. Felt ok.

8-13-10
6 miles (56mins)
Up east rock, down whitney via davis during lunch break. Felt decent until the end.

8-14-10
Strength training at NHHR
No energy. Squats, lunges, hips, and upper body stuff.

8-15-10
16 miles (2hrs 36mins)
Out to Madison and back. Painfully slow. Legs had no pop. Dragged feet the whole time. Did too much leg stuff at gym this week. Thinking about doing less next week. Less on the three days I go? Or less days?

Miles: 36
Time: 5hrs 36mins

Week 2 In Review

8/2/10
Strength training at NHHR.

8/3/10
7 miles (1hr 6mins)
Up east rock, down whitney after work.

8/4/10
Strength training at NHHR.

8/5/10
6 miles (53mins)
First ever track workout. Loved it. 1.5-mile warm up, including 1-mile from jess's apt. to wilbur cross high school track in east rock and two laps around track; 1-mile interval (7:25); half-mile jog; 1-mile interval (7:11); 2-mile cool down (one mile on track; 1 mile back to jess's apt.)

8/6/10
7 miles (1hr 4mins)
Up east rock, down whitney after work. Pushed it a bit on whitney (unintentionally).

8/7/10
Strength training at NHHR. Didn't work legs as hard.

8/8/10
14 miles (2hrs 10mins)
Two east rock/whitney loops sans GU. Carried water bottle. Heat started getting to me after about 12. Negative loops, nonetheless.

Miles: 34
TIme: 5hrs 15mins

GMM Training Plan

This is my training plan for the Green Mountain Marathon in October. I'm posting it here in the hopes that some of our long runs will coincide. It'd be nice to do long runs as a group.

The dates are screwed up, so pay no attention to them. I'm currently in the second week of training. I wanted a more challenging plan for this marathon, so I'll be peaking at 50 miles (as opposed to 40) and doing quality workouts (tempo runs and speedwork every Thursday). So far, I like running four days/week (as opposed to five), because it allows me to fully recover and strength train.

Week 1 In Review

Monday, July 26
strength training at NHHR.

Tuesday, July 27
7 miles (1hr 4mins)
up east rock, down whitney during lunch break.

Wednesday, July 28
strength training at NHHR.

Thursday, July 29
6 miles (49mins)
1 mile warm up, 4 mile tempo (7:59/mile), 1 mile cool down
right hamstring giving me a bit of trouble late in tempo, but otherwise felt good.

Friday, July 30
6 miles (59mins)
up east rock, down prospect after work. easy does it.

Saturday, July 31
strength training at NHHR.

Sunday, August 1
12 miles (1hr 49mins)
legs a bit tired from yesterday. carried new water bottle for first time. worked well, but hand seemed to make water warm--not very refreshing, but i guess water's water.

Miles: 31
Time: 4hrs 43mins

Sunday Long Run

Good run today. I did a little over 16 miles,mostly pavement, though I did cut through a couple town parks with trails. Pretty hilly. First 8-9 miles with Niko and then I did the rest myself. Nice cool weather-70s, low humidity- makes a huge difference. I carried a bottle of water with me, which is a practice I am going to make the norm. No GU. All natural.

Oct Marathon Training Schedule

Here is my training schedule for the VT marathon in October. 3 days/week with peak weekly mileage 30-35 miles. I don't pay much attention to the times the RW calculator spits out, just the distance and type of run.

If this gets me a 3:30 in VT I'll be happy. I'd like to use this as a build up to doing more mileage, and then do another marathon in January. I found that my fastest marathon time came when I didn't take much of a break between marathons. Gotta keep building up the strength and mileage.

Hartford training v. Missoula training

Strength Training

I went to the gym last night for the first time in months (maybe years) and did some strength training. I'm still undecided as to whether to join. I started with a bunch of core muscle exercises and push ups and then moved to the machines/weights. I did leg presses, hip abductions/adductions, and leg curls. I also did seated rows, chest presses, and arm curls. I have no idea whether any of this will benefit my running, but I assume that it cannot hurt it. I've got a weak upper body, hips, posterior muscles (anterior/posterior-muscle imbalance).

Photos from Missoula Marathon

From left to right: Ryan, Kristyn, Jessica


Somewhere along the course.


Notice the bloody, left nipple.