Training for Top of Utah 2011

I'm starting to like these reebok shoes more. Due to sore throat and cough I decided to stay out of the cold and wind and rain this morning. TM run and I am very surprised how well I did. Perhaps the fact that I felt like crap yesterday helped me get some rest. 3 min. walk warmup-then right to it. HR stayed low the whole run. I didn't gauge overall avg. but would expect it was low 30's. Max HR was only 145 and I was going faster than I normally do. It's nice to run with less weight! That has to have something to do with it. Still boring as ever though on that TM.

Plan said 4 X 800 meters at 3:20.  I decided to do something that Sean mentioned earlier this year to me. 400,400,800 then repeat with half distance jogs after. High school track about 35-36 degrees with a very light wind coming from the west.

Here are the results: after 1.5 mile warmup.

400 @ 1:35 then 200 jog

400 @ 135 200 jog

800 @ 3:20 400 jog

400 @ 1:36 200 jog

400 @ 1:35 200 jog

800 @ 3:21 400 jog

400 @ 1:35 200 jog

400 @ 1:35 200 jog

800 @ 3:13 (just had to kick this one up a notch

1.5 cool down. HR high was 176 today(pretty good) Legs felt good. Could have probably gone a little faster but no reason to kill myself a week before the 5k.

Woke up and to my surprise it started snowing so I geared down and hit the treadmill and am glad I did because it started coming down hard! Counted my stride rate multiple times and it kept coming in at 174 no matter what speed I was at. Not sure how to kick it up just a bit more but will try to work on it. HR stayed nice and moderate with a high of 145. Next run Saturday 12 miler with some decent hills in there. Gotta get going on my marathon training soon.

The plan was to run 12 miles with the 5k in the middle somewhere. I wanted to preview next weeks race. 39 degrees when I got up so I contemplated wearing shorts. Really glad that I didn't! I started snowing 3 miles in. Hard corn snow that is like hail. 

2.9 mile warmup @9:07 pace

3.1 miles (5k) @ 7:16 pace HR max 178 avg . 166 after this run my glasses were totally fogged and soaked from snow hitting my glasses. stopped at a restroom to clear it off.

4 miles @ 9:17 pace

Felt surprisingly good! I'm watching the snow come down as I type and am loving it. going to relax and play with Amanda(4 yr old) today. I'm ready for the official 5k next week now.

Woke up and looked outside at black ice on the roads. Stayed inside and did a TM workout. Took it pretty easy. Max HR was 145ish. 

Both 5k plans that I looked at called for 6 X 200 meter sprints with 200 meter jogs between. Went to the Mt. Si track and it was cold with a mild east wind. Mild wind but freezing!!! Wore my heavy comfy shoes to make the speedwork a little tougher.

Goal was to hit 5:30 pacing level on the 200's. Surprised myself by hitting close to 5:00 pace. Here are the splits.

2 mile warm up @ 8:50 pace then light stretch and into the speed work

200 in 39 seconds - 200 jog

200 in 39 seconds - 200 jog

200 in 39 -200 jog

200 in 40 200 jog

200 in 39 200 jog

200 in 39

2ish miles cool down @ 9:38 pace. Tomorrow another 5.5 then rest Friday and Race Day Sat.

Very easy run on the ridge. Cold, about 27 or 28 but roads nice and clear of ice and snow. 

Pace avg. 9:27 slow for me lately but that was on purpose.

HR Max 150 very briefly on hills. HR avg 137 nice and low.

I woke up a few small muscle groups with those 200 meter sprints yesterday! Yow!

The last few days we've had nice dry weather. Woke up during the night 2 times with baby Nova and heard the rain coming down. Not really much rain during the race but it was miserable waiting in the cold and wet to get registered.

Race went well. Was targeting 7:00 minute pace and hit 6:56 according to my garmin. I will update the results when they come out. There were about a gazillion people starting out and it was tough to get around a lot of them. I parked it right behind Mark Howard and kept close but couldn't catch him at the end.

I finally met Snoqualmie and that was great. Wish we had gotten more time to just talk about the race. Sounds like it went great for her.

*Update* Was 6th place in 45-50 year olds. If I had been in either 30-34 or 40-44 I would have been 2nd. What's up with all the old guys running so dang fast? According to the Official timer I was right at 7:00 pace, so still happy even though my garmin says I was faster.

Can't believe it snowed again overnight. What happened to all the global warming??? 8-) And now I heard on the radio(yes I believe everything that I hear on the radio) that we are in for 3 decades of global cooling. Just gonna stop listening to the radio.

Snow on the streets was the slushy kind so it's hard to run on without soaking yourself. Thus, I hit the TM yet again. I feel like the guy on ghostbusters that keeps getting zapped and says "I'm getting a little tired of this". Definitely tired of seeing the same stuff that I haven't cleaned up in the garage like the "Incredible Shrinky dinks" game. 

Going to do 5 days of 7 miles each this week in prep for bigger mileage coming up for the marathon. I'm amazed that my legs are not sore or tired after the race on Sat.

HR stayed low throughout the run even though once again I pushed the speed up a bit. High was 142 and only at the very end.

High School track. Was planning on 4 miles at my goal marathon pace (8:00). Ended up getting 8:10 pace thanks to that beastly wind kicking down from the Mtn.

1.5 warmup  4 miles at marathon pace sort of 1.5 cooldown

3 more days this week of easy running. I need to remember that.

Dropped Tori off at the high school and then went to Centennial park for my run on the Snoqualmie valley trail. They've done some weed wacking here and put new hard pack gravel in spots. It sure is nice to run on a level place. I'm so used to running on the hills that it seems really easy on the flat areas. Little drizzle but not too bad today. Nice cool temp.

A little headwind with a very slight uphill going to N. Bend.  Tailwind and slight downhill coming back was nice.

Pace 9:00

Avg HR 146 Just about right and seems to be improving all the time.

What a morning...Tori (15 year old daughter) got up at 3:30 to make some cookies for her friends at school. She is not a quiet person with anything she does. Dishes clanking and microwave beeping etc. made me want to get after her. Instead I shut the door to our room and heard a little less but still didn't sleep that well.

This is the 3rd straight day of running this week and I didn't want to get up and go...but did. Took about a mile to get my legs warmed up...otherwise it felt pretty good. I know now that I should not have done the speed workout on Wednesday. Had to grind a little bit to finish today but it wasn't killing me. 

Nice morning for a run. Wet but not raining when I was out there. 46 degrees was almost perfect running weather. Unlike yesterday I was able to stop for 2 water breaks at 2.6 and 4.9 which did help me feel better. Knees were feeling it today though not too bad.

Pace of 9.00 even was nice

HR was at 144 even nicer since it was up and down the hills here.

Got back later than expected and had to do these on the treadmill. Better than nothing though.

Had to burn off some of the rich food I had at the wedding!

Got a 1:00 am wake up call with Amanda crying in our room. Heidi finally got her back to sleep and then she started crying again at 3:00 am. Finally figured out that she has an earache. Gaver her some motrin and watched some TV and she calmed down. Had a hard time getting back to sleep after that.

Cold wind in the streets this a.m. Making my eyes water. 10 weeks until the Marathon. Now that I've run one I have a better feel for what needs to be done to prepare for it. 

Pretty good #'s this morning

Pace: 9.04

HR(avg) 141

My fingers are almost warm again. Snowed again last night and I was not prepared for it during my run. Totally forgot my gloves as I thought it wouldn't be so cold. Ran the sno. valley trail by the golf course for my Tempo run.

Plan said 7 miles with 4 tempo @ 7:32. I wwent a total of 8 because I shorted monday's run.

As I was doing the tempo the forerunner 305 was jumping around a bit from low 7's to high 7's so couldn't get a read on my speed. Trouble with clouds and snow for the satelite I guess. Was trying to keep my hr in mid 160's.

Pace 7:32   HR avg 161 with peak at 168  during tempo

Avg overall pace 8:24 and overall HR avg 150

Plan was for 8 mile today but I woke up at 2:00 with a VERY Sore Throat:(

Decided to put this run off until tomorrow and then a 12 miler on Sat. Morning. They are both easy runs though so it shouldn't be too bad.

Another sick day....hopefully can go tomorrow! Dang!

Can't breathe and I have no energy so another day without a run...this is gonna be tough once I start  back up. No running tomorrow on the Lord's day. Cross my fingers for Monday.