Vacation

I'm a tired man and need a vacation. So I'm going.

See you 10 days.

End 4 Begin 5

Week 4 ended being a drop week as I needed some recovery running due to how I felt Thursday. Ran two recovery runs afterward then a day off.  I didn't plan on running a long run anyway so all I missed was another 45 minute run.

Then of course today is a 45 minute run according to the schedule. Feeling pretty rested and ran easily for 5.8 miles. After the warmup my average pace was 7:25. I wish I felt this good at 6:25. But I do not.

Last week was 56 miles total. So far:

Week 1: 72.3 miles @ 8:31 avg pace
Week 2: 75.8 miles @ 8:07 avg pace
Week 3: 75.7 miles @ 8:08 avg pace
Week 4: 56 miles @ 8:03 avg pace

11 training weeks left.

Recovery part 2

Recovery day 2 today. Feeling better. Started off a little tight (my first thought was DOMS) but I loosened up after a little bit. Easy easy. 8:40 pace for 5.2 miles. 45 minutes.

Recovery Friday

A simple 45 minute run to recover. Feel much better this morning. Probably has something to do with the extra sleep. 5.1 miles easy.

Trash Day

Thursday is trash day here in my neighborhood so it is only fitting that a bad run would show up today.

Went into the run a little tight and sore and I was hoping for some loosening and relaxing out there but it never showed. I ran pace until it felt forced and then I backed it off completely and jogged the rest of the time. While the times were ok, I felt like junk out there. I'm pulling the plug on this week and running recovery for the next few days.

Progression run:

4 miles @ 7:31 avg pace
4 miles @ 7:02 avg pace
4 miles @ 6:45 avg pace
2 miles @ 6:49 pace (got off the train at mile 14)

Jogged the final 4.2. 18.2 miles total in 2:15.

Good morning

Sunny and cool. An easy 75 minutes ~ 8.4 miles. Felt ok. A little tightness but not bad. Ran easily.

First Bump

Added a 15 minute bump in time to today's workout. Felt good and relaxed but a little tight in the legs. I didn't press very hard and ran mostly 7's during the workout after a mile warmup. The last 4 miles were quicker bringing the overall average down to 6:51.

Mile 1: 8:42
12 miles @ 6:51
1.5 mile cooldown

14.5 miles total.

Monday recovery run

45 minutes. 4.6+ miles. Uneventful.

Week 3 of 15

A good 2 1/2 hour run with Mike finished out another good training week. We ran exactly the same pace as last week. 17.7 miles.

The deer flies were an issue about 5 miles out from the finish. Mike had a swarm over his head but I didn't mention it.

The run started off cool but I think it warmed up pretty quickly as I felt the need for water more often during the run and when I got home my clothes were drenched.

A good training week overall this week. I got in 3 harder workouts: Tues, Thurs and Sat. Each one a little different than the other.

Tues: 7.8 miles @ 6:28 pace
Thurs: progression w/7 @ 7:15 then 8 @ 6:45.
Sat: 13 minutes of pickups

The rest of the mileage was easy.

Next week will see a small bump in the mileage as the long run increases by 15 minutes and my Tues through Fri workouts see a 15 minute increase in time as well. However, the hard portions will remain the same so we're talking about additional easy running. I will probably get a little over 80 miles.

Last 3 week totals: 72.3, 75.8, 75.7.

Woeful

That is the only way to describe my ability to do neuromuscular training (NMT).

After a 17 minute warmup I commenced an unstructured workout of running hard/easy between the runway lights on the airport. I'm not sure of the distance between them but my guess is under 50 meters. It doesn't take long to get from one to the next while running hard.

At first I thought I could run hard then just back off some and run hard again. But after the first rep like that I knew I had to back way down to a crawl to recover. I was only able to do 3x rep before I needed a slightly longer rest jog of several lengths. I ended up doing 6 sets of the 3x rep sequence. It took about 13 minutes and I was done with the hard stuff.

I ran another super slow 30 minutes to make up my hour and went home.

There are some things one is naturally bad at and I think I found one of them.

The good news is that perhaps I can gain the greatest amount of benefit per unit of training by keeping up with the NMT once per week. I have read that it works form and neuromuscular coordination that benefits long distance runners by creating efficiencies. And there's nothing better for a long distance runner than being efficient.

60 minutes ~ 6+ miles.

Sunny and cool

Easy day today. 10.3 miles, 90 minutes. Felt tired this morning but perked up near the end.

Good workout in the drizzling fog

Progression run.

1 mile warmup 8:51
7 miles 7:17 pace
8 miles 6:45 pace (last mile in 6:02).
.5 mile cooldown

2 hours. 16.5 miles. Felt good, relaxed.

Fog & drizzle.

Easy Hour

60 easy minutes. First mile in 9:51 followed by 6.2 miles @ 8:08 pace. Felt great.

Tugging at my hamstrings

About 50 minutes into the tempo portion of today's workout my left hamstring gave me a twinge. So I backed it off. I was just entering the focus zone (you know, 1 mile at a time) when the leg misfired. No damage and no lingering pain but I pulled it back into the high 7's for the ride home.

Therefore my 90 minute run ended about three tenths short of the house so I had a nice walk to cool down.

1 mile @ 8:40
7.8 miles @ 6:28 avg
13 miles total - 90 minutes.

Begin week 3

Recovery run ~5 miles. Foggy and cool. Starting to wear my reflective vest again as the sun was not up when I left the house. Onward to winter I suppose.

45 minutes.

Next week, I'll bring some Air Supply

Mike had No Air going up the hills today. This should help.



***********************

End of week 2 of 15

A good week with two hard workouts. Today's run felt easy at an 8:29 pace. It was over before Mike and I knew it. We both agreed these 17 mile runs are getting easier. We'll be increasing the Sunday mileage by a mile or two in a couple of weeks.

I grilled him about the course of the PEI marathon today. This kept him busy talking up the hills. Speaking of hills, it looks like they are all saved for the end in this marathon. On the website, they give a good course description but you have to have a calculator handy as everything is metric.

The week ended with 10 1/4 hours of training with 75.8 miles.

No sleep, beautiful sunrise

60 minute recovery this morning as the rising sun lit up the remains of Eastport's biggest bash. I ran through trash and beer strewn all over the streets. I ran past sailors making their way back to their ship. I ran past people passed out in their cars. Quiet like the 5th of July.

My cell phone let me down this morning. Actually it is more of a cell clock than a cell phone. In addition to our annual 4th of July celebration, Eastport is known for one other distinction: no cell service. My phone bounces between a U.S. tower and a Canadian one. Both aren't useable to make a call unless you are in a special sweet spot. However, this bouncing between towers also makes the clock keep changing time zones. When I went to bed, I was in the Eastern time zone. Unfortunately, I awoke in the Atlantic timezone - an hour early. I'll be tired tonight.

~6.7 miles. Felt great.

Happy 4th of July

A gentle run on this 4th of July. Warmup mile in 9:34 followed by another 10.5 miles at an average 7:46 pace. The final miles averaged around 7:29.

11.5 miles total, 90 minutes.

Bugging Out

Crazy village at mile 4 today as the fog lifted a few more feet above the road and sucked a curtain of sea lice up with with it. I couldn't breathe for coughing up the little flits. Luckily this lasted only for a half mile or so and by the time I went back over the same causeway on the return trip the fog had dropped back down to earth and squashed the bugs. Then, of course, I couldn't see a darn thing.

In fact, during my 2.4 mile cooldown I jogged through the downtown to get a glimpse of the U.S. Navy ship docked at the pier. No luck. Fog was so thick I could not see the end of the pier. My only inkling that the Navy was in town was the two drunken sailors and their female escorts sitting on a sidewalk at 4:15 this morning.

Good run, hard workout. 2 hours: 1 mile warmup, 13 miles @ 6:48 pace, 2.4 mile cooldown.

Bleeding the Clock

An easy easy run. Really.

60 easy minutes today. I ran 12 of those minutes with Eric as our workouts merged today. I had my timing wrong on the way back and was approaching the house too soon. So I slowed and slowed but I still ended up having to run past the house.

60 minutes ~ 6.6 miles perhaps.

Oh yes, we the three blind moose are all signed up for the PEI marathon. That is going to be a blast.

Focus Run

Today was a hard workout and I'm going to enjoy an easy run tomorrow.

After an initial first mile in 9:36, I ran another 11 miles at an average 6:39 pace. I cooled down with another easy mile.

On this workout I had to focus one mile at a time to keep my form and pace smooth. The slowest mile was 6:59 up a hill around mile 10 and I had a couple of ~6:20's on some flat stretches. I felt good for the most part but I had to focus more and more as the workout progressed. Most of the miles were right around the average pace give or take a few seconds.

Really pleased that this work got done. Now I can enjoy the rest of the day.

90 minutes, ~12.9 miles