Well it's officially to hot to run in the middle of the day. I pride myself on running in any weather condition, like the subzero temp with the 20 below windchill this past January. That's easy I can just put another layer of clothing on. Now that it's 90 degrees and very humid, what am I supposed to do, run naked. I wish. Yesterday I ran an easy 5 miles in the middle of the afternoon and I thought by the end I was going to start seeing things. I can handle the heat, it is the mixture of the high humidity that was taking a toll on me.
Saturday I ran my first longer distance of 10 miles since my knee is feeling better. I felt awesome and was able to run hard for a good hour. The week off really helped my knee. I feel good getting back into my usually running schedule. I can still feel discomfort in my knee, however it doesn't hurt after the run and I feel strong when running.
This and next week will be 30-35 mile weeks and I will start my half marathon training on August 6th which gets me right into 40 mile weeks again which I feel good about. The last couple of weeks have been good recovery weeks physically and mentally. Again I will be doing most of my training around my house in Hugo and in St. Paul's Mac-Grove neighborhood. I also made a link to my upcoming training schedule.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Monday, July 9, 2007
A Change In Direction
Three weeks from Grandma's Marathon and two weeks into training for the Whistleshop Marathon my knee and shin are not getting any better, not to mention motivation. Resulting in a change of plans and refocusing my attention to the Whistleshop Half Marathon.
The last week I have had a real hard time getting excited for the 16+ mile runs ahead. Focusing on the half is right up my ally and working on speed over endurance will help me prepare for faster marathons next year. It will also be nice to have a few more weeks to rest before I start my half marathon training plan.
I would like to shot for a 7:30 pace for the half marathon as my Grandma's Marathon goal pace was 8:00 minutes, which was a little to aggresive. At the shorter distances I have been able to hold faster paces easiler with a 10K PR of 42 minutes and working on a faster pace for the half will hopefully carry over into next spring.
The last week I have had a real hard time getting excited for the 16+ mile runs ahead. Focusing on the half is right up my ally and working on speed over endurance will help me prepare for faster marathons next year. It will also be nice to have a few more weeks to rest before I start my half marathon training plan.
I would like to shot for a 7:30 pace for the half marathon as my Grandma's Marathon goal pace was 8:00 minutes, which was a little to aggresive. At the shorter distances I have been able to hold faster paces easiler with a 10K PR of 42 minutes and working on a faster pace for the half will hopefully carry over into next spring.
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
A good day to start
I thought today would be a good day to start my running journal. I finished my first marathon a little over two weeks ago and have already started training for my next marathon on October 13th. I suppose I should first introduce myself. I 29 and live just outside of St. Paul, MN. I have been married for 3 1/2 years to my wife Lisa and we have a 1 year old boy, Carter. I have been a self proclaimed runner for the past 5 years averaging 20-25 miles a week and have finished 1 half marathon (Grandma's) and 3, 10 mile races (TC 10mile, which is the Twin Cities Marathon equivalent to the 1/2 marathon). It has been a natural increase to running my first marathon this spring and I have averaged 35-45 miles a week and topped out with a 54 mile week while training.
I really enjoyed working toward Grandma's Marathon, even though the race didn't go as planned. I originally was aiming for a 3:30 finish, however I did my long run three weeks prior to the race in Duluth. I finished the run and hit my goal split times perfectly but I was dead tired and would not have made it much further. So I adjusted my goal and was just looking to have a good race. Anyway race morning came and after the first mile I looked at my watch hitting 8 minutes right on the dot and every mile after was the same. As a marathon nubbie I just couldn't pull back, I figured I would give it my best and see what would happen. I ended up in the medical tent at mile 22 after struggling for a few miles. My blood pressure was 95/70 and the outdoor temp was 88 degrees, I was plain dehydrated. After a litter of fluid I got back in the race (walking) and finished 5:29. My first 20 miles were in 3:00 hrs and my last six were 2:30.
Today is the start of my second week of my new training schedule. I did a track workout out by my parents home. I jogged two miles to the high school to workout on the track. Less than halfway through the workout a sever thunder storm came blowing in. The wind picked up fast and I took cover over under the stadium concession stand. The rain came down fast and hard, I had nowhere to go except wait it out. Thirty minutes came and went, luckily I was able to stay dry, however by then my legs were tight and cold so I just made it the effort to get home. If you don't watch once in awhile, you can't believe how hard it can actually ran.
I really enjoyed working toward Grandma's Marathon, even though the race didn't go as planned. I originally was aiming for a 3:30 finish, however I did my long run three weeks prior to the race in Duluth. I finished the run and hit my goal split times perfectly but I was dead tired and would not have made it much further. So I adjusted my goal and was just looking to have a good race. Anyway race morning came and after the first mile I looked at my watch hitting 8 minutes right on the dot and every mile after was the same. As a marathon nubbie I just couldn't pull back, I figured I would give it my best and see what would happen. I ended up in the medical tent at mile 22 after struggling for a few miles. My blood pressure was 95/70 and the outdoor temp was 88 degrees, I was plain dehydrated. After a litter of fluid I got back in the race (walking) and finished 5:29. My first 20 miles were in 3:00 hrs and my last six were 2:30.
Today is the start of my second week of my new training schedule. I did a track workout out by my parents home. I jogged two miles to the high school to workout on the track. Less than halfway through the workout a sever thunder storm came blowing in. The wind picked up fast and I took cover over under the stadium concession stand. The rain came down fast and hard, I had nowhere to go except wait it out. Thirty minutes came and went, luckily I was able to stay dry, however by then my legs were tight and cold so I just made it the effort to get home. If you don't watch once in awhile, you can't believe how hard it can actually ran.
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