6 miles. First Ceresco run.

I am so sore all of the time. Part of it is the moving. Part of it is the regression of my body from so little exercise and no stretching. Time to get back into the groove.

21 miles (M/T/W) Marathon week

Between the 14-day sickness and the house problems, training took a huge hit. And with the hot weather and high humidity forecast for Sunday I don't think I can achieve even my fallback goal of setting a PR. But, time to look ahead. I need to get back to strength training, start running at morning or night to avoid heat, and find a suitable marathon in the next couple of months. When I last looked there weren't many that fit my criteria. So, back at it.

Mon (6) Tues (10)

Still sick. Very tired.

Mon. was trail and Mopac...some fast times in spite of everything.

Today was hills and some tough gravel. Good overall.

Will do easy 8 tomorrow and then challenging 20 on Thurs. That will be my week, due to a wedding.

Fri (19)

Windy and fresh gravel. I am beat up. The kind of weather and route that makes you wonder if it was worth the effort.

But at least my mileage is back up to a reasonable level. I'll be hoping for better next week.

Tues (8 miles) Wed (10)

Just trying to get my routine back. Crazy couple of weeks and too much heat.

Tuesday was just a slow effort to get my legs back.

Wed. was one of my fastest training efforts ever, even with two warm-up miles and two slower cooldowns.

Hoping for a solid long run Friday but I appear to have a cold.

Tues (8 miles) Wed (8 miles)

Yes, a long break. Too much running around and too little sleep. Stupid cranes.

Tues was weird, legs felt brand-new...no tightness or soreness anywhere. But they felt heavy, too. Wed was horrible due to the 80 degree temp and sunshine. I am not ready for this kind of heat, but it doesn't appear to be leaving anytime soon. Looks like winter is already way over with.

Tomorrow will be a short run. Lots of work to do.

Hoping to get enough done that I can head out Friday afternoon for 20. Busy again on Saturday.

Mon (8) Wed (14)

This is my off week so I'll only be at around 30 miles total.

Monday was a solid training pace run.

Wednesday was a long-awaited marathon pace training run. My heart rate was too high for most of the run and I got tired too soon. By the last two miles I was spent.

Humidity was at 100% and it was in the 60's, which is still warm considering my body is used to 40's. I'm hoping that these were the reasons I got too hot and tired so quickly.

In addition, I suspect that my hard 20-miler last week affected things. Still trying to figure out the facts on glycogen depletion.

Finally, I started way too fast. Max. heart rate was at nearly 210 in the first mile, partly due to nerves. Much different from my usual slow start. In addition, my watch was lagging a lot in showing pace data so I kept running faster...at times I was running a 6:00 pace thinking I was at the 7:15 shown on the watch. No wonder I got so tired. Thinking cloud cover or precip must affect watch reception.

Regardless, my poor performance shows that I have some learning and investigating to do. Surely I can do better than 7:15 pace on a flat trail...especially after a 7:50 pace for more miles on a much, much harder route last week.

Fri (8 miles)

Easy 8 today. Very humid. Drenched when I was done.

Work up feeling good and not exhausted like a sort of expected. I am right where I was hoping I would be two weeks ago. Knees didn't bother me at all.

Next week will be lower mileage and higher intensity.

Thurs (19 miles)

Ran this same route Feb. 18th. Took me 2:41 at an 8:35 pace. I was banged up and it was muddy.

My goal this time was to hit an 8:00 pace. I chose that speed because it's about 1 minute faster than my (slowest) goal pace, and because of the challenges in this particular route.

I actually hit 7:51 pace and 2:26 total time...in spite of the 80 degree temp and high humidity.

There are a lot of hills on this route so finishing this fast without feeling totally spent is a good sign. My right leg felt close to 100% and my left knee surprisingly hardly tightened at all. Between the strength training and rolling the huge knots out of both quads I feel much more limber, loose, and strong.

Tues (8 miles)

80 degrees, breezy and hills.

Legs felt shot on hills but better on flat stretches. Taking tomorrow off for sure.

Right shin feels a tiny bit worse but doesn't scare me too much yet.

Sun (12 miles) Mon (8 miles)

Fast training run Sunday. One of my best runs in months. Left knee did get tight at points but nothing at all on the right calf.

Monday...not great sleep. Body was tired early but felt a little better late. Still, a slower than normal run at about 7:40 pace. It was very hot and dry for March and I was light-headed and thirsty by the end.

Thurs (5 miles) Fri (12 miles)

Sick of the wind.

Slogged through Friday. No sleep. Legs were like lead.

Left knee continues to tighten intermittently. Need to get that figured out.

That's 60 miles for the week with a couple of days of rest in there.

If I can do this again next week without injury I'll be in a good spot.

Wed. (10 miles)

No sleep. Horrible stomach. 30MPH wind. Fun.

Left knee tightened up after a couple of 7:00 miles. It did loosen a lot. No other significant problems other than hating life. So sick of the wind already.

Need to start running in the mornings to avoid the gusts.

Tues (strength and rest)

Yesterday I ran 12 miles at training pace (7:30). Today I feel pretty spry and not wiped out. That's good stuff considering 32 miles of challenging running.

Reminder that as soon as possible I need to be doing a 12-mile run at near marathon pace every two weeks. Hopefully next week I can give this a shot.

This is a volume and interval week.

Sun (12 miles) Mon (20 miles)

Due to wind and my weird knees, last week basically turned into a rest week.

The time off helped. Did slow 12 yesterday in 40MPH wind. Unpleasant and not fun.

30MPH winds today. Tried to be nice to myself by hitting MoPac. Planned to run 10 and realized that work later in the week meant I needed to go farther to hit goal mileage of 60 this week.

So I decided on an easy-paced 20. Started fairly slow but the legs wanted to go in spite of the awful windy Sunday run. So, I went. Lots of sub-8 miles and many right in my goal training speed of 7:30. Very surprised.

At miles 16 to 18 the wind was in my face and awful.

7:50 pace for whole run and could've been much faster if I'd planned for it. 2:35 total time.

Knees didn't cause too many problems and I was only winded going into the wind.

My conditioning is improving.

Thurs (8 miles) and strength

8 miles at 7:28 pace. That's my goal training pace so that's a good thing. A few hills on 112th.

Knees were decent. Right leg was burning a bit by the end but it loosened up after a few minutes.

Woke up Friday morning feeling good overall. Not nearly as tired as after the Monday run. No pain, either.

Counted cadence on Tuesday. Experts say you should shoot for 180 steps per minute -- this apparently ensures a short, less damaging stride. At a 7:00 pace my cadence is around 210, so at least I am doing one thing right.

Still looking for a weight bench.

Tues (6 miles)

Woke up very tired. Not really legs tired. Just overall exhausted, definitely due to Monday run. Not it shape to run that fast yet.

Ran Tues. in severe storm. Scary lightning swooped in very fast. Wind was horrible.

Knee clicking again. 45MPH winds today so I am just icing and staying inside.

Looking for weight bench but not much luck.

Monday (8 Miles)

Brisk, sunny day. Mopac again. Strongest run I've had in quite a while.

Started off hoping for 8:30 first mile, but legs were ready to go much faster.

7:15 pace for the entire run, with three 7:00 miles.

Left knee tightened a bit after 4 miles but loosened. At the end, the right leg was more of a concern.

An hour later, body is tired, but not overly so.

Lots of ice and stretching tonight. Read today that body weight strength training can be done more than every other day. Great. Ugh.

Friday (10 miles)

Hit Mopac hoping to avoid knee issues. Lots of online info pointing to cambered roads as a cause of knee problems, including runner's knee.

Fast run. Average pace of 7:30, and that was with 8:30 miles going out. Coming back I held steady at about 7:15. That's a comfortable pace but one that would wear me out after 8 or 9 miles, I think.

Woke up Saturday feeling good all around.

Wedding Saturday. Recovery Sunday. Now knee still clicking a bit but still improving by the day. Right leg feels pretty good, too.

Puzzled as to where to take training this week, honestly.

6 miles and strength

Strength first.

Hard going in the wind. Flat route.

Right leg continues to nag a little. Calf tightness comes and goes.

Left knee still weird. Almost like a band of tightness all the way around it, with pressure under the kneecap.

More ice, stretching, rolling, hoping.

With a wedding on Saturday I don't know if I'll get 50+ in this week. Right now doing 15 tomorrow seems iffy.

9 miles

Left knee felt improved but not 100% today. Wasn't sure if I should even attempt a run. But the weather was too nice -- 55 degrees, sunny, no wind.

Started very carefully and yet somehow wound up with an 8:15 overall pace, with multiple sub-8 miles. I wasn't winded at any point and my heart rate never topped 180, which is weird.

Left knee tightened a few times. Stopping and loosening things for a minute makes a big difference. I don't get it.

Right now my right knee is a tad sore. Lots of ice tonight for both.

Mon (8 miles) Tues (strength)

9:00 miles on Monday. Left knee not particularly happy even though I ran very gently.

After three straight days it was time for a break. Just stretching and strength training today. And lots of ice and sitting. Hoping it will feel much better in the morning.

Sat (8 miles) Sun (12 miles)

Both runs went pretty well.

Increasing soreness in both legs after Sunday, including that sore feeling again in the middle of my right calf.

But all in all, hard to believe that I ran more than 50 miles without too much trouble.

Thurs. 19 miles

8:30 pace on a somewhat hilly Ceresco route. I capped my pace at 8:00 miles for the entire run but occasionally dipped below that.

Gorgeous day, muddy roads. At about mile 11 my legs started feeling heavy. That was about the time my knee twinged.

I got very worried that I had already got ahead of myself and overdone things again. But I took a break in Ceresco and stretched a little.

The knee backed off. I did feel it twinge on some uphills, but holding form and going slow kept it from getting worse.

Today (Friday) I do feel fatigued but I don't feel any problems. The next 10 days will be about restoring volume and conditioning, strength training, and avoiding injury.

Sun thru Tues

Sun. 10 miles
Mon. 6
Tues. 8

My leg doesn't hurt at all during the day anymore. Managing some sub-8 miles in the past three days.

I'll spend the next week getting back volume but with slower per-mile pace.

My goal is a long shot at this point so I'll have to start considering another race.

Thurs. 6 miles

On gravel and mud. Started out at 10-minute pace. Leg still feels slightly weird in spots, esp. going up/down hills. Once in a while it hurts downhill if I land just the wrong way.

Surprise of the day...finished with an 8:00 mile on accident. Felt good and the leg wasn't twinging at all.

Today is Friday and there don't seem to be any issues from that speed. Hopeful that this might be the turning point.

Monday

No running.

Leg aches and sometimes hurts going up and down stairs. Doesn't hurt at all now when I roll on it.

Rest and stretching do not seem to be helping. I backed off on the constant icing because that also did not seem to be doing much good.

Friday

Still no running.

I can't get it to hurt with the roller now, which seems like a good sign. But it still aches no matter what I do.

No running this weekend as we'll be on the road.

Yesterday, 3 miles

Walked about half it.

No real pain, just a strange tightness that got worse as I tried to run.

Woke up today and it was somewhat sore as I walked around the house, but when I roll it is the same as it was two days ago.

So, no real difference except that it seems dumb to try and run.

8 miles

A few hills and mostly a 9:00 pace. Three miles at 8:30 pace.

Calf felt tight in spots but there was no pain. Slowing down and then speeding up again seemed to loosen it.

Pain was notably less sharp this morning when I rolled on it. Hoping this is a good sign. Maybe by the middle of next week I can start slowly picking up the speed again.

Started strength training last night. Will do that 3 or 4 times per week from here on out.

Back never hurts anymore now that I stretch and roll frequently.

7 miles easy

Three days of rest. The calf feels better today but it was sore just laying in bed this morning.

Looks like I pushed myself into an injury. Dumb.

7 miles on a very flat road. No real pain, just an ache. This week will be a very slow and cautious one.

10 miles intervals

Very tired from poor sleep. Hit MoPac so that I'd get a good idea of what's going on with my sore areas before hitting hills again.

Rolled much of the day. Gentle stretching before run. Iced right knee for an hour.

The muscle just below and behind my right knee...the high calf, I guess, continues to ache. In addition, the my left groin has ached for a couple of days. Heat on the groin...ice on the knee. These are not bad. Just something to monitor.

Need to do the strength drills in Trail Runner. I am probably overcompensating as my faster speeds start to work new muscles harder. They say 8 weeks of strength workouts makes a notable difference.

Also worth noting. I can hold a 7:00 pace without too much struggle. Heart rate remains at about 165 and breathing is easy. Legs do feel heavy in spots but it feels like a pace I can maintain for good distances.

12 miles

Body was very tired today. I decided to go easy and let my muscles recover.

12 miles at slow 8:30 pace. Hillier than Sunday. 1,300 feet elevation change as opposed to Sunday, which was 800 feet.

I am taking off tomorrow entirely to rest and stretch.

Different parts of my legs hurt each day, with the exception of my right calf, which has been tender on and off for a couple of weeks now.

At this point things seem to be going well.

Monday 1/23

My first real attempt at intervals. 8 miles.

2 for warm-up at around 8 minute pace.
2 faster, at around 7:15.
2 at 8.
2 at 7 and then sub-7 speed.
is
Why was my heart rate HIGHER at the beginning of the run...it leveled off the last three miles. I was pretty comfortable at the 6:40 pace, but that was just single mile.

Good workout. With longer distances and more hills I could see how this would make you much stronger and faster.

1/22 12 miles

12 miles with a few moderate hills. First six into the wind; much faster coming back with the wind. I felt tired but maybe mostly because of no sleep.

1/20

First attempt at heart monitor pickups. Really only a couple of miles but very hard. Will probably stick with intervals, which are basically the same thing.

1/19 12 miles

12 miles, easy hills, slow pace at about 8:00.

Now it's Friday morning and my body feels pretty tired as a whole. My legs are droopy.

8 miles

8 miles, fairly hilly but no long hard hills. Maybe lumpy is a better word.

First workout with GPS watch. For the first time I have a good idea of how fast (or slow) I can run.

This was a moderately hard pace. Took me around 56 minutes. Tomorrow will be an easy day.

12 miles easy

12 miles on low hills.

Body was tired in the morning but got better by run time at 3.

After six my legs felt pretty heavy. It was slow going but good to be out.

8 on Trails

8.3 on trails. 8:06 pace. 1:07 total time.

Stopped a couple of times to catch my breath. I have to start out more slowly -- my tendency is to panic and take off at full speed, which catches up to me in a hurry. But once momentum gets up to speed, I feel much better. Need more sleep, less beer, and more stretching. Very rough day mentally, at least in the first three.

Friday run

This was my mid-distance run. 12 miles on 84th. Significant hills out there.

1:35. 7:55 pace.

Stopped 8 or 9 times to catch breath. Once to pet a nice dog.

So basically it turned into a long string of intervals. Legs felt very dead in places.

1/12

6 miles on gravel. Stiff north wind and 15 degrees. Had to stop multiple times to mess with clothing. Aggravating.

Trying to high-step some of the hills now. That's apparently for building quad strength.

1/11/12

6 miles horse trails, not timed. Feel great in spite of the 50 miles on Saturday.

Finally created a training regimen based on Joe Bowman / Hal Higdon. Starting with parts of the core Bowman workout. Then shifting to Higdon's 12-week schedule on Feb. 18, provided I'm on track with things.

Marathon goal: 2:50. That's a pace of about 6:40 per mile.

Bowman stresses not putting all of your eggs into one basket, in case of poor weather or just an off day. So I will start looking for other possible marathons in that time frame.