Thursday, June 14, 2012

Runnin' With My Gal

Our son spent the early part of the week at my parents since his summer program didn't start until Thursday of this week. That gave my wife and I an uncommon ability to run together. We never get to run together. So, Monday-Wednesday we ran loops before work. I love running with her and cherished the moments even though it was just a few days worth.
My legs feel recovered and it is time to bump up the intensity to test them out. So far this  week I have just continued to do easy, general aerobic running. I feel great doing that but want to do some light repeats to really see how my legs respond.
The body didn't want to get out this morning so I didn't. This is the last slouch week and then back to the grind. I have some serious goals for the rest of the summer and I need to get to work!

Thus far this week:

*all easy paced running
Monday: 45:00 roads
Tuesday: 37:00 roads
Wednesday: 58:00 roads
Thursday: ?

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Ready to Go

I spent most of last week ensuring my legs and sore spots were rested and gave myself a little test over the weekend. As I mentioned, Monday thru Wednesday were off days.
I ran an easy run on Thursday night and again on Friday night. Both night runs were a nice change since I usually run at 5:00 a.m. On Saturday I joined Dave for a medium distance run. I really didn't know what to expect and the pace was moderate so I adjusted well. The one concern I had was a little residual soreness over my left knee cap. I cut the run a few miles short and actually didn't have any knee pain in the closing miles or since then. Weird discomfort, as I have never felt that kind of sensation before.  Sunday I took a day off just to make sure the knee, and everything else had a rest day.

The week looked like this:

Monday: 0 rest
Tuesday: 0 rest
Wednesday: 0 rest
Thursday: 46:30 trails
Friday: 57:00 trails
Saturday: 1:30:00 roads
Sunday: 0 miles

Weeks Total: ~26 miles

Years Total: 951.6 miles

Friday, June 8, 2012

Rust Buster

Just a quick note of my weeks progress thus far following the 2012 Minneapolis Marathon.

My legs are feeling very good. I was wondering how long the recovery period would be since I ran the marathon with minimal milage in my legs. I took Monday thru Wednesday off and last night did my first true running test.  I ran with a Doc from work and showed him some trails near our house. After completing a loop in Rock Hill (Bagley) we ventured over to Hartley where I showed him where to park if he wanted to drive to the nature center and do a few loops himself someday. I was shocked how well I felt. I plan on running a short jaunt later today and I may up the mileage slowly this weekend. With a little luck, next week I will be back at it and press on to the path of getting fast!!

As for last night. The total time was 49:30.  Probably good for about 6 miles or little less.

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Minneapolis Marathon 2012

The End Result:
2:47:16
5th overall, 2nd age-group

Going into this race I had very humble expectations. I wanted to get a Boston Qualifier (BQ) 20 minutes faster than my age-group minimum. That would allow me to sign up under their new rules for 2013 on the first day of Boston sign up. For me, that time was 2:54:59. A pace I am unfamiliar with. I went as far as printing off a wrist band with splits to ensure I didn't fall off or go out too fast. *the latter was blown after mile two!

I had a few promising long runs and a couple decent steady-state medium distance runs but not any really long "quality" sessions I am used to doing week after week. To say I was nervous of my outcome would be an understatement.

Race morning was started at 0430. I fired up the coffee pot and made small cup of shitty coffee. The motel I was staying at didn't really plan, or care for, the fact there was a marathon the next morning so there was no early breakfast. I had a banana, two granola bars, and half a bag of sport beans and a bottle of poweraide before hitting a shower. Yes, I take a shower before my marathons. It makes me feel good. It loosens up any tight spots and really gets me limber.

Soon I was heading out the door for the ~1 mile jog to the start. I used this as my warm up as I got to the start, did my bag drop, hit the porta pot and the gun would go off some 15 minutes later. Good timing on my part.

The race started without a hitch and I found myself running way too fast. The first three or four miles were near 6:15 pace! I had a devil of a time slowing down and as my splits show I just couldn't settle in 6:30's. So, I did what felt good. I ran a whole bunch of 6:20 miles and managed to hold pace for most of the race, with the exception of a monster hill coming out of Fort Snelling and one mile with  a pit stop. This was an interesting marathon for me in terms of how time went bye. The usual low points near the 15 mile mark didn't last but a mile or two. Once we climbed out of Fort Snelling my legs got a little life and I ran a couple of quick miles once again. The major bummer of this race was on the return trip when we caught the half-marathon group. The race management could have done a better job at the timing of the events or at least trying to keep an open lane for the marathon runners. It really wasn't too bad of a deal but just a bit annoying when you are at 22 miles of a marathon and you have to do a bunch of extra weaving in and out of people. I did my best of keeping my head and had a wonderful last 4 miles despite a crabby right calf muscle that really didn't want to play anymore. I asked nicely, and the course took an awesome downhill for the last two miles or so, which gave my calf a much needed break and I cruised in for the finish.

For the most part my legs feel really good for just running a marathon. I think I ran just about as hard as I needed to and ran a very smart race. I could have been out hammering with the leaders for 16 miles then fall off and really jog the last 10 miles but I held back and ran my race. I'm very happy with that commitment.

I will Load my Garmin RESULTS HERE!

Thanks for reading and cheering from your humble abodes.

Weeks Total: 48 miles

Years Total: 925.6 miles

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Race Week

It didn't feel like a race week. I had a decent run on Sunday and I really wanted to keep pressing on for more workouts. My mind told me otherwise. I knew I wasn't going to get any fitter for the marathon and in fact, I could show up very fatigued and possibly injured if I kept pressing the envelope all week. So, I did a taper from the minimal mileage I was running and kept up a little intensity for a couple days. Most of the week I felt fresh but on Thursday I was feeling sluggish and heavy legged. Very normal for a "taper week". Friday I took advantage of a little extra sleep in the morning and Saturday was a quick spin to test the shoes ( I was still undecided as to what shoes I would be wearing come Sunday morning!) and I had a little snap back in my stride. Nice!!

So I managed to get down to the Cities without any difficulty and settle in my motel room. Most of my day consisted of alternating water and poweraide as my beverages of choice. I had a decent meal, an excellent IPA at the Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery and soon I was off to sleep for the night. 

As for the race it deserves its own entry so here is the week leading up to today:

Monday: 37:00, wet run in Rock Hill very slow and relaxed. Nice recovery run.
Tuesday: 40:00, feeling better up Woodland
Wednesday: 30:00, to skyline and did 4 X 3 minutes medium hard effort
Thursday: 30:00, to track and did 4 X 100 meters 
Friday: 0 miles
Saturday: 20:00, easy loop with striders.