Slow Recovery Run

I had a difficult time waking up this morning. After having three extra days off of work, your body can get in a rut really quick if you let it. I stumbled out of bed and headed for the basement to don my running clothes. A cool 46F, I figured I would be running slow and pants would be necessary. My quads felt decent, but my right achilles was a bit stiff. I noticed yesterday that those new DS Trainers were rubbing on my achilles, a recipe for disaster! Too bad for me, I just bought $100.00 shoes to mow the lawn. I may try them again, we'll see. My run took me to Rock Hill where I did 2 loops and headed home. At the end of loop 2 things were loosening up nicely and I think I should be OK heading into Tuesdays workout. I will sleep on it and give it a try.
Total: 33:20 4.5 miles wood chip trails.

Weeks Review

A good week in the right direction. For the most part my ankle is pain free. I do have to monitor some tight calves and lately some very sore quads on the longer training runs. I am very happy with the progression of the week. I sat down the other day and had written the next 6 weeks training, in attempt to get "the best bang for my buck" from the 12 week plan of Pfitzingers marathon training. On paper it looks like it should work quite well. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Totals for the Week: 63 miles running + 1 hour of pool running.

Who ya gonna call...Quad Busters!!!

The quad issue needs to be taken care of ASAP. I felt rather "tatored" after my 13 miler on Thursday so I took some easy days of running and figured all would be good. Looking back, I didn't eat too many carbs the last couple of days. I can't get past the possibility that it is my new shoes. I got a new pair of the latest DS Trainers (asics), and I noticed the mid sole is of new material. The question is, is it more dense of a mid sole, thus the sore quads? I really hope it is a nutrition thing as that is an easy fix.
My run today had the purpose of reintroducing my legs to the long run. It has been mid March since I did a run over 13 miles. I have this loop (Pig's-Vermilion) that is moderate hilly, and offers some flats for striding out that I do quite often. Today I did that loop 3 1/2 times to get my long run. This allowed me to get plenty of fluids and gels. Quite amazing, I ran at 8:30 am and the temp was already 70F+, and on my last lap the bank thermometer said 84F! This was actually a nice test of my fluid concoction. This was a good run except the quads being completely wasted after the first loop. Did I stop? Hell no! Had to get my long run in right? I stretched well and ate a really good meal immediately after and will continue to eat all day!
Totals: 1:58:26 17.5 miles

Saturday Trail Run

Today was a designated easy trail run. I figured the trails would be mostly dry with the weather we have been experiencing. I did a loop through Rock Hill and over to Hartley via the SHT. The guardrail loop was quite dry and offered plenty of ups and downs. My legs are still a bit heavy from the medium distance run I did on Thursday but all should be OK for tomorrow's run. I had a chance to catch the end of the UMD 5k on the Rock Hill trails. A beautiful day for running in Duluth.
Totals: trail run 1:04:28 approx 8 miles.

p.s. anybody know how to change the date on posts so your post from the previous day doesn't end up on the present day?

Father and Son (Friday's Entry)

No work for me today. It was a nice day to spend with my 2 1/2 year old son. We went to one of the local parks (Chester Bowl) and played most of the morning. We took the bike and bike trailer for the maiden ride of the year. My son finally has an appreciation for speed while sitting in the trailer. Yee Haw!! After playing we went for a ride and had to do some power hill climbs.
Once mom got home from work we all went for a nice run up to the cemetery and vermilion, added a loop to Jean Duluth and finished at the house. A good day for a recovery day.
Totals: 45 min Bike ride, 39:30 run with Kari and Lucas.

This is a test, this is a test of the marathon training system...

Today I figured I needed to "test the waters" and evaluate my "system status". I headed out for one of my medium distance run courses and half expected to make it short somewhere along the route. It was a beautiful day for a run, 48 F, and little wind. I took along my water bottle, which contains a mix of Gu2O with added salt. As I made my way up Woodland Ave. hill I felt pretty strong and had to hold back, not to push too soon. I have a few points in the route, as most of us do, to check my time and monitor compared to previous runs. One problem, it has been Sept. since I ran this course and cannot remember the splits! There is a section along Riley Rd. where I have been told it is a measured mile and today I ran a 6:21. This is about a hour into the run. It is here where I usually pick up the pace to 6:15 or 6:20.??? So, I picked up the pace from here and ran the last 1/2 hour at about 6:00 pace. My quads were a bit sore, but all else was functioning just fine. I always save a bit of drink for this last section as it trains me to drink at the quicker paces heading into the marathon. It is training runs like these that keep us crazy marathoners chasing the dream... and I'm chasing like a mutha!
Totals: 1:26:50 *new course pr, 13+ miles.

One More Trip Around the Sun

Today marks my 37th trip around the sun. This has been a pretty good revolution, as far as revolutions go. I am hoping to make this one even better from a running standpoint. I did mention in earlier posts that I am looking for a new marathon PR this year at Grandma's Marathon. After that spill I took in March things weren't looking too good, but today shows me that cross training has a purpose. In past years I wasn't a big fan of cross training. I just took time off from running if I was injured. Just shows...you are never too old to learn!
(see link below for an explanation of earth/sun revolutions)

http://www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/6h.html

A Morning for the Pool.

I woke up with a bit more soreness than the past couple of mornings and decided to go to the pool for the morning workout instead of running. I kind of miss the pool actually. Being a novice at pool workouts, I get an unbelievable workout without the pounding on the roads. As usual, the first 20 minutes were tough to get through then I started to work into the session. I did a ladder workout consisting of 5,4,3,2,1,1,2,3,4,5 minutes on with 1 minute rest between intervals. The last ten minutes I used the kick board and actually swam 50 meters freestyle with proper breathing technique attempted.(this is totally new to me.) A good morning workout.

Later in the afternoon, Kari and I went out for a run up to the cemetery and took Vermilion home via St. Marie street. This was a good run to get in for both of us, as we need to keep our running connection!
Totals: am: 57:45 pool workout pm: 32:30 run approx. 4.5 miles.

Gotta Love Skyline!!!

I got out for my run nice and early this morning and headed west on skyline blvd. If you haven't had a chance to run on this route, next time you are in Duluth you need to ask a local how to get to skyline and go for an out and back run. Today's run went well. I felt little discomfort in the foot but remain very stiff in the lower legs.(calves, achilles, ankles) After ten minutes all felt well and I had a pretty good clip going. I ran to 10 ave. west and back. In the early months of the year when the roads were still clear of ice and snow I did this run in 58-59 min's. When I got to the turn around at 27:40 I knew I was running well. I tried to ease off and run easy, as I want to run easy this whole week, I returned home in 26:58. Also, on my return trip, I witnessed a beautiful sunrise over Lake Superior. What a site! Off to work, this is my "friday", as I took the rest of the week off.
Totals: 54:38 8+ miles.

Is That a Skunk?

The one factor I dislike about spring running, especially in the morning, is the unfortunate encounter with the black and white cat-like animals. I actually had to hurdle one a few years ago as it was digging through someones garbage on the curb. This morning I was having better luck as I didn't cross paths with any skunks, just lots of garbage on the curbs.
When I got done with my run this morning I realized it had gone better than it felt. I still have some minor discomfort in my left foot and still don't have complete range of motion, and as a result my form just doesn't feel right. I did the short Woodland to Vermilion loop with some pick-ups just to test my stride. I am hoping this was a run in the right direction.
Total: 46:06 approx. 6.5 miles.

Weekly Review

Not the week I was looking forward to. I did a measly 14.5 miles of running, and many, many trips to the bathroom (probably good for my first 100 mile week). Like I said in my prior post, looking forward to the sun, and lots of good miles!

Skinny, White Runner-legs!

Today was the first day that I ran an outside workout in shorts. I am not sure Duluth was ready for it, but I shed the legs for my loop.
I've had quite the crappy week, so I was quite pleased to see the sun and the mercury get near 65 F just prior to my run. I wasn't sure how my stomach would cope with the jumbling of each step but I managed to get within a mile of our house before I had the urge to shard my shorts. YUK!
I did the loop out to Martin road but had to alter the last mile, as I mentioned above, and all went quite well. The foot felt better and hopefully this will be an up, up, up week. I need it!!
Totals: 50:47 approx 7 miles.

More Bad Luck...

I've had some form of the FLU that a few people at work had. No running since Tuesday, unless you can count mileage of running to the bathroom. I am too lazy to figure that distance out so I will just call it "O's" for those days.

Today is the Fitgers 5K. This was going to be my kickoff race of the season, as many people use this for a test to see where their winter/spring training has gotten them. I for one will not be racing, and may not race well into May. If I do get fortunate enough to start marathon training again, I may just build up the mileage and see if I can get to the starting line of Grandma's. Right now it is looking quite grim.

For today, I guess I will fall back on my other hobbies and go attempt to take some action shots at the race, and maybe attempt to get a few posted on one of the result sites.

A Better Day

This run started like many of the others...with a lot of dull pain until approximately ten minutes into the run. I decided to keep progressing with the run and had a decent overall pace at the finish. I don't have the course marked per say, but it is a solid 7 1/2 miler. Legs felt good and fresh, the left ankle not so.
A bad day running is better than a good day on the couch.
Total: 53:37 approx. 7.5 miles

I lost my Chi

Today was one of those days...in the early morning all I wanted to do is drink a good cup of French Roast and sit around. I figured I would run after work with Kari and Lucas. Neither of us felt very good after work, some form of a 'bug', either from Lucas or from work. At any rate no workout today. My ankle feels good and hopefully I will get a good run in tomorrow. It kind of makes me feel guilty because those poor runners out at the Boston Marathon today.
Total: 0 miles "the goose-egg"

Weeks Reflection

It has been 4 weeks since I hit that patch of ice and ruined my training plan for Grandma's. I have managed to keep in shape by running as much as my ankle will allow, and spending some time in the pool. The past two weeks I have done much of the same. Over this past weekend I have seen considerable improvement in my ankle.

Total for the Week: 40 miles running, 1:40:00 aqua jogging.

Spring has Sprung, the Flowers Risen...

Today felt like the first day of real spring to me. I guess we had a day like this a month or so back, but of course I was working that day. This past weekend was a good mood lifter. Mid to upper 50's, sunny, and minimal wind made the weekend a good one for running.

I managed to have a decent day of training. I did a morning workout in two parts. First, I had the chance to run with my bud Kooks, who I haven't had the chance to run with in ages. I call him the K-factor. We all need a little K-factor in our running week. We did an easy loop through the cemetery, added an out and back section and finished at the house.

Kari needed to run this morning as well, and I decided it would be nice to run with her and hoping that our son would like to go as well. We loaded him up on the baby jogger and headed out for a loop through campus, west on skyline, and up Kenwood to Arrowhead and home. We added a loop near Hartley trails just to take a peek. The trails here in the Northland have many weeks to go until I will be setting tracks on them.

Totals: run with Kooks 41:30, run with Kari and Lucas 38:44
total for the day: approx. 11 miles.

Congrats Shalane!!!

Last night the U.S. women's 5000 meter record fell! The drug cheat finally doesn't own the record. Shalane Flanagan clipped the record by a second or so. She ran 14:44.8, which you can view in it's entirety on Flocast. The manner in which she broke the record is quite impressive. All I will say, in case you want to watch the video, she had a rabbit for 1800 meters and the rest was on her own. Congrats again!

Myself, I did another easy jogging session through the cemetery, and added a loop on the west side of campus and finished at the house. I wanted to loop close to the house in case I needed to bail-out of the run. The run went well as my foot actually felt the best it has since the injury. I am not getting too excited yet, I don't want to be let down if the ankle is not ready to resume full training. I am hoping it is soon!

Total: 43:03, 6 miles. Temps in the low 50's at 9:00 am.

No Black Cats

I'm not a superstitious person, but the day always enters my minds when it arrives on the calender. This mornings moon was just a sliver, not full, so I had a feeling all would be well.

I started the day with an easy loop through the cemetery and back to the house. I noticed my ankle being sore, but not as bad as prior runs. At any rate a good morning run. 29:54

After work, since the temps were in the 50's, I thought I would test the ankle again and do another short run. The run was better than the mornings as far as discomfort goes. Did the same loop but added some. Another good run, a step in the right direction if you will. 35:11.

Totals: AM: 29:54 approx. 4+ miles, PM 35:11 approx 4.5 miles Total: 8.5 miles

Back to the Water

I had a tough couple of days as far as the ankle goes, so I decided to do a pool workout this morning. The ankle was sore from some of the new exercises.

I was pressed for time this morning so I did 30 minutes of aqua-jogging followed by 11:00 of board-kicking. The later is quite the workout for cardio. and leg strength. A bit of a short workout, but better than a "0" for the day.

Total: 41:00 of pool workout.