Wrapup from last week, plan for the week of 2/23

Friday was a quick 4 miles before our evening church class. I did the 2 mile out/back through Salem Oaks, with 6x100m strides mixed in.
4 miles, 27:22 (6:52 pace)

Saturday was a 15k treadmill run at 15k race pace.
9.3 miles, 1:04, (6:53 pace)

Sunday was a much more relaxed effort run. I did a fun one out in Umstead, starting at Bridge to Nowhere around noon, staying on the bike/bridle trail down past Reedy Creek Lake, up through South and North Turkey Creek, back down and up Graylyn to the Reedy Creek intersection, left on Reedy Creek to Cedar Ridge, down Cedar Ridge and touched my toe in the creek, then back up Cedar Ridge, right onto Reedy Creek, climbed Cemetery Hill, and felt strong all the way back in for the finish. I purposely kept the pace easy, and can only remember 3-4 times that my breathing picked up beyond pedestrian. Of course, I was running solo, so I didn't really have anyone to talk to...
17 miles, 2hr16min (8:01 pace)

Total week:
Swim: 3000m, 2:12/100m pace, 1:06:06 time swimming
Bike: 23.33miles (estimated), 20mph (estimated), 1:10 time cycling (spin class)
Run: 49.3 miles, 7:33 average pace, 6:12:43 time running

Total: 8:28:49 training for tri sports

This week's plan:

Monday-off day
Tuesday-5 mile run w/6x100m strides, hopefully a swim in there somewhere
Wednesday-run 10 Mi w/ 4x1200m @ 5k race pace
Thursday-no run (hope to swim and bike)
Friday-run 10 Mi easy...not sure when??
Saturday-run 4 Mi recovery
Sunday-run 20 Mi (next week's run is 16, 12 the week after, then it's Shamrock week)

Run plan, week of 2/16/09 (week 14/18)

Monday-no running. Recover from Sunday's 17 miles (w/14 at or faster than marathon pace)

Tuesday- 8 Mi w/ 5x600m @5k pace; :90 jogs between. This was done on the treadmill at Life Time. Jog pace was 7:30. 5k pace is 6:15. 57:03 run time, or 7:08/mile overall pace.

Wednesday-11 Mi medium-long. That means a little quicker than long-run pace, but not to tempo pace. I chose the standard 8:00/mile. Also on the treadmill at LTF :( 1:28 run time, 8:00/mile.

Thursday- no running. A.M. spin class (aerobic intervals), and an afternoon longer swim planned.

Friday- planned 4 mile run around Apex. Plan calls for 4 Mi w/ 6x100m strides. Might sneak in a lunchtime swim; might not.

The weekend gets a little tricky:
Saturday- plan calls for 8-15K race pace (planning 15k). Would also like to swim (and bike!!), but not sure what the weather or available time will allow me to do.

Sunday- 17 Mi LSD run (8-9:00/mile). Would like to hit Umstead for this, but again, not sure what weather and time will allow.

Feeling good. I have a little sore spot in my left foot, right behind my middle toe. I think I must've caught a rock there during the run on the ATT Sunday (was wearing the racing shoes, with thinner soles). Doesn't hurt to run, just a little sore when walking barefoot or with the work shoes on. I'll keep an eye on it. Also, a sore left elbow, but I have ramped up swimming a little, so the aches and pains are sure to follow. Will get some good rest tonight for sure.

New format for the blog...more focus on running

I had a change of heart with regards to this blog. I think it is appropriate now that I actually begin to call myself more of a runner (and less of a triathlete?). Don't get me wrong; I still LOVE training for and racing triathlons, but I need to narrow my focus a little from this point on.

I am currently in week 14 of an 18-week plan to run Shamrock Marathon in Virginia Beach (3/22/09). I need a 3:15:59 in order to qualify for the 2010 Boston Marathon. I am on target to do that.

"Still running"

I'm over the hump now. Only 34 days until Shamrock, and I can feel my running form coming on. Beginning to feel like I did a few weeks out from Pinehurst, when the 10k practice was really taking shape. As these last few weeks proceed, I'll be backing down on the volume, ramping up the intensity a bit, and getting dialed in. I had probably my best long-run ever Sunday afternoon. 17 miles total, with 14 of those at marathon pace. Well, my goal marathon time is 3:15:59 (go figure?!), which is Boston-qualifying time. That means a 7:27 on race day.

Well, I have been training with that time in plain sight, but knowing that I really think there's a 3:10 in me at this point, so my target paces have been aligned to that time. Thus, yesterday, I did 2 miles of warmup (7:56, 7:20!), then let it roll for 14 miles. My slowest mile in those 14 was a 7:14; average pace for those 14 miles was a 7:07, and I feel that I could've made that 7:00 flat with just a little more effort. I can think of 2-3 minutes in that entire run that my breathing picked up, usually after taking a Gu or water.

Wrapped it up with an 8:20 cooldown mile, and called it a day. And a great day it was. Beautiful weather, perfect temps, slight breeze to keep me cool/simulate race day.

Here's how my next few weeks will look:
Monday-either off or an easy swim

Tuesday-am run, pm swim

Wednesday-am run, pm bike, pm swim

Thursday-long swim

Friday-am run, swim

Saturday-short run, bike

Sunday-long run

New year, new goals,etc.

Well, it's been a while since I posted. Made it through the holidays without too much sickness. I'm in training again, for Shamrock Marathon. This will be a pretty limited race year, but will be fun nonetheless.

Hoping to run a pretty quick Shamrock, then we've got White Lake Sprint on the horizon in May, Tour de Cure in June, and Triangle Sprint in July. We'll see what the second half of the year looks like down the road a little.

I'll try to post weekly with updates. I've got one 20-miler done for Shamrock; now we're looking at some marathon-pace runs upcoming.