Recovery and Tempo

After Tuesday's Intervals, I ran a nice easy recovery run on Wednesday - 6.25 miles at a 7:59 pace. It felt good to slow down and not push myself. To be truthful, I don't think I could have pushed myself even if I had wanted to, the intervals of the previous day ensured that.

I took yesterday off and went for a nice tempo run this morning. Seven miles in total including the warm up and cool down.

1 Mile @ 8:01 warm up
5 Miles @ 6:56
1 Mile @ 7:50 cool down

I must say that I am feeling like I am getting better. Running the Johnny Miles 1/2 in June while sick took more out of me than I thought it would. Note to self, it is ok to skip a race if you are not feeling well. This is a hard lesson for me as I feel I have lost a few weeks of training just getting over the cold I have had. As well, for those of you who follow this blog, my IT Band problem, which was flaring up a little, seems to be under control. I have been diligently stretching and while I can still feel it a little, the sensation is very faint.

Up until a month ago, I had been pretty diligent about doing abdominal exercises, however, since getting sick that all kind of got put aside. I have gotten back on the supplementary exercise bandwagon this week though. I am doing a little circuit with an exercise ball - squats, push-ups, dips, lunges, crunches, planks and a couple of more. I am hoping that if I can stay diligent about it this will help me out overall.

The Never Ending Cold + Intervals

I haven't been posting much lately which is the result of a lack of training. The cold that I have been fighting continues to bother me. That said, I felt a bit better today so I went out for an interval session. Here is what I did this morning:

15 min warm up jog
1200 m
200 m Resting Interval
1000 m
200 m Resting Interval
800 m
200 m Resting Interval
600 m
200 m Resting Interval
400 m
10 min cool down jog

I initially felt sluggish - I guess that my lack of running is responsible - however, by the end of it I was feeling pretty good. It was nice to finally blow out some carbon.

Yoga for Runners

Something that I have found beneficial since struggling with an IT band injury is Yoga. I have been participating in a class for some time now. With summer upon us, however, my class is taking a hiatus. With that in mind, I found the video below to be quite good for runners. Check it out.

Day 3 of Marthon Training - All Is Not Right

After an day off yesterday, I ran a tempo run this morning:

2 miles @ 7:50 / mile
2 miles @ 6:29 / mile
2 miles @ 7:50 / mile

I started out in a typical foggy Halifax morning, however, about a mile in it started to pour from the heavens. My running shoes felt like they weighed about 5 pounds each by the end of it. My split times were right about where I wanted to be and I felt comfortable at the pace. I did, however, feel some tightness in my hip and knee which I will get to next.

After running on Wednesday morning, I went for a walk at lunch time as it was a beautiful day. A few minutes into my walk I felt something pop, for lack of a better word, and a sharp pain in my knee. This all went away quickly although I did feel some discomfort in my knee when lifting a box at home later that evening. Anyway, I decided to run this morning to test it out. While I can't say that I felt any real pain during the run, I am feeling some tightness now. I will have to make sure I stretch out well again tonight and re-evaluate from there.

Days 1 & 2 of Marathon Training

Yesterday was Day 1 of my Fall Marathon Training preparation. I ran a 10 minute warm up run and then ran the following intervals:

1600 @ 5:48
1 min Resting Interval
1600 @ 5:55
1 min Resting Interval
1600 @ 6:01
10 min walk cool down

I must say that it was a tough run. I am still suffering from congestion due to a nasty cold I caught just prior to the Johnny Miles 1/2. Right now I have little energy, however, it is good to get the workout completed. For the record, I wanted to run each 1600 at 6:01 or less so I did meet the goal, though it was more difficult than I had envisioned.

Today I ran a 7.5 mile recovery run. Essentially, I am going to complete one run each week in which I simply go out and run without any concern as to what pace I am running. I must say I felt much better today than yesterday.

Johnny Miles 1/2 Marathon

Well, what has become to be a bit of an inopportune habit struck again this weekend just prior to the Johnny Miles 1/2 Marathon.... I got sick just a couple of days before. Anyway, this time it was a chest cold which in some respects may have been good in some ways. While it was difficult for me to breathe properly, running while sick forced me to start out slow.

As a matter of fact, I had kind of decided this morning to just go for a training run. I was looking at using it as my long run and would focus on my running form. Once started, however, I found myself trotting along at about a 6:40 pace after about 4 miles and decided that I might be able to hang in there.

Seeing people you know on the course is also a big help. I saw my wife and kids at the 6 mile mark and found that I was buoyed by seeing them just as I was starting to struggle a little. From this point forward, I simply tried to run consistent 6:50 - 6:59 miles. Doing so allowed me to finish in a new PR - 1:29:28. The funny thing is that I was so intent on hitting my mileage splits and running with form, that it was only late in the game that I realized I had a shot at a PR. I may pay for it tomorrow, however, as my chest is really congested now. With that said it was worth it.

The true highlight of the weekend though was watching my kids participate in the kids runs the day before the adult events. Both ran extremely well and did their Mom and Pop proud. They were extremely excited to get their finishers medals.

Kudos go out to my wife, yet again, for looking after the kids while I engage in an activity.

5 Days and Change

It has been a while since I last posted. The following is a little bit of what has been going on lately and the schedule for this week.

Last week started out a little rough. To start the week I did some 5 x 1K intervals at a track and was WAY slow. I was off my pace by about 10 seconds for each kilometer interval I did. I also began to feel some pain in my right knee again. Ran a slow recovery run on Wednesday and that went ok, however, I did have some discomfort in my knee. I went to see the chiropractor on Wednesday and he declared that all is well - that the knee issue was unrelated to my earlier problem and is just a normal ache.... I guess I am a little sensitive right now.

Friday I went for a Tempo run - 2 miles at easy pace of 8:07 / mile, 3 miles at 6:34 / mile followed by 1 mile at an easy pace of 7:49 / mile. Great run and I hit the splits perfectly. Another easy recovery run of 5 miles @ 8:50 / mile pace on Satureday and finally a longer run of 8 miles at 7:10 / mile on Sunday. I finished a little above 7:10 in this one coming in at about 7:14, but I will take it.

The plan heading into the Johnny Miles 1/2 this week is to do some 400 m intervals tomorrow morning, run a 4 mile recovery run on Wednesday and an easy 3 miler on Friday.

On Sunday, when running the race, I am planning at running 6:50 / mile for the first 3/4 of the race. If I have anything left in the tank after mile 8, I will try to pick it up slightly to see how I can do. The real goal is to see if I can run sub 1:30:00 in this one after having run 1:31:06 in the Blue Nose 1/2 last month.