Not Much...

...interesting or new to report today, except that my left leg pain is now completely gone. I did 30 minutes on the elliptical machine followed by a 10-minute treadmill walk this morning, and I am definitely back to feeling 100%. Not that I was ever TOO worried, but I am relieved nonetheless. Tomorrow will be another day off from running before I start it up again on Monday. There's a small part of me that wants to take advantage of what is expected to be a really nice day tomorrow (with highs in the upper 50s) and run outside again, but that's exactly the kind of thinking that got me in trouble earlier this week. I have to remember to focus on the long game...

Strong Week

After going too hard yesterday, today’s plan was to run an easy five miles on the treadmill at 7:30 pace, and I stuck to it. My left leg still felt pretty tight when I first started, but it loosened up pretty quickly and feels much better now. I am taking the weekend off from running as usual, so I should be back to 100% by Monday (hopefully). This soreness was also a pretty good reality check for me—it’s like, oh yeah, running a lot of miles is hard on your legs. Once I start marathon training I will definitely be spacing out the long runs, so hopefully it won’t be too much of an issue. 26 miles over four runs, all faster than my marathon goal pace—I’ll buy that for a dollar.

The only other noteworthy thing is I gave away my Garmin Forerunner 205 to a random person from Letsrun.com today. I just got sick of it always taking so long to pick up satellite signals, and I ordered a Garmin Forerunner 35 to replace it. It’s another fairly bare bones watch, but I guess with the newer technology it picks up satellite signals much faster. Supposedly it’s also pretty good at keeping track of treadmill runs as it has a built in accelerometer (and thus, I returned the footpod I bought a few weeks ago, which costed nearly as much as my new watch). I should get the new watch sometime next week—will let you know what I think about it when I do.

Getting Ahead Of Myself

Today was another unseasonably warm day in Chicago, with highs in the upper 50s. Given the fact I am already over treadmill running (with several more months of it ahead most likely), there was no doubt in my mind I was going to run outside. But since it was such a nice day and I took yesterday off, I somehow decided to run another eight miles. The run was great with the exceptions of my MP3 player dying less than halfway through and my GPS watch giving me headaches. The other issue is I had to wait at way too many stoplights—I may have to thinking about running along the lakefront going forward.

I wasn’t able to time the entire run given my aforementioned watch issues, but the portion I did was kind of stupid fast—if my calculations are correct I ran the first 4.2 miles in 6:51 pace, which based on how I felt seems about right. After the run I was feeling great—until this afternoon. The back of my left leg felt pretty tight, and I realized I outdid myself—two eight mile runs in three days, one on hard pavement. Not smart. Lesson learned. I am hoping my leg feels a lot better by tomorrow morning. I am definitely going to take it easy—I’m thinking five miles at 7:30 pace, which based on how I have been running lately is going to feel like a walk in the park.

Going Long(er)

As we have firmly established by now, I am now fast (for me)—probably the fastest I have been in quite some time. But being able to run five miles in less than 35 minutes is not going to count for a hill of beans 23+ miles into a marathon—I need endurance as well (and probably more than speed to be honest). So this morning I started the "add distance" portion of my pre-marathon training program training with an hour run at 7:24 pace. Aside from sweating like a whore in church in the sauna my office building likes to call a gym, the run felt super relaxed and easy—like if I had to run another 30-45 minutes at that pace it would not have been a big deal. I guess that's the benefit of continuing to crank up the speed like I have been—running 30 seconds per mile slower feels like a walk in the park. I think I am going to incorporate a midweek 8-10 miler into this training phase for the next several months. When I start marathon training I want the buildup to the 20 milers (and I am strongly considering maxing out at 22 depending on health) to feel really easy.

Epiphany

So during last Friday's 5-miler at 6:58 pace I had a bit of an epiphany—it just didn't feel all that hard. Don't get me wrong—I was definitely sweating and my heart rate was elevated, but I wasn't completely wiped out afterwards, nor did I ever feel any doubt I was going to get through it. So this morning following two days off from running I decided to take the logical next step: I cranked the treadmill speed up to 6:53 pace for five miles. And the crazy thing is, it didn't feel any different from last week's two 6:58 pace file mile runs, which is a very, very good sign. There are no if, ands, or buts about it—I am getting kind of fast. I really don't want to jinx myself or readjust my expectations too much with ten month to go until my marathon, but at some point it may make sense for me to reevaluate my 3:19 marathon goal—it simply may be too slow. The plan for tomorrow is to run for an hour at 7:30 pace, which should be a good test of how my legs hold up to a longer (not long, but longer) run.

Just Another Day At The Office (Or Better Yet, A Picture Says A Thousand Words

Faster And Lighter

This week I ran five days in a row for a total of 25 miles. This morning I decided to just do four miles, but cranked up the treadmill to 6:58 pace for 30 minutes. And let me tell you, it felt hard. It was my fastest treadmill run in I do not even know how long, and I also think psychologically there is something about knowing you are running at sub-7:00 pace. But I survived, which is the most important thing. I also weighed myself this morning and I am just over 176 pounds, which is pretty close to an ideal racing weight. Obviously there is a ton of time remaining before the marathon, but it feels pretty good to know I am below 180 well before the calorie-killing long runs begin.

One quick note on getting into the marathon. On the one hand it was anticlimactic, as I planned to just take a charity spot if I did not make it in through the lottery. On the other hand, it is nice to know I will not have to worry about fundraising (not that it is particularly difficult in my experience, but there is a time commitment involved). I am already really looking forward to Spring when I can run outside again and do some races to assess my fitness...

Sh-t Is On