The New PR

Now that the weather is becoming a bit warmer my training has gotten more consistent. Today I knocked out my fifth run of the week, a quick five miler. I was feeling better than I was expecting early in the run considering this was my fourth run in five days, so I decided to push the pace more than usual. When I hit the 2.5 mile turnaround my average pace was pretty consistent with the 7:25-7:30ish I have been running the last few weeks at this distance, which was a bit disappointing given the fact I felt like I was working harder than usual. But then I knocked out the third mile in 7:17 and the fourth in 7:01–I must have had a headwind as I ran south the first half of the run. I slowed down to 7:28 in the last mile, but the overall pace of 7:19 was my fastest since I started up my training again by 0:04, which was a good feeling. I know I shouldn’t be obsessing about my pace, but I have to admit I was starting to worry a bit about not getting faster as quickly as I would like. I am also on Strava now, so you can follow every one of my workouts on there if you are really interested (or really bored)...

The “PR”

So after running five days the week before last the weather once again took a turn for the worse last week and I didn’t run at all. I could have gutted out one or two runs if I was really motivated, but with highs most days below 40 degrees and no certainty of whether or not the Chicago Marathon will even happen this fall I just didn’t see the point. Yesterday and today the highs were in the 50s and so I started running again. After doing five miles at 7:35 pace yesterday I ran my five mile “PR” today, clocking 7:29 pace, including the last three miles in 7:23, 7:22, and 7:23. Not fast I know, but given how up and down my training has been I’ll certainly take it. It looks like Spring is finally here to stay in Chicago, so I am planning to really try to stick to five runs a week and gradually ramp up the long run a mile a week, including six tomorrow.

Faster

After four consecutive days of running I took two days off. This morning I ran another five miles at by far the fastest pace since I started back up again—7:32. This was a full ten seconds per mile faster than my last two five milers, and I must say was a confidence builder. I know it’s ridiculous to think I could just start where I left off after having not run or worked out at all for three weeks, but for some strange reason I did. There was even a dumb part of me that wondered if the deterioration in my fitness was COVID-19 related. Thus, it feels really good to run two miles longer than I did six days ago at an eight seconds per mile faster pace.

The Comeback (Again)

Today was my third day in a row of running, with a mile added each day. The good news is I ran the five miles at a lightly faster pace (7:42) than yesterday when I ran four miles (7:44) and just a bit slower than the three miles on Sunday (7:41). So I guess that’s progress. It shouldn’t surprise me that I lost so much fitness in three weeks, but I have to admit it kind of does. It’s also amazing to me that this is now the third time since I started training that I had to take a fair amount of time off and nearly “start from Ground Zero” again. It’s also weird doing all this running outside after having gotten so used to treadmill running. The one benefit is all this time off has been GREAT for my left leg—the pain is completely gone.

Starting Over Once Again

Well as everyone that is not living under a rock has figured out, the COVID-19 coronavirus has become a full-blown global pandemic since my last post. As a result, my gyms closed and it became really difficult for me to run. Don’t get me wrong—there has been nothing preventing me from running outside, but given my lack of proper cold weather running gear and my general hatred of cold weather running I took a few weeks off. A couple of weeks ago I bought three pairs of running tights, three long sleeve running tops, a headband, and a windbreaker (which hasn’t arrived yet), so I kind of ran out of excuses.

This afternoon I took my first run since March 15th and boy have I lost fitness! I struggled through three miles at 7:40 pace. I actually feel O.K. with the pace, although I was surprised that three miles felt so hard on me from a cardiovascular perspective. It just kills me that just when I was finally starting to get back to a decent level of fitness the world decided to start coming to an end. Obviously with this pandemic I have to keep things in perspective, but this has just been a really strange last several months. It could all be for naught anyway, as I have no assurances there’s even going to be a marathon in October...

Tic Tac Toe, Three Days In A Row

So needless to say the growing coronavirus epidemic WAY overshadows my marathon training journey, but like they say in the entertainment business, the show must go on. This was an interesting week for me. Most significantly, I ran three consecutive days for the first time in months, and my legs actually felt pretty good afterwards. The last run was the six mile Central Park loop, which was a decent fitness test. I ended up averaging 7:37 pace, which I thought was pretty decent given all of the hills and the fact I made a conscious effort not to push too hard given the prior two days' workouts. Yesterday I did my fast 40-minute tempo run for the week, but decided to stick with 7:13 pace (the same as last week), as I was a bit worried about pushing myself too hard. That pace felt fairly comfortable, and more importantly my legs felt fine afterwards. The only other noteworthy thing is the Shamrock Shuffle was predictably canceled. I am not too broken up about it, as I still need to work on my fitness and the LAST thing I needed was a subpar (by my standards) performance to mess with my confidence...

Time To Start Racing Again (And Ordered My VaporFlys...)

So this morning I realized the Shamrock Shuffle is coming up in two weeks and decided to register for it (I had originally planned on running it and just never got around to signing up). I ran this race once before in 2007 as I was training for the NYC Marathon and posted a 35:12. I am almost 100% certain I am much more fit now and definitely have been running a lot more. We'll see how everything goes, but I think my initial goal is sub-34:00 (I was running sub-6:50 pace in late December before I took several weeks off). Oh, and I ordered my pair of Vaporfly Next%; hopefully they will arrive in time for the race, as I ordered them from a sneakerhead trading site name GOAT, as I couldn't find them in stock anywhere else. Now I just have to hope the coronavirus doesn't end up getting the race canceled...