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

Listening To My Body

Yesterday morning as I prepared to knock out my final training run of the week I was feeling a bit worn down. Thus, I decided to dial the pace back on my five-miler to 7:19 from the 7:03 I have been hitting the past two weeks. I have always heard about listening to your body, and that definitely felt like the right thing to do--particularly given the fact I am still nearly a year away from my big race. So my run totals for last week were four runs, 21 miles. The only other somewhat exciting thing is I synced my Garmin Forerunner 210 with my PC and updated the software, which is supposed to help with connecting to satellites (which has been a big issue lately). In conjunction, I joined Garmin Connect and will start logging workouts to the app/website. We'll see how that goes--I am not a big fan of manually logging workouts, which I will largely be relegated to given the fact I won't be running outside much for quite some time.

O.K., one addendum--I decided to buy a Garmin foot pod, which will theoretically allow me to track my treadmill runs (as well as outdoor ones when my watch fails to pick up a signal). Supposedly it's pretty accurate, but we'll see...

Strong End Of One Week, Start Of Another

On Friday morning I was in California for work and ran ~5.4 miles outside. It was colder than I was expecting (largely due to the fact I started before sunrise), and the route consisted of an out-and-back on the long avenue my hotel was on. The interesting part of the run was the entire way out was pretty much straight uphill--the elevation increased 282 feet over the ~2.7 miles.

 

Given the fact I live in the Midwest and am currently doing most of my runs on the treadmill, needless to say it was a challenge. Not terrible, just challenging. Once I turned around and headed back I was FLYING the entire way--it literally felt effortless. So my running totals for last week consisted of four runs totaling just under 21.5 miles.

This afternoon I was originally planning to run five miles at 7:03 pace, but my legs and breathing felt so good I decided to stretch the workout to six miles. By the final mile I was definitely feeling it aerobically, but I think that was to be expected given the fact this was the longest, fastest treadmill run I have done in a long time (maybe forever)...

A Leisurely Stroll

This morning I hit the treadmill for six miles at 7:30 pace. After back-to-back runs at 7:03 pace it honestly felt like I was barely jogging. In addition, my running  top and shorts were not nearly as soaked in sweat afterwards as usual. It makes intuitive sense of course--if most of my other runs are nearly 30 seconds a mile faster, 7:30 SHOULD feel like a walk in the park. I am really looking forward to running outside on Friday in the Los Angeles area; while I certainly do not mind the treadmill runs (and much more so than most runners), having the fresh air and outside scenery every once in a while is nice as well.

Kicking It Up (Another) Notch

After my typical weekend off from running I ran five miles in each of the past two days at 7:03 pace. To say that pace feels comfortable would not be accurate, although once I get into a rhythm (typically a few minutes into the run) it definitely feels manageable. This is also not much slower than I have ever done my treadmill runs, and those ones were definitely shorter (i.e. four miles). I think I am going to keep my five mile runs at this pace for at least a couple of weeks, although I am interested to see how I handle four miles at a sub-7:00 pace. I am heading to California for work tomorrow, so I am hoping to get it an outdoor run on the trip (probably in the Los Angeles area on Friday). With the temperatures in the teens here and given how much of a wimp I am I do not foresee running outside in the Chicago area anytime soon.

Fast And Slow

I knocked out another good week of pre-marathon training training this week. It was fairly uneventful for the most part, with three exceptions:

1. On Thursday I did not have as much time to train as usual before work, so I ran four miles instead of my usual 5-6. As a result I cranked the speed up to 7:03, which definitely felt faster, but not terrible. I am getting pretty darn close to the fastest treadmill training pace I usually get down to, which is very encouraging.
2. Yesterday I ran six miles and dialed the pace all the way back to 7:30, which honestly felt like I was walking. As a reminder, to break 3:20 in the marathon I will need to average 7:38 pace, so being able to comfortably run six miles at 7:30 pace in early November is a positive sign.
3. This morning I rode the exercise bike for an hour at a tougher than usual resistance level and rode just under 17.5 miles. Not sure that is terribly significant, but it felt like a solid way to end my training week.

So once again I knocked out four runs this week for a total of 20 miles. Definitely feels a bit monotonous, but given the fact I am still nearly a year out all that matters now is continuing to build a decent base and get faster. Next step, find some Spring races to do to test my fitness...

Another Pre-Training Week In The Books

This morning I knocked out another five mile run before work at 7:13 pace. Once again it felt much easier than Monday's initial run at this pace, which is a very good sign. Aside from that it was fairly uneventful--kind of boring, actually. I guess that is to be expected on the treadmill, but I continue to believe in treadmill running--if nothing else I think it helps from a mental discipline perspective. For the week I ran 21 miles, which I think is perfect given the fact my marathon is nearly a year away--I just need to focus on having a decent base and feeling super comfortable running fast by the time my 16-week marathon training course kicks in next year.

The only other remotely noteworthy thing to mention is I read online that deleting your running history from your Garmin Forerunner 210 helps when you are having problems picking up satellite signals, which has been a major issue for me lately. So I went ahead and deleted every run I had stored on there, including my 2013 Marathon Corp Marathon (which was a hilly disaster). It kind of felt like a stroll through memory lane going through those runs. Most were in the 4-5 mile range and a lot of them were fast, including last year when I ran sub-7:00 pace for four miles. Hopefully I can start actually picking up satellite signals again. Not super important right now given the fact I will be doing the vast majority of my runs on the treadmill for the next several months, but I really would rather not have to buy a new watch once it is time to start doing serious outdoor training next year.

P.S. Yesterday's "leave you running clothes in the locker to dry while you are at work" experiment failed miserably--when I went to pick them up right before 5:00 P.M. they were still pretty wet nearly ten hours later. Oh well.