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Nine Times Six = 54:01

Wednesday, November 4th, 2009

Workout: 6 Miles

Time: 54:01 (8:48, 8:52, 8:59, 9:07, 9:05, 9:09)

So this workout was kind of a rush workout, since I had a meeting with a photographer at 7, and I got home from work at 5:30.  I originally was just going to do 5, but then I thought, why slack?  So I did 6.

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The weather has been kind to me recently.  It was 58 degrees when I started the run and around 55 degrees when I finished.  Clear and comfortable.  A little windy, but nothing is perfect.

So I set my Garmin to warn me if I ran faster than an 8:45 pace, and off I went.  By the way, my Garmin’s volume has been very low lately…anyone else have that problem?  I tried blowing out the “speaker” holes with compressed air, but it didn’t help.  But I digress.  In any case, I headed out into a dark night with my blinking Team in Training reflector clipped onto the back of my neck (shirt).   I still need to get a headlamp and a cool kid’s reflective vest.

I tried a somewhat new route this time…same roads I’ve run on before, just a different configuration.   It’s a really good mix of hills…and more hills.  Ha.  I’ve decided that my week day runs will be mostly hilly, and my weekend runs will be flat.  Good plan I think…keeps a good mix and I don’t kill myself on long runs with hills.

The run was pretty uneventful.  I’ve noticed that my calves are a little tight, so I’m paying attention to them, stretching them some more, icing them, etc.  Gotta keep my body in tip top shape.  With the amount of miles I’ll be running, I think it’s VERY important to listen to my body and heed any and all warnings it gives me.

Well, that’s it for this run.  Tune in next time for more updates, and until then…Run on Friends!

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Ultra Marathon Training: Weekend 1

Monday, November 2nd, 2009

Total Miles: 22.15

Total Time: 3:34:00

Total Calories Burned: 2800

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Saturday

Workout: 14.15 Miles

Time: 2:15:22 (9:34, 9:02, 9:05, 9:09, 9:13, 9:28, 9:34, 9:51, 9:46, 9:35, 10:04, 9:47, 9:44, 9:58, 1:19)

So Saturday was Day 1 of my first 2 long run weekend.  I decided to start it off by going to run with the Team in Training at their run in Cranford.  The run was to start at 8, so I got up and got there around 7:50.  And stood around, and stood around, and stood around.  We finally got started around 8:20 after everyone stopped chit chatting.  Not to sound grumpy, but it was kinda wet out with the possibility of rain, and I didn’t want to get caught in it.  Anyhow, started off the first quarter mile very slow, around an 11:30 pace…but I decided to pick it up to a slight faster pace.  I had set my Garmin to alert me if I ran faster than a 9 minute pace, so I was good to go.  I was able to do a very good job keeping a steady pace.  I implemented my race day plan of running the first 5 miles, then running 5 minutes and walking 1 minute.  It averages out to about 2 walk breaks per mile.  As you can see my pace per mile got slower after I started the walking breaks…but, since my goal pace for the ultra is 12 minutes per mile, I’m feeling pretty comfortable with where I am.  It was a really good run, and I felt pretty solid throughout.  Granted, I was glad to be done after 14…I haven’t run 14 miles since I trained for Disney in 2007.  But it was a good run.  After that I came home and took a VERY cold ice bath for 15 minutes, then after eating took a nice solid nap.  Not bad for the first long run of the training season.

Sunday

Workout: 8 Miles

Time: 1:18:57 (9:45, 9:38, 9:43, 9:41, 9:36, 10:18, 10:17, 9:54)

So, I have never, NEVER, done a run the day after a long run.  So I was very curious to see how my body would handle 8 miles after doing 14 the day before.  Today I set my Garmin to warn me if I went faster than 9:30 per mile to try to slow myself down (just in case I needed it, although I doubted I would).  I headed to North Brunswick park, a 2.2 mile loop course on a dirt path.  I again decided to try to do the 5 miles running, and then do the 5 minute running  followed by 1 minute walking…although, I was definitely going to listen to my body should it need to do something easier.  Surprisingly, the run wasn’t as bad as I thought it might be.  Granted, it wasn’t the best run I’ve ever had, but it wasn’t the worst run ever.  And the main focus of the run was to 1) cover the distance, and 2) do so at a pace that I wouldn’t end up injuring myself from over doing it.  Mission accomplished.  I didn’t even really suffer from mental fatigue, even though it was 4 loops of the same course.  Luckily there were some soccer games going on which distracted me some, and I was lost in my own thoughts most of the time as well.  The only negative from the run I can think of is that I forgot my power gel (and wallet and cell phone) at home, so I had to go without…but I was ok.

So it’s Monday night now, and my legs feel ok.  I’m going to take a hot bath to try to flush them out of any remaining lactic acid, and hopefully they’ll be good for tomorrow night’s run.  It’s definitely going to be an interesting 9 months, but as of right now I think I’ll survive.

Thanks for reading, and don’t forget to Run on Friends!

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4 Miles Well Spent

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009

Workout: 4 Miles

Time: 30:58

Splits: 8:04, 7:35, 7:28, 7:50

After a relaxing night off at my parents house last night, I decided that I’d put in a quality 4 miles tonight.  It had been a while since I ran at North Brunswick park, but I wanted a flat, non-paved course so I took a drive over there.  I started out at a good pace, but quickly stopped when my Garmin beeped at me.  I still had the pace alert on…and I didn’t want to be warned today.  I just wanted to run at what felt like a comfortably moderate/hard pace, without letting my Garmin dictate my pace.  So I turned it off and got back to running.  First mile went well, so I decided to pick it up for the second mile.  Pushed the pace a little, but not to the point of it being uncomfortable.  Mile 3 I thought I might back off some, but I was feeling good so I let my legs go with it…and ended up with another negative split.  Not too bad.  The final mile I forced myself to slow down some, but picked it up the last 0.2 to around a 6:30 pace…what I would call comfortably hard.  Definitely not sprinting…controlled hard running.  No wheezing for breath, no pain, but glad to be done once my watched beeped for mile 4.

All in all it was a very good, very productive run.  It showed me that my speed is where I want it to be, and that I can maintain it for more than a few miles.  My goal for ING Hartford is 1:44:00, or around a 7:56 pace.  Today I averaged around 7:45, which would bring me to 1:41:36.  I definitely feel as though my last mile would have been a little better had I taken some fluids during the run.  So if I can comfortably, on a training run, handle a 7:45 pace, I don’t see why I can’t hope for a sub 1:40, or around a 7:37 pace.  Guess it all depends on race day conditions and proper pacing…which, thanks to my Garmin, should work out well.  A fellow Team in Training runner ran 1:37:37 (7:27 pace) at Virginia Beach…dare I be that hopeful?  Perhaps that will be my ultimate goal…

runnerwithwakeGoal 1: Finish

Goal 2: Finish Under 2 hours

Goal 3: PR (under 1:50)

Goal 4: Beat my friend Colleen’s time (under 1:44)

Goal 5: Finish under 1:40

Goal 6: Finish under 1:37:37

We’ll see how it goes.  Well, until the next one…run on friends!

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Fall is for Long Runs & Football

Sunday, September 20th, 2009

Workout: 9 miles

Time: 1:18

nfl

What a wonderful way to spend a beautiful fall Sunday…a long run, followed by a full day of NFL football!

The original plan was to wake up at 8:00, be running by 9:00, home by 10:30, breakfast, shower, church, then football!!!  Here’s how it went instead…8:00 alarm goes off.  Snooze.  8:09 alarm goes off.  Turn alarm off.  Fall back asleep.  Wake up at 8:45.  Head out the door at 9:45.  Running by 10:15.  Done by 11:30.  Stop to get breakfast at the local bagel place.  Home by 12.  Eat.  Too late for church.  Shower.  Sit on couch.  Watch football.

fallrunningI love the fall weather for running.  It’s the perfect mix…bright sunshine, clear skies, but relatively cool and dry air.  You couldn’t ask for anything better.  What’s your favorite season?  Share your opinion in the poll on the right hand side of the screen!

So I ran down at the Towpath today.  My first mile started out slow.  I needed to stop once to pour out some Gatorade because the bottle was too heavy.  Lesson learned…if carrying Gatorade, get a smaller bottle.  In any case, the rest of the run went really well.  I had my Garmin set to yell at me if I went over 8:20…and it yelled at me frequently.  I wanted to keep the pace around 8:30…I did a pretty good job.  I took a short walk break at the beginning of mile 9 because the inside of my knee started to hurt a little, but other than that (and my arm/wrist being tired from carrying the Gatorade) the run went really well.  I definitely could have gone faster had I wanted to, but I felt good with my decision to keep to that pace.  My goal for ING is a 7:59 pace, so I think I should be good.

In any case, looking forward to some good weather this week to let me have a quality week.  Then I’ll do a 12 miler next weekend, before beginning to taper for the race.  Hopefully I can make a Team in Training run so I don’t have to carry my water, but we’ll see how it goes.  I need to hit the local running store to get running socks, so perhaps I’ll just get a fuel belt while I’m there.

In any case, enjoy your week everyone!  And no matter what, run on friends!

P.S.  My best friend’s wedding was on Friday.  It went great, and the reception was tons of fun.   Here’s a picture from the wedding below:

100_1958b

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Dried Fruit and Nuts

Tuesday, September 15th, 2009

Workout: 4 Miles

Time: 33:45

If I had to sum up today’s run in one word, I would say it was all about control.

First, it was about controlling my pace.  Since I averaged 7:59 yesterday, I wanted to keep today’s run around 8:30…still a good pace, but slower enough to help recoup from yesterday.  I did a pretty good job…finished at an 8:27 pace, with splits at 8:30, 8:27, 8:22, and 8:31.  I set my Garmin fast pace alert for 8:20, and it beeped at me several times each mile, but overall I did pretty well with the pace.

Second, it was about controlling my back pain.  For some reason over the past 2-3 runs my lower back has been bothering me…kind of a dull crampy pain, rather than a sharp injury feeling pain.  So, I think as long as I stretch it out, ice it and heat it, I should be ok for the race.  But I’ll definitely keep an eye on it.

trailmix

Lastly, it was about controlling my digestive system.  IF, for some reason, you or anyone else ever suggests dried fruit and nuts, aka trail mix, any time NEAR running, the response should be NO.  For some reason I thought it’d be a good idea…or at least ok…ok, well, I wasn’t thinking at all actually.  I was just like, hmmm…dried fruit would be good right now.  Yeah, bad idea.  Let’s just say my stomach was NOT happy with me, at all.  For pretty much 3.5 miles of the run.  Lesson learned…no dried fruit and nuts.

So anyway, that’s about it for today.  Gonna try to get an easy run in tomorrow, then I have my friend’s wedding this weekend.  Then hopefully a long run on Sunday.

So, until next time…Run on Friends!

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