01/17 – Sunday – Neighborhood – 8 miles – 80 minutes (core and roller, no right leg tightness, light tightness back of left knee)
01/18 – Monday – Neighborhood – 4 miles – 40 minutes (core and roller, no right leg tightness, light tightness back of left knee)
01/19 – Tuesday – Class (Ruth’s ladder) – 6.5 miles – 90 minutes (core and roller, medium to severe tightness left leg hamstring)
01/20 – Wednesday – Neighborhood – 6 miles – 60 minutes (core and roller, no tightness)
01/21 – Thursday – Neighborhood – 11 miles – 120 minutes (no core and no roller, no tightness, burning sensation at back of right ankle, took aleve, iced it, still burning afterwards, glad I’m off tomorrow)
01/22 – Friday – off (core and roller, right ankle burning has lessened)
01/23 – Saturday – Long Run (Town Lake from Rogue to MoPac and back, no Longhorn Dam, had two salt tabs before & breakfast, no tightness or burning – yeah!, tried hard to slow down, ran faster than MGP, ugh, pace 8:53 overall with stops) – 9 miles – 1:20
Weekly mileage: 44.5 miles
Shoe mileage: 98.4 miles
4x2000m Class Workout
Ran 2000m or 5 laps of the track at 15K pace [8:30/M or 2:07 per lap] with a 1 lap recovery times 4 for the advanced runners – that’s me. Here’s what happened. The first set: 2:02, 2:07, 2:06, 2:09, 2:10 for 10:34. The second set: 2:10, 2:05, 2:07, 2:05, short?. The third set: 2:05, 2:08, 2:07, 2:07, short?. The fourth set: 2:06, 2:05, 2:08, 2:05, 2:06 for 10:30. I am amazed that I wasn’t able to count right for the middle two sets. I was brain dead for no good reason, and I was keeping track on my fingers, but not very well indeed. Regardless of this flub I felt good for the laps that I did run and the pace that I was able to maintain.
Running log week of 2010-01-10
01/10 – Sunday – Neighborhood – 8 miles – 80 minutes (core and roller, no tightness)
01/11 – Monday – Neighborhood – 4 miles – 40 minutes (core and roller, no tightness)
01/12 – Tuesday – Class (1 mile warm-up, 4 x 2000m @ 15K w/ 400m recovery, 1 mile cool-down) – 8.4 miles – 85 minutes (core and roller, light to medium tightness)
01/13 – Wednesday – Neighborhood – 6 miles – 60 minutes (core and roller, no tightness)
01/14 – Thursday – Neighborhood – 11 miles – 110 minutes (core and roller, no tightness, but light muscle pull on back of left knee up to hamstring – argh! I’m glad I have tomorrow off.)
01/15 – Friday – off (core and roller)
01/16 – Saturday – South Austin Ramble – 16.5 miles – 154 minutes (no core or roller, immediately felt muscle on back of left thigh, but no tightness – maybe because I was worrying about this newly developed ache, however, I ran with it trying to keep it loose, overall pace 9:20/mile – dunno if I did MGP for the last three miles but I tried throughout to be consistent.)
Weekly mileage: 53.9 miles
Shoe mileage: 53.9 miles
New Shoes
A week or so ago there was a shoe sale at Rogue and I bought a new pair of running shoes. I started using them this week on Monday 01/11 for my 4-mile run. I had started using the previous pair the week of 11/15. Since then I’ve kept a shoe mileage record on my weekly log and I accumulated 410.0 miles on that pair.
Running log week of 2010-01-03
01/03 – Sunday – Neighborhood – 8 miles – 90 minutes (core and roller, unknown tightness)
01/04 – Monday – Neighborhood – 4 miles – 40 minutes (core and roller, no tightness)
01/05 – Tuesday – Class – 8 miles – 80 minutes (no core or roller, light tightness)
01/06 – Wednesday – Neighborhood – 6 miles – 60 minutes (no core or roller, no tightness)
01/07 – Thursday – Neighborhood – 11 miles – 110 minutes (core and roller, light tightness, breathing deeply at start, very cold and windy, fighting wind on outbound – ugh!, running w/ wind on inbound – nice!)
01/08 – Friday – off
01/09 – Saturday – Long Run (2×8@MGP) – 18.76 miles – 2:53 (no core or roller, light tightness, breathing deeply at start, screwed up and cut off about 1.24 miles on return leg – ugh, [mgp outbound miles: 1 missed, 2 17:54, 3 9:00, 4 8:31, 5 8:34, 6 8:49, 7 9:03, 8 8:37; mgp inbound miles: 1 8:34, 2 8:44, 3 skipped ugh!, 4 short! 5:21, 5 9:10, 6 8:43, 7 8:51, 8 8:25] overall total pace 9:13 min/mile)
Weekly mileage: 57 miles
Shoe mileage: 410.0 miles
Last 19ish Miles of Marathon
It was colder this morning than expected at 28 degrees F so I put on long-johns and tights at home. The group took off at about 6:30 AM. During the first 2-3 miles my ankle was tight again. Ugh! People would pass me especially some of my running classmates. I just couldn’t run any faster. I was struggling. This tightness really messes with my mind. I was thinking about quiting the class and skipping the marathon, but I kept going. At the first water stop I was just beginning to feel a bit better. My ankle was loosening up. I didn’t stop, because I wanted to pass my running mates. However, shortly they came blasting by me and still I couldn’t keep up with them and they went ahead. However, I kept them in sight this time. Finally around Northcross Mall one stopped for a bio-break, and I passed the other two. I kept going now with my ankle not bothering me. Taking the turn to head south I stopped for water at Arroyo Seco, and the two of them caught up to me, but I started out early and it was the last time I saw them. I won’t say it was an easy run, but I just kept digging deeper and getting it done. I ran and ran and ran. Down Duval, through Campus, up MLK, around the Capital, and down Congress. I thought about walking after where the marathon finish line would be, but I kept going. I kept running. I completed 19.6736 miles (based on Gmaps Pedometer) in 3:10.13 or 9:08/mile. What especially surprised me was my final pace is the speed I need to run the entire marathon in 6 weeks. Now if I can only figure out this tightness.
3x2000m Class Workout
It was lightly raining, cold, and silent. No one else was at the high school – none of my classmates. I arrived a bit late about 6:30 PM. Beforehand I had plotted out a 2 mile warmup loop and headed out on it. I ran slowly to get my ankle loosened up. It was moderately tight as I finished the loop, in other words, I knew it was there when arrived back at the school’s track. On the track I was to do 3 x 2000m or three times 5 loops of the track at 15K pace which for me is 8:30/mile or 2:07/loop. After each I was to run a 1 loop recovery making it a total of 6 loops of the track. I ran with a small flashlight so I could see my watch, and listened to podcasts on my iPod to make the time pass more quickly. The first set: 2:07, 2:08, 2:07, 2:08, 2:08 for 10:38 which is right on the mark. The second set: 2:09, 2:02, 2:01, 2:04, 2:04 for 10:20 which is a bit fast, but when I saw the initial 2:09 I sped up worried that I was slowing down. Then I had trouble reading the watch with rain on the bezel. The third set: 2:06, 2:03, 2:04, 2:03, 2:03 for 10:19 which was again a bit faster, because my ankle felt normal and I was wanted to get the class work done and over with. After the track I again ran the same 2 mile cool down. Overall I was happy to have gotten the work done on a wet, cold, dark and ugly night.
Running log week of 2009-12-27
- 12/27 – Sunday – Neighborhood – 8 miles – 80 minutes
- Morning: Core & Roller lower legs
- Run: right ankle slightly tight
- Breakfast: 1c Raisin Bran, 1c Fat Free Milk
- Lunch: Whole Food Chicken Teriyaki bowl (3/4c Chicken, 1c Rice), 2c Fresh Fruit
- Snack: 1 box Jr Mints, 2 Ales
- Dinner: 6oz Pork, 1c Mashed Potatoes, 3oz Cake w/ Frosting
- 12/28 – Monday – Neighborhood – 4 miles – 40 minutes
- Morning: Core & Roller lower legs
- Run: right ankle tight, grrrr
- Breakfast: 1c Post Great Grains, 1c Fat Free Milk, 6 pecans
- Lunch: 1 Orange, 3 Clementines, 1 Pear, 1 Apple, 1/2 oz Cheddar Cheese
- Dinner: 6oz Homemade Lasagna, 1/2 glass wine, 2 slices Bread, 3oz Cake w/ Frosting
- 12/29 – Tuesday – Class – 8.5 miles – 85 minutes
- Breakfast: 1c Raisin Bran, 1c Whole Milk, 6 pecans
- Lunch: Turkey Sandwich, 3oz Chips, Hot Chocolate w/ Cream, 8 small Christmas Cookies
- Afternoon: Core & Roller lower legs
- Run: right ankle slightly tight, completed all required class work 3x2000m
- Dinner: 4oz Homemade Lasagna, 2c Homemade Lemonade, 1 clove of Califlower, Handful of Sugar Snap Peas, 12 small Christmas Cookies
- 12/30 – Wednesday – 6 miles – 60 minutes
- Morning: Core & Roller lower legs
- Run: right ankle ok, not tight
- Breakfast: 1c Raisin Bran, 1c Whole Milk, 6 pecans
- Lunch: 2 Clementines, 2 Oranges
- Dinner: 2 Shiner Bock beers, 1/2 rack baby back ribs – yummy, 1c beans, 1c potato salad, 1/2 piece of pecan pie
- 12/31 – Thursday – 11 miles – 110 minutes
- Morning: Core & Roller lower legs
- Run: right ankle ok, not tight, 1 Clif Shot Mocha w/ Caffeine
- Breakfast: 1c Raisin Bran, 1 1/2c Whole Milk, 12 pecans
- Lunch: Steak Fajita Burrito, Corn Chips
- Dinner: Steak and Cheese Fondue w/ Bread and Vegtables
- 01/01 – Friday – off
- Breakfast: 12 Christmas Cookies, 1 Pancake w/ Syrup
- Lunch at Bastrop Roadhouse: 1 Grilled Chicken Salad, 1 Snickers Milkshake, 2 Cokes
- Dinner: 2 pieces of Cheesecake, 1c Milk
- 01/02 – Saturday – Last 19ish Miles of Marathon – 19.7 miles – 3:10
- Breakfast: 1c Raisin Bran, 1c FF Milk, 6 pecans
- Run: right ankle tight, 1 Clif Shot Chocolate, 1 Clif Shot Mocha w/ Caffeine
- Lunch: 1qt Choco Milk for Recovery, 2c Orange Juice, 2 12oz Cokes
- Dinner: 1/2 Steak Burrito, 2 Port BBQ Ribs, 2c Port Fried Rice, 6oz Cake w/ Frosting, 2c FF Milk
Weekly mileage: 57.2 miles
Shoe mileage: 353.0 miles
First 20 Miles of Marathon
I ran the first 20 of the marathon course. A few weeks back I accidentally ran the last 20 miles instead of the first, so this time I decided to do what I was supposed to do. Overall it wasn’t fun. I ran, I slogged, I walked, I fussed, but I got it done. Right away my ankle got tight up the South Congress hill. So that wasn’t the best way for me to start. I carried water and my hands ached from the cold. I did make it to Ben White and headed back down South First. I took the Carbo-pro along the way, but I didn’t feel it. Then along the trail and down Lake Austin went by pretty quickly listening to my iPod, but I was just running slowly. I did the Entfield and Exposition hills with a few walk breaks. Although I had debated earlier that I might cut the route short, I decided to head up Bull Creek to Hancock and do the full 20 mile route. On Bull Creek I had a Choco Clif Shot. I switched the route when I came down Shoal Creek to head over 38th to Duval to follow the official finish route. Then it was back to Rogue. It took me 3:37 which is over 10 minutes a mile – not very satisfying. When I got done my lower stomach was aching. And I stretched it out leaning backwards on my car. On the way home my legs were throbbing, so I stopped for a chocolate milk which helped. After I got home I reviewed by route and found I actually did 21.3 miles at 10:18/mile. So although afterwards I’m walking around, that is, I’m not crippled, I’m deeply worried in my ability to complete the marathon in 4 hours. I think my body, my mind, the weather, the sun, the moon, the stars will all have to align perfectly for me to do it. Here’s hoping!
Running log week of 2009-12-20
- 12/20 – Sunday – Neighborhood – 8 miles – 80 minutes
- 12/21 – Monday – Neighborhood – 4 miles – 40 minutes
- 12/22 – Tuesday – Tempo Run – 7 miles – 70 minutes
- Morning: Core & Roller lower legs
- Run at class: right ankle tight, left ankle less tight
- Breakfast: 1c Special K Cinn Pecan, 1c Fat Free Milk, 2c Orange Juice
- Snack: 2 20oz water
- Lunch: 4oz Steak, 1oz Veggie Chips, 1 Apple, 1 Banana, 1 Orange, 1c Grapes, 1 clove Califlower, 1 handful Sugar Snap Peas, 2 4″ stick Celery, 4 Grape Tomatoes, 1/2oz Cheddar Cheese
- Dinner: 6 oz Chicken Teriyaki, 2c Rice, 2oz Cake w/ Frosting
- 12/23 – Wednesday – Neighborhood – 6 miles – 60 minutes
- Morning: Core & Roller lower legs
- Run: Felt good, no tightness!
- Breakfast: 1c Special K Cinn Pecan, 1c Fat Free Milk, 3c Orange Juice
- Snack: 2 20oz Coke Zero
- Lunch: 3oz Steak, 1oz Veggie Chips, 1 Apple, 1 Banana, 1 Orange, 1c Grapes, 1 clove Califlower, 1 handful Sugar Snap Peas, 2 4″ stick Celery, 2 Grape Tomatoes, 1/2oz Cheddar Cheese
- Dinner: 3 oz Chicken Teriyaki, 1c Rice, 4oz Cake w/ Frosting
- 12/24 – Thursday – Neightborhood – 11 miles – 110 minutes
- Morning: Core & Roller lower legs
- Run: Felt good, sailing along, no tightness! midway: 2 scoops Carbo-Pro w/ water
- Breakfast: 1c Raisin Barn w/ 6 Pecan halves, 1c Fat Free Milk, 2c Orange Juice
- Snack: 2 20oz Coke Zero
- Lunch: 1oz Steak, 1 Apple, 4 Clementines, 1/2c Grapes, 1 clove Califlower, 1 handful Sugar Snap Peas, 1/2oz Cheddar Cheese
- Dinner: 6oz Chicken, 2c Stuffing, 1/2 Twice Baked Potato, 4oz Cake w/ Frosting, 2 Shiner Beers, 6 Christmas Cookies, 6 Pecan halves
- 12/25 – Friday – off
- Morning: No Core or Roller
- Run: off
- Breakfast: 1c Special K Cinn Pecan, 1c Fat Free Milk, 4 oz Sausage-egg casserole
- Lunch: Too much munching to even record
- Dinner: 3 Homemade Crap cakes, 2c Cold Slaw, 1 Shiner Beer, 2 2oz Scottish Shortbread, 1 Pecan Crescent
- 12/26 – Saturday – First 20 Miles of Marathon – 21.3 miles – 3:37
- Morning: Core & Roller lower legs
- Breakfast: 1c Special K Cinn Pecan, 1c Fat Free Milk
- Run: Tight, slow, sluggish, walked as needed. 2 scoops Carbo-Pro, 1 Clif Shot Choco, Choco Milk on way home
- Lunch: 3 Clementines, Mighty Fine Chopped Chili Dog, French Fries, and 16 oz Lemonade
- Dinner: 4oz Chicken, 40 Saltine Crackers, 2c FF Milk, 3oz Cake w/ Frosting
Weekly mileage: 57.3 miles
Shoe mileage: 295.8 miles
