Logging Miles and Adding a Touch of Speed

Last week was another 80 mile week for me. That's my third week of 80 miles this month. After finishing my week on Saturday, I took Sunday off. I ran 12 miles on Monday and 7.5 on Tuesday, and I now only need two miles to reach my first 300 mile month. I'm running a three mile fun run tomorrow at work and a 7.5 mile easy run after work, so I should move well past the 300 mark.

My plan was to reduce my mileage to somewhere in the 60 mile range, with a few faster runs included to get me ready to start training for an October marathon. However, last week I received an e-mail from my assignment officer saying that I should expect to be in a new job by the end of the year. He then listed six possible jobs for me to put in rank order. Of the six jobs, five were on the East Coast (ranging from Maine to Miami) and the other was in Alaska. With this new information, I'm not going to register for a marathon in California knowing that I could be living 3,000 miles away from here on race day. My new plan is to just log a lot of miles for the next six weeks. At that point, I hope to have more information and be able to make a more informed decision regarding a fall marathon.

In addition to logging more miles, I'm going to make a point to run a few races this summer. Last year I didn't race at all between May and the end of December. Who knows maybe running more miles will lead to a PR or two.

Fifteen Pain-Free Miles

I didn’t run on Monday. My back was sore all day. Even though I still planned on running, I just couldn’t drag myself outside to get started. Finally I put it off long enough that I convinced myself that it was better for my health if I didn’t run. To be honest, I don’t know if not running helped or not.

On Tuesday I still had back pain. It didn’t feel any better or any worse than it was on Monday, so I figured if it’s not going to get better, I may as well run. I ended up running 15 miles at an average pace of 7:59/mile. I didn’t have any pain when I was running, although my legs were still pretty tired from Sunday’s long run. I had to stop and use the restroom with less than 2 miles to go, and my legs were really stiff when I started running again. I soaked my legs in cold water after yesterday’s run, and I feel pretty good today. As long as I have the discipline to run easy this evening, I should be recovered and ready for the rest of the week.

I’m still planning on getting in 80 miles this week. My plan is:
Sunday – 20 (long run/easy pace)
Monday – 0
Tuesday – 15 (easy pace)
Wednesday – 7.5 (recovery pace)
Thursday – 15 (easy pace)
Friday – 7.5 (recovery pace)
Saturday – 15 (easy pace and maybe a double)

I’m mildly worried over the recent back pains that I’ve had. I’m pretty sure that they are not from running. The first time it hit me it was right after I played volleyball for the first time. This week I'm starting softball, and the back pains are back. I guess my old body is telling me to stick with running and avoid activities that require twisting.

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Just a quick add-on. I got in my 7.5 miles this evening. I ran with a watch, but only checked it a couple of times -- once early and again at the halfway point to make sure I wasn't going too fast. I took it easy the entire run, finishing in 1:02:30, which is a 8:20 pace.

20-Mile Sunday

Today I ran my first 20 miler since completing the Napa Valley Marathon on March 6. I wanted to get in at least one 20-miler before starting race specific training in June. Since I ran so few miles last week, today seemed like a good time to go for it. The run wasn't too bad. I enjoy racing marathons but do not really enjoy the long runs. I know many marathoners enjoy getting out for a relaxing 20 miler, but for me it's a necessary evil. Anyway, I felt pretty good up until the 17.5 mile point, and then I started to get a bit tired. Even so, I maintained a sub-8:00 pace to the end. My average pace for the entire run was 7:52. I'm hoping to keep the easy runs and long runs faster than 8:00 minute miles during this cycle. For the recovery runs, I'm going to try to not worry about pace and will probably run them without a watch.

This was a good television weekend for fans of track and field. On Saturday, I watched two hours each of the Big 12 championships and the Pac 10 championships. On Sunday, I watched a replay of an hour of races from the Penn Relays and two hours of another track meet that I can't remember the name of. Is it any wonder I don't get anything done around the house. In my defense, it was a rainy weekend.

Continuing the Easy Week

I didn't get in 15 miles yesterday. Since I fell in March, I've been avoiding running in the dark. I got a late start yesterday, so I only ran ten miles. It's too bad because I felt good and would have enjoyed the last five miles if I could have seen where I was going.

I continued my easy week with 7.5 miles this morning. I ran without a watch or GPS to help ensure that I took it easy. I felt okay after I warmed up, but not great. I'm planning on getting in another easy 7.5 this evening, which will give me 52 miles for the week.

Next week I'll look to jump up to 80 miles again and then lower the mileage but up the intensity a bit so that the first hard runs of Pfitzinger's' 18/70 plan won't be my first harder runs in months.

What a Crappy Week

I have not had a good week running so far. I just haven’t had any energy. Through five days, my weekly total is between 25-30 miles. The good news is that I ran 7.5 miles on Thursday with a lot of energy. I’m hoping to get in 15 miles today (Friday) and 10 on Saturday, which will put me over 50 for the week. Fifty miles is far short of the 80 miles I logged the past two weeks, but it’s not horrible for a cutback week.

I think one reason for the low mileage week (in addition to just not having any energy) is that I have been running without a plan or schedule. It’s so easy for me to skip a workout or cut a run short if I’m not following a set plan. I’m not sure what next week holds, but I’ll be sure to set up a plan over the next couple of days.

Yesterday a group of us from work skipped out to watch an afternoon Oakland A’s game. We had a great time watching the A’s beat up on the Mariners. I’m not an A’s fan, but it’s always more fun when the home team wins and the crowd gets into the game. I was worried that sitting in the sun for two and a half hours would zap my energy for a late afternoon run, but I felt great yesterday and would have run longer except that my wife hinted about us going out to dinner. As it turns out, we decided to put off eating out until the weekend, so I got a shorter run than was necessary.

A Second 80-Mile Week

I did get 80 miles for the week again. I ran the second run on Thursday, which gave me 20 total for the day. I then ran 10 slow miles on a windy Friday and ran an 8/7.5 double on Saturday. My total for the week is 81.1 miles.

I don't really have a plan for next week. I would like to hit at least 70 miles / week over the next two weeks. That will give me my first 300-mile month. I'll then take an easy week the last week of May / first week of June before race specific training on 4 June.

I found out this week that I'll have to have two dental surgeries over the next couple of months. I have receding gums, so the periodontist is going to have to take flesh from the roof of my mouth and use it to build up the gums. Because I need this on 13 teeth, they will have to do it over two appointments. Frankly, it didn't seem too bad to me. However, everyone I tell this to, squirms and makes me feel like it will be really painful. I guess time will tell. The bad part is that if it is painful, I'll know what's coming when I go in for the second surgery.

Lazy Day Off

After my tough run on Monday, I ran a good ten miler on Tuesday and felt pretty good about how my week was shaping up. However, on Wednesday, I simply didn't feel like doing anything; and unlike Monday when my wife got me out the door, on Wednesday, she basically said don't run if you don't feel like it. I don't know what, if anything, taking the day off means. On one hand it sucks because I was doing well and was looking at another 80-mile week. On the other hand, I got a great night's sleep on Wednesday, which doesn't often happen when I run. It just seems to take me a long time to unwind after a run, and I don't fall asleep until late.

I may still make a run at 80 miles for this week, although with an off day on the books it won't be easy. I don't want to sacrifice next week by logging a ton of miles on Friday and Saturday. I did bounce back with a 15-mile run midday today (Thursday) and am planning an easy recovery run this evening.

I was off from work today. We are having a change of command at my unit. Usually this type of event would mean that I'd be strapping on some type of dress uniform and standing at attention in the sun while the incoming and outgoing commanders give their speeches. However, because my current command is a staff office and the commander is fairly high up in the Coast Guard hierarchy, the regular joes like me were given what is called an "alternate work schedule" so that we don't take all the parking spots and get in the big-wigs way. Instead we are free to do as we please with the caveat that we be available by phone. Really it's a win-win for all concerned.

15 Mile Slog

On Monday, I ran the 15 miles I was scheduled to run on Sunday. It was not a fun run. As usual I stayed up too late on Sunday evening and had to get up early for work on Monday. I was really tired Monday afternoon and seriously considered taking the day off. I probably would have except my wife gave me a hard time about it. Once I started, I was pretty sure that I wouldn’t be running more than 5 miles.

I would like to say that after I got started and warmed up; things got better, and I had one of those great runs that happen every once in a while. However, the truth is that it just plain sucked. I didn’t run a bad pace (average 8:04/mi), and I finished relatively strong. I just didn’t want to be running. During much of the run, I was thinking about finding the shortest route home and calling it quits. I guess the fact that I stuck it out says something about me – either I’m too bullheaded to know when to quit/rest, or I’ve got heart, guts, or whatever makes a person push through the hard times. Either way, I’m not one of those runners who feel that every workout is important and that a missed run now will negatively affect a race five months away. However, skipping long runs begins a domino effect. The most difficult part was getting started, and the main reason I stuck out the full 15 miles is that I haven’t run that far in a while, and I need to get used to longer runs so that I can get back to 20 milers by the beginning of June (start of 18-week training program).

80-Mile Week

As I mentioned in my previous post, I ran a double on Saturday to log my first 80-mile week. I was feeling a bit tired on Friday, but felt pretty good on both Saturday runs as well as on my run today. The bad news is that I had to cut short a scheduled 15 mile run because while I remembered something I had to do tonight. I’ve been taking an online college course, and about two miles into my run this evening, I remembered that I had to take an online exam this evening. Since I didn’t start my run until after five, I cut the run to ten miles, which allowed me time to get home, shower, and be online by approximately 6:45. I’m not worried about losing five miles today. With daylight lasting until 8:00 p.m., I’ll be able to run 15 miles during the week without much trouble.

Here are my totals for last week:
Sunday: 10 miles in a.m. and 5.3 in p.m.
Monday: 10 miles in p.m.
Tuesday: 6.7 at lunch and 7.3 in p.m.
Wednesday: 8.2 in p.m.
Thursday: 6.7 at lunch
Friday: 12.3 in p.m.
Saturday: 7.2 in a.m. and 6.4 in p.m.

Looking at those totals, it's clear that I need at least a 15 miler this week, and I need to build on it so that I can get up to 20 by month's end. I haven’t written out a weekly running plan yet, but I’m planning on shooting for another 80-mile week. And I’m hoping to do it with less doubles this time. Last week was 80 miles on ten runs. This week I’m hoping to get the mileage on no more than 8 runs. If I run more than 8 times, I’ll try to jump the mileage up a bit. I recently joined a lunchtime volleyball league, so the number of doubles I can run is tied to my volleyball schedule.

The Best Laid Plans...

Well I jumped the gun in my previous post. I didn't get in a second run on Thursday. I ended up having to stay late at work and then we had an open house at my daughter's school. I also didn't get in 15 miles today (Friday). I got a late start and ended up only running 12 miles. This leaves me with 66.5 miles for the week with one running day left. I pretty sure that I'm going to go for 80 miles this week by running a double tomorrow. I could just go out and run the 13.5 to get 80 miles, but after 12 today and at least 15 scheduled for Sunday, I'm thinking two easy, shorter runs on Saturday may be a better idea.

I'm still not sure what I'm doing for the rest of the month. I'm thinking of going for 80 again for the week ending May 13, something in the 70s for the week ending May 20, 80 again for the week ending May 27, and easy week leading into June, and then beginning an 18-week training program for the Bizz Johnson Marathon in October. Of course, I need to confirm the marathon date and make sure I counted my weeks correctly. I guess if anyone reads this blog, they'll find out if I actually follow these plans.

High Mileage (for me)

I'm making a run at 80 miles this week. I've run doubles on Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday (assuming I get in my second run tonight), and by the end of today I should be at 59 miles through five days. The plan is to go 15 on Friday and an easy six on Saturday. This will give me the 80 miles and hopefully have me rested enough to run an easy 20 on Sunday. I'm confident that I can get up to 80 miles; however, my legs are feeling the increased mileage. Feeling the mileage isn't really a bad thing. During my last marathon training cycle, it seemed like my legs were always tired, but I was able to get in the workouts. I imagine that's part of the improvement process.

Increasing my mileage has reminded me of two important things that I tend to forget: make the easy days truly easy and get enough sleep. On easy days I tend to not pay much attention to my pace. I figure my body knows it's an easy day, and it'll guide me to the right pace. I realize this isn't the smartest way to approach these workouts. I'm going to try to determine a pace before starting and see if I can stick with it (even on days when I leave the watch at home).

As far as the sleep goes, I have developed a bad habit. I stay up late on the weekend. On Monday I get up early for work. I'm tired by the end of the work day, so I fall asleep for a short nap. Then I'm not tired, so I stay up late, wake up early, and repeat the process the next day. I saw it coming and wasn't able to avoid it on Monday or Tuesday. On Wednesday, I all but avoided the nap (nodded off briefly while reading), but I still stayed up too late. Tonight is open house at my daughter's school, so I should be able to avoid putting myself in a position where sleep is even possible.

Note to Self: Get Enough Sleep

Today I ran ten miles at a 7:56 average pace. It was a good run. After yesterday's 15 miles I wasn’t sure how my back would feel today. I’m happy to say that it continues to improve. I can still feel a bit of tightness; but it’s not too bad, and as long as I take my time loosening up before I do anything strenuous, I’m fine. The scary part is that I think I have another volleyball game tomorrow. I’m confident that if I take the time to warm up properly, I’ll be fine for the game. However, if I end up with more back pain, I’m afraid that my volleyball season is over, which isn’t a big deal because I’m not very good and am on a team that is not very good.

I’m not sure what I’ll be running tomorrow. It depends on when and if we play volleyball tomorrow. If I have time I’ll run a few miles either before or after our volleyball game (depending on if we have the early or late game). If we don’t have a volleyball game, I’ll run five or six miles at lunch. Either way, I’ll try to add some miles in the evening and should be between 7.5 and 12 miles.

The reason for this title is that I was up late Sunday night because I agreed to pick up a work buddy from the airport at 11:00 p.m. By the time I dropped him off, got back home and got to bed, it was after midnight. I don't feel too bad now, and one late night is not a big deal. The problem is that I tend to make a hobby out of it.