We've entered the last bit of training where fine tune ups are needed. So far, training has been good. Not that many issues. While there were little short races that I would have liked to gone faster, I have to give up on that idea since my body is being trained for something bigger and therefore, the short little ones will suffer. TRUE, they were easier to do when I was a bit younger, but hey, who cares.
Monday 9/9 - After a difficult 20 mile the day before, Monday started with a slow run. My hammies were feeling it, yo. It was a slow, recovery run for sure. I was so not into the Spin Class this evening and felt like bailing, but since I was there, I really just spun out my legs and worked the quads a bit. Since back muscles (hammies) needed to be matched with front muscles (quads).
Tuesday 9/10 - AM easy run went not so easy, as I was still worked up about running flats hard when tired. Proceeded to get in trouble with Terry.
PM - The new Faster Finish Coach broke tradition and started week 1 with Strawberry Hill Repeats in like 90F weather for some reason. We had to adjust my weekly workout! The weekend run and not taking it easy afterwards caught up with me and this was not a good run. It was the slowest Strawberry Hill Repeat EVER. Ego majorly bruised.
Wednesday 9/11 - 9Ms, middle miles at MP. Whoa. It was like running in the summer again. My singlet and shorts had to be rinsed out at the gym so I won't stink up the office! Some of the miles are just barely MP, but considering the weather I call it a decent run.
Friday 9/13 - Lower Loop Progressive Tempo Interval. I somehow managed to lose concentration during the last loop, fantasizing about how to get an autograph from Robbie. The slower bits went easier than I thought. I actually told myself to slow down. Target pace was MP, HMP, 5K.
Saturday 9/14 - Easy 4 after a massive sleep-in to 7AM!! I wore long sleeve shirt for the first time this season. Weird, since just a few days ago my shoes were squishing in sweat from the humidity.
Sunday 9/15 - 18M Tune Up. Because I did the awful 20M run the week before, this 18M seemed so easy mentally. Hmmm. I guess Terry doesn't hate me after all. The only thing I don't like about this race is that I had to go pee shortly after mile 3. It's that sports drink again. I'm being punished for doping... This was by far, the EASIEST 18M run I did and it felt great. Mentally I felt relaxed the whole time. I consistently told myself to pull back in fear of running out of juice. THIS is the same feeling I had when I did a 3:26 in Mississauga. THIS was a feeling I haven't had in a long time. If I take out the lost time for going pee, the run average is 7:53 adding off tangent probably will average me out at like 7:55 or so. Considering I need to be at 7:50 or faster for the Toronto, this was a good test run, me thinks!
Friday, September 20, 2013
Thursday, September 12, 2013
5 Weeks to GO?!
Yea, since I don't count the last week. There's really no training, so week zero is the week of the race. Which makes me all sorts of nervous.
Good News. Found out that Robbie Watson is running STWM. My other hero, Reid Coolsaet is injured and not running, so I was super bummed. But now, with Robbie in the mix, this would be fun first 10 miles!! Robbie says he's going to be sporting a beard so this should be interesting. Whose Robbie? Here's Robbie.
He's the grinning Canadian giant in black on the left corner.
I got in trouble with Coach Terry because, well, I didn't run easy as easy last week...I'm still trying to grasp how running easy (ie slow) is supposed to benefit, so it's hard for me to understand brain-wise.
Monday 9/2: Labor Day. Got to sleep in a bit went for easy 6M on East River Park. I'm starting to condition for endless flatness.
Tuesday 9/3: Tempo Interval. I had a bit of a struggle working the West Drive hills at 7:20-7:30 pace. This should have been pretty easy to do. Not sure why. Maybe cuz I didn't take it easy Monday. By that evening, I apparently felt good enough to once again, not do easy as easy. Ran with Mr. Blackstone, and nearly killed him. And I had to go poop.
Wednesday 9/4: I could've sworn this was the usual middle miles at MP. To be honest, I couldn't remember, so I just ran at whatever that felt good.
Thursday 9/5: Obviously, had to pay for the feel good run by struggling to push out the 8X400m Tavern on the Hell Repeats. I got in the designated time of 1:50s, but it wasn't fun.
Friday 9/6: Sweet, sweet, recovery day. Went to Depeche Mode concert...
Saturday 9/7: Autism Speaks 4M Race. This season, I haven't had a sub 7:30 pace 4Mer. It's partly because I haven't really aimed for one and partly because my weekly runs are hard. So this race, I really wanted to do well. It wasn't my best, but I got it under 30 minutes and while I wanted under 29, I'll take this.
Sunday 9/8: 5X Harlem Hill & 3X Cat Hill. Not at particularly fast pace, but it involved some big hills. I don't think I've ever done 5 Harlem Hills in one long run. It went fine until mile 13, my bonking point. I was already at low point when I ran into Komen Pink Ladies and I lost all my running mojo. It was not only a stop-n-go traffic, I lost my mental power to keep going through the bonking point. The takeaway from this failed 20Mer is that I still bonk at mile 13 and 13-16 is my weakest point. I should remember this and tell myself, "yea, it's bonking point. It'll get better in 24 minutes"...
Good News. Found out that Robbie Watson is running STWM. My other hero, Reid Coolsaet is injured and not running, so I was super bummed. But now, with Robbie in the mix, this would be fun first 10 miles!! Robbie says he's going to be sporting a beard so this should be interesting. Whose Robbie? Here's Robbie.
He's the grinning Canadian giant in black on the left corner.
I got in trouble with Coach Terry because, well, I didn't run easy as easy last week...I'm still trying to grasp how running easy (ie slow) is supposed to benefit, so it's hard for me to understand brain-wise.
Monday 9/2: Labor Day. Got to sleep in a bit went for easy 6M on East River Park. I'm starting to condition for endless flatness.
Tuesday 9/3: Tempo Interval. I had a bit of a struggle working the West Drive hills at 7:20-7:30 pace. This should have been pretty easy to do. Not sure why. Maybe cuz I didn't take it easy Monday. By that evening, I apparently felt good enough to once again, not do easy as easy. Ran with Mr. Blackstone, and nearly killed him. And I had to go poop.
Wednesday 9/4: I could've sworn this was the usual middle miles at MP. To be honest, I couldn't remember, so I just ran at whatever that felt good.
Thursday 9/5: Obviously, had to pay for the feel good run by struggling to push out the 8X400m Tavern on the Hell Repeats. I got in the designated time of 1:50s, but it wasn't fun.
Friday 9/6: Sweet, sweet, recovery day. Went to Depeche Mode concert...
Saturday 9/7: Autism Speaks 4M Race. This season, I haven't had a sub 7:30 pace 4Mer. It's partly because I haven't really aimed for one and partly because my weekly runs are hard. So this race, I really wanted to do well. It wasn't my best, but I got it under 30 minutes and while I wanted under 29, I'll take this.
Sunday 9/8: 5X Harlem Hill & 3X Cat Hill. Not at particularly fast pace, but it involved some big hills. I don't think I've ever done 5 Harlem Hills in one long run. It went fine until mile 13, my bonking point. I was already at low point when I ran into Komen Pink Ladies and I lost all my running mojo. It was not only a stop-n-go traffic, I lost my mental power to keep going through the bonking point. The takeaway from this failed 20Mer is that I still bonk at mile 13 and 13-16 is my weakest point. I should remember this and tell myself, "yea, it's bonking point. It'll get better in 24 minutes"...
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
oops. And Now It's 6 Weeks To Go.
Soooooooooo week 8 was a tough tough week.
I didn't hit much of the pace orders set by Coach Terry. I had a strong Sunday run (20M that included Battle of Brooklyn) and a decent hill/speed workout on Tuesday. After that, I just did not hit any of the pacing targets and generally felt bummed out.
Week 8 (55M)
Monday 8/19 - TM, 7 miles. Didn't spin this night.
Tuesday 8/20 - TM, 4 miles in the AM, "THAT CAT HILL THING" (again!) in the evening. This was the only run that I actually did well in. I hit good pacing of around 5K pace going up the Cat Hill.
Wednesday 8/21 - Midweek Miles 10M. I was to throw in some half marathon paces in the middle (miles 5-8), but failed to do so. Barely hit marathon pace.
Thursday 8/22 - Track. I hate track. I hate them even more when it's longer loopy-loops. Especially when they are 1600s. 1600X3, 7:40, 7:20, 7:00 pace with 400m recovery. Did.not.happen. Ended up with 7:22, 7:16, 7:11.
Next time longer loops comes up, I'm going to do them at Great Lawn. 2X Great Lawn is infinitely better than 4X that awful track. I had to work late this day, I think, and I got stuck running the track with another running team. What I hate more than just plain track work is track work on the crowded track.
Friday 8/23 - 4M. Instead of doing the usual treadmill thing, I headed up to see if I could do 1600m at 7:00 like Coach wanted me to. ...after first 400m, decided that it wasn't my thing. Ego bruised, I headed out to Chicago for a brief R&R with my best friend - yep she drove me around Chicago, but we forgot to sing this song.
Saturday 8/24 - 15M +1M cool down to check out the sights. I was super nervous about running along the Chicago Lake Shore. Is it going to be safe? (yes, it's super safe.) Is there water stops? (yes, plenty.) Poo stops? (about every 3M, so plan carefully.) It's flat and I enjoyed a gentle tail wind on my way back. Ego restored, bumped into Dave Gahan on Magnificent Mile, which I renamed Miracle Mile because Dave.
Sunday was finally a rest day. A hard earned rest day, since I hadn't really had a full rest day since Friday 8/16.
Week 7 (41M)
Since week 8 was big, hard week, week 7 was a recovery week. I have this sinking feeling that this would be my last recovery/easy week before Toronto, so I decided to savor it for a change.
Monday 8/26 - TM 6M. I could barely get up for this. I think not getting enough sleep over the weekend really got me. PM - 5M. Easy run with my favorite runner. It's around here that I realized, I should listen to Terry for a change and enjoy the recovery week...
Tuesday 8/27 - you know it's the last easy week I'm ever going to get until 10/21, since typical Tuesday speed work was crossed off. I had 1 hour of elliptical. I watched something called Below Deck. Then I got sucked in to it, and had to watch all the episodes later...Thanks Terry.
Wednesday 8/28 - I've recovered a little bit, but to be honest, my mind is a blur. I don't remember doing this run! Apparently, the middle part was to be at MP.
Thursday 8/29 - Finally got some sleep in the AM. Another track work day. I'm OK with this one, since it's 8X400m. 400m, I can do.
Friday 8/30 - 2pm dismissal at work. Off day from training! I enjoyed not running for a change.
Saturday 8/31 - Another humid day. I was so glad that this was a 12M long run and not a 20M. Even my Garmin wasn't having a good day.
Sunday 9/1 - with Toronto being right around the corner, I decided that I should get used to running on flats. I run in Central Park, where yes, there are inclines but the declines that comes with them gives me a nice "recovery" in the legs. In Toronto, where every thing is so flat, my legs never gets any recovery or a break for the entire 26.2. I think this is what makes Toronto so much harder for me. So. Recovery Runs going forward would be on the East River Park and no more treadmills.
I didn't hit much of the pace orders set by Coach Terry. I had a strong Sunday run (20M that included Battle of Brooklyn) and a decent hill/speed workout on Tuesday. After that, I just did not hit any of the pacing targets and generally felt bummed out.
Week 8 (55M)
Monday 8/19 - TM, 7 miles. Didn't spin this night.
Tuesday 8/20 - TM, 4 miles in the AM, "THAT CAT HILL THING" (again!) in the evening. This was the only run that I actually did well in. I hit good pacing of around 5K pace going up the Cat Hill.
Wednesday 8/21 - Midweek Miles 10M. I was to throw in some half marathon paces in the middle (miles 5-8), but failed to do so. Barely hit marathon pace.
Thursday 8/22 - Track. I hate track. I hate them even more when it's longer loopy-loops. Especially when they are 1600s. 1600X3, 7:40, 7:20, 7:00 pace with 400m recovery. Did.not.happen. Ended up with 7:22, 7:16, 7:11.
Next time longer loops comes up, I'm going to do them at Great Lawn. 2X Great Lawn is infinitely better than 4X that awful track. I had to work late this day, I think, and I got stuck running the track with another running team. What I hate more than just plain track work is track work on the crowded track.
Friday 8/23 - 4M. Instead of doing the usual treadmill thing, I headed up to see if I could do 1600m at 7:00 like Coach wanted me to. ...after first 400m, decided that it wasn't my thing. Ego bruised, I headed out to Chicago for a brief R&R with my best friend - yep she drove me around Chicago, but we forgot to sing this song.
Saturday 8/24 - 15M +1M cool down to check out the sights. I was super nervous about running along the Chicago Lake Shore. Is it going to be safe? (yes, it's super safe.) Is there water stops? (yes, plenty.) Poo stops? (about every 3M, so plan carefully.) It's flat and I enjoyed a gentle tail wind on my way back. Ego restored, bumped into Dave Gahan on Magnificent Mile, which I renamed Miracle Mile because Dave.
Sunday was finally a rest day. A hard earned rest day, since I hadn't really had a full rest day since Friday 8/16.
Week 7 (41M)
Since week 8 was big, hard week, week 7 was a recovery week. I have this sinking feeling that this would be my last recovery/easy week before Toronto, so I decided to savor it for a change.
Monday 8/26 - TM 6M. I could barely get up for this. I think not getting enough sleep over the weekend really got me. PM - 5M. Easy run with my favorite runner. It's around here that I realized, I should listen to Terry for a change and enjoy the recovery week...
Tuesday 8/27 - you know it's the last easy week I'm ever going to get until 10/21, since typical Tuesday speed work was crossed off. I had 1 hour of elliptical. I watched something called Below Deck. Then I got sucked in to it, and had to watch all the episodes later...Thanks Terry.
Wednesday 8/28 - I've recovered a little bit, but to be honest, my mind is a blur. I don't remember doing this run! Apparently, the middle part was to be at MP.
Thursday 8/29 - Finally got some sleep in the AM. Another track work day. I'm OK with this one, since it's 8X400m. 400m, I can do.
Friday 8/30 - 2pm dismissal at work. Off day from training! I enjoyed not running for a change.
Saturday 8/31 - Another humid day. I was so glad that this was a 12M long run and not a 20M. Even my Garmin wasn't having a good day.
Sunday 9/1 - with Toronto being right around the corner, I decided that I should get used to running on flats. I run in Central Park, where yes, there are inclines but the declines that comes with them gives me a nice "recovery" in the legs. In Toronto, where every thing is so flat, my legs never gets any recovery or a break for the entire 26.2. I think this is what makes Toronto so much harder for me. So. Recovery Runs going forward would be on the East River Park and no more treadmills.
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