1.13.14 to 1.19.14

Another week passes by in the blink of an eye, well I guess I wish it would have. Although I'm still taking a class online, and i'm not working that much, when i do work it's pretty strenuous work. Wednesday and Thursday I spent walking through the woods, not  all leisurely and skipping around. I'm talking about walking for 6 hours with a gallon of paint in a backpack on snowshoes in 2 feet of snow. It was work. Solid work. = Sunday (and Monday of this new week) I spent 7 hours each day removing snow from a roof. Talk about consistent strength work.

Anyways to stop my bitching and moaning, my point is this. Should I count those walking miles as a workout and log it just as I do with any run? These walks are no walk in the park, no pun intended. After 6 hours and only getting roughly 3 miles in, I'm pretty wrecked.  No worries though my running streak lives on.

Monday: 5 miles easy. Enjoying the warmer temps (mid 20's) finally. Core work post run.

Tuesday: 10.1 miles moderate. Snowy and icy roads (pretty much all roads I run on) made it rough to get good traction. Got a few good splits in. 67 mins total.

Wednesday: Knew i was in for a long day, so i got the workout in first thing. 2x3x2:30 downcycles, which consist of getting faster every 30 seconds. Did this on the treadmill so i had more control over pacing and footing was much better. Excellent tempo work. 10 miles. PM consisted of 3 miles of walking (which is accurate, since we knew the lot we were on was a 1/4 long). 13 for the day

Thursday: 7.2 easy. tired legs, which means the workout and walk yesterday did there thing. At least i know I worked hard. Short core session before heading into work PM 2 miles of walking again on snowshoes with paint. May have been more, but I'll under guessitimate.  9.2 for the day

Friday: 7 miles easy. A down day finally. Long core session afterwards

Saturday: Instead of being stupid and trying to race when I know i'm not quite ready I set out on snowy roads, with snow coming down, for 15.2 miles. Spent about 1/2 mile on snowmobile trail, than got some faster splits in ( Miles 10-12 in 6:25, :25, :29). Felt comfortable hard, close to MP maybe?

Sunday: Holy crap. Arms nearly fell off. Raking two feet of snow for 7hrs is my yearly arm routine. Managed a mile easy walk with the pup.

Totals
Running miles: 54.6
Walking miles: 6
Core: 3 times
Streaking days: 39
Marathon day: 80 days to go.

1.6.14 to 1.12.14

A good start. That's what I think about the first 12 days of the new year. My running has been consistent thus far, and I've gotten at least 2 core session in a week. I'll probably keep saying this, but consistency will be key to move forward this year. I'm hoping I can turn this marathon cycle into a building block for the fall and into next year.

The weather, much like the rest of the country has been pretty wild. We started this past week far below zero, with one hell of a windchill. By the end of the work week we'd finally reach the 20's and this past weekend we got rain and in the 30's. It's was so good for the snowmobile trails, nor the roads. I tired to get out yesterday, but sliding down our driveway I knew it wasn't going to be smart. Today (Sunday) turned out beautiful, but most side roads were still covered in solid ice. I opted for the treadmill. 

Monday: 6 easy miles. Calves pretty soar from the weekend. Took it easy.

  

Tuesday:  Calves better. Soughout the treadmill to get a workout in as the roads are constantly covered in snow/ice. First 5 easy, 8x1min @10.1 mph. 2 minute rest @ 8.7mph. 9 total.

Wednesday: 9 easy. went without the dog and I felt like i was dragging the whole time. Probably a sign i should run more without him. Felt shitty the whole run, felt like i was coming down with something. When i got back I took a high dose of echinacea tea, vitamin C (like 1000mg), and lots of water.  

Thursday: 3 miles of walking through 2 feet of snow at work. HR was pretty high. I called it day. Feeling better  for sure, but something still lingering. 

Friday: Started work later which gave me time to get my workout out of the way. Too advantage of slightly warmer temps (high single digits, it felt GREAT!) and got a solid fartlek in. I said solid because it was a true speed play run. When i felt recovered from my last bought I went hard again. Ten different boughts of speed varying from just 30 seconds to nearly 4 minutes. Good stuff. In the PM I got 2 miles of walking again through the snow. (10.6 for the day)

Saturday: Sometimes your just feeling lazy, plus sheer ice across the driveway and roads kept me confined to snow in the woods. Should have gone for snowshoe run, but it didn't happen. 1.2 miles for the day.

I have to add it was worth staying up till 11 to see the Patriots pound the Colts. What a running game. 

Sunday: Even though it was a warm day out, the roads were still in very iffy conditions (they can't plow roads for shit here, or maybe they choose not to waste the money as they have none). Anyways, 15 miles on the treadmill (fun!(sarcastically)). After the first 6 miles I tired to throw a few  strides in to get prepped from my marathon pace work. I quickly found out the treadmill I was on didn't go any faster than 9.0 MPH. "WTF? WTF?" So there i was cranking out 6:40's for the last 8 miles. After 98 minutes the bloody treadmill decided to crap out on me. Apparently it can't count any higher....PM 3 miles easy with the pup. Road was slushy. Once it freeze up, and it will, its going to be a mess and probably pretty dangerous. (18 miles for the day)

Totals:

Miles 56.8 miles.
2 core/stability sessions.

89 days till M-I Marathon

30 days of streaking so far.

New Year, hopefully not the old me

2013

Everyone comes into the New Year with lofty goals. Loose X amount of pounds, or read this many books, go to this place or run x amount of miles. Don't get me wrong, goals and aspirations are motivating and it helps people to continue to excel or start a new page in their lives, but will I?

Ok, so 2013 running wise wasn't what I wanted it to be. I really laid down some concrete goals for 2013. I just couldn't make them happen. It was as if something was holding me back I just haven't reached that point yet.

1. Run 2500 miles...Didn't happen. I just lost my motivation and drive over the summer, especially after US Mountain Running Championships. 
2. Run sub 2:50 marathon....This continues to haunt me. Boston was close, but no cigar, and much to do with summer and fall happenings, a fall marathon just wasn't in the books. 

2014 - The year of  running improvement?

So what does the New Year hold for me?

Not so much so far.Just lots of expenses, headaches, and still not a steady job. A new car battery, new tires, and now backing my jeep into a tree (stupid move). Good news, I've finished all my Forestry classes, now for Physics and Chemistry. I question my sanity and what i'm about to put myself through..

On the running front I'm going to lay it down. I've got numerous things I'd like to accomplish. 2014 will be focused on 3 major things all incorporating, what i think is the foundation to running, Consistency. 

 Run More

I started 2013 with the 100 day streak with Crow Athletics. Here I go again. Day 7 and already 55 miles in. It's a start. This year I'd like to average 50 miles a week. That would put me over 2500 miles, which would be a leap from past years, but certainly possible. Consistency. 

Improve by Stability and Core

This should be a given. I know I perform better when I've spent weeks working on core and stability and not neglecting it. It just so happens that winter is the perfect time to focus on it more because we spend more time indoors, but it should never be neglected, as it holds us upright. Plain and simple. 3x a week. Consistency

Goal Race Times

Yes, I have a few scores to settle with a few race distances.  It's been some time since I've run a true 5k, or for that instance a race in general ( I did race this past weekend, I'll tell y'all about it soon).  I'm going to settle into Marathon Training much like many people do this winter. Come spring through summer I'd like to focus on some shorter distance races and not get caught up in tackling 50k's at this point. Come Fall, possibly another Marathon, but getting after my half personal best seems enticing. so here we go.

• 5k: 16:44 Yes, because my pb is 16:46.
• 10k: 34:5x I'd really like to get under 35, with some work I know it's possible as I've run 35:23
• 1/2 Marathon: 1:16:xx
• Marathon: 2:49:xx - This really should be all that hard as past half marathon times have indicated I've got it. I just need to saddle up, get on the bandwagon of 6:29(ish) pace and DO IT, no more monkeying around. April 12. 94 days. 

Consistency I believe will be key throughout the year, as it always is. Here's to a new year! Make 2014 YOUR year!

My 2013 Running in Review

2013

2013 makes six and half years of running for me. I can remember when i first started out. I was that normal high school kid. Shorts over the tights, cotton t-shirts for nearly every single run, and shorts nearly year round (ok maybe not so...). As 2013 comes to a close, a new chapter beings. Moving to Michigan in October has rejuvenated my running  as I suffered over the summer months. 

I started the year practically limping my way through miles. I managed to start streaking on January 1st, but it was pitiful.  My inspiration came when Gary Allen started his Maine 2 DC trek (Now preparing for ME2SuperBowl, talk about inspiration!). I was able to start accumulating miles, and get out and have fun running again. I'm sure that pleased everyone that was around me. 

Finally I was able to whip myself into shape  for the Boston Marathon in April. Although the events took place overshadowed many triumphs that occurred, it's still one my fondest memories of 2013. Running it in 2012 with the 80 plus degree heat made me hungry for something better. I knew I was capable of it, and sure enough I came out with my personal best of 2:52. 

Coming off the high of Boston, and pent up hatred of what happened, I lost focus of long-term, and kind of let loose. I'll be honest it was stupid and probably is key to what ruined the rest of my summer. Three marathons over a 77 day period (does this qualify for something?? Oh..right stupidity). 

I didn't recovery well  as less than a month later I was running the US Mountain Running Championships. That blew my legs off, and my running continued to falter. It wasn't so much injuries as just never fully recovering mentally and physically from these races. 

I ran 15 races in 2013, which accumulated to 180 miles in 20 hours and 20 minutes. 

Nothing too spectacular, except noting March was by far my most running miles in one month.


I'm slowly starting to dig myself out of the hole and get into decent shape. Fun note of the day, my RHR (resting heart rate) was  47 bpm this afternoon. Which suggests my body is slowly coming around.

Total Miles: 2,165.8mi in 272 hours, 44 minutes, 49seconds or about 11.3 days of running.
5.9 miles/day average
Lifetime Miles: 10,878.5