Last few weeks of training

I'm now 5 of 16 weeks into this current marathon training block.  This is some of the most intense running I've really ever done.  Weeks 3, 4 and now 5 have seen my mileage go from 34 miles up to my week 5 mileage of 46 miles.

I'm looking forward to a small cutback week in week 6 where I will only run 42-43 miles.  I've continued to most of my training on the roads, trying as best as possible to forgo the treadmill.  Although due to the crazy mid-atlantic weather I had to do some of my midweek mini long runs on the treadmill due to the rain.

I'm also figuring out nutrition and that it's possible I'm not eating enough calories and carbing up enough before some of the long runs and I need to snack a little more than I am now and drink more water.  I continue to feel confident that the DC RnR marathon in March will be a good one.

This is the first time since starting running that I have broken 1,300 miles for the year and have run 100 miles or more for 9 of 12 months.  By the end of 2015 I will have also run over 6,000 miles since November 14, 2009 when I first started using dailymile.

Turkey Trot fun and marathon hijinx

This past week was week 1 of the 16 week 660 mile training plan I'm using to run the Rock n Roll DC marathon on March 12th, 2016.  I haven't gotten to heavy mileage quite yet and won't for quite a while.  The plan I'm using has me running 5 days a week with 1 cross training day and 1 rest/cross training day.  Those days are usually Thursdays and Sundays.  However, Thanksgiving was Thursday and my daughter (who was home from college) and I have a standing tradition of running the Towson Y! Turkey Trot 5K.  This year was a blast and just a bit warmer than last year.

For marathon training I took Monday and Tuesday off and ran Wednesday-Sunday.  The plan called for 29 miles but I only got in 24 miles which was OK.  I kept most everything easy and under control and even ran on the treadmill for a few miles.

Right before Black Friday I bought and new GPS watch, the Garmin Forerunner 220.  The nice thing about the watch is it locks on to GPS signals with in 10 seconds and it also can sync up your data to your phone instead of having to go to a computer.  Lastly it uses and accelerometer to count your steps per minute and also when the GPS is off it uses your steps to try and get your miles too.

I still want to qualify for Boston and we'll see if that happens but after a 5:15 in Pittsburgh and a 4:51 in NYC, I'll see if upping my mileage to around 41 to 42 miles per week will make a dent.

Next marathon is up

I've decided to run another marathon in the early spring.  I'm running the Rock n Roll DC marathon on March 12th.  I've run the RnR DC marathon a few years ago, it's a great run and a little bit hilly.  Training starts November 23rd.

The training plan I'm using will have me running 660 miles or more over 16 weeks.

I've started to feel better since the TCS NYC marathon on November 1st and I'm anxious to try and see if I can get this marathon thing right.

New York state of mind

I'm in a New York state of mind.  On February 15th,  I entered the 2015 TCS New York City Marathon lottery.  I had no expectations that I would actually get in since less than 20% of all entrants get in by the lottery.  On March 3rd the lottery took place.  I was checking my NYRR account and e-mail account all day.  I didn't know how long the lottery process would go on, but was starting to give up by 6 pm.  At 7:15 pm my wife yells out OMG and I ran into the room where the computer was and looked at the e-mail which said I had gotten in.  I was so excited and started dancing around the house.  This will be my first World Major Marathon and I'm very excited to be running it.

On to the present where I am training for the 2015 Dick's Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon.  It has been a tough winter in Baltimore.  It has not been easy to run outside and the trails I would usually use for long runs have been snow and ice covered since the middle of January and probably won't be ready to run on until mid-April at this rate.  I have been doing some long treadmill runs and was able to get a few longer runs around my neighborhood, but with the cold and snow, it's been mostly too difficult to run on anything but the treadmill.

I did run the Tim Kennard 10 mile run in Salisbury, MD on March 1st.  The race started in snow flurries, which turned into snow showers, which turned into sleet and finally a cold rain.  Overall it was a great race in some tough conditions.  I even set a PR in the 10 mile distance. 

I'm hoping to get some decent mileage in this week so I can can get back on track.

2 months to Pittsburgh.

Keep on running.

Finally getting to the training for Pittsburgh

I'm finally getting to the training for the Pittsburgh Marathon and it's about time.  The weather has been cold, snowy, or icy so I've been hitting the treadmill a lot.  It's hard keeping my mind occupied for long runs on the treadmill.

I finally got to the high 20's this past week with 27 miles.  I'm hoping to continue the trend if the weather holds out.  I've figured out a loop that I can go as low as 3 miles or as high as 5 or 6 miles and then repeat however many times to get to the mileage I need.  The NCR trail that I run on for long runs is icy and will probably stay that way for a while.

I also found an app called rockmyrun which has modern music and you can download music sets between 30 minutes and 1 hour.  I use it sometimes when I'm on the treadmill to keep my mind occupied.  That and I start watching old 80's and 90's movies on demand.

So this week I have a 30 mile or so week planned.  We will see how it goes.

Thanks for reading and keep on running.

Running through the cold

The last couple of weeks have been cold, snowy, and icy. That being said I was able to get over 20 miles last week. If my face wasn't so cold that I went inside I would have had some more miles. 

I'm really working on running more consecutive days instead of large chunks of mileage. So if I want to run 8 miles, instead of running 8 miles all at once I might run 4 miles twice in one day or 4 one day and 4 on a rest day.  There would still be longer runs over the weekend.  But if it's really cold or the NCR trail is icy then I may split the miles on the treadmill.  Overall I've been running a lot of miles on the "dreadmill". I don't like running in the dark and on icy roads.

Here's to more miles.

Happy New Year and back on track

2014 has gone and we welcome 2015 and a start for new goals and new aspirations.  My aspiration is to eventually qualify for the Boston Marathon within 2 years.  I need to drop about 65 minutes from my marathon PR set in Richmond in November, 2013.  I'm hopeful that I can accomplish it, but it will take time.

I always run the Resolution Run 5KI around Patterson Park on New Year's Day.  It's a fun run, even if it is a bit hilly getting to the upper loop.  My goal was to take it easy, have fun with it and look for people to run with, if even for a little bit.  As usual I went out way to fast, in chilly temps and then held on.  One day I'll learn how to pace myself so I don't blow through my energy so quickly.  I will need that as I prepare for Pittsburgh in May.  I finished the 5K in 28:42 or about 9:11/mile.  By far not my fastest but not too bad for what I was expecting and it was nice to get 2015 off to a nice start.

In training I am really focusing on keeping my easy runs, easy.  I tend to go out a little bit too fast but still feel comfortable.  This type of harder running on my easy days doesn't work the "right systems", so I'm not working the aerobic base I need to run 26.2 miles and instead I'm going into the anaerobic space where I use up energy more quickly than I need to.  I found that if I work both systems with slower easy runs and hard tempo and interval runs and slower long runs, I am able to drop my times.  I'm really trying to focus on that.  Eventually my easy runs will be a little faster and tempo and interval runs will be harder as well.  I just have to be patient.

I'm also continuing my strength training with the IronStrength workouts.  Humbling still but it is definitely making me stronger.

I did have my physical in the last week of December which turned out fine and the labs came back fine.  I did find out that my body is changing for the better due to the endurance exercise so I will keep it up. 

It's time to get serious about my training and see what I can really accomplish.  I'm ready to see what I can do.

Happy running.