Treadmills are BORING!

Thursday 7/19 - I again chose sleep over a nice outdoor run this morning (shame on me). So I put in 3 miles on the treadmill at a pace of 11:34 or so. I then did 300 sit-ups and about 70 push ups. I need to step up my weight training a bit.

Moving Right Along

Wednesday 7/18 - I didn't get up in the morning like I was supposed to, so I was reduced to running on the treadmill in the office during my lunch time. It is too hot to go outside, close to 100 F. I ran 5 miles at a more or less reasonable pace 11:21, which is about what I want to shoot for the marathon. As much as I dislike treadmill running, it can be helpful when trying to get a pace going.

Into Week Two

I had some tourble with the weeks leading up to training.  The first week (July 9-15)didn't go quite as planned:

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were fine.  Cross, 3 miles (+strength training), 5 miles.  Thursday I skipped due to a dinner engagement, thinking I'd run the 3 on Friday.  Friday my stomach had the runs, due to the dinner.  Saturday I had a nice 5 miler, but Sunday, the 8 miler did not happen.  Mostly out of lack of organization.  Got up too late and didn't get another chance until the evening, when there was a bit of a thunderstorm.  I decided to let those 8 go and instead concentrate on this week.

This week is going fine so far.

Monday 7/16 - Although I did not get up early, I did walk/run on my treadmill for about 4.5 hours after I came home (cleaning people came for the first time ever!)
Tuesday 7/17 (today) - I got up early, ran 3 miles outside before the heat got a foot hold on the day (rather slow) and then did about half an hour or so of core work - 300 sit ups and 300 repeats with the rolling thingy (must find a name for it).

From now on, I'd like to try to update this a bit more often.  If not daily, then at least every other day.

Let's get back to it.

In the time between that last post and now, I've run two more marathons.  All in all, 4 MCMs.  This year, it is Richmond, which is much hillier.  Also, I'm totally out of shape.  With any luck, keeping this blog updated will lead to a better training plan.  Training officially begins the week of July 9th and ends on November 10th, the day of the marathon.

Today I'm at around 138 flabby lbs, which is at least 20 lbs too heavy compared to my lean version on my first marathon in 2008 when I believe I was at 115 with a goodly amount of musculature.

I've been running an average of 20 miles or less a week for the past few of months, with some exceptions.  The first week of training has 24 miles in it. 

Today there will be no run, as I don't feel very steady on my feet due to a bit of vertigo that wants to hit me.  Starting tomorrow, I'm going back to a normal schedule which should seamlessly lead to that first cross train of Monday July 9th.

Must keep up!

This is for my own benefit.
Marathon is over. I hurt my foot rather badly around mile 13, and by 17 I was in serious pain. This was after many stops to massage foot. I did finish, but angry and at 6:13 and some. But I did finish.
Since then, I've been recovering well.
Monday - Wednesday I rested. I mean rested. Didn't leave the couch, much less my house. Slept as much as I could and ate well.
Thursday I went for a short @ 2 mile run. Followed by a long walk around Georgetown
Friday I took most of the day slow. All the activity the day before did have a toll on me. But I did do the static bike for about 2.5 miles and lifted some weights.
Saturday I went with my parents to Great Falls National park, and although there weren't many easy running trails and I didn't have a watch, I must have run around 2 miles again. Beautiful spot with great views!
Today, Sunday I went for my first real run. I went about 1:20 or so. I took it slow and stopped to walk twice. I suppose I ran somewhere between 6.5-7 miles.
I feel rather sore, but my foot has been perfectly fine since the day after the marathon. Thanks to an ice bath, elevation, and a nice rub. Figures!

So far, this week

Monday I crossed trained rather lightly. I did a stationary bike for about 20 minutes and lifted some weights with my upper body only and some sit ups. I wanted to give my body, mainly my legs, time to recoup. My foot was quite sore as was my left leg where it joins the hip by the butt area.
Yesterday, I just could not get going for some reason, so I ended up talking the day off. I'll just run through the week, skipping Friday's rest and it will all balance out.
I realized that a big part of why I hadn't been feeling my best is that I've been forgetting my medicine for at least 3 days. So today I took it and went out for a bit of an unpleasant 5 miler (my mood was still awful, but I got it done). By the time I got back home, my mood was improving, so I went to lift some weights with my entire body this time. It helped, because I could see my muscles defining themselves both on my legs and my arms.
Tomorrow I have a busier day than I'm used to, so I have to get the run in in the morning. This means, I have to be out no later than 8 am. It is only 6 miles, so I should be able to handle it without too much trouble.

20 miler

I spent a few moments going over what I did write about last year's training, and it looks like my 18 miler, although painful, was much better last year. I have no record of how I did on 20 milers. Today I finished the only 20 miler of my training in a bit under 4:30 hours, which seemed good until I noticed that last year's 18 miler took me less. But I chose to compare this training season to itself, as last year I didn't have the health issues I did this time around. Also, I finished the 20 miles in much less time (about 35-40 mins) faster that the 18. All in all, I feel ready. I am really in not much pain, aside from my foot.
GOOD TIMES!