15 - Piling on the miles

Mon 9/25 - Ran 16 miles on treadmill at work. It was brutal! Forgot iPod and heart monitor, so ran without. TV and some coworkers kept me company. The breakdown: 3 in 26:00, brief water break. 6 in 52:08 (including water break halfway). 7 in 59:16, with water break at 4 mile point (kept treadmill going at 1 mph as I filled up my bottle).
Tue 9/26 - 1 mile, ab workout, 1 more mile. I think I took it easy - 8 minute pace or so.
Wed 9/27 - Ran a 10K in 49:18. Total 6.5 miles.
Thu 9/28 - Goal: 10 miles
Fri 9/29 - Rest/stretch.
Sat 9/30 - 20 mile run planned. Nope - have to do it Sunday
Sun 10/1 - Ran the 20 miles by the lakefront. But, trouble. Got lost because they moved the 0/18 mile marker at Bryn Mawr. Ended up running up to Hollywood and turning around, then getting lost on the way back (missed turn back toward the lake.) Doubled back when I realized the error. Now my time is all screwed up so not sure where I'm at pacewise. I check 47 minutes at the "4-mile" mark, and 57 at the 5 mile mark, but this is maybe closer to 5 and 6 miles. At Belmont, I spy a lovely looking dragon tattoo and follow it all the way to the Shedd. Probably a mistake, since this pace feels a bit brisk. I rest a few minutes at the 10 mile marker, and then head back. I use the bathroom by the boat club. I continue to run until I have to throw in some walking, near Belmont where I also take a (longer) bathroom break. I manage to run the last 1/2 mile even though I don't really feel it's in me. Total time 3:30. Slow! This is about 10 minute mile pace, assuming I ran 21 miles. I'm worried that the honey/brown sugar I ate (or the macadamia nuts) right before I started messed with my system. I also carried a large water bottle for the first half, and maybe swinging it around sapped some energy. Who knows? No more long runs before the race, so will have to try to focus on strategy and forget about this poor performance. (I had done 19 miles in 2:53 at the hilly Waterfall Glen trail before the Sunburst marathon.)

This will be a 54.5 mile week. End result - Closer to 55 miles.

14 - Consistency and Pain

Mon 9/18 - rest
Tue 9/19 - rest
Wed 9/20 - 12 miles at the house.
Thu 9/21 - 6 miles plus run/walk to 10K in 49:21.
Fri 9/22 - Ran some speed work. One mile each at 10, 9, 8, 7, and 6 minute pace, with recovery in between (to 130 HR or so). Yes, I finished the last mile in 6:01, one second faster than my previous attempt! Still can't break that 6-minute barrier! But I am still overcoming the initial treadmill ramp. My final pace at the end of that one was 10.5 mph, or a 5:43 mile. Not easy. I think I can do a 6 minute on the track, and I would like to try this before the year is out.
Sat 9/23 - Two hours sleep due to baking. No running this day - it also rained. Was a bit wiped out from previous day's run as well.
Sun 9/24 - Did not run, except for 7 brief sprints to each checkpoint. Was doing Porsche rallye event.

13 - Jet lagging

Mon 9/11 - In Salt Lake City. Some lovely scenery, but no time to run due to long work days..
Tue 9/12 - SLC, tired, no runny.
Wed 9/13 - SLC, home at 9 pm, but too tired to run.
Thu 9/14 - 3 miles
Fri 9/15 - 7 miles
Sat 9/16 - rest
Sun 9/17 - 13.5 miles at Waterfall Glen. First 9.5 miles in 1:26, then 4 more in 0:34 (after 6 minutes rest). End result is 13.5 miles in 2:06. Shoes wet due to humidity and sweating, so had to stop before some blisters developed. Probably could have finished the planned 18 in under 3 hours, but no reason to push so hard since my daily running has been spotty at best.

This course is kicking my ass. I tried my strategy of running 4 10 minute miles, but could only slow myself down to 9:15 at the slowest. Running slow is tough!

11 - Back to business

Still have sore throat, but forcing myself to run since I can't sit around forever!

Mon 8/28 - rest
Tue 8/29 - 4.8 miles (4 in 29:33)
Wed 8/30 - 4.8 miles (4 in 29:48)
Thu 8/31 - 3.1 miles (a 5K)
Fri 9/1 - rest
Sat 9/2 - rest
Sun 9/3 - rest, will have to do long run tomorrow.

12 - Long runs resume?

Mon 9/4 - Long run today, Labor Day. I ate a large stack of blueberry pancakes in the late morning, and didn't eat again before the run at 5:30 in the evening.

Ran 16 miles, 8 dry and 8 in the rain. It was the easiest 16 miles I have ever run, maybe beacuse of flat terrain and not pushing too hard.
I kept up an 8:30 pace for the most part, and stopped for gatorade every 2 miles (and to make a chalk mark). When it started raining at 8 mile mark, I went in the house and rigged a sandwich bag around my iPod.

Total time: 2:18. If I can keep this pace up, I'll have a 3:45 marathon. I had a goo right before the run, and no goos in between, just diluted Gatorade - half gallon total. Still lost ~4 pounds..

Food after: peas with smoked pork butt bits, cucumber/pickled cabbage salad, mango nectar, 1 piece of wheat bread, some ajvar. Coconut gelato (oops). Also some strawnana nectar, and blueberry/pomegranate juice.

Tue 9/5 - rest
Wed 9/6 - Ran 7 miles at work, then 3.5 with TNT (speedwork)
Thu 9/7 - rest
Fri 9/8 - rest
Sat 9/9 - Ran 9 miles on lakefront. Rested at North Avenue to people watch.
Sun 9/10 - rest

10 - Sidelined

Still have a sore throat.

Mon 8/21 - rest
Tue 8/22 - rest
Wed 8/23 - 5 miles
Thu 8/24 - rest
Fri 8/25 - rest
Sat 8/26 - rest
Sun 8/27 - Ran 9.5 miles, was supposed to do 15, but this is all I could manage at Waterfall Glen. Drenched.

Still not running much! Worried...

9 - Illin' and Chillin'

Sickness has struck!

Starting with the morning of CDC, I have a sore throat.

Mon 8/14 - rest
Tue 8/15 - 3 mi
Wed 8/16 - 2 mi
Thu 8/17 - rest
Fri 8/18 - rest
Sat 8/19 - rest
Sun 8/20 - rest, no long runs this weekend - Not Good.

Not much to report. Not feeling well, and not running.