Tomorrow is February 29 - leap year!
I welcome each and every extra day while training for Boston and tomorrow is certainly one of those. And while it doesn't amount to much, every bit counts, especially the additional time added prior to the marathon.
Knee has not had a twinge in over two weeks now, allowing me to continue ramping up and working hard for what will hopefully be a good run in Boston. Funny how no matter what, I never know exactly what shape I'm in going into a race. I can only go by whether or not I've had any injuries (fortunately I've never had any that have kept me down very long), amount of days of actual training, and generally how I feel.
I definitely feel better than this time before New York. I knew I wasn't as fit as I wanted to be going into that race and sure enough I ran my all time slowest marathon - 2:55. Decent considering the training that had taken place. This time around I feel good, I'm feeling much more motivated, and if all goes according to plan I am thinking that I can sneak back under 2:50. Back to where I belong.
Over the weekend I ran with a few of the fellow Roosters at the Cherry Creek rez but since this was my drop back week I only ran 12, starting out easily and then picking it up over the course of the run ending in the last few miles being sub-7. Not a hard run by any means but I felt strong the entire way. Pushed the up hills and relaxed on the down hills. The wind from the west was ridiculous yet I never faltered.
The following day I helped David Rothenburger outline a race course for the Father's Day mile the Rocky Mountain Road Runners will be putting on the day prior to Father's Day. All-in-all I got 10 miles and a decently slow pace.
I've also been trying to do some speedwork every week. Month and half ago I signed up for the ROTG so I'm hoping to have a semi-decent showing, although it may not be as good as my earlier ROTG a few years back. Have been wanting to get back for a while and now I'm able to run it again. Hopefully my recent time off hasn't slowed me down too much.
I'm planning to do a weekly update like most other running bloggers do. I'm not exactly versed in the art of blogging at this time so it is definitely a work in progress.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
So far so good
I have not had any running related problems since my last post. My knee is holding up well and I am feeling stronger with the increased distances I've been running. I already had a series of 19.5, 20.2, and 21.5 mile long runs that have gotten better in terms of overall strength. The 21.5 miler was last Saturday and on Sunday I tested the speed aspect with a 7 mile run (1 mile warm up and 1 mile cool down included) on the track. It wasn't an interval workout, just a workout to use the track to monitor how fast I was going per 400 meters. This certainly wasn't a difficult workout but it was fast enough to make sure my knee was OK with a faster pace for at least a shorter duration. Mile times were 6:45, 6:41, 6:39, 6:43, 6:29. The only issue I had with the run with the strong wind from the south. Other than that, no problems to report. This weekend I will do the same type workout on the track but for 8 miles instead of the 5. Sunday will be my drop back day for long runs after having three consecutive longer ones. I also want to get back on the track for an actual interval workout - if the snow doesn't have other ideas.
Runners Roost team meeting tomorrow evening. Excited to get some more information on what to expect. Should be a fun year.
Runners Roost team meeting tomorrow evening. Excited to get some more information on what to expect. Should be a fun year.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
After a three year hiatus
Embarrassingly enough, it's been over three years since I last logged in and wrote a single word on my blog. Time to get cracking and hopefully it won't be so pitiful in the future. As time goes on I'll look at modifying the look and make it is a little more readable.
Since the last post I've run a bunch of races but most notably a number of faster half and full marathons. As a masters runner I've managed to bring my time for the half down to 1:17:34 but the marathon arena has been more interesting. After my 2:47 (high) at the 2008 Chicago marathon I followed that up with another 2:47 (low) at the 2010 Arizona Rock n Roll marathon and then my best of 2:46 at the 2010 Boston marathon.
After that time I kept having a number of minor but irritating injuries that just kept pushing my training back to the point that I could never really get anything solid going. Just after Boston I stupidly entered the Steamboat marathon feeling stronger than ever but unfortunately I ended up pulling out of the race with a left calf strain. After that, in February 2011 I had another DNF at the El Paso marathon after developing a nasty blister covering a large portion of my right foot. That was the absolute worst blister I'd ever had in my entire life. I wanted to run the 2012 Boston marathon so I needed a qualifying time. At my age I needed something like 3:15 which was a pretty easy task but I wanted to at least get a good starting position. In 2010 I was in Wave 1, Corral 2, so basically right after the elite runners. I signed up for the Deseret News marathon outside Salt Lake (late July) that features 3200' elevation loss and almost 1000' elevation gain throughout the course, so a tough quad killer to say the least. Fortunately I got the DNF monkey off my back with a 2:52, which should get me at least in Corral 3.
Then last fall after a busy fall with everything but running I ran in the NYC marathon and ran a pretty sad 2:55. Although I say sad, it was a decent run considering the shape I was in. The bright news is that I maintained a sub- 3:00 marathon career thus far. Hopefully Boston will be better, and hopefully I can get back under the 2:50 mark.
After falling on the ice during a training run in mid December I've only just got back into heavy training. If all goes according to plan I can still eek out six 20+ milers before the taper. I want to go back to what has work best for me and use the three week taper instead of the two I used for Deseret and New York. In a later post I will detail what I think I need most of (pretty much everything) to have a decent shot a good time at Boston.
This year I represent the Runners Roost team so I really need to buckle down and get back on track to having a successful year. Being responsible for helping a team look better by turning out good times in most races is a great motivator for pushing it back up the next level. There is no reason I shouldn't still be able to run faster this year than ever before as a masters runner.
I'm looking forward to seeing how the year transpires.
Since the last post I've run a bunch of races but most notably a number of faster half and full marathons. As a masters runner I've managed to bring my time for the half down to 1:17:34 but the marathon arena has been more interesting. After my 2:47 (high) at the 2008 Chicago marathon I followed that up with another 2:47 (low) at the 2010 Arizona Rock n Roll marathon and then my best of 2:46 at the 2010 Boston marathon.
After that time I kept having a number of minor but irritating injuries that just kept pushing my training back to the point that I could never really get anything solid going. Just after Boston I stupidly entered the Steamboat marathon feeling stronger than ever but unfortunately I ended up pulling out of the race with a left calf strain. After that, in February 2011 I had another DNF at the El Paso marathon after developing a nasty blister covering a large portion of my right foot. That was the absolute worst blister I'd ever had in my entire life. I wanted to run the 2012 Boston marathon so I needed a qualifying time. At my age I needed something like 3:15 which was a pretty easy task but I wanted to at least get a good starting position. In 2010 I was in Wave 1, Corral 2, so basically right after the elite runners. I signed up for the Deseret News marathon outside Salt Lake (late July) that features 3200' elevation loss and almost 1000' elevation gain throughout the course, so a tough quad killer to say the least. Fortunately I got the DNF monkey off my back with a 2:52, which should get me at least in Corral 3.
Then last fall after a busy fall with everything but running I ran in the NYC marathon and ran a pretty sad 2:55. Although I say sad, it was a decent run considering the shape I was in. The bright news is that I maintained a sub- 3:00 marathon career thus far. Hopefully Boston will be better, and hopefully I can get back under the 2:50 mark.
After falling on the ice during a training run in mid December I've only just got back into heavy training. If all goes according to plan I can still eek out six 20+ milers before the taper. I want to go back to what has work best for me and use the three week taper instead of the two I used for Deseret and New York. In a later post I will detail what I think I need most of (pretty much everything) to have a decent shot a good time at Boston.
This year I represent the Runners Roost team so I really need to buckle down and get back on track to having a successful year. Being responsible for helping a team look better by turning out good times in most races is a great motivator for pushing it back up the next level. There is no reason I shouldn't still be able to run faster this year than ever before as a masters runner.
I'm looking forward to seeing how the year transpires.
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