Thanksgiving

Hello All,

I wanted to wait on a few solid weeks of training before writing again. Here is what has been going on the last few weeks for marathon training. There was one day I took off opportunistically in order to reset the schedule to a Monday-Sunday week rather than Sunday-Saturday.

November 7- November 13

S- 64 min, 9 miles

M- 61 min, 8-9 miles

T- 20 min, 2.5 miles

W- 75 min, 9 miles

Workout 10 min (2K) warmup, 3 X 2000m (6:38, 6:31, 6:23), 9 min (2K) cooldown

5 X 800m (2:43, 2:40, 2:39, 2:38, 2:35), 400m slow jog cooldown

T- 55 min, 7.5 miles

F- Workout warmup 20 min, 3 miles at 5:13 pace, 3 miles at 5:33 pace, cooldown 20 min

S- 90 min, 12 miles

Total Miles: 70

NOV 4- 0 miles

November 15- November 21

M- 89 min, 12.5 miles

40 min, 5 miles

T- AM Run 30 min, 4 miles

PM 30 min "portuguese warmup", workout fartlek 40 min @ 1 min on 1 min off

W- 32 min, 4.5 miles

45 min, 7 miles

T- 78 min, 11 miles

F- Run 20 min, 2 miles

Workout 20 min warmup, 3 X 1600 (5:04, 5:03, 4:57), 3 miles at MP (5:35, 5:25, 5:20), 20 min cooldown

S- 50 min, 6 miles

S- 104 min, 16 miles @ 6:30 pace

Total Miles: 94

These track workouts are really sending me into that fatigue I feel after a few 25 mile days in a row. Its all a very different kind of pain while its happening, but once you get home and lay on the couch.... TIRED IS TIRED! I'm finding it really exciting to see how far I can push myself, and even though the track is somewhat monotonous, the miles fly by really easily.

The biggest change to my schedule from earlier in the year is the long run. Although its a little bit shorter, its way faster than I'm used to running for long periods of time. Last Sunday before I flew to Florida, I partook in a grueling 16 mile run at 6:30 pace, of which the last 4 miles were right under 6 min/mile. At peak condition I wouldn't normally find this too taxing, but I'm nowhere near that point right now :) After that I boarded the plane, luckily receiving an exit row seat for the 5 1/2 hour flight.

This week has been a little weird. All of the running on pavement has been bothering my calves a bit and I took off a day in order to let them heal a bit.

As for this morning, I entered a 4 mile race to get a feel for exactly where my aerobic threshold is. I finished the race 2nd overall in a time of 21:04. The last half mile I let off the gas a bit and probably could have finished under 21 but I'm not really upset about the race since its the first race under a marathon that I've done since sophomore year of college.

Now I'm off to stuff as much food into my stomach as my body will allow, then go for a swim in the Gulf!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

A few weeks gone by

These last few weeks have been pretty interesting. I have recently recruited a coach to help me with my first "true" marathon. Since I started running seriously, I have mostly been interested in ultramarathons. However, there has always been a nagging sensation to put a really solid effort into the marathon. And after a few weeks of attempting to put a schedule together I finally enlisted the help of a local high school coach, Matt Ellis. So far I am very excited to try these workouts and to feel fast again. Last week we did 6 X 1000m at 3:10 pace and worked our way down to 3:00 pace by the end.

Its funny how radically different track workouts are compared to the usual long-distance runs I'm used to. Where there is usually a dull, aching sensation in my legs, it is now replaced by a fire in my lungs and a lethargy in my limbs that can only come from complete oxygen debt and a build-up of lactic acid. Where I usually take small but confident steps, I now take awkward, loping strides to maximize the distance I can travel. For these two exercises being in the same sport, I'm not sure they could be any more different.

Another activity I've tried in the last week is acupuncture. While I've heard a lot about its healing effects and its ability to relieve stress, I've never actually met anyone who has had it done. Last thursday I traveled with my roommate to join in on a session and found it to be amazing. Although I didn't feel the relaxing side of it (moreso, it feels like the needle is burning your skin), I did feel infinitely better the next day. My muscles felt in tune with each other, and I felt energized and in sync. I'd definitely recommend this treatment to anyone suffering from constantly achey or tight muscles (in my case they were both).

Lastly, I just signed on to become a Coach in Training for the Team in Training group based in Tacoma, WA. If you don't know what Team In Training is, it is an organization that works under the Leukemia and Lymphoma society to raise funds for research. Groups of individuals sign up to run a marathon and raise money for the Society while training. Check out the link here if you are interested! Other options include triathlons, century bike rides and hiking adventures.