I met Glen this morning and rode over to Monte Sano. Joey joined us for the first 6 or 7 miles. We took the South Plateau loop over to Warpath Ridge, to Power Line, up K2 to Goat Trail. At 3 benches, Joey peeled off and we kept going and somehow ended up heading south on Flat Rock trail. I was pretty disoriented and lost, so I'm glad Glen was leading the way! We came back up Warpath Ridge to South Plateau.
I was able to drop the pace on the last 3 to 8:30. I'm pretty happy with that for the last 3 of a 20 miler. It was a nice run today. I like the Flat Rock trail and Goat Trail.
This put me at 58 miles for the week. That's my highest mileage week ever! I may hit 60 sometime during my Mount Cheaha training!
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
8 mile
I planned to do 8 easy aerobic miles today. After about 3, I ran into Matt at the track, and joined him. He was trying to keep all his miles under 8:00. I was enjoying the company, so I stayed with him. He pulled me along today. I would have been content to run slower, but it was probably good for me to go a little faster. I kinda look forward to tomorrow's day off.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Tempo Run
The 50k schedule called for 8 miles today. I wanted to do 10, until the alarm went off. Then, I just wanted to sleep. I spent 10 minutes convincing myself to get up. Then I spent another 10 deciding whether to go to the gym and get on the treadmill or to run on the road because the weather was less than ideal (wet and windy). Then, I spent another 10 talking myself into going at all. By that time, I didn't have time to do 10 miles. But I went anyway.
I didn't really have a plan for the miles, which contributed to the debate I was having with myself. I've got to do better about this. Should I do all aerobic miles? Should I do speed work? Should I do tempo? I decided that tempo would be the best use of my limited time because I could get close to my goal mileage if I ran at a tempo pace. So I did 2 warm up miles, 5 tempo miles, and 2 cool down miles for 9 total. 6:59, 6:54, 6:59, 6:53, 6:39. I probably had another 7 minute mile in me, but I wanted to stop with the feeling that I could do more. The warm up and cool down were near an 8:10 pace.
All in all a decent workout for the day. I'm WAY glad that I talked myself into it.
I didn't really have a plan for the miles, which contributed to the debate I was having with myself. I've got to do better about this. Should I do all aerobic miles? Should I do speed work? Should I do tempo? I decided that tempo would be the best use of my limited time because I could get close to my goal mileage if I ran at a tempo pace. So I did 2 warm up miles, 5 tempo miles, and 2 cool down miles for 9 total. 6:59, 6:54, 6:59, 6:53, 6:39. I probably had another 7 minute mile in me, but I wanted to stop with the feeling that I could do more. The warm up and cool down were near an 8:10 pace.
All in all a decent workout for the day. I'm WAY glad that I talked myself into it.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
My Race Calendar for 2009
Here are the races I plan to run in the first half of 2009. I'll try to keep this updated.
Feb. 21 - Black Warrior 25k, Bankhead National Forest, Moulton, AL2:06:43Feb. 28 - Mount Cheaha 50k, Cheaha State Park, AL6:52:01March 21 - Rocket Run 10 Miler, Mooresville, ALMissed!- out of townMarch 28 - McKay Hollow Madness Half Marathon Trail Run, Monte Sano State Park, AL2:18:19April 11 - 3M River City Run 10k, Decatur, AL40:57April 18 Cookie Dash 5k, Huntsville, AL19:26- May 25 - Cotton Row Run 10k, Huntsville, AL
Monday, January 26, 2009
Mount Cheaha
I got my confirmation email for Mount Cheaha yesterday. I checked the Mount Cheaha website today and both Matt and I are on the entrant list. There's no turning back now! Reading and hearing the reviews from Mountain Mist have me pretty excited! I have to get on the trails and train like a madman!
The weekly Athens run yesterday was a blast. I was in a bit of a rush posting yesterday and didn't say quite enough about that. There were 13 folks who showed up! Group runs are much more fun! I'm wondering at what point we have to get a parade permit! :) I tried to make up for slacking on Saturday by running a few extra (14 instead of 10) yesterday. I hope it worked out! I also did a couple of fartleks during the run. One was when my shoe came untied and I caught the group at about the 3 mile mark. The other was when I went from the back-middle of the pack to the front at about the 9 mile mark. It is really nice to be able to drop to a sub-7 pace 9 miles into a run! It's even nicer to finish 14 miles feeling like I could easily do a few more.
Today, I swam (for maybe the third time in 18 years). I did 10 laps in a 25 yard pool, and it absolutely exhausted me. I haven't completely forgotten how to swim, but almost! I have an ugly stroke and I let my right leg do too much work. I'll continue to work on that to see if a triathlon is something I can pull off anytime soon. Then, I did a regular "push" (bench press, military press, unassisted dips) and abs workout.
The weekly Athens run yesterday was a blast. I was in a bit of a rush posting yesterday and didn't say quite enough about that. There were 13 folks who showed up! Group runs are much more fun! I'm wondering at what point we have to get a parade permit! :) I tried to make up for slacking on Saturday by running a few extra (14 instead of 10) yesterday. I hope it worked out! I also did a couple of fartleks during the run. One was when my shoe came untied and I caught the group at about the 3 mile mark. The other was when I went from the back-middle of the pack to the front at about the 9 mile mark. It is really nice to be able to drop to a sub-7 pace 9 miles into a run! It's even nicer to finish 14 miles feeling like I could easily do a few more.
Today, I swam (for maybe the third time in 18 years). I did 10 laps in a 25 yard pool, and it absolutely exhausted me. I haven't completely forgotten how to swim, but almost! I have an ugly stroke and I let my right leg do too much work. I'll continue to work on that to see if a triathlon is something I can pull off anytime soon. Then, I did a regular "push" (bench press, military press, unassisted dips) and abs workout.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Mountain Mist
I have to start today by giving a BIG shout out to my buddy Mark Freeman. He had a fantastic run yesterday at Mountain Mist. He absolutely dropped the hammer down and blew away his goal and my expectation for his finishing time. He ran the toughest trail run in Alabama, the Mountain Mist 50k, in 5:20:17. That is insane good. Way to go Mark!!!! I'm way proud of my friend!! Congrats! Nice job! Amazing!
Results are at the HTC Website.
Mark made up for my slacking yesterday. I totally slacked. I ran maybe 2 or 3 miles tops. I just didn't want to, so I quit. Then, I played some racquetball, which was fun. I dove a couple of times and I'm a little sore. I have to learn not to go all out all the time.
Today, I met with the Athens group and ran 10 with them. I ran to the meeting place and ran home for a total of 14 miles. Today was the largest group yet! 13 folks! Great run guys and gals!
Results are at the HTC Website.
Mark made up for my slacking yesterday. I totally slacked. I ran maybe 2 or 3 miles tops. I just didn't want to, so I quit. Then, I played some racquetball, which was fun. I dove a couple of times and I'm a little sore. I have to learn not to go all out all the time.
Today, I met with the Athens group and ran 10 with them. I ran to the meeting place and ran home for a total of 14 miles. Today was the largest group yet! 13 folks! Great run guys and gals!
Friday, January 23, 2009
Altitude Training
I had to catch an 8:00 AM flight out of Nashville Wednesday morning, which meant that I had to leave my house at 5:00 AM. It crossed my mind to get up before 4:00 AM to run 8 miles and shower before leaving. Luckily, the thought crossed and kept going. :) I did NOT run Wednesday.
I was staying in an unfamiliar part of town in Denver. It didn't feel like an unsafe part of town, but I just didn't know the area. So, I was reduced to choosing between slacking or 8 miles on a treadmill. Ugh. I decided that since I'm pain free and haven't slacked even ONCE in my Mount Cheaha training, I'd go ahead and hit the treadmill. There's no reason to start slacking now. I only did 7.5 miles, though. I quit because I ran out of time.
I was a little pleased with myself for going through with that. Really, after the first two miles, it wasn't that bad. I mean, I'd rather have been on the road or the trail, but it wasn't miserable. I did have to spend 20 minutes talking myself into doing it. Then I spent the first two miles convincing myself to stay on.
The altitude really matters. I ran the first two at a 9:00 pace and it felt like a 7:30 pace. The human body is pretty amazing, though. I adjusted. After the first two, I was able to speed it up and finished the 7.5 miles in an hour which averages an 8:00 pace. I was running the 7th mile at a 6:40 pace and it felt hard, but sustainable. One reason I sped up is that I knew I was running out of time and wanted to get in 8. I just didn't quite get it done.
Wow, that was TMI about a treadmill run. Today, I did a "pull" workout (pull-ups, rows, etc.) and a leisurely 6 miles at 8:20 average pace.
I also got my body fat measured today and learned that I'm only 7.8% body fat. Man, I sure do feel and look fatter than that. I also got my VO2 Max estimated at 42 ml-kg-min, whatever that means.
I was staying in an unfamiliar part of town in Denver. It didn't feel like an unsafe part of town, but I just didn't know the area. So, I was reduced to choosing between slacking or 8 miles on a treadmill. Ugh. I decided that since I'm pain free and haven't slacked even ONCE in my Mount Cheaha training, I'd go ahead and hit the treadmill. There's no reason to start slacking now. I only did 7.5 miles, though. I quit because I ran out of time.
I was a little pleased with myself for going through with that. Really, after the first two miles, it wasn't that bad. I mean, I'd rather have been on the road or the trail, but it wasn't miserable. I did have to spend 20 minutes talking myself into doing it. Then I spent the first two miles convincing myself to stay on.
The altitude really matters. I ran the first two at a 9:00 pace and it felt like a 7:30 pace. The human body is pretty amazing, though. I adjusted. After the first two, I was able to speed it up and finished the 7.5 miles in an hour which averages an 8:00 pace. I was running the 7th mile at a 6:40 pace and it felt hard, but sustainable. One reason I sped up is that I knew I was running out of time and wanted to get in 8. I just didn't quite get it done.
Wow, that was TMI about a treadmill run. Today, I did a "pull" workout (pull-ups, rows, etc.) and a leisurely 6 miles at 8:20 average pace.
I also got my body fat measured today and learned that I'm only 7.8% body fat. Man, I sure do feel and look fatter than that. I also got my VO2 Max estimated at 42 ml-kg-min, whatever that means.
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