28 February 2011

Recap and Stress

First, the recap. Despite being really off today (more on that in a bit), February was a great month for running.

Distance: 228.8 miles
Days run: 24
Average pace: 7:46
Average Distance Per Day: 9.5 miles

I'm happy with this, mostly. I was a few miles short of what my training plan had mapped out but any runner knows that life gets in the way and sometimes your body can't handle what you want it to. The distance was still a monthly PR by about 3 miles, was my 3rd month over 200 and was about 50 miles farther than Feb '09! The pace was probably a little quick. I hit the right paces on my quality workouts but my recovery/easy runs were a little quick.

Today was no bueno. I had a 20 miler (#3 of the cycle) scheduled for today. The weather decided to dump rain on me. So I made it 8 miles before calling it quits and deciding to get the rest of the miles in later. Sure, it wouldn't be a LR anymore but more mileage is always good. Well, my legs decided they didn't want to work and I only got in another 7 miles. I'm definitely looking forward to my rest day tomorrow.

School is slowly killing me. I am almost done with my final diff eq assignment of the quarter. Yay! But...that just means I'll actually have time to work on my algebra homework which I am still about 2.5 sections behind in....

My thesis is getting to its final stages. I turned in a second draft to my advisor yesterday. Hoping to have either that draft or draft #3 good enough to submit to my other committee member. As long as I can get him a copy this week, I should present next Wednesday or Friday (9th or the 11th). eeekkkk! Its going to be a long couple of weeks. I may be posting a little less for the next two weeks, but after that I should have more time for blogging. Time for some algebra homework!

14 February 2011

Good Weekend

This weekend was amazing!

I flew to see the Kid on Thursday night and spent the entire weekend with her. It was fantastic :)
Friday, I took a rest day and got a leg massage. Saturday was an awesome tempo run, 8 miles with 6 at tempo pace (6:39, 6:39, 6:39, 6:39, 6:31, 6:20). Sunday I got in 5 miles with hill repeats (.25mi@2%, .25mi@3%, .5mi@5%, .25mi@3%, .25mi@2%, .5mi@6%).

Today I am taking a rest day for travel. I am currently sitting at the airport waiting for a flight back to Portland. Actually, I'm waiting for a flight to Seattle where I will then catch a flight to Portland. As amazing as this weekend was, I'm sad that I had to leave my fiance on V-Day. Such is life. Luckily, she's coming to Portland in one week! Yay for getting to see each other more than once a month!

Okay. Back to the grind of homework and thesis writing.

09 February 2011

Um....that was fast

I am really feeling like I'm developing a lot as a runner and as a marathoner. Today's workout ended up being a little over 11 miles. That included my first track workout of the cycle: 10x800m. Before the splits, some of the thoughts going through my head before the workout.

I ran a 20 miler on Monday and an easy 8 yesterday. Still, my legs felt tired. On top of that, I did not sleep much the last night (seems to be a problem lately). I wanted to hit these intervals fast but wasn't sure if my legs and body were up for it. True story: they were up for it.

2:54,:58,:55,:56,:54,:56,:57,:56,:59,:55

That averages out to 2:56! It was definitely the hardest track workout I've done in a long time. When I got back to my place, I stretched a little and broke out my new foam roller. Man, that thing hurts! But now my legs feel way better. So glad I bought that.

Warning, the following is a rant on people at the public track. I'm glad that I live in an area with a public track that is not part of a school. I'm glad that people use that track to stay healthy and in shape. There are, however, unspoken rules that one should follow. First, don't walk on the inside lane. Two, if you are running slower, run in the middle lanes. Three, do NOT let your children who are under 10 run on the inside lane. I almost ran over a few kids because their mom told them to move when I was about 3 meters behind them. I didn't think they were moving so by that point I had started going around them. Then their mom tells 'em to move and they move right into the lane I'm in!

Okay. Thats over. Good news, I set a new weekly PR! Well, not like a Monday-Sunday PR but a 7-consecutive days PR. Last Thursday-Today I got in 70 miles! Yay! Better news, I get to go visit my fiance tomorrow!

07 February 2011

Running Long

Distance: 20 miles
Time: 2:38:16
Pace: 7:55

Wow. That was unexpected. Three reasons: sleep, fueling and distance.

I did not sleep well last night. Probably only got 5 good hours of sleep. As for fueling, in the past I've used shotbloks and water. Well, quess who hasn't made it to a store to buy shotbloks yet? This guy. So...all I had was my Nathan fuel belt with 20oz of gatorade. And distance, I only had an 18 miler scheduled but just kept going.

The route was a combination double out and back. The first part is along the Willamette River (14 miles) with the last mile completely uphill. The second part is up hill 3 miles and then back down 3 miles. I figured hitting that hill during the second half would be good prep for Boston.

I almost didn't do the ice bath afterwards. Technically I don't do the ice bath ever, just really cold water. I put my feet in today and almost didn't sit down. I convinced myself that it would feel better later in the day and tomorrow so I sat down.

Before I forget, yay for new running gear. My bday was last week so I decided to spend some of the bday money on gear. I got two new pairs of shorts and a foam roller! Should be here on Wednesday!

Now, off to do some homework...