This week was a little better than last, but still not quite right. I've been pretty tired lately. Definitely need to be sleeping more, but I think I need to be running easy more. Next week I'm going to try and get some more easy miles in.
Next week is also the start of the Spring Quarter. I teach Tue/Thur until 10pm. So, I'll be running 6 days a week instead of 5. Rest day will switch to Friday's and I won't double Wednesday's. That way, I don't have to get up super early the day after I'm out late teaching.
I got in my second shipment from PowerBar on Friday. This one was more Recovery Sports Drink (best recovery drink I've had), Energy Blends and two new items to my nutrition arsenal: Harvest Energy Bars and Triple Threat Protein Bars. I used a Harvest Bar on my Saturday LR and felt great! It was the best I've felt during/after a long run at that pace in some time. The Apple Crisp flavor is great! The Triple Threat Bar is great too! I had one after the Saturday LR and Sunday MLR.
Hoping to crack that 90 mile week next week. I think it will all depend on how much energy teaching takes out of me.
Monday: Rest Day
Tuesday: 10 miles (8:34), hills, 1585ft of elevation gain
Wednesday am: 12.71 miles (8:29), first part solo, last part with Sabrina
Wednesday pm: 5.13 miles (8:40), coaching
Thursday: Rest Day
Friday: 6 miles (7:14)
Saturday: 23 miles (7:58), first 12 with Kim, last 11 coaching
Sunday: 13.2 miles (7:16), mostly @ 7:30 pace, dropped it the last ~5 with the last mile sub-6
Total: 70.04 miles (8:00)
#PBTE
30 March 2014
23 March 2014
Week 11
Ugh. That's how I feel about this week. Nothing spectacular and a failed second LR today. My legs weren't in it and my head wasn't in it. This wasn't exactly the week I was looking for as the week after a cutback but I'm trying to stay positive. I've still got two months before Pigtails and I still got decent mileage in this week. I'm going to take today to focus on my teaching and maybe do a little research. Hopefully I'll be able to mentally reset overnight so I'll be ready to tackle a high mileage week next week.
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: 12 miles (7:07)
Wednesday: am- 6 miles (7:12)
Wednesday: pm- 5.17 miles (9:21)
Thursday: Rest
Friday: 10 miles (7:23)
Saturday: 22.22 miles (8:29; fuel: 3 PowerGels, 1 Energy Blend)
Sunday: 8 miles (7:58; fuel: Perform Sports Drink)
Total: 63.39 miles (7:56)
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: 12 miles (7:07)
Wednesday: am- 6 miles (7:12)
Wednesday: pm- 5.17 miles (9:21)
Thursday: Rest
Friday: 10 miles (7:23)
Saturday: 22.22 miles (8:29; fuel: 3 PowerGels, 1 Energy Blend)
Sunday: 8 miles (7:58; fuel: Perform Sports Drink)
Total: 63.39 miles (7:56)
18 March 2014
Race Report: St Paddy's Half Marathon
Normally, a race report is a reflection of my performance on the course. Rest assured, that will be here. First, I wanted to reflect on my training group.
This was a tune-up race for our half and full marathon training group which I am lucky enough to coach. Full marathoners competed in the half and half marathoners ran the 10k. The men and women in this picture blew me away. Not just by their performances, but their support for each other both on the course and at the finish! To those who were cheering for me on the out-and-backs, thank you!
This amazing group of athletes have gone from toughing out their first long runs of 8-10 miles to hill repeats in the freezing rain and snow to track work in the dark, pouring rain with just the stadium safety lights to light the way. For those reading this, you're hard work is paying off and I can't wait to see what you do on May 4th (which, fyi, is International Star Wars Day).
Congrats to all the runners from the Tacoma store and a special congrats to those I train out of the Bonney Lake store: Andrea, Jen, Glyn, Jesse, Jarna, Heather, Jeff, Celiane, Rhonda, Sarah, Lane and Stephanie! A big thank you goes out to my partners in crime, Sabrina and Michele. I couldn't do what I do with out your support.
On to the report:
I woke up around 5am. Had a small glass of orange juice, a banana and half a bagel. I left my apartment around 6 to head to the start. After battling with the parking meter which wouldn't take my cash (thanks for using your card and letting me pay you in cash guy in line behind me!), I walked the two blocks to the start. There I got my bib and started setting up the VIP tent for our trainees. I spent the next few hours hanging banners, chatting with trainees and enjoying the atmosphere. About 30 minutes before the start, I drank a bottle of PowerBar Perform Sports Drink. Fifteen minutes prior to start, I had a PowerBar Energy Blend to top off my fuel stores.
After a short warm up jog and some dynamic stretching, I made my way to the starting line. If you've seen me at the start of a race then you know my pre-race ritual includes a short prayer. No matter what my nerves are doing, that short prayer is enough to calm me down and get my head focused. Today, it told me I was going to have a good day.
I went out with a small group, maybe 8-10 runners. The three lead gals and a few guys from the group made a ~40 meter gap by mile two. Something told me to run them down so I did. After bridging the gap, two gals and a guy sped off. I ran with the third place woman until about mile 6.5 (when you start the climb to Pt Defiance). For what ever reason, I like to think it was four years in Montana followed by two years on the trails in Portland, I'm strong on the hills. I pushed through the rollers and started picking off runners.
I blasted back down to the waterfront (you can see which mile was down hill in the splits below) to the 9 mile marker. By then the second place woman was in my sight. At this point, we were weaving around 5k/10k runners. This made things a little tricky, but also made the last few miles go by quicker. One half runner I came up on around mile 10-10.5 and I worked together until the last half mile or so. We caught the second place gal and didn't look back.
The last little uphill just about killed me. Didn't think it was a big hill when we ran down at the start but man, at mile 13 that thing felt like a monster! As I crossed the finish, my store owner (who happens to also be the RD) told me I was 5th overall! I was ecstatic! Though I couldn't really express it. I was exhausted! After resting on the rails for a few minutes, I made my way to our VIP tent. I got a quick calf massage (thank you to Bodhi Wellness), changed into some dry clothes, got some soup and my bottle of PowerBar Recovery Sports Drink.
At this point, more of our athletes started rolling in. I chatted with them, cheered on others as they crossed the finish and gave the medals to my last two half marathon athletes! The whole event was a blast! After the kids' 1k finished up, Sabrina, a few others and myself cleaned up the VIP tent and I headed home to my amazing wife :)
In all it was probably one of the best race experiences I've had, as an athlete and as a coach.
I didn't have my Garmin on auto lap because it never matches up with the markers. I just hit the lap button when I saw that I was passing a mile marker.
1: 6:31
2-3: 13:08 (6:34 avg)
4-6: 18:46 (6:15 avg)
7: 6:16
8: 6:16
9: 5:49
10-11: 12:36 (6:18 avg)
12: 6:11
13: 6:26
0.1: :38
Garmin Time: 1:22:41
Official Time: 1:22:37
Overall: 5th
Men: 4th
Age Group (25-29): 1st
Elevation Chart:
This was a tune-up race for our half and full marathon training group which I am lucky enough to coach. Full marathoners competed in the half and half marathoners ran the 10k. The men and women in this picture blew me away. Not just by their performances, but their support for each other both on the course and at the finish! To those who were cheering for me on the out-and-backs, thank you!
This amazing group of athletes have gone from toughing out their first long runs of 8-10 miles to hill repeats in the freezing rain and snow to track work in the dark, pouring rain with just the stadium safety lights to light the way. For those reading this, you're hard work is paying off and I can't wait to see what you do on May 4th (which, fyi, is International Star Wars Day).
Congrats to all the runners from the Tacoma store and a special congrats to those I train out of the Bonney Lake store: Andrea, Jen, Glyn, Jesse, Jarna, Heather, Jeff, Celiane, Rhonda, Sarah, Lane and Stephanie! A big thank you goes out to my partners in crime, Sabrina and Michele. I couldn't do what I do with out your support.
On to the report:
I woke up around 5am. Had a small glass of orange juice, a banana and half a bagel. I left my apartment around 6 to head to the start. After battling with the parking meter which wouldn't take my cash (thanks for using your card and letting me pay you in cash guy in line behind me!), I walked the two blocks to the start. There I got my bib and started setting up the VIP tent for our trainees. I spent the next few hours hanging banners, chatting with trainees and enjoying the atmosphere. About 30 minutes before the start, I drank a bottle of PowerBar Perform Sports Drink. Fifteen minutes prior to start, I had a PowerBar Energy Blend to top off my fuel stores.
After a short warm up jog and some dynamic stretching, I made my way to the starting line. If you've seen me at the start of a race then you know my pre-race ritual includes a short prayer. No matter what my nerves are doing, that short prayer is enough to calm me down and get my head focused. Today, it told me I was going to have a good day.
I went out with a small group, maybe 8-10 runners. The three lead gals and a few guys from the group made a ~40 meter gap by mile two. Something told me to run them down so I did. After bridging the gap, two gals and a guy sped off. I ran with the third place woman until about mile 6.5 (when you start the climb to Pt Defiance). For what ever reason, I like to think it was four years in Montana followed by two years on the trails in Portland, I'm strong on the hills. I pushed through the rollers and started picking off runners.
I blasted back down to the waterfront (you can see which mile was down hill in the splits below) to the 9 mile marker. By then the second place woman was in my sight. At this point, we were weaving around 5k/10k runners. This made things a little tricky, but also made the last few miles go by quicker. One half runner I came up on around mile 10-10.5 and I worked together until the last half mile or so. We caught the second place gal and didn't look back.
The last little uphill just about killed me. Didn't think it was a big hill when we ran down at the start but man, at mile 13 that thing felt like a monster! As I crossed the finish, my store owner (who happens to also be the RD) told me I was 5th overall! I was ecstatic! Though I couldn't really express it. I was exhausted! After resting on the rails for a few minutes, I made my way to our VIP tent. I got a quick calf massage (thank you to Bodhi Wellness), changed into some dry clothes, got some soup and my bottle of PowerBar Recovery Sports Drink.
At this point, more of our athletes started rolling in. I chatted with them, cheered on others as they crossed the finish and gave the medals to my last two half marathon athletes! The whole event was a blast! After the kids' 1k finished up, Sabrina, a few others and myself cleaned up the VIP tent and I headed home to my amazing wife :)
In all it was probably one of the best race experiences I've had, as an athlete and as a coach.
I didn't have my Garmin on auto lap because it never matches up with the markers. I just hit the lap button when I saw that I was passing a mile marker.
1: 6:31
2-3: 13:08 (6:34 avg)
4-6: 18:46 (6:15 avg)
7: 6:16
8: 6:16
9: 5:49
10-11: 12:36 (6:18 avg)
12: 6:11
13: 6:26
0.1: :38
Garmin Time: 1:22:41
Official Time: 1:22:37
Overall: 5th
Men: 4th
Age Group (25-29): 1st
Elevation Chart:
16 March 2014
Week 10
Major cutback on mileage this week. Really, it just meant no long weekend. Had a solid session of mile repeats on Wednesday and a half marathon PR on Saturday. Race Report for that later today or tomorrow.
Monday- Rest Day
Tuesday- 10 miles (7:45)
Wednsday- am 10 miles including 5x1 mile w/ 400m recovery (6:07, 6:00, 5:56, 5:56, 5:50) (PowerBar Energy Blend before, Perform drink during, Recovery drink after)
Wednesday- pm 6.95 miles (7:58)
Thursday- Rest Day
Friday- 7 miles (8:35)
Saturday- 13.1 miles (6:18, St Paddy's Half) (PowerBar Energy Blend and Perform before, Recovery after)
Sunday- 8 miles (7:42)
Total: 55.05 miles (7:24)
Monday- Rest Day
Tuesday- 10 miles (7:45)
Wednsday- am 10 miles including 5x1 mile w/ 400m recovery (6:07, 6:00, 5:56, 5:56, 5:50) (PowerBar Energy Blend before, Perform drink during, Recovery drink after)
Wednesday- pm 6.95 miles (7:58)
Thursday- Rest Day
Friday- 7 miles (8:35)
Saturday- 13.1 miles (6:18, St Paddy's Half) (PowerBar Energy Blend and Perform before, Recovery after)
Sunday- 8 miles (7:42)
Total: 55.05 miles (7:24)
09 March 2014
Week 9
Monday: Rest Day
Tuesday: 10 miles (6:53)- Felt pretty good this run. I hadn't planned on going that quickly but all the treadmills with TV's were taken and my iPod died so…I cranked out what I could to get it done.
Wednesday: am: 5.05 miles (9:49), pm: 6.69 miles (8:16)- Pretty good day overall. Ran with Kendra and Angela in the morning. I had initially planned on continuing to get 10 in the am but my legs were a bit sluggish from Tuesday's effort so I cut it at 5. Coaching in the evening, I paced a few of the runners through their workout (5x800m). We got dumped on the entire workout. To make it a little fun, we played "Guess Coaches Time". I did one more 800, hard. Closest to guess my time without going over got some Feetures Elite socks. Managed to muster up a 2:34 for that.
Thursday: 10 miles (7:32)-I had planned on running an easy 10 on the mill again. About a quarter mile in I hear and excited voice behind me "Nick!"A good friend, Ruth, was about to do her run on the mill since she hadn't found anyone to head out with her. We opted for the roads and cranked out a solid effort. Ruth, if you're reading this it was AMAZING to run with you again :)
Friday: 3 miles (6:24)- I had planned on taking a rest day but…got a little stressed with lecture planning and had to crank out something. Ended up with a progression run. Splits: 7:19, 6:08, 5:43.
Saturday: 30 miles (8:44)-This was an interesting run. The group I coach was running 10 miles for the halfers and 17 for the full. I ran 10 miles before the group started. During the run, I got in ~18 miles (ran a little back and forth to run with different trainees) and a quick 2 to finish off the run. I probably could have fueled more but still felt pretty good! I brought an Energy Blend and 5 PowerGels with me. I had the blend after the first 10 and 3 of the PowerGels during the last 20 miles. Right after the run, I had a bottle of Recover Sports Drink (also from PowerBar). I really feel like this makes a difference in my ability to bounce back after a hard effort.
Sunday: 20 miles (7:47)- This was a #BrilliantRun! I ran the first 7 miles @ 8:34 pace. I had 3 PowerGels, 1 Energy Blend and 1 bottle of Perform with me. The first ~3 miles felt crazy hard. I had the Energy Blend around mile 3.5. Even after, I still feltoff the effects of yesterday's run. Around mile 5 I opted to take my first gel. I don't know if it was the caffeine or just the extra nutrients but after a few minutes, everything was easier. My breathing slowed, my stride got smoother. I picked the pace up to 7:30 for the next 10 miles. To close out the run, I pushed progression style until the last mile which was sub-6:40 pace! I am feeling very strong right now and this run shows me that my fitness is reaching a new level.
Total: 84.74 miles (8:06)
This being my third straight week of building, next week is a cutback week :) I welcome the "rest" I'll get by only doing one long run next weekend. I've also got a race on the schedule. My trainees will be running a 10k or half marathon (depending on their goal race in May) on Saturday. I'm entered to run the half but have yet to decide if I'm going to race or just pace one of them.
I believe I'm ~10 weeks out from Pigtails. I'll probably continue to build for the month of March and attempt to hold what ever mileage I reach ( be it 90mpw or 100mpw) for the month of April. My 50 mile tune up is the last week in April. A week later, I'll be running the Tacoma City Marathon with my trainees. Then its taper time for a few weeks.
#PBTE
Tuesday: 10 miles (6:53)- Felt pretty good this run. I hadn't planned on going that quickly but all the treadmills with TV's were taken and my iPod died so…I cranked out what I could to get it done.
Wednesday: am: 5.05 miles (9:49), pm: 6.69 miles (8:16)- Pretty good day overall. Ran with Kendra and Angela in the morning. I had initially planned on continuing to get 10 in the am but my legs were a bit sluggish from Tuesday's effort so I cut it at 5. Coaching in the evening, I paced a few of the runners through their workout (5x800m). We got dumped on the entire workout. To make it a little fun, we played "Guess Coaches Time". I did one more 800, hard. Closest to guess my time without going over got some Feetures Elite socks. Managed to muster up a 2:34 for that.
Thursday: 10 miles (7:32)-I had planned on running an easy 10 on the mill again. About a quarter mile in I hear and excited voice behind me "Nick!"A good friend, Ruth, was about to do her run on the mill since she hadn't found anyone to head out with her. We opted for the roads and cranked out a solid effort. Ruth, if you're reading this it was AMAZING to run with you again :)
Friday: 3 miles (6:24)- I had planned on taking a rest day but…got a little stressed with lecture planning and had to crank out something. Ended up with a progression run. Splits: 7:19, 6:08, 5:43.
Saturday: 30 miles (8:44)-This was an interesting run. The group I coach was running 10 miles for the halfers and 17 for the full. I ran 10 miles before the group started. During the run, I got in ~18 miles (ran a little back and forth to run with different trainees) and a quick 2 to finish off the run. I probably could have fueled more but still felt pretty good! I brought an Energy Blend and 5 PowerGels with me. I had the blend after the first 10 and 3 of the PowerGels during the last 20 miles. Right after the run, I had a bottle of Recover Sports Drink (also from PowerBar). I really feel like this makes a difference in my ability to bounce back after a hard effort.
Sunday: 20 miles (7:47)- This was a #BrilliantRun! I ran the first 7 miles @ 8:34 pace. I had 3 PowerGels, 1 Energy Blend and 1 bottle of Perform with me. The first ~3 miles felt crazy hard. I had the Energy Blend around mile 3.5. Even after, I still felt
Total: 84.74 miles (8:06)
This being my third straight week of building, next week is a cutback week :) I welcome the "rest" I'll get by only doing one long run next weekend. I've also got a race on the schedule. My trainees will be running a 10k or half marathon (depending on their goal race in May) on Saturday. I'm entered to run the half but have yet to decide if I'm going to race or just pace one of them.
I believe I'm ~10 weeks out from Pigtails. I'll probably continue to build for the month of March and attempt to hold what ever mileage I reach ( be it 90mpw or 100mpw) for the month of April. My 50 mile tune up is the last week in April. A week later, I'll be running the Tacoma City Marathon with my trainees. Then its taper time for a few weeks.
#PBTE
03 March 2014
Week 8
Monday: Rest Day
Tuesday: 10 miles (7:43); treadmill miles//hill work
Wednesday: am-10.5 miles (8:11), pm-5.4 miles (8:08)
Thursday: Rest Day
Friday: 10 miles (6:37); progression run from 7:30 to 5:16
Saturday: 26 miles (8:16); first 10 with a friend, last 16 coaching
Sunday: 20 miles (8:23)
Total: 81.9 miles (8:04)
Great week of training! Felt good for every run, minus the end of my 20 miler on Sunday. The 26 the day before got to me and I felt sluggish. Also, my right foot is a little sore near my 5th metatarsal head. Might ice it tonight if its still bugging me. I'm very encouraged by the fact that I was able to do another back-to-back set of 20's this weekend. Hoping to do something similar this coming weekend, but with a 30+ miler on Sunday.
On the work side of life, I definitely need to stop procrastinating. I have a new textbook for my statistics class this quarter. I've got three weeks left to re-work my lectures to fit this text. Guess I'll go get another cup of coffee and get to work!
Tuesday: 10 miles (7:43); treadmill miles//hill work
Wednesday: am-10.5 miles (8:11), pm-5.4 miles (8:08)
Thursday: Rest Day
Friday: 10 miles (6:37); progression run from 7:30 to 5:16
Saturday: 26 miles (8:16); first 10 with a friend, last 16 coaching
Sunday: 20 miles (8:23)
Total: 81.9 miles (8:04)
Great week of training! Felt good for every run, minus the end of my 20 miler on Sunday. The 26 the day before got to me and I felt sluggish. Also, my right foot is a little sore near my 5th metatarsal head. Might ice it tonight if its still bugging me. I'm very encouraged by the fact that I was able to do another back-to-back set of 20's this weekend. Hoping to do something similar this coming weekend, but with a 30+ miler on Sunday.
On the work side of life, I definitely need to stop procrastinating. I have a new textbook for my statistics class this quarter. I've got three weeks left to re-work my lectures to fit this text. Guess I'll go get another cup of coffee and get to work!
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