Today I celebrate my first anniversary of my return to running. 1 year ago, I made a step that hopefully will continue to change my life for the better.

What events led up to this change?

I was at a point in my life where I was fed up with who I was seeing in the mirror, and decided to do something about it. I stepped onto the scale at just over 200lbs, today I am just below 160 and dropping slowly into a range I feel comfortable with. I am more happy and loving life more than I ever was before.

What has happened over the course of the year?

I’ve been able to rack up 1183.1 miles in running, with 116 of that being in races. I have put many more miles in between XT and walking. I have set a goal this year to hit 2012 and I am on mark for reaching or exceeding that goal with 273.06 in so far for the year.

I have met new a new group of friends that I hope will be there for the long road ahead. I joined a local run club, the Genesee Valley Harriers, and got hooked up with Coach Mike Rief who has dramatically altered the way I approach my running.

I’ve gone from running a 5K to 10K to Half Marathon to Marathon to Cross Country to trail racing in winter to now training for my first Trail Marathon and first Ultra 50K.

I have two children who are interested in running, and for the last month, I have a wife who has been trying to get into running as well despite some minor setbacks.

I decided to celebrate by going out for an anniversary run of my own this past Friday as my anniversary day is actually my rest day. The top photo is my run from a year ago –running as hard as I could, the bottom was from Friday –running “easy” (I had to run a slightly altered route due to construction — in February!).

A continuation of my journeys in running, and more specifically what do I do now that my marathon has ended.

I need to get back to actually writing down my thoughts on my training as it happens rather than just recapping in retrospect. Most of these are however from my Dailymile recap, which works also.

Monday February 13

OFF DAY Felt pretty good today despite the lingering pain from rolling my ankle and slamming my body down off the log yesterday. No pain no gain right? Went to a informational meeting at Fleet Feet regarding the Sehgahunda Trail Marathon that is held in late May. I’m toying with the idea of training for this and was interested to see what Fleet Feet does, however due simply to the cost of the program (plus the additional cost of the Marathon itself) financially joining the group is not within reach for us. So unless I can workout some sort of training program with coach I might be on my own on this one. However it is enticing to me simply the fact that it is a longer trail race. In line with that would also be the Medved Madness 15 mile trail race held the week AFTER the Flower City Half Marathon…oh the decisions.

Tuesday February 14

AM: My Altras came in! Lone Peaks fit fine, Instincts are a bit tight however. Gotta try with different socks. Now I feel REALLY guilty I didn’t get my run in this AM. Heard back from coach and he sent me a training plan geared towards the Sehgahunda Trail Marathon. He really slapped me awake and made me realize I need to pick and focus on the right races and so as part of that we worked in some “fun” races that can be used as training for me. I also decided that apart from SMT being my first A race, I am going to train for the Oil Creek 50K in October. More on this in a future post.

Wednesday February 15

 PM: RACE REPORT Well…strapped on my Altra Lone Peaks for their initiation race and went to work. Jeff Beck wasn’t running so the pace was noticeably slower, I was actually 2nd thru the first .50 mile until lack of grip started to plague me. I ended up working harder than I should have and placed further back then I should have. Still managed to continue my trend of doing better with each race. 19:26 9th overall, 5th in division, 4th in Age group. Without Beck running all of us will have better scoring which is nice. 1st place was 17 something. Could’ve finished 8th but I thought it better trail Karma to tell the guy who just passed me he was headed the wrong way and not on the course. I let him back in front and cruised behind him to the finish. Could’ve passed him,…but I didn’t. More on the blog tomorrow. Training for the Sehgahunda Trail Marathon resumes tomorrow.

The run: SCWT #5 – Cobbs Hill
19:22/2.36
RTR:9/10

Thursday February 16

PM: Wow do I feel beat up. Legs felt a little sore waking up this AM which was to be expected on the transition to the Altra’s, but as the day wore on and I stood most of the day, my legs became increasingly fatigued. Once again I should’ve learned and ran in the morning when I WOKE UP AT 4 feeling great. Instead I was running in the cold raining on tired legs. Tonight was a Threshold Run (7:19) with 1:30 walk, :30 run in between, first true run on my schedule leading up to the Sehgahunda Trail Marathon (heretofore known from now on as SMT) we parked afterward, which was another hour of standing, I hurt in every joint from my lower back down
2.30 mi wu @E 9:19
0.50 mi @T 7:17
1.00 mi @T 7:23
1.00 mi @T 7:38
0.50 mi @T 7:15
1.55 mi CD@E 9:39

The run: Home to Work – Threshold R
1:08:37/7.53
RTR:6/10

Friday February 17

PM:Just a filler reco run. Took the Altra’s out for their 2nd run, felt much better despite the lower calf pain. Stopped worrying about the way my foot was striking and just focused on beating the snow …yeah THE SNOW, where did that come from and why did it show up EXACTLY as I was heading out the door? This was also my anniversary run…

The run: Easy 3
26:52/3.01
RTR: 7/10

Saturday February 18

AM: Headed into this planning on running 16 miles to get some extra mileage in, but watched as it became a winter wonderland and my footing started wearing me down. Decided I would male it an easy run half mary, and just missed going under 2 hours by 21 seconds. Worked on fueling and keeping an even pace. Got to see plenty of GVH’rs and ran with Benjamin D. & Lynn G. because Joanna & Becca J. were just too fast! More miles later…probably trail though.

The run : ODR Long Run
2:00:29/13.10
RTR:8/10

PM: Headed out for some punishment on the trail. Despite running 13 this AM I was feeling pretty good once I hit the trail. Couldn’t believe the snow was almost all melted on the path. Went out in shorts! I felt like superman for a little bit, gaining a bit more confidence in the Lone Peaks and felt pretty stable the faster I ran. Ran a little harder than I should 7/10

The Run: Trail Double
51:18/5.26
RTR: 7/10

Sunday February 19

AM: 1 hour Easy Run @9:21 (6.42mi) + .50 mile walk at end. Calves and ankle were hurting pretty bad during this run. Really tired after yesterday physically. Was going to do 2 loops but pushed for one long one to force myself to run the full hour. 5/10 Happy Sunday, rest day tomorrow, ramping in miles begins again this week….

The run: Easy Run
1:09:55/6.97
RTR: 5/10

Recap

A lot happened this week, plans changed but in the end it is all for good. I’m happy mentally to have some better key focused goals and I think once I actually lay the money down I will be that much more happy.

Upcoming:

No races this next week, I am actually not going to run the last Freezeroo and focus on my training and save my energy for the last Trail series race. Currently I am 4th overall and 3rd in my age group but not holding the lead by much.

Total miles Run 6hr 9min / 39.75mi

Trail: 7.5
Road: 33 mi
Treadmill: 0 mi (YES!)
Race: 2.36 mi

TSS Score: 495.5

Weight: 158

Wednesday night brought the next race in Fleet Feet’s Snow Cheap Winter Trail Series. Snow had fallen over the weekend, however most of it had begun to melt and there would be NO snowshoes on the course. Instead we would be slogging it out in snow, ice slush and mud. The air temp was ok, and not too cold, still decided to stick with my thermals. Went out for a warmup run in my Altra Instincts. Felt ok. I didn’t go into this race at 100% as I was dealing with a migraine, but I had taken the last two days off of running.

MILE 1 8:29

As we got to the start something, or rather someone was missing. Jeff Beck, the fast guy who wins all these. So as we started it was noticeably slower and I surprisingly found myself settled into the number 2 slot thru to first 1/2 mile. It was crazy, there wasn’t the typical mad dash to get out front we all just sort of fell in line quicker and easier. The pace wasn’t too hard and I didn’t have a problem hanging with it or the guys in the lead pack. However I was running in my Lone Peaks for the first time and learning their grip. Uphill on ice they had no grip and I started getting a little overworked to hang on. As we hit the 1/2 mile there was a slush puddle and I went right thru the heart of it burying my feet into the cold water, this is where 4 guys passed me. Two of them were the ones I beat last time so it kind of ticked me off. What a difference grip makes. 3 more people would pass me as we meandered thru the woods.

MILE 2 8:27

Some more back woods running, nothing hard, just  a lot of slush. Kind of settled into my groove and spread out a little from th2e lead pack. As we reached the top of the reservoir I was passed by the last guy who would pass me and I let him lead us down the switch backs as I was still unconfident with my grip.

MILE .36 2:25 (6:41p)

Tried picking up the pace but as I was about to the guy in front of me veered of course and I had to tell him to take a right, and I let him back in line, following him to the finish by 1 second. If I had better grip, I would’ve passed him. I also would’ve passed him had I not said anything, but that’s just bad trail mojo.

OVERALL 19:26 2.36mi (official)

Overall, decent race. I would like to try and be at 100% or as close to it as possible by the final race. I came in 9th overall (first top 10!) 5th in my division and 4th in my Age Group. (the guy in front of me was in my division and AG) With Beck not racing the finsihing time was 17:51, so only finishing 1:30 back is going to help give me a better score so it will knock out my low score. I’m aiming for a top 5 overall in the next race. But I need to stay humble before I get hurt an schooled. The only thing I wish was that the races were a little longer;)

On Tuesday I received my long awaited Altra Instincts and Altra Lone Peaks!

The first thing I did upon getting them of course was try them on. Making a huge leap going from the high heel of the Mizuno Inspire and Ascend (trail) I knew there was going to be a transition period, so I also opted to not run in them right away. First thing I noticed was the difference between the two. I had ordered an 11 in both, and the Lone Peaks were very roomy and comfortable, but solid. The Instincts however seemed a bit tight and like I was wearing a slipper. Very light though, so that was a nice change. Instantly I could feel the difference in having no raised heel.When I got home I decided I would try the Instincts with a thin pair or performance socks and they seemed to fit better. I plan on wearing Injinini socks and this should help the fit better as well.  I did notice one thing on them that bugged me. You can see the Altra symbol on the Instincts, my big toe is right underneath that. I’m hoping it softens on my runs or I will probably be going up in size. The Lone Peaks do not have this issue. After  walking around in them for the remainder of Tuesday and all of Wednesday I figured I would try my warmup in them before my Snow Cheap race. The ground was pretty dry and I headed out to do 1.5mi warmup.

Almost instantly I noticed the change of having zero drop in the shoe and how it promotes better form. I felt like to run properly I was running tip toed (it felt that way but I probably wasn’t) I was able to run comfortably at a faster than easy pace without any issues. The shoes were light and I had a sensation as if I was doing one of my barefoot exercises. Nice.

Next up was to initiate the Lone Peaks into their first run, a race! Ran a couple sprints to get used to the feel and tightened them up a bit. My right foot felt a little looser in the heel than my left so this is something to keep an eye on. For the most part I had no fear in running in these trail shoes, I did find the grip somewhat lacking when I hit the uphill ice/snow mixture. I also went right thru some serious water puddles and completely submerged one of my feet. This didn’t seem to bother me much. I checked afterwards and the shoe was damp but no standing water, just a wet sock.

All in all I think they both handled well and I look forward to the transition and change in form so that I may enjoy this journey a little better. Soreness factor is a 2/10 for day after, and that isn’t bad. I plan on getting a 2nd pair of Instincts just to wear as everyday shoes so I can have that good feeling all day long.

I will try to give a better review after I have been running in them on a more regular basis.

Altra Instincts: 1.5 miles

Altra Lone Peaks: 2.36 miles

A continuation of my journeys in running, and more specifically what do I do now that my marathon has ended.

I need to get back to actually writing down my thoughts on my training as it happens rather than just recapping in retrospect. Most of these are however from my Dailymile recap, which works also.

Monday February 6

OFF DAY Knees were still aching when I got out of bed in the AM, thinking about getting a memory foam bed which seems to be helping my neck. Had some lower  back pain  crop up mid afternoon. The sun was out it was beautiful I wanted to go for a run. Recorded my first audio run journal entry as well:

Run Journal Entry #1

Tuesday February 7

AM: We got a change in transportation for the next two weeks so I will be able to head out for a morning run at 5 rather than 4, so at least for the next two weeks I can get my runs in when I want them. This allows my wife to get her runs / walks in during the afternoon/eve after work. I was planning on doing my figure 8 loop I did two weeks ago twice, but I got bored with this run and wanted to change it up, so at 4 miles I reversed course and did the loop the opposite way. Tried working on a quicker cadence,…or what I felt was quicker cadence, but still averaged out to an 83.

First half: 36:14
Second Half: 36:52

The run: Easy 8
1:13:08/8.00

RTR: 5/10

Wednesday February 8

AM: Nothing special about this run. It was pretty cold and my legs felt tight. Noticed some pain in the tendon on the left side of my ankle on my left leg, I assume this had more to do with my form than anything else. I felt my gait was wider and the cold was not letting me get my correct stride in. Also been feeling my back tighten up more after the runs. Altra’s come in on Tuesday, so I’m really looking forward to making the transition. Listened to a podcast with Jenn Shelton and another on “is running ultras harmful?”. Both interesting podcasts.

The run: Fig8-4 Double Run #1

PM: Decided on a whim it was time to go see my ART guy, Dr. Colby. I ahven’t been to him since the marathon, which was 566 miles ago. I’ve been meaning to for a while, and after how I was feeling decided it was time. He worked on my feet, hips and back.I am planning a schedule now that has me go every other week to see if it helps me get back on track.

As for the run, better than this AM, but still feeling wonky. Another 8 in the AM. Keeping this whole week easy pace (9:07-9:17) and deciding about Saturday when I get there. It’s about the miles right now, and I don’t want to feel like I’m struggling to hit my goals (yes I KNOW goals are supposed o be hard, but these are little goals….)

The run: Easy 4

Thursday February 9

AM: Woke up at 4:45 this AM and my feet felt golden, in fact all of me felt really good. I decided to forgo the run till the afternoon as an 8mile down to the theater.

PM: Woke up this morning feeling fantastic, and decided to forgo a run and let the feeling linger for as long as it could. Spent a lot of time standing today but decided to run to the theatre from home tonight. Got out the door while the sun was shining warmly and began my run. Wanted to run by feel and felt really great for the first 2 miles till I hit the Panorama hill to start mile 3, but was able to recover and keep up a faster than easy pace for the whole run. Worked on cadence yesterday and I ended up with a better even cadence today that helped make the run fly by, not quite 90 yet but something I’m really going to hone in on when I get my Altras. Wasn’t the best, but I’m getting there. 6/10.
Splits: 8:37/8:39/8:58/8:47/8:38/9:01/8:47/8:27

The run: Home to Theatre

1:09:56/8.01
RTR:6/10

Friday February 10

OFF DAY

Saturday February 11

AM: Was shooting for a sub 1 hour, but I didn’t quite make it. 1:01:44. The conditions were not conducive to me attaining this today. Cold, Ice, Snow,…wet, eyelids froze, beard froze. Positive I held my pace fairly well despite some positive splits, and I passed a couple runners going up the last overpass which had some packed snow. For how the last two weeks treated me, I’ll take it. 64th overall. I was too bonked to cooldown even though I should have, ran in trail shoes as this was closer to a trail race than a road race.
7:22/7:31/7:48/7:38/7:50/7:58/7:37/7:44

The run pt 1: PreRace WU
14:39/1.63
RTR: 7/10

The run pt 2: Freezeroo #5 – Valentines Run
1:01:43/8.04
RTR: 7/10

Sunday February 12

AM: Fresh snow, first tracks. Was able to extend my run out to 6 miles due to the snow and it was a 6 mile snow trail run, involving actual trail and sidewalks…which might as well have been trail. Blazed my trail for 2/3 of the run before I had cross country ski tracks to contend with, Got a good feel for what it’s like with fresh snow down, should one of our trail series races ever have snow. It took a lot of concentration to avoid the unseen rocks, logs, ruts. Did ok but turned the ankle once on a rut and then had the wind knocked out of me on mile 5 as I caught a log and slammed into the ground. Lesson learned. You can never be to sure what’s underneath. Oh well, got my miles in and feeling better. Pace was actually better than expected considering the conditions. 7/10

The run: Linear Park Trail Loop v6.0
1:01:58/6.01

RTR: 7/10

Recap

In the end, this week proved much better than the last two. I felt myself bouncing back over the last two days, and feeling at about 80%. My last 4 weeks saw me go 44/42/23/40mi and I realize I might need to put a bigger drop in my recovery week to help during my build up . I still plan on being at 50 by end of month and might look at doing 50/55/60/30 for a couple months once I level out.

In other news I started to put together my plans for a podcast and I am going to do it in conjunction with me trying to become an Ultra runner and qualify for Western States. SO by the end of the month I should have something more on that. For now here is the temporary logo:

Upcoming:

Snow Cheap Winter Trail series race #5 this Wednesday, then I have only 1 race left in each series and can refocus myself and really focus on training.

Total miles Run 5hr 57min / 40mi

Trail: 6 mi (+8 most of the race )
Road: 34 mi
Treadmill: 0 mi (YES!)
Race: 8 mi

Weight: 159

A continuation of my journeys in running, and more specifically what do I do now that my marathon has ended.

I need to get back to actually writing down my thoughts on my training as it happens rather than just recapping in retrospect. Most of these are however from my Dailymile recap, which works also.

Monday January 30

OFF DAY

Tuesday January 31

AM: Fatigue has most definitely set in. Plan was to do 800/1000/1200/1200/1000/800 all at Interval (6:42). Got up at 4:15 jogged over to the wellness center (where I saw John F. looking strong on the mill) hop on the mill and do the faster intervals so I didn’t fall on my butt outside. After the 2nd interval I was beat, barely made it halfway thru the first 1200 and added a 400 cutting out the 1200/1000/800. Tired after 6 miles I couldn’t even make it to 8. Couldn’t even hold an easy pace on the run home. .40mi reco jogs in between 3/10. Final run total for January, a PR 176 miles.
WU 1.3mi 9:22
800m 6:40
1000m 6:49
800m 6:54
400m 7:03
1.3mi CD @10:00

The run: Half Marathon wk1 d1
56:14/6.01

RTR: 3/10

Wednesday February 1

PM: SCWT#4 Race Recap Boom! I decided to race and not take the wise advice of resting. Had a really great race, and didn’t even push myself to my limit. However it was 38 hours since I last ran and despite standing pretty much all day, my legs felt good to go. Unofficially: 20:39 12th overall, 9th division, 3rd! Age group. I passed and beat the two people I wanted to, AND passed one of the faster runners coming out of the woods and held on. It was a delightful mudfest, and mentally I am glad I ran. I am going to just run easy thru Sunday and see how I feel. I might push my HM race to Buffalo, I was already going to race it but as my second one. Thinking I’ll use Flower City as my training run, and let my body have these extra weeks to balance out with the higher mileage and get some rest…..maybe.

The run: prerace warmup / SCWT#4
9:41/1.07
20:23/2.30

RTR:7/10

Thursday February 2

OFF DAY Going to see how 2 days off in a row will help

Friday February 3

OFF DAY Still not feeling great, more tiredness

Saturday February 4

AM: (Around 56 hours since my last run) After having not run since Wednesday, I decided to split y long run, partially due to how I’ve been feeling and partially because I had a RUNSMART clinic to attend in Webster. So I ran to the clinic and back. Two big Panorama trail hills. fun. Actually got to run in the sun today, so that was good. Still don’t know my plan from here on out. After the run I noticed my knees were extremely sore and the joints were aching bad. 5/10
Part 1: 5.65 52:39
Part 2: 5.65 51:52

The run: 2 part long run
1:44:52/11.30

RTR: 5/10

Sunday February 5

PM: Usually a trail run helps get me back to balance, this did not do that. Horrible run, horrible week. Ellision Park South Loops, 4 verticals, very muddy, fallen trees. Got lost on a game trail. Knees are still barking… 3/10

The run: Ellision Park Short Trail
34:51/2.70

RTR: 3/10

Recap

Overall,not one of my best weeks. Despite the pleasure of having a really good trail run on Wednesday night, I was not happy this week, and not happy to be around. I still don’t know where I am headed with all of this. Training seemed to be goign so well as of late, but hitting this fatigue wall has drained all life and deflated my confidence goign forward. The trick is to now dust off and “get back on the horse”. The question is “which” horse? Do I continue to build base and let my fatigue dissipate, and go towards Buffalo or continue  on with my Flower City plan and deal with the issues as they come? I do know this, I have to buck up and get over the complaining of injuries and pain. Western States (or any decent trail run…) is not for wimps. Right now I feel like a wimp.

On a side note I ordered my Altra Instincts & Altra Lone Peaks with the hope to transition into them rather quickly and efficiently without getting injured. I’ve been eying them for a couple months and think they envelop the quality and function of what I expect in a running shoe. The biggest change for me will be switching from a pronation control shoe (Ascend / Ravenna2/ Inspire 8), but I feel most of my foot problems are stemming from running in these and are only getting worse instead of better. I whole heartedly agree with the barefoot running movement but I feel this is a compromise for me. These allow me to focus on my form (ala barefoot) get the response and still have the protection on my feet.

Total miles Run 3hr 46min / 23.4mi

Trail: 5mi
Road: 15mi
Treadmill: 3.4mi
Race: 2.3mi

Weight: 160.2

The next race in the Snow Cheap Winter Trail series was last night, and man was it a muddy blast. Coming into this race I didn’t feel well. Fatigue set in pretty hard on Tuesday morning and I actually ended up cutting short my workout and my miles, didn’t run anything on Wednesday morning and resigned to the fact that I was over training and might need to take the race off as well. Even after I got there I was unsure if I was going to run or not. I put some Red Bull into my bottle and drank some to see if I could get a pick me up going. Headed out for a quick warmup to test everything (after meeting Eric from Roc the Run and finally introducing myself) and hit the road. Hit the wind on the way back and it kind of woke me up. Stripped out of my warm clothes and went down to my GVH shirt and Shorts to battle my overheating.

Going into this race, we knew that for the 4th race there would be no snow. That was ok with me. MY game plan formulated quickly, stick with the lead pack, get to the hill and single-track quickly, use the hills as your advantage, beat the two individuals you’ve been wanting to. I have found I’ve been able to do well by sticking with the faster group and holding my own, this helps when you inevitably hit the first single trek that becomes the backup splaying out runners, which in turn, lets me RUN the race.

MILE 1 9:14

The first stretch was quite soft, like running on carpet, and we quickly turned towards the hill. I used what little speed I had to get in a good spot going up. No walking (passed the first one I wanted to pass…) and a quick speed down the hill, let me know we were getting closer to the front as it spread out just a little bit more. On the way back up to the res, I passed the 2nd person I had in my sights. I was feeling pretty good on these hills. There would be 3 more up and downs before we entered back into the grove. So far so good.

MILE 2 9:08

I had another runner pass me at mile 1, and another near mile 2 and that was it,  I was holding pretty good, and the hills were becoming good friends. I tucked myself behind a short pack of a couple other runners and then started to let my body flow.

MILE .3 2:01 (6:38p)

Coming into 2 we were passing over the only ICEY spot, I ran as far left as possible and prayed I didn’t trip over a log or rock. By the time I made it on to the next path which was a singletrek again, I was holding back with someone in front of me. I could hear runners approaching behind but waited to take off once we got into the clearing. Passed that runner and came close to another at the finish line.

OVERALL 20:39 2.3mi (official)

I felt great, I finished 12th overall, 9th in my division and 3rd in my AG only 15 seconds back of first. I am an idiot and should not have run, but mentally I am glad I did. Each race has been better than the last which puts a lot of pressure on myself for the final two.

A continuation of my journeys in running, and more specifically what do I do now that my marathon has ended.

I need to get back to actually writing down my thoughts on my training as it happens rather than just recapping in retrospect. Most of these are however from my Dailymile recap, which works also.

monday january 23

Off day. Today was spent reviewing my training from last week, and trying to prepare myself mentally for what is coming up. I’m definitely feeling the training load increase but I am hoping that with only a high of 57 over the next 14 weeks (44-57) my body will relax as I’m not trying to push it too much further until after the half is done. I usually take my supplements everyday except for Sunday just to let my body have a day to cleanse, and realized I forgot to take mine this AM. Around 7:30pm I was ready to hit bed. Extremely tired.

tuesday january 24

AM: Sucked out this morning. Got everything ready the night before and laid out, hit bed at 9pm and set the alarm for 4:30. Alarm went off and I had no desire to head out. When I finally got outside and noticed the 40 degree weather I wanted to kick myself for not doing my run. I know an important part of training is listening to my body, and if my body tells me it needs the sleep I guess I have to listen, right? 8 mile ladder run tonight, we will see how that goes.

PM: With one week till I start my Half Marathon training plan, I decided I needed to do a systems check with a modified ladder run. E>MP>T>MP>E . Unfortunately it didn’t go as well as I’d liked even though I hit my paces. Definitely something up with my form and I don’t know if it is coming from the shoes or not. Knees/Ankles/Back were fighting me the whole run so I inserted a couple recos of 1:30 walk/1:30 jog between a couple [noted] Weather was nasty, should’ve run this AM.
1.50 @E (9:20) 9:07 +reco
1.50 @MP (7:45) 7:39 +reco
1.50 @T (7:19) 7:16 +reco
1.50 @MP (7:45) 7:40
1.26 @E (9:20) 9:09

The Run: Systems Check

Wednesday january 25

AM: Embarrassed to even post this run. Planned for 4 cut it at 3. I sucked. Way more slippery out there then I thought it was so I stuck to the lesser of two evils in the sidewalk. I must have tweaked or slipped on something during my run last night as I was feeling a pain on a tendon inside my left foot above my ankle. Ran this “comfortable” and hid the watch so I didn’t look at it. 5 miles later to balance the day. 2nd morning in a row I fought myself to get moving in the morning. Also forgot to take my supplements this am.

The Run: Easy Run

Been doing alot of thinking recently and decided to throw this down. The two races at the top of my “impossible” list are:

Boston Marathon
Western States 100

My goal is to run or qualify to run by age 35, so that means I have 3 years! Time to start doing some planning…and convincing of the wife that THIS is what I want to do.

And for those who have no clue as to what the WS100 is, for your viewing pleasure:

A continuation of my journeys in running, and more specifically what do I do now that my marathon has ended.

I need to get back to actually writing down my thoughts on my training as it happens rather than just recapping in retrospect. Most of these are however from my Dailymile recap, which works also.

Monday January 16

Off day

Tuesday January 17

Wednesday January 18

AM: Rough morning. Legs were heavy, knees hurt and I felt like I was shuffling the whole way. The moring after indoor is rough, very hard to hold my paces. Tried a figure 8 loop today to spice it up a bit. At least it was 90% dry and ice free. Race tonight.

The run: Figure 8 – 4

PM: What a Race. The snow had 90% melted which left a TON of ice. Raced as hard as I could and just tried to stay on the trail, but with no traction it was easier said than done. The course was shorter than last time, but my time was slower. My body definitely felt it. Was ready to trip a kid who kept cutting me off for 2 miles of the race EVERYTIME I tried to pass him. (psst learn some etiquette!) Couldn’t get speed because of traction or I could’ve been a little faster. Despite beating up my ankles and legs (really feeling yesterdays workout) I was able to manage getting 20th overall (unofficially & at 23:13) and I think top 5 in my age group…quite surprised, but happy at the end result. Day off tomorrow:)

The run: Race Report: SCWT #3

Thursday January 19

Friday January 20

AM: Decided to run into work today as I didn’t have to take care of brining Emma back and forth to school today. Altered my usual route in hopes of making my normal Home to Work route longer, but alas I only ended up adding a 1/2 mile. Planning on a 2nd run home this evening, will stretch that one out a bit more. Opting for a double day over a 13 mile LR tomorrow. I need an easy weekend. It was rather cold out there this AM, and ran the last 2.5 into the ice cold wind and snow. Froze the beard.

The run: Work to Home 2

Sunday January 22

PM: A much better run this afternoon. Wanted to run in the AM but I was still feeling tweaky in the stomach. Put on the regular shoes rather than running in the trail shoes for the third straight run. As I got out there I just decided to pick up the pace a little hoping to beat the fatigue window I hit the last couple runs. It seemed to work. PR on distance for a week. Finally caught the SUN! Came close to negative splitting the run…
8:59/8:55/9:07/8:39/8:41/8:41/8:46

The run: ER to Fairport O&B 10K

Training Recap

The week looked like I was heading towards a good end, but whatever happened to my stomach on Friday soured my runs for the weekend. I don’t know if it stemmed from poor nutrition after my run on Friday morning, or I just picked up a stomach bug. It seemed to hang on well into Sunday night, but was able to eat dinner and normally so it looks as if it passed. This upcoming week is a 10% down week so I get to drop off a few miles before I begin the Half Marathon training regime the following week. Going over the 13 week plan my mileage is projected to be: 44/48/52/48/52/47/51/57/51/56/50/45/41…should be fun.

Total miles Run 6hr 52min / 44.28mi