May the Mass x Acceleration be with you

Sposed'ta be 21 miles, but after 6 I knew I was finished. I took a shortcut home and then walked the last half mile so I only did 8. Feeling fine about it. It was the right decision to back off. I'm still tired from Thursday, and don't want to push it. I was running around 7:50 for 6 miles and then the last two were over 8.

Splits: 8:10 - 7:55 - 7:48 - 7:46 - 7:42 - 7:47 - 8:01 - 8:02

First day at my new job! I had meetings all morning, right up until noon, and then my boss was stopping by at 1 or so to see me, so I couldn't do the 9 miles I was planning on doing. Instead I settled for 6, and decided spur of the moment to run the 5th mile at mp. I didn't have my Garmin today, so I was running based on a familiar course. 

6 miles in 45:11 (7:32/mile)

Splits: 15:28 - 7:45 - 7:25 - 6:43 (3:24-3:19) - 7:50

The first half the the mp mile was all up hill and the second was about half uphill and half flat. Since I'm really shooting for 6:47 or so, this was pretty encouraging, especially since once I hit the flat I felt pretty good. 

11 miles with 7 mile tempo run. My goal was to keep the tempo at an easier pace than the last couple. It was a bit slower than I intended, but the course is somewhat hilly, it was raining pretty hard, and blah blah blah, excuses, excuses. All in all, the effort was good, and that's all that matters.

Warmup

2 easy miles in 15:55 (7:58/mile)

1 mile with 2x2 min @ 1/2 marathon pace (6:25/6:33 pace)

Workout 

7 Mile tempo run in 46:11 (6:36/mile)

The pace felt a little hard, but mostly I just couldn't go any faster if I wanted to. Not quite feelin' it today. I'll try to take it a little easier the rest of the week in hopes that Saturday's long run goes smoothly.

Splits: 6:41.6 - 6:22.8 - 6:34.6 - 6:34.1 - 6:41.9 - 6:31.3 - 6:46.3 

Cool down

1 mile cool down in 8:24 

5 and change on the trails in 40:49

Easy, nice run, felt good. Legs are pretty sore, but while running it was ok. Not sure of the exact distance, but probably pretty close to 5.

11:15 AM - 10 miles in 1:17:32 (7:45/mile)

Nice, relaxed run. It is nice to run and have energy left for more. Gee, I was awfully consistent the first half.

Splits: 7:58 - 7:55 - 7:55 - 7:54 - 7:56 - 7:42 - 7:49 - 7:47 - 7:33 - 7:04 

Exercises... 

Easy 5 today in 38:47 (7:45/mile). It was sunny and 52 (warm, but not for IJR in Texas!). I was too warm with a jacket on. Tomorrow is supposed to be closer to 60, but probably not when I run.

 Splits: 8:09 - 7:48 - 7:42 - 7:41 - 7:28

21 miles, including 10 @ marathon pace (or faster).

There, I did it. I couldn't do it last Sunday, but today my legs were up for it. I was more scared of this run than I should've been. 

It was a perfect day for it. Sunny, beautiful day. It was about 52 at the start and 65 by the end. There was a very cold breeze in the beginning and it took me most of the first mile to get warmed up in my shorts and short sleeves and carrying a bottle of mostly ice (frozen Gu2O).

The first half is always a challenge for me mentally. I spend most of it thinking how it is more tiring that it should be only 3 or 4 miles into it. But then it only gets very gradually harder and I still had plenty left for a fast last mile. I'm not sure how this translates into an actual marathon pace overall. Last time I was able to run 6:50 on this run, but in the marathon I average 6 seconds/mile slower, although I did manage to hold 6:50 through 23 miles. I guess if I run this time the same way I'd still manage 6:50 pace which would be a nice PR and a sub 3-hours. I doubt I'll be able to run a 6:24 in the 26th mile, though.

Splits:

10 mile warmup:

7:55 - 7:38 - 7:36 - 7:31 - 7:22 - 7:38 - 7:34 - 7:45 - 7:28 - 7:50 = 1:16:17 (7:38/mile)

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10 mile mp (shooting for between 6:47-6:50):

6:51
6:49
6:48
6:47
6:44
6:44
6:45
6:40
6:46
6:24
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1:07:20 (6:44/mile)

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1 Mile cool down in 8:04.

5 Easy on the trails in about 40 minutes.  Felt good. I was smarter than RT. I waited until 11:30 when it was sunny and warm (mid-60s) to run.

3.5 mile warm up in 27:55

1 mile of hill strides on trail (7:23)

3.5 mile cool down in 28:47 

Also so strength training in the gym. 

I wanted to run further but had to get to a meeting. As it was I got there late. 

5.3 easy on the trails in 43:29. My legs are kind of sore after yesterday's run/workout. Probably because I didn't get a chance to stretch at all.

Work conspired against me. I only got to run two miles, and I ran it on the treadmill. I ran the second mile at marathon pace, but kept speeding it up a little at a time down to around 6:30 pace the last quarter mile.

Also did some strength training.

8.5 miles in 1:05:24 (7:42/mile)

I ran zig-zag around after dropping off the car at the mechanics. 

7:54 - 7:37 - 7:43 - 7:40 - 7:39 - 7:38 - 7:37 - 7:44 - 3:53

15.14 miles in 1:57:07 (7:44/mile)

I ran on the Foothills trail with Carl. Gorgeous day, upper 50s, maybe warmer by the end. We ran faster on the way out, I think, even though its slightly uphill out and downhill back. Carl ran out of gas after around 12 or so, so we came in pretty slowly. That was fine with me since I only wanted to go 14, but we ended up with an extra mile or so of cool down.

My right knee started bothering me later in the evening. Hopefully it will be nothing.

Splits: 8:17 - 7:52 - 7:47 - 7:38 - 7:42 - 7:38 - 7:36 - 7:29 - 7:27 - 7:31 - 7:26 - 7:45 - 7:43 - 7:53 - 8:09

Easy 4 on the trails in 32:08. My right knee has improved since Saturday, but had some sharp pains in the knee cap during the first half mile. Then I stopped to stretch out my quad a bit more and that helped. It still felt a little swollen and there was some tingling going on. Also, couldn't do lunges before the run because of it.

My knees are still sore, but not too bad. They seem to hurt worse when I'm running slowly than when I am pushing. I stayed on the trails today, and got in a 4 mile progression run. I meant to start at 6:50 (mp) and cut down by 10 seconds each mile, ending with a 6:20. However, I went out too fast on the first, so decided to run the mp mile last.

1.8 mile warmup. The 2nd mile was in 7:22, just trying to get prepared for the harder running coming.
Splits: 8:15 - 5:52 (7:21/mile) 

4 mile progression to MP:

6:45 - 6:28 - 6:18 - 6:57

I ran the last mile too slowly. The pace felt plenty easy, it just didn't work out quite right to slow down to mp. Oh well, still a good workout.

1 mile cool down in 8:06

Strength training. I did a reduced workout today, about 75-80% of usual, with 12 days till marathon.

8 miles in 1:00:15 (7:32/mile)

My knee is getting worse. It's not an impact issue. Pounding doesn't phase it. The pain is in the upper part of the knee cap and seems to be more of a stabilizer issue. As long as I am running straight it isn't much of a problem, even downhill. In fact, uphill is worse on it than downhill. Anything that makes me use it slightly differently than just a normal running gait, however, and sharp pains go shooting across the patella. Lateral stepping, stepping up onto or down off of a sidewalk, stepping on a rock, all set it off. The knee feels like its is buckling and it takes a few steps to recover. On the plus side, it does seem to improve after I warm up. It  took about 5 miles, and then it didn't hurt as much and did have as many stabilizing issues. Also, faster running seems easier on it. I picked it up a bit on the last mile and it felt ok.

Splits: 7:48 - 7:41 - 7:49 - 7:35 - 7:28 - 7:23 - 7:33 - 6:57

3 easy miles in 23:44 (7:55/mile)

I started out thinking that my knee was feeling a lot better. But, it got progressively worse throughout the run. I'm getting a little nervous about running 26.22 miles on this thing. I sure hope it improves over an easy, restful week coming up.

3 easy miles on the trails in 23:25 (7:48/mile) 

Due to my knee problems I took Saturday and Sunday off. Today's run was pretty good. I wish it were perfect, but didn't expect it. The first mile was great. On the second, I had a little bit of pain once or twice, but nothing compared to last week. It did make me more cautious, though. The 3rd mile felt fine again. Mostly there is just the feeling of some swelling in and around the patella. If I ran the marathon feeling like I did today I don't think it would slow me down. I'd be concerned that I might have problems in the last few miles, though, as the quads became exhausted. Hopefully I will keep improving through the week. Weather in Eugene is supposed to be a high of 64, but 45 for a low the night before. Sounds nice.

5 miles in 37:48 (7:34/mile)

Feeling a little bit better than yesterday. I'm definitely getting some good energy benefits from the taper. Usually I start out around 8:10 the first mile.

First mile felt great. Second mile, like yesterday, was a little dicey, but not as bad. I think I got overconfident. I stepped too hard off of a sidewalk. Third mile was ok. Then 4th and 5th miles I felt great. I even forgot about the knee and just ran normally.

Splits: 7:45 - 7:34 - 7:40 - 7:28 - 7:21 

Day off today. I just did an easy walk on the trails for a few minutes to loosen up a bit.

I decided to do a comparison check to see how my fitness compares with my last marathon (Oct. 2010). I used a standard test before both marathons where I run 21 miles with the second 10 at marathon pace. In both cases I ran the exact same courses for both the warm up and the mp part of the run. I ran an average of 6-7 seconds/mile faster than last time, and I had no slow miles this time.

Last time I ran 6:53/mile through 9 miles. In the marathon I ran 6:52/mile through 22 miles, then lost 4 seconds/mile from my average. If I did the same thing this time I'd be running 6:45/mile through 22 miles and then slow up to around 6:49, which would get me under my goal. In fact, I hope to average around 6:48, so it looks like that pace should be reasonably safe for me to target during the race. 

5.38 miles in 40:11 on the Eugene marathon course (7:29/mile) Feeling a lot better today. I'm sitting in a hotel in Springfield, about 2 miles from Hayward Field, with a lovely view of Best Buy from my window. I went over to the expo around 3:30 to get my packet and shirt. I got to shake Meb's hand and get a picture with him!!! Since the format buttons aren't loading right now I'll have to post the picture later, if I can figure out how. Maybe RT can tell me.

After that I had my wife drop me off at the 21 mile mark of the marathon so I could run over the last few. So I backed up over the foot bridge to around 20.6 and ran until around 25.6 or so. This is the best part of the course. Hopefully I'll be able to appreciate it during the race. I ran the last full mile at mp. It was tough to do, but felt good afterwards to have a little faster running in. I would normally do this run the day before the race, but with my lack of training all week I'm glad to get it in two days beforehand instead. I'll just jog an easy 3 or 4 tomorrow, maybe less, to loosen up.

Splits: 2:57 (.37) - 7:41 - 7:39 - 7:26 - 6:51 - 7:32

3.4 miles in some amount of time. When I get back to my Garmin I will check it out.

This is the best my knee has felt in two weeks. I ran in my racing shoes, and also with a knee compressor. Not sure which helped, or both, or just because I'm healing, but had almost no problems with the knee.

One thing about the course I don't like, though I hate to complain as it is such a beautiful course, but the river trail is all concrete sidewalk. I had thought, based on Google Earth that it would be asphalt.Concrete is a lot harder on the knees, or at least it seems like it. Oh well, I'm sure it won't be a big deal when it comes down to it. 

 3.4 in 26:13 (7:43/mile). I stopped to take a few pictures of the course along the way, too.