Quest for Boston – High Humidity Tempo Run in APRIL!!!

Even though it is only April 3, this morning was another very high humidity run. If it is this humid on Saturday morning then the Oak Barrel Half Marathon may turn into just another training run.

Humidity aside, this morning Nathan and I did a 10-mile, moderate tempo run through Belle Meade. We started with a 2-mile warmup, followed by 6-miles at a moderate 7:30ish pace, and then a 2-mile cool down.

Overall the run felt great except for the humidity and some persistent stomach problems I have been dealing with ever since the Honduras mission trip. I didn’t have any noticeable leg stiffness today like I did at the beginning of yesterday’s run. Also, the “tempo” portion felt pretty comfortable and not overly fast.

Tomorrow my plan is to do a very relaxed 7-mile “barefoot” Hattori run before taking a day-trip to NYC on Thursday.

Beast Mode…ON!

Quest for Boston – Oak Barrel Half Marathon Week

Even though this is a race week (Oak Barrel Half Marathon on Saturday) I’m not treating this like a goal race though I do plan to back off slightly on the total mileage. On Saturday John told me to shoot for 25 miles total Monday to Wednesday, with a goal of hitting the mid 40s for the week. Thursday will be a day-trip to NYC for work, so no running. On Friday I hope to get in a two to three mile shakeout run before raceday on Saturday.

I decided to breakup my 25 miles into an 8-mile recovery run today, a 10-mile moderate run tomorrow, and a 7-mile “barefoot” Hattori run on Wednesday. This morning’s run was a solo effort through Edwin Warner Park and the Harpeth River Greenway. My goal was to average around 8:30 pace and just keep everything nice and relaxed.

My muscles felt pretty stiff for the first couple of miles, but things started to loosen up nicely after that. The big problem this morning was the humidity. The temps were near 70 degrees at 6:30am, but the humidity made it feel much worse. Overall though I felt descent after a hard week last week, especially the final 6-miles. I finished with an average of 8:30 on the button, so I’ll take it.

For tomorrow’s 10-miler, I’m hoping to get in an easy 2-mile warmup followed by 6-miles at 7:45 pace (John told me to try to get in 6-miles at moderate pace) and a 2-mile cool down.

Beast Mode….ON!

2012 Running Goals – First Quarter Review

Since today marks the end of the first quarter of 2012, so I thought it would be good to review my goals for 2012 and see how things are going:

  • Goal #1: Complete 2,000 training miles. My total for 2011 was 1,763, so this will be a pretty big increase. Will take over 166 miles per month to reach this goal. I know it is attainable, but only if I stay healthy and disciplined.

    For the first quarter I completed 588-miles which puts me on pace for 2,352 for 2012. This is obviously well ahead of 2,000. Now that I have hired a coach to train for Milwaukee this fall, I’m thinking that 2,500 might be in my future for this year if I stay healthy.

  • Goal #2: Complete my “Quest for 3:15” in a full marathon. This has been a very public goal for quite a while, and I hope to break through in 2012. I would also like to take this a step further in 2012 and break 3:10 which is my Boston qualifying time. I know this is pushing it, but I’m dreaming big. Really want to run my first Boston Marathon in 2013. To do this I will not only have to be disciplined to my running schedule, but will also have to be committed to quality runs, cross-training, diet, and sleep.

    The “Quest for 3:15” was officially completed at the NOLA Marathon on March 4 with a finish time of 3:12:28. I am now only 2:28 from a BQ and have hired a coach to train for Milwaukee this fall. My training target for Milwaukee will be 3:05. 

  • Goal #3: Finish at least 5 full marathons. I ran my first 2 full marathons in the fall of 2009, and then completed 4 full marathons in both 2010 and 2011. As of now I’m only registered for the Rock N’ Roll New Orleans Marathon in March, but I have also submitted my request to be the 3:45 pacer in the St Jude Country Music Marathon in May and have my eye on a handful of other races. Whether it is as a pacer or participant, I want to do at least one marathon at a slower, conservative pace where I can enjoy it.

    I have completed one full marathon in 2012, and am registered for two more. This includes the St Jude Country Music Marathon in April and the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon in October. I am in the lottery for New York in November, and my fall-back plan is to the the Chicamauga Battlefield Marathon in Georgia. Whether or not I do a fifth marathon will depend completely on how I feel. Even though I really want to run five, I’m not willing to sacrifice 2013 to hit this number. As for running one at a slower, conservative pace…I was selected as the official 4-hour pacer for the St Jude Country Music Marathon.
     

  • Goal #4: Officially break 1:30 in a half marathon. I had an unofficial 1:29 finish in the Murfreesboro Middle Half Marathon in 2011 (due to course misrouting), but want to have it in writing in 2012. My best opportunities will most likely come at the 500 Festival Mini Marathon in May or again at the Murfreesboro Middle Half Marathon in October.

    My first opportunity to break 1:30 in 2012 will come a week from today at the Oak Barrel Half Marathon in Lynchburg, TN. Even though I’m not treating this like a goal race, I’m still hoping to shoot for something in the 1:29 range and then take it even lower at the 500 Festival Mini Marathon in May. The big variable at the Oak Barrel is “Whiskey Hill” which is a mile-long, very steep hill at mile 5. Whether or not I’m able to break 1:30 will depend a lot on how well I handle that hill, and how quickly I’m able to recover at the top. 

Well, so far, so good with regard to 2012 goals….Beast Mode…ON!!

Quest for Boston – The East Side

Today’s group run was on the east side of Nashville, and consisted of two 8-mile loops with an optional 4-mile cooldown for those that needed to get in 20. The first loop started in Shelby Park and went out Davidson toward LP Field (Titan’s Stadium), and then came back toward Shelby on Woodland. We maintained a very easy 8:50 pace for this loop.

The second loop was an out and back lolly-pop loop on the Shelby Bottoms Greenway. Most of the group picked up the pace significantly for this section. I ran with John the whole way and all of our splits were between 7:18 and 7:35 per mile. This was a very comfortable, conversational pace, and my legs felt good the entire way. I’m really glad this pace felt good, because I’m hoping to at least run in the 6:50s for the Oak Barrel Half Marathon next weekend if my legs cooperate. Another good thing about this loop was that John and I got to talk a lot about his thoughts on my training for Milwaukee this fall, and some of the important principles that I need to keep in mind throughout the schedule he is putting together for me.

When we finished the second loop, John advised me to call it a day with 16 total miles and 55 completed for the week.  One interesting thing about the run today is that I never really felt overly warm during the loops, but was drenched in sweat at the finish. The temperatures were in the low 60s at the start and in the mid 70s at the finish, with full sun and elevated humidity. Hope this means that I’m getting better at dealing with warmer temperatures, because I have a feeling it is going to be a nasty summer in Tennessee.

Anyway, I have felt pretty good ever since we finished, and am really excited about my upcoming races and training over the summer. Next week we will be shooting for around 45 total miles, which will include the half marathon on Saturday. 

Beast Mode…ON!

Rosetta Stone – Spanish (Latin America)

Well….I took the plunge. Ever since I started making annual mission trips to Honduras four years ago, I have been thinking about purchasing Rosetta Stone to help with learning Spanish. Today I finally pulled the trigger. They were offerring $100 off of the Level 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5 Spanish (Latin America) Set today, and this pushed me over the edge.

Since a single installation will support up to five users I am hoping that Olivia and I, along with our oldest daughter Kate, will find it beneficial. Kate is already having weekly Spanish classes in school. Olivia is a trained sign-language (ASL) interpreter and has expressed interest in also learning Spanish.

It should arrive on Monday and I’m very excited to get started.

Hasta Luego!

Mega Millions Lottery

To everyone who was born in the U.S. and did not win the Mega Millions Lottery today….it is good to remember that you won the lottery when you were born in this great country. Don’t forget it!

Quest for Boston – Mile Repeats with the JSRC

Great track workout tonight with the JSRC. The temperatures were in the low 80s this afternoon, which easily makes this the warmest track day so far in 2012.

I got to Vanderbilt about an hour early and ran an easy 5.5-mile warmup around campus and on the track. My legs are still fairly sore from doing P90X: Legs and Back on Tuesday, so the extra warmup really helped loosen up my muscles.

The actual workout was 4 x 1600m (1-mile) repeats with 400m recovery. Our instructions were to run the intervals at marathon pace. Since my only upcoming spring marathon is as the 4-hour pacer in the Country Music Marathon, I asked John (our coach) if I could run the intervals at goal half marathon pace instead. I am running in the Oak Barrel Half Marathon a week from Saturday, and was actually hoping for mile repeats so I could practice my half marathon pace. He said that would be ok, so I was shooting for something between 6:40 and 6:50. I ended up running all of the repeats with Sue Anne and Nathan, and we completed the four intervals in 6:40, 6:42, 6:38, and 6:37. These were a little faster than my target but (1) I felt really good (2) The pace was consistent. I was actually really pleased with how well I felt considering the higher temps and the fact that I did a 5.5-mile warmup. I never felt winded and could have run more repeats at the end. In total I completed 11.5-miles with warmup and cooldown.

After the workout, John advised me (he is also my personal coach) to take tomorrow off since I already have almost 40 miles completed this week. I had been hoping to get in 60+ miles total for the week, but he told me to be more conservative in ramping up my mileage to hopefully avoid injury. This makes a lot of sense, and I’m glad that I have someone to give me feedback. So, I’m going to enjoy my unexpected rest day tomorrow and then get back to work on Saturday morning.

Beast Mode…ON!

Quest for Boston – Hattori Run through Bellevue

This morning I completed a 7-mile solo run through the streets of Bellevue in my Saucony Hattoris. Through the end of last year I was only doing four or five miles per week in my Hattoris, but I have been slowly increasing that this year to the point where I’m trying to use them for most of my recovery miles on Wednesday and Friday. I know I’ve said this several times, but it is amazing to me how much of a difference it has made adding these types of runs. I have stopped using orthotics, have moved to the Saucony Kinvara as my primary trainer and race shoe (was using the Nike Vomero), and no longer have aches and pains in my arch and metatarsals. 

Today’s run felt pretty smooth, and I didn’t notice the minor aches that I was feeling on Monday and Tuesday. I kept the pace pretty easy at around a 9min average since I put in quite a few miles yesterday (14). So far this week I’ve completed 28-miles after only getting in 25 last week while in Honduras. I’m hoping to land around 60 for the week after Saturday’s run.

Beast Mode…ON!

Quest for Boston – Dodging Cars on Old Natchez

This morning Nathan and I completed a moderate paced 12-mile run on Old Natchez and Del Rio. I love running out there, but sometimes forget how crazy it can be on a weekday morning during the school year. There were so many cars that I stayed on edge for most of the run. I need to make a mental note to stick to weekends during the school year.

As for the run, we started off fairly conservatively with miles of 9:22, 8:28 and 8:15. The next two miles were right at 8:00 min pace, and all but one of the last seven miles were under 8:00, with the last two in the 7:30s.  Overall the run felt pretty comfortable, though I do still have some aches from all of the hill running in Honduras last week. It was good to be able to push past 6-miles for the first time in over a week. I’m on schedule to have a 60+ mile week if I can get in a 20+ miler on Saturday.

Fortunately my stomach issues that cropped up yesterday afternoon did not affect this run significantly. Hopefully the worst of that is over. I hope to get in another 2-mile run this afternoon with my daughter Kate as we try to log miles for the ING Kids Rock Marathon.

Beast Mode….ON!

Quest for Boston – Back Closer to Sea Level

I’m glad to be back running closer to sea level after a week at 5,000 feet. My knees and ankles felt a little achey from the rough terrain last week, but it was nice to be able to run without feeling like I had a bag over my head. The temperatures this afternoon were in the mid 70s, just like most of my runs in Honduras, but the humidity was quite a bit higher.

I had hoped to get in an easy 10-miles, but it got shortened to six once my stomach started doing cartwheels. I’m sure this is related to my Honduras trip. This happens every time I travel there no matter how careful I attempt to be with food, water, hygiene, etc. I hope that I can get control of it without it affecting my running schedule this week.

I’m looking to get in a solid 12-mile run tomorrow and 60+ miles total for this week. Really trying to keep my mileage up as I prepare for leading the 4-hour pace group at the Country Music Marathon in five weeks. That’s going to be a long time on my feet!!

Beast Mode…ON!

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