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As requested John, Rosie up in lights on my blog!

Not much to report since Wednesday. Still feeling like crap but gradually feeling better. Haven't run a step since Wednesday. I'm calling it a good taper for my race next Saturday! Actually, considering this 5k was meant to be the key race of this cycle, I'm feeling very apathetic towards it. I think I'm just looking forward to taking the week off afterwards and starting the focus on Richmond- drawing up new training plans, etc. I'm sure I'll still give it all I've got next Saturday but at this point I can't seem to care how it goes. May venture out for a few EASY miles later, just to test the waters, although the humidity isn't exactly enticing!

POST SCRIPT

Straight from my training log

Trudged to walmart. Felt like shit. Docs on Monday

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Body bites back

The result was inevitable. The last week or so I've been pushing on through with my training with little regard to the cold/fever/blocked sinusses symptoms I've been suffering from. Today my body said enough is enough and shut down on me. I did the usual 11.75 from the Dowd this am and actually felt fine throughout, but as soon as I got to work I felt rough and had to come home. Just feeling dog tired, very queasy and sinusses are giving me lots of grief. Similar actually to how I felt a few weeks ago in England when I had to miss that race. Hopefully my recovery time from this will be equally fast...

Dog days of summer

Are here at last. Last four days have been brutal. You can guarantee here it seems that Memorial Day weekend when Nascar comes to town the temperatures will hit the 90s and the sun will be hot!

Got back from the beach yesterday after a great weekend in Hilton Head. It was very relaxing and our friends who we stayed with had rented a beautiful house- thanks! Got some good running in too, although heat definitely played a part! Saturday I did a long run of 15 miles at 6 am. It was in the 70s and very humid- I was drenched within a mile and the run was a 1 hour 45 minute chore to be honest! But I did find a nice route along golf course paths for my 10k tempo on the Sunday. Luckily the weather was a little more cooperative and I got a good workout in (average 5.40 miles for 35.46). Monday was a 5.5 mile recovery run along the beach before we got in the car for the 5 hour $50 gas drive home.

Tonight it was the usual track workout. I did 6 sets of 2*400 with 30 seconds between the reps and 2 minutes between the sets. The goal was to hit 5k pace for the first 400, rest for 30 seconds and launch right into mile pace for the second 400. Hit 75,67,76,67,74,68,74,67,73,68,74,68 so solid enough considering the heat and the fact that I'm still sick. My sinusses have really acted up since yesterday and I was running pretty hot before I even started the workout. This won't have helped but you know what it's like! I'm right near the end of this training cycle and I don't want to miss any workouts now! So I need an early night and a lie in. Instead I am up as usual at 4.45 tomorrow to meet the crew at the Dowd!

Week and a half till my last race and then I get a whole week off doing nada!

Emily 'graduates' from Preschool tomorrow so we are all looking forward to the ceremony they are doing for the kids!

I also became an uncle to Rosie over the weekend. Congrats John and Charlotte. I now have two nieces and two daughters. Lisa and I are done so it is up to my bro to have a boy if they have a third so that the Mainwaring line can continue!

Hope everyone had a great long weekend

Beachward bound

ran into work today, Lisa and the kids picking me up later as we are heading to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, for the long weekend. Should be nice. Other than that, Wednesday was the usual early 12 miles and yesterday was a planned rest day as I did 12 today, 15 planned tomorrow and a 10k tempo on Sunday, if I can find a suitable location at Hilton Head- will have a good explore tomorrow.

Wednesday was obviously notable too for Man U's Champions League victory- amazing drama, I was convinced we were going to lose on penalties but their skipper missed and the rest is history!

And it looks like Paula is doubtful for Beijing which is a great shame.

Not much else to report so this is short and sweet. Hope everyone has a good Memorial Day weekend

Thresholds and 5k

Did a good workout with Tim tonight. For once our workouts lined up to be the same, the difference being that for Tim it was a threshold workout while the paces for me were going to be 5k! Did 7*1000 with 1 min jog recovery in 3.15/17/15/10/10/08/11. We shared the workload for the first 6 and then I fell apart a bit on the 7th so called it quits. Tim did 04 on the 7th and then a nice 2:58 to round it off! It was another decent workout in the bank for me though. The recoveries felt incredibly short! I've also got a nasty head cold at the moment and I could tell my temperature shot through the roof on the last rep! Sitting here a couple of hours later I'm feeling better though- just in time to wake up at 4.45 tomorrow and meet the gang at the Dowd YMCA for our 5.30 run!

I also got 17 in on Sunday and 7 recovery miles yesterday and the heel is no longer a concern so all is good at the moment. Hoping to get that sub 16 at the next 5k in three weeks.

Found out today that I can start applying for US citizenship now if I so desire. Previously I hadn't even considered it as I assumed I would have to lose my UK citizenship and also had to wait 5 years, but apparently not so on either count. The only reason I would get the citizenship would be so I could vote but it is certainly something I will consider now. It would be neat for three of us to have both UK and US passports!

Back to work... and a rare date

After a nice cut back week it was back to the grind this morning with a trip to the local track. Session was 2*1000 with 400m recovery (goal 3.07s), 4*400 with 90 seconds recovery (goal 68-70), 2*1000 with 400m recovery (goal 3.00s).

Managed to hit 3.07,3.06,70,68,67,67,2.59,3.00 and felt pretty decent throughout. Even tagged on another 68 400 at the end to help Tim through his last rep. Mind you I should have been feeling decent after a few easy days and the quite beautiful weather we had here today- no humidity at all!

Alarm already set for tomorrow's effort- 17 mile run at 6 am. Luckily I'll have some company.

So a good start to the day and a nice evening to finish as Lisa and I went out on our own for what we worked out was the first time in 2008 to spend the vouchers I won at last week's race. Left the kids with a babysitter and two boxes of pizza- which came in handy when I got back as I had my usual experience of eating at a swanky restaurant and coming away feeling half full!

Oh and I've joined Mindi and Salty One in signing up at Scrabulous.. and have taken a few heavy beatings so far- what does 'za' mean anyway??!

And now for something completely different

Did a workout I haven't done in a long time tonight- 16*300 with 1 min recovery walk back to start. Goal was to hit around 51-52s which I took to be about mile race pace and feel fairly comfortable as this is a cutback week after all. Goal achieved and closed with a 48: , which was pleasing. Not sure what the workout actually did for me though! Anyway, that followed vanilla miles Saturday to Monday. A rest day tomorrow before more vanilla Thursday and Friday and then back at it on Saturday.

Nice to have a recovery week this week as work is pretty crazy and Sophie has been sick too. Oh and in my preoccupation with the footie on Sunday I neglected to say Happy Mom's Day to all the wonderful moms and moms to be out there. "Happy Belated Mother's Day!" Very belated for you Mum as your's was back in March!

The pictures say it all.....

Twilight 5k, some history made and a good start to a big weekend!

race results

Humidity wasn't as bad as expected but it was hot! The sun was bouncing off the buildings and the wind was whipping around.

This was the third race in the Grand Prix series. I missed the first race and came 4th at the second race. No Bob or Tim in the race so it was going to be a head to head between me and Chris. I took it out pretty slowly but was still shocked to see 5.20 on the clock at the mile mark- at that point i was wondering whether i would break 17!

As soon as we turned off Tryon out of the wind we picked it up. Chris took over and for the next mile (5.06) I was basically just hanging on to his coat tails trying to conserve some energy for the last section which is brutal! As I hoped I took over again on the long hill but when it flattened out Chris took back over.

It was one of those races where you really couldn't tell how it was going to go. I was hurting bad at this point but knew Chris must have been too so I just hung on in there. With about 400 to go by the Panthers stadium there was another hill and this is where I made my move. I could tell I had gapped him and now it was just a case of holding on. As I turned into the straight I still didn't know whether I was going to hold him off or not. I dared not turn round and couldn't hear a thing as there was a load of construction going on. I'd lost all efficiency now and basically just forced my angry body over the finishing line for the victory.

I was disappointed with the time but consoled myself with the fact that I had ground out the win, the conditions were pretty harsh and I've been in heavy training the last couple of weeks. No race now for a month! Oh and a bit of history as this was my first ever victory in a GP race. Thanks for not racing Tim and Bob!

As I logged my miles in my spreadsheet I realised another bit of history too. I had run 66.7 miles this week (my weeks go from Saturday to Friday) which is my biggest ever mileage week and included a day off too!

Next week will be a cutback week definitely! My heel actually feels a little sore at the moment. I saw my physio after the race which was a tad embarrassing. At our appointment the other day I had neglected to say that I would be racing tonight. So much for nipping the problem in the bud! No, I took a calculated risk racing tonight. I knew this would be it for a while and that next week will be nice and chill. And the heel is nowhere near like it was last year when I was able to cope with it anyway.

So a good start to the weekend. Just need Man U to follow up with the Championship on Sunday now. My nerves will be fraught!

'Grey's Not On TV'

Lisa wasn't happy last night. There was a tornado warning in some far flung corner of North Carolina and the local news channel took over the network to show us pretty red patterns on the screen for the entire hour while Grey's Anatomy was meant to be on. I do love the obsession with the weather here. Our news channel has a feature called 'Weather on the Ones'. It took me a while to work out that that meant they show the weather forecast every ten minutes (.11,.21,.31, etc.) 24 hours a day!

At least Jason Castro finally got voted off Idol the other night. As you can see Lisa and I spend lots of time engaging in deep and meaningful conversation once the kids have finally got off to sleep!

So we're having a few storms here lately and the humidity is hanging over us like a cloak. After a day off yesterday to rest the legs up I headed out this morning at 5.45 for a shake out run before tonight's race. The run went fine, the legs felt they had a bit of snap back in them and I'm intrigued to see how the last couple of weeks hard training affect my race tonight. However, it was in the 60s with 93% humidity. I was drenched before I even left our neighbourhood.Tonight's race is downtown so you get the nice fumes, etc. from the traffic and it will be 20 degrees warmer than it is currently. Lovely. I have run this race twice and both times it has been a death march for the last uphill mile.

On the positive side, I had a poor showing at this race last year after a great race two weeks previously, and a great showing at this race two years ago after a poor performance at the race two weeks before. Following that logic I am due a good race this time after my last race two weeks ago!

Runners, yeah, we're different

Was sent this link yesterday. Had never seen the campaign before so found it amusing!

Got today's run out of the way already. Met up with the "5.30 am Dowd YMCA crew" for a nice run around some of the nicer neighbourhoods of Charlotte. Ran further than had originally planned (11.7) but with company and the slower pace it was fine. Getting some new flats for Friday's race later. Have decided to take tomorrow off and do an am shake out run on Friday instead. Hoping I will have some snap back in the legs for Friday as I think I'm coming into pretty good shape and only two races left in this cycle...

Heavy legged

Tough workout tonight. Goal was 20 minutes at 5.30 pace, mile jog, 5 * 400 with 400 jog recovery in 70 seconds or less. Managed just over 20 minutes at 5.26 pace and then 69,71,70,71,70 for the 400s.

Tempo section was very smooth, felt pretty good despite the heat. Trying to pick it up for the 400s was hard though. Legs felt heavy from the tempo run and no doubt all the past few days' efforts. Need to do some shorter interval work to get the speed back in the legs. Chill out now until race Friday night. Hopefully legs will bounce back by then because I was tired after this!

Elsewhere Obama got the nod in North Carolina. Will you guys ever finalize who goes up against McCain? An interesting (so to speak) first experience of a Presidential election in the States for me!

Saw the doc too today. Confirmed it's not pf, I've got some minor issues going on a bit behind that area but he recklons I should be able to nip it in the bud with a couple more sessions. Got a bit of laser treatment on it and was advised to soak my foot in warm water and epsom salts for 20 minutes every night. Anyone had any experience of this before??

Oh and my f*cking Garmin has broken down on me so I need to send it back which is a pain!

FDA approval?

Here is this week's lunch menu at our office canteen.....

Lunch menu for the week of 5-5-08:

Monday: Hamburgers / Cheeseburgers, Baked Beans, Deviled Eggs, Strawberry & Rhubarb Cobbler

Tuesday: Chicken & Dumplings, Corn Bread, Squash Casserole, Choc. Coconut Cake

Wednesday: Lasagna, Garlic Bread, Lemon Goody Bars

Thursday: Stuffed Pork Chops, Parsley Potatoes, Red Velvet Cake

Friday: No Lunch

The arteries get a break on Friday..... (I take leftovers in most days...)

While my colleagues were eating burgers washed down with cobbler I was out in the beautiful May sunshine doing my usual short and easy Monday run. Inside of my groin is still stiff from the weekend's exertions but other than that no dramas. Should be able to hit the track as usual tomorrow night.

Elsewhere Chelsea were beating Newcastle to take the Premier League Championship into the last game next Sunday. We are level on points but Utd have the better goal difference so a victory at Wigan will seal the deal. Defeat or a draw will open the door for Chelsea who have a home game against Bolton. On paper their game is far easier......

working hard

not much to report today. beautiful weather here- 80s and sunny- I fear that is it till November folks! spent the whole day running errands and putting my planned workout off as long as possible. back garden resembles the Amazon at the moment so went out and bought a lawnmower. got a bargain at Walmart then realized why. had to take it back, get another one, waste of a day!

eventually headed out while the kids were having dinner. didn't feel like it at all. Groin was (is) sore from yesterday's run. was meant to be doing a workout but headed out in my flats not knowing whether I was going to or not. Felt okay after a couple of miles and decided to give it a go.

workout was 3 mile tempo (goal 17:30), 3 minute jog, mile (goal 5:15), 2 minute jog, half mile (goal 2.24).

Tempo ended up being 16:46 (5.40,5.35,5.31), mile 5.16 and half mile 2.31. The tempo was very smooth and the mile was solid but I couldn't get my pace down to 3k pace for the half mile. I was holding back a little to nurse the groin but the workout basically told me what I already knew, I'm strong but not fast!

Groin a little stiff still so may push next workout back to Wednesday

may also go and see my physio this week as well. the pf that aggravated me last summer is showing some possible indications of flaring back up. I'm not too concerned and it is in a different place to last year but will hopefully nip it in the bud anyway

Going to the well

Did my longest run since training for the marathon in 2006 today

Swapped my planned days around as Lisa said she wanted to lie in tomorrow and not today. So I'll have to do my workout now tomorrow on tired legs!

Goal for the run was to get two hours in and the run went well. First hour I did a road loop and covered 8.87 miles(6.45). Second hour I hit Mcalpine and covered 9.2 miles (6.31). was feeling it after 15 miles but as I hit 15 miles in exactly 1.40 I set myself the challenge of covering 3 more miles before the 2 hour mark

We'll see how the legs respond tomorrow now!

Weighed myself before and after run to see how much fluid I lost- 5.5 lbs! Summer is creeping in on us here!

And what a difference a week makes. Last Saturday I was down after a disappointing race and that late Chelsea goal, today I've got 18 miles inside me and Man U thrashed West Ham 4-1 in their penultimate game. If Chelsea lose up at Newcastle on Monday the title is ours...

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60 up

A 60 plus mile week for me for the first time since October! It was a long winter of discontent through various injuries but things are coming around at last. My legs were pretty fried after the workout and long run within 12 hours on Tuesday/Wednesday but nice easy runs of 6.25 and 8.3 miles yesterday and today have brought them round again and I'm feeling ready for a workout tomorrow and a 2 hour run on Sunday. Feels good to be back in the groove again- hard workout/recover/hard workout, build it up,break it down, build it up higher, etc.

We have our departmental 'day out' later today here. Should be fun!