Running with Mainers

All work and no play

2009-01-09T18:26:00.000-08:00

Ok my life since last Sunday has been like this. 5am wake up, go to work. 7.30pm leave work, eat dinner, put kids to bed. 10.30pm go to bed. Repeat.

No run since last Sunday. I did step out on Monday but could immediately feel something in my quad and haven't bothered to try running since. No time anyway! Feels like there is a minor tear in there. May test it out again tomorrow but looks like I'll just have to let nature take its course and take a couple of weeks off.

So not a great week! Looking forward to some family time tomorrow. Both the girls start ballet (Sophie for the first time) and then Emily is having her early birthday party. Then off to the pub with a few friends to watch the Panthers beat Arizona tomorrow night. Back to work Sunday!!

Hills

2009-01-04T11:49:00.000-08:00

Today Coach had thrown a rare hill workout into the mix. I jogged to the bottom of Sardis Lane and did 10 * c. 400m hill repeats with jog back down recovery.

The 400s were 76,78,77,76,76,76,75,76,75,75 and the recoveries all 1.57-2.00, so it was a very consistent workout.

I actually felt FIT doing this. Leg turnover was better than it has been. Tim had picked out a good location for a hill workout, the first 300 or so was a gradual uphill then it kicked in for the last 100 and I was really having to pump my arms and legs to keep the momentum.

Happy with the workout considering the miles this week and that the legs are feeling tired. My right groin is a little sore but this week I plan on running all my non workout miles at over 7 minute pace. The end of the week will be crazy with work so hopefully I'll still be able to squeeze the mileage in.

Week was as follows-

M- off (planned)
T- 7.17 easy
W- 12 easy am/6.3 easy pm
Th- 9.5 including 1*2 miles, 3*1 mile (2 minute jog recoveries)
F- 7.34 easy
Sa- 16.2 long
Su- 7.32 including 10*400m hills (jog down recoveries)

Total- 65.8

Knackered!

2009-01-03T10:10:00.000-08:00

That one's especially for Tim!

A very enjoyable run today. Went to the Dowd, ran 4.3 by myself, then met Jocelyn and Adrian for another 4, then Lori, Kathy, Cummins and Adam joined us and I did the 8 mile loop while they carried on. Pace was a lot faster than anticipated but a nice run, good company and chat. Legs were trashed at about mile 14 but more good miles in the bank! Over 50 in the last 4 days!

It's funny, normally when I'm training hard my lower legs give me issues. Since the introduction of the orthotics and, dare I say it, the calf sleeves, my lower legs are doing great and it's the quads giving me grief!

Going to grab some shut eye now while Sophie naps and Emily is out!!

More quad death

2009-01-02T11:59:00.000-08:00

My legs feel so heavy at the moment! Today's run was an 'easy' 7.34 during my lunch hour (yes I actually took a lunch hour today!). Breathing wise the run felt fine but my legs just don't have that spark at the moment. I didn't look at my watch until after the run and was surprised to see that I had run at 6.30 pace. Surprised because a) this is a hilly run and I didn't push it that much and b) it felt a lot slower because of my legs!

I'm guessing it is just the body's way of telling me it needs to re-adapt to the higher mileage. My legs will come round in the end. I'm not taking it as a sign that I am overdoing it and need to back off. I think the schedule I'm following at the moment- 65 miles a week including 2 workouts and a long run with a 20% cutback every 4th week- is tough but definitely doable, especially if I want to get back into my pre-Cleveland Half shape.

We'll see....

Things can only get faster

2009-01-01T15:42:00.000-08:00

Well my New Year began with being at my desk at 5.30. Knew I had a day's work to catch up on so got in very early so i could at least head home at lunch time. I'll take today's holiday some other time. We report our half year numbers next week, Christmas and New Year are always really busy for me!

Today's workout was 1.44 warm up (9.50) straight into 2 miles then 3*1 mile with 2 minute jog recovery between each. Ran on the trails at Mcalpine rather than track. 2 miles was 11.10 and the miles 5.29,5.34,5.32. Legs felt very heavy, at some points I felt I was sinking into the trail! can tell i'm getting stronger but feel so slow and heavy still!

Happy New Year!

2008-12-31T18:52:00.000-08:00

First of all the formalities. Pulled off my double today. Ran to work (12 miles) and then half way home from work in the evening for 18.3 total for the day. Legs felt pretty heavy for the second run but good time on my feet today. Will have to see what impact today's runs have on my planned workout tomorrow!

So another year ends. I hope everyone has a great time tonight and a wonderful year ahead.

Looking back on the year past it was mixed from a running point of view. I picked up a lot of niggly injuries this year but also got some good races in. January started with me carrying a knee injury that I had picked up after a November fall. Blew both calves out too in March so my planned track races didn't materialise. I got fairly fit between April and June and won/placed in a few races then took the plunge and entered the Richmond Marathon, which set the tone for the summer/fall training.

Under the guidance of 'Leg' I got very fit over the Summer. Nabbed my sub 16 5k for the year at Greek fest in August without doing any 5k training, then went up to Cleveland and smashed my Half PR. This came at a price however, as my pf flared up and put the mockers on running at Richmond. Training was effectively curtailed for a couple of months as was the blog.

November saw me inserting orthotics and getting back into training, which brings us to the present. I'm back in a good training block and feeling pretty good although the fitness seems to be taking longer to come back as I get older!

I don't have too many specific goals for 2009. The primary and immediate aim is to stay healthy. If I can manage that for a couple of months I should be set for some fast races in the Spring. I would like to run some 5ks on the track and have a go at those PRs. The second aim for 2009 will be to get another marathon under my belt. I won't plan for a specific race this time though, I will hop into one when I am fit and training is going well.

I would also like to hit 2,500 miles this year. Last year I only managed 2,167 after 2,380 the year before. I had 98 non running days which is ridiculous!

From a personal point of view the highlights included celebrating my 9th anniversary with my best mate and watching the two rugrats grow up at an amazing rate! Especially Emily, our 4 year old pre-schooler now Kindergartener starting to read and write and falling in love with the Jonas Brothers. 5 going on 15 as my Dad commented this week! We can't wait until our February vacation at Disney World!

Work wise I made the move from my Cube to my Office but with that came all the additional responsibilities, hours and stresses. I need to address that in the year ahead!

So there it is, a quick recap of my year. Thanks for reading and here's to a great 2009!

12/30/08

2008-12-30T10:03:00.000-08:00

Took yesterday off in the end. Still plan to hit my mileage for the week if I can double up tomorrow and Saturday as planned. Today it was an effort to get out of the door as well to be honest! Weird my motivation has been lacking the last couple of days- I should be chomping at the bit!

Actually after today's run I felt better about everything again. I did an easy 7 and did it nice and slow to the extent I was barely breathing harder than I do when I walk, so it was nice to see the last two miles come in at 6.40 and 6.30.

Some reasons the motivation might be lacking a bit? Not having any races scheduled? During the weeks it is always bloody dark when I run? Who knows, but hopefully it's just a temporary funk

Tomorrow I am planning on running to work and then half way home in the evening for a nice 18 miles total!!

And of course it is the last day of the year, so expect some sort of review of the year and goals for 2009 on your next visit.

A good week

2008-12-28T11:19:00.000-08:00

M- 6.54 easy
T- 6.54 easy
W- 12 easy
Th- 8.95 including 16*400 with 200 jog recoveries
F- 7 easy
Sa- 10 including 6 @ tempo plus 4*1 min on, 2 min off
Su- 14

Total- 65

Decent enough run this morning. Christened the calf sleeves- haven't taken them off since I bought them! Was pretty tired though. Need more sleep. Also need to slow down my easy runs and start doing some core work again- been neglecting it badly the last few weeks- always happens when I up my mileage but I need to keep on top of it

Haven't decided whether I'm going to run or not tomorrow. Was planning a rest day but have got a bit of a streak going at the moment and it will be impossible to hit 65 miles again this week if I only run 6 days...

Back to work tomorrow, grrrrr.......

some advice...

2008-12-27T20:08:00.000-08:00

don't do a tempo workout three hours after eating a big pizza lunch! was meant to run this in the morning to avoid this potential issue but things happened and i ended up delaying the workout until Sophie was napping

Still had a decent effort but stomach was doing flips throughout and I just didn't feel too hot, either during or after the run. I did a total of 10 miles in 62:17 with the middle six in 35:19 then 4 * 1 min 'on'/2 mins 'off. To cap a day of over eating, Lisa and I went on a rare 'date' tonight and had amazing curries at Bombay grille! Potentially an interesting choice of pre 14 mile run fuel- we'll find out tomorrow morning! 14 miles seems pretty daunting at the moment, but if I can get out and do it that will be a 65 mile week and things will be looking up

Funny in the park today. there's me running in just shorts and everyone else in tights/jackets, etc!come on people it's over 60 degrees! what are you going to wear when it's freezing??!

excited tonight because pre date, Lisa and I took the opportunity to do some shopping together 'sans kids' and I picked up a sweet pair of calf sleeves. have been looking to get some for some time and eventually got round to it! bright white too so you'll definitely see me coming!

Meineke Bowl here today was pretty exciting! I took my family 'down town' today and we went on the light rail (my first time!). The tram (as expected) was packed with WV and Tar Heel fans and it was interesting for my parents to see that bit of US 'culture'. I had to explain tailgating and they were impressed by the pre game rally put on by the Tar Heel brass band. We watched some of the game when we got home and I was having a few problems trying to describe what was going on to my Mum, especially trying to explain to her that despite the crazy interest in the game the two teams were from Colleges and were essentially playing a consolation prize match up. My Dad on the other hand showed no interest whatsoever. It's Wrexham FC or nothing for him!

Happy Boxing Day!

2008-12-26T11:49:00.000-08:00

I actually got Boxing Day off work for the first time since I left the UK- only because it was a Friday though. Nice and easy run today to recover from yesterday's workout and prepare myself for tomorrow's tempo- 7 miles in 47:15.

Why is leftover meat even better than it was the day before??

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T18:51:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope you all had as much fun as we did! Things didn't go to plan to start with however! Got to the airport yesterday and no sign of Mum and Dad. They had flown via Atlanta and the line for passport control was ridiculous so they missed their connecting flight. So we packed the upset kids back in the car and went home (via Mcdonalds which cheered them up a bit) with me planning to return later to get them off the next flight which they were on standby for. Just about to leave the house with Emily now changed into her pjs to come with me and we got the dreaded phone call. There was only one seat left on the plane so they gave it up to the next person and stayed in Atlanta for the night

So Christmas morning wasn't as planned. Kids opened up their presents and we jumped in the car and luckily this time they were on the flight. Back to the house and more presents to open so the kids were in heaven!

While Sophie napped, Lisa cooked and Emily talked Grandma's ear off, I headed out for my workout which ended up kicking my butt! 2.25 mile warm up, then 16 400s with 200m jog recoveries. Originally I had presumed that 75s for the 400s and 60s for the recoveries would be a reasonable goal but it was soon clear that the 400s were going to be closer to 80s so I pretty much ignored the watch and just tried to run relaxed but hard for the rest of the workout. Ended up running the reps between 76-79 seconds with all the 200m sub 60 but was tempted to step off the track on numerous occasions! Only being accountable to Coach, this blog (!) and the thought of the impending 9,000 calorie eating/drinking fest got me through it and I was happy I gutted it out.

When I got back to the house the smell in the kitchen was amazing and my parents and Emily were on the terrace soaking up the sun- certainly different to the Christmas day weather my parents are used to. Dinner was amazing (thanks Lis!) and then we all went for a nice walk and hung out for the rest of the day playing with all the new toys. Good times!

12/24/2008

2008-12-24T04:27:00.000-08:00

Ran to work this morning, decent enough run. 12 miles in 1:20 and change. It was very early and there were not many cars on the road, felt like I had the city to myself. Obviously everyone must be on holiday today, still a few hours to go for me....

Merry Christmas everyone!!

Hot and cold

2008-12-23T05:43:00.000-08:00

So Saturday I ran shirtless and for last night's and this morning's run I was in jacket, tights and gloves! Nice 40 degree change in temps there! back in the 60s again by Christmas day apparently! And the weather changes have been reflected by how i've felt running the last few days. At the weekend when it was warm I felt crap, but the two cold runs this week have been great!

Yesterday I put my run off until after work as family still away till tonight. Of course i ended up having to work late and didn't get on the roads until after 8, but I did 6.54 miles at 6.55 pace. Then after dinner, the Packers game and a few hours sleep, I got up and did the same run again in reverse, this time at 6.49 pace.

I pushed my planned Tuesday workout back to the end of the week. I tend to do that when I have holidays. I become a 'holiday warrior', taking advantage of the time out from work to get some decent workouts in. So the back end of my week looks really stacked now!

Tomorrow I am running the 12 miles into work so that Lisa can pick me up in the afternoon on our way to pick my Mum and Dad up from the airport (yea!), then Christmas Day I'm planning to knock out the 16*400 workout before the big eat and drink fest begins, friday will be easy, hard tempo workout on Saturday and 14 miles on Sunday. If I get through all that unscathed I should start feeling pretty fit again soon

Change of scenery

2008-12-21T13:45:00.000-08:00

Ran at Mcmullen again today, nice change of scene from my usual haunts. No whipper snappers laying down the hammer today though, just me and Powderfinger on the ipod. 10.24 miles in 1.08.40 (6.42). Didn't feel great again to be honest but job done. Week was as follows-

M- off (planned)
T- 5.3 easy
W- 8.05 easy
Th- 7 inc. 8*800 with 90 secs recovery. 800s were 2.35-2.40 finishing with a 2.33
F- off (unplanned- work got crazy)
S- 9.42 hard
Su- 10.24 steady

40 miles for the week as planned, back to 7 days running this week, hopefully 60 miles and coach has me doing 16 400s with 200 recoveries as my speed workout this week which seems somewhat daunting at this point!

After the run I headed to South Park Mall to finish xmas shopping. On my way there I realised I was going to get there too early so stopped at the track to do a few token strides- what a weird feeling it is to have all this time at the weekend! Finished off getting Lisa's presents and went to the shop to pick up some more Saucony Rides for myself. Have realised that starting xmas shopping early is not a good idea. You just end up buying a lot more than you planned in the first place!

Came home and have since been procrastinating over getting done what i need to get done ever since!

Long way to go

2008-12-20T10:47:00.000-08:00

Lisa and the kids left town this morning to see Nanny and Papa before Christmas so I'm home alone until Tuesday. One positive aspect of this is all of a sudden I am Mr Flexible and can run any time, any place, anywhere! So I met up with Cody and Chris out on the McMullen Greenway today to join them in their workout.

I got the hammer well and truly put down on me! First three miles were easy then Chris picked it up. I stayed and chatted with Cody through mile 7 (6.13,6.02,5.50,5.52) then he left me and miles 8 and 9 were 6.08 and 6.27 as I struggled on just desperate for the run to finish! a reality check that I've got a long way to go!

Still, it was a good hard run and nice to run with Chris and Cody. Since Tim's departure it's generally been me and the ipod. Good to run at a new location too- ideal for a tempo workout. With the fam away I'm thinking of going somewhere new again for the planned 10 miler tomorrow. Before that I'm hoping to get a good nap in this afternoon (!) and then finish off the xmas shopping. Lisa's long list of errands can wait until tomorrow...

Up and running again

2008-12-20T02:50:00.000-08:00

I'm restarting the blog. For new readers with no interest in running, close the window. For previous readers, you'll want to scroll down a bit first so you get the update in some sort of order!

So what else is new?

2008-12-20T02:23:00.000-08:00

Not much! The long hours at work continue and the fun and happiness from bringing up the rugrats increases day by day. Both are growing up so fast it's unbelievable! Good times... We're all really looking forward to the Christmas break. My Mum and Dad fly in on Wednesday and stay for a week. Will be the first Christmas in ages we have spent with them and we're very excited. Lisa and I have also caught the Facebook bug (hence the link from my facebook account- to all my friends who have come across this blog via the link do not expect anything more than a very dull blog about my running passion, sorry to disappoint!)

So here it is again. I'm up and running again and so is the blog. Hopefully both aspects will continue healthily for the foreseeable future!

The new plan

2008-12-20T02:09:00.000-08:00

So Leg and I (via email, punk!) have mapped out the next few weeks. Goal is simply to get fit again and be in position to step up the training and start jumping competitively into races again by the time Spring rolls around.

Two months was the longest time in years that I hadn't run and with the passing of time I guess it takes me longer now for my body to readapt but this has definitely been the toughest 'comeback' from injury I have had. To start with I've had to get the weight back down from a higher level than usual. I'm now at a much more manageable (and familiar!) weight but still feel pretty sluggish and heavy. Other than easy mileage, I have managed to incorporate a couple of longer runs (13 miles last weekend) into the schedule and also a couple of tempo and track workouts. The 800m repeats that used to be done in the 2.20s are currently taking closer to 2.40 and my tempo pace is closer to 6 minutes than 5.30 but I'm doing everything cautiously and hoping to reap the benefits in the long run.

Update

2008-12-20T01:37:00.000-08:00

A quick summary of what has been going on on the running front since my September post....

I carried on training for about another week, foot hurting but convincing myself that I could manage the problem and carry on my build up to Richmond. Being in possibly the best shape of my life it was hard to let go! Then ran 14 miles one Sunday and it was miserable. Decided then and there that that was it, time for action, called off Richmond, stopped running and started getting treatment on my by now confirmed and diagnosed plantar fasciitis.

For seven weeks I did virtually nothing (I don't do 'cross training'!). My weight crept over 160 lbs for the first time since College, I would pop out for a jog at the weekend just so I didn't go crazy but my foot seemed to be only improving very slowly. I also hopped in a 15k race as it was the last race in the Grand Prix series and there was a not insignificant amount of money on the line if I didn't race. I went into the race in 2nd place overall with about a 3 minute gap ahead of 3rd and 4th so worked out what I thought I would need to do to hold on to the second place. Just about managed it, getting round in 55 or so exceedingly painful minutes, 4 minutes slower than my usual time, but fast enough for what I needed to do by about 30 seconds in the end.

Then one weekend in November, ironically the week before I was originally down to run Richmond, I woke up feeling good, inserted the orthotics Dr Duffy had fitted for me and went out for a 5 mile jog. No pain!

So not rushing anything I gradually added miles each week, 30 the first week, then 35,45,50 and up to 55 last week. Back to a 40 mile week this week and I'm eventually starting to feel like a runner again. As all the runners out there would testify, a very significant feeling in my overall psyche....

On the comeback trail

2008-12-20T01:18:00.000-08:00

So it's been over three months since I last posted. The economy has continued spiralling into recession, a black President-elect had a historic, crushing victory at the polls and Budic ('Leg'- as in Legend) Tim ran 2.26 at Columbus and promptly moved back to Cleveland, robbing me instantly of a training partner, coach, designated driver and mate. I mention Leg as it was he who got on my back for not blogging any more. So I'm going to start posting again, regularly hopefully.

Back by unpopular demand

2008-12-19T13:21:00.000-08:00

Hello my three readers. After various requests to get the blog up and running (so to speak) again, I can announce that I will start blogging again in the near future. Look for an update over the weekend......

Post Half update

2008-09-13T04:00:00.000-07:00

Hi all, just quickly checking back in to give an update on how things have been going since the Half. Well the good news is that the legs have recovered well. I didn't run Monday or Tuesday but since then have run 7 or 8 miles nice and easy every day and feel fully recovered from last weekend's efforts.

BUT, I am carrying a small pf issue in my right foot. It's not impacting my runs yet, but once I step the intensity up next week again we'll have to see how it reacts. I had two appointments with my doc and am stretching and massaging furiously with the aim to keep it at bay until Richmond. We'll see....

Other than that business as usual. Working too hard and looking forward to the weekend!

1:12:18

2008-09-07T09:59:00.000-07:00

Previous PR 1:13:21, also went through 10 miles in 54:28 for a new "unofficial" 10 mile pr. I was very confident going into the race, weather conditions were almost perfect and having driven the course the day before I knew it was a fast one. One significant hill between mile 9 and 10 but other than that pancake flat and a net downhill. The only doubt in my mind, the last couple of days, a potential issue in my right foot has been developing. More of that later

At the start line there were 6 or 7 of us who were hoping to work together at about a 5:30 pace and Tim had even organized a couple of guys to step in at mile 3 and 6 to help us along. Tim and Fred headed out of sight as expected. Tim went on to run a personal PR of 1:09:53- nice job Tim!

I led the second group through the first three miles (5.30,5.32,5.16- downhill). Then one of the 'pacers' took over and he actually hammered it along a bit faster than I was feeling comfortable at so I backed off a bit and hung out at the back of the pack for a while. Next miles passed in 5.26,27,24,26,29,26. I was now in a group of three (one 'pacer' and another guy) as we approached the hill. I was feeling pretty strong still and was looking to break the other guy here. Sure enough coming off the top of the hill I had made a break so now it was three miles to go and no looking back! That mile was 5.32, mile 11 was 5.28 and now I was beginning to hurt! It was now also raining steadily so I was nicely soaked now and starting to fade! Mile 12 I managed in 5.35 then mile 13 in 5.41.

So fifth overall, first in age group and a big fat pr. Felt very good through mile 11 and it was only the last two miles I was feeling uncomfortable. The negative though is that my right foot is hurting. It's a pain at the base of my arch on the inside. Obvious reaction is that it's pf rearing its ugly head but it is in a completely different location to where I suffered last time and is more of an ache than an acute pain. I'm sure it's to do with the way I have been unconsciously compensating for previous injuries. Hopefully a couple of sessions with my chiropractor and concentrating on my 'proper' running form and I'll be okay. An easy week scheduled next week so we'll see....

I'm having a great time up here but will fill in with the other details of my trip when i get a bit more time!

Oh and I met 'Salty One' after the race today! Great to meet up with a 'fellow blogger' for the first time! Unfortunately the rain was really coming down at that point so it was a short and sweet introduction but congrats to your husband Laura, I saw in the results that he comfortably met his goal!

Cleveland, here we come

2008-09-04T05:33:00.000-07:00

Ran my last little workout before the big race this weekend today

Ran easy up to Lansdowne, then three faster miles along there and back to CC track (5.58,5.35,5.32), did 8*100 striders and jogged home. The two fastest miles were at goal race pace for Sunday and felt pretty smooth so should be good to go for the race. Been feeling fresh after my runs this week, resting heart rate is down at a good level, weight is good, just want to hit the race now!race

So driving up with Tim tomorrow. He's arranged with some of his buddies to help out pacing at 5.30-5.35 for the race so I should have some company to work with. Looking forward to the break and seeing a new city! Sunday after the race we're having a big cookout and watching the Browns Cowboys game and then heading out to some pubs in the evening. Good times!

Lisa and the kids are heading to Virginia to visit her ailing Mom so her Mom will enjoy seeing Emily and Sophie and hopefully it will be a real boost to her.

Salty if you read this and are at the race, look out for me I'll be wearing a yellow 'Run For Your Life' vest. I should be able to spot you if I see you!

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Labor Day update

2008-09-01T06:21:00.000-07:00

Brought my Tuesday workout forward so that I could get it out of the way on the Holiday. After a 3 mile warm up I did 4*1600 with 3 minute recoveries. The length of the recoveries indicate that this wasn't meant to be too stressful a workout, just a little sharpener before the half this weekend. Goal was to hit 5.25,5.25, hit the third hard in sub 5 and then finish again with a 5.25. I hit 5.22,5.23,4.53,5.22. Felt good throughout so a good workout to end on heading into the race. Thursday I'll run a 'mini tempo' and some strides to get the legs ticking over but other than that I'll take my day off tomorrow and run easy 6/7 milers the rest of the week. The only problem with these 'tapers' is that I feel I'm losing fitness, but I know I'm not and there's plenty of more hard training to become before Richmond anyway!

Yesterday's run was 8.8 miles at 6.50 pace and then spent the day at a hot and busy Carowinds which I reckon takes as much out of me as a long run anyway!

Just chillin'

2008-08-30T03:18:00.000-07:00

I like cut back weeks! Nice to have no long run or workouts planned this weekend. So am just going to head out for the next couple of days with no routes in mind, just run easy for 8 or 9 miles each day. Such was the case yesterday. Took advantage of our work policy of closing the office early on holiday weekends to get an afternoon run in for a change. Parked up at the restaurant I would be eating with the girls at later and did an 8 mile loop including 8*100 strides at the track, stretched and dried off for pizza and cupcakes.

Feeling decent at the moment and looking to beat my half pr next Sunday up in Cleveland. My gut feel is that I should be in mid 1.12s shape, we'll see

Dried out and humid

2008-08-28T18:51:00.000-07:00

Always amazes me how quickly it dries out here. After 2 days of constant rain and floods all over Charlotte, you wouldn't be able to tell it had even rained in our neighbourhood. With the drying out comes the humidity and high dew point, which have returned with a vengeance!

Certainly could feel the humidity today! Ran 2 miles up to Lansdowne then 4 times round the Landsdowne/Folger 2 mile loop then 2 miles home. Goal for the middle 8 miles was to run alternate 6.00/6.30s. Hit 6.03/6.22,5.52/6.26,5.56/6.24,6.00/6.31. Didn't feel all that great to be honest, was struggling to find a rhythm and hit the right paces but it was the first time I had done this sort of workout. Taking it easy the next few days,no workout till Tuesday and no long run at the weekend. Running after work tomorrow so can have a lie in for a change

After a very stressful day at work I had a timely massage and it feels good!

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Crazy rain

2008-08-27T07:43:00.000-07:00

Record breaking rainfall here. Charlotte under water in many places! Made this morning's run with Chris, Jocelyn, etc. from the Dowd Y interesting! Did the 12 mile loop at a nice and easy pace including a few u turns where the water in the street was waist deep and unpassable! Legs felt as if they had recovered somewhat compared to yesterday so we'll see what tomorrow's workout brings

Kindergarten

2008-08-26T19:20:00.000-07:00

Emily started kindergarten today! She really enjoyed it and Mom didn't cry!

After a rest day yesterday, today's workout was cut short as it was proving to be much harder than originally planned. Original goal was 3*3200 with 2 min recovery in 11,10.50,10.40. Ran 10.58 for the first one and it felt very hard, managed 10.47 for the second one but when I hit 1600 for the third one in 5.28 I called it in! The humidity was incredible and the accompanying drizzle made it feel like you were running through a rain forest. Not too worried, the legs have taken quite a workload the last few weeks.

It has poured down with rain here all day today and apparently if this carries on as expected through the night it will be the wettest August on record for Charlotte!

Fried

2008-08-24T11:45:00.000-07:00

That's how the legs felt after today's 20 miler! Tim and I set off at 5.45 to check out the Hit The Brixx 10k course that we'll be racing at the end of Sept. First half all over 7 pace, put the hammer down for a couple of miles around 15-17 and then the Randolph Hill sucked all the remaining energy out of me. Stopped for some water and then took my fried legs the three miles home at 6.30 pace which was faster than it felt i was capable of doing!

Mile splits were 8.00,7.32,7.19,7.13,7.08,7.02,7.00,7.05,6.37,6.45 for the first half, then 6.43,6.38,6.38,6.42,6.04,6.11,6.40,6.24,6.25,6.37 for the second half, so big negative split and another confidence boosting run. My last 'proper' long run for a few weeks. When I restart them in September, they will become more marathon focussed and I'll start practising fluid/fuel intake strategies- I certainly 'bonked' today, as soon as I got home I took in as many calories as possible!

And so I come to the end of the 65,65,70 mile week section of my training plan which was intimidating when I first saw it but has proved successful. The next couple of weeks see me taper down a bit so I can put in a good show at the Cleveland River Run Half in two weeks followed by a recovery week and then ramping it up again in earnest from the middle of September (8 weeks out from Richmond). I need a couple of easy weeks to consolidate my recent gains and freshen the legs up for the final push, so this schedule should work well.

Below is a picture from yesterday's race as I was reeling in the second placed guy and holding off the guy who eventually finished third

The Marathon was unbelievable last night! How Wanjiru maintained that apparently suicidal pace from start to finish was unbelievable and what a silver for the Morroccan who kept getting dropped but pulling himself back into it! And then 4th for Merga who was responsible for the pace almost all the way through but then hit the wall big time leaving the opportunity for his compatriot to grab the Bronze- these guys are mortals after all.

Was very annoyed with the amount of commercial breaks though! It seemed like every 2 minutes they were leaving the action and as expected we missed Merga's initial 'collapse'. I found the coverage of the Games in general to be very poor. The announcers are fantastic, but the coverage of the track and field was so frustrating. No events were shown live and you never knew when, or even if, they were going to show them in the evening. Still I got to know all the nuances of beach volleyball, gymnastics and diving I guess!! Viewing figures and revenues rule, that's for sure

Overall though I loved the Olympics, always have done, always will- very excited about them being held in London next, especially bearing in mind the successes of the GB team (apart from the track and field general mediocrity). Pretty impressive I think to be 4th in the Medals table, I mean just look at the size and populations of the three countries that outdid GB!!

Greek Fest 5k

2008-08-23T11:10:00.000-07:00

Bagged my sub 16 for the year in probably my last 5k of the year (5.00/5.10/5.10/0.33=15.53). Nice weather, nice course, good training and people to race- all came together and luckily made the most of it. Sub 5 minute pace at the start felt pretty uncomfortable to be honest but once the race settled down I was fine and moved from 4th to 2nd gradually through the race. Finished pretty strong. It's always satisfying when you see tangible results from all the training you're doing- thanks for the schedules Tim! That freak ran 16.37 with a baby stroller!!

20 miler tomorrow planned to give me over 70 for the week- probably my biggest weekly mileage total ever. Good luck in your 5k Tusca

Back in town

2008-08-23T01:37:00.000-07:00

Had a GREAT vacation! We stayed in a great cabin in Pigeon Forge and the kids had a blast visiting Dollywood, Splash Country, Ripleys Aquarium, etc. Sophie had her second birthday while we were away and she polished off a hot fudge sundae to celebrate.

We didn't have internet access so to update the blog I've posted some pictures and copy and pasted my training log so you can see how the running has been going.

Today is the Greek Fest 5k and I'm looking forward to it. Training is going well. I'm 'training through' the race so not expecting too much but I should be pretty strong and for Charlotte this course is as flat as you can get....

Monday- 4.5 miles @ 7.15

Nice 'reconnaissance' run around the resort. VERY hilly! Found a nice loop for this week's workouts- the hills are going to make it very tough! Nice cool air (wore t-shirt!) and air felt thinner though according to Garmin we are only 400 feet higher than Charlotte!

Tuesday- 12 miles @ 6.19

Great hard tempo effort. ran 3 mile warm up straight into 5 1.5 mile loops of resort (8.49/48/43/46/42) then 0.5 add on (2.57) total 8 miles in 47.08, 1 mile warm down

loop had a half mile of gradual uphill where I was working very hard and then I would recover on the downhill section. tough workout will take it easy tomorrow!

Wednesday- 8.5 miles @ 6.59

Legs feel pretty beat up. Accumulation of last couple of weeks mileage, yesterday's workout and being on my feet all day with the kids here! Ran a different route today, headed down into Pigeon Forge and ran around the park we found yesterday. Was nice to find some flat terrain for the majority of the run- needed it the way my legs were feeling!

Thursday- 12 miles @ 6.30

3.6m jog to track (25.37- 7.07), 8*100 striders (all 16s), 2.26m jog (15.35- 6.53), 3 miles at MP (5.54/5.55/5.51), 2.64m jog home (17.10- 6.30).

The 3 MP miles were meant to be the last three but I decided to run them on the flat paths rather than around the hilly resort! Legs bounced back a bit from yesterday, just an easy 6 tomorrow and hopefully I can post a reasonable time at Greek Fest

Friday- 6 miles @ 6.46

Easy shake out run before tomorrow's race. Feeling pretty decent

Tennessee bound

2008-08-17T06:39:00.000-07:00

Off on our vacation to Pigeon Forge today. Looking forward to it! Sunday's run safely in the bank. Just over 18 miles at 7.05 pace. We ran in a torrential thunderstorm! The lightning was crashing around us, probably not the cleverest thing in the world to do but got to get the long run in right?! Legs felt fairly decent and I'm happy with how the first couple of long runs of this cycle have gone.

Will hopefully find somewhere decent to run in Pigeon Forge, have another solid week and put a decent performance in next Saturday at the next GP race (Greek Fest 5k). Blog updates will depend on whether I can find an internet connection where we are staying (I'm doubting it). Looking forward to the men's 10k later. I'm going to avoid the result and watch the race in 'primetime'. And the Brit Gold Rush continues! Apparently the last time we were third in the table was 1908 when London hosted it!

Super Saturday and Primetime Schmimetime

2008-08-16T11:35:00.000-07:00

What a day for the Brits at the Olympics! We won 5 golds and would likely have won 2 more had the winds been blowing at the sailing venue (they will come tomorrow instead). In fact we have drawn level with Michael Phelps now with 7- outstanding! As many wags have observed too, we must be leading the medal table for events where you have to sit on your arse to compete (cycling, sailing, rowing).

Drawing inspiration from the Olympics, training continues to be solid. A nice and easy 6.8 miler yesterday and then 8.8 today with miles 4 and 8 in 5:08. Tomorrow is another 18 miler to make it two 65 weeks in a row (70 planned next week, including a 5k race Saturday)

Looking forward to the Marathon later. Obviously my heart is hoping Paula does well but bearing in mind her preparation that has to be unlikely. In fact I wouldn't be surprised to see the other Brit Yamauchi beat her! Whatever it should be a grim battle, although I am not sure what the weather/smog is supposed be like.

Of course, I'm looking forward to the Marathon on the basis that NBC will actually show it live. They may not, judging by how the rest of the track races have been shown. Which brings me to the second half of my post title. Imagine my surprise when I tuned in in time for the 100m Final this morning only to not be able to find it on any channel, anywhere (including internet streaming!). What the ?? Well done Uwain, I'll see you later if they can squeeze you in between a commercial break....

I got some sleep (ish)

2008-08-14T08:31:00.000-07:00

Proud of myself last night. Fast asleep by 11. Probably a one off until Beijing over but impressive nonetheless.

Of course then I had to wake up at 5.30 to get my run in but such is life. even the dog couldn't be bothered to get up with me this morning

Today Coach had me down for 12 miles including 8 miles of 2 mins 'on'/3 mins 'off'. I found a hilly road loop of about 2 miles and the workout proceeded as follows

'On' paces were 5.31/18/51/23/26/34/08/37/20/24 (average 5.27), 'off' was generally 7 minute miling. Total run 12 miles in 1:18

The 'on' paces were erratic as it was a hilly loop and i was trying to maintain effort rather than pace so some were faster, some slower. Overall a decent enough workout- run in my 'normal' shoes rather than flats

Cool rain

2008-08-13T06:28:00.000-07:00

Had a bit of a surprise when I opened the back door to let the dog out this morning. Not only was it 60 degrees but it was pouring with rain too! Literally the first morning rain I can remember in months! When it rains here in the summer it typically comes with a storm in the early evening or overnight.

So it was strange to head out in the cool and rain. I remained shirtless as usual but I almost got a bit cold to be honest! Ran the bog standard out and back on the (somewhat muddy!) trails, 6.8 miles in 48 minutes. Legs felt quite heavy and unresponsive today but that seems to be a theme on the Wednesdays after the hard Tuesday workout. Hopefully they'll kick back into gear before tomorrow's 12 miler.

I also need to get more sleep and stop staying up watching the Olympics but it just grabs you and it's hard to turn off as I am sure many of you will agree! It is bizarre how I become engrossed in sports I would never even consider watching on a normal basis. Last night I was mesmerized by the Womens team Gymnastics for God's sake!! Half of me amazed by the athleticism, grace, strength, etc. of the girls, the other half thinking it would be bloody funny if one of them fell off the beam/bars, etc. (unfortunately for the Americans that happened one too many times to beat the Chinese). And by the way, there is no way some of those Chinese girls are 16! Two of them look younger than Emily!!

So my intention is to get an early night tonight. I don't think Phelps has any Finals lined up tonight so maybe I'll be able to pull it off

Temporary Fall

2008-08-12T07:30:00.000-07:00

It was 62 degrees here this morning- wonderful! I am sure someone will turn the oven back on when we go on our vacation next week but I'll take this for now!

Good temps reflected by a good workout this morning. 5*1600 with one minute recovery in 5.26/5.19/5.19/5.17/5.10. The original goal had been 5.25-5.30 for each one but I just ran by feel, never straining or red lining and those were the splits that transpired.

Doubling up today with a few miles planned on the treadmill at lunch time in front of the Olympics hopefully!

Nice day

2008-08-10T19:31:00.000-07:00

Decent day all round. Apart from my run didn't even leave the house- these type of days are rare and appreciated! Started off with my 18 miler. Beautiful weather, good company, scenic rolling route, negotiated in 2:11, a comfortable 7:16 pace. Lower legs were feeling a little sore but I'll put that down to my first 2 hour plus run in quite some time. Iced and stretched well after though and feel fine now, although will certainly appreciate the planned day off tomorrow. More of the same starting again on Tuesday.

Spent the rest of the day playing with the kids, watching the Olympics, the golf and the football and generally chilling out. Emily had a play date and Sophie a good nap so I even managed to get a bit of kip myself.

Looking forward to Phelps' second final in a moment. The French have apparently been trash talking (although I expect something has been lost in translation) so we'll see!

Post script...... Mangez vos mots Alain!!! and British women's first gold medal in the pool for 48 years. And another late night...

Old habits die hard

2008-08-09T05:01:00.001-07:00

Had the opportunity to lie in this morning and run later but when i woke at 5.30 I felt like just getting out the door and getting it done so did. also meant i would get back in time before the kids woke up so they wouldn't even know i'd gone. And the weather is beautiful here this weekend! It's literally as if someone turned the heat off. No humidity and even a little chill in the air! So the run felt wonderful today! Ran an 8 mile loop in 54 minutes including 8*100 at the local track. When I got back Lisa had cinnamon rolls baking in the oven. A great start to the day!

Also ran 5.3 nice easy miles last night so that is 47 of the planned 65 for the week done. The remaining 18 will be bagged on our long run tomorrow. Off to catch up with the Olympics from the live streaming on NBC (kids have requisitioned the tv this morning as usual!)

8/8/08

2008-08-08T07:07:00.000-07:00

Quick update as the Olympics begin in Beijing....

Wednesday saw me log 8.2 recovery miles including 8*100 striders at the local track. Felt tired for this run but doing the striders at least once a week definitely seems to have its benefits

Thursday was back on the workout trail, figuratively and operatively as I hit Mcalpine for a workout of 1.4 warm up, 5 miles at AT, 1 mile 'hard', 1.4 warm down. Again the workout went fairly well, ran very much by feel for the AT section (6.09,5.54,5.52,5.34,5.40) then hit 5.26 for the 6th mile

This morning I ran 6.8 at a nice and easy 7:20 pace and will be heading out for some more after work. The legs appreciated the slower pace and the humidity has dropped here sharply so it felt good this am! In fact the morning temps are meant to be dropping into the 60s here over the weekend- that will feel wonderful! 18 miles planned on Sunday so would be nice to do in tolerable conditions...

Happy Friday everyone and have a good weekend!

Solid

2008-08-05T06:56:00.000-07:00

Solid workout in the bank this morning. ran up to Providence Day School Track, slipped the flats on and ran 3200m, 400m recovery, 1600m, 400m recovery, 3200m.

Goal was 11 minutes for the 3200s and 5:20 for the 1600. Ran 10.59,5.19,10.58. Kept it under control and made sure I didn't push it unnecessarily. As Tim advised, I've still got August, September and October to get fit for Richmond!

Total miles today was 10.3. After a rest day yesterday that leaves me with 55 to hit in the next five days. My waking heart rate the last two days (taken 'manually' as the watch seems to be temperamental!!) has been 42.

And so it begins

2008-08-03T18:22:00.000-07:00

Had the feeling that Richmond training began in earnest today. Hit the roads at 5 am and ran 16 in 1.51. 6.55 pace and felt good all the way round- although having company for the second half certainly helped! day off tomorrow and then 65 miles mapped out for the rest of the week.

Won this heart rate monitor watch yesterday (slightly disappointing as the previous two years I had won replica Panthers shirts with my choice of name and number on). Won't be using it for training but will come in handy taking my resting heart rate in the morning- beats trying to count while waiting for a minute to pass on our digital bedside clock! read 50 this am which was higher than it has been but presumably an effect of racing??

Ticked all the boxes

2008-08-02T12:46:00.000-07:00

Panthers Blue Points 5k

Run a solid patient race- check
Beat Robert Miller for GP points- check
Finish stronger than have been in recent 5ks- check
Don't kill yourself ahead of 16 mile run tomorrow and hard week of training ahead- check

So all good today. Ran 16.22 on a tough course in ridiculous heat to come 4th. I felt stronger than I have done in recent races and it showed me that the training has been paying dividends. And so ends the second 'phase' of my training. Tomorrow I'm planning 16 miles and then next week the mileage gets bumped up to 60 with two tough workouts thrown in

New York was a good trip. had some useful meetings and got to run in Central park Friday morning. However that run was awful! Head pounding the whole way round- penance for doing Guinness and shots in an Irish Bar with our Head of Risk Management the night before.

Massage was good too. She really gave me a hard 'going over' and I was sore for a couple of days but fine now. Just hope the legs are going to be cooperative now that the harder training kicks in.

To top off a good day so far, Lisa and I get to go on a 'date' for the first time in weeks tonight- planning to wine and dine in a bit of style!

Happy Birthday Dad

2008-07-30T05:31:00.000-07:00

My Dad turns 60 today. Happy birthday to one of my few readers! Ironically he is currently speeding along the autoroutes in France on his way to Lake Garda in Italy for his vacation so won't get to read this for a couple of weeks anyway!

The run today felt more like a chore than something I enjoyed! 7.85 mile road loop including 8*100 striders at the local track. I felt tired and my legs were stiff and unresponsive.

I need to get more sleep and finish work earlier. Unfortunately I have a 6.30 am flight to catch tomorrow so it will be another short night's sleep tonight. Maybe I can catch up at the Sofitel tomorrow night!

For the legs I actually have a massage appointment booked later today so that will be good, especially with no run planned now till Friday am.

Pushing it harder

2008-07-29T06:21:00.000-07:00

Today's workout went as follows- 3 mile warm up (21:50), 2 miles AT (5.45/5.44), 4 minute recovery, 2*1600 with 400 jog in 5:13/5:08. I went through 1200 of the second repeat at the prescribed 5:15 pace but decided to push the last 400 hard (72). So this took a lot more out of me than last week's comparable workout but I was pushing it harder this week.

Nice humidity today- I was completely drenched after the run!

Chill week planned now until race on Saturday. I'm travelling to New York on business Thursday/Friday so won't get a run in on Thursday and will do a nice and easy jog through Central park on Friday!

Late run

2008-07-28T14:06:00.000-07:00

I was eventually able to get out at 10pm last night to get 4.7 miles in and get to my planned 40 miles for the week, nothing more, nothing less! it was still incredibly humid at that time. I literally ran around my neighbourhood 8 times to get it done. with the darkness, the heat and the cacophany of bugs chirping away it was quite a surreal run! I ended up running an average 6.25 pace and that after a couple of 7 minute miles to warm up, so I made sure this morning's run of 6.3 miles was at a much more relaxed pace.

Tomorrow will be repeat of last Tuesday's workout but with a longer warm up, 4 minutes instead of 5 between the tempo and the mile repeats and a faster goal pace for the miles. I will make sure I start before the sun rises as it has got very hot and humid here again!

Kids' heaven...

2008-07-27T04:23:00.000-07:00

Adult hell....

Having a great weekend with the girls, only drawback being I have to take them to such delightful, calm oases as Chuck E Cheese and Monkey Joe's. Don't get me wrong I love seeing the kids have a great time but when you've got a five year old in her relentless "see how fast I can do this/watch me do this Daddy" mode and a two year old trying to get into as much mischief as possible every time you turn your back, it's pretty hard work- certainly harder than a 14 mile run for example!

Running since Wednesday has seen a tempo workout on Thursday- included 3 miles in 5.43/43/33 one mile recovery then finished with a 5.23- and 8 miles including striders at the track on Friday. The workout was too much like hard work to be considered a tempo workout really but I felt pretty smooth, Friday's run felt good. I think things are coming around. I have the next leg of the Grand Prix next Saturday- a fairly brutal 5k- so that should give a good indication of what sort of shape I'm rounding into.

It's nice having my goal race so far off. My training seems to have much more structure and progression this time around

Ironically being left with the kids with Lisa away and training on hold for a couple of days I've been able to catch up on some sleep- 7 hours the last two nights and even squeezed in a nap while Sophie napped yesterday and Emily watched a DVD!

I'll hopefully have time to head out the door for a quick run when Lisa gets back tonight

Quick boring update

2008-07-23T06:25:00.000-07:00

Still too busy to get back to regular blogging but training has been going well. Since Friday's update I did another 5 mile run plus strides Friday evening, a 14.5 mile long run at sub 7 pace on Saturday, 7.3 miles recovery (from the long run and the night before!) Sunday, 6.8 easy on Monday, workout on Tuesday and 6.45 easy this morning.

The workout was solid- 2 mile warm up, 2 mile tempo (5.45/5.52), 5 minute rest, 2*1600 with 400 recovery in 5.18/5.16. Things seem to be coming together and the lower leg issues seem to be under control. This is a 'down week' which is fortunate as Lisa will be out of town again this weekend at her Mom's so I'll be on single parent/no run duty again

Still busy

2008-07-18T09:04:00.000-07:00

In an effort to get my daily postings back on track, here is today's entry

Run: 4.7 miles (6.55) Sleep: 6 hrs RHR: 45

I am scheduled to get another run in after work- go home, get changed, run to the restaurant we are going to eat at, quick dry and spray of deodorant and sit down to eat! How Lisa loves it when I do that!

Week started off badly with an aborted evening workout on Tuesday (I can't run in the heat it would seem!) but has since picked up with a solid 10 mile effort on Wednesday including 2 miles sub MP and a 12.8 mile effort on Thursday including 6 miles of 2 mins 'on, 3 mins 'off'.

My chiropractor spotted problems with my alignment which he believes is causing the soreness in my lower legs so I am stretch stretch stretching the areas he feels need to be addressed. I am seriously thinking of taking up yoga, I am as infexible as a plank of wood

Looking forward to catching up with the British Open over the weekend, plus Le Tour hits the Alps- there's a Brit who is winning every flat stage which is bizarre, the guy's a freak, amazing! Also, very rare 'boys night out' planned tomorrow night. Have brought forward my Sunday 14 miler to tomorrow in anticipation of Sunday's hangover....

RFYL 4 miler

2008-07-12T18:18:00.000-07:00

Race went pretty well today. I came in second in 21.41 over a minute behind perennial Grand Prix victor Marchinko but more importantly over 20 seconds ahead of my rival for 2nd place in the overall GP. I ran pretty solid, felt much better than my last few races. I consciously let the race come to me this time rather than forcing it from the off and it paid dividends. Calf/achilles was a little sore but not too bad and I'm now not running unil Tuesday and have an appointment with Doc on Monday anyway. For my troubles I won another free massage at the place I went to last time, so she'll be glad to see me back again not paying a dime!

It was all a bit different the pre race today without Lisa here. Had to wake the kids up at 6 and head out without breakfast, drop them off with Tim who was on kid duty himself while Hannah ran and generally just rush everything I would normally take my time over, but I think that actually helped in the end!

That made my 50 for the week and next week the second phase of my training begins with a long workout on Tuesday, a midweek long run on Thursday and a 'double' on Friday. Bring it on!

Run, work, eat, sleep

2008-07-11T11:33:00.000-07:00

That has been my daily cycle this past week, hence the lack of updates! This is always my busiest time of year and so it has been again. There is light at the end of the tunnel though- hence the chance to geta quick update on here!

So, a quick recap. The 5k was predictably bad, coming in second in 16.48, but I came to terms with that fairly quickly. that was followed by a day at work when I was literally the only person in our entire building. Mattered not a jot to me, family were out of town anyway and July 4th doesn't rank high on my 'favourite holidays' list- I'll get to take the day some other time.

Saturday and Sunday were nice and quiet. Heavy rain precluded me doing any of my planned (honestly!) yard work on the Sunday so I was able to watch the Wimbledon Final in full, mesmerized by the amazing drama and feeling I was witnessing something that will go down in sporting history. And what's more a graceful loser and a humble victor. Class

Then the family got back and my week of toil at work began.

I have got all my training in though- heading out the door 5.30 every morning. Fifty miles this week including a great fartlek workout on Tuesday and my longest run for a while of 12 miles on Thursday. The only glitch on the running front has been the aches and pains in my lower legs threatening to rear their ugly heads again but we'll see. My RHR is apparently now down to 42 which is a good sign of the fitness gradually coming back.

I have a 4 mile race tomorrow, part of the Grand Prix Series here. I plan to complete the Series as part of my marathon build up so will be looking to get as many points as possible tomorrow not withstanding the fact that I'm still not in great race shape and this is by no means a goal race for me.

Lisa's out of town visiting her poor Mom who had a stroke last week so I'll have my hands full a bit more this weekend than I did last!

Better

2008-07-03T05:49:00.000-07:00

7.2 miles @ 6.55. Lower legs felt MUCH better today which was a relief. Actually felt pretty good throughout this run

Sleep: 6 hours RHR: 47

Tomorrow is the Matthews July 4th 5k. Will be interesting to see how it pans out. This time last year I was in fantastic shape and won the race in my fastest time I've run in the States (15:51). Everything was ideal that day too- humidity wasn't too bad and i was toe to toe with another guy the whole race. I'm likely to be at least 40 seconds off that tomorrow, but I won't let it demoralize me- honest! I've hopefully got bigger fish to fry over the next few months....

Home alone

2008-07-02T19:23:00.000-07:00

I work for an Australian owned Company whose year end is June 30 so typically this time of year is crazy busy for me, leaving in the morning before the kids wake up and barely getting home in time to get them to bed. Plus I always have to work July 4th (not such a big deal for a Brit!!). So Lisa takes the kids to her parents and I have the house to myself for a few days. So it is this week, until Sunday, they've even taken the dog! The house is eerily quiet despite my stereo being on full blast for once!

Anyway, yesterday I did my fartlek, pushed it too hard but there you go, I got a bit excited doing my first real speedwork for a while. Workout was 1 mile warm up straight into 3 mins on, 2 mins off (*3) 2 mins on, 2 mins off (*3). Paces for the 'on' sections were 5:19,18,17,08,10,07. Judging by how these paces felt, Friday's 5k could be messy!

Sleep was an atrocious 4 hours because of staying up to watch the Trials, but how could I miss the 800 race! At least I should catch up on some sleep the next few days. Might even be able to grab a nap in front of the Tennis over the weekend!

Today's run was 8 miles at a nice and easy 7:07 pace with some striders thrown in. My achilles was a little stiff as I headed out this morning (in spite of my religious stretching/massaging of late). Feels fine now but I'll have to watch it.

Anyway I'm off to catch up on some kip!

Week's plan

2008-06-30T03:54:00.000-07:00

No run today

Sleep: 5.25 hours RHR: 47

T- 6 miles fartlek- 3*3 minutes, 3*2 minutes with 2 minutes 'off' between each
W- 8 plus striders
Th- 7
F- 6 including 5k race
Sa- 8
Su- 10 (last 2 @ 6:00)

Hoping to get some new shoes today. Planning to move to a heavier neutral cushioned shoe away from the 'lightweight performance' shoes I typically wear.

Have a good week!

Soccer Sunday

2008-06-29T06:22:00.000-07:00

10.5 miles @ 7:00. Nice chilled out road loop. Nothing to report at all from the run, just your bog standard 'nice' run.

Sleep: 6.5 hours (better) RHR: 47 (better)

Amusing to see ABC calling today 'Soccer Sunday' with two games live to watch today. Beckham's Galaxy up at noon followed by the Euro 2008 final after. Plenty of sport around with the US trials on too. I have a feeling the 100m record may go today! Enjoyed the womens' 10k , what a run by the third place girl, Katie Mcgregor looking on in hope from 4th place that the time wouldn't be met. Oh well when you leave it out of your hands that's the risk you take

Enjoying a nice chilled out weekend with the family (including the new addition). Nice to not have any plans at all for once, don't get many weekends like this so making the most of it!

Spinning the wheels

2008-06-27T05:48:00.000-07:00

6.8 miles @ 6.12 pace. First workout of the cycle this am. Coach had assigned 4 miles at 6 min pace, 1 mile easy, 1 mile at 5.30.

Hit 5.54,5.53,5.50,5.53, ran a 7.20 recovery mile and then hit 5.21 for the last mile. I ran with Coach. The 4 mile tempo felt pretty smooth and the last mile was okay, although 5:21 is probably about my 5k pace at the moment! I was trying not to strain on the last mile and keep it under control and i think i did. Good to get out there and spin the wheels a bit again...

Rest day tomorrow

Sleep: 5.5 hrs (ouch!- Lisa has prescribed me an earlier wake up call so I can let the dog out first thing) RHR: 50 Weight: 150.5

Looking forward to the weekend, it's been a busy week

Symmetry

2008-06-26T05:14:00.000-07:00

6.45 miles @ 6.47 (arrived back home at 6.45!). Changed my workout to tomorrow so can do it with Tim. Ran out of the back of the neighbourhood and took a new shortcut back to Sardis through Folger- more nice hills discovered! Felt pretty good, temps nice.

Sleep: 6 hrs. RHR: 52

So when i get home tonight there will be a dog running around my house (or a 'shit machine' as Dad so nicely put it when I told him we were getting one- now you can see why I never grew up around dogs!). Emily is so excited

Slowing down

2008-06-25T05:21:00.000-07:00

6.75 @ 7.07 pace. That's better! This morning's run in 60 degree, low humidity weather was so much more enjoyable than yesterday's! First little workout of the cycle planned tomorrow

Sleep: 6 hours. RHR: 52. Sophie seems to have decided she wants to play between 2 and 3 am this week.

Heating up

2008-06-24T19:04:00.000-07:00

6.5 miles @ 6:38. Ran after work, finished off with 8 100s at the track. Felt a bit more fluid and coordinated on the 100s today than on Saturday, hitting 16s rather than 17s and 18s. Had a great massage yesterday so my legs felt pretty good for the rest of the run too. I need to incorporate a regular massage into my plan for Richmond. However at $100 a pop it's pretty steep and I haven't got any more certificates to use!

Sleep: 6 hours (interrupted by Sophie who decided that playing with her new Teletubbies would be much more fun than actually sleeping). RHR: 51 (still v high for me)

So a nice run, but jeez it was hot! It's been unseasonably 'cool' the last couple of weeks but the heat is back with a vengeance this week. As I was walking between my 100s I was contemplating the fact that in a few weeks I'll be doing proper workouts in these conditiions. Ouch!

Also need to slow down my runs, starting tomorrow morning! I always find it difficult to hold it back in the base phase when I'm not doing any workouts and I'm feeling fresh every day!

Back in the groove

2008-06-22T18:00:00.000-07:00

5 miles @ 6.41. Ran home from Independence Library down Monroe and across Mcalpine. Afternoon run but there was a nice breeze so okay. Feel I'm getting back into the groove.

Sleep: 6.25 hours RHR: 49 Weight: 150.5

Plan for next week

M- Nada
Tu- 6 plus strides
W- 6
Th- 7 including 3 @ 6 min pace (MP), 1 mile easy then 1 mile in 5:30
F- 6
Sa- Nada
Su- 10

We adopted a dog. She's a golden retriever/shetland mix, very calm and quiet. Emily is going to call her Goldie. We're bringing her home after she's had her 'surgery'

Tomorrow night I'm getting a massage that I won a while back.

One for the team

2008-06-21T06:07:00.000-07:00

8.5 miles @ 6.47. Ran 7 miles around Mcalpine to Charlotte Christian track. Did 8*100 striders and then home. Felt a lot smoother today although felt a bit sluggish doing the 100s. Trying to incorporate 'strides' into the training a couple of times a week this time round.

Sleep: 6.5 hrs RHR: 52

Just about to head to the Charlotte Humane Society and look at a dog to adopt. As Tim put it, it looks like I'm 'taking one for the team' and letting my girls get their way! I've never ever had a pet before apart from fish!

Recession

2008-06-20T05:08:00.000-07:00

5.3 miles @ 6.45. Same loop as Wednesday, pushed it harder today, probably a bit too hard

Sleep: 5 hrs (rubbish!) RHR: 48

So the recession is hitting hard here. My Company announced yesterday that as part of a drive to cut overhead because of the current economic climate, our staff cafeteria will be closed and the free fruit we enjoy will no longer be provided. That's going to cost me a fortune in apples and bananas- seriously!!

New format

2008-06-19T06:35:00.000-07:00

5.1 miles @ 6.58. Lower legs tight to start, felt much better as run went on. In Tusca's words, stretched like a mofo afterwards.

Sleep: 6 hours RHR: 52

So this is the new format. Brief description of day's run to start. Some other stats and then any other blurb that comes to mind. I need to get the sleep up to 7 (though to be honest I seem to surive on 6) and the RHR to come down. It will do in the next few weeks I hope!

It's good to be back

2008-06-18T11:51:00.000-07:00

5.3 miles @ 7.20 pace. Great to be out there again! Great temps too (won't last so i'm not fooling myself). Legs felt the usual kind of weird feeling they have when I haven't run for a while.

Quick update

2008-06-16T13:58:00.000-07:00

Notice how the posts dwindle when I'm not running. I guess I only write this blog because I'm a runner (let's not start that whole "why do you write a blog?" debate again though). If I didn't run I wouldn't be writing a blog named 'Life with Mainers' after all!

That being said (and for the purposes of friends and family out there who couldn't give two hoots about my latest tempo run, etc.) I did have a great weekend. Saturday my Company organized tickets for us all to go to Carowinds Theme Park. This was great, despite the heat and vast numbers of fellow visitors because a) we had never been before and the kids had a blast and b) we were able to use our free tickets as credits towards the purchase of season tickets which means we can go back whenever we want now. Next time we'll try and get a babysitter so that Lisa and I can go on 'After Burn' rather than 'Dora the Explorer's Train Adventure' mind....

Then Sunday i had a great Father's Day topped off by watching Emily at her end of session Ballet Recital on the big stage!

Other than that I have been resting up nicely, no doubt hoarding some extra calories for the hard training ahead (will see the damage when i weigh myself on Wednesday). I was itching to run at the weekend but was good and didn't, only one and a half more days to go...

Richmond, we have a plan....

2008-06-09T18:53:00.000-07:00

So Coach Tim and I (mainly Tim!) Coach Tim have mapped out a schedule for the rest of the Summer/Fall leading into Richmond. When I start training again next Wednesday, there will be 21.5 weeks until the big day.

The plan is basically split into 3 phases. Seven weeks of easy/base running, building up to 60 miles per week by the end of July, throwing in the odd race and tempo workout to remind the legs and lungs about speed. I will also adding 'strides' into the mix for the first time and being strict about taking Monday as a rest day every week- I always seem to do better with a day off each week.

The second phase will be the next 5 weeks building up to my only other goal race of the cycle, a Half in Cleveland the first weekend of September. This phase will see me cranking up the mileage and adding a second workout for each week, mainly LT work, but also some long interval workouts working the VO2. I will get up to 70 miles per week at this stage and my long run will hit 20 by the end of August.

After the Half (goal big sub 1.13 pr) I will have a couple of cut back weeks to hopefully freshen up again before the final push towards Richmond. Mileage will get up to 75 during this phase (doing doubles where necessary so I can keep the rest day) and a few of the long runs will incorporate goal marathon pace (6.00 at this stage) and faster, to get used to running race pace on tired legs. Workouts will continue to be geared mainly towards the LT but still working the VO2 as well. The last 4 weeks I will come down from 75 to 70 to 50 before the week leading up to the race. My last race will be a 15k 4 weeks out (hopefully with another chance of a pr), the last big workout will be a 17 mile run 2 and a half weeks out, with 12 miles at marathon pace.

Obviously this is all very up in the air at the moment but it's great to know I've got some sort of plan together and I know why I am doing what runs when.

Any comments from the experts out there will be very much appreciated! Current cautious goal for Richmond is to run sub 2.40, ambitious goal 2.35.

In the mean time I am enjoying my few days off. The only thing I have to do is remember to shower now! I associate showering with exercise so when I'm sitting on my arse all day I have to remind myself to take one!

So there you have it, it all starts next week Wednesday 18th June with an easy five mile run and a huge 30 mile week

DONE!

2008-06-07T09:29:00.000-07:00

Well my taper theory didn't pan out! Ran a very poor race this morning, coming 4th in 16.32. Marchinko took it out as expected on his own, leaving me to try and set the pace for the second group of three. I wasn't feeling great during the first mile and when I saw 5.17 I knew I was in for a long morning! Second mile I was still leading the group of three and we went through in 5.19. I continued slowing down, Cody and Robert took it on and I couldn't do anything about it, just feeling really tired and obviously feeling the effects of my cold still. The 85 degree temperatures (at 7.30 am!) didn't help either! Once I could see that I wasn't going to get a good time or catch up with Rob or Cody I just shut it down and pretty much coasted in, to avoid further damage. In the last 800 meters I was already thinking ahead to not running for the next ten days or so!

So this cycle comes to an end with a whimper. Ironically my best race of the Spring was my 16.10 effort in England which I ran after about two weeks training and the day after wining and dining at my friend's wedding! Not too concerned about today though. I gave it all I could I am still just not recovered enough from my cold. Feeling fine now and ready to recuperate and get back at it in a couple of weeks.

The year so far

2008-06-06T05:47:00.000-07:00

So today was the last training run of this cycle. 5k race tomorrow and then all of next week off. Decided I would have a look back at the log for the year so far and it basically told me what a frustating injury/illness filled 6 months it has been!

In a little over 5 months I have had 32 non run days- that's one month of doing nothing! In that time I have run just over 1,000 miles at an average of 44 per week and a paltry 6.3 average miles per run. That last stat was the most telling for me as it shows that even when i haven't had time off, a lot of those days have been very low mileage days.

Anyhow, the past is past. I am feeling healthy, no injury concerns and can't wait to start on the plan for the rest of the year leading up to the goal race at Richmond. Tim and I were bouncing ideas around this morning and we are putting the plan together as I speak. Tim has got some pretty cool ideas about how I should train this summer/fall and I'm looking forward to seeing how it all works out. I'll post further details of the plan once it is nailed down.

In the mean time I have one last 5k race tomorrow. I'm actually feeling pretty good for it as a result of the enforced taper, but I'm sure the conditioning I will have lost over the last few days will hit me hard in the race. Weather likely to be a factor too, forecast to be 80 degrees with the humidity making it feel 85. But we'll see. I can safely put it all on the line, nothing to lose- and I don't even have to worry about doing a warm down afterwards!

Brutal!

2008-06-05T16:57:00.000-07:00

Only one word to sum up the weather here this week! Had forgotten how bad it gets. I leave my air conditioned office and by the time I get to my car 30 seconds later I'm drenched. And then on my way home I see people out running! Very strange, I don't see so many out there in the spring when it's cooler! For my UK readers it is in the high 30s here and VERY humid

9 miles today, nice slow pace, at 6 am, just shorts and shoes required.

Booking our vacation today. Renting a cabin in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee for a week. Dollywood here we come! We were originally planning on going to the Beach for a week but last weekend we discovered that the kids weren't too interested in the sand and sea anyway!

Back at it

2008-06-04T07:26:00.000-07:00

Headed out this am for my first run for a week (not counting the Saturday disaster). I'm still not 100% but thought I had better test the waters at some stage if I am to even contemplate racing on Saturday! So met up with Tim and ran an easy 7. No dramas, felt okay, nice to be out there again- even if it was 75 degrees with dew point of 70 (at 6am)!! As long as the next couple of days go okay I'll be on the start line on Saturday for my last race of this cycle. then it's a week completely off and start thinking about Richmond.

I went to the docs on Monday as was still feeling awful. he checked me over and all was fine and said just keep resting and hopefully you'll feel better soon. Woke up Tuesday morning actually feeling refreshed by sleep for the first time in a week so hopefully I'm over this now. they also ran some lab tests so we'll see if they turn up anything. I tell you on Monday night I was starting to get a bit concerned. 5 days with no energy at all was getting a bit worrying

Welcome to my newest reader

2008-05-31T11:35:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-28T18:42:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-27T18:44:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-23T05:37:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-20T18:26:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-17T18:28:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-13T19:20:00.000-07:00

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.....

2008-05-11T10:34:00.001-07:00

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

2008-05-09T20:09:00.000-07:00

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'

2008-05-09T05:19:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-07T06:00:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-06T20:14:00.000-07:00

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?

2008-05-05T09:47:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-04T19:46:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-03T10:14:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-02T05:50:00.000-07:00

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!

My new training buddy

2008-04-30T06:22:00.001-07:00

Meet my new training buddy. I have never listened to music while i run before. Any attempts I made would generally end up with the buds falling out and dangling around my legs every five minutes. However now I have found a decent pair of earphones that stay in place I can see why people like to listen to music while they run!

Headed out at 5.15 today into the nice cool temps for the long run that I put off on Monday. Ran a 7 mile road loop with my new training buddy and then met up with Tim for 8 miles out and back at Mcalpine. Total 15.4 miles in 1:47.

Considering the workout last night legs felt pretty decent until about mile 10 and the last few miles the legs were sore. Lungs were good though and it was good to have that really tired feeling in the legs again- I haven't been doing enough long runs lately. Got to my desk this morning and realised I had run nearly 25 miles since I logged off last night....

Lactate threshold

2008-04-29T19:07:00.001-07:00

Feel I've been neglecting it lately so did my 10k tempo on the track that I like to do from time to time. Buoyed on by Man U's earlier success and the beautiful sunny evening I registered a decent workout

2.17 w/up (14.01) then changed into the fasttwitch. Goal was to run 5.30 pace and feel smooth throughout. Ended up running nice and easily through 4 miles but forcing it a bit on the last couple. Finished pretty strong though with a 75 last quarter

5.22/5.26/5.25/5.25/5.27/5.27/75 for 33.47. 5k splits were 16.53/16.54

Ysterday I ran an easy 7 at lunch time in the end but still didn't manage to avoid the rain. Got completely drenched including a farcical incident where a tidal wave engulfed me from head to toe as a truck passed. Shoes are still drying from that run but weather set fair for rest of week. Planning to get up early and get 15 in tomorrow morning before work, with temps in the low 40s!

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Reports of our demise have been exaggerated

2008-04-29T13:45:00.000-07:00

Champions League Semi Final Result

Sore

2008-04-28T04:58:00.000-07:00

Legs have been feeling very sore since the race on Saturday which is unusual for a 5k for me and is probably a sign that 3 back to back Saturday's of racing may have taken its toll. Headed out yesterday for the middle 6.6 miles of Tim's 20 mile run (he obviously wasn't as fatigued as me from the race!) and felt fine, just sore!

Plan was to do my long run this morning before work but when I woke up at 4.45 the rain was absolutely lashing down outside with no sign of abatement so i have reorganised my week. I'll run another recovery run later today and go long Wednesday or Thursday. The way my legs are feeling that might be for the best anyway.

With the marathon to focus on later this year, my training schedule for the rest of the year has taken shape too. Obviously I can't expect to train hard all summer and expect a good performance at Richmond, so the plan is to keep this cycle of training going until June 7th when there is a new apparently flat and fast 5k in town which I have set as my short term goal race. After that I will chill out through June and July, build on my base, throw in the occasional tempo run, and then start to ramp up the training again in August, so I can have three months of dedicated training for the marathon. This should work well as June and July are typically horrible months for the weather so I can acclimatise gradually before the hard work kicks in

Not a great day!

2008-04-26T10:14:00.000-07:00

I knew it wasn't going to be a great day when I turned up to the race only to find the course I had run round and scoped out yesterday had been changed- again!! So that was pointless then!

Actually the race didn't go too bad. It was the 'Skyline 5k' the second race of the 'Run For Your Life' Grand Prix series. Having missed the first race five weeks back through injury I was looking forward to toeing the line again with 'the big boys'. The nice thing about this race (apart from the fast finish) is that the top three win gorgeous framed prints of the Charlotte Skyline. Having won one the first year I was here, I missed out last year by coming 4th and I had promised Lisa that I would be doing my best to bring one home today as she doesn't like the one I won before! To do that I had a feeling I would need to run sub 16 and beat Chris Lamperski.....

Marchinko was there, monster of the roads, 4 time GP winner and a nice 1.09 half marathon under his belt two weeks ago. Tim was in, my training partner and part time guru/coach/chauffeur, ready to knock some rust off before heading to Duke for a big track meet next week. Lamperski, who beat me into 3rd in the GP last year and has been in hiding doing some great training. And Robert Miller, 5th in the GP last year, who always seems to finish either one place ahead of me or behind me depending on who is having a good day!

True to form, the five of us took it out. I just settled into a pace I thought I could hold for the race and noone else wanted to take it on so I actually found myself leading the group, which was a little unusual! Approaching the first mile mark (first mile was pretty much all uphill) the clock was obviously ticking a little slower than the rest of the boys wanted, so Marchinko jumped straight past me, taking Tim and Chris with him and leaving Miller and I fighting our own battle. I went through the mile in 5.18 which was fairly slow but I wasn't too concerned as the hardest part was done.

Second mile was 5.08. This mile was mainly downhill but included a short sharp hill that sapped the energy out of you. At this point Marchinko was pulling clear, Tim and Chris were slugging it out and Robert was just behind me. Now the last mile is fairly fast so i was thinking if I could bring home a 5 minute mile I still had a pop at the sub 16. However, although I felt pretty strong the 'pop' wasn't there and I couldn't gain on Chris uphead in 3rd and Miller was catching me too. "Sorry Lisa" I was thinking at this point! Miller came past me with about 400 meters to go but I was pretty confident I would take him again on the last hill and so it proved. Mile 3 was 5.14 and I came home 4th in 16.12. Interestingly, the top 5 finished in the same order they did in the whole GP series last year. Also Chris had run 16.02 so my pre race prediction was spot on.

So warmed down with Tim and hung around for the race awards. Tim had his Blackberry so I immediately had to find news of the Chelsea Man U game that was going on at that time. The news was good. We were holding them 1-1 and only a few minutes to go. The title was practically ours. Then the three winners went off and got their prints and partook in a seemingly endless photo session. By the time Tim got back he refreshed the news feed. Disaster! Chelsea had grabbed a late late winner and thrown the title race wide open again. With two games to go we are level on points with Chelsea but have a superior goal difference so the destiny is still in our own hands. That's why I love and hate football though. Last week I was jumping around the house like a madman celebrating our own late late goal, this week I'm depressed!

So not a very happy chappy today! Have friends coming round later for pizza and beers so i'd better cheer myself up for them! Then my designated driver is picking me up and we are going to shoot some pool. Hopefully after all that I'll be in a better mood!

So I've gone ahead and chosen it

2008-04-25T06:36:00.000-07:00

Saturday November 15th Richmond Marathon

I've been contemplating for a while which marathon to choose for my second attempt and after careful consideration Richmond fits the bill. It is apparently reasonably flat and fast, Lisa's parents live an hour away so accommodation is not an issue and the family can all come and support, and it fits in nicely with my summer/fall racing schedule.

Now i just have to stay healthy and work out how to arrange my training this year so that I can hopefully peak for the marathon!

Meanwhile I did my run over tomorrow's course a couple of times for today's workout. Other than exceedingly tight hamstrings and a blister because of new shoes I'm feeling pretty good for the race. I ran 15.57 here last year but they have changed the course and it is slower now but I'm looking forward to the race!

Keeping it in check

2008-04-24T05:32:00.000-07:00

Had my new shoes, headphones and garmin today, the weather was beautiful- 50s, clear skies, slight chill- so I was good to go! ran 3.4 out to meet Tim on the trails and then ran back to my house over the same route for 6.8. Wanted to go longer but stuck to the plan and held myself back. Felt good after rest day yesterday which is not always the case....

Happy St George's Day

2008-04-23T11:29:00.000-07:00

I was just reading through the build up to the big Champions League semi final this afternoon between Man U and Barcelona on the BBC website when I discovered it was St George's Day today. As this is officially England's 'national day' you may be surprised that I had forgotten all about this until I just read about it but that sums up what a small event this day plays in a typical Englishman's calendar and I think that is sad. Americans have July 4th, we have April 23rd. Imagine only remembering it was July 4th through reading about it on a website and you'll see what I mean!

This all reminded me of an incident I forgot to mention that happened during my workout last night. As I was warming down, the high school next door were just about to kick off a football (soccer!) game and the national anthem was piped out over the tannoy. Not only this, but 4 people who were at the track actually stopped and stood, hand on heart, while the anthem was played. Awesome stuff. The only time you get to hear the national anthem in England is at Medal ceremonies (ie. rarely!) and before most International fixtures and I think that is a crying shame! I actually felt quite awkward carrying on my warm down but others at the track were carrying on so I didn't feel so bad!

Anyway, Happy St George's Day to any of my English readers out there!!

For the record I am celebrating our national day by not running at all and tracking Manchester United's game against the Spanish invaders from Barcelona (despite the fact that there are only 6 English players in our squad of 18 tonight)

Got the bug again

2008-04-22T19:55:00.000-07:00

Had a great unproductive time at work yesterday tracking everyone's progress at Boston. I actually tracked 9 different people I knew running (although I guess I don't really know Lance Armstrong!) Each had their own tale to tell and most followed the same pattern of starting off strong and losing their way during the hills then not being able to pick it up again the last few miles (all except Lance of course who appeared to run a great race despite not being in the sub 2.40 shape that had been rumoured)

It was actually really exciting being able to track everyone every 5k. I was following friends from different parts of the world and little did they know that they were passing each other back and forth! The biggest 'crash' was performed by one of my best mates from England, a 2.40 marathoner who despite having not trained particularly well due to injury went out in 16.50 for the first 5k! I was very concerned at this point and having gone through the half in 1.16 he eventually finished in 2.58 by which point he must have been practically walking.

All the excitement really got my taste buds flowing to get my second marathon under my belt. So I'm considering various options at the moment. A leading contender is Chicago although I might already be too late (?) and it would also mean doing my training through the horrible summer here. We'll see

So I went out and hit the track again tonight. After a 2 mile warm up I did a similar version of Tusca's '10 day out' workout, hoping that the benefits of this get the chance to kick in by Saturday. 5*800/400 with 200m jog (1.00) after the 800 and 400m jog (2.00) after the 400. Goal was to hit 2.30/70 throughout. Didn't quite make that but a solid, tough workout nonetheless-

1: 2:33/70
2: 2:32/71
3: 2:30/72
4: 2:30/70
5: 2:30/72

Tomorrow will be my first planned rest day in months so i feel I'm getting there at last. My right calf was a little bit sore after but putting the Stick to good use should sort that out.

Also got some new shoes today (Saucony Grid Sinister), my new headphones came in the mail and so did my new Garmin. So i'm happy but broke and ironically when I want to go out and test all three as soon as possible I'm not actually going to be running until Thursday!

Pounding

2008-04-21T05:34:00.000-07:00

Got my run in for the day before work, indeed what will be my longest and hardest effort of the week. 12 miles in 1.18.47. Felt fine, although my legs always feel like they take such a pounding on this route into work. Nothing now until track workout after work tomorrow. Thinking of doing Tusca's 5*800/400 that he nailed last week.

Keeping my eye on a few friends at Boston this morning....

Deena Master

2008-04-20T17:41:00.000-07:00

Quality performance from Deena today, although to be fair it would have been like Paula Radcliffe running in a trial against her fellow countrywomen such is the difference in class between her and everyone else. Which made it all the more baffling to me why noone else had a similar game plan to Lewy Boulet. You know you are not going to beat Deena so go out and aim for sub 2.30 and see where that gets you. There must have been more girls in that race capable of that time on that course and in those conditions. Chance of a lifetime to qualify for the Olympics and I bet there are a few women saying "If only" tonight.

GREAT performance by Charlotte resident Megan Hepp in coming 12th in 2.37 (previous pr 2.45). Looking at the results it seems she was the 4th non sponsored athlete home and beat a bunch of girls who do get funding, etc.

My own run today was 8 miles at lunch time. Perfect weather, 70s, sunny with a cool breeze, first run of the year where I headed out shirtless. Felt great considering the race yesterday and I clicked along at 6.20 pace without really noticing it. Going to take it easy this week so I can hopefully feel good going into next Saturday's 5k.

Tevez rescues United

2008-04-19T14:10:00.000-07:00

My headline was going to be 'Four for four' but amazing drama at Ewood Park relegated my victory to the inside pages. United almost threw away their lead at the top of the Premiership but a late late header from Carlos Tevez meant that hopefully the title is almost sewn up, with the big game to come at Chelsea next week. I was able to catch the game on FSC and my celebrations freaked out the kids a bit I think. And Emily calls goals 'touchdowns', I've got to sort that out!

Anyway back to the running and I did win this morning, but it was a close run thing! Woke up feeling better than expected and after a warm up of checking the course out felt pretty confident. The funny thing about the warm up was that the course takes in a crossing of railway tracks. I literally had to wait five minutes while the longest goods train in the world went past. I was hoping at that point that there weren't going to be any trains during the race!

Checked out the competition on the start line and last year's winner was there, plus my mate Cody, looking sleek in his calf sleeves, who prior to this race boasted a pr in the high 16s. Last year's winner took it out and I just settled into a rhythm with Cody on my shoulder. We reached the mile mark in about 5.05. The first mile was pretty much downhill so this felt about right. Cody and I took up the running at this point and the middle mile wound in and out of a pretty dodgy neighbourhood before heading back towards the main street. Mile 2 took about 5.17. I was in the lead with Cody settled in nicely behind me. To be fair I was expecting him to crack as he had never run this fast before but I couldn't shake him. In fact with about half a mile to go I let him take the lead just to check out how he was doing and he seemed very comfortable. I was now a bit worried! However, the last half mile was pretty much uphill and Cody dropped back a bit and I won in 16.16. Subsesquently discovered that the course was 3.18 miles so may actually have been faster than last week and even a sub 16??

Whatever I was pretty happy with the race. I'm hoping a pretty easy week will leave me feeling ready for a fast race next Saturday when the Grand Prix resumes and the big boys running low 15s will be back. I think I can safely say I won't be five for five, but a sub 16 is definitely doable

Tired

2008-04-18T09:12:00.000-07:00

I'm officially tired. Ran a leisurely 6.8 this morning and although legs seem to have got a bit of snap back in them I still felt pretty tired. I don't know if it's the travelling and time differences catching up with me or allergies or what, but I just don't feel 100% at the moment. That being said, I did knock a good workout out the other night and I could wake up tomorrow feeling great for my race so we'll see.

Another point to note is that in the past five weeks I have run every day apart from that Sunday when I was ill. That's quite a change for someone used to taking a day off every 10 days or so, especially as there have been a smattering of doubles thrown in there too. Next week I'm definitely going to cut back a bit. I've even planned a day off- haven't had that luxury available in months!!

So tomorrow it is the 'Run for the money' 5k. This worthy event sees participants trying to raise money for their chosen 'Not for Profit' organization by placing as high as possible in the race. The overall winner gets $1,000. I will be trying to raise money for Catawba Lands Conservancy of which a friend is the Technology Director. This brings unusual pressures as based on last year's winning time of 16.40 I am expected to win, so if I don't it won't just be myself who I feel I am letting down! Couple this with the fact that I have never run this race before, have no idea what the course is like and have no idea what the competition will be and it makes for an interesting race! I'll update you all tomorrow!

Painful

2008-04-17T09:21:00.000-07:00

Oooh, this morning was a struggle. Legs felt trashed from last night's workout. Managed 9 miles at Mcalpine Creek at 7.20 pace but only because I was running with Tim! Another easy run planned tomorrow so hopefully I'll have some spring back in the step by Saturday. Due for a bit of a cutback week methinks next week, with a very competitive 5k at the end of it