Week 17...10/23-10/29/11

The plan is back up to 50+ this week.  As Jess is on the committee for Claxton-Hepburn's "Skeleton Scamper" Halloween 5k in Ogdensburg I am under obligation to attend.  That is going to count as my interval effort this week so I am going to shift my tempo work to mid week.  I am hoping for something in the low 17s this weekend to validate my fitness.

Sun- "easy" 14 (1:42:55)

This was my first solo 14 in quite some time.  Right out of the gate I knew it wasn't going to be a great run.  I could feel yesterday in my legs, but I managed to run the second half faster and was pleasantly surprised that my avg HR wasn't as high as I thought it was going to be.

Mon- easy 6.3 (46:24)

Was not looking forward to this as it poured rain all the way home from work. I did manage to find a dry spell and had a pretty decent run.

Tues- 2up, 18:00 5k tempo, 2 down

For not looking forward to this it went surprisingly well.  I tried to keep it a little more conservative in the first mile this week and ran a little too easy according to my HR.  I picked it up a little in the second mile and was still well within "legal limits".  I did break the rules a bit in the third mile, but not until the last 200m and even then my HR only hit 165.  Overall I ran 18 flat with an average HR of 158 which is 2bpm lower than last week.

Splits: 5:53, 5:48, 5:41, 38

Wed- off

Thurs- easy 7.2 (53:30)

Fri- easy 6.5 (48:00)


Sat- 2up, 16:59 5k, 4 down


This was a brand new race that the Hospital is trying to put on each year and as such was a learning experience for many of the folks involved.  Saying that I have to say it went very well for a new race.  Jess asked me to mark the course, but there were some last minute changes to the route.  Instead of taking a great walking trail along the river that was currently under construction and not finished, we were to run through downtown Odgdensburg.  With the help from the police and it being Saturday morning, it turned out fairly well.  As I was marking the course I could just see having to wait for a red light to cross the street.  The only other minor issue was the start/finish archway.  Because I was told it was going up I marked the start/finish, but didn't make a line... Normally this wouldn't be an issue, but when the arch goes up 5 meters behind the finish ones official time get recorded as a 17:01.  My watch said 16:59.5 so I am going with that and look forward to a bigger race to prove it is legit.  I know I can run faster.

Splits: 5:40, 5:23, 5:21, 35

Weekly Recap...

I have to say that I am very happy with this week.  I hit 51 miles in 6 days with a good mid week tempo.  On Saturday I was shooting for something in the 17:15 range and broke 17 even if it was barely.  The best part about Saturdays outing was that I did it alone.  I lead start to finish and when I crossed the line it felt more like a good hard workout and less like a race.  It makes me think that a low 35 minute 10k next weekend in Kingston is a real possibility.  

Week 16...10/16-10/22/11

It is kind of pointless to write weekly goals for a week that has already been run, so here it is...

Sun-easy 7.2 (53:25)

The plan was to run long tomorrow because the weather was supposed to be better.

Mon- off

Exhausted and felt like shit for the better part of the day.  Oh, and by the way, the weather still sucked...

Tues- easy 7.2 (53:41)

Thought about going longer today, but my hamstring has been tweaked a bit lately and was acting up.  Still tired.

Wed- off

My right hamstring has a definite knot in it.  Spent the evening working it out.

Thurs- 2up, 18:14 tempo 5k, 2down

At this point in the week I need a workout.  Ike called and said that he was tied up at home and couldn't run today so I swapped the midweek and the Saturday workout.  The Daniels plan calls for some longer tempo work in phase 3 so I thought I would see where I was for a 5k at threshold on the track.  I also thought this might be a little gentler on my hamstring (which went away during the warm up).  I felt solid for the whole effort and it was actually difficult to keep it in check for the last mile.  I managed to keep the average HR at 160bpm and hit mile splits of 5:47, 5:52, 5:54.  Which leaves me wondering where I am when I loosen the reigns...

Fri- easy 7.1 (53:02)

Sat- 2+up, 4x1200@I pace w/800jog rec, 2+down

Ike's got a nagging injury and decided to run easy instead.  With two days off, I really didn't want the quality to suffer like the mileage has this week so I needed to get the intervals done.  I went out a little quick on the first one as always, but settled in after a lap.  The second one was a little tougher and I was definitely missing Ike on number three.  Now after three I was pretty happy, but had conversations I've had over the last week with both Ike and Folsom floating around in my head.  My legs were a bit fried going into number 4, but I wanted to push the envelope a bit.  I max out around 180bpm so anything 170+ is decidedly uncomfortable.  I managed to hit 170 just before 400m on the last interval and by 600 I was at 173-174bpm.  We will see what this translates to next weekend.

splits: 4:01, 4:00, 4:01, 4:00

Weekly Recap...

While the mileage was down, the quality didn't suffer. It is always nice to have people around to remind me that in the long run this is probably not a bad thing.  Two more weeks of intervals and then on to the final phase.

week 15...10/9-10/15/11

This week I am just trying to keep things on track.  The mileage goal is still the same; keep it over 50.  I am excited about the prospect of being on the track for intervals this week.  When we started this interval phase we figured we would do two weeks on the hills and then check our progress on the track.  I, as anyone who has ever run with me know, a huge fan of the track.

Sun- easy 13 (1:37:30)

This one felt way better than expected after yesterdays 10k.  The great weather didn't hurt.

Mon- easy 7.2 (53:03)

Meant to go 5, but got flagged by Mr. VandeWater and asked to help with a home meet tomorrow so I decided to go a little longer not know if I would get a run in.

Tues- off

Wed- 2up, 4x1200m with 800rec jog, 1 down

This was just what I needed after last weekend.  With the hill repeats of the last couple weeks we only had a rough idea of our target pace.  I was shooting for around 4-4:05 with Ike about 3-5 sec faster.  Once we got going they were tough, but not the struggle to hold on I remember.  I managed to hit the times, feel smooth, and have my HR exactly where it was supposed to be.  I also wanted to get a 4th one this week, which despite being a little harder, was still in control and ended up being my fastest.

1200s: 4:05, 4:02, 4:03, 4:00

Thurs-easy 7 (52:26)


This one sucked.  It was dark, rainy, and my legs did not want to go.  I struggled the whole run to get my HR up and the pace down.

Fri-easy 7(52:32)


This one was better in the respect that I didn't struggle to get my HR up and my legs weren't so heavy.  It still felt slow. Hurray for two day lag...

Sat- 2 up, 8, 4, 4,8, 4, 4, 8 with 400jog/full rec, 2 down

We were NOT excited about this one. I woke up to a downpour and 48 degrees.  I kept pondering my wisdom of a 7:30 repeat session.  As I was pondering however a thought occurred to me, "I could be running a marathon this morning", and all negative thoughts disappeared.   Ike showed up and we managed to at least find a window in the rain to start the warm up.  After strides it went back and forth between sprinkles and a steady rain for the rest of the workout.  The silver lining was that the wind didn't hit 20+ mph until after we were done.

splits :2:35, 76, 75, 2:33, 76, 74, 2:31

Weekly Recap...

I hit 51 on 6 days which I am happy with.  I also got two quality sessions in with some longer repeats on Saturday.  With the faster pace of a 5k in December I wanted the 800s to see how longer/faster was going to feel and so far I am satisfied with the result.  I also wanted to say my hat is off to Folsom in his first marathon. I would also like to add that in light of his description, I will stick to my 10ks...

week 14 10/2-10/8/11

The culmination of this week will be the Art Tudhope 10k in Shelburne, VT.  I am hoping for an solid indication that the work we have been doing is bearing some fruit.  In addition to the 10k I want to be back in the 50s for mileage and get a good interval session in on Wednesday with Ike.

Sun- easy 13 (1:39:23)


This was a bleak, cold morning and we were not excited.  We were both tired and at 3 miles I was wondering if I was going to have the steam to make it up Tupper hill at mile 10.  We kept it easy and thankfully I came out of my funk a bit in the second half of the run.


Mon- easy 5 (36:31)


I ran this one in my new flats.  I ordered a pair of Mizuno Wave Ronin 3s which arrived on Saturday.  I didn't want this weekends 10k to be the first time I ran in them so I tried them out.  They fit well and gave me no issues, so I am ready to go.


Tues-easy 6.5 (47:57)


I had some lingering fatigue from the last few days and it was difficult to run fast enough to keep my HR up for most of this run.  By the last couple miles I seemed to find a rhythm.

Wed- 2up, 3x1200@I effort, with equal time jog rec, 1.3 down


After what seemed like a full week of cold rain, we finally got some sun.  Ike and I headed over to CCT for another round of hills.  This one was a lot smoother with the experience of last weeks workout under our belt.  I managed to hit 4:15+/-1 for all three and called it good.  I would have liked 4, but it wasn't going to happen without significant effort.

Thurs-easy 6.5 (47:23)


This one went better than expected in light of yesterdays workout.  It started slow, but I felt better by the end.


Fri- easy 5 (36:43)


Sat- 2 up, 36:43 Art Tudhope 10k, 1 down


This race felt like a hard tempo.  I felt good in the warm up, but in by the first mile I knew it wasn't happening today.  Two younger guys took off from the start and another guy passed me about a half mile in.  I backed off and ran smart going through the first mile just under 6, but it did not feel smooth.  I worked on third place for the next two miles going through the 5k turn around in 18:09.  I knew I was already working too hard by mile 4 and mentally packed in for mile five before turning it back on for the last mile.  I am satisfied that I ran about as hard as I could today, but still think that I can run in the high 35s right now on the right day.

Splits: 5:58, 5:51, 5:35, 6:05, 6:08, 5:48, 1:10 for a 36:43 4th place finish.

Weekly Recap...

I hit 52 miles for the week and had two solid workouts.  I wish that the 10k had gone a little better, but Folsom reminds me that my mileage up and we are doing some pretty solid workouts, so I will be patient.  Next week should be more of the same.

Week 13...9/25-10/1/11

I hope to continue to get back on my feet this week and I need to because it is the first week of Phase 3: Intervals. I hope to get the mileage back up to 50, but we will have to see how the legs feel as we go.

Sun- Easy 14

This one actually started out quick.  After a couple miles we got it reigned in, but my HR was still up in the mid 140s which concerned me.  I just kept slowing it down and managed to finish the run feeling decent.  The 15 minute stop to talk to Coach Casserly helped, but we made up for it by dropping the pace down into the low 6s for the better part of a mile to pass some kid that REALLY wanted to stay ahead of us.

Mon- off

Tues- easy 7.1

Still feeling a little heavy, but slowly getting better.  I had to work a little to keep the HR up, but managed low 7:20s with an avg HR of 136 so everything but my legs seems to have recovered.

Wed- 2up, 3x1200 Bird St. Backwards w/4min jog rec, 1.9 down


Ike showed up at the house with the idea of running 1200 hill repeats instead of the track and after the bump I saw from the two weeks we did in the end of the Early Quality phase I was game.  The target time on the track was 4:07s so we figured we would just let the HR determine where we should be on the first one.  That was a mistake.  I really should know that my HR takes some time to get to where is should be and we ended up cranking a 4:08 and barely got my HR to 168 for the last 3-400m.  The next two were where the first one should have been at 4:20+/- and the HR was 168-170 by 400m into the hill.  I was a quick little workout, but there was no doubt it was quality.  The cool down was slow and I was well reminded that this is the hardest phase of the plan.

Thurs- easy 7.2 (54:10)

This one saw the first of many rainy fall days to come.  It wasn't too bad once I got going, but my legs were heavy and it definitely took some effort to keep the pace where it should be.

Fri- easy 7 (51:28)

I am glad Ike was willing to come in for this one, because getting a run in after working all day can really suck.
With a little company this one was over pretty quick.

Sat- 2up, 3 sets of 6,4,2 at R pace with jog/full recovery, 2 down

We wanted 4 sets, but there was some SLU fundraiser starting at 10 and the track was getting lousy with people.  It was pretty cool and windy which kind of dampened the spirits a bit, but we managed to get a decent workout in anyway.  We are just trying to keep a little snap.

1st set: 1:58, 76, 37
2nd set 1:57, 75, 37
3rd set: 1:57, 77, 37

Weekly Recap...


I am happy to hit 50 again and feeling decent.  The loss of light is starting to make things a little more challenging as far as getting our workouts in, but it not too bad yet.  The intervals are going to be tough, but its hard to believe we are only 10 weeks out from the indoor meet when we will be running the 5k.  I said I want to be under 16:30 and right now i think I can run a 17:15 so I have got some work to do.