Category Archives: My Running

TCM Training Week 3

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For the past two years  I’ve raced on this weekend, in 2007 at Jennifer’s Run in Hartford City, IN and last year at the Karate Kickin’ Cancer 5k in North St Paul.  Both of those races raised money for excellent causes, domestic violence prevention and cancer research respectively. That is part of why I think runners might be some of the most charitable people around.  My featured number was from my New Jersey days.  Running shoe companies are slowing making shoes more environmentally friendly.  Brooks was the first major company to do so.  Foto Friday was from last year’s Nature Valley Grand Prix Criterium, which I had to miss this year.

Last Year’s Mileage

Run: 26.0 Miles
Bike: 45.0 Miles
Swim: 300 Yards

Monday I rode to the YWCA and then swam 450 yards before lifting weights.  I did lunges, bench, curls, crunches, and overhead triceps.  I also enjoyed the hot tub a little bit!

On Wednesday I went to the Uptown YWCA after a meeting and swam 400 meters after doing my weight lifting workout.  It was pretty tough to swim after having already lifted.  The Uptown pool is in meters and is shallower so it is a different experience than swimming at the Midtown YWCA.

I did a couple of my Wii Fit Yoga and Balance “workouts” during the week.  My foot hurt off and on throughout the week.  Summer seems to be busy even though I’m not working full-time.  All of the biking miles are commuting or running errands.  Over the weekend we traveled to Wisconsin to visit our CSA and had a good time.  It would have been a great place to run.  Hopefully soon!

Weekly Mileage

Bike: 43.0 Miles
Swim: 887 Yards
Weights: 2 times

TCM Training Week 2

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Last year I raced the USATF 5000 meter track race at Hamline.  I am glad it wasn’t part of the circuit this year! It also served as Foto Friday.  Over the same weekend last year was a heart-wrenching 3200m for Nicole Cochran of Washington.  You may recall the story, she won the race but was DQ’ed after the fact and then after reviewing some video footage of the  race she was eventually reinstated as the state champion.   From two years ago, I wrote about running at Westwood Park in New Castle, IN.

Last Year’s Mileage

Run: 26.9 Miles
Bike: 67.0 Miles
Swim: 500 Yards

Monday I went to the YWCA for a short weight session and swimming.  I know Higdon’s plan calls for running an easy 3 on Monday, but for now I’m going to keep using it as a cross training session.  Maybe as time goes on I’ll switch to running, but I think right now this is good.  I used his suggested 6 strength exercises (forgetting 2 of them), which are bench press, lunges, curls, overhead triceps, sitting row, and crunches.  I did light weights since it has been a long while!  Then I swam for about 300 yards.  Towards the end I kept getting water in my mouth, so I just stopped.

Tuesday I did a 30 minute tempo run along the Greenway.  Once I got warmed up my foot stopped hurting.  I ran a pretty solid workout getting 4.13 miles in during the 30 minutes (7:17 pace) and easily hitting tempo pace.  It was 46 and overcast so a nice morning to run.  Today was 8th grade graduation promotion at work and I was on my feet running around for most of the day.

I woke up Wednesday with some of the worst pain I’ve had from the Plantar Fasciitis in a long time, so I opted not to run.  I got really discouraged throughout the day and at one point even thought about quiting running altogether.  I waffled between whether I should run Thursday’s pace workout or not and finally came to the point of saying I’m not going to run again for awhile.  I’m tired of my foot always hurting so I’m going to do what I should have done almost 2 months ago – REST.

It is hard knowing that I should be training for the marathon which is now 16 weeks away, but I realized that the chances of me making it through 18 weeks of hard training with a nagging injury are pretty slim.  I managed to get through the half-marathon training program, but it seems silly to keep pushing and injuring my body more and more.  All that being said though, the MDRA offers a fall-marathon training class which starts June 23 (pdf).  So I know I’m not completely dropping the ball – unless I’m still experiencing pain at that point – which I’ll probably just charge right on through if I do.

So a little reassessment mid-stride! I didn’t do any cross-training this week really – just my bike commute – unless you count the Wii Fit.  On Tues, Weds, and Fri and I “played” Yoga, Balance, and Strength games.   This sounds almost ridiculous to say but some of the things are challenging and really have worked my core/stabilizer muscles.  Stop laughing.  You should try it sometime and see.  You can’t really rely on the feedback about your “Wii Fit Age” because it fluctuates so much – one day I was 40 and then the next I was 26.

Weekly Mileage

Run: 4.1 Miles
Bike: 37.5 Miles
Swim: 300 Yards

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TCM Training Week 1

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In previous years I offered a summary of my running in between the 2008 half-marathon and marathon training and included some other tidbits too.  Last Year’s Foto Friday was a picture of a flying monkey.  In 2007 I provided some advice for running with headphones.

Last Year’s Mileage

Run: 29.6 Miles
Bike: 40.0 Miles

Monday I biked to the YWCA for some time in the pool.  I ended up doing 500 meters.  I feel like I’m getting stronger in the water, so maybe soon I’ll actually get a good sustained cardio workout!

Tuesday I realized that I should be starting my training for the marathon this week.  So I’ll be using Hal Higdon’s 18 week Advanced II schedule.   Last year I used Intermediate II with good results. Today that called for a 3 x hill workout.  I ran to the Stone Arch Bridge as my warm-up and then ran from the river bottom to the West River Road bike path on the south side of the bridge.  They were tough.  Hal tries to scare people away with this week 1 day 1 warning:

This Advanced-II Training schedule is the toughest of all my programs! It is for very experienced runners seeking to fine-tune their training by following a program that includes two days of speedwork plus more mileage than the programs leading up to it. Hopefully you arrived at this program with a background of speed training and know what it’s like to do hill repeats, interval training on the track and tempo running in the woods. If not, this is no time to start. You would be much better following one of the Intermediate programs or Advanced-I and saving this program for a later marathon. (You’re not listening; I can tell.) Okay, you read my disclaimer and agreed to the conditions for acceptance into this very tough program. For the next 18 weeks, you will use Monday as a day of comparative rest by running an easy 3 miles, then adjourning to the gym for 15-30 minutes of stretching and strength training. (This might be a good workout to do in a health club, since you can do your 3-miler on a treadmill before heading to the weight room.) Wednesday workouts will be about the same. Fridays are rest days, since even Advanced runners need to rest. On the other days, get ready to bust! Are you up to the challenge? Only a small percentage of runners can benefit from a program this demanding, but let’s give it a try.

Wednesday resulted in a nice easy 3.25 mile run on my Metrodome loop.  I ran it backwards for a little change of pace.  It was 68 and sunny – which felt pretty warm.  It was 2pm when I actually ran and I hadn’t had any lunch yet so I was very hungry.

Thursday was Tempo run day.  I ran it out and back along the Greenway and did a pretty good job of running Higdon’s tempo style.  Slowly pick-up the pace until you hit 10k pace – hold for a few minutes – slowly slow back down.  I think I struggle with the slowly slowing back down thing.  I didn’t quite make the full 30 minutes but 3.8 miles in 27:44 works pretty well.  It was 48 and sunny.

Friday is the day of rest. I didn’t have to go to work, so all I did was bike the 1.5 miles to church.

Saturday was cool and overcast.  I met the guys at the Sibley House for what ended up being almost a 15 mile run along the Minnesota River. Right as we got out of the cars the first drops started falling.  It never really poured, but was a nice soaking rain.  Running under canopy the whole way was nice so we didn’t really start getting wet until we crossed the river and ran in the prairie for a little bit.  The 48 temp made for a cool run, almost reminicent of last year’s TCM – minus the major sustained deluge!  I ran 1:52 for the run, though I got dropped with about 3 miles to go.  After crossing the 494 bridge John and I lot contact with the group so we surged, getting down into the low 6’s to catch back up.  Once we caught them I was spent and couldn’t hold the pace.  The amazing thing was that my pace was still in the 7:30 range.  I was pretty spent.  Except for the first mile and the one with the major hill all of our miles where well under 8 which accounts for the overall 7:30 pace.

Sunday we went to watch a friend do a triathlon – the Buffalo Olympic Triathlon. It was fun to actually spectate and to watch him race and meet his goal on another cold and dreary day.  I also did about 30 minutes of yoga, strength, and balance workouts on our new Wii Fit.  Sam’s Club currently has them for $10 less than anywhere else.  Suprisingly it was actually a little bit of a workout – especially for the core and stabalizer muscles.  After today’s workout my Wii Fit Age is 28 (I’m 27 for now).

Total Mileage

Run: 26.6 Miles
Bike: 36.8 Miles
Swim: 500.0 M

Slow Build Up

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This week was a good rebuilding start.  I’m trying to be careful.  I also feel like it was a good “break” and feel ready to go again.  Just wish my foot would stop hurting.  Almost continuous pain isn’t fun. Hard to believe that June is here already!

Now that I’ve got two years worth of posts to choose from, I’ll be sure to pick only a few highlights and continue to show last year’s weekly mileage.

Past Highlights

See how it all began with the original (now defunct) Run Central Indiana welcome post.  You can use gmap pedometer to create running routes.  Last year’s Foto Friday was me “floating” in the TC 1 Mile.   Remember all those funny treadmill videos? I posted the shrimp running.

Last Year’s Mileage

Run: 18.0 Miles
Bike: 47.3 Miles

The week started off with a 5k race around Lake Nokomis on Monday morning.  I ran a 19:45 at the Brian Kraft 5k. It was nice to race a shorter distance on a beautiful morning.  On Wednesday I ran the 3.25 mile Metrodome loop in 24:14.  It was overcast and 53 and humid. My foot felt ok.  Thursday I ran the 3.2 miles around Lake Calhoun in 22:25.  As I started the run I felt good and thought about making it a progression run, but it was more like a tempo run.  It was 46 and sunny, a good day to run in my new Nike Structure Triax 12‘s.  After the run I waded into the lake so that my knees were covered.  It felt good – cood but not freezing.  My IT Band has been tighter than normal lately.  Before working at the Midtown Farmers Market on Saturday I did a 4 mile run on the Greenway.  It was 60 and very sunny, the Greenway was busy with bikers, runners, and dog-walkers.  Sunday I had planned to run with the guys, but they had either changed the meeting location or I went to the wrong place because I was the only one who showed up at the place I thought we were meeting!  No bother I went for a nice hour run along the Minnesota River Valley on the Minnesota River Bottoms Trail. It went by really fast.  The trail was sandier than I remembered it being.  It was about 50 and sunny – in the shade of the trail it felt pretty cool – but perfect temps! I ran into some mountain bikers right before I turned around but other than that only saw a rabbit and 3 deer the entire time out (except for a boat on the river).

Weekly Mileage

Run: 21.6 Miles
Bike: 34.5 Miles

Race Review: Brian Kraft 5k

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Monday morning was another near perfect morning for a race. Upper 50’s into the 60’s by race time, overcast, and a slight breeze (a little more than slight at parts!). The sun warmed us up while waiting at the starting line but seemed to disappear as we made the 5k loop around Lake Nokomis.

This event hosted by USATF-MN was pretty well organized and efficient. I arrived early was able to get my bib number and t-shirt within 5 minutes and waited around in my car for awhile.  It was cool enough at the time to want to get back “inside” and relax a bit before the warm-up.  Sadly, the Nokomis Community Center building was closed for the holiday weekend.

I did a short warm-up, stretched, and waited for the start. The starting line was approximately 1/4 mile away from the check-in/finish area, which we would run by at the start.  The event had 506 finishers with times ranging from 14:43 – 51:31. This was gun-time only race. This is a super flat race with the longest “climb” being 17 feet over a 1/4 of a mile, so pretty much negligible!

I finally ran into Nathan the only other MDRA athlete competing at the race so we talked and jogged to the start.

I had trouble figuring out where I wanted to line up, because I didn’t want to be too far forward and get sucked out too fast, but I also didn’t want to get stuck behind a lot of people.  I ended up getting a decent spot 5-6 rows deep and had a great start.  It took only a second or two to cross the starting line.  I took off pretty quickly and a lot of people passed me and it got crowded pretty quickly, but then the road opened up and I was able to settle into a pace that was fast but relaxed.    At about the 1/2 mile mark we turned south and picked up some headwind.  It didn’t feel super strong, but it was noticeable.  Not a lot happened in the first mile, a lot of people were getting settled into their pace.  There was some back and forth as we came through the mile in 6:18.  I remember thinking that might have been a little fast, but was pretty close to my race plan.

The miles seemed really long. At least compared to other runs around the lakes.   Nokomis is shaped in such a way that you can’t really see all the way around the lake, or much of the rest of the lake except at a few spots, which makes it seem like forever around.  It may have also been that I’m not used to running at such a fast pace, which tires you out and requires more effort.  This second mile was on the West side of the Cedar Ave bridge which seems really far out there and was pretty desolate.  There wasn’t a ton of cheering fans anywhere on the course, but especially not on this section.  I belive the water stop was here somewhere and I grabbed a quick squirt of water.

The racing was pretty solid through here, not much changes but continuing to go back and forth with a few runners or at least not letting myself fade away from them.  I came through mile 2 in 6:27.  Oops a little slow!

More of the same continued as we came through the third mile. A couple guys fell off and I  started seeing some new people ahead who were fading back a little.  They had jerseys that I recognized from the USATF Team Circuit, so even though we didn’t field a team, I thought I should try and get them!  I was beginning to get fatigued as well so the increased effort really just kept my pace the same.

We should have had a tailwind, but I’m not really sure if we did or not.  As we approached the starting line I remember thinking it was time to start shifting gears a little bit.  I started passing several runners and came across the third mile in 6:24.

I was feeling good, maybe a little too good as I crossed the 3 mile mark and made the final kick to the finish.  As the finish line came in sight, so did a bunch of runners that looked like they wanted to get passed.  I obliged and passed what seemed like quite a few runners.  Seeing the clock in the mid-19’s also helped the urge to kick and I came through the last 0.1 miles in 0:30 which is 4:49 pace for the last segment.  Yikes.  My overall unofficial time was 19:45 and the official time was 19:46.
After regaining my breath and stumbling around a bit I was able to enjoy the post-race bread, bananas, water, and carrot cake! After talking with some of the guys I wandered over to the lake for a nice ice bath. I waded in far enough to cover my knees and enjoyed the cold (but not too bad) water. I felt and feel like I ran a tough race but don’t think I hit 100% effort for the whole 5k. I’m glad to report that my foot and IT band felt fine throughout the race and only a little uncomfortable since finishing.

Overall this is an excellent small race with high quality competition.
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