I haven't been running on the local trail much because it was giving me weird toe pain/cramps and yesterday I decided to give it a go again. The run itself was great, I had no toe pain and it didn't seem to aggravate the knee pain I have been having and to top it off it gave me a great story for my blog.
So I am running on the trail and I hear a car coming up behind me like they occasionally do since it is used by the DPW and local residents. However, unlike when they usually just drive by and wave, this guy slows down and rolls down his window. Needless to say I have my headphones on blaring and I'm running at a decent clip like 7:00, so I take my headphone off and try my best to ask him what's up in between breaths. On a side note, the only reason I ever have an urge to run with anyone else is to see if I can actually hold a conversation at my easy pace since supposedly that can improve fitness. As I am running the guy tells me he is lost, mind you this is a one lane dirt trail with only one entrance and exit and its only about a mile long.
In my head I'm thinking, is this guy a freaking moron or what. I refuse to slow down or stop to talk so I keep running and give the guy directions on how to get out to Rt. 117 and as he is driving off I see what appears to be a camera mounted to the dash with a red record light on.
In addition, to not being able to find his way out of a paper bag, this guy was creating a record of his stupidity. Makes me wonder what the heck he was filming for...
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Runner Problems...
I am really beginning to like these "motivational" posters from Runners World. I prefer to avoid this situation whenever possible...
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
New Year's Resolutions...
If you are a gym regular, you certainly can relate to what I am about tell you. I hate the first week of the new year. Everyone and their mother decides to come to the gym to work on their new year's resolutions. Now I am all for improving yourself and know all too well what type of commitment it takes. But here are some statistics on why I think new year's resolutions are stupid:
I give it 2 weeks until the gym is back to normal and I don't have to wait for a treadmill or the restroom and until then maybe the people will provide some comedic relief for me.
- 62% of Americans set new year resolutions
- 8% of people are always successful in achieving their resolutions.
- 19% achieve their resolutions every other year.
- 49% have infrequent success.
- 24% never succeed and have failed on every resolution every year.
I give it 2 weeks until the gym is back to normal and I don't have to wait for a treadmill or the restroom and until then maybe the people will provide some comedic relief for me.
Why do dogs hate me so much...
So I can't remember if I posted previously about the pack of cocker spaniels that chase me around the back roads of Stowe occasionally, but there are 4 or 5 of them that will follow me for about half a mile from their house. They tend not to really cause me any issues so I don't mind them so much.
However, apparently this isn't an isolated incident. This week I was running an easy shake-out after a sick fast finish long run so my legs were pretty toasted and because of some pains I've been having in my toe I couldn't run on the trails. This meant I had to extend my usual 6 mile route to include an extra mile so I decided to run down around the Clocktower place parking lot. As I am turning around, out of no where a Chihuahua starts chasing me and I figured he would just chill out and follow me for a few and back off, but not this dog. He decided to continue chasing me and nipping at my ankles, which normally wouldn't be an issue because I could just drop to a lower gear and out run him but my legs were wiped and so I was trying as hard as I could get away but I had nothing. His owner just stood there watching as if enjoying the situation and eventually called him back.
So I ask....why do dogs want to chase me so badly!
However, apparently this isn't an isolated incident. This week I was running an easy shake-out after a sick fast finish long run so my legs were pretty toasted and because of some pains I've been having in my toe I couldn't run on the trails. This meant I had to extend my usual 6 mile route to include an extra mile so I decided to run down around the Clocktower place parking lot. As I am turning around, out of no where a Chihuahua starts chasing me and I figured he would just chill out and follow me for a few and back off, but not this dog. He decided to continue chasing me and nipping at my ankles, which normally wouldn't be an issue because I could just drop to a lower gear and out run him but my legs were wiped and so I was trying as hard as I could get away but I had nothing. His owner just stood there watching as if enjoying the situation and eventually called him back.So I ask....why do dogs want to chase me so badly!
Winter Base Building
I am currently going to be shifting my focus to really building my aerobic base for the spring. I am still on the fence on whether I will run a spring marathon or if I am going to solely focus on getting faster. My goal of sub-2:55:00 is very aggressive and is probably going to take me multiple training cycles to get through. Next year I have two primary goals, qualify for NYC 2013 and Boston 2013. The NYC qualifying is going to be a half marathon which has to be a sub-1:23:00 which I may attempt in the spring.
I will most likely not be posting too many training logs from here until I decide on my race for the spring and start specific training but here is what my general log will look like. My goal is to make 72 miles feel like a normal week so the next time I do marathon training I will be able to ramp up over 90 miles per week.
In the interim, if the weeks start getting too easy, I am going to start lowering my interval times. I need to get Thursdays mile repeats down to about 5:55 to be in NYC qualifying shape so I have some work to do. In addition, I'd like to get the speed intervals down so I am running [800@5:50; 400@5:30; 400@5:20; 1200@6:00].
Standard Training Week: 72 miles.
I will most likely not be posting too many training logs from here until I decide on my race for the spring and start specific training but here is what my general log will look like. My goal is to make 72 miles feel like a normal week so the next time I do marathon training I will be able to ramp up over 90 miles per week.
In the interim, if the weeks start getting too easy, I am going to start lowering my interval times. I need to get Thursdays mile repeats down to about 5:55 to be in NYC qualifying shape so I have some work to do. In addition, I'd like to get the speed intervals down so I am running [800@5:50; 400@5:30; 400@5:20; 1200@6:00].
Standard Training Week: 72 miles.
| Monday: | 7 miles | |
| Tuesday: | AM: 3x[800@6:11; 400@5:52; 400@5:39; 1200@6:40]. 11 miles PM: 6 miles | |
| Wednesday: | 6 miles | |
| Thursday: | AM: 5x1M@6:40. 10 miles PM: 6 miles | |
| Friday: | 6 miles | |
| Saturday: | Rest | |
| Sunday: | 20 miles |
Recovery Weeks 4, 5 & 6
It looks like the experts are right that it takes about twice the time taken off to get back up to pre-injury fitness level. I have finished 6 weeks of recovery and am just about back up to where I was during marathon training. I haven't really had any pain or even the "niggles" that they say last for a while after an injury which is a good sign that it has healed well.
Week 4 Total: 52 miles.
Week 5 Total: 56 miles.
Week 6 Total: 66 miles.
Week 4 Total: 52 miles.
| Monday: | 6 miles | ||||||
| Tuesday: | 8 miles | ||||||
| Wednesday: | 6 miles | ||||||
| Thursday: | 10 miles | ||||||
| Friday: | 2x[800@6:30; 400@5:54; 400@5:39; 1200@6:49]. 6 miles | ||||||
| Saturday: | Rest | ||||||
| Sunday: | 16 miles |
Week 5 Total: 56 miles.
| Monday: | 6 miles | |
| Tuesday: | 6 miles | |
| Wednesday: |
AM: 2x[800@6:11; 400@5:54; 400@5:39; 1200@6:49]. 8 miles
PM: 4 miles
| |
| Thursday: | 10 miles | |
| Friday: | 6 miles | |
| Saturday: | Rest | |
| Sunday: | 16 miles |
Week 6 Total: 66 miles.
| Monday: | 7 miles | |
| Tuesday: | 2.75x[800@6:11; 400@5:52; 400@5:39; 1200@6:44]. 10 miles | |
| Wednesday: | 6 miles | |
| Thursday: | AM: 6 miles PM: 6 miles | |
| Friday: | 10 miles | |
| Saturday: | Rest | |
| Sunday: | 17 miles |
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