Last Week In Running....

It went rather well. I was busy with family and work, but managed to stay mostly on target. No new nagging injuries. In fact the left knee and ankle felt pretty good. The long run and total distance was scaled back just a bit as I planned a long organized ride for Sunday.

The Breakdown:

Runs: 4
Avg. AHR: 148.7
Total Time: 03:39:54
Avg. Mi Pace: 9:08
Total Dist.: 24.0 Mi
Total Cal. Burned: 3322

Tuesday = 2.56 @ 9:45 pace. Plan was 4, but work & family had me getting a late start. I got to the gym at 8:30 pm to quickly discover they close at 9 in the summer!@?!

Wednesday = 7.14 @ 9:06. Plan was 7. Morning run at 7:50 am. Mid run the sun and humidity awoke to make the second half difficult.

Thursday = 4.11 @ 8:31. Plan was 3ish. Headed out before dinner and in between tornado warnings. The weather made it a speedy effort!

Saturday = 10.23 @ 9:16. Plan was 10. Afternoon run fueled by pizza & birthday cake. Yep, I headed out after the birthday bash.

Sunday = 68.54 @ 17.2 mph avg. Bike Psychos organized ride. I opted for the Metric to prevent from totally thrashing my legs. First half was quick and fast. Second half was a toughie, but I figured it would go this way with the limited saddle time this month. Great Weather!!

This week the long run will be a PR, distance wise, for me. Of course, that is assuming I make the scheduled distance. It will be a most excellent test of my current running abilities!!

Finally, I would like to confess that I have been eating Pizza and Birthday cake for three days straight. Today, I hope to break this evil addiction. That is all. Later.

Pretty In Pink...

Saturday was my little baby girls second birthday. The party was awesome. For her present I just couldn't resist any longer and pulled the trigger on her first bike. Yep, my little princess rides a Giant bike just like her Daddy!! Presently, she can not reach the pedals, but I have been pushing her around the house all day. :)

She totally loves it. After her nap on Saturday she immediately was asking, "Where my bike go?" It doesn't get any better then that / this / and her. It is what it is all about!

Later.

This Week In Running.....

When I was a kid I loved baseball. Playing it, watching it, cheering the beloved Cubs, collecting baseball cards and watching This Week In Baseball on Saturday mornings. Not so much anymore. The game has changed. Players have become superhuman freaks. I don't even know if the show is even on any more?

Anyway, my week of running was solid. Remember I am a bit late into the marathon training game. That being said, it's not like I am trying to go from couch to 26.2 miles. I do respect the marathon! :)

Last week I cut the mileage back a bit as I was having some nagging left knee and ankle pain. It worked. This week the knee and ankle feel good. I continue to ice them down after each effort. A couple of ice baths here and there also do wonders. I can not preach the benefits of ice baths or ice packs enough. They will keep you in the game.

This week I ran a marathon. I had four runs for 26.27 miles. Fooled you a bit, didn't I !?! The numbers (compliments of Buckeyeoutdoors.com) break down like this:


Runs:4
Avg. MHR: 162.0
Avg. AHR: 146.8
Avg. Time: 00:59:33
Total Time: 03:58:13
Avg. Speed: 6.6 MPH
Avg. Mi Pace: 9:04
Avg. Dist.: 6.6 Mi
Total Dist.: 26.3 Mi
Avg. Cal. Burned: 906.5
Total Cal. Burned: 3626

Today it was the long run. I logged 11 miles at a 9:12 pace. It went well. I got up at 6am to eat and drink java. I was out the door at 7am. It was cloudy and a cool 60 degrees. Body parts were getting tight near the end, but I had gas in the tank. I could have pushed it to 13 or 15 with no issue (I think). However, the weekly mileage is high for me. With several weeks left I have plenty of time to ease into that long run of 20 miles.

Hope your week of running went well too. Later.

Picture of MY Day....

I just have to share this one. We were headed home from a weekend camping trip. Everyone was exhausted, except for the two year old. She made good use of the drive time by doing some light reading!

Still Stressing.....or not.....

My concerns with marathon training are easing a bit. Mainly as I was able to log three solid runs this past week. While I was not fast, the runs felt good as I tackled them in the August Midwest Heat Storm!!

The Breakdown:

Tuesday: 4.16 @ 8:51 per mile pace. Departed a 7:40pm with a heat index of 99 degrees.

Wednesday: 6.01 @ 9:12 pace. Time was 3pm & heat index around 90 degrees. I experienced some post run left knee and ankle tightness/pain.

Friday: 8.33 @ 9:05 pace. Worked late, then dinner, so it was a 7:30pm start time. The plan was for ten, but getting out late limited my sunlight and cut the run short. I felt great and could have knocked out ten miles for sure.

Sunday: CYCLING!! 35 miles @ 17.5 avg mph. I could feel that I had been off the bike for 8 days as this was an effort. I was surprised that I was able to log a decent average m.p.h. despite my time away from the bike.

O.K., while I only ran three times this past week and did not top 2o miles total I am feeling good with the efforts. The left knee and ankle pain has me concerned a bit, so the slight step back in mileage might not be a bad thing. I continue to ice them down after each run.

This week is wide open for me on the training front. No 10 hours of driving to Iowa for Lies and
Hypocrasie (aka, fake wedding! :) ). In a perfect world I want four runs and two rides. I will take four runs and one ride. If the neighborhood kid shows up to mow my yard I may run tonight....

Last weeks efforts left me with one burning question; Headband or Hat?

Later.

I Was Just Running......

So, I have been transitioning, a bit, from cycling to running. I am trying to determine if I can get ready for the Chicago Marathon. Well, I actually decided in mid July I would go ahead and run Chicago, but recent events, a.k.a crappy runs, has me re-thinking my re-thinking of my thinking about the Marathon????

This weeks runs were not good. There was the after dinner run that was slow and sluggish. There was the in the heat run that involved some walking and HOTNESS. Then the attempted weekend long run where at mile 2 I wanted to quit, mile 4 I felt I could run all day and finally at mile 6 my knee felt like it was going to explode. I made the planned mileage for the first two, but only got 8 of the 10 miles I planned for today.

With only one ride in for this week and three poor running efforts I am not sure my plan, running three days a week and cycling two, is going to work. Not sure it's enough running, but more concerned that I can even find the time to attempt the plan.

Plus, after Thursday effort in the heat I came down with what appears to be a cold. I went to bed that night at 8:30pm! Maybe it's more that then anything else?? Or maybe I need to let cycling go and focus on running. Try to log 4 weekly runs with 1 ride. Or maybe I just need to stop crying about here, go take a nap, drink some Naked Juice and get to freaking work!

Maybe. Later.