Since Boston, I am falling into the same rut I did last year that if I don’t have a training plan I just wander around with no logic to my training. So I am ending that by starting up on my training for the Baystate half marathon in October with an 18 week plan that starts 06/20.
I am committed to cross training so I am going to follow the FIRST method of 3 quality runs and cross train the other days. I am getting an AQUAVEE pool trainer that will let me swim laps in my pool. My pool is a 26 foot octagon so I can’t swim laps and this product will allow me to. I am still using the TRX and like that a lot so the plan is to do a 20-30 minute TRX circuit then swim for 30 minutes.
To start getting ready for the training I need to start hitting the track and hill repeats. So this Wednesday night I will head to the track for some 400m repeats. I need to get ready for the Bridgeton 4 on the 4th race and I would like to run that in 31 minutes or less.
Cheers,
Tim
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Where have I been...
Well in the last couple of weeks I have been trying to get caught up on all of the spring chores around the house and on all of things I didn’t get to because of marathon training and because of that my running miles have suffered.
In my last post I stated that I was working on my diet and trying P90x. The diet is going “ok”, I am eating better but still don’t have the focus and time to micromanage my food intake but I have lost 5lbs and I think most of that is from the cutting back of bread and pasta. In regards to P90x, I have done 4 of the videos but I am finding it tough to stay focused during the workouts. It isn’t P90x it is me, I just have a hard time getting excited about something on the TV to motivate me to follow along without going “hey look at the cobweb let me go look at it” or anything else to distract me. See with running that isn’t an issue, I have a goal and once I start moving I keep going. So I have cut my running down to 3 times a week with nothing greater then 6 miles. I am still working out each day just not on the road or trail.
I have just picked up the TRX Suspension training system (www.fitnessanywhere.com) and I have used it 4 times so far and really like it. The TRX is a simple product that connects to any solid object that will support your weight and allows you to do numerous exercises that use your own body weight versus dumbbells or other weights. The tool is extremely portable and since there are no plates or bands to control the amount of weight/resistance you can jump from one exercise to another quickly. The best thing about the product is that it engages your Core on EVERY exercise you do and trust me I need that. I also like the thought that I can throw this in my backpack, go run in the woods, stop do a circuit on the TRX then run back home. I think this will be a great tool along with my kettlebells and P90x videos.
In regards to races, I have a 5k next week and a 4 miler in July but other then that I am not committing to anything while I focus on the weight loss and cross training.
Thanks
Tim
In my last post I stated that I was working on my diet and trying P90x. The diet is going “ok”, I am eating better but still don’t have the focus and time to micromanage my food intake but I have lost 5lbs and I think most of that is from the cutting back of bread and pasta. In regards to P90x, I have done 4 of the videos but I am finding it tough to stay focused during the workouts. It isn’t P90x it is me, I just have a hard time getting excited about something on the TV to motivate me to follow along without going “hey look at the cobweb let me go look at it” or anything else to distract me. See with running that isn’t an issue, I have a goal and once I start moving I keep going. So I have cut my running down to 3 times a week with nothing greater then 6 miles. I am still working out each day just not on the road or trail.
I have just picked up the TRX Suspension training system (www.fitnessanywhere.com) and I have used it 4 times so far and really like it. The TRX is a simple product that connects to any solid object that will support your weight and allows you to do numerous exercises that use your own body weight versus dumbbells or other weights. The tool is extremely portable and since there are no plates or bands to control the amount of weight/resistance you can jump from one exercise to another quickly. The best thing about the product is that it engages your Core on EVERY exercise you do and trust me I need that. I also like the thought that I can throw this in my backpack, go run in the woods, stop do a circuit on the TRX then run back home. I think this will be a great tool along with my kettlebells and P90x videos.
In regards to races, I have a 5k next week and a 4 miler in July but other then that I am not committing to anything while I focus on the weight loss and cross training.
Thanks
Tim
Monday, April 26, 2010
Race Report (just the summary)
First the good news:
1.) I finished my second marathon and I had the opportunity to run my second Boston Marathon.
2.) I had the opportunity to finish the Boston Marathon while my family watched from the bleachers in front of the Boston Public Library.
3.) The first 15 miles went as planned and I hit my splits for the 4:30-4:40 finish.
4.) The thrill of running with 26,000 other runners amongst 500,000 fans is an amazing thrill.
Now the not so good:
1.) Three weeks prior my right knee started to “speak to me” that it was tender and sore on a 14 mile run. The pain never stopped my run but since I never had an issue with my knee before this was uncharted territory for me. So I rested it and only did 3-4 runs in those last three weeks. I even taped the knee the Friday before with KT Tape (more to come on the product) and hoped that this would take care of the issue.
2.) The morning of the run was uneventful and the weather was great. The first 2 miles in my knee started to “speak to me” again. It was just a gentile reminder that it was going to be an issue. So I guess without noticing it I adjusted my gait to take some pressure off the knee.
Starting at the steep downhill coming into Newton Lower Falls around mile 15 my knee hurt and my lower legs and quads started to tighten. When the cramping started I was smart enough to slow my pace but I couldn’t shake the cramps.
3.) The remainder of the day was a painful run of cramping in my lower legs. It is hard to want to run but not be able to run.
4.) So where do I go from here? Well with over 5 hours to gather my thoughts I have made some choices about continuing to do Marathons:
My focus....
I have gone from 270-275 to as low as 210 but for the last year I have stayed at 225-230. Now this is still a great change in my lifestyle as my blood pressure and diabetes are under control but I need to focus on the weight loss goal. I have discussed it in the past that I need to focus on my diet and micro manage what I eat and make sure I eat enough to fuel my workouts and to push my metabolism into loosing weight but starting today I have committed myself to doing this.
So this morning I opened up the food log and promised myself that I am going to put as much focus into the nutrition as I have in my running.
I know I need to cross-train but I never made time for it and it cost me on the 19th. So starting Monday the P90x DVD’s I bought in January and have left on the shelf are going to be put into use.
What does this mean for my running?
I am cutting my runs down to three runs a week with the focus on quality:
Speed run
Tempo run
2 hour LSR in the woods on Sunday’s
The rest of my workouts will be done in the pool, yoga, P90x and on the bike. If I don’t do this I am going to open the door to injury. I am going to run the Baystate Half Marathon in October with the goal of breaking 2 hours and I will run as many 5k to 10k races as I can this year but no more Marathons.
Until I can get my weight under 200lbs and stay there I am just abusing my knees and legs training and running those distances. When I get below 200 I will choose another race besides Boston and run the 26.2 miles again. I don’t want to go back to Boston again until I know I can run miles 16 to 26.2 and enjoy them?
So my blog will still be about running for the remainder of the year but it will have more of a set focus on getting me to a thinner, leaner and less injured me. I hope you stick around for the ride. I will follow up with some updates on funny things I saw on the race, products I used etc.
ThanksTim
Monday, April 12, 2010
Tapering....
Those of you that know me, know that I have the patience of a 4 year old so this last week before I run the 114th Boston Marathon is torture for me. The only thing getting me through knows that the Taper is just as important to my preparation as the 20 mile run was.
Since my last update of the 21 mile run on the race route I started to cut back my running, the week before this past week do to work I only have 24 miles in and 14 of that was a long run. The last 14 mile long run was a nice run but somewhere on the run my right knee started hurting me. Well after the run the knee pain continued so I took a rest from running for 5 days. My logic was that if I did something to it that a 5 mile run would do more harm then good. So on Friday I did a slow mile run on the treadmill and felt no pain, on Saturday I went out for a “hilly” 3 mile run at sub marathon pace and that felt good so I had high hopes for Sunday. On Sunday I went out with the plan to run at least 90 minutes at MP+30 and did 8.81 miles at a 10:16 pace and felt great.
So now the hard part, I will go out for 2-3 runs this week to keep loose but other then that I am working to get focused for the marathon. All of you looking to follow my run my Bib# is 23708.
Cheers, Tim
Since my last update of the 21 mile run on the race route I started to cut back my running, the week before this past week do to work I only have 24 miles in and 14 of that was a long run. The last 14 mile long run was a nice run but somewhere on the run my right knee started hurting me. Well after the run the knee pain continued so I took a rest from running for 5 days. My logic was that if I did something to it that a 5 mile run would do more harm then good. So on Friday I did a slow mile run on the treadmill and felt no pain, on Saturday I went out for a “hilly” 3 mile run at sub marathon pace and that felt good so I had high hopes for Sunday. On Sunday I went out with the plan to run at least 90 minutes at MP+30 and did 8.81 miles at a 10:16 pace and felt great.
So now the hard part, I will go out for 2-3 runs this week to keep loose but other then that I am working to get focused for the marathon. All of you looking to follow my run my Bib# is 23708.
Cheers, Tim
Monday, March 29, 2010
21 days to go
Last big hurdle…
So this past week was my big week of training and the last of my 20+ runs before Boston. I had a good week of runs with a 9 mile tempo run on Friday with 5 miles at MP. On Sunday I did a 21 mile run from the start in Hopkinton to the 21 mile mark at BC College. This run is organized by the Hopkinton Running Club and unlike last year we didn’t have pouring rain but it was still cold. I awoke at 3:30 AM to fuel up and prepare and left my house around 6:30 AM.
I felt great and the plan was to stick to a 10:20 pace (MP+30 seconds) through 18 then run the last 3 miles at 9:50. Well here are the splits:
10:01
10:13
10:12
09:56
10:08
10:05
10:14
10:13
10:23
10:16
10:28
10:00
10:06
10:53
09:57
10:12
10:00
09:53
10:10
09:53
So you can see that I went out fast and was never able to settle into a 10:20 average pace. The run went ok but I did need to check out the restroom at the Ashland DD as I always have to on these training runs (glad that doesn’t happen race day) and I had to walk out some rear leg cramps at mile 18.
I love this run because it shows me the importance of PACE but I hate it because it makes me question everything I have done to date. I have found a great took for creating a Boston specific pace plan and I am going to try it. The goal is force myself to run controlled out of Hopkinton and save the energy for the hills of Newton. My BIB# is 23708 for those of you who want to follow my progress.
I have a 16 miler this weekend and then one last 12 mile run, so this boy is on the way to tapering at that my friend is good for the body and
So this past week was my big week of training and the last of my 20+ runs before Boston. I had a good week of runs with a 9 mile tempo run on Friday with 5 miles at MP. On Sunday I did a 21 mile run from the start in Hopkinton to the 21 mile mark at BC College. This run is organized by the Hopkinton Running Club and unlike last year we didn’t have pouring rain but it was still cold. I awoke at 3:30 AM to fuel up and prepare and left my house around 6:30 AM.
I felt great and the plan was to stick to a 10:20 pace (MP+30 seconds) through 18 then run the last 3 miles at 9:50. Well here are the splits:
10:01
10:13
10:12
09:56
10:08
10:05
10:14
10:13
10:23
10:16
10:28
10:00
10:06
10:53
09:57
10:12
10:00
09:53
10:10
09:53
So you can see that I went out fast and was never able to settle into a 10:20 average pace. The run went ok but I did need to check out the restroom at the Ashland DD as I always have to on these training runs (glad that doesn’t happen race day) and I had to walk out some rear leg cramps at mile 18.
I love this run because it shows me the importance of PACE but I hate it because it makes me question everything I have done to date. I have found a great took for creating a Boston specific pace plan and I am going to try it. The goal is force myself to run controlled out of Hopkinton and save the energy for the hills of Newton. My BIB# is 23708 for those of you who want to follow my progress.
I have a 16 miler this weekend and then one last 12 mile run, so this boy is on the way to tapering at that my friend is good for the body and
Monday, March 22, 2010
41 miles for 41 years on this blue orb...
Hello,
I started the week with a rest day and a birthday so not a bad way to kick off the week. The week was pretty good for running with both the weather and my own motivation levels being perfect. I did a 3.35 mile route on Tuesday as a speed run and dropped every mile split with the last mile at 8:00 minute pace and the last .35 at 7:35 pace. The runs on Wednesday and Thursday were pretty boring but due to family and work schedules that couldn't be helped. I had company coming over the weekend and since I had a 20 mile run on the books I did my long run on Friday so I could enjoy the weekend and not have to try to shuffle company with diet restrictions and long runs. The weather on Friday was great and after doing my weekly "I can read" program in my son's classroom I headed out.
I wanted to run 20 @ a 10:40 pace (MP+45 seconds) and have a HR at 75% or less. The run was fine, I felt great and my HR was 72% but I mentally struggled, I was bored. I run with an iPod and listen to Audiobooks, and I brought those but I just had a hard time staying focused. So I did 14 miles then decided to drive the 5 minutes home and do the last 6 on the treadmill while watching a movie. So with 20 miles done at the 10:40 pace I had the weekend to relax.
I finished the week with a 6 mile run on Sunday that was ok, it felt like my shoes weighed 20lbs the first 2 miles but once they got lighter it was a better run. So I finished my birthday week with 41 miles on the books (I know corny but who cares) and I only have one more 20+ mile run before I get to taper back with a 16 then 12 miler before the race.
Cheers,
Tim
I started the week with a rest day and a birthday so not a bad way to kick off the week. The week was pretty good for running with both the weather and my own motivation levels being perfect. I did a 3.35 mile route on Tuesday as a speed run and dropped every mile split with the last mile at 8:00 minute pace and the last .35 at 7:35 pace. The runs on Wednesday and Thursday were pretty boring but due to family and work schedules that couldn't be helped. I had company coming over the weekend and since I had a 20 mile run on the books I did my long run on Friday so I could enjoy the weekend and not have to try to shuffle company with diet restrictions and long runs. The weather on Friday was great and after doing my weekly "I can read" program in my son's classroom I headed out.
I wanted to run 20 @ a 10:40 pace (MP+45 seconds) and have a HR at 75% or less. The run was fine, I felt great and my HR was 72% but I mentally struggled, I was bored. I run with an iPod and listen to Audiobooks, and I brought those but I just had a hard time staying focused. So I did 14 miles then decided to drive the 5 minutes home and do the last 6 on the treadmill while watching a movie. So with 20 miles done at the 10:40 pace I had the weekend to relax.
I finished the week with a 6 mile run on Sunday that was ok, it felt like my shoes weighed 20lbs the first 2 miles but once they got lighter it was a better run. So I finished my birthday week with 41 miles on the books (I know corny but who cares) and I only have one more 20+ mile run before I get to taper back with a 16 then 12 miler before the race.
Cheers,
Tim
Monday, March 15, 2010
Training update, got to love "dial back weeks"
Hello,
Hard to believe that as of today I am 41, wow the year flew bye. So last weeks running was nice, I sensed my body needed a little rest so I gave it to it, I only did 4 runs for 30 miles. I did 5 on Tuesday, 5 on Wednesday and missed my Thursday run due to work. On Friday due to meetings I only got 5 miles in but I did it with splits that dropped each mile with an 8:30 finish for the last mile. The weather in NE for this past weekend was not very good, we had monsoon rains and winds so I decided to try out my new treadmill (killed the latest one, so that was 2 used treadmills dead in 12 months). I set up the new treadmill in the spare bedroom along with mounting a 19 inch TV/DVD combo unit on the wall and did 15 miles in 2:38:23. I wanted to do 18 but mentally I got bored and the family wanted to go for dinner.
So the next two weeks are big weeks for me with an upcoming 20 miler this week and 21 next week with 40-45 mile weeks. I will let everyone know how things progress this week for training and I am sure having the better treadmill just down stairs will help.
Tim
Hard to believe that as of today I am 41, wow the year flew bye. So last weeks running was nice, I sensed my body needed a little rest so I gave it to it, I only did 4 runs for 30 miles. I did 5 on Tuesday, 5 on Wednesday and missed my Thursday run due to work. On Friday due to meetings I only got 5 miles in but I did it with splits that dropped each mile with an 8:30 finish for the last mile. The weather in NE for this past weekend was not very good, we had monsoon rains and winds so I decided to try out my new treadmill (killed the latest one, so that was 2 used treadmills dead in 12 months). I set up the new treadmill in the spare bedroom along with mounting a 19 inch TV/DVD combo unit on the wall and did 15 miles in 2:38:23. I wanted to do 18 but mentally I got bored and the family wanted to go for dinner.
So the next two weeks are big weeks for me with an upcoming 20 miler this week and 21 next week with 40-45 mile weeks. I will let everyone know how things progress this week for training and I am sure having the better treadmill just down stairs will help.
Tim
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