Tempo Runs
Well I have done a ton of reading this past year on running both fiction and non fiction. I have become a sponge for information and wish to know everything I can to not only be a better runner but to coach kids to be the best. The coaching has worked out awesome and I have gotten my kids to just run more. One of the best books is the one Arthur Lydiard wrote and I noticed that all of the great books make reference to him as the premier coach of distance running. I have found that his stuff just makes a lot of sense. Basically in a nutshell if you want to be better at something, just practice your craft more than them. It has worked for all the great athletes…Larry Bird to name one of them. I have heard many stories how he was the first to show up to practice and the last to leave. This gave him the confidence and competitive edge that he had done everything possible to beat his opponents. So thats were I am at…… I made the decision to be the best I can possibly be at running. This is not a short time fix….This is a commitment to running for a full year and to culminate a peak in the fall with a marathon.
Part of the initial Lydiard program as I understand it is the base build up and strength building. This is were I am at. After this week I will have 8 weeks of 70 miles or more with a long run of 15-22 miles and a 4 mile tempo run on the track. This means no fast stuff until the final 4-6 weeks of the season. But I can tell you that I am getting significantly stronger. My long runs seem easy even at 7:50 pace. The tempo run has gone from 6:30 pace to under 6 min pace last week. And an early season race was faster than I expected with no resting or cutting down. I have a half marathon planned for sunday and it will be very interesting to see the results on just strength training. In the fall I ran a hilly half in 1:25 in the middle of 80-90 mile weeks and I feel much stronger now. Talk to you sunday night when the results come in.
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Recovery
Well today is the 1st day since the weekend race that my legs felt ok and not sore. I got 6 in monday, 8 in tues, 10 wed, and 10 today. Friday I’ll get another 10 in with a 20 on sat and 6 on sunday. That will give me 70 for the week. Next week will be a couple of workouts and some higher miles to get ready for the 1/2 marathon on March 21st. Hope it gets warmer out soon, I like wearing shorts..LOL
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I’m Back….Whew
Man its been quite a while since I have written in this blog but the USATF NE Road racing just kicked off in Amherst MA. I have really done much since the Manchester Marathon in November were I had a PR of 2:54:24. I am a little bummed that I forgot to sign up for Boston and when I tried it was sold out in record time. So I have decided that I will concentrate on the roads and end the season with a fall marthon.
As I stated earlier the first race was this past sunday in Amherst MA, the DH 10 Miler, a real hilly course that thrashes your quads. I have been sore for 3 days now. I really hate down hill running. The uphills never bother me. My time was a modest 1:03:07 (6:19) pace. I was happy with that and actually exceeded my goal of 1:05. Its pretty early in the year for me and all of my training is going to be geared towards a sub 2:50 marathon this year. I have been running some light miles the past six weeks of around the low 70’s. December and January were really low in the 50’s just recovering from the marathon.
The next race is the New Bedford 1/2 Marathon on March 21st. My goal for that race will be a comfortable 1:22 to 1:23. I have run this course 2 years ago and find it quite easy except for the wind near the ocean. These early races have nothing to do with PR’s but just to get the legs running a little fast and build some strength for the late summer runs and fall. Fall is were I really like to run hard and hopefully a sub 1:20 half and a sub 2:50 Marathon. In order to do this I will slowly build my miles to 80’s in the early spring and the 90’s during the summer.
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Todays Run and new goal
Well my legs felt better today on a slow 5 miler with the kids but my feet are still killing me. I have some whopper blisters under the calluses of my feet and they still hurt bad. I figure a couple more days and I will be fine.
New Goal to run under 2:50 at Boston. I thin I can do it if I can get enough training in. So far in the 3 marathons that I have run my training has only been good for about 10-12 weeks. I figure if I can run 20 weeks of consistent mileage and workouts I could do much better. Only one way to figure that out……Human guinea pig…LOL
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Day after the Marathon
Ugh !!! You heard the stories…going down stairs…Ouch..and just walking around at a comfortable pace…Eh…Well I am the youth coordinator of Gate City Striders and decided to try a little running with the 10 and unders. It was just my pace and I got in about 4 miles. Afterwards I was still stiff but I think it will be easier to get back if I run some slow short runs. We’ll see.
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Manchester Marathon 2:54:29
Well all the training paid off and I finally perfected the taper. I got my legs back last night and felt awesome today on the hilly Manchester NH course. The results aren’t official yet but I have 2:54:29. Thats a 4:11 PR in a year and my previous was on the flat Lowell MA course. Only one glitch is that I got tired the last 2 miles and the splits show that.
6:06,6:41,6:32,6:35,6:31,6:14,6:30,6:27,6:26,6:36,6:30,6:41,6:15,
6:38,6:34,6:35,6:42,6:44,6:58,6:30,6:37,6:35,6:39,6:50,7:01,7:18, 2:34
Next up Boston again !!!
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Marathon 15 mile tune-up
So I was feeling like I needed a little taste of the Marathon a week before the Big race. So I entered a 15 mile trail race in Milford and ran it as a tempo. My legs felt good on the trails and I averaged 7:20 pace over the course. After I relaxed in the Lake and used that as an Ice bath. I am pretty Sure I am ready for next week.
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Another visit to the course & a Great party
Yesterday started LOW and Finished on a HIGH. The low part was my visit to the Manchester marathon course and the 13.1 first half. It is pretty hilly and it was a reminder that I need to pace myself well to get my goal. Also my legs were very tired still from Sundays 23.5 that I felt like bagging the run totally. However my guilty conscience always gets me and I ran the whole thing finishing fast the last 3 miles. I am going to run easy the next few days in hopes of getting my legs back.
The High was our annual Gate City Striders party at the end of the season. I really love this club and all of the great people that are involved. Its just a good vibe whenever you are around them and things are always happening. Its definitely a shot of motivation when you see the other club members and go over stories. I encourage everyone to join your local running club just to be involved.
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Lowell Marathon
Well I ran my last long run today for the Manchester NH Marathon at the Lowell Marathon. It was a 23 mile jaunt to help out a couple of friends trying to qualify for Boston. They were happy to have company and so was I. My week total was only 67 this week after 10 weeks between 80-90 miles. My legs were very tired this week and I took my 1st day off in 71 days. But by today I finally feel fresh today and will continue to take it easy till Nov 1st.
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Recovery and 16 mile fast finish run
With a double on Monday and an easy 9 mile recovery run on tues, Justin and I ventured down to Lowell, MA to run on the Marathon Course. Justin is running the Baystate Marathon in a week and a half and this is one of the workouts he has planned. The 1st mile was slow like 8:16 and then we averaged around 7:30 pace for 8 miles. At that point you are to pick up the pace for 6 miles at your Marathon pace. My goal pace is somewhere between 6:40- 6:50 and this is what I did : 6:53, 7:00 Powergel, 6:51, 6:38, 6:45, 6:39 and an 8:36 for a cool down. I think I nailed it pretty good and I feel great afterwards. Last week we ran the same workout on a 21.5 miler and I wasn’t close. So the fitness keeps getting better. YEAH
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