Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Week in Review: 9.1.13

Race week for the Rock n' Roll Virginia Beach Half Marathon

I started my race week on Tuesday with a recovery run to get my legs streatched out for the race on sunday.  Nothing fancy just nice and steady in the humidity.  5.3 mi in 1:00:00 an 11:19 pace.

Wednesday I did something different since I only had 5K to do I decided I would wake up a little early and run to the gym, lift for about 40 min then run home.  It was DARK (it's getting dark too soon and light too late now) but I made it down without getting hit by a car.  It was a bit different tying to work the core muscles after a run, and then starting the run back home all I could think is "my arms are tired I want to walk".  What tired arms mean to walking I don't know but I was whooped.  3.7mi in 41:37 an 11:15 pace

Thursday was a standard 5K down at the track nothing fancy.  3.1 mi in 1:18:47 an 11:06 pace

Friday and Saturday I'm off but you can read all about my time at the beach along with my Sunday run in my race report.  I hope to have it up after not too long!
Miles run last week 25.2
Miles run this year 626.3

Miles left to 1K in 2013: 373.7 (21.98 miles per week over the next 17 weeks down another 0.18 from last week)

Race Report: Memphis Soul 5K BBQ run

This past Sunday was the Memphis Soul 5K BBQ run presented by Marathon Sports.  It takes the runner through the Somerville starting and ending in Davis square.  I headed down mid-day on Saturday to grab my shirt and bib and get a lay of the land for the next day.

Parking was a breeze (this time) and the air already smelled like BBQ thanks to Redbones on the a block away from where I parked by car. I headed over to The Burren and grabbed a shirt and my bib.  It's a pretty big Irish pub with standard pub grub and some good beers on tap.  I couldn't grab one now but hopefully tomorrow post race.

Sunday the race didn't start until 11 which was a little late but made for a leisurely morning.  About 10AM we headed over to Davis Square to make sure we had plenty of time to find parking and get settled.  I was lucky and found the last spot over near the square it was a tight fit (see Austin Powers in his golf cart, back, forth, back, forth) but it meant avoiding a longer walk to and from the start.  About 45 minutes from the start of the race and it was starting to fill up.  Being a Memphis themed race and prizes for the first Elvis and Elvisettes that cross the line I thought there would be more people in costume but they were a weren't too many but I did manage to find a couple.



I hoped the late start wouldn't result in hotter race time temps and it turned out to be warm but not too bad.  As the race started it made it way out toward Cambridge up a slight incline.  The road wasn't totally closed so there were cars waiting to come the other way taking in the sight of all these runners making them wait.  Just short of mile 1 the course did a U-turn and started it's way back on a parallel street towards Davis, and the elevation starting to drop again.  Down powder house boulevard the elevation bottomed out and started to climb again much faster than before as we headed out past David towards Boston for another half mile before turning back down the Minuteman bike path towards the finish.  About this time I was ready for the downhill and to kick it into high gear. 


Just before 11:30 I crossed the finish line with a new PR of 28:41 the first time I broke the 30 minute barrier.  This race also allows you to enter in classes by weight which I though setting a new PR would maybe get me near the podium but alas it wasn't to be there are some other big guys who were faster.   I'll have to train harder for the big man challenge.  I made my way to the exit and grabbed by newest medal (if you don't have one with a turquoise pig on it you're doing it wrong), and headed towards the post race celebration of BBQ and beer. 

Best...Medal...Ever
I think we'll be doing this one again next year and hopefully bringing a crew with us!

28:41 a 9:14 Pace

Overall: 308 out of 778 Division: 80 out of 119  Open Cydesdales Division: 6 out of 14

Week In Review 8.24.13

Big week ahead as I continue to prepare for the half in Virgina Beach and race a 5K on Sunday

I started my training week on Tuesday with a slow trot down to the track.  I was still feeling pretty rough so I didn't push it but I needed to get my miles in to make sure I hit 1K for the end of the year.  6 mi in 1:11:09 an 11:40 pace. 

I ended up with an off day Wednesday since I was out late Tuesday night at Wicked.  That just means I need to pick it up on Thursday!

Thursday I tried to make up for some missed miles and did more than I normally do before work pulling in 7.1 at a respectable pace.  Long run tomorrow since I'm headed down Country Fest that afternoon and I don't think I'll be in the mood to run Saturday morning.  7.1 mi in 1:18:47 an 11:06 pace

Friday was my last long run before the half down in Virgina.  I used the track and made pretty good time as the humidity started to pick up. Later that day it was down to the razor to see Kenny Chesney in concert.  YEE HAW  9.3 mi in 1:39:38 a 10:43 pace
Saturday I spent the morning down in Old Sturbridge Village with my niece and nephews recovering and resting for the race on Sunday.  .

Sunday race day for the Memphis Soul 5K BBQ run.  I'll write more about my new PR in it's own blog stay tuned!
Miles run last week 25.5
Miles run this year 601.1

Miles left to 1K in 2013: 398.9 (22.16 miles per week over the next 18 weeks down 0.18 from last week)

Monday, August 19, 2013

Week In Review 8.18.13

AHHH the start of the taper, the (not so) long run never felt so good.

Monday was an off day.  I skipped strength training so that I could go to a gym class on Tuesday.

Tuesday I wasn't fully recovered from the long run on Sunday so my run was slow but I got all my miles in.  6 mi in 1:05:26 a 10:54 pace.  Later in the day after work I headed to Work out World for total body melt!  A different (much less angry) instructor this class but like last time, I was the token dude in the class.  The trainer today focused on more cardio than flat out strength training with 4 minutes of strength training followed by 2 minutes of hard cardio for the 50 minutes of class.  I felt better at the end but I've come to the conclusion that all trainers are masochists no matter now nice they may be.

Wednesday since I didn't get to do any speed work on Tuesday I made Wednesday the fast day.  A half mile warm up and cool down with 0.42miles fast followed by 0.08 mile of recovery.  Even with the warm up and cool down I managed to keep the pace under 10 minutes.  Now I need to complete it with 5 full miles of fast next week.  We'll see how it goes.  6.0 mi in 59:18 a 9:53 pace.

Thursday I did an after work run since getting up at 4:40AM everyday is tiring.  To the track batman for some Fartleks.  4.3 mi in 43:10 a 10:04 pace

Friday I was back at the gym for my normal bout of strength training.  I read this week I should try to do my strength training on days I've already run as to not over train, well my schedule is set at least in the short term.  We'll see what happens going forward.
Saturday I put in a slow 5.4 miles, then headed down to the Charles for a 9.4 mile row! 5.4 mi in 59:45 a 11:04 pace

Sunday was pretty rough.  I think I over trained a bit with the double workouts on Tuesday and Saturday and I was sluggish and tired all day.  As a result I couldn't get any type of long mileage in and had to settle for a 5K to make something of the day.  I headed to bed early in hopes of pulling my self together for the next week. 3.1 mi in 33:04 a 10:40 pace
Miles run last week 24.8
Miles run this year 575.6

Miles left to 1K in 2013: 424.4 (22.34 miles per week over the next 19 weeks down 0.12 from last week)

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Week In Review 8.11.13

Three more weeks of training before the Rock 'n' Roll Virginia Beach Half, time to get serious!!!

Monday I made my way to the gym for an early morning of strength training.  40 minutes going from machine to machine then some time on the mat working on core muscles.

Tuesday officially stared the training week with some more speed work.  Half mile warm up and cool down with alternating intervals of 0.35 mi under  10 minutes with a 0.15 mi recover period.  5.1 mi in 51:21 a 10:05 pace.  But wait there's more!  I forgot my keys at the track so I added in another slow mile so I could actually get into my house bringing the total to 6.1 miles on the day.

Wednesday I took a break from the large common street hill to do a series of laps near my house which had a series of smaller hills.  The elevation gain on this circuit is much less (only about 30 feet), but it more closely resembled what I'd see in Virginia Beach on Labor day, and I feel I get more out of this series rather than trying to concur one big hill which after the second run I need to walk part of the way up.  6.0 mi in 1:06:59 an 11:10 pace

Thursday I beat the rain, well most of it and after a mile warm up I got in 4.5 miles of fartlek at the track.  Not as fast as two weeks ago but by the end I was 3 miles farther than then so I can't complain. 6 mi in 1:04:04 a 10:40 pace

Friday I really wanted to get to the gym for some strength training but I just really needed to sleep in and take a day off so no workout for me today.
Saturday I put in a slow 6 miles before my long run on Sunday in order to help simulate the later stages of a race.  By running before my long run hopefully I'll still have something left in the tank at the end of a race!  6.1 mi in 1:03:09 a 10:21 pace.

Sunday I hoped to get 16 miles in but jumping 2 miles on the long run and 6 miles overall was just too much to take.  I got in a number of round trips down to Waltham taking up just over 12 mile of the run, then over to the track for some fartlek to finish it out.  I didn't break the 40 mile barrier, but it was my best week of running to date, and took over a mile off my weekly running target to hit 1K!  Time for a bit of a taper before the Rock 'n' Roll Virginia Beach! 15.0 mi in 2:45:18 an 11:01 pace
Miles run last week 39.2
Miles run this year 550.8

Miles left to 1K in 2013: 449.2 (22.46 miles per week over the next 20 weeks down 0.9 from last week)

Monday, August 5, 2013

Week In review 8.4.13

This week I return to the total body melt class with my eyes set on joining it twice. Lets join the action already in progress.

Tuesday I awoke just in time for it to start raining. I was almost done with my audio book ('Blackout' book 3 of the Newsflesh trilogy) so I didn't want to leave my phone to run outside, so I headed over to the gym for some speed work. A mile warm up and half mile cool down with intervals of quarter miles at around a 9 minute pace countered by one at about an 11 minute pace. Overall I was fairly happy with the time. 5.0 mi in 52:38 a 10:32 pace

Wednesday has become hills day around Watertown where i tackle the 142 foot Common St. hill. I upped the number of climbs from 2 last week to 3 this week and the time showed it. In addition to running there was a lot of cross training involved. I rode my bike down and back to the bus (1.6 miles each way) and down and back to the gym (2 mi each way) for some strength training. It being last day of July runkeeper informed me that I set a number of new monthly personal records for running including most distance (120.7mi), time running (22:37:54), elevation climbed (5,597ft) and number of runs (21). Not bad for a month's work, but lets see what August brings. 4.9 mi in 1:02:04 a 12:40 pace

Thursday, my legs were pretty tore up from the running and biking. My car was in the shop getting some work done so I ran over to Arlington to pick it up. The rolling terrain made for a nice challenge and although my GPS lost me at one point I had it mapped out before hand to make sure I got my mileage in. 5 mi in 1:02:09 a 12:29 pace

Friday I took my normal off day and headed to the gym for some more strength training which is becomming more of a staple in my training.
Saturday I had to switch it up as we planned on taking my niece and nephews to Mystic aquarium on Sunday, so I set out on my long run a day early taking a couple of down and backs to Waltham then spending the last couple of miles around the track doing fartleks on the straightaways.  I was a little dehydrated at the end but otherwise felt really good, and I'm finally over the 500 mile marker for the year. 16 miles or bust next week! 14.05 mi in 2:37:36 an 11:13 pace
Miles run last week 28.95
Miles run this year 511.6

Miles left to 1K in 2013: 488.4 (23.26 miles per week over the next 21 weeks down 0.27 from last week)