Zane Safrit

#2 Marathon Training: Week 10

Some good wins this week.

Tuesday

• 4-mile run was a bit of a slog. The 20+ MPH winds didn’t help.

• Weights in the afternoon were a pleasure. We increased weights on Squat Machine, Leg Press, extensions, hamstring curls.

Wednesday

• 8-mile run was okay. The legs felt the result of the previous day. The temps were 40 degrees warmer than Tuesday. Gotta love global warming and its rapid sudden temperature changes.

Thursday

• 4-Mile run was a personal best by at least 4 minutes, maybe as many as 7. I ran a different route than I normally do so a chemical engineer might wiffle at my estimate but even allowing for normal ebullience it was a personal best of at least 4 minutes.

• Weights were good. We increased weights for dead lifts, free squats, lat pull downs, rowing and calf raises.

Saturday

• The half-marathon route was a hilly route. But the pace ended up being 1 minute per mile faster than last week’s.

This week the schedule remains the same except for the weight sessions on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Those are to shift from heavy weight and low reps to exercises for slow-twitch muscles.

Tuesday:

• AM - 4-mile run
• PM - Weights/Gym

Wednesday

• 8-Mile Run

Thursday

• AM - 4-mile run
• PM - Weights/Gym

Saturday

• 18-Mile Run

Here's a couple of pics from today's storm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It sorta looks like a tornado, but it wasn't.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photography reminds me of that Woody Allen saying: 80 percent of life is showing up.

In these pictures then, that leaves 18% for having a camera-phone and 2% for ignoring the tornado warnings screeching at me on the camera-phone and blaring out over the fields.

Happy Mother's Day.

#2 Marathon Training - Week 9

This was a much better week than last week.

As I mentioned last week, I rested on Tuesday and Thursday. Those are the days I normally run 4 miles in the morning and lift weights in the afternoon. I still lifted in the afternoon with better results lifting heavier weights.

Lesson? A little rest, on a timely basis, helps.

Wednesday’s 8 mile run was stellar. The total time was a personal best by about 5-6 minutes for this mid-week tempo run. The negative split was by 6 minutes.

I also tried NeoGenesis Beet Elite NeoShot. Good stuff. It is not a stimulant. There’s no caffeine. There is a lot of nitric oxides and potassium. They work together to deliver more oxygen to the muscles and tissue, increase the efficiency of oxygen utilization, yadda yadda. I’m an art major. I noticed I recovered faster during my warm up, I ran faster and longer. And at the end ... I felt good.

I tried it on Saturday’s 16-mile run. 1 shot to start and 1 shot at 2 hour mark. The result? I ran these16 miles faster than I ran those 15 miles the previous week. I ran half of those 16 miles into the wind.

This week the schedule remains mostly the same:

Tuesday:

• AM - 4 Mile Run
• PM - Weights, Legs. My trainer starts me on a new regime of leg workouts this week. We're done with heavy weights. We're going to move towards exercises that strengthen the slow-twitch muscles. I'm twitching with excitement.

Wednesday:

• AM - 8 Mile Run

Thursday:

• AM - 4 Mile Run
• PM - Weights

Saturday: Rest

Sunday: 13 miles

Have a good week. Run your race.

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My obsession with beets

#2 Marathon Training - Week 8

Okay.

The wall has been met and it is a firm but not impregnable wall. I mentioned last week I was feeling the effects of adding miles and weights. Well, this past week the body said You will listen.  And here’s what it said:

You are tired. You’re not sleeping well. You’re a little irritable. Your pace is plummeting. That inner voice, the one you ignored when it whispered ‘I REALLY don’t want to do this.’ yeah, well you’re gonna listen now because now you have a sore throat and feel a little fluish. I'm turning off your brain so you’re not so productive and you can't rationalize; you can only listen. Because determination is now stubbornness.

Tuesday -

• 4 mile run. The route’s a series of hills, one after the other. The day was windy. But the pace was good. 3 minutes faster than last week where last week’s was on a mostly flat route. That’s good, right?

• Weights - A good workout. Another boost in weight amounts across the board in squats, hacks, leg raises, hamstring curls. On the squat machine I’m doing 225 lbs, 8 reps three sets. Not epic but more than I’ve ever done and now I’m also running 30+ miles a week.

Wednesday -

• 7 mile run. Here’s when reality began to set in and I heard that first inner whisper said Man, I really don’t want to do this run. The pace was a minute per mile slower. Granted it was a hilly route; I had grown bored of the other route. But still ... And at the end I was exhausted.

Thursday -

• 4 Mile run. I ran it on a treadmill. For a mile I felt good - legs loosened, adrenals kicked in, endorphins ... not so much. The other three I felt awful. Pace was slow. I was glad when it ended. Never a good sign.

• Weights. I was late to the gym, forgot to wear workout shorts, had to run back home for them (30 minutes), asked that we not increase the weights this week. The workout was okay, not much fun; I was too tired to tell jokes. Went home and crashed.

Saturday

• Long run. I postponed it. The thought of running didn't even sound good.

Sunday

• 16 miles. Hilly course. With no earbuds I had time to count the miles where I wasn’t running a hill. There were 4 miles. Winds were in the 20 mph range. Running into the wind, uphill, was amusing. Got it done, a little bit faster than I expected.

 I drank a cup of this beet extract. Beet Elite Neo Shot. I think it helped. I’ll try it again on Wednesday’s 7-mile run.

Upcoming Week:

• Tuesday: Weights only. I’m skipping the morning 4-mile run

• Wednesday: 7 Mile Run.

• Thursday: Weights only. I’m skipping the morning 4-mile run

• Saturday: 16 Miles.

Have a great week. Run your race.

# 2 Marathon Training: Week Number 7

Time flies when you’re having fun. It still flies though not as fast when you’re slogging an extra 8 miles in addition to pumping an extra 20% in weights. But hey the option is watching TV and letting my butt and belly sag and my attitude sag along with them. So ...

The deal this week was more. More miles, more weights.

Tuesday: Run and Weights.

• The 3 mile run stretched to 4 this week. I hope these four miles were the last four miles where I have to dress for winter. Enough already. The  route is a county two-lane blacktop with no shoulders. It runs uphill for the first eight tenths of a mile before leveling off. Since it’s an out-and-back that means what goes up, me, must come down that same eight tenths. I did. And I did in a negative split by 3 minutes.

I’ll do better this week, shorter times, bigger negative split.

• Weights. Tuesday afternoons I lift weights. We did machines - hack and squat, leg raises and hamstring curls, in sets of 8 for three sets. I need to track the weights; she, my trainer does. And I see every week we’re upping them and she tells me we are are upping them. My legs tell me the same ... usually the next day.

Wednesday: 7 Mile Run

The run is 7 miles now, up from six last week. Slow and determined are the best descriptors. We got ‘er done and it counts. And we got her done in a negative split by about 45 seconds on a flat course and ending running into 25 mile per hour winds.

It’s a building run, building towards two weeks from now when I’ll set a personal best for the distance. That’s how it’s played so far. I up my miles and on the third week of the new distance, I hit my stride and set a new personal best for that distance on this schedule.

Thursday: Run and Weights.

4 miles in the morning. Not pretty. Another cold, windy morning. But the miles count towards that personal best ... two weeks from now.

Weights. We did dead lifts and squats, abs and lats with pulldowns and rows. Did some lunges too.

Saturday: Long Run

14 miles. Again, I got ‘er done. Nothing pretty. The pace was slow but steady. The route had a few hills in it. I ended it in a negative split by about 2:30.

Next week’s schedule is the same except for Saturday’s long run of 15 miles. And it’ll be warm and sunny.

Keep running your own marathon.

Marathon

No training. This is the marathon. Dublin, Ohio’s Last Chance for Boston Marathon.

Dublin, Ohio is a nice town.

The race hotel, the Crown Plaza, is an excellent hotel. Rooms were super quiet, spacious, great big king-size beds.

Now, when a runner’s describing a marathon and he/she starts out talking about the city and the hotel that ... you can assume that the run was not fun. You’d be right if you assumed that here.

That’s frustrating. I picked the race for its flat course, a one-mile loop through a business park, for its location - a day’s drive, and for its weather.

The weather. I love running in the cold. Colder the better. I go gloveless at 0 degrees. I’m a heatilator, slow and steady and pumping out heat. But that day, with temps in the 30’s and a breeze that kept getting stronger, I shivered the whole day. Never warmed up.

The course has a limit of 4:45. That was doable, I thought. Maybe 4:50 or 4:55.

Wrong.

Running on the treadmill all winter did not prepare me for running on concrete or running in the cold.

At the halfway mark, a half-marathon in distance I was ahead of schedule for finishing under 4:45.  By the time I started my 24th lap it wasn’t.

At 4:50:00 the course rolls up its orange cones and its one aid station and the streets are empty. I don’t have any water with me. I’m looking at another 25 - 30 minutes. I’m still shivering. And I’m not going to get a finisher’s medal or be listed as a finisher.

I quit. I was right in front of the hotel and turned around and went inside. That’s right, I took my running shoes and went home.

What did I learn?

* Leg strength, leg strength, leg strength. Gotta get me some. That remains the theme.

* More pavement running. Gotta get me some if, and I know it will, spring arrives.

* Better training, smarter training.

Towards that end I realized this week I need a personal trainer. However, we live in a small town. There aren’t a lot of personal trainers focused on endurance running. Matter of fact, I’m sure there are none.

Wrong.

I noticed one member of the rec center who worked hard and smart, never grunting or showing a strain. They won a recent body-building contest. They kicked ass on leg workouts, pumping more weights and more reps than anyone. I mustered up the courage and asked her if she’s a personal trainer. She is. Turns out she’s a runner, too, her whole life running 5k’s, half-marathons and has triathletes and marathoners in her family. It helps that she understands the challenge of balancing strength training with endurance training. As I described my goals and the challenges, she’s nodding her head, got it. Yep.

We’ll meet next week. See how that helps. I’m sure it will. If I can squat what she squats it’s gotta make my running stronger, easier, longer.

Keep.Moving.Forward.

Marathon Training: Week 12

The taper down in preparation for the next marathon continues on schedule.

Yesterday, I spent 30 minutes on the stairmaster, 15 on the stationary cycle and 20 on weights and abs.

Thursday, I spent two hours on the treadmill. Total distance was just under 12 miles.

Tuesday was 40 minutes on the stationary cycle and weights.

Next week we cut time and distances even further.

Monday: 1 hour easy-running on the treadmill. Temperatures are in the single digits, minus and positive. Winds in the double digits approaching 35 mph. I could handle the temps for this length but not double-digit negative windchills. Not safe. That level of cold  skews your perspective on distance and time to shelter. 400 hundred yards seem an infinity. The thought process is just to give up, curl up, call it a day.

Wednesday: 45 minutes on the cycle and 15 in the weight room.

Friday: 1 hour, uptempo shooting for 9 - 9:30 minute per mile.

That’s it until the Last Chance for Boston Marathon on February 23 in Dublin Ohio. I may be do some stretching sessions and 15 minutes on the cycle and weights. Maybe.

Marathon Training: Week 12

Work and fatigue interfered with the plans for this past week. Yeah, it’s called life. Not even Life with a big L. Just life.

I completed the four hour and twenty minute TREADMILL...whatever. Does it show how much I hate running on the treadmill? 

However, there are...pluses. One is being able to pay closer attention to my pace. The other is...I’m struggling here...oh yeah, I can get my miles in even when we have a polar vortex arriving, leaving...who knows?

These weather aberrations, polar vortexes, come so fast, leave slower. Autumn 2012 I remember noting that temperature changes of 30 degrees in a week were becoming normal. In winter 2014 temperature changes of 30 to 40 degrees per day are normal. No. Seriously. As a runner, I notice these things. You don’t want to be dressed on the wrong side of a 40 degree temperature change and 10 miles from home.

Wednesday I was scheduled for an hour workout of cycling and weights. I skipped it. I didn’t feel guilty, frustrated but not guilty.

Friday. Instead of a 12 mile run, I got back on schedule with an hour fifteen workout with cycling and weights.

Today. I did the 12 mile run. Felt good. I would have felt better had I started eating when I started running. Note to self: when you run the marathon start eating at the sound of the starting gun.

Plans for this week:

Tuesday: 5 mile run outdoors or 45 minutes on the cycle and 15 minutes on the weights.

Thursday: slow run. 2 hours.

Saturday: 6 miles, uptempo with hills if the weather and sidewalks allow.

Have a good week. Run your own race.

Marathon Training: Week 11

11 weeks! These weeks and the miles show their impact in two ways:

* Improvements in endurance and pace.

Sunday, January 19th, I ran approximately 20 miles in 4 hours. Legs and lungs and heart felt fine until the last 2.5 miles. After that the legs were stubby chunks that motored me along in a pace best-described as slowly shuffling. And I needed to will myself and them to achieve even that spare success. Still, the distance was 3, 3.5 miles longer than the week before and afterwards I felt remarkably well, happy, satisfied. The legs were tired but not cramping or achy. The next day I felt good, not ready to run again, but good.

This Thursday I treadmill'd and stairmaster'd for two hours and fifteen minutes. Pace on the treadmill at 1% incline was 9:30 a mile. Again, I felt good, strong, easy until the last 5-10 minutes and afterwards I put in a full day.

* Fatigue.

My plan for this week was to run easy, a recovery run, on Tuesday followed by the 2+ hour uptempo run on Thursday and a long, slow run, 4:30:00 or roughly 22 miles yesterday. Monday I decided instead to replace Saturday's scheduled long run with a 10K and run long on Monday.

That's going to work for tomorrow's long run. But, yesterday's 10K turned into a 6k with 30 minutes in the weight room. Afterwards, I was tired.

Bedtime came early and I slept long.

I've learned to listen to the body's signals. Being tired, not sleeping as well, and not 'feeling it' on a scheduled run are signals for rest. I needed twenty years to learn this lesson. But hey, it's better than needing 30.

This week's schedule:

* Monday: Long, Slow, Run. 4:30:00 for about 22 miles. Today's weather would be not ideal, but better. Temps in the 40's with winds in the 20's. Tomorrow it's temps in the single digits with winds in the 20's. I'll spend, gag, those hours and minutes and seconds on the treadmill at the rec center.

This is the last long run before the hoped-for marathon on February 23 in Dublin, Ohio. I say hoped-for due to this unpredictable weather. There's no way I'm running a marathon in single digits with double digit winds. The next long run will be around 2.5 hours as I taper down for that event.

* Wednesday: Easy-peasy recovery run, likely on the stationary bike. Forty-five minutes to an hour. Maybe, some weight room time also.

* Friday: An uptempo run for 13-14 miles hopefully the weather and the streets will allow this to be outside so I can get hills and pavement during the run.

* Sunday: An easy 4-6 miles

* Tuesday: 2:30:00 run. I'll add in hills and pavement.

Have a great week. Remember: run your own race.

 

Marathon Training - Week 10

Overall, this past week was good.

Highlights.

Monday: A 5.2 mile run with three miles in the hills at a 9:30 per mile pace. That was two days after 3:30:00 running a combination of treadmill, stair master and stationary cycle.

Friday: I finished two hours at the gym, running 9:45 pace on the treadmill for 6.25 miles and then bored out of my mind I switched to the stair master for an hour.

Wednesday I finished one hour of easy running, low heart rate.

Today, Sunday, I’ll finish four hours of easy-peasy running. Temps are survivable, 20’s now moving to 40’s this afternoon. Winds....the winds, the winds, they never stop blowing 15 - 20 miles per hour minimum.

Lessons Learned.

I mentioned in last week’s update that I needed to ease off one session of upper body. I was right. After Monday’s run I felt very good: clear and energized. After that I showed signs of being tired. I didn’t sleep well a few nights. Working, writing, was a struggle at best. My usual tricks and tools - walking, light exercise, listening to a little music, self-medicating with mindless TV - to get in gear didn’t engage. Being the dull boy, I needed until Saturday to realize a work schedule of 7 days a week isn’t productive. (Hello?!?!) I plan to schedule in rejuvenation time in my schedule moving forward.

Next Week

Tuesday: Recovery run, low heart-rate, of 60-70 minutes.

Thursday: Tempo Run, 13+ miles.

Saturday: 4 1/2 hours of easy-peasy running. That will make my last long run. I’ll start tapering down for the marathon in Dublin, Ohio on February 23, 2014.

Marathon Training: Week 9

With the temps in double digit minus and wind chills 2-3 times lower and with the roads iced over...I took an extra day off.

After the 3 hour run/cycle/stairmaster of the previous Saturday, January 4th, my workouts this week were:

Tuesday: Stationary bike for 40 minutes, leg extensions, upper body.

Thursday: 11 miles, 1:55:00. Hills and winds and icy roads.Blue-collar day best describes this run. It was a task, not a joy. I fought off the desire to go home and ‘do this another day’ for the first 30 minutes. I’m not sure where on that route I finally said Be quiet. You’ll get this done. Once that happened the run was...still blue collar. However, it was a quite blue-collar.

Saturday: 3:30:00 total with a combination of stationary bike, stairmaster (50 minutes) and treadmill. Felt good through nearly all of it. I was pleased to include 50 minutes on the treadmill and the pace was better than last week. At the end of it, I felt good and the endorphins and post-run ...euphoria’s too strong...how about clarity and happiness stayed until bedtime. That’s a good sign. I slept well and woke up happy and focused which is another good sign. Bad signs, signs I’m overdoing it, are when I don’t sleep well and wake up cranky.

Next week looks good for outdoor runs and walking. I’m planning on:

Monday: 5 miles total, 3 with hills.

Wednesday: Either a day on the stationary bike and weights or a long run say 13 miles.

Friday: Whatever I don't choose for Wednesday.

Sunday: Long run. 4 hours. Pavement and hills. Better eat my non-GMO Cheerios.

On the off days I'll walk 40 minutes, do some core.

With the added miles I need to cut back my twice a week weights to once a week.

Marathon Training: Week 8

Huddled inside with the furnace running (thankfully) and the winds roaring outside and the temps heading towards minus sixteen tonight I almost forgot to post this update.

* Monday: 45 minutes on the cycle, 10 dead lifts with, wait for it, 10 lbs on the bar and 20 leg extensions and the usual upper body circuit working lats, shoulders, chest and abs for 20 minutes. I work quick, speak to no one.

* Wednesday: New Year's Day. 1:50:00 run in the snow. Pace was slow for the snow and the slippery road and the uncertain drivers...(If you're driving a white truck in a white out where visibility is maybe 1/4 mile wouldn't you turn your lights on?)

* Friday: 40 minutes on the cycle, 20 minutes on the upper body. No dead lifts, 10 leg extensions.

* Saturday: Another weekend of back-to-back workouts due to the weather. 3 hours mixing cycling, stairmaster and treadmill.

February marathons are non-existent up here in the midwest. Florida has many. New Orleans and Greenville, MS are too soon, February 2 and 8. Cummins Falls Marathon looked great, February 22, until I read the course description and saw the elevation changes.  The winner finished in 3:13:00. I would be thrilled for that pace. But he's 35...and I'm not. He also lives and runs in the area. The author of the course description is 72 and he finished in 4:12. But he lives in the area, too. There is Dublin, OH. It's a one-mile loop course...26 times around and you have to keep track yourself. But it's flat. Hmmm. If I can handle 3 hours of boredom on a treadmill...

My BHAGs For 2014

As usual, Jonathan Fields wrote a beautiful post. It’s titled What Are You Building? It includes a very nice, very well-done and very deserved lead-in interview with Pam Slim and her new book: Body of Work.

Reading it reminded me I planned to post this on New Year’s Day. But I was too busy working on two of the BHAGs to tell you about it.

BHAG or Big Hairy Audacious Goal is the phrase Jim Collins coined in his book Built To Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies.

It’s popular. It’s so descriptive, anyone hearing it for the first time gets it. I like it, though I rarely use it.

I’m private; born under a bad sign, I guess, in this digital share all (please stop...we can’t) age. I’m also aware of how serendipity, fate or dumb luck, plays a big role in my life. Hard work, practice and practice, patience and laboring in the trenches are key. But...out of left field opportunities land in in a pattern and schedule I can’t see.

I also have a relentless curiosity and desire to...well, do it all. Do everything. But, the challenge has always been to corral the drive, the focus, the perfectionism with the restless creativity and curiosity.

Whatever. Now’s the time to take that step to define a BHAG and...tell someone about it.

My BHAGs for 2014 are:

RUNNING

Finish 3 marathons and 1 ultra-marathon. A marathon is 26.2 miles and an ultra-marathon is anything longer. These usually start at 30+ miles.

I completed two marathons this year. The most recent was Pilgrim Pacer Marathon in Shawnee/Lenexa, Kansas. Beautiful day, great course. The first one was the Paavo Nurmi Marathon in Hurley, WI. Great race, beautiful area, wonderful people. And hilly, very very hilly.

I learned I need to run hills, run more hills and run ‘em again. And run on pavement too. Now, that I’ve got a base of conditioning, I can focus on this big area.

The ultra marathon is a big step towards one of my Maha-BHAG. That is completing one of the following races before I’m eligible for social security:

Leadville Trail 100
Western States 100
Run Across America

Driving home one night from a miserable holiday gathering, I committed to this Maha-BHAG while I was talking with a sister. She’s not a runner but she was supportive and she heard my urgency.

Along the way, I'll catch up with Janette Murray-Wakelin and Alan Murray who just finished 365 consecutive marathons as they circled Australia. How did they celebrate that feat? They ran one more, making it 366 consecutive marathons, to set a world record. - Link Oh. And, she’s a cancer survivor. Oh, and they’re raw-food vegans. My raw-food consumption is about on pace with my running. I’m eating raw greens and veggies once a day. NO. Seriously. And, I like it. Hat tip to Suzie Poirier, too.

PUBLISHING/WRITING

I'm waiting on feedback from a few trust friends and then I'll push out a book on employee recognition. You may have read a few posts here on that topic in the recent weeks and years. Writing and publishing them here was my test marketing and proof of concept.

I’ll publish two more books on employee recognition/engagement this year.

I’m also in the latter stages of finishing a fiction book. I’ll start publishing that book in segments starting the end of February.

Both categories, fiction and non-fiction, arose in me as a personal challenge and a hopefully not overblown self-confidence.

I don’t find abundant amounts of meaningful content on employee recognition. Hear me. There are thoughtful academics and well-written posts on the topic. But, I read too many platitudes or powerpoint principles or generic and safe stuff a consultant might offer in a glossy folder. Don’t get me going on the trinkets and bribes that describe the solutions of too many vendors.

What’s lacking are the real-world, up from the trenches, solutions that real-world businesses can use and written in language that shows the author’s been there done that. I’m not saying I’m a Subject Matter Expert nor a [gag] ‘thought leader’ on the topic. But I’ve done more with employee recognition than stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night. It opened the door for all the solutions that allowed our company to thrive in a commoditized industry against rivals far larger than our itty-bitty company.

I’ve learned a tremendous amount while I’ve compiled all my notes and earlier posts and more research and content for the book. Completing these books will be an iterative process; each one’ll be easier, faster and deliver better results.

Likewise for the fiction book. One day I looked at what I was reading and thought “Hell, I can write that good.” Yes and mostly no. It’s harder than it looks. Good writing looks simple and effortless. It is...but only with great investment of time. I’m seeing glimpses.

Being restless and still filled with wanderlust I decided...why have 1 BHAG. The challenge is to not end up on December 31, 2014 having reached none of them.

Here’s my thinking on reaching them all. Each BHAG compliments the other. The goal and miles of finishing 3 marathons and an ultra-marathon in 2014 keeps me healthy, energized, inspired for the more cerebral BHAGs. On those long runs, with nothing to do but run and breathe, creative solutions ease their way into view and/or more steps for the other BHAGs are presented and at some point the mind is stilled and there’s peace and quiet. That’s good, too. The endorphins and neurotransmitters emitted while I’m running, the oxygen and blood to the brain, fuels my writing. After a run and the next day on the longer runs I’m more productive writing and problem-solving.

And vice versa. Sitting, writing, being in my head, pushing out another sentence or a rewrite or a format issue...reaching my daily quota of words written...inspires the drive to ‘go for a run,’ stretch and breath and feel the blood flow again.

It’s like cross-training.

So far, that’s working.

What’s your BHAGs for the year? Or, as Jonathan Fields asks What Are You Building? I’m not asking like I’m all smarty-farty 'cause I finally found the courage to post mine. Go read Jonathan’s post and listen to his conversation with Pam Slim. Awesome. Leave your answers at his post.

I’m asking because the process of identifying these and articulating them and walking through the plan for the next year has been illuminating, educating, inspiring...a little daunting and scary at times. We all have to help each other define and reach our possibilities for our selves, our families, our companies and communities. So, just ask yourself and dare yourself to walk out on your high dive and bounce it on a little for the world to see. Check if there’s water below you or will be by the time you splash down and then...step off.

Marathon Training: Week 7

Good moments this week include:

• 9.6 mile run on Christmas Day. Rolling hills, paved roads and a sub-minute 10-minute per mile pace

• 3 Hour run yesterday.  Rolling hills, paved streets and the right heart rate 110-120.

• Back-to-back workouts. The schedule for this week was Monday-Wednesday-Friday-Sunday. But yesterday’s 50 degree temps and today’s wind-chill warnings of -35 (yes, that’s right an 85-degree temperature swing in 30 hours) required me to run long Saturday after an hour workout on Friday. I’m glad I did. Today’s winds are brutal and it’s nice to know back-to-backs are possible.

• Deadlifts. Friday, I tried my first deadlifts in over a year. I used the bar for 10 reps knowing I was running long over a hilly route (Pathetic, yes; but it's a start). I’ll add weights slowly, starting next week.

The plan this week is:

• Monday - 45-minutes on the bike, 130-140 BPM and 15-20 minutes in the weight room.
• Wednesday - An 11 to 12 mile run, hilly and on pavement for most of it.
• Friday - Easy run, 50 minutes, treadmill or a route with fewer hills.
• Sunday - 3:30:00 run. Pace as easy as yesterday’s.

Happy New Year.

Marathon Training: Week 6

Now, the miles and hours are piling up. Last week reminded me at this point I need to pay close attention to heart-rate goals on each run.

Monday: Feeling a little tired from last week’s 4+ hours at/above 140 BPM, I finished 30 easy minutes (120 BPM) on the bike and 20 minutes with weights.

Wednesday: 9.2 Miles on...gag...the treadmill. Pace was good for the first 3.5 miles. After that I slogged through the remaining 5.7. We got ‘er done.

Friday: I ran 4.1 miles on a hilly course (hills were .5 miles long) at 9.5 minute pace. Legs and heart rate felt good.

Sunday: I was scheduled for 3 hours of easy running. But, instead I spent two hours  shoveling the drive. My wife shoveled an hour and a half. We recovered with her delicious gumbo and bloody maries. Hey, neither man nor woman lives by whey protein and yeast flakes alone.

I’ll get 4-5 miles at 9.5 minute pace and weights in tomorrow.

I’ll do a 3+ hour run on Christmas morning. Weather permitting. The temps are expected to be in single digits, hopefully positive.

Have a Merry Christmas.

Marathon Training - Week Five

As I wrote last week, this was a Tuesday - Thursday - Saturday week.

Tuesday - 45 minutes on the stationary bike with heart rate at 120-130, just a bit above active recovery. 20 minutes in the weight room.

Thursday - 90 minutes on the stair master with heart rate around 135. Every 30 minutes I would stop and visit the weight room for five minutes for abdominals, lats, shoulders and arms and chest. One set for each of them

Saturday - Two hours and forty minutes...on the treadmill. The mental challenge was greater than the physical. Boring, boring, boring echoed in my head for the first 30 minutes. After that it was still boring but the echoes quieted down. I need to pay closer attention to the heart rate, keeping it lower. But, the legs felt good afterwards and I remain on pace to be covering twenty + miles on this long weekend run by...the second weekend of January.

This coming week will be:

Monday - 45 minutes on the stationary bike with heart rate at 120-130, just a bit above active recovery. 20 minutes in the weight room.

Wednesday - The weather says I can run outdoors. I’ll run 9 miles. I’d like to do it under 90 minutes. We’ll see.

Friday - 30 minutes, 140+ heart rate, on the bike or a short run of 3-4 miles. Upper body at the end.

On the off days I walk 10-15 minutes 3-4 times each day for a total of 40-45 minutes. I use them as an active recovery session and a break from work where I can relax and stretch not only my legs but my thinking. These are always productive sessions for both. Solutions pop up, little baby-steps I can take to overcome a hurdle of any size.

Have a good week!

Marathon Training: Week 4

This is the fourth week since finishing my fourth marathon, the Pilgrim Pacer. Four weeks after a marathon means, well it means I’m past recovering from it and moving on to the next. This is the last time I’ll mention the very fun, very pretty course of, The Pilgrim Racer. (Frankly, thank god, too. Yes, it was a pretty course and a beautifully perfect day to run and yes the hotel was super quiet and the ride down to Lenexa/Overland Park was easy-peasy, but I really wanted a flat course for that last race of 2013. Flat was not that course. But the silver lining in the cloud of aching legs were the lessons pounded in on every step: Gotta get stronger legs, strong enough to run hills on 13 of 26.2 miles or more and strong enough to do that on...p-p-p-avement. Digression over.)

The knee problem I had in August - October is mostly over. There’s no tweaks, aches, cramps, yow-that-hurts when I stand on one leg putting my pants on (Go ahead and visualize that with both legs being fish-belly white and hairless. Mmm-hmmm. You're blinded now.).

Monday: 45 minutes on the stationary bike with heartrate at/above 135. I followed that with some lat pulldowns, bench press, curls, shoulder fly’s, bardips and abs.

Wednesday: 7.8 mile run scheduled as out and back but changed due to a feisty, yapper, terrier showing off for his friend, a very fast Doberman. While the Doberman stayed, unleashed, in his farmyard...he was really curious about what his friend was doing, should he join him in the road and how many seconds would he need to over take me. With their encouragement, I found another route, a dogless route I think, which includes some more hills. That’s the theme this winter. Hills and pavement. Pace was slightly better by about 30 seconds than last week.

Friday: 25 minutes on stairmaster and lat pulldowns, bench press, curls, shoulder fly’s, bardips and abs. One day I’m gonna bench my weight, that’s all I’m saying. I eased up on this day because I realized I’d worked at or above 135 beats per minute for all of Wednesday’s miles and most of Saturday’s 10.25 miles. Not a good practice to make regular.

Sunday: Today. I’m writing it as I wait for breakfast to digest (my favorite meal). I’ll run 2:30:00 today, shooting for 12-13 miles on the trails through a rolling, hilly, county park. It’s snowing, windy and the thought of being in 15 mph winds  with wind chill of 1 degree (I just checked) for 2.5 hours...only makes my stomach, etal, clinch up. Running through the park keeps me out of the wind; so there's that.

Next week it’s a Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday routine with Saturday a long run of 2:45-3:00 hours and Thursday, given the weather, I’m looking at 90 minutes on the stairmaster. Tuesday a day for the cycle again.

Have a good week.

Marathon Training: Week Three

This is the third week since finishing my fourth marathon, the Pilgrim Pacer on November 9.

I have this rule of thumb in my head, from some source on training for marathons, that says wait four weeks after a marathon before your next intense run. Maybe. I think that rule was for those completing their first marathon.

The Pilgrim Pacer is my second this year. The first one was The Paavo in Hurley, WI, on August 10.

My point being that I had two strong, modestly intense, sessions this week. I feel...good.Legs feel good. My knee feels the best since July. I’m sleeping well and I’m patient, resilient with friends and family and co-workers.

Tuesday - 45 minutes on the stationary bike with heartrate at/above 135. I followed that with some lat pulldowns, bench press, curls, shoulder fly’s, bardips and abs.

Thursday - 7 mile run, out and back, on pavement with 3 miles of hills. Overall pace was 1:11, with a negative split by two minutes. I’m happy for the pace and the negative split at this point and my legs felt good throughout the run.

Saturday - 10.25 miles. Easy pace on trails with some hills. Legs felt tired, as they should, but not cramped or painful.

Next week will be a M-W-F-S schedule.

Monday: stationary cycle at upper end of heartrate (135-145)

Wednesday: is either hills or stairmaster for 60 minutes, depending on the weather.

Friday: Either/Or Day. The choice is how my legs feel and the weather. It's either; a stationary bike again, heartrate in the 125-135 range for one hour or a 10K at 10 minute pace.

Sunday - Long run, easy pace. 12.25 miles.

 

Marathon Training: Week Number 2

This is a weekly post about my progress from the Pilgrim Pacer Marathon on November 9 to a marathon in February. Those choices look to be New Orleans, Greenville MS or Indianapolis. All are flat. This would be the first of 3 marathons and 1 ultra-marathon I set as my goal for 2014.

This allows a 10-12 week turnaround, from gearing up to tapering down. That's the shortest turnaround I've attempted. We'll see.

Week Number 1.

There’s been no week number 1, so I’ll give the highlights here:

Walked every day for 40 minutes which did wonders for the creaky, achy legs that came from 26.2 miles on pavement over rolling hills.

Did three sets of stairs on three days carrying a twenty-lb weight. It did wonders to stretch and flex the leg without pounding or aerobic demands.

Week Number 2

Monday - Rode the stationary bike for 30, easy jog on the treadmill for 5 and stairmaster for 5. 2 sets of lat pulldowns, abs, shoulder fly’s.

Wednesday - Stationary bike for 10 minutes, Stairmaster at low resistance and heart rate for 55 minutes. Upper body, abs

Friday - Stationary bike for 30, lat pulldowns, abs, military press

Sunday, today - 8.5 miles, 2 hours. First hour was a hilly course through Jefferson County Park. 2nd hour was a flat Cedar Creek bike path. You can see from the distance the pace was easy. Heart rate was 120.

Walked every day for 40 minutes. Curls on Thursday.

Legs and aerobics felt very good.

I’m happy for the results. I’d rate the week here as an 8. Goals met, leaving me ready for more this coming week.

 

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