Baltimore Marathon Training Week 2

Monday, June 20th:

5:15 am, 64 degrees, 90%, calm.  Neighborhood-Merchantville-Neighborhood.  Nike Pegasus 27+ (Red).

7m rejuvenation pace - 8:38 average.  Woke up with a very tight/sore right calf/shin.  As I left the house, I noticed somebody's dog (at least I hope it was somebody's dog) left a nice number two on my freshly cut lawn - somebody obviously tried to pick it up, which only made it worse.  The point of me mentioning this is that my body felt like that image. Crap.

I also have some nice poison ivy going on my arms right now, so I had to run with my watch in my shorts' pocket.  It was probably better that way so that I wouldn't have been depressed by my pace today.  I actually finished up pretty strong the last two miles, so overall I feel good about myself for getting in the miles while feeling like poop.  Tomorrow's an off day.  Thank god.

Tuesday, June 21st:

As planned, no running.  My right shin is still incredibly sore - almost feels like shin splints, which I haven't had since high school.  Right now I don't think it's going to cost me any time off, as it seems to be progressively getting better as the day goes on.  I bought a new pair of shoes over the weekend which I am dying to try out tomorrow.  Guess we'll wait and see what tomorrow morning brings.  Such is life.

Wednesday, June 22nd:

5:00 am, 68 degrees, 90%, calm.  Home-Cherry Hill West Track-Home.  New Balance 890.

2.25m warmup, 6x800m (2:53 +/-) w/200m slow jogs (1:30 +/-), 2m cooldown
Actual splits and recovery (2:53 1:25 2:53 1:23 2:53 1:26 2:50 1:23 2:53 1:25 2:52 1:21)

I tentatively left the house this morning wondering how my shin would hold up.  I took an ice bath last night and slept in my compression socks which seemed to help.  I thought it was a good sign when the overnight thunderstorm cleared my area just before I was scheduled to begin.

About a mile in, I felt nice and loose.  Normally I would have done this workout on the road, but I decided to do it on the track because I didn't know how my rhythm would be thrown off by thinking about my shin.  As you can see, I got into a nice rhythm and the workout felt pretty comfortable.  I felt really loose and controlled on the cooldown afterward.  Hopefully, the shin thing is behind me -- I'll make sure I really take my easy runs easy in the next few days and monitor closely.  New shoes felt spectacular by the way - would highly recommend as a plush lightweight trainer/racer.

Thursday, June 23rd:

5:00 am, 73 degrees, 90%, calm. Home-Kilmer Loop-Home.  Nike Pegasus 27+ (Red).

6m easy (BOF)- 8:02 average.  Gotta love these easy runs, especially when the dewpoint is so high (72 this morning at 5:00 am)!  Felt a lot better than the recovery run on Monday - I am learning it's important to take this easy runs really easy in order to be fresh for workouts.  And the poison ivy on my arms finally seems to be healing, so I am hoping I can actually wear my Garmin the proper way by Sunday's long-run workout.

2:00 pm, 85 degrees, 60%, calm.  Neighborhood.  Saucony C2.

3m easy - 7:42 average.  It's amazing that in the humidity and bright sun at 2:00 pm, the air temperature felt no worse than this morning's air temperature.  Then I realized the dew point was "only" 71 this afternoon - so it stayed roughly constant from 5:00 am this morning, even as the air temperature rose (and of course the relative humidity fell).  I am also noticing that these short second runs on double days require less effort than their morning counterparts.  Hope that's the case tomorrow as I have got another easy double on the schedule.

Friday, June 24th:

5:45 am, 68 degrees, 90%, 0-5mph.  Moorestown.  New Balance 890.

7m easy - 7:52 average.  First two miles relaxed pace with MDRP - great to see Ron Brock back in the stable!  The group broke off for their various workouts and I continued with 5 more easy miles with two loops around the Westfield Ave crushed gravel path.  You know it's a great run when you come across a deer on your path and you get to see it glide gracefully and noiselessly off into the woods.  Great mental imagery for the rest of my run - felt like I had powerful, graceful stride.

2:15 pm, 82 degress, 55%, 5-10mph.  Neighborhood.  Adidas Marathon 10.

2.5m easy - 7:47 average.  While the run was purposefully short, I felt like I accomplished a lot with this little easy session.  I watched the USATF trials last night and took careful note of Shalane Flanagan's almost perfect form in the Women's 10,000m.  She is noted for getting a lot of pushoff from her stride and moving everything forward with little wasted effort.  I picked up on something she does that I lack - she brings her arm swing higher in front of her body than I do, almost like a boxer's jab into the air - I think this is what helps direct her motion straight ahead.  I implemented this technique into my run today and noticed how much more effortless that motion made my stride - I almost felt like I was walking because my footstrike was so light and fast.  I feel like things are falling into place this marathon cycle, even though it's only week two.  And this after I felt so terrible on Monday.

Saturday, June 25th:

4:50 am, 65 degrees, 90%, calm.  Maple Shade Loop (Medium).  Nike Pegasus 27+ (Red).

6m easy - 7:46 average.  At various moments, I found myself itching for tomorrow's long run workout.  Had to harness the energy and remember the purpose of today's run - easy miles.  Goal accomplished.

Sunday, June 26th:

6:00 am, 67-70 degrees, 70%, 0-10mph.  Haddonfield Running Company-Cooper River-Tavistock.  Adidas Marathon 10.

16.5m - 7:03 overall average

workout breakdown:
2m warmup - 7:52 average, 5x1 mile T-pace w/1:00 recovery jogs (5:54 54 51 50 48), 1m recovery 7:55, 8m easy 7:17 average

Super stoked!  I really enjoyed this Daniel's-style workout and it went a lot smoother than I anticipated.  The tempo miles were relaxed and under control.  I hit up a gu and about 6oz of Gatorade between the 4th and 5th rep, so I was digesting that the first half mile of the last rep before settling down, keeping everything relaxed and focusing on my Deer imagery and my "The Hawk Will Never Die!" mantra on my Road ID bracelet.  Last rep was a tad quick, but I was happy.  The recovery mile felt very easy.  It was great to have John and Rich join me for the last 8 miles.  We ran the Tavistock Hills and I was surprised how easy 7:17 pace felt on the hills - I think I powered up Triple Hill during a 7:04 mile and was completely within myself.  Great way to end the week and a huge confidence booster.

Weekly Total: 56 miles

Couldn't have asked for more from the two workouts.  Learning to keep my easy runs really easy - I am anticipating another 8:30 pace stroll tomorrow morning, but that's okay.  Staying fresh for the workouts is what's most important, as they pay off with the most reward.  I get to cut back mileage a little this upcoming week, which is nice since my Mom will be in town.  9 weeks to the half-marathon, 16 weeks to the marathon.