Dan - Thanks! Good to see you're working on Holiday streak/mileage! Florida must seem nice this time of year!
John/Sluggo - Good, like to see the mileage creeping up. You've been working Boston Marathon for years and this group looks intimidating? If I decide to do Boston in 2016, I will definitely pay a visit!
Fletch - Awesome job on the 12K. I see good things ahead for you! You just gotta stay injury free.
WDRich - Good run this weekend! Those little girls will run you ragged!
NHRich - Broke out the skis? I have to travel to the Sierras to do any skiing. Sounds like the tryke is working well. Keep it up!
Az - Getting close! Less then a week away! It's going to be good! Nice pics! Looks COLD!
Chantilly - Getting those miles in! Gotta love it!
5 mile walk today at lunch, hoping tomorrow legs will be good enough to run with new sales person. We'll see...
Ray
rmcj001 Congratulations on your BQ and 19 minute PB! That's quite a step up for a PB, your hill training really paid off.Nice RR, too.
NH Runner Skis may be a little early there from your description. Can't be falling down too much at our age. Will that tryke go thru the snow? Or have you had enough yet to be able to tell? I agree that TRI athletes are the fittest. (all 'round strength)
gito57 Hope you are doing well.
sluggo Good for you to get out in the rain. Hope it dries up soon.
az2mntrail Good thoughts sent your way!
WDWRich Nice to have a visit from grandchildren. Good job on your run and weights.
Fletch_NC Good finish on the 12 Km! Take off 2 minutes for the train! (loss of momentum as well as the waiting)
justrundan Obviously, no problem with climate change for you out on the run.
Worked all weekend. 7 miles this morning.
"dancing on the path and singing, now you got away,
you can reach the goals you set from now on, every day"
Sonata Arctica
Tuesday, 12/9... another snow storm has moved in over New England, so I ran 4 miles on the treadmill today. After reading the other day that the speed indicated by most treadmills isn't that accurate and that you're better off to run by heart rate, that's what I did today. Kept BPM between 130 and 135. Much easier to do that than to chase a speed the feels ok outside, but is way too much work on a treadmill that's lying...
Ray... a question. Running a 5K the day before a marathon flies in the face of what I've read. I've always thought you're supposed to take it easy the last 3 days before the race and to carb load like crazy. You did the exact opposite by running a 5K and burning up Glycogen you were going to need the following day. It obviously worked, but what's the thinking behind what you did?
Chantilly... the tryke doesn't work in snow, but the breakdown lane where I rode a week ago is usually clear of snow, so that's where I'll ride when the weather's right. And for the most part, I don't fall when I'm skiing. Once I start to lose my balance, I just sit down... Aren't you glad I'm here to clear these things up...?
Chantilly - Tough working weekends! Nice 7 miler!
NHRich - Have you figured out your MHR? Tough to do HR training using estimates from actuarial tables...But, I do think HR training is probably better then relying on the display. What was I thinking running 5K day before target race? Clearly I wasn't thinking
Actually, thought process was 1. I need more points for my AG if I want first place for the season and 12/6 was last race. 2. Try to get into top 10 overall and hopefully stay ahead in the overall point totals. 3. Don't hurt self and don't stress either 1 or 2 too much. Going in I new the first half of my last 2 10Ks have been at or near 21:30. I figured a 22 would win AG and purposefully didn't where watch so as not to worry about time. I ran what I felt would be a fast pace, but not all out and race calculators predict my 5K time around 21:00 +/- 10s. Finally, I have the rest of my life to BQ and I don't know if I'll score this well again in the Zoom series, especially in the overall standings. Figured if I wasn't too amped up and followed #3, BQ'ng was still within reach. I should also mention that "Hansons" calls for a 3 mile run day before marathon, mine was a little quicker then the plans, but they do say be flexible
6.25 today in ~54:30 - forecast is for heavy rain starting tomorrow - figured better get the run in while I can...
Ray... I thought you had some great training secret I'd be able to use in my next marathon... I don't know my MHR, but use the HR monitor to gage my effort, if that makes sense. Heart rate training isn't something I'm interested in, other than on the days when I have to use the treadmill.
I looked at the Zoom series, now I understand why you ran the 5K. Congrats!
rmcj001 I understand about the Zoom series, we have something similar, the Timex series. You have raced a lot this year and have been very successful! I hear you may have some flooding your way...
NH Runner I guess more snow means better ski conditions for you.
13 miles on the track. Marathon training group was there. Did a little snow shoveling. Warmer temps means melting & the driveway is going to get icy later, if I don't take off a bit.
Chantilly - Nice 13! Plus cross training?! Awesome! Lot of exclamation points there...Yeah, they're predicting 2-4 inches of rain with winds of 30-40mph sustained (up to 70mph at the peaks). Boss just sent email saying work from home tomorrow. Should be fun...
Rich - Here's the meme, run lots, mostly easy, sometimes hard (long distance training). Actually, I'm thinking these days that a slightly faster paced quick run the day before isn't too bad (need to be in decent shape tho). Seems like it wakes things up!
Last night was Core SPX training - yes, my shoulders, abs and arms are tired (so are my legs, but they were already there...). 8 miles today a little quicker then yesterday had headwind going out and tail wind coming back. Last 2 miles 7:28 and 7:27 - not bad for a tired old man. DW is running a 1/2 this weekend, I'm starting to think I might join her...
Wednesday, 12/10... another 4 miles on the treadmill today, heart rate at 130/135. It struck me today that 4 miles on the treadmill is worse than 8 on the road.
Chantilly... this latest storm is more a rain event locally than snow, we're getting just enough snow to keep me shoveling. It's wet and heavy and not worth much in the eyes of a skier. Nice workout today!
Ray... thanks for the advice. I just registered for the Vermont Covered Bridges half marathon that's run in June and if training and that race go well, I'd like to ramp up and run a Fall marathon. I'm feeling better than I have in a while as a runner, other than a lack of fitness, absolutely no issues at all. This latest form change seems to be the "cat's meow."
I can't believe you're eyeing a half marathon this weekend, but you always seem to pull these things off, so good luck if you decide to run...
rmcj001 ...tired old man, my foot. All that core training...Brad Pitt will have nothing on you!
NH Runner I guess you have to have the right kind of snow for skiing. The covered bridges race sounds very scenic. We drove through a couple of covered bridges on a vacation to the New England states and New Brunswick & Nova Scotia a few years ago.
9 miles.
justrundan
Ray- I second what Chantilly said- no tired old man in your house. You are an animal. way to go Buddy!
Chantilly- you are wearing that track out! Way to go.
NHRich- I hear you on the TM, but I'm going to try to not complain now that we finally got the TM installed this week. I need to learn how to play more mind games while running on it. It will help keep the holiday streak going.
It may be warming up enough to get outside this weekend, we will see.
Dan
Dan - TM does require mental toughness, but probably better then running in the pouring rain, or bitter cold. Good luck on the streak.
Chantilly - I guess tired is relative, like my brother... Nice 9 miler!
NHRich - Hoping the HM training goes well and continues so you can do marathon in fall!
Woke to the patter of rain, lots of rain. It let up a bit and I headed to work. Got worse further south I went, street was flooded near work. Didn't see any wind, but reports were of 80mph gusts at Mt Hamilton. Raining fairly hard and steady all day, lots of flooding and Russian River is expected to crest at 34 feet, 2 feet above flood stage - but it normally floods during the year. Hit the TM this evening, 6.3 miles while finishing "GroundHog Day". A good day.
Friday, 12/12... after taking yesterday off due to inclement weather, the storm that was over New England for the last 3 days finally moved off and today's weather was calling me out the door... 7 mile road run that had me running in a little snow at times and stopping for traffic in the last mile, but overall a really nice run. Took it easy and worked on running relaxed... 9:40, 9:27, 9:19, 9:18, 9:17, 9:25 and 10:14.
Chantilly... what snow we got during the last storm was so full of water, that as soon as the temp. drops below freezing it'll be as solid as ice. I've tried skiing when it's like that and man does it hurt when you fall! lol The Vermont half marathon has just 1 covered bridge to run through, but there's one in NH with 4 bridges. Vermont's race has over 2,000 runners and sells out in 15 minutes, while NH's has 300 and never sells out...lol I wish I had your mileage base, another nice run for you!
Dan... you're right, there are ways to make running on a treadmill more bearable. Just varying the pace with a little speed work would work wonders. In my case, the treadmill's in the basement facing a cement wall and I end up using the speed and time display as a distraction, looking at it way too much... But we need to embrace the thing and when I do, it'll be with a choke hold... Good luck with the Holiday Streak and with getting in some mileage outside.
Ray... I saw on the news where California needs over 20 inches of rain to get out of this drought and that this latest storm helped, but was nowhere near enough. Amazing! Your legs are feeling better, eh? You bounced back from the FM fast!
justrundan Hope you can get outside for a bit. My sister walks on her TM for 60-90 minutes. She uses the time to catch up on her taped TV shows.
rmcj001 Does the flood water run off fairly quickly? You have some good movies there to watch.
"Son of Paleface" is on this afternoon...Roy Rogers, Jane Russell and Bob Hope. What a hoot! (watched all those B&W movies with my Mom as a child)
NH Runner You seem to be following a good progression of your running for those goals for next year.
6 miles at 6 AM
3 miles at 10AM
No run tomorrow/work.
Saturday, 12/13... 5 mile road run through the local covered bridge today. Wanted to get a run in this morning before heading to my brother's place for a Christmas party with family. Breezy, but tolerable... 9:32, 9:13, 9:06, 8:48 and 9:05.
Chantilly... I read the other day that a runner loses 25% of their VO2 Max after an 11 week lay-off and that's about how long I was sidelined. I don't know how long it takes to get that back, but that's what I'm focused on, just logging miles. I'm hoping when the weather improves this spring to get into serious training and get my Mojo back...lol Nice runs yesterday!
NHRich - Could be on the rain, but probably depends on the area. Word that I've heard is 150% of normal to get out of the drought. This makes more sense to me when you consider places like Humboldt and Arcata get nearly 80inches/year and Death Valley less then 10. Right now, this is looking like the wettest December in 10 years. More rain expected Monday! It's a good start. Nice 5 miler today!
Chantilly - Things usually drain relatively quickly, but it depends on the area. Back home out in the valley a lot of the flat areas have high clay content soil. In those areas, the get vernal pools that will last until almost summer. Nice double yesterday!
Az - Good luck with your race!
Friday, 9.5 miles in ~83 minutes. Right knee acted up a bit around 7.5 and had to slow down a bit. Been awhile since Knee has really acted up, so taking a URD today.
Here's an animated GIF taken from my office on Thursday.