I may have made a jump in conditioning. Or it could be just due to better weather (low humidity) During my long run yesterday I was only expecting to run at most 13.5 miles but I managed to actually do 13.75. In the 2:15 time I set out to run. I started the run slow and easy as I usually do my long runs, but then I noticed that by 4.5 miles, I was at least a minute ahead of what I have been running. As the run progressed, I still felt very comftorble up until about the last 30min as usual. Even the last 30 was not much different than the previous long runs in effort. I took a quarter mile split in the midst of my last mile and it was about a 2:11. I was finishing pretty fast for my usualy pace w/o feeling like I was pushing it. This was also my longest run since February. Instead of a bottle of water with me, I took a bottle of Gatorade, which might have had something to do with this. In fear that I was going to be more sore than usuall after a longer and faster effort, I ate a hot dog within 30min after my run, drank about 3 glasses of water, a glass of lemonade, and another glass of gatorade. I started feeling a little cold, but I decided to take a cold bath anyway. Weird thing was that the water didn't feel that cold even though the spicket was turned as far right as possible. After the bath I was really cold for a while. I woke up in the middle of the night feeling a little restless, so I was up for about an 1.5 hours before I could fall back to sleep. I woke up today with my legs feeling tired, but not sore at all. Tonight I have a 4 miler scheduled which I think I wll make it a very carefull recovery run of 3.75. I guess I'll see if my pace has really improved over the next few longer runs.

Knee pain is getting better. Quads are pretty sore from Monday, still.

Any improvement is always good.

Not sure if it's the case with you, but when I run cold after a long run it's usually due to not eating enough. Also try not to drink too much right after your run! Glad to hear your knee is starting to feel better!

Finished my first 48 mile week since High School. The log shows 47.9 but with the stride session, I was up to 48. Fridays 10.5'er was really tough, so I must be due for some rest. This week will be back down to a 36 mile week. For today, I completed a 2hr run. My pace was a bit slower than usual. 10:14 avg, which was probably due to a combination of feeling very stiff at the start, focusing on staying comftorble, and probably a little tired from last week. I felt kind of lethargic the last couple of days and I am actually really glad to be in a cut back week. I think after this week rather than jumping to 52 miles, I will repeat the 48 mile week again, then move up to 52. It couldn't hurt to.

I bought a Garmin Forerunner 305 this week.

Fun toy!

I only completed 35 instead of the goal of 36. This was due to miss calculation of my cool down after my LT test.

1 mile really doesn't make much in the way of a difference unless your weekly mileage is below 20. I wouldn't sweat it.

I finished last week @ 31 miles. Not even close to the 48 I was planning to do. A number of things went wrong, primarily life getting in the way of me being able to complete a few scheduled runs. Also, I started training at a much lower HR than usual, so my pace dropped from about 10m/mi to about 12m/mi or less. So I wasn't able to cover nearly as much distance in the allotted time I have. Time constraints have also taken me off of my normal stretching/core training routines. This week the goal will be to complete 9hrs 15min of running at a very low HR, for me. This will be in the range of 138 to 143. I am not worried about how much ground I will cover, it’s about time on my feet. This weekend I’ll be up in the Ohio Valley area, so I am looking forward to running in some relatively cooler weather up there. Below is my new plan for base training. It’s a little different, but it makes sense to me. Read on if you don’t mind my long windedness. I am experimenting with some different ideas about base training right now. This means that my plans for obtaining 60 mi/wk have changed. The goal is still there but the means has changed. After lots of research, and finally getting a Garmin, I have a plan that makes sense to me. In base training, time on the feet is more important than pace. So with the exception of every 4th week I plan to run 9 to 10 hrs/week. I ran an LT test a couple of weeks ago and discovered my HR @ LT is approximately 179 right now, at a pace of about 7:40/mile in fairly warm, humid weather. A respected triathlon coach, Joe Friel, suggests that for base training the focus needs to be efforts south of the Aerobic Threshold (AeT). Friel and Gordo, another tri coach/athlete, have experienced that AeT falls in the range of roughly 80-90% of LT, depending on an athlete’s fitness in that sport and other physiolical factors. Hadd suggested finding the Marathon Goal Pace HR. Then start with a HR rate significantly lower than this. Periodically use his test for aerobic fitness. As fitness improves increase the effort of training until training occurs at close to Marathon Goal Pace HR. I plan on using this method with the exception that my goal HR will be around 90% of LT and I will be using a different test then his. I am starting with 80% of LT or a bit lower because there is a bit of a consensus that AeT for most non elite athletes occurs here. The test I will be using is Friel’s decoupling test, which I will do weekly or even semi-weekly. For me 80% LT is 143.5. I’ve set a training zone of 138 to 144. If on a 2hr run decoupling is < 5%="" for="" two="" consecutive="" long="" runs="" i="" will="" start="" to="" train="" at="" a="" slightly="" higher="" rate.="" this="" will="" be="" 144-149.="" i’ll="" then="" repeat="" the="" process="" until="" at="" 90%="" lt,="" decoupling="" is="" />< 5% at that point i will move onto faster training twice a week with tempo runs, aerobic intervals/fartlek and hills. core training, stretching and strides will still be done regularly. getting to 60mpw will occur slowly by running 9 to 10 hrs/wk. as effort and pace gets faster, my mileage will go up. 5%="" at="" that="" point="" i="" will="" move="" onto="" faster="" training="" twice="" a="" week="" with="" tempo="" runs,="" aerobic="" intervals/fartlek="" and="" hills.="" core="" training,="" stretching="" and="" strides="" will="" still="" be="" done="" regularly.="" getting="" to="" 60mpw="" will="" occur="" slowly="" by="" running="" 9="" to="" 10="" hrs/wk.="" as="" effort="" and="" pace="" gets="" faster,="" my="" mileage="" will="" go="" up.=""></ 5% at that point i will move onto faster training twice a week with tempo runs, aerobic intervals/fartlek and hills. core training, stretching and strides will still be done regularly. getting to 60mpw will occur slowly by running 9 to 10 hrs/wk. as effort and pace gets faster, my mileage will go up. >

Last week: I completed 47.8 miles, despite being out of town the beginning of the week. This week I set my HR zone to be a bit higher 138-148. So I was able to cover more miles even though I ran about 17 minutes less. Conditioning and better weather is probably a factor as well. I completed 2 core sessions and 1 stride session. T-13 weeks to first marathon: This week, the goal is to complete at least 50 miles and 9.5 hrs or running. I've also started attempting to do all my running at 6AM (except for the 2 a day). Despite having a delayed long run (Tuesday), I've already reached 29.3 miles I have 3 more workouts to get to 50, so I don't think it will be a problem. Tuesday I ran the equivalent to a half mary in 2.5 hrs. Cardio wise I felt fine but my legs where pretty tired, my hr went up a lot in the last 4 miles. Given how heavy this work was, right now it’s hard to imagine completing a fool mary in less than 5 hrs, although the McMillan calculator says I can run a 3:50 mary based on my 8k pr and my recent LT test. Modified plan: Since I started training with the Garmin. My base training pace has slowed pretty dramatically, but is beginning to catch up to where it was before, in just a few weeks time. Since I am not sure how far my pace is going to pick up before the race, I will continue to run the following hours per week in 4 week cycles, starting from next week. wk1 8hrs wk2 9:45 hrs wk3 9 hrs wk4 10hrs Every odd week will either be 8 or 9 hrs. Every even week will increase by 15min from the previous even week, just by increasing the long run. Three weeks before the mary my long run will peak at 4hrs and should cover at least 22 miles. Also weekly mileage at that point will be at least 60. This is worst case scenario if my training pace does not improve much beyond 11m/mi. If I get to 60mpw sooner then weekly duration can probably be a bit shorter as pace improves.