Mike's Marathon Training Blog

2 easy miles with the dogs at 7:35  Feeling good.  2 days of rest, maybe 2 easy miles on Sat....

Pre-race trip and nutrition:

Well getting in to PHL at midnight was a bad idea that turned for the worse when we had an engine malfunction in -flight on the way from Dallas. We returned to Dallas and were informed we would be going to a hotel and leaving in the AM. 30 minutes later, we were boarding a new airplane and going to Philly.  We eventually landed at 3am and after baggage claim and getting picked up by  my parents, we made it to their house around 4am.  I came in and got some more sleep, but probably not ideal with only one more night to rest before I ran 26.2

After a nap I got up and ate a late breakfast.

5 slices of wheat french toast with syrup.

Lunch/snack was a granola bar and special K bar.

Dinner was a Tuna Melt on Rye with Swiss cheese and tomato.  Also appeteasers was 2 asian chicken wings and a couple of chips with artichoke spinach dip.

Plenty of water, but not too much and lemonade as i watched the Flyers clinch a round 3 playoff spot.

Pre-race nutrition. Banana and peanut butter granola bar with a few sips of powerade and a few sips of water.

Great race, good time.  I felt good.  I don't have my splits yet due to laptop issues with my gps, but I was pretty even all day.  I know I had one fast mile on the downhill around a 6:30, other than that just chopped away mostly even.  I was at 1:28:39 at the half, so the second half was 1:30:01.  Pretty even considering the course.  The only challenging hills were in the second half.

About 2-3 miles from the finish I did have some pain in my chest, upper left side....easy breathing took it away but it came back here and there until the end.  Overall, I felt pretty good, but after the finish and I drank some water and had oranges, my legs were spasming pretty good. I had to sit a few times waiting in line for the massage table.  The nice young lady gave me a great massage and I was feeling much better.

I hung around for a bit and eventually found out I was 1st in my AG and got my award!  Great Day, Boston Qualled, broke 3 hours and did well!

Easy 2.4 miles, marathon recovery 8 min pace.

Legs felt ok, no pain, just soreness and tight.  Felt much better and looser after the run. :)

2.1 miles easy.  Left Quad still pretty sore, but loosens up with about a half mile of running.  Feel good overall, walking, talking and happy!  Ready to get out and run some good miles again, hopefully some races too.

3 easy miles at the kids camp.

5:30am

4.9 total miles, 2.5 fast with Jeff. THe rest with others from the team. It was nice to run a little bit with everyone, but it was nice to see Laszlo out running again too. I also did 100 pushups, situps and lunges.

7am

1 easy mile with both dogs. Wow, did they need to get in a run, with me being gone for a week and a half, they were eager to get back out there.

530am

800 warm up, High Knnes, Butt Kickers, Lunges, Strides

1x's-2000 at 5:38 pace, 1600 @ 5:34, 1200 @ 5:32 pace, 800 @ 5:23 pace, 400 @ 5:20 pace, 300 @ 5:05 pace, 200 @ 4:56 pace, 100 @ 3:52 pace

3x 200, 39 sec, 37, 35.

800 cool down.

Great running today, Teamed up with Jeff and Dustin for the workout except Dustin bailed on last 3X200.  Good job by all. Lauren and Amanda looked great and fast today too and worked together well. 

Way faster and better than I thought being just a week and 2 days after my marathon!

7am

1 easy mile with both dogs.

7am. 1.1miles with the dogs at 7:30 pace.

Had to cut it short due to stray dogs down the street.  I went out to run them down and help catch them, but they were gone.

.4 doing that.

Last nights going away BBQ was nice but I was short on sleep for this AM's run.

I ran with everyone for 2 miles, then the new guy Mike went back.  Then at mile 4 Dan stripped off to get his 8 in.  Laszlo, Robert and I continued 2 more miles and turned around at mile 6 for 12 total.

Nice and easy for me with lots of talk, especially for Robert for his marathon strategy and the challenges of facing 26.2 for the first time. 

Mile Splits:

• 8:31
• 8:23
• 8:12
• 7:55
• 7:46
• 7:48
• 8:15
• 8:14
• 8:16
• 8:18
• 8:29
• 8:21

This was basically a good long Tempo Run for Robert as he is shooting for 2 goals, first to finish his marathon and second, to break 4 hrs.  9:09 pace is doable for him and is a good secondary goal.

Overall, it felt good for me, I was fine with the long run again, by far my longest since my marathon.

1.5 miles while running around taking pictures of the BPR team members today who ran the Tucson 5000.  Great job by all and it was a very fun time.  Followed by breakfast at Laverna's! MMmmm MMmmmm Good.

4.8 miles with the group.  160 Push ups, 240 Situps and Lunges.

Felt pretty good but a bloody nose hindered some push ups and overall performance today.

Great Track Workout....last one before I leave for a few months!

800 warm up and cool down

4X    1st       2nd      3rd      4th       Cool down

600   121     117     117      113       200 meters

400    79       80        78       75        100 meters

300    55       54        55       53        100 meters

200    38       36        37       35         50 meters

100    15       15        15       15         2:00 mins

3X                                                     

200    35       35        33                    100 meters

Just got in to my overseas location will start running soon!  AF Marathon 2:49 in 17 weeks.

3 miles in 19:28 on the treadmill. .25 cooldown

maybe more tonight when its cooler outside

Well I stayed up until midnight or so and ended up wide awake at 4am.  I finally decided to get moving around 5am and I went out for a run.  I was glad to find that with my GPS watch the miles I was running last year are pretty close to what I thought they were.

First outdoor run here in Iraq for this trip. I started with a half mile warm up at 7 min pace and ran 5.5 at 6:13-6:32 pace  Miles were: 6:28, 6:13, 6:14, 6:31, 6:32 and the last half mile was on pace.  The first half of my run I had the wind at the back and wind in my face on the way back, enough to make me work harder and slow me down.

I am going to run a sub 2:50 about two weeks after I get back from my deployment so I am picking up my pace to train for that.  I would like to shoot for a 2:47 but a 2:49"59 is acceptable.  My speed work will all be around 5- 5:30 pace, Tempos 5:50-6:10  Base mileage 6:15-6:45 and easy 7-7:30.

Slept like a ROCK!

6 Miles at my new EASY pace. felt good, I had to keep telling myself to slow down.

7: 10 - 6:59 - 7:00 - 7:00 - 6:55 - 7:00

Not a bad run this AM, I will be on the day schedule for about 3 weeks, so its nice to already be in a routine....

1 Mile warmup

5 miles of 1/4 mi intervals.

Fast at 6:00 pace +/- 15 seconds

Slow at 6:40 pace +/- 10 seconds

Felt good, but felt a little slow on the fast ones this AM.  it was warm and dusty!