W18 Thursday motivation

5:47  bizzzzz. vibrating phone alarm knocks the phone off the night table, hitting snooze without my help.

6:01 I think, what's my phone doing on the floor? Where's my alarm? Nex thought, Today is a scheduled moderate ride. Scan self. Sore knuckles and elbows. Need some more sleep. I don't feel like a bike ride this morning.   Snooze a bit. Then Wide awake. Get up. Okay. You can have a second rest day if you want.  Make latte. Yum. Read email, look at forum.  Thinking this is a waste of time - I want to run.  Find photo below & post to today's entry. I am motivated to do better with myself.

7:07 done with latte. Done with morning internet surf.   Still loads of time before having to go to work.  Legs say, let's go for a run. There's plenty of time for and value in a 30-min run.  Dress, gather happy dog & go.  I'm still outward bound after 25 minutes, and loving it.   Total run a perfect 50 minutes. 

9:02 At work, having showered, eaten and commuted.  Fired up for a great day and committed to being the best I can be.

Today's motivation  - Nell Stephenson Ironman Hawaii 2007

W19 Monday

5:47 a.m. alarm. Fumble. Off.
6: 12 a.m. "wake up. it's time to go outside."  Snooze.  Realize the joints in my hands feel inflamed. Brain says, your sister has R.A. You're suffering from inflammation too. Brain says, you forgot fish oil. You don't need to run this morning. You can run tonight.  Snooze 9 minutes x 3 reminders. Then up.

8:20 a.m. phone rings: Older son has wrecked my mountain bike on the way to school in a minor accident - sudden stop swings his bag into the front tire. Unfortunately, the bag contains my tripod, which busts the spokes. He's fine. Everything can be fixed.  He calls me for reassurance and instructions on what to do.

***
8:00 p.m. I'm at the office, having just finished the last of several unscheduled meetings. I hate meetings called without advance notice.  Brain: it's too late, you've been tired all day. You can get home on the tram.  Then I see that Judy's trained in the pool, and I say Can Do. Can Do Too.  Change clothes. I try to run, bust the heart rate limit. Walk at a fast pace only 30 seconds off my marathon pace - walk all the way home, pick up Odie, finish the 50 minutes.  AV HR 129. This is a weird way to train.

Eat, Post. Time to read to my little guy and go to bed.  Ride tomorrow.

Thank you Judy!

Food: strawberry smoothie, latte; croissant & coffee; HB egg; chicken stew; hamburger, beets, spinach, butter.  Ice cream.

Week 11 Running Plan

Tues Key Run #1 (worked late, didn't run)

10-20 minute warm-up
2*1200 (2 min RI) [7:40]
4*800 (2 min RI) [5:00]
10 minute cool-down

Thurs Key Run #2 (ran on Saturday - average 8:00 min+/km)
8K run @Mid Tempo pace [6:20]

Sat or Sun Weekend Long Run
33k @MP+28 sec : 8 min/k [4:1 r/w 7:45/10:00]

Week of 18 Jan. Run #1

Monday and Tuesday my legs were still sore. Ran mid-week #1 today. 10 min warm-up 3x1600m followed by 6 min cool-down. I would have run the whole 10 min cool down but Odie started growling at another dog and I had had enough of him.  I'm still mad at him.

Tonight I worked on pacing and mental toughness. My goal was 6:45 for the 1600 meters. I ran 7:04. I felt tired tonight and didn't feel like going out at all. But I told myself that training for a marathon means going out sometimes even when I don't feel like it.  I let myself slow down and walk too often. I was better at these in the summer. Tougher.   I can earn my place back.  With dedication and effort, I can improve. That's what I've learned over this past year of running.  Last summer, I could run 14*800 at under 5 minutes. I can do it again.

I worked on a mantra during the run - my mid-week runs are just as important as my weekend runs. I never skip those. Except for once, and that was not a pleasant feeling.

I pushed myself pretty hard and my heart rate shows it. From 53 minutes running,  26 min in Z4 and 21min  in Z5.

I felt like I hated running in cold weather. Too many clothes. Cold since I dressed lightly tonight. Then too hot and sweaty. Then cold because I got sweaty. And fumbling with gloves, even thin ones. And the dumb dog was getting in the way and not paying attention to trying to do 800m repeats. Now that I express the workout like that - 6x800, that's a tidy bit of work. I remember how hard they were from the summer.  I think though I have lost some conditioning. Or perhaps trying to lower my consumption of carbohydrates. I've read that your performance will suffer at first, then pick up.

Recovery meal: chicken mushroom soup with lots of butter.  We'll see how this high fat low carb diet works.

total 2386 (maintenance)
F 154.8g 58%
C 75.4g 13%
P 178.8g 30%

to run faster, I will run faster

Okay, I finished the brief that has sucked up all my mental energy for the last two weeks. I slipped easily into the over-work habit and didn't run mid-week this week or last. I will change. I can change. I have changed.

Coach offered some ideas for making the 5:30 cut-off time for my first marathon. 

In your last email you asked about staying ahead of the 5:30 cut off time. I don't have my calculator with me on this trip, but I believe that this pace is about 7:40 per kilometer. Please check me on this.

To prepare yourself for this pace, there are two things you can do:


1. Run some 1600 repeats on the short long weekends. Do you have a track that is usable? Other option is a measured segment of 1 mile. Let me know if you have one of these and want to do the repeats.


2. Run 5K, on either Tues or Thurs short run days, at 7:40 per kilometer, trying several different ratios: 1-1, 1:30-1 or 2-1. Some runners actually run faster with a run 30 sec/walk 30 seconds.
 
These look like exercises I can accomplish very easily.  I hate the idea of walk breaks though. I just have this issue that I don't want to walk half the marathon.
 
Jeff thought my knee pain from the 25k run related to inadequate walk breaks.  I just caught myself wishing I had different legs. Then I thought about people who can't run or who run in wheel chairs they peddle with their arms.  No Whining!  I have strong, healthy legs.  So I will pace my run this weekend and jump back in the saddle.

plan for week of 24 August 09

On one of my midweek runs (such as Tuesday), run from 30 to 60 minutes. It would help to run a 4-5K segment in the middle of these runs experimenting with 2-1 for a kilometer, and then 3-1. Try to run a pace of 5:45 to 6:00 per km.

On the other mid-week day, find a 1600 meter segment (1.6K) and time yourself. Run at a faster pace than other runs, but not all out.

This will give us a good chance to predict pace for your race.