3

What did I do today?  Like most hygienically-friendly folks, I took a cold shower to wake myself up this morning.  Wait.  That was my 4-mile jog, which included the final 2.2 miles of the marathon course.  It was 46 degrees with wind and rain … awesome marathon weather … if you are sadistic and live in Wales.  Fortunately, the forecast for Sunday still looks favorable.  Despite miserable conditions, I was in high spirits … 3 days away!  I noticed as I turned into CP that the actual mile markers (signs) are up.  I’d be lying if that did not incite quicker turnover on what was supposed to be a steady state run.  I wound my way south down Cat Hill to briefly exit the park and run along Central Park South (still on course) and turned back into CP when I saw the bleachers outside of Columbus Circle.  [Whoa … it’s getting real.]  I made my way up the final 400 meters near Tavern on the Green and in all its resplendent glory …

Oh yeah, today was also Expo Day.  Really Expo 20 minutes because that is about all the time I spent at the Javits Center.  My mission was to get the bib, bag and make a quick swing thru with my wife.  I was specifically looking for items for her and the kids (for putting up with this marathon stuff), but neither of us was inspired enough to make a purchase (nor wait in the insane lines).  I’m a bit jaded on the Expo as this is my home turf and I am fortunate enough to see gear year around.  Expos are important but generally for out-of-town folks looking to take a piece of the event back home.  All good, just not my thing.  More importantly, I wanted to get off my feet.  I got me some running to do soon.

It’s almost time … 3.

 

4

This morning I shuffled around the Reservoir for a slightly longer easy run (6 miles).  The international contingent is definitely here … their excitement (and bright colored gear) is palpable.  The temps creaped up slightly from yesterday … 44 degrees, which meant that a double layer of thin gloves did the trick … no frozen fingers.  Unless another severe cold front hits us, I would imagine low-40s for a 9:40am start on Sunday.  BTW – other than a minor flare up, I have not obsessed over the weather much.  [Side note: I seem to be in the habit of brief moments of anxiety that go away forever … I had 10 minute a marathon freak out about a month ago, but have been calm since.  Same deal with weather.]  The forecast for Sunday does look favorable:

On the food front, I have not yet begun “carbo-loading” … I hate that phrase.  I have not necessarily been depleting, per se, either.  Since late last week, I have reduced my normal intake of carbs (no rice, pasta at all, but eating bananas, popcorn, some candy) while increasing protein (chicken, eggs) and all the goodness from my everyday spinach salad.  I’ll slowly start introducing carbs tonight (Cheerios) and ease into them more tomorrow and the succeeding days.

Tomorrow?  Pick up the bib, etc. at the Expo.  I went last year to take it all in … tomorrow I want to get in and out quickly and get off my feet.  I’ll post bib, wave and tracking info later this week.  Until then, 4 …

5

And the excitement builds …

Thursday:  I had been waiting for that “I’m ready” moment for the last few weeks.  I’ve had great workouts, but more of the check the box variety.  In the final tempo of this cycle (and last hard workout), I had my moment.  We ran a simple 5mi tempo at HMP finishing the final 2.5 along the actual marathon course.  Our coach prohibited warned us against sprinting or striding those last few miles in hopes of creating muscle memory for 11.7.2010.  At the time, I just wanted to execute the workout properly and fall near the HMP range (7:15-7:20) without doing anything stupid … yeah, I’m defensive.  So I started off … well behind Runner’s Kitchen, who I knew would be hammer this one.  Some of her speed must have rubbed off because with zero effort I was at 7:23 after the first mile.  Feeling good I fell into the downhill on Mile 2 (7:09) and at that point realized I had something going.  When I glanced down at the watch after Mile 3 (7:13), I decided that I needed to pull back, because I was getting loose and itching to hammer it.   I eased up during Miles 4 & 5 (7:17 each) and then could not resist opening up a tad for the final 200m as we passed the bleachers at the finish line 0:44 (5:38 pace).  When I stopped, I had a subtle fist pump going as I knew I was ready for NYC.  Overall 7:13 pace.

Friday: Scheduled rest day.

Saturday:  I took another reconnaissance mission at 7:45am and 45 degrees along the final 10 miles of the course.  While it was definitely productive and time well spent, I can’t take too much away from the experience.  Why?  I had fresh legs on Saturday, while on race day I will have 16 at race pace under the belt when I start the final 10.  Still, I did observe that miles 16-22 are relatively flat, including Willis Ave. and Madison Ave. bridges.  The world changes when you hit 110^th and 5^th Avenue.  The hill is not so much steep as it is relentless.  A solid 20 blocks of grinding up hill.  I did my best to imagine feeling like crap and grinding thru this stretch.  We’ll see how it works this Sunday.  Once you re-enter CP at 90^th, it is all too familiar and I, without, thinking quickened the pace from sheer excitement.  The workout ended up being a progression … 8 miles at easy pace with the final 2.5 at MP, again finishing at the NYC finish line.  10.5 miles.

Sunday: Uneventful 3 mile shakeout.

Before I forget, October results:

 

	October
Days Run	22
Total Miles	200.2
Mi/Day	9.1
Running Time	27:49:31
Avg. Pace	8:20

 

200 miles is not bad for 2 weeks of taper, plus a mini taper for the tune up race in the middle of the month.

Monday: Scheduled rest day.

Tuesday:  No CPTC track workout for me tonight.  The camaraderie is always great, but at this point, trudging down to the track to run a few easy miles in the dark seemed risky.  I’m still defensive.  Instead, I opted for a dawn cruise + 4 x 300 w/ 100m recovery.  As I was warming up (in 38 degree temps) on the Reservoir, I was very happy to run into Runner’s Kitchen who was doing the same thing.  We jogged for a loop and then I begged off to get to the intervals.  Our coach told us these were to just get the heart rate elevated and generate some pop in the legs.  Results – :62, :66, :63, :63.  I felt relaxed and in control.  It was the last chance to get some turnover before Sunday.  I finished up with another spin on the Reservoir and ran into an elite decked out in hot Nike gear.  I did not recognize him … not one of the profiled elites, but clearly someone near the top of the heap on Sunday.  5 miles.

And now, the countdown really begins.  5.

So … How’s Taper Going?

Meh.  I know enough not to magnify minor aches and pains, but they are still annoying.  I try to avoid the disease cocktail that is the subway, but it’s a challenge as the buses are crazy crowded after work and I’m impatient.  While full on hypochondria has not overtaken me (yet), I do walk around with a bottle of Purell like it’s the magic potion.  I will say that I was more excited about the race a couple of days ago (I’m certain that it will come back).  I’m finding taper is not some otherworldly elixir… “then poof you feel great”.  Runner’s Kitchen posted an interesting article about tapering.  The point is that taper is more like rehab.  Beating up the body for 4 months requires a few weeks of repair before the big day.  Even though I’m about 50% thru the taper, I’ve given up on “feeling amazing”.  If it happens, great.  In reality, if I can avoid doing anything stupid in the remaining workouts, stretch and eat properly, then the physical is about is good as it’s going to get … which is all you can hope for come race day.  It’s 200% psychological now.

A few workouts have passed since my last post:

Sunday:  I mentioned to a couple of CPTC teammates that I’m not great with heights and not necessarily fired up about running the bridges during NYC.  I don’t have any storied history with fearing heights, so it was kind of a surprise when I was driving over Bay Bridge in October and nearly started convulsing.  That experience unleashed a fair amount of anxiety about 4 months of training potentially getting flushed down the toilet if I freak out on any of 5 bridges greeting runners on marathon Sunday.  In an effort to work thru any potential issues and to see unfamiliar parts of the course, a teammate graciously agreed to accompany me.  To top it off, it was his birthday.  I felt bad that I would be shuffling along at turtle-like long run pace when he is a 2:39 marathoner.  He’s a good friend.

We started at the SE corner of Central Park (60^th & 5^th Ave) and zig-zagged thru midtown until we reached the FDR path along the East River.  This is principally the same route I take to the track for Tuesday night speedwork.  Once we reached south of 6^th street we veered west to begin the ascent up and over the Williamsburg Bridge (connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn).  I’m sure I complained as we went over it, but in hindsight, it was not horrible.  That said, my thoughts about WBurg really do not matter since it’s not on the marathon course.  Still, I felt no anxiety at all crossing the bridge.  In fact, I kept looking around and marveling at the spectacular views … so that’s a good thing.  We touched down in Brooklyn and proceeded to traverse Miles 11-16 of the course.  The signs detailing the route were already up, which is exciting.  We worked our way thru Brooklyn, cruised over Pulaski Bridge and then scaled Queensboro bridge (connecting Queens and Manhattan).  The latter is a beast.  No sense in kidding you or me.  At that point in the race it’s just accepting punishment and grinding thru it.  In fact, aside from now being able to visualize the completely foreign portions of the course, the run was important in the sense that my teammate gave me advice regarding the quiet spots (e.g., Hasidic section of Williamsburg in Brooklyn + pretty much most of Queens + the bridges) and the need to really focus.  We finished up on 72^nd and 1^st Avenue back in Manhattan.  A very educational and enjoyable 14.5 miles.  This upcoming Saturday, I plan to run the final 10 miles of the course which includes both familiar and unfamiliar territory.  More reconnaissance work.

Monday:  Normally this is a scheduled rest day, but with plans for a day trip on Tuesday, I needed to get the speedwork done.  Our coach distributes our weekly workouts on Monday night.  Therefore, I would be my own coach so to speak.  I researched the type of workout assigned 2 weeks before NYC 2009 and Boston 2010 and decided to go with it.  8 x 600 @ cruise interval pace (with 200 recovery).  Since I was not heading down to the track at 6:45am, I took my talents to the East Drive of Central Park and got to it.  Results: 2:21, :19, :19, :19, :20, :20, :17, :10.  In effect,  6:31 pace down to 6:01 pace, which is fine.  I felt in control.  After a brief cool down, I called it a morning at 6.4 miles.

Wednesday:  5.5 mile slog in 70* and 90% humidity.  Eff you summer.  This was a slog.  Felt like garbage.  But for all the great advice I’ve received about recovery runs, tapering, etc., I might have been worried about my fitness and 11.7.2010.  And I’m not even going there about the weather and what if’s.  Instead, I was just glad to turn the page.  On to the next one.

Laundry Day

As the title suggests, today is a day for cleansing (and more traveling – by train today) … cleaning out the staleness of this blog with an update …

Thursday.  Before my flight back to Gotham, I jumped up and banged out an easy run.  The route was similar to the one I followed during Wednesday’s Wind Sailing experience with the addition of circling around the local area a bit more.

It was a fairly pedestrian 10.3mi run … albeit the scenery was fantastic.  To me, SF / Bay Area is the most picturesque city in the country.

Friday. I’m less than pleased when I need to consult the calendar to determine the last CPTC workout I attended … September 7^th.  Good grief.  Since I was flying home on Thursday, I had to miss yet another workout.  This absence stung more than most because I missed my favorite session … hill repeats.  I love them … they hurt deeply, but provide so much stimulus for improvement.  The last (only) time I’ve run them with the team was back in April as folks were preparing for the Boston Marathon.  I captured the experience succinctly with the title: 6 x Hell.

Since my fitness is better, I did not expect such drama this time around … in particular because I would be running the repeats solo and at 6:30am.  The workout consisted of a 2k pickup at 10k pace, 3 x 500m hill, 3 x 300m hill and recovery jog back to the start of each rep.  The results:

I blame the extended pickup on pre-dawn grogginess.  Frankly, at that hour I could not remember if Coach prescribed a 2k or 2mi pickup.  Nonetheless, I felt surprisingly decent for attempting to get some turnover going before the sun came up.  It took the first 2 intervals to fully shock the system awake.  I still can’t believe the pickup was quicker than the first interval. Gah!  After the legs and lungs found harmony, I started to lock in and turned the screws a little.  With a HM tune up on October 2^nd, it was time to build confidence to scale these same hills when it really mattered.  The overall effort felt consistent.  I never sprinted (obviously with those splits), but rather focused on form (leaning slightly forward, keeping stride length short, not pumping arms too much, etc.).

All things considered, it was a solid workout.  Still, I would have much rather have run with my teammates … group suffering and whatnot.  FWIW – I felt like death the rest of Friday because of the travel, cross-country flight, early rise and hard workout.  That said, I’m glad I got the workout in because I believe I would have felt far worse if I had postponed the repeats until after work on Friday … more likely, I would have bagged them entirely.

Saturday. After that April hill session, I was extremely sore for 3 days, especially the glutes.  This time around, when I woke up, I only experienced minor aches in both calves.  My first reaction was that I didn’t hit it hard enough.  Soreness is generally evidence of a hard effort.  Instead, I felt leg weariness during the 7+-mile recovery slog.  At least that’s something, right?

Sunday. Long run day.  Whooo! Whooo!  Not really.  As you will see why in the Weekly Running Review below, I woke up kind of tired.  Fortunately, the plan called for a mid-distance run of 16-18 miles at steady state.  Uncertain of how the body would respond to anything quicker than easy pace, I was thankful.  Similar to last Sunday’s 21 miler, I incorporated both BPN and extended BPN loops (including the same Harlem Hills from Thursday’s repeats).  You might wonder why more hills?  Answer: They make legs strong like bull … good hard training.  While it took the first 3 miles to get into any kind of rhythm, the 17 miles in total felt pretty decent (8:30 pace). The other noticeable aspect of Sunday’s and Saturday’s runs were that I did them without the iPod.  Since we are 5 weeks from Marathon Sunday, it was time to put the music aside … I won’t be racing with headphones so it’s time to put them away.  No noticeable difference … except I was slightly lighter on my feet.

After the run, I scooted over to 5^th Avenue to cheer for my teammates racing the 5^th Avenue Mile road race.  At one point I thought of entering.  There was too much risk of injury and as you will see, I did the opposite of taper this week.

Weekly Running Review (Week of September 20)

Day	Type	Miles	Pace
Monday	Recovery	7.49	8:34
Tuesday	Rest	0.00	0:00
Wednesday	Speedwork/Intervals	10.15	8:04
Thursday	Recovery	10.26	8:36
Friday	Tempo / Hill Repeats	7.95	7:58
Saturday	Recovery	7.14	8:47
Sunday	Long Run	17.04	8:30

Total Mileage:	60.03
Total Running Time:	8:25:09
Pace:	8:25

Observations: I went to 6 days this week and a lot of hill work in preparation for the half marathon this Saturday. These are certainly the dog days of training.  Legs are heavy and the emotional rush of 20 milers has waned slightly.  But with only 2-3 weeks of hard training left before the taper, it’s time to nut up or shut up.  Time to run with More Fire.

Wind Sailing on San Francisco Bay

No, this blog has not turned into the home of some generalist outdoor enthusiast.  It is an apt description of my run in South San Francisco yesterday.  After an uneventful flight from Seattle and restful night of sleep, I hopped up to replicate the CPTC speed workout I missed back in NYC.  On tap 3 x 1mi @ 5k pace with 400m recovery, plus 1k @ “good form pace”.  Rather than decipher the latter, I focused on finding a route to attempt the former.  Given my location, I opted for this spot:

Baytrail along Oyster Point.  It’s a winding stretch along San Francisco Bay, south of the peninsula.  The “trail” part was not dirt (unfortunately).  Rather, it was a mix of sidewalks and asphalt right next to the water … picturesque (San Bruno Mountain, the Bay) and VERY WINDY!  Here is where the title comes into play.  As a relatively sizable runner (as far as most competitive distance runners go), when wind hits me, it hits me like a sail.  I do what I can to tuck in a bit, but it only results in throwing off my stride.  As such, I just try to fight thru it the best I can.  In theory, there should be a tailwind when I reverse course, but I rarely feel that benefit.

At any rate, with wind at steady state of 20-25 mph, speed intervals were challenging.  The scenic view did mitigate some of the pain involved, but not much.  The first two were rough (6:30, 6:30) in that I was well beyond a VO2 effort … not sprinting, but the effort took a lot out of me.  As I braced for the finale, I decided to try locating a less punishing spot to get after it.  So, my 400m recovery turned into nearly 2.5 miles of curving around the pier.  With no relief in sight, I decided to nut up and finish the thing off … 6:35.  Meh.  All in 10.2 miles.

While the splits were not great, I chalked up the session to good resistance training and, more importantly, I felt lucky to be able to run along such a beautiful spot.  Business travel can be a grind, but finding time to run in nice spots is a great perk.

It’s Always Sunny in Seattle?

My work travels have taken me to the Pacific Northwest.  I’ve been here a number of times, but this marks the first when I’ve actually seen that ball of fire in the sky.  I just assumed that “overcast and rainy” was the city motto.  Fortunately, this oddity and 58* temps made for a rather pleasant running experience.  After 21 on Sunday and sitting for 6 hours courtesy of  [insert whichever crappy airline you hate], the likelihood for leg stiffness was quite high.  Therefore, I was more than happy to sneak a run in not long after landing.

My route:

Lake Union

I took a spin around Lake Union in the heart of Seattle.  Yep, that view does not suck.  I admit that I caught myself looking around more than usual to take advantage of the scenery and managed not to face plant in the process.  Win.  Seattle can be picturesque, but those times tend to be rare.  The terrain was largely a mix of sidewalks along the pier, a few small bridges and some asphalt.  For the most part it was flat … until the last 2 miles, which were uphill … not the ideal thing for a recovery run, but it was ok.  My legs felt surprisingly good.  Monday’s are always a scheduled rest day, but the travel schedule required an adjustment to the plan.  I’ll be interested to see how I feel on Tuesday because usually I feel crappy (long Sunday, off Monday, run Tuesday).  It could be shaking out a long run the next day is a good thing.

By the way, after some solid advice from @mpatent, I’ve got the post-long run recovery routine down to a science:

1. Immediately after: Endurox, banana, brioche/bagels (or some form of carb)
2. Cold plunge in bath tub (10 min) sipping on sports drink, then hot shower (reduce swelling, encourage blood flow)
3. Contort legs to get into compression tights
4. Meal 1: Cheerios, toast, eggs, strawberries (or blackberries), CytoMax
5. Nap (usually this means blacking out for 20-40mins and wondering if I actually fell asleep)
6. Meal 2: Cheerios, slices of pizza, and some leftovers (can’t even remember now)
7. Walking around the city (had to run errands) to help mitigate stiffness, enhance blood flow
8. Legs up for balance of day and intermittent stretching
9. Sleepytime by 10pm (usually earlier)

The upshot is that these steps drive glycogen replenishment (note the carbs), reduce stiffness and prep the body for the next hard effort.

Back to the run itself … it’s always interesting to traverse new areas, so from that perspective, I loved it.  The downside of traversing new areas is that I always find myself looking around (and occasionally pausing) to make sure I’m not falling off the beaten path.  You might say “how is that possible given that you ran in a circle?”  I’m directionally bankrupt.  Still, I managed to find my way back to the hotel 7.5 miles (8:33 pace) later feeling lucky to have run in such a beautiful city (and not get lost).

Tuning It Up

After Friday’s tempo, Saturday had to be well executed as it served as the bridge to the next big effort, Sunday’s long run.  I could not ask for better weather … in fact I could have used lightweight gloves!  If memory serves the temperature was a crispy 59* with a slight breeze when I clicked the watch.  Before I left the apartment, I searched for the beanie … not cool enough for that yet, but it’s getting there.

To sufficiently shakeout the hard effort, I went a bit longer than usual for a recovery run (7.2 miles) primarily on the dirt.  With 4-5 weeks left of hard training before the taper, it’s time to increase mileage and intensity.  With that brief introduction, on to the main event:

I planned to run the NYRR Marathon Tune-Up: 18 miles (3 loops) around Central Park … even registered and even bibbed up for the “race”.  I’d overhead a few teammates discussing it, but was uncertain how to approach it (e.g., pace).  When in doubt, go to the coach.  He frowned when I mentioned the Tune-Up and said, “Why would you do that?”  Hmmm.  Okay, I paid the money, so what do I do?  I asked myself this same question as I clicked the watch at the start.  Actually, I was on the bridle path when the “race” started.  I was easily the last person to cross the starting line (20 min late) as the crew was breaking down the corrals.  At this point, Coach’s voice came over me and said, “soft service” as in “if possible, always run on soft surface, especially when going long.”  Therefore, I called an audible and compromised.  How?

I did the vast majority of the work on the bridle path north (BPN – 2.49mi loop) but also extended it to include Harlem Hills.  As I mentioned above, time to turn it up … bridle path slows you down by about 10-15 seconds per mile vs the roads and tossing in serious hill work “makes legs strong like bull”.  The combination is a perfect stimulus to this last cycle of marathon training.  Toss in the fact that our prescribed distance for the long run was 20-22 with the final 5 at MP and you have the potential for a baller workout.  The results:

I’ve heard (but never paid attention to) the argument that BPN slows you down.  I just ran it.  However, it’s true … with basically the same effort, I scooted along the 3.4mi loop (BPN+Hills) quicker than the 2.4 mile loop (BPN) ~10 seconds per mile quicker with the only difference being the 1 mile of roads on Harlem Hill.

After mile 14, I left the comforts of the BPN to rejoin the Tune-Up folks (~4,500) on the roads to bang out the final 5 miles at MP.  I let MP (7:30) come to me gradually.  It’s been awhile since I did any dedicated hill work, so I wanted to be careful about switching gears.  Once I got rolling, it felt pretty good.  I wore the Nike Zoom Elites (which are 4 oz heavier than what I’ll wear for NYCM).  I kept thinking back to the recent HMP workouts and how the body must be adapting to the training because, at least on this day, those 5 miles felt comfortable.  Now I just need to replicate it 5x+.  Before I get ahead of myself, I do have an actual tune-up race in two weeks, Grete’s Gallop HM, for which I will go all out.

Last thing, I bagged the idea of racing the 5^th Avenue Mile on Sunday, September 26^th.  Why?  (1) Race occurs on long run day, (2) I will not taper for it (3) Going 100% beats me up for the next week which interferes with training and anything less than 100% is a no no.  (4) 2010 is solely about the marathon, a 1-mile race brings too much risk and little reward.

For now, another 20+ mile effort in the bank (#3 and counting).

Better Late Than Never

Before we get to the primary workout of the week, I’ll share a few words on Wednesday’s easy run.  Rather than continue to transfer business wardrobe to the office due to  the “jobby to CP runs,” I decided to bring the bags home and then run.  I lost 30 minutes.  When the sun starts setting at 7:15pm, 30 minutes matters.  I don’t think I’ll be doing that again.  The run itself was uneventful … 3 loops around the Reservoir Path, toss in some drills and I was done.  5.5 miles.

The Thursday team tempo did not look good from the beginning of the day.  I suffer from some form of DOMS or Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness.  Although I believe most runners do too.  DOMS is simply a 24-48 hour delay of soreness to the muscles after a taxing workout.  Tuesday’s intervals would qualify for the latter … especially that silly 73 for the last quarter.  Other than heavy legs, Wednesday was fine.  Thursday, on the other hand, was a completely different story, at least for most of the day.  I felt like hot garbage: lethargic, mystery ankle and calf soreness and stiff (despite, 20 min of stretching on Wednesday night).

This overall craptastic feeling is nothing new … it usually occurs every Thursday and I always make it to the workout.  As such, I stuffed my face all day long fueled properly for the upcoming 6 mi tempo.  The assignment: 3mi @ MP, 2mi @ HMP, 1mi @ 10k pace.  It’s a great, but hard workout, especially since this is my step back week in terms of miles and intensity.  I figured the blahs would dissipate on the way to the team meet up spot, as usual.  What I failed to account for is getting out of the office later than usual. Tempo failure. It happens.  I’ve missed a fair number of workouts lately (vacay), but make them up on my own.  Therefore, I took yesterday as my rest day and went to bed early.

Early to bed, early to rise.  5:15am rise, in fact.  A Friday night tempo did not seem inviting, so I chose to replicate the good time solo-style before the sun, and most sane human beings, are up.  Insane?  How about sleeping in the running shorts and shirt that you intend to wear the next morning to gain 5 more minutes of sleep?  Yup.  I clicked the watch at 5:37am and hit it … SLOWLY.  It was pitch black, I was groggy and I assumed anyone operating a moving vehicle at this hour had no problem slamming into me despite my bright orange shirt.  While disorienting, the warm up slog to the park ended quickly because I needed to get down to the business of tempo’ing.

If you are familiar with CP, the route description is confusing … it’s confusing to us .. something called the Stuart Mile, rotate up the east side, cross at the transverse, blah, blah, etc.  Suffice it to say that much of it started with a downhill and ended with that same uphill with minor peaks and valleys in between.  I eased into the MP and finished the 3mi stretch at 7:29, which was on point.  I have been on the roads too much of late (vacay in Chicago) so I moved the balance of the workout to the Reservoir Path … what I lose in hill training I gain back in soft surface and happy legs.  I modified the workout slightly, instead of straight 2mi then 1mi, I did a fartlek-type session here.  For the HP portion I did 1 mi (7:17), brief recovery, then 1mi (7:14).  At this point, I was fully awake and into the workout … it took a bit of work to get there.  For the final mile, I felt decent and the turnover came easier (6:58).  Toss in a nice cool down and it turned into a 9.5 mile jaunt all before 7:30 am.  Better late than never.

Tunnel Vision

I’ve been accused of having tunnel vision at various points in my life.  It’s not necessarily a compliment, but it seems to work for me.  What is tunnel vision?  Locking into something and excluding (often at your peril) everything and everyone else.  Exams, opinions, career choices, etc.  However, I realized last night that there may be no better application for tunnel vision that marathon training.

Seemingly everywhere I look I see countdowns to the big day.  Folks ask me, “Are you excited about the marathon?  Are you getting nervous?”  Frankly, I rarely think about the actual race.  It’s beyond me right now.  As a rookie, I have no point of reference.  No memories.  No life changing moments.  Other than spectating last year, it is completely foreign to me.  Now the irony is not lost on me that I have basically dedicated the last 13 months of my life to getting ready for something that I don’t even think about when its 60 days away.

The only countdown in my world is … the next workout.  I’m living day-to-day … literally one step in front of the other.  I frankly don’t know any other way to approach it.  If I accumulate quality workouts I will be physically prepared and mentally I will have string of positive experiences from which to draw on the Day of Reckoning.   Seriously, in my mind, my next workout is the most important run of my life.  To that end, Tuesday’s workout marked my long-awaited (at least to me) return to the track.  It’s been 2 weeks since I actually banged out some intervals with the team.  On the agenda was a personal favorite – 12x400s @ 5k pace w/ 200 recovery.  I kept my expectations in check specifically because it’s been 2 weeks and many long miles since the last time I stretched it out.

The splits:

Despite the longish warm up, it still took nearly half of the workout to shake the legs loose.  Cool.   I was happy to trail the pack in the beginning.  I didn’t know what I had in the tank, so it was certainly wise to ease into the session.  Once we hit #6, I started to settle in and ran tired comfortably.  I started inching up to the lead pack and found a rhythm.  It was a good group that ran just hard enough to progress properly on the back half.  Knocking off 1 second an interval is the way to go.  As usual, I emptied the tank on the finale.  After logging slow miles for a solid month, it was nice to open it up a bit.

I had a nice convo with our coach afterwards.  He liked my tunnel vision approach to marathon training.  Honestly, he was surprised when I told him about it.  Apparently, most first timers get overwhelmed/obsessive with the distance and their training suffers a bit because of the mental struggle.  That very well could still happen to me, but I have to hope the horse blinders I’m wearing remain secure for a few more weeks.