few random thoughts

Nice to have the van when you finish a 10 mile run in a steady rain
and can climb in the back to change into some dry clothes. Even nicer
that it’s still 60 degrees and raining instead of 30-40 degrees. Only
24 more days until race day. We’ve been pretty lucky this cycle in
regards to the weather. No really cold days. No really miserable
cold, rainy runs.

Greenway here in Murfreesboro has been pretty deserted for the last
several weeks. Really since the change in weather and the Middle
Half. Most of the regulars still out every week, nothing as colorful
as these folks. Some new faces and so old ones that don’t come back.

Don’t know why I’m having blister issues this cycle. First was a
blister deep under a callus, that I thought was a stone bruise.
Didn’t realize it was a blister until a week later. Second was a
blister that developed during my last fast finish long run. Didn’t
know I even had a blister until I pulled off my shoe and saw my red
sock from all of the blood. Strange that I didn’t notice it during
the run. (but it was a pretty intense workout with the pace and wind)

Put some moleskin on that blister 2 days later to do my speedworkout.
The moleskin stayed in place until mile 4 of the workout and then
slipped. I ended up caving on the last 2 miles of that workout trying
to run through the blister discomfort. (big sissy, I know) Tried to
convince myself that I need to be able to run through that
discomfort come race day, but it just wasn’t working. The pace kept
suffering.

Muscle must really weigh more than fat. I’m weighing in at 150
pounds. That’s about 5 pounds lighter, than the last cycle. Must be
the lack of weight workouts. Did my second weight workout since I
broke my collarbone back in May. Never really had much muscle, but
it’s noticeable now. Need to keep this going to tone some of the
muscle. More importantly, I think it helps keep the body more erect in
the latter stages of the race when I become fatigued. (least that’s
what I’ve read, and tend to believe.)

Fun little marathon this weekend at Percy Warner Park. Still one of
my favorite places to run in Middle Tennessee. Don’t think I’ve even
been out there this year. I’m volunteering to work the finish line.
This gives me a chance to get in a long run, without having to run
the entire race. Maybe next year, will be my return to the Monkey.
I’d still like to run a 3:30 or better.

May rethink the strategy to try and run a fast 5k in the spring. I
barely broke 19:00 on 50 miles per week. It would an interesting
experiment to run 60-70 miles per week with 5k specific training and
see how much more I can chip off. Guess I’m scared of getting hurt
trying to race any distance before my goal race. It’s happened to
many times, and its way to much training to waste chasing one PR at
the expense of another.

thank a veteran

5 weeks

Found out where the edge is for no carbs on the long run. Perfect morning for a long run this morning. Met the W brothers at LBC for a planned 22 miler. Easy run for all of us. BQ1 needed to test his hip and only needed 16 miles. Pretty strange having daylight for the entire run. Cool to start but never really an issue. Would be perfect marathon weather. Most of the sugar maples were bright oranges and reds. Rising sun made the colors pop more and later, bright blue sky and no clouds.

Seemed like each of us had lots of energy and had to remind each other to hold it back. Didn't feel like that for me for the first couple of miles. At some point the pace seemed right and I actually felt like pushing up the hills. I only planned on taking 2 succeeds with plain water. Took the first one at 10 miles and the second at 16 miles.

Felt really strong when we dropped BQ1 off at the start and headed back out for another 6 mile loop. That feeling fell away quickly around mile 18 when I started to struggle. The pace didn't really fall off much, but the last hill took way to much out of me. I lost contact with G and stopped to pee and catch my breath. Managed to run mile 19 at 8:00, but that was the last decent mile. Pace fell off to 8:30 for the next 2 miles and I was beginning to crash. I've been in this place before, that's the only thing that kept me going for the last 2 miles. Once the Garmin clicked over to 21 miles I stopped and walked it in.

Training is still going well. 73 miles this week. No quality workouts at all. All recovery from last weeks fast finish long run. I haven't looked at next weeks schedule except for the Yasso 800's on Tuesday. It would be nice to have both the W brothers pulling me around the track for that workout. Don't know if that will happen, most of our mid week quality workouts are different.

The stupid/silly running streak thing is still going. Think it's at 131 days now. I've about given up on the notion of going 80 miles per week. I may bump the daily runs to 10 miles to take a crack at it, in the next few weeks. Really about the only way to get there is doubles and they just aren't happening.