Hills in July and hills this morning

I dropped off my registration for the Afton 50K in the mail this morning. It's a bit scary since last year the Afton 25K wore me out. I can always drop back to the 25K before race day but I'll be training for the 50K.

This morning a friend and I talked each other into doing some hills. I had planned to do some speed work today. We ran down to the West River Parkway over the Ford Bridge and ran the Locks and Dam #1 hill six times. That workout showed me that I have some work to do. I definitely have room for improvement. Next week will run the same hill eight times. Now that the snow is pretty much gone in the area (until tonight - ugh) I can do more of my running outside.

--Mark

Seven weeks to Fargo

Training is going well. I did a 20+ mile long run with friends on Friday. This was our first long run on a dry surface. I started to get tired with about a mile to go. We ran for 3:15 and 20.6 miles. I looked at my heart rate monitor chart afterwards and found we had stopped for a total of 16.5 minutes. The stops were for traffic lights, water/GU breaks, and bathroom breaks. We'll do another long run in 2 weeks.

This weeks plan:

Mon: run outside - speed 9? miles
Tue: run outside - easy 9 or 12 miles
Wed: run outside - tempo 9? miles
Thu: yoga
Fri: run outside - 6 miles easy
Sat: Ron Daws 25K race
Sun: maybe a few easy miles

--Mark

Went bowling

I bowled two games with my family today. I've only bowled about two games in the past twenty years. Of course I thought there was no way I was going to bowl under 100 in either game. HA HA. HA HA. I got a 77 and a 81. It was very fun but you won't see me trying to sign up on a bowling league anytime soon.

--Mark

I LOVE long runs

I went on a 19 miler early yesterday (Friday) morning with friends. I just love running the long runs. They are like mini-expeditions to me. It was so beautiful outside yesterday with the snow falling, a nice coating of snow on the trees, and the peacefulness of the morning.

We ran for 3 hours and my only mishap was my slip, spin, and roll on a patch of snow-covered ice. The only lasting effect from that was a little bruise on my kneecap. It was a little painful during my short 4-mile recovery run this morning but it did not affect my running. It just hurt - kind of like it would hurt if someone whacked the side of my kneecap with a stick.

Now there are only 8 weeks until the Fargo Marathon. Next week I have a 20 mile long run planned. I can't wait. I think I will skip a planned Monday tempo run and hopefully run outside then and Tuesday. I'll do Kickboxing on Wednesday and this time I think my wife will join me in class.

--Mark

St. Patrick's Day Human Race 8K

I ran this on Sunday afternoon in St. Paul. The weather was cold and dry. Maybe 35 degrees but with sun. My goal was to get below the 7:00 number barrier. I ran a 10K last spring at a 7:03 pace so I thought I should be able to meet my goal. I did. My time was 33:28 for a 6:44 average pace.

The 8K race was 4.97 miles so for my last split I also have the pace listed:

Splits
Mile 1 - 6:48
Mile 2 - 6:33
Mile 3 - 6:52
Mile 4 - 6:53
Last .97 6:22 (pace was 6:34 for that segment)

My goal was 6:59's so my workouts have improved my performance considerably. I think my tempo runs helped a ton! I left some on the table but I was able to run the race just at threshold. I didn't want to run out of gas early.

I'm looking forward to running this one again next year.

--Mark

Jim, can you climb trees?

This morning my friend Jim and I went on an early morning Mississippi River loop run starting from the Highland Park LTF. We crossed the Ford Bridge and then ran north along the west river parkway. At about 5:20am we were about a mile north of the Ford Bridge. Off in the distance a police siren sounded. Almost immediately a pack of coyotes started 'yipping'. They were between us and the river, and although we couldn't see them, I think they were only 30 to 50 yards from us. That's when I asked, "Jim, can you climb trees"?

It was nice to have some wildlife nearby.

--Mark

10 weeks to the Fargo Marathon

Yikes! It's coming up fast.

I ran 18 miles early morning last Friday. That went well except for the spot of frostbite on my chin. The temperature that morning was around -5F. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to running in warmer conditions.

This week:

Mon - 6 x 800m intervals
Tue - some easy miles
Wed - 40 minute Tempo
Thu - Yoga
Fri - 9 easy miles
Sat - rest
Sun - 8K race

My 8K race goal is 34:42 which is a 6:59 average pace. I really want to average better than a 7:00 pace. One-second better is enough. :-) I have a chance if the pavement is dry. No-way if there is snow.

--Mark