First At Bat to BQ - Bayshore

KathyK wrote:I wonder if substituting an elliptical workout for your easy runs would be an option since you said your toe isn't getting any better....maybe giving it a rest from the pounding on the easy days would help?
Just a thought.

I had thought about that Kathy, but I think if I wasn't trying for a BQ then I would probably do that. If I get to a point where I feel like I'm just really messing it up then I'll have to do it. I think doing some treadmill runs is helping though.

Thanks Julie and Mike.

Ok where did I leave off.

Thursday - 5M. Easy. It went fine after Wednesday's blister debacle. I had the blister bandaided up.

Friday - 1hr Bike. I must have been dragging my heel while sleeping because when I woke up the blister was pulsating. As soon as I stepped out I immediately began limp running. Nope. Tried the treamill and same thing. So I hopped on the bike on my trainer and went for an hour. Wasn't happy.

Saturday - 20M LSD. Since Friday I was walking around with a few layers of pad over the blister. Couldn't afford to miss this one. I even put duct tape on the ball of my foot because that's been heating up some times. The run went great. Did the second 10M about 15 sec/mile faster.

Sunday AM - 7M GA. This went well. Just cruised along.

Sunday PM - 4M. Easy. Did it on the treadmill.

Today will be a tempo run. Weather has cooled off.

Sorry to hear about the blister problem. That's unusual and must be really annoying. I wonder what happened?

Otherwise, looking good. Gonna be a much cooler week, though it sure looks fine as long as it stays dry.

DANG, those blisters...
seems like you got it tamed, though and was able to get your runs in the rest of the week!
I assume that your toe isn't giving you any additional grief?

Kathy & Michael, I've been keeping the blister fully padded so no issues since. The toe seems a smidge better. It's comical to look at my right foot with the taped toes and padded heel.

Monday - 9M with 5M @ 15K - Half pace in STRONG winds. It's rare that the wind will toss me around because of my size but I was getting thrown around. I just started cursing at it and letting it know it wasn't going to get the better of me.

Monday night - 4M. Easy. On the treadmill and even if my toe was fine I probably still would have because of the wind. No point with a recovery run.

Tuesday - 5M Easy. Still very windy. I had nothing on this run. I just wanted this one to be over.

Wednesday - 12M GA. This is why running is great. Horrible yesterday, awesome today. Felt good out there. Pretty happy when I was done.

Today I did some core work only. It's been 4 weeks since I've taken recovery day and I need it. Feeling a bit run down and had trouble sleeping last night. Tomorrow I'll do 10M and Saturday will be my first fast finish as I start alternating weeks of fast finish and marathon time on feet.

Recover days are good!

Yes, I have signed up for the Cheshire Half.

Hope we both make it there healthy and trained and with good weather!!

I hope so too Michael.

Friday - 10M Easy with 8 x 100m. Watch died on me about 3M in.

Saturday - 16M Fast Finish. Lousy Weather. Snow & Rain. Oh well. Did the first 10M at LSD and then finished the last 6M at MP. Didn't feel great on the first 10M but when I dropped to MP I had no issues.

Sunday AM - 7M. Easy. Figured I'd be slightly trashed after yesterday but I wasn't. Good.

Sunday PM - 4M. Easy. Did some leg work after the morning run. Usually takes a day to catch up.

Monday - 5M Easy. Yep the leg work caught up. Very heavy legs.

Today will be a speed day with some LT work.

Hope your legs come back to life for the upcoming speed work! Have fun!

Thanks Kathy. Legs came back.

Tuesday Lunch - 8.5M 5 @ 15K-HMP. Once again serious wind out there. My form was crap by the end.

Tuesday night - 4M. Easy. I think doing these runs on the treadmill has really helped the toe.

Wednesday - 12M GA. Felt really good out there even though it was still windy as heck. Did the last couple at MP.

Thursday - 4M Easy. After back to back hard days I didn't have anything on this one.

Friday - 8M Easy w/8x100m. I had no turnover on the strides.

Saturday - 22M LSD. Time on feet run. This was a real struggle but I was glad. It was 26 degrees when I started and 46 when I got done. I wasn't taking in enough water. I was having a really hard time the last few miles. However, I was glad because I think you need a long run like this during the cycle to test the mental side. It'd been so easy to just cut it short.

Sunday morning - 7M Easy. Friday and Saturday it was 26 degrees when I headed out, today was a little warmer near 40.

Sunday afternoon - 4M Easy. The other good thing about the treadmill for this run is I'm not as temped to run faster if I was outside.

Today will be speed work.

Nice job getting that 22 miler done. Our brains need training, too, that's for sure!

Thanks Kathy.

Monday lunch - 9M 5M @ 15K - HMP. Two miles in when I was about to kick it up to the tempo portion my stupid watch dies. This after I charged it fully before I headed out. Needless to say I was a little ticked. Ran it by feel. Oh and of course it was windy as heck again. Seems like every speed run I do it's very windy. Oh well out of my control.

Monday PM - 4M Easy. Continue to do these second runs on the treadmill to help the toe which is getting better.

Tuesday - 5M Easy. Did some leg work Monday night as well so legs were trashed for this run.

Wednesday - 12M GA. Interesting run. Was tired all day. Kind of dreading it. The first few miles I was tired but eased back a little on the pace. Then about half way started feeling it and started cruising. Did the last two at MP. Was happy after.

Thursday - 4M. Easy. I was pleased because I kept the pace slow. I tend to do these too fast just to get it over with.

Friday - 8M Easy with 8 x 100m. Last night they said it'd be in the mid-40's. Got up before 4 and it was 32.

Tomorrow will be 17M with last 7M at MP for a nice fast finish. Continue to alternate weekends with fast finish and time on feet. Six more weeks. Two more weeks to a Half I'm doing.

I can relate to your comment about running the short ones too fast, just to get them over with! I do that as well, and it can get me in trouble. This cycle I really don't have anything short, so it's a little easier to avoid that problem. Still, I'll find myself starting an 8 or 10 miler in the evening and figuring out when I'll be done (no way I should run those faster than 1:12 and 1:30 in a normal training run), and thinking that if I just step up the pace a little, I could get back home a little earlier! The good news is that at those distances, I am much more realistic about what will happen if I do that...

Let's stay healthy for the half!

Alex glad to hear that your toe is getting better...that's excellent news!
And 32 in April??? Brrrrrrrrr.
Don't remember where you are, but here in NC we had very chilly temps yesterday morning, too.

Could you not have ordered that 32F to stick around for a couple of more days???? Glad to hear that the toe is pretty much better - Bay shore is still looking good.

Alex - here are the elevation profiles (off of USATF.org) for the two races. Iron horse is on top, Cheshire on the bottom. I think Cheshire is flatter.

KathyK wrote:Alex glad to hear that your toe is getting better...that's excellent news!
And 32 in April??? Brrrrrrrrr.
Don't remember where you are, but here in NC we had very chilly temps yesterday morning, too.

Yeah the temp flucuations have been comical from first thing in the morning to just a couple of hours later.

Michele "1L" Keane wrote:Could you not have ordered that 32F to stick around for a couple of more days???? Glad to hear that the toe is pretty much better - Bay shore is still looking good.

Thanks Michele. I wish you all could have had the cooler weather.

Michael Enright wrote:Alex - here are the elevation profiles (off of USATF.org) for the two races. Iron horse is on top, Cheshire on the bottom. I think Cheshire is flatter.

The course looks good. I PR'd at Ironhorse last year so I'm looking forward to Cheshire.

Well I had a mini-disaster this weekend. I did something to my back Friday night and when I got up in the middle of the night I could hardly stand. When it was time to run I gave it a shot but only made it a couple of steps. Not happy. So I popped some advil and hopped on the bike on my trainer. There's no impact and my pelvis was in a good position. Then I took some more advil later in the day hoping I'd be able to run on Sunday. Thankfully I could.

Saturday - 75min bike. Just put on some music and road on my trainer.

Sunday - 17M last 7M at MP. I could feel it the first few miles but it loosened up. I wasn't thrilled when I saw my splits for the first 10M. It was kind of all over the place. Not sure what was going on. The last 7M at MP went well.

Today will be double easy runs and tomorrow will be speed.

whew...I'm glad your back felt better on Sunday. Did you have any lingering soreness?

That reminds me of one of our runners...Rhondda. Days before a marathon, she did something to her back. She was in so much pain that her hubby had to put on her shoes and socks on marathon day. She had a blister the size of a cherry tomato because the sock wasn't on exactly straight, but also a hefty PR!

Thanks Kathy. It seems to be better. I haven't done any resistance training in a week so that helped.

Monday Lunch - 5M Easy. The day after my fast finish just keeping it easy. Warm out there today and I only did the 5M as opposed to the 26.2M many here did.

Monday PM - 4M Easy. On the treadmill again keeping it easy.

Tuesday Lunch - 9M with 6 @ HMP-15K. Felt good. Brought water as it was still a bit warm.

Tuesday PM - 4M Easy. Repeat of Monday night.

Wednesday - 13M GA. Brought it down to near MP the last 2M. I didn't focus enough so I didn't quite hit MP though.

Thursday - 4M Easy. Legs a bit trashed after back to back hard days.

Friday - 8M Easy with 8x100m. Good ole 4am run. Wore my racing shoes to test how my toe would handle the far less support. No problems. Very glad.

Tomorrow will be 22M time on feet run.

Sounds like good news that the flats don't aggravate your toe. That's a heckuva schedule!

4AM run? Yikes! Well done! Glad your back feels better and that wearing your race shoes doesn't matter to your toe.

Race day is coming!

I'm glad it's not painful right now. I hate those sudden cropping up injuries from nowhere...

I hope the rest of your training goes well. Not too much longer.

Thanks Michael, Kathy, & Julie.

Well I hit 81M for the week. That's a new high.

Saturday - 22M LSD. Two weeks ago when I did this run it was the worst long run of the cycle. This one was one of the best. Took a few to get going but then felt good. I was hydrating better this time.

Sunday AM - 7M Easy. Figured I'd be doing this one in the rain but it stopped over night and then didn't start again until late morning.

Sunday PM - 4M Easy. Just doing these on the treadmill.

This will be a step back week finishing with a Half on Sunday. Today will be a speed day.

Ok - what's your goal for the half?

Alex - You're cranking out these runs like a machine. I like your alternating time-on-feet and fast-finish runs - that's a good idea. You should be in fantastic shape for this BQ.