Back to Burlington (I hope)

I'm glad that the Kinvaras felt good! It does kind of seem like the last time you tried them, it was a perfect storm to make it a bad experience for you.

Michael, have you signed up for that Half yet? I'm going to sign up probably today.

Kathy - I feel good today, too. Was worried that I'd feel some delayed adverse reaction (my Kinvara-based fear is not rational!), but not the case, so that's excellent.

Alex - I cross-posted to your blog so you wouldn't miss it - yes, I signed up for that half a ways back and am looking forward to it.

Twenty is plenty.
At least it was today!
I got a late start for my 20 miler today. Had family logistics issues interfere with my expectation of an early start. Good thing, too, as the weather was quite a bit better by noon when I started this run, and I really did not have a good reason to go earlier! Probably 40 degrees or a bit warmer at the start, cloudy, light drizzle or mist for most of the run. The precip stopped altogether for the last couple of miles. The rain was never a big issue. Wore my gloves the whole time, so it was certainly chilly.
I did my first 20 of 2012, and it went fine. My goal for this run was to do this at a nice slow pace. I have a long history of hurrying through my long runs, and it has sometimes caused me problems, so especially for this one, I wanted to take it easy. And I succeeded. Took some focus. I started off quite slow and after I saw the time for the first mile, I concluded that was perfect and resolved not to speed up. Wasn't too hard on the first "out" leg, which is uphill, but I needed to reel it in a bit for the "back" leg, which is downhill and easy to get going way too fast. But I managed.
Splits below - note the two miles where I stopped for hydration/nutrition/etc. while back at the car. They kinda stand out!
"All in" averaged 9:50 miles. Moving time is more like 9:37 or something like that. Perfect!
One issue: Off and on during the run, especially in the middle of it, my left arch would start to hurt. And it would do that for a couple of miles sometimes. That was a little scary - makes me freak out about PF in that foot (my issues with PF have been in the right foot to date). Went away, but I have to work on that. The ITB was acting up a bit towards the end (as usual, I really feel that when I re-start after a break - I stopped at the car in the beginning of mile 16, and when I started again, I sure felt it, but just for a couple seconds, as usual).
Tomorrow, I'd love to do 8-10 miles, but not sure how that's gonna work. Too much going on, maybe. Maybe on the mill tomorrow night. We'll see. Glad to get a 20 in!

Nice run Michael!

Thanks John! And felt surprisingly good this morning, too.
Busy day. Off to church for Palm Sunday, where I had to help out with some things. Got home just before 1:00, and had to drive down to Ivoryton for a performance at the Playhouse - date with my wife - show featured a Patsy Cline playlist and a performer who had her down pat. Pretty good if you like Patsy Cline. Then out to dinner with the fam. By the time I got home, I was pretty fried, but still wanted to cap off week 10 with 8 miles, so headed for the mill and watched the UConn women lose a barn-burner (and quite a physical game!) to ND. That game was tougher than a lot of the men's ball I watched this year!
The 8 miler went well, average pace right at 9:00, and all was well.
Week 10 is in the books, and things are A-OK.

Nice 20M Michael. Looking good for the Half and Full.

Glad everything is still going A-ok and that the ouch-y arch didn't re-surface during your 9 miler!

Alex Kubacki wrote:Nice 20M Michael. Looking good for the Half and Full.

Thanks Alex - so far, so good.

KathyK wrote:Glad everything is still going A-ok and that the ouch-y arch didn't re-surface during your 9 miler!

Me too! My latest niggle is my itb on the right side. Hurts tonight.

10 miles at the track tonight. Man, 40 laps is a snooze. I need to bring some music.
Nice evening for it. Got started early (had to leave work early to pick up my daughter at school, because my wife and my other daughter were down in NYC visiting Fordham), so finished just as the sun set. Was nice to enjoy the late afternoon sun and the sunset, and not to run in the dark. Nice weather, but real windy. The headwind on the backstretch was killer! The homestretch felt a lot better!!
Managed the pace right at 9:09, which felt fine. A bit sore post-run. Planning another run of similar length in downtown Hartford tomorrow. We'll see how that all plays out...

Michael, when you do these longer runs on a track have you considered changing directions every couple of miles? It may ease some of the stress on the hip from only turning left.

Alex Kubacki wrote:Michael, when you do these longer runs on a track have you considered changing directions every couple of miles? It may ease some of the stress on the hip from only turning left.

Hmm...I wonder if your itb is angry about all the miles on the track in one direction?

Alex & Kathy - yes, I normally reverse direction on the track to counter that. Did not last night, because there were too many other people using it for me to feel comfortable doing that. I do not think that is the issue, though. This has been developing as the miles increase (most of them not run on the track) and I've had the issue before.

Another 10 miles tonight, this time on the streets of Hartford and East Hartford after work. I do this occasionally when I get stuck downtown late, while waiting for my daughter to finish up something at school, and I have to pick her up.
Beautiful, sunny evening, but WINDY! I had lots of delays for traffic lights, etc., which slowed me down. Still, it was a really enjoyable run. I get a real sense of "place" when I run near work, and I learn the geography well, doing the crazy loops I do, and out over the bridges, etc. Most people who live in Hartford and work 20 miles away have no idea what's there.
So, it was all good, and I averaged 9:28, so not bad for the second 10 mile in as many days.
Rest tomorrow, and then I'll probably run again on Friday.

I was able to take the afternoon off, and it was beautiful here (sunny, upper 50s, windy), so I decided to do my long run this afternoon. It was great!
I ran this on the rail trail (Airline Trail). I also extended one end off the trail and onto the sidewalk in East Hampton, for an extra mile on that loop.
I was feeling pretty good after a day of rest after the 10 Tuesday and the 10 Wednesday. I made sure to start slow. First loop was 4 out and 4 back to the car. Took care not to overdo it. Got back to the car (you can see the stop at the car in mile 9 time in the splits below) and slugged down 20 oz of gatorade, grabbed a gu and a bottle of water and headed out in the other direction. Ran 4 out and 4 back to the car (so you'll see another slow mile at mile 17). I stopped twice to take a leak, and you can see those splits, too, which are slower. On that last stop at the car I grabbed another gu and another bottle of water. I think fueling really helps me on the long runs - I really notice the difference. I did a training cycle or two with no carbs along the way, just water, and I think I'm better off with the fuel!
As I was heading out the last leg, I decided rather than make it two out and two back, to finish at 20, I would go out 2.5 and end at 21. I felt real good, and picked up the pace a bit at the end of this run, and felt no ill effects. Also, I had no funny pains or niggles during this run!
Finished the 21 at an average pace of 9:37, including all the stops. One bad thing - the skeeters have arrived! When I was done, I was doing my stretches in the little gravel parking lot at the trail head (heavily wooded all around), and the mosquitoes were unbelievable! Ugh.
Splits and elevation below. I think I'll run slow tomorrow!

10 miles today at average pace of 9:14, again up on the Airline Trail. Nice run. That caps off week 11 (had to get it done before tomorrow - no time to run then!). I could use a rest, so am looking forward to the step back week. I'm at 51 mpw, which is at or near peak for this training cycle, so just need to keep it here. So far, Burlington is looking good. Buzzed my hair today. Did it myself (much less risky when you're already pretty bald anyway). For a minute there, I thought I'd shaved it down so far in a couple of spots that I might have to do the Mr. Clean thing, but didn't have to go that route. It's getting more and more white, so looks pretty much Mr. Clean anyway! Who thought 55 would feel so old?

Looks good Michael. Three weeks until the Half.

Alex Kubacki wrote:Looks good Michael. Three weeks until the Half.

And looking forward to it! I've been running so many slow miles, it'll be nice to try to speed up for as long as I can hold the pace!

Jack used to buzz his hair. Then on our honeymoon (6 years ago) we decided he should give the Mr. Clean look a shot. He's shave his head bald ever since.

Your training is looking great...what kind of taper will you do for your upcoming half?

KathyK wrote:Jack used to buzz his hair. Then on our honeymoon (6 years ago) we decided he should give the Mr. Clean look a shot. He's shave his head bald ever since.

Your training is looking great...what kind of taper will you do for your upcoming half?

I like the buzz! Someday I might go for Mr. Clean. Not yet.

My plan on the half at this point is that I'm just going to cut out one run, which is the Saturday run, right before the race. My normal schedule in this cycle is only 4 days, and the two mid-week days normally are Tu/Wed, so I figure if I rest up Th/Fr/Sat, I'll be good to go. I will run a peak week the week prior (with the long run probably on Saturday), so my Tu/Wed run in the week of the race will probably be either an 8 and a 6 or an 8 and an 8, depending on how I'm feeling, schedule, etc.

Should be fun!

I'm sure I've asked before, but don't recall....what's your goal time for your half?

KathyK wrote:I'm sure I've asked before, but don't recall....what's your goal time for your half?

To beat 1:45.

Although this has been an impossible week schedule-wise, I managed to get the two mid-week runs done on the treadmill last night and tonight. Had to go pretty late tonight to do it, which will probably keep me up.
Last night was on the mill at the Y, in between the end of the work day and a reception I had to attend - 8 miles at 8:57 average.
Tonight was on the mill at home, 8 miles at 9:00 average, finishing up just after 10 pm.
All went fine and feel good. ITB is still a bit of an issue, but isn't slowing me down to this point.
Watching Bulls/Heat. heckuva game in OT!

Impressive running that late, especially on a treadmill. I'm getting pyched for the Half.