That was Zen this is Now!

After quite an implosion at AC marathon I am dedicating this blog to the next 5 weeks to the Philly Marathon. Good news is I feel great, no soreness, no niggles, no pain, no lack of enthusiasm.

My goal right now is to recover, rebuild, and reconquer the marathon. I am going to be a bit more aware of the weather and although right now my goal is still to BQ at 3:15 changing it so sub 3:20 will be a strong possibility if there is there is one ounce of doubt in my ability and/or weather.

Below is my 5 week plan:

Today's run:

6:00am - Light rain, slightly windy, 63 degrees and loving it for my first run back since Sunday's marathon. But as title says that was then this is now. Easy 5 mile recovery run. Amazing to see my HR of 134 actually a bit lower then the few recovery runs prior to Sundays marathon. Was I over-trained slightly before race? Did I peak to early? Very possibly. Or was #13 marathon really unlucky? Who knows but I am back and feeling great on today's run. No soreness, legs felt
light and quite capable. Ain't going to be no rematch in AC but Philly look out!

Nice!! I like the idea of clearing the slate and starting fresh. The next five weeks are going to be magical

Love the title, Kenny!! Looking forward to following your training.

Looking forward to reading about your training. I am impressed you haven't had any niggles or anything.

Love the new blog - we'll be watching and good luck!

Nick Morris wrote:Nice!! I like the idea of clearing the slate and starting fresh. The next five weeks are going to be magical

I am planning on that. Thanks

Mrs. Schuey wrote:Love the title, Kenny!! Looking forward to following your training.

Thanks!

Julie wrote:Looking forward to reading about your training. I am impressed you haven't had any niggles or anything.

I am a niggle free runner!

John Kilpatrick wrote:Love the new blog - we'll be watching and good luck!

I am scared. Thanks!

Thursday

6:00am - Pretty humid out with 67 degrees. HR was 135 well within zone
but would like to see it a bit lower based on my pace of 9:47 today. Did 5
easy miles just recovering right now. Again no sign of any issues but
don't want to jump back just yet.

Tomorrow is a nice rest day.

Kenny B. wrote:Thursday

6:00am - Pretty humid out with 67 degrees. HR was 135 well within zone
but would like to see it a bit lower based on my pace of 9:47 today. Did 5
easy miles just recovering right now. Again no sign of any issues but
don't want to jump back just yet.

Tomorrow is a nice rest day.

That's a good call...better safe than sorry.

I am off today and feeling really good. Tomorrow is an easy 5-6 miles with Sun 8 miles at GA pace. I am in an interesting space right now kind of banking on the next 5 weeks to revive me and rebuild me to do great at Philly. It is hard to maintain a confident mindset coming off Sunday's AC marathon. All I can do is continue with training be happy I have no niggles or anything to speak and rebuild the mileage enough to taper again and nail Philly.

I am highly considering using Brooks T7's this time. I will take them out for my longest run a in a few weeks of 16+ miles on pavement to see how the quads feel after.

In the meantime I'd like to pencil in some 2012 races but not sure where I am headed and will probably need to wait until after Philly to make that decision.

Ranting for the day is over!

Saturday

Now this is the weather I love best. 42 degrees light wind, crisp fresh
air. My HR of 132 enjoyed it also. At around mile 4 I was thinking of
turning this into a 20 mile run but then I thought a new thought...
Although feeling great with no residual affect from AC Marathon 6 days
ago I still need to recover a bit to rebuild for Philly Marathon coming
up. Plus it is Saturday what would I do on Sunday? Run more!

Sunday
I decided to change up my schedule a little bit. Instead of 8 @ GA I chose 12 total. 1 warm up, 8 @ GA, 2 @ LSD. Well my HR responded great one if not the lowest HR for an overall pace of 8:05. HR 155. This smack in the middle of my LSD zone yet pace is quite quick. Legs are tired no doubt but with a day off tomorrow and recovery Tuesday I should be fine. I am leaning back on doing 20 next sunday then taper a bit more then usual. We will see.

Below on the splits funny how low MY HR is at not quite slower then my pace at AC Marathon with HR that day starting at 171 quickly at 177. Granted it was 45 degrees today vs 55+ but It also only one week if AC marathon. Not sure what is going on. Possibly the cold I had the week or so before was still making its way out of my system.

I thought of you when I got up early (6:15) this morning Kenny. I said, "Kenny is probably up and running already..."

Natalie wrote:I thought of you when I got up early (6:15) this morning Kenny. I said, "Kenny is probably up and running already..."

Oh wow, I got up at 6:00 this morning because I was sleeping in and not running until later. I guess it's mostly relative.

Natalie wrote:I thought of you when I got up early (6:15) this morning Kenny. I said, "Kenny is probably up and running already..."

In winter months I am bit later usually 7-8am on weekends still the 5-6am on weekdays. I like running in the dark!

Hey Kenny! Nice running. I am not fond of running in the dark!

Tuesday

Ate 6 miles for breakfast washed it down with cereal and yogurt. Nice outside cool felt good HR par for the course pace was nice 9:28.

Tomorrow looking forward to 8 @ GA.

Don't you just love the weather this time of year? I know I do

Sorry to hear about the bust at AC man, but keep the confidence levels up cuz you're training is solid and its bound to payoff at a race. Might as well be Philly!

Updates:

Running is going well hitting my training runs. Changed it up a bit will be doing 20 tomorrow on feel. Using the roads with Brooks t7's to see how my legs feel if I can handle that light of a shoe for marathon. Then a more aggressive taper as stated originally vs. the usual.

Did 20 yesterday on TM.

Avg 42 minutes per 5 miles HR went like this 150, 154, 156, 165. Last 5 miles my hr spiked quite a bit it felt relatively easy but boring as sin. It was about 70 degrees in gym preferred to be outside.

Overall good run.

Today 8 miles at GA 7:51 with 8x100 strides. Nice part of today HR 158 overall which is back where I like it and really felt smooth and quick on the strides avg. :19 low :18 which is the best in I can recall.

A 20 miler on the dreadmill, my god! Was that cuz the conditions outside were so bad? Or was this a voluntary cruel punishment. Either way, well done!

Neil Ruggiero wrote:A 20 miler on the dreadmill, my god! Was that cuz the conditions outside were so bad? Or was this a voluntary cruel punishment. Either way, well done!

A bit of both. At 8am it was to icy outside along the streets. But if I waited it would have been ok.

TOday 11 miles @ LSD ran on total feel avg. 8:28 HR 154 all good in the hood.

Continued great training, Kenny. I don't like running in the dark due to too many animals around. THe way the weather has been cool lately makes me think that you should have really good weather for that marathon. Let's just hope it doesn't snow around then.

20 on the mill...you're an animal!

Seth Harrison wrote:20 on the mill...you're an animal!

Some have told me that.

Today was an easy 5 great day low ass HR nice pace for recovery.

Tomorrow hit the track in the dark is a bit scary to tell you the truth. Not a fan at all as it is surrounded by woods and open grass. 6 x800's @ 5k.

6x800's done 3:15 thought I might vomit from my ass during repeat #5.