It’s Been A While…

Oh dear — fallen behind on the blogging again, so here’s a quick catch-up on what’s been happening:

Thursday (Day 11): Yesterday, on Day 10, I ran “too-fast-for-an-easy run” and predicted I’d regret it the next day. How right I was. Today was easily the toughest of the marathon training so far, but I survived…..just.

Plan: 60 to 70 minute run with 30 to 40 minutes at “Steady State Pace” – 6:14 to 6:25 per mile

Actual: The 2 warm up miles were fine (7:50 and 7:23), but I really struggled with the steady-state pace that followed. The next five splits were 6:21 6:18 6:13 6:14 and 6:14, but I really had to fight for every one of them – it was almost like race pace effort.

The humidity was unbelievable tonight and I was so glad to get back to the car after the 2 cool down miles (8:15 and 7:48). Luckily I was prepared and had 24oz of icy water and a couple of scoops of Recoverite waiting in the trunk – I needed it so badly….

Moral of the story: run easy on your recovery days, even if you are feeling invincible.

Also did W4D3 of the Hundred Push-Ups plan – 29 33 29 29 and maxed out 60 [total = 180]. Definitely needed the 120 seconds recovery period today, but surprised myself with the 60 consecutives at the end.

Friday (Day 12): Rare rest day. Still feeling the effects of yesterday’s “Steady State Pace” run.

Saturday (Day 13): Ran the Allen Stone Memorial 5k down at the boardwalk. Pretty happy with the race and despite fairly heavy legs, managed to work my way through the field from about 12th place in the first 1/4 mile to 6th at the finish. The 3 x 180 degree turns weren’t conducive to a fast time, but overall I’m pleased with the 17:35 finish.

Splits: 5:31 5:41 5:46 0:34

Nice little bonus to finishing 1st in the 40-44 age group was picking up a cool beer mug trophy.

Later in the day…..

Not used to doing the push-ups later in the day, but didn’t want to do them before the race in the morning either. Also snuck in the “end of week 4 test” before starting the workout….which in hindsight probably wasn’t a smart thing to do.

End of Week 4 test: cheated and stopped at 40 to keep me in Column 2.

W5D1: 28 35 25 22 35 (just!) [total = 145]

Made the targets, but hope to be stronger next time around…

Sunday (Day 14): Have to be honest, wasn’t totally up for the run, but once out the door I was fine. Learned my lesson from Thursday’s run and made sure I stuck to the required “long-run pace” (7:05 to 8:05). Yesterday’s 5k on the concrete boardwalk left both feet a little tender, but no real issues and the Newtons served me well.

Won’t bore you with the splits, but all the first half were in the 7:30s and all the second half in the 7:20s. Thankfully it wasn’t too humid today which made for a very pleasant run.

16 miles – 2:00:00 = 7:30/mile pace

Monday (Day 15): Another Hundred Push-Ups workout – this time W5D2:

18 18 20 20 14 14 16 40 [total = 160]

Like the lower reps/more sets of Week 5…

Also, marathon plan called for 35 to 50 minutes at 7:05 to 7:35 pace. As this week is a recovery week, I took the easy way out and did the bare minimum.

Left foot felt quite tender, probably due to the concrete boardwalk/Brooks T5 combo in Saturday’s 5k and overall I felt quite flat today. Hopefully everything will be better for tomorrow’s “Predict Your Time 4 Miler” at the Norfolk Botanical Garden.

Tuesday (Day 16): Easy 4:30pm warm up in the Newtons at the Norfolk Botanical Garden. The forefoot cushioning of the Gravitas made for a fairly pain-free run.

In the Summer Series “Predict Your Time 4 Miler” I predicted 24:59, but actually ran a 24:32 – 17 seconds too fast despite easing off in the final mile. Wore my Nike Zoom Marathoners (for a change) which was probably a mistake – not very comfortable at all especially with my left foot still sore from Saturday’s race.

Cooled down for a mile and a half with Ally. First time we’d run together for a while and it was nice to chat as we jogged around the beautiful Botanical Garden.

Wednesday (Day 17): More Push-Ups! This time W5D3 – 18 18 20 20 17 17 20 45 [total = 175]

Quite challenging today for some reason, probably due to the miserly 45 seconds rest interval. Who built this push-ups plan anyway?! Also, I figured out it’s really important to keep breathing when doing the push-ups – I still have a tendency to hold my breath when I get fatigued.

The left foot was quite sore walking around today, but oddly enough it was fine during the grassy soccer field run tonight. Not quite sure why it’s more sore when I walk, which seems a bit strange to be honest. Any ideas?

Anyway, didn’t want to take too many chances, so cut the run short to 4 progressive miles.

Thursday (Day 18): Rest day. Pigged out at the Sandbridge Island Restaurant and went for a short barefoot stroll on the beach. Enjoyable!

Friday (Day 19): End of Week 5 Push-Ups Test. Managed 65. Could have done more, but no real point – 65 was enough to put me in the 3rd column for Week 6. Actually, it probably would have been smarter to stop in the 50s which would have put me in Column 2 next week. Oh well, onwards and upwards. I should be able to knock out the hundred again by the end of July.

Finished off the test with 5 x 20 push-ups and 3 x 1 minute planks. The planks hurt and were a great reminder that i need to get my core back in shape!

No running today. Don’t want to aggravate the foot any more than necessary. Tomorrow, I’m running 2 x 5k’s in the morning as part of the Kale Running East Beach Run~Swim~Run Relay, where wife Ally will be the swimmer doing her best to dodge the jellyfish in the Chesapeake Bay.

In the evening, assuming I can still put weight on my foot, I’ll be running the Crystal City Twilighter 5k in Arlington, VA, which looks to be a great event and is billed as “the area’s premier twilight event with a flat course, great runner premiums and perks, and a fabulous after party.” I signed up earlier in the week and so far there are over 2000 entrants (not including elites). Looks like a ton of fun – I just hope I’ll be able to enjoy it and race well.