March vs. April training

Basically in April I was able to get in a lot more miles than in April.  In, according to my records, I did 172 miles.  In April I ran 265 miles.  That is a difference of 93 miles.  I almost want to go out and run 7 miles tonight just to make it an even 100, but I won't.  However, had I not missed last Saturdays long run it would have been about 102 or so.  I May my plan it to run more miles per week.  My Saturday long runs will be the key there.  Instead of 5 and 7 miles on Saturdays hopefully it will be more like 9 and 11.  We shall see.

EDITORS NOTE: This post has inaccurate information.  It is currently May 17, 2015 and my running numbers for March and April were actually yearly accumulation of miles that I was looking at and NOT the monthly totals.  I must have been very tired when I wrote that because I didn't even think to realize that to run 265 miles in one month I would have had to average 66.5 miles a week, which I was obviously not doing.  Here are the correct numbers:  For March I ran 68.5 miles and for April I ran 93 miles.

Running Report 4/28/15 -- 4/30/15

4/28/15 TUESDAY
Ran three miles as a recovery jog.

1. 4.32
2. 4.10
3. 4.08
4. 4.17
5. 4.25
6. 4.22

Total time 25.56 average of 8.39 per mile.

Week 6 miles
Month 87 miles
Year 259 miles

4/29/15 WEDNESDAY
Ran three miles as a kind of medium run.  Not hard run, not recover jog.

1. 3.52
2. 3.53
3. 3.40
4. 3.47
5. 3.54
6. 3.54

Total time 23.02 average of 7.41 per mile.  After the first half mile I settled into a nice comfortable pace and I rode that through the end.  My original plan was to go for an 8 min. pace but after the first mile I felt I could do a 7.45 pace without pushing to hard. 

Week 9 miles
Month 90 miles
Year 262 miles

4/30/15 THURSDAY
Three mile recovery jog.

1. 4.17
2. 4.11
3. 4.23
4. 4.18
5. 4.18
6. 4.30

Total time 25.59 average of about 8.40 per mile.

Week 12 miles
Month 93 miles
Year 265 miles

Running Report 4/20/15 -- 4/27/15

4/20/15 MARATHON MONDAY
Six miles on the treadmill.  Yasso 800's.  Half a mile run with a quarter mile jog in between.  Half a mile was done at 3.20 and the quarter mile recovery jog was also at 3.20.  Did 8 repetitions. 

Week 6 miles
Month 68 miles
Year 240 miles

4/21/15 TUESDAY
3 mile recovery jog.

1. 4.20
2. 4.10
3. 4.20
4. 4.24
5. 4.22
6. 4.22

Total time of 26.00 average of 8.40 minutes/mile. 

Week 9 miles
Month 71 miles
Year 243 miles

4/22/15 WEDNESDAY
Ran 4 miles on the treadmill.  Basically a hill work out.  I would put a very steep incline for about three quarters of a mile and then back down to 5 percent as a recovery jog for a quarter of a mile.  I was just mixing it up.  No speed work but working pretty hard on the incline. 

Week 13 miles
Month 75 miles
Year 247 miles

4/23/15 THURSDAY
3 mile recovery jog. 

1. 5.09
2. 5.11
3. 5.12
4. 4.56
5. 4.57
6. 4.47

Total time 30.14 average of 10.05 per mile.

Week 16 miles
Month 78 miles
Year 250 miles

4/24/15 FRIDAY
Ran three miles today.  My Texas Canyon 10K race was on the last Saturday in March and so I have decided to either have one race a month or on the last Friday of the month do a workout that is race like.  Basically, I didn't want to do a race-like workout every Friday.  So three Fridays a months the workout is hard but manageable.  On the fourth Friday, the workout is all out effort or mostly.  My 10K was at a 7.37 pace.  That terrain was up and down and for 6.2 miles.  The subsequent three Fridays of workouts my three milers were all around 7.20 pace.  So my goal was to shoot for a 7.00 pace.  The first half mile is always one of the hardest.  Then on the fourth half mile I was getting tired and I was entertaining the thought of slowing down and averaging maybe a 7.05 mile pace.  Then with one mile to go I thought, "I haven't worked so hard up to this point just to slow down now and forfeit all of that effort".  With that I pushed myself to the end, especially that last half mile. 

1. 3.30
2. 3.26
3. 3.30
4. 3.33
5. 3.29
6. 3.19

Overall time of 20.50 average of 6.57.  Even though it was very difficult and required a lot of self discipline to keep pushing the entire time and not slow down.  When it was all over I was quite happy to be able to run under 21 minutes for three miles.  So for the next three Fridays my plan is to run the three miler in the 7.10 -- 7.15 pace range. 

Week 19 miles
Month 81 miles
Year 253 miles

4/27/15 MONDAY
Ran three miles in an interval type work out.  I started by running hard for two minutes and a recovery jog for for one minute.  Then I switched to one minute hard run followed by one minute recovery jog.  I have no idea how long it took me to do the three miles.  I think I might have been able to push a little harder because my heart rate at the end was about 104.  I should have been at least 120.  I did work hard on the parts I was supposed to though.  I really didn't feel like doing Yasso 800's today so I just made up my workout on the fly. 

Week 3 miles
Month 84 miles
Year 256 miles

Tai Lopez TEDx Talk

Here is a TEDx Talk by Tai Lopez.  He gives a little of his life experience and he talks a lot about finding a mentor.  I like his emphasis on being humble, life-long education, perseverence.

For those who may not be familiar, TED stands for technology, entertainment and design.  The x part, as far as I understand, refers to the fact that it is an independendently organized conference.  Basically people get up and talk about something they think is interesting and/or important for 18 minutes or less.  Most of the TED talks I have heard are positive and upbeat and encourage people to be better human beings.  I haven't seen them all though. 

Marathon Monday Musings

On the third Monday in April, of some future year, I am going to be running in the Boston Marathon.  I don't know for sure when that year will be.  I hope it will be in 2017.  If not, maybe 2018 or 2019 or maybe for the 125th anniversary edition in 2021.  That is the question though, when not if.  Today is Patriots Day in Massachussets, and I think in all of New England as far as I can tell.  Having never lived there I am not steeped in such traditions.  I am learning about it though.  As I was dutifully running my Monday ritual of Yasso 800's, this time on the treadmill, there was a 10 minute or so special on ESPN Sportscenter about the Boston Marathon.  I got a little emotional but I was able to hold the tears back, since there was a guy on the treadmill right next to me and another lifting weights in the same room.  The reporter had a lot of poetic stuff to say.  He also held up his finishers medal that he had earned the year before and talked about how important it was to him.  I almost pointed to the TV and said outloud "mark my words, I will be there one day.  That is going to be me."  I didn't but I felt like saying it.  So this is me pointing to the Boston Marathon and saying it now. 

Crossing the finish line or getting the finshers medal is no longer the end all, be all.  My reward comes a little each day as I finish my wourkout and meet my goal for the day.  Then I have a sense of satisfaction.  I have a sense of satisfaction when I am still tired from my workout hours later.  It is then that I know I am alive, and it is then that I know I have done something hard, that I set a goal and I accomplished my goal.  Of course one day it will be fun to travel to Boston, enjoy the atmosphere, the run, the fnish, the medal and swag etc.  I am finding out though, that there are many lessons to be learned along the way.  These lessons, the trials overcome, the perseverence shown the patience developed, the tenacity ingrained, the consistency confirmed make the ephemeral marathon and the finish, that much sweeter.  The longer it takes me to reach this goal of qualifying and running in the Boston Marathon, the more lessons I learn. 

Yasso 800 workout on the treadmill:
Each 800 meters or half mile in this case on the treadmill was run at 3.20.  Then I would jog for a quarter of a mile in 3.20 and so on and so forth for a total of 8 such repetitions.  The last and ninth interval was only a quarter of a mile due to time contraints.  I put the incline at 1% and the pace at about 5.54 min/mile.  Total mileage was 6.25 but I will round down to six miles. Heart rate after about 45 second jog was 132 beats per minute. 

Week 6 miles
Month 66 miles
Year 240 miles

Running Report 4/16/15 -- 4/18/15

4/16/15 THURSDAY
Ran three miles.

1. 4.21
2. 4.17
3. 4.23
4. 4.29
5. 4.19
6. 4.24

Total time 26.15 average of 8.45 per mile.  This was a recovery jog.

Week 14 miles
Month 51 miles
Year 223 miles


4/17/15 FRIDAY
Ran three miles.

1. 3.47
2. 3.35
3. 3.42
4. 3.42
5. 3.38
6. 3.32

Total time 22.00 average of 7.20 minutes per mile.
I was surprised to see that my heart rate about 45-60 seconds after finishing (I take it at the same time after most workouts) was only 124 beats per minute.  I can only attribute that to either getting in better shape or shedding a few pounds or both.  Pretty happy about the time.  It certainly wasn't a cake walk and it required self discipline, especially at the beginning.  However, I know I cold have pushed the pace harder if I wanted.

Week 17 miles
Month 54 miles
Year 226 miles


4/18/15 SATURDAY
Ran 8 miles today.  Half mile splits are as follows:

1. 4.39
2. 4.33
3. 4.23
4. 4.31
5. 4.28
6. 4.27
7. 4.24
8. 4.22
9. 3.59
10. 4.08
11. 4.00
12. 4.02
13. 4.08
14. 4.06
15. 4.15
16. 4.30

Half miles 2-8 had a significant head wind especially 7 and 8.  Half miles 6-8 were up hill.  Half miles 9-15 had a nice tailwind.  Half miles 9-11 were down hill.  Heart rate after finishing was 116.  Total time was 69.01 for an average of 8.37 per mile.  The tail wind and the down hill were super refreshing and nice.  After struggling uphill and into the wind it is almost like jogging on one of those moving walk-ways at the airport. 

Week 25 miles
Month 62 miles
Year 234 miles

Boston Marathon 2013 Two Year Anniversary

The 2013 Boston Marathon is what re-kindled (no kids, that is not another type of tablet) my desire to run in the Boston Marathon.  So today I mark that day.  In the last two years I have run two Marathons in an attempt to qualify for the Boston Marathon.  I failed in both attempts.  However, I improved my personal best in the marathon by five minutes and then by about 21 minutes the second time.  I also learned some valuable lessons as well.  I feel like I am learning that I need to take joy in the journey and learn as I go through the process.  That way the end result is much more significant because of the journey not solely based on the location.  I have not given up on my goal to run a Marathon in a qualifying time for the Boston Marathon.  Right now I am in the training process. 

Running Report 4/9/15 -- 4/15/15

4/9/15 THURSDAY
Ran four miles untimed.

Week 15 miles
Month 28 miles
Year 200 miles


4/10/15 FRIDAY
Ran three miles.  Goal was to run at an average of 7.30 per mile.

1. 3.46
2. 3.41
3. 3.50
4. 3.37
5. 3.34
6. 3.35

Total time 22.05 average of 7.22 per mile. 

Week 18 miles
Month 31 miles
Year 203 miles


4/11/15 SATURDAY
Ran six miles

1. 4.41
2. 4.19
3. 4.17
4. 4.36
5. 4.25
6. 4.38
7. 4.17
8. 4.35
9. 3.42
10. 4.01
11. 4.07
12. 4.06

Total time 51.52 and an average of 8.38 per mile.

Week 24 miles
Month 37 miles
Year 209 miles


4/13/15 MONDAY
Ran total of 3 miles in a modified Yasso 800 interval workout, distance includes slow jog inbetween repetitions and is only an approximation.  Ran three 800 meter repetitions at 3.25 minutes each with 3.25 slow jog inbetween.  Finished with a one mile run each half of the mile was timed, obviously no rest during the mile run.  The first half of the mile run was 3.28 and the second half the mile run was 3.15 for a total of 6.44 for the mile. 

Week 3 miles
Month 40 miles
Year 212 miles


4/14/15 TUESDAY
Ran three miles.

1. 4.37
2. 4.10
3. 4.25
4. 4.19
5. 4.31
6. 4..41

Total time of 26.45 and an average of 8.55 minutes per mile.

Week 6 miles
Month 43 miles
Year 215 miles


4/15/15 WEDNESDAY
Ran five miles today in a very strong wind.  Half miles 2 and 3 were directly into the wind, half miles 6 and 7 were a wonderful tailwind and all others were a crosswind. 

1. 4.13
2. 4.20
3. 4.33
4. 4.13
5. 4.05
6. 3.55
7. 3.59
8. 4.08
9. 3.55
10. 3.56

Total time of 41.21 and an average of 8.16 per mile.  128 heart rate about 45 seconds after finishing.

Week 11 miles
Month 48 miles
Year 220 miles

Running Report

4/8/15  WEDNESDAY

The plan was to run 6 miles on the treadmill at 8.15 pace.  However, after the first mile, I changed plans on the spur of the moment and decided to do a hill/incline workout.  I was on the treadmill.  That is what allowed me to change plans mid workout.  So after running about 8.45 for the first mile I put the treadmill incline as steep as it would go, to 15%.  I slowed the running pace to 13.00 min/mile and did about 200 meters.  Every 200 meters I would lessen the incline by 2% until I got to 1%.  At that point I was at 1.75 miles and so I did a slow recovery jog for .25 miles to take me to 2 miles.  Then I put the incline to 10% and increased the speed to 7 min/mile.  Then slowed the pace to 7.30 and then to 8.00.  I barely made it through that one.  Then did a recover jog at a slow pace for a quarter of a mile to 2.5 miles.  Then back up to 10% incline but this time only at a nine minute pace or something slower going to 2.75 miles. Then another recover jog to 3.0 miles.  At 3.0 miles I took the incline all the way back up to 15% but at a slower pace of 15 min/mile.  Every tenth of a mile I would lower the incline by 2 percent and increase the pace by 30-60 seconds.  Did this until 3.75 miles when I was at like a 9.00 min pace and 1% incline.  Last quarter of a mile was slow and easy to cool down for a total of 4 miles.  I wasn't concerned at all about the overall time because I pushed it pretty hard on the hard parts and then recovered on the easy parts. 

Week 11 miles
Month 24 miles
Year 196 miles

Running Report

4/6/15 MONDAY
Did six Yasso 800's today.  This is my bread and butter interval workout.  I ran half a mile in 3 minutes and 30 seconds, then I did a slow jog for 3.30.  I repeated that 6 times.  The fifth half mile I ran in 3.20 and my heart rate about a minute after was 136 beats per minute.  The sixth and final half mile with only about two minutes rest was completed in 3.25 and my heart rate about a minute after finishing was 128 beats per minute.  I was planning on only doing five and then at the last second I just threw in that sixth one.  It was certainly difficult but I wasn't completely killing myself out there.  Eventually in preperation for a marathon I would like to do this workout about two or three weeks out from the marathon as a key workout to tell me where I am.  I would like to be able to be in shape enough to do 10 yasso 800's at three minutes flat.  That is the eventuall goal.  It may take me five to ten months to get there.  Consistency.  Small, incremental improvements over a long period of time.
Total of three miles at seven minute pace, approximately total 1 mile slow jog in between repetitions.

Week 4 miles
Month 17 miles
Year 189 miles

4/7/15 TUESDAY
Ran three miles as a recovery jog today.  Goal was to run it no slower than a nine minute mile.  Half mile spits were as follows:

1. 4.34
2. 4.16
3. 4.27
4. 4.29
5. 4.24
6. 4.29

Total time 26.42 average of 8.54 per mile.  A little breezy but the path I took made a cross wind the entire time. 

Week 7 miles
Month 20 miles
Year 192 miles

 

General Conference

I love listening to General Conference.  On an entertainment scale  it gets a low score. On a spirituality scale it is a perfect ten, especially if you are spiritually prepared. I also love the creativity of kids and how fun it is for a child to make a home built fort.

 

Put the two together and you get some great family time. It can't get any better than that!

Running Report

3/28/15 SATURDAY

10 kilometer race.  See race report.

Week: 23 miles
Month 69.5 miles
Year 166 miles

3/30/15 MONDAY

Three mile run.

1. 5.20
2. 5.11
3. 4.46
4. 4.49
5. 4.31
6. 4.33

Total time 29.12 average of 9.44 per mile

Week 3 miles
Month 72.5 miles
Year 169 miles

3/31/15 TUESDAY

Three mile run.

1.  4.06
2. 4.07
3. 4.15
4. 4.18
5. 4.02
6. 4.19

Total time of 25.10 average of 8.23 per mile

Week 6 miles
Month 75.5 miles
Year 172 miles

4/1/15 WEDNESDAY

Three mile run.

1. 4.14
2. 4.16
3. 4.14
4. 3.54
5. 4.09
6. 4.04

Total time of 24.54 average of 8.18 per mile.  Very strong head wind for half mile split two and three.

Week 9 miles
Month 3 miles
Year 175 miles

4/2/15 THURSDAY

No run today.  But I did hike at least six miles with a bunch of gear in the middle of the heat of the day and so I was pretty tired after that.  Good alternative workout. 

4/3/15 FRIDAY

Ran a total of four miles today.  The first three timed and the last mile as a cool down jog. 

1. 4.03
2. 3.53
3. 3.54
4. 3.57
5. 3.54
6. 3.46

Total time 23.29 average of 7.50 per mile.  Happy with this pace since this the week after the race so I didn't want to go out and push it real hard less than a week after a race.

Week 13 miles
Month 7 miles
Year 179 miles

4/4/15 SATURDAY

Ran six mile today.  This was my weekly long run and so I took it nice and easy.

1. 4.31
2. 4.09
3. 4.18
4. 4.31
5. 4.27
6. 4.27
7. 4.30
8. 4.21
9. 4.10
10. 4.09
11. 4.12
12. 4.21

Total time of 52.12 average of 8.42 minutes per mile.  I was happy with this long run pace.  I would like to keep my long run pace no slower than this from now on assuming no injury or illness. 

Week 19 miles
Month 13 miles
Year 185 miles

Texas Canyon 10K Trail Run

First of all, I forgot my watch.  What kind of rookie runner forgets their watch?  Consequently, I do not have mile splits to regale you with on this occasion.  I was glad to see a nice big digital clock at the finish line so I could see my time.


This run did not start until 9 a.m.  It was very obvious at 8 a.m. that a 9 a.m. start time was going to be to late.  It was already plenty warm by 8 a.m.  I would have preferred an 8 a.m. start personally.  I am not sure why they scheduled such a late start. 


Before the race started there was a group of Native Americans singing and then one of them gave blessing on the race.  The blessing appeared to consist of a burning substance in some sort of sea shell or conch, producing smoke, held by a tribe member.  Then with a feather he motioned to the smoke in the four cardinal points of the compass.  No verbal words were spoken at that time. 


The first mile or so was all up hill and I knew that most of the people in front of me started out way, way to fast, as is typical for running neophytes.  I did my best to be patient and reminded myself that most of them would come back to me.  A few of them actually kept up the pace into the second mile which surprised me.  After the second mile though they were dropping like flies.  It was a very beautiful area to run in, although the title "trail run" is a little misleading.  I would describe it more as a ranch road or a dirt road.  At no point did we run on an actual trail.


My goal was to negative split.  So, for the first three miles I did not push the pace to hard.  I just tried to maintain a good steady pace without tiring myself out.  At mile three I tried to pick it up a little bit and in the next mile I was able to pass a group of about four or so that I had been working on for the last two miles.  They were all spread about be about 15-25 yards.  As I passed each one I made some comment or another as is customary.  "Looking good Mr. Loco" I said to one, because his shirt had the word loco on it.  "You are doing great beard man" I said to another as I passed him.  He looked younger and like he had spent a long time growing his beard out that I am sure he was proud of.  As we were going uphill I said to one guy, "we just passed the 3 mile mark so it's all down here from here right?"  These comments serve various purposes.  It lightens the mood and builds camaraderie.  There is also a pscychological gamesmanship undertone to them.  If some guy comes up behind you and is all happy and chipper, and you are struggling to keep his pace, he has the mental edge on you.  If you can match his demeanor and his pace then you are right there with him/her mentally and that pass they are trying to complete won't be so easy.  I also tried to make my comments vociferous so that the person in front knew I was coming.  They knew they were next to get passed. 


Right after mile four I caught sight of a male and female runner with matching red shirts on up ahead of me.  I was not sure if I had it in me to catch them or not.  The female was taking long bouncy steps like steps like she was not a true runner.  Maybe and aerobics or yoga instructor or something out for a weekend run to diversify the training a tad.  Not the shorter more efficient gait of a true distance runner.  They were both keeping a good pace though.  I was at the top of a hill and they were at the bottom and the male runner of the pair turned around to wave at me.  I waved at him just as a joke thinking he was waving to someone else.  Then he motioned down to the road and yelled that there was a snake there.  As I approached his location I expected to see nothing as the snake should have been in the grass by now.  However I did see what he was talking about.  It was a rattle snake coiled up in the middle of the road.  I grabbed a big rock to throw at its head.  At the last second, I thought that there might be some city folk in the race that would turn me in for animal cruelty or something for killing a snake, so I just threw it right next to its head.  It did not move or make a sound, so I think someone ahead of me killed it.  Just to be safe I waved and yelled to the people behind me about the snake. 

I would go back and forth about passing the red t-shirt couple. "I can do it" and then "it is to hard, I don't want to put myself through the paid to catch and pass them." And then, "just keep up this pace and see if it gets me any closer" etc etc etc. On the uphills I tried to swing my arms a lot to try and help my legs and on the downhills I would open up my stride and let the hill take me. I was difficult but my pace was slowly reeling them in. Eventually I was able to pass them at about mile five and three quarters or so. I was desperately looking for that sixth mile marker because I was getting completely worn out. The last point 2 of the 6.2 miles was a very steep up hill with about 30 meters of down hill. I finished in 47.19 for an average of 7.37 minutes per mile pace. I was first in my age group and 8th place overall. I was surprise at the comparison of 8th overall and 1st in age group because normally my age group is the most competetive and has the most entrants. I met my goal have having a pace less than 8 minutes per mile, and it was fun to run a 10K and one not on city streets. I would like to do some more trails runs.

Below are pictures of the front and back of the age group medal and then the finishers medal.