2/27 – Speedwork after work. My legs, knee, groin were so sore on Sunday, I thought there was no way I could do speedwork this week, but I’m kind of encouraged by how much recovery has happened in the last few days. Good warm up and stretching. Knee was a little stiff, so I decided to knock things down to 85% effort or so. I focused on smooth, long strides, and didn’t worry so much about pushing the envelope. 10 x 400s. Stretched a lot afterwards too. I saw the ITB stretch on a poster in the PAC (the one where you cross on leg over the other and lean to the side). It helped the knee soreness a good bit. I gotta remember that one. Although it tweeked my lower back some. Getting old really sucks.

1.35, 1.30, 1.29, 1.29, 1.28, 1.28, 1.28, 1.29, 1.27, 1.25

2/26 – Swim 40 lengths after work – just under 30 minutes. Man, I’m slow in the water -really, really, slow. Nice to get back in the water though.

2/25 – Chest, shoulders, and lots of stretching. Abs hurt from run, so stayed away from that. Stretching helped work out the soreness. Man, if I keep this up, I might be able to touch my toes in a few years! Maybe yoga instruction is in my future 😉

2/24 – 15 miler. Plan was PMP + 10. I forgot to restart my watch for a few minutes after crossing 25, so I wasn’t quite sure my pace until I made the turn and got a time for the part I missed. Pace felt pretty close to the same and it was a short time period (3 minutes or so), so I think the overall time is pretty accurate. 1:54 (7.36s), so actually PMP. I felt whooped. Groin hurt last couple miles and hurt for a couple days afterwards.

2/23 – Busy day. Rest.

2/22 – Schedule called for 10 @ PMP, but I didn’t have time. Ran route at lunch around lake and mall which usually takes 40 minutes or so. Came in around 37 mins, so good pace.

2/21 – back, arms, and stretching at lunch

1/20 – Speedwork.  3 x 1600.  I spent a long time warming up and stretching.  I can’t believe I’m saying this, but the stretching is starting to feel good and definitely helps the knee and the stride.  Good sets today.  6.03, 6.06, 6.04.  There was a guy on the track flying.  I clocked his last 400 of a 1200 set at 1.10!

I forgot to note (so I can figure out when to buy again), but I got new shoes which I wore for the 23 miler.  The bounce was great then and today.  First toenail is turning black (second toe left foot).  Now I know I’m ready 😉

I’m so ready to begin tapering!  Almost there. This is the most I’ve focused on pace … ever.  This is a hard training program, and I’m tired.   I think if I keep giving myself breaks when my body cries “uncle”,  I may make it.   In that spirit, I’m thinking of dialing back this week’s tempo mileage.

Icing the knee now.  Twinges of soreness on the outside of the right knee but hanging in there.

1/19 – 30 minutes on the eliptical machine.  I took it real easy with very low resistance.  Cross training program 3.  My HR was low (118-120), as measured by the machine.  That seemed low, but a manual check confirmed.  Lots of stretching.  Towel around foot hurdler stretches, and towel around foot lying on back, etc..

1/18 – Chest, shoulders, stretching, and a few situps at the PAC after watching a heartbreaker a championship game for the BUMC 10 and 11 year olds. Legs feel much better after the short bike ride to the gym and stretching. Lower abs are a different story. Knee’s a little sore. Not too bad.

1/17 – 23 miles. 3.09.30. The longest run is behind me! I felt pretty strong and the knee felt good. I still can’t envision 7.36s for this distance, but I still had some left at 8.15s. It was cold and windy. Why is the headwind always on the way home? Steady pace. First 12.4 same pace as last 10.6.

1/16 – Rest

1/15 – Tempo. 1 mile easy, 4 miles at 7:15 @ 1% grade on the treadmill after work, 1 mile easy. Knee stayed sore for the first mile or so, then loosened up.

1/14 – I had intended to do speedwork, after the first lap in the wind and cold my knee was really sore (probably from rowing), and I decided to call it quits. I stretched in the PAC and went home. I felt whooped.

1/13 – Rowing competition. The faculty and staff put together a team of rowers to compete against the youngsters. We were in the 165 lb and under group. Man, rowing is tough. The goal was to row 2000m as fast as possible. I started off fast for me, a little too fast (1.47 per 500 min).  That didn’t last. With 800m to go I seriously thought I wasn’t going to finish. My arms were cooked, so I tried to push more of the effort to my legs. That helped a little, but not much. I finished in 7.37.5 and haven’t been that tired in a long time. This is why I hate 5k’s!! We won first place by a whole ten seconds, combined! It doesn’t hurt when one of your teammates has run 10 iron mans and can row a 7.02. I sat on the stationary bike and spun the wheel around for 20 minutes afterwards but can’t call that riding. Felt rotten the rest of the day.

1/12 – Weights – back and arms. Short workout.

1/11 –  FIRST calls for 15, but I only did the 12.4 route to the YMCA and back.   I think I’m going to blend this somewhat with the Galloway philosophy and take next week’s 20 miler a few miles further, so I backed off of this week’s mileage.  I covered the route in 1.34.30 (7.37 / mile).   I felt pretty good.  My legs were a bit sluggish from riding around the lake with the kids earlier in the day and rowing yesterday.   They are hard to keep up with!  I still can’t see maintaining this pace for 26.2 miles.  I guess I just gotta have faith!   Now I have that silly song stuck in my head.

1/10 –  Ate a big lunch with mom and dad at Montereys.  Made for a lousy workout two hours later.  Started the workout with 2,000 m row.  I got my time down to 7.52.  Not sure I can push it much faster.  I tried to do pullups / back afterwards and really had to back off the weight to get anything done.  Rowing certainly hammers the glutes.  Ouch!

1/9 –  It took me a long time to shake mundane thoughts of the day and enjoy this run of absolutely no purpose (no tempo, no speed, no distance). Usually just running helps me shake the minutiae of the day, but it took more concentrated effort this time.  As I noticed the new shingles on the science building (they’ve probably been there a while), a metaphor started to materialize.  I visualized trivial thoughts as shingles being blown from the roof by the wind of the run.  Silly, but it worked.  The last 15 minutes of the run I was able to focus on the how nice it is to have this lake to run around and to really listen to the songs play, as shingles went flying through the air and into the ether.  😉

1/8 – Rest.  No corny philosophy today.

1/7 – Chest and shoulders.  Kind of rushed.  Only had about half an hour.

2/6 – I can’t believe I’m saying this, but speedwork wasn’t too bad. 6 x 800s. Legs were somewhat heavy, but I feel like my lungs are stronger. My achilles is a little tight, so I need to be careful.

3.00
3.04
2.59 (wohoo!)
3.04
3.02
2.59 (yipee!)

2/5 – back, arms, and stomach.

2/4 – 20 miles: After last weekend’s agressive 18 miles, I decided to take it slow. Ran the 12.4 to the Y and back in 1:46 (8.33s), and the last 7.6 in 63 minutes, so a little bit faster. I felt good most of the way. Legs got heavy towards the end, but the slower pace left a little bit in the tank. I felt like I could have squeaked out a few more. Good excuse to pig out while watching the superbowl!

2/3 – Chest and shoulders at the PAC, after a great day of watching the kids’ basketball games.

2/2 – In Auburn, AL for a conference. Ran through campus and surrounding neighborhoods. Nice easy pace. No tempo, no speed – just running.

2/1 – Snow day and travel to Auburn. No exercise except throwing snowballs and sledding down the back hill with the kids in the morning. Finally – a chance to use the sled!

1/31 – Worked at home and ran at lunch.  Headed towards the track to do speedwork and decided to skip it.  Ran tempo-like 6 miles,  with the middle 4 at a brisker pace.

1/30 – Decided to rest and attend a meeting on campus about the rails to trails path being built and connecting downtown Greenville to TR.  By the end of the year, the trail should be covered with crushed limestone and ready for walkers, runners, etc..  It’ll be at least a year before it’s paved, so it should be a great year of running on a soft surface.  Yea!

1/29 – I showed up at the gym to do back, arms, and stomach.  Gave up on stomach because my abs were sore from the long run.  Growing old is so much fun!  I was at the gym but wouldn’t exactly call what I did “working out”.  Spent a good bit of time stretching which has helped the soreness and seems to be really helping the knee – even more than the ice.