The Road To Boston X

I had my best week of training since the fall marathon season this week. I rested on Monday, then did speed work on the track Tuesday, which consisted of 2 sets of 6x400 meters at 1:35 (6:20 mile pace). I did them all and felt great, my foot only stiffened a little afterwards. Wednesday I was in the pool for 2300 yards. I was doing another workout given to me by a student in my class. The interesting thing about this one was a "hypoxic" set at the end. This is where you swim lengths without taking a breath. I did 6x25. The first one felt as if someone lengthened the pool, but they got easier after that. I like to think it is because I was swimming more efficiently, but it could have been because I was resting more. Thursday I went for a tempo run: 2 miles easy; 3 miles @ 7:10 then 1 mile easy. Again, My foot felt fine. Over the weekend, Tina and I went to Philadelphia. She had a Pilates class and seminar in the morning, so I went to Valley Forge National Park and did an 18 miler. Running in the park was a nice diversion from my usual routes/routine. I've included a map of my run below. As you can see, I had to run around the park twice.
Today I "recovered" by going on a 33 mile bike ride. I was going to go 20, but it was so nice that I decided to go 25, then 30, and ended up going even further. I averaged around 16.4 mph, which I'm happy with seeing as how I ran 18 miles yesterday, it is winter and I had a killer head wind on my return home.

Up this week, a resumption of FIRST marathon training, but I won't do a long run (well, not too long) on Saturday as I'm signed up for the Tri To Help Indoor Triathlon on Sunday.


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Tri To Help Indoor Triathlon

Just signed up for the Tri To Help Indoor Triathlon. Proceeds benefit Johns Hopkins Pediatric Epilepsy Center. The nice thing about not being too serious about Boston is that it allows me to take some time to enter events such as this. It should be fun, and it will be a test of how well my swimming is progressing.

The Road To Boston IX

I had a good week of training; my foot feels to be at 80%. Monday was a rest day. Tuesday I did a hill workout. I was on a new hill, which is probably the steepest and longest hill in the Mount Joy area.. Wednesday I rode intervals on the bike trainer. Thursday I did a 2000 yard swim workout followed by some core work. Friday I opened it up a little, and did my first tempo run in over a month. I ran a one mile warm-up, 3 miles at 7:15 and then a two mile cool-down. Saturday I was back in the pool for a 2100 yard workout that was given to me by a student in my class who is on the swim team. It was designed as a strength work-out and it lived up to its billing. Sunday I did my long run and went 15 miles. First time I was over 10 miles since the Harrisburg Marathon. It felt pretty good, but I should have eaten more before running. I also lifted twice once on Tuesday and once on Friday.

I hope to get back on schedule this week, and plan on running on the track tomorrow. Hopefully my foot will hold up.

Crushers Update

The Crushers were a little off their game on Saturday, but we improved as the frames went on. Kyler rolled another strike, and Kurt was picking up the spares again. The good news is we moved up one spot to 8th place.

Got The Nerve

Just signed up for the 5th annual Got The Nerve Triathlon on Memorial Day weekend. My training goal for this year is to increase to olympic distance tris by the end of the summer. A few sprint tris along the way will help, and this is the first.

The Road To Boston VIII

Training continued this week and the plantar fasciitis was held in check. I took off Monday and received ART after school. Tuesday I ran hills. I have a hill which gives me about a 200 yard incline divided into a gradual section and then a steep finish. I ran this 4 times, but some woman had her dogs out. The little yippee one chased me and the big one was barking like crazy. Consequently, I went to my other hill which isn't as long but it is a little steeper. All in all, I did 10 hills. Wednesday I was in the pool for a 2000 yard workout, later in the day I received ART. Thursday I ran 6 miles at about 8:15. Friday I was off, but I did go skiing. The snow was heavy and granular and it gave me a good leg workout. Saturday I did intervals on the bike trainer for 45 minutes followed by 6 sets of bench presses. Today I got up before church and ran 10 miles at about an 8:20 pace. The foot felt pretty good after this run and my other runs, but it does get a bit stiff for a few hours after a run. Fortunately, I'm following a modified FIRST routine, and I don't run on back-to-back days.

Up this week: a similar schedule as last week.

Crushers Update

The Crushers were on fire yesterday. Kyler got his new ball and was knocking pins down left and right. In his second game he had two strikes. Kurt wasn't rolling the strikes, but he was picking up the spares in the clutch. Combined scores: game 1, 200; game 2, 230 for a total of 430. Were hoping this brings us up a few places, but we'll take 9th place out of 10 places for now. We're lulling the competition into a false sense of security, then we'll make our move...or not.

The Road To Boston VII

This was a roller coaster of a week. It started with ART and a four mile run that had me in pain on Monday and ended with a five miler yesterday. After Monday's run, I decided to defer to 2009, but another ART session and a run on Thursday had me back in the race. On Wednesday I swam 2000 yards and did some core work. Thursday's run was 3 miles and I have determined that I can maintain a fairly consistent running schedule if I stretch and walk before I run. I also have to watch my pace. Right now it seems that 8:00 to 8:30 is optimal for keeping the plantar fasciitis from flaring up. I skied on Friday night an ran five miles at 8:23 on Saturday morning. Today I biked for an hour at 17.5 mph and then took the boys and went rock climbing at Chiques Rock for a little upper body workout.

Up this week: Rest on Monday; hill work with strength training on Tuesday; swimming on Wednesday; 5-6 miles with strength training on Thursday; rest and skiing Friday; 7-8 miles on Saturday and either biking or the bike trainer on Sunday.