Week 6 - Week of December 6th

First of all, I'm at 43% of my fundraising goal!  Thank you to all who donated to help fight cancer!  Your donations motivate me even more to train during the cold mornings.  I increased my mileage with some tough workouts.  I ran four times this week, which goes against my three-day week training plan.  I usually train hard for Boston after the new year, but I really want to set a PR on that course!  I'm continuing with my core workout, which at this time is only sit-ups.  I'm up to 150 a day (three sets of 50) and plan on progressively increasing  them to strengthen my core to do other core exercises.

WEEK 6 - All runs at John A. Phillips Park, unless otherwise noted.

Dec 6 - Easy Run. Ran 5 miles in 39.10 (7:49 p/mi).

Weather - 28/17/54%; WSW15; Cloudy

Weight after run - 148

Shoes - Nike Zoom Elite4 (green)

Dec 7 - Marlboro Retro Fitness

Attempted the Ryan Hall's Newton Hill Simulation Run in preparation for Boston's infamous hills that begin at around mile 16.  It's a tough workout, but I know that I can do exactly what Ryan does, but not as fast!  The 0% incline that I noted is supposed to be at 1% under Ryan's workout.  Also, it calls for running a total of 16 miles before starting the hills, for good reason!  I ran 9 miles, then got into the hill workout!  I'll get there eventually!

8 miles in 1 hour (7:30 pace); 1 mile at 7:20 pace; then the following is supposed to be all at the 7:20 pace, but needed to slow down at the 0% incline to recover!  Whew!  This workout kicked my ass!

Mile  0.0 - 0.7 @ 3% incline

Miles 0.7 - 1.7 @ 0%

Miles 1.7 - 2.0 @ 6%

Miles 2.0 - 3.4 @ 1%

Miles 3.4 - 3.8 @ 4%

Miles 3.8 - 4.4 @ 0%

Miles 4.4 - 4.8 @ 6%

Followed with 1.2 miles in 8:06, then cool down of 1 mile barefoot for about 12 minutes.

Total mileage = 16

Weather - Indoors

Weight after run - 146

Shoes - Nike Zoom Skylon (orange)

Dec 9 - Easy Progression Run. Ran 6.21 miles in 45:36 (7:20 p/mi). Splits = 7:54, 7:46, 7:35, 7:17, 7:04; 6:40, 6:11)

Weather - 25/15/43%; WNW11; Clear

Weight after run - 148

Shoes - Nike Zoom Elite4 (orange)

Dec 11 - Hard Progression Run! Ran 9 miles in 1:00:13 (6:41 p/mi). Splits = 7:08, 7:07, 6:51, 6:50, 6:49, 6:38, 6:29, 6:14, 6:03.

Weather - 27/27/66%; WNW3; Sunny

Weight after run - 147

Shoes - Nike Zoom Elite4 (green)

TOTAL WEEK 6 = 36.21 miles

Week 5 - Week of November 29th

WEEK 5 - All runs at John A. Phillips Park, unless otherwise noted.

Nov 29 - Progression Run. Ran 5 miles in 34:14 (6:50). Splits = 7:20, 7:11, 6:58, 6:38, 6:05.

Weather - 29/29/65%; WSW1; Sunny

Weight after run - 148

Shoes - Nike Zoom Elite4 (green)

Dec 1 - Nasty weather with rain and strong winds. Ran first mile as warm up before a hill workout of 6's & 7's. At around 0.75 mile, the power goes out! Most cardio equipment is inop, but two treadmills work. Continued to finish warm up, then began random hill workout because the interval treadmills had no power. At around 0.75 mile, I was warned that another power surge can cause injury! Ugh! Finished that mile, then drove to Sayreville Retro Fitness. Total at Marlboro Retro Fitness = 2.0 miles in 17:00 (8:29 pace)

Sayreville Retro Fitness - Random Hill Workout - 4 miles random hills at 7:30 pace, then 4 miles flat at increasing speeds - 8 miles in 56:14 with last mile in 6:00. Total both gyms = 10 miles.

Weather - Indoors
Weight after run - 146

Shoes - Nike Zoom Skylon (orange)

Dec 3 - Hard Progression Run. Ran 5 miles in 32:43 (6:32 p/mi). Splits = 6:46, 6:40, 6:36, 6:29, 6:08.
Weather - 31/25/59%; NW6

Weight after run - 148

Shoes - Nike Zoom Elite4 (green)

TOTAL WEEK 5 = 19.01 miles

Week 4 - Week of November 22nd

WEEK 4 = All runs at John A. Phillips Park, unless otherwise noted.

Nov 22 - Easy 10, Easy Progression 3.10 (7:37, 7:22, 6:55).

13.1 miles in 1:40:21 (7:39 pace). First mile in 7:44

Weather - 62/62/57; SSW12; Partly Cloudy.

Weight after run - 146 lbs

Shoes - Nike Air Zoom Elite4 (orange)

Nov 24 - Hard Progression Run. Ran 6.20 miles in 41:40 (6:43 p/mi). Splits = 7:04, 6:56, 6:50, 6:42, 6:38, 6:15, 5:57)
Weather - 37/28/49%; WNW16; Sunny

Weight after run - 148

Shoes - Nike Skylon (orange)

Nov 26 - Tempo Run. Ran 9 miles in 1:00:11 (6:37 p/mi). Splits = 6:56, 6:48, 6:47, 6:42, 6:36, 6:27, 6:36, 6:36, 6:08).
Weather - 54/54/100%; WSW12; Light Rain

Weight after run - 148

Shoes - Nike Zoom Elite4 (green)

TOTAL WEEK 4 = 28.39 miles

Week 3 - Week of November 15th

WEEK 3: All runs at John A. Phillips Park, unless otherwise noted.

Nov 16 - Easy Progression Run. Ran 7 miles in 51:32 (7:21 p/mi). Splits = 7:50, 7:42, 7:38, 7:34, 7:18, 7:02, 6:24)
Weather - 50/50/87; ESE3; Cloudy.

Weight after run - 148 lbs

Shoes - Nike Air Zoom Elite4 (green)

Nov 19 - Marlboro Retro Fitness - Hill Workout

Hill Workout - 1.0 mile WU, 6's and 7's (4 sets), 1.0 mile CD.

Speed Workout - 3.1 miles in 19:05 (6:08 pace)

Total Mileage - 7.91 miles

Weight after run = 147 lbs

Shoes - Nike Air Skylon (orange)

TOTAL WEEK 3 = 14.91 miles

Catching Up with My Training Log! Week 2 - Week of November 8th

I've been busy with work and life that only now I get to sit down to update my blog!  It's my day off, but my wife works!  Since October 31, I ran 16 times logging 101.57 miles.  That's 12 hours 16 minutes and 16 seconds of running!  I need to increase the mileage this month and continue incorporating hill workouts.  One area that I have been so bad at doing is my core workouts.  It seems that with every marathon, I tell myself that I need to work my core, but I never do...until now!  I started about two weeks ago doing 100 sit-ups every other day.  I started doing them everyday four days ago increasing to 150 yesterday.

Here's my training log for week 2:

WEEK 2: All runs at John A. Phillips Park, unless otherwise noted.

Nov 10 - Easy 7, Moderate Progression 3.25 (7:14, 6:52, 6:19). Total  - 10.25 miles in 1:17:12 (7:32 pace).
Weather - 45/41/78%; Cloudy.

Weight after run - 148 lbs

Shoes - Nike Air Zoom Elite4 (green)

Nov 12 - Hard Progression Run. Ran 4 miles in 26:29 (6:37 p/mi). Splits = 6:55, 6:48, 6:31, 6:13)

Weather - 35/39; Partly Cloudy.

Weight after run - 148 lbs

Shoes - Nike Air Zoom Elite4 (green)

TOTAL WEEK 2 = 14.25 miles