Week 8- Quad Cities Half Marathon

Sunday August 27, 2017

 

 

 

 

Tuesday– Track day…

This turned out to be a very good workout. I went to the track and paced myself as Carrie was doing her own run on the roads. I was doing the same workout from last week with 1600 and 2 x 1K.. I felt good coming into the run and as I made my way on the first lap I got into a good groove and ended running 9 seconds faster than last week. Even though the watch hit 1 mile a little early, I didn’t count the time until I crossed the 1600 mark 4 seconds later. The track never lies, so I always ran the same markings and ignore the watch for distance.

The K’s went well even tough on the 2nd K just 100M into the run I felt like I slowed and had to fight back to finish strong. In the end, I was faster this week compared to last week. The body is feeling good and the foot hasn’t been giving me the problems it normally does. It was a good hard effort this morning and I’m feeling great!

 

Wednesday– Recovery run

I started this run with Carrie as she was doing a few miles on her way to track for her speedwork. I had 6 miles and got in a few miles as well. It was my recovery run after a nice hard track workout yesterday. I ran a few miles on the track and saw Susan Loken’s track group starting to get their warmup. Susan is of course a good friend of ours and a now out of the competitive world of professional running but still very much running and coaching.

She’s still got a lot of speed in her and we chatted for a little before I made my home for the last mile. It was a good run, slow but that’s exactly where I wanted to be. I actually did 1 lap with Carrie and clocked in 1:33, it was definitely quick and I had to catch my breath afterwards.

 

Thursday– Easy run

I decided to run outdoors for this morning. I’ve been reserving Thursday as the occasional treadmill run day. It has helped my left foot from the pounding on the roads. However, this week has been very good and my foot doesn’t hurt that much. Carrie and ran together for the first 5 miles then she peeled off and continued on her 11-12 mile trek.

The temperature was somewhat cool but the dew point and humidity was on the sticky side from our overnight thunderstorm. I have to say that I felt very sluggish coming off of my 6 miler yesterday and a speedwork the day before that. In the end I managed to get in some good miles during this cutback week.

Care package from Amphipod….

 

 

A few weeks ago I had purchases a running light by the company Amphipod and put it in my blog and my overall review of the product. I also submitted it to the good folks at Amphipod to let them know what I thought of their product.

June, the customer service rep sent me an email thanking me for the review and asked for my address to send a few items. A week later I get a package delivered with several shirts, water bottles, and running vests for Carrie and I!

I really have to give a special shout out and a HUGE Thank you to Amphipod for taking time to read my review and for surprising me with these AWESOME products! I can’t wait to try them out and provide another review in the near future!

 

Saturday– Long run

This was a cutback week so I only had 7 miles. At 4am we woke up which is par for the course, but our electricity was out. SRP had a breaker go out so we didn’t have any power, luckily we have flashlights throughout out house and on both sides of our bed.. can never be too prepared right? 🙂

Fortunately, the power was restored just before I left and the universe was back to normal! Just before I ran, I had Carrie take a pic of me wearing the new vest from Amphipod. As you can tell, if you were an oncoming vehicle, you should have no problems seeing me…see and be seen! I will be doing a more extensive review and sending to Amphipod as promised!

 

   

 

 

After making sure the house was good to go with the electricity, I donned the vest along with my running light as I looked like the Rockefeller Christmas tree! The vest is light and surprisingly comfortable. You can adjust it from top to bottom as well as the waist so it accommodates all sizes and shapes! The only thing is I run without a shirt in the summer because of the heat and sweat. But I didn’t want any chaffing issues, so made sure to wear a tank. It felt even warmer with it on but saved my skin.

The run went ok. The route we ran is not flat but then again where in Ahwatukee is it flat for long? I wanted to run this route to give myself a little work and see how I felt. My left glute was a little tight and sore especially on the uphill grades. The left foot was a little sore but overall I had a good run. It was nice having a cutback week to allow the body to recover before the next 2 weeks of long runs before my taper begins for the race!

 

Sunday– Recovery run at Tempe Town Lake

For this run a few of us showed up for a mix of miles. Carrie was running 15, I had a recovery day of 3 and did 3.5, Kara put in about 8-9, Michelle did 4, and Meredith and Dolly ran 13 and 12 respectively. Carrie had a speedworkout session within her 15 miler and naile her workout under hot conditions. Michelle is getting back to running more consistently and planning on doing some fall races . I wasn’t able to see Meredith as we had to leave before she came around on her loop. But I texted her and she said she had a good run as she prepares for her San Diego Triathlon in 2 weeks.

My run was nice and easy and my left glute, probably the piriformis has been sore the last few runs so I am rolling and doing exercises to help alleviate the pain.

It was good to see everyone and break up the routine of running in Ahwatukee every once in a while.

 

       

 

 

The road ahead…

8 weeks are now officially behind me and 4 weeks until race day! I have one more long run to do then the taper begins. For the most part I’m feeling good, just a nagging glute/piriformis issue I need to hammer out. 2/3’s of training have been completed and as I look back at this training I feel very good about where I am at.

Summer is the toughest time to train regardless of what distance you’re racing, at least in my eyes. The difference now between the Pete in his late 40’s vs. Pete in his 20’s or 30’s is that I am obviously slower but I like to think smarter in my approach. I am doing more of the post workout stretching and rolling, even on the off days. It takes my body longer to recover, I don’t bounce back like I did 20-30 years ago… the body isn’t as resilient but the determination is just as strong!

 

 

Week 7- Quad Cities Half Marathon

Sunday August 20, 2017

 

Tuesday– Track day…

Woke up ready for a great workout. I had a 1600 and 2 x 1K on the schedule and Carrie volunteered to come out and keep a good pace. My left calf and foot has been tight and wasn’t sure where my target would fall. I was looking to keep a 7:50 1600 and knew I had to hit 1:56 on the 400’s. I don’t look at my watch as Carrie was calling out splits at the 400’s. I hit 1:56 and was running right on target and more importantly on feel. I finished out the 1600 at 7:33 which was quick but a good sign that I was quicker than I had anticipated.

Although the foot and calf was a little sore, I finished out strong. The 1K’s followed and I was trying to keep it close to 1:53 or 1:52. Again, Carrie was calling splits at the 400’s as I never looked at my watch and ran on feel. The first 1K was clocked in at 4:36 and the 2nd at 4:37 but I had to work back to pace for the last 600 of the last K. I usually have a strong kick at the end and needed it to keep pace.

Overall, I felt good and it always feels tough during the workouts but so rewarding. Finished off with a good 10 mins stretch and roll which feels soooo good!

 

Wednesday– Recovery run

I met up with Carrie who put in a few miles before joining me for my 6 miler. I put in the Enertor insoles to see how that would impact my running. Still having some slight pain as I got close to mile 4-4.5 especially on the uphill. I think I have to work out my left calf which is tight and could be causing some of the pain or tingling feeling in the foot.

The run went well and I’m digging my new light from Amphipod which lights up the road clearly! Speaking of Amphipod, the company reached out to me after I sent my review and video of the running light. I’m hoping to become a product tester in the future and provide some feedback.

 

Thursday– Easy run (Treadmill)

I wanted to give my feet a little bit of a break but still get in some miles. The treadmill is not my first choice and although it does work the muscles differently, it is a nice supplement to the road for the softer landing pad which is nice to have to help give my feet a break from the pavement.

It took me a few miles to wake up on the treadmill, I was feeling a little sluggish but settled into a nice groove. The only thing about the treadmill at my gym… there is a 30 min auto stop to prevent people like me who need to run on it longer :). Fortunately, I only had to start it up once. After a good easy run with my Enertor insoles which I’m trying again, I made my way to the mats for a nice long stretch and roll. I’m actually looking forward to doing my various stretching and rolling. I see it as my 10 minutes to unwind and help relieve some of the tightness.

In fact, In all of my 10 weeks, I have only missed 1 day of stretching and rolling… that’s 69 days out of 70 where I have stretched at least once a day, sometimes twice. I can honestly say that I really like to spend that time after my runs cooling down my muscles and staying loose!

 

Saturday– Long run

I was hoping to have a good run after last weekend which turned out to be a tough run that was in the hot muggy and rainy condition. I knew that my left foot which has been an ongoing issue would get painful but I had a plan. I was not hell-bent on pushing through the pain to the point I would feel like I did last weekend and suffer for most of the week.

This time, I was planning on running a good pace and if/when the pain set in, run through it and see if I can push it for a little longer then take a short rest and continue. The run played out as good as I could have hoped for. The first 6 miles  went very well as I made my way back to the car to swap out my hydration bottle and catch my breath. I then had a really good 4 miles after the break. My foot did give me some pain and I stopped a few times for 30-40 seconds and got back on my feet.

I remember around mile 10 thinking to myself what a difference a week makes. The weather was much nicer and not muggy like last weekend with the storms and humidity and high dew points. This morning I was feeling relaxed and in control throughout the run, more importantly, not exhausted for running  12 miles. I was in a good place throughout the run both mentally and physically. I’ve come to terms that I will be in pain on race day, there’s no way around it. At the same time, I want to get to the starting line feeling pretty good. I was prepared to cut the run short by a few miles if I needed to in order to preserve the foot but everything worked out and I got my 12 or 12.1 miles in just for good sake!

 

Sunday– Recovery run

The day after a long run is always tough to get those tired legs of mine moving. I put no pace on these runs, not that I would walk it but the legs are going to be tired and a little sore after a hard run 24 hours  prior. This morning, I ran the first two miles just over 10 mins which is slow for me. I was running uphill a little to go with the fatigue from yesterdays long run.

But I was also paying attention to how my whole body was feeling. I was a little sore but not in pain, that was great! My foot was not giving me fits and although my turnover was slow, it’s all about getting the legs moving regardless of what the pace is. Pace is irrelevant on recovery days, getting used to running on tired legs like on race day helps prepare you for that moment.

This was a great week for training both for speed and the long run. I was more worried about the long run than speed in terms of holding up and not having the pain that would make it tough to run. I feel very good a day after my long run when normally the foot is very tight and doesn’t respond as well.

Now I have a cutback week which I am looking forward to before a few more tough weeks before the taper!

 

Athlete tracker..

Everyone seems to be doing great on their workouts as well. Lane is consistently running well in his base building. Meredith had a very strong long run on a hilly course and powered through as she continues to towards her Ironman training for the summer. Anne is early into her Half Marathon training and going strong into her workouts while Hannah is getting good base building before we start her official training in a few weeks!

That’s all from this camp, here’s to hoping for continued cooler mornings but with storm chances this week,  I’m afraid the mugginess will soon follow :(.

Have a great week!

Week 6- Quad Cities Half Marathon

Sunday August 13, 2017

 

This marks the 6th week of training, this means I am halfway home! In this blog, I will also provide my review of a running light I purchased called the Amphipod Versa Plus Light.

 

This is a 60 lumen light that packs a punch! More on this in a bit.

 

Tuesday– Treadmill for speedwork.

Changed things up a bit and decided to get to the gym and put in my Tempo run. I had to adjust the speed to run a little faster than my anticipated pace since the treadmill seems to be a little slower than my actual pace if I were running outdoors. I had a great run and felt good afterwards. Did my post stretch and roll for about 10 minutes and walked away feeling like a strong effort.

 

Wednesday– Recovery run

I ran with Carrie on this run and tested out my new running light, the Amphipod Versa Plus! First, the run went good. We did a route that had a nice little hill in the beginning with some nice gradual downhill and some more gradual climbs. My left foot was very tight and around the 4 mile mark, it was starting to ache on the bottom.

I’m still doing all the stretching and rolling and working my anterior tibialis (shins) as I dorsiflex and plantarflex the foot and boy can I feel the pain. I will see the masseuse this weekend to work more on the A.R.T and help break up some of the junk that may be causing the issue.

Back to the light. So I went to REI the other day and bought this light.

 

 

I have a headlamp that works but is a little bulky and wanted a light that was lightweight yet provided enough output of light to oncoming vehicles while allowing me the ability to see well in front of me. Let me tell you this light packs a punch! It is a rechargeable 60 lumen light and is extremely bright.

 

 

We’ve had those running lights that take the CR2032 “coin” batteries that eventually die and have to be replaced. Sure, the lights are cheaper than the rechargeable options, but over time you end up buying more batteries that goe straight to the landfills.

So I looked into the rechargeable lights last year and shortly after purchased one for my wife by a company called Nathan that makes a line of products for runners including water bottles, hydration packs, and lights.

She loves hers and I was looking to see what was on the market that was small and compact and came across the Amphiphod. Only one run in and I really like the light. It puts out a lot of light with 4 different modes including solid white, solid red, strobe white, and strobe red. The solid white supposedly gives you 1.5 hours runtime while the strobe red is rated at 5 hours.

 

Below is a comparison of my wife’s Nathan light (on the left) which is still bright at 30 lumens vs. the Amphipod on the right. With more power output come less run time so there is a tradeoff, but the nice thing about rechargeables is you can always charge them up in a few hours!

 

 

In my morning run, I ran 55 minutes with the solid white and it never flickered and gave me plenty of light to run safely. Cars were giving me plenty of room as well as other cyclists and walkers/runners, so I was well seen. I didn’t recharge it since I want to run it down until it is completely drained and see how accurate the ratings are. There you have it! my initial review of the Amphipod Versa Plus light… I would recommend this light!

 

Thursday– Easy run

This was a good run, felt productive and just getting some leg turnover. The morning felt sticky as moisture is back in the air, a potential storm over the weekend.

 

Saturday– Long run

A mixed bag this morning. I set out to run 11 miles. I awoke to thunder and lightning and made a decision to get our a few minutes earlier at 4:35 vs. 5am. As I headed out, I could hear thunder nearby and lightning from a distance. I made sure to stay relatively close in the event I had to high tail it back home. I was going to run with some music but it was pretty dark and with lightning, not a good decision. It was very thick in the air as the humidity and dew point were high with plenty of moisture in the air. It felt and looked like we might get some rain so I wanted to get out the door in case it was a downpour. I had a few other athletes who were getting in their runs this morning and also ran in the same conditions near the outlets on flat grounds.

I felt decent for the first 4 miles, a little soreness in that left foot which is the norm. The route has some good gradual climbs then again where in Ahwatukee is it flat for very long! Near mile 6 I started to get that pain in the heels and lateral portion of the left foot. I surged ahead and climbed up Warpaint heading south which isn’t as steep (good for me), I made my way home to get some hydration and also if the skies opened up. After a quick stop home, I made my way out near mile 9 and finished with 10.3, a bit under my 11 mile target.

I struggled for the last 2-3 miles in all honesty. It was definitely a combination of foot pain, high temps/humidity which made it tougher on my breathing and the body was shutting down. Near the 10 mile mark I started to feel a little light-headed on a stop and finished out the run. I lost 3 lbs in sweat this morning after my post run weigh in. That’s works out to about 2% of my bodyweight which isn’t horrible but it was very warm this morning. I closed out with a nice stretch and roll and took in some hydration.

I look forward to getting some more A.R.T work with the local masseuse Auden. One area I’ve been working on has been the shins where I was told to roll on it. Man, that is painful! I have been doing so every day and each day the pain has lessened. As I roll on the shin, I would hold it where it was painful and dorsiflex the foot which would increase the pain but also help break up the junk. I’m sure I’ll be put through some pain later today but I need work on that leg/foot!

 

Carries race…

Shortly after my run, Carrie came home from her 3K race in Ahwatukee which was put on by Flash our local runner/Coach who was holding his last 3K of the summer. Carrie was coming off of her 1st place overall female from last month. I was hoping they would be able to get the race off with what looked like imminent rain. But when she walked through the door, she said she had won again! She came had another great race and took 1st overall female in the time of 11:53, I had sent her a text saying I thought she would finish in 11:52! Nice race Carrie, racing very well in this heat!

 

 

Sunday– Recovery run

This was an interesting one. I volunteered to help act as hydration support on the bike while Carrie and her old running buddy CB did 15 miles starting from Granada Park and traversing throughout Phoenix including the Biltmore estates, Bridal path, and Canal path. Carrie and I got to the park early at 4:40 to get in a few miles of our own… I was doing a 4 miler recovery while she was getting in 5 miles before her 15.

What made it interesting is that it poured on us for most of the run. The rain actually felt good but a little steamy as you can imagine with our humidity and high temps. I felt good overall, my left glute was still a little sore from yesterday. I had work done on my legs, feet, hips, psoas, TFL, and more yesterday with Auden as we targeted some of my troubled areas. That did not impact my run and I had a good run.

I then hopped on the bike with several water bottles and the 3 of us rode/ran!

 

 

It was good to see CB again and I’m sure Carrie enjoyed her company as well. They run good together and provide so much support! Good to see you again CB and running strong!

 

Week 6 is now in the books. I’m feeling a little more sore on the long runs but overall this training seems to be very good considering the tough summer heat. I know I’m in better shape now than I was in May or June and looking forward to the summer.

 

Athletes…

Meredith, Lane, and Anne are all getting in there runs and the consensus is the summer sucks in terms of heat and humidity, they are all putting in productive runs and making it happen and I couldn’t be happier. Hannah will soon be in the trenches with training as her introductory phase and getting familiar with effort and pacing continues.

Everyone is remaining positive and staying on top of their training and I certainly appreciate their efforts!

That’s all from camp! Now its time for my cup of coffe with breakfast and 8 hours of the final day of competition of the IAAF Worlds Track and Field!!!

Have a great week!

 

 

Week 5- Quad Cities Half Marathon

Sunday August 6, 2017

49 dayst to go until Quad Cities!

This week was a cutback week… I had a 5K race on Saturday and was gearing up for it. Normally I like to have 3 hard weeks followed by a cutback week the next week. With the upcoming 5K, I pushed it back a week and was able to get an additional So waiting an additional week wasn’t too bad but looked forward to a shorter Saturday morning run.

 

Tuesday– Track day…

400 hard @ 5K race pace goal, 200 easy, 200 hard faster than 5K race pace goal, 400 easy

This morning I was incorporating a new workout with my upcoming 5K race on Saturday. The workout bookends 400’s with 200’s in between with alternating hard and easy workouts.

It was a great workout and a little tougher than I expected. It was good having Carrie who volunteered to come out and pace me. I liked the variety and just enough rest on some of the workouts then back to hard effort. I hit all of my targets except one so I was thrilled.

 

Wednesday– Recovery run

6 on the dock with this mornings run. Coming off of a track workout I thought I would feel extra sluggish but actually felt decent. Ran with Carrie for the first 3 miles then ran the 2nd half on my own. I lost a few pounds of sweat when I came home.. the weather is just miserable and you can see it in every runner you see on the road.

 

Thursday– Easy day at the track

I was planning on going to the gym to get on the Treadmill but decided to run to the track and run a few miles there. I also wanted to see to old gang who were out at track doing their workouts. Carrie was also putting in her training and had a long speedworkout as well. I felt good and did an easy run and ran a little with the gang and caught up with them then ran home.

 

Saturday– 5K race

It was time for another race since my last one on the 4th of July. This race was out at Arizona Falls and put on by Starting Line, a well-managed racing event. It was a very warm morning when the race started at 6:30am with temps in the mid 80’s and humidity and barely a cloud in the sky so the sun was beating down. My ideal goal was to run a 24:30 but I would have been happy somewhere in the 24:40’s.

The course was nice and flat which helped and after the first mile, I was at 7:45 by the 1 mile marker however my watch buzzed at 7:51 but its the mile markers that count since that is where the race marked them and everyone’s watch is going to buzz differently.

Mile 2 and 3 were exactly the same  8:07 and 8:07 and I had my signature sprint with .10 to go!

 

 

After the race the boards showed me finishing in 32:51! Wow!! Their timing system was way off. I had 24:46 by my watch and when speaking with the race officials, they were going to make the change and update the results. In fact, everyone’s times were off by about 18 seconds but mine was off by over 6 minutes! So in reality I was 5th in my age and I was happy with my effort.

It was good to see my good friend Paul racing out there this morning as well!

 

 

It’s very hard to race in Phoenix in the summer when the temperature feels oppressive in every way. But a measure of how my training is going was felt this morning with a strong performance and I wanted to get back under 8 mins for my pace and did so with a 7:58. I still have work to do but compared to my last 5K at the end of May in Tucson in the evening, I cut 34 seconds off my time.

 

Saturday– ART (Active Release Technique)

I had an appointment with my Chiropractic office to see Auden Leyva the onsite Masseus worked on my hips, psoas, legs, and feet with ART which helps to release some of the tightness and help lengthen some of my muscles. It’s not a relaxing massage by any means nor is it meant to feel comfortable but is necessary. I know my hips are tight and I need to work on some other areas to help loosen up the tightness which my help alleviate some of the pain in my foot.

 

Sunday– Recovery run

Just an easy 4 miler to get the legs moving after a race. I actually felt better than expected but it’s also been a cutback week and no long run. Besides, the temperature this morning felt bearable with the lower humidity… perhaps the humidity is starting to dissipate slowly.

After my early morning run, I took the bike and met Carrie and her friend Kara at the park. Carrie was doing a 20 miler and started out earlier in the morning and was meeting Kara who volunteered to run with Carrie the last 8 miles.

 

 

I was on the bike for hydration :).

 

 

On the Coaching front, Anne had a 5K over the weekend. It was a little bit of a struggle with the hills, but she overcame and had a strong 2nd half of the race. This was a good test to see where she is at this point of training and to measure how her summer running has been going. We still have work to do but also making some positive strides towards the end goal of a strong upcoming Half Marathon race in the fall.

Meredith was up in Flagstaff putting in some training on the bike and run and has had a good summer of training as she continues to work on the Full Ironman Arizona in November.

Lane is getting in some good base building as he will dive into full training in a few months and is getting in some quality miles before then.

Finally, I recently picked up another athlete to Coach. Her name is Hannah who is targeting a winter Half Marathon in February with some goals in mind. She’s been doing some strong boot camp and strength training of her own and seems very motivated. We will be doing some one on one sessions by September and introducing fundamentals as she looks to make her goals a reality.

I’m excited for what the fall and winter months will bring. Soon the temperatures will start to break and the hard summer months of running will prove an asset to everyone who stuck with the running and will be ahead of the competition!

That’s it for another week, it was nice to have a cutback week. Back to a few more miles and quality workouts!