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It’s been quite a while since I’ve logged 20-miles after the first three days of a running week, and my legs are REALLY feeling it! This is especially true considering that today’s 6.4-miler had almost 1,000′ of elevation gain in the first 3.2 miles. I met Dawn, Mary, Marc, and Nathan at the main gates of Percy Warner Park at 5:15am, and then ran an out-and-back to the top of “3-mile-hill.” I did this same run last week in order to get in some practice with uphill and downhill running, which will clearly be needed in St. George

While climbing “3-mile-hill” (see peak below), my legs were SCREAMING, and had Nathan not been right beside me, I very likely would have stopped and walked.

Today’s plan was for 8-miles at “easy” pace, and I was joined by my friend Brian on the Harpeth River Greenway at 5:30am. The humidity was again pretty dense (there was even a low-lying fog), and temps were slightly higher than yesterday.

We started off by the driving range on Old Harding, and ran 3.25-miles out and back on the greenway. Our pace was very chill, but I still nailed the high-end of my “easy” range on every split but the first one. It is already obvious to me than many of the goal pace ranges in the Hansons Plan will have to be modified as the heat and humidity continue to rise in Middle Tennessee.

While this is technically the first week of my training plan for the St. George Marathon, the first scheduled run doesn’t happen until Saturday. However, I’m hoping to get in some good mileage leading up to the weekend.

Last Week:

After getting off to a good start last Tuesday & Wednesday, I turned into a lazy bum the remainder of the week. The only real positive is that I got in 4 solid days of cross training activities, including 2 upper body workouts, 2 leg workouts, and 2 abdominal workouts.

I also mapped out my weekly cross training schedule for St George training…

(Click to Enlarge)

My goal is to get in 15 to 20 minutes of cross training each day until race week. Now that training has officially begun, there can be no more lazy days off from running or cross training!!

Tuesday

After struggling to hit my “easy” run paces last week, and having a miserable run on Sunday, I felt really smooth during my 6-mile run yesterday afternoon on the Harpeth River Greenway. The temps were in the mid 80s, but I still hit my target pace for every mile, except the first by 2-seconds when I was still warming up. Here are the splits (goal range 8:26 to 9:05):

My legs were a bit stiff during the first mile, but generally felt good after that. Glad to finally hit my “easy” pace.

For cross-training I got in a short abdominal workout last night. Working on finalizing my cross-training schedule for St. George.

Wednesday (Today)

I met some friends at the main gates of Percy Warner Park at 5:15am for a hilly, 6.5-mile run in the park. Most in the group were running 9-miles, but my plan was to run just past the 3-mile marker, which is a climb of just over 1000 ft., and then head back down the same route. My goal is to get in some downhill running that closely approximates what the St. George descent will be like. With that in mind, I didn’t worry too much about “easy” pace since anything would be greatly skewed by the elevation change (my overall avg was 9:15 per mile)….

Overall I felt pretty good considering that I had barely over 12-hours between runs. My legs felt better than they had in a long while during the climbs. My friend Marc also only wanted 6-miles, so it was nice to have him accompany me back down. As many times as I’ve run the main drive in PWP, this is the first time I’ve ever done an out-and-back to the top of “3-mile-hill.” Will likely make this a regular part of my St. George training.

After mid-week Bible study tonight, I came home and got in the following short leg & back workout:

• Balance Lunge (25 each leg)
• Calf-Raise Squat (25 reps with 2 x 15 lb dumbbell)
• Reverse-Grip Chinup (10 Reps)
• Super Skaters (25 each leg)
• Wall Squats (1 min 30 sec)
• Wide-Front Pull-Up (8 Reps)
• Step-Back Lunge (15 each leg with 2 x 15 lb dumbbell)
• Deadlift Squats (20 each leg)
• Switch-Grip Pull-Ups (8 Reps)

Beast Mode…ON!

My intention was to wake up early before worship service this morning and knock out a 6-mile easy paced run. However, I couldn’t get myself out of bed, so that meant I got to do the run this afternoon.

Early this morning it was in the low 50s, but when I started at 2pm it was in the 70s with full sun and high humidity. I was already tired from yesterday’s 10-miler, but the addition of the heat and humidity made this a miserable run.

I parked at the entrance to Percy Warner Park and ran through the streets of Belle Meade, mostly on Belle Meade Boulevard. I mentioned in yesterday’s post that my objective leading up to the start of St George training to practice my target paces. For an “easy” run, my range is 8:26 to 9:05 per mile. This topic leads to the strangest thing about today’s run. As awful as I felt, I was still too fast of 3 of my 6-miles…

This is baffling to me. I wasn’t intently focused of my watch today, but when it would beep at the mile splits I was shocked when I saw that it was too fast. Ever since I came back from the half marathon in Indy, I’ve been inexplicably pushing the pace on most of my runs.

Anyway, even though I paid the price for my lack of discipline in getting up early, at least I got the run done today. Also, because I count my “running week” from Monday to Sunday, this was my first 5-day-week since coming back from my latest injury.

Beast Mode….ON!

In the lead-up to the beginning of my training schedule for the 2014 St. George Marathon, my goal is to keep building my base to prepare for the higher mileage weeks, and to practice the designated paces from the Hansons Plan for various types of runs. During this week I’ve been practicing “Easy” pace, which is supposed to be between 8:26 and 9:05 per mile. I nailed this on my Monday run, but was waaaay too fast on Wednesday.

Yesterday (Friday) morning I met Brian for a 4.5-mile run through the streets of Bellevue and on the Harpeth River Greenway. During that run we hit the goal for all 4 of the complete miles….

Today my goal was to get in some practice doing a 10-miler at “Long” run pace, which is supposed to be between 8:05 and 8:25 per mile. I started out with my running group at the Edwin Warner Park Nature Center. They were planning on doing approximately 10-miles on the Harpeth River Greenway, but I wasn’t sure if anyone else would want to run that pace since most are coming off recent marathons. About 30 seconds after starting I realized this would be a solo effort.

This pace is a lot faster than I’m used to for a long run, but I felt really good for the first 7 or 8 miles. Generally I did a decent job of keeping most of the splits around my goal range, but tended to be a little fast. My last two miles were a bit tough, but I still kept a good pace. I made the mistake of not carrying water, and was very dehydrated by that point.

My overall average was 8:04, so just a touch too fast, but not a bad first try. After grabbing some much needed water, I ran an additional 1.2-miles at a much more modest pace as a cool down back to the Nature Center. Feel good about this effort though I know it is only gonna get harder as the Summer temps arrive.

I normally don’t run on Sunday, but if I can be disciplined enough to get up early tomorrow I’m hoping to get in another 6-mile easy run before morning worship service.

Beast Mode…ON!

With thunderstorms in the area this morning, I decided to come home from work a bit early and try to squeeze in an easy 6-mile run before midweek Bible study. It was cloudy, windy, and a bit cooler (mid 70s) when I started but the humidity was NASTY. I also knew more heavy rain was on its way so I was hoping to knock out the run before it arrived.

I parked my car across from the Old Harding Road driving range, and ran 1.5-miles out-and-back both directions on the Harpeth River Greenway. My legs felt really good from the start, and my pace quickly got a bit too fast. The plan was to try and keep all my splits between 8:26 and 9:05, which is my “Easy Run” range under the Hansons training plan that I intend to start in a couple of weeks. I was good for the first two miles with 9:00 and 8:27, but then mile-3 was 8:07. As I started the second out-and-back I kept telling myself that I needed to slow down.

About a 1/2 mile into the second segment I started to feel a few raindrops and then after another 1/4 mile the bottom completely fell out. For some crazy reason I decided to run without a hat, and I could barely see anything with the downpour. I took off my shirt and made a quick, makeshift bandanna, which did a surprisingly good job of keeping the rain out of my eyes. Since I was already soaked, and there was no lightening, I decided to just finish my planned route. While the rain was a little irritating at first, I quickly started to feel fantastic. The cool rain was much more tolerable than the intense humidity at the beginning, and my body just dropped into a nice groove. Of course this also resulted in me continuing to run faster than I planned as my splits below demonstrate:

For some reason my body just wanted to go faster today, and all-in-all this run felt fantastic. The good thing is that the last mile really didn’t feel much faster than any of the others.

So, hoping to get in another easy 6 over the next two days before a 10-miler with the group on Saturday. Trying to build up my base a little over the next two weeks before St George Marathon training officially begins.

Beast Mode….ON!

This looks daunting when written down, but below is my tentative training plan (click to enlarge) for the 2014 St.George Marathon. It is based on the Hansons Advanced Marathon Training Plan:

(Click to enlarge)

It’s gonna take a LOT of discipline the make it through this schedule, especially considering I’m having a hard time finding running partners these days. The total weekly mileage peaks in the mid-60s, but the longest single run is only 16-miles (that’s right….NO 20-milers).

I shifted the Hansons plan a bit so I could end up with my Speed / Strength workout on Thursday and my tempo runs on Saturday. My plan right now is to do the speed workouts at the Vanderbilt track with the JSRC track group. I won’t be able to do the same workouts as everyone else, but at least it will give me access to a track. When it comes to the strength workouts I plan to do these on local greenways.

By far my two biggest concerns are consistently doing 6-days of running each week AND the tempo runs at goal marathon pace. Those are gonna hurt!

Beast Mode…ON!

Just found out about an hour ago that I was selected in the lottery for the 2014 St George Marathon! So excited to be participating in this race. Definitely one of my bucket-list marathons and a chance for redemption after dealing with multiple injuries over the past 18+ months. It is also the perfect race to celebrate my 40th Birthday! Can’t wait!!!

Now, I’ve got to work-out travel arrangement and my training plan. On training, my goal is simple….3 hours 15 minutes. I’ve broken it once before, but this time it will be for a BQ. Everything I do in training will be aimed squarely at this target. I also know that to get there I have to avoid injury, which has been a problem for the last year and a half.

I mentioned in my post yesterday that I hoped to get back on the road today after taking last week off. I got in a solid 6.25-mile easy run on the Harpeth River Greenway. It was pretty warm and humid, but overall my legs felt fantastic. If I decide to go with the Hansons Marathon Training Plan, my easy-run target pace will be between 8:26 and 9:26 per mile. Today I averaged 8:40 pace, which is right in-line.

Beast Mode….ON!!!!

Well…tomorrow is the day I find out whether or not I made it into the 2014 St George Marathon. Feeling a little nervous, because I REALLY want to do this race to celebrate my 40th birthday and return to marathoning. If I don’t get in, then I hope to quickly select an alternate race. Either way I plan on mapping out my training plan ASAP, and am strongly considering doing the Hanson’s Advanced Plan. More on that later if I choose to go this direction, still in the middle of reading the Hansons Marathon Method book.

After the 500 Festival Mini Marathon last Saturday, I took an unplanned week off from running this week. Just felt tired and decided to take a week to recover. My plan is to get back on the road tomorrow. I did a new core workout yesterday morning, and my obliques are more sore today than I ever remember before. This is definitely a problem area for me, so hoping this new routine will help out there.

Beast Mode….ON!

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Today’s Run

After a hard progression tempo effort yesterday afternoon, today’s run was a little more conservative. I ended up doing an easy 5-miles utilizing the flat section of the Blue Trail in Edwin Warner Park and the Harpeth River Greenway. The weather was perfect with sunny skies and temps around 78º with a gentle breeze. My legs were quite tired and heavy from yesterday, but felt a lot better by the time I was finished. I actually briefly considered doing a full-on trail run today, but thankfully decided against it. That would have DESTROYED my legs. Anyway, here are my splits:

Cross-Training

After finishing my run I did the P90X Ab-Ripper-X workout, which I have not done in a long time. The intent is for each set to be 25 reps, but I started modestly by doing 15 of each. Hoping to slowly work my way up over the next several weeks.

Tomorrow will be a planned rest day from running and cross-training.

St George Fallback Plan

Yesterday I posted about entering the lottery for the St George Marathon in October. In my post I mentioned needing a fallback plan in case I’m not selected, and want one that would be a great destination for celebrating my 40th birthday (and return to marathoning). Well today I found out that there is still a way to get into the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, DC. as part of the Runner’s World Challenge. The fee is a bit more, but would be worth it to have a great fall destination race. Likely won’t sign-up until after the lottery drawing on May 5th, so I hope there are still spaces available. Any other suggestions out there?

Beast Mode….ON!

American Strong: The Untold Story of American Teamwork and How Ryan Hall Helped Meb Keflezighi Win Boston (LetsRun.com)

I’m sure like almost everybody who was paying attention to the Boston Marathon yesterday, I was blown away by Meb’s performance in becoming the first American winner since 1983.

Last night a story was posted to LetsRun.com by Robert Johnson about how American Ryan Hall, along with other American elite runners, worked together to help Meb accomplish this amazing feat. This is a great read, and an even better story. Amazing that Ryan coordinated all of this when his own personal race was going so poorly.

Must Read >> American Strong: The Untold Story of American Teamwork and How Ryan Hall Helped Meb Keflezighi Win Boston

So Is This A Running Blog or What?

It’s true that this blog has been little more than a mirror of my Instagram feed and a place for my Bible class notes for the past 6-months or more.  Honestly, my running has been fairly aimless since returning from my many injuries in the fall of last year, and there hasn’t been a lot to write about. I have been making goals each month, but very inconsistent in hitting them. My running base and overall speed is improving, but I need a LOT more structure to have any shot of getting back to where I was in the spring of 2012 when I set my current marathon PR of 3:12:28 at Rock n’ Roll New Orleans.

I also have to find a way to be more disciplined in cross training. To this point in 2014, I’m averaging just over 100 miles per month with absolutely NO cross-training. This is a sure-fire recipe for getting injured again. To get back to where I want to be will require 150 to 200 miles per month, and there is no way to do this without dedication to cross training.

So, starting this week I’m trying to get more serious about making a return to marathoning this fall. This will include putting together a detailed training schedule (trying to decide whether or not to hire a coach for this), and also schedule for upper and lower-body cross training activities.

Also today I put my name in the hat for the St. George Marathon lottery. This is a bucket-list marathon, and would be a GREAT place to mark not only my return to marathoning, but also my 40th birthday. I was hoping to get a group together for the race but didn’t end up having any takers, so if I get in it will be a solo effort. This seems appropriate since running is such an individual sport. It will also provide an opportunity for a little mini vacation with Olivia.

However, I know that the odds are against being selected in the lottery, so I need to pick our a backup plan. Trying to find a marathon that would be a great destination for celebrating my 40th, but is also a fast and scenic course. Any suggestions for the fall?

Today’s Run

I went out to the Harpeth River Greenway after work with Olivia and the Girls. Both Sara and Kate are completing miles toward the ING Kids Rock Marathon this Sunday (Sara’s first kid’s marathon), and still have a little ways to go. I started off walking with the girls before moving into a progression tempo run over six miles. Here were my splits:

My BQ time for a fall marathon will be 3:15:00 (7:26 pace), so it was nice to get in the last two miles under this pace. I felt really good throughout, and it was good to criss-cross the girls several times during the run. After the 6th mile, I ran an easy half-mile cool down with Kate as she was finishing her 4th mile, and then walked another quarter mile with Olivia, Kate & Sara. All-in-all it was a good afternoon run.

Cross Training

Tonight I knocked out a half set of P90X Chest and Back. I’m still feeling the affects of Brachial Neuritis in my left shoulder when attempting push-ups, but still got in a fair number of reps. I feel quite confident I’m going to be VERY sore tomorrow.

Looking Ahead

A week from Saturday I’m planning to run the 500 Festival Mini-Marathon in Indianapolis. I had a deferred entry from missing last year, so I finally decided to give it a go. This will be my 5th Mini. Hoping to improve upon my 1:41 from the Tom King Half Marathon back in early March. I didn’t have a qualifying half-maration time from the previous year, so it will be strange not being in a seeded corral near the front.

Beast Mode….ON!

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Just over a year ago, on December 22, 2012, I participated in the first “26.4.26” run in Nashville for the victims of the Newtown shooting. Each of us was asked to carry an “angel” card with the name of one of the victims (pictured left). It was an emotional, but awesome experience to see the running the running community come together in such a big way. The following is what I wrote immediately after finishing the run:

26.4.26 – it wasn’t easy, but little Grace and I made it all the way through today. 26.38 miles completed in 3 hours and 43 minutes. I faded a bit in the last of the 4 loops but I was determined I wasn’t going to walk a step. I thought a lot today about Grace and the 25 other precious souls that lost their lives in the senseless tragedy at Newtown. We need to continue to pray for those families. I’m proud of the city of Nashville and our awesome running community for supporting this effort in such an overwhelming way. It was awesome to be a part of it.

Back in December 2013, rumors started to fly that one of the co-founders of the 26.4.26 Foundation could not account for over $70,000 of the approximately $103,000 that was raised by runs across the country.

Yesterday, this was essentially confirmed when the other co-founder stepped forward and explained that his partner had been caught purchasing personal items with some of the money, and then cut off all contact. I’m still hoping this is somehow not true, but it sure seems like things are very amiss.

The following articles were published on USAToday.com and Tennessean.com, and explain what is known so far:

• $70,000 in Newtown donations missing, says Nashville-based charity (Tennessean.com)
• $70,000 in Newtown donations missing (USAToday.com)

This absolutely breaks my heart. I keep thinking, “How could someone possibly do this?”