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Monday
5 miles easy / 7:54 average pace
Outside off limits again due to the cold, and to double my frustrations I came down with a head cold! On the dreadmill for this one. :mad:
Tuesday
8 miles easy / 7:51 average pace
The weather provided a small gap in cold temps with an improvement to -6c which allowed me to sneak out on Tuesday for an outdoors run. Ran across the Oz Park and then all the way up the diagonal Lincoln Ave. before running back down Damen which nicely turned into a Right Angle Triangle on the map. Nice to be outside again and the groin was nigglely for the last 2 miles or so.
I ultimately then had to make a call on what to do with the session on Wednesday. The plan was for 2 x 15m T, I also considered easing in off a notch and doing some MP miles, or just continue with the easy running as it was still too risky until the groin is back in a good enough state.
The decision was a frustrating but simple one in the end.
Wednesday
7 miles easy / 7:53 average pace
Went with the easy running in the end, while the lack of quality is eating away at my brain. Had intended on doing this outside all day as the temps were manageable but at 4pm heavens opened with unexpected snow making the footpaths off limits for running as soon 2 inches were on the ground. Grumpy head on me then as I had to go for the treadmill once more.
Thursday
8 miles easy / 7:48 average pace
Yet AGAIN more treadmill again due to “lake effect snow” in the city all day, it’s very unpredictable and you don’t know what you are gonna get. It’s not being made easy that’s for sure to train for Boston here! Longest Ive been on a treadmill, I’m starting to slowly adapt to it I hate to admit it! :eek:
I have started recently to do a few core exercises a couple of times a week and am foam rolling before and after runs and it seems to be working. Yesterday’s run was the best in a while in terms of the injury so hoping that what I’m seeing is the light at the end of the tunnel.
That’s 10 days running in a row, good consistency but zero focused stimulus work. Taking the day off today and going to give the long run a go in the morning and see how we go.0 -
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Saturday
18.5 miles LSR / 7:19 average pace
Was up at 6am Saturday which was a big day in the plan to Boston, If I got through today some form of a target could still be set at Boston, if my leg is still in trouble it was time to start thinking of the possibility of just running it for fun.
First time heading for the famous Barrington Hills about an hour north west of downtown Chicago. Everyone running Boston pretty much hits these hills in training to train for the undulation in Boston. Got a lift out to the meeting point which was a massive high school, almost the size of a college back home, very impressive and one instantly knew that there was money around this city
It was baltic out (-19c) and everyone was very well layered up, no exposed skin here or risk frostbite! Thankfully there was no wind which it the big game changer. If there was wind chill on top I don’t think it would have been runnable. :eek:
We kicked off at 8:10am and headed out for the countryside, I wanted to keep it handy as the target was just to try get through the miles regardless of pace. The foam rolling seemed to be doing the trick as the groin did not give much problems but the left Achilles was shouting slightly due to not being used to the undulation, a good thing I guess to get the legs used to it.
The route brought us through horse country and all the houses were absolutely massive! There was what looks like a white house replica at one point, all the Chicago big shows must stay around here!
The roads were all but deserted from traffic which was nice and no traffic lights to worry about either. The hills were perfect for Boston, they looked ideal with many inclines and declines being bigger that what I thought they were going to be. A good surprise!
What is good about being part of the Boston group is that they have set up water and Gatorade stops along the route which is great to have. However arriving at a water stop usually meant having to crush the paper cups of water as the water was frozen solid in the cup!
It was an out and back route so after 9 I turned around, the group were running the last 6 at MP (I had planned to also), but I was just happy to get the miles in today and get back to a base where I can kick on from.
Delighted to finish up with 18.5 and it felt comfortable throughout, groin was not much of an issue but it comes and goes on occasion particularly the day after runs so I just have to continue to manage it carefully day-by-day.
Somewhat back in the game!
Sunday
6.5 miles recovery / 8:45 average pace
Had a heavy day of drinking on the Saturday as my cousin was visiting so only got out in the afternoon on Sunday for a very slow recovery run. Legs were tired from Saturday but I intended to go really slow anyway to keep the energy for the big days (long runs/ sessions).
Delighted to get 53 miles for the week, while all easy runs it was my biggest week since (I just looked this up and was shocked!) September 2013!! :eek:
Hoping to get some more miles added on now this week, and all going well hopefully even some MP miles.
Week Mileage Summary
Monday|Tuesday|Wednesday|Thursday|Friday|Saturday|Sunday
5m|8m|7m|8m|Rest|18.5m|6.5m
Week Total|Month to Date|Year to Date
53m|6.5m|303.9m
Month|Runs|2013|Runs|2014|Runs|2015
January|22/31|174.2|8/31|39|22/31|169.6
February|22/28|196.9|1/28|2|20/28|127.8
March|24/31|216.1|7/31|25.3||
April|17/30|120.2|12/30|48.5||
May|20/31|151.8|17/31|97.2||
June|18/30|149.7|19/30|107.1||
July|26/31|220.4|22/31|157.3||
August|27/31|250.5|21/31|169.7||
September|24/31|197.3|19/31| 163.5||
October|18/31|135.4|14/31|92.9||
November|10/30|67.5|16/30|103.7||
December|1/31|4|22/31|145.6||0 -
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Thursday
9 miles session / 2 x 2m @MP
The initial plan for this was 8PMP but I knew that would be a little too intense at this point, so went with a half arsed session in the end. But at least I finally got in some form of a workout! Both my achilles were stinging after the first rep so I stopped and stretched them out for a couple of minutes. Partly due to some of the two miles being forced onto snow causing them to work more. Said I’d see how the second rep went and stop after a mile if I needed to. Thankfully they were OK for the second one.
2 miles easy
2 miles @ MP (6:27, 6:32)
0.5 mile easy
2 miles @MP (6:33, 6:29)
2.5 miles easy
Friday
4 miles recovery / 8:37 average pace
Legs were hanging off me for this one and the pace was about as fast as I could muster. I was wary to keep it very slow anyway as all roads led to the long run the following morning. The adductors were still tight and I did have reservations on getting through the whole long run the following morning. Managed to run two errands as well during this so it was a successful outing.
Saturday
20 miles LSR / 7:21 average pace
Back out to Barrington for my long run last Saturday and literally like the flick of a switch, winter departed and spring arrived! Temperatures rose 15c from Thursday so it was a glorious 5c heading out for this with the sun shining! The higher temperatures meant this was what locals call “the week” where all the snow melts and the city looks completely different again. The roads were full of water puddles from melted snow but the temperature was savage.
This was the same out and back route as last week but just extended at the end for a little extra mileage. I concentrated on having a steady effort on the up hills and I felt strong on them, I then put a few bursts on the downhills to give the quads a bit of and intentional pounding.
I managed to run with a few people at different stages of the run which broke it up a bit but at the 15 mile point I broke the group a bit so I was solo for the remainder but I heard the group behind me all the way in. It was like the solo leader in a stage of the Tour de France with the peloton about 20 seconds behind trying to reel me in, I successfully made the end without being caught! :cool: Those last 5 miles were tough, there was a walk even thought about at one point, but then I got into the mind set of thinking that this is exactly what I want to be feeling, wrecked and tired with 5 miles to go, perfect preparation for race day. Legs were aching and the adductors were tight, can’t seem to shake it! But if I can run 20 all is not that bad.
Very happy with this run. But absolutely bait after it.
Sunday
Run 1: 5 miles recovery / 8:38 average pace
It has been a long time since I have done a double day, but wanted to get some more mileage in. Another day in the positives so it looks like the coast is clear from winter at last! Broke out the shorts for this one maybe a week early but screw it, sick of the tights! Headed out before lunch and was very focused to keep this slow, complete focus on accelerating recovery.
Run 2: 5 miles recovery / 8:53 average pace
Another slow 5 miler Sunday night to finish of a great week for me. Funny that the groin was feeling the best it has in about a month for this run, the long run must have loosened it out a bit.
Halfway through “the plan”. Beginning to get a little excited!
Week Mileage Summary
Monday|Tuesday|Wednesday|Thursday|Friday|Saturday|Sunday
10m|7m|Rest|9m|4m|20m|10m
Week Total|Month to Date|Year to Date
60m|66.5m|363.9m0 -
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Monday
7 miles easy / 8:12 average pace
Six weeks to go and the countdown can really begin!
This week is my final step-back before one final 3 week push before taper. I’ll call it my 3 week specific marathon plan. :pac:
The original plan for this was a 12 mile MLR, but listened to the body and switched days around so today was only seven. Was a good move as when I got out I let the legs dictate the pace but I rarely got down to 8min/miles. That was not important though as I’m now really trying to save the legs for the important long runs and sessions so plan to get the easy miles done at a more conservative pace.
But this was a great run, Daylight Saving Time came into effect at the weekend and it resulted in it still being bright for the first time heading out for an after work run. It felt great and made one want to get outside. The mild weather had me excited for the coming weeks where I hope to kick the training up a gear for the final stint.
This run itself was not really about Boston but just life in general, I have a few things going on at the moment that I’m trying to sort out and many eureka moments came into light in this hour and I was able to clear the head big time from a number of matters. This is why I love running for these moments, with the gra returning I finished with a fresh head, but wrecked legs! 0 -
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Tuesday
7 miles easy / 8:11 average pace
Headed out for more easy miles here and it was a little faster than Monday as I fan by feel. Left foot felt a little uncomfortable but didn’t think much of it.
Wednesday
10 miles abandoned session / 15’ HMP
Legs were feeling good on Wednesday, it was bright out and I was actually really looking forward to this one as I thought I was going to finally get a good session in.
Warmed up with a couple of miles towards the lake and when I got to a path where traffic and traffic lights would not interfere I would begin to start the pace miles.
Towards the end of the warming up I felt the upper part of my left foot a little again, I had actually totally forgot about it from the night before as I had not noticed it throughout the day.
The plan for this session was 2 x 15’ T. Kicked off the first rep and I didn’t pick the ideal first mile as I was constantly bouncing around puddles from the melted snow and it was a bit of a pain in the ass to keep the pace while doing it.
Fairly early on the foot was not feeling great and uncomfortable but said I would finish the first rep and then assess. Finished it will a little more effort that I would have liked, jogged a mile…and it was feeling ok so I kicked into the second rep, pretty much immediately the discomfort returned and about 30 seconds in it turned into sharp pain.
..enough was enough and bailed on the rep.
Unfortunately it was an out and back route so I was the furthest possible from home and ended up hobbling about 4 miles home, it was not too bad at the easy pace and I still could manage 8:30 pace on the way back without doing any further damage.
The foot swelled up a bit and was not great yesterday but is a bit improved today. My planned LSR of 16 w 4/3/2/1 MP is gone out the window today (St. Patricks Day in Chicago tomorrow so a write off) and I think I will pack the rest of the week in as well. I need to just get the body right now before getting more miles in.
PaulieYifter put it well when he said to me “better to be more healthy than fit at the start line”
So where to now, was going pretty well with easy mileage but any sign of speed and the body gives in. The writing is on the wall really and all initial targets are now in the bin, I just don’t have the work put in.
The best I’m hoping for at this point is another BQ to maybe go again in 2016. I will be going to Boston no matter what and will finish! I’m a bit pissed as the effort of going through the crap winter in extreme conditions to get miles in will pretty much be for nothing. Going to concentrate on shorter stuff after Boston anyway to build up again. Can’t see another marathon to put things right in 2015 anyway.
Also sick of moaning in my log about injuries and niggles and you are probably sick of me but I guess you have to write down the reality, that’s what a log is all about.
Will go day-to-day at the moment and will update when I get back out running...hopefully only a few days. After getting some advice it will be all easy miles from here to Boston.
I had signed up for a 4.97 mile race on the 29th, will make a call on that closer to the time, but if I do any speed work that will be the only time I do it.
Thanks for sticking with folks!:)
2.7 miles easy
15’ HMP (6:20)
1 mile easy
30” HMP
3.8 miles hobble home0 -
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