I deluded myself into thinking that the weather really wasn't too hot or humid as I made my way into the Wissahickon yesterday morning to repeat the workout I did last Thursday. By the time I had finished 3 miles at 6:20 pace, reality had set in in the form of a sweat drenched shirt and shorts. It really was thick out there and despite the more difficult conditions and the fact that my 3 mile spilt was slightly slower, I do think that overall the workout was an improvement over last week. I just felt stronger through the tempo portion, the 2 x 800 and the 4 x 100 strides at the finish. This plan might actually be working. At least at getting my body used to running intervals. Unfortunately I am wavering on my ability to run the sub 1:23 goal in the half but I can't make any decision on that just yet. Especially with the hot weather. 8 miles in 1:01

I also ran recovery miles in the park on Wednesday evening. I've been good about keeping these easy days slow. For one, I have more discipline to keep the pace easy and save it for the harder days and two, I really don't feel like going any faster. 4.5 miles in 37 minutes.

Half-Marathon training is going well, so far so good. I am only nine days in and I thought my legs would be crying at this point, they aren’t. I am going to go on with training as if Heather and I aren’t going to have a baby sometime over the next 4 weeks. I’ll keep it up until that happens and adjust from there. If it means I barely get to run then that is the way it’ll be. If I can still find a way to squeeze in workouts on 4-6 hours of sleep each night then that is something I’ll do. This will definitely be a learning experience, I can’t wait.

I have to catch up from last Friday.

Friday – DNR. The schedule calls for 4 miles or rest. I rested.

Saturday - I met English Mike and Yellow Shorts (Yes Yellow Shorts) for a long trail run in the Wissahickon. Mike described the route on the Philly Runners message board and I knew it was going to be tough run, it didn’t disappoint. The pace remained easy but the relentless hills, rocks and roots just tire you out. Top that off with a warm and humid morning and by two hours it becomes a run of attrition. It actually took us nearly three hours and although none of us were in great shape, we all finished in front of Johnny Mananas Mexican restaurant in one piece and then ordered a beer.

I am going to say it was 16 miles in 2:56 but the distance is just a conservative guess.

Sunday – 5 easy miles with 4 x 100m strides. I kept the easy part real easy and I was surprised that the strides felt decent. 42 minutes.

Monday – An official rest day on the plan. Instead of a run I took a look walk with Heather and Boomer on a beautiful evening.

Tuesday – I got my butt out of bed for a track workout this morning. 4 x 1600(400) at 6:20 pace and 6 x 200 (100) at 5k pace. I was on limited time so I shortened my normal 2 mile warm-up to 1 mile and got busy.

6:23 (2:06) Just a little slow but it was my 1st rep at 6:00 am, that was just fine.

6:15 (1:58)) A little fast because I was looking at my watch too much and thought I was behind in the last lap.

And then the rest...

6:20(2:01), 6:20 (2:07), 41 (47), 42 (47), 41 (46), 41 (49), 42 (44), 44

I ended with an easy mile home. Overall a good workout but those mile intervals are boring. This workout might be better done in the park. I can’t split the 200s there but I think I’d be safe with 40 seconds fast and 40 seconds slow. I’m happy I was able to get up and get this done.

Day 4 of the training program was yesterday and I am now fairly sure that it was created by a sadist. Or maybe in the first week they are trying to weed out the people who aren’t ready for it, like Physical Chemistry in college. The day read “3 miles PI, 2x800 CI (200) + 4 x 100 S” Or 3 miles at 6-15-6:20 pace, then 2 x 800 at 5:57 pace followed by 4 strides of about 20 seconds. Progressively shorter and faster intervals.

It wasn’t extremely hot last night but it was soupy out there. I think the humidity kicks up a few more notches in the park along the creek. After a quick mile warmup into the park I started the 3 miles. That went by in 18:52, exactly where I wanted to be but I had to work hard to get there, harder then I would have liked. To keep that pace up for another 10 miles seems impossible right now but that is why I am training. Also, I was running on tired legs and as my mother likes to say, I was sweating like a stevedore. Not conditions for an optimal workout.

I next knocked off the 2x800 in 2:45 (way to fast) and 3:00 which I ran on an unmarked 800 meters so I just ran to three minutes and stopped. I was ready to call it a day and forget about the 4x100 strides but I find it harder to ditch a workout when you’ve promised to follow the training program. Dashing for 20 seconds didn’t feel so bad until I stopped. I was spent and was eager to get to the hill heading out of the park because it meant I was done.

Yesterday marked the first workout of the 9-week half marathon training program leading up to PDR. My legs were beat up from a work picnic on Monday that featured a half hour of Ultimate Frisbee. That short bout of sprinting and stopping, with a lot quick turns was enough to make everything ache. I thought about bagging the workout last night because of it but that would be no way to get the ball rolling on training. I was tight on the 2 mile warmup to the track but once I started my workout I felt fine and didn’t think about it.

There is a ton of interval work in the training program, all different lengths and all different speeds. The mess of numbers and abbreviations on the calendar makes my heads spin and requires me to memorize everything before I head out. This type of training is completely opposite from the low heart rate stuff I wrote about a while back but I am going to give it a shot.

Last night called for “4 x 1 mile PI (400), 6 x 200 SI (100)”. That means 4 miles at half marathon pace with 400 recovery and 6 x 200 at 10K pace with 100 recovery. I just realized that I made a mistake last night and only ran 800’s at half marathon pace (How did I miss that?) half the required distance. I guess I’ll consider that easing into the program. Half marathon pace is roughly 6:18 so I was aiming for 3:05-3:10 for the 800s, not too bad. I just tried to run hard on the 200s and hopefully run around 43 seconds.

800s - 3:07(1:55), 3:08(1:55), 3:08 (1:56), 3:04(2:04)

200s – 41(40), 41(21), 40(47), 43(44), 45(40), 41(40)

I thought I knew how to split 200s on the track but I made a mistake on one of the recoveries (21). I thought the straight-aways were 100 and the turns were 100 but obviously not so I corrected the next time around.

Overall the workout wasn’t that hard and it really shouldn’t have been based on the slower 800s. Of course, had I run the proper 4x1 mile, things would have been much more difficult and I am aggravated that I made that mistake. I’ll just have to study a little more next time.

Running is still going well. I had streak of 15 day streak of running, biking or swimming which ended yesterday. I don’t have a record of these things but it’s been a long while since I’ve gone 15 days in a row.

I’ll catch up on last week…

Monday - 1200M in the pool with Heather. No specific workout but back and forth using different strokes and the kick board.

Tuesday – I actually made it down to the Philly Runners Tuesday night group run. I got there a little early and put in 21 minutes on a sunny and warm but not so humid evening. I bumped into Devon at the start and he was planning on 6 x 1/2mile with a ¼ mile recovery with a few others at 6:00-6:10 pace. My plan for the night was to mix in some faster stuff and this was great, in fact I felt it was a little ambitious.

I quickly fell into pace with Emily who is from San Diego but in town for school. She ran for UCSD and like me is training for the Philly Distance Run. We started the first interval and I hit what seemed like 6:10 pace, Emily started to pull away so I thought I might as well go with it.

- ½ mile in 2:59 and I as was working.
- Second interval 2:59 but this felt easier despite a persistent head wind.
- Third interval 2:57 and now it was time to turn around and get the wind at our backs.
- Fourth 2:52. We had the wind and the downhill at the Columbia Bridge helping us here.
- Fifth 2:56
- Sixth – There is no half mile split on the way back to the Art museum so we just ran 3 minutes and called it good.

Overall it was a great workout that buoyed me in my aspirations to break 1:23 at PDR. This workout also made me long for more evenings with the Philly Runners; I never would have done this on my own.

Wednesday 6.3 Recovery miles in the Wissahickon. 52 minutes

Thursday 10.5 hard miles on my Mountain Bike.

Friday 3.6 very easy miles on the trails.

Saturday 12.4 mile up and down the length of Forbidden Drive. I felt good and picked up the pace in the middle miles to just below 7:00.

Sunday 3.6 mile on the same trail loop as Friday.

34 miles for the week plus a hard bike ride and an easy swim.

I woke up this morning and the breeze coming in the window was chilly. Do you know how many times I've described a July morning in Philly as chilly? This may be the first. What a beautiful summer. All this great weather is making running that much easier as well.

Last Friday we went to a local high school track at lunch for a workout. There were six of us all at different paces but the plan was to run 5x400 with 200 recovery. I just wanted to break 90 seconds for each rep. I forgot my running watch and was forced to use my normal, stainless steel watch. It does have a stopwatch function and needless to say it wasn't so easy to use on the track. I was able to split 3 of the laps and they were between 1:23 and 1:27. A little faster then expected, especially for reps under the full noon sun. I finished with 6x400 workout and around 7 miles.

Saturday I went out for a hard mountain bike ride, at 1hr 45 min it was my longest ride of the year. I tried to take it easy knowing I'd be out there for a while but I have a hard time doing that on the bike, it is just a lot more fun going fast.

Sunday I joined Deirdre for trip up and down the length of Forbidden Drive. One of those runs where your legs are tired but it still feels good. We chatted the entire way and before I knew it we were done. 13.5 miles in 1:45.

And finally, last night I went with Heather to the LA fitness for a swim. Heather is very much pregnant and swimming is her final outlet for a good workout. I was teasing her that at 34 weeks pregnant I can finally swim as fast as her. I never really got into the groove last night but none the less kept moving up and down the pool for around 45 minutes.

Only 4 days have passed and I am already writing another blog post, maybe I really am back on this running things.

So far this week I ran an easy 5 after work with a few people that are just getting into running. We ran 3 miles somewhere around 9:30 - 10:00 pace and then I added a couple more on my own. I don't think I sped up that much.

Tuesday I took the dog for a run. I was planning on running through the golf course and back on to the street but the sun was setting the grass was green and soft and on the course I can leave him off the leash. I decided to stay and run loops of the perimeter and throw in some strides to get the legs moving a little faster. When I'm running slowly Boomer is glued to the grass evidently it contains some intoxicating smells. As soon as I started a stride he was glued to my leg and constantly looking up at me as if egging me on. "Is this all you got?" Maybe I should bring him to the track. About 4 miles in 30 minutes.

Last night I ran my normal winter Chestnut Hill loop under a setting sun. The early summer weather has been nearly perfect in Philly. Low 80's, low humidity and perfect for running. I know this can't last all summer, muggy must be ready to pounce, but I'll take it while I can get it. 7.5 miles in 59 minutes.

I think I've settled on a training plan for the half-marathon. It is Runner's World advanced plan. The mileage looks good (40-50/week) but it does involve a lot of specific workouts. I am normally horrible at following a training plan and if were setting odds I wouldn't bet on myself to stick with this one. Of course this is no way to get yourself motivated to stick to a plan but it's realistic. I am going to to make an effort to hit the workouts although I may have to transition some of the them off of the oval and onto Forbidden Drive. It feels odd having only a 9 week program but it is half the distance of the marathon so maybe half the time to train makes sense?

It was a beautiful holiday weekend to wrap up another relatively decent week of running. Despite a slow start to the week and bagging my Saturday run to hang with the family at the Jersey shore I was still able to run 37 miles. This included a longish run of about 12.5 miles today out to my old house and back. I like stopping by the old place to see what the new owner has done, which is a lot. It looks great, to bad I didn't have the time or the money to do all this stuff while I was there.

The rest of the week.

Mon - 3 easy miles with Boomer after class.

Tues - Off

Wed - Somewhere around 4.5 miles over lunch at work. Easy miles with a few tough hills tossed in.

Thurs - 8.8 miles on another very hilly loop through the park. I worked my ass off on this one and finished strong straight to my front door.

Friday - about 8.5 miles again on the trails but at a much easier pace.

On the run today I was mulling over what to train for over the summer. I am definitely running the Philly distance run on Sept 20th and that makes a good goal race for two reasons. I can shoot for a half marathon PR which is currently 1:24:34. Also, if I train well and have a good race I may be able to qualify for the NYC Marathon. This means breaking 1:23, a tall order for my current fitness but I think I was in shape for this last year and if I do things right I might be able to get there again. Now I just need a plan, then to run all the miles, and then score great weather on race day, and then run a PR by 1 minute 35 seconds or better then 7 seconds a mile.

It could be an interesting summer.