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.

It seems like a fog over my running has lifted. I really had not been enjoying it as much as in the past but I didn't realize it. Starting some time a couple weeks ago things just began to improve, I feel faster, fitter and looking to continue my runs instead of waiting for them to end. I don't think I am really running much faster but I do feel smoother, just cruising along, a feeling that has escaped me for a few months.

I can't pinpoint a cause, my diet is the same, my schedule is very similar. Perhaps the bad memory from that horrible marathon has finally left, or maybe it was switching back to my favorite running sneakers after trying a new style for all of this year, it could even be the hotter weather. Whatever it is I'll take it.

Last week I logged 38 miles, the most in a few months and despite the extra mileage a nagging pain in my left hip as nearly gone away. (I am chalking that one up to the new sneakers). Nearly every mile was run in the park and with the exception of a 12.5 miler on Sunday, all the runs were on very hilly courses. I also got in a rushed 45 minute mountain bike ride on Friday.

This week it will be Statistics class Mon-Tues-Wed night and then my take home final all day Thursday. It probably won't leave much time to run but after this week I am free from school for nearly 2.5 month. Nice!

The past week has been a good one for workouts. I was in the pool twice, nearly a mile on the first dip last Wednesday and over a mile on the second this past Sunday. Both were solid swims and I really feel like I've made some progress on my technique. Who knows this could even turn into a triathlon at some point.

I've also run four times in the past week. Two were lazy trips around Chestnut Hill with my dog. As the temps go up his ability to run goes down (similarly to mine) and we had to walk the last mile home on Monday. I thought he might have a stroke and I was looking for a large puddle that he could lay down in, his favorite thing when he's hot, but none were around. I'll either have to leave him at home over the summer or head straight for the park so he can swim in the creek.

On Saturday morning I joined a large group of Philly Runners for a long run. The run included Seebo, Deirdre, Devon, Jamie, and many others. The group is training for marathons in the fall and are just beginning to run longer on the weekends. I am not training for a marathon but thought it would be good to join them on the shorter weeks, less than 15 miles. Half of me wants to run 15 miles for fitness and the other half thinks it is a good reasons to hang out with friends and enjoy the morning. And that is exactly what it was.

After some easy miles through East Farimount Park and up through Manayunk the pace picked up going up and over the Belmont hills and the group split up leaving myself, Kevin, Seebo and Deirdre to pick our own route through West Fairmount as the threatening skies opened up with a steady, heavy rain. It was the kind of rain I don't really mind, warm with no wind. I actually enjoy being out this mess. 14.5 miles in 2 hours flat.

Last night I took a hilly route through the Wissahickon. I ran a little harder than I have been lately and was really feeling good. Five miles into it I was in front of Valley Green with two+ miles to go. At a moderate pace I know it takes me 16 minutes to run home from here. I had 15minutes 30sec until I'd be running for 1 hour and decided to try and get back home in under an hour. I pushed up Forbidden Drive to the hill at Rex and then tried to keep things going up the hill. The pace was slower then I'd hoped and I knew 1 hour was going to be close. I haven't raced the clock home in a long while and I forgot how motivating it could be.

Instead of resting at the top of the Rex I kept pushing up Seminole and the few blocks to home. Total time 59:53. I stopped my watch, a wheezing sweaty mess. The urge to push myself finally seems to have returned. At least for an hour last night.

If you've read my blog over the past few months the lack of posts and overall lack of mileage make it fairly clear that the itch to run just hasn't been there. Lately, I've been feeling more itchy. It doesn't mean I'm putting in 60 mile weeks but definitely getting out there more consistently and perusing other's blogs and running websites more often.

I also moved my running log from an excel file on my work computer to Buckeye Outdoors. The excel file just wasn't getting it done because I rarely bring my work computer home anymore. I'd never remember to log my run at work, a week would pass and I'd quickly forget. On the website I can log at any computer and it also captures biking and swimming, something this fancy excel spreadsheet wasn't setup to do.

So my new log currently contains a swim on Saturday with Heather. Maybe a 1/2 mile, I wasn't to into it and it should barely count as a workout. In fact I spent the last 15 minutes relaxing in the hot tub while Heather finished her swim.

Monday was a late evening, after dinner run. When I first started running these late runs were the lions share of my miles but this is the first in a long while. A nearly 5 mile jaunt around Chestnut Hill on a cool evening. Something about heading out 2 hours after dinner always makes for a good run.

Yesterday I went a for a run on some of my favorite trails. Not surprisingly there was an abundance of mud which had me dancing around the edges of the quagmire as not to dirty my filthy stinky running shoes. I worked in a several serious hills but kept the pace relaxed. About 6.5 miles in 53 minutes.

I am way behind on logging my runs here and in my official Excel log. It is definitely to the point that I can't remember what happened, how long, and how I felt.

I did have a race, the 4th annual 10K Wissahickon Trail classic put on my Phil from the Wissahickon Wanderers and timed by the infamous Ron Horn from Pretzel City Sports. It was my second year in a row racing and this time the weather was a cool 7o as opposed to the 85 and humid from last year. It is hilly course through the northwestern end of the park. The course had not changed so I knew exactly what I was in for, a bit if a benefit over the course rookies.

The heat killed me last year, I was struggling by mile 3 and dying by mile 6. I know my running shape is not as good as least year so I figured if I could finish in the same time it would be a good race. I took it easy through the first 1.5 miles to try and even out the race and give me people to pass a good portion of the way. It worked, I passed people until about 3.5 miles where the course hit a long steady uphill, definitely the low point for most in the race as you still have the while to go and the course just keeps going up.

I hung and saved some energy through the following downhill section and across the covered bridge, a right hand turn and a 1/2 mile on Forbidden Drive before the final, horrible, lung busting up hill before the finish. I told myself I wouldn't walk but I did, and so did everybody else. Once we crested the hill I knew it was flat to down hill for the last 1/4 mile and I took off, passing the guy in front, nearly slipping on the tight downhill turns and pushed hard through the finish to keep my lead. 44:09. A minute faster than last year. I know this really doesn't mean I am in better shape than last year, I just raced smarter on a cooler day and it payed off.

Other than the race I've probably run 7 times over the last couple weeks, a mixed bag of trail and road and decent runs and bad runs. Today was 1:26 through Chestnut Hill and the Wissahickon, a meandering hilly route with a mix of paces and the first 35 minutes with the dog. I had to walk the last half mile with him and nearly drag him up the block. I think he'll sleep for the next couple days.

Three runs so far this week and all of them were run over lunch at work. It is a great way to put in the miles without disrupting the day much. Plus, I get to run with 1-3 other people which always makes things easier. Especially when compared to the block of solitary running I have been doing as of late.

Tuesday was 7 miles along Valley Creek, across route 29 from the corporate complex I work in. This was real trail running with a couple creek crossings, some trail blazing through bushes and high grass, plus 2 ticks to cap things off when we got back. 52 minutes.

Wednesday was some easier stuff along the road and flat trails. The air was thick and muggy making it difficult for me to cool down before heading back to work. 5 miles in 42 minutes.

Today was the Diamond Rock Hill route. We rolled through another corporate site built around a deep, water filled quarry before turning up Diamond Rock Hill. It's one of the highest points in the region at a little over 600 feet and the hill getting to the top was long although not horribly steep. We chugged up to the top and then onto some trails which led us to the crest of this ridge. Unfortunately the heavy trees and foliage spoiled our view from the top. After some winding around we eventually ended up on the route we had taken up for a speedy and jarring trip back down the hill. 8.4 miles in 60 minutes.

This was one of the best runs I've had in weeks. The pace started easy but over the last few miles a coworker Paul and I were cruising along well under 7:00 pace. I felt invigorated and eager to push the pace, something that really has lacked in my runs for a long while.

I'm back form Key West and strangely the weather here is almost exactly the same as it was there. I hoped to get in a few runs but only managed two hot and sweaty trips on the island. Was I training my legs or my sweat glands? The runs consisted of beaches, palm trees, scooters and sunburn. 60 minutes and 45 minutes. Heather also found this beautiful outdoor lap pool which I spent a couple hours in. If I had a pool like that close to home I'd be swimming 2 times a week during the summer.

Key West was great. I only knew it as a party island and Heather and I aren't really partying much these days. Of course there was fishing, (caught a mackerel which we grilled and had for dinner), snorkeling, sitting on my ass by the pool, and walking and bike riding all over the island. We were in full relax mode. We even managed a quick peek into the Everglades on the drive back to Miami. Now it is back to reality.

I made it into the park for an hour on the trails last night. Not a great run. I felt slow and out of shape. I am blaming it on the heat and short sleep Saturday night. I think the truth is that I am slow and out of shape. At least relative to last year this time.

I start a 6 week summer statistics class this week that I have been dreading since last summer. Conveniently the professor has to miss two weeks of class right in the middle of the semester (which really burns me). Now we can squeeze a full semester into 4 weeks. I imagine this is going to put a real crimp on any running plans so I'll just take June running as it comes to me.

It was more easy miles last night in Wissahickon Park. I threw in some trails but tried to hold back and relax as much as I could as I bounced around. I ended up at Lincoln Drive and hopped on Forbidden for the trip back home. About 9.5 miles in 1:26.

My work location has temporarily switched (until September) from Springhouse out to Malvern PA. This adds 15 minute to my commute but should make for great experience. There is a group of guys that runs at lunch 3-4 days a week out here and I joined them for a several miles today. For the most part the run consisted of lightly travelled roads and some trails. They were also discussing some heavy hills that we avoided today. 5.5 miles 50 minutes.

I had some mild pain in my hip after my run last night and then again this morning. It felt decent during the run today but has now tightened up again. Pain in this area is a first for me and it seems odd because I have been running easy miles the past several days. Maybe that is culprit? Overall my mileage is down a good bit from it's peak before the marathon and I wouldn't expect something like this to crop up. I have run 44 miles in the past week but still that doesn't seem over the top.

I'll have a break over the next week. Heather and I are headed to Key West tomorrow night and don't return until Sunday May 24th. It is going to be a well deserved break after a long winter of working, school and marathon training. I making a promise to myself to run at least 3 times while I'm down there. Do you think it will really happen?

I had thoughts of sticking to the training program I detailed last few posts from now until September and then seeing what happens in the Philly Distance Run. To do this I would have to avoid moutain bike rides and wisshickon trail races over the summer Also, Heather is due in late August and I really I don't know what that is going to mean in terms of time for running and sleeping. I can guess what things are going to be like but in reality I have no idea. All of late August and into the fall just seems a little up in the air until Heather, the baby and I hopefully get into a new routine. I don't want to have to think about training and racing then.

So I think I'll put this off until late December. School should be finished (Praise the Lord!) and what the hell is there to do in the winter but run miles anyhow. I can totally geek out with my heart rate monitor, schedules, and evaluation runs then. For now I am just going to enjoy the summer and do whatever I do or don't feel like doing. Last night that meant run a slow 6.5 miles around Chestnut Hill.

Here is the link to the page I discuss below.

I've been doing more poking around the internet a stumbled upon some training threads on Letsrun.com. Most of the posts on the website are a bunch of crap but there are some buried in there with a wealth of training info from people who really know what they are talking about. I pulled up a great thread on aerobic training which led to a link then to another link and then a huge description on how to base-train using heart rate to set your pace. I saved the link on my work computer but not here and now I can't find it again.

Anyhow maybe I can relate the main points... or maybe not. Looking back over my training I really haven't just done straight aerobic training since the winter of 2006. During this time the Thursday night crew was in full swing and we were taking 8-10 mile loops through the park at easy paces in the frigid weather. I remember that I didn't go under 7:30 pace for weeks on end. It wasn't really a planned thing just whatever everybody was doing at the time so I stuck to it. It worked, I had a great summer of training, a kick ass marathon in the fall and even a decent marathon the following winter.

I should have gone back to that last winter, easy, easy miles, just pile them up. So how do these easy miles make you run faster? Don't I need tempo runs, speed workouts and hills to maximize my speed? It might be true to squeeze that last little bit out of your legs but to build your speed upon it just doesn't work. The marathon is over 99% aerobic and I think even the 5K is 95% aerobic.

The article used a tube of toothpaste to demonstrate the point. I've been squeezing from the middle of the tube and now trying to get the last little bit out by working hard on the top. The problem is I still have all of the stuff at the bottom but I am not going to reach it with hard workouts.

To do that I have to go slow again, real slow to start. Like 8:30 to 9:00 pace initially. Get well below my lactic threshold and work on a purely aerobic basis. Doing this I can generate more paths for oxygen to get to my leg muscles and use that oxygen more efficiently once it gets into my cells. This will serve to increase my pace while I still keep the same heart rate. it will also increase the pace that I can run before reaching my lactate threshold. Those tempo runs taught my body how to deal with the lactate but the lactate was getting generated at speeds that were to slow so I was overwhelming things. If I train my aerobic system properly I should be able to move that lactate threshold pace further out so when I am running my goal pace in the marathon I won't be generating as much lactate to begin with, I can sustain that pace longer, burn more fat and not crash at mile 20 like I have been.

This might be a little to science based compared to my normal approach of just going out and running and things will happen but I really do think it makes sense. To make this work I need a heart rate monitor and a solid 15-20 weeks of running slow based on heart rate and evaluation runs every 6 weeks. I am not sure if I want to take that step over the summer but I am thinking about it. I'll be my on guinea pig. I'll post the link at work tomorrow if anyone is interested in reading it. It's long.

Tonight 60 minutes about 6.5miles.

I met the wanderers for a long run in the wissahickon this morning. Getting to the start at 8:00 meant running from my house at 7:45. Rain was in the forecast and with the rainy weather of late I kept waiting for it to come but it just never materialized. In, fact it was not only nice all morning but all day.

We started easy on a hilly route along the western side of the park. On the way we stopped at a new to me water fountain in the park. This is like finding gold, especially at the beginning of the summer. I am sure I'll hit this thing many times. I needed it this morning, although it was nice the humidity was high. I was drenched after an hour but felt great. 1 hour and 33 minutes for an unknown distance.

I've continued poking around the internet for solutions to my declining marathon times over the last two years. I was listening to a Podcast by marathon guru John Ellis and he was discussing base training. That 8-16 week period that many runners do over the winter to just run slow and build an aerobic base. The key is slow on almost every run. No tempo runs needed, no track workouts and no hills. In fact these hard workouts take away from the point of base training. Which is to build your aerobic system, grow new capillaries, make mitochondria and get stronger. You come back with a bigger and stronger engine so you are ready for speed work as you approach your goal race.

As John was describing all of this I was thinking I haven't done that type of training in a loooong while. It's been three to four years since I've made a concerted effort to run slow on every run for a couple months. It sticks out in my head because in the spring following this winter of slow running I killed my Broad Street PR and had a great spring of running. I remember being amazed at being able to run so fast (relatively) off of such slow running.

John went on to describe a friend who trained for Boston in a very similar fashion to the way I trained for the previous marathon and he crashed and burned at mile 18. Hmm sounds familiar. He also stated that if you can run much faster in shorter races than the predictors indicate for the marathon than you are most likely lacking in this type of training. My 5 mile race time several weeks before the marathon indicated a 2:54 marathon, I'll remind you all I ran a 3:13 or 3:11 when you adjust for the fact that I finished the half-marathon and the full marathon.

Now I haven't been running all speedwork in training, that is obvious from my 8:30 pace morning runs over the winter but I did have 2-3 faster workouts every week and I wasn't running a ton of miles. This type of training will help you progress to a point but then it only provides diminishing returns. I noticed this in my training. The track workouts in December went much better and faster than those in February.

I'm walking the dog, listening to this guy and everything is clicking in my head. It seems I have a reason for the poor races of late. I also have a plan of action for the next marathon, go slow to go fast, at least for an extended block of time before training fast. I know the idea for this type of training isn't a revelation, its been practiced and shown to be effective for years and years. Maybe I just need to get smacked in the face with it to realize my error.

It's May and that means Thursday night trail races with the Wissahickon Wanderers in the park. Always a great time and not just for the run. There is beer and food in the Valley Green restaurant after every run.

Over the years I have become friendly with many of the runners in this club because of these trail races and it was nice to see some familiar faces and catch up. I also bumped into English Mike of the Philly Runners who I think was there more for the beer than the racing.

The course this evening was an out and back on Cresheim Creek, a small tributary of the Wissahickon that meanders out towards Chestnut Hill and is the dividing line between CH and Mt. Airy. There were several creek crossings on the way out and the way back that made for a confusing and wet run. Normally you would be able to skip from rock to rock and stay dry but with all the rain you just had to jump into the calf deep water and avoid get twisted up on the submerged rocks.

I wasn't in the mood to kill myself racing so I laid back and followed a couple guys. It wasn't long before we missed some of the flour marking and went off course. Well not really off course, on course but going the wrong direction. This initiated a series of missteps and wrong turns that had us running longer than the actual course and crossing racers heading in the opposite direction. It was a short race so I was happy to run the extra distance. About 30 minutes.

I'll definitely be out there next week.