Thursday, June 16, 2011

Good 15 Before Breakfast

I'm never sick.  Ever.  And I literally cannot remember the last time I missed a scheduled run due to an ailment of any kind.  Typically no head cold, sore ankle, ITB pain, hang-nail, PMS, or warts can make me stay in bed and not run.  But earlier this week I had a stomach virus of some sort that got me!  At first I thought it was the container of super-market ham salad I ate, but I think it was a virus because later in the week my boss told me he had it. (I don't mind eating ham salad occasionally because it's soooo good for you!)

I'm not a puker.  I can usually fight that back. But I have trouble with the other end sometimes.  You know what I mean ...  The tail pipe.  The poop chute.  The planet Uranus.  And unfortunately mine was open for bi'nezz all night! This nonsense sapped all my energy and I stayed in bed most of the next day ... and worst of all missed my run.

But take heart!  The following day I was back in the saddle.  (Although I couldn't sit comfortably in the saddle) I got up bright and early and ran a strong 15 mile tempo run before work.  It felt great!  Following are the splits...

9:21, 8:25, 8:13, 8:01, 7:56, 7:36, 7:26, 7:22, 7:15, 7:10, 7:16, 6:55, 7:06, 7:01, 7:26

After a six mile warm up, I started slowly increasing my pace to marathon pace and a little above.  Over the highlighted 8 miles, I average a 7:11/mile.  Which is not burning up the track or anything, but it felt smooth and easy and my average heart rate for the workout was only 151, which is pretty low for me.  So I was very happy with that!

I felt a little weak through most of the run, but never light-headed or anything.  I was just glad to get a good workout in after such a miserable day the day before.  And I felt so good, I ran a 10 mile recovery run this morning.  Even with missing the scheduled 12 miles on Tuesday, I'm still on track for 76 miles this week depending on how the Saturday long run goes.

I'm trying to build my mileage this summer to start averaging about 90 miles per week to get ready for my back to back marathons in October.  So far so good.  The only pit stop I've had so far was this non running related issue.  So hopefully I'll keep plugging away.

Hope you're having a good week!
...be great today!

18 comments:

  1. its confirmed, you ARE super human!

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  2. "...average a 7:11/mile. which is not burning up the track or anything..." I love this, Jim, because I'm pretty sure if I ever actually ran that fast, on a track, it would be set aflame. Seriously. That's just stinkin' fast in my book. I like the idea of someone running that fast in such close proximity-- you know, like maybe it's catchy or something!! Glad to have avoided whatever you had earlier this week though--eek! Gonna email Michael to see if I might be able to run into her at yoga sometime soon!

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  3. I'm with Lisa, you are officially a monster, haha her comment is basically exactly what I was going to say!

    7:11 tempo run is amazingly fast, especially if you are somewhat sick!

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  4. You are clearly a machine, I'm jealous.

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  5. WOW Talk about picking up the pace! Superman!

    I have had a serious sinus infection for the past 3 days and Im going Nutso

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  6. Holy smokes! Hope you are feeling better!

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  7. That's really 'crappy' that you didn't get your 'run(s)' in. Hahhaha! You are DEFINITELY my dad. Lol =)

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  8. Looking strong Jim! You Sound like a machine dude! Back to back marathons. I want to hear more about this one. Seriously thinking about another marathon coming up here soon but I'm recovering from a kidney infection this week and not sure I've done a good job keeping up my fitness but my marathon was less than 2 weeks ago so I doubt I've lost too much. I might be picking your brain.

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  9. The only way I would be able to keep up with you is if you had the trots. That is if trots even slow you down.

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  10. I am reading this as I eat my dinner....
    the end
    :)

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  11. You marathoners are just a whole different breed....6 mile warm up.....

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  12. Guess this is the spring/summer of the stomach virus! But you bounced back well! Geez! Wish I were that fast. :^) Still, stay hydrated!

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  13. Great run and great pace for sure! I was down with my stomach in April and so far nothing else this year. Mine lasted for 3 days and I was totally pooped (pun intended) after that. I had to rest another 2 days. Looking forward to you high mileage training.

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  14. careful not to burn up your legs. 90 miles a week is admirable, just as long as it doesn't thwart your health.

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  15. 15 before work?! what time do you start running?

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  16. Related to the comment above, what time do you start working??? :)

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  17. Dang... I don't know how you did that. Amazing. Glad you are feeling better!

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