Keep Rollin', Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'!

First off today ... CONGRATS to my wonderful wife Michael of Slowly Tri-Ing for completing the Topeka Tin Man Triathlon over the weekend!  She's a warrior!  Baby, I couldn't do what you do, (I'm just a runner) and I'm so proud of you!  Great job!

I passed 1,400 miles for the year this morning ... should make it to 1,500 by the end of the month.  And with the mileage I'll put up during late summer and fall training for back-to-back marathons, I might reach 3,000 for the year.  No big deal to Dean Karnazes I know, but to me it would be pretty cool ... if my body holds up that is.

And thankfully, so far so good with health and my body!  I just seem to keep rollin' along ... knock on wood!  Almost always a little sore, but thankfully not injured!  I feel strong and ready to grind through the humid summer months of Missouri.  And I'm running about as fast as I ever have and I seem to be building a good mileage base, although I don't want to over-do it. Should do 80+ this week and then tone it down for the next two for an upcoming race.

Today's workout was another good 13 mile Tempo Run.  I know there are many who would blaze by me, but I was very happy with my splits and how I felt afterwards considering about 78 degrees & 70% humidity this morning before the sun came up ...

8:34, 8:03, 8:04, 7:35, 7:33, 7:12, 7:11, 7:07, 7:07, 6:48, 6:47, 7:17, 8:16

After a 5 mile warm up, the next 7 miles were at a 7:04/mile pace.  My average heart rate for the workout was 160 which was good for me considering the humidity, and I never really felt like I had to "push it" to make the times.  Plus there was a 15mph headwind for about half of it, so I felt okay with the overall result.

Nothing to do except keep pluggin' away at it I guess.  I have the Missoula Marathon in three weeks.  I don't think I'll PR, but ya'll know this idiot will try to run it hard! I had a good exchange with a couple of bloggers who will remain nameless over the weekend.  One is almost always right ... about 99.9% of the time, and the other I have a lot in common with.  I'll share more about those later.  Have a great week ... sorry I haven't commented much lately on your blogs - really busy!  Seacrest out!
...be great today! 

"You Can't Expect What You Don't Inspect!"

A couple of days before one of my marathons, we had dinner with my sister-in-law.  She asked me what I thought my time would be in the upcoming race.  I told her, "For starters, I just wanna finish ... but other than that I should be around 3:21 or 3:22."  I finished the race in 3:22.  A few weeks after that I saw her again and she asked, "How do you know your body so well that you can predict exactly where you'll finish?"  That's not as big as a mystery as it would seem.

After reading me for a while, you know I'm obviously NOT an expert on running. That being said, I do my best to be an expert on my body!  No, I don't mean simply being able to identify all of my anatomical parts in a police line-up, or knowing where all my fingers and toes are at all times.   I mean I try to train in such a way that I know exactly how the race will go before I even run it.  I usually know when I'm going to PR.  And unfortunately, I usually know when I'm not as prepared as I should be.

Admittedly, I'm a bit obsessive.  But after about 8,000 miles since 2008, I've learned a thing or two about myself.  I've learned when I need to back off of my training for a while.  I've learned at certain weights I'm faster.  I've learned by eating certain diets I lose or gain energy.  I know that if I mix in a specific amount of leg weight lifting and ab work, I'll be stronger at the end of a run.  And I pretty much know the specific amount of training mileage that I need to log before a race.  But you pick up all of those things just by just living with yourself mile after mile after mile.

I once heard the phrase, "You can't expect what you don't inspect."  It was in the context of managing people, but it applies to managing my running as well.  Maybe the most important thing I do is DOCUMENT EVERYTHING!  I'm a geek that way.  (Well, I'm a geek in a lot of other ways too ... I mean I DO play fantasy baseball. Yes I freely admit that.)  But as a person that runs several races a year trying to improve my times, it's important to me to have a baseline to measure performance against.  I'm always "inspecting" my training.  And based on those frequent "inspections", I know what to "expect" from the particular race.


I count daily crunches, planks, & push ups and compare them to my 2009 daily notes and how I felt at that point with the same workout.  I know my heart rate like the back of my hand.  I've documented that at temps over 78 degrees with 80% humidity, my first warm up mile should be something slower than 8:45.  I even track how many swallows, and what type of fluid I take at each water stop ... knowing that each swallow is the equivalent of about 1 ounce. (I know, "Get a life" right?)  

I know this isn't for everyone.  Many people train for one or two races a year and just want to make it to the finish line.  Many people run just for fun.  And still others couldn't care less about the finishing times.  I wish I could be a little more like that ... but I'm just not wired that way.  I have to continually be working toward a goal or I seem to lose interest.  The constant documentation and measuring helps keep me focused and driven.

So when you see me post a workout or a race time please understand I'm not fishing for a compliment or an "at-a-boy" ... it's just me being me.  I love and thrive on the numbers and documentation.  In every race I run, I know that I'll finish ahead of many and behind still many more.  But I know that very few races will really surprise me.  Not by accident, a wild guess, or voodoo ... I just usually know what to expect.

...be great today!

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!