Still feeling good after Saturday’s long run. Seriously, I expected to be feeling worse than this. Just a tad sore, but nothing out of the ordinary. This week, I’ll be introducing a new workout into the routine. What will this be like? Lots of work still to be done, so let’s go!

Day 1

This is a bittersweet day. The kids start another school year. It was really nice having them around over the summer. I’m able to work from home part of the time, so I was able to see them quite a bit. These milestones are always happy and sad at the same time. We’re obviously proud of them, but it just seems like the time is going by too quickly. We have a family tradition of always taking the kids to school the first. We’ll take them other days, but they might also ride with a friend, grandparent, or other person. One of the girls has to leave for school by 6, so I need to finish up quickly.

Off to the track for another 55 minute run. With Saturday’s run being so long, I’ll just take it easy and run by perceived effort.

All done. 11:02/mile average pace, which is 19 seconds per mile faster than last Monday. However, my average and peak heart rate were exactly the same. So that’s good news.

Day 2

Hitting the trail early today with the new workout I mentioned. It’s called a lactate clearance run. Rather than me trying to explain this one, I’ll just include link to the article. After my warmup, it’s 1 mile easy, 1 mile between 5K and 10K pace, 1-2 miles at goal marathon pace, 3 minutes of walking, and then 1 easy mile to cool down. I’ll be doing a version of this workout several time through the remainder of my training.

OK, all done. A few comments here. First, I think is a very effective workout. No question about this. Second, I need to make an adjustment. The first marathon pace mile was great. But with the next mile, I was going uphill a lot of the time. While I was able to hold the pace with no problem, I think the terrain was forcing me to work harder than I should have. So rather than clearing lactic acid, I was probably producing more. Next time, I’ll either run this at the track or relax the pace of the marathon pace miles a little. In other words, run them by perceived effort.

One more thing. I don’t know what happened, but my right ankle is feeling a little weird. It’s not really painful, but it feels loose. I’m wondering if I stepped on an uneven spot or did something else to irritate it. Just to be safe, I’m calling off the rest of today’s workouts, which includes working legs at the gym.

Day 3

I actually learned a new term. It’s called “maranoia”. I’m sure you can see that this is a combination of “marathon” and “paranoia”. In part, it’s the tendency of those training for a marathon to freak out and assume the worse anytime there’s even the slightest ache or pain.

The ankle feels somewhat better. Probably 90 percent normal. Still wanting to play it safe, I just took a walk around the neighborhood. Periodically, I slowly jogged a few steps just to see how it felt. It didn’t bother me. Hopefully, there’s nothing wrong and I’m just being paranoid…or maybe I should day “maranoid.”

Day 4

Since I’m doing mile repeats on Saturday, my original plan was to do today’s run at an easy pace. With the ankle issue, I’m thinking even more that this is a good plan. And because I’ll be doing Saturday’s workout at the track, I’ll run the Cotton Belt Trail just to keep things interesting.

All done. Ankle felt a little stiff during my warmup, but felt better once I got moving. During the 65 minute easy run, it didn’t bother me at all.

However, my achilles started feeling a little weird after sitting down to work. Man, what’s going on? It’s the same ankle, so I’m sure it’s related. I decided to look up some videos on achilles pain. There was no lack of strength or limitation of motion, so I don’t think it’s as serious as a tear. I spent about 15 minutes massaging the tendon and another few minutes stretching. I’m off tomorrow. If it feels 100 percent better by Saturday, I’ll do the scheduled workout. If not, I’ll run it easy.

Day 5

Ankle feels mostly better, even after waking up. It’s my rest day. I always say that a day of rest does wonders, so we’ll see if this hold true. I’m not doing any strenuous activities whatsoever today.

As the day goes on, it’s feeling progressively better. At this rate, I might just be OK for tomorrow. But I’ll wait and see.

Day 6

First thing in the morning, it literally feels like nothing was ever wrong with the ankle. With all my running related injuries over the past few months, even those that were considerably more painful than this, they always clear up in 2-3 days if I’ll just take it easy. This appears to be no exception.

Heading to the track with the intent of doing my usual warmup, 8 miles repeats, and cool down. I contemplated doing half mile repeats, as was prescribed in the book for days over 65 degrees. It’s definitely over 65 today. But I’ve decided to use the temperature pace adjustment calculator and slow down accordingly. The calculator is telling me that 8:30/mile is the pace I should run for each repeat. Of course, there’s a disclaim that the recommendation is an estimate and that a slightly faster or slower pace might be more appropriate.

No issues at all during the warmup. It doesn’t even feel still like Thursday. It feels completely normal. What a relief!

Mile 1 – Felt great. I ran at an 8:22 pace. This just felt right. It didn’t feel like I was straining or pushing too hard at all. We’ll see how this holds up or if I need to slow down.

Mile 2 – Still great. 8:25 pace.

Mile 3 – Yeah, this is working. 8:24 pace. It’s not really that much of a slowdown from last week, but just enough to where it doesn’t feeling like I’m running down.

Mile 4 – Yep. Still feeling strong. 8:23 pace. Last week, I noticed that the second half of each mile became more difficult. Not this week.

Wait. I’m running at the track. So I should probably switch directions for the last 4 mile repeats. Nobody else is here. Just remember to put the Garmin on the other wrist!

Mile 5 – No problem. 8:21 pace. Only 3 to go! I really need to watch my pace, as I’m tending to take off too fast.

Mile 6 – 8:20 pace. My legs are starting to feel a little heavy. Aerobically, it doesn’t seem any harder.

Mile 7 – 8:19 pace. I’m not trying to beat the previous mile by 1 second, but it keeps working out that way. Almost there!

Mile 8 – 8:18 pace. Seriously. I’m really not trying to speed up, but it keeps happening. I think I could crank out a few more of these if I had to, but it’s nice to be finishing up.

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Winding down with an easy 1 mile cool down. This really was a fun workout. I’m so used to holding back on easier runs. It’s nice to be able to run a pace that’s faster, but one that doesn’t leave me gasping for air. No issues at all with the ankle. It felt completely normal the whole time.

Day 7

A little sore this morning, but not bad. 30 minute easy recovery run at the track. Good nap after church. Feeling great!

Final Thoughts

Other than the one adjustment I need to make with the lactate clearance run, I think this week went really well. The actual race is 11 weeks from today, which is not a long time. I’m contemplating my pacing strategy, but I’ll address this on a subsequent post. Not much else to say for now. 15 weeks down and only 11 to go!

Things are starting to get a little crazy as the beginning of another school year draws closer. Our kids are all involved in extracurricular activities that require outside rehearsals. Two of our kids are in band and the other is on drill team. Both have started their practices this week. So we’re driving kids to and from school, which has made things busier than usual. On top of this, we’re doing the parent taught drivers ed with our daughters. All of this being said, I feel like I should apologize for not putting as much effort into my training blog. I’ll try to do better this week. Anyway, here goes!

Day 1

I’m still dialing thing in when it comes to running by pace. My initial approach was to pick a pace and run it. Obviously, there was some thought put into the selected pace. I would try to choose something that would remain at the appropriate intensity level over the course of the workout. Normally, this worked out well. But there were times when I ended up pushing too hard. In order to allow for more flexibility, I’m now using pace ranges. These come from an online calculator used for the 80/20 training programs. Further, I’m using a temperature pace adjustment calculator from RunnersConnect. Both of these are reputable sources that I trust.

Anyway, it’s 55 minutes of easy running at the track. For the first 5 minutes, I’ll start easier with a pace range of 10:40 to 13:23 per mile (zone 1, adjusted for temperature). Then, for the next 50 minutes, my target range is 9:19 to 10:39 per mile (zone 2, adjusted for temperature). Basically, I’ll run by effort and set intensity targets in case I’m running too fast or too slow.

OK, I’m all done. That was great. Pace for the first 5 minutes was 11:31/mile. For the rest of the workout, my completed mile split paces were 10:41, 10:40, 10:33, and 10:35. The first two were a tad slow, but the overall average was the main concern. It never felt like I was pushing too hard, so I’m happy with this one.

Day 2

I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself, but this Saturday’s run will be different. It will be shorter than usual, but higher in intensity. I’ll get to the details later, but the point is that I won’t be doing as much marathon pace (or faster) running this week.

Today, I’m running 40 minutes plus warmup on the Cotton Belt Trail. First, I should point out something I’ve recently learned. Even though I’m not using heart rate as the primary measure of intensity, I’m still keeping an eye on it to make sure I’m not pushing too hard.

For workouts around 30 minutes and longer, I’ve noticed my heart rate gradually rising. Sometimes it will rise above my desired heart rate zone, while the workout still feels very easy. I posted this question on a Facebook running group’s page. One of the moderators sent me an article explaining the concept of cardiac drift. Rather than trying to explain it myself, I’ll just include a link to the article. Anyway, still not abandoning all attention to heart rate. But if it drifts upward a little while the workout intensity remains the same, I’m worrying so much about it.

Alright, this is a pretty simple workout. 5 minutes in pace zone 1, 25 minutes in pace zone 2, and 10 minutes in pace zone 3 (adjusted for temp, which is 8:11 to 8:48 per mile).

All done. That was a good one. Like yesterday, I mostly paid attention to effort. With each segment, my pace ranged from the middle to the slower part of each respective zone. Had I pushed for the faster part of each zone, I think I would have overdone it. But the intensity of the entire workout felt just right.

Day 3

Today’s workout is just an easy recovery run. 30 minutes at the track. I’ll try to keep it all easy.

All done. That was easy. Average pace of 12:15/mile and average heart rate of 109. The highest my heart rate ever got was 122, which is below zone 1. But my legs are feeling better, so the workout accomplished its purpose.

Day 4

This shouldn’t happen often, but I need to adjust some things today. Our son’s school band is doing a mini concert around 11:30 today. I’d really like to be there, so I’m doing my run and gym workout this morning. Because the track is so close to the gym, I’m running this one at the track. Like I said, this shouldn’t happen often on Thursdays.

55 minutes plus warmup. For the first 40 minutes, I’m keeping it easy. Then I’ll run at my temperature adjusted marathon pace for 10 minutes. Finally, I’ll end with 5 minutes of cool down. Based on my mile test run, I should be able to run a marathon at an 8:26/mile pace. The author of the training program (Jeff Galloway) suggests aiming for about 15 seconds per mile slower than this. At least initially. So this would be 8:41/mile. Other than just finishing, my minimum goal is to finish in under 4 hours. So this would be just under 9:06/mile. Anyway, when adjusting for temperature, I’m coming up with a target pace range for the last segment of 8:48 to 9:24 per mile.

Warmup was good. I started running clockwise, but then the high school track or cross country team showed up for practice, so I reversed my direction.

Completed mile splits during the first segment were 10:33, 10:28, and 10:27, with the last few minutes of this segment being at a 10:36/mile pace. The marathon pace portion was at a 9:13/mile pace. This translates to an 8:52 pace in cooler weather. Very happy with how this workout went.

Of course, our son (Joshua) did an amazing job at his concert. I’m very grateful to work a job that is flexible and allows me to make a lot of these events. They grow up too quickly, so I really want to make the most of every moment.

Day 5

It’s rest day, I’m working, and the yard doesn’t need to be mowed. This is probably one of my least active days in a while.

Day 6

Earlier, I alluded to the fact that Saturday’s run would be different. This is the first of several mile repeat workouts. Today will be a warmup plus 6 mile repeats with a target of 30 seconds per mile faster than goal marathon pace. Each mile is followed by 5 minutes of walking.

For the purpose of this workout, I’m shooting for a mile repeat pace of 8:11/mile. I have no idea how easy or difficult this will be, and really don’t know what to expect.

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Mile 1. Not so bad. I knew I was working, but not terribly difficult.

Mile 2. About the same. I need to pace these more evenly, rather than starting too fast and having to slow down.

Mile 3. Better, but I can sense some fatigue starting to set in. Halfway there!

Mile 4. Something about this reminds me of mile 5 of my last 10K. The point where the race becomes less fun and more difficult.

Mile 5. Same. I’m supposed to wait for my heart rate to drop to around 127 before I start each mile. It’s not dropping. I paused my watch and probably stood there for 5 minutes and it wouldn’t drop that low. I guess I’ll go ahead and do mile 6.

Mile 6. OK, that wasn’t bad. Standing there for 5 minutes, I was probably more rested than I would have been.

What? My watch is telling me that I still have 1 mile repeat to go. I specifically counted 6, so I don’t think so!! I’m calling this done.

Sorry folks, I’m not trying to offend anyone with my what I’m about to share. Just telling it like happened. Nature began calling at the worst possible time. When I say “calling”, I really mean “screaming.” I was still out on the trail and wasn’t sure if my house or one of the rest stops was closer. So I gambled and started walking toward the nearest rest stop.

The sense of urgency grew quickly, so I began running. But running only made things worse, so I went back to walking. I was so concerned that I wasn’t going to make it, that I actually grabbed a couple of the free doggy bags from the dispenser. Just in case. That’s true desperation.

At last, I reached the bathroom. No exaggeration here, but I couldn’t have made it another 30 seconds. But I made it and didn’t have to use the doggy bags. Even better, the rest stop had a water fountain and I was able to fill up my empty hydration reservoir. Once again, all was right with the world. I’m not sure how I’ve lived this long and managed to avoid this situation until today.

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Looking back, I see a couple of things I should have done differently. First, I completely forgot to adjust my target pace for the temperature. So it actually should have been somewhere in the 8:30/mile range. Second, I messed up and programmed the workout with 4 minute breaks, where the breaks should have been 5 minutes. I’m thinking that these two adjustments would have made for an easier workout. I’m also thinking that I might go easy for the first part of next week, just to make sure I’m properly recovered.

Day 7

Regarding the temperature adjustment issue for the mile repeats, I have an answer. When the temperature exceeds 65 degrees, reduce the distance to a half mile per rep and double the number of reps. Well, maybe next time.

Legs were sore and felt heavy this morning. But after an easy 30 minute run/walk, everything felt much better. It was a restful afternoon. We finished out the day by playing a game together as a family. This put me in bed later than I planned, but it was well worth it.

Final Thoughts

This week went much better than last week. After running by heart rate, perceived effort, and pace, I think I’ve found the right balance. Essentially, I’m now running by effort, but also using a target pace range. This allows me to keep my effort in check so that not pushing too hard. It also reminds me not to slow down too much when there’s plenty of fuel in the tank.

There’s a lot more work to be done. I’m looking forward to seeing how it goes during the second half of training. Well, I guess that’s it for now. 13 weeks down and only 13 to go!

Normally, I’ll write the beginning paragraph at the first of the week. But I ended up kind of busy with a few things, so I’m writing it later. Let me just warn you up front that I didn’t take any picture this week during my runs. Sorry! So any pictures you see on this post are just random pictures I found on the internet. Anyway, here goes…

Day 1

I’m a little concerned after yesterday. It was one of those days when it was hard to get enough water to drink. From 11:00 to about 12:30 on Sunday, I was in a place that was hot without any water to drink. I drank some water before my nap, but then woke up feeling parched. Sunday evening, I was somewhere else that was hot. They had a large container of water, but somebody had locked up the cups. Not anticipating this, I didn’t bring my water bottle. It took a while, but I finally found somebody who was able to help me find something to drink.

This being said, I’m concerned that I didn’t hydrate adequately yesterday. This morning is an easier workout, so I’ll just pay attention to effort. 55 minutes at the track. Oh yeah, I’m switching directions. I’ve been doing Monday’s runs clockwise. For some reason, this really throws my GPS off. It’s giving me probably 15-20 seconds per mile. On the other hand, my counter clockwise runs are quite accurate. So I’m switching to counter clockwise.

All done. I’m not sure exactly why, but this seemed harder than usual. My average heart rate was higher and I was having more trouble holding the pace. Maybe this was residual fatigue from Saturday. Or maybe inadequate hydration. Either way, I should have run this one slower.

I ended up lifting heavy during my lunch break and mowing the yard after work. This makes me a little nervous. Every time I’ve done these three things in one day, the next day’s workout is a struggle. I’m drinking plenty of water to make up for what I’m sweating off. We’ll see.

Day 2

Man, I was having such a great night sleep. Then, I started hearing this rapid tapping noise that sounded like it was somewhere in our bedroom. Somehow, our dog had ended up under our bed and she was scratching. Normally, she sleeps in our daughters’ room. So I got up, coaxed her our from under the bed, and brought her to the girls’ room. After that, it was hard to go back to sleep. When I woke up, I was really tired.

I’m not sure what to expect with today’s workout, but I’ll give a try.

Warmup was great. No issues. Feeling really good. Maybe this won’t be so bad.

Or maybe it will. All done. Honestly, this was not a good workout. I really struggled. The first mile was fine, but things kind of fell apart after this. I felt like I was working too hard for the pace I was able to run. After the first mile, each mile was slower than last week. At the same time, my average heart rate was higher this week. Dang, that’s not good.

I’m not sure why, but I’m feeling run down this week.

Looking further into this, I’ve been made aware that it’s good to back off the intensity for a couple of workouts following a hard run. Not having done speed work in several months, I would definitely classify the mile test run as hard. I think I’ll do the next couple of runs at an easier effort, just to make sure I’m recovering adequately.

Day 3

I had a theory in mind about the GPS issue I mentioned earlier. Ever since I’ve been wearing watches, I’ve always worn them on my left wrist. When I run counter clockwise, the watch is on my inside facing the football field. But when I run clockwise, it’s facing outward. Would that be enough to make a difference? I don’t know, but I think it’s worth a try.

Having the watch on my right wrist already feels awkward, but let’s go! First mile was right on. Second mile too. Looks like I found the problem! The GPS is apparently very sensitive to slight differences in position. I guess I’ll need to slow my clockwise track runs down a little, but that’s OK.

Easy workout. 11:41/mile and average heart rate of 117. Feeling a little better.

Day 4

Good sleep last night, so I’m feeling even better. Still, I’m sticking with the plan to keep this one easy. Saturday will be in the neighborhood, so I’ll run the Cotton Belt Trail (my favorite) this morning. It has some good hills, so hopefully the pace is alright. If not, I can always slow it down.

Well, I didn’t do the usual warmup (1 easy mile plus strides) today and I can tell a difference. It’s just on the first mile. It feels slower and more sluggish. My legs feel heavier and I feel like I’m working harder to run at the goal pace. Rather than pushing it too hard, I just let myself go slower for mile 1. After this, it was easier to go faster without pushing too hard.

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It’s pretty obvious that I was the first person on the trail this morning. Several times, I ended up running through a spider web that was spun across the trail. Man, they must have been busy last night! It’s like I’m breaking through the tape at the end of a race…and then frantically trying to clean off my face and make sure there were no spiders on me. Oh the life of an early morning runner.

All done, with an average pace of 10:45/mile and average heart rate of 131. Good workout!

Day 5

I hate to do this on my rest day, but the back yard really needs mowing. I’ll just do it early, before it gets too hot. That should still give plenty of time to take it easy.

We’re also taking the kids to some friends’ house to swim for a couple of hours. Nothing difficult for the rest of the day. At the risk of looking like an old man, it’s about 7:45 and I’m going to bed.

Day 6

Up at 3:30! The early bedtime turned out to be a good call. Now that we’re up in mileage, the Saturday run takes more prep time. I froze 3 1/2 water bottles plus a small Gatorade bottle. That makes 4 available water bottles, plus Gatorade, plus my 1.5 liter reservoir. Surely, this will be enough!

17 miles this morning. Obviously, I’ve never done this before. 15 miles wasn’t so bad, so this shouldn’t be too much harder. Enough talking for now. Let’s hit the road!

It was 4:27 when I officially started the run. Last night, my weather app was showing thunderstorms in the forecast. But it looks like it’s all clear.

A few miles into the run, I could see a logistical issue. I should have planned my route differently so that my first water stop would be sooner. As it is, I finished my first water bottle about a mile and a half before the water stop. It was still dark outside and wasn’t too hot, so I was still OK.

Around mile 8, it started to rain. I listened carefully for thunder, but didn’t hear anything. So I just kept going. For the rest of the run, the rain continued. Consequently, I was unable to capture the sunrise.

Another logistical issue. I froze 3 of the water bottles, thinking they would have plenty of time to thaw out. But this wasn’t the case with my last 2 bottles. I grabbed what I could and drank as much as possible. But there was still a sizable chunk of ice that wouldn’t melt. Because of this, I was struggling to get enough water. I did have a little bit of water left in the reservoir, so I was able to get by.

The run really wasn’t difficult, though my legs started to feel heavy around mile 15. I guess it was because of the rain, but my feet stayed wet for quite a bit of time. By the time I finished, they felt raw. At last, I was done and heading back to the house. I know it wasn’t fast, but it felt great to have completed 17 miles for the first time.

For lunch, I met my brother and a friend at a local BBQ restaurant. At that point, the soreness had really started to set in. I was walking like a much older man. This was the sorest I had been in a long time. By evening, my legs actually felt a lot better.

Day 7

Pretty sore this morning, though not as bad as I would have expected. I did an easy run/walk workout for 30 minutes at the track. I was also able to get a 2 hour nap during the afternoon.

Final Thoughts

Well, the first part of the week was rough. Especially after how well last week went, this was a bit discouraging. The big takeaway is that I may need to reduce the intensity of workouts that closely follow a harder run. Noted. Next time I do the mile test run, I’ll definitely slows things down for the next 2-3 days. I guess that’s it for now. 12 weeks down and only 14 to go!

Here we go again. We’re getting really close to the halfway point, which feels both exciting and intimidating. There’s still a lot of work to be done. Looking ahead, there are only 5 long runs left on the schedule. The other weeks are either mile repeats or a 1 mile test run followed by easy running. The mile test run is called the “magic mile.” Sounds intriguing, right? 😉 I’ll explain it all later. For now, let’s get to work!

Day 1

55 minutes of easy running again. I’ll use the same target pace (10:20/mile) that I used last time.

Well, that wasn’t smart. I was trying to see one of my other watch screens and I unintentionally pushed “stop” 2-3 minutes into the run. Rather than simply pushing “resume” like normal, I started the whole thing over. I guess my OCD couldn’t take it!

Good workout, like last week. Average heart rate was a little higher this week at 133 (130 last week). But I think this was due to starting the workout, stopping, and starting again. I’ll have to do it again next week to have a good point of comparison. Oh well, still a good workout.

Day 2

This week is a little crazy. I’m normally in the office only on Wednesday, which is perfect for my training schedule. But this week, I’ll be in Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Plus, my nieces are staying with us this week. So I won’t be able to hit the gym on these days. For this reason, I did a full body weight workout last night.

After pushing too hard last week, I decided to do a modify this workout. I’ll run 4 mile repeats at a target pace of 9:00/mile, broken up by 3 minutes of easy running. Oh yeah, I’ll at least be keeping an eye on my heart rate just to make sure it’s not out of control. My heart rate monitor’s light turns red when my heart rate reaches or exceeds 160. So if I see the red light, I’ll check things out and decide where to go from there.

All done! Yes, that was a great workout. Breaking thing up made a huge difference. I was able to keep it close with my pacing, and my heart rate never got out of control. Mile repeat paces were 8:57, 8:50, 9:07, and 8:59. The 9:07 mile was mostly uphill, so I backed off just a little to keep from pushing too hard. Once again, great workout. I’ll be bringing this one back!

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Day 3

Easy recovery run at the track. 30 minutes at 10:40 per mile. Average heart rate was only 123, which is great! Peak heart rate was only 136. So I might consider speeding this one up a little next time.

Day 4

Since I’m doing the “magic mile” on Saturday, I’ve decided to do this workout at an easy pace. Monday was at a 10:20 pace on the track, but this route has some hills. So I’ll try 10:40 and see how it goes. If my heart rate goes too high, I’ll slow it down. 55 minutes, so here goes…

All done. Actually, that worked really well. Average pace was 10:31/mile, which was a little faster than planned. Average heart rate was 131. The peak would have only been around 143, but I gunned it for the last minute, so the peak heart rate was 147. Still, I’m really happy with how this went.

Day 5

Rest day! I didn’t set the alarm, so I slept until about 5:20. Still a work day, but nothing difficult planned. We’re taking the kids swimming this afternoon, which should be fun!

Or not. We ended up waiting forever at the DMV to get our oldest daughter’s driving permit. It could have waited until next week, but she starts practice for school band and her free time during the day will be more limited. By the time we finished, there wasn’t enough time left. Oh well.

Day 6

This is the day I’ve been looking forward to and dreading, at the same time. It’s the mile test run or “magic mile” I’ve mentioned. The purpose of this run is to get a basic idea of how fast you feasibly run a marathon. You start with an easy mile and a few strides. Then, you run a mile as fast as you can. Sounds easy, right? Well, maybe not.

My current mile record is 6:35. This was run on April 25 and was done on a flat route. Today, I’ve decided to do the test on the Cotton Belt Trail. This has quite a few hills. It’s my favorite place to run. The surface feels exactly like the marathon course. I should mention that the marathon course is flatter. So I fully realize that my time may be slower than my previous record, because of the terrain. That’s OK with me.

Alright, let’s do the warmup.

Feels great. This really is a nice day. It’s still dark outside and about 72 degrees. There’s a pleasant breeze, but not enough wind to make the workout more difficult.

OK, all done with the warmup. Time for the moment of truth…let’s go!

Whew. That was tough. The hills made it noticeably harder. Last time, I remember the first 3/4 of the mile not being so bad, but then being very difficult for the last 1/4. This time, the entire second half was tough. It took some focus to keep moving forward. But in spite of the more hilly route, I finished with a time of 6:29. Man, now I almost wish I had run this on a flat route just to get a more accurate comparison. Regardless, I’m really happy with the progress I’m seeing.

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I finished up with an easy 3 mile run. This helped to work out a lot of the soreness I was feeling after the magic mile. Legs are feeling much better now. That was not easy, but it was a great workout!

Day 7

Because I haven’t done speed work in months, I figured my legs would be more sore from the magic mile than they were from the 15 easy miles last week. But I was wrong about this. I had some soreness yesterday afternoon, but woke up feeling good. I did a 30 minute recovery run and that should be it for the day.

Final Thoughts

This was a great week. Really, I felt great about everything. Every workout seemed to be very well dialed in. It never felt like I was pushing too hard or holding back too much. There’s still a lot of ground to cover and quite a bit of unfamiliar territory, but I believe the foundation is solid. I guess that’s it for now. 11 weeks down and only 15 to go!

Well, it’s back to the real world with work, hot weather, etc. This week will be the first time in my marathon training that I’ll be running a distance that I’ve before attempted. What will this be like? Also, I’ve decided to make another modification to my training. I’ll explain this in more detail. Enough talk. Let’s get to work!

Day 1

Alright, I told you I would explain my training modification. Initially, I was using heart rate to monitor the intensity of my runs. Tired of constantly looking at my watch, I began using perceived effort. However, I found that I was pacing all of my easier workouts like recovery runs. This is fine when it’s actually a recovery run. But with the other easy runs, there’s room to push a little harder while still keeping it easy. So I went back to using heart rate to make sure I was hitting the correct level of intensity. But having to look at my watch so often was diminishing the enjoyment of running.

So I’ve decided to try running pace. That’s a pretty simple approach that a lot of trainers recommend. We’ll give this a try and see how it goes. If I chose my paces wisely, I’m thinking my heart rate should be fine.

Today, I’m doing 55 minutes at the track. I’ll be shooting for a target pace of 10:20/mile. This is on the faster end of zone 1. So with the run being 55 minutes, I figure that my heart rate will venture into (but not above) zone 2.

Well, that actually worked really well. This was an easy but enjoyable pace to maintain. I never felt like I was straining, gasping for air, etc. Heart rate was good, meaning that the level of effort was appropriate. So far, I’m liking this.

Day 2

Today’s run is warmup plus 40 minutes. I’ll shoot for something a tad more conservative than goal marathon pace to adjust for the hills on this route. Target pace is 9:05/mile.

All done. Actual pace was right on at 9:05/mile. The first 3 miles felt great. But toward the end, it began to feel like I was having to push a little too hard. This didn’t happen until after the 4th mile, but my heart rate peaked at 190. For this workout, that’s too hard of an effort. Not quite sure why I was having trouble with this one.

I ended up with a headache for a good part of the day, so I’m wondering if I wasn’t properly hydrated. Tuesday has historically been the day I’ve struggled the most with this.

Day 3

I’ve been enjoying the easy recovery run on Wednesday morning. It seems to be helping with recovery, while still offering some aerobic benefit. Today, I ran a pace of 10:45/mile with an average heart rate of 129. That works for me.

Day 4

55 minutes today, plus warmup. Since it’s a longer run, I’ll shoot for a target pace of around 9:30/mile, with the first mile being at an easy pace. This has been close to my average pace for this run, so I think this should work out.

Well, I’m not sure what to think. That wasn’t bad. I didn’t have any problem keeping the pace. But my heart rate ended up higher than expected. It peaked at 173, which is below my lactate threshold, but still higher than I had hoped. I might need to adjust my approach to the Tuesday and Thursday runs. I’ll be thinking this one through.

During my lunch break, I did another heat acclimation run. Easy pace of 11:00/mile, to make sure that it remained a truly easy workout.

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Day 5

As always, I appreciate the rest day. Invariably, one of our daughters always wants me to bring her to the gym on this day. If my schedule allows, I’ll go with her, but I won’t actually workout. Instead, I’ll do some foam rolling, which is exactly what I did this time.

Two of the kids have been out of town with my in-laws, so it’s been a pretty quiet week. Our daughter, who is at home with us, has been asking about doing a date. So we all went out to eat and then saw a movie. Great food and a great time!

Day 6

Well, I woke up needing to go to the bathroom around 3:45AM. Since this will be a long run and we need to pick up our other kids this morning, I decided to stay up and get an early start.

15 miles today. I’ve never even attempted this, so I have no idea of what to expect. This may be going overboard, but I really want to make sure that I have plenty of water. I froze 3 1/2 bottles of water and 1 small bottle of Gatorade. With the 1/2 frozen bottle, I filled the other half with water before leaving the house. Then I carried another water bottle, in addition to the usual running vest with 1.5 liter reservoir. Also, I’m bringing a Larabar and 3 electrolyte tablets. To keep my load somewhat light, I’m placing all of the frozen water bottles in the mailbox. That way, I can grab another one when I pass by. It’s a long neighborhood route that I put together on MapMyRun. Hopefully this works out.

The pace of my last 2 long runs was in the 11:40-11:45 range. Both times, I started faster and progressively slowed down as my heart rate increased. Being a new distance, I’m picking a really easy pace of 12:00/mile. This will have me starting easier and running a consistent effort. Here goes!

Going well so far. First water bottle is empty just in time for me to pick up another one. Actually, the overall timing of my hydration is working out perfectly. I’m taking a bite of the Larabar every 3 miles and taking an electrolyte tablet every 5 miles. So far, I’ve been able to keep everything straight. I actually set alerts on my watch, but just realized that they don’t work on programmed workouts. There has to be a way around this.

At the halfway point, I’m still feeling great. This pace is really easy. I’m sure it’s becoming slightly more difficult over time. But it seriously feels like I could run a double marathon at this pace before it started to become a challenge.

Legs seem a little heavy around mile 13, but still feeling strong. Here it comes…all done!

My time was 3 hours exactly, which was the same as my goal pace. Average heart rate was 132, which is good. So I could have gotten away with pushing harder. But I’m really happy with this one. I had plenty of water and still had some left when I finished. So I think this is probably enough water for my next long run of 17 miles.

After driving 3 hours to pick up the kids, my legs were feeling pretty stiff and sore. Even more so after driving 3 hours back home. But it’s no worse than it was for the 13 mile run. In fact, it’s probably not as bad.

Day 7

Another recovery run. Average pace was 11:41/mile and average heart rate was only 115. Legs are feeling much better now.

Sunday afternoon is here and I’m taking a nap. I’ve needed this!

Final Thoughts

So far, I’m enjoying running by pace. Mainly because it doesn’t require me to look at my watch nearly as often. Consequently, I’m able to enjoy running more. However, I think I need to make some adjustments for the harder weekly runs so that I don’t end up pushing too hard. Part of this means learning to run hills more efficiently. Rather than pushing harder when running uphill, maintaining a consistent effort level. Allowing myself to slow down when running uphill, while allowing myself to speed up when running downhill. It’s all part of the learning process and I look forward to implementing these things next week. Well, that’s it for now. 10 weeks down and only 16 to go!

We arrived in Red River on Sunday afternoon. This place is beautiful. Let me just warn you that none of the pictures will do it justice. I’m really looking forward to this week. It should be a nice break from the Texas heat. At the same time, it will be my first time to run at this altitude. For reference, the elevation is around 8,600 feet above sea level. This is roughly 8,000 higher than home. What will this be like? We’re about to find out!

Day 1

I’m obviously not used to the one hour time difference between here and home, as I woke up at 3:27AM and couldn’t go back to sleep. So let’s make the most of this and get it done early! Woah…it’s 46 degrees outside. The last time I ran in weather this cool was probably back in February. In case you don’t know, this is a great temperature for running. You don’t tend to sweat nearly as much, so you don’t need as much water. Plus, you can generally run faster as your body isn’t working to cool itself down. That is, unless you’re running at a higher elevation.

Today’s workout is 50 minutes of easy running. I’ll be running on the side of the road that runs through town. It’s the same road shown in the picture. It’s not exactly flat, as you can probably see. But it’s easier than running up a mountain trail. Being so early, there’s nobody else in town. It’s like I have the whole street to myself. Not bad!

Well, I’m all done. That was slower than usual at 11:30/mile. Average heart rate was 136, so it wasn’t a hard workout and I’m feeling great.

Day 2

It feels colder than yesterday. My weather app says 42 and van’s thermometer says 35. Regardless, for someone used to Texas heat, this is cold! Today’s workout consists of a warmup plus 35 minutes with a target heart rate of 155-160.

Warmup is done. Man, have I mentioned that it’s cold? My hands are numb, which wasn’t the case yesterday. Unfortunately, I didn’t bring any gloves. I’m sure that those of you from truly cold climates are laughing at my definition of cold.

About 30 seconds into the run, I could tell I had taken off too fast. At home, it might have been a mile or so before I noticed. But it’s a lot more obvious with the elevation. I really don’t have a comparable course to compare on this workout. My pace is actually close to what it would be at home, but this is a flatter route whereas the neighborhood loop has more hills. 9:35/mile pace with average heart rate of 152. Actually not bad.

I took the kids to ride horses and one of our daughters wanted to hike with me to the top of the mountain. Unfortunately, there was an area where some pretty deep water was flowing across the trail and we were unable to cross. So we turned around and decided to try another route tomorrow.

Day 3

Legs are feeling sore. Partially from running, but also from riding horses and hiking. So I’m doing a 30 minute easy recovery run.

All done. Feeling better. Oh wait, I told our daughter that we would do the hike today. What was I thinking?

This time, we talked with one of the resort employees to make sure we were picking a route that would allow us to make it to the top. He was very friendly and helpful. He explained everything and gave us a trail map. So I think we’re all set.

When we were about halfway up the first hill, it was clear that this would not be an easy hike. It was probably a green slope, but it was steeper than I expected. About a mile into the hike, Gracie said this was probably the hardest workout she had ever done. I could have pushed through, but she kept asking to stop. The competitor in me didn’t like this, but I wanted it to be an enjoyable experience for her. So we stopped a few times. We took some nice pictures and enjoyed some incredible scenery.

By the time we finally reached the top, both of us were really hungry. Initially, we talked about hiking down, but then decided to take the chair lift. The hike drained me more than I expected. When we got back to the condo, I had a headache and ended up taking a nap after lunch. Tiring, but it was a great day.

Day 4

Legs are feeling really sore today. I’m contemplating making this an easy run, just to give my legs a chance to recover. We’ll see how the warmup goes and then I’ll decide.

Actually, that wasn’t bad. Feeling better than I expected. I’ll just do the scheduled run of 50 minutes (10 easy, 10 with target HR of 155-160, 5 cool down). Somehow, I ended up with a rock in my shoe, so I need to take care of this first.

All done. Again, about 30 seconds per mile slower than it would normally be at home. But it felt great. No more strenuous activities scheduled for the day. We’re going tubing and then taking it easy. That’s it for today.

Day 5

If there’s a better way to spend your rest day than driving for about 6 hours, I can’t think of one. 😉 Everyone seemed a little sad as it was a great time and we all wanted to stay longer. But at least we managed to stop on the way and get a few more pictures.

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Day 6

We spent the night with my in-laws in Amarillo. The plan is to head back home around 10 or 11, so I’m going for a simple 6 mile run. I’ll do this one at Medi Park, where I did one of my other runs around the end of May. While it’s not Red River, it’s still a nice place. Nice view as the sun comes up. Great run with no issues at all.

All done, so let’s get back to the house. Uh oh. Something’s wrong. Rather than try to describe what I’m seeing, I’ll just show you the picture.

Somebody broke the window and stole several things from the van. Actually, nothing of great value. A bag of food, several board games, and a small bag with a few things. My reading glasses, protein, electrolyte tablets, and multivitamins. For what it’s worth, I had just purchased the multivitamins and had only taken 2 of them. So this person ended up with the other 118. Thankfully, they didn’t take my guitar. I’ve had this guitar for almost 20 years and it’s a nice one. So this would have been harder to replace.

Anyway, there’s not much sense in complaining. Allowing myself to grow angry and bitter won’t do anything to change the situation. Truth be told, I still have a lot to be thankful for. An amazing wife and 3 awesome kids. A great job that allows me to work from home a lot of the time. Good health. Great family and friends. And so much more. God has blessed me far beyond what I could ever deserve. So we’ll replace the window and move on with life.

Day 7

Back home, as of late last night. Just a simple 30 minute recovery run at an intentionally easy effort. I’m definitely planning on taking a nap this afternoon!

Final Thoughts

With the good and bad, this was a great week. It was really nice being able to do some of my training in a different environment. Not sure what kind of impact it will have on my overall conditioning, but I’m grateful for the experience. It was really a treat to be able to unplug from the noise and stress of life and to just enjoy each moment with my family. I’m thinking this next week will be less eventful, but we’ll see. 9 weeks down and only 17 to go!

Up to this point, my training has mostly been in familiar territory. In other words, even though it’s been a few months since I’ve covered some of the distances, none of the long runs have been further than I have run. But we’re getting close to that point. So what will this look like? And why am I a bit nervous? I’ll explain later. Meanwhile, let’s get to work!

Day 1

50 minutes at the track again. Did I say at some point that the time of this run increases to 55 minutes at week 8? If so, I was mistaken. It’s week 10. Alright, I’m doing this one correctly today. Target heart rate of 142-145 after the first 5 minutes of easing into it.

All done. That worked out well. Average pace of 10:14/mile and average heart rate of 139. I guess the first 5 minutes brought down the average. Completed mile splits were 9:27, 9:49, 10:17, and 10:34. Just what I suspected. My aerobic stamina still needs a lot of work. It could also be that I need to ease into this more gradually. Or maybe both. Anyway, all done with day 1.

Day 2

Today’s workout is 35 minutes plus warmup. I’ll be shooting for a target heart of 155-160. It’s 79 degrees with 77 percent humidity. It’s early and not that hot for Texas, but this will be my warmest Tuesday morning run of the training season.

Warmup went well, though it was feeling really stuffy by the time I finished. I was having trouble cooling down.

The actual workout didn’t go as well as I had hoped. For some reason, I was slow this morning and felt run down afterward. My average pace was 9:39/mile. Last week, it was 9:13/mile, with the same average heart rate. I’m not sure why, I’m struggling today.

I just reached out to a friend who is a running coach. He says that the most likely causes of this are lack of sleep, too many miles, or dehydration. I don’t think the first two would apply. This leaves dehydration. Come to think of it, I ran, lifted weights, and mowed the yard yesterday. The last time I did these three things in one day, I had a rough workout the next morning and ended up dehydrated. So I really need to be mindful of hydration, particularly when taking on any extra activities.

Day 3

Nothing much today. I did a 30 minute recovery run with an average pace of 10:36/mile and average heart rate of 126. This was on the track and I’m depending on my GPS for pacing information, so this might not be entirely accurate. Anyway feeling good. This afternoon, we’re leaving town for our family vacation. We’ll see how I am able to keep up the running during this time.

Day 4

Our first stop is Canyon, Texas. If you’re not familiar with Canyon, it’s just a few miles from Amarillo. My wife’s brother and his family live in Canyon and we’ll stay with them until we head to Red River, New Mexico on Sunday morning.

Hitting the road bright and early. The horizon is flat, but the sunrise if beautiful. It’s in the upper 60’s and feels great. My brother-in-law suggested this route and I’m really liking it. It’s an asphalt road that goes through the country for several miles. There’s a hill early on, but everything else is flat.

I’m doing 50 minutes. 10 minutes of easy running, 35 minutes with a target heart rate of 155-160, and 5 minutes of cool down. Everything feels great this morning. It’s really quiet, except for the occasional car that drives by. After the initial 10 minutes, the first split is 9:32 per mile. The next mile is a little slower at 9:37. The third mile is actually faster at 9:29. However, do you remember that hill I mentioned? This worked in my favor toward the end of the third mile. So I’m not sure how much of an improvement I would call this. Regardless, it was a great workout.

Day 5

Rest day. Lots of time spent hanging out with family. Lots of great food eaten. No hard work, which is great!

A Little Back Story…

But before we get to day 6, I need to tell you a story from several weeks ago. Tomorrow’s run is 13 miles. I’ve only run this far once in my life and it was not a good experience. Keep in mind that I’m from the Dallas/Fort Worth area in Texas. So when I say “cold”, it’s all relative. Obviously, it’s not cold compared to what any of your northerners are used to. But I was used to running in around 40-45 degree weather. This is almost perfect for running. You don’t sweat that much, so you don’t need a ton of water.

My scheduled early morning run was derailed by thunderstorms. Contemplating my options, I considered going to the gym to run on the treadmill. But as a I pulled up to the gym, the skies were much clearer. Checking the weather forecast, no more rain was expected for the rest of the day. So I decided to do my scheduled trail run.

Because I was used to running in colder weather, I wasn’t prepared for this day to be 25 degrees hotter. Consequently, I didn’t bring enough water. Following my normal practice of drinking when I feel thirsty, I reached the halfway point and realized I was almost completely out of water.

The rest of the run was very unpleasant. I was parched. My mouth was dry. I was running very slowly, yet my heart rate was higher than usual. It seemed like this was the longest 6 1/2 miles of my life. I wanted to get back to the house, but was afraid to push any harder. Finally, the run came to a close. For the rest of the day, I was exhausted, had a headache, and was very sore.

Day 6

Now, I have a chance to run 13 miles again. I was really hoping for a better experience this time. Except that I woke up to severe thunderstorms that weren’t in the forecast. Sound familiar? Only this time, I was unable to delay the run by just a couple of hours since I had made plans for later that morning. That evening, we were planning on attending a local minor league baseball game. So my only option was after lunch time.

Not wanting a repeat of last time, I made sure that there was plenty of water. First, there was my 1.5 liter backpack reservoir. Second, I had a handheld water bottle. Third, I froze 3 water bottles and placed them in the mailbox. It was a long neighborhood loop, with a few detours to avoid boredom, which you can see from my GPS map.

While I would have preferred to go out and explore, there was no way to do this and still bring enough water. The biggest challenge was the heat. This was warmer than I was used to, especially for a run this long. Whenever the sun was behind the clouds, it felt pretty nice. But otherwise, it felt really hot. Contributing to this was the fact that the streets had recently been finished with tar and loose gravel. The black surface didn’t help and the loose gravel seemed more draining than a compact surface. Regardless, I finished.

We had dinner before going to the baseball game. About an hour later, I was so hungry that I grabbed a second dinner. Then, I ate once again before going to bed. Needless to say, I had no trouble sleeping!

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Day 7

Talk about about being sore. My legs felt incredible sore and heavy. I drove to the track and did my usual run/walk for 35 minutes. Initially, my legs didn’t seem too happy about this, but they finally warmed up and felt much better afterward.

Final Thoughts

It’s now time to wrap up this week and head for the mountains. My biggest takeaway for this week again is the importance of hydration. Not just the day of the workout, but also the day before. So I’m drinking quite a bit more water. Sure, it means sometimes having to get up in the middle of the night. But I’ll take that over dehydration.

Well, that’s it for now. 8 weeks down and only 18 to go!

I’ll be continuing with some of the workout modifications from last week. It’s only my second week since I made these changes, so we’ll see if there are any improvements. I’ve also been thinking about adding a couple of short heat acclimation runs into the mix. Nothing high intensity or long. But just something to help get used to the hot weather. Let’s get moving…

Day 1

50 minutes at the track today. It’s only 69 degrees, which is cooler than the past few days. Humidity is almost 70 percent, but it doesn’t make a lot of difference at this temperature. Let’s get running!

All done. Oops. Dang! I guess I forgot to reread my notes from last Monday and I did the workout wrong. The idea was to shoot for an average heart rate of around 145. Instead, I ran with an average heart rate of 136 and average pace of 10:25/mile. Oh well. It was still a good workout. I just need to remember to read my own notes! Next time, I’ll try to get it right.

Day 2

For the most part, I’ve been doing a lot better about getting enough sleep. Saturday and Sunday afternoons have been relatively open, which has allows me to grab a few naps when needed. As a result, I’m not feeling nearly as run down as I did early on in my training.

Today is just like last Tuesday. Warmup plus 35 minutes with a target heart rate of 155-160. Same neighborhood route as well.

Warmup mile was a little slower than last week. 10:32/mile with average heart rate of 124 (10:23 – 123 avg. HR last week). The run also felt a bit sluggish. Mile splits were 8:49, 9:14, 9:23, and 9:31. Last week, the splits were 8:39, 8:57, 9:16, and 9:35. Slower this week, but there was less of a drop in pace. At a given level of exertion, some days are just faster or slower than others. No big deal.

Before going to the gym, I threw in my first heat acclimation run. Just 18 minutes of easy running this time. Average pace was 10:36/mile with an average heart rate of 138. That’s easy enough.

Day 3

Call me crazy, but I’m doing something different. A lot of running coaches recommend doing a really easy run on a recovery day. As long as the effort is truly easy, it can help to speed up recovery. It should serve the same purpose as my normal walks with run intervals, but with more aerobic benefit.

It was a 30 minute easy run. When I say easy, I mean with a target heart rate in the lower to middle part of zone 1. Average pace is listed as 10:29/mile with an average heart rate of 127. However, the GPS was a little off today. So it’s probably more like 10:35 or so per mile. Felt great!

Day 4

Same workout as last week. Warmup plus 50 minutes. The 50 minutes is divided into 3 segments. There’s 10 minutes of easy running, 35 minutes with a target heart rate of 155-160, and a 5 minute cool down. This will be my second time to do this specific run. Will today be any better than last week? Let’s find out!

From the beginning, this one felt better and more controlled. Once I hit the 35 minute segment, there was still a drop in pace with each subsequent mile. However, it was less drastic than last week. Last week’s mile split paces were 9:22, 9:45, 10:01, and 10:27. Today, it was 9:20, 9:25, 9:55, and 9:58. Plus, my overall heart rate was lower today. That’s at least a step in the right direction.

I was planning to meet a friend for lunch, so I did another short easy heat acclimation run. 20 minutes this time. Almost the exact same effort and pace as Tuesday. 10:27/mile and average heart rate of 137. Still feeling great, but I’m definitely ready for lunch!

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Day 5

I was hoping to get to bed early, but it didn’t work out. Good night sleep, but I’m still pretty tired. I took a walk first thing this morning, but that should be it for the day.

Day 6

Today’s long run drops back to 6 miles (plus warmup) before increasing again next week. I’m just going to run at a comfortable effort and see how it goes. After doing 11 miles last week, 6 should seem pretty easy.

My warmup today consists of a few minutes of easy running and a few hills at 5k-10k pace. Interestingly, during the easy run portion of the warmup, my heart rate stayed entirely below zone 1. I’m sure it would have gotten there if I had kept this up for a longer period of time.

All done with the hills. The pace on these ranged from 8:03/mile to 7:04/mile. But I’m not really watching the pace. Just trying to maintain an appropriate level of effort. Feeling great!

I must say that this is the easiest it has ever felt for me to run 6 miles. Maybe all the training is working!

All done. 11:31/mile, which was a comfortable and relaxed pace. It never felt like I was pushing hard, but it also didn’t feel like I was shuffling or slowing down unnaturally to keep my heart rate down. The whole thing was both easy and enjoyable. Average heart rate was only 128 and my heart rate never went above zone 1. I should mention that this route has a lot of hills. While I enjoy the scenery, the terrain has historically made this more difficult for my easy runs. All done with day 6.

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Day 7

The usual. This time, 35 minutes of walking with some intervals of easy running. Legs were feeling a little sore when I work up, but began to feel better throughout the day. Nothing beats a good Sunday afternoon nap! Feeling very rested.

Final Thoughts

There are moments in training that feel more frustrating or discouraging. There are times when it’s harder to stay motivated. But this week, I don’t recall there being any of that. It was easier to stay motivated and very encouraging to see some noticeable improvements. I would call this a truly enjoyable week. So what will week 8 be like? Regardless, we’ll keep moving forward, one step at a time. 7 weeks down and only 19 to go!

After last week being so easy, I’m feeling very well rested and ready for another week. I would like to make a couple of minor adjustments in regards to the Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday runs. But I’ll explain these later. There’s lots of work to be done, so here we go again!

Day 1

Still 50 minutes at the track. I’d like to increase the effort level just a bit, while still keeping this easy. The difference between zone 1 and zone 2 is subtle. But it is noticeable. Think about picking up a ping-pong ball and a tennis ball. Both are light, but there is a difference. Zone 1 is an effort that you could feasibly maintain all day, whereas zone 2 would be considered an effort you could keep up for several hours. Sorry if I’m nerding out too much. Let’s get started.

OK, all done. That worked out pretty well. I felt like the effort was more controlled and consistent, yet still easy. Average pace was 10:24/mile and average heart rate was 139. Since my zone 2 is actually 141 to 157, I could still stand to increase the effort a bit without being in any danger of pushing too hard. I am seeing a drop in pace over the course of the workout. 10:01, 10:12, 10:26, and 10:32 per mile. The goal is to keep the effort as consistent as possible while also holding the same pace. Still some work to do, but there’s still time.

Next week, I may try for an average heart rate of around 145. For you non-technical people who couldn’t care less about these details, please accept my apologies.

Day 2

Today’s run consists of a warmup plus 35 minutes. I’m trying to be smart with how I use my time, so I’m doing a neighborhood loop rather than the community college trail. This should save me about 20 minutes of driving time, plus there are still some good hills on this route.

The idea is basically the same as yesterday, only with a higher intensity target. The goal intensity is a heart rate range of 155-160, which is below my lactate threshold. So even though it will be harder than yesterday, it shouldn’t be difficult.

Warmup went very well. I ran a 10:28/mile with an average heart rate of 123. All zone 1 and that’s with hills. Several months ago, there’s no way this would have been possible.

During the first mile of the run, I never had to slow myself down. It was really easy to keep my heart rate within the target range. The second mile felt a little slower. Though the effort was consistent, each mile slowed down. Mile split times were 8:39, 8:57, 9:16, and 9:35. Yes, there was a hill. But this was a pretty significant drop. Herein lies my problem. Or maybe I should say “challenge.” But that’s OK. I know exactly what I need to work on.

Day 3

Legs are feeling a little sore this morning. Not bad though. Feeling better after about 30 minutes of walking with some short running intervals.

Day 4

Today is a very special day. Our oldest daughter, Anna, turns 16. Man, I’m feeling old! From the time she was a baby, Anna has always been the ray of sunshine. She has a way of cheering everyone up. Anna’s favorite subject in school is band. She especially loves marching season. Anna wants to be a band director when she grows up, and she definitely has the talent and passion for it. So happy birthday, Anna!

Again, I’ll be doing 50 minutes of running plus warmup. This will be similar to Tuesday’s workout, except that I’ll start with 10 minutes of easy running. Then, I’ll run 35 minutes with a target heart rate of 155-160. Finally, I’ll end with 5 minutes of easy running.

Well, that was very revealing. This week is showing me that my aerobic stamina needs some serious work. After the easy 10 minutes of running, my mile split paces were 9:22, 9:45, 10:01, and 10:27. Ugh. This is kind of depressing. But the point here is not to get discouraged or compare myself with anyone else. Each workout serves as a gauge, but also part of the improvement process. So I’ll keep working.

Speaking of Anna, we ended up taking her to breakfast at a local restaurant called Bacon’s. It’s one of our family favorites. I was trying to keep it fairly healthy and saw an option called loaded oatmeal. That sounded kind of interesting, but I didn’t think it would be enough. So I also ordered the breakfast combo, but this time in the single size. This included a fried egg, back, hash browns, and a piece of sourdough toast. Not the smartest move I’ve ever made. Either of these meals would have been sufficient. Eating both was too much.

During my lunch break, I did my usual run/walk. Only this time, it was in the mid 90’s with a lot of humidity. My weather app said that it felt like 102. After I had been going for a few minutes, it felt like every bit of 102. I couldn’t cool down for anything and ended up going slower than usual to try and keep it easy. The heat wasn’t helping my stomach either. It felt like my breakfast was about to come back up, but thankfully, this didn’t happen.

For dinner, we took Anna to Rodeo Goat, which is one of our favorite local hamburger joints. Great times! But it should be healthier eating for the rest of the week.

Day 5

Rest day. The most strenuous activity I did was trimming one of our oak trees. It was really hot, so I tried to stay in the shade and limited this activity to a couple of hours.

Day 6

11 miles plus warmup this morning. It’s supposed to be really warm today, so let’s get this over with! I decided to carry extra water this morning. As you may recall, I barely had enough to make it through my recent 9 mile run. Hopefully, this will be enough for today.

Warmup was pretty easy. But man, it’s really steamy outside. The sun hasn’t even come up and I’m already sweating like crazy. The last time I ran 11 miles was on February 2. At the time, it was in the low to mid 40’s. Today’s it’s 83 and really humid. It’s cloudy, which probably helps a little. Even still, the extra heat and humidity are really making a difference. I may be on track for my slowest run yet.

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Yep, just as I thought. 12:04/mile with average heart rate of 140. With my last 11 mile run, my heart rate was the same, but the run was just over a minute per mile faster. It’s not that I’m in worse shape now. It has to be the heat.

By the time I got back to the house, I didn’t have any water left at all. Even with eating half a banana beforehand, drinking water before leaving the house, drinking the entire 1.5 liter reservoir plus two smaller water bottles, taking 3 electrolyte tablets, and eating a Larabar, I still managed to lose 7 pounds and had a minor headache for part of the day.

The runs will only get longer and, at least for the next few weeks, the temperatures will only get hotter. So I need to figure something out in terms of hydration. At this point, there’s not much more that I could carry. Perhaps a handheld water bottle could help for another couple of miles, but that’s about it. I’m thinking about mapping out a neighborhood loop and putting a cooler with some water bottles in the trunk. That way, I can just grab something to drink when I pass the car, and then keep running.

It’s interesting how your body gets used to certain running distances. Even though I have run this distance before, it has been a few months. The past 2 longer runs have been distances that I haven’t run in a while. With both of these, my heart rate stayed pretty steady for the distance I was used to running, but then noticeably increased for the extra miles. Two weeks ago, this happened during miles 8 and 9. Today, it was during miles 10 and 11. It’s probably all part of the body’s adaptation to the increasing workload.

My legs were feeling a little stiff afterward, but felt much better after some easy stretching. By the afternoon, my legs felt great and I even took a walk with Jennifer.

Day 7

Still feeling great. 30 minutes of walking with a few run intervals and that’s it for the day. I’ll never forget the first time I ever ran 8 miles, which was last summer. Afterward, I felt like I had been in a car wreck. Everything hurt. The next day, it was even worse. It took a few days to get back to normal. It’s good to see that my recovery time has improved.

Final Thoughts

There’s still a lot of work to be done. When you have a strategic goal driven personality, it’s really easy to get impatient and want to see instant results. But these improvements take time. It’s important to keep the right perspective and allow yourself to enjoy the process, rather than focusing exclusively on the end goal. I guess that’s it for this week. 6 weeks down and only 20 to go!