MIA

So, what's my excuse? Well, there was this.
And of course the difficulty of adjusting to life without fresh pain au chocolats every morning.

Well, I'm back now. This last week was the first time I ran two track workouts in one week for a very long time. I'm going to focus on quality over the next 14 weeks before the Army 10 miler - my weekly mileage will vary between 70-90 per week. A little less than what I ran in prep for Boston - but, most weeks I'll be running three quality sessions per week. So, keeping up with my nutrition and recovery regimine (elevation, cold baths, roller) will be key.

Here's what I've been running the last three weeks:

Week of 6/8
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday afternoon: 9 miles somehow didn't write down my times 1600m @ tempo 2X900;2X700;2X500;2X300
Wednesday: 8 miles
Thursday: 0 miles
Friday: 17 miles
Saturday: 6 miles
Sunday: 12 miles Survivor Harbor 7 mile 37:55
Total: 63 miles

Week of 6/15
Monday: 0 miles
Tuesday: 8 miles
Wednesday morning: 4 miles
Wednesday afternoon: 7.5 miles
Thursday morning: 4 miles
Thursday evening: 6 miles
Friday: 18 miles
Saturday: 9 miles
Sunday: 0 miles
Total: 56.5 miles

Week of 6/22
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday afternoon: 10 miles 3X2000 6:19;6:23;6:28 4X400 75;72;67;64
Wednesday: 9 miles
Thursday: 8 miles
Friday: 6 miles
Saturday: 10 miles 4X200(35;35.6;35.8;35.2) 2X400 (68.7;69.6) 1X800 (2:19.9) 2X400 (70;70.2) 4X200 (34.1;34.8;33.9;32.9) rest same as previous interval
Sunday: 17 miles
Total: 71 miles

This week
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday afternoon: 10 miles Tempo workout
Wednesday: 8 miles
Thursday: 11 miles hills
Friday: 6 miles
Saturday: 10 miles 12X400m R pace 400m rest OR 5k race
Sunday: 15 miles
Total: 71 miles

A New Season

I'm not sure why I didn't write about this last week - but, I've now entered my 18 week training cycle focused on the Army 10 miler. Last week was my first hard workout since Boston - and a mixture of fresh legs along with some cash incentives ($7,500 purse Race for Our Kids) prodded me into my first "real" race since Boston.

I knew that my place was going to be completely determined by who showed up. I'm just not in a place yet where I can mix it up with the big dogs. Well - pretty much every runner I was afraid of from Baltimore showed up today - along with a contingent from DC and No. VA (They somehow evaded our police barracade on both 95 & 295). The only thing I could hope for is that several of them would go out too fast and I could catch them on the brutal half-mile hill at the end.

It was not meant to be - other than Kyle allowing me to come within sniffing distance for the first and probably last time it was a pretty uneventful race. And except for a DNF - I was in the same place at a half-mile that I was at the finish. I got second in my age group - in a time that was six minutes faster than that place was last year. Proving once again that races cycle through fast & slow times - and if last year's results were slow you should probably count on them being fast this year.

Last Week
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday afternoon: 9.5 miles - hills - 7X400-600 meters
Wednesday: 10 miles
Thursday: 8.5 miles
Friday: 10 miles
Saturday: 4 miles
Sunday: 10.5 miles 10k 33:52 (5:11;5:31;5:36;5:28;5:23;5:36;1:06)
Total: 63.5 miles

This Week
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday afternoon: 9 miles Track workout
Wednesday: 8 miles
Thursday: 0 miles
Friday: 17 miles
Saturday: 6 miles
Sunday: 12 miles Survivor Harbor 7 mile
Total: 63 miles

Two great stories of love gone wrong from my home state

One is somewhat related to athletic endeavors. A kid tried to ride a bike 250 miles to his girlfriend's place - when he got tired he stole a car.

The other has nothing to do with running or biking - but, it shows what happens when slick hollywood types come into my hometown and try to steal our women.

The only dude in the room

Last night Kendra and I went to our "regular" Sunday night yoga at Midtown Charm City Yoga. The room was packed as it normally is - but, I noticed something just before the class started. I had the only Y chromosome in the hot/sweaty room full of girls in spandex. Since, as a married man, I no longer notice attractive females - my only thought was that it's too bad more dudes don't do yoga.

I've discussed yoga in a post a long time ago - I really do think it helped me in my training for Boston. Everyone knows that yoga helps your muscles to become more flexible - but, it also strengthens muscles. It's not just 90 minutes of stretching. There are plenty of "poses" where I find myself shaking uncontrollably, sweat poring onto the mat, as I pray that we'll soon move into "child's pose." There are also poses designed to help your body get rid of toxins - which is important if you're training hard. Finally, it is a great stress reliever - I can't really explain it - but, I always feel less stressed and more ready to face the merde de vie after a session.

This is my first week with a "hard" workout. I have 18 weeks to go until my Fall goal race - the Army 10 miler.

Last Week
Monday: 7.5 miles
Tuesday: 11 miles 8X100m
Wednesday: 8 miles
Thursday: 6 miles
Friday: 9.5 miles
Saturday: 4 miles
Sunday: 17 miles
Total: 63 miles

This Week
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday morning: 4 miles
Tuesday afternoon: 9 miles - hills
Wednesday: 10 miles
Thursday: 8.5 miles
Friday: 10 miles
Saturday: 4 miles
Sunday: 12 miles 6 miles tempo
Total: 64.5 miles