March Madness I - Training Week in Review (3/1/2010 - 3/7/2010)

As I write this, I can't decide whether or not the pain on the outside of my left knee during my Sunday long run was general fatigue....or something else. I'm hoping it was just fatigue and someplace had to give a little. Outside of that, I'm feeling like my training is really paying big dividends. I've pretty much been very patient with my new heart rate training (this is my first year - prior to this I've always worked out on feel). I've been following Mark Allen's philosophy of doing all of my base building at or below my Maximum Aerobic Heart Rate (MAHR), mine is 152. At first, doing this is excruciatingly slow. I'm just not used to running that slow, in the past I would think I'm not going fast enough if I wasn't averaging under 8:00 miles, now I rarely go that fast even.

3/1/10: Recover Run: 3.3 miles, 30 minutes -- PM Open Gym Basketball: 95 minutes.

3/2/10: Easy Run/Jog: 3.2 miles, 35 minutes

3/3/10: Regular Run: 6.0 miles, 55 minutes

3/4/10: AM Run: 6.5 miles, 54.5 minutes -- Lunch Run: 3.5 miles, 32 minutes (build up run start at 10:00 pace increasing .1 mph every 400 meters)

3/5/10: AM Swim: 1k, 40 minutes -- LUNCH RUN: 9.92 miles, 1:07:33, 6:47 pace! This was the first day that I tried to keep my effort above my MAHR of 152, I felt very, very strong. This was no where near race effort and I basically knocked off a 10 miler at last years all out 5 mile race pace!!!!

3/6/10: Rest Day

3/7/10: Long Run: 14.69 miles, 2:25:32...Jogged the first 4 miles slow and through a lot of snow/ice covered sidewalks on Fairmount Blvd. That turned out to be my first mistake. The second mistake was attempting to run on the snow pack of the trail in between Shaker Blvd in street runners. Third mistake was stepping on ice, which turned out to be covering a huge puddle, where subsequently my feet got soaked. Somewhere on Gates Mills Blvd, near the 3 tier climb, I noticed a hitch in my gate. About 5 minutes later I noticed pain in the outside of my left knee. Damn. Please, no injuries now. I made it back home okay, but the knee throbbed on and off throughout the day. It feels fine today, after a super easy recovery run, but still, this has me worried a bit.

Weekly Totals:
Run: 47.09 miles
SWIM: 1k
Weight: 176.0 lbs (-6 lbs)

Countdown to Fools 50K: 20 days

Congrats to David Dysert for his 3:50:34 winning time in the Green Jewel 50K 3/6/10

Check out a Green Jewel 50K video by Chef Bill Bailey:


Goals for this week: Stack up the miles big Tuesday - Friday (Sat/Sun/Mon - Enjoy Weekend at secluded cabin in West Virginia with family!)

Coming soon: A discussion about projecting my race time for the Fools 50K and why running the Cleveland Marathon looks easy.

Training - Week In Review

Background: I started this year's (serious) training on January 9th to prepare for ultra running, marathons, some bike racing, duathlons and a triathlons. January consisted of 41 separate workouts: 16 runs, 8 rides, 6 swims, 9 gym workouts, and 2 open gym basketball workouts. I started at 192 lbs, gained 5 lbs to peak at 197, then ended the month at 188 lbs.

February 1 - 7:
2/1/10: My birthday! Celebrated with a practice indoor triathlon. Bike: 45 min - 11.6 mi, Run: 45 min - 5.35 mi, Swim: 20 min - 750 meters
2/2/10: Weights: Total Body - 60 min, Run: 45 min - 4.9 mi 5x400[400RBI]
2/3/10: Swim: 35 min - 1500 meters (750 free, 250 pull, 500 free), Run: 45 min - 4.2 mi
2/4/10: Weights: Upper Body - 60 min, Run: 65 min - 6.66 mi
2/5/10: Run: 45 min - 6.23 (Hills: 3 x 1 mile @ 6% @ 6:30 pace), Bike: 40 min - 10.9 mi
2/6/10: Long Run: 134 min - 15 mi
2/7/10: Rest. Ahh.
Weekly Totals: Run: 41.34 mi, Bike: 22.5 mi, Swim: 2250 meters, 190 lbs.(+2 lbs.)

February 8 - 14:
2/8/10: Weights: Upper Body - 60 min, Run: 52 min - 6.05 mi
2/9/10: Run: 52 min - 6.5 mi (4x800 - 2 @ 6:18 pace, 2 @ 6:15 pace), Weights: Legs - 60 min
2/10/10: Run: 27 min - 3.0 mi, Weights: Upper Body - 45 min
2/11/10: Run: 41 min - 5.0 mi (Build Up Run 800 warm up, then 8:40 pace increasing every 1/2 mile to 6:00 min pace, 400 cool down)
2/12/10: Swim: 41 min - 1200 meters, Run: 42 min - 5.0 mi
2/13/10: Long Run: 136 min - 13.25 mi, Run: 31 min - 3.9 mi
2/14/10: Rest. Valentines Day. Ahh.
Weekly Totals: Run: 42.65 mi, Swim: 1200 meters, 182 lbs. (-8 lbs.)

I'll be posting my weekly training reports on the Sunday or Monday following a training week.

First Post - Going Long This Year, Blog Info

I've decided this will be the year I go long, as in Ultra Long. Starting with the Fools 50k on March 28, 2010. Followed up by the Cleveland Rite-Aid Marathon on May 16, 2010. The rest of the year is undecided, but will likely run a 50 miler, a 100k, try a tri later this summer/early fall, and some bike racing.

This blog will be dedicated solely to training for these ultra races, and following up with race reports. My other blog Bicycling Buzz will remain a mish-mash of cycling reports, news, opinions, projections, etc.

Stay tuned. Many training reports to follow.