Mountain bike trails and intervals

I have begun the intensity portion of the training plan. Now, I really like the volume but these hard workouts should provide the necessary speed to meet my marathon goals. With this increased intensity I am taking more time recover. I took an off day from running following the Steam Whistle 12K on Saturday – well actually two days off from running.
 
On Sunday I started out with some of the TRX Metabolic Blast.  This thing is kicking my unstable cores ass.  A little later I joined the mountain bike crew and helped clear some more trails. Oh my gosh, this is hard work. You have to mark the trail then clear it with a power mover. There is a lot of chain saw work and then comes the old fashioned manual labor. The ground has to be racked and then the all of the little stumps have to be removed – with axe, awl or any type of hand implement. This type of work really makes you understand the concept of functional strength.

Birth of a trail.

On Monday I jumped on the elliptical machine. I normally hate elliptical machines – they make my body move in unnatural ways (that sounds funny – not really what I intended). However we have one (1) special elliptical machine – the Cybex 750AT. This thing actually works for me. It lets me workout hard without the impact. Next was some strength training – back to the bench press.

$8000 – dang

Tuesday brought back the trainer. I had been working on 2 x 20 minutes @ FTP but had failed recently. I dialed it back for some success – 3 x 10 @ FTP. This should allow for me to start building my cycling base again.
 
At lunch I attacked my intervals. After a two mile warm up I started the 4 x 800’s at 2:50. Damn, this was demanding. I was out on the trace and it is ‘pretty’ flat but there is a slight incline. So I ran back and forth and the times reflected the incline. The splits were as follows: 2:51 / 2:45 / 2:55 / 2:53 – average of 2:51. I was a little disappointed. These were hard. As I start to add two more repetitions each week it won’t be getting any easier. Time to suck it up.
 
After work I headed to the Family YMCA to help out with the next couch to 5k group. There were about 40 people eager and excited to take up running in their pursuit to improve their health. This is exciting stuff!

TRX planks and Happy New Year

The Steam Whistle 12K has been rain delayed until noon.  I drove down to Jackson Station and put up some postponed signs early this morning – I have been up a while.  However, it looks like the storms have passed and they have brought cooler weather.  The race conditions are starting to look favorable.

I have always kept abdominal exercises in my strength training plan.  I have down the P90X abs cruncher routines and they are challenging.  When it comes to planks I am pretty good.  I can do several sets and hold them for about 90 seconds or so.  They really light up the core.  Since I have been playing with the TRX I have been humbled regarding my core strength.  With the unstabilizing nature of the TRX all of my strength goes out the door.  Take a look (I realize that my butt is too high – something I need to work on).

Success and Failures

Getting back to the routine brought my weight down. I lost 3 pounds from the previous day. I know that the weight is not real but I am glad to be getting back into the swing of things.
I jumped on the bike again on Tuesday morning. I dialed in a tempo workout which consisted of a 10 minute warm up followed by 3 x 10 minutes at intensity with 2 minutes of recovery and then a 10 minute cool down.

I failed again. I only completed the first 10 minute interval and a couple minutes of the second interval. However, I did not end the workout there. I reloaded and completed another 20 minutes at a little less intensity. I have never really trained like this before – at set intensities. Most of my previous cycling has just been volume with some aggressive group riding thrown into the mix. I think I am just getting caught up in the numbers and wanting more than I can accomplish. I only rode for 40 minutes.

At lunch we did the STADIUMS. I lopped off 10 seconds from the recovery and then had to add two additional reps to the session for a total of 17. The round trip was 1:50 – 15 seconds up and 1:35 recovery. Next time I will deduct another 10 seconds from the recovery. My legs were screaming at me for the first three reps but then they settled down. Fortunately, the repeats never got harder – I was able to just churn them out. It felt good to succeed!

I checked the last time that I did this workout (October 22, 2009) and my average heart rate was 149 BPM with a MAX of 178. This week, with the same workout my average heart was 128 BPM with a MAX of only 165. I do not remember what the temperature was and everything but I will take it (but my blog says that the day was beautiful)!

After the STADIUMS we did just one rep of the stairs at the back of the Cochran Center. These steps are about 50 percent longer than the stairs at the STADIUM. My heart was racing much harder doing just the one rep!

Back at the gym I continued to work on the chest for the “pump and run” challenge. I had some intel come through and I believe that Robin is able to squeeze out about the same number of reps that I can – somewhere in the 30’s. And being that Robin has a good minute or two on me in the 5k I need to get to work. So I did four sets of flat bench press. I only put the 45’s on the bar so that equated to about 87% of my body weight – well my hope to be body weight. I am counting on 155 on competition day. For some reason I felt strong and was able to increase my reps by a couple. I did not doing any max outs but I did get 3 sets X 15 with a fourth set X 12. I was only working out with one other person and we purposely kept the recovery short. To win this competition I believe endurance is the name of the game.

Stadiums...

GPS reading from the STADIUM!

Getting up in the morning now feels like I am getting up in the middle of the night. It is so dark. I drove to work on Wednesday to take the ab BOSU lutely class again. It starts at 6:15AM and it is just too dark at 5:45AM for the bike. Maybe this is the year that I get a decent light! Anyway I did the class again – and it was fun, challenging and full. There was a whole sorority in class. There were about 3 times the people in class as last time. After the class I went for a run with a friend – I was only looking for about 4 miles and she was looking for 5 miles – Yeah – we ended up with a little over 6 miles. It was just a good solid run.

At lunch, we tackled the STADIUM! It has been months since I have been in the stadium. During my ironman training I was just not able to recover very well after one of these sessions. The routine has not changed much – it is still damn hard. We do a nice warm up to the stadium then do as many sets as we can. A set consists of running up the stairs one at a time, then running up the stairs two at a time, then doing lunges up the bleachers. After about 5 sets it starts to get real hard. The fatigue in your legs starts to build. You slow down. I was able to get nine complete sets in 30:15 or so – that is 27 times up the stadium. I had my heart rate monitor on (and GPS just for fun) and I was redlining for a lot of it. By the end my lunges we slow and there was copious amounts of sweat dripping off of me. I would not say that this was EPIC – but it was close. Maybe next week. I will feel this tomorrow!

Cycling intervals

The group was not at Jackson Station on Tuesday morning. Oh well, I decided to get a few miles anyway. I took it slow and easy for about 20 minutes because it was still dark and foggy – no scratch that – it was misty. It has been 100 percent humidity here lately. No I don’t think you understand – when I say 100 percent humidity that is what I mean. Here in South Mississippi 100 percent humidity means that the air is thick – so thick that it is like static rain dispersed with drizzle. You can look out the window and see the sun shining with rain hanging in the air. You cannot walk, much less ride or run, 10 feet without being totally saturated. Put a little bit of eucalyptus in the air and you have a wet sauna. Anyway, it is even worse in the mornings. I cannot wear my glasses and regardless of effort I soon weigh several pounds more due to water weight.

Once the light came out I decided to play with a little bit of speed work on the bike. Not much but I was going to do 1 minute all out efforts followed my 2 minutes of light peddling. It is harder than it sounds. 2 minutes of recovery is plenty of time in the beginning but past about 6 intervals it comes around quick. I completed 9 sets but the last one was not a solid effort – a minute was too long. But, it felt good. The legs were tired but not overwhelmed. I want to get organized and create a real cycling training plan this year. I want to get to the next tier if you will. I was in the 23 MPH range at a couple of races last year (23.9 at the Heart of Dixie – 27.5 miles) and want to pick it up a notch. I want to make my time on the bike more meaningful this year and not just more volume. I enjoy the group rides and the camaraderie but I want the solo stuff to be valuable and come out of the off season bigger and badder.

I just did some simple weight training at lunch – worked on my bench press and called it a day.

Off day - swimming and strength training - lol

Following the Tuesday 2 a day (bike AM – run PM) with the evening bike kicker I took Wednesday morning off. And with a long run planned for Thursday evening and the pool being closed I did not have much to do at lunch. I decided to do a little upper body strength training. I have missed the strength training for the last couple of months – my strength training has been very sporadic. I had to cut it out for time constraints but even more importantly I just was not fully recovering.

I hit my core and back and chest. I’ll be a little sore tomorrow but I am okay with that. After work we got together at the lake. The water and air temperature were perfect. We swam out the 500 yards and then swam from buoy to buoy. I have had to miss the swim for 5 days it felt good, however, it took about 400 yards to warm up. Once I was warm I felt like I could swim forever – a good sign. I was sighting off of Mike and we were making good time. I was practicing changing my pacing and I was swimming hard for 10 strokes and then swimming easy for 10 strokes. This is a good drill for me – it pushes me out of my comfort zone but not far enough out to prevent a quick recovery. Total swim was only 1200 yards or so but the OWS is so much more valuable to me.

I am still contemplating the road bike for the ironman – I know I will be much faster on the race bike but I am starting to think of this race as an event. I really want to do well but I also want to be in the moment and soak everything up.

I climb buoys

I had another nice early morning ride on Wednesday. For some reason I thought it was possible to get a 2 hour ride in before work. I guess it is possible if everything just clicks off just right – that would mean leave the house at 5:30 and arrive at the university at 7:30. Damn, I guess it is possible!

Anyway I got a nice 90 minute bike ride in before work on Wednesday but because I would be swimming after work I had to drive. I just took it at a very easy pace and put some miles under me. It still amazes me that you see the same people on the trace day after day. I know a lot of these people and we are all working our own plans but many others I just know by their running gait or their position on the bike. No names but similar goals I am sure.

I went to the gym at lunch and I thought about running outside. I thought that this could help with heat acclimation. I changed my mind on the walk to the gym. I don’t think an easy run in the heat would actually accomplish anything. I decided to jump on the treadmill for an easy 30 minutes run (that is all the plan called for) – but then decided for something faster. I dialed the treadmill up to a 7 minute / mile pace and was going to churn out a nice tempo run – I don’t think I do enough of these. After about a ¼ mile I turned it back down to a very easy run. After another ¼ mile I called it quits on the running. I was just not feeling it – I usually embrace these runs. Having 86’ed the cardio I thought I would do some weight training. I have missed most weight training sessions for the past 6 weeks – they have been few and far between. A couple of sets on the bench press and a lot of abs finished off lunch period.

Out at the lake after work the water just looked hot. I let the group take off towards the last buoy and I just soaked in the warm water for a few minutes. I took off slowly but tried to swim long and strong. There was a little chop in the water and quite a few swells from a boat and a few jet skies on the other side of the buoys. When I reached the last buoy (about 0.2x miles from shore) I was hot. I lifted my arms one at a time in the air to cool down. I wanted to climb on top of the buoy to cool off. I thought that it was funny that the 95+ degree heat was cool and refreshing. We stewed in the water for a little bit longer and Robin suggested a little bit longer interval than we have been doing– swim to the first buoy and back to the third buoy – this would be a touch over a ¼ mile. I think Robin or Ben was on my feet most of the way out and we separated after rounding the buoy. We all got back to the starting point close to the same time. I felt like I was in a cauldron. I had a lot of trouble cooling off. We all headed back to shore. The HOT oven like air in the intense sunlight felt refreshing. I was glad to be out of the water. It was a good swim and the effort was not too high but it was draining. We really need some rain to cool off the lake swimming.

This swim felt like it took a lot out of me – I am glad I did not do the outside run at lunch.

Swimming / running / dipping

Yesterday was touch and go at first. I was debating whether to take another rest day. I did a health check and my body was fine – no soreness / no aches and pains / no nagging injuries or issues. I arrived at the pool just as they were opening (6:30AM). I have been doing all of my workouts but not always following the workouts. I think some deviation is fine but I have to be careful and make sure I get the training in – it is easy to avoid the unpleasant workouts. This means skipping the pool swimming. So I made sure that I followed the work as written. This would include a lot of swim golf and 100 yard repeats. In addition there were several sets of kick drills. For whatever reason, I just don’t kick well. I struggled with these drills during my swim class and I stopped doing them altogether. My legs will get tired after 20 yards. Also I just don’t seem to go anywhere while kicking. With the kick board I would plow through the water – sinking – barely keeping my head afloat. Coach Mary was a little baffled during swim class and suggesting kicking while on my back without a kick board. This helps with the head above water and being able to breathe but still not very effective. So yesterday the kick drills were taking me about 2 minutes per lap (50 yards) and I was more exhausted after these laps than if I was swimming normally at a fast pace. So normal swimming for me does not include a kick at all – my legs are just being dragged along. I think my swim times could improve if I implemented a kick but it has hard so far.

Lunch included a trace run of 4 miles with Chad, Vic and Richard. I was hanging back with Richard – I was not going to set the pace. I was watching my heart rate monitor carefully – wanting it to stay in low zone 2. The pace was comfortable but maybe a little harder than I would have wanted it – even with the heart rate low. We finished up the run in exactly 32 minutes for an average of 8 minutes per mile.

Tuesday is chest day! We all warmed up with 135 pounds then set the weight at our body weights to see how many reps we could complete (1 warm up set plus 3 working sets). Because of the weight challenge we all knew where we stood. I clocked in at 165 pounds as did Richard. Chad was at 175 while Vic topped the scale at 195. I’m always touting body weight exercises because I just can’t complete on absolute weight. I was able to eek out 15 / 15 / 12 for my working sets – leading the pack. After the flat bench we did some incline presses and then, as always, we had a ‘dip off’. The maximum number of good form dips to end the day – once again a body weight exercise – my idea again! I got this one also. The strength training is just to keep lean muscle mass (and a little vanity) but I enjoy the friendly competition.

Rest day

Friday was a scheduled day off - and I needed it! I know my body well enough to know that the squats on Wednesday would plague me the rest of the week. I have tried in vain to develop a strength program that integrates compound exercises for my legs. It seems that no matter how slow I start, once I start doing big leg exercises, the next couple of days my legs just ache to the point that running and biking are next to impossible. Really - I have worked on this many times over the years.

So I had some fear about the squats on EPIC DAY this week but I knew that the rest day on Friday would help to temper the pain. Sure enough, just like clock work, the legs were killing me by Thursday afternoon and they just got worse on Friday. The second day is always the worst. Stairs were hard and just walking was a little tough.

However, the recovery has been better than the past - of course these were just body weight squats - nothing big or heavy or EPIC about them. I will be able to run today and be back in full stride!

Stadium lunges

Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. - Thomas Edison

I have been getting to work early this week. No exercising in the morning and it seems like I have an extra hour. Not sure what to do with myself.

At lunch I went to the football stadium and did lunges up the bleacher seats. Not over doing it but a pretty demanding leg workout. And, I know that I should be in complete taper mode, but, I ran some 50 yard and 100 yard dashes at about 90 percent effort. It felt good. After the leg workout it was back to the gym for abs. I worked my abs a little bit on Tuesday but really hit them hard again. My midsection was sore. I try to work on functional strength as much as possible and swinging the bat in softball has really brought that to light. My left obliques are getting really sore after batting practice. I guess the side planks are just not up to the task. I have been investigating better oblique workouts. I have some old POWER 90 DVD's (the pre-cursor to the P90X) that have some killer ab workouts. I might need to dust those off. What is the point of doing these exercises if they do not translate to real world strength?

We did end up winning our second softball game by default again. The other team just did not show up - pathetic but we might make the playoffs!

Day Off?

Bueller?... Bueller?... Bueller?

I actually took a cardio day off yesterday - it was scheduled! No running, biking or swimming at all. I normally have my swim class on Monday evenings but due to Mardi Gras the campus was closed. Yeah - that's right - No classes or anything here in Southern Mississippi during Mardi Gras (staff has to work though). I did do some strength training during lunch (back and abs) but nothing big. My legs felt better this morning so I ran the 6 miles to work at a conversational pace (just under 8 min / mile). Might do some speed work at lunch.

Also I think that I will sign up for a 5k for the weekend to test my speed and follow the race with a longer run.

Swimming and running PB's

Determination and perseverance move the world; thinking that others will do it for you is a sure way to fail. - Marva Collins

Yesterday was a scheduled off day. I do not do these well. I did let the legs rest but I worked my abs and back and then had a swim class after work. Mary really pushed me during this session again. I am feeling strong and making improvement. I did another 100 yard time trial. I started way to fast, like I was doing only a 50 yard TT - I had to hold on for the second lap. I finished the 100 yards in 1:22 - a personal best by 2 seconds. I think I have some more time in me (my kick is improving).

I rode the rollers this morning for 30 minutes. The rollers put a lot of pressure on my wrists. You do not notice how often you move your hands around around when you ride. I am getting very comfortable on the rollers but not enough to just be able to take my hands off of the bars.

At lunch I decide to try and redeem myself from the running time trial that I failed at last week. This was a little different. It was cool outside and I ran a known 5k route on the long leaf trace. There has been some construction so I am not completely sure of the exact distance so I added about 30 feet to the start / finish. This is an out and back and the back is just a little bit up hill. I ended up splitting this run perfectly. At the turn around I was at 9:55 and finished at 19:50. This would be a personal best. My average heart rate for the 19:50 was 173 with a max of 189. My complete max heart rate is right about 195 and I have been really close to this (194) during a real 5k. I might have just a little bit more speed in me yet. This is a good thing since my real 5k PB is 19:56. All of the 5k's are starting soon - should be a good year.

Coliseum stairs

I have climbed out of bed all week (yesterday and today) to exercise. I am trying to build a routine. I did an hour of bicycle hill climbs on the exercise bike at the gym. This was probably too easy. I read a book while I was doing it. I am still glad that I 'got it done' but I need to work on the intensity.

The intensity was brought at lunch. Another powerful workout with the gang. We ran the coliseum stairs and I brought my stop watch (actually heart rate monitor). When you have to compete in a measured amount of time it is much more demanding. With Chad close on my heals I clicked off four rounds (down - up - down - up all the way around the arena). All rounds were completed in 5 minutes or less with a 2 minute recovery walk in between. My times are noted below:

5:00
4:46
4:55
4:54

Next up were abs. A lot of Swiss ball crunches, bicycles and planks.

Swimming - 2 a days

I am down 5 pounds year to date: 13resolutions

I did get that trainer bike ride Time Trial in last night. Not the best workout but I am glad I did it. I warmed up for 3 miles (a little less than 10 minutes) and then did a 5 mile time trial. I tried to maintain my heart rate between 160 and 165 beats per minute. This is challenging but not too hard. I was dripping sweat by the time that I finished. I wrapped up with a 2 mile cool down. Nothing ground breaking but it was completed.

I had a 1 hour swimming session scheduled for today. An hour in the pool is difficult for me to complete. Not the the actually swimming but just the block of time. I was not successful in climbing out of bed early enough to get the hour swim. However, I am please that I decided to get up and do what I could. I put in 1500 yards this morning - 250 warm up, 10 x 100 work set and 250 cool down.

To complete the hour I got back in the pool at lunch. I just did 6 x 250 yards (with 30 seconds rest). I'm not fast but I am making progress. The times are noted below.

1. 4:15
2. 4:21
3. 4:19
4. 4:23
5. 4:23
6. 4:21

I also did strength training. ** Note to self - bench press after swimming is not the best idea. ** I'll be smarter next week. The training plan for tonight calls for an easy 45 minute bike.

Swimming and Stadium running

I got a good swim in yesterday at lunch. Nothing too taxing but a lot of drills. I warmed up with 250 yards and then did 20 x 50 yard repeats at 60 seconds. Every few reps I would do a different drill. The drills consisted of finger tip drags and catch-ups and swim golf (time of number of strokes equals your score - lower is better). Interesting, when I did the finger tip drag my time and stroke count decreased. The finger tip drill is intended to to keep your elbows high on the recovery which makes you rotate more on the stroke. I hit the weights for arms and abs after the swim. Did more of the catch-up drill to cool down.

I could not get out of bed this morning to do a bike time trial on the trainer. These time trials take so much physical and mental energy. I am going to try to get it in this evening. No promises.

At lunch I ran the stairs at the basketball coliseum - it was cold outside. These stairs are shorter than the football stadium. There was a lot less recovery going down the stairs. We 4 complete circles of the coliseum. After the stairs I did an extensive ab workout including Swiss ball crunches, bicycles and planks. This was in addition to the medicine ball sit ups.

Stength training for the new year.

Hitting the weights for the first time in weeks is really killing me - so sore...

Getting back into the routine is enjoyable. Ran the stadium yesterday - the best hill repeats in Southern Mississippi by far - and the calves are killing me. Hit the push-up and chin-ups and my back is killing me. Hit the medicine ball and Swiss ball and my abs are killing me. I am sure that I will not be able to lift my arms tomorrow after the chest today.

Good times - but still missing the swim.

Speed laces

Lacing up some shoes. I have been transferring these quick laces between new shoes for a couple of years - this is about the 6th pair to have these laces. I also use the yankz laces for racing. Who has time to tie shoes in a transition area.

I have been riding the rollers each morning for the past couple and I am actually getting used to it - although I am only riding for about 30 minutes. I continue to try to push a bigger gear - tough work but I think it will pay dividends come spring.

I have been staying off on the ankle. Still a little tender. I am doubling up on the bike, however, by riding the exercise bike at the gym. It has also let me read some bicycling and triathlon magazine (I know I am a little obsessive). Still doing the strength training - I know this is in complete contrast to my other goals but I can not waste muscle mass - I have too little to begin with.

I have been following the diet and it has been pretty easy. I have strayed a little this year with all of the racing an training a forgot about feeling hungry. Once you get used to it, it's not such a bad feeling. I would like to lose a little body fat for the coming half marathon. Lite makes right and I am looking for any speed I can gain.

I will, however, go off of the diet tomorrow night for Halloween. There is a special 'Track on Tap' Halloween edition (costume mandatory). T on T is a month get together of the pine belt pacers where you get together and run from pub to pub. It is really a lot of fun. This one will be downtown with a lot of neat bars that I have not frequented.

Suicides

Tried to do a LT run in the treadmill this morning at the Payne Center. I started out a little too aggressive. I set the treadmill to maintain my heart rate at 170 BPM. However, the treadmill with allow the heart rate to fluctuate by five degrees either way before slowing or increasing pace / incline. After 20 minutes my heart rate was at 175 and I was not able to sustain. Next time I will put in a more conservative 165 - 168.

I hit the pull ups and chin ups pretty hard to finish out the workout.

Did suicides at lunch. A hard set of 6 with 1 minute RI followed by a slow run around the field. Then two more hard sets.

Finished out the lunch session with a chest workout. Just like last week, every set to failure was tough. We have been doing a reverse pyramid the last two weeks. I will feel this all weekend.

Panic

Ended up riding the bike home on Tuesday. Nice cool weather. Jodie and I enjoyed the ride.

I had planned on getting up and running to work again. Jodie had to drive so I would not have to run home. We went to bed a normal time, however, we were both awaken by the door bell ringing non-stop. It was after midnight. I jumped out of bed and put on a pair of jeans and a shirt. The ringing had turned to banging on the front door. We live in a quite neighborhood. This was very odd.

I went to the front door and it was Phil from across the street. We have been over to Phil's house for a cookout and we are very neighborly.

Phil was very pale and not breathing well. He had his blackberry out and was talking to someone. I told Phil to come into the house. He was having problems breathing. He was trying to speak with his son on the phone. I took the phone and spoke with Scott - Scott does not live in town.

Scott said that this has happened to Phil before and that we has acid reflux and has trouble breathing. Phil was also in full blown panic. I tried to decide whether to call an ambulance or take Phil to the hospital.

I am ashamed to say that if it were more serious Phil would have died in my house. Eventually I went with Phil to his house and we talk and he felt better.

I got back to sleep at around 3AM.

I drove in to work with Jodie. I was dead to the world. When my schedule gets interrupted it is hard for me to get started. So no morning workout.

Wednesdays are "Stadium Days." Ran the steps with Vic, Chad and Richard. The weather was cool and I felt strong. I post a 5:37, 5:22 and a 5:23 on the stadium sessions. We then went out on the field to attempt a few field goals. Chad, a former soccer player, had made Vic a wager that we could nail 9 out of 10 from 23 yards. The same distance that the Mississippi State kicker had recently missed.

It turned out that Chad probably could not hit 1 out of 10 much less 9. We all made a few attempts at the field goal. I was the only one to hit one. Did abs and shoulders in the gym.

Ended up driving home with Jodie.

As a side note - I did not do the Dot Race on Tuesday but Vic clocked a 6:4x! He is getting fast.

A very gratifing hurt but hurt none the less.

Thursday night was another all night session at work (the last for a few months). Worked all day Thursday and rode the bike home at around 4:30 PM. Drove back to work at 8PM and ran some errands with Kyle.

Kyle ended up buying a bathtub full of tuna at discount retailer - something line 60 pouches of plain tuna in water. As a side note he would have to have all of this fishy food in his carry-on bag for his flight home on Saturday.

Got back to work at about 9:30 PM and did not wrap up and finish until 5AM. I drove home just in time to grab the first cup of coffee. I was able to get about 2 1/2 hours of sleep that morning. Friday was also going to be a demanding night at work. I arrived at work at around 1PM and did not leave until after 11PM. To decompress we went to a local tavern to have a drink - I only had a Diet Coke. Got home just before 1AM.

Slept like a rock until 6AM. I had agreed to do a 'Coastal Clean up' in Gulf Port about 60 miles away. I'm just glad that I did not have to drive. Made it to Gulf Port and picked up trash for about 2 hours and then I had to go and lie down in the car. I was exhausted, my stomach hurt and just did not feel well. So much for exercise and working the plan for Friday and Saturday.

I was also damn sore from the weight traingin work out from Thursday. The chest was aching, the shoulders were damaged. A very gratifing hurt but hurt none the less.

Got back on the horse on Sunday with a brisk (55 degree) run to Epley and Back. This run is just over 12 miles. Started out with a comfortable pace (Heart rate in the 140's) of about 8 minute miles. I ran this for the first 6 something miles and picked the pace up just a little as I turned to home. Ran the next 4 miles at 7:30 - 7:40 minutes per mile (150's). On the home stretch I again pushed the pace a little with close to 7:00 minute miles (160's). I ran past the house to get a full 13 miles - I stopped just short at 12.9x miles. I finished the run at 1:39:41 for an average pace of 7:44/mile. I do not believe that I will be able to finish the Gulf Coast 1/2 Marathon at my goal pace.

Just for clarification, I always pick my goals in a fashion. I pick the Gold Medal - this is out of reach, it will take a miracle to achieve this goal, it will not happen but it is the ultimate goal. The Silver Medal is achievable but everything will have to go as planned, no mistakes, just hard work and perseverance. And the Bronze Medal - Train hard and smart and this one is possible, but not a given, it will require work.

My Gold medal goal for this 1/2 marathon (which I have not taken as serious as I should have and only have 5 weeks left) is a 7:00/mile pace and finishing at or below 1:31. I guess I also have a super goal of finishing just below 1:30. I am going to use the results of this 1/2 marathon to plan the paces and workouts for a full marathon early next year. A Boston qualifing time is a dream in a full marathon but once again that is a gold medal goal.

The Silver medal is the low 1:30's. Finishing at 1:35 or less. This is going to be damn hard. I am really going to have determine my max pace for 13.1 miles and execute to achieve this goal - I can do this one.

The Bronze medal is 1:40 or less. Not a given but I think that I can do this one with a hard but not killer effort. I have never run a foot race of anywhere near this distance but I do have confidence.

I am trying to catch the excitement for this race. The water is hot but not yet boiling. Waiting for the steam.