There's a thin line...

...between mental toughness and stupidity. I ran that line today. I had one of the most horrible runs EVER. I think it was at a 12:00ish pace and I simply could NOT go any faster. My calves were in knots for the entire run. My quads and hammies aching with fatigue.

I stuck it out, but as I gimped through it, I realized that this exactly what I tell people not to do. Every time I had to pull off in the grass and stepped into a dip or on a rock, I realized that my calves were so tight that one stupid roll of my ankle could have strained or pulled anything and everything from my heel to my knee.

What did I get out of this painful, dangerous, painful, super slow run (yes, double painful)? Not much. Maybe I sweat of a couple of chocolate chip pancakes from yesterday, but that's but a drop in the big bucket that was my binge o' the month. Maybe the legs have gained a bit more tolerance, but it's the first week of training. Still have 11 more to build up the legs on days when I feel much better.

I think in order to be successful at achieving my goal for this next half marathon I have to train smarter. I need to adjust my schedule to make sure I don't have back to back hard run days and do a recovery run on Sunday to break up some of the lactic acid early on. No sitting all day snackin' just because it's supposed to be a day of rest!

I keep forgetting I'm not 20 Something anymore. I've got to be kinder to my aging limbs.

Ready, set...

GO! Sunday is the 1st day of the new training program. A little nervous. I upped it to "intermediate", which means I can't always just go through the motions to get a training run done.

This time around speed work is involved to help pick up my pace. I can't just do the best I can, I have to find a pace beyond my comfort zone and hold it. I'm pretty sure I can do it, I just don't think I'll like it a whole lot. I'll definitely look forward to the scheduled straight up runs at nice comfy paces.

Alright. I'm ready.

Cross Training

So, I'm kind of cross training for both running and triathlons, but since the next race will be a 1/2 marathon, the focus will be on that.

I will continue to swim at least twice a week. I have found it to be a very relaxing, overall work out for the muscles. I also find the pressure of water to be a sort of mini massage on the cheap. It's quite the workout for my upper body, most especially, which will help me maintain good form during my runs.

Cycling is something I kind of enjoy. Mostly the mountain kind, but it has helped to strengthen my lower body as long as I do mostly hills. This I will likely do 1 to 2x a week, but it is not a priority. It's a focused workout that I don't like, but it will help both my running and triathlon efforts by giving me some strong glutes and quads.

Today's training consisted of a 1500M swim that took me 41 minutes and 39 long seconds. Just a shade quicker than the usual. Ack. Dunno when I'll bring that time anywhere near below two minutes per 100M. Waiting for my swim instructor to get back to help me with that.

Before that I got in a very uncomfortable 3 mile run on the treadmill. Every dang Sunday lately I get my ass kicked. I've got turf burns on my elbows, and some kind of weird calf injury. Someone missed the ball completely with the TOE and got my calf. It's a small spot of very intense pain!

I'm hoping the rest of the week's training will be more comfortable. I'd stop the co-ed master's soccer games if the team owner wasn't a friend. It's just a weekly beat down, as far as I'm concerned.

Happy Monday!

Training Necessities

The Plan:

Went with Hal Higdon's novice plan for my marathon training and liked it. Simple, reasonable, and I felt positive about my progress after each long run. Going with the intermediate program that will incorporate tempo and interval runs.

The Equipment:

Drank the minimalist cool-aid and purchased a pair of Saucony Hattoris. So far they've been very comfortable for up to 5 miles on the road. They force me to strike on the balls of my feet which puts less stress on my hamstrings when I'm going for speed. Of course I have my trusty Brooks for my longer runs when I'm not focused on time and will use the longer strides.

 Since I'm doing some triathlon training and still playing soccer on top of the running, I need to stay on top on my nutrition and take care of the machine. Endurox R4 for muscle recovery and Cytomax energy drink for anti-bonking purposes during the long training sessions.

 The trusty Timex. Eventually I'll pick up a Garmin, but in the meantime, this watch and my iPhone with the Adidas miCoach app have been great for tracking runs, swims, and cycling.

Crosshairs trained...

...on this race. My personal best for the half marathon distance is 2:14 and change (I cannot find the race results for that race at the moment). The goal is to finish in 2:05, which has been the average pace of my training runs for the last few months.

It's Been A While...

...since I've felt this motivated. It's taken a series of failures and a birthday milestone, but I finally get it. I'm no longer 20 something and have to work my butt off to progress. I'm determined to post new PB's. Bring on the lonely miles, hill repeats, tempo runs, and speed work. It's on like Donkey Kong. Yeah, yeah... again.

It Feels Good!

For the first time in a long, long while, I'm enjoying training runs. Did 9x400 today. Ran the pace laps at 8:34 with the recovery laps at 10:34. Last pace lap was actually at 8:00 and I finished strong. No pain in my legs AT ALL, which is not something I was able to say much last year. This last month of running has only been positive for me. I have to credit adding swimming, cycling, and yoga to my training schedule as it's the only thing I'm doing differently from since last year. I foresee a pleasant 2012 full running that feels good again.