March 9th to 15th, 2009

This was supposed to be a recovery week and I took full advantage of it and ran really slowly. I didn't have to force myself to run slowly either since my legs were like cement blocks the entire week!

Monday
Med-Long
11.27 mi, 8:40/mi, 142

Tuesday
Recovery
4.01 mi, 10:01/mi, 112 bpm
Uhhhg, this run was awful, barely made it 4 miles, soooo tired!

Wednesday
Off - I think my body was trying to tell me something yesterday.

Thursday
Recovery
10.02 mi, 9:00/mi, 125 bpm
Felt awful for the first 3-4 miles, then started to get in a groove.

Friday
Med-Long
15.03 mi, 8:21/mi, 138 bpm
Feeling better today, energy returning.

Saturday
Fartlek
9.23 mi, 8:11/mi, 146 bpm
Good run, but felt reallllly slooowww on the faster portions of the fartlek.

Sunday
Recovery
8.30 mi, 8:56/mi, 124 bpm
It rained today, that seems to be the theme lately on Sundays. Wasn't really into this run, was happy to be done.

Total:
57.86 miles
Avg pace 8:42/mi
Avg HR 130

March 2nd to 8th, 2009

I wasn't sure how this week was going to go since I felt the fatigue has been building and I'm due for a down week. Overall it went pretty good, the long run felt better than last week and I got a good tempo run in.

Monday
Off

Tuesday
Recovery
7.02 mi, 9:03/mi, 126 bpm

Wednesday
Med-Long
15.09 mi, 8:15/mi, 142 bpm
A bit of a struggle today, it rained the entire run and I didn't get in the groove until half way through.

Thursday
Recovery
7.05 mi, 9:05/mi, 126 bpm

Friday
Tempo
12.02 mi, 7:43/mi, 143 bpm
Legs felt fine starting out, but when I got to crossover drive, i really didn't feel like picking it up, then I decided I would just do a short pickup to get the legs moving instead of the 7mi tempo, then once my legs started going, they kept going! pace felt pretty good actually.
7:24 (151)
7:21 (153)
7:22 (159)
7:12 (162)
7:07 (159)
7:14 (159)
7:06 (161)

Saturday
Long Run
21.17 mi, 8:25/mi, 136bpm

Sunday
Recovery
8.12 mi, 8:38/mi, 129 bpm

Total:
70.47 miles
Avg pace 8:25/mi
Avg HR 135

February 23rd to March 1st, 2009

The last few weeks has been nothing but rain around here, its a good thing I have 3 pairs of running shoes to alternate between. Running in the rain is not so bad, the hardest part is just getting out the door.

Monday
Off

Tuesday
Recovery
8.24 mi, 8:23/mi, 135 bpm

Wednesday
Recovery
8.16 mi, 8:43/mi, 129 bpm

Thursday
Med-Long
14.16 mi, 8:23/mi, 136 bpm

Friday
Tempo
11.22 mi, 8:03/mi, 141 bpm
Today I started this run pretty slow and decided that I didn't want to do a tempo, I was too tired, etc, etc, and just as I was running that thought through my head, my legs started picking up the pace and before you know it I was running the tempo!
7:32 (155)
7:20 (162)
7:26 (163)
7:12 (165)
7:26 (163)

Saturday
Recovery
6.58 mi, 8:36/mi, 129bpm
Felt springy and light on my feet today!

Sunday
Long
20.32 mi, 8:34/mi, 132 bpm
Today I felt the opposite of yesterday, my legs had no bounce, the run was a struggle from the get-go and it rained for the entire 3 hours!

Total:
68.67 miles
Avg pace 8:27/mi
Avg HR 134

February 16th to 22nd, 2009

This was another really good week of training. Most of my runs I felt stronger and stronger as the run went on. The week started out with a very slow recovery run then on Wednesday I ran a medium-long run at a comfortable pace. Thursday I had the day off of work and the weather was warm and sunny, so instead of my normal loop through the park, I ran down to the ocean and back. The best part about this run was how strong I felt running from the ocean back to the apartment which is mostly uphill. Saturday was an uneventful easy run and Sunday was another medium-long run, the weather was awful, howling winds and pouring rain for the entire day!

Monday
Off

Tuesday
Recover
6.30 mi, 9:43/mi, 116 bpm

Wednesday
Med-Long
13.54 mi, 8:28/mi, 130 bpm

Thursday
Med-Long
15.05 mi, 7:51/mi, 148 bpm
This was a really good run, ran the second half faster than the first even with a lot of it being uphill. Last 2 were at 7:23(158) and 7:24(160), last week, near the end of an 11 miler, I ran 7:38(157) and 7:32(161), so for almost the same heart rate, the pace was faster this week. That is a good sign if the trend continues.

Friday
Recovery
6.36 mi, 8:33/mi, 128 bpm

Saturday
Recovery + Speed
9.32 mi, 8:15/mi, 142bpm
Easy run with 6x100 pickups.

Sunday
Med-Long
15.04 mi, 7:52/mi, 145 bpm
I ran through a downpour for 2 hours and was totally drenched when I got home. Luckily they kept JFK closed to traffic so I could run in the middle of the road and avoid running through the small lakes forming on the sidewalks.

Total:
65.58 miles
Avg pace 8:17/mi
Avg HR 137

February 9th to 15th, 2009

After feeling pretty tired lately and wondering if maybe I was putting in too many miles, I finally feel like I had a breakthrough week! I felt stronger than ever!

Monday
Off

Tuesday
Lactate Threshold
10.16 mi, 7:51/mi, 148 bpm
7:21 (160)
7:19 (162)
7:19 (163)
7:17 (159)
7:07 (167)

Wednesday
Med-Long
14.06 mi, 8:06/mi, 151 bpm
HR went a little crazy during the run today, jumped up about 20 beats for the same 8 minute pace.

Thursday
Recovery
5.14 mi, 8:19/mi, 141 bpm
HR very high again today, or at least higher than normal. Pace felt easy though. I started getting a sore throat at work, so maybe the high heart rate was an indication of a pending cold. Luckily by Friday the sore throat was gone.

Friday
11.08 mi, 7:57/mi, 146 bpm
Felt really good today. There was a guy on the path ahead of my and I felt compelled to chase him down, so after averaging about 8:15 for the first 5, I started picking it up to catch him and then after I passed him I was in a groove, so just kept going with it. The last 6 I was feeling strong, splits:
7:44 (152)
7:38 (156)
7:36 (156)
7:38 (157)
7:32 (161)
7:47 (162)

Saturday
Long Run
21.01 mi, 8:05/mi, 140bpm
Felt pretty good and kept a pretty even pace throughout the run, felt really strong at the end and picked up the pace to 7:34 and 7:29 for the last two miles.


Sunday
Aerobic Run
8.58 mi, 7:39/mi, 154 bpm
It was pouring rain all day today and since I had to work this morning, I only got my run in around 3pm at which time the puddles were very deep. After realizing I was not going to get away with dry feet, I happily bounded through the puddles, some which were do deep the water was up to my calves. So along with the puddles, it was raining with 20 mile an hour winds. Sounds like fun, I know. Anyway, usually I love to run on JFK Blvd on Sundays since the road is closed to traffic, but since nobody was crazy enough to be out in the rain, they opened the road early and I was forced to run on the path which is another reason I couldn't avoid the massive puddles. After about 3 miles, I felt like my legs were running on their own and at the half way point the pace dropped from even 8's to 7:15's. Maybe my body just wanted to get home as fast as possible, I'm not sure, but I felt really great today and the pace felt comfortable. Last 4 miles:
7:15 (162)
7:12 (165)
7:16 (168)
7:18 (158)


Total: 70.04 miles

February 2nd to 8th, 2009

This week I felt motivated to add a little more variety such as hills and some faster running because I've been feeling a little slow and sluggish lately while my body is adapting to the mileage.

Monday
Off

Tuesday
9 mi, 8:35/mi, 141 bpm
I started this run by tackling Parnassus St from 6th to Stanyan. The first uphill section starts at 300 feet and rises to 500 feet over 1/4 mile. It then flattens out briefly before a 1/4 mile downhill to about 375 feet. I did this section twice then headed to the track for a 5 x 100 meters to get the legs moving a little. After that I headed into the park. Overall a nice run.

Wednesday
Med-Long
12.25 mi, 8:37/mi, 132 bpm
Started out the same as yesterday on Parnassus, then the track then out to the park. Feeling a little tired today.

Thursday
Recovery
4.5 mi, 9:10/mi, 118 bpm
Felt really tired today.

Friday
Off
Had planned on running today. Got up, got dressed, then headed out the door, that's when I saw the pouring rain, it was coming down sideways and there were puddles out there that looked deep enough to swim in...so I turned around and jumped back into bed for an extra hour and a half of sleep. Glad I made that decision, I needed the sleep.

Saturday
Fartlek
7.5 mi, 8:02/mi, 145bpm
Due to the extra sleep yesterday I felt terrific today. Headed out super early (5am) since we had some friends in town and it was the only time that I could get it done.

This run included 5 pickups between 1/2 and 3/4 mile with the pace between 6:38 and 7:10. It was VERY quiet in the park this early, I only saw 2 other runners and that was near the end of the run.

Sunday
Long Run
20.25 mi, 8:13/mi, 142 bpm
This run was kind of tough today, I felt good for the most part, but my legs started getting really tight a few times which forced me to stop and stretch them out. After stretching though, they felt really good for a while. The middle miles were the toughest, once I got to 15 I could see the light at the end of the tunnel and started picking it up. At the end I felt like I could of run a few more.

Total: 53.50 miles

January 19th to 25th, 2009

This week can be summed up in one word: consistency

Monday
Recovery
5 mi, 8:55/mi, 123 bpm

Tuesday
Aerobic
11 mi, 8:32/mi, 136 bpm

Wednesday
Off

Thursday
Med-Long
14 mi, 8:33/mi, no HR

Friday
Recovery
5 mi, 8:30/mi, 132 bpm

Saturday
Long
18 mi, 8:16/mi, 143 bpm

Sunday
Fartlek
9 mi, 8:34/mi, 135 bpm

Total: 62 miles

January 12th to 18th, 2009

Another great week of training is complete and I am happy to report that my legs bounced back nicely after feeling a little fatigued last week.

Monday
Recovery
5 miles, 9:19/mi, 121 bpm

Tuesday
Med-Long run, general aerobic
13 miles, 8:18/mi, 140 bpm

Wednesday
Med-Long run, general aerobic
11 miles, 7:58/mi, 148 bpm

Thursday
General aerobic with speed
10 x 100 m pickups
9 miles, 8:06/mi, 146 bpm

Friday
Recovery
5 miles, 8:36/mi, 132 bpm

Saturday
Med-Long run
15 miles, 8:10/mi, 151 bpm

This run felt harder than it should have. My heart rate was also higher than normal, I expected it to be about 145 or so. I've been doing all my running really early in the morning when the temperature is about 40-45. For this run, I started at 10am and the temperature was 60, so that may have made the difference.

Sunday
Off

Total: 58 miles

January 5th to 11th, 2009

Week 2 of the 18 week marathon training plan is now complete. My legs were feeling it this week as is obvious by the paces of most of the runs this week. Halfway through the mid week long run on Wednesday I was really feeling it and I struggled to finish. The easy day on Thursday helped somewhat, but the run on Friday was no picnic. Saturday was the group run, so the first 4 were comfortable but after splitting with the group to head back, the hills felt like they were double their normal size. Finally things started looking up when I headed out this morning for the long run. My legs didn't feel too bad and I was able to comfortably keep the pace between 8 and 8:30 for most of the 17.

Monday
Off

Tuesday
Aerobic with speed
8 miles w/10x100 pickups, 8:32/mi, 137 bpm

Wednesday
Mid-week medium-long run
12 miles, 8:43/mi, 134 bpm

Thursday
Recovery
5 miles, 9:15/mi, 119 bpm

Friday
Aerobic
9 miles, 8:34/mi, 134 bpm

Saturday
Supposed to be recovery, but it was more like a general aerobic run
6 miles, 8:40/mi, 135 bpm

Sunday
Long run
17 miles, 8:24/mi, 144 bpm

Total: 57 miles

December 29th, 2008 - January 4th, 2009

This is the first official week of marathon training and I must say that I am quite pleased with the way it went. The biggest issue I was having was with my knee/calf but that seems to be working itself out and I was able to complete all planned workouts this week.

Monday
Off

Tuesday
Run - 11.5 mi, 8:25/mi, 144 bpm
Bike - 5.5

Wednesday
Run - 6.35 mi, 8:11/mi, 141 bpm
Bike - 5.5
The run started out promising but took a turn for the worst at about 5 miles. I was let out of work early, 2pm which is when I started running. I didn't know I was getting out that early and ate lunch at 1pm...so, that wasn't good.

Thursday
Run - 9 mi, 8:03/mi, 143 bpm

Friday
Run - 4.5 recovery, watch battery died, so no data

Saturday
Run - 15 mi, 7:46/mi, 155 bpm
I was pretty pleased with this run. I was going to shoot for an 8 minute pace, but after 2 miles, I fell in to the 7:20 groove and stayed around there for 8 miles. My heart rate was a little higher than it should have been but it's probably from taking so many days off the last two weeks due to the knee/calf issue.
Here are the splits for the middle 8:
7:16 (155)
7:21 (156)
7:17 (158)
7:18 (166)
7:23 (163)
7:29 (156)
7:36 (163)
7:36 (158)

Sunday
Run - 8 miles w/10x100, 8:21/mi, 136 bpm

Summary
Run 54.35 miles
Bike 11 miles

Overall a successful week.

December 22nd - 28th 2008

This was another slow week, still trying to get over the 'knee' pain. Actually, by the end of the week I started to realize that the pain was actually in my calf but was radiating to the knee area. I started massaging a sore spot on my calf on Saturday and on Sunday I was able to get in 8 miles with only mild discomfort. I took Monday the 29th off and this morning I did 11.5. The run wasn't without any discomfort though, after about 4 miles I started feeling it, and by 7 miles it had peaked, interestingly enough, somewhere after 7 miles the discomfort magically disappeared and the rest of the run felt pretty good!

Monday
Off
Cycle - 5.5 mi

Tuesday
Run - 7 miles, 8:26/mi, 143bpm
The knee/calf felt great for the first 6 then really started bothering me.
Cycle - 5.5 mi

Wednesday
Run - 3.75 mi, 8:27/mi, 139bpm
This wasn't the planned run but the knee/calf was not cooperating.

Thursday
Run - 4.22 mi, 8:24/mi, 130bpm
Nothing like starting Christmas morning with a run! Too bad I had to cut it short once again.

Friday
Off - Family in town, touring San Francisco

Saturday
Off - Family in town, touring San Francisco

Sunday
Run - 8 mi, 8:15/mi, 147bpm
Finally the knee/calf cooperated after some massaging. This run felt really good, I guess all this downtime gave my legs a little extra spring. The last few miles in the park felt like I was on autopilot. I was also testing out my new headphones that I got for Christmas and they are awesome! Finally a pair that stay in my ears and don't bother me. I hope these will last a while, I haven't had much luck with headphones.

Summary
Run 22.97 miles
Cycle 11 miles

December 15th - 21st 2008

Two weeks ago on Sunday the 7th, I had one of the best long runs I'd had in a long time, there was just one small thing that went wrong, near the end of the run my left knee started to hurt. I ignored it and finished the run but did slow down a bit the last few miles. After that run, my knee felt sore again for the next 3 runs but only going up hills and it felt better and better each run. A week ago on the 14th, I wanted to get in 11 or 12 miles along with a 5k. The pre-race warm up and race went well and afterwards I kept running another 6 miles to complete the run. With about 3 miles to go, the knee soreness came back. Of course, I kept running. By the time I got home it was really sore and for the rest of the day it hurt walking, bending, etc. Monday is usually a rest day which was good because my knee was still really sore. It started feeling a bit better by the evening but I decided to take Tuesday off as well just to make sure. Tuesday night it was feeling good except when walking up hills, so I took Wednesday off as well. Thursday I went to the track in the morning because I wanted to run on a flat surface. The first three miles were great, the knee was pain free. Then it started to get sore, slowly and I kept running. I ended up with 6 miles but the last three I was stopping to stretch, rub, etc. It would feel better for a lap and then start getting sore again. Friday I tried the track again and got in 2 miles before I started to feel it. Once again, I stopped, shook it out then got in one more mile before it intensified.

I had a race planned for Sunday and really didn't think I'd be able to do it. Saturday I took the day off of running on Jim's suggestion with the plan that I would go to the race and if my knee started to hurt I could shut it down and not finish the race. So on a total of 9 miles running this week, I headed to the race this morning. I warmed up with 1 mile of running and was feeling pretty good. The race turned out to be pretty hilly I thought. According to the Garmin, there was 350 feet of uphill, 1.25 miles of the race. My main focus was to keep my heart rate over 170 during the race. Here are the splits:
Mile 1, 6:37, 163 avg, 173 max
Mile 2, 6:25, 171 avg, 190 max (hit this climbing a hill, not sure if it is accurate)
Mile 3, 6:37, 171 avg, 175 max
.15, 1:03, 172 avg, 172 max (uphill finish)
This was a certified course so it was accurate, but of course since you can't always run tangent to tangent, I ended up with 3.15 for a 6:34 pace. Compared to last weeks race, I feel pretty good since this course was alot hillier. I was happy that I was able to keep my heart rate higher than the last race. I was also hurting a lot more at the end of this race. The last 1/4 mile was tough. Here is the summary from last weeks 5k:
Mile 1, 6:38, 161 avg, 169 max
Mile 2, 6:57, 167 avg, 169 max
Mile 3, 6:29, 168 avg, 178 max
.04, :16, 170 avg, 171 max
This wasn't a certified course and according to Garmin was a bit short. So I ended up with 3:04 miles at 6:41 pace.

So after the race today, I ran a mile to warm down and then I started feeling my knee a little bit, so I shut it down before it got any worse. I'm not sure what is going on with my knee, the pain is on the inside of the knee. I think it kind of feels the same way that IT band pain feels (its been a long time since I had IT band pain). But anyway, the IT band is on the other side of the knee. Nothing is swollen or sore to the touch either. So I am going to take another easy week of running and hope that it is all better by the 29th because that is when I start the 18 week marathon training plan for Avenue of the Giants. Can't wait!

A few comments about the race, I liked the course, and after finishing I headed over to get some water or a banana or something and found that they were handing out ice cream, yum :) It was funny that some people thought it was too cold for ice cream ... ummm I don't think that is ever the case ;) The temperature was in the mid 40s with light rain, but after a good run it didn't feel cold at all. After the race I met 3 other women who live in the area and are regular runners, one even works downtown in IT as well. So the four of us chatted for a bit while we waited for the awards. I finished 3rd overall and Tina finished 2nd overall, so we figured we should wait. Well, we waited and waited while they took a century to hand out the 1 mile race awards (which were really just printed certificates). We knew there were some gift certificates for the winners but we didn't know if it was just the overall winner or top three or what, plus they had door prizes, so it seemed worth it to wait a bit for the awards. Anyway, they finally finished the mile awards and then guess what??? They told us that the bibs were all hand written in ink that ran in the rain, so they had no idea what the names and ages of most of the finishers were! Ok, so I don't really care about getting an age group award (but it is nice sometimes and appreciate it when I do receive one), but the most important thing about a race is accurate timing and results! So I was a little disappointed with that. Also, since they knew that they could not announce any 5k results, they could have mentioned that right away so that those that wanted to leave could do so.

So the week summary looks like this:

Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday
0 miles running
no cycling

Thursday
6 miles running

Friday
3 miles running

Saturday
0 miles running

Sunday
5 miles including 5k race

Total:
14 miles running
No cycling this week because it was unseasonably cold due to s storm system coming down from Canada plus a couple of days of rain, so that on top of a sore knee meant no cycling this week.

On a side note, my wonderful mother and father-in-law sent us a Wii for Christmas and we've been having loads of fun playing it! I must say that you can get quite a workout as well - especially with boxing!

December 8th - 14th 2008

Monday
Running - Off
Cycle - to/from work, 11 miles

Tuesday
Run - 5mi, 8:35/mi, 140bpm
Cycle - to/from work, 11 miles

Wednesday
Run - 5.16, 8:35/mi, 138bpm
Another easy run, legs feeling OK but not very peppy
Cycle - to/from work, 11 miles

Thursday
Run - Off, was very tired so uncharacteristically, I turned off the alarm and went back to sleep
Cycle - to/from work, 11 miles


Friday
Run - 7mi, 8:31/mi, 134bpm
Felt good, but the legs were not turning over very fast, in other words, I felt like I was running 8 min pace but it was actually 8:30's hmmm
Cycle - to/from work, 11 miles

Saturday
Run - 5.75mi, 8:04/mi, 144bpm
Felt really good on this run, had to slow myself down since I had a race planned for Sunday.

Sunday
Run - 11mi Total, warm up 2.2 miles, 5k race, then 5.8 miles to finish up.
The race was a very small race put on by a local running group, they organize races almost every weekend throughout the year. This one started at the Conservatory of Flowers so I could just jog over to the start from my apartment. The race is low key, no shirts, no awards (just ribbons) and no chip timing, they did have bananas, oranges etc at the finish which was nice. The race only costs $5 and its a good way to some racing in without having to drive somewhere, spend a lot more money, etc. While warming up I noticed there was a women there that looked like she could be pretty fast, when she lined up at the start with her racing gear on, I knew she was going to be fast. She finished the race in 18 something, 1st women. The race went down JFK then looped around the lake and back on JFK to the finish. My main goal for this race was to just get in a practice run before a race I'm running next week. I planned to focus on form and getting my heart rate over 170. My heart rate ended up being 167, 168 and 170. I think for the first time ever my third mile was the fastest of the race. I felt really good for the third mile and started picking off people. The second mile was the slowest, but I did not feel like it was because I was running out of gas because I felt fine, but that section of the race goes up and down and around the lake. Nobody passed me on the second mile and I didn't fall out of position, so I think a lot of people slowed down. The end result was a 20:22 for the race not bad considering I haven't done a 5k in a while so I am looking forward to next weekend's race to see if I can better this. I ended up as the 2nd women and came away with a fancy ribbon to commemorate the occasion :). A few minutes into the race it started raining and then it was pouring. I wanted to get my long run in so I was planning on running home after the race and changing out of my racing flats but since I was already drenched and knew if I went home I would not want to go back out, so I did my 'cool down' of about 5.8 miles in the pouring rain, it was enjoyable but at the same time bone-chilling. The nice hot shower felt really good when I was done!

Summary
33.91 miles running
55 miles cycling (commuting)

December 1st - 7th 2008

Monday
Off

Tuesday
1.25 warm up
6 x 400
92, 93, 94, 93, 93, 93
1 mi cool down
Heart rate monitor did not register correctly, so no data
4.87 miles

Wednesday
Recovery run - slow
5.25 miles

Thursday
5 miles, 8.25/mi, 139bpm

Friday
2 mi warm up
3 x 1200 (wanted to do 4 but got out the door too late)
4:59(162), 4:56(165), 4:55(166)
1 mi cool down
5.75 mi

Saturday
Group run
6.7 mi, 8.04/mi, 148bpm

Sunday
Long run
12.08 mi, 7:36/mi, 152bpm
Happy with this run, the legs were turning over well and the first 7 miles felt effortless.
8:23 (111)
7:57 (140)
7:24 (150)
7:02 (156)
6:57 (161)
6:53 (167)
7:18 (160)
7:44 (156)
7:40 (158)
7:51 (160)
7:37 (155)
8:14 (156)

Summary
40.5 miles running
55 miles cycling (commuting)

November 24th to 30th 2008

I think I'll start posting my weekly training, so here it is:

Monday
5mi, 8:12 pace, HR Avg 143
Cycle to/from work 11 miles

Tuesday
No running
Cycle to/from work, 11 miles

Wednesday
3mi, 9:00 pace, HR Avg 125 - Easy run the day before the race

Thursday
1mi warmup
5.25mi race, 7:17 pace, HR Avg 160 - Turkey Trot

Friday
6mi, 8:11 pace, No HR, equipment problems

Saturday
12mi, 8:15 pace, HR Avg 140 - Long run

Sunday
6mi, 8:55 pace, HR Avg 133 - Trail running with Jim

Summary
38.25 miles running
22 miles cycling