Training in Montana

4 TM miles at the Y, followed by 3X10 curls, triceps, chest; 25 pushups; 45 achilles dips. The achilles heel dips seem to be working their magic once again.

Snowed a bunch last night and this morning so the commute was rough, plus helped shovel the church sidewalks after dropping off Peyton for seminary. Got to the Y after 8 am. Time to shower and get to work. Had to leave work early for Connor's wrestling match so no lunchtime workout. Busy after the match, so no nighttime workout. Life is busy.

4 TM miles while it was 4 degrees outside. TM running will be the norm for at least the next week as our HIGH temp through Monday is 10 degrees (lowest temp -20 + windchill). Highs Thursday-Saturday: -1, -7, -6. I love Alaska weather.

Progression run as normal. 0.5 miles at 10:00, 1.5 at 8:57, 1 at 8:13, 1 at 7:35. 5 minute cool down. 1X10 curls, tricep, chest. 25 pushups & situps (but not at the same time).

4 TM miles while it was -6 outside. I saw one nutball getting ready to head outside for a run. No thanks, not below zero. Typical progression 4 miles, but with .75 to go went to 6:22 pace, and last .2 miles at 5:44 pace. Felt great.

3X10 curls, triceps, chest, 2X25 abs, 25 pushups.

4 TM miles after work. Typical progression run, but ended faster at 6:15 pace the last .75.

Sit-ups and pushups after.

10 TM miles at the Y. It wasn't horrible! Got the best spot, with my own personal wall fan so that helped with the sweating. Warmed up 1/2 mile at 10:00, then 5.5 at 8:57, then last 4 at 8:32. Finished last .25 in the low 6s as I was ready to be done.

2 TM miles at the Y. Planned to do 4 but I wasn't feeling it so I cut it short and it felt good. 25 pushups & situps.

4 TM miles at the Y this morning. Wishing I had more time for longer runs, but it means I would need to get my 15 year old out the door sooner in the morning. And I might move mountains too.

25 pushups & situps. Warming up outside but lots of slush & gunk out there. I think I'll stay inside for a while.

4 TM miles at the Y at 11 am, early lunch. Good run. Another runner came in as I was halfway through, and she upped her pace so of course I upped mine. Why do I do that so frequently? In my mind I'm not doing it to compete, I'm doing it to up my game, but I'm totally doing it to compete. So dumb, but whatever. I'm 40 and still doing it, so I imagine it will never go away. It's the primary reason why I refuse to play games at home with the extended family: I'm too competitive, and it's never "just a game". It's best if I just sit on the sidelines and watch. What a dork. :)

Looking forward to starting the marathon training schedule on the 23rd, but already trying to figure out how to run 20 miles in sub freezing temps. Almost every time I've done long cold runs in the past few years I've gotten sick. I'm getting some new warm tights and a wind-proof jacket for Christmas, but still...I'm nervous about it. I may end up doing lots of my long runs on treadmills.

4 TM miles. Almost time for new shoes. Ended last .25 at 6:18 pace. Felt good, but I should stop ending so quickly as the achilles is tight the morning after quicker paces.

I think I ran at the Y at lunch on Friday but I don't recall. I stayed late so I must have...

4 1/2 TM miles at 2:30 pm. Not a great time for me to run. I had a nasty sideache that I couldn't shake so after .85 I stopped and lifted weights. Came back and I had belched most of the sideache away so I was able to run nonstop. Guess the pizza slices before running didn't work so well.

Day 1 of marathon training! I thought it started next week but thankfully I'd made up my chart a while ago. Starts today, ends on my 41st birthday with the SLC marathon. And hopefully a BQ.

5 TM miles. 2% incline is the norm, so went to 3% for 1 mile in the middle.

The plan called for 3 miles, so I ran 3 miles. The upper part of my lower back has been giving me problems the past few days. Shoveling didn't help, getting stuck in a snowbank Saturday didn't help, but I think the weights I've been lifting has been the kicker. And carrying in the Christmas tree on Sunday night was the straw that broke the...hey. I'm no camel.

Finished with 25 pushups and a rep of lower back exercises.

My son slept in so I took the opportunity as well. Had lunch plans and evening plans, so no run today.

Plan calls for 3 X Hills. I need to re-read Hal's stuff to see what he means, so I made it up. Warmed up for 1 mile at 10:00 pace then upped the incline to 6% and that wasn't hard so upped to 10%. Kept that for 90 seconds then back to 2% for a bit. Back to 10% for 2 minutes, then back to normal for 5 minutes. Did my last hill at 10% for 4 minutes, then finished with a last mile of 2% incline and an 8:12 mile.

45 heel dips (achilles), 25 pushups, 25 lower back exercises, 25 ceiling reaches, 25 situps. 8 degrees and snowing outside. Thankfully this is only a 1 day cold spell and will be gone tomorrow.

1 warmup mile, 4 MP miles (7:22) on the TM @ 2%. The schedule called for 5 at MP, and that was my goal, but I was dying after 1 mile and hung on for 3 more. I could've done another mile, but with 18 weeks to go, what's the point? If it were 8 weeks to go, that's a different story, but this was more a wakeup call that I'm not in 7:22 shape right now, but I'll get there. I'm excited about this Advanced plan as it forces me to run marathon pace, and I know that was my fall down this past summer. I had put in the miles, but not the right kinds of miles. Had I run more MP miles I know I could've lopped off another 5 minutes, maybe 10.

Did some back exercises before getting on the TM and that really helped a lot. Afterwards did 25 pushups, 25 situps, 25 ceiling reaches, and 20 back exercises.

10 miles in a light snow fall on snow covered roads. Really nice to get off the TM and run. My legs were sore from yesterday's MP run and the hills the day before and I felt sluggish the first mile or two but the brisk headwind me going. Funny how some adversity gets me moving. After 2 miles is when I hit the gravel road, and there's some down then up, flat, and a big up. My Veyo hill. I really thought I'd struggle today to run all the way up the hill but I just kept on running and I went up it without too much second thought. Kept on running until the five mile mark when I turned around and headed back. Stopped to eat a few jelly beans and drink some water then started for home. On the downhills I naturally picked up the pace and it felt good. Kept the pace up when it felt good. Got home and enjoyed some chocolate milk then a hot shower. My arms were really cold. Good run. Good first week of training.

AP: 8:40

News flash: TM miles are not the same as road miles. I know I just blew nobody's mind, but my quads are telling the story pretty good. My 10 miles on Saturday were the first road miles in a while, up the path I take just about every Saturday when hitting the roads, and my quads never feel sore after only 10 miles. All my TM miles have been at 2% incline and that's helped with a smoother transition to roads than it did last year, but still...I need to do more hills on the TM to better simulate roads.

This morning with it being 5 degrees out and 6+ inches of fresh snow, I decided to once again hit the TM at 2%. My legs weren't thrashed, but definitely not fresh. After tomorrow I'm off for more than a week, so I'll get back to daily road running. Looking forward to getting the legs back into solid shape. Today's effort was a good solid 5 miles. I'm so used to running 4 that going an extra mile is a bit different mentally, but a good different.

Merry Christmas everybody! I hope your day and week is wonderful.

The Y closed at Noon today, and I got there a bit later than planned so I didn't quite make it to 3. Nice to stretch the legs. Quads still a little sore. Feels real. Merry Christmas.

4 tempo miles this afternoon wearing my new Visipro tights and Brooks night life jacket. Awesome gear. The jacket is light but wind proof.

First mile was a bit slow as my road is covered in ice but I wore my ice things so slippage was minimal. Took them off at the main road, which is 3/4 of a mile. Once I ran on dry roads I felt really good. 2nd mile was uphill and into a stiff breeze, but 7:28. Turned around at mile 2 so 3rd mile was downhill with wind at my back. 6:28 for that mile. Last mile I stopped to put on my ice spikes again then coasted home. Nice run.

5.5 miles outside from the Y this morning. Fairly warm but windy in stretches. Felt good.

AP 8:02

11 cold windy miles.

6 miles at 11:30 am. 39 degrees out with little wind, so very nice conditions. Legs felt pretty good.

AP 8:10, last 3 7:44, 7:26, 7:13.

4 cross country miles with the family. Based on the next day soreness I'm definitely counting these miles. Just a few miles fewer than last year, but a solid base. I'll take it.