It's all relative

PM:  11.3 miles @ 7:15/mile pace.  I felt pretty spry, but that is not surprising given I had not ran since Tuesday morning.

PM: Track workout with John and Elia.  5x1000, splits were conservative, but progressive- 3:43, 3:23, 3:19, 3:20, 3:05.

I felt pretty good during this workout and was in lane 2 for the duration.  The rain was falling for the entirety, so that did help cool me off a bit.  John was a huge help and is in great shape- likely better than me, so  I appreciate him building into it.

No running.

AM: 27 miles in Croom with Alan, Elia, and Anthony.  We were only planning on 20, but I guess we got lost somehow.  The run was relaxing/joyful overall despite being a trail run, since the pace was pretty easy.  7:50 average. 

Anthony and Alan were struggling a bit- they were only hoping to do 20 max- so Elia and I sped up the last 10 miles and drove back to pick them up.  

No running.

AM: 11.3 miles, 3 fast.  Nothing speedier than 5:30/mile, but the workout felt alright given what I did two days ago.

No running.

PM: 7.5 miles at around 7:00/mile pace.  Felt easy.

PM: 3.5 miles solo, easy.

Race Report: Phil Doganiero 3 Bridge Half Marathon, Clearwater, FL

Result: 2nd in age group, 10th overall male, 11th overall.

Race: I figured no one knew about the $25,000 being given away for the top 5 places at this race so I'd run it even though I am out of shape and might accidentally fall into some free money, but unfortunately it was clear I was not going to place in the money spots by the first mile.  I was kind of right- only 328 runners showed up, but unfortunately a couple of semi-pros found out about it :)

I did  not get passed by anyone after the first 100 meters- but I did not really put myself in a position to be passed either.  I was overtly conservative thinking sub 6:00/miles would be a breeze- and why push myself if there was no money involved?  Instead I just wanted to build my confidence...  I was wrong.  Running the 6/mile pace became impossible.  Then 6:20 was a struggle, then 6:40... then miles 9 and 10 were both over 7:10/mile.  At mile 11, the 2nd overall female and another male caught up to me and we talked for a bit, but the  competitor in me did not want to be beaten, so I sped up and put about 10 seconds on them for the finish.  I regret that a bit (leaving them behind), but hey it is a race and it's not like I caught up to them and chatted them up then passed them, it was the other way around.

In the end, this race was a bit humiliating.  I tried really hard and still ran a time that is one of the worst of my running career.  I've run 27 half marathons and only 3 were slower than 1:20.  I had not run this bad since 2013 when I was averaging 30 miles a week and thought long runs were anything over 5 miles.  

I was tired, unmotivated, and did not enjoy being back in a race.  The worst part was the race started the exact opposite- I was engaged, relaxed, and ready to have fun with whatever happened.  It might be best to throw this one out the window.  

In hindsight (and with certain bias), I really should have just kept up the mileage the last two weeks and not bothered "tapering" for this.  Considering I ran a trail marathon six days ago, I guess you cannot really call it tapering, but still- a big waste of two weeks.

Training-wise, I need to lose weight- both fat and muscle.  I need to add more speed (longer than 3 miles).  Lastly, I need to run with faster people who are willing to push with me.  

No running.  Had a wedding to go to last night that got a bit out of hand, but in a good way.

PM: 7.5 miles and the gym.

AM: 11.3 miles.  400s, 3 sets of 4 with 200 recoveries.  Splits- 1:20, 1:20, 1:19, 1:22, 1:16, 1:16, 1:17, 1:16, 1:11, 1:12, 1:12, 1:10.

PM: 8.4 miles.  6x800 with 600 recovery jogs.  Splits- 2:58, 2:54, 2:46, 2:41, 2:31, 2:26.

Overall, I felt pretty good today.  It was a confidence builder, so I started much slower than I would normally for each of the workouts.  I think this is something I will continue to do for the next two weeks or so, before really jumping into it more wholeheartedly.

PM: 8.1 miles solo.

No running

PM: Paced Elia in a max heart-rate test.  I've done this a couple of times- I'm still not sure the best method.  Just to document, we had a full warmup, 2 miles at 120-130 heart rate, 3 minute break, 1600 tempo with a heartate in the 130-140 range (I was monitoring and pacing), and then 1 lap hard bringining the heart rate and effort into the 150-160 range, followed by the final lap at max effort where he hit 182 (181 registered).  I still think hills would be a better interpreter, but there are just too few long hills/bridges in FL to make it worthwhile and I am weary of treadmills/falling due to the max effort.

AM: 10 miles solo, easy.

AM: Ran a little over 50k with Elia and some of it with Anthony around (literally) Clearwater.  With 10 miles or so remaining I rejoined Elia and ran his pace. 

We crossed the marathon distance at 3:29, which felt pretty easy.  I would have preferred to do the last miles much faster, but I guess it's not that big of a deal- physiologically I wouldn't gain much from doing that, it would have just made it go a little faster.  

Nutrition: Two servings of peanuts, one carb-waffle, water, and a piece of avocado toast.  Started with cereal, water, and a banana beforehand.  Food felt fine.  

AM: 8.3 miles.

PM: 5.5 miles.

AM: 11 miles, 1 of them of fast, short stuff just to feel out the legs.

PM: 8.5 miles with Elia and John.  Did the workout with John.  2 sets of 3x800 with 400 recoveries.  Splits- 2:45, 2:39, 2:36, 2:32, 2:29, 2:29.

I am really excited I was able to run a little better today given the mileage so far this week.  All thanks goes to John for keeping me honest on the final three.  I think our confidence is up high enough for us to be serious with the next workout we do together as opposed to staying conservative and dropping it down.

PM: 8 miles solo, easy.

AM: 5.5 miles, gym, and rowing.

PM: 9 miles total, 3.5 fast.  Workout: 12x400 with ascending rest starting at 10 seconds between intervals and ascending until 60 seconds and then kept it there.

Splits-  1:10, 1:13, 1:15, 1:12, 1:14, 1:14, 1:14, 1:15, 1:14, 1:13, 1:14, 1:14, 1:14, 1:11

Felt relatively easy for a solo workout.

AM: 8.1 miles with Elia, Anthony, and Alan.

AM: 21 miles with Elia, Anthony, Alan, and Ali.  6.5 fast/progressive at the end- nothing special for pacing, just faster.

Splits- 6:50, 6:45, 6:30, 6:25, 6:15, 6:00, 5:56 pace (last 0.5 miles).  Felt fine, just a bit tired from the last week of work.

AM: 9 miles

PM: 6.2 miles

AM: 10 miles, 1.5 fast with two 1200s and finished with one 200.  Felt easy.

Midday thoughts...   

Grading myself:

Mileage (80%)- I think my mileage is decent and its time for some consistency from week to week.

Speed (60%)- I need to run more honest intervals and work up to 4-5 miles of effort per session.  Similarly, my speed across this week should account for 12% of my total mileage.

Nutrition (20%)- Has been absolutely terrible.  Meat every meal, useless sugar when I am not hungry, over-eating, and lack of vegetables have been the biggest offenders... This week I will focus on transitions in food choices.  

Racing weight (20%)- This week I will focus a reduction in overall calories.  Goal weight loss is 3 pounds healthily.  Weight is about 16 pounds higher than ideal race weight but 4 pounds better than it was.  I am a fatty magoo.

PM: Workout- 4x1600 with 800 recoveries, 9+  total miles.  The recoveries were entirely too long, but the group wanted to have them longer so I conceded.  I was happy with my final two miles, but again started too conservatively.

Splits- 5:29, 5:20, 5:13, 4:59

PM: 11.25 miles solo

PM: Wicked long warmup followed by some short rest 400s.  2 sets of 8x400 with 200 recovery jogs and 600 recovery between sets.

Splits

set 1-    1:15, 1:15, 1:15, 1:15, 1:17, 1:13, 1:15, 1:18

set 2-    1:08, 1:12, 1:13, 1:12, 1:10, 1:11, 1:11, 1:11

AM: Gym and 5.5 miles.  Abs and legs.