Category: Last Week in Running

The week started off humid and warm. 

Monday: 6 hill repeats. Ran up the hill 6 times, with my watch crashing and resetting on the fourth. Side note – I occasionally wonder how runners did it before GPS watches, but I’m sure they’ve NEVER said “their watch crashed and reset mid-run”! Overall, 4.6 miles in 40:06 (8:43 min/mi pace, including stops to take pictures).

Tuesday morning: 3 miles + 7 strides. Ran in light rain, but kept the speed down because of the race Tuesday evening. Ran across the Purple People Bridge and back across the Suspension Bridge. And forgot to start the workout on my watch, so there’s an extra little 3 minute workout in Garmin and Strava, but whatever. Overall, 4.29 miles in 37:05 (8:39 min/mi pace).

Tuesday evening: 3.2k XC Race. Late in the day, maybe 3:30 – 4:00, a storm hit, and it was pouring. By the time 6:15 rolled around (I got to the race location early because I was getting a T-shirt that I’d want to walk back to the truck), the storm had moved on, but conditions were wet. I warmed up by running into the woods and checking conditions – they were a little slick. I kicked some larger sticks off the course and ran back for start. The beginning of the race was largely normal, in the woods, I was an arm’s length from a high school runner that went down. Fortunately, she got back up immediately and stayed in it. I kept my position in the woods and into the final hairpin before kicking it into a slightly higher gear. At the end, another adult runner was trying to push (motivate, not literally push!) another runner and he started gaining on me. So I ‘turned the jets on’ and beat them both across the line. 14:16 (unofficial).

Wednesday: 3 mile recovery run. Kept it reasonable and in the flat area of the park. Despite some rain on the way in to the office, there was none when I was out running. 3.12 miles in 26:41 (8:33 min/mi pace).

Thursday: 3 miles + 7 strides. Ran across the Suspension Bridge and the Purple People Bridge, still grumbling over an area where I was running is closed due to construction work. Heck, I thought the 3-foot-diameter concrete pipes that had been laying around in the area was storage because they’ve been there so long. Apparently, there is a short lead time on orders of 3-foot-diameter concrete pipes, but there is a much larger lead time (years) on getting a crew together to install them. 4 miles in 33:05 (8:15 min/mi pace).

Friday: 90 minute 3/1. I set out as a man with little plan on this one. I ran out towards and around the Bengal’s Practice Field, around Paul Brown Stadium, across the Clay Wade Bailey Bridge, back to the Covington Riverfront Path, across the Veteran’s Bridge (news flash cyclists: this is NOT an acceptable place to ride your bike – it’s too narrow), up to the Purple People Bridge, and as I was crossing the bridge I hit the 1:07:30 mark which shifted me into the ‘/1’ of the ‘3/1’. Finished out the run by running into Friendship Park and back. Total was 10.44 miles in 1:30 (8:37 pace), the first 3/4 was 7.68 miles in 1:07:30 (8:47 pace), the last 1/4 was 2.76 miles in 22:25 (8:10 min/mi pace).

All in all, 28.33 miles for the week. Next week is going to be a cut-back week because I’m writing this on Monday of that next week getting over some sort of sinus infection or something.

This could also be called “OMAHA! OMAHA!” thanks to some retired quarterback.

This week started out rainy and turned out alright.

Monday: 7 * 0.25 mile repeats. Ran in the park, and while rain was threatening, it didn’t really rain on me. I had contacts on and was ready for it, though. Being a few days from a solid 5k, I didn’t overly exert myself, but kept solid paces. Splits were 1:46, 1:51, 1:45, 1:47, 1:39, 1:34, and 1:44, overall 5 miles in 40:49 (8:09 pace).

Tuesday: 3 miles + 7 strides. It was pouring rain during my commute to the office and subsequent run. I ran faster than what I should have, mostly because I wanted to get out of the rain. Ran across the Suspension Bridge and back across the Purple People Bridge, which had a long stairwell in the way because work on Riverboat Row and the Floodwall has the path and ramp closed. 4 miles in 32:16 (8:02 pace).

Tuesday Evening: 3.2k XC race. My initial concern with the race would be that it would be too muddy. During my warm-up, I ran into the woods to check on the footing, and it wasn’t bad at all. After a little hiccup on the start and one slight slip on the mud, I came in with a 14:39.

Wednesday: Called an audible. Was supposed to do a tempo run, but after Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday Twice, I decided to stick with a simple 3 mile run in the park. 3.08 in 26:31 (8:36 pace).

Thursday: 3 mile HM pace. This kinda snuck into my watch, so I left it and did it. Ran through the parks where it’s mostly flat. Overall, 4.5 miles in 35:53 (7:58 pace), HM portion was 3 miles in 22:56 (7:39 pace).

Friday: 90 minute long run. Was going to run out through the East End (it’s pretty flat), but called an audible and ran across the 8th Street Viaduct and back along the 6th Street Viaduct, and then across the Clay Wade Bailey Bridge and the Roebling Suspension Bridge. It wasn’t a bad run, although my Gatorade Endurance was not mixed too well (my fault) and after getting a chance to try, I prefer the Gatorade Endurance gel to the Gu that I used. Generally felt fast, and the pace for five bridges (plus the uphill by Paul Brown Stadium and the stairs to go over the 6th Street Viaduct) was nicer than I expected. 10.53 miles in 1:30:01 (8:33 pace)

All-in-all, it was a fast week. Still looking forward to the third and final NKU XC Series race, the Hudepohl 14k in mid-September and the Honor Run Half Marathon on Veteran’s Day.

Cheers!

It’s been a busy week. The weather has been a little better in the mornings, which has helped. And my replacement Aftershokz Trekz Air came on Friday (after my run, of course, but I had them for Monday).

Monday: 6 * hill repeats: ran up Gilbert Street several times, and then rounded it off to 5 miles in 43:41 (8:43 pace). All the hill splits were in the upper 7s except one in the low 8s.

Tuesday double day: morning ran 3 miles and 7 strides and rounded it off to 4 miles. Went across the Suspension Bridge and back across the Purple People Bridge. 4 miles in 34:12 (8:32 pace).

In the afternoon, raced at the NKU XC series race 1. I wore different shoes for this, I have a pair of New Balance trail runners that I haven’t worn in about a year after suddenly getting bad blisters during every run. I put Band-Aids on my heels and went for it. Before the race, I talked to NKU’s coach (who also coached my brother while he went there) who commented on my weight loss :-). Ran 3.2k in 14:29 (which doesn’t match the results because it’s a low-key not-chip-timed race). Garmin Connect has me at 7:41 pace for 1.89 miles (GPS + hairpins = my watch missed a spot or 40). This is a PR for me – the last PR on a 3.2k XC (at the same location, similar course) is 15:31, so a full minute PR!

Wednesday: normally this is a speed day for me, but since the race last night and (spoiler alert!) Saturday, I ran 3 miles + 7 strides and rounded it to 4 miles.  Kept it in the park, down Friendship park and back, and then into Smale Park and back. 4 miles in 33:00 (8:14 pace).

Thursday: normally an easy day, Kept it in the flat area of the park and around the Bengal’s practice field (now with more homeless thanks to the City closing a homeless camp). Ran early with the RunLites because I had to go to Indianapolis for a meeting. Just ran 3 miles in 25:10 (8:16 pace).

Friday: was supposed to be a rest day, but decided to run since my step tracker wants 3,000 steps in 30 minutes to cover one of the three goals. Ran an EASY 3.2 miles in 27:50 (8:41 pace).

Saturday: Race Day! Ran the Bulldog Blast 5k, which is in a local park. Got there a half hour before start (parking is EASY), got my number (that’s all the SWAG I get, but for <$20 that is NOT a complaint!). Tried to keep up with the leaders, which didn’t really happen, but there was very few in front of me, the only one that wasn’t young was a guy pushing a stroller. That guy must have been at least 9 years younger than me (or a year older, but he didn’t look like 40), because I won my age group! 3.1 miles in 21:46 (7:03 pace). This is another PR (by 90 seconds!), this course is easier than the last 5k course (the Bockfest 5k).

That’s the week in training. 24.25 miles and two PRs!

In other stuff, I finished reading Once a Runner. I initially read the first chapter (or so) via the Kindle App, and wasn’t overly thrilled. Wanting another book that isn’t so ‘mentally heavy’ to read and seeing yet another thread on a running forum where people talked about books, this one is second to Born To Run (which I’ve read and thoroughly enjoyed). I finished the book a few weeks ago, and I really enjoyed it (so much so, I’ll probably be ordering Again To Carthage soon).

Then, since I’ve felt like my 5k time wasn’t going down quick enough (which really isn’t a big deal AND it’s not even factually accurate) AND because I might do two marathons next year AND because I want that Boston Unicorn Medal, I decided to start reading Advanced Marathoning.

That’s it for this episode of the Running on Beer Running Blog. Tune in next week for another exciting episode!

Note: due to some bullshit law, I think I have to point out that the links to the books are affiliate links and I get a kickback if you click on them and even more if you buy them. Kickbacks to date are currently so low that Amazon is just keeping track of the handful of pennies they owe me.

The week started out hot and silent. With my After Shokz dead, I don’t have a pair of headphones that I want to use (I do have a pair of Plantronics Backbeat Fit, but they block hearing).

Monday: 7 x 0.25 intervals. Despite the heat (72 per Garmin, it was hot and humid out), these went pretty well. Ran the normal route (parks and around the Bengal’s Practice Field). Interval target is 1:51 – 1:55, ran them in 1:50, 1:45, 1:47, 1:46, 1:47, 1:48, 1:50; total workout of 4.75 miles in 39:09 (8:15 pace).

Tuesday: 3 miles + 7 strides. It was hotter, but less humid, this morning. Ran across the Suspension Bridge into Covington, across the Veteran’s Bridge into Newport, and across the Purple People Bridge into Cincinnati. Total of 4 miles in 33:53 (8:27 pace).

Wednesday: 40 minute tempo. It was cooler outside when I left my house, and it had warmed just a little by the time I got into downtown. I did my normal loop (see Monday’s route), but instead of doing a second loop around the Bengal’s Practice Field, I continued back into the park because of dust from some of the trucks around and finished at the entrance to Friendship Park. 6.7 miles in 52:49 (7:53 pace; tempo portion was 5.2 miles in 40 minutes, for a 7:41 pace), my watch told me I had a 10k PR of 48:31 when I saved the workout. Big bonus to the day, I received an email from AfterShokz that my new Trekz Airs were on the way.

Thursday:  3 miles + 7 strides. It felt cooler out in the morning, and I was just doing a short run. Ran the backwards direction of Tuesday. 4 miles in 32:54 (8:12 pace).

Friday: 90 minutes 3/1. Rainy and stormy as well as hot and steamy. The benefit of the rain and storm is that few walkers are out (I saw only 3 or 4 other people, none of them runners). The disadvantage of the rain and storm is that few others are out (major concern if I get nailed by a bolt of lightning!). Saw a few bright flashes (including one that really lit things up). The first 3/4 of the run was 7.54 in 1:07:30 (8:57 pace), the second half was 2.71 in 22:30 (8:17 pace). Overall, 10.4 in 1:30:00 (8:46 pace).

That’s it for this week. Total of just under 30 miles. Four days until my next race (NKU XC Series #1), the one following is eight days away (Batavia Bulldog Blast 5k).

Cheers!

This is part of the cycle of pre-training-plan weeks where I’m repeating the first two weeks of the next plan, so this week looked like this:

Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri
Hill x 6	3 miles + 7 strides	45 minute tempo	3 miles HM pace	Long Run - 90 min

Monday: Hills. I ran up to Gilbert Ave, which is where the hardest part of the Flying Pig Marathon and half marathon is. I didn’t run the hardest I could because of a minor back strain, but kept all of them in the upper 7’s. Total of 5 miles in 43:13 (8:38 pace).

Tuesday: 3 miles + 7 strides. I went up to Columbus to teach a workshop, and didn’t have time to run before I left. So I ran in the afternoon. It was 91F. I expected to run slowly in the park in the hot, hot sun, and I used my bottle belt pack. I didn’t quite run slowly, 4 miles in 32:47 (8:11 pace).

Wednesday: 45 minute tempo run. Ran out to the end of Friendship Park and back through Sawyer Point, Yeatman’s Cove, and Smale Park and all the way out to the end of West Pete Rose Way and two laps around the triangle before going back into the parks. Total of 7.16 miles in 58:18 (8:09 pace), tempo portion was 5.66 miles in 45 minutes (7:57 pace).

Thursday: 3 miles HM Pace. Started out trying to turn on my AfterShokz and they wouldn’t turn on. I went back into my office to see if I could just reset them and while I was in there, I put them on the charger. After 30 seconds or so, I decided to try again, and they responded with “Welcome to Trekz Air. Charge me!”. So I left them on the charger and went to run in silence. Ran out to and around the Bengal’s Practice Field and back into Friendship Park. Total of 4.5 miles in 35:43 (7:56 pace), HM portion was 3 miles in 23:02 (7:41 pace).

Friday: 90 minute long run. Ran across the Purple People Bridge, around in Newport and into Covington, back into Cincinnati, back into Covington, back into Newport, and back into Cincinnati. It was getting tough at the end. Hydrated with Gatorade Endurance and fueled with some Gatorade Energy Chews. 10.32 miles in 1:30:07 (8:44 pace). Upon getting onto the elevator, I tried to turn my AfterShokz down and the VOL- button wouldn’t respond. I tried to pause my podcast and the other button wouldn’t respond. So I tried to turn them off, and it turned them up. So they’ll have to go back to AfterShokz :-(.

That’s it for the week. 31 miles for the week, 4:20 spent running. Getting closer to my summer races, the Bulldog Blast 5k and the NKU XC series races.

Cheers!

We rejoin our hero in his epic quest for an insanely fast (for him) half marathon…

Back to the building blocks this week! After last week’s shenanigans, this week has had more structure, more craziness, less beer, less food, less sleep deprivation, and one less wisdom tooth.

Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri
7 x 0.25 mi intervals	3 miles + 7 strides	40 minute tempo	3 miles + 7 strides	Long Run - 90 min

Monday: 7 x 0.25 intervals. I felt pretty good having not overate or overdrank Sunday night. Also happy to be back running after having my wisdom tooth removed last week. Felt good. The way I put intervals (and tempo runs) into Garmin Connect includes the warm-up (1 mile) and cool down (0.5 mile), and in the case of an interval workout, it includes the balance of the half mile cool down (since there’s 0.25 recovery following each interval, the cool down in the watch is the additional 0.25 mile to make 0.5 mile).  I didn’t count my intervals, and I paid little attention to my watch, I just ran when it beeped and slowed when it beeped. I ran right through my cool-down interval. Oops! So I continued the workout and added a half mile manually. Interval times: 1:51, 1:49, 1:46, 1:47, 1:50, 1:47, 1:50, 1:47 (goal: 1:51 – 1:55), overall 5.26 mi in 0:42:59 (8:10 overall pace).

Tuesday: still feeling good about running and not getting rained on (and despite the claims to a heat wave, it wasn’t all that bad out… or maybe I just felt that way because I was listening to the BibRave podcast and they were talking about Ian Sharman sitting in a sauna in a parka! Ran a quick 3 miles + 7 strides + balance to 4 miles in 33:02 (8:14 pace). Hope the fast run doesn’t come back to bite me tomorrow! After I finished, I did the 2×15 squats that I forgot to do yesterday.

Wednesday: no work day! I took the rest of the week off because today is a holiday and I didn’t feel like working the rest of the week. The plan was a 40 minute tempo run, and I wanted to hit at least 10k as a tip of hat (so to speak) to those running the largest 10k in the country – the PeachTree Road Race in Atlanta.  It was a lot of fast laps around the Batavia Township Park, which is largely flat. Total of 6.6 miles in 53:18 (8:05 pace); tempo portion was 5.1 in 40 minutes, a 7:51 pace. I remembered my squats today, too!

Thursday: easy day. Plan was 3 miles + 7 strides. Since it was trash morning, I ran in the park (had it not been trash morning, I’d have stayed in my subdivision). The park is flat, and my pace shows it. I DID go easy! 4 miles in 33:32 (8:22 pace, about 40 seconds faster than if I was running across bridges).

Friday: long run day. Weather felt better, despite probably being warmer than the other days this week. The plan was supposed to be a 90 minute 3/1, but I forgot the 3/1 part. Started in the park, but crossed into the neighboring subdivision and then across the worn dirt drive path to another subdivision (they’ll be connected someday). Weather felt better. Hydrated with Gatorade Endurance and fueled with Gatorade Gel (the Apple Pear flavor). I received some free gels as an apology from Gatorade for UPS losing my shipment, and I think I’m going to order some (apology accepted! And they recently announced a new mango flavor that the BibRave pros seemed to have been enjoying). Their gel is significantly thinner than Gu, and I think that helps make it taste better as a fruit. Also, the thinner formula is less messy and less prone to end up in my mustache. 10.4 miles in 90 minutes (8:40 pace).

Overall, the week came to 30 fast miles. Looking forward to two races late this month – the first of the NKU XC Series and the Bulldog Blast 5k. Next week has some hill repeats and two more fast days.

Cheers!

This week started halfway into a heat wave. In Cincinnati, that involves 90+ temps with high relative humidity.

Monday: 7 * 0.25 mile intervals; 72F/72F dp (100% RH). I wanted my interval splits between 1:51 and 1:55, and I got 1:50, 1:48, 1:46, 1:46, 1:47, 1:54*, and 1:52. The starred one had some GPS tracking issues. Ran through friendship park and down to the Bengal’s Practice Field loop.

Tuesday: 3 miles + 7 strides; 78F/73F dp (85% RH), 6 MPH winds. Took it easy across the suspension bridge and the Purple People Bridge. The heat was pretty bad, and I didn’t push it. 4 miles in 0:35:34 (8:52 pace).

Wednesday: 40 minute tempo; 70F/70F dp (100% RH), calm. I tried to not go out too fast, as I wasn’t feeling well (my evaluation at work didn’t go well, I couldn’t sleep because of that) and it felt significantly hotter than Tuesday (despite the numbers disagreeing). I ended up pausing for a drink twice during the run. 6.3 miles in 53:17 (8:27 pace, tempo portion was 4.8 miles in 40 min, 8:20 pace).

Thursday: 3 miles + 7 strides; 73F/72 dp (96% RH), 3 MPH winds + rain. After yesterday, I didn’t want to push it because I know I have a 90 min run tomorrow. And with the rain, I left the phone and headphones in the locker (I’m not really concerned about the AfterShokz, I’m concerned about my POS Galaxy S5). So I ran. Kinda easy. Then realized that I didn’t start the workout and it was just tracking. So I stopped and saved the workout and restarted it as the workout I intended to run (I was only 3 minutes in). 3 miles across the suspension bridge and to the Purple People Bridge, and 7 strides going up from the Newport Riverfront to and across the Purple People Bridge. A grand total of 4.37 miles in 35:43 for a pace of 8:10.

Friday: 90 minutes; 70F/70F dp (100% RH), calm. Felt sluggish, and my pace agrees. Was probably a little under-nourished and dehydrated, and the Gatorade Endurance and Gatorade Gel was probably too little too late. 10.08 miles in 1:30:06 (8:56 pace).

That’s the week. Just under 30 miles.

I decided to start into a more advanced running plan, the Hal Higdon Advanced HM plan. Since the half I’m aiming for isn’t until November (20 weeks away) and the plan is 12 weeks, I’m doing the first two weeks a few times. This week it was:

Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri
Hill x 6	3 miles + 7 strides	45 minute tempo	3 miles HM pace	Long Run - 90 min

Monday: New shoe day! I fell back asleep after my alarm went off, woke up nearly an hour late. So I ended up starting my run around the same time I’d normally end my run. Today was 6 hill repeats. Given the places I could go without dealing with too much traffic, I used the Taylor-Southgate Bridge. It was a hot and humid day. 6 intervals,  7:35, 7:13, 7:24, 7:53, 7:50, 7:49. Overall, 4.72 miles in 42:08 (8:56 pace).

Tuesday: messed up day. I had my semiannual teeth cleaning, so I didn’t run in the morning, and I had to assist with a kid going to the doctor in the afternoon, ended up going out to lunch at one of my favorite pizza restaurants and drank a beer with lunch, and went running about an hour or so after eating. I stayed in the subdivision and ran an easy 3 miles. When my watch switched to strides, it had 30 MINUTE strides! Ran those by time and rounded off to 4 miles in 33:45 (8:24 pace).

Wednesday: tempo run. Ran through Friendship park and all the way past the Bengals practice field. Since there were several semi trailers parked on the side of West Pete Rose Way, I only went one loop and then ran back all the way to Friendship Park again, circling back into Yeatman’s Cove to try to talk to a friend that I passed (unfortunately, didn’t see her… then I emailed her and the email auto-responded with a “this email is no longer active” response :-/). 7.19 miles in 58:07 (8:05 pace overall). Tempo portion was 45 minutes covering 5.69 miles (7:54 pace).

Thursday: I was thinking this was an easy 3 miles and 7 strides, and when I went into the park to run, my watch told me it was 3 miles at HM pace. Ohkay! Kept it in the parks (again), 4.5 miles total in 36:02 (8:00 pace). HM pace portion was at 7:39 pace. If I can manage to do this pace in a half marathon, not only will I be happy, but Boston will be around the corner!

Friday: Long run day. The agenda for the morning was to take my wife to a funeral for her cousin at 9 AM, so no work. I got up early for a 90-minute run in the park and crossing over to two soon-to-be-connected subdivisions. The park and subdivisions are mostly flat, so it did go pretty fast. I took Gatorade Endurance and Gatorade Apple Pear Energy Gel with me.

Wonder what this tastes like. Guess I’ll go for a run and find out… pic.twitter.com/fmnmnkimLo

— Andrew Rohne 🍺🏃🍕 (@HamBrew807) June 15, 2018

Anyway, the week was about 31 miles, 4:20 spent running, average pace of 8:25, which is pretty fast considering the weather. Spoiler alert, the weather is hotter next week!

Cheers!

This is a replay of last week, only because I don’t want to race this week and that’s what was on the final week of the plan. This week included:

Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri
Form drills + 5 miles	3 x 1 mile @ 5k pace	Form drills + 5 miles	40 min tempo	Long Run - 90 min

Even better this week, the weather broke and it wasn’t blistering hot out. Until Friday.

Monday: Ran up the big hill. Skipped form drills because the park was closed for cleanup after Bunburry Music Festival.  5 miles in 44:09 (8:48 pace).

Tuesday: 3 x 1 mile repeats at 5k pace. These are hard, and as I noted last week, I don’t always hit my goal pace, but this time I did: 7:32, 7:22, 7:20. Overall including the 1 mile warm up and 1 mile cool down and half miles between workbouts, 6 miles in 48:10 (8:01 pace).

Wednesday: The weather keeps getting better, and today was nicer weather than yesterday. Ran 5 miles across the suspension bridge and back across the Purple People Bridge. There were a few places where I may have been running harder than I should have, but for the most part I felt rested. 5 miles in 42:05 (8:24 pace).

Thursday: The weather was a little warmer, but also a little breezier than yesterday. Ran a 40 minute tempo run on the normal (Friendship Park/Sawyer Point/Yeatman’s Cove/Smale Park/Mehring/Bengals Practice Field Triangle) route for this. I went “comfortably hard” for it, and ended up with a nice tempo pace of 7:48. Including the warm-up and cool-down, 6.63 miles in 53:10 (8:01 pace).

Friday: Long run. The weather got back to it’s normal hot and humid. I didn’t have much of a plan, so I ran up and down Riverside/Eastern. A little over a mile in, I pointed out a buck to the runners behind me, then about five miles in, I saw this…

The run got tougher as I made it back in to Sawyer Point, and I probably should have taken something other than Gatorade Endurance (like a Gu). Got back to the office and had to wring my shirt out. 10.16 miles in 1:30:01 (8:52 pace)

Overall, it was a good week of running. ~33 miles ran, ~4.5 hours spent running. We’re getting close to halfway into the year, and I’ve run 763 miles. Last year at this time (23 weeks into the year), I was at 555 miles.

My summer schedule is set. I’m running the Bulldog Blast 5k in late July and the NKU Cross Country series in July/August (I’ve registered and sent checks so it’s official!). I also ordered another pair of New Balance Zante v3 shoes.

Cheers!