Category: Last Week in Running

We join our hero as he laces up his running shoes in preparation to start on the fourth marathon training cycle. The goal, which he can’t even see right now, is sub-3:30 in the Flying Pig Marathon.

Monday: 5 miles. Ran five miles on a chilly morning in the park and the neighborhood next to it. I got a late start, so I got to see all the people that let their stupid flag fly. 5.07 in 44:59 (8:52 min/mile pace).

Tuesday: 30 minute tempo run. Did my form drills and started on a slow warm-up in the park and then into the neighborhood next to it. Got an earlier start than yesterday. I felt like I wasn’t keeping my pace in the range, and the tempo pace ended up at 7:32 min/mile – close to the top end of the goal range of 7:17 – 7:33. When I saved my workout on my watch, I saw the distance… 5.98 miles. 😬🤬. Tempo portion was 3.98 miles at 7:32 min/mile pace, overall was 5.98 miles in 47:59 (8:01 min/mile pace).

Wednesday: 3 mile run. Ran 3 miles in the park. I was running a little late, and kept it restful because of the prior day’s tempo run. 3.21 in 0:29:15 (9:07 min/mile pace).

Thursday: 5 mile run. It was 27 in the morning, so I worked through the morning and ran at lunch, which was unseasonably warm. The park was really busy with dog walkers, workers (installing something on the shelter’s roof), and pickle ball players. I started with most of a loop and then got into the neighboring subdivision until I was close to the end. I kept it mostly easy, although I strayed into moderate more than once. 5.0 miles in 41:42 (8:20 min/mile).

Friday: 11 mile run. Ran in the park and subdivision next to it) on a semi-rainy morning in what became a warm day (in fact, even in the morning I was running in short sleeves). I did get dumped on once, but otherwise it was an easy run. Hydrated with Gatorade. 11.04 in 1:40:11 (9:05 min/mile pace)

Saturday: 3 mile run. Ran in my neighborhood in nearly 60F weather (!!). Nothing special, but it was warm. 3.35 miles in 29:44 (8:53 min/mile pace).

I finally looked at Strava’s Year In Review, and a few things stood out to me. My shortest run was a mile (I knew that was coming), and my longest was Columbus Marathon (which is my second-longest run to date). The single hilliest day was in March where I froze my water bottle and glasses running in -2F temps in Hanover, NH.

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That’s it for the week. Just under 34 miles of hard and easy training.🍻

We join our hero as he laces up his running shoes in preparation to start on the fourth marathon training cycle. The goal, which he can’t even see right now, is sub-3:30 in the Flying Pig Marathon.

Monday: 5 miles. Woke up to a wind warning, and apparently it was windy all night. Drove over to the park and started running around it and the subdivision next to it, which didn’t seem too bad until I made a right turn in the back area of the subdivision and the wind was so bad I paused my podcast because I couldn’t hear over the wind noise. After unpausing and making my way back into the park, I ended up pausing it again in the back of the park due to the same problem. 5.18 miles in 44:30 (8:35 min/mile pace).

Tuesday: 3 x Hill. Went up to East Fork for this, since the hill coming up from the lake is pretty substantial. It was windy and flurrying. Started with form drills and then ran just under 1.5 miles as a warm up and to place me at the bottom of the hill. Pushed the lap button and up the hill three times, somehow making average paces of 7:22, 7:41, and 7:54. Ran my cool down and a little more to 4.11 miles in 37:24 (9:06 min/mile pace). Finished with stretches, squats, and single-leg deadlifts in the park and seven pull-ups at home.

Wednesday: 3 miles. Woke up way late because of a Netflix Binge to ring in the new year. We went to bed after 1:00 AM, it was interesting to see the run-up to Central Time’s New Year “ball drop” from New Orleans. So I didn’t go running until around the midday. Ran in the subdivision. 3.32 miles in 26:55 (8:25 min/mile pace).

Thursday: 5 Miles @ M Pace. Ran in the park and the subdivision next to it. It was a chilly morning and I didn’t feel overly fast. The wind kicked up, but it waited until I had 0.2 miles left in the M pace portion of the workout, so it was a non-issue. However, I was able to keep the 5 miles to a 7:52 min/mile pace, which is within my goal range (7:33 – 7:53). Overall, 7 miles in 57:30 (8:13 min/mile pace).

Friday: 10 miles. Ran in the park and the subdivision next to it. Rainy morning, but not cold – it was about 50F, which is normally short-sleeve shirt weather. I wore a long-sleeve shirt because of the rain. I tried to keep the pace decent, but it seems I was slipping through a large part of the run until the last three miles where I tried to get 10 miles in under 90 minutes… I missed by 3 seconds. Overall, 10.13 in 1:31:04 (8:59 min/mile pace).

Saturday: 3 miles. Woke up and ran 3 miles in the mist… which I couldn’t even see until it collected on my glasses. Four laps around the subdivision. 3.32 in 30:13 (9:06 min/mile pace).

That’s it for a successful week 1. 33 miles this week.

We rejoin our hero as he continues on his quest for a Boston Qualifying Marathon time. As the year closes out, the next training cycle begins. The weather started cold (low 30s) and ended warm (low 50s).

Monday: 7 mile run. Started out the week with a 7 mile morning run. Ran it in the park and the subdivision next to it. 7.16 miles in 1:03:08 (8:49 min/mile pace).

Tuesday: 6 x 0.25 mile intervals. Ran this in the park. This was TOUGH. It was made worse by the fog and frost that froze my glasses. Paces were 6:32, 6:17, 6:41, 6:56, 6:49, 6:37; goal pace range was 6:16 – 6:34, so two of six were in the range… getting better! Overall, 4.75 in 40:44 (8:35 min/mile pace).

Wednesday: Christmas. I didn’t run because I like my wife married to me 😉.

Thursday: 5 miles + 6 x 100m strides. Ran in the park and the subdivision next. Had some GI issues, which slowed me down about 4 miles in. 6.23 miles in 55:28 (8:54 min/mile pace).

Friday: 13 miles. First off…

Second off, I decided to run in downtown. The weather was nice, but it was mostly slow. Part of it might be due to what I did the prior afternoon – I hung a bunch of drywall and moved some around. Part of it might have been due to having some GI issues. At one point, I stopped into a port-o-let expecting the worst and was pleasantly surprised…

I had intentions of getting the last two pics for the #runChatHunt, which I did…

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Anyway, I started at Friendship Park and ran through Sawyer Point and Yeatman’s Cove and made the loop at Longworth’s Pavilion. Then on the way back, went up past Paul Brown Stadium and across the Clay Wade Bailey Bridge to the riverside path. The west side had a locked gate (no big deal, I usually turn around just past where the gate is at), and the east side was closed near a hotel. 😠.

After turning around and heading back to the Clay Wade Bailey Bridge (stopping by the port-o-let on the way), I headed across 4th Street to get the pic of Roebling Point Books and Coffee (#runChatHunt Coffee Shop) and across the Suspension Bridge and back into Smale Park and Yeatman’s Cove before crossing the Purple People Bridge (which was lit up for Christmas… I didn’t get a pic, but the image below is from last year or the year before).

I headed east off the bridge and around a parking lot before getting back into the Newport Levee… where I had more GI issues and made another stop (in an inside bathroom). Ran back across the levee and up onto Veteran’s Bridge and back across the Suspension Bridge (again) and into the parks to get back to the car. Overall, 13.63 miles in 2:05:44 (9:13 min/mile pace).

That’s it for the week. Almost 32 miles. 4 hours 45 minutes spent running.

Next week begins the training for the Flying Pig Marathon – my second running of this marathon (on top of three half marathons and two 10ks in this series). The marathon was 3:45:14 (2018), the halves were 2:17:34 (2014), 2:01:11 (2015), 1:48:53 (2017) and 1:08:37 (2013), 0:51:49 (2016). 🍻

The season has wound down and we find our hero taking stock in the past season and what to do next season.

Monday: 7 miles. Ran 7 miles around the subdivision next to the park on a snow-covered morning, finding at least one person that would act incredibly stupid in their car (par for the course in this subdivision). 7.11 miles in 1:01:56 (8:43 min/mile).

Tuesday: 30 minute tempo run. Ran a mile warm up and then 30 minutes with a goal pace of 7:17 – 7:33, which I missed (my tempo pace was 7:43, and it was a downward slide from 7:34 min/mile and down). I have some speedwork to do. Overall, 5.88 miles in 48 minutes (exactly) (8:10 min/mile).

Wednesday: 4 miles recovery. It was a very cold one, so I ran in the subdivision. 4.22 miles in 36:23 (8:42 min/mile).

Thursday: 5 miles + 6 strides. It was another cold one, so I decided to run in the afternoon instead of the morning, since the afternoon was about 37F. This also meant I ran faster than normal. 6.35 miles in 51:23 (8:06 min/mile pace… faster than Tuesday’s tempo run).

Friday: 12 miles. Did the same thing as yesterday – ran in the afternoon. 12 evening miles, so two laps around the subdivision neighboring the park. Complete with someone baking cookies and they must have had a window open. 12.07 in 1:43:35 (8:35 min/mile).

That’s it for the week. I finished it fast. Almost 36 miles, and just over 5 hours spent running. 🍻

Monday: 7 miles. It was rainy and for whatever reason, I wasn’t very fast. The weekend wasn’t particularly strenuous – I did go to Kings Island’s Winterfest and walked around with the family, and I finished the sanding and primed the basement bathroom. 7.08 miles in 1:04:13 (9:04 min/mile).

Tuesday: 4 x 0.5 mile intervals. The temperature when I woke up was 40, but Google claimed it would drop to 32 within the next 15 minutes. It may have been wrong on the timing, but not on the drop. It was also very gusty. I “fixed” the interval paces in Garmin Connect based on the McMillan Running Calculator for a goal marathon of 3:22. This told me training paces of 6:32 – 6:53 min/mile (splits of 3:15 – 3:25). My paces were 7:02, 7:06, 7:04, and 7:18. Overall, 5.5 miles in 46:48 (8:31 min/mile).

Wednesday: 4 miles recovery. It was COLD. I didn’t want to get out of bed. I stayed in my neighborhood, which was partly because I could do my post-race stretches in the garage (warmer), and partly to get two more RunChatHunt entries. 4 miles in 35:45 (8:56 min/mile).

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Thursday: 5 miles + 6 strides. Another very cold morning. Started this off with form drills, and then ran 5 miles in the park and the neighborhood next to it and got into the park just before the watch signaled me to do strides. Rounded off the run to 6 (ish) miles and did some stretches, squats, single-leg deadlifts, and pull-ups after as my car warmed up. 6.24 miles in 55:02 (8:49 min/mile).

Friday: 11 miles. I went to East Fork for this, and my pace shows. I haven’t figured out why this is always slower, except that it is very hilly. Ran out to Williamsburg and back, making two laps in the Williamsburg Community Park before returning back to East Fork. I did get a few more RunChatHunt entries, too. 11.04 in 1:44:35 (9:28 min/mile).

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That’s it for the week. Just under 34 miles. Just over 5 hours spent running. 🍻

I decided I wanted to get back into speedwork this week. My body has long been recovered from the marathon and recovered from the back strain.

Monday: 7 miles. Ran in the park and the neighborhood next to it on a chilly, rainy morning. I felt slow, and my paces reflect that. 7.23 miles in 1:05:12 (9:01 min/mile pace).

Tuesday: 6 x 0.25 mile intervals (1 mile warm-up and cool-down). Ran these in the park on a cold morning. It was still wet out from Monday’s rain, but fortunately it wasn’t cold enough to form ice (it was getting close, though). The interval paces were 7:39, 7:28, 7:42, 7:36, 7:27, and 7:24. The goal pace range for these was supposed to be 6:55 – 7:15, but my watch was set for 7:26 – 7:42… It’s probably time to clear out everything from Garmin Connect and redo all my workouts (spoiler alert: that’s coming). I started the morning with form drills and ended with some squats, single-leg deadlifts, and six pull-ups. Overall, 4.86 miles in 42:48 (8:48 min/mile pace). Right at the end, I took a few pics for #runChatHunt.

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Wednesday: 4 mile recovery. And recovery it was. I felt slow, and this was slower than the norm. I woke up late… well, actually early but fell back to sleep immediately. I did manage to take a few pictures for #RunChatHunt, one of which was featured by @theRunChat. It was chilly, around 32F and a tad breezy. 4.22 miles in 38:24 (9:06 min/mile pace).

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Thursday: 5 miles + 6 strides. This was so far the coldest day of the season. It was around 29F. I wanted to run, but I did not want to be in the cold (so I ran in the cold). I’m not sure what lit a fire under me, but I blasted through all except for a few of the 30 second breaks between the strides (and by “except”, there were 3 of those that went into the 9s… for 30 seconds.). Started this with form drills and ended with squats, single-leg deadlifts, and six pull-ups. Overall, 6.01 miles in 51:32 (8:34 min/mile).

Friday: 10 miles. Attempting to capitalize on the feeling from yesterday of not having my watch beep at me every mile, I set the watch to the workout distance and let ‘er rip. I did push a little, although maybe it was last night’s food (a cheap hamburger) slowing me down. It was warmer (43F) with rain forecast at 8 AM. I felt some drizzling rain with just under 3 miles to go, and that went away. Then, with 1.75 miles to go, some more steady rain, but it didn’t last long – maybe until 1.25 miles to go. 10 miles in 1:28:28 (8:51 min/mile).

That’s it for the week. 32 miles and speeding up. Nothing actually on the calendar, although I might try a trail race soon. I looked at a race recently, but the sheer mess of a website has me turned off from it… and this:

We rejoin our hero as he travels the continent alone searching for purpose… never mind, he just runs!

Monday: 7 miles. Cold morning run. This was interesting because it was not intended to become a progressive run, but it did. As I saw the laps clicking by, I saw what was happening and pushed it for the last lap.

Overall, 7.05 in 1:00:23 (8:34 min/mile pace).

Tuesday: 5 miles. The weather got a little warmer, so less clothes. Ran around the park and the subdivision next to it. 5.09 miles in 45:08 (8:52 min/mile).

Wednesday: 3 miles. Back to 5 days/week, and I couldn’t be more sore. Legs were tired and sore from the past two days of running. It was raining and somewhat windy, so I stuck to the subdivision, and the wind meant that I didn’t use a hat… which would have been nice to protect my eyes a little. 3.34 miles in 30:44 (9:12 min/mile pace).

Thursday: 6.2 miles. My own personal Turkey Day 10k because fuck that noise in downtown Cincinnati. I was still sore-ish and in no real shape to go fast. The run felt good, though. Overall, 6.33 in 55:41 (8:48 min/mile pace).

Friday: 10 miles. Ran this one in East Fork for the first time in forever a while. I got to the lot an realized that I forgot my watch and RoadId. 🤬. Strava tracking to the rescue, and I’m fairly certain it’s not as accurate. Or my watch isn’t, but at least it’s precise. Oh well, it got done (slowly) and I felt good. 10.01 in 1:07:39 (9:46 min/mile pace).

That’s it for the week. 32 miles. This must be what a comeback feels like. November ended with 73 miles, down from all other months due to injury and recovery. 🍻

I got back into it this week (pun not really intended).

Monday: Started slowly with three laps around the park at a mid-9s easy pace. It was a chilly 32 out, but not really too bad once I got started. 3.76 miles in 35:40 (9:29 min/mile pace… I said I started slowly!!!).

Tuesday: went a little faster, but I still didn’t push it in terms of speed. I did go a little further though. It was a mildly eventful day, as when I went downstairs to go run, I heard beeping in the basement. It turns out my sump pump had died AND the backup sump-pump had died. I went running, did a little work, and then fixed the pump…

Since the sump pit was full and there was no repairing the main pump, so I knew I was going to be out to get another. I got it installed and running and focused my attention on the backup pump. The pump itself was not dead, but the battery was over-discharged (it was down to 6.something volts (out of 12 volts). I had it unhooked while working on the main pump and it came back to 11.4 volts so I plugged it back in after giving it a day to charge, it was up to a full charge (12.4-ish volts). Note to self: don’t plug the battery charger into the same GFCI-protected outlet as the pump!

Anyway, the run was 5.18 miles in 46:15 (8:56 min/mile).

Wednesday, I took the day off. I took my FIL to a medical appointment in the morning and did some work and then went out (with him and my family) to dinner. Pizza. Carbo-loading for tomorrow!

Thursday was an identical route and distance to Tuesday, but a minute faster. Today was warmer, and it was calm until the last 1.5 miles or so when the wind picked up. I had some odd outlier miles – mile 2 was 8:34 and mile 5 was 8:26… I didn’t think I was going that fast. Overall, 5.18 miles in 45:21 (8:45 min/mile pace).

Friday was still a long run, and I did 8 miles. For the first time since the back injury, I branched out of the park and into the subdivision next to it. My paces were all over the place, partly because of hills, partly because my legs felt tired. I got it done, though – 8.02 in 1:11:15 (8:53 min/mile).

That’s the week. 22 miles, which is a long shot from what was actually intended (35 miles for this week, based on Pfitzinger’s recovery plan) and a looong ways from pre-marathon training. Next week I’ll be back up to 5 days a week and getting my legs back into it. 🍻

FMB = Fuck My Back. Not literally, please don’t try.

I decided my back would be ready when I could get up without pain and go one entire day without pain. I also decided that I’d ramp back in starting with 3-4 miles working back up to the schedule.

During the week, I went from taking Aleve a few times a day to not taking any pain pills quite quickly.

I decided to not push it and scrap any thought of adding another race in November (I had originally considered the Hungry Turkey Half, but probably next year). I may do a five mile trail race in December – one I’ve been familiar with but never ran despite it being in East Fork (although it is on the other side of the lake from where I normally run).

For being the first week after the time change, I didn’t wake up as late as I expected. I’m still in the recovery phase from the marathon.

Monday: 5 miles. Started in the park with some form and mobility drills, and then ran once around the park before heading out into the subdivision next to it. Kept this mostly easy, despite having two carb-laden dinners on Saturday and Sunday evening, my legs felt heavy… probably from working on my basement bathroom over the weekend. 5.03 miles in 44:35 (8:53 min/mile pace).

Tuesday: 5 miles. Rainy morning, so I kept it in the park and had generally a good run. The rain wasn’t too bad, and I didn’t push the pace. 5.13 miles in 45:11 (8:48 min/mile pace).

Wednesday: Rest.

Thursday: 7 miles + 8 strides. Another rainy morning, but not too bad temperature-wise. Ran a loop around the park and embarked into the neighboring subdivision. As I was going up a hill just past the first mile, I felt pain in my back. It was not an ‘ignorable’ pain, so I took it down to a walk and ended up walking back. Made it to 1.94 miles. 😖

Friday: I could barely get out of bed, so running was out of the question.

As the weekend progressed, my back did start feeling better (courtesy of rest and Vitamin S – Sodium Naproxen), but next week will miss a few days as it comes back to healthy. Overall, I ran 12 miles out of the intended 27.