OMG! An update?! Has hell frozen over? No, it’s just been a long hibernation. I figured it’s well past time to resurrect the website, especially considering the fact that I’m still paying for hosting and the domain.
I’m going to start posting my daily workout and diet in preparation for my goal of running the Boston Marathon this April 16th under 3:05:00 (current marathon PR is 3:20:06). Past that goal, I want to run the Northeastern Big Dog 5k this September in 19:00 (last year was 20:08).
The reasons for posting the training and goals are 1) to track my progress and 2) it’s been shown that making personal goals and progress public is a great way to keep up the motivation. If I start slipping, I expect the pressure from the friends and readers to guilt me into trying harder.
I’ll probably still post about things other than running, but mostly I’ll be updating the training at least every other day. So here goes.
Sunday February 26, 2012
9:45am – Breakfast: Was staying at a bed and breakfast in Amherst before the race, and I was treated to oatmeal, cinnamon raisin bagel with cream cheese, a banana and a coffee
11:00am - Jones Group 10 Mile Race (1st New England Grand Prix Race): Not my best performance. I started out strong, but then a giant hill around mile 3 ate into my strength. About 2 miles after cresting the hill I felt a tweak in my right knee. It wasn’t really painful, just very tight, something definitely wasn’t right. While this was a race for points, my ultimate goal is Boston, so I stopped to walk it out and stretch. When I resumed running, the pace was good, but again the tweak came back. This happened 3 more times. I finished 125/172 in my age group with a time of 1:12:46. Had the knee issue not occurred, I believe I would have finished better than 1:10:00, not bad for a very hilly course.
Splits (I stopped the watch while walking and stretching):
Mile 1: 6:38
Mile 2: 6:31
Mile 3: 7:19 (start of terrible hill, also used a GU)
Mile 4: 7:32 (hill fatigue)
Mile 5: 7:11
Mile 6: 7:05
Mile 7: 7:06
Mile 8: 7:12
Mile 9: 7:18
Mile 10: 6:49 (great last mile, knee felt good, zooming past runners uphill)
12:30pm – Quick lunch at the finish, food provided for racers: A slice of veggie pizza, a bowl of chicken rice soup and a PowerAid.
12:50pm – My training schedule called for me to run 21 miles today, so I set out to finish that. I ran from downtown Amherst to Mt Holyoke College (11 miles away). That took me about 96 minutes with splits ranging from 7:47 (at the start) to 12:56 (my foot was killing me and I had to walk). The route was down 116, which is not at all pedestrian friendly after Hampshire College. There are no sidewalks and no shoulder. There was a massive 530 ft climb in just 1.5 miles that I managed to run – just very slowly. At the end of the 11 miles, my body was not happy. Kelly picked me up then we drove home.
3:00pm – Meal: Needing food after all this work, I scavenged some goodies that Kelly bought. An apple cider donut, some fudge, some carrots, a plum, then a Big Mac and fries at McDonalds on the Mass Pike. Worst after run meal ever?
7:30pm – Dinner: Grilled chicken with broccoli and kidney beans + half a left over quesadilla, 2 apple cider donuts
Monday February 27, 2012
7:40am – Breakfast: Eggs with mushrooms, mixed veggies, kidney beans, salsa, and cottage cheese (and an apple cider donut [Kelly is trying to kill me]).
11:45am – Lunch: Leftover chicken/broccoli/beans + Fage Yogurt, fudge (Kelly…)
4:00pm – 2nd Lunch: Leftover chicken/broccoli/beans + Banana
7:00pm – Nashua Athletic Club
Yates EZ-Bar rows: 105lbs x 9 reps at a 5sec up / 5 sec down pace
No rest – Pullups: Bodyweight x 6
2 min rest – Standing shoulder width military barbell press: 45lbs x 9 reps at 5/5 pace
No rest – Arnold flys: 15lbs x 8 at ~4/4 pace
2 min rest – Arnold Curls: 30lbs x 7 reps at ~4/4 pace
No rest – Cross chest hammer DB curls: 20lbx x 10 reps
Kettlebell overhead rotations (abs): 18kg x 12
Rotator Cuff DB lifts: 8lbs x 8
Cherrypickers with 12 lb medicine ball: ~26 slow
Multi-angle body weight squats
9:00pm – Dinner: Tofu stir fry with onion, garlic, carrots, mushrooms orange pepper and kidney beans
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
7:10am – Wake, not voluntarily…
7:45am – Light breakfast: Fage Yogurt and banana
9:20am – Breakfast: Company provided breakfast to celebrate 100 days injury free. French toast, pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, mixed fruits, pastry, coffee
12:10pm – Lunch: Leftover tofu stir fry, killed off the fudge (thank god).
4:00pm – 2nd Lunch: Leftover tofu stir fry
6:00pm – Hampshire Dome, Milford NH Indoor Track Workout with Gate City Striders:
4 x 1 mile with 400m rest. I pushed myself on this one and ran between 6:25 and 6:28 for each mile. I probably pushed myself too hard, my left ankle/shin/calf was pretty sore after and I was limping a bit the rest of the night.
9:00pm – Dinner: Haddock with green beans and pinto beans.
11:45pm – Bedtime: way too late
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
7:15am – Wake
7:45am – Light breakfast: Fage Yogurt and banana
9:20am – Breakfast: Again company provided breakfast to celebrate 100 days injury free. French toast, pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, mixed fruits, pastry, coffee
12:15pm – Lunch: Leftover haddock/green beans/pinto beans + another coffee (tired today)
3:45pm – 2nd Lunch: Half an Italian sub, half a veggie wrap, and a cookie (leftover from lunch meeting)
6:30pm – Its snowing out today, plus my left leg is still sore. I was supposed to run 7 miles, but my body was telling me something different. I went to Bikram Yoga instead and did a 1.5 hr session there. My hamstrings loosened up and I felt good most of the practice, but I was having difficulty on balancing postures when standing on my left leg. Hope its better tomorrow.
9:00pm – Dinner: Steak, asparagus, kidney beans, a few pieces of 85% dark chocolate
11:59pm – Bedtime – way too late!
Hope I can keep this log up!
Body is pretty stiff from the run and my hamstring cramped up briefly. Need to do more foam roller work and get a massage scheduled!