I'm back!

Good news - I'm back on the road and have resumed my training. I did a quick 4.4 miles yesterday and the foot felt fine. So I did my scheduled 12 miles this morning at a 9:00 pace. The foot feels great. I think I am good to go! YAY! TCM here I come!

The verdict - no stress fracture, just stress

Great news - I do not have a stress fracture. There is a small spot on my foot that looks like some stress on the cuboid bones. I was literally on the verge of a stress fracture but it didn't go that far. Word to the wise - pay attention to pain and listen to your body. I will be cross training this week. My plan is to try to ramp up running next week slowly and then taper to the race. Hopefully I can still eek out a sub-4:00 marathon. I'm asking for a lot but I am hopeful.

Dammit!

After a really great 12 mile run on sunday and a 5 mile run on Monday, I was feeling great. I was looking forward to a new PR at the Dick Beardsley half marathon this Saturday and blowing away my marathon PR in the Twin Cities next month. But all that may be lost. My right foot has been aching for the last couple of days. I went to the clinic this morning and the Doc thinks a stress fracture is most likely in the cuboid bones. I have a bone scan scheduled for Tuesday and will find out the results on Wednesday. Looks like no more running for me in 2010.

Fitness and Training

It's only a month until the Twin Cities marathon. I completed my 4th 20 mile run last Sunday. Training has been going really really well. You can see from my 8 mile run this morning (details below) that my pace is improving. Most importantly my heart rate is remaining lower. It used to jump up to about 175 or so when I was pushing this hard but now I can barely break 160. I think the chances of me blowing away my PR next month are very good. I have the Dick Beardsley half marathon on September 11 and I'm looking forward to a fast time.

Intervals (GPS Interval)
Type	Distance	Time	Total Time	Pace	Avg HR	Max HR
Interval				8:54	133	145
Interval	1 Mi	7:54.21	16:47.34	7:55	146	153
Interval	1 Mi	7:57.28	24:44.62	7:58	147	156
Interval	1 Mi	7:55.03	32:39.65	7:56	144	157
Interval	1 Mi	7:54.82	40:34.47	7:55	153	160
Interval	1 Mi	7:55.45	48:29.92	7:56	155	158
Interval	1 Mi	7:36.06	56:05.98	7:37	155	161
Interval	1 Mi	8:03.14	1:04:09.12	8:04	153	158
Interval	0.02 Mi	0:09.59	1:04:18.71	8:00	157	158

On the fitness front I have been working out a lot and really building my core. I feel a lot stronger and tighter though my weight loss has slowed significantly in the last month. I'm now down to about 215 pounds and I don't know if I'll hit 200 before the marathon. But that's ok. My body is still shrinking and I'm building muscle.

Effortless Running

What a difference a month makes. My training has been improving so much and in the last week or so my body has just exploded with energy. A couple weeks ago I did my first 20 mile run of the year. It went great. I was able to complete the 20 miles and still had some gas in the tank. Last weekend I took time off of running and focussed more on strength and core training. This has done wonders for me this week. My times have improved and my energy levels are through the roof.

This morning I had a great run. The weather was perfect - 65 degrees, low humidity and a nice easy breeze. I planned to do a relatively easy 10 miles at a 9:00 min pace but I just couldn't slow my body down. I tried but I just settled into an 8:30 min/mile groove that carried me through all ten miles and change. It felt great. I am planning to do another 10 mile run on Saturday and 20 miles on Sunday. If I feel good I'll go even further. This will be my highest mileage week for the year.

Intervals (GPS Interval)
Type	Distance	Time	Total Time	Pace	Avg HR	Max HR	Notes
Interval	1 Mi	8:43.58	8:43.58	8:44	133	145
Interval	1 Mi	8:46.42	17:30.00	8:47	141	146
Interval	1 Mi	8:40.06	26:10.06	8:41	145	151
Interval	1 Mi	8:27.81	34:37.87	8:28	150	154
Interval	1 Mi	8:25.64	43:03.51	8:26	151	157
Interval	1 Mi	8:23.14	51:26.65	8:24	154	160
Interval	1 Mi	8:30.2	59:56.85	8:31	157	160
Interval	1 Mi	8:23.13	1:08:19.98	8:24	158	161
Interval	1 Mi	8:29.36	1:16:49.34	8:30	151	159
Interval	1 Mi	8:29.78	1:25:19.12	8:30	158	162
Interval	0.25 Mi	2:06.23	1:27:25.35	8:25	163	165

Ten point Two

Whew! Nice run today. It was a gorgeous sunny day but still a cool 45 degrees. Perfect running weather. I was thinking I might feel good to go 10 miles today and I was right. Feels great.

Turkey Trot

I had an AWESOME 4.1 mile run this morning in the cool 40 degree weather with the sun just rising on the horizon. I ran into some wild turkeys in the cemetery by the river strutting their stuff with full plumage. A great way to start the day. My weight continues to drop and I am so proud of myself for not pigging out on pizza at my meeting last night. I had only one piece and managed to keep yesterday's calories below 1500. Today I can eat more as I ran this morning and I'm heading to the gym this afternoon.

I am stoked for the marathon in October! My official 18 week training schedule starts May 31. I'm ahead of the game. I will be 4o pounds lighter before the marathon! Looking forward to an awesome PR.

Back in the marathon training saddle

I signed up for the Twin Cities marathon, October 3. I know now that my commitment to my diet and activity will let me do well by October. I plan for a PR - a sub 4 marathon. I know I can do it.

Speaking of training, I input all my training runs for my 18 week Hal Higdon Intermediate II training plan into my calendar. This starts in a few short weeks. Today I did get out for a wonderful 8.6 miles in the cool drizzle.

Spring running update

Hello poor neglected blog. The slacker is back. After a nice 5.4 miles yesterday I was so energized for an 8+ mile run today. It felt great! Of course spring has sprung and that helps. It was the first time I've been able to wear shorts as it was a balmy 45 degrees. I ran close to the rising Red River and was amazed at all the dike building going on. We're just waiting for the flood waters to flow. After my run I had one of my favorite post run smoothies - blueberry, peanut butter, ovaltine and protein.

Oh, I should add I just signed up for the Fargo Half Marathon on May 9. WOOHOO!

Off the sideline and back on my feet

I think the orthotics and the cortisone are working. Although my foot is still sore it is not nearly as painful as it was before. Yesterday I tested the waters on the dreadmill with an easy 3 miles. My foot felt pretty good and the pain did not worsen after the workout. So I went out for a very nice 5.5 miles this morning. A gorgeous morning - crisp and cool. My favorite weather for running. It felt great and the foot does not seem to be getting worse. It's not 100% but I'm so happy it's not worsening after running. I think I'll be able to get through my half marathon this weekend.

Time to get serious

Ok, so I am behind in my training. But I did get in over 40 miles this past week. All in three long runs. Yesterday I did my longest run to date - 19 miles. I should have had a 20 under my belt a couple weeks ago. All this traveling and eating has left me bloated and not ready for the Twin Cities in October. So, I have decided that I probably will not make a PR on this upcoming race. But, if I want to finish feeling good, without injury, I've got to get more serious about my training. Time to kick it up a notch. Perhaps this blog will make me more accountable. Here's my training plan for this week:

Tuesday, 5 miles

Wednesday, 10 miles

Thursday, 5 miles

Friday, rest

Saturday, 10 miles

Sunday, 20 miles

Let the serious running begin.

La la run

Have you ever had one of those runs where you just didn't feel like you were connected to it? Like you were in another place and the run was just happening? That happened to me this morning. I went out for a nice 5.8 mile run this morning. It was a gorgeous morning with the sun streaming through the trees and a cool breeze blowing to take the edge off the humid air. Should have been perfect. But as I was running I just didn't feel like I was connected to my body. It was going through the motions just fine but it was like someone else's body. It kind of reminds me of Jill Bolte Taylor's description of her mind going to la la land while she was having a stroke. One of the strangest runs I've had in a while. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Well, I haven't posted since the marathon and I wanted to update you all on my training. It's only one more week to the Manitoba Marathon in Winnipeg and I've been able to quickly jump back into training after Fargo. As you can see from my training graph I did a reverse taper for two weeks hitting another 20 mile training run. I'm now tapering down until the race. Well, taper is to mild of a word. I didn't run at all during the week last week due to work and stormy weather. But this weekend is beautiful and I'm getting in my weekend runs. I'll do a little more running during the week, easy 4 milers I think, and then give it my best on Father's day.

I am READY

Only a few more days before the marathon and I feel ready. I was just lamenting over on the runningahead forums that I both love and hate tapering for these races. I love the taper time as I feel so strong when my legs are well rested. Like this morning when I went out for a very strong and invigorating 4 miles. But I hate the feeling that I am slacking off. After these months of training and long runs I just want to get out there and run some more. I also start to feel bloated and heavy. Oh, speaking of that, I did not meet my weight loss goal for the race. I was hoping to be about 30 pounds lighter. But that's the way it goes. I can never seem to lose weight near the end of my training. As a matter of fact I tend to gain weight. So there it is. I'll make the best of it this Saturday. I am really looking forward to a good strong race in my hometown.

Ramping up before ramping down

Just two and a half weeks until the marathon and I'm ramping up for a big mileage week. Since I was set back last week my final long 20 mile run will be this coming weekend. Then I'll taper down to the marathon. So far my hip is feeling fine. I had a really great 10.76 mile run this morning at a 8:49 pace. Pretty good clip for me. It was chilly, about 42 °F, and windy (20 mph). But I felt pretty comfortable after a mile or two. I'm excited to finally run my home town marathon to its fullest. I've also signed up for the Manitoba marathon in June and the Twin Cities marathon in October.

21 miles under the belt

As my marathon training is ramping up I've had some great weeks, mileage wise. On Sunday I ran my first 20+ miler of the year. It was a nice slow 21.4 miles at a 10:28 pace. This on the heels of a rather fast 11.3 miles at an 8:41 pace on Saturday. I'm a little concerned about my heart rate though. During my Sunday run I experienced some tachycardia. My heart rate shot up to about 180 bpm and stayed there for about 15 minutes or so. This has happened before but never in the middle of a run. A few times over the last couple years when I started my runs on a cold morning I'd have a rapid heart beat. Last year I wore a 24 hour monitor and my doctor could find nothing wrong. I may have to have it checked out more thoroughly. Last thing I need is to drop dead on the course.