Lactate Threshold Run

I had a real good day of running today. I woke up at 5am and ran an easy 4 miles on the treadmill. After work I had a good workout 12 miles total, which gave me 16 for the day. Here it is:

3 mile warm-up
7 miles @ Tempo pace (6:00, 5:56, 5:52, 5:49, 5:46, 5:42, 5:39) Kind of progressive.
2 mile cool down

As I got faster during this workout I actually felt better and the effort seemed a little easier. I'm also excited about how quickly I recovered from the workout. For my cool down I never got off the treadmill, I just slowed the pace down to 7 minute miles and within 30-45 sec. my heart rate was low again. I think it shows that I'm getting into pretty good shape!

Went to Bears Tooth for dinner. They have the Best Burritos!

Need to run more hills!

I had a real good 15 mile run today. I did the south loop w/ Service extention and did the last 3 miles on the treadmill. I really like this run because I think it prepares me well for Boston. There are some real good hills on the hillside. The hill up Huffman is pretty steep and a mile long. It makes Heartbreak Hill look like an ant hill. The other reason I like these Hills is because I get to run down them too. I need to get my legs use to the pounding of running downhill since their is a lot of downhill in Boston too.

The temperature outside was nice and so was the footing. I still wore my Ice bugs but alot of the stretches were pure pavement. I also ran at a pretty good clip. I did the whole 15 miles in 1hr. 42 min. (which is 6:48 pace).

I'm going to try and run this route at least once a week until Boston. Today was the Fur Rondy track meet at the Dome. I was going to try and PR in the 5000m. but learned it was only going to be a 3000m race. Their is also the Frostbite 5K this saturday but my training doesn't call for it this week and I don't want to get off track for a little race. Since things are going really well thier is no need to mix things up with a race right now. I am looking to try and do a 10K at the dome the following saturday if I can get it set up.

Road trips make me tired

As I write this at 8:45pm on sunday night I am very very tired. I had a road trip to Fairbanks this weekend for my son's state wrestling tournament. I really enjoyed watching him wrestle and have to admit that the tanana junior high state tournament is really cool. Probably the best Junior high athletic event in the state!

The trip wasn't the best for my training though. I had to drive through a snow storm on the way up to fairbanks, so it was almost 7 hrs. of driving. Standing and sitting in the bleachers for 2 days kind of hurt my feet and made my legs tired. I was still able to get my runs in, but I felt tired. I also didn't get much sleep because we had to be up early in the mornings and the tournament was over late each night.

I really have to focus and start taking better care of myself. I need to start working my core more, stretching after workouts, sleeping, eating healthy. Only 8 weeks until Boston!

Here is a recap of the week 2/16- 2/22: It was also a recovery week, so mileage a little lower.

2/16- 10 miles (6am/4pm)
2/17- 9 miles
2/18- 10 miles (5 X 800m @ 5K pace w/90 sec. rest)
2/19- 7 miles
2/20- 11 miles
2/21- 8 miles (10 X 100m strides)
2/22- 16 miles

Total: 71 miles

VO2 Max Workout!

Today I was finally able to turn the legs a little faster today. I had my first VO2 max workout of the Boston Marathon 18 week program. Since my treadmill only goes up to 11.0 mph (5:27 pace) I decided to do the workout at the dome. Here it is:

3 mile warm-up
5 X 800 meters @ 5K pace w/ 90 sec. rest. (I did all 5 exactly the same 2:33)
3.5+ mile cool down

It was kind of nice to turn the legs faster today. It wasn't all that hard, but I was really trying to concentrate on getting my heart rate down and ready for the next one in 90 seconds. During my cool down it felt like I was going super slow, but was still running 7 min. pace.

Yesterday, I ran a general aerobic 9 miler and then headed to East High school for a wrestling practice. I couldn't resist and did a little live wrestling with the top high school kids in the state. Even though I could easily handle these kids, I still got kind of sore in my upper body and quads from staying in a wrestling stance. Probably not the smartest thing to do if I'm trying to do my best at Boston. I need to be smarter and avoid live wrestling until after the marathon.

1/2 Way to Boston!

9 weeks down and 9 weeks to go! I had another good week of training and a great workout today. Here is today's workout:

3 mile warm-up

12 miles @ Marathon Pace (6:03, 6:03, 6:03, 6:03, 6:03, 6:03, 6:00, 6:00, 6:00, 5:56, 5:56, 5:56)

1 mile cool-down
16 miles total

Here is the mileage for the week of 2/9- 2/15:

2/15- 16 miles (12 @ MP)
2/14- 7 miles-recovery (6 X 100 strides)
2/13- 13 miles
2/12- 8 miles- recovery
2/11- 19 miles (15am/4pm)
2/10- 11 miles (6am/5pm)
2/9- 8 miles- recovery

Total= 82 miles

This is my 3rd straight week of 80+ miles and I'm feeling really good about it. I believe I am handling the mileage well because I feel strong after all my recovery runs. This upcoming week is considered a recovery week where I will drop my mileage down to the mid-70's. Then I will have my first ever 90+ mile week! I still need to do a better job on my nutrition and sleep habits. It would be nice to try and get 8 hrs. of sleep every night and I'm going to try and make a conscious effort to do it. No more late night seinfeld episodes.

Epic Run

I had one of my favorite runs of my Boston training program today. I met Jerry Ross at his house and we took off towards UAA and went over the bridge on Tudor and into the trails. We found some awesome hard packed dog sled trails that were perfect to run on. It looked like they were groomed and it made the footing perfect. Running on hard snow has a lot more cushion than the pavement. It was about 10 above zero and snowing lightly. It was fun to run in the woods for a change and at times we were on single track trails. We eventually ended up on the tank trails and took the Mayors Marathon trail to Campbell Airstrip Road and took it back to Jerrys.

In all we ran between 15-16 miles. I ran an additional 4 miles for recovery in the evening to make it 19-20 miles for the day. It was sure nice to get this medium distance run done outside and not on the treadmill. Things are moving as planned for Boston!

I also bought the New Asics DS Trainers from Todd. I will wear these shoes for the Marathon. I'm going to break them in on Sunday when I do my Marathon pace run.

Another solid week of Training

Today was a solid long run. I met Jerry and some of his training group at the dome at 9am and we ran 18 miles outside and then Jerry and I ran another fast 4 miles in the dome to total 22 miles. The running outside was great! We went out on Raspberry and ran all the way to Kincaid Chalet on the multi-use trails which were in pretty good shape. We ran down toward the inlet and ran the coastal trail until we reach Pt. Woronzof and then got on the Totem run route and headed back to the dome running past the airport. We kept a pretty good pace, but we had to work a little harder on the coastal trail because every once in a while we would fall through the hard snow pack. Changed into shorts and t-shirt and slammed some water and we took off to run our last 4 miles. I'm pretty sure I went a little too fast, but it didn't kill me. I was able to concentrate and just run. I think it is good practice for Boston. If things are going good, I should feel tired toward the end and I must be able to run through it. The last couple miles were around 5:45 pace. I can definetly feel it in my legs, but I took my recovery drink and took a 14 minute ice bath. I should absorb this week as long as I take the next couple of days and run true recovery pace.

Here is a run down of the week of 2/2- 2/8

2/2- 10 miles (6am/4pm)
2/3- 10 miles (6am/4pm)
2/4- 15 miles
2/5- 10 miles (6am/4pm)
2/6- 12 miles (6 @ tempo pace)
2/7- 8 miles
2/8- 22 miles

Total: 87 miles

I'm looking forward to relaxing a little tonight and watching the Reebok Indoor Meet on tape delay on ESPN. I want to see Shalayne Flanagan break the 5,000 meter indoor record. I believe she ran 14:47! Amazing!

Tempo is my favorite workout

Yesterday (Friday) I had a great workout. I ran 12 miles with 6 miles at tempo pace. It was sunny and 25 above outside and I really wanted to run outside, but this workout called for the treadmill. Here is how I ran it:

3 mile warm-up (7:30, 7:14, 7:03)
6 miles @ tempo (6:00, 5:52, 5:52, 5:52, 5:52, 5:52)
3 mile cool down (7 min pace)

I really like tempo runs because of the feeling of going fast, but not giving it everything you have. Like I said before, tempo is a pace that you should be able to keep up for an hour. My workout room was a little warm and sweat was starting to fly everywhere toward the end of the tempo run. I had a towel nearby and was trying to dry myself off the best I could. I know that training is going well for Boston when I can keep this pace and feel comfortable while doing it.

Today was an easy 8 mile recovery run. I was very happy to do it outside. It was cool out but the sun was shining which made me feel really happy. Sunshine can sure make you feel positive.

One of the great things about training for Boston is that the training is done during the worst time of year in Alaska. There is little sunlight, it's cold, icy, and snowy. That probably doesn't make sense. It's probably why a lot of Alaskans don't run a spring marathon. But, I'm getting in great shape and getting those endorphins kicking in the winter. It's much better coming out of winter in great shape, than coming out of winter having gained 10 lbs. Tomorrow calls for a long 22 miler. I'm meeting Jerry at the Dome at 9am. I hope to do 16+ outside and then finish up in the dome.

Reasons to run the Boston Marathon

The treadmill has been a good friend

Today it was -5 below on the way to work (I can't wait for the summer). I only worked a 1/2 day because I had to go home and take care of my daughter who stayed home from school because she still has a bad cold. I was able to get her some lunch and get her crafts, etc.. all set up and I was off upstairs to get my workout done.

Today I ran 15 miles on the treadmill. I was pretty tired the last couple of days, but I felt great today. I started really easy at 7:30 pace (8.0 mph) and every mile I picked up the pace by .1 mph. So, after 6 miles I was already at 8.6 mph which is 6:58 pace. I picked it up again every couple of miles until I was running 6:31 mile pace the last couple miles.

Tomorrow calls for double recovery runs and then friday I'll be doing some tempo. I'm pumped my legs felt great today.

Here is another great coldplay song live in Toronto. (Death and all of his friends). I love this album. Wish I could watch them live someday.

Legs tired

The last couple of days my legs have felt pretty tired. I'm coming off an 86 mile week and I'm glad that my marathon plan called for 2 easy recovery days. Both days I ran 6 miles in the morning and 4 miles in the evening all at a super easy pace. My legs would warm up and I would feel good when I was running, but the rest of the day when I was walking around work or at home my legs felt pretty tired. I'm sure my legs will get use to the higher mileage and I will feel strong again. I just have to make sure to keep the easy days easy and the hard days hard. Does that make sense?

Both of my kids are sick now with some pretty bad colds. They have been keeping me up at night coughing so my sleep hasn't been the greatest. Lots of kids at school are sick too. I believe it is that time of year. I just need to make sure I'm eating right and drinking lots of fluids and try to get as much rest as possible. It is a challenge to have a full time job, have a family, and run 80-90 miles a week. I'm enjoying the challenge though!

Long Runs & Ice Baths

I had a great workout for the 1st day of February. It called for 20 miles. I met Jerry Ross at the Dome and we headed out in -4 below temps. I was dressed properly, but Jerry under dressed a little and was getting pretty cold and did the smart thing and ended his run short with his wife picking him up. I did 13+ miles outside and then returned to the dome and did 7+ more on the track. Jerry and I took it pretty easy out to meet his training group which took us about 48 min. I picked up the pace on the way back and returned about 4 minutes faster. I changed my clothes really quick at the dome and grabbed some water and a gu and headed on the track. I took the 1st mile pretty easy and then decided to pick up the pace to finish the 20+ miler. Here are my mile splits at the dome:

Mile 14- 6:48
Mile 15- 6:40
Mile 16- 6:12
Mile 17- 6:05
Mile 18- 6:02
Mile 19- 5:56
Mile 20- 5:52

I felt really good and felt like I could keep that pace up for 6 more miles if I was running a marathon.

Here is the mileage for this week:

1/26- 10 miles (6am/4pm)
1/27- 11 miles (5 @ tempo pace)
1/28- 15 miles
1/29- 10 miles (6am/4pm)
1/30- 12 miles
1/31- 8 miles (10 X 100m strides)
2/1- 20 miles

Total: 86 miles

When I got home the last thing I wanted to do was take an ice bath, but I knew it would be a smart thing to do after today's workout to make me feel better for tomorrow. I filled the bath tub with cold water and threw on a sweater and winter hat and made some hot tea and submerged my lower body into the freezing cold tub. The first couple minutes are kind of brutal, but the legs get use to it after awhile. I stayed in for about 12 mintues.




I've read and heard from Jerry that an ice bath can speed up your recovery. Cryotherapy ("cold therapy") constricts blood vessels and decreases metabolic activity, which reduces swelling and tissue breakdown. Once the skin is no longer in contact with the cold source, the underlying tissues warm up, causing a return of faster blood flow, which helps return the byproducts of cellular breakdown to the lymph system for efficient recycling by the body.

After you get use to just the cold water from the faucet, you can make it even colder by adding bags of crushed ice or just shovel some snow into the tub too. I believe that 10-15 minutes is perfect.