week 14 done

I had an OK week of running. I got all oft he runs I needed in. I have to admit I am not a summer time runner. I actually enjoy the cold and running in the winter. Well maybe not the really cold days but when the temps are 50F and lower my system seems to work best. At least in the colder months you can add clothing. In the summer you have to wake up way too early or run way too late. We all have seen what happends when you get caught running naked!



I feel like I am starting all over again. The new shoes have helped alot. I made it through a 15 mile run yesterday with no blisters and my feet felt fine. Today I am taking a day of rest. I just have an hour of hockey tonight.



I now have a small digital camera to take with me on my runs. I have got to find a way to carry it though. So be expecting to see some action pictures in my posts from now on.

first run follies

To begin with I guess I should say at the moment I am a single Father of 2 very busy boys ages 7 and 2. My wife has left me to go shopping with her friend for 3 days at Birch Run, Michigan. She also stole my built in babysitter (my daughter Jaymie is 16). That plus my parents are gone up north presents an ability to run crisis. So I put Joey in his Baby Jogger and Jacob on his bike and we jogged on over to the local track which is seldom used and fenced in. I brought some sand toys for the boys to play in the long jump pits that are around the track.


It is only a mile to the track and since Jacob just about got hit by a car early on in the day I decided not to make our road journey any longer than it had to be. So we got to the track I got the boy settled in and I warmed up for about 15 more minutes doing strides, butt kicks, and high knee lifts.


Then came the 3 X 1600m intervals @ 6:40/mile. The first one I started out too fast I think I was super pumped to do them and was at 6:00 at about half way so I really had to slow my pace. The second one I started too slow but managed to finish right on target. The third was never completed because of wild 2 year old boy chasing me around the track. I had to stop at 800m and take the wild child home...it was getting close to bedtime.


So we cooled of with a nice mile home and that's officially the start to the new training program .


I am so totally going to be an elite athlete at the end of this!

X-training begun

I rode my bike into work Saturday morning and back this morning. It works out perfect it is 15 miles or 25ish kms each way. My plan in a can is to ride at a cadence of 90-100 RPMs comfortably and move up a gear each week or so therefore bringing up my speed. Right now my average speed being 13mph/20kmp but keep in mind I am going for cadence not speed. I also throw in sprints every once and a while. I still haven't got road tires so I am riding on knobbies, so as I stop pedaling my bike slows considerably.

And so it begins...

Training for the 30th running of the Detroit International Marathon.


I'll be using;

I will be using the 3:30 marathon finish time as my goal. Tuesday will be my first run. The week goes as follows;

Monday: XT ( I think I will ride my Bike to the lake and swim)

Tuesday: 10-20 minute warm up /3X1600m @6:41 (1minute rest btween)/ 10 minute cool down

Wednesday: XT (biking 40-50minutes)

Thursday: 6mile run 2 easy/ 2 @7:14 per mile /2 easy

Friday: REST

Saturday: 13 miles@ 8:3o/mile

Sunday: Optional XT or rest (most likely bike)

The mileage seems short to me but the XT makes up for the missed miles. It is also shorter because it is only 16 weeks. Considering it will be my second marathon this year I figures I would take it easy on me and run less/ run faster LOL.

Seems that the "intensity" will be challenging.

This time I will hopefully be able to post more pics and details. I still have a picture of me when I started running again last December somewhere and would like to do the "how'd ya like me now poses!"

Found a new route tonight

I stumbled by it during the day today on my walk to get the car. (car was at the trusty Mechanic's getting a checkup before we go to Ottawa)Of course the only reason I found it is cause I took the long way which is totally out of the way but there is a Tim Hortons the long way so you know. So I said tonight when it is cooler out I will go there on that route. They finally put a bridge over Duck creek. Most people wouldn't care but I do and I think it is aboot time our town started making more access to the less travelled areas for us walker/runner/biker types. Plus it is so nice to be able to run uninterrupted along the lake without having to go up onto the VIA rail tracks where the trains go like 80 miles an hour.Anyhow it's nice, it's shady, and it is now safer.
Tonights run was supposed to be 7 miles with 2 @ MRP. I went 7 miles 4 @ or below MRP. I didn't look at my watch until I got home other than the one time to see how many miles it was at the turnaround. I ran by feel tonight comfortably to see what pace I was running @. I was kinda suprised. The miles I didn't run @ MRP were the ones I walked to take a drink/cross the busy road. It was also really warm out there tonight probably 82 when I went out so I should feel super great with the temps in the 50's Sunday morning.



If you want to see how we are doing goto
Live race results.
I'm Bib # 1183 and Uncle Mike is Bib # 2238.
Last years bib# was 1522 incase you are curious.

t-minus 4 days

This morning the sun was shining, the birds were chirpin, Joey and I were running. An easy 6 mile run made easier by the nice weather.
Looking ahead to Sunday the weather in Ottawa looks much the same. If we can avoid the T-storms the temp looks perfect.



If you want to see how we are doing goto
Live race results.
I'm Bib # 1183 and Uncle Mike is Bib # 2238.
Last years bib# was 1522 incase you are curious.

Ottawa, here we come.

Today was our last long run before our Marathon. Mike did 8 miles I did 14. We ran at a pretty strong pace most of the run. We ran the first couple of miles @ 8:00ish minute miles. After the 2nd mile I asked Mike if he thought he could keep the pace up for 26 miles? Needless to say we had a drink break at mile 3 and settled in to 9:00 minute miles.
We both felt great which is perfect going into our last week confident, and strong. At mile 12 I actually threw in a few fartleks just to pass the time. I'm on Vacation until June so I should be well rested for next weekend.
If you want to see how we are doing goto Live race results I'm Bib # 1183 and Uncle Mike is Bib # 2238.

Have I mentioned....

that I am getting anxious to get this race over with? I am stronger, I am faster I know that but until you toe the line, until mile 22 you really have no clue how you are going to feel.Tonights run was a fun 8 miles with 3 X 1600m @ 15km race pace (7:33/m) with a 2 minute rest between. I warmed up with 2.5 miles and cooled down with 2.5. What was suprising is that at the end I was actually running at Marathon pace. This is great considering I am really anxious that the pace I am picking might be too much on race day. I would hate to run out of steam at the end because I came out of the gate too quickly.

12 Days and counting

Things are coming together well. My long run on Sunday was so so but I think I have the ability to blow last years time out of the water. I was thinking 4 hrs when I started, now 3:45/3:30. My friend and Co-worker who has run Boston several times and is a steady 3:30/3:19 says now he might come up and be my rabbit. Boston might not be so far out of the picture all depends on this months marathon and maybe I could train harder for Detroit and hit my 3:15:59.

Stroller Rides

Joey got up with me Friday and this morning for my runs. Friday was supposed to be a 10 mile run but we had time restraints and it was too much fun watching the "diggers" at the local construction site. I figure the extra weight pushing the stroller made up for the lost miles.
This morning though was a different story. He was with me for about 10.5 miles and then his Mom came and picked him up so I could run stroller free for the other half of my run. The wind was howling today. Not bad on the way out but on the way back it seemed I was standing still when it gusted. Between that, pushing the stroller for the first half all of it's minor adjustments (the front wheel pulls to the left) and feeding Joey Jellybeans every mile or so my time was pretty good.
Saturday morning was spent riding my Bike beside Uncle Mike on his 20Miler. He seemed steady and strong.

I'm getting really excited to go run Ottawa again. Only 3 weeks to go!!!

It's Taper time!

One more 20 miler then the taper starts. I can't believe how fast 15 weeks has gone by. Uncle Mike's marathon debut will be taking place in 3 weeks!
I can't help but to be a little anxious. This year I have many more eyes watching and have a time that I have to beat. Last year I ran my Marathon debut, I finished a disappointing 33minutes slower than my 4hr goal. It didn't take long for the 1st phone call at work, at the other end a giggling voice asking what my time was..."uhhh, 4:33 something" Ha ha ha , chuckle, belly laughter..."Oprah beat you!"
what? The voice repeated "Oprah beat you".
Apparently Oprah ran a marathon in 1994 with a time of 4:29:20. Since then my brother who works at the same job but different station and his merry band have been reminding me daily. It has even grown to the point that Oprah and I ran the same race and she passed me.
This year my training has gone much better and I hope to finish @ 3:45. I think it was great to finish a marathon, now it is all about getting faster, stronger and qualify for Boston. If not this year next year is ok for me...hope see alot of you there maybe 2009.

Take a look at my.opera.com/ff_jeff/blog

Lessons learned;

#1- Checkout the race venue and if you can train on it before running the race. Seems to me a couple of years ago I ran a 5km race at the exact same place as my 10 miler today and the hills did not seem so bad. That is probably because we did not have to run up them 3X.Infact if you look closely enough the entry form says steep grade +/- 60 degrees. Todays 10 miler was a very hilly run and also more of a cross country course that was mucky and had lotsa puddles.


#2- For me, if I have to work the night before you can darn well expect to have a conflagration ( A large and destructive fire) kinda like what happend this morning @5:00am. FIRE I was really lucky to be out of there in time to make it to the race. I'm not complaining cause I really love my job...I'm just making excuses.


#3- Have fun. It didn't even take me a lap to realize all this stuff. So I enjoyed the company of Uncle Mike and our DUOthon friend Dawn who ran with us today. That is for part of the race anyhow.


I believe my time was 1:30:20ish? Dawn's time 1:34:ish? Mike 1:40:ish? Still waiting on the results to be posted.
Race 2: Miracle Run 10 m / 5 km - April 15 results We all raced really well given the tough course. It felt good to be able to pass about 10-12 people in the last mile and have a strong last half mile sprinting to the finish. Seems my endurance training is working.
18 Miles with Joey tomorrow!
ffjeff.blogspot.com

And the base keeps runnin' runnin', and runnin' runnin'

After 4 miles I made it to the track to do 5 X 600m @ 6:50/mi pace with 90 sec rest. Then jogged home.
My Ipod was rockin tonight with Black eyed peas, blink 182, the killers, Ok go, and many more up beat high tempo groups.
It was a beautiful night for a run no clouds in the sky the stars were shining bright and it was a crisp 36F. Still wore shorts, I'm on a cold strike..from now on no matter how cold it is (that is until november) I will only wear shorts...no more pants!!!

Goodnight.
Myopera.com blog
Race 2: Miracle Run 10 m / 5 km - April 15

Great weekend of running and everything else

The weekend started off well on Friday when Uncle Mike and I got together for his long run. He had 16 miles to run, I only had 12. On my way to his place I stopped and got some Power Gels while he was running the first 4 miles of his run. It was cold and windy but for 90% of the run the wind was at our sides, straight on for the last 3 miles. We did our hill training on the 401 overpasses X 4 and the pace was steady and strong.
Saturday night my daughter her friend and I headed downtown Detroit for a concert @ Saint Andrews Hall (not even 5 minutes from the Canadian border) It was a great time, the Bands- Envy on the Coast, Circa Survive, As Tall as Lions and Cute is What We Aim for. Great deal for the $ 15.00USD per ticket and great entertainment in a small cozy venue. As tempted as I was to join in the Mosh Pit I stayed away. Most of the kids in there were < 150lbs and my 187-200 pound frame would probably have hurt a few of them!
Then there was my long 20 Miler. We were invited over to Uncle Mike's for Easter dinner so My plan was to run to his place in time to take a shower etc. before dinner. It was cold and there was a 15MPH wind coming directly into my face for the first 18miles of my run. Something I was concerned about from the word go, around here I try to run East or North/Sounth as much as possible because of the prevailing Westerly winds. I kept a great even pace though and felt really good through most of the run. Uncle Mike met me on his bike @ mile 16 and encouraged me through the rest of my run. Finally @ mile 18 I turned up Walker road towards Uncle Mike's house and the wind was at my side and actually giving me a bit of a push. Feeling so good I decided to give it 2 extra Miles and gave a good sprint at the end to a 3:20 22 mile run. Right a the low end of my "training target" of 8:54 to 9:54 pace for a 3:35 Marathon.I then walked for a mile in a half while Uncle Mike went and got his car to pick me up. I was still a few miles from his house.
I'm feeling pretty confident with still another 20 miler to go in 3 weeks and a bunch of speed work in between that.
I will meet my goal!
We signed up for a 10Mile run next Sunday in WindsorRace 2: Miracle Run 10 m / 5 km - April 15 ...I haven't decided yet wether or not to stick with Uncle Mike and our friend Dawn or really push it and go for a PR. I'm leaning towards the latter eventhough I don't have a 10Mile result so no matter what it will be my PR.
Myopera.com BLOG

Blogger's block

I've just been too busy reading other people's blogs. Breaking the tape.com has a bunch of really great people writing some really great posts about their running,swimming,cycling,racing and personal things. Not to mention some great training tools to keep track of and display on our blogs everything from daily milage to a predictor for how fast we'll run a Marathon. Everytime I get on the computer it's a ritual, check my email then check out BTT.
I had a great begining of the week to my training after that it kinda fell apart. Saturday was a struggle, right from the start my legs felt like cement plus the wind that made me feel like I was running on the spot didn't help either.
Sunday, ohhhh Sunday that is all I have to say...other than the great company I had in Uncle Mike the run isn't much to talk about.
This week is going to be another tough and challenging week ending with a 20 miler. I might acutally try 21/22 depending on how I feel.
www.myopera.com/ff_jeff/blog/

Great end to a tough week

I brought my week to a close Sunday with a great 20-Miler. I felt really good. I was actually doing strides between hydro poles (not too fast) at miles 16 through 19. My day didn't start well. I was up until the wee hours of the morning fighting a fire at a large industrial plant. When I got home I was very tired and took a nap/sleep until the afternoon, then we had family over until around 8:30 pm...and all that was on my mind ...I have to get this run in... not to mention I was back to work Monday morning for another 24hrs. But I was out the door as soon as they left and 3hrs and a bit I was back home and ready for bed.
During my 11 mile run on Friday I had an epiphany, I finally got my stride right. It's like I found my centre, my balance, my optimal running form. All that this entailed was swinging my arms more at a different angle, straight forward and back. I now feel stronger at a faster pace without as much exhaustion. With 61 days left and 2 more 20 milers until Ottawa I feel refreshed and confident that I can achieve what I set out to do, take at least 35 minutes off of last years time!
Myopera.com

What to wear?

This morning on the way home from work it was chilly and there was a bit of frost on the windshield. I was primed for an early morning run but it started raining and I figured I'd wait it out and get a run in between raindrops. I finally got out around 4:30pm I had my toque, dri-fit longsleeve, my thin jacket, my running pants, my Dri-FIT compression Shorts, socks,and shoes. I was way too hot. By the time I got out the door the temp changed up to around 50F which around here right now is almost shorts and no shirt weather. Needless to say the toque came off immediately and at about halfway so did the dri-fit longsleeve. It is so hard to tell what to wear in the spring. **Just a note: My Dri-FIT compression Shorts are always worn underneath either light running shorts or pants. I have seen many guys wear them in runs and it comes under the heading of too much information it is almost like Mr. nude guy in the locker room brushing his teeth. **

At about the halfway point I stopped for a quick drink, a stretch and the wardrobe change. A younger guy ran by just as I was turning around. He turned down the street which was my turn around point. I stopped for a good 3-5 minutes. As I came back into the little hamlet known a Puce there he was coming down the highway. It seems he was doing a loop run and he was a bit ahead of me. Not being the competative sort I sped up to catch him. I know he was looking back to see if the old man was catching up and adjusted his speed accordingly. We did this for about a mile and a half when he turned down a side street and stopped at his house. I faired well I think considering he only ran abot 4 miles where I was on my 6 and a half mile and still had 5.5 to go.
I took it pretty easy for the rest of the run knowing this week is going to be a killer..

Tuesday: 7 miles

Wednesday: 12 miles

Thursday: Cross training (a long walk with my wife and a bike ride)

Friday: 11 miles with 6miles at 1/2 marathon pace

Saturday: 5 miles Recovery

Sunday: 20 miles ugggg!


myopera.com

Anxious

Woke up anxious today. I want to run a race. Enough of this training. I need to join that big group of other runners at the starting line. It's like I'm addicted to it. Having missed the big start in Detroit last fall due to my IT I haven't been to anther race yet. I need it, I crave it.
For the last hour I have been searching for that race that will match up with my training and work schedules.I have Ottawa coming up but that is still 2 months away. Well I think I figured it out and this will be my 2007 race schedule. I will hopefully add 1 or 2 more I'm sure the lag between Niagra Falls and Detroit will force me to do a marathon in August or September

Run for Retina
Ottawa Marathon
NIAGARA Ultra 50 Km
Detroit Marathon

My running is coming along well. I went for a long run with Mike this weekend. It is great to have someone to run with. Great encouragement.

Another Week of running done

Jaymie's final marks are in for her first semester Grade 10.
She earned a 89.7% average!!!!! Amazing such a smart girl could come from me!
Well another week of running wraps up. Had some good runs. Uncle Mike and I ran on Saturday, it was his step back week...only 5 miles. We pushed those 5 miles though, we were huffing and puffing creating a new fastest time for Mike 9:01 minute miles. Pretty fast for having to push 200+ lbses.

I was fortunate enough to travel up to Coboconk,On. to visit some friends of ours. I ended up running Monday morning. It was a beautiful place to run. I ran down this isolate road to Indian point along the Balsam Lake. I had to walk a bit cause of the snow pack roads...actually got a couple of minor blisters. Very tranquil setting, it was sunny and it just snowed the night before so the bush was amazing. Very hilly, good training run for me.
Northern Ontario does not like technology. When I went for my run my Ipod went on the fritz and would not work..then about
00:04:48 into my run my GPS watch froze up on me none of the buttons would work the screen just locked up on me. Funny thing is when we got home I checked both of them...they now are working perfectly. Somehow I think it was a sign that I should just go out, run, and enjoy the scenery without my gadgets. Again it was kinda nice without those distractions.

Look at this on Myopera also

Chilly 13 miler

    Another very cold run today. Yesterdays run with Uncle Mike the cold didn't get to me so much. Today however I think I had the wrong choice of running venues. I ran straight into the bone chilling wind for the first half of my run. Keeping my approx 9:00/9:30 minute pace it killed me.
I figured I had it made for the way back...nope it just wore me out. In hindsight it would have been much easier to run 10 minute miles out and then 8ish minute miles on the way back. It is all a learning game.
   I had to walk a bunch of stretches on the way back but still managed my 2 hour time I was hoping for. My fingers were cold, my face wind burnt, even my Gatorade was frozen solid. Yesterday it just turned to slush. Feels good now though...That which does not kill us only makes us stronger...blah blah blah
Look at this on Myopera also